the whole kingdom were abandoned to the uncultivated state from which it has been reclaimed for so many generations. I scarcely remember to have seen a specimen of a true Papaver in an uncultivated district, unless P. Argemóne be an exception." Several of our poppies have followed the Englishman in colonization, and their scarlet flowers wave above the fields of Australian corn, and are as unwelcome to the agriculturists in that land as in ours.

2. P. hybridum (Round Rough-headed Poppy).-Capsule nearly globose; bristles spreading; leaves twice pinnatifid. Plant annual. This plant is by no means frequent, but is found on some chalky or sandy corn-fields, in June or July. Its flower is of deep scarlet. It is more often seen in the southern counties of England than in any other part of the United Kingdom.

*Capsules smooth.

3. P. dúbium (Long Smooth-headed Poppy).-Capsule oblong; bristles on the flower-stalks, closely pressed to them; leaves sessile, and once or twice pinnatifid. Plant annual. This scarlet flower is not unfrequent in corn-fields during June and July. It is very handsome, though its broad petals are of paler scarlet than those of the common red poppy, and the blossom is not so large.

4. P. Rhaas (Common Red Poppy).-Capsules nearly globose; bristles spreading; leaves pinnatifid, cut. Plant annual. The farmer cannot praise our common poppy, but the lover of beauty rejoices in its grace, and in the richness of scarlet tint which harmonises so well with the verdure around it. A black spot often stains the base of its petals, and its foliage is of bright green. Country people call the plant Corn-rose, or Red-weed, or Headache, and Cheese-bowl; the French term it Le Pavot, L'Eillette, and Le Coquelicot. It is Der Mohn of the German farmer, and the Maankop of the Dutch; while this, or some similar species, is the Papavero of the Italian, and the Adormidera of the Spaniard. Though so common in England, it is rare in the West of Scotland. It is easily distinguished from the long smooth-headed species, which often grows with it, both by its short capsule and by the spreading hairs of its flower-stalks. Agnes Strickland enumerates it among her "Flowers of the Corn-field : ”

"And we'll pause and gather a glorious wreath

From the flowers that are shelter'd the corn beneath :

There are velvet campions, both white and red,

And poppies, like morning-glories spread,

That flash and glance with their scarlet sheen,

The bending ears of the wheat between;

And mark, when it bows to the breeze's sway,
How it shows the cockle in rich array,

And the lowly bind, with its delicate tinge,
And the azure succory's silken fringe;

The modest scabious, of meeker blue,
And silvery galium, of virgin hue;

The gay fuellin, and ox-eye bold,

And their gaudy neighbour, the marygold."

This poppy is cultivated in France and Germany for the oil expressed from its seeds; the oil is not narcotic, but is consumed very generally on the Continent instead of olive oil. Its use was, at one time, prohibited by the laws of France, much popular and unreasonable clamour having been excited against it; but it is now openly sold, and is often mixed with olive oil. The seeds are also used in Poland and Russia as an ingredient in soups and gruel. It was called Rhaas, from the Greek word "to flow," or "fall," in allusion to the fugacious nature of its petals. Cybele, the mother of the gods, wore a crown of the poppies, its numerous seeds being an emblem of fertility. Brantz Mayer mentions a singular usage connected