wet seasons a great quantity of the plant is found in the barley-fields of Sweden. Its seeds become mingled with the grain, and when ground with the corn and made into barley-bread, they were supposed by Linnæus to be the cause of a violent and dangerous spasmodic disease, called Raphania, which is an occasional epidemic of Sweden. The plant, however, abounds in our English fields, and in some of the cold moist valleys of Dauphiny is one of the most frequent weeds, yet in neither country is this disease experienced. Professor Burnett thinks that the injurious effect of the plant in some circumstances may be owing to a morbid condition of the seeds, or to the growth of noxious funguses upon them, rather than to anything unwholesome in the seeds themselves; and this would account for the fact that Raphania is an occasional, and not an annual disease; but many writers think that the malady is altogether unconnected with the plant.

The garden radish, that common salad root, is the Raphanus sativus. It has several varieties, as the turnip, Spanish, and other well-known radishes. The tree-radish, Raphanus caudatus, is remarkable for the length of its pod, which is greater than the whole height of the plant. The young leaves of most of the species are eaten as salads in the lands in which they grow. The radish is called Raifort by the French, Der Rettig by the Germans; it is the Tamme Radys of the Dutch, and the Rafans of the Italians.

2. R. marítimus (Sea Radish).-Leaves interruptedly lyrate; pod jointed, marked with lines, and larger than the preceding. Plant biennial. This plant, which grows on sea-cliffs, and bears its yellow flowers in June, is very similar to the last species. It is by many writers regarded as a variety only, its chief points of difference being its larger pods, and the form of its leaves, which are composed of small and large leaflets, arranged alternately. It has been found on Beachy Head, and on some parts of the Scottish shores.

ORDER VII. RESEDACEE-ROCKET TRIBE.

Sepals narrow, from four to six in number; petals unequal, jagged or fringed at the back; stamens, as well as the petals, inserted on an irregular disc, on one side of the flower; stigmas 3, sessile; ovary 3-lobed, 1-celled, many seeded, open at the summit; seeds in two rows; plants herbaceous, more rarely somewhat shrubby, their flowers being arranged in clusters or spikes, and their leaves alternate. The properties of all are innocuous, and, with the exception of the Dyer's Weed, they are little used for any economical purposes.

1. RESEDA (Rocket).-Calyx of one piece, many-parted; petals entire, or variously cut, unequal; stamens numerous; capsule 1-celled, opening at the summit. Name from resédo," to calm," from the supposed sedative effect of some of the plants.

1. RESEDA (Rocket, Mignonette).

1. R. lutéola (Dyer's Rocket, Yellow Weed, or Weld).-Leaves long, narrow and undivided; calyx 4-parted; stigmas 3. Plant biennial. On chalky inland or sea-side cliffs, or by the road-side or field-borders, this tall, slender species often attracts the eye of the wanderer over the chalky or limestone soil. It is an erect, herbaceous plant, from two to three feet high; its pale yellow, greenish flowers, blossoming in July, having very conspicuous stamens, and being succeeded by short flattened capsules. It was, in former times, inuch used by dyers, and cotton, silk, linen, and woollen materials receive a beautiful tint from its juices; while blue cloths dipped in the dye assume a rich green colour. Every portion of the plant is used by the dyer, and to the juices of this yellow weed the artist owes the colour called Dutch pink. This plant is remarked as being one

of the first which appear on the rubbish thrown from coal-pits. Linnæus observes of it, that it follows the course of the sun even when obscured by clouds, pointing throughout the day in its direction, turning to the east at the dawn of morning, looking southwards at noonday, saluting the west at sunset, and at midnight standing due north.

2. R. lútea (Wild Mignonette).-Leaves 3-cleft, lower ones pinnatifid; calyx 6-parted; petals 6, very unequal. Plant biennial. This is so much like the Garden Mignonette, the Little Darling of the French, "The Frenchman's Weed," as Cowper calls it, that it would at once be known as a Mignonette by any who are familiar with the scented flower. Its spikes of blossoms, however, have not the pretty reddish tinted stamens of that species, being altogether of a yellowish green hue. The odour of the Wild Mignonette, too, is rather unpleasing than agreeable, though it is not powerful. Calder Campbell, in a little poem which he has written for this volume, alludes to this circumstance.

"The flowers we gather in the sun may soothe us in the shade,

As thoughts amid the crowd that spring our lonely hours pervade;
Consoling us for pleasures past by whispering of those

That yet shall crown our honest toils with justly-earn'd repose.

"A book may hold a rose's leaf, preserved for many years,

Whose scents and hues can conjure up sad smiles that turn to tears:
Affection dormant, if not dead, may wake again restored,
By finding faded nosegays in some old neglected hoard.
"When I remember blossoms cull'd in early days of yore,

I seem to smell their fragrance, though I see their blooms no more;
A mem'ry thus oft makes the false, reality assume,

As thoughts of violets with their scents may fill my quiet room.
"Thus wandering o'er the cliffs one day, a wayside plant I saw,
Which from my unaccustomed lips did joyful welcome draw;

A gush of perfume, at the sight, around me breathed, but when

I sprang and pluck'd the flowers, ah me! where was the fragrance then? "It is the Mignonette,' quoth I; yet odour there is none!'

Abundant o'er the chalky hills its blossoms met the sun;
A deeper yellow on them lay than clad my garden flowers,
And yet there was no soothing scent, the semblance only ours.
"Oh false, but fair, Wild Mignonette! thou art the type of all
Who promise fairly to the eye, but answer not the call

Of such as seek to soothe the sense with sweetness rich and clear,
As wind harps, wanting air, deny all sweetness to the ear."

Our Wild Mignonette is a common flower during June, July, and August, especially on chalky hilly lands. It is more bushy than the Dyer's Weed, and its spikes are shorter, thicker, and of a yellower tint; while its oblong wrinkled capsules are much more like those of the Fragrant Mignonette. This latter species is a native of Egypt, and is one of the most valued, though one of the most common, of our garden flowers; its sweet odour often greeting us from the city, when the box is placed in the balcony, or when its clusters flourish on some little inclosure. To many a one who passes with hurried footstep, intent on the business of the day, it brings a sweet remembrance of country scenes and summer odours; and its fragrance is borne in by the breeze, perchance, to some who lie on the sick-couch, and tells of gardens far away, and sweet spots of sunshine and flowers.

It is yet scarcely a century since this well-known plant was introduced into this country, but, like the Fuchsia, it so easily accommodated itself to our soil and climate, and became so general a favourite, that no garden is now without it. The famous Tree Mignonette is merely this species rendered shrubby, by pre