commit it to the earth. Now, this is just the very made so easy," that a man forgets himself, thing a youngster would like to do, and his reward forgets he is reading a serious work, and be is a clear understanding of what may be called that it is highly improper to introduce any Knight's Vertical Wheel Experiment. comes guilty of the offence second only to homicide-viz., verbicide? Very prettily is the "The root described, and I transcribe it. have been to embellish and make beautiful all These organs, so little favoured in their appearance, have, however, very important functions in the order of vegetable action. A very useful moral lesson may be learned from that last sentence. "Destiny obscure" need not fear the disdainful smile of grandeur; and now, I fact is, Messrs Cassells are to blame: why suppose, you pardon the radical error of perpedon't they place on the title pages of all trating a joke. the books published by them, "Science I have seen the famous Banyan tree, men among which it lives. No subject can be unimportant which has occupied the thoughts of so many sages; and the occupation seems to have been always delightful, for writers, many hundreds of years before the Christian era, evidently loved to dwell on the mysteries of "The Vegetable Kingdom," seeing in them, also, a feature of the great mystery of life. And from time to time men have ought, even from the daisies, types of beauty, evidences of Omnipotence, all of which, to the reflecting mind, lead to adoration of their great First Cause. I have selected the preceding specimens of the woodcuts in this book. If I had my own way, I would extract them all, and, without one word as to the literary merits of this excellent volume, leave the subject. But I hold that the study of the Vegetable Kingdom teaches lessons all ought to learn. What does Ben Johnson say (oh, rare Ben Johnson!) ?—— "It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make men better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night, It was the plant and flower of light. In small proportions we just beauties see, And in short measures life may perfect be." Edmund Waller says truly "Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired." But in another stanza the moral is pointed :"How small a part of time they share That are so wondrous, sweet and fair!" No home where young people are should be without this volume-its perusal must elevate, but as few will be content with one perusal, the elevation of thought will increase, as I trust the sale will, of this truly valuable and delightful book. DUN-EDIN. The Country Gentleman's Magazine 77 The Country Gentlewoman. HORTICULTURAL ELEGANCIES FOR IN-DOOR DECORATION. "G" IVE me those flowers," as Shakspere makes Paris say to his page in "Romeo and Juliet." "Give me those flowers," as the pale, wan, bed-stricken patient, who looks longingly and sad as he or she beholds the fresh flowers of spring culled into a bouquet. "I want to look again at the face of creation." "Give me those flowers," says the fair petitioner, as, with an elastic bound and a merry laugh, she snatches them from the not unwilling hands of a friend of the sterner sex. 66 I do so delight in a posy to fill our vase. Its freshness, and sweetness, and beauty, are at times so captivating, it enables us to enjoy a little of the floral beauties of the country in our own house at home." "Give me those flowers," constitutes an aphorism, which is evidently inherent in all that worship at the shrine of Flora. The dwellers in the country were not contented with the plants and flowers indigenous to their soil. What was beautiful among them, was cared for and preserved; what was distasteful to the eye was passed aside. Foreign countries were explored, and whenever its flora was introduced, the cry has been, and is, and will be, "Give me those flowers!" The same principle has been enunciated by the dwellers in cities. They were pleased with a posy, with a bouquet of cut flowers, but their cup of pleasure was not full to the brim. More properly speaking, they had more than one cup to fill. Whenever it was proved that flowers were producible in cities, whenever plants of an ornamental character, be it for their variations in leaf, colour, or in their various conformations, the cry was silently expressed, "Give me those flowers." And now what a multitude we have to pick and Fig. 1.-Rustic Wood Basket. that is beyond the reach of very many to follow up. Still the variety gives a selection to suit different tastes, and so all are more generally satisfied. If, however, there were little choice in time past in the matter of flowers, there was also little disposition shewn to have objects of ornamental character to display them to most advantage. Great as have been our advances in the matter of selection of plants suitable for rooms, proportionately so has been the ingenuity displayed to provide a variety of plant receptacles suitable for the various places which plants occupy indoors. We have not only done so, but we have also provided them with means whereby artificial heat has been raised, thus having within our parlours and drawing-rooms a little snatch of the beauty of tropical vegetation. Many of our most beautiful foliaged plants, notably the Crotons and Dracenas, which are perpetually beautiful when in health, must have a little artificial heat to tide them over our, to them, inhospitable winter. Yea, even the very Ferns indigenous to our clime, such as the Killarney, and the Oak, and the Beech Ferns, and the Welsh species, are all the better of a slight artificial heat during very severe weather. But to return to the more immediate objects of our remarks at present: we appreciate plant life much more if we see it set in a good frame-work in our entrance halls, boudoirs, parlours, and withdrawing-rooms. If, for instance, we have our parlour window so filled up as to have a broad shelving for plant accommodation, instead of placing the plants in common earthenware pots, why not adopt the grouping system? There are a variety of vases and baskets in commerce, cheap to buy, and how very much more dress-looking, to use an indoor phrase, do they appear set in some or other of the forms to be had in the market? Take, for example, Barr & Sugden's designs, which are all neat, and quite the sort of receptacles for the purposes we name, and which by their kindness we are permitted to engrave, and you have a choice from the very cheap to the Fig. 2.-Circular Rustic Vase. very dear. While they are elegant in outline, they are also designed upon the basis of multum in parvo. Mr Barr has had much experience, and shewn considerable aptitude They might either be inserted in pots, and the pots afterwards huddled together, and packed round about and over with moss, or they might be planted at once in a compost. of the usual kind placed in the zinc-lined basket. Then, when the season of bulb flowering is over, a collection of Ferns, as illustrated, might be introduced. A Palm in the centre, of such a hardy decorative character as Seaforthia elegans or Calamus asperrimus, would make an appropriate centre plant in a pot; and then there could be Ferns or Club Mosses, in variety, to form an agreeable shading of both, as to form, and colour, and contour. There is no end, indeed, to the change that could be made, and the pleasure propagated, with suitable plants in even a limited basket of this kind. Fig. 2 is a rustic vase of circular outline. Horticultural Elegancies for In-door Decoration It could be used for in-door decoration, as well as the one above commented upon, only it takes up considerable space. Ladies would prefer, as a rule, to have either of these in a good niche of some picturesque spot in the ornamental garden. There, indeed, they would be proper objects in keeping with the scenery. In an airy locality, however, where there is a recess large enough indoors, even this would not be improperly placed. The merits of these consist in their cheapness, and the space commandable for introducing a variety of plants, and changing them at different periods of the season. These, we understand, vary in price from half-a-guinea to a guinea. The far more handsome stands for drawing-room decoration are represented in figs. 3 and 4. The Drawing-room Fern Case, fig. 3, is after the order we often see. Its principle is the same, but its details are more infinite, and it bears elegance on its very face. While it is so, appropriateness for the principal object is never lost sight of. This is wherein the merit of these horticultural elegancies consist. To give the Fern-case a withdrawing-room character, that is, to produce it in keeping with the many other elaborate and elegant traceries in cabinet wood, and in cabinets that often adorn a room of this name, an artistic stand in bronze rustic wood has been designed, and forms the pedestal whereon the Fern case rests. All cases of this kind are only suitable for the fine-leaved plants that now abound in horticulture. Flowering plants confined within the circle and limits of this little atmosphere, would not yield a single flower in perfection. Even the very buds would refuse to swell, and decomposition would take place before the florets were called upon in the natural process of plant life to expand. But for Ferns it is quite the little climate; and when one knows that both hardy and exotic species do beautifully, what a fund of pleasure it is to the ladies, and even to the gentlemen, who own them, to see plant life so fresh, and green, and eye-inviting. Our designer, however, is not con 79 tented with presenting an attraction of this kind by itself for itself, for he furnishes a "New Drawing-room Fern and Plant Case," fig. 4, so admirably conceived, that doubtless many of our readers will be anxious to procure one, were it for nothing else than a drawing-room ornament. In this the buyer has all the accommodation for Fern culture under a bell glass, and pockets for choice plants arranged upon the pedestal. This is about the best thing we know of for artistic Fig. 5.-Palissy Vase. design; and if possessors had a greenhouse or pit to draw the riches of plant life from, it would be a source of inexhaustible beauty. As it is, many plants might be found to do well. Amaryllids, such as Hippeastrums or Vallota, would be very ornamental. Mostly all evergreen plants of the bulbous race would grow and flower, were they to have a good exposure to the sun for two months after flowering. Of course, there are the failme-never Pelargoniums, and Fuchsias, and Oleanders. If flowering plants are too expensive to keep up, then there are Palms and Ficuses, and Begonias, and Yuccas, and Agaves, all good plants for such a position. Last among the elegancies, we notice at this time, is the Palissy Vase, fig. 5. This, |