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DECEMBER 21ST.

THE SWEET BAY TREE.—(Laurus nobilis.)

THIS evergreen now stands out in conspicuous beauty amid the deciduous trees of the shrubbery; the leaves, of shining, rich, deep green, reflect the sunbeams, so that even barren December is made to smile in its beauty. The tree rarely attains to more than thirty feet high, grows bushy, and emits a fragrant, aromatic odour. It was held in the highest esteem by the ancients; reputed as the distinguished, favourite tree of Apollo. Ovid relates the fable of the transformation of Daphne into the Laurus by Jupiter, to save her from the pursuit of Apollo, thus

"Scarce had she finished when her feet she found
Benumb'd with cold, and fastened to the ground;
A filmy rind about her body grows,

Her hair to leaves, her arms extend to boughs.
The nymph is all into a laurel gone,

The smoothness of her skin remains alone."

The remarkable elegance and beauty of the tree seem to have been acknowledged by Apollo, who dedicates to poetry, music, and victory, the evergreen bay :

"Be thou the prize of honour and renown ;
The deathless poet and the poem crown.
Thou shalt the Roman festivals adorn,
And, after poets, be by victors worn.

Hence poets were crowned with wreaths of Bay leaves, as well as warriors and victors in the Olympic Games. At a much later date Petrarch received the Laurel crown in 1341, and Tasso in 1594, in imitation of the ancient usage. The Pythian priestess was said to derive her inspiration from chewing Bay leaves previous to placing herself on the sacred tripod, the juices of the leaves producing, after abstinence, a wild enthusiasm; hence the Bay was known as the prophetic tree. The victorious Roman generals were crowned with Bay, every soldier wearing a spray on the occasion of a triumphal entry into Rome. The despatches sent home by victorious generals

to the Senate were wrapped in Bay leaves. The laurel, with us, is deemed the emblem of victory; there can be no doubt, however, that the Bay, or the Apollo laurel, was the tree celebrated by the ancient poets. It was an ancient belief that the Laurus nobilis was sacred from lightning; there seems to be no evidence of any instance of its having been struck by the electric fluid, remaining, in all time,

"Secure from thunder and unharmed by Jove."

Parkinson, in his Garland of Flowers, says of Bay leaves, "that they are good both for the sick and the sound, both for the living and the dead; fit to crown or encircle as with a garland the head of the living and to deck the bodies of the dead, so that from the cradle to the grave we have still use of it, we have still need of it."

DECEMBER 22ND.

THE TURKEY. (Meleagris gallo pavo.)

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THIS to many is probably the most interesting bird we have at the present season; and as numerous fine specimens are everywhere offered to public inspection no description can possibly be needed. The Jesuits claim the thanks of the public for introducing the Turkey to Europe, but there seems to be no good ground for the claim. It was probably introduced from North America shortly after the discovery by Cabot, immense flocks having been found there. The month of October was commonly known to the Indians as Turkey Month," from the flocks that then frequented the woods to feed on the mast, &c. The wild Turkey was kept in Windsor Forest as a game bird in the time of George the Third; all the birds have long since disappeared, and we now know the Turkey only in its domesticated state, moving about the farmyard with other barndoor fowls, but still occasionally exhibiting signs of its wild nature by straying to a distance, and roosting on the tops of the tallest trees, even in winter. The goose has the character, to which the Turkey seems more justly entitled, of being the silliest bird we have. The young

are very delicate, and so extremely ignorant of the duties of life, that they have to be taught by the farm servants how to pick up their daily food. Without this careful teaching numbers of the young birds perish; this education, however, duly accomplished, they do well, soon becoming quite hardy; but the ignorance and silliness of youth are not succeeded by the wisdom of age. Tabbella Cibaria shows the stupidity of the fowl thus:-"Balance a piece of straw on the Turkey's head, or draw a line of chalk on the ground from its beak, and the bird immediately fancies itself loaded or bound, so that it will remain in the same position till hunger forces him to move." And this really appears to be a fact.

Turkeys are fond of swallowing whole hazel nuts, pebbles, and gravel, for gizzard pebbles, to grind the hard corn. Roget, in his Bridgwater Treatise, states:-"On opening the gizzard it is constantly found to contain a quantity of small pebbles, and the most natural reason that can be assigned for swallowing these stones is that they aid the gizzard in triturating the food, and that they, in fact, supply to the bird the office of teeth." It is a well-ascertained fact that poultry will not fatten if prevented access to pebbles, &c.; occasionally as many as a hundred stones have been found in the gizzard of a Turkey !

The female Turkey exhibits during incubation great steadiness, rarely leaving the nest except on the most urgent demand for food and water, and in rearing the young she is very assiduous in their protection. This is highly necessary, for the male bird, if occasion offers, will not only destroy the eggs but endeavour to kill the young.

DECEMBER 23RD.

THE LAUREL.-(Cerasus lauro.)

"As the young Laurel, in some sylvan scene,
Crown'd by fresh fountains with eternal green,
Lifts the gay head in snowy flowrets fair,

And plays and dances in the gentle air.”—Iliad.

Now that the deciduous trees have shed their gay foliage, and the woodland has put on a withered or barren aspect, the fresh evergreens come prominently into notice, and we begin to look with more favour on our winter friends.

The Laurel, like other evergreens, sheds its leaves every year; the new leaves begin to open about the middle of March, and by the middle of April the old leaves have fallen, and the new foliage has taken their place. The flowers are clear white, small, and clustered. The beautiful, shining, evergreen leaves of the Laurel gleam like silver as you look down the shrubbery hedge, the winter sunbeams lighting up the trees into sparkling brilliancy.

"The twinkling Laurel scatters silver light."

It was an ancient belief that poetical inspiration was induced by sleeping under Laurels-that men gained Laurels by resting under Laurels and that especial protection had been granted to the tree from injury by lightning.

"For the true Laurel wreath which glory weaves
Is of the tree no bolt of thunder cleaves."

Pliny appears to have entertained this belief.

Tiberius is

said to have worn a Laurel crown for the protection it afforded. It was, however, more especially the emblem of success and conquest.

"The Laurel, meed of mighty conquerors And poets sage."

There is a celebrated grove of Laurels near Baia, in Italy, which, if the tradition is true, may well be regarded as true poet's laurels. It is said that Virgil died whilst on his way to Greece, and that he was buried at Baia, and that Petrarch planted Laurels around his grave; these have been permitted to extend over and around the sacred spot, until they have formed quite a grove.

Laurel water was formerly much used in cookery; the flavour is identical with that of some of our choicest fruits; it is occasionally used at the present time for flavouring liquers, puddings, &c.; caution should be observed, as distilled Laurel water is one of our most deadly poisons-prussic acid. The plum, peach, cherry, and almond contain a minute quantity of this deadly acid, but happily so minute and neutralised as to prove beneficial to health rather than injurious.

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The Laurel has been a favourite shrubbery tree in England for very many years; its bright glad green leaves, as of old, enliven our homes and places of worship at this festive season. Gay's request,

"Now with bright holly all the temples strew

With Laurel green and sacred mistletoe,"

is only partially complied with. The mistletoe is now usually excluded from our places of worship.

DECEMBER 24TH.

THE MISTLETOE.-(Viscum album.)

"Fair plant, a mystery thy birth;
Thou dost not fix thy home on earth;
Rock'd by the winds, fed by the shower,
Thy cradle is an airy bower."

THE gathering of the Mistletoe was anciently observed with many rites; it especially belonged to the new year. Evelyn,

in his "Silvia," gives the following particulars :-" When the end of the year approached the Druids marched with great solemnity to gather the plant, in order to present it to Jupiter, inviting all to assist in the ceremony thus :

"The New Year is at hand: gather the Mistletoe.'

"The sacrifice being ready, the chief priest ascended the sacred oak, and with a golden hook cut off the Mistletoe, which was received in a spotless cloth. Two milk white bulls were then sacrificed." The branches of the sacred plant were dipped in water and distributed among the people, as preventives of disease and as charms against witchcraft. If by any accident the branches were permitted to touch the ground the direst calamities to the whole people were prognosticated. There is no authentic record of the Mistletoe having been found growing on the oak in modern times. It is common enough on the hawthorn, apple, &c. It is the only true

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