PAGE 8. Gossamer.—Gossamer is the web of a very small spider. In that entertaining and instructive book, White's History of Selborne, is an account of a wonderful shower of gossamer which fell in and about that village, on the 21st of September, 1741. The letter containing the history of this phenomenon concludes thus—"Every day in fine weather, in "Augutum chiefly, od I see those spiders shooting out "their webs and mounting aloft. They will go off "fropm your finger if you will take them in you "hand. Last Summer one alighted on my book as I "was reading in the Parlour; and running to the top "of the page, and shooting out a web, took its de"parture from thence. But what I most wondered "at was, that it went off with considerable velocity, "in a place where no air was stirring; and I am sure "I did not assist it with my breath; so that those "little crawlers seem to have, while mounting, some "loco-motive power, without the use of wings, and "to move in the air faster than the air itself." White's History of Selbourne, p. 192.

     14. The Nautilus—Argonania Argo. The paper Nantilus. "This elegant shell is inhabited by an ani"mal resembling the Sepia octopodia. In calm wea-

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 "ther it rises to the surface, and spreads out its arms "over the shell which serves it for oars; and raising "and expanding a double membrane of wonderful "tenuity, as a sail, it glides along with the breeze. "When danger threatens, it suddenly withdraws into "the shell and sinks to the bottom." Elementar os Natural History, Vermes, p. 9S4.

     Pa. 23. Beacons.—I have often wished to know, whether the very large stones of many hundred weight, which are to be seen on the very highest of the South downs, within a few miles of the sea, surrounded generally by a trench, and very different from any stones to be found within many miles, were not artificial, and made by cementing a great number of smaller stones together. I think I have read, that some of the immense circles of stones supposed to have been the temples of the Druids, were by some enquirers believed to have been thus composed. But these are questions which I have generally been stared at for making.

     28. The Wheat-ear, Molacilla Oenanthe.—These birds frequent open stony places, arrens, downs, &c. They build in stone quarries, old rabbit holes, &c. making their nest of dry grass, feathers and horse-hair. They lay six of eight eggs. They feed on earthworms and flies, and in Autumn, when fat, are esteemed a great delicacy, and caught in great numbers on the hills between Eastbourne and those above Brightelmstone. They are sometimes caught more to the westward, but are not found so fat as those taken on the more eastern downs. The females arrive there in March; the male birds not till a fortnight afterwards; in September they all disappear. About

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 the stone quarries in Someractshire, they are, it is faid, observed at all times of the year, but I do not remember to have heard that they are taken for the table in any other part of England. Mr. White in his Natural History calls the Wheat-ear "the Sussex bird." It does not seem to be ascertained, whether or not they migrate to France, or other parts of the continent.—Some birds seem to be only partially migrants, and do not all leave the countries where they are bred.

     Pa. 31. Sandlings, or Sanderlings, Sea Plovers, Sandpipers, all of the genus Tringa; these birds, of which there are many varieties, live on sea insects among the rocks, and on the sands; many of them appear in March, and retire in September or October; some remain throughout the year.

     It is usual to see, in certain states of the tide, women and strong boys wading through the shallow waves; pushing before them a net, fastened to a pole, to catch Prawns, Cuncer serrulus, and Shrimps, Cancer Cragon. On some part of the coast, the former are caught in ozier pots placed among the rocks, in the same manner as for lobsters.

     91. Conferon—Of this sea weed there is great variety. Some of a deep crimson, others pale red, green, white, or purple; they resemble tufts, or are branched, and appear like small leafless trees.

     Slake or Sloke—Ulur umbilicalis.

     Sea Thong—Fucus clongalus.

     Yellow horned Poppy—Clauciun chelidonioum.

     Convolunlus Soldinella—This plant is not frequent on the Souther coast, but in the West, and about Weymouth, it is common.

     46. The Humming bird—Trochilus. Natives of

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 America, and all, except two sorts, of South America. These beautiful little creatures feed, while, on their shining wings vibrating with so quick a motion, that it is not to be perceived, they hang over flowers, of which they suck the sweet juice—They are courageous, and githt resolutely against the large spiders that attach their young—They lay two little pearl-like eggs in a nest made of cotton—They have an agreeable odour, and seem to be one of nature's most finished and beautiful productions in that class of beings.

     Pa. 53. Ulex, Furze. It is in some countries called Gorse, in others Whin. It is sometimes sown for gences, and to make coverts for the protection of game; but is naturally produced on heaths and waste grounds. There is a dwarf sort of it—It is sometimes chapped small and given to horses to eat, and is cut and stacked up, to burn lime with.

     53. Whin Chats, Motacilla rubelra. Stone Chats, Motacilla rubicola.

     Common Heath, Erica vulgaria. Cross-leaved Heath, Erica teiralix. Fine leaved Heath, Erica cenerea—Of these last there are varieties, pink, blush colour, and white—Cornish Heath, Erica, is found only, I believe, in that county.

     54. Mushroom, Fungus, Agaric—Of these there is an infinite variety, but one only is usually eaten in England. Though the Italians, French, and more particularly the Russians consider as very excellent food many Fungus's which we think unwholesome, and turn from with disgust. It is certain, however, that several of them are of a poisonous quality.

     55. Dodder, Cuscula—There are of this plant two

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 sorts, the greater and lesser Dodder. It supports itself on the sap of the plant to which it adheres.

     Pa. 61. Missel Thrush, Turdus visicorons—Mr. White, in his account of singing birds, puts this among those whose song ceases before Midsummer. It is certainly an error. This remarkable bird, which cannot be mistaken for any other, began to sing so early as the second week in January; and I now hear him uttering a more clamorous song, the 8th of July, between the flying showers. Whenever the weather is windy or changeable, he announces it by a variety of loud notes. There is only one bird of this kind within hearing, who sang last year to the beginning of August. His food consists of berries and insects, but principally the former. The fruit of the Hawthorn, Mesphilus, Elder, Sambucus, Spindle tree, Euonymus, Sloe, Prunus, and Holly, Ilex, occasionally supply him; but the Misseltoe, Viscum, from whence he takes his name of viscivornus, is his favourite food. As bird-lime is often makde of it's glutinous berries, and this Thrush is supposed to enerease the Misseltoe by depositing the seeds he has swallowed on other trees, he is said in a Latin proverb to propagate the means of his own destruction.

     69. The Olive tree, Olea Europa—Oil, however useful, either at our tables or in the Materia Medica, is yet more so on the continent: a Spanish table presents almost every kind of food prepared with oil. It is also much used in Italy and the South of France; and I have known English people, after a long residence in those countries, declare, that being accustomed to eat fine and pure oil, they had no longer any wish for the indispensable article of English luxury, butter.

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 The inflammation arising from the stings of venomons reptiles or insects is removed by an application of olive oil. If poured on the water, it makes the rough waves subside. Olives are planted in little groves, round the farms, or as they are there called Bastides, in the South of France.

     Pa. 93. Guazume, Theobroma guazumca—Great Cedar of Jamaica.

     Swietan—Mahogani.

     Pimento, Myrtus Pimento—Jamaics All spice.

     the ground Dove—a small dove which creeps on the ground, is very frequent in the woods of Jamaica. I have not been able to find its Linnæan name.

     Cane, Saccharum officinarum.

     Coffee, Coffea Arabica.

     Plumeria, commonly called Tree Jasmin, a most beautiful and odorous plant.

     Punica granala—Pomegranate.

     Plinia pedunculata, a fragrant native of tropical countries.

     Bats bigger than crows are found in the gullies and caverns among the woods of Jamaica, And monkeys hide there, sallying forth in numbers to prey on the canes and fruits.

     Stanza 4. The wretched Negro, fearing punishment, or driven to despair by continual labour, often secretes himself in these obscure recesses, and preys in his turn on his oppressor at the hazard of his life.

     —5. After the toils of the day, the poor African often walks many miles, and for a few hours loses the sense of his misery among his friends and companions.

     Stanza 5. Coco-nut tree, Cocos.

     Musa Paradisiacus—Plantain or Banana.

     the Shaddock, which is I believe sometimes vulgarly called the forbidden fruit, is shaped like a lemon with the colour of an orange; it is sometimes as big as the largest melon; but not very good to eat. At least those I have formerly seen brought from Barbadoes were worth nothing.

     Whoever has seen the Cactus grandiflora, and been gratified with its scent, must acknowledge it to be one of the most magnificent and delicious productions of vegetable nature.

     Page 105 and 107. These two short poems have been before printed.

     117. The Geranium—Of Geraniums and Pelagorniums, there are almost innumerable varieties. The plants of that species that grow here are some of the prettiest ornaments of our hedgerows, meadows, and downs; but the exotic sorts, which have long been among the most desirable furniture of the Conservatory, are principally natives of Africa. A friend of mine, who has visited the Cape of Good Hope, described to me the splendid appearance of these beautiful flowers covering the rocks and sand hills; many of the most elegant growing as luxuriantly as docks or mallows do here; while others rise to the size of large shurbs.

     Stanza 4. The Asters are almost the last ornaments of our gardens; they blow late, and give the appearance of gaiety when the more beautiful flowers are gone.

     Pa. 134. Morus nigra, the common Mulberry—The

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 mulberry tree, a native of Italy, is cultivated not only for its grateful fruit, but for the more lucrative purpose of supplying food to silk-worms. The leaves of the white mulberry are preferred for this purpose in Europe; but in China, where the best silk is made, the silk-worms are fed with the leaves of the Morus Tariaricus. From the bark of another species, Morus papyrifera, the Japanese make paper, and the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, the cloth which serves them for apparel. Woodville's Med. Bot.

     In Italy, the vines are often seen hanging in festoons from tree to tree in the plantations of mulberry trees.

     Pa. 141. The cankered Rose—It is not to be understood, that this address is from a lover; a mother, a brother, or a friend, might equally delight to celebrate the day that gave brith to the object of their fond affections.

     Quipos's—The Peruvians had a method of expressing their meaning by narrow knotted ribbands of various colours, which they called Quipo's: a certain number of knots of one colour, divided by so many of another, expressed particular meanings; and served these simple and innocent people in place of the art of writing—See "Lettres Peruviennes."

     Rosarie—In old poets, this word is used, not as now for a collection of roses, but for a single tree. I remember (but I have not the book now) an imitation of Spencer, by I know now whom, in a poem called Cupid and Psyche, where Cupid hides in a Rosarie It is also used in old French for a rose tree, though the modern word is rosier.

     Pa. 145. This apostrophe to St. Antoine was supposed, as the packet boat Captain said, to be an infallible re-

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 ceipt for raising the wind, and was always used for that purpose by the Portuguese, among whom he had once been employed.

     Pa. 152. Poem, stanza 3, line 11—The Paon's plume.

     The Paon, for peacock, has also the authority of old writers.

     153. Stanza 6. Whoever has listened on a still Summer or Autumnal evening, to the murmurs of the small waves, just breaking on the shingles, and remarked the low sounds re-ecchoed by the distant rocks, will understand this.

     —Stanza 7. The course of those wonderful swarms of fishes that take their annual journey is, I believe, less understood than the emigration of birds. I suppose them, without having any particular ground for my conjecture, to begin their voyage from beyond the extreme point of the Southern continent of America. Many of the Northern nations live almost entirely on fish. Their light, during the long night of an arctic winter, is supplied by the oil of marine animals.

     —Stanza 8. In the countries where the produce of the sea is so necessary to human life, the arrival of shoals of fish is most eagerly waited for by the hardy inhabitant. Thrown on the summit of an high clift, overlooking the sea, the native watches for the approach of the expected good, and sees with pleasure the numerous sea birds, who, by an instinct superior to his own, perceive it at a far greater distance, and follow to take their share of the swarming multitude.

     Pa. 154, Stanza 9. Ling, a name given in many parts of England to the Erica vulgaris—Common Heath.

     P. 155. Stanza 10. Anas mollissima—While many sea-birds deposit their eggs on the bare rocks, the Eider duck lines her nest most carefully with the feathers from her own breast, which are particularly fine and light: the nest is robbed, and she a second time unplumes herself for the accommodation of her young. If the lining be again taken away, the drake lends his breast feathers; but if after that, their unreasonable persccutors deprive it of its lining, they abandon the nest in despair, the master of the domicile wisely judging, that any feather sacrifice would be useless.

     —Stanza 11. Suspended by a slight rape, the adventurous native of the North of Scotland is let down from the highest cliffs that hang over the sea, while with little or no support, he collects the eggs of the sea fowl, in a basket tied round his waist. The feathers also of these birds gathered from the rocks, are a great object to those poor industrious people.

     —Stanza 11, Pelicanus Bassanus, the Gannet, builds on the highest rocks.

     -Stanza 12, line 5. Trichecus rosmarus, the Walruss, or Morse, a creature of the seal kind, now said to be no longer found on the coast of Scotland, but still inhabiting other northern countries. They are sometimes eighteen or twenty feet long, and roar like bulls.

     Ditto. Gulph currents are supposed to throw the remains of fruits of the tropical regions ont he most northern coast of America, and it is asserted that the same fruits are also found on the coast of Norway. See "Les Etudes de la Nature."