To dress with flowers the snow-white wether, ere the sun has dried the dew."

"But Justine must learn the German rite," cried Charles, "it is a pity we have not it in the original grandly-rumbling words, but she must try what the

translation will do

Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light,

I must gather the mystic St. John's-wort to night,
The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide
If the coming year shall make me a bride.'"

"I think," said aunt Martha, "we should all be more pleased with Mrs. Howitt's lines, entitled Holy Flowers,' which certainly speak my feelings on the subject we have been discussing, and which are the more valuable as a testimony in favour of those beautiful old names and sacred associations, because they come from one of a sect who regard all outward tokens of reverence for holy things as superstitious. She begins by lamenting

'Woe's me-how knowledge makes forlorn;
The forest and the field are shorn
Of their old growth, the holy flowers-
Of if they spring, they are not ours.'

And then, after describing the peasant of old meeting them in his daily toil, goes on to say-

Then musing in the woodland nook,

Each flower was as a written book,
Recalling by memorial quaint,
The holy deed of martyred saint;
The patient faith, which, unsubdued,
Grew mightier though fire and blood.
One blossom, 'mid its leafy shade
The virgin's purity portrayed;
And one, with cup all crimson dyed,
Spoke of a Saviour crucified;

And rich the store of holy thought
That little forest-flower brought;

Doctrine and miracle, whate'er

We draw from books was treasured there.'

And after some beautiful description, too long for me to quote, concludes by asking--

What though in our pride's selfish mood,

We hold those times as dark and rude?

Yet give we, from our wealth of mind,

Feeling more grateful or refined?

And yield we unto nature aught

Of loftier, or of holier thought,
Than they, who gave sublimest power

To the small spring and simple flower ?'"

"It certainly was a very ingenious method of impressing knowledge upon the minds of the unlettered peasantry; but are all these holy flowers natives of Great Britain, Sophia?" asked Mrs. Barlow.

Certainly not all, nor even all that are commonly esteemed such, many of which are only naturalized, and usually found in those vicinities where trace or tradition of some abbey, cell, or other monastic institution yet lingers. The monk's hood, for instance, appears like a cowled ghost in the scenes where it was honoured; and one writer has even declared that the snowdrop loves such sacred haunts, and in support of his theory of its foreign origin, says that it is never named by Chancer, though he has celebrated the daisy and many other of the really indigenous flowers."

How strange that they should have remained so long attached to one spot! I should have thought

that they would have died away in the course of time," remarked Justine.

"The perpetual reproduction of plants," said Mr. Barlow, "provides for their continuance, and it is not so much the ghost of the monk's hood as one of the descendants of the original stock which we meet with in these old stations; besides which, nothing is more wonderful than the vitality of seeds. They may be hidden in the ground for years-nay, for ages, undestroyed, and at length, when brought by accident near the surface, or otherwise into a favourable situation for development, spring to life, surprising all around as a new and apparently unaccountable production. Soil which is raised by boring for water at the depth of many yards, will produce vegetation when exposed to the influence of the atmosphere; and after ploughing up moor lands or very old sward, many plants will appear which have not grown there before, and even sometimes such as are unknown in the neighbourhood. Near my own residence, for instance, in one locality, every piece of old sward which is broken up yields for the first year an abundant crop of that useless weed, the yellow rattle, which disappears in a few seasons."

"I think Jesse, in his Gleanings on Natural History,' mentions a curious fact in corroboration of what you say of the vitality of seeds," said Mr. Loraine; "which is, that near an old castle at Moffat, formerly belonging to the Regent Murray, whenever the peat, which is some inches deep, is removed, there spring up various flowers from the exposed soil, many of which are to this day rare in Scotland, and that the spot where they appear is supposed to have been the site of the ancient garden."

"I cannot at this moment remember in what book," said Sophia; "I once read an account of some English voyagers on the coast of America discovering where a settlement had formerly been attempted, by finding in a sheltered spot roses and other European flowers still flourishing, though all other trace of civilization had abandoned the place. It reminded me of what Campbell says—

One rose of the wilderness left on its stalk
To mark where a garden had been '-"

"I do believe," exclaimed Justine, that there were some raspberry plants exhibited at the Chiswick fête, which had sprung from seeds discovered in some old tomb, and were supposed to have remained buried there many hundred years. I am sure somebody bid me remark them as a great curiosity."

"They were so, indeed," replied Mr Loraine;" and, if I remember the circumstance rightly, those seeds were taken from a body found in an ancient British tumulus near Dorchester, thirty feet beneath the surface, and which, from the coins of the Emperor Adrian which accompanied it, was supposed to have reposed there for sixteen hundred years. But sixteen

hundred years is a mere trifle, if we consider the fact of an onion germinating, which was found in the hand of a mummy, and was probably from two to three thousand years old."

"One of the most extraordinary instances of the vitality of seeds that I remember to have heard of," said Cyril, "is that of the grains of corn discovered a few years ago, when an Egyptian mummy was unrolled, enclosed with the body. Four of these grains were presented to the Countess of Haddington; and, on being sown in a favourable spot of the garden belonging to the Earl's seat in East Lothian, sprang up, flourished, and yielded an abundant harvest. With what awe and reverence may we not regard this strange revival! and how strongly does it seem to point that noble passage of St. Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians, in which he bids us look upon the grain which is sown, as the type of our own more glorious resurrection! But the whole history of corn is a mystery. Is it not curious, that no species of corn, such as serves for food to the greater part of mankind, is ever known to grow spontaneously? yet you see the seeds of wheat possess the same vitality as other seeds? The mysterious origin of corn; the fact that it has never been found wild with the same properties which render it good for food, but degenerates, and becomes useless without constant cultivation; and the tradition of all nations, that it has been a gift from their gods, may teach us to look to the Giver of all good things, who sent forth Adam from paradise to till the ground, and made labour, in some way, the lot of all mankind, that industry might turn their punishment into a blessing."

"You have, indeed, Cyril, touched upon one of the most wonderful facts connected with botanical research," continued his father; "one of those which strikingly lead us back to revelation, where, in the earliest record of the sacred volume, we are told that labour is to be the portion of all the descendants of fallen Adam, and that the ground has been cursed for his sake. When we look round upon the earth clad in the lovely garb of summer, rich in all that delights the eye and captivates the taste, we may be tempted to forget this awful truth; but, when we find that the produce most necessary to us requires constant culture, and that, without the sweat of man's brow unceasingly applied to it, it degenerates, and shortly disappears; then, indeed, we must acknowledge His Almighty hand, who has not left us without witness in the course of His providence ; and for these indications of His wonderful power we must bless Him as well as for the stupendous mercies of our redemption. Such praises are the tithe of mint and cummin which must not be omitted, though He has still stronger claims upon our gratitude and love."

"Your remarks," said Mrs. Martha, "are quite in unison with some which I found, this morning, in this new book, Nichol's Help to Reading the Bible,' and so very applicable to one passage which struck me greatly, that I must quote it.-Here, luckily, I have found it without difficulty.-After referring to various parts of Scripture connected with natural history, he concludes the chapter by saying, The figurative use which the Scriptures thus make of the works of nature, should lead us to view them in the same association. What Paley says of that train of thinking which constantly refers the phenomena of nature to a supreme intelligent Author, applies with more force to that train of thinking, by which, from the works of nature we are reminded of some great revealed truth. To have made this the ruling, the habitual sentiment of our minds, is to have laid the foundation of everything religious in our mind. The world, thenceforth, becomes a temple, and life itself one continued act of adoration."" "It is quite true," remarked Mr. Barlow, "that no one branch of knowledge can be isolated and studied alone. There is a unison and harmony throughout the works both of nature and of moral providence, which leads from one to another, and makes each

"Yes, history," said Mrs. Loraine; "and, as a proof, here is a floral charade into which Mr. Hamilton has contrived to bring points of English history, which will, I think, help you all to guess it."

“Oh ! mamma," exclaimed Agnes, "do tell me how many charades you have left: I do so long to know how many, that I may be able to hope, at least, that James will be here before my birthday."

"I had a peep at the stock this morning, Agnes," said Charles, and can tell you, for your comfort, it is very low; besides, I stole one, if you think lessening their number will hasten the time of his arrival." "Stole one! Oh, Charles! what did you do that for?"

"I stole one for the purpose of presenting it to Justine; but I do not intend to give it to her to-night, though I see she is dying with curiosity to hear it. No, no, Justine; you must be contented with my mother's selection, until a proper opportunity occurs of making you the receiver of stolen goods; so listen attentively, if you please, whilst I read this. Hem! hem!

Long years have fled, and carried in their train
The conqueror and conquered, since my First
Gleamed as a standard on the battle-plain,

And o'er this island as a war-cry burst;
When the young hearts that at one knee were nursed,
And in one garland had its fair buds twined,

Severed by faction's deadly rage accursed,
Where the full flower was waving on the wind,
Rushed madly each on each, by party hatred blind.
But civil discord ceased-rejoicing came

Peace, to unite in one each rival race,
And bear it onward, till my Second's name

A queen enthroned bore-and who may trace
The working of her mind?--In that high place
She ruled with bigot zeal-her heart sincere,

But all untempered by love's gentle grace;
Doomed to the flames martyrs we still revere:
And bade our meck religion sway the world by fear.
She ruled, but God o'erruled-for light appeared
And spread its genial influence o'er the isle,
Where many a moss-grown tower and spire upreared,
Glowed with an added beauty 'neath its smile.
Low grassy hillocks lie around each pile,
Where rest in hope those who have bent the knee,
And bowed the heart within the solemn aisle :
Planted with duteous hands, there oft we see
My Whole bloom o'er the grave, type of fond memory."

"AMONG this pouer folk ther dwelt a man,
Which that was holden pourest of them all:
But highe God somtime senden can
His grace unto a litel oxes stall:
Janicola men of that thorpe him call.
A doughter had he, faire ynough to sight,
And Grisildis this yonge maiden hight.

But for to speke of vertuous beautee, Than was she on the fairest under sonne: Ful pourely yfostred up was she:

No likerous lust was in hire herte yronne:
Wel after of the well than of the tonne
She dranke, and for she wolde vertue plese,
She knew wel labour, but now idel ese.

Upon Grisildis, this poure creature,
Ful often sithe this Markis sette his eye,
As he on hunting rode paraventure:
And whan it fell that he might hire espie,
He not with wanton loking of folie

VOL. III.

His eyen cast on hire, but in sad wise
Upon hire chere he wold him oft avise,
Commending in his herte hire womanhede;
And eke hire vertue, passing any wight
Of so yong age, as wel in chere as dede.
For though the people have no gret insight
In vertue, he considered ful right
Hire bountee, and disposed that he wold
Wedde hire only, if ever he wedden shold.
This thoughtful Markis spake unto this maid
Ful soberly, and said in this manere :
Wher is your fader, Grisildis? he said.
And she with reverence in humble chere
Answered, lord, he is al redy here.
And in she goth withouten lenger lette,
And to the Markis she hire fader fette.

He by the hond than toke this poure man,
And saide thus, whan he him had aside:
Janicola, I neither may ne can

Lenger the plesance of min herte hide,
If that thou vouchesauf, what so betide,
Thy doughter wol I take or that I wend
As for my wif, unto hire lives end.

Thou lovest me, that wot I wel certain,
And art my faithful liegeman ybore,
And all that liketh me, I dare wel sain
It liketh thee, and specially therfore
Tell me that point, that I have said before,
If that thou wolt unto this purpos drawe,
To taken me as for thy son in lawe.

This soden cas this man astoned so, That red he wer, abaist, and al quaking He stood, unnethes said he wordes mo, But only thus; Lord, quod he, my willing Is as ye wol, ne ageins your liking

the dulce.

The inhalation of gases in the treatment of disease is not new to the medical profession. Sir Humphry Davy began his career at the Pneumatic Institution at Bristol, established by Dr. Beddoes for the purpose of investigating the medical powers of various airs or gases. We are not aware that any useful results were produced. It is true that Davy discovered the singular property of the protoxide of nitrogen, (a compound previously discovered by Priestley,) of exciting pleasurable sensations, and causing the persons inhaling it to exert powerful muscular action; but, except as a curiosity, the laughing gas has excited little notice except on the part of the scientific chemist.

The honour of the discovery of the valuable property of ether above alluded to, is due to Doctors Morton and Jackson, of Boston, in the United States; and, if we mistake not, it was first used in this country by Mr. Liston. Under the influence of this new agent teeth have been extracted, limbs amputated, and the most tedious and dangerous operations performed. Mr. Lawrence gives an account of one which he describes as being among the most painful of surgical operations namely, the extirpation of the eye ball for the cure of malignant disease. This was performed with so little pain, that the patient, after recovering from the effects of the ether, did not even know that the operation had commenced. This is a very common result in the cases which have hitherto been reported; and an amusing

I wol no thing, min owen lord so dere,
Right as you list, governeth this matere.

Wondring upon this thing, quaking for drede,
She saide; Lord, indigne and unworthy
Am I, to thilke honour, that ye me bede,
But as ye wol yourself, right so wol I:
And here I swere, that never willingly
In werk, ne thought, I n'ill you disobeie
For to be ded, though me were loth to deie.
This is ynough, Grisilde min, quod he.
And forth he goth with a ful sobre chere,
Out at the dore, and after than came she,
And to the people he said in this manere :
This is my wif, quod he, that stondeth here.
Honoureth her, and loveth hire, I pray,
Who so me loveth; ther n' is no more to say."
From Chaucer's "Clerk's Tale."

illustration of it is recorded by the Edinburgh Witness. The operation was performed by Professor Miller, at had sustained a compound fracture of the leg nine weeks the Royal Infirmary, upon an Irish "navigator" who before. The fracture had not united in consequence of the presence of a piece of dead bone; and it became necessary to remove this by a painful operation. The man appeared to resist the influence of the vapour. He | do." The operation was at length begun; the patient said he was not asleep, and declared that "it wouldn't do." remained unconscious, repeating that "it wouldn't finished, and the operator remarked to the man, "Well, At the end of ten minutes the operation was tainly not," said the patient; "it won't do: I must be I suppose you won't let me operate to day?" "Cerasleep. We can try it another time." On sitting up and seeing the wound, he burst into an immoderate fit of laughter, saying, "No doubt there's blood, or something very like it; but I haven't felt a single thing asked decidedly as to his having "felt anything,” he done to my leg. That bates the globe." And on being repeatedly answered, "Not a ha'porth." He got into amazing spirits, and refused to leave the table until he had been told "all about the toldrums of the business.”

the nerves of sensation, producing paralysis and conseThe action of the vapour of ether seems to be upon quently insensibility to pain, but not necessarily a loss which the patients, although deprived of all power of of consciousness. Several cases have been reported in feeling and of moving, have been conscious all the time, and have watched every step of the operation performed upon them, but without any sensation of pain. One case afforded a ludicrous illustration of this: the patient during the operation "giving sly winks and facetious nods to those surrounding him. During the intervals of the inhalation his observations were of the most facetious character-forcing from the bystanders involunpoor fellow a most tragic event into a scene little short tary laughter, and converting that which was to the of a farce." In other cases, consciousness is less evicied he was contending with a wild beast, which he dent. One person during the extraction of a tooth fanseemed to have overcome when the tooth was out. A had been in a dream, and that the operator had hurt female during the amputation of her leg thought she her leg to see if she could bear the operation next day. A lady from whose neck a large tumour was removed, was conscious of the fall of something into a basin, (which in fact was the tumour itself,) but knew nothing of the operation until it was all over.

similar to that of a large quantity of alcohol taken into The effect of the vapour of ether upon the system is the stomach. Indeed, Mr. Lawrence relates a case in which he removed the leg of a woman who was intoxicated, and who knew nothing of the matter until she became sober. But the insensibility produced by alcohol

taken into the stomach is preceded by nervous and vascular excitement, which in many diseases would not only be objectionable, but even fatal to the patient. We are by no means sure, however, that the vapour of alcohol, if inhaled. would not be as efficacious as that of ether in making a person "dead drunk," and leaving him with as little ill effect. The chemical characters of alcohol and ether are in many respects sufficiently distinct, but they have also many points of resemblance, and are, in fact, members of a highly interesting group which has for its base a substance called Ethyle, which has never yet been obtained in a separate form, but which is known to consist of four atoms of carbon, and five atoms of hydrogen. By the addition of one atom of oxygen we get oxide of ethyle, or common ether, also called sulphuric ether, because it is obtained by the action of sulphuric acid upon alcohol, but improperly so, since no sulphur enters into the composition of ether. By combining chemically an atom of water with ether, we get alcohol, which in chemical language is the hydrate of the oxide of ethyle. The ether compounds form a numerous family, but only two or three of them are used in medicine; one is the common ether already mentioned; a second is chloric ether, consisting of an atom of chlorine united to ethyle, and called chloride of ethyle; a third is nitric ether, formed by the union of nitric acid with the oxide of ethyle

The physical properties of common ether are as follows:-It is a colourless, transparent, fragrant, thin, mobile liquid; it boils at 96° (while water boils at 212"); it passes off rapidly in the form of vapour, and, although so volatile, its vapour is more than two and a half times heavier than its own bulk of air, and can, in fact, be poured from one glass into another, like water. Mingled with oxygen gas, this vapour explodes violently on the application of flame or the electric spark. Ether is very combustible, and burns with a white flame. It freezes at low temperatures, and it mixes freely with alcohol, but not with water.

Alcohol is also a colourless, transparent, limpid liquid. It has a fragrant agreeable taste and odour; it boils at 178°; it is not so volatile as ether, but its vapour is heavier than the air; it is very inflammable, and burns with a pale bluish flame. Alcohol has never been frozen by any degree of cold yet produced. It absorbs moisture from the air, and mixes with water in all proportions; if the mixture be made suddenly, a contraction and consequent rise in temperature takes place. Both ether and alcohol have solvent powers, but those of alcohol are greatest.

The explosive property of ether, when mingled with oxygen, either in the pure state, or with nitrogen, as it exists in the atmosphere, requires the exercise of caution in administering the vapour. The moment a bottle of ether is uncorked it discharges torrents of invisible vapour, which pour down to the floor, mingling with the atmosphere of the apartment, and are in danger of being exploded by the flame of a lamp or candle. If an explosion should unhappily reach the air which the patient is inhaling, the consequences might be awful; communicating with the air in the interior of his chest, some of the most essential organs of life would be torn and destroyed, and a painful death terminate a humane experiment to prolong life.

Thus it will be seen how very important it is to confine the use of this important remedial agent to the hands of well qualified professional men; not only on account of the danger of an explosion, but from the state of the patient intended to be operated on. Where there is a tendency to apoplexy or disease of the heart, the use of the ethereal vapour might be highly objectionable, and it is for the medical man alone to decide upon such cases of exclusion. Again, we are strongly impressed with the idea, that in numerous cases the vapour of ether may be used simply as an anodyne, as a soother of pain, without any reference to an operation, but to take the place of narcotics, and give rest and refreshment with

out the objectionable results produced by the frequent use of narcotics. There are other cases in which the use of ether may be of immense benefit, which cannot be mentioned in this journal; but in them, as in all other cases where it is administered, competent medical advice must first be sought, and no attempts made to inhale it without proper medical superintendence.

Now, as to the method of administering the vapour, we will first quote the remarks of Mr. William Herepath, of Bristol, on a case witnessed by him of the amputation of the leg of a young man. He says:-"No complicated apparatus is necessary, nor any extraor dinary care in purifying the ether. A common, but very large, bladder should be fitted with a collar, to which an ivory mouth-piece with a large bore can be screwed without the intervention of any stop-cock: pour in about an ounce of good common ether, and blow up the bladder with the mouth till it is nearly full; place the thumb on the mouth-piece, and agitate the bladder so as to saturate the air in it with the vapour; as soon as the patient is ready for the operation, close his nostrils, introduce the mouth-piece, and close the lips round it with the fingers. He must now breathe into and out of the bladder; and in about one or two minutes the muscles of his lips will lose their hold. This is the moment for the first cut to be made. In two or three minutes the effect will begin to disappear; the mouthpiece should be again introduced, and this repeated as often as required. If the pulse should indicate a sinking of the patient, a little wine will restore him. * * The administrator of the vapour will of course take great care that no fluid ether shall be allowed to be drawn into the lungs; otherwise suffocation would result, or at the best a violent cough, which must protract the operation and considerably distress the patient."

The apparatus described by Mr. Herepath is such as is commonly used for inhaling laughing gas: it has the merit of being simple, but there is little else to recommend it in administering the vapour of ether. It affords no method for regulating the supply of the vapour, because a volume of air saturated therewith at 40° would contain less than half the quantity of vapour in a similar volume of air at 70°. Many forms of apparatus have been already contrived, and, as we believe, patented; but one of the best which we have seen is that recently described by Dr. Snow, at the Westminster Medical Society. It consists of a round tin box, two inches deep, and four or five inches in diameter, with a tube of flexible white metal, half an inch in diameter, and about a foot and a half long, coiled round and soldered to it: this is for the purpose of admitting air into the box. There is also an opening in the top of the vessel, to which may be screwed a flexible tube connected with a mouth-piece. Within the box is a spiral plate of tinned iron soldered to the top, and nearly touching the bottom. The inhaler is put into a basin of water, mixed to a particular temperature, so as to supply the proportion of vapour intended to be given. When the patient begins to inhale, the air, in passing along the tube coiled round the box, acquires the proper temperature; it then enters the box, and passing over the surface of the ether, proceeds along the spiral channel, to the centre opening, whence it passes along the tube to the mouth of the patient. By this means the air is saturated with vapour, and maintained at the proper temperature. In this apparatus there is no valve or other obstruction to the air, until it has reached the mouthpiece, which is provided with valves to prevent the return of the expired air into the apparatus. At a temperature of 70° the ether effects were powerfully produced upon a patient in thirty seconds.

Several medical men have very properly tried the effects of the vapour upon themselves before administering it to their patients. The most lucid description of the effects of the inhalation, which we have seen, is that by Mr. Gerdy, in a communication made to the Academy of Sciences at Paris. He says; "The irri