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diff --git a/77852-0.txt b/77852-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab100ab --- /dev/null +++ b/77852-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12227 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77852 *** + +[Illustration: + + _Mooney, Buffalo._ +] + +[Illustration: COUNTRY RAMBLES OR THE JOURNAL OF AN ENGLISH NATURALIST. +WITH NOTES BY THE AUTHOR OF RURAL HOURS. _BUFFALO PHINNEY & C^o._] + + + + + COUNTRY RAMBLES + IN + ENGLAND; + OR + JOURNAL OF A NATURALIST; + WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONS, + + + BY + THE AUTHOR OF “RURAL HOURS.” + + ——“Plants, trees, and stones, we note, + Birds, insects, beasts, and many rural things.” + + BUFFALO: + PUBLISHED BY PHINNEY & CO. + + 1853. + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by + PHINNEY & CO. + In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Northern District + of + New York. + + + Go forth, my little bark, again, and risk + Once more thy fragile form upon the world’s + Unsteady surge. Rude gales and currents may + Be found to meet thee on thy way, and check + Thy progress to a ready mart: yet steer, + If haply thou canst, thy course—light is + Thy freight, nor rare; and few I deem’d would prize + Such merchandise as thine, nor willing aid + Thee foundering in the wave; but thou hast sail’d + In tranquil seas—warm, sunny gleams have cheer’d + Thee on; and friends—kind friends!—were seen, + Who slighted not thy ware, all rustic as + It was. Yet bear thee steady on thy course; + And chance some wandering trafficker may come + To seek a sample of thy stores, and find + The lading to its invoice true. + + + + + PREFACE. + + +Many years have now passed away since we were presented with that very +interesting and amusing book, the “Natural History of Selborne:” nor do +I recollect any publication at all resembling it having since appeared. +It early impressed on my mind an ardent love for all the ways and +economy of nature, and I was thereby led to the constant observance of +the rural objects around me. Accordingly, reflections have arisen, and +notes been made, such as the reader will find them. The two works do +not, I apprehend, interfere with each other. The meditations of separate +naturalists in fields, in wilds, in woods, may yield a similarity of +ideas; yet the different aspects under which the same things are viewed, +and characters considered, afford infinite variety of description and +narrative: mine, I confess, are but brief and slight sketches; plain +observations of nature, the produce often of intervals of leisure and +shattered health, affording no history of the country; a mere outline of +rural things; the journal of a traveller through the inexhaustible +regions of Nature. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Residence of the Author—Extensive prospect on the banks of the + Severn—Welsh mountains, and passages of the river—Roman + encampment upon a British site—Remains of the + Romans—Coins—Skeletons of men and horses—Traces of a + forest—Soils of the parish—Limestone, its abundance and + uses—origin—Rocks formed in the parish by the coral + polypi—analysis of—Rocks of deposit—analysis of—Lead + ore—Carbonate of strontian—Traveller’s foot burned + off—Residences upon Limestone supposed healthy—Employment for + laborers—Amount of stone disposed of—A worthy + peasant—Analysis of soils considered as fallacious—Dairy + processes—Grass lands, their nature—Wild plants—predominating + plants in corn-fields—Soils will produce particular + herbage—Mode of saving hay—Wheat—Culture of the + potato—sorts—expense and profit—effect upon the soil—not + considered as injurious—sketch of its history—its + introduction—some soils not favorable for the root—introduced + later than tobacco—value to mankind—Ignorance of the first + habitants of the Cerealia—Tendency of plants to revert to + their original creation—Original species of the potato cannot + now be ascertained—Component parts of some varieties—Teasel + crops—its introduction—culture—gathering—value—its + cultivation not injurious to the soil—variety of + names—application-consumption—Bad custom in Page 9 + farming—“clatters” to 41 + + Study of natural history no subject of ridicule—to be made an + object in youth—A beautiful Oak tree—magnitude of several + trees—uncertain in producing acorns—a history of the oak + might be written—all its products valuable—Wych elm—its + character—uses—magnitude—name—suffers in early frosts—not + beautiful in autumn—The buff-tip-moth—Trees condense + moisture—Air under trees—verdure—Utility and agency of + foliage—Prevalence of plants in soils—Fetid + hellebore—uses—Village doctress—Blossoms of plants—use not + manifest—Carpenter bee—What flowers most abundant—design of + flowers—application of flowers—love of + flowers—emblems—amusements of children—universal + ornament—cultivation of flowers—bouquet—Poplar tree—formation + of footstalks—its suckers 41–58 + + Dyers’ broom—gathering—dishonest practice—uses for the + dyer—Conformation of flax and silk—Nature of + color—Snapdragon—an insect trap—Dogsbane—very destructive—the + object mysterious—Glaucous birthwort—Snapdragon vegetates in + great drought—Evaporation from the earth—Ivy—its shelter and + food for birds and insects—love of ivy—ornament to ruins—its + effect—Foxglove—grows only in particular soils—medicinal + uses—uncertain application—name—ancient names—Vindication of + old epithets—Ancient and modern remedies—Snowdrop—a native + plant—remains long in abandoned places—character of the + snowdrop—Yellow oat-grass—affected by drought—Vervain—ancient + estimation, and application—Druids of Gaul—Ancient and modern + virtues—Dyers’ weed—value—uses—cultivation—yellow color—most + permanent and common—Brimstone butterfly—Day’s + eye—Dandelion—Singular appearance of a grass—Brambles—insect + path on the leaves—uses of the bramble—Maple tree—an early + autumn beau—fashion followed by others—maple wood a beautiful + microscopic object—medicinal properties—leaves punctured by + insects—Traveller’s joy—grows in limestone soils by + preference—uses—pores of the wood in the microscope—Vessels + of plants—uninjured by dry seasons—Seeds of the Clematis 58–83 + + Naturalist’s autumnal walk—beautiful, and full of + variety—Agaric—beauty and variety—plentiful in + Monmouthshire—Agaricus fimi putris—Verdigris agaric—Fungi + very uncertain in their growth—Flower-formed hydnum—Mitred + helvella—Gray puff ball—Fingered clavaria—Agarics, to be + understood, observed in all stages of growth—Perishable + nature of created things—Parasitic fungi—laurel—holly—two- + fronted sphæria—elm leaves—sycamore leaves—bark of plants—the + nut—beech—Odorous agaric—Fragment agaric—‘Stainer’ + agaric—Stinking phallus—Mode of propagation—Turreted + puff—Starry puff—Morell—Bell-shaped nidularia—Food for mice 83–95 + + Marten cat—his capture—well adapted for a predatory life—its + skin—Hedgehog—mode of life—always destroyed—prejudices + against—cruelty of man—an article of food—sensibility of the + spines—Harvest mouse—where found—character—Increase and + decrease of animals—Migration of rats—Water shrew—its + residence and habits—common shrew mouse—Pale blue + shrew—Mole—his actions—character—abundance of—easily + discovers his food—structure of his body—fur and hair of + animals—flesh of the moles—killed by weasels 95–108 + + Birds—admiration of—The hedge-sparrow—contingencies of its + life—song—example of a domestic character—Willow wren—early + appearance—and departure—nest—object of her + migration—Difficulty of rearing young birds—Golden-crested + wren—Linnet—their song—habits—Bull-finch—character—injurious + to trees—preference of food—no destroyer of + insects—Robin—character—always found—Song of birds—motives + obscure—Chaffinch—beautifully feathered—female, her + habits—country epithets—conduct in spring—moisten their eggs + in hot weather—Parish rewards for vermin—Blue tom- + tit—perishes in winter—mode of obtaining + food—stratagems—Birds distinguished by voice—Cole + mouse—variety of notes—Long-tailed tom- + tit—nests—journeys—eggs—labor to feed their young—winter + food—great variety of nests—Goldfinch—beautiful + nests—Sufferings of the swallow—Maternal care of a little + blue tom-tit—industry—Raven—scared from its nest—faculty of + discovering its food—universally found—duration of + life—reverence—superstitions wearing out—duration of animal + life—aided or injured by man—an old horse—life of + man—Crossbill—breeds in England—Rook—suffers in cold and dry + seasons—his life in the year 1825—various habits of—detects + grubs in the earth—his habits in the + spring—associations—senses—Magpie—nests—habits—plunderers of + the farm-yard—natural affection—Jay—conduct of the old + birds—winter habits—feathers—shrike—nest—young—kills other + birds—a sentinel—its mischievous disposition—Stormy + petrel—habits—Wryneck—its habits—Birds annually + diminishing—Swan pool, Lincoln—Nightingale—migrating + birds—Rooks love long avenues—Starlings—great flights—social + habits—breeding—a stray bird—actions before + roosting—congregate—very attentive to their + young—journeyings—Laborious life of birds—Red-start—Starling, + brown—habits—a very dusky bird—Hawks capture by + intimidation—single out individuals—Early seasons—bring + rain—Blooming of the white thorn—Migrating birds—their + conduct—Butcher-bird—Gray flycatcher—Thrush—instance of + affection—motives of action—utility in a + garden—Sparrows—domestic + habits—manners—increase—destruction—great consumers of + insects—accommodating appetite 108–150 + + Creatures associating with man—Common mouse—Rat—House + fly—Utility of animals—Conduct of man—The + dog—Wheatear—Country amusements often cruel—Supplication for + pity—Eggs—their markings—Foolish superstition—Kite—his + habits—great capture + of—Blackcap—habits—song—nest—food—shyness—habits of our + occasional visiting birds—Petty chaps—White throats—Willow + wren—Fear of man in animals—Stratagem of a + wren—Instinct—Awakening of birds—Early morning—Morning in + autumn—Goldfinch—captured—die in the winter—soon reconciled + to captivity—Tree-creeper—winters in England—not an + increasing bird—Yellow wagtail—Rapacious birds—Passerine + birds—Buntings—unthatching corn ricks—Old tokens and + signs—White lily—Pimpernel—Mistlethrush—his note—breeds near + the dwellings of man—Change of character in birds—Love of + offspring—Divine appointments—Jack snipe—solitary + habits—Christmas shooter—Association of + birds—Peewit—habits—eggs—Prognostications—Hedge + fruit—Fieldfares—Redwings—feeding in the lowlands—uplands—Egg + of the fieldfare—Rural sounds—notes of birds—Plumage of + birds—Song of birds—Woodlark—habits—voice—capture—Language of + man—of birds—Note significant of danger—Singing a spontaneous + effusion—Variety of note in same species—‘Lady-bird’ note of + a song-thrush—Croaking of the nightingale—Admiration of + birds—Cleanly and innocent creatures 150–189 + + Knowledge slowly obtained—Entomology a difficult study—Wonders + around us—The objects of many insects unknown—Chrysalis of a + moth—Four-spotted dragon-fly—Ghost moth—soon + destroyed—Specimens of plumage of butterflies—Argus + butterfly—a pugnacious insect—combats—Azure butterfly—seldom + seen—Hummingbird sphinx—habits—wildness—tamed by + familiarity—feigns death—Painted lady butterfly—uncertain in + appearing—Marble butterfly—Wasp—Meadow-brown butterfly—Yellow + winged moth—Admirable butterfly—Gamma moth—Goat moth—their + numbers—odor—power of destruction—Larvæ of phalæena cossus, + where plentifully found—Designs of nature—Evening + ramble—Insects abounding—ignorance of their objects—Glow- + worms—curious contrivance about their + eyes—light—migration—Snake eggs—destruction—harmless in + England—antipathy of mankind to the race—Paucity of noxious + creatures inhabiting with us—Small + bombyx—Vigilance—animation—quarrels—Black ant—combats of + strength—Red ants—mortality—Yellow ants—winter + nests—millipedes—support great degree of cold—Stagnated + water—abounding with insects—Newt—his voracity—Water-flea—an + amusing insect—observed by boys—Dorr beetle—their + numbers—feign death to avoid injury—Cleanliness of creatures + in health—Recurrence to causes—Cockchafers—Changes in + nature—Death’s-head moth—chrysalides—superstitions regarding + the insect—voice—Great water-beetle—its habits and + voracity—Hair worm—its object—Nests of a solitary + wasp—Hornets—their abundance at times, and voracity—kill each + other—Garden snail—its injuries—generally secure from + destruction—faculties—small banded snails—their + numbers—superstitions concerning them—Earth-worms—numbers + of—the prey of all creatures—utility of—drain watery + soils—Inattention to the works of Providence 189–235 + + Empiricism—Apple-tree blight—progress—injury—White moss + rose—Testacellus halotideus—Cure of the American + blight—Effect of season on the vegetation—Destruction of + grass roots—Honey-dew—Injury to foliage by small moths—Salt + winds—Leasing—its profits—an innocent occupation—ordained by + the Almighty—Old customs—wearing + out—Maypoles—Christmassing—Kitchen bushes—young holly- + trees—Singular conceit—Influence of electric atmosphere on + vegetation—Anecdote of the finding of a guinea—Hummings in + the air—Fairy rings—Spring changes—Periodical winds—Whirly + pits—Sinkings in the earth—Lichen fascicularis—Salt winds + destructive of vegetation—Spottings on apples—spottings on + strawberry leaves—curious agaric—Curious analogy between + plants and animated beings 235–259 + + The year 1825—its peculiarities and influences—A speedy method + of killing insects—Preserving of insects—Pollarding of + trees—most injurious—Insects that destroy the ash—The willow + rarely seen as a tree—a fine one near Gloucester—Foggy + morning—Reeking of the earth—the cause—and utility—Winter of + the year—Ice in pools—Law of nature—Winter called a dull + season—Nature actively employed—Exhausting powers observed in + the air—A minute vegetable product 259–279 + + + CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. + + NOTES—Names for Rural Dwellings—Wild Potato—Wych Elm—Carpenter + Bee—Rose-Beetle—Dyers’ Broom—Carnivorous + Plant—Ivy—Snowdrop—Vervain—Mistletoe—Dyers’ Weed—Brimstone + Butterfly—Furze—Maple—Agarics—Marten—Hedgehog—Mole—Shrew. + BIRDS OF ENGLAND; Rook—Linnet—Bull-finch—House- + sparrow—Jay—Wood-dove—Kestrel—House-marten—Rock- + pigeon—Magpie—Wryneck—Jackdaw—Thrush—Missel- + thrush—Blackbird—Cuckoo—Wren—Halcyon—Wagtail—Swift—Goat- + sucker—Bustard—Grous—Titmouse—Starling—Fieldfare—Raven—House + Fly—Robin—Goldfinch—Sky-lark—Winter Gnat—Butterflies and + Moths—Glow-worm—Slow-worm—Dorr, or Clock-beetle—Death’s-head + Moth—American Blight—Holly—Provincialisms—Fairy + Rings—Æcidium—Pollarding Trees—Ice Floating 281–330 + + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. + + +It is now nearly five-and-twenty years since the “Journal of a +Naturalist” first appeared in England. The author, Mr. Knapp, has told +us himself that the book owes its origin to the “Natural History of +Selborne,” a work of the last century, which it is quite needless to say +has become one of the standards of English literature; and the reader is +probably also aware that the honors acceded to the disciple are, in this +instance, scarcely less than those of his master—the Journal of a +Naturalist, and Selborne, stand side by side, on the same shelf, in the +better libraries of England. + +Both volumes belong to a choice class; they are to be numbered among the +books which have been written neither for fame nor for profit, but which +have opened spontaneously, one might almost say unconsciously, from the +author’s mind. The subjects on which they touch are such as must always +prove interesting in themselves; like the grass of the field, and the +trees of the wood, the growth of both works has been fostered by the +showers and the sunshine of the open heavens; and in spite of so much +that is artificial in our daily life and habits, there are hours when +all our hearts gladly turn to the natural and unperverted gifts of our +Maker. + +The History of Selborne, and the Journal of a Naturalist, happen to have +been both written in the southern counties of England. Selborne, the +parish of which the Rev. Gilbert White was Rector, lies on the eastern +borders of Hampshire. Mr. Knapp has not given us the name of his own +village; but its position in Gloucestershire is minutely described. He +tells us that it stands upon a high ridge of land commanding very +beautiful views, including the broad estuary of the Severn, and the rich +plains on its banks, while the fine mountains of southern Wales fill up +the back-ground; a Roman ferry with the sites of ancient stations, and +the lines of old roads of the same people, are visible, and the pretty +though unimportant town of Thornbury, with its imposing church and +castle, occupy the cliffs on the opposite bank of the river. + + “The smooth Severn stream,” + +with its + + “Rush-yfringed bank + Where grows the willow, and the osier dank,” + +is the only river of any size in England, running north and south. It +rises in Wales, at the foot of Plinlimnon, and winding through some of +the finest plains on the island, waters the town of Shrewsbury, +Worcester, Tewksbury, and Gloucester. How familiar are all these names +to American ears; how the scroll of history unfolds before the mind’s +eye as we read their titles! During the last century the importance of +the Severn, in a commercial sense, was very great indeed; the movement +on the broad estuary by which it flows into the ocean, being perhaps +greater, at that period, than that of any other European river, with the +single exception of the Thames. Many have been the naval expeditions of +importance which have sailed from the Severn; the Cabots when bound on +the daring voyage which first threw the light of civilization upon the +coast of North America, embarked from the wharves of Bristol. Perchance +the scanty sails, and heavy hull of their craft, as it made its way sea- +ward, may have been watched by some wondering peasant, toiling in the +same fields to which the Naturalist has introduced us. + +The mountains of Wales, filling the back-ground of the picture sketched +in the author’s opening pages, are very different from those with which +American eyes are familiar. Bare and bleak, they are usually wholly +shorn of wood, and far bolder in their craggy outline than our own +heights. Snowdon, the most important mountain in Wales, rises to a +height of 3700 feet. Standing in a northern county of the Principality +it is not, however, to be included in a view from the banks of the +southern Severn. But the hills of Glamorgan, and Brecon, especially +noticed by Mr. Knapp, are upward of 2000 feet in height, and stamped +more or less with the same general character. It often happens indeed, +from the boldness of position, and the abruptness of outline, which +usually mark the mountains of Europe, that heights of no great elevation +produce very striking effects in a view. + +The fertile alluvial pastures in the immediate foreground of the +picture, are those in which Milton’s rivernymph Sabrina, may be supposed +to have strayed: + + “Still she retains + Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve + Visits the herds along the twilight meadows, + Helping all urchin blasts, and ill-luck signs + That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make, + Which she with precious vial’d liquors heals; + For which the shepherds at their festivals + Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays, + And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream + Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils.” + +The little village, the immediate scene of the Naturalist’s +observations, appears to have had an uneventful existence. It lies, we +are told, “on a very ancient road,” running between the cities of +Gloucester and Bristol; doubtless the tide of war and adventure, must +often have swept over the track on many occasions, when the interests of +England were battled for in the western counties of the kingdom, but +only scanty vestiges of its passage have been found in the little +community. A few skeletons, accidentally dug up by the road-side, the +bones of horses, the iron head of a single lance, are alone alluded to +as memorials of some nameless conflict of the period of Cromwell, and +his wars. No stern feudal towers, no ambitious monastic edifices appear +to have been raised within the limits of the parish; and, in short, the +position of the spot is one associated chiefly with simple rustic +labors, and rural quiet, a field especially in harmony with the +inquiries and pursuits of the lover of nature. + +It is with the vegetation of this unambitious region, and with the +living creatures by which it is peopled, that the Naturalist would make +us acquainted. He tells us of the trees found in the groves and copses +of that open country; of the grasses which grow in the meadows on the +banks of the Severn; of the grains and plants cultivated in the hedged +fields which line his ancient road. He has a great deal to say about the +birds which fly to and fro, with the passing seasons; about the +butterflies, and moths which come and go with the summer blossoms, and +he is familiar with the lowliest of the creeping things found upon his +path. Such simple lore is never without interest to those who delight in +the face of the earth, to those who love to honor the Creator in the +study of his works. It is pleasant to know familiarly the plants which +spring up at our feet; we like to establish a sort of intimacy with the +birds which, year after year, come singing about our homes; and, on the +other hand, when told of the wonders of a foreign vegetation, differing +essentially from our own, when hearing of the habits of strange +creatures from other and distant climates, we listen eagerly as to a +tale of novelty. + +We Americans, indeed, are peculiarly placed in this respect. As a +people, we are still, in some sense, half aliens to the country +Providence has given us; there is much ignorance among us regarding the +creatures which held the land as their own long before our forefathers +trod the soil, and many of which are still moving about us, living +accessories of our existence, at the present hour. On the other hand, +again, English reading has made us very familiar with the names, at +least, of those races which people the old world. From the nursery epic, +relating the melancholy fate of “Cock Robin,” and the numerous feathered +_dramatis personæ_ figuring in its verses; from the tragical histories +of “Little Red Riding Hood,” and the “Babes in the Woods;” from the +winged and four-footed company of Gay and Lafontaine, from these +associates of our childhood to the larks and nightingales of Shakspeare +and Milton, we all, as we move from the nursery to the library, gather +notions more or less definite. We fancy that we know all these creatures +by sight; and yet neither “Cock Robin,” nor his murderer the Sparrow, +nor his parson the Rook, is to be found this side the salt sea; the +cunning Wolf whose hypocritical personation of the old grandame, so +wrung our little hearts once upon a time, is not the wolf which howled +only a few years since in the forests our fathers felled; the wily Fox +of Lafontaine, + + “Certain renard Gascon, + D’autres disent Normand,” + +is not the fox of Yankeeland—albeit we have our foxes too! Neither the +Marten, + + “The temple-loving martlet, does approve + By his lov’d mansioning that the heavens breath + Smells wooingly here. * * * + where they + Most breed, and haunt, I have observed the air + Is delicate;” + +nor the nightingale who + + “Sings darkling, and in the shadiest covert hid, + Tunes her nocturnal notes;” + +nor the lark + + “The herald of the morn,” + +flies within three thousand miles of our own haunts. Thus it is that +knowing so little of the creatures in whose midst we live, and mentally +familiar by our daily reading with the tribes of another hemisphere, the +forms of one continent and the names and characters of another, are +strangely blended in most American minds. And in this dream-like +phantasmagoria, where fancy and reality are often so widely at variance, +in which the objects we see, and those we read of are wholly different, +and where bird and beast undergo metamorphoses so strange, most of us +are content to pass through life. + +But there is a pleasant task awaiting us. We may all, if we choose, open +our eyes to the beautiful and wonderful realities of the world we live +in. Why should we any longer walk blindfold through the fields? +Americans, we repeat, are peculiarly placed in this respect; the nature +of both hemispheres lies open before them, that of the old world having +all the charm of traditional association to attract their attention, +that of their native soil being endued with the still deeper interest of +home affections. The very comparison between the two is a subject full +of the highest interest, a subject more than sufficing in itself to +provide instruction and entertainment for a lifetime. And yet, how many +of us are ignorant of the very striking, leading fact that the +indigenous races of both hemispheres, whether vegetable or animal, while +they are generally more or less nearly related to each other, are rarely +indeed identical. The number of individual plants, or birds, or insects, +which are precisely similar in both hemispheres, is surprisingly small. + +It will probably be unnecessary to observe that the writer of these +remarks must be understood as laying no claim to the honorable position +of a teacher, on either of the many branches connected with Natural +History; a mere learner herself, she can offer the reader no other +guidance than that of companionship, in looking after the birds, or +plants, or insects, mentioned by Mr. Knapp. It has indeed been a subject +of regret with her, that the task of editing the “Journal of a +Naturalist” should not have fallen into hands better able to render the +author full justice in this respect. But it is the object of the present +edition to prepare this English volume for the American public +generally, and for that purpose simple explanations were alone +necessary. Anxious, at least, to do all in her power, the editor has +consulted the best printed authorities within her reach, and she has +also availed herself of the valuable and most obliging assistance of +Professor S. F. Baird, Major Le Conte, and Mr. M. A. Curtis, while +preparing several of the notes, which will be found in the appendix. + + S. F. C. + + AUGUST, 1852. + + + + + JOURNAL + OF + A NATURALIST. + + +The village in which I reside is situated upon a very ancient road, +connecting the city of Bristol with that of Gloucester, and thus with +all the great towns in the North of England. This road runs for the +chief part upon a high limestone ridge, from which we obtain a very +beautiful and extensive prospect: the broad estuary of the river Severn, +the mountains of Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Brecon, with their peaceful +vales, and cheerful-looking white cottages, form the distant view: +beneath it lies a vast extent of arable and pasture land, gained +originally by the power of man from this great river, and preserved now +from her incursions by a considerable annual expenditure, testifying his +industry and perseverance, and exhibiting his reward. The Aust ferry, +supposed to be the “trajectus,” or place where the Romans were +accustomed to pass the Severn, is visible, with several stations of that +people and the ancient British, being a part of that great chain of +forts originally maintained to restrain the plundering inroads of the +restless inhabitants of the other bank of the river: Thornbury, with its +fine cathedral-like church and castle, the opposite red cliffs of the +Severn, and the stream itself, are fine and interesting features. + +An encampment of some people, probably Romans, occupies a rather +elevated part of the parish, consisting of perhaps three acres of +ground, surrounded by a high agger, with no ditch, or a very imperfect +one, and probably was never designed for protracted resistance: it +appears to form one of the above-mentioned series of forts erected by +Ostorius, commencing at Weston, in Somersetshire, and terminating at +Bredon in the county of Worcester—ours was probably a specula, or +watchhill, of the larger kind. We can yet trace, though at places but +obscurely, the roads that connected this encampment with other posts in +adjoining villages. A few years sweep away commonly all traces of roads +of later periods, and the testimony of some old man is often required to +substantiate that one had ever been in existence within the memory of a +life; yet these uniting roads, which, as works, must have been +originally insignificant, little more than by-ways, after disuse for +above fourteen hundred years, and encountering all the erasements of +time, inclosures, and the plow, are yet manifest, and an evidence of +that wonderful people, thieves and ruffians though they were, who +constructed them. There is probably no region on the face of the globe +ever colonized, or long possessed, by this nation, which does not yet +afford some testimony of their having had a footing on it; this people, +who, so long before their power existed, it was predicted, should be of +“a fierce countenance, dreadful, terrible, strong exceedingly, with +great iron teeth that devoured and broke in pieces,” + + ——where’er thy legions camp’d, + Stern sons of conquest, still is known, + By many a grassy mound, by many a sculptured stone. + +Almost every Roman road that I have observed appears to have been +considerably elevated above the surrounding soil, and hence more likely +to remain apparent for a length of time than any of those of modern +construction, which are flat, or with a slight central convexity; the +turf, that in time by disuse would be formed over them, would in one +case present a grassy ridge, in the other be confounded with the +adjoining land. + +Coins of an ancient date, I think, have not been found here;[1] nor do +we possess any remains of warlike edifices, or religious endowments. Our +laborers have at various times dug up by the road-sides several +skeletons of human beings, and of horses; they were in general but +slightly covered with earth; and though the bones were much decayed, yet +the teeth were sound, and appeared most commonly to have belonged to +young persons, and probably had been deposited in their present +situations at no very distant period of time. With the bones of a horse +so found there remained the iron head of a lance, about a foot long, +corroded, but not greatly decayed. Unable better to account for these +skeletons, we suppose that they constituted, when alive, part of the +forces of General Fairfax, and that they fell in some partial encounters +with the peasantry when defending their property about to be plundered +by the foragers of his army in 1645, at the time he was besieging the +castle of Bristol. The siege lasted sixteen or seventeen days; many +parties during that time must have been sent out by him to plunder us +cavaliers, and contention would take place. + +It is foreign to my plan to enumerate, and it might be difficult to +discover, all the changes and revolutions which have taken place here; +and I shall merely mention, that this district formerly constituted a +regal forest, and we find Robert Fitzharding holding it by grant in the +time of King John. We have a “lodge farm,” it is true, and the adjoining +grange, the “conygar,” _i. e._ coneygard, the rabbit-keeper’s dwelling, +may, perhaps, have been the situation of the sylvan warren; but there +are no remains, or any other indications, of a forest ever having been +in existence. Names and traditional tales are all that remain in most +places now to remind us of the ancient state of England, or to make +credible the narratives of our old historians, who lived when Britain +was a forest. Where shall we look for the remnants of that mighty wood, +filled with boars, bulls, and savage beasts, that surrounded London? +Even in our own days, heaths, moors, and wilds, have disappeared, so as +to leave no indications of their former state but the name. Woods and +forests seem to be the original productions of most soils and countries +favorable for the abode of mankind, as if inviting a settlement, and +offering materials for its use. As colonies increase, wants are +augmented; the woods are consumed; the plow is introduced, division of +property follows; a total change and obliteration ensues, though the +ancient appellation by which the district was known yet continues. + +The parish consists in parts of a poor, shattery gray clay, beneath +which we find, in some places, a coarse lias; in others a spongy, rough, +impure limestone; in other parts a thin stratum of soil is spread over +an immense and irregular rock of carbonate of lime, running to an +unknown depth: this in many cases protrudes in great blocks through the +thin skin of earth. The rock, though usually stratified, has no uniform +dip, but trends to different directions; in some places it appears as if +immense sheets of semifluid matter had been pushed out of the station it +had settled in, by some other or later-formed heavy-moving mass, or met +with an impediment, and so rolled up: that these sheets had not fully +hardened at the time of being moved is yet made probable by the whole +crystallization of the mass being interrupted; so that no part adheres +firmly, but separates into small shattery fragments when struck. This +substance we burn in very large quantities for building purposes, and +for manure, which, by the facility which we have of obtaining small +coal, is rendered at the low rate of three-pence a bushel at the kiln. +Our farmers, availing themselves of this cheap article, use considerable +quantities, composted with earth, for their different crops, at the rate +of not less than a hundred bushels to the acre. This is a favorite +substance for their potato land. The return in general is not so large +as when grown in manure from the yard; but the root is said to be more +mealy, and better flavored. + +The utility of lime as manure consists in loosening the tenacious nature +of some soils; rendering them more friable and receptive of vegetable +fibres: it especially facilitates the dissolution and putrefaction of +animal and vegetable substances, which are thus more readily received +and circulated in the growing plant; and it has the power of acquiring +and long retaining moisture; thus rendering a soil cool and nutritive to +the plants that vegetate in it. The power that lime has of absorbing +moisture will be better understood, when we say, that one hundred weight +will, in five or six days, when fresh, absorb five pounds of water, and +that it will retain in the shape of powder, when slackened, or loosened, +as is commonly said, nearly one-fourth of its weight.[2] + +That lime rehardens after being made soft, as in mortar, is owing to the +power which it has of acquiring carbonic acid—the fixed air of Dr. +Black—from the atmosphere; when the stone is burned, it loses this +principle, but re-absorbs it, though slowly, yet in time, and it thus +becomes as hard as stone again: we unite it with sand to promote the +crystallization and hardening. The utility of lime in various arts, +agriculture, manufactories, and medicine, is very extensive, and in many +cases indispensable; and the abundance of it spread through the world +seems designed as a particular provision of Providence for the various +ends of creation. Lime, and siliceous substances, compose a very large +portion of the dense matter of our earth; the shells of marine animals +contain it abundantly; our bones have eighty parts in one hundred of it; +the egg-shells of birds above nine parts in ten—during incubation, it is +received by the embryo of the bird, indurating the cartilages, and +forming the bones. But the existence and origin of limestone are pre- +eminent amongst the wonders of creation; nor should we have been able, +rationally, to account for the great diffusion of this substance +throughout the globe, however we might have conjectured the formation, +without the Mosaical revelation. It may startle, perhaps, the belief of +some, who have never considered the subject, to assert what is +apparently a fact, that a considerable portion of those prodigious +cliffs of chalk and calcareous stone, that in many places control the +advance of the ocean, protrude in rocks through its waters, or incrust +such large portions of the globe, are of animal origin—the exuviæ of +marine substances, or the labors of minute insects, which once inhabited +the deep. In this conclusion now chemists and philosophers seem in great +measure to coincide. Fourcroy observed, forty years ago, that “it could +not be denied, that the strata of calcareous matter, which constitute, +as it were, the bark or external covering of our globe, in a great part +of its extent, are owing to the remains of the skeletons of sea animals, +more or less broken down by the waters; that these beds have been +deposited at the bottom of the sea, immense masses of chalk, deposited +on its bottom, absorb or fix the waters, or convert into a solid +substance part of the liquid which fills its vast basins.”—_Supplement +to Chemistry_, p. 263. Such are the conclusions of philosophical +investigation; and the discoveries of all our circumnavigators fully +corroborate these decisions as to formation. Revelation in part accounts +for the removal of these stupendous masses; though, probably, unrecorded +concussions since the great subversion of our planet have, in remote +periods, effected many of the removals of these deposits. We find the +basement of many of the South Sea Islands, some of which are twenty +miles long, formed of this matter. Captain Flinders, in the gulf of +Carpentaria, held his course by the sides of limestone reefs, five +hundred miles in extent, with a depth irregular and uncertain; and still +more recently Captain King, seven hundred miles, almost a continent, of +rock, increasing, and visibly forming:—all drawn from the waters of the +ocean by a minute creature, that wonderful agent in the hands of +Providence, the coral insect. This brief account of the origin of +calcareous rocks was, perhaps, necessary before mentioning an +extraordinary fact, that, after the lapse of so vast a portion of time +since the basement of the mighty deep was heaved on high, existing +proofs of this event should remain in our obscure village. + +The limestone rocks here are differently composed but are principally of +four kinds—a pale gray, hard and compact; a pale cream-colored, fine- +grained and sonorous: these form the upper stratum of stone on our down, +a recent deposit, or more probably a mass heaved up from its original +station. The whole of this mass, running nearly half a mile long, is +obviously of animal formation, a coral rock; a compounded body of minute +cylindrical columns, the cells of the animals which constructed the +material, the mouths of which are all manifest by a magnifier. The stop +in the progress of the work is even visible; soft, stony matter having +arisen from some of the tubes, and become indurated there in a convex +form; in others the creatures have perished, but their forms or moulds +remain, though obscure, yet sufficiently perfect to manifest the fact: +these tubes, by exposure to the air for any length of time, have the +internal or softer parts decomposed, and the stone becomes cellular. +This stone burns to a fine white lime, and is very free from impurities, +containing in a hundred parts— + + Carbonate of lime 88 + Magnesia 8 + Silex 1 + Alumine,[3] colored with iron 3 + ——— + 100 + +Another quarry presents, likewise, unquestionable evidence of an animal +origin, veins of it being composed of shattered parts of shells, and +marine substances, greatly consumed and imperfect, embedded in a coarse, +gray, sparry compound; an ocean deposit, not a fabrication, and +consequently has more impurities in its substance than that of insect +formation: it contains about + + Carbonate of lime 73 + Magnesia 11 + Clay 14 + Silex 2 + ——— + 100 + +These two specimens so clearly prove that the original materials of +their substance were derived from the deep, that no further arguments +need be advanced to support this fact as to our limestone. The former +is, perhaps, the mountain limestone of Werner; the latter a variety of +dolomite. Our other quarries, as well as the lower strata of the above, +present no such indications of animal formation, and they are probably +sediment arising from a minute division of shelly bodies now indurated +by time and superincumbent pressure and become a coarse-grained marble. +Our limestone thus appearing not to be contaminated with any great +portion of magnesian earth, it may be used for all agricultural purposes +with advantage. Many detached blocks of limestone are found about us, +having broken shelly remains; and the joints of the encrinite, greatly +mutilated, embedded in them. Irregularly wandering near the lime-ridge +is a vein of impure sandy soil, covering a coarse-grained siliceous +stone; sand agglutinated, and colored by oxide of iron, resisting heat, +and used in the construction of our lime-kilns: the laborers call it +“fire-stone.” + +We occasionally, though sparingly, find, in a few places on our downs, +nodules of lead ore, which induced persons in years past to seek for +mineral riches; but the trial being soon abandoned, the result, I +suppose, afforded no reasonable ground for success. We likewise find +thin veins of carbonate of strontian, but make no use of it; nor is it +noted by us different from common rubbish; nor do I know any purpose to +which it is peculiarly applicable, but in pyrotechnics. Spirit of wine, +in which nitrate of strontian has been mixed, will burn with a beautiful +bright red flame; barytes, which approaches near to strontia, affords a +fine green; nitrates of both, compounded with other matters, are used in +theatrical representations. Strontian exists in many places, and +plentifully; some future wants or experiments will probably bring it +into notice, and indicate the latent virtues of this mineral. + +Perhaps I may here mention an incident, that occurred a few years past +at one of our lime-kilns, because it manifests how perfectly insensible +the human frame may be to pains and afflictions in peculiar +circumstances; and that which would be torture if endured in general, +may be experienced at other times without any sense of suffering. A +travelling man one winter’s evening laid himself down upon the platform +of a lime-kiln, placing his feet, probably numbed with cold, upon the +heap of stones, newly put on to burn through the night. Sleep overcame +him in this situation; the fire gradually rising and increasing until it +ignited the stones upon which his feet were placed. Lulled by the +warmth, the man slept on; the fire increased until it burned one foot +(which probably was extended over a vent-hole) and part of the leg above +the ankle entirely off; consuming that part so effectually, that a +cinder-like fragment was alone remaining; and still the wretch slept on! +and in this state was found by the kiln-man in the morning. Insensible +to any pain, and ignorant of his misfortune, he attempted to rise and +pursue his journey, but missing his shoe, requested to have it found; +and when he was raised, putting his burnt limb to the ground to support +his body, the extremity of his legbone, the tibia, crumbled into +fragments, having been calcined into lime. Still he expressed no sense +of pain, and probably experienced none, from the gradual operation of +the fire, and his own torpidity, during the hours his foot was +consuming. This poor drover survived his misfortunes in the hospital +about a fortnight; but the fire having extended to other parts of his +body, recovery was hopeless. + +Residences upon limestone soils have generally been considered as less +liable than other situations to infectious and epidemic disorders; and +such places being usually more elevated, they become better ventilated, +and freed from stagnated and unwholesome airs, and by the absorbing +principle of the soil are kept constantly dry. All this seems to favor +the supposition that they are healthy; but if exempted from ailments +arising from mal-aria, inflammatory complaints do not seem excluded from +such situations. When the typhus fever prevailed in the country, we were +by no means exempted from its effects; the severe coughs attending the +spring of 1826 afflicted grievously most individuals in every house; and +the measles, which prevailed so greatly at the same season, visited +every cottage, though built upon the very limestone rock. + +This village and its neighboring parishes, by reason of the peculiar +culture carried on in them, and the natural production of the district, +afford the most ample employment for their laboring inhabitants; nor +perhaps could any portion of the kingdom, neither possessing mineral +riches, manufactories, or mills, nor situate in the immediate vicinity +of a great town, be found to afford superior demand for the labor, +healthy employment, and reasonable toil of its population. Our lime- +kilns engage throughout the year several persons; this is, perhaps, our +most laborious employ; though its returns are considered as fair. In our +culture, after all the various business of the farms, comes the potato- +setting; nor is this finished wholly before haymaking commences. +Teaseling succeeds; the corn harvest comes on, followed shortly by the +requirements of the potato again, and the digging out and securing this +requires the labor of multitudes until the very verge of winter. Then +comes our employment for this dark season of the year, the breaking of +our limestone for the use of the roads, of which we afford a large +supply to less favored districts. This material is not to be sought for +in distant places, or of difficult attainment, but to be found almost at +the very doors of the cottages; and old men, women, and children can +obtain a comfortable maintenance by it without any great exertion of +strength, or protraction of labor. The rough material costs nothing: a +short pickax to detach the stone, and a hammer to break it, are all the +tools required. A man or healthy woman can easily supply about a ton in +the day; a child that goes on steadily, about one-third of this +quantity; and as we give one shilling for a ton, a man, his wife, and +two tolerable-sized children, can obtain from 2_s._ 8_d._ to 3_s._[4] +per day by this employ, the greater part of the winter; and should the +weather be bad, they can work at intervals, and various broken hours, +and obtain something—and there is a constant demand for the article. The +winter accumulation is carted away as the frost occurs, or the spring +repair comes on. Our laborers, their children and cottages, I think, +present a testimony of their well-doing, by the orderly, decent conduct +of the former, and the comforts of the latter. There are years when we +have disposed of about 3000 tons of stone, chiefly broken up for use by +a few of our village poor; if we say by twenty families, it will have +produced perhaps seven pounds[5] to each, a most comfortable addition to +their means, when we consider that this has been obtained by the weak +and infirm, at intervals of time without more than the cost of labor, +when employment elsewhere was in no request. + +I may perhaps be pardoned in relating here the good conduct of a +villager, deserving more approbation than my simple record will bestow; +and it affords an eminent example of what may be accomplished by +industry and economy, and a manifestation that high wages are not always +essential, or solely contributive to the welfare of the laborer.—When I +first knew A. B., he was in a state of poverty, possessing, it is true, +a cottage of his own, with a very small garden; but his constitution +being delicate, and health precarious, so that he was not a profitable +laborer, the farmers were unwilling to employ him. In this condition he +came into my service: his wife at that time having a young child +contributed very little to the general maintenance of the family: his +wages were ten shillings per week, dieting himself, and with little +besides that could be considered as profitable. We soon perceived that +the clothing of the family became more neat and improved; certain +gradations of bodily health appeared; the cottage was whitewashed, and +inclosed with a rough wall and gate; the rose and the corchorus began to +blossom about it; the pig became two; and a few sheep marked A. B. were +running about the lanes: then his wife had a little cow, which it was +“hoped his honor would let eat some of the rough grass in the upper +field;” but this was not entirely given: this cow, in spring, was joined +by a better; but finding such cattle difficult to maintain through the +winter, they were disposed of, and the sheep augmented. After about six +years’ service, my honest, quiet, sober laborer died, leaving his wife +and two children surviving: a third had recently died. We found him +possessed of some money, though I know not the amount; two fine hogs, +and a flock of forty-nine good sheep, many far advanced in lamb; and all +this stock was acquired solely with the regular wages of ten shillings a +week, in conjunction with the simple aids of rigid sobriety and economy, +without a murmur, a complaint, or a grievance! + +I report nothing concerning our variously constituted soil, thinking +that no correct statement can be given by any detail of a local district +under cultivation, beyond generally observing its tendency, as every +soil under tillage must be factitious and changeable. As a mere matter +of curiosity, I might easily find out the proportions of lime, sand, +clay, and vegetable earth, &c., that a given quantity of a certain field +contained; but the very next plowing would perhaps move a substratum, +and alter the proportions; or a subsequent dressing change the analysis: +the adjoining field would be differently treated, and yield a different +result. I do not comprehend what general practical benefit can arise +from chemical analysis of soils; but as eminent persons maintain the +great advantages of it, I suppose they are right, and regret my +ignorance. That the component parts of certain lands can easily be +detected, and the virtues or deficiencies of them for particular crops +be pointed out, I readily admit; but when known, how rarely can the +remedy be applied! I have three correspondents, who send me samples of +their several farms, and request to know by what means they can +meliorate the soil. I find that B. is deficient in lime; but understand +in reply, that this earth is distant from his residence, and too costly +to be applied. D. wants clay; E. is too retentive and cold, and requires +silex or sand; but both are so circumstanced, that they cannot afford to +supply the article required. Indeed it is difficult to say what ought to +be the component parts of a soil, unless the production of one article +or grain is made the standard; for differently constituted soil will +produce different crops advantageously: one farm produces fine wheat, +another barley; others again the finest oats and beans in the parish. To +compound a soil of exact chemical parts, so as to afford permanent +fertility, is a mere theory. Nature and circumstances may produce a +piece of land, that will yield unremitting crops of grass, and we call +it a permanently good soil; but art cannot effect this upon a great +scale. A small field in this parish always produces good crops; not in +consequence of any treatment it receives, but by its natural +composition; consisting principally of finely pulverized clay, stained +with red oxide of iron, a considerable portion of sand, and vegetable +earth: but though I know the probable cause of this field bearing such +good wheat, I cannot bring the surrounding and inferior ones into a like +constitution, the expense far exceeding any hope of remuneration. +Rudolph Glauber obtained gold from common sand, but it was an expensive +article! Temporary food for a crop may be found in animal, vegetable, or +earthy manures, but these are exhaustible; and when aliment ceases, the +crop proportionably diminishes. In one respect, chemical investigation +may importantly aid the agriculturist, by pointing out the proportion of +magnesian earth in certain limes used for manure, and thus indicate its +beneficial or injurious effects on vegetation. I should not like lime +containing 20 per cent. of this earth; but when it contains a much +smaller proportion, I should not think it very deleterious. This earth +acts as a caustic to vegetation, and, neither being soluble in water, +nor possessing the other virtue of lime, diminishes the number of +bushels used according to its existence, and thus deprives the crop of +that portion of benefit: but after all, as Kirwan says, the secret +processes of vegetation take place in the dark, exposed to the various +and indeterminable influence of the atmosphere; and hence the difficulty +of determining on what peculiar circumstance success or failure depends, +for the diversified experience of years alone can afford a rational +foundation for solid and specific conclusions. + +The real goodness of a soil consists principally, perhaps, in the power +it possesses of maintaining a certain degree of moisture; for without +this, the plant could have no power of deriving nutriment from any +aliment: it might be planted on a dung-hill; but if this had no moisture +in it, no nutriment would be yielded; but as long as the soil preserves +a moisture, either by its own constituent parts, or by means of a +retentive substratum, vegetation goes on. Continue the moisture, and +increase the aliment, and the plant will flourish in proportion; but let +the moisture be denied by soil, substratum, or manure, and vegetation +ceases; for, though certain plants will long subsist by moisture +obtained from the air, yet, generally speaking, without a supply by the +root, they will languish and fade. + +Our dairy processes, I believe, present nothing deserving of particular +notice. From our milk, after being skimmed for butter, we make a thin, +poor cheese, rendered at a low price, but for which there is a constant +demand. Some of our cold lands, too, yield a kind greatly esteemed for +toasting; and we likewise manufacture a thicker and better sort, though +we do not contend in the market with the productions of north Wilts, or +the deeper pastures of Cheshire or Huntingdon. + +The agriculture of a small district like ours affords no great scope to +expatiate upon: great deviations from general practice we do not aim at; +experimental husbandry is beyond our means, perhaps our faculties. Local +habits, though often the subject of censure, are frequently such as the +“genius of the soil” and situation render necessary, and the experience +of years has proved most advantageous. + +Our grass in the pastures of the clay-lands, in the mowing season, +which, from late feeding in the spring and coldness in the soil, is +always late,[6] presents a curious appearance; and I should apprehend, +that a truss of our hay from these districts, brought into the London +market, or exhibited as a new article of provender at a Smithfield +cattle-show, would occasion conversation and comment. The crop consists +almost entirely of the common field scabious (scabiosa succisa), +loggerheads (centauria nigra), and the great ox-eye daisy (chrysanthemum +lucanthemum.) There is a scattering of bent (agrostis vulgaris), and +here and there a specimen of the better grasses; but the predominant +portion, the staple of the crop, is scabious—it is emphatically a +promiscuous herbage; yet on this rubbish do the cattle thrive, and from +their milk is produced a cheese greatly esteemed for toasting—melting, +fat, and good flavored, and, perhaps, inferior to none used for this +purpose. The best grasses, indeed, with the exception of the dogstail +(cynosurus cristatus), do not delight in our soil: the meadow poa (p. +pratensis), and the rough stalked poa (p. trivialis), when found, are +dwarfish; and having once occasion for a few specimens of the foxtail +(alopecurus pratensis), I found it a scarce and a local plant: but I am +convinced, from much observation, that certain species of plants, and +grasses in particular, are indigenous to some soils, and that they will +vegetate and ultimately predominate over others that may be introduced. +In my own very small practice, a field of exceedingly indifferent +herbage was broken up, underwent many plowings, was exposed to the +roastings of successive suns, and alternations of the year under various +crops; amongst others that of potatoes; the requisite hackings, hoeings, +and diggings of which alone were sufficient to eradicate any original +fibrous, rooted herbage. This field was laid down with clean ray grass +(lolium perenne), white trefoil, and hop clover, and did tolerably well +for one year: and then the original soft-grass, (holcus lanatus) +appeared, overpowered the crop, and repossessed the field; and yet the +seed of this holcus could not have lain inert in the soil all this time, +as it is a grass that rarely or never perfects its seed, but propagates +by its root. The only grass that is purposely sown—trefoils are not +grasses—is, I believe, the ray, or rye, no others being obtainable from +the seedsman: this we consider as perennial; yet, let us lay down two +pieces of land with seeds, from the same sack, the one a low, moist, +deep soil, the other a dry upland, and in three or four years we shall +find the natural herbage of the country spring up, dispute and acquire +in part possession of the soil, in despite of the ray grass sown: in the +deep soil, the predominant crop will probably consist of poæ, cockfoot, +meadow-fescue, holcus, phleum, foxtail, &c.; in the dry soil it will be +dogstail, quaking grass, agrostis, &c., not one species of which was +ever sown by us. It appears that the herbage of our poor thin clay-lands +is the natural produce of the soil, for every fixed soil will produce +something, and would without care always exclude better herbage. +Attention and manures, a kind of armed force, would certainly support +other vegetation, alien introductions, for a time, but the profit would +not always be adequate. In a piece of land of this nature I have +suppressed the natural produce, by altering the soil with draining, +sheep-feeding, stocking up, and composting: and scabious, carnation +grass, mat grass, and their companions, no longer thrive; but if I +should remit this treatment, they would again predominate, and +constitute the crop. + +Most counties seem to have some individual or species of wild plants +predominating in their soil, which may be scarce, or only locally found +in another; this is chiefly manifested in the corn-lands—for aquatic or +alpine districts, and some other peculiarities, must form exceptions. +This may be in some measure occasioned by treatment or manure, but +commonly must be attributed to the chemical composition of the soil, as +most plants have organs particularly adapted for imbibing certain +substances from the earth, which may be rejected or not sought after by +the fibrous or penetrating roots of another. Festuca sylvatica abounds +in every soil without an apparent predilection for any one: F. +uniglumis, only where it can imbibe marine salt: F. pinnata, is found +vegetating upon calcareous soils alone, and I have known it appear +immediately as the limestone inclined to the surface, as if all other +soils were deficient in the requisite nutriment. Many of the maidenhairs +and ferns, pellitory, cotyledon, &c. are attached in the crevices of old +walls, seeking as it were for the calcareous nitrate found there, this +saltpetre appearing essential to their vigor and health. The +predominating plants in some corn-fields are the red-poppy,[7] cherlock +(sinapis arvensis), mustard (sin. nigra.), wild oat, cornflower +(cyanus); but in some adjoining parish we shall only sparingly find +them. With us in our cold clay-lands we find the slender foxtail grass +(alopecurus agr.) abounding like a cultivated plant: when growing in +clover, or the ray grass, the whole are cut together, and though not a +desirable addition, is not essentially injurious; but vegetating in the +corn, it is a very pernicious weed, drawing nutriment from the crop, and +overpowering it by its more early growth, at times so impoverishing the +barley or the oats, as to render them comparatively of little value. The +upright brome grass (bromus erectus) is a pest in our grass lands, +giving the semblance of a crop in a most unproductive soil; hard and +wiry, it possesses no virtue as food, and is useless as a grass: this +bromus inclines to the limestone, the lias, or clay-stone, as if alumine +was required, to effect some essential purpose in its nature; but this +is a plant not found universally. + +We have in use generally here a very prudential method of saving our +crops in bad and catching seasons, by securing the hay in windcocks, and +wheat in pooks. As soon as a portion of our grass becomes sufficiently +dry, we do not wait for the whole crop being in the same state, but, +collecting together about a good wagon load of it, we make a large cock +in the field, and as soon as a like quantity is ready we stack that +likewise, until the whole field is successively finished, and on the +first fine day unite the whole in a mow. Some farmers, in very +precarious seasons, only cut enough to make one of these cocks, and +having secured this, cut again for another. Should we be necessitated, +from the state of the weather, to let these parcels remain long on the +ground, or be a little dilatory, which I believe we sometimes are, +before they are carried, or, as we say, hawled (haled,) the cocks are +apt to get a little warm, and only partially heat in the mow, the hay +cutting out streaky, and not perhaps so bright or fragrant as when +uniformly heated in body: but I am acquainted with no other disadvantage +from this practice, and it is assuredly the least expensive, and most +ready way of saving a crop in a moist and uncertain season. For wheat it +is a very efficacious plan, as these stacks or pooks, (a corruption +perhaps of packs,) when properly made, resist long and heavy rains, the +sheaves not being simply piled together, but the heads gradually +elevated to a certain degree in the centre, and the but-end then shoots +off the water, the summit being lightly thatched. An objection has been +raised to this custom, from the idea that the mice in the field take +refuge in the pooks, and are thus carried home; but mice will resort to +the sheaves as well when drying, and be conveyed in like manner to the +barn: we have certainly no equally efficacious or speedy plan for +securing a crop of wheat, and thousands of loads are thus commonly +saved, which would otherwise be endangered, or lost by vegetating in the +sheaf. + +We will admit that grain, hardened by exposure to the sun and air in the +sheaf, is sooner ready for the miller, and is generally a brighter +article than that which has been hastily heaped up in the pook; but when +the season does not allow of this exposure, but obliges us to prevent +the germinating of the grain by any means, I know no practice, as an +expedient, rather than a recommendation in all cases, more prompt and +efficacious than this. + +Two of our crops not being of universal culture are entitled to a brief +mention. We grow the potato extensively in our fields, a root which must +be considered, after bread corn and rice, the kindest vegetable gift of +Providence to mankind. This root forms the chief support of our +population as their food, and affords them a healthful employment for +three months in the year, during the various stages of planting, +hacking, hoeing, harvesting. Every laborer rents of the farmer some +portion of his land, to the amount of a rood or more, for this culture, +the profits of which enable him frequently to build a cottage, and, with +the aid of a little bread, furnishes a regular, plentiful, nutritious +food for himself, his wife, and children within, and his pig without +doors; and they all grow fat and healthy upon this diet, and use has +rendered it essential to their being. The population of England, Europe +perhaps, would never have been numerous as it is, without this +vegetable; and if the human race continue increasing, the cultivation of +it may be extended to meet every demand, which no other earthly product +could scarcely be found to admit of. The increase of mankind throughout +Europe, within the last forty years, has been most remarkable, as every +census informs us, notwithstanding the havoc and waste of continual +warfare, and most extensive emigration; and as it seems to be an +established maxim, that population will increase according to the means +of supply, so, if a northern hive should swarm again, or + + “Blue-eyed myriads from the Baltic shore” + +once more arise, future historians will probably attribute this excess +of population, and the revolutions it may effect, to the introduction of +vaccination on the one part, and the cultivation of the potato on the +other. + +The varieties of this tuber, like apples, seem annually extending, and +every village has its own approved sorts and names, different soils +being found preferable for particular kinds, and local treatment +advantageous. We plant both by the dibble[8] and the spade: our chief +sorts are pink eyes, prince’s beauty, magpies, and china oranges, for +our first crop; blacks, roughs, and reds, for the latter crop; and +horses’ legs, for cattle. We have a new sort under trial, with rather an +extraordinary name, which I must here call “femora dominarum!” But we +find here, as is usual with other vegetable varieties, that after a few +years’ cultivation the sorts lose their original characters, or, as the +men say, “the land gets sick of them,” and they cease to produce as at +first, and new sets are resorted to. We have no vegetable under +cultivation more probably remunerative than this, or more certain of +being in demand sooner or later; it consequently becomes an article of +speculation, but not to such an injurious extent as some others are: it +gives a sufficient profit to the farmer and his sub renter. Our land is +variously rented for this culture; but perhaps eight pounds per acre are +a general standard: the farmer gives it two plowings, finds manure, and +pays the tithe; the seed is found, and all the labor in and out is +performed by the renter; or the farmer, in lieu of any rent, receives +half the crop. The farmer’s expenses may be rated at— + + £. _s._ _d._ + Rent to his landlord 1 10 0 + Two plowings 1 6 0 + Twelve loads of manure 1 16 0 + Tithe 0 10 0 + Rates 0 3 0 + ─────────────────────────────────────────────── + £5 5 0 + +leaving him a clear profit of 2_l._ 15_s._ per acre. The sub renter’s +expenditure and profit will be— + + £. _s._ _d._ + Rent 8 0 0 + Labor in and out 3 0 6 + ─────────────────────────────────────────────── + £12 12 6 + + £. _s._ _d._ + Produce 50 sacks, at 6_s._ 6_d._ 16 5 0 + Trash, or small pigs 1 0 0 + ─────────────────────────────────────────────── + £17 5 0 + +leaving a profit of 4_l._ 12_s._ 6_d._ per acre. The produce will vary +greatly at times, and then the price of the article varies too. The +returns to the laborer are always ample, when conducted with any thing +like discretion, and the emolument to the farmer is also quite +sufficient as, beside the rent, he is paid for the manuring his land for +a succeeding crop, be it wheat or barley; hence land is always to be +obtained by the cotter, upon application. We have a marked instance in +the year 1825 how little we can predict what the product of this crop +will be, or the change that alteration of weather may effect; for after +the drought of the summer, after our apprehensions, our dismay (for the +loss of this root is a very serious calamity), the produce of potatoes +was generally fair, in places abundant; many acres yielding full eighty +sacks, which, at the digging out price of 6_s._ the sack, gave a clear +profit to the laborer of 11_l._ 7_s._ 6_d._[9] per acre! But at any rate +it gives infinite comfort to the poor man, which no other article can +equally do, and a plentiful subsistence, when grain would be poverty and +want. The injudicious manner in which some farmers have let their land +has certainly, under old acts of parliament, brought many families into +a parish; but we have very few instances where a potato land renter to +any extent is supported by the parish. In this village a very large +portion of our peasantry inhabit their own cottages, the greater number +of which have been obtained by their industry, and the successful +culture of this root. The getting in and out of the crop is solely +performed by the cotter and his family: a child drops a set in the +dibble-hole or the trench made by the father, the wife with her hoe +covering it up; and in harvesting all the family are in action; the baby +is wrapped up when asleep in its mother’s cloak, and laid under the +shelter of some hedge, and the digging, picking, and conveying to the +great store-heap commences; a primitive occupation and community of +labor, that I believe no other article admits of or affords. + +It has been said that the culture of the potato is injurious to the farm +in general, and I know landlords who restrict the growth of it; but +perhaps the extent of injury has been greatly overrated. The potato, it +is true, makes no return to the land in straw for manure, and a large +portion of that which is made in the barton is occasionally required for +its cultivation; and thus it is said to consume without any repayment +what is equally due to other crops: but the cultivation of this tuber +requires that the soil should be moved and turned repeatedly; it is +generally twice at least plowed, trenched by the spade for sets, hacked +when the plant is above ground, then hoed into ridges, and finally, the +whole turned over again when the crop is got out: thus is the soil six +times turned and exposed to the sun and air and it is kept perfectly +free from weeds of all kinds—both of which circumstances are essentially +beneficial to the soil. If the potato must have manure, it does not +exhaust all the virtues of it, as the crop which succeeds it, be it +wheat or barley, sufficiently manifests: there are, besides, exertions +made by the renter to obtain this profitable crop, that greatly improve +the farm, and which a less promising one would not always stimulate him +to attempt—he will cut up his ditch banks, collect the waste soil of his +fields, composting it with lime and other matters as a dressing for the +potato crop, and it answers well: the usual returns from corn, and +fluctuations in the price, will not often induce him to make such +exertions. All this is no robbery of the farm-yard, but solely a +profitable reward and premium to industry. + +Much has been said and written about the potato; but as some erroneous +ideas have been received concerning its early introduction into Europe, +perhaps a slight sketch of the history of this extraordinary root may +not be uninteresting,—a summary of the perusal of multitudes of volumes, +papers, treatises! + +The sweet Spanish potato (convolvulus batatus), a native of the East, +was very early dispersed throughout the continent of Europe; and all the +ancient accounts, in which the name of potato is mentioned, relate +exclusively to this plant, a convolvulus: but our inquiry at present +regards that root now in such extensive cultivation with us, which is an +American plant[10] (solanum tuberosum). Perhaps the first mention that +is known concerning the root is that of the great German botanist, +Clusius, in 1588, who received a present of two of the tubers in that +year from Flanders; and there is a plate of it among his rare plants. +The first certain account which I know of by any English writer is in +Gerard, who mentions, in his herbal, receiving some roots from Virginia, +and planting them in his garden near London as a curiosity, in the year +1597. All the multiform tales which we have of its introduction by +Hawkins, shipwrecked vessels, Raleigh, and his boiling the apples +instead of the roots, are merely traditional fancies, or modern +inventions, with little or no probability for support. There is some +possibility that Sir Walter Raleigh might have introduced the potato +into Ireland from America, when he returned in 1584, or rather after his +last voyage, eleven years later; but if so, it was much confined in its +culture, and slowly acquired estimation, even in that island; for Dr. +Campbell does not admit that it was known there before the year 1610, +fifteen years after Sir Walter’s final return. In England it seems to +have been yet more tardy in obtaining notice; for the first mention +which I can find, wherein this tuber is regarded as possessing any +virtue, is by that great man Sir Francis Bacon, who investigated nature +from the “cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth +out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowls, and of fishes, +and of creeping things,” in his history of “Life and Death,” written, +probably, in retirement after his disgrace. He observes, that “if ale +was brewed with one-fourth part of some fat root, such as the potado, to +three-fourths of grain, it would be more conducive to longevity than +with grain alone.” It was thus full twenty-four years after its being +planted by Gerard, that the nutritive virtues of this root appear to +have been understood: but with us there seems to have been almost an +antipathy against this root as an article of food, which can scarcely +excite surprise, when we consider what a wretched sort must have been +grown, which one writer tells us was very near the nature of Jerusalem +artichokes, but not so good or wholesome; and that they were to be +roasted and sliced, and eaten with a sauce composed of wine and sugar! +Even Philip Miller, who wrote his account not quite seventy years ago, +says “they were despised by the rich, and deemed only proper food for +the meaner sorts of persons;” and this at a time when that sorry root, +the underground or Jerusalem artichoke (helianthus tuberosus) was in +great esteem, and extensively cultivated. And we must bear in mind the +disinclination, the prejudice I might almost call it, that this root +manifests to particular soils. Most of our esculent vegetables thrive +better—are better flavored, when growing in certain soils, and under +different influences; but the potato becomes actually deteriorated in +some land. And every cultivator knows from experience, that the much- +admired product of some friend’s domain, or garden, becomes, when +introduced into his own, a very inferior, or even an unpalatable root. +Potatoes will grow in certain parishes and districts, and even remain +unvitiated; but the product will be scanty, as if they tolerated the +culture only, and produced by favor; whereas in an adjoining station, +possessing some different admixture of soil, some change of aspect, the +crop will be highly remunerative. These circumstances in earlier days, +when their value, and the necessity of possessing them, were not felt, +counteracted any attempt for extensive cultivation, or, probably, +influenced the dislike to their use. + +However locally this solanum might have been planted, yet it appears, +after consulting a variety of agricultural reports, garden books, +husbandmen’s directions, &c. down to the statements of Arthur Young, +that the potato has not been grown in gardens in England more than one +hundred and seventy years; or to any extent in the field above seventy- +five. At length, however, as better sorts were introduced, and better +modes of dressing found out, it became esteemed; and the value of this +most inestimable root was so rapidly manifested, and the demand for it +so great, that we find by a survey made about thirty years ago, that the +county of Essex alone cultivated about seventeen hundred acres for the +London market. I know not the extent of land now required for the supply +of our metropolis, but it must be prodigious. + +Amidst the numerous remarkable productions ushered into the old +continent from the new world, there are two which stand pre-eminently +conspicuous from their general adoption; unlike in their natures, both +have been received as extensive blessings—the one by its nutritive +powers tends to support, the other by its narcotic virtues to soothe and +comfort the human frame—the potato and tobacco; but very different was +the favor with which these plants were viewed: the one, long rejected, +by the slow operation of time, and perhaps of necessity, was at length +cherished, and has become the support of millions; but nearly one +hundred and twenty years passed away before even a trial of its merits +was attempted: whereas the tobacco from Yucatan, in less than seventy +years after the discovery, appears to have been extensively cultivated +in Portugal, and is, perhaps, the most generally adopted superfluous +vegetable product known; for sugar and opium are not in such common use. +Luxuries, usually, are expensive pleasures, and hence confined to few: +but this sedative herb, from its cheapness, is accessible to almost +every one, and is the favorite indulgence of a large portion of mankind. +Food and rest are the great requirements of mortal life: the potato, by +its starch, satisfies the demands of hunger; the tobacco, by its +morphin, calms the turbulence of the mind: the former becomes a +necessity required; the latter a gratification sought for. + +Many as the uses are to which this root is applicable—and it will be +annually applied to more; if we consider it merely as an article of +food, though subject to occasional partial failures, yet exempted from +the blights, the mildews, the wire-worms, the germinatings of corn, +which have often filled our land with wailings and with death, we will +hail the individual, whoever he might be, who brought it to us, as one +of the greatest benefactors to the human race, and with grateful hearts +thank the bountiful giver of all good things for this most extensive +blessing. + +It is a well-known fact, that we are perfectly ignorant of the native +sites of nearly all those gramineous plants, distinguished by Linnæus as +Cerealia, whose seeds have from the earliest periods of time served for +the food of man, such as wheat, rye, barley, rice, maize, oats: perhaps +we must except the two last, as the oat was discovered by Bruce growing +under the culture of nature alone; and he was too good a botanist to +have mistaken the identity of Avena sativa—and Indian corn may have been +found. That some of them were produced in these regions first inhabited +by mankind, we have every reason to believe, and the warrant of +something like obscure tradition; but our ignorance of the first +habitats of these plants is the less to be wondered at, when we consider +that it is more than probable that culture and the arts of man have so +infinitely changed the form, improved the nature, and obscured the +original species, that it is no longer traceable in any existent state. +There appears to be a permission from Nature to effect certain changes +in vegetables, yet she retains an inherent propensity in the plant to +revert to its original creation, which is very manifest in this +particular race, for the sorts which we now make use of will not endure +the thraldom of our perversion without the artifices, the restraints of +man, but have a constant tendency to return to some other nature, or to +run wild, as we call it. Man bears them with him in all his wanderings, +by his treatment they remain obedient to his desires, and are identified +with colonization, but as soon as he remits his attentions, the seeds +perish in the soil, or their offspring dwindle in the earth, and are +lost. Or we may say, that Nature, having created these things, permits +him, in the sweat of his brow, to effect an improvement, and consigns +the custody of them to his care, satisfied that he will preserve them +for his own benefit as long as required; when his occasion for them +ceases, or when by sloth he neglects them, they return to their original +creation: the earth might be cursed to bring forth thorns and thistles, +but an attendant blessing and mercy was reserved of permitting them to +be cultivated, producing healthful recreation and grateful food. If +these are plants of immemorial antiquity, the potato is yet of +comparatively modern introduction, but the original species from whence +all our endless varieties have emanated cannot probably now be +ascertained, man having, as observed above, almost created an essential +article of food; and it is not unimportant to note the great difference +that subsists in the component parts of these varieties—for though, in +common estimation, a potato may be a potato, yet we find them very +differently compounded. The influence of different temperatures and +years may cause these proportions to vary, but I give them as observed +in 1828. + + Black or purple, Fibre 9¾ │Fecula 9¾ │Water 80½ = 100 + Prince’s beauty do. 15 │Ditto 11¾│Ditto 70¼ do. + Horse’s legs do. 13 │Ditto 15 │Ditto 72 do. + +The proportion of fecula varies greatly, and as the principle of +nutriment is supposed to exist in this matter, the value of each sort, +if mere nutriment is required, is indicated by this analysis. + +The potato may be considered as the most valuable production that Europe +has received from the continent of America, and is now, as Bishop Heber +informs us, much esteemed in the East, and regarded as the greatest +benefit the country ever received from its European masters. A plant +that can so climatize and preserve its valuable properties in such +different temperatures as northern Europe and Bengal, where the +thermometer ranges up to 90 or 100 degrees of heat, must be particularly +endowed, and in time will probably become naturalized to every region, +and circulate its benefits round the globe. The strenuous manner in +which I have lauded this root may, perhaps, excite a smile in some, who +only know it as a table viand; but those who have witnessed the +blessings which this tuber confers, by affording a sufficiency of food +to man and beast, will not be disposed to regard lightly such comforts +obtainable by their poorer neighbors. + +Our second crop to which I alluded, and which some years we grow +largely, is the teasel[11] (dipsacus fullonum), a plant which is +probably no native of this country, but, like woad, canary-grass, &c., +originally introduced by some of the numerous foreign artisans, who have +at various times sought refuge here, or been encouraged to settle in +England. Our woollen manufactory could hardly have made any progress +without this plant: the constant continental wars in the earlier part of +our monarchy, and the rival jealousies of foreign nations, would have +impeded, or prohibited, the necessary supply of teasels, and thus +rendered the domestic cultivation of this indispensable plant a primary +object. The manufactory of cloth was certainly carried on in England +during the reign of Richard I., perhaps in his father’s reign; but it +was probably not until after the tenth of Edward III., that the teasel +was cultivated to any extent with us; for about that time the +exportation of English wool was prohibited, and the wearing of foreign +cloth opposed by government. Flemish artisans were encouraged to settle +in this country, and carry on their trade, with every liberty and +protection; a regular mart was established; and the tuckers, or woollen +weavers, became an incorporated body; particular towns began to furnish +peculiar colors—Kendal, its green, Coventry, its blue, Bristol, its red, +&c.; and from this period, I think, we may date the cultivation of the +teasel in England. + +Hudson, in considering this species as indigenous, directs us to hedges +for our specimens; but, though the teasel is certainly found a wilding +in some places astray from cultivation, yet it is singular that with us +it does not wander from culture: though the seeds are scattered about +and swept from the barns where the heads are dried into the yard, and +vegetate in profusion on the dung-heaps and the by-ways where dropped, +yet I have never observed it growing in the surrounding hedges. + +Teasels are cultivated in some of the strong clay-lands of Wilts, Essex, +Gloucester, and Somerset. The latter county is supposed to have grown +them earliest. The manufacturers rather give the preference to those of +Gloucester, as lands repeatedly cropped are thought not to produce them +so good in some respects. Strong land, thrown up as for wheat, and kept +dry, affords the best teasels. Weeding, draining, and other requisites, +demand a constant labor through great part of the year; and hence a +certain expense is incurred: but remuneration, loss, or great profit, +circumstances must determine; nor, perhaps, is there any article grown +more precarious or mutable in its returns. + +The teasel throws up its heads in July and August; and these are cut +from the plant by hand, with a knife particularly formed, and then +fastened to poles for drying: the terminating heads are ready first, and +called “kings:” they are larger and coarser than the others, and fitted +only for the strongest kinds of cloth, and are about half the value of +the best. The collateral heads then succeed, and receive the name of +“middlings,” and are the prime teasels. Should the season prove moist, +great injury ensues; but exposure to wet for any length of time ruins +the head, which, by its peculiar construction, retains the moisture, and +it decays. We cannot stack them like corn, as pressure destroys the +spines, and a free circulation of air is required to dry them +thoroughly; and we seek for barns, sheds, and shelter of any kind, crowd +the very bed-rooms of our cottages with them in dripping seasons, and +bask them in every sunny gleam that breaks out: this is attended with +infinite trouble; and as few farmers, who have so many other concerns on +their hands, like to encounter it, they become the speculation of the +most opulent class of cottagers. When dry, they are picked and sorted +into bundles for sale, ten thousand best and small middlings making a +pack; nine thousand constitute the pack of kings. If there be a stock on +hand, and the season favorable, there is a sufficiency for the demand, +and the price low: if adverse weather ensue, the price becomes greatly +advanced, and we have known them in the course of a few months vary from +4l. to 22l. the pack! but from 5_l._ to 7_l._ is perhaps the average +price of this article. This variation in value affords the growers a +subject for constant speculation—a source of rapid wealth to some, and +injury to others—and we most emphatically call teasels a “casualty +crop.” Our manufacturers occasionally import teasels from Holland and +France, when the price is high in England: this they can do when the +home price exceeds 8_l._ + +In letting teasel land, various agreements are made, not necessary to +mention in a note like this; but it is usually taken for two years, it +requiring much of this time from sowing the seed to cutting the heads +for sale. In rating the expenses, we will say— + + £. _s._ _d._ + One acre at 2_l._ per ann. (for two years) 4 0 0 + Expense of culture, 3_l._ per ann per acre 6 0 0 + Tithe 0 8 0 + Cutting the heads, per acre 0 6 0 + Sorting and packing at 6_s._ for seven packs, average crop 2 2 0 + Miscellaneous expenses, polls, sticks, &c. 1 0 0 + ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── + 13 16 0 + Average crop brought to market, seven packs, at 6_l._ 42 0 0 + ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── + Leaving a profit for the 2 years, upon an acre, of £28 4 3 + +As the teasel man seldom rents less than four or six acres, which he can +very well attend to, it may produce at the two years’ end a return upon +the six acres of 169_l._, if all circumstances should be favorable—a +tempting inducement to speculation, when a laborer, by regular daily +pay, cannot earn above 32_l._ per annum. But it requires some ready +money to support the family during this period of expectation—and if a +bad season occur, all the labor is lost, the profit destroyed, the +anxiety of months ends in disappointment, and debt only remains. This is +most truly a casualty crop; and the manufacturers are so sensible of the +risk and trouble attending the cultivation of this plant, that they +prefer purchasing to growing it for their own use; and I know one who +has declared his loss in the attempt to exceed 500_l._ + +It has been thought that the cultivation of teasels exhausted the land, +and some landlords in consequence have forbidden the growth of them in +their agreements; perhaps I can be no sufficient judge of the accuracy +of this idea, from our limited growth, but speaking locally, such land +as we make use of for their culture is of so inferior a nature, that +little deterioration can ensue from any crop. The teasel, having a tap +root, does not exhaust the superficial soil as a fibrous-rooted plant +would do; the ground on which they grow is hoed, and turned by the spade +repeatedly, and up to a certain period kept free from weeds; but as the +plant is forming heads, little attention seems given to the eradication +of intrusive rubbish, and, consequently, after gathering the crop the +soil is frequently in a very foul state, and from hence the chief injury +to the land may arise, rather than from the teasel plant. Though this +crop requires no manure, nor affords any to the soil, yet the removal of +the earth so repeatedly by the hoe and spade becomes equivalent to a +fallow: with us a wheat crop often succeeds the teasel, and I have +observed in this case as good a return of that grain as is produced by +the adjoining fields where teasels had not been grown. + +This plant seems to be known in many countries by a name expressive of +its use. Old Gerard has recorded several of these names. Its old English +name was the carding teasel; the Latin name, carduus veneris; the French +call it chardon de foullon; the Danes and Swedes, karde tidsel; the +Flemings, karden distel; the Hollanders, kaarden; Italy and Portugal, +cardo; the Spaniards, cardencha, &c. + +I believe that the teasel affords a solitary instance of a natural +production being applied to mechanical purposes in the state in which it +is produced.[12] It appears, from many attempts, that the object +designed to be effected by the teasel cannot be supplied by any +contrivance—successive inventions having been abandoned as defective or +injurious. The use of the teasel is to draw out the ends of the wool +from the manufactured cloth, so as to bring a regular pile or nap upon +the surface, free from twistings and knottings, and to comb off the +coarse and loose parts of the wool. The head of the true teasel is +composed of incorporated flowers, each separated by a long, rigid, +chaffy substance, the terminating point of which is furnished with a +fine hook. Many of these heads are fixed in a frame; and with this the +surface of the cloth is teased, or brushed, until all the ends are drawn +out, the loose parts combed off, and the cloth ceases to yield +impediments to the free passage of the wheel, or frame, of teasels. +Should the hook of the chaff, when in use, become fixed in a knot, or +find sufficient resistance, it breaks without injuring or contending +with the cloth, and care is taken by successive applications to draw the +impediment out: but all mechanical inventions hitherto made use of offer +resistance to the knot; and, instead of yielding and breaking as the +teasel does, resist and tear it out, making a hole, or injuring the +surface. The dressing of a piece of cloth consumes a great multitude of +teasels—it requiring from 1500 to 2000 heads to accomplish the work +properly. They are used repeatedly in the different stages of the +process; but a piece of fine cloth generally breaks this number before +it is finished, or we may say that there is a consumption answering to +the proposed fineness—pieces of the best kinds requiring one hundred and +fifty or two hundred runnings up, according to circumstances. + +Our small farmers here have a vile practice of picking from their turf, +in the spring of the year, all the droppings of their autumn and winter +fed cattle to carry on their arable land for the potato, or some grain +crop: this affords no great supply to plowed land, and is very injurious +to their grazing grounds; but the answer generally is, “that the corn +must have manure, and the beast can take care of itself;” and in many +cases, I fear, from the starved appearance of the young cattle, that +their best endeavors have afforded a very inadequate supply. + +This picking of the field was formerly very generally resorted to in the +midland counties; but the farmers at that time had a sufficient excuse +in the scarcity of common fuel. The droppings of the cows were collected +in heaps, and beaten into a mass with water; then pressed by the feet +into moulds like bricks, by regular professional persons, called +clatters (clodders); then dried in the sun, and stacked like peat, and a +dry March for the clat-harvest was considered as very desirable. These +answered very well for heating water for the dairy and uses of the farm +back-kitchen, giving a steady, dull heat, without flame; but navigable +canals, and other conveniences of a similar nature, have rendered the +practice now unnecessary. With us this bad custom is declining, and +probably in time will cease altogether. + + * * * * * + +It is rather a subject of surprise, that in our general associations and +commixtures in life, in times so highly enlightened as the present, when +many ancient prejudices are gradually flitting away, as reason and +science dawn on mankind, we should meet with so few, comparatively +speaking, who have any knowledge of, or take the least interest in +natural history; or if the subject obtain a moment’s consideration, it +has no abiding place in the mind, being dismissed as the fitting employ +of children and inferior capacities. But the natural historian is +required to attend to something more than the vagaries of butterflies, +and the spinnings of caterpillars; his study, considered abstractedly +from the various branches of science which it embraces, is one of the +most delightful occupations that can employ the attention of reasoning +beings: a beautiful landscape, grateful objects, pleasures received by +the eye or the senses, become the common property of all who can enjoy +them, being in some measure obvious to every one; but the naturalist +must reflect upon hidden things, investigate by comparison, and testify +by experience, and living amidst the wonders of creation, it becomes his +occupation to note and proclaim such manifestations of wisdom or +goodness as may be perceived by him. And perhaps none of the amusements +of human life are more satisfactory and dignified, than the +investigation and survey of the workings and ways of Providence in this +created world of wonders, filled with his never-absent power: it +occupies and elevates the mind, is inexhaustible in supply, and, while +it furnishes meditation for the closet of the studious, gives to the +reflections of the moralizing rambler admiration and delight, and is an +engaging companion, that will communicate an interest to every rural +walk. We need not live with the humble denizens of the air, the tenants +of the woods and hedges, or the grasses of the field; but to pass them +by in utter disregard, is to neglect a large portion of rational +pleasure open to our view, which may edify and employ many a passing +hour, and by easy gradations will often become the source whence flow +contemplations of the highest orders. Young minds cannot, I should +conceive, be too strongly impressed with the simple wonders of creation +by which they are surrounded: in the race of life they may be passed by, +the occupation of existence may not admit attention to them, or the +unceasing cares of the world may smother early attainments—but they can +never be injurious—will give a bias to a reasoning mind, and tend, in +some after-thoughtful, sobered hour, to comfort and to soothe. The +little insights that we have obtained into nature’s works are many of +them the offspring of scientific research; and partial and uncertain as +our labors are, yet a brief gleam will occasionally lighten the darksome +path of the humble inquirer, and give him a momentary glimpse of hidden +truths: let not then the idle and the ignorant scoff at him who devotes +an unemployed hour,— + + “No calling left, no duty broke,” + +to investigate a moss, a fungus, a beetle, or a shell, in “ways of +pleasantness, and in paths of peace.” They are all the formation of +Supreme Intelligence, for a wise and a worthy end, and may lead us by +gentle gradations to a faint conception of the powers of infinite +wisdom. They have calmed and amused some of us worms and reptiles, and +possibly bettered us for our change to a new and more perfect order of +being. + +We yet possess two forest trees, beautiful and unmutilated! An oak in +Shellard’s lane has escaped the woodman’s ax, the hedger’s bill: it +stands on the side of the waste, and has long afforded shade and shelter +to an adjoining farm-house. These circumstances, and not being valuable +as a timber tree, may have contributed to its preservation: its +hamadryad is left alone in the land to mourn her lost companions. This +tree is not mentioned as being at all comparable with the gigantic +productions of the kind that we have accounts of, and perhaps by many +would be passed by unnoticed; yet it is deserving of some regard, from +the vegetable powers that have existed, and still continue in its trunk. +The bole, at some very distant period, by accident or design, appears to +have lost its leading shoot, and in consequence has thrown out several +collateral branches: three remain, which have now grown into trees +themselves existing in full vigor, and constituting a whole of much +beauty. It is a characteristic specimen of an oak, with all the +corrugations, twistings, furrows, and irregularities, which this tree +with a free growth generally exhibits; expanding its three vigorous arms +to the Sun of Heaven with a pendent, easy dignity, that seems like an +enjoyment of unrestrained liberty. We have no good criterion to regulate +our judgment with regard to the age of trees of considerable antiquity. +In young ones the rings of the wood will often afford a reasonable +ground for opinion; but in old trees these marks are absorbed, obscured, +or uncertainly formed, so as to be no sufficient guide. In particular +cases, such as inclosure of waste or other lands, formation of parks and +plantations, the times of planting are sufficiently recorded; but +generally speaking, neither oral tradition, nor written testimony, +remains to indicate the period when a tree sprang up. This oak, however, +from all the signs of age that it retains, must have existed as a +sapling at some very distant day, and is the most undoubted relic of +antiquity in the vegetable world that we possess. + +The elm, and the beech, in age, frequently present very decided vestiges +of a former day; but the oak of centuries has impressed upon it +indelible characters of antiquity, and is a visible _vetustum +monumentum_. The wreathings and contortions of its bark, even its once +vigorous, but now sapless limbs, with their bare and bleached summits, +stag-headed and erect, maintain a regality of character which perfectly +indicates the monarch of the forest, and which no other tree assumes. We +have many accounts in different authors of the prodigious size which the +oak has attained in England; but most of the trees, that have arrived at +any vast circumference, seem, like this our village oak, to have lost +their leaders when young, and hence are short in the but: yet we have +records of aspiring timber trees of this species of astonishing +magnitude, though perhaps none of them exceed those mentioned by Evelyn, +cut down near Newberry in Berkshire, one of which ran fifty feet clear +without a knot, and cut clean timber five feet square at the base; its +consort gave forty feet of clear, straight timber, squaring four feet at +its base, and nearly a yard at the top. The “lady oak,” mentioned by Sir +E. Harley, produced a but of forty feet, and squared five feet +throughout its whole length, thus producing twenty tons of timber, a +mass of surprising grandeur! But the most magnificent oak ever known to +have grown in England was probably that dug out of Hatfield bog: it was +a hundred and twenty five feet in length, twelve in diameter at the +base, ten in the middle, and six at the smaller end, where broken off; +so that the but for sixty feet squared seven feet of timber, and four +its entire length. Twenty pounds were offered for this tree.[13] This +extraordinary vegetable should have been preserved in some museum, as +unequalled in ancient, unapproachable in modern days; exceeding in +magnitude even that famous larch brought to Rome in the reign of +Tiberius,[14] and reserved as a curiosity for many years, which was one +hundred and twenty feet long, and two feet in diameter its whole length. + +Indigenous, flourishing, and inured to all the caprices of our climate +as the oak is, yet it produces its fruit very precariously, and at times +sparingly, like a plant of exotic origin; which does not appear to have +been the case formerly, when such herds of swine were maintained by the +produce of our woods alone, and grants from manorial lords for +permission thus to feed them were recorded with care as valuable +obtainments. + +The cause of infertility in indigenous trees can arise from no defect of +construction in the organs of fructification, but from some obstruction, +perversion, redundancy, or vitiation of the natural powers; which is +particularly manifested by the faculty which they possess at one period +of producing fruit, and their impotency at another. This imbecility from +one cause or another probably influences at periods every tree or herb +that springs from the earth; but in regard to the oak, the most general +and probable cause of its sterility is suspended circulation. This is +more immediately brought to notice from our custom of barking the timber +of this tree in the spring. At times our barkers go on rapidly with +their work; yet in a few hours a frost, or a sharp wind, will put an +entire stop to their operations, in consequence of the cessation of the +flow of sap, which is followed by the adhesion of the bark to the wood. +Whenever this nutriment ceases to be supplied, the immature and tender +germen must languish; and if the supply be long suspended, it must +perish from deficiency of food. That such is the natural effect of +spring frosts and sudden chills, more injurious probably to the fruit in +this immature state, from its greater delicacy, than when it is more +developed, is reasonable to suppose: how far a change of seasons may +have taken place to accomplish the injury alluded to, more commonly now +than in former periods, we have no criterion for proving; but if +failures of the acorn crop took place as frequently in times when +swine’s flesh was mostly the diet of the middle and lower classes of +people as they do now, the privations of our forefathers were severe +indeed. + +An interesting volume might be formed, entitled the “History of the +Oak.” The first mention that we know of this tree is that ancient of +days, the “oak of Mamre,” under which Abraham sat in the heat of the +day; and that it was an oak, one of the fathers, Eusebius, tells us, as +it remained an object of veneration even in the time of Constantine. We +would note all the celebrated querci of antiquity; the use, value, +strength, duration, &c., of its timber; the infinite variety of purposes +to which its various parts are applied by the mechanic, the dyer, the +artisan; the insects, which amount to hundreds of species, that live and +have their being on the oak; the vegetables it nourishes, ferns, +lichens, mosses, agarics, boleti, &c.; the sawdust, apples, gallnuts, +acorns, leaves, and innumerable et cetera of Britain’s guardian tree. +However highly the Druids might venerate the oak, and make it the emblem +and residence of their deity, yet the intrinsic value of this tree was +unknown to our remote forefathers. All their knowledge of its virtues +was probably included in its uses for building, its acorns for their +swine, and, perhaps, its bark for preserving the skins which they used. +Modern ingenuity and necessity have brought its various qualities into +notice, or our oak would have received such honors, as in days of +darkness were conferred upon inanimate things: Attica considered the +olive as the gift of her tutelary goddess, and some benevolent saint +would have been lauded and hymned, for having endowed the oak of Britain +with such extensive virtues for the good of mankind. + +The other tree, that I mentioned above as one of our boasts, is a wych +or broad-leaved elm[15] (ulmus montana), standing near the turnpike +road. This very fine and stately tree was saved, when the merciless ax +levelled all its companions, at the solicitation of a lady now no more, +and remains a testimony of her good taste, the civility of the agent, +and the ornament of our village. When in youth, this species presents a +character decidedly different from the common elm (ulmus campestris). +Its branches at times are so strong as to be nearly equal in size with +the main stem that supports them, and loaded with such a profusion of +foliage, that the sprays become pendent, and give the idea of luxuriance +with weakness, of a growth beyond strength; advancing in age, its arms +and sprays become less pensile, as the leaves are smaller and less +burdensome; yet they hang commonly in large heavy masses, like what we +formerly were accustomed to see in the aquatintas of Jukes, and the +prints of that period. It can however occasionally assume the appearance +of elegance and lightness, and is usually less aspiring and more +branching than the common elm; its dense foliage yields a fine shade for +cattle, and it deserves even on this account, if it possessed no other +merit, a more general cultivation. The wych elm, though a rare tree in +some counties, seems more extensively spread over England than the other +species, and adventures farther to the north. Ray tells us, on the +authority of Aubrey, that the common elm, so called, is scarcely found +indigenous northward of Lincolnshire, whereas this species is found even +in Scotland. Our soil is very favorable to the growth of both species. +The wych elm affords a tough and valuable wood for the wheeler and the +mill-wright; the bark from the young limbs is stripped off in long +ribands, and often used, especially in Wales, for securing thatch, and +for various bindings and tyings, to which purpose its flexible and tough +nature renders it well adapted. Gerard says, that arrows were made from +the wood of this tree, and he lived at a period when he could well +ascertain the fact, during the reign of Elizabeth and her predecessor, +before fire-arms had superseded this truly British weapon: he was in the +younger part of his life gardener to the great Lord Burleigh. That the +wych elm, when permitted, will attain large dimensions, is manifest by +the size of several we have observed in many places; but that gigantic +one, which grew in Staffordshire, exceeds in magnitude any other of this +species which we ever heard of. It required the labor of two men for +five days to fell it; it was forty yards in length, with a diameter of +seventeen feet at the but; yielding eight pair of naves, and eight +thousand, six hundred, and sixty feet of boards, the sawing of which +cost 10_l._ 17_s._ It contained ninety-seven tons of timber. As Evelyn +says, “this was certainly a goodly tree!” The etymology of this tree +seems to be unknown, and different authors, who mention it, spell it, +accordingly, various ways: Evelyn calls it wich, and witch; Gilpin, +wich; others, wych; Bacon, weech. The foliage of the young trees of this +elm are the favorite food of the larvæ of the Buff-tip-moth, (Phal. +Bucephala), for though they likewise feed upon the young leaves of the +oak, and the lime, yet they give the preference to those of this tree; +when so feeding, it will always be known by their rejectments on the +earth beneath, which when the larvæ are in any number, may be noticed by +very unattentive persons. This caterpillar, when nearly fed for its +change, becomes heavy, and commonly falls to the earth from the spray, +and we can see them crawling along the paths, or even upon the clothes +of persons that have walked under the trees where they have fed: though +this creature is very often found in considerable numbers throughout the +summer and autumn, yet by reason of some fatality, the moth is by no +means so common an insect as might be expected from the profusion of its +larvæ. + +We have no indigenous tree that suffers from the advance of the winter +season so early as the wych elm. A few others may manifest its approach +nearly as soon, but they become augmented in splendor by a touch of the +frosty air, not ruined and denuded like our elm, which contributes no +grandeur, no beauty, to our autumnal scenery, as its leaves curl up, +become brown, and flutter from their sprays, when growing in exposed +situations, as early often as the middle of September, by constitutional +mechanism alone, even before the beech or the maple seems sensibly +affected by the cold. This character of itself marks a difference from +the common elm, which preserves its verdure, except from accidental +causes, long after this period; and then, when its season arrives, the +foliage becomes tinged with a fine, mellow, yellow hue, contributing a +full share with other trees to the character and splendor of autumn. The +wych elm may occasionally be desirable in the few days that our northern +summer requires its deep shades, but will not otherwise afford pleasure +or beauty in the shrubbery or the park as an ornamental tree, as its +leafless sprays announce too early the unwelcome termination of our +floral year, and its sober russet foliage is scattered at our feet +without preparation or a parting smile. + +Trees in full foliage have long been noted as great attractors of +humidity, and a young wych elm in full leaf affords a good example of +this supposed power; but in the winter of the year, when trees are +perfectly denuded, this faculty of creating moisture about them is +equally obvious, though not so profusely. A strongly marked instance of +this was witnessed by me, when ascending a hill in the month of March. +The weather had previously been very fine and dry, and the road in a +dusty state; but a fog coming on, an ash tree hanging over the road was +dripping with water so copiously, that the road beneath was in a puddle, +when the other parts continued dry, and manifested no appearance of +humidity. That leaves imbibe moisture by one set of vessels and +discharge them by another, is well-known; but these imbibings are never +discharged in falling drops: the real mystery was, the fog in its +progress was impeded by the boughs of the tree, and gradually collected +on the exposed side of them, until it became drops of water, whereas the +surrounding country had only a mist flying over it. Thus in fact the +tree was no attractor, but a condenser; the gate of a field will in the +same manner run down with water on the one side, and be dry on the +other; as will a stick, or a post, from the same cause. It is upon this +principle that currents of air will be found under trees in summer, when +little is perceived in open places; and the under leaves and sprays will +be curled and scorched at times, when the parts above are uninjured. The +air in its passage being stopped and condensed against the foliage of +the tree, it accordingly descends along its surface or front, and +escapes at the bottom, where there are no branches or leaves to +interrupt its progress. In winter there is little to impede the breeze +in its course, and it passes through; consequently at this season the +air under a tree is scarcely more sensibly felt than in the adjoining +field. + +It may be observed, that in the spring of the year the herbage under +trees is generally more vivid and luxuriant, than that which is beyond +the spread of the branches: this may be occasioned, in some instances, +by cattle having harbored there, and the ground becoming in consequence +more manured; but it will be found likewise manifestly verdant and +flourishing where no such accessory could have enriched it, and is, I +apprehend, in general, chiefly owing to the effects of the driving fogs +and mists, which cause a frequent drip beneath the tree, not experienced +in other places, and thus in a manner keep up a perpetual irrigation and +refreshment of the soil, and promote the decomposition of the foliage +beneath, which being drawn into the earth by worms, contributes to the +verdure by the nutriment they yield. + +The foliage of trees and plants, by its amazing profusion, variety, and +beauty, must ever have been, as it is now, a subject of admiration and +delight, is perhaps full as deserving of notice, and at times even more +to be regarded, than the blossoms which accompany it. Let us take only +one yard square upon the first verdant ditch-bank in spring, and the +variation of form and character which will there be presented may +probably exceed general imagination; but the object of all this +extraordinary diversity is concealed, with the many other mysteries of +creation: yet we have such an ascendant thirst for information upon the +causes and nature of the things about us, as to render it an apparent +inherent principle of the mind, inducing it to gratitude and love. From +information in all the works of Providence arises, as a necessary +consequence, admiration, and an exalted sense of supreme intelligence +and goodness. Without the desire of knowing the designs and processes of +things, no investigation would be bestowed, and we should remain in +ignorance of all but the bare facts, and gross perceptions of creation; +nor can it be questioned but that the more extensive our acquaintance is +with the objects of Providence, in such proportions must our convictions +be of his justice, wisdom, and power. + +The great utility of foliage, and its agency in accomplishing the +requirements of the plant and its products, are well known; and we can +form some comprehension of the vast supply that is required by a tree, +when we view its foliage, each leaf being employed in receiving and +transmitting gases from the air in certain proportions to the plant: +these great operations having been effected during the summer months, +and this agency of the leaves finished, they fall to the ground, not as +a useless encumbrance, but to convey a large portion of fresh soil +peculiarly fitted for the nutriment of vegetation. Should they remain in +any quantity beneath the tree, they appear to be injurious to the +smaller herbage, but they are more generally dispersed as they part from +the sprays by the gales of autumn, which whirl them along in crowds to +the hedges, trenches, and ditches around: here they accumulate and +decay, furnishing, in conjunction with other vegetable decompositions, a +very nutritive earth, as is manifest by the wild plants growing in those +situations, for notwithstanding all the obstructions of shade, thorns, +and briers, they are generally found in great luxuriance or health. This +earth in time crumbled by frosts, and washed by rains into the ditches +from the banks, becomes accumulated there, and we collect it, compost it +with other matters, and use it as a beneficial dressing for our +cultivated lands: many of these leaves, however, remain near the tree, +and soon communicate their virtues to the herbage: some are consumed by +natural consequences, others are attacked by small fungi, which break +their surfaces, admit moisture, and facilitate decay; the worm now +seizes them as his portion, and having fed upon a part, draws the +remainder into the earth, where a rapid separation of the parts takes +place, and they are received through the roots into vegetable +circulation anew; and thus the beautiful foliage which has been so +pleasing during our summer months, supplied the tree with sustenance to +increase its magnitude, and all the requisites demanded by its fruits +and products—has glowed perhaps with splendor, and been our admiration +in the decline of the year, now returns to the soil, not to encumber it, +but to administer health and vigor to a new series of vegetation, and +circulate in combinations hidden from any human perception. + +By a very wise appointment, peculiar propensities have been bestowed +upon the vegetable world, greatly assimilating to the tastes and +inclinations of the animated tribes. Beasts and insects feed on +particular plants, and reject others, and the delight of one is +disgusting to another. So, some plants, not having the power of +locomotion, will thrive only in certain compounded soils, aspects, and +situations, evincing a similar tendency to preference of nourishment as +do the sensitive tribes; and some districts, that vary a little in their +component parts or position from those adjoining, will present an +individual or a race that is not found in another: the common product of +the North or of the East is treasured in the Herbarium of the southern +or western botanist; we can boast but few, yet we have some of these +capricious children of the soil. + +The fetid hellebore (helleborus fœtidus) is not a common plant with us, +but we find it sparingly in one or two places; and though a plant +indigenous to Britain, yet it is not improbable that it has strayed from +cultivation, and become naturalized in many of the places in which we +now find it. Its uses as an herb of celebrity for some complaints of +cattle occasioned its being fostered in many a cottage garden long since +erased, where the good wife was the simple doctress of the village, when +perhaps mortality was not more extensive than in these days of greater +pretension and display. Modern practice yet retains preparations of this +herb, but it appears that, from the powerful manner in which they act, +great discretion is necessary in their administration. This hellebore is +one of our few plants that present us with a dull, unsightly, unpleasing +blossom. We have many with a corolla so small as to be little noticed; +but this plant, and the fetid iris (iris fœtidissima), produce blossoms, +that would generally be considered as darksome and cheerless. There is +no part of a vegetable which we usually admire more than its flowers, +for that endless variety of colors, shades, forms, and odors, with which +they are endowed; yet the utility of the blossom is by no means obvious. +Linnæus calls the corolla the arras, the tapestry of the plant; and we +are perfectly sensible that the blossom in very many instances is +essential in various ways to securing and perfecting the germen; that it +often contains the food of multitudes of insects, which feed on the +pollen, the honey, or the germen; and that the odor emitted by it leads +frequently various creatures to the object in request, and by their +agency the fecundation and perfecting of the seeds are often effected: +but we are astonished at the elaborate mechanism and splendor of some +species, and see the whole race of creation, with the exception of man, +utterly regardless of them. Butterflies and other insects will bask on +expanded flowers, and frequent their disks, but it is in wantonness, or +to feed on the sweet liquors they contain. The carpenter bee,[16] that +every summer cuts its little circular patches in such quantities from my +roses to line its nest in the old garden door, selects the green leaves +only, chiefly from the China, Provence, and damask kinds,[17] passing +over the petals of their blossoms as useless. That splendid insect the +rose-beetle[18] (cetonia aurata), that beds and bathes in sweetness, +will partially eat the flowers of some species of roses, and “lap the +nectar they produce;” and a few others nibble a little; but the +liliaceous tribes, and other glorious flowers, as far as we know, +furnish to insects no supply, but expand, wither, and die, unnoticed but +by the eye of man alone. Flowers that are grand, gay, cheerful or +beautiful, predominate infinitely over those that are of a sombre hue or +gloomy aspect. Employment and occupation were as much the design, as +they are found to be essential to the happiness of human life: we are +not all constituted to soar in the higher regions of scientific +research; our dispositions are as various as our intellects. +Horticulture was the first occupation instituted for man, and he cannot +pursue a more innocent and harmless employ: we were given “every herb, +and every tree upon the face of the earth.” For food, or raiment, the +immediate necessities of man, a very few of them are applicable; but we +can collect them for amusement, in admiration of their beauty. Without +this beauty, they would be no object of research; and man, who is +exclusively sensible of its existence, can alone find pleasure in +viewing it. The mind that is delighted with such admiration, must be +almost insensibly led to an attendant pleasure, the contemplation, the +perception of infinite wisdom and power, manifested in the adornment, +splendor, and formation, of even the simplest flower of the field. I +would not arrogate for man an exclusive right, or make him generally the +sole consideration of the beneficence of Providence; but there are +influences, which his reason can alone perceive, incitements to good +thoughts and worthy actions. + +Flowers, in all ages, have been made the representatives of innocence +and purity. We decorate the bride, and strew her path with flowers: we +present the undefiled blossoms, as a similitude of her beauty and +untainted mind; trusting that her destiny through life will be like +theirs, grateful and pleasing to all. We scatter them over the shell, +the bier, and the earth, when we consign our mortal blossoms to the +dust, as emblems of transient joy, fading pleasures, withered hopes; yet +rest in sure and certain trust that each in due season will be renewed +again. All the writers of antiquity make mention of their uses and +application in heathen and pagan ceremonies, whether of the temple, the +banquet, or the tomb—the rites, the pleasures, or the sorrows of man; +and in concord with the usages of the period, the author of the “Book of +Wisdom” says, “Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds and flowers before +they wither.” All orders of creation, “every form of creeping things and +abominable beasts,” have been, perhaps, at one time or another, by some +nation or sect, either the objects of direct worship, or emblems of an +invisible sanctity; but though individuals of the vegetable world may +have veiled the mysteries, and been rendered sacred to particular +deities and purposes, yet in very few instances, we believe, were they +made the representatives of a deified object, or been bowed down to with +divine honors. The worship of the one true Being could never have been +polluted by any symbol suggested by the open flowers and lily-work of +the temple. + +The love of flowers seems a naturally implanted passion, without any +alloy or debasing object as a motive: the cottage has its pink, its +rose, its polyanthus; the villa, its geranium, its dahlia, and its +clematis: we cherish them in youth, we admire them in declining days; +but, perhaps, it is the early flowers of spring that always bring with +them the greatest degree of pleasure, and our affections seem +immediately to expand at the sight of the first opening blossom under +the sunny wall, or sheltered bank, however humble its race may be. In +the long and sombre months of winter our love of nature, like the buds +of vegetation, seems closed and torpid; but, like them, it unfolds and +reanimates with the opening year, and we welcome our long-lost +associates with a cordiality, that no other season can excite, as +friends in a foreign clime. The violet of autumn is greeted with none of +the love with which we hail the violet of spring; it is unseasonable, +perhaps it brings with it rather a thought of melancholy than of joy; we +view it with curiosity, not affection: and thus the late is not like the +early rose. It is not intrinsic beauty or splendor that so charms us, +for the fair maids of spring cannot compete with the grander matrons of +the advanced year; they would be unheeded, perhaps lost, in the rosy +bowers of summer and of autumn; no, it is our first meeting with a long- +lost friend, the reviving glow of a natural affection, that so warms us +at this season: to maturity they give pleasure, as a harbinger of the +renewal of life, a signal of awakening nature, or of a higher promise; +to youth, they are expanding being, opening years, hilarity and joy; and +the child, let loose from the house, riots in the flowery mead, and is + + “Monarch of all he surveys.” + +There is not a prettier emblem of spring than an infant sporting in the +sunny field, with its osier basket wreathed with butter-cups, orchises, +and daisies. With summer flowers we seem to live as with our neighbors, +in harmony and good-will: but spring flowers are cherished as private +friendships. + +The amusements and fancies of children, when connected with flowers, are +always pleasing, being generally the conceptions of innocent minds +unbiassed by artifice or pretence; and their love of them seems to +spring from a genuine feeling and admiration, a kind of sympathy with +objects as fair as their own untainted minds: and I think that it is +early flowers which constitute their first natural playthings; though +summer presents a greater number and variety, they are not so fondly +selected. We have our daisies strung and wreathed about our dress; our +coronals of orchises and primroses; our cowslip balls, &c.; and one +application of flowers at this season I have noticed, which, though +perhaps it is local, yet it has a remarkably pretty effect, forming for +the time one of the gayest little shrubs that can be seen. A small +branch or long spray of the white thorn, with all its spines uninjured, +is selected; and on these its alternate thorns, a white and a blue +violet, plucked from their stalks, are stuck upright in succession, +until the thorns are covered, and when placed in a flower-pot of moss, +has perfectly the appearance of a beautiful vernal flowering dwarf +shrub, and as long as it remains fresh is an object of surprise and +delight. + +No portion of creation has been resorted to by mankind with more success +for the ornament and decoration of their labors than the vegetable +world. The rites, emblems, and mysteries of religion; national +achievements, eccentric masks, and the capricious visions of fancy, have +all been wrought by the hand of the sculptor, on the temple, the altar, +or the tomb; but plants, their foliage, flowers, or fruits, as the most +graceful, varied, and pleasing objects that meet our view, have been +more universally the object of design, and have supplied the most +beautiful, and perhaps the earliest, embellishments of art. The +pomegranate, the almond, and flowers, were selected, even in the +wilderness, by divine appointment, to give form to the sacred utensils; +the rewards of merit, the wreath of the victor, were arboraceous; in +later periods, the acanthus, the ivy, the lotus, the vine, the palm, and +the oak, flourished under the chisel, or in the loom of the artist; and +in modern days, the vegetable world affords the almost exclusive +decorations of ingenuity and art. The cultivation of flowers is of all +the amusements of mankind the one to be selected and approved as the +most innocent in itself, and most perfectly devoid of injury or +annoyance to others; the employment is not only conducive to health and +peace of mind, but probably more good-will has arisen, and friendships +been founded by the intercourse and communication connected with this +pursuit than from any other whatsoever: the pleasures, the ecstasies of +the horticulturist are harmless and pure; a streak, a tint, a shade, +becomes his triumph, which though often obtained by chance, are secured +alone by morning care, by evening caution, and the vigilance of days: an +employ which, in its various grades, excludes neither the opulent nor +the indigent, and teeming with boundless variety, affords an unceasing +excitement to emulation without contempt or ill-will. + +The bouquet may be an exile now; but the revolutions of fashion will +surely return this beautiful ornament to favor again. With us the +nosegay yet retains its station as a decoration to our Sunday beaux; but +at our spring clubs and associations it becomes an essential, +indispensable appointment; a little of the spirit of rivalry seeming to +animate our youths in the choice and magnitude of this adornment. The +superb spike of a Brompton, or a ten weeks’ stock, long cherished in +some sheltered corner for the occasion, surrounded by all the gaiety the +garden can afford, till it presents a very bush of flowers, forms the +appendage of their bosoms, and, with the gay knots in their hats, their +best garments, and the sprightly hilarity of their looks, constitutes a +pleasing village scene, and gives an hour of unencumbered felicity to +common man and rural life, not yet disturbed by refinement and taste. + + “Oh, who can hold a fire in his hand + By thinking on the frosty Caucasus?” + +And yet the shivering of the aspen, or poplar tree (populus tremula), in +the breeze will give us the sensation of coldness, and communicate an +involuntary shuddering. The construction of the foliage of this tree is +peculiarly adapted for motion: a broad leaf placed upon a long +footstalk, so flexile, as scarcely to be able to support the leaf in an +upright posture: the upper part of this stalk, on which the play or +action seems mainly to depend, is contrary to the nature of footstalks +in general, being perfectly flattened, and, as an eminent botanist and +esteemed gentleman, Dr. I. Stokes, observes, is placed at a right angle +with the leaf, being thus peculiarly fitted to receive the impulse of +every wind that blows. This stalk is furnished with three strong nerves, +placed parallel, and acting in unison with each other; but towards the +base the stalk becomes round, and then the nerves assume a triangular +form, and constitute three distinct supports and counteractions to each +other’s motions. I know no petiole with a similar conformation, or +better calculated for the vibration of a leaf. The leaf-stalks of plants +are very curious constructions; and the nerves and vessels contained in +them, which are the vehicles of a large portion of that nourishment +which plants receive through their foliage from the air, seem in general +differently placed, and fitted for variety of operation. The poplar is a +tree that occasions at times a great deal of trouble in our pasture +lands, by the tendency which it has to extend its roots, and throw out +suckers. Three or four of this species in a hedge-row, bounding a meadow +in my occupation, oblige me every year that the field is mowed, by their +prolificacy, to send a man with his stock-ax to remove their numerous +offspringing; a mere temporary expedient, tending rather to increase the +complaint, as eradication by trenching with the spade can alone +effectually check the encroachments of runners so tenacious of life, and +rapid in growth. + +The dyer’s broom[19] (genista tinctoria) abounds with us, and becomes a +perfect encumbrance in our clay-land pastures. It is seldom eaten by +cattle, except in cases of great necessity, and remains untouched, if +other food be obtainable, giving a deceitful appearance of verdure to a +naked pasture. It yet retains a place in some of our dispensatories; but +its medicinal virtues are probably never made trial of in modern +practice, the lenient assuasives of our forefathers seeming unequal to +contention with the constitutions of these days. I know not any use to +which it is applicable but for the dyer. Our poorer people a few years +ago used to collect it by cartloads, about the month of July; and the +season of “woodwaxen” was a little harvest to them: but it interfered +greatly with our haymaking. Women could gain each about two shillings a +day, clear of all expenses, by gathering it; but they complained that it +was a very hard and laborious occupation, the plant being drawn up by +the roots, which are strongly interwoven in the soil. The dyer gave them +eight-pence for a hundred weight; but I fear the amount was greatly +enhanced by the dishonest practice of watering the load, for the +specious purpose of keeping it green; and the old woodwaxers tell me, +that, without the increase of weight which the water gave the article, +they should have had but little reward for their labor. Greediness here, +however, as in most other cases, ruined the trade, the plant becoming so +injured and stinted by repeated pullings, as to be in these parts no +longer an object worth seeking for; and our farmers rather +discountenance the custom, as the “green-weed” preserves and shelters at +its roots a considerable quantity of coarse herbage, which in the winter +and spring months is of great importance to the young cattle browsing in +the pastures. The use of this dyer’s broom is to prepare woollen cloths +for the reception of another color. It communicates to the article a +dull yellow, which will then, by being dipped in another liquor or +composition, according to the shade required, receive a green hue. +Vegetable filaments, cotton, flax, &c., are very differently formed from +those threads afforded by animals, as silk and wool, and are differently +disposed to receive colors. The dye that will give a fine color to the +one, is perhaps rejected by the other; and this plant is rarely or never +used by the dyer for cotton articles. That certain natural productions +receive and retain, and others reject or soon part with artificial +colorings, are in some cases in consequence of the nature of the +substance, and in others by reason of the conformation of the fibre; but +any examination of this kind would only occasion a tedious discussion +and remain very obscure at last. We find certain effects produced and +reason upon them, but so small are the parts operated upon, minute the +agents, and equivocal the connexion, that we can do little more than +theorize upon the subject; but perhaps I may slightly instance the +difference existing in the fibre of flax and silk. The parts which +compose the filaments of the former are generally considered as being +flat and flaky, whereas those of the latter are tubular and round: this +conformation renders silk so soft to the touch, and refracting more +perfectly the rays of light, occasions much of its lustre, and the +brilliancy of its hues. Perhaps we have no art or trade less confined +within the trammels of formulæ than that of the dyer; every professor +appearing to have his own methods of acquiring particular tints and +shades, guided often in his proportions by that mutable sense, the +taste, and regulating the temperature of his compositions, not by the +thermometer, but by the feeling of the hand;—and so capricious are these +tests, so different the sensations of the operator, or the variable +influences of solar light, that success on one day does not insure a +similar result on another. + +Color is probably only reflected light; but by what means the absorption +of oxygen increases the lustre is not quite obvious—yet the power of the +sun’s rays, in augmenting the intensity of the hues of many things, is +well known: there is an admirable green color for foliage, to be +obtained by the union of the light Prussian blue with the dark gamboge; +but I could never acquire this clear and lustrous, without compounding +it in the light of the sun. As the young artist will find this a most +useful pigment, I may in addition say, that a small bit of the light +Prussian, with three or four times the quantity of gamboge, must be laid +upon the pallet, or in the saucer, and with a drop or two of water, only +enough to make it work easily, be most thoroughly united and +incorporated by the finger, with the sun shining upon the mixture, +adding more gamboge repeatedly during the operation, until the blue is +subdued and a clear green produced; but if a tedious operation, yet +perseverance will ultimately produce a very brilliant permanent green. + +We have our walls in many places here decorated with most of the +varieties of the great snapdragon (antirrhinum majus); the white, the +pink, and the common: and that beautiful deviation, with a white tube +and crimson termination, is slowly wandering from the garden, and mixing +with its congeners. It has not, perhaps, been generally observed, that +the flowers of this plant, “bull-dogs,” as the boys call them, are +perfect insect traps; multitudes of small creatures seek an entrance +into the corolla through the closed lips, which upon a slight pressure +yield a passage, attracted by the sweet liquor that is found at the base +of the germen; but when so admitted, there is no return, the lips are +closed, and all advance to them is impeded by a dense thicket of woolly +matter, which invests the mouth of the lower jaw— + + “Smooth lies the road to Pluto’s gloomy shade; + But ’tis a long, unconquerable pain, + To climb to these ethereal realms again.” + +But this snapdragon is more merciful than most of our insect traps. The +creature receives no injury when in confinement; but, having consumed +the nectareous liquor, and finding no egress, breaks from its dungeon by +gnawing a hole at the base of the tube, and returns to liberty and +light. The extraordinary manner in which the corolla of this plant is +formed, the elastic force with which the lower limb closes and fits upon +the projection of the upper, manifest the obvious design in the great +Architect, “whose hands bended the rainbow;” and the insects are +probably the destined agents whereby the germen is impregnated, for as +soon as this is effected, the limbs become flaccid, lose their +elasticity, are no longer a place of confinement, but open for the +escape of any thing that might have entered. The little black pismire is +a common plunderer of this honey. + +It is a perplexing matter to reconcile our feelings to the rigor, and +our reason to the necessity, of some plants being made the instrument of +destruction to the insect world. Of British plants we have only a few so +constructed, which, having clammy joints and calyxes, entangle them to +death. The sun-dew (droseræ) destroys in a different manner, yet kills +them without torture. But we have one plant in our gardens, a native of +North America, than which none can be more cruelly destructive of animal +life, the dogsbane (apocynum androsæmifolium),[20] which is generally +conducive to the death of every fly that settles upon it. Allured by the +honey on the nectary of the expanded blossom, the instant the trunk is +protruded to feed on it, the filaments close, and, catching the fly by +the extremity of its proboscis, detain the poor prisoner writhing in +protracted struggles till released by death, a death apparently +occasioned by exhaustion alone; the filaments then relax, and the body +falls to the ground. The plant will at times be dusky from the numbers +of imprisoned wretches. This elastic action of the filaments may be +conducive to the fertilizing of the seed by scattering the pollen from +the anthers, as is the case with the berberry; but we are not sensible +that the destruction of the creatures which excite the action is in any +way essential to the wants or perfection of the plant, and our ignorance +favors the idea of a wanton cruelty in the herb; but how little of the +causes and motives of action of created things do we know! and it must +be unlimitable arrogance alone that could question the wisdom of the +mechanism of him “that judgeth rightly;” the operations of a simple +plant confound and humble us, and, like the hand-writing on the wall, +though seen by many, can be explained but by ONE.[21] + +The different manner in which vegetables exert their organic powers to +effect the destruction of insects, is not perhaps unworthy of a brief +notice; some, as those above mentioned, accomplish it by means of +elastic or irritable actions, adhesive substances, and so forth; but we +have another plant in our green-houses, the glaucous birthwort (aristol. +glauca), that effects these purposes without any of these means, but +principally by conformation. The whole internal surface of the tubular +flower is beset with minute strong spines, pointing downwards; these +present no impediment to the descent of the animal which may seek for +the sweet liquor lodged upon the nectarium at the base of the blossom, +nor is there any obstruction provided for its return by means of valves +or contractions, the tube remaining open; but the creature cannot crawl +up by reason of the inverted spines, and to prevent its escape by flying +up the tube, the flower makes an extraordinary curve, bending up like a +horn, so that any winged creature must be beaten back by striking +against the roof of this neck as often as it attempts to mount, and +falling back to the bulbous prison at the base of the flower, dies by +confinement and starvation, and there we find them: a certain number of +these perishing, the blossom fades and drops off. + +All the varieties of this snapdragon have the power of maintaining a +state of vegetation in great droughts, when most other plants yield to +the influence of the weather; and it is the more remarkable in these +plants, as the places in which they chiefly delight to vegetate are +particularly exposed to the influence of the sun. In that hot dry summer +of 1825, when vegetation was in general burned up and withered away, yet +did this plant continue to exist on parched walls, and draw nutriment +from sources apparently unable to afford it; not in full vigor +certainly, but in a state of verdure beyond any of its associates. The +common burnet (poterium sanguisorba) of our pastures, in a remarkable +degree, likewise possesses this faculty of preserving its verdure, and +flourishing amid surrounding aridity and exhaustion. It is probable that +these plants, and some others, have the power of imbibing that +insensible moisture, which arises from the earth even in the driest +weather, or from the air which passes over them. The immense evaporation +proceeding from the earth, even in the hottest season, supplies the air +constantly with moisture; and as every square foot of this element can +sustain eleven grains of water, an abundant provision is made for every +demand. We can do little more than note these facts: to attempt to +reason upon the causes, why particular plants are endowed with peculiar +faculties, would be mere idleness; yet, in remarking this, we cannot +pass over the conviction, that the continual escape of moisture from one +body, and its imbibition by another, this unremitting motion and +circulation of matter, are parts of that wonderful ordination, whereby +the beneficence and wisdom of Providence are manifested: without the +agency of evaporation, not dwelling on the infinitude of effects and +results, no vegetation could exist, no animal life continue. + +The ivy[22] (hedera helix), the dark-looking ivy, almost covers with its +thick foliage the pollards in our hedge-rows; and, creeping up the sides +of the old barn, and chimney of the cottage, nearly hides them from our +sight; affording a sheltered roosting-place to many poor birds, and is +almost their only refuge in the cold season of the year. But the ivy can +boast of much more extensive service to the poor wayfaring beings of +creation, than the merely affording them a covering from the winds of +winter. Those two extreme quarters of our year, autumn and spring, yield +to most animals but a very slender and precarious supply of food; but +the ivy in those periods saves many from want and death; and the +peculiar situations, in which it prefers to flourish, are essential to +the preservation of this supply, as in less sheltered ones it would be +destroyed. In the month of October the ivy blooms in profusion, and +spreading over the warm side of some neglected wall, or the sunny bark +of the broad ash on the bank, its flowers become a universal banquet to +the insect race. The great black fly (musca grossa), and its numerous +tribe, with multitudes of small winged creatures, resort to them; and +there we see those beautiful animals, the latest birth of the year, the +admiral (vanessa atalanta) and peacock (vanessa Io) butterflies, hanging +with expanded wings like open flowers themselves, enjoying the sunny +gleam, and feeding on the sweet liquor that distils from the nectary of +this plant. As this honey is produced in succession by the early or +later expansion of the bud, it yields a constant supply of food, till +the frosts of November destroy the insects, or drive them to their +winter retreats. Spring arrives; and in the bitter months of March, +April, and even May, at times, when the wild products of the field are +nearly consumed, the ivy ripens its berries, and then almost entirely +constitutes the food of the missel-thrush, wood-pigeon, and some other +birds; and now these shy and wary birds, that commonly avoid the haunts +of man, constrained by hunger, will approach our dwellings, to feed upon +the ripe berries of the ivy. Now too the blackbird and the thrush resort +to its cover, to conceal their nests. These early-building birds find +little foliage at this period sufficient to hide their habitations; and +did not the ivy lend its aid to preserve them, and no great number are +preserved, perhaps few nests would be hidden from the young eyes that +seek them. The early expansion of the catkins of the sallow (salix +caprea), and others of the willow tribe, whence the bee extracts its +first food, and the late blooming of this ivy, are indispensable +provisions for the existence of many of the insect race; the “young +raven does not cry in vain,” nor is any thing abandoned by that power +which called it into being. + +We all seem to love the ivy, + + “The wanton ivy wreath’d in amorous twines,” + +more than any other uncultured evergreen that we possess; yet it is +difficult satisfactorily to answer why we have this regard for it. As a +lover of the lone, the ivy-mantled ruin, I have often questioned with +myself the cause and basis of my regard for that, which was but a +fragment of what might have been formerly splendid, and intrinsically +possessed but little to engage admiration, yet wreathed in the verdure +of the ivy, was admired; but was never satisfied, perhaps unwilling to +admit the answer that my mind seemed to give. The ivy is a dependent +plant, and delights in waste and ruin. We do not often tolerate its +growth when the building is in repair and perfect; but, if time +dilapidate the edifice, the ivy takes possession of the fragment, and we +call it beautiful; it adorns the castle, but is an indispensable +requisite to the remains of the monastic pile. There is an abbey in the +North of England, which has been venerated by all its late possessors. +It is trimmed, made neat, and looks, perhaps, much as it did formerly, +except being in ruins. The situation is exquisite, the remains are +splendid, yet with many it fails to excite such interest as it should +do. It is a bare reality. A ruin in the West of England once interested +me greatly. The design of revisiting and drawing it was expressed at the +time. A few days only elapsed; but the inhabitant of a neighboring +cottage had most kindly labored hard in the interval, and pulled down +“all the nasty ivy, that the gentleman might see the ruin.” He did see +it, but every charm had departed. These two instances, from many that +might be advanced, manifest that ivy most frequently gives to these +ancient edifices the idea of beauty, and contributes chiefly to +influence our feelings when viewing them. The ruins of a fortress, or +warlike tower, may often historically interest us from the renown of its +founder or its possessor, some scene transacted, some villain punished, +hero triumphant, or cause promoted, to which we wished success: but the +quiet, secluded, monastic cell, or chapel, has no tale to tell; history +hardly stays to note even its founder’s name; and all the rest is doubt +and darkness; yet, shrouded in its ivied folds, we reverence the +remains, we call it picturesque, we draw, we engrave, we lithograph the +ruin. We do not regard this ivy as a relic of ancient days; as having +shadowed the religious recluse, and with it often, doubtless, piety and +faith; for it did not hang around the building in old time, but is +comparatively a modern upstart, a sharer of monastic spoils, a usurper +of that which has been abandoned by another. The tendril pendent from +the orient window, lightly defined in the ray which it excludes, twining +with graceful ease round some slender shaft, or woven amid the tracery +of the florid arch, is elegantly ornamental, and gives embellishment to +beauty; but the main body of the ivy is dark, sombre, massy; yet, strip +it from the pile, and we call it sacrilege, the interest of the whole is +at an end, the effect ceases,— + + “One moment seen, then lost for ever.” + +Yet what did the ivy effect? what has departed with it? This evanescent +charm perhaps consists in the obscurity, in the sobriety of light it +occasioned, in hiding the bare reality, and giving to fancy and +imagination room to expand, a plaything to amuse them. + +We still retain the name of this plant as given by Pliny, though we know +no reason why it was so called; but the word “helix,” winding about, or +twisting, is sufficiently apposite. + +The foxglove (digitalis purpurea) is found with us in one or two places +only, rather existing than flourishing manifesting, like many other +plants, a marked partiality to particular soils. It produces an +abundance of seed, yet seems to wander little from the station its +progenitors had fixed on, as if that alone was congenial to its habits; +but with us the soil varies greatly. In the West of England, it thrives +and increases with particular luxuriance; but many counties may be +searched in vain for a single specimen. It seems to prefer a sandy, +gravelly, or loose drained soil; not I think vegetating in strong +retentive earths. We have few indigenous plants, not one, perhaps, which +we have so often summoned to aid us in our distresses as the foxglove: +no plant, not even the colchicum, has been more the object of our fears, +our hopes, our trust, and disappointment, than this: we have been +grateful for the relief it has afforded, and we have mourned the +insufficiency of its powers;— + + ——“Thy last, sole aid (which art can give) + The wo-worn parent seeks, and, hoping, clings + In tearless wretchedness to thee; watches with + Anxious heart thy subtle progress through the + Day, and of thee fitful dreams through all the + Night— + ——spare, if thou + Canst, his hopeless grief; save worth, save beauty, + From an early grave.” + +As a mere flower, the digitalis is a very handsome plant; and could we +rely upon its yielding the virtues it is considered to possess, or could +we regulate or control its influence, it would exist unrivalled for +beauty and worth amidst our island plants. Why such a name as +“foxesgloves,” was bestowed upon this plant it is difficult to say, +perhaps from the bare resemblance to finger-cases presented by its +flowers: but I am not one of those who cavil or jeer at the common, or +“vulgar names,” as we are in the habit of denominating the unscientific +appellations of plants; for we must remember, that the culling of herbs +and simples, and compounding preparations from them, to relieve the +sufferings of nature, were the first rudiments of all our knowledge, the +most grateful exertion of human talent, and, after food and clothing, +the most necessary objects of life. In ages of simplicity, when every +man was the usual dispenser of good or bad, benefit or injury, to his +household or his cattle—ere the veterinary art was known, or the drugs +of other regions introduced, necessity looked up to the products of our +own clime, and the real or fanciful virtues of them were called to the +trial, and manifests the reasonableness of bestowing upon plants and +herbs such names as might immediately indicate their several uses, or +fitness for application; when distinctive characters, had they been +given, would have been little attended to; and hence, the numbers found +favorable to the cure of particular complaints, the ailments of domestic +creatures, or deemed injurious to them. Modern science may wrap up the +meaning of its epithets in Greek and Latin terms; but in very many cases +they are the mere translations of these despised, “old, vulgar names.” +What pleasure it must have afforded the poor sufferer in body or in +limb,—what confidence he must have felt for relief, when he knew that +the good neighbor who came to bathe his wounds, or assuage his inward +torments, brought with him such things as “all-heal, break-stone, +bruise-wort, gout-weed, fever-few” (fugio), and twenty other such +comfortable mitigators of his afflictions; why, their very names would +almost charm away the sense of pain! The modern recipe contains no such +terms of comfortable assurance: its meanings are all dark to the +sufferer; its influence unknown. And then the good herbalist of old +professed to have plants which were “all good:” they could assuage anger +by their “loosestrife;” they had “honesty, truelove, and heartsease.” +The cayennes, the soys, the ketchups, and extratropical condiments of +these days, were not required, when the next thicket would produce “poor +man’s pepper, sauce alone, and hedge-mustard;” and the woods and wilds +around, when they yielded such delicate viands as “fat-hen, lambs- +quarters, way-bread, butter and eggs, with codlins and cream,” afforded +no despicable bill of fare. No one ever yet thought of accusing our old +simplers of the vice of avarice, or love of lucre; yet their “thrift” is +always to be seen: we have their humble “pennywort, herb two-pence, +moneywort, silverweed, and gold.” We may smile, perhaps, at the +cognomens, or the commemorations of friendships, or of worth, recorded +by the old simplers, at their herbs, “Bennet, Robert, Christopher, +Gerard, or Basil;” but do the names so bestowed by modern science read +better, or sound better? it has “Lightfootia, Lapeyrousia, Hedwigia, +Schkuhria, Scheuchzeria;” and surely we may admit, in common +benevolence, such partialities as “good King Henry, sweet William, sweet +Marjory, sweet Cicely, Lettuce, Mary Gold, and Rose.” There are +epithets, however, so very extraordinary, that we must consider them as +mere perversions, or at least incapable of explanation at this period. +The terms of modern science waver daily; names undergo an annual change, +fade with the leaf, and give place to others; but the ancient terms, +which some may ridicule, have remained for centuries, and will yet +remain, till nature is swallowed up by art. No: let our ancient +herbalists, “a grave and whiskered race,” retain the honors due to their +labors, which were most needful and important ones at those periods: by +them were many of the casualties and sufferings of man and beast +relieved; and by aid of perseverance, better constitutions to act upon, +and faith to operate, than we possess, they probably effected cures, +which we moderns should fail to accomplish if attempted. + +Upon an old bank, tangled with bushes and rubbish, we find in abundance +that very early translated, and perfectly domesticated flower, the +cottage snowdrop (galanthus nivalis); a plant that is undoubtedly a +native of our island, for I have seen it in situations where nature only +could introduce it, where it was never planted by the hand of man, or +strayed from any neighboring cultivation. Yet in most places where we +find this flower, it is of manifest or suspicious origin; and with us it +partakes of this latter character, though no remains of any ancient +dwelling are observable near it. The damask rose, the daffodil, or the +stock of an old bullace plum, will long remain, and point out where once +a cottage existed; but all these, and most other tokens, in time waste +away and decay; while the snowdrop will remain, increase, and become the +only memorial of man and his labors.[23] Many flowers present strong +distinctive characters, or will, at least often do, excite in us +variable feelings: the primrose, and the daisy, if not intrinsically +gay, call forth cheerful and pleasing sensations; and the aspect or +glance of some others will awaken different affections. The snowdrop is +a melancholy flower. The season in which the “fair maids of February” +come out, is the most dreary and desolate of our year: they peep through +the snow that often surrounds them, shivering and cheerless: they convey +no idea of reviving nature, and are scarcely the harbingers of milder +days, but rather the emblem of sleety storms, and icy gales, (snowdrop +weather), and wrap their petals round the infant germ, fearing to admit +the very air that blows; and, when found beyond the verge of +cultivation, they most generally remind us of some deserted dwelling, a +family gone, a hearth that smokes no more. A lover of cold, it maintains +the beautiful ovate form of its flower only in a low temperature; warmth +expanding the petals, vitiating its grace, and destroying its character. +It seems to preserve its native purity free from every contamination; it +will become double, but never wanders into varieties, is never streaked +or tinged with the hues of other flowers. + +One of our pasture grasses is particularly affected by dry weather. +Several are injured frequently by drought acting upon the stalk, not +molesting the root, but withering the succulent base of the straw, which +arises from the upper joint; in consequence of which, the panicle, and +connecting straw, dry away, while the foliage and lower leaves remain +uninjured. None are so obnoxious to this injury as the yellow oat-grass +(avena flavescens), and in some seasons almost the whole of its panicles +will be withered in a field of surrounding verdure. Pastures that are +grazed must from circumstances be drier than those covered with herbage +fit for the scythe; yet, from some unknown cause, this oat-grass seems +less injured in this respect in grazing grounds, than in those where the +herbage is reserved for mowing. + +The plain, simple, unadorned vervain[24] (verbena officinalis) is one of +our most common, and decidedly waste-loving plants. Disinclined to all +cultured places, it fixes its residence by way-sides, and old stone +quarries, thriving under the feet of every passing creature. The +celebrity that this plant obtained in very remote times, without its +possessing one apparent quality, or presenting by its manner of growth, +or form, any mysterious character to arrest the attention, or excite +imagination is very extraordinary, and perhaps unaccountable: most +nations venerated, esteemed, and used it; the ancients had their +Verbenalia, at which period the temples and frequented places were +strewed and sanctified with vervain; the beasts for sacrifice, and the +altars, were verbenated, the one filleted, the other strewed, with the +sacred herb; no incantation or lustration was perfect without the aid of +this plant. That mistletoe[25] should have excited attention in days of +darkness and ignorance, is not a subject of surprise, from the +extraordinary and obscure manner of its growth and propagation, and the +season of the year in which it flourishes; for even the great lord Bacon +ridicules the idea of its being propagated by the operations of a bird +as an “idle tradition,” saying, that the sap which produces this plant +is such as the “tree doth excerne and cannot assimilate.” These +circumstances, and its great dissimilarity from the plant on which it +vegetates, all combine to render it a subject of superstitious wonder: +but that a lowly, ineffective herb like our vervain should have +stimulated the imaginations of the priests of Rome, of Gaul, and of +Greece, the magi of India, and the Druids of Britain, is passing +comprehension; and, as Pennant observes, “so general a consent proves +that the custom arose before the different nations had lost all +communication with each other.” We might with some appearance of reason, +perhaps, name the Druids of Gaul as the point, whence certain mysteries +and observances were conveyed to the priesthood of various nations; but +it would be difficult to assign a motive for their fixing upon such +plants as vervain, and some others, to give efficacy to their ceremonies +and rites. In some of the Welsh counties, vervain is known by the name +of “Ilyssiaur hudol,” the enchanter’s plant. It seems to have had +ascribed to it the power of curing the bites of all rabid animals, +arresting the progress of the venom of serpents, reconciling +antipathies, conciliating friendships, &c. Gerard, after detailing some +of its virtues from Pliny, observes, that “many odde old wives’ fables +are written of vervaine tending to witchcraft and sorcerie, which you +may read elsewhere, for I am not willing to trouble you with reporting +such trifles as honest ears abhorre to hear.” To us moderns its real +virtues are unknown; regular practice does not allow that it possesses +any medicinal efficacy, and its fanciful peculiarities are in no repute; +yet it seems to hanker after its lost fame, and lingers around the +dwellings of man; for though not solely found about our habitations, as +Miller thought, yet generally, when perceived, it is near some inhabited +or ruined residence, not as a stray from cultivation, but from +preference. Our village doctresses, an almost extinct race of useful, +valuable women, the consolers, the comforters, and often mitigators of +the ailments of the poor, still make use of vervain tea as a +strengthener, and the dried powder of its leaves as a vermifuge; but +probably in another generation all the venerated virtues of the vervain +will be consigned to oblivion. This plant seems to be the native growth +of many districts in Europe, Asia, and Africa. + +The dyers’ weed, yellow weed, weld, or wold (reseda luteola),[26] +thrives in all our abandoned stone quarries, upon the rejected rubbish +of the lime-kiln, and waste places of the roads, apparently a perfectly +indigenous plant. Unmindful of frost, or of drought, it preserves a +degree of verdure, when nearly all other vegetation is seared up by +these extremes in exposed situations. It was, and is yet, I believe, +cultivated in England for the use of the dyer. We import it, however, +into Bristol from France; and it sells in that city for ten shillings +per cwt. in a dry state. It gives a fine, permanent, yellow color to +cottons, silks, and woollens, in a variety of shades, by the aid of +alum, &c. A blue tincture changes these to as fine a green. Injury has +certainly been occasioned by writers on agricultural affairs +recommending, without due inquiry, the culture of this or that crop; and +I would not incur a censure that I blame in another; yet I cannot but +suggest the possible profit that might arise from the culture of this +plant. If foreigners derive sufficient encouragement to import it, +notwithstanding the charges of freight, port duties, and various +consequent expenses, why can it not be grown with us, and afford +superior remuneration, not having such deductions to diminish the +profits? The culture of it seems very simple, the manner of conducting +the crop, and harvesting the product, attended with little trouble or +risk. Marshal[27] prefers a good soil; others again say, that it becomes +stalky in a rich soil. With us it grows luxuriantly, three or four feet +high, on a thin, stony, undressed soil, apparently the very station it +prefers; and we have about us much land of this kind, not intrinsically +worth ten shillings an acre. It might be rash to predict the amount of a +crop in such soils, but a ton to an acre is said to be but a small +allowance; yet the produce of only this quantity, which would procure in +the market a return of 10_l._ without any expenditure for manure, no +more manual labor after the seed is sown, for nine months, than three +thinnings, and cleanings with the hoe, and the crop harvested within the +year, would be no trifling profit, and may be deserving of some +consideration.[28] The bark, the wood, the flower, the leaves of many of +our native trees and plants afford a yellow dye; we have no color so +easily produced as this is; and it is equally remarkable, that, amidst +all the varied hues of spring, yellow is the most predominant in our +wild and cultured plants. The primrose, cowslip, pilewort, globe-flower, +butter-cup, cherlock, crocus, all the cabbage tribe, the dandelions, +appear in this dress. The very first butterfly, that will + + “aloft repair, + And sport, and flutter in the fields of air,” + +is the sulphur butterfly (gonepteryx rhamni),[29] which in the bright +sunny mornings of March we so often see under the warm hedge, or by the +side of some sheltered copse, undulating, and vibrating like the petal +of a primrose in the breeze. The blossoms of many of our plants afford +for the decoration of the fair a vast variety of colors and intermediate +tints; but they are all of them, or nearly so, inconstant or fugitive +before the light of the sun, or mutable in the dampness of the air, +except those obtained from yellow flowers: circumstances may vary the +shade, but yet it is mostly permanent. Yellow is again the livery of +autumn, in all the shades of ochre and of orange; the “sere and yellow +leaf” becomes the general cast of the season, the sober brown comes +next, and then decay. + +Many impressions commonly fade away and become effaced as other objects +create fresh sensations; but the love of nature, where the regard has +been a settled principle, is more permanent, and influences the feelings +as long as the occupations of life preserve any interest in our minds. +As a child, I viewed the wild field flowers and cropped them with +delight; as a young botanist, culled with rapture the various species, +returning often and again to my almost exhaustless treasure in the +copse; and even now, in the “sere and yellow leaf,” when, in some mild +vernal evening, I stroll through the grove, see the same floral splendor +which year after year has been spread before me, I mark it with +admiration and surprise, find it enchanting still, and fancy the present +loveliness superior to all that has been before. There we see that +beautiful little brilliant of the earth, like the name it bears (day’s +eye), cheerful and pleasing to all. The exquisite chasteness of mien, +and form of this flower, the contrast of its colors, and simplicity of +attitude which it displays when springing from out its grassy tuft, can +hardly be surpassed by any from another region. By its side peeps out +the bright gleeful blue eyes of the little germander speedwell, in +joyful gaiety—a lowly domestic plant that loves and seeks alliance with +its kind, and in small family associations, by united splendor, +decorates the foliage around. And there we find the stitch-wort, +mingling her snowy bloom immaculately pure, with pallid green: too +delicate to vegetate alone, it seeks the shelter of the hedge or copse, +trembles when the breeze goes by, and seems an emblem of innocence and +grace. And there the bright-flowered lotus with its pealike bloom, in +social union glows as burnished gold, animating and gilding with its +lustre all the tribes that spring near it; and fifty others, too, we +note, which, though common and disregarded by reason of our familiarity +with them, or expelled from favor by the novelty of far-fetched fair +ones, deserve more attention than we are disposed to afford them. There +are few plants which we look upon with more perfect contempt than that +common product of every soil, the ‘dandelion.’[30] Every child knows it, +and the little village groups which perambulate the hedges for the first +offspring of the year, amuse themselves by hanging circlets of its +stalks linked like a chain round their necks: yet if we examine this in +all the stages of its growth, we shall pronounce it a beautiful +production; and its blossom, though often a solitary one, is perhaps the +very first that enlivens the sunny bank of the hedge in the opening +year, peeping out from withered leaves, dry stalks, and desolation, as a +herald, telling us that nature is not dead, but reposing, and will +awaken to life again. And some of us, perhaps, can remember the pleasure +it afforded us in early days, when we first noticed its golden blossoms +under the southern shelter of the cottage hedge, thinking that the +‘winter was past,’ and that ‘the time of the singing of birds was come;’ +and yet, possibly, when seen, it may renew some of that childish +delight, though the fervor of expectation is cooled by experience and +time. The form of this flower, with its ligulate petals many times +doubled is elegant and perfect; the brightness and liveliness of the +yellow, like the warm rays of an evening sun, are not exceeded in any +blossom, native or foreign, that I know of; and this, having faded away, +is succeeded by a head of down, which loosened from its receptacle, and +floating in the breeze, comes sailing calmly along before us, freighted +with a seed at its base; but so accurately adjusted is its buoyant power +to the burden it bears, that steadily passing on its way, it rests at +last in some cleft or cranny in the earth, preparatory to its period of +germination, appearing more like a flight of animated creatures than the +seed of a plant. This is a very beautiful appointment! but so common an +event as hardly to be noticed by us; yet it accomplishes effectually the +designs of nature, and plants the species at distances and in places +that no other contrivance could so easily and fitly effect. The seeds, +it is true, might have fallen and germinated around the parent plant, +but this was not the purpose of nature; yet may seem to some a very +unnecessary contrivance for the propagation of a common dandelion, whose +benefits to mankind as a medicine, though retained in our pharmacopœias, +and occasionally resorted to, seem of no great importance. Nor are we +sensible that its virtues are essential to any portion of the creation; +but this very circumstance should abate our pride, our assumed +pretensions of knowledge, as we may be assured that its existence, +though hidden from us, is required in the great scheme of nature, or +such elaborate and sufficient contrivances for its continuation and +increase would never have been called into action by Nature, who is so +remarkably simple in all her actions, economical in her ways, and frugal +of her means. + +Some very extraordinary vegetable productions are now on the table +before me. Though not gathered in this neighborhood, I am induced to +give them a place with our notables, because I believe that they have +not been noticed, and afford a strong example of the persevering +endeavors that plants exert at times to maintain existence. One of these +is the tufted head and entire roots of a grass, gathered from a down fed +by sheep from time immemorial. It is probably that of the hard fescue +(festuca duriuscula), which, having been constantly eaten down by +cattle, has never thrown up flowering stems, giving out only radical +leaves. These appear to have been cropped short, as soon as they have +sprung up, the less succulent and strawy portions only being left, like +a ball upon the surface, as a bush constantly clipped by the gardener’s +shears. The root appears to have annually increased, though the upper +parts it was destined to nourish have been destroyed, until it became a +lock of closely compacted fibres, like a tuft of hair, six or eight +inches in length. Furze bushes,[31] growing upon many downs in Wales, +Devon, and Cornwall, assume commonly the appearance of large, green, +dense balls, every tender leaf being constantly shorn away by the sheep +and rabbits that frequent those places, and present, upon a larger +scale, the very appearance of these grass balls. Our specimens are +rather local than general, and were the produce of the Malvern hills. + +The common brambles (rubus cæsius and fruticosus) may almost be +considered as evergreens. Hedgers to be sure they are: but we have few, +perhaps no other shrubby plant, naturally deciduous, excepting the +privet, that will retain its verdure through the year, preserving, by a +peculiar construction of its vessels, a portion of foliage unseared by +frosts, and contending with gales that destroy and strip away all the +honors of its neighbors. This circumstance enables us to observe a +curious, strongly defined line upon the leaves, like a glossy whitish +film, meandering over the surface, becoming progressively larger, with a +fine intestinal-like line running through the centre. What occasioned +this sinuous path long puzzled me satisfactorily to ascertain, +considering it entirely of vegetable origin; and all the various +polymorphous parasitics were successively thought of. At one time I +deemed it like puccinia, which vegetates beneath the cuticle of leaves: +but this was rejected; and probably I might long have wandered in error, +had not the Rev. Mr. Kirby dissipated all my conjectures by informing me +that it was the pathway of a small caterpillar. There are several +species of them which are placed by Reaumur in a tribe called +“mineuses,” all of which live upon the parenchyma, or pulpy substance +found between the cuticles or skins of leaves, gradually increasing in +size until matured for transformation to the chrysalis, when they eat +their way through the leaf, ultimately becoming moths, remarkable for +the brilliant metallic lustre of their wings, the fine central line +being the rejectments of the creature in the infant stages of its +growth. Though several plants afford sustenance to these races, we have +none on which this tortuous path is more strongly defined than the +leaves of brambles, and the ever-blowing rose. Notices of such incidents +may perhaps be considered as too trifling to record; but the naturalist, +from the habit of observing, sees many things not obvious to all +persons: his province is to investigate all the operations of nature, +and if he record them truly, he has done his duty; prolix and dull as +his remarks will be to some, yet to another they may afford information, +or tend to elucidate a conjecture. The bramble is a sadly reprobated +plant, and I cannot say much in its favor as an independent individual, +nor would I introduce it, to incommode by its society a thriving mound +of white thorn or of crab: but it generally introduces itself, and will +flourish greatly, where other and better fences languish, and then, by +intertwining its long flexile runners with the weakly products of the +hedge-row, will compose a guard, where without it we could with +difficulty have raised one. It will intrude, however, into many places +where it is not required, originating probably from the rejectments of +birds, and become a very unwelcome and tenacious inhabitant. Its long +tendrils are much used by us as binders for thatching, being pegged down +to prevent the straw coverings of ricks and such things being carried +away by the winds, and we are satisfied with its performances. By the +assistance of the bramble also, the new-placed turf is secured on the +graves of our poorer neighbors, until it unites and forms a uniform sod; +and during this service it will occasionally root itself, and become an +inhabitant not easily ejected from our church-yards. Badgers are said to +feed much upon the fruit of the bramble. They are certainly very fat and +fleshy about the time that the blackberry is ripe; but it is probable +that the acorns and crabs, which it finds at the same season, contribute +most to its nourishment. + +The maple[32] (acer campestre) is found growing in all our fences, +generally reduced by the hedger’s bill to serve the same humble purposes +as the thorns and sloes associated with it. Sometimes, however, it is +permitted to assume the rank of a tree, when, if not possessing dignity, +it is certainly beautiful, and becomes an ornament in the hedge-row. It +is the earliest sylvan beau that is weary of its summer suit; first +shifting its dress to ochery shades, then trying a deeper tint, and +lastly assuming an orange vest; thus setting a fashion that ere long +becomes the garb of all except the rustic oak, which looks regardlessly +at the beau, and keeps its verdant robe unchanged. Soon tired of this, +the maple takes a pattern from his sober neighbor ash, throws its gaudy +trim away, and patiently awaits with all his peers the next new change. +In spring the woodbine wreathes its knots of green around the rugged +limbs of the maple; the rose beneath puts on its emerald gems, and then +our gallant sir will wear such colors too, fluttering through all its +summer’s day. When first the maple begins to autumnize the grove, the +extremities of the boughs alone change their color, but all the internal +and more sheltered parts still retain their verdure, which gives to the +tree the effect of a great depth of shade, and displays advantageously +the light, lively coloring of the sprays. We find the maple useful in +our hedges, not from the opposition it affords, but by reason of its +very quick growth from the stool after it has been cut, whence it makes +a fence in a shorter time than most of its companions; and when firewood +is an object, it soon becomes sufficiently large for this purpose. The +singular ruggedness of the branches and shoots when they have attained a +year’s growth, and the depth of the furrows, give it a strongly marked +character among our shrubs. The under side of the leaves in autumn, when +they become yellow, and dashed here and there with a few specks of red +and brown, appear, when magnified, like a very beautiful and perfect +mosaic pavement, with all its tesseræ arranged and fitted. If one of +these rugged young shoots be cut through horizontally with a sharp +knife, its cork-like bark presents the figure of a star with five or +more rays, sometimes irregularly, but generally exactly defined. A thin +slice from the surface is a beautiful and curious object in the +microscope, exhibiting the different channels, and variously formed +tubes, through which the sap flows, and the air circulates for the +supply of all the diversified requirements of the plant; and it is good +and delightful to contemplate the wonderful mechanism that has been +devised by the Almighty Architect, for the sustenance and particular +necessities of the simple maple, this “ditch trumpery,” as Gilpin calls +it; which naturally leads one to consider that, if he have so regarded +such humble objects, how much more has he accounted worthy of his +beneficence the more highly destined orders of his creation! As Evelyn +says, on another occasion, “I beg no pardon for this application, but +deplore my no better use of it.” Modern practice records no medicinal +virtues to be derived from the maple; but Pliny, in the quaint language +of old Philemon Holland, tells us that a cataplasm made from the roots +of this tree is “singular to be applied for the griefs of the liver, and +worketh mightily.” In summer the leaves of the hedge-row maple often +assume a whitish, mouldy look, which appears to be a mere exudation, as +it neither presents any after-character, nor have I observed that any +thing results from it. The young leaves, soon after their appearance in +the spring, are beset with numerous fine spines of a bright red color, +most probably occasioned by the puncture of some insect, though I have +never been able to discover any of the larvæ inclosed in them. Some +insects wound the leaves and sprays of plants for nutriment, though +generally the object seems to be the formation of a nidus for their +young, by the fluid that issues from the wound: but insects do something +more than merely puncturing the parts to force a liquor to exude; a +simple wound will not accomplish the desired object, as the sap not only +hardens on the surface, but acquires a particular form and consistence, +and even at times enlarges to a separate vegetable matter. The insect +that wounds the leaf of the oak, and occasions the formation of the +gall-nut, and those which are likewise the cause of the apple rising on +the sprays of the same tree, and those flower-like leaves on the buds +have performed very different operations, either by the instrument that +inflicted the wound, or by the injection of some fluid to influence the +action of the parts. That extraordinary hairy excrescence on the wild +rose (cynips rosæ), likewise the result of an insect’s wounds, resembles +no other nidus required for such creatures that we know of; and these +red spines on the leaf of the maple are different again from others. It +is useless to inquire into causes of which we probably can obtain no +certain result, but, judging by the effects produced by different +agents, we must conclude, that, as particular birds require and +fabricate from age to age very different receptacles for their young, +and make choice of dissimilar materials, though each species has the +same instruments to effect it, where, generally speaking, no sufficient +reasons for such variety of forms and texture is obvious, so it is +fitting that insects should be furnished with a variety of powers and +means to accomplish their requirements, having wants more urgent, their +nests being at times to be so constructed as to resist the influence of +seasons, to contain the young for much longer periods, even occasionally +to furnish a supply of food, or be a storehouse to afford it when wanted +by the infant brood. + +The wild clematis, or traveller’s joy (clematis vitalba), thrives +greatly in some of the dry stony parts of our parish, insinuating its +roots into the clefts and passages of our limestone rocks, where those +of many other plants could not find admission or support; and forms in +our hedge-rows a heavy shapeless mass of runners and branches, +encumbering and overpowering its neighbors; many of which it often +destroys; and we see the clematis clinging round a few stinted, half- +vegetating thorns, constituting the only fence, miserable as it is. The +runners or branches are very strong and flexile, and are much used by +our peasantry as a binding for hedge fagots. The tubes, lymph ducts, and +air-vessels of this plant appear in a common magnifier beautifully +arranged, being large, and admitting the air freely to circulate through +them. Our village boys avail themselves of this circumstance, cut off a +long joint from a dry branch, light it, and running about, use it as +their seniors do the tobacco-pipe. They call it “smoke wood,” and the +action of the breath constantly agitating the fire, it will long +continue kindled. The pores are well seen by drawing some bright colored +liquor into them. I have often observed the long feathered part of the +seed at the entrance of holes made by mice on the banks, and probably in +hard seasons the seed may yield these creatures part of their supply. +The diversity of form and arrangement in the pores of the roots, stems, +and branches of plants, and the nerves, air-vessels, and fibres of the +leaves, are extremely wonderful and beautiful; and it is possible that +all the genera, species, and varieties, have more or less a different +conformation of some of these parts. It is from the agency of these +vessels, imbibing both from the air and the earth, compounding, +decomposing, and discharging, in a way we know little about, that the +sweetness of our fruits, the oil, the bread, and wine to glad the heart +of man, proceed; and grateful should we be for them. From the vegetable +world man derives his chief enjoyments: much of his fuel, most of his +food, and the chief of his clothing, have once circulated in the tubes +of a plant. The clematis plant possesses the power of preserving its +verdure, and even thriving, in situations and seasons, when most other +shrubby vegetation fails or languishes. With us its roots run amid loose +stones, and in rocky places, far from any spring or apparent moisture; +and yet, in those uncommonly dry summers of 1825 and 1826, it seemed to +flourish with more than usual vigor throwing out its long tendrils, of a +fine healthy green color, adorned with a profusion of blossoms, itself +and the bramble being in some places the only thriving vegetation in a +fence. It is marvellous how fibrous-rooted vegetables, the roots of +which penetrate no depth into the soil, are enabled in some seasons to +preserve any appearance of verdure, the earth they are fixed in seeming +divested of all moisture by the power of the sun, and being heated like +a sand-bath. The warmth of the earth in 1825 I omitted to record; but in +the following year, which was more dry, and nearly as hot, the +thermometer buried in the earth to the depth of three inches, in a +flower border where many plants were growing in that sort of languid +state which they present in such exhausting seasons, indicated the heat +of 110°. + +Having said thus much of the clematis, the “withywind” of our peasantry, +it must not be supposed that I advocate the advantages of this plant as +a fence, but only tolerate it where we cannot induce much else to +thrive, it making something of a boundary line; and perhaps that is all, +for very frequently its numerous tendrils, and the downy clusters of its +caudated seeds are so interwoven, that the snow accumulates upon the +bush, and presses the whole to the earth, so that in the spring we +commonly find a gap to be repaired where the clematis has thriven. About +February, or towards the end of winter, this plant becomes stripped of +its feathery seeds, which is accomplished by mice, I believe the harvest +and the long-tailed one (mus sylvaticus) principally; with these they +form nest-like beds in the upper and thickest part of the hedge, +resorting to them in the day-time, where they enjoy in tolerable safety +the air and warmth of the season, in preference to their cold and damp +apartments in the earth, and I have occasionally disturbed them in their +dormitories; but at this time it is not observed that the seeds are much +fed upon by them, and probably are only collected as shelter in a +temporary dwelling. + +The little excursions of the naturalist, from habit and from +acquirement, become a scene of constant observation and remark. The +insect that crawls, the note of the bird, the plant that flowers, or the +vernal green leaf that peeps out, engages his attention, is recognized +as an intimate, or noted from some novelty that it presents in sound or +aspect. Every season has its peculiar product, and is pleasing or +admirable, from causes that variously affect our different temperaments +or dispositions; but there are accompaniments in an autumnal morning’s +woodland walk, that call for all our notice and admiration: the peculiar +feeling of the air, and the solemn grandeur of the scene around us, +dispose the mind to contemplation and remark; there is a silence in +which we hear every thing, a beauty that will be observed. The stump of +an old oak is a very landscape, with rugged alpine steeps bursting +through forests of verdant mosses, with some pale, denuded, branchless +lichen, like a scathed oak, creeping up the sides or crowning the +summit. Rambling with unfettered grace, the tendrils of the briony +(tamus communis) festoon with its brilliant berries, green, yellow, red, +the slender sprigs of the hazel, or the thorn; it ornaments their +plainness, and receives a support its own feebleness denies. The agaric, +with all its hues, its shades, its elegant variety of forms, expands its +cone sprinkled with the freshness of the morning; a transient fair, a +child of decay, that “sprang up in a night, and will perish in a night.” +The squirrel, agile with life and timidity, gamboling round the root of +an ancient beech, its base overgrown with the dewberry (rubus cæsius), +blue with unsullied fruit, impeded in his frolic sports, half angry, +darts up the silvery bole again, to peep and wonder at the strange +intruder on his haunts. The jay springs up, and, screaming, tells of +danger to her brood; the noisy tribe repeat the call, are hushed, and +leave us; the loud laugh of the woodpecker, joyous and vacant; the +hammering of the nuthatch (sitta europæa), cleaving its prize in the +chink of some dry bough; the humblebee, torpid on the disk of the purple +thistle, just lifts a limb to pray forbearance of injury, to ask for +peace, and bid us + + “Leave him, leave him to repose.” + +The cinquefoil, or the vetch, with one lingering bloom yet appears, and +we note it from its loneliness. Spreading on the light foliage of the +fern, dry and mature, the spider has fixed her toils, and motionless in +the midst watches her expected prey, every thread and mesh beaded with +dew, trembling with the zephyr’s breath. Then falls the “sere and yellow +leaf,” parting from its spray without a breeze tinkling in the boughs, +and rustling scarce audibly along, rests at our feet, and tells us that +we part too. All these are distinctive symbols of the season, marked in +the silence and sobriety of the hour; and form, perhaps, a deeper +impression on the mind, than any afforded by the verdant promises, the +vivacities of spring, or the gay, profuse luxuriance of summer. + +Such notes as these, such passing observations, are perhaps little +fitted for, or deserving of, arrangement, yet, in a woodland autumnal +ramble, we are naturally almost irresistibly, led to contemplate that +beautiful and varied race of vegetation included under the name of +fungi, so particularly fostered by this season, and which so greatly +delight to spring up in sylvan moisture and decay: nor is there perhaps +any country better constituted for the production of the whole of this +family than England is, particularly that portion of them denominated +agarics.[33] The various natures of our soil and pastures, the profusion +of our woods and copses, the humidity of our climate, united with the +general warmth of our autumn, accelerating rapid decay, and putrescence +of vegetable matter, all combine to give existence to this race. No +county is, I believe, more favored for the production of most of the +kinds than Monmouth, with its deep dark woods, and alpine downs. A +residence in that portion of the kingdom for some years introduced to my +notice a larger portion of this singular race than every botanist is +acquainted with. A sportsman then, but I fear I shall be called a +recreant brother of the craft, when I own having more than once let my +woodcock escape, to secure and bear away some of these fair but +perishable children of the groves. Travellers tell us of the splendor of +this race in the jungles of Madagascar, but nothing surely can exceed +the beauty of some old copse in Monmouthshire, deep in the valley, calm, +serene, shaded by the pensile, elegant, autumnal-tinted sprays of the +birch, the ground enamelled with every colored agaric, from the deep +scarlet to pallid white, the gentle gray, and sober brown, and all their +intermediate shadings. Fungi must be considered as an appendage and +ornament of autumn; they are not generally in healthy splendor until +fostered by the evening damps and dews of September, and in this season +no part of the vegetable world can exceed them in elegance of form, and +gentleness of fabrication: but these fragile children of the earth are +beauties of an hour: + + “Transient as the morning dew, + They glitter and exhale,” + +and must be viewed before advancing age changes all their features. +There is a pale gray fungus (agaricus fimiputris) that may very commonly +be observed in September on the edges of heaps of manure, and in pasture +grounds, most beautifully delicate, almost like colored water just +congealed, trembling in the air from the slightness of its form, its +sober tints softly blending with each other, lined and penciled with an +exactitude and lightness that defy imitation. The verdigris agaric +(agaricus æruginosus) is found under tall hedge-rows, and near shady +banks, and few can exceed it in beauty when just risen from its mossy +bed in all the freshness of morning and of youth, its pale green-blue +head varnished with the moisture of an autumnal day; the veil, +irregularly festooned around its margin, glittering like a circlet of +emeralds and topazes from the reflected colors of the pileus. But it is +by examination alone that the beauties of this despised race can be +perceived, not by a partial and inadequate description. + +The certain appearance of many of the fungi can by no means be relied +upon, they being as irregular in their visits as some of the +lepidopterous class of insects. It is probable that decayed vegetable +matter is in most cases the source whence this race of plants arises, +while a certain degree of moisture and temperature, acting in concord +with a precise state of decay, appears necessary to influence the +sprouting of the seminal or radical matter. The beautiful floriform +hydnum (hydnum floriforme) is very irregular in its appearance, whence +it is a species seldom found by the botanist. The mitred helvella +(helvella mitra) will abound, and then years may intervene and not a +specimen be discovered. In 1825, a little, gray puff ball (lycoperdon +cinereum), about the size of a large pin’s head, abounded, covering +patches of grass in all our fields, looking like froth, and in decay, +when discharging its seed, like a spongy curd; though it had not been +observed, not having vegetated, or very sparingly, for upwards of ten +years. Others again, particularly the ligneous ones, remain permanently +fixed for a long period. The fingered clavaria (clavaria hypoxylon) may +be found vegetating on the stump of an old hazel in the orchard for +twenty years in succession. That this elegant race has attracted so few +votaries many reasons may be assigned. The agarics in particular are +very versatile in their nature, and we frequently want an obvious, +permanent character, to indicate the species, affording sufficient +conviction of the individual. The rapid powers of vegetation in some +will change the form and hues almost before a delineation can be made, +or an examination take place, requiring nearly a residence with them to +become acquainted with their various mutations; and we have no method of +preserving them to answer the purpose of comparison. These are all +serious impediments to the investigation of this class; yet, perhaps, I +may with some confidence suggest, that any one, who is so circumstanced +as to afford the time, so situated as to find a supply of these +productions, and will bestow on them a patient examination, will find +both pleasure and gratification in contemplating the beauty, the +mechanism, the forms, the attitudes, of the whole order of fungi. + +As far as we can observe, it appears to be an established ordinance of +nature, that all created things must have a final period. This mandate +is effected by various means, slow and nearly imperceptible in some +cases, but operative in all. As in the animal world, after disease or +violence has extinguished life, the dispersion is accomplished by the +agency principally of other animals, or animated creatures; so, in the +vegetable world, vegetating substances usually effect the entire +decomposition: for though, in the larger kinds, the high and lofty ones +of the forest, insects are often the primary agents, yet other minute +substances are commonly found to accelerate or complete the dissolution. +Fungi in general, particularly those arranged as sphæria, trichia, +peziza, and boletus, appear as the principal and most numerous agents, +and we find them almost universally on substances in a certain state of +decay, or approximation to it; though there are a few genera of this +class which are attached to, and flourish on, living vegetation. The +primary decline is possibly occasioned by putrescence of the sap, or +defective circulation, and this unhealthy state of the plant affording +the suitable soil for the germination of the parasitic fungus; for there +must be an original though inert seed, till these circumstances vivify +its principle. By what means the parasite finishes the dissolution is +not quite obvious; but of that insidious race the byssi, of which family +is the dry-rot (byssus septica), the radicals penetrate like the finest +hairs into the substance, and thus destroy the cohesion of the fibres. +So do the nidulariæ, many of the agarics, the boleti, and others; and it +is not unlikely that this operation is the general principle of action +of the whole race, though not so obvious in the minuter kinds. These +terminators, many of which present but little character to the naked +eye, under the microscope we find to be of various forms, though not +always so distinguishable from each other as the flowers of our garden. +Some of the genera of plants appear to have distinct agents assigned to +them, and the detection and enumeration of them have been carried to +considerable extent by some of the foreign naturalists; but, to point +out the variety and curious organization of these substances, we will +only instance four, to be found on the common plants of the garden or +the copse: the laurel, the elm, the sycamore, and the beech. + +The laurel (prunus laurocerasus) is not, properly speaking, a deciduous +plant, though it casts its leaves in considerable numbers during the +spring and summer seasons. These long resist the common agents of +dissolution, like those of the holly, by means of the impenetrable +varnish that is spread over them. This, however, wears off, and they +decay; but their destruction is at times accelerated by a small +excrescent substance, which fixes on the leaf, breaks the surface, and +admits humidity. It appears in the form of a small black speck, and, +when ripe, discharges a yellow powder from the centre; but as soon as +one speck, which is the vessel containing the capsules, has fixed itself +on one side of the leaf, a similar one will be found immediately +opposite on the other; and hence it is well named by Lamarck the two- +fronted uredo (uredo bifrons).[34] This I believe to be peculiar to the +laurel and the holly. + +The leaf of the elm in autumn may commonly be observed marked with dark- +colored blotches, which are the “plague spot” of its destruction. These +leaves remain in large proportions uninjured through the winter months; +but when spring arrives, the spots become matured, the surface cracks, +and the capsules discharge their seeds. Lamarck names it sphæria +xylomoides, but mentions another as a more early observer. At these +spots the decay of the leaf generally commences. + +Most persons must have observed that the upper surface of the leaves of +the sycamore (acer pseudo-platanus) is blotched with dark-colored spots +(xyloma acerinum) in autumn. This leaf is detached by the earliest +frosts, and falling to the ground the spots commence their operations by +corroding away the portions of the leaf that surrounds them, but +continue attached themselves, appearing as raised, shining, vermicular +lines. This has been mentioned by Lamarck and others, and is only now +noticed to point out the variously constituted agents that accomplish +the destruction of the foliage of plants. + +The bark, the wood, have other deputed powers of destruction, many of +which are very beautifully fabricated. To dwell on them would extend too +much these remarks, designed rather as observations than details; yet I +am tempted to introduce two. The sphæria coryli of Lamarck (peziza +coryli) is occasionally to be found in the month of January, and through +the winter until April, upon old hazel sticks, and engages our attention +by the regularity of its tubercles. The seed, or first principle of +production, whatever this may be, by means unknown to us, has been fixed +upon the inner bark of the wood. Gently increasing, it bursts its way +through the outer bark, which now hangs as a fringe about it; the seed +vessels expand, and a dusty substance, being most probably the matter +that continues the species, is dispersed around. A singular plant +(sphæria faginea?) is found upon the decayed wood of the beech-tree,[35] +in the earlier part of the spring. It appears on the surface of it in +little nodules, which, gradually uniting and increasing, form a regular +black crust. Upon examination we find, that little round bodies have +forced a passage through the outer bark, and enlarged into small round +tubes, which ultimately become the conductors of the seminal dust, +discharged from round, beaked seed vessels, embedded beneath upon the +inner bark. This plant presents us with a very remarkable instance of +the attention of nature to the preservation of minute and little +observed things; the protection of the seed vessel, and the +dissemination, being most particularly and carefully provided for. + +These specimens are only individuals among hundreds, which present us +with a world of beauty, variety, and wonder. I would not wish it to be +understood that it is maintained, by any thing here intimated, that the +dissolution of vegetable matter is effected solely by the agency of +insects or parasitic plants, Nature having various ways of accomplishing +her purposes; but only mean to contend that, in numerous cases, these +weak instruments are made use of to accelerate the decay and dispersion +of it. + +We are not favorably circumstanced for any great abundance of the race +of fungi: the old fir grove—which produces such varieties, and the oak +and birch copses, which have shed their leaves for ages, and given rise +to many, are not found with us; yet we have a small scattering too, some +of which are perhaps not undeserving of notice; and, though rather +partial to a class which has afforded me many hours of gratification and +delight, yet, sensible of the little interest they generally create, I +must limit my mention to a very few. + +The odorous agaric (agaricus odorus) may perhaps be locally found in +plenty, but to me it has always been a plant of rare occurrence. Its +colors are delicate and modest, rather than splendid, and a near +acquaintance only makes us sensible of the justness of its name. We have +another scented agaric (agaricus fragrans), much more commonly to be met +with, which diffuses its fragrance to some distance: but the former +species does not spread its fragrance until brought into a temperate +apartment, when it fills the room with an odor like that proceeding from +the heliotrope, or from fresh bitter almonds, and communicates it to our +gloves, or whatever it touches. I have found it sparingly here among dry +beech leaves in Wolf-ridge copse. + +There is a rare, local, and I believe unnoticed agaric, trailing its +long roots in October among the small decayed fragments of some old +hedge, elegant in itself, but more remarkable from the colored fluid it +contains, which upon being wounded it emits, not as a milky fluid, but +like an orange-colored, tasteless, spirituous extract, long retaining +its color upon paper, and tingeing the hand like the celandine, or +blood-wort, (sanguinalis canadensis); and hence I have called it a +“stainer.” Every part discharges this ichor, but it flows rather more +copiously from the roots: in general appearance like A. varius. It may +possibly be passed over as that species; but this is a race which being +local, precarious, mutable, or fugacious, is seen by the wandering +naturalist alone, and we must leave these mysterious but beautiful +productions of nature to their solitudes and woods.[36] + +As weeds will grow with flowers, the unsightly with the beautiful, so do +we meet with here much more abundantly that extraordinary and offensive +production the stinking phallus (phallus impudicus). They do not dwell +near each other, however; this being found in the month of June on many +of our hedge-banks. The smell it discharges has been thought to be like +that arising from some decayed animal substance; but it is of a much +more subtle kind, as if the animal fetor had been volatilized by +carbonate of ammonia. Many persons in their country walks, at this +period of the year, must have been occasionally surprised by a sudden +disagreeable smell of this nature, and probably concluded that it +proceeded from some dead animal, when most likely it was produced by +this fungus: yet to find it is not always an easy matter; for the odor +is so diffused on all sides, that it rather leads us astray from the +object than aids our search, the plant being hidden frequently in the +depth of the hedge. I have at times found it by watching the flight of +the flies, which are attracted by its fetor. This strong smell is +supposed to reside in the green gelatinous substance which is attached +to the cell of the pileus; but the odor is at times discharged by this +phallus, before the stem has arisen from the egglike wrapper by which it +is inclosed. This is a very unpleasant plant to delineate, as its odor, +when in a room, is so very offensive, that few persons would willingly +tolerate its presence; and its growth is so rapid in an increased +temperature, that the form and appearance soon become changed. The seed +is supposed to reside in the cells of the pileus, and the gelatinous +matter which we find on its summit; and on this, and every part of the +plant, slugs of various kinds are commonly found feeding, which, +retiring to their holes in the earth, from the contents of their +stomachs probably propagate this phallus. That many of our agarics, and +those boleti which have central stems, are so diffused around by the +agency of these creatures, it is reasonable to conclude for it is a very +usual thing to find the gills of these plants, in which the seed +resides, so entirely eaten away by slugs as to have no remains +perceptible, except a little of the flesh and the outer skin; and they +prefer those plants which are somewhat advanced in age, and in which we +suppose the seminal matter to be more perfected. + +The various provisions which have been devised for the dispersion of the +seeds of plants, and introducing them into proper situations for +germination, are not the least admirable portion of the wonderful scheme +of creation. Every class of beings appears appointed by collateral means +to promote these designs; man, beasts, birds, and reptiles; and, for +aught we know, the very fishes, by consuming, propagate the algæ in the +depths of the ocean. Even insects, by the fecundation of plants, perform +an office equivalent to dissemination; and the multiplied contrivances +of hooks, awns, wings, &c., and the elastic and hygrometic powers with +which seeds are furnished, manifest what infinite provision has been +made for the dispersion of seeds, and successive production of the whole +race of vegetation. + +The turreted puff (lycoperdon fornicatum) is one of our rare +cryptogamous plants. I have had one specimen, in which the volvæ or +wrappers of seven or eight individuals grew together, each throwing out +a head or capitulum, forming a cluster the size of a doubled fist. It +appears, from a close examination of this plant, that the upper part +bearing the head was originally the inner skin or lining of the wrapper, +which inclosed and shut it in. Upon the bursting of the wrapper, this +inner skin peeled up, or loosened itself from the bottom, and rising, +became finally detached from the wrapper in every part excepting at the +points of the clefts, where it remained fixed; in the same manner as a +man might be supposed able to pull up the skin from the hollow of the +hand, and let it remain attached at the tips of the fingers. This puff +dries remarkably well, and even shows the general form more distinctly +than when recent. + +The starry puff (lycoperdon stellatum) is rather difficult to find, but +is a much more common plant, delighting to grow amidst the herbage of +some dry bank, and so is hidden from common observation; but the winds +of autumn detach it from the banks, and it remains driving about the +pastures, little altered until spring, when it decays. + +We have the morell (morchella esculenta),[37] but to this I must subjoin +“rarissimè.” Bolton and Micheli represent the pileus as cellular, like a +honeycomb. All that I have seen are mesenterically puckered. In what +part of this morell the seeds reside is obscure: not in the hollows of +the pileus, I think. That part of our morell, which in an agaric would +be flesh, is found by the microscope to consist of fine woolly fibres +united in a mass: and probably the seed is contained in this part; for +when the plant is mature, and begins to dry, the outer coating cracks, +and tears these filaments asunder, and gives the seminal matter, if +contained in this part, a free passage for escape. + +The bell-shaped nidularia (nidularia campanulata) is common with us, the +smooth (nidularia lævis) is much less so. I do not mention them on +account of their rarity, but to notice the singular size of the seeds of +this genus. The principle, by which nearly the whole of the fungi are +continued, is in most instances obscure. A dust, considered as seminal, +is observable in some of the genera; in others, even this is +imperceptible; but in the nidularia the actual seeds, for they are not +capsules, are visible at the bottom of the bell-shaped receptacle, of +the size of a turnip seed, or of a large, flattened pin’s head; loose, +but attached by a filament, which in the striated species (nidularia +striata), in moist weather, I have drawn out to nearly three inches in +length. This thread appears designed to secure the vegetation of the +seed, by affording it the power of deriving nutriment from the parent +plant, during the period it is exerting its strength to vegetate in the +earth. Heavy rains, I apprehend, fill the bells, and float out the seeds +in the spring months, the filaments then stretching to their full +extent. In severe weather we often find these bells emptied of their +contents; and from observing the excrement of mice about the places of +their growth, I conclude they are eaten by these creatures. The long +mandibles of the little shrew are well fitted for this operation. I have +never found the plant in such quantities as to yield them any +considerable supply; yet it is remarkable, that the seeds of one genus +only, out of such a numerous class, should be so visible, and of such a +size, as to become an article of food to an animal like a mouse. + +But we must dismiss the vegetable tribes, and enter upon the world of +sensitive nature. The quadrupeds naturally present themselves first to +our notice, but with us they are few in number; our population scares +them, our gamekeepers kill them, and inclosures extirpate their haunts. +Yet the marten[38] (mustela martes) lingers with us still, and every +winter’s snow becomes instrumental to its capture, betraying its +footsteps to those who are acquainted with the peculiar trace which it +leaves. Its excursions generally terminate at some hollow tree, whence +it is driven into a bag; and we are surprised, that a predaceous animal, +not protected by laws or arbitrary privileges, and of some value too, +should still exist. Of all our animals called vermin, we have none more +admirably fitted for a predatory life than the marten: it is endowed +with strength of body; is remarkably quick and active in all its +motions; has an eye so large, clear, perceptive, and movable in its +orbit, that nothing can stir without its observation; and it is supplied +apparently with a sense of smelling as perfect as its other faculties. +Its feet are well adapted to its habits, not treading upright on the +balls alone, but with the joint bending, the fleshy parts being embedded +in a very soft and delicate hair, so that the tread of the animal, even +upon decayed leaves, is scarcely audible; by which means it can steal +upon its prey without any noise betraying its approach. The fur is fine, +and the skin so thin and flexible, as to impede none of its agile +movements. Thus every thing combines to render the marten a very +destructive creature. It seems to have a great dislike to cold, residing +in winter in the hollow of some tree, deeply embedded in dry foliage, +and when in confinement, covering and hiding itself with all the warm +materials it can find. In genial seasons it will sleep by day in the +abandoned nest of the crow or buzzard, and its dormitory is often +discovered by the chattering and mobbing of different birds on the tree. +It is certainly not numerous in England, our woods being too small, and +too easily penetrated, to afford it adequate quiet and shelter. Its skin +is still in some little request, being worth about two shillings and +sixpence in the market; but it is used only for inferior purposes, as +the furs of colder regions than ours are better, and more easily +obtained. + +[Illustration: + + _plate 1._ + + _Fig. 1. p. 89._ + + _Fig. 2. p. 88–89._ + + _Fig. 3. p. 90._ + + _Fig. 4. p. 90._ +] + +Notwithstanding all the persecutions from prejudice and wantonness to +which the hedgehog[39] (erinaceus europæus) is exposed, it is yet common +with us; sleeping by day in a bed of leaves and moss, under the cover of +a very thick bramble or furze-bush, and at times in some hollow stump of +a tree. It creeps out in the summer evenings; and, running about with +more agility than its dull appearance promises, feeds on dew-worms and +beetles, which it finds among the herbage, but retires with trepidation +at the approach of man. In the autumn, crabs, haws, and the common +fruits of the hedge, constitute its diet. In the winter, covering itself +deeply in moss and leaves, it sleeps during the severe weather; and, +when drawn out from its bed, scarcely any thing of the creature is to be +observed, it exhibiting only a ball of leaves, which it seems to attach +to its spines by repeatedly rolling itself round in its nest. Thus +comfortably invested, it suffers little from the season. Some strong +smell must proceed from this animal, as we find it frequently, with our +sporting dogs, even in this state; and every village boy with his cur +detects the haunts of the poor hedgehog, and as assuredly worries and +kills him. Killing every thing, and cruelty, are the common vices of the +ignorant; and unresisting innocence becomes a ready victim to prejudice +or power. The snake, the blind-worm, and the toad, are all +indiscriminately destroyed as venomous animals whenever found; and it is +well for the last-mentioned poor animal, which, Boyle says, “lives on +poison, and is all venom,” if prolonged sufferings do not finish its +being: but even we, who should know better, yet give rewards for the +wretched urchin’s head! that very ancient prejudice of its drawing milk +from the udders of resting cows being still entertained, without any +consideration of its impracticability from the smallness of the +hedgehog’s mouth; and so deeply is this character associated with its +name, that we believe no argument would persuade to the contrary, or +remonstrance avail with our idle boys, to spare the life of this most +harmless and least obtrusive creature in existence. + +If we were to detail the worst propensities of man, disgusting as they +might be, yet the one most eminently offensive would be, cruelty—a +compound of tyranny, ingratitude, and pride; tyranny, because there is +the power—ingratitude, for the most harmless and serviceable are usually +the object—pride, to manifest a contempt of the weakness of humanity. +There is no one creature, whose services Providence has assigned to man, +that contributes more to his wants, is more conducive to his comforts, +than the horse; nor is there one which is subjected to more afflictions +than this his faithful servant. The ass, probably, and happily, is not a +very sensitive animal, but the poor horse no sooner becomes the property +of man in the lower walks of life, than he commonly has his ears shorn +off; his knees are broken, his wind is broken, his body is starved, and +his eyes——!! I fear, in these grades of society, mercy is only known by +the name of cowardice, and compassion designated simplicity and +effeminacy; and so we become cruel, and consider it as valiance and +manliness. Cruelty is a vice repeatedly marked in Scripture as repugnant +to the primest attributes of our Maker, “because he delighteth in +mercy.” One of the three requisites necessary for man to obtain the +favor of Heaven, and which was of more avail than sacrifice and +oblation, was that of “showing mercy;” and He, who has left us so many +examples in a life of compassion and pity, hath most strongly enforced +this virtue, by assuring us, that the “merciful are blessed, for they +will obtain mercy.” + +Hedgehogs were formerly an article of food; but this diet was pronounced +to be dry, and not nutritive, “because he putteth forth so many +prickles.” All plants producing thorns, or tending to any roughness, +were considered to be of a drying nature; and, upon this foundation, the +ashes of the hedgehog were administered as a “great desiccative of +fistulas.” + +The spines of the hedgehog are movable, not fixed and resisting, but +loose in the skin, and when dry, fall backward and forward upon being +moved; yet, from the peculiar manner in which they are inserted, it +requires more force to draw them out than may be at first sight +expected. The hair of most creatures seems to arise from a bulbous root +fixed in the skin; but the spines of the hedgehog have their lower ends +fined down to a thin neck or thread, which, passing through a small +orifice in the skin, is secured on the under side by a round head like +that of a pin, or are riveted as it were, by the termination being +enlarged and rounded, and these heads are all visible when the skin +becomes dry, as if studded by small pins thrust through. Hence they are +movable in all directions, and resting upon the muscle of the creature, +must be the medium of a very sensible perception to the animal, and more +so than hair could be, which does not seem to penetrate so far as the +muscular fibre. Now this little quadruped, upon suspicion of harm, rolls +itself up in a ball, hiding his nose and eyes in the hollow of his +stomach, and thus the common organs of perception, hearing, seeing, +smelling, are precluded from action: but by the sensibility of the +spines, he seems fully acquainted with every danger that may threaten +him; and upon any attempt to uncoil himself, if these spines be touched, +he immediately retracts, assuming his globular form again, awaiting a +more secure period for retreat:— + +[Illustration: + + _A_, _A_, are spines of the hedgehog enlarged; _B_, a segment, to show + the numerous tubes of communication. +] + +The harvest mouse (mus messorius) in some seasons is common with us, +but, like other species of mice, varies much in the numbers found. I +have seen their nests as late as the middle of September, containing +eight young ones entirely filling the little interior cavity. These +nests vary in shape, being round, oval, or pearshaped, with a long neck, +and are to be distinguished from those of any other mouse, by being +generally suspended on some growing vegetable, a thistle, a beanstalk, +or some adjoining stems of wheat, with which it rocks and waves in the +wind; but to prevent the young from being dislodged by any violent +agitation of the plant, the parent closes up the entrance so uniformly, +with the whole fabric, that the real opening is with difficulty found. + +[Illustration: + + _The Harvest Mouse and Nest._ +] + +They are the most tame and harmless of little creatures; and, taking +shelter in the sheaves when in the field, are often brought home with +the crop, and found in little shallow burrows on the ground after the +removal of a bean-rick. Those that remain in the field form stores for +the winter season, and congregate in small societies in holes under some +sheltered ditch-bank. An old one, which I weighed, was only one dram and +five grains in weight. + +Mankind appear to be progressively increasing. It was an original +command of his Creator, and the animals domesticated by him, and +fostered for his use, are probably multiplied in proportion to his +requirements; but we have no reason to suppose that this annual +augmentation proceeds in a proportionate degree with the wild creatures +upon the surface of the globe; and we know that many of them are yearly +decreasing, and very many that once existed have even become extinct. +That there are years of increase and decrease ordained for all the +inferior orders of creation, common observation makes manifest. In the +years 1819 and 1820, all the country about us was overrun with mice; +they harbored under the hassocks of our coarse grasses (aira cæspitosa), +perforated the banks of ditches, occasioned much damage by burrowing +into our potato heaps, and coursed in our gardens from bed to bed even +during daylight. The species were the short-tailed meadow-mouse, and the +long-tailed garden mouse, and both kinds united in the spring to destroy +our early-sown pease and beans. In the ensuing summer, however, they +became so greatly reduced, that few were to be seen, and we have not had +any thing like such an increase since that period. It is probable that +some disease afflicted them, and that they perished in their holes, for +we never found their bodies, and any emigration of such large companies +would certainly have been observed; yet the appearance and disappearance +of creatures of this kind leads us to conclude that they do occasionally +change their habitations. + +A large stagnant piece of water in an inland county, with which I was +intimately acquainted, and which I very frequently visited for many +years of my life, was one summer suddenly infested with an astonishing +number of the short-tailed water rat, none of which had previously +existed there. Its vegetation was the common products of such places, +excepting that the larger portion of it was densely covered with its +usual crop, the smooth horsetail (equisetum limosum). This constituted +the food of the creatures, and the noise made by their champing it we +could distinctly hear in the evening at many yards’ distance. They were +shot by dozens daily; yet the survivors seemed quite regardless of the +noise, the smoke, the deaths, around them. Before the winter, this great +herd disappeared, and so entirely evacuated the place, that a few years +after I could not obtain a single specimen. They did not disperse, for +the animal is seldom found in the neighborhood, and no dead bodies were +observed. They had certainly made this place a temporary station in +their progress from some other; but how such large companies can change +their situations unobserved in their transits, is astonishing. Birds can +move in high regions and in obscurity, and are not commonly objects of +notice; but quadrupeds can travel only on the ground, and would be +regarded with wonder, when in great numbers, by the rudest peasant.[40] + +That little animal the water shrew (sorex fodiens) appears to be but +partially known, but is probably more generally diffused than we +imagine. The common shrew in particular seasons gambols through our +hedge-rows, squeaking and rustling about the dry foliage, and is +observed by every one; but the water shrew inhabits places that secrete +it from general notice, and appears to move only in the evenings, which +occasions its being so seldom observed. That this creature was an +occasional resident in our neighborhood was manifest from the dead +bodies of two or three having occurred in my walks; but it was some time +before I discovered a little colony of them quietly settled in one of my +ponds, overshadowed with bushes and foliage. It is very amusing to +observe the actions of these creatures, all life and animation in an +element they could not be thought any way calculated for enjoying; but +they swim admirably, frolicking over the floating leaves of the +pondweed, and up the foliage of the flags, which, bending with their +weight, will at times souse them in the pool, and away they scramble to +another, searching apparently for the insects that frequent such places, +and feeding on drowned moths (phalæna potamogeta) and similar insects. +They run along the margin of the water, rooting amid the leaves and mud +with their long noses for food, like little ducks, with great +earnestness and perseverance. Their power of vision seems limited to a +confined circumference. The smallness of their eyes, and the growth of +the fur about them, are convenient for the habits of the animal, but +impediments to extended vision; so that, with caution, we can approach +them in their gambols, and observe all their actions. The general +blackness of the body, and the triangular spot beneath the tail, as +mentioned by Pennant, afford the best ready distinction of this mouse +from the common shrew. Both our species of sorex seem to feed by +preference on insects and worms; and thus, like the mole, their flesh is +rank and offensive to most creatures, which reject them as food. The +common shrew, in spring and summer, is ordinarily in motion even during +the day from the sexual attachment, which occasions the destruction of +numbers by cats, and other prowling animals; and thus we find them +strewed in our paths, by gateways, and in our garden walks, dropped by +these animals in their progress. It was once thought that some +periodical disease occasioned this mortality of the species; but I think +we may now conclude that violence alone is the cause of their +destruction in these instances. The bite of this creature was considered +by the ancients as peculiarly noxious, even to horses and large cattle, +and a variety of the most extraordinary remedies for the wound, and +preventives against it, are mentioned by Pliny and others. The +prejudices of antiquity, long as they usually are in keeping possession +of the mind, have not been remembered by us; and we only know the hardy +shrew now as a perfectly harmless animal, though we still retain a name +for it expressive of something malignant and spiteful. + +I think we have reason for suspecting that a shrew new to Britain exists +in this neighborhood. A pale blue shrew (sorex Daubentonii? Cuvier) has +been seen about the margins of our reenes, and the deep marsh ditches +cut for draining the water from the low lands of the Severn; and +something of the same kind, in a half-digested state, has been found in +the stomach of the heron. If it exist with us, a similar tract of land +in more fenny countries may contain it plentifully, though it has as yet +escaped detection. + +The mole,[41] want, mouldwarper or mouldturner (talpa europea), is +common with us, as it appears to be in most places; and no creature +gives more certain indication of its presence, haunting, from +preference, such places as its predecessors have done, though years may +have intervened since they were frequented, and rains, and the treading +of heavy cattle, have compressed to solid earth the ancient runs; and +however assiduously we may destroy them, should they appear again, it +will probably be in the same places that have been formerly perforated +by others. The earth that these animals eject from their runs, being +obtained from very near the surface, and finely pulverized, has tempted +me more than once to have it collected for my green-house plants, but +not with the success that I had conjectured. Some persons have advocated +the cause of moles, as being beneficial to vegetation, by loosening the +soil about the roots of plants. Evelyn and others, again, censure them +as injurious creatures; and there is a strange narration in Buffon, +accusing them of eating all the acorns of a newly-set soil.[42] I am not +aware of any benefit occasioned by their presence; their warpings +certainly give our pastures in the spring a very unsightly appearance, +and in grounds designed to be mowed, occasion much trouble, by obliging +us frequently to spread and remove them; and in newly-sown corn-lands, +they disturb by their runnings the earth at the roots of the grain. But, +perhaps, these trifling complaints, these almost imaginary grievances, +are the only evils that can be attributed to them. In those wild +creatures that are not immediately applicable to our use or amusement, +we are more generally inclined to seek out their bad than their good +qualities; and though I cannot produce any instance in which the utility +of the mole is manifested, yet it is reasonable to conclude, that they +are eminently so, either directly or collaterally, nature having +provided in an especial manner for a constant supply,[43] and their +increase is prodigious when they are not molested. I have killed for two +years in succession, between forty and fifty each season, in a very few +acres of ground; and notwithstanding all our stratagems for their +destruction, and the ease with which they are entrapped, still plenty +always remain to recruit our annual waste of them. These creatures are +supposed to have a very imperfect vision, and, like insects, have not +any external ear, or manifest organ through which sounds can be +received; yet we can in no way for a moment suppose that they have been +created with any deficiency of power to accomplish all the objects of +their being, but that every possible exigency has been provided for. +Perceptions may be conveyed in very many instances by intelligences +unknown to us, and unquestionably are so. The defect of one power is +frequently supplied by the increased activity of another; and the sense +of smelling in the mole must be unusually acute, to enable it to pursue +and capture its prey with the facility that it does. Its sole food, we +believe, is worms; and these sensitive creatures retire immediately upon +the smallest moving of the earth in which they reside. Now, as it +follows them through all their meanderings, in which neither eyes nor +ears would assist it, a fine sense of smelling seems necessary to enable +it to catch them; and that its success is equal to its wants, and that +it feeds plentifully, is manifest by the excellent condition in which +the mole is at all seasons of the year. It will penetrate banks of earth +after worms lodged in their interior, hunt for them in the richest parts +of the field, or on the edges of dung-heaps: in all which pursuits some +unknown faculties may direct it; but no sense, that we are acquainted +with, could promote its objects so effectually as that of smell. My +talparius, a very skilful capturer of these animals, is so sensible of +the power that moles are gifted with of readily discriminating smells, +that his constant practice is, to draw the body of a captured animal +through his traps, and the adjoining runs, and passages, to remove all +suspicious odors, which might arise from the touch of his fingers. Its +feeling, too, must be acute; as, when casting up the earth, it is +sensible of the pressure of a very gentle foot; and, unless our +approaches are conducted with great caution, it ceases from its +operation, and instantly retires. Should I be censured for needless +prolixity in detailing these sensations of a common mole, and “telling +of the mouldwarp and the ant,” I trust forgiveness may be granted me, as +endeavoring to remove all conceptions, should they exist, that any +thing, however vile and worthless it may seem to be, could be created +with powers or means inadequate to supply its wants. Whoever will +examine the structure of the body of a mole will, perhaps, find no +creature more admirably adapted for all the purposes of its life. The +very fur on the skin of this animal manifests what attention has been +bestowed upon the creature, in providing for its necessities and +comforts. This is singularly, most impalpably, fine, yielding in every +direction, and offering no resistance to the touch. By this construction +the mole is in no degree impeded in its retreat from danger while +retiring backwards, as it always does upon suspicion of peril, not +turning round, which the size of its runs does not permit, its tail +foremost, until it arrives at some collateral gallery, when its flight +is head foremost, as with other creatures. If this fur had been strong, +as in the rat, or mouse, in these retreats for life it would have doubly +retarded the progress of the creature; first by its resistance, and then +acting as a brush, so as to choke up the galleries, by removing the +loose earth from the sides and ceilings of the arched ways; thus +impeding at least, if not absolutely preventing, retreat; but the +softness of the fur obviates both these fatal effects. + +The construction of the hair and fur of different creatures is very +various and beautiful; and if we believe in the beneficence of the All- +wise Creator, we must conclude that such peculiar fabrications were +resorted to for the purpose of being immediately useful, or as necessary +to the condition of the animal. In a mere sketch like this, it would +conduct me infinitely beyond my intentions, to enumerate the many +varieties of hair that are rendered manifest by the microscope; but +three or four may be mentioned. The fur or clothing of the mole is +internally composed of collateral bars. In man the hairs have at times a +central tube, for the conveyance of medullary matter, as in bones, or +some nutriment analogous to it; but in the mole there appears to be no +communication with the body of the animal, unless the perspirable matter +is conducted alternately from side to side along the bars. The fur of +the bat has knots like the rudiments of branches. The hairs of the +hamster mouse have a central perforation, apparently uninterrupted +throughout their whole length. Some of the caterpillars (callimorpha +caja) have spines proceeding from the hair that invests their +bodies.[44] All these, and the other various contrivances so manifest in +the coverings of animals, are probably designed to convey off the +perspirable fluids conducive to health in an appropriate manner; to +discharge the superabundant heat, and keep the body temperate in some +cases: in others, again, to retard perspiration, and thus augment the +warmth, by every possible gradation, or to increase the sensibility and +perceptions of the animal. Many instances of these effects and +modifications might be advanced, deserving a more extensive +consideration. + +The smell of the flesh of the mole is remarkably rank and offensive, as, +from the nature of its food, might be expected; and it taints the +fingers, which have touched it, with its peculiar odor, so that one +washing does not remove it. It is reported of a late very eccentric +nobleman, but with what truth I do not know, who essayed himself the +flavor of every living thing, even to the eating of the large dew-worm, +that the mole alone remained untasted by him, his stomach recoiling with +disgust at the nauseous smell of the flesh of this creature. Foxes eat +moles, and will at times dig out the traps containing them. The brown +owl, too, feeds on them, when it can meet with them outside of their +runs hunting after dew-worms; and probably the smaller vermin do the +same: but the cat and the dog turn from them with manifest aversion as +food; though they will hunt and kill them as objects of the chase. + +These animals, we might suppose, while in their subterranean dwellings, +would be secure from all injury by such as generally pursue their prey +upon the surface of the earth; but I have several times known the weasel +caught in the mole-traps, making it manifest, that it hunts after the +mole for its food, and in doing so, according to our comprehensions, +must encounter infinite danger from suffocation; but it is more probable +that so active a creature as the weasel is endowed with powers to +accomplish its object with impunity, which we are not acquainted with. + +During the course of a life passed much in the country, and +perambulating the woods, the hedges, and the fields, I have contracted +almost insensibly an acquaintance with the creatures that frequent them. +Some have engaged my attention by their actions and manners; others have +interested me by their innocency, and the harmlessness of their lives; +and, perhaps, there is some little partial bearing toward others from +long association, or from unknown, undefined causes. I tolerate, in +despite of all their noise, and all their litter, a colony of rooks,[45] +which have taken a liking to some tall elms near my dwelling. Not being +ancient denizens there, they can claim no hereditary rights; but their +contrivances, their regularity, and even their squabbles, are amusing; +and, perhaps, there is mingled with this some little compassion for +these dark, half-domesticated families of the grove, driven by the ax +from an old abode, which may influence my forbearance. + +The hedge-sparrow, or shufflewing, (motacilla modularis), is a prime +favorite. Not influenced by season or caprice to desert us, it lives in +our homesteads and our orchards through all the year, our most domestic +bird. In the earliest spring it intimates to us by a low and plaintive +chirp, and that peculiar shake of the wing, which at all times marks +this bird, but then is particularly observable, the approach of the +breeding season; for it appears always to live in pairs, feeding and +moving in company with each other. It is nearly the first bird that +forms a nest; and this being placed in an almost leafless hedge, with +little art displayed in its concealment, generally becomes the booty of +every prying boy, and the blue eggs of the hedge-sparrow are always +found in such numbers on his string, that it is surprising how any of +the race are remaining, especially when we consider the many casualties +to which the old birds are obnoxious from their tameness, and the young +that are hatched, from their situation. The plumage of this motacilla is +remarkably sober and grave, and all its actions are quiet and +comformable to its appearance. Its song is short, sweet, and gentle. +Sometimes it is prolonged; but generally the bird perches on the summit +of some bush, utters its brief modulation, and seeks retirement again. +Its chief habitation is some hedge in the rick-yard, some cottage +garden, or near society with man. Unobtrusive, it does not enter our +dwellings like the redbreast, but picks minute insects from the edges of +drains and ditches, or morsels from the door of the poorest dwelling in +the village. As an example of a household or domestic bird, none can be +found with better pretensions to such a character than the hedge- +sparrow. + +I always hear with delight the earliest chirpings of that pretty +harbinger of spring, the willow wren (motacilla trochillus), trilling +its wild and gleeful “chiffchaffs,” as it chases the insects round the +branches of the old oak in the copse, or on the yellow catkins of the +sallow, itself almost like a colored catkin too. But this elegant little +bird is noticed only by the lovers and frequenters of the country; it +animates the woods by its constant activity; the frequent repetition of +its most cheerful modulation contributes essentially to the pleasing +harmony of the grove; and its voice is most sprightly and frequent, when +the morning is illumined with one of those mild, walk-enticing gleams, +that render this short season the most delightful of our year. It builds +its nest, and rears its young with us; visits our gardens, but is no +plunderer there, living almost entirely upon insect food; and its whole +life is passed in harmlessness and innocence. As it is the earliest that +arrives, so it is the last, I believe, of our feathered choir that +leaves us, except a few lingering, irresolute swallows; and we hear it +piping its final autumnal farewell even in October at times, and +sporting with hilarity and joy, when all its congeners are departed. + +It is a difficult matter satisfactorily to comprehend the object of this +bird in quitting another region, and passing into our island. The chief +motives for migration seem to be food, a milder climate, and quiet +during the period of incubation and rearing their young: but the willow +wren, and some others of our insectivorous birds, appear to have other +purposes to accomplish by their annual migrations. These little +creatures, the food of which is solely insects, could assuredly find a +sufficient supply of such diet during the summer months, in the woods +and thickets of those mild regions, where they passed the season of +winter, and every bank and unfrequented wild would furnish a secure +asylum for them and their offspring during the period of incubation. The +passage to our shores is a long and dangerous one, and some imperative +motive for it must exist; and, until facts manifest the reason, we may +perhaps, without injury to the cause of research, conjecture for what +object these perilous transits are made. We know that all young +creatures require particularly compounded nutriment during their infant +state; and nature, as far as we are acquainted with it, has made in +every instance provision for a supply of fitting aliment. In many +instances, where the removal of station could not be conveniently +accomplished, instinct has been given the parent to provide the fitting +aliment for its new-born young. Thus insects, in some cases, store their +cells with food ready for the animation of their progeny; in others, +place their eggs in such situations, as will afford it when they are +hatched. The mammalia, at least the quadrupeds belonging to this class, +which could least conveniently move their station, have supplies given +them of a milky secretion for this purpose. Birds have nothing of this +nature, and make no provision for their young; but they of all +creatures, except fishes, can seek what may be required in distant +stations with most facility. A sufficiency of food for the adult parent +may be found in every climate, yet the aliment necessary for its +offspring may not. Countries and even counties produce insects that +differ, if not in species, at least in numbers; and many young birds we +cannot succeed in rearing, or do it very partially, by reason of our +ignorance of the requisite food. Every one, who has made the attempt, +well knows the various expedients he has resorted to, of boiled meats, +bruised seeds, hard eggs, boiled rice, and twenty other substances, that +nature never presents, in order to find a diet that will nourish them; +but Mr. Montague’s failure in being able to raise the young of the cirl +bunting,[46] until he discovered that they required grasshoppers, is a +sufficient instance of the manifest necessity there is for a peculiar +food in one period of the life of birds; and renders it probable that, +to obtain a certain aliment, this willow wren, and others of the insect +and fruit-feeding birds, direct their flight to distant regions, and is +the principal cause of their migrations. + +It is some stimulus like this, which urges that little creature, the +golden-crested wren (motacilla regulus), that usually only flits from +tree to tree, and never attempts upon common occasions a longer flight, +to traverse the vast distance from the Orkneys to the Shetland Isles +over stormy seas that admit no possible rest during its long passage of +above fifty miles! There it breeds its young; but this one object +accomplished, it leaves those isles, dares again this tedious flight, +and seeks a milder clime. With us it never migrates, lives much in our +fir groves during the winter, and breeds in our shrubberies in summer. +Peculiar necessities, such as these, may incite the migration of many +birds; but that certain species, which lead solitary lives, or associate +only in very small parties, should at stated periods congregate from all +parts to one spot, and there hold council on a removal, in which the +very sexes occasionally separate, is one of the most extraordinary +procedures that we meet with among animals. + +If the sober, domestic attachments of the hedge-sparrow please us, we +are not less charmed with the innocent, blithesome gaiety of the linnet +(fringilla linota). But this songster is no solitary visiter of our +dwellings: it delights and lives in society, frequenting open commons +and gorsy fields, where several pairs, without the least rivalry or +contention, will build their nests and rear their offspring in the same +neighborhood, twittering and warbling all the day long. This duty over, +the families unite, and form large associations, feeding and moving in +company as one united household; and, resorting to the head of some +sunny tree, they will pass hours in the enjoyment of the warmth, +chattering with each other in a low and gentle note, and they will thus +regularly assemble during any occasional bright gleam throughout all the +winter season,— + + “and still their voice is song,” + +which, heard at some little distance, forms a very pleasing concert, +innocent and joyous. The linnet is the cleanliest of birds, delighting +to dabble in the water and dress its plumage in every little rill that +runs by. The extent of voice in a single bird is not remarkable, being +more pleasing than powerful; yet a large field of furze, in a mild sunny +April morning, animated with the actions and cheering music of these +harmless little creatures, united with the bright glow and odor of this +early blossom, is not visited without gratification and pleasure. + +The bull-finch (loxia pyrrhula) has no claims to our regard. It is +gifted with no voice to charm us; it communicates no harmony to the +grove: all we hear from it is a low and plaintive call to its fellows in +the hedge. It has no familiarity or association with us, but lives in +retirement in some lonely thicket ten months in the year. At length, as +spring approaches, it will visit our gardens, an insidious plunderer. +Its delight is in the embryo blossoms wrapped up at this season in the +bud of a tree; and it is very dainty and curious in its choice of this +food, seldom feeding upon two kinds at the same time. It generally +commences with the germs of our larger and most early gooseberry; and +the bright red breasts of four or five cock-birds, quietly feeding on +the leafless bush, are a very pretty sight, but the consequences are +ruinous to the crop. When the cherry buds begin to come forward, they +quit the gooseberry, and make tremendous havoc with these. I have an +early wall cherry, a mayduke by reputation, that has for years been a +great favorite with the bull-finch family, and its celebrity seems to be +communicated to each successive generation. It buds profusely, but is +annually so stripped of its promise by these feathered rogues, that its +kind might almost be doubted. The orleans and green-gage plums next form +a treat, and draw their attention from what remains of the cherry. +Having banqueted here awhile, they leave our gardens entirely, resorting +to the fields and hedges, where the sloe bush in April furnishes them +with food. May brings other dainties, and the labors and business of +incubation withdraw them from our observation. + +The idea that has been occasionally entertained, that this bird selects +only such buds as contain the embryo of an insect, to feed on it, and +thus free us of a latent colony of caterpillars, is certainly not +correct. It may confer this benefit accidentally, but not with +intention. The mischief effected by bull-finches is greater than +commonly imagined, and the ground beneath the bush or tree, on which +they have been feeding, is commonly strewed with the shattered buds, the +rejectments of their banquet; and we are thus deprived of a large +portion of our best fruits by this assiduous pillager, this “pick-a- +bud,” as the gardeners call it, without any redeeming virtues to +compensate our loss. A snowy, severe winter makes great havoc with this +bird. It feeds much in this season upon the fruit of the dog-rose, +“hips,” as we call them. When they are gone, it seems to pine for food, +and is starved, or perhaps frozen on its roost, as few are observed to +survive a long inclement winter. But it is not the buds of our fruit- +bearing trees only that these destructive birds seek out; yet in all +instances I think it will be observed that such buds as produce leaves +only are rejected, and those which contain the embryo of the future +blossom selected: by this procedure, though the tree is prevented from +producing fruit, yet the foliage is expanded as usual; but had the +leaves, the lungs of the plant, been indiscriminately consumed, the tree +would probably have died, or its summer growth been materially injured: +we may thus lose our fruit this year, yet the tree survives, and hope +lives, too, that we may be more fortunate the next. The Tartarian +honeysuckle (lonicera Tart.) and corchorus Japonicus, when growing in +the shrubbery, are very commonly stripped of their bloom by bull- +finches: the first incloses many separated blossoms in its calyx before +expansion, and in that particular is analogous to the buds of +icosandrious trees in the garden; and the full-petalled swelling bloom +of the latter affords a fine treat for their feasts; but we may permit +these pretty birds to banquet here, though, if we expect a supply of +summer fruit, we must unsparingly drive them away from the branches of +our frugiferous trees. The blossoms of the peach, nectarine, and almond, +I have never observed to be injured by these birds: the sparrow will +pick away the buds of trees against walls when they frequent such +places, but, with this exception, I know none but the bull-finch which +resort to that food as a regular supply. + +The robin (motacilla rubecola) associated with malignants is not, +perhaps, in the place where it generally would be sought; but sad truths +might be told of it too. It might be called pugnacious, jealous, +selfish, quarrelsome, did I not respect ancient feelings, and long- +established sentiments. A favorite by commiseration, it seeks an asylum +with us; by supplication and importunity it becomes a partaker of our +bounty in a season of severity and want; and its seeming humbleness and +necessities obtain our pity: but it slights and forgets our kindnesses +the moment it can provide for itself, and is away to its woods and its +shades. Yet it has some little coaxing ways, and such fearless +confidence, that it wins our regard; and its late autumnal song, in +evening’s dusky hour, as a monologue is pleasing, and redeems much of +its character. The universality of this bird in all places, and almost +at all hours, is very remarkable; and perhaps there are few spots so +lonely, in which it would not appear, did we commence digging up the +ground. I have often been surprised in the midst of woods, where no +suspicion of its presence existed, when watching some other creature, to +see the robin inquisitively perched upon some naked spray near me; or, +when digging up a plant in some very retired place, to observe its +immediate descent upon some poor worm that I had moved. The robin loses +nearly all the characteristic color from its breast in the summer, when +it moults, and only recovers it on the approach of autumn; which in some +measure accounts for the extraordinary assertion of Pliny, that the +redbreast is only so in winter, but becomes a firetail in summer. + +The object of the song of birds is not agreed upon by ornithologists, +and we will not now think of it, but merely in passing note how +singularly timed the song of the robin is. The blackbird, and the +thrush, in mild seasons, will sing occasionally throughout the winter; +but the robin, after having been absent all the summer, returns to us +late in autumn, and then commences its song, when most others of our +feathered choristers are silent. An apparent contention in harmony +ensues among them; at length the rivals approach, menace, and fight, +with a seeming vexation at each other’s prowess. The song of no one bird +is, perhaps, more observed and remembered than the autumnal and, at +times, melancholy sounding farewell of the robin. + +The chaffinch (fringilla cœlebs) appears to be universally spread +throughout the English counties, and the male bird is remarkable for the +cleanliness and trimness of his plumage, which, without having any great +variety or splendor of coloring, is so composed and arranged, and the +white on his wings so brilliant, as to render him a very beautiful +little creature. The female is as remarkable for the quiet, unobtrusive +tintings of her dress; and, when she lies crouching on her nest, +elegantly formed of lichens from the bark of the apple tree, and faded +mosses, she would hardly be perceptible, but for her little bright eyes, +that peep with suspicious vigilance from her covert. With us the sexes +do not separate at any period of the year, the flocks frequenting our +barn doors and homesteads in winter being composed of both. In the +northern parts of Europe, however, the females are said to migrate to +milder regions, which induced Linnæus to bestow the name of “cœlebs” +upon this species. In Gloucestershire and some of the neighboring +counties, they are little known by the name of chaffinches; but, from +the constant repetition of one note, when alarmed or in danger, they +have acquired the name of “twinks,” and “pinks;” yet during incubation +the song of the male bird, though without any variation of tune, is very +pleasing in the general concert, as most vernal notes, if not harsh and +wearisome from monotony, are. These birds make sad havoc with some of +our spring flowers; and the polyanthus, in March, in our sheltered +borders, is very commonly stripped of all its blossoms by these little +plunderers, I suppose to obtain the immature seeds at the base of their +tubes. They will deflorate too the spikes or whorls of the little red +archangel (lamium purpureum); and we see them feeding in the waste +places where this plant is found in the spring, their little mouths +being filled with the green seeds of this dead nettle. At this period +too they are sad plunderers in our kitchen gardens, and most dexterously +draw up our young turnips and radishes, as soon as they appear upon the +surface of the soil; but after this all depredation ceases, the rest of +their days being past in sportive innocence. I have observed these +birds, in very hot seasons, to wet their eggs, by discharging moisture +from their bills upon them, or at least perform an operation that +appeared to be so. + +We still continue here that very ancient custom of giving parish rewards +for the destruction of various creatures included in the denomination of +vermin. In former times it may have been found necessary to keep under +or reduce the numbers of many predaceous animals, which in a thickly +wooded country, with an inferior population, might have been productive +of injury; and we even find parliamentary statutes enacted for this +purpose: but now, however, our losses by such means have become a very +petty grievance; our gamekeepers do their part in removing pests of this +nature, and the plow and the ax leave little harbor for the few that +escape; and thus we war on the smaller races of creation, and call them +vermin. An item passed in one of our late church-wardens’ accounts was, +“for seventeen dozen of tom-tits’ heads!” In what evil hour, and for +what crime, this poor little bird (parus cæruleus) could have incurred +the anathema of a parish, it is difficult to conjecture. I know hardly +any small animal that lives a more precarious life than the little blue +tom-tit. Indeed it is marvellous how any of the insectivorous birds, +that pass their winter with us, are supplied with food during inclement +seasons, unless they have greater powers of abstinence than we are aware +of: but our small birds are generally much more active than those of a +larger bulk; the common wren is all animation, its actions and movements +bespeak hilarity and animal spirits; and that minute creature, too, the +golden-crested wren, is always in motion, flitting from the yew hedge to +the fir, or darting away to taller trees with a spring and a power we +could not expect from its size. These muscular exertions must greatly +counteract the effects of seasons, and enable these atoms of animals to +support so cheerfully and gaily the winters of our climate. But in truth +this tom-tit perishes in severe winters in great numbers. It roosts +under the eaves of our haystacks, and in little holes of the mows, where +we often find it dead, perished by cold or hunger, or conjointly by +both; yet the race survives, and this annual waste is recruited by the +prolificacy of the creature, the nest of which will frequently contain +from seven to nine young ones. Its chief subsistence is insects, which +it hunts out with unwearied perseverance. It peeps into the nail-holes +of our walls, which, though closed by the cobweb, will not secrete the +spider within; and draws out the chrysalis of the cabbage butterfly from +the chinks in the barn: but a supply of such food is precarious, and +becomes exhausted. It then resorts to our yards, and picks diminutive +morsels from some rejected bone, or scraps from the butcher’s stall: yet +this is the result of necessity, not choice; for no sooner is other food +attainable, than it retires to its woods and thickets. In summer it +certainly will regale itself with our garden pease, and shells a pod of +marrowfats with great dexterity; but this, we believe, is the extent of +its criminality. Yet for this venial indulgence do we proscribe it, rank +it with vermin, and set a price upon its head, giving four-pence for the +dozen, probably the ancient payment when the groat was a coin. However +powerful the stimulus was then, we yet find it a sufficient inducement +to our idle bat-fowling boys to bring baskets of poor toms’ heads to our +church-warden’s door. + +The wiles and stratagems of every creature are deserving of attention, +because they are, for the most part, the impulse of the weak and feeble, +instinctive efforts to preserve their own existence, or more generally +to secure or defend that of their offspring. Few are able to effect +these objects by bodily power; but all creatures probably exert a +faculty of some kind, to ward off injury from their young, though not +observed by, or manifested to us. This poor little blue tom-tit, which +has neither beak, claws, nor any portion of strength to defend itself +from the weakest assailant, will nevertheless make trial by menace to +scare the intruder from its nest. It builds almost universally in the +hole of a wall, or a tree; and its size enables it to creep through so +small a crevice, that it is pretty well secured from all annoyances, but +those of bird-nesting boys; and these little plunderers the sitting bird +endeavors to scare away, by hissing and puffing in a very extraordinary +manner from the bottom of the hole, as soon as a finger is introduced, +and so perfectly unlike the usual voice of a bird, that many a young +intruder is deterred from prosecuting any farther search, lest he should +rouse the vengeance of some lurking snake or adder. + +They who have seen much of birds, and attended to their actions, will in +general be certain of the creature that flits past, by the manner of its +flight; or that utters its note unseen by the peculiarity of voice; but +the tribe of titmice[47] (parus), especially in the spring of the year, +emit such a variety of sounds, that they will occasionally surprise and +disappoint us. Hearing an unusual voice, and creeping with caution to +observe the stranger from which it proceeds, we perceive only our old +acquaintance, the large tom-tit (parus major), searching for food amid +the lichens on the bough of an apple-tree. This bird, and that little +dark species the “coal,” or “colemouse” (parus ater), in particular, +will often acquire or compound a note, become delighted with it, and +repeat it incessantly while sporting about the catkins of the alder, for +an hour or so, then seem to forget or be weary of it, and we hear it no +more. + +Our tall hedge-rows and copses are frequented by a very amusing little +bird, the long-tailed titmouse (parus caudatus). Our boys call it the +long-tailed tom-tit, long tom, poke-pudding, and various other names. It +seems the most restless of little creatures, and is all day long in a +state of progression from tree to tree, from hedge to hedge, jerking +through the air with its long tail like a ball of feathers, or threading +the branches of a tree, several following each other in a little stream; +the leading bird uttering a shrill cry of twĭt, twĭt, twĭt, and away +they all scuttle to be first, stop for a second, and then are away +again, observing the same order and precipitation the whole day long. +The space travelled by these diminutive creatures in the course of their +progresses from the first move till the evening roost must be +considerable; yet, by their constant alacrity and animation, they appear +fully equal to their daily task. We have no bird more remarkable for its +family association than this parus. It is never seen alone, the young +ones continuing to accompany each other from the period of their +hatching until their pairing in spring. Its food is entirely insects, +which it seeks among mosses and lichens, the very smallest being +captured by the diminutive bill of this creature. Its nest is as +singular in construction as the bird itself. Even in years long passed +away, when, a nesting boy, I strung my plunder on the benty grass, it +was my admiration; and I never see it now without secretly lauding the +industry of these tiny architects. It is shaped like a bag, and +externally fabricated of moss and different herbaceous lichens, +collected chiefly from the sloe (lichen prunastri), and the maple +(lichen farinaceus); but the inside contains such a profusion of +feathers, that it seems rather filled than lined with them, a perfect +feather-bed! I remember finding fourteen or sixteen pealike eggs within +this downy covert, and many more were reported to have been found. The +excessive labor of the parent birds in the construction and collection +of this mass of materials is exceeded by none that I know of; and the +exertions of two little creatures in providing for, and feeding, with +all the incumbrances of feathers and tails, fourteen young ones, in such +a situation, surpasses in diligence and ingenuity the efforts of any +other birds, persevering as they are, that I am acquainted with. + +We might naturally suppose that by the end of winter, all those little +birds which are solely supported by insect food would find some +difficulty in providing for their wants, having consumed by their +numbers and exertions nearly all that store of provision which had been +provided in the summer and deposited in safety; but I have found the +stomachs of the tree-creeper, and this small titmouse, even in February, +quite filled with parts of coleopterous creatures, which by their +activity and perseverance they had been enabled to procure beneath the +mosses on the branches, and from the chinks in the bark of trees, where +they had retired in autumn. Such plenty being procurable after the +supply of so many months, renders it apparent that there is no actual +deficiency of food at any one period of the year. The small slugs, and +some few insects, may perhaps be consumed by the severity of winter, but +the larger portion of them are so constituted, as to derive no injury +from the inclemency of that season, but afford during many months +provender to other creatures, multitudes yet remaining to continue their +races and animate the air, when the warm days of spring shall waken them +to active life. + +The construction and selected situations of the nests of birds are as +remarkable, as the variety of materials employed in them; the same +forms, places, and articles, being rarely, perhaps never, found united +by the different species, which we should suppose similar necessities +would direct to a uniform provision. Birds that build early in the +spring seem to require warmth and shelter for their young, and the +blackbird and the thrush line their nests with a plaster of loam, +perfectly excluding, by these cottage-like walls, the keen icy gales of +our opening year; yet should accident bereave the parents of their first +hopes, they will construct another, even when summer is far advanced, +upon the model of their first erection, and with the same precautions +against severe weather, when all necessity for such provision has +ceased, and the usual temperature of the season rather requiring +coolness and a free circulation of air. The house-sparrow will commonly +build four or five times in the year, and in a variety of situations, +under the warm eaves of our houses and our sheds, the branch of the +clustered fir, or the thick tall hedge that bounds our garden, &c.; in +all which places, and without the least consideration of site or season, +it will collect a great mass of straws and hay, and gather a profusion +of feathers from the poultry-yard to line its nest. This cradle for its +young, whether under our tiles in March or in July, when the parent bird +is panting in the common heat of the atmosphere, has the same provision +made to afford warmth to the brood; yet this is a bird that is little +affected by any of the extremes of our climate. The wood-pigeon and the +jay, though they erect their fabrics on the tall underwood in the open +air, will construct them so slightly, and with such a scanty provision +of materials, that they seem scarcely adequate to support their broods, +and even their eggs may almost be seen through the loosely connected +materials: but the goldfinch, that inimitable spinner, the Arachnè of +the grove, forms its cradle of fine mosses and lichens, collected from +the apple or the pear-tree, compact as a felt, lining it with the down +of thistles besides, till it is as warm as any texture of the kind can +be, and it becomes a model for beautiful construction. The golden- +crested wren, a minute creature, perfectly unmindful of any severity in +our winter, and which hatches its young in June, the warmer portion of +our year, yet builds its most beautiful nest with the utmost attention +to warmth; and, interweaving small branches of moss with the web of the +spider, forms a closely compacted texture nearly an inch in thickness, +lining it with such a profusion of feathers, that, sinking deep into +this downy accumulation, it seems almost lost itself when sitting, and +the young, when hatched, appear stifled with the warmth of their bedding +and the heat of their apartment; while the whitethroat, the blackcap, +and others, which will hatch their young nearly at the same period, or +in July, will require nothing of the kind. A few loose bents and goose- +grass, rudely entwined with perhaps the luxury of some scattered hairs, +are perfectly sufficient for all the wants of these; yet they are birds +that live only in genial temperatures, feel nothing of the icy gales +that are natural to our pretty indigenous artists, but flit from sun to +sun and we might suppose would require much warmth in our climate during +the season of incubation; but it is not so. The green-finch places its +nest in the hedge with little regard to concealment; its fabric is +slovenly and rude, and the materials of the coarsest kinds: while the +chaffinch, just above it in the elm, hides its nest with cautious care, +and moulds it with the utmost attention to order, neatness, and form. +One bird must have a hole in the ground; to another a crevice in a wall, +or a chink in a tree, is indispensable. The bull-finch requires fine +roots for its nest; the gray flycatcher will have cobwebs for the +outworks of its shed. All the parus tribe, except the individual above- +mentioned, select some hollow in a tree or cranny in a wall, and, +sheltered as such places must be, yet will they collect abundance of +feathers and warm materials for their infants’ beds. Endless examples +might be found of the dissimilarity of requirements in these +constructions among the several associates of our groves, our hedges, +and our houses; and yet the supposition cannot be entertained for a +moment that they are superfluous, or not essential for some purpose with +which we are unacquainted.[48] By how many of the ordinations of supreme +intelligence is our ignorance made manifest! Even the fabrication of the +nests of these little animals exceeds our comprehension—we know none of +the causes or motives of that unbodied mind that willed them thus. + +One notice more of the parus tribe (the parus cæruleus), and these +little creatures may retire to their leafy shades and be forgotten. I +was lately exceedingly pleased in witnessing the maternal care and +intelligence of this bird; for the poor thing had its young ones in the +hole of a wall, and the nest had been nearly all drawn out of the +crevice by the paw of a cat, and part of its brood devoured. In +revisiting its family, the bird discovered a portion of it remaining, +though wrapped up and hidden in the tangled moss and feathers of their +bed, and it then drew the whole of the nest back into the place from +whence it had been taken, unrolled and resettled the remaining little +ones, fed them with the usual attentions, and finally succeeded in +rearing them. The parents of even this reduced family labored with great +perseverance to supply its wants, one or the other of them bringing a +grub, caterpillar, or some insect, at intervals of less than a minute +through the day, and probably in the earlier part of the morning more +frequently; but if we allow that they brought food to the hole every +minute for fourteen hours, and provided for their own wants also, it +will admit of perhaps a thousand grubs a day for the requirements of +one, and that a diminished brood; and give us some comprehension of the +infinite number requisite for the summer nutriment of our soft-billed +birds, and the great distances gone over by such as have young ones, in +their numerous trips from hedge to tree in the hours specified, when +they have full broods to support. A climate of moisture and temperature +like ours is peculiarly favorable for the production of insect food, +which would in some seasons be particularly injurious, were we not +visited by such numbers of active little friends to consume it. + +The raven (corvus corax) does not build with us. A pair indeed attempted +to raise a brood in our wych elm; but they love retirement and quiet, +and were soon scared away, and made no second trial. Ravens visit us, +however, frequently, and always during the lambing season, watching for +any weak and deserted creature, which, when perceived, is instantly +deprived of its eyes; but they make no long stay in our pastures. They +abide nowhere in fact, but move from place to place, where food may +chance to be found. Should an animal die, or a limb of fresh carrion be +on the hooks in the tree, the hoarse croak of the raven is sure +immediately to be heard, calling his congeners to the banquet. We see it +daily in its progress of inspection, or high in the air on a transit to +other regions, hastening, we conjecture, to some distant prey. With the +exception of the snipe, no bird seems more universally spread over the +surface of our globe than the raven, inhabiting every zone, the hot, the +temperate, the severe—feeding upon, and removing noxious substances from +the earth, of which it obtains intimation by means of a faculty we have +little conception of. Sight it cannot be; and we know not of any fetor +escaping from an animal previous to putrescence, so subtile as to call +these scavengers of nature from the extremity of one county to that of +another; for it is manifest, from the height which they preserve in +their flight, and the haste they are making, that their departure has +been from some far distant station, having a remote and urgent object in +contemplation. + +In England the raven does not seem to abound; but it is most common on +the shores of harbors, or near great rivers, where animal substances are +more frequently to be met with than in inland places. In Greenland, and +Iceland, where putrescent fishy substances abound, they appear to be +almost domesticated. Horace calls the raven “_annosa cornix_;” and in a +tame state it has attained a very long life. How long extended its +existence may be, when roaming in an unrestricted state, we have no +means of ascertaining. This liberty may be most favorable to longevity; +yet, from the numerous contingencies attending the condition of these +creatures, it is probable that few of them live out all their days, so +as to become the “bird of ages.” However, the supposed longevity they +have attained, their frequent mention and agency in holy writ, the +obscure knowledge we possess of their powers and motives, with the +gravity of their deportment, like an “all-knowing bird,” have acquired +for them, from very remote periods, the veneration of mankind. The +changes in our manners and ideas, in respect to many things, have +certainly deprived them of much of this reverence; yet the almost +supernatural information which they obtain of the decease, or +approaching dissolution, of an animal, claims still some admiration for +them. This supposed faculty of “smelling death” formerly rendered their +presence, or even their voice, ominous to all, as + + “The hateful messengers of heavy things, + Of death and dolor telling;” + +and the unusual sound of their harsh croak, still, when illness is in +the house, with some timid and affectionate persons, brings old fancies +to remembrance, savoring of terror and alarm. I am no friend to the +superstition of converting natural transactions, or occasional events, +into signs and indications of coming things; superstitions are wearing +out, and shortly will waste away, and be no more heard of; but I fear, +in their place, deism, infidelity, impiety, have started up, the +offspring of intuitive wisdom: the first belief arises from weakness and +ignorance; the latter disbelief is ingratitude, pride, wickedness. + +Of the natural duration of animal life it is, from many circumstances, +difficult to form an accurate statement, the wild creatures being in +great measure removed from observation, and those in a condition of +domestication being seldom permitted to live as long as their bodily +strength would allow. It was formerly supposed that the length of animal +life was in proportion to its duration in utero, or the space it +remained in the parent from conception to birth, and the length of time +it required to obtain maturity. This notion might have some support in +reason and fact, occasionally, but in many cases was incorrect, and in +regard to birds had no foundation. Herbivorous animals probably live +longer than carnivorous ones, vegetable food being most easily +obtainable in all seasons in a regular and requisite supply; whereas +animals that subsist on flesh, or by the capture of prey, are +necessitated at one period to pine without food, and at another are +gorged with superfluity: and when the bodily powers of rapacious +creatures become impaired, existence is difficult to support, and +gradually ceases; but with herbivorous animals in the same condition, +supply is not equally precarious, or wholly denied. Yet it is probable +that few animals in a perfectly wild state live to a natural extinction +of life. In a state of domestication, the small number of carnivorous +creatures about us are sheltered and fed with care, seldom are in want +of proper food, and at times are permitted to await a gradual decay, +continuing as long as nature permits; and by such attentions many have +attained to a great age; but this is rather an artificial than a natural +existence. Our herbivorous animals, being kept mostly for profit, are +seldom allowed to remain beyond approaching age; and when its advances +trench upon our emoluments by diminishing the supply of utility, we +remove them. The uses of the horse, though time may reduce them, are +often protracted; and our gratitude for past services, or interest in +what remains, prompts us to support his life by prepared food of easy +digestion, or requiring little mastication, and he certainly by such +means attains to a longevity probably beyond the contingencies of +nature. I have still a favorite pony—for she has been a faithful and +able performer of all the duties required of her in my service for +upwards of two-and-twenty years—and, though now above five-and-twenty +years of age, retains all her powers perfectly, without any diminution +or symptom of decrepitude; the fineness of limb, brilliancy of eye, and +ardor of spirit, are those of the colt and though treated with no +remarkable care, she has never been disabled by the illness of a day, or +sickened by the drench of the farrier. With birds it is probably the +same as with other creatures, and the eagle, the raven, the parrot, &c., +in a domestic state attain great longevity; and though we suppose them +naturally tenacious of life, yet, in a really wild state, they would +probably expire before the period which they attain when under our +attention and care. And this is much the case with man who probably +outlives most other creatures; for though excess may often shorten, and +disease or misfortune terminate his days, yet naturally he is a long- +lived animal. His “threescore years and ten” are often prolonged by +constitutional strength, and by the cares, the loves, the charities, of +human nature. As the decay of his powers awakens solicitude, duty and +affection increase their attentions, and the spark of life only expires +when the material is exhausted. + +That rare bird the crossbill (loxia curvirostra) occasionally visits the +orchards in our neighborhood, coming in little parties to feed upon the +seeds of the apple; and, seldom as it appears, is always noticed by the +mischief it does to the fruit, by cutting it asunder with its well- +constructed mandibles, in order to obtain the kernels. A native of those +extensive pine forests in the neighborhood of the Rhine, it makes +excursions into various parts of Europe in search of change of food; +and, though several instances are recorded of its visits to our island, +I know but one mention of its having bred in England. A pair was brought +to me very early in August, and the breast of the female being nearly +bare of feathers, as is observable in sitting birds, it is very probable +that she had a nest in the neighborhood. + +Gesner has called the common rook (corvus frugilegus) a corn-eating +bird. Linnæus has somewhat lightened this epithet by considering it only +as a gatherer of corn; to neither of which names do I believe it +entitled, as it appears to live solely upon grubs, various insects, and +worms. It has at times great difficulty to support its life, for in a +dry spring or summer most of these are hidden in the earth beyond its +reach, except at those uncertain periods when the grub of the chaffer is +to be found; and in a hot day we see the poor birds perambulating the +fields, and wandering by the sides of the highways, seeking for, and +feeding upon grasshoppers, or any casual nourishment that may be found. +At those times, was it not for its breakfast of dew-worms, which it +catches in the gray of the morning, as it is appointed the earliest of +risers, it would commonly be famished. In the hot summer of 1825, many +of the young brood of the season perished from want; the mornings were +without dew, and consequently few or no worms were to be obtained; and +we found them dead under the trees, having expired on their roostings. +It was particularly distressing, for no relief could be given, to hear +the constant clamor and importunity of the young for food. The old birds +seemed to suffer without complaint; but the wants of their offspring +were expressed by the unceasing cry of hunger, and pursuit of the +parents for supply, and our fields were scenes of daily restlessness and +lament. Yet, amid all this distress, it was pleasing to observe the +perseverance of the old birds in the endeavor to relieve their famishing +families, as many of them remained out searching for food quite in the +dusk, and returned to their roosts long after the usual period for +retiring. In this extremity it becomes a plunderer, to which by +inclination it is not much addicted, and resorts to our newly-set +potato-fields, digging out the cuttings. Ranks are seen sadly defective, +the result of its labors, I fear; and the request of my neighbors now +and then for a bird from my rookery, to hang up _in terrorem_ in their +fields, is confirmatory of its bad name. In autumn a ripe pear, or a +walnut, becomes an irresistible temptation, and it will occasionally +obtain a good share of these fruits. In hard frost, it is pinched again, +visits for food the banks of streams, and in conjunction with its +congener the “villain crow,” becomes a wayfaring bird, and seeks a dole +from every passing steed. Its life, however, is not always dark and +sombre: it has its periods of festivity also. When the waters retire +from meadows and low lands, where they have remained any time, a +luxurious banquet is provided for this corvus, in the multitude of worms +which it finds drowned on them. But its jubilee is the season of the +cockchaffer (melolantha vulgaris), when every little copse, every oak, +becomes animated with it and all its noisy, joyful family feeding and +scrambling for the insect food. The power or faculty, be it by the +scent, or by other means, that rooks possess of discovering their food, +is very remarkable. I have often observed them alight on a pasture of +uniform verdure, and exhibiting no sensible appearance of withering or +decay, and immediately commence stocking up the ground. Upon +investigating the object of their operations, I have found many heads of +plantains, the little autumnal dandelions, and other plants, drawn out +of the ground and scattered about, their roots having been eaten off by +a grub, leaving only a crown of leaves upon the surface. This grub +beneath, in the earth, the rooks had detected in their flight, and +descended to feed on it, first pulling up the plant which concealed it, +and then drawing the larvæ from their holes. By what intimation this +bird had discovered its hidden food we are at a loss to conjecture; but +the rook has always been supposed to scent matters with great +discrimination. + +It is but simple justice to these often censured birds, to mention the +service that they at times perform for us in our pasture lands. There is +no plant that I endeavor to root out with more persistency in these +places than the turfy hair-grass (aira cæspitosa). It abounds in all the +colder parts of our grass lands, increasing greatly when undisturbed, +and, worthless itself, overpowers its more valuable neighbors. The +larger turfs we pretty well get rid of; but multitudes of small roots +are so interwoven with the pasture herbage, that we cannot separate them +without injury; and these our persevering rooks stock up for us in such +quantities, that in some seasons the fields are strewed with the +eradicated plants. The whole so torn up does not exclusively prove to be +the hair-grass, but infinitely the larger portion consists of this +injurious plant. The object of the bird in performing this service for +us is to obtain the larvæ of several species of insects, underground +feeders, that prey on the roots, as Linnæus long ago observed upon the +subject of the little nard grass (nardus stricta). This benefit is +partly a joint operation: the grub eats the root, but not often so +effectually as to destroy the plant, which easily roots itself anew; but +the rook finishes the affair by pulling it up to get at the larvæ, and +thus prevents all vegetation; nor do I believe that the bird ever +removes a specimen that has not already been eaten, or commenced upon, +by the caterpillar. + +The rook entices its young from the breeding trees, as soon as they can +flutter to any other. These young, for a few evenings after their +flight, will return with their parents, and roost where they were bred; +but they soon quit their abode, and remain absent the whole of the +summer months. As soon however as the heat of summer is subdued, and the +air of autumn felt, they return and visit their forsaken habitations, +and some few of them even commence the repair of their shattered nests; +but this meeting is very differently conducted from that in the spring; +their voices have now a mellowness approaching to musical, with little +admixture of that harsh and noisy contention, so distracting at the +former season, and seems more like a grave consultation upon future +procedure; and as winter approaches they depart for some other place. +The object of this meeting is unknown; nor are we aware that any other +bird revisits the nest it has once forsaken. Domestic fowls, indeed, +make use again of their old nests; but this is never, or only +occasionally, done by birds in a wild state. The daw and rock-pigeon +will build in society with their separate kindred: and the former even +revisits in autumn the places it had nestled in. But such situations as +these birds require, the ruined castle, abbey, or church tower, ledge in +the rock, &c., are not universally found, and are apparently occupied +from necessity. The rooks appear to associate from preference to +society, as trees are common everywhere; but what motive they can have +in view in lingering thus for a few autumnal mornings and counselling +with each other around their abandoned and now useless nests, which +before the return of spring are generally beaten from the trees, is by +no means manifest to us. + +The sense of smelling seems often to supply in animals the want of +faculties they are not gifted with; and it is this power which directs +them to their food with greater certainty, than the discernment of man +could do. That we have every faculty given us necessary for the +condition in which we are placed, is manifest; yet the mechanical +talents and intuition of the insect, the powers that birds and beasts +possess, and the superior acuteness of some of their senses, of which, +perhaps, we have little conception, makes it evident that all created +things were equally the objects of their Maker’s benevolence and care; +the worm that creepeth, and the beast that perisheth, deserve our +consideration, and claim from human reason mercy and compassion. + +The tall tangled hedge-row, the fir grove, or the old, well-wooded +inclosure, constitutes the delight of the magpie (corvus pica), as there +alone its large and dark nest has any chance of escaping observation. We +here annually deprive it of these asylums, and it leaves us; but it does +not seem to be a bird that increases much anywhere. As it generally lays +eight or ten eggs, and is a very wary and cunning creature, avoiding all +appearance of danger, it might be supposed that it would yearly become +more numerous. Upon particular occasions we see a few of them collect; +but the general spread is diminished, and as population advances, the +few that escape will retire from the haunts and persecutions of man. +These birds will occasionally plunder the nests of some few others; and +we find in early spring the eggs of our out-laying domestic fowls +frequently dropped about, robbed of their contents. That the pie is a +party concerned in these thefts, we cannot deny, but to the superior +audacity of the crow we attribute our principal injury. However the +magpie may feed on the eggs of others, it is particularly careful to +guard its own nest from similar injuries by covering it with an +impenetrable canopy of thorns, and is our only bird that uses such a +precaution, securing it from all common depredation, though not from the +hand of the bird-nesting boy. When a hatch is effected, the number of +young demand a larger quantity of food than is easily obtained, and +whole broods of our ducklings, whenever they stray from the yard, are +conveyed to the nest. But still the “magot” is not an unuseful bird, as +it frees our pastures of incredible numbers of grubs and slugs, which +lodge themselves under the crusts formed by the dung of cattle. These +the birds with their strong beaks turn over, and catch the lurking +animals beneath, and then break them to search for more; by which means, +during the winter they will spread the entire droppings in the fields; +and by spring I have had, especially under the hedges, all this labor +saved to me by these assiduous animals. + +Natural affection, the love of offspring, is particularly manifested in +birds; for in general they are timid and weak creatures, flying from +apprehended dangers, and endowed with little or no power of defending +themselves; but they will menace when injury is threatened to their +brood, and incur dangers in order to obtain food for their young, that +they will encounter in no other period of their lives. + +The common jay (corvus glandarius) affords a good example of this +temporary departure from general character. This bird is always +extremely timid and cautious, when its own interest or safety is solely +concerned; but no sooner does its hungry brood clamor for supply, than +it loses all this wary character, and becomes a bold and impudent thief. +At this period it will visit our gardens which it rarely approaches at +other times, plunder them of every raspberry, cherry, or bean, that it +can obtain; and will not cease from rapine as long as any of the brood +or the crop remains. We see all the nestlings approach, and, settling +near some meditated scene of plunder, quietly await a summons to +commence. A parent bird from some tree surveys the ground, then descends +upon the cherry, or into the rows, immediately announces a discovery by +a low but particular call, and all the family flock in to the banquet, +which having finished by repeated visits, the old birds return to the +woods, with all their chattering children, and become the same wild, +cautious creatures they were before. Some of our birds separate from +their broods, as soon as they are able to provide for themselves; but +the jay and its family associate during all the autumn and winter +months, taking great delight in each other’s company, and only separate +to become founders of new establishments. We see them in winter under +the shelter of tall hedges, or on the sunny sides of woods and copses, +seeking amid the dry leaves for acorns, or the crab, to pick out the +seeds, or for the worms and grubs hidden under cowdung; feeding in +perfect silence, yet so timid and watchful, that they seldom permit the +sportsman to approach them. When disturbed, they take shelter in the +depth of the thicket, calling to each other with a harsh and loud voice, +that resounds through the covert. The Welsh call this creature “_screch +y coed_,” the screamer of the wood. The jay is a very heavy, inelegant +bird. Its general plumage is sober and plain, though its fine browns +harmoniously blend with each other: but the beautiful blue-barred +feathers, that form the greater coverts of the wings, distinguish it +from every other bird, and, in the days when featherwork was in favor +with our fair countrywomen, were in such request, that every gamekeeper, +and schoolboy brother with his Christmas gun, persecuted the poor jay +through all his retirements, to obtain his wings. + +The great shrike, or butcher-bird (lanius excubitor), is not uncommon +with us, and breeds annually near my dwelling. It is one of our late +birds of passage, but its arrival is soon made known to us by its +croaking, unmusical voice from the summit of some tree. Its nest is +large and ill-concealed; and during the season of incubation the male +bird is particularly vigilant and uneasy at any approach towards his +sitting mate, though often by his clamorous anxiety he betrays it and +her to every bird-nesting boy. The female, when the eggs are hatched, +unites her vociferations with those of the male, and facilitates the +detection of the brood. Both parents are very assiduous in their +attentions to their offspring, feeding them long after they have left +the nest; for the young appear to be heavy, inactive birds, and little +able to capture the winged insects, that constitute their principal +food. I could never observe that this bird destroyed others smaller than +itself, or even fed upon flesh. I have hung up dead young birds, and +even parts of them, near their nests; but never found that they were +touched by the shrike. Yet it appears that it must be a butcher too; and +that the name “_lanius_,” bestowed on it by Gesner two hundred and fifty +years ago, was not lightly given. My neighbor’s gamekeeper kills it as a +bird of prey; and tells me he has known it draw the weak young pheasants +through the bars of the breeding coops; and others have assured me that +they have killed them when banqueting on the carcass of some little bird +they had captured. All small birds have an antipathy to the shrike, +betray anger, and utter the moan of danger, when it approaches their +nest. I have often heard this signal of distress, and, cautiously +approaching to learn the cause, have frequently found that this butcher- +bird occasioned it. They will mob, attack, and drive it away, as they do +the owl, as if fully acquainted with its plundering propensities. +Linnæus attached to it the trivial epithet “_excubitor_,” a sentinel; a +very apposite appellation, as this bird seldom conceals itself in a +bush, but sits perched upon some upper spray, or in an open situation, +heedful of danger, or watching for its prey. This shrike must be most +mischievously inclined, if not a predatory bird.—May 23d:—A pair of +robins have young ones in a bank near my dwelling: the anxiety and +vociferation of the poor things have three times this day called my +attention to the cause of their distress, and each time have I seen this +bird watching near the place, or stealing away upon my approach; and +then the tumult of the parents subsided; but had they not experienced +injury, or been aware that it was meditated, all this terror and outcry +would not have been excited. + +Many birds are arranged in our British ornithology not known as +permanent inhabitants, but which have occasionally visited our shores +during inclement seasons, or been driven from their general stations by +tempestuous weather. An event like this, the violent gale of All-hallows +eve, in 1824, brought to us the stormy petrel[49] (procellaria +pelagica); a bird that resides far in the depths of the ocean, does not +approach our shores, it is believed, except for the purposes of +incubation, and we know only one place, the Isle of Sky, that it haunts +even for this short period. It is a creature + + ——“that roams on her sea-wing, + Unfatigued, and ever sleeps, + Calm, upon the toiling deeps.” + +It is a pretty good manifestation of the strength and extent of that +hurricane, which could catch up a bird with a wing so powerful as to +enable it to riot in the whirlwind and enjoy the storm, and bear it away +irresistibly, perhaps, from the Atlantic waves, over such a space of +land and ocean, and then dash it down on a rather elevated common in +this parish, whence it was brought to me in a very perfect state. This +little creature, scarcely as big again as a swallow, and the smallest of +all our web-footed birds, has, like all the others of its genus, that +extraordinary tube on its upper mandible, through which it spirts out an +oily matter when irritated; but the real object of this singular +provision seems unknown. Our seamen amuse themselves during the monotony +of a voyage with the vagaries of “mother Carey’s chickens,” as they have +from very early times called this bird. The petrels seem to repose in a +common breeze, but upon the approach, or during the continuation, of a +gale, they surround a ship, and catch up the small animals which the +agitated ocean brings near the surface, or any food that may be dropped +from the vessel. Whisking with the celerity of an arrow through the deep +valleys of the abyss, and darting away over the foaming crest of some +mountain wave, they attend the laboring bark in all her perilous course. +When the storm subsides they retire to rest, and are no more seen. The +presence of this petrel was thought in times past to predict a storm, +and it was consequently looked upon as an unwelcome visitant. + +The wryneck (jynx torquilla) visits us annually, but in very uncertain +numbers, and, from some unknown cause, or local changes, in yearly +diminishing quantities. In one short season after its arrival we hear +its singular monotonous note at intervals through half the day. This +ceases, and we think no more about it, as it continues perfectly mute; +not a twit or a chirp escapes to remind us of its presence during all +the remainder of its sojourn with us, except the maternal note or hush +of danger, which is a faint, low, protracted hissing, as the female sits +clinging by the side or on the stump of a tree. Shy and unusually timid, +as if all its life were spent in the deepest retirement away from man, +it remains through the day on some ditch-bank, or basks with seeming +enjoyment, in any sunny hour, on the ant-hills nearest to its retreat; +and these it depopulates for food, by means of its long glutinous +tongue, which with the insects collects much of the soil of the heaps, +as we find a much larger portion of grit in its stomach than is usually +met with in that of other birds. When disturbed it escapes by a flight +precipitate and awkward, hides itself from our sight, and, were not its +haunts and habits known, we should never conjecture that this bustling +fugitive was our long-forgotten spring visitant the wryneck. The winter +or spring of 1818 was, from some unknown cause, singularly unfavorable +for this bird. It generally arrives before the middle of April; and its +vernal note, so unlike that of any of its companions, announces its +presence throughout all the mild mornings of this month, and part of the +following; but during the spring of that year it was perfectly silent, +or absent from us. The season, it is true, was unusually cheerless and +ungenial. + +Some of our birds are annually diminishing in numbers; others have been +entirely destroyed, or no longer visit the shores of Britain. The +increase of our population, inclosure, and clearage of rude and open +places, and the drainage of marshy lands, added to the noise of our +fire-arms, have driven them away, or rendered their former breeding and +feeding stations no longer eligible to many, especially to the waders +and aquatic birds. The great Swan Pool, near the city of Lincoln, on +which I have seen at one time forty of these majestic creatures sailing +in all their dignity, is, I am told, no longer a pool; the extensive +marshes of Glastonbury, which have afforded me the finest snipe +shooting, are now luxuriant corn farms; and multitudes of other cases of +such subversions of harbor for birds are within memory. An +ornithological list made no longer ago than the days of Elizabeth would +present the names of multitudes now aliens to our shores. The +nightingale was common with us here a few years past; the rival songs of +many were heard every evening during the season, and in most of our +shady lanes we were saluted by the harsh warning note of the parent to +its young; but from the assiduity of bird-catchers, or some local change +that we are not sensible of, a solitary vocalist or so now only delights +our evening walk. The egg of this bird is rather singularly colored, and +not commonly to be obtained. Our migrating small birds incur from +natural causes great loss in their transits; birds of prey, adverse +winds, and fatigue, probably reduce their numbers nearly as much as +want, and the severity of the winter season, does those that remain; and +in some summers the paucity of such birds is strikingly manifest. Even +the hardy rook is probably not found in such numbers as formerly, its +haunts having been destroyed or disturbed by the felling of trees, in +consequence of the increased value of timber, and the changes in our +manners and ideas. Rooks love to build near the habitation of man: but +their delight, the long avenue, to caw as it were in perspective from +end to end, is no longer the fashion; and the poor birds have been +dispersed to settle on single distant trees, or in the copse, and are +captured and persecuted. + + “Old-fashioned halls, dull aunts, and croaking rooks,” + +a modern Zephalinda would scarcely find now to anticipate with dread. In +many counties very few rookeries remain, where once they were considered +as a necessary appendage, and regularly pointed out the abbey, the hall, +the court-house, and the grange. + +The starling (sturnus vulgaris) breeds with us, as in most villages in +England. Towards autumn the broods unite, and form large flocks; but +those prodigious flights, with which, in some particular years, we are +visited, especially in parts of those districts formerly called the “fen +counties,” are probably an accumulation from foreign countries. We have +seldom more than a pair, or two, which nestle under the tiling of an old +house, in the tower of the church, the deserted hole of the woodpecker, +or some such inaccessible place. The flights probably migrate to this +country alone, as few birds could travel long, and continue such a rapid +motion as the starling. The Royston crow, the only migrating bird with +which it forms an intimate association, is infinitely too heavy of wing +to have journeyed with the stare. The delight of these birds in society +is a predominant character; and to feed they will associate with the +rook, the pigeon, or the daw; and sometimes, but not cordially, with the +fieldfare: but they chiefly roost with their own families, preferring +some reedy, marshy situation. These social birds are rarely seen alone, +and should any accident separate an individual from the companions of +its flight, it will sit disconsolate on an eminence, piping and +plaining, till some one of its congeners join it. Even in small parties +they keep continually calling and inviting associates to them, with a +fine clear note, that, in particular states of the air, may be heard at +a considerable distance. This love of society seems to be innate; for I +remember one poor bird, that had escaped from domestication, in which it +had entirely lost, or probably never knew, the language or manners of +its race, and acquired only the name of its mistress; disliked and +avoided by its congeners, it would sit by the hour together, sunning on +some tall elm, calling in a most plaintive strain, Nānny, Nānny, but no +Nanny came; and our poor solitary either pined itself to death, or was +killed, as its note ceased. They vastly delight, in a bright autumnal +morning, to sit basking and preening themselves on the summit of a tree, +chattering all together in a low song-like note. There is something +singularly curious and mysterious in the conduct of these birds previous +to their nightly retirement, by the variety and intricacy of the +evolutions they execute at that time. They will form themselves perhaps +into a triangle, then shoot into a long, pearshaped figure, expand like +a sheet, wheel into a ball, as Pliny observes, each individual striving +to get into the centre, &c., with a promptitude more like parade +movements, than the actions of birds. As the breeding season advances, +these prodigious flights divide, and finally separate into pairs, and +form their summer settlements; but probably the vast body of them leaves +the kingdom. Travellers tell us, that starlings abound in Persia and the +regions of Caucasus. + +No birds, except sparrows, congregate more densely than stares. They +seem continually to be running into clusters, if ever so little +scattered; and the stopping of one, to peck at a worm, immediately sets +all its companions hastening to partake. This habit in the winter season +brings on them death, and protracted sufferings, as every village popper +notices these flocks, and fires at the poor starlings. Their flesh is +bitter and rank, and thus useless when obtained; but the thickness of +the flights, the possibility of killing numbers, and manifesting his +skill, encourages the trial. The flight of these birds, whether from +feeding to roost, or on their return to feed, is so rapid, that none +with any impediment can keep company; and in consequence we see many, +which have received slight wing or body wounds, lingering about the +pastures long into spring, and pining after companions they cannot +associate with. + +These birds are very assiduous in their attentions to their young, and +in continual progress to collect worms and insects for them. However +strong parental affection may be in all creatures, yet the care which +birds manifest in providing for their nestlings is more obvious than +that of other animals. The young of beasts sleep much; some are hidden +in lairs and thickets nearly all the day, others take food only at +intervals or stated periods, the parent ruminating, feeding, or reposing +too: but birds, the young of which remain in their nests, as most of +them do, excepting the gallinaceous and aquatic tribes, have no +cessation of labor from early morning till the close of eve, till the +brood can provide for themselves. What unceasing toil and perseverance +are manifest in the rooks, and what distances do they travel to obtain +nourishment for their clamorous brood! It is a very amusing occupation +for a short time, to attend to the actions of a pair of swallows, or +martens, the family of which have left the nest, and settled upon some +naked spray, or low bush in the field, the parents cruising around, and +then returning with their captures to their young: the constant supply +which they bring, the celerity with which it is given and received, and +the activity and evolutions of the elder birds, present a pleasing +example of industry and affection. I have observed a pair of starlings +for several days in constant progress before me, having young ones in +the hole of a neighboring poplar tree, and they have been probably this +way in action from the opening of the morning—thus persisting in this +labor of love for twelve or thirteen hours in the day! The space they +pass over in their various transits and returns must be very great, and +the calculation vague; yet, from some rude observations it appears +probable that this pair in conjunction do not travel less than fifty +miles in the day, visiting and feeding their young about a hundred and +forty times, which consisting of five in number, and admitting only one +to be fed each time, every bird must receive in this period eight-and- +twenty portions of food or water! This excessive labor seems entailed +upon most of the land birds, except the gallinaceous tribes, and some of +the marine birds, which toil with infinite perseverance in fishing for +their broods; but the very precarious supply of food to be obtained in +dry seasons by the terrestrial birds renders theirs a labor of more +unremitting hardship than that experienced by the piscivorous tribes, +the food of which is probably little influenced by season, while our +poor land birds find theirs to be nearly annihilated in some cases. The +gallinaceous birds have nests on the ground; the young leave them as +soon as they escape from the shell, are led immediately from the hatch +to fitting situations for food and water, and all their wants are most +admirably attended to; but the constant journeyings of those parent +birds that have nestlings unable to move away, the speed with which they +accomplish their trips, the anxiety they manifest, and the long labor in +which they so gaily persevere, is most remarkable and pleasing, and a +duty consigned but to a few. + +We have no bird more assiduous in attentions to their young, than the +red-start, (_steort_, Saxon, a tail,) one or other of the parents being +in perpetual action, conveying food to the nest, or retiring in search +of it; but as they are active, quick-sighted creatures, they seem to +have constant success in their transits. They are the most restless and +suspicious of birds during this season of hatching and rearing their +young; for when the female is sitting, her mate attentively watches over +her safety, giving immediate notice of the approach of any seemingly +hostile thing, by a constant repetition of one or two querulous notes, +monitory to her or menacing to the intruder: but when the young are +hatched, the very appearance of any suspicious creature sets the parents +into an agony of agitation, and perching upon some dead branch or a +post, they persevere in one unceasing clamor till the object of their +fears is removed; a magpie near their haunts, with some reason, excites +their terror greatly, which is expressed with unremitting vociferation. +All this parental anxiety, however, is no longer in operation than +during the helpless state of their offspring, which, being enabled to +provide their own requirements, gradually cease to be the objects of +solicitude and care; they retire to some distant hedge, become shy and +timid things, feeding in unobtrusive silence. + +The brown starling, or solitary thrush (turdus solitarius), is not an +uncommon bird with us. It breeds in the holes and hollows of old trees, +and, hatching early, forms small flocks in our pastures, which are seen +about before the arrival of the winter starling, for which bird, by its +manners and habits, it is generally mistaken. It will occasionally, in +very dry seasons, enter our gardens for food, which the common stares +never do; and this year (1826) I had one caught in a trap, unable to +resist the tempting plunder of a cherry tree, in conjunction with half +the thrushes in the neighborhood. I have seen a few, small, thrushlike +birds associate and feed with the missel-thrush in our summer pastures, +which I suspect to be solitary starlings: but, wild and wary like them, +they admit no approach to verify the species; and they appear likewise +to follow and mix with this bird, when it visits us in autumn, to gather +the berries of the yew and the mountain ash. I am not certain where it +passes its winter season, but apprehend it mingles in the large flights +of the common species. It returns to our pastures, however, for a short +period in the spring, in small parties of six or ten individuals. The +common stare, when disturbed, rises and alights again at some distance, +most generally on the ground; but the brown starling settles frequently +on some low bush, or small tree, before it returns to its food. I know +of no description that accords so well with our bird as that in Bewick’s +supplement, excepting that the legs of those which I have seen are of a +red brown color, the bill black, and the lower mandible margined with +white; but age and sex occasion many changes in tints and shades. This +species possesses none of those beauties of plumage so observable in the +common starling, and all those fine prismatic tintings that play and +wander over the feathers of the latter are wanting in the former. Its +whole appearance is like that of a thrush, but it presents even a +plainer garb; its browns are more dusky and weather-beaten; and for the +beautiful mottled breast of the throstle, it has a dirty white, and a +dirtier brown. I scarcely know any bird less conspicuous for beauty than +the solitary thrush: it seems like a bleached, wayworn traveller, even +in its youth. + +It was a very ancient observation, and modern investigation seems fully +to confirm it, that many of the serpent race captured their prey by +infatuation or intimidation; and there can be no doubt of the fact, that +instinctive terror will subdue the powers of some creatures, rendering +them stupefied and motionless at the sudden approach of danger. We have +two kinds of petty hawks, the sparrow-hawk (falco nisus) and the kestrel +(falco tinunculus), that seem fully to impress upon their destined prey +this species of intimidation. A beautiful male bull-finch, that sat +harmlessly pecking the buds from a blackthorn by my side, when +overlooking the work of a laborer, suddenly uttered the instinctive moan +of danger, but made no attempt to escape into the bush, seemingly +deprived of the power of exertion. On looking round, a sparrow-hawk was +observed on motionless wing gliding rapidly along the hedge, and, +passing me, rushed on its prey with undeviating certainty. There was +fully sufficient time from the moment of perception for the bull-finch +to escape; but he sat still, waiting the approach of death, an +unresisting victim. We have frequently observed these birds, when +perched on an eminence, insidiously attentive to a flock of finches and +yellow-hammers basking in a hedge, and after due consideration +apparently single out an individual. Upon its moving for its prey, some +wary bird has given the alarm, and most of the little troop scuttle +immediately into the hedge; but the hawk holds on its course, and darts +upon a selected object. If baffled, it seldom succeeds upon another; and +so fixed are its eyes upon this one individual, that, as if unobservant +of its own danger, it snatches up its morsel at our very sides. A pigeon +on the roof of the dovecot seems selected from its fellows, the hawk +rarely snatching at more than one terror-stricken bird. The larger +species of hawks appear to employ no powers excepting those of wing, but +pursue and capture by celerity and strength. + +We converse annually upon early and late seasons; and such things there +are. A mild winter, a warm February and March, will influence greatly +the growth of vegetation: not that a primrose under that bank, or a +violet under the shelter of this hedge, affords us any criterion of +earliness; but a general shading of green, an expansion of buds, an +incipient unfolding of leaves, gives notice of the spring’s advance. The +principal blossoming of plants usually takes place at nearly stated +periods; but particular mildness in the atmosphere and additional warmth +in the soil, accelerate this season; and of all the evils which threaten +the horticulturist, an early spring is most to be deprecated. An April +breathing odors, wreathed in verdure and flowers, the willow wren +sporting in the copse, the swallow skimming over the pool, lambs racing +in the daisied mead, may be a beautiful sight to contemplate,— + + “Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyrs blow;” + +but it is like the laugh of irony, the smile that lures to ruin, + + “Which, hushed in grim repose, awaits his certain prey.” + +Then comes a ruthless May, with Winter in her train, who, with his +frosty edge, unpitying shears away all the expectancies, the beautiful +promise of the year; and we have to await returning seasons, and patient +hope for better things. A garden pining and prostrate from the effects +of a churlish, frosty May, leaves crisp and blackened, flowers withered, +torn, and scattered around, are a melancholy sight—the vernal hectic +that consumes the fairest offspring of the nursery. There is a plant, +however, the white thorn (mespilus oxycanthus), the May of our rustics, +common in all places and situations, that affords a good example of +general steadiness to time, uninfluenced by partial effects. An +observation of above twenty years upon this plant has proved how little +it deviates in its blossoming in one season from another; and, under all +the importunities and blandishments of the most seductive Aprils, I have +in all that period never but twice seen more than a partial blossom by +the first of May. We hail our first-seen swallow as a harbinger of +milder days and summer enjoyments; but the appearance of our birds of +passage is not greatly to be depended upon, as I have reason to +apprehend from much observation. They will be accelerated or retarded in +the time of their departure by the state of the wind in the country +whence they take their flight; they travel much by night, requiring in +many instances the light of the moon to direct them; and the actual time +of their arrival is difficult to ascertain, as they steal into our +hedges and copses unperceived. If the weather be bright or warm, their +voices are heard; if gloomy and cold, they will lie secreted till the +call of hunger or of love intimates their presence. Though we rarely see +these birds in their transits, yet I have at times, on a calm bright +evening in November, heard high in the air the redwing and the +fieldfare, on progress to a destined settlement, manifested by the +signal-notes of some leading birds to their scattered followers. These +conductors of their flocks are certainly birds acquainted with the +country over which they travel, their settlements here being no +promiscuous dispersion: it being obvious that many pairs of birds return +to their ancient haunts, either old ones which had bred there, or their +offspring. The butcher-bird successively returns to a hedge in one of my +fields, influenced by some advantage it derives from that situation, or +from a preference to the spot where hatched; but we have perhaps no bird +more attached to peculiar situations than the gray flycatcher (muscicapa +grisola), one pair, or their descendants, frequenting year after year +the same hole in the wall, or the same branch on the vine or the plum. +Being perfectly harmless, and hence never molested, they become + + “Enamor’d with their ancient haunts, + ——and hover round.” + +I once knew a pair of these birds bring off two broods in one season +from the same nest. This flycatcher delights in eminences. The naked +spray of a tree, or projecting stone in a building, or even a tall stick +in the very middle of the grass-plot, is sure to attract its attention, +as affording an uninterrupted view of its winged prey; and from this it +will be in constant activity a whole summer’s day, capturing its food +and returning to swallow it. The digestion of some birds must be +remarkably rapid, to enable them to receive such constant replenishments +of food. The swift and the swallow are feeding from the earliest light +in the morning till the obscurity of evening; the quantities of cherries +and raspberries that the blackcap and pettichaps will eat are +surprising, as they are unremittingly consuming from morning till night; +and this flycatcher seems to require a proportion of food equal to any +bird, being in constant progress, capturing one moment, and resting the +next. But fruit and insects are with us only for a short season; and +their privations, when these no longer afford a supply, indicate, that +they possess the power of abstinence, as well as that of consumption. + +We observed this summer two common thrushes frequenting the shrubs on +the green in our garden. From the slenderness of their forms, and the +freshness of their plumage, we pronounced them to be birds of the +preceding summer. There was an association and friendship between them, +that called our attention to their actions: one of them seemed ailing, +or feeble from some bodily accident; for though it hopped about, yet it +appeared unable to obtain sufficiency of food; its companion, an active +sprightly bird, would frequently bring it worms, or bruised snails, when +they mutually partook of the banquet; and the ailing bird would wait +patiently, understand the actions, expect the assistance of the other, +and advance from his asylum upon its approach. This procedure was +continued for some days, but after a time we missed the fostered bird, +which probably died, or by reason of its weakness met with some fatal +accident. We have many relations of the natural affection of animals; +and whoever has attended to the actions of the various creatures we are +accustomed to domesticate about us can probably add many other instances +from their own observation. Actions which are in any way analogous to +the above, when they are performed by mankind, arise most commonly from +duty, affection, pity, interest, pride; but we are not generally +disposed to allow the inferior orders of creation the possession of any +of these feelings, except perhaps the last: yet when we have so many +instances of attachment existing between creatures similar and +dissimilar in their natures, which are obvious to all, and where no +interest can possibly arise as a motive; when we mark the varieties of +disposition which they manifest under uniform treatment, their various +aptitudes and comprehensions, sensibility or inattention to sounds, &c., +it seems but reasonable to consider them as gifted with latent passions; +though being devoid of mind to stimulate or call them into action by any +principle of volition or virtue, how excited to performance we know no +more than we do the motives of many of their bodily actions! The +kindnesses and attentions which the maternal creature manifests in +rearing its young, and the assistance occasionally afforded by the +paternal animal, during the same period, appears to be a natural +inherent principle universally diffused throughout creation; but when we +see a sick or maimed animal supplied and attended by another, which we +suppose gifted with none of the stimuli to exertion that actuate our +conduct, we endow them by this denial with motives with which we +ourselves are unacquainted; and at last we can only relate the fact, +without defining the cause. + +The throstle is a bird of great utility in a garden where wall fruit is +grown, by reason of the peculiar inclination which it has for feeding +upon snails, and very many of them he does dislodge in the course of the +day. When the female is sitting, the male bird seems to be particularly +assiduous in searching them out, and I believe he feeds his mate during +that period, having frequently seen him flying to the nest with food, +long before the eggs were hatched; after this time the united labors of +the pair destroy numbers of these injurious creatures. That he will +regale himself frequently with a tempting gooseberry, or bunch of +currants, is well known, but his services entitle him to a very ample +reward. The blackbird associates with these thrushes in our gardens, but +makes no compensation for our indulgences after his song ceases, as he +does not feed upon the snail; but the thrush benefits us through the +year by his propensities for this particular food, and every grove +resounds with his harmony in the season; and probably if this race +suffered less from the gun of the Christmas popper, the gardener might +find much benefit in his ensuing crop of fruit, from the forbearance. + +We have no bird, I believe, more generally known, thought of, or +mentioned with greater indifference, perhaps contempt, than the common +sparrow (fringilla domestica), “that sitteth alone on the house-top;” +yet it is an animal that nature seems to have endowed with peculiar +characteristics, having ordained for it a very marked provision, +manifested in its increase and maintenance, notwithstanding the hostile +attacks to which it is exposed. A dispensation that exists throughout +creation is brought more immediately to our notice by the domestic +habits of this bird. The natural tendency that the sparrow has to +increase will often enable one pair of birds to bring up fourteen or +more young ones in the season. They build in places of perfect security +from the plunder of larger birds and vermin. Their art and ingenuity in +commonly attaching their nests beneath that of the rook, high in the +elm, a bird whose habits are perfectly dissimilar, and with which they +have no association whatever, making use of their structure only for a +defence to which no other bird resorts, manifest their anxiety and +contrivance for the safety of their broods. With peculiar perseverance +and boldness, they forage and provide for themselves and their +offspring; will filch grain from the trough of the pig, or contend for +its food with the gigantic turkey; and, if scared away, their fears are +those of a moment, as they quickly return to their plunder; and they +roost protected from all the injuries of weather. These circumstances +tend greatly to increase the race, and in some seasons their numbers in +our corn-fields towards autumn are prodigious; and did not events +counteract the increase of this army of plunderers, the larger portion +of our bread corn would be consumed by them. But their reduction is as +rapidly accomplished as their increase, their love of association +bringing upon them a destruction, which a contrary habit would not +tempt. They roost in troops in our ricks, in the ivy on the wall, &c., +and are captured by the net: they cluster on the bush, or crowd on the +chaff by the barn-door, and are shot by dozens at a time, or will rush +in numbers, one following another, into the trap. These and various +other engines of destruction so reduce them in the winter season, that +the swarms of autumn gradually diminish, till their numbers in spring +are in no way remarkable. I have called them plunderers, and they are +so; they are benefactors likewise, seeming to be appointed by nature as +one of the agents for keeping from undue increase another race of +creatures, and by their prolificacy they accomplish it. In spring and +the early part of the summer, before the corn becomes ripe, they are +insectivorous, and their constantly increasing families require an +unceasing supply of food. We see them every minute of the day in +continual progress, flying from the nest for a supply, and returning on +rapid wing with a grub, a caterpillar, or some reptile; and the numbers +captured by them in the course of these travels are incredibly numerous, +keeping under the increase of these races, and making ample restitution +for their plunderings and thefts. When the insect race becomes scarce, +the corn and seeds of various kinds are ready; their appetite changes, +and they feed on these with undiminished enjoyment. + +We have scarcely another bird, the appetite of which is so accommodating +in all respects as that of the house-sparrow. It is, I believe, the only +bird that is a voluntary inhabitant with man, lives in his society, and +is his constant attendant, following him wherever he fixes his +residence. It becomes immediately an inhabitant of the new farm-house, +in a lonely place or recent inclosure, or even in an island, will +accompany him into the crowded city, and build and feed there in +content, unmindful of the noise, the smoke of the furnace, or the steam- +engine, where even the swallow and the marten, that flock around him in +the country, are scared by the tumult, and leave him: but the sparrow, +though begrimed with soot, does not forsake him; feeds on his food, +rice, potatoes, or almost any other extraneous substance he may find in +the street; looks to him for his support, and is maintained almost +entirely by the industry and providence of man. It is not known in a +solitary and independent state. + +Though I remember no bird so peculiarly associated with the human race +as this is, yet there are other animals that seem dependent on man for +support, or at least that find his means subservient to their comforts, +and domesticate themselves with him. The meadow and the long-tailed +mouse occasionally become foragers in our gardens and domains, when a +natural supply of food becomes difficult of attainment, yet they are not +wholly settlers with us; but the common mouse (mus domesticus) resorts +entirely to our premises, and seems to exist wholly on food of our +providing. In towns it accommodates its appetite to the variety of +sustenance it finds there; and will enjoy the preserve in the pot, the +cheese in the rack, or the pie in the pantry. In the country it will +ransack the cupboard, live in the barn, or colonize in our ricks. Still, +in all these cases, the store and provision of man are its delight, and +its only resource; and it will even quit a residence which is abandoned +by its provider. It is true it maintains the same love of liberty as its +celebrated ancestor is reported to have done; but the simplicity of +manners and taste of the sage, the “hollow tree, the oaten straw,” have +been abandoned; it has become pleased with household comforts, and a +luxurious citizen in its appetite. + +The rat (mus rattus), too, perhaps, may be united with these companions +of mankind. Not knowing it in an independent state, we cannot say what +its resources might be, but so sagacious and powerfully endowed an +animal could always provide for its own necessities; yet it prefers our +provision to any precarious supply from its own industry. In summer it +partially quits our dwellings, the heat and dryness of our buildings +becoming irksome to it, and the occasional difficulty of obtaining +water, in which it delights, prompts it to resort to hedges and banks +for a certain period; but it always returns when our barns are filled, +and ready for it. + +The house fly (musca carnaria)[50] is another creature that appears +domesticated with us; in some seasons a very numerous, and always a very +dirty inmate. It associates in our windows at times with a similar +insect (stomoxys calcitrans), that loves to bask on stones and posts, +and which is now biting my legs with the most teasing perseverance. But +this phlebotomist has not the same attachment to our habitations, is a +more solitary insect, and does not unite in those little social parties, +that circle for hours in a sober uniformity of flight below the ceilings +of our chambers. Wherever man appears, this house fly is generally to be +seen too: and instances are known, when islands have been taken +possession of very far removed from the main land, that for a time no +flies were visible, yet ere long these little domestic insects have made +their appearance; neither natives of the isle, nor can we reasonably +suppose them to have taken flight from a distant shore; but probably the +offspring of parents that came with the stores in the vessel of the +party. + +We may have some few other instances of these apparent dependences of +animals on man; yet, if we consider the relative situations of both, we +shall find them existing, with very few exceptions, independent of him, +and that he is more indebted to them for their services, than they are +for his protection and support. Man from the earliest periods began to +subject the animal world to his dominion, and avail himself of its +properties and powers to improve his own condition. As his wants or +propensities occurred, he compelled to his aid such animals as he could +subdue, or were adapted to his purposes. The chief objects for which we +require the aid of animals are for food, clothing, vigilance, and +strength. Though the two former are highly essential to our comforts, +they are not indispensable; the vegetable world supplies them in +abundance to large portions of the inhabitants of the globe, and the +companionable qualities, watchfulness, and swiftness of the dog might be +dispensed with. It is the strength of animals that makes us sensible of +our own weakness. By their power we build our dwellings, effect an +intercourse with distant places, obtain much of our food, and the fuel +of our hearths: a state of civilization requires, as an indispensable +requisite, these things and others, rendering most manifest our +obligations to the animal world. Animals were created before man; but +some of them were apparently endowed with their useful and valuable +properties for his comfort and assistance; for he had the dominion of +them consigned to him, and was commissioned to subdue them. Having used +their products for food and clothing, conjointly with the fruits and +seeds of the vegetable world, and their bodies for the carriage of his +burdens, after a long age of abstinence he began to feed on their flesh; +and they have continued his faithful and assiduous servants, contented +with their destiny, and submissive to his desires. He gives them food +and shelter in payment of service, attending them with diligence and +care: all this may be for his own emolument and pleasure, yet the well- +being of the creature, had it continued wild, would not have required +it: most of them live longer, and have more enjoyment in a wild and +unreclaimed state, than when domesticated with him. By art, and for +profit, he has in many instances altered the very nature of the animal, +and created ailments, rendering his cares and attentions necessary, +which in a state of nature are not required. The lives of many of them, +even when subjected to the best of treatment, are consumed with labor +and fatigue; and when their unhappy destiny consigns them to the power +of poverty and evil passions, what an accumulation of misery and +suffering do these wretched creatures undergo! If these arguments have +any foundation in truth, it will appear, that animals are not +necessarily dependent on man, and generally derive no benefit from their +intercourse and association with him; but that, in conformity with +original appointment, they aid him to acquire the enjoyments and +accomplish the necessities of civilized life. Yet there is one creature, +that seems designed by its natural habits to be the servant and +dependant of man; and of all that fall under his dominion, not one +receives an equal portion of his care, or is more exempt from a life of +exhaustion in his service. The dog is fed with him, housed, and +caressed; associates with him in his pleasures, is identified with and +enjoys them with his master; living with him, he acquires the high +bearing and freedom of his lord; feels he is the companion and the +friend; deports himself as a partaker of the importance and superiority, +we might almost say of the sorrows and pleasures of the man; is elated +with praise, and abased by rebuke; submissive when corrected, and +grateful when caressed: his anxiety and tremor when he has lost his +master, and with him himself, is pitiable; when deserted by his lord, he +becomes the most forlorn of animals, a never-failing victim to misery, +famine, disease, and death. His ardor may excite him at times until +overpowered by fatigue; but he is not generally stimulated by pain or +menace to attempts beyond his natural powers: view him in all his +progress, his life will be found to be an easy, and frequently an +enjoyable one; and though not exempt from the afflictions of age, yet +his death, if anticipated, becomes a momentary evil. When in a native +state, he is a wretched creature, a common beast of the wild, with no +innate magnanimity, no acquired virtues; has no elevation, no character +to maintain, but passes his days in contention and want, is base in +disposition, meager in body, a fugitive, and a coward. + +The wheatear (sylvia œnanthe) frequents annually our open commons and +stone quarries, and breeds there. I have seen it with nesting materials +in its bill, and have had its eggs, though rarely, brought me. This bird +visits England early in the spring, and continues with us till nearly +the end of September, that is, during the entire breeding season. Yet it +is remarkable, notwithstanding its numbers, and the little concealment +which its haunts afford, how rarely its nests are found. Its principal +place of resort is the South Downs in Sussex; and it appears from the +accounts of the most experienced and credible persons of that county, +from whom I have my information, that the females are performing their +duties of incubation during the month of March; as at that time scarcely +any but male birds are visible, of which hundreds are then flying about; +while the females with their families appear early in May, and are +captured afterwards in great numbers; yet the oldest shepherds have +seldom seen their nest! When found, it has been concealed beneath a +large stone, or some hollow of the rugged chalk hills, containing six +pale blue eggs. With us the wheatear stays only to hatch her brood. When +this is effected, and the young sufficiently matured, it leaves us +entirely, and by the middle of September not a bird is found on their +summer stations. They probably retire to the uplands on the seacoasts, +as we hear of them as late as November in these places, where it is +supposed they find some peculiar insect food, required by them in an +adult state, and not found, or only sparingly, in their breeding +stations, in which the appropriate food of their young is probably more +abundant. Thus united on the coasts, they can take their flight, when +the wind or other circumstances favor their passage, all of them +departing upon the approach of winter. + +Partial as I am to the habits and all the concerns of the country, I +regret to say that rural amusements, connected as they commonly are with +the creatures about us, are frequently cruel; and that we often most +inconsiderately, in our sports, are the cause of misery and suffering to +such as nestle around our dwellings, or frequent our fields, which, from +some particular cause or motive, become the object of pursuit. I say +nothing of the birds known as game, as perhaps we cannot obtain them by +less painful means than we are accustomed to inflict, and the pursuit is +frequently conducive to recreation and health; but the sportsman’s +essaying his skill on the swallow race, that “skim the dimpled pool,” or +harmless glide along the flowery mead, when, if successful, he consigns +whole nests of infant broods to famine and to death, is pitiable indeed! +No injury, no meditated crime, was ever imputed to these birds; they +free our dwellings from multitudes of insects; their unsuspicious +confidence and familiarity with men merit protection not punishment from +him. The sufferings of their broods, when the parents are destroyed, +should excite humanity, and demand our forbearance. But the wheatear, in +an unfortunate hour, has been called the English ortolan, and is pursued +as a delicate morsel through all its inland haunts, when hatching and +feeding its young, the only period in which it frequents our heaths. I +execrate the practice as most cruel: their death evinces no skill in the +gunner; their wretched bodies, when obtained, are useless, being +embittered by the bruises of the shot, and unskilful operations of the +picker and dresser. No, let the parental duties cease, and when the bird +retires to its maritime downs, if doomed to suffer, the individual dies +alone, and no starving broods perish with it. I supplicate from the +youthful sportsman his consideration for these most innocent creatures, +the summer wheatear and the swallow. + +The eggs produced by the wheatear are uniform in color and similar in +shape; but the eggs of birds in general vary much, and are occasionally +very puzzling to identify when detached from their nests, as the +colorings and markings differ greatly in the same species, and even +nest. Those of one color, like this wheatear’s, retain it, with only +shades of variation; but when there are blotchings or spots, these are +at times very dissimilar, occasioned in great measure probably by the +age of the bird; though this cannot account for the difference of those +in an individual nest. None vary more than the eggs of the common +sparrow. Those of marine birds, especially the guillemot (colymbus +troile), are often so unlike each other, that it requires considerable +practice to arrange them. The plumage of birds has probably never +varied, but remains at this hour what it originally was: but whether +these markings on the eggs have any connexion with the shadings on the +feathers, it is difficult to determine; as we know that eggs entirely +white will produce birds with a variety of plumage. The shell of the egg +appears to be designed for the accomplishment of two purposes. One of +the offices of this calcareous coating, which consists of carbonate and +phosphate of lime, is to unite with the white of the egg, and form, +during incubation, the feathers and bone of the future young ones; but +as a large portion of this covering remains after the young are +produced, its other object is to guard from injury the parts within. As +far as I have observed, in eggs of one hue, the coloring matter resides +in the calcareous part; but where there are markings, these are rather +extraneous to it than mixed with it. The elegant blue that distinguishes +the eggs of the firetail and the hedge-sparrow, though corroded away, is +not destroyed by the muriatic acid. The blue calcareous coating of the +thrush’s egg is consumed; but the dark spots, like the markings upon the +eggs of the yellow-hammer, house-sparrow, magpie, &c., still preserve +their stations on the film, though loosened and rendered mucilaginous by +this rough process. Though this calcareous matter is partly taken up +during incubation, the markings upon these eggs remain little injured, +even to the last, and are almost as strongly defined as when the eggs +are first laid. These circumstances seem to imply, that the coloring +matter on the shells of eggs does not contribute to the various hues of +the plumage; but, it is reasonable to conclude, are designed to answer +some particular object, not obvious to us: for though the marks are so +variable, yet the shadings and spottings of one species never wander so +as to become exactly figured like those of another family, but preserve, +year after year, a certain characteristic figuring. Few animal +substances, in a recent state, contain more hepatic gas than an +eggshell, as is manifest from the very offensive smell that proceeds +from it when burned. A little of this is caused by the gluten that +cements the calcareous matter, but the overpowering fetor comes from the +inner membrane that lines the shell. + +The superstitions and fancies of persons, though we may often contemn +them, are yet at times deserving of notice, being occasionally to be +traced to some former received belief or national custom, and perhaps +when charactered by emblems or ceremonies may be considered as certainly +originating from the tenets of some sect or popular observance; the +partiality manifested by the English in general for flowers and +horticultural pursuits is recently, from a sentence in Pliny (Nat. Hist. +XIV. chap. 4), supposed to have been acquired from their Roman +conquerors; and probably many other attachments and practices, though +obscured and perverted by time, have been retained from the example of +some of the various nations who have ruled in our island. Bird-nesting +boys, I suppose, are yet to be met with in many a rural village, being a +habit from immemorial antiquity, pursued with eagerness in contention +with their fellows for numbers and rarity, but that accomplished, like +so many of our pursuits in after life, the pleasure ceases when rivalry +is no more: but regarding these birds’ eggs we have a very foolish +superstition here; the boys may take them unrestrained, but their +mothers so dislike their being kept in the house, that they usually +break them; their presence may be tolerated for a few days, but by the +ensuing Sunday are frequently destroyed, under the idea that they bring +bad luck, or prevent the coming of good fortune, as if in some way +offensive to the domestic deity of the hearth: having occasionally +inquired for these plunders of our small birds at the cottages, to +supply some deficiencies in a collection, I have found so general a +prepossession against retaining them, as in most cases to fail of +success. + +The kite (falco milvus) is one of our rarest birds. We see it +occasionally, in its progress to other parts, sailing along sedately on +its way; but it never visits us. Our copses present it with no enticing +harborage, and our culture scares it. In former years I was intimately +acquainted with this bird; but its numbers seem greatly on the decline, +having been destroyed, or driven away to lonely places, or to the most +extensive woodlands. In the breeding season it will at times approach +near the outskirts of villages, seeking materials for its nest; but in +general it avoids the haunts of man. It is the finest native bird that +we possess, and all its deportment partakes of a dignity peculiar to +itself, well becoming a denizen of the forest or the park; for though we +see it sometimes in company with the buzzard, it is never to be mistaken +for this clumsy bird, which will escape from the limb of some tree, with +a confused and hurried flight, indicative of fear; while the kite moves +steadily from the summit of the loftiest oak, the scathed crest of the +highest poplar, or the most elevated ash—circles round and round, sedate +and calm, and then leaves us. I can confusedly remember a very +extraordinary capture of these birds, when I was a boy. Roosting one +winter evening on some very lofty elms, a fog came on during the night, +which froze early in the morning, and fastened the feet of the poor +kites so firmly to the boughs, that some adventurous youths brought +down, I think, fifteen of them so secured! Singular as the capture was, +the assemblage of so large a number was no less so, it being in general +a solitary bird, or associating only in pairs. + +The blackcap (motacilla atracapilla) is our constant visitor, but very +uncertain in its numbers, as it fully participates in all the casualties +of our migratory tribes; not by any great diminution probably in its +winter residence, but by loss in its transits of autumn or spring. We +have years when every little copse resounds with harmony; at other +periods, only a few solitary songsters are to be heard; and the blackcap +is the principal performer in the band of our domestic vocalists. In the +scale of music it is the third for mellowness, and the third perhaps too +for execution and compass. As this melody, however, continues only +during the period of incubation, we hear it but for a short time; for +this bird wastes no time in amusements, appearing to be in great haste +to accomplish the object of its visit, and to depart. Thus, immediately +upon its arrival, we observe it surveying and inspecting places fitting +for nidification, and commencing a nest; but so careful and suspicious +is it, that several are often abandoned before finished, from some +apprehension or caprice: any intrusion is jealously noticed; and during +the whole period of sitting and rearing its young, it is timid and +restless. I have observed that both birds will occasionally perform the +office of incubation. + +It seems to live entirely by choice on fruits; and as soon as the brood +can remove, it visits our gardens, feeding with delight and almost +insatiable appetite on the currant and the raspberry; and so much is it +engaged when at this banquet, that it suffers itself to be looked at, +and forgets for the moment its usual timidity: but its natural shyness +never leaves it entirely; and though it remains in our gardens or +orchards as long as any of its favorite fruits continue, it avoids +observation as much as possible, and hides itself in the foliage from +all familiarity or confidence. This exceeding dislike of man is very +extraordinary. Larger or more important birds might have an instinctive +fear of violence; but this creature is too small and insignificant to +have ever experienced or to apprehend injuries from him. It may arise +from a long residence in wilds and solitary places, seldom visited by +human beings, during those eight or nine months when it is absent from +us, so that man becomes an unknown creature, and injury is suspected. +Our native small birds, that reside all the year with us, and see us +often, though they may retire at our near approach, do not exhibit such +shyness and avoidance as several of our migrating birds. The gray +flycatcher, and the swallow tribe, which seek their food, we conclude, +all the year near the dwellings of man, where most abundantly found, +manifest familiarity with us rather than dislike, are accustomed to the +sight of human beings, and do not fear them; but whatever may be the +cause that influences the precipitate retreat of certain birds, we note +the original mandate, and see that the “fear of us, and the dread of +us,” are still in operation with many of these little “fowls of the +air,” that would never receive harm from our hands. The blackcap +finishes its feast here with the jargonel pear, when it can meet with +it, then leaves us for other fruits and milder climes. + +“And the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of +the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon +the earth.” This vesture of universal dread, which was to envelop man, +though appointed from the beginning of time, has never been removed, but +most signally and remarkably attaches to him still. It was ordained to +be so; and so it is. In some few instances only does this awe of man +subside: in extreme cases of want, for individual preservation, or when +protection is required. In such cases, the fear or sensibility of pain, +love of life, or a paramount duty, becomes the stronger principle, +annihilating the weaker; and the dread of man’s supremacy is no more. +The weakest, the very insect, then assails him, and at times becomes the +victor. Does any conceivable or visible cause exist from which this awe +can proceed? Does “his sublime countenance, contemplative of the +heavens,” the image that he bears, or his deportment, afford any +ascendent influence productive of this impression? In bodily power he is +more weak and obnoxious to injury than many that shrink from a contest +with him; his natural arms and means of protection are inferior often to +those of the beings which he subdues; yet from an undefinable cause he +is omnipotent over all. Terror in man most commonly arises from a +knowledge of power, apprehension of ills from accident, or fear of the +evil inclinations of another. What the fowls of the air, or the beasts +of the field perceive, or are impressed with, we know not; but none of +these causes can exist in a brute mind without intelligence or +experience. These are the reflections of a thoughtful hour. The cause, +“though a man labor to seek out, yet shall he not find it; and though a +man think to know it, yet shall he not be able.” But the contemplation +is not wholly an unworthy occupation of time. All ages, all people, must +have perceived the admitted power and universal dread occasioned by the +presence of man, but no reason, no motive, could have been assigned for +it; but in these days, by revelation, we know the cause, have impressed +upon our minds the immutable truth of that Being which ordained, and of +that volume which has proclaimed his mandate to us. But man has the +power assigned him of calling to his aid a visible object of dread, +confided to him from the earliest periods; and he alone of all created +beings has the agency of this terror. All the inferior orders have a +fear of it, and flee from it, even when its effects could never have +been known or experienced, but which appears to be innate and +inseparable from all. Man alone has the knowledge, the means of calling +heat into action; and though warmth is the delight, and essential to the +being of most, yet, rouse it into active operation producing fire, and +terror and flight succeed enjoyment and rest: it deters the approach of +the most ferocious, and man and his charge abide unharmed when +surrounded by the terror he has raised. In addition to the many +characters given as a definition of man, we might call him a fire- +producing creature. + +The end of our summer months, and the autumnal season, afford us +frequently the best periods for observing some of our occasional +visiting birds. Upon their first arrival, and for a time afterwards, +their notes announce their presence; but they are not always to be seen +with satisfaction, and scattered in retired places, or occupied in the +business of incubation, when they are particularly wary and suspicious, +they are but casually noticed: but in the times above stated, our +gardens, shrubberies, and orchards, become their resort, seeking for the +fruits usually produced in those places. And, first, the pettychaps, +with all her matured brood, is certain to be found, feeding voraciously +upon our cultivated berries, or mining a hole in the fig or jargonel +pear; and so intent are they upon this occupation, that they will permit +a reasonable examination of their form and actions, but at other periods +it is difficult to approach them. The blackcap discontentedly flits +about our inclosures and thickets all the summer through, building her +nest or tending her young; the fine clear harmony of the male bird +resounding in the morning from the brake, yet, timid and alarmed, he +ceases and hides himself if we approach: but he now introduces all his +progeny to our banquet; cautious still, we can yet observe his actions, +and easily distinguish the black or brown heads of the sexes, as they +are occupied beneath the foliage of an Antwerp raspberry. The white +throats, now, too, leave their hedges, and all their insect food, which +for months had been their only supply, and in the thick covert of the +gooseberry extract with great dexterity the pulp of the fruit, or strip +the currant of its berry. The elegant, slender form of the female, her +snowy throat and silvery stomach, render her very conspicuous as she +scuttles away to hide herself in the bush: her plain, brown-backed mate +seems rather less timid, but yet carefully avoids all symptoms of +familiarity. Other doubtful little birds likewise appear, and are gone, +several of which, however, are probably the young of ascertained +species. And here the little willow wren is often to be seen: he comes +in company with his travelling friends, not as a partaker of their +plunder, appearing never to abandon his appetite for insect food: the +species may change with the season, but still it is animal: he glides +about our rows of peas, peeps under the leaves of fruit trees for +aphides and moths, continuing this harmless pursuit until the cold +mornings of autumn drive him to milder regions. All these fruit-eating +birds seem to have a very discriminating taste, and a decided preference +for the richest sorts—the sweetest variety of the gooseberry or the +currant always being selected; and when they are consumed, less +saccharine dainties are submitted to: but the hedge blackberry of the +season our little foreign connoisseurs disdain to feed on, leaving it +for the humbler appetited natives—they are away to sunnier regions and +more grateful food. + +June 14.—I was much pleased this day by detecting the stratagems of a +common wren to conceal its nest from observation. It had formed a hollow +space in the thatch, on the inside of my cow-shed, in which it had +placed its nest by the side of a rafter, and finished it with its usual +neatness; but lest the orifice of its cell should engage attention, it +had negligently hung a ragged piece of moss on the straw-work, +concealing the entrance, and apparently proceeding from the rafter; and +so perfect was the deception, that I should not have noticed it, though +tolerably observant of such things, had not the bird betrayed her +secret, and darted out. Now from what operative cause did this stratagem +proceed? Habit it was not;—it seemed like an after-thought;—danger was +perceived, and the contrivance which a contemplative being would have +provided, was resorted to. The limits of instinct we cannot define:[51] +it appeared the reflection of reason. This procedure may be judged, +perhaps, a trifling event to notice; but the ways and motives of +creatures are so little understood, that any evidence which may assist +our research should not be rejected. Call their actions as we may, they +have the effect of reason; and loving all the manners and operations of +these directed beings, I have noted this, simple as it may be. + +At one period of my life, being an early waker and riser, my attention +was frequently drawn to “songs of earliest birds;” and I always observed +that these creatures appeared abroad at very different periods as the +light advanced. The rook is perhaps the first to salute the opening +morn; but this bird seems rather to rest than to sleep. Always vigilant, +the least alarm after retirement rouses instantly the whole assemblage, +not successively, but collectively. It is appointed to be a ready mover. +Its principal food is worms, which feed and crawl upon the humid surface +of the ground in the dusk, and retire before the light of day; and, +roosting higher than other birds, the first rays of the sun, as they +peep from the horizon, become visible to it. The restless, inquisitive +robin[52] now is seen too. This is the last bird that retires in the +evening, being frequently flitting about when the owl and bat are +visible, and awakes so soon in the morning, that little rest seems +required by it. Its fine large eyes are fitted to receive all, even the +weakest rays of light that appear. The worm is its food too, and few +that move upon the surface escape its notice. The cheerful melody of the +wren is the next we hear, as it bustles from its ivied roost; and we +note its gratulation to the young-eyed day, when twilight almost hides +the little minstrel from our sight. The sparrow roosts in holes, and +under the eaves of the rick or shed, where the light does not so soon +enter, and hence is rather a tardy mover; but it is always ready for +food, and seems to listen to what is going forward. We see it now +peeping from its penthouse, inquisitively surveying the land; and, +should provision be obtainable, it immediately descends upon it without +any scruple, and makes itself a welcome guest with all. It retires early +to rest. The blackbird quits its leafy roost in the ivied ash; its +“chink, chink” is heard in the hedge and, mounting on some neighboring +oak, with mellow sober voice it gratulates the coming day. “The +plainsong cuckoo gray” from some tall tree now tells its tale. The lark +is in the air, the “marten twitters from her earth-built shed,” all the +choristers are tuning in the grove; and amid such tokens of awakening +pleasure it becomes difficult to note priority of voice. These are the +matin voices of the summer season: in winter a cheerless chirp, or a +hungry twit, is all we hear; the families of voice are away, or silent; +we have little to note, and perhaps as little inclination to observe. + +During no portion of the day can the general operations of nature be +more satisfactorily observed than in the early morning. Rosy June—the +very thoughts of an early summer’s morning in the country, like +enchantment, gives action to the current of our blood, and seems to +breathe through our veins a stream of health and enjoyment! All things +appear fresh and unsoiled; the little birds, animated and gratulous, are +frisking about the sprays; others, proceeding to their morning’s meal, +or occupied in the callings of their nature, give utterance by every +variety of voice to the pleasures that they feel: the world has not yet +called us, and with faculties unworn, we unite with them, partake of +this general hilarity and joy, feel disposed to be happy, and enjoy the +blessings around us: the very air itself, as yet uninhaled by any, +circulates about us replete with vitality, conveying more than its usual +portion of sustenance and health, “and man goeth forth unto his labor.” +Night-feeding creatures, feeling the freshness of light, and the coming +day, are all upon the move retiring from danger and observation; and we +can note them now unhidden in their lairs, unconcealed beneath the +foliage in the hedge: the very vegetation, bathed in dew and moisture, +full fed, partakes of this early morning joy and health, and every +creeping thing is refreshed and satisfied. As day advances, it changes +all; and of these happy beings of the early hour, part are away, and we +must seek them; others are oppressed, silent, listless; the vegetable, +no longer lucid with dew, and despoiled of all the little gems that +glittered from every serrature of its leaf, seems pensive at the loss. +When blessed with health, having peace, innocence, and content, as +inmates of the mind, perhaps the most enjoyable hours of life may be +found in an early summer’s morning. + +Oct. 9.—A brilliant morning! warm, without oppression; exhilarating, +without chilling. Imagination cannot surely conceive, or caprice wish +for an atmospheric temperature more delightful than what this day +affords; having mingled with it just that portion of vital air which +brisks up animality, without consuming the sustenance of life; +satisfying the body with health, and filling the heart with gratitude. +Fine threads of gossamer float lazily along the air, marking by this +peculiar feature the autumn of our year. On our commons, and about our +thistly hedge-rows, flocks of goldfinches[53] (fringilla carduelis), the +united produce of the summer months, are sporting and glistening in the +sunny beam, scattering all over the turf the down of the thistle, as +they pick out the seed for their food. But this beautiful native has +only a few short weeks in which it will have liberty to enjoy society +and life. Our bird-catchers will soon entrap it; and of those that +escape his toils, few will survive to the spring, should our winter +prove a severe one. Long as I have noticed this bird, it has appeared to +me that it never makes any plants generally its food, except those of +the syngenesia class, and on these it diets nearly the whole year. In +the spring season it picks out the seeds from the fir cones. During the +winter months it very frequently visits our gardens, feeding on the +seeds of the groundsel (senecio vulgaris), which chiefly abounds in +cultivated places, and vegetates there throughout the coldest seasons. +This, however, is an humble plant; and when covered by the snow, the +poor birds are half famished for want. We then see them striving to +satisfy their hunger by picking some solitary green head of the plant +remaining above the frozen snow, and so tame, that they will suffer a +very near approach before they take flight. As the frost continues, our +little garden visitors diminish daily, and by spring only a few pairs +remain of all the flocks of autumn. Yet it is very remarkable, +notwithstanding this natural predilection, how readily this bird +conforms to a perfect change in its diet, and in all the habits of its +life. Most of our little songsters, when captured as old birds, become +in confinement sullen and dispirited; want of exercise, and of +particular kinds of food, and their changes, alter the quality of the +fluids: they become fattened, and indisposed to action by repletion; +fits and ailments ensue, and they mope and die. But I have known our +goldfinch, immediately after its capture, commence feeding on its canary +or hemp-seed, food it could never have tasted before, nibble his sugar +in the wires like an enjoyment it had been accustomed to, frisk round +its cage, and dress its plumage, without manifesting the least apparent +regret for the loss of companions or of liberty. Harmless to the labors +or the prospects of us lords of the creation, as so many of our small +birds are, we have none less chargeable with the commission of injury +than the goldfinch; yet its blameless, innocent life does not exempt it +from harm. Its beauty, its melody, and its early reconciliation to +confinement, rendering it a desirable companion, it is captured to cheer +us with its manners and its voice, in airs and regions very different +from its native thistly downs, and apple-blossom bowers. + +The tree-creeper (certhia familiaris) is as little observed as any +common bird we possess. A retired inhabitant of woods and groves, and +not in any manner conspicuous for voice or plumage, it passes its days +with us, creating scarcely any notice or attention. Its small size, and +the manner in which it procures its food, both tend to secrete him from +sight. It feeds entirely on small insects, which it seeks between the +crevices in the bark of trees, or under the mosses and lichens that +invest their limbs. In these pursuits its actions are more like those of +a mouse than of a bird, darting like a great moth from tree to tree, +uttering a faint trilling sound as it fixes on their boles, running +round them in a spiral direction, when with repeated wriggles having +gained the summit, it darts to another, and commences again; and so +intent is it on the object of pursuit, and unsuspicious of harm, that I +have seen it swept from the tree with a stick. Mr. Pennant thinks that +it retires into milder regions upon the advance of winter; but many +certainly remain with us. In the early part of the spring, when food is +comparatively scarce in the woods, it will frequent the mossy trees in +our orchards and gardens; but after a very short examination of them, is +away to its usual retirements, seeking no familiarity with us, +notwithstanding the social epithet it has obtained. This little creature +is observed in no great numbers; yet its actions and manners seem to be +such as would tend to its increase. The female lays eight or nine eggs; +it roosts securely in the holes of large trees; and from its manner of +feeding, and the places it inhabits, it can scarcely be destroyed by +birds of prey; yet, from some counteracting cause, our little certhia, +instead of increasing, apparently becomes a scarcer bird. The limits +that are appointed to the increase of all the inferior orders of +creation are very worthy of remark. There may be periods when a great +augmentation of individual species takes place; but this circumstance is +local, or temporary, and future numbers do not result from it. Some +motive for the increase, no doubt, existed; but, the object being +accomplished, it ceases, and apparent events, or imperceptible causes, +reduce the profusion of the race, so that certain numbers only continue. +This little tree-creeper, though always active, seems to possess most +animation and restlessness in the autumnal months. + +The yellow wagtail (motacilla flava) is so regularly seen with us in his +season, as to be quite a common bird, breeding in our fields; yet +generally observed as he is, he always invites our attention, by his +graceful form and brilliant plumage, either actively running in our +path, or sporting in the pastures with that animation and ease so +remarkable in all this family, that we may justly distinguish them as +the gentles of our fields. With manners and habits similar to the common +gray ones, yet there seems to be but little intimate association between +the species; and though they are occasionally intermixed, we most +commonly observe them feeding by themselves and frolicking with their +own particular race. In autumn, when their broods are united with them, +they assemble in large parties towards the evening preparatory to their +nightly roost, selecting low spreading bushes hanging over the pool, or +as near the water as they can, and thus become secured from capture by +nocturnal vermin. Being in full beauty at this time, the fine yellow +breasts of the male birds render them very conspicuous as they glance +about the dry bents of the pasture. Autumn advancing, we lose these +flights; but now and then a single bird will appear in one of those +occasional bright sunny days that even winter will produce, looking like +some deserted straggler who has lost its passage, or from some other +cause remaining with us, chasing the gnat on the margin of the sheltered +pool, and then, when the sunny ray passes away, he departs with it, is +hidden we know not where, supported by means we are not acquainted with, +till another partial gleam allures him from retirement. In April, the +flights once more appear with all the fine feather and freshness of +autumnal birds, running about the furrows in arable fields, and catching +the insects disturbed by the plow in its progress. Soon building their +nest, and attending their families, they become bleached by the sun and +rain of the season, and remain shabby for weeks. Though they may follow +the course of the swallow and other migrating birds, yet their peculiar +manner of flight seems to preclude long-continued exertion; not sailing +and poising in air like the hirundines and others, but proceeding by +jerks, by risings and sinkings, which at every pause require muscular +action to set them in progress anew, which for any length of time could +hardly be continued. It is probable that their migrations are not very +remote. The mode of life assigned to these creatures requires great +activity of body; for living solely upon insects and winged animals, +they are constantly capturing or pursuing; and their length of tail, +which is perpetually in motion, seems to aid and balance the operations +of the body. In the evening, when the winged creatures are at rest, or, +from the state of the atmosphere, in repose, the wagtail resorts to the +pastures, feeding under the very bodies and noses of the cattle, who now +become the starters of his game, which, moving from the animal, are +captured by the bird. Being drowsy, and settling almost as soon as +disturbed, their prey would escape, was the wagtail less nimble in his +actions—for he does not appear to perceive the insect, except when it +moves. How differently formed is this bird and the gray flycatcher! +Though both are solely insectivorous, yet they secure their prey by very +distinct means, the latter seldom capturing on the ground or using his +legs in pursuit; the other uses actively his slender legs and extended +wings to aid him. The swallow race, again, feed unlike them both, and +haunting the pool, the stream, the mead, or the higher regions of the +air, which his fraternity possess as a peculiar domain, satisfy their +wants in peace, without collision or contention for the object. + +Admirably adapted to the requirements of each creature as their +dispositions and institutions are known to be, yet their peculiar modes +of dieting, or inclination for particular food, and formation of the +organs that digest it, should not be utterly unheeded, because by these +appointments of Omniscience, abundance is produced for every race of +created things in all places, without variance or unfitting exertions to +procure it. Could we unite into one district a human being from every +square mile upon the surface of the globe, unshackled by bigotry or the +tenets of any faith, they probably, without reluctance, having the +means, might feed upon and be nourished by one natural diet—we will say +the flesh of the ox, with potatoes or rice—but this is by no means the +case with the inferior animals. Most of them, having different +conformations and inclinations, are supported by variety of diet; by +which means every station and place is made an abode, and maintains its +inhabitants, for the “Creator hath opened his hand, and filled all +things living with plenteousness.” + +As a brief note, not a disquisition, upon the subject, is designed, we +will pass over the habits and dispositions of beasts and insects, +strongly charactered as they are, and only instance a few of our land +birds, as affording the most familiar instances; and we shall find that +it is not the genera only, but the individuals which compose them in +many instances, that are supported by different aliment. And first, +those birds which we denominate as Rapacious, such as falcons, hawks, +owls, live upon animal food which they capture, kill, and devour; +abstaining, unless stimulated by necessity, from creatures they may find +dead. Then come the pies: of these, the raven and crow likewise eat +animal food, but it is generally such as has been killed by violence or +ceased to exist, only in cases of want[54] killing for themselves. The +rook, the daw, the magpie, consume worms, grubs, and are not addicted, +except from hunger, to eating other animal matters. The two first feed +at times in society; the latter associates with neither, but feeds in +places remote from such as are frequented by them. The jay too eats +grubs and such things, but seeks them out under hedges, in coverts and +places which others of his kind abandon to him. The cuckoo seems +principally to live upon the eggs of birds with a few insects and larvæ +occasionally; the wryneck upon emmets, from heaps under hedges near +concealment—the woodpeckers upon insects found upon trees; and when they +seek for the emmet, they prefer the antheaps of commons and open +places;—the halcyon upon small fishes:—thus all these creatures, even +when they require similar aliment, diet at their separate boards. Of the +Gallinaceous birds, the wood-grouse is supported by the young shoots of +the pine in his forests; but the black and red grouse live upon berries +found on the moor, the seeds and tops of the heath; the partridge upon +seeds in the field, blades of grass or of corn; the pheasant upon mast, +acorns, berries from the hedge or the brake. The bustard is content to +live upon worms alone, found in early morning upon downs and wide +extended plains, where none dispute his right or compete with him, but +one species of plover. The doves make their principal meals in open +fields, upon green herbage and seeds. The stare again feeds upon worms +and insects, but in places remote from the bustard, nor does he contend +with the rook, or the daw, but takes his meat and is away. + +The Passerine birds, indeed, are remarkably dissimilar in their manner +of feeding. The missel-thrush will have berries from the mistletoe, or +seeks for insects and slugs in wild and open places, the heath or the +down. The song-thrush makes his meal from the snail on the bank, or worm +from the paddock; but the blackbird, though associating with him, leaves +the snails, contenting himself with worms from the hedge-side, or +berries from the brier or the bush. The fieldfare consumes worms in the +mead or haws from the hedge. The crossbill will have seeds from the +apple, or cone of the fir—the green-finch, seeds from the uplands, or +door of barn, or rick-yard. The bunting is peculiarly gifted with a bony +knob in the roof of his bill, upon which he breaks down the hard seeds +he is destined to feed upon. The bull-finch selects buds from trees and +bushes. The goldfinch is nurtured by thistle seeds, or those of other +syngenesious plants. Sparrows feed promiscuously. Linnets shell out +seeds from the cherlock, or the rape, or the furze on the common. One +lark will feed in the corn-fields, another in the mead, another in the +woodlands—one titmouse upon insects frequenting the alder and willow; +some upon those which are hidden under mosses, and lichens on large +trees; a third upon coleopterous creatures, secreted in the hedge-row +and the coppice. The gray wagtail finds food with us all the year; but +the yellow one must seek it in other regions. The nightingale diets upon +a peculiar grub, and when that is not found in the state he prefers, he +departs. The domestic swallow feeds round our houses, or in the meadow; +but the bank swallow never comes near us, chases his food beneath the +crag, and along the stream. The swift prefers the higher ranges of the +air, dieting upon the flies that mount into those regions. The goat- +sucker does not notice the creatures of the day, capturing the moths and +dorrs of the night. The wheatear feeds only upon such insects as he +finds upon fallow lands, the down or the heath; and thus almost every +individual might be characterized by some propensity of appetite, by +some mode or place of feeding; and hence individuals are found as +tenants of the homestead, the wild, the stream, the air, rock, down, and +grove—in every place finding plenty, and fulfilling their destination +without rivalry or contention: nor perhaps is there any race of +creatures that associates more innocently, or passes their lives more +free from bickering and strife, than these our land birds do, +persevering, from period to period, with undeviating habits and +propensities, manifesting an original appointment and fixed design of +Providence, whose bounteous table, wherever we look around, is spread +for all, and good things meted out to each by justice, weight, and +measure. + +I am neither inclined to seek after, nor desirous of detailing, the +little annoyances that these wildings of nature, in their hard struggles +for existence, may occasionally produce; being fully persuaded that the +petty injuries we sometimes sustain from birds are at others fully +compensated by their services. We too often, perhaps, notice the former, +while the latter are remote, or not obtrusive. I was this day (Jan. 25) +led to reflect upon the extensive injury that might be produced by the +agency of a very insignificant instrument, in observing the operations +of the common bunting (emberiza miliaris); a bird that seems to live +principally, if not entirely, upon seeds, and has its mandibles +constructed in a very peculiar manner, to aid this established +appointment of its life. In the winter season it will frequent the +stacks in the farm-yard, in company with others, to feed upon any corn +that may be found scattered about; but, little inclined to any +association with man, it prefers those situations which are most lonely +and distant from the village. It could hardly be supposed that this +bird, not larger than a lark, is capable of doing serious injury; yet I +this morning witnessed a rick of barley, standing in a detached field, +entirely stripped of its thatching, which this bunting effected by +seizing the end of the straw, and deliberately drawing it out, to search +for any grain the ear might yet contain; the base of the rick being +entirely surrounded by the straw, one end resting on the ground, the +other against the mow, as it slid down from the summit, and regularly +placed as if by the hand; and so completely was the thatching pulled +off, that the immediate removal of the corn became necessary. The +sparrow and other birds burrow into the stack, and pilfer the corn; but +the deliberate operation of unroofing the edifice appears to be the +habit of this bunting alone. + +Old simplicities, tokens of winds and weather, and the plain observances +of rural life, are everywhere waning fast to decay. Some of them may +have been fond conceits; but they accorded with the ordinary manners of +the common people, and marked times, seasons, and things, with +sufficient truth for those who had faith in them. Little as we retain of +these obsolete fancies, we have not quite abandoned them all; and there +are yet found among our peasants, a few who mark the blooming of the +large white lily (lilium candidum), and think that the number of its +blossoms on a stem will indicate the price of wheat by the bushel for +the ensuing year, each blossom equivalent to a shilling. We expect a +sunny day, too, when the pimpernel (anagallis arvensis) fully expands +its blossoms; a dubious, or a moist one, when they are closed. In this +belief, however, we have the sanction of some antiquity to support us; +Sir F. Bacon records it; Gerarde notes it as a common opinion +entertained by country people above two centuries ago; and I must not +withhold my own faith in its veracity, but say that I believe this +pretty little flower to afford more certain indication of dryness or +moisture in the air, than any of our hygrometers do. But if these be +fallible criterions, we will notice another, that seldom deceives us. +The approach of a sleety snow-storm, following a deceitful gleam in +spring, is always announced to us by the loud untuneful voice of the +missel-thrush (turdus viscivorus), as it takes its stand on some tall +tree, like an enchanter calling up the gale. It seems to have no song, +no voice, but this harsh predictive note; and it in great measure ceases +with the storms of spring. We hear it occasionally in autumn, but its +voice is not then the prognostic of any change of weather. The missel- +thrush is a wild and wary bird, keeping generally in open fields and +commons, heaths, and unfrequented places, feeding upon worms and +insects. In severe weather it approaches our plantations and +shrubberies, to feed on the berry of the mistletoe, the ivy, or the +scarlet fruit of the holly or the yew; and should the redwing or the +fieldfare presume to partake of these with it, we are sure to hear its +voice in clattering and contention with the intruders, until it drives +them from the place, though it watches and attends, notwithstanding, to +its own safety. In April it begins to prepare its nest. This is large +and so openly placed, as would, if built in the copse, infallibly expose +it to the plunder of the magpie and the crow, which at this season prey +upon the eggs of every nest they can find. To avoid this evil, it +resorts to our gardens and our orchards, seeking protection from man, +near whose haunts those rapacious plunderers are careful of approaching; +yet they will at times attempt to seize upon its eggs even there, when +the thrush attacks them and drives them away with a hawklike fury; and +the noisy warfare of the contending parties occasionally draws our +attention to them. The call of the young birds to their parents for food +is unusually disagreeable, and reminds us of the croak of a frog. The +brood being reared, it becomes again a shy and wild creature, abandons +our homesteads, and returns to its solitudes and heaths. + +The extraordinary change of character which many creatures exhibit, from +timidity to boldness and rage, from stupidity to art and stratagem, for +the preservation of a helpless offspring, seems to be an established +ordination of Providence, actuating in various degrees most of the races +of animated beings; and we have few examples of this influencing +principle more obvious than this of the missel bird, in which a creature +addicted to solitude and shyness will abandon its haunts, and associate +with those it fears, to preserve its offspring from an enemy more +merciless and predaceous still. The love of offspring, one of the +strongest impressions given to created beings, and inseparable from +their nature, is ordained by the Almighty as the means of preservation +under helplessness and want. Dependent, totally dependent as is the +creature, for every thing that can contribute to existence and support, +upon the great Creator of all things, so are new-born feebleness and +blindness dependent upon the parent that produced them; and to the +latter is given intensity of love, to overbalance the privations and +sufferings required from it. This love, that changes the nature of the +timid and gentle to boldness and fury, exposes the parent to injury and +death, from which its wiles and cautions do not always secure it; and in +man the avarice of possession will at times subdue his merciful and +better feelings. Beautifully imbued with celestial justice and humanity +as all the ordinations which the Israelites received in the wilderness +were, there is nothing more impressive, nothing more accordant with the +divinity of our nature, than the particular injunctions which were given +in respect to showing mercy to the maternal creature cherishing its +young, when by reason of its parental regard it might be placed in +danger. The eggs, the offspring, were allowed to be taken; but “thou +shalt in anywise let the dam go;” “thou shalt not, in one day, kill both +an ewe and her young.” The ardent affection, the tenderness, with which +I have filled the parent, is in no way to lead to its injury or +destruction: and this is enforced, not by command only, not by the +threat of punishment and privation, but by the assurance of temporal +reward, by promise of the greatest blessings that can be found on earth, +length of days and prosperity. + +The jack snipe (scolopax gallinula) is with us here, as I have always +known it, a transitory visitor in the winter only—a solitary, unsocial +bird—an anchorite from choice. With the exception of our birds of prey, +the manner of whose existing requires it, and a few others, all the +feathered tribe seem to have a general tendency towards association, +either in flocks, family parties, or pairs; but the individuals of this +species pass a large portion of their lives retired and alone, two of +them being rarely, or perhaps never, found in company, except in the +breeding season. They are supposed to pair and raise their young in the +deep marshy tracts or reedy districts of the fen counties, which afford +concealment from every prying eye, and safety from all common injuries. +Driven by the frosts of winter from these watery tracts, their summer’s +covert, they separate, and seek for food in more favored situations, +preferring a little, lonely, open spring, trickling from the side of a +hill, tangled with grass and foliage, or some shallow, rushy streamlet +in a retired valley. Having fixed on such a place, they seldom abandon +it long, or quit it for another; and though roused from it, and fired at +repeatedly through the day, neither the noise nor any sense of danger +seems to alarm them; and, if we should seek for the little judcock on an +ensuing morning, we find it at its spring again. The indifference with +which it endures this daily persecution is amazing. It will afford +amusement or vexation to the young sportsman throughout the whole +Christmas vacation; and, from the smallness of its body, will finally +often escape from all its diurnal dangers. The rail, and several other +birds, confide for safety more in their legs than their wings, when +disturbed; but this snipe makes little use of its feet, and takes to its +wings with such reluctance, from an apparent indolence of disposition, +that, could it be seen in the rushes, or tufts of herbage, where it +hides, it might be captured by the hand. It leaves us early in the +spring. Fond of concealment as this little bird usually is, yet there +are times when it is infinitely less so than at others; and, I think, +upon the relenting of a frost, or when there is a tendency to a thaw, it +shows unusual alacrity, springs from its rushy drain almost as readily +as the common snipe, and occasions, for the moment, a doubt of the +species. The mandible of this species is of a weak and spongy nature. + +The causes that influence this snipe to lead so solitary a life are +particularly obscure, as well as those which stimulate some others to +congregate, as we comprehend no individual benefit to arise from such +habits. Wild fowl, the rook, and some other birds, derive security, +perhaps, from feeding in society, as a sentinel appears to be placed by +them at such times to give notice of danger; but our congregating small +birds take no such precaution: security or mutual protection does not +seem to be obtained by it, as the largeness of the flocks invites +danger, and warmth in the winter season it does not afford. For the +purposes of migration, such associations are in many respects +serviceable and consistent; but in our resident species, considered in +its various results, it becomes rather a subject of conjecture, than of +explanation. Timid creatures associate commonly upon the apprehension of +danger, and, without yielding any mutual support, become only the more +obnoxious to evil; and this snipe, though its habits are the very +reverse of connexion with its species, yet affords no clue to direct us +to the causes of its unusual habits. These associations of some, and +retirement of others, are not the capricious actions of an hour in a few +individuals, but so regularly and annually observed in the several +species, that they are manifestly appointed provisions of nature, though +the object is unknown. This half-snipe, as our sportsmen call it, has +rather generally been considered by our young shooters as the male of +the larger species, or common snipe (scolopax gallinago); yet it is +difficult to assign any reason for the prevalence of such an idea, with +those who have had many opportunities of observing the dissimilarity in +the mode of life, the manners, and plumage of the birds. I know not any +bird that lays so large an egg, in proportion to its size, as the snipe. + +A few pairs of the peewit (tringa vanellus) visit annually some of our +larger plowed fields to breed; but they are so frequently disturbed by +those necessary processes of husbandry, hoeing and weeding, that they +seldom succeed in the object of their visit. On our adjoining heath they +escape better, and bring off many of their young: but the larger portion +of them keep their station on the banks and dikes of the great drains +and sewers in the marsh lands; and the traveller, who happens, in the +spring of the year, to pass along any of the roads bordering upon these +haunts, where many pairs are settled, will long remember the wearying +and incessant clamor of these birds, which, rising as he approaches, +wheel about him in an awkward, tumbling flight, accompanied by the +unremitting, querulous cry of “peewit, peewit,” continued by the +perseverance of successive pairs, as long as he remains near their +habitation; which generally being a flat, aguish, uninteresting country, +where little is heard but the whispering of the wind in the reeds and +sedges, the teasing monotony of this bird gives a very peculiarly dreary +and melancholy character to parts of our lowland roads. In some counties +these cold, wet districts go by the name of “peewit or pewety lands.” At +this period of the year, the bird is bold and fearless, and menaces the +intruder with all its vociferous powers, when he approaches its haunts; +but the broods being fledged, the families unite, form large flocks, and +retire to open meadows, uninclosed commons and downs, feeding on slugs +and worms, and become wild and vigilant creatures. It is well known that +the glareous liquor or white of the egg of this bird, upon being boiled, +becomes gelatinous and translucent, not a thick opake substance like +that of the hen; a circumstance that is likewise observable in the eggs +of the rook, and of many of our small birds. The latter are not +sufferers by it; but the eggs of the poor rook, though bearing little +resemblance to those of this plover, are in some places not uncommonly +taken and sold conjointly with them in the London market; and probably +the habitual eater of them only can distinguish a sensible difference. + +Prognostications and signs, a great amusement, and the ground-work of +belief to our forefathers, have, in general, pretty much declined with +us; the repeated falsity of most of them having destroyed their +reputation. We know so little, if any thing, of the actuating causes of +seasons and their change, or the combinations effecting results, that no +safe conclusion can be formed of any present events influencing the +future. Whatever our almanacs may do, few persons of credit will venture +now to predict, from what we call natural causes, a hot summer, or a +severe winter; yet that very ancient idea, amongst country people, that +“years of store of haws and heps do commonly portend cold winters,” +still lingers with us. However warmly we assent to the fundamental +truth, the merciful consideration of Providence, in providing food for +the necessities of the little fowls of the air, which, perhaps, piously +gave rise to the observation, almost every year proves, that any +conclusions drawn from these “stores of haws and heps” are perfectly +fallacious. The birds that feed chiefly upon the fruit of the white +thorn, and the wild rose, are the fieldfare (turdus pilaris), and the +redwing (turdus iliacus); and that they do so, every sportsman has had +the most manifest conviction: yet it has been said recently, that these +creatures do not eat these fruits; and said too by an eminent and +amiable man, with whom I have frequently had the honor of conversing, +and always with profit.[55] Were he living, his love of science would +encourage my observations, though not in unison with his opinion: my +breath shall not agitate his ashes, nor will his spirit, I am certain, +frown in anger at my lines. It must be premised, that these birds, +generally speaking, give the preference to insect food and worms; and +when flights of them have taken their station near the banks of large +rivers, margined by lowlands, we shall find, that the bulk of them will +remain there, and feed in those places; and, in the uplands, we shall +observe small restless parties only. But in the midland and some other +counties, the flocks that are resident have not always these meadows to +resort to, and they then feed on the haws as long as they remain. In +this county, the extensive lowlands of the river Severn in open weather +are visited by prodigious flocks of these birds; but as soon as snow +falls, or hard weather comes on, they leave these marshy lands, because +their insect food is covered or become scarce, visit the uplands, to +feed on the produce of the hedges, and we see them all day long passing +over our heads in large flights on some distant progress, in the same +manner as our larks, at the commencement of a snowy season, repair to +the turnip fields of Somerset and Wiltshire. They remain absent during +the continuance of those causes which incited their migration; but, as +the frost breaks up, and even before the thaw has actually commenced, we +see a large portion of these passengers returning to their worm and +insect food in the meadows, attended probably by many that did not take +flight with them—though a great number remain in the upland pastures, +feeding promiscuously as they can. In my younger days, a keen, unwearied +sportsman, it was always observable, that in hard weather these birds +increased prodigiously in number in the counties far distant from the +meadow lands, though we knew not the reason; and we usually against this +time provided tempting bushes of haws, preserved in a barn, to place in +frequented hedges, near our secret standings. When the fieldfare first +arrives, its flesh is dark, thin, and scurfy; but, having fed a little +time in the hedges, its rump and side veins are covered with fat. This +is, in part, attributable to suppression of perspiration by the cold, +and partly to a nutritive farinaceous food; its flesh at the time +becoming bluish and clean. The upland birds are in this state, from +perhaps the end of November till the end of January, according as the +hedge fruit has held out; and at this period they are comparatively +tame: afterward, though the flights may be large, they become wild; and +the flesh, assuming its darkness, manifests that their food has not been +farinaceous. The distant foreign migrations, which have been stated to +take place from the meadows of the Severn, I believe to be only these +inland trips; and that the supposed migrators returned to those stations +fat and in good condition, owing to their having fed during their +absence on the nutricious berry of the white thorn. I have several times +seen the fruit on our hedges refused by these birds, and this too in no +very temperate season; but in all these cases, the summer had been +ungenial—the berries had not ripened well, they were nipped by the +frosts of October, and hung on the sprays dark in color, small, and +juiceless in substance. The summer of 1825 produced the finest and +largest haws I ever remember. They were in general of a bright red hue, +and filled with farinaceous pulp; and in consequence, though the season +was uncommonly mild and open, long before Christmas, little wandering +parties of these birds consumed the whole of them. + +Perfectly gregarious as the fieldfare is, yet we observe every year, in +some tall hedge-row, or little, quiet pasture, two or three of them that +have withdrawn from the main flocks, and there associate with the +blackbird and the thrush. They do not appear to be wounded birds, which +from necessity have sought concealment and quiet, but to have retired +from inclination; and I have reason to apprehend that these retreats are +occasionally made for the purpose of forming nests, though they are +afterwards abandoned without incubation; as I have now before me the egg +of a bird, which I believe to be that of a fieldfare, taken from a nest +somewhat like that formed by the song-thrush, in 1824. Its color is +uniform—a rather pale blue; it is larger than that of the thrush, obtuse +at both ends, and unlike any egg produced by our known British birds. +These retiring birds linger with us late in the season, after all the +main flights are departed, as if reluctant to leave us; but towards the +middle or end of April these stragglers unite, form a small company, and +take their flight. + +Rural sounds, the voices, the language of the wild creatures, as heard +by the naturalist, belong to, and are in concord with the country only. +Our sight, our smell, may perhaps be deceived for an interval by +conservatories, horticultural arts, and bowers of sweets; but our +hearing can in no way be beguiled by any semblance of what is heard in +the grove or the field. The hum, the murmur, the medley of the mead, is +peculiarly its own, admits of no imitation, and the voices of our birds +convey particular intimation, and distinctly notify the various periods +of the year, with an accuracy as certain as they are detailed in our +calendars. The season of spring is always announced as approaching by +the notes of the rookery, by the jangle or wooing accents of the dark +frequenters of its trees; and that time having passed away, these +contentions and cadences are no longer heard. The cuckoo then comes, and +informs us that spring has arrived; that he has journeyed to us, borne +by gentle gales in sunny days; that fragrant flowers are in the copse +and the mead, and all things telling of gratulation and of joy: the +children mark this well-known sound, spring out, and cuckoo! cuckoo! as +they gambol down the lane: the very plow-boy bids him welcome in the +early morn. It is hardly spring without the cuckoo’s song; and having +told his tale, he has voice for no more—is silent or away. Then comes +the dark, swift-winged marten, glancing through the air, that seems +afraid to visit our uncertain clime: he comes, though late, and hurries +through his business here, eager again to depart, all day long in +agitation and precipitate flight. The bland zephyrs of the spring have +no charms with them; but basking and careering in the sultry gleams of +June and July, they associate in throngs, and, screaming, dash round the +steeple or the ruined tower, to serenade their nesting mates; and glare +and heat are in their train. When the fervor of summer ceases, this bird +of the sun will depart. The evening robin from the summit of some +leafless bough, or projecting point, tells us that autumn is come, and +brings matured fruits, chilly airs, and sober hours, and he, the lonely +minstrel now that sings, is understood by all. These four birds thus +indicate a separate season, have no interference with the intelligence +of the other, nor could they be transposed without the loss of all the +meaning they convey, which no contrivance of art could, supply; and, by +long association, they have become identified with the period, and in +peculiar accordance with the time. + +We note birds in general more from their voices than their plumage; for +the carols of spring may be heard involuntarily, but to observe the form +and decoration of these creatures, requires an attention not always +given. Yet we have some native birds beautifully and conspicuously +feathered; the goldfinch, the chaffinch, the wagtails, are all eminently +adorned, and the fine gradations of sober browns in several others are +very pleasing. Those sweet sounds, called the song of birds, proceed +only from the male; and, with a few exceptions, only during the season +of incubation. Hence the comparative quietness of our summer months, +when this care is over, except from accidental causes, where a second +nest is formed; few of our birds bringing up more than one brood in the +season. The redbreast, blackbird, and thrush, in mild winters will +continually be heard, and form exceptions to the general procedure of +our British birds; and we have one little bird, the woodlark (alunda +arborea), that in the early parts of the autumnal months delights us +with its harmony, and its carols may be heard in the air commonly during +the calm sunny mornings of this season. They have a softness and +quietness perfectly in unison with the sober, almost melancholy, +stillness of the hour. The sky-lark[56] also sings now, and its song is +very sweet, full of harmony, cheerful as the blue sky and gladdening +beam in which it circles and sports, and known and admired by all; but +the voice of the woodlark is local, not so generally heard, from its +softness must almost be listened for, to be distinguished, and has not +any pretensions to the hilarity of the former. This little bird sings +likewise in the spring; but, at that season, the contending songsters of +the grove, and the variety of sound proceeding from every thing that has +utterance, confuse and almost render inaudible the placid voice of the +woodlark. It delights to fix its residence near little groves and +copses, or quiet pastures, and is a very unobtrusive bird, not uniting +in companies, but associating in its own little family parties only, +feeding in the woodlands on seeds and insects. Upon the approach of man +it crouches close to the ground, then suddenly darts away, as if for a +distant flight, but settles again almost immediately. This lark will +often continue its song, circle in the air, a scarcely visible speck, by +the hour together; and the vast distance from which its voice reaches us +in a calm day is almost incredible. In the scale of comparison, it +stands immediately below the nightingale in melody and plaintiveness; +but compass of voice is given to the linnet, a bird of very inferior +powers. The strength of the larynx and of the muscles of the throat in +birds is infinitely greater than in the human race. The loudest shout of +the peasant is but a feeble cry, compared with that of the golden-eyed +duck, the wild goose, or even this lark. The sweet song of this poor +little bird, with a fate like that of the nightingale, renders it an +object of capture and confinement, which few of them comparatively +survive. I have known our country bird-catchers take them by a very +simple but effectual method. Watching them to the ground, the wings of a +hawk, or of the brown owl, stretched out, are drawn against the current +of air by a string as a paper kite, and made to flutter and librate like +a kestrel over the place where the woodlark has lodged; which so +intimidates the bird that it remains crouching and motionless as a stone +on the ground; a hand-net is brought over it, and it is caught. + +From various little scraps of intelligence scattered through the sacred +and ancient writings, it appears certain, as it was reasonable to +conclude, that the notes now used by birds, and the voices of animals, +are the same as uttered by their earliest progenitors. The language of +man, without any reference to the confusion accomplished at Babel, has +been broken into innumerable dialects, created or compounded as his +wants occurred, or his ideas prompted; or obtained by intercourse with +others, as mental enlargement or novelty necessitated new words to +express new sentiments. Could we find a people from Japan or the Pole, +whose progress in mind has been stationary, without increase of idea, +from national prejudice or impossibility of communication with others, +we probably should find little or no alteration in the original language +of that people; so, by analogy of reasoning, the animal having no idea +to prompt, no new want to express, no converse with others, (for a note +caught and uttered merely is like a boy mocking the cuckoo,) so no new +language is acquired. With civilized man, every thing is progressive; +with animals, where there is no mind, all is stationary. Even the voice +of one species of birds, except in particular cases, seems not to be +attended to by another species. That peculiar call of the female cuckoo, +which assembles so many contending lovers, and all the various amatorial +and caressing language of others, excites no influence generally, that I +am aware of; with all but the individual species, it is a dialect +unknown. I know but one note, which animals make use of, that seems of +universal comprehension, and this is the signal of danger. The instant +that it is uttered, we hear the whole flock, though composed of various +species, repeat a separate moan, and away they all scuttle into the +bushes for safety. The reiterated “twink, twink” of the chaffinch, is +known by every little bird as information of some prowling cat or +weasel. Some give the maternal hush to their young, and mount to inquire +into the jeopardy announced. The wren, that tells of perils from the +hedge, soon collects about her all the various inquisitive species +within hearing, to survey and ascertain the object, and add their +separate fears. The swallow, that shrieking darts in devious flight +through the air when a hawk appears, not only calls up all the +hirundines of the village, but is instantly understood by every finch +and sparrow, and its warning attended to. As Nature, in all her +ordinations, had a fixed design and foreknowledge, it may be that each +species had a separate voice assigned it, that each might continue as +created, distinct and unmixed: and the very few deviations and +admixtures that have taken place, considering the lapse of time, +association, and opportunity, united with the prohibition of continuing +accidental deviations, are very remarkable, and indicate a cause and +original motive. That some of the notes of birds are as language +designed to convey a meaning, is obvious from the very different sounds +uttered by these creatures at particular periods: the spring voices +become changed as summer advances, and the requirements of the early +season have ceased; the summer excitements, monitions, informations, are +not needed in autumn, and the notes conveying such intelligences are no +longer heard. The periodical calls of animals, croaking of frogs, &c., +afford the same reasons for concluding that the sound of their voices by +elevation, depression, or modulation, conveys intelligence equivalent to +an uttered sentence. The voices of birds seem applicable in most +instances to the immediate necessities of their condition; such as the +sexual call, the invitation to unite when dispersed, the moan of danger, +the shriek of alarm, the notice of food. But there are other notes, the +designs and motives of which are not so obvious. One sex only is gifted +with the power of singing, for the purpose, as Buffon supposed, of +cheering his mate during the period of incubation; but this idea, +gallant as it is, has such slight foundation in probability, that it +needs no confutation: and after all, perhaps, we must conclude, that +listened to, admired, and pleasing, as the voices of many birds are, +either for their intrinsic melody, or from association, we are uncertain +what they express, or the object of their song. The singing of most +birds seems entirely a spontaneous effusion produced by no exertion, or +occasioning no lassitude in muscle, or relaxation of the parts of +action. In certain seasons and weather, the nightingale sings all day, +and most part of the night; and we never observe that the powers of song +are weaker, or that the notes become harsh and untunable, after all +these hours of practice. The song-thrush, in a mild moist April, will +commence his tune early in the morning, pipe unceasingly through the +day, yet, at the close of eve, when he retires to rest, there is no +obvious decay of his musical powers, or any sensible effort required to +continue his harmony to the last. Birds of one species sing in general +very like each other, with different degrees of execution. Some counties +may produce finer songsters, but without great variation in the notes. +In the thrush, however, it is remarkable, that there seem to be no +regular notes, each individual piping a voluntary of his own. Their +voices may always be distinguished amid the choristers of the copse, yet +some one performer will more particularly engage attention by a peculiar +modulation or tune; and should several stations of these birds be +visited in the same morning, few or none probably will be found to +preserve the same round of notes; whatever is uttered seeming the +effusion of the moment. At times a strain will break out perfectly +unlike any preceding utterance, and we may wait a long time without +noticing any repetition of it. During one spring an individual song- +thrush, frequenting a favorite copse, after a certain round of tune, +trilled out most regularly some notes that conveyed so clearly the +words, lady-bird! lady-bird! that every one remarked the resemblance. He +survived the winter, and in the ensuing season the lady-bird! lady-bird! +was still the burden of our evening song; it then ceased, and we never +heard this pretty modulation more. Though merely an occasional strain, +yet I have noticed it elsewhere—it thus appearing to be a favorite +utterance. Harsh, strained, and tense, as the notes of this bird are, +yet they are pleasing from their variety. The voice of the blackbird is +infinitely more mellow, but has much less variety, compass, or +execution; and he too commences his carols with the morning light, +persevering from hour to hour without effort, or any sensible faltering +of voice. The cuckoo wearies us throughout some long May morning with +the unceasing monotony of its song; and, though there are others as +vociferous, yet it is the only bird I know that seems to suffer from the +use of the organs of voice. Little exertion as the few notes it makes +use of seem to require, yet, by the middle or end of June, it loses its +utterance, becomes hoarse, and ceases from any further essay of it. The +croaking of the nightingale in June, or the end of May, is not +apparently occasioned by the loss of voice, but a change of note, a +change of object; his song ceases when his mate has hatched her brood; +vigilance, anxiety, caution, now succeed to harmony, and his croak is +the hush, the warning of danger or suspicion to the infant charge and +the mother bird. + +But here I must close my notes of birds, lest their actions and their +ways, so various and so pleasing, should lure me on to protract + + “My tedious tale through many a page;” + +for I have always been an admirer of these elegant creatures, their +notes, their nests, their eggs, and all the economy of their lives; nor +have we, throughout the orders of creation, any beings that so +continually engage our attention as these our feathered companions. +Winter takes from us all the gay world of the meads, the sylphs that +hover over our flowers, that steal our sweets, that creep, or gently +wing their way in glittering splendor around us; and of all the +miraculous creatures that sported their hour in the sunny beam, the +winter gnat[57] (tipula hiemalis) alone remains to frolic in some rare +and partial gleam. The myriads of the pool are dormant, or hidden from +our sight; the quadrupeds, few and wary, veil their actions in the +glooms of night, and we see little of them; but birds are with us +always, they give a character to spring, and are identified with it; +they enchant and amuse us all summer long with their sports, animation, +hilarity, and glee; they cluster round us, suppliant in the winter of +our year, and, unrepining through cold and want, seek their scanty meal +amidst the refuse of the barn, the stalls of the cattle, or at the doors +of our house; or, flitting hungry from one denuded and bare spray to +another, excite our pity and regard; their lives are patterns of gaiety, +cleanliness, alacrity, and joy. + +There are very many subjects and employments of mankind, which, if we +would obtain a competent knowledge of them, will require an almost +undivided attention; yet, after all our “rising early and late taking +rest,” we shall know too little to be weighed in competition with what +is beyond our attainment or comprehension. As in ascending mountainous +regions we may reach the summit of one hill with comparative ease, that +of a higher with more laborious efforts, and a still higher is attained +by a gifted few, beyond which our breath fails us, our natural powers +become inadequate; so a small number may ascend the Alps of science, but +pant, unable to attain the Himmala ranges of their wishes. If +proficiency be the object, all the branches of natural history require +undivided attention; but amusement, admiration, and intelligence, may be +obtained by even superficial observation; and of all these departments, +perhaps entomology, or the investigation of the insect world, from the +variety it embraces, the season, the subjects, and the vigilance +necessary to catch every momentary action, requires from its followers +an homage more absolute, an attention more devoted, than most others. +Amid those few branches of science on which I have sought for blossoms, +that of entomology I have least investigated; yet, perhaps it may be +said, that such slight notices as the foregoing need not have usurped +the time that the study of this department required. To this truth I +cannot but assent, and say with the eminent man, whose “Centuries of +Experiments” I have often quoted, that they are indeed more the +suggestions of “light than of fruit;” proficiency was beyond my powers; +I have sought for amusement, and gratefully record the many peaceful +hours, and oblivion of pain, which the perusal of nature’s volume gave +me, superficial as that perusal was. + +On whatever side we turn our attention in this world of wonders by which +we are surrounded, we constantly find some subject that calls forth our +admiration; and, as far as our very imperfect vision is permitted to +penetrate, we observe the same unremitting order and provision for a +seemingly mean and worthless purpose, as is bestowed upon a higher and +apparently more worthy object. We consider insects as one of the lower +orders of creation, but are as perfectly unacquainted, generally +speaking, with the objects of their being, though they have for ages +crawled and winged their way around us, as the first man Adam was; yet +there is a care manifested for the preservation and accommodation of +these, which we often designate as contemptible creatures, that is most +elaborate and wonderful. The forethought with which many of them have +been furnished to deposit their eggs in safety from the contingencies of +seasons and hostile incidents, and precisely in the situation most +fitting, must call forth the admiration of all who have observed it. +Some of these are lodged in summer and autumn deep in the earth, on that +part of a plant which in due time is to be raised up, constituting a +stalk or blade, bearing with it by gentle steps these eggs, to be +vivified by the summer’s air and warmth. Others fix them on some portion +of an herb hidden beneath the mud in the pool; and this being elevated +by the warmth of spring, conveys them with its growth above the element +that protected them, and they hatch, the infants feeding on the +substance that has borne them to the air. In their chrysalis state, a +cradle of preparation for a final change, the same wisdom and care are +more particularly obvious from their size and frequent occurrence: but +to enlarge sufficiently upon the contrivances and manifestations of +regard brought to our observance in all the stages of an insect’s life, +would almost require a detail of the race. + +A particularly curious covering for a moth, or butterfly, (phalæna +pavonia?) fell into my hands, which might be well known to a more +experienced entomologist, but was new to me. The species I do not know, +as it never arrived at perfection. This case was formed of the fine +silky substance that wraps up so many of the race. The summit for some +cause was less closed than usual; but to obviate any injury to the +creature from this circumstance, a conical hood of similar materials was +placed over the exposed part of the aurelia, through which it received +air in perfect security. This veil being formed of elastic threads, and +opening upon pressure, would constitute no impediment to the escape of +the fly when perfected. More care and forethought than these +contrivances manifest, we are not acquainted with for any order of +beings. I conjecture it would have produced the emperor moth. + +June 16.—I this day captured in a neighboring meadow a fine specimen of +the four-spotted dragon-fly (libellula quadrimaculata), and note this +for my entomological friends; being the first certain instance I am +acquainted with of its being taken in England of late years, for Ray +mentions it. Another, I believe, escaped by its shyness. It is a +handsome creature, about three inches in breadth between the extremities +of its wings. The two dark linear marks on the upper margin of each +wing, and tapering downy body, distinguish this fly from any other. I +can add nothing regarding its history or manners. + +The ghost moth[58] (hepialus humuli) is commonly seen here, as I believe +it to be in most other places, but is mentioned to point out to any +young person unacquainted with this insect its singular habit when on +the wing, which at once distinguishes it from any other moth. The larva +which produces this creature is hidden in the ground during the season +of winter; the fly being formed in the month of May, and soon rising +from the soil, then commences its short career. At this time one or more +of them may frequently be observed under some hedge in a mead, or some +low place in a damp pasture, only a few feet from the ground, +persevering for a length of time together in a very irregular flight, +rising, and falling, and balancing about in a space not exceeding a few +yards in circumference, an action not observable in any other, and fully +indicating this moth. This procedure is not the meanless vagary of the +hour, but a frolicsome dance, the wooing of its mate, which lies +concealed in the herbage over which it sports. The two insects are +something similar in their general form, but very differently marked. +The male exhibitor is known by its four glossy, satiny, white wings, +bordered with buff; the lady reposer has her upper wings of a tawny +yellow, spotted and banded with deep brown. They are very inert +creatures, easily captured, and their existence appears to be of very +short duration, as we soon cease to observe them, either in action or at +rest. The male probably becomes the prey of every bird that feeds by +night; his color and his actions rendering him particularly obnoxious to +dangers of this nature, and the frequency with which we find his wings +scattered about, points out the cause of death to most of them. The bat +pursues with great avidity all those creatures that fly in the evening; +and by its actions it seems to meet with constant employment, and has +greater probability of success, than some insectivorous birds that feed +by day, as all the myriads which abound at this time are the sole prey +of itself and a few nocturnal ramblers. From this singular flight in the +twilight hour, haunting as it were one particular spot, the fancy of +some collector, considering it as a spectrelike action, named it the +“ghost moth.” + +[Illustration: + + _plate. 2._ _p. 192._ + + _Fig. 1. p. 191, 192._ + + _Fig. 2. p. 235, 236._ +] + +The fern owl,[59] but chiefly, I conjecture, the larger bats, are the +creatures that have caused me to experience at times both envy and +regret, when I have observed scattered in some woodland path, amidst the +fragments of their nightly banquet, the relics of such beautiful insects +as the emperor of the woods, the verdigris moth, and twenty other rare +insects, to be obtained only after the patience of years, or fortune of +the hour; and yet our merciless birds devour these choice dainties +without compunction or regard. This ghost moth discharges her eggs in a +very singular manner, and frequently immediately upon capture, not +deliberately protruding them, but dismissing them from the oviduct in +rapid succession, until it is exhausted, with a slight elastic force, +that conveys them clear from the abdomen. They are perfectly dry and +unadhesive. + +It requires more than usual delicate management to preserve an uninjured +specimen of the male of this species, as the slightest touch robs the +wings of the fine scaly plumage which is affixed to their film or +substance by an extreme point, as is the case with most others of our +moths, but in this instance so loosely, that a very gentle friction rubs +it off. The plumage which covers the wings and bodies of many of our +lepidopterous insects is variously colored, and like the feathers of +birds, gives them their splendor: in the butterflies I have not observed +it to vary greatly in form, but in the moths the same uniformity does +not appear to be maintained, as a few specimens will manifest:— + +[Illustration: + + No. 1. Scales from wings of phalæna pronuba—yellow under-wing. 2. + Ghost moth. 3. Phalæna bucephala—buff tip. 4. Ph. vinula—puss moth. + 5. Ph. potatoria, a, the female—drinker moth. 6. Papilio + brassicæ—great white. 7. Pap. Napi—green-veined butterflies. 8. + Large brown moth (name omitted). 9. Acherontia atropos—death’s head. +] + +But the variety of clothing with which insects are decorated, is most +admirable and curious! The upper and the under vestiture of the wings, +their fringes, that which covers the body in different parts, varies +greatly; the bird, splendidly habited as he sometimes is, frequently +will be found draped with less variety of form and color than the insect +which escapes our notice by his actions, and the power of our eyes by +the smallness of its parts. Our lepidopterous creatures seem to be most +characteristically framed and constituted for the different hours and +places in which they delight to move; so much so, that I think if we +were to invert the order of their appearance, the singular unfitness of +many of them for their stations would be immediately manifest to us. The +butterfly, light, airy, joyous, replete with life, sports in the +sunshine, wantons on the flower, and trips from bloom to bloom, gay as +the brilliant morn, and cheerful as the splendor of heaven: heat and +light appear to be the very principle of his being; in a cloudy or a +chilly atmosphere his energies become suspended, and, closing his wings, +reposes like a sickly thing upon some drooping flower: but let the cloud +disperse, the sun break out, he springs again to active life; +associating with the birds of day, and denizen of the same scenes, he +only seems of a less elevated order. But the moth, though possessing at +times sufficient activity for self-preservation, is less buoyant, less +sprightly on the wing, avoids the heat and light, the higher ranges of +the air, and seeks his mate or his food in the shelter of the hedge or +the ditch, amidst foliage and shade, where we may see him hovering +sedately around some flower, or passing on his way with quiet steady +flight, accordant with the silence and twilight of the hour: companion +of the owl and the bat, his grave actions are quite unsuitable to the +gaiety, the flutter of a summer’s sun; the former is emblematic of +levity and display, the latter of retirement and shade. And thus each, +though but slightly seen, is in admirable harmony with the season in +which it moves, manifesting the peculiar fitness of things to their +several stations in this vast world of wisdom; an observation obvious to +all, and a truth everywhere admitted, yet, as a Christian moralizer I +could not pass by unheeded any evidence of foresight and of power. + +Basking in the glare of an August or a July sun, in our pastures we see +the little elegant blue argus butterfly (papilio argus), noted and +admired by all, now warmed into active life. A few of our lepidopterous +creatures, especially the common white butterflies of our gardens, are +contentious animals, and drive away a rival from their haunts. We see +them progressively ascending into the air, in ardent unheeding contest; +and thus they are observed, captured, and consumed in a moment by some +watchful bird: but we have few more jealous and pugnacious than this +little argus. When fully animated, it will not suffer any of its tribe +to cross its path, or approach the flower on which it sits, with +impunity; even the large admiral (vanessa atalanta) at these times it +will assail and drive away. There is another small butterfly (papilio +phlæas), however, as handsome, and perhaps still more quarrelsome, +frequenting too the same station and flowers; and a constant warfare +exists between them. We shall see these diminutive creatures, whenever +they come near each other, dart into action, and continue buffeting one +another about till one retires from the contest; when the victor returns +in triumph to the station he had left. Should the enemy again advance, +the combat is renewed; but should a cloud obscure the sun, or a breeze +chill the air, their ardor becomes abated, and contention ceases. + +The papilio phlæas enjoys a combat even with its kindred. Two of them +are seldom disturbed, when basking on a knot of asters in September, +without mutual strife ensuing. Being less affected by cold and moisture +than the argus, they remain with us longer, and these contentions are +protracted till late in the autumn. The pugnacious disposition of the +argus butterfly soon deprives it of much of its beauty; and, unless +captured soon after its birth, we find the margins of its wings torn and +jagged, the elegant blue plumage rubbed from the wings, and the creature +become dark and shabby. + +This spring, 1827, fostered into active life an insect unknown in our +district, or at least unnoticed before by me; a pretty little blue +butterfly, for which I know no common appellation, and so have named it +the “spring azure,” (papilio argiolus). It appeared quite at the end of +April, and in some numbers, but was yet a transient visitor with us, as +after the first week in May only a lingering specimen or so was visible. +Few wild flowers are then in bloom; but, leaving all herbaceous plants, +it frequented chiefly the holly, the laurel, and the black currant, +feeding on the honey secreted by the nectaries in their blossoms. If +this butterfly be anywhere common, it may be mistaken by indifferent +observers for the little blue argus of our pastures; but it appears some +months earlier than that insect is accustomed to do; does not flit from +blossom to blossom, and bask upon the disks of the lowly herbs; and, +though a feebler creature on the wing, takes a much higher range in +flight, and sports in altitudes which the argus, with all its animation, +is very rarely inclined to attempt. When in captivity, the dark margins +of the upper wings, the black specks, not eyes, and the pale blue of the +reverse, without any other character, render it perfectly +distinguishable from the papilio argus, corydon, or any other butterfly +found with us. A small hatch again takes place about the end of July, +and this pretty insect haunts anew our currant bushes; but, enlivened by +the warmth of the season, it becomes more wild and wary, and avoids our +approach. + +The hummingbird hawk-moth (sphinx stellatarum) visits us annually, and +occasionally in some numbers, frisking about all the summer long, and in +very fine seasons continues with us as late as the second week in +October. The vigilance and animation of this creature are surprising, +and seem to equal those of its namesake, that splendid meteoric bird of +the tropics, “that winged thought,” as some one has called it; though +our plain and dusky insect can boast none of its glorious hues. Our +little sphinx appears chiefly in the mornings and evenings of the day, +rather avoiding the heat of the mid-day sun, possibly roused from its +rest by the scent, that “aromatic soul of flowers,” which is principally +exhaled at these periods; delighting in the jasmine, marvel of Peru, +phlox, and such tubular flowers; and it will even insert its long, +flexible tube into every petal of the carnation, to extract the honey- +like liquor it contains. It will visit our geraniums and green-house +plants, and, whisking over part of them with contemptuous celerity, +select some composite flower that takes its fancy, and examine every +tube with rapidity, hovering over its disk with quivering wings, while +its fine hawklike eyes survey all surrounding dangers. The least +movement alarms it, and it darts away with the speed of an arrow; yet +returns, and with suspicious vigilance continues its employ, feeding +always on the wing. Nature seems to have given this creature some +essential requisites for its safety; its activity, when on the wing, +renders its capture difficult; and when it rests, it is on a wall, the +bark of a tree, or some dusky body, that assimilates so nearly to its +own color, as to render it almost invisible, though watched to its +settlement; and the larva is seldom found. We sometimes see it enter our +rooms, attracted by flowers in the open windows; but it seems to be +immediately aware of its danger, disappears in an instant, and is safe +from capture. Wild and fearful as this creature is by nature, yet +continued gentle treatment will remove much of its timidity, and render +it familiar to our presence. Perfectly free from any annoyance as they +are when ranging from sweet to sweet on my borders, and accustomed to a +close inspection of all their operations, I have frequently touched +their wings with my fingers, while hovering over a flower, and dipping +their long tubes into the corolla of a geranium: they would retire a +little, confused with such freedoms and interruptions, but, experiencing +no harm, they would return and finish their meal, unmindful of such +petty annoyances. I have known this creature, like some other insects, +counterfeit death when apprehensive of danger, fall on its back, and +appear in all respects devoid of life when in a box; and, as soon as a +fit opportunity arrived, dart away with its usual celerity. + +On the blue heads of the pasture scabious (scabiosa succisa) we +occasionally see, toward the end of the summer, the painted lady +butterfly (papilio cardui); but this is a creature that visits us at +very uncertain periods, and is vivified by causes infinitely beyond the +comprehension of the entomologist, seeming to require a succession and +variety of seasons and their change, and then springing into life we +know not how. This was particularly obvious in the summer of 1815, and +the two following, which were almost unceasingly cold and rainy; +scarcely a moth or butterfly appeared. And in the early part of 1818, +the season was not less ungenial; a few half-animated creatures alone +struggled into being; yet this “painted lady” was fostered into life, +and became the commonest butterfly of the year: it has, however, but +very partially visited us since that period. The keenest entomologist, +perhaps, would not much lament the absence of this beauty, if such +cheerless seasons were always requisite to bring it to perfection. Some +years ago a quantity of earth was raised in cutting a canal in this +county; and, in the ensuing summer, on the herbage that sprang up from +this new soil on the bank, this butterfly was found in abundance, where +it had not been observed for many years before. + +The marble butterfly (papilio galathea) is an equally capricious +visitant of our fields. I have known intervals of ten or twelve years +when none could be found, and in some following seasons it would be a +prevailing species. + +The common wasp (vespa vulgaris) is infinitely uncertain in its numbers. +A mild winter, and a dry spring or summer, we might conclude to be +favorable circumstances for the increase of this creature; yet such is +not always the case. Years productive of the plum are said to be +congenial likewise to the wasp. A local rhyme will have it, that + + “When the plum hangs on the tree, + Then the wasp you’re sure to see.” + +Amid the tribes of insects so particularly influenced by seasons, there +are a few which appear little affected by common events; the brown +meadow butterfly (papilio janira), so well known to every one, I have +never missed in any year; and in those damp and cheerless summers, when +even the white cabbage butterfly is scarcely to be found, this creature +may be seen in every transient gleam, drying its wings, and tripping +from flower to flower with animation and life, nearly the sole possessor +of the field and its sweets. Dry and exhausting as the summer may be, +yet this dusky butterfly is uninjured by it, and we see it in profusion +hovering about the sapless foliage. In that arid summer of 1826, the +abundance of these creatures, and of the lady-bird (coccinella septem +punctata), was so obvious, as to be remarked by very indifferent +persons. + +There is a large yellow under-wing moth (phalæna pronuba), too, which is +generally abundant. It hides itself during the day in the thickest +foliage, and screens itself from the light in the moist grass crops of +the mead, where it is perpetually disturbed, and roused from its rest, +by the scythe of the mower. That elegant little bird, the yellow +wagtail, is a great destroyer of this insect. It is very soon apprized +of these movements, and will often attend the steps of the mower, +fearless of harm, to watch for its prey. As soon as the moth rises, it +is chased; and its exertions and shiftings to escape, and the activity +and perseverance of the bird to capture it, are very amusing. + +Our lepidopterous insects feed upon various substances in their several +states, and most of our butterflies, when perfected, appear to extract +the sweet liquor from the tubes or nectaries of plants, and many of our +moths obtain their nourishment by similar means: but one butterfly +alone, the admirable (v. Atalanta), and at times the peacock (v. Io), +feeds upon the juices of our autumnal fruits; and in the months of +September and October we may frequently see these beautiful creatures +basking and regaling themselves upon the rejected fragments of our wall +fruit. They seldom prey upon the growing produce, like the hornet, wasp, +and hive bee, but when it has fallen and advanced to a state of +fermentation, it becomes the most grateful to them. Nothing can be less +injurious than this propensity, and it seems that fruit in such a state +is requisite for them by some constitutional formation, as they appear +only at the termination of a season when the product of our trees is in +a state of great ripeness and decay. The life of this creature appears +to be remarkably short, and we have more certain means of ascertaining +its duration, than are afforded us for others of the race. It very +rarely appears until late in September, and then so perfect and fresh in +its plumage as to manifest its recent production from the chrysalis. In +some years they abound, and we may see twenty of these beautiful +creatures expanding and closing their brilliant wings under the fruit +trees on our walls, or basking upon the disk of some autumnal flower; +and at another, perhaps, hardly a specimen is to be obtained: nor do +they seem like the wasp to be scarce or abundant according to the +deficiency or plenty of the season, but influenced by other causes. Many +of our butterflies are produced by successive hatches, supplying the +places of those which have been destroyed, and hence it is difficult to +mark the duration of an individual; and others, as the nettle, peacock +and wood tortoise, in many instances survive the winter, hidden in some +recess or sheltered apartment, appearing in the spring time-worn and +shabby. But van. atalanta appears only in the autumn, not as a preserved +creature, but a recent production; and hence we can ascertain the period +of its life to be comprised only between those few days that intervene +from the end of September to the end of October, by which time its food +in our gardens has pretty well disappeared. Some sheltered wall, +garnished with the bloom of the ivy, may prolong its being a little +longer, but the cold and dampness of the season soon destroy it; +rendering the life of this creature, the most beautiful of our +lepidopterous tribes, of very brief duration. + +The gamma moth (phalæna gamma) is also another creature, that seems in +no way affected by moist seasons, which retard the appearance, or +apparently destroy so many others of its kind. This creature has +imprinted on its dark wings a white character, something like the letter +Y, but more like the small Greek gamma, and hence has received a +pertinent name. Like Cain, it bears with it, in all its wanderings, a +mark that distinguishes it from others of its race. Its habits also are +quite unlike those of other moths, as it feeds principally in the day- +time; and we see it late in the summer whisking about with all the +activity and action of the hummingbird sphinx. Like the latter it keeps +its wings, while feeding, in a constant state of vibration; haunts +clover-fields, and the yellow blossoms of the wild mustard, and the +heads of the pasture scabious. It seems little mindful of the common +frosts of October, retiring from us with such reluctance, that, should +the autumn be fine, we not uncommonly find it in some piece of +aftergrass, enjoying there the few flowers which linger out the +approaches of November. + +In the autumn of the year 1827, the larvæ of the goat moth (phalæna +cossus) abounded beyond any customary proportion, and we could commonly +see the traces made by these creatures in the dust. They had apparently +fed during the summer in the earth, and were now proceeding in search of +a retreat during winter to some old hedge-row tree, a part to repose, +and those which approached maturity, to abrade the softer wood, and form +their cases, preparatory to changing to a final perfect state in the +spring. At times we observed them coursing along our paths with great +strength and activity; and when not seen, that peculiar subtle smell, +which proceeds from them, and has been thought to resemble that of the +goat, was perceptible in all our walks. The object and seat of this odor +seem not well understood. Some have conjectured it to proceed from a +fluid evacuated from the mouth, and discharged to soften the wood in +which they burrow. But it seems inconsistent with any probability, that +this creature, which is furnished with such very powerful mandibles, +should be gifted with an auxiliary aid to accomplish its object; while +of the many insects that perforate timber, most of them with inferior +means, no other possesses an equivalent agent to facilitate its labors; +for not one of them, as far as we know, is so supplied. Besides, if such +were the purpose, the discharge would be made only when required, and +thus this unpleasant odor not always perceptible. The microscope too +does not manifest the exudation of any fluid. The larva is furnished +with eight curious retractile processes on its under side, in the manner +of what entomologists call the “prolegs.” These are encircled with +little hooks, made use of probably to remove the fragments of the wood, +when broken off by the mandibles above, and clear the passages. The +strength of these jaws is so great, that they will very soon destroy any +common chip box in which the animal may be placed, by abrading the +edges, to effect its escape. With us they chiefly inhabit the ash; and +we very commonly see at the roots of our aged trees the fragments +removed by them in forming their passages. In breaking up the decayed +pollards, we not unusually find the grub in all the stages of its +growth; but more generally observe them without inhabitants, yet +perforated with paths large enough to admit the finger. I suspect that +these “augerworms” are the primary cause of the decay of the tree; +having often observed their perforations, and found them, both large and +small, in the solid spur or root of the tree, when the upper portion, +having been bored and in a state of decline, is abandoned by them. Those +that are full fed appear to form their cases in that part which has lost +coherency, while the younger and imperfected creatures mine their way, +and obtain nutriment in the solid timber, thus killing the tree by +inches; when rain and moisture find lodgment, and complete the +dissolution. One year’s preparation is the period usually assigned to +the larvæ of most insects, before they arrive at their perfect state; +but by the goat moth three years are required before it attains its +winged state from the egg. Consequently, for the larger portion of its +life it is occupied in these destructive operations; and thus this +creature becomes a very powerful agent in reducing these Titans of the +vegetable world, crumbling them away to their original dust: for what +was decreed to be the termination and punishment of man is found in +active operation throughout the whole chain of nature’s works, which are +but dust, and unto dust return, continuing an endless series of +production and decay, of restoration and of change. All these larvæ +which I have observed in the colder portions of our year, were hard, +stiff, and torpid, but soon became relaxed and animated by the warmth of +the hand: thus they probably remain quiet during the winter months, but +revive in spring, and recommence their ravage in the tree. The +caterpillar of this moth I believe to be the largest of any of those of +the British lepidopteræ; and when full fed exceeds in size that of the +death’s-head sphinx. To those who dislike the appearance of things of +this nature, it is particularly disgusting; not only from its magnitude +and smell, but from its color, which is a lurid red, so compounded with +a dingy yellow, as to give it a lividness of look, conveying the idea of +something raw. Common as the grub is in some years, I have seldom been +able to obtain the moth, without the often tedious process of feeding +the larvæ, and waiting for its change. + +Of those caterpillars which feed upon the foliage of vegetation, a +considerable portion are picked off and consumed by the numerous little +birds which are constantly hunting after them, as food for themselves or +their young ones; and many of those which are supported by the roots of +plants, and remain covered in the soil, are detected by the perception +of rooks, and birds of that order; but those which feed upon the +internal parts of trees seem exempted from any of these causes of +destruction. This is possibly a reason that the larvæ of phalæna cossus +is so plentifully found; but yet it is pretty certain that some other +and equally fatal visitation assails them, and reduces their numbers +during the long period which is required to perfect their state: for +though, by feeding and care, (for they are very impatient of +confinement,) we can obtain the moth in numbers, yet few seem to survive +and become perfected by the common processes of nature, at least I have +seldom found them in this state, though the larvæ is so plentifully +seen. + +The designs of supreme intelligence in the creation and preservation of +the insect world, and the regulations and appointments whereby their +increase or decrease is maintained, and periodical appearance +prescribed, are among the most perplexing considerations of natural +history. That insects are kept in reserve for stated seasons of action, +we know, being commonly made the agents of Providence in his visitations +of mankind. The locust, the caterpillar, the palmer-worm, the various +family of blights, that poison in the spring all the promise of the +year, are insects. Mildew, indeed, is a vegetable; but the wireworm +destroys the root, the thrips the germ of the wheat, and hunger and +famine ensue. Many of the coleopteræ remove nuisances, others again +encumbrances, and worms manure the soil; but these are trite and +isolated cases in the profusion of the animal world; and, left alone, as +we are, in the desert of mere reason and conjecture, there is no +probability that much satisfactory elucidation will be obtained. They +are not perhaps important objects of inquiry; but when we see the +extraordinary care and attention that has been bestowed upon this part +of creation, our astonishment is excited, and forces into action that +inherent desire in our minds to seek into hidden things. In some calm +summer’s evening ramble, we see the air filled with sportive animated +beings: the leaf, the branch, the bark of the tree, every mossy bank, +the pool, the ditch, all teeming with animated life, with a profusion, +an endless variety of existence; each creature pursuing its own separate +purpose in a settled course of action, admitting of no deviation or +substitution, to accomplish or promote some ordained object. Some appear +occupied in seeking for the most appropriate stations for their own +necessities, and exerting stratagems and wiles to secure the lives of +themselves or their offspring against natural or possible injuries, with +a forethought equivalent or superior to reason; the aim in some others +we can little perceive, or, should some flash of light spring up, and +give us a momentary glimpse of nature’s hidden ways, immediate darkness +closes round, and renders our ignorance more manifest. We see a +wonderfully fabricated creature struggling from the cradle of its being, +just perfected by the elaboration of months or years, and decorated with +a vest of glorious splendor; it spreads its wings to the light of +heaven, and becomes the next moment, perhaps, with all its marvellous +construction, instinct, and splendor, the prey of some wandering bird! +and human wisdom and conjecture are humbled to the dust. That these +events are ordinations of supreme intelligence, for wise and good +purposes, we are convinced; but are blind, beyond thought, as to +secondary causes; and admiration, that pure source of intellectual +pleasure, is almost alone permitted to us. If we attempt to proceed +beyond this, we are generally lost in the mystery with which the divine +Architect has thought fit to surround his works; and perhaps our very +aspirations after knowledge increase in us a sense of our ignorance: +every deep investigator into the works of nature can scarcely possess +other than an humble mind. + +In all our pursuits we shall find in nature, wheresoever we can +penetrate, a formation, a faculty adapted to all the wants and comforts +of the creature, yet the objects of infinite wisdom in the creation of +this world of matter, animate and inanimate, will probably never be made +known to mankind; for though knowledge is in a constant progressive +state, and the attainments of science in latter years have been +comparatively prodigious, yet these acquirements are in fact but +entanglements: they lead us deeper into surprise and perplexity, and the +little perceptions of light which we obtain serve to show how hopeless +any attempt must be to penetrate the secrets of infinity, a conviction, +if we “dwell deep in the valley of humility,” that will in no manner +discourage our pursuits, but rather incite our ardor to investigate so +exhaustless a store, which will lead us, from contemplation, to +admiration, to devotion. + +That pretty sparkler of our summer evenings, so often made the plowboy’s +prize, the only brilliant that glitters in the rustic’s hat, the glow- +worm[60] (lampyris noctiluca), is not found in such numbers with us, as +in many other places, where these signal tapers glimmer upon every +grassy bank; yet, in some seasons, we have a reasonable sprinkling of +them. Every body probably knows, that the male glow-worm is a winged, +erratic animal, yet may not have seen him. He has ever been a scarce +creature to me, meeting perhaps with one or two in a year; and, when +found, always a subject of admiration. Most creatures have their eyes so +placed as to be enabled to see about them; or, as Hook says of the house +fly, to be “circumspect animals;” but this male glow-worm has a +contrivance by which any upward or side vision is prevented. Viewed when +at rest, no portion of his eyes is visible, but the head is margined +with a horny band, or plate, being a character of one of the genera of +the order coleoptera, under which the eyes are situate. This prevents +all upward vision; and blinds, or winkers, are so fixed at the sides of +his eyes as greatly to impede the view of all lateral objects. The chief +end of this creature in his nightly peregrinations is to seek his mate, +always beneath him on the earth; and hence this apparatus appears +designed to facilitate his search, confining his view entirely to what +is before or below him. The first serves to direct his flight, the other +presents the object of his pursuit: and as we commonly, and with +advantage, place our hand over the brow, to obstruct the rays of light +falling from above, which enables us to see clearer an object on the +ground, so must the projecting hood of this creature converge the visual +rays to a point beneath. This is a very curious provision for the +purposes of the insect, if my conception of its design be reasonable. +Possibly the same ideas may have been brought forward by others; but, as +I have not seen them, I am not guilty of any undue appropriation, and no +injury can be done to the cause I wish to promote, by detailing again +such beautiful and admirable contrivances. + +Glow-worms emit light only for a short period in the year; and I have +but partially observed it after the middle of July. I have collected +many of these pretty creatures on a bank before my house, into which +they retire during the winter, to shine out again when revived by the +summer’s warmth; but in this latter season, I have frequently missed +certain of my little protegés, and have reason to apprehend that they +formed the banquet of a toad, that frequented the same situation. + +Observing above, that the glow-worm does not emit light after the 14th +of July, I mean thereby that clear, steady light, which has rendered +this creature so remarkable to all persons; for I have repeatedly +noticed, deep in the herbage, a faint evanescent light proceeding from +these creatures, even as late as August and September. This was +particularly manifested September the 28th, 1826. The evening was warm +and dewy, and we observed on the house-bank multitudes of these small +evanescent sparks in the grass. The light displayed was very different +from that which they exhibit in the warm summer months. Instead of the +permanent green glow that illumines all the blades of the surrounding +herbage, it was a pale transient spot, visible for a moment or two, and +then so speedily hidden that we were obliged, in order to capture the +creature, to employ the light of a candle. The number of them, and their +actions, creeping away from our sight, contrary to that half-lifeless +dullness observed in summer, suggested the idea that the whole body had +availed themselves of this warm, moist evening, to migrate to their +winter station. A single spark or so was to be seen some evenings after +this, but no such large moving parties were discovered again. If we +conclude, that the summer light of the glow-worm is displayed as a +signal taper, the appearance of this autumnal light can have no such +object in view, nor can we rationally assign any use of it to the +creature itself, unless, indeed, it serves as a point of union in these +supposed migrations, like the leading call in the flight of night-moving +birds. The activity and numbers of these insects, in the above-mentioned +evening, enabled me to observe the frequent presence and disappearance +of the light of an individual, which did not seem to be the result of +will, but produced by situation. During the time the insect crawled +along the ground, or upon the fine grass, the glow was hidden; but on +its mounting any little blade, or sprig of moss, it turned round and +presented the luminous caudal spot, which, on its falling or regaining +its level, was hidden again. + +My laborer this day, July the 18th, in turning over some manure, laid +open a mass of snake’s eggs (coluber natrix), fifteen only, and they +must have been recently deposited, the manure having very lately been +placed where they were found. They were larger than the eggs of a +sparrow, obtuse at each end, of a very pale yellow color, feeling tough +and soft like little bags of some gelatinous substance. The interior +part consisted of a glareous matter like that of the hen, enveloping the +young snake, imperfect, yet the eyes and form sufficiently defined. +Snakes must protrude their eggs singly, but probably all at one time, as +they preserve no regular disposition of them, but place them in a +promiscuous heap. At the time of protrusion they appear to be surrounded +with a clammy substance, which, drying in the air, leaves the mass of +eggs united wherever they touch each other. I have heard of forty eggs +being found in these deposits; yet, notwithstanding such provision for +multitudes, the snake, generally speaking, is not a very common animal. +The kite, the buzzard, and the raven, which prey on it occasionally, are +too seldom found greatly to reduce the race; and its deep retirement in +the winter seems to secure it from fatal injuries by the severity of the +weather: yet in the warm days of spring, when it awakens from its +torpidity and basks upon our sunny banks, the numbers that appear are +not proportionate to what might be expected from the number of eggs +produced. Few creatures can assail it in its dormitory, yet its paucity +proves that it is not exempt from mortality and loss. The mole may +follow it in its retirement, but would hardly attempt to seize so large +an animal. The polecat and the weasel too can enter its runs; are +sufficiently bold and strong to attempt the conquest; and not improbably +in the winter season resort to such food, the poor snake having no power +of defending itself, or of avoiding the assault. The common snake of +this country is a very harmless, unobtrusive creature; so timid, as to +avoid the presence of man whenever he appears, hiding itself as much as +possible in bushes and rugged places from his sight. At times a strong +fetor proceeds from it; but this appears to be sexual, or made use of as +the means of annoying its enemies. It possesses no power to commit +injury, and has apparently no inclination to molest any thing beyond its +requirements for food, as frogs and mice. When a young man, I have +repeatedly handled it with impunity; and though often bitten, a +temporary swelling, with slight inflammation, was the only result; but +in these experiments the viper must not be mistaken for the common +snake. Yet this poor creature, under the curse of ignorance and cruelty, +never escapes unscathed from power and opportunity. All the snake tribe, +innocuous and pernicious, seem to be viewed with horror and aversion by +mankind. This horror, from the knowledge of their power of inflicting +harm in countries where such kinds are found, is natural, and often +preservative of life; but the aversion generally felt, and that +shuddering occasionally noticed at the sight of our harmless snake, is +like a deep-rooted principle. We imbibe in infancy, and long retain in +remembrance the impression of injuries from the wiles of the serpent; +and the “enmity between it and the seed of the woman” appears still in +full operation, and is possibly more extensively and insensibly diffused +among mankind than we are aware of. The harmless nature of our snake +seems to be fully known to the little birds of the hedge, as they in no +way give intimation of its presence by any warning of avoidance to their +young, or that insulting vociferation so observable when any really +injurious creature is perceived, but hop and sport about the basking +snake without fear or notice. + +All the human race seem to have inherited the original anathema against +this creature; for though the capricious cruelty of man is very +frequently exerted to the injury of many that his power enables him to +tyrannize over, yet the serpent appears to be a peculiar object of his +enmity, as if it was understood to be an absolute duty to “bruise his +head,” whenever the opportunity should be afforded. + +It is very remarkable how few noxious creatures, animals which annoy +man, inhabit with us; beasts and birds we have none, for the petty +depredations occasionally made on his property are undeserving of +attention. The gnat, and perhaps a few insects, may at times puncture +our skin, but the period of action is brief, the injury only temporary. +The wasp and the hornet, I believe, very rarely use their weapons +wantonly, only in self-defence and when persecuted; thus leaving the +balance incalculably in favor of innocency and harmlessness. But of all +the guiltless beings which are met with, we have none less chargeable +with criminality than the poor slow-worm[61] (anguis fragilis), yet none +are more frequently destroyed than it—included as it is in the general +and deep-rooted prejudice attached to the serpent race. The viper and +the snake, though they experience no mercy, escape often by activity of +action; but this creature, from the slowness of his movements, falls a +more frequent victim. We call it a ‘blind-worm,’ possibly from the +supposition that as it makes little effort to escape, it sees badly; but +its eyes, though rather small, are clear and lively, with no apparent +defect of vision. The natural habits of the slow-worm are obscure; but +living in the deepest foliage, and the roughest banks, he is generally +secreted from observation; and loving warmth, like all his race, he +creeps half torpid from his hole, to bask in spring time in the rays of +the sun, and is, if seen, inevitably destroyed. Exquisitely formed as +all these gliding creatures are, for rapid and uninterrupted transit +through herbage and such impediments, it is yet impossible to examine a +slow-worm without admiration at the peculiar neatness and fineness of +the scales with which it is covered. All separate as they are, yet they +lap over, and close upon each other with such exquisite exactitude, as +to appear only as faint markings upon the skin, requiring a magnifier to +ascertain their separations; and, to give him additional facility of +proceeding through rough places, these are all highly polished, +appearing lustrous in the sun, the animal looking like a thick piece of +tarnished copper wire. When surprised in his transit from the hedge, +contrary to the custom of the snake or viper, which writhe themselves +away into the grass in the ditch, he stops, as if fearful of proceeding, +or to escape observation by remaining motionless, but if touched he +makes some effort to escape: this habit of the poor slow-worm becomes +frequently the cause of his destruction. + +Of all the active, vigilant creatures that animate our paths, we have +none superior to the little, bee-like bombylius (bombylius medius); but +this creature is to be seen only in the mornings of a few bright days in +spring, seeming to delight in the hot, windy gleams of that season, +presenting an emblem of that portion of our year, fugitive and violent. +It is, I believe, plentiful nowhere. Particularly solicitous of warmth, +it seeks the dry sunny reflection of some sheltered gravel-walk, or +ditch-bank in a warm lane; and here it darts and whisks about, in +seeming continual suspicion or danger; starting away with angry haste, +yet returning immediately to the spot it had left; buffeting and +contending with every winged fly that approaches, with a jealous, +pugnacious fury, that keeps it in constant agitation. This action, its +long projecting proboscis, and its pretty, spotted wings, placed at +right angles with its body, distinguish our bombylius from every other +creature. It appears singularly cautious of settling on the ground. +After long hovering over and surveying some open spot, with due +deliberation and the utmost gentleness it commits its long, delicate +feet to the earth; but on the approach of any winged insect, or on the +least alarm, is away again to combat or escape. Associates it has none: +the approach even of its own race excites its ire, and, darting at them +with the celerity of thought, it drives them from its haunts. When a +captive it becomes tame and subdued, and loses all its characteristic +bustling and activity, the inspiration of freedom. + +The great black ant (formica fuliginosa) is commonly found in all little +copses, animating by its numbers those large heaps of vegetable +fragments, which it collects and is constantly increasing with unwearied +industry and perseverance as a receptacle for its eggs. The game-fowl, +the woodpecker, the wryneck, and all the birds that feed upon the little +red ant, and soon depopulate the hillocks which they select, do not seem +equally to annoy this larger species. These systematic creatures appear +always to travel from and return to their nests in direct lines, from +which no trifling obstacle will divert them; and any interruption on +this public highway they resent, menacing the intruder with their +vengeance. A neighbor related to me an instance of this unyielding +disposition, which he witnessed in one of our lanes. Two parties of +these black ants were proceeding from different nests upon a foraging +expedition, when the separate bodies happened to meet each other. +Neither would give way; and a violent contest for the passage ensued. +After a time the combat ceased, and all animosity subsided, each party +retiring to its nest, carrying with it its dead and maimed companions. +This encounter seemed quite accidental, and the disposition to move in a +uniform line, which their meeting prevented, the sole cause of their +hostility, combat, and mutual injury. The strength of some creatures, +especially insects, considering the smallness of their size, is in +several instances prodigious. Man, by his reason and power, calls to his +aid mechanical means, and other agents, to effect his objects; but +unreasoning beings accomplish their purposes by contrivance and bodily +powers. The strength of these black ants is manifested by the quantity +and magnitude of the materials which they collect for their heaps; but +the common little red ant (formica rubea), a much smaller creature, +gives daily proofs of its abilities to remove heavy substances, equal to +any that we meet with. One of these little creatures, thirty-six of +which only weigh a single grain, I have seen bear away the great black +fly as its prize, equal to a grain in weight, with considerable ease; +and even the wasp, which exceeds forty times its own weight, will be +dragged away by the labor and perseverance of an individual emmet. These +little ants are occasionally and profusely deprived of their lives by +some unknown visitation. In the year 1826, in particular, and again in +the following year, I observed, in the month of August, a lane strewed +with their bodies. They had bred during the summer in an adjoining bank; +but some fatality had overwhelmed them when absent from their nests, and +nearly annihilated the fraternity, as only a few scattered survivors +were to be seen feebly inspecting the bodies of their associates. The +task of removal, however, with all their industry, appeared beyond their +powers to accomplish, as on the ensuing day few had been taken away. Had +these creatures been destroyed in combat by rival contention, the +animosity must have been excessive; but it is more probable that they +met their death by some other infliction. + +One year, on the 3d of March, my laborer being employed in cutting up +ant-hills, or tumps, as we call them, exposed to view multitudes of the +yellow species (formica flava) in their winter’s retirement. They were +collected in numbers in little cells and compartments, communicating +with others by means of narrow passages. In many of the cells they had +deposited their larvæ, which they were surrounding and attending, but +not brooding over or covering. Being disturbed by our rude operations, +they removed them from our sight to more hidden compartments. The larvæ +were small. Some of these ant-hills contained multitudes of the young of +the woodlouse (oniscus armadillo), inhabiting with perfect familiarity +the same compartments as the ants, crawling about with great activity +with them, and perfectly domesticated with each other. They were small +and white; but the constant vibration of their antennæ, and the alacrity +of their motions, manifested a healthy vigor. The ants were in a +somewhat torpid state; but on being removed into a temperate room, they +assumed much of their summer animation. How these creatures are +supported during the winter season it is difficult to comprehend, as in +no one instance could we perceive any store or provision made for the +supply of their wants. The minute size of the larvæ manifested that they +had been recently deposited; and consequently that their parents had not +remained during winter in a dormant state, and thus free from the calls +of hunger. The preceding month of February, and part of January, had +been remarkably severe; the frost had penetrated deep into the earth, +and long held it frozen; the ants were in many cases not more than four +inches beneath the surface, and must have been inclosed in a mass of +frozen soil for a long period; yet they, their young, and the onisci, +were perfectly uninjured by it; affording another proof of the fallacy +of the commonly received opinion, that cold is universally destructive +to insect life. Some creatures may be injured or destroyed by frost, but +the larger portion of them nature has provided with constitutions to +which it is innocuous, or furnished with instinct to prevent its harming +them. These emmets had probably received no substance, or required any, +from the time of their retirement in the autumn, a period of full six +months; were inclosed during the space of thirty days in a mass of +frozen earth, and yet remained perfectly uninjured by this long +abstinence and frost. + +Water, in a state of rest over decayed and putrescent vegetable matter, +is peculiarly favorable for the residence of many of the insect world. +The eggs that are lodged there remain undisturbed by the agitation of +the element, and the young produced from them, or deposited there by +viviparous creatures, remain in quiet, tolerably secure from accidental +injuries; but there are natural causes which render these apparent +asylums the fields of ravenousness and of death. To these places resort +many of those voracious insects and other creatures, which prey upon the +smaller and helpless; for all created things seem subordinate to some +more powerful or irresistible agent, from the hardly visible atom that +floats in the pool, to man, who claims and commands the earth as his +own. But we have no animal that seems to commit greater destruction in +these places than the common newt (lacertus aquaticus). In some of these +well-stored magazines this reptile will grow to a large size, and become +unusually warty, and bloated with repletion; feeding and fattening upon +the unresisting beings that abound in those dark waters wherein it loves +to reside. It will take a worm from the hook of those that angle in +ponds; and in some places I have seen the boys in the spring of the year +draw it up by their fishing-lines, a very extraordinary figure, having a +small shell-fish (tellina cornea) attached to one or all of its feet; +the toes of the newt having been accidentally introduced into the gaping +shell, in its progress on the mud at the bottom of the pool, or +designedly put in for the purpose of seizure, when the animal inhabitant +closed the valves and entrapped the toes. But from whatever causes these +shells became fixed, when the animal is drawn up hanging and wriggling +with its toes fettered all round, it affords a very unusual and strange +appearance. + +Water, quiet, still water, affords a place of action to a very amusing +little fellow (gyrinus natator), which about the month of April, if the +weather be tolerably mild, we see gamboling upon the surface of the +sheltered pool; and every schoolboy, who has angled for a minnow in the +brook, is well acquainted with this merry swimmer in his shining black +jacket. Retiring in the autumn, and reposing all the winter in the mud +at the bottom of the pond, it awakens in the spring, rises to the +surface, and commences its summer sports. They associate in small +parties of ten or a dozen, near the bank, where some little projection +forms a bay, or renders the water particularly tranquil; and here they +will circle round each other without contention, each in his sphere, and +with no apparent object, from morning until night, with great +sprightliness and animation; and so lightly do they move on the fluid, +as to form only some faint and transient circles on its surface. Very +fond of society, we seldom see them alone, or, if parted by accident, +they soon rejoin their busy companions. One pool commonly affords space +for the amusement of several parties; yet they do not unite, or contend, +but perform their cheerful circlings in separate family associations. If +we interfere with their merriment they seem greatly alarmed, disperse, +or dive to the bottom, where their fears shortly subside, as we soon +again see our little merry friends gamboling as before. + +This lively little animal, arising from its winter retreat shortly after +the frog, at times in March, continues its gambols all the summer long, +remaining visible generally until the middle of October, thus enjoying a +full seven months of being; a long period of existence for insects, +which are creatures subject to so many contingencies, that their lives +appear to be commonly but brief, and the race continued by successive +productions. All these water creatures must be endowed with much +perception. Cold as this element is in early spring, when the ice of +winter is hardly dissolved, and the fluid only 6 or 7 degrees above +freezing, yet they become immediately sensible of this temperature, and +are excited to animation and the vocations of their being. I have never +observed the larvæ of this creature in any state. When they retire in +the autumn, these insects appear of a uniform size, and emerging in the +spring they are all apparently full grown, and during the summer none of +smaller dimensions associate with the family parties. This plain, tiny, +gliding water-flea seems a very unlikely creature to arrest our young +attentions; but the boy with his angle has not often much to engage his +notice; and the social, active parties of this nimble swimmer, +presenting themselves at these periods of vacancy, become insensibly +familiar to his sight, and by many of us are not observed in after life +without recalling former hours, scenes of perhaps less anxious days: for +trifles like these, by reason of some association, are often remembered, +when things of greater moment pass off, and leave no trace upon our +mind. + +July 29.—We frequently notice in our evening walks the murmuring +passage, and are often stricken by the heedless flight, of the great +dorr beetle[63] (scarabæus stercorarius), clocks,[62] as the boys call +them. But this evening my attention was called to them in particular by +the constant passing of such a number as to constitute something like a +little stream; and I was led to search into the object of their direct +flight, as in general it is irregular and seemingly inquisitive. I soon +found that they dropped on some recent nuisance: but what powers of +perception must these creatures possess, drawn from all distances and +directions by the very little fetor, which in such a calm evening could +be diffused around! and by what inconceivable means could odors reach +this beetle in such a manner as to rouse so inert an insect into action! +But it is appointed one of the great scavengers of the earth, and +marvellously endowed with powers of sensation, and means of effecting +this purpose of its being. Exquisitely fabricated as it is to receive +impressions, yet probably it is not more highly gifted than any of the +other innumerable creatures, that wing their way around us, or creep +about our path, though by this perceptible faculty, thus “dimly seen,” +it excites our wonder and surprise. “How wondrous then the whole!” + +This creature affords us a good example of that extraordinary artifice, +to which some insects have recourse upon the apprehension of danger, the +counterfeiting of death. The dorr, with a violent and noisy flight, +proceeds on its way, or circles around with an apparent fearlessness of +harm; yet the instant it is touched, or interrupted in its progress, +though in no way injured, it will immediately fall to the ground, +generally prostrate on its back, its limbs extended, stiff, and +seemingly devoid of life, and suffering itself to be handled without +manifesting any signs of animation. In time, finding no harm ensues, it +resumes its former state. If our conjectures be correct, that the object +of this stratagem is to preserve its life, it is difficult to comprehend +how far it can be successful. Several birds feed on it, as we observed; +and that others do so likewise is evident from their castings. Of these, +the owl and the nightjar catch it when on the wing; and the crows, +rooks, magpies, &c., seem to have no hesitation in picking it to pieces, +as well as all the other beetles, that put on the semblance of death, in +whatever state they find them. One or two beasts, it is said, when +captured, feign death. With these exceptions, we remember none of the +other orders of creation, that have recourse to such an expedient upon +any emergency; but with insects it is by no means an uncommon procedure, +most probably resorted to by them for a motive we are not fully +acquainted with, and which is in all likelihood attended with the +success it was designed to effect. + +The perfect cleanliness of these creatures is a very notable +circumstance, when we consider that nearly their whole lives are passed +in burrowing in the earth, and removing nuisances; yet such is the +admirable polish of their coating and limbs, that we very seldom find +any soil adhering to them. The meloe, and some of the scarabæi, upon +first emerging from their winter’s retreat, are commonly found with +earth clinging to them; but the removal of this is one of the first +operations of the creature; and all the beetle race, the chief +occupation of which is crawling about the soil, and such dirty employs, +are notwithstanding remarkable for the glossiness of their covering, and +freedom from defilements of any kind. But purity of vesture seems to be +a principal precept of nature, and observable throughout creation. +Fishes, from the nature of the element in which they reside, can +contract but little impurity. Birds are unceasingly attentive to +neatness and lustration of their plumage. All the slug race, though +covered with slimy matter calculated to collect extraneous things, and +reptiles, are perfectly free from soil. The fur and hair of beasts in a +state of liberty and health is never filthy, or sullied with dirt. Some +birds roll themselves in dust, and occasionally, particularly beasts, +cover themselves with mire; but this is not from any liking or +inclination for such things, but to free themselves from annoyances, or +to prevent the bites of insects. Whether birds in preening, and beasts +in dressing themselves, be directed by any instinctive faculty, we know +not; but they evidently derive pleasure from the operation, and thus +this feeling of enjoyment, even if the sole motive, becomes to them an +essential source of comfort and of health. + +It may be noted probably by some, how frequently I recur to the causes +and objects of the faculties, manners, and tendencies of animate and +inanimate things. This recurrence springs from no cavil at the wisdom, +no suspicion of the fitness of the appointment, nor, I trust, from any +excitement to presumptuous pryings into paths which are in the great +deep, and not to be searched out; but are humbly indulged, from the +pleasure which the contemplation of perfect wisdom, even in a state of +ignorance, affords; and if by any consideration we can advance one point +nearer to the comprehension of what is hidden, we infinitely increase +our satisfaction and delight. + +May 24, 1827.—Abundance of cockchaffers (melolantha vulgaris) are flying +about, yet by no means in the profusion of some years. How much at times +the interest of man and the wild creatures about him are at variance! +Those that are domesticated and precluded from obtaining food but by his +permission, have their welfare in part identified with his—they may +share in his abundance, or pine from his parsimony; but the independents +of the field are differently circumstanced. The appearance of these +chaffers, in any numbers, is very uncertain and partial, but in those +summers when they abound, very extensive injuries frequently ensue. In +the grub state, they will entirely destroy the pastures where they +inhabit, by consuming the roots of the grasses; acres and fields are +deprived of their produce, becoming brown as stubbles, with only a sprig +or tuft of green useless vegetation observable in them; the grain crop +likewise totally fails when the larvæ of this chaffer feeds in the +field. Upon assuming their winged state, they devour the foliage of the +oak and other trees so effectually, that entire copses may be seen early +in June defoliated by their depredations. So much for their injury to +man: but now the feast of the wilding commences—the plow in April +dislodges multitudes of these long white grubs. Dogs then seek them +eagerly to eat, but they seem to be surfeited by the food; for, though +fattened at first, they afterwards become diseased, and lose their hair. +Rooks and crows are running over the ridges, busily seeking for this +larvæ; the swine find it out, and come in for their share, and having +finished here, they commence grubbing in the grass lands. The insect now +soon takes wing, and then every tree in the wood or the brake becomes a +scene of plunder and delight to all the train from the rookery—the cats +will eat him—every sparrow that flies by has a chaffer in its mouth, +captured on the wing or snatched from the spray, and now to be pecked to +pieces on the ground—the thrush feasts too, and all the poultry in the +yard are running after chaffers, or chasing each other for the prize; +and thus this insect supplies in one state or another a general feast to +many. + +Surrounded as we are by wonders of every kind, and existing only by a +miraculous concurrence of events, admiration seems the natural avocation +of our being; nor is it easy to pronounce amidst such a creation what is +most wonderful. But few things appear more incomprehensible than the +constant production and reabsorption of matter, impressed upon us even +by these very dorrs. An animal falls to the ground and dies; myriads of +creatures are now summoned by a call, by an impulse of which we have no +perception, to remove it, and prepare it for a new combination; chemical +agencies, fermentation, and solution, immediately commence their actions +to separate the parts, and in a short time, of all this great body, +nothing remains but the framework or bones, perhaps a little hair or +some wool, and all the rest is departed we know not whither! Worms and +insects have done their parts; the earth has received a portion, and the +rest, converted into gases, and exhalable matters, has dispersed all +over the region, which, received into vegetable circulation, is again +separated and changed, becomes modified anew, and nourishes that which +is to continue the future generations of life. The petal of the rose; +the pulp of the peach; the azure and the gold on the wing of the insect; +all the various productions of the animal and vegetable world; the very +salts and compounds of the soil, are but the changes some other matters +have undergone, which have circulated through innumerable channels since +the first production of all things, and no particle been lost; bearing +in mind this assured truth, that all these combinations have not been +effected by chance or peculiarity of circumstances, but by the +predetermination of an Almighty Intelligence, who sees the station, +progress, and final destination of an atom, what an infinity of power +and intellective spirit does this point out! an omnipotence, which the +bodied minds of us poor creatures cannot conceive. Truly may we say, +“who can find out the Almighty to perfection?” + +Our extensive cultivation of the potato furnishes us annually with +several specimens of that fine animal the death’s-head moth[64] +(acherontia atropos), and in some years I have had as many as eight +brought me in the larva or chrysalis state. Their changes are very +uncertain. I have had the larva change to a chrysalis in July, and +produce the moth in October; but generally the aurelia remains unchanged +till the ensuing summer. The larvæ or caterpillars, “strange ungainly +beasts,” as some of our peasantry call them, excite constant attention +when seen, by their extraordinary size and uncommon mien, with horns and +tail, being not unusually five inches in length, and as thick as a +finger. This creature was formerly considered as one of our rarest +insects, and doubtful if truly indigenous; but for the last twenty +years, from the profuse cultivation of the potato, is become not very +uncommon in divers places. Many insects are now certainly found in +England, which former collectors, indefatigable as they were, did not +know that we possessed; while others again have been lost to us moderns. +Some probably might be introduced with the numerous exotic plants +recently imported, or this particular food may have tended to favor the +increase of rarely existent natives; but how such a creature as this +could have been brought with any plant is quite beyond comprehension. We +may import continental varieties of potatoes, but the death’s-head moth +we have never observed to have any connexion with the tuber itself, or +inclination for it. As certain soils will produce plants by exposure to +the sun’s rays, or by aid of peculiar manures, when no pre-existent root +or germ could rationally be supposed to exist; so will peculiar and long +intervening seasons give birth to insects from causes not to be divined. +We may perhaps conclude, that some concurrence produced this sphinx, and +then its favorite food, the potato plant, nourished it, to the +augmentation of its species. + +Superstition has been particularly active in suggesting causes of alarm +from the insect world; and where man should have seen only beauty and +wisdom, he has often found terror and dismay. The yellow and brown +tailed moths, the deathwatch, our snails, as mentioned in p. 231, and +many others, have all been the subjects of his fears; but the dread +excited in England by the appearance, noises, or increase of insects, +are petty apprehensions, when compared with the horror that the presence +of this acherontia occasions to some of the more fanciful and +superstitious natives of northern Europe, maintainers of the wildest +conceptions. A letter is now before me from a correspondent in German +Poland, where this insect is a common creature, and so abounded in 1824, +that my informer collected fifty of them in the potato-fields of his +village, where they call them the “death’s-head phantom,” the “wandering +death-bird,” &c. The markings on its back represent to these fertile +imaginations the head of a perfect skeleton, with the limb bones crossed +beneath; its cry becomes the voice of anguish, the moaning of a child, +the signal of grief; it is regarded not as the creation of a benevolent +being, but the device of evil spirits, spirits enemies to man, conceived +and fabricated in the dark; and the very shining of its eyes is thought +to represent the fiery element whence it is supposed to have proceeded. +Flying into their apartments in the evening, it at times extinguishes +the light, foretelling war, pestilence, hunger, death to man and beast. +We pity, rather than ridicule these fears; their consequences being +painful anxiety of mind and suffering of body. However, it seems these +vain imaginations are flitting away before the light of reason and +experience. In Germany as in England, they were first observed on the +jasmine, but now exclusively upon the potato, though they will enter the +bee-hives, to feed on the honey found in them. This insect has been +thought to be peculiarly gifted in having a voice, and squeaking like a +mouse, when handled or disturbed; but in truth no insect that we know of +has the requisite organs to produce a genuine voice. They emit sounds by +other means, probably all external. The grasshopper and the cricket race +effect their well-known and often wearisome chirpings by grating their +spiny thighs against their rigid wings; and this acherontia atropos +appears to produce the noise it at times makes, which reminds us of the +spring call of the rail or corncrake, by scratching its mandible, or the +instrument that it perforates with, against its horny chest. The object +of this noise is apparently a mere sexual call. Heavy and unwieldly +creatures, they travel badly, and from the same cause fly badly and with +labor; and as they commonly hide themselves deep in the foliage and +obscurity, without some such signal of their presence a meeting of the +parties would seldom be accomplished. + +Another of the ravenous creatures that infest our pools is the great +water-beetle (ditiscus marginalis); and perhaps it is the most ferocious +of any of them, being adapted by every provision for a life of rapine, +endued with great muscular power, armed with a thick and horny case over +its body, and having its eyes large to observe all the creatures about +it, and powerful mandibles to seize and reduce them to fragments. It +riots on the polyphemus of the pool; and having thinned its herd in one +place, is supplied with wings to effect a removal to a fold better +furnished. It even eats the young of the frog; and its bite is so +powerful, as to be painfully felt by the hand that holds it a captive, +though defended by a glove. In the larvæ state it is almost equally +destructive; it swims admirably; its hinder legs are long and brawny, +beside being aided by a fringe of hairs, so that they are powerful oars +to propel its body with celerity and ease. Nor must we omit a +peculiarity attending the constitution of this beetle, which marks it as +a creature especially endowed for the station in which it is placed. +Multitudes of insects exist in the larva state for a certain space of +time in water, and, having accomplished a given period in this state +perfecting their forms, they take wings and become aërial creatures, +after which a return to the element whence they sprang would be death to +them. But this beetle, when it has passed from the larva state and +obtained its wings, still lives in that water which nourished it to this +state of perfection, without any inconvenience, as long as it suits its +inclination; when weary of this place, or its food becoming scarce, it +wings its way to another pool, into which it immediately plunges, and +recommences its life of rapine. Having deposited its eggs in autumn, we +suppose it to die in the winter; yet many may survive this season, and, +arising from the mud in the spring, be undistinguished from the recently +perfected larvæ. Such little notices and indications of the habits of +these obscure creatures, though certainly unimportant, are not perhaps +wholly unprofitable; for we so darkly see our way, and proceed so slowly +in acquiring intelligence of the paths of nature, that nothing should be +considered as beneath regard that we meet with in them, and every +advancing step must elevate the mind, as it affords additional knowledge +of the solicitude and provision of the great Architect of creation in +the appointment and endowment of his creatures; since, though we are +very rarely able to comprehend even the object of existence, we see +sufficient to convince us, that such care and such powers were not +bestowed except for some wise and good purpose. It seems hardly possible +that mankind can ever obtain anything approaching to the comprehension +of the motives of Providence, because they have not, as far as is +apparent to us, individual and separate bearings, but are connecting and +in concordance with a series of influences, and consequently the whole +should be seen, fitly to understand a part; and this mighty mechanism +what human mind can embrace? Heaven metes out to man by degrees +something of its laws and ordinances; but no life, no period, can +exhaust that store of hidden wisdom, by which these mandates have been +decreed, every little transitory view that we obtain should be received +with gratitude as an advance in knowledge, a progress in the wisdom of +Him who hath ordained all things in truth. + +The eye of the naturalist, prying about in places where those of +indifferent persons are rarely fixed, sees many things, that others do +not notice, or observe without interest, from forming no connexion with +any previous subject of pursuit. Few perhaps would stay to inspect the +clay hairworm (gordius argillaceus), yet it is a very curious creature. +We find it at the bottoms of drains and ditches, chiefly in the spring +of the year. Its color is a pale yellow; and it appears like some long +vegetable fibre, or root, coiled up and twisted together. The whole body +of the animal consists of numerous annulations, or rings, by means of +which it has the power of contracting its substance, as it has likewise +of extending it, until it becomes nearly a foot in length, and smooth as +a wire. The extreme points are transparent and tapering, formed of +apparently harder materials than the body. The designation of most of +our small land and water creatures, in the economy of creation, is very +obscure; and owing to the places they frequent, and the secrecy of their +actions, amidst mud and vegetation, we have little opportunity of +becoming acquainted with their habits. This hairworm, however, is rather +less mysterious in its movements than some others; and there is cause to +suppose that its chief occupation is that of forming perforations and +openings in clayey soils, admitting by this means water to pervade the +mass, and open it; the finer roots of vegetables then find entrance, and +part it yet more, or decay in it, and meliorate and fertilize the +substance. + +Wonderful as all the appointments and endowments of insects are, there +is no part of their economy more extraordinary than the infinite variety +of forms and materials to which they have recourse in the fabrication of +their nests; and, as far as we can comprehend, their expediency for the +various purposes required. Among those, with which I am acquainted, none +pleases me more than that of a solitary wasp (vespa campanaria), which +occasionally visits us here. It is not a common insect; but I have met +with their nests. One was fixed beneath a piece of oak bark, placed in a +pile; another was pendent in the hollow of a bank of earth. The +materials, which composed these abodes, seemed to be articles scraped or +torn from the dry parts of the willow, sallow, or some such soft wood, +and cemented again by animal glue, very similar in texture to that +provided by the common wasp, which makes great use of the halfdecayed +wood of the ash, and will penetrate through crevices in the bark, to +abrade away the dry wood beneath. They seem to have but small families, +ten or twelve cells only being provided. These are situate at the bottom +of an egg-shaped cup, contracted at the lower end, where an orifice is +left for the entrance. This again is covered, in the part where the +cells are placed, by a loose hood, or shed, extending about halfway down +the inner one. The pendent situation of the whole, and this external +hood, round which the air has a free circulation, are admirably +contrived for securing the cells from injury by water. The nest, when +hanging in its proper situation, is like the commencement of some paper- +work flower, and can never be observed but with admiration at the +elegance of its structure; and the unusual appearance of the whole must +excite the attention of the most incurious observer of such things. + +Every-day events manifest to very superficial observation, that no +created being, from the monster of the ocean, “that makes the deep boil +like a pot of ointment,” to the insect that feebly creeps on the ground, +exists free from the persecutions or annoyance of another. Some may be +subject to fewer injuries than others, but none are wholly exempt: the +strong assail by power, and become assaulted themselves by the minute or +weak. This year (1826) the hornet (vespa crabro) abounded with us in +unusual numbers, and afforded constant evidence of its power and +voracity, that could not have been exceeded by any ravenous beast. In +our gardens the imperious murmur of four or five of them at a time might +be frequently heard about our fruit trees. They would occasionally +extract the sweet liquor from the gage, or other rich plums; but the +prime object of their visit was to seize the wasps, that frequented the +same places. This they not only did when the creature was feeding on the +fruit, but would hawk after them when on the wing; capture them with a +facility, to which their heavy flight seemed unequal; bear them to some +neighboring plant, and there feed on the insect, which seemed perfectly +overpowered by the might of the hornet. The first operation was to snip +off the head, then to cut away the lower part by the waist; and, when +near, we could hear them shearing away the outer coat from the body, and +crushing it with their strong mandibles; sometimes devouring it, but +generally only sucking the juices it contained. Their avidity for this +sort of food is very manifest when the grape ripens on the wall: being +commonly the only remaining fruit, the wasp abounds there; the hornets +flock to the prey, and we may see them in constant progress, bearing +their victims from the bunches. The wasp itself seizes the house fly; +but this seems rather the display of wanton power than for food, as it +bears the fly about with it for a length of time, and drops it +unconsumed. The fly, in its turn, is conducive after its manner to the +death of many an animal. We know not any insect that destroys the +hornet; but its power and being are terminated by some very effective +agent, as in particular years it is almost unknown.[65] Though we may +not often perceive the means by which certain races are reduced in +number, more than their multiplication effected, yet we are frequently +sensible that it is accomplished. + +I do not recollect any creature less obnoxious to harm than the common +snail (helix aspersa) of our gardens. A sad persevering depredator and +mangler it is; and when we catch it at its banquet on our walls, it can +expect no reprieve from our hands. But our captures are partial and +temporary; and, secured in its strong shell, it seems safe from external +dangers; yet its time comes and one weak bird destroys it in great +numbers. In the winter season, the common song-thrush feeds sparingly +upon the berries of the white thorn, and the hedge fruits, but passes a +great portion of its time at the bottoms of ditches, seeking for the +smaller species of snails (helix hortensis and hel. nemoralis), which it +draws out from the old stumps of the fence with unwearied perseverance, +dashing their shells to pieces on a stone; and we frequently see it +escaping from the hedge bank with its prize, which no little +intimidation induces it to relinquish. The larger kind at this season +are beyond its power readily to obtain; for as the cold weather +advances, they congregate in clusters behind some old tree, or against a +sheltered wall, fixing the openings of their shells against each other, +or on the substance beneath, and adhering so firmly in a mass, that the +thrush cannot by any means draw them wholly, or singly, from their +asylum. In the warmer portion of the year, they rest separate, and +adhere but slightly; and should the summer be a dry one, the bird makes +ample amends for the disappointment in winter, intrudes its bill under +the margin of the opening, detaches them from their hold, and destroys +them in great numbers. In the summers of 1825 and 1826, both hot and dry +ones, necessity rendered the thrush unusually assiduous in its pursuits; +and every large stone in the lane, or under the old hedge, was strewed +with the fragments of its banquet. This has more than once reminded me +of the fable of the “Four Bulls;” united invincible, when separated an +easy prey; but, with the exception of this season, and this bird, I know +no casualty to which the garden snail is exposed. + +Ignorant as we are of the scope, limitation, and even existence, of +certain faculties in animals, we can frequently do little more than +conjecture the means whereby they perform many of the functions of life. +This ignorance leads us naturally at times to refer these powers to the +agency of senses like our own; but, in most instances, probably without +any foundation in truth. No creature seems less qualified to commit the +depredations which it does, than the garden snail. We grieve to see our +fruit mangled and disfigured by these creatures, but cannot readily +comprehend by what means they obtain the knowledge that its maturity is +approaching—though we find that they must be endued with some faculty +capable of accomplishing the purpose; for no sooner does a plum, a fig, +a nectarine, or other fruit, begin to ripen on the wall, and long before +any sensible odor can be diffused from it, even before an experienced +eye can detect the approach to maturity, than those creatures, the slug +and the snail, will advance from their asylums, though remotely situate, +and proceed by very direct paths to the object. This cannot probably be +by the guidance of any known faculty. Eyesight was once considered to be +situate on the summit of their horns; but this is now known to be +erroneous, and we do not know that they have any vision. The acoustic +organ of worms and insects is unknown; and it is not by any means +ascertained that these creatures ever hear.[66] If they possess the +faculty of smelling, in them it must be a very exquisite sense, beyond +any delicacy we can comprehend. Thus, excluding human means of +comprehension, which appear inadequate, we more reasonably conclude them +to be endowed with intelligences for effecting intentions, of which we +have no perception, and which we have no capacity for defining. The +contemplative man finds pleasure in viewing the ways and artifices of +creatures to accomplish a purpose, though he knows not the directing +means; and it fortifies the convictions of the believer, by giving him +fresh evidences of the universal superintendence of his Maker, that even +the slug and the snail, which are arranged so low in the scale of +creation, are yet, equally with all, the object of his benevolence and +care. + +Connected with this subject of snails, a circumstance that took place in +this neighborhood is brought to my remembrance, which discovered yet +latent in a few of us, notwithstanding our boasted enlightenment, some +leaven of the superstition of darker ages; and that any occurrence, not +the event of every coming day, may be made a subject of wonder by the +ignorant, and a means for the artful to deceive the credulous. A little +banded snail (helix virgata) is a very common species on most of our +arid, maritime pastures, and the sheep-downs of many inland places. It +happened, from some unknown cause, that those inhabiting a dry field in +an adjoining parish were in one season, a few years ago, greatly +increased, so as to become an object of notice to a few, then to more, +till at length this accumulation was noised about as a supernatural +event. The field was visited by hundreds daily from neighboring villages +and distant towns. People who could not attend purchased the snails at a +half-penny each; and there were persons who made five shillings a day by +the sale of them. As this increase of the creature was not certainly to +be accounted for, some had the impudence to assert that they had +witnessed their fall from the clouds; and many declared their belief +that some great public or private misfortune was indicated by it. The +proprietor of the field being supposed not to maintain the same +sentiments as the commonalty upon a political circumstance, which at +that moment greatly agitated the country, it was considered as a +manifestation of heavenly displeasure, precursive of malady, misfortune, +death. However, autumn came, these snails retired to their holes in the +banks, and the worthy man lived on,—and long may he live, esteemed and +respected by all, unscathed by snails or misfortunes. + +Little obnoxious to injury as this garden snail appears to be, there is +another creature, and that a very important one in the operations of +nature, that is surrounded by dangers, harassed, pursued unceasingly, +and becomes the prey of all: the common earth-worm (lumbricus +terrestris). This animal, destined to be the natural manurer of the +soil, and the ready indicator of an improved staple, consumes on the +surface of the ground, where they soon would be injurious, the softer +parts of decayed vegetable matters, and conveys into the soil the more +woody fibres, where they moulder, and become reduced to a simple +nutriment, fitting for living vegetation. The parts consumed by them are +soon returned to the surface, whence, dissolved by frosts, and scattered +by rains they circulate again in the plants of the soil, + + “Death still producing life.” + +Thus eminently serviceable as the worm is, it yet becomes the prey of +various orders of the animal creation, and perhaps is a solitary example +of an individual race being subjected to universal destruction. The very +emmet seizes it when disabled, and bears it away as its prize: it +constitutes throughout the year the food of many birds; fishes devour it +greedily; the hedgehog eats it; the mole pursues it unceasingly in the +pastures, along the moist bottoms of ditches, and burrows after it +through the banks of hedges, to which it retires in dry seasons: secured +as the worm appears to be by its residence in the earth from the capture +of creatures inhabiting a different element, yet many aquatic animals +seem well acquainted with it, and prey on it as a natural food, whenever +it falls in their way; frogs eat it; and even the great water-beetle +(ditiscus marginalis) I have known to seize it when the bait of the +angler, and it has been drawn up by the hook. Yet notwithstanding this +prodigious destruction of the animal, its increase is fully commensurate +to its consumption, as if ordained the appointed food of all; and +Reaumur computes, though from what data it is difficult to conjecture, +that the number of worms lodged in the bosom of the earth exceeds that +of the grains of all kinds of corn collected by man. + +Worms, generally speaking, are tender creatures, and water remaining +over their haunts for a few days drowns them; they easily become frozen, +when a mortification commences at some part, which gradually consumes +the whole substance, and we find them on the surface a mucilaginous +mass: and their retiring deeper in the soil is no bad indication of +approaching cold weather; but no sooner is the frost out of the earth, +than they approach the surface to feed on decayed vegetable matter. +Greatly beneficial as these creatures are, by drawing leaves and decayed +matters into the earth, where their dissolution is accomplished, yet +they are sad tormentors to us gardeners, and occasion the loss of more +young plants than even the slug, by drawing in the leaf, which throws +out the root; so that in the morning we find our nursling inverted. It +is the same propensity, or ordination, for removing decayed matters, +that influences them in these actions; as they are the faded leaves that +are seized by them, such as newly removed plants present before the root +draws nutriment from the earth. Even stones of some magnitude are at +times drawn over their holes. The horticulturist perhaps encounters more +mortification and disappointment than any other laborer upon the earth +from insects, elementary severity, the slug, and the worm; yet, if the +depredations of this last creature do at times excite a little of our +irascibility, we must still remember the nightly labors, and extensive +services, that are performed for the agriculturist by this scavenger of +the earth, and manurer of the soil. + +Besides, worms are essentially useful in draining our lands from +superfluous moisture, which in many cases, without their agency, would +be detained upon or near the surface of the earth, chilling and +deteriorating our pastures. A few inches of soil, resting upon a +substratum of clay, would commonly, without some natural or artificial +drainage, be soaked with water after heavy rains, and thus become a bog, +or produce coarse water herbage rather than good grasses; but these +worms greatly facilitate the passage of the water by draining +horizontally along the bed of clay, and aid the emission of the water by +this means, as I have often observed in the trenches, which we cut in +our retentive soils, numerous worm-casts on their sides a few days after +they had been made, being the exits of the horizontal runs, and through +these the water drains into the trenches, and runs off. I do not assert +the water would not in any case be discharged without the agency of +worms; but that the passages which they make expedite it, which, in +situations where the operation would be subjected to delay from the +position of the ground, or the under stratum, is of infinite advantage. +Thus the soil is not only rendered firm, allowing the admission of +cattle, but the good herbage, which the long residence of water would +vitiate or destroy, is saved from injury, and the aquatic and useless +plants starved or checked in their growth; but after great gluts of +rain, when the supply of water is greater than can be speedily carried +off, it becomes stagnant, and those worms, which cannot burrow beyond +its influence, soon perish, and we lose the benefit of these very +beneficial creatures. Drainage is therefore one of the most important +operations in our agricultural concerns. As by irrigation we turn a +quantity of nutritive water over our lands, or by reason of its higher +temperature foster the growth of grasses; so, by draining cold and +superfluous moisture off, we promote the growth of valuable vegetation. +I would advocate the cause of all creatures, had I the privilege of +knowing the excellency of them; not willingly assigning vague and +fanciful claims to excite wonder, or manifest a base pride by any vaunt +of superior observation; but when we see, blind as we are, that all +things are formed in justice, mercy, truth, I would tell my tale as a +man, glorying as a Christian, and bless the gracious power that +permitted me to obtain this knowledge. + +Residing, as I constantly do, in the country, and having been long +observant of rural things, and the operations of Infinite Wisdom, +through the very feeble organs with which I have been endowed, I have +often thought, that we, who are daily made sensible of so many +manifestations of creative power and mercy, should be more seriously +disposed, more grateful for the beneficences of Providence, than those +who live in societies removed from these evidences; but yet I neither +know nor believe that we in any respect give greater proof of this +disposition, or are more sensible of the benevolence of an overruling +power, than others. The manufacturer by the combination of artful +contrivances effects his purposes, and by aid of man’s wisdom brings his +work to perfection; the artisan may eat his bread with all thankfulness +and humility of heart, solace his labors and mitigate his fatigue by the +grateful flavor and juices of fruits purchased at the stall; but he sees +nothing of the machinery, the gradual elaborations of nature, nor can he +be conversant with the multiplicity of influences and events, which are +requisite to bring them to his hand. He who lives in the country knows +that an omnipotent impulse must be constantly in action; he may till his +land, and scatter his corn, but the early and latter rain must soften +his furrows; the snow, as wool, must cover the soil; the hoar-frost, +like ashes, lighten his glebe; the sunshine animate the sprouting shoot; +and winds evaporate noxious moisture, insects and blights, that hover +around, or circulate through the air, must be guided away, or our labors +become abortive, or are consumed: we see the bud, the blossom, leaf, and +germ, all progressively advance, to afford plenty or yield us enjoyment; +we see these things accomplished by the influencing interpositions of a +beneficent Providence, and in no way effected by the machinery or +artifices of our own hands; and it should operate more powerfully, in +disposing those who witness them to particular resignation and +gratitude, than others who cannot behold them, but view the ingenuity of +man as the agent and means of his prosperity; yet how it happens that +this principle is not in more active operation within us, I cannot +perceive. + +Every age has been the dupe of empiricism; and the greater its darkness, +the more impudent appear to have been the pretensions of knavery. We may +even now, perhaps, swallow a few matters, the arcana of the needy or the +daring, in the various compositions of powders, draughts and pills, +which are not quite agreeable to our palates or our stomachs; but our +forefathers had more to encounter, as they had more faith to support +them, when they were subjected, for the cure of their maladies, to such +medicines as _album græcum_, or the white bony excrement of dogs, +bleached on the bank, for their heart-burns and acidities; the powder +produced from burnt mice, as a dentifrice; millepedes, or wood-lice, for +nephritic and other complaints; and the ashes of earth-worms, +administered in nervous and epileptic cases. + +Our apple-trees here are greatly injured, and some annually destroyed by +the agency of what seems to be a very feeble insect. We call it, from +habit, or from some unassigned cause, the “American blight” (aphis +lanata);[67] this noxious creature being known in some orchards by the +more significant name of “white blight.” In the spring of the year a +slight hoariness is observed upon the branches of certain species of our +orchard fruit. As the season advances this hoariness increases, it +becomes cottony, and toward the middle or the end of summer the under +sides of some of the branches are invested with a thick, downy +substance, so long as at times to be sensibly agitated by the air. Upon +examining this substance we find, that it conceals a multitude of small +wingless creatures, which are busily employed in preying upon the limb +of the tree beneath. This they are well enabled to do, by means of a +beak terminating in a fine bristle: this, being insinuated through the +bark, and the sappy part of the wood, enables the creature to extract, +as with a syringe, the sweet, vital liquor that circulates in the plant. +This terminating bristle is not observed in every individual: in those +that possess it, it is of different lengths, and is usually, when not in +use, so closely concealed under the breast of the animal, as to be +invisible. In the younger insects it is often manifested by protruding +like a fine termination to the anus; but as their bodies become +lengthened the bristle is not in this way observable. The alburnum, or +sap wood, being thus wounded, rises up in excrescences and nodes all +over the branch, and deforms it; the limb, deprived of its nutriment, +grows sickly; the leaves turn yellow, and the part perishes. Branch +after branch is thus assailed until they all become leafless, and the +tree dies. + +Aphides in general attack the young and softer parts of plants; but this +insect seems easily to wound the harder bark of the apple, and by no +means makes choice of the most tender part of the branch. They give a +preference to certain sorts, but not always the most rich fruits; as +cider apples, and wildings, are greatly infested by them, and from some +unknown cause other varieties seem to be exempted from their +depredations. The Wheeler’s russet, and Crofton pippin, I have never +observed to be injured by them. This insect is viviparous, or produces +its young alive, forming a cradle for them by discharging from the +extremities of its body a quantity of long cottony matter, which, +becoming interwoven and entangled, prevents the young from falling to +the earth, and completely envelops the parent and offspring. In this +cottony substance we observe, as soon as the creature becomes animated +in the spring, and as long as it remains in vigor, many round pellucid +bodies, which, at the first sight, look like eggs, only that they are +larger than we might suppose to be ejected by the animal. They consist +of a sweet glutinous fluid, and are probably the discharges of the +aphis, and the first food of its young. That it is thus consumed, I +conjecture from its diminution, and its by no means increasing so fast +as fæcal matter would do from such perpetually feeding creatures. I have +not, in any instance, observed the young to proceed from these globular +bodies, though they are found at various ages at all times during the +season. This lanuginous vestiture seems to serve likewise as a vehicle +for dispersing the animal; for though most of our species of aphis are +furnished with wings, I have never seen any individual of this American +blight so provided, but the winds wafting about small tufts of this +downy matter, convey the creature with it from tree to tree throughout +the whole orchard. In the autumn, when this substance is generally long, +the winds and rains of the season effectually disperse these insects, +and we observe them endeavoring to secrete themselves in the crannies of +any neighboring substance. Should the savoy cabbage be near the trees +whence they have been dislodged, the cavities of the under sides of its +leaves are commonly favorite asylums for them. Multitudes perish by +these rough removals, but numbers yet remain; and we may find them in +the nodes and crevices, on the under sides of the branches, at any +period of the year, the long, cottony vesture being removed, but still +they are enveloped in a fine, short, downy clothing, to be seen by a +magnifier, proceeding apparently from every suture, or pore of their +bodies, and protecting them in their dormant state from the moisture and +frosts of our climate. This aphis, in a natural state, usually awakens +and commences its labors very early in the month of March; and the +hoariness on its body may be observed increasing daily: but if an +infected branch be cut in the winter, and kept in water in a warm room, +these aphides will awaken speedily, spin their cottony vests, and feed, +and discharge, as accustomed to do in a genial season. + +It is often very difficult to ascertain the first appearance of many +creatures not natives of our climate, though, from the progress of +science, and more general observation, many things will be recorded. The +first visit of the death’s-head moth is very obscure; an extraordinary +snail (testacellus halotideus)[68] is now spreading by transplantation +in many places, and may hereafter occasion inquiry. The first visit of +this aphis to us is by no means clear. The epithet of American blight +may be correctly applied; but we have no sufficient authority to +conclude, that we derived this pest from that country. Normandy and the +Netherlands, too, have each been supposed to have conferred this evil +upon us; but extensively as this insect is spread around, and favorable +as our climate appears to be to its increase, it bids fair to destroy in +progression most of our oldest and long-esteemed fruit from our +orchards. The same unknown decree, which regulates the increase and +decrease of all created beings, influences this insect; yet wet seasons, +upon the whole, seem ungenial to its constitution. In the hot dry summer +of 1825, it was abundant everywhere; in the spring of 1826, which was +unusually fine and dry, it abounded in such incredible luxuriance, that +many trees seemed at a short distance as if they had been whitewashed; +in the ensuing summer, which was a very dry and hot one, this cottony +matter so entirely disappeared, that to superficial observation the +malady was not in existence; and it did not become manifest again until +September, when, after the rains of that season, it reissued in fine, +cottony patches from the old nodes on the trees. Many remedies have been +proposed for removing this evil, efficacious perhaps in some cases upon +a small scale; but when the injury has existed for some time, and +extended its influence over the parts of a large tree, I apprehend it +will take its course, and the tree die. Upon young plants, and in places +where a brush can be applied, any substance that can be used in a liquid +state, to harden into a coat, insoluble by rain, will assuredly confine +the ravages of the creature, and smother it. Hard rubbing with a dry +brush crushes many, but there are crevices into which the bristle cannot +enter: thus some escape, and the propagation continues. I have very +successfully removed this blight from young trees, and from recently +attacked places in those more advanced, by an easy application. Melt +about three ounces of resin in an earthen pipkin, take it from the fire, +and pour into it three ounces of fish oil; the ingredients perfectly +unite, and, when cold, acquire the consistence of honey. A slight degree +of heat will liquefy it, and in this state paint over every node or +infected part in your tree, using a common painter’s brush. This I +prefer doing in spring, or as soon as the hoariness appears. The +substance soon sufficiently hardens, and forms a varnish, which prevents +any escape, and stifles the individuals. After this first dressing, +should any cottony matter appear round the margin of the varnish, a +second application to these parts will, I think, be found to effect a +perfect cure. + +The prevalence of this insect gives some of our orchards here the +appearance of numerous white posts in an extensive drying ground, being +washed with lime from root to branch—a practice I apprehend attended +with little benefit; a few creatures may be destroyed by accident, but +as the animal does not retire to the earth, but winters in the clefts of +the boughs far beyond the influence of this wash, it remains uninjured, +to commence its ravages again when spring returns. + +Seasons arrive and pass away, the general features alone remaining +impressed upon our minds; but they often produce consequences not +commonly expected, and a departed summer or winter has frequently been +the cause of some event, which we consider as exclusively occasioned by +atmospheric changes, or present temperature. A warm dry summer generally +occasions a healthy spring blossom the ensuing year, the bearing wood +being ripened and matured to produce in its most perfect state. A wet, +damp one usually effects the reverse, by occasioning an abundant flow of +sap, producing wood and foliage rather than blossom; and the following +spring, in such cases, from the floral vigor being diverted, has +generally its blossom weak, and, though perhaps not defective, +incompetent to mature the germen. This is mere reasoning upon general +consequences; but so imperfect are our theories, and so many +circumstances counteract the calculations, the predictions of human +wisdom, which can rarely even “discern the face of the sky,” that +results must more often be looked for than known. The recording of +events is the province of the naturalist; and perhaps occasionally by +comparing existing circumstances with past events, something +approximating to probability may be obtained. The two burning summers of +1825 and 1826 are remembered by all; but it was in the succeeding year +only, that the result of this heat and drought was manifested to us, by +effects upon our pasture lands, which we did not expect. Not only in +those on the limestone substratum, but in many that were sandy, and in +the clayey which were chapped by the heat, the roots of the grasses, +which we have generally considered as not being subject to such +injuries, were destroyed in some cases, and greatly injured in others; +and in their places frequently sprang up crowfeet (ranunculus acris, and +bulbosus), and dandelions, a mere useless vegetation, which, as long as +the grasses flourished, were kept in subordination and obscurity by +their superior growth; while bare patches in other places told us of +aridity and failure: the meadow grass (poa) and ray grass (lolium +perenne) were great sufferers; the dog’s tail (cynosurus) supported +itself better; the cockfoot (dactylis), though not killed, was so much +hurt, that its ensuing vegetation, instead of the coarse luxuriance it +generally manifests, was dry, hard, and deficient in succulency, or, as +our laborers emphatically say, was “stunned;” and bent-grass (agrostis +vulgaris), that certain indicator of a dry soil, appeared more than it +commonly does. But this destruction of the roots in very many places was +not obvious, the turf, as it was, remaining; yet some injury was +apparent in the succeeding summer and autumn. The crop cut for hay was +unusually abundant, and seemed to have exhausted the roots by its +growth, as no aftergrass sprang up; nor did the pastures which were fed +afford more than a dry, hard, yellow provender, looking tanned, as if +seared by severe frost; and in September, when in general we expect our +fields to yield an abundance of grass, as food for months, they +presented commonly the aspect of hard-fed lands in March, though so much +rain had fallen, both in July and August, as to lead us to expect +profusion. It did not appear that the roots had actually perished; which +could not have been the case, by producing the mowing crops that they +did; but this was a single effort: the injury was manifested by the +deficiency of the autumnal vigor; this was the actual result, difficult +as it is to assign a satisfactory reason. Perhaps these effects upon our +pasture lands were unprecedented: but these things pass away, unless +recorded; and though we may resort to the oldest memory for evidence, +yet memory is oblivious, often exaggerative, and cannot safely be +trusted. + +June and July, 1825.—The quantity of that sweet clammy fluid, which we +find upon certain leaves, and commonly call “honey-dew,” was more than +usually abundant during these months. In the day-time, bees, wasps, and +tribes of flies collected to feed upon it, and in the evenings, moths +and insects of the night frequented the fruit trees on our walls, +particularly the cherry and the plum, for the same purpose, and their +presence brought the bat, so that some places were animated by the +flitting about of these creatures. Aphides abounded upon all the young +sprays. + +June 17, 1828.—Abundance of rain has fallen during the preceding night, +and in the morning of this day, about two o’clock, the sun broke out, +the air becoming hot and heavy. I was soon surprised by observing +multitudes of hive-bees buzzing and crawling about the foliage and young +shoots of my laurel bushes (prunus laurocerasus), and feeding upon some +sweet matter lodged on them; the blossoms had long before fallen off: no +aphides frequent this plant, nor were there any trees near them from +whence any sweet matter might have fallen; we have no honey-dew upon our +fruit trees, and an aphis is scarcely to be found. Has any saccharine +matter fallen, or been emitted by the plant to entice these insects to +harbor about them? It clearly appears that honey-dews arise from two +causes; that a large portion of it is the discharges from insects of the +genus aphis, has long since been manifested by the Abbé Sauvages, Mr. +Curtis, and others: insects discharge in all days and hours during the +warm months of the year. But there is another kind which we find only at +particular times, and in certain states of the atmosphere, lodged on +certain plants during the night in such quantities as to hang +occasionally in drops from the points of the leaves. The foliage of the +oak is at times lucid with this sweet liquor, and this the bees are soon +acquainted with, and eagerly collect it, which they only partially do +when spread upon the leaves on the wall, the evident discharge of +aphides. Some of my neighbors who have hives will occasionally observe, +“A heavy honey-dew last night, and the bees are hard at work;” this +cannot proceed from insect discharges. That some foliage may condense +any matter that may fall upon it, is not improbable; or even excrete it +from their pores by the impellent power of the air in certain states, is +to be conceived; but all this is conjectural, and our knowledge of the +causes which produce these partial honey-dews is yet to be acquired. + +In the years 1825 and 1826, the foliage of our hedges in the spring +months was unusually mangled by the caterpillars of different moths; but +in 1827 these creatures had increased so much, that the entire leaves of +the sloe, and the white thorn, were consumed by them; the hedges, when +consisting of these shrubs alone, presented for miles the appearance of +winter sprays, covered with a cottony web. The other hedge plants were +little injured. The larvæ of several species of small creatures were +concerned in this annihilation of verdure; but the little ermine moths +(phalæna evonymella, and ph. padella) were the chief performers in this +denuding process. In July the perfected moths swarmed about the scene of +their birth in vast numbers; yet such was the retrieving power of +nature, that by the middle of August only a small portion of the injury +occasioned by these creatures was to be observed, the summer shoot +bursting out, and covering the sprays with the verdure of spring. The +chief singularity in all this was the appearance of the sloe bush, all +the foliage being consumed by insects, or crisped away by severe winds, +leaving the sprays profusely covered with the small young fruit, +perfectly uninjured, and proceeding in its growth; so that, by the time +the foliage was renewed in August, it had obtained its usual size. This +was the case too with the crab, and some of the orchard fruits, +presenting the unusual sight of fruit growing alone on the boughs +without leaves; so that in fact the offices of inspiration, +transpiration, and all their consequences, usually accomplished by the +leaves of plants, must have been suspended, or performed by other +organs, as no deficiency of vegetative powers was apparent. + +But insects alone were not the cause of all the denudation and unsightly +appearance which our orchards and other trees so remarkably presented +this year; for the destruction of the foliage was accomplished in part +by some malignant influences, not well understood. Like the Egyptian +king, we are accustomed to attribute all our evils of this nature to the +“blasting of the _east_ wind;” yet we find all aspects and places +obnoxious to it; one situation may be exempted for a period of many +years from such visitations, when others suffer; on a sudden, a partial +or a local stream of hot, cold, salt, or what we denominate a +pestilential wind, sweeps along, and it is destroyed. + +Surrounded by and situate in the midst of an agricultural district, we +are eager and persevering “leasers” here; and it becomes in a certain +degree profitable to our poor, though they cannot hope, like the dutiful +Ruth, to gather their three pecks and over in a day. It may be difficult +to comprehend how the picking up a head of corn here, and another there, +should be a remunerative employ; but in this case, like all other slow +operations, a distant result, rather than an instant effect, must be +looked for. I have found some little difficulty in obtaining +intelligence sufficient to acquire a knowledge of the gain by this +employ. The poor are often jealous and suspicious of the motives, when +any attempts are made to procure information regarding their profits or +improvements; and indeed the advantages of one year are uncertain in +another. Catching, doubtful seasons, when the farmer collects in haste, +and is unmindful of trifles, afford the best harvest to the gleaner. In +fine, settled weather, the operation of reaping is conducted with more +deliberation, and less corn is scattered about. When a woman with two or +three active children lease in concert, it becomes a beneficial employ. +I have heard of a family in the parish thus engaged, who have in one +season obtained eight bushels of clear wheat; but this was excess. I +know a single woman also, who has gleaned in the same period four +bushels and a half; but this again was under very favorable and partial +circumstances. In general, a good leaser is satisfied, if she can +obtain, single-handed, a clear three bushels in the season, which gives +her about a bushel in the week; and, if taken at seven shillings, is +very reasonable, and far from being any great accession or profit—less +perhaps than is generally supposed to be the emolument of the gleaner; +and this may have been acquired by the active labor of eight or nine +hours. Yet such is the ardor for this occupation, the enjoyment of this +full association, with their neighbors, the prattle, the gossip, the +glee, the excitement it occasions, that I am sure the allowance of +fourteen pence a day, certain and constant, would hardly be accepted by +my leasing neighbors in place of it. Indeed I would not offer it, +believing that this gleaning season is looked forward to with anxiety +and satisfaction; and is a season, too, in which the children of the +family can contribute to its support without pain or undue exertion; and +viewing with much approbation and pleasure this long-established custom +as a relaxation from domestic refinement, when every cottage is locked +up and abandoned by its inmates, to pursue this innocent, healthful, +laudable employ, where every grain that is collected is saved from +waste, and converted to the benefit of a needy and laborious community. +From the result of the pauper leasing, no bad criterion may be obtained +of the general product of the season; for, as the collection is made +from many stations, and variety of culture, these samples of all afford +a reasonable average of the quality. It has been thought, but I trust +and believe only in the apprehension of evil, that leasing is injurious +to the morals of the poor, affording them an opportunity and initiating +them in petty pilfering; but if the disposition existed, it could be +practicable but in very few instances; mutual jealousy would prevent +individual success, and immediate detection would follow the filching of +numbers. The commencement of many ceremonies and solemnities is lost by +perversion, or in the obscurity of years; the stream of habit may +trickle on from age to age, till it flows in time a steady current, yet +the original source remain unknown: but this custom of gleaning the +remnant of the field we know existed from the earliest periods, three +thousand years and upwards for certain; for, if it were not then first +instituted, it was secured and regulated by an especial ordinance of the +Almighty to the Israelites in the wilderness, as a privilege to be fully +enjoyed by the poor of the land, whenever their triumphant armies should +enter into possession of Canaan. By this law, the leasing of three +products was granted to the destitute inhabitants of the soil,—the +olive, the grape-vine, and corn; the olive-tree was to be beaten but +once; the scattered grape in the vintage was not to be gathered; and in +the field where the corn grew, “clean riddance” was not to be made, the +corners were to be left unreaped, and even the forgotten sheaf was not +to be fetched away by the owner, but to be left for the “poor and the +stranger the fatherless and the widow.” This was not simply declared +once, as an act of mercy, but enjoined and confirmed by ordinances +thrice repeated, and impressed with particular solemnity; “I am the Lord +thy God,” I have given thee all, and I command unreserved obedience to +this my appointment. + +Revolving in our minds, as we old-mannered people often do, the forms, +rites, and usages of earlier days, we occasionally regret that fashions +by gradual neglect have passed away, and can never be revived, to give +that feeling of pleasure which a natural growth seemed to have inspired. +Some, though probably of pagan origin, were innocent and harmless +practices; the maypole, with all its flowery wreaths, so often +surrounded by the dance and the song, is now but seldom seen, where we +have known it, especially in the lace-making counties, the evening and +almost sole recreation, after long hours of unhealthy occupation, for +happy groups of + + “Those pale maids who weave their threads with bone;” + +and it gave these poor villagers a transient glow of health, seen then +alone; but it is gone with the rest, and we grieve to think how little +remains that poverty and innocence can partake of. Others were of +monkish introduction, yet seemed to keep in remembrance the revolutions +of seasons and events, which, though recorded elsewhere, had become the +types of written things. Yet one of them in the irritation of the moment +I have at times wished, selfishly enough perhaps, consigned to oblivion +with monks and monkish deeds. “Christmassing,” as we call it, the +decorating our churches, houses, and market meats with evergreens, is +yet retained among us; and we growers of such things annually contribute +more than we wish for the demand of the towns. Sprays and sprigs may be +connived at, but this year I lost most of my beautiful young holly- +trees, the cherished nurslings of my hedge-rows. The holly[69] though +indigenous with us, is a very slow growing tree, and certainly the most +ornamental of our native foresters. Its fine foliage shining in vigor +and health, mingling with its brilliant coral beads, gives us the +cheering aspect of a summer’s verdure when all besides is desolation and +decay. It is not only grateful to the eye, but gives us pleasure, when +we contemplate the food it will afford our poor hedgefaring birds, when +all but its berries and those of the ivy are consumed; and we are +careful to preserve these gay youths of promise, when we trim our +fences: but no sooner do they become young trees, in splendid beauty, +than the merciless hatchet, in some December’s night, lops off their +heads, leaving a naked unsightly stake to point out our loss; and we +grieve and are vexed, for they never acquire again comparative beauty. +These young heads, that we have been robbed of, are in especial request +to form a bush, dependent from the centre of the kitchen or the +servants’ hall, which in this season of license and festivity becomes a +station for extra liberty, as every female passing under it, becomes +subject to the salutation of her male companion. This centre bush is +often the object of particular decoration, being surrounded by the +translucent berries of the mistletoe, and those of the ivy, dipped in +blue and white starch. But at this season I have noticed one remarkable +decoration among the natives of the principality. A large white turnip +is stuck as full as possible of black oats, so as to hide almost the +substance in which they are set, and sometimes having compartments of +white oats; and being placed upon a candlestick, or some other +elevation, on the mantle-tree, presents an extraordinary hedgehog-like +appearance. The first adoption of this purely rural fancy, and its +designation, I am perfectly unacquainted with; but, when it is well +executed, it requires attentive examination to detect the device. + +We are no votarists of fortune here, nor do we trouble ourselves +concerning predestinate ordinations, or like subtilties; but when we +notice passing events, we lament the ills and are pleased with the good +luck of a neighbor: and a little turn happened lately to a parishioner, +which in former times, when events were viewed under aspects different +from those by which we now regard them, might have occasioned more +wonderment and comment than it did. An industrious laboring man had been +some time unemployed, and having sought an engagement at all those +places most likely to have afforded it, but without success, sat himself +down upon a bank in one of our potato-fields, carelessly twisting a +straw, and ruminating what his next resource might be; when casting his +eyes to the ground, he discovered, immediately between his feet, a +guinea! a guinea perfect in all its requisites! The finding of such a +coin, at such a time, was no common occurrence; but by what casualty did +the money come there? The frequenters of our fields, breakers of stone, +and delvers of the soil, inhabiters of the tenement and the cot, have no +superfluous gold to drop unheeded in their progress, and one should have +supposed that the various operations which the field had undergone in +the potato culture, would have brought to view any coin of that size and +lustre. Upon looking at the land, however, much of our perplexity was +removed by observing that the ground had been in part manured by +scrapings from our turnpike road, rendering it highly probable that this +golden stranger had been dropped by some traveller, not missed by him, +or lost in the mire, this mortar from the road possibly so coating it +about, as to secrete it for a time some heavy rain dissolving the clod, +and bringing it to view. This, I am sensible, is an incident little +deserving of narration, but has been done from two motives: we village +historians meet with but few important events to detail from the annals +of our district; we have no gazettes, few public records or official +documents to embellish our pages, and if we will write, must be content +with such small matters as present themselves; and to point out how +frequently very mysterious circumstances may be elucidated, and appear +as consistent events by an unbiassed examination. We may not be able +always satisfactorily to see why a tide of good fortune should flow at +the desire of one, and ebb from the wishes of another; yet many of the +occurrences of human life are perhaps not so extraordinary as they are +made to appear by the suppression of facts, or our ignorance of +circumstances. + +The effects of atmospheric changes upon vegetation have been noticed in +the rudest ages: even the simplest people have remarked their influence +on the appetites of their cattle, so that to “eat like a rabbit before +rain” has become proverbial, from the common observance of the fact: but +the influence of the electric fluid upon the common herbage has not +been, perhaps, so generally perceived. My men complain to-day that they +cannot mow, that they “cannot any how make a hand of it,” as the grass +hangs about the blade of the scythe, and is become tough and woolly; +heavy rains are falling to the southward, and thunder rolls around us; +this indicates the electric state of the air, and points out the +influence that atmospheric temperature and condition have upon organized +and unorganized bodies, though from their nature not always manifested, +all terrestrial substances being replete with electric matter. In the +case here mentioned, it appears probable that the state of the air +induced a temporary degree of moisture to arise from the earth, or to be +given out by the air, and that this moisture conducted the electric +fluid to the vegetation of the field. Experiments prove that electric +matter discharged into a vegetable withers and destroys it; and it +appeared to me at the time, but I am no electrician, that an inferior or +natural portion of this fluid, such as was then circulating around, had +influenced my grass in a lower degree, so as not to wither, but to cause +it to flag, and become tough, or, as they call it in some counties, to +“wilt;”[70] the farina of the grass appeared damper than is usual, by +its hanging about the blades of the scythes more than it commonly does; +the stone removed it, as the men whetted them, just at the edge, but +they were soon clogged again. As the thunder cleared away, the +impediments became less obvious, and by degrees the difficulties ceased. +The observance of local facts, though unimportant in themselves, may at +times elucidate perplexities, or strengthen conclusions. + +That purely rural, little noticed, and indeed local occurrence, called +by the country people “hummings in the air,” is annually to be heard in +one or two fields near my dwelling. About the middle of the day, perhaps +from twelve o’clock till two, on a few calm, sultry days, in July, we +occasionally hear, when in particular places, the humming of apparently +a large swarm of bees. It is generally in some spacious, open spot, that +this murmuring first arrests our attention. As we move onward the sound +becomes fainter, and by degrees is no longer audible. That this sound +proceeds from a collection of bees, or some such insects, high in the +air, there can be no doubt; yet the musicians are invisible. At these +times a solitary insect or so may be observed here and there, occupied +in its usual employ, but this creature takes no part in our aërial +orchestra. We investigators, who endeavor to find a reason and a cause +for all things, are a little puzzled sometimes in our pursuits, like +other people; and, perhaps, would have but little success in attempting +an elucidation of this occurrence, which, with those circles in our +pastures and on our lawns, that produce such crops of fungi (agaricus +oreades), and are called by the common name, for want of a better or +more significant one, of “fairy rings,”[71] we will leave as we find +them, an _odium physiologicum_. + +1827.—The winds of this autumn have been violent and distressing, but of +all variable things, we know of none more so than our seasons and +temperatures, produced probably by causes and combinations of which we +have no comprehension, or power of foreseeing, “for these things come +not by observation; we cannot say, Lo here! or Lo there!” What can be +more extraordinary, or inexplicable by table or computation, than the +sudden visitation, in the midst of storms and frosts, of such a day of +brightness and warmth as we sometimes witness, cheering the aspect of +all things,—a portrait of summer, brought from we know not what region, +in a framework of winter. All these things assuredly have their effects +upon the products of the earth, and by their means upon the creatures +that are nourished by them, carrying on that imperceptible line of +influences and intelligences that is maintained throughout nature. We +know that vegetation and the atmosphere are in a constant state of +barter and exchange, receiving and modifying; and possibly, from the +unseen effects of a frosty morning, a fall of snow, or a few hours’ +temperature of the air, a fruitful or an unproductive season may arise. +We notice the effects of spring changes, because vegetation has so far +advanced as to render influences manifest; but we cannot perceive the +injuries of benefits accruing to a hidden circulation from particular +events. Every person who has been conversant with cattle, must have +remarked how uncertain their progress in improvement has been; that the +abundant provision of one year did not prove equally nutritive with the +scanty product of some other: this fact originates probably from the +effects of atmospheric impulse, either directly upon vegetation, or upon +the soil which produced the food collaterally, or upon both +collectively. In a wet season, water appears to nourish plants, or to +supply their requirements principally: in a dry one, nutriment must be +obtained from the soil by means of the fibre of the root, and hence +particles are imbibed chemically different; a dry or a drained soil, +producing short and scanty herbage, will frequently improve the +condition of cattle more than an adjoining meadow having a profusion of +food, though probably no chemical analysis could indicate the +difference. These periodical winds again, violent and distressing as +they often prove, are yet unquestionably essential in the economy of +nature: our two seasons, in which these commotions of the air most +usually become manifest, are about the equinoxes of autumn and spring, +periods which in many respects have a similarity with each other. In the +autumn of our year, the foliage of trees and plants, &c., putrefy and +decay; marshes and dull waters, clogged by their own products, stagnate, +and discharge large portions of hydrogen, carbonic gas, &c., injurious +and even fatal to animal existence: in summer all these baneful +exhalations are neutralized and rendered wholesome by the vast +quantities of oxygen, or vital air, discharged from vegetable foliage: +but these agents of benefit, by the autumn, are no more—consequently the +discharge of oxygen is suspended, but the production of unhealthy air +increased by the additional decomposition of the season. To counteract +this, is probably the business of the storms of wind and rain prevailing +at this season, which, by agitating and dissipating the noxious airs, +introduce fresh currents, and render the fluid we breathe salubrious. +The same may be advanced in regard to spring: the whole decay of winter, +having no neutralizing body to render it wholesome, requires some great +influencing power to remove it. But all this is reasoning without actual +evidence; a discursive license, from the fallibility of human judgment +not often to be indulged in: yet we can so rarely perceive the purport +of the movements of nature, that our conceptions, vague as they may be, +are almost all that remain to us. + +We have here so few operations of nature deserving mention, that I must +not omit to notice a rather uncommon appearance in some of our clay- +lands, which the surrounding parishes do not present. The soil of a few +fields seems to cover for some depth a rock of coarse limestone, which +we never burn for use. In a direction bearing nearly east and west, in a +line pointing to the Severn, a number of sinkings and pits are +observable, like abandoned shafts, or the commencement of mines. They +are called by the country people “whirly pits.” In some instances the +bottoms of them are not visible, owing to the tortuous irregularity of +the passages; in other cases they are only deep hollows, covered with +turf. These sinkings are evidently occasioned by the lowering of the +surface in consequence of the removal of the support beneath. Where the +under parts have been entirely displaced, the upper have fallen in, and +formed a chasm; where only partially removed, deep, turfy hollows are +formed. These removals have been occasioned, probably, by a stream of +water running far beneath, and washing away the support; and in part by +the superfluous water from the ditches and watercourses above draining +into the fissures of the rock, and so gradually mining or wearing away a +passage; for they are now frequently the receivers of all the running +water from the land, which seems naturally to drain into them, and +apparently has been so conducted for a long course of years. Some of +them present dark and frightful chasms, and bushes and brambles are +encouraged to grow about them, to prevent cattle from falling into the +pits. Many a fox, when hard pressed, has been known to make for these +“whirly pits,” as his last resource; and, secreting himself in some of +the under cavities, has escaped from the pursuit of his enemies above. I +once saw one of these animals dead at the bottom. Whether he perished +from being unable to return up the crags after one of these retreats, or +by any other means, I know not. + +In particular years we are much troubled here by the luxuriant growth of +a cryptogamous plant, which I believe to be the lichen fascicularis of +Linnæus: it may always be found even in the dryest summers, but being in +those seasons shrivelled up, is in no way troublesome, nor indeed +noticed, unless sought for. This lichen covers the walks of shrubberies +at times in shady places, and paths in the kitchen garden, appearing +like a dull olivaceous crust, most observable about October or November, +and the spring months; but in the summer of 1828, the unusual moisture +of that season was so favorable to its growth, that even in August we +could not walk in safety in those places where it abounded, our feet +sliding along upon the gelatinous, slippery foliage and tubercles. Upon +the walks of our culinary gardens we sprinkle coal ashes, and this +enables us for some time to pass along with tolerable safety; but in the +end it so fosters the growth of this lichen, and small mosses, which +retain moisture as a sponge, that the evil we endeavor to remove is by +the autumn increased: where gravel is not obtainable, paring off the +crest of the walk is the only effectual remedy, and this ultimately we +are necessitated to resort to. It is notable that such a very +insignificant product, this hardly discernible plant, should endanger +limb and life, and by circumstances become so formidable to us “lords of +the creation,” as to force us to devise contrivances to counteract its +injurious tendencies. + +There are times when we suffer here greatly by the withering and searing +up as it were of the leaves of our vegetation, which we attribute +generally to an early morning’s frost. That late spring frosts do +occasion such injuries, and that noxious blasts, from causes which we +cannot divine, occasion infinite annual mischief, if not destruction, to +our wall fruit, is most manifest; yet there is great reason to suspect +that a large portion of the injuries which we ascribe to blights, +blasts, and frosts, are occasioned by saline sprays brought by strong +western or south-western gales from King-road in the Bristol Channel, +eight or ten miles distant, or from even more remote waters, and swept +over the adjoining country where the wind passes. This saline wind has +often been suspected by me as the evil agent that accomplishes most of +our blightings here; and on November the 3d, 1825, these suspicions were +corroborated—for on this and the preceding days we had strong gales from +the water, in consequence of which such windows as were situate to the +west and south-west were skimmed over with a light saline scurf, the +brass-work of the doors was corroded and turned green, painted works of +all kinds were salt to the tongue, as was every thing that could +condense the moisture; and the leaves of the shrubs in the hedge-rows, +and of trees, all turned brown, and were crisped up. A row of large elms +in particular, that fronted the gale, received its full influence; the +whole of the windward side, then in full foliage, became perfectly brown +and seared, and the leaves shortly afterwards parted from their sprays +and left them bare, while the other and sheltered side of the trees +preserved its green foliage very slightly influenced by the spray that +burned up the other. No period of the leafy season is exempt from these +pernicious effects, more or less, if the wind be sufficiently violent +and blowing from the water. Portions of the country distant from the +shores often seem more influenced by these salt sprays than others more +near, the wind lifting up the saline moisture, bearing it aloft to +remote parts, and dropping it as it travels over the land or meets with +impediments. + +Our apples in some years are more inclined to become spotted than in +others, from causes not quite obvious, as moist summers do not occasion +it more decidedly than dry. Particular sorts are more subject to these +dark markings than others. The russet, though a rough-coated fruit, +seems exempt from spots; whereas some of the smooth-rinded ones, +especially the pearmain, are invariably disfigured with them. These +marks appear to be an æcidium, which we frequently find to be perfectly +matured, the centre occupied with minute, powdery capsules, having burst +through their epidermis, or covering, which hangs in fragments round the +margin. This æcidium[73] apparently derives its nutriment from the +apple; for immediately round the verge of the spot the skin becomes +wrinkled in consequence of the juices being drawn off by the fungus. In +most cases the presence of plants of this nature is symptomatic of +decay; but in this instance we find an exception to a pretty general +effect, for the decay of the apple does not always commence at the spot, +which does not even apparently contribute to it—for the whole fruit will +shrivel up in time by the escape of its juices, without any decay by +mortification. Though we are not able always to ascertain the purposes +of nature, yet this little cryptogamous plant affords a strong example +of her universal tendency to produce, and every vegetable substance +seems to afford a soil for her productions. We have even an agaric, with +a bulbous root and downy pileus,[72] that will spring from the smooth +summit of another (agaricus caseus), which has a uniform footstalk, +though not of common occurrence. Thus a plant, that itself arises from +decay, is found to constitute a soil for another; and the termination of +this chain of efficiency is hidden from us. + +[Illustration: + + _Agaricus Surrectus._ +] + +But the leaves of many vegetables often become singularly spotted during +some parts of the summer, and such spots have not certainly been +effected by the growth of cryptogamous plants, natural decay, or the +punctures of insects, the usual agents in these cases. A very +indifferent observer of these things, in strolling round his garden, +must have remarked how uniformly and singularly the foliage of some of +the varieties of the strawberry are spotted, and corroded as it were +into little holes; whereas other kinds have seldom any of these marks +visible on them. I have fancied that these spottings were occasioned by +the influence of solar heat, a shower of rain falls, small drops collect +and remain upon the leaf of the plant; the sun then darts out, +converting all these globules of rain into so many little lenses, +converging the rays, and scorching or burning a hole at the focus. This +conjecture has been rather strengthened by observing, that upon certain +sorts, the hautboy, alpine, &c., the rain when it falls uniformly wets +the leaves, yet they do not become spotted; but the smooth leaves of +others, roseberry, caledonian, upon which it stands in drops, always +become marked and perforated: but whatever may be the real cause of +these spottings, if the foliage be touched, by way of an experiment, +with the point of a heated wire, after a few days they will present an +appearance very similar to what is naturally effected. + +There seems to be a curious analogy in their functions between the roots +of plants and the moving parent of animated beings, a similar obligation +being required from them both of providing for those dependent on them, +and both will exert their energies in fulfilment of this ordained +mandate: the roots of plants wander up and down in every direction, +seeking for sustenance; and we frequently see trees, growing on rocks, +extending their roots like sensitive beings, searching for moisture; if +this is not obtained sufficiently, a sickly foliage and impoverished +growth point out the condition of the plant. + +[Illustration: An old black-and-white engraved illustration of a +leafless tree stump with long, exposed roots spreading outward like +tentacles, twisting across rocky ground and rubble, with a stark, +desolate landscape in the background.] + +The notable exertions which vegetables occasionally make to obtain +nutriment may be instanced by the following rude drawing of an ash,—a +tree which, in consequence of the profusion of its seed, we find more +often scattered in wild and singular places than any other not +propagated by the agency of birds, or conveyed by the winds. This one +had originally been rooted in the earth, upon the top of a wall, but +nourishment being required beyond what was supplied by the precarious +moisture of the scanty soil, its roots proceeded downwards, winding +their way through the crevices of the stones into the earth beneath, and +remained apparently incorporated with the masonry; the materials of this +wall being wanted for an adjoining work, were so pulled out, as to leave +the tree with all its roots detached, much as represented, with all its +vegetative powers uninjured: the root B had stretched itself along the +top of the wall, but how far it had extended in perfection, is +uncertain, being broken away when I saw it first. The wood of the ash, +when burned in a green state, + +will emit a fragrance like that which proceeds from the violet or +mezerion, and this it will diffuse in particular states of the air to a +considerable distance, a property that, I believe, is not observable in +any other British wood: it is in the country only that we can be +sensible of this, and it is particularly to be perceived in passing +through a village when the cottagers are lighting their fires, or by a +farm-house, when this wood, fresh cloven or newly lopped off, is +burning;—as the wood dries, this sweet smell is in a great measure +exhaled with the moisture, for in this state we are not sensible of any +odor arising from it different from other woods. + + + THE YEAR 1825. + +We are naturally solicitous to look back upon seasons remarkable for +atmospheric phenomena, and compare their results with those passing +before us, though we may be fully sensible that no conclusions can +safely be drawn from them,—a variety of circumstances not known, or not +comprehended, combining to produce results beyond our means of +calculation. There have been times when such recollections brought no +pleasure with them, by displaying the injuries and sufferings that +hurricanes and floods have occasioned; and thus we who were witnesses of +the distress occasioned by the lamentable rains of 1793, and the several +successive years, when every wheat-sheaf presented a turf of verdant +vegetation, cannot recollect it without sorrow, or ever forget that +famine in our land. Yet it is amusing, on some occasions, to note the +extremes of weather that our island has experienced; for though in +general our seasons pass away without any very considerable +dissimilitude, still we have known periods of great irregularity, +drought or moisture, cold or heat. The freezing of great rivers, with +the roasting of animals and passage of carriages upon the ice, our +calendars and diaries relate; but instances of an opposite temperature, +affording less striking events, are not so fully detailed as might be +wished. The winter of 1661 appears to have been remarkable for its +mildness; and it is rather curious that, in the century following, the +winter of 1761 should have been equally notable for the mildness of its +temperature. The winter of 1795 seems to have partaken of none of the +severity usual to the season; and the summer of 1765 was remarkable for +its heat and dryness, and all vegetation being influenced by their +effects, brought forth fruits and flowers in unusual perfection. + +But perhaps the year 1825, taking all its circumstances, is the most +extraordinary to be found in our annals. The winter of 1824–5 had been +mild and wet; the ensuing spring dry, but with keen winds and frosty +mornings, which greatly injured the fine blossoms that appeared on our +fruit trees; and the continued and profuse nightly fall of the honey-dew +was quite unusual: the leaves of the oak, the cherry, and the plum, were +constantly smeared and dropping with this clammy liquor, which, falling +from the foliage on the ground, blackened it as if some dark fluid had +been spilled upon it: the leaves of most of our stone fruits curled up, +covered with aphides, and became deciduous; and their young shoots were +destroyed by the punctures of these insects that clustered on them. This +honey-dew continued to fall till about the middle of July, affording an +abundant supply of food to multitudes of bees, moths, and other insects +which swarmed about the trees. We rarely begin cutting our grass before +the first week in July; but in consequence of the heat of June in this +year, it was so drawn up, that much hay was made and carried by the 20th +of June, which commonly is not accomplished till August. Our crops on +good ground were considered as fair, though in general the chilling +season of May had occasioned a deficiency; but all our clover crops and +artificial grasses were harvested in the finest order, producing good- +sized ricks and mows; yet their bulk was delusive, the provender cutting +out light and strawy. The heat and drought continued, with very partial +and slight showers of rain, all June and July; nor had we any thing like +serviceable rain till the second of August. In consequence our grass +lands were burned up, and our fields parched, presenting deep fissures +in all parts. The heat was unusually distressing all day; and evening +brought us little or no relief, as every wall radiated throughout the +night the heat it had imbibed from the torrid sun of the day. Our +bedroom windows were kept constantly open, all apprehension from damps +and night airs, which at other times were of the first consideration, +being disregarded; a cooler temperature, however obtained, was alone +required; and we lingered below, unwilling to encounter the tossings and +restlessness that our heated beds occasioned. Our wainscots cracked, +furniture contracted and gaped with seams; a sandal-wood box, which had +been in use for upwards of twenty years in dry rooms, shrunk and warped +out of all form; a capsule of the sandbox tree (hura crepitans), which +had remained in repose over a shelf above the fire-place for an unknown +length of time, now first experienced an excess of dryness, and exploded +in every direction; door frames contracted, window sashes became fixed +and immovable. These are trifles to relate, but yet they mark the very +unusual dryness of the atmosphere. + +Monday and Tuesday, July 18th and 19th, will long be remembered as the +acme of our suffering, the thermometer standing in the shade of a +passage communicating immediately with the outer air, in an open +situation, at 82° of Fahrenheit. A few yards nearer the air, on which +the sun shone, it rose to 93°, without any influence from reflection or +other causes. In towns, and more confined places, it is said, the heat +was much greater. The current of air now felt like that near the mouth +of an oven, heavy and oppressive, and occasioning more unpleasant +sensations than such a temperature usually creates; animals became +distressed, the young rooks of the season entered our gardens, and +approached our doors, as in severe frosts, with open bills, panting for +a cooler element; horses dropped exhausted on the roads; many of the +public conveyances, which usually travelled by day, waited till night, +to save the cattle from the overpowering influence of the sun. The +leaves of our apple and filbert trees, in dry situations, withered up +large forest trees, especially the elm, had their leaves so scorched by +the sun, that they fell from their sprays as in autumn, rustling along +the ground; the larch became perfectly deciduous. In our gardens, the +havoc occasioned by the heat was very manifest. The fruit of the +gooseberry, burnt up before maturity, hung shrivelled upon the leafless +bushes; the strawberry and raspberry quite withered away; the stalk of +the early potato was perfectly destroyed, and the tubers near the +surface in many places became roasted and sodden by the heat, few +obtaining their natural size, and sold at this period in the Bristol +market at twenty-four shillings the sack. A few choice plants were saved +by watering them daily; but in general the exhalation from the foliage, +by reason of the heat of the earth, was greater than the root could +supply, the green parts withering as if seared by a frost. + +On the 20th of July, some farmers began to cut their wheat; and by the +25th reaping had generally commenced. Our bean crop presented, perhaps, +an unprecedented instance of early ripeness, being usually mowed in +September; but this year it was universally ripe, indeed more perfectly +so than the wheat, by the 1st of August. The crop, however, proved a +defective one: water became scarce, and the herbage of the fields +afforded so little nutriment, that the cows nearly lost their milk, +eight or ten being milked into a pail that four should have filled; and +one week, from July the 18th to the 24th, butter could not be made to +harden, but remained a soft oleaginous mass. + +This extreme heat had a favorable influence on many of our exotic +plants, enabling several to perfect their seed, which do not usually in +our climate; such as nightstocks, erodiums, heliotrope, groundsels, +cape-asters, and such green-house plants vegetating in the open air. +With me all the polyanthus tribe, especially the double varieties, +suffered greatly; lovers of the cold and moisture of a northern climate, +in this tropic heat, they became so parched as never properly to recover +their verdure, and in the ensuing spring I missed these gay and pleasing +flowers in my borders. + +It was a sad destructive season for the poor butterflies, and no sooner +did a specimen appear upon the wing, than the swallow and all the fly- +catching tribe snapped them up, rendered eager and vigilant from the +scarcity of insect food. Even that active and circumspect creature the +hummingbird sphinx could not always, with every exertion of its agility, +escape their pursuit. + +Early in August rains fell, and continued seasonably until September; +and their effect upon our scorched vegetation, from the general heat of +the earth and the air, was extremely rapid. The larch, and other trees +which had shed their leaves, now put forth their tender green foliage as +in spring; and by the end of September the universal verdure of the +country, and profusion of feed in the pastures, was so perfectly unlike +what we had been accustomed to in common years, as to be astonishing. +Even as low in the year as the 11th of October, there was no appearance +of any change in the foliage, except a slight tinge upon the leaves of +the maple; and this day was so brilliant, that the cattle were reposing +in the shade, the thermometer varying from 66° to 68° F., and the +general warmth to our feelings was greater than that indicated by the +instrument. October the 20th, the weather changed, some sleety rain +fell, and the hills were sprinkled with snow, the thermometer falling to +40°, and all our hirundines, which had been sporting about us up to this +period, departed: yet still vegetation continued in all its vigor, and +on the 1st of November dog-roses hung like little garlands in the +hedges; the cornel bushes (cornus sanguinea) were in full bloom; and +corn-roses (rosa arvensis) were decorating our hedges in a profusion +equal to that of a common August. November 4th there were slight ice and +partial snow, with various alternations undeserving of notice, but the +weather was generally fair and mild until Christmas. + +All these preceding heats and rapid changes had, I think, a manifest +influence upon our constitutions. Violent catarrhs, and lingering, +unremitting coughs, prevailed among all classes, both before and after +Christmas, to a degree that I never remember; and children were +afflicted with measles almost universally. Early in January a violent +wind was succeeded by a severe frost, and in some places by a deep snow; +but, after about ten days’ duration, a very gentle thaw removed all +this, and the remainder of our winter was mild and agreeable, +introducing what might be called an early spring, dry and propitious for +every agricultural purpose. The trees that refoliaged so vigorously in +autumn seemed in no way weakened by this unusual exertion, but produced +their accustomed proportion of leaves, and the sprays of every bush and +tree, ripened and matured by the last summer’s sun, displayed a +profusion, an accumulation of blossom, that gave the fairest promise of +abundance of fruit, and every product of the earth. + + * * * * * + +That the death of any creature should be required by the naturalist, to +perfect his examination, or arrange it in his collection, (and without a +collection the investigation of any branch of natural history can be but +partially undertaken), may be regretted; but still the epithet of “cruel +employ” must not be attached to this pursuit. We do not destroy in +wantonness, or unnecessarily; and that life, of which it is expedient to +deprive a creature, is taken by the most speedy, and in the least +painful manner known. Some of our methods, if speedy, are at the same +time injurious, such as hot water, the stifling-box, &c.; and some, that +are not painful, such as stupefaction by spirits, ether, &c., and +suffocation by carbonate of ammonia, are occasionally not effectual. But +there is one process, which I believe to be neither painful nor +injurious, yet decisive, and communicative with pleasure; I mean the +prussic acid. This fluid may be imbibed by the insect without producing +any particular effect; but, if brought to act upon the spinal cord, or +what at least is analogous to that part of a vertebrate animal, whatever +it may be called, and which seems to be the most vital part of the +creation, instant death ensues. A crow-quill must be shaped into a +point, like a rather long pen, this point dipped into the prussic acid, +and an incision made with it immediately beneath the head into the +middle of the shoulders of the creature, so as to permit the fluid it +contains to enter into the body of the insect. Immediately after this, +in every instance in which I have tried it, a privation of sensation +appears to take place, the corporeal action of the creature ceasing, a +feeble tremulous motion of the antennæ being alone perceptible; and +these parts seem to be the last fortress that is abandoned by sensation, +as they are the primary principle of sensibility when life is perfect: +extinction of animation ensues, not a mere suspension, but an +annihilation of every power, muscular and vital. As one example of the +decisive effects of this fluid, I shall instance the common wasp, a +creature so remarkably tenacious of sensation, or so long retaining a +muscular power, that it may remain, as every one knows, for days crushed +in the window, an apparently dead insect, yet upon pressing the head, +the sting will be so protruded as to give a very sensible pain to the +finger it should meet with; but upon the prussic acid being injected +into this creature as above, when in full vigor, in the course of less +than half a minute a loss of vitality ensues, the action of the muscular +fibre ceases altogether, and no pressure can incite it again into +action. The sudden effect of this liquor is not so generally known as +from humanity and expediency might be wished. Who first devised the +experiment I am ignorant; but any repetition of means whereby a +necessary end can be obtained by the least painful and brief infliction, +will hardly be considered as superfluous. + +This subject naturally introduces the preservation of the creatures +after their death, and the young entomologist is not perhaps sensible +from experience of the injury some species of insects will effect in the +selected specimens of others of this race, and may lament, when too +late, the separation of the wings, limbs, and bodies of his collection +by these tiny depredators (ptinus fur, acararus destructor). Mr. +Waterton’s recipe for preventing this evil, I have used rather +extensively and believe it to be a very effectual, and generally an +innocuous preservative; but as this gentleman has not given us the exact +proportions of his mixture, it may not be useless to observe, that if +one part of corrosive sublimate be dissolved in eight parts of good +spirit of wine, and the under side of the insect touched with a camel’s- +hair pencil, dipped in the liquor, so as to let it lightly pervade every +part of the creature, which it readily does, it will, I apprehend, +prevent any future injury from insects. A larger portion of the +sublimate will leave an unsightly whiteness upon the creature when the +specimen becomes dry. The under side of the board, on which the insects +are fixed, should be warmed a little by the fire after the application, +that the superfluous moisture may fly off, before finally closing the +case. If this be omitted, the inner surface of the glass will sometimes +become partially obscured by the fume arising from the mixture. The +experienced entomologist needs not a notice like this; but the young +collector probably will not regard it as unnecessary information, and +may be spared by it from both mortification and regret. I have known +insects commence their serious operations before the collections of the +summer could be arranged in their permanent cases. + +In noticing above, that this solution is generally harmless, it is +requisite that mention should be made of the few instances in which it +has been observed to be injurious. I have applied it to many specimens +of foreign and British insects, and commonly observed no indication of +its having been used, when the creatures had become dry. But to confine +our attentions to English specimens, when the solution is made stronger +than recommended, it will, after a time, injure the fine yellow of the +sulphur butterfly (papilio rhamni), by turning parts of it brown and +dirty; but even in its reduced state it has a manifest effect upon the +colors of two of our moths, the Dartford emerald (phalæna lucidata), and +what is commonly called the green housewife moth (phalæna vernaria) +changing their plumage, in several places, to a red buffy hue, when at +the same time the beautiful green wings of the small oak-moth (phalæna +viridana) are in no way altered by it. But notwithstanding these +circumstances, it will, I apprehend, be considered as a very useful +preservative, and save many specimens from destruction which other means +usually fail of effecting. + +There are not many of our rural practices, that deserve more the +disapprobation of the landed proprietor than that of pollarding +trees.[74] “It is an evil under the sun, and common among men.” Here it +is universal. This system of cutting off the heads of the young trees in +the hedge-rows is resorted to by the farmer for the purpose of forcing +them, thus deprived of their leaders, to throw out collateral shoots, +serving for stakes for the fences, and for firewood. The purposes are +effected; but of all hopes of timber, or profit to the proprietor, there +is an end. No trees suffer more in this respect than the ash. +Prohibitions against mangling trees, in agreements, are usual; but, with +some exceptions in regard to oak, little attention seems paid to the +covenant, as is obvious on the most cursory view of the country in any +direction; whereas the ash is not a less valuable tree, from its +thriving more universally in all situations, and becoming saleable in a +shorter period. One or two generations must pass before an oak should be +felled; but the ash becomes useful wood while its more respected +companion is but a sapling. These prohibitions should not simply be +engrossed on the parchment, but the agent ought strictly to notice any +infringement; and young ash trees should be more especially guarded +because they are the most likely to suffer, from their producing the +greatest quantity of lop in the shortest time. The injury done by this +practice to the present landlord and his successors is beyond +estimation, as the numbers destroyed, and the vigor of their growth, +must be first known; but there is not a farm of any extent from which +hundreds of ash trees might not have been felled, had their growth been +permitted, making an annual return; whereas nothing can be obtained now +or hereafter for the proprietor, and only a few stakes and bavins for +the farmer.[75] It is by no means an uncommon thing, to observe every +ash tree in a hedge reduced to stumps by successive pollardings. Many a +landlord would shudder at the thought of breaking up an old productive +sward, and not regard the topping of an ash; whereas this latter act is +infinitely more injurious, ultimately, than the former. The land may, +and will probably, recover, but the tree is lost for ever, as to any +profitable purposes for the owner. The farmer might perhaps tell the +agent when he remonstrated, that he must have firewood, and hedging +stuff; but the wants of the former have decreased by the facility of +obtaining other fuel, and neither is to be supplied by the landlord at +such a ruinous subversion of present and future benefit. I am not so +silly as to enlarge upon the beauty of what has been called “picturesque +farming;” but when we cast our eyes over the country, and see such rows +of dark, club-headed posts, we cannot but remark upon the unsightly +character they present, and consider it neither laudable to deform our +beautiful country by the connivance, nor proper attention to individual +profit to allow the continuation of it. The ash, after this mutilation, +in a few years become flattened at the summit, moisture lodges in it, +and decay commences, the central parts gradually mouldering away, though +for many years the sap wood will throw out vigorous shoots for the +hatchet. The goat moth now too commences its mordications, and the end +is not distant. But the wood of the ash appears in every stage subject +to injury; when in a dry state the weevils mine holes through it; when +covered by its bark, it gives harbor to an infinite variety of insects, +which are the appointed agents for the removal of the timber: the ashen +bar of a stile, or a post, we may generally observe to be regularly +scored by rude lines diverging from a central stem, like a trained +fruit-tree, by the meanderings of a little insect (ips niger, &c.), +being the passages of the creatures feeding on the wood. + +There is one race of trees, the willow, very common about us, that is so +universally subject to this pollarding, for the purpose of providing +stakes and hurdles for the farm, that probably few persons have ever +seen a willow tree. At any rate a sight of one grown unmutilated from +the root is a rare occurrence. The few that I have seen constituted +trees of great beauty; but as the willow, from the nature of its wood, +can never be valuable as a timber tree, perhaps by topping it we obtain +its best services. In the county of Gloucester there are several +remarkable trees of different species now growing, but I am not +acquainted with any greater natural curiosity of this sort than an +uncommonly fine willow tree in the meadows on the right of the Spa-house +at Gloucester. There are two of them; the species I forget, but one tree +is so healthy and finely grown, that it deserves every attention, and +should be preserved as a unique specimen, an example of what magnitude +this despised race may attain when suffered to proceed in its own +unrestrained vigor. + +Dec. 30.—A cold foggy morning, the ground covered with a white frost; +about twelve o’clock the sun burst out with great brilliancy, and life +and light succeeded to torpor and gloom; a steam immediately arose from +our garden beds and plowed lands, giving us a very strong example of the +rapid manner in which the matter of heat (caloric) will at times unite +with water. Half an hour before, this water was frozen and inert; but +the instant that the sun’s rays fell upon it, their heat was imbibed, +and the icy matter converted into a body lighter than the atmosphere by +which it was surrounded, and passed into it in the vapor we have just +noticed. I was the more particular in observing this common event, as it +afforded a forcible illustration of the invisible evaporation which is +constantly going forward, the unremitting changes in operation, the +action and reaction of the earth and its products with the atmosphere. +During the night, and the earlier parts of the morning, water was +falling on the earth in minute particles, constituting what we call fog; +then out burst the sun, and reclaimed this moisture which had fallen, +and we could see it obeying the mandate, and pass away in steam. In the +evening it will probably return again in fog, or in rain, when the +atmosphere cools; and thus a constant visible intelligence is going on. +How much insensible intercourse takes place we know not, but we can +comprehend its agency by the effects and events that manifest +themselves. Our country people think these “rokings” (reekings) of the +earth greatly favorable to the growth of vegetation, supposing it +occasioned by the internal heat of the earth producing a vapor like that +from fermenting soil, thus warming the roots; but if the theory be +defective, the fact may be true, by the caloric in the sun’s rays +promoting the decomposition of the water, or separating the component +parts (oxygen and hydrogen), which uniting with other matters contained +in the earth and atmosphere (carbon and carbonic acid) become by this +means the basis of all our fruits, our sweets, our sours, resins, &c., +in the vegetable world; and hence there is a constant decomposition of +water going forward by these alternations, and a constant formation of +matters beneficial and necessary for the various inhabitants of the +earth. When we perceive that a shower of rain has revived or promoted +the increase of vegetation, we must understand, that the mere wetting it +has not accomplished this; but that the vegetable has by means of its +foliage, aided by light and heat, decomposed or separated the combined +matters of the water, and taken from it certain portions as essential to +its vigor, or been revictualled, in a manner, by the nutriment contained +in the water. + +Jan. 10.—The ground covered with snow, the pools with ice, trees and +hedges leafless, and patched here and there with a mantle of white, +present a cheerless, dreary void; no insects are animating the air, and +all our songsters are silent and away; a few miserable thrushes are +hopping on the ditch-bank, swept bare by the wind; and the robin puffing +out his feathers, and contracting his neck into his body, is peeping +with his fine bright eyes into the windows from the cypress bough. A few +evergreens are waving their sprays, and glittering in the light, yet +making but poor compensation for the variety, the flutter, the verdure, +of our summer. Though we have little natural beauty to note or to +record, we are not left without a testimony of an overruling Power; and, +however sad and melancholy things may appear at the first view, yet a +more steady observation will manifest to us a presiding Providence and +Mercy. Frost and snow are but cheerless subjects for contemplation, yet +I would add a reflection in my Journal of our passing events, or rather +recall from memory the truth, that science has made known to us, revived +by the sight of that frozen pool. There is one universal body, inherent +in every known substance in nature, latent heat, which chemists have +agreed to call “caloric.” By artificial means bodies may be deprived of +certain portions of it; and then the substance most usually contracts, +and increases in weight. Water is an exception to this; for in losing a +part of its heat, the cause of its fluidity, and becoming ice, it +expands, and is rendered lighter, by inclosing, during the operation, +more or less of atmospheric air: consequently it swims, covering the +surface. To this very simple circumstance, ice floating and not +sinking,[76] are the banks and vicinities of all the rivers, lakes, +pools, or great bodies of water in northern Europe, Asia, and America, +rendered habitable, and what are now the most fertile and peopled would +be the most sterile and abandoned, were it not for this law of nature. +Had ice been so heavy as to sink in water, the surface on freezing would +have fallen to the bottom, and a fresh surface would be presented for +congelation; this would then descend in its turn, and unite with the +other; and thus during a hard frost successive surfaces would be +presented, and fall to the bottom, as long as the frost or any fluid +remained. By this means the whole body of the water would become a dense +concretion of ice: its inhabitants would not only perish, but the +indurated mass would resist the influence of the sun of any summer to +thaw it, and continue congealed throughout the year, chilling the earth +in its neighborhood, and the winds that passed over it, preventing the +growth of vegetation in the former, or blighting and destroying it by +the influence of the latter. + +Winter is called a dull season; and to the sensations of some, the +enjoyments of others, and, perhaps, to the vision of all, it is a most +cheerless period. This is so universally felt, that we always associate +the idea of pleasure with the return of spring: whatsoever our +occupations or employments may be, though its sleety storms and piercing +winds may at times chill the very current in our veins, yet we consider +it as a harbinger of pleasurable hours and grateful pursuits. We +commence our undertakings, or defer them till spring. The hopes or +prospects of the coming year are principally established in spring; and +we trust that the delicate health of the blossoms round our hearths, +which has faded in the chilling airs of winter, may be restored by the +mild influence of that season. Yet winter must be considered as the time +in which Nature is most busily employed; silent in her secret mansions, +she is now preparing and compounding the verdure, the flowers, the +nutriment of spring; and all the fruits and glorious profusion of our +summer year are only the advance of what has been ordained and +fabricated in these dull months. All these advances require Omnipotent +wisdom and power to perfect; but perhaps a more exalted degree of wisdom +and power has been requisite to call them into a state of being from +nothing. The branch of that old pear-tree now extended before me, is +denuded and bare, presenting no object of curiosity or of pleasure; but, +had we the faculty to detect, and power to observe, what was going +forward in its secret vessels, beneath its rugged, unsightly covering, +what wonder and admiration would it create!—the materials manufacturing +there for its leaf, and its bark; for the petals and parts of its +flowers; the tubes and machinery that concoct the juices, modify the +fluids, and furnish the substance of the fruit, with multitudes of other +unknown operations and contrivances, too delicate and mysterious to be +seen, or even comprehended, by the blindness, the defectibility of our +nature—things of which we have no information, being beyond the range of +any of the works or the employments of mankind! We may gather our pear, +be pleased with its form or its flavor; we may magnify its vessels, +analyze its fluids, yet be no more sensible of its elaborate formation, +and the multiplicity of influences and operations requisite to conduct +it to our use, than a wandering native of a polar clime could be of the +infinite number of processes that are necessary to furnish a loaf of +bread, from plowing the soil to drawing from the oven. This is but an +isolated instance, amidst thousands of others more complicated still. +How utterly inconceivable then are the labors, the contrivances, the +combinations, that are going forward, and accomplishing, in this our +dull season of the year, in that host of nature’s productions with +which, shortly, we shall everywhere be surrounded! + +Jan. 20th.—A keen frost, and the ground covered with snow, present a +scene of apparent suffering and want to many of our poor little birds; +but the preservation of the fowls of the air, which sow not nor gather +into barns, has been beautifully instanced to us, as a manifest evidence +of a superintending Providence: the full force of this testimony is most +strongly impressed upon us in a season like this, when winter rules with +rigor, and we marvel how the life of these beings can be supported when +the waters are bound up, and earth and all its products hidden by a +dense covering of snow. Many of the small birds obtain subsistence by +picking the refuse of our corn-stacks, by seeds scattered about our +homestalls and cattle-yards, but multitudes of others are in no way +dependent upon man for shelter or support, do not even approach his +dwelling, but are maintained by the universal bounty of Providence; as +the woodlark, the meadow-lark, the chats, and several others; but by +what means they are maintained in a period like this is not quite +manifest. The portion that they require is probably small, yet it must +be insect food, and the chats, larks, and gray wagtails, seem busily +engaged in providing for their wants upon the furze sprays, amidst +frozen grass, or upon the banks of ditches and pools; and as no insect +but the winter gnat is now found in such places, it is probable that +this creature, which sports in numbers in every sunny gleam, yields them +in this season much of their support. Some of the insectivorous birds +have at such periods no apparent difficulty in supporting their +existence, finding their food in a dormant state in mosses, lichens, and +crevices of trees and buildings; but for those which require animated +creatures, I am sensible of none that are to be procured but this gnat, +and it possibly has been endowed with its peculiar habits and +dispositions for a purport like this. We have many examples in nature of +similar provisions, wherein one race supports the existence and +requirements of another. The molusca and insects of the deep continue +the life of some, the feeble races of the air and waters maintain the +beings of others, and the beast of the wild seeks his food amidst those +which inhabit with him; but where this chain ends, human faculties will +probably never be able to ascertain. The remarkable fact which our +microscopes make known to us, that all infusions of natural substances +in water will produce life, however extraordinary the form may be, seems +to denote a continuation of being beyond any possible comprehension, and +probably subservient to the existence of each other: the minute creature +that floats a hardly perceptible atom in the water of the ditch, and +which subsists many of the animals which inhabit those places, feeds +upon smaller than itself, and those again, possibly, upon more minute +ones which the vegetable infusions of those places give existence to: +here the investigation terminates, but the thread unbroken continues, +probably through endless gradations, perceptible to infinity alone. + +Having applauded the operations of Nature with so much cordiality, +possibly I may be called her “enthusiastic adorer,” but the epithet must +be disclaimed. None can respect the works of creation more, but ’tis not +with an ecstasy that glows, fades, and expires, but with a calm deep- +rooted conviction implanted in the boy, and increased by years of notice +and experience. I have followed her footsteps, though far, very far +distant, as an humble admirer of perfection, nor can my veneration cease +whilst reason continues undisturbed. + + * * * * * + +Sept. 8th, 1828.—A remarkably dry and exhausting day, not from any +peculiar influence of the solar heat, but from the arid state of the +air, which was very distressing to our feelings, and all tender +vegetation became languid and suffering under its influence. I +endeavored to ascertain the power of absorption possessed by the air at +the time by an experiment, rude enough to be sure, yet it tended in some +measure to indicate the rapid manner in which fluids are exhaled in +particular states of the atmosphere. A linen cloth twelve inches square, +which had absorbed an ounce avoirdupois of water, was suspended in the +shade in a free current of air, and in the course of ten minutes it had +lost 436 grains, equal to one-sixteenth of its weight. This great +evaporation was principally effected by the absorbent power of the air, +and manifested in some degree the exhausting influence that was passing +over the earth and the vegetation exposed to the current of air; and as +the roots could not derive sufficient moisture from the soil to supply +what was thus drawn from the leaves, the foliage became languid and +flaccid in consequence. The linen, containing the same quantity of +water, was then spread upon a short turf in the sun and in the space of +ten minutes it lost 368 grains, and this was effected without any +particular influencing current of air; accordingly, the evaporation from +an acre of moist land covered with vegetation would exceed one hundred +and twenty-two cwt. of water in an hour! As the quantity drawn from the +vegetation on the soil may be equal to the shelter its foliage affords +to the earth, no very accurate data can be drawn from this experiment; +for different soils will give out their moisture more or less easily, +and succulent vegetables be more influenced than those of a drier +nature; but it served at the time to indicate the portion of moisture +that was escaping from a given horizontal surface. From the invisible +and insensible nature of evaporation, its influences are not always +considered; but such an action on the surfaces of things as that related +above, must put into operation all the inherent powers of matter +susceptible of impulse, and probably would produce effects which we +might suppose to be accomplished by the agency of other means. + +Nov. 10.—Many effusions of the mind have been produced by the approach +or existence of the seasons of our year, which seem naturally to actuate +our bodily or mental feelings through the agency of the eye, or +temperature of the air. The peculiar silence that prevails in autumn, +like the repose of wearied nature, seems to mark the decline and +termination of being in many things that animated our summer months; the +singing of the bird is rare, feeble, and melancholy; the hum of the +insect is not heard; the breeze passes by us like a sigh from nature: we +hear it, and it is gone for ever. But it is the vegetable tribes, which +at this season most particularly influence our feeling, and excite our +attention. We see the fruits of the earth stored up for our use in that +dull season “in which there will be neither earing nor harvest,” the +termination and reward of the labors of man. But this day, November 10, +presented such a scene of life and mortality, that it could not be +passed by without viewing it as an admonition, a display of what has +been, and is. There had occurred during the night a severe white frost; +and, standing by a green-house filled with verdure, fragrance, and +blossom, I was surrounded in every direction by the parents of all this +gaiety, in blackness, dissolution, and decay. But the very day before, +they had attracted the most merited admiration and delight by the +splendor of their bloom and the vigor of their growth; but now just +touched by the icy finger of the night, they had become a mass of +unsightly ruins and confusion. Once the gay belles of the parterre, they +fluttered their hour, a generation of existent loveliness; their +youthful successors, unpermitted to mingle with them, peeped from their +retreats above, seeming almost to repine at their confinement; they have +bloomed their day, another race succeeds, and their hour will be +accomplished too. This was so perfectly in unison with the shifting +scenes of life, the many changes of the hour, that it seemed inseparably +connected with a train of reflection, with the precepts which all nature +points out—her still small whisperings for the ears of those that can +hear them. + +The extraordinary tendency that Nature has to produce, and the vigilant +perseverance she maintains to occupy all substances as a soil for her +productions, when they arrive at a state fitting for her purposes, is a +well-known fact, and is perfectly in consistency with the uniform habit +she preserves, of letting “no fragment be lost.” All things tend +upwards, from some original, through an infinity of gradations, though +the beginning and termination may not always be perceived, nor the links +of this vast chain be found. The most obscure plants, agarics or mucor, +as far as we know, perfect their seed, and give birth to other +generations; but there is a fine green substance, observable upon the +sprays of trees, stems of various shrubs in every hedge, upon old rails +and exposed wood-work, leaving a powdery mark upon one’s coat that has +rubbed against such places, which I have always considered as the very +lowest rudiment of vegetation. This matter, submitted to examination in +the microscope, presents no foliage or plant-like form, but appears a +kind of pollen, a capsule, or a perfected seed, suspended on a fine +fibre; but from the extreme smallness of it I speak with hesitation, not +being able to define it satisfactorily with the most powerful lens. If +it be, as I have conjectured, a perfected seed, it probably is the +origin of many of those minute mosses, that become rooted, we know not +by what means, upon banks, stones, barks, &c., in such profusion; but +here all investigation ceases: by what agency this fine seed has been so +profusely scattered, or from what source it sprang, is hidden from us, +and we can no more satisfactorily conjecture, than we can account for +those myriads of blighting insects, which so suddenly infest our grain, +our fruits, and our plants. There is an inquisition, where all human +knowledge terminates; the bounds of nature have never been defined. + +Without considering the various sources of enjoyment and pleasure +bestowed upon an intelligent creature, what a scene of glorious display +might be opened to man through the agency of the eye alone! Motives we +must abandon, as probably they are beyond our comprehensions; but were +the powers of vision so enlarged or cleared as to bring to observation +the now unknown fabrication of animate and inanimate things, what +astonishment would be elicited! The seeds, the pollen of plants, the +capillary vessels and channels of their several parts, with their +concurrent actions, the clothing of various creatures, and all that host +of unperceived wisdom around us! Yet probably the mind, constituted as +it now is, would be disturbed by the constant excitement such wonders +would create; but at present, though sparingly searched out by the +patient investigator, and but obscurely seen, they solace and delight; +“cheer, but not inebriate.” + + “Oh good beyond compare! + If thus thy meaner works are fair, + If thus thy bounties gild the span + Of ruin’d earth and sinful man, + How glorious must that mansion be + Where thy redeem’d shall live with thee!” + + * * * * * + +And now I think I have pretty well run over my diary, the humble record +of the birds, the reptiles, the plants, and inanimate things around me. +They who have had the patience to read these my notes, will probably be +surprised that I could take the trouble to register such accounts of +such things; and I might think so too, did I not know how much +occupation and healthful recreation the seeking out these trifles have +afforded me, rendering, besides, all my rural rambles full of enjoyment +and interest: companions and intimates were found in every hedge, on +every bank, whose connexions I knew something of, and whose individual +habits had become familiar by association; and thus this narrative of my +contemporaries was formed. Few of us, perhaps, in reviewing our by-gone +days, could the hours return again, but would wish many of them +differently disposed of, and more profitably employed: but I gratefully +say, that portion of my own passed in the contemplation of the works of +nature is the part which I most approve—which has been most conducive to +my happiness; and, perhaps, from the sensations excited by the wisdom +and benevolence perceived, not wholly unprofitable to a final state, and +which might be passed again, could I but obtain a clearer comprehension +of the ways of Infinite Wisdom. If in my profound ignorance I received +such gratification and pleasure; what would have been my enjoyment and +satisfaction, “if the secrets of the Most High had been with me, and +when by His light I had walked through darkness?” + + + + + APPENDIX. + + BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. + + + NOTE A. + THE “CONEYGAR” AND “LODGE FARM,” p. 11. + +It is one of the pleasing characteristics of an old and highly civilized +country, that appropriate local names for the smaller hamlets, farms, +and single rural dwellings, are in general and familiar use. Every thing +which gives to the household home, whether of rich or poor, a pleasant +distinctive character, an additional hold on the memory and the +affections of its inmates, must always prove a merit; and many, +assuredly, have been the instances in which the familiar name of the +family roof has continued through life a hallowed sound to the wanderers +of the household band it once sheltered. In England, this custom—so +natural, so kindly, when undisturbed by pretension—is very general, and +it is almost needless to say that wherever these names go back for half +a century or more, they are always appropriate, and often peculiar, or +it may be, interesting from historical or other associations. In very +many instances, not only do the farm-house and the cottage bear suitable +names, but even the different fields about them are all marked in the +same way; this meadow, that grain-field, yonder copse, the knoll beyond, +shall each be called by some simple term, familiar to the household of +the farmer of the present day, as it was perhaps to his forefathers of +past generations. + + + NOTE B. + THE POTATO, p. 30. + +It has been clearly ascertained that the potato is indigenous to South +America. Mr. Darwin, in his “Journal of Researches,” speaking of the +Chonos Archipelago, on the coast of Chili, writes as follows: + +“The _wild potato_ grows on these islands in great abundance, in the +sandy, shelly soil, near the sea beach. The tallest plant was four feet +in height. The tubers were generally small, but I found one, of an oval +shape, two inches in diameter; they resembled, in every respect, and had +the same smell as English potatoes; but when boiled they shrunk much, +and were watery and insipid, without any bitter taste. They were +undoubtedly indigenous here: they grow as far south, according to Mr. +Low, as lat. 50°, and are called _Aquinas_ by the wild Indians of that +part; the Chilotan Indians have a different name for them. Professor +Henslow, who has examined the dried specimens which I brought home, says +they are the same with those described by Mr. Sabine,[77] from +Valparaiso, but that they form a variety, which by some botanists has +been considered specifically distinct. It is remarkable that the same +plant should be found on the sterile mountains of central Chili, where a +drop of rain does not fall for more than six months, and within the damp +forests of these southern islands.” Darwin’s “Journal of Researches,” +Vol. II. p. 23, American edition. + + + NOTE C. + THE WYCH ELM, (_Ulmus Montana_,) p. 46. + +The following account of the wych elm is given by Mr. Downing in his +“_Landscape Gardening_:” + +“The Scotch, or wych elm, (_ulmus montana_.) This is a tree of lower +stature than the common European elm, its average height being about +forty feet. The leaves are broad, rough, pointed, and the branches +extend more horizontally, drooping at the extremities. The bark on the +branches is comparatively smooth. It is a grand tree, ‘the head is so +finely massed, and yet so well broken, as to render it one of the +noblest of park trees; and where it grows wild amid the rocky scenery of +its native Scotland, there is no tree which assumes so great, or so +pleasing a variety of character.’ In general appearance the Scotch elm +considerably resembles our white elm. Its most ornamental varieties are +the spiry-topped elm, (_U. m. fastigiata_,) with singularly twisted +leaves, and a very upright growth; the weeping Scotch elm, (_u. m. +pendula_,) a very remarkable variety, the branches of which droop in a +fan-like manner; and the smooth-leaved Scotch elm, (_u. m. glabra_.)” + + + NOTE D. + THE CARPENTER BEE, (_Megachile Centuncularis_,) p. 53. + +The term _carpenter bee_ is now usually confined, in England, to those +insects of the bee tribe which chisel out or rasp their nests in posts, +or palings, &c. Their cells “consist of a tunnel excavated in the wood, +and divided by thin partitions of clay into five or six compartments, +each with its supply of pollen for the single inhabitant who is to +emerge from the egg deposited therein.” + +The bee referred to by Mr. Knapp, page 53, although inhabiting, at +times, a wooden cell also, like the true “carpenter,” is more generally +classed with the “upholsterer bees,” or those which line their nests +with cuttings from leaves, and flowers. This leaf-cutter bee is thus +alluded to in “Acheta Domestica:” + +“Having excavated, or found her hole, (a cavity in ground, or wood, or +wall, from six to ten inches deep,) she proceeds to construct within it, +of the pieces of the leaf she cuts off, several cells, of the shape and +about the size of a thimble, which she inserts successively, the bottom +of one into the mouth of that below it. It takes from nine to twelve +pieces of leaf to complete each cell, and as each is finished she stores +it with a rose-colored conserve made chiefly of pollen and honey, +collected from the flowers of the thistle. When to this magazine of +sweets is superadded the egg from whence its future consumer is to +spring, the provident provider of the store covers in the whole with +three more pieces of leaf, cut in a circle, _as truly accurate as +compasses could describe_. Room being left above the cover for the +insertion of a succeeding cell, our “upholsterer” thus proceeds till her +nursery tunnel is completely filled up.” + +* * * “The leaves employed by the leaf-cutter, are materials of somewhat +stubborn texture, those sometimes of the mountain ash, and birch, as +well as the rose, herein enhancing the skill of their employer. It would +seem, however, that pliability and thinness are qualities somewhat +regarded, and most wonderfully discerned by the little artist in +question; for we have noticed in more than one summer, the smooth, +delicate, tender leaves of a dark variety of China rose, almost +scolloped by the circles and ovals of her excision, while the foliage of +the “cabbage” close by, has been left untouched, as if too coarse and +common for her purpose.”—_Acheta Domestica._ + +Reaumur relates that a gardener at Rouen, once chancing to dig up the +nest of a leaf-cutter bee, was so utterly amazed with the singular skill +of the contrivance that he was terrified, and hastened with it to the +priest of the parish, believing it to be nothing less than the work of +witchcraft. Monsieur le Curé, it appears, had something of the same +suspicions; he advised the man to carry the nest to Paris; the gardener, +however, took it first to a distinguished Naturalist living at Rouen, +who relieved the poor fellow’s mind by opening one of the cases and +showing him the grub within. + +We learn that there are several leaf-cutting or upholsterer bees, in the +United States, although it is not probable that either is precisely +similar to that alluded to by Mr. Knapp, and the author of Acheta +Domestica. + + + NOTE E. + THE ROSE-BEETLE, (_Cetonia Aurata_,) p. 53. + +The Rose-Chafer, or Rose-Beetle, the _Cetonia aurata_ of entomologists, +is a beautiful insect, very common in England but unknown in our own +country. “On the back of the corslet burnished green and gold are the +prevailing hues, on breast-plate, cuisse, and gauntlet the lustre of the +precious metal is predominant, mingled with changeable reflections of +purplish crimson,” says the writer of Acheta Domestica. “Like the rest +of its tribe, this pretty beetle undergoes the usual triple +metamorphosis of insect life. From an egg laid within the earth, he +emerges a grub or larva, to feed on roots, most usually those of the +rose. * * Thus, hermit-like, and upon this hermit’s fare, he lives in +dark seclusion for four years, and when these are over, constructs for +himself, about the month of March, a still more straitened cell—an +earth-formed case, resembling a pigeon’s egg. He proceeds, under its +cover, to the second stage of _pupa_—from thence to the third and last +estate; and after remaining another fortnight under ground, for his +enameled mail to acquire hardness, comes forth in all his splendor to +meet the roses. The antennæ are of curious and very elegant formation. +They each terminate in a knob composed of several laminæ or plates, +opening or shutting like the leaves of a book, and which also like a +book, can be put away at the pleasure of their insect owner, on a shelf +or deep cavity on either side its head. They are always thus put +carefully away when the chafer is inactive, or asleep. It has been +noticed as a singular fact that the rose-beetle has been found not +unfrequently, while in its two first stages, the tenant of an ant-hill, +and that without being attacked by its carnivorous inhabitants. It is +hence called, in some countries, “king of the ants;” and it is said also +that German cattle dealers invest it with supernatural powers, and feed +it carefully in beds as a means of insuring prosperity to their herds +and fortunes.”—_Acheta Domestica, second series, p. 72, English +edition._ + +The true rose-chafer has not been found among our American beetles. + + + NOTE F. + DYER’S BROOM, (_Genista Tinctoria_) p. 58. + +There are many species of Broom in the old world. The common Broom of +England has large, yellow, butterfly-shaped blossoms, and growing, as it +does, in large patches on waste lands, produces a vary brilliant effect +when in bloom. But it is also very useful in its way. The twigs were +probably the first besoms of the housewives of old, in days when witches +were believed to ride on broom-sticks to their gatherings; certain it +is, at least, that our brooms of the present hour derive their name from +the early use of the twigs of the plant for similar purposes. + +Cordage, matting, and even coarse cloth have been made of the fibres of +the Broom. Houses are sometimes thatched with the twigs, which have been +also used for tanning instead of oak bark. + +It was a sprig of the Broom or Genet, as it is called in French, worn in +the helmet of a count of Anjou, of olden time, which became at length a +family badge, and gave the name of Plantagenet to the race of English +kings, who for three centuries reigned over our forefathers. + +Dyer’s Broom, woad-waxen, _genista tinctoria_, has become naturalized +here and there in some parts of New York and New England. + + + NOTE G. + THE DESTRUCTION OF INSECTS BY PLANTS, p. 62. + +That singular American plant the sarracenia, pitcher-plant, hunters-cup, +or side-saddle flower, as it is variously called, is a striking instance +of the peculiarity referred to in the text, by Mr. Knapp. It is well +known to all who are familiar with our native plants, that the hollow +leaves of the sarracenia are generally found to contain more or less +water, with dead insects of various tribes which have been drowned in +the liquid. One might have supposed that this was purely accidental, but +it is not impossible that the plant may require for its sustenance a +certain amount of animal nourishment. The experiment of an English +gardener would lead one to believe that such is the case; taking a hint +from the drowned flies usually found in the hollow leaves of the +pitcher-plant he tried a singular experiment; he fed the vegetable on +beef-steak, small pieces of the beef being laid within the hollow +leaves. The superior beauty and size of the particular plant treated in +this way, subsequently proved that the surmise was correct, and that the +pitcher-plant is to a certain degree, _carnivorous_. Such may very +possibly be the case with other flowers which are known to entrap +insects of different kinds; they may need these as nourishment. +Generally speaking, it is the blossom and not, as in the instance of the +Sarracenia, the leaf which allures the insect and thus destroys it; in +this sense the hunter’s-cup is more ogre-like than most of its +companions possessing the same dangerous power, since it is not only +during the season of flowering, but throughout the summer that unwary +flies and gnats are drowned in its leafy reservoirs. + + + NOTE H. + THE IVY, (_Hedera Helix_,) p. 64. + +The Ivy is found throughout most of the countries of Europe, and also in +parts of Asia and Africa. It was one of the sacred plants of the old +Egyptians, and held the same character among the Greeks also. In our own +western hemisphere the Ivy was unknown until introduced by the colonists +from Europe; nor does it seem likely ever to become, like so many other +contributions of the old countries, naturalized here; our dryer summers +or colder winters, do not apparently agree with it. Possessing one +qualification rare among climbing plants, that of being an evergreen, it +may, on this account, be considered as the finest of the purely +ornamental vines of temperate regions. It is believed to live to a very +great age, as the parent stems of vines still attached to buildings some +centuries old, are found nearly as large as the trunks of good-sized +forest trees. + + + NOTE I. + THE SNOWDROP, page 70. + +Mr. Knapp tells us in the text, that in England the Snowdrop will linger +longer than any other plant on the site of a deserted garden, +outlasting, in this way, as a memorial of human tillage even the rose- +bush, the plumb-tree, or the daffodil. With us the pansy, heart’s-ease, +or garden-violet appears to have something of the same character; we +have found it opening its pretty, lowly blossoms among the grass, the +only vestige of a flower-garden, ploughed up more than thirty years +earlier. + + + NOTE J. + THE VERVAIN, page 71. + +We have in the United States several native Vervains, and one species of +European origin; the nettle-leaved Vervain, _Verbena urticifolia_, has +become one of our road-side weeds. We are told that verbena was a Latin +name given to any sacred herb, and by no means confined to the single +family of plants to which the term Vervain is now applied. + + + NOTE K. + THE MISTLETOE, page 71. + +The Mistletoe has been sometimes asserted to be unknown in America; but +this is an error. The yellow Mistletoe, _Viscum flaviscens_, is found on +the trunks of old forest trees, the elm, the oak, and the hickory, in +the middle, western, and southern states of the union. This singular +parasitic plant has yellowish leaves, with white berries tinged with the +same color. _See Gray’s Botany._ + + + NOTE L. + DYER’S WEED, WOLD, (_Luteola reseda_,) p. 72. + +Dyer’s Weed, Weld, Wold, _Luteola reseda_, has become partially +naturalized, here and there, in western New York. It is a plant about +three feet high, from whose leaf and stem a yellow coloring matter is +obtained, which is preferred to all other substances for giving a +brilliant greenish-lemon tint. It is also much used for dyeing silk a +golden yellow. + +The reader is probably aware that while many minerals and a certain +number of animal substances are employed in coloring, the largest +portion of our dyes are borrowed from the vegetable kingdom. + + + NOTE M. + SULPHUR, OR BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY, (_Gonepteryx Rhamni_,) p. 74. + +“This is the Brimstone Butterfly, which, gaily painted, + + “Soon + Explores the tepid noon, + And fondly trusts its tender dyes + To feeble suns and flattering skies.” + +“It has been supposed by some that this early visitant, (also a late +one,) is, like the above, a winter survivor; but from the trim of his +yellow robes, usually so fresh and glossy, it would seem more likely +that, instead of being laid up—not in lavender, but perhaps in ivy—they +are of the newest spring fashion. Be this as it may, he is the very +pink, or, as he has been more properly considered, the very primrose of +Papillons, sometimes to be seen like a living shadow of the primrose’s +self, fluttering beside it in the sunny hedge-row, or the sheltered +copse. We may know him by the cut of his bright, sulphur-colored +pinions—each, instead of being rounded, ending in a smooth tail-like +angle. + +“Of all the wings of the butterflies, these bear perhaps the closest +similitude to floral productions, and on each, as if to perfect the +resemblance of the delicate, flower-like coloring, is a reddish spot, an +exact copy of that often produced by decay or accident on the surface of +a yellow petal. In the beautiful raised bearing of their reverse, the +pinions of the “Brimstone” are no less correspondent with the same; but +those of the female, which, instead of yellow, are of a greenish white, +resemble perhaps yet more nearly, the leaf of a poplar on its under +side. The dye of the antennæ—that purplish pink so frequent upon tender +leaf and flower-stems—also the clothing of the body, a soft satin down +like that by which stalks and seed pods are so often covered, are all +alike accordant with the floral character of this most elegant flutterer +of the spring. This pretty butterfly comes of a pretty caterpillar, with +a smooth green coat, dotted or shagreened with black, and marked by a +whitish line along the back and sides. It is said to feed usually on the +leaves of the hawthorn and alder.”—_Acheta Domestica._ + + + NOTE N. + FURZE, (_Ulex Europæus_,) p. 77. + +The Furze, Gorse or Whin, is a low, shrubby plant, common in barren +soils throughout western Europe, and belonging to the natural order +_leguminosæ_. The yellow flowers, covering broad tracts of untilled +land, produce a brilliant and striking effect when in bloom. It is said +that Linnæus, when he first saw them, fell on his knees with expressions +of delight at their beauty, lamenting that the plant should be wanting +in Sweden. It is occasionally cultivated in poor soils for fodder, as +horses are fond of it, and the cattle are also fed with it in some parts +of England, after it has been bruised in a sort of mill. In tracts of +country where wood is scarce, it is frequently used by the cottagers for +fuel. The pods of the Whin, or Furze, when ripe burst open with a loud +crackling sound, which is described as pleasing, of a warm summer’s day. +We Americans have no other acquaintance with the Furze than what is +derived from books and prints. + + + NOTE O. + THE MAPLE, (_Acer campestre_,) p. 79. + +The common English Maple, _Acer campestre_, is wholly different from our +own various species. It is a tree found throughout the greater part of +Europe south of Scotland and Sweden, and is observed as far east as the +Caucasus. In England, however, it is little more than a bush, or small +tree of no great beauty, and whose wood is chiefly used for turning cups +and bowls, such as hermits used in days when ballads were written about +them. Its leaves are heart-shaped, with either two or five segments +which are not serrated; its flowers are erect, in branching corymbs. + +In the southern Caucasus this maple is said to become a fine tree, the +wood being in request for its hardness; and it is used for purposes less +peaceful than the hermits bowl, being worked up into gun-stocks. + +The Sycamore-maple, _Acer pseudo-platanus_, is a very different tree, of +noble growth, indigenous to southern Europe. This has been transplanted +to England where it is much cultivated, and has been called the Sycamore +from an erroneous notion that it is the same as the Sycamore of the +east. Neither of these Maples will compare, for autumnal coloring, with +those of our American woods. The true English Maple alluded to in the +text, is described as “shifting its dress to ochery shades, then trying +a deeper tint, and lastly assuming an orange vest.” This is pale indeed +compared with the Rubens-like coloring of our native trees of the same +family. + +The Maples are a very numerous and widely diffused tribe of trees. No +less than thirty-four species are enumerated by botanists, belonging to +different parts of the earth. + + + NOTE P. + AGARICS, page 85. + +Scientific writers have examined no less than a thousand different +species of Agarics, or those fungi belonging to the class of mushrooms, +and probably there are many more than have yet been enumerated. Some few +only of these plants are edible; a large proportion are highly poisonous +to man, while the character of many more have never yet been +ascertained. It is particularly remarkable that those which are found +wholesome in one country often become very dangerous in a different +soil; in England, for instance, only three kinds are eaten, the +_Agaricus campestris_, or common mushroom, the _A. pratensis_, or fairy- +ring mushroom, and the _A. Georgii_; but in southern Europe many more +are used as food, and among these a number of the same species which in +Great Britain have proved very dangerous. In Kamschatka again, the +_Agaricus muscarius_, considered a deadly poison in England, is found +quite harmless, and is regularly used as food. + +The following directions have been given in avoiding poisonous +mushrooms; all those possessing either of the characteristics mentioned +being dangerous: + +1. Such as have a cap very thin compared with the gills. + +2. Such as have the stalk growing from one side of the cap. + +3. Those in which the gills are of equal length. + +4. Such as have a milky juice. + +5. Those that readily produce a dark, watery liquid. + +6. All those that have a thin, web-like substance wound about the +superior portion, or collar of the stalk. + +As yet little has been printed regarding our American Agarics, while +those of Europe have been very closely studied by many scientific men, +who have published the result of their investigations. The following is +a list of those mentioned by Mr. Knapp in the volume before the reader: +_agaricus fimiputris_; _a. æruginosus_; _a. odorus_; _a. fragrans_; _a. +varius_; _a. oreades_; _a. georgii_ or _arvensis_; _a. surrectus_; _a. +caseus_, (or _infundibuliformis_;) _a. campestrus_; _a. pratensis_; _a. +muscarius_; _hydnum floriforme_, or _h. compactum_; _helvella mitra_, +(or _h. crispa_;) _lycoperdon cinereum_, or _didynium cinereum_; _l. +fornicatum_, or _geaster fornicatus_; _l. stellatum_, or _g. +hygrometicus_; _morchella esculenta_; _phallus impudicus_; _clavaria +hypoxylon_. + +These Agarics are all found in the United States, with the exception of +two species, _a. varius_, and _a. surrectus_, considered as yet +unrecognized. _A. georgii_, is regarded as a variety only of _a. +arvensis_. + +The esculent morell, _morchella esculenta_, noted by Mr. Knapp as very +rare in his own neighborhood, is widely diffused throughout the United +States. In some parts of the state of New York it is prized as a +delicacy for the table, and in the old orchards of Westchester county, +for instance, is by no means uncommon. + + + NOTE Q. + THE MARTEN, (_Mustela Martes_,) p. 95. + +The American Sable, or Pine Marten, _Mustela Martes_, is believed by +some Naturalists to differ decidedly from that of Europe. It is a very +active, nocturnal animal, twenty or thirty inches in length, and found +in old forests between forty and sixty-eight degrees of north latitude. +Trees are exclusively the homes of these pretty little creatures, which +are so perseveringly hunted for their beautiful furs. Their skins are +sold for one or two dollars apiece, according to their condition, color, +&c. As the Martens have litters of six or eight young at a time, they +would probably be almost as common in our woods as squirrels, if it were +not for the value man has attached to their fur. + + + NOTE R. + THE HEDGEHOG, (_Erinaceus Europæus_,) p. 96. + +This is a little animal very common indeed in England, and found in all +parts of Europe, excepting the extreme northern countries, Norway, +Lapland, &c. It is about nine or ten inches in length; the entire back, +and part of the head are covered with sharp brown spines which form its +sure defence against many enemies, for when surprised, or attacked, the +little creature has the power of rolling itself up into a spiny ball, +head, legs, and tail being completely concealed. In order to enable it +to take this shape, it has cutaneous muscles of a peculiar mechanism, +and the skin of the back is also capable of being drawn up like a hood, +or pouch, covering the head and limbs. There is apparently no effort +connected with this change of shape, for the little creature will roll +itself up in the twinkling of an eye, and frequently, when desirous of +descending a wall or abrupt bank, it will run to the edge, and without +hesitation, turn itself into a ball and throw itself off, trusting +entirely to the strength and elasticity of its spines, for protection in +the fall. + +The Hedgehog feeds chiefly upon insects, although it also eats fruits +and eggs, and will even attack frogs and snakes. These little animals +sleep away the winter, and do not awake until the warm weather has +fairly set in. + +The ignorant are ever making sad mistakes between their true friends and +their enemies, and the poor little hedgehog, which is rather serviceable +to man than otherwise, by devouring noxious insects, has long been +cruelly persecuted by the peasantry of Europe. It has been accused of +draining the udders of cows as they lie in the meadows at night, and +otherwise injuring them; “all urchin blasts and ill-luck signs,” says +the spirit in Cosmos, the urchin being another name for the hedgehog, +which, in fact, if it creeps about the cattle, is only in pursuit of the +flies that annoy them. + +The Porcupine is sometimes called the hedgehog, but very erroneously, +being a larger animal, of very different habits, and belonging to a +different order. + +The nest of the hedgehog is said to be very skillfully prepared, and the +female is a particularly watchful mother. A touching incident is related +which proves the strength of maternal instinct in these creatures; a +nest of small hedgehogs lay in a garden, whence every evening the mother +passed by a gate into an adjoining copse in search of food for her +young. On one occasion the gate was accidentally closed at an earlier +hour than usual, and the poor creature so exhausted herself with +fruitless anxiety, and efforts to reach her little ones, that she died +before morning, and was found lying lifeless close to the gate. + +The flesh of the hedgehog is still eaten in some parts of Europe; it is +roasted or baked in pies. In olden times not only the spines of this +animal were used medicinally, but wise practitioners declared that “oil +in which one of its eyes has been fried, if kept in a brass vessel, will +endow the human eye with the faculty of seeing as well by night, as in +the day.” + + + NOTE S. + THE SHREW, page 104. + +These little creatures, resembling mice in their general appearance, are +yet entirely distinct from them, as the cat is well aware, if many human +beings are not. Puss has never been known to eat a shrew. In Europe +these singular little animals are very common in the fields, and about +old walls, heaps of stone, &c. They feed on insects, worms, &c., while +the true mice are not insectivorous, but are classed with the rodent +order. + + + NOTE T. + THE MOLE, (_talpa Europea_) p. 104. + +This animal, so very common in most countries of Europe, is said to have +no existence in America. It is at least still a subject of dispute among +naturalists whether the true mole of Europe be found on this continent +or not. + +This creature, with whose name, at least, we are all familiar, has been +supposed to be blind; but the notion is erroneous. Eyes are not wanting +in the mole, but they are small, buried in the fur, and by a peculiar +muscular contrivance they can be pushed forward, or drawn within, so as +to be protected from particles of earth. The hearing of the mole is +particularly acute, although it has no external shell to the ear. Its +sense of smell is also particularly good. It feeds chiefly upon earth- +worms, but also eats mice, rats, frogs, lizards, and its appetite is +voracious. The subterranean domains of these creatures are extensive and +various in their character, their runs, or galleries, being generally +about five or six inches below the surface, though often reaching to +thrice that depth. They are nocturnal, like so many of the creatures +which people the earth; and they are as active in winter as in summer. + +The mole is not found in Ireland, or in the northern parts of Scotland. +In America, if the true mole be actually wanting, we have other little +creatures of the same family, common throughout the country. These are +the shrew-moles. They differ widely, however, from the moles of Europe, +although possessing the same burrowing habits. The common shrew-mole of +America, _Scalops Aquaticus_, is about six inches in length, with a tail +one inch long. + +Another of this family is a very singular little creature and peculiar +to North America. This is the Star-nose, _Condylura Cristata_, sometimes +called the Button-nose mole by our farmers. It is common as far south as +Virginia, is nocturnal in its habits, and partial to the banks of +streams. It is rather larger than the common shrew-mole. + + + NOTE U. + BIRDS OF ENGLAND, page 109. + +There are in Europe, some four hundred and sixty-two birds, and in Great +Britain three hundred and ten species. In the state of New York alone, +we have, according to Dr. De Kay, three hundred and seven species. Mr. +Knapp mentions upward of sixty of the English species, and of these only +three are generally admitted, we believe, to be common to both +continents—the great butcher-bird, _lanius excubiter_, the petrel, and +the guillemot, the two last being sea-birds. The tree-creepers, the +goldcrests, the ravens, and the magpies, however, are considered very +closely similar. We give the names of the birds mentioned by Mr. Knapp. +The rook; hedge-sparrow; willow wren; cirl bunting; goldcrest; linnet, +or great red-poll; bull-finch; robin; chaffinch; tom-tit; large tom-tit; +colemouse; long-tailed tit; house-sparrow; wood-pigeon; jay; goldfinch; +whitethroat; blackcap; green-finch; gray flycatcher; house-marten; +raven; jackdaw; rock-pigeon; magpie; butcher-bird; petrel; wryneck; +swan; nightingale; starling; red-start; solitary thrush; missel-thrush; +sparrow-hawk; kestrel; yellow-hammer; swallow; thrush or throstle; +wheatear; guillemot; kite; pettychaps; wren; blackbird; cuckoo; lark; +tree-creeper; yellow wagtail; halcyon; wood-pigeon; black grous or heath +cock; red grous or moor fowl; bustard; fieldfare; crossbill; bunting; +gray wagtail; swift; goat-sucker; jacksnipe; common snipe; peewit or +lapwing: redwing; wood lark. + +The limits allotted to us, not permitting many details on this subject, +we shall merely notice briefly some few of these birds, selecting those +which are most likely to interest the reader: + +_The Rook, corvus frugilegus._—“Every body knows the rook; the dark, the +noisy, and sometimes the nest-plundering, or, in the early fields, the +contribution-levying rook; but still, notwithstanding, the cheerful, the +orderly, the industrious, the discreet, the beneficent rook.” Such is +Mr. Mudie’s character of this species of crow, unknown in America. It +measures nineteen inches in length; and has a fine plumage of glossy +black. Its partiality to old groves and ruins, near country-houses, must +be well known to the reader; the “rookeries” of England, however, are +said to be decidedly diminishing in their numbers. Many tales are also +told of the kindness of rooks to the orphan broods and widowed birds of +their flocks; but these have not been very clearly settled. + +_The Linnet, fr. linota._—The name of this common European bird is +derived from its fondness for linseed. It is a charming singer, its song +consisting of “many irregular notes, tastefully put together, in a +clear, sonorous tone.” Its general plumage is brown, varied with gray +and reddish black; but in the spring, the forehead and breast of the +male bird are of a brilliant red coloring, whence one of its names as +the greater red-poll. It is said to resemble our purple finch, which is +also called the American linnet. Not found in the western hemisphere. + +_The Bull-finch, loxia pyrrhula._—A short, thick bird, whose general +color is a dark, ashy gray, with carminecolored breast, and white rump. +It is a fine singer, readily catching airs and melodies by ear. Like the +linnet, it is a very favorite cage-bird in Europe. In its native woods +it is a shy creature, partial to shady groves, and seen less frequently +than many of its companions, though one of the common birds of Europe. +In America, this species of bull-finch is unknown. + +_The House-sparrow, pyrgita domestica._—The sparrows of Europe differ +essentially from those of America. They have no song, and are seldom +seen in flocks. The plumage of the house-sparrow is gray; it frequently +builds in the thatched roof of the English cottage, under eaves also, +and in chinks in walls. These birds are useful in devouring house-flies; +they also feed on some species of butterflies, more especially those +whose caterpillars injure the cabbages so frequently, and one writer +considers it doubtful if cabbages could be raised at all in England if +it were not for the house-sparrow. In Persia, these birds, it is said, +are trained to chase butterflies, as a royal sport, just as the hawk was +taught to pursue the heron in olden times. The bird is unknown in +America. + +_The Jay, garrulus glandarius._—Wholly different from our American jays, +and much less beautiful in plumage, the jays of Europe do not flock +together. They are great chatterers, however, and great mimics also. The +color of the European bird is a dark, purplish brown, with blue on the +forehead and wings. + +_The Wood-dove, columba palumbus._—This is the largest and the +handsomest of the British pigeons. It is better known perhaps to the +reader, as the ring-dove, and cushat; it is a general favorite in +England. + +_The Kestrel, falco tinunculus._—One of the smaller falcons of Europe; +of reddish brown and cream-colored plumage, marked with dusky spots. Its +eye is peculiarly brilliant. It is popularly called “stannel” and +“windhover,” the first word meaning “stand-gale,” the last, “hoverer in +the wind,” from its remarkable power of poising itself over a particular +spot in spite of high winds; at such moments the play of its wings is +exceedingly rapid. + +_The House-marten, hirundo urbica._—With one exception, the bank +swallow, _hirundo riparia_, the swallows of Europe and America are +wholly different. The house-marten of England builds very frequently +about windows; it is a small bird, black and white in its plumage. Its +nest is often covered with a dome, the entrance being at the side, and +it is a sort of house, large enough for both birds. + +_The Rock-pigeon, columba livia._—This is the stock whence come our +domestic pigeons, in their wild state they build in clefts or holes in +cliffs, and perch on the ledges and projections. They are never known to +perch on trees. Indeed, it is said that the rustling of the wind among +the foliage and branches, is annoying and unpleasant to these doves. +They are gregarious, and especially partial to cliffs on the sea-shore. +They are not found in a wild state in America. + +_The Magpie, corvus pica._—Is a common bird in England, about the size +of a pigeon, with a plumage of variegated black and white. Its +reputation for mimicry and for thievish habits, must be well known to +the reader, although on this continent, especially east of the +Mississippi, it is rare. In England it is considered a bird of ill-omen +when seen alone, but the reverse when collecting in a merry company and +an even number. The magpies of both continents are very similar. + +_The Wryneck, yunx torquilla._—This is a handsome migratory bird +something like a woodpecker in form, and of a yellowish brown and black +plumage, mottled with arrow-shaped black spots. It derives its name from +a strange trick of lengthening its neck, and twisting its head. Unknown +in America. + +_The Jackdaw._—Is a bird of the crow tribe; lively, noisy, and familiar. +It is about fourteen inches long, and of a black and gray plumage. + +_The Thrush, Throstle, or Mavis, turdus musicus._—A very common bird in +England, and a very sweet singer. The plumage is brown above, cream- +color below, marked with triangular, dusky spots. Its length is about +nine inches. They feed especially on the land-snails, so common in the +old world. Unknown in America. + +_The Missel-thrush, turdus viscivorus._—This is the largest of the +English thrushes, nearly a foot in length. Its plumage is gray and +white. It derives its name from its marked partiality to the leaves of +the _misletoe_, with the slimy juice of which, it soils, or _missels_, +its feet. The plant again takes its name apparently from the _missled +toes_ of this thrush. + +_The Blackbird, turdus merula._—This is another of the English thrushes, +and a great singer. It is entirely black in its plumage, shy, and +solitary in its habits, differing entirely, as the reader will observe, +from our American blackbirds, which are allied to the crows. + +_The Cuckoo, cuculus cauvus._—This bird, extremely common in England, +has a grayish plumage varied with black and white. Mr. Mudie seems to +doubt the assertion usually made that they _never_ build nests of their +own. In the northern states we have two cuckoos, very different in their +appearance and habits from those of Europe, nor are they very common +birds in this country. + +_The Wren, troglodytes urbica._—The winter wren of America is said to +resemble the common wren of Europe, more than any other of our species. +In England, this little bird is a great favorite, and is familiarly +called Kitty Wren. + +_The Halcyon, alcedo ispida._—This is the kingfisher of Europe. It is a +bird of much more brilliant plumage than our American kingfisher, almost +as gaudy indeed as a parrot in its tints of red, blue, and green. The +term “halcyon days,” is attributed to the transparent, calm weather, in +which the kingfisher delights to skim over the glassy water, looking out +for his prey. + +_The Wagtails, motacilla._—These birds derive their name from the +incessant, rapid motion of their tails; they are resident birds in +England, frequenting the banks of streams and pools. There are several +species; the pied, the gray, and the yellow wagtails. They run with +great rapidity, and take wing with peculiar ease. Their conformation +renders the movement of the tail necessary as a counterpoise, which is +the cause of its constant play. + +_The Swift, cypselus apus._—This is the largest of the swallow tribe in +Europe, and probably the strongest winged of all British birds. It lives +in the air, building on the highest towers, and spires of churches and +other edifices, or upon rocky pinnacles. The swifts are distinguished +from the swallows by the shortness of their legs, unfitted for walking, +and by the formation of their toes. Our American chimney swallow +approaches very nearly to the swift of England in many particulars, +though different in others. + +_The Goat-sucker, caprimulgus Europeus._—This is the fern owl, nightjar, +or night-hawk, a bird, as an English writer has observed, particularly +ill-named, its last title only being consistent with its character. When +hawking for bats it flies within a few feet of the ground, but when in +pursuit of moths it glides round and round the trunk of some tree, the +haunt of its prey, with great perseverance. The term goat-sucker is +derived from a strange notion very prevalent in olden times that this +bird was in the habit of taking the milk of the goat for its own use. +Our American night-hawk differs in some particulars from that of Europe. + +_The Bustard, otis tarda._—This is a large bird of the _cursores_ or +running tribe, four feet in length, and nine in breadth, weighing as +much as thirty pounds in some instances. The plumage is reddish orange, +spotted and barred with black, with the more conspicuous wing and tail +feathers, brown and black. Under the neck there is a sort of skin pouch, +capable of containing half a gallon. The flesh is much prized. The +bustard is now a very rare bird in England, but in France they are less +uncommon. They will probably soon become extinct in Great Britain, like +the wood-grous, which, within the last eighty years, has disappeared +from that country. + +_The Grous, tetrao._—There were, until recently, three well known +species of grous in Great Britain. 1st. The Black Grous or heath cock, a +bird of wholly black plumage, found in the heathy districts of the three +kingdoms. 2d. The Red Grous, or moor fowl, very abundant in the Scotch +moors, and found in no other part of Europe, being the only bird +peculiar to Britain. 3d. The Wood-Grous, formerly by no means uncommon, +but which has recently become quite extinct in Great Britain, although +it is still found on the continent of Europe. + +_The Titmouse, parus._—The titmice are dispersed more or less over the +whole world, excepting some portions of the southern hemisphere, as +South America, and New Holland. In England, they have seven or eight +different species: the great tit, _p. major_; colemouse, _p. ater_; +marshtit, _p. palustris_; long-tailed tit, _p. caudatus_; blue tit, _p. +cæruleus_; bearded tit, _p. biarmicus_; crested tit, _p. cristatus_. In +the United States, we have three species: the common chicadee, _p. +atricapillus_; the caroline titmouse, _p. carolinensis_; and the crested +titmouse, _p. bicolor_. This last is found in Europe also, but in +England it is very rare. All three species belong to the birds of New +York. + +_The Nightingale, corruca luscinia._—The far-famed nightingale is a bird +of a dusky brown, and gray plumage, about seven inches in length, being +the largest of the warblers found in England. It is in one sense a shy +bird, difficult to watch, heard more frequently than it is seen in the +shady groves. The song of the nightingale has been described by one +writer as “the most spirit-stirring and gleesome in nature.” The +clearness of their note is said to vary much with the climate, or rather +atmosphere, they chance to haunt, and as a general rule those that +belong to more southern countries sing more sweetly than their brethren +to the northward. The nightingales of Greece and Italy are thought to be +much more exquisitely musical than those of the northern countries of +Europe. In England, they only frequent particular counties, avoiding the +northern and western districts; and it has been said that they have an +especial partiality to those parts of the island where cowslips are most +abundant. + +_The Starling, sturnus vulgaris._—This is a bird of the crow tribe, +unknown in America. It is eight or nine inches in length, of a plumage +whose general coloring is black, marked throughout, however, with +triangular starlike spots of white, or cream-color, whence the name of +_starling_. They are social, harmless birds; active, and chattering +creatures, and excellent mimics. + +_The Fieldfare, turdus pilaris_, is another bird unknown in America. It +is one of the northern thrushes, visiting England in flocks, during the +cold season. It is a large, meadow bird, with a grayish chestnut back, +the breast and sides of a rufous yellow. The fieldfares feed on seeds, +and on insects also, and are themselves considered a dainty morsel by +the human epicure, the ancient Romans fattening them, it is said, on a +paste made of figs and flour. They have no song, but utter a singular +cry when flying. + +_The Raven, corvus corax._—The raven of Europe differs in some respects +from that of America. In Great Britain it is not an uncommon bird. It is +said if a man in England, at any moment, throw himself on the ground, in +the fields, more especially if he lie motionless on his back in the +position of a lifeless body, a raven will be found to draw near, and +reconnoitre, though unseen a moment before. This fact would seem to +confirm the opinions doubted by Mr. Knapp—that sight, and not smell, is +the sense by which these birds are guided in descending on their prey, +since the mere motionless feigning of death is sufficient to attract +their attention. It is well known that Mr. Audubon held this opinion, +confirming it by experiments with the American turkey-buzzards, which +proved quite inattentive to carrion of the most offensive kind when +placed immediately before them, so long as it was concealed from their +sight by a cloth. Dr. James Johnson and other writers on the subject +also doubt the sense of smell in birds of this habit, and other +experiments like that of Mr. Audubon have had the same result. + +Owing to the greater care bestowed on the health of cattle at the +present day, and their less frequent deaths in the field under the +modern system, ravens are said to be sensibly diminishing in England. + + + NOTE V. + THE HOUSE FLY, (_musca carnaria_,) p. 151. + +The speed of these familiar insects when on the wing, is very +remarkable, being computed at a third of a mile in a minute. The +peculiarity of their walking, apparently against the laws of +gravitation, with such perfect ease, has been the subject of much +investigation and controversy. Formerly it was believed that the fly +walked by means of organs called suckers, which produced a vacuum at the +extremity of each foot, by exhausting the air. Some lizards are known to +climb walls in this way. But it is now more generally believed that the +firm hold of the house fly is more simple, provided by fine, hairy +appendages to the feet, by which they cling to the most minute +inequalities of our walls and windows. + +Flies feed chiefly on liquids, and the juice of solid substances; they +are also enabled to dissolve certain solids, by means of a saliva, which +they eject for the purpose, on sugar, &c. The familiar sound produced by +flies, comes from their wings; but as many winged insects move silently, +the air must act upon those of the fly in a peculiar manner. + + + NOTE W. + THE ROBIN, page 164. + +The two birds bearing, in England and America, the same name of Robin +redbreast, are in most respects very different. The English robin, +_motacilla rubecola_, is much the smaller of the two, is stationary +throughout the year, loses his red jacket in autumn, is little noticed +for its song in spring, but sings more or less even in winter; and, very +possibly, while gathering the autumn leaves over the “babes in the +wood,” sang their dirge with the pleasing note so often alluded to, by +English writers, as one of the charms of the season: + + “But now with treble oft, + “The redbreast whistles from some garden croft, + “And gathering swallows twitter in the air. + +Our American robin is a portly thrush, _turdus migratorius_, wandering +far and wide as soon as the cold weather sets in; it is one of our most +chatty, loquacious birds in spring, his voice being heard morning and +evening throughout April and May, above the notes of most of his +feathered neighbors, but he becomes silent and taciturn toward autumn. +In one sense, he deserves the name of redbreast in preference to the +English bird, since his colors never change; and, should some mute +straggler appear in the leafless groves of January or February, as +occasionally happens as far north as the Mohawk, his jacket will be +found still warmly dyed in red. In several particulars, however, the two +birds resemble each other; both are partial to the neighborhood of man; +both have the reputation of being somewhat pugnacious in temper as +regards their fellows, and both are remarkable for their fine, large +eyes. At page 164, the author alludes to this peculiarity of the English +robin, and the reader will observe the size of the same feature in our +American bird. + + + NOTE X. + THE GOLDFINCH, (_fringilla carduelis_) p. 167. + +The goldfinch of Europe, is in some respects very like our own. “So much +does the song of our goldfinch resemble that of the European species,” +says Mr. Audubon, “that while in France and England, I have frequently +thought, and with pleasure thought, that they were the notes of our own +bird which I had heard.” The flight of both, in deep, curved lines, +alternately rising and falling, their manner of gathering in flocks, +their way of feeding, are also similar. + +The goldfinch of Europe has a very varied plumage; in some parts of +England, it is called the “Sheriff’s man,” from its gay livery, and also +the “Seven Colored Linnet,” from the varied tints of scarlet, black, +white, gray, brown, and gold color blended in its markings. It is widely +diffused throughout Europe, where it is a favorite cage-bird. The +docility of these finches, and their quickness at learning tricks, are +remarkable; at an exhibition in London, some half a dozen birds,—all of +the finch tribe—appeared standing on their heads, playing at sentinel, +mounting guard, imitating milkmaids going to market with tiny pails on +their shoulders, acting as cannoniers, armed cap-a-pie, firelock on the +shoulder, match in the claw, actually discharging a small cannon! + + + NOTE Y. + THE SKY-LARK, (_alanda arvensis_) p. 184. + +“It is, in fact, more joyous in the sun, more inspirable by the life +which the solar influence diffuses through the atmosphere, than almost +any other creature: not a spring air can sport, not a breeze of morn can +play, not an exhalation of freshness from opening bud or softening clod +can ascend, without note of it being taken and proclaimed by this all- +sufficient index to the progress of nature. The lark rises not like most +birds, which climb the air upon one slope, by succession of leaps, as if +a heavy body was raised by a succession of efforts, or steps, with +pauses between; it towers upward like a vapor, borne lightly in the +atmosphere, and yielding to the motion of that as vapors do. Its course +is a spiral, gradually enlarging, * * * The accordance of the song with +the mode of ascent and descent is also worthy of note. It gives a +swelling song as it ascends, and a sinking one when it comes down; and +even if it take but one wheel in the air, as that wheel always includes +either an ascent or a descent, it varies the pitch of the song.” + +“Every one in the least conversant with the structure of birds, must be +aware that with them, the organs of intonation and modulation are +_inward_, deriving little assistance from the tongue, and none, or next +to none, from the mandibles of the bill. The windpipe is the musical +organ, and it is often very curiously formed. Birds require that organ +less for breathing than any other animals, because of the air-cells, and +breathingtubes with which all parts of their body (even their bones) are +furnished. But those diffused breathing organs must act with less +freedom when the bird is making the greatest efforts in motion, that is, +when ascending or descending, and in proportion as these cease to act +the trachea is more required for the purpose of breathing. The sky-lark +thus converts the atmosphere into a musical instrument of many stops, +and so produces an exceedingly wild, and varied song—a song which is +perhaps not equal either in power or compass, in the single stave, to +that of many of the warblers, but one which is more varied in the whole +succession.” + +“Every body knows the sky-lark,” continues Mr. Mudie, but the American +reader may like to be reminded that this celebrated bird is about seven +inches long, with a brown plumage, tinged with reddish, yellowish, and +dusky shading in places. These larks are abundant in Europe. They are +brought to market in great numbers. In England, they are sold for the +table at about a dollar the dozen. It is said that at Leipsic in +Germany, a duty of twelve thousand crowns per annum was raised on the +larks eaten in that city, at the rate of about five cents for every +sixty larks, and if the English crown be meant this would give the +number of birds eaten in the town at the incredible amount of nearly +four millions. + +They have a legend in Ireland, that the larks of the wild valley of +Glandalough never sing, “having been miraculously silenced by St. +Theresa, during the building of the Seven Churches, because they broke +the morning sleep of the wearied masons, by their loud native +warblings.” + + + NOTE Z. + THE WINTER GNAT, (_tipula hiemalis_) p. 189. + +Gnats are rarely indeed seen in our colder climate in winter, but in +England they are common, often dancing gaily over the snow and ice of +mid-winter. There are said to be no less than thirty species of gnats +found in Great Britain, and they are all aquatic in their origin. The +female launches her eggs on the water, in the form of a diminutive boat +composed of two or three hundred eggs, each of which taken separately is +heavy enough to sink, but so cleverly are they arranged in their skiff- +like form, that when thus glued together, they not only float buoyantly, +but it is next to impossible either to upset or sink them permanently. +The grub or larva issues from the egg head downward, breathing through +the tail. The second or pupa stage of existence is also passed in the +water, whence it rises at length the winged insect with which we are +familiar. Our musquitoes are members of the same _culex_ family, and +resemble very closely the winter gnat of England. The English gnats +however are quite harmless, with the exception of an occasional bite +from the females of the tribe. + + + NOTE AA. + BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS, page 192. + +Mr. Knapp mentions in his journal the following butterflies and moths: +The sulphur or brimstone, _gonepteryx rhamni_, (see Note M;) ghost moth, +_hepialus humuli_; blue argus, _papilio argus_; painted lady, _papilio +cardui_; marble butterfly, _p. galathea_; humming bird hawk-moth, +_sphinx stellatarum_; brown meadow butterfly, _p. janira_; the admirable +_vanessa atalanta_; peacock, _vanessa Io_; gamma moth, _phalæna gamma_; +goat moth, _ph. cossus_; blue argus butterfly, _papilio argiolus_. + +This beautiful and highly interesting family of insects, with which we +are all familiar by sight at least, has been thus far less studied in +America, than in other countries. Very little has yet been printed among +us regarding our native butterflies, and even European works on these +subjects are rarely met with. It has long been the writer’s wish to +become better acquainted with these interesting little creatures, and, +doubtless, there are others who have the same inclination; but few of us +have the good luck to meet with the necessary books and teachers. A few +facts relating to the butterflies alluded to by Mr. Knapp, will be found +below. + +_The Ghost Moth, hepialus humuli_, p. 198.—There is a division of moths +in England, called swifts, or ghost moths, having all the same habit of +flight described by Mr. Knapp, as the origin of their name of “Ghosts.” +The particular moth alluded to by the author, is very common in England; +their white, satiny wings are easily seen in the twilight, and as +fragments of these are frequently found in the morning scattered about, +it is supposed that night-hawks and owls feed much on their bodies. The +female lays a number of small, black eggs, resembling gunpowder. Mr. +Gosse, in his “Canadian Naturalist,” mentions a moth or Bombyx, found in +Canada, the Dragon Moth, _hepialus argenteomaculatus_, belonging to the +same family; “I was surprised and pleased to observe the striking +similarity, not only of shape and general appearance, but also of +manners, to the English species of that family. They continue in one +place, dancing from side to side on the wing, just over the herbage, +within a space of a yard or two. A large female I caught, on being +pinned, began to eject her small, white eggs with great rapidity, +driving them to a considerable distance.” + +The same moth is found in Massachusetts, and doubtless in other parts of +the United States; it is included in Prof. Hitchcock’s “Catalogue of the +Animals and Plants of Massachusetts,” p. 72. + +_Painted Lady, cynthia cardui._—This insect ranks with the largest and +most beautiful of European butterflies, and is one of the few creatures +of its race very widely diffused over the world, being found alike, it +is said, in the western and eastern, the northern and the southern +hemispheres. In North America they are more common than in England, +where they are rather rare. They have been found in China and Western +Asia, as well as in Africa, and travelers declare that they are to be +met with in Otaheite and Australia. These pretty creatures are indeed +great rovers; they will frequently, when on the coast, sail out straight +to sea, and are usually very bold in their flight, which is higher than +that of other species. + +One of the most singular incidents on record, connected with entomology, +is related of this species of butterfly. A migration of these insects +occurred some years since in Switzerland, on the Lake of Neufchatel +during the month of March; they flew with great rapidity from north to +south, moving in a column from ten to fifteen feet in breadth, in +compact order, and continued passing in this manner for upward of two +hours. Although many flowers yielding honey were in bloom at the time, +not a butterfly alighted, but all continued their strange flight. Other +instances of the same kind have been noticed in Europe and South +America, but we do not remember to have ever seen any allusion to +migrations of this kind, among our native butterflies. + +The caterpillar of the Painted Lady feeds on the spear thistle, whose +thick leaves it nevertheless succeeds in rolling up as a cover for its +chrysalis. + +_The Gamma Moth, noctua gamma_, derives its name from having on its +primary wings, a figure stamped in gold, precisely similar to that +letter of the Greek alphabet. In England it is very common. In some +countries of Europe this moth in its caterpillar stage of existence, has +been a scourge to the vegetation. In 1735 these insects increased so +rapidly in France, that they excited serious fears of famine by their +ravages in the fields and gardens. The roads were covered with them +traveling from one field to another. In the kitchen gardens, they left +nothing but the stalks of the plants. Mr. Reaumur calculated that a +single pair of these moths might produce in one season eighty thousand +caterpillars! + +Mr. Gosse found the gamma moth in Canada: “I have obtained several new +species of _noctua_, among which is the _dusia gamma_ so common in +England.” + +_The Blue Argus, polyommatus argiolus._—This pretty little blue +butterfly is found also in America; it is mentioned by Mr. Gosse, who +saw it in Canada, and is included among the insects of Massachusetts +also, and doubtless it belongs to other parts of the United States. Its +caterpillar feeds on the buckthorn and on the holly. + +_The Goat Moth, cossus ligniperda._—“The great goat moth, while yet a +caterpillar, occupies in solitary darkness the trunk of willow, oak, or +poplar. For three successive summers it is employed in eating into the +solid wooden barrier which divides it from the sunny world—for as many +winters it sleeps within one of the dark tunnels thus excavated by its +powerful jaws; but after this extended period of repletion and repose, +it scarcely lives over the same complement of weeks to exercise its +broad, dusky pinions in the summer moonlight.” + +“A large, smooth, unsightly crawler, of a livid red and salmon color, +black-headed, and black-clawed, this caterpillar swallows the chippings +and dust made in his tunneling progress through the wood. Throughout the +summer he thus eats his way, but in autumn prepares himself a broader +chamber, which he hangs with a fabric as thick as broadcloth, and +equally warm, composed of the raspings of wood scooped out of his cell, +and united with the strong silk, which every species of caterpillar can +spin.” For three or four years he thus continues in the tree chosen by +the parent moth for his abode, and then “with bulky body, and dusky +wings, from three to four inches in expansion, he is wont, about July, +to emerge from his wooden cell.”—_Acheta Domestica._ + +The muscular strength, very remarkable in the insect tribes, is +surprisingly great in the goat moth. The number of muscles in the human +body is reckoned at 529; but in this caterpillar, not so large as a +man’s finger, there are 4061! Mr. Rennie relates that he once put a goat +moth caterpillar under a glass bell weighing nearly half a pound, “yet +it raised it up with the utmost ease.” A book weighing four pounds was +then placed over the bell, and still the creature made good his escape +by raising both book and glass! The name of this insect is derived from +its peculiar odor. It is not found in America, although we have several +moths partially resembling it, and among others, “_Cossus Macmurtri_.” + +_Hummingbird Hawk-moth._—The reader is probably aware that the name of +sphinx was given to one of the three divisions of insects of the +butterfly tribe, from the singular habit of their caterpillars, which +raise the upper portions of their bodies in an erect position, and +continue thus motionless for hours at a time, resembling, as Linnæus +fancied, the statues of the Egyptian Sphinx. These caterpillars produce +moths of a peculiar form, not unlike birds in their shape and movement. +In England, they are rather rare; but our American species are quite +common in some parts of the country. This hawk-moth is one of those +insects given to wandering; it has been frequently taken several miles +from land in the English Channel, and is observed to take flight sea- +ward of its own accord in calm, pleasant days, when there is no wind to +compel a movement in that direction. + +_The Admirable, vanessa atalanta._—Here we have another beautiful +butterfly, found on both continents. The caterpillar feeds on the +stinging nettle; from the leaves of which it makes itself a little tent, +or dwelling, where it leads a solitary life, until at the end of a month +it passes into the chrysalis state. + +_Blue Argus, p. argus_, is not, we believe, found in America, nor is it +very common in England. It has a broad band of crimson on its lower +wings, while the general color is azure blue. + +_Marbled Butterfly, p. galathea_, is also, we understand, unknown in +America. The wings are black, finely marked with spots of white and +yellow. The caterpillar feeds on grass. + +_Brown Meadow Butterfly, p. janira._—Also unknown in America, it is +said. + +_Peacock Butterfly, vanessa Io._—This is considered as one of the most +beautiful of European insects, in form and coloring; black, and reddish +brown, marked with eyelets of yellow and blue, being its usual tints. +The caterpillars are produced from eggs laid on the leaves of nettles; +they are black and spiny. They live in company, providing themselves +with a common tent or web, where they seek shelter during the night, and +from the rains, to which they are very sensitive. The peacock butterfly +is found throughout Europe, but is rare in England. The reader is +probably aware that Linnæus gave to the butterfly family, in its largest +sense, the name of Lepidoptera, or scalywings, from the minute scales, +resembling dust to the naked eye, with which their wings are covered. +Diminutive as these scales are, they are yet perfect in their order and +formation, when examined by a microscope. The wing of a peacock +butterfly was submitted to this scrutiny, and the scales actually +counted by a patient observer; a quarter of an inch square was cut from +the wing and placed under the instrument, when seventy rows of scales +were counted on it, ninety to each row, so that a single square inch +must contain 100,936 of these minute scales! + +The peacock butterfly is unknown in America. + + + NOTE BB. + THE GLOW-WORM, (_lampyris noctiluca_) p. 206. + +“Our English glow-worm, as we presume most people are aware, is the +wingless female of a winged beetle, which also carries a light, though +one of much inferior lustre.” + +“It is supposed by some, that the light of the wingless beetle is +bestowed for her protection, to scare away her hungry foes, the +nightingale and other birds of night; it is opined by others, that the +insect’s gift of brilliancy, like many of the like bestowed upon +mankind, is the very means of her destruction, the very lure and light +by which her biped foes are assisted to discover and devour her.” So +writes the author of Acheta Domestica when speaking of the glow-worm of +England. + +This little creature is farther described as having “a tiny head,” “a +slate-colored, oblong, flat, and wingless body, all divided into rings, +and bearing at its nether extremity, the _lamp_—by night, a lustrous +emerald, by day, a dull pale spot, composed of the sulphur-colored +substance which supplies the light.” + +“The female,” says another writer, “deposits her eggs in June or July, +among moss or grass. These are yellow in color, and emit a ray of light. +In five or six weeks the larvæ appear; they are at first white and +small, but become darker as they increase in size. The body is formed of +eleven rings, has six feet, and a double row of reddish spots, emitting +light in the dark, from the last ring; in this stage, the creature +creeps about, and the light which accompanies it is of use in showing it +the snails, dead insects, &c., on which it feeds.” They frequently cast +their skins, and it is only at the end of twenty-one months that they +attain their full size. They then cease to eat, and assume the _pupa_ or +second stage of insect life in which they remain two or three weeks, +when, throwing off their skin covering, they appear in their complete +state: the male a perfect beetle with wings, and wing covers; the female +without these appendages, being larger, and emitting a brighter light +than the larva, from the last three rings of the body. + +It has been proved that the light of the glow-worm “is unsupported by +chemical action; is not connected with animal life; the luminous matter +is not adherent exteriorly, but included in a capsule; it seems +connected with peculiar organization, and is suspended by cold. The only +control which the insect shows over it, is evinced by withdrawing the +luminous matter temporarily from the transparency through which it +shines”—_Murray’s Experimental Researches—Philosophical Magazine._ + +The glow-worm is seldom seen in Scotland, and is not common beyond the +northern counties of England. The light which these insects emit, is of +a dull bluish or greenish color, and altogether, the effect they produce +is far inferior to that of our American fire-fly, _Lampyris Corusca_. + + + NOTE CC. + THE SLOW-WORM, (_anguis fragilis_) p. 210. + +They have in England a singular reptile, resembling a snake in its +appearance, but in reality, more of a lizard in character, and belonging +to a group called _Saurophidia_, or lizard-snakes. This is the slow- +worm, or blind-worm, alluded to in the text. It is a scaly creature, +about twelve or fifteen inches in length, sluggish in its habits, and +perfectly harmless: Although frequently called the blind-worm, it has +small, but very brilliant eyes. Its food consists of worms, beetles, &c. +It burrows in the earth, sleeping away most of the cold weather. A +singular characteristic of this creature is its _brittleness_, whence +the epithet of _fragilis_. When frightened or irritated, it forcibly +contracts its muscles, and if the slightest attempt is made to bend it, +or a trifling blow be given, it literally breaks asunder! + +The slow-worm is common in Europe, and in the adjacent parts of Asia +also. + +In England this slow-worm, with two lizards, and two snakes, the common +or ringed snake and the viper, make up the entire list of reptiles found +in the country. + + + NOTE DD. + THE DORR, OR CLOCK-BEETLE, (_geotrupes stercorarius_) p. 217. + +This insect, familiar to us Americans from our reading, is not found in +our own country. It much resembles, however, our common rolling beetles +in its appearance, and these are closely allied to the far-famed sacred +Scarabæus of the old Egyptians. + +The clock, or dorr, “is broad, short, and clumsy”—“black in the upper +parts, but with wing-cases tipped with violet, while the legs and under +surface are steely blue, glossed with green and purple.” + +“To look at the unsullied polish of his mail, one might suppose him +risen, like the green gold-chafer, from a bed of roses; whereas, being a +true Scarabæus in nature, if not in name, there is little doubt, when we +see him in his waving flight, of his having left recently a bed of a +very opposite description—a bed in short of dung—wherein through the +live-long day he has been reposing, or whereat, like his Egyptian +prototype, he has been hard at work, helping, perhaps, his partner to +roll masses for the enclosure of her eggs, or to bore holes for their +reception.”—_Acheta Domestica._ + +The dorr is one of those creatures which seek safety in feigning death; +when touched, it immediately drops to the earth, stiff and apparently +lifeless, suffering itself to be handled without the least sign of +animation; but when left to itself, it will in a moment resume its +faculties, and take flight again. + +It is possible that some American reader, familiar with the epithet +“shard-borne beetle,” may not be aware that the word _shard_ signifies a +fragment of pottery, this insect being often found among rubbish of that +kind, or about loose stones. + +Such is the dorr, which, in the summer evenings of England, “wheels his +droning flight.” + + + NOTE EE. + THE DEATH’S-HEAD MOTH, (_acherontia atropos_) p. 222. + +This noted moth is one of the most remarkable of European insects. It is +the largest of its genus, measuring, when its wings are fully expanded, +nearly five inches in breadth. The prevailing colors of its upper wings +are dark but rich waves of brown and black, broken by lighter touches +and marked with a single white spot. The lower wings are yellowish, +barred with black. The head and throat are dark; upon the upper portions +of the throat, and on the body, are stamped with singular distinctness, +a _death’s-head_ and collar bones, such as are usually represented in +mortuary devices. It is in consequence of these markings that the +Death’s-head Moth has become an object of terror to the superstitious. +Reaumur mentions a whole convent of nuns being driven to their wits end +by the sudden appearance of one of these strange insects flying in at a +dormitory window, of a summer’s evening. They never showed themselves +formerly without causing more or less alarm. In addition to the singular +mark on their bodies, these moths are also endowed with a peculiar gift, +held to be almost miraculous by the wondering vulgar; when at all +disturbed or irritated, they utter a cry which has been compared to that +of a bat. The cause of this sound uttered by an insect whose race is +wholly silent, has been a subject of much doubt and controversy; the +best opinion would seem that it is produced by the vibration of two +horny scales fixed on the thorax and covering a small aperture. To add +to the character of this ominous moth, another naturalist has observed +that the chrysalis, unlike that of others, is always buried in the +earth, and enwrapped in a shroud-like garment. + +The caterpillar of the Death’s-head is large, and brilliantly colored; +yellow, obliquely barred with green, and spotted at intervals with blue +and black. It has the usual horn-like tail of the caterpillars of the +hawk-moth family. It feeds by preference on the leaves of the potato, +and those of the jessamine; and is also found on hemp and woody night- +shade. The tea-tree is another of its favorites, but, of course, in +Europe, this last fancy can not often be indulged. They generally lie +concealed by day, among the herbage, or in the earth. In August, they +assume the chrysalis state, being wrapped in their tissue shrouds; and +in September or October, appears the perfect and ominous moth, which, in +some countries, has been called the “wandering bird.” When they first +emerge from their gauze-like shrouds, their wings are not more than a +finger-nail in breadth, but in the course of an hour or two, they are +stretched and dilated to their full size. + +The Death’s-head Moth is a great enemy to the bees, being exceedingly +fond of honey. Mr. Huber dwells at length upon the singular sagacity of +the little hive people in defending their stores against this intruder. +The bees, at a first night attack of the Death’s-head, appear quite +paralyzed with fear, and make no attempts to meet the invader; but the +creature has hardly filled himself, and taken flight again, before they +begin to erect a waxen wall within their gates, merely leaving one +little aperture just large enough to allow of the passage of a single +bee at a time, and of course the baffled moth, on appearing again before +their camp, is compelled to beat a retreat. The account given by Mr. +Huber of the defences raised by the bees, on these occasions, is very +interesting; he observes that these moths were so common in 1804, and +committed their devastations on so large a scale, that it attracted +general attention, and the owners of apiaries determined to defend the +mouths of the hives; when preparing to carry out their plans, however, +they discovered that in many instances the bees had already taken the +same course, human reason, and insect instinct producing the same +result. The variety of these bee fortifications was also very +remarkable, as they differed in almost every hive; walls, or arcades, or +masked gateways, of various constructions, were raised with great speed +and singular skill. The fact that the bees did not make war upon the +moths with their usual arm, the sting, has been conjectured by Mr. +Huber, to proceed, possibly, from the resemblance between the cry of the +Death’s-head, and that of their own queen bee when captured, which, it +is well known, always throws the entire band of working bees into +disorder and confusion. + +The Death’s-head moth is not found in America. This is rather singular, +as the favorite food of its caterpillar is the potato, an American +vegetable, formerly unknown in Europe. The Sphinx Chionanthi, one of our +American moths, resembles it in size; but the larvæ, and the markings of +the moth itself, are wholly different. + +NOTE FF. + +“AMERICAN BLIGHT,” (_aphis lanata_) p. 236. + +This blight has been a very great pest of the orchards, in some +countries of Europe, especially in parts of France, England, and the +Netherlands. In 1810, so many of the cider apples of Gloucestershire +were infested with it, that it was feared cider-making would have to be +abandoned in that region. Sir Joseph Banks appears to have given the +insect the name of “American blight,” being led to believe it had not +come from France, and supposing that it had been imported from America +with some apple-trees, planted in a nursery at Chelsea. An English +writer on orchards says, “I have from good authority heard that it was +brought to this country from France, in the reign of Louis XIV., when a +colony of refugees settled at Paddington, and there it was first +observed to begin its depredations on apple-trees.” This last account is +far more likely to be correct, since the insect has been very common in +France, while in America, we hear so little of it, that it is scarcely +known to any but entomologists, and nursery men. + +Dr. Fitch, in the Annual Report on the State Cabinet of Natural History +of New York, dated 1851, says of this aphis: “Commonly, only solitary +individuals are found, and in but one instance have I met with it +clustered, and covering a limb, as described by foreign writers.” + +It is rather remarkable that as warm seasons are said to favor its +increase, our warmer summers should not have rendered it more +troublesome in this country; possibly our colder winters may have a +counteracting effect, although, as a general rule, insects with their +larvæ and eggs, will bear great extremes of cold. + + + NOTE GG. + THE HOLLY, (_Ilex_) p. 247. + +We have in America two kinds of holly. One, _Ilex montana_, or Mountain +Holly, is found on the Alleghanies, and the Catskills, and is seldom +more than a straggling shrub, from eight to twenty feet in height. The +_Ilex opaca_, or American Holly, strictly speaking, is a tree from +twenty to fifty feet in height, found in most woodlands from Maine to +the Southern States, where it is more common than in the northern parts +of the country. It is far, however, from being a familiar tree to most +Americans, whose acquaintance with the holly is apt to be more connected +with their English reading, than with the reality. The foliage of the +holly of this continent is less glossy, and the berries are less highly +colored than those of the European tree. + + + NOTE HH. + TO WILT, page 249. + +The verb to “_wilt_” thus noticed by Mr. Knapp, as an English +provincialism, is very generally used in America, and perhaps deserves a +word of defence more than most terms of the kind preserved among us. It +would seem to have a meaning of its own, scarcely expressed by any other +synonym; it signifies neither to “wither,” to “blight,” to “die,” nor to +“decay.” If we understand the word rightly, it means something of +debility and drooping, akin to faintness in animal life, and implying +the capability of restoration. There is thus a shade of distinction in +the word, which at times may approach to poetical delicacy, and which +redeems it from a place with others of the same class. + +To “hawl,” or “haul,” is also placed among the provincialisms of his +neighborhood by Mr. Knapp, p. 52; but this, assuredly, is a good English +word. Johnson gives the derivation from the French _haler_, and the +Dutch _halen_, to draw. It is a very common word among us, and, with +Johnson for our authority, we need not give it up. + +Let it not be supposed from the previous remarks, that as a general +thing, the writer is in favor of keeping up the provincialisms of our +language; far from this, it appears to us that as the English tongue +spreads wider and wider over the earth, it becomes a more imperative +duty among those who use it, to preserve their common speech in all its +purity. + + + NOTE II. + FAIRY RINGS, page 251. + +There are two sorts of circular marks on the turf bearing this name in +England. “One kind about seven yards in diameter, containing a round, +bare path, a foot broad, with green grass in the midst of it.” “The +other varying in size, is marked by a circumference of grass, greener +and fresher than the rest.” Some writers have attributed these rings to +the fertilizing effects of a particular mushroom growing in circles; +while others hold them to be produced by electricity. + +It is well known that on the American prairies, there are broad rings, +the origin of which has been disputed by different travelers, and to +which the name of “fairy rings,” has also been given. One of the writers +on that region, has accounted for them very naturally, and if his report +be correct, we have not much ground for indulging in the poetical fancy +that they are the tracks of the fairies dancing “their ringlets to the +whistling wind.” Mr. Catlin believes them to be nothing more than the +“wallows” of the buffalo. + +“In the heat of summer these huge animals ... often graze on the low +grounds of the prairies, where there is a little stagnant water lying +amongst the grass, and the ground underneath, being saturated with it, +is soft, into which the enormous bull, lowered down upon one knee, will +plunge his horns and at last his head ... soon making an excavation in +the ground, into which the water filters from among the grass, forming +for him in a few moments, a cool and comfortable bath.... By this +operation, which is done perhaps in the space of half an hour, a +circular excavation of fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, and two feet +in depth is completed, and left for the water to run into, which soon +fills it to the level of the ground.... To these sinks, the waters lying +on the surface of the prairies are continually draining and lodging in +them their vegetable deposits, which, after a lapse of years, fill them +up to the surface with a rich soil, which throws up an unusual growth of +grass and herbage, forming conspicuous circles which arrest the eye of +the traveler.” Mr. C. farther adds that “these strange circles often +occur in groups, and of different sizes.”—_Catlin’s N. A. Indians_, Vol. +I. p. 249. + + + NOTE JJ. + ÆCIDIUM, page 255. + +Æcidium is a genus of minute parasitic plants, belonging to the order of +Fungi. They are found upon the leaves, the bark, and even upon the +flowers of living plants, but are altogether distinct from the cuticle +of the vegetable on which they have their growth. They are always +tubular in their form. On the weeds and trees of northern countries they +are very common, and a great many species have attracted the attention +of botanists, while to the careless eye, they often appear like the +nests of some small insect. The common fancy among farmers that the +barberry-bush is injurious to wheat, producing rust in the grain, is +owing to an æcidium growing on the barberry, which covers its leaves +with a bright, orange powder. The only resemblance, however, between the +rust of wheat and the barberry blight lies in the color. The rust in +wheat, is in fact another, and a wholly different species of this same +genus æcidium; it is called by botanists, _Puccinia graminis_. Another +common æcidium is that of the pear-tree, which has received the name of +_Peridia_. + + + NOTE KK. + POLLARDING TREES, page 267. + +The word _pollard_ is but little used in America; it is derived from the +verb to _poll_, or lop, the heads of trees. With us, the custom so much +condemned by the author, is unknown; but it is no just sense of the +value of wood, no wise spirit of true economy, which causes the +difference. On the contrary, if our timber is not mutilated in this way, +it is simply owing to a custom still more culpable and wasteful—wherever +a branch is needed, a whole tree will be felled. Often has the writer +seen a fine chestnut hewn down by some careless lad, merely for the nuts +of one season’s growth; frequently have we found oaks, or maples of good +size, cut at the root in the same way, for the sake of the wild grapes +which hung entwined among their higher branches; and on one occasion, we +have seen a noble pine, a hundred and fifty feet in height, the growth +perchance of several centuries, felled only to reach a hive of bees, +which had taken refuge in a hollow branch. + + + NOTE LL. + ICE FLOATING, page 271. + +Absurd as the notion is, that the ice in our lakes and rivers sinks in +spring, yet there are not wanting people who firmly believe it. Not long +since, the writer chanced to meet in print a traveler’s story, evidently +credited by the individual who asserted it, that the ice in Lake +Champlain invariably disappeared in this way, _sinking to the bottom of +the lake every spring_. Whether to rise again the following winter, the +reader was not informed. In fact, it would be quite as rational to +expect the snow which lies so long on our frozen rivers and lakes most +winters, to sink bodily into the ice, as to maintain that the ice sinks +in the water. + +There is a coating of ice, however, which is found not unfrequently +beneath the water, and that in running streams. But this is _ground +ice_, as it is called, and has been formed where it is found, adhering +to the soil which forms the bed of the river, and has never sunk from +the surface. On the contrary, once loosened from its hold, it not only +rises itself, but brings with it pebbles, gravel, &c. The formation of +this ground ice has attracted the attention of distinguished scientific +men. The slower motion of water at the bottom than on the surface of a +stream, connected with the fact that crystals of ice form naturally and +very readily on pointed and rough bodies, such as the stones or +vegetable substances at the bottom of streams, have been supposed to be +the causes of this ground ice. + + + + + INDEX. + + + Agarics, the pale gray species of, 86 + + — the verdigris, ibid. + + — not easily investigated, 87 + + — the odorous agaric, 91 + + — the scented, ibid. + + — the “stainer,” ibid. + + — the surrectus springing from another species, 256. + + Agriculture, practice of, at a village in Gloucestershire, 22 + + — bad custom of the farmers there, 40. + + Aërial hummings, 250. + + Amusements, heretofore holiday ones, in decline, 246. + + Animals, increase of, 101 + + — what dependent on man, 151 + + — what independent, 152 + + — usefulness of, to man, 153 + + — affection of, to their young, 176 + + — mercy to, a scriptural command, ibid. + + Ant, the black, 212 + + — the red, 213 + + — the yellow, ibid. + + Apples injured by aphides, 235 + + — spottings on, how occasioned, 255. + + Ash trees, 267. + + Atmospheric influences, 249 + + — observations, 269 + + — experiments, 275. + + Augerworms, 203. + + Autumn, pleasure of a morning’s walk in, 83. + + Aust ferry, 9. + + + Bee, the carpenter, 53. + + Beetle, the rose, 53 + + — the dorr, 217 + + — the great water species, 224, 232. + + Birds, partiality of the author to, 109, 120 + + — migration of, 110, 145 + + — injurious to trees, 114 + + — various food of, ibid. + + — song and voices of, 119, 178. 189 + + — nests of, 121, 122, 123, 124 + + — great destroyers of insects, 124 + + — species of, diminishing in number, 137 + + — labor of, to feed their young, 140 + + — friendship of, 147 + + — eggs of, 156, 182 + + — dislike of, to man, 160 + + — stratagem of one, 163 + + — early rising of, 164 + + — boldness of, 176 + + — solitary and congregating ones, 178 + + — language of, unvarying, 185 + + — pleasure afforded by, to man, 189 + + — For the different kinds, see their respective English names. + + Blackbird, song of the, 188. + + Blackcap, the, 159. + + Blight, 236 + + — some trees not affected by, ibid. + + — manner in which this insect propagates itself, 237 + + — whence derived, uncertain, 238 + + — saline winds a supposed cause of, 254. + + Bombylius, the, 211. + + Bones of horses and human beings dug up, conjecture respecting, 11. + + Bouquets, wearing of, not in use, 57. + + Bramble, the common, almost an evergreen, 77 + + — lines on its leaves, ibid. + + — its uses, 78. + + Bull-finch, the, 113. + + Bunting, peculiar practice of the, 173. + + Burnet, conjecture as to its lasting verdure, 63. + + Butcher-bird, the, 134. + + Butterfly, the sulphur, 74 + + — the argus, 195 + + — the phlæas, 196 + + — the azure, ibid. + + — the painted lady, 198 + + — the marble, 199 + + — the meadow brown, ibid. + + + Caloric, effects of, on bodies, 271. + + Chaffinch, the, 116. + + Changes in nature, 221. + + Cheese, cheap kind of, 22. + + Christmassing, 246. + + Chrysalides of insects, 191. + + Chrysalis, singular one, 186. + + Cleanliness of animals, 219. + + Clematis, the wild, 81 + + — sticks of, used by boys for smoking, 82. + + Clocks, name given to the great dorr beetle, 217. + + Cockchaffer, 220. + + Coins dug out of the earth, 10. + + Color, probably reflected light, 60. + + Coral polypi, 15. + + Crossbill, the, 128. + + Cruelty, a vice of the ignorant, 96. + + + Dandelion, the, 74. + + Day’s eye, the, 74. + + Death’s-head moth, 222. + + Digestion, power of, in birds, 146. + + Dog, usefulness of, to man, 153. + + Dogsbane destructive to insects, 61. + + Dry-rot, the, 88. + + Dyers, capricious in their art, 59. + + Dyers’ broom, 58 + + — gathering of, 59 + + — uses of, ibid. + + — dyers’ weed, 72. + + + Earth-worm, the common, 231. + + Elm tree, the wych, a singularly beautiful one, 46 + + — value of, 47 + + — uses of, ibid. + + — soon decays, 48 + + — leaves of the elm marked with plague-spots, 89. + + Empiricism, 235. + + Entomology, 190. + + Evaporation from the earth, effect of, 63. + + + Fairfax, general, supposed skeletons of some of his foragers, 11. + + Fairy rings, 250. + + Fescue, spines of the hard, bearing no flowers, 77. + + Fieldfare, the, 181. + + Flea, the water, 215. + + Flowers of plants, 52 + + — pleasures afforded by, 53 + + — use and application of, 54, 56 + + — natural love of, 54 + + — the playthings of children, 55. + + Fly, the house, 151 + + — the biting, ibid. + + — the four-spotted dragon, 192. + + Flycatcher, the gray, 146. + + Foxglove, 67. + + Friendship between birds, instance of, 146, 147. + + Frost, early, effect of on flowering plants, 276. + + Fungi, beauties of, 85 + + — varieties of, 86 + + — uncertain appearance of, ibid. + + — mutations of, 87 + + — agents of decay, 88 + + — propagation of, 93. + + Fur of animals, 107. + + + Gallinaceous birds, 172. + + Gamma moth, the, 210. + + Ghost moth, 190. + + Glaucous birthwort, 62. + + Gleaning, profits of, to the poor, 244 + + — antiquity of the custom, 245. + + Glow-worm, the, 207. + + Gnat, the winter, 189. + + Goat moth, 202. + + Goldfinch, the, 166. + + Grass crops, nature of, in the author’s village, 22 + + — certain grasses attached to certain soils, 23 + + — grass balls, 77. + + Guinea, anecdote of the finding of one, 248. + + + Hair of animals, 106. + + Hairworm, the clay, 226. + + Hawk, the sparrow, 144 + + — the kestrel, ibid. + + — the hawk-moth, 197. + + Hay, crops of, method of saving, 25. + + Hazel-tree, how liable to decay, 90. + + Hedgehog, the, 96. + + Hellebore, 52 + + — its medicinal uses, ibid. + + Helvella, the mitred, 87. + + Holly-trees, 247. + + Hornet, the, 227. + + Horse, instance of the longevity of one, 127. + + Hummingbird, hawk-moth, the, 197. + + Hummings in the air, 250. + + Hydnum fungus, the beautiful floriform, 87. + + + Ice, cause of its swimming instead of sinking, 271. + + Industry, profitable fruits of, to an agricultural laborer, 19. + + Insects entrapped by the snapdragon, 61 + + — destroyed by the sun-dew, ibid. + + — by the dogsbane with great suffering, ibid. + + — paths of, on leaves, 77 + + — their manner of puncturing, 81 + + — consumption of, by birds, 124 + + — but little attended to or studied, 190 + + — chrysalis of, 191 + + — speedy methods of killing them, 264 + + — best mode of preserving specimens, 265. + + Insensibility to pain, striking instance of, 17. + + Ivy, 64. + + + Jack Snipe. See Snipe. + + Jay, the, 133. + + + Kite, the, its numbers greatly on the decline, 158 + + — extraordinary capture of a number, 158. + + + Labor of the peasantry in the author’s village, profits of, 19. + + Lady-bird note of a song-thrush, 188. + + Language of birds, 185. + + Laurel-tree, the, 89. + + Leasing. See Gleaning. + + Life, duration of, 126. + + Lily, blossoms of, indicative of old of the price of wheat, 174. + + Lime, 12 + + — nature and uses of, 13 + + — its abundance, ibid. + + — formation and origin of, ibid. + + — analysis of, 15 + + — residences upon its soil supposed to be healthy, 17. + + Lime-kiln, frightful consequences of a traveller’s sleeping on one, 17. + + Linnet, the, 112. + + Longevity. See Life. + + + Magpie, the, 132. + + Manure, picking it from grass lands for corn-lands, a bad practice, 40. + + Maple tree, 79 + + — the under sides of the leaves of, a beautiful microscopic object, 80. + + Marten cat, the, 95. + + Maypoles, now seldom seen, 246. + + Migration of birds, 110, 145. + + Mistletoe, 71. + + Moles, 104 + + — their sense of smelling, 106 + + — rankness of their flesh, 108. + + Morell, the stinking, 92 + + — the esculent, 94. + + Moth, the ghost, 192 + + — the hawk, 197 + + — the yellow under-wing, 200 + + — the gamma, 201 + + — the goat, 202 + + — the death’s-head, 222 + + — the ermine, 243. + + Mouse, the harvest, 99 + + — the water, 101 + + — the common, 151 + + — the meadow, and long-tailed, ibid. + + + Natural affection, 133. + + Natural history little attended to, 41. + + Naturalist, pleasing occupations of the, 83. + + Nature, designs of, 204 + + — changes in, 221 + + — tendencies of, to produce, 277. + + Nests of birds, 121, 122. + + Newt, the common, 215 + + — a small shell-fish often attached to its toes, ibid. + + Nidularia, the bell-shaped, 94. + + Nightingale, the, less common than heretofore, 138 + + — croaking of, 188. + + Nosegays, 57. + + + Oak tree, description of one, 42 + + — several of extraordinary magnitude, 43, 45 + + — the oak less fruitful now than formerly, 44 + + — its value, from its various uses, 46. + + Oat-grass, 70. + + + Pain, instance of insensibility to, 17. + + Passerine birds, 172. + + Peacock butterfly (note), 200. + + Peewit, the, 179. + + Phallus. See Morell. + + Pick-a-bud, name given to the bull-finch, 114. + + Pimpernel, the, a prognosticator of fine weather, 174. + + Plants, blossoms of, 52 + + — names given to them of old, from their supposed qualities, 68 + + — pores of, 82 + + — decomposition of, 89. + + Pollarding trees, 267. + + Polypi of the coral, 15. + + Poor, employment of the, 18. + + Poplar tree, 57. + + Potato, culture of the, 26 + + — sorts, 27 + + — profits, 28 + + — effects of, on soils, 30 + + — history of, ibid. + + — value of, as food, 35. + + Prognostications of wind and weather. See Wind and Weather. + + Providence, inattention to, 234. + + Puff, the gray, 87 + + — the turreted, 93 + + — the stellated, 94. + + + Rapacious birds, 171. + + Rats, migration of, 101 + + — other particulars of, 151. + + Raven, the, 125. + + Redwing, 180. + + Reeking of the earth, 269. + + Robin, the, 115. + + Roman encampment, 9 + + — roads, 10. + + Rook, the, 128 + + — its affection, 129 + + — sagacity, 130 + + — appears to be decreasing in numbers, 138. + + Rose, the white moss, 238 (note), the wild, 263. + + Royal forest, indications of one in Gloucestershire, 11. + + + Seasons, variableness of, 145 + + — effect of, 240. + + Sex, increase of, in 1825, 102, note. + + Shrew, the water, 102 + + — the common, 113 + + — new species of, 104. + + Shrike. See Butcher-bird. + + Sinking of the earth, 252. + + Sky-lark, the, 184. + + Smelling, question of the sense of, in birds, 132. + + Smokewood, sticks of the wild clematis so called, 82. + + Snail, the common, 228 + + — the banded, 231 + + — the halotideus, 238. + + Snakes, eggs of, 208 + + — harmlessness of, 209 + + — general aversion to, 210. + + Snapdragon, peculiarities of, 60 + + — an insect trap, ibid, 62. + + Snipe, the jack, its habits, 176 + + — supposed the male of the larger snipe, 178. + + Snowdrop, the, 69 + + — a melancholy flower, 70. + + Soil, of the parish in which the author resides, 12 + + — various sorts of, 20 + + — analysis of, useless, ibid. + + — picking soil off grass lands a bad custom, 40. + + Song of birds. See Birds. + + Sparrow, the hedge, 109 + + — the common, 149. + + Spottings, on apples, 255 + + — on strawberry leaves, 257. + + Starling, the common, 139 + + — the brown, 142. + + Steaming of the earth, 269. + + Stinking phallus, the, 92. + + Stormy petrel, the, 135. + + Strontian, 16. + + Sulphur butterfly, 74. + + Sun-dew, destructive to insects, 61. + + Superstition, 222, 230. + + Swallows, their nests, 123 + + — killed in wanton sport, 155. + + Sycamore tree, singularity of its leaves, 89. + + + Teasel, its cultivation, 35 + + — its profits, 37 + + — its uses, 39. + + Thorn, the white, uniform in its blossoming, 145. + + Thrush, the solitary, 142 + + — the common, 147 + + — the missel, 175 + + — song of, 188. + + Timidity of animals, 176. + + Tokens. See Prognostications. + + Tom-tit, or titmouse, the little blue, rewards for the destruction of, + 117 + + — perishes in severe winters, 118 + + — the long-tailed, 120 + + — instance of its intelligence in the care of its young, 124. + + Traveller’s joy, name given to the wild clematis, 81. + + Trees, attractors of humidity, 48 + + — condense fogs, 49 + + — verdure beneath, ibid + + — mischief of pollarding them, 267. + + Tree-creeper, the, 167. + + Turnip, singularly decorated one, as a holiday amusement, 247. + + + Uredo, the two-fronted, a substance attached to the leaves of the + laurel, 89. + + + Vermin, parish reward for the destruction of, 117. + + Vervain, 71 + + — respect paid of old to this plant, ibid. + + — its supposed powers and qualities, 72. + + Village clubs, 57. + + + Wagtail, yellow, the, 168. + + Wald, or wold, the dyers’ weed so called, 72. + + Want, the, 104. + + Wasp, the common, 199 + + — the solitary, 226 + + — its nest, ibid. + + Water, stagnated and putrescent, favorable for the residence of + insects, 215. + + Water-flea, 216. + + Water shrew, 102. + + Wheat, crops of, method of saving, 26. + + Wheatear, the, 154. + + Whirly pits, what, 252. + + Willow tree, 269. + + Winds and weather, old tokens of, 174, 180 + + — saline winds a supposed cause of blight, 254. + + Winter, the season of, depicted 270. + + Woodlark, the, 184. + + Woodlouse, 214. + + Worm, the hair, 226 + + — the common, 231. + + Wren, the willow, 110 + + — the golden-crested, 118, 122 + + — the common, instance of its stratagem to preserve its nest, 163. + + Wryneck, the, 137. + + Wych elm. See Elm. + + + Year 1825, singular increase of sex in the, 102, note + + — other peculiarities of, 259. + + Yellow weed, name given to dyers’ weed, 72 + + — yellow the prevailing color of the flowers of plants in spring, 73 + + — and in autumn, 74. + + + THE END. + + + + + EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. + + + PLATE 1. + + Fig. 1. Sphæria on the leaf of an elm, p. 89. + + A. A portion enlarged, and the cuticle parting. + + B. The same enlarged, representing the capsules. + + Fig. 2. Sphæria bifrons, on a laurel leaf, p. 88, 89. + + C. The front, and dorsal parts. + + D. Imbedded capsules. + + Fig. 3, Sphæria coryli, on a nut branch, p. 90. + + E. The tubercle enlarged, bordered with the epidermis. + + F. A section of the capsules at the base. + + Fig. 4. Sphæria faginea, on a beech stick, p. 90. + + G. Section of a tube, with the capsules at the base. + + H. Group of the tubes detached from the bough, with their + capsules. + + I. A tube detached. + + + PLATE 2. + + Fig. 1. A chrysalis of an insect, p. 191, 192. + + B. The inner hood. + + Fig. 2. The branch of an apple-tree, infested with the aphis lanata, + p. 235, 236. + + B. The aphis enlarged, with the globules, and the cotton that + surrounds them. + + D. The early appearance of the insect with its terminating + bristle. + + E. Appearance of the creature in winter. + + + WOOD ENGRAVINGS. + + Spines and tubes of the hedgehog, enlarged, p. 99. + Harvest mouse and nest, p. 100. + Plumage of lepidopterous insects, p. 194. + Agaricus surrectus, p. 256. + Roots of an ash, p. 258. + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + Some money was found in one of our fields a few years past, which + fame, as in all such cases, without perhaps any foundation, enlarged + to a considerable sum. The nature of the coin I know not. A few old + guineas were admitted; but from fear of that spectre “tresor trove,” + the whole was concealed, whatever it might be. + +Footnote 2: + + The weight of lime is very variable, differing in different places: + but taking our lime at the average of eighty pounds to the bushel, + some idea may be conceived of the cooling nature of this substance. + Lime, to be used as manure, must be in a pulverized state; and by + drawing on the land the quantity that we do, we convey to every acre + so dressed equivalent to two hundred and fifty gallons of water, not + to be evaporated, but retained in the soil as a refrigerant to the + fibres of vegetation. + +Footnote 3: + + I have called this alumine, stained with oxide of iron; but it seems + more like vegetable or animal remains, adhering to the filter like a + fine peaty deposit, and is lost in combustion. + +Footnote 4: + + From sixty-four to seventy-two cents, American money.—ED. + +Footnote 5: + + Thirty-three dollars and sixty cents.—ED. + +Footnote 6: + + In 1826, the herbage on some of our clay-lands designed for growing + was, by reason of its tardy growth, and the dryness of the season, in + such small quantities, that the owners let it grow untouched until + after the corn harvest, in order to obtain some bottom grass, and, in + consequence, our haymaking, as it was called, was not over until the + last week in September. + +Footnote 7: + + The field poppy, as the reader must be aware, is no regular attendant + upon the grain-fields of America.—ED. + +Footnote 8: + + But dibbling is not held in esteem by us: we think that in wet seasons + the holes retain the moisture and the sets perish; and that in dry + weather, being less covered than when planted by the spade, they are + more obnoxious to injury by birds and mice, become affected by + droughts, are longer in shooting out, and produce, in most cases, + inferior crops. In a lighter soil these objections, perhaps, would not + be found reasonable. + +Footnote 9: + + About fifty-four dollars, sixty cents.—ED. + +Footnote 10: + + See note A, appendix. + +Footnote 11: + + _Dipsacus sylvestris_ or wild teazel, is a naturalized weed in + America; it differs from D. Fullonum or Fuller’s teazle, a cultivated + plant.—ED. + +Footnote 12: + + Equisetum hyemale, the Dutch rush, or shave grass, is yet used in its + natural state for finishing fine models in wood, and in removing + roughness in plaster casts. + +Footnote 13: + + Philosoph. Trans. as quoted in the Sylva. + +Footnote 14: + + Pliny’s Natural History. + +Footnote 15: + + See note C, appendix. + +Footnote 16: + + This bee does not exclusively make use of the leaves of rose for its + purposes, as I have known it in some seasons cut away the young + foliage of cytisus laburnum, even when growing in company with its + favorite rose. + +Footnote 17: + + See note D, appendix. + +Footnote 18: + + See note E, appendix. + +Footnote 19: + + See note F, appendix. + +Footnote 20: + + The dogsbane, _apocynum androsæmifolium_, is called Indian hemp in + some parts of America.—ED. + +Footnote 21: + + See note G, appendix. + +Footnote 22: + + See note H, appendix. + +Footnote 23: + + See note I, appendix. + +Footnote 24: + + See note J, appendix. + +Footnote 25: + + See note K, appendix. + +Footnote 26: + + See note L, appendix. + +Footnote 27: + + Rural Economy of Norfolk. + +Footnote 28: + + Article Reseda, in Encyclopædia Britannica. + +Footnote 29: + + See note M, appendix. + +Footnote 30: + + The dandelion is considered by Mr. Torrey as a naturalized plant in + America, although so very common.—ED. + +Footnote 31: + + See note N, appendix. + +Footnote 32: + + See note O, appendix. + +Footnote 33: + + See note P, appendix. + +Footnote 34: + + Without close examination, this plant appears to be a uredo; but it is + in fact a sphæria. Uredo differs from sphæria chiefly in the vessels + not containing the capsules in cells, but loose. Hoffman observes, + that both sphæria and uredo discharge pollen from an orifice; but, if + the summit of this plant be cut off, the capsules are obvious. + +Footnote 35: + + I am uncertain whether this plant has been noticed. Sphæria granulosa + of Sowerby, and sp. tentaculata of Batsch, may be it in a young stage + of growth; sp. faginea of Lamarck does not accord well with it. + +Footnote 36: + + Pileus—conical, one inch occasionally in diameter—pale gray becoming + ocherous, summit orange, flesh thin. + + Lamellæ—fixed, white, four in a set, stained in places. + + Stipes—fistular, long, chestnut at the base, upwards pale brown root + long, trailing, woolly. + +Footnote 37: + + This is the phallus esculentus of some; but Jussieu, Persoon, and + others, have removed it from that genus, on account of its having no + volva, but seeds in cells, not contained in a glareous mucus. + +Footnote 38: + + See note Q, appendix. + +Footnote 39: + + See note R, appendix. + +Footnote 40: + + As an event connected with the subject of temporary augmentation and + diminution of creatures, I may be pardoned for noting the predominant + increase of sex in some years. The most remarkable instance, that I + remember of late, was in 1825. How far it extended I do not know, but + for many miles round us we had in that year scarcely any female calves + born. Dairies of forty or fifty cows produced not more than five or + six, those of inferior numbers, in the same proportion, and the price + of female calves for rearing was greatly augmented. In the wild state, + an event like this would have considerable influence upon the usual + product of some future herd. In the ensuing spring, we had in the + village an extraordinary instance of fecundity in the sheep afforded + us, one farmer having an increase of sixteen lambs from five ewes, + four of which produced three each, and one brought forth four; + however, only a small portion of these little creatures lived to + maturity. + +Footnote 41: + + See note S, appendix. + +Footnote 42: + + See note T, appendix. + +Footnote 43: + + See Ray’s Synopsis. + +Footnote 44: + + he organ, which inflicts the pain, or sting, when we incautiously + handle the nettle, is well known to be connected with a little vessel + containing an acrid fluid, which being compressed, rushes up the tube + of the organ, and is thus conveyed into the wound; and it is rather + singular, that the larvæ of the admirable butterfly, which feeds upon + the large hedge nettle, has the spines which arise from its body + branched, and each collateral hair arises from a little bulb, similar + to that of the plant on which it is chiefly found. + +Footnote 45: + + See note U, appendix. + +Footnote 46: + + Linnean Transactions, vol. vii. + +Footnote 47: + + See note V, appendix. + +Footnote 48: + + I remember no bird that seems to suffer so frequently from the + peculiar construction of its nest, and by reason of our common + observance of its sufferings obtains more of our pity, than the house- + marten. The rook will at times have its nest torn from its airy site, + or have its eggs shaken from it by the gales of spring; but the poor + marten, which places its earthy shed beneath the eave of the barn, the + roof of the house, or in the corner of the window, is more generally + injured. July and August are the months in which these birds usually + bring out their young; but one rainy day at this period, attended with + wind, will often moisten the earth that composes the nest; the cement + then fails, and all the unfledged young ones are dashed upon the + ground; and there are some places to which these poor birds are + unfortunately partial, though their nests are annually washed down. + The projecting thatch of the old farm-house appears to be their safest + asylum. The parent birds at times seem aware of the misfortune that + awaits them; as, before the calamity is completed, we may observe them + with great anxiety hovering about their nests. + +Footnote 49: + + Petrels have been carried, by a storm, as far inland as the interior + of Pennsylvania.—ED. + +Footnote 50: + + See note W, appendix. + +Footnote 51: + + I know not any definition of what we term “animal instinct” more + comprehensive and accordant with truth than the following, given in + the Elements of Etymology by Messrs. Kirby and Spence. “Without + pretending to give a logical definition of it, (instinct,) which, + while we are ignorant of the essence of reason, is impossible, we may + call the instincts of animals those unknown faculties implanted in + their constitutions by the Creator, by which, independent of + instruction, observation, or experience, and without a knowledge of + the end in view, they are impelled to the performance of certain + actions tending to the well-being of the individual, and preservation + of the species.” + +Footnote 52: + + See note W, appendix. + +Footnote 53: + + See note X, appendix. + +Footnote 54: + + The crow in the spring, when food is difficult of attainment, will + kill young pigeons; and the magpie having young ones, captures the new + hatches of our domestic poultry: but these are cases of necessity + rather than habit. The raven has a decided inclination for the eyes of + creatures, and finding lambs in a weak state, immediately plucks them + out, and when the animal is recently dead, commences his depredations + upon these parts. + +Footnote 55: + + Substance of a paper read before the Royal Society, Nov. 27, 1824. See + Zoological Magazine, vol. i. + +Footnote 56: + + See note Y, appendix. + +Footnote 57: + + See note Z, appendix. + +Footnote 58: + + See note AA, appendix. + +Footnote 59: + + The Night-Hawk. + +Footnote 60: + + See note BB, appendix. + +Footnote 61: + + See note CC, appendix. + +Footnote 62: + + Multitudes of words are retained in our language derived from very + ancient dialects, and possibly the name “clock,” as given to this + beetle, conveying no meaning to our present comprehensions, is a + corruption of some syllable in former use. Its subterranean residence + might have been signified by the old word “cloax,” a vault, a creature + from below. Or, burrowing in filth and ordure, as it does, the epithet + “clocca,” the offspring of a common shore, or jakes, would not have + been insignificant of its origin and habits. Fancy, too, playing with + trifles, amuses itself in bandying about even its more general + appellative, dorr. In old times a “dorr” was a stupid, blundering + fellow; and “to dorr,” was to din, or trouble with noise, both + meanings applicable to the heedless flight, and loud noise, made in + all the transits of this dung beetle. + +Footnote 63: + + See note DD, appendix. + +Footnote 64: + + See note EE, appendix. + +Footnote 65: + + The hornet is a very pugnacious animal. They will fight desperately + with each other at times, when they meet in pursuit of prey, biting + each other’s body, and trying to get their mandibles under the head of + their opponents, to snip it off. I one day confined under a glass two + of these creatures, which had been fighting. One had evidently the + mastery; but both had been so injured in the contest that they soon + died; and it is most probable that they fall victims to each other’s + voracity, in the cold, damp season that usually terminates the autumn + of our year. + +Footnote 66: + + That bees are attracted by the hiving-pan is generally considered as + fallacious, and the practice useless. + +Footnote 67: + + See note FF, appendix. + +Footnote 68: + + This creature was first observed, I am told, about the year 1819, in + the nursery garden of Messrs. Miller and Sweet near Bristol, + introduced, as is supposed, on some imported plant. It increases + readily in our climate. The white moss rose (rosa muscosa, var. alba): + this beautiful variety was first produced about the year 1808, in the + garden of Gabriel Goldney, Esq., at Clifton, near Bristol; a branch of + the common red moss rose, becoming diseased, produced its flowers + white. A neighboring nurseryman, being employed by that gentleman’s + gardener to lay down the branch, from cuttings propagated the variety, + and shortly after dispersed many plants. + +Footnote 69: + + See note GG, appendix. + +Footnote 70: + + See note HH, appendix. + +Footnote 71: + + See note II, appendix. + +Footnote 72: + + This agaric is, I believe, unnoticed. I have called it Agaricus + surrectus. + + Pileus—convex, expanding, covered with a pile of short, white hair; + centre depressed; faintly tinted with yellow; from one to three inches + in diameter. + + Laminæ—loose, irregular, generally four in a set, rather numerous + broad, white, changing to buff, and then pink. + +Footnote 73: + + See note JJ, appendix. + + Stipes—solid, tapering upwards, rather thick immediately below the + pileus, three inches high, thick as a reed, white, and often downy, + wrapper at the base. + + Many of this species of singular plant I found in October, 1819, + springing from a confluent mass of a. caseus. Bolton’s a. pulvinatus + is something like our plant; but he describes his under side as + perfectly flat, and represents a singularity in the termination of his + laminæ, which is not observable in our a. surrectus. + +Footnote 74: + + See note KK, appendix. + +Footnote 75: + + The ash, generally speaking, will arrive at a very serviceable age, in + sixty years, producing at a low rate twenty-eight feet of timber, + which, at 2_s._ 3_d._ the foot, its present value, would produce a sum + equivalent to 3_l._ 3_s._, a silent unheeded profit of above a + shilling a year. A hundred such might have been felled annually from + many farms had they not been topped, which, in consequence of this + practice have produced nothing. + +Footnote 76: + + See note LL, appendix. + +Footnote 77: + + “Mr. Caldcleugh sent home two tubers, which being well manured, even + the first season produced numerous potatoes, and an abundance of + leaves.” _Hort. Transactions_, Vol. V. p. 249. See Humboldt’s + interesting discussion on this plant, which it appears was unknown in + Mexico, in _Political Essay on New Spain_, book IV. chapter IX. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + Page Changed from Changed to + + 22 owing was, by reason of its growing was, by reason of its + tardy growth, and the dryness of tardy growth, and the dryness of + the the + + 243 prays, covered with a cottony sprays, covered with a cottony + web. The other hedge web. The other hedge + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last + chapter. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● The caret (^) serves as a superscript indicator, applicable to + individual characters (like 2^d) and even entire phrases (like + 1^{st}). + ● Images without captions use HTML alt text. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77852 *** |