HUSH

®tji> i. H. IHtU IGtbrarg

Nortlj (Earoltna 8>tate Htuueraiti}

V

1799

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE DATE
INDICATED BELOW AND IS SUB-
JECT TO AN OVERDUE FINE AS
POSTED AT THE CIRCULATION
DESK.

THJi

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

THE YEAR.

THE

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

THE YEAR.

BEING AN ENLARGEMENT OF

DR. AIKIN'S
CALENDAR OF NATURE.

By ARTHUR AIKIN.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, IN ST. PAUL'S
CHURCH YARD.

1799.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The favour of the public having
conducted The Calendar of Nature
through feveral editions, the prefent
Editor thought that he fhould be
performing no unacceptable office
in making fuch additions to it as
modern difcoveries in natural hiftory
have afforded. 3y the infertion of
iome new articles from authors of
the beft credit, and the occafional
enlargement of fome of the old ones,
it was his intention to compofe a
hiftory of the yearly operations of
nature, if not perfect, yet, at lead

as far as it went, correct.

For

VI ADVERTISEMENT,

For this purpofe recourfe has been
had to Mr. Pennant's valuable Zoo-
logical works, to Bomare's Dic-
tionary of Natural Hiftory, and to
the admirable Natural Hiftory of
Selborne, by the late Mr. White,
Other writers have been occafion-
ally confulted, and a few circum-
ftances are inferted for which the
Editor is himfelf perfonally anfwer-
able. How far this edition is wor-
thy of notice, it remains for that pub-
lic to whom it is now offered to de-
termine.

TO

JOHN AIKIN, M.D.

THIS

ENLARGED EDITION

OF HIS OWN

ORIGINAL WORK

IS INSCRIBED

BY

HIS TRULY AFFECTIONATE SON,

ARTHUR A1KIN.

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

THE YEAR.

JL he portion of time here to be treat-
ed of, and which is called a year, is
produced by the complete revolution of
the earth round the fun, a period of 365
days and nearly fix hours. It is indif-
ferent for the purpofe of meafuring time
at what part of this period the beginning
of the year is made, provided an exa6t
account be kept of the return of the
earth to the fame point from which it fet
out. There are however four points in
this annual revolution which are marked
out by finking difti notions. Thefe are
the two equinoxes and the two foljiices.

In order to underftand what thefe mean,

we are firfl: to obferve, that while the earth

B is

2 NATURAL HISTORY

is revolving round the fun, it is at the
fame time conflantly fpinning on its own
axle, and thus fucceflively prefenting one
half of its furface to the fun, while the
other half is turned from it. This makes
the difference of day and night ; for as
each part of the furface comes in fuccef-
fion to front the fun, it is faid to be day
in that part, as when it has turned from
the fun it is its night. Now if the axle
of the earth were perpendicular to the
plane in which it moves round the fun,
in other words, if it [pun upright, it is ob-
vious that the day and night would. always
be of equal length over the whole globe,
every point of it having as much fpace to
pafs, turned towards the fun, as turned
from it. But this is not the cafe ; for its
axle is oblique, varying about 23 \ de-
grees from the perpendicular : for which
reafon, during half of the revolution the
northern hemifphere of the globe enjoys
a greater portion of the fun's light than
the fouthern, and confequently its days

are

OF THE YEAR. 3

arc longer than its nights: during the
other half the oppofite takes place, and its
nights are longer than its days; and in
the fouthern hemifphere the fame hap-
pens, at contrary times. It is only there-
fore on the central ring of the globe,
called the equator, or equinoctial line, that
the days and nights are always equal. In
all the other parts they are equal only on
two days in the year, called the vernal
and autumnal equinoxes, which happen
on or near March 25, and September 23.
Midway between thefe points are the two
folftices ; that of our fummer, when the
days in the northern hemifphere are at
their greatefi length, which is about
June 21 ; and that of our winter, when
they are fhorteft, about December 2 1 :
the reverfe taking place in the fouthern
hemifphere.

The annexed figures with their expla-
nations will give a better idea of thefe
changes than can be conveyed in words,
and will alio mow that the difference be-
B 2 tween

4 NATURAL HISTORY

tween the days and nights goes on in-
creafing from the equator to the poles, at
which laft there is only one day and one
night in the year. The fame circum-
ftance, namely the obliquity of the earth's
axis, is alfo the caufe of the difference of
the climates and feafons with refpect to
heat. At the equator the rays of the fun
fall perpendicularly on the earth, and
therefore act with more power ; whence
arifes the great heat of that and the tro-
pical regions, which extend to a certain
diftance from it on each iide. On ad-
vancing towards both poles, the rays fall
more and more obliquely, and therefore
act with lefs and lefs force ; whence this
fpace is occupied, fir ft by the temperate
zones extending on each fide the tropics,
and then by the frigid zones extending
from thefe to the poles. So weak is the
power of the fun in thefe laft, owing to
the great obliquity with which its rays
ftrike the earth, that they are buried in al-
moft perpetual fnow and ice. Thefe dif-
ferences

OF THE YEAR. $

ferences are thofe of climate. As to the
differences oifeafon, they depend upon the
length of time that the earth is expofed to
the rays of the fun, as well as the greater
or lefs directnefs with which the ravs
ftrike it. During the fhort days the in-
fluence of the fun is lefs in both thefe re-
fpe£ts, which therefore produces winter;
during the long days it is greater, and
therefore caufes fummer ; and the middle
feafons of fpring and autumn coirefpond
with the equality of nights and davs: it is
to be remarked, however, that this cor-
refpondence is not perfectly exact, for the
fevered frofts ufually take place after the
days have begun to lengthen, as the mod:
oppreflive heats are found to happen when
the days are in the wane , the reafon of
which is, that the earth having imbibed
more heat than it gave out during the
fummer months, is not exhaufted of its
fuperabundant warmth till about the clofe
of the year, or after the winter folilice ; in
like manner, on account of the svaile of
E 3 the

6 NATURAL HISTORY

the earth's heat being greater in winter
than its fupply, it continues to imbibe
beat during the fpring, and is not fatu-
rated till after the fummer folftice. Hence
alfo arifes the difference between the fpring
and autumn, though the pofition of the
fun with refpedl to the earth is in both the
fame : the heat of the fpring is inferior to
that of autumn both in regularity and de-
gree, for, owing to the deficiency of
warmth in the earth, it is confbntly im-
bibing the floating heat of the lower part
of the atmofphere; hence originates a
large collection of clouds, which inter-
cepting the rays of the fun, combines to-
gether with the abforption of the earth
to deprive the air of much of its heat.
Whereas in autumn, the earth being hotter
than the air, gives out regularly a large
portion of warmth, which naturally tend-
ing to difperfe the clouds, affords a free
paiTage to the folar rays : thus autumn
ought in general to be hotter than fpring,
for thefe two reafons ; firft, that the earth

itftlf

OF THE YEAR. 7

itfelf gives out a confiderable quantity of
heat, and fecondly, that the rays of the
fun meet with fewer interruptions in pafT-
ing thence to the earth. At the equator
there is no proper difference of feafons,
except as occafioned by rainy or windy
periods, which proceed from other caufes,
and the cafe is much the fame on each
fide of it for fome diftance.

The ifland of Great Britain is fituated
in the northern hemifphere, and in that
part of the temperate zone which is
nearer to the frigid than the torrid zone.
Geographers divide the fpace from the
equator to the pole on each fide into 90
degrees, which are called degrees of lati-
tude; and beginning from the equator,
they reckon the latitude of every place by
the number of degrees it is diftant north
or fouth from that line. Now Great
Britain is comprehended between the
50th and 58^th degree of north latitude.
Hence the difference of the light and
heat, in the different feafons of the year,
B4 is

8 NATURAL HISTORY, &C.

is very confiderable among us; and all
the variations in nature depending on
thefe differences are flrongly marked.
In London, which is about the latitude of
514, at the winter folftice the fun is only
7 hours 34 minutes above the horizon j
at the fummer folflice it is 16 hours 26
minutes; and in the north of Scotland
the difference is much greater*

JANUARY.

( 9 )

JANUARY.

Stern winter's icy breath, intenfely keen,
Now chills the blood, and withers every green ;
Bright fhines the azure Iky, ferenely fair,
Or driving fnows obfcure the turbid air.

A year is not onlv an agronomical,
but a natural period, and the firfl imper-
fect year of ancient times mutt, no doubt,,
have originated from obferving the re-
gular viciflitudes of heat and cold, of the
leafing, flowering, and fruiting of the va-
rious tribes of vegetables ; and the coin-
cidence of thefe appearances with the
laying and hatching of birds, and the
production of the young of quadrupeds.
This way of reckoning, however, was fub-
jecl: to fo many variations, that it was foon
neceffary to make choice of fome more
conftant periodical occurrence by which
to mark the annual revolution.

The

10 J A N U A R Y.

The ancient year began in the month
of March, and it may appear lingular
that modern civilized nations fhould
choofe to commence their year at a period
when nature lies almoft dormant, in pre-
ference to that feafcn when the race of
vegetables and animals is actually renew-
ed. In defence of the prefent cuftom it
may, however, he faid, that the time of
the renovation of nature varies in different
countries, and is affected fo much by ac-
cidental circumftances as to preclude the
poffibiiity of an exact: calculation ; that
now the vear does not commence till ten
days after the winter folftice, and that the
lengthening of the day, as it is the chief
caufe, fo it is in fact the commencement
of fpring-.

So little influence, however, has this
change at firft, that the month of January
is ufually found to he that in which the
cold is moil: intenfe ; there being little or
no froft in this country before the fhortcft
day, conformably to the old faying, " as

the

JANUARY. II

the (lays begin to lengthen, the frofl: be-
gins to ftrengthen." The weather is
commonly either bright dry froft, or fog
and fnow, with cold dark fhowers about
the clofe of the month.

It ufed formerly to be a fubjecl of much
difpute among natural philofophers, whe-
ther frofl: was a particular fubftance, or
merely the abfence of a certain degree of
heat. Thomfon in his Seafons feems to
be of the former opinion.

What art thou, Froft ? and whence are thy

keen ftores
Derived, thou fecret, all invading power,
Whom even th1 illufive fluid cannot fly ?
Myriads of little falts, or hook'd or ihap'cJ
Like double wedges, and diftus'd immenfc
Thro-" water, earth, and ether ?

Modern philofophers have, however,
very generally embraced the oppofite fide
of the queftion ; the little hooked falts, or
fpiculce, which in frofty mornings are
found floating in the atmofphere, or ad-
hering

12 JANUARY.

hering to the furfaces of bodies, being
found by experiment to be nothing more
than fmall cryftals of ice, and capable
of being refolved by heat into pure
water.

The principal difficulty in the theory
is, that if froft be only the abfenceof heat,
how comes it to pafs that water, when
deprived of its heat, fhould occupy more
fpace than it did before? for water, when
frozen, is expanded, and hence ice is
lighter than water, and fwims upon it.
The following explanation, however, will
fufficiently account for this fact., without
fuppofing that froft is a fubftance, which
by an union with water increafes the bulk
of it. If any one will obferve the procefs
of the formation of ice, he will perceive
that it is compofed of a number of needle -
like cryftals, that unite to each other at
angles ot a certain fize ; hence the fpace
between thefe cryftals is much more con-
fiderable than between the particles of
water, and on this account water, when

frozen,

JANUARY. I3

frozen, occupies more fpacc than before,
though it receives no increafe of weight.
It may alfo be mentioned, that, in the act
of congelation, a quantity of air is inter-
cepted, and fixed in the ice, which gene-
rally appears to be full of bubbles. It is
from this difpofition in water to cryftallize
at angles of a particular meafurement,
that, if a bottle full of water hard corked
be fet to freeze, the bottle will be broken
for want of room for the cxpanjion of the
water while alTuming its folic! form. Wa-
ter-pipes often burft from the fame caufe,
and hoops fly off from barrels ; and in
the intenfe frofis of Canada it has been
found from experiments made at Quebec,
that cannons and bomh-fhells filled with
water, and the apertures ftrongly plugged
up, have in the courfe of a few hours
been burft. This fame property of wa-
ter, when frozen, tends every year to di-
minifh the bulk and height of the Alps
and other lofty mountains: the different
nflures and crevices which become filled

with

14 JANUARY.

with water during the fummer, either
from rain or the melting of the fnow,
are frozen during die winter, and hy their
irrefiftible expanfive power detach huge
mafTes of rock from the fummits of the
mountains and roll them into the valleys
below, to the terror of the inhabitants ;
for nothing but a wood is able to flop
their impetuous and accelerated progrefs.
In its more moderate and minute effects,
the operation of this general law is pro-
ductive of a very beneficial confequence
to the hufbandman ; for the hard clods of
the ploughed fields are loofened and broken
to pieces by the fwelling of the water
within them when frozen ; hence the
earth is crumbled and prepared for re-
ceiving the feed in fpiing.

Nothing can be conceived more won-
derful and linking than the effects of
froft. To behold the liquid furface of the
lake changed into a firm marble-like
pavement; to fee the rapid river arretted
>m the midit of his courfe, die headlong

cafcade,

JANUARY. I5

cafcade, " whofe idle torrents only fccm to
roar," converted into a clufter of tranf-
lucid pillars of the mod grotefque forms;
or to view the intricate, varied, and beau-
tiful cryftallizations, that form on our
windows during a winter's night; and all
thefe effects produced by a rapid, ftlent,
invifible agency, cannot but ftrongly in-
tereft the obferver. Some of thefe ap-
pearances, indeed, are fo familiar to us,
that we ceafe to regard them ; but it is
only t\\z\v frequency that caufes them to be
overlooked, as is evident from the fur-
prife and admiration which they excite
in perfons, who, having been born and
brought up in the Weft-Indies or other
hot climates, ihow the greateft iurprife
and pleafure upon the firft fight of thefe
phenomena.

Here glittering turrets rife, upbearing high
(Fantaftic mifarrangement) on the roof
Large growth of what may feem the fp?.rkiing

trees
And fhrubs of fairy land. The cryflal drops

That

1 6 JANUARY.

That trickle down the branches, faft congeal'd

Shoot into pillars of pellucid length,

And prop the pile they butadorn'd before.

Here grotto within grotto fafe defies

The funbeam. There imbofs'd and fretted

wild
The growing wonder takes a thoufand fhapes
Capricious, in which fancy feeks in vain
The likenefs of fome objecT: feen before.

Cowper's Task, V.

Snow is the water of clouds frozen.
On a clofe examination it is found to be
compofed of icy darts or ftars united to
each other, as all cryftals of water are,
whether they compofe ice, fnow, or hoar-
froft, at angles of 60 or 120 degrees. Its
whitenefs is owing to the fmall particles
into which it is divided, refracting and re-
flecting, inftead of tranfmitting, all the
rays of light that fall upon it. Ice,
when pounded, becomes equally white.
Snow is ufeful by covering the plants and
protecting them from the fe verity of the
froft ; for it keeps them very dry ; and

at

J A N U A R Y . 17

at a certain depth under the fnow the cold
continues always of the fame moderate
temperature, namely, at 32 degrees, or
jufl at the freezing point. It is, how-
ever, a very fatal enemy to fhrubs that
grow in a fouthern expofure, for the heat
of the fun at noon partially melts the
fnow, which by the cold of the following
night is converted into a mafs of ice, and
thus deftroys the mod flourifhing and
hardy plants ; and it has frequently been
found by experience in fevere winters,
that thofe vegetables which have been
expofed to the rays of the fun have been
almoft totally cut off, while thofe under
a north fhelter have fuftained no injury.

The beauty of a country all clothed in
new fallen fnow is very finking.

The cheriflrd fields
Put on their winter robe of pureft white.
*Tis brightnefs all j fave where the new fnow

melts
Along the mazy current. Low the woods
Bow their hoar head j and ere the languid
fun

C Faint

I'8 J A N U A R Y.

Faint from the weft emits his evening ray,
Earth's univerfal face, deep hid and chill,
Is one wide dazzling wafte, that buries deep
The works of man. Thomson.

Hail-ftones are drops of rain fuddenly
congealed into a hard mafs, Co as to pre-
serve their figure. They often fall in the
warmer feafons of the year, as at all times
the upper parts of the atmofphere are
very cold.

Hoar-froft is dew or mill frozen. It
adheres to every ohjecffc on which it falls,
and produces figures of incomparable
beauty and elegance. Every twig and
blade of grafs isbefet by it with innumer-
able glittering pearly drops, or filvery
plumage, beyond the ikill of any artift to
imitate.

Sometimes it happens that a fudden
fhower of rain falls during a froft, and
immediately turns to ice. A remarkable
icene is then produced, which the follow-
ing lines moil beautifully defcribe.

Ere

J A N U A R V. 19

Ete yet the clouds let fall the treafur'd fnow,
Or winds begun thro1 hazy ikies to blow,
At ev'ning a keen eaftern breeze arofe,
And the defcendinc; rainunfullied fro^e.
Soon as thefilent (hades of night withdrew,
The rudd)r morn difclos'd at once to view
The face of nature in a rich difguife,
And brightened every object to my eyes :
■For every fhrub, and every blade of grafs,
And every pointed thorn feem'd wrought ia

glais ;
•In pearls and rubies rich the hawthorns fhow,
While thro' the ice the crimfon berries glow.
The thick-fprung reeds the watery maiihes

yield,
'Seem polinYd lances in a hoftile field.
The itag, in limpid currents, with furprife,
Sees cryftal branches on his forehead rife.
The fpreading oak, the beech and tow'ring

pine,
Glaz'd over, in the freezing ether mine.
The frighted birds the rattling branches fhun,
That wave and glitter in the diftant fun'.
When, if a fudden guft of wind ariie,
The brittle foreft into atom flies :
The cracking wood beneath the tempefl

bends,
And in a fpangled (how'r the profpecl ends.
Philips, Lett . from Copenhagen .

C 2 \a

20 JANUARY.

In fuch a cafe prodigious mifchief has
been done in the woods by the breaking
down of vafl arms of trees which were
overloaded by the weight of the incruft-
ing ice ; and even rooks, attempting to
fly, have been taken, owing to their wings
being frozen together, by the fleet that
congealed as it fell.

The inclemency of the feafon is fhown
by its effc&s on animals. Thofe which
are called the cold-blooded^ that is, where
the whole of the blood does not circulate
through the lungs, as the frog, the make,
and the lizard, are benumbed by it in
their winter quarters, and continue in this
deathlike ftate till the return of warm
weather. Others, as the dormoufe, the
marmot, and bear, fleep away the greater
part of this uncomfortable period ; while
others, as the fquirrel and field moufe,
which lay up flores of provifion during
the autumn, keep clofe in their retreats,
fleeping a good deal during the intenfity
of the froft, but, during the lefs fevere

part

JANUARY. 21

part of the winter, being in an active
ftate, have recourfe to their hoards for a
fupply of fubfiftence. But animals in a
ftate of fleep require nouriftiment, though
not in fuch large quantities as thofe
which continue actively alive ; the ne-
ceffity of food being proportioned to the
rapidity of the circulation of the blood.
Since, however, in a ftate of torpor, it
is irnpoflibletotake in nourishment, thefe
animals muft periih, were it not for a ftore
of food prepared and laid up within them
in the form of fat : for animals of this
clafs become very fat before they retire to
their winter habitations, and come out
again in the fpring lean and emaciated, as
is the cafe with the bear, marmot, &c.
With refpect to the cold-blooded animals,
which accumulate no fat, the continuance
of their life is provided for by other
means. All thefe animals are capable,
during their active ftate, of fupporting
the want of food for a great length of
time j at which period the pulfations of
' C 3 the

22 JANUARY.

the heart, which is the organ for circu-
lating the blood, amount to about 60 in a
minute ; but, during their torpid ftate, do
not exceed the fame number in the fpace
of an hour ; fo that the pulfations of the
heart, during the three months of winter
that they become infenfible, amount to
no more than the ufual number of 36"
hours in their active ftate, and their de-
mand for nourishment is probably dimi-
nifhed in the fame proportion.

The other animals, that are not ren-
dered torpid by the cold, vet feel very
feniibly its effecls, which are a deficiency
of food and heat ; to obviate thefe prefix-
ing evils, the wild quadrupeds of prey
bv which this ifland is inhabited, fuch as
the fox, the weafel, the polecat, and others,
rendered bold by famine, make incurfions
into the hen -rood and farm-yard : hap-
pily, however, we are acquainted only by
report with thofe formidable troops of
wrolves which at this feafon occaiionally
atfack the villages among the Alps, and

in

JANUARY. 23

in other mountainous and woody parts of
the continent : of thefe ravenous invaders
Thorn Ton has given a mod fpirited de-
fcription.

By wint'ry famine rous'd, from all the trail
Of horrid mountains which the mining Alps,
And wavy Appenine, and Pyrenees,
Branch out ftupendous into diftant lands j
Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave !
Burning for blood ! bony, and ghaunt, and

grim !
AfTembling wolves in raging troops defcend j
And, pouring o'er the country, bear along,
Keen as the north-wind i weep 3 the glofly

mow.
All is their prize. They fallen on the fteed,
Prefs him to earth, and pierce his mighty

heart,
Nor can the bull his awful front defend,
Or make the murdering lavages away.
Rapacious, at the mother's throat they fly,
And tear the icreaming infant from her bread.
The godlike face of man avails him nought.
But it, apprized of the fevere attack,
The country be {hut up, lur"d by the fcent,
On church-yards drear (inhuman to relate)
The disappointed prowlers fall, and dig

C4 The

24 J A N U A R V.

The fhrouded body from the grave j o'er

which
Mix'd with foul fhadcs, and frighted ghofts,

they howl.

At this feafon alfo hares, forgetting
their natural timidity, enter the gardens to
brouze on the cultivated vegetables, and
leaving their tracks in the fnow, are fre-
quently hunted down or caught in (hares..
Rabbits, preffed with hunger, enter into
plantations, where they deftroy multitudes
of trees by barking them as high as they
are able to reach.

The numerous tribes of birds alfo quit
their retreats, congregate in large flocks,
and, in fearch of food, approach the habi-
tations of man. Larks and various other
i'mall birds betake themfelves for fhel-
ter to the warm bubble. Fieldfares,
thrufhes, and blackbirds, neftle together
under hedges and ditch banks, and fre-
quent the warm manured fields in the
neighbourhood of towns. Sparrows, yel-
low-

JANUARY. 25

low-hammers, and chaffinches, crowd into
the farm-yard, and attend the barn-doors
to pick their fcanty fare from the frraw
and chaff. The tit moufe pulls ftraw out
of thatch, in fearch of flies and other in-
fects which have fheltered' there. From
wet meadows many birds, fiich as red-
wings, fieldfares, fky-larks, and tit-larks,
procure much of their winter fubfiffence;
the latter bird, efpecially, wades up to its
belly in purfuit of the pupae of infects,
and runs along upon the floating grafs and
weeds. They meet alfo with many gnats
on the fnow near water. Graminivorous
birds, fuch as the ring-dove, devour the
tender tops of turnips and other vegeta-
bles 3 and. the berries of the ivy afford a
confiderable fupply : thefe do not appear
to be at all affected by the moft intenfe
frofts, and in this refpedt are far fuperior
to the hips and haws that are frequently
fpoiled before the end of November.
The redbreaft ventures into the houfe,

And

iS JANUARY.

And pays to trufted man
His annual vifit.

Snipes, woodcocks, herons, wild-ducks,
and other water-fowl, are forced from the
frozen marines, and obliged to feek their
food about the rapid currents of ftreams
that are ftill open. As the cold grows
more intenfe, various kinds of fea-birds
quit the bleak open ihores, and come up
the rivers in fearch of fhelter and fubfifU
ence. The domefuc cattle at this feafon
require all the care and attention of the
farmer. Sheep are often loll in the fud-
den florins, by which the mow is drifted
in the hollows fo as to bury them a great
depth beneath it; yet in this fituation they
have been known to furvive manv days,
paffing the time probab y in a ftate of
fleep approaching to torpor, and thus re-
quiring little or no food, and but a fcanty
fupply of air ; while the fhelter of the fur-
rounding mow, and the natural heat of
their bcdies, would keep them in a con-
ftant moderate temperature. Cows, with
8 much

JANU A R V. 27

much ado, fcratch up a few mouthfuls
of grafs; but for their chief fubfiitence
they mult depend on the hay and other
ftores of the farm -yard. Early lambs and
calves are kept within doors, and tended
with as much care as the farmer's own
children.

The plants at this feafon are provided
by nature with a fort of winter-quarters,
which fecure them from the errec'ts of
cold. Thofe called herbaceous, which die
down to the root everv autumn, are now
fafely concealed underground, preparing
their new moots to buiil forth when the
earth is foftened in fpring. Shrubs and
trees which are expofed to the open air,
have all their foft and tender parts clofely
wrapt up in buds, which by their rirmnefs
refill all the power of froffc; the larger
kinds of buds, and thofe which are almoft
ready to expand, are further guarded by
a covering of refm or gum, fuch as the
horfe-chcihut, the fycamore, and the lime.
Their external covering, however, and

the

28 JANUARY.

the clofenefs of their internal texture, are
of themfelves by no means adequate to
refift the intenfe cold of a winter's night :
a bud detached from its flem, enclofed in
glafs, and thus protected from all accefs
of external air, if fufpended from a tree
during a (harp frofl:, will be entirely pe-
netrated and its parts deranged by the
cold, while the buds on the fame tree will
not have fuftained the flighteft injury ; we
mud therefore attribute to the living prin-
ciple in vegetables as well as animals, the
power of refilling cold to a very confi-
derable degree: in animals, we know,
this power is generated from the decom-
pofition of air by means of the lungs, and
difengagement of heat; how vegetables
acquire this property remains for future
obfervations to difcover. If one of thefe
buds be carefully opened, it is found to
confifl of young leaves rolled together,
within which are even all the bloffoms in
miniature that are afterwards to adorn the
fpring. The leaves of the woodbine ap-
pear

JANUARY. 29

pear juft ready to expand by the end of
the month : the winter aconite and bear's-
foot are generally by this time in flower,
and under the (helter of fouthern hedge-
banks, the red-dead-nettle, and groundfel.
The flowers of the mezereon and fnow-
drop feem on the point of blowing, and
the catkin or male blofTom of the hazel
begins to unfold. At the fame time
alfo the Hiell-lefs fnail makes its appear-
ance •.

During the feverity of the froft little
work can be done out of doors by the
farmer. As foon as it fets in, he takes the
opportunity of the hardnefs of the ground
to draw manure to his fields. He lops
and cuts timber, and mends thorn-hedges.

* The fhell-lefs fnails, called flugs, are in motion
all the winter in mild weather, and commit great de-
predations on garden plants and green wheat. The
caufe why thefc animals arc fo much better able to en-
dure the cold, than fhell fnails, is that their bodies are
protected by a covering of flime, as the whale is
with blubber, which forbids the efcape of their animal
heat.

When

30 J A N U A R Y.

When the roach become fmooth from the
frozen fnovv, he takes his team and carries
hay and corn to market, or draws coals
for himielf and his neighbours. The barn
refounds with the flail, by the life of which
the labourer is enabled to defy the cold
weather. In towns the poor are pinched
for fewel, and charity is peculiarly called
for at this feafon of the year. Many
trades are at a fhnd during the fe verity
of the froft ; rivers and canals being frozen
up, watermen and bargemen are out of
employment. The harbours, however, in
this ifland are never locked up by the ice,
as they are in the more northern parts of
Europe, and even on the oppolite coaft
of Holland.

The amufements of mooting, Aiding,
fkating, and other paftimes, give life to
this dreary feafon ; but our frofls are not
continued and lleady enough to afford us
fuch a fhare of thefe diverfions as fome
other nations enjoy.

Where

JANUARY. 31

Where the Rhine
Branched out in many a lone canal extends,
From every province fwarmina, void of care,
Batavia rufhes forth $ and as they fweep,
On founding fkates, a thou (and different ways,
In circling poife, fwiftas the winds, along,
The then gey land is maddened all to joy.
Nor lefs the northern courts, wide o'er the

fnow,
Pour a new pomp. Eager, on rapid fleds,
Their vigorous youth in bold contention

wheel
The long-refounding courfe. Meantime, to

raife
The manly ftrife, with highly blooming

charms,
FluuYd by the feafon, Scandinavia's dames,
OrRumVs buxom daughters glow around.

Thomson.

'The great law of congregation during
,cold weather, which affedls birds and fe-
veral clafTes of quadrupeds, exerts its in-
fluence alfo on man. The Greenlanders
.and Samoiedes retire to their large under-
ground habitations, eacli of which is oc-
cupied by five or fix families; and in

the

32 JANUARY.

the more civilized parts of the north of
Europe, plays, balls, vifitings, and focial
amufements of various kinds, contribute
to raife the fpirits and cheer the heart, in
fpite of the dead defolate fcenes which na-
ture at every ilep prefents to our view.

FEBRUARY.

( 33 ;

FEBRUARY.

"Now fhifting gales with milder influence blow#
Cloud o'er the ikies, and melt the falling ihow ;
The foften'd earth with fertile moifture teems,
And, freed from icy bonds, down rufli the
fweliing ftream-3.

The earlier part of this month may
frill be reckoned winter, though the cold
generally begins to abate. The days are
now ienfibly lengthened, and the fun has
power enough gradually to melt away the
ice and mow. The hard weather gene-
rally breaks up with a fudden thaw, at-
tended by a fouth wind and rain, which
all at once diflbives the fnow. Torrents
of water then pour from the hills, every
brook is fwelled into a large flream,
which rufhes violently into the rivers;
the pavement of ice with which they arc
covered, now breaks up in every direc-
tion with the noife of thunder, and the
D floating

34 FEBRUARY.

floating mafifes darned againfl: barges and
bridges force down every thing that ob-
ftrucls their paflage ; the bed of the river
becomes unable to carry off this vaff. ac-
cumulation of water ; it fwells over the
banks, inundates the bordering fields, and
ivveeps away cattle, mills, hay-flacks,
gates, trees, and, in fhort, almoft every
thing that it reaches ; the manure is car-
ried ofF from the fields, high' banks with
the trees upon them are undermined and
C,ive way, and in the fpace of a few hours
alculable lofTes are fufhined.

Muttering, the winds at eve, with blunted
point,

Blow hollow-bl uttering from the fouth. Sub-
dued

The froil refolves into a trickling thaw.

Vetted the mountains mine, looie fleet de-
fbaids

And floods the country round. The rivers
fwell

Of bonds impatient. Sudden from the hills,

O'er rocks and woods, in broad brown,
cataracts,

A thou-

FEBRUARY, 35

Athoufand (pew-fed torrents ruiTi at once,
And where they ruili, the wide refounding

plain
Is left one flimy vvafte, Thomson.

The froft, however, ufuallv returns for a
time, when frelh fnovv falls, often in gre.it
•quantities, and thus the weather alternately
changes during moil part ot this month.

Various figns of returning fpririg oc-
cur at different times in February. The
wood-lark, one of orr earlieft and fweet-
eft fongfters, often renews his note at the
very entrance of the month ; not lon<j
after, rooks begin to pair, and geeXe to
lay. The thrufli and chaffinch then add
to the early muiic of the groves ; wood-
owls hoot ; near the clofe of the month
patridges begin to couple, and repair the
ravages committed on this devoted race
during the autumn and winter. Gnats
play about, infects fwarm under funny
hedges, and fome of the earlieft of the
'butterfly tribe make their appearance ; for
though by far the greater proportion of
manv fpecies of infedls perifh at the clofe
D 2

36 FEBRUARY.

of autumn, yet feveral individuals, proba-
bly thofe tbat emerge the latefl: from the
chryfalis ftate, are only rendered torpid by
the cold ; and the moderate warmth of a
bright winter's day is fufficient to roufe
them into activity.

As foon as the earth is foftened, moles
go to work in throwing up their hillocks.
Under fome of the largeft, a little below
the furface of the ground, they make their
ncfts of mofs, in which four or live young
are found at a time. Thefe animals feed
on worms, beetles, and the roots of plants.
They do much mifchief in gardens by
loofening and devouring flower-roots, and
in the fields by rendering the furface of
the foil unequal by their hillocks, which
cbflrucl: the fcythe in mowing. Thev
are alfo accufed of piercing the fides of
dams and canals, and letting out the wa-
ter; the ftxong mufcles of their forefeet,
together with their hand- like form, ad-
mirably fit this animal for fwimming; and
it has lately been obferved, that in this

way

FEBRUARY. 37

way moles pafs from the more to the lit-
tle iflands in fome of the Scotch lakes.

Many plants emerge from underground
in February, but few flowers as yet adorn
the fields and paflures. Snowdrops are
fometimes fully opened from the begin-
ning of the month, often peeping out
a mid ft the fnow.

Already now the fnowdrop dares appear,
The firft pale bloflfom of th' unripeif d year $
As Flora's breath by fome transforming power,
Had chang'd an icicle into a flower.
Its name and hue the fcentlefs plant retains,
And winter lingers in its icy veins.

Mrs. Barbauld.

The elder-tree difclofes its flower buds;
the catkins of the hazel become very
confpicuous in the hedges ; young leaves
are budding on the goofeberry and cur-
rant-trees about the end of the month ;
and thofe caufes are now in full activity
which produce the fpringing of plants
and the renovation of vegetable life.

The hrft vital function in trees, after

the froft is moderated and the earth fuffi-

D 3 ciently

38 FEBRUARY.

eiently thawed, is the afjent of the fapy
which is taken up by the ahforbent veL-
fels compofing the inner bark of the tree,
and reaching to the extremity of the
fibres of the roots: the water thus im-
bibed by the roots is there mixed with a
quantity of faccharine matter and formed
inio fap, whence it is distributed in great
abundance to every individual bud. The
amazing quantity of fweet liquid fap pro-
vided for the nourifnment of fome trees,
is evident from a prevalent cuftom in this
country, of tapping the birch in the early
part of fpring ; thus obtaining from each,
tree a quart or more of liquor, according
to its fize, which is fermented into a fpe-
cies of wine : the fame method is a! fa
pracYifed in the tropical regions to pro-
cure the favourite liquor of the inhabi-
tants, palm wine ; and a fimilar cuftom is
obferved in the northern parts of America
with regard to the fugar-maple, the juice
of which boiled down yields a rich fugar,
each tree affording about three pounds.
8 This

FEBRUARY. 39

This great acceflion of nouriihment caufes
the bud to fwell, to break through its
covering, and to fpread into bloffoms, or
lengthen into a (hoot bearing leaves. This
is the firft procefs, and, properly fpeaking,
is all that belongs to the fpringing or elon-
gation of trees; and in many plants, that is
all thofe which are annual or deciduous,
there is no other procefs: the plant ab-
forbs juices from the earth, and in pro-
portion to the quantity of thefe juices in-
creafes in fize ; it expands its bloffoms,
perfects its fruit, and when the ground is
incapable by drought or froft of yielding
any more moifture, or when the vefTels
of the plant are not able to draw it up,
the plant perilhes. But in trees, though
the beginning and end of the fir ft procefs
is exactly fimilar to what takes place in
vegetables, yet there is a fecond procefs,
which at the fame time that it adds to
their bulk, enables them to endure and
go on increafing through a long feries of
years.

D 4 The

40 5 EB RU A RY.

The fecond procefs begins fbon after

the flrft, in this way. At the bafe of the
footftalk of each leaf a fmall bud is gra-
dually formed : but the abforbent veffels
of the leaf having exhaufted themfelves in
the formation of the bud, are unable to
bring it nearer to maturity : in this ftate
it exaclly refembles a feed, containing
within it the rudiments of vegetation, but
deftitute of abforbent veffels to nouriih and
evolve the embryo. Being fur rounded,
however, by iap, like a feed in moifk
earth, it is in a proper fituation for grow-
ing; the influence of the fun fets in mo-
tion the juices of the bud and of the feed,
and the ririt operation in both of them is
to lend down roots a certain depth into
the ground for the purpofe of obtaining
the neceffary moifture. The bud ac-
cordingly {hoots down its roots upon the
inner bark of the tree, till they reach the
part covered by the tarth. Winter now
arriving, the cold, and defect of moifture
owing to the dogged condition of the

abforbenf-

FEBRUARY. 41

abforbent vefTels, caufe the fruit and leaves
to fall, fo that, except the provifion of
buds with roots, the remainder of the tree,
like an annual plant, is entirely dead: the
leaves, the flowers, and fruit, are gone,
and what was the inner bark, is no longer
organifed, while the roots of the buds form
a new inner bark ; and thus the buds with
their roots contain all that remains alive
of the whole tree. It is owing to this
annual renovation of the inner bark, that
the tree increafes in bulk ; and, a new
coating being added everv year, we are
hence furnifhed with an eafy and exacl:
method of afcertaining the age of a tree
by counting the number of concentric
circles of which the trunk is compofed.
A tree, therefore, properly fpcaking, is
rather a congeries of a multitude of an-
nual plants, than a perennial individual.
The fap in trees always rifes as foon as the
froft is abated, that when the ftimulus of
the warm weather in the early fpring a£ls
upon the bud, there fhould be at hand a

7 fappty

42 FEBRUARY.

iupply of food for its nourifhment ; and if
by any means the fap is prevented from
ai'cending at the proper time, the tree in*
faHibly perifhes. Of this a remarkable
initance occurred in London, during the
fpring fucceeding the hard winter of the
year 1794. The fnow and ice collecting
in the ftreets fo as to become very incon-
venient, they were cleared, and many cart-
loads were placed in the vacant quarters
of Moorficlds: feveral of thefe heaps of
fnow and frozen rubbifh were piled round
fome of the elm-trees that grow there.
At the return of fpring, thofe of the trees
that were not furrounded with the fnow
expanded their leaves as ufual, while the
others, being ftill girt with a large frozen
mafs, continued quite bare ; for the fact
was, the abforbents in the lower part of
the ftem, and the earth in which the trees
ilood, were ftill expofed to a freezing
cold. In fome weeks, however, the fnow
was thawed, but the greater number of
the trees were dead, and thofe few that

did

FEBRUARY. 43

did produce any leaves were very fickly,
and continued in a languishing ftate all
fu miner, and then died.

Of all our native birds none begins to
build fo foon as the raven ; by the latter
end of this month it has generally laid its
eggs and begun to fit. The following
anecdote, illustrative of its attachment to
its neft, is related by Mr. White in his
Natural Hiftory of Selborne. " In the
centre of this grove there flood an oak,
which, though fhapely and tall on the
whole, bulged out into a large excrefcence
about the middle of the ftem. On this a
pair of ravens had fixed their refidence
for fuch a feries of years that the oak was
diftinguiihed bv the name of the ravtn-
ttre. Many were the attempts of the
neighbouring youths to get at this eyry ;
the difficulty whetted their inclinations,
and each was ambitious of furmounting
the arduous talk. But when thev arrived
at the fwelling, it jutted out fo much in

their

44 FEBRUARY.

their way, and was fo far beyond their
grafp, that the mod daring lads were
awed, and acknowledged the undertaking
to be too hazardous So the ravens built
on, neft upon neft, in perfect fecurity, till
the fatal day arrived in which the wood
was to be levelled. It was in the month
of February, when thofe birds ufually fit.
The faw was applied to the butt, the
wedges were inferted into the opening,
the woods echoed to the heavy blows of
the beetle and mallet, the tree nodded to
its fall, but (till the dam fat on. At laft,
when it gave way, the bird was flung
from her neft ; and though her parental
affection deferved a better fate, was whip-
ped down by the twigs, which brought
her dead to the ground."

The farmer is impatient to begin his
work in the fields, as foon as the ground
is fufficiently thawed. He plows up his
fallows, fows beans and peas, rye and
fpring wheat ; fets early potatoes ; drains

wet

FEBRUARY. 45

wet lands ; drefTes and repairs hedges ;
Jops trees, and plants thofe kinds that love
a wet foil ; fuch as poplars, alders, and
willows.

MARCH,

( 4* )

MARCH.

"Winter flill ling'ring on the verge of Spring,
Retires reluctant, and from time to time
Looks back, while at his keen and chilling

breath,
Fair Flora fickens.

The principal operations of nature
during this month feem to be to dry up
the fuperabundant moifture of February,
thereby preventing the roots and feeds
from rotting in the wet earth, and gra-
dually to bring on the procefs of vegeta-
tion in the fvvelling buds, though at the
fame time fevere chilling blafts and the
variablenefs in the weather prevent them
from a full difclofure of their tender con-
tents. This effect is beautifully touched
upon in a fimiie of Shakefpear's

" And, like the tyrannous breathings of the

north,
" Checks all our buds from blowing."

This

MARCH. 47

This Teeming tyranny, however, is to
be regarded as productive of very im-
portant advantages ; and thofe years ge-
nerally prove mull fruitful in which the
pleating appearances of fpring are the
latefr. ; for the more advanced the feafon,
the lefs probability is there of blights and
infects, which are the molt formidable of
all enemies to fpringing vegetables.

The fun has now acquired fo much
power, that on a clear day we often feel
all the genial influence of fpring, though
the naked fhrubs and trees give the prof-
peel: the comfortlefs appearance of win-
ter. But foft pleafant weather in March
is not often of Ions duration.

'£>

As yet the trembling year is unconfirm'd,
And winter oft at eve refumes the breeze ;
Chills the pale morn, and bids his driving

fleets
Deform the day, delightlefs. Thomson.

As foon as a few dry days have made
the land rit for working, the farmer goes

to

4$ MARCH.

to the plow ; and, if the fair weather con-
tinues, proceeds to fow barley and oats,
though this bufinefs is feldom fmifhed till
the next month. The importance of a
dry feafon for getting the feed early and
favourably into the ground is cxpreffed in
the old proverb,

A bufliel of March dull is worth a king's
ranfom.

The mellow note of the throttle, who
fits perched on the naked bough of fome
lofty tree, is heard from the beginning of
the month, and at the fame time the
ringdove cooes in the woods ; pheafants
crow ; hens fit ; ducks and geeie lay , and
the rookery is now all in motion with the
pleafmg labour of building and repairing
nefts. It is highly amufing to obferve the
tricks and artifices of this thievifli tribe
in defending or plundering the materials
of their new habitations. A fociety with
fuch a licenfe of theft one would imagine

cbuH

MARCH. 49

could not poflibly fubfift ; and that they
are fometimes obliged to interpofe the
public will, to control the private dif-
pofitions of individuals, is fhown in the
following (lory. There was once in a
rookery a pair of birds, who, in the build-
ing time, inftead of going out in fearch
of materials, kept at home, and, watch-
ing the opportunity, plundered every un-
guarded neft ; thus building their own
habitation by contributions levied upon
the induftry of their neighbours. This
had continued fome time, and the rob-
bers had hitherto efcaped with impunity :
their neft was juft finifhed, when the reft
of -the fociety, by common confent, made
an attack on the depredators, beat them
foundly, demolished their neft, and ex-
pelled them ignominioufly from the
rookery.

Thefe birds are accufed by the farmer
of doing much injury by plucking up the
young corn, and other fpringing vegeta-
bles ; though of late it feems to have be-
E come

£0 MARCH.

come a general opinion that this mifchief
is fully repaid by their diligence in pick-
ing up the grubs of various infects, which,
if allowed to grow to maturity, would oc-
cafion much greater damage. For this
purpofe they are ken frequently following
the plow, and darkening with their num-
bers the newly turned up land ; in which
occupation, near the fea-coaft, they are
frequently joined by multitudes of gulls ;
and as thefe birds at other times confine
themfelves almofl: wholly to the fhore, it
would probably be worth the farmer's
while, where he has an opportunity, to
encourage them in preference to the for-
mer.

Some birds that took refuge in our
temperate climate from the rigour of the
arc-He winters, now begin to leave us, and
return to the countries where they were
bred [ the redwing-thrum, fieldfare, and
woodcock, are of this kind, and they re-
tire to fpend their fummer in Norway,
Sweden, and other northern regions. The

reafon

MARCH. £l

reafon why thefe birds quit the north of
Europe in winter is evidently to efcape
the feverity of the frolt ; but why at the
approach of fpring they fliould return to
their former haunts, is not fo eafily ao
counted for. It cannot be want of food,
for if during the winter in this country
they are able to fubfiil, they may fare
plentifully through the reft of the year ;
neither can their migration be caufed by
an impatience of warmth, for the feafon
when they quit this country is by no
means fo hot as the Lapland fummers ;
and in fa£t, from a few ftragglers or
wounded birds annually breeding here, it
is evident that there is nothing in our
climate or foil which ihould hinder them
from making this country their perma-
nent refidence, as the thrum, blackbird,
and others of their congeners, actually do.
The crane, the ftork, and other birds
which ufed formerly to be natives of our
ifland, have quitted it as cultivation and
population have extended ; it is probable,
E % alfo,

p. MARCH.

alfo, that the fame reafon forbids the field-
fare and redwing-thrum, which are of a
timorous retired difpofition, to make
choice of England as a place of fufncient
fecurity to breed in.

The gannets, or Soland geefe, refort
during this month to thofe Scotch ifles,
where they breed in fuch numbers as to
cover almofi: the whole furface of the
ground with their eggs and young. The
Bafs, an infulated rock in the Firth of
Forth, is one of their moft favourite
haunts ; of which place Dr. Harvey, in
his Exercitations on the Generation of Ani-
mals, has given a very animated picture.
The following is a literal tranflation of the
original Latin. " There is a fmali ifland,
called by the Scotch the Bajs, not more
than a mile in circumference ; its furface
is almoft entirely covered during the
months of May and June with nefts,
eggs, and young birds, fo that it is diffi-
cult to fet a foot without treading on
them j while the flocks of birds flying

round

MARCH. 53

round are fo prodigious that they darken
the air like a cloud ; and their voice and
clamour is fo great, that perfons can
fcarcely hear one another fpeak. If from
the fummit of the precipice you look
down on the fuhjacent ocean, you fee it
on every fide covered with, infinite num-
bers of birds of different kinds fvvimming
and hunting their prey. If you fail round
the ifland, and furvey the impending cliffs,
you behold in every mTure and recefs of
the craggy rocks innumerable ranks of
birds of various kinds and fizes, furpaff-
ing in multitude the ftars in a ferene iky.
If you view from a difhnce the flocks
flying to and from the iiland, you may
imagine them a vail fvvarm of bees."

Infinite wings! till all the plume-dark air,
Ana rude refounding (hore are one wild cry.

Thomson.

Frogs, which during winter lay in a

torpid (late at tbe bottom of ponds or

ditches, are enlivened by the warmth of

E 3 fpring,

<4 MARC H.

fpring, and early in this month rife to the
furface of the water in vaft numbers.
They are at firfl very timorous, and dive
to the bottom with great quicknefs as any
one approaches ; but in the coupling fea-
fon they become bolder, and make them-
felves heard to a great diftance by their
croaking. A mort time after their firli
appearance they begin to fpawn, each fe-
male depofits a mafs of tranfparent jelly-
Jike globes with a black fpeck in the
middle ; in this laft are contained the
rudiments of the future tadpole, while the
tranfparent covering ferves both for the
defence and food\f the embryo. In a
few days the round fpeck becomes fome-
what elongated, at the fame time in-
creafing in fize, till, at the end of about
three weeks or a month, the little-animal
breaks through its covering, and trulls
itfelf to, the iliallowefl and warmed part
of the pond or ditch where it happened to
be depofited : as the fummer advances it
increafes in fize, the fore-legs begin to

(hoot

MARCH. 55

/hoot out, and fhortly after the hind ones,
the body becomes more lengthened, the
tail falls off, the length of the inteftines is
confiderably fhortened, and from an aqua-
tic graminivorous animal it is changed into
a minute frog, amphibious and feeding
upon infecJs and other animal food. When
this laft transformation is perfected, the
ncceflity of emigration feizes upon the
whole brood, the water is deferted, and
they make their appearance on the land
fo fuddenly, and in fuch amazing num-
bers, that they have been fuppofed to de-
fcend from the clouds. So prone have
men in all ages been to have recourfe to
wonders, by way of faving themfelves the
trouble of minute inveftigation and the
ufe of their fenfes !

The bat now makes its appearance ;
and about this time alfo the viper un-
coils itfelf from its winter fleep. This is
the only venomous reptile that our coun-
try affords, and happily it is by no means
common. They are found principally in
E 4 rocky

5<5 MARCH.

rocky warm thickets and in unfrequented
heaths in feareh of their favourite food,
the various fpecies of field-mice ; verv fel-
dom intruding, as the common fnake,
into the gardens and hedge-banks. In
fome of the fmall uninhabited iilands of
the Hebrides they fwarm to a great de-
gree. The poifon of tliefe animals is fe-
creted In a fmall gland under each eye,
irom which paiTes a duel: terminating in
a {harp perforated canine tooth, capable
of being erected or deprefTed at pleafure.
When the viper wiflies to inflict, a wound,
it erects its canine teeth, and darting for-
wards, itrikes them into the fkin, at the
fame time fqueezing a drop of poifon
through the aperture in the tooth ; the
wound foon after grows very hot and
painful, f wells extremely, and occafionally
proves fatal, or at leafl: takes away the
ufe of the injured part, unlefs a proper
remedy is fpeedily applied. That which
is in common ufe, and which has fcarcely
ever been known to fail, is olive orfallad-
8 silt

MARCH. 57

oil; a quantity of which rubbed upon the
wound, and alfo taken internally, is a cer-
tain remedy : on which account the viper-
catchers have always a bottle of oil with
them in cafe of need.

Thofe mod: elegant fifli, fmelts or fpar-
lings, begin to run up the rivert in this
month in order to fpawn. They are of
fo tender a nature, that the leaft mixture
of fuow- water in the river drives them
back again into the fea.

But nothing in the animal creation is a
more pleafing fpedtacle than the iporting
of the young lambs, moft of which are
yeaned this month, and are trufted abroad
when the weather is tolerably mild. Dyer,
in his poem of the Fleece, gives a very
natural and beautiful description of this
tircumftance,

Spread around thy tentTreft diligence
In flowYy ipring-time, when the new dropt

lamb,
Tott'ring with weaknefs by his mother's fide,
Feels the frefh world about him 3 and each thorn,
Hillock, or furrow, trips his feeble feet :

O guard

58 MARCH.

O guard his meek fweet innocence from all
Th' innumerous ills, that rufh around his life ;
Mark the quick kite, with beak and talons

prone,
Circling the Ikies to fnatch him from the plain j
Obferve the lurking crows 5 beware the brake,
There the fly fox the carelefs minute waits j
Nor truit thy neighbour's dog, nor earth, nor

Iky:
Thy bolbm to a thoufand cares divide.
Eurus oft flings his hail ; the tardy fields
Pay not their promis,d food j and oft the dam
O'er her weak twins with empty udder mourns,
Or fails to guard, when the bold bird of prey
Alights, and hops in many turns around,
And tires her alfo turning :#to her aid
Be nimble, and the weakeft, in thine arms,
Gently convey to the warm cote, and oft,
Between the lark's note and the nightingale's,
His hungry bleating flill writh tepid milk j
In this foft office may thy children join,
And charitable habits learn in fport :
Nor yield him to himfelf, ere vernal airs
-Sprinkle thy little croft with daify flowers.

Another agreeable token of the arrival

of the fpring is, that the bees begin to

venture out of their hives about the mid-

.4 die

MARCH. 59

die of this month : as their food is the
honey-like juice found in the tubes of
flowers, their coming abroad is a certain
fign that flowers are now to be met with.
No creature feems pofiefied of a greater
power of forefeeing the weather, fo that
their appearance in a morning may be
reckoned a fure token of a fair day.

Several fpecies of bees are natives of
Great Britain, fome of which lay up ho-
ney, while others do not ; fome of which
are gregarious, or live in large focieties,
and others are folitary. But that fpecies
which is commonly meant by the generic
term bee, is the one that is at prefent
domefticated, lays up honev, and dwells
in numerous communities. Thefe little
animals, in a wild ftate, form their nefts
m the hollow of fome tree, or the cleft of
a rock ; in which fituation they were fre-
quently feen and defcribed by the old
Greek and Latin poets. Homer, parti-
cularly in the very nrft fimile of the Iliad,

gives

6o MARCH.

gives the following animated picture of
them.

As from fome rocky cleft the (hepherd fees
ClufTring in heaps on heaps the driving bees
Rolling, and black'ning, fwarms fucceeding

fwarms
With deeper murmurs and more hoarfe alarms j
Dufky they fpread a clofe embodied crowd,
And o'er the vale defcends the living cloud.

Pope's Homer.

The poet Virgil, who has appropriated
a whole book in his Georgics to the fub-
je£t of bees, has there repeated in moll
beautiful language as much of the polity
and natural hiftory of this infect as was
known to the ancients. Since the time,
however, in which he wrote, many errors
have been detected, and many new cir-
cumftances have been added, by the zeal
and attention of modern obfervers.

Early in the fpring, each hive contains
one queen or female, from 200 to 1000
drones or males, and from 35000 to
18000 labourers or mules; the firft and

laft

MARCH. 6~I

lad kind alone have flings, the males
being entirely unarmed. As foon as the
plants begin to flower, the inhabitants of
the hive put themfelves in motion ; the
greater part of the labourers take wing,
and difperfe themfelves through the
neighbourhood in fearch of honey and
wax ; the former of which is a fweet
limpid juice found in the nectaries of
flowers, and the latter is made by the
bees from the duft contained within the
anthers of bloflbms. Thefe different ma-
terials are brought to the hive, and the
labourers in waiting take the wax, and
form of it thofe little hexagonal cells
which ferve as flore houfes for the honey,
or neils for their young ; the honey is
partly diftributed for prefent food to the
inhabitants, and the remainder laid up
againft winter. While the labourers are
thus engaged, the queen begins to depofit
her eggs to the number of about 200
each dav in the empty cells : the egg be-
ing foon hatched into a little white grub,

increafes

6% MARC H,

increafes the employment of the labourers,
to whom is allotted the tafk of feeding it
with the pureft honey : when it has at-
tained its full fize, the mouth of its habi-
tation is clofed up with wax, it becomes a
chryfalis, and in a few days breaks through
its waxen covering, being changed into a
perfect bee, and inftantly quits the hive in
fearch of honey for the public (lore. This
rapid acceffion, however, of inhabitants
foon begins to crowd the hive, and
commonly in the months of May and
July large emigrations take place, called
fwarms, which fettling in an empty hive
(or in their wild ftate in a hollow tree or
rock), in a few days lay the waxen foun-
dations of their ftate, and begin collect-
ing honey for their winter fuppiy. Each
fwarm confifts of a fingle female, iooo
or more males, and from 24,000 to
28,000 labourers. Thus they live in per-
fect harmony with each other, and daily
adding to their numbers and ftores ; till,
fome time in the fix or feven weeks be-
tween

MARCH. 6$

tween the latter end of July and the be-
ginning of September, the particular time
varying in different hives, the whole ftate
becomes all uproar and confufion, a loud
angry humming is heard, accompanied by
a general maflacre and expulfion of the
drones : every male is deftroyed or turned
out to perifh ; the young grubs that would
have changed into drones participate in
the ruin, and in the whole interval from
September to March, only a few hundred
males are allowed to arrive at maturity.

The gardens are now rendered gay by
the crocufes, which adorn the borders
with a rich mixture of the brighten; yel-
low and purple. The little fhrubs of
mezereon are in their beauty. The fields
look green with the fpringing grafs, but
few wild flowers as yet appear to decorate
the ground. Daifies, however, begin to
be fprinkled over the dry paftures ; and
the moift banks of ditches are enlivened
with the gloffy fbr-like yellow flowers of
pilewort, Towards the end of the month,

primrofes

64 MARCH.

primrofes peep out beneath the hedges ;
and the mod delightfully fragrant of all
flowers, the violet, difcovers itfelf by the
perfume it imparts to the furrounding air,
before the eye has perceived it in its lowly
bed. Shakespeare compares an exqui-
fitely fweet drain of mufic, to the deli-
cious fcent of this flower.

O ! it came o'er my ear, like the fweet fouth,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.

There are feveral kinds of violets ; but
the fragrant (both blue and white) is the
earlieft, thence called the March violet.
To thefe flowers Shakespeare adds the
daffodil,

Which comes before the fwallow dares, and

takes
The winds of March with beauty.

Befides the hazel, the fallow now en-
livens the hedges with its catkins full of
-yellow duft ; and the alder-trees are co-
vered with a kind of black bunches,

which

MARCH. 65

which are the male and female flowers.
The leaves of honeyfuckles are nearly-
expanded. In the gardens, the peach
and nectarine, the almond, the cherry and
apricot-trees, come into full bud during
this month. The gardeners find plenty
of employment in pruning trees, digging
and manuring beds, and (owing a great
variety of feeds, both for the flower and
kitchen garden.

In the latter part of this month the
equinox happens, when day and night are
of equal length all over the globe: or
rather, when the fun is an equal time
above, and below, the horizon. For the
morning and evening twilight make ap-
parent day confiderably longer than night.
This takes place again in September.
The nrit is called the vernal, the latter,
the autumnal equinox. At thefe times
ltorms and tempeits are particularly fre-
quent, whence they have always been the
terror of mariners. March winds are
boiiterous and vehement to a proverb.

F APRIL.

( 66 )

A P R I L.

Now daifies pied, and violets blue,
And lady-fmocks all filver white,

And cuckow-buds of yellow hue,
Do paint the meadows with delight :

The cnkow now on every tree
Sings cuckoo — cuckoo.

The diftinguifhing charadleriiticof the
weather during this month is ficklenefs ;
the mod lovely funfliip.y days are fue-
ceeded by others, which by the force of
contra ft often feem the molt unpleafant
cf any in the year ; the bright green of
the frefh leaves, and the delightful view
of newly opened flowers, is too frequently
obfcured by clouds and chilled by rough
wintry blafts.

The moll perfect Image of fpring,
however, is exhibited in this month ; no
production is yet come to maturity, and
the viciiritudes of warm gleams and gen-
tle

APRIL. 67

tic fhowcrs have the mod powerful effect
in haftening that univerfal fpringing of
the vegetable tribes, whence the feafort
derives its appellation.

April generally begins with raw un*
pleafant weather, the influence of the
equinoctial ftorms in fome degree ftill
prevailing. Its opening is thus defcribed
in a poem of Mr. Warton's:

Mindful of difafler pail,
And (hrinkisg at the northern bla.it,
The fteety ilorm returning ftill,
The morning hoar, the evening chill j
■Reluctant comes the timid Spring ;
Scarce a bee, with airy ring,
Murmurs the bloflbm'd boughs around
That clothe the garden's fouthern bound ;
Scarce a iickly ftraggling flower
Decks the rough cattle's rifted tower :
Scarce the hardy primrofe peeps
From the dark dell's entangled fteeps.

Tringrino; the foreft's devious edg-e
Half rob'd appears the hawthorn hedge;
Or to the diltant eye difplays
Weakly green its budding fprays*

F 2 Early

68 APRIL.

Early in the month, that welcome guefl
and harbinger of fummer, the fwallow,
returns. Of this genus of birds there are
four fpecies that vifit our ifland, all of
which are known by the fhortnefs of their
legs, the extent of their wings, and the
cafe and fwiftnefs of their flight, by which
thev efcape the attacks of the kite and
fparrow-hawk that commit fuch havock
among the other fmall birds. The kind
firit feen is the chimney fwallow, re-
markable by its long forked tail and red
breaft, and by a twittering note, on ac-
count of which it might perhaps, with
no great impropriety, be called a finging
bird ; it makes its neft in chimneys. At
nrft, here and there, only one appears,
glancing by as if fcarcely able to endure
the cold.

The fwallow for a moment feen,
Skims in hafte the village green.

But in a few days theit number is greatly
increaied, and they fport with much feem-

ing

APRIL. 69

ing pleafure in the warm funfhine. The
fecond in the order of arrival is the
houfe martin, which conitru£r.s its neft of
clay under the eaves of houfes and in the
corners of windows : this is the molt, nu-
merous fpecies, and is known by its white
brealt and black back. The next fpecies
is the fand- martin ; this is the fmalleft of
the genus, being called in Spain mountain
butterflies: their favourite reiidence is in
a fteep fandbank above a large pool or
river, in which they fcoop out holes to the
depth of about two feet, and in this fecure
retreat depofit their eggs. The largeft
fpecies, and that which arrives the latelr,
is the fvvift, known by its lofty and re-
markably rapid flight : thefe are feen in
fine mornings fporting about and difplay-
ing their various evolutions at a vaft
height in the air ; and in the evening the
males cdllecl: together in parties of ten
or a dozen, approach nearer the ground,
and hurry round the tops of large build-
ings, uttering at the fame time a piercing
F 3 fcream

JO A P r r L.

icream I>y way of ferenade to their mate&»
who make their nefts under the tiles of
houfes.

As thefe birds live on infects, their ap-
pearance is a certain proof that many of
this minute clafs of animals are now got
abroad from their winter retreats.

Another pleafing occurrence in this
month is the pairing of birds, their afli-
duity in building nefh, and the various
melody with which the groves are filled.

Every copfe
Deep-tangled, tree irregular, and bufli
Bending with dewy moifture, o'er the heads
Of the coy quirifters that lodge within,
Are prodigal of harmony. Tii.o m son.

The nightingale, that mod enchanting
of fongiters, is heard loon after the ar-
rival of the fwallow.

Firft heard before the mallow cuckoo's bill.

Milton.

He fmgs by day as well as by night, but
in the day-time his voice is drowned in

the

APRIL. 71

the multitude of performers ; on which
account the poets have always made the
fong of the nightingale a nocturnal fere-
nade.

Sweet bird, that fhurfft the noife of folly,

Moil mufical molt melancholy !

Thee, chauntrefs, oft, the woods among

I woo to hear thy even fong. Milton.

The finging of birds is ufually fuppofed
to he the language of courtfhip : ** all
this wafle of mufic i§ the voice of love,"
fays Thomfon : but though for the moil
part it is coincident with the pairing and
hatching of birds, yet there are feveral
circumfhnces which {how it to be rather
the effect of a particular ftate of the body,
depending considerably on the weather,
and in a great meafure inftin&ive, that is,
involuntary, than the confequence of the
fentiment of love or defire. If a bird be
made prematurely to moult, he will be in
fong while the reft are out of fong. A
folitary nightingale, or any other bird
F 4 ke|t

)2 APRIL.

kept in a cage, will not only ling in that
fituation, but will continue his note feve-
ral weeks longer then one that is in a
ftate of nature, as well as being much
earlier : and feveral birds even when at
liberty, as the redbreaft, blackbird, and
thrufh, recommence their fong in au-
tumn, as the woodbine and fome other
plants bloflbm again at that time of the
year ; the fcent indeed of the flowers is
fainter, in this refpe& correfponding with
the birds juft mentioned, whofe notes are
lefs fprightly, and with longer intervals of
filenee, than in fpring. The reafon of
the vernal finging of birds being fupe-
rior to the autumnal, is probably owing
to greater vigour of body at one time than
the other. During the winter, if birds
have but little to eat, yet they have no-
thing to do except providing themfelves
with food ; and the increafed itimulus of
the weather in fpring, together with the
plenty of animal food that they then feed
ugpn, fuch as worms, grubs of infects, &c.

Hives

APRIL. 75

gives them flrength and fpirits for fmg-
ing and propagating. But in autumn the
cafe is widely different ; the weather itfelf
indeed may be as favourable to encou-
rage the fmging of birds as in the fpring,
though perhaps the languor and decreafe
of ftrength may be greater from the fum-
mer heats, than the feverity of winter ;
the fatigue, however, of bringing up a
brood of young, the illnefs during the
moulting feafon, and the change in food,
from worms to feeds and other vegetable
productions, afford a fufficient and obvi-
ous reafon why the fmging of birds fhould
be only partially renewed in autumn.

In April ducks and geefe hatch. The
young ones are covered with a yellow
down, and take to the water inftantly on
leaving the (hell, where they afford a
pleafing fight as they fail under convoy
of their dams.

Another of the mod ftriking events
of this month is the renewal of the cuc-
koo's note, which is generally heard about
I the

74 APRIL.

the middle of April. The fimple mono-
tonous call, whence its name is derived,
has commanded attention in all countries ;
and feveral ruftic fayings, and the names
of feveral plants which flower at this time,
are derived from it ; as the cuckoo-flower •,
or ladyfmock, the cuckoo-pint , or arum :
and in Attica, the arrival of this bird being
at the time when the fruit of the fV-tree
(for which the territory of Athens was
celebrated) made its appearance, the cuc-
koo and a young fig were called by the
fame name, (kok-k'j^) coccux.

Hail beauteous ftranger of the wood,

Attendant on the Spring!
Now heaven repairs thy rural feat,

And woods thy welcome iing.

Soon as the daify decks the green,

Thy certain voice we hear :
Haft thou a ftar to guide thy path,

Or mark the rolling year ?

Delightful vifitant ! with thee

I hail the time of flowers,
When heaven is filled with mufic fweet

Of birds among the bowers,
7 The

APRIL. ?£

The fchoolboy, wand'ring in the wood

To pull the flowers fo gay,
Starts, thy curious voice to hear,

And imitates thy lay. Logans

It is upon this coincidence between the
arrival of birds and the flowering of plants
that natural calendars have been attempted
to be contracted. It would indeed be
returning to the earlieil ages of ignorance
and barbarian were we to make ufe of
fuch a calendar, however perfect in its
land, in civil tran factions, as we are in
poflfeflion of unvarying modes of calcu-
lating the lapfe of time by the affiftance-
of aftronomy ; but the very circumltance-
that unfits a natural calendar for civil ufer
renders it of confiderable importance to>
the farmer and gardener, whofe bufinefs-
is fo materially affected by the irregular
viciffitudesof the feafons. For example,,
the time of fheep- (hearing, it is evident,,
cannot be fixed to any particular week,
much lefs to any certain day ; for this
operation cannot be performed fafely, till

wanri

j6 APRIL.

warm weather is thoroughly eftablimed ;
it would be abfurd, therefore, to fix the
fecond week in June for this bufinefs,
fince the latter end of May in very fa-
vourable years, and the clofe of June in
unfavourable ones, might, according to
circumftances, be the mod proper time :
a certain degree of warmth is neceffary to
the bloflbming of the elder-tree, and as
the feafon is early or late, fo will be the
time of this plant's flowering; and as an
equal degree of heat is requifite before
{heep ought to be (beared, according to
the feafon of elder-bloiToms will vary the
time of fheep-fhearing.

The cuckoo's arrival is regularly pre-
ceded fome days by that of the wry-neck,
a fmall bird lingular in its attitudes and
plumage, and living on ants and infects
that harbour in the bark of trees, which it
extracts by means of its long tongue, fur-
nifhed with a (harp bony tip. This bird
has alfo a peculiar note or cry, eafily diftin-
guifhed by thofe who have once heard it.

The

APRIL. 77

The other fummer birds of pafTage that
arrive during this month ufually make
their appearance in the following order :
the ring-ouzle, red-ftart, yellow-wren,
fwift, whitethroat, grafshopper-lark, and
willow-wren. Various kinds of infects
are feen about this time, of which the
mod remarkable is the gryllus grylhtalpa^
or mole-cricket. This lingular animal is
diftinguimed by its low, dull, jarring note,
continued for a long time without inter-
miflion like the chattering of the fern-
owl ; but flill more fo by the peculiar
ftructure of its forefeet, which are ex-
ceedingly firong, and greatly refemble
thofe of the mole, whence this infect de-
rives its name. Anatomifts alfo have dif-
covered fo great a conformity between its
internal ftructure, and that of the rumi-
nating quadrupeds, as renders it highly
probable that this animal, like them,
chews the cud.

The mole- cricket inhabits the fides of
canals and fwampy wet foils, in which,

jv.il

"}% APUIl.

juft below the furface, it forms long
winding burrows, and a chamber neatly
fmoothed and rounded of the fize of a
moderate fnufT-box, in which, about the
middle of May, it depofits its eggs to
the number of nearly an hundred. The
ridges, which they raile in their fubter-
raneous progrefs, interrupt the evennefs
of gravel walks, and the havock they com-
mit in beds of vcung cabbages, legumes,
and flowers, renders them very unwel-
come gueft.s in a garden.

Several fpecies of that elegant tribe of
infects the libcllula, or dragon-fly, about
this time emerge from the water, in which
they pafs their aurclia Urate.

The formica herculanca, or horfe-ant,
in the beginning of this month recom-
mences its annual labours ; this fpecies is
about three times the fize of the common
black ant, and inhabits the pine forefts of
Scotland, and the rocky woods of Eng-
land and Wales, in which it ere£ls a
large conical ncft, two feet or more in

height,

APRIL. 79

height, compofed of leaves and fmall
twigs.

The fnake too, the large bat, and ihell-
fnails, quit their winter retirements at this
period ; and on mild evenings earth-worms
come out of their holes in fearch of food,
or for the purpofe of propagation.

Fifh, actuated by the fame Jaw that
exerts its influence upon the reft of na-
ture, now leave the deep holes and fhel-
tered bottoms, where they paffed the win-
ter, and wandering about in fearch of food,
again offer themielves to the angler.

Beneath a willow long forfook,
The filher feeks his cuftom'd nook ;
And burfting thro1 the crackling ledge
That crowns the current's cavernM edge,
He itartles from the bordering wood
The bafhful wild-duck's early brood.

Wart ON.

Many trees come into blofTom during
this month, and form a mod agreeable
fpe£tacle, as well on account of their
beauty, as the promife which they give

of

SO APRIL.

of futuie benefits. The blackthorn or
floe leads the way, and is fucceeded by
the apricot, peach, nectarine, cherry, and
plum : but though

Hope waits upon the flowery prime,

yet it is an anxious time for the poffeflbr,
as the faireft profpe£i of a plentiful in-
creafe is often blighted by the frequent
returns of frofty winds.

Abortive as the firft-born bloom of fpring
Nipp'd by the lagging rear of winter's froft.

Mil tox.

Cowper defcrihes the fame circumftance
in the following lines :

Spring is but the child
Of churlifh Winter, in her froward moods
Difcovering much the temper of her fire.
For oft, as if in her the ftreamof mild
Maternal nature had revers'd its com fe,
She brings her infants forth with many fmiles,
But once deliver'd, kills them with a frown.

Task III.

Thofe of the earlier plants that now
moil itrike the eye, are the primrofe

and

APRIL. 8l

and woodforrel under hedges ; the wood
anemone in dry woods and thickets ; the
wood crowfoot and marfh marygold in
wet marfhy places; and the ladyfmock
or cuckoo-flower in meadows.

The farmer is ftill bufied in (owing
different forts of grain and feeds for fod-
der, for which pnrpofe dry weather is yet
fuitable ; though plentiful fhowers at due
intervals are defirable for feeding the young
grafs and fpringing corn.

M A Y.

( 82 )

MAY.

Horn in yon blaze of orient fky,

Sweet May ! thy radiant form unfold j

Unclofe thy blue voluptuous eye,
And wave thy fliadowy locks of gold.

For thee the fragrant zephyrs blow,
For thee defcends the funny fliower j

The rills in fofter murmurs flow,

And brighter bloflbms gem the bower.

Light Graces drefs'd in flowery wreaths,
And tiptoe joys their hands combine j

And Love his fweet contagion breaths,
And laughing dances round thy (hrine.

Warm with new life, the glittering throngs,
On quivering fin and ruftling wing,

Delighted join their votive fongs,
And hail thee goddefs of the fpring.

Darwin.

May has ever been the favourite
month in the year for poetical defcrip-
tion, but the praifes originally lavifhed
upon it were uttered in climates more

fouthern

M A T. &o

fouthern than our own. In fuch it really
unites all the foft beauties of fpring with
the radiance of fummer, and poflbfTes
warmth enough to cheer and invigorate,
without overpowering. With us, efpe-
cially fince we have reckoned by the new
flyle, great part of the month is yet too
chill for a perfedt. enjoyment of the
charms of nature, and frequent injury is
fuftained by the flowers and young fruits
during its courfe, from blights and blaft-
ing winds. May-day, though (till ob-
ferved as a rural feilival, has often little
pleafure to beftow except that arifing
from the name, while the fcanty garlands
compofed in honour of the day, rather dis-
play the immature infancy than the luxu-
riant youth of the year. In a very ele-
gant poem, entitled, The Tears of Old May
Day, this newer rival is thus defcribed :

Nor wonder, man, that Nature's bafhful face,
And opening charms her rude embraces fear :

Is fhe not fprung of April's wayward race,
The fickly daughter of th* unripen'd year ?

G z With

84 M A Y.

With fhow'rs and funfhine in her fickle eyes,
With hollow fmiles proclaiming treach'rous
peace ;

With blufhes, harb'ring in their thin difguife,
The blait that riots on the Spring's increafe.

The latter part of the month, how-
ever, on the whole, is even in this coun-
try fufnciently profufe of beauties. The
earth is covered with the frefhefr. green
of the grafs and young corn, and adorned
with numerous flowers opening on every
fide. The trees put on all their verdure ;
the hedges are rich in fragrance from the
fnowy bloflbms of the hawthorn ; and the
orchards difplay their highefr. beauty in the
delicate bloom of the apple bloflbms.

One boundlcfs blufli, one white-empurpled

fhower
Of mingled bloflbms. Thomson.

All thefe promifing figns of future
plenty are, however, liable to be cut off
by the blights which peculiarly occur in
this month, and frequently commit moll
dreadful ravages. The hiftorv and caufe

of

M A Y. 85

of blights is by no means exactly afcer-
tained, and it is a fubjecT: which, from its
actual importance, well deferves a minute
inveftigation. There appear to be three
kinds of blights: the firft occurs in the
early fpring, about the time of the blof-
foming ot the peach, and is nothing more
than a dry fi'o/iy wind ufually from the
north or north-eaft, and principally af-
fects the bkJJ'oms, caufing them to fall off
prematurely, and confequently to become
unproductive. The two other kinds of
blights occur in this month, afrectino-
principally the apple and pear-trees, and
ibmetimes the corn. One of thefe con-
iifts in the appearance of an immenfe mul-
titude of aphides, a kind of fmall infect of
a brown, or black, or green colour, at-
tacking the leaves of plants, and entirely
encrufting the young Hems. Thefe pefts
are, I believe, always found to make their
appearance after a north-eaft wind ; and
it has been fuppofed by many that they
are actually conveyed hither by the wind.
G 3 For

86 ma y.

For oft, engencl'red by the hazy north,
Myriads on myriads, infect armies warp
Keen in the potfonM breeze 5 and wafteful eat
Thro' buds and bark, into the blacken'd core
Their eager way. Thomson.

Many circumftances indeed favour this
opinion, as the fuddenncfs with which
they appear, being generally in the courfe
of a iingle night ; and thofe trees that are
fheltered from the wind being uninfected :
indeed it frequently happens that a fingle
branch that chances to be (kreened will
efcape unhurt, while the reft of the tree
is quite covered with thele minute de-
flroycrs. A third reafon may be derived
from the inactivity of thefe infects : they
generally remain almoft immoveable 011
the branch or leaf where they are firfl
feen, and are for the moft part unpro-
vided with wings ; yet the places where
they are commonly found are thofe parts
of a tree which are furtheft from the
ground, and moft expofed to the wind.
1 he laft kind of blight is preceded by a
7 fouth

M A Y. S7

ibuth or fouth-wefl wind, unaccompanied
by infects ; the effects of which are vifi-
ble in the burnt appearance of all leaves
and moots that are expofed to that quar-
ter ; it attacks all vegetables indifcrimi-
nately, but thofe fuffer moft from it
which are the loftieft, and whofe leaves
are the youngeft; the oak therefore is pe-
culiarly injured.

A cold and windy May is, however,
accounted favourable to the corn ; which,
if brought forward by early warm wea-
ther, is apt to run into flalk, while its ears
remain thin and light.

The leafing of trees is commonly com-
pleted in this month. It begins with the
aquatic kinds, fuch as the willow, poplar,
and alder, proceeds to the lime, fycamore,
and horfecheftnut, and concludes with the
oak, beech, afh, walnut, and mulberry ;
thefe laft, however, are feldom in full
leaf till June.

No tree in all the grove but has its charms,
Tho' each its hue peculiar ; paler fome

G4 And

88 M A Y.

And of a wannifh grey ; the willow fuch
And poplar, that with iilver lines his leaf,
And afli, far flretching his umbrageous arm.
Of deeper green the elm ; and deeper ftill,
Lord of the woods, the long furviving oak.
Some gloffy-leav'd and Ihining in the fun,
The maple, and the beech of oily nuts
Prolific, and the lime at dewy eve
Diffufing odours : nor unnoted pafs
The fycamcre, capricious in attire,
Now green, now tawny, and ere autumn yet
Have chang'd the woods, in fcarlet honours
bright. Cowper's Task.

Among the numerous wild-flowers,
none attracts more notice than the cow-
flip,

Whofe bafhful flowers
Declining, hide their beauty from the fun,
Nor give their fpotted bofoms to the gaze
Of hafty paflenger.

On hedge banks the wild germander of
a fine azure blue is confpicuous, and the
whole furface of meadows is often co-
vered by the yellow crowfoot. Thefe
flowers, alio called buttercups, are er-
roneoufly fuppofed to communicate to

the

MAY. 89

the butter at this feafon its rich yellow
tinge, as the cows will not touch it on
account of its acrid biting quality; this
is ftrikingly vifible in paftures, where,
though all the grafs is cropt to the very
roots, the numerous tufts of this weed
fpring up, flower, and fried their feeds in
perfect fecurity, and the mod abfolute
freedom from moleftation by the cattle ;
they are indeed cut down and made into
hay together with the reft of that rubbifTi
that ufually occupies a large proportion
of every meadow ; and in this flate are
eaten by cattle, partly becaufe they are
incapable of feparating them, and partly
becaufe by drying their acrimony is con-
fiderably fubdued ; but there can be no
doubt of their place being much better
fupplied by any fort of real grafs. In
the prefcnt age of agricultural improve-
ment the fubject of grafs lands among
others has been a good deal attended to,
but much yet remains to be done, and
the tracts of the ingenious iStillingflect,
8 and

90 MAY.

and of Mr. Curtis, on this important di-
vifion of rural oeconomy, are well deferv-
ing the notice of every liberal farmer.
The excellence of a meadow confifts in
its producing as much herbage as poffible,
and that this herbage fhould be agreeable
and nutritious to the animals which are fed
with its crop. Every plant of crowfoot
therefore ought, if practicable, to be extir-
pated, for, fo far from being grateful and
nourifhing to any kind of cattle, it is no-
torious, that in its frefh flate nothing will
touch it. The fame may be faid of the
hemlock, kex, and other umbelliferous
plants which are common in moft fields,
and which have entirely overrun others ;.
for, thefe when freih are not only noxious
to the animals that are fed upon hay, but
from their rank and ftraggling manner of
growth, occupy a very large proportion of
the ground. Many other plants that are
commonly found in meadows may upon
the fame principles be objected to, and
though the prefent generation of farmers

has

M A Y. 91

has done much, yet flill more remains for
their fucceflbrs to perform.

The gardens now yield an agreeable
though immature product in the young
goofeberries and currants, which ate
highly acceptable to our tables, now al-
raoft exhaufted of their ftore of prefcrved
fruits.

Early in the month the lateft fpecies
of the fummer birds of paffage arrive,
generally in the following order : fern-
owl or goat-fucker, fly-catcher, and
fedge-bird.

This is alfo the principal time in which
birds hatch and rear their young. The
affiduity and patience of the female dur-
ing the talk of fitting is admirable, as well
as the conjugal affection of the male, who
lings to his mate, and often fupplies her
place ; and nothing can exceed the pa-
rental tendernefs of both when the young
are brought to light.

Several fpecies of infects are this month
added to thofc which have already been

enume-

92 M A Y.

enumerated ; the chief of which are the
great white cabbage butterfly (papilio
braflicas), the may-chaffer, the favourite
food of the fern-owl; the horfe fly, or
foreft. fly, fo great a plague to horfes and
cattle, and feveral kinds of moths and but-
terflies.

Towards the end of May the bee-hives
fend forth their earlier fvvarms. Thefe
colonies confifr, of the young progeny and
and fome old ones, now grown too nu-
merous to remain in their prefent habita-
tion, and fufficiently ftrong and vigorous
to provide for thcmfclves. One queen
bee is neceflfary to form each colony ; and
wherever ihe flies they follow. Nature
diredts them to march in a body in qucfl:
of a new fettlemenr, which, if left to their
choice, would generally be fome hollow
trunk of a tree. But man, who converts
the labours and inftincts of fo many ani-
mals to his own ufe, provides them with
a dwelling and repays himfclf with their
honey. The early fwarms are generally

the

M A Y. 93

rlie mod valuable, as they have time
enough to lay in a plentiful (lore of honey
for their fubfiflence through the winter.

About the fame time the glow-worm
{nines. Of this fpecies of infers the fe-
males are without wings and luminous,
the males are fu mimed with wings, but
are not luminous; it is probable therefore
that this light mav ferve to diredt the male
to the haunts of the female, as Hero of
Seftos is faid to have difplayed a torch
from the top of a high tower to guide her
venturous lover Leander in his dangerous
pafTage acrofs the Hellefpont.

You (i. e. the Sylphs)

Warm on her moify couch the radiant worm,
Guard from cold dews her love illumined form,
From leaf to leaf conducl the virgin light,
Star of the earth, and diamond of the night.

Darwin.

Thefe little animals are found to ex-
tinguiih their lamps between eleven and
twelve at night.

Old May-day is the ufual time for

turning

94- MAY.

turning out cattle into the paftures, though
frequently then very bare of grafs. The
milk foon becomes more copious, and
■of finer quality, from the juices of the
young grafs ; and it is in this month that
the making of cheefe is ufually begun in
the dairies. Chefhire, Wiltshire, and the
low parts of Gloucefterihire, are the tracts
in England moil celebrated for the beft
cheefe.

Many trees and fhrubs flower in May,
fuch as the oak, beech, maple, fycamore,
barberry, laburnum, horfe-cheflnut, lilac,
mountain afh, and Guelder rofe ; of the
more humble plants the molt, remarkable
are the lily of the valley, and vvoodroofe
in woods, the male orchis in meadows,
and the lychnis, or cuckoo flower, on
hedge-banks.

This month is not a very bufy feafon
for the farmer. Some fowing remains
to be done in late years ; and in forward
ones, the weeds, which fpring up abun-
dantly in fields and gardens, require to be

kept

MAY. 95

kept under. The hufbandman now looks
forwards with anxious hope to the reward
of his induflry.

Be gracious, Heaven! for now laborious man
Has done his part. Ye foftering breezes, blow !
Ye foftening dews, ye tender mowers, defcend!
And temper all, thou world-reviving fun,
Into the perfect year! Thomson.

JUNE,

( 96 )

JUNE.

Now genial funs and gentle breezes reign,
And Summer's faireft fplendours deck the plain j
Exulting Flora views her new-born rofe,
And all the ground with fhort-lived beauty
glows.

June is really in this climate what the
poets reprefent May to be, the moil
lovely month in the year. Summer is
commenced, and warm weather tho-
roughly eftablifhed ; yet the heats rarely
arife to exccfs, or interrupt the enjoyment
of thofe pleafures which the fcenes of na-
ture at this time afford. The trees are
in their fullest drefs, and a profufion of
the gayeft flowers is every where fcattered
around, which put on all their beauty juil
before they are cut down by the fcythe,
or withered by the heat.

Soft copious fhowers are extremely
welcome towards the beginning of this

month,

JUNE. 97

month, to forward the growth of the
young herbage. Such a one is thus de-
icribed by Thomfon.

Gradual finks the breeze
Into a perfect culm : that not a breath
Is heard to quiver through the clofing woods,
Or milling turn the many- twinkling leaves
Of aipen ta!l.

At laft
The clouds conflgn their treafures to the fields ;
And, foftly making on the dimpled pool
Preiufive drops, let all their moifture How,
In large ertufion, o'er the frefhened world.
The itealing mower is fcarce to patter heard,
By fuch as wander through the foreft walks,
Beneath th" umbrageous multitude of leaves.
But who can hold the made, while Heaven de-

fcends
In univerfal bounty, fhedding herbs,
And fruits, and flowers, on Nature's ample lap ?

One of the eaiTieft rural employments
of this month is the (hearing of fheep ; a
bufinefs of much importance in various
parts of this kingdom, where wool being
the baiis of the principal manufactures,
is one of the moil valuable products that
the country affords. England Iras been
H for

98 J U N E.

for manv ages famous for its breeds of
fheep, which yield wool of various quali-
ties, fuited to different branches of the
manufacture. The downs of Dorfetfhire
and other fouthern and weftern counties
feed fheep, whofe fine fhort fleeces are
employed in making the beft broad
cloths. The coarfer wool of Yorkfhire
and the northern counties is ufed in the
narrow cloths. The large Leicefterfhire
and Lincolnfhire fheep are clothed with
long thick flakes, proper for the hofier's
ufe ; and every other kind is applied to
fome valuable purpofe.

The feafon for fheep-ihearing com-
mences as foon as the warm weather is
Co far fettled that the fheep may without
danger lay aiide great part of their
clothing. The following tokens are laid
down by Dyer in his Fleece to mark out
the proper time.

If verdant elder fpreads
Her filver flowers ; if humble daifies yield
To yellow crowfoot and luxuriant grai's,
Gay (hearing -time approaches.

Before

JUNE. 99

Before (hearing the fheep undergo the
operation of wa filing, in order to free
the wool from the foulnefs which it has
contracted.

On the bank

Of a clear river, gently drive the flock,
And plunge them one by one into the flood :
Piung\i in the flood, not long the ftruggler finks.
With his white flakes, that gliiten thro' the tides j
The fturdy rultic, in the middle wave,
Awaits to feize him rifmg ; one arm bears
His lifted head above the limpid ft ream
While the full clammy fleece the other laves
Around, laborious, with repeated toil ;
And then refigns him to the funny bank,
Where, bleating loud, he fhakes his dripping
locks. Dyer.

The /hearing itfelf is conducted with a
degree of ceremony and rural dignity, be-
ing a feftival, as we'll as a piece of labour.

At laft, of fnowy white, the gathered flocks
Are in the wattled pen innumerous prefs'd,
Head above head : and, rang'd in lufty rows
The fhepherds fit, and whet the founding fhears.
The houfewife waits to roll her fleecy ftores,
With all her gay-dreft maids attending round.
H 2 One,

ICO JUNE.

One, chief, in gracious dignity enthron'd,
Shines o'er the reft, the paitoral queen, and rays
Her fmiles, fweet-beaming, on her fhepherd-

king.
A fun pie fcene! yet hence Britannia fees
Her fblid grandeur rife : hence fhe commands
Trf exalted ftores of every brighter clime,
The treafures of the fun without his rage.

Thomson.

A profufion of fragrance now arifes
from the fields of clover in bloffbm. Of
this plant there are the varieties of white
and purple ; the latter of which is fome-
times called honeyfuckle, from the quan-
tity of fweet juice contained in the tube
of the flower, whence the bees extract
much honey. A {till more exquifite
odour proceeds from the beans in bloflbm,
of which Thomfon fpeaks in this rap-
turous language :

Long let ns 'walk
Where the breeze blows from yon extended field
Of biofTom'd beans. Arabia cannot boaft
A fuller gale of joy, than liberal, thence
Breathes thro' the fenfe, and takes the raviflrd
foul.

Beans

JUNE. 101

Beans and peas, which now adorn the
fields with their purple flowers, belong to
a large natural family of plants called
the papilionaceous, or butterfly- fhaped-blof-
lomed, and alio leguminous from the pods
which they bear. Mod of thefe in our
climate afford food for man or beaft : of
iome the feeds alone are ufed, as of pea
and bean ; of others the entire pod, as of
French or kidney-bean ; and of fome the
whole plant, as of clover, lucern, and
vetch.

Our hedges are now beginning to be
in their highefr. beauty and fragrance. The
place of the hawthorn is fnpplied by the
flowers of the hip or dog-rofe, the different
hues of which, from a light blufh to a
deep crimfon, form a mod elegant va-
riety of colour. The bitterfiveet night-
Jhade with its fine purple petals, and
bright orange {lamina, merits the fecond
rank in beauty to the rofe. The woodbine
or honeyfuckle is unequalled in fragrance,
and as an ornamental plant, almoft rivals
H 3 the

102 JUNE.

the nightfhade ; while the graceful climb-
ing moots of the white bryony and tufted
vetch connect by light feftoons the other
vegetable beauties that grace peculiarly
the hedges of this country.

The feveral kinds of corn come into
ear and flower during this month, as well
as moft of the numerous fpecies of grafs,
which indeed are all fo many lefTer kinds

J

of corn ; or rather corn is on;y a larger
fort of grafs. It is peculiar to all this
kind of plants to have long flender point-
ed leaves, a jointed ltalk, and a flowering
head, either in the form of a clofe fpike
like wheat, or a loofe bunch called a pa-
nicle, like oats. This head co nil lis of
numerous hufky flowers, each of which
bears a fingle feed. The bamboo, fugar-
cane, and reed, are the largeil of this na-
tural family.

Thofe kinds whofe feeds are bis: enough
to be worth the labour of feparating, are
ufually termed corn, and form the chief
article of food of al moft all the nations of

the
i

JUNE. IO3

the world, for verv few are fo little civi-
lized as not to raife it. In Europe the
principal kinds of corn are wheat, rye,
barley, and oats. In Afia the chief de-
pendence is placed on rice ; in Africa and
America on maize or Indian corn.

The fmaller kinds, called grafTes, are
mod valuable for their leaves, and (talks
or herbage, which make the principal
food of domeftic cattle. This cut down
and dried is bay, the winter provifion of
cattle in all the temperate and northern
regions. Grafs is moll: tit to cut after it
is in ear, but before its feeds are ripened.
If it be fufFered to grow too long, it will
lofe its juices and become like the ftraw
of corn. The latter part of June is the
beginning of hay-harvefl: for the fouthern
and middle parts of the kingdom. This
is one of the bufieft and moll: agreeable
of rural occupations ; both fexes, and all
ages, are engaged in it ; the fragrance of
the new mown grafs, the gaiety of all
furrounding objects, and the genial
H 4 warmth

104 JUNE.

warmth of the weather, all confpire to
render it a feafon of delight and pleaiure
to the beholder.

Now fwanns the village o'er the jovial mead j
1 hz ruftic youth brown with meridian toil,
Healthful and ftrong ; full as the fummer rofe

w-n by prevailing funs, the village maid,
Half naked, (welling on the light, and all
Her kindled graces burning o'er her cheek.

n (looping age is here ; and infant hands
Trail the long rake, or, with the fragrant load
O'erchargM, amid the kind oppreffion roll.
\\ ide flies the tedded grain ; all in a row
Advancing broad, or wheeling round the fields
They fpread the breathing harveftto the fun :
Or as they rake the green-appearing ground,
And drive the dufky wave along the mead,
The rufTet hay-cock rifes thick behind,
In order gay. Thomson.

The increafmg warmth of the year calls
forth frefli fpecies of infecAs. Of thofe
which appear during this month, the chief
are the grafshopper ; brafs or green beetle ;
various kinds of flies ; ephemera or an-
gler's may-fly ; cicada fpumaria, cuckoo-
pit infeel, or frog- hopper; fhg-horn bee-
tle,

JUNE. 105

tte, one of the largefr. of this clafs ; and the
formidable gadfly, a fingle one of which
ilrikes terror into the largefr. herd of cat-
tle, for it is in the fkin of the back of thefe
animals that this infect depofits its eggs.

The principal feafon for taking that
delicate fifh, the mackerel, is in this
month.

About this time alfo birds ceafe their
notes ; for after the end of June an atten-
tive obferver heard no birds except the
Hone curlew (thick-kneed plover of Pen-
nant) whittling late at night ; the yellow-
hammer, goldfinch, and golden-crefted
wren, now and then chirping. The cuc-
koo's note alfo ceafes about this time.

The groves, the fields, the meadows, now no more

With melody reibund. 'Tis filence all,

As if the lovely fongflers, overwhelmed

By bounteous Nature's plenty, lay intranc'd

In drowfy lethargy.

Some of the moil obfervable plants in
flower are the vine ; the wood-fpurge, and
wood-pimpernel, the one in dry, the other

in

IC6 JUNE.

in moift thickets; buckbean, water iris,
and willow-herbs, in marfhes; meadow
cranefbill, vipers-buglofs, and corn-pop-
py, infields; mullein, foxglove, thiftles,
and mallow, by road-fides and in ditch -
banks ; and that lingular plant the bee-
orchis, in chalky or limeftone foils.

Goofeberries, currants, and ftrawber-
rics, begin to ripen in this month, and
prove extremely refrefning as the parch-
ing heats advance. About an hour be-
fore funfet, in the mild evenings of this
month, it is highly amufing to watch the
common white or barn owl in fearch of
its prey, which confifts almoir wholly of
field-mice. The large quantity of loft
plumage with which this bird is covered,
enables it to glance eafily, and without
noife, through the air. Its manner of
hunting is very regular, fir ft beating up
the fide of a hedge, then taking a few
turns over the meadow, and finilhin? by
the oppofite hedge, every now and then
dropping among the grafs in order to

feize

JUNE. 107

i'cize its food. It has been found by care-
ful obfervation, that when a pair of owls
have young, a moufe is brought to the
nefr. about once in every five minutes.

Another intereiVmg nocturnal bird is
the goat-fucker, or fern-owl, nearly allied
to \hz fiuallow genus in its form, its mode
of flight, and food : it is by no means com-
mon, but may be occafionally obierved
hawking among the branches of large
oaks in purfuit of the fcarabeus folftitia-
lis, or fern chaffer, which is its favourite
food.

• The balmy evenings, about the middle
of this month, offer yet another interefl-
ing object to the naturalift ; this is the
angler's may-fly (ephemera vulgata), the
mod: fhort-lived in its perfect (rate of anv
of the infect race ; it emerges from the
water, where it paiTes its aurelia fhte,
abou,t fix in the evening, and dies about
eleven at night. They ufualiy begin to
appear about the fourth of June, and con-
tinue in fucceflion nearly a fortnight.

On

I08 J U K F.

On the twenty nrft of June happens
the fummer-foljYicc , or longetr. day : at this
time in the moft northern parts of the
jfland there is fcarcely any night, the twi-
light continuing almoir. from the fetting
to the rifmg of the fun ; fo that it is light
enough at midnight to fee to read. This
feafon is alfo properly called Midfummcr,
though, indeed, the greateft heats are not
yet arrived, and there is more warm wea-
ther after it than before.

JULY,

( log • )

JUL Y.

Deep to the root
Of vegetation parch'd, the cleaving fields
And {lippYy lawn an arid hue difclofe ;
Echo no more returns the cheerful found
Of fharp'ning fey the ; the mower finking heaps
O'er him the humid hay, with flowers perfunVd.

As January is the coldeft, fo July is
the hotted month of the year. For though
the direct influence of the fun is conti-
nually diminifhing after the fummer fol-
ftice, yet the earth and air have heen fo
thoroughly heated, that the warmth which
they retain, more than compenfates for
a time the diminution of the folar rays.
The effects of this increafed temperature
foon hecome very flriking. The flowers
of the former month quickly mature their
feeds, fhrivel and fall ; at the fame time
their leaves and fhlks lofe their verdure,
and the whole plant flattens to decay. A
new generation advances to fupply their
4 place,

no j u l V.

place, of plants which require the full in-
fluence of our fummer funs to bring them
to perfection, and which flouriili molt
luxuriantly in fituations and feafons when
the warmth is moft abundant : thefe arc,
particularly, many of the umbelliferous,
as wild carrot and hemlock ; the aroma-
tic, as wild thyme ; the fucculent, or
thickleaved, as the whole race of fedums
and cotyledons ; the aquatic and marfh
plants, as bulrufh, waterlily, marfh St.
John's wort, fundew, and Lancafliire af-
phodel ; and the compound flowered, as
thiitle, fowthiftle, hawkweed, bluebottle
(centaurea cyanus), marvgold, goldenrod,
camomile, and funflower.

The animal creation feem opprefTed
with languor during this hot feafon, and
either feek the receffes of woods, or re-
fort to pools and ftreams to cool their bo-
dies and quench their thirir..

On the gralfy bank
Some ruminating lie; while others fland
Half in the nood, and often bending fip
The circling furf;xe. In the middle droops

The

JULY. III.

The Itrong laborious ox, of honeft front,
Which incompos'd he fhakes ; and from his fides
The troublous infecls lafhes with his tail,
Returning ftill.

Thomson.

The infect tribe, however, are pecu^
liarly active and. vigorous in the hotted:
weather. Thefe minute creatures are for
the moil part annual, being hatched in
the fpring and dying at the approach of
winter. They have, therefore, no time
to lofe in indolence, but muft make the
mod of their fhort exiftence ; efpecially
as their molt perfect llate bears only a
fmall proportion to the reft of their lives.
All infects that live upon, or in the
ground, undergo three changes, in each
of which they are transformed to a totally
different appearance. From the egg they
iirft turn into caterpillars or maggots,
when they crawl upon many feet, and are
extremely voracious, feveral kinds of them
doing much mifchief in gardens, ftripping
the trees of their leaves, and fometimes

devouring

112 J U L ?.

•devouring the herbage on the ground.
This is their ftate in the fpring. They
next become anrellas, or chryfalifes, re-
sembling an infant cJofely wrapt in Twad-
dling clothes, being motion lefs, requir-
ing no nourishment, and indeed having
icarcely any appearance of life. From
.this (late they burft forth into the pcrfeft
infefl, (hining in all its colours, furnilhed
with wings, endowed with furprifing ac-
tivity, capable of propagating its fpecies,
.and feeding for the moll part on thin
animal juices, or the honey .of flowers.
In this ftate they continue but a fhorc
time.- The male impregnates the female,
She lays her eggs, and they both die.
Thofe infe£te that have paffed all their
former life in water, as gnats, epheme-
ras, &c. no fooner undergo the laft trans-
formation than they become incapable of
continuing in the water even for a few
feconds.

•Wak'd by his warmer ray, the reptile young
•Come wing'd abroad j by the light air upborn,

Lighter:

JULY. 113

Lighter, and full of foul. From every chink,
And fecret corner, where they flept away
The wintry ilorms 3 or rifing from their tombs,
To higher life ; by myriads, forth at once,
Swarming they pour ; of all the varied hues
Their beauty-beaming parent can difclofe.
Ten thoufand forms ! ten thoufand different

tribes !
People the blaze. To funny waters fome
By fatal inftinft fly ; where on the pool
They, fportive, wheel ; or, failing down the

itream,
Are fnatch'd immediate by the quick ey'd trout,
Or darting falmon. Thro' the green wood glade
Some love to {tray ; there lodg'd , amus'd and fed,
In the frefh leaf. Luxurious, others make
The meads their choice, and vifit every flower,
And every latent herb : for the fweet tafk,
To propagate their kind:, and where to wrap,
In what foft beds, their young yet undifclos'd,
Employs their tender care. Some to the houfe,
The fold, and dairy, hungry, bend their flight j
Sip round the pail, or tafte the curdling cheefe.

Thomson.

The luxury of cooling fhades is now
peculiarly grateful ; and, indeed, is fcarce-
iy defired in this climate longer than a few
Weeks at the height of fummcr.

I Welcome,

114 JULY.

Welcome, ye fliades ! ye bowery thickets, hail \

Ye lofty pines ! ye venerable oaks !

Ye afhes wild, refounding o'er the deep!

Delicious is your fhelter to the foul,

As to the hunted hart the fallying fpring.

Thomson.

Bathing, too, is a delightful amufement
at this feafon; and happy is the fwimmer,
who alone is able to enjoy the full plea-
sure of this healthful exercife. The power
of habit to improve the natural faculties,
is in nothing more apparent than in the
art of fwimming. Man, without practice,
is utterly unable to fupport himfelf in the
water. In thefe northern countries, the
feafon for pleafant bathing being (hort,
few in proportion can fwim at all; and to
thofe who have acquired the art, it is a
laborious and fatiguing exercife. Where-
as, in the tropical countries, where from
their very infancy both fexes are conti-
nually plunging into the water, they be-
come a fort of amphibious creatures,
fwimming and diving with the utmofl

cafe,

JUL Y. II5

cafe, and for hours together, without in-
termiflion.

The exceflive heats of this period of
the year caufe fuch an evaporation from
the furface of the earth and waters, that
after fome continuance of dry weather,
large heavy clouds are formed, which, at
length, let fall their collected liquor in
extremely copious fhowers, which fre-
quently beat down the full-grown corn,
and fometimes deluge the country with
' fudden floods. Thunder and lightning ge-
nerally accompany thefe fummer llorms.
Lightning is a collection of electric fire
drawn from the heated air and earth, and
accumulated in the clouds, which, at
length overcharged, fuddenly let go their
contents in the form of broad flames or
fiery darts. Thefe are attracted again by
the earth, and often intercepted by build-
ings, trees, and other elevated objects,
which are mattered by the fhock. Thun-
der is the noife occafioned by the explo-
fion, and therefore always follows the
I 2 lightning;

Il6 JULY.

lightning ; the found travelling flower to
our ears, than the light to our eyes. Juft:
the fame thing happens when a gun is
fired at a diftance. When we hear the
thunder, therefore, all danger from that
flam of lightning is over ; and thunder,
though fo awful and tremendous to the
ear, is, of itfelf, entirely harmlefs.

The plants which flower this month,
befide thofe already mentioned, are the
potatoe and hop ; the meadow -fweet and
grafpoly (lythrum falicaria) by the fide of
Itreams and ponds ; the pimpernel, coc-
kle, and fumitory in corn fields ; the deli-
cate blue campanula in waftes or by road
fides; and the nafturtium, jaimine, and
white lily in gardens. The pure white
flowers of the latter, elevated upon their
tall (talk, give an agreeable fenfation of
coolnefs to the eye.

The effects of the great heat on the
human body are allayed by the various
wholefome fruits which this feafon offers.
Thofe which are now ripe are of all others

the

JULY. 117

the moft cooling and refrefliing ; as cur-
rants, goofeberries, rafpberries, ftrawber-
ries, and cherries. Thefe are no lefs falu-
tary and ufeful, than the richeft produc-
tions of the warmer climates.

That agreeable article of luxury the
mufhroom, about this time alfo appears
above ground ; and numbers of that mi-
gratory fifh, the pilchard, are taken off the
coaft of Cornwall.

During this month young frogs mi-
grate from the breeding ponds, and be-
take themfelves to the flicker of the long
grafs. The hoary beetle (fcarabeus fol~
ftitialis) now makes its appearance ; it
much relembles the common dor, or
cockchafFer, and is chieflv diftinguiihed
by not exceeding half the fize of this lafl.
The prefent is alfo the feafon when bees
begin to expel and kill the drones ; and at
this time too the flying ants quit their
nefts, and difperfe to found new colonies.

As the ant is the animal which has pafled

into' a proverb for its fuppofed frugality,

I 3 forefight,

Il8 JULY.

forefight, and induftry, it will be amuhng
to correct in a few words the erroneous
opinions that have been entertained con-
cerning it, by giving a fhort fketch of its-
manners and habits.

Ants, like bees and moft other infects
that dwell in large communities, are di-
vided into male, female, and neuter. Of
thefe, the neuters or labourers are without
wings, the males and females have wings,
and are diiTmguifhed from each other by
the fuperior fize of the females. Their
dwelling is called an ant-hill, which is
generally fituated at the foot of a tree,
under a wall, or in any place fufficiently
etfpofed to the fun and fheltered from the
cold. In the hill are three or four paf-
fages that lead obliquely down, a foot or
more, to a large vaulted chamber; the
centre of which is the habitation and place
of general afTembly for the old ones, while
the eggs and young worms are ranged
in orderlv lines between the centre and

fide?.

If

JULY. 119

If one of thefe chambers be opened in
the winter, it will be found to contain
fome eggs and a confiderable number of
labourers alone, in a ftate of torpor. As
the fpring advances, the ants refume their
labours, the eggs hatch, and going through
the ufual procefs difelofe a confiderable
proportion of labourers and a few males
and females ; the young females foon be-
gin to depofit their eggs, and the hill
fwarms with inhabitants. About the lat-
ter end of July the males and females ei-
ther emigrate, or are expelled by the la-
bourers ; the males wander about for a
time and foon die, but the impregnated
females immediately fet about lcooping
holes in the ground in which they depofit
their eggs, and thus each becomes the
mother of a new, colony : two or three
hundred of the eggs are ufually converted
into labourers before winter : at the ap-
proach of cold weather the mother dies,
the remainder become torpid till the fuc-
ceeding fpring, when they recommence
I 4 their

120 JULY.

their work. The flock of eggs is hatched
into labourers, males and females ; and the
population of the colony rapidly increafes
during the fummer. They lay up no pro-
visions, not even for a fingleday ; and dur-
ing boilterous rainy weather are therefore
obliged to be contented with a very {canty
{hare of food. They prey upon almoft
every animal or vegetable fubftance, par-
ticularly beetles, caterpillars, dead mice,
rats, or frogs, honey, the faccharine juices
that exude from the leaves of trees, and
fruits of every kind. Thev are fometimes
fuccefsfully employed in clearing trees of
caterpillars, by fmearrng the trunk for a
few inches with tar or any other adhefive
matter, and then turning a number of
ants loofe on the branches ; for their ef-
cape being prevented by the girdle of tar,
they are under the necefiity of continuing
in the tree, and having no other food, will
in a fhort time devour or expel all the
caterpillars. When one ant, or a few,
meet with a larger curmtitv of provifion

than

JULY. 121

than they are able to convey to the neft,
they return and inform their comrades,
who fally forth in a large body to carry
ofF the prize. In America, and on the
African coaft, there occafionally happens
an irruption of fuch infinite multitudes as
to he an object of ferious alarm, even to
the human inhabitants ; of one of thefe
incurfions the following quotation is a cu-
rious account.

" During my flay," fays Smith, " at
Cape-coaft Cattle, a body of thefe ants
came to pay us a vifit in oar fortification.
It was about day-break when the ad-
vanced guard of this famifhed crew en-
tered the chapel, where fome negro fer-
vants were afieep on the floor. The men
were quickly alarmed at the invafion of
this unexpected army, and prepared as
well as thev could for a defence. While
the foremoft battalion of infects had al-
ready taken poflefTion of the place, the
rear guard was more than a quarter of a
mile diftant ; the whole ground feemed

alive,

122 JULY.

alive, and crawling with unceafing de-
ftruclion. After deliberating a few mo-
ments on what was to be done, it was re-
folved to lay a large train of gunpowder
along the path they had taken ; by this
means millions were blown to pieces, and
the rear- guard perceiving the deltru£tion
of their leaders, thought proper inftantly
to return, and make back to their original
habitation."

Poultry moult during this month -, and
young partridges are found among the
corn.

The firft broods of fwallows and mar-
tins now begin to congregate, and before
they come to their full ftrength and com-
mand of wing, fuffer feverely from the
attacks of hawks and other birds of prey.

The farmer's chief employment in July,
is getting home the various produces of
the earth. It is the principal hay-month
in the northern parts of England, and the
work-people fuffer much fatigue from the
exceffive heat to which they are expofed.

Flax

JUL Y. 123

Flax and hemp are pulled in this
month. Thefe plants are cultivated in
various parts of Europe, more than in
England. The flalks of both are full of
tough fibres or fixings, which, feparated
and prepared in a particular manner, be-
come fit for fpinning into thread. Of flax.
linen is made, from the fmefl cambric, to
the coarfefr. canvafs. Hemp is chiefly ufed
for coarfe cloth, fuch as ftrong meeting,
and facking ; but it is fometimes wrought
to confiderable finenefs ; it is alio twilled
into ropes and cables.

The corn-harveft begins in July in the
fouthern parts of the illand ; but Auguft
is the principal harveft- month for the
whole kingdom.

AUGUST,

( 124 )

AUGUST.

Fair Plenty now begins her golden reign,
The yellow fields thick- wave with ripen'd grain j
Joyous the fwains renew their fultry toils,
And bear in triumph home the har veil's weal-
thy fpoils.

The commencement of this month is
flill hot, and ufually calm and fair; and
thofe vegetable productions that yet re-
quire the powerful influence of the fun
are daily advancing to maturity. The
farmer beholds the chief objecl: of his
culture, and the principal fource of his
riches, waiting only for the hand of the
gatherer. Of the various kinds ot grain,
rye and oats are ufually the firft ripened ;
this, however, varies with the time of
lowing, and fome of every fpecies may be
feen at once fit for cutting.

Every fair day is now of great impoit-
ance, fince, when the corn is once ripe,
it is liable to continual damage while

{landing,

AUGUST. 125

(landing, either from the fhedding of the
feeds, the depreciations of birds, or fudden
lWms. The utmoft diligence is there-
fore ufed by the careful hufbandman to
get it fafely houfed, and labourers are
hired from all quarters to haften the
work.

Pour'd from the villages a numerous train
Now fp reads o'er all the fields. In form'd array
The reapers move, nor fhrink for heat or toil,
By emulation urg'd. Others difpers'd
Or bind in fheaves, or load or guide the wain
That tinkles as it panes. Far behind,
Old age and infancy with careful hand
Pick up each ftraggling ear.

This interefting fcene is beheld in full
perfection only in the open-field coun-
tries, where the fight can at once take in
an uninterrupted extent of land waving
with corn, and a multitude of people en-
gaged in the various parts of the labour.
There is no profpect more generally
pleafing than this, and which affords a
more (Inking example of the effect of

aflbciated

Il6 AUGUST.

afTociated fentiments, in converting into &
mod delightful view that which, in itfelf
confidered, is certainly far inferior in va-
riety and beauty to what is daily patted
bv with indifference or even difcult.
' The gathering in of the harveft. is a
fcene that addreffes itfelf not fo much to
the eye as the heart, and the emotions
that it gives birth to are not fo much
thofe of delight and furprife, as the fatis-
factory termination of anxiety, and, in
confequence, benevolence to man and
gratitude to the Being who fills our
ftores with plenty, and our minds with
gladnefs.

Be not too narrow, hufbandmen! but flin*,
From the full fheaf, with charitable Health,
The liberal handful. Think, oh ! grateful think,
How good the God of harveft is to you,
Who pours abundance o'er your flowing fields.

Thomson.

In a late feafon, or where favourable
opportunities of getting in the harveft:
have been neglected, the corn often fuf-

fert

AUGUST. 127

fers greatly from heavy florms of wind
and rain. It is beaten down to the
ground, the feeds are flied or rotted by
moiflure ; or if the weather continues
warm, the corn grows, that is, the feeds
begin to germinate and put out (hoots.
Grain in this fiate is fweet and moift ; it
foon fpoils on keeping ; and bread made
from it is clammy and unwholefome.

Harvefl concludes with the field peas
and beans, which are fuffered to become
quite drv and hard before they are cut
down. The blacknefs of the bean-pods
and (talks is difagreeable to the eye,
though the crop is valuable to the farmer.
In England they are ufed as food for cat-
tle only, as the nourifhment they afford,
though flrong, is grofs and heavy ; but
in mod of the other European countries
they contribute largely to the fuilenance
of the lower clafTes.

The rural feltival of harvejl-home is an

extremely natural one, and has been ob-

ferved in almoft all ages and countries.'

7 What

12$ AUGUST.

What can more gladden the heart than *
to fee the long-expected products of the
year, which have been the caufe of fo
much anxiety, now fafely houfed and be-
yond the reach of injury ?

Inwardly fmiling, the proud farmer views
The rifing pyramids that grace his yard,
And counts his large increafe j his barns are

ftor'd,
And groaning ftaddles bend beneath their load.

SOMERVILLE.

The poor labourer, too, who has toiled
in fecuring another's wealth, juftly ex-
pects to partake of the happinefs. The
jovial harvefl-fupper cheers his heart, and
induces him to begin, without murmur-
ing, the preparations for a future harveft.
Hops, which are much cultivated in
fome parts of England, afford their va-
luable produce generally in this month.
The hop is a climbing plant, fometimes
growing wild in hedges, and cultivated on
account of its ufe in the making of malt
liquors. Having large long roots, they
I flourifh

AUGUST. I29

flourifh beft in a deep and rich foil ; and
are fet in fmall hills at regular diftances
from each other, about five plants, and
three long poles for them to run upon,
being placed in each hill. They appear
above ground early in the fpring, and as
they grow fait., have generally by the lat-
ter end of June, or the beginning of July,
reached the top of the poles, which are
from fixteen to twenty feet long, after
which they pufh. out many lateral moots
and begin to flower. At this time the
hop gardens make a moil beautiful ap-
pearance, the poles being entirely cover-
ed with verdure, and the flowers depend-
ing from them in clutters and light fef-
toons. The hops, which are the fcaly
feed-veflels. of the female plants, are
picked as foon as the feed is formed ; for
which purpofe the poles are taken up
with the plants clinging to them, and the
hops picked off by women and children,
after which they are dried over a charcoal
fire, and expofed a few days to the air in

order

130 AUGUST.

order to take off the crifpnefs produced
by the heat ; they are then clofely packed
in facks and fent to market, where they
are purchafed by the brewers, who em-
ploy them in giving the fine bitter flavour
to their beer, which both improves its tafte
and makes it keep longer than it otherwife
would do. This crop is perhaps the
rooft precarious and uncertain of any, on
which account hops are a commodity that
is more the object of commercial fpecula-
tion than any other. The plants are
infefted by grubs that harbour in their
roots, and greatly delay, and fometimes
entirely prevent, their mooting ; and thefe
grubs changing into flies, fwarm upon
and defh oy the leaves and (hoots of fuch
as efcaped them in their grub ftate : this
pell: is called' the fen. Blights, too, of
various forts, both with and without in-
fects, often fruftrate the hopes of the cul-
tivator, and in a few days defolate the
moft promifing plantations. No effectual
remedy has yet been found for thefe evils ;

it

AUGUST. Ijl

it is probable, however, that fome benefit
might be produced by planting a fmall
number of male hops in each garden (for
the hop is of that order of vegetables
which bear the male and female flowers
on different plants). The advantage of
this practice is experimentally proved
•with regard to the afli and elm, which
are of the fame order ; for it is remarked,
that the plantations in which there is a
mixture of male and female trees, are far
more vigorous, and lefs liable to blights,
than thofe which confift. folely of females
or males.

The number of plants in flower is now
very fenfibly diminished. Thofe of the
former months are running fail; to feed,
and few new ones fupply their places.
The uncultivated heaths and commons
.are now, however, in their chief beauty
from the flowers of the different kinds of
heath or ling, with which they are cover-
ed, fo as to fpread a rich purple hue over
K % the

1^2 AUGUST.

the whole ground. Low moift lands, too,
are adorned with the gentiana amarella,
and the beautiful purple bloffoms of the
colchicum autumnale, or meadow fafFron.
Several fpecies of the numerous tribe
of ferns begin now to flower. Thefe
plants, together with moffes, lichens, and
the various kinds of fea-weed, are ar-
ranged by botanifts in the clafs Cryptoga-
mia, the individuals of which have fmall
inconfpicuous and generally colourlefs
flowers, or rather feed veffels, for they
have no petals. The tailed fpecies in
thefe kindred families are the ferns, fome
of which, that are natives of America,
greatly referable, and equal in height,
the lower of the kinds of palm trees.
They may be diftinguifhed by their pin-
nated or finely divided winged leaves,
and their ruft coloured feeds, which are
produced in fmall circular dots, or lines,
or patches, on the back of the leaves.
One of the commoneft fpecies in this
4 country

AUGUST. I33

country is the fern, or brakes ; another not
unfrequent fort is the polypody, or harts-
tongue, with long undivided leaves of a
bright green, adorning with their tufts
the bafe of moift fhady rocks : but the
moil beautiful kind that this ifland pro-
duces is the female, or wood-polypody, with
large deep green tufted leaves, very finely
divided, frequently found in confiderable
plenty in rocky woods ; when placed in
a green-houfe it acquires a brighter co-
lour, and a more luxuriant growth ; it
becomes an evergreen and extremely or-
namental plant. The ufes in the eco-
nomy of nature of this numerous family
are many and important : growing in
places where few other vegetables will
flourifh, as heaths, commons, marflies,
and woods, they afford by their broad
fpreading leaves a very acceptable fhel-
ter to various birds and fmall quadru-
peds, as well as to the more lowly and
tender plants ; the fweet mucilage with
K 3 which

134 AUGUST.

which their roots abound, gives nouriflr-
ment to many infects, and contributes
to the fuftenance of the human fpecies
in the northern and moft barren parts
of the globe : in this country, the com-
mon brakes are made ufe of for littering
cattle, and thatching, and, when green,,
are burnt in great quantity for the alkali
that they contain.

Some of the choicefr. wall fruits are
now coming into feafon.

The fanny wall
Prefents the downy peach, the fhining plum,.
The ruddy fragrant nectarine, and dark
Beneath his ample leaf, the lufcious fig.

Some time about the middle of the
month, the viper brings forth her young :
they couple in March or April, and
from twelve to twenty-five eggs are
formed in the ovary of the female, and
hatched there j from which foon after
iffue the youngs nearly of the fize of
earth worms.

The

AUGUST. I35

The infedh that make their appear-
ance during this month, are the apis ma-
nicata, one of the fpecies of folitary bees ;
the papilio machaon, femele, phlseas,
and paphia, fome of the lateft butter-
flies ; the phalena pacla, a white moth ;
and the ptinus pecYmicornis, which in
its larva Hate is well known by the holes
that it bores in wooden furniture. Flies
alfo abound in windows at this period.
Bulls begin their fhrill autumnal bel-
lowing.

About the 12th of Augufl the largefl
of the fwallow tribe, the fwift, or long-
wing, difappears. As the weather is
ftill warm, they cannot be fuppofed to
retire to holes and caverns, and become
torpid during the winter ; and being fo
admirably formed for flight, it can fcarcely
be doubted that they now migrate to
fome of the fouthern regions. Nearly
at the . fame time rooks no longer pafs
the night from home, but rooft in their
K 4 neft

I36 AUGUST.

neft trees. Young broods of goldfinches
are flill feen ; lapwings and linnets begin
to congregate ; and the redbreaft, one of
our fineft, though commoneft fongfters,
renews his mufic about the end of the
month.

SEPTEMBER,

( 137 )

SEPTEMBER.

Now foftened funs a mellow luftre fhed,
The laden orchards glow with tempting redj
On hazel boughs the clutters hang embrown'd,
And with the fportfrnan's war the new-morn
fields refound.

This is, in general, a very pleafant
month, the diftinguifhing foftnefs and fe-
renity of autumn prevailing through great
part of it. The days are now very kn-
fibly fhortened, and the mornings and
evenings are chill and damp, though the
warmth is flill confiderable in the middle
of the day. This variation of tempera-
ture is one caufe why autumn is an un-
healthy time, efpecially in the warmer
climates, and in moift fituations ; perfons
who are obliged to go abroad early or
late in this feafon fhould be guarded by
warm clothing againfr. the ccld fogs.

In

I38 SEPTEMBER.

In late years, and efpecially in the
northern parts of the ifland, a good deal
of corn is abroad at the beginning of
September, on which account, the day on
which partridge-fhooting commences, has
of late been deferred by the legiflature
from the firft to the fourteenth of this
month.

The partridge is one of the fpecies of
the order of gallinee, which includes thofe
birds which have a flrong, hard, fome-
what curved bill, fhort wings, rather long
and mufcular legs, and the toes termi-
nated in fhort thick ftraight nails ; of this
conformation the neceflary refult is their
feeding on grain, and other feeds, which
they find by fcratching up the earth ; and
their living chiefly on the ground, mak-
ing much ufe of their legs, and little of
their wings.

Partridges pair early in the fpring, and
about the month of May, depofit their
eggs to the number of fixteen or eighteen
in a fhallow hole on the bare ground \

the

SEPTEMBER* 13$

the hen fits twenty-two days, and the
young come forth full feathered like
chickens, and capable of running, and
picking up ants, flugs, grain, or any other
food that is fhewn to them by their pa-
rents.

While the corn is landing they have a
ready and fafe retreat from moft of their
numerous enemies, and when they hap-
pen to be furprifed, will exhibit wonder*
ful inftances of in-ftintSt in their attachment
to their young, and of courage and fkill
in their defence. If danger approaches
their young brood before they are able rx>
fly, both the parents immediately take
wing, and the young ones cower down
under the nearefl fhelter, where they re-
main perfectly motionlefs ; the hen, after
having flown two or three hundred yards,
lights on the ground, and immediately
running along the furrows, foon arrives at
the place whence {he fet out, collects her
little family, and withdraws them to a
place of fafety ; the cock, in the mean
3 time>

140 SEPTEMBER.

time, endeavours to engage the attention
of the fportfman by fluttering before him
a few yards at a time, as if wounded, and
thus draws him in the eagernefs of pur-
fuit to a fufficient diftance from his young:
after which, when ail danger is over, the
call of the female directs him to her re-
treat. In the abfence of the cock the
hen will take this part upon herfelf. Of
this an interefting example is found in
White's Naturalift's Calendar.

" A hen partridge came out of a ditch,
and ran along, fhivering with her wings,
and crying out as if wounded, and unable
to get from us. While the dam acled
this diflrefs, the boy who attended me
faw her brood, that was fmall and unable
to fly, run for fhelter into an old fox-
earth under the bank."

When the corn is cut, partridges gene-
rally refort in the day-time to groves and
covers, to be out of the reach of birds of
prey ; but at night the dread of foxes,
weafels, and other imall wild quadrupeds

that

SEPTEMBER. 141

that hannt thefe flickered places, drives
them to the open ftubhle, in the middle
of which they neftle together, and fpend
the hours of darknefs. Their mod for-
midable enemy, however, is man, from
whom they have no means of efcape: his
pointers difcover them in their mofl fe-
cret hiding places, and either oblige them
to take wing and expofe themfelves to be
fhot, or to endure the iliil greater danger
of being enclofed in nets on the ground
hy whole coveys at once.

In his mid career, the fpaniel flruck,
Stiff, by the tainted gale, with open nofe,
Outitretch'd, and finely fenfible, draivs full,
Fearful and cautions, on the latent prey ;
As in the fun the circling covey baljt
Their varied plumes, and watchful every way
Thro' the rough Hubble turn the fecret eye.

Thomson.

A fingular vegetable production which
is gathered this month, is faffron. The
fahron plant is a fpecies of crocus, culti-
vated chiefly in EfTex, and a confider-

able

IJfi SEPTEMBER,

able tra£t of ground, about ten miles
acrofs, between Cambridge and Saffron-
walden. The faffron-grounds vary in
■extent from one to three acres, which,
after being well manured, are planted
fome time in the month of July, allowing
about 200,000 roots to an acre: thefe
flower fucceflively for about three weeks in
September, and the bloflbms are collected
every day before they are thoroughly ex-
panded : when gathered> they are imme-
diately fpread upon a large table, and the
line branched filaments on the infide of
the flower, called ftamens, or chives , are
pulled out by women and children ; all
the reft is thrown away. The crop thus
procured is dried in flat fquare cakes,
and then becomes ready for fale. A faf-
fron -ground lafts three years ; and on an
average yields for the firft crop about ten
pounds of wet faffron, or two of dried, per
acre ; the produce of the two next years
as about twenty-four pounds of dried : fo
that the whole ufeful produce of an acre

i»

SEPTEMBER. 143

in three years, is not more than twenty-
fix pounds weight. Saffron is of a deep
orange colour, and a very ltrong aroma-
tic odour : it is ufed in medicine as a cor-
dial, and was formerly much efteemed in
-cookery. Jt gives a fine bright yellow
dye. That produced in England is ge-
nerally efteemed the beft.

Very few other flowers, except the
ivy, open in this month ; but fome de-
gree of variety is introduced into the
landfcape by the ripening fruits.

The labours of the hufbandman have
but a very fhort intermiflion ; for no
fooner is the harveft gathered in, than
the fields are again ploughed up and
prepared for the winter corn, rye, and
wheat, which is fowrt during this month
and the next.

At this time it is proper to ftraighten
the entrance of bee-hives, that wafps
and other depredators may have lefs op-
portunity of getting in and devouring
the honey.

The

144 SEPTEMBER.

The annual arrival of the herrings,
offers at this time a peculiar and valuable
harveft to the inhabitants of the eaftern
and weftern coafts of the ifland.

The great winter rendezvous of the
herring is within the arctic circle, where
.they continue many months to recruit
themfelves after fpawning in thofe un-
fathomed depths, that fwarm with in-
fects upon which they feed. This innu-
merable army begins to put itfelf in mo-
tion in the fpring, in order to depofit
its fpawn in the warmer latitudes. Its
.forerunners appear off the Shetland iflands
in April and May, but the grand fhoal
does not appear till June: it is attended
by gannets, and other fea birds, in pro-
digious multitudes, and vaft numbers of
dog-fifh. and porpoifes, all of which are
fupported without fenfibly diminifhing a
hoft, in which millions more or lefs are
of no account. The breadth and depth
of the main body is fuch as to alter the
appearance of the very ocean ; it is di-
vided

SEPTEMBER. 145

vided into diftincl: columns of five or
fix miles in length, and three or four in
breadth, driving the water before them
"with a very perceptible rippling ; lome-
times they fink for the fpace of ten or
lifteen minutes, then rife again to the
furface, and in bright weather exhibit a
refplendency of colours like a field of
gems.

The firft check that this army expe-
riences in its march louthwards, is from
the Shetland ifles, which divide it into two
parts; the eaftern wing paffes on towards
Yarmouth, the great and ancient mart for
herrings, filling every bay and creek with
its numbers; it then advances through
the Britiih channel, and difappears. The
weftern wing, after offering itfelf to the
great hilling fbtions in the Hebrides, pi o-
ceeds towards the north of Ireland, where
it is obliged to make a fecond divifion:
the one takes to the weftern {ide} and is
fcarcely perceived, being foon loft in the
immeniity of the Atlantic; but the other,
L paffing;

146 SEPTEMBER.

pafling into the Irifh fea, feeds and re-
joices the inhabitants of mofl of the coafls
that border on it.

Towards the end of the month, the
chimney or common f wallow difappears.
There have been various conjectures con-
cerning the manner in which thefe birds,
and fome of their kindred fpecies, difpofe
of themfelves during the winter. The
fwifi is the only one of this genus, about
which there appears to be little or no
controverfv, its early retreat and ftrength
of wing rendering its migration almoft
certain : but with regard to the reft,
namely, the fwallow, the martin, and
land-martin, there are three current opi-
nions, each of which deferves confidera-
tion.

The firft, which is principally adopted
by the Swedifh and other northern natu-
ralifh, is, that thefe birds pais the cokl
months in a torpid fiate under water. This
apparently improbable fuppofition is iup-
ported by the following arguments: the

.places

SEPTEMBER. Iff

places in which the fpecies in queiVion are
fcen, the lateffc and earlieft in the year,
are the banks of large deep ponds and
rivers. About the time of their difap-
pearing they are obferved to rooft in vail
numbers on branches of trees that over-
hang the water, which by their weight
are obferved to be bent, (o as nearlv to
touch the furface. Some obfeure reports
of fwallows having been dragged up in a
torpid ftate from the bottom of lakes*
have been eagerly embraced by the fa-
vourers of this hvpothefis, and the proof
is thus fuppofed to be complete. Againfr.
this opinion there are the following obvi-
ous arguments: the fwallow tribe live
wholly on infect-food, and it is in the
neighbourhood of waters that gnats and
various other winged infedts principally
abound ; when therefore food is fcarce, it
is not to be wondered at, that thefe birds
fhould refort to thofe places where it is
almoft always to be found in a greater or
L z lefs

•*4§ SEPTEMBER.

lefs quantity. Young fwallows, in au-
tumn, are univerfally obferved to rood on
trees, and to be extremely fond of con-
gregating; when therefore they have fa-
tigued themfelves with hawking all day
about the water, it is highly probable that
they fhould collect in large numbers on
the neareft trees; and, befides, thole
branches that hang over the water are
lets acceflible to rats, weafels, and others
of their enemies. Another realbn too,
on the fuppofition of their. migration, may
account for their reforting in autumn to
the fides of rivers; for by following the
courfe of the ft ream, they would more
readily find their way to the fea. The
luppofed ia£t ot fwallows having been
found in a torpid fhte under water,
greatly wants confirmation : it is likely
enough, indeed, that they may have been
drowned, while rooming, by the riling tide,
and been timed up a few hours after, pof-
iibly, even while in a irate of fufpended

animation :

SEPT EMBER. 14.9

animation ; but their internal ftrudhire
wholly unfits them for exifting for any
length of time immerfed' in water.

A more probable opinion than the for-
mer, is that thofe fpecies of (wallows
above mentioned, retire like bats to ca-
verns and other jhcltcrcd 'places during the
cold weather, where they pafs their t':me hi
a torpid Jiate-y except when* revived by a
fine day or two, they are induced by hun-
ger to make their appearance in the open
air: for iris a known fa£t, and one that;
happens almofV every year, that a week
of tolerably mild weather in the middle
of winter never fails to bring out a few
ftvallows, who difappear again on the re-
turn of the frofr. There are aifo a few
fufficiently authenticatedinflances of fwal-
lows having been found torpid in the fliafts
of old coal-pits and cliffs by the fea-fide.
Thefe facls, as far as they go, are con-
clufive ; namely, that fome individuals of
thefe fpecies pafs the winter in this coun-
try in a torpid ftate ; but the inftanccs are
L 3. by

1^0 SEPTEMBER.

by no means fufficiently numerous to pre-
clude the neceflity of difpofing of the
main body in another way ; for from their
multitudes, if they all never quitted this
country, it ought to be by no means an
uncommon tiling to difcover them in their
winter abodes; efpecially as of late years
they have been accurately fearched for,
and the holes of the fand-martins have
been repeatedly laid open without the?
fmalleft fuccefs.

Concerning the third hypothefis, the
migration of the fwallow tribes, it may be
obferved, that all the birds of this genus are
far better flyers than many others whofe
migration is univerfally allowed, and that
the deficiency of food is a very fufficient
motive to induce them to retreat to
warmer climates ; — that the fudden ap-
pearance in fpring of the main body, ?ind
their difappearance in autumn, together
with the occalional appearance of afew
during mild weather in the winter months,
fpeaks loudly in favour of migration. But

there

SEPTEMBER. I5I

there are yet other more decifive facts to
be related in proof of this opinion.

Mr. White, one of the mod accurate
obfervers that this country has produced,
in his Natural Hiftory of Selborne fays,
" If ever I faw any thing like actual mi-
gration, it was lad Michaelmas day. I
was travelling, and out early in the morn-
ing; at firft there was a vaft fog, but by
the time that I was got feven or eight
miles towards the coaft the fun broke
out into a delicate warm day. We were
then on a large heath or common, and
I could difcern, as the mift began to-
clear away, great numbers of 1 wallows
(hirundines rufticae) cluttering on the
ftunted fhrubs and bufhes as if they had
roofted there all night. As foon as the
air became clear and pleafant they were
all on the wing at once ; and by a placid
and eafv flight, proceeded on fouth wards
toward the fea ; after this 1 did not fee
any more flocks, only now and then a
ftraggler."

L 4 Having

I52 SEPTEMBER.

Having thus launched our fwallows, let
us follow them in their courfe acrofs the
fea. In the fpring of the year, Sir Charles
Wager on his return up channel from a
cruife, during feme very ftormy weather,
as foon as he came within foundings, fell
in with a large flock of fwallows, who irrv
mediatelv fettled like a fwarm of bees on
his rigging; they were fo tired as to fuf-
fer themfelves to be taken by. hand, and
fo much emaciated from the long conti-
nuance of heavy gales that they had to
contend with, as to be reduced to mere
ikin and bone. After refting themfelves
for the night, they renewed their flight
next morning. Willoughby, the firft. Bri-
tish ornithologift, during a vifit in Spain,
obferved multitudes of half ftarved fwal-
lows in the province of Andalufia, on
their progrefs to the fouth. And the
brother of Mr. White before mentioned,
who refided a confiderable time at .Gi-
braltar, had ocular demonflration during
the fpring and autumn of the migration

of

SEPTEMBER, 1$$

of birds acrofs the Straits, among whom
were myriads of the f wallow tribe, and
many of our foft-billed birds of pniTage.
In pafling thefe Straits they fcout and
hurry along in little detached parties of
fix or feven in a company, and fweep*
ing low juit. over the land and water,
direct their courfe to the oppofite con-
tinent at the narrowell paifage that they
can find. They ufually flope acrofs the
bay to the fouth-weft, and fo pafs over to
Tangier.

From all the above coniiderations it
feems to be pretty evident that fwallows
do not fpend the winter under water:
that a few, probably fome of the later
broods, remain with us during the win-
ter, for the moft part, in a ftate of tor-
pidity : but that the main body migrates
acrofs the channel to Spain, and thence
at Gibraltar paffes to the northern fhores
of Africa, returning by the fame road, ia
the fpring, to Groat Britain.

When

154 SEPTEMBER.

When Autumn fcatters his departing gleams,
Warn'd of approaching Winter, gathered, play
The fwallow-people ; and tofs'd wide around,
O'er the calm fky, in convolution fwift,
The feathered eddy floats : rejoicing once,
Ere to their wintry numbers they retire $
In clutters clung, beneath the mould'ring bankr
And where, unpierc'd by frofls, the cavern

fweats,
Or rather into warmer climes convey'd,
With other kindred birds of feafon, there
They twitter cheerful, till the vernal months
Invite them welcome back : for, thronging, now
Innumerous wings are in commotion all.

Thomson.

Befides the fw allow tribe, many other
of the fmall foft-billed birds that feed on
infects difappear on the approach of cold
weather. To judge from their diminu-
tive fize and feeblcnefs of wing, it would
icarcely be imagined that thefe could pof-
iibly emigrate. It is probable, indeed,
that numbers of them are annually loft
in attempting to crofs the fea, but from
the circumftance of their having been
a&ually feen crofting the ftraits of Gi-
braltar

SEPTEMBER. J$$

braltar to Africa late in autumn, and re-
turning northward early in fpring ; and
from there being no inftanee on record of
their having been feen during our win-
ters, either in a (late of torpidity, or
roufed into activity by a warm day, there
feems no reafon to doubt the reality of

their emigration.

On the other hand, fome birds at this
feafon arrive from flill more northerly
countries to fpend the winter with us*.
The fieldfare and redwing, whofe depar-
ture was mentioned in March, return
about the end of September ; at which
time alfo an internal migration takes place
of the ring-ouzel from the mountains of
Wales, Scotland, and the north of Eng-
land, to the fouthern coaft and other fhel-
tercd iituations. Thefe three fpecies feed
chiefly on the berries with which our
woods and hedges are plentifully ftored
the greater part of the winter.

The wood-owl now begins to hoot,
the (lone-curlew to clamour r and thofe

fweet

T$6 SEPTEMBER.

fweet and mellow- toned fongfters the
woodlark, thrum, and blackbird, con>
mence at this time their autumnal mufic.

About the middle of the month, the
common fnake Jloughs or cafts its fkin ;
it appears to part with its whole external
covering, even the outer coat of the eyes
fcales off, and is left in the head of the
fiough like a pair of fpectacies. While
the fnake undergoes this operation he en-
tangles bimfelf intricately in the grals and
weeds, in order by their friction to faci-
litate the changing of his garment. The
ilough is found inverted without any rent
in it, from which it appears that this rep*
tile creeps out at the mouth of the fiough,
quitting the tail part laft, in the fame
manner as eels are fkinned.

Very few infects come forth fo late in
the feafon ; the phalena ruflula and papi-
lio hyale, however, now make their ap-
pearance.

The mod ufeful fruit that this coun-
try affords, the apple, fucceflively ripensj

according

SEPTEMBER. 157

according to its feveral varieties, from
July to October: but the principal har-
veft of them is about the clofe of this
month. They are now gathered for our
Engliih vintage, the cyder-making, which
in fome counties, particularly Worcef-
terfhire, Somerfetihire, and Devonshire,
16 a bufy and important employment ;
but, like the hop, it is fo precarious a
produce, as to render it unwife for the
cultivator to place his chief dependence
on it.

Autumn paints
Atifonian hills with giapes,whilft Englifh plains
Blufh with pomaceous harvefts, breathing fweets.
O let me now, when the kind early dew
Unlocks th' embofom"d odours, walk among
The well rang'd riles of trees, whole full-aged

Itore
Diffufe ambrofial fleams.
Now, now's the time; ere hafty funs forbid
To work, difburthen thou thy faplefs wood
Of its rich progeny ; the turgid fruit
Abounds with mellow liquor.

PHILIP3.

The

I58 SEPTEMBER.

The apples, after being carefully ga-
thered, are laid a while to mellow, and
then crufhed in a mill and preiTed till all
their juice is extracted. This, after being
fermented, becomes cyder, which may
properly be called 'apple -wine. Pears
treated in the fame manner yield a vin-
ous liquor called perry. The richeft. and
ftrongefl kinds are diltributed for fale over
the whole country, and the inferior forts
ferve as common drink in the diflricls
where they are produced.

Another agreeable product of our
thickets and gardens, the hazel-nut, is fit
for gathering at this time.

Ye virgins, come, for you their lateft fong
The woodlands raife; the cluttering nuts for you
The lover finds amid the fecret ihadc ;
And, where they burnilh on the topmoll bough,
With attive vigour crulhes down the tree,
Or {hakes them ripe from the reiigning buih.

The oak now begins to fhed its acorns,
and the nuts fall from the beech, both of

which
3

SEPTEMBER. I^Q

which have the name of mafi. Thefe, in
the extenfive woodland traces of the Con-
tinent, afford a plentiful food to the fwine,
which are allowed to range in them at
■this period. In England, mod of the old
forefts are fallen to decay, but in the few
that ftill remain in the fouthern parts of
the ifland, particularly the New foreft,
this annual fupply of what in primitive
times conftituted the chief food of man,
affords a luxurious pafturage for fix weeks,
from about the end of September, to the
hogs that are kept on the borders of the
foreft. In Mr. Gilpin's elegant Remarks
on Foreft Scenery, there is a moft enter-
taining account of the manners and ma-
nagement of the hogs during the time of
their autumnal refidence in the woods;
from which the following account is ex-
tracted.

" Thefirft ftep the fwineherd takes, is
to inveftigate fome clofe fh.elt.ered part of
the foreft, where there is a conveniency
of water, and plenty of oak or beech

maft;

ifo S E'P T EM-BE :R.

maft ; the former of which he prefers
when he can have it in abundance. He
next fixes on fome fpreading tree, round
the bole of which he wattles a flight, cir-
cular fence of the dimensions he wants ;
and covering it roughly with boughs and
fods, he fills it plentifully with ftraw or
fern.

*' Having made this preparation, he
collects his colony among the farmers,
with whom he commonly agrees for a
milling a head, and will get together a
herd of five or fix hundred hogs. Having
driven them to their deftined habitation,
he gives them a plentiful fupper of acorns
or beech mad, which he had already pro-
vided, founding his horn during the re-
pair.. He then turns them into the litter,
where, after a long journey and a hearty
meal, they fleep delicioufly.

" The next morning he lets them look
a little around them, mows them the
pool or ftream where they may occa-
fionally drink} leaves them to pick up

■the

SEPTEMBER. l6l

•the offals of the lair, night's meal, and as
-evening draws on, gives them another
plentiful repaft under the neighbouring
trees, which rain acorns upon them for
an hour together at the found of his
horn. He then fends them again to
Deep.

" The following day he is perhaps at
the pains of procuring them another meal,
with mufic playing as ufual. He then
leaves them a little more to themfelves,
having an eye, however, on their even-
ing hours. But as their bellies are full,
they feldom wander far from home, re-
tiring commonly very orderly and early
to bed.

" After this he throws his ftye open,
and leaves them to cater for themfelves;
and from henceforward has little more
trouble with them during the whole time
of their migration. Now and then in
calm weather, when malt, falls fparingly,
he calls them perhaps together by the
M mufic

l6l SEPTEMBER.

mufic of his horn to a gratuitous meal;
but in general they need little atten-
tion, returning regularly home at night,
though they often wander in the day two
or three miles from their five. There are
experienced leaders in all herds, which
have fuent this roving life before ; and
can inftrucl their juniors in the method
of it. By this management the herd is
carried home to their refpeclive owners
in fuch condition, that a little dry meat
will foon fatten them."

On the twenty-fecond of September
happens the autumnal equinox ; that is,
the fun arrives at one of the two equi-
noctial points, formed by the crofling of
the equator and equinoctial circle, at
which period the days and nights are
equal all over the earth. This, as well
as the vernal equinox, is generally at-
tended with heavy ftorms of wind and
rain, which throw down much of the
fruit that yet remains on the trees.

By

SEPTEMBER. 163

By the end of this month the leaves of
many trees lofe their green colour, and
begin to affume their autumnal tints ;
which, however, are not complete till
the enfuing month.

M Z OCTOBER.

( 1 64 )

OCTOBER.

The fading many -colour' d woods,
Shade deep'ning over (hade, the country round
Imbrown; a crowded umbrage, duflc and dun,
Of every hue, from wan declining green
To footy dark.

The chief bufinefs of nature at this
feafon, as far as concerns the vegetable
world, appears to be dijjemination. Plants
having gone through the progreflive
flages of fpringlng, flowering, and feed-
ing, have at length brought to maturity
the rudiments of a future progeny, which
are now to be depofited in the foftering
bofom of the earth. This being per-
formed, the parent vegetable, if of the
herbaceous kind, either totally perimes or
dies down to the root ; if a tree, oxjlmtby
it calls all thofe tender leaves that the

fpring

OCTOBER. 165

fpring and fummer had put forth. Seeds
are fcattered by the hand of nature in
various manners. Thofe of them which
are furnifhed with plumes, or wings, are
difperfed far and wide by the high winds
which arife about this time. Hence plants
with fuch feeds are of all others the moil
generally to be met with ; as dandelion,
groundfel, ragwort, thirties, Sec. Others,
by means of hooks with which they are
furnifhed, lay hold of pafling animals,
and are thus carried to diitant places.
The common burs are examples of this
contrivance. Several when ripe are
thrown out with confiderable force from
their receptacle by means of a ftrong
fpiral elaftic fpring, of which the impa-
tiens, or touch-me-not, and all the fpe-
cies of cardani'ine, or cuckoo-flower, are
in [lances. Many are contained in ber-
ries, which being eaten by birds, the
feeds are difcharged again uninjured, and
grow wherever they happen to light.
Thus has nature carefully provided for
M 2 the

l66 OCTOBER.

the propagation and wide diftribution of
her vegetable offspring.

The gloom of the declining year is,
however, during this month enlivened by
the variety of rich and bright colours, ex-
hibited by the fading leaves of fhrubs and
trees. So varied and glowing, indeed, are
the tints, fo harmonious their combina-
tions, fo exquilitely tender and foothing
the emotions that they give birth to, as
to render our autumnal fcenery, both to
the painter and man of fentiment, more
interesting than the bloiToms of fpring or
the radiance and verdure of fummer.

Thole virgin leaves, of pureft vivid green,
Which cliann'd ere yet they trembled on the

trees,
Now cheer the fober landfcape in decay :
The lime rlrft fading ; and the golden birch,
With bark of filver hue ; the mofs-grown oak,
Tenacious of its leaves of ruffet brown ;

^nfanguin'd dogwood j and a thoufand

tints
Which Flora, drelVd in all her pride of bloom,

Could fcarcely equal, decorate the groves.

To

OCTOBER. 167

To thefe' fugitive colours are added the
more durable ones of ripened berries, a
variety of which now adorn our hedges.
Among thefe are particularly diftinguifh-
ed the hip, the fruit of the wild rofe ;
the haw, of the hawthorn ; the floe, of
the blackthorn ; the blackberry, of the
bramble ; and the berries of the bryony,
privet, honeyfuckle, elder, holly, and
woody-nightfhade. Thele are a valuable
fupply for the birds during the cold wea-
ther; and it is faid, upon the authority
of lord Bacon, that they are moft plen-
tiful when the enfuing winter is to be
moil: fevere.

The common martin, whofe nefts,
hung under the eaves of our houfes, af-
ford fo agreeable a fpec~iacle of parental
fondnefs and afliduity, after having reared
its fecond brood, difappears about the
middle of October; and in a few days
after, its example is followed by the
find-martin, the fmallelr. kind of fwal-
low, as well as the lateft in its migration.
M 4 The

l6S OCTOBER*

The royfton or hooded crow, which
breeds in Scotland and other northern
regions, migrates to the fouthern dif-
tricts of this ifland, being forced by the
fnow from its native haunts. It is rea-
dily difKnguifhed by its afh - coloured
back, and black head. Next to the ra-
ven it is the mod deftructive bird of its
genus that is known in this country, de-
stroying lambs and young partridges, and
moor-fowl, and picking out the eyes of
horfes that happen to be entangled in
bogs; on which account, in feveral parts
of Scotland, it is profcribed, and a re-
ward offered for its head. The wood-
cock about this time begins to be found
on our eaftern coafts, though the main
body of them does not arrive till. No-
vember or December. Various kinds
of water-fowl arrive from their arclic
iummer-refidence in fearch of a more
temperate winter on. the fhores of Bri-
tain. About the middle of the month
i I geefe quit the fens, and go up to the

rye

OCTOBER. 169

rye lands, where they devour the young
corn.

It is curious and highly amufing to
obferve the evening proceedings of the
rooks at this period of the year. Juft
before duik, returning from the forag-
ing excurlions of the day, before they
betake themfelves to roofl in their nefl-
trees, they congregate in large numbers,
and wheeling round in the air, fport.
and dive in a playful manner, all the
while exerting their voices, and making
a loud cawing, which being blended and
foftened by diftance, becomes a pleafing
murmur, not unlike the cry of a pack
of hounds in deep hollow woods, or
the tumbling of the tide on a pebbly
fhore. Stares begin to congregate about
this time, affembling in the fen coun-
tries in fuch vaft multitudes as to de-
ftroy by their weight the reeds on which
they perch, to the damage of the farm-
ers, who derive no inconfiderable pro-
fit from the fale of the reeds, which, for
1 thatching.,

I7O OCTOBER.

thatching, are fuperior to every other ma-
terial.

The weather during this month is
forrietimes extremely mifty, with a per-
fect calm. The ground is covered with
fpiders webs innumerable, eroding the
paths, extending from fhrub to fhrub,
and floating in the air. This appearance
is called go/jamer, and is caufed by an in-
finite multitude of fmall fpiders, which,
when they want to change their place,
have a power of (hooting forth feveral
long threads, to which they attach thern-
ielves, and thus becoming buoyant, are
carried gently through the air as long as
they pleafe, after which, by coiling up
their threads, they defcend very gradually
to the ground. A remarkable fhower
of gofTamer is defcribed in the follow-
ing quotation from White' 's Natural Hif-
■:f Settorne. " On September 21,
1741, being intent on field diverfions, I
rofe before day -break ; when I came into
the enclofures, I found the (tubbles and

clover-

OCTOBER. 171

clover - grounds matted all over with a
thick coat of cobweb, in the meihes of
which a copious and heavy dew hung fo
plentifully, that the whole face of the
country feemed, as it were, covered with
two or three fetting nets drawn one over
another. When the dogs attempted to
hunt, their eyes were fo blinded and hood-
winked that thev could not proceed, but
were obliged to lie down and fcrape the
incumbrances from their faces with their
fore-feet." — " As the morning advanced,
the fun became bright and warm, and the
day turned out one of thofe moft loveiv
ones, which no feafon but the autumn
produces; cloudlefs, calm, ferene, and
worth v of the fouth of France itfelf."

" About nine an appearance very un-
ufual began to demand our attention, a
ihower of cobwebs falling from very ele-
vated regions, and continuing without
any interruption till the clofe of day.
Thefe webs were not fmgle filmy threads,
floating in the air in all directions, but

perfect

1J2 OCTOBER.

perfect flakes or rags ; Tome near an inch
broad, and five or fix long. On every
fide as the obferver turned his eyes, might
he behold a continual fucceffion of fieih
flakes falling into his fight, and twinkling
like liars as they turned their fides to-
wards the fun. Neither before nor after
was any fuch mower obfcrved ; but on
this day the flakes hung in the trees and
hedges fo thick that a diligent perfon
might have gathered bafkets full."

The fogs during this month and the
next, are more frequent and thicker than
at any other period of the year. The
reafon of this will be evident from con-
iulering the caufe of fogs. There is a
conftant and very large exhalation from
the furface of the earth at all feafons, of
water in the form of vapour; and the
warmer the ground the greater will be the
evaporation. When the air is warmer,
or even but a little colder than the earth,
the afcent of vapour is not perceptible to
the eye ; but when the temperature of the

air

OCTOBER. 1^3

air is confiderably lower, the vapour as
foon as it rifes is deprived of part of its
heat, the watery particles are brought
more into union, and they become vifible
in the form of fteam ; it is alfo effential
to the formation of fog that there mould
be little or no wind ftirring, in order that
the rifing exhalations may have full op-
portunity to condenfc. The heat of the
middle of the days in autumn is ftill fuf-
ficient to warm the earth and caufe a
large afcent of vapour, which the chilling
froity nights, which are alfo generally
very calm, condenfe into mitts; differing
from clouds only in remaining on the
furface of the ground.

Now by the cool declining year condens'd,
Defcend the copious exhalations, checked
As up the middle iky unfeen they ftole,
And roll the doubling fogs around the hill.
_______..-- Thence expanding far,

The huge dufkj gradual, ivvallows up the plain :
Vanifh the woods j the dim-feen river ieems
Sulkn, and flow, to roll the miity wave.

Even

174 OCTOBER.

Even In the height of noon oppreft, the fun
Sheds weak, and blunt, his wide-refra&ed ray ;
Whence glaring oft, with many abroaden'd orb,
He frights the nations. Indiftin<5r. on earth,
Seen thro-* the turbid air, beyond the life
Objects appear ; and, wilder'd, o'er the walte
The fhepherd ftalks gigantic. Thomson.

This month is the height of the hunt-
ing feafon : the temperature of the wea-
ther being peculiarly favourable to the
fport; and as the produces of the earth
are all got in, little damage is done by the
horfemen in purfuing their chace acrois
the fields.

All now is free as air, and the gay pack
In the rough briftly ftubbles range unblam'd ;
No widow's tears o'erflow, no fecret curfe
Swells in the farmer's breaft, which his pale lips
Trembling conceal, by his fierce landlord aw'd :
But courteous now he levels every fence,
Joins in the common cry, and halloos loud,
CharnVd with the rattling thunder of the field.

SOMERVILLE.

It is ufually in October that the bee-
hives are defpoiled of their honey. As
4 long

OCTOBER. I75

long as flowers are plentiful, the bees
continue adding to their (lore ; but when
thefe fail, they are obliged to fubfift. on
the produce of their fummer labours;
from this time, therefore, the hive de-
creafes in value. Its condition is judged
of by its weight. The common way of
procuring the honey, is by deftroying the
induftrious collectors of it, with the fumes
of burning brimflone. This cruel necef-

o

fity may, however, be prevented by ufing
hives or boxes fo contrived as to exclude
the bees from the different partitions as
they become filled ; or by employing
fumes that will flupify without killing
them. In this cafe enough of the honey
muft be left for their fubfiftence during
winter; but this is found to deduct fo
materially from the profits, as, in a pecu-
niary point of view, to render it a much
lefs eligible way than the ufual one.

In mod of the wine countries of Eu-
rope, the vintage takes place in October.
The grape is one of the latefl fruits in

ripening,

1*]6 OCTOBER.

ripening. When gathered they are imme-
diately prefied, and the juice is fermented
like that of apples in making cyder. A
great variety of wines are produced from
the different kinds of grapes, or the di-
•verfity of climates where they grow. Jn
England, this fruit does not ripen with
fufficient conftancy to be worth cultiva-
tion for the purpofe of making wine.

This month is particularly chofen, on
account of its mild temperature, for the
brewing of malt liquor defigncd for long
keeping, which is therefore commonly
called old Oclober,

The nrfl of the month is the day ap-
pointed, by act of parliament, for the
commencement of the decoy bullnefs,
which about the clofe of October is at
its height. The extenfive marfh-lands of
Lincolnihire are the tra<5t that is chiefly
reforted to in this country by the wild-
ducks, and other water-fowl, and pro-
digious numbers of them are annually

taken in the decoys.

A decoy

OCTOBER. I77

A decoy is generally made where there
is a large unfrequented pond furrounded
by wood, and backed by a marfhy and
uncultivated country. In different quar-
ters of the pond are conftructed pipes as
they are called, or narrow ditches, cover-
ed with a continued arch of netting, and
fufpended on hoops, growing narrower
as they advance into the wood, and ter-
minating in a purfe net. On both fides
of the pipe are reed-hedges with intervals
between, for the decoy-man to obferve
what is going on ; a number of decoy
ducks are alio procured, which are taught
to lead the wild ones into the (hare.

As foon as the evening fets in, the de-
coy rifes and the wild-fowl approach the
mores to feed during the night ; the flap-
ping of their wings may be heard in a
itill night to a great diflance, and is a
pleafing though melancholy found. The
decoy-ducks foon meet with the wild
ones, and conduct them to the mouth of
the fnare : the man behind the reeds then
N throws

I78 OCTOBER.

throws into the pipe fome hempfeed, of
which thefe birds are very fond, and are
thus tempted to advance a little wav un-
der the netting. A very fmall dog well
trained for the purpofe is next ordered to
play about before the fcreens, and bark at
the ducks, who, vexed at being difturbed
by fo petty an affailant, advance to drive
him off. When they have by this means
been feduced a confiderable way up the
tunnel, the decoy-duck by diving gets
out of the arched net, and the man com-
ing from behind the hedge appears at the
entrance of the pipe: the wild-fowl not
daring to rufh by him immediately dafli
forwards into the purfe-net, where they
are taken.

The London market is principally fup-
plied from the Lincolnfhire decoys; ten
of which, near Wainfleet, have been
known to fend to the metropolis, in a
fingle feafon, thirty-one thoufand two
hundred ducks, teals, and wigeons.

The farmer continues to fow his corn

during

OCTOBER. I79

during this month ; and wheat is fre-
quently not all fown till the end of it.
"When the weather is too wet for this
bufinefs he plows up the Hubble fields for
winter fallows. Acorns are fown at this
time, and forefr. and fruit trees are plant-
ed. At the very clofe of the month a few
flowers ftiil cheer the eye ; and there is a
fecond blow of fome kinds, particularly
the woodbine. But the fcent of all thefe
late flowers is comparatively very faint.
The greenhoufe, however, is in high per-
fection at this period, and by its contrail
with the nakednefs of the fields and gar-
den is now doubly grateful.

TJnconfcious of a lefs propitious clime
There blooms exotic beauty, warm and fnug,
While the winds whittle and the mows defcend.
The fpiry myrtle with unwithering leaf
Shines there and flouri(hes. The golden boaft
Of Portugal and Weftern India there,
The ruddier orange and the paler lime,
Peep thro1 their poiifhed foliage at the ftorm,.
And feem to fmile at what they need not fear.
TV amomum there with intermingling flowers
N z And

l8o OCTOBER.

And cherries hangs her twigs. Geranium boafts
Her crimion honours ; mid the fpangied beau,
Jicoides, glitters bright the winter long.
All plants of every leaf that can endure
The winter's frown, if fcreenM from his fhrewd

bite,
Live there and profper. Thofe Aufonia claims,
Levantine regions tbefej th' Azores fend
Their jeflamine, her jeflamine remote
Caffraia j foreigners from many lands,
They form one focial ihade, as if convened
By magic fummons of th' Orphean lyre.

Cowpfr's T?

NOVEMBER.

( iSi )

NOVEMBER.

Now the leaf
IncefTant ruftles from the mournful grove \
Oft ftartling fuch as ftudious walk below j
And (lowly circles thro' the waving air.

As the maturing and difperfing of
feeds was a ftriking character of the laft
month, fo the fall of the leaf diftinguimes
the prefent. From this cilcumitance the
whole declining feafon of the year is of-
ten in common language denominated the
fail. The melancholy fenfations which
attend this gradual death of vegetable na-
ture, by which the trees are dripped of
all their beauty, and left fo many monu-
ments of decay and delblation, forcibly
fuggeft to the reflecting mind an apt
comparifon for the fugitive generations oi
N 3 man

l82 NOVEMBER.

man. This quick fucceflion of fpring-
ing and falling leaves has been thus beau-
tifully applied by Homer.

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the

ground.
Another race the following fpring fupplies,
They fall fucceflive, and fucceflive rife :
So generations in their courfe decay,
So fiourifti thefe, when thofe are paffed away.

Pope's Homer,

The lofs of verdure, together with the

fhortened clays, the diminimed warmth,

and frequent rains, juftify the title of the

gloomy month of November: and it feems

to be felt as fuch by other animals be-

iides man.

In penfive guife,
Oft let me wander o'er the ruffet mead,
And thro' the faddened grove, where fcarce is

heard
One dying drain, to cheer the woodman's toil.
Haply fome widowed fongfter pours his plaint,
Far, in faint warblings, thro' the tawny copfe,
While congregated thrufties, linnets, larks, •
And each wild throat, whofe artlefs drains fo late

Swell'd

NOVEMBER. 183

Swell'd all the mufic of the fwarming fhades,
Robb'd of their tuneful fouls, now fhivering fit
On the dead tree, a dull defpondent flock ;
With not a brightnefs waving o'er their plumes,
And nought fave chattering difcord in their
note. Thomson.

Intervals, however, of clear and pleafant
weather occafionally happen ; and in ge-
neral the autumnal months are, in our
ifland, fofter and lefs variable than the
correfpondent ones in fpring. It long
continues

The pale defcending year, yet pleafing dill.

In fair weather the mornings are (harp ;
but the hoar-froft, or thin ice, foon va-
niihes before the rifing fun.

The lengthened night elaps'd, the morning

mines,
Serene, in all her dewy beauty bright,
Unfolding fair the laft autumnal day,
And now the mounting fun difpels the fog;
The rigid hoar froft melts before his beam j
And hung on every fpray, on every blade
Of grafs, the myriad dew-drops twinkle round.

Thomson.
N 4 Sudden

1 84 NOVEMBER.

Sudden Itorms of wind and rain frequently
occur, which at once (trip the trees of
their faded leaves, and reduce them to
their ftate of winter nakednefs.

O'er the iky the leafy deluge dreams;
Till choak'd and matted with the dreary mower,
The foreft-walks, at every rifing gale,
Roll wide the wither'd waiTe, and whittle bleak.

Thomson .

One of the firft trees that becomes naked
is the walnut, which is quickly fucceeded
bv the mulberry, horfe-cheftnut, fyca-
more, lime, and alh ; the elm retains its
verdure for fome time longer; the beech
and oak are the Iatell deciduous foreft
trees in cafting their leaves: apple and
peach trees often remain green till the
latter end of November ; and pollard
< . , and young beeches, lofe not their
withered leaves, till they are pufhed off
by the new ones of the fucceeding fpring.
The wood- pigeon, or itock-dove, the
lateft in its arrival or" the winter birds of
pafTage, make* it appearance about the

middle

NOVEMBER. 185

middle of the month. When pinched by
hunger it will eat the young tops of tur-
nips, but beech mail is its favourite food ;
and before the old beech woods in the
fouthern parts of the ifland were fo much
thinned, the multitudes of Hock-doves
that annually reforted thither, probably
from Sweden and the north of Germany,
were almoft incredible. They might be
feen, like rooks, in long firings of a thou-
land or more, directing their evening
flight to the thick woods, where they were
lhot in great numbers by the fowlers who
awaited their arrival.

Salmon begin now to afcend the rivers
in order to fpawn ; they are extremely
active hih, and will force their way almoft
to the fources of the mod rapid dreams,
overcoming with furprifmg agility cata-
racts and other obftacles to their paffage.
There are feveral falmon ieaps> as they are
called, both in Wales, Scotland, and Ire-
land; at whicli numbers of nfh are taken
by nets or balkets placed under the fall,

into

1 86 NOVEMBER.

into which they are carried after an un-
fuccefsful leap.

The farmer endeavours to nniih all his
plowing in the courfe of the month, and
then lays up his inflruments till the next
fpring.

Cattle and horfes are taken out of the
exhaufled paftures, and kept in the yard
or ftable. Hogs are put up to fatten.
Sheep are turned into the turnip -field, or
in ftormy weather fed with hay at the
rick.

Bees require to be moved under fhel-
ter, and the pigeons in the dove-houfe to
be fed.

DECEMBER.

( »87 )

DECEMBER.

Oh Winter! ruler of th' inverted year,
Thy fcatter'd hair with fleet like afhes fill'd,
Thy breath congeal'd upon thy lips, thy cheeks
Fring'd with a beard made white with other

mows
Than thofe of age; thy forehead wrapt in clouds,
A leaflets branch thy fceptre, and thy throne
A Aiding car indebted to no wheels,
But urg'd by fronns along its fiipp'ry wayj
I love thee, all unlovely as thou ieem'ft,
And dreaded as thou art. Cowper'sTask.

This month is, in general, the mod
unpleafant of any in the whole year: the
day is rapidly decreafing, and the froft
being feldom fully confirmed till quite
the latter end of the year or the com-
mencement of the next, vapours, and
clouds, and florins form the only vicifli-
tudes of weather, thus fully j unifying the
expreflion in Shakefpear,
The rain and wind beat dark December.

Every

1 88 DECEMBER.

Every change feems only an advance
towards the ftagnation and death of na-
ture, towards univerfal gloom and defo-
lation.

No mark of vegetable life is feen,

No bird to bird repeats his tuneful call,

Save the dark leaves of fome rude evergreen,
Save the lone redbreaft on the mofs - grown
wall. Scott.

Several of the wild quadrupeds and am-
phibious animals now retire to their win-
ter quarters, which they never, or but
ieldom, quit till the return of fpring. Of
thefe fome lay up no (lores of provifion,
and therefore become entirely torpid till
the warm weather brings out them and
their food at the fame time. To this clafs
belong the frog, the lizard, the badger,
hedge-hog, and bat, all of which feed on
infe£t.s or vegetables. Hie frog flickers
itfelf in the mud at the bottom of ponds
and ditches ; the lizard, badger, and
hedge-hog, retire to holes in the earth ;
and the bat makes choice of caverns,

barns,

3

DECEMBER. 1 89

barns, deferted houfes, and coal-pit (hafts,
where it remains fufpended by the claws
of its hind feet, and clofely wrapt up in
the membranes of the fore-feet. Bats,
however, are obferved to be flirring at all
times of the year, when the warmth of
the evening is equal to 50 degrees of the
thermometer ; and a heat of 45 degrees
is found fufficient to revive the various
fpecies of gnats, which are the favourite
food of this animal.

Dormice alfo lie torpid the greater part
of the winter, though they lav up consi-
derable ftores of food ; an occafional warm
day revives them, when they eat a little,
but foon relapfe into their former condi-
tion.

Squirrels, water-rats, and field-mice,
provide large magazines of provifion, the
former of nuts, the others of acorns, po-
tatoes, &c. They are not known to be-
come torpid, though they ftir but little
abroad, and probably fleep more at this

time than in the fummer.

The

I go DECEMBER.

The immediate caufe of torpidity in ani-
mals cannot perhaps be very fatisfadtorily
explained ; there are, however, certain
well-known facls which appear evidently
to point out how effential a certain degree
of cold is to the production of this effect.

If a frog be immerfed in water at 32
degrees, or the freezing point, it becomes
perfectly torpid in a few moments; and
the gradual application of a warmth of
50 degrees will in a fhort time reflore it
to a Hate of activity : in man the efTecl
of immerfion in cold water, and of cold in
general, is to render the pulfations of the
heart lefs frequent ; and if increafed to a
certain degree, to bring on a deep torpid
fleep: in all the known inilances, indeed,
the termination to this fleep has been
death ; though reafoning from analogy,
there feems no reafon to fuppofe that tor-
por gradually brought on, and in circum-
stances where the body is excluded from a
continual change of frefh cold air, mould
be attended with fuch fatal confequences.

The
8

DECEMBER. I9I

The only vegetables which now flou-
rifh, are feveral fpecies of moiTes and
lichens, or liverworts. The mofTes put
forth their minute parts of fructification
during the winter months, and offer a
curious fpeclacle to the botanift at a time
when the reft of nature is dead to him.
There are fpecies of moflfes adapted to
every variety of fituation, but they are
very little, if at all, ufed in commerce,
domeftic economy, or as food either for
man or beaft. Lichens cover ditch-
banks, heaths, walls, rocks, and other
neglected places, with a fcaly, branched,
or leather-like fubftance ; the different
fpecies of which have been applied to
feveral important purpofes. One kind,
confifting of white flexible branches co-
vering the tops of the higheft mountains
in this ifland, and overfpreading the fur-
face of the ground in Norway and Lap-
land, is called the Rhendeer lichen ; from
its being the fole winter fubfiftence of
the rhendeer, the domeftic cattle of the

Laplanders.

lyZ DECEMBER.

Laplanders. The Iceland lichen, another
fpecies, is ufed when frefli medicinally as
a purgative, hut when dried is no con-
temptible fubftitute for bread to the in-
habitants of the arctic regions : it is mix-
ed with either boiling milk or water, both
of which it turns to a thick gruel-like
confidence, affording a good deal of nou-
rifhment. Many kinds arc made ufe of
as dying drugs, with considerable fuccefs;
efpecially a grey one that is found in the
Canary iflands, known in commerce by
the name of archil, and much e (teemed
for its rich purple dye, fugitive indeed,
but extremely beautiful, and ufed for
giving a luftre to iilks.

Lichens are alfo of conilderable fer-
vice in the economy of nature, in forming
upon barren places a flratum of vegetable
mould for the fupport of larger and more
ufeful plants. If a cattle or other edifice,
by being deferted and ruined, returns to
the dominion of nature, it loon becomes
covered with the various kinds of lichens,

which

DECEMBER. fgt

which deriving almoft their whole nou-
rifhment from the air and rain will readily
grow on a bare rock. After fome gene-
rations of thefe have grown up and de-
cayed, the crevices become filled with a
fine mould fufficient for the fupport of
moffes and other minute plants. Thefe
fucceftively decaying add to the collec-
tion of earth, which at length fuffices for
the fupply of a few winged feeds of afh
or fycamore, the minute fibres of whofe
roots infinuating themfelves into the fmall
interftices formed by time or the injuries
of the weather, derive thence frefh nou-
rishment, and bv their gradual enlarge-
ment at length fplit in pieces and over-
throw the moft mafly towers.

On the 2 1 ft of December happens the
winter Jbi/iice, or fhorteft day ; when the
fun is fomething lefs than eight hours
above the horizon even in the fouthern
parts of the ifland. Soon after this, froft
and fnow generally begin to fet in for the
reft of the winter. The farmer has little
O to

10,4 DECEMBER.

to do out of doors in the courfe of this
month. His principal attention is be-
ftowed on the feeding and management of
his cattle, and various matters of houfe-
hold economy.

The feftival of Chriftmas occurs very
feafonably to cheer this comfortlefs pe-
riod. Great preparations are made for it
in the country, and plenty of ruftic dain-
ties are provided for its celebration ac-
cording to the rites of antient hofpitality.
The old year fteals away unlamented and
fcarcely perceived ; and a new one begins
with lengthening days and brighter fkies,
jnfpiring frefh hopes and pleafing expec-
tations.

Thefe naked {hoots
Barren as lances, among which the wind
Makes wintry mufic, fighing as it goes,
Shall put their graceful foliage on again,
And more afpiring, and with ampler fpread,
Shall boaft new charms, and more than they

have loft.
Then, each in its peculiar honours clad,
Shall publifh even to the diftant eye

Its family andtribe. Laburnum rich

q In

DECEMBER. I95

In ftreaming gold $ fyringa iv'ry-pure ;
The fcented and the fcentlefs rofe j this red
And of an humbler growth, the other tall,
And throwing up into the darkeft gloom
Of neighbouring cyprefs or more fable yew,
Her fdver globes, light as the foamy furf
That the wind fevers from the broken wave,
Althea with the purple eye, the broom
Yellow and bright as bullion unalloy'd,
Herbloflbms, and luxuriant above all
Thejafmine, throwing wide her elegant fweets,
The deep dark green of whofe unvarninYd leaf
Makes more confpicuous and illumines more
The bright profuiion of her fcatter'd ftars.
Thefe have been, and thefe fhall be in their day,
And all this uniform uncoloured fcene
Shall be difmantled of its fleecy load,
And nufh into variety again.

Cowpeh's Task..

O 2 Oil

{ i96 )

On the SUN's Paflage through the
Signs of the ZODIAC.

The Zodiac is an imaginary broad cir-
cle in the heavens, within which all the
planets have their paths. The central
line of this circle is called the Ecliptic, or
apparent path of the fun in its annual
courfe. It is, however, the real path of
the earth, as viewed from the fun. The
zodiac is divided into twelve parts of 30
degrees each, called Jigns, from the cluf-
ters of ftars, or conftellations, through
which it paries. Thefe figns have all
been diftinguifhed by imaginary figures,
which are traced out upon the celeftial
globe, and which give name to them.
They form, therefore, an agronomical
calendar of 12 folar months, which in the
following manner correfpond with the

common reckoning of the months,

6 The

( 197 )

The Sun enters into

Aries, or the Ram .. March 20.

Taurus, or the Bull April 19.

Gemi k 1, or the Twins May 21.

Cancer, or the Crab June 22.

Leo, or the Lion July 23.

Virgo, or the Virgin Auguft 23.

Libra, or the Balance . September 23.

Scorpio, or the Scorpion October 23.

Sagittarius, or the Archer ... . November 22,

Capricornus, or the Wild Goat. . December 2z.

Aquarius, or the fVaterer. January 19.

Piscts, or the Fijhes February 18,

THE END.

( 198 )

Explanation of the Plate.

Let S reprefent the fun; A BCD
the earth's orbit ; N S her axis : E Q_the
equator; and the figures diftinguifhed by
the months March, June, September,
and December, four different pofitions
of the earth in her annual motion round
the fun. In confequence of the inclina-
tion of the earth's axis, which is always
directed to nearly the fame point in the
heavens, and is therefore always nearly
parallel to itfelf in every part of the earth's
orbit round the fun, it will appear, that
in the months of March and September
the terminating circle of light and dark-
nefs on the globe will pafs through the
two poles, producing equal day and night
in all parts of it, which feafons are called
the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. But
in the month of June, at the time called

the

( *99 )

the fummer folftice, the terminating cir-
cle leaves the north pole a great way in
the light, and the fouth pole equally in
«darknefs, thereby producing fummer, or
long days, to all the parts of the northern
hemifphere; and winter, or iliort days,
to all thofe of the fouthern. In Decem-
ber, or at the winter folftice, on the con-
trary, the north pole is in darknefs, and
the fouth pole in light ; confequently the
feafons in each hemifphere are the reverfe
of the former ftate.