twigs are of great use in dyeing woollen, silk, and mohair black. The leaves are very astringent; and silk worms will sometimes eat them when mulberry leaves cannot be procured. The mountain bramble or cloud-berry, another member of the same family, should not be contemned. It is an elegant plant, with an upright stem hardly a foot high. The berries are of a tawny or dull orange colour; they are acid, mucilaginous, and not unpleasant. Being found upon the highest mountains in various parts of Europe, they have been called Cloud-berries. They bloom in June, soon after the snow dissolves, and are hardly ripened before the plant is again overwhelmed with its wintery covering. The snow preserves the fruit, and the Scotch Highlanders hold it in great esteem on account of its long duration. They have something of the flavour of tamarinds, and are thought to be antiscorbutic. The Norwegians pack them up in wooden vessels, and send them to Stockholm, where they are served up in desserts, or made into tarts: and the poor Laplanders bruise and eat them with the milk of the reindeer. It is remarkable that all these bushes are sufficiently hardy to bear fruit to perfection in this country. Our own common raspberry is propagated by suckers, but is better when raised from layers, and should be planted in a fresh strong loam. The Virginian raspberry deserves attention; it is easily increased by suckers, and only requires to be restrained within proper bounds. The youngest plants produce the finest flowers and fruit; for which reason, and also for the largeness and elegant form of the leaves, it has long had a place in our ornamental plantations. The brambles put out roots at every joint, and will thrive in any soil or situation.

STRAWBERRY-BUSH (fragaria vesca). The common species of this fruit obtained its name from the running stems which, in the language of our fore

fathers, were strawed or strewed over the ground, and the fruit of which had been inadvertently called a berry. The appearance of this humble bush and the excellence of the fruit it bears are well pourtrayed in the following plaintive lines:

The strawberry blooms upon its lowly bed:
51. Plant of my native soil! The lime may fling
More potent fragrance on the zephyrs wing,
The milky cocoa richer juices shed,

The white guava lovelier blossoms spread;
But not, like thee, to fond remembrance bring
The vanished hours of life's enchanting spring;
Short calendar of joys for ever fled!

Thou bid'st the scenes of childhood rise to view
The wild wood path which fancy loves to trace,
Where, veiled in leaves thy fruits of rosy hue,
Lurked on a pliant stem with modest grace,

It would be impossible to notice all the sorts of this delicate and salutary fruit, and improper not to mention the most remarkable. The first of these is the Common Wood strawberry; the fruit of which is small and generally red. In England, where it is too much shaded by woods and hedges, it generally has but little flavour; though, in warmer countries, it becomes larger and higher flavoured. There is a subordinate variety of this sort called the White Woodstrawberry, which ripens rather later in the season. This is often preferred for its quick flavour; but, as it is less productive than the other, is not so much cultivated. The Alpine strawberry-bush is taller than either of these: the fruit is larger, and both red and white. This is a very valuable kind, continuing in fruit from June till the autumn frosts set in; and on this account, the Dutch call it Everlasting strawberry. The rough-fruited kind of strawberry is merely an accidental variety. The Hautboy is the kind most cultivated in England. This will soon degenerate where neglected; but, when well managed in a good soil, will produce a great quantity of large well-flavoured fruit. The Chili strawberry yields plenty of firm,

well-flavoured fruit; but, being unproductive, has been generally neglected. The Scarlet strawberry, which differs very much from the common sort in leaf, flower, and fruit, is the first strawberry that becomes ripe, and is also thought to be the best kind now known. The Pine strawberry has something of the smell and taste of the pine-apple. Strawberries, either eaten separately or with sugar and milk, are universally esteemed a most delicious fruit. They are grateful and cooling, and seldom disagree with the stomach, even when taken in large quantities. They promote perspiration, and have been known to give great relief in the gout and stone, when eaten daily. The first physicians have successfully prescribed them for consumptive habits. The strawberry surpasses the raspberry as a dissolver of the tartar which destroys the teeth, but requires more care in the cultivation. They grow best in a delicate loam, and will not bear much fruit in a light soil. The low growth and nature of this creeping plant are noticed by SHAKSPEARE, who says, Henry V, act 1, sc. 1,

The Strawberry grows underneath the Nettle,

And wholesome berries thrive and ripeu best,
Neighboured by fruit of baser quality.

The same poet, in a passage which he has versified from one of our old historians, has preserved a fact by which it is proved that this fruit has been cultivated in London, at least, ever since the reign of Richard the Third. See the play of that name, act 3, sc. 4, where Gloster thus addresses the Bishop of Ely:

My Lord of Ely, when I was last in HOLBORN,

I saw good Strawberries in your garden there;
I do beseech you send for some of them.

We shall conclude the praises of the Strawberry with the quaint saying of an old writer: GoD might have made a better berry than the strawberry, but certainly he never did.

OCTOBER.

THIS month was called Domitianus in the time of Domitian; but after his death, by the decree of the Senate, it took the name of October, every one hating the name and memory of so detestable a tyrant. It was called wyn-monat, or wine month, by the Saxons.

Remarkable Days

In OCTOBER 1819.

1.-SAINT REMIGIUS.

REMIGIUS was born at Landen, where he so closely pursued his studies, that he was supposed to lead a monastic life. After the death of Bennadius, he was, on account of his exemplary piety and extraordinary learning, chosen bishop of Rheims. Having held his bishopric 74 years, he died at 96 years of age. A.D. 535.

*3.-FIRST SUNDAY IN OCTOBER.

On this day, formerly, was held throughout the kingdom, established by a decree of convocation, in the twenty-eighth year of Henry VIII, THE FEAST OF DEDICATION OF CHURCHES. This, however, we believe, is no where observed now, each parish having its Feast, or Wake, on the Sunday after the saint's day to whom its church is dedicated. These yearly feasts have both their advantages and evils. They are useful, as a fixed and known time for the relations and friends of the inhabitants of the respective villages to pay their annual visits, at a period when preparations are made for their reception; and thus the trouble and expence of this one festival suffices for the ensuing year. Their evils are, that even this expence is often such as some can ill afford, together with the vanity of dress, the drinking, gaming, dancing, and its too frequent bad consequences, which attend them. (See Wheatley on the Com. Prayer, ch. ii, 3, 6.)

*3. 1812.-MOSCOW BURNT.

6. SAINT FAITH.

This virgin martyr suffered death under Dacianus, about the year 290, the most cruel torments being inflicted upon her.

9. SAINT DENYS.

Saint Denys, or Dionysius, the Areopagite, was converted to Christianity by St. Paul. See Acts xvii. He was, at first, one of the Judges of the celebrated court of the Areopagus, but was afterwards made Bishop of Athens, where he suffered martyrdom for the sake of the gospel.

In our last year's volume, we gave Mr. Eustace's description of the abbey erected to the honour of this saint, as it appeared in 1790, and again in 1802: in addition to which, an account of this celebrated structure in 1643, written by Mr. John Evelyn (well-known as the author of the Sylva'), may not be unacceptable to our readers.

4

'The church,' says Mr. E. 'is now 390 foote long, 100 in bredth, and 80 in height, without comprehending the cover; it has a very high shaft of stone, and the gates are of brasse. In the choir are the sepulchres of the most antient kings: without it are many more: amongst the rest, that of Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France, in the Chapell of Chas. V, all his posterity, and neere him the magnificent sepulchre of Francis I, with his children, warres, victories, and triumphs, engraven in marble. Above are bodies of several saints; below, under a state of black velvet, the late Lewis XIII. Every one of the ten chapels, or oratories, had some saints in them; among the rest, one of the Holy Innocents. The treasury is in the sacristy above, in which are crosses of massy gold and silver, studded with precious stones, one of gold three feet high. Amongst the still more valuable reliques are a naile from our Saviour's Cross, in a box of gold, full of precious stones; a crucifix of the true wood of the Crosse, carved by Pope Clement III,