The Work Of Nature In The Months.

Yon tiny bud is holding fast Gay Flora ' s fairest gem , Let the sunlight stay and the shower go past , And the wee green bud shall blaze at last ; The pride of her diadem .

The sower casts in the early year The grains of barley corn And barns and barrels of goodly cheer Of winter ' s bread and nut-brown beer From the infant seed are bom . The Poet-ehant may be a thing

Of lightsome tone and word ; But a liviug soul may dwell in the string , That shall waken and rouse as its echoes flin Till myriad breasts are stirred . Look well , look close , look deep , look long , Ou the changes ruling earth , And ye'U find God ' s rarest , holiest throng Of mortal wonders—strange and strong—Arise from noteless birth .

Fate drives a poor and slender peg , But a crown may hang thereby ; We may kill an eagle when crushing an egg , And the shilling a starving boy may beg May be stamped with Fortune's die . Tis well to train our searching eyes ,

To marvel , and not to mock ; For the nameless steed may win the prize , The " wee" child . grow to giant size , And the atom found a rock . ' ' One other thought—how many of us over dream of the angel-germ bound up now in these cold-clay forms of ours , to burst one clay into an eternal spring of brightness or of sorrow , according to the culture we bestow upon it now in these winter days of oui earthl y sojourn 1

And now let us turn our thoughts from Nature ' s teachings to the few early treasures that alread y bestrew her lap . Whilst searching for her richer gifts let us not forget to respectfull y mention our staunch old friends , the Chickweed ancl Groundsel ! , that afford their daily meal to our feathered friends , nor the equally constant Dead Kettle . Close to this last , on a heap of stones , we may p erhaps find one of the tribe of Hellebores . ¦ Perhaps , the most beautiful is the Black Hellebore or " Christmas Bose , ' ' such a favourite in our gardensfrom its flowering in mid-winter . Another garden variety is

, the Winter Hellebore , or Aconite , with its beautiful yellow blossoms . The kinds that we shall find wild are the Stinking and Green Hellebores , which grow freely in chalk y districts . The former of these is a free bloomer , with a leafy stem ; its flowers are o l'een , slightly tinged with purple ; it derives its name from its extremely disagreeable 'Well . The latter variety has also a leafy stem , but bears but few flowers ; these loiveyer , are large , and are of a greenish-yellow colour . Formerly , the Hellebores were neld

in great esteem b y medical men , latterly they have fallen in their esteem , though le y are still employed in mental disorders . In excessive doses this plant acts as a 11 ; » cotic-acrid poison . ; - ii ^ tant relative of these somewhat disagreeable * if sometimes useful famil y 18 the "herald of the gentlest gales , "