The Work Of Nature In The Months.

the Lesser Celandine or Pilewort . The child on " buttercups and daisies bent , will often find , instead of the former favourite , — " The vernal l'ilewort ' s globe unfold Its star-like disk of burnished gold ; Starlike in seeming form , from far It shines too like a glistening star . " The Lesser Celandine iswith the exception of the Dandelion , the most gorgeous

, of our early flowers , and from this time to the end of May every bank is glowing with its golden bloom . Soon , then , may we make our Spring-tide garland" Wreath'd of the sunny Celandine—the brief Courageous Wild-flower , loveliest of the frail—The Hazel's crimson star—the Woodbine ' s leaf—The Daisy with its half-closed eye of grief ; Prophets of fragrance , beauty , joy , and song . ''

Well chosen epithet of our friend is " sunny , " for it opens only on bright days . A pity it is , though , that it is not as useful as beautiful , but truth compels us to own that it is not , ancl to recognize the justice of the Farmer ' s endeavour to eradicate it from his pasture , as he would , if he could , the closely-allied acrimonious Buttercup . And yet we ought not to condemn it hastily , nor judge it harshly , for its roots possess medicinal properties , and its young leaves ( Professor Martyn says ) may be caton in Spring . But

surely we ought not to adjudge everything useless that we cannot eat , but rather praise the Creator who deigns to create things which He intends merely to gladden our sight . Even the leaves of the plant are very beautiful , with their spots of tender green on their darker heart-shaped ground . We ought to notice that its flowers not merely only open on sunshiny days , but that they regularly close from five in the evening till nine on the following morning .

Another yellow-blooming plant is the Coltsfoot , which is , although a sore trial to cultivators of the soil , on account of the creeping character of the roots , and the abundant and easily dispersed seed , still a very useful plant ; useful iu that where , else , would he left hare and unseemly patches of newly-turned earth , or "barren and ugly heaps of rubbish , such , for instance , as the slopes of embankments , and the sides of railway cuttings , the ground is almost immediately covered with a soft and verdant

carpet , enlivened in the very earliest Spring , by the golden blossoms of this free-growing plant . One of the peculiarities of the Coltsfoot is that its hlossoms appear long before the foliage . Another remarkable thing concerning it is mentioned by Curtis , which is that , as soon as the flower is out of bloom , and the seeds , with the pappus or down as yet moist , are enclosed in the flower-cup , the heads hang down ; but as the moisture of the seeds and down evaporates in withering , they become lighter , and the ball of feathery seeds expandsaud assumes the appearance of a Dandelion puff . Besides being

, useful as an ornament , this plant is extensively employed medicinally ; in the various forms of tea , lozenge , and the like , it is considered an excellent remedy for coughs ; another mode of employing it for this purpose is by smoking the leaves like tobacco ; this practise is extremely ancient , for Pliny recommends that the foliage should he burned , and its smoke drawn into the mouth through a reed and swallowed . In the days of our grandmothers , when the lucifer-match was unknown , and fire could only heoh tained also

hy a laborious and patient application of the steel to the flint ( and to the knuckles sometimes ) to procure a spark , which , spark had to be received into tinder , the dried leaf of the Coltsfoot was often used for the purpose on account of the thick cotton )' down with which it is covered . The Tartars to rid themselves of the gnats , which with them are very troublesome , frequently burn touchwood , using the dried roots ol this plant for that purpose .

Along the sides of the paths and roads wc can everywhere see the bloom or w ^ Annual Meadow Grass , whilst we may find an early Violet in some sheltered spot , f the season he an early one ; we will not , however , pause to notice this prime favoui'iK of Spring just now , as it is a little out of season , but will pass on to one of the 1110 s