"don't you remember you brought it home to me the day you walked to Nanny Doodle's cottage ?"

"Yes, it is very abundant in Moor Lane," replied her uncle, "but this is not a particularly fine specimen, though it certainly has retained its colour well. In some of our deep watercourses amongst the hills I have seen it seven or eight feet high, and bearing a succession of very bright and large flowers to the very summit of the stem."

Why are there no cowslips about here, Uncle John ?” inquired Harry; "there are such loads at Mr. Knight's." "The reason is, my boy, that cowslips, like misletoe which is also absent from this locality, and many other plants are attached to calcareous soils. There is little or no lime in the soil about here, but at Mr. Knight's I believe you are in a chalk soil. Although in general absent from Devon and Cornwall, yet the cowslip occurs in those counties in many places where there is little lime. The foxglove on the contrary always avoids a calcareous soil, and that is the reason of its being so abundant about Earlswood. It is very interesting to trace the connection between geology and botany, and one of the uses of making catalogues or local lists of plants, is to show the species which are prevalent in certain localities. There is a vast difference in the Flora of inland and maritime situations also, and when next you go to the seaside, if you look about you you will observe an immense number of plants you never see here. The pretty pink thrift that Maggie has as an edging to her little garden, is a sea-side plant, and is never found growing wild inland, except on the summits of some of the Scotch mountains. It must have existed as a sea-side plant when those mountains formed islands during the glacial epoch, at which period the greater portion of England and Scotland were submerged beneath the sea. The subsequent elevation of the land has left the thrift, and some other plants isolated on the summits of those mountains where it is now found."

"I saw the other day in some book I was reading, that there is an old saying that nightingales and cowslips are always found together; is it true, uncle ?" asked Ellen.

"Well, it is certainly curious that the sweet songster seldom visits us, but there are many places where cowslips occur which are not visited by nightingales, and vice versa. There is much that is interesting about the cowslip besides its distribution," continued Mr. Russell, "many botanists, with good reason, believe it to be a variety of the primrose. If you examine a common wild primrose in flower, you will perceive that it has no distinct stem. The internodes are left out, and the leaves are crowded together, the flowers being borne in their axils. Sometimes however the flowers are borne in an umbel on a tall scape, and then it is called an oxlip. Frequently in gardens the oxlip becomes coloured deep red, and then it rapidly passes into the polyanthus of gardeners. The cowslip when wild has small drooping flowers with the calyces larger than the corollas, but in gardens the flowers become erect, and often coloured dark red, almost imperceptibly gliding into the polyanthus. In fact you can trace every gradation between the primrose, oxlip, polyanthus, and cowslip in some gardens."

"What, botanizing again ?" exclaimed Mrs. Harris, entering the room with Willie in her arms. "Here is a fine specimen for you, Uncle John," and she placed her little son on the table in front of his uncle.

"That boy is much too heavy for you, mother," cried Tom," he really is too old to be carried about.”

"Yes, you make such a baby of him," muttered Harry, who, to say the truth, great big boy as he was, felt slightly jealous of his little brother.

"I want a flower," cried Willie, ruthlessly seizing hold of some of poor Nelly's specimens. "Do give me one, muddie."

"Oh, do not let him spoil my plants," cried Ellen in dismay; "mamma, please to take him away."

"No, we will give him this fine scarlet poppy to pull to pieces, as we have several other specimens, and then I will put the rest of the plants out of his reach, and finish mounting them on paper for you this evening," and Uncle John cleared the table of all the plants, and taking Willie on his knee, commenced to play with him.

"I have been looking after your interests, boys," said Mrs. Harris, "and you will have a grand hamper to take away with you this time; I thought you might like to see its contents."

"That's a jolly old mum," cried Tom, jumping up, hope there is no end of Devonshire cream."

66

Well, you had better come and see what I have got for you." And Mrs. Harris went off followed by Tom and Harry, and Willie scrambling off Uncle John's knee, ran after them as fast as his little fat legs would carry him.

66

Boys, take care you are not late for the train," were Mr. Harris's last words as he departed to his business on Monday morning.

"Yes, I'll see they are off in time," said Mrs. Harris. "Really, Tom, you must finish your packing."

"Then come up stairs and help me, mother," replied Tom, putting her arm through his own; "I do really believe," he continued, "that you'll be glad to get rid of us after all, you are in such a hurry to see us off."

"No, my boy, but it would vex your father if you were late."

The packing completed, Tom ran down to have a few last words with Nelly.

'Well, old girl, you'll be up and about by Christmas, I hope, and then we'll have some jolly fun; acting, and all sorts of games, besides more lectures from Uncle John."

66

Yes; I shall look forward very much to the next holidays," said Ellen, sadly; "I feel so sorry you are going away now."

"It is a horrid bother," growled Tom, "I don't think I ever hated going away more. Father might just as well let us stay another week, as the boys hardly ever go back on the day fixed."

"You are coming home at Michaelmas for the wedding, so I expect mamma did not like to beg for you to stay any longer now," said Ellen.

"There's the dog-cart; I must shout for Harry, for we should get into a jolly row if we were late."

Good-bye, Uncle John, we're off," cried Harry,

knocking at the green-room door, and putting in his bead.

"Oh, I'll come down with you," replied his uncle, and he followed him down stairs, where nearly all the family were assembled in the hall to see the last of the boys.

The good-byes were all said, the boys had departed, and there seemed to be a gloom over the whole house. Nelly was very sad, she lay on her sofa quite depressed and out of spirits, and unable to settle down to anything all the morning. Uncle John, with his usual kindness, thinking this was likely to be the case, laid aside his own books, and came down to sit with her. He was greeted with a quiet smile from his little niece.

"Uncle," she said, as he sat down by her side, “the boys have had such pleasant holidays this time, and we must thank you for them; we've all been so happy together, and have never been dull for one moment, because the botany has given us 'Something to do.""

Reviews and Notices.

Various periodicals claim our attention this month. The Monthly Packet (Mozley) has certainly improved in the quality of its contents since it has increased in size. The tales especially have begun to get beyond the walls of the schoolroom, to which they were chiefly confined before, and touch on matters of interest to all persons. The portion given of "Lilla's Relations" for May is extremely good, and the " English Family in Germany again" contains scenes which are thoroughly true to life. There is however, we think, room for great improvement in those miscellaneous portions of the Magazine which deal chiefly with the treatment of the poor and parochial work,—the questions raised are for the most part so exceedingly trifling that none who know anything of the deep necessities, spiritual and temporal, of the lower orders could have much patience to study them. Even the youngest and the feeblest among us may find some true work to do in the midst of the awful mass of suffering and evil that surrounds us, and it seems to us something worse than a waste of time, to stop and consider whether a person

working among the poor is to be called "Miss," "Ma'am," or "Teacher," with similar questions which have been raised by "Mrs. Montgomery" and other correspondents. If this lady really exists and is not as seems more likely a fictitious personage, it is much to be wished for her own sake that she may learn very speedily to look a little deeper into the real wants and sorrows of the poor, and gain some insight into the great power to benefit them, which any individual may have who will forget self and see in them only the representatives of Him who for our sakes became poor.

The new missionary magazine, The Net, (Lothian and Co., London,) is fulfilling the promise of its prospectus to the full, and is likely to prove a really valuable agent on behalf of the Church's missions, as it contains much information respecting them which could not be easily gained elsewhere. We regret, however, to see that the design on its title-page which was at first so appropriate and suggestive in all its details, has been exchanged for a much more rude and common-place drawing, in all respects inferior to the other.

Mrs. Alfred Gatty, the well-known author of "Parables of Nature," &c., comes before the public as the editor of a new periodical entitled Aunt Judy's Magazine (Bell and Daldy, London,) and designed for young children: it appears to differ from the "Magazine for the Young," in its choice of a wider range of subjects and in being a less distinctively religious periodical. Mrs. Gatty has no small amount of talent and ability at command in her own family, and one of the best stories in the first number is by her daughter, the original "Aunt Judy" of the "Monthly Packet." Judging from this first specimen, the 'Memoranda" for each month are likely to prove really useful, and we have no doubt that this new venture will commend itself to the little ones on whose behalf it is launched into the world.

Conversations on the History of England, for the use of Children, by C. A. B., edited by the Rev. John Baines, (Masters, London,) has the merit of being thoroughly agreeable as well as instructive reading for children. Much care has evidently been taken by the author to insure correctness as to facts, and she has interspersed the drier details with anecdotes which will prove very attractive to young readers. The tone of the whole is excellent; and vexed questions of religion or politics are touched upon with tact and delicacy. We are glad cordially to recommend this little work.