Everyday Objects; Or, Picturesque Aspects of Natural History.

APPENDIX. "A good that never satisfies the mind, A beauty fading like the April flowers, A sweet with floods of gall that runs combined, A pleasure passing ere in thought made ours, An honour that more fickle is than wind, A glory at opinion's frown that lowers, A treasury which bankrupt Time devours, A knowledge than grave ignorance more blind, A vain delight our equals to command, A style of greatness in effect a dream, A swelling thought of holding sea and land, A servile lot, decked with a pompous name; Are the strange ends we toil for here below, Till wisest death make us our urns know." But the poet, while taking this despondent view of life, forgets—not only that it is an opportunity, but—that it is the first stage of an eternal existence, and that the progress begun now shall be continued hereafter, when the mind, freed from its material clogs, shall enter upon the full fruition of its wondrous powers. And however brief it may be, is it not better it should be devoted to noble work than to ignoble idleness? Is it not better to use it as a time of preparation than to waste it in empty pleasures? To the despairing wail of the poet just quoted we would oppose, as far worthier of a gallant spirit, Ben Jonson's admirable conclusions:— "It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make men better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere. A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night; It was the plant and flower of light. In small proportions we just beauties see, And in short measure life may perfect be." This is the true philosophy; to make our life as perfect as our faculties will permit, and to look upon it as the introduction to a grander life, where the problems here discussed shall find a satisfactory solution. "Oh for the time when in our seraph wings We veil our brows before the Eternal Throne— The day when, drinking knowledge at its springs, We know as we are known." Let us beware, however, when we devote our life to the pursuit of wisdom, that we do not make a false start. Do not let us diverge into the narrow way of bigotry and dogma. It is the property of exclusive and intolerant error to dominate and to reign alone. For this reason we systematically refuse and reject all control; and it is thus men have been fatally led to lay a rash hand upon intellectual liberty,—liberty, which the All-wise Himself has refrained from touching! Such is the early taint of our race, the moral situation of humanity. But retribution has followed close upon this violation of all that is most sacred in our human world. The schools of philosophy, and the infallible creeds, founded upon authority to the exclusion of all mental and spiritual freedom, have never ceased to be at war with one another, and instead of labouring for that union which is strength,—that union so necessary to the happiness and advancement of humanity,—they have everywhere sown irreconcilable antipathies and bloody discords. Such is the religion of those who, under a pretence of worshipping God, worship only themselves! History affords us abundant illustrations of this melancholy truth. Finally, let us return to our metamorphosis. The butterfly, which the Greeks designated by the same word as the soul, ψυχή, springs, like every living creature, from an egg. But see what a transformation this egg undergoes! It becomes a caterpillar—a transitory form of animal life, remarkable for its voracity; this caterpillar is in its turn transformed; it grows into a chrysalis,—a temporary tomb, and whence issues the winged insect, alone adapted to the discharge of all the functions of a perfect animal. Gluttonous and greedy of enjoyment, the caterpillar lived for itself. So the caterpillar has no sex; while the butterfly hovers from flower to flower, has to seek therein its own nourishment, there to find the companion with whom its being is to be united. This metamorphosis impresses the observer; principally because its periods are so distinct, and are so plainly marked by stages, which have all the appearance of veritable species. But he would greatly err if he thought it confined to a certain class of insects. All insects,—nay, more, all animals, including man himself,—undergo certain transformations in the course of their lives. Metamorphosis plays an important part in the unity of the general scheme of Creative Thought. If it is not always recognised, the reason is, that its phases are not boldly marked, that the periods blend into one another, that the various stages are effaced in the continuousness of the transformation. But let not this continuity prevent the observer from detecting or discerning in that which is, that which is to come . In the caterpillar he must learn to see the chrysalis; in the chrysalis he must be ready to recognise the future butterfly. And in all these changes the thoughtful mind may acknowledge a significant emblem of that immortality of the soul, that final transformation of humanity, which the Word of God has promised to us:— "Child of the sun! pursue thy rapturous flight, Mingling with her thou lov'st in fields of light; And, where the fields of Paradise unfold, Quaff fragrant nectars from their cups of gold. There shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky, Expand and shut with silent ecstasy! Yet wert thou once a worm, a thing that crept On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept. And such is man; soon from his cell of clay To burst a seraph in the blaze of day." [92] To assure ourselves by observation that, in living matter, there are organs irrevocably destined to decay or disappear, while others incline and grow towards perfection, is certainly one of the noblest studies imaginable. If philosophers, instead of employing their time in profitless speculations, devoted themselves to the examination of the great Book of Nature, God's second revelation, they would long ago have discovered what they are still seeking. And we should now know how to distinguish, in man as in the insect, the rudimentary condition of his future life; and the belief in the immortality of the soul would not only be the creed of the Christian, but a scientific truth. APPENDIX. ———◇——— The Solar Eclipse of 1870. The total Solar Eclipse, which is to render famous the month of December in the present year—famous, that is, in astronomical annals—deserves, we think, some special notice in our pages. In 1860, the Himalaya was fitted out by Government for the use of the savants desirous of observing the Solar Eclipse visible that year in Spain, and the results of the expedition were so important as fully to warrant the liberality of the Government. The eclipse of the present year will also be visible in Spain, but the path of the sun's shadow will pass as far north as Cape Spartel, and, crossing Algeria, will go northwards, via Sicily, and in the direction of Constantinople. The totality of the eclipse will not last so long as that of the Indian eclipse in 1868. The sun will be hidden from sight for no longer period than about two minutes twelve seconds, and whatever observations our astronomers are anxious to make must be made in that brief interval. It may not unreasonably be suggested that, in so short a time, no data can be ascertained worth the cost and trouble the proposed expedition will necessitate; but the reader requires to be informed that the most valuable acquisitions lately won in the region of solar physics have been the result of observations which may almost be described as momentary. What, then, is the important point on which our astronomers hope to gain information from a close examination of the approaching eclipse? This question has been ably answered by a well-informed writer in the Daily News . The great problem to be solved is that of the strange appearance of the solar corona; of that glory of light which rings round the great luminary when totally eclipsed, to it, as some astronomers assert, a purely optical phenomenon, or, as others more reasonably declare, "one of the most imposing of all the features of the solar system." It is true that the former opinion is held by such men as Faye, Lockyer, and Professor Airy; but if it be founded on fact, the phenomenon loses all its importance, and nearly all its interest. If the other opinion prove correct, and the corona is discovered to be in reality an appendage of the orb of day, then the mind must at once acknowledge its unsurpassed splendour, its magnificent proportions. As its glow and ethereal radiancy often extends several degrees from the eclipsed sun, its diameter cannot be less than 2,800,000 miles. Assume, then, that it is shaped like a globe, that it is the globular envelope (so to speak) of the sun, and we may conclude that its outer boundary would at most enclose a volume twenty-seven times as large as the sun's, or, in other words, twenty-seven million times larger than our terrestrial world. It is in reference to this magnificent phenomenon that we hope to obtain some satisfactory information in December 1870. The results ascertained from the eclipse of 1868 proved to be almost directly contradictory to those obtained last year in the United States, and the problem now is, to discover why these results were contradictory. In the meantime,—observes the writer already quoted,—some astronomers say that the observations already made suffice to show the real nature of the solar corona. "It has frequently happened that, with the means of solving a problem ready at their hands, astronomers have been content rather to wait till new observations removed their doubts, than to undertake the work of carefully analysing the facts already discovered. It is urged that the atmospheric explanation (Faye's and Lockyer's) is opposed by simple optical considerations; that the blackness of the moon's disc, in the very heart of the corona, affords the most unmistakable evidence that the moon lies nearer to us than the corona." The solar glare which, according to Faye's theory, illuminates our atmosphere, ought, according to this view—and ordinary reasoners will think this argument irrefragable—to cover the lunar disc as well as the surrounding heavens. It is also argued, very forcibly, that the active atmosphere above the horizon of the observer is partially obscured during total eclipse, while all that part lying in the direction in which the corona is seen is wholly shielded from the direct rays of the sun, and cannot, therefore, furnish the "atmospheric glare" on which M. Faye relies. M. Faye's theory is powerfully combated in a paper read by Mr Proctor before the Royal Astronomical Society, and a summary of which appeared in "Nature." [93] He remarked that if we in reality possess sufficient evidence to determine whether the corona is or is not a solar appendage, it would be unfortunate for, and in some sense a discredit to science, if the precious seconds available for observers in December next were wasted upon observations directed to such a point determinable beforehand. He proceeded to express his belief that the corona was no terrestrial phenomenon, arguing that the very blackness of the moon as compared with the corona (to which we have already referred), shows that the coronal splendour is behind the moon. In fact, the moon is projected on the corona as on a background; whereas, if the light be due to atmospheric glare, the corona ought to be a foreground. This argument, however, may fail on the ground of its very simplicity. Mr Proctor, therefore, proceeded to inquire whether air which lies between the observer and the corona is really illuminated. He pointed out that all round the sun, for many degrees, perfect darkness should prevail if the illumination of the atmosphere by direct solar light were in question. As to the atmospheric glare caused by the coloured flames and prominences of the sun's disc, it must be comparatively small, bearing no higher proportion to the actual light of the atmosphere than ordinary atmospheric glare bears to actual sunlight,—a very small proportion indeed. But a fatal objection to the theory that the corona is due either to the glare from the prominences or to light reflected from the surrounding air, consisted in the fact that the so-called glare ought to cover the moon's disc. Mr Proctor next referred to a number of observations in support of the view that the coronal light is not terrestrial; such as the appearance of glare during partial eclipses, the glare always trenching on the lunar disc; the relatively greater darkness of the central part of the lunar disc in annular eclipses; the visibility of that part of the lunar disc which lies beyond the sun in partial eclipses, the limb being seen dark on the background of the sky; and the visibility of the corona in partial eclipses;—were its most distinctive peculiarities, having been recognised when the sun's face is not wholly covered. What, then, is the actual nature of the corona? May it not consist of the denser parts of meteoric systems travelling round the sun? Leverrier has shown, and Mr Buxendell has helped to show, that the motion of Mercury's perihelion indicates the presence of a ring of bodies in the vicinity of the sun; but we have good reason for believing that for each meteor system our earth encounters, there must be millions on millions whose perihelia lie within the earth's orbit. Since the earth meets with fifty-six such systems, it will be seen how enormous probably is the total number. Is, then, the corona simply the projection of these systems, illuminated as they must be by an intensity of solar light exceeding many hundred-fold that which illumines our summer days, nay, in certain places, were raised by his heat to a state of incandescence? Such are some of the questions which, it is hoped, the eclipse of December 1870 will help to solve; and we think our readers will admit that their importance justifies us in looking forward to the approaching phenomenon with anxious curiosity. The bounds of human knowledge are gradually enlarging; and as they enlarge, they do but more vividly illustrate the infinite wisdom and perfectness of the scheme of creation. Coloured Stars. Before bringing these pages to a close, and appending to our description of Everyday Objects (everyday, but not commonplace) the word "Finis," we wish to direct the reader's attention to the subject of coloured stars; not because these beautiful spheres can be fairly classed under our general title, but because they serve to show the peculiar attractiveness and novelty of scientific inquiry, and the wonderful results that spring from the persevering study of God's universe. To the eye of the ordinary observer, one star seems much like another; these "lamps of night" differ, indeed, in brilliancy, in their distance from the earth, in their relative magnitudes; but to all appearance they exhibit a complete identity in physical constitution, and their white light has furnished poetry with one of its commonest images. But the astronomer, armed with his wonder-revealing glass, has discovered that innumerable stars are exquisitely coloured; that some are blue, and others green, and others red. If on a clear night you examine Perseus with your telescope, you will find that the star Eta is of a glowing red. In the system of Ophiuchus you will encounter a blue star; in that of Draco, a deep red star; Taurus has a large red and a small bluish star; and in Argo, a blue sun is attended by a dark-red satellite. The stars occur in double, triple, or multiple groups or clusters; and the systems so constituted differ from what we presumptuously call the Solar System in their colouring; and in this variety or diversity, yet another variety is visible. The binary coloured systems are not all composed of blue and red suns. In that of Gamma Andromedæ the great central orb is of an orange hue, the moon revolving round it green as emerald. What results from the marriage of these two colours—from this union of orange and emerald? Do we not see in it, says a French astronomer, [94] a combination, if the phrase is allowable, full of youth ( assortiment plein de jeunesse )—a grand, a magnificent orange-coloured sun in the midst of the firmament—next to it, a resplendent emerald, which interweaves with the gold its greenish gleams? The following lively picture is borrowed from the graphic pages of M. Flammarion. There is more variety, he says, in the innumerable star-systems which crowd the fields of space, than in all the changes which the most skilful opticians can project on the screen of a magic lantern. Some of the planetary universes lighted up by two suns display the entire gamut of colours above blue, but are without the sparkling tints of gold and purple which contribute so greatly to the luminosity of our world. In this category may be placed certain systems situated in the constellations of Andromedæ, the Serpent, Ophiuchus, and Coma Berenices. Others are illuminated by red suns, as, for example, a double star in Leo. Others, again, are wholly dominated by blue and yellow, or, at least, are kindled by a blue sun and a yellow sun, which afford but a limited series of the tints or shades comprised in the combinations of these primitive colours; such are the systems of Ceta, Eridanus (where one is straw-coloured, the other blue), Cameleopardalis, Orion, Rhinoceros, Gemini, Boötes (where the greater one is yellow, and the lesser a greenish blue), and Cygnus (where the smaller is "blue as a sapphire"). On the other hand, combinations of red and green may be found in Cassiopeia, Coma Berenices, and Hercules. There are other stellar systems which, according to Flammarion, more nearly approximate to our own, in the sense that one of the suns illuminating them has, like ours, a white light,—the source of all colours,—while its neighbouring luminary casts a permanent reflection upon everything. Such, for instance, are the worlds revolving round the great sun of Alpha, in Aries; this great sun is white, but a smaller sun is constantly visible in the sky, whose azure reflections cover as with "a diaphanous veil" the various objects exposed to its rays. Number 26 in Ceta presents the same conditions, which are those, too, of a great number of the most brilliant stars. In the case of the worlds gravitating round the principal world of these binary systems, the originative white lustre would appear to create the infinite varieties noticeable upon the earth, with the distinction, of course, that an azure gleam constantly issues from the other sun; but for the planets gravitating round the latter, the predominant colouring will be blue, tempered by the action of the remoter white sun. And just as white suns have blue suns for their companions, so have red suns yellow, or vice versâ . What a strange and curious radiance—like that of "a dome of many-coloured glass"—must be shed upon a planet by its red and green or yellow and blue suns! What striking contrasts, what fairylike changes, must be produced by a red day and a green day succeeding alternately to a white day, or a day of darkness! Why do not our poets take up such a theme as this? Can they find aught more remarkable or more eëry in the dreams of their imagination? Supposing that these wonderful spheres are surrounded, like Jupiter or Saturn, by a ring of satellites, what can be their aspect when lit up by several suns, each sun a source of different-coloured light? This one, we may imagine, will be divided into hemispheres, red and blue, that will suspend in the firmament a crescent of gold; another will seem to drop from the azure circle like a gorgeous cluster of emerald fruit. Ruby moons, opaline moons, moons of jasper and amethyst,—all shining with a mystic and indescribable radiance,—surely the heavens are decked with jewels like an Eastern queen! Fig. 82. —"Bright with the beauty of the silver moon." Our poets may chant the praises of our modest, simple nights, of our calm, hushed heavens, bright only with the beauty of the silver moon, which pours its pale lustre with a winning charm on town and tree, on wood and lake. They may sing, as Barry Cornwall sings— "Now to thy silent presence, night! Is this my first song offer'd: oh! to thee That lookest with thy thousand eyes of light— To thee and thy starry nobility That float with a delicious murmuring— Though unheard here—about thy forehead blue; And as they ride along in order due, Circling the round globe in their wandering. To thee their ancient queen and mother sing.... Not dull and cold and dark art thou: Who that beholds thy clearer brow, Endiademed with gentlest streaks Of fleecy-silver'd cloud, adorning Thee, fair as when the young sun wakes.... But must feel thy powers." In some such ecstatic strains as this we may laud our moonlit nights, acknowledging in our heart of hearts the power of their silent, subtle loveliness; but how shall we compare them with nights made wonderful by a blending of golden and emerald fires? by the shifting coruscations of stars of many colours? But here we must conclude a dissertation which threatens to become a rhapsody. It is difficult, however, to treat of such a theme, and to follow up all its strange and startling suggestions, in sober prose. The Alpine Flora. The Alpine Flora, of which in a preceding section we have given a very imperfect sketch, has been examined with loving minuteness by Messrs Elijah Walton and T. G. Bonney; and other united results of pen and pencil have been placed before the public in a handsome volume entitled "Flowers from the Upper Alps, with Glimpses of their Homes." A somewhat similar subject has been treated with much delicacy of feeling and fervour of description by the Rev. Hugh Macmillan, in his "Holidays in High Lands." Among the Alpine plants sketched and described by Messrs Walton and Bonney are the beautiful Lychnis , a close relative of our corn-cockle and garden pink, and so called, says Gerard, the quaint old botanist, because it is a "light-giving flower." He also met with immense breadths of violet pansies ,—"that's for thoughts," says Ophelia,—covering the sloping pasture-grounds of the Col d'Autune, and blending with rose and star gentians, soldanellas, primulas, and anemones. The pink blossoms and bare stem of the house leek is found "among the blocks tumbled down from the ice-streams, and its sparkling clusters seem to glow with a richer hue on the stony ruin which has shattered the pine, and crushed the life even out of the rhododendron." In the Glarus Alps the odorous crimson tufts of the Kammblume are discovered in a profusion which rejoices and astonishes the traveller. The yellow-blossomed ragwort spreads its stem over the rugged mountain-sides in every Alpine district. But next in fame and beauty to the gentians,—which is, par excellence , the mountain-flower,—must be placed the edelwein , celebrated by Kobele and other famous poets, and growing in almost every part of the Alps from Dauphiné to the Dolomites. For further details respecting a most interesting branch of botany, we refer the reader to the two works already named, and he will find that the barrenest, stoniest slope of the Alpine rocks, the bleak recesses where the ice river has its origin, and the rugged ledge where the pitiless winds seem to expend their wildest fury, have their objects of grace and beauty,—their gentle and ever-welcome evidence of the Divine love, the Divine wisdom, and the Divine power, as exercised for the delight of man in the remotest wildernesses of the earth. The love of God is everywhere. INDEX. ———◇——— "Academy," the, quoted, 369-371 . Achtysia, the genus, characteristics of, 353 . Æshna grandis , described, 178 ; forcipata , 178 , 179 . Agaricus Cæsareus , the, description of, 333 , 334 . Agarics, varieties of, characterised, 335 , 336 . Agarions, the, general characteristics of their form, 79 . Agarion virgo , the, described, 179 . Alps, the, an excursion among, 256-260 . Alpine snail, the, remarkable transparency of, 71 . Amanita muscaria , the, described, 328-330 ; its poisonous properties, 331-333 . Amanita solitarius , the, description of, 331 . Amphibia, the, number of species of, 361 , 362 . Anaximander, the author of the "Uranometria," his enumeration of the stars, 25 . Ancients, the, their notion of the earth's shape, 104-107 . Anemones, the, blossoming time of, 157 , 158 ; their sensitiveness to atmospheric changes, 158 ; varieties of, 159 ; references to, by Drayton, 159-161 . Animal life, distribution of, 357 , 366 . Antipodes, the, existence of, believed in by the ancients, 107 ; proved by Columbus, 108 , 109 . Arabs of the desert, the, their nomenclature for the stars, 22 , 23 . Aratus, the author of "Phenomena," quoted, 22 . Arctic vole, the, discovery of, by M. Hugi, 50 , 51 ; described by its discoverer, 51 ; examined and named by M. Martins, 51 , 52 . Arcturus, the star, its colour, 23 . Argesilaus, the author of the "Uranometria," his enumeration of the stars, 25 . Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, his theory of the globe's sphericity, 106 ; on the mole's want of sight, 267 . Articulata, the, number of the species of, 362 , 363 . Arum, the, described, 161 , 162 ; its root, 163 ; its alimentary properties, 163 ; its various species, 164 , 165 . Asterisms, origin of, 14 . Atmosphere, the, illumination of, 313 . Autumn, aspect of nature in, 366 , 367 . Bailey, P. J., the poet, quoted, 3 . Balfour, Professor J. H., quoted, 208 ; on the diffusion of plants, 321-324 . Bearded pink. See Sweet William . Birds, number of the species of, 359 , 360 . Black Hellebore, the, described, 168 . Boehm, M. Joseph, his theory of the rise of sap, 136 , 137 . Boletus, the, of the Romans, 334 . Boraginaceæ, the, characteristics of, 239-241 . Bosc, the French naturalist, his reference to the alimentary properties of the Arum, 163 ; his career sketched, 163 . Boyle, Robert, on the contemplation of the universe, 101 , 102 . Bradley, the astronomer, his discovery of the nutation of the earth, 12 . Browning, Mrs E. B., her poetry characterised, 337 ; her "Aurora Leigh" quoted, 337 , 338 . Bug, the harvest, description of, 349-352 . Burton, of the "Anatomy of Melancholy," quoted, 240 . Buttercup, the, its bulbous roots, 166 ; its stimulating properties, 167 . Byron, Lord, the poet, quoted, 101 . Cæsalpin, the botanist, on the Solanum nigrum , 86 . Callisto, the legend of, 9 . Calypso, the island of, referred to, 19 . Calyx, the, of flowers, parts of, 211 . Campbell, Thomas, the poet, quoted, 236 , 237 . Candolle, De, his opinions on the nature of red snow, 41 , 42 . Cardinal points of the compass, how to ascertain our position in reference to the, 7 , 8 ; process of determination of the, 17-19 . Carew, Thomas, the poet, quoted, 100 . Carnations, characterised by Jeremy Taylor and Drayton, 371 ; described, 372 ; varieties of, 373 . Carnivora, the, distribution of, 358 . Cassini, Jacques, his theory of the earth's form, 111 , 112 . Castle pink, the, described, 375 , 376 . Castelnau, the Count of, quoted, 363 , 364 . Cereals, the, range of, 323 , 324 . Cetacea, the, distribution of, 358 ; described, 208-215 ; curious forms of, 220-223 . Chaldeans, the, their conception of the earth's shape, 105 . Chamois, the, described, 56 , 57 . Chaucer, the poet, his description of the daisy quoted, 138 , 140 . Cheese mite, the, where found, 354 ; its ugly form, 355 , 356 . Chomel, the botanist, on the medical properties of the daisy, 146 , 147 . Chlorophyll, experiments in, 368 , 369 . Chrysomela salicinia , the, described, 72 . Clare, John, the Northamptonshire poet, on the dragon-fly, 175 . Clematis, the, described, 168 ; celebrated by Keats, 168 . Columbus, Christopher, his demonstration of the existence of the Antipodes, 108 , 109 . Compass, the, points of, 7 . Constellations, table of the number of stars in the northern, southern, and zodiacal, 27 , 28 . Convallaria majalis. See Lily of the Valley . Convolvulus, the, described, 383 , 384 . Copernicus, the astronomer, his theory of the earth's rotundity, 110 ; antiquity of his so-called theory, 118 , 119 . Cornwall, Barry, the poet, quoted, 229 . Corolla, the, of flowers, 214 , 215 , 223 ; varieties of, 225-229 . Crabbe, George, the poet, quotation from, 288 . Cynodon dactylon , the, described, 91-93 . Daisy, the, described by Chaucer, 138 , 140 ; by Cowper, 139 ; by James Montgomery and William Browne, 140 ; its vegetation, 140 , 141 ; described, 142-145 ; referred to by the ancients, 145 ; and by the botanists of the Middle Ages, 146 ; characterised by Wepfer, Tournefort, and Garidel, 147 ; its medical properties, 146 , 147 ; George Withers' tribute to, 148 ; celebrated by Wordsworth, 149 , 150 ; by Shakespeare and Milton, 151 , 152 . Darwin, Erasmus, the poet, on the pimpernel, 261 . David's Chariot, position of, 8 , 9 . Day and night, varying length of, 198 , 199 . Delphos, the "navel of the world," 107 . Democritus, the philosopher, on the Milky Way, 25 . Dent de Jaman, the, described, 257 . Desor, M., the Swiss naturalist, his discovery of the snow-flea, 72 , 73 . Desoria saltans , the, described, 73 ; glacialis , description of, 74 . Dial, floral, referred to and exemplified, 217 , 218 . Diodorus, the historian, quoted, 93 , 94 . Dioscorides, the author of "Materia Medica," his reference to Mercury's plant, 81 ; on the Agrostis , 95 . Diurnal movement of the stars, origin of its discovery, 16 . Dobell, Sydney, the poet, quoted, 129 , 131 . Dogma, folly of, 292 . Dog Mercury, the, its power of propagation, 77 , 78 ; described by Mr Sowerby, 78 ; how distinguished from weeds, 79 ; its diœcious character, 80 ; mentioned by Pliny the naturalist, 80 , 81 ; and by Dioscorides, 81 ; its disappearance before the power of snow, 81 . Dog-star, the. See Sirius . Dog's-tooth grass, the, characteristics of, features of, described, 91-93 ; its emollient properties, 96 . Draco, the constellation of, known to the ancients, 22 . Dragon-fly, the, described by the poets, 174 , 175 ; its destructive properties, 175 ; the female, 182 , 183 ; its metamorphosis, 183-187 . Drayton, Michael, the poet, his description of a spring-time posy, 159-161 ; on carnations, 371 . Drummond, William, the poet, quoted, 399 , 400 . Dutrochet, the philosopher, his theory of the rise of sap, 136 . Eagle, the, its affection for the mountains, 57 ; its flight described, 58-62 ; its nest, 62 ; the various species of, 62 , 63 . Earth, the, shape of, as conceived by Homer and Hesiod, 103 , 104 ; by Seneca, 104 ; by the Chaldeans, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Zenophanes, 105 ; by Plato, 105 , 106 ; by Eudoxes and Aristotle, 106 ; by the Greeks and Hebrews, 107 ; a problem, 398 , 399 . Earwig, the, form of, described, 278-280 . Edelwein, the, in the Alps, description of, 418 . Flammarion, M., on coloured stars, 414 , 415 . Flos Adonis , the, legend connected with, 169 . Forficulæ, the, group of, characteristics of, 286 . Forget-me-not, the, celebrated by Campbell the poet, 236 , 237 ; described by Miss Pratt, 238 ; analysis of its form, 238 , 239 ; legends connected with, 239 , 240 . Friendship, the test of, 141 . Frigid zones, the, position of, 45 , 46 ; the lizards of, described, 70 , 71 . Galileo, his discoveries in gravitation, 110 , 111 . Ganges, the banks of, described, 248 . Garidel, the botanist, on the medical properties of the daisy, 147 . Garden-lily, the, described, 248 . Garden-nightshade, the, its extreme fertility, 82 ; description of, 83 ; by Tournefort, 84 , 85 , 89 ; its various forms, 85 ; its medical properties, 85-87 . Genesis, the book of, quoted, 191 . Gentiana lutea , the, its medical properties, 254 . Gentiana campestris , described, 256 , 257 . Gentianaceæ, the family of, its characteristics described, 252-255 ; a Lilliputian specimen of, 255 . Gentians, the, of the Alps, description of, 10 . Gerard, the botanist, quoted, 418 . Gesner, Conrad, the botanist, on the tulip, 154 . Goethe, J. Wolfgang, the poet, quoted, 191 . Gold-crowned wren, the, description of, 64 ; its partiality to the society of other birds, 64 , 65 ; its gymnastic accomplishments, 65 ; its cosmopolitan character, 65 , 66 ; its smallness of size, 66 . Graetz's balls, origin of, stated, 55 , 56 . Gramineæ, the, general characteristics of, 88-90 ; how described by the naturalists of the Middle Ages, 95 , 96 . Gramen, the, Pliny the historian on, 94 , 95 . Grasshopper, the, described by Leigh Hunt, 274 . Great Bear, the, origin of the story of, 9 , 10 ; Homer's reference to, 10 . Grew, the botanist, his theory of the rise of sap, 124 ; on the calyx of flowers, 211 . Hay, aromatic, an instance of, 258 . Heat, the action of, described, 313-317 . Heavens, the, movement in, 115 , 116 . Hebrews, the, their conception of the earth's supports in space, 107 . Hedgerows, the, wild climbing plants of, 382 , 383 . Hepatica, the, described, 168 , 169 . Herbs, the food of the primitive Egyptians, 93 , 94 . Hipparchus, the astronomer, his discovery of the precession of the equinoxes, 116 ; his astronomical researches, 291 , 292 . Homer, the poet, his reference to the Great Bear, 10 , 19 ; and to Orion, 15 ; his scientific knowledge, 19 ; his conception of the earth's shape, 103 , 104 ; quoted, 210 . Honeycomb, the, of the bee, described, 85 . Honeysuckle, the, celebrated by Scott, Burns, and Drayton, 380 . Hood, Thomas, the poet, quoted, 190 . Horace, the poet, quoted, 103 . House leek, the, in the Alps, described, 418 . Houston, Professor, his table of the distribution of wheat and barley, 324 , 325 . Howitt, Mary, the poetess, on the dragon-fly, 175 . Hugi, M., the Swiss naturalist, his discovery of the Arctic vole, 49-51 . Humanity, the future of, 393 . Human power, limitation of, 394 . Hunt, Leigh, his poem on the grasshopper, quoted, 274 . Huygens, the savant, his researches into the laws of gravitation, 111 . Immortality, an emblem of, in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar, 402 , 403 . Infusoria, the, number of, 365 . Inglis, Henry, the traveller, quoted, 142 . Insects, the various orders of, enumerated, 280 ; the number of species of, 363 , 364 . Jonson, Ben, the dramatist, quoted, 207 , 248 , 400 . Kane, Dr Elisha, the American explorer, his Arctic experiences, 39 . Keats, the poet, quoted, 29 , 168 , 190 , 244 , 298 . Kepler, the astronomer, his adoption of the theory of the earth's rotundity, 110 . Lactantius, on the non-existence of the Antipodes, 108 . La Hire, the French botanist, his theory of the rise of sap, 134 . Landscape, a wintry, described, 5 . Leaf-wasp, the, its mode of depositing its larvæ, 71 , 72 . Le Monnier, the French astronomer, on the theory of the nutation of the earth, 123 . Lesser celandine, the, celebrated by Wordsworth, 166 ; described, 166 . Libellula cancellata , described, 177 . Libellula grandis , described, 178 . Libellulæ, the family of, its characteristics, 174-183 . See Dragon-fly . Libellulites, the family of, its general characteristics, 179 , 180 . Liberty, a plea for intellectual, 407 . Life, origin of, speculated upon, 390 , 391 . Light, the nature of, 192 , 193 ; physiological facts concerning, 194-196 ; the theory of, 197 , 198 ; chemical action of, 312 , 313 . Liliaceæ, the family of, its characteristics, 249 , 250 . Lily of the field, the, of the Gospels, described, 242 , 243 . Lily of the valley, the, described by Shakespeare, 242 ; its native countries, 242 . Little Bear, the, position of, 11 , 12 ; distinct from the Great Bear, 12 ; first recognised by the Phœnicians, 20 . Little Vulcan, the, butterfly, described by Agassiz, 71 . Longfellow, the poet, his description of Orion, 13 ; quoted, 128 , 129 . Lychnis, the, described, 418 . Macgillivray, the naturalist, quoted, 59 , 60 . Macmillan, Rev. Hugh, quoted, 42-44 . Malpighi, the botanist, his theory of the rise of sap, 135 . Mammalia, the, summarised, 360 . Manilius, the poet, his references to the Great Bear, quoted, 20 , 21 . Mant, Bishop, quoted, 63 , 64 . Mariotte, the botanist, his theory of the rise of sap, 135 . Marmot, the, described, 53 ; its habits, 53 , 54 ; the various species of, 55 . Mars, the planet, referred to, 301 , 302 . Marsupialia, the, distribution of, 358 . Martins, M., the naturalist, his examination and description of the Arctic vole, 51 , 52 . Marvell, Andrew, the poet, quoted, 217 . Matter, forms of living, 388 , 389 . Mercurialis annua. See Dog Mercury . Metamorphosis, the function of, in nature, 401 , 402 . Milton, his allusion to the daisy, quoted, 151 , 152 . Mole, the, peculiar movements of, 265 , 266 ; described, 267 ; Aristotle and Pliny on its want of sight, 267 ; its hands and fingers, 268 ; its favourite haunts, 269 ; marvellous properties ascribed to, 270 , 271 . Mole-cricket, the, its form and habits described, 273-278 . Mollusca, the, number of species of, 362 . Moon, influence of, on the weather, 30 , 31 . Moore, Thomas, the poet, his characterisation of the dragon-fly, 174 ; his allusion to the water-lily of the East, 246 . Mountain pink, the, described, 374 , 375 . Mushroom, the, how to be distinguished, 327 , 328 ; some varieties of, described, 329-337 . Mutability, the lesson of, 316 . Myosotis palustris. See Forget-me-not . Nature, beauty and suggestiveness of, 339 ; our imperfect knowledge of, 341 , 342 ; the infinite diversity of, 365 . Nebria escheri described, 72 ; chevrierii , 72 . Newman, Mr, author of "History of British Insects," quoted, 285 . Newton, Sir Isaac, his theories as to the form of the earth, 111 , 112 . Nuphar lutea , the, described, 245 . Nutation of the earth, the, explained, 120 , 121 , 123 ; its discovery, 121 , 122 . Observer, the, of nature, 4 , 5 . Œnothera biennis , described, 216 , 218 , 219 . Orion, the occultation of, its position in the heavens, 14 ; its place in the old mythology, 15 . Pachydermata, the, distribution of, 359 . Parry, Captain, on the nature of red snow, 41 . Perianth, the, of flowers, 208 . Perrault, the botanist, his theory of the rise of sap, 135 . Petals, the, of flowers, described, 109 , 224-227 . Phœnicians, the, their knowledge of the Great and Little Bears, 20 , 21 . Physalis alkekengi , described, 222 . Pilgran, the meteorologist, his researches into the nature of climate, 31 . Pimpernel, the, all about, 260-264 . Pinks, the various kinds of, described, 374 . Planets, the, whether inhabited, 395 . Plants, discovery of the sex of, 207 ; appropriate to certain soils, 320 , 321 ; diffusion of, 321-325 ; classification of, 343-345 . Plato, the philosopher, his notion of the form of the globe, 105 , 106 . Pliny, the naturalist, on numbering the stars, 25 ; his reference to red snow, 39 ; and to the mercurialis, 80 , 81 ; on the gramen, 94 , 95 ; his reference to the daisy, 146 ; on the mole, 270 , 271 . Plutarch, the historian, on the probability of the existence of the antipodes, 108 . Podura plumbea , the, described, 74 , 75 . Polar Star, the, its position in the heavens, 18 . Poles, day at the, 200 , 201 . Polygala vulgaris , the, described, 213 . Pointers, constellation of the, referred to, 22 . Pratt, Miss, on the forget-me-not, 238 . Proctor, R. A., on solar phenomena, 410 , 411 . Protococcus nivalis , the plant described, 42-44 . Prunella, the, or "self-heal," described, 230-233 . Ptolemæus, his enumeration of the constellations, 24 ; his acquaintance with the so-called Copernican theory, 119 ; astronomical theories of, 297 , 298 . Pythagoras, the philosopher, his familiarity with the so-called Copernican theory, 119 . Quadrumana, the, distribution of, 357 , 358 . Ramond, the naturalist, his researches in the natural history of red snow, 40 , 41 . Ranunculaceæ, the, general characteristics of, 166-169 . Ray, the botanist, on the daisy, 146 . Red-billed crow, the, its appearance described, 68 , 69 ; its habits, 69 ; the history of one which had been tamed, 69 , 70 . Red snow, known to Pliny, the naturalist, 39 ; first described scientifically by De Saussure, 39 , 40 ; discovered by Ramond in the Pyrenees, 40 ; by Captain Ross in Baffin's Bay, 41 ; described by Sir John Ross, 41 ; a fungus (?) 41 . Reptiles, the, distribution of, 361 . Rhizomes, or trailing roots, referred to, 88 , 89 . Rhodius, Apollonius, the poet, quoted, 20 . Rodentia, the, distribution of, 358 . Rogers, the poet, quoted, 403 . Ruminantia, the, how distributed, 358 . Salamanca, the council of, referred to, 108 . Sap, the circulation of, 132 ; its ascent and descent, 133 ; theories concerning the rise of, 134-137 . Saussure, Benedict de, the naturalist, his observations on red snow, 39 , 40 . Science, unselfishness of, 76 ; the peculiar characteristics of, 133 . Scutellariæ, the, characteristics of, indicated, 235 , 236 . Seasons, the, changes of, 204 , 205 . Seneca, the philosopher, his conception of the earth's support in space, 104 . Shakespeare, his allusions to the daisy, quoted, 150 , 151 ; the lily described by, 242 . Shelley, the poet, quoted, 152 . Sirius, the star, its colour, 26 ; deleterious influence ascribed to, by the Greeks, 23 , 24 . Snow, the, preservation of the germ of life in seeds and roots, 32 ; its composition, 32 , 33 ; the reason of its preservative qualities, 34 ; in the form of crystals, 34 ; a reflector of light, 37 ; its utility to the agriculturist, 37 ; in the polar regions, 38 , 39 ; red snow, which see . Snow-bunting, the, description of, 66 , 67 ; its favourite localities, 67 , 68 . Snow, perpetual, the line of, where situated, 47 ; its variations, 48 . Snow-flea, the, its discovery narrated, 72 , 73 ; its generic characters, 74 . Soapwort, the, described, 378 ; its juice, 378 , 379 . Soil, effect of temperature upon, 317 ; cultivation of, 318-320 ; plants appropriate to different kinds of, 320 , 321 . Solanum nigrum , the, described, 82-85 . Solar corona, the, nature of, 409-412 . Solar eclipse of 1870, the, considered, 407-412 . Solstices, the summer and winter, 45 . Somerville, Mrs, quoted, 289 . Sowerby, Mr, on the Mercurialis annua , 78 . Species, number of vegetable, 339 , 340 , 347 , 348 ; number of animal, 356 . Spencer, Edmund, the poet, quoted, 2 . Spring, the awakening of, described, 127-131 . Staphylium olens , described, 271-273 . Stars, the, their infinite number, 4 ; their diurnal movement, 15-17 ; coloured, 412-417 . Stellaria, the, characteristics of, enumerated, 378 . Strickland, Miss, on the legend of the forget-me-not, 240 . Struve, Otto, his computation of the number of the stars, 25 , 26 . Sun, the, movements of, in the heavens, 292-296 ; length of its radius, 296 , 297 . Sweetbriar, the, celebrated by Spenser, Milton, Scott, and Drayton, 380 ; by Shakespeare, 381 . Taylor, Jeremy, on carnations, 371 . Telescopes, importance of their invention to science, 26 . Temperate zones, the, reference to, 45 . Temperature, effect of, on soil, 317 . Tennyson, Alfred, the poet, quoted, 6 , 7 , 57 , 183 , 247 , 319 . Theophrastus, an ancient writer, on the Agrostis , 95 . Thomson, James, the poet, quoted, 32 , 100 . Thought, freedom of, asserted, 311 ; indestructibility of, 392 . Toaldo, the Italian meteorologist, his researches into the phenomena of climate, 31 . Tournefort, the naturalist, his description of the Solanum nigrum , 84 , 85 , 87 ; quoted, 96 , 234 ; on the medical properties of the daisy, 147 . Tragus, the botanist, his account of the Solanum nigrum , 86 . Triticum repens , the, described, 93 . Tschudi, M., the naturalist, his description of a red-billed crow, quoted, 69 , 70 . Tulip, the, described, 152 , 153 ; its introduction into Europe, 153 ; its cultivation, 154 , 155 . Twilight, phenomena of, 205 . Vertebrata, the, orders of, 362 . Vole, the Arctic. See Arctic vole . Voltaire, François Arouet, his popularisation of the Newtonian philosophy, 113 . Walton, Isaak, his eulogium on the strawberry, 244 . Water, the crystallisation of, instanced and described, 36 , 37 . Water-lily, the, described by Keats and Mrs Hemans, 244 ; by Wordsworth, 245 ; analysis of its form, 245 ; of the East, described, 246 . Water-ranunculus, the, description of, 167 . Winters, instances of some severe, 29 , 30 . Winter-time, appropriate for the observation of celestial phenomena, 3 ; the passing away of, and merging into spring, 96 , 97 . Withering, the botanist, on the Solanum nigrum , 86 . Wither , George, the poet, his tribute to the daisy, quoted, 148 . Wood-louse, the, its characteristics enumerated, 169-172 ; another species of, 173 . Wordsworth, William, the poet, his celebration of the daisy, quoted, 149 , 150 ; his poem on the lesser celandine, 166 ; his reference to the lily of the valley, 245 ; quoted, 375 . Wren, the, described by Bishop Mant, 63 , 64 ; its habits stated, 64 . Yellow water-lily, the, description of, 245 . Zodiac, the, constellations of, 114 , 115 . Zootoca pyrrhogastra , the, described, 70 .

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