July 5. St. Peter Bp. and Confessor. St. Modwena.

St. Edana.

rises at 111. 47'. and sets at VIII. 18'.

Populi fugium-Rom. Cal.
Old Midsummer Day.

FLORA.-The Garden Hawkseye Crepis barbata is by this time in flower, and its bright yellow flowerets surrounding a dark disk, show the origin of its name. The Pink Garden Hawksweed also flowers now.

The Nasturtium or Indian Cress Tropoeolum majus is now common. The brilliant orange coloured flowers of this plant, when growing in a large bed, produce a very rich glow, and continue to ornament the gardens throughout July and August. There is a smaller species, but this is now a rare plant, the larger one having superseded it.

Dahlias now begin to blow, and are a novel as well as an agreeable ornament in the gardens, having been introduced but lately. The root, which resembles a long Potatoe, requires taking up every year, and increases very fast.

In the Corn we now observe the Cockle Agrostemma Githago, and the Blue Cornflower Centaurea Cyanus.

FAUNA.-River fishing is now in perfection, and the Fisherman retires from the heat of midday to the cool Streams and Rivers, where, under the shelter of some old Willow, Oak, or Yew, he sits and enjoys his quiet sport. Trout, Perch, Roach, Dace, Chub, Bleak, and Gudgeons, are now abundant in the streams of the Medway, and other rivers.

The following lines are by the late Dr. Wolcot, Peter Pindar, who seems to have had as much distaste to angling as Dr. Johnson :

Ballade to a Fish of the Brooke.
Why flyest thou away with fear?
Trust me, there's nought of danger near:
I have no wicked hooke,
All covered with a suaring baite,
Alas! to tempt thee to thy fate,
And dragge thee from the brooke.

O harmless tenant of the flood,
I do not wish to spill thy blood;
For Nature unto thee
Perchance has given a tender wife,
And children dear, to charme thy life,
As she hath done to me.

Enjoy thy streame, O harmless Fish,
And when an Angler, for his dish,
Through Gluttony's vile sin,

Attempts a wretch-to pull thee out,
God give thee strength, O gentle Trout,
To pull the raskall in!

The following lines are poetically expressive of the

danger in which smaller fishes are at the approach of the Pike:

July 6.

Beware, ye harmless tribes, the tyrant comes,
Exclaims the silvermantled Naiad of the pond;
Beware, ye flirting Gudgeons, Barbels fair,
And ye, quickswimming Minnows, gliding Eels,
And all who breathe the lucid crystal of the lake,
Or lively sport between the dashing wheels
Of river mills, beware; the tyrant comes!
Grim death awaits you in his gaping jaws,
And lurks behind his hungry fangs - beware!

St. Palladius Apostle of the Scots.
Julian Anchoret. St. Sexburgh Abbess.
Goar P. St. Moninna V.

Capitolium incensum tempore Scyllae.-Rom. Cal.

St.

St.

FLORA. The WHITE LILY Lilium candidum is now in flower, and so continues till the end of July. This is one of the oldest inhabitants of our gardens, and is much esteemed for the beauty of its flowers. The Scarlet Martagon Lilium Chalcedonicum may also be seen in blow, and the Purple Martagon Lilium Martagon is still in perfection. Dahlias begin now to flower when the Summer is a fair one; the cold and wet Summers much retard this plant. The Marsh Thistle Carduus palustris begins to be common; it blows ten days sooner than C. arvensis.

POMONA.-Strawberries of all sorts now begin to be plentiful; they may be called fruits of the Solstitial Pomona. The scarlet kind, which ripen in June, are now somewhat declining in early years; but the Pine, Chili, Carolina, and various other sorts of Strawberries, are now just coming in; and those luscious fruits, the Hautbois, begin to ripen. Red and White Currants also begin to ripen, and form one of the most wholesome of our Summer fruits. Black Currants are now coloured, but hardly fit to gather, being a few days later than the other sorts. We may likewise rank among the fruits of July the Gooseberries, of which there are many sorts, such as Yellow, Red, Green, and White Gooseberries; of each of which there are varieties, such as rough and smooth sorts of each kind. We have already mentioned Cherries in June, but it is not till now that Cherries come into season in any abundance. Madock, White and Black Heart Cherries, Blackaroons, Kentish Cherries, and others, begin now to redden in abundance on the trees, and continue throughout the month, and part of the next; more particulars of which will be found in our catalogue of aestival fruits. The birds now begin to be very active in devouring the fruits, and Cherryclacks are set up to drive them away; the perpetual flapping of which, in the light

breezes of July by night, are too well known to the student

by the nightly lamp.

The Cherryclack.

The Lamplight Student wan and pale,
In his chamber sits at ease,
And tries to read without avail;

For every moment the light breeze
Springs up and nestles in the trees.
And then he startles at the sound
Of the noisy Cherryclack,
That drives its flippant windsails round
With Lybs still puffing at his back,
Provoking endless Click a tee clack.

The Scholar tries and tries again

To read, but can't; then damns the Cherries,
And swears that every effort's vain

To answer all his master's queries;

For Greek and Latin quite a jeer is,

Where every chorus, every verse

Is interrupted, for Alack!

When he begins one to rehearse,

The thread is broke, himself thrown back,
By this perpetual Click a tee clack.

July 7. St. Pantaenus. St. Willebald. St. Hedda. St. Edelburge. St. Felix. St. Benedict XI. Pope.

NONAE. Caprotinae Ancellarum festum. Romulus non apparuit.— Rom. Cal.

The Caprotina was a feast instituted at Rome, in which only women officiated in honour of Philotis, a servant maid at Rome, who saved her countrymen from destruction. After the siege of Rome by the Gauls, the Fidenates assembled an army under the command of Lucius Posthumius, and marched against the capital, demanding all the wives and daughters in the city as the conditions of peace. This extraordinary demand astonished the senators, and when they refused to comply, Philotis advised them to send all their female slaves disguised in matrons' clothes; and she offered to march herself at the head. Her advice was followed, and when the Fidenates had feasted late in the evening, and were quite intoxicated, and fallen asleep, Philotis lighted a torch, as a signal for her countrymen to attack the enemy. The whole was successful, the Fidenates were conquered, and the senate, to reward the fidelity of the female slaves, permitted them to appear in the dress of the

Roman matrons. Plut. in Rom. Varro de L. 1. 5. Ovid. de Art. Am. 2.

CHRONOLOGY.

Edward I. of England died in 1807, near Carlisle, in the 69th year of his age. Curtis the Botanist died at Chelsea in 1799. Richard Brinsley Sheridan died in 1816, aged 66.

FAUNA.-On still warm evenings, a peculiar snapping noise is often heard from the Fishpond; it is made by the Tench with their lips, as they ascend to the surface. This is constantly the case during warm nights in Summer, particularly at this time of year.

FLORA.-A late Hay Harvest is sometimes put off to this, or even to a later period, in backward years, when the irregularly grown, half spoiled, and coarse grass, growing amidst the dying meadow flowers, together with a rainy sky overhead, has a truly dismal effect. In such seasons, a few fine days give life to the scene, and then the offered opportunity

Calls forth the labouring Hinds; in slanting rows,
With slow approaching step, and levelled stroke,
The early mower, bending o'er his scythe,
Lays low the slender grass; emblein of man,
Falling beneath the ruthless hand of Time.
Then follows blithe, equipt with fork and rake,
In light array, the train of nymphs and swains:
Wide o'er the field, their labour seeming sport,
They toss the withering herbage. Light it flies,
Borne on the wings of Zephyr, whose soft gale,
Now while the ascending Sun's bright beam exhales
The grateful sweetness of the new mown Hay,
Breathing refreshment, fans the toiling swain.
And soon the jocund dale and echoing hill
Resound with merriment. The simple jest,
The village tale of scandal, and the taunts
Of rude unpolished wit, raise sudden bursts
Of laughter from beneath the spreading Oak,
Where thrown at ease, and sheltered from the Sun,
The plain repast and wholesome beverage cheer
Their spirits. Light as air they spring renewed
To social labour: soon the ponderous wain
Moves slowly onwards with its fragrant load,
And swells the barn capacious: or, to crown
Their toil, large tapering pyramids they build,
The magazines of plenty, to ensure

From Winter's want the flocks and lowing herds.

1

July 8. St. Elizabeth Q. of Portugal. St. Procopius Martyr. SS. Killian and others Martyrs. St. Withburge V. B. Theobald. St. Grimbald Abbot.

CHRONOLOGY. Some Calendars have recorded the Conversion of Aquila and Priscilla this day. Henry II. did penance for the murder of

Becket in 1174. Ariosto the Poet died in 1599. Burke in 1797. Battle of Pultowa in 1709.

FLORA. The Hedge Bindweed Convolvulus sepium is now common.

The white flowers of this elegant climber begin now to hang from the hedges, become common about the middle of July, and continue to blow throughout August and September.

The maritime plants which flower in July, are the Club Rush Scirpus maritimus, Bearded Cat's Tail Grass Phleum crinitum, Bulbous Fox Tail Grass Alopecurus bulbosus, the Reflexed and Creeping Meadow Grass Poa distans & P. maritima, the Field Eryngo Eryngium campestre, Parsley Water Dropwort Oenanthe pimpinelloides, Smooth Seaheath Frankenia laevis, and the Golden Dock Rumex maritimus; all of which are to be found in salt marshes.

On sandy shores may be seen the Sea Matweed Arundo arenaria, Upright Sealime Grass Elymus arenarius, the Sea Lungwort Pulmonaria maritima, the Sea Bindweed Convolvulus soldanella, Saltwort Salsola vulgaris, Sea Holly Eryngium maritimum; Prickly Samphire Echinophora spinosa, and the Sea Lavender Statice limonium, are found on maritime rocks; and the Sea Pea Pisum murilimum on rocky shores.

The delights of a still evening, such as is often witnessed in this and the succeeding month, are thus prettily expressed by the poet Valdarno :-

On Evening.

Now, at the close of this soft Summer's day,
Inclined upon the river's flowery side,

I pause, to see the sportive fishes play,
And cut with finny oars the sparkling tide.
Silent and still is all creation round;
The rural music of the warblers cease;
A mantling vapour broods across the ground,
And all the elements are hushed to peace.
The setting rays, with various tints o'erspread,
Upon the placid mirror glow confest,
And not a bulrush moves her velvet head;
For not a breeze sighs o'er her glittering breast.
Happy are those whose conscious bosoms are,
Like a declining evening, calm and fair.

A circumstance which adds greatly to the picturesque evening landscape at this time of year, is that of the cattle getting into the water, and standing there kneedeep, lashing their sides with their tails, and appearing to enjoy the watery coolness of their locality, and the freshness of eventide. The same thing is observed in the noontide heats, but with less picturesque effect.

"If noon be fervid, and no Zephyr breathe,

What time the newshorn flock stands here and there

With huddled head, impatient of the fly;

What time the snuffling Spaniel, as he runs,

Pants freely, and laps often at the brook,