may generally find the plant in cottage gardens, on account of its reputed virtues. Inulin, a peculiar substance contained in the root, is a form of starch insoluble in cold water, but soluble in hot water, from which it is deposited on cooling. With iodine it gives a greenish-yellow compound which is not permanent. Inulin is distinguished from gum by its insolubility in cold water, and is otherwise chemically interesting. CHAMOMILE. ANTHEMIS NOBILIS. COMMON CAMOMILE, or Chamomile, is frequently found in a wild state on many of the commons near London, where it adds a peculiar richness of colour and fragrance to the turf. It is a dwarf plant, belonging to the family Compositæ, with finely-cut leaves; the flower-heads are white in the ray, but deep yellow in the disk. All parts of the plant are intensely bitter, especially the little yellow flowers of the disk; for this reason the wild flowers are more efficacious than the cultivated sort, in which there is scarcely any disk, the white flowers of the ray having almost entirely usurped their place. An infusion or extract of these flowers is often used in medicine as a stomachic, and also as a fomentation externally. Besides the bitter principle contained in this plant, chemists have obtained from it camphor and tannin, and also a volatile oil, of a beautiful blue colour. HAREBELL. CAMPANULA ROTUNDIFOLIA. No wild flower is more admired, or has had its praises sung by poets more frequently, than this pretty delicate little inhabitant of every heath and sunny bank of our country districts. Every village child loves its pretty bells, and numberless are the fancies which connect it with fairy legends and floral charms. It seems scarcely necessary to describe it botanically; but, lest it should be confounded with other species of the same genus, it may be well to say that it belongs to the family Campanulaceæ. The leaves on the tiny stem are very slender, like those of grass, but near the ground there are a number of roundish notched leaves, which mostly die away at the time of flowering. The bell-shaped corolla is of a pale blue colour, and has five broad lobes, much shorter than the entire fruit. We have nine wild species of Campanula, some of which have stout stems with large purple flowers, many of which bear the cultivation of the garden very much better than our true little Harebell, which is unhappy away from its native haunts. The Canterbury Bell, with its large handsome flowers, is one of the favourites of our gardens, and at one time abounded in the neighbourhood of Canterbury and other parts of Kent: it was gathered by pilgrims to the shrine of St. Thomas à Becket there, and treasured in evidence of the task they had completed. The little plant I have chosen as most worth notice is the true Harebell of Scotland, the same which in the 'Lady of the Lake' is mentioned as being strewn in Ellen's pathway. "For me she stoop'd, and looking round, Pluck'd a blue harebell from the ground; May well my simple emblem be." It is said that the presence of the Harebell indicates a barren soil; yet how lovely are its tiny cups on their cobweb stems, gently waving to and fro with every breath of wind, so that one might almost believe in the reality of the silver music said to come from them in the days of yore, when the good fairies 66 Rang their wildering chimes to vagrant butterflies." And even now, with all the sobering influences of botanical study upon us, we can heartily sympathize with the little one who, having filled her lap and both hands with blue bells innumerable, and white bells too, both growing close together, was heard to whisper in the real spirit of prayer and happiness--“ Dear God, do make some pink bells too!" BLACK WHORTLEBERRY. VACCINIUM MYRTILLUS. THIS plant, known also as Black Whortleberry, may be regarded as the representative of the British berries known as Bilberries, Cranberries, Cowberries, Windberries, &c. It belongs to the natural order or family Ericaceæ, and is a small shrub, from six inches to a foot high, with spreading green branches. The leaves fall off in the winter, and are small, ovate, with tiny teeth, and a very small stalk. The flowers are nearly round, of a pale greenish white colour, with a tinge of red, growing singly in the axils of the leaves. The berries are round, nearly black, and covered with a bluish kind of bloom, crowned by the short teeth of the calyx. This shrub is found on most mountain heaths and woods throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, with the exception of the eastern part of England. The leaves have been much used in the adulteration of tea. The berries are frequently eaten, either in tarts or uncooked. They have a sharp astringent flavour, which is not pleasant to every one, but, like the rest of the family, they have their admirers. The Cranberry, V. Oxycoccus, is well known, and is much liked in England. Great quantities of the berries are imported from Russia, Sweden, and America, into this country, packed in tubs. They are considerably |