of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Silesia. It has been known to flower in this country as early as the middle of January, when the season has been mild, but generally it does not appear before the beginning of February. Frequently it may be seen so immediately after the melting of the snow, that it gives the idea of some straggling flakes hanging undissolved on the blades of grass.

The Snowdrop appears to greatest advantage when it is seen springing from the grassy banks of an orchard, or on the undisturbed turfy rising grounds of the garden; for as it seldom flowers well if removed oftener than every third year, it is not calculated for borders that are annually turned over; but in small gardens it may be planted under shrubs and trees, where it has a good effect, if planted in large irregular clumps, for when planted out singly, it makes no better appearance than a spot of chalk would do on the earth. In lawns and shrubberies, care should be taken to place these flowers plentifully in the most favourable spots that are seen from the windows of the breakfast-room. When planted in the grass lawn they should have the appearance of growing wild, and therefore all formal clumps must be avoided, and they should be scattered as it were by chance, thick in some places, and thinly sprinkled in others, so as to connect the more important clumps into one irregular

mass.

As grass plots seldom require mowing until the time of the Snowdrop's flowering is over, it may in many instances be planted in such sites to great advantage.

August is the proper month to plant these bulbs. They should be covered with about two inches of earth, and placed at from one to two inches apart. After the second year they increase rapidly; when they become too thick, they should be taken out of the ground about Midsummer, and placed in a dry room, for a space not exceeding two months.

The variety of Snowdrop with a double flower is now nearly as common in our gardens as that with single petals, whilst its more noble relative, the Spring Snowflake, Leucojum vernum, continues scarce even in the gardens of our best florists. This flower differs from the Snowdrop, in having a delightful fragrance, and a much larger corolla; but the most marked difference is the want of the three-leaved nectary in the Leucojum, which forms a great beauty in the Galanthus or Snowdrop.

The Snowflake grows wild in moist woods and shady places, in many parts of Italy and Germany. It loves a north-east aspect, and a soil composed of bog-earth and loam. In such situations it is propagated tolerably fast by offsets. It blossoms about a month later than the Snowdrop; and this may account, in a great measure,

for its being more rarely cultivated at the present time than it appears to have been in the days of Queen Elizabeth, when Gerard wrote his Herbal.

We have two other species of Leucojum, viz., Estivum, Summer Snowflake; and the Autumnale, Autumnal Snowflake. The latter is a native of Portugal, and flowers in the month of September. The former is an indigenous plant, that blossoms in May, but as it loves a moister soil than gardens in general afford, it is but seldom cultivated. It has been found wild in the Isle of Dogs, opposite Greenwich; and Mr. Curtis also observed it growing naturally, close by the Thames, on the south side between Woolwich and Greenwich. Mr. Gough found it in a small island in the river, about three miles south of Kendal, on the dam of the gunpowder mill. It grows in similar situations in Austria, Hungary, Tuscany, Carniola, and Silesia.

We shall conclude our history of the Snowdrop with the following contemplative lines:

Haste, lovely stranger, venture forth,

Fear not the wintry blast;

The keen and unrelenting North,

With all his train, is past.

Child of the spring, sweet Snowdrop, haste

Thy bosom to unfold;

Ah! dread the vernal hours to waste,

For soon returns the cold.

Go bid Eliza contemplate,
Fair moralist, thy doom;
How soon, alas! thy cruel fate
Condemns thee to the tomb.

Though clothed thou art in lilied vest,
And delicate 's thy charm;

Though of a thousand sweets possest,
Thou canst not Fate disarm.

Then, Snowdrop, catch the fleeting gale,
While zephyr gently woos;

And bid Eliza now bewail

Her vernal prime to lose.

Ah! let her dread that season past,
While youthful hours beguile;
Too soon, alas! the winter's blast
Will steal her dimpled smile.

HELLEBORE. Helleborus.

Natural Order Multisiliquæ.-Ranunculacea, Juss. A Genus of the Polyandria Polygynia Class.

L'Ellebore est la fleur des fous,

On la dédie à maint poète.

FEW plants have been more celebrated by the physicians of antiquity than the Hellebore, and hence it made a conspicuous figure in the poetical fables of early writers; but it seems to have been so entirely neglected by the bards of our own country as to leave this chapter without an English verse at the head.

The Black Hellebore, Helleborus niger, demands our admiration, both from the early season of its flowering, and the beauty of its blossom. It is generally called the Christmas Rose, because it frequently expands its petals at that season, which, having a resemblance to the common Dog Rose of our hedges, has gained it this name. Our caution is equally demanded against the whole of the Hellebore family of plants, on account of the dangerous properties of their roots and leaves, which are known to possess a most virulent poison.