MEZEREON. Mezereon too, Though leafless, well attired, and thick beset COWPER. IN the mythological stories of the ancients, we read that Daphne was extremely beautiful, and that Apollo, having become enamoured of her, pursued her, and was on the point of overtaking her, when the fair maiden called upon her mother Ge for protection. The goddess opened the earth and received her, and in order to console Apollo, she created the evergreen laurel-tree, of the boughs of which Apollo made himself a wreath. Such is the account given of the origin of the laurel-tree, and the name Daphne has been given to the genus to which this pretty shrub belongs. In the woods of the Midland and Southern Counties of England, the branches of the Mezereon, yet free from leaves, may be met with in the month of March, having pretty pink or rose-coloured flowers upon them, growing in clusters of three, at short distances along the whole branch. The flowers are sessile in the axes of the last year's leaves. The whole shrub is erect, and forms a bush varying in height from three to five feet. The fruit is a round berry, of one cell, scarlet or sometimes orange colour, contrasting strongly with the light green of the leaves, so long as they are allowed to remain, which is for a very brief space, some birds being very partial to them. The leaves, which do not appear till some time after L the flowers, are numerous and scattered, lanceolate and wedge-shaped,growing on short footstalks, and about two inches long; being of a pale green colour. The bark both of the stems and roots of the Mezereon has long afforded a stimulating decoction, used for various medicinal purposes. A peculiar principle has been obtained from it by Vanqueline, a French chemist, which he calls Daphnin, which has been for a long period in use as a remedy for tooth-ache and other purposes. The berries were considered by Linnæus to be of a highly poisonous nature. The bark is also used in the South of Europe to impart a yellow die. The Mezereon long ago obtained an introduction to the flower garden, and is an especial favourite with the humble cottager who may have a small spot of ground attached to his well-thatched cottage, upon the whitewashed walls of which, and round the latticed window, we see the bright green branches of jasmine, and of honeysuckle, and of roses, trained with care, and as the seasons revolve in their ceaseless course, one after another, these shrubs cheer with their flowers and their fragrance the hearts of the toiling peasant and his family. To such the Mezereon brings the remembrance of the first link in the train of changing days and seasons, and in imagination they see the succession of flowers blooming before them for the coming year. Moments of joy are these to them; for the peasantry delight in the open air and the sunshine, and the choral music of the birds, as they sing their varied notes in woodland and in grove: the glorious sun, as he rises amid silvery clouds, or sets beneath the goldentinted sky, animates them with unspeakable pleasure. The fair authoresses of the "Bouquet des Souvenirs" in a few lines record the fact that this flower affords gratification to all on its first appearance in the season. Thou hast thy wish; all love to see Long shalt thou hold thy gentle sway; Please, then, fair plant, through many a day, Till winter stern thy doom shall say, Whose voice the fairest must obey. open We are now writing in the middle of December, and the weather is so mild that we see growing in the air the primrose, and the Forget-me-not, and the garden anemone; an extraordinary season certainly, but not unprecedented, as we may infer from the circumstance that the following lines were written by Mrs. Tighe, on receiving, in December, a branch of Mezereon covered with flowers. Odours of Spring, my sense ye charm With fragrance premature, And, 'mid these days of dark alarm, Almost to hope allure. Methinks with purpose soft ye come, To tell of brighter hours, Of May's blue skies, abundant bloom, |