attached with such delicacy to the flower-stalk on which it hangs drooping, that it yields readily to the lightest breath of Zephyr, and bends freely before the rude blasts of Boreas, without any danger of its being detached. From its pendent position, all superfluous moisture runs down the backs of the petals on to the earth, and the pollen is thus protected both from being blown or washed away; so that the flower perfects its seeds in security.

Like many of our Spring-flowering plants, the Snowdrop rises from a bulb, which throws out from its base numerous unbranched thread-like roots; the flower-stalk rises between two strap-shaped, keeled, and blunt leaves, which are enclosed through half their length in a tubular sheath. Near the summit of the flower-stalk is a spathe which originally enveloped the bud. In the Linnæan system it is in the class Hexandria and order Monogynia. In the natural system it is placed among the Amaryllidea. It is found in groves, meadows, and pastures, in various parts of Great Britain and Ireland.

Should those of our readers who have a garden (but not any Snowdrops in it) wish to see this simple flower in their grounds, they must procure the bulbs, and plant them in August, about two inches apart, and the same space below the surface. They will increase rapidly when they have been planted two years, and as soon as they grow too thickly, they must be taken up at Midsummer, and kept in a dry place until the time for planting.

The Snowdrop has ever been a favourite with the poet. The purity of its whiteness has afforded a beautiful image to the Rev. John Keble, who has applied his address "To the Snowdrop" to a sacred purpose:

"Thou first-born of the year's delight,
Pride of the dewy glade,

In vernal green and virgin white,
Thy vestal robes, array'd;

'Tis not because thy drooping form

Sinks grateful on its nest,

When chilly shades from gathering storm

Affright thy tender breast;

Nor from yon river islet wild,
Beneath the willow spray,
Where like the ringlets of a child,
Thou wear'st thy circle gay;

'Tis not for these I love thee dear,-
Thy shy averted smiles
To fancy bode a joyous year,
One of life's fairy isles.

They twinkle to the wintry moon,
And cheer the ungenial day,
And tell us all will glisten soon
As green and bright as they.

Is there a heart, that loves the Spring,
Their witness can refuse?

Yet mortals doubt, when angels bring
From heaven their Easter news:

When holy maids and matrons speak

Of Christ's forsaken bed,

And voices, that forbid to seek

The living 'mid the dead;

And when they say, 'Turn, wandering heart,

Thy Lord is risen indeed,

Let pleasure go, put care apart,

And to His presence speed ;'

We smile in scorn: and yet we know

They early sought the tomb,

Their hearts that now so freshly glow,

Lost in desponding gloom.

They who have sought, nor hope to find,
Wear not so bright a glance:

They who have won their earthly mind,
Less reverently advance.

But where, in gentle spirits, fear

And joy so duly meet,

These sure have seen the angels near,
And kiss'd the Saviour's feet.

Nor let the pastor's thankful eye
Their faltering tale disdain,
As on their lowly couch they lie,
Prisoners of want and pain.

O guide us, when our faithless hearts
From thee would start aloof,
Where patience her sweet skill imparts
Beneath some cottage roof:

Revive our dying fires, to burn

High as her anthems soar,
And of our scholars let us learn
Our own forgotten lore."

From a volume of poetry, original and selected, by John Bleaden, Esq., which has just been published, we quote a pleasing anonymous address to the Snowdrop. "My flowers have droop'd their gentle head, Their life is gone, their fairness fled,

And they are numbered with the dead.

They only bloom, that we may see
'Tis not a world where they may be
In all their taintless purity.

They shrink beneath a cloudy sky,
And seem to look around and sigh,
Then droop imploringly to die.
And thus, if Innocence were found
Once more on earth's unholy ground,
She would but gaze in sadness round ;
Then breathe a prayer with uprais'd eye,—
'Look, pitying Heaven, ah! let me fly,
And take me to my home on high.'"

SNAKE'S-HEAD LILY.

Fritillaria; Linn. La Fritillaire méléagre; Fr. Das Kiebitzey; Ger. Kievitsbloem; Dutch. Fritillaria; Ital. La fritilaria; Sp. A fritilaria; Port. Vibeæg; Dan. Vipaagg; Swed.

A weed! yes, such this flower is deemed
Where too numerous it is found;

And yet to others it hath seemed

A pretty plant for cultur'd ground.

MS.

THE Common Fritillary, so called from its chequered marks, whence it would appear to have been thought to present some resemblance to the interior of the Roman dice-box (Fritillus), is an elegant flower, and is found in great abundance in meadows and pastures in the eastern and southern counties of England, during the month of April; and is said to be so common in Suffolk and Norfolk as to be a troublesome weed. It is also frequently found in the neighbourhood of the Thames and other tidal rivers, preferring apparently those localities which are occasionally overflowed by water. It grew so plentifully in a particular pasture between Mortlake and Kew, that, on that account, a field there is called Snake's-head Meadow.

Being a liliaceous plant, it has been called by some authors the Chequered Daffodil, and from the similarity of its markings to those of the guinea-fowl, it has also been named the Guinea-hen Flower, whence the specific name Meleagris (Mɛλɛaypìs), the Greek term by which Aristotle is believed to have distinguished that bird.

The Snake's-head Lily is of the same Linnæan class

and order as the Snowdrop, and also belongs to the natural order Amaryllideœ.

It is hardy, bulbous, and has a leafy stem, from the extremity of which the flower hangs pendent. The segments of the flower have a singular cavity at the base, secreting a limpid saccharine fluid, which continues suspended in the form of a drop until the flower loses its freshness.

By cultivation, the Fritillary will expand its stamens into petals, and the flower then becomes double. It increases naturally by offsets, but Miller states that new varieties can be raised only from seed, by which process also the number of plants is augmented more rapidly. The seeds require to be sown as soon as possible when ripe, rather thickly, in shallow boxes, and to be covered with sifted mould, about a quarter of an inch in thickness. The boxes must be placed so as to receive the morning sun only until October, when they may be moved to a south aspect. In winter they need to be covered, to preserve them from severe frost. The plants make their appearance about March, and as summer advances, the boxes may be put where the plants will be sheltered from the meridian sun. In August, plant them out in light earth, and in about three years from the time they were sown flowers will reward your labour and your patience.

The Crown Imperial, which presents itself so gaily in our gardens in April, belongs to this family; it was imported here about three centuries ago, and, being a native of Persia, was for a long time called the Persian Lily.