subject, “We are almost quite convinced, practically, not only because the characters taken from the young shoots, and disappearing when they are older and begin to blossom, are not permanent, but because none of the reputed species of the shrubby Brambles are either anatomically or physiologically distinct, all passing into each other without any fixed assignable limit; and, theoretically, from a consideration of what is requisite to constitute a difference between the other European species of Rubus, that all of the present section are mere varieties, approaching on the one side to R. idæus, on the other to R. saxatilis, with both of which many fertile and permanent hybrids may have been formed and are still forming." These authors have, therefore, given what they consider the more prominent forms or races, numbering them as if only constituting a single species, and have indicated how these ought probably to be reduced to four types, an arrangement which is followed in this work.

In examining the descriptions it will be necessary to remember that by stem is meant the barren rootshoot, and the prickles and leaves, when not otherwise described, must be understood as those upon that shoot.

Stem

2. (2.) R. fruticosus (Common Bramble). arched, rooting, angular, furrowed, and nearly smooth; prickles slender, uniform, confined to the angles of the stem, and not intermingled with bristles; leaflets quinate, with close white down underneath. The beautiful snowy or delicate pink flowers of this bramble are to be found on most hedges from June till the end of summer, often

contrasting with the dark crimson or black berry cluster

ing on the same bough.

When winter comes the long

trailing shoots are yet

clad with leaves, exhibiting the tinge of purple and deep brown, or of that red colour, which combined with the fruit to give the name of Rubus to the genus, with here and there a leaf green as the spring foliage, and whitened beneath with down. We have all in childhood eaten the ripened fruits, for what so << 'plentiful as blackberries." They are very wholesome, and often so juicy as to deserve the French provincial name applied to one of the species, Pinte de vin. The ancients considered both fruit and flowers efficacious against the bite of the serpent, but black berries are now little valued save by country children, though they are occasionally made into puddings and tarts, or boiled with sugar, when they form a wholesome and pleasant preserve. Blackberries were also formerly considered as of valuable medicinal uses, especially in complaints of the throat and mouth, and bramble-roots boiled in wine were prescribed by the Roman physicians as one of the best astringents. The old English herbalists, who received many of their notions of the uses of plants from the old Roman writers, considered every part of the bramble as affording medicines, which, variously prepared, relieved various forms of human suffering. Turner, one of our oldest writers on plants, says, "The bramble bindeth, drieth, and dieth heyre," and a general belief prevailed that the bramble was so astringent, that even eating its young shoots as a salad would fasten teeth which were loose. Many a poet, like Cowper and Robert Nicholls, has referred to the pleasure of gather

ing the blackberries in early days, and Elliott has a beautiful little poem addressed to the plant :

Thy fruit full well the school-boy knows,

Wild bramble of the brake,

So put thou forth thy small white rose,
I love it for his sake:

Though woodbines flaunt, and roses blow

O'er all the fragrant bowers,
Thou need'st not be ashamed to show
Thy satin-threaded flowers;

For dull the eye-the heart is dull,
That cannot feel how fair,
Amid all beauty beautiful,

Thy tender blossoms are.

"How delicate thy gauzy frill,

How rich thy branching stem,
How soft thy voice when winds are still,
And thou singest hymns to them;
While silver showers are falling slow,
And, 'mid the general hush,
A sweet air lifts the little bough,

Lone whispering to the bush."

:

Brambles in some cases prove injurious to hedges by climbing about more valuable plants, and hindering their growth; but, on the other hand, they protect more delicate shrubs and herbs, and shield them from rough winds. The shoots are very tough, and are used for binding down the cottage roof, and the sods of the lowly graves. Sometimes they are wound among straw fences in the farm-yard, or serve to bind the hayrick and bee-hives; and straw-mats, and various other articles of domestic use, are held together by their flexible twigs. Badgers are said to be very fond of blackberries, and to thrive well upon them, though the acorns which

may be strewn near them may prove as great a benefit to these animals as the smaller fruits. The green boughs are of great use in dyeing wool, silk, and mohair, black; and silk-worms seem to like the leaves of this plant as well as those of the mulberry, and to thrive as well upon them. A small fungus, the Bramble Puccinia (Puccinia Rubi) often forms sooty patches in autumn on their under surfaces. A double flowering variety of the Bramble is very ornamental to the garden and shrubbery.

2. (3.) R. rhamnifolius (Buckthorn-leaved Bramble).— "Stem arched, rooting, nearly glabrous; prickles confined to the angles of the stem, uniform, without glandular bristles; leaflets quinate, paler underneath, but not with close white down." This plant, which is in flower at the same season as the bramble last described, differs very little from it. It is found in thickets, woods, and hedges, and gives its glossy black fruits in autumn to child and bird:

"It springs without our bidding

With its flowers of faintish blush,
And hangs its glossy berries

To meet the infant's touch;
And as the daisies in the Spring
Are little children's flowers,
So blackberries are all their own
In the Autumn's breezy hours.

"I have seen the village children,

From their infant labours freed,
In their young gladness wandering on
Through many a pleasant mead;
And at each loaded bush they set

The infant on the ground,

And soothed it with the tones of love

Till the ripe fruit they found."

2. (4.) R. carpinifolius (Hornbeam-leaved Bramble).— "Stem arched or prostrate, rooting, hairy; prickles confined to the angles of the stem, uniform, without glandular bristles; leaflets quinate or ternate, without close white down underneath." This plant grows in woods and thickets, flowering in July and August. The authors of the "British Flora" remark, "This and the last appear to be merely the two extremes of the same form, between which there are, it is to be feared, many intermediate states."

2. (5.) R. corylifolius (Hard-leaved Bramble).— "Stem arched, rooting, nearly smooth; prickles scattered, nearly equal, without glandular hairs or bristles ; leaves quinate or ternate, without close down underneath." This plant, which grows in hedges and thickets, flowering in July and August, is scarcely distinct from the two preceding.

2. (6.) R. glandulósus (Glandular Bramble).—“ Stem arched, or decumbent, rooting, hairy, not glaucous ; prickles scattered, unequal, with numerous glandular hairs and slender prickles; leaflets quinate or ternate, without close white down underneath; calyx erect, spreading, or turned backwards in fruit." This species, which is found in woods, thickets, and hedges, is in flower during July and August.

2. (7.) R. coésius (Dewberry).-" Stem prostrate or arched, rooting, more or less glaucous; prickles scattered, unequal, with (sometimes very few) glandular hairs; leaflets ternate or quinate, without close white down underneath; calyx closely clasping the fruit." This low-growing bramble is not uncommon, trailing