kind than the washing of the new red sandstone of Lancashire ? The latter conclusion I am willing to adopt," adds our author, "because it is the most reasonable, and, if for no other reason, because it favours my theory."

5. G. sylvaticum (Wood Crane's-bill).-Stem erect, many-flowered; leaves palmate, 7-lobed; lobes cut and serrated; stamens awl-shaped, fringed; capsules keeled, hairy; fruit-stalks erect. Plant perennial. This rare plant grows in woods and pastures, chiefly in the northern parts of this island. It has, in June and July, very pretty purple or pale rose-coloured flowers, which are smaller than those of the Meadow Crane's-bill, but larger than the blossom of the Dusky species. It is distinguished from the Meadow Crane's-bill, not only by its smaller size, but also by its capsules, which are most hairy about the keel, and by its stamens, which are fringed about half way up.

6. G. Pyrenaicum (Mountain Crane's-bill). - Stem erect, downy; root-leaves kidney-shaped, 5-7 lobed ; lobes oblong, blunt, 3-cleft, and toothed; petals notched, and twice as long as the pointed sepals. Plant perennial. Although this species grows in many meadows and pastures, yet it is not a common flower. Its stem is two or three feet high, and its numerous small purple blossoms have their petals very distinctly 2-cleft. Sir William Hooker and Dr. Arnott remark that this species has a spindle-shaped root, while in all the former species the root consists of long fibres arising from a premorse tap-root. Mr. Backhouse mentions a Crane'sbill growing in Van Diemen's Land, the Geranium par

viflorum, which has a long fleshy root, and is called Native Carrot, and much eaten by the people of that country.

7. G. lúcidum (Shining Crane's-bill).—Leaves nearly round, 5-lobed; sepals angular, and wrinkled; capsules with 3 keels, and wrinkled; stems spreading. Plant annual. The foliage and stems of this pretty species are very smooth and glossy, and the lower leaves, which are smaller than the upper ones, are often tinged with bright red. The stems are but a few inches in height, swelling at the joints, and the elegant little rose-coloured flowers expand in May, continuing in blossom till July. The plant is not uncommon in hilly and mountainous countries, on rocks, walls, and roofs of houses. Thompson remarks of this species, that it belongs especially to lime districts, and seems not appropriate to basalt. Derbyshire, he says, abounds with this plant. He also met with a luxuriant crop of it near Warwick, where it was growing on a base of lime which was at a considerable depth below the surface.

Mr.

8. G. Robertiánum (Stinking Crane's-bill, or Herb Robert).-Stems spreading; leaves ternate, or quinate; leaflets deeply cut, the segments with minute points; sepals angular, hairy; capsules wrinkled and hairy. Plant annual. This pretty little Geranium, flowering in early spring and lingering sometimes in autumn among the last of the flowers, is the most common of all our native species. Every one knows it, and most of us have bound it in the nosegay gathered in childhood from woods and thickets, and green lanes and meadow hedgerows. It comes with the brilliant blue Germander

Speedwell to tell of the approach of summer; and before a flower has yet expanded on the bank, we may see its beautifully cut leaves gleaming in the sun. When winter is approaching and flowers are gone, and many green leaves are turned brown, this foliage is often among the few bright things which are left, and, touched with a rich glow of crimson, it seems not to need the addition of blossoms to render it attractive. We have, in September, seen masses of it covering large heaps of stones with its stems and leaves, and thought, as the robin sate sweetly singing near it his prelude to the winter, that the hue of bird and leaf accorded well with

each other. Mr. Thompson says that it grows with pecu

liar luxuriance on basalt, and that it is one of the most abundant plants in Ayrshire. He remarks that near the river Doon especially, its size was such as to incline him to examine it as a new species. We forget its strong and disagreeable odour when we see its hundreds of pink stars contrasting with the purple blossoms of the ground-ivy, or mingled in the later year, as the poet has described them, among many lovely wild flowers :

"Loudly raves

The bustling brook, which many a chasm hath cleft,
Where springs the hispid Comfrey; and above,

In rich exuberance, light-vein'd Ivy trains

A drapery o'er the loftier trees. Here glows

The crimson berry of the Guelder-rose,

Whose vine-like leaves have caught a sanguine stain
From the October sun. Down in the grass,

And blushing through green blades, Herb Robert fain
Would catch the eyes of pilgrims as they pass,
Who seek for rarer plants. The Arum there,
Now leafless, lifts its ruby sceptre-red

As coral rocks that stud the Sea Nymph's bed;

Pale Agrimony scents the evening air
With a faint lemon odour; and, around,
The roseate Mallow in profusion springs."

This plant is a native of many lands besides ours, and has smiled upon those who have wandered in Brazil and Chili, reminding them of the green lanes of England. In some places a decoction of the plant is used in medicine. The herb contains tannin, and exerts an astringent action on the system, and by the old herbalists it was regarded as a good vulnerary. They probably gave it its familiar name after some Robert renowned in their

days, though unknown in ours. It appears to possess more astringency than either of our British species, but some foreign species exceed it in this respect. The Geranium maculatum, which is a common plant from Canada to North Carolina, enlivening with its pale lilac flowers many a grassy and leafy spot, contains so much astringency that it is known in America by the name of alum-root, and is employed by physicians as a remedy in complaints of the throat and of general debility. Dr. Bigelow ascertained that this species contained a great proportion of tannin and gallic acid, the amount of tannin appearing to be greater than that of any other constituent; and Barton says it might form a substitute for kino. Our common Herb Robert is believed to be obnoxious to many insects, and is by cottagers often placed near beds to repel them; and the strong odour is probably disagreeable to these intruders. In North Wales, it is believed to be an efficacious remedy for gout. Some of the exotic Gera