The Naturalist's Diary For MARCH 1829. Now March with varying face appears, And frost and sleet by turns prevail. Thus constant Providence divine In ev'ry change new love displays; The creature's good-the Maker's praise. RECK. THE cutting blasts of March, so trying to the invalid, are equally injurious to the progress of vegetation; and the sweet flowers' are compelled to await the smiles and tears of gentle April to encourage their growth, and to bring them to perfection. Some more bold than the rest, who dare to brave the warrior front of Boreas, often perish in his chilly embrace. The winds of March, however, are highly beneficial in drying up the superabundant moisture of the earth; and although they may retard the delights and the beauties of Spring, these are rendered more valuable to us, because they are less fugacious. --A curious prognostication of wind is observed in the Shetland Isles. Mr. Scott, professor at the Sandhurst College, states that he has witnessed the following effect:-It has been the custom to place drinking-glasses in an inverted position upon a shelf in a cupboard on the ground-floor of Belmont House. These glasses frequently produce spontaneous sounds similar to those which would be occasioned either by tapping them lightly with a penknife, or by raising them a little and letting them fall upon the shelf. These sounds always indicated wind, and whenever they occurred, the boats and vessels were immediately placed in security. No indication was given of the quarter whence the wind would come, but the strength of the sound was always proportionate to that of the tempest. The latter came sooner or later, but generally several hours after the sounds. Mr. Scott states, that there was no sensible motion either in the glasses, or their support, at the time when the sound was strongest, and he thinks that the cause of the phenomenon may be electricity. About the 20th the vernal equinox takes place, and storms and high winds are common both by sea and land at this period. The following splendid lines are attributed to Barry Cornwall (Mr. Proctor), and first appeared in the Literary Gazette; they have since been transplanted, by the hand of taste, to Mr. Watts's Poetical Album, and we will contribute to their immortality by registering them in our pages. The STORM, a FRAGMENT. [ Attributed to Barry Cornwall. ] The Sun went down in beauty; not a cloud The face of the blue heavens; some fair and slight And some the violet, yellow, white, and blue, Scarce rippled-the halcyon slept upon the wave; The Sun went down in beauty; but the eyes The gathering waves grew large, and broke in hoarse And screamed and whistled through the cordage; birds, That seemed to have no home, flocked there in terror, The Sun went down in beauty; but the skies Were wildly changed. It was a dreadful night— No Moon was seen, in all the heavens, to aid Or cheer the lone and sea-beat mariner: Planet nor guiding star broke through the gloom; But the blue lightnings glared along the waters, As if the Fiend had fired his torch to light Some wretches to their graves. The tempest winds Raving came next, and in deep hollow sounds-Like those the spirits of the dead do use When they would speak their evil prophecies- And spoke to man-despair! The ship was tossed, In frantic exultation on the deck, Though all was hopeless. Hark! the ship bas struck, Or Hecla 'mid her wilderness of snows, Shoot up its burning entrails, with a sound Had spread through all the elements:-then came As a contrast to this noble picture, our readers may peruse the following description of A Calm. [From Robert Montgomery's Omnipresence of the Deity."] Beneath the terror of Thy tempest tones; In calmer scenes, and the unruffled hour, Our stilled hearts own Thine omnipresent power. List! now the cradled winds have hushed their roar, And infant waves curl pouting to the shore, While drenched earth seems to wake up fresh and clear, And the bright dew-bead on the bramble lies, And mark 'tween storm and calm the lovely change! First comes the Sun, unveiling half his face, While dark clouds, skirted with his slanting ray, Next, breezes swell forth with harmonious charm, And now, while bloom and breeze their charm unite, GOD! who can tread upon the breathing ground, Nor feel Thee present, where Thy smiles abound! Each succeeding week pours forth fresh beauties from the lap of Flora, and furnishes the botanist with new sources of delight. Golden tufts of crocuses, expanding their corollas to receive the genial warmth of the sun, interspersed with pink and blue hepaticas, and the garden daisy, with its little tufts of crimson velvet, united with the blossoms of last month, greatly ornament our flower borders The alpine wall-cress is still in bloom; the mezereon puts forth its leaves; and the primrose peeps from the retreating snows of winter. Daffodils, yellow auriculas, coltsfoot, and hounds-tongue, are in blossom about the middle of the month. The American cowslip, with its beautiful rose-coloured blossoms, growing in thick branches in the form of a cone, flowers in March. The charming violet, whose attractions have been the theme of many a poetic effusion, makes her appearance this month, but not in full perfection, for the chill winds of March are not very congenial to the expansion of so delicate a blossom. STANZAS sent with a WREATH of VIOLETS. The Rose in its flush of crimson pride, For the lovely and gay, And the Lily white, let the youthful bride On her brow display; |