As the prisoner would cherish the stragglings of light,
That found their way into his cell,
Telling yet of a world that is blithesome and bright,

A world where the happy ones dwell.

CORNELIUS NEALE.

Our old winter-companion, the cricket, now chirps his ceaseless song. See our last volume, p. 312, for a poetical illustration.

The bat is found in caverns, barns, &c. suspended by the claws of its hind feet, and closely enveloped in the membranes of the fore feet. Dormice, squirrels, water-rats, and field-mice, provide a large stock of food for the winter season.

Sprats, cod, and soles, now come into season; sprats are dispersed in immense quantities all over the kingdom, and afford a cheap, pleasant, and nutritious food for the lower classes.

The oak, the beech, and the hornbeam, in part, retain their leaves, and the ash its keys. The common holly (ilex aquifolium), with its scarlet berries, is now conspicuous, as is the pyracanthus with its bunches or wreaths of fiery berries on its dark green thorny sprays; and those dwarfs of the vegetable creation, mosses, and the liverwort (lichen), now attract our notice.-See T. T. for 1817, p. 358.

The redbreast is still heard to chaunt his cheerful strain,' and the sparrow chirps. Towards the end of the month, woodcock shooting commences; and the snipe (scolopax gallinago) becomes a prey to the fowler.

In concluding our eighth annual survey of frost and snow, of fruits and flowers, and shrubs,-of birds and insects, and of the various beauties and curiosities of the Creation,-we cannot, we think, render a more acceptable service to our readers, than earnestly to recommend to them the study of Natural History. It is one of the most delightful occupations that can employ the attention of reasoning

man; the engaging companion of every rural walk, -courting his attention with unceasing variety, and raising the humble mind to the first GREAT CAUSE, with more gentle and sweet satisfaction than any other of his permitted resources; excepting, perhaps, Astronomy,-a science too sublime for the contemplation of common man.-Young, minds cannot be too early impressed with the simple wonders of Creation by which they are surrounded; in the race of life they may be passed by, the occupation of existence may not admit attention to them;-they may not be sufficiently heeded among the unceasing cares of the world, but yet will not fail to give some bias to the reasoning mind,—and may contribute to soothe the gloomy hours of adversity.

I love to mark the flow'ret's eye,

To rest where pebbles form my bed,
Where shapes and colours scattered lie
In varying millions round my head.

The soul rejoices when alone,

And feels her glorions empire free;
Sees GOD in every shining stone,
And revels in variety.

Then tell me not that I shall grow

Forlorn, that fields and woods will cloy;
From NATURB and her changes flow
An everlasting tide of joy.

I grant that Summer heats will burn,
That keen will come the frosty night;
But both shall please: and each, in turn,
Yield Reason's most supreme delight.

Build me a shrine, and I could kneel
To rural gods, or prostrate fall;

Did I not see, did I not feel,

That one GREAT SPIRIT governs all.

BLOOMFIELD.

Page 32. February 5.-SAINT AGATHA.- The cities of Palermo and Catania dispute the honour of her birth: but they do much better, who, by copying her virtues, strive to become her fellow citizens in heaven.'-(Butler.)-She suffered martyrdom under Decius, in the year 251.

P. 71. March 25.- ANNUNCIATION OF THE Blessed VirGIN MARY, or Lady Day.-This day celebrates the angel's message to the Virgin Mary, respecting our Blessed Lord. She was, probably, an only child, and but fifteen years of age when espoused to Joseph. She died A.D. 48, being about sixty years old.

P. 96. April 19.-SAINT ALPHEGE.-A native of England, Alphege was first Abbot of Bath, then Bishop of Winchester, in the year 984, and, twelve years afterwards, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1012, the Danes being disappointed of some tribute money which they claimed as due to them, they entered Canterbury, and burnt both the city and church; the greater part of the inhabitants being put to the sword. After seven months' miserable imprisonment, the good archbishop was stoned to death at Greenwich.

P. 170. June 21.-CORPUS CHRISTI.-This festival, the body of Christ,' was appointed in honour of the Eucharist, and always falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. It is called the Fête Dieu, or Corpus Christi, and is one of the most remarkable. festivals of the Romish church, beginning on Trinity Sunday, and ending on the Sunday following. The common mode of celebrating this festival is by grand masses, and processions of the holy sacrament only; but at Aix, in Provence, a most extraordinary procession was first introduced by King Renè, which continued till the year 1788 or 1789, and was renewed again in the year 1803.-See T. T. for 1818, p. 117, for a description of this ceremony.

P. 177. June 29.-SAINT PETER.-Peter's original name, Simon, was not abolished by Christ, but that of Cephas was added to it, which in Syriac, the vulgar language of the Jews, signifies a stone or rock; hence the Greek IIérges, and our Peter. The apostle's father was Jonah, probably a fisherman of Bethsaida. His brother Andrew, being first cónverted, was said to be an instrument of Peter's conversion, John i, 40, 41.

P. 190. New Theory of the Rainbow.-The opportunity afforded in the months of June and July of observing the rainbow, leads us to notice a new theory of this celestial phenomenon, which has been offered by Dr. Watt, and communicated by him to Dr. Thomson's Annals of Philosophy for February 1819. About fifteen years ago (observes the Doctor) I was engaged in a variety of researches respecting the nature of light and heat, which led me to pay particular attention to what have been called the primitive colours, and more especially as they appear in the rainbow. For a time I was satisfied with the Newtonian theory, and, of course, all my views were bounded by that hypothesis. The first thing which tended to stagger my belief in it was that I could, in few instances, satisfy myself that there were really drops of rain falling at the place where the rainbow appeared. A rainbow was often seen in a direction in which, for many miles, not a drop of rain had fallen. It occurred to me, therefore, that to make the Newtonian theory complete, the existence of drops of rain should first of all have been demonstrated.

'Without troubling you with my doubts and difficulties, I shall shortly state what gave me an entirely new view of the subject. One day, I think in 1805, while I was observing a very vivid rainbow, I happened to turn my eyes towards the sun, and observed that he was passing along the lower edge of a sort of semi-transparent cloud. I could distinctly see his boundaries on the lower side; but the

cloud becoming more and more dense, the upper part of his disk was scarcely visible. Matters remaining in this situation for some minutes, I had time to make repeated observations on the sun, the cloud through the edge of which he was shining, the dark sky in the east, and the variations in the rainbow. The cloud passed slowly to the north, and the sun appeared in all his splendour. At this instant the rainbow disappeared, though I could perceive no difference whatever in the dark sky on which it had so lately been seen.

'The coincidence of the sun's emerging from under the cloud, and the disappearance of the rainbow, struck me as remarkable, and led me to conclude that, probably, there was some connection between them. Can this cloud have acted as a prism in refracting the rays? Perhaps the dark sky on which the rainbow was seen, served no other purpose but a curtain to receive the spectrum. Full of this idea, I waited with great impatience till I had an opportunity of seeing another rainbow. When this occurred, it convinced me still more of the correctness of my hypothesis. The moment I saw the rainbow, I turned round and saw a cloud between me and the sun, and the sun shining through the lower edge as before. The lower edge of the cloud being somewhat uneven, at times more of the sun's disk was covered than at others, and corresponding variations always took place in the appearance of the rainbow. At one pretty large gap the sun shone forth unclouded, and the rainbow disappeared. In a minute or two he was partially covered, and the rainbow again made its appearance. At last the cloud passed wholly off, and the rainbow was seen no more. Though from this time I considered my hypothesis as in a great measure established, I missed no opportunity of looking for such a cloud as often as I have seen a rainbow, and I have never in one instance seen the one without finding the other.