the current opinion of the hearing of fishes, by carp, barbel, chub, perch, roach, dace, eels, The fish to be met with in this water are the Our closing extract refers to the angler's favorite place of resort, THE RIVER LEA. This river has its rise in Bedfordshire, falls into the Thames near Blackwall, and is held in the opinion of London anglers, as second only to that noble river. It is navigable from Hertford to Limehouse, aud flows through a beautiful pastoral country, adorned with villages and noble mansions, through parks and meadows, containing countless herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, which are bordered by the sloping hills and woods of Epping Forest for some miles. In spring, the angler may try his art in the Lea, when he is forbidden, by the fence-months of March, April, and May, to wet a line in the Thames, except he is fishing for trout. The shortness of the distance from London is another inducement for brothers of the angle to congregate on the Lea; the first subscription water, the White House, Homerton, being little more than three miles from London. This water is rented and preserved by Mr. Beresford, and the subscription for a year's angling is half-a-guinea, or a ticket for the day may be had for a shilling. White House water lies between Stratford and Lea Bridge, and is near Homerton. It abounds with jack and pike, same as those already mentioned in the White House water. It is said the Lea is an excellent school for anglers, and with great justice, as the fish are so well fed naturally, and the water is so clear and often low, that nothing but fine fishing can succeed. Above Lea Bridge a considerable space of the river is free to anglers, but at Tottenham mills, five miles from London, you come to Tyler's subscription water, and six miles thence is Ford's water; the house is called the Blue House. The annual subscr'rtion is half-a-guinea for bottom-fishing only, or one guinea including trolling. The next subscription water is Bleak Hall. This house belongs to Mr. Wicks, and is near to Edmonton; it is pleasantly situated close to the water, which is well stored with fish. Upwards of two miles of water are here preserved, by uniting the water of Bleak Hall and that of Chingford, formerly Shurey's water; and this part of the Lea is well stored with jack and pike. The subscription for both waters is two guineas. Waltham Abbey :-this place is twelve miles from London. The water here, for the space of at least two miles, belongs to the Govern There are several wiers or tumbling bays here, where large trout are sometimes taken, and the whole of the Government water is well stored with perch, pike, and large chub. I speak of these, as most abundant, but there is no want of other fish, as roach, dace, gudgeons, &c. There is an excellent inn, and the charges are very moderate: the best months for fishing at Waltham Abbey are September and October. Part of the water belonging to Government is, I believe, rented by a party of gentlemen, and preserved for trolling. Broxbourne, the Crown, kept by Mr. T. Want, is close to the river, and has the rural appearance of a farm-house. It is an inn remarkable for comfort, cleanliness, civility, and attention, with every moderate charges. The contemplative angler, who seeks repose from the bustle and cares of the metropolis, will be delighted with this snug retreat, which, at the same, time offers the retirement he desires, and the amusement he enjoys. The water is well stored with fish, and visitors at the house have permission to angle, and have live-baits found them, without subscription or day ticket. A friend of mine, says Mr. Hofland, informed me, that in October of last year, one gentleman caught five brace of jack and pike in one day, in the water belonging to the Crown. Page's Water:-the fishing here is better than the accommodation, and the best Since transferred to J. Benningfield, in whose hands it has been wonderfully improved. months here, and at Broxbourne, are September INDICATIONS OF INSTINCT. By T. LIND- This very interesting publication forms No. 54 of The Traveller's Library; and every page of it proves that the author is in love with the subjects on which he treats. The book is divided into sections; and treats in turn upon Plants, Insects, Reptiles, Fishes, &c. Where all is so instructive, it is somewhat difficult to make a selection; but as Spring is at our doors, let us introduce a few of Dr. Kemp's seasonable observations on THE INSTINCTS OF PLANTS. That varied and complicated movements take place in many plants has long been known. But such have been little investigated, and the nature and end of them have generally been passed over in silence. They are, however, very clearly examples of instinctive movement, and in many cases serve highly important and essential ends in the vegetable economy, although from our imperfect observation we cannot always point out decidedly the results that they produce. A very familiar instinctive movement that occurs in plants, is the opening and shutting of the flowers. Generally, these organs are spread open so as to expose the stamens and pistils to the action of light during the day, and closed during the dark, so as to protect from external injury these delicate organs. A good deal of variety, however, prevails in this respect. Some plants, as the Portulaca oleracea, only open their flowers for about one hour daily, and this at mid-day. The Oenothera biennis, on the contrary, keeps its flowers shut all day, and only opens them when night comes on; and when the sun rises the flowers close again unless it be a very cloudy day, in which case the plant only shuts its flowers partially, or not at all. The flower of the common dandelion generally lives two days and a half. On the first two days it is awake, and is expanded in the earlier part of the day, and shuts at night; but on the third day it closes about mid-day, and this closing is followed by the death of the corolla. Moisture appears necessary to plants of the Carlina species, (a near relation of the thistle;) and accordingly, on a dry day, the flowers shut, and thus lose no water by evaporation. When the atmosphere becomes charged with moisture, the flowers re-open. Still more remarkable is the Nymphaea alba, or water-lily, which, when night comes on, not only closes its flower, but gradually lowers it until it is beneath the surface of the water, and thus reposes submerged. Another example of an instinctive movement for a very definite end, may be noticed in the common berberry. The flower of this plant contains six stamens which surround a single pistil; the stamens being inclined back upon the petals, and so away from the pistil. If, however, any of the stamens be touched near the base, it immediately starts forward to the pistil, and strikes the top of that organ with its anthers. It soon resumes its original position. Of course, the same effect is produced whenever an insect alights upon them. Whenever the anther is ripe, and an insect enters the flower, the filament strikes against the pistil with such force as to burst the anther, and thus scatter the pollen upon the pistil, and thereby produce a seed. There is another plant, the Cactus tuna, which, whenever an insect enters its ripe flowers, immediately inclines all its stamens over the pistil. In a somewhat similar manner, if the stalk of the stamen of the Cetasetum be disturbed, it springs up with such violence, that the top of it is broken off, and actually darted to a very considerable distance. been noticed by every one. The motions of the leaves of plants must have The most common instances of such are called, in ordinary language, the sleep of plants, although the expression is a bad one. The phenomenon was first noticed by Linnæus. He was carefully cultivating some lotus plants, or birds'-foot trefoil, one of which had two flowers. Chancing to look at the plant one evening, the flowers were not to be seen, and Linnæus supposed that some one had plucked them. The next morning, however, they were again visible, but on returning at night they had once more vanished. The plant was then carefully examined, and it was found that the leaflets had altered their position, approached one another, and by so doing concealed the flowers. Extending his observations, Linnæus found that something analogous to this occurred in all plants. Generally this folding of the leaves takes place as darkness comes on, but is in reality performed independently of light and darkness; and it has been ascertained, that plants kept constantly in the dark, open and close at regular intervals. It by no means follows that the leaves of plants close in this mannner at the same hour that the flowers do. Berthollet watched an acacia, the leaflets of which closed at sunset, and unfolded at sunrise; while its flowers closed at sunrise and expanded at sunset. The manner in which leaves change their position is various. Some raise their leaflets so that their upper stalks are brought into contact, while others depress theirs so that their under surfaces meet together. Others, again, undergo other contractions. The sensitive plants afford very striking illustrations of movements performed by vegetables. The most common of these is the Mimosa pudica, an annual, the leaves of which fold up on being touched, the phenomenon taking place at so early a period in the existence of the plant as from when its cotyledons have expanded. If the stimulant be applied in sufficient intensity-as if, for example, a leaflet be touched with a burning candle, or if the sun's rays be concentrated upon it by means of a line, this leaflet immediately moves, and also the one opposite to it; both bringing their upper surfaces into contact, and at the same time inclining forwards or towards the extremity of the small petiole on which they are seated. Then other pairs of leaflets, nearest to that pair first touched, close one after the other in a similar manner; and next the partial petioles fold together by inclining upwards and forwards; after which the common petiole is affected, but it bends downwards, having its point directed towards the ground; that is, in an opposite direction to that in which the previous movements have been made. Many other plants possess this property of taking on them extraordinary motions when anything comes into contact with them. The object effected by them all is, probably, to shake off slugs and similar vermin. Among these other plants, the leaves of which assume these contortions, are species of Smithia and Biophytum; and in Senegal, a plant grows, called by the natives "how d'ye do," on account of its performing a sort of salaam or bow on being touched. In some species of plants the mere contact of the air apparently seems sufficient to excite a continual degree of spasmodic action, if the expression may be allowed, for the sake, probably, of protecting themselves from the depredations of insects. There is, for example, the Desmodium gyrans, a native of Bengal, where it is called Gora chand, and which was brought into notice by the younger Linnæus. "No sooner," wrote he, "had the plants which he raised from seed acquired their ternate leaves, than they began to be in motion in every direction: this movement did not cease during the whole course of their vegetation, nor were they observant of any time, order, or direction; one leaflet frequently revolved while the other on the same petiole was quiescent, sometimes a few leaflets only were in motion, then almost all of them would be in a movement at once; the whole plant was very seldom agitated, and that only during the first year of its growth, and was not at rest even during the winter." Examples of this plant that have been cultivated in our greenhouses, although they have exhibited very well these strange movements, have not been agitated so much as when growing in their native country, or as those brought thence by Linnæus. This is probably owing to the careful culture of our gardeners, and to the climate; both of which preserve them from the more active of their insect tormentors. Burnet, who watched their movements in a glass conservatory, made the rather remarkable discovery-that although they might be temporarily restrained by force, yet that when the restraint was removed, they immediately moved about with increased velocity, so as to make up for the time which they had lost. Decandolle also observed them, and he related that their leaves consist of three leaflets; two lateral, and one central and terminal. Their movements, he describes, take place by little starts, like those of the second-hand of a watch; and he further remarked that the one at one side went up, so as to form an angle of about fifty degrees over the level of the petiole, and the other on the opposite side went down as much. This process was then reversed, and repeated alter nately. The terminal leaflet is also continually inclined first to one side and then to the other. There is a natural family of plants principally inhabiting tropical countries, and abounding at the Cape of Good Hope, where they are objectionable on account of the extremely fetid nature of the odor of their flowers, examples of which are occasionally cultivated here. The members of this family afford very extraordinary instances of instinctive movements. Plants belonging to it are known from all others by having their pollen grain contained in bags, from which their escape seems almost impossible. However, when the time comes for their seeds to be formed, a small tube grows from each pollen grain; and these tubes all direct themselves towards a thin spot of the bag which themselves towards the stigma. To effect this holds them. This they pierce, and then direct object they have sometimes to ascend, sometimes to descend, and at other times to proceed outwards at right angles; but they invariably hit the exact direction, according to the position of the flower, and arrive at the stigma; thus the seed is fer tilised. A plant grows wild in Carolina called the Dionaea muscipula, or Venus's fly-trap. "The leaves of this," says Henslow," consist of a flattened petiole, at the extremity of which are two fleshy lobes, which lie, when expanded, in the same plane with the petiole. These lobes are capable of being elevated and brought together into a position perpendicular to the surface of the petiole. They are furnished with cilia, or bristles, round their margins, which stand nearly at right angles to their upper surface; and there are, besides these, three little short bristles placed upon the upper surface of each lobe in a triangular order. When a fly or other insect, crawling over the surface of the lobes, touches either of these latter bristles, the irritability is excited, the lobes suddenly close, and the insect is imprisoned like a rat in a common gin. Some little time after the death of the insect, the lobes unfold, and wait for another victim." It appears probable that the plant makes use of the fly, although it is difficult to conceive in what manner. Mr. Knight experimented upon a number of these plants, all of which were placed so that no insects could get at them. He furnished the leaves of some with scraped beef, leaving the others without any such provision; and he found that the plants supplied with the beef flourished more than the others. We possess in this country three species of Drosera, or sun-dew; all of which exhibit similar instinctive movements, the result of which is to catch insects. The upper surface of their leaves is furnished with long hairs, which terminate in glandular and viscid globules. An insect alighting upon them first gets entangled in the viscid matter, and then the hairs begin to move in, close upon it, and hold it until it is dead. But perhaps the most extraordinary of the fly. catching plants is the one described (somewhat obscurely) by Mr. Drummond, who found it in the Swan River colony. The lower lip of the flower of it, he states, is a boat-shaped box, in which the anthers are situated; and the upper one, which he thinks is a stigma, forms a door or lid which exactly fits it. The hinge upon which this lid moves springs from the upper part of the flower, and "when it opens, the upper part turns round within the box, comes out at the bottom, and turns up and back- -so that when fully expanded, it stands fairly over the flower. The moment a small insect touches the point of the lid, it makes a sudden revolution, brings in the point of the lid at the bottom of the box, so that it has to pass the anthers in its way, and makes prisoners any small insect that the box will hold." He adds, that if the insect be caught, the box remains shut for some time; but that if the animal has managed to fly out, it soon opens again. Still more surprising acts of motion take place in the lower plants. Among the Conferve, or jointed Alge, is a genus called oscillatoria, the members of which might almost be mistaken for a number of worms writhing together. These shift their position with very considerable alacrity. If, for example, a patch of them be placed in water, in a plate, and a black bell glass be inverted over them in such a manner as not to quite touch the bottom of the plate, the conferva-in a very short time, will be found to have glided out at that side of the bell glass most exposed to light. They have been observed to travel in a few hours to a distance of ten times their own length. The young of certain species of them, too, when separated from the mother plant, move onwards in the water with velocity until they reach a shady spot, when they take root and remain fixed. The climbing plants also appear to have a kind of instinctive motion, and those of the same species move always in the same direction. Those that move from right to left, never, under any circumstances move from left to right, and vice versa. Thus the hop invariably turns from the left to the right, and the stem of the convolvulus or bindweed always turns from the right to the left. It is probable that still more remarkable instinctive movements take place underground. The structure of plants consists of about a dozen elementary substances, all of which are present in fertile soil; and it is from the soil (and also, with regard to one or two elements, from the air) that they obtain them. The roots send forth radicles, which move on until they arrive at particles of the different elements that the plant stands in need of. And the distance to which one of these radicles will so travel is often very great. Moreover, the difference between different plants mainly depends upon the varying proportions of these elements of which their structure, and consequently their food, is composed. The ash of bean, for example, is found to contain nearly fifty per cent. of potassa, and about six of silica; while that of barley has not eight per cent. of potassa, and more than fifty of silica. If the half of a field, the soil of which is quite uniform, be planted with beans, and the other half with barley, the rootlets of the bean and barley plants wander along under ground until they come into contact with just the requisite quantities of those two substances; and when they have obtained the requisite quantities, seek no more. Those of the bean plant wander on until they have formed the large amount of potassa, and those of the barley of silica; while the bean roots are content with having found the small quantity of silica, and the barley ones the comparatively small amount of the alkali. As is familiar to every one, there is a regular gradation in the different classes of living beings. We are in the habit of pronouncing cryptogamic plants as less perfect than flowering ones, polypi as inferior animals to reptiles, reptiles to birds, birds to mammals; and among manimals we assign various degrees of rank, esteeming a dog or an elephant as superior to a sloth or a mole. It must not be supposed, however, that all the endowments go on increasing according to the scale of increasing perfection. Indeed, in one respect, in that which now employs us-the instincts-the very reverse is the case, and some of the most striking of the instinctive arts are to be witnessed in the beings that are ranked as lowest. This being the case, we should expect to find that these instinctive movements in search of food are most energetic in the lowest plants; and such is certainly the case. A fungus, as a common edible mushroom, may be at sunset a mere dot of matter, scarcely or not at all appreciable to our senses; and may by next morning be a large plant that weighs a pound. This indicates an immense activity of its radicles during these few hours, and a degree of instinctive movement and instinctive selection that is very extraordinary. The author's remarks on Instinct and Reason are admirable. We shall have occasion to return to them hereafter. RURAL ECONOMY. BY MARTIN DOYLE. Groombridge and Sons. This is one of those useful, plain-spoken Manuals, for which the present age is famous, affording, at a small cost, much practical information on the care and management of domestic animals. We have of late been asked a multitude of questions about Rabbits; and we are enabled by the aid of this little brochure, to reply to them without loss of time. The author's judicious treatment and long experience enable him to speak oracularly. Almost every boy in the course of his life takes a fancy to rabbit-keeping; and yet scarcely one boy have we met with who knows how to treat the animals properly. Many rabbits, we are sorry to say, have been starved by neglect (not wilfully perhaps), poisoned with filth or foul air, or otherwise destroyed by injurious treatment. While, on the other hand, many are killed with kindness; by supplying them with an over-abundance of certain kinds of food improper for them. We now wish to point out these things, and to give judicious practical directions for the management of rabbits. RABBIT HOUSE.-The first and most important matter is to have a good dry house or shed, in which the animals can be well protected from damp weather. Too much moisture is as fatal to rabbits as it is to sheep. It gives them the rot. Dampness may be all very well for fishes; but it is not good for men, women, and children; nor yet for horses, cows, pigs, poultry, bees, or rabbits; these all thrive better, and are preserved from many diseases, by being protected from it. But though you keep out the wet from your rabbit-house, you must not at the same time ex clude fresh air; for rabbits can no more be in health without fresh air than human beings. It is sheer folly to suppose that any living creature can be maintained in health and vigor without an ample supply of that " balm of life," FRESH AIR. Disease and death are the natural consequences of a vitiated atmosphere. Many writers advise that rabbits should not be kept in hutches, but in little houses, so constructed that they may have protection from the weather, and at the same time enjoy their liberty and amuse themselves. This house may be built about four or five feet square, as may be convenient; with a roof formed to carry off the rain. The floor should be boarded or paved, to prevent the rabbits from burrowing, and have hay or straw laid on it. Some boxes must be provided, placed on the floor, with the open side downwards, and with holes at the sides for the rabbits to go in or out. Sliding doors to these boxes are convenient, to shut in the rabbits when necessary. In the front of the house there should be a little court or yard railed off, into which the rabbits may be allowed to run when the weather is dry; and here they will sport and enjoy themselves, and give you opportunities of observing their pretty antics. But this house will only do for young rabbits, or until they are about five months old. After that age they would begin to tear each other to pieces, if left together. All the pleasure you had in witnessing their former harmony and happiness, would be gone. The bucks would fight dreadfully, and the "litters" the does might have would be destroyed; so that it is necessary that breeding does should be kept in hutches, and the bucks separated from one another. But we nevertheless advise that young rabbits should be allowed to have their liberty in such a honse, as they will be far more healthy, and will grow much better than when they are cooped up in hutches, where they have no room to exercise their limbs. Rabbits of any age, from the time they are taken from the doe (up to five months old), may be introduced among the "happy family" in the house. They will be received with cordiality, and will skip and caper about with pleasure; just as boys may do who live in peace and love with their companions. HUTCHES.-The hutches should be made as large as convenient, that the rabbits may not be cramped for want of exercise: those for breeding does must have a partition, so as to form two apartments-one for feeding, the other as a bed. Single hutches, that is with one room only, will do for young rabbits or for bucks to be kept in. The door of the feeding apartment should have wires in it, but that of the bed-place must be of wood, as the doe likes darkness and concealment when she has her litter. It is well to have a slidingboard to divide the two compartments, and to shut out the rabbits when the hutch is to be cleaned; as it is very inconvenient to do this with the rabbits running about. The floors of the hutches should be quite smooth, that the wet may run off; and in order to facilitate this, a small slit or opening in the floor, at the back of the huteh, should be made, and the hutch itself be put sloping, -a little higher at front than at the back, for when rabbits have much green food, there is a con siderable quantity of moisture which requires to be drained off, that the creatures may be kept dry and clean; and if proper means be taken to receive this into a drain, it forms a very valuable liquid manure. The hutches may be arranged one above the other, around the house, to any convenient height; only it must be observed, that each row of hutches should project at the back beyond that under it, in order that the wet may not run down into the hutch beneath. If a trough be placed on the floor behind the hutches, it will serve to carry off the liquid manure into some convenient receptacle. FEEDING TROUGHS are usually made in the form of a long open box, but this is inconvenient in many respects, as the young rabbits get in and spoil the food, and the older ones scratch out much of it, tread it under foot, and waste it. A better plan is to have a swinging board in front, the cost of which is soon made up by the food saved. The rabbits, when they take their food, push this board inwards with their forehead; and when the head is withdrawn, the board flaps back against the front of the trough. Some persons have a lid to the trough, which the rabbit soon learns to lift, and which shuts down again of itself as soon as the head is taken out of the way. There are many KINDS OF RABBITS, varying in size, form, color, length of legs or fur, and position of the ears; but the races have been so continuously intermixed and varied, by breeding, that it is a difficult task to point out any distinct kind as preferable. The smallest and short legged variety of the color of the wild rabbit, appears to be the hardiest. Boys generally prize LOP-EARS; though they are scarcely so pretty in appearance as the common kind. There is a single or double lop, according as one only, or both ears, are dropped. SMUTS, too, are favorites; either single or double. The smut is a black spot on the side of the rabbit's nose, and a spot on each side constitutes the double smut. Some of these are very beautiful creatures, having a white silvery fur, with rich, glossy black spots; and they are generally largesized rabbits. FOOD. This is an important matter. Rabbits eat a very great quantity. You must not think that because they are little animals, they require only a little food. They want much more than you do, in proportion to their size; and to give them proper kinds of food, in sufficient quantity, and at a low expense, constitutes the chief question as regards their profit. How often do we hear it said, and how generally true is the saying, “Oh! my rabbits never pay, they eat their heads off," &c.; meaning, that the expense of the food consumed more than counterbalances the advantage gained. Now this arises from want of knowledge. For the greater part of the year, rabbits may be kept almost entirely upon food procured from the field or garden. Although green food is naturally the food of rabbits, yet, because when injudiciously supplied it scours and gives them the rot, it is erroneously supposed that it must be almost entirely withheld. It is true, that if it be given to them in a wet state after rain, if it consist of one kind of vegetable only, or if it be of a watery kind-a bad effect takes place; but when the green food is given in sufficient variety, and with |