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FAMILY PASTIME, HOUSEWIFE'S CORNER, &c.

no ignoring of the Alliance and its proposed measure. Boldly he denounced the traffic, plainly he declared that his countrymen liked the principle of the Permissive Bill, and manfully he declared his faith in entire prohibition as possible through that measure. I am sure we all feel indebted to Mr. Church for his well-timed testimony, and his stirring confession of temperance faith."

Family Pastime.

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Housewife's Corner.

FOOD IN SEASON.-Fish-Crabs, lobsters, sprawns, salmon, salmon trout, skate. Meat-Beef, grass lamb, house lamb, mutton, pork, veal. Poultry and Game-Chickens, ducklings, fowls, pigeons, rabbits. Vegetables-Asparagus, beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, turnips. Fruit-Apples, cherries, strawberries, forced grapes, peaches, &c.

RECEIPTS.

FRUIT STAINS IN LINEN.-To remove them, rub the part on each side with yellow soap, then tie up a piece of pearlash in the cloth, &c., and soak well in hot water, or boil; afterwards expose the stained part to the sun and air until removed.

TO PREVENT MOTHS ATTACKING CLOTHES.1. Procure shavings of cedar wood, and enclose in muslin bags, which should be distributed freely among the clothes.-2. Procure shavings of camphor wood, and enclose in bags.-3. Sprinkle pimento (allspice) berries among the clothes.-4. Sprinkle the clothes with the seeds of the musk plant.-5. To destroy the eggs when deposited in woollen cloth, etc., use a solution of acetate of potash in spirits of rosemary-15 grains to the pint. -K.

Rapid Method of Drying Sea-Weeds.-The drying of sea-plants under pressure, between sheets of bibulous paper being a tedious process, I tried the hot iron plan, which I had been accustomed to with botanic specimens, and find it successful. I send you a specimen. It was in the sea at four o'clock, and posted to you at five the same day.-J. H. D. [The plant is a fine specimen of the scarlet plocamium, plocamium coccineum), which has undergone no change of colour since we received it, more than two months ago.]

Gooseberry Fool.-Scald a quart of berries, and pass them through a sieve, make the pulp sweet, and let it stand to cool; beat up the yolks of three eggs, strain them to a quart of milk, set it over a clear fire, and keep stirring till it boils; remove, stir till cold, and then add the fruit to it gradually.

Rhubarb Fool.-Scald a quart or more of rhubarb, nicely peeled, and cut into pieces an inch long, pulp through a sieve, sweeten, and let it stand to cool. Put a pint of cream, or new milk, into a stew-pan with a stick of cinnamon, a small piece of lemon-peel, a few cloves, coriander seeds, and sugar to taste; boil ten minutes. Beat up the yolks of four eggs, and a little flour, stir into the cream, set over the fire till it boils, stirring all the time; remove, and let it stand till cold. Mix the fruit and cream together, and add a little grated nutmeg.

Ham Toast.-Boil a quarter of a pound of lean ham, chop small, put in a saucepan with the yolks of three eggs well beaten, half an ounce of butter, two table-spoonfuls of cream, and cayenne to taste, stir over the fire till it thickens, spread upon hot toast with the crust cut off, and serve hot. Garnish with parsley.

BEST METHOD OF DRYING AND PRESERVING BOTANICAL SPECIMENS,

Take a quantity of blotting paper, old newspapers, or any moderately absorbent paper, and on the floor or upon a table lay down a few sheets, on the surface of which place the specimens, carefully spreading all the parts, by slight pressure of the hands. When the first layer is disposed of, then lay on two or three additional sheets of paper and proceed in the same manner until all the specimens are arranged. On the top of all place a board, a little larger than the sheets of paper, and, on the top of the board, a weight of about 50lbs. A large stone of the desired weight can easily be procured, and answers the purpose admirably. The paper must be exchanged or dried, at intervals of two or three days, until the specimens are quite dried, when they should be mounted, by being glued or pasted upon sheets of white paper, in which state they will retain all their characters, except colour, for a very long time. Care should, in all cases, be taken that the plants be perfectly dry before being subjected to pressure.

Our Correspondents.

"H. B."-A story from the pen of the Rev. J. B. Kane of Annaghmore, author of "Love's Labour not Lost," will appear in an early number of the Journal. The title of the tale will be-"Three Chapters from the Diary of a Late Clergyman."

"G. 'H. G."-The verses are very good, but they have already appeared in a monthly journal. "ALL FADE AWAY."-Held over.

"THE DEMON."-Declined. Try another style.

"J. M. W."-The report of the League for the past year has already been issued to Societies and Subscribers. Copies can be had at the Office, 5, Donegall Street, Belfast.

THE IRISH

Temperance League Journal.

VOL. I.]

Botanical Notes;

By G. PASTOR, Coll. Edin.

CHAPTER I.

JULY, 1863.

ON STRUCTURAL BOTANY.

1.—PRESUMING that our young friends have procured the excellent little manual of Structural Botany, recommended in last number of the Journal,* we shall now proceed to the anatomy of a plant. Let them not be frightened at the word " 'anatomy," which, to many people, is associated only with the dissecting-room. Here, we have no painful or disagreeable operations. If now and again a deadly wound be inflicted on some beautiful plant, there is no reason to believe that suffering is thereby produced. Although we firmly hold that there is a life, and not a mere mechanical movement, in the vital organs, such life bears so little resemblance to that of an animal as to make us hesitate to place them in comparison. Before entering upon the structure of a plant, we would simply remark that, to a thorough comprehension of its whole elemental life, some knowledge of chemistry is needed. The ultimate elements of which the animal and vegetable world is composed are identical, and these ultimate elements are the same as those of which the inorganic, inanimate, or mineral kingdom is constructed. A chemical element is a body, which, it is supposed, cannot be further divided or decomposed. It may enter into a vast number of com. binations, but does not, itself, consist of diversified forms of matter. The whole natural world gives us some sixty-two elements, five of which are gases; eight solids; and the rest metals. It does not follow however, that some of them may not reach a further analysis. No chemist believes that; and, therefore, they must be regarded, as, to some extent, in a state of trial. Of the bodies we have just mentioned, only eighteen, so far as we yet know, enter into the composition of the vegetable world. The gases find their way through the breathing pores of the leaf, and, because of the essential labours which they perform, are called the "organogens." The solids and metals get absorbed by the rootlets, and are carried into the plant in the form of soluble phosphates and humates. As we shall have occasion to speak of these gases, when describing the action of the root, the brief statement now made must suffice for the present. It is the object of the writer to attract, and not to repel his young readers, as assuredly he would do, if this

Manual of Structural Botany, by M. Cooke. London: Richard Hardwicke.

[No. 6.

chemical discussion were protracted. One additional remark, and he shall then pass on to the chief subject of this chapter. Like all men of one idea, and who are wedded to their hobby, some chemists can see nothing in the mysterious workings of cell-life, but the equally mysterious operations of chemical affinity. Atom to atom, is their formula. Combine and arrange, their practical conclusion. Why, according to this monstrous theory, all that is required to build up the beautiful structure of a plant, is the simple compounding of certain fixed ingredients, whose ultimate atoms shall rush together and constitute this or that vegetable production. Well, then, if it be so, let them try their hand on the most artless forms they can procure. Take, for example, Göthe's typical plant, the unembarrassed and unsophisticated Anagallis phenicea, and we shall give them twice ten round lustrums to manufacture but one of its pretty leaves. Doctors would need a new "Materia Medica," and a somewhat more extensive "Pharmacopoeia" than their colleges now authorise, were this wild doctrine true. Terrible to contemplate would the consequences be, were our "health-restorers" ignorant of those ingredients to which we have referred. And alarming would the prospect for poor, luckless humanity become, did loving atoms play tricks with medical prescriptions, and get up a miniature nursery in the stomach, for the cultivation of mushrooms, cucumbers, or any other plant! The idea had so nearly destroyed all our romantic notions of vegetable life, that, in veriest revenge for the insult to our imagination, we could have wished not so small an object as a cucumber or a mushroom, but a huge Rafflesia,* in the inner chamber of that materialistic gentleman who first propounded the theory. Let such as he lift the veil of Isis, if they can; but, as for us, we are content to worship, devoutly, in the outer court of the great temple of Nature.

CELL LIFE.

2. The simplest and most elementary appearance which vegetable life presents is the humble and unassuming vesicle or cell. This is the original begin. ning of all plants, from which every complicated structure proceeds. It is a rounded or oval body, walled in by a transparent film, and filled usually with fluids. When these grow together and form a compact mass, that mass is called the cellular tissue of plants. In the walls of these vesicles no distinct openings have yet been found, though, doubtless, the law which regulates the passing of fluids of different densities from one receptacle to another has provided gates of escape, that the keen-eyed microscope cannot see. In these curious little cells, the vital functions of the plant, are first witnessed. Many interesting speculations have been hazarded regarding the independent or non-independent action of these minute organs. Our space forbids a notice even of one of them. When these vesicles enlarge by extending at each

*Rafflesia Arnoldi, a mighty epiphyte (epi, upon; phyton, a plant), which grows on the root of a species of Cissus in Sumatra, that land of vegetable miracles. Its flower is three feet in diameter.

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end, they exhibit strange internal changes. Sometimes a spiral column is seen at one period; then a series of rings at another; and at a third, the spiral seems broken up into bars, as represented in figure one. The tissue, which an arrangement of such cells will produce, is called Fibro-cellular tissue. Then again, these elastic little bodies quietly accommodate themselves to every condition of their mysterious existence. By pressure, they assume various forms. Now, you will find them collected together in bundles, as in the sea-weeds (alga) and mushrooms (fungi); then in hexagonal boxes, as in figure two; now in

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FIG. 1.

FIG. 2.

the form of stars, with intercellular spaces (lacunæ), as in figure three; then in short cylindrical shapes, as in figure four. When discovered in the last form,

FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

the structure is called pitted or dotted tissue. How these vesicles grow, is not known. And all that the microscope is able to do for us here is, to show where the point of increase begins, and where it ends. At the upper and lower apex, that peculiar development takes place, which, after a short time, sends forth the central rod or stem of the plant. Helpless as these minute vesicles appear to be, they labour with a rapidity that far outstrips even our modern mechanical skill-nay, far transcends every description of increase, yet known to us. One distinguished writer records that, in one species of puff-ball (the bovista gigantea), cells multiply at the rate of 66,000,000 a minute! Can our young friends calculate this unwieldy round number? If they can, then we give them up, and confess that, all the other wonders of the vegetable world, which the writer of this paper intends to reveal to them, will fail to excite a thrill of surprise.

3. As the cell becomes old, deposits of various substances take place. In its first stage, a kind of vegetable mucus (Protoplasm) is found in the interior. By some, this mucus is considered the earliest appearance of the tissue of a plant. Starch, Chlorophyll, (the substance which give the green colour to leaves), wax, resin, oil, camphor, and endless other secretions, originate, or are perfected, in these cells. In many plants, a large number of strange, needle-like bodies, called Raphides (Greek for needles), crowd these little chambers. They occur in Turkey Rhubarb,

The attention of our youthful readers is especially called to those brackets, which contain explanation of terms. Example: Protoplasm, (Protos, Greek, first; Plasma, a formed work). Like the postscript to a young lady's letter, which is usually the cream of the epistle, those brackets are indispensable.

to the amount of some 30 per cent. These remarkable bodies are usually composed either of an oxalate, a sulphate, or of a carbonate of lime. In numerous plants, (some say in all), a remarkable rotatory movement of the fluids in individual cells, is distinctly visible. In that weird-like plant, the Chara of our marshes, this kind of circulation is clearly seen. The movement is spiral, and is observed passing, obliquely, up one side, and down the other. One truly wonderful feature in this vital action, in the cells is, that the circulation appears to be confined entirely to each cell, and may be watched, for several days, in detached individuals, held under water, and closely inspected by the aid of a good microscope.

VASCULAR TISSUE.

4.-Vascular, or woody tissue, is made up of tubes, drawn out in the form of a spindle (Fusiform), tapering at each end. Vascular is distinguished from cellular tissue, by being cylindrical, long, and tough. It has been well called a "rib" (pleurenchyma pleura, a rib), for it gives strength and firmness to the stems and leaves. The woody portions of trees, shrubs, and most flowering plants, are composed of this sort of tissue. It contributes many most valuable products to the commercial world. We have, for example, the flax, hemp, China-grass, jute, bast, &c.* From its fibres, linen, ropes, cordage, mats, certain kinds of Indian muslin, and paper, are manufactured. By placing under the microscope portions of the woody-tissue found in linen, and the cellular tissue in cotton, any one may gratify his curiosity with a sight of the characteristic features of these two great structural substances. A peculiar form of woody fibre is found in the stems of resinous woods, such as the pine and fir tribe. The diameter of its tubes is greater than in that of any other woody tissue; and, because no other kind of vessel has yet been found in these trees, they alone appear to perform the office of carrying the sap upwards through the stem. A curious set of dots is visible along the course of these tubes, and seem to be formed, by the adhesion of some minute bodies, to their interior. What may be their true nature, we cannot tell; but they have served a most important purpose in helping to establish the true character of coal. This glandular appearance, as it is called, and which is peculiar to resinous woods, may be witnessed by any person who will take the trouble to place, under the microscope, a prepared specimen of common coal. The spiral vessel, with all its various modifications, is another marked feature of vascular tissue. Its essential character is the possession of a spiral fibre, coiling within its thin membranous tubes, from one extremity to the other. Figure five, affords a good illustration of this spiral

FIG. 5.

arrangement. The example is taken from the melon, and exhibits the elastic fibres uncoiled, and the vessels partly overlapping at their extremities. If our youthful students choose to examine this kind of tissue, and this interesting spiral, let them take a stem of the common Asparagus; soften it by boiling, or by soaking in water, and then, with their fingers, carefully detach it from the soft tissue in which it is found. Having separated the bundles, by means of small needles, take an individual spiral, place it under a good glass, and the beautiful structure, just mentioned, will become distinctly visible.

*In a future paper will be given, a concise account of the most useful fibrous plants, both home and foreign.

ALCOHOL.

5.-There are various modifications of the spiral vessel. We can only name them, and must advise our readers to resort to such works as "Carpenter's Physiology" and "Balfour's Botany," for a detailed history of this elementary department of our subject. When the tubes are found in rings, the fibre is called annular (annulus, a ring). These rings, in the cactus tribe, are very large, and distend the membranous walls, enormously. When the fibre is broken up into lines, like the steps of a ladder, it is called scalariform (scala, a ladder). Those vessels which appear to interlace with, or to branch into each other, are desig nated lacticiferous, from a word (lacter), describing the milky fluid which flows through them. From this milky juice, in different plants, many useful articles of commerce are procured. India-rubber and Gutta-percha are notable examples. The dandelion, spurge, lettuce, and celandine, will help our young friends to illustrations on this point. And let them know, that on the question of the nature and office of this milky substance, much doubt still rests; and there is, therefore, abundance of room left for personal distinction. Who will dare to assert that, from our numerous band of juvenile botanists, some thoughtful student may not arise and become the discoverer of a new and wonderful law?

6. In a future chapter we shall describe the combinations which these tissues exhibit, in stem, leaf, and flower. Meanwhile, let our readers try an experiment for themselves. Let them take, for instance, a leaf of the garden Iris, (fleur-de-lis) or one of London pride, and, stripping the skin (cuticle), from the under side of the latter, soak it in water for a few days; then, separating the cellular tissue, and placing their specimen under a tolerably powerful magnifying-glass, the wonders we have only been hinting at will, at once, be revealed to their admiring sight. By this means they may test, and, if they choose, correct our statements, and thus become practical physiologists. At all events, they will add vastly to their own pleasure, and greatly increase their love for a study, surrounded with charms, which the skill of artist and printer can but faintly portray.

*. We have to ask our young friends, when sending us plants for classifying, to see that good and perfect specimens are forwarded. In some instances the merest scrap has been sent. Now, in many cases, it is all but impossible to give the species, unless the distinctive characters are before us. When the plant is small, let them, if practicable, forward it in toto-root, stem, leaves, and flower. Of all the larger kinds, the flower, with its stalk, and a few of the root leaves, where they differ from those of the stem, will be sufficient. We cordially invite all our young friends to become collectors, and again offer them our services in naming and classifying every plant they may find. To facilitate the process of labelling, they are further requested to attach a small piece of writing paper to each specimen.

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To me was pleasant. Even toil appeared Painless, for when my daily task was done,

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A more intense delight was my reward, In all those harmless joys vouchsafed by nature's Lord.

Heavens, what a change!* How dismal, dark, and cold
Seem all things now of ocean, earth, and sky!
The Devil saw me happy, as of old

He viewed the man of Uz with envious eye,
And the old serpent, cautious, sleek, and sly,
Crawling on slowly round my senses stole,
Still unsuspected, ever hovering nigh,

Until he bound my body and my soul In thy destructive web, accursed Alcohol.

The cayman, tiger, the hyæna, shark,
The cabra-de-capella, upas tree;

The panther, the simoon, all monsters dark,
That roam the wilds of land or depths of sea,
Are harmless in comparison with thee,

Infernal soul-destroyer! for their grasp
Or poisoned fangs instinctively we flee;

Thee to our breasts with frantic joy we clasp,
As whilom Egypt's queen embraced the deadly asp.

Sweet to the taste and pleasant to the view,
By what seductive arts dost thou decoy,
And tangle in thy web the human crew-
The old-the middle-aged-the thoughtless boy,
Who fondles thee, as children hug a toy,

And, spurning friends' advice and sneers of foe, Drains the bright goblet with ecstatic joy.

Alas, too soon taught fearfully to know How bitter are the dregs that lurk unseen below!

To him are yet unknown the coals of fire

That rack and burn the agitated brain, When all is centred in one grand desire

Of that fell draught, and tears of blood, like rain Fall as he feels the tightening of the chain

Round him unbreakable-the bloodshot eyesThe broken frame-the starts of biting painThe griping twinge of conscience, as he lies And yells for drink-more drink-and drinks, and gasps, and dies!

Arch-fiend, I know thee! Think not to disguise Thy horrible deformity from me;

In fancy, I can hear the ghostly cries

Of those immortal spirits damned through thee. And yet I fear lest I am doomed to be Thy victim, most insinuating foe;

Lest to thine arts I yield the pliant knee,

And sink beneath thy breath like Burns and Poe, As melt before the sun soft heaps of wreathy snow.

I fear thy smooth and soberfaced allies,
Who, standing at thy back with easy mien,
With steady hand and captivating eyes,
Polite and condescending air, are seen
To hand the deadly mixture, while the sheen
Of some poor fool's last silver coin appears;
A moment, then is cast the till within,

In which the wise and moral landlord rears,
A fortune for himself, and thousands for his heirs.

Talk not to me of rectitude within

A moral pest-house; talk not of your board,t

I care not how respectably you sin,
On best and worst this sentence I record,
"Your trade's abomination to the Lord."

* Quantum mutatus ab illo.-VIRG., AEN. II. 274. ·
+ The Grocers' and Vintners' Society.

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[THE foregoing poem has been kindly forwarded to us by our warm friend, James Haughton, Esq., J.P., Dublin, who in his letter says "The writer was a man of genius and of great talent; the son of a farmer from your own Province; he passed through our Trinity College with great credit, having, I believe, gained more than one gold medal, and made many friends there. But, like many a son of genius, he fell beneath the allurements of our drinking customs, and became a very degraded man. Several years ago, he called on me, and told me the sad story of a few past years, in which all his once happy prospects were blighted. He was then in a most miserable condition, but as he assured me, for several weeks a strict teetotaler, and having every hope that, with a little pecuniary help, he would be able once more to take a respectable position in society. I enquired among his college friends, and found that his story was true. We raised a small sum for him, and he soon obtained a situation as tutor in one of our large schools, the duties of which he filled for a few years, when he died, his constitution having been broken down by his former excesses. He wrote the poem which I now send you, and which has never been published. seems to me to possess much poetic merit; and in this respect, as well as the congenial subject on which it treats, I think it worthy a place in your pages."-ED. I. T. L. J.

Real power wants no display.

It

The teacher who does you most service is not he who does your thinking for you, but rather he who induces you to do it for yourself.

Never indulge in libellous insinuations. If you have charges to prefer, let them be distinct as to the subject, and direct as to the person.

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ADELAIDE SINGLETON spoke very little during the journey, and several times Mrs. Letstieg saw her close her eyes as if to shut out unpleasant recollec. tions. Her pale, wretched-looking face bore all the traces of deep sorrow sufficient to draw forth the sympathy of even the hardest heart. Mr. Letstieg had driven up just as the train was about to start, and was so busy with papers for the first half hour that after being introduced to Miss Singleton he never raised his head. The first time he did so he could not resist the exclamation, "I'm afraid, my dear lady, that you are sick." The very words fell like a healing balsam upon her heart, and brought a momentary forgetfulness of all her sorrow. He looked like a man whose heart was touched, but in a cheerful tone said to Mrs. Letstieg, "Louisa, I know your skilful powers, take good care of our patient." This roused Mrs. Letstieg from her reverie. Leaning back in the carriage, she, for the last half hour lived in the past, and called up to the mind's eye days that she strove to forget, but could not. At the call of duty now, and yielding to the generous impulse of her own noble loving heart, she buried past cares in forgetfulness, and, with that attention which has been well called "feminine freemasonry," beguiled poor Adelaide Singleton of half her cares. Ye are the true conquerors who battle against inward care, and while the terrible struggle is going on seek the happiness of others. This truly is to conquer ourselves a victory not to be gained without wounds, which,

"Write the wrinkles deepest on the brow." The very look with which Mrs. Letstieg turned towards Adelaide Singleton said, to a close observer, plainly enough, "Be at rest, O my heart, and let me forget myself in attending to another's woes."

Placing her hand on hers, she said, "Miss Singleton, we must be sisters; so let me call you Adelaide. What is your mother's address? I'll call and see her to-morrow; I can't go to-day, as I must see a relation of ours who has been for a long time an invalid.” Now, ladies, we are at our journey's end; this is Euston Square Station. Stay in the carriage for a few minutes, and I'll see to the luggage, and get a cab."

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Whether Mr. Letstieg meant to give the opportunity or not to his wife, I cannot say, though from his character I think he did; she availed herself of it, and turning to Miss Singleton,

"Adelaide, I must claim the privilege of an old friend, and ask you to do me a great favour."

Poor Miss Singleton, for the first time since they left Layton, brightened up.

"Oh! Mrs. Letstieg, tell me what I can do as the commencement of a life of gratitude for the happiness you have given me."

A smile was upon Mrs. Letstieg's face as she said, "Take this purse and what it contains, as a present."

As she put it into her trembling hand, Mr. Letstieg came to the door of the carriage to say that all was ready. They parted, Mr. and Mrs. Letstieg to visit a friend, and Miss Singleton to what she called "home." She knew of Amy's illness, of the loss by fire, of their being obliged to accept the kindly offer of a shelter from a neighbour, but she only thought of the present Mrs. Letstieg had given her, and of all she could do for her mother and sick sister with so much money.

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