1 unnecessary. Here a piece of ground in the highest and driest part of the field is first smoothed with a hoe, and then swept very clean. If the crop be small, it is threshed with a flail; if otherwise, horses are used to tread it out. We have seen from ten to fourteen on one floor. The corn is winnowed on the spot, by means of a sieve supported on poles, and the chaff burned forthwith. 'Harvest-home, as with us, is a time of universal merriment. It is generally celebrated with a dance, when cakes, called ciambelli, made of fine flour, oil, and honey; and others, called pizzi, made of barley, well salted, are distributed, with a good allowance of wine. If the harvest has been plentiful, a large sheaf is generally reserved for some favourite saint, as the offering of first-fruits among the Hebrews was corn beaten out of full ears (Levit. ii, 14). The reapers carry it along; the priest meets them, a prayer of dedication is said, the sheaf is placed before the altar. We had the pleasure of seeing the little church of Santa Maria delle Grazie so adorned; and whether it be the remain of pagan rites, or the natural expression of pious gratitude, acting alike under different laws and in different ages, we were too well pleased to inquire. We have seen the poor Hindoo place his cocoa-nut and his handful of rice before his household gods. We read of the elegant offerings of odorous flowers and fruits made by Catullus to the rural guardian of his vineyard; but none of these pleased us so much as the plentiful sheaf given by the Christian Polese to the Madonna delle Grazie.' About the 11th of August, the puffin (alca arctica) migrates; and soon afterwards the swift disappears, probably winging its way to more southern regions. Young broods of goldfinches (fringilla carduelis) are now seen; lapwings (tringa vanellus) and linnets (fringilla linota) congregate; the nuthatch chatters. At the beginning of August, melilot (trifolium officinale), rue (ruta graveolens), the water parsnip (sysimbrium nasturtium), horehound (marrubium vulgare), water-mint (mentha aquatica), the orpine (sedum telephium), and the gentiana amarella, have their flowers full blown. The purple blossoms of the meadow saffron (colchicum autumnale) now adorn the low, moist lands. The vinous infusion of its root forms a celebrated remedy for that excruciating malady, the gout; it has been also used with success in chronic rheumatism. The geranium tribe now add to the beauty of the garden, and many pretty species also decorate our sunny banks: the malvaceous order, which abound with mucilage, and the spurges (euphorbia), with their acrid milky juices, bearing the seed always elevated on the flower, are seen in great variety. The genista or broom flowers in this month; and the common flax (linum usitatissimum), with its pretty pale blue flowers, while it is allowed to ornament the garden, reminds us of utility as well as beauty.-Nor must we forget to name the stately helianthus, at once majestic and faithful, the lion of flowers: The dial tells no tale more true, Than she his journal on her leaves, Forsaken of his light, she pines Till in the east the crimson signs O Nature, in all parts divine! What moral sweets her leaves disclose! Apollo, on whose beams you gaze, Has filled my breast with golden light; To be a poet in his sight: Then thus I give the crown to thee, LORD THURLOW. The nest of the harvest mouse (mus messorius) may now be found attached about midway to the straws of some vegetables in our corn-fields; they are very fond of fixing it to those of beans or peas, with which it sways backwards and forwards, when they are agitated by the wind: it is the only English mouse that elevates its nest above the ground; they are sometimes found in the shape of a pear with a long neck, at others round, the size of an orange, and may be seen with commonly eight young ones in them, as late as the middle of September: these little creatures so perfectly fill the nest, that no room seems left for the maternal visitor, yet in this crowded ball she suckles them with perfect ease.— This mouse is not an inhabitant of every county, but is not uncommon in dry situations: they are the least of all our quadrupeds, an old one generally weighing about 1 drachm 5 scruples, nor can any creature be more innocent and harmless: in winter they congregate under some dry bank, or take shelter beneath a bean or pea-stack in our farm-yards. Insects still continue to swarm; they sport in the sun from flower to flower, from fruit to fruit, and subsist themselves upon the superfluities of nature. It is very amusing to observe, in the bright sun of an August morning, the animation and delight of some of our lepidopterous tribes. That beautiful little blue butterfly (papilio argus) is then all life and activity, fluttering from flower to flower in the grass with remarkable vivacity: there seems to be at constant rivalship and contention between this beauty, and the not less elegant little beau papilio phlæas.See our last volume, p. 238, and T. T. for 1820, p. 205. Respecting the extraordinary increase of the helix virgata, and the pretended shower of snails, consult T. T. for 1822, pp. 238, 239. The harvest-bug (acarus ricinus), in this and the following month, proves a very troublesome and disagreeable insect, particularly in some of the southern counties of England. The best cure for the bite is hartshorn. Flies now abound, and torment both men and animals with their perpetual buzzing.— Wasps also become very troublesome.- See our last volume, p. 240. Another unpleasant insect which abounds in August, is the tabanus pulvialis, sticking on the hands and legs, and, by piercing the skin with its proboscis, causing a painful inflammation. Cattle are severely exposed to its attacks. For these temporary annoyances, however, we are in some measure compensated by the presence of the lady-bird, and the glow-worm', the first for its To the GLOW-WORM. While the bright colours slowly melt away, utility, and the second for the beautiful effect it pro- With me shall no mischief betide thee; Lady-bird! Lady-bird! fly away home, Hark! hark! to thy children's bewailing! Fly back again, back again, Lady-bird dear; Thus humble Virtue oft may dim appear, REV. J. BLACK. |