fish." charge of an electrical machine, of forfeiting the sayd Pilcherd or a more dreadful shock than that which I experienced by imprudently placing both my feet on a Gymnotus just taken out of the water. I was affected the rest of the day with a violent pain in the knees, and in almost every joint. THE PILCHARD FISHERY. THE Pilchard, (Clupea pilchardus,) is a species of the herring-tribe, and differs from the common herring, chiefly, in being rather shorter in the head, and thicker in the body, and in having its dorsal or back-fin, somewhat forwarder; but it may be more readily distinguished by its scales, which are nearly half as large again as those of a herring of the same size. It is found, during the months of August and September, in great shoals, or schools, as they are called by the fishermen, on the south-west coast of England, and affords employment, for a time, to a great number of boats and men, belonging to the fishing-towns of Cornwall. This fish is also met with off the French coast, and other parts of Europe; but its chief place of resort appears to be the coasts of Cornwall and Devon. The Pilchard is rarely met with in the London markets, but there is a fish, found sparingly among the sprats, which has obtained its name, which in reality, is merely a small, and we believe, undescribed species of herring. The value of this fishery was well known as long back as the reign of Elizabeth, when an Act of Parliament containing the following clause, was passed: Statute of 35th Elizabeth.—“No stranger should transport beyond seas, any Pilcherd or other fish in cask, vnlesse hee did bring into the realme for every sixe tunnes, two hundred of clap boord fit to make cask and so rateably, vpon payne The reason the stranger was obliged to bring in a certain quantity of wood, appears to have arisen from the circumstance of Cornwall being nearly without timber of any kind. There are several signs by which the presence of a shoal of Pilchards may be known; the luminous apnumber of birds of prey which acpearance of the sea at night, the company it, and, when seen from a moderate distance, the appearance of the water, which seems for miles around, to be, as it were, boiling or bubbling. When the annual visit of the Pilchards is expected, to prevent their passing unnoticed, men are continually on the alert, watching from all the elevated spots on the coast, from which stations they are also able by signs to direct the operations of their friends at sea, so that they may be enabled to enclose as many of the fish as possible. The largest net which is employed, is called a sean, and is upwards of sixty fathom (three hundred and sixty feet,) in length, and thirty-six feet in depth; the lower part of this net is kept down by means of leaden weights, while the upper floats on the surface, being rigged out with a number of corks; if one of these nets is found to be insufficient for the purpose of surrounding the shoal, a second, or even a third, is attached to it. The sean now forms a kind of wall, within which the fish are enclosed, and the object of the fishermen is to bring this net as near as possible to the shore, so that at low water, the fish shall have all means of escape cut off, except by overleaping the net. As soon as the tide is out, a net called a truck-net, which differs from the sean in being smaller, and without leads, is cast among the Pilchards, and, cords being attached to its four corners, it is hauled on shore, along with as many fish as it may happen to contain; and this is repeated until the whole of them are taken or have made their escape. While these means are employed for the capture of the larger quantity, other boats are engaged in taking the scattered parts of the shoal by means of driving-nets. The boats and nets of the seaners, being very expensive, are generally provided by some capitalist or company of proprietors, and the men during the season are paid a small weekly sum, and also a certain portion of the captured fish. As soon as they are brought on shore, they are carried off in baskets to the curing-house, where they are carefully laid in rows one above the other, with alternate layers of salt, till a pile of considerable height is formed. They are said now to be in bulk, and are allowed to remain in this state from a fortnight to five weeks. During this time a quantity of brine and oil has drained from them, which runs off through gutters in the floor and is carefully collected; they are next thrown into a large wooden trough which contains a false bottom formed of battens or long strips of wood, and are freed from the salt and impurities that are attached to them; they are now very carefully and neatly packed in hogsheads, arranged in circles, one within the other, the heads all pointing inwards. As soon as the hogshead is full a circular board is placed on the top of the fish, and they are pressed very closely together by the application of heavy weights, the weights being large blocks of granite. This pressure reduces the bulk of the fish by nearly one third, and the hogshead has to be filled up three times before it is considered well packed. A quantity of pure oil runs off, during this part of the process, through a small hole in the bottom of the cask. It is calculated, that a hogshead of Pilchards which weigh about four hundred weight and a quarter, will yield from three to four gallons of oil, worth about seventeen pounds a tun, or rather better than sixteen pence a gallon. The oil is used in the manufacture of cart-grease, and for many other purposes to which the commoner kind of whale-oil, called train-oil, is applied. Attempts have been made to purify this oil, so as to render it serviceable to the currier, but hitherto without success, on account of the quantity of salt and glutinous matter which it contains. The Pilchards, when thus packed, are exported chiefly to the West Indies, for the use of the slavepopulation, and to different parts of the Mediterranean, and are likewise salted and dried in great quantities for winter provision, by the poorer classes in Cornwall and Devon. The myriads of fish that a shoal of Pilchards contains, are almost beyond the power of calculation; some of the shoals will form almost solid masses, covering a surface frequently of six square miles, and extending in depth upwards of one hundred feet. În successful times, as many as from five to seven hundred hogsheads have been taken from one shoal. The annual value of the fish that are exported is from fifty to sixty thousand pounds. The appearance of a shoal of Pilchards on a dark night, when enclosed by the nets, is splendid beyond description; struggling and leaping in every direction, to escape from their confinement, or to avoid the attacks of their numerous enemies (particularly the Dog-fish), who are imprisoned along with their victims, they appear like so many flakes of fire, and the sea itself seems like a lake of liquid flame. The Pilchard Fisheries, according to the evidence laid before a Committee of the House of Commons, appear of late years, to have decreased considerably. Several causes have tended to produce this state of the fishery; among others, the removal of a bounty of 8s. 6d. a hogshead, which had been paid to the exporters till within this five or six years, and the increase of duty at present is as much as 18s. 2d. a hogshead imposed by the Government at Naples, to which place very large quantities were annually exported. The fishery is also injured by the illegal practice of employing drift and other nets too near the shore, by which means the shoals are dispersed as they approach. It is likely, however, that the statute of the 14th of Charles II. will soon be more strictly enforced. This Act imposes a fine upon all persons who "shall in any year, from the first of June till the last day of November, presume to take fish in the high sea, or in any bay, port, creek, or coast, of or belonging to Cornwall and Devon, with any drift-net, trammel, or stream-net or nets, or any other nets of that sort or kind, unless it be at the distance of one league and a half at least from the respective shores." The number of boats at present engaged in this fishery is about 1000, giving employment to above 3500 men at sea, and upwards of 5000 men, women, and children on shore. NATURAL HISTORY. FOREST Trees. TREES AND PLANTS. Owen Glendower's Oak. On planting Oaks. Trees in Windsor Forest. Oak of Allonville. Olive Tree. Palm Tree. Date Tree. Papyrus Plant. Norway Spruce-Fir. Willow. Cotton Tree. Sleep of Plants. Endurance of Vegetative Power. Rose: Attar of Roses. Cultivation of Flowers. Toadstool. Champignon. Soap-wort. Hop. Cassava and Topioco. Poisonous Plant. Black Henbane. White Poppy. Potatoes. FOREST TREES. I AM fond of listening to the conversation of English gentlemen on rural concerns, and of noticing with what taste and discrimination, and what strong, unaffected interest, they will discuss topics, which in other countries are abandoned to mere woodmen, or rustic cultivators. I have heard a noble earl descant on park and forest scenery, with the science and feeling of a painter. He dwelt on the shape and beauty of particular trees on his estate, with as much pride and technical precision, as though he had been discussing the merits of statues in his collection. I found that he had gone considerable distances to examine trees which were celebrated among rural amateurs; for it seems that trees, like horses, have their established points of excellence, and that there are some in England which enjoy very extensive celebrity from being perfect in their kind. There is something nobly simple and pure in such a taste. It argues, I think, a sweet and generous nature, to have this strong relish for the beauties of vegetation, and this friendship for the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is a grandeur of thought connected with this part of rural economy. It is, if I may be allowed the figure, the heroic line of husbandry. It is worthy of liberal, and free-born, and aspiring men. He who plants an oak, looks forward to future ages, and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. He cannot expect to sit in its shade, nor enjoy its shelter; but he exults in the idea that the acorn which he has buried in the earth, shall grow up into a lofty pile, and shall keep on flourishing, and increasing, and benefitting mankind, long after he shall have ceased to tread his paternal fields. Indeed, it is the nature of such occupations, to lift the thought above mere worldliness. As the leaves of trees are said to absorb all noxious qualities of the air, and breathe forth a purer atmosphere, so it seems to me as if they drew from us all sordid and angry passions, and breathed forth peace and philanthropy. There is a serene and settled majesty in woodland scenery that enters into the soul, and dilates and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations. The ancient and hereditary groves, too, that embower this island, are most of them full of story. They are haunted by the recollections of the great spirits of past ages, who have sought for relaxation among them, from the tumult of arms or the toils of state, or have wooed the muse beneath their shade. OWEN GLENDOWER'S OAK. OWEN GLENDOWER'S Oak is situated at Shelton, distant about a mile from Shrewsbury, and by the side of the road leading from that town to Oswestry. It has its name from a tradition of Owen Glendower having mounted the tree to gain a view of the battle of Shrewsbury. This battle was fought on the 20th of July, 1403, between the forces of Henry the fourth, then king of England, and those of Sir Henry Percy, commonly called Hotspur, eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland. Henry the fourth had not been long on the throne, before he found that he had many enemies; among the most formidable of whom were the Earl of Northumberland, and Owen Glendower, who was descended from the ancient sovereigns of Wales. These two persons became discontented with Henry's government, and formed a scheme for uniting together to dethrone him. The Earl's eldest son, Hotspur, was to march with a large army from the north of En |