sing delightfully, and the thrush is still musical from morning to evening. The skylark warbles in the air, and the woodlark is occasionally heard in the night.

Among the insects that now appear is the green forester moth. The wings are semi-transparent, and the larger pair are of a brilliant green the body is of a bright copper colour, and the whole insect has a metallic lustre in the rays of the sun.

"In beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and in all

Which have a being, 'neath o'erhanging skies;
Fit habitants of this terraqueous ball,

Crowding its homes, enjoying its supplies;
Restless to gratify, in great and small,

Through the vast chain of their varieties,
Which all attempts of telling would defeat,
'My meditation of Him shall be sweet.'"

G. S.

The wild roses

June is pre-eminently the month for flowers. and honeysuckles are abundant in every hedge. In the woods the butterfly-orchis, and numerous other curious nearly-allied plants, are to be found; while the beautiful bee-orchis hangs from the limestone rocks, its curiously-shaped flowers quivering in the air, as if they were really the insects they represent. The beautiful water-lilies, yellow and white, are now in bloom; and the lovely forget-me-not begins to display its bright blue blossoms on the margin of rivulets, &c.

The last half of the month.-The squirrel has young; the viper is frequently found in the woods at this time; and families of young birds are seen. Almost innumerable insects are now to be se. In June we may observe the golden-green beetle: various kinds of flies; the cuckoo-spit insect, and the stag-beetle. The several species of the gad-fly make their appearance towards the end of the month. The larvæ of the dragon-fly, after a two years' submersion in stagnant water, ascend the stalks of plants, and burst their shells.

"When evening closes nature's eye,

The glow-worm lights her little spark,
To captivate her favourite fly,

And tempt the rover through the dark.
Conducted by a sweeter star

Than all that deck the fields above,
He fondly hastens from afar

To soothe her solitude with love."

Clover is now in blossom, and regales our olfactory senses with its delightful fragrance. The fox-glove exhibits its beautiful flowers, and the dog-rose is in full blow. Our gardens abound with vegetable beauties, too numerous to name. Near the sea, the yellow horned-poppy has a peculiarly brilliant appearance, and its sea-green leaves seem as though they had taken their colour from the spray that washes over them. The sea milk-wort, and the sea-spurge, and the cryngo, or sea-holly, adorn the sea-shore during these long and brilliant days.

"In every form and hue of gentle flowers,
That deck the earth in robes of loveliness;
And in the wide-spread prospect which o'erpowers
The mind, with grandeur and with beauteousness;
Mid nature's wilds, in solitary hours,

Whene'er I rove, in serious thoughtfulness,
Bless'd with a pure, divine and mental treat,
'My meditation of Him shall be sweet.'

G. S.

BRIEF ASTRONOMICAL NOTICES,

FOR JUNE, 1847.

BY MR. WILLIAM ROGERSON, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

"To tenderer feeling, and more soft regret,
The pensive soul impulsively inclines,
When summer suns in temper'd glory set,
And evening in her stole of amber shines;

Then, through the glowing ether's trackless road
The constant spirit on a moon-beam rides

To the familiar, though remote, abode,

Where with one well-beloved the heart resides.
With true affection never thrill'd his breast,
His passion nought of sentiment implies,
Who, mindless of the Being, loved the best,

Views the meek radiance of the evening skies;
And when the heaven with moving softness glows,
With cold indifference creeps to dull repose.'

M. F. JOHNSON.

"WHAT opinion," says a certain writer, "would we form of the man who could walk through some magnificent picture-gallery, and while others were feasting their eyes and instructing their minds with the beautiful productions of art, could retire without a single impression on his mind. save that which he had involuntarily received from their gilded frames! Yet such is a just illustration of the effect which the most magnificent of all the demonstrations of creative wisdom and power produce on the great majority of men. The constellations move across the nightly sky, telling the great truth of our world's true motion, which it took philosophers ages to comprehend; the planets appear and disappear, pursuing their track amid the glittering fields of stars, each with a tale of wondrous truth and beauty to disclose; and the Moon, the Queen of night, passes through her monthly course of changing phases, all in vain! Men know not the high rewards that such knowledge has to bestow; pleasures pure and unalloyed; influences of an invigorating and ennobling character, gifting them with higher conceptions of nature and of God, which yet they are willing to cast aside for some insignificant and childish bauble."

The SUN rises at Greenwich or London on the 1st at fifty-one minutes past three, and sets at four minutes after eight: on the

same day he rises at Edinburgh at twenty-five minutes past three, and sets at twenty-nine minutes after eight. The Sun rises at Greenwich on the 19th at forty-five minutes past three, and sets at fifteen minutes after eight: on the same day he rises at Edinburgh at seventeen minutes past three, and sets at fortythree minutes after eight. The Sun enters the tropical sign Cancer on the 22d, when the summer quarter takes place, and his declination is twenty-three degrees and a half north: therefore on that day, all places on the Earth which are in twenty-three degrees and a half of north latitude will have the Sun directly overhead at noonday.

"Monarch of day, who from thy burning throne

Bidd'st the close valleys melt, the mountains blaze
Beneath thy tyranny, as o'er each zone

Thy dazzling sceptre flashes far its rays

Of quenchless fire! thou whom in ancient days
Our fathers kneed with vain idolatry,

And gorgeous pomp, and solemn hymns of praise,
And altars deckt with impious blazonry.

O, still beloved! with morn's sweet hour of prime,
I greet thy beams, but thine the knee no more:

A brighter Sun, a worship more sublime,

Claims now the heart, and bids the tongue adore:
Thy day no more, the Sabbath's hours we bless,

And hymn the Christian's God,--the Sun of Righteousness."

The Moon rises on the 1st at ten o'clock at night, and on the 3d at an hour and a quarter later: she enters her last quarter on the 6th, and rises on the 8th at quarter past one in the morning. The Moon changes on the 13th, at eight minutes before one in the morning; and sets on the 15th at a quarter before ten at night: she sets on the 18th at twelve minutes after eleven; is half-full on the 20th, and sets at midnight: she sets on the 23d at a quarter before one, and on the 26th at nineteen minutes past two, in the morning. The Moon is full on the 28th, at twenty-three minutes past one in the afternoon; and rises on the 29th at a quarter before nine in the evening.

MERCURY, during the last week, is visible, if the air prove very clear, near the north-western horizon, about an hour after

sunset.

VENUS is a splendid object in the evenings, and is now visible in the day-time: she is due south on the 3d at fifty minutes past two in the afternoon, when her declination is twenty-four degrees north she souths on the 22d at five minutes past three, with nineteen degrees of north declination. On the 16th Venus is in

the neighbourhood of the Moon.

MARS rises on the 1st at a quarter past one, and at the end of the month about midnight: on the 7th she is near the Moon. JUPITER is invisible, being obscured in the solar rays. SATURN, in the vicinity of Mars, on the 1st rises at one o'clock in the morning, and at the month's end at eleven at night on the 6th he is not far from the Moon.

AFY

dress giews.

MF. JOHN SON.

Weld we form of

et picture-gallery,

Basting the eyes and instructing their
Neid retire without a

which he had involuntarily Tet sich s & just ill stration of of the demonstrations

14 NS ratace on the great majority of E me as the nightly sky, telling A true motion, which it took the planets appear and disANN 4 the glittering fields of stars, As th and beauty to disclose; and # 1 passes through her monthly Men know not the ths & in vain!

s' knowledge has to bestow; pleasures pure ences of an invigorating and ennobling

g them with higher conceptions of nature and of

Adret dey are willing to cast aside for some insignificant

* table."

at Greenwich or London on the

new three, and sets at four minutes

same day he rises at Edinburgh at twenty-five minutes past three, and sets at twenty-nine minutes after eight. The Sun rises at Greenwich on the 19th at forty-five minutes past three, and sets at fifteen minutes after eight: on the same day he rises at Edinburgh at seventeen minutes past three, and sets at fortythree minutes after eight. The Sun enters the tropical sign Cancer on the 22d, when the summer quarter takes place, and his declination is twenty-three degrees and a half north: therefore on that day, all places on the Earth which are in twenty-three degrees and a half of north latitude will have the Sun directly overhead at noonday.

"Monarch of day, who from thy burning throne

Bidd'st the close valleys melt, the mountains blaze
Beneath thy tyranny, as o'er each zone

Thy dazzling sceptre flashes far its rays

Of quenchless fire! thou whom in ancient days
Our fathers kneed with vain idolatry,

And gorgeous pomp, and solemn hymns of praise,
And altars deckt with impious blazonry.

O, still beloved! with morn's sweet hour of prime,
I greet thy beams, but thine the knee no more:

A brighter Sun, a worship more sublime,

Claims now the heart, and bids the tongue adore:
Thy day no more, the Sabbath's hours we bless,

And hymn the Christian's God,-the Sun of Righteousness."

The Moon rises on the 1st at ten o'clock at night, and on the 3d at an hour and a quarter later: she enters her last quarter on the 6th, and rises on the 8th at quarter past one in the morning. The Moon changes on the 13th, at eight minutes before one in the morning; and sets on the 15th at a quarter before ten at night: she sets on the 18th at twelve minutes after eleven; is half-full on the 20th, and sets at midnight: she sets on the 23d at a quarter before one, and on the 26th at nineteen minutes past two, in the morning. The Moon is full on the 28th, at twenty-three minutes past one in the afternoon; and rises on the 29th at a quarter before nine in the evening.

MERCURY, during the last week, is visible, if the air prove very clear, near the north-western horizon, about an hour after

sunset.

VENUS is a splendid object in the evenings, and is now visible in the day-time: she is due south on the 3d at fifty minutes past two in the afternoon, when her declination is twenty-four degrees north she souths on the 22d at five minutes past three, with On the 16th Venus is in nineteen degrees of north declination.

the neighbourhood of the Moon.

MARS rises on the 1st at a quarter past one, and at the end of

ight: on the 7th she is near the Moon.

being obscured in the solar rays.

ity of Mars, on the 1st rises at one o'clock the month's end a

nat night: on the