nomy of bees and ants, partaking as it does, of contrivances, plans, and internal arrangements which have both surprized and attracted the attention of persons in all ages. But when we find bees building regular fortifications before the entrance of their hives, or witness that power of communication, which ants possess by means of their antennæ, through which their wants and wishes are made known to each other, we must confess that there is something beyond mere instinct that influences their operations. I might multiply examples to a great extent in order to prove the existence of a reasoning faculty in the animal creation. But enough has been said to illustrate my theory, and I will conclude with a remark of Mr. Smellie's. "Brutes, like men, learn to see objects in their proper position, to judge of distances and heights, and of hurtful, pleasurable, or indifferent bodies. Without some portion of reason, therefore, they would never acquire the faculty of making a proper use of their senses. A dog, though pressed with hunger, will not seize a piece of meat in the presence of his master, unless it be given him; but with his eyes, his movements and his voice, he makes the most humble and expressive petition. If this balancing of motives be not reasoning, I know not by what other name it can be called.” A barren and detested vale, you see it is; The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, SHAKSPEARE. We might almost suppose that Shakspeare took the above description of trees "o'ercome" with mistletoe from those which may now be seen in the Home Park, Windsor. So completely has the mistletoe taken possession of them, that they have become ragged, "forlorn and lean." Our great bard must have been a close observer of nature, for it is in summer more particularly that the baneful effects of this parasite on trees is conspicuous. It is then that the dead and decaying branches, which the mistletoe has deprived of their usual nourishment, can be contrasted with those which shew more life and vigour. This is the case with the lime trees in "Datchet mead," a place so often mentioned in the Merry Wives of Windsor. It is always pleasing to trace Shakspeare's knowledge of particular localities, and even to fancy that he formed his ideas from facts connected with them. I have never yet met with any trees so much infested with mistletoe, as those I have referred to, and it is difficult to assign a reason why this should be the case. In winter the trees appear as if they were covered with rooks' nests, when seen from a short distance, and it is evident that they are rapidly decaying. Persuaded, as I am, that every thing has been created for some good and benevolent purpose, I was not long in discovering what appeared to me to be the intended use of the mistletoe, and if my supposition is correct, it affords another proof of the care of Almighty God for his creatures. The seeds of this plant ripen very late, viz. between February and April, and are not willingly fed upon by birds as long as they can procure the berries of hawthorn, hollies, ivy and other winter food. No. sooner however does a late frost set in, and the ground become covered with snow in the Spring, as is often the case, than birds flock to the mistletoe, and find a ready resource thus left them when all others have failed. If its berries ripened early, and were a favorite food of birds, the benevolent design of the Great Creator would not have been as effective as it is by the present beautiful organization of the plant. If we thus see the birds of the air provided for by the merciful and kind arrangements of our heavenly Father, we have every reason to place ourselves with confidence in His hands, and to trust to His care. Having had my attention thus drawn to the mis tletoe, I have endeavoured to ascertain on what species of trees it has been found, and especially whether or not it has ever been met with on the Oak in this country, a fact of which many doubts have been expressed. My official situation has enabled me to have enquiries made on this subject in the Royal forests, and parks, but I could never hear of any instance of its having been found on the oak in any of them. Timber merchants have also assured me that they never had seen it on an oak. Last year, however, a part of the branch of an oak tree was sent me from the neighbourhood of Godalming in Surry, with the mistletoe growing on it. Although it was not cut from the sacred tree with a golden sickle, as the Druids are said to have cut it, yet it served to prove a very doubtful fact. Since that time, two or three other instances have been communicated to me, and I now, therefore, feel myself justified in adding it to the following list of trees, on which the mistletoe has been found growing, and which I hope will not be considered either as uninteresting, or useless. LIST OF TREES ON WHICH THE MISTLETOE HAS BEEN FOUND, WITH SOME OF THEIR LOCALITIES. Oak - Near Godalming, Surrey; — At Penporthleuny, parish of Goitre, Monmouthshire. Also on one near Usk, and another at St. Dial's near Monmouth. Horse Chesnut-Avenue in Bushy Park, Middlesex. This is the only instance in which I have met with it. Lime tree-Windsor Home Park, Hampton Court Park, and in most places where the lime tree is found. Wych Elm-In the Wilderness of Hampton Court Gardens. The only instance I am acquainted with. Mountain Ash - Hampton Court Park - not, I believe, common on this tree. Maple (acer opalus)- Bushy Park, Middlesex. Red Swamp Maple (acer rubrum) Ranger's House, Bushy Park. I believe a rare in stance. Common Maple (acer campestre) Richmond Black Poplar (populus nigra) - Sutton Place, Surrey, and between Caerleon and Usk, Monmouthshire. De Candolle mentions it as being found in France. Lombardy Poplar (populus fastigiata) Found in France; on the authority of De Candolle. Acacia Slopes, Windsor Home Park, and the - Stud House grounds, Hampton Court Park. |