rapidly. Each sledge was drawn by a mule, and guided by an athletic weather-beaten mountaineer. In one place the descent was so rapid, that my guide dismissed the mule, and directed the sledge down a shelving bank of snow, so steep that my own weight was sufficient to impel it with considerable velocity. Nothing could be wilder than the whole scene. The mountaineers with their sledges bounding from rock to rock, or sliding with their burden down the ridges of congealed snow; the bare broad cliffs hung with icicles, or the torrent suspended in its course by the frost; the road winding above our heads in short traverses, down which was seen at a distance the carriage slowly descending; a rude bridge thrown across a chasm or mountain-stream; the deep black valley below, in which appeared the small solitary village half buried beneath the impending rocks; and the vast amphitheatre of Mont Cenis, with its attendant mountains closing in every direction around us, covered with snow and veiled in clouds-all together formed a scene of impressive magnificence and desolation. We left our sledges at a small place called San Nicolo, and

MR.

descended in our carriage the rest of the way to Susa, along an excellent road. We soon perceived that we were approaching a warmer climate; the snow disappeared altogether from the edges of the roads, although at the corresponding elevation on the side of Savoy it was several feet deep; the air was much milder, and breathed upon us the balmy softness of Italy. About an hour before we reached the foot of the mountain, Susa was visible, deeply sunk amidst cliffs of great elevation. As we descended, and as the mountains by which we had been so long surrounded gradually opened, we caught a glimpse of the distant Italian plains and hills, seen through the vista of the termination of the range of Cenis. At one point the view was extremely beautiful: vineyards and majestic woods of chesnut formed the foreground; the small village of Novalese, with the spire of its church, appeared a little beyond; Susa still farther; and the river Duria, winding amidst the dark cliffs of the Alps, seemed to steal along with delight to the purple hills and green plains of Italy, which were seen faintly in the distance.

R. Phillips is very advantageously known to the public by his former work, which, though defective and erroneous in parts, yet possesses so much of curious information and useful instruction as to be very generally acceptable to almost every class of readers. The volumes now offered are equally deserving of praise. The author has bestowed similar pains in digging into ancient writers for the opinions of antiquity on the vegetable world, the strange ideas entertained of the properties of particular plants, the superstitions connected with others, and the domestic purposes to which all that were known at certain eras were applied. This research, mixed as it is with the statement of recent discoveries, and the results of an improved system always creating new varieties, forms al

together a mass of intelligence at once entertaining in the perusal, and replete with matter that may be turned to pleasure and profit in the every-day routine of life.

During the reign of George III. six thousand seven hundred and fifty-six rare exotics were introduced into Great Britain; and the fostering rule of his august successor assures us that still more marked and rapid progress will continue to be made in thus improving and enriching the country. To exemplify our subject in details, we pass Artichoke, Asparagus, Asphodel, Barley, &c. &c. being attracted by its poetical analogies to Ocimum or Basil. Mr. P. defines its order genus, &c. and says,

"The difficulty of overcoming superstitious prejudices is fully exemplified in this fragrant herb. It was an opin

ion among the ancients, that if basil was pounded and put under a stone, it would breed serpents; from this notion its use was decried;-and when it was transplanted into our climate, which was found too cold for serpents, these reptiles degenerated into worms and maggots, which, we are told, this vegetable will engender, if it be only chewed, and put into the sun.

"Basil was condemned by Chrysippus, more than two hundred years B.c. as being hurtful to the stomach, a suppressor of urine, an enemy to the sight, and a robber of the wits. Diodorus added, that the eating of this plant caused cutaneous insects; and the Africans were persuaded that no person could survive if he were stung by a scorpion on the same day that he had eaten basil.

"We notice the story told by Hollerus of this plant to shew how far superstition and credulity carried the ill effects of basil. He relates, that an Italian by frequent smelling this herb, bred a scorpion in his brain.

"The Romans sowed the seeds of this plant with maledictions and ill words, believing that the more it was cursed, the better it would prosper; and when they wished for a crop, they trod it down with their feet, and prayed to the gods that it might not vegetate.

"The French are now so partial to the flavour and qualities of this plant, that its leaves enter into the composition of almost all their soups and sauces." Our next examples shall be drawn from the more familiar Faba or Bean, and Brassica or cabbage—

"The meal of beans is the heaviest made from pulse, and was called in Latin lomentum. This was mingled with frumentic corn, whole, and so eaten by the ancients; but they sometimes, by way of having a dainty, bruised it first: it was considered a strong food, and was generally eaten with gruel or pottage. It was thought to dull the senses and understanding, and to cause troublesome dreams. Pythagoras expressly forbade beans to be eaten by his disciples, because he posed them to have been produced from the same putrid matter from which, at the creation of the world, man was formed. The Romans at one time

sup

believed, that the souls of such as were departed, resided in beans; therefore they were eaten at funerals and obsequies of the dead.

"Varro relates, that the great priests or sacrificers, called Flamines, abstained from beans on this account, as also from a supposition that certain letters or characters were to be seen in the flowers, that indicated heaviness and signs of death. Clemens Alexandrinus attributes the abstinence from beans to the opinion that they occasioned sterility; which is confirmed by Theophrastus, who extends the effects even to the plants.

"The Egyptian priests held it a crime to look at beans, judging the very sight unclean. The Flamens Dialis was not permitted even to mention the name. Lucian introduces a philosopher in hell saying, that to eat beans, and to eat our father's head, were equal crimes.

"Beans make one of the finest of all baits for fish, if prepared in the following manner: Steep them in warm water for about six hours; then boil them in river-water in a new earthen pot, glazed in the inside; when about half boiled, to a quart of beans add two ounces of honey, and about a grain of musk; after which let them boil for a short time. Select a clear part of the water, and throw in a few of these beans early in the morning, and again at evening, for two or three days, which will draw the fish together, and they may be taken in a casting net in great numbers.

"The Roman name Brassica, came, as is supposed, from præseco, because it was cut off from the stalk: it was also called Caluis in Latin, on account of the goodness of its stalks, and from which the English name Cole, Colwort, Cabbage, by which all the varieties of or Colewort, is derived. The word this plant are now improperly called, means the firm head or ball that is formed by the leaves turning close over each other; from that circumstance we say the cole has cabbaged, or the tailor has cabbaged.

'Your tailor, instead of shreds, cabbages whole yards of cloth.'*,

* Arbuthnot's History of John Bull.

"From thence arose the cant word applied to tailors, who formerly worked at the private houses of their customers, where they were often accused of cabbaging; which means the rolling up pieces of cloth, instead of the lists and shreds, which they claim as their due.

"We cannot here pass over the advice of Bruyerinus, respecting the preparing cabbage for the table. "I must," says he, "expose an error, which is no less common than pernicious, in preparing cabbage. Most people, in consequence of the ignorance of their cooks, eat it after it has been long boiled, a circumstance which does not a little diminish both its grateful taste and salutary qualities. But I observe, that those who have a more polite and elegant turn, order their cabbage to be slightly boiled, put into dishes, and seasoned with salt and oil; by which method they assume a beautiful green colour, become grateful to the taste, and proper for keeping the body soluble. This circumstance ought not to be forgot by those who are lovers of cabbage."

The ancients boiled their cabbage with nitre, which rendered it at once more grateful to the palate, and more agreeable to the eye.

In the Economical Journal of France, the following method of guarding cabbages from the depredations of caterpillars, is stated to be infallible; and may, perhaps, be equally serviceable against those which infect other vegetables.

"Sow a belt of hemp-seed round the borders of the ground where the cabbages are planted, and although the neighbourhood be infected with caterpillars, the space enclosed by the hemp will be perfectly free, and not one of these vermin will approach it."

The following miscellaneous extracts from the first volume will further illustrate Mr. Phillips' production—

"Guinea Pepper.-The following receipt is the famous pepper medicine for the cure of malignant influenza and sore throats; which has been found highly efficacious, and is recommended as a powerful diaphorectic, stimulant, and antiseptic.

"Take two table spoonfuls of small red pepper, or three of common Cayenne pepper, add two of fine salt, and beat them into a paste; add half a pint of boiling water, strain off the liquor when cold, and add to it half a pint of very sharp vinegar. Give a table spoonful every half hour as a dose for an adult, and so in proportion for younger patients. Perhaps this medicine might merit a trial in the yellow fever.*

"The general mode of preparing Cayenne pepper is by gathering the bird peppers when ripe, drying them in the sun, powdering and mixing them with salt, which, when well dried, is put into close corked bottles, for the purpose of excluding the air, which disposes the salt to liquefy, and therefore is thought by some an improper ingredient in the composition. This is sometimes called Cayenne butter, and is is general esteem for the excellent relish it gives to different dishes."

"Fennel. The common fennel is now but little used for culinary purposes, except as a sauce for mackerel. The French epicures keep their fish in the leaves of fennel to make them firm. It is also used in France, in water-suché, and all fish soups.

"The whole of the plant is good in soup or broth. It was formerly the practice to boil fennel with all fish, and it never would have been discontinued, had its virtues been more generally known; for it consumes the phlegmatic humour, in which most fish abound, and which greatly annoys many persons who are fond of boiled fish. Our fishmongers should at all times have a plentiful supply of this hardy and wholesome herb, every part of which agrees with the stomach.

"It is one of the five opening roots : it is recommended in broth to cleanse the blood, and remove obstructions of the liver, and to clear and improve the complexion after the jaundice and other sickness.

"The seed is one of the greater carminative seeds; and, boiled in barleywater, is good for nurses, as it is said to increase milk and make it more

* Lunan.