Flower, Fruit, and Seed of the Pomegranate. THE POMEGRANATE. THE pomegranate was long considered as a member of the myrtaceous order or family, the leading characters of which were touched upon in our description of the myrtle. * To this charming family it has an obvious affinity in the structure of its flowers, habits, and general appearance. The peculiar formation of the seed, and the absence of pellucid dots upon the leaves, supplied hints for separating the pomegranate from an association in which for a long time it had, by common consent, held a legitimate place. All the commendations, however, we bestowed upon the myrtaceous assemblage, taken as a whole, appertain to the individual now under consideration; and we are insensibly led, though scientific considerations might say no, to unite it, in imagination at least, with that delightful company of trees and shrubs, whose peculiar beauty exceeds all praise. * See page 81, of "Visitor," for 1837. The rich scarlet blossoms, which are sometimes variegated with touches of white, the polished green foliage, and the lovely hue of the large swelling fruit, while it hangs upon the trees, are calculated to excite the liveliest ideas of interest and admiration. Russel, when describing the gardens of Aleppo, says, "Even he who can recall the enchanting scenes of Richmond or of Stowe, may, perhaps, experience new pleasure in viewing the glistening pomegranate thickets in full blossom." From a tree so profusely adorned, it is no marvel that the divine poet found matter well fitted for comparison and simile. "Thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate within thy locks," Cant. iv. 3. The word translated piece was, in our opinion, the appropriate term for the rind of the fruit, which is smooth and tinted, especially before the flower falls, with a soft and blushing red, and may well represent that bloom which is the well-understood sign of its sky-blue flowers, which last for a considerable time, vie in beauty with the forget-me-not. If we cross a shallow running stream, the brooklime (Veronica beccabunga) catches our eye, being remarkable for the bright green of its leaves, and blue flowers; this (if known) may be safely gathered and used as a salad; it is in high repute as a purifier of the blood. By the river-side we may find in abundance the forget-me-not, (Myosotis palustris,) with its roll of flowers of incomparable azure. This plant may be taken up with a little earth, and if placed in a pot standing in water, will thrive in almost any situation. In the deep shade of the wood we meet with the humble woodruff, or lyricon fancy; (Asperula odorata;) we never lose an opportunity of depositing in our waistcoat pocket a few sprigs of this plant, which will for months and years, if taken care of, give out a most grateful odour, like the sweetest hay. Many of the grasses are also in perfection, and are well worth the most minute investigation; they will at least show the peculiar force of that expression of St. Peter, "All the glory of man is as the flower of grass." The following are amongst the mos remarkable British flowers of the prese month. Utricularia vulgaris, the greater b derwort, in standing water. Lemna minor, lesser duck-wee the surface of ditches. Lycopus Europæus, Gypsy w river banks. Salvia pratensis, meadow c meadows, and sandy banks. Salvia verbenaca, common meadows and road-sides. Dipsacus sylvestris, wild t hedges and way-sides, commo Scabiosa arvensis, field s corn-fields and pastures, com Sherardia arvensis, little der. Asperula cynanchica, sm ruff, on chalky pastures. Galium, bedstraw, sever Rubia peregrina, madd stone rocks. go major, greater ows. sicolo on Cynoglossum hound's-tongue, Symphytum wet situations. Borago offic on old walls in Primula fa rose, on elevat of England an Menyanthe buckbean, and some of Hottonia ditches. Lysima strife, by Lysim pence, in Ana corn-f Coi weed. A sha TH family tance, by the as one of the walking in his able circumstances. It is said, that 1, that Michael Angelo was reared at a stoneended mason's, and the chisel which his nurse repose, placed in his hands as a plaything, parrow seemed to give a bent to that genius hat the which produced the sculptures of that y could admirable artist. West sketched a babe ure and in its cradle during the absence of its study of mother, who, at her return, on finding analogies what he had done, pressed him eagerly ighest at- to her bosom; and in reference to this habits and he said, "That kiss made me a painter." ossession of Haydn associated the idea of some hed useful- beautiful cherries he received as a rerently trivial ward for his early efforts, with the muof this fact, sical shakes he produced in after-life, de, may be to the distinction of which they supplied no ordinary stimulus. The poetic inspiration of our Christian poet, Montgomery, was nurtured by the early perusal of Cowper's Poems, the only in copy of New-work of taste and imagination he was the grass; and allowed to read. Sir I. E. Smith, a er the supposition worthy heir of the great naturalist, Linto direct that it næus, commenced the study of botany his library, it was with the furze, the only plant then in in his eighteenth flower. And Hauy owed his high disgardener. In an in- tinction in the science of mineralogy to n that followed with his accidentally dropping a beautiful e, astonished at the specimen of calcareous spar, crystallized 1 accuracy of his anin prisms, one of which was so broken w his information had as to present a new crystal. e youth replied, that a im to read about ten observing the architect mansion using a rule and making calculations, he e, and thus learned that science called arithmetic; "sequence acquired a knowand of geometry; and that finding there were good nese sciences, in Latin and e learned these languages; is statement he added, "It To take an instance: an educated, me, my lord, we may learn eloquent, and popular young man, reng, when we know the twenty-markable in fashionable society for his wit ers of the alphabet." and his songs, a patron of the great race course in the north of England, had to pay a visit to a sick relative at Nice, and was accompanied by Isaac Milner, afterwards Dean of Carlisle. In one of their conversations, allusion was made to a devoted evangelical clergyman, of whom the former said, "I think he carries things a great deal too far;" but the latter replied, "I think you would form a different estimate of the subject, were you carefully to peruse with me the whole of the New Testament." It was cordingly arranged that they shoul + indeed, is the key to vast and surable resources. These letters, as the number is, are proved netically to be capable of more than undred thousand millions of billions different horizontal arrangements. the whole extent of the terriry of literature an acquaintance with ese letters is an entrance! Here Addison and Johnson, here Bacon and Newton, took the first step. The principal occupation of life is not infrequently to be traced to inconsider From these circumstances, however, we may rise to others accordant with them of a higher order, suggesting the memorable words of one of our British bards : "Who shall say how vast the plan, from, a large and beautiful order of plants; then, as the object of particular mention in the Song of Solomon, wherein we suggested a meaning for a term that has hitherto been slighted, by which the sentiment is rendered conformable to poetic usage, which ever looks at things under their most beautiful aspects; and, lastly, we have supplied an interpretation of the symbol, which is easy to sense, and consistent with the tenour of ancient philosophy. youth and freshness. Dioscorides, a | Psalm, the sixty-fifth, has blended the Greek writer on the medicinal virtues of blessing of God with the fruitful showers herbs, informs us, that the rind of the of heaven, so that there is no impropomegranate bore an appropriate name priety in coupling the benign regard of in that ancient language, whence we are Heaven with the richness and fecundity led to suppose, that it was not less dis- of the earth. We find traces of this sentinguished in the Hebrew, which is often timent among the heathen; the once fair so peculiarly happy in the aptitude and and flourishing island of Rhodes bore propriety of its terms. Let us, there- the blossom of the pomegranate in her fore, take it for granted, that pelah, the arms, and Achilles Tertius tells us, that original word translated piece, is equiva- | an image of Jupiter, who was no more lent to sidion of the Greek, and rind than an impersonation of the vital air, held in English, and then every word in a pomegranate in his hand. As the the passage will be called upon to fur- emblem of blessing, it had a consecrated nish its part towards the meaning of the place upon the holy vestments of the whole. "Thy temples are like the rind high priest, and on the chapiters which of a pomegranate," smooth, polished, crowned the two pillars in Solomon's and suffused with a delicate blush of temple. The scriptural reader may health and joy. We are at liberty to safely regard it as the symbol of that imagine, that this comparison was made blessing which maketh rich, and addeth in sight of the pomegranate tree, while no sorrow therewith. the fruit "burnished" upon its verdant We have considered the pomegranate branches, and all the charms of sur-tree, first, in reference to its botanical rounding nature contributed to heighten | character, as allied to, but distinguished its beauty. The punica granatum, or pomegranate is characterized by the countless number of seeds lodged within the fruit, which is about the size of a large apple, and is covered by a rind of peculiar polish, and hardness. The seeds are invested with peculiar coverings, that become soft, and form the red pulp, which is eaten. The blossoms are generally of a rich scarlet, sometimes variegated with white. When in China, the writer counted several varieties, distinguished from each by the colour of their flowers. The blossoms often become double, like those favourite plants which are the delight and care of the florist: they are then called balaustium blossoms. It has long been cultivated in the hot-houses of the curious; but, at the best, the individuals we have seen, present a very imperfect sample of the tree when flourishing in the land of its nativity, under the genial influences of a southern climate. The peculiar dye of the blossom is referred to in the meaning of its first name, punica; as if we should say, "It was stained with Tyrian purple." The second, granatum, implies that the fruit is full of small grains or seeds. This latter circumstance seems to be the reason why at a very early period, the pomegranate was treated as the emblem of fertility and blessing. The rain and dews of heaven are called, by the apostle, the blessing of God. The royal psalmist, in that very beautiful Forbes, in his Oriental Memoirs, ob serves: "The Indian pomegranates, although sometimes tolerable, are by no means equal to those brought from Arabia by the Muscat Dingeys. These are a very fine fruit; large, and full of juice, highly flavoured. Some are red, others white. The most luxurious method of eating them is, to have the juice expressed from the seeds and interior film, by which means the harsh seeds and bitter G. T. L. REMARKABLE BEGINNINGS. Ir has frequently been remarked, that the oak, beneath whose widely-extended branches the cattle delight to repose, was once an acorn, which a sparrow might carry in its beak; and that the mighty river on which a navy could float, may be traced up to an obscure and inconsiderable spring. In the study of human history, we find many analogies to such circumstances: the highest attainments of intellect, the habits and employments of life, the possession of real piety, and even distinguished usefulness, often having an apparently trivial origin. A few illustrations of this fact, gathered from a multitude, may be offered to the reader. able circumstances. Michael Angelo was reared at a stoneIt is said, that mason's, and the chisel which his nurse placed in his hands as seemed to give a bent to that genius a plaything, which produced the sculptures of that admirable artist. West sketched a babe in its cradle during the absence of its mother, who, at her return, on finding what he had done, pressed him eagerly to her bosom; and in reference to this he said, "That kiss made me a painter." Haydn associated the idea of some beautiful cherries he received as a reward for his early efforts, with the musical shakes he produced in after-life, to the distinction of which they supinspiration of our Christian poet, Montplied no ordinary stimulus. The poetic gomery, was nurtured by the early perusal of Cowper's Poems, the only work of taste and imagination he was allowed to read. Sir I. E. Smith, a worthy heir of the great naturalist, Linnæus, commenced the study of botany with the furze, the only plant then in flower. And Hauy owed his high distinction in the science of mineralogy to his accidentally dropping a beautiful specimen of calcareous spar, crystallized in prisms, one of which was so broken as to present a new crystal. It is related, for instance, by the Chevalier Ramsay, that as one of the Dukes of Argyle was walking in his garden, he found a Latin copy of Newton's Principia, lying on the grass; and that on proceeding, under the supposition that it was his own, to direct that it should be carried to his library, it was claimed by a youth in his eighteenth year, the son of his gardener. In an interesting conversation that followed with the youth, the duke, astonished at the candour, force, and accuracy of his answers, inquired how his information had been gained. The youth replied, that a servant taught him to read about ten years before; that observing the architect of his grace's mansion using a rule and compasses, and making calculations, he asked their use, and thus learned that there was a science called arithmetic; that he, in consequence acquired a knowledge of this and of geometry; and that afterwards, finding there were good books on these sciences, in Latin and French, he learned these languages; and to this statement he added, 'It To take an instance: an educated, seems to me, my lord, we may learn eloquent, and popular young man, reevery thing, when we know the twenty-markable in fashionable society for his wit four letters of the alphabet." Here, indeed, is the key to vast and unmeasurable resources. These letters, small as the number is, are proved arithmetically to be capable of more than six hundred thousand millions of billions of different horizontal arrangements. To the whole extent of the territory of literature an acquaintance with these letters is an entrance! Here Addison and Johnson, here Bacon and Newton, took the first step. The principal occupation of life is not unfrequently to be traced to inconsider From these circumstances, however, we may rise to others accordant with them of a higher order, suggesting the memorable words of one of our British bards :— "Who shall say how vast the plan, and his songs, a patron of the great race course in the north of England, had to pay a visit to a sick relative at Nice, and was accompanied by Isaac Milner, afterwards Dean of Carlisle. In one of their conversations, allusion was made to a devoted evangelical clergyman, of whom the former said, "I think he carries things a great deal too far;" but the latter replied, "I think you would form a different estimate of the subject, were you carefully to peruse with me the whole of the New Testament." It was accordingly arranged that they should do |