Indians of Surat, who have a great veneration for the graves of their saints, strew fresh flowers on them every year. In Scotland this practice prevailed in the time of Drummond of Hawthornden, as well as among the Catholic cantons of Switzerland,* and in many parts of North and South Wales. The graves in those beautiful provinces are decorated on Palm Sunday with leaves of laurel and cypress, and with all the flowers in bloom at that early season of the year. These graves are surrounded by small whitewashedt stones, in the enclosures of which blossom the polyanthus and narcissus, thyme, balm, and rose * In the beautiful little churchyard at Schwytz almost every grave is covered with pinks; but on no one of the many charming spots appropriated to burial-grounds in Germany and Switz. erland is there so much care bestowed as on that of the churchyard of Wirfin, in the valley of the Salza. The usual fashion in Germany and in Switzerland is to have the sepulchral ornaments of wood or iron wrought in arabesque forms. At Wirfin the graves are covered with little oblong boxes, which are either planted with perennial shrubs or with annual flowers; and, in addition, some graves are daily strewed over with freshly-gathered flowers, while others are so on fête-days. Pendent from the ornaments of most of the recent graves there are also little vases filled with water, in which the flowers are preserved fresh. Children are seen thus decking the grave of a lost mother, and mothers wreathing garlands to hang on that of a child. Again, servants show in the same way their gratitude and regret for the loss of some kind master or mistress. A tourist, who recently visited the little village of Wirfin, says that, on going into the churchyard at an early hour, he found there six or seven persons employed in these gentle offices. He informs us that the graves most recently tenanted were not alone the objects of this affectionate tribute, but that some which had received their occupant twenty years before were covered with fresh bouquets.-Anon. + The Jews used to paint their sepulchres white; and to this Christ alludes in his terrible denunciation against the Scribes and Pharisees: "Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed ap pear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness." mary. Shakspeare alludes to this custom in Hamlet and in his Winter's Tale; also in Cymbeline, where Arviragus, contemplating the body of Fidele, promises to sweeten his grave with the fairest flowers of summer. It is impossible, indeed, to walk in the churchyards of North and South Wales without being deeply affected by the respect paid to the memory of the dead. In some villages, children have snowdrops, primroses, violets, hazel-bloom, and sallow blossoms on their graves persons of maturer years have tansy, box, ivy, and rue. There is generally a guardian, as it were, to each grave; and I once saw a rose, done up neatly in a white piece of paper, on which was written, "Mayest thou flourish in Paradise like this rose !"* * "It is usual to strew the graves in South Wales with flowers and evergreens (within the church as well as out of it) thrice at least every year, on the same principle of delicate respect as the stones are whitened. No flowers or evergreens are permitted to be planted on graves but such as are sweet-scented: the pink and polyanthus, sweet-williams, gilliflowers, and carnations, mignionette, thyme, hyssop, chamomile, and rosemary, make up the pious decoration of this consecrated garden. The white rose is always planted on a virgin's tomb. The red rose is appropriated to the grave of any person distinguished for goodness, and especially benevolence of character. In the Easter week, most generally, the graves are newly dressed and manured with fresh earth, when such flowers as may be wanted or wished for are planted. In the Whitsuntitle holydays, or, rather, the preceding week, the graves are again looked after, weeded, and otherwise dressed, or, if necessary, planted again. This work the nearest relations of the deceased always do with their own hands, and never by servants or hired persons. Should a neighbour assist, he or she never takes, never expects, and, indeed, is never insulted by the offer of any reward by those who are acquainted with the ancient customs. None ever molest the flowers that grow on graves, for it is deemed a kind of sacrilege to do so. A relation or friend will occasionally take a pink, if it can be spared, or a sprig of thyme from the grave of a beloved or respected person, to wear it in remembrance; but they never take much, lest they should deface the growth on That the custom of which we are speaking was prevalent in Normandy, the following anecdote sufficiently testifies. A lady of that province having deserved well of her friends, they intended to bury her in the chancery of Rheims. But the poor of her village petitioned that she might be interred among them, that they might every year assemble near her tomb, strew flowers upon it, and commemorate her virtues in the best manner they could. In Swedish Lapland juniper leaves are placed in coffins, and in Denmark ivy and laurel. The natives of the South Seas plant casuarina near their sepul"chres; and the slaves in the Isle of France bury their comrades in bamboo, covered with palm leaves. Every description of flower is employed in the burialplaces of Japan. Thither the Japanese repair on parties of pleasure, to enjoy themselves among the tombs of their ancestors. For some time they go every day, then every week, then every month, and, lastly, once in every year. They imagine their deceased friends to be sensible of their happiness; they invite them to be partakers of it, and place seats for their accommodation, as if they were still alive. The natives of Caubul, too, hold their burialgrounds in great veneration. They call them "Cities of the Silent," as the Egyptians called theirs "Cities of the Dead," and the Jews "Houses of the Living." In the time of Confucius, the Chinese buried the images of their friends in the graves of the deceased; those settled in the Malay Islands sleep upon the lids of their coffins, which they keep by them, carved and ornamented. The Egyptians visited the sepulchres of their friends twice every week, and strewed upon them sweet basil: a custom which still remains. The Congoese bury their friends in graves of great the grave. This custom prevails principally in the most retired villages."-Anon. depth, to preserve them from wild animals; plant trees and shrubs, and hang fetiches or charms over them. On the Ivory and Grain Coast of Africa, the natives put their dead into an empty canoe, which they fill with all sorts of green plants. On the Gold Coast they cover their deceased friends with little gardens of rice. In Siam they burn the bodies of the dead on a funeral pile of odoriferous woods. The Javans plant samboja trees by the side of graves, and strew sulasi flowers over them several times every year. These flowers have a sweet scent, and are reared exclusively for that purpose. They also form an image of leaves, ornamented with variegated flowers, in the human form, supported by the clothes of the deceased. Before this figure they place a pot of incense; after which they burn garlands, and the friends sit down to a feast, invoking a blessing on themselves, their houses, and their lands. In a village in the Peak of Derbyshire there is a custom of suspending garlands of white roses, made of paper, over the pews of those unmarried villagers who die in the flower of their age.* * "In Glamorganshire, we are told, the bed whereon the corpse lies is covered with flowers, a custom alluded to in one of the wild and plaintive ditties of Ophelia : White his shroud as the mountain snow, Which be-wept the grave did go, With true love showers. There is also a most delicate and beautiful rite observed in some of the remote villages at the south, at the funeral of a female who has died young and unmarried. A chaplet of white flowers is borne before the corpse by a young girl nearest in age, size, and resemblance, and is afterward hung up in the church over the accustomed seat of the deceased. These chaplets are sometimes made of white paper, in imitation of flowers, and inside of them is generally a pair of white gloves. They are intended as emblems of the purity of the deceased, and of the crown of glory which she has received in heaven."-Anon. VEGETABLE MIGRATION. MANY Vegetables are so attached to particular climates and soils, that, if transplanted without peculiar attention to their relative economy, they die. In this they associate with certain animals. But when they have once become habituated to the change, both plants and animals improve under the care and industry of man, sometimes even more than under the influence of their native soil or climate. How much cultivation will effect is evident from the circumstance, that in a field belonging to Mr. Oakley, of Halford, near Ludlow, a pea produced 105 pods; and a grain of oats having accidentally fallen on a quantity of burned clay in a field, the property of Mr. Juckes, of Cocknage, produced 19 stems, and the astonishing number of 2345 grains. Mr. Martell of Southsea, Hants, cut a cucumber 5 feet in length; and a currant was grown in Cambridgeshire, the fruit of which was so large that a single berry weighed 61 grains, and measured two inches and a half. The Honourable F. G. Howard had a bunch of grapes weighing 15 pounds; and at Hampton Court Palace, a vine in a grapehouse produced in one year 2200 bunches of grapes, averaging one pound each. This wonderful produce_reminds us of a tradition of St. John, recorded by Irenæus, where Christ is made to say, "The days shall come in which there shall be vines which shall have each 10,000 branches; and every of those branches shall have 10,000 lesser branches; and every of these 10,000 twigs; and every of these twigs 10,000 clusters of grapes; and every one of these grapes shall yield 275 gallons of wine." The first patron of vegetable importation in Europe was Cosmo I. of Tuscany. The cork-tree, unknown in Italy in the time of Pliny, had previously been introduced from Barbary; but he imported a M |