emitted when they are bruised. How readily are the sweetest excellencies of the Christian manifested amidst the rude touches and agitations of the world, while even the wounds inflicted by ingratitude or persecution only cause them to emanate more richly. What virtue is sweeter than that of a loving, forgiving temper ?

21. The Balsam Family. Balsaminaceæ.

Exogenous, &c. The structure of the flower is very irregular. The parts are so combined as to render it difficult to ascertain their natural division. One of the lower sepals or petals is spurred. Stamens 5. Ovary with 5 cells and 5 styles.

Touch-me-not, or Yellow balsam. Impatiens noli-me-tangere.Large handsome yellow flowers, spotted with red. Very rare. July, August. It derives its name from the singular irritability of the seed-pods, which, when ripe, spring open and roll back immediately on being touched. Its curious appearance and properties have caused it to be associated with superstition. The balsams reared in the hot-house are tender, beautiful annuals from the East Indies.

22. The Wood-sorrel Family.

Oxalidaceæ.

Exogenous, &c. Sepals 5.

Stamens 10. Ovary 5-celled.

Petals 5, twisted before expansion.
Styles 5.

Wood-sorrel.

Oxalis acetosella.-A small and interesting plant. Leaves ternate, similar to those of trefoil. Flowers white, with purple veins. In shady places. April, May.

The leaves are agreeably acid like those of the sheep-sorrel, and yield a powerful acid-the oxalic. Some of the species are sensitive, and contract on being touched.

This little plant is supposed to be the "shamrock." Its ternate leaves have been made an emblem of the Trinity in Unity..

23. The Bladder-nut Family. Staphyleaceæ.

Bladder-nut. Staphylea pinnata.-A small tree with pinnate leaves, and terminal bunches of flowers. Seed-vessel membranaceous, bladdered. June. Scarcely to be regarded as wild.

DIVISION II.

CALYCIFLORA. Part I., chap. 1., § 5 (b).

Exogenous plants. Parts of the flower usually in fours or fives or their multiples. Leaves netted.

Perianth double, having calyx and corolla.

Corolla, either polypetalous (petals separate), or monopetalous (petals combined into one).

Stamens perigynous, UNITED with the calyx.

Five families and two sub-families contain each trees principally.

The remaining families contain each but few genera, or one

The House leek and Stone-crop family... 12. Crassulaceæ.

* The British species of these families are either very rare or

1. The Spindle-tree Family. Celastraceæ.

Spindle-tree. Euonymus Europæus.-A small tree or shrub, with smooth green bark, and ovate pointed leaves; common in woods and hedges, and often introduced into the shrubbery. Flowers small, greenish white, in small umbels. The base of the calyx is occupied by a flat fleshy disc. Parts of the flower in four or five. The fruit is very beautiful, pink, and having several prominent ribs. The seeds are wrapped in an orangecoloured arillus like the mace of nutmeg. The wood is used for skewers, spindles, &c. May, June.