rarely survive the second year; nor will those with double flowers continue much longer, so that unless young plants are annually raised to supply the place of the old ones, there will soon be a want of them, which is what few persons are careful enough to observe; but thinking the roots to be perennial, trust to their putting out offsets; or the plants remaining after they have flowered, and finding them decay, are apt to think their soil very improper for them, and are at a loss to account for their decaying whereas, when the plants have flowered, they have finished their period, and seldom continue to flower a second time from the same root, though, in poor land, they will often put out a few weak offsets, which may flower again, but seldom so strong as the principal root; therefore those who are desirous to propagate these plants should do it in the following manner :—

"There should be some strong roots of each sort kept apart for this purpose, which are not intended to flower. When these have shot up their flowerstalks about six inches high, they should be cut close to the bottom; each of these may be divided in the middle to make two cuttings, which should be planted in a soft, gentle, loamy soil, to an east exposure, where they may have only the morning sun; and these may be planted pretty near together, so as to be covered with hand or bell-glasses,

which should be put over them after the cuttings have been well watered, and closely shut down, drawing the earth round the rim of the glasses to exclude the air: then the glasses should be shaded with mats every day when the sun is hot; and if the cuttings are gently refreshed with water once in seven or eight days, it will be sufficient, for too much moisture will cause them to rot: when these are watered, the glasses should be closely shut down again as before: with this management the cuttings will put out roots in five or six weeks, and will begin to shoot above; then the glasses should be gently raised on one side to admit the air to them, and so gradually harden them to the open air, to prevent their drawing up weak. When these have made good roots they should be carefully removed, and planted in an east border, at about eight or nine inches asunder, observing to shade and water them till they have taken new root; after which they will require no other care but to keep them clean from weeds till the autumn, when they may be transplanted into the borders of the pleasuregarden where they are designed to flower.

"The roots which are thus cut down will send up more stalks than before, and when these are of a proper height they may be cut off, and treated in the same way, so that if the roots are sound, there may be two or three crops of these cuttings from

them; and by so doing, the old roots may be continued much longer than if they are permitted to flower, and by this management there may be always a supply of good plants for the flowergarden."

MANDRAKE. Atropa Mandragora.

Natural Order Lurida. Solaneæ, Juss. A Genus of the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

La Mandragore qu'on arrache,

Long-temps résiste avec effort,

Jette un grand cri, frappe de mort
Le bras hardi qui la detache.

I do not mean to wake the gloomy form
Of Superstition.

THIS plant, which has been rendered celebrated by absurdity, is indigenous to classical ground; and on this account, as well as the wonderful tales that have been handed down to us from antiquity, it naturally excites some degree of interest in the inquisitive mind.

In symbolical language, the Mandrake is made the emblem of any thing rare or extraordinary, and from the earliest ages appears to have excited great veneration amongst the inhabitants of eastern countries, on account of its supposed extraordinary properties, as well as its rarity.

It is generally believed that the Atropa, or Mandrake, is the same plant which the ancient Hebrews

called Dudaïm: that these people held it in the highest esteem in the days of Jacob, is evident from the notice of its having been found by Reuben, who carried the plant to his mother; and the inducement which tempted Leah to part with it, proves the value then set upon this celebrated plant.

As we have no authority for believing the Hebrews used the mandrake for superstitious purposes, it is most probable that they were acquainted with its anodyne and soporific properties; and perhaps it was the only opiate known in that age, which alone would render it an invaluable root to persons who could receive no medical assistance but what their own household afforded. This plant was thought to possess the properties of making childless wives become mothers; and hence some suppose Rachel became so desirous to possess the Mandrakes that Reuben had found.

The Greeks were evidently acquainted with the dangerous properties of the Mandrake, as is shown by the names bestowed on it, that of Circeium being derived from Circe, a witch celebrated in fable for her knowledge of magic and venomous herbs. The name of Atropa is after Atropos, the eldest of the Parcæ, whose duty among the three Fates was to cut the thread of life, without regard to sex, age, or quality.