readers, that it was long a subject of dispute among botanists and gardeners, whether the parasitical plant, the miseltoe, always mentioned in the history of the ancient Britons, and in the religious ceremonies of the Druids, in conjunction with the oak, was to be found in the present day on that tree. That it was rare, was universally acknowledged, but the question was set at rest by my having had some specimens sent me which were found on an oak near Godalming in Surrey, and also in Gloucestershire; and the Society of Arts had a specimen sent them from the same county, in consequence of a premium they offered for the discovery. Now it is curious that this same subject was one that excited attention three hundred years ago; for Belon, when he was travelling in Macedonia, says-" In all the parts we had hitherto visited, we had never seen the misteltoe on the oak, but passing through a forest in a valley near Chalcis, we found it in abundance;" and he further says, "there is not a single oak-tree on the road between Mount Athos and Tricala, on which the misteltoe does not grow, but it is different from that which attaches itself to our apple, pear, and other trees.* The villagers call it Oxo, and they make a strong glue of its seeds."

*The plant which Belon saw on the oak was no doubt the loranthus Europæus, and not the viscum album. See Tournefort's Travels in the Levant, Vol. III. page 279.

A passage in the same interesting volume, leads me to make one further remark on a subject which has attracted much attention of late days in our country, namely, the success attending the subduing and taming the ferocious and large carniverous animals, the tyrants of the jungle and the desert. But those who have read the accounts of travellers in the distant countries of the East, are aware that the same power has been more successfully exercised, and a more perfect dominion established over the ferocity of these fierce creatures, probably by more careful and gentler methods than we have practised. Mr. Browne, the very enterprising and intelligent traveller in Africa, mentions that in the courts and palaces of the petty kings in Nubia and Abyssinia, tame lions were kept with the same liberty allowed them as dogs; and that he, when he left, had two lions so domesticated, as to follow him through the streets of the city. Mr. Swainson, also, says that the fakirs, or mendicant priests in Bengal, are in the habit of so taming the royal tiger, that they follow their master, and are completely under his authority. He says, "these domesticated tigers range at large, but do not stray far from their keepers.* The fakir used to walk daily in the

* A post captain in the British navy, who attended Marshal Bourmont in the Algerine expedition, and who distinguished himself so highly in leading the successful attack on one of the

town, accompanied by the tiger, which apparently created no alarm among the inhabitants, who seemed to have full confidence in his innocence."

It appears, however, that these animals are rarely fed with meat, their nourishment consisting almost entirely of boiled rice and ghee, and Captain Williamson says, "that boiled meat, when mixed with rice, as is always done in feeding dogs in India, is found to render them far more tractable." Then what is effected here, and only partially and imperfectly by the exercise of terror, and probably accompanied with much cruelty, is more successfully practised in these countries by gentle and wiser methods, acting on the natural disposition of the animal, and skilfully attending to the effects of food on the constitution. Belon says (page 131), "there is a place at Constantinople where the sultan keeps his wild beasts. It is an ancient church near the hippodrome. At every pillar of the church is a lion chained, a thing we could not see without wonder, for the attendants handle

forts, informed me that when Algiers was taken, he penetrated with an officer into the interior of the Dey's seraglio. Having seated himself on a couch in one of the rooms, which he found was usually occupied by the Dey, he was surprised and somewhat alarmed at seeing a tiger's head obtruding from beneath the couch, and close to him. It need not be added that he was glad to make his escape. It was a pet tiger belonging to the Dey.

them, untie them, or tie them up as they like, and often had them about the streets of the city, without fear or danger."

M. La Martine has an observation in his travels in the East, that animals are much more easily domesticated in hot countries than in cold. He gives some instances regarding horses, birds, &c., in the Levant; but it may be questioned whether this fact, if such it is, may not be accounted for by the greater attention paid there to the subject, and the more abundant means possessed.

THE BULLFINCH AND CANARY.

Go, hapless captive! still repeat

The sounds which Nature never taught,
Go, listening fair! and call them sweet,
Because you know them dearly bought.

Unenvy'd both! go hear and sing

Your study'd music o'er and o'er;
Whilst I attend th' inviting Spring,

In fields where birds unfetter'd soar.

Ir always affords me infinite pleasure not only to listen to the various notes of our numerous song birds, but to watch their habits and instincts. They appear to enjoy a degree of happiness peculiar to themselves, but in a state of confinement it is far otherwise. A caged blackbird pours forth its melancholy and complaining notes, and the sky-lark flutters as if wanting to stretch her airy wings towards heaven. It is no longer the warbling songster of the sky, but a moping, wretched prisoner. In fact the contrast between birds in a wild and confined state is very striking.

The only bird, perhaps, which appears not to suffer by confinement, is the bullfinch, owing, probably to its affectionate disposition, as it readily