g as snuff the fresh oak
bark dried and reduced to an impalpable powder, or by inhaling
day after day the steam given off from recent oak bark infused in
boiling water.

Marble galls are formed on the back of young twigs, artichoke
galls at their extremities, and currant galls by spangles on the
under surface of the leaves. From these spangles females presently
emerge, and lay their eggs on the catkins, giving rise to the round
shining currant galls.

The Oak--_Quercus robur_--is so named from the Celtic "quer,"
beautiful; and "cuez," a tree. "Drus," another Celtic word for tree,
and particularly for the Oak, gave rise to the terms Dryads and
Druids. Among the Greeks and Romans a chaplet of oak was one
of the highest honours which could be conferred on a citizen.
Ancient oaks exist in several parts of England, which are
traditionally called Gospel oaks, because it was the practice in
times long past when beating the bounds of a parish to read a
portion of the Gospel on Ascension Day beneath an oak tree which
was growing on the boundary line of the district. Cross oaks were
planted at the juncture of cross roads, so that persons suffering
from ague might peg a lock of their hair into the [18] trunks, and
by wrenching themselves away might leave the hair and the
malady in the tree together. A strong decoction of oak bark is most
usefully applied for prolapse of the lower bowel.

Oak Apple day (May 29th) is called in Hampshire "Shikshak" day.

AGRIMONY.

The Agrimony is a Simple well known to all country folk, and
abundant throughout England in the fields and woods, as a popular
domestic medicinal herb. It belongs to the Rose order of plants,
and blossoms from June to September with small yellow flowers,
which sit close along slender spikes a foot high, smelling like
apricots, and called by the rustics "Church Steeples." Botanically
it bears the names _Agrimonia Eupatoria_, of which the first is
derived from the Greek, and means "shining," because the herb is
thought to cure cataract of the eye; and the second bears reference
to the liver, as indicating the use of this plant for curing diseases
of that organ. Chemists have determined that the Agrimony possesses
a particular volatile oil, and yields nearly five per cent. of tannin,
so that its use in the cottage for gargles, and as an astringent
application to indolent wounds, is well justified. The herb does not
seem really to own any qualities for acting medic