toes."

An ingenious botanist, after reading this article, was so kind as to
send me specimens of the _fly_ orchis, _ophrys muscifera_, and of the
_bee_ orchis, _ophrys apifera_. Their resemblance to these insects when
in full flower is the most perfect conceivable: they are distinct
plants. The poetical eye of Langhorne was equally correct and fanciful;
and that too of Jackson, who differed so positively. Many controversies
have been carried on, from a want of a little more knowledge; like that
of the BEE _orchis_ and the FLY _orchis_, both parties prove to be
right.

Another curious specimen of the playful operations of nature is the
mandrake; a plant, indeed, when it is bare of leaves, perfectly
resembling that of the human form. The ginseng tree is noticed for the
same appearance. This object the same poet has noticed:--

Mark how that rooted mandrake wears
His human feet, his human hands;
Oft, as his shapely form he rears,
Aghast the frighted ploughman stands.

He closes this beautiful fable with the following stanza not inapposite
to the curious subject of this article:

Helvetia's rocks, Sabrina's waves,
Still many a shining pebble bear:
Where nature's studious hand engraves
The PERFECT FORM, and leaves it there.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 72: One of the most curious of these natural portraits is the
enormous rock in Wales, known as the Pitt Stone. It is an immense
fragment, the outline bearing a perfect resemblance to the profile of
the great statesman. The frontispiece to Brace's "Visit to Norway and
Sweden" represents an island popularly known as "The Horseman's Island,"
that takes the form of a gigantic mounted horseman wading through the
deep. W.B. Cooke, the late eminent engraver, amused himself by depicting
a landscape with waterfalls and ruins, which, when turned on one side,
formed a perfect human face.]

THE POETICAL GARLAND OF JULIA.

Huet has given a charming description of a present made by a lover to
his mistress; a gift which romance has seldom equalled for its
gallantry, ingenuity, and novelty. It was called the garland of Julia.
To understand the nature of this gift, it will be necessary to give the
history of the parties.

The beautiful Julia d'Angennes was in the flower of her youth and fame,
when the celebrated Gustavus, king of Sweden, was making war in Germany
with the most splendid success. Julia expressed her warm admiration