MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. To treat on the proper management of plants in houses, is a subject attended with considerable difficulty every genus requiring some variation, both in soil, water, and general treatment. If the room, where the plants are intended to be placed, is dark and close, but few will ever thrive in it ;-if, on the contrary, it is light and airy, with the windows in a suitable aspect to receive the sun, plants will do nearly as well as in a green-house. But if they are observed to suffer, the effects may generally be traced to one of the four following causes :-Want of proper light and air-injudicious watering-filthiness collected on the leaves-or, being potted in unsuitable soil. 1st. Want of proper light and air-is perhaps the most essential point to be considered; for, however well all other requisites are attended to, a deficiency in either of these will cause the plants to grow weak and sickly. Let them always be placed as near the light as they can conveniently stand, and receive as much air as can be admitted, when the weather will allow. Indeed those persons who have no other place than the house to keep them in, will find that they derive immense advantage from being, during fine weather, in spring and autumn, turned out of doors in the evening, and taken in again in the morning; the night dews contributing greatly to their health and vigour. 2d. Injurious watering-does more injury to plants in rooms than many persons imagine. To prevent the soil ever having a dry appearance, is an object of importance in the estimation of very many; they therefore water to such an excess that the mould becomes sodden, and the roots consequently perish. Others, to avoid this evil, run exactly into the opposite extreme, and scarcely give sufficient to sustain life. This however, is by no means so common a practice as that of giving too much; for in general, if any thing appears to be the matter with the plants, large doses of water are immediately resorted to; and if recovery is not speedy, this nostrum is again administered, with but little doubt of its infallible restorative powers :-but such persons, like an unskilful physician who gluts the weakly stomach of his patient, only hasten on what they are trying to prevent. This overplus of water will show its ad effects by the very dark colour and flabby disposition of the leaves; and if the plant receives 100 little, the leaves will turn yellow, and eventually ing some tobacco until they become well enveloped in the smoke; and the latter may be removed by occasionally washing them on the head with pure water, either by means of a syringe, the rose of a watering-pan, or with a sponge, when the filth still adheres. 4th. Being potted in unsuitable soil-is by far the most difficult part of the business to rectify, for no certain line can be drawn, unless each genus were treated on separately; however, as this cannot be done in a paper like the present, a few general remarks, which perhaps, with some little exceptions, may be found to be pretty correct, must suffice. All plants whose branches are fragile or slender, and roots of a fine thready fibrous texture, with general habits like the Ericea, will require the same soil, (peat earth,) and very similar treatment to Cape Heaths. Those whose wood and general habits partially differ, and whose roots are of a stronger texture, as Acacia, Ardisia, Stenocarpus, Tetratheca, Tristanea, &c., will require a portion of sandy loam-in many cases about equal parts; and where the habits, &c., differ materially from the heath, only a small portion of peat earth will be required, and a compost may be made a little rich, by the addition of well rotted manure. Almost all Cape and other bulbs, as Sparaxis, Ixia, Gladiolus, Tritonia, &c., thrive best in a mixture of rich sandy loam, leaf mould, and a little peat. Shrub by and herbaceous plants, with luxuriant roots and branches, as several species of Myrtus, Jasminum, Hibiscus, Hermannia, Heliotropium, &c. require rich loam, lightened with leaf soil, without any portion of peat. Plants with powerful roots, but slender heads, as Veronica, Senacia, Scutellaria, Ruellia, Maurandia, &c., require a light sandy soil, mixed with a small portion of leaf mould and very rotten manure. At the time of potting, always lay a plenty of broken potsherds at the bottom of each pot, to give good drainage. It will be seen that these directions do not allude to either orchideous, succulent, or aquatick plants. Many of the orchidea require a portion of decayed wood mixed with the soil: others grow in damp moss; but these being chiefly stove plants, will not flourish in a room; there are several species, however, that thrive very well both in the green-house and in rooms, as, Arethusa, Calopogon, Dendrobrium, Ophrys, &c.; the soil suitable for these is a mixture of about equal parts of light sandy loam and peat; very little or no water must be given when they are not in a growing state. Succulent plants of all descriptions require very little water, and in general are very easily managed in rooms; many of them thrive in a mixture of sandy soil and lime rubbish, as Aloe, Cacalia, Cactus, &c., others grow well in a mixture of equal parts of light sandy loam and peat, as Coris, Cotyledon, Mesembryanthemum, &c. The proper soil for the Geranium, is half rich rotted manure, a fourth fresh yellow loam, and a fourth of equal parts of good garden mould and leaf soil. in Aquatick plants, Villarsia, Actinocarpus, &c., generally do well in a mixture of peat and loam, and require to be constantly kept in a wet state; deed the best way is to place the pot in a deep pan or feeder, which should always be kept filled with 3d. Filthiness collected on the leaves-may either arise from insects, or dust; the former may be speedily remedied, by placing the plants under a hand glass, or any thing that is convenient, and burn- | water. Bulbs of most sorts flourish in rooms with less care than most other kinds of plants. Hyacinths should be planted in autumn. In preparing pots for them, select such as are about four inches deep, and three inches wide, put a little rotten manure in each pot, fill it up with light rich soil, and plant the bulbs so shallow that nearly half the bulb stands above the soil; plunge the pots in the open air, and cover them six or eight inches deep with rotten bark. During spring, take them out as they are wanted to bring into flower, and set them in the window of a warm room, where they will be fully exposed to the sun. Those who do not possess a garden, may set the pots in the cellar or outhouse, or in the corner of a yard, and cover them with light soil or sand until they are wanted to bring into the room to flower. When the leaves begin to decay after they have done flowering, give them no water; when the leaves are dead, take them out of the soil and remove the offsets, and lay them in an airy situation until the time of planting. If grown in water glasses, they require to be pla-. ced in a light airy situation, and the water will require to be changed once in three or four days. If drawn up weekly, it will be necessary to support the stems with sticks, split at the bottom so as to fit on the edge of the glasses at the top. This, however, will not be necessary if they be kept in a light and airy, situation. When out of flower, plant them in pots of soil to perfect their leaves, and treat them as above : they will then flower again the succeeding year. THE CHIMPANSEE. where the fruit-bearing trees are too small and far asunder for suiting the organization of the long-armed ape. This hair, rather long, and forming a sort of whiskers or THE chimpansee is, as has been said, found both in the Asiatick isles and in Africa; and it is said to be of larger size and more handsome form in the The face and ears of the chimpansee are of a latter country than in the former-that it has the brown colour, and naked; but the skin of the face, arms shorter, walks more erect, and has the neck especially, is withered and leather-like, and has no longer. These differences tend to show that the resemblance to the human skin in texture and gloss; trees which have apes' food, are of smaller growth it more resembles the naked parts of some reptiles, and further apart from each other than in Asia; and or those of the bats. The head, back of the neck, that, also, in part explains why none of the long-shoulders, and back, are covered with coarse black armed climbing apes are found in Africa, but have their place supplied by the baboons, which run well upon all-fours, and are more ferocious in their dispositions. The very few specimens of the chimpansee which have been seen in this country have been all of small stature; but they have been young, and we neither know the period which these animals require to attain their full stature, nor the circumstances by which their growth may be retarded or stopped. Travellers say that they attain the height of an ordinary man; but there is reason to suspect that in that, as well as in some other points, their history has been confounded with that of the larger baboons. It is said that they live in small bands, and construct a series of huts for their common residence. The former is likely, as all apes are, to a certain degree, social; but the construction of the huts is doubtful, as it has not been borne out by what has been observed of other apes, or even of the same species in the East. The fact is, that the comparisons which have constantly been made between these animals and man, render it no easy matter to determine what portion of the reports which are given of them should be received and what rejected and the chimpansee is not so very like man after all. The flat top of the head, the great round ears, and the short and scanty hair on the head, have nothing very human in their aspect. There is a ridge over the eyes, but it is not like an eyebrow; and the eyes have nothing human in their enforcement or their expression. The nose is merely a ridge on the muzzle; and the mouth, from the manner of its opening, as well as the extent to which it opens, is evidently intended for no purpose save that of biting. The lower jaw is not a chin either, in its anterior part, but merely a deep jaw, to afford insertion to the large teeth and the powerful muscle. It does not appear that the differences which have been mentioned as existing between the chimpansees of Africa and of the Oriental isles, are sufficient to constitute a difference or even a variety; the more so that we are but little acquainted with the appearance and habits of the adult animals in either region All that can be inferred is, that they have to climb more and walk less, and their arms are lengthened and their legs shortened and weakened in proportion. Even those chimpansees which are the best walkers, do not walk as man does, by advancing the leg, while the body remains square to the front; they roll the pelvis, and the feet, instead of moving over straight lines, move over arches of circles, of each of which the opposite hip joint is the centre; and even in them the feet are far more efficient in climbing and grasping than in walking, which shows that climbing is the grand motion for which they are organized; and that just as much of the power of walking is added, as enables them to be the passing feeders upon fruits in those parts of the forests Even the trivial name of this species (troglodytes) is in some sort connected with gratuitous analogies, and as such calculated to mislead. In ancient times there was a race of people known by the name of troglodytes, or "dwellers in caves," said to inhabit somewhere in the vicinity of the Red sea, and to be of small stature and deformed outline; and so strong was the prejudice, arising probably from this similarity of name, that Linnæus himself made man one species of the genus homo, and the chimpansee, which of course, was not so well known to Europeans in his time as it is now, another, under the name of homo troglodytes. Now it does not appear that the chimpansee is troglodytes at all, inasmuch as it does not dwell in caves. It does not inhabit those regions in which the troglodytes of the ancients are said to have resided, and it is rather improbable that the ancients had any accurate knowledge of the places in which it is now found. THE OYSTER-CATCHER. THE oyster-catcher lives by the seaside, feeding on marine insects, for which it may be seen actively searching at low water. Their name of oyster-catcher is also derived from their expertness in extracting the oyster, which however can be done only when the shell is open, and not even then without great caution; for instances have been known of the unfortunate bird being made prisoner by the oyster closing upon its beak. Its eggs are laid on the bare ground, for the nest, if it deserves to be so called, consists only of small shingle and shells thrown up by the sea, so little above highwater-mark, that in high spring tides they are frequently swept away. When taken young, they may be easily tamed, and they are in England frequently introduced into pleasure-grounds. We remember seeing very considerable numbers of them, some years ago, on the lawn of the pavilion at Brighton, collected by order of his late majesty George IV., where they were running about with the tameness and familiarity of poultry. Nothing | make equal despatch on their journeys; that is, could be more ornamental than their smart pieballed they can move twenty-five or thirty miles miles in glossy coats, in contrast with their long, bright, orange beaks and legs, and crimson irides. THE WHALE. the hour, the least of which would send them six hundred miles a day, or from sixty degrees north latitude, to sixty degrees south, in the short period of fourteen days. The velocity with which they move, and the periods at which it is probable their migration takes place, may both tend to make them in a great meas THE whale is one of the most interesting of na-ure unobserved. It is probable that they pass the ture's productions. The regions in which it is usually found; its vast size; its singular form; its curious habits its combining at once the maximum of physical strength and gentleness of disposition; and a variety of other circumstances, all conspire to render the whale the wonder of the deep. middle latitudes in the stormy weather about the equinoxes; and thus thousands may pass without one of them being observed from a single ship. They may make their whole course too, without feeding, because of the vast accumulation of fat or blubber under the skin, which analogy leads us to The common whale may be said to inhabit the conclude, can, like the accumulated fat of landwhole ocean, and its size and power render it wor- animals, be in part at least, absorbed as nourishment thy of that ample field. It is not quite so discursive when food is scarce, or the habit of the animal preover the ocean, or so frequently seen in the middle vents it from feeding. At those periods too, the latitudes, or indeed in any places where the temper-young of many fishes are discursive near the surature is warm, as the more voracious whales which face, and these may serve for food on the passage. feed upon large fishes. Thosc, like the predatory These whales catch their food with the plates and land animals, are furnished with powerful weapons of prehension, so that wherever the sea is inhabited they can find food, and the shark himself cannot escape their all-powerful jaws. The common whale, on the other hand, more resembles some peaceful animal which grazes the savannah, or browses the leaves of the evergreen forests; and therefore it can remain and feed for a season in peculiar localities only. These localities may be said to be in an eminent degree the margins of the polar ice, the very extremes and confines, as it were, of the ocean. Little is known with certainty of the times or the extent of its migrations, because its march along the mighty waters is too fleet for our observations to follow. It is said that they can move as fast as a mail-coach and feed while they are moving; and as, when wounded by a harpoon, they can take out" the line so fast that, if not watered, it would speedily take fire by the friction of the roller, it is probable that they can fringes of the baleen, as with a net, and the only sense that can guide them in the selection is taste, residing in the tongue; and the current of water passing over that, when the motion is rapid, must be like the stream of a rivulet. It is thus probable that they have little more selection of food than what the throat can swallow. In the balæna that is very limited, the greatest extent of the gullet not being more than would admit a hen's egg. In some of the balanoptera it is considerably wider-as much as between three and four inches in diameter; and thus, though these are much smaller, they can swallow food in larger morsels. The common largo whale certainly could not swallow any fish larger than the herring; and from its summer-feeding in the arctick seas, the times and places where we are best acquainted with its economy, it probably feeds very little upon fish of any description. Whales are found near the ice, or in the bays or openings among the different ice-fields, and generally |