Ideae, f. June, bears berries in August. The Black Whortle Berries Vaccinium nigrum, idem.

VERNAL SEASON or late Spring, is, perhaps, the most delightful of the year in temperate climes; it begins about the middle of April, and continues to the feast of St. Barnabas, June 10th. The leaves now gradually expand, the trees, and shrubs, and meadows are in blossom; birds sing, the weather is fair and seasonable, and every thing looks daily more and more beautiful. The flowers of this season, particularly towards the close of it, are the most brilliant, perhaps, of any all the year round.

VIOLET.-The Sweet Violet Viola odorata, prim. fl. in February, and through March and April. The Dog Violet Viola canina, March 20th, abundant in hedges, together with Primroses, to end of April. White Violet Viola albiflora, the same time as the Sweet Violet. The Tunbridge Violet Viola Tunbrigiensis, discovered by Mr. T. F. Forster, also fl. at the same time.

For Dames Violet, and others not properly violets, see their proper names in loco.

VINE Vitis vinifera. The various sorts of Vines bear at somewhat different times, and climate and soil still further vary them in this as in other respect grapes are pr Mic

nerally speaking, however, om the middle of July to ontinue in season to the are preserved through the

was given it by the monks and religious orders of the middle ages. These several species of Clematis are all aestival flowers. The Purple Virgin's Bower Clematis integrifolia, and many others fl. at the same time.

VIRGIN'S SEAL, a kind of Bryony. See OUR LADY'S SEAL.

WASPS Vespa vulgaris, begin to be seen early in August, and during the latter part of that month, and in September they are frequently extremely numerous and troublesome, but this is not equally the case in every season. See article WASPS in our First Part.

WATER BENET. See HERB BENET.

WATER BETONY. See WATER FIGWORT, infra. WATER PLANTAIN or Thrumwort, in Latin Alisma, a genus of which three species are found in our ditches and wet places.

1. Great Water Plantain Alisma Plantago, aest. fl. July and Aug.

2. Starheaded Water Plantain Alisma Dumasonium, fl. June to August.

3. Creeping Water Plantain Alisma natans.

4. Lesser Water Plantain Alisma ranunculoides, fl. June to September.

This plant, particularly the first mentioned species, is said to be a specific against hydrophobia, of which Mr. Whitlaw has published a long ac

count.

WATER FIGWORT Scrophularia aquatica, aest. fl. July, seeds ripe end of August; useful in scrophula, scurvy, and some other diseases. It is wrongly called by some Water Betony.

WATER LILY. 1. The white one Nymphaea

alba, aest. fl. July and August in ponds and rivers, moats round castles, monasteries, &c.

2. The yellow sort Nuphar luteum, aest. fl. July and August.

3. Nuphar minimum, a smaller, perhaps only variety of the above, flowers at the same time.

WATER VIOLET, Water Yarrow, or Featherfoil Hottonia palustris, early solst. fl. June; a beautiful ornament to the sides of rivers, ponds, and ditches.

WHEAT Triticum aestivum, is sown in November, flowers in July, and soon turns brown, and is reaped from July 20th to the end of August, or even later, according to the season.

WILLOW, the genus Salix, of which there are too many species to enumerate here. Willows flower before the leaf, in March and April. Branches of them in blossom are carried into churches and chapels on Palm Sunday; the leaves are then scarcely budded.

WILLOW HERB Epilobium, of which we have many sorts; they are early aestival plants, blowing early in July, and lasting till the end of August.

WILLOW WREN, a small genus of summer Birds of passage, enlivening our gardens and orchards, willow plantations, osier beds, and other places; but one species, inhabiting principally willows, has given the name to the genus. They are very small warblers, and arrive in the following succession:

1. Smallest Willow Wren or Lesser Pettychaps Sylvia Hippolais, is of a greenish mouse colour, with a whitish belly; it arives late in March, about Ladytide, and is seen till November; is found running or flitting about the boughs of the Pine or Larch, and like others of this genus is more fre

quently seen in still rainy days. This is the Ficedula Pinetorum of the new arrangement.

2. Yellow Willow Wren Sylvia Trochilus, has more of a yellowish cast than the other, and found oftener about Willows; arrives the first week of April, and stays till after Michaelmas. The Ficedula Salicum of the new arrangement.

3. Largest Willow Wren or Green Wren Sylvia Sylvicola, arrives about the middle of April, and stays till St. Simon and St. Jude's day; it inhabits the largest trees. The Ficedula Sylvicola of the new Synop. arrangement.

For particulars of these Birds see Montagu Ornith. Dict. article Wren, and Phil. Magazine for 1819.

WINCOPIPE or Pimpernel Anagalis arvensis, solst. fl. June, July, and August; closes its flowers against rain. See Part the First.

WIND changing about storms. Wind often changes rapidly before and during storms, as if by some sudden electrical changes. Thunderstorms which happen at a distance may generally be ascertained to have occurred by a certain clearness, but at the same time a disagreeable chilliness in the air, very different from that freshness which follows them at the place where they happen. The said chilliness seems, by some experiments, to be an electrical effect, but whether from a positive, a negative, or a non electric, state I do not know; it is something in the electric state of the air surrounding the storm, and as the storm-cloud itself is strongly electrified, it seems reasonable to suppose that there may be a surrounding countercharge, and that between the two spheres of opposite electricities there may be a non-electric atmosphere. Now experiment is as yet wanting to determine

whether the effects I allude to take place in the electrified or in the non-electric atmosphere; but they often produce temporary headache, and some other nervous affections, accompanied by a slight febricula.

WINDFLOWER or Star Anemone Anemone hortensis, vern. fl. abundantly in April and early in May; it also blows sparingly late in November, in January, and indeed at almost any time of year except the aestival season.

WINTER ACONITE, a name of the Winter Hellebore, Helleborus hyemalis.

WINTER BERRIES.-The principal Berries which ornament our country on the naked boughs during the winter months are as follows:

The Holy Ilex aquifolium, whose berries are scarlet.

Ivy Hedera Helix, berries green.

Pyracantha Mespilus Pyracantha, berries bright

orange.

White Thorn Crategus Oxycantha, berries red. Wild Roses, Rosa Canina, &c. berries light red. Black Thorn Prunus Spinosa, berries bluish grey.

Bittersweet Nightshade Solanum dulcamara, red. Missletoe Viscum Album, berries green.

Yew Taxus baccata, berries red.

These, and several other shrubs bearing ornamental berries, should be sought for in laying out a garden; they ornament nature when all but the evergreens are leafless, and serve to decorate our windows and churches at Christmas. See what Addison, in his Spectator, says of a winter garden.

WOLFSBANE or Aconite, a genus of Polyandrum plants, closely allied to the Larkspurs. The com