curious geometric shares have generally been described as three claws, the two uppermost armed with parallel teeth like a comb, and the lower one simple and often depressed; but Mr. Blackwall found, in a species related to the common garden spider, eight claws, seven of which had their lower side toothed. The object of this complex apparatus of claws, simple and pectinated, is to enable these animals to take hold of any thread; to guide it; to pull it; to draw it out; to ascertain the nature of anything insnared, whether it be animate or inanimate; and to suspend itself. In fact, the Creator has made their claws not only hands but eyes to these animals.

Besides these organs, scattered moveable spines, or spurs, are observable upon the legs, especially the three last joints, which I consider as forming the foot, but sometimes also upon the thighs of spiders, which, as they can be elevated and depressed at the will of the animal, probably are used as a kind of finger, when occasions require it.

In the multiform apparatus of these ingenious animals, as far as we understand its use, we see how they are fitted for their office, by contributing to deliver mankind from a plague of flies, which would otherwise annoy us beyond toleration, and corrupt our land.

[KIRBY's Bridgewater Treatise.]

NOTES ON FOREST TREES. No. V.

THE ELM.

THE British Elms are of two sorts, the fine-leaved Elm of England (Ulmus campestris), and the Wych Elm of Scotland (Ulmus montana). The Elm, when suffered to grow in its natural form, is a lofty and graceful tree; it is much planted in the neighbourhood of some of our palaces, at Hampton, Bushy Park, Windsor, &c., formed into avenues, and yielding a most agreeable shade; but as it is treated in many of the hedge-rows near London, it has a naked and awkward appearance. The timber of both the British

Elms is used for many purposes, in which the wood is exposed to the alternation of moisture and drought; it was almost the only wood used for the pipes of the water-companies, previous to the introduction of iron pipes. It is also consumed in great quantities in common turnery, but although tolerably close grained, and working with considerable freedom; it is very liable to warp.

Mr. Gilpin, speaking of the appearance of the Elm, says,

The Oak and the Ash have each a distinct character. The massy form of the one dividing into abrupt, twisting, irregular limbs, yet compact in its foliage, and the easy sweep of the other, the simplicity of its branches, and the looseness of its hanging leaves, characterize both these trees with so much precision, that, at any distance at which the eye can distinguish the form, it may also distinguish the difference. The Elm has not so distinct a character. It partakes so much of the oak, that when it is rough and old, it may easily, at a little distance, be mistaken for one; though the oak, I mean such an oak as is strongly marked Elm. This defect, however, appears chiefly in the skeleton with its peculiar character, can never be mistaken for the of the Elm. In full foliage its character is better marked. No tree is better adapted to receive grand masses of light. In this respect it is superior both to the oak and the ash.

The Elm is the first tree that salutes the early Spring with its light and cheerful green, a tint which contrasts agreeably with the oak, whose early leaf has generally more of the olive cast. We see them sometimes in fine harmony together, about the end of April and the beginning of May.

The great variety of form assumed by the leaf of the Elm induced some authors to suppose that the species were tolerably numerous, but the intermediate distinctions between any two of the most stronglymarked varieties were so many, that it was impossible to draw a line of separation.

In most parts of the continent the Elm is pianted as with us in long avenues in the approaches to the mansions of the nobility and others, but in Italy it is applied to another use; it is the tree of whose services they usually avail themselves for the purpose of training their grape-vines. The height of the stem of the elms intended for this purpose is limited to twelve or fifteen feet, and only as many branches are left as are necessary for the intended purpose. This employment of the Elm is extremely ancient. Virgil often refers to it.

The mode of propagation resorted to in the case of the English Elm is usually by means of suckers from the parent tree. The best description of suckers are those which are produced by trees that have been cut close to the ground two years previously; these are to be deprived of all the new shoots that have already sprung, and the following Summer they will produce a number of clean young shoots; plant these at about eight feet asunder in the quincunx order, thus, which will fill the ground more equally than by planting them in squares. The Elm is sometimes also propagated by layers of the young shoots produced by the old stumps.

The Wych Elm is usually propagated by seed, which it yields in considerable abundance. These seeds are generally ripe from the beginning to the middle of June, according to the season. They must be attentively looked after as they approach to maturity, for when they are fully ripe, a blast of wind, or heavy rain, will drive them all off the trees in a day's time, and as the seeds are very small, it will be difficult afterwards to collect any quantity. The best plan is, when they are nearly ripe, to spread mats on the ground and cause the tree to be gently shaken.

The seeds, when collected, are to be carefully dried

in the open air, not in the sun, and being afterwards mixed with dry sand, preserved from moisture until the Spring. About the beginning or middle of February, the seed is to be sown in beds, about three feet and a half wide, of loose rich garden earth; they are to be spread in the same manner as onions or other garden herbs. In most cases they will be fit to transplant by the next Spring.

At Mongewell, Oxfordshire, there is a beautiful walk planted with Elms all of a great size, one measuring fourteen feet in girth at three feet from the ground; it is seventy-nine feet in height, and sixty-five in the extent of its boughs. Dr. Van Mildert, Bishop of Durham, in his ninetieth year, erected an urn in the midst of their shade, to the memory of two of his friends, on which the following lines were inscribed:

To the Memory

of my

Two highly valued friends, THOMAS TYRWHITT, Esq., and

The Rev. C. M. CRACHERODE, M.A

In this once-favoured walk, beneath these elms,
Where thicken'd foliage, to the solar ray
Impervious, sheds a venerable gloom.
Oft in instructive converse we beguiled
The fervid time, which each returuing year
To friendship's call devoted. Such things were:
But are, alas! no more.

The Tutbury Wych Elm, at the height of five feet from the ground, measures sixteen feet nine inches in circumference; the trunk is twelve feet long, and the branches extend from forty to fifty feet in all directions.

At Pollock, in Renfrewshire, there are some very large Wych Elms; the largest is eighty-eight feet in height.

The Chipstead Elm is an English Elm, and stands on a rising ground in the pleasure-grounds of Chipstead Place, Kent; it is sixty feet in height, twenty feet in circumference at the root, and fifteen feet eight inches, at three and a half feet from the ground, and contains 268 feet of timber, although it has lost some of its most important branches. A hollow Wych Elm, by Stratton Church, measures twenty-nine feet six inches at four feet above the ground.

The largest Elm of Scotch growth is, or rather was, for it is now nearly destroyed, in the parish of Roxburghe, in Teviotdale; when measured in 1796 it was thirty feet in girth. It is called the trysting tree, from having been the place of rendezvous in 1547 of the lairds of Cessford and Fernyhirst, and other Scotch gentry, when they met the protector Somerset to swear allegiance to the king of England.

ICE PALACE AT MOSCOW. THIS whimsical structure was one of the wonders of the last century. It was a waste of ingenuity, but served as an illustration of the power of cold, and the density and novel application of ice. Seven years previous to the erection of this palace, an icecastle and garrison had been built upon the river Neva, in Russia; but the ice broke under the weight, and that of the soldiers who guarded them. A better foundation was therefore selected for the ice-palace, on the bank of the river, and the structure, curious as it was, was completed, and exhibited to the Russian populace at the marriage of Prince Gallitzin.

The material of the palace consisted of blocks of ice cut out of the Winter covering of the Neva, which were from two to three feet in thickness. Being properly formed and adjusted to each other, water was poured between them, which soon froze, and acted as "ement; so that the whole edifice, with its furniture, may be said to have been one mass of ice. Its length was 56 feet; its breadth 17 feet; and its height 21 feet. It was constructed according to the strictest rules of art, and was adorned with a portico, columns, and statues. It consisted of a single story; the front was provided with a door and fourteen windows, the frames and panes of the latter being all formed of ice. The sides of the doors and windows were painted to imitate green marble. On each side of the principal door was a dolphin, from the mouth of which, by means of burning naphtha, volumes of flame were emitted at night. Next to the dolphins were two mortars, from which many bombs were thrown, a quarter of a pound of powder being used for each charge. On each side of the mortar stood three cannons, equal to threepounders, mounted upon carriages, and with wheels, which were often used. In the presence of a number of persons attached to the Russian court, a bullet was driven through a board two inches thick, at the distance of sixty paces, by one of these cannons; a quarter of a pound being used for the charge.

The palace had no ceiling: its interior consisted of a lobby and two large apartments, which were well furnished and elegantly painted, though merely formed of ice. Tables, chairs, statues, looking-glasses, candlesticks, watches, and other ornaments, besides teadishes, tumblers, wine-glasses, and even plates with provisions, were seen in one apartment, also formed of ice, and painted their natural colours: while in the other apartment was a state-bedstead with curtains, bed, pillows, and bed-clothes, two pairs of slippers and two night-caps, of the same cold material.

Behind the cannons, the mortars, and the dolphins, stretched a low balustrade. On each side of the building was a small entrance, with pots of flowers and orange-trees, partly formed of ice and partly natural, on which birds sat. Beyond these were two icy pyramids. On the right of one of them stood an elephant which was hollow, and so contrived as to throw out flaming naphtha, whilst a person within imitated the cries of the animal. On the left of the other pyramid was seen the never-failing appurtenance to all princely dwellings in Russia, a banga, or bath, (apparently formed of balks,) which is said to have been sometimes heated, and even appropriated to use. The appearance of the ice-palace, when illuminated, is said to have been remarkably splendid. Amusing transparencies were usually suspended in the windows, and the emission of flames by the dolphins and the elephant, tended to excite greater surprise, by flashing on the crystalline mass. Crowds of visiters were continually seen around this fantastical construction,

which remained entire from the beginning of January nearly till the middle of March. At the end of the latter month, however, the fairy fabric began to thaw, and soon afterwards it was broken into pieces, and conveyed to the Imperial ice-cellar.

AUSTRALIAN GRAMMAR. III.

THE following account of the strange fancies which are even now prevalent among the aboriginal Australians, is derived from the curious work which we have before noticed in the Saturday Magazine. The painful catalogue will serve to show how greatly the abject beings in that remote region require the exertions of Christians in their behalf; presenting, as it does, a lamentable spectacle of the weakness and wretchedness of human nature, when unblessed with a knowledge of the only true God, and of His reasonable service.

Ko-in, Tip-pa-kál, Pór-ráng,-Names of an imaginary male being, in appearance like a black; he is supposed to reside in thick brushes or jungles, and appears occasionally by day, but mostly at night. In general he precedes the coming of the natives from distant parts, when they assemble to celebrate certain mysteries, such as knocking out the tooth in a mystic ring, or performing some dance. He appears painted with pipe-clay, and carries a fire-stick in his hand; but, generally, it is the doctors (a kind of magicians,) who alone perceive him, and to whom he says, "Fear not, come and talk." At other times he comes when the blacks are asleep, and takes them up as an eagle his prey, and carries them away. The shouts of the surrounding party often occasion him to drop his burden; otherwise he conveys them to his fire-place in the bush, where, close to the fire, he deposits his load. The person carried tries to cry out but cannot, feeling almost choked; at daylight Ko-in disappears, and the black finds himself conveyed safely to his own fire-side!

Tip-pa-kal-lé-un, Mail-kun, Bim-póin,-Names of the wife of Koin. She is a much more terrific being than her husband, whom the blacks do not so much dread, because he does not kill them; but this female not only carries off the natives in a large bag-net beneath the earth, but spears the children through the temple, and no one ever sees again those whom she obtains!

Ko-yo-ró-wén,―The name of another imaginary being, whose trill in the bush frequently alarms the blacks in the night. When he overtakes a native, he commands him to exchange cudgels, giving his own, which is extremely large, and desiring the black to take a first blow at his head, which he holds down for that purpose; after which he smites and kills the person with one blow, skewers him with the cudgel, carries him off, roasts, and then eats him!

Kur-ri-wilbán,-The name of his wife; she has a long horn on each shoulder, growing upward, with which she pierces the Aborigines, and then shakes herself until they are impaled on her shoulders, when she carries them to the deep valley, roasts and eats her victims. Ya-ho, has by some means been given to the blacks as a name for this being.

Put-ti-kán,-Another imaginary being, like a horse, having a large mane, and a tail, sharp like a cutlass. Whenever he meets the blacks, they go towards him, and draw up their lips, to show that the tooth is knocked out, when he will not injure them; but should the tooth be left in, he runs after, kills, and eats them. He does not walk, but bounds like a kangaroo, the noise of which on the ground is as the report of a gun, calling out as he advances, Pir-ro-lỏng, Pir-ro-lóng!

Pór-ro-bung,-The name of a mystic ring, in which they dance and fall down at certain periods; from Pór, to drop down.

Yu-lung,-The name of the ring in which the tooth is knocked out. The trees are marked near the ring with rude representations of locusts, serpents, &c., chopped on the bark with an axe. They dance for several days, every morning and evening, continuing the whole of the night.

Ko-pur-ra-ba, The name of the place from which the blacks obtain the Ko-pur-ra, a yellowish earth, which they wet, mould up into balls, and then burn in a strong fire, when it changes into a brilliant red, something like red

ochre, with which tne men and women paint themselves, mixing it with the kidney-fat of the kangaroo: it is always used at their dances.

nine feet high, springing upon the side of a bluff head on Mul-lung-bu-la,--The name of two upright rocks about the margin of the lake. The blacks affirm from tradition, that they are two women who were transformed into rocks, in consequence of their being beaten to death by a black man. Beneath the mountain on which the two pillars stand, a seam of common coal is seen many feet thick, from which Reid obtained a cargo of coals, when he mistook the entrance of this lake for Newcastle: a wharf, the remains of his building, still exists at this place, called from thence Reid's Mistake.

Mún-nu-kán,-The name of a point, under which is a seam of canal-coal; beneath, a thick seam of superior common coal joins it, and both jut into the sea between three and four fathoms of water. The Government mineral-surveyor found on examination, that the two veins were nearly nine feet in thickness, and the coal of excellent quality. Wau-wa-rán,-The name of a hole of fresh water in the vicinity of Lake Macquarrie, between it and the mountains westerly; said by the blacks to be bottomless and inhabited by a monster of a fish, much larger than a shark, called Wau-wai. It frequents the contiguous swamp, and kills the Aborigines! There is another resort for these fish near an island in Lake Macquarrie, named Bo-ro-yi-róng; from the cliffs of which, if stones be thrown down into the sea beneath, the tea-tree bark floats up, and then the monster is seen gradually rising from the deep; should any natives be at hand, he overturns the canoe, swallows alive the crew, and then swallows the canoe whole, after which he descends to his resort in the depths below!

Yi-rán-ná-lai,-The name of a place near Newcastle, on the sea-beach, beneath a high cliff, where, it is said, if any persons speak, the stones fall down from the high arched rocks above. The crumbling state of it is such as to render it extremely probable, that the concussion of air from the voice causes this effect; "which once occurred to myself," says Mr. Threlkeld, "in company with some blacks."

is

Kur-rur-kur-rán,-The name of a place, in which there almost a forest of petrifactions of wood, of various sizes, extremely well defined; situated in a bay at the N. W. extremity of Lake Macquarrie. The tradition of the Aborigines is, that formerly it was one large rock which fell from the heavens and killed a number of blacks, who were assembled where it descended; this being, by command of an immense Guana, which came down from heaven for that purpose, in consequence of his anger at their having killed some vermin by roasting them in the fire. Those who had killed the vermin by cracking, were previously speared to death by him with a long reed from Heaven! At that remote period, the moon was supposed to be a man named Pón-to-bung: hence the moon is called he to the present day; and the sun being formerly a woman, retains the feminine pronoun, she.

Mur-ro-kun,-The name of a mysterious bone, which is obtained by the Ka-ra-kul, a doctor, or conjuror; three of whom sleep on the grave of a recently-interred corpse, where in the night, during their sleep, the dead person inserts a mysterious bone into each thigh of the three doctors, who feel the puncture not more severe than that of the sting of an ant! The bones remain in the flesh of the doctors, without any inconvenience to them, until they wish to kill any person, when, by unknown means, it is said, and in a supernatural manner they destroy their ill-fated victim by the mysterious bone, causing it to enter into their bodies, and so occasion their death!!

Múr-ra-mai,-The name of a round ball, about the size of a cricket-ball, which the Aborigines carry in a small net suspended from their girdles of opossum yarn; it is used as a talisman against sickness, and is sent from tribe to tribe for hundreds of miles on the sea-coast, and in the interior. Mr. T. says, "One is now here from Moreton Bay, the interior of which, a black showed me privately in my study, betraying considerable anxiety lest any female should see the contents, women being interdicted from viewing them. After unrolling many yards of woollen cord, made from the fur of the opossum, the contents proved to be a quartz-like substance of the size of a pigeon's egg! He allowed me to break it and retain a part. It is transparent like white sugar-candy. The people swallow the small crystalline particles which crumble off, as a preventive of sickness. It scratches glass, and does not effervesce with acids.

From another specimen, the stone appears to be agate of a milky hue, semipellucid, and strikes fire. The vein from which it appears broken off, is one inch and a quarter thick. A third specimen contained a portion of cornelian partially crystallized, a fragment of chalcedony, and a fragment of a crystal of white quartz."

Nauwai,-A canoe; Pupa, Bark, also a canoe, Kuttal, another species, also a canoe. The canoes are made of one sheet of bark taken whole from the tree and softened with fire, when they are tied up in a folded point at each end; a quantity of earth forms a hearth, on which they roast their bait and fish, when out fishing.

Ngór-ro, Pum-me-ri, Yo-nei,-Species of grass-tree; the stems of which form their spears, cemented together at the ends by the resinous substance which exudes from the root, until they become from eight to twelve feet long. A hard wood forms the last joint, in which is cemented a splinter of pointed bone, forming a barb. It is a deadly weapon, thrown by a lever nearly four feet long, held in the hand with the poised spear.

Nung-ngún,-A song. There are poets among them who compose songs, which are sung and danced to by their own tribe in the first place; after this other tribes learn the song and dance, which itinerate from tribe to tribe throughout the country, until from change of dialect, the very words are not understood correctly by distant blacks. Pun-ti-mai,—A messenger, an ambassador. These are generally decorated with the down of the swan or hawk on their heads when on an embassy. They arrange the time, place, and manner of engagement in battle; or when punishing a supposed offender or real aggressor. They bring intelligence of the movements of hostile tribes, or the last new song and dance. When they travel at night, a fire-stick is always carried by them as a protection against "the powers of darkness;" or evil spirits, of which these savages are in continual dread.

Tur-rur-ma,-An instrument of war, called by Europeans Boomering, of a half-moon shape, which when thrown into the air, revolves on its own centre, and returns, forming a circle in its orbit from and to the thrower; to effect which it is thrown against the wind; but, in war, it is thrown against the ground, which it strikes in its revolution, and rebounds apparently with double violence, and hits at random some distant object, wounding severely with its sharpened extremities.

Tir-ril,-The tick a venomous insect in this country, which destroys young dogs, pigs, lambs, cats, &c., but is not fatal to man. It is exactly similar in size and shape to the English tick, but its effects are soon discovered by the animal which is attacked becoming paralyzed in its hind quarters: sickness comes on, and death generally follows in two or three days after the paralysis has taken place. In the three last cases which occurred to some lambs, two table-spoonsful of common salt were administered with a successful result.

Tem-bi-ri-be-en,-The death-adder. The usual remedy with the Aborigines for the bite is suction; but a case occurred not long since, in which a young girl was bitten by the venomous adder; her father sucked the wound, and both died immediately.

66

As one step, under Providence, of substituting pure and undefiled Religion" for these manifold delusions, (the fruits of human folly and corruption,) that of presenting to the ignorant Australian islanders a GRAMMAR, and a portion of the GOSPEL in their own tongue, will, it is hoped, be most beneficial. It is almost impossible to gain any effectual hold on weak and darkened minds, unless we can communicate with them on terms of ease and confidence. To do this, nothing is more likely to contribute than to become acquainted with the language in which they were born, and the peculiar errors with which their minds are beset for thus, when managed by prudent hands, the weapons of Christian truth may become "mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong-holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

CROWNS AND CORONETS. ALL nations, even in the early stages of civilization, have attached great importance to outward marks of dignity, for the purpose of distinguishing the most worthy of the community from his fellow-countrymen. The most ancient of these emblems of honour were wreaths of flowers, or leaves, worn as a kind of chaplet round the head. With these simple ornaments, the head of the priest, the conqueror, or the bride at her nuptials, was decorated. The principal materials employed for this purpose were the leaves of ivy, of laurel, or if the occasion was the celebration of the festival of some heathen deity, such flowers as were more peculiarly dedicated to its service, as, for instance, fig. 3, of grapes and vineleaves, worn in honour of Bacchus, the heathen god of wine. Animals that were slaughtered for sacrifice were also decorated with wreaths and garlands. By degrees imitations in metal were substituted for natural wreaths; and thus at length, the tiara, the coronet, and the crown, were invented.

Among the Greeks and Romans, the different kinds of coronets given to conquerors and others, were reduced to a regular system. Thus there was the Corona agonothetarum, formed of laurel-leaves, given to the victor in athletic exercises; the Corona aurea, the golden crown, (fig. 5,) the reward of ́very great bravery; the Corona castrensis for the warrior who first entered the enemy's camp; the Corona muralis for him who first scaled the walls of a fortress; with many others, among which none was considered more honourable than the Corona civica, the civic crown, (fig. 4). Among the Romans, this was the highest military reward, and was bestowed upon the man who had saved the life of a citizen; it bore the inscription, Ob civem servatum, that is, on account of a citizen preserved: it was made of oak-leaves. He whose life had been saved, presented it, at the com-' mand of his leader, to his preserver, whom he was thenceforward bound to honour as a father. Other marks of honour were also bestowed on its possessor. At the theatre, he wore the crown, and was assigned a seat next to the senators: at his entrance the

whole audience rose up to testify their respect, &c.

Another crown, or chaplet, the Corona obsidialis, (fig. 2,) was presented to him who first brought relief to a besieged city: it was formed of some plant that bore sced fit for human food; as, for instance, corn, millet, &c.; that made of wheat (fig. 1,) was worn on the occasion of a harvest-home.

The kingly crown was at first merely a golden circle, at times decorated with precious stones; the most ancient of these is the crown of Constantine, or of Lombardy, (fig. 9,) commonly called the iron crown.

This celebrated crown (says Mr. Duppa,) is a broad circle of gold set with large rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. It is kept in the cathedral of Monza, in an ornafolding-doors of gilt brass. It is composed of six equal mented cross, deposited over an altar, closely shut up with pieces of beaten gold, joined together by close hinges; and the jewels and embossed gold ornaments are set in a ground of blue and gold enamel, which to me was interesting, as it exhibited an exact resemblance to the workmanship of the enamelled part of a gold ornament, now in the Ashmolean museum, which once belonged to king Alfred, and is the most curious piece of antiquity in that museum. But for those who have an appetite for relics, the most important part of this crown is a narrow rin of iron, which is attached to the inside of it. rim is about three-eighths of an inch broad, and a tenth of an inch thick, said to have been made out of one of the nails used at the crucifixion of our Saviour. The crown is said to have been presented to Constantine by his mother, the empress Helena; and the sacred iron ring was to protect him in battle.

This

Agilulf, king of Lombardy, was the first person crowned with it, in 590. Charlemagne wore it at his coronation, in 774, and Napoleon received the same honour in 1805, when installed king of Italy; at this time he established the order of the iron crown, which is still acknowledged by the emperor of Austria. The tiara, or triple crown of the Pope of Rome, (fig. 6,) is of very singular construction; it is shaped like a high cap, surrounded by a series of three coronets or crowns; the towering shape of the tiara seems to have been in imitation of a cap formed of wool, called an infula, which was worn by the Greek and Roman priests when performing a sacrifice. It is supposed, that Constantine the Great, in the fifteenth century, presented the Pope with a golden crown, which the latter united with the cap. In 1303, Boniface the Eighth, then Pope, is said to have added a second coronet, as a sign of power over temporal, as well as spiritual matters; while the third coronet, which brought the tiara to its present form, was added by Urban the Fifth, who died in 1370. It is not known with any certainty on what account this triple form was assumed. Some believe it was to indicate their power over the three parts of the globe which were then known, namely, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The engraving contains representations of four kingly crowns of modern times; fig. 11, is the British crown, worn at the coronation of George the Third; a crown of a somewhat different shape has been employed since then, but in all heraldic representations that in the engraving is copied; fig. 10, the French, crown; fig. 8, the crown of Austria; fig. 7, that of the emperor of Russia.

The different orders of nobility beneath that of the king are distinguished by the various crowns. Fig. 12, is that of the prince of Wales; fig. 13, a duke; fig. 14, a marquess; fig. 15, an earl; fig. 16, a viscount; fig. 17, a baron. Fig. 18 represents the mitre

of an archbishop; that of a bishop is of the same form, but without the strawberry-leaves.

The crowns worn in former times by the kings of England, have varied much in form and material. The Saxon kings had a crown consisting of a simple fillet of gold. Egbert improved its appearance by placing on the fillet a row of points or rays, and after him, Edmond Ironside tipped these points with pearl; William the Conqueror had on his coronet points and leaves placed alternately, each point being tipped with three pearls, while the whole crown was surmounted with a cross. William Rufus discontinued the leaves. Henry the First had a row of fleur-de-lis; from this time to Edward the Third, the crown was variously ornamented with points and fleur-de-lis, placed alternately; but this monarch enriched his crown with fleur-de-lis and crosses alternately, as at present. Edward the Fourth was the first who wore a close crown, with two arches of gold, embellished with pearls; and the same form, with trifling variations, has been continued to the present day. The English crown of our engraving, is called the "St. Edward's crown," and was made in imitation of the ancient crown said to be worn by that monarch, kept in Westminster Abbey till the beginning of the civil wars in England, when, with the rest of the regalia, it was seized and sold in 1642. It was prepared for the coronation of Charles the Second, and is embellished with pearls and precious stones, as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and has a mound of gold on the top, enriched with a fillet of the same metal, covered also with precious stones. The cap is of purple velvet, lined with white silk, and turned up with ermine.

A small crown formed of very rich materials, has, since that time, been made for each king and queen at their coronation, to be worn at the dinner.

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