It was the sudden irruption of Odin and his warlike Scythians from the Asiatic continent, that overwhelmed, and finally expelled, the Celtic tribes who had inhabited the greater part of Europe from the earliest ages. Flying from their Gothic invaders, they took possession of the western shores of Britain and of Gaul five hundred years before Christ, according to the chronology of Julius Cæsar, in his Commentaries. But the people here mentioned by Cæsar were not the aboriginal inhabitants of Britain, but the Cimbrii, a second race from the same source as the Celta, who had settled here five hundred years anterior to the era assigned by the Romans for its colonization.

That the Celts were the prior inhabitants of Europe admits not of a doubt; the remains of their language may be traced in every country; and the Cumraig of South, and Gaelic of North, Britain, plainly evince their origin.

That there existed a race of people in these islands before the arrival of the Cimbric tribes, is manifest, from the venerable relics of their language, arts, and arms, to be found on every hand.

These inhabitants (says a celebrated Cumraig writer) possessed the whole of South Britain, long before the Cumraig, or Welsh, came into this country and expelled them. As the greater part of the Cumraig names are purely Celtic or Gaelic, they must have been imposed in ages vastly prior to the arrival of the Cimbrii in Britain. The interior parts of Britain (says Cæsar) are inhabited by those whom tradition assigns as the original possessors of it; the maritime parts by those who passed over from Belgium, in order to invade it; almost all of whom, on the ceasing of hostilities, took upon them the names of the provinces from whence they sprang, and remained there.

Tacitus, in his brief but concise account, gives further stability to this assertion. "All circumstances considered, (says he,) it appears probable, that the Gauls were the original inhabitants of Britain." Venerable Bede, one of the most respectable of our ancient chroniclers, asserts, that

These islands were first inhabited only by Britons, from whence the name of Britain, who crossing over from Armorica (Armoricanus tractus,) to Britain, as is reported, took possession of the southern parts, and reigned over the kingdom. By Armorica is meant that part of Gaul which lies directly opposite to Britain, on the other side of the channel. Cæsar, in a different account of the Celtic or Gallic warfare, informs us, that even in his time, Diviaticus, leader of the Gauls, bore sway over these islands called Britain.

Pliny also mentions a people opposite to Britain called the Britanni, from whom the first people of Britain seem to have originated.

The present generation (says an able historian) is fully satisfied with the simple and rational opinion, that the islands of Great Britain and Ireland were gradually peopled from the adjacent continent of Gaul. From the extremities of Kent to the promontories of Caithness and Ulster, the memory of a Celtic origin is distinctly preserved, in the perpetual resemblance of language, religion, and manners.

It is a point universally established, that islands have been settled from their contiguous continents. In those islands scattered over the surface of that immense world of waters, the Pacific Ocean, the inhabitants have ever been found to possess a similarity of form and features, as well as of manners, language, rites, and ceremonies, to the parent hordes from whence they sprang. Those innumerable islands which are found lying to the east of the Gulfs

of Sunda and Carpentaria, all evince their connexion with that great southern continent, and, however distant, the grand discriminating features are uninental India. On these islands of perpetual storm, we recognise the features of the solitary Kamtschatkan, and the shivering Samoied. The boundless ocean of colonization embraces continents with their contiguous islands in its course, and it flows with a never-ending perpetuity of motion.

The islands of Great Britain lying in an immediate vicinity of the western continent, it is natural to suppose that their original colonies were drawn from the neighbouring shores of Belgium and of Gaul, then inhabited by numberless tribes of Celts and Gauls, who (all) spoke a language similar in its import, though, like all other dialects, varying in its idiom and orthographical construction. The best writers of that period agree with regard to the similarity of their manners, customs, &c., which continued with little variation through the immense lapse of nearly one thousand years. Even their pristine language has remained almost pure and unaltered to these times, in various parts of the kingdom.

From the manners and customs of these people, their mythology, superstitious rites, and exploits, originated nearly the whole of those strange romances generally called "popular fictions." The particular histories of these romances, and their effects, will be traced in the succeeding papers of this series. Although this species of what may be called the literature of the vulgar, is now rapidly becoming extinct, much curious and interesting matter, and many satisfactory explanations, calculated to disabuse weak minds, which may still retain early impressions of superstition and error, will be developed in the inquiry.

How admirably are dogs adapted to their respective spheres! The Greenland dog to wastes of untrodden snow; the shepherd to mountain pastures; the cur, the mastiff, and the bull-dog, as guardians of their master's property; hunting dogs of various descriptions to clear the country from wild and predatory animals; blood-hounds to find out the haunts of robbers, or to recover stolen goods; the St. Bernard variety for the saving of human life.

If the species were suddenly annihilated, how could their services be supplied? how could the shivering natives of frost-bound regions pass over their wastes of snow? thousands who now rest securely on their beds, must rise and watch in darkness and in storms; many a lost traveller would perish; and innumerable evils, which are checked by these faithful warders, would require continual vigilance to circumvent, or courage to ward off.-Domesticated Animals.

THAT which I have found the best recreation both to my mind and body, whensoever either of them stands in need of it, is music, which exercises at once both my body and soul; especially when I play myself; for then, methinks, the same motion that my hand makes upon the instrument, the instrument makes upon my heart. It calls in my spirits, composes my thoughts, delights my ear, recreates my mind, and so not only fits me for after business, but fills my heart, at the present, with pure and useful thoughts; so that when the music sounds the sweetliest in my ears, truth commonly flows the clearest into my mind. And hence it is that I find my soul is become more harmonious, by being accustomed so much to harmony, and so averse to all manners of discord, that the least jarring sounds, either in notes or words, seem very harsh and unpleasant to me.-BISHOP BEVeridge.

SWEET were the sauce would please each kind of taste,
The life, likewise, were pure that never swerved;
For spiteful tongues, in cankered stomachs placed,
Deem worst of things which best, percase, deserved.
But what of that? This medicine may suffice,-
To scorn the rest, and seek to please the wise.

SIR. W. RALEGH.

SPIDERS. II.

No animals fall more universally under observation than the Spiders ; we see them everywhere, fabricating their snares, or lying in wait for their prey; in our houses, in the fields, on the trees, shrubs, flowers, grass, and in the earth and if we watch their proceedings, we may sometimes see them, without the aid of wings, ascend into the air, where, carried by their web, as by an air-balloon, they can elevate themselves to a great height. The webs they spin and weave are also equally dispersed; they often fill the air, so as to be troublesome to us, and cover the earth. M. Mendo Trigozo relates, that at Lisbon, on the 6th of November, 1811, the Tagus was covered, for more than half an hour, by these webs, and that innumerable Spiders accompanied them which swam on the surface of the water. I have given an account of the instruments by which they weave them; and shall now say a few words upon those by which their Creator has enabled them to produce the material of which they are formed.

At the extremity of the abdomen, in a roundish depressed space, are four or six jointed, teat-like organs. The exterior pair is the longest, consisting of three joints; but these have no orifices for the transmission of threads: the other four consist each of two joints, with innumerable little orifices, in some species amounting to a thousand, from which the web issues at will, or they are bristled with minute spinnerets, each furnishing a thread. These teats are connected with internal reservoirs, which yield the fluid matter forming the thread, or web. These reservoirs, in some species, consist of four, and in others, of six vessels folded several times, and communicating with other vessels, in which the material that forms their web is first elaborated.

The threads, after they issue from these organs, are united, or kept separate, according to the wills or wants of the animal; and it is stated, that from them certain Spiders can spin three kinds of silk. Their ordinary thread is so fine, that it would require twenty-four united to equal the thickness of that of the silk-worm. These threads, fine as they are, will bear, without breaking, a weight sextuple that of the Spider that spins them. They employ their web, generally, for three different purposes; in the construction of their snares, of their own habitations, and of a cocoon to contain their eggs.

Some species of Spiders are gifted with a particular talent for building: they hollow out dens, bore galleries, elevate vaults, build subterraneous bridges, and construct also entrances to their habitations, and adapt doors to them, which want nothing but bolts, for, without any exaggeration, they work upon a hinge, and are fitted to a frame. The interior of their habitations is no less remarkable for the extreme neatness which reigns there; whatever be the humidity of the soil in which they are constructed, water never penetrates them; the walls are nicely covered with a tapestry of silk, having usually the lustre of satin, and almost always of a dazzling whiteness.

These habitations are found in an argillaceous kind of red earth, in which the Spiders bore tubes about three inches in depth, and ten lines in width. The walls of these tubes are covered first with a kind of coarse mortar, and then with a coat of finer, which is as smooth and regular as if a trowel had been passed over it; but before the adroit workwoman lays this, she covers the coarser work with a web, on which she glues her silken tapestry. The door that closes her apartment is still more remarkable in its structure. From its outward appearance, we should think that it was formed of a mass of earth coarsely worked,

and covered internally by a solid web; but divided vertically, it will be seen to be formed of more than thirty alternate layers of earth and web, emboxed in each other like a set of weights for small scales. These layers all terminate in the hinge, and the door will shut of itself. The advantage of this to the Spider is evident, for whether she darts out upon her prey, or retreats from an enemy, she is not delayed by having to shut the door. The principal instruments by which she performs her various operations, are her mandibles and her spinners; but as no one has ever seen her at work upon her habitation, it cannot be known exactly how these organs, and probably her anterior legs, are employed in her building. The insects that frequent the waters require predacious animals to keep them within due limits, as well as those that inhabit the earth; and the Water-Spider is one of the most remarkable upon whom that office is devolved by her Creator. To do this her instinct instructs her to fabricate a kind of diving-bell in the bosom of that element. She usually selects still water for this purpose. Her house is an oval cocoon, filled with air, and lined with silk, from which threads issue in every direction, and are fastened to the surrounding plants; in this cocoon, which is open below, she watches for her prey, and even appears to pass the Winter, when she closes the opening. It is most commonly entirely under water, but its inhabitant has filled it with air for her respiration, which enables her to live in it. She conveys the air to it in the following manner:-She usually swims upon her back, when her abdomen is enveloped in a bubble of air, and appears like a globe of quicksilver; with this she enters her cocoon, and displacing an equal mass of water, again ascends for a second lading, till she has sufficiently filled her house with it, so as to expel all the water. The males construct similar habitations. How these little animals can envelop their abdomen with an air-bubble, and retain it till they enter their cells, is still one of nature's mysteries that have not been explained. We cannot help, however, admiring and adoring the wisdom, power, and goodness, manifested in this singular provision, enabling an animal that breathes the atmospheric air, to fill her house with it. under the water; and which has instructed her in a secret art, by which she can clothe part of her body with air, as with a garment, which she can put off when it answers her purpose. This is a kind of attraction and repulsion that mocks all our inquiries. [Abridged from KIRBY'S Bridgewater Treatise.]

NOTES ON FOREST TREES. No. VI.

THE LARCH, (Pinus larix.)

THE Larch seems to form a kind of connecting link between the evergreen trees and those in which the leaves are deciduous, resembling the former in general appearance, in the form of its leaves, and its resinous productions, and the latter from losing its foliage in the Autumn, and renewing it in the following Spring. There are three principal species of this tree, the White, the Red, and the Black; the first, our common Larch, a native of Europe and Northern Asia, and the two last of North America. The stem of the Larch is extremely beautiful in form, gradually tapering from the base to the summit; the colour of the leaves is of a much brighter green, and more pleasing to the eye, than that of the evergreen firs. In almost all cases the Larch-forests, in a state of nature, are found nearly unmixed with trees of any other species; this arises from its quick growth, which so far exceeds that of other forest-timber, as

to cause it to over-top its neighbours so rapidly as to deprive them of air and light, and in this manner check their growth. This happens in the Summerseason, when all plants require their influence; on the other hand, losing its leaves in the Autumn, it is unable to shield them in the Winter from the cold winds of the season, so that it cannot, like the Scotch Fir, become a protecting nurse to a youug plantation.

The timber of the Larch is extremely tough and durable, and so elastic in its nature, as to bend before the most violent gale, and again assume its upright form as soon as the wind has passed. A violent storm which occurred in Scotland, in 1803, literally ploughed avenues in forests of half-grown Pines, while a few Larches that were mixed with them were not injured.

One property possessed by the wood of the Larch, renders it, in a certain manner, superior to that of any other timber; this consists in its timber being equally good throughout its thickness, possessing no sap-wood. In this it is superior even to the oak, which, when timber of the best quality, heart of oak, is required, suffers a loss of at least one-third of its substance by the removal of the sap-wood. Every branch also of the Larch is equal in quality to the main stem itself.

From its durable nature, the timber of this tree is of great use for many purposes; the picturesque cottages of the Swiss peasantry are formed of its wood, and are remarkable for their durability, and it resists the alternate action of wet and dry weather better than any other. In England, our hop-poles, which are formed of ash and elm, seldom last more than three or four years, but the vine-props of France, formed of Larch, are of so durable a nature, that the proprietors of the vineyards declare, their fathers are unable to state when they were first placed in the ground. Before the employment of canvass, Larch was much used by the older painters; many of

A curious anecdote is told of the introduction of this tree into Scotland. The plants arrived at Dunkeld, the seat of the Duke of Athol, to whom they had been presented, along with orange-trees and other Italian exotics, and they were all placed in the hot-house together; the temperature of the place, of course, speedily killed the Larches, and their remains were thrown on the dung-heap; here, their roots being covered by the refuse of the garden, some slight remains of life remaining still in them, they began to vegetate, and being in a more genial atmosphere, the branches shot forth their buds, and, by degrees, the plants became vigorous. Since then, large tracts of land have been planted in Scotland with this tree, and it has been much used in shipbuilding. The first British ship of war built with this wood was a frigate, in 1819-20; it was laid down at Woolwich, and the timber was supplied by the extensive plantations of the Duke of Athol.

The general height of a well-grown Larch is from 90 to 100 feet, although mention is made of specihave exceeded 120 feet. Its mode of propagation is mens produced on the ridges of the Alps, which by means of seed, like the rest of the Pine tribe.

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I

THERE is, perhaps, no country in which the Alligator more generally abounds, than in India. It is found in most of the rivers, in the large tanks, and frequently, during the monsoons, in small pools of water scarcely larger than the common pond of an English farm-yard. In the larger tanks these creatures are commonly fed by the Hindoos, who venerate, though they do not, like the ancient Egyptians, worship them. They become so tame when daily supplied with food by the superstitious Brahmins of the temples near which they take up their undisturbed abode, that any person may fearlessly bathe in the tanks, without the slightest chance of molestation, these usually voracious reptiles being so pampered, as to have no further relish for human flesh. have often seen them come to the sides of the reservoirs, and take their food with perfect gentleness from the hands of those who daily feed them; and yet, in the rivers, where they are obliged to have recourse to more contingent resources for those sup: plies which their natural voraciousness demands, they occasionally commit dreadful ravages, some times seizing upon the bathers, or boatmen, as they are pushing their boats over the shallows, and still more frequently destroying sheep, and even oxen and horses, as they are crossing the fords. They lie in wait among the sedges, upon the low banks of a deep stream, and as the ox approaches, they strike his legs with their tail, and having thus suddenly cast him to the ground, they seize him by the neck with their fatally-armed jaws, drag him into VOL. X.

the river, and having allowed the carcass to become putrid, devour it with disgusting avidity..

No

An Alligator will watch a body thus obtained for several days together, until in a state of sufficient delicacy and tenderness from decomposition, to satisfy the relish of this epicurean monster. other Alligator dares approach during this anxious vigil; or should a stranger venture near the rotting luxury, the watcher attacks him with the most desperate determination, and generally manages to protect his prize; at all events, he never relinquishes it till after a fierce and lengthened struggle.

In the Ganges, these creatures may be almost daily seen watching the numerous carcasses which constantly float down that contaminated river, awaiting the moment when they shall have attained a state of luxurious maturity. Sometimes a solitary vulture appears sailing down the current, perched upon a human body, which the mistaken attachment of superstitious friends had committed to the stream to send on its road to paradise, tearing the scarcely cold flesh from the bones, until chased from its horrid repast by the more dominant and not less voracious Alligator.

It is a very common thing for the native princes of India, living in the neighbourhood of large rivers, where Alligators abound, to have them caught for the purpose of entertaining their court and guests, by making them fight, or causing them to be attacked by other animals. These fights, as they are called, are so cruel and inhuman, that we will not offend our

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