JESSE'S GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY.

THE third and last series of Mr. JESSE'S Gleanings is characterized by the same qualities as the former ones. Natural history is still illustrated as popularly and pleasantly as heretofore, by anecdotes of the habits and faculties of birds and beasts,—or, as our author, in some cases of well-educated animals, would prefer saying, their reason. The descriptions of individual objects are not so numerous ; for Mr. JESSE has grown ambitious, and tried his hand at land- scapes, giving us scenes instead of studies ; and we prefer the latter. We think he has, too, in the present volume, more freely introduced reflections, which, though just and elegant, arc rather feeble, or at least trite. There are also some Royal reminiscences, which display a grateful and proper spirit so far as regards the present family, but are carried back without necessity into remote times, and savour more of loyalty than of discrimination—Caosr- WELL was at least as worthy of respect as the Martyr CHARLES. These, however, are trifling draw, backs to the interest of the book : in one sense they add to it, by giving us glimpses of the personal character of the amiable writer.

But the matter of the present volume is not confined to natural history. There is a chapter devoted to the present condition of the agricultural peasantry, full of good feeling and judicious remarks in a small way ; though the writer is perhaps too tart upon the "beer-shops." There are also four notices of those Royal Parks and Residences with which Mr. JESSE'S professional avoca- tions render him most intimately acquainted ; and they form by no means the least interesting part of his book. The account of Kew is pleasantly intermixed with anecdotes of GEORGE the Third, and notices of the village and its history. That of Rich- mond contains some curious antiquarian gossip about the old palace, and forms an excellent guide to the beauties of the pre- sent park. The best part of the notice of Ilampten consists of architectural descriptions of those portions of the original palace which are not generally shown. Windsor is the most elaborated, though not perhaps the most successful. The narrative of its foundation and early years is indeed a pleasant bit of archmology; but the formation of the Order of the Garter, the deserted death- bed of EDWARD the Third, and several other historical circum- stances, are too familiarly known to admit of much novelty either in the narration or the reflection ; and WASHINGTON IRVING has perhaps exhausted all that may 1?e imagined of JAMES the Fourth of Scotland and of the Earl of SURRY. This paper, however, contains some scraps of information as to the best points of view from which to see the Castle, that will be useful to visiters.

The number of animals about whom our author and his corre-, spondents find something to say, is so considerable that we cannot attempt to reckon them up. Domesticated creatures seem to pre- dominate,—perhaps because their peculiarities furnish most argu- ments for a theory. Mr. JESSE holds, in common with Lord BROUGHAM, that animals have a sort of reason. We will glean a few anecdotes from the different chapters on natural history, but without limiting ourselves to any particular point.

DESIGN IN DOGS.

A friend of mine, while shooting wild-fowl with his brother, was attended by acsagacious Newfoundland dog : in getting near some reeds by the side of a river, they threw down their hats, and crept to the side of the water, where they fired. They soon afterwards sent the dog for their hats, one of which was smaller than the other. After several attempts to bring them both toge- ther in his mouth, the dog at last placed the smaller hat in the larger one, premed it down with his foot, and thus brought them both together. This fact need not be doubted. These individuals have both at different times assured me a its truth. I knew an instance somewhat similar. A spaniel was endea- vouring to bring a dead hare to his master. After several ineffectual efforts to carry it in his mouth, or to drag it along, he contrived to get all the feet of the hare in his mouth, and in this way conveyed it to his master.

A gentleman of my acquaintance witnessed the following occurrence. He WAS shooting one day by the side of a hill, attended by a keeper, and shot at and wounded a hare, which ran through one of several holes made at the bottom of a stone-wall. The keeper sent a favourite old retriever after the hare. The dog jumped over the wall, caught the hare, and returned with it in his mouth to the wall ; but, after several attempts, was unable to jump back again with his additional load. Giving up his ineffectual efforts, the dog was seen to push the hare with his nose as far as be could through one of the holes at the bottom of the wall. He then leapt over it, dragged the bare through the hole on the other side, and brought it to his master. From the high spot on which the parties stood, they were able to witness the whole of the dog's

proceedings, which certainly appear to have been caused by some fa lt be ond

cu y beyond

lucre instinct.

A PRUDENT GULL.

The family of H. Peter, Esq, of Harlyn, on the north coast of Cornwall, one morning at breakfast-time, threw a piece of bread out of the window to a stray sea-gull, which happened to have made its appearance at the moment : the bird ate the bread and flew away. The next day, at the same hour, he appeared again, was again fed, and departed. From this time, for a period of eighteen years, the gull never failed to show himself at the window every morning at the same hour, and to stalk up and down till he had received his meal (a basin of bread and milk), when be instantly took his leave till the next morning. The only time he omitted to do this, was during the-period of the pilchards being on the coast, which lasted about six weeks in each year ; and at this time he omitted his morning visit. At length he brought one of his own species with him to partake of his meal ; and they continued to come together daily for about a fortnight, when they suddenly disappeared, and were never seen afters wards.

WARM AFFECTIONS OF CATS.

A favourite cat, much petted by her mistress, was one day struck by a ser- vant. She resented the injury so much, that she refused to eat any thing given i to her by him. Day after day lie banded her dinner to her, but she sat n sulky indignation, though she eagerly eat the food as soon as it was offered to her by any other individual. Her resentment continued undiminished for upwards of six weeks. The same cat having been offended by the house-maid, watched three days until she found a favourable opportunity for retaliation. The house- maul was on her knees washing the passage, when the cat flew at her, and left indubitable marks on her arms that no one could ill-use her with impunity. It is, however, but fair to record her good qualities as well as her bad ones. If her resentment was strong, her attachment was equally so ; and she took a singular mode of showing it. All the tit-bits she could steal from the pantry, and all the dainty mice she could catch, she intariably brought and laid at her rnis. tress's feet. She has been known to bring a mouse to her door in the middle of the night and mew till it was opened, when she would present it to her mistress. After doing this, she was quiet and contented.

A HINT TO BREEDERS.

Abilities which have been acquired artificially, and which have been kept up by practice throughout successive generations, may finally be propagated as natural propensities. I had a young pointer which found and pointed at game the first time he was taken into a field. The descendants of a breed of terriers I have had many years, all show their teeth and put out their paw when they are caressed. This is a peculiarity of the breed. Young South Sea Islander, are said to be able to swim when first put into the water.

NATURAL CRITICISM.

I always listen with pleasure to the remarks made by country-people on the habits of animal,. A countryman was shown Gainsborough's celebrated picture of the pigs. " To be sure," said he, " they be deadly like pigs ; but there is one fault—nobody ever saw three pigs feeding together, but what one on'unt had a foot in the trough."

PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

Some poachers have lately found ouS a new method of facilitating the capture of hares. They merely lay their nets at some particular gate or stile, or at some hare-run in the hedge, and then go round to all the other gaps and runs in the hedges and whiff tobacco over them. So delicate is the smell of the hare, that she will not pass through where the tobacco has been ; and of course chooses an egress free from taint, where there is sure to be a net or wire, and thus she is caught.

One of the most curious points connected with natural philo- sophy is the origin of life. Many philosophers, unable to resist the weight of evidence in favour of spontaneous production, yield a reluctant and half dubious assent to a doctrine which seems so adverse to natural theology. Perhaps, however, it is only in seeming ; for the qualities of light, heat, moisture, and whatever else may be necessary to generate life, must, upon the principles of theology, have had a first cause, as well the organizations their combination may produce. Leaving this, here are some curious facts on vegetable production.

The extraordinary fact of trees and plants springing up in various places where they had not formerly existed, is confirmed by Mr. Al‘Gregor, in his valuable and interesting work on British America. lie says that white clover springs spontaneously wherever the lands are cleared of the woods. He thee adds, that it is an extraordinary circumstance in natural history, that wherever the original forest is destroyed in America, and the land left uncultivated, trees of a different species should spring up. This is always observed where lauds have been laid waste by fire. The first year tall weeds and raspberry and bramble bushes shoot up ; then cherry-trees, white birch, silver firs, and white poplars appear, but seldom any tree of the genus previously growing on the space laid open by fire. Sir Alexander Mackenzie also observes, that the banks of the Slave Lake, formerly covered wholly with spruce fir and birch, having been laid waste by fire, they produced subsequently nothing but poplars.

The following is from the chapter on the agricultural peasantry.

ADVANTAGE OF DRINKING WATER.

It is a great mistake to think that beer is necessary for a hard-working man. At the time I write, there are a set of men employed in draining, by task work, in Richmond Park, who are patterns of English labourers. Hard as they work from morning to night, and in all weathers, they seldom drink any beer. They boil a large kettle of coffee in their little bivouac in the park, and drink it hot at their meals. This costs them but little ; but they do as hard a day's work upon it as any labourers in England, and have continued to do so for three years past, under all the disadvantages arising from wet and cold to which a drainer is subject. A proof of this may be found in Captain Ross's recent voyage to the Arctic regions. He says that on a journey attended with great difficulty and hardship, he was the only one of the party whose eyes were not inflamed, and he was the only one who did not drink grog. He was also the oldest person amongst them ; and, for the same reason, he bore fatigue better than any of thews He adds, that he who will make the experiment on two equal boats' crews, rowing in a heavy sea, will soon be convinced that the water-drinkers will far outdo the others. No better testimony to this is required than the expe- rience of the men who work at the iron-founderies. That is the hardest work which falls to man to do; and so well do the labourers in this department know that they cannot perform it if they drink even beer, that thew sole beverage during all the hours of this hot and heavy labour is water. We will close with some passages from the account of Kew, of which mention has already been made. The Sovereign alluded to is GEORGE the Third. The first anecdote is adduced to shown. that he keenly felt any popular disapprobation ; and is amusinc,

from its strange simplicity.

It is well known that his Majesty was a regular attendant at church, and that he repeated the responses in livery distinct manner. About the fortieth year of his reign he was, on some public occasion, much hooted at by a mob. When at chapel the next day, he not only repeated the following verse in a voice suffi- ciently loud to be beaid by every one in the chapel, but laid a peculiarly strong emphasis on the last part of it, putting his head at the same time out of the closet-window : " Forty years long have I been grieved with this generation, and said, it is a people that do err in their 'hearts, for they knee not known my ways." When I was last at Kew Palace, I was shown over it by Betty Snosling, one of the last of the breed of old- fashioned housemaids. Betty was a neat, trim, short old woman, somewhat antiquated in her attire, but the very picture of tidiness. She was, moreover, somewhat loquacious ; but then her anecdotes were interesting, for they chiefly related to those whom she had faithfully and honestly served in that Palace some sixty years ago. She was a great favourite with their late Majestic ; and talked of their goodness and kindness to her with the utmost delight and affection. She spoke also of the Princesses in the same grateful manner: one, she said, had sent her last Christmas a handsome thick shawl to keep her warm ; another, a fine turkey and chine; and a third, I forget what. These little tokens of regard to au old servant, show a kindness of heart which it is pleasant to record ; and I question much whether Betty did not receive more pleasure from them than she would from any sum of money which could have been given her. "Here," said Betty, "is his Majesty's walking-stick, and there is his back- gammon- board ; this is the chair he sat upon, and in that small room he every morning and evening said his prayers: I used to hear him when I wasi n the next room, and he prayed very earnestly. Do you know, Sir," said she, "that in his own private prayer-book he had scratched out our most religious and gracious king,' and had written instead, 'a miserable sinner.'" The old house- maid showed me a harpsichord which had belonged to Handel, on which the King sometimes played : his fondness for Handel's music never left him, and it was an instance of .his fine taste. Among other anecdotes of the good old nionarch, which were related to me, the following affords a proof of his kind consideration for his old servants. Sitting by himself one day in the library, the King rang the bell fur sonic coals ; it was answered by a page, who, on being told what was wanted, rang the bell himself. On being asked his reason for doing so, be said it was for some one (naming an old footman) whose duty it was to bring the coals. The King immediately got up and desired the page to show him where the coals were kept. On coming to it, he took up a coal- skuttle, carried it himself to the library, and threw some coals on the fire : " There, Sir," said the King, giving the page the coal-skuttle, "never ask an old man to do what you are so much better able to do yourself."