ROADS.

THE earliest roads, properly speaking,

"It is seldom found in herds, however small; and the full-grown males usually live entirely alone, except during the breed-in Britain were those made by the Romans; ing season. Of all the deers or antelopes and nothing is more calculated to impress of these hills it is the most common. It us with the ingenuity of that mighty peotenants the central region, equidistant from ple, than the remains of these works, which the snows on the one hand, and the plains are continually unearthed in our time. Beof India on the other; and though it before the Roman invasion, the British had found every where within that central space between the Sutlege on the west, and the Teesta on the east, it is more frequent in the eastern than in the western half of the tract so defined, or in Nepal Proper. The female is scarcely distinguishable from the male except by her somewhat inferior size, smaller horns, and paler colour.".. "The Nepalese call this animal the thar. The chase of it is a favourite diversion of the Gooroony tribes especially, who usually kill it with poisoned arrows. Its flesh is very coarse and bad, but there is plenty of it; and these mountaineers, who are apt to look to the quantity more than the quality of such flesh as a Hindoo government deems lawful food for them, prize the thar very highly, and hunt him very eagerly."

The thar, or bubaline antelope, when full-grown, stands upwards of three feet high at the shoulders; the horns are short, conical, recurved, and ringed with closely set prominent rings, for two-thirds of their distance from their base; these rings are, however, broken by longitudinal furrows or grooves, irregularly disposed, running up from the base the ears are large, erect, and somewhat pointed; the eye is inexpressive, but of moderate size; the neck slightly elevated and straight, without any of that graceful turn and bearing which we expect in the antelope: the limbs are strong, short, and admirably framed for climbing the steep sides of the craggy mountains. The hair is coarse, bristly, and thinly set, lying close upon the skin, except along the back of the neck, which is furnished with a semi-erect straight mane of long coarse hairs. The general colour of this remarkable animal is deep black, clouded on the sides and under parts with rusty brown, which prevails especially on the limbs; the horns and hoofs are black; the former measuring eight inches in a straight line. The tail is short, narrow, and deer-like. Of the bubaline antelope no living example has

'

their trackways, which were not paved or
gravelled, but covered with verdant turf.
They were called postways and ridge-
ways; the latter because they followed the
natural ridges of the country, or, instead
of keeping a straight line, wound along
the crest or sides of the chains of hills in
their way. The Romans adopted these
trackways, as far as was convenient for
civil and commercial purposes; but for
military transit they raised vast causeways
or elevated paved streets, and placed
towns and stations on them at regular dis-
tances, for the accommodation of troops
on their march. Our Anglo-Saxon ances-
tors called the old Roman roads military
ways; the British trackways the country
roads;
and distinguished the highways by
one wagon's way, four feet broad, and
two wagons' ways, probably eight feet or
more; which distinction, according to Mr.
Fosbroke, shows the origin of our narrow
village roads.

We subsequently find roads made of mortar and stone; of wood and stone; an roads for carriages, distinguished from bridle-ways, or those purposely for horses. Narrow roads were called passes: openness in roads was thought essential to preven robbery; and, for this purpose, all roadside thorns and wood were cut down.

It may, however, be supposed that in early times, the only roads, properly so called, were from one large town to another, with such cross tracks as infrequent communications would form. The first turnpike road was established by an act of parliament, 3rd Charles II.; but so insensible were the people to the improvement, that the mob pulled down the gates, and the new principle was supported at the point of the bayonet. Long after this period, however, travelling was dangerous and difficult; of which there is a recorded circumstantial proof. In December, 1703, Charles 111., king of Spain, slept at Pet

BOTANY.No. XI.

JASMINEÆ.

two distinct plates (cotyledons.) The white fleshy substance (albumen) in which the embryo is embedded, is intended to nourish the seed in germination, till it is able to provide for itself. The reader is probably aware, that whilst the white of the egg and a part of the shell are, by the vivifying operation of nature, transformed into the various fluids and solids which compose the frame of a chicken, a part of the yolk is lodged within the body to supply its wants, till such time as it can provide for itself. There is, therefore, a beautiful analogy between the white substance just described and the yolk of an egg, inasmuch as both are destined to supply the wants of the future individual, till it is able to shift for itself. It was customary in the times portrayed by Homer, for the host to entertain the stranger with the best his house could afford; and then to dismiss him with some valuable present or presents, as a pledge of his kind and hospitable feeling. Such is the hospitality of nature, that not only bestows upon her nurslings what is necessary for their present condition; but at parting gives them certain remembrances of her kindness, to keep them at the commencement of their future journey. Those who feel but little relish for a minuter contemplation of nature, may find a lesson and repoof in Ps. xcii., "O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this." Amongst the most interesting subjects of this group are the following :

THIS interesting and natural group of shrubs and trees take the general name from the jasmine or jessamine, that favourite of oriental poetry. It is composed of the privet, the olive, the ash, and the lilac, and a few others of less notoriety. They are allied to each other by the presence of a single pair of stamens in each flower, and by a calyx and corolla, if present, divided into twice that number of segments. The privet and the lilac are generally, during the early part of summer, within reach; and will readily furnish subjects for comparison, which will prove to the observer, that the same general characters apply to them both. The small flowers of the ash contain only two stamens with a calyx, which, when present, is divided into four segments. The paucity of seeds in this family corresponds with the fewness of the stamens, for the number rarely exceeds two. The fruit is sometimes pulpy, as in the olive and privet; at others merely a capsule or dry case, as in the ash. In the last mentioned, the curious manner in which the capsules are expanded into a wing-like process, is a matter of common observation, though the progress of the expansion, from its earliest commencement to its final developement, would not be unworthy of a careful and enlightened attention. Soon after the appearance of this article, the privet will have ripened its berries; when the student of botany and the inquisitive reader will have an opportunity of examining the position and structure of those parts, which are destined for the reproduction of the species. This examination, in many instances, requires a well-practised eye; but in the privet, the elements of increase are so obvious and convenient, that a happier opportunity cannot offer itself of teaching our uninitiated friends how to ascertain and distinguish them. After the dark pulpy portion of the berry has been removed, a white ball will be found, which, when opened, will present a little body, somewhat in shape like a fire-screen or a fan, with a short handle. This minute member of the seed just described is no other than the embryo. When the seed is deposited in a suitable bed of The manna ash (f. ornus,) common in earth, the handle of the little fan (radicle) the south of Europe, and especially in Calais prolonged into a root, to collect nourish-bria, yields the manna of the shops. The ment for the springing plant; while the wood of this tree was famous in antiquity broad part of the fan is extended into a pair for yielding the material of which the warof seed-leaves. A slight effort, requiring no rior's javelin was made. great delicacy of hand, will separate it into

The common jasmine, (jasminum officinale,) the ornament of the cottager's garden, which still retains its Persian and Arabic name, indicating from whence it was brought to us.

The sambac, (mogorium sambac.) The flowers of this highly scented jasmine are strung and worn by females in India as chaplets, in the same way as the blossoms of the gardenia are in the islands of the Pacific.

The ash, (fraxinus excelsior,) the stately and favourite tree of the painter. Before the introduction of Peruvian bark, the bitter and astringent bark of the ash was used for the same purposes.

Privet (ligustrum vulgare.) The pulpy

A SABBATH WELL SPENT IS A FORE-
TASTE OF HEAVEN.

ST. Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, iv. 9, writes, "There remaineth therefore a rest" (literally, a sabbatism, or keeping of a sabbath)" for the people of God." We do not know very much respecting heaven. We are not able to understand it here. But I often think that a sabbath, duly sanctified, gives us perhaps the best idea we can have on earth of the blessedness of heaven. The sabbath is a day of rest after the toils, cares, anxieties of the week, on this day you are invited to rest from them all, to come anew to Jesus for rest, to repose the soul upon the promises of God. Heaven is certainly a place of rest: "I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours," Rev. xiv. 13. Oh, what sweet thoughts may we have every sabbath morning! Now, heaven and rest are one week nearer six more days of toil are over: last week's sufferings are gone: I am getting nearer my home, even my Father's house!

Further: the sabbath is also to be a day of holiness. And if we know nothing else of heaven, we know this, that it is a pure and holy place. The wicked hardly dare to deny or dispute that. The common conscience of man revolts against the idea of an unholy heaven, a mohammedan paradise of sensuality, a place resembling the Elysian fields of pagan antiquity. You know what the scriptures say: "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14. "There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life," Rev. xxi. 27: and all, those whose names are written there, are here, in this life, called out of

sin, brought to repent and believe the
gospel, are justified by faith in Christ, are
regenerated and gradually sanctified by the
Holy Spirit. Yes; heaven is a place of
holiness. Sinners, ye who refuse to keep
holy the sabbath, must be made holy, or no
heaven hereafter for you: But you cannot
make yourselves holy. You may try it,
but you cannot do it. "Ye must be born
again," John iii. 7; receive a new nature,
be made holy by the Holy Spirit; and for
this, ask of God in Christ's name.
As you
would not be shut out of heaven, pray and
beg of God, "Create in me a clean heart,
O God," Psalm li. 10.

Heaven is also a place of gladness. And the sabbath, rightly observed, is eminently a day of gladness-a day of joy and praise. The worldly-minded, not understanding true spiritual joy, resort to their sports, pleasures, amusements; hence, in France, they open their theatres; hence, in christian England, the rich crowd to parks,

the poor to tea-gardens and public-houses and thus they observe the sabbath. Alas! they understand not spiritual joy, they have no idea of the joy of heaven. It is, to rejoice in the Lord, to delight in God, to see the beauty of holiness, to admire the perfections of Jehovah : it is to sing and wonder, to adore and praise, to grow in moral likeness to God, to have the love of God more and more shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. This is joy, well worthy of the name. And this joy may be yours, dear brethren, more and more all through life. Lastly heaven is a place where Christ, the Lamb that was slain, is the bond of union, the object of admiration, the theme of adoring love to all the redeemed, gathered together from all classes, kindreds, languages among men. And so on earth, on every Lord's day, to Him is "the gathering of the people," Gen. xlix. 10; in his house, high and low, rich and poor meet, or ought to meet, on the same level, as sinners looking to him for salvation. Then he is continually magnified in his people. True christians forget not their Lord on the Lord's day. Christ crucified is the theme of our preaching, the sum and substance of our doctrine, the motive to your faith and practice from sabbath to sabbath. Every believer loves to praise Christ and meditate on him on this day. The more he studies his person, character, and work, the more he sees of the fulness and glory of Christ.-Hambleton.