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Show [ 18 From every breeze the poli:fh' d axle turns, And high in air the dancing meteor burns. Four of the giant brood with lLE x fiand, Each grafps a thoufand arrows in his hand ; A thoufand fteely points .on every fcale Form the bright terrors of his brifily maiL- 160 So ann' d, immortal Moore uncharm' d the fpell, 1 6 5 And :flew the wily dragon of the well.- Sudden with rage their injur' d bofoms burn, Retort the infult, or the wound return; U nwrong' d, as gentle as the breeze that [weeps The unbending h?-rvefl:s or undimpled deeps, I 70 They guard, the Kings of Needwood's wide domains, !heir fifier-wives and fair infantine trains ; f!~x. ~· 161. .Holly. Four males, four females. Many plants, like many animals, are furndhed w1th arms for their protection; thefc arc eithf.'r aculei, prickles, as in role ~nd barberry, which are formed from the outer bark of the plant ; or fpin::e, thorns, as 111 hawthorn, which are an elongation of the wood, and hence more difficult to be torn off than the former; or fiimuli, !lings, as in the nettles, which are armed with a [ 19 ] Lead the lone pilgrim through the tracklefs glade, Or guide in leafy wilds the wandering 1naid. So WRIGHT's bold pencil from Vefuvio's bight 17 5 Hurls his red lavas to the troubled night; From Calpe fiarts the intolerable fla{h, · Skies burfi in flames, and blazing oceans daili ;- venomous fluid for the annoyance of naked animals. The fhrubs and trees, which hare prickles or thorns, arc grateful food to many animals, as goofcberry and gorfe ; and would be quickly devoured, if not thus armed ; the t1ings feem a proteClion againt1 fome kinds of infects, as well as the naked mouths of quadrupeds. Many plants lofe their thorns by cultivation, as wild animals lofe their ferocity ; and fome of them their horns. A curious circumt1ance attends the large hollies in Needwood foret1; they are armed with thorny leaves about eight feet high, and have fmooth leaves above, as if 'they were confcious that horfes and cattle could not reach their upper branches. See note on Meadia, and on Mancinella. The numerous clumps of hollies in Needwood foret1 ferve as land-marks to direct the travellers acrofs it in various directions ; and as a fhclter to the qeer and cattle in winter; and in fcarce fcafons fupply them with much food. For when the upper branches, which arc without prickles, are cut down, the deer crop the leaves and peel off the bark. The bird-lime made from the bark of hollies feems to be a very fimilar material to the elaHic gum, or Indian rubber, as it is called. There is a foffile elai1ic bitumen found at-Matlock in Derbylhire, which much refembles thefe fubt1ances in its elat1icity and inflammability. The thorns of the Mimofa Cornigera refemble cow's horns in appearance as well as in ufe. Syt1em of Vegetables, p. 782. Hurls his red lavas. I. 176. Alluding to the grand paintings of the eruptions of Vcfuvius, and of the det1ruCl:ion of the Spanilh veffels before Gibraltar; and to the beautifullandfcapes and moonlight fcenes, by Mr. Wright of Derby. D2 |