That this flower represents an unkind step-mother is stated in a Low-German rhyme of the fifteenth century; and step-mother is also an English name for the heart's-ease. There is another reason for the title besides that we have given. In Switzerland the flower is considered a type of malice, because the older the flower is the more yellow and "jealous" it becomes. Thus we have another striking example of the original similarity of English and German usage. Boys in the spring are fond of blowing on the fresh blades of grass, with which they can make a loud but harsh trumpeting. This practice, in Germany, is mentioned at the beginning of the thirteenth century. It is the custom still for boys to make whistles in the spring from the loosened bark of the willow; but they do not guess that this was originally a superstitious rite, the pipe cut from a tree which grows in the water being supposed to have the power of causing rain. The Swiss children, though unconsciously, still invoke the water-spirit as they separate the bark from the wood: Franz, Franz, Lend me your pipe. No. 44. _Counting Apple-seeds._ The following rhyme, used in New England at the beginning of the present century, remains unchanged in a single word, except the omission of the last three lines. Apples formerly were an essential part of every entertainment in the country; in the winter season, a dish of such always stood on the sideboard. As the hours went by, a foaming dish of eggnog would be brought in, always with a red-hot poker inserted, for the purpose of keeping up the proper temperature. It was then that the apple, having been properly named, with a fillip of the finger was divided, to decide the fate of the person concerned according to its number of seeds. One, I love, Two, I love, Three, I love, I say, Four, I love with all my heart, And five, I cast away; Six, he loves, Seven, she loves, Eight, they both love; Nine, he comes, Ten, he tarries, Eleven, he courts, Twelve, he marries; Thirteen wishes, Fourteen kisses, All the rest little witches. No. 45. _Rose in the Garden._ We insert here, on account of the allusions to nature which they contain, several pieces which might also have found a place elsewhere in our collection; the present, for instance, being eminently a "love-game." A single player stands in the centre of the ring, which circles and sings: There's a rose in the garden for you, fair man, There's a rose in the garden for you, fair maid; There's a rose in the garden, pluck it if you can, Be sure you don't choose a false-hearted one. The youth or girl in the centre chooses a partner, and the ring sings: It's a bargain, it's a bargain, for you, fair man, It's a bargain, it's a bargain, for you, fair maid. Now follows a fragment of romance, which in our version is unhappily corrupt: