Transactions and proceedings

ih

Aa? 4
aa vie ay al

Le aay we OFM Ver kee say a a ¥ M ae

a

Be ‘S a

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2009 with funding from
Ontario Council of University Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/transactionsprocO5bota

TRANSACTIONS

BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

TRANSACTIONS @4
Prac eeod iV OL

OF THE

BOTANICAL SOCIETY oF
he e DI/Y BURGY

VOLUME V.

EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

MDCCCLVITI,

CONTENTS OF VOL. V.

I. Notice of the discovery of Desmarestia Dresnayi on the coast of
Sega by fe. Greve, G17. 1)., Ke...........cccsereiccessecscoscecs
II. On the occurrence of “‘ Cinchonaceous Glands”’ in Galiacee, and
on the relations of that order to Cinchonacee. By Grorcr Lawson,
occ ceciniecasinede sens euccuincecersoeecssesscasesduesseanses
Ill. Notice of a new species of Caulerpa. By R. K. Grevitte,
ere cen as cu ea ec cn cbaheos recs enuasresonsecceccccscescensscesens
IV. Remarks on Associations of Colour, and the relations of Colour
and Form in Plants. By G. Dicxiz, M.D., Professor of Natural His-
Ree I OMCME CECHIAEL oc 2c. 5200s ecscssossronascsescssescscscccceseecs
V. On Linaria sepiwm of Allman. By Cuartzs C. Bazinerton,
ee a eroc so cee es ec sauns voadisevacensvee-cnesenconvsers
VI. Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. By
Seems, .0).. Professor of Botany .....1...2...cesocoscesesoncscees
VII. On Hypericum anglicum. By Cuaruzs C. Bazstneton, M.A.,
ee edna ance os 'oswassassnrecnpupe-enandeadertsenscssesede.
VIII. Report on a Collection of Diatomacee made in the District
of Braemar by Professor Batrour and Dr Grorcre Lawson. By R.
SG Ra Uer sree INTO Fe erceisiais slic chia decisis’ css evi duses oeceoeuneveseeaccdccvsevcecce
IX. A comparative view of the more important stages of Develop-
ment of some of the higher Cryptogamia and the Phanerogamia. By
RR aa cat eb ec siacnce od eases exeaweacncumsdeninpanntaecn eases
X. Some Remarks on Vegetable Placentation. By Dr J. Crenanp
XI. Note on Linaria sepium, Allman, By C. C, Bazrneton, M.A.
XII. On the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain. By Cuartes C.
ED pw whales os Via suv niisiesiucapde sgacsdvssavencecncccas
XIII. On some species of Epilobium. By C. C. Bastneron, M.A.,
aoe a asec ciacae ne as cececls ed caciccnswecevacnevesovveceuns
XIV. On the British Species of Arctiwm. By C. C. Basrneton,
eRe a0R 5 wart od cen Says 9 upinive'cdenn i eents sve on vees pende aude
XV. On an Abnormality in the Flowers of Salix Andersoniana.
Np cs cod Shas dvemesanvyennevesseccevennecetshsas cnecb ue
XVI. Elucidation of some Plants mentioned in Dr Francis Hamil-

r5
ne]

11

\=

vi CONTENTS.

. ae Page
ton’s Account of the Kingdom of Nepal. By Lieut.-Colonel Mappen,
F.B.S.E., President Bot. Soc. .......00:s00.s0.cocccsespssaeaeuneeeneleeaaann 116

Procrepincs ror DecemBer 1856.

I. Description of a Method of Preserving Plants of their Natural

Form and Colour. By Tomas R. MARsHALb.......csccscssssesseese oes 141
II. On the species of Pine called in Moffat “ Dr Walker’s Pouch
Fir.” By Professor FLEMIne .........0:.4:.scevesesspeeaaleeniee anne 142
III. Notes on some New Species of Marine Diatomacee from the
Firth of Clyde. By Witu1am Grecory, M.D., F.R.S.E.........0.00008 144
IV. Notice of Hepaticw found near Aberfeldy. By Joun Lowe,
MCD, wvsvssnd sncaucnes anes visa basen wenn sun5eieed crue naan sootnevens 146
V. List of Hepatic added to the Flora of Edinburgh. By Joun
LOWE, M.D. 206s .ccecesscanecnesss0senn shh paws sue smnsbiiiaieeseel inn 148

ProceEepines ror JaNuARY 1857.
I. On the Production of Ergot of Rye. By Kennern Corser,

Beauly. Communicated by Dr DovGtas MACLAGAN.....ccceeccreseesees 149
II. On a Monstrosity in the Fruit of Silene inflata ; with some re-
marks on Placentation. By A. DICKSON........cscccssscccsescsssesscccnses 149

III. Analysis of Plantain Meal. By Murray Tuomson, late

Assistant in the Laboratory of the Industrial Museum of Scotland... 153
IV. Analyses of three Australian Wines. By Murray Tuomson 156
V. On the Injurious Effects of Uroceras gigas on Fir Trees. By

ALEXANDER THOMSON, Esq., Banchory ......00000+00css+escsecesssausdsssdes 159
VI. On the Occurrence of the Seeds of Bearded Darnel in Inferior
Samples of Wheat. By Georce S. LAWSON ........scccssssereeeenceeesss 159
VII. Notes on Pinus cephalonica, and other Conifere, at Craigo
House, Montrose. By P.S. Rorerrson, Golden Acres Nursery...... 159
VII1. Remarks on the Effects of Lightning upon Larch Trees. By
Joun Lows, M.D). ...c.0ceseasese0es000sss00e00n0seenbennsestsaneenne inne 160

Procrepines ror Fresrvary 1857.
I. Notes of a Botanical Excursion to Switzerland and other parts

of the Continent during last Summer. By Rosert M. Srark......... 162
II. List of Plants observed in the neighbourhood of Blackford,
Perthshire. By ALExanpER BUCHAN .......5s.sssssssseuscnssssasssenauene 162

III. Notice of the Plants of Mount Olympus. By Dr Joun Kirk.
With an Account of the Ascent of the Mountain, and Observations
on the Country near Broussa. By Dr Davin Curtsrison............... 162

Proceepines ror Marcu 1857.

I. Notice of a Botanical Trip to Moffat in August 1856. By Prof.

BAL FOUR ..0..ccccecccscscssecsceccvees coccecngccesseses mnsuesssenmienaesEnEIEaEEE 166
II. On an Abnormal Development of the Nectary in Ranunculus.

By A. J. MAcPaRuan .........ssssessecee sboceessShey ens eeveasenyN tna nnnnanE 169

CONTENTS.

III. Notice of the occurrence of Chara syncarpa in Scotland. By
NO asa daniensirun sys asso asatuns «atdpdnsaanasnscaae
IV. Remarks on Boucherie’s Method of Preserving Timber. By
ree ote as sag nas natn axr'onnes ops acnadascasiasseiensenaee
V. Recent Botanical Intelligence. By Professor Batrovr..........
VI. Register of the Flowering of certain Plants in the Royal Bo-
tanic Garden, from 1st February till 12th March 1857, as compared
with the five previous years. By James M‘N&B.........cceccseeeeeeees

ProcreEepines ror Aprit 1857.

I. On the Effects of a Solution of Bi-carbonate of Ammonia in
promoting Vegetation. By C. J. BuRNETT............csccssseseveesseseees
II. Does Magnetism Influence Vegetation? By H. F. Baxter.
Communicated by Professor BALFOUR .......cecisssscscsscescecsccescececees
Ill. On Lyciwm mediterraneum. By Dr Tuomas Anperson,
H.E.1.C.S. Communicated by Professor BaLFour ..............000000+
IV. Cn the Applications of Botany to Ornamental Art. By Dr
RIN CRP EE AED SCA cade ca costasnaccsnccccccecavcdticccencsecscceos
VY. Remarks on Dust Showers, with Notice of a Shower of Mud
which occurred at Corfu on 21st March 1857. By Grorcr Lawson,
> 11 See ae Released oan ceb seen cs sence ss aparcaecJeacaced
VI. Register of the Flowering of certain Spring Plants in the
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, from 12th March to 15th April
1857, as compared with the five previous years. By James M‘Nas

Procerpines ror May 1857.

I. Notice of Two Cases of Poisoning with the Seeds of Thevetia
nereifolia. Communicated, with remarks, by Dr Dovenas Mactacan
Il. Account of the Insect which infests the Seeds of Picea nobilis.
EMM SIE A) BP EBC Bo oo svc cs enesccocecsecsscccecccccscceceseses
III. On the supposed Influence of the Moon on Vegetation in Pern.
EERE pa cas once svowsxcussceev.«.cobanessesdcacceccnce
IV. On some of the leading Plants of the lowest zone in Teneriffe.
By Professor C. Piazzi Smytu

FOOTE E HT TERETE HEHEHE ee SEP EHH EEE HEE eee

PRocEEDINGS FOR JUNE 1857.

I. On the Identity of Achorion Schénleinii and other Vegetable
Parasites with Aspergillus glaucus. By Joun Lowe, M.D. .........
Il. On the Properties of Loliwm temulentum. By Joun Lowe,
I eee aha oiuve dco cnecsesvensscebiscuonscstescncseccccssceseoes
Ill. Further Observations on Dust Showers. By Dr Groner
Lawson, F.R.P.S. ....... de Wdlesicsins Sag seaSui'uG¥ unis vesncaetuncevactean
IV. Analogy between the Serial Arrangements of the Leaves of
Plants and Crystalline Forms. By Wriiiam Mircuent. Commu-
IEEEEAIE FVALYOUR, .,.....50500ssseccceccssscceccsstossenssevaveces

vil

Page

170

179

184

205

207

Vill CONTENTS.
Procrepines ror Jury 1857.

P.
I. Notice of Cryptogamic Plants found near New Abbey. By
Rev. Hoar Maominnan,.........000s:0s00sc00000s0s00s0n9550 50 eaneneeesanenn 211
II. On the Occurrence of Pertusaria Hutchinsie, and other rare
Lichens, on the Breadalbane Mountains. By Arexanper C. Maincay 212
Ill. Notice of Localities for some of the rarer Plants collected
during the recent Excursions of the Botanical Class around Edin-

burgh: By Professor BaLvour............0000ssssscalessessshaeseuneannnnen 212
IV. Remarks on Certain Glandular Structures in Plants. By
George Lawson, Ph.D. .....20200000000ceess0200000059555 9080 nnnniennnnn 212

V. On the Development of the Yeast Plant. By Jonn Lowr, M.D. 214
VI. List of Desmidee observed in the neighbourhood of Dundee.
By W. M. Oeirviz. Communicated by Dr G. Lawson. ...... peat ates 221

APPENDIX.
List oF MEMBeErs, G26. .....0s6s0s00n0dsovneveansedeuss bab evel EiN aE ieanepnnale 223

The Society as a body is not to be considered responsible for any facts
or opinions advanced in the several papers, which must rest entirely on
the credit of their respective authors. ‘

N.B.—The papers in this volume, from page 1 to 140 inclusive, as well
as plates 1-4, have already been published in the “ Annals of Natural
History.”

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

I. Notice of the discovery of Desmarestia Dresnayi on the coast
of Ireland. By R. K. Grevitie, LL.D. &e.

Reap 127TH January 1854.

Tue Alga to which this notice refers was collected towards the
close of last year, at Moville, near the mouth of Lough Fyle in
the north of Ireland, by William Sawers and — Morrison, Esqrs.,
and communicated by the former gentleman to Professor Balfour,
by whom specimens were placed in my hands for examination.
It is a form quite new to the British flora ; and as its affinity is
involved in some obscurity, its discovery on our shores is in-
vested with considerable interest. Specimens transmitted to the
celebrated French cryptogamist, Dr. Montagne, have been pro-
nounced by him to be identical with an Alga found by himself at
Fort St. Sebastian in 1823, and published in the ‘ Annales des
Sciences Naturelles’ for 1842, p. 251. t. 7. f. 2, under the name
of Desmarestia pinnatinervia. Dr. Montagne obtained only a
single individual, scarcely more than 4 inches high, fully 2 inches
wide, and truncate; being evidently an abnormal dev elopment.
M. Crouan has likewise met with it, though rarely, at Brest, aud
regards it as a variety of Desmarestia Dresnayi of Lamouroux,
described and figured in the ‘ Dictionnaire des Sciences Natu-
relles, t. xiii. p. 105, the figure being half the natural size.
Professor J. Agardh—the most recent authority—in his great
work, ‘Species, Genera et Ordines Algarum,’ refers both the
above Algz to varieties of Desmarestia ligulata, but still includes
D. pinnatinervia among his “ Species inquirende,” with the ad-
ditional remark, “ videtur pars inferior trondis latioris Desima-
restiz ligulate.”

D. Dresnayi, Lam., which was published in 1819, was found
on the French coast. It has a slender stipes about half an
inch high, which immediately gives off two lateral fronds about
2 feet long and 1 to 2 inches broad, linear-lanceolate, with a

TRANS, BOT. SOC. VOL. V. B

2 Dr. R.K. Greville on the discovery of Desmarestia Dresnayi.

fine longitudinal nerve and very delicate opposite lateral nerves,
which are sometimes forked. The margin is sinuate, more or
less toothed, and towards the base some of the lateral nerves are
prolonged into very short leaves of the same form as the frond,
thus manifesting a tendency to the pinnate development charac-
teristic of the genus. The colour is described as olivaceous, and
the substance membranaceous.

D. pinnatinervia, judging from the figure given by Dr. Mon-
tagne, has so close a resemblance to D. Dresnayi, that were the
two side branches in the figure of the latter plant removed, the
remaining central portion (which appears to have been shortened
by some injury) would be almost a fac-simile of it. The cha-
racter of the nervation aud of the margin is precisely the same
in both—so also is the stipes, the colour and the substance. The
frond, however, is quite simple, and Dr. Montagne compares it
to large specimens of Laminaria debilis.

With regard now to the Irish plants, they appear to constitute
an intermediate link between the two forms above mentioned.
They have a slender well-defined stipes half an inch long or
more, a linear-lanceolate frond from 12 to 18 inches long and
2 to 4 inches broad, the margin more or less sinuate and den-
tate. An exceedingly fine but very perceptible nerve runs from
the base to the apex, from which, lateral ones, opposite, and fre-
quently forked, are given off at intervals of nearly a quarter of
an inch. These lateral veins, which are somewhat inconspicuous,
at least in the dried specimens, terminate in the marginal den-
ticulations. Mr. Sawers observes, that the colour in the fresh
state is that of a Laminaria, while the substance is thinner. That
gentleman also describes the margin in one or two specimens as
slightly proliferous ; bringing the plant so very near to D. Dres-
nayi, that I do not see how the two can be separated; and the
latter name having the priority must be retained, if they are to
be considered as distinct from D. ligulata.

It must be confessed that the transition from the ordinary
narrow and decompound state of D. ligulata, as it occurs on the
British coast, to that of the Alga under consideration, is very re-
markable ; and as far as I know, intermediate states have not
occurred. But Professor J. Agardh speaks of the frond of some
French specimens of D. ligulata as an inch in breadth. Professor
J. Agardh’s var. 8. (D. herbacea, Lamx.) and var. y. (Sporochnus
herbaceus, var. firma, Ag. Syst.) do not at all agree in their pin-
nated forms and spinuloso-serrate margin with our plant; and if
his conjecture should eventually prove to be correct, it would be
difficult to adduce a more extraordinary deviation from a specific
type. It might be described as var. 8. subsimplex. In the mean
time a figure (PI. I. fig. 1) of so interesting an Alga will, it is
hoped, be not unacceptable to the British botanist.

II. On the Occurrence of “ Cinchonaceous Glands’’ in Galiacez,
and on the Relations of that Order to Cinchonacee. By
Grorce Lawson, F.R.P.S., F.B.S.E., Demonstrator of
Botany and Vegetable Histology to the University of Edin-
burgh.

Reap 131TH Jury 1854.

A Few years ago, Dr. Weddell of Paris, in his magnificent mono-
graph of the Cinchonas*, drew attention to a singular feature
in these plants, viz. the constant presence of peculiar glands on
their interpetiolar stipules ; and the attention of this Society was
called by Professor Balfour to Dr. Weddell’s observations.

The inner faces of the stipules are in many cases firmly glued
to the terminal bud, which they embrace, by a gummy or gum-
resinous matter exuded by the small sessile glands to which
reference has been made. This secretion is stated by Dr. Wed-
dell to be fluid and transparent in Cinchonas and Cascarillas,
but solid and opake in several other genera, remarkably so in
Pimentelia glomerata. In the genus Rondeletia it is soft like
wax, and of a beautiful green colour. The inhabitants of Peru,
who give it the name of Aceite-Maria (oil of Mary), carefully
collect it, and employ it as an external application in various
maladies. It is well known to horticulturists that Cinchonaceous
plants under cultivation are very liable to the attacks of Acaride
and other parasites ; and Mr. M‘Nab has drawn my attention to
the fact, that it is invariably in the neighbourhood of the stipules
on the young shoots that these pests are most abundant, viz. at
the points of the plant where the secretion is most copiously
given off.

The glands occur at the extreme base of the stipule on its
inner or upper surface, and are most plentiful in the immediate
vicinage of the nervures of the stipule, where spiral vessels are
abundant ; but these do not enter the tissue of the gland. In
those plants whose stipules early become reflexed (Rogera for
example) the glands are conspicuously exposed to view; but in
those whose stipules remain closely glued to the stem, it requires
careful dissection to show them. It is in the young state of the
stipule, when it envelopes the terminal bud, that the glands are

* Histoire Naturelle des Quinquinas, ou Monographie du genre Cinchona,
suivie d’une Description du genre Cascarilla et de quelques autres plantes
de la méme tribu, par M. H.-A. Weddell, M.D. Paris, 1849.

B2

4 Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiacee.

in best condition for examination ; they get quite dried up before
the stipule decays.

These stipular glands appear to be of universal occurrence
throughout the whole order Cinchonaceea, but as this has not
been ascertained from actual observation of all the species, it
seems desirable here to record the names of those in which they
have been particularly noticed, in order that botanists who have
the opportunity may, from time to time, extend the list of ob-
servations. These glands have been examined in the following
species, Vlz.—

Cinchona Calisaya, Wedd. Rondeletia odorata, Jacq.
Condaminea, Humb. et Bonpl. Burchellia capensis, Brown.
lancifolia, Mutis. Cephaélis Ipecacuanha, A. Rich.
amygdalifolia, Wedd. Coffea arabica, Linn.

scrobiculata, Humb. et Bonpl. _Ixora javanica, DC.
australis, Wedd. coccinea, Linn.

boliviana, Wedd. Musszenda frondosa, Linn.
ovata, Ruiz et Pav. Pavetta indica, Linn.
rufinervis, Wedd. Luculia gratissima, Sweet.
— Chomeliana, Wedd. Pinciana, Hook.
micrantha, Ruiz et Pav. Pentas carnea, Benth.
pubescens, Vahl. Gardenia Stanleyana, Hook.
— cordifolia, Mutis. Pimentelia glomerata, Wedd.
purpurascens, Wedd. Exostemma longiflorum, R. § S.
carabayensis, Wedd. Rogera Reegelia.
asperifolia, Wedd. versicolor.
Cascarilla Carua, Wedd. —- elegans.

Ladenbergia dichotoma, Kltsch.
In all 35 species.

The Cinchonaceous glands are, in general, minute, more or
less conical bodies, rising from the surface of the stipule, and
are mostly colourless, but in some instances highly coloured, and
are then conspicuous objects.

Their plan of structure is perhaps more distinctly seen in
Cinchona Calisaya than in any other species, and is well illus-
trated in Dr. Weddell’s book. In that plant the gland is sessile,
of an oval or lanceolate form, and somewhat pointed at the apex.
It consists of a mass of dense tissue of somewhat elongated cells,
forming a central nucleus of a conical shape. This axial nucleus
is surrounded by a layer of much more elongated obconical,
somewhat prismatic cells, which are closely set around the nu-
cleus in a radiant manner, lying upon it like achenes upon a
conical receptacle.

These elongated cells are described by Weddell as having, in
the centre of the outer extremity or apex of each, a minute canal
or perforation in the cell-wall, communicating with the interior
of the cell, and serving to discharge the secreted fluid. This he
says is particularly evident in Cinchona Calisaya; and the Com-

Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiacez. 5

mission appointed by the Academy of Sciences to report upon
Dr. Weddell’s investigations (MM. Richard, Gaudichaud and
Jussieu) specially drew attention to the circumstance, as of rare
occurrence in vegetable glands.

I have not been able as yet to demonstrate the canal satisfac-
torily, although the glands of Cinchona Calisaya, and of other
species, have been carefully examined with this view. But, by
this expression of my own failure to see what no doubt requires
a combination of favourable circumstances, supplemented by
patient examination, I do not mean to impute error of obser-
vation to so excellent an observer as Dr. Weddell ; and refrain, in
the meantime, from entering upon a discussion of the point, as
it has specially occupied the attention of my friend Dr. John
Kirk, whose researches I trust will ere Jong be laid before the
Botanical Society. It may here, however, be remarked, that the
secretion is certainly discharged from the apex of the elongated
cells forming the outer layer of the gland, and under certain cir-
cumstances appears in the form of minute globules on their sur-
face. It is not likely that such globules were taken by Dr. Wed-
dell for canals, but they have sufficiently that appearance to be
mistaken by an inexperienced observer.

In size and form. the glands vary considerably in different
species. In Cinchona Calisaya they are of an ovato-lanceolate
form, and measure {5th of an inch in length by =4,th in breadth ;
while in Ivora coccinea they are very much attenuated, of a linear
lanceolate form, and measure ;',th of an. inch in length by only
z+ath in breadth.

In occasional cases, though rarely, two glands are found in
adhesion.

These stipular glands have been hitherto regarded as quite
peculiar to the Natural Order Cinchonacee, and have been em-
ployed as a character whereby to distinguish that order from
Galiacee, in which their presence has not hitherto been suspected,
or has rather by implication been denied.

I have recently ascertained, however, that the so-called Cin-
chonaceous glands are by no means limited to Cinchonacee.
They likewise occur in the Galiacee, and I believe that the
strong odour (in some agreeable, in others fetid) which many of
these plants give off may be found to proceed from the secretions
of their glands. It is not in isolated cases merely that I have
been able to trace the presence of glands in Galiacee. In every
plant of the order of which | have been able to obtain fresh ex-
amples for examination, I have found them to occur; and being
quite unable to find a single instance of a Galiaceous plant in
which they are absent, I think [ am, in the meantime, fairly en-
titled to presume their general occurrence throughout the order.

6 Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiacez.

The plants examined (and found to exhibit these glands) were
the following, viz.—

Rubia peregrina, Linn. Galium Mollugo, Linn.
tinctorum, Linn. — Chersonense, Rem. et Schult.
Asperula taurina, Linn, glabrum, Thunb.
odorata, Linn. —— cruciatum, With.
valantioides. —— saxatile, Linn.
Crucianella suaveolens. —— rostratum.
molluginoides, Bieb. urceolatum.
stylosa, DC. —— purpureum, Linn.

ucidum, All.
verum, Linn.

aspera, Bieb.
Galium Aparine, Linn.
rubioides, Linn. pusillum, Linn.
—— tomentosum, Thunb. boreale, Linn.
tauricum, Rem. et Schult. Sherardia arvensis, Linn.
saccharatum, All.

In all 27 species.

In Galiacee the glands occur apparently in the axils, but in
reality on the inner or upper surface of the bases, of the leaves.
In structure they bear a considerable resemblance to the stipular
glands of many Cinchonacea, with this difference, however, that
they are generally either distinctly stipitate or club-shaped,
whereas those of Cinchonacee are usually thickest at the base,
and taper (more or less gradually in different species) towards
the apex. When stipitate, the stalk (of the Galiaceous gland) is
composed of two or three (sometimes more) series of cells, those
running up the centre sometimes containing green chlorophyll
granules ; none of these, however, being usually exhibited in the
body of the gland. In Rubia tinctorum each cell of the gland
contains a large green central nuclear body. In form the glands
of Galiacee present even greater variety (in different species)
than those of Cinchonacee.

Another feature in which the glands of Galiacee differ from
those of Cinchonacee is their small size, which is especially ob-
servable in some of the dwarf, small-leaved species of Galium, as
in Galium saxatile, for instance, whose glands are not more than
roth of an inch in length by g3,5th in breadth, whereas I have
stated those of Cinchona Calisaya (which are not unusually large
for that genus) to average 3',th of an inch in length by 75th in
breadth.

The Cinchonacee and Galiacee form two well-marked groups
of plants, abundantly distinct from each other in habit and in
geographical distribution ; the one consisting of trees, shrubs,
and herbs, almost exclusively inhabiting the hotter parts of the
world, most of them eminently conspicuous for their economical
products and the beauty of their broad foliage and flowers,
although some of their number are mean weeds ; the other com-

Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiaceze. 7

posed entirely of straggling herbaceous plants, with weak angular
stems and narrow verticillate leaves, inhabiting northern coun-
tries, and (if we except the Madder) alike inconspicuous for use
and ornament. Unfortunately, however, fructification does not
supply any character whereby those two ideally distinct groups of
plants can be clearly separated from each other ; and in the limi-
tation of natural orders, something more than a difference of
habit is considered desirable by all, and by many absolutely re-
quisite. Therefore, although the Cinchonacee and Galiacee are
kept separate by several of our best systematic writers, there is
still a considerable difference of opinion as to the propriety of so
doing, notwithstanding the detailed discussion of the subject at
different times by some of the most distinguished botanists of
Europe.

The principal character whereby these two orders are sepa-
rated, depends upon the leaves of Cinchonacee being opposite
(sometimes verticillate), and furnished with interpetiolar stipules ;
while Galiacee have normally verticillate leaves without stipules.

DeCandolle, Bentham, and others, who regard Cinchonacee and
Galiacee as forming only one natural order, Rubiacea, reduce
the distinguishing character above indicated in the following
manner. They regard the Galiacee as opposite-leaved plants,
their foliaceuus organs being in part true leaves, and in part leaf-
like stipules, for the following reasons :—

1. That the foliaceous organs in Galiacee, if viewed as con-
sisting entirely of leaves, do not bear that relation to the angles
of the stem which is usual in Dicotyledons ; but that the relation
becomes apparent if only two of them are taken as leaves and
the rest as stipules. Only two of the apparent leaves have buds
in their axils.

2. That in a number of cases, especially in Asperula, two op-
posite leaves are much larger than the others.

3. That in Spermacocee and other tribes of Cinchonacee, the
stipules are connected with the petiole of the leaf into a sheath,
and that this sheath exists in Galiacee.

4, That the number of parts in each whorl is not necessarily
some power of 3, as argued by Dr. Lindley (each leaf having two
stipules), but that taking two of the parts for leaves, it is imma-
terial by what number of similar parts those two are separated,
because the intermediate processes are analogous to the sete of
Spermacocee, the number of which is variable*.

Dr. Lindley objects to this line of argument, (1.) that in La-
biate and similar orders the apparent leaves are never opposite
the angles of the stem, but are always placed between them, and

* Vegetable Kingdom, 3rd edit. p. 769.

s Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiacee .

that the number of angles in the stem of verticillate plants does
not necessarily correspond with the number of their leaves,
Dysophylla for example (a Lamiaceous genus) having whorls of
ten parts, while the stem has but four angles; that the non-pro-
duction of buds in their axils is no proof of bodies not being true
leaves, all foliaceous organs, and especially stipules, having that
power or not according to circumstances. (2.) That the greater
length of two opposite leaves occasionally observed in Asperula
is to be ascribed to their greater development consequent upon
their higher functions. (3.) That the argument derived from
the occasional connection of the leaves by a membrane loses
weight, when it is remembered that in such cases the imterme-
diate leaves are less like stipules than in those cases where no
membrane exists. (4.) That the comparison of the supposed
stipules of Galiacee and the setee of Spermacocee is inadmissible,
because the former are at all events single simple organs, be
they what they may ; while the setze of Spermacocee are the result
of the splitting of two parallel-veined stipules, and therefore will
necessarily be uncertain in number.

Dr. Lindley likewise draws attention to the fact, that in Ga-
liacee the supposed stipules are always what first disappear in
the process of reduction in the number of foliaceous appendages ;
but that in Cinchonacee it is in many cases the leaves which are
first lost when such a reduction takes place, which is illustrated
by the capitate Spermacoces, where the bracts are evidently sti-
pules, and especially by S. calyptera, in which the leaves are gra-
dually merged in the large membranous cup that subtends the
flower, while the stipules suffer no diminution.

From these arguments it will be seen that the principal
distinction between the orders Cinchonacee and Galiacee de-
pends entirely upon the theoretical notion we adopt of their
foliaceous organs, and that from whatever point of view they be
regarded, the two orders are structurally closely related to each
other.

The observation of the glands now described, in the Galiacea,
establishes another point of relationship between the orders, the
presence of stipular glands in the Cinchonacea@, and especially
in the arborescent species, having been hitherto looked upon as
a singular feature of their structure, serving to remove them from
the herbaceous Rubiacee of cold countries. It appears to me
that these glands may likewise be instrumental in throwing
light on the nature of the foliaceous organs of Galiacea, as well
as on the morphology of those of Cinchonacee.

In Cinchonacee the glands are invariably confined to the
stipule ; and, on observing their occurrence in Galiacee, it at
once occurred to me that if a portion of the foliaceous organs of

Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiacee. 9

Galiacee were in reality leaves and the others stipules, then we
had here a key whereby to determine what were leaves and what
stipules. With the view of doing so, I have carefully examined the
position of the glands of all the Galacee within my reach ; and,
although I came to the subject with a prepossession in favour of
the view of DeCandolle, I have been quite unable to find any
indication, by the arrangement of the glands, of two kinds of
foliaceous organs in these plants. In Galiacee the stipules
occur at the base of the foliaceous organs ; they are not limited
to a certain number in each whorl, but occur in all, being equally
present in those opposite “ leaves” which bear branches in their
axils, as in those so-called “ stipules” that are barren, although
more abundant in the latter.

In the Cinchonacee I have said that the glands constantly
occupy the base of the stipule, and are in no case found on a
leaf or petiole. Here then the presence of these glands is a cer-
tain indication of the stipulary nature cf the organ on which
they occur, no dubiety whatever having hitherto been expressed
respecting the nature of the usual foliaceous organs of Cincho-
nacee. I am not sure in how far we are warranted in applying
this fact to the case of Galiacee ; but where all other characters
have failed, it is not to be entirely overlooked. If then we fol-
low the rule which obtains in Cinchonacee, that stipules are
bodies furnished with glands at their base, we shall come toa
conclusion differing essentially from all those that have hitherto
been brought forward, viz. that Guliacee are leafless plants with
whorls of stipules.

It is worth while to keep in view, that this idea, although at
first sight sufficiently paradoxical to caution us against its too
hasty adoption, is perhaps in reality less liable to objection than
either the views of Lindley or of DeCandolle and Bentham. At
the same time, even if it were proved to be correct, I do not pre-
cisely see in what manner it could help us out of the difficulty.

In organography, as well as in regard to the disposition of
these two natural orders, the subject is one of considerable in-
terest in a theoretical point of view.

In viewing the whole question, it appears to me, even admit-
ting (with Lindley) the foliaceous organs of Galiacee to be true
leaves, that the character thus established between the two
orders is not of that great importance with which it seems to be
generally regarded. The leaves are truly verticillate in a certain
portion of the Cinchonacee, and, without any violence to truth,
they may be regarded as verticillate in the whole of these plants,
in this way. Ail botanists will admit that stipules are merely
reduced or rudimentary, partially-developed leaves. In Galiacee
we have plants with leaves in whorls, all equally developed, but

10 Mr. G. Lawson on Cinchonaceous Glands in Galiacez.

in many cases with an undoubted tendency to reduction im part
of the whorl. In Cinchonacee a certain number of the leaves of
the whorl are invariably much more fully developed than the
others, which latter assume the character of stipules, but do not
appear in the form of ordinary stipules, as appendages to other
leaves, but occupy independent positions around the stem like
true leaves. If the argument had proceeded in this direction,
we should probably have had less discussion upon a point which
still remains to be satisfactorily cleared up*.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II.

Fig. 1. Stipular gland of Cinchona Calisaya. 70 diameters.

Fig. 2. Stipular gland of Izora coccinea. 70 diameters.

Fig. 3. Vertical section of gland of Cinchona Calisaya (after Weddell),
showing (a) central nucleus of compact tissue, and (4) outer layer
of elongated cells.

Fig. 4. Diagramatic view of two of the cells of the outer layer of the gland
(C. Calisaya), exhibiting the canals (c, c) at their apex, as shown
by Weddell.

Fig. 5. Stipular gland of Ezostemma longiflora. 70 diameters.

Fig. 6. Twin gland from stipule of Luculia Pinceana, formed by the adhe-
sion of two glands throughout the greater part of their length.
This is only of occasional (accidental) occurrence, the usual form
of the gland being not unlike that of Exostemma longiflora, but
of greater size. 70 diameters.

Fig. 7. Glands of Galium saratile. 70 diameters.

Fig. 8. Gland of Crucianella stylosa. 70 diameters.

Fig. 9. Glands of Galium cruciatum. 70-diameters.

Fig. 10. Gland of Galium urceolatum. 70 diameters.

‘ig. 11. Gland of Asperula odorata. 70 diameters.

* To Professor Balfour, Mr. M‘Nab, and Mr. Evans, my best thanks are
due, for the unlimited use of plants from the Royal Botanic and Experi-
mental Gardens, for examination.

11

III. Notice of a new species of Caulerpa.
By R. K. Grevitrz, LL.D. &e.

Reap 131TxH Jury 1854.

Tue Alga which forms the subject of the present notice was
communicated to me for determination along with several others,
by my friend Professor Balfour ; and was collected in Bass’s
Straits, Australia, by Mr. James E. Cox.

Singularly variable in external conformation as are the species
of this fine and most natural genus, presenting no fewer than
six or seven well-defined groups, it will be at once perceived that
the present one differs entirely from them all. In general habit
it stands alone; and upon a closer view may be said to unite
those which possess a dendroid character with others which have
a more simple, plane, and pinnate or pinnatifid frond.

The prostrate stem is robust, branched, 12 inches or more,
probably, m length, rough with lnear simple or forked pro-
cesses (abortive ramuli), and altogether strongly resembling the
creeping stem of a Lycopodium. The fronds are erect, arising
singly, or often two together, 4 to 7 mches high, of an ovate-
oblong outline, and bushy like some species of Bryopsis. The
numerous ramuli are given off on all sides, an inch or more
long, spreading, pectinato-pinnate, compressed ; the pinnz very
narrow, linear and acute. When magnified, the apices of the
pinne are found to be frequently minutely forked in a divaricate
manner, like some Cladonie. The lower part of the stalk of each
frond is naked for about half an inch, and covered with linear
scales or processes, like those of the creeping stem.

I propose the following name and character for this very
beautiful Alga : —

Caulerpa superba, frondibus ovato-oblongis, ramulis numerosis
pectinato-pinnatis undique obsitis.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III.
Fig. 1. A frond of Caulerpa superba, natural size.

Fig. 2. A portion of a pina.
Fig. 3. Apices of ditto, magnified.

IV. Remarks on Associations of Colour, and the Relation of Colour
and Form in Plants. By G. Dickir, M.D., Professor of
Natural History, Queen’s College, Belfast.

Reap 9TH NOVEMBER 1854.

Retations in the form, structure, number and position of
organs are familiar to every botanist. A priori it might have
been inferred that order prevails in the distribution of “colours ; :
that there is no mere fortuitous relation, but that all must be
subject to law. This is not only the fact, but there are, besides,
obvious indications of a relation between the colour and form of
organs.

In April and May 1853, the facts to be here recorded were
first observed and demonstrated to scientific friends in Belfast.
Professor M‘Cosh, in a lecture before the Natural History Society
in May 1853, intimated that he had for some time entertained a
belief in the existence of complementary colours in the vegetable
kingdom. ‘The results of my own observations were embodied
in a paper read at the October Meeting of the same Society in
that year. It would seem, however, that certain associations of
colour have been long known to artists who have cultivated the
special department of flower-painting. Any relation, however,
between form and colour appears to have escaped notice, and
even erroneous ideas have been promulgated respecting this
point. Thus Ruskin, in his ‘ Lamps of Architecture,’ states that
“the natural colour of objects never follows form, but is arranged
on a different system ;” and again, “ colour is simplified where
form is rich, and vice versd.” ‘In nature,” he further says,
“the boundaries of forms are elegant and precise; those of
colours, though subject to symmetry of rude kind, are yet irre-
gular—in blotches.” All these statements are far from repre-
senting the truth.

Without alluding to differences of opinion which have been
recently published regarding the law of harmonious colours, it
may be sufficient to allude briefly to the views usually enter-
tained by physicists and most generally adopted. White or
compound light consists of three simple colours called primaries,
viz. yellow, red, and blue ; combinations of these yield secon-
daries ;—yellow and red give orange, yellow and blue give green,
red and blue give purple. Combinations of secondaries yield ter-
tiary colours, —green and orange give citrine, purple and green
give olive, orange and purple yield russet.

a

Dr. Dickie on Colour and Form in Plants. 13

A primary and secondary, together containing all the prima-
ries, are complements to each other; for example, yellow and
purple ; red and green; blue and orange. The presence of all
the colours either separate or combined (which form white or
compound light) is a physical want of the organ of vision.

The artist recognizes a melody of colours, that is, gradations
of hues and shades, and speaks of harmony when complementary
colours are present. A white line (or black) between two colours
not complementary subdues discord. There is a correspondence
between the depth of any hue and that of its complement ; for
example, red-purple and yellow-green are associated. Every
association of colour in the organic world may be regarded as
an actual embodiment of results, which cannot be otherwise than
in strict harmony with those great principles which have guided
the plans of the Great Author of nature.

It is worthy of notice, that colour is the foundation of one of
the more recent classifications of Algze, that of Professor Harvey.
They are divided by him into red, green, and olive ; among the
red series are comprehended many which present various tints,
of purple for example, and in the olive series not a few are
yellow-green. All this is in strict accordance with the views just
adverted to. .

Among the family of the Mosses the red or red-purple teeth
of the peristome are associated with the green or yellow-green
capsule ; the same is true of the different parts of their stems
and leaves.

In flowering plants the cases are so numerous, that only one
example or two need be recorded.

Primula vulgaris.

stalk, red-purple.

poane leaves leaf, yellow-green.
Caladium pictum.

Lent ene red or red-purple.

border, green or yellow-green.

Coleus Blume.
Leaf J centre, red or red-purple.
cat | border, green or yellow-green.

Victoria Regia.
Vent lower surface, red-purple.
ea" ‘| upper surface, yellow-green.

Taxodium sempervirens.
Young shoots, yellow-green.
A year old, red-purple.
Older still, citrine.

In this last instance, as well as im many others, advanced

14 Dr. Dickie on Associations of Colour, and Relations

growth seems to be accompanied with greater composition of
colour. In the curious pitcher-like organs of Sarracenia, Ne-
penthes and Dischidia, we tind that red-purple and yellow-green
are associated.

In the flower, similar associations are the rule.

Ranunculus repens.
Corolla, yellow.
Calyx, purple spots.

The same may be observed in many other species of the same
genus.

Hieracium pilosella.
Flower, yellow.
Those of the circumference variegated with purple.

Anthyllis vulneraria.
Corolla, yellow.
Tip of calyx, purple.

Sazifraga ligulata.
Corolla, white with purple spots.
Anthers, yellow.

Kalmia (species).
Ten spots of purple on the corolla at points in contact with the
yellow anthers.

Juncus compressus.
Anthers and pollen, yellow.
Ovary and stigma, purple.

Perianth J &dge> Tusset.
centre, dark green.

Strelitzia Regine.
—-— juncea, &c.
Sepals, orange.
Petals, blue.

Tn most Orchidez we find constant associations of yellow and
purple.

We need not expect to find in a corolla or any other organ
pure red and pure yellow, or blue and red, in contact with each
other.

Of the primaries, blue is the least common, and in fact, gene-
rally speaking, may be called very rare; many so-called blues
being blue-purples: transmitted light shows this. Pure blue
being so uncommon in any organism, Professor M‘Cosh sug-
gested to me that this is compensated for in the atmosphere, and
{ may add, in the ocean too. Yellow is probably the most
general of the primaries, in the flower at least ; the most com-

of Colour and Form in Plants. 15

mon association is therefore yellow and purple. We can now
understand why yellow is the usual colour of the pollen, and
some exceptional cases seem to confirm this; in the Turn-cap
Lily for instance, the decidedly red pollen is associated with the
green filaments of the anthers.

The statistics of colour in different natural orders have not been
fully examined ; it may be remarked, however, that purple and
citrme prevail in the flowers of the Grasses, and russet and dark
green in the Junci. In the Fir-tribe and its allies, secondaries
and tertiaries are common, such as the purple and citrine scales
of young and old cones, the russet and dark green in the stems
and leaves respectively ; at the same time the copious yellow
pollen must not be lost sight of.

In examining this subject, we must keep in view that the
colour of the flower may have its complement in that of other
organs, as stem, leaf, &c. It sometimes happens that one of the
associated colours is not visible to the eye at all times. The
inside of a nearly ripe fig is red-purple, the outside yellow-green ;
the same is true of the pericarp in some species of Peony. In
some Cactacez the yellow corolla is succeeded by a purple fruit.

The newly ripened cone of the Pinus Pinaster 1s citrine ; when
the scales open, the complementary purple is revealed at the base
of each. In the fruit, fixed relations of colour are probably too
familiar to require illustration. In certain varieties of the Apple,
red and red-purple, green and yellow-green of various hues and
shades are associated. In some varieties of Pear, yellow-green,
red-purple and citrine occur together.

Direct exposure to light, although usually, and in general
correctly admitted to have a direct relation to intensity of colour
im organisms, appears not to be necessary in every instance ; the
plant, however, must receive the light at some part or other in
order to produce that depth of colour observed in the coats of
seeds, the interior of fruits, and in the tissues of subterranean
organs.

In conclusion—

1. The primaries, red, yellow, and blue, are generally present in
some part or other of the plant.

2. When a primary occurs in any part of a plant, its comple-
ment will usually be found in some other part (or at some period or
other of the development of the plant, as was suggested to me by
Professor M‘Cosh).

Observations on the same subject in the animal kingdom have
occupied my attention during the past twelve months ; Birds,
Mollusca, and Radiata present associations of colour not less
remarkable than those here recorded.

The relation between colour and form may now be examined,

16 Dr. Dickie on Associations of Colour, and Relations

and the remarks, for the present, have reference to the parts of
the flower.

When the calyx and corolla are equal in size and similar in
form, the flower is regular ; differences in size and form are found
in irregular flowers. For example, the Violet has an irregular
flower, that of the Wallflower is regular ; a Primrose has a regular
flower, a Snapdragon presents an example of irregularity. Such
expressions are equally applicable to monocotyledonous and to
dicotyledonous plants, to polypetalous and gamopetalous corolla.

Law 1. In regular polypetalous and gamopetalous corolle the
colour is uniformly distributed, whatever be the number
of colours present.

That is to say, the pieces of the corolla being all alike in size
and form, have each an equal proportion of colour. ~The com-
mon Primrose is an example where one colour only is present.
In the Chinese Primrose the same holds where two colours (one
the complement of the other) are present ; the eye or centre is
yellow, the margin purple. These two colours in this regular
flower are uniformly diffused, that is, each piece has an equal
proportion of yellow and of purple respectively. In Myosotis,
Anagallis, Erica, Pyrola, Gentiana, &c., we have instances. All
corollifloral Exogens with regular flowers are examples ; the same
is true of certain Thalamiflore, as Papaveracee, Crucifere, &c.
In Jberis coccinea, belonging to Crucifere, we find unequal size
of petals, but equal distribution of colour, because regularity of
flower is the law in that family.

Calycifloral Exogens with regular flowers are also examples,
as Rosacez, Cactacez, &e.

Law 2. Irregularity of corolla is associated with irregular distri-
bution of colour, whether one or more colours are present,

The odd lobe of the corolla is most varied in form, size, and
in colour.

When only one colour is present, it is usually more intense
in the odd lobe.

When there are two colours, one of them is very generally
confined to the odd lobe. Sometimes when only one colour is
present and of uniform intensity in all the pieces, the odd lobe
has spots or streaks of white. This piece of the corolla therefore
in irregular flowers is distinguished from the others not merely
by size, form and position, but also by its colour.

Papilionace present examples of this law; a few instances
may suflice.

of Colour and Form in Plants. 17

Cytisus Laburnum.
4 petals yellow.
5th yellow with purple veins.

Lathyrus pratensis.
Much the same as Laburnum.

Trifolium pratense.
Odd lobe distinguished from the others by its darker purple
veins.

Kennedia monophylia.
4 petals purple.
5th yellow eye and purple margin.

Swainsonia purpurea,
4 petals purple.
5th white eye on purple ground.

Even when the odd lobe of a papilionaceous plant is smallest,
—not a common case,—it may be distinguished by its colour ;
for instance, in Brachysema acuminatum the odd lobe is compa-
ratively small, but has yellow eye and purple margin.

Irregular gamopetalous corollz also present examples of this

aw.

Ajuga reptans.
4 divisions purple.
Corolla 5th has yellow spot on inner surface.

Thymus Serpyllum.
Corolla, generally red-purple.
Two pale spots on odd lobe.

Galeopsis Tetrahit.
Odd lobe has generally two colours, yellow and purple.

Numerous other examples from Labiatz might be quoted.
Among Scrophulariaceze we may instance the following :—

Euphrasia officinalis.
Corolla purple, generally.
Odd lobe has yellow spot.
Digitalis purpurea.
Has white on odd lobe.

In some species of Schizanthus and Collinsia we find purple
the prevailing colour; the primary, yellow, appears in the odd
lobe.

In some genera with irregularity of flower often less marked
than in the examples alluded to, it is worthy of notice that the

TRANS. BOT, SOC. VOL, V. Cc

18 Dr. Dickie on Associations of Colour, and Relations

two divisions on each side of the odd lobe frequently partake of
its characters as regards colour, half of each resembling the odd
piece; Viola, Gloxinia, Achimenes, Rhododendron, &c. are ex-
amples. In some Thalamiflorous Exogens with irregular flower,
as Pelargonium and Tropeolum, we find that the two upper pieces
are usually largest, and present also the greatest variety in depth
of colour. In the Horse-chestnut there is a very decided relation
between the size of the petals and the intensity of the colour.
On each petal there is usually a crimson spot at the junction of
the limb and claw; the size of this spot and its intensity are in
direct relation to the size of each petal; the two upper being
largest, the two lateral smaller, and the odd piece least of all.

It may therefore be stated, that in some Thalamiflorous Exogens
with irregular corolla, owing chiefly to difference in size of the
petals, the largest are most highly coloured.

Law 3. Different forms of corolla in the same inflorescence often
present differences of colour, but all of the same form
agree also in colour.

The Composit are ilustrations of this: when there are two
colours, the flowers of the centre have generally one colour of
uniform intensity ; those of the circumference agree together also.

The common Daisy has all the tubular flowers of the centre
yellow, and all the ligulate flowers of the ray are white, varie-
gated with purple. A yellow centre with purple ray is a com-
mon association in compound flowers, for instance, in species of
Aster, Rudbeckia, &e.

The same general laws prevail in Monocotyledons as in Dico-
tyledons. In the former the calyx and corolla generally resemble
each other in structure and shape, and in colour also; hence an
idea entertained by some that the perianth is single, relative
position having been overlooked. In Dicotyledons we generally
find a greater contrast between calyx and corolla as regards
colour.

The law of the contrasts is therefore simpler in Monecotyledons
than in Dicotyledons.

The former may be symbolized by the triangle, 3 and 6 being
the typical numbers in the flower; the latter by the square or
pentagon, 4 and 8, 5 and 10 being the prevalent numbers.

The simplicity of figure corresponds with simpler contrast of
colour in the one, while greater complexity of colour and of struc-
ture are in direct relation in the other.

In families of Monocotyledons having regular flowers there is
regular distribution of the colours, for instance, in Amarylli-
dacez, Liliaces, &c.

of Colour and Form in Plants. 19

Orchidaceze are notable examples of the other law, that irre-
gularity of form and of colour are associated. In a large pro-
portion of this family the colours are yellow or yellow-green, and
purple or red-purple ; the latter being confined to the part of
the corolla usually called Jip.

Proceeding on the principle, that since plants of all epochs of
the earth’s history were constructed on the same general plan,
so the same associations of colour, and of colour and form, must
have prevailed also, we shall glance finally at a few conclusions
which may be derived from this source.

During the earlier periods when Acrogenous Cryptogamia were
abundant, the secondary and tertiary colours, as russet, purple,
citrine, green, must have prevailed.

During the reign of Gymnosperms, when Cycadee and Co-
niferee were numerous, the secondary and tertiary colours must
still have given a sombre aspect to the vegetable world.

From the commencement of the Chalk formation there appears
to haye been a very marked and progressive increase of Angio-
spermous Dicotyledons, which form at least three-fourths of
existing vegetation. Among them we find the floral organs with
greater prominence in size, form and colour ; and such prominence
of the “ nuptial dress ” of the plant, to use the quaint expression
of Linnzus, is peculiarly a feature of species belonging to natural
families which have attained their maximum in man’s epoch, and
are characteristic of it.

20

V. On Linaria sepium of Allman.
By Cuarues C. Bantneroy, M.A., F.R.S, &e.

Reap 9TH NovemMsBer 1854.

Ar a meeting of the Royal Irish Academy, held June 6th,
1843, the occurrences at which are reported in the ‘ Proceedings ”
of that body, Dr. G. J. Allman described what he supposed to
be a new species of Linaria, and upon which he conferred the
name of 1. sepium.

In the second edition of my ‘Manual of British Botany”
(p. 232), the opinion was stated that the plant is “scarcely more
than a variety of L. italica,” and in the third edition of the same
book I ventured to consider it and the Z. ztalica of the Manual
as hybrids between L. vulgaris and L. repens.

In consequence probably of the latter remark, I was favoured
by Dr. Allman, in June 1852, with a large packet of living
specimens and roots of the disputed plant. A careful examina-
tion of these, and a comparison of them with living specimens
of L. repens, led me greatly to doubt the correctness of the
supposition that it was a variety of L. repens; and Dr. Allman
justly states in a letter to me that the “total absence of
L. vulgaris from the neighbourhood where the plant in question
abounds must render hybridization impossible.’ In another
letter he remarks, “I only know of one spot in the neighbour-
hood of Bandon where L. vulgaris grows apparently wild, and
there very sparingly. It may possibly have escaped from a
neighbouring garden. ‘This spot is more than a mile in a direct
line from the nearest patch with which I am acquainted of L.
sepium, and three or four miles from other localities where the
L. sepium is abundant.” Also, “in the same hedge with the
apparently wild plants of L. vulgaris just mentioned, and removed
perhaps from these about 100 yards, grows L. repens, and yet
not a trace of L. sepium have I found to grow within a mile of
them.” These remarks show the great improbability, if indeed
I might not say impossibility, of the LZ. sepium being a hybrid.
Two of the roots received from Ireland have grown well and
flowered profusely in the Cambridge Botanical Garden, and have
thus afforded an excellent opportunity for studying the plant.

As I now believe the plant to be a distinct species, I have

Mr. C. C. Babington on Linaria sepium. 21

drawn up the following character and description of it, and in
doing so have followed the type of the descriptions of the allied
species to be found in the valuable ‘ Monographie des Antir-
rhinées’ of Chavannes.

Linaria sepium (Allm.) ; radice repente, caulibus erectis glabris, foliis
lineari-lanceolatis acutis sparsis, floribus racemosis, sepalis ovatis
acutis glabris calcare brevioribus, seminibus tuberculato-scabris
trialatis.

L. sepium, Al/man in Proceed. R. Irish Acad. (1843) p. 404.

Caules e rhizomate repente incrassato seepeque tuberculis instructo
prodentes, plurimi, simplices vel ramulosi, leves, basi lignescentes
(cortice fuscescente), bipedales; ramuli alterni, erectiusculi. Folia
pollicaria vel sesquipollicaria, lineari-lanceolata, utrinque attenuata,
acuta, subtrinervia (nervis lateralibus tenuibus), erectiuscula, glauces-
centia, inferiora szepe subterna ceteraque sparsa. Bracteze lineari-
lanceolate, acutissimze, erectz, inferiores pedicello longiores, supe-
riores pedicello breviores. Racemus strictus, laxiusculus. Calyx
parvus ; segmentis e basi lato attenuatis, acutissimis, glaberrimis,
trineryiis, post anthesin apice paululum reflexis. Corolla minor quam
in L. vulgari; calcar conicum, paululum incurvum, corollam zequans ;
tubus, calear et labium superius grisei striis pallide purpureis signati ;
labium inferius dilute luteum striis pallide purpureis et parum
distinctis notatum; palatum villis luteis vestitum, villis pallide pur-
pureis quemque marginem investientibus, valde prominens, bilobum,
lobis aurantiacis ; lobis labii superioris ellipticis, dorso invicem ap-
plicatis sed apicibus incurvis; lobis labi inferioris lateralibus reflexis
conniventibus, oblique rotundatis intermedio patenti latioribus et
paululum longioribus. Stigma capitatum. Capsula subovata, de-
hiscens superne sex valvulis lanceolatis, calycem subeequans, Semina
subtrialata ; testa nigra, muricata.

Found plentifully near the river at Bandon, in the county of
Cork, flowering from June to September.

ZL. sepium forms dense masses of strong stems, and presents
a very different appearance from L. repens or L. vulgaris. Its
flowers and seeds are unlike those of either of them; and in
size the flowers are almost exactly intermediate between those
of its allies. The same part of the rhizome does not appear to
flower a second time, but numerous stems spring up at a short
distance from it, which flower in the succeeding year.

In L. vulgaris the middle lobe of the lower lip of the corolla
is relatively much smaller and is strongly reflexed, whilst the
lateral lobes are patent-deflexed.

In L. repens the lobes of the upper lip of the corolla are erect
with incurved points, and all those of the lower lip patent.

It will be seen above that in L. sepium the lobes of the upper
lip are pressed closely back to back; and that the lateral ones

22 Mr. C. C. Babington on Linaria sepium.

of the lower lip are reflexed, but the intermediate one is patent.
The colours also are different.

After a careful examination of all the descriptions of Linarie
with which I am acquainted, I have not found any recorded
species to which this plant can be referred. I am therefore
reluctantly compelled to consider it as a new species. It agrees
in many respects with L. linifolia (Chav.), differing chiefly in
the presence of a few three-leaved whorls towards the base of the
stem, the shorter upper bracts, the striped flowers, and the
three-winged seeds.

The seeds of L. sepium are different from those of any species
that I have examined. They are discoidal, and surrounded b
a wing; but have in addition another wing on one of the sides
which is variable in its size and direction, being sometimes nearly
at right angles with the disk, and at others laid so closely upon
it as to be with difficulty detected. Rarely the additional wing
is reduced to a reduplication of the wing of the disk through
more or less a distance. The disk is covered on each of its sides
with elevated ridges radiating more or less regularly from the
centre. The whole seed is black.

23

VI. Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.
By J. H. Batrour, M.D., Professor of Botany, Edinburgh.

Reap 1l4tuH DECEMBER 1854.

Wuite Europe is mourning over many a gallant officer whose
life has been sacrificed for his country on the field of battle, the
scientific world has been called upon to deplore the loss of one
of its leaders who has fallen in the front ranks. Edward Forbes,
Regius Professor of Natural History in Edinburgh, has been
cut off in the zenith of his fame, and has left a blank which is
not easily supplied. Every department of science acknowledges
its obligations to him, and his premature death has inflicted a
heavy blow on the progress of Natural History. We have lost
an original thinker, a careful observer, a correct reasoner, an
able writer, a pleasing and painstaking instructor, and a valued
friend. His sun is gone down ere it is yet day, and the ex-
tinction of such a luminary has cast a shade over the scientific
horizon. Truly God’s ways are not as our ways, nor his
thoughts as our thoughts. Let us learn the lesson which the
solemn event teaches, and so number our days as to apply
our hearts to heavenly wisdom.

Edward Forbes (of Scottish extraction) was born in the Isle
of Man, on the 12th day of February, 1815. His father was a
banker in that island. Even in his early years he had a taste
for natural history, and at the age of seven he had collected and
arranged a small museum: When not more than twelve years
old, Mr. James Wilson informs us, Forbes had imbibed a fond-
ness for geological studies, and had perused such works as
Buckland’s ‘ Reliquie Diluviane,’ Parkinson’s ‘Organic Re-
mains,’ and Conybeare’s ‘Geology of England. He had also
compiled a Manual of British Natural History in all its depart-
ments.

He visited London at the age of sixteen, and was engaged
there in studying the art of drawing under Sass. His power of
delineating with the pencil was called into constant exercise
during his after career, and was displayed alike in his published
works and in the illustration of his lectures. His early associates
remember well the clever and amusing sketches which he made
with the pen during moments of leisure.

He came to Edinburgh in 1831, and entered the medical

24 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

classes, as being the course of study best fitted for initiating him
to those departments of science to which he meant to devote
himself. His earliest friend in Edinburgh was John Goodsir
(now Professor of Anatomy), with whom he lived in the same
lodgings for many years. They had congenial tastes, and pro-
secuted their studies together with an earnestness and enthu-
siasm rarely equalled. He attended nearly all the classes required
for graduation, but he did not take the degree of M.D. He
studied natural history and botany under Jameson and Graham,
and became an intimate friend of both, more particularly of the
latter, who by his zeal in the prosecution of practical botany in-
spired his pupils with an enthusiastic love of science.

In 1833, Forbes visited Norway with a fellow-student, and
made considerable collections both geological and botanical.
Many of the specimens of the plants are now in the Herbarium
of the University of Edinburgh. They are by no means well
preserved, but they are well selected, more especially as regards
their bearimg on botanical geography. For at this period
of his history Forbes began to look with a comprehensive
glance on the flora of Europe, and gave indication of those views
of distribution which were afterwards developed fully im the
Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Britain. An account of
his observations in Norway were published in the Magazine of
Natural History. On the 12th of May, 1836, I find a notice by
Dr. Graham, in the Proceedings of the Botanical Society, of the
flowering of a Primula, sent to the Garden by Forbes from Nor-
way. Forbes sent it as a variety of P. farinosa, which he called
alpina, while Graham considered it a variety of P. Scotica.

He became a member of the British Association in 1834, and
afterwards was one of the most regular attenders of its meet-
ings, contributing on all occasions valuable papers and reports.
He it was who called the attention of the Association to the
subject of dredging, and secured their cooperation and aid in this
most important matter.

He appears to have visited the Alps in 1835; and im the
Magazine of Zoology and Botany for 1837, he contributed a
communication on the Comparative Elevation of the Testacea in
the Alps.

His zeal for botany was at this time very great, and he saw the
importance of not confining his attention to the flora of Britain.
He therefore determined, along with his fellow-students in Edin-
burgh, to commence the formation of a public herbarium, bymeans
of contributions and exchanges. This led to the establishment of
the Botanical Society, an event which took place on Tuesday, the
9th of February, 1836. Well do I recollect the evening when
he and I, with eight others, viz. W. H. Campbell, now LL.D.

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 25

and attorney in Georgetown, Demerara; Dr. Parnell, afterwards
author of the work on British Grasses, &c.; Dr. R. C. Alexander,
who subsequently published accounts of botanical tours in many
parts of Europe and America ; William Brand, now Secretary of
the Union Bank ; Dr. Gilbert M¢Nab, now practising in Jamaica ;
James M*Nab, now Curator of the Botanic Garden; Nicholas
Tyacke, now physician in Chichester; Edward Charlton, now
M.D. and Lecturer in the Medical School of Newcastle; George
C. Wallich, now in India; and Giles Munby, who wrote the
‘Flora of Algiers,’ met to lay the foundation of our Society. We
received most important directions and aid from Forbes; and
when, after launching the vessel, we supped together, his social
and convivial powers were called forth in their fullest energy.
His death constitutes the first blank in the little band. The first
public meeting of the Society took place on the 17th of March,
1836, when the following office-bearers were appointed :—Prof.
Graham, President; Dr. Greville and Dr. Balfour, Vice-Presi-
dents; Dr. Neill, Mr. Falconar, Dr. Barry, Mr. Munby and
Mr. Tyacke, Councillors: W. H. Campbell, Secretary; Edward
Forbes, Foreign Secretary; William Brand, Treasurer; and
James M¢Nab, Curator of the Herbarium. Forbes contributed
many valuable communications and papers to the Society be-
tween the years 1836 and 1841.

On the 9th of June, 1836, Forbes gave a description of a spe-
cies of Viola, found by him in the Isle of Man. He considered
it the V, ericetorum of Schrader, V. canina of Reichenbach. On
the 8th of December, 1836, a communication was transmitted by
him, as to a supposed new British Polygala, found in the Isle of
Man and on Dalmahoy Hill. He also brought under notice the
various British forms of Euphrasia, some of which he was disposed
to consider as distinct species. This view he continued to enter-
tain ; and when visiting the hills at the head of Loch Lomond in
July 1854, he pointed out three of these forms to his pupils and
mine.

On April 12, 1838, he read a paper to the Botanical Society,
on the specific claims of Primula acaulis, veris, and elatior.

He continued durmg life to take a warm interest in the
Botanical Society ; and he resumed his place among us last sum-
mer, with no small feelings of satisfaction—with pleasant remi-
niscences of the past and brightest hopes of the future. He has
sent contributions to the Herbarium of the Society from various
parts of the world, and these are now incorporated with the
University Herbarium.

He continued to prosecute his studies more or less conti-
nuously in Edinburgh till 1839. During that period he made

26 Skeich of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

himself beloved by all who came into contact with him. He in-
spired almost all his companions with zeal in science, and became
as it were a centre whence emanated numerous active and enter-
prising naturalists.

In 1837, he prosecuted his studies in Paris under Prévost,
Beudant, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, and De Blainville. In May of
that year he went to Algiers; and in the Annals of Natural
History for May 1839, he writes on the Land and Freshwater
Mollusca of Algiers and Bougia. In 1838 appeared his ‘ Mala-
cologia Monensis, or Catalogue of the Mollusca of the Isle of
Man and of the Irish Sea.’ At this time also he wrote many
papers on zoology and geology.

In the winter of that year his literary, artistic, and humorous
powers were called into play in a publication named ‘ The Maga,’
which became for a time a most popular work with students,
more especially at the period subsequent to the snowball riots of
the 11th and 12th of January of that year. He was one of
those who took up the defence of the students on that occasion,
acting as chairman of their committee ; and he succeeded, with
the aid of Patrick Robertson, now Lord Robertson (who is figured
as their glorious defender), in carrying them through the trial in
a most triumphant manner. This publication, with the poems
which came from his pen at that time, as well as his sketches of
men and manners, have left an indelible impression on all of us.

While all this was going on, he continued sedulously to pursue
his natural-history studies. His usual working hours were from
breakfast-time till 2 or 3 in the afternoon, after which he con-
sidered that he was entitled to a certain amount of relaxation
from severer study. The same plan has been adopted by him
ever since, when practicable: and one reason among others for
his objecting to take an early hour for lectures was the encroach-
ment which would thus have been made on the hours devoted to
original observations.

In 1838 he visited Styria and Carniola, with the view of
examining their natural history. His observations were recorded
in the Proceedings of the Botanical Society. Thus on the 13th
of November 1838 he read a paper on the Primula elatior of
Jacquin, gathered by him during the summer of 1838 on the
mountains of Styria; on the 13th of December 1838 he gave an
account of three days’ excursion to the mountains of Ternova
in Carniola, made in company with Signor Tommasini of Trieste,
On the 10th of January and 11th of April 1839 he read com-
munications on certain continental plants allied to British spe-
cies, the plants having been chiefly collected in Carniola and in
the neighbourhood of Trieste.

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 27

In the summers of 1839-40 he delivered a scientific course of
lectures on zoology, as well as one of a more popular nature, in
which he pointed out the bearings of zoology on geology, a
subject of which he was afterwards the most able expounder in
Britain.

In 1839, at the Birmingham Meeting of the British Asso-
ciation, he and other naturalists finding that they had not their
proper place at the convivial meetings, stituted a separate ordi-
nary. The first Natural History Section dinner happened to
take place in an inn of that town having the sign of the Red Lion ;
and ever afterwards the Natural History Club thus commenced
was designated the Red Lion Club. The Red Lions have had
their annual social reunions at every meeting of the Association
since that time; and on these festive occasions, Forbes, who was
perpetual president, had always a scientific song of a playful and
humorous nature. Many of these songs were printed in the
‘Literary Gazette.’ It is interesting to notice, that among his
papers was found an unfinished song, which he meant to have
given at the Liverpool Meeting, and which contains a clever
view of the geological dispute between Murchison and Sedgwick.

During this year he seems to have taken up in an especial
manner the subject of fossil botany; and we find, on the 10th
of May, that he proposed that the Botanical Society should print
a Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of Britam. The Society enter-
tained his proposal, and appointed him, along with his friends
Torrie and Cunningham, to prepare the list.

He published this year ‘ Zoological Researches in Orkney
and Shetland,’ and zoological papers in connexion with Goodsir.
In the ‘Report of the Botanical Society’s Proceedings’ of the
12th of December 1839, and also on the 10th of December 1840,
he is entered still as Foreign Secretary, as Member of the Wer-
nerian Society, and as Lecturer on Natural History.

In 1840 he published in the ‘ Edinburgh Student’s Annual,’
a paper on the Distribution of the Mollusca of Britain, more
especially with reference to the Pleistocene Geology.

Tn 1841 he published his beautiful Monograph on the British
Star-Fishes, and other Echinoderms. The accurate drawings of
the animals, and the exquisite tail-pieces and vignettes, were
drawn by himself on wood, so as to be ready for the woodcutter.
During my morning visits to him at this time, I found him
always busy with his pencil.

On the 11th of March of this year he read to the Botanical
Society a paper on the Specific Value of the Antherine Appen-
dages of the genus Viola, in which he developed philosophical
views in regard to what he calls the law of undulation of cha-

28 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

racter in plants and animals. This law, he says, “ has not been
properly studied by naturalists, nor its value rightly appreciated ;
otherwise we should not have that common scientific phenome-
non of imperfect descriptions presented as specific characters.”
The paper embraced not merely a description of the characters
of the genus Viola, but an illustration of this law in the arrange-
ment of the species, and their geographical distribution. It con-
tains the germ of those views which he afterwards so fully enun-
ciated, relative to types and representations.

In the spring of 1841 he accepted an invitation from Captain
Graves, of the Beacon, to join the surveying party in the Medi-
terranean, in the capacity of naturalist. He and I met in Lon-
don in April, along with Vogel, M¢Williams, and Stanger, who
were about to join the expedition to the Niger.

He was occupied until 1842 in examining the Aigean and the
coasts of Asia Minor. During part of the time he visited Lycia
and assisted Sir Charles Fellowes, along with Mr. Hoskyn,
Mr. Daniell and Lieut. Spratt, in the exploration of some of the
lost cities. His researches in the Agean, in regard to marine
life at different depths, led to those speculations which he after-
wards promulgated relative to submarine life in connexion with
geological changes. During this expedition his friend the Rev.
E. T. Daniell died of fever brought on by malaria, and Forbes’s
life was also placed in imminent danger by a similar attack.
He struggled through the fever, after lying for nearly a fortnight
in a helpless state, without tasting food or receiving any medical
advice. This Adgean fever materially affected his constitution,
and he had frequent aguish attacks afterwards, which he looked
upon as referable to that illness.

During his researches at this time he looked with a naturalist’s
eye at everything, as is well shown in his ‘ Travels in Lycia,’
which he afterwards (in 1846) published, in conjunction with
Lieut. Spratt. Botany, zoology, geology, geography and anti-
quities were alike subjects of study and observation.

In July 1821 he wrote thus from Paros :—

* Paros, 24 July, 1841.
** Dear Balfour,
% # * # * * * * % *

Here I am out of the world, working away like bricks (so to speak)
in the midst of ruins. Hitherto my working has been almost en-
tirely mineralogical and zoological, owing to delays on the part of
the Oriental Steam Packet Company. Only three days ago did any of
my parcels reach me, but they are now all here,—the box from the
Botanical Society, a parcel of paper in oil-cloth from Dr. Graham,
and a box from Sir William Jardine. I have dried a lot of plants

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 29

in the paper which I got at Malta, but have hitherto regarded rather
the collection of specimens to illustrate the flora of the Isles, than
of duplicates, not having materials for the latter. Unfortunately the
lateness of arrival of the box will prevent much being done in that
way here this year, as the flora is almost gone, burnt up already,
and there are no mountains sufficiently high for subalpine plants.
Those of Naxos which I have ascended are 3500 feet high, but the
vegetation of their summits is the same as that of their bases.

*T have just returned from a cruise among the islands, and I have
been five weeks away in a little cutter with every convenience. The
botanical result is, that the vegetation of all the islands I have seen
is exactly similar.

‘* T set off next week in another of our tenders on a six weeks’ cruise,
to visit the Volcanic isles and the south end of the Morea,—I hope
with better botanical results. But as I said before, for botany one
should be at work here in April. Next year I shall be better prepared
forit. If oneof the Commander’s schemes, however, is put into execu-
tion, I expect yet to reap arich harvest of plants this autumn. He pro-
poses to send the ‘ Isabella,’ one of our tenders, to the Gulf of Macri
in Asia Minor to complete a survey. He will remain there six weeks,
and I propose to go with him and ascend the snowy ridges of Taurus,
which are within a few miles of Macri. As these mountains are
from 5000 to 10,000 feet high, I may yet get a rich store of valuable
plants from a country almost, if not wholly, unexplored.

“TI hope yet we shall go to Candia in spring, which will be a great
point for the botany. The zoological results, so far chiefly marine,
have fully satisfied me, and I expect will prove most valuable. I am
at work every day, and although I have a glorious set of companions,
work very hard. I wish there was some one with me to do the
dredging and preserving, as it takes up much time. As yet I have
left birds alone. I expected Thompson to have done them, but he
is off home again, as I suppose you know already. Fishes, I let
none of them escape me.”

Another letter is dated—

* H.M.S. Beacon, Macri, Asia Minor,
February 28, 1842.

“In my last letter I mentioned my intention of proceeding to Asia
Minor in one of the Beacon’s tenders in autumn. Having done so
in the early part of last October, it has been out of my power to
write to you or any of my friends, as there is no communication
between these shores and Europe. Still I expected to have written
to the British dominions letters in abundance before the new year

; but circumstances most unexpected have sent the Beacon
down here to join us, and prevented our joming it at Athens, as was
intended.

“To give my itinerary in due order, my proceedings have been as
follows :—Returning in October from a round of the islands of the
Archipelago,—a cruise which was exceedingly fruitful in results as

30 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

regarded marine zoology and tertiary geology, but in consequence of
the season almost fruitless in botany,—I found the Beacon at Paros
with half her crew laid up by the terrible fever which kills so many
people here in summer, one of her best officers dead, and all in low
spirits. The people under my charge,—for (youewill laugh, I doubt
not when I say so,) I have not only acted out here as naturalist, but
when accompanying the tenders, as surgeon,—escaped altogether. In
several cases here I really find my medical knowledge, small though
it may be, of the greatest service. Indeed, at the present moment
I am acting as physician in ordinary to the greatest personage in
the country near us, namely, the Mohussil or Governor of Severo, ‘a
very great Turk with a very long name,’ as the song goes.

“From Paros I set sail in our little schooner the Isabella to the
shores of Asia Minor, and remained in her from October to the end
of the year. Iwas thus able to make my promised excursion to the
Taurus, ascending the mountains to the height of 9000 feet, and
journeying among them for fourteen days. But though I loaded a mule
with boards and paper, I grieve to say I could not fillit. Everything
seemed to have gone out of flower tu spite me, and what remained
were odds and ends of plants past flowering.

«As this country, especially the alpine part (I speak of Lycia),
has been visited by no botanist, I gathered every fragment most
religiously, with a view to depositing the reliques (such as they are)
in the Botanical Society ; and they are now packed up and boxed in
the charge of the captain of an Engiish vessel which has unexpectedly
come in here, and will be carried by him free of charge to some
English port. I have directed them to Pamplin. Open and exa-
mine them when they come. Bad as they are, they have a geo-
graphical importance, and I do not take blame to myself for their
badness.

“Next week the Beacon goes to Malta; if she had only stayed a
month longer, I should have had lots of plants, now only beginning
to flower. I remain behind with a view of rejoining her in Candia
in May. I go up the country, but as it will be impossible during
that journey to collect many specimens of everything, I shall confine
myself to making a pretty perfect set of Lycian plants for the her-
barium of the Botanical Society, Ward, Graham and yourself, which
on consideration I think will be the best way of benefiting science in
a country as yet unexplored, and better than laying by dubious
stores. I enclose a table of the winter vegetation here to give you
an idea of it. Lay it on the table at some meeting of the Society.
I have not been fortunate hitherto in seeking after materia medica
information, but hope to be so.”

After having carried on his researches in the Aigean Sea,he had
determined to proceed to Egypt and the Red Sea on a dredging
excursion, when intelligence reached him that he had been
chosen Professor of Botany in King’s College, London, as sue-
cessor to the late Professor Don. Application for this had been

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 31

made by Goodsir and some other friends in his behalf, and his
claims were at once recognized by the electors.

In 1842 he came to Britain with collections and drawings of
scenery, of antiquities, of plants, of animals, and of men and
manners, which in extent, variety, scientific value and artistic
skill have never been equalled. A sum was voted by the Trea-
sury for the publication of these, which Forbes intended to append
to a treatise on the Natural History of Aristotle, a work for
which he had collected ample materials. He commenced the
preparation of ‘ Rambles of a Naturalist,’ and in 1843 he writes,
“‘my leisure now I give to my long advertised ‘ Rambles.’ The
cuts are done, but the middle of the book is yet unwritten.”

His introductory lecture on botany was delivered in King’s
College on May 8, 1843, and is a valuable one, full of original
views and of potent arguments in favour of the educational value
of Natural History. He now rose rapidly in favour. In 1843
he was appointed Curator and Assistant Secretary of the Geo-
logical Society of London, and became a Fellow of the Linnzan
Society. At the meeting of the British Association at Cork this
year he read a Report on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Mgean
Sea; and as connected with his Aigean ‘ Travels,’ he subse-
quently published remarks on the lght thrown on geology by
submarine researches. In October 1843 he writes thus :—

** Geological Museum, Somerset House.
** Dear Balfour, '

**T have intended to write to you for a very long time, but inten-
tions are not always deeds with me, in consequence of having a mass
of work in hand,—mostly not my own,—which must be done, and
which absorbs all my time. The fact is I have too much to do,—
this geological post being a desperately fatiguing one, and leaving
but little time for my more legitimate occupation at King’s College.
My class last summer went off very well. I had a most excellent
set of men, who behaved admirably and never flagged in attendance.
I had three or four excursions of much interest, managed in our old
fashion, alarming the neighbouring villages by an invasion of twenty
or so vasculsfert. Shaw acted as my esquire and jester on all these
occasions, and Lankester, with some other amateurs, also occasionally
joined my ranks. My pupils were 48 in number, next to Lindley’s,
the best botanical class in London. If the 48 all paid the fees into
my pocket ‘more Scotico,’ it would be very satisfactory, but the Col-
lege absorbs more than a fourth of it, so that my receipts were much
under the hundred, and as in one’s first course there are many ex-
penses, I get but little out of the total. As the College has a dia-
gram painter, there was a saving on that score; for being obliged to
be at the Geological all day long, I have no time to paint diagrams.
The most provoking want is having no botanic garden, and I have
no spare days to run after and make friends with gardeners, so that

32 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

I have great difficulty in procuring fresh illustrations. Hooker
offered me them from Kew, but on condition that I should go and
select for myself personally, which is impossible as I am situated.
We have a capital herbarium at the College, but when it is to be put
into the state it should be I really cannot tell. It vexes me much
thus to find myself unable to give sufficient time to any one thing.

“The Medical Professors at King’s are a capital set of men, en-
thusiastic and talented. I have a fine room for a Museum, and
should desire nothing better than time and fortune to do as I like
there. I am now only beginning to touch my Eastern plants. When
they are sorted they shall be distributed, but I cannot promise as to
the time. My pupils in the Beacon are collecting with great success,
and sent me a few days ago a beautiful little parcel from Mount Ida
in Crete, including some things which may be new.

« T commend your intention of writing a text-book. What we want
is a clear statement of the present state of vegetable physiology and
anatomy, and a concise and contrasting view of the orders in a
portable class volume. I speak now from having felt the want of
such.”

In the position of Geological Curator, “his extensive know-
ledge of recent vegetable and animal species, and his remarkable
acquaintance with the laws of their distribution (particularly as
regards invertebrate animals), became available for general pale-
ontological research. Here, too, he was enabled to apply to
geological research that peculiar knowledge of the conditions of
existence of species, which his continual operations with the
dredge had led him to. We owe to him the methodical use of
the dredge as an instrument of research in natural history ; to
use his own words, ‘ the dredge is an instrument as valuable to
a naturalist as a thermometer to a natural philosopher.’ At his
instance, the British Association has appoimted for many years
a dredging committee, charged with the duty of completing our
knowledge of marine animals, with a view to geological in-

uiry.”

; In 1845 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was
afterwards a Member of Council. He was appointed Palaon-
tologist to the Geological Survey of Great Britain, under Sir
Henry De la Beche, and subsequently became Professor of
Zoology and Paleontology in the Government School of Mines.
He gave lectures in King’s College, in the Royal Institution, in
the School of Mines, and at Marlborough House; and he
arranged the fossils of the splendid Geological Museum in
Jermyn Street. He continued to prosecute his practical geo-
logical work in various parts of the kingdom, and published
from time to time the results of his researches.

About the year 1846, he was attacked with a severe illness
of a nephritic nature, during which his life appeared to be in

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 33

great jeopardy. Although he recovered from the attack, yet
the effects of it were frequently felt by him afterwards; and it
seems to have laid the foundation of his fatal illness. He often
remarked, that he appeared to possess great vitality, from having
struggled through two such serious attacks ; and, in his last
illness, his hopes were for a time kept up by the idea he enter-
tained of his vital powers.

Towards the end of the year 1846, he published, with Lieut.
Spratt, his ‘Travels in Lycia,’ a classical work, containing in-
teresting episodes in natural history, with a ‘Sketch of the
Botany of Asia Minor and the Agean. About the same time
appeared his Monograph of the Southern Indian Fossils, in the
Geological Transactions, illustrated by the best plates of fossil
Invertebrata ever done in England.

About this time he wrote on the connexion between the dis-
tribution of the existing Fauna and Flora of the British Isles,
and the geological changes which have affected their area.

In 1848 his admirable Monograph on the British Naked-eye
Medusz was published by the Ray Society.

Subsequently appeared his Palzontological and Geological
Map, contributed to Johnston’s Physical Atlas; and in 1850 he
completed, with Mr. Hanley, the splendid work on the ‘ Natural
History of the British Mollusca and their Shells.’

His wonderful facility in all departments of science was due,
Hooker says, to the early age at which he acquired its rudiments
and to the efficient practical training in systematic botany and
collecting which he received in Edinburgh ; to his quick percep-
tion of affinities; to his philosophical views of morphology, dis-
tribution, structure, functions, and the mutual relations of all
these; to his mind being richly stored with the literature of the
sciences ; to the wide experience obtained during his travels ; and,
finally, to that heaven-given power of generalization and abstrac-
tion which he so eminently possessed.

In 1848 he married a daughter of the late General Sir C.
Ashworth. It is curious to notice, that during that year four
were married out of the ten who met to institute the Botanical
Society.

In 1852 he published some valuable observations in regard
to genera and species, in reference to which I received the follow-
ing letter :—

‘My dear Balfour,
«The paper I sent you is a brief abstract of a long lecture*. It
contains, in fact, only the table of contents, without the illustrations
and comments: hence its obscurity.

* [Inserted in the ‘ Annals’ for July, 1852.)
TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. V. Dd

“Jermyn Street, 19th June, 1852.

34 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

«My notions about genus are these :—

““ What we call class, order, family, genus, are all only so many
names for genera, of various degrees of extent. It is in this sense I
use the word genus in my lectures. Technically, a genus is a group
to which a name (as Ribes) is applied; but essentially, Exogens,
Ranunculacea, Ranunculus, are genera of different degrees.

** Now, one of the chief arguments in favour of the naturalness of
genera (or groups, if you like), is that derived from the fact that
many genera can be shown to be centralized in definite geographical
areas (Hrica, for example) ; 7. e. we find the species gathered all, or
mostly, within an area, which has some one point where the maximum
number of species is developed.

“But, in geographical space, we not unfrequently find that the
same genus may have two or more areas, within each of which this
phzenomenon of a point of maximum number of species is seen, with
fewer and fewer species radiating, as it were, from it. [This is what
I speak of under C, as more centres than one in geographical space. |

Area of a genus.

was praepka

s x

Fd ms
Fy Ao p> as 5
! at \
rh- ~— F-= =~ 20. \
; ist. 5 ‘
’ : ae < 1
4 q 6 /

. 8; ’

+ '

s
» ‘ ot

The numbers refer to species.
(This diagram is imaginary. ]
Thus, Viola hasan American as well as an Old World point of maxi-
mum of development, around which you may group the species,
gradually diminishing in number.
“In time, however (or, in other words, in geological distribution),

so far as we know, each generic type has had, so to speak, an unique
and continuous range :—

ce
Tertiary b

Secondary

Palzozoic

Thus we find that all the species of genus @ are grouped together
within a succession of formations which commence at a certain point,
and cease at another; so with 6, so with e; but when once a generic
type (as Trilobites) has ceased, it never reappears. Therefore I speak
of a genus having an unique centre in time.

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 35

“Under italic ¢ I say, that a genus is an abstraction, a divine
idea. I think the very fact of the centralization of groups, of allied
species, 7. e. of genera, in space and time, is sufficient proof of this.
Doubtless we make many so-called genera that are artificial ;
but a true genus is natural; and, as such, is not dependent on
man’s will.

«<] dare say that I have only added obscurity to obscurity by this
explanation ; but, with diagrams, and time for talk, I think I could
make the matter quite clear.

** Yours very sincerely,

** EpwARD ForBEs.”

He was elected in 1853 to the Presidentship of the Geological
Society; and delivered, on leaving that office, an admirable
address on the state of geology, which has been recently pub-
lished.

In May 1854, on the demise of Prof. Jameson, he was called
to the Chair of Natural History in this University. This had
long been, to him, an object of his highest ambition. No one
was so well qualified for it; and, had he been spared, he would
undoubtedly have greatly extended its reputation, and would
have made our university still more eminent as a school of
science. Often had he stated in his letters, that he looked on
Edinburgh as a place where the finest Natural History School
in Europe could be formed. The Museum would, under his
auspices, have mightily increased. Even during the short
period he was with us, boxes of specimens were coming in from
all quarters. He had resolved to dedicate himself to the work
of arrangement; and his services in connexion with the New
~Museum of Economic Geology were looked forward to as of
immense importance. The opening of the Museum to the
public, and to all students of natural history, was an object he
had im view; and he had already shown his liberal spirit by
opening it to the pupils of natural history under Dr. Fleming
at the New College.

He lectured last summer with the greatest success. His
class amounted to 150, and all felt that they were listening to
the prelections of a master-mind in science. Already had he
inspired many with something of his own zeal ; and his excur-
sions to various places in the neighbourhood, such as Craigleith,
Arthur’s Seat, Inchkeith, Inchcolm, and Loch Lomond, were
but foretastes of what he would have done in the way of practical
geology. He had laid large and comprehensive plans, both as
regards zoology and geology, and had commenced in earnest
museum work.

Those who had the privilege of being with him in the class-
room and in the field during his short career in Edinburgh as a

D2

36 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

Professor, saw something of his merits as an expounder of
nature in a comprehensive way. He took an enlarged grasp of
science in all its departments, and in all countries; his prelections
were of a nature never yet equalled in Britain. With all his
knowledge, he combined an affability, a modesty, a kindness,
and patient perseverance which endeared him to every one.
No student of nature was beneath his notice; no fact recorded
by a pupil, however humble, was passed with neglect. He was
ready at all times to be questioned, and was prompt to point
out any spark of merit in others. He had no jealousy, and
never indulged in attacks on others. He gave full credit to all,
and was more ready to see the bright than the dark spots in
the character. Even to those who had criticised him severely,
he bore no ill will, and he certainly did not return railing for
railing. He had a truly generous spirit, and was totally devoid
of narrow bigotry. He was desirous of promotimg science, in-
dependent of all selfish views. He loved it for its own sake.
He had a noble temper, unaffected by good or ill fortune, and
he was universally and deservedly beloved.

After his summer lectures he was busily engaged arranging
matters in London. He made excursions in different directions,
and his last dredging was carried on with myself, Dr. Mae-
Donald, and Prof. Wyville Thomson, at North Berwick, in
September last, previous to the meeting of the British Associa-
tion. He attended that meeting in Liverpool, and occupied
the chair in the Geological section. He made communications
both to the Zoological and Geological sections. Few will forget
the brilliant eulogium passed upon him by Prof. Sedgwick, at
the conclusion of the business of Section C.

After the Association Meeting he spent some time in Dum-
friesshire, and was there exposed, during an excursion, to wet,
which was followed by shivering and febrile symptoms. These
were supposed by him to indicate a return of his Aigean fever.
When he came to Edinburgh he was by no means well, but mueh
was attributed by him to being overworked. In spite of this he
continued to labour, visited Mr. Murray of Monckland, for the
purpose of observing geological phenomena, and vigorously set
about preparation for his winter work, as well as for the ‘ Ndin-
burgh New Philosophical Journal’ (previously Jameson’s), of
which he and Dr.'T. Anderson were now the editors. He also re-
vised his elaborate Paper on the ‘ Geological and Paleontological
Map of Britain’ for the new edition of Johnston’s ¢ Physical Atlas.’

One of his latest productions was the article ‘Siluria’ in the last
Quarterly Review, which concludes with this passage, so charae-
teristic of his peace-making spirit :—

“Men whose work, both of head and hand, is done mainly

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes: 37

under the broad sky, and along the craggy sides of mountains,
heedless of weather and toil, are not likely to use mincing forms
of speech or mollify their sentiments when engaged in discussions,
though all the time mildness and mercy are at the foundation
of their thoughts. Better and truer men, whether in field or
council, there are not living than the two famous geologists, the
nature of whose differences we have endeavoured to expound.
They have worked long and well in co-operation, heart and hand
united ; and though the fortune of scientific war has led in the
end to the crossing of their pens, the names of Sedgwick and
Murchison will go down to posterity, side by side, and bracketed
together in the glorious list of benefactors of mankind through
the advancement of science.”

He commenced his lectures on 1st November, 1854, and gave
an introductory address, which has been found among his manu-
scripts, and will appear as a posthumous work in the January
number of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. He
lectured for five or six days, and entered seventy-one pupils in
his class roll. During all this time he complained more or less
of febrile symptoms. These at last increased so much that he
consulted Dr. Bennett, who at once ordered him to give up
lecturmg. This he did on Thursday the 9th of November, in
the hope of being able to resume work on the Monday following.

On Saturday the 11th, I received a note from him, in which
he enters fully into the reasons for not altering the hour of his
lecture, as had been proposed by some of his colleagues. He
very truly says, “ For my own part I hold that to-change any
hour of lecture after the arrangements of the session are com-
pleted and advertised, is both deleterious and unbusinesslike
* * *, The first consideration should be academical conve-
mience; the next, the propriety, if there are to be changes, of
announcing them a full session beforehand; the last, private
convenience.” He concludes by saying, “I was too ill to venture
to the Botanical Society on Thursday.”

During his illness he was very anxious about the Journal,
and on Monday the 13th he wrote a note to me, in which he
says, “I am completely shattered for the moment, and don’t
know how to get on with the Journal, being so ill. Could you
look in upon me and advise? I am still in my bed.” This is
probably the last note he wrote.

I visited him on Tuesday, and found that he had been suffer-
ing great pain, and although the violent symptoms were relaxed,
he was unable toconverse with me. On Wednesday the 15th he
was rather easier and was able to give me directions about the
papers for the Journal ; spoke with great anxiety about his pupils
and his class, and gave a message to several of them.

38 Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

From that time the disease increased, and the symptoms be-
came of a very alarming nature. He was attended assiduously
by his old friend Goodsir, along with Dr. Christison and Dr.
Bennett ; but all medical skill was unavailing. On the evening
of Friday he gave his last directions, leaving his specimens to
the College Museum, at Edinburgh, and his papers to Robert
Godwin Austen, Esq. He continued to sink, and died at 54 P.M.
on Saturday 18th November, being sensible to the last.

In announcing this sad event at the Council Board, the
Lord Provost said it was his melancholy duty to notice the
removal from amongst them by death of Professor Edward
Forbes, one of the most distinguished ornaments of their Uni-
versity. Professor Forbes was appointed to the Chair of Natural
History so recently as May last, and the appointment, made by
the Crown at the unanimous suggestion of the Council, was
hailed by them and by the whole scientific world as an acquisi-
tion to the University, and as one which would in all likelihood
tend to increase its celebrity in that department to which he
had directed his attention. He had given a course of lectures
during the summer, and had entered upon his winter course,
when a disease of some standing suddenly removed him from
among them. He (the Lord Provost) knew that the Council
would deeply mourn the loss which they had thus sustained.
Professor Forbes had been eut off at the very commencement
of what they had fondly hoped would be a career of increased
usefulness in a position which it had been one of the dearest
objects of his heart to attain. He (the Lord Provost) had to
propose that the Council should express their deep sympathy
with his bereaved widow and family at the loss which they in
common with the community had sustained, and that, as a mark
of respect to his memory, they should offer to attend his remains
to the tomb.

The body was interred in the Dean Cemetery on Thursday
23rd November, near the burying-place of Professor Wilson,
and the funeral was attended by his colleagues, the Lord Pro-
vost, magistrates, council, a large concourse of students, and
nearly all the followers of science in Edinburgh.

Only a few days before his death he had been elected by the
Royal Scottish Academy to fill the honorary office of Professor
of Ancient History, in room of the late Professor Wilson.

Immediately after the funeral, a meeting was held at Dr.
Bennett’s house, which was attended by many of Forbes’s
friends in London, Edinburgh and the provinces, at which it
was resolved to have a marble bust of him executed by Steel,
to be placed in the College Museum. It was also proposed
that a duplicate might be placed in the Jermyn Street Museum.

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes. 39

Mr. Goodsir had taken a cast after death, which supplies im-
portant materials for the bust. It is expected that the model
will be ready for the London Exhibition in May 1855, and the
busts by January 1856. It is announced that his pupils in
King’s College, London, have met for the purpose of procuring
a similar memorial of their late Professor.

At the request of several of his friends, Dr. George Wilson,
one of his early companions, has kindly consented to draw up a
memoir of him, and is now collecting materials for that pur-
pose. It is hoped that all who can supply information in regard
to the career of our late departed friend, will communicate as
soon as possible with Dr. George Wilson at Surgeons’ Hall.
The memoir will probably appear as a separate volume.

I cannot more appropriately conclude this sketch of my de-
parted companion, friend and colleague, than by quoting the
statements made regarding him by four men of eminence, viz.—
an anatomist, a botanist, a geologist, and a zoologist, who well
knew his merits. Goodsir says, ‘ Professor Edward Forbes was
pre-eminently a naturalist. His attention had never been ex-
clusively directed to any one of the Natural Sciences. He was
equally a botanist, a zoologist and a geologist, from first to last.
With a remarkable eye and tact for the discrimination of species
and the allocation of natural groups, he combined the utmost
delicacy in the perception of organic and cosmical relations.
He possessed that rare quality, so remarkable in the great
masters of Natural History, Linnzus and Cuvier, the power of
availing himself of the labours of his brethren—not, as is too
often the case, by appropriating their acquisitions, but by asso-
ciating them voluntarily in the common labour. Entirely desti-
tute of jealousy in scientific matters, he rather erred in over-
rating than in underrating the services of his friends. He was
consequently as much beloved and confided in by his seniors in
science as by the youngest naturalists of his acquaintance.

“Possessed of such comprehensive intellectual sympathies, Pro-
fessor Edward Forbes has always been considered by his friends
in Edinburgh and other places as the co-ordinating spirit of his
circle ; and his return as Professor of Natural History was con-
sidered by all who knew him as a guarantee of the steady pro-
gress of his favourite science in the metropolis of Scotland.
But, alas! by a dispensation of Providence, wise, doubtless,
though inscrutable and painful to us, he has been cut off.
Nevertheless, it may be, that short comparatively though his
career has been, he has already, in his writings and in his in-
fluences on his friends and pupils, left behind him such germs
of thought as shall hereafter develope themselves in the advan-
cing science of the period, and so secure for our departed friend

40 = Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Edward Forbes.

that full measure of scientific results which he ever longed after,
not out of vain glory, for no man could be more free from such
a feeling, but for the good of mankind and the glory of God.”

Dr. Joseph D. Hooker writes :—“ Endowed with real genius,
possessing many and highly cultivated talents, no less conspi-
cuous as an original thinker than as a hard and conscientious
worker, accomplished in literature and art, equally graceful and
ready with pencil or pen, in the lecture-room as in the closet,
and with far rarer qualities than all these—the purest and most
disinterested love of science, and the most generous appreciation
of the labours of others—it is no wonder that he was beloved
and admired beyond any natural historian of his day.”

Hugh Miller, in the conclusion of his late admirable address
on the fossiliferous deposits of Scotland, when resigning the chair
of the Royal Physical Society, remarks : “I trusted to have had
the honour of resigning the chair to a gentleman (Prof. E.
Forbes) who, fifteen years ago, was one of the most active and
zealous members of the Royal Physical Society ; and who had,
since that time, achieved for himself in natural science in gene-
ral, and in geology in especial, a reputation co-extensive with
the civilized world. But, alas! Death reigns. This distin-
guished man, in the full blow of his fame, and in the mature
prime of vigorous manhood, has passed suddenly away; and
wherever in either hemisphere physical science is cultivated, or
the by-past history of our globe excites its legitimate interest,
his early death will be felt and deplored as a heavy loss. The
spoiler has broken abruptly off many a train of imgenious
thought, cut short many a course of sedulous inquiry, arrested,
just ere its formation, many a profound induction, and scat-
tered hoards of unrecorded knowledge, the adequate re-gather-
ing of which many years to come may fail to witness. But our
idle regrets can neither restore the dead nor benefit the living.
Let us rather manifest our regard for the memory of our illus-
trious brother—taken so unexpectedly from among us—by
making his disinterested devotion to science our example, and
by striving to catch the tone of his frank and generous spirit.
And seeing how very much he succeeded in accomplishing
within the limits of a life that has, alas! fallen short by more
than thirty years of the old allotted term, let us diligently carry
on, in the love of truth, our not unimportant labours, remem-
bering that much may be accomplished in comparatively brief
space, if no time be lost, and that to each and all that ‘night
cometh’ at an uncertain hour, under whose dense and unbroken
shadow no man can work.”

Mr. James Wilson writes: “We should seek in vain to
express the full measure of grief, we may say dismay, with

Sketch of the Life of the late Professor Eaward Forbes. 41

which the unlooked-for death of this distinguished naturalist
has filled all hearts. While his friends were in the first freshness
of their elation at the prospect of the long and bright career
which lay before him, and rejoiced in the force and efficiency
of that impulse about to be given to the earnest study of the
wonderful and manifold works of creation, this most skilful and
accomplished interpreter has been suddenly removed from
us, and his place now knows him no more for ever. Such dis-
pensations are indeed inscrutable mysteries, and cannot be seen
through even by those whose eyes are not bedimmed with tears.
But, may all of us, and more especially the widow and the
fatherless, bear in mind that ‘the Lord reigneth.” He gives
and He takes away, and let us bless His name, even amid the
bitterness of unavailing sorrow.”

VII. On Hypericum anglicum. By Cuarves C. Basineron,
M.A., F.R.S. &c.

Reap 14TH DeceMBER 1854.

Since the publication of my remarks upon the supposed Hype-
ricum anglicum, found near Cork by Dr. Balfour (Ann, and Mag.
Nat. Hist. Ser. 2. xi. 8360; Edin. Bot. Soc. Trans. iv. 169), I
have received additional information concerning it, and have also
been favoured with a specimen of an Hypericum gathered upon
the cliffs above Falmouth harbour in Cornwall, which agrees
very exactly with Bertoloni’s description of his Hl. anglicum. It
appears therefore proper to publish the results of the further
study which I have been led to give to the subject, more espe-
cially as my opinion has undergone a change.

In my former paper it was stated to be doubtful if the plant
there called H. anglicum ought to be separated specifically from
H. hircinum, and I am now strongly disposed to believe that they
are indeed one species. At the time of that publication I had
been led to suppose, that the plant found near Cork was wild
there ; but am now informed by Mr. Isaac Carroll of that city,
that the station noticed by Dr. Balfour closely adjoins, and, in-
deed, one side of it forms the “ boundary of Lota Wood, whence
many half-naturalized species have been recorded by Dennis
Murray, such as Geranium pheum, Atropa Belladonna, &c.,
plants by no means native there ; and from this place,” Mr, Car-
roll thinks that the Hypericum in question has migrated. It is
not contained in Dr. Power’s very carefully prepared Flora of
Cork (1845), and therefore was not known to him as a native, or
even a naturalized plant. He was particularly careful to include
all plants of both these kinds. It is now perfectly naturalized,
but only, as Mr. Carroll informs me, in suspicious places. In
addition to the station near Lota Wood, a single “ plant of it
grows on an old wall at Monkstown, but although there is no
modern garden from which it might have escaped, yet the wall
is close to an old castle and burying-ground, localities always
famous for doubtful species.” Mr. Carroll thinks that Hyper.
calycinum, Vinca major, V. minor, Hesperis matronals, Iris Pseud-
acorus, and Sambucus Ebulus ave similarly escapes from culti-
vation in the neighbourhood of Cork. This information seems

Mr. C. C. Babington on Hypericum anglicum. 43

to settle in the negative the claims of this plant to be considered
as a native of Britain*.

The probability of its distinctness from H. hircinum was chiefly
founded upon a supposed difference of habit, which I now do
not believe to be very great; also upon the shape of the leaves,
upon which I am now inclined to place very little weight. The
H. anglicum (Bab.), but not of Bertoloni, is therefore probably
nothing more than H. hircinum escaped from cultivation, or
perhaps intentionally planted at Lota Wood and elsewhere in
the south of Ireland.

Having disposed of H. anglicum (Bab.), I have next to con-
sider if there is any British plant according with the H. anglicum
(Bert.), to which latter plant both of the synonyms quoted in
my former paper belong. In the year 1853 I received from
Mr. T. R. Polwhele, a student of St. John’s College, Cambridge, a
fine specimen of an Hypericum gathered by him on the “cliff above
Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall.” This specimen has the branching
habit, winged peduncles, large flowers, and long styles of H. hir-
cinum, combined with the leaves and sepals of H. androsemum.
These are the very points to which Bertoloni directs attention as
the distinctive characters of his H. anglicum, and as the plant under
consideration accords well with the figure erroneously named
H. androsemum im ‘ English Botany,’ to which Bertoloni refers
as representing his H. anglicum, I think that we may reasonably
conclude that the Cornish specimen is really H. anglicum (Bert.).
That some plant agreeing with the figure in ‘ English Botany ’
inhabits Britain may be concluded with certainty, when we call
to mind the great accuracy of the figures which proceeded from
the pencil of the late Mr. James Sowerby. As Bertoloni has
made some slight mistakes in the synonymy of his plant, it is
proper to consider each of his references separately. I proceed
then to take them in order. H. androsemum, Sm. Eng. Flora
(i. p. 323), probably includes both the plant so named and also
H. anglicum, but the points which would decide the question are
not noticed in the description there given. It has been already
remarked that Eng. Bot. (t. 1225) represents H. anglicum.
Curtis, Fl. Lond. (i. t. 103, as it is quoted in the ‘ Fl. Italica,’
but i. t. 164, as is apparently the more correct reference to that
variously arranged work), is a beautiful figure of H. androsemum,
and is therefore erroneously placed under his H. anglicum by
Bertoloni. Hooker’s Brit. Flora (ed. 2. p. 332) may include both

of the plants. Babington’s Manual (ed. 1. p. 57) was intended

* Prof. Balfour states that it was found by Dr. Sibbald on the high road
between Aghada and Cloyne, to the south-west of Aghada, and that that
gentleman did not remember anything to make him suspect that it had
been introduced.

Ad Mr. C. C. Babington on Hypericum anglicum.

to include the true H. androsemum alone ; for I was then totally
unacquainted with the supposed H. anglicum, and was in error
when quoting Eng. Bot. 1225 as a representation of my plant.
The same error I continued to commit in the 2nd and 3rd edi-
tions of the ‘Manual.’ Reichenbach’s figure named H. grandi-
folium is far too imperfect for satisfactory determination, but
probably does not represent either of the plants under consider-
ation, and what he may have received from the “ Isle of Arran,
Buteshire,” it is impossible to tell.

It. now only remains for me to place in a technical form the
characters of H. anglicum according to my present views of it.

H. anglicum (Bert.) ; stem shrubby 2-edged much branched, pedun-
cles 2-winged, leaves subcordate-ovate rather acute, cymes few-
flowered, sepals broad unequal, petals twice as long as the sepals,
styles exceeding the stamens, capsules ‘ oval.”

H. anglicum, Bert. Fl. Ital. viii. 310.

H. androsemum, Eng. Bot. t. 1225.

The plant is tall, almost shrubby, producing a rather long
sumple branch from nearly all of the upper axils of the leaves,
most of them ending in cymes of from 1 to 5 flowers. The
flowers are large, and much resemble both in size and appearance
those of H. hircinum. The peduncles are furnished with two
well-marked wings, extending from their true base at the bracts
up to the flower. The sepals are ovate, rather acute, and unequal,
and are probably reflexed from the fruit. The styles have a
tendency to break off at a short distance from their thick base as
the capsule enlarges, and in that state may be mistaken for such
short ones as belong to H. androsemum. The capsule is pro-
bably rather pointed when ripe, but I have not seen it in that
state. It is certainly of that shape in an earlier state.

This plant is more nearly allied to H. hircinum than to H. an-
drosemum. It flowers in July, August and September.

Since this paper was written, Dr. Balfour has kindly placed in
my hands all his specimens of these plants, and I learn from them
that he gathered H. anglicum on the banks of the Crinan Canal
in Argyleshire (1827), near Culross on the Frith of Forth (1833),
and near Galway (1838). It will probably soon be noticed in
many other places. It is hoped that these remarks will cause
botanists to examine carefully all specimens named H. andro-
semum, in order that we may soon be informed of the true claims
of H. anglicum to be separated from it ; and may also learn what
is the geographical range of each of the plants.

VIII. Report on a Collection of Diatomacez made in the District
of Braemar by Professor Balfour and Mr. George Lawson.

By R. K. Grevitiez, LL.D. &e.
Reap 8TH Feervary 1855.

In the course of the autumn of last year, Professor Balfour made
a botanical excursion with a small party of friends and pupils to
the mountainous district of Braemar; and his attention having
been directed for some time past to the Diatomacez, he and
Mr. George Lawson made a considerable number of gatherings
in a great variety of situations, from the patches of snow which
even in summer are always to be found in certain nooks and
corners of Ben-na-Muic-Dhui, down to the valleys of the Dee,
Glen Callater and Glen Tilt. The gatherings were subsequently
placed in my hands, with a request that I would examine and
report upon them to the Botanical Society. I have accordingly
submitted the collections tv a patient investigation, and in now
presenting my account of them, I have to acknowledge the kind
assistance of the Rey. William Smith, Professor of Natural
History in the Cork College, to whom I referred the new and
dubious forms as the individual most competent to give an
authoritative decision in such cases.

The following is a general list of the species collected, which,
although not so extensive as might have been anticipated, is
rich in rare and interesting forms. The new species, and those
recently or for the first time added to the British flora, are printed
in ttalies.

Epithemia turgida (Ehr.). Cymbella ventricosa, Kiitz.
alpestris, W. Sm. Scotica, W. Sm.
—— rupestris, W. Sm. — Helvetica, Kiitz.
gibba (Ehr.). lunata, W. Sm., nov. sp.
Eunotia Arcus (EFfr.). —— equalis, W. Sm., nov. sp.
— incisa, Greg. Amphora ovalis, Kiitz.
— gracilis, W. Sm. Cocconeis Pediculus, Ehr.
— monodon, Ehr. Cyclotella operculata, Kiitz.
diodon, Hhr., three forms. Surirella linearis, W. Sm.
Camelus, Ebr. biseriata, Bréb.
—— triodon, Ehr., two forms. Cymatopleura Solea (Kiitz.).
—— tridentula, Ehr. Navicula cocconeiformis, Greg.,
—— tetraodon, Ehr. noy. sp.

quaternaria, Ehr. rhomboides, Ehr.
Cymbella cuspidata, Kiitz. crassinervia, Bréb.
—— affinis, Kitz. —— serians, Kiitz.

46 Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez.

Navicula firma, Kii‘z.

ovalis, W. Sm.

angustata, W. Sm.

—— gibberula, Kitz.

—— cryptocephala, Kiitz.

Pinnularia major (Kiitz.).

—— viridis (Khr.).

hemiptera, Bréb.

acuminata, W. Sm.

lata (Bréb.).

alpina, W. Sm.

late-striata, Greg.

radiosa (Kiitz.).

acuta, W. Sm.

tenuis, Greg.

—— divergens, W. Sm.

stauroneiformis, WV. Sm.

Stauroneis Pheenicenteron (Khr.).

gracilis, Ehr.

anceps, Ehr.

Synedra lunaris, Ehr.

—— radians, W. Sm., with vars. B.
and y.

Cocconema lanceolatum, Lhr.

eymbiforme, Hhr.

Cistula, Ehr.

Gomphonema acuminatum, Ehr.,
with var. y.

dichotomum, Kitz.

tenellum, W. Sm.

Gomphonema capitatum, Ehr., with
var. B.

olivaceum (Lyngb.).

intricatum, Kiitz.

Meridion circulare, 49.

constrictum, Ralfs.

Himantidium Areus, Bhr.

majus, W. Sm.

—— pectinale (Dillw.).

undulatum, W. Sm.

Odontidium hyemale (Lyngb.).

—— mesodon (Ehr.).

anomalum, W. Sm., nov. sp.

Tabellaria, W. Sm.

? Harrisonii, var. B, W. Sm.

Denticula tenuis, Kitz.

obtusa (Lyngb.).

sinuata, W. Sm.

Fragilaria virescens, Ralfs.

Achnanthidium flexellum, Bréb.

lanceolatum, Bréb.

Diatoma tenue (Ag.).

Diatomella Balfouriana, W. Sm.,
nov. gen.

Tabellaria floeculosa (Roth).

fenestrata (Lyngb.).

Melosira nivalis, W. Sm.

distans, Kiitz.

Orthosira spinosa, W. Sm., nov. sp.

orichalcea (Mert.).

I shall now proceed to notice the new species and a few others

of novelty or rarity.

Eunotia Camelus, Ehr.? Pl. IV. fig. 1. Length 0009".

This is recorded in Kitzing’s ‘ Species Algarum,’ published

in 1849, as a native of the two widely separated localities, Cay-
enne and Labrador. It occurred in a recent state in one of the
Braemar gatherings, and has been observed by Professor Gre-
gory in others from Carr Bridge and Ben Nevis, and by Professor
Walker-Arnott in one from Fell End, Lancashire. I have like-
wise seen it fossil, but very rarely, in Lapland Bergmehl. This
diatom, in the opinion of the Rev. Professor Smith, is certainly
the E. Camelus of Ehrenberg and Kiitzing, notwithstanding the
inaccurate figure given by the latter, in which the base of the
frustule is represented as concave. In the form under consider-
ation the base is so remarkably straight, that it is difficult to con-
ceive how an artist could have made such an error in its deline-
ation. Professor Gregory, moreover, informs me that he has seen
in the Mull deposit a form exactly corresponding with Kiitzing’s
figure; so that it is possible that two species may have been

~

Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez. 47

confounded together. Under these circumstances I consider it
advisable to refer our diatom doubtfully to H. Camelus, and to
add a figure for the guidance of the student. I have unfor-
tunately no access to Ehrenberg’s illustration (Amer. t. 2).

Eunotia tridentula, Ehr. PI. IV. fig.2. Length -0005".

Found along with the preceding. It belongs to a little group
of minute, linear forms, quite distinct from the more robust and
convex series having the same number of undulations. The only
station given by Kiitzing for this species is America. Dr. Gre-
gory has observed it in a great variety of gatherings from Banff-
shire ; Carr Bridge, Morayshire ; from the Findhorn and from
Ben Nevis. Professor Smith obtained it also last year at a high
elevation in Auvergne. It is probably therefore of general dis-
tribution.

Eunotia quaternaria, Ehr. PI. IV. fig. 3. Length :0007”.

A species scarcely to be distinguished from the last, except by
the additional tooth or undulation. Cayenne is the only locality
recorded by Kiitzing, but, like the preceding, it has probably
escaped notice on account of its minuteness. Since I detected
it along with EL. tridentula in one of the Braemar gatherings,
Professor Gregory has observed it in those from Carr Bridge and
Ben Nevis. Dr. Walker-Arnott has also met with it, and it is
in Professor Smith’s list from Auvergne. In this form, as well
as in E. tridentula, the base is slightly concave, and there is a
small undulation near each end.

Eunotia incisa, Greg. Length -0008".

First observed and well figured by Professor Gregory in his
account of the rich fossil diatomaceous earth of Mull, published
in the ‘ Journal of Microscopical Science.’ He has since found
it in various recent gatherings; in fact, it appears to be very
generally diffused throughout the alpme districts of this country.
It is of frequent occurrence in the Braemar gatherings. I have
likewise seen it in fossil deposits from the United States. Pro-
fessor Smith, I believe, entertains some doubts whether this
diatom be a genuine Eunotia; and it must be confessed that it
has much the aspect of a Himantidium, bearing a close resem-
blance in form to H. Veneris, Kiitz., as Professor Gregory has
remarked. Kiitzing however admits it as a new species, and as
the striation is that of a Eunotia, I feel disposed to retain it as
such. Although not strictly speaking a novelty, I refer to it in
this place chiefly in order to correct a slightly erroneous view

48 Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez.

regarding the outline. In examining the frustule under a power
of three or four hundred diameters, there does appear to be an
incision or notch near each extremity of the frustule; hence the
specific name. But on the application of higher powers the ap-
parent notch is found to be a deception caused by the nodule and
a slight contraction, commencing at the nodule and continued
to the apex. It is, in fact, the nodule interrupting the marginal
continuity of the frustule, which causes the appearance of an
incision. I find among living specimens quite as extensive a
range of form as is represented by Professor Gregory in the
paper above referred to.

Cymbella equalis, W.Sm. Pl. IV. fig. 4. Length 0014”.

A very distinct new species, so nearly symmetrical as to be
liable at a hasty glance to be taken for a Navicula. There is
however a curve at the shortly produced, obtuse extremities.
The strize are fine, but not very close. This form was abundant
in one gathermg only, composed of coarse black peaty mud
extremely difficult to clean.

Cymbella lunata, W. Sm. PI.IV. fig. 5. Length -0013".

Another new species, about the same size as the last, but the
striz are much stronger and more distant, and the shape narrow
and elongated. The larger segment of the valve has a gentle
and equal curve, while the smaller segment is nearly straight, a
character sufficient of itself to distinguish it from the larger
C. Helvetica, which is ventricose. From C. Scotica it is sepa-
rated by the coarse striz and the obtuse ends.

Navicula cocconeiformis, Greg. MS. PI. IV. fig. 6.
Length 0008" to -0011”.

Navicula nugax, W. Sm. MSS.

A new species, somewhat similar in outline to Achnanthidium
flexellum, with striz so fine that I have not succeeded in re-
solving them. I find that this species has been known for above
a year to Professor Gregory, who had both sketched and named
it previous to my detection of it in the Braemar gatherings.
He had obtained it from Elchies and various other places in
Banffshire, and latterly from Loch Leven.

Pinnularia hemiptera, Bréb,

This species, found, as Professor Smith informs me, not un-
frequently since the first volume of his work was published, I
met with almost pure near the Pass of Killiecrankie early last

Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez. 49

summer. It was obtained by squeezing the moisture out of
Sphagnum, and along with it occurred an undescribed species,
Pinnularia gracillima, Greg. MSS. In the autumn I again
found it in the mountainous district of Redesdale in Northum-
berland, by resorting to the same process, and singular enough,
P. gracillima was there also, with scarcely any intermixture of
other diatoms. P. hemiptera greatly resembles P. viridis, but
is distinguished from it by the much finer striz, and perhaps
also by a more strictly linear outline. It was scarce in the
Braemar gatherings, and unaccompanied by P. gracillima.

Pinnularia late-striata, described by Professor Gregory from
the Mull deposit, and found recent by Professor Smith in Grass-
mere, is scattered through a number of the Braemar gatherings,
generally associated with other of the alpine Pinnularia, as P.
lata, P. alpina, P. divergens, &c. Though not plentiful any-
where, it seems to be generally diffused. Professor Gregory in-
forms me that it occurs in more than half of the very numerous
Scottish gatherings which he has examined. Professor Smith
likewise found it in Auvergne.

Odontidium anomalum, W. Sm. Pl. IV. fig. 7-9.

Odontidium anomalum, W. Sm., Ann. of Nat. Hist. vol. xv. p. 7.
pl. 1. fig. 8.

A new and very interesting diatom, discovered last summer
by Professor Smith in the Cevennes at an elevation of about
4000 feet, and by Professor Balfour and Mr. Lawson in Braemar
immediately afterwards. It was exceedingly scarce, and mixed
with Melosira distans, Kiitz. This species is described and figured
by Smith in his paper on the Diatomacez of the South of
France, recently published in the ‘ Annals of Natural History.’
Its chief character rests on the linear valves, constricted towards
the obtuse extremities; but the very peculiar structure of the
valves as seen in the front view affords besides a most conspi-
cuous distinction. This structure arises from the presence of
“internal cells,” which Professor Smith regards as an abnormal
condition of the filament, because frustules of the more usual
description (as occurring in other species) may be occasionally
found side by side with others containing internal cells. Theo-
retically, this view may be correct ; but it is certain, that in the
only specimens hitherto observed in France and Scotland, the
filaments are almost exclusively composed of frustules containing
the internal cells, and which thence derive a most marked cha-
racter ; while the normal frustules are, as Professor Smith justly
remarks, rarely to be detected. It would be a very curious fact

TRANS, BOT. SOC. VOL. V. E

50 Dr. Greville on some British Diatomaceze.

if this diatom should prove to be known everywhere in an
abnormal condition—and that that condition should be one of
increased development. This so-called abnormal structure—
which according to my view differs considerably from that exhi-
bited in the figure which illustrates Professor Smith’s paper—is
very beautiful under the microscope. Each frustule in the figure
referred to contains an internal cell, elliptical or linear-elliptical
(as the filaments happen to vary in breadth from 0006" to
0015"), converging to a point at each end, and traversed longi-
tudinally by a median line. The following, on the contrary, is
the result of my own observations, made, I may add, before I
saw Professor Smith’s paper. When a frustule becomes abnormal
it is divided by an elliptically curved line, the centre of the
curve approaching very close to the lateral margin, while the ex-
tremities of the line terminate nearly in the middle of each end
of the frustule. On each side of the termination of the line are
situated the minute nodules which are present in every condition
of the diatom. A single frustule is thus subdivided into two
cells, as will be more readily perceived by referring to the figures.
The same arrangement precisely, takes place im the adjoining
frustule, only the direction of the line is reversed; so that when
the two frustules are viewed in connexion, the lines form a
symmetrical elliptical figure truncated at each end, for they are
very far from converging to a point. The median line of the
“internal cell,” represented by Professor Smith’s artist, is in
fact the junction of two frustules. A somewhat similar arrange-
ment appears to exist in Meridion Zinckeni, Kiitz.*, as far as I
can judge from the figures given by the author, for I have not
had an opportunity of examining specimens myself.

Among the interesting acquisitions made during the ex-
cursion, the first place must unquestionably be given to a very
minute form discovered in both Glen Callater and Canlochlan,
but extremely rare. Judging from the general character of the
frustules, Professor Smith was inclined to think that they be-
longed to a filamentous species, but being unfortunately all in a
scattered state, he could not with any certainty assign its place
in the system. He therefore, with some doubt, bestowed upon it
the provisional name of Grammatophora? Balfouriana. Having
had occasion to examine this most remarkable diatom minutely
in the preparation of this report, 1 have come to the conclusion

* Professor Gregory informs me that this diatom was pointed out to him
by De Brébisson in a gathering made by me last summer at Duddingston
Loch. I had not observed it myself, and Dr. Gregory’s slide contaimmng it
is not at the present moment accessible. Dr. Gregory has since observed
it in some Banffshire gatherings.

q

Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez. 5]

that Professor Smith is correct in referring it to one of the fila-
mentous groups. My reasons for comeiding in this view are—
1. That, apart from the peculiar structure, which of itself is
almost sufficient evidence, there is a greater variation in the
relative length and breadth of the frustules than would be likely
to occur in other diatomaceous groups. In some the length is
more than equal to twice the breadth, while others are exactly
square, and between these two extremes every gradation may be
observed ; resembling in this inequality, Fragilaria, Odontidium,
Grammatophora, and other filamentous genera having plano-
compressed frustules. 2. Two nodules exist at each extremity
of the frustule, as in Odontidium, Fragilaria, &e.

With reference to the genus of this diatom I have ventured
to take a more decided course, as it does not appear to me that
it can be regarded even doubtfully as a Grammatophora without
doing violence to that genus. The vitte in the frustules of
Grammatophora are, to borrow a portion of Kiitzing’s defi-
nition, “ medio interrupte, plus minusve curvate ;” they are, in
fact, with the exception of this interruption, continuous through-
out ; whereas in the form under consideration they are as much
interrupted at each end as they are in the middle, and are be-
sides not in the slightest degree curved. Two internal septa
run through the frustule, as in Grammatophora, and upon these
the so-called vitte are developed, but which, from the causes
above mentioned, are so much abbreviated as to resemble elon-
gated coloured nodules ; for in the shorter frustules their form
becomes merely oblong or even oval. Unquestionably there is
an evident affinity with Grammatophora; but upon the whole,
seeing-that, besides the differences already referred to, all the
known species of the last-named genus are marine, [ hope it
will not be considered as a rash proceeding if I propose to
establish a new genus for the reception of this curious fresh-
water diatom.

DIATOMELLA, nob.

Frustules quadrangular (forming at first a plano-compressed
filament, at length separating). Coloured vitte two, straight,
interrupted in the middle and at each end. Length :0004'
to -0010".

Diatomella Balfouriana. PI. IV. fig. 10-13.
Grammatophora? Balfouriana, W. Sm. MSS.

The general characters of this minute species are visible with-
out difficulty under a magnifying power of 400 or 500 dia-
meters. The frustule is surrounded by a thickened border, and

is divided into three more or less equal parts by two straight
E2

52 Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez.

internal septa or bars not clearly defined externally, on each of
which, at about equal distances between the middle and ends,
are situated two dark-coloured short vitte, while at the ends
themselves the septa terminate in minute nodules. In the most
elongated frustules the coloured vitte are linear, but they con-
tract in proportion as the frustules diminish in length, until
they lose the character of vitte, and resemble nodules. The
middle portion of the frustule is blank, while the spaces between
the septa and the margin are transversely striated, but it requires
a power of at least 600 diameters to bring this character out.
The frustules of this diatom are not unfrequently seen in the
process of self-division, and one of these I have represented in
the plate. It will be perceived that a narrow separation has
already taken place, and that in each portion the lateral striz
are apparent, while as yet there is only one septum. The next
stage in the process would probably be the division of the single
septum into two, followed by the development of the blank
middle space.
Melosira nivalis, W. Sm.

A new species previously determined by Professor Smith, and
which will appear in the forthcoming second volume of his work.
I am not aware of the original station. It is scattered through
two or three of the Braemar gatherings, and I found it near the
Pass of Killiecrankie last summer. Professor Smith is, I believe,
under an impression that Coscinodiscus minor may turn out to
be the sporangial form of this species.

Melosira distans, Kiitz.

I was not aware of this diatom having been previously col-
lected in this country, until Professor Gregory recently informed
me that he had noticed it in a gathering from Elgin, as well as in
some other collections from the north of Scotland, but believing
that it was already known as a British species, he had not drawn
attention to it. The gathering placed in my hands is remarkably
pure, and agrees exactly with slides in my possession from Bilin
and Habichtswald, stations given by Kiitzing. Professor Smith
found it also in Auvergne. It is much to be regretted that a
note of the precise locality of this diatom was not preserved, as
it is the only station for the rare Odontidium anomalum, which
was found intermixed with it.

Orthosira spinosa, W. Sm. PI. IV. fig. 14-17.

Orthosira spinosa, W. Sm., Ann. of Nat. Hist. vol. xv. p. 8. pl. 1.
fig. 12.

This is another instance of the all but simultaneous dis-

Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez. 53

covery of a new species by Professor Smith in France, and Pro-
fessor Balfour in Scotland. It was collected by the former on
Mont Dore, at an elevation of 4236 feet; by the latter in a
locality where it would be produced under a corresponding tem-
perature, if we take into consideration the difference of latitude.
The structure of this plant is very interesting. The outer wall
of the cylindrical filament is continuous, but separates sponta-
neously at the junction of the valves, where the inner wall con-
tracts in a rounded manner. The valve is here beautifully
striated, the strie being coloured and semi-opake at the junc-
tion, but soon becoming colourless, and gradually disappearing
in the transparent tissue of the valve. When the orifice of the
valve is examined, it is found to be closed by a concave diaphragm
marked with radiating striz, coloured at the circumference and
pale and moniliform as they approach the centre, where there
are usually three or four minute perforations. The peculiar
character of the species lies, according to Professor Smith, in
the valves or frustules being furnished at the point of junction
with a fringe of spine-like processes; but I confess that I have
been unable to make out this character to my satisfaction. I
have indeed occasionally thought that I perceived a fringe which
reminded me of the peristome of some Mosses, but on a closer
inspection it disappeared ; and what seemed to be extraordinary,
I could not find the spines when I sought for them in the posi-
tion most favourable for their exhibition, viz. when viewing the
valve vertically or in profile. The point then to be ascertained,
seems to be the structure at the boundary line, where the val-
vular striz terminate at the orifice, and those of the diaphragm
commence. And I need not say, that it is with great deference
that I venture to take a different view from so high an authority
as Professor Smith, and to suggest that the appearance of spines
may have been caused by an optical deception. It seems to me,
after reiterated examinations with both low and high powers,
that the valvular striz simply curve round towards the edge of
the orifice to meet those of the diaphragm. The striz (or vitte
as they might well be called), being coloured and conspicuous,
and the tissue of the valve very pellucid, do present, when
viewed in certain lights and in certain directions, the semblance
of short processes. In the view I have now given of the struc-
ture of the valve at the point of junction, I may however be in
error, and I hope that other observers will endeavour to deter-
mine the question. The filaments of this species vary in dia-
meter from 0007" to -0015".

Dr. Greville on some British Diatomacez.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV.

. Eunotia Camelus? The lower figure represents an unusually de-

pressed form.

. Eunotia tridentula.
. Eunotia quaternaria.
. Cymbella equalis.

Cymbella lunata.

. Navicula cocconeiformis. This and all the above as seen under a

power of 600 diameters.

. Portion of a filament of Odontidium anomalum.
. Three frustules separated, but otherwise in their relative position

Magnified 400 diameters.
A single frustule more highly magnified.

. Frustules of Diatomella Balfouriana; magnified 400 diameters.

. A frustule of the average proportion.

. Frustule in the process of self-division.

. Side view of frustule. Figs. 11-13 as seen under a power of 1000

diameters.

. Portion of filament of Orthosira spinosa; magnified 300 dia-

meters.

. Portion of filament showing the character of the striation, &c.
. The diaphragm as seen vertically.
. Orifice of valve with marginal striation, closed by the diaphragm.

or
or

IX. A Comparative View of the more important Stages of
Development of some of the higher Cryptogamia and the Pha-
nerogamia. By Cuares JENNER.

Reap 8TH Marca 1855.

For some time past, the few hours of leisure I have been able
to spare from the pressing engagements of business, have been
employed in investigating the germination and reproduction of
the higher Cryptogamic plants; those Cryptogamic plants in
which sexual organs have been recognized, and the reproductive
spores of which, at one or other stage of their development, are
enclosed in a testa or case. My attention was early directed to
the following facts :—

First. That in different orders of these plants, the spores are
enclosed in their teste, and set free from their connexion with
the parent plant, at altogether different stages of development.
For example,—

The vesicular spore of a Moss is fecundated before it obtains
an enveloping case and is set free; whereas the spore of a Fern,
when it is detached, consists only of a vegetative axile cell, which
developes into a thallus upon which is borne the fecundating
organ as well as the archegonial cell. And

Secondly. That very varying stages of development are arrived
at, within the enclosure of the spore-case, in the several orders
of the higher Cryptogams: thus—

In Ferns, the spore developes only externally to the spore-
ease the cellular frond which bears the archegonial cells,
whereas in the Selaginella the analogous cellular expansion is
developed within the spore-case.

It thus became apparent to me at the very outset of my
investigations, that in considering the question of the entire
cycle of an individual life among these plants, we should never
lose sight of the fact, that there is no such identity among the
spores of the higher Cryptogams, as is supposed to exist among
the embryogenic seeds of Phanerogams; and also, that we
should err as much in assuming the spore, at the period of its
vegetative development, to represent the earliest stage in this
cycle, as we should, were we to consider the seed as the first
stage of the existence of a Phanerogamous plant, overlooking

56 Mr. C. Jenner on the Development of the

the origin and development of the embryo, its envelopes and its
albumen, and the special relation which these latter bear to the
parent plant.

All plants above the lowest possess special cellular structures,
within which, as within the ovular envelopes, or im the sub-
stance of which, as in the pro-embryo of a Fern, there is pro-
duced an embryonal chamber or sac. In the interior of this
cell the protoplasm or formative matter is concentrated, from
which is evolved the whole after-structure. Thus, in Mosses, in
Lycopodals, and in Ferns, as well as in Phanerogamous plants,
it is a single cell within which the subsequent development is
called forth through the influence of fecundation. This germ-
cell is in every case the commencement of the new individual
cycle of life.

To enable me to trace, as carefully as I propose, the analogy
between the principal organs and stages of development of the
higher Cryptogamic plants and the Phanerogamic, I must ask
you to dissociate in your minds this germinal vesicle from the
structure within which it has its origin. These investing organs
are very varied in their form and texture. The most striking
differences prevail between them in Gymnospermous plants and
Angiospermous plants, and also between them in the orders and
even genera of Angiosperms and the several orders of Cryp-
togams ; while, on the other hand, there is an approach to homo-
geneity in the form, structure, and early general development of
the germ-vesicle itself, so that unless we dissever, as it were, this
germ-vesicle from those heterogeneous environments (which have
only for their purpose the sustentation and preservation of the
germ-vesicle), we shall trammel our subject with unnecessary
difficulty and fail to attain that clear pomt of view that is so
desirable.

There are thus then certain structures, so intimately asso-
ciated with the germ-vesicle of all but the lowest plants, though
totally independent of it, that we can scarcely mvestigate the
course of the one without to some extent entering upon the con-
sideration of the nature and relation of the other. These struc-
tures may be called accessory or investing organs, and as ex-
amples of them I may mention, the various coats of the ovule, the
pro-embryonic frond of Ferns, and the cellular layer which en-
virons the embryonal germ of a Moss, and which afterwards con-
stitutes the spore-case. I may repeat that these investing organs
belong to the organic structure of the parent plant ; and they do
so belong to it, whether they are maintained in their connexion
with it, as are the primine and secundine of the ovule, or whether
they are disconnected from it, as is the prothallus of a Fern.
The first growth therefore to be recognized as independent de-

higher Cryptogamia and Phanerogamia. 57

velopment, is the vesicular coat which is formed around the con-
centration of protoplasmic or germinative matter within the em-
bryo-sac. The contents of this vesicle are the immediate result-
ant of the parent life, the first formative act of the new existence
being the cell-wall enclosing these contents. In the unimpreg-
nated stage of the germinal vesicle, its derived power has become
isolated, for its processes of assimilation and the varying dispo-
sition of the protoplasm must be considered acts of its separate
vitality.

I have further to notice generally, that in all plants the sepa-
ration of the young plant from the old,—of the newly-derived
existence from the parent life, is accompanied by a condition of
rest, or rather of the capability of resting; for mstance, the
Phanerogamous embryo within its testa, the vesicle of a Cryp-
togam within its spore-case.

This resting stage is always carefully arranged for by the pro-
vision of suitable mteguments and store of endospermous matter.
We have seen that the resting stage is attamed at varying
epochs of development in different orders of plants, and that a
more or less amount of development is attained within the par-
ticular receptacle of the parent plant. Special organs are modi-
fied to suit the special circumstances of each case. Thus, in An-
giospermous Phanerogams, for sustentative and nutritive pur-
poses, the coats of the ovule are maintained im their connexion
with the axis by means of a funicular cord; whereas the homo-
logous organ of Filices—a free development subsequent to the
resting stage—is cellular fibrille or rootlets. These fibrille of
the prothallus of the Fern are, however, not only homologous
with the funiculus of the ovule of Angiospermous Phanerogams,
but their function is the same, namely that of affording support
and nutriment. The funiculus of the ovule then, and the fibrille
of the prothallus of the Fern, are, to speak briefly, homologous
and analogous organs.

I now proceed to my particular purpose, which is to trace in
a general manner the cycle of development of a Moss, a Fern, a
Phanerogamous plant, and to trace in outline a few analogies
between their more important organs, which, if diverse in ap-
pearance and without any very apparent relation, have at least
common purposes. Nature is so infinitely varied in her forms
of manifestation, and she is so rich in her adaptation of means,
yet withal has such a clear and palpable unity of purpose, that
on the one hand we need not be surprised at apparent discre-
pancies, and on the other we need never doubt one common
identity.

In the Table (p. 60) I have separated the investing organs
from the germinal body, and have shown the relation which I

58 Mr. C. Jenner on the Development of the

hold the various organs of the plants under review have to each
other, and also distinguished the stage of development in each
order at which the resting condition is attained; this condition
being in every case precursory of detachment from the parent
plant. The investing organs may be divided into general and
special ; the general investing organ being the ovarium in Angio-
spermous Phanerogams, the theca in Filices, and the arche-
gonium (in its ripened condition the sporangium) in Musci.
The special investing organs are those which immediately en-
viron the germinal vesicle ; these are, in the Phanerogamia the
coats of the ovule, in Filices the pro-embryo, and m Musci the
sporular integument which enfolds the nucleal germ, and which
finally constitutes the testa of the Moss-spore. The unimpreg-
nated germinal vesicle of the Phanerogamia finds its homologue
in the archegonial cell of the pro-embryo of the Fern, and in
the embryonal cell within the archegonium of a Moss. The
maturation of this cell is only preparative to the fecundative act,
or the fertilizmg process, whatever that may be, which takes
place, in one or other manner not yet determined, in all plants
at this stage of progress. The impregnating influence or matter
being imparted to this vesicle, embryonal development ensues,
and always in the same general manner, varied only by the special
varying circumstances of each particular case. The fertilized
cell stands on the verge of the active development of an inde-
pendent vitality. In Ferns the resting stage is passed before
impregnation has taken place. The course of growth after im-
pregnation is continuous. The germinal body, by a succession
of transverse divisions, obtains the condition of a septate cellular
process, longitudinal and radial divisions follow, and a structure
is formed which developes an ascending and descending axis, in
due course to disengage from the former a bud, the commence-
ment of a new cycle of individual life.

In Phanerogamia, immediately after fertilization, which I need
not say takes place within the ovarium, a transverse septum is
formed across and within the germinal vesicle ; by successive
transverse divisions of the superior half of this germ-cell, a con-
fervoid filament is formed, which has received the name of the
suspensor. The suspensor varies in length in different families,
orders and genera, being longer in some and shorter in others,
but in all it is distinetly a septate cellular process. The inferior
moiety of the germ-cell, by a series of longitudinal, transverse,
and radial divisions, developes into a radicular portion and a
cotyledonary expansion, and only when this stage is reached do
the outer coats of the investing organs become more or less
dense by intra-cellular deposit. Detachment takes place at the
hilum, and the embryo enclosed in its ease becomes free as a

higher Cryptogamia and Phanerogamia. 59

“ seed.” This is the resting stage in Phanerogamia. In Mosses,
the germ being fertilized, its outer envelope or cellular invest-
ment becomes dense and firm, and no further development takes
place within the general investing organ. The spore has attained
the resting stage and is set free. The fertilized vesicle, now the
spore, is no sooner placed in circumstances favourable for deve-
lopment, than dehiscence of the outer envelope takes place, the
embryonal cell protrudes and elongates, transverse septa are
formed, as in the case of the Phanerogamic germ-vesicle, a
branched confervoid filament or septate cellular process is deve-
loped, which I submit is the homologue of the suspensor, and
from a cell of this filament arises the phyllary axis, which bears
in its turn the reproductive organ, and thus completes the cycle.

I do not pretend to offer this as a thoroughly proven expo-
sition of the subject. I lay it rather before you somewhat in
the shape of an hypothesis. Yet, if, after carefully weighing the
subject, I had not felt it to be supported by observation, I
should not have occupied the valuable time of this Meeting.
No one can be more sensible of the incompleteness of this my
first essay than myself. I am too truly a tyro in science to
deem that I can teach. I can only venture to hope that I have
touched chords of thought, that in abler and more skilful hands
may eyolye knowledge. Truth is so valuable, and opinion, unless
accordant with truth, so worthless, that while I solicit your kind
consideration even to the errors of my essay, I invite your free
and candid criticism.

60 On the Development of Cryptogamia and Phanerogamia.
COMPARATIVE TABLE.

MUSCI. PHANEROGAMIA. FILICES.
Tae eratiowsrin em SPoRANGIUM
OR oR
SPoRANGIUM. THECA.
Nucleal Germ. Placental Bud. Axile Bud ee
or Spore. RESTING
Ovular P. rimine.
Sporular Envelope. — Enyelopes. ; pean! Pro-Embryo.

aa Embryonal Cell. Germinal Vesicle. Archegonial Cell.

FECUNDATION. FECUNDATION.

Fertilized Fertilized Fertilized
Embryonal Cell Germinal Vesicle. Archegonial Cell.
| or Spore. RESTING
Confervoid pro-Embryo. | ConfervoidSuspensor. —_ Septate Cellular Process.
Radicle. Radicle.
Plumular Bud. Plumule. RESTING Plumular Bud.
Phyllary Axis. Phyllary Axis. Phyllary Axis.

DESCRIPTIVE TABLE.

MUSCI. PHANEROGAMIA. FILICES.

Archegonium Sporangium
GENERAL INVESTING ORGAN. or Ovarium. or
Sporangium. Theca.

Ovular Envelopes.

Sporular

SprecraAL InNvESTING ORGAN. Primine. Pro-Embryo.
Membrane. Scheaiitiils ry
Embryo-sac.
Embryonal Germinal Archegonial

GERMINAL Bopy. Cell. Vesicle. Cell.

SEE ee

61

X. Some Remarks on Vegetable Placentatton.
By Joun CLevanp, Esq.

Reap 12TH Aprit 1855.

THE object of the few following remarks is to bring forward some
evidence against the axile theory of placentation, and to show
that the free central placenta found in many plants is really
composed of a second whorl of carpels with everted edges.

My observations are founded entirely on the Lychnis and Pri-
mula. In the latter we have the most perfect example of a free
placenta, while the former illustrates most distinctly the theory
which I wish to bring forward.

On opening the fruit of the Lychnis dioica, its carpels are seen
to be united into a perfect circle, and to present no trace of their
homology with the leaf except in the venation on their internal
surface. When the seeds are removed the funicular cords are
seen arranged in five vertical double rows with smooth spaces
between. On making a transverse section, these smooth spaces
are found to be composed of a pad of white cellular tissue, and
alternating with them and with the rows of cords are the five
rays of a star-shaped mass of the same white cellular substance
occupying the centre. This star seems clearly to indicate the
formation of the placenta from five parts, and the position of the
cords in five series shows the same thing. But this is not con-
sistent with the axile theory. If ovules are ever equivalent to buds
emanating directly from the axis, they must in every such case
be more or less under the law of evolution followed by the leaves,
and however their arrangement may seem from circumstances to
depart from that law, they cannot observe a system of distribu-
tion essentially different. We find a whorled arrangement fol-
lowed by every other homologue of the leaf, and should expect it
here too. But in the case before us, the ovules are given off
in vertical double rows. The objection may be started, that
this appearance may result from the piling of whorls one on
another without alternation, just as the stamen is in front of the
petal in the Barberry and the Buckthorn, or rows of petals
are piled in front of one another in abnormal specimens of the
Camellia. But if this explanation be adopted, we have still to
account for the rows being double, and for each row being con-
nected by vascular tissue with the one on the other side of the

62 Mr. J. Cleland on Vegetable Placentation.

adjoining interspace, while to its fellow it is only joined by inter-
stitial cellular tissue.

On the other hand, if we adopt the ordinary marginal theory,
we have staring us in the face the old objection, that there is no
trace of any connexion ever existing between the placenta and
wall of the ovary; but on the contrary, between the double
rows of cords where the carpels are supposed to have turned
inwards, we have a smooth pad of cellular substance. Moreover
we should expect the rays of the central star to be pointed to the
interspaces instead of being in the position we find them in; for
by this theory each pair of rows is formed from the margins of
one carpel and has nothing to do with the neighbouring pairs,
and we should therefore expect to find a (fig. 1) connected by
vascular tissue, not with 4, but with ce.

What I wish to suggest as a better explanation than either of
the above is, that this placenta is formed of a second whorl of
carpels, distinct from and alternating with the outer carpels, and
bearing the ovules on their everted margins. This view accounts
for the arrangement of the vascular tissue. The double rows of
cords are considered according to it as formed from the margins
of two adjoining carpels, and the true fellow of each of the com-
ponent rows is the one at the other side of the neighbouring
interspace, and the bundles of fibres represent the midribs of the
leaves. This view was first suggested and seems to be very con-
siderably supported by the monstrosity which I have figured, in
which two members of the inner whorl had assumed the folia-
ceous form (fig. 2). One of them was much contorted on account
of its excessive development in a confined space, but the other
retained its place in the whorl with its edges everted.

The structures of the Primroses seem also to support the
notion of a second carpellary whorl. In their case the common
marginal explanation appears to particular disadvantage, and I
hope to show that in respect to them too the free central expla-
nation is untenable. The ovules indeed are sessile, and so closely
set on the placenta, that it is impossible to say from their posi-
tion what is their arrangement—whether whorled round an axis
or in vertical rows. But other evidence is not wanting.

First, in a well-developed fruit of the Auricula, I have ob-
served a five-rayed star of cellular tissue in the centre (fig. 3).

Secondly, at an early period the placenta of the Primrose is
formed of two parts, one in the centre vascular and united to
the torus, the other superficial, distinct, and easily removed, cel-
lular and bearing the ovules. If the ovules were buds, the cellular
tissue of their first origin could not have this superficial dispo-
sition, but would be the ascending axis of the plant, whose true
position is central.

Mr. J. Cleland on Vegetable Placentation. 63

Thirdly, if the central part were a continuation of the axis,
we should find some at least of the fibrous bundles from the

NAN
Mit

2 Sc

; i
Holl

f

Fig. 2.

stem running directly into it, but instead of that, the fibres are
entirely re-arranged at the base of the ovary ; a joint is formed
at this point by decreased size of the cells of the cellular tissue,
and the first appearances of fibres in the placenta are not pro-
longed upward from the stem, but descend to meet those of the
stem (fig. 4).

These facts seem conclusive against the axile theory in the
case of the Primroses ; and if in them it does not hold, we have a
strong argument against its truth in any case. It seems impro-
bable at the outset that the ovule should vary so much in mor-
phological value as to be in one plant equivalent to a bud, and
im another perhaps not far removed from it, only a secondary
growth from a single leaf. This of itself prejudices one against
believing that we have placentation of both the marginal and axile
kind; and another circumstance likewise irrespective of argu-
ments drawn from the structure of the pistil in particular spe-
cies is in favour of the marginal theory, viz. that the pollen-grain,
which is the male equivalent of the ovule, is always a mere off-
shoot from a leaf homologue, and we might not unnaturally
expect the ovule to have the same morphological value.

64 Mr. C. C. Babington on Linaria sepium.

XI. Note on Linaria sepium, Allman.
By Cuarzes C. Basineron, M.A., F.R.S. &e.

Reap 8tuH NoveMBER 1855.

Earty in the summer of 1855 I succeeded in obtaining seeds
of this plant from roots growing in the Cambridge Botanical
Garden which had been originally sent to it by Dr. Allman
from Bandon. ‘These seeds were sown in a pot, and produced
many plants which flowered in the August and September
following. The produce thus obtained shows that my former
idea concerning L. sepium is correct, and that it is not a distinct
species, but a hybrid between L. repens and L. vulgaris. Four
forms were raised from the seeds of L. sepium: (1) L. sepium,
(2) a plant closely resembling L. repens, (3 and 4) slightly
differing forms of L. vulgaris.

L. repens is growing on the same bed in the garden as the
L. sepium from which these seeds were obtained, but L. vulgaris
grows in quite a different part of the garden. Similarly at
Bandon, I learn from Dr. Allman that ZL. repens and L. sepium
grow together, but L. vulgaris is not found within a mile of L.
sepium.

Since the above note was written, I have received from Ban-
don, through the kindness of Dr. Allman, a series of specimens
quite connecting L. sepium and L. repens which he had gathered
in their native place. The result derived from cultivation is
thus, to a great extent, confirmed by observation of the wild
plants.

® Trans. Bot. Soc. VOL. 5. PL.1
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. §.2. Vol 13. Pl. XIV

a

TRF Ci, of

wh wie eat nih ee Vee Ai me

EU git hie eA HeNS Ve oda “A terre

‘ Gi By 4
bad oi t
: tl
\ —. ¢ ii
4
3 hay 4 Tn
1 a é 4 rhs
j 7
»* : Ay 7) = es
. ,
* a Ss
?
¥ y ai” 4
> is
- 4 *
‘ Fi
> ‘5
’ .
‘
’
, +
i
3
“a
‘
; ‘ ~
. . ~ 5
1
As
As
_ Oe
4
ek mé
’ yi \ P
oF 7
- Cys ~
} ’
iA ‘
|
4 é
guke* .
‘e
ee | :
» wv i
ae Ie
» Pana
ers
} ”
uae "ys th Ora
Aa. E
7 :
‘iaen
ee 44°
Mey
é 4 > me {
ies wParek :
77 ‘ et
hey WN io
Py ein
or a3):
\ } ‘
ih | r ‘
’
Wal
“ze z

rors Wa |
ae

is ahh ane a?

Soc. VOL.5. PLA.

Ann. k Mag Nat. Hist.5.2.\

Trans. Bot

144. fl. TX.

ol.

©

PMPs 2

?
ae .
mt
‘A ‘
y i,
ee

Trans. Bot. Soc. VOL. 5. PLAT.
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist... 2. Vol IaPLX.

3
b4

SS

SASS S
SSS SS

SS
SS
I! —
——
pea
~~
——\
=
\

= LES
S wes

J De C. Sowerby se*

= & ise Ao oc way oe. .
SPN AOA vale a

t ihe ¥
a : | ae ee 2
pie tad RR eS VS

ar ae - ‘
7 Say or ae F > 1a, 1%

‘oe

Ie
ahs :
babs te

Trans. Bot. Soc. VOZ.5. PL IV. -

Ann. b Mag. Nat. Hist.S.2Nol.15.PLIX

a>

Tivo

J Basire, sc.

cys wy . ro ae
tate As AIR ON br ee sonst >
Ved Fan hash) i Ay ath th

Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 65

XII. On the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain.
By Cuartes C. Basinerton, M.A., F.R.S. &e.

Reap 8tH NoveMBER 1855.

Ir is with much diffidence that I venture to attempt the eluci-
dation of the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain, for the great
difficulty of the subject necessarily presses heavily upon the
mind. Also, it cannot be otherwise than disheartening to feel,
that however successful I may be in my own estimation and
even in that of my friends, and, that although my endeavours
may result in a close approach to the acquaintance with the
plants that has been attained in Sweden and France, it is certain
that several of the most eminent of the botanists of Britain will
consider that I have been wasting my time and retarding rather
than advancing science. Had the views of those learned men
been generally held by persons of equal scientific rank in other
countries, I should have thought it my duty to adopt them ; but
as several of the most distinguished botanists of continental
Europe do not think that they are “idling away their time by
catching at shadows,” when they expend it upon an earnest
endeavour to attain the most accurate possible knowledge of the
plants inhabiting their respective countries, I am led to the
belief that I am really doing well when trying distantly to follow
their example.

It has been justly remarked, that we have no good definition
of a species amongst plants, and that it is hard or even impossible
to apply those which we possess. Until species can be defined,
each botanist is left to judge as best he can of what ought or
ought not to be so considered. In the case which is about to be
presented to the reader, I have been led, or rather driven to the
conclusion that the forms described below are species, by having
had most of them under my observation in a growing state for
several years, and finding them to continue constant in their
characters when raised from seed under varying circumstances
through successive generations: also, by remarking that they
not only possess permanent definable distinctions, but present
such differences at first sight as to enable the practised eye to
distinguish them easily. Surely, in such a case, the minuteness
or obscurity of the structure upon which the technical character

TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. V. F

66 Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

is founded can be no just argument against the claims of the
plants to be considered as entitled to specific rank. Neither can
we accept as conclusive against them the fact that some eminent
botanist, such as Smith (Eng. Flora, ii. 55), has combined them
under two names; or, Seringe “long ago recorded his decided
opinion, that all were mere varieties of one species.” Neither
Seringe (Mélanges Botaniques, uu. 8 & 49) nor Schlechtendal
(Animady. Bot. in Ran. 8), who is also used as an authority by
those who persuade themselves that all these plants form only one
species, appears to have had any knowledge of the characters that
are now employed in this group of plants; and I think that no
botanist of the present day lays stress upon the hairiness or
smoothness of the plant or its capsules ; neither would plants be
considered as distinct solely on account of the presence or absence
of the broad floating leaves. It is nearly certain that several of
the species (as I consider them) that are to be described pre-
sently (viz. R. heterophyllus, R. Baudotii, R. floribundus) would
each afford a series of forms, extending from a state in which
there are no capillarly-divided leaves to one consisting solely of
them, similar to that recorded by Schlechtendal under the name
of R. aquatilis. The existence of such series assuredly rather
tends to prove that there are several species of Batrachian
Ranunculi than that they are all of one species. Doubtless it
requires a considerable familiarity with the plants to enable a
person to refer all these forms to their proper species, and mis-
takes are very frequently made in attempting to do so. Also
innumerable errors and difficulties arise when names are required
to be given to scraps, such as are often collected and preserved
even by good botanists.

We are told that a series of specimens from all parts of the
world proves that there is only one species of Batrachian Ranun-
culus. Doubtless it would be easy to form a series apparently
justifying such an opinion, but our success in so doing does not
seem necessary to prove the non-existence of several species ;
for it may, and I believe has, happened in many such cases that
the supposed connecting links are single specimens of distinct
species, which consist of multitudes of similar individuals in their
native districts, although only one or two may have been pre-
served in the herbarium employed for study. Let the living
plants be carefully examined in a country, such as Britain, where
they are numerous, and if, after an unprejudiced endeavour to
arrive at the truth, they prove undistinguishable, then let them
be combined. But if, as my observations lead me to believe, the
best known of them are quite constant in their form and habit,
it does not seem to be the pursuit of truth that leads to their
neglect, but rather the adherence to a preconceived theory. Take

Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 67

as an example the X. circinatus: this plant inhabits the most
different situations, growing upon a muddy or gravelly bottom,
in swift streams or stagnant ditches and pits, in water or on
mud, and yet the well-known structure of its leaves is invariable.

Many years since it fell to my lot to attempt to controvert the
opinion then prevalent in England, that the R. aquatilis, R. cir-
cinatus and R. fluitans formed one species (Ann. Nat. Hist. Ser. 1.
vol. ii. p. 225-230), and I showed conclusively, as I venture to
think, that the depth, motion, or stagnancy of the water in
which they grow has nothing whatever to do with the size,
shape or structure of the leaves, nor with the direction of them.
Of course certain slight alterations are the result of the circum-
stances in which the plants are placed, but they are not such as
to affect the characters upon which the species are founded. In
doing this I was performing little more than restoring to recog-
nition in this country species known to Ray, and defined and
named according to the Linnzan method by Sibthorp. On the
European continent several eminent men had already adopted
them. Since that date my attention has been often turned
towards these beautiful plants, and during the last few years I
have made them a special subject of study. Within the same
period, such men as Fries, Koch, Godron, Cosson and others,
have been led to think that the R. aquatilis required further sub-
division. Accordingly many attempts have been made to do so
with greater or less success, and it is a cause of much satis-
faction to me to find that, with a single exception, the British
species have already been detected and described in other coun-
tries. That those botanists should have arrived at different conclu-
sions, and even changed their opinions once or more, is certainly
not a valid excuse for neglecting the study in which they have
partially failed ; for in this, as in all other departments of know-
ledge, correct results are. not usually attained until after many
attempts. Let it not be thought from these remarks that I
claim to have succeeded ; for all that I propose to myself is to
make a smal] step towards success, and to place before those
who may follow up the study a few additional facts, or an im-
proved application of those already known.

In this group of plants we are not acquainted with any single
character which may safely be stated to be always deserving of
confidence ; but if a combination of several characters is em-
ployed, there will rarely be any serious difficulty in identifying
the supposed species, even when the structure of some of the
parts has undergone change. The look of the plant is generally
distinctive of the species; and the difficulties commence when
an attempt is made to draw up technical definitions, or to de-

F2

68 Mr.C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

termine the names from “ specific characters.” Such is found
to be the case in most groups of closely allied species inhabiting
the “ metropolis,” as it has been called, of extensive and dif-
ficult genera. We may call the plants varieties or hybrids, but,
until they are proved to be such, we are only avoiding a difficulty,
not stating a fact in science.

Having made these preliminary observations, I will now
endeavour to point out the characters upon which we seem to
have the most reason for placing dependence in preparing spe-
cific characters for the Batrachian Ranuncult.

It has long been known that the absence of hairs from the
receptacle, and of any submersed and filiformly- divided leaves,
distinguishes R. hederaceus and its more recently noticed ally,
R. cenosus, from the rest of our native species. It was pointed
out by Sibthorp, that the submersed leaves of R. circinatus and
R. fluitans had a different form from those of R. aquatilis, under
which latter name he included plants which I have failed in
reducing to less than eight species. In these latter plants (7. e.
the R. aquatilis of Sibthorp), the submersed leaves are formed
of repeatedly-dividing filiform or setaceous parts, which spread
in such a manner from their first division, where the leaf trifur-
cates, as to take the shape of a greater or less segment of a
sphere. These three divisions of the leaf are forked at very
short or more distant intervals; they are fine or rather thick,
rigid or flaccid, and accordingly retain their direction when
taken out of the water, or collapse so as to resemble a painter’s
pencil.

In all the species, the floating or emerged leaves have an out-
line which is nearly circular, or only forms part of a circle ; they
are divided more or less deeply into lobes, or quite to the top of
their petioles into leaflets; in some cases these leaflets have
partial petioles of a considerable length, and then the circular
outline of the whole leaf is not apparent. When the leaf is
formed of lobes or sessile leaflets, the outer margins of the lateral
lobes or leaflets, that is, the outer margins of the leaf, are either
straight from their base throughout a considerable part of their
extent, or their lower part is much rounded; therefore the
leaflets are wedge-shaped or obovate.

In most of the species, the peduncles spring from the same
nodes as both the divided and submersed, and the flat and
floating leaves; but in the plant called R. peltatus in this paper,
they are very rarely produced in the former situation ; so rarely,
as to have caused Fries to denominate the floating leaves “ folia
necessaria”’ in that plant. The peduncles either about equal
the leaves or much exceed them, and then raise the flowers

Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 69

considerably out of the water. They are either equally thick
throughout their length, or narrow more or less gradually to-
wards the flower.

The petals are either broad with many veins, or narrow and
usually few-veined. In the former case, the edges of contiguous
petals are close together, and often overlap; in the latter, they
are usually distant, and give what I have called a star-like
appearance to the flower. As the flowers of the broad-petaled
species advance towards decay, they acquire a slightly similar
look ; for the petals, which had originally a rounded form,
lengthen so much that their lower part becomes wedge-shaped,
and the flower rather star-like.

In two of our species, the stamens are so short as to be
exceeded by the pistils, but usually they conspicuously overtop
those organs.

Although the stigma varies in shape, it is not easy to apply
this difference to the discrimination of the species, for it changes
its forta as it acquires age.

Not much dependence should be placed upon the position of
the style, for apparently it generally forms a contimuation of the
inner, or nearly straight side of the ovary.

The carpels differ much in shape, but usually form the half
of an ovate or obovate figure ; the inner or upper edge is usually
almost straight, but not always so, and then the carpel is often
nearly ovate or obovate. On these latter forms of carpel, the
persistent base of the style, or slight apiculus that represents it,
nearly terminates the diameter of the carpel ; but on the others
it usually is connected with the straight side, bemg placed at
its end; but forming an angle with it. The carpels are usually
compressed laterally, and their coats closely enclose the seed ;
but in some cases they are inflated in their upper part, or slightly
so throughout. These inflated carpels are, therefore, broadest
at the end; but in some of the species where they are not in-
flated, a narrowing and flattening occurs at the end.

Ranuncutvs, Linn.

Section I. Batrachium. Fruitstalks arching. Carpels trans-
versely wrinkled. Petals white (with a yellow claw in all
our plants).

This section includes all the species which it is now proposed
to consider. It constitutes the genus Batrachium of Fries ; but
I must be permitted to think, that there is no valid reason for
separating it generically from the other Ranunculi. R. scele-
ratus, although a true Ranunculus, has several points in common
with the Batrachia. It has minute seeds traversed by faint

70 =Mr.C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

transverse wrinkles, and when growing in water its lower leaves
float in a similar manner to those of the species of Batrachia,
and very closely resemble them.

Subsection A. Submersed leaves twice or thrice trifurcate
with filiform segments spreading in the form of a section
of a sphere, rarely wanting. Receptacle hispid.

1. R. trichophyllus (Chaix) ; submersed leaves closely trifureate,
segments short rigid not collapsing into a pencil when taken
out of the water, no floating leaves, peduncles not narrowing
upwards about equalling the leaves, flowers small, pet. obovate
5-7-nerved not contiguous evanescent, stigma oblong, recep-
tacle oblong, carpels }-ovate laterally apiculate compressed.

R. trichophyllus, Chaix in Vill. Dauph.i. 335 ; Gren. et Godr. Fl.
de Fr. i. 23.

R. pantothrix, DC, Syst. i. 235 (in part) ; Bert. Fl. Ital. v. 575.

R. ceespitosus, Godr. in Mém. Nancy, 1839, 30. f. 6 (the terrestrial
state).

R. yk Lloyd! Fl. de la Loire Inf. 5 ; Godr, Fl. Lor.i. 15.

R. aquatilis v. pantothrix, Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ. ed. 1. 11; Sturm,
Deutschl. Fl. fase. 67. t. 11; Fries! Herb. Norm. ix. 27 (spe-
cimen).

R. heterophyllus var. succulentum, Fries, H. N. xi. 33 (specimen) ?

Batrachium trichophyllum, F. Schultz, Fl. Gall. et Germ. exsic.
805 bis & 1203; Van den Bosch, Prod. Fl. Batav. 5.

Stem floating, rooting at the lower joiings, obtuse-angled,
hollow. Submersed leaves with filiform segments diverging
slightly, and when mature so rigid as not to collapse when re-
moved from the water: middle branch at the first fork the small-
est. Petioles plane-convex, short. Upper leaves sessile. When
growing upon mud from which the water has retired, the seg-
ments of the leaves are very short and thick. Floating leaves
always absent. Stipules large, rounded, auricled, 3 or 2rds
adnate. Peduncles falling short of, or slightly exceeding the
leaves. Buds globular. Flowers small, star-like. Sepals
ovate, very blunt, concave, green with a diaphanous margin.
Petals distant, white, wedge-shaped, slightly clawed and yellow
below, about twice as long as the calyx when full-grown.
Nectary round, scarcely at all margined or prominent; but
probably this structure is not constant, for I have seen, on what
is apparently a plant of this species, a prominent bracket-shaped
nectary. Stamens from about 10 to 15, exceeding the pistils.
Style prolonging the inner edge of the ovary, short, curved.
Stigma at first oblong, afterwards elongating. Carpels blunt,
a little hairy, and slightly narrowed at the end. Receptacle

a

Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 71

nearly globose, as thick as the peduncle. Colour of the plant
dark lurid green.

This plant differs from R. heterophyllus by its small few-
nerved evanescent petals, globular receptacle, dark green
dense rigid small submersed leaves; from R. confusus and
R. Baudotii by its short peduncles which are equally thick
throughout, its oblong not ligulate stigmas and globose recep-
tacle, deciduous small petals, and in other respects. R. flori-
bundus and R. peltatus are large-flowered plants that cannot be
confounded with it even when the former happens to want the
floating leaves. It differs from all the other species of the sub-
section by never having been observed to have floating leaves,
ner to show any tendency to produce them. Its nearest ally is
R. Drouetii. It is well marked by its stems, which float close
to the surface of the water, being furnished with small dense
rather closely placed dark green leaves, and small flowers which
only just rise out of the water. No species resembles it in these
respects.

Flowering in May and June.

R. trichophyllus is plentiful in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and
Suffolk, but is perhaps not very generally distributed through-
out the kingdom. R. Drouetii is probably often mistaken for it,
as is also the wholly submersed state of R. heterophyllus.

2. R. Drouetii (F. Schultz?) ; submersed leaves rather closely
trifurcate, segments rather rigid but collapsing, floating leaves
(rare) tripartite with subsessile or stalked wedge-shaped bifid
leaflets, peduncles not narrowing and about equalling the
leaves, flowers small, petals obovate 5-7-nerved not con-
tiguous evanescent, stigma oblong, receptacle oblong, carpels
1-obovate sublaterally apiculate inflated at the end.

R. Drouetii, F. Schultz in Gren. et Godr. Fl. de Fr. i. 24?
R. Godronii, Gren. in F. Schultz, Fl. Gall. et Germ. exsic. No. 1202

(specimen).

Stem floating, rooting from the lower joinings, very bluntly
angular, hollow. Submersed leaves with filiform segments
which are rather short, diverge greatly at their trifurcations,
less so at the bifurcate divisions: middle branch at the first
fork the smallest. Petioles plane-convex, short. Upper leaves
nearly or quite sessile. Floating leaves very rare, tripartite ; di-
visions stalked, bifid, wedge-shaped, the sides being very nearly
straight, except the outer side of the lateral ones, which is
slightly but decidedly rounded; middle division much more
shortly stalked than the others, or very nearly sessile, usually
placed at an angle with the other divisions, and directed down-

72 Mr.C.C.Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

wards, so as to be always submersed. These tripartite leaves
soon decay, and the plant produces beyond them a series of
filiformly-divided submersed leaves, similar to those that had
preceded them. Petioles of the tripartite leaves rather long,
nearly cylindrical. Stipules large, rounded, auricled, 3 to 2rds
adnate. Peduncles falling short of, or slightly exceeding the
leaves, from both kinds of leaves. Buds oblong. Flowers
small, star-like. Sepals ovate, very blunt, concave, greenish,
dotted with purple, especially towards the edge; the whole
margin diaphanous. Petals distant, white, wedge-shaped, yellow
below and slightly clawed, about twice as long as the calyx when
full-grown. Nectary round, scarcely at all margined or pro-
minent. Stamens fewer than 10, exceeding the pistils. Style
prolonging the mner edge of the ovary, short, curved. Carpels
blunt, more or less hairy at the end, which is a little inflated so
as to have a broad flat edge; base of the style small, rather
variable in position, not central nor truly lateral. Receptacle
oblong, as thick as the peduncle. Colour of the plant bright
green.

This plant agrees in so many respects with the deseriptions of
R. Drouetii, and with specimens of that plant obligingly sent to
me by my excellent correspondent M. R. Lenormand, that I am
led to consider it as belonging to that species, notwithstanding
the occasional presence of floating leaves. When those leaves
are absent, the English plant appears to be identical with that
described as R. Drouetii by Dr. Godron. That botanist places
much dependence upon the “ style .... inséré presque a lex-
trémité du long diamétre du pistil:” such is not the case in our
plant, nor is the rudiment of the style central upon the carpel
of the French specimens, on some carpels of which it somewhat
approaches that position, but upon others it is decidedly lateral.
There is similar variety in the position of the apiculus on the
earpels of the English plant.

The presence of flat floating leaves is an apparent objection
to the identification of the plants; but I think that the widen-
ing of the divisions of some of the upper leaves, indicating an
approach to a floating leaf, such as is occasionally although
rarely found upon our plant, may be detected upon M. Lenor-
mand’s specimens. Of this, however, I am not quite certain.

I am much indebted to my friend the Rev. W. W. Newbould
for directing my attention to the floating leaves of our plant.

The R. Godronz (Gren.), specimens of which I have received
from Dr. F. Schultz, appears similar to our plant when it is
furnished with the floating leaves, but I am unable to see in
what other respects it differs from the typical R. Drouetii. I
cannot find any description of R. Godronii.

Mr. C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 73

R. confervoides (Fries, H. N. xin. 45) is closely allied to this
species, but has long slender peduncles. R. paucistamineus
(Tausch) may be a stronger form of R. confervoides.

R. Droueti can only be confounded with R. trichophyllus or
R. heterophyllus. From the former it is distinguished by its
bright green colour, collapsing leaves, inflated and very blunt
earpels, and much more lax habit; from the latter by its very
peculiar floating leaves, fewer-nerved and evanescent petals,
inflated and minutely apiculate carpels, and nearly globose
receptacle.

Flowering in May and June.

I have received R. Drouetii from several places in Cambridge-
shire, Burnham in Norfolk, Byford in Herefordshire, and Hook
in Surrey.

3. R. heterophyllus (Fries) ; submersed leaves loosely trifurcate,
segments long collapsing, floating leaves subpeltate tripartite
with sessile or stalked wedge-shaped 3—5-lobed leaflets, pe-
duncles not narrowing scarcely exceeding the leaves, flowers
large, petals broadly obovate-cuneate 7-9-nerved not con-
tiguous persistent, stigma oblong, receptacle conical, carpels
4-ovate laterally pointed.

R. heterophyllus, Fries, Summa, 140, & Herb. Norm. ii. 32 (spe-
cimen).

R. aquatilis a. pseudo-peltatus, Godr. in Mém. de Nancy, 1839,
p- 25.f.5¢e&g. :

R. aquatilis var. pantothrix, Fries, Herb. Norm. ix. 27 (specimen).

R. aquatilis, Eng. Bot. t. 101.

Batrachium heterophyllum, Van den Bosch, Prod. Fl. Batav. 8.

Stem floating, rooting from the lower jomings, prominently
but irregularly angular, hollow. (A plant apparently referable
to this species which grew in shallow water has a solid stem.
Much stress has been laid upon such a difference, but it seems
of little consequence.) Submersed leaves two or three times
trifurcate, afterwards bifurcate ; segments filiform, rather rigid.
At the first fork the branches are divaricate and the middle one
is the smallest, at the succeeding forks they are more and more
approximate. Petioles semicylindrical, short. Upper submersed
leaves sessile. Floating leaves usually flat, with bifid leaflets,
each segment deeply lobed; when they rise out of the water, as
is frequently the case, they form a nearly or quite circular disk ;
their outer edge is usually straight from its base, but occasion-
ally is slightly rounded from thence. Stipules broad, adnate
nearly throughout. Peduncles from both kinds of leaves. Buds
globular, or slightly depressed and obscurely pentagonal. Flowers
becoming star-like. Sepals ovate, very blunt, convex, brownish

74 Mr.C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

green towards the top with a dark irregular edge, yellowish at
the base, the whole margin diaphanous. Petals sometimes with
more than nine nerves, white, yellow below, fully twice as long
as the calyx. Nectary round, very prominent, bracket-shaped,
so as to open nearly at right angles to the plane of the petal.
Stamens many, exceeding the pistils. Style prolonging the
inner edge of the ovary, curved. Stigma straight. Carpels
blunt with a large apiculus, slightly hairy at the end, imner
edge nearly straight.

When the floating leaves are not produced, the plant is simi-
lar in all other respects. Both states are frequently to be found
in the same place.

The differences between this plant and R. trichophyllus and
R. Drouetit have been already pointed out. Its collapsing leaves
distinguish it from the four following species. Its uniformly
thick and short peduncles separate it from R. confusus, R. Bau-
dotii and R. peltatus ; its wedge-shaped leaflets from R. confusus,
R. floribundus and R. peltatus. In swift streams it sometimes
much resembles R. fluitans, but has not the structure of that

lant.
3 Flowering from May to July ; rarely flowers may be found in
April and August.

I have obtained this plant from Cambridgeshire, Leicester-
shire, Chichester, the River Lea near Hertford, Battersea in
Surrey, and Pangbourn in Berkshire. I believe it to be pretty
generally distributed.

4, R. confusus (Godr.) ; submersed leaves loosely trifurcate, seg-
ments long rather rigid not collapsing, floating leaves long-
stalked subpeltate subtripartite with sessile obovate 3—-5-lobed
segments, peduncles slender narrowing gradually exceeding
the leaves, flowers large, petals obovate-cuneate 7—9-nerved
not contiguous persistent, stigma tongue-shaped, receptacle
ovate-conical, carpels }-ovate compressed and narrowed up-
wards.

R. confusus, Godr. in Fl. de Fr. i. 22.
R. Petiveri, Koch in Sturm, Deutschl. Fl. fase. 82. t. 2.
R. Petiveri a. minor, Koch, Syn. ed. 2. 13.

Stem floating, rooting at the lower joinings, roundish, hollow ;
the upper part, when flowering, often rising out of the water.
Submersed leaves two or three times trifurcate, afterwards bifur-
cate ; segments rather thick. At the first fork the branches
are nearly equal, long and divaricate, at the succeeding ones
more and more approximate. Intermediate leaves with fewer,
shorter and linear segments. Petioles semicylindrical, short.
Floating leaves flat, marked with brownish irregular spots ;

Mr. C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 75

segments diverging, slightly combined at the base or sessile,
lateral ones much rounded at base externally ; outline of the
floating or emerged leaves scarcely more than a semicircle.
Petioles thick, semicylindrical. Stipules oblong, much adnate.
Peduncles very long, rising high out of the water, from both
kinds of leaves. Buds globular, but slightly depressed and a
httle pentagonal. Flowers rather large, star-like. Sepals oblong,
blunt, convex, green, with a broad diaphanous margin. Petals
elliptie-cuneate or obovate, white, yellow and shortly clawed
below, 2 to 21 times as long as the calyx even when first ex-
panded, their lower half much lengthened afterwards. Nectary
shortly oval, strongly margined below, scarcely at all so above,
formimg an acute angle with the plane of the petal. Stamens
about 20, exceeding the pistils. Style rather long, recurved
from near its base, prolonging the inner edge of the ovary.
Carpels ultimately rather acute, the inner edge nearly straight.
Persistent base of the style long and conical, nearly erect.
Receptacle as thick as the peduncle. Flowers strongly scented
like honey.

Differs from R. heterophyllus by its submersed leaves not col-
lapsing, its stem often rising out of the water, its long slender
and narrowing peduncles, and ligulate stigma; from R. Baudoti
by the obovate segments of its floating leaves, slender peduncles,
half-ovate carpels compressed and narrowed at the top, and
stamens exceeding the pistils.

Flowermg from June to September.

I have obtained this plant from near Chichester, Dunster
and Weston-super-Mare in Somersetshire, Stackpole and Tenby
in Pembrokeshire, and the mouth of the Tees on both sides of
the riverI believe. It seems to prefer the neighbourhood of the
sea, and does not object to slightly brackish water.

5. R. Baudotu (Godr.); submersed leaves closely trifurcate,
segments rather rigid not collapsing, floating leaves long-
stalked tripartite with sessile or stalked wedge-shaped 24-
lobed segments, peduncles thick narrowed at the top ex-
ceeding the leaves, flowers moderate, petals 7-nerved not con-
tiguous persistent, stamens not exceeding the pistils, stigma
tongue-shaped, receptacle elongate-conical, carpels 4-obovate
inflated at the end.

R. Baudotii, Godr. in Mém. de Nancy, 1839, p. 21. f. 4, and Fl. de
Dorr. i. 12, and Fl. de France, i. 21; Koch, Syn. ed. 2. 434.

Batrachium Baudotii, Van den Bosch, Prod. Fl. Batav. 7.

Stem floating, rooting from the lower joinings, very bluntly
angular, with a shallow furrow on two sides, hollow. Submersed

76 =Mr. C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

leaves two or three times trichotomously divided into short filiform
segments, forking like those of R. confusus. Intermediate leaves
with fewer and linear segments. Petioles short or none.
Floating leaves flat ; divisions wedge-shaped regularly to their
base, 3-4-lobed, or often of many linear blunt segments. Out-
line of the floating or emerged leaves not more than a semicircle.
Petioles long. Stipules adnate nearly throughout. Peduncles
long, thick, from both kinds of leaves. Buds globular, de-
pressed (?). Flowers rather large, star-like. Sepals like those
of R. confusus (?). Petals white, yellow below, 2-24 times as
long as the calyx. Nectary shortly oval. Stamens 15-20.
Style long, recurved froin its middle, prolonging the inner edge
of the ovary. Carpels very many (50-100 on each receptacle),
forming a globose mass. Inner edge often considerably rounded
near the top; apiculus small. Receptacle thicker than the pe-
duncle.

Owing to neglect, the above description is imperfect in a few
particulars.

This plant is very nearly allied to R. confusus, with which species
I long confounded it. R. confusus appears to be always a more
slender and elongated plant, never to have stalked segments to
its floating leaves, nor the deep lobes often replaced by broad
linear blunt segments, nor the short stamens, nor the globose
clusters of many rather pointed carpels with inflated tops, of
this plant. Here also the segments are truly wedge-shaped, the
outer margins of the lateral ones appearing to be constantly
straight quite to their base. The narrowing long peduncles,
tongue-shaped stigmas, many and inflated carpels, and great
difference of appearance, separate it from R. heterophyllus.

I am much indebted to my liberal friend M. R. Lenormand
for authenticated specimens of this plant; and Dr. F. Schultz
has identified with it a plant gathered by Mr. Syme at Guillan,
near Edinburgh, specimens of which the latter gentleman has
kindly given to me.

The R. marinus of Fries (Mant. in. 51; Herb. Norm. ix. 28)
is closely allied to R. Baudotii; but he is probably correct in
believing (Summa, 555) them to be distinct. In some respects
it seems more nearly related to R. confusus, and I have suspected
that they may be identical.

Flowering from May to August ; but sometimes flowers may
be found in April.

R. Baudotii appears to delight in slightly brackish water.
I possess it from Edinburgh, Seaton Carew in the county of
Durham, Burnham in Norfolk, near Chepstow in Gloucestershire
and Monmouthshire, Shirehampton near Bristol in Gloucester-
shire, Dunster in Somersetshire, and near Cork (?).

Mr. C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 77

6. R. floribundus ; submersed leaves closely trifurcate, segments
rather rigid divaricate not collapsing, floating leaves long-
stalked subpeltate 1-trifid or 3-partite with sessile obovate
3-5-lobed segments, peduncles not narrowed scarcely ex-
ceeding the leaves, flowers large, petals obovate-cuneate 9—
many-nerved not contiguous persistent, stamens many exceed-
ing the pistils, stigma tongue-shaped, receptacle spherical,
carpels 3-obovate very blunt.

Stem floating, rooting from the lower joinings, bluntly angular,
hollow, often rising out of the water. Submersed leaves dark
green, two or three times trifurcate, afterwards bifurcate, seg-
ments rather short filiform; intermediate primary subdivision
smaller. Petioles short, semiterete. Floating leaves convex,
divided more than halfway down; lateral segments bifid, each
lobe bicrenate; middle segment 3-crenate; outer edge of the
leaf much rounded at the base. Outline of the floating or emerged
leaves forming about 2rds of a circle, but the rounded outer
bases often overlap. Petioles nearly cylindrical. Stipules very
broad, with a free rounded end. Peduncles from both kinds of
leaves. Buds slightly depressed, slightly pentagonal. Flowers
star-like. Sepals ovate, greenish, with a diaphanous margin.
Petals at first nearly contiguous, afterwards distant, white,
clawed and yellow below, more than twice as long as the calyx.
Nectary ovate, its margin thickened all round and slightly pro-
minent below. Stamens 20-30. Style short, recurved, pro-
longing the inner edge of the ovary. Inner edge of the carpels
nearly straight. Receptacle as thick as the peduncle.

I am unable to identify this plant with any described species.
It is most nearly allied to R. peltatus, with which I was much
inclined to have combined it. It differs from R. peltatus by its
deeply trifid floating leaves, dark green submersed leaves with
unequal segments branching at shorter intervals, peduncles not
narrowing upwards, nor very long, nor almost solely springing
in company with the floating leaves (in R. floribundus they
spring as frequently with the petioles of the submersed as of
the floating leaves), the ovate nectary, and depressed buds.
From R. heterophyllus it may be known by its submersed leaves
not collapsing, its floating leaves (when tripartite) with sessile
segments, and not straight-sided, its ovate nectary, and depressed
buds; from R. confusus by its floating leaves being usually
convex, not spotted; peduncles not long, slender, and narrowing
upwards; carpels not compressed and narrowed upwards ; and
by its dark colour ; from R. Baudotii by the markedly rounded
base of the outer margin of its convex leaves, its peduncles not
narrowed towards their top, many-nerved petals, long stamens,
and much fewer carpels.

78 Mr.C.C.Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

A Sicilian specimen from Prof. Gasparrini, which he named
R. aquatilis, appears to be R. floribundus.

Flowering from May to September.

I possess this plant from Hedon near Hull, Denver Common
in Norfolk, and a pit by the road-side near Legge’s Farm near
Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

It is the most beautiful of our species; its large white flowers
being so numerous as to cover the places that it inhabits with a

sheet of bloom.

7. R. peltatus (Fries) ; submersed leaves loosely trifurcate, seg-
ments rather rigid divaricate not collapsing, floating leaves
long-stalked subpeltate nearly half—3-5-fid with obovate 3-4-
crenate segments, peduncles narrowing gradually from floating
leaves and exceeding them, flowers large, petals round be-
coming obovate-cuneate 9-nerved contiguous persistent, sta-
mens many exceeding the pistils, stigma club-shaped, recep-
tacle ovate, carpels }-obovate very blunt.

R. peltatus, Fries, Summa, 141, and Herb. Norm. xii. 48 (specimen).
R. aquatilis a. peltatus, Sturm, Deutschl. Fl. fase. 67. t. 7.

Stem floating, rooting from the lower joinings, bluntly angular,
hollow, often rising out of the water. Submersed leaves light
green, 2 or 3 times trifureate, afterwards bifurcate ; segments
long, slender, filiform; primary subdivisions about equal.
Petioles short, semiterete. Floating leaves convex ; outer edge
of the leaf much rounded at the base. Outline of the floating or
emerged leaves forming about $rds of a circle, but the rounded
outer bases often overlap. Petioles plane-convex. Stipules
adnate nearly throughout, rounded at the end. Peduneles long,
rising high out of the water, from the floating leaves; very
rarely a peduncle springs with a submersed leaf. Buds globular.
Flowers very large, sweet-scented. Sepals ovate, diaphanous
except at the centre, where they are slightly green. Petals
quite contiguous, ultimately slightly separated by the lengthen-
ing of their lower part, white, clawed and yellow below, more
than twice as long as the calyx at their first expansion. Nec-
tary oblong, its margin slightly thickened all round and a little
prominent below. Stamens about 30. Style curved, short,
prolonging the inner edge of the ovary. Carpels not inflated ;
inner edge nearly straight. Receptacle small; its shape is
rather doubtful, owing to the cultivated plant perfecting few
carpels, and its shape not having been observed in the wild plant
when fresh.

This plant differs from R. heterophyllus and all the other
species, except perhaps R. tripartitus, by its “ necessary ” float-

Mr. C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 79

ing leaves, for the presence of a flower springing in company
with a submersed leaf is extremely rare, with }-trifid not tri-
partite nor wedge-shaped lobes, and by their being nearly
always convex ; by its submersed leaves not collapsing; its long
narrowed peduncles; and petals contiguous except when about
to fall; from R. confusus by its convex not tripartite floating
leaves, contiguous petals, }-obovate and very blunt carpels ;
from R. Baudotii by its convex not tripartite leaves with obovate
segments, narrowing peduncles, contiguous petals, long stamens
and short receptacle.

Flowering from May to September.

I possess this plant from St. Pierre in Monmouthshire, (where
it was first noticed as being a distinct species by the Rev. F. J.
A. Hort,) Bream in Gloucestershire, and Hoveton in Norfolk.

Sturm’s figure quoted above represents the petals as not
being contiguous, but is doubtless intended for this plant.
Fries’s specimen contained in the Herb. Normale is very im-
perfect, but leaves no doubt upon my mind of the identity of
our plant with it. A specimen sent to Fries, with the name of
R. peltatus attached to it, was stated by him to be correctly so
named.

8. R. tripartitus (D.C.); “ submersed leaves divided into capil-
lary segments collapsing,” floating leaves long-stalked sub-
peltate deeply trifid with cuneate-obovate 2-4-fid segments,
peduncles not narrowing falling short of the leaves, flowers
very small, petals oblong 3-nerved not contiguous, stamens
few exceeding the pistils, stigma small on a long subulate ter-
minal style with a slender base, receptacle globose, carpels un-
equally obovate much inflated with a nearly terminal point.

R. tripartitus, DeCand. Pl. Gall. Rar. p.15.t.49 ; Eng. Bot. Suppl.
t. 2946; Lloyd, Fl. Loire, 4!
R. tripartitus a. microphyllus, DeCand. Syst. i. 234.

Stem floating or creeping, rooting from the lower joinings,
slightly furrowed, rising out of the water. Submersed leaves
(which have not yet been observed in Britain) several times
trifurcate; segments long, slender, filiform. Floating and
emerged leaves deeply trifid, forming about 3ths of acircle; the
lateral segments with 3, the central with 2-4 crenatures, the
outer edge of the lateral segments rounded in their upper half,
but straight below. Upper stipules free. Buds globular.
Sepals ovate, dark green tinged with purple, the whitish margin
diaphanous. Petals very small, slightly exceeding the sepals,
rather acute, narrowed into a claw, pinkish-white, yellowish
below, with 3 distant nerves. Nectary roundish, its border a little

80 Mr.C.C.Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

thickened only below. Stamens 5-10. Style straight, placed
nearly upon the middle of the end of the ovary. Carpels very
blunt, glabrous; inner edge rounded. Receptacle globose.

This plant and R. ololeucos (which has not as yet been found
in Britain) are distinguished by having very slightly adnate
stipules, much inflated carpels having a much rounded inner
edge, and minute stigmas. The slender base of the long
subulate deciduous style also is a mark of R. tripartitus. In
R. ololeucos the style is persistent, sickle-shaped, and thickened
at the base, the petals are much larger and wholly white (in all
our species of Batrachian Ranunculi they are more or less yellow
at the base), and the peduncles much exceed the leaves.

Flowering from May to August.

Mr. H. C. Watson discovered this plant on Esher Common in
Surrey. I have found it between Haverfordwest and Robeston
in Pembrokeshire.

It is probable that by descending the little streamlets in which
this plant has been found until they increase in size and depth,
the form producing submersed leaves will be found. My valued
friend Mr. Borrer has given to me a specimen grown in deep
water in his garden which has loosely twice trifurcate leaves with
long narrowly linear segments. Such leaves are found inter-
posed between the capillarly divided and the subpeltate leaves
of several of these Ranunculi, for instance in R. Baudotii. It is
scarcely necessary to remind botanists, that the form of the style
is not to be seen upon dried specimens, for it shrmks so much
as in the dry state to appear as if it were broadest at the base.
I possess a specimen, gathered by my friend Mr. F. Townsend
near Tunbridge Wells, which probably, but not quite certainly,
belongs to R. tripartitus. It appears to have grown in rather
deep water, but does not now possess any of the submersed
leaves. It has no petals remaining, aud may be R. ololeucos.

Subsection B. Submersed leaves not like those of Sub-
section A. Receptacle hispid.

9. R. circinatus (Sibth.) ; leaves all submersed and sessile tri-
furcate with repeatedly and very closely forked rigid segments
all placed in one roundish plane not collapsing, peduncles
narrowing much exceeding the leaves, flowers large, petals
obovate many-nerved nearly contiguous persistent, stamens
exceeding the pistils, stigma cylindrical, receptacle oblong,
carpels }-ovate compressed rather acute.

R. circinatus, Sibth. Fl. Oxon. 175; Reichenb. Fl. excur. 719, et
Icon. Fl. Germ. iii. Ran. t. 2; Fries, Herb. Norm. ix. 29 (speci-
men); Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2869.

Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 81

R. divaricatus, “‘ Schrank,” Koch, Deutschl. Fl. iv. 152, et Syn. Fl.
Germ. ed. 2.13; Godr. Fl. Lor. i. 15, et Fl. de Fr. i. 25.

R. stagnatilis, Wallr. Sched. Crit. 285.

R. aquaticus albus, circinatis tenuissime divisis foliis, floribus ex
alis longis pediculis innixis, Raii Syn. ed. 3. 249.

Stem submersed, ascending, branched, angular, furrowed,
hollow, rooting from the lower joinings. Leaves small, their
capillary brassy-green divisions repeatedly forked, but all lying
exactly in one plane, which is placed usually at right angles to
the stem and has a round outline. Stipules sheathing, ad-
pressed, not auricled. Buds obovate, depressed. Sepals ovate,
blunt, greenish, tinged with purple towards the tip, the margin
broadly diaphanous. Petals 2 or 3 times as long as the calyx,
about 9-nerved, white with a yellow claw. Nectary roundish,
small, rather strongly bordered below. Stamens 15-20. Style
prolonging the inner edge of the ovary. Stigma recurved, but
straight. Receptacle narrower than the peduncle both in flower
and when bearing carpels. Carpels ultimately rather acute,
and tipped with the recurved persistent style.

The structure of the leaves is sufficient to distinguish this
plant from all known Ranuncult.

Flowering from June to August.

This plant is not unfrequent. For its distribution in Britain
I may refer to Watson’s ‘ Cybele Britannica.’

From the remark of Messrs. Hooker and Arnott (Brit. Fl.
ed. 7. p. 7) that they “ cannot believe this to be distinct from
the following” (R. aquatilis, including the R. heterophyllus, R.
trichophyllus, R. confusus and R. Baudotii of this paper), I am
necessafily led to the conclusion that they have no practical
acquaintance with it, and perhaps have paid no attention to it
except when preserved in an herbarium. As I have on several
occasions received specimens of R. heterophyllus under the name
of R. circinatus, when the petioles were shorter than is usual and
the leaves small, I presume that it is not so generally known to
botanists as its distribution would have rendered probable. It
is so constant to its characters, that, even when the water has
dried up in its place of growth, it retains its distinctive structure
and grows and flowers in the air.

10. R. fiuitans (Lam.); leaves all submersed about twice tri-
furcate with very long linear twice or thrice forked nearly
parallel segments, peduncles narrowing, flowers large, petals
broadly obovate many-nerved contiguous persistent, stamens
falling short of the pistils, stigma cylindrical, receptacle

TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. V. G

82 Mr.C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

conical, carpels obovate inflated much rounded at the end
laterally apiculate.

R. fluitans, Lam. Fl. Fr. iii. 184; Reichenb. Fl. exsic. 886 (speci-
men), e¢ Icones Fl. Germ. iii. Ran. t. 2; Gren. et Godr. Fl. de Fr.
i. 25; Van den Bosch, Prod. Fl. Batav. 6.

R. peucedanifolius, Desf. Al. i. 444.

R. fluviatilis, Sith. Fl. Oxon. 176; Wallr. Sched. 284.

R. sive Polyanthemo aquatili albo affine Millefolium Maratriphyllum
fluitans, Ray, Syn. 250.

Stem floating, very long, branched above, nearly round, hol-
low, wholly submersed. Leaves together with their petioles
often afoot in length. Segments thick. Petioles of the upper
leaves often short. Stipules broadly lanceolate, strongly auricled,
i-adnate. Sometimes at the end of the stem a few stalked
3-furcate leaves with short broad linear segments are found ; in
these leaves the middle segment is entire, the lateral ones are
simply forked; they do not at all resemble the floating leaves
of the other species. When the seedling plant has been deserted
by the water, all the leaves are of this form. Bud shortly pyra-
midal, pentagonal. Peduncles thick, much shorter than the
leaves. Flower often semidouble. Sepals ovate, blunt, green,
bordered with purplish black and a broad diaphanous edge.
Petals 2-3 times longer than the calyx, slightly clawed, 9-15-
nerved. Nectary round, bordered slightly below. Stamens
many, short. Style prolonging the imner edge of the ovary.
Stigma straight, a little inflexed at the top. Receptacle conical,
slightly pilose immediately after the flowers have fallen. Carpels
with a small lateral point. ;

The structure of the long whip-shaped leaves is sufficient to
distinguish this plant. It is also remarkable for the tendency
of the flowers to produce a second imperfect whorl of petals. It
does not change its form even when growing in stagnant water.

Not nncommon in rivers. Watson’s ‘Cybele’ may be referred
to for its distribution in Britain.

Flowering in June and July.

The R. Bachii, Wirten (Schultz, Archives de Flore, i. 292 ;
Billot, Exsic. No. 1103 !), is a form of R. fluitans. The form of
the petals does not afford a constant character, neither does the
length of the peduncle. I have observed it in the River White-
adder in Berwickshire. It is much smaller in all its parts and
more elegant, but I cannot detect any other difference. Mr.
J. Lange has sent it to me from Denmark. It has sometimes
been mistaken for the R. marinus (Fries), with which it has
very little in common.

Mr. C. C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi. 83

Subsection C. No submersed leaves. Receptacle not hispid.

11. R. cenosus (Guss.); leaves all roundish cordate with 3-5
rather deeply divided lobes which widen from their base, petals
exceeding the calyx, style terminal upon the ovate-conical ovary,
carpels unequally obovate with a terminal point.

R. coenosus, Guss. “ Prod. Suppl. 187,’ and Syn. ii. 39; Godr. in
Fl. de France, i. 19 ; Bab. Man. ed. 3. 7.

R. Lenormandi, F. Schultz in Flora oder Bot. Zeit. 1837, p. 727!;
Walp. Repert. i. 34; Bab. Man. ed. 2.6; Eng. Bot. Suppl.
t. 2930.

R. hederaceus (4. grandiflorus, Bab. Man. ed. 1. 5.

Stem floating or creeping upon mud, branched, nearly round
but with slight angles. Leaves not spotted; lobes very blunt
and broad at the top, entire or with 1-3 notches. _Petioles long,
terete-compressed. Stipules j-adnate, bluntly pointed, the
floral ones very broad. Peduncles not narrowed, nearly equal-
ling the leaves. Buds oblong. Flowers large. Sepals obovate,
concave, greenish, tinged with purple towards the tip, with a
diaphanous margin. Petals about twice as long as the calyx,
narrow, obovate, 5-nerved, white with a slight tinge of pink,
slightly clawed and yellowish below. Nectary round, bordered
below. Stamens 8-10, about equalling or a little exceeding
the pistils. Style nearly central upon the ovary (that is, the
upper edge of the ovary is nearly as prominent and rounded as
the lower edge) which narrows gradually into the style. Style
short, thick, and slightly curved outwards. Stigma oblong.
Receptacle spherical, naked, Carpels with their inner (upper)
edge much rounded towards the top, inflated, tipped with the
terminal although not always quite central style.

Flowering from June to August.

I possess this plant from near Coniston Lake in Westmore-
land, near Sheffield, Needwood Forest in Staffordshire, Charn-
wood Forest in Leicestershire, near Aberystwith in Cardiganshire,
near Swansea in Glamorganshire, near Haverfordwest in Pem-
brokeshire, near Llanberis in Caernarvonshire, Esher Common in
Surrey, Tunbridge Wells in Kent, Lucott Hill in Somerset, and
near Plymouth in Devonshire.

Messrs. Hooker and Arnott indirectly hint (Brit. Fl. ed. 7.
p- 8) that near Glasgow this plant may be an altered state of
R. hederaceus, for “it is principally met with in ditches where
the temperature is raised by warm condensed steam,” “and
where formerly R. hederaceus only occurred.” This seems to
require more proof than a simple statement affords. We want
(1) to be rendered quite sure that R. cwnosus is the plant that

G2

84 Mr.C.C. Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi.

now inhabits those ditches, and (2) that it was the true R. hede-
raceus alone that grew there formerly. I have most frequently
found R. cewnosus in rather elevated situations, where no source
of artificial heat could affect it.

12. R. hederaceus (Linn.); leaves all roundish reniform with
3-5 shallow rounded lobes widening to their base, petals
scarcely exceeding the calyx, style prolonging the inner edge of
the ovary, carpels 3 2 -oval or 3-obovate with a lateral point.

R. hederaceus, Linn. Sp. Pl. 781 ; ; Eng. Bot. t. 2003; Reichenb.
Icon. Fl. Germ. iii. Ran. t. 2.

Stem floating or creeping upon mud, branched, nearly round.
Leaves usually spotted; lobes separated by shallow notches,
widening gradually from their base to a narrow rounded end,
often broadly triangular, entire or rarely with a slight notch at
the top. Petioles ‘long, semicylindrical. Stipules long, much
adnate, blunt, denticulate. Peduncles not narrowed upwards,
much falling short of the leaves. Flowers very small. Petals
about equalling ora little exceeding the calyx, narrow, 3-nerved.
Stamens 6-8, Stigma short, oblong. Receptacle spherical,
naked. Carpels compressed below, blunt and inflated above,
inner edge nearly straight, laterally tipped with the style or
pointless.

Flowering from June to September.

This plant is probably generally distributed, but as R. canosus
is often mistaken for it, | may mention that I know of its ex-
istence at Inverarnan at the head of Loch Lomond, near Llan-
beris in Caernarvonshire, Lanwarne in Herefordshire, Needwood
Forest in Staffordshire, Tiptree Heath in Essex, Triplow and
other places in Cambridgeshire, near Haverfordwest in Pem-
brokeshire, Ninham in the Isle of Wight, and Bovey Heathfield
in Devonshire.

85

XIII. On some species of Epilobium.
By Cuartes C. Basineron, M.A., F.R.S. &c.

Reap 10TH JANUARY 1856.

Havine been led to examine the British species of Epilobium,
and arrived at the opinion that some of them have not received
as much attention as they deserve, and have therefore been mis-
understood, it seems desirable to publish the results. My ob-
ject in so doing is to direct attention to the plants—not to place
before botanists a conclusion satisfactorily attained. There re-
mains much to be done before we can be said well to understand
these plants. Those upon which it is proposed to treat have
been included under the names of L. tetragonum and E£. al-
pimum.

Before proceeding to the discussion of the species, it will be
well to clear the way by pointing out the characters upon which
it is believed that we may depend. This will entail a slight
sketch of the arrangement of our Epilobia. Leaving out of
consideration the group called Lysimachion by authors (although
there is a newly-discovered species of that section to be noticed
before ending this paper), we shall find that, taken in its general
sense, the form assumed by the stigmas will separate our plants
into two groups: (1) those which have that organ formed of four
spreading divisions so as to be cross-like, namely EL. hirsutum,
EL. parviflorum, E. montanum, and E. lanceolatum ; and (2) the
rest of our species, whose stigmas are so placed as to form a club,
either by having the four parts soldered together or by their
being adpressed to each other. In the latter case, that is, when
the stigmas are adpressed, they may sometimes be observed to
separate slightly, but never, as I believe, to become cross-like. It
is only when taken generally, that the stigma can be safely used
as a distinctive character ; but if allowance be made for excep-
tions in the case of individual plants, it does seem to afford
valuable help in grouping the species. This is the more desi-
rable from the true biological characters which separate the
species being often not noticeable in the flowering state of the
plants. The characters referred to are the mode of extension of
the plants from year to year. The plants are either ¢urionate,
stoloniferous, or rosulate ; the stoles are either scaly or leafy, the

86 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

scales are somewhat inflated or not so. The leaves upon these
offsets gradually increase in size from the base to the end of the
shoot, and their pairs are all separated by long joints; are all
placed close together and form a rosette ; or those at the end of
the stole are so placed as to form a rosette, the others being
distant. Taking these as the primary characters of the divisions,
we obtain an arrangement which differs but little from that
founded upon the stigma which has usually been employed.
The following is the arrangement proposed :—

I. Turionate; that is, producing radical suckers.
1. E. hirsutum.

II. Stoles autumnal, rosulate. Stem erect.
+ Stem mostly round. Stigma 4-cleft.
2. E. parviflorum.
3. E. montanum.
4, E. lanceolatum.
tt Stem with raised lines. Stigma entire.

5. E. roseum.
6. KE. tetragonum.

III. Stoles zstival, long-jointed throughout, with small leaves. Pri-
mary stem erect. Stigma usually entire.
7. E. obscurum.
IV. Stoles estival, long-jointed, with small leaves, ending in

autumnal bulbs which become detached. Base of stem cord-
like.

8. E. palustre.

V. Stoles estival, leafy, rosulate.
9. E. alpinum.

VI. Stoles estival, leafy, not rosulate.
10. E. anagallidifolium.

VIL. Stoles zestival, scale-bearing, not rosulate.

11. E. alsinifolium.

In addition to the characters used in this arrangement, the
following points deserve notice.

1. The stem in some of the plants rises erect directly from a
fibrous root, and usually produces lateral branches from the
axils of its lowest leaves so as to take a rather czespitose form.
This primary stem appears always to be erect, but the lateral
stems or branches are usually procumbent at their base and fre-

hh

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium, 87

quently produce roots there, although throughout the greater
part of their length they are erect or ascending. When the
plants grow in water, or in very wet places, these adventitious
roots are sometimes produced from the lower joinings of the
upright primary stem, and the procumbent part of the branches
is very long: if in this case a branch is carelessly pulled up, the
plant may easily be supposed to have a cordlike base, when its
real structure is very different. Towards the end of the summer,
or in the autumn, these czspitose species usually produce from
close to the base of their stem very short flowerless shoots
having their joints so much contracted that the leaves lie closely
upon each other, and a rosette or rose-shaped tuft is formed.
The original plant does not survive the winter, but in the
ensuing spring the place which it occupied is more or less sur-
rounded by a cluster of new cespitose individuals resulting
from the rosettes of the preceding autumn ; each rosette pro-
ducing from its terminal bud a new primary stem, and from
some of its axils a few lateral stems.

In other plants, thick long stoles with distant leaves take the
place of the rosettes. It is only at the end of these stoles that
the least trace of the close arrangement of leaves forming the
rosettes is to be found, nor is it always seen even there. These
long stoles root and live through the winter, and their remains
when attached to the base of the stem of the succeeding year may
be taken for the chordorhizal structure if the stem fails to pro-
duce lateral stems from its lower axils. The character derived
from the chordorhizal base is not therefore wholly to be trusted,
although Fries has confidence in it.

2. Another habit is that in which there is no trace of the
eespitose mode of growth, but in its place there is a prostrate
slender stem producing many adventitious roots, and turning
upwards at the end so as to form the upright stem of the plant.
If branches are at all produced from the lower part of the stem
they are placed at some distance from each other, or in distant
pairs, for the joints are long. Most of these species throw out
from many of their lower joinings stoles furnished with long
joints and pairs of very small leaves, and end in a sort of bulb,
the scales of which are rather fleshy with their upper epidermis
loose. These bulbs become detached in the winter, by the decay
of the stole, together with the stem which has flowered, and
from them spring the plants of the following year.

We may now proceed to the consideration of the species
which are usually included under the name of E. tetragonum.
Fries appears to have been the first botanist who attempted their
separation by a reference to their development ; but that emi-
nent writer has been unfortunate in the specimens distributed

83 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

in illustration of the plants, as will be seen hereafter. Applying
those characters to our native plants, it is found that there are
at least two species included under the name of E. tetragonum.
One of these will retain that name, and another is the E. obscu-
rum of Schreber. The former has the ezspitose habit, and pro-
duces sessile or subsessile rosettes after the time of flowering :
the latter is originally czspitose, its primary stem being erect
from the root and branching from its lowest axils, but these
lateral branches are prostrate and rooting to some extent ; and
in the place of the rosettes of the former it has long rooting
stoles. Specimens of this latter plant (2. obscurum) are what I
have been accustomed to call EZ. virgatum whilst totally in igno-
rance of the EH. obscurum. I hope to be able to show that no
great error was committed in doing so. For it is my belief that
Fries himself made the same mistake, if indeed it is a mistake,
and that his E. virgatum exists as a distinct plant from E. od-
scurum. Te has called various plants by the name of E. vir-
gatum at different times. The plant first issued (Herb. Norm.
u. 46) as E. virgatum is very nearly related to E. tetragonum,
although perhaps not exactly that species; for it may be the
E. Lamy (F. Schultz), as Koch supposed it to be. These spe-
cimens do not accord with the description given in the ‘ Novitie’
(ed. 2. p. 113) ; but a trust in the accuracy of Fries caused them
to be accepted as typical of his plant. The original source of
the name is the ‘ Fl. Hallandica’ (p. 66), and the description to
be found there may help us in determining what was the plant
really mtended by its author. As the book is perhaps not
very common, the characters are extracted. They are as fol-
lows :—

“ E. virgatum; foliis lanceolatis sessilibus dentatis opacis
caule tetragono pubescentibus, stigmate indiviso.”

To this are added the following remarks :—

“ Verum videtur Chamenerion obscurum, Schreb.; sed E. ob-
scurum omnium fere auctorum ad precedens [H#. tetragonum]
foliis alternis, ex. gr. Fl. Dan. t. 1267, pertinet. Radix sub-
repens. Caulis e basi tereti adscendenti erectus, 2—4-pedalis,
vage ramosus, 4-angulus, pubescens, deorsum glabratus. Folia
distantia, opposita alternave, sessilia, lanceolata, subcoriacea,
remote dentata, plus minus pubescentia, constanter opaca. La-
cinize calycinze villosee. Siliqua villosa. Flos sequentis [H.
palustris |.”

These descriptions do not agree with the first specimens
(H. N. ui. 46), and differ slightly from the description given
in the ‘ Novitize ;’? but they do agree tolerably well with the
specimens afterwards stated by Fries to be the true plant
(H. N.x.), the leaves of which are subsessile, broad, and rounded

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 89

at the base, from whence they narrow, with tolerable regularity,
to their tip, which is suddenly contracted to an obtuse angle.
They are opake, thin, and apparently flaccid, distantly denti-
culate, slightly hairy. The presence of the word “ subcoriacea”’
in the ‘ Flora Hallandica’ causes some difficulty, for it is hardly
possible that the leaves of the plant sent to me in the ‘ Herb.
Normale’ (fase. x.) can ever have been subcoriaceous. That
specimen has an upright base, thickening from a slender broken
point, and producing 4 or 5 whorls of fibrous roots,—a structure
different from what I understand by Fries’s term, “ chordo-
rhizum.” After a careful consideration of the plant and the
descriptions, I have arrived at the opinion that the F. virgatum
(Fries, H. N. x.) is E. obscurum, and am inclined to the further
opinion, that the EZ. virgatum of the ‘FI. Hall” is the same
plant. The peculiar base of the stem in the specimen probably
results from its having grown in a very wet place.

Having thus, as it is hoped, shown the probability of E. vir-
gatum being a synonym of LE. obscurum, we may proceed to the
consideration of the characters, &c. of that plant and its ally, EZ.
tetragonum. I am indebted to my valued friend Mr. Borrer for
directing my attention to these plants, and pointing out their
more important differences. Since the original sketch of this
paper was written, I have seen a valuable memoir by Dr. Grise-
bach (Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 849), and Dr. F. Schultz has very
kindly sent to me a copy of his excellent review of it (Arch. de
Flore, ti. 41). From the study of Mr. Borrer’s manuscript
notes and his specimens, and of the writings of these two emi-
nent botanists, I have obtained a tolerably clear idea of the
subject.

The following is the mode in which the plants may be cha-
racterized :—

E. tetragonum (Linn.) ; rosettes subsessile, stem erect, leaves strap-
shaped much denticulate-serrate, limb of the intermediate leaves
decurrent, buds erect, seeds oblong-obovate tubercular.

E. tetragonum, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 1. 348; Curt. Fl. Lond. i. 66
(131); Fries, Herb. Norm. vii. 41 (specimen) ; Reichenb. Fl.
exsic. 357 (specimen); Gren. et Godr. Fl. de Fr.i. 579; F. Schultz,
Archives de Flore, ti. 51.

E. adnatum, Griseb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 854.

Stem upright from the root, usually branched from the base,
with 2-4 raised decurrent lines from the edges of the leaves.
Rosettes usually very nearly sessile, and although they are some-
times shortly stalked when the plant is flooded, they do not even
then resemble the stoles of E. obscurum. Seeds rounded at both
ends, but with a recurved point at the base; that is, if the front

90 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobiuw.

of the seed is observed, the base appears to be blunt, but if a
lateral view is taken, the small point directed backwards is seen.
The intermediate leaves appear to be always decurrent by their
limb, as are often many of the others ; they do not narrow much
until near to their upper end; the little teeth are near together,
conspicuous, and often have incurved callous points. The lower
leaves are more nearly lanceolate, the lowest obovate.

Dr. Grisebach differs from all other botanists by thinking
that this is not the typical plant of Linnzus, and accordingly
changes its name to E. adnatum, and calls the BE. Lamyi (F.
Schultz) the E. tetragonum (Linn.). Dr. Schultz thinks that
Grisebach is in error, and restores the Linnzan name to the
plant that has usually been so called. In this I quite agree
with him. Nevertheless there are difficulties attending the de-
termination of the Linnean plant that call for a few remarks.
It is highly probable that Linnzeus included the E. obscurum
under the name of EF. tetragonum. In the first edition of the
‘Sp. Pl’ (i. 348) he gives the character as follows :—

*« —. foliis lanceolato-linearibus denticulatis: imis oppositis, caule
tetragono.”’

In the second and later editions of the same work it is

«FE. foliis lanceolatis denticulatis: imis oppositis, caule tetra-
gono ;””

and the remark is added,
«‘ Summitas, adhuc tenella, nutans.”’

Our E, tetragonum is very much better described by the former
than the latter of these definitions, and the additional observa-
tion shows that Linnzus had, when preparing the second edition
for the press, fallen into some confusion, for it need scarcely be
remarked, that neither E. tetragonum, nor E. obscurum, nor E.
Lamyi has a nodding summit. Itisa curious fact, that Linnzus
does not include EZ. tetragonum in his ‘ Fl. Suecica,’ although it
appears not to bea rare plant in Sweden. May we not thence
conclude that he had little acquaintance with the plant, and thus
account for his altering the character for the worse? This is
rendered more probable when it is found that the figure quoted
by him from Tabernemontanus (Icon. p. 854) does not represent
E. tetragonum, nor agree with the Linnean description: what it
does represent is a more difficult point to decide, and no attempt
is now made to do it. There is only one specimen preserved in
the Linnzean Herbarium with the name and authenticating
marks of E. tetragonum. The place where it grew is not stated,
and there is no clue to its history. It is not H. tetragonum,
nor either of its close allies, but appears to be the plant now

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 91

universally called H. roseum. It seems probable that Linnzus
was led by this specimen into the mistake of altering the specific
character of his plant and adding the erroneous remark. It is
scarcely necessary to observe, that these alterations are derived
from the peculiarities of E. roseum.

E. tetragonum is perhaps a less common plant in Britain than
E. obscurum. My specimens are from Glen Falloch, Perth-
shire; Congestone, Leicestershire; Cambridge; Stapleton,
near Bristol; Sussex; Sidmouth, Devon; Cork; and the
Channel Islands.

E. obscurum (Schreb.) ; stoles with distant leaves, stem erect, leaves
tapering from a rounded base sessile remotely denticulate faintly
decurrent, lower leaves oblong blunt, buds erect, sepals linear lan-
ceolate, seeds obovate-oblong tubercular.

** Chameenerium obscurum, Schreb. Spic. Fl. Lips. 147.”

Epilobium obscurum, Reichendb. Iconog. t. 199. et Fl. excurs. p. 634 ;
Roth, Fl. Germ. ii. 438. et En. Pl. ii. 152; Fries, Herb. Norm.
vili. 42 (specimen); Griseb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 853; F.
Schultz, Arch. de Flore, i. 218 et 1. 49.

E. virgatum, Gren. et Godr. Fl. de Fr. i. 578 ; Sonder, Fl. Hamb.
pA ly ge :

Stem ultimately branching from the base as in E. tetragonum,
and the whole plant closely resembling that species. In wet
places the lateral stems are more or less decumbent, and rooting
in their lower part. Stoles in dry places rather short and thick ;
all their leaves in distant pairs, small, successively enlarged, but
not forming a rosette: in wet places they are long and some-
times branch ; their leaves are oval, but narrowed below. It is
only in the spring, when the new stems are commencing from
the ends of the stoles, that anythmg resembling a rosette is
found. In plants resulting from the stoles of the preceding
year, it is the end of the stole itself that throws out roots, and
sends directly upwards a single erect stem, which, at about the
time of flowering, begins to branch from most of its axils; the
lowermost buds producing stoles, the others flowering shoots.
Individuals of this kind have therefore usually a short prostrate
base, placed often at a right angle to it, and belonging really
to the growth of the preceding year. The capsules are much
shorter than those of E. tetragonum. The seeds of similar form
with those of that species.

My British specimens of E. obscurum are from Wyken, War-
wickshire; Ilfracombe, Devon; Llanthony, Monmouthshire ;
and Sussex ; and I am informed by Mr. Borrer that it is found

in Herefordshire by Mr. Purchas.
' There is something in the look of this plant that distinguishes

92 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

it from E. tetragonum. Tangible characters are afforded by the
leaves. If well-grown specimens of the two plants are con-
trasted, the difference in the shape of those organs will be found
to be rather considerable. The leaf of Z. tetragonum is very
well described as strap-shaped, for its sides are nearly parallel
throughout the greater part of their length, the widest part
being placed at about their middle. In #. obscurum the inter-
mediate leaves are sessile, but apparently not at all decurrent by
their limb (as is the case in its ally), although there is a slight
appearance of decurrence from the sides of the rudimentary
petiole ; they are broadest close to their rounded base, and taper
gradually from thence to their tip. Their teeth are much less
conspicuous and much more distant from each other than those
of E. tetragonum, and there are sometimes a few intermediate
much smaller denticulations. The lowest leaves are usually
shortly stalked and more oval than the others; and, in rare
cases, many of the leaves possess this oval form and are slightly
stalked, only those upon the upper part of the specimen having
the true form belonging to the species. The leaves of EL. tetra-
gonum are always shining, those of EH. obscurum opake, except-
ing on the stoles. The capsules of E. tetragonum are remarkably
longer than those of its ally, and afford, as Mr. Borrer observes,
a “striking primd-facie distinction in the living plants.” The
stoles of HZ. tetragonum have their leaves all closely placed so as
to form a subsessile rosette ; those of EH. obscurum have long
joints, and therefore a rosette is not formed, although the leaves
successively become larger. In very dry places, EH. obscurum
forms a kind of loose rosette at the end of a short stole. From
the large size of the leaves at the end of the stoles of H. obscurum,
they may sometimes be carelessly mistaken for a rosette.

E. obscurum is incompletely figured by Reichenbach (Iconog.
t. 199), and represented by the specimen (No. 358) of his ‘ Flora
exsiccata.’ Unfortunately that specimen had not produced its
stoles at the time when it was gathered ; and as the plant drawn
by Reichenbach was obtained from Leipzig, and Schreber’s
‘Spicilegium Fl. Lipsiz’ is the original authority for the name,
there is the more reason to deplore the fact that so imperfect an
illustration is given. In the text of the ‘ Iconographia,’ Reichen-
bach quotes the HE. virgatum (Fries, Fl. Hall. 66) as an un-
doubted synonym of E. obscurum, and the remarks already made
will show that in my opinion he is correct in quoting it; but
he seems to have afterwards suspected that he was in error, for
in the ‘ Fl. excurs.’ he leaves that synonym out, and describes
another plant as EZ. virgatum, which he supposes to be markedly
distinguished from LZ. tetragonum and E. obscurum by haying a
stigma that ultimately becomes quadrifid. Hartmann, as

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 93

quoted by Koch, expressly states of H. virgatum, “ stigma semper
integrum, nunc inordinate 2—4-fidum, nunquam vero cruciatum
vel regulariter quadrifidum.” Fries says in the ‘Fl. Hall.,’
“ stigmate indiviso,” in the ‘ Novitie’ “ stigmate demum qua-
drifido,’ in the ‘Summa’ “stigmatibus in clavam coalitis.”
Petermann (FI. Lipsiz, 280) describes E. obscurum, which re-
sembles the plant of this paper, as the Chamenerion obscurum of
Schreber, but adds, “ neque vero sec. herbar.” Reichenbach
makes a similar remark, but neither author tells us what the
plant of the Herbarium really is. The extract from Schreber’s
description given by Reichenbach (Iconog. 11. 89, and Fl. excur.
635), for I have not succeeded in obtaining access to the original
work, will apply tolerably well to the plant now called E. ob-
scurum. Roth’s works (Tentamen FI. Germ. 11. 438, and Enum.
Plant. i. sec. 2. p. 152) contain descriptions of E. obscurum
agreeing with that of Petermann, and with the plant pointed out
to me by Mr. Borrer and already described in this paper. Roth
remarks of it, “ planta ab E. tetragono diversissima est” (En.),
and “ planta per plures annosin horto.... excepta proceritate
non mutavit habitum” (F1.).

Sonder describes a plant as E. virgatum (Fl. Hamb. 217), of
which he says “ stolonibus elongatis, caule ex ascendente basi
stricto,” and quotes to it the specimen erroneously published by
Fries (Herb. Norm. 1. 46) as E. virgatum, and now referred by
Grisebach to EZ. Lamyi (F. Schultz). Sonder quotes LE. Lamyi
as being the same as his E. virgatum ; but if his plant has really
the elongated stoles and is chordorhizal, as he appears to intimate
in the words quoted above, then it cannot be the E. Lamyi of
F. Schultz, which that botanist states to have “ radice perpen-
diculare,” and also to possess “ad caulis basin foliorum rosulam
1 (varius 2) proferente, stolonibus nullis.” I am indebted to
my valued friend and correspondent Mr. R. Lenormand of Vire
for two specimens of the #. Lamyi (F. Schultz), marked as
authentic, gathered in La Vendée. They present so much the
appearance of E. lanceolatum, that we cease to wonder that Koch
referred imperfect specimens of the plant to that species. They
do not branch in their lower half, do not creep, have no stoles
nor rosettes, have narrowly lanceolate rather strongly denticulate
leaves with a wedge-shaped base on one of the specimens, and
a broad base which is rather narrower than the middle of the
leaf on the other. The plant is apparently very scarce, and
presents much difficulty. Schultz (Arch. 11. 49) quotes Sonder’s
E. virgatum as a synonym of E. obscurum, where also he places
the E. virgatum of Godron. I am indebted to Mr. Sonder for
specimens gathered by himself near Hamburg (at one of the
places mentioned in his ‘ Flora’) in 1842, and sent to me with

94 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

the name of LE. virgatum (Fries) ; but I have no doubt that they
really belong to E. obscurum.

It will be noticed that I have not quoted the £. virgatum of
Koch (Syn. Fl. Germ.). It is omitted because there can be no
doubt that that eminent botanist was unacquainted with the
true characters distinguishing these plants ; and that, as he tells
us himself, he did not know the true Z. virgatum until the
second edition of his work was nearly completed. He states
that most of the specimens called EH. virgatum by him were
merely E. tetragonum, or rather perhaps his words may mean
that they were HL. obscurum, which he considered as only a slight
variety of that species.

Dr. F. Schultz thinks that the EZ. virgatum of Fries’s ‘Summa’
is a hybrid between E. palustre and E. obscurum. As I have
not seen the true plant of Fries (for his published specimens are
respectively HE. Lamyi probably and E. obscurum), it is out of
my power to form any certain opinion. Schultz and Grisebach
both place it in a section characterized by the plants possessing
stoles and hybernacula like those of E. palustre, whilst Fries
says that its stoles are “elongatos sparsifolios,” lke those of
E. obscurum, but that its seeds equal those of E. palustre, and
therefore are twice the size of those of H. obscurum. In another
place Schultz remarks, that the difference between HZ. virgatum
and E. tetragonum derived from the form of the seeds is not
discoverable. Supposing him to mean H. obscurum under the
name of £. virgatum, as is perhaps the fact, he is quite correct ;
but if HZ. chordorhizum (Fries) is intended, the size of the seeds.
must be quite different, as we learn from Fries’s definite state-
ment on the subject. Schultz also informs us (Arch. 1. 46)
that the HL. Schmidtianum (Roskov.), noticed by Koch (Syn. 266)
under E. palustre, is not a broad-leaved state of E. palustre as
Grisebach supposes, nor a form of EZ. virgatum (E. obscurum) as
he formerly thought himself, but that it is a hybrid between £.
palustre and E. obscurum, to which he gives the name of E. ob-
scuro-palustre. I quite agree with Fries in believing that far too
many difficulties are attempted to be removed by supposing the
plants to be hybrids ; and also, that hybrids are seldom produced
naturally except in a few genera, such as Verbascum, and that
most of the plants that are so called will prove to be extreme
states of recognized species (see Fries, Mant. i. 97). Never-
theless it is possible that there may be natural hybrids in this
genus ; that the E. chordorhizum (Griseb.), EZ. palustri-obscurum
(Schultz), is one; and that the plant found by Mr. Baker at
Gormire is the first of the two forms of it mentioned by Dr.
Schultz (Arch. ii. 46), although the seeds of our plant have not
the long base found in Z. palustre, nor more than a very slight

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 95

prolongation of the testa at their rounded summit. But I am
more inclined to place it, provisionally, with E. obscurum, in the
hope that Mr. Baker’s attention may again be directed towards
it. It agrees m most respects with the EH. virgatum (Fries,
Summa), but the top of its stem, when bearing unopened buds,
is stated to nod, and its seeds are not smooth. Its stoles re-
semble those of EZ. obscurum, but are more slender. In a series
of specimens I find no trace of the bulb-like hybernacula formed
by £. palustre, E. chordorhizum (Griseb.) and E. Schmidtianum,
which last plant Schultz states to have “les stolons de lL. pa-
lustre.’ It should be added, that its seeds are twice as large as
those of E. obscurum.

If attention is paid to the stoles, there is no probability of
E. obscurum beimg confounded with any of the other species,
although those of #. palustre are somewhat similar in descrip-
tion. The latter plant has very slender stoles, each terminating
in an autumnal hybernaculum which is already described, a long
rooting base to its stem, very narrow leaves with a wedge-shaped
base, nodding buds, and subfusiform seeds which are acute at
the base and narrowed at the top where there is a prolongation
of the testa into a kind of beak bearing the beard. It is never-
theless often difficult to distinguish bad or incomplete specimens
of E. obscurum from E. palustre, for the lowest lateral branches
of the former being usually prostrate and rooting for some
distance, have, when torn off from the plant, much outward re-
semblance to the chordorhizal plants of E. palustre. Indeed it
has already been stated, that there is much reason to fear that
Fries himself has been deceived by such fragments*.

In the ‘ Cybele Britannica’ (iu. 850) Mr. Watson mentions
a plant or plants under the joint title of EL. virgatum and F.
Lamy, and refers especially to specimens gathered by Mr. T.
Moore in Kert, which were guessed by me to be possibly
E. Lamy, but which I now am certain are not the plant rightly
sonamed. Mr. Moore’s plant was found in company apparently
with E. palustre, of which, although it presents some difficulties,
I am inclined to the opinion that it is not a state, but think
that it may be referred to E. obscurum. I am informed that
specimens of it were sent to Dr. Grenier, and that he called it
the E. tetragonum of the ‘ Flore de France.’ In that determina-
tion he was assuredly in error, for the plant can belong to no
other species described in that admirable work than L. palustre
or E. virgatum (the E. obscurum of this paper). In obtaining

* My specimens of LE. palustre are from the following places :—Clova,
Forfarshire; Isle of Skye; Teesdale, Durham; Keswick, Cumberland ;
Lianberis, Caernarvonshire; Llanthony, Monmouthshire; Sandwich,
Kent ; Ma’am, Galway; Ventry, Kerry.

96 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

and quoting the opinion of either of the authors of that ‘ Flora,’
it should be remembered that, although the work is a joint pro-
duction, each portion has its own individual and declared author.
Dr. Godron is the author of the account of the genus Epilobium.
In such cases as this, Dr. Grenier may know no more than the
inquirer about the subject upon which he is consulted.

We will now turn our attention to the species allied to EZ.
alpinum, which present some difficulty, from there being pro-
bably two plants which pass by that name. Of this Dr. Godron
was well aware when preparing the account of this genus for the
‘Flore de France.’ He observes, “ L’E. alpinum (Fries, Nov.
Mant. ii. 20) est, sans aucun doute, une espéce distinete de celle
de France et de Suisse. Car la plante de Fries... . porte a la
base de ses tiges, au lieu de stolons filiformes, des rosettes sessiles
de feuilles fasciculées, qu’1l compare aux rosettes de l’E. ¢etra-
gonum.” (Fl. de Fr. i. 578.) It is a cause of surprise to me
that, knowing so much, he did not inquire further into the
subject, but has left the French plant in possession of the name
of £. alpinum, which belongs to that of Lapland. It was the
intention of Linnzus to include under that name the plant of the
Alps; but it is clear, from his quoting Scheuchzer’s work with
doubt, that he was not quite satisfied of their identity. In his
later writings he has removed the mark of doubt from that
reference, and added other synonyms belonging to the alpine
plant and also to &. alsinifolium. The E. alpinum therefore of
the ‘Species Plantarum’ meluded three plants: namely (1) £.
alpinum of Fries, which must be accepted as the type of the Lin-
nean species; (2) EH. alsinifolium of Villars; and (38) EB. ana-
gallidifolium of Lamarck, which is the EZ. alpinum of Godron.

Botanists appear to be now pretty unanimous in distinguishing
Nos. 1 and 2, but seem to have known nothing concerning the
E. alpinum of France and the Alps until Godron published the
remark that has just been quoted. Had not that accurate and
observant botanist directed attention to the subject, it is pro-
bable that we might long have continued to be ignorant of the
fact that the 2. alpinum of the north differs materially from
that of the south of Europe. It will have been seen from the
quotation from the ‘ Flore de France,’ that the chief difference
between them is, according to Godron, to be found in the pre-
sence or absence of stoles or rosettes. If such a difference of
habit really exists, it is probable that botanists will not see much
reason for refusing to adopt Dr. Godron’s opinion. That this
southern plant, if distinguished, ought to bear the name given
to it by Lamarck cannot admit of question; for there seems to
be no reason for doubting that he had it in view when he pub-
lished the description and figure of his 4. anagallidifolium. He

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 97

states that it is closely allied to the E. alpinum of Linnzus, but
doubts their identity *.

After stating what I believe to be the characters of the three
plants, a few observations will be made upon them.

E. anagallidifolium (Lam.); joints of the barren stems all long
with small obovate leaves, flowering stem erect from a long rooting
base, leaves oblong blunt narrowed below not acuminate stalked,
upper leaves lanceolate, buds nodding, sepals oblong blunt, seeds
obovate pointed below apiculate.

E. anagallidifolium, Zam. Dict. ii. 376. t. 278.f.3,; Griseb. 1. c. 853.

E. alpinum, Gren. et Godr. Fl. de Fr.i.577; Reichenb. Fl. exsicc. 1061.

Stem filiform, mostly simple, with two slightly raised lines,
usually 3-4 inches long; or prostrate, branched, densely leafy,
rooting. Leaves resembling those of EH. alpinum, glabrous or
downy. Flowers pale reddish. Capsules like those of £. al-
pinum, glabrous or downy. Seeds brown, rounded at the top, but
with a minute point formed by a slight prolongation of the testa :
there appears to be a furrow down the middle of the flat side.

It inhabits the lofty mountains of Scotland. My specimens
are from Morne and Lochnagar, Aberdeenshire ; Clova, Forfar-
shire; Ben Vorlich, Dumbartonshire. In Smith’s Herbarium
there are specimens from Ben Lomond, Stirlingshire; Craig
Chailliach and Ben Lawers, Perthshire.

E. alpinum (Linn.); barren stems short their upper leaves closely
placed, flowerimg stem erect from a short rooting base, leaves oval
or oblong blunt narrowed below not acuminate, upper leaves lan-
ceolate, buds nodding, sepals linear-lanceolate acute, seeds lan-
ceolate-obovate pointed below apiculate.

E. alpinum, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 1.348; Eng. Bot. 2001; Fries, Herb.
Norm. viii. 44.

Stem filiform, simple, with two slightly raised lines, usually
38-4 inches long. Leaves pale green. Flowers pale. Capsules
relatively smaller than those of KH. alsinifolium, but resembling
them. Seeds rather pale, bluntly rounded at the top, but with
a minute central point formed by a shght prolongation of the
testa, with a keel along the middle of the flat side; but the
keel in this plant and the furrow in £. anagallidifolium is not
ascertained.

It inhabits the lofty mountains of Scotland. All the British
specimens that I have seen belong to the smaller of the two
forms distributed by Fries; they are from Ben Wyvis, Ross-

* In the paper already noticed, Dr. Grisebach has arrived at conclusions
concerning the allies of E. alpinum similar to those independently formed
hy me, and Dr. Schultz appears to adopt them in his review of it.

TRANS, BOT. SOC. VOL. V. H

98 Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

shire; Drumouchter, Inverness-shire ; Ben na Buird, Aberdeen-
shire; Clova, Forfarshire; Ben Lawers, Perthshire.

E. alsinifolium (Vill.) ; stoles (yellowish) with small roundish distant
scales, stem erect from a long rooting base, leaves ovate-acuminate
repand-dentate shortly stalked, buds nodding, sepals linear-oblong,
seeds subfusiform.

E. alsinifolium, Vill. Dauph. ii. 511; Deakin’s Florig. Brit. f. 626.

E. origanifolium, Reichendb. Fl. exsice. 775.

E. alpinum, Fries, Herb. Norm. vy. 4}.

Stem usually simple, rather thick, with two raised lines, 3-12
inches long. Leaves shining, subpellucid, glabrous. Lowest
leaves blunt. Flowers large, purplish, few. Capsules very
long, upright, long-stalked. Seeds narrowed at both ends, and
continued gradually into a great prolongation of the testa at the
top, causing the beard (pappus) to appear to be stalked.

It inhabits the lofty mountains of Scotland; the Great
Cheviot in Northumberland; Cronkley Fell, Teesdale, York-
shire; Fairfield, Westmoreland; at and above Aber Waterfall,
Caernarvonshire.

It is not easy to describe the great difference in appearance
that exists between E. alpinum and E. anagallidifolium, and
therefore they will doubtless seem to the reader to be far more
alike than is really the case. I have never seen in LE. alpinum
the remarkable prostrate rooting flowerless shoots which are
characteristic of E. anagallidifolium, and which are as different
from the rather loose rosettes of H. alpinum as they are from the
stoles of E. palustre. The short leafy stems forming the loose
rosettes of KH. alpinum do not become creeping stems nor true
stoles. The sepals may perhaps afford a certain distinction
between them.

It must be added, that I have no acquaintance with the sup-
posed differences between KE. alpinum and E. anagallidifolium as
they appear in the living plant, and that it is often difficult to
tell accurately to which of them dried specimens ought to be
referred. Well-developed and complete specimens are so very
different, that there is little ground for hesitation in admitting
two plants as natives of the Scottish mountains which have such
markedly different modes of growth as to render it highly pro-
bable that they are distinct species. The identification of these
plants with the HZ. alpinum of Scandinavia and of the Alps,
respectively, does not, I think, admit of doubt. Botanists will
do well if they direct their attention to the interesting question
of their specific distinctness.

Scottish botanists should look carefully for the EZ. lineare
(Miihl.) which is found on the mountains of Scandinavia, and

Mr. C.C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 99

may very probably inhabit those of Scotland. It closely re-
sembles both EL. alpinum and E. palustre. From the former, to
which it appears to be the most nearly allied, it may be di-
stinguished by its linear obtuse denticulate leaves; its sepals,
although of the same shape, are apparently blunt; its flowers
are “white,” or “cream-coloured.” From £. palustre it is
at once known by “vegetatio cspitosa ob rosulas ad basin
sessiles,’ and the total want of the slender stoles of that
species.

It is hardly necessary to expend many words upon the dif-
ferences of E. alsinifolium from the two plants above mentioned,
for its very differently shaped seeds afford a good distinction,
and the appearance of its foliage is very dissimilar. But it is
necessary to direct attention to the singular fact, that the plate
devoted to the illustration of this species in ‘ English Botany’
represents another plant. Mr. Borrer has kindly favoured me
with the use of authentic specimens, named E. alsinifolium by
the late Mr. Winch, and stated to have been gathered by him
on Cheviot. One of them was communicated by the late Mr.
Sowerby as the plant figured by him im ‘English Botany’
(t. 2000) ; another is stated to be Mr. Winch’s plant by the
lamented Mr. Edward Forster; and a third is similarly ticketed
by Mr. D. Turner. These three specimens all accord well with
the plate (Eng. Bot. 2000); but neither they nor it have, as I
believe, any claim to the name of E. alsinifolium. They are
probably only small states of H. montanum; indeed, the culti-
vated specimen from Mr. Turner can scarcely be called small.
Mr. Turner was well acquainted with this rather singular fact,
for in.the ‘ Botanist’s Guide’ (i. 470) he states, under the
heading of E. alpinum, the name originally applied to the plant
by Winch, that he, in common with other botanists, believed the
specimens sent to him to be “only a starved state of H. mon-
tanum.” I am inclined to agree with Mr. Turner; but Mr.
Borrer, than whom there is no person better qualified to give an
opinion on such a subject, thinks that “the clubbed stigma and
the angles of the stem tend to a contrary conclusion. These
angles are still visible on the specimens, as lines at least, even
on the large garden fragment.” One thing is clear to both Mr.
Borrer and myself, viz. that the specimen sent to Sowerby, and
figured by him, was not E. alsinifolium. In Winch’s Herbarium
there is a “small mountain variety of E. montanum,” which has
faint decurrent lines upon its lower joints. The Cheviot plant
appears to be chordorhizal, judging from one of the specimens
preserved in that Herbarium; and the plate in ‘ English Botany’
represents an underground stole similar to those of EZ. alsini-
folium. If we are obliged to allow that hybrids are easily pro-

H 2

100. =Mr. C.C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

duced between Epilobia in a wild state, then we might probably
escape from the difficulty by supposing this plant to be one;
viz. between E. alsinifolium and E. montanum, both of which
are, I believe, to be found upon the same part of that mountain.
On that supposition, the habit and the leaves would result from
the latter plant ; and the stole, the shght angles upon the stem,
and the club-shaped stigma, from the former. Nevertheless
there is great reason to think that Winch did gather the true
E. alsinifolium on Cheviot, for his description of the plant found
there, when in cultivation, accords well with that species. His
words are, “In winter it is not deciduous, but forms wide-
spreading, matted tufts of small leaves, among which the fibrous
roots shoot out, as in proliferous plants. The flower-stems are
partially decumbent, cylindrical, at first simple, afterwards much
branched, and furnished with numerous elliptical, slightly toothed,
soft leaves; the flowers are few, and the style undivided.” (Bot.
Guide to Northumb. and Durham, ii. p.v.) One or two points
in this description, such as that which I have italicized, refer to
the plant which Winch had by some mischance mixed with the
true E. alsinifolium; but I think, for the most part, it cannot
have been taken for that plant. I also think that the Lysimachia
siliquosa glabra minor latifolia of Ray is really E. alsinifolium.
It is most unfortunate that the wrong plant should have been
figured in ‘ English Botany,’ as that error has probably tended
to encourage those who desired to disprove the specific distinct-
ness of /. alsinifolium; and it is wonderful how botanists who
have had occasion to quote figures of that species, myself amongst
the number, have continued to refer to ‘ Eng. Bot. tab. 20007
as representing it. Dr. Deakin describes and figures the true
E. alsinifolium (Florig. Brit. ii. 549. f. 626); but part of his
remarks seems to have resulted from an inspection of ‘ English
Botany,’ for they do not accord with the description that precedes
them. The lamented Dr. G. Johnston stated (Bot. of East.
Borders, 81), that he found £, alsinifolium in the Dunsdale
Ravine on the Great Cheviot ; and as he most liberally presented
his specimens to me, I am enabled to confirm his determination
of the plant, thus proving that that species really does inhabit
those hills. The specimens more nearly resemble those which |
gathered upon Cronkley Fell in Yorkshire than the plant usually
found in Scotland, and seem to be what Fries mentions under
the name of EL. anceps as a variety of this species (Mant. ii. 20).
I am inclined to refer the specimen gathered and named £. al-
pinum by Dr. Douglas (see Bot. E. Bord. 82) to a small state of
E. alsinifolium, but its imperfect state renders this determina-
tion doubtful.

In the valuable and recently published ‘Supplement to the

et

Mr. C.C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 101

Flora of Yorkshire’ (p. 67), Mr. J. G. Baker notices a plant
which he found on the “ south bank of the Swale near Topcliffe,”
and describes it as having “subsessile leaves narrowing gra-
dually below . . . . a bisulcate stem, erect buds and dark purple
flowers,” and states his belief that it is probably the E. purpu-
reum of Fries. If his description is correct, and I have no
reason to think it otherwise, it seems highly probable that his
determination of its name is also right. Mr. Baker kindly pre-
sented me with specimens of it, but unfortunately they are only
lateral branches of what seems to have been a much-branched
plant ; they accord well with the descriptions given by Fries
(Mant. il. 185, and Summa, 178). Mr. Baker’s plant appears
to have had a hollow “ bisulcate ” stem (but I do not know that
the furrows descend from the dorsal ribs of the leaves, as Fries
states to be the case in his plant), much branched and clothed
with fine scattered hairs ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, suddenly nar-
rowed below into a very short winged petiole, finely and distantly
denticulate ; lower leaves probably opposite; floral leaves large
and more or less alternate; flowers apparently rather large,
“dark purple,” constantly erect ; sepals hairy, broad, oblong,
acute or perhaps cuspidate ; capsules very long, thick, hairy
when young, rising conspicuously above the top of the stem. I
have thought it right to introduce this short notice of the
suspected EH. purpureum into the present paper from its appear-
ing to deserve the attention of botanists.

Before closing this communication, it is proper to bring more
prominently forwards than has been done by its discoverer, the
fact that the EL. rosmarinifolium (Haenke) is a native of Scot-
land. Mr. John Robertson, a very intelligent gardener and
botanist, has had a ‘ Flora of Perthshire’ in preparation for
some years, and would have published it before this time if he
had succeeded in obtaining sufficient subscribers to cover the
expense*. With the prospectus of this book he circulated in
1852 a “ few scraps from the work ” itself, and amongst them
there is the announcement of his having found this plant upon
almost “ inaccessible rocks that overhang the Tarf, a mountain-
stream in Glen Tilt.” He adds, that “it may be readily over-
looked from the frequent nibbling of sheep and other animals,
...-+ It has also been observed in one or two situations by the
Tay, where doubtless it has been carried . . . by the impetuosity
of the mountain torrents.” The characters for distinguishing it
from E. angustifolium are—

E. rosmarinifolium (Haenke) ; stem erect round, leaves linear not

* Subscribers’ names are received by Messrs. A. and C. Black, publishers,
Edinburgh: Price 10s. 6d.

102. Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium.

veined, petals elliptic-oblong not clawed, style equalling the

stamens.

E. rosmarinifolium, ‘‘ Haenke in”’ Jacq. collect. ii. 50.
E. Dodonzi, Sturm, Deutsch. Fl. fase. 72. t. 5.

Creeping moderately. Stem often decumbent below. Leaves
shortly attenuate at both ends, entire or denticulate, with revolute
margins. Fiowers rose-coloured or white.

This is a very interesting addition to the flora of Britain, for,
as far as I can learn, it had not with certainty been ascertained
to grow further north than the Cevennes. Messrs. Hooker and
Arnott seem to throw some doubts upon its having been found in
Glen Tilt, but do not state the cause of them. My inquiries
and those of Mr. Borrer lead us to believe the statement of
Mr. Robertson.

In the ‘ Botanist’s Guide’ there are two stations given for a
plant there called EL. angust:ssimum, both of which rest upon the
high authority of the late Mr. J. W. Griffith. These places are,
* Rocks near Twll dG in Cwm Idwel,” and “ Rocks of Arran
Pen Llyn.” It has been generally taken for granted that the
plants noticed by Mr. Griffith were small states of EZ. angusti-
folium, but no botanist has, I believe, recorded his having re-
cently met with the plant of the latter station, and we have
therefore no means of knowing what it is. In the autumn of
1855 I gathered what seems to be a small form of EF. angus-
tifolium upon the rocks rising from the lake called Llyn y Cwn,
which is close to Twll da. It had not flowered, nor did it show
any buds, and grows in the narrow crevices of the rock in such
a manner that I was unable to obtain a root for cultivation. It
should be remembered that the station called “ Rocks near
Twll dai in Cwm Idwel” by Griffith, is stated by him (Bot.
Guide, i. 82) to be the spot named “ Hysvae” by Richardson in
the 3rd edition of Ray’s ‘ Synopsis’ (310), where he found the
Lysimachia Chamenerium dicta, flore Delphini of Parkinson, and
that there is every reason to suppose that Richardson, Griffith
and myself have successively gathered the same plant in the
same or closely contiguous spots. It is curious that Smith
should have taken no notice of these mountain stations.

The true name of the plant found by Mr. Robertson is rather
difficult to determine, not from any doubt concerning the spe-
cies to which it belongs, but on account of some confusion
which has happened in the use of the several names of the allied
plants. The Perthshire plant is—

E. Dodonai, Villars (in part), Allioni, Gaudin (in part), Koch ;

E. rosmarinifolium, Haenke, Reichenbach, Godron ;

E. angustissimum, Willdenow (in part), Bertoloni (not Curtis
nor Aiton), Waldstein and Kitaibel.

Bertoloni and Godron appear to be justified by the description

ee

Mr. C. C. Babington on some species of Epilobium. 103

given by Villars (Fl. Dauph. iu. 507) in considering that he in-
eluded under the name of E. Dodonei both the small species
which are allied to E. angustifolium, and therefore have probably
exercised a sound judgement in rejecting that name. But the
former author seems to me to have fallen into an error in
thinking that the plant now under consideration is the E. angus-
tissimum of Aiton (Hort. Kew. ed. 1. 11. 5), and of Curtis (Bot.
Mag. 76), for the figure given by the latter author seems to fix
that name upon the other species, to which also Reichenbach
applies it. If therefore we think it proper to drop Villars’s
name, the next in antiquity is E. rosmarinifolium given by
Haenke in 1788. Mr. Borrer has pointed ont to me that
Dodoens does not deserve the honour of being commemorated
in connexion with this plant, the figure of which in his work
(Pempt. 85) is only a reprint of L’Obel’s cut (Stirp. Hist. 226),
and all that he says about it is contained im a single sentence
which conveys no valuable information. It is probable that he
never saw the plant. It cannot therefore be said that we
are depriving him of any credit, justly due to him, when we
neglect a name of only partial applicability to our plant and
adopt another which belongs to it alone.

P.S.—The time which has elapsed since the communication
of this paper to the Botanical Society has allowed plants raised
from seeds of E. Lamyi, taken from the specimens sent by M.
Lenormand, to develope their winter form. The seeds were
sown in a pot in the early part of the summer of 1855; they
flowered in the autumn, and the flowering stems are now (Feb.
22, 1856) quite dead. Around the base of the old stems there
is now a dense mass of rosettes, exactly resembling in all respects
those of E. tetragonum. [They are now, June 5, 1856, not di-
stinguishable from E. tetragonum.| The plants have not been
defended from the frost, but nevertheless the rosettes are in a
healthy condition. Dr. Schultz remarks of the rosettes, that “si
la plante n’est pas garantie contre le froid dans une chambre
chauffée” (Arch. ii. 53), they perish in the winter; but that if
so defended they produce plants that flower, but do not develope
any more rosettes. It remains to be seen if such will be the
ease with the plants in the Cambridge Botanic Garden.

Mr. Borrer informs me that “a plant of 2. Lamyi, raised
from seed sent by Schultz, is (Feb. 9, 1856) showing tufts of
leaves as strong as, and (as far as I can see) scarcely distinguish-
able from, those of EZ. tetragonum, at this time in a north border
in my garden, where it must have borne 24 degrees of frost
[8° Fahr.].” These facts tend to the conclusion that E. Lamyi
is not distinct from E. tetragonum.

“104

XIV. On the British Species of Arctium.
By Cuaruzs C, Basineton, M.A., F.R.S. &e.

Reap 13tTs Marca 1856.

In a former paper (Ann. Nat. Hist. Ser. 1. iv. 253) I endea-
voured to show that there were two well-marked species of
Arctium inhabiting Britain, and then expressed an opinion that
neither of them accorded well with the plants figured in ‘ English
Botany.’ The names applied to them in that paper were 4.
Lappa and A. Bardana, used in the belief that my plants corre-
sponded with those so called by Linnzeus and Willdenow. Since
that period my attention has at intervals been directed to the
genus, and specimens have been often seen that did not well
accord with either of those species. A few years since I was
favoured by my friend M. J. Lange of Copenhagen with a spe-
cimen of a plant called by him A. intermedium, and which he
believes to be distinct from the described species. On the sup-
position that this accorded with a plant observed in Britain, and
that it was nearly allied to what I had formerly named A. Bar-
dana, it is placed in the 3rd edition of my ‘ Manual’ as A. minus
B. intermedium, and the A. Bardana of Smith is incorrectly re-
ferred to it. A careful re-examination of the plants has led me
to the conclusion that throughout the whole of these researches
I have been in error, and that the following remarks present a
more correct view of the subject.

_ We appear to possess five well-marked species of Arctium in
this country, namely A. tomentosum, A. majus, A. intermedium,
A, minus, and A. pubens, the characters of which I now purpose
endeavouring to point out. But before describing the plants it
is desirable to direct attention to the points upon which it seems
probable that stress may be best laid. (1.) The arrangement
of the heads presents an easy mode of separating two of the
species from the others. This character must be used cautiously,
for it is only the top of the central stem of the plant that is to
be trusted: it and the branches often have the heads arranged
in the same manner, but frequently the central stem bears a
corymb and the branches racemes of heads. (2.) The form of
the heads is of much value, and their size must not be neglected.
(3.) Although the shape of the phyllaries is nearly the same in

Mr. C. C. Babington on the British species of Arctium. 105

all the plants, their direction is a little different and the appear-
ance of the heads is thereby changed. The inner row has not
this uniformity of shape, but differs considerably in the several
plants. These inner phyllaries are always bordered by a broadish
membrane which sometimes increases in width towards the top,
but in other cases narrows gradually to a rigid point. (4.) The
florets consist of two parts, the upper of which 1s tubular nearly
throughout. That part which is below the commencement of
the free filaments is slender in all the species ; the upper part is
always much thicker, varies considerably in form, and its length
bears different proportions to that of the lower part. (5.) The
phyllaries either fall short of the florets or equal them. In
the latter case the corolla alone is to be taken into account, for
the anthers and styles are always much protruded.

It is proper to state here the reasons which have led me to
retain the name of Arctiwm for this genus instead of following
DeCandolle in employing it for the A. lanuginosum (Lam.),
Linneus in his first work (Syst. Nat. published in 1731) gave
the name of Arctium to the plant called Lappa by Tournefort,
and characterized it as early as the year 1737 (Gen. Pl.). In
1778 Lamarck transferred the name, under the form of Arction,
to his A. lanuginosum without paying the least attention to its
previous use by Linnzus, and applied the term Lappa to the
Linnean genus. It is doubtless true that the ante-Linnean
botanists did use Lappa as a generic name, but it has been well
remarked by the Committee of the ‘ British Association for the
Advancement of Science’ appointed to consider the nomen-
clature of zoology, that “Linnzus was the first to attach a
definite value to genera, and to give them a systematic character
by means of exact definitions ; and therefore, although the names
used by previous authors may often be applied with propriety to
modern genera, yet im such cases they acquire a new meaning
and should be quoted on the authority of the first person who
used them in this secondary sense” (Report Brit. Assoc. Man-
chester, 1842, p. 110). Applying this excellent rule, which is
just as true in botany as in zoology, to the present case, we find
that the Linnzan name has a priority of many years over that
which Lamarck adopted from the ante-Linnean Tournefort.
That this was the view taken at the time is shown by the remarks
of Villars (Pl. des Dauph. ii. 27) when continuing to use the
name of Berardia, which he had given in his ‘ Prospectus’ to the
A. lanuginosum of Lamarck. There does not seem to be any
reason for breaking the rule in this instance, for if it should be
said that Tournefort’s genera are well defined and therefore
should not be rejected, then many more of his names ought to
have been adopted in preference to those given by Linnzus.

106 Mr.C.C. Babington on the British species of Arctium.

1. A. tomentosum (Pers.) ; heads subcorymbose long-stalked sphe-
rical and closed in fruit much webbed (purplish), phyllaries
falling short of the florets subulate, inner row longest and
broad, inflated upper part of florets a little shorter than the
lower part.

A. tomentosum, Pers. Syn. ii. 383 (1807) ; Schkuhr, Handb. iii. 29.
227.

A. Bardana, Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. 1632 (1800); Eng. Bot. t. 2478;
Fries, Nov. Fl. Suec. ed. 2. 263.

A. Lappa 3, Linn. Fl. Suec. ed. 2. 278, teste Fries, l. c.

A. Lappa, Sven. Bot. t. 63; Fl. Dan. t. 642.

Lappa tomentosa, Lam. Dict. i. 377 (1783); All. Fl. Ped. i. 144
(1785) ; Gray, Brit. Pl. ii. 434; Lindl. Syn. ed. 1. 154; DeCand.
Prod. vi. 661; Koch, Syn. ed. 2. 463; Gren. et Godr. Fl. Fr. ii.
281; Reichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. xv. t. 811; Fl. Dan. t. 2423.

Lappa major montana, capitulis tomentosis sive Arctium Dioscoridis,
Rati Syn. ed. 3.197. 4; Pet. Brit. Pl. t. 23. 6.

Stem and petioles slightly mealy and floccose. Stem 3 to 5
feet high. Leaves cordate-ovate ; lowermost very large. Erect
central stem and usually most of the branches ending in irre-
gular corymbs of heads; but sometimes many of the branches
have fewer heads with a racemose arrangement. Peduncles very
long, but rarely a few of the lower heads have only short stalks.
Heads large, usually covered with much cobweb-like hair ; occa-
sionally a plant with almost glabrous heads is found. Phyllaries
purplish-green or greenish-purple, each with a small strongly
hooked purplish-yellow rigid pomt ; inner row broad and mem-
branous even near to the end which is purple often quite blunt
truncate or emarginate with a straight rigid excurrent nerve or
rarely shortly subulate. Florets broadest just above the origin
of the free filaments at which point they suddenly enlarge from
a slender tube, become inflated and then narrow upwards, very
persistent with the ripening fruit when they close the small
space left between the ends of the converging phyllaries. Fruit
dark brown with blackish blotches, nearly smooth.

It is probable that the long delay that has attended the
acknowledgement by name of this plant by English botanists,
although it was figured by Sowerby, may have been caused by
its inhabiting the eastern districts of England, and being rarely,
if ever, to be found in other parts of the country. Experience
must prove or disprove this idea. The plant really represented
in ‘English Botany’ not having been seen, any woolly-headed
Arctium was called A. Bardana, The A. minus, which possesses
many of the characters of A. tomentoswm, being figured in the
same work under the name of A. Lappa, the conclusion was
arrived at that A. Lappa and A. Bardana formed only one spe-

Mr. C. C. Babington on the British species of Arctium. 107

cies. For if tab. 2478 is a representation of the plant com-
monly called A. Bardana in England, then its difference from the
specimens generally found and so named would show that there
is so great a range of variation in the species as to render it
highly probable that the A. Lappa of tab. 1228 is another of its
states. Ifthe true A. Lappa of Willdenow had been figured in
that valuable work, no such idea would probably have arisen.

In most respects Sowerby’s figure is an excellent represen-
tation of A. tomentosum, but the drawing was probably taken
from a lateral branch, and the relative length of the phyllaries
and florets (as shown in the dissected figure) does not appear to
be correct. The inflated form of the floret is excellently shown.

The A. Lappa (Willd.) not being presented to the notice of
our botanists, but that name given by Smith to A. minus, caused
the erroneous conclusions that only a single variable species
existed in Britain, and also, that there were no more species
upon the European continent.

Although Fries informs us that the A. minus (Schkuhr) is the
true A. Lappaa. of Linnzus, a statement confirmed by the spe-
cimen in his herbarium, still the var. 8. (Linn.), which we know
on the same excellent authority is the plant called A. tomentosum
by Persoon and A. Bardana by Willdenow, is figured in the
‘Svensk Botanik’ (tab. 63) and ‘Flora Danica’ (tab. 643) as
A. Lappa. .

It is proper to direct attention to the fact that Gray (/. c.)
and Lindley (/. c.) correctly identified the plant of Sowerby as
A. tomentosum, but neither of them seems to have known that
there are two other woolly-headed species in this country.

I have not observed this plant out of Cambridgeshire, but it
is probably much more extensively distributed.

Flowering in August.

2. A. majus (Schkuhr) ; heads subecorymbose long-stalked hemi-
spherical and open in fruit glabrous (green), phyllaries equal-
ling or exceeding the florets subulate, inner row shorter than
the others, subcylindrical upper part of florets more than half
as long as the lower part.

A. majus, Schkuhr, Handb. iii. 49; Fries, Nov. 264; Wimm. et
Grab. Fl. Siles. ni. 105; Bab. Man. ed. 2. 182, ed. 3. 179.

A. Lappa, Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. 1631 ; Bab. in Ann. Nat. Hist. Ser. 1.
iv. 254; Man. ed. 1. 171.

Lappa major, DeCand. Prod. vi. 661; Koch, Syn. 463; Gren. et
Godr. ii. 280.

L. officinalis, All. Fl. Ped.i. 145 ; Reichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. xv. 54.
t. 812.

L. major Arcium Dioscoridis, Rati Syn. ed. 3. 197. 2.

L. major capitulo glabro maximo, Dill. in Raii Syn. ed. 3. 196. 1.

Burdock, Pet. Engl. Pl. t. 23. 1.

108 Mr.C.C. Babington on the British species of Arctium,

Stem and petioles finely mealy and rather floccose. Stem
3-4 feet high. Leaves cordate-ovate; lowermost very large.
Central stem and usually most of the branches ending in irre-
gular corymbs of heads; but sometimes many of the branches
have fewer heads and a racemose arrangement of them. Pedun-
cles very long, but occasionally a few of the lower heads are only
shortly stalked. Heads very large, quite glabrous or with a
very little cobweb-like hair in their youngest state; after the
florets have fallen, which they seem to do at an early stage of
the growth of the fruit, the head is quite flat and open at the
top, often an inch across, and the involucre is almost exactly
hemispherical with the outer phyllaries deflexed, the middle ones
patent and the inner ones nearly erect. Phyllaries usually all
green and subulate; their hooked points yellowish; imner row
paler, less gradually subulate than the others but narrowing.
upwards until near to the point where it narrows quickly,
scarcely converging over the fruit: the heads therefore do not
appear to be constricted near the top as is the case in the other
species. Florets very nearly cylindrical in their enlarged part,
rather widening than contracting above the sudden enlargement,
deciduous. Fruit yellowish, irregularly rugose.

This is usually not nearly so large a plant as A. tomentosum,
although it often attains a very considerable size. It is conspi-
cuous on account of its long branches and large heads, which
latter much exceed in magnitude those of either of the other
species. |

The very long peduncles and corymbose heads distinguish it
and the preceding from the three other species, but in estimating
these characters attention should be paid to the heads forming
the termination of the upright central stem of the plant; it has
been already remarked that the branches do not always present
the same arrangement of the heads. Difficulties may occur
when neither A. majus nor A. tomentosum is known, or when
only the lateral branches are examined, but when an intimate
acquaintance has been obtained with either.of them, it is nearly
impossible that any doubt of the distinctness of those species can
continue to exist.

The remarks to be found under A. tomentosum have shown
how differently the name A. Lappa has been applied by bota-
nical writers ; three out of our five species having been so called.
It is therefore desirable that the use of it should cease. It
also appears from the remarks of Fries (Noy. 263), that the
A. majus was certainly not the typical 4. Lappa of Linneus ;
the name therefore cannot be properly employed to designate
this plant.

The figure given by Tournefort to illustrate his genus Lappa
rather represents a head of the A. tomentosum than of A. majus

Mr. C. C. Babington on the British species of Arctium. 109

of this paper. The head named L. major by Gaertner is more
like my 4. minus.

A. majus is probably generally distributed in Britain, flower-
ing in August.

My specimens are from Grosmont, Monmouthshire ; Mor-
diford, Herefordshire ; Bluntisham, Hunts ; Clonakilty, Cork. I
have seen it in several other places, but unfortunately my notes
concerning them have been lost.

3. A. intermedium (Lange) ; heads racemose subsessile ovate closed
in fruit slightly webbed, phyllaries equalling or exceeding the
florets subulate, inner row lanceolate shorter than the others,
subcylindrical upper part of the florets equalling the lower
part.

A. intermedium, Lange, MS. in Herb. Bab. et litt. ; ‘ Flora of Den-
mark ; Reichenb. fil. in Icon. Fl. Germ. xv. 54. t. 812.

Stem and petioles floccose. Stem 3-4 feet high. Leaves
roundish-cordate; lowermost large. Central stem usually (?)
nodding and as well as the branches furnished with many nearly
sessile heads arranged in a racemose manner; ending in three
heads placed close together. Heads moderately large, narrower
than those of A. majus, but appearing long from the ascending
direction of most of the phyllaries, usually slightly webbed.
Phyllaries purplish-green and subulate; their hooked points
purplish-yellow ; inner row purple at the end, lanceolate acute.
Florets cylindrical in their upper half, much resembling those of
A. majus but with different proportions, apparently persistent.
I have not seen the fruit.

This plant may be known from all the others by having its
heads nearly sessile ; each branch usually ending in a cluster of
three heads. Its leaves are apparently shorter in proportion to
their width. It is distinguished from the following plant by
possessing much larger ovate (not spherical and stalked) heads ;
from A. pubens by its closed and nearly sessile heads ; from the
two preceding by the racemose arrangement of the heads even at
the top of the primary stem.

Its distribution is unknown to me, with the exception that I
have gathered it near Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Mr. Newbould
at Hope in Derbyshire. Mr. Baker states (Suppl. to the Fl. of
Yorkshire, 85) that he finds it frequently in Yorkshire, but I
have not seen any specimens of his plant.

It flowers in August, but, like all the other species, may some-
times be found in that state in July.

As I do not know that M. Lange has published the cha-
racters of his plant, it appears to be desirable to insert the fol-
lowing extract from his letter, dated March 1849 :—

“ A, intermedium calath. : adultis ovatis, squamis exterioribus

110 Mr.C.C. Babington on the British species of Arctium.

subulatis viridibus apice stramineis interioribus lanceolatis apice
purpureis. It is the highest of all the species. Plant fresh
green. Stem and head purple brown tinged, the heads doubly
greater than the little form (4. minus). It grows principally in
woods.

“A. minus calath. : adultis depresso-globosis, squamis omnibus
subulatis cano-yiridibus exterioribus apice stramineis. The plant
low, pale and grayish green. Open ground.”

It is probable that similar characters to the above are to be
found in that botanist’s ‘ Danish Flora, which I have not seen,
and which is written in the language of Denmark.

4. A. minus (Schkuhr) ; heads racemose shortly stalked spherical
slightly contracted at the mouth in fruit slightly webbed
(greenish), phyllaries falling short of the florets subulate, inner
row equalling the others, subcylindrical upper part of the florets
about equalling the lower part.

A. minus, Schk. Handb. iii. 49 ; Fries, Nov. 263.

A. Lappa a, Linn. Fl. Suec. ed. 2. 277, teste Fries.

A. Lappa, Curt. Fl. Lond. ii. 173; Eng. Bot. t. 1228.

Lappa minor, DeCand. Fl. Fr. iv. 77; Koch, Syn. 463; Gren. et
Godr. Fl. Fr. ii. 280; Reichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. xv. 53. t. 811.

Lappa major capitulis parvis glabris, Dill. in Raii Syn. 197. 3.

Lappa major montana, capitulis minoribus, rotundioribus et magis
tomentosis, Raii Syn. 197. 5.

Small-headed Burdock, Pet. 23. 3.

Small woolly-headed Burdock, Pet. 23. 4.

Stem and petioles finely mealy. A smaller plant than either
of the preceding. Central stem usually nodding and as well as
the branches producing scattered shortly stalked heads forming
an irregular raceme, on the lower or later branches the heads
are often nearly sessile ; the terminal head solitary. Heads about
half the size of those of the preceding species and greener than
in it; the amount of web very variable. Phyllaries green, some-
times slightly tinged with purple; the hocked points yellow;
inner row purple at the end, gradually narrowed into a ngid
subulate point but not hooked, alone converging over the fruit ;
the others mostly patent or a few of the outer ones deflexed.
Fruit fuscous with black blotches, rugose towards the top.

The small spherical heads of this plant, about the size of a
hazel-nut, readily distinguish it from A. intermedium; as do
their size, their short stalks, and their racemose arrangement
even upon the central inclined stem, from A. tomentosum. The
very large corymbosely arranged heads of A. majus clearly point
out that plant as distinct from A. minus. The much larger
hemispherical and long-stalked heads separate A. pubens from it.

Although the typical state of A. minus is very different from

Mr. C.C. Babington on the British species of Arctium. 111

A. tomentosum, it is difficult to find any character by which they
may be at all times certainly distinguished. There is a difference
in the shape of the florets: those of A. minus although thick in
their upper part do not enlarge so suddenly as those of A. to-
mentosum, nor do they contract upwards as in it. It is probable
that A. minus never has corymbosely arranged heads ; that they
are always small and shortly stalked; that the florets are deci-
duous so as to leave the tops of the fruits uncovered: that
A. tomentosum always has its central stem erect and corymbose,
although the branches have the heads arranged in racemes ; that
the heads are usually large and those in the corymb have long
stalks ; that the florets are usually so persistent as to hide the
ripening fruit; that the phyllaries of the innermost row are
usually almost wholly membranous and blunt with an excurrent
midrib.

A. minus is probably common, but the distribution of all the
species requires to be carefully determined.

My specimens are from Madingley, Cambridgeshire; Stone-
leigh, Warwickshire; Mordiford, Herefordshire; St. Aubin’s,
Jersey ; and I have ascertained that it grows near Saffron Wal-
den, Essex ; Bluntisham, Hunts ; Buntingford, Herts ; and Swan-
sea, Glamorgan.

Note.—The A. Bardana of my former paper (Ann. Nat. Hist.
Ser. 1. iv. 255) includes A. tomentosum and A. minus.

5. A. pubens; heads subracemose stalked hemispherical and open
in fruit much webbed (green) ; phyllaries equalling the florets
subulate, inner row equalling the others and gradually subulate,
-ssubcylindrical upper part of the florets equalling the lower
part:

Stem and petioles thickly clothed with short jointed hairs
which shrink into a coarse mealiness. Stem 3 feet high. Leaves
large, ovate, lowermost cordate-ovate. The central stem erect,
and the branches, ending in irregular racemes of heads. Pedun-
cles rather long, those of the lower heads the longest. Heads
as large as those of A. tomentosum, much webbed when young
but losing much of the web (as is usually the case with the
other webbed species) as they advance towards fruit, ultimately
appearing to be nearly naked. Phyllaries green, each with a
purple-yellow hook ; inner row narrowing upwards but rather
membranous, purple at the end. Florets very nearly cylindrical
in the enlarged part, persistent but not closing the large space
between the nearly upright inner phyllaries. Fruit dark brown,
very rugose and with a few paler spots towards the top.

I am unable to place this plant satisfactorily under any of the
published species, and think that it is distinct from them. It

112 Mr. C.C. Babington on the British species of Arctium.

differs from A. tomentosum by its subracemose heads with shorter
stalks of which the lower are the longest, heads hemispherical
and open in fruit, inner phyllaries equalling the others and not
widened upwards, upper part of the florets not inflated nor
broadest at the base: from A. majus by its subracemose much
webbed heads, inner phyllaries equalling the others, upper part
equalling the lower part of the florets: from A. intermedium by
its hemispherical open heads of fruit upon rather long stalks
and the inner phyllaries equalling the others: from A. minus by
its heads being twice as large, hemispherical and on longish
stalks, and the phyllaries equalling the florets.

It is more pubescent than either of the others from having
much more numerous and longer jointed hairs upon its stem
and leaf-stalks.

The plant is probably not uncommon. I find it in several
places in Cambridgeshire, am indebted to Mr. Kirk for speci-
mens found by him at Fillingley and Kenilworth in Warwick-
shire, to the Rev. W. W. Newbould for some gathered by him
at Ecclesall near Sheffield, and observed it myself in the valley of
Llanberis in North Wales in August 1855.

Flowering in August.

a

113

XV. On an Abnormality in the Flowers of Salix Andersoniana.
By Joun Lows, Esq.

Reap 10TH Jury 1856.

In the year 1841, the Rev. J. E. Leefe communicated to this
Society a paper, entitled “ Remarks on some curious Metamor-
phoses of the Pistil of Salix Caprea.” A short time since, I ob-
served a corresponding set of changes occurring in the male
flowers of Salix Andersoniana. These, as forming, with those
of Mr. Leefe, a complete series of morphological changes, may
not be unworthy the Society’s notice. The changes observed by
Mr. Leefe in Salix Caprea consist of a gradual conversion of the
pistilline into staminal organs, each step in the process being
clearly explained by the plate which is given with his paper in
the 1st volume of the Society’s ‘ Transactions.’

In the present specimens we have just the opposite, viz. the
stamens becoming converted into ovaries, and this by every con-
ceivable gradation.

The plant from which these were taken grows about half a
mile below Cramond Bridge near Edinburgh ; it 1s to all appear-
ance strong and healthy, and in the majority of its flowers there
was no-observable alteration.

Fig. 1. is a floret whose filaments are partially united at the
base; in other respects it is perfectly normal. The scales and
glands in this as in the other florets present nothing unusual,

TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. V. I

114 Mr. J. Lowe on Salix Andersoniana.

Fig. 2. The stamens still further united, giving the filament
a forked appearance.

Fig. 3. represents one of the stamens of the last figure con-
verted into an ovary which bears a pollen-mass on its inner
edge; the other stamen is unaltered.

Fig. 4. A still more advanced condition. The ovary has no
vestige of pollen-cells, but at the base is the remaining anther,
sessile.

Fig. 5. shows each stamen converted into a carpel and bear-
ing an antherine mass. The styles have each but one stigma.

Fig. 6. The two ovaries are here nearly united, but have a
fissure superiorly in which are the remains of the anthers. The
styles are distinct and monostigmatous.

Fig. 7. The fissure seen in last figure has disappeared by the
union of the styles; a pollen-mass still remains on the side of
the united ovaries.

Fig. 8. A complete and well-formed ovary.

I ought to remark here that these figures are not intended to
represent the progressive development of the ovary as shown by
any individual floret, but simply the different stages which may
be traced in a number of florets and which may be reasonably
regarded as successive.

We may now consider the cause of these phenomena and the
laws which govern formations of this nature.

The generally received opinion regarding the production of
dicecious flowers is that each flower is rendered unisexual by the
suppression of the other sexual whorl, and though this may be
mainly true of many dicecious plants, it does not appear to ex-
press the whole truth with respect to dicecious Amentiferee.

Dr. Braun in his ‘ Rejuvenescence of Nature,’ states that both
kinds of sexual organs are derived from the same leaf, or as he
expresses it, “ the same leaves appear in the male as stamens and
in the female as carpels.” In other words, the leaf which fails
to produce a male will give rise to a female organ, and vice versd.
Hence, though it is perfectly correct to say, that there is an
arrest of development when stamens are alone produced, it is
otherwise with respect to female organs, since there is here not
an arrest but an exaltation of development.

These specimens illustrate also the parts of the leaf which
give origin to the different parts of the essential organs ; thus, the
anther gradually merging into the carpel shows that it is derived
from the lamina of the leaf (the fact of the carpel being formed
by the lamina of the leaf being ascertained by morphological
changes in other plants). The pollen observed on the edge of
the ovary in fig. 5, would encourage the idea that pollen is
merely a gemmiferous condition of the lamina of the leaf. And,

Mr. J. Lowe on Salix Andersoniana. 115

lastly, we may allude to the gland, which, although not pre-
senting any peculiarity in the present specimens, I have never-
theless found in others assuming a very interesting form. I am
not aware that the question has been mooted as to what is its
real morphological value. It might be assumed to represent an
abortive stamen, but that we find it present in those Salices
which may be regarded as having their staminal whorl complete,
Salix pentandra tor instance. Moreover it is found to be placed
opposite the interval in flowers which have only two stamens,
thus having an alternate arrangement. I have little doubt,
especially since meeting with the specimen shown in fig. 9, where
there are two glands alternating with the stamens, that they re-
present the corolla. Regarding the scale as the calyx, we have
thus the various whorls of the flower complete.

116

XVI. Elucidation of some Plants mentioned in Dr. Francis
Hamilton’s Account of the Kingdom of Nepal. By Lieut.-Col.
Manpen, F.R.S.E., President of the Botanical Society of
Edinburgh*.

Reap 12Ta June 1856.

Tue possession by the University of Edinburgh of the duplicate
herbarium (unfortunately incomplete) and the valuable MS.
Catalogue of the Plants collected in Nepal and other parts of
India by the late Dr. Francis Hamilton (formerly Buchanan),
has recently afforded me the opportunity of comparing them
with some which he has introduced into his ‘Account of Nepal,’
only, or chiefly, by their vernacular designations, which are of
no assistance to the English reader. Of the result of this
examination I purpose to submit a short statement to the Bo-
tanical Society, to the Members of which it may prove the more
interesting from the fact that, in several cases, the scientific
names have not hitherto been given in any, even the latest,
works on Indian Botany which have fallen under my notice,
although the plants are well known and of general utility
in India. Nor will it be considered inconsistent with the
object of our meetings, to dedicate a brief space to an in-
quiry into the botany of a district which engaged the in-
terest and employed the time of this accomplished naturalist,

* The death of the author having occurred since this paper was read
before the Society, it has been printed without the benefit of his cor-
rections.

+ The genus Hamiltonia, of the order Cinchonacez, was devoted by
Roxburgh to the memory of this “illustrious peregrinator,” as he is called
by D. Don. H. suaveolens is a shrub of the Rajmahal and other hills of
Behar; and a very beautiful azure-blue variety abounds all along the base
of the Himalaya, the H. azurea of Wallich, seabra of D. Don, propinqua
of Jacquemont. The flowers are sweetly fragrant till bruised, when they
exhale a most foetid odour, from which the plant derives its Kuméon name
of Padéra. Dr. Hamilton himself remarks thus on the specific name at
No. 694 of the Catalogue :—

* Hamiltonia suaveolens. Habitat in sylvis Anggee et Mithila.

“Nomen specificum haud aptum, cum flores, licet aliquando suaveo-
lentes, seepius, ut in Pederia et Serissa affinibus, odorem stercoraceum
gravissimum spirant, quod in ceteris ejusdem generis speciebus quoque
evenit.””

On some Plants from the Kingdom of Nepdl. 117

whose late residence, Leny, near Callander, must be familiar to
many of our explorers of the romantic scenery of the Trosachs.
Dr. Hamilton was, I believe, the first to investigate the botany
of Nepal and the adjacent countries, in which he has been
zealously succeeded by Wallich, Griffith, and Hooker. I have
not myself had the good fortune to visit these regions, and poli-
tical jealousy has almost sealed Nepal, especially its alpine tracts,
to us; but I have traversed its western frontier, and was for
several years associated with its military tribes in the service of
the East India Company, and have thus been enabled to acquire
the popular names of several of the plants in question. I shall
not altogether limit myself to those occurring in the ‘ Account of
Nepal,’ but shall extend my remarks also to a few of those enu-
merated in the Catalogue, with respect to which there is reason
to thmk any additional information will be acceptable, or any
errors remain to be rectified. Many points must continue un-
determined, and will furnish a field of inquiry to future botanists.
Dr. Royle has been the most successful investigator of the
various sources of the many articles of the Indian Materia Me-
dica, in his valuable ‘Illustrations of the Botany of the Himé-
layan Mountains’; but the origin of many of those contained
in his list, published in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal’ for October 1832, is still to be made out. With refer-
ence to the object before us, the most advantageous plan, per-
haps, will be to quote the several passages from Dr. Hamilton’s
work as they occur, with some regard to the natural sequence
of the orders as understood by Dr. Lindley; appending such
notices as may be supplied by the Catalogue, and concluding
with my own comments.

As Dr. Hamilton always makes use in his Catalogue of the
classical names for the various provinces, it may be well to pre-
mise that

Magadha is the modern Behar.

Mithila yA Tirhut.

Cosala _ Oude and Gorakhpur.
Camroop Hf, Rangpur and Assam.

Angga ie North-western Bengal.

Banga = Western and Southern Bengal.
Matsya eS the district of Dinajpur,

“ Phaphar, said by some to be a species of Amaranthus, called
Amardana in the low country; but others say that this is a
mistake.

“‘Uya, which I presume is rye, the natives saying that it is
neither barley nor wheat, but has a resemblance to both.”

The chief grains of Kullu, a hill province north of the Sutlej

118 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

river, now a British possession, were reported to Dr. Hamilton
to be Phaphar, Chuyd, and Uya: “The Chuya, from the de-
scription given, would seem to be the Holcus Sorghum, although
the coldness of the situation renders this doubtful” (pp. 274,
275, 315).

The Uya is the Hordeum celeste, well known to the residents
of Simla as the Ua jdo, or UA barley, being in high estimation
in the preparation of cakes.

Phaphar or Phdphra is the Fagopyrum rotundatum, Bab.
(emarginatum, No. 1688, Wall.), near F. tataricum; it is known
as Bitter Buckwheat, and is very generally cultivated in the higher
and colder sites of the Himalaya; Fagopyrum vulgare (or escu-
lentum), No. 1687, Wallich, beimg common lower down, and
known as Ogal or Ogla, and Kotu (not Kultu) ; distinguished
from the last as Sweet Buckwheat*. Chuyé and Anardana are
one and the same: Amaranthus anardana, No. 2028 of the Cata-
logue (exclude synonym Amaranthus frumentaceus, Hort. Beng.
677). “Andrdéna Hindice. Colitur in arvis Cosale et Ne-
pale ;” and at Bhdgalpur on the Ganges, according to Moquin
in DeCandolle. Andrdané implies the supposed resemblance of
the grains to the carpels of the Pomegranate. I never met any
one who used the name, and incline to think Amardéna, as
Dr. Hamilton once writes it, may be the true one, meaning ‘im-
mortal grain,’ and therefore nearly identical with Amaranthus : -
nothing can better answer to the appellation than this species,
which is grown all over the Himalaya, and is also known as
Marsa and Bathu. It rises six to eight feet high, and is either
of a brilliant crimson ora rich yellow. The effect of a mountain-
side, terrace above terrace, covered with distinct fields of these
colours, and glowing under the rays of the afternoon sun, is
gorgeous indeed; but as an article of food, it must be confessed
the reality falls far below the promise of the eye. Amaranthus
caudatus is occasionally cultivated for the same purpose, and is,
in Garhwal, called Ramdané, ‘the grain of God.’

Cynosurus corocanus : Maruya of Nepal: now Eleusine coro-
cana, everywhere cultivated in the British Himélaya as Man-
dua or Marua. 2. stricta is also grown in Garhwil.

Holeus Sorghum. Kaunguni, Muccai, or Muruli,—the first
being the Newar name (2. e. of the aboriginal Mongolian popula-
tion), the last two those of their Parbatiya or Hindoo conquerors,

* There is considerable discrepancy in the description of the Himélayan
Buckwheats given by Don (Prod. Fl. Nep. pp. 73, 74. Nos. 21, 22, 23),
Babington (Linn. Trans. xviii. 93 seq.), and Meisner (P]. As. Rar. vol. iii.).
I am only acquainted with two cultivated species, the Ogal and the Pha-
phar, as noticed in the text.

from the Kingdom of Nepdi. 119

also a mountain race. Generally, however, Kangani is Pani-
cum italicum, and Muccai (Makkai) Zea Mays: it is probably
a term of Indian origin, but the Mohammedans suppose it to
be so termed because Maize came to them from Mecca; of this
fact it is but a very slender corroboration that the French call
the same corn ‘Blé de Turquie” Sorghum vulgare is little
cultivated in the mountains, but Sorghum saccharatum is occa-
sionally seen about Almorah.

Panicum colonum. Tangni, Tangri, or Kakun, p. 231.

Sabe, referred to Jschemum, a grass of the Nepal Tarai,
growing in great quantities, and exported to the British terri-
tories for the manufacture of ropes (p. 64).

No. 2324. Ischemum Sabe. Sabe, Hindice.. Habitat in
Mithile campis ubi legitur ad igamina foliis nectanda. (Speci-
men from Nathpur.)

No. 2325. Ischemum sparteum. Sabe, Hindice. Habitat in
Magadhz montosis. Ad usum eundem cum precedente inservit.
(Specimen from Ghoramara.) These two plants are identical ;
Spodiopogon laniger, No. 8845 B. of Wallich’s Catalogue, Nepal,
1821, being there referred to a new genus, “ Eriantho affine.”
In 1850 I found it stacked in large quantities on the bank of
the Ganges at Bhojpur and Monger in Behar, where the owners
called it Saba, Sama, and Sabar, and informed me that it was
brought down from the Rajmahal Hills, south, and from those
of Tirhut, north—the localities specified by Dr. Hamilton.
Dr. Royle (Illustrations, p. 416) states that Spodiopogon laniger
is “one of the grasses found in the northern as in the southern
parts of India.” In Kumaon it occurs as far in the mountains
as Almorah, and up to an elevation of 5000 feet, flowering in
April. Mr. Edgeworth informs me that it is abundant in the
rdos or hill water-courses of the Sewalik and lower ranges of the
Himalaya in the Pinjor Dun, below Simla, up to 3000 feet ;
there, as throughout Northern India, it is termed Ban (a word
which in Shakespeare’s Hindustani Dictionary is erroneously
identified with Munj), and is well known as a common material
for making rope, which is much used, especially for the bottoms
of beds and similar purposes. Dr. Royle adds that Eragrostis
(Poa) cynosuroides is employed for rope-making: under the
names Darbh (Dabh) and Kusa, it plays an important part in
the religious ceremonies of the Brahmans, and, when young, it is
a favourite food of cattle; but any other destination has not
fallen under my observation. Eriophorum (Trichophorum) co-
mosum, Wall., cannabinum, Royle, called Babar and Baib, and
Saccharum (Erianthus) Munja, also yield excellent material for
cordage (the latter requiring the preliminary process of being
pounded) ; but we are indebted to Dr. Hamilton for having in-

120 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

dicated the importance of Spodiopogon laniger as supplying one
of the textile articles of Indian produce.

Kshir Kangkri, or Titi Pirala ; a Lilium or Pancratium (p. 86).

No. 855. Pancratium sylvestre. Titi Piralu montanorum,
Hindice. Habitat in sylvis Nepal inferioris. (Marked in the
margin Allium cumaria.) From Chatera, April 1810. There
is no specimen in the Herbarium, but Wallich believed it to be
his No. 8974, P. verecundum. Dr. Hooker met “a very sweet-
scented Crinum”? in the Sikkim Tarai, perhaps identical with this.

Dr. Royle (Illustr. p. 374) has a Crinum (C. Himalense)
from Mansar, in the interior of the Himalaya; and the late Dr.
M‘Gregor assured me that he had found one wild in the valleys
near Sabathu.

Dr. Hamilton, however, states that the true Titipiralu (which
signifies the bitter bulb or Colocasia) consisted of the dried
scales of a tuberous root, having every appearance of being a
species of Lilium. Of this genus, as well as of Fritillaria, many
species inhabit Nepal, and among them L. japonicum, sometimes
called L. Wallichianum, known in Kumaon as Findora, a corrup-
tion of Pindélu. ‘The bulb-scales of Lilium japonicum dried
are said to be employed in China, like salep, in pectoral com-
plaints.” (Royle, Illustr. 388. Figured, Wight’s Icones, t. 2035.)

According to some of his informants, the Kshir Kangkri is
one of the Cucurbitacee ; this is borne out by the signification
‘juice of the cucumber ;’ perhaps C. Hardwickii, which is called
Air-dlu in Kumaon, and Pahari Indrayan, Hill Colocynth, in
Garhwal, from its bitterness. Royle, t. 47. f. 3.

Amomum: Desi Elachi, large Nepal Cardamom, with mem-
branous angles (pp. 74, 75).

No. 18. Amomum? aromaticum, Hort. Beng. 1 ; Roxb. Fl.
Ind. i. 44. Alaichi montanorum in Nepala. Colitur iter
montes Nepale. (To this is added at a subsequent date),—To
this probably belonged the specimen received from Surat, which
Linnzus considered as the true Cardamomum. (Linn. Trans. x.
252.) .

There is no specimen in the Herbarium. In Dr. Christison’s
valuable collection of Materia Medica, this species is named
“Java Cardamom, Pereira, ed. ii. p. 1135. From Amomum
maximum, Roxb. Java and Bengal.” I observed it exposed for
sale in considerable quantities at Barmdée, a mart on the western
frontier of Nepal, where it was said to come from Dott, a pro-
vince bordering Kumaon to the east. Roxburgh (/. c.) deseribes
Amomum aromaticum, Morang Elachi, as a native of the valleys
on the eastern frontier of Bengal, with an ovate capsule, the
size of a large nutmeg ; those of Doti are much smaller.

« Singgiya Bikh or Bish (of the lower mountains and hills,

from the Kingdom of Nepdl. 121

p- 98), much celebrated among the mountaineers. The plant
was brought to me in flower, but was entirely male; nor did I
see the fruit, which is said to be a berry. So far as I can judge
from these circumstances, I suppose that it is a species of Smilax
with ternate leaves. To pass over several of its qualities that
are marvellous, the root, which resembles a yam, is said to be a
violent poison. The berries also are said to be deleterious, but
when applied externally are considered as a cure for the goitre,”
p: 87.

No. 2219. Smilax? virosa. Singgiya Bish vel Bikh monta-
norum, Hindice. Habitat in Nepal montibus. Identified by
Wallich with No. 5099 of his Catalogue, Dioscorea virosa, which
Dr. Royle informs us occurs also in Garhwél and Sirmur under
the name of Ramberee (the divine Zizyphus). It is remarkable
in this genus from having its stems furnished with aculei; and
Dr. Royle calls our attention to the fact that this species, with
D. triphylla, pentaphylla, and demona, all with compound leaves,
are distinguished by the acridity of their tubers*. Singgiya a
Bikh, signifying ‘horned poison,’ alludes to their curved form
in D. virosat.

No. 220. Smilax? narcotica. Bharbang montanorum, Hin-
dice. Habitat in Nepala inferiore ad montium radices.

This is identified by Wallich with the preceding.

Pinus Picea,W. Common Spruce Fir. Hingwal Ka Cl’hota
Saral, z.e. Small Alpine Pine, pp. 83-96. |

No. 2064. Pinus striata : Pinus Picea, Hamilton’s Nepal, 83,
96. Hingwal Ka Ch’hota Saral (Alpium parva Pinus), Hindice.

* Roxburgh (iii. 806) and Graham (Cat. of Bombay Plants, p. 218) agree
that tlie tubers of D. pentaphylla are wholesome, and used as an esculent.
Graham tells us that the root of D. triphylla, “intoxicating and intensely
bitter,” is often sliced and infused in toddy to render it more potent. It
occurs in Kumaon as high as 6000 feet; D. demona, with equally nauseous
tubers, only reaches to 3000.

The root Charmaghas, so often mentioned in the Sanserit dictionaries,
has not been identified. I found it sold at Barmdee by the Nepalese
traders; but my specimens were destroyed by the ‘ Fish insect,’ Lepisma
saccharina, the scourge of our Indian libraries and herbaria. It may be the
Sham, or root of Cherophyllum esculentum, mentioned in Royle’s ‘ Illus-
trations,’ which is probably the Chamaas, “a wild edible root used as a
relish”’ by the people of Rol, near the Shatul Pass, Basehar (Lloyd and
Gerard, 1. 293). The S. ndlika implies a plant with a tubular stem: sap-
tald, having seven leaves.

+ The vernacular Sing, ‘a horn,’ softened from the Sanscrit Sringa, gives
the origin of the Arabic and Persian word for ginger, Zinjabil, from which
the Greek Zingiberis is derived. The common source of all is the Sanserit
Sringavéram, signifying ‘antler-shaped ;’ and it is remarkable that this
classical name, as well as that (Nalada) from which the ancients formed
their term (Nardos) for spikenard, is no longer used in the Indian dialects,
being superseded by some of the many synonyms.

122 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

Habitat in Nepal alpibus. On the label, “leaves very odorous.”
This is Picea Webbiana, and is identified by Wallich, No. 5058
(for 6058), Pinus Webbiana: P. striata, Ham.

Neither Wallich nor Hamilton has the Himalayan Spruce
(Abies Smithiana, or Morinda) from Nepal; it is also absent
from Kumaon, but is common both east and west of these pro-
vinces.

P. excelsa is figured by Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. t. 201; but
t. 246, P. Smithiana, errs in exhibiting the cones erect.

Catalogue, No. 2063. Pinus Strobus. Gobiya Saral monta-
norum, Hindice. Habitat in Nepalz alpibus. (The native name
belongs to the last.) Weymouth Pine, p. 83. Pinus excelsa,
which is very near to P. Strobus. In Lambert’s ‘Description of
the genus Pinus,’ it is characterized as follows :—“ This species
approaches so near in habit and in the figure of its cones to
P. Strobus, that were it not for the simple round membranous
crest of the anthers, it would be almost impossible to distin-
guish their limits as distinct species. The leaves of this species
are considerably longer than those of P. Strobus, and the cones
larger.” P. Strobus has “antherarum crista omnium minima é
setis duabus erectis brevissimis.” Mr. D. Moore of Glasnevin
informed me that it is, in Ireland, less hardy than P. eacelsa.
A variety of this in our Horticultural Society’s Garden, with
short leaves, removes one of the differences on which Lambert
relies. Colonel Markham (Shooting in the Himalaya, 213, 214)
says that, in Kunawar, “torches are made from the Cheel Pine,
which, being full of turpentine, burns beautifully, and gives a
capital heht, ... 2s. The gum of the Cheel is held in great
estimation for its healing qualities throughout the hills.” So
Hooker, Journals, i. 45.

The Salla of Dr. Hamilton is Pinus longifolia, also called
Chir, a species occasionally introduced into our Pineta, but
quite unfitted to endure the severity of our winters, being a
semi-tropical plant.

It is observable that Dr. Hamilton nowhere mentions the
Deodar, which he could scarcely have failed to procure had it
been indigenous to Nepal. When in India, with very scanty
_materials for an opinion, I came to the conclusion that we have
no evidence of its existence till we come to Garhwal, though it
is usually quoted as a native of Nepal: a reference to Dr. Wal-
lich’s Catalogue establishes the correctness of this conclusion,
for under his No. 5060 (for 6050?) we have “Pinus Deodara,
Roxb. a Kamaon, R. B. (Robert Blinkworth). ? 8. ex horto
quodam ad Patan in Nepalia, 1821.” But even in Kumaon,
where fine groves occur, the tree is clearly introduced.

Juniperus: Dhupi. Alpine Nepal. No. 2280. Juniperus

——

ee

from the Kingdom of Nepal. 123

sguamosa. Dhupi montanorum, Hindice. Hamilton’s Nepal,
96. Habitat ad Emodi nives: labelled, “Thibet Hills.” So
Wallich, No. 6043. J. squamosa, Ham. Gosainthan, Chur.
The common species of the Himalaya, with considerable diver-
sity as found in the dry or the rainy districts. The description
of the Dhupi in the ‘ Account of Nepal,’ p. 96, can, however,
only agree with Juniperus excelsa: “A very large tree.” “ Its
wood has a beautiful grain, a fine mahogany colour, and a re-
markably pleasant scent, a good deal resembling that of the
pencil Cedar, but stronger, and I think more agreeable. Planks
of this are sent to Thibet, from whence they are probably carried
to China.” Dhup signifies ‘ incense.’

Juniperus: alow bush; Thumuriya Dhupi. “ Branches and
leaves have an agreeable smell, and are used in fumigations,”

. 96.

No. 2279. Juniperus? incurva. Thumuriya Dhupi monta-
norum, Hindice. Hamilton’s Nepal, 96. Habitat ad Emodi
nives. No. 6042, Wallich. Juniperus recurva, Ham., identified
with his J. recurva. Gosainthan. Dr. Hamilton’s specimen
quite resembles some of the north-western forms of J. sguamosa,
and has neither the hue nor the pendulous branchlets of the J.
recurva of our collections, which is certainly not a native of the
British Himalaya. Dr. Hooker (Journals, u. 28, 45) calls it
the weeping Blue Juniper, and figures it as a tree 30 feet high,
in Upper Sikkim, but comparatively scarce.

Catalogue, No. 2067. Cupressus sempervirens. Bhairopati,
Hamilton’s Nepal, 97. Habitat in Nepal alpibus. Labelled,
“ Brought from the alps of Thibet: said to be a shrub.” (“Its
dried. leaves have a disagreeable sulphureous smell,” p. 97.) The
name is here given, ‘ Bhaingropati;’ and in p. 97, Bhairopati
(7. e. Siva’s leaf) is said to be a Rhododendron. Wallich
(No. 6041) identifies Dr. Hamilton’s specimen with Juniperus
excelsa ; and has Cupressus torulosa (No. 6046) only from Niti
in Garhwal. I have stated elsewhere, on the authority of the
late Mr. J. E. Winterbottom, that he had obtained it from
Gosainthan in Nepal; but he subsequently discovered that his
specimens were those of a Juniper. Dr. Hamilton’s plant has
the branches four-sided, agreeing with Don’s “ quadrifariam
imbricatis” of C. torulosa (Prod. Fl. Nep. 55) and with my own
observation. Lambert says, “ramulis teretibus,” perhaps from
a young state of the plant.

HingwaAl Ka bara Saral: the Yew, according to Dr. Hamilton,
confirmed by his specimen No. 2281. Zaxus baccata falcata.
Yew-tree, Anglorum. Hingwal Ka bara Saral montanorum,
Hind. Hamilton’s Nepal, 83, 96, 117. Habitat in Nepale
alpibus. The name signifies ‘great Alpine Pine,’ and is cer-

124 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

~ tainly misapplied, probably by the carelessness of the collectors ;
as ‘small Alpine Pine’ cannot belong to Picea Webbiana. They
have most likely been interchanged.

Zuccarini* constitutes a distinct species (Taxus Wallichiana)
for the Himdlayan Yew ; but though the leaves are more curved,
and the berries smaller than in our European tree, the difference
is 80 trifling, that, with our knowledge of such a marked variety
as the Irish Yew generally reproducing the common form, a new
species seems uncalled for. Dr. Hooker (Journals, ii. 25) holds
that the Himalayan, the North American, and several connect-
ing links, all belong to Taxus baccata; he tells us (i. 186) that
the red bark is used as a dye, and for staining the foreheads of
the Brahmans in Nepal. The timber found by Layard in the
palaces of Nineveh, and pronounced by him to be Cedar, is in
reality Yew.

Dr. Wallich (No. 6054, and Tent. Flor. Nep. t. 44. p. 57)
identifies Taxus baccata falcata of Nepal with Taxus nucifera of
Kaempfer from Japan, an oversight which has been set night by
Zuccarini, as well as by the fact that no one has hitherto de-
tected that plant or other Taxus in any part of the Himalaya.
Dr. Wallich has indeed, in “ No. 6056, Taxus? Lambertiana,
Wall. Pini spec. Wall. Herb. 1824. Himalaya, Webb, Govan,
Kamroop.” No specimen exists in the collection here; but
from Lambert’s genus Pinus ui. t. 67, we know it to be Pinus
(Picea) Pindrow. “ Dr. Wallich, who had seen neither flowers
nor fruit, supposing it to be a Taxus, has doubtfully referred it
to that genus under the name of Taxus Lambertiana, in the
Catalogue of his Herbarium. It does not appear to have been
found in Nepal, but is frequent in the countries to the west-
ward, having been observed in Kumaon by Captain W. 8S. Webb,
and in Sirmore and Garhwal by Drs. Govan and Royle.” Dr.
Thomson (Western Himalaya and Tibet, p. 86) considers it
one species with Picea Webbiana : “ The long green-leaved state
is that of the moist Himalaya; in the driest regions the very
short glaucous-leaved form occurs.’ The Himalayan chain
from Kumaon to Baséhar on the Indian face is annually
drenched with rain; and still more the various detached out-
liers, Dudutoli, Chur, &c., rising above 11,000 feet. Every-
where in this tract, so far a8 my observation extends, the Pin-
drow alone will be found up to about that elevation, when in a
few hundred feet it yields to P. Webbiana. Owing to this lofty
habitat, P. Webbiana is stimulated into premature growth by
our early springs, and often cut down by subsequent frosts ;

* Morphology of the Coniferz, 52, 53, in Reports and Papers on Botany,
printed for the Ray Society, London, 1846.

———E———

from the Kingdom of Nepal. 125

the Pindrow, though from a lower zone, is not liable to this
accident.

The preparation of a kind of tea from the Yew-tree is, I think,
peculiar to the Himalaya, and it is remarkable that so dangerous
a plant should have been selected. Col. Markham (Shooting
in the Himalaya, p. 115) thus describes its use in Kashmir:
“There is a capital substitute for tea,in the inner bark of the
Yew-tree, dried and prepared like tea. The colour is perfect ;
but I never could find much taste in the infusion, although one
of my friends once said that he liked it better than tea.” It is
for this reason that, in Kunawar, Tazus baccata is called Sang-
cha=Sang ¢ea, perhaps connected with the name of the moun-
tain Sung-lo in Kiangnan, “ famous in China as being the place
where the green tea shrub was first discovered, and where green
tea was first manufactured*.”

Of the popular idea of the great age attained by this tree, I
met with a curious illustration im 1851, when an Irish gardener
repeated the following as being an ancient composition taught
him by old people. Three years being the age assigned to the
unit, the total comes to 2187 :—

Tri saoghail muic, saoghal con ;
Tri saoghail con, _saoghal eich ;
Tri saoghail eich, — saoghal aufhir ;
Tri saoghail aufhir, saoghal seade ;
Tri saoghail seade, saoghal iolair ;
Tri saoghail iolair, saoghal au iur.

In English.
Three lives of a pig = life of a dog;
Three lives of adog = life of a horse;
Three lives of a horse = life of a man;
Three lives of aman = life of a path (or furrow) ;
Three lives of a path = life of an eagle;

Three lives of an eagle = life of a yew.

Bhurya patra, or Bhurjapatra, p. 97. Betula bhojpatra,
Wall. “This bark (of a fine chestnut colour) is imported into
the low country in considerable quantity, and is used both in
the religious ceremonies of the Hindus, and for constructing
the flexible tubes with which the natives (and Europeans also)
smoke tobacco.” Both in India and in Persia this bark was
anciently substituted for paper (called Tus in Persia); hence a
Sanscrit name of the Birch, Vidhadal, ‘leaf of knowledge.’

* Fortune’s Tea Countries of China, 86.

126 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

The blocks used in Thibet for stereotype printing are formed of
its wood. The Sanscrit Bhurjja, ‘firm or hardy in the earth,’
seems the origin of our term Birch, Russian Beréza, &e. The
Bharangi bark from Almorah (Royle, J. A. 8. B. for October
1832, No. 110) is explained to be Betula bhojpatra,—Illustrated
Cat. of Great Exhib. of 1851, vol. ii.

Kaephal (not Karphal), p. 85. Myrica sapida. Kayaphal,
from the Sanscrit Katphal, signifies both acid and stony fruit.
It is scarcely worth eating; but the bark is sent down to the
plains in large quantities, and is used, I think, in dyeing.

Lalchandan, “a timber tree, the foliage and appearance of
which have some resemblance to the Laurels” (p. 85). No
specimen or reference seems to exist in the Catalogue; but the
plant is probably Goughia Himalensis, Bentham (a new genus of
Euphorbiacee, near to Sarcococca), which is not uncommon in
moist valleys in outer Kumaon and other provinces of the
Himalaya as far N.W. as Dharmsala near Kotkangra, at 5000-
7000 feet. The Kumaon name, Rakt Chandan, is of the same
import as that given by Dr. Hamilton, and signifies ‘ Red San-
dal-wood ;? the heart-wood being used for the sectarial mark
which the Hindus daub on their foreheads.

The genus Goughia is described and figured in Wight’s Icones,
v. 22. t. 1878-79.

Catalogue, specimen No. 1486. Sinapis Gorrea. Ghor rayi,
Hindice. Colitur rarius in Indiz Gangetic arvis ob semina
acria. In fr. Surjaghorri, 27 March, 1811. Identified by
Wallich (No. 4790) with Sinapis erysimoides, Roxburgh, Fl. Ind.
ill. 123, from Wynaad, a district of Malabar,

Ten years since, I noticed this plant under cultivation at Al-
morah, with the names Makara rai, Asl rai, Tarantula and True
Mustard. I referred it doubtfully to S. erystmoides or nigra.
On a voyage down the Ganges in 1850, I found the plant com-
monly grown from Mirzépur as far down as Bar in Behar, but
in the greatest abundance about Benares, being cultivated (like
the rest of the genus) in the cold season, on the rich clay banks
of the river. The leaves are used as cress, the seed for the
same purposes as with us; as well as in horse and camel medi-
cines: hence the name Ghor-rai, Horse Mustard. On arriving
in Europe that year, it was at once recognized as Sinapis nigra.

The cultivation of Sinapis niyra in India does not appear in
our works on its agricultural resources. Dr. Royle enters Sinapis
nigra? (No. 219) among the Indian articles of Materia Medica
(Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Oct. 1832); and in the Liverpool
Collection of Imports, Class 29. No. 270. of the Exhibition of
1851, is ‘ Mustard Seed, Brown: Sinapis nigra, from Bombay.
Import, 1100 quarters in 1850.” In the Illustrated Catalogue,

from the Kingdom of Nepdl. 127

ii. 879, is a similar entry,—‘‘ Annaloo Noone (Sinapis nigra)
from Tanjore ;” and “ Khardal rai, Sinapis nigra.’ ’ (87)

It appears from Ainslie’s « Materia Indica,’ 1. 231, that the
plant was cultivated long since in the Calcutta Botanic Garden
from seeds “brought from England by Colonel Garstin.”

Malayagiri, p. 84, “a pale yellow wood, with a very agree-
able scent.”

1262. Michelia Zila. Ham. Nepal, 217. Zila champa.
Habitat in sylvis Nepal. This is apparently M. Kisopa. Mi-
chelia Doltsopa is described by Don (Prod. Flor. Nep. 226) as
“arbor vasta ligno odorato gaudens, ad zdes eedificandas om-
nium arborum Nepaliz optima.” Magnolia (Michela) excelsa,
Wall. (Tentamen Fl. Nep.), yields a valuable timber, of a fine
texture, at first greenish, but soon changing into pale yellow.
This is probably the champa of Darjiling, described as “an ex-
cellent yellow timber.” One of these I suppose to be the
Malayagiri, a term implying ‘ mountain Sandal-wood.’ Dr.
Hooker mentions the Cupressus funebris, Chandan, as “ valued
only for the odour of its wood” (/. c. 11. 45), which is probably
yellow. Ligustrum nepalense, Buxus Himalensis, Symplocos cra-
tegoides, have all yellow wood, but without odour. Camphora
glandulifera, the Nepal Camphor -tree, however, has pale yellow
wood, while fresh smelling strongly of camphor, and may be the
Malayagiri.

“Bish, Bikh, and Kodoya Bish or Bikh; nor am I certain
whether the Mitha ought to be referred to it, or to the foregoing
kind,” Bishma.

“T have only seen the flower and fruit of one. This is called
Bishma or Bikhma, and seems to me to differ little in botanical
characters from the Caltha of Europe,” p. 99.

Catalogue, No. 1247. Caltha? Bismia. Bishma vel Bikhma,
Hamilton’s Nepal, 99. Habitat inter nives Emodi.

1248. Caltha? Nirbisia. Nirbishi vel Nirbikhi. Ham. Ne-
pal, 99. Habitat cum precedente. Montanorum unus hane
pro radice indica toxicaria ostendebat, alter autem sequentem
afferebat. Flores non vidi.

1249. Caltha? Codoa. (No specimen.) Kodoya Bish vel Bikh,
Hamilton’s Nepal, 99. Habitat cum duabus precedentibus.
Credo hanc esse reveram Toxicariam Indorum radicem. Flores
~ non vidi.

In Brewster’s Edinburgh Journal of Science, 1. 249-251,
— Qn the Herba Toxicaria,’ Dr. Hamilton informs us that

his specimens were collected in July 1810, near the sources of
the Kosi River, and therefore necessarily quite immature ; still
it is surprising that he should have referred them, even doubt-
fully, to Caltha, to which they bear no resemblance. In the

128 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

very short account in the Journal last mentioned, founded pro-
bably on the specimens before us, he says of Caltha Bismia,
“The Bikhma is used in medicine, and is a strong bitter, very
powerful in the cure of fevers*.” Caltha Nirbisia “has no dele-
terious qualities,” while Caltha Codoa includes Bish and Kodoya
Bish. Dr. Wallich+ showed that all these specimens belong to
Aconitum: his 4723, A. palmatum, being Caltha? Bishma, H.
Ham.; and 4721, A. feroz, including Caltha? Nirbisia and
C.? Codoa, H. Ham.

It would be impossible to unravel this complication without
a visit to Nepal; but perhaps some additional hght may be
thrown on the subject by eliminating the known from the un-
known, and rejecting the specimens as misnamed. Dr. Hamil-
ton (p. 98) expressly says there are “four different plants.”
We know that the Bisht proper is Aconitum ferox. Kodoya
Bikh may be A. palmatum, or Dr. Hooker’s new species from
Upper Sikkim, A. luridum, reported to be as virulent as A. ferox
(Journals, i. 168; 11.108). A. ferox is found all over the alpine
Himalaya; on the Shatul Pass, in Basehar, it is well known as
Bikh; also Maur, Mat, and Mahur, of the same import. Vat-
sanaba, ‘ calf-destroyer,’ is the original of the Bachnag§, men-
tioned by Dr. Royle from the Makhzanul Adwiyyah. In order
to ascertain whether it were justly called Mitha, ‘sweet,’ I
masticated a very small slice, and found it was so; but this was
soon succeeded by the most distressing burning all over the
mouth and fauces, though nothing was swallowed,

Plants of other genera are also known as Bikh and Mahir :
the root of Meconopsis Wallichii is reported in Sikkim to be very
poisonous (H. and Th. Flor. Indica, 254); and the root of a

* So in the Account of Nepal, p. 99.

+ He left occasion for additional criticism. The description of A. ferox
in the ‘ Pl. As. Rar.’ is full and interesting, pp. 35-39 ; but the plate (t. 41)
and specimen 4721 A. belong to A. dissectum, Don’s Prod.197. A. ferox
flourishes at from 11,000 to 13,000 feet; it has beautiful deep-blue flowers
in August and September, and is described and figured by Dr. Balfour and
Mr. M‘Nab in the Ed. New Phil. Journal, October 1849, plate 5, from
plants which first flowered that autumn in our Horticultural Garden. A.
multifidum is abundant at from 12,000 to 14,500 feet ; A. palmatum grows
at Nagkhanda near Simla in forests at 8500 to 9500 feet, and flowers from
May to July; A. heterophyllum at from 8500 to 13,000 feet.

{ The term vish, Sanscrit, denotes ‘poison’ simply, and is from the
same root as vishnu, ‘ penetrating, pervading.’ In the mountains and the
north-west provinces it is pronounced Bikh; in Behar and Bengal, Bish ;
but there is no difference in the original word. Narbishi means ‘ not poi-
sonous,’ a term from which Don (General System of Gardening, i. 63)
forms his genus Nirbisia to include two deadly Aconites and an mnocent
Delphinium,—as uncalled-for therefore in botany as it is false in etymology.

§ Bachnag, according to Graham’s ‘ Bombay Plants,’ is Gloriosa superba;
its root is a virulent poison,

from the Kingdom of Nepdl. 129

Convallaria with verticillated leaves is considered a very virulent
poison (Hooker’s Journals, i. 168)*. Dr. Royle (Illustr. 382)
says that “ Polygonatum verticillatum, L., called Mitha-dudhya
in Sirmore, and Smilacina pallida, called Didhya-mohura, are
both accounted poisonous in the Himalayas.” On Mahasu,
near Simla, I observed people gathering the young shoots of P.
verticillatum or cirrhifolium, to induce intoxication; and the
poisonous root Mabura was useful, they said, in cases of ring-
worm.

Nirbishi denotes some plant, “not Aconitum ferox,” but re-
sembling it. Dr. Royle observes that he was struck with the
resemblance of some Delphinium roots from the Himalayas to
those sold as Narbisi; and both at Pindri in Kumaon and
Bhojgara, on the south side of the Kowari Pass in GarhwAl, at
11,000 to 14,000 feet above the sea, I found the beautiful De/phi-
nium Kashmerianum, Royle, p. 55. t. 12 (Jacquemontianum, Cam-
bassedes, Voyage aux Indes, viii. t. 7), with cylindrical tuberous
roots, absolutely identical in form with the ordinary Nirbisi,
and, I doubt not, its true source. No one, however, could pre-
viously supply me with the least information as to the province
which produced it: the Nepalese said it came from the west;
the Tibetans told Major H. Strachey it came from the east.
Dr. Royle (J. A. S. B. October 1832) got the root (No. 49) from
Amritsir. Its properties seem to be unknown; he describes it
as having a pure bitter tastet.

The Bishma of Dr. Hamilton is expressly stated to be a bitter,
which precludes the idea of its being Aconitum ferox, of which
the taste is sweet ; and Colonel Kirkpatrick, in his ‘ Account of
Nepal,: p. 182, note, long since supposed it might be a kind of
Gentian. Dr. Royle conjectures that it may be Aconitum hetero-
phyllum (excellently figured, ‘ Illustr.’ t. 13), the root of which,

* In the Journ. As. Soc. of Bengal for May 1849, page 438, Dr. Hooker
states that “another far more powerful Bikh is yielded by a plant of the
order Composite, which I have gathered abundantly at 10,000 and 9000
feet ; and it requires care to distinguish its root from that of the Aconites ;
when mixed, the Bhotiyas could not separate them.” Dr. Hooker informs
me that the plant in question is a Cacalia, allied to C. aconitifolia; and
that the reputed qualities having never been confirmed in any shape, he
does not doubt that they are altogether due to the similarity of its foliage
to the Aconite.

+ Dr. Royle distinguishes this Amritsir and Basehar drug from the
common sort: according to him it is fusiform, externally black, somewhat
flattened and wrinkled, and in some respects resembling the Bikh itself,
with a slight degree of bitterness and acrimony (Illustr. p. 49). This would
agree well with the roots of Wallich’s fig. of Aconitum ferox (A. dissectum),
and with Colonel Munro’s fact of a Kunawar species being used as a tonic.
It appears, on the authority of Linnzus, that in certain cold climates the
root of A. Napellus is eaten with impunity.

TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. V. K

130 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

called Atis, Patis, and Mahaushadham, ‘the great drug,’ is in
much estimation for its medicinal qualities. Atis is a vernacular
corruption of the Sanscrit Ativisha, ‘overcoming poison,—
antidote,’ (erroneously rendered summum venenum by Wallich,)
with the synonyms Upavish, ‘reverse of poison,’ and Prativisha,
‘against poison, an antidote’*; the last is the ongin of the
vernacular Patis. This plant, however, is not quoted as indige-
nous to the east of Kumdon; and we may therefore substitute
Gentiana Kurroo, Royle, which is much used in the N.W.
mountains, or Aconitum multifidum, a very abundant species in
the alpine Himalaya, “ planta 4. Anthore affinis,” Royle; of this
or A. dissectum, Colonel Munro states ‘(Hooker and Thomson’s
Fl. Indica, p. 58) that “the roots are eaten in Kundwar as a
pleasant tonic.” Dr. Royle’s A. multifidum is from that district.
A. Lycoctonum (leve, Royle) is as common in the Himalaya as in
Alpine Europe; and its roots, which are, I believe, harmless,
may also be so employedt.

Jumne-mundroo, p. 85. Berberis (Mahonia) nepalensis ;
properly Jaémani mandru.

Chootraphul, 7. e. fruit of the Chotra, a Barberry. Catalogue,
No. 841. Berberis asiatica, Hort. Beng. 25; DC.i.107. Ha-
bitat in dumetis Nepale. The specimen is wanting, and Chotra,
Chutro, is the proper name of B. aristata; but Wallich has,
No. 44, B. asiatica, Roxb., from Nepal and Kumaon.

Catalogue, No. 1082. Rhododendron puniceum. Potasar : Go-
rangs: montanorum Hind. The common R. arboreum.

“Sanpati: a small Rhododendron, like Myrica Gale; the leaves

* It is the Jadwar or Zedoary of the Arabs and Persians. ‘“ Ideoque
dixit Avicenna nihil esse ea prestantius ad ebibitum Napellum” (Royle,
Illustr. 50). In all probability this is purely an imaginary virtue.

+ Griffith (Journals of Travels, ix. 37, 57) says, “I hope before my re-
turn to have seen Coptis Teeta in flower, and to have proved that the Beese
is different from that of Nepal.” The Coptis, called Mishimi Tita, or
Bitter, from being indigenous to the Mishimi Mountains, a branch of the
Himalaya, bounding Assam to the east, is, like the best Chiretta, of a
yellow colour, “‘a pure intense bitter of some permanence, but without
aroma.” He calls it a “ valuable drug.” It may be one of the Bikhmas.
In Hindustani, Bikhman is explained by Shakespeare, “ name of a medi-
cine or poison,” perhaps from the Sanscer. vishama, uneven. Bee or Bih is
merely the Assamese form of Bish: thus we have Koni-bih (Croton Tiglium),
Naga-bih (Gordonia integrifolia). Mr. Griffith (J. A. Soe. Beng. 1837,
331-335) mentions “ the celebrated poison, Bee,’’ of the Ranunculacee (and
says it is “in very great request’) as one of the three staple articles of the
Mishims. Masters (J. Agri. and Hort. Soc. Calc. iv. 200) tells us that “the
juice of this fruit (Dillenia speciosa) is mixed with the Mishimi Bih to
prepare the poison for arrows.”’ And Wilcox (As. Res. xvii. 456) mentions
two kinds of poison from the mountains north of Assam,—the Bor Bis
great poison) and Sengumuri Bis; all no doubt to be included in the
above-mentioned species of Aconitum.

a _

=~

from the Kingdom of Nepal. 131

are very odorous, and even when dried retain their fragrance.
It is used in fumigations, and sent to the low countries,” p. 97.

Catalogue, No. 1083. Rhododendron. Son Pati. Hamilton’s
Nepal, p.97. The specimen is imperfect, but seems to belong to
Rhododendron anthopogon or pendulum; the leaves of the first
are very aromatic, and are burned as incense.

Bhairopati. Rhododendron. “Its qualities are similar to
those of the former, but it is less fragrant,” p. 97.

Catalogue, No. 1084. Rhododendron Bhairopatium. Bhairo-
pati y. Bhaingropati. This specimen is also without flowers or
fruit, but belongs to R. lepidotum, or one of the varieties or
allied species discovered by Dr. Hooker.

Catalogue, No. 1062. Melia Azederach.

a. Enc. Method. i. 341; Willd. Sp. Pl. 1.558. Colitur ad
urbes Indie rarius, habitat in Nepala. In flower, Calcutta Botanic
Garden, 4th January 1814.

No. 1063. M. Azederach.

8. Enc. Method. i. 341. Melia sempervirens, Willd. Sp. Pl.
u. 559. Habitat ad Indiz pagos. In flower, Jolpigorry, 31st
March 1809.

Wallich’s Cat. 1251. M. sempervirens.

Nepal and Kumaon.

Ibid. 1250. M. Azederach, L. H. B.C.

Dr. Hamilton’s first No. has oval-lanceolate leaflets; in 1062
they are somewhat broader and less arcuate; the difference,
however, is certainly not more than is usual in specimens from
the same tree ; and hence Dr. Hamilton finds M. Azederach in
Nepal, where Dr. Wallich finds M. sempervirens; and M. sem-
perviregs in the Indian villages, which Dr. Wallich has only from
the Calcutta Botanic Garden. I am satisfied that the Him dlay an
plant is identical with that of the Gangetic plains; in the hills
it is called Dek or Jek and Betain; in the plains, Bakdyan,
a name which is applied to M. sempervirens, As. Res. xi. 170.
No specific name could be more inappropriate, since it is com-
pletely leafless during the winter months; and this appears to
be true also, to a somewhat less extent, of the West Indian
M. sempervirens, Swartz, which is said to vary from a small bush
to a tree. Seemann (Kew Journal of Botany, October 1851)
informs us that this is a native of Panama, and known as ‘ Ja-
sinto.. DeCandolle (i. 621) mentions Jamaica as its habitat,
and says, “priore minor, florens jam biennis, folia tardius au-
tumno deponens, et tepidarium per hyemem in nostris hortis
requirens.” Roxburgh (i. 395) adds to the difficulty: he says
M. sempervirens is “a native of Persia, now common throughout
India...... It blossoms the greater part of the year in our gar-
dens, and is perfectly distinct from Azedarak, which is a robust,

K 2

132 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

deciduous timber tree, and this is a small delicate evergreen, of
short duration compared with the other.” He gives Bakarja as
the Hindustani name,—evidently the Bengali name, Bakarjan,
of M. Azederach. This last he calls a native of China. Graham
(Cat. of Bombay Plants, p. 80) says it is common “about vil-
lages” in the Concan and Deccan, 8. India. Jaequemont
(Voyage dans I’Inde, ii. 147) finds it under the same cireum-
stances in the Punjab, but scarcely indigenous, nor has it the
least claim to be so considered anywhere in Northern India. Its
Sanscrit names, Mahatikta, ‘the great Bitter,’ and Mahanimb,
therefore, go for nothing, and are not in the Amera Kosha.
The Persian Azdd-i-darakht, ‘the spreading tree,’ which gives
it the specific name, with its popular one, ‘Indian or Persian
Lilac,’ is compatible with its importation from America by the
Portuguese, who, like other Roman Catholic people, use the
berries in rosaries (Bead-tree) ; once introduced, its “very great
beauty,” and flowers like the Lilac, sweetly fragrant (Roxburgh),
would speedily cause its general diffusion. Wight and Arnott
(Prodromus, p. 117) found Roxburgh’s own specimens of M.

zedarach and sempervirens so much alike as to appear as if cut
from the same tree; and the figure of the latter in the Botanical
Register, t. 643, may very well be M. Azedarach in a young state,
and forced in a stove. In Dr. Royle’s List, No. 191, Bakain
is entered as M. sempervirens ; and in February 1850 I saw this
last in the Calcutta Botanic Garden in full flower, a tree 30 feet
high, called Moha nim by the Bengali gardeners, and quite the
same with the Bakayan of Northern India.

Timmue (for Timmur) or Taigbul: a mountain shrub; and
an arboreous species on the lower hills (p. 84). The first, well
known for its aromatic capsules, and for the thick prickly clubs
used by fakirs (mendicants), is the Xanthoxylon hastile of Royle
(X. alatum of Roxb. ui. 768, and X. acanthopodium, DC.), called
Timtir and Zejbal, the last expressive of its strong pungency.
It seems to be the Jwaradntika, ‘fever-ender,’ of the Sanscrit.
It is (perhaps erroneously) referred to X. aromaticum, a West
Indian species, in the Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibi-
tion of 1851, 1. 895. There is a new species flourishing in
shadier and loftier sites in Kumaon, which Mr. Edgeworth pro-
poses to call X. /omentosum; of this the native name is Simur ;
it has similar properties. The arboreous species mentioned
by Dr. Hamilton may be X. Budrunga of Roxburgh, of which
the capsules are of a warm spicy nature, with the fragrance of
lemon-peel. Toddalia floribunda, Wall., and another species of
Xanthoxylon are natives of Nepal; and Tetrodium cymosum and
fraxinifolium (Royle, 157) may be from Lower Nepal.

Padam chhal “is a plant with a thick cylindrical root that is

from the Kingdom of Nepdil. 133

used in medicine, and brought to the low country for that pur-
pose. The specimen that I procured had one large heart-shaped
rough leaf, and had somewhat the appearance of an Anemone”
(p. 100). The name signifies ‘ bark of the Lotus,’ and, accord-
ing to my Nepalese authority, belongs to some species of Rheum,
probably R. Emodi, or Webbianum, or both, the roots of which
have “a spongy texture” (Royle) resembling the Lotus.

Sied burrooa: Daphne papyrifera, Ham. pp. 85, 232; pro-
perly written Seta-baruwa, 7. e. White Baruwa. The shrub
abounds in the temperate districts of the Himalaya; and the
paper made from its bark, though coarse, is not touched by in-
sects. ‘The bark is exceedingly strong and pliable, and seems
to be the same with certain tape-like bandages employed by the
Chinese in tying many of their parcels.”

Sinkauri, Silkauli: the leaves, Tejpat. “ Both its bark and
leaves have a fine aromatic smell and taste, and this quality in
the leaves is strengthened by drying” (p. 84). Cinnamomum
albiflorum ; Laurus Soncaurium, Ham., Linn. Trans. xiii. 557 ;
C. Cassida, Don, Prod. 67. Another Sinkauri is distinguished by
its aromatic quality residing im the bark of the roots. Dr. Hamil-
ton received it from the mountains of Morang, the tract between
the rivers Kosi and Tista. In the Trans. Linn. Soe. xiii. 558,
he describes this plant as Laurus Sailyana: “vis aromatica tota
in radicis cortice posita. Hic autem cortex levis, colore lateri-
tius, odoratissimus, sapore grato aromaticus. Cortex ramorum
et folia insipida, inodora.” Nees von Esenbeck (in Wall. Pl. As.
Rar. 1. 73-75) identifies it as Cinnamomum albiflorum B, very
near C. Tamdla, ‘Taj’ Bengalensium, cultivated in the gardens
of Camrup.

Machilus odoratissimus (Laurus Champa et bombycina, Herb.
Ham.), a fine tree of all the warmer valleys of the Himalaya, is
known in Kumaon as the Kaula, which term enters into Hamil-
ton’s Nepalese names. Dr. Hooker found Cinnamomum in Sik-
kim, up to 8500 feet (i. 162).

“The Seta and Cala Bhot mas of the Parbatiyas (Hindoo
mountaineers) are called Musa and Gya by the Newars (the
Mongolian aborigines of Nepal). They are two varieties of the
Dolichos Soja, the one of which has yellow flowers and white
seeds, and the other has black seeds and purplish flowers. The
former is ripe about the lst of November, the latter about the
lst of September ” (p. 228).

Catalogue, 1778. Dolichos Soja. Soja hispida, DC. Garo
Kolai, Bengalensium. Bhot mas, Montanorum Hindice. Coli-
tur in Camrupz orientalis et Nepalz montosis.

Thence abundantly up to Kumaon, where the Soy Bean plants
are called Bhat. “Bhut. Soja hispida, Kumaon.” Illustrated

134 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

Cat. of G. BE. of 1851, ii. 871. No mention of it, however, in
this respect occurs in our botanical or agricultural works on
India. Soy pulse is reckoned rather unwholesome, and much
of the sickness which assailed the divisions operating against
Nepal in 1813-14 was popularly attributed to its use.

Catalogue, 1690. Hedysarum Alhagi. Habitat in ripis Gangis
et Jomanis arenosis. Labelled, “ Monger, 17th June, 1811.”

This is the common Jawdsd4 or Camel Thorn of the plains of
Northern India, and is here introduced as an example of the
way in which species are unnecessarily formed, on the supposi-
tion that a new locality (though erroneous) requires a new
species. The plant extends from the extreme north of India
down to Behar, where I have seen it in the neighbourhood of
Monger, near the well-known hot spring of Sitékund. It is
Dr. Wallich’s No. 5760. Alhagi Maurorum, Hedysarum Alhagi,
H. Ham. e Monger; and neither of these botanists gives any
intimation of the genus being found in Nepal, nor is there any
known Sitakund in that country. Yet, on the supposition that
it is from that country, Al/hagi Nepaulensium forthwith appears
in our books:—Don, System of Gardening, 1. 310, “ Native
of Nepaul, near Sitaucund.” DeCandolle, Prod. i. 352. Syn.
Genista Juasi, Ham. Hedysarum Hamiltonti, Sprengel, Syst.
ii. 8316; and Manna Nepaulensis, D. Don, Prod. Fl. Nep. 247.
Habitat in Nepalia, prope Sitaucund, Ham., in which DC.
follows.

In the same manner D. Don has (Prod. 101) Heliotropium
obovatum. Hab. versus ripas fluminis (Bhagirathi) infra Mor-
shidabad, Ham. (it is H. ewropeum, L.), to which DC. prefixes,
“In Nepalia versus,” &e., the locality bemg Bengal. A Me-
lianthus Himalayanus is constituted (Linn. Trans. xx. 417) from
a garden specimen of M. major grown at Hawalbagh, near Al-
morah, the only individual of the genus in Kumaon. In short,
if we take as criteria the genera Viburnum, Lonicera*, Cirsium,
and others in DeCandolle’s Prodromus, one-fourth of his Hima-
layan species have no reality independent of the different names
imposed by different botanists, and adopted as species without
examination.

Alhagi Maurorum is interesting as the shrub which yields .
the ‘Manna’ of N. Persia, Bokhara, and Samarkand, called
Tarangabin or Taranjabin ; the plant itself being Khar-i-Shutar
and Ushtar-Khar, 7. e. Camel Thorn. The Manna of Mount
Sinai, a product of Tamarix gallica, is also formed in Louristan

* Lonicera quinquelocularis of Hardwick and Roxburgh (DC. iv. 338.
no. 50) is L. diversifolia, Wall. (no. 24, 334), as I ascertained on the spot
where the General discovered it. Exclude ‘“‘ ramis volubilibus.”

from the Kingdom of Nepal. 135

and Irak, where it is called Gazangabin or Gazanjabin. The
names are all Persian.

Sazifraga ligulata, Wall.

S. Pacumbis, Ham. MSS. in Don, Prod. 209. Dr. Hamil-
ton’s specific name, [ doubt not, is a misprint for Pashan-bhéd,
its Sanscrit designation (pronounced Pakhan-bhédin in the
mountains), still preserved as Pakhan-bhéd in Nepal and Gar-
hwal: so Royle, J. A. S. B. Oct. 1832, No.12]. H,H. Wilson
erroneously explains the Sanscrit term by Plectranthus scutella-
rioides. It signifies ‘ Rock-splitter’; and it is the more inter-
esting that the name should in this remote district be applied
to a species of our genus Savifraga, since Pliny (H. N. xxi. 30)
refers Sazifragum to Asplenium Trichomanes, or Adiantum Ca-
pulus-Veneris: “calculos e corpore mire pellit frangitque, uti-
que nigrum. Qua de caussa potius, quam quod in saxis nasce-
retur, a nostris saxifragum adpellatum crediderim.”

Catalogue, 771. Calotropis procera. . Habitat in arenosis
Mithile, Magadhe, et Cosale.

The distribution of this plant (C. Hamiltonii, Wight, Contrib.
53) is ill understood. Abundant in the south of Syria (Beid-el-
osshar), Northern Africa, and all the warmer regions of Asia, I
traced it down the Ganges to Nadiya in Bengal, where it appa-
rently ceases. It appears to have escaped the observation of
Roxburgh, and is not mentioned in his ‘ Flora Indica.’ The
allied species, C. gigantea, is unknown in Northern India, ex-
cept at the base of the Himalaya below Naini Tal in Kuméon,
where for some miles it occurs in profusion: thence southward
I met with it wild till ten or fifteen miles below Rajméhal,
from which to Nadiya both species are intermingled, C. gigantea
reaching Calcutta. The name Madar* applies to both: the
term Ak, also often applied, is from Sans. Arka, ‘the sun,’ to
which the flowers always turn; hence, where the two occur,
C. gigantea is called Bard akand; C. procera, Chhota akand ;
great and small Calotropis.

Griffith (Itinerary Notes, p. 207) has nearly the same distri-
bution as above: “ Calotropis Hamiltonii ; very common through-
out the sandy plains of India, on the N. side of the Rajmahal
hills, to the complete exclusion of C. gigantea. In appearance
there is scarcely any difference, and, as far as foliage goes, per-
haps none; the flowers are smaller, and invariably the leaflets
much smaller and bilobed at the apex.” Dr. Hamilton (Linn.
Trans. xiv. 246-248) explains the differences excellently. Dr.

* Madarine, the active principle of C. gigantea, “ possesses the pro-
perty of coagulating by heat, and becoming again fluid on exposure to
cold.”

136 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

Hooker (Notes of a Tour in the Plains of India, P. ii. p. 78)
notices nearly the same distribution as Griffith: “The species
look very different, but when gathered, there is extreme diffi-
culty in recognizing them.” He adds, that “there is considerable
discrepancy of opinion as to their comparative efficacy, the votes
being in favour of C. gigantea.”

Catalogue, No. 781. Swertia Chirata. Bara Chirata.

No. 782. Gentiana Cherayti. Chhota Chirata.

Dr. Hamilton informs us (p. 85) that of these two species the
smaller (782) is the one most in request. It is the Agathotes
Cherayta of D. Don (Linn. Trans. xvi. 522); Gentiana flori-
bunda (Prod. 127); G. Chirata, Wall. (P. A. R. im. 34. t. 252,
where the flowers are of far too intense a yellow). Dr. Hamilton
truly describes it as a perennial; it has yellow roots, hence the
Arabic Kasb-al-zarirach, ‘ yellow stem or twig’ (Royle, 278) ; it
brings twice the price of the other kinds: “sapore imtense
amaro,” Wall., who also notes its “radix perennis.” It flou-
rishes in woods and shady places, with Plantago-like leaves, and
is the largest plant of the whole, reaching 44 feet high ; so that
the native appellation, given by Dr. Hamilton, does not apply.

No. 781 is probably Ophelia angustifolia, from which much
of the Chirayita of commerce is obtained*; but several other
species, alata, cordata, fasciculata, purpurascens, are equally
esteemed or collected. These are annuals, and abound in open
sites, at various zones from 4000 to 12,000 feet above the sea.
Ophelia angustifolia and paniculata are figured in Wallich’s
Pl. As. Rar. iii. t. 204-5.

“The Kutki is another officinal plant, with a woody root,
and a stem containing many alternate leaves, toothed on the
edges and shaped like a spathula. It has much the appearance
of a Saxifrage. The roots are brought for sale” (p. 100).
Picrorhiza Kurrooa, Royle, Ulustr. t. 71. f. 2, a bitter for which
he tells us that Gentiana Kurroo is frequently substituted.
Nima quassioides, occurring in the valleys of Basehar and Upper
Garhwal at 5500 to 8000 feet, is also called Karwi, from its
exceedingly bitter bark and wood.

Picrorhiza Kurrooa is abundant in the Alpine Himalaya, on

* PD. Don (Linn. Trans. /. c. 524) says it is “ more bitter than the last,”
the Agathotes. Wallich, on the contrary (Pl. As. Rar. iii. 2), says that it
and paniculata “ possess only a slight degree of bitter taste.”” Don is here
most correct, according to my experience.

The large and handsome Swertias of the Alpine Himalaya do not appear
to be imported to the plains.

Chirdyita derives its name from the Kiratas, a people of Eastern Nepal,
the Cirrhade of Arrian: hence the Sanscrit Kirata-tikta; but the moun-
taineers call it simply Kanda Tita, ‘ bitter stem.’

from the Kingdom of Nepal. 137

the open downs above the limit of forest, 12,000 to 14,000 feet.
There is a second species in Kumaon, discovered by Major R.
Strachey, at similar heights.
Jatamangsi, p. 97: the Nard or Spikenard of the ancients ;
Hebrew Neredde, from the Sans. Nalada, 7.e. ‘ giving fragrance.’
Nardostachys Jatémdnsi, Royle, Ilustr. t. 54. f. 2. Patrinia
Jatamasi, Don, Prod. 159, 160. The Indian women consider
the smell very agreeable, and most of them that can afford it
use oil impregnated with this root for perfuming their hair.
“ All T can say is,” adds Dr. Hamilton, “that if this root was
the Spikenard of the Roman ladies, their lovers must have had
a very different taste from the youth of modern Europe.” Cant.
i. 12. There is, however, a larger species, N. grandiflora (DC.
Prod. iv. 624), in Kumaon, flourishing at similar elevations
(13,000 to 14,000 feet) to N. Jatdémdnsi*, and with a similar
root ; “but it is much larger, and its smell is more agreeable ”
(Wall. P. A. R. ii. 40) ; and Lambert (Genus Cinchona, 1821,
p- 179) says, it “may be considered as possessing the most
agreeable odour of any” of the Valerians. His figure (p. 180)
evidently represents this species, not N. Jatdmdnsi; and the
description, anticipated from Don’s Prodromus, proves that the
latter also, unless made from Nepal specimens, belongs to it.
The perfume and properties of the genus are, in fact, very nearly
those of Valeriana Celtica and Phu; and it is curious enough
that the radical leaves of the last two species (the roots of which
are substituted in Western Asia for the Spikenard) are simple,
and bear a considerable resemblance to those of Nardostachys.
The name JatémAnsi signifies ‘locks of hair,’ sometimes simply
Masi; and the vernacular Balchhar denotes ‘hairy staff, all
with reference to the root, which has been compared to the tail
of an ermine, “on account of its withered stalks and ribs of
leaves, cohering in a bundle of yellowish-brown capillary fibres.”
Pliny’s description accords (N. H. xii. 26): ‘Cacumina in
aristas se spargunt: ideo gemina dote nardi spicas ac folia cele-
brant.” Spica is a translation of the Arabic Sumbul, Hindi
Bal, ‘an ear of corn.’ Sir W. Jones, in As. Res. ii, 405-10,
iv. 109, where the figure (copied, except the root, by Roxburgh,
ib. iv. 435) with cordate radical leaves, is, as Lambert truly ob-
serves (/. c. p. 179), that of Valeriana Hardwickii (Pl. As. Rar.
ii. t..263). The roots of this very common species have the
same smell as those of V. officinalis, are also used medicinally,
and were substituted by Sir William Jones’s collectors without

* It is strange that DeCandolle (iv. 624) should assign Mandu and
Chitor in Central India as stations for this plant, which cannot live at
Almorah, 5500 feet, beyond a few months.

TRANS, BOT. SOC. VOL. V. L

138 Lieut.-Col. Madden on some Plants

any very glaring imposture. In Pliny’s time also, adulteration
took place by Pseudo-nard, “crassiore atque Jatiore folio.”
They are called Shameo in Nepal and Kumaon, the Sanscrit
Shami, from Sham, ‘to calm’; proving how widespread is the
antispasmodic energy attributed to them.

The aromatic-rooted Grass, Andropogon Jwardncusa (i. e. the
‘ fever-goad,’ also Jwarandsaka, ‘ fever-destroyer ’), at first taken
for the Spikenard*, is abundant all along the base of the Hima-
laya, and in the valleys of Kumaon up to 4000 feet. At a lower
level in the valley of the Alakananda in Garhwél, the still more
fragrant species, A. Calamus-aromaticus, Royle, t. 97, nardoides,
Nees, from which the celebrated Rusa, or Grass-oil of Nimmar,
is distilled, is not uncommon. Dr. Royle only traces it north
to Delhi.

“The Manjit, or Indian Madder, seems to be of two kinds:
the Rubia cordata of Willdenow, and a species of Rubia not
described in the common systems of Botany. Both seem to be
equally fit for the purpose, and grow in the same manner. It
is cultivated exactly as cotton is among the hills” (p. 74).

Catalogue, No. 354. Rubia cordifolia.

Catalogue, No. 355. Rubia Chaya. From Bhotan.

The first is Rubia Manjistha, Roxb. 1. 374, the R. cordata of
Thunberg, from Japan; differing by its pentandrous flowers
from R. cordifolia, L., from Siberia. But this test is not satis-
factory, as remarked by Wight and Arnott, whose statement is
perfectly correct, that the flowers of R. Manjisthd are frequently
tetrandrous. DeCandolle (iv. 588) describes them as all pen-
tandrous, and those of R. cordifolia both tetrandrous and pen-
tandrous, agreeing with R. Javana (R. cordifolia, Blume), which
he considers a medial form. Wight and Arnott (Prod. 442),
Wight (Icones, i. t. 187 ; Illustr. 11. t. 128 dis), and Don (Prod:
133) all identify them. R. Manjistha is very abundant in the
Himalaya, from 4000 to 9500 feet, with black fruit, and deep
red flowers, not yellow, as represented in Archer’s Popular Eco-
nomic Botany, P. xv. f. 78.

The second species, which Dr. Hamilton considers new, is by
Dr. Wallich (No. 6069) identified with R. cordifolia, L. Our
Edinburgh specimen, however, though imperfect, seems to be
an undescribed species, which I found in the glen of the Sarju
River in Eastern Kumaon, in two localities, Ramesar and Gan-
goli, at 3000 to 4000 feet elevation above the sea. Mr. Edge-
worth proposes to name it A. nervosa. Griffith (Itinerary Notes)
probably found it in Bhotan; his No. 11 is Rubia Manyjistha,

* “The root of Andropogon muricatum’”’ is given as a secondary mean-
ing of Nalada, Spikenard.

from the Kingdom of Nepdl. 139

Dewangiri, in woods. No. 116. Rubia cordifolia; alt. 2800
ped. in sylvis. No. 367. Rubia cordifolia. Khegumpa. Yields
Manjistha (Madder). No.1021. Rubie sp. Scandens, hirsuta,
certe distincta a R. cordifolia; towards Panga, in woods, 6500
to 7500 feet. In the Journals of Travels, p. 203, he writes at
Dewangiri, elevated 2000 feet : “I find that large quantities of
Manjistha or Madder are sent to the plains from this, where
the plant is very common.” At p. 292 we have Rubia hispida,
at 8700 feet; and at p. 296, Rubia hirsuta, at 5500 feet. At
p- 209 he says, “ Madder is furnished by both Rubia Manjistha
and R. cordifolia; these species are quite distinct, the latter
affecting greater elevations than the former, scarcely descending
below 4000 feet.” The plant becomes shorter and stouter at
high eleyations; and in a matured Report, published in the
Journ. As. Soc. Bengal for April 1839, p. 281, he modifies this
view, and identifies these two supposed species, adding that
‘‘ Bhotan has two species. The two species used in Bhotan are
very distinct, and very general constituents of other mountainous
floras; one of them has leaves without stalks.” This is perhaps
Dr. Hamilton’s plant from Bhotan. His specific name Chaya
appears to vindicate a practice condemned by Mr. Archer (/. c.
212): “ Munjeet is often called Chay-root; but this is a mis-
take, the latter being the produce of a totally different plant,”
Hedyotis umbellata, m Tamul Saya. In Bengal, Chaya is Arua
lanata. Wallich (Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 384) has Rubia alata, from
Nepal, which Don reduces to R. cordifolia; and Major Strachey
has a Rubia from Niti in Garhwadl, with greenish flowers, which
he considers to be R. Manjistha of Roxburgh. Rubia purpurea,
figured and described by Decaisne in Jacquemont’s ‘ Voyage
aux Indes,’ is merely R. cordifolia, one of the many instances in
that valuable work of needless synonyms, owing to the want of
ordinary precaution as to what previous botanists had already
named.

“ Umbelliferous plant with root resembling Athamanta Meum,
and when fresh, an uncommonly fragrant smell” (p. 98). Very
probably the well-known Chora, Angelica glauca of Mr. Edge-
worth, abundant at 9000 to 10,000 feet (and which I take to be
the aromatic Gertheon or Certheana of Assam, a compound of
Valeriana and Pastinaca, Griffith, Journals, 37, 57; and J. A.
Soc. Beng. 1837, 331,335). Two thousand feet higher flourishes
the Hushial, also very aromatic, which I believe to be Hymeno-
lena angelicoides, DC. Prod. iv. 245; as well as Hymenidium
Brunonis, Nesir or Lesir* of the mountaineers, a very fragrant
plant.

* Dr. Hoffmeister has pointed out the resemblance of this name and
plant to the Laserpitium (Lesir-pati) of the Romans, the Silphium of the

140 Ou some Plants from the Kingdom of Nepdl.

Bhutkes: Bhutkesar, pp. 86, 98. ‘A thick woody root, on
the top of which were many stiff bristles, and from among these
the young leaves were shooting.” These Dr. Hamilton thought
belonged to Thalictrum, and Dr. Royle (Illustr. p. 69) refers
Bhutkes to Corydalis Govaniana; but it is actually the root of
Oreocome filicifolia and elata of Mr. Edgeworth (Linn. Trans.
1845), especially the former. This is probably identical with
Selinum Candollii (Peucedanum Wallichianum, DC. Prod. iv.
181; Selinum tenuifolium, Wall.) and Pleurospermum cicutarium,
Royle, Illustr. Don’s three species of Athamanta, Prod. 184-5,
described in accordance with the signification of Bhutkes, seem
to belong to Oreocome. Both the above plants, and one or two
species of Cortia, growing at great elevations (14,000 to 15,000
feet), are well known all over the Himalaya by Dr. Hamilton’s
names, which signify ‘hair of the spectre,’ against which they
are worn as charms. ‘They are often called simply Keés, ‘hair,’
for the same reason as the Jatémansi. With the medicinal root
Bhutkes, Dr. Hamilton mentions another, called Jainti, which
he refers to.an Orchid growing among moss on large stones, on
the higher mountains. Celogyne precox is so described on his
authority in Don’s Prodromus, p. 37. “ Brim” (p. 100) is another
orchideous root used in medicine ; but neither of this nor of the
Bariyalbhera seeds (p. 285) from Chhinachhin in Yumila, a
province east of Kumaon, have I any identification to bring
forward.

Greeks, which the historians of Alexander inform us that his army found
in Afghanistan. The Greeks of Cyrenaica represented the plant (Thapsia
Silphium of Viviani, Flor. Lib., or Thapsia garganica, Desfontaines) on
their coins still extant; and Pliny (N. H. xix. 15; xxii. 49) paints in high
colours the virtues of its gum-resin, Laser Cyrenaicum, as a medicine and
perfume. The celebrated drug, Asa dulcis of Cyrene, recalls the Assa-
foetida of Persia, as well as a kind of incense from the Himalaya, called
Asa puri (i. e. ‘the fulfiller of hope’), of which the Nepalese told me won-
derful virtues.

141

11th December 1856.—Professor Batrour, Vice-President,
in the Chair.
The following Candidates were balloted for and duly
elected :-—
As Ordinary Resident Fellows.
1. Tuomas Fuuier, Esq., 65 York Place.
2. Joun M‘Cuetxianp, Esq., F.L.S., Surgeon H.E.LC.S.,
13 Brunswick Street, Hillside.
. Cuartes Hore, Esq., 14 Saxe Coburg Place.
. Dr Joun Crexanp, 5 Pitt Street.

a 9

As Associate.
Mr Joun Wricut Brown, 39 George Square.

Office-Bearers for the ensuing year were elected as fol-

lows :—
President.

Professor FLEMING.
Vice-Presidents.

Professor Batrour. Dr W. H. Lowe.
Professor ALLMAN. Wituiam Ivory, W.S.
Council.

Professor Srmpson. Henry Patt.

Professor Grecory. Dr Joun Kirk.

Dr Setuer. P. Nem Fraser.

Anprew Morray, W.S.° C. J. Burnett.

James M‘Nas. Dr W. Nicuot.
Honorary Secretary........cceccscecosores Dr GReVILLE.
Poreign Secretary ......cccscescsvessesees Dr Doveras Mactagan.
Rates vce vosicccseasaicecssccee Wa. Brann, W.S.
Meta tec cris bedacersiccccceoes Wa. W. Evans.
Ms tac ue die Sawe dence sddeedsove cds Nett Stewart.
Curator of Musewm.........cccss0-oee00e Dr Joun Lowe.
Assistant Secretary.......cccccceccecseees Dr G. Lawson.

Professor Balfour stated that Dr John Kirk had pre-
sented plants from Ida and Olympus to the University
Herbarium.

The following papers were read :—

I. Description of a Method of Preserving Plants of their
Natural Form and Colour. By THomas R, MarsHat.

The plant to be operated on should be placed in a box,
in such a manner as to preserve the natural disposition of

TRANS. BOT, SOC, VOL. V, fee SZ M

ot me

142 Professor Fleming on a species of Pine.

its parts. The fine sawdust (perfectly dry) of box, or other
hard wood, is then to be carefully sprinkled over it, taking
care not to shift the position of the leaves. Every part of
the plant must be completely covered with the dust.
Several plants may be dried in one box—avoiding contact,
however. The plants to be preserved ought to be quite
fresh when put into the box ; if they be lax, place the stems
in water till the tissues again distend and recover their
natural firmness. About a fortnight in the dust is sufficient
to dry the plants in summer (in a natural heat) ; succulent
plants require longer. To assist in freeing the plants from
the saw dust, the box may be made with a wire grate and
sliding bottom ; slightly shake the plant to free it from the
dust, what still adheres may be brushed off with a soft hair
pencil.

II. On the species of Pine called in Moffat “ Dr Walker's
Pouch Fir.” By Professor FLemue.

Dr Fleming remarked that, in the latter portion of the last
century and the first quarter of the present, the pursuits of the
naturalist were lightly esteemed and usually treated with
ridicule. Indeed, ‘ naturalist” and “ natural” were too fre-
quently employed as synonymous terms. A striking instance
of this occurred at Moffat. Dr Walker, who long occupied
with distinction the chair of Natural History in the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh, was, when minister of the parish of
Moffat, regarded as rather of weak intellect, in consequence
of the fondness which he displayed for weeds and vermin.
On returning one afternoon in spring from Edinburgh, he
was observed to have the pocket of his coat full of what ap-
peared jir branches. The witnesses now imagined that a
crisis in his lunacy had arrived, and began to set a watch on
his future motions. He was observed in the course of the
evening going forth to a corner of the glebe and putting some
plants into the ground. When he had retired to the manse,
the spies immediately proceeded to the spot and found that
he had been planting some young firs—that these had ap-
peared as branches sticking out of his pocket, and hence they
were led to conclude that their minister was not so great a
fool as they had suspected. ‘The plants took root, were pro-

Professor Fleming on a species of Pine. 143

tected, and as trees now prove an ornament to the glebe,
and a monument of the Doctor's arboricultural tendencies.

The species is the Cluster Pine, Pinus Pinaster. Dr
Walker, in his ‘‘ Catalogue of some of the most considerable
trees in Scotland,” which contains entries so late as 1799,
takes no notice of the Moffat trees, and of this species he
merely says :—“ In the year 1742 a number of Pinasters were
planted at New Posso, in Tweeddale, on the hill behind the
house. In November 1762 several of these were then
twenty-five feet high and in a thriving state; but one of
them being cut, the wood was found to be of a coarser grain,
softer and more spongy than any Scotch fir of the same age,
There is no advantage, therefore, to be expected from the
wood of the Pinaster. It is a tree that grows luxuriantly
on the sandy beach upon the western coast of France. As
it is hardy, and grows very bushy, its chief use, probably,
with us, is to obtain shelter on the sea shore.” LHssays, p. 73.

The date of the planting of these trees cannot now, I fear,
be satisfactorily determined. Dr Walker became minister
of Moffat in 1762, and was translated to Colinton, in this
neighbourhood, in 1783. All that we can infer from these
dates is, merely, that these trees are, at least, seventy-three
years of age, but they may be twenty years older. The
largest of the three now living is six feet three inches in cir-
cumference at the ground; five feet three inches at six
feet from the ground ; and total height forty-five feet.

These trees to this day preserve the name of the Pouch
Firs, in memory of the part of the Doctor’s dress in which
they were first observed.

Dr Fleming stated that he was indebted to his young
friend Mr Carruthers, and to the Rev. Dr Macvicar, for
prompt and friendly assistance, and the promise to procure
for him any local information illustrative of the character
and habits of the most learned and intelligent of the natu-
ralists which Scotland had produced.

A branch with a cluster of cones was exhibited, together
with two photographs, executed by Dr Macvicar, exhibiting
the trees. We have here a proof that this usually esteemed
maritime species can grow in such an inland site as Moffat,
and at a considerable elevation above the level of the sea.

M 2

“144 Professor Gregory on some new Species

om,
III. Notes n some New Species of Marine Diatomacee from
the Firth of Clyde. By Professor Gregory.

The author stated that, having found in the Glenshira
sand a large number of marine species, many being un-
described, which must have come from Loch Fine, a branch
of the Firth of Clyde, he felt convinced that these forms,
though hitherto unnoticed there, must exist in that estuary.
He therefore procured a number of dredgings and similar
materials for the purpose of examination.

These consisted of,—

1. Some sand or dirt, washed from the nests of Lima
hians, dredged in Lamlash Bay, in four fathoms, by Prof.
Allman. 19th July 1856.

2. Seven dredgings from different spots in Loch Fine,
four off Inveraray, and three off Strachur, the former by him-
self, the latter by the Rev. Dr Barclay. October 1856.

3. Two dredgings made in Lamlash Bay in June 1856, by
the Rev. Dr Miles, one of them being the sand from lima
nests ; and a quantity of Corallina officinalis from rocky
pools at Corriegills, Arran, to which many Diatoms adhered.

In all eleven materials. The last three only reached him
in October.

The results of the exploration of these materials are

briefly as follows :—
_ 1. They yielded a large number of known species, among
which were many very rare and interesting ones, such as
Campylodiscus Horologium frequent in one Loch Fine dredg-
ing; Hupodiscus Ralfsii of great size, having frequently a
diameter of 0:008 of an inch ; Navicula Lyra, Ehr. ; Navicula
Hennedyi, 8m. ; Pinnularia Pandura, Bieb. ; Coscinodiscus
concinnus, Sm. ; Coscinodiscus centralis, Ehr.; and many
others.

2. They yielded, as the author had anticipated, nearly
the whole of the new species described by him in the Glen-
shira sand, and most of these in considerable abundance. It
is unnecessary to give a list, since more than three-fourths
of these new forms have occurred in these dredgings. But
we may specify Synedra undulata, Navicula clavata, N.
splendida, N. latissima, N. maxima, N. tncurvata, Coc-
conets distans, C. costata, Amphora crassa, A. Grevilliana, kc.

of Marine Diatomacee. 145

3. Seven or eight curious forms occurring in the Glen-
shira sand, but not hitherto described, from want of good
specimens, or from being imperfectly understood, occur in
these dredgings, and have, in every case, been found to be
true and distinct species.

4. Besides the known British forms and those described
by me in the Glenshira sand, these deposits have yielded a
very large number of entirely new species; as far, at least,
as Britain is concerned, there are only a very few of them
which have been described even by foreign authors. These
forms belong to but few genera, and may be summed up in
the following groups :—

Group I. Navicule and Pinnularie, . : 15
II. Cocconeides, A : : . vf

III. Filamentous forms, . ; : 15

IV. Discs and Sa a 8

V. Amphiprore, . : : 5

VI. Amphore, : : ‘ : 25
Total new species 75

The author did not enter on this occasion into a detailed
description of the new species, but he exhibited beautiful
drawings by Dr Greville of the whole of them.

He stated that one of the forms in the above list, though
not strictly a new one, namely, that which is figured in
Smith’s Synopsis as Himantidium Williamsoni, with a mark
of doubt as to the genus, the form being hitherto so scarce
that the side view was unknown,—that this form is so
abundant in these dredgings, as to settle the question nega-
tively at least. The side view proves it not to be a Himan-
tidium, nor can it be referred with certainty to any genus
in the Synopsis; the author is inclined to refer it to
Kutzing’s genus Diadesmis.

Many of the new forms are extremely beautiful, and
several of them appear to belong to new genera.

One remarkable and beautiful form, Navicula pretezxta,
Ehbr., had hitherto occurred only fossil and in one of the oldest
deposits in which Diatoms are found, namely, the clay marl
of Aiginé which belongs either to the chalk or to the very
oldest tertiary strata. It is now found to be living in the

146 On some new Species of Diatomacee.

Firth of Clyde, as is also the case with most, probably with
all, the forms Which accompany it in the Mginé marl. This,
which is a very frequent case, led the author to express the
opinion, that in all probability there are no extinct species
of Diatoms. This differs 7m toto from what is seen in the
other departments of Natural History, but then it must be
remembered that the greater number of existing species of
Diatoms are found in every country and in every sea, in all
latitudes and in every climate, so that it is certain that this
class of organisms—which is very low in the scale, and of
extreme simplicity of structure, the only established parts
being a siliceous shell, usually of four parts, a lining mem-
brane and an inclosed watery fluid—is not in the least affected
by any climatic conditions now occurring on the earth. They
may, therefore, have been as little affected, at whatever
period they began to appear (and it is doubtful whether any
remains of them occur in strata prior to the chalk formation),
by geological changes, as they now are by climate, when we
see numbers of absolutely identical forms in the arctic, tem-
perate, and torrid zones, and every known country. Some
years ago, many species were regarded as exclusively fossil,
and of course as extinct, but these are daily detected as
existing, and if several of the cretaceous species still exist,
all of them may do so.

IV. Notice of Hepatice found near Aberfeldy.
By Joun Lowe, M.D.

After some preliminary remarks on the geographical dis-
tribution of this family of cryptogamic plants, the author
enumerated the following species :—

1, Jungermannia, L. (Gymnomitrium, Nees) concinnata, Lightf.
Plentiful on the moors near Aberfeldy, and in Glen Lyon.

2. J. (Sarcoscyphus, Corda) Funckii, Nees. Sparingly on rocks
south of Aberfeldy.

3. J. (Sarcoscyphus) Ehrharti, Corda, (J. emarginata, Ehrh.)
Glen Lyon, and Moness Falls.

4. J, (Alicularia, Corda) scalaris, Schr. Moness Woods.
Common.

5. J. (Plagiochila, N. & M.) spinulosa, Dicks. Lower
Moness Fall, and Black Wood, Glen Lyon.

Dr John Lowe on Hepatice. 147

6. J. (Plagiochila) asplenioides, L. Moness Woods, Common,—
Var. y. minor, Lindenberg. Moness Woods, Rare.

7. J. (Seapania, Lind.) undulata, L. Moness Woods.

8. J. (Scapania) nemorosa, L. Moness Woods. Common.

9. J. (Scapania) uliginosa, In springs on hills near Aberfeldy.

10. J. (Scapania) umbrosa, Schr. Craig Mohr, Glen Lyon.
Rare.

11. J. albicans, L. Common everywhere.

12. J.crenulata, Sm.—var. 8. gracillima. Moness Woods. Not
common.

13. J. curvifolia, Dicks. Chesthill, Glen Lyon. Rare.

14. J. cordifolia, Hook. Inmountain springs. Frequent.

15. J. reclusa, Tayl. Craig Mohr, Glen Lyon. In fruit. Rare.

16. J. scutata, Wils. Craig Mohr, Glen Lyon. Rare.

17. J. riparia, Tayl. Moness Burn.

18. J. Bantriensis, Hook. Moness Woods. Not common.—
var. y. minor. Moness Woods. Frequent.

19. J. inflata, Huds. Hills near Aberfeldy.

20. J. Orcadensis, Hook. Moness Woods. Sparingly.

21. J. Lyoni, Tayl. Abundant in fruit. Near Coshieville,
and in Moness Burn.

22. J. Taylorit, Hook. Near Loch Ghlassie. Growing on
Sphagna, and identical with J. anomala, Hook.

23. J. barbata, Schr. Moness Woods. Common.

24. J. excisa, Dicks. Glen Lyon.

25. J. incisa, Schr. West Fortingal.

26. J. minuta, Craniz. Hills south-east from Aberfeldy.
Not plentiful.

27. J. divaricata, Sm. Hills south-east from Aberfeldy, and
in Moness Woods.

28. J. bicuspidata, L. Hills south-east from Aberfeldy, and
in Moness Woods.

29. J. connivens, Dicks. Hills south-east from Aberfeldy, and
in Moness Woods.

30. J.setacea, Wils. Moorlands near Aberfeldy. Not common.

31. J. trichophylla, L. Moness Woods. Frequent.

32. J. julacea, Lightf. In fruit, at the foot of the Breadal-
bane range (alt. not more than 200 feet), Glen Lyon.

33. J. (Saccogyna, Dumort) polyanthos, L. Hills near Aber-
feldy. Common.

34. J, (Calypogeia, Raddi) Trichomanis, Corda. Moness
Woods. Plentiful.

35. J. (Lepidozia, Nees) reptans, L. Moness Woods.

36. J. (Mastigobryum, Nees) trilobatum, L. Black Wood,
Glen Lyon.
_ 87. J. (Trichocolea, Dum.) tomentella, Ehrh. Moness Burn.

38. J. (Ptilidium, Nees) ciliare, L. Craig Mohr, Glen Lyon.

148 Dr John Lowe on Hepatice.

39. J. (Radula, Nees) complanata, L. Moness Woods.
Common.

40. J. (Madotheca, Dumort) levigata, Schr. Black Wood,
Glen Lyon.

41. J. (Madotheca) platyphylla, L. Black Wood, Glen Lyon,
and Moness Woods.—Var. Thuja. Black Wood, Glen Lyon.

42. J. (Lejeunia, Gottsche) serpyllifolia, Dicks. Moness
Woods. Plentiful—Var. 8. ovata, Hook. Moness Woods.
Very rare.

43. J. (Lej.) hamatifolia, Hook. On birch trees, Moness Woods.

44, J. (Frullania, Raddi) Tamarisci, L. Common on rocks and
trees,

45. J. Blasia, L. (Blasia pusilla, Mich.) Moness Woods,
and Chesthill, Glen Lyon.

46. J. (Pellia, Raddi) epiphylla, L. Moness Burn.

47. J. (Pellia) calycina, Tayl. Moness Burn.

48. J. (Aneura, Dumort) pinguis, L. Moness Burn.

49. J. (Aneura) multifida, L. Moness Woods.

50. J. (Metzgeria, Raddi) furcata, L. Moness Woods.—Var.
y. eruginosa. Moness Woods.

51. J. (Metzgeria) pubescens, Schr. Moness Burn.

52. Marchantia polymorpha, L. Moness Burn,

53. Fegatella hemispherica, Tayl. Moness Burn.

54. Fegatella conica, Tayl. Moness Burn.

55. Riccia glauca, L. Near the bridge which crosses the Lyon
at Fortingal.

V. List of Hepatice added to the Flora of Edinburgh.
By Joun Lowe, M.D.

Jungermannia (Scapania, Lindenb.) nemorosa, L.—var.
recurvifolia, Roslin.

J. barbata, Schrad. Swanston.

J. riparia, Tayl. Bonally Burn.

J. Funckii, Nees (Sarcoscyphus, Corda). Swanston.

J. Wilsoniana, Nees. Banks of the Almond below Cramond
Bridge,—growing in dense tufts several feet in diameter.

8th January 1857.—Professor BaLrour, V.P., in the Chair.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations
had recently been made to the Museum at the Royal Botanic
Garden :—

From R. Etheridge, Esq., Bristol—Specimens of White Coal,
from the South-East Coast of New Holland,

Mr A. Dickson on the Fruit of Silene inflata. 149

Mrs Millar—‘ Sweet Nuts,” from Gold Coast, Africa.

Mr Scott—Specimens of Rice and Sprigs of Olive (Olea curo-
pea) bearing fruit, produced at Leigh Park.

M.Courtois Gerard, Paris—Roots of Dioscorea Batatas (Yams).

Mr J. W. Brown—Specimen of Callithamnion Rothii, from
M‘Duff’s Cave, Fife.

Edward Ravenscroft, Esq.—Nuptial Jacket, used in China.

A Visitor to the Garden—Specimens of Silicified Wood from
Jersey.

Professor Christison—Cluster of Pinus Pinaster, and fruit of
Hylomeum pyriforme (Wood Pear of New Holland); also section
of the fruit of Feronia Elephantum.

Messrs Duncan, Flockhart, and Company—Pyrethrum roseum,
a kind of Tea Powder.

Mr Stephens—Cotton from Bombax Ceiba, grown in the
Governor’s garden, Ceylon.

Professor Fleming—-Cluster of Cones of Pinus Pinaster, from
Moffat,—the trees were planted by the late Dr Walker.

Alexander Thomson, Esq.—Sections of the Wood of Scotch
Fir, attacked by Uroceras gigas; also, specimen of the Insect.

The following papers were read :—

I. On the Production of Ergot on Rye. By KENNETH
CorsBet, Beauly. Communicated by Dr Dovexas
MAcLaAGaN.

The author noticed the occurrence of ergot on rye in the
neighbourhood of Beauly, and stated that he found that this
native ergot was more certain in its medical action than that
imported from the Continent. He expressed his opinion
that the production of ergot was connected with an abortive
condition of the pollen, whose application to the stigma did
not result in the development of an embryo. He found that,
by cutting off the stamens in the early stage, the ovary
became liable to an attack of ergot. Specimens of ergot on
rye and barley were exhibited.

Il. On a Monstrosity in the Fruit of Silene inflata; with
some remarks on Placentation. By A. Dickson.

The plant from which these specimens were gathered
was obtained in Peeblesshire last October, when the cap-
sules were fully matured. The peculiarity consists in the

150 Mr A. Dickson on a Monstrosity

division of the cavity of the capsule into several cells, by
septa stretching from the walls of the ovary towards the
centre, and being absolutely adherent to the column from
which the seeds are developed. Mr Babington has described
a monstrosity in a Cerastium, somewhat similar to this, but
in which the partitions did not reach the central column,
and had of course no connection with it.*

Various opinions have been held by botanists regarding
the different kinds of placentation and their relation to each
other. We may adduce the following :—1st, That the pla-
centation in every case may be deduced from the parietal
form. According to this doctrine, the placente termed
central, are all originally attached to, if not parts of, the
walls of the ovary, and the parts of which they are sup-
posed to have been formed having become adherent to
each other in the middle line, and a rupture having taken
place, subsequently, between these and the carpellary leaves
from which they took origin, they thus remain as a central
column, free and isolated from the walls of the capsule. 2d,
The view of Adolphe Brongniart, that ovules on central and
parietal placente are formed upon two distinct types, that
the former are modified leaves developed upon the pro-
longed floral axis, while the latter are merely lobes or den-
ticulations on the margin of the carpellary leaf, and con-
sequently not specific structures. 3d, That ovules on parietal
placentz, are leaves or buds, developed upon the margins of
the carpel, comparable to those found upon the leaf of Bryo-
phyllum. 4th, Schleiden’s theory that all placente are
prolongations of the floral axis, whether undivided and
central or divided, so as to be applied to the margins of the
carpellary leaf or leaves.

The first theory is rendered untenable by the examina-
tion of the ovaries of the Primulacese, &c., which at no
period of their development exhibit any connection between
the central column and the carpellary leaves.

The second theory is founded upon a monstrosity in the
fruit of a Delphinium, described and figured by M. Brong-
niartt where the ovules had retrograded into the condition

* Gardener’s Chronicle for 1844, p. 557.
{ Brongniart Sur Monstruosités Végétales.—Archives du Museum, iv., p. 43, 1844.> ~

in the Fruit of Silene inflata. 151

of what he terms ‘‘ lobes” upon the margin of the carpellary
leaf. He considers these ‘“ lobes” to be portions of the carpel
itself, and that the vascular cord from which the mid-ribs
of the lobes proceed is manifestly derived from the lateral
veins of that leaf. Now, admitting that such was the ap-
parent state of the case, how can it be affirmed that this vas-
cular cord may not be formed by the confluent extremities
of these lobes ? The lateral veins of the carpel may join this
cord, but it does not necessarily follow that they form it ;
and even although it had been proved by examination of
its development that this said cord was the product of the
lateral veins, yet it by no means proves that the “ lobes”
are not specific structures. The buds on the leaf of Bryo-
phyllum are formed at the extremities of the lateral veins,
and yet no one doubts that they are specific structures. We
see no reason why these lobes should not be considered
as specific formations—leaflets—and homologous to the
ovules of the Primulacee, &c., which M. Brongniart has
clearly shown to be modified leaves.* We would further
ask, to what kind of denticulation or lobing could the ap-
pearance presented by the placenta of a. poppy be referred,
in which a vast number of ovules cover the surface of a
broad plate or lamina? It seems to us unphilosophical
to suppose that structures, so manifestly similar to each
other in their general anatomical details, and which are
identical as regards their physiological function, as the
ovules throughout the higher phanerogamia, should be
specific formations in one set of plants, and not so in another.
In the ovule, in fact, the archetypal or ideal leaf, receives
its highest development. The ovule is the culminating
point in that beautiful series of homologous structures, each
of which occupies a definite position as regards the succes-
sion of forms, and performs its own specific function in
the economy of the organism. M. Brongniart discovered
the key to this truth, but he neglected, as it were, to turn it
round, or rather, by a peculiar perversity—perhaps not
uncommon—he turned it in the wrong direction, in a way
of his own.

As to the third theory it is evident that it does not ne-

* Ann. des Se. Nat., 2 Ser. I., p. 308, Botanique, 1834.

152 Ona Monstrosity in the Fruit of Silene inflata.

cessarily affect the homology between the ovules upon cen-
tral and parietal placente, since we have only to suppose
the force which, in the leaf of Bryophyllum, would have been
distributed in the formation of a succession of green leaves
composing a bud, to be concentrated in the perfection of
the leaf first formed, so as to constitute that reproductive
structure which we term ovule.

The only problem now to be solved is, whether Schleiden’s
view of a divided parietalaxis be the true one, or are we to fol-
low the analogy of the Bryophyllum ? To this we are hardly
prepared to give a complete solution ; we would only state
that such amonstrosity,as that we have now brought forward,
would seem to exhibit a tendency (even in those plants in
which the placentation is most strictly central) to adhesion
between the carpellary leaves and the prolonged floral axis,
which, so far as it goes, would give support to Schleiden’s
supposition. Indeed, this theory of Schleiden’s is, in our
opinion, the most philosophical, as being most in accordance
with that unity of plan which is known to pervade nature,
which has yet been brought forward on this subject.

As it is foreign to the object of the present notice to
euter upon the very difficult subject of what constitutes the
plant individual, we shall not here discuss the nature of the
ovule ; we would only observe, however, that this most im-
portant discovery by Brongniart, of the morphological con-
stitution of the ovule, in the Primula sinensis more parti-
cularly*, has been overlooked by several of the most
eminent authors who have treated of the analogies between
the zoophyte and the plant. Professors E. Forbes}, Steen-
strupt, and Owen§, in their works in reference to this sub-
ject, agree in viewing the carpellary leaf as the female gene-
rative individual of the organism, the seeds being considered
as comparable to the ova of the animal. We believe that
this must have proceeded from a mere oversight, as we think
it must be evident to every one who examines Brongniart’s

* Ann. des Sc. Nat., 2 Ser. I.. p. 308, Botanique, 1834.
‘+ Forbes on ‘the Morphology of, the Reproductive! System of the Sertularian
Zoophytes. (Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., xiv., p. 387, 1844.)
+ Steenstrup on the Alternation of Generations. (Ray Society’s Translation, p. 115,
1845.)
§ Owen on Parthenogenesis, pp. 55-46, 1849.

Mr M. Thomson on Plantain Meal. 153

statements and figures, that, in accordance with the doctrine
which these authors maintain, and with which our own
views coincide, viz., that the leaf is the phyton or plant in-
dividual, the obvious conclusion to be derived from the mon-
strosities which Brongniart has described, is, that the ovule
itself is the female generative leaf or phyton, and, therefore,
not comparable to the ovum of the animal—involving of
course the non-sexuality of the carpel.

Ill. Analysis of Plantain Meal. By Murray Txomsoy, late
assistant in the Laboratory of the Industrial Museum
of Scotland,

It has often been suggested that the plantain and banana,
the fruit of the Musa paradisiaca and Musa sapientum,
should form an article of export from our West Indian
colonies, but hitherto this has not been accomplished, at
least, to any extent, chiefly from the difficulty of preserving
the flavour of the fruit. This difficulty, however, does not
hold when the plantain or banana are to be used as articles
of diet in the form of flour or meal. The plantain is an im-
portant article of diet ; and as there is not as yet any pub-
lished analysis of it, at least, so far as I am aware, I have,
at the suggestion of Professor G. Wilson, analyzed a sample
of plantain, ground into flour or meal, sent to him by W.
W. Anderson, Esq. of Jamaica.

According to Mr P. L. Simmonds, in his Commercial
Productions of the Vegetable Kingdom, ‘“‘ This meal is pre-
pared by stripping off the husk of the plantain, slicing the
core, and drying it in the sun, and when thoroughly dry
powdering and sifting it.” “ In that state,” he says, “it is
called by the creoles of the West Indies ‘Conquin Tay.’ It
has a fragrant odour, acquired in drying, resembling fresh
hay or tea. The sample I operated on possessed this tea
odour in a remarkable degree. In colour it is whitish-gray,
not unlike Scotch oat-meal, but in much finer powder. It
has a sweetish taste and partially dissolves in the mouth.
When treated with cold water it is little acted on, but in
boiling water it rapidly dissolves, and on being strained and
cooled, the solution consolidates into a grayish-brown jelly.
I should here remark that, as far as appearance goes, the jelly

154 Mr M. Thomson on Plantain Meal.

given by the plantain meal is inferior to that given by arrow-
root when treated in the same manner, but possibly a little
more attention to the manufacture of the meal would improve
this. It has been remarked in reference to plantain meal,
that cooking it in iron vessels colours it very much. The
specimen I examined gives a colour when some of it is
stirred up with dilute solutions of sesquichloride of iron, but
certainly not more so than the meal of wheat or oats when
similarly treated.”

The following short details of the analysis may not prove
uninteresting :—

The amount of nitrogen was determined by Peligot’s modi-
fication of Will and Varentrapp’s process. It was twice
estimated, and a mean struck between the two determina-
tions. The number was 0°31 per cent. of nitrogen. This
number, when multiplied in the usual way by 6°5, gives the
amount of the albuminous or plastic constituents amounting
to 2°01 percent. Simmonds, in the work above quoted, gives
the amount of nitrogen as 0°88, and of plastic constituents
as 0°45. This result is certainly too high, yet it may to
some extent be accounted for by the difference of samples
operated on. As noticed above, cold water acts very little on
this substance, sufficiently, however, to dissolve out all the
gum, sugar, and salts. These were therefore determined by
washing a known quantity of the meal with cold water on a
filter, the accumulated washings were evaporated down in
the water bath to perfect dryness, weighed, and the residue
digested in ordinary spirit of wine. This dissolves out the
sugar, leaving the gum and salts.

The spirituous solution of sugar when concentrated was
quite sweet. The sugar was represented by the loss of weight
the gummy residue had suffered by digestion in spirit after
being dried and weighed. This gave 2°40 per cent. of sugar.
The gummy residue was then completely incinerated, and
gave 0°64 per cent. of soluble salts, which, deducted from the
weight of the residue, gives 4°42 per cent. of gum. The
total ash of the meal was 0°92 per cent.

This process for separating gum, sugar, and salts, answers
very well for such a substance as plantain-meal, and gives
good results.

Mr M, Thomson on Plantain Meal. $55

The starch was determined in the usual way by washing
a known quantity of the meal in a fine muslin bag, until the
washings gave no more colour with tincture ofiodine. The
method followed for drying the starch is worth notice.
Tt should be collected on a weighed filter, and at first left to
dry by simple exposure to the air, in which, after being well
dried, it is put in the water bath, and more fully desiccated.
If put at once in the water-bath when newly washed, it
passes into a pasty mass, out of which it is very difficult
to drive the last traces of moisture, but if treated as above,
it remains as a powder, and is easily rendered quite dry.

The starch amounted to 71°60 per.cent. What was left
in the muslin bag, representing cellulose, was also dried and
weighed, when it gave 5:99 per cent.

It is perhaps worth noticing that the liquor from which
the starch deposited had a very pleasant odour, reminding
one of raspberry juice. When a portion of this fluid was
boiled, it gave, as might have been expected, flakes of albu-

minous matter.

_ The results of the analysis, stated in 100 parts, are as fol-
lows :—

DP ie TRB
Starch, . : : ‘ : : 71°60
Gum, , ; , 3 : - 4-42
Sugar, . ; ; ‘ : . 2°40
Cellulose, ; : : . 5°99
Plastic constituents, as albumen, , 2:01
Oil, : b ; : : 0:50
Soluble Salts, . . ; ; 0-64

99-89

Total Ash per cent. 0°92.

It would thus appear that plantain meal is to some extent
richer in blood-forming principles than arrowroot and such
substances. Also, as far as I can ascertain, it contains less
water, containing therefore more nutritious matter, bulk for
bulk, than these others. And, if we add to their qualities, its
agreeable flavour, this substance must be regarded as equal-
ling in nutritious value the most highly prized among the
farinaceous aliments, although very much inferior to the
meal of wheat or oats.

156 Mr M. Thomson on Three Australian Wines.

IV. Analyses of Three Australian Wines.
By Murray THomson.

Australia has in many ways proved a fruitful source of
rare natural productions. Besides being a vast gold field,
it also seems likely to become an extensive vineyard, so that
wine may probably be sent home in large quantities,
Through the kindness of W. Campbell, Esq., three samples
of Australian wine were sent to Professor Wilson, who has
kindly permitted me to examine them chemically, and to
bring the results before this Society.

These samples of wine were labelled, “ Mitaro, 1855 ;”
“ Frontignac, 1854 ;” “ Casignan, 1854.” The dates, I pre-
sume, refer to the vintage. It is to be regretted that the
quantities sent (about 6 fluid-ounces each) did not admit
of a more extended examination. However, the results of
this investigation, carried as far as possible, may not be with-
out interest.

No. 1, Mitavo.—This sample in colour resembled port
wine, and was pronounced by a connoisseur to be pleasant
in taste, but rather sweet, and its bouquet good. It was dis-
tinctly acid to test paper, from the presence of a trace of free
acetic acid, as was afterwards ascertained.

The amount of alcohol in the wine was first determined,
and for this purpose an attempt was made to do so by a
process detailed in Normandy’s Commercial Analysis,
page 592, but it was unsuccessful, as there was an undoubted
retention of alcohol on the part of a large precipitate, pro-
duced by the sub-acetate of lead used in the process. Re-
course accordingly was had to distillation, which answers
very well if the condensation be good.

Two fluid ounces of the wine in this case were distilled,
the distillate measured 1} fluid ounces, and was of sp. gr.
977 at 69°. This is equivalent to 15 per cent. of alcohol.
But as the 14 oz. corresponds to 2 oz. of wine, that difference
had to be allowed for, and the amount of alcohol was thus
reduced to 11°30 per cent.

The residue left in the retort was tested for sugar and
tartrate of potash in the following manner :—the residue
was boiled with some well-washed animal charcoal, but the
colour was only partially removed by this; it was, however, de-

— |

Mr M. Thomson on Three Australian Wines. 157

colorized enough to try the bile test for sugar, when that sub-
stance was found to be present in the wine in distinct quantity.
The remainder of the residue was dried up and burned, and
the charred mass treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, when
distinct effervescence ensued ; therefore a vegetable acid,such
as racemic or tartaric acid—most probably the latter—must
have been present in the unburnt wine as a tartrate. This
carbonate could not have existed in the wine, as that was, as
before mentioned, distinctly acid ; a condition of matters, I
need not remark, incompatible with the existence of a car-
bonate undecomposed. The acid solution of the charred
residue was tested for alkalies; potash only was found. A fresh
portion of the wine was evaporated, charred, and acted on by
dilute nitric acid; none of the heavy metals were present.
Hydrosulphuret of ammonia produced a trifling precipitate,
which was proved to be phosphate of lime, and, probably,
also of magnesia, as ime and magnesia were both present.
Besides these substances, sulphuric acid and chlorine were
detected.

Mitaro wine contains 11:30 per cent. of alcohol; also sugar
and tartrate of potash in small quantity, and traces of phos-
phate of lime and magnesia, lime and magnesia in some
other form of combination, acetic and sulphuric acids, and
chlorine.

No. 2, Frontignac.—The colour of this sample was pale
brown, hke sherry wine; pronounced to be a fine wine, having
a fine bouquet, but rather sweet. It also was acid to test
paper, and from the same cause.

The analysis of this wine was performed in precisely the
same manner as in No. 1; therefore, a mere statement of the
results will suffice.

Three fluid ounces of the wine were distilled—2} oz. came
over. Its sp. gr. was 971 @ 60°=20 per cent.; but the error
before alluded to being corrected, gave only 16-00 per cent.
of alcohol. The residue in the retort in this wine gave
abundant evidence of sugar, even to the extent that the
decolorized solution gave crystals of sugar on standing.
Tartrate of potash also is present, and likewi ise tartrate a
soda.

Frontignac wine contains 16:00 per cent. of alcohol ; also

TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. V. N

158 Mr M. Thomson on Three Australian Wines.

sugar, tartrates of potash, of soda, and traces of lime and
magnesia, acetic acid, and chlorine.

No. 3, Casignan.—In regard to colour it is, like Mitaro,
port coloured ; pronounced a good wine, bouquet good, but
also rather sweet; acid to test paper, proceeding from the
same cause as the others.

Casignan wine contains 18 per cent. of alcohol, and, besides
sugar, tartrates of potash and soda, traces of lime, magnesia,
and a little of these in combination with phosphoric acid ;
also traces of acetic, sulphuric acids, and chlorine.

It may be concluded that these wines are pure and good,
although not so strong or so full-bodied as the wines
supplied from Spain, and the other wine countries. Their
poverty in bouquet may be accounted for by their compa-
rative youth, being at most only 3 yearsold. Their all being
acid may be explained by the circumstance, that the
sample bottles were not tightly closed. But on the whole,
these wines are beyond the average of many wines sent to
the British markets, both as regards purityand strength. The
cultivation of the vine, and the wine manufacture, will no
doubt be carried on extensively in Australia.

These analyses were made in Professor Wilson’s labora-
tory, to whom I take this opportunity of returning thanks
for his great kindness.

In reference to Mr Thomson’s analyses, Mr Charles Law-
son, jun., sent a specimen of Australian wine, accompanied
by the following note :—

“The accompaning specimen of Australian wine was im-
ported in 1855; the cost, delivered in London, about 9s. 6d.
to 10s. per gallon. Supposed to be made originally from
Rhine grapes taken out to Australia ; but with the view of
suiting the British taste by an approximation to dry sherry,
it has been highly brandied, and possibly there is also a
slight admixture from the White Cape produce. All this,
however, was done in the colony. There can be little doubt
that Australia can produce good wine. It would be well
that it was exported pure, at all events not manufactured
with other growths. It is possible that a larger per-centage
of brandy must be added to make it stand the voyage.”

Mr P. 8S. Robertson on Pinus cephalonica. 159

V. On the Injurious Effects of Uroceras gigas on Fir Trees.
By ALexanper THomson, Esq., Banchory.

The author stated that last summer his forester had ob-
served a Scotch fir tree about thirty-five years old die very
suddenly. The tree was cut down and taken to the saw-
mill. During the preparation of the wood a large fly was
observed in a burrow in the wood. Subsequently another
fly, a grub, and the remains of a cocoon were seen. The
insect was examined, and found to be the Uroceras gigas.
It has been rarely noticed in Scotland. It appears, however,
that in Germany it often causes great destruction in the
forests. If there be any appearance of the insect spreading
in this country, it would be well to draw further attention
to it, so that every tree showing symptoms of it might be
destroyed. This is the only remedy found of use in Ger-
many, where they say hundreds of acres have been sacrificed
on one estate after another, with the view of checking its
progress. Specimens of the timber and of the insect were
exhibited, along with a piece of foreign timber containing a
grub of a similar nature.

VI. On the Occurrence of the Seeds of Bearded Darnel in
Inferior Samples of Wheat. By Grorce 8. Lawson.

VII. Notes on Pinus cephalonica, and other Conifere, at
Craigo House, Montrose. By P. 8. Rogrertson, Golden
Acres Nursery. j

Mr Robertson read a notice of a large number of plants
of Pinus cephalonica, which are growing at Craigo House,
about three miles from the sea, on dry sandy soil which
overlies soft freestone rock, and in the vicinity of limestone.
The trees had all been raised from seed by the late Thomas
Carnegie, Esq., and planted by him about eighteen years
ago. They appeared to be in perfect health, making growths
of 12 to 15 inches each year; a good many having now at-
tained to 12 and 15 feet in height. In the same pinetum
-are good plants of Pinus nobilis, P. grandis, and P. Nord-
manniana from 7 to 10 feet inheight ; P. Menziesii, 36 feet ;

x 2

160 Dr J. Lowe on Effects of Lightning on Larch Trees.

variegated Norway spruce, 27 feet; and Araucaria imbri-
cata, 22 feet in height; all of which are thriving well.
In the same collection, a large number of nearly all the
more recently introduced conifers have been planted, but
they have not been sufficiently tested to be fully reported
on as to their ultimate success. Meanwhile, they promise
well, and the collection is a most valuable one, as showing
what species of conifers thrive on the east coast, and at a
low elevation.

VIII. Remarks on the Effects of Lightning upon Larch Trees.
By Joun Lowe, M.D.

During the violent storm which occurred on the 7th
August last, a larch tree, standing in a field at the west end
of the village of Fortingal, was struck by lightning. Com-
mencing about a yard from the summit, the electric fluid
passed in a spiral direction down the trunk, making five
and a-half coils in its descent, and peeling off the bark to
the breadth of five or six inches. Half-way down the tree
the current appears to have been divided by an intervening
branch, and from this point the spiral coil is double, diverg-
ing as it nears the base, where one of the currents has passed
into the earth to the west and the other to the east side
after having thrown down a portion of stone wall which op-
posed its progress. At the point of entrance of this current
the earth was torn up, and a large opening left. Another
larch, about a mile to the east of Fortingal, was struck in a
similar manner, and on the same evening. The cause of
these not having been splintered, as is commonly the case
with other trees, is probably owing to their tapering form
being better adapted for conducting the fluid, without afford-
ing any direct points of opposition to its course. The large
size of the branches in other trees, and the acute angles
which they form with the stem, is an obvious cause of their
being more frequently splintered. The direction of the
currents in the present instance was most likely caused by
the spiral course of the woody fibre, which is well seen in
the fir, and especially when grown in open situations.

161

12th February 1857.—Professor Batrovr, V.P. in the Chair.

The following Candidates were balloted for and duly
elected :—
As Ordinary Resident Fellows.

Crom A. Fernanno, Esq., 13 Gayfield Square.
Georce M. Rem, Esq., M.D., Edinburgh.
Joun Montcomertie Betx, Esq., East Morningside House.
JouN DE La Conpamine, Esq., 28 Broughton Place.
As Non-Resident Fellow.

Dr James Auian, 52 Hanover Street, Sheffield.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s
Library and Herbarium :—

Allgemeinen Schweizerischen Gesellschaft fiir der Naturwissen-
schaften : Verhandlungen, Jahrg, 1854,—Mittheilungen, Nos.
314-259—From the Society.

Actes de la Société Heivetique des Sciences Naturelles, 1855—
From the Society.

Mémoires de la Société Impériale des Sciences Naturelles de
Cherbourg, vol. 3me.—From the Society.

A collection of Arctic Plants—From Dr Dickson of Jersey.

A parcel of British duplicates, chiefly desiderata—From Mr
A. G. More, Isle of Wight.

Dr Balfour stated that there had been added to the Uni-
versity Herbarium Dr UHarvey’s collection of Australian
Algz, consisting of 533 specimens.

Dr Balfour also mentioned that the following donations
had been made to the Museum at the Botanic Garden :—

From the Oregon Association—Cones of Pinus Murrayana,
P. Monticola, P. Benthamiana, Picea nobilis, and Abies grandis.

Andrew Murray, Esq.—Specimens of the following Conifere :
Pinus insignis, P. radiata, P. Fremontii, Abies bracteata, Cu-
pressus macrocarpa, and C, Lambertiana.

Messrs Lawson & Son—Specimens of wheat, oats, barley,
rye, &c.

Sir H. Dalrymple, Bart.—Cone of Picea nobilis, ripened at
North Berwick House in 1856,

J. F. Zieryogel, Esq.—Spoon made of wood by the Caffres.

L. P. Capewell, Esq., Ballarat, Australia—A species of Poly-
porus growing on the branches of Eucalyptus, usually called
Punk; another specimen of Polyporus, growing on the large
trunks of Eucalyptus robusta.

162 Drs Kirk and D. Christison on the

W. Jameson, Esq., Saharunpore, per Professor Christison—
Bdellium, the produce of Amyris Agallocha.

W. Gorrie, Esq., Prestonhall—Canadian or Swamp Rice of
America, Zizania aquatica ; along with Ergot produced on it.

D. P. Maclagan, Esq.— Specimens of Peccau nuts, the produce
of Carya oliveformis.

The following papers were read :—

I. Notes of a Botanical Excursion to Switzerland and other

parts of the Continent during last summer. By Robert
M. Srark.

Il. List of Plants observed in the neighbourhood of Black-
ford, Perthshire. By ALEXANDER BucHAN.

After detailing the physical peculiarities of the district,
embracing a circuit of four miles around Blackford, Mr
Buchan gave a full list of the plants which he had observed,
including Trollius europceus, Corydalis claviculata, Viola
palustris, Silene maritima, Radiola Millegrana, Genista an-
glica, Spirea salictifolia, Rubus saxatilis, Epilobtum angus-
tifolium and alsinifolium, Circea lutetiana and alpina,
Montia fontana, Sedum anglicum, Saxifraga stellaris, op-
positifolia, and hypnoides, Meum athamanticum, Thrincia
hirta, Utricularia minor, Listera Nidus-Avis, Poa Balfourti,
Hymenophyllum Wilsont, and other interesting plants.

IIL. Notice of the Plants of Mount Olympus. By Dr Joun
Kirk. With an account of the Ascent of the Mountain,
and Observations on the Country near Broussa. By Dr
Davin CuHRISTISON.

Dr Christison observed :—‘ Mount Olympus of Asia Minor,
although fully seventy miles from Constantinople, is a very
constant object in the landscape,—thanks to the clear East-
ern atmosphere—and forms the boundary of the magnificent
view from that city towards the south. From Constanti-
nople it presents the appearance of a long ridge, without
any great variety of outline ; and probably all the year
round shows a considerable quantity of snow, although tra-
vellers who talk of its summits clothed in perpetual snow
must not be understood literally, as our party ascended to

Plants of Mount Olympus. 165

the top without ever treading on snow unless from choice ;
and this in the end of June, before the greatest summer heat
had commenced. The altitude of the mountain, moreover,
does not bring it within the limit of perpetual snow. This
is stated variously in different maps ; but, according to
Marshal Marmont, by the temperature of boiling water it is
nearly 7400 feet.”

Dr Christison and his party went by steam from Stamboul
to Mandanich, situated on the south side of the Gulf of
Gimleck. Thence they proceeded to Broussa, passing through
a fertile valley with vineyards and mulberry plantations,
and well wooded, chiefly with olives. They then ascended a
hill, where a fine view was obtained, and finally descended
to the plain of Broussa, at which place they took up their
quarters. Dr Christison observed, “ that nothing could
be more beautiful than the situation of Broussa. Mount
Olympus, the Keshish Dagh or Holy Mountain of the Turks,
here descends by a long steep uniform slope directly on the
plain, much in the fashion of the south side of our own
Ochils, though on a far grander scale. At the very foot of
this the city extends for two and a-half or three miles, with
a varying breadth of from that of a single street to perhaps
halfa mile. In front of it is a belt of vineyards, mulberries,
and fields interspersed with trees, among which sycamores,
chesnuts, figs, walnuts, and olives are most common. This
belt is a mile or more in width, and then comes the plain
proper, which is quite open, beautifully green at this season
(June), with groups of trees, having much the appearance
of an English park. Finally, the plain is bounded by the
fine range of hills separating it from the sea. A plateau
of travestine, elevated about one hundred feet, projects from
the flank of Olympus over the town, and is ornamented with
mosques and villas, under the extensive ruins of old forti-
fications. The luxuriance of vegetation, the fresh greenness
of the foliage, and the noise and sight of running water in
every part of the city, make it a delightful contrast to the
dry parched aspect of Constantinople and its surrounding
country, which, with the exception of the immediate shores
of the Bosphorus, and a few valleys leading to it, is about
the dullest and most forbidding country I have seen.
Unfortunately, this beautiful city has been nearly ruined

164 Drs Kirk and D. Christison on the

by an earthquake; and, considering the indolence of the
Turks, it may be doubted if it will ever recover. During
February and March shocks occurred almost daily ; and, in-
deed, at the period of our visit in June, they had not ceased,
as we felt two very distinct shocks one night when we had
lain down to sleep on Mount Olympus. Each was pre-
ceded by a dull rumbling noise lke that of a railway train
crossing a wooden bridge at some distance, immediately
followed by a sharp shake ; the sound and the shake only
lasting a few seconds.”

Dr Christison describes the ascent of Olympus, or the
Keshish Dagh :—“ The ascent of the Keshish Dagh presents
no difficulty, and may be accomplished from Broussa on
horseback, or even on foot by a first-rate pedestrian, in one
long day. The first part of the ascent consists in climbing
by a zig-zag path the steep slope towards the plain, by which
I should think three thousand feet of elevation are gained.
The path now strikes upon a long narrow valley that cuts
into the mountain for about six miles, nearly in a straight
line. Its sides slope very steeply and uniformly, and are
completely clothed with trees of considerable size. So steep
are the sides, that clambering down them would be a work
of great difficulty, ifnot danger, The perfect silence of this
wooded valley was almost oppressive. When we got to the
head of this valley we had to surmount a very steep hill-face
covered with pine trees, for we had gained much additional
elevation during our ride up the valley, and pines were the
only trees now met with. Our wretched-looking horses
scrambled up this part in the most wonderful manner, and
we soon found ourselves on an extensive plateau at a height
of perhaps between 5000 and 6000 feet, covered with fine
pasture, and bounded on the south by an extensive pine forest.
We proceeded at a brisker pace for two or three miles across
this plain, and then came to a shallow but rough and rocky
valley, where we bivouacked for the night, at the edge of
the forest. In the morning the ground was white with
hoar-frost, and we felt rather cold, which was a new sensa-
tion, but the sun was very powerful even at eight A.M., when,
after crossing a low intervening hill to another valley, we
left our horses and commenced the ascent on foot.”

The party finally reached the stmmit of the mountain,

Plants of Mount Olympus. 165

and had a fine view of the country around, although the
distant landscape was concealed by the mists which were
gathering on the heights around. The party descended to
Broussa by the same route.

Dr Kirk’s list of plants gathered on Olympus showed the
different heights at which the various species occur. He
observed :—‘“ In the plain of Broussa and on the slopes of the
coast range of hills, the vine and olive are extensively culti-
vated. The white mulberry is grown all throughout the
plain for the silk-worm. The peach and cherry are grown
in gardens, as well as the Bamia (A belmoschus esculentus), and
the Aubergine (Solanum ovigerum), the water and sugar
melon. ‘The trees are intertwined with the wild vine, and,
wherever moisture is abundant, vegetation is most luxuriant.”

Dr Kirk divided the mountain into three zones, each of
which presented certain peculiarities in vegetation, as illus-
trated by his specimens, which were as follow :—1. Plants
from Broussa and the first part of Olympus. 2. The zone of
forests of chesnut, silver fir, and Pinus Pinaster, hung with
Viscum album and lichens, the open ground furnishing
hazel, Campanulas, Altheas, and Cistuses. 3. The region
of the middle plateau, mostly free of wood, and rocky. Ver-
bascums are frequent, and grow socially. The ground is
generally moist. The juniper grows abundantly. 4. The
slope of the highest peak and summit plateau consisting of
loose stones, the ascent being steep.

12th March 1857.— Professor Batrour, V.P., in the Chair.

The following donations were announced to the Bacieny s
Library and Herbarium, viz.

British Plants—From Mr Waddell, Cumbernauld.

Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History—From
the Society.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,
and Notice of the Origin, Progress, and present Condition of that
Academy,—From the Academy.

166 Prof. Balfour on a Botanical Trip to Moffat.

The following donations were announced to the Museum
at the Botanic Garden :—

From Miss Ellan Rate, Lampock Wells, Tranent—Skeleton
Leaves of Magnolia, Ivy, Willew, Poplar, &c.,in Frame with
Glass,

From Mrs R, W. Hamilton—Racodium cellare, found growing
on Corks of Wine Bottles in a Cellar.

From Miss Brodie, 4 Duncan Street—Specimens of Helipterum
eximium.,

From Mr Cousin—Specimens of Dry Rot in Wood.

From R. Dundas Cay, Esq., Lauriston Lodge—Two pieces of
Pith of the Rice-paper plant, Aralia papyrifera,

The following papers were read :—

I. Notice of a Botanical Trip to Moffat in August 1856.
By Professor Batrour.

On the 18th July 1856, a party of about forty met at the
Caledonian Railway Station at 5 p.m. and proceeded to Beat-
tock, which they reached about 84 p.m. They were met
by the Rev. Mr Little, Kirkpatrick-juxta, who had kindly
made arrangements for their excursion. The party then
walked to Moffat, passing the “ Three Stannin Stanes,”
which are said to commemorate a battle, and took up their
quarters in the Annandale Arms Inn.

Messrs Fraser, Hope, and Maingay, who had been botan-
izing in the neighbourhood for several days, exhibited some
of the results of their trip.

Moffat is situated at the upper part of Annandale in
Dumfriesshire, and is about 370 feet above the level of the
sea. An excellent guide to it and its neighbourhood has
been compiled by Mr Keddie.

On the 19th July, after an early breakfast, the party
proceeded by omnibus and carriages along the banks of the
Moffat water for 10 miles. Thence they continued their
excursion on foot, and visited, in the first place, the famous
waterfall called the ‘‘ Grey Mare’s Tail.” A convenient road
has been cut along the sides of the hill, approaching within
a few yards of the fall. From this a striking view is obtained
of the foaming cauldron which receives the water, and of
the black savage steep over which it bounds, with two or
three partial breaks, by a leap of about 300 feet.

Prof. Balfour on a Botanical Trip to Moffat. 167

From the water descending ina thin waving sheet of
shining spray, the wild mountain cataract has received its
name. The waters of the fall come from Loch Skene. On
the rocks in the vicinity the party gathered Oxyria renifor-
mis, Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Epi-
lobium alpinum, Allosorus crispus, Thalictrum minus, and
Festuca ovina vivipara. The rocks here, and in the mountains
around, belong to the Greywacke or Lower Silurian group.

Under the guidance of a shepherd provided by the Rey. Mr
Little from Mr R. Johnston of Polmoodie, the party then
walked to Dob’s Linn, where a mountain torrent tumbles
over the rocks in a succession of rushing falls. Along with
the Greywacke there are here strata of dark shale and an-
thracite, the former being very crumbling, and containing
graptolites. There is a cave on the rocky sides of Dob’s
Linn, in which it is said the Covenanters often found a hid-
ing place. The precipice is about 300 feet high. On the
way to the Linn, Saxifraga stellaris and Sedum villosum
were gathered. On rocks near the Linn, Sazifraga hyp-
noides and Botrychium Lunaria were seen.

The next point of interest was Loch Skene, which was
reached after a scramble up the rocks at the Linn, and a
toilsome walk through moss haggs and black morass, which
only supplied a few common plants along with Rubus Cha-
meemorus and the alpine form of Melampyrum pratense.

Loch Skene is a very desolate tarn, situated about 1000
feet above the level of the sea, three-fourths of a mile in
length, and one-fourth of a mile in breadth. In it we looked
for Isoetes lacustris which is said to grow there, but we only
got Littorella lacustris, which very probably had been mis-
taken for Jsoetes.

The water of the loch rushes through a rocky barrier at
the lower part, forming a brook which flows rapidly down
to the ravine over which it falls to join the Moffat Water.

Sir Walter Scott, in Marmion, in alluding to Loch Skene
and the scenery in the vicinity, says :—

‘* Where deep, deep down, and far within,
Toils with the rocks the roaring Linn ;
Then issuing forth in foaming wave,
And wheeling round the giant’s grave,
White as the snowy charger’s tail,
Drives down the pass of Moffat dale.”

168 — Prof. Balfour on a Botanical Trip to Moffat.

The rocks around Loch Skene were said to furnish Wood-
sia ilvensis, but I fear it has disappeared from this locality
as well as from the station called the Beef Tub. Mr
Sadler, who started very early in the morning and ex-
amined all the rocks, as well as Messrs Fraser and Hope,
failed to find a specimen of the fern.

Leaving Loch Skene, the ascent of Whitcoom was next
undertaken. This is said to be the highest hill in the south of
Scotland, rising to a height of nearly 2700 feet. This was
the best botanical ground visited by the party. The fol-
lowing were among the species gathered :—Salia herbacea,
Salix Lapponum, S. Myrsinites, Saussurea alpina, Saxifraga
stellaris, Allosorus crispus, Epilobium angustifolium, E. alpi-
num, Carex rigida, C. pilulifera, Oxyria reniformis, Thalic-
trum alpinum, Sedum Rhodiola, and some alpine Hieracia.

From the summit of the hill a grand view of the surround-
ing country was obtained, more particularly in the direction
of the Solway and the hills of Cumberland.

From the mountain, under the direction of Messrs Car-
ruthers, the party proceeded along the neighbouring hills,
and ascended Hartfell, which rises to the height of 2635
feet, and commands an extensive view. This hill journey
was not a little fatiguing, and tried the ardour and perse-
verance of the party. Some preferred to take an easy de-
scent by one of the glens, so as to reach the road along Moffat
Water. This was so far fortunate, for by doing so, Mr Mac-
farlan was enabled to gather Woodsia clvensis in consider-
able quantity in a new station.

In the Hartfell group of mountains arise the Annan, the
Tweed, and the Clyde. Hence the old Scottish rhyme :—

«* Annan, Tweed, and Clyde,
Rise a’ out 0’ ae hillside.
Tweed ran, Annan wan,
Clyde fell and brack its neck ow’r Corra Linn.”

There were no additional plants gathered of particular
interest on this hill. In general these round-backed Grey-
wacke hills are not productive, and the only spots where good
plants are obtained are on the moist rocks and ravines a little
below the summit.

Leaving the summit of Hartfell, the party passed by the
top of the ravine in which the Hartfell spa—a chaly-

Mr Macfarlan on the Nectary in Ranunculus. 169

beate spring—is situated, and then descended by the well-
burn to the famous sulphuretted mineral well, reaching
Moffat after a fatiguing day’s work about 5 p.m. From
Moffat the party returned by the train passing Beattock at
6-40 p.m., and reached Edinburgh at 8°30.

II. On an Abnormal Development of the Nectary in Ranun-
culus. By A. J. Macrar.an.

The author observed:—‘ I have taken the liberty of
bringing this abnormal development of the nectary in Ra-
nunculus under the notice of the Society, in the hope that
it may not be uninteresting, as illustrating to some extent
one view of the formation of the tubular petals of some of
the Ranunculacee ; and also, the metamorphosis by which
the fringed glandular scales of Parnassia palustris are pro-
duced. The petal was more elongated than usual, and be-
came narrowed towards the base, so as to have the appear-
ance of being stalked. The nectary was similar in shape,
though not quite so large, and seemed to have been developed
in size at the expense of the petal, which was smaller than
the others, they being all normal. In examining the
connection between the nectary and petal, considerable
difficulty was experienced, owing to the time the spe-
cimen had been kept (since last summer), and its con-
sequent softness ; and here I must express my regret that
not having originally intended to give a notice of the ab-
normality, I did not examine it in the fresh state with the
same care I would otherwise have done. The petal and
nectary seemed to be connected throughout all the narrow
portion, though whether or not they formed a tube I could
not distinctly ascertain. This is unfortunate, for if it could
have been positively stated that a tube was formed, the

*change from the petal as we find it in Ranunculus to the
state in which it is in many of the other genera would have
been explained at once to be dependent upon changes in
the nectary. But although this cannot be positively stated
to have been the case, it seems at least as good a method of
accounting for the change in the petals to suppose that the
tube is formed by a nectary being enlarged, as in the pre-
sent case, and its edges united to those of the petal, as that

170 Professor Balfour on Boucherie’s

the petal should fold upon itself,and its edges become united.
We have also, by this theory, a good explanation of what
becomes of the nectary, for we may surely expect to find it
in some shape or another in plants nearly allied to the
Ranunculus. |

“In reference to Parnassia palustris, each fringed glan-
dular scale has a very considerable resemblance to the en-
larged nectary, not only in position of attachment to its
petal, but also in shape, with this difference, that, while the
one is lobed to so great an extent as to become fringed, the
other is only slightly lobed. This abnormality, therefore,
seems to support the view that the scales are enlarged nec-
taries, which would be a sufficient reason for not finding
them alternating with the petals as we might expect them
to do were they either an inner row of petals modified, or
an altered state of the stamens.”

III. Notice of the occurrence of Chara synearpa tin Scotland.
By W. Nicuot, M.D.

Dr Nichol observed :—‘‘ In August 1856, when crossing,
by Glen Turrit, the hills which separate Crieff from Loch
Tay, I observed some specimens of Chara growing in Loch
Turrit which seemed to differ from Chara flexilis. The
same form occurred pretty abundantly also in Loch-na-
Ghat, on Ben Lawers, at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet.
These, on examination, seemed to be Chara syncarpa; and
in this I have been confirmed by Mr Babington, to whom
specimens from both localities were sent.”

IV. Remarks on Boucherie’s Method of Preserving Timber.
By Professor BALFour.

Dr Balfour gave a short account of the various modes
adopted for preserving of timber, and then proceeded.
to notice the method proposed by Boucherie about fifteen
or twenty years ago, and which has since been improved.
He referred particularly to the use of a solution of sulphate
of copper, in the proportion of 1 Ib. of the sulphate to 100
of water, asapreservative. He detailed the plan adopted by
the Permanent Way Company, and illustrated the method
by drawings. He pointed out the importance of removing

q

Method of Preserving Timber. 171

fermentescible sap from recent wood, and substituting a
substance not liable to undergo chemical changes ; and he
dwelt on the importance of having timber well seasoned
and exposed to a current of air when employed in building.
The results of the trials made of Boucherie’s plan in France
were given, and the report of the commission appointed to
examine the subject. The conclusions drawn from. these
data were favourable to the employment of sulphate of cop-
per for the prevention of decay in timber.

The author concluded by exhibiting a piece of wood
affected with dry rot, and reading the following letter from
Mr Cousin, the city architect, regarding it :—

“The specimen of dry rot affords a rather striking ex-
ample of that disease. The timber was new and of good
quality, and had not been fixed in its place more than twenty
months before the rot had committed the ravages which you
see. It was in a floor of a shop in Princes Street, and the
rot commenced at the top; indeed, the floor-boarding was
the first part infected, and the disease gradually crept down-
wards.

“The deafening in this case consisted of dry furnace
ashes, covered with a coating of lime, the whole depth being
about 23 inches.

“The timber was all new when put into its place, and
although it had got the ordinary amount of exposure to the
air, or ‘ seasoning,’ as it is called, the natural sap could not
be entirely dried up.

“Now, all this is just what happens in every new
building, without exception, and therefore dry rot must be
explained as arising from some other cause.

“In my humble opinion, it arose from the following
cause :—So soon as the premises were finished, the first thing
the tenant of the shop did was to cover the entire surface

_ of the floor, except under the counters and side cases, with

“ Kamptulicon,” as it is called, or a kind of floor-cloth, com-
posed principally of India-rubber, and -forming a perfectly
air-tight and compact body.

“The floor-boarding speedily showed indications of rot,
by yielding under the foot on passing over it; and on the
floor-cloth being removed, the boards were found to be
covered over with a white fungus, and completely decayed.

172 Recent Botanical Intelligence.

“The portions of the deals under the counters and along
the side walls, were not decayed to the same extent, though
to some degree.”

V. Recent Botanical Intelligence. By Professor Batrour.

Dr Balfour read a letter from Mr L. P. Capewell, Ballarat,
Victoria, accompanying specimens of Stemonites fascicula‘a,
Pers., on a Eucalyptus. Mr Capewell had also sent a ga-
thering of Diatomacee, which was examined by Dr Gre-
ville, who observes :—‘ Mr Capewell’s gathering is a very
interesting one, not as containing anything new, but be-
cause every form in it is British. It is quite a nest of Epi-
themiz ; the predominant form is EZ. gibba; then come £.
turgida, Westermanni, and ventricosa. The remaining form
is Diatomella Balfouriana, only recently discovered and de-
scribed in this country. How strange that it should next
be found at the antipodes, in company, too, with a colony
of British species !”

Dr Balfour stated that his friend, Professor Smyth, who
had lately visited Teneriffe, had occasion to examine the
famous Dragon tree (Dracena Draco) of the Canaries, a
drawing of which is giveu in Humboldt’s large work. The
drawing in that work does not give a correct representation
of the form and size of the tree. Dr Balfour explained, on
a large drawing, the errors which had been committed by
Humboldt’s artist.

Dr Balfour then gave a resumé of Cohn’s researches on
the reproduction of Spheroplea annulina and of Pringsheim’s
on Gdogonium ciliatum. Dr Balfour also referred to Dr
Hilgard’s explanation of the law of phyllotaxis, which he re-
fers to the numerical genesis of cells.—(Zdin. Phil. Jour.,
v. 375-6.)

Dr Balfour exhibited a specimen of Sycomorus antiquo-
rum, presented by Mr G. 8. Lawson, and taken from the
famous Sycomore near Heliopolis. He also stated that
the peculiar partitioned wood presented to the Museum
some time ago by Mr Daw, appeared to be the produce of
Cecropia peltata. Principal Dawson, of M‘Gill College,
Montreal, was disposed to think that it threw light on the
structure of Sternbergia.

Mr M‘Nab on the Flowering of Plants. 173

VI. Register of the Flowering of certain Plants inthe Royal
Botanic Garden, from 1st February till 12th March 1857,
compared with the five previous years. By JAMES M‘Nag.

Name. i857. | 1856. | 1855. | 1854, | 1853. | 1852.
Rhododendron atrovirens | Feb. 6| Feb. 16) Apr. 6} Feb.18| Feb. 1)| Jan. 14
Erica herbacea..........+.+. — 6] — 15| Mar. 5} — 20|Jan. 28) — 24
Galanthus nivalis.......... — 8; — 14| — 2) Jan.24| — 24] — 28
Eranthis hyemalis......... — 9) — 14}; — 2) — 26)\ Feb. 1) — 31
Garrya elliptica............. — 9| — 18
Hepatica triloba, varieties — 13| — 16] — 7) — 20| — 2] — 30
Arabis albida... — 13| — 24/ Apr. 8| Feb. 15} Mar.15 | Feb. 18
erect grand. bh Vai aa (OG are S fit TA | me 8 Lo 8
Crocus Susianus............| — 15) — 18} — 5} — 14} — 8] — 38
Corylus Avellana............ — 16/ — 15} — 21] Mar.10| — 9] Jan. 25
RhododendronNobleanum| — 18) Mar.16/ Apr.13| — 2| — 22) — 28
Crocus vernus varieties....| — 19| Feb.24| — Feb. 4| — 15] Feb. 18
Tussilago alba...... “Aorreoe — 20) — 24) Mar.15| — 14; — 1] —
Daphne Mezereum.........| — 23| — 19] Apr. 6} — 18)} Feb. 1/| Jan. 21
Leucojum vernum......... — 24/Mar. 1| Mar. 3; — 15) Mar.21/| Feb, 21
Aubretia grandiflora ...... — 2) — Apr. 8| — 17) Feb Mar. 18
Nordmannia cordifolia...) — 27; — 8| — 9| Mar. 1| Mar.24| — 10
Doronicum ——— — 27; — 24) — 11} — 11} — 26) — 16
Symplocarpus feetidus .. — 28/ Feb. 26|Mar.20' — 3) — 16) — 20
Tussilago nivea.............| — 28] Mar.18|Apr.14} — 18] Apr. 1| Feb. 27
Symphytum eaucasicum..| Mar. 3} — 12| — 10| — ll Mar.26; — 2
Pulmonaria angustifolia...| — 8| — 11] 20 20} — 19] — 20] Mar. 1

Mr M‘Nab also presented the following list of Plants observed in flower in the
Botanic Garden, Belfast :—Helleborus lividus and Helleborus olympicus, Dec. 24,
1856; Erica herbacea, Jan. 4, 1857 ; Galanthus nivalis, Jan. 12, 1857 ; Hepatica
triloba, varieties, and Helleborus fetidus, Jan. 15, 1857; Primula vulgaris and
Bellis perennis, Jan. 16, 1857; Daphne Mezereum, Jan. 25, 1857; Eranthis
hyemalis, Feb. 6, 1857 ; Leucojum vernum and Erica mediterranea, Feb. 10,
1857 ; Anemone coronaria, Feb. 6, 1857; Corylus laciniata, Feb. 26, 1857;
Salix Caprea, Feb. 27, 1857; Sisyrinchium grandiflorum, Feb. 28, 1857 ; Ribes
augusta and Arabis snwatilis, March 1, 1857; Ribes sanguineum and pee
Puesdo-Narcissus, March 6, 1857.

9th April 1857.—Professor Batrour, V.P., in the Chair.

The following Candidates were balloted for and duly
elected :—
As Ordinary Resident Fellows.
1. Witt1am Jounston, Esq., 28 Pitt Street.
2. Rozert Macraean, Esq., 28 Heriot Row.
3. Dr James Hector, 57 Inverleith Row.
4. Francis T. Bonn, B.A., M.R.C.S., 27 Drummond Place.
5. James S. Beverinex, Esq., 49 Albany Street.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had
been made to the Musuem at the Botanic Garden:—

From Mrs Allardyce, Cromarty—Beautiful Specimens of Plants
cut out of paper by a pair of small scissors, the venation of the

leaves being put in by the points of the scissors.
TRANS, BOT, SOC. VOL. VY, 0

174 MrC. J. Burnett on Bicarbonate of Ammonia.

From Professor Christison—Fruit of Bassia Parkii from the
Niger (Dr Baikie’s expedition).

From Wm. T. Y. Smith, Esq.—Collection of Fossil Plants from
the neighbourhood of Barnsley, Yorkshire, including specimens of
Ferns, Lepidodendrons, Calamites, Stigmaria, Sigillaria, &c.

From Alex. Beattie, Esq¢.—Specimens of Green Wood from Tun-
bridge Wells used for making some kinds of Tunbridge ware; the
colour being due to the action of a fungus called Peziza eruginosa,

Mr I. Anderson, §.8.C., exhibited a plant of a hybrid
Rhododendron, between FR. atrovirens and R. formosum,
which was stated to be quite hardy, being chiefly remarkable
for its large blossoms, which were triple the size of the seed-
bearer (22. atrovirens).

The following papers were read :—

I. On the Effects of a Solution of Bicarbonate of Ammonia
in promoting Vegetation. By C. J. Burnert.

The author stated that the carbonate of ammonia had
been recommended, as existing in the refuse liquor of gas-
works, on account of the comparative cheapness of the am-
moniain this form ; but that he was inclined to recommend
the carbonates of ammonia also on other very important
grounds, that the compound of ammonia with carbonic acid
-was the most natural of all the ammonia manures, and that,
in converting it into the sulphate and other salts commonly
‘sold for manure, we drive off a most important element of
plant food, of much more universal value than the sulphuric
or other acid by which it was replaced. For healthy growth,
a proper proportion of carbon should accompany the nitro-
gen added; and we should not attempt to dissever those
substances which nature had shown such an evident desire
to associate in their application to plants. Instead of driving
off the carbonic acid, he would recommend adding more of
it, so as to convert the mono-carbonate, or mixture of carbo-
nates, into a more fixed and more nutritious bicarbonate.
Till a cheap form of bicarbonate, corresponding to the
other agricultural salts, should be in the market, a solution
of the proper nature might be easily and conveniently made
by any one, by saturating with carbonic acid, evolved from
muriatic acid and chalk or limestone, a solution of the com-
mon carbonate, or perhaps the common gas liquor. The
manufacture was one which any farmer or gardener could

Mr C. J. Burnett on Bicarbonate of Ammonia, 175

readily carry on with two barrels and a bent piece of
lead tube, and the solution might be carried to the field in
barrels, and applied by a rose or pierced tube. The solution
should be very dilute when applied. To make more clear
the particular object for which he now recommended
the use of this manure, he would say a word or two on the
different natures and applications of manures in general.
They might be divided into two classes. 1st, Manures
which afforded ingredients of plant food which could be sup-
plied by the soil alone. 2d, Manures which supplied ingre-
dients which were also contained in the air. As to the first
class, whether (as in the majority of instances) required
during the whole period of plant growth, or merely in its
later stages (as phosphate in case of corn crops, &c.), they
should be added in a quantity sufficient for one crop at least,
and in a sparingly or gradually soluble form, to prevent
serious loss from their being washed down out of reach of
the roots. As to the second class, however, the case was
very different indeed. Though the carbon and nitrogen
which they supplied were essential elements of plant food
at every stage, yet, as it was only in the earliest stages that
the earth was their only source, and, as it was manifestly
bad economy to pay money for what you could have for no-
thing, the use of manure of this class should be principally
confined to the plant in the earliest stages of growth, and
then made with the view of giving the plant such a start as
would enable it to draw, at an earlier period than it other-
wise would, on the unlimited and untaxed supplies of carbon
and nitrogen which our atmosphere provides. He could not
doubt that one pound of nitrogen and carbon applied at the
critical period so as to lift the plant expeditiously out of
helpless infancy and entire dependence on mother earth into
comparative independence, drawing still gratefully on earth
for what she alone could supply, but able to forage for much
in free air, would, at the seasons when harvest arrived, be
found to have produced a much larger addition to our crop
than the same pound protractedly doled out as a supple-
mentary supply during the entire period of growth by the
decay of organic matters in the soil. He would recommend
the application of the bicarbonated ammoniacal solution to
the young crop to be made during what the farmer most
02

176 Dr Anderson on Lycium mediterraneum.

expressively terms “ growing weather,” when the ground is
moist enough to ensure its immediate penetration, and there
is sufficient warmth and geniality in both air and earth.
The author stated that he had made numerous and varied
experiments with the bicarbonate during the last five or six
years, on wheat, oats, peas, &c., as well as roses, lupins, sweet
peas, and many other garden plants ; and that their results,
along with the theoretical considerations alluded to, justified
him in recommending the bicarbonated ammonia solution, as
deserving of a thorough trial both by farmers and gardeners.

II. Does Magnetism Influence Vegetation? By H. F.
Baxter. Communicated by Professor BALFour.

The author states that the results of his inquiry into this
subject are negative, that is, no positive evidence has been
obtained to show that magnetism either does or does not in-
fluence vegetation. After noticing the opinions of Becquerel,
Dutrochet, and Wartmann, the author says:—“ As it may
be considered a law in vegetable physiology that all plants
have a tendency, during the germination of their seeds, to
develope in two diametrically opposite directions (the root
and the stem), the question arose— might not this direction
be influenced or counteracted by submitting the seeds, whilst
germinating, to the influence of magnetic force.” Accord-
ingly, a series of experiments were undertaken by the author,
which are classed under two principal heads: 1st, Those in
which the line of magnetic force was directed perpendicu-
larly to the plants ; and 2d, in which the line of force was
directed transversely to the plant. The author gave details
of the experiments, which were varied and multiplied. No
definite conclusions, however, could be drawn from them re~-
lative to the effect of magnetism.

III. On Lycium mediterraneum. By Dr Toomas ANDERSON,
H.E.1.C.8. Communicated by Professor BALFour.

Dr Anderson states that, after careful and repeated ex-
araination of specimens of L. Mdgeworthii, Dunal, he is con-
vinced that Dunal’s so-called species is only a variety of L.
mediterraneum (L. europeum, Linn.) Dr Anderson then
gave revised characters for the species, and concluded with
observations on the effects of the climate of India in modify-
ing the habits of plants, and giving rise to numerous varieties.

177

IV. On the Application ef Botany to Ornamental Art.
By Grorce Lawson, Ph. D.

The author of this paper exhibited a panel carved by Mr B.
Reeve, representing in its side ornaments Polypodium alpes-
treand Polystichum Lonchitis. In connection with this study
from nature, he called attention to the inexhaustible source
of novelty in design which the vegetable kingdom presents,
and which he hoped would be made more fully available than
hitherto ; for, although “ flowers have in all ages been used
by the aspiring ornamentist, and have ever been the basis
on which the science of ornament has stood,” much still re-
mains to be done. The papyrus and the lotus, in their
numerous combinations, were the chief subjects of Egyptian
ornament ; the acanthus leaf formed a pattern for the
capital of the Corinthian pillar; the Plewr-de-lis is also an
ornament which has stood the test of time. Even in our
own day novelties are occasionally introduced by enter-
prising designers ; still how easy would it be to catalogue
all the vegetable forms that have actually been referred to
in design! Of the ninety-three thousand living plants (not
to speak of dead species), how few have actually come into
general use for this purpose! Dr Lawson stated that in a
lecture lately delivered to the Royal College of Surgeons, Pro-
fessor Balfour had pointed out the wonderful symmetry that
prevails throughout the vegetable kingdom, both in the mi-
nute tissues and in the compound organs of plants. Profes-
sor M‘Cosh and Professor Dickie have illustrated the laws of
form, and the relations of colour to form in plants; Dr
Lindley, and, more recently, Mr Dresser, have done much
to elucidate this very subject of the relations of botany to
ornamental art; and with such aids, the wall of separation
that has so long existed between the botanist and the orna-
mentist will surely be speedily broken down. Dr Lawson then
referred to some of the artistic authors who had been instru-
mental in drawing attention to this subject, alluding particu-
larly to Pugin’s “ Floriated Ornament,’ and to various
writers in the Builder, Art Journal, &c. He proceeded—It
is to be kept in view, when the artist is recommended to
study nature under the light of science, that this does not
necessitate a naturalistic treatment of his subject. Attention

178 Dr G. Lawson on Botany and Ornamental Art.

to botany is even more essential to him who would create
a design by the conventional treatment of natural forms,
than it is to the naturalistic designer. It is what anatomy is
to the painter of the human figure. It enables him to modify
his leaves and flowers according to the requirements of his
design, without overstepping the boundaries of truth, and
originating a caricature, instead of adapting nature to his
special purpose. It is a common error to suppose that the
artist has merely to take natural forms as his starting point,
and give these a geometrical disposition, modifying them
according to his taste. Truth to nature is necessary in all
decorations intended for an educated eye, and especially so
in an age of science. And the beautiful laws of form, and
of colour, of number, and of arrangement of parts, that pre-
vail throughout the vegetable kingdom, are necessary to be
known by the artist who has high aims. This knowledge
loosens him from the trammels that must ever accompany
the mere copyist, and gives him a wide range of conventional
treatment, while his work assumes the character of an ex-
position of principles instead of a slavish copy of details.

It is awell-known fact that many of the finest carved works,
in both ancient and modern buildings, are direct studies
from nature ; and several modern writers have lately pointed
out to designers, that itis to “ natural forms geometrically
disposed,” that they must all look for new inspirations.
“ By repeated copying (says Pugin), the spirit of the original
work is liable to be lost, so in decoration, the constant re-
production of old patterns, without reference to the natural
type from which they were composed, leads to debased forms
and spiritless outline, and in the end to a mere caricature of
a beautiful original. It is impossible to improve on the
works of God, and the natural outlines of leaves and flowers
must be more perfect and beautiful than any invention of
man.” And the same writer observes—‘ Nature supplied
the medieval artists with all their forms and ideas; the
same inexhaustible source is open to us, and if we go to the
fountain-head, we shall produce a multitude of beautiful
designs treated in the same spirit as the old, but new in form.
We have the advantage of many important botanical dis-
coveries Which were unknown to our ancestors; and surely
it is in accordance with the true principles of art, to avail

a ,

Dr G. Lawson on Dust Showers. 179-

ourselves of all that is beautiful for the composition of our
designs.”

Dr Lawson illustrated, by means of drawings, the beauti-
ful designs that may be occasionally produced from the
judicious treatment of even the simplest materials, such as
the trifoliate leaf. This led to a discussion of the origin of
the trefoil as an architectural ornament, which was stated
to belong to a very early period, although its extensive use
during the Christian era was probably connected with the
myth of St Patrick andthe Irish shamrock. The differences
of opinion that prevailed respecting the species of plants
which form the national emblems, were alluded to in detail.
Such matters, the author observed, are of little importance
in a botanical point of view ; but it must be confessed, that
when an artist asks such questions as—What plant is the
Scotch thistle ? or, What is the Irish shamrock ? and we
cannot tell, it places botany in a humiliating light; and we
are not to charge him with wanton neglect if he does not
refer to nature in embodying these our national emblems.

VY. Remarks on Dust Showers, with Notice of a Shower of
Mud which occurred at Corfu on 21st March 1857. By
Gerorce Lawson, Ph. D.

Dr Lawson remarked :—The attention of botanists has at
different times been attracted to showers of various kinds,
most of which have been more or less dependent upon, or
connected with, vegetable phenomena. The red snow of the
arctic regions, which has been known since the days of
Aristotle, owes to botany its proper explanation as nota
product of the clouds at all; the appearance being due to a
minute Alga that vegetates on the surface of the snow.
Showers of pollen are familiar to all travellers who have
penetrated far among the coniferous forests of North
America. In this case also, although the pollen forms im-
mense clouds of dust, and is often conveyed to considerable
distances, becoming in its course intermixed with foreign
matters, till it can scarcely be referred to as a “ shower,” in
the meteorological sense of the term, the plants to which it
owes its origin being present, and connecting the pheno-
menon more or less closely with what occurs toa certain ex-
tent in all flowering plants. Of a different character are the

180 Dr G. Lawson on Dust Showers.

showers of dust or sand described by Humboldt and by Ehren-
berg as occurring near the Cape de Verd Islands, at a
distance of several hundred miles from the African coast,
where the decks of ships navigating the ocean became
covered with it. In this dust many minute organisms,
especially Diatomacez, have been found. Dr Lawson then
noticed a shower of mud that occurred in the Island of
Corfu about a fortnight ago, the particulars of which are
contained in the following letter from Mr Mackenzie :—

“ A singular meteorological phenomenon occurred here on
Saturday, 21st March. The day was squally and showery ;
those light showers brought down a great quantity of mud ;
the next morning I found the cauliflowers covered over with
this fine dust. On examining the surrounding fields I
found the trees and every other object covered in the same
manner. As some writers have asserted, and other have
denied, that the same phenomenon is of frequent occurence
in Malta, I send you a few leaves with the precipitate still
upon them, which will, I think, put the question to the test
for ever. The second question is more difficult to solve ;
namely, is this native dust, or has it been imported by aérial
currents from Africa ? From the state of the weather during
the three previous days, I am led to favour the latter opinion.
I forward an extract from my meteorological register.

“Dr Calla tells me that he remembers something of the
same kind when a boy, about forty years ago.

Date. Thermometer. Barometer. Wind.

Max. | Min. |8a.mM.|3pP.m.| 8 P.M.
March 18 60 52 30°11 | 30°09 | 30:09 | W.S.W.*
March 19 59 50 80°10 | 30°10| 3009 | S.E.T
March 20 60 51 30:05 | 29:99 | 29:94 | S.E.f
March 21 59 51 29°81 | 29°80} 29°81 | S.B.§

“ CorFu, 25th March 1857.”

Observations of the barometer, &c., as registered by Mr
Cockburn at the Royal Society's Rooms, were laid before
the meeting for comparison.

Dr Lawson then proceeded to notice in detail analogous

showers of mud, dust, &c., which had occurred at different

* “ Overcast and calm.

T “ Densely overcast.

+t “ Gloomy and threatening; high wind in the night.

§ “ Squally and showery throughout the day and night, and with yesterday’s rain
there fell a great quantity of mud of a dirty red colour, The plants throughout the
island are covered with this fine precipitate. The phenomenon is said to be of fre-
quent occurrence in Malta.”

Dr G. Lawson on Dust Showers. 181

times and in various parts of the world, particularly one de-
scribed by Dareste (Annales des Sciences Naturelles, ser. 4,
Botanique, tome i., p. 81), which fell from a cloud at
Shanghai, and consisted in great part of minute confervoid
vegetation. This dust had been traced to various probable
sources ; but Dareste, who finds the colouring of the Chi-
nese Sea to depend upon a minute confervaceous plant
(Trichodesmium erythreum), which exists in its waters,
believes that the dust of the shower was derived from this
source. Showers and clouds of dust carried by whirlwinds,
&c., have been occasionally observed in Britain. One which
occurred in connection with a thunder-storm is described by
Mr E. J. Lowe (Treatise on Atmospheric Phenomena, p. 193).
Mr R. A. Salisbury, F.R.S., has given (Linn. Trans. viii.
286) an account of a “storm of salt which fell in January
1803 in Middlesex.” It incrusted the windows lke hoar-
frost, and proved very injurious to vegetation. The salt was,
in this case, no doubt derived from the sea. Ehrenberg has
published most elaborate details of the examination of va-
rious specimens of dust which have fallen in different parts
of the world, containing numerous organisms, especially
Diatomaceze, but including also portions of the tissues of the
higher plants, such as stomate-bearing epidermis, pollen
grains, and other substances. One sample, collected on a
ship’s deck 500 miles off the African coast, exhibited nu-
merous species of fresh water and marine diatoms, present-
ing the greatest resemblance to South American forms ; and
several other dust-showers in the Atlantic gave similar re-
sults. Dust which fell at Malta on 15th May 1830, during
a south-east wind, gave a large assemblage of organisms,
resembling the Atlantic forms, and among which were no
characteristic African ones. This led Ehrenberg to the
conclusion that these showers, with the hot winds that
attend them, are quite foreign to the Sahara Desert, to
which they had been referred. Sirocco dust of Genoa, May
16, 1846, and at Lyons on 17th October of the same year,
gave similar results. Storm of red snow in the Tyrol,
March 31, 1847, owed its colour to a red dust, which pre-
sented the same general characters, many of the species
being identical. Dust which fell in Italy in 1803, and in
Calabria in 1813, had a similar character; and although ten

182 Dr G. Lawson on Dust Showers.

years apart, these two samples had twenty-eight species in
common. The mud of Mr Mackeuzie’s Corfu shower is,
when dry, of a pale brown colour, and in the form of fine
dust. On submitting it to examination under the micro-
scope, Dr Lawson found it to consist for the most part of
minute angular pellucid fragments, others being rounded ;
the whole apparently consisting of quartzose sand. In
some of the fragments, the sharp edges of the crystals are
very distinct ; and a few perfect columnar crystals, identical
in form with those figured by Ehrenberg in his meteoric
dust, were observed. In size, the grains of sand varied from
minute molecular particles not exceeding 0°00005 inch, to lar-
ger irregular crystallized masses 0°005 inch in diameter, the
most common size being about 0°0015 inch. In addition to
the above, there were present occasional irregular more or less
rounded masses of mineral matter varying from pale yellow to
a deep orange colour. To these orange particles the brownish
colour of the powder appeared to be due. The only conspi-
cuous organic matter observed was in the form of numerous
long unicellular vegetable hairs. These, however, were
found to be identical with the hairs of the leaves from
which the dust was collected, so that their source became
evident, affording an illustration of the caution required in
such investigations. If instead of falling upon leaves this
dust had fallen upon moist soil, it would have contained
microscopic alge instead of hairs, and no doubt given rise
to much speculation. Dust, therefore, which is collected in
ships at sea, being free from such sources of error, is better
adapted for examination, although even in such cases it is
to be recollected that the washing of the decks is sufficient
to introduce a notable quantity of sponge spicules and mi-
nute organisms. In addition to the exceptional hairs and
the mineral matter above described, two minute bodies were
observed belonging to a simple unicellular alga, and present-
ing the form of a simple globose thick-walled cell with slightly
granular contents. A single disc, which might be referred to
Discoplea atmospherica of Ehrenberg, was also noticed. Or-
ganic forms, therefore, form no conspicuous feature of this
sand, and thus we have absent one of the most important
aids to the elucidation of its origin and history. So far as
known, it does not seem to have been connected with any

Dr G. Lawson on Dust Showers. 183

volcanic eruption or earthquake. As indicated by Mr Mac-
kenzie’s concluding remark, such phenomena are not en-
tirely unknown on the shores of the Mediterranean, and in
fact Ehrenberg has attempted to define their geographical
limits. In Dr Hennen’s Medical Topography of the Medi-
terranean, the occurrence of “‘ showers of mud” is mentioned
as occurring at Malta; but Dr Francis Sankey, the author
of a pamphlet on ‘“‘ Malta as a place for the Residence of
Invalids,” contradicts the assertion. He says that the only
“ showers of mud” are the dust, which, wafted before the
wind, is in part united with the aqueous vapour in the at-
mosphere, and is thus deposited over the land, as happens
by every road-side in England. It is evident, however, that
Mr Mackenzie’s shower has been of a different kind, and
his observation serves to reconcile such adverse statements
as those of the two authorities just quoted; for while it
shows Dr Hennen to be quite right in so far as such showers
do occur, it at the same time indicates their rarity to be
such that they cannot possibly affect the salubrity of the
climate so far as Corfu is concerned.

Ehrenberg does not obtain the explanation of such phe-
nomena in local meteorological conditions, nor in volcanic
actions and whirlwinds, nor even in the theory of evapo-
ration advanced by Dareste. He seeks one general law
which will connect together the whole phenomena, and
to whose operation all dust showers may be referred. He
says, I cannot longer doubt that there are relations ac-
cording to which living organisms may develop themselves
in the atmosphere ; and he speaks of this as a self-develop-
ment and not a production from introduced ova. He says
these showers are not to be traced to mineral material
from the earth's surface, nor to revolving masses of dust-
material in space, nor to atmospheric currents simply;
but to some general law connected with the earth’s atmo-
sphere, according to which there is a self-development
within it of living organisms! The organisms that fall in
dust-showers are, therefore, according to him, of atmo-
spheric origin, and he says they have relation to the fall of
aérolites. This startling hypothesis, so contrary to all the
results of modern science, need not be argued against in
this place ; and those who desire to pursue it further will
find a most elaborate account of the details upon which it

184 Mr M‘Nab on the Flowering of Plants.

is founded in Ehrenberg’s paper (Abhandlungen der Kénig-
lichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1847). In the
meantime we must be contented to seek for the causes of
dust-shower phenomena in those operations of nature with
which we are acquainted.

VI. Register of the Flowering of certain Spring Plants in the
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, from 12th March to 15th
April 1857, as compared with the five previous years. By JAMES
M‘Nas.

Names. 1857. 1856. 1855. 1854. 1853. 1852.
Tussilago Farfara......... Mar. 12 | Mar. 12 | Apr. 11 | Mar.14| Apr. 4} Feb. 21
Anemone Pulsatilla....... — 14) — 10; — 11; — 14] — 138] — 2i
Asarum europeum........ — 14} — 18} — 18| — 16} Mar. 28 | Mar. 29
Dondia Epipactis......... — 14; — 10} — 9] — 11} — 25] — 8
Narcissus pumilus ........ — 15} — 16] — 2} — 10} — 21} — ll
Knappia agrostidea...... — 16] — 20] Mar. 2/| Feb. 28/ Feb. 1/ Jan. 31
Primula nivalis ........... — 17| — 18] Apr. 10] Mar. 4/| Mar. 15 | Feb. 20
Vinea minor ..-:..-,.-:..5- — 18} — 25] — 16] — 7|Apr. 4 _
Erythronium Dens-canis| — 20] — 24] — 11] — 10} Mar. 19 | Mar. 12
Gagea lutea ..........ce00e — 20; — 19} — 14) — 23) Apr. 12] Apr. 6
Orobus vernuS ........-+.. — 20|Apr. 4} — 16; — 16] — Mar. 31
Scilla bifolia alba ........ — 20|Mar.i5| — 65] — 18] Mar.27| — 21
Draba aizoides ............ — 22; — 20} — 11} — 20] Apr. 1} — £6
Ranunculus Ficaria...... — 24] — 26] — 24] — 29} — 7] — 15
Scilla bifolia carulea....] — 24] — 20} — 10] — 15] Mar. 27| — 20
Corydalis solida............| — 25] — 24) — 16] — 14]Apr. 8} — 28
Ribes sanguineum ; first

flowers seen open on — 26; — 26] — 19; — 14] — 4] — 21

standard plants......
Potentilla alba.............] — 27] — 24] — 16] — 16] — 12 —
Tussilago hybrida ........ — 27|Apr. 3) — 15|/ — 14] — 4 —
Scilla bifolia rubra ...... — 28) Mar.16; — 6| — 14] Mar. 30} — 28
Hyoscyamus Scopolia.....| Apr. 1| — 26} — 15) — 14| Apr. 4| — 26
Anemone apennina ...... — 2|Apr. 8} — 30] Apr. 3] — 12] Apr. 7
Cochlearia officinalis......] — 2] — 4] — 20/Mar.28| — 9 _
Orobus cyaneuS............| — 2] — 9| — 29] — 17| Mar. 28 _
Corydalis cava ............ — 3; — 1} — 14}; — 14| Apr. 5 _
Anchusa sempervirens...| — 4] — 1| — 13] — 25] — 12) Feb. 21
Holosteum umbellatum...| — 6] — 2] — 15] — 20} Mar. 30 —_
Puskenia scilloides....... — 6) Mar. 25| — 16} — 27] Apr. 2{| Mar. 28
Muscari botryoides....... — 7| — 30| — 14] — 24} Mar. 22} — 20
Carex montana............ — 8|Apr. 2} — 20] — 30] — 22 —
Hyoscyamus physaloides}| — 9/Mar.27| — 14] — 15/ Apr.12| Apr, 2
Narcissus moschatus......| —- 9|Apr. 6 — 13} — 28} — 8| —
Dalabarda geoides........] —- 10) — 6); — 19] Apr. 25} — 12) — 2
Arabis flaccidus.......-...| —- lLl| — 7| — 19] Mar.18}; — l1| — 8
Doronicum Pardalianches)s — 13} — 2] — 20} — 26] — 12 cf
oe Pseudo-Nar- “a fgets 20| 39g) eee on

ISSUG 6. ccecceceeeseeene

Alyssum saxatile .........| — 13; — 8|May 1/Apr.11} — 7] — 28
Saxifraga crassifolia......| — 13) — 8| Apr. 21} Mar, 20 | Mar. 27| — 27
Scilla sibirica............ — 14} — 7| — 21| — 30] Apr.10/ Apr. 1
Adonis vernalis.*.......... — 15] — 2; — 19} — 28}; — 6] Mar. 6
Fritillaria imperialis....] — 15| — 9| — 14] — 26] — 12/Apr. 3

185

14th May 1857.—Professor Batrour, V.P., in the Chair.

The following donations were announced to the Society's
Library, viz. :—

Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists’ Field Club, Vol. III.,
Part 3.—From the Club.

Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, Vol. IIT.,
No. 7.—From the Club.

Dr Lowe presented specimens of Schistostega pennata, collected
at Todmorden by Mr W. Marshall.

Professor Balfour exhibited the following donations, which
had recently been made to the Museum at the Royal Bota-
nic Garden :—

From Mrs Davidson—Two Burmese Books, made from strips of
palm leaves.

F. G. Myburgh, Esq.—Fruit of Gethyllis spiralis from Cape of
Good Hope.

Mrs A. Diana Acworth—Cones of Pinus insignis, ripened at
Northaw, Herefordshire.

James Bonar, Esq., Hamilton House, Leamington—Fruit of
Fir Trees of Australia.

Messrs P. Lawson & Son—Cones of Cupressus macrocarpa.

Mr Meintjes—Joss-sticks from Pondicherry.

Dr G. M‘Nab, Jamaica—F lower, with sections, and young ger-
minating plant, of Victoria regia ; Fruit of Ivory Palm and seed
germinating; Seeds of the Antidote Cacoon (Feuillea cordifolia) ;
Circassian Pea (Adenanthera pavonina) ; Seeds and Oil of the
Spanish Walnut (Aleuritia triloba); Seeds and Oil of the Eboe
Nut; Coarse and Purified Hog Gum, the produce of the Monoro-
bea coccinea; Gum of the Logwood (Hematoxylon Campechia-
num) ; Gum of the Cashew (Anacardium occidentale); Seed Ves-
sels of the East Indian Okra (Luffa acutangula) ; Nutmeg and
Mace (Myristica moschata); Essence of Cayenne Pepper (Capsi-
cum annuum); Starch from the Root of the Bitter Cassava and re-
fuse after the starch has been removed, likewise Cakes made from
the starch; “ Hallelujah” Starch and Arrow-root, made from the
tubers of Maranta arundinacea ; Guinea Corn (Holeus Sorghum) ;
Fungoid growth from the interior of Papaw fruit (Carica Papya) ;
Legumes of the Overlook, or “ Jamaica Horse-bean” (Canavalia
ensiformis); Male Spadix of Ivory Nut Palm (Phytelephas macro-
carpa); Double Mango Seed; Fruit of the Bitterwood (Xylopia
glabra) ; Areca oleracea, or Cabbage Palm, showing a forked di-
vision of the stem, which is two feet in circumference, each
branch being eighteen inches in circumference,

186 Dr Maclagan on Thevetia nereifolia.

There have also been added to the collection—Flowering Stalk
of Colocasia odora, and specimens of Blood Oranges.
_ Mrs Carstairs—Rhizome of Asparagus officinalis, called Giant

Asparagus, with roots and turio.
Mr Archibald Hepburn—Specimens of Cider from Worcester.
Mr Hepburn remarks :—

Three hogsheads of apples produce one hogshead of cider
(pure), two hogsheads of pears produce one hogshead of perry
(pure). The apple thrives in greatest perfection on soils
lying on the Old Red Sandstone, in Hereford, Gloucester,
and Devon shires. The cider produced on the lighter or
sandy soils in Hereford is said to be more fiery than that
produced on the stiffer or more clayey soils in that county.
The finest cider is produced in the vale of Berkeley, Glou-
cester. I do not know the geological character of the soil.
In pressing the apples in a mill made of a large circular
stone, revolving in a stone trough, care is taken to tho-
roughly crush the seeds. These contain an albuminous
principle, which is considered in Hereford and Gloucester
shires essential; hence the preference is given to small
crab-like varieties, producing many seeds for the proper
preparation of cider. In Devonshire this matter is over-
looked. Since railways opened up Herefordshire, large ~
quantities of apples are sent to the Welsh mines and iron
works, and to the midland counties, for culinary purposes.
The uncooked fruit (apples or pears) is unfit for human
food, leaving, when eaten, a harsh burning sensation in the
mouth. Considerable quantities have of late been sent to
Manchester to produce malic acid, said to be used in fixing
dyes on cottons. Pears for perry attain the highest per-
fection in Worcestershire on the New Red Sandstone.
Horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs devour them with the greatest
relish.

The following papers were read :—

I. Notice of Two Cases of poisoning with the Seeds of
Thevetia nereifolia. Communicated with remarks by
Dr Dovenas MAcLaGan.

The history of these cases, which occurred in India, was
furnished by Dr John Balfour, H.E.1.C.8. The symptoms

»~

Mr Murray on an Inséct infesting Picea nobilis. 187

were narcotico-uritant, the irritant character predominating,
and the somnolence and other cerebral phenomena being,
in Dr Maclagan’s opinion, probably as much those of ex-
haustion as of true narcotism. There was vomiting of a pe-
culiar character. The letter enumerating the cases con-
tained portions of the plant sufficient to enable Dr Maclagan
to identify it as Thevetia nereifolia, Juss. (Cerbera Thevetia,
L.) This plant, now naturalized in India, appears to have
been introduced probably from South America. Dr Mac-
lagan had compared the Thevetia neretfolia of the Indian
collections with the Cerbera peruviana of Matthew’s cata-
logue, and had no doubt of the identity of these plants,
which are given as synonymous in De Candolle’s Prodromus.
This communication has appeared at length in the Edin-
burgh Medical Journal.

Il. Account of the Insect which infests the Seeds of Picea
nobilis. By ANDREW Murray, F.R.S.E.

This beautiful silver fir (the Picea nobilis) was first intro-
duced into this country from the north-west of America,
by Douglas, in 1831. In what state the seed sent by him
arrived here I have been unable to ascertain with perfect
accuracy. The fact that plants of an age corresponding to
that period are exceedingly rare would seem to indicate
either that the quantities imported by Douglas were less
than we have reason to suppose, or that from some cause or
other they had not been productive. On the other hand,
Professor Lindley informs me that he never heard that
Douglas’ importations were in any way attacked by insects,
and that the Horticultural Society of London raised what
he sent home without anything of the kind being observed ;
and I am informed by my friend Mr M‘Nab, that the cones
sent by Douglas, which have been preserved as specimens,
show every symptom of having been perfectly sound. No
second importation of seed to this country was made in any
quantity till Jeffrey sent home some packages in 1852.
These proved all bad, and apparently had suffered from the
ravages of an insect. Mr Beardsley and my brother next
sent home a quantity in 1854, along with the seeds of other
pine trees, some of which proved new. In an account of

188 Mr Murray on an Insect infesting Picea nobilis.

their expedition, and of the novelties discovered by them,
which I had then the honour of reading to this Society, I
noticed the fact, that in almost every cone of P. nobilis the
seeds were being eaten by a small caterpillar. My brother
had found these caterpillars in the green as well as in the
mature cone, their eggs evidently having been deposited in
the kernel while the cone was yet soft, and easily pene-
trated. One or two subsequent importations of seed (the
last a very large one, made last autumn on behalf of the
Oregon Botanical Association) proved to be also to a greater
or less extent infested by an insect. From these importa-
tions I have bred the insect, and find that it belongs to the
genus Megastigmus, one of the Chalcidites, a family of the so-
called ichneumon flies. These flies have hitherto been sup-
posed to be entirely parasitic ; but the fact of immense num-
bers coming out of the cones, without any intermixture of
species, would seem to render this unlikely, so far as regards
this species, as it is highly improbable that all the larve
could have been ichneumonised. Out of hundreds of insects
which I have seen developed from the cones of Picea no-
bilis I never saw any other species than this, except one
small moth ; and further, no trace of the skin of the sacri-
ficed larve is to be found in the empty kernel from which
the insect emerges, which would not have been the case had
they fallen victims to Ichneumonide. There thus appears
no reason to doubt that the larva in question is that of the
Chalcis, which afterwards appears ; and it follows as a corol-
lary, that it is simply an ordinary vegetable feeder; and
that the whole species falling under this group are not para-
sitic. Similar exceptions to the general economy of a fa-
mily have been found in other groups. For instance, till
lately, the neighbouring family of Cynipide, or gall-flies,
was always supposed to live exclusively in gall-nuts or mor-
bid excrescences, on oak leaves, and other plants; Westwood,
however, has satisfactorily shown that some of them, like
the Chalcidites, are parasitic on other insects. I see no reason,
therefore, why a similar aberration from the normal mode of
life of the Chalcidites should not occur among them also. Mr
Murray then gave a description of the species.* The im-

* Since this paper was read to the Society, I have seen the April number of the
“ Zoologist,” in which I find the species described by Mr Parfitt, under the name of Me-

of the Moon on Vegetation. 189

mense quantities in which the insect has been found in the
cones, at least in all the later importations, and the fact
that the early stage in which the cone is attacked, renders
protection or prevention by man nearly impossible, is likely,
I fear, to keep this pine always comparatively scarce. Any
hints as to its propagation, otherwise than by seed, will
therefore probably be acceptable, and I shall accordingly
mention a mode of propagating it by cuttings, which I have
tried and found singularly successful, and which I believe
has not yet been made known. In the month of June last
year, when the young buds were pushing out their beauti-
ful tender pea-green leaves, I nipped or tore off a number
from a young worked plant, in order to bring it into better
shape. In doing so a little of the old alburnum and bark,
of course, adhered to these new fresh green portions, which
were from half an inch to an inch in length ; and with no
great expectation of their doing anything, but rather as an
experiment, I stuck them into the open border. To my
gratification I found, on examination some time afterwards,

that they had rooted. They did very well till the heats of

August began to tell upon them, when the weakest gave
way ; but some stood and were taken up and potted on the
approach of winter, and are now ready to come away with
fresh vigour. I have no doubt that if the cuttings had
been potted and taken care of, instead of being left in the
open bérder, not one of them would have failed.

Ill. On the supposed influence of the Moon on Vegetation in
Peru. By Arcuiparp Suita, M.D.

The author alluded to the prevailing belief in Peru of the
moon's influence on vegetation, and gave a resumé of the
results arrived at by various scientific observers who had
had opportunities of noticing the lunar influence in the tro-
pics. He thought it not unreasonable that the lunar ray
might have a peculiar chemical agency on the functions of
plants and animals, as it appears to have on dead animal

gastigmus Pini. I have therefore withdrawn my description, and cancelled the name
which I had given it. Mr Parfitt has described only the female, not having seen the
male, which he seems to anticipate must be rare. I obtained specimens of both,
which I have placed in the British Museum. The male is smaller than the female,
and differs in having its upper surface entirely black.

TRANS. BOT. SOC. VOL. Y. P

190 Dr Smith on the Supposed Influence

matter. While the moon was not regarded in Peru as in-
fluencing so much the changes of weather as indirectly ef-
fecting increased growth, it must be borne in mind that the
light afforded both by the sun and moon in Peru is much
greater than in the British Islands,—so that, although we
may reasonably repudiate any marked effect from the moon-
light in these islands, the more intense lunar light of Peru
may exercise a sensible power in plants. In noticing spe-
cial instances in which this might be supposed to be shown,
the author alluded particularly to the surprisingly rapid
growth of lucerne, which is extensively cultivated in Peru,
and is evidently much favoured by light, whether of sun or
sun and moon together. During the prevailing misty sea-
son on the coast (which is the time when the low and mari-
time sand hills are garnished with grass and flowers to their
summits) the growth of lucerne in the plains and valleys is
greatly stinted. In these wet months, as they are called,
though the rain very rarely forms into a light shower, or
exceeds the limits of a dripping mist, the clover or lucerne
does not attain to a flowering maturity ; but no sooner do
the vapours of the coast begin to break up, and the sun
show itself in a brightening sky, than this useful plant, on
which the horses and other cattle thrive admirably, receives
afresh impulse, yielding two or three luxuriant crops in
succession. This remarkable vigour of vegetation, under
the influence of a returning sun, argues on behalf of light
more than of heat, as the vivifying power, because the re-
quisite degree of heat does not appear to be deficient at any
season, where the thermometer of Fahrenheit seldom sinks
under 60° on the coast. Besides, in the temperate valleys
of the Sierra or Andine heights, where the summer tem-
perature of the air does not exceed the winter temperature
of the coast, the lucerne grows Iuxuriantly under a bright
clear sky during the dry season, though there also its growth
is checked in the cloudy and rainy months; and yet the
sunny season of the mountains is subject to night chills, or
even frost at certain elevations, whereas the wet months
are not so. Light, therefore, seems the essential condition
to the recurrence of the more luxuriant vegetation, as ob-
served in the successive climates of the Andes from the
headlands of the coast to the temperate agricultural eleva-

of the Moon on Vegetation. 191

tion of 10,000 feet, where the lucerne still attains a per-
fect growth in a clear but cool atmosphere of about 60°
Fahrenheit. And, then, as we descend into yet deeper val-
leys at only 6000 or 7000 feet elevation, where the rains of
the so-called wet season are only shght and transitory, and
not to be compared to those that fall at twice this height,
the sun is seen throughout the year, and, in the dry months,
actually dazzles in reflected brilliancy from every stone and
rock. In these favoured inland valleys there is a predomi-
nating sun all the year over; and, in the dry season espe-
cially, a profusion of sun by day, followed by a most lumin-
ous moonlight, with a calm, clear sky. Here, then, so liberal
a supply of light from sun, moon, and stars, appears to be
singularly favourable to vegetation ; and the lucerne yields
inland, two crops to one on the coast, though the tempera-
ture of the air on the coast be in the shade 10° or 12° higher
during the dry season than in the inland valleys under con-
sideration, and this, too, on soil generally inferior to that of
the coast now compared with it in strength of vegetation.
_ The author concluded by some observations on the effect of
light in promoting the discharge of oxygen from the leaf
tissues of plants, showing that light, independently of heat,
increased their vital actions.
_ Professor Piazzi Smyth, in remarking upon Dr Smith’s
paper, made some observations on the amount of heat given
by the moon, and shortly traced the history of this inquiry,
detailing many experiments by himself and others, and
alluding particularly to the researches of Sir John Herschel,
Professor J. D. Forbes, &c.

IV. On some of the leading Plants of the lowest zone in
Teneriffe. By Professor C. Piazzi SyMrTu. .

- The author described the manner and characteristics of
growth of the chief plants met with in advancing from the
sea-coast inland, and found both the indigenousand cultivated
plants to exhibit a poverty of growth as compared with many
other lands in the same latitude, or 28 degrees. The cause
of this, he thought, was owing to the special predominance
4 of the trade-wind throughout the Archipelago of the Ca-
naries during the whole of the summer season, and to the

192 On the Plants of Teneriffe.

want of rain, and the low temperature which the said wind
produces, both primarily and secondarily. In the details of
the native plants, the author treated at length on the Dra-
ceena Draco, as being, par excellence, the characteristic plant
of the lowest zone of Teneriffe, and having in one of its spe-
cimens, the “ Great Dragon Tree of Orotavo,” acquired more
fame than any other individual specimen of the vegetable
kingdom ; and he concluded with an exhibition of the forms
of the dragon tree at different ages, and other Teneriffe
plants optically projected on a screen eight feet square, from
photographs of which the original negatives had been pre-
pared by himself last summer, and positive copies had been
made with much skill and success by M. Orange, in the
course of the winter.

Professor Balfour read the following analysis of specimens
of volcanic sand from the Andes, sent by Professor Jameson
of Quito, and analyzed by Mr Bloxam, assistant in the In-
dustrial Museum :—By qualitative analysis it appears to be
composed of silicic acid, peroxide of iron, alumina, carbonate
of lime, and small quantities of potassa and soda. A stream
of carbonic acid passed through water, in which the sand
was suspended, dissolved out much carbonate of lime. The
sand contains small quantities of the protoxide of iron. Its
quantitative composition is as under :—

Silica, ; : 68:00
Peroxide of iron, and alumina, . 21:20
Carbonate of lime, : ‘ 9-10
Magnesia and alkalies, . : 1-70

100-00

14th June 1857.—Professor Fiemine, Pres., in the Chair.

The following Candidates were balloted for and duly
elected—
As Ordinary Resident Fellows.
John Stoddart, Esq., surgeon, Kirkealdy.
ZEneas M‘Leod Ross, Esq., 3 East Claremont Street.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had

Dr Lowe on the Achorion Schonleinii. 193

been recently made to the Museum at the Royal Botanic
Garden :—

From Mrs Dr Smith—Specimens of Borrera Trulla, Ach., and
Cetraria, nu. sp., from near Lima, at an elevation of 10,000 feet,
on the Andes,

Mrs Mackay—Wax models of Potatoes, Turnips, Carrot, and
French Bean.

Professor Syme—Double Fruit of Pyrus Malus, var.

Mrs Millar—Various articles of dress from the Feejee Islands,
prepared from the Paper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera ; and
Gulfweed from the South Seas.

Fleetwood Shaw, Esq.—Section of Bully-tree.

Dr G. M‘Nab, St Andrews, Jamaica—Section of Red Bully-
tree (Bumelia montana), twelve feet in circumference.

Dr Alexander Harvey, Southampton—Seeds of the Pinea de

Terra of Spain.
Dr John Kirk—Cone and Section of Branch from one of the
Cedars on Mount Lebanon, and Fruit of Dém Palm from Egypt.

The following papers were read, viz. :—

I. On the Identity of Achorion Schonleinu and other vege-
table parasites, with Aspergillus glaucus. By Joun
Lowe, M.D., F.B.S.E., &.

In the year 1839, it was first announced by M. Schénlein
of Berlin,* that a vegetable growth existed in the favous
crust of Porrigo lupinosa, Willan ; but the priority of the dis-
covery was claimed by Remak,f on the ground that he had
observed it two years previously. He appears, however, to
have regarded it as an accidental formation, and denied its
vegetable nature.

Fuchs and Langenbeck, Gruby, Textor, Hannover, Ben-
nett, and others, subsequently observed and figured this
peculiar structure.

Lebert, who describes it in his Physiologie Pathologie,t
assigned to it the name of Oidiwm Schinleinii ; but Remak,
under the direction of Professor Link, placed it, about the
same time, in the genus Achorion, with the above specific
title, and under this name it has since been known.

* Schénlein. “ Zur der Pathogeine der Impetigenes.” Miiller’s Archives, 1839,
p. 82, pl. iii. fig. v. ¢

{ Dissertatio. inaug. De morbo Scrofuloso. Berlin, 1837, p. 19.

{ Lebert, Physiologie, Path. t. ii, Paris, 1845, p. 477.

194 On the Identity of Achorion Schéleinii

Viewing the growth as merely an initial form, one desig-
nation is about as correct as the other.

In the present communication, it is proposed to show the
relation which exists between this (as well as some other
epizootic growths) and a common well-known fungus, As-
pergillus glaucus ; and to establish the identity of several
forms which have hitherto been regarded as distinct, but
which we believe to be the same species.

In an investigation of this nature, where the objects to be
examined are so minute, a considerable degree of difficulty
is naturally experienced in affording satisfactory proof of
the accuracy of the remarks concerning their development.
For instance, in watching the germination of any given
fungus, it may often be difficult to prove that no other plant
of the same tribe is present to complicate the result; and
this in consequence of the myriads of spores of various
species which are constantly floating about in the atmos-
phere, ready to become located, and grow upon any suitable
pabulum.

In the following observations, however, we hope to prove
that no such fallacy has occurred ; and further, to adduce
facts which will bear out the foregoing assertion respecting
the common identity of many of the parasitic vegetable
formations.

One of the chief reasons of their having been so long con-
sidered as distinct species, appears to be, that imperfect and
various stages of their development have been observed,
and thus a merely initial stage of the mycelium, which is
capable of assuming an almost endless change of form, has,
in each instance, been figured as a distinct species, provided
the seat and forms of the diseases differed ; the observers ap-
parently ignoring the fact that, in order to define a species
accurately, all the parts of it should be present ; or, at any
rate, those which are most important, and above all, the .
fructification.

During the past winter, a number of well-marked cases of
favus have been treated in the Royal Infirmary of Edin-
burgh; and from one of these, a most unique specimen of
Porrigo lupinosa, a mass of the fayous crust was obtained.
I was thus enabled, by placing this in a position favourable
to germination, to watch the development and fructification

and other Parasites with Aspergillus glaucus. 199

of the so-called Achorion Schinleiniz, whose claims to be
ranked as a distinct species I had long doubted.

When viewed under the microscope, the mass itself was
seen to consist of minute, non-nucleated, spherical cells
mixed with a few epithelial scales. The cells were uniform,
and of a pale straw colour, quite distinct from the ordinary
aerial sporules of allied species (fig. 1).

On the 12th February 1857, the mass was divided into
three portions, one of which was placed in a solution of
coarse brown sugar; the second, upon a piece of cheese
moistened by a few drops of water and kept in a corked
phial ; the third was put in a small quantity of pure glyce-
rine. A portion of each of these was subjected to daily
microscope examination, with the following results :—

(1 may state that the bottles containing them were placed
in a moderately cool atmosphere, in order that the develop-
ment might not be so rapid as to render it difficult to fol-
low the changes which might ensue).

The cells placed in glycerine remained entire for about
ten days, but made no attempt at germination ; and, finally,
became disintegrated and disappeared, leaving a granular,
homogeneous mass; and although the glycerine was kept
for a month, no cellular structure became apparent.

This experiment was made with the view of ascertaining
the precise remedial value of glycerine as an external appli-
cation in the treatment of favus; for which purpose it is
used by Dr Bennett, who supposes it to destroy the plant
by excluding it from the atmosphere. The above experi-
ment appears to confirm this view, but I am inclined to
think that it would have given a different result at a more
elevated temperature ; for we find that yeast grows with to-
lerable facility in glycerine during the preparation of pro-
pionic acid. The portion of cells placed on cheese became
decomposed in about the same time as that in glycerine.
Probably the cheese was not sufficiently prone to decay, and
in this case the spores died for want of nutriment.

The cells placed in saccharine solution, after remaining
for forty-eight hours, were observed to become swollen, and
the majority of them assumed an oval form (figs. 1, 2) ;
some, however, retained the spherical form, were slightly
increased in size, and resembled yeast cells. On the day

196 On the Identity of the Achorion Schénleinii

x
following they began to form moniliform chains by the con-
tact and union of their extremities (fig. 3, a).*

At the end of a week from the time of their immersion, the
whole of the forms in fig. 8 were apparent. On the 21st
February, nine days after the cells were placed in the solu-
tion, the chains of cells became elongated and began to put
forth processes from their walls. These are seen in fig. 4.
By the end of February the whole mass had assumed a fila-
mentous form, the walls of the tubes still remaining some-
what uneven, owing to the imperfect fusion of the cells.
By the 11th March these inequalities on the surface of the
filaments had entirely disappeared, and the tubes which had
hitherto been empty, or containing only fine granular matter,
were now observed to have in their interior small greenish
bodies or cells arranged in a single row (fig. 7). About
the same time, other tubes were seen to contain one or two
larger oval cellules (figs. 5,6, 7). On the 15th March, some
of the filaments were found to contain both small and large
cells (fig. 7.), but the majority had still only one kind. On the
20th March the fructification appeared as in fig. 8, and was
recognised as Aspergillus glaucus. By the 4th April other
structures were observed as in figs. 9,11. These consisted
of sacculated moniliform tubes (asc?) containing one or two
nuclei in each sacculus. Extensions from these tubes (fig.
11, 6) were of much smaller diameter (often not above
one-third or one-fourth), and contained a number of the

* A doubt having been expressed as to the union of cells here mentioned, I may
state, that the individual cells were seen to come in contact after they had assumed
the oval form, touching only at their extremities. After a most careful examination
of many portions of the mass, no appearance of segmentation, germination, or nuclea-
tion, could be observed, and the oval cells were invariably of uniform size and aspect.
Dr Pereira observed a similar arrangement in surface yeast, but could not satisfy
himself that it was anything more than a mere contact of the cells. Kiitzing *
noticed a phenomenon of the same kind in Protoccocus Monas, Ag., which has been
found to be the initial state of Barbula muralis and Bryum argenteum. Kiitzing’s opi-
nion was that the cells really united in the way I have mentioned. .

Tt was not until after repeated examinations that I could at all satisfy myself that
there was more than a mere contact of the cells; but when they are seen to come
thus into contact, and form tubular filaments, without segmentation, gemmation, or
the formation of nuclei, I think the conclusion that the cells coalesce is a legitimate
one. An additional argument in favour of this view is found in the fact that gemma.
tion takes place indifferently at any part of the cell; but in the present case, the
cells were uniforinly in contact at their extremities alone, seeming as if they were

thus arranged by some polarizing influence. I have since seen the same phenomenon
occur in the yeast plant, but never under such favourable circumstances as above,

* Annales des Sc, Nat. 1834, p. 129.

and other Parasites with Aspergillus glaucts. 197

small granules which appeared to change into cells, the tube
at the same time becoming swollen. A number of free bo-
dies were also visible, and these were of various sizes—some
having the appearance of the smaller cellules contained in
the slender filaments ; others of a larger kind, resembling
those contained in the sacculi, from which they had probably
escaped ; and a third form four or five times larger than the
last, and apparently the same in process of germination ;
these contained three or four nuclei, and in a more advanced
stage they were observed putting forth mycelioid filaments
(fig. 10, 6). This form resembles that figured by Robin*
(Pl. ii. 13.), from favus grown upon an apple.

It becomes an interesting point to inquire what are the
functions of these various sporelike cells, for we have them
of three distinct kinds, most likely distinct also in their
functions. firstly, there are those produced on the recep-
tacle, which I cannot quite coincide with Mr Berkeley in re-
garding as true spores, and for this reason, that they do not
germinate after the manner of those which are the result
of a true reproductive process. Thus, instead of containing
nuclei and putting out confervoid filaments, they either
simply become elongated and branched, or unite together in
chains to form a mycelium, which, I think, may be very
well regarded as analogous to the prothallus in ferns; and
the same analogy would therefore exist between these spores
and those of Filices or Equisetaceze, which are now regarded
by some as mere gemmations. In the mycelium thus formed
we observed two other kinds of cell produced—the one con-
tained in sacculi or asci, the other either associated with
them, or occurring in separate tubes. These I have pre-
viously indicated as large and small cells; and though no
conjugation or other reproductive process has yet been
seen to take place between them, it is probable that they
are analogous to the pistillidia and antheridia of ferns, or to
the large and small spores of Lycopodiacez. The large cells,
I have little doubt, are the true reproductive spores, for I
have observed them, after their escape from the asci, be-
come enlarged to four or five times their original size; and
they differ from the cells of the sporangia in not uniting to-
gether, in containing two or more nuclei, in giving off con-

* “ Des Vegetaux parasites qui croissent,” &c. Paris, 1853,

198 On the Identity of the Achorion Schénleinii

fervoid filaments from one or more points, while the cell
retains its spherical form, and lastly in not elongating.

On comparing the accompanying plates with those of
Achorion Schinleinii figured by various writers on skin dis-
eases, they will be found to correspond very closely. Thus,
figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, are identical with figs. 8, 4,5, 2, of Dr
Bennett’s paper.* The sporangia in his fig. 2 are imperfect,
owing to the crushing which the section of the skin has
undergone, but there is one near the right hand corner
which is distinctly an Aspergillus, giving off three monili-
form chains. The whole of the forms figured by Robin+ as
stages of Achorion (pl. iii. figs. 6-13, and xiii. figs. 1-3), I
have also observed in the development of the favus-sporules.
Lebert’s fig. 5, pl. xxii., bears a remarkable resemblance
to my fig. 7.

The genus Aspergillus belongs to the Hypomycetous
division of Fungi, subdivision Mucedines, according to the
classification of Fries. It is an extremely common fungus,
growing upon decaying organic matter of almost every
description. The present species of it constitutes the blue
mould upon oranges and frequently upon cheese. It is ex-
tremely probable that more than one genus and species infest
living animal bodies, and Iam glad to find myself supported
in this opinion by so eminent a mycologist as Mr Berkeley.
Speaking of their morbific influence, he says, “It is true
that in many cases the fungi may be of very common kinds,
or under disguised forms, but this is what may be very
readily supposed, for it is very rarely the case that such
peculiar matrices as the human skin or mucous membrane
should nourish fungi absolutely peculiar to themselves. It is
in such cases far more easy to believe that the common
Penicillia or Aspergilli, which are notoriously indifferent
about their matrix, provided the proper chemical conditions
be satisfied, are the real antagonists.”

- This I believe to be true of almost the whole of these
parasitic plants which grow upon man, and of many of
those which infests the lower animals. Remak,$ who made

* London and Edinburgh Medical Journal. June 1842.
t Robin, op supra cit.

} Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany. 1857, p. 238.

§ Lebert, Diagnost. und Pathogen. Berlin, 1845,

od
=

and other Parasites with Aspergillus glaucus. 199

some experiments on the development of the Achorion, ob-
tained no results from favus-sporules placed in a saccharine
solution and other matters, but found that those placed on
apple germinated and put out processes in twenty-four
hours, but on the sixth day the surface was covered with
Penicillium glaucum. From this he concluded that the re-
sult was negative, but I am inclined to think that the favus
was in this case really due to that plant, and that it, as well
as Aspergillus, is capable of originating the disease.

In the observations already made, the species has been in-
dicated as Aspergillus glaucus. With very many there is
some difficulty in allocating the forms to any individual
species, and in some this is impossible. I shall therefore
merely attempt to show, in the succeeding remarks, that
there is a probability of numerous forms now ranked as dis-
tinct species, being nothing more than mere variations of
one or other species belonging to the two genera just men-
tioned—that the same characters are common to each—and
that there are no legitimate grounds for their being con-
sidered as specifically, much less generically, distinct. Per-
haps the strongest argument against their being thus con-
sidered is, that they have never yet been met with in a state
of fructification ; hence it is difficult to conceive how, in the
absence of free sporules, they can be communicated from
one person to another, if they are to be regarded as peculiar
to the’ localities in which they have been found. That the
spores are borne by the wind, from some source where they
are produced in immense quantities, seems evident from the
frequent occurrence of the plant in various diseased condi-
tions of the body, as in aphtha, muguet, and in the sordes
which collect upon the teeth in fevers. The spores may be
found in abundance on the tongues of healthy persons if ex-
amined early in the morning; their development, however,
does not ensue except the person be attacked by a debilitat-
ing disease. When thus developed they become the Ocdium
albicans, &c. In the state of spores, again, they are frequent-
ly present as torule in the urine and other fluids contain-
ing organic matter. They constitute the Cryptococcus cere-
visice, which Messrs Berkeley and Broome have demonstrated
to be the Penicillium glaucum.

Trichophyton tonsurans, Malmsten (Robin, pl. ii. figs. 7

200 On the Identity of the Achorion Schénleinii

8), formed in the hair of those affected with Plica polonica,
and Herpes tonsurans, is evidently only the sporular form of
Achorion Schénleinii, Lem., or A. Lebertii, Ch. Rob.
Trichophyton ulcerum? Ch. Rob., found by Lebert upon
an atonic ulcer of the leg, is merely an early condition of the
germinating sporules, closely resembling Torula guttata (vide
Lebert’s Physiol. Pathol. Paris, 1845, Atlas, pl. xxii. fig. 7.)
Microsporon furfur, Ch. Robin., was found by Robin in
Pityriasis versicolor. The figure of it given by Dr Gull,* is
evidently an imperfect condition of Penicillium or Asper-
gillus. The mycelium is identical with that of a fungus
which I have found in Lichen annulatus solitarius, Wils. ;
with my figs. 5, 10; and with that of Remak, drawn from
specimens obtained by inoculating his arm with favus-
sporules.f
Microsporon Audouini, Gruby, found in Porrigo decalvans,
is said by Robin to differ from Trichophyton tonswrans in
its branches being more numerous, crooked, and undulated ;
in the spores being smaller and always devoid of granula-
tions in their interior; and by the adherence of these to the
filaments and their branches. After a careful examination,
I am convinced that this description will as accurately ap-
ply to the forms which I have figured, pl. v. figs. 3, 4, 5.
Microsporon mentagrophytes, Ch. Robin, differs from the
preceding, in having larger spores and filaments, “il en
differe aussi par la siége,”{ being situated in the hair follicle,
between the hair and the follicular wall, and not in the sub-
stance of the hair as in T'richophyton tonswrans, nor around
the aerial part of the hair, as in the last-named variety.
This difference in situation will, I apprehend, suffice to ac-
count for the very slight degree of variation between these
so-called species. - The mere difference in the size of the
spores is a matter of little import, since they vary so much
according to the stage of their development.
Mucor mucedo,. A fungus was figured and described, under
this name, by Sluyter, from a gangrenous cavity of the lung.
Robin remarks that Sluyter’s figure bears a close resem-
blance to Aspergillus nigrescens, and believes it to be that
species rather than a mucor. This tends to confirm the

* Guy’s Hosp. Reports, Ser. III. vol. ii. 1857,
t Robin, op. supra cit., pl. iii. fig. 12,
} Robin, op. supra cit., p. 431.

is

_

and other Parasites with Aspergillus glaucus. 201

view regarding the common origin of vegetable parasites.
At the same time there does not appear to be any good rea-
son why the mucor should not be present in a lung cavity.

The fungus found in a tubercular lung by Dr Bennett,* is
identical with Ozdium albicans and also Achorion Schin-
leinii ; and some of the sporules are so arranged as to have a
faint resemblance to the sporangium of an Aspergillus.

Dr Hassall} remarks that it bears a close resemblance to
the forms which he has obtained from the fructification of
the yeast plant. The occurrence of Aspergilli in similar lo-
calities in birds has been observed by several writers. Thus
A. candidus, Mich., has been found by Rayer & Montagne,f
growing in tubercular matter in the air-sacs of Pyrrhula
vulgaris, L. ; A. glaucus, Fries, under similar circumstances
in the golden plover (Charadrius pluvialis, L.), by M. Spring ;§
and 4. nigrescens, by M. Robin in Phasianus colchicus. (Op.
eit., p. 518, pl. v. fig. 11.)

Other species have also been described in different birds,
but whether they are properly regarded as distinct, or are
merely modified by their situation and matrix, is a point
requiring further observation.

Many instances of similar apparent conversion of one
species or genus into another are noticed by Mr Berkeley,
(ntrod. to Cryptog. Bot.), as, for instance, Sclerotium into
Mucor (p. 267); Asp. glaucus into Eurotium (p. 248); and
Penicillium into Coremium (p. 302).

M. Robin figures, after Meyer, a fungus which he believes
to be an Aspergillus sp.? (Pl. ii. fig. 1.) It was found by
Pacini, contained in cysts in the external ear. The fructifi-
cation is also figured, but it bears little resemblance to that
of an Aspergillus, and has, I think, been improperly removed
from the genus Mucor, under which M. Robin described it
in a former edition of his work.

M. Spring * found in the eggs of a fowl, a fungus with
which he performed sixteen experiments, including a por-
tion of the mycelium in glass tubes, and watching the

* Trans. Roy. Soc. Ed. 1842, vol. xv. pl. ii. pp. 277, 294.

t On the Adulteration of Food, p. 155, 1855.

} Rayer et Montagne, Journ. de l'Institut. Paris, 1840, p. 270.

§ Spring, Sur une Mucédinée, &c. Bulletin de l’Academie Royale, des Sciences

de Belgique, Brux. 1848. t. xv. p. 486.
|| Quoted by Robin, “ Des Veg. Parasites, &c.,” p. 547.

202 On the Identity of the Achorion Schénleinii

development. The original mycelium he named Periconia
ramosa. In the two first experiments the plant did not grow ;
in the third, a form appeared which he called Periconia
pulverulenta ; a second form in the same tube he named
Asp. incrassatus; in the fourth appeared Asp. glaucoides,
and a Sporotrichum; in the fifth Himiscyphe trizemina ;
and in the remainder one or other of these forms, as well as
some new ones, which he names J/ucor oogenus, Sporotrichum
sulphuroides, Aspergillus heterocephalus, and Penicillium
glaucum. The whole of these forms M. Spring regards as
mutable conditions of the same species, to which M. Robin
gives the name of Dactylium oogenum. Why so much no-
menclature expended upon one species ?

Oidium albicans, Ch. R., appears, like the foregoing forms,
to be produced only under vitiated conditions of the body ;
in aphtha, which occurs usually in badly nourished chil-
dren; in muguet, which appears to be only an exaggerated
form of the same affection; and in croup. In the latter
disease I have found it occupying the whole surface of the
trachea and larger bronchi.

Oidium Tuckeri, which causes such havoc in the vineyards
on the Continent, does not greatly differ from the last form,
and is possibly only a variety of the same fungus. (See
Harris on Oidium Tuckeri. London, 1853. Third edition.)

Botrytis Bassiana, Bausami, is one of the fungi which
have proved so fatal to the silk-worm, upon which it grows
luxuriantly when these insects are unhealthy, and can be
produced to almost any extent by placmg them in damp
and ill-ventilated rooms. I have said that the Botrytis is
one of the species which infest these insects, for it is clear
from the elaborate and beautiful figures of Robin (pl. vii.),
that Aspergillus is also one of their enemies. It is evident
also, on comparing this plate with figs. 3-8, pl. vi., that two
distinct species and genera are included under the same name
of Botrytis Bassiana.

Of the genus Leptomitus a number of species have been
described by Robin, as, forinstance L. Hannovert, Ch. R., found
by Hannover in the eesophagus,* and on the tongue during
various febrile affections of an adynamic form, in delirium
tremens, apoplexy, &c., and also in the urinary passages.

* Robin, op. cit. pl. ii. figs. 11, 12.

and other Parasites with Aspergillus glaucus. 203

Robin remarks that, owing to the similarity between this and
the fungus of Porrigo lupinosa, Mayer thought them identi-
cal, an opinion which he holds to be erroneous, and he con-
demns the tendency shown towards classing plants together
by mere form alone. Whilst we admit the justice of his re-
marks in this respect, we cannot but feel how much more
objectionable is the opposite practice of raising to the rank
of species, plants which are simply imperfect or variable
forms of another species, and this, too, in cases where the
form of the plantis the sole guide, and without any reference
to its ultimate development. This tendency is, we think,
eminently displayed in the description of the genus under
consideration, in which six species are recorded from various
localities, as the cesophagus, the epidermis, the eye, &c. In
none of these has any fructification been observed, and they
have no peculiar or distinctive characters ; for exactly the
same forms are seen in the development of the Achorion,
and Robin himself figures specimens of other species in
which I fail to find any material difference either in the
description or plate. They appear to be considered speci-
fically distinct merely from the fact of their inhabiting
different situations, certainly not a satisfactory mode of
classification. In the ranks of those arising-from common
species, we may probably also place the fungus growing on
the gold fish (Robin, pl. ii. fig. 1), as well as a number of
others figured by the same author, as, for instance, one from
the eggs of Coluber natrix, Leptothrizx insectorum (pl. iv. figs.
1, 2), Enterobryus Juli terrestris (pl. iv. figs. 5,6), and vari-
ous species of Moulineia (pl. vi., figs. 9-11). In addition to
these, many others forms might probably be added, but it is
impossible to speak of them with any degree of certainty, un-
less they were fully developed, and had their sporangia entire.

Mr Berkeley remarks, that ‘no fungus, however curious
its external appearance may be, should be regarded as of
generic value unless fructification be present. This principle
alone will dispose of a multitude of supposed species.”* Syor-
endonema musce, Fries, is thought by the above-mentioned
author to be merely an incipient stage of another fungus.
The description given by Robin would make it an initial
form of Aspergillus, and this I have found perfectly de-

* Introd. to Cryptog. Bot. p. 266.

204 On the Properties of Lolium temulentum.

veloped upon dead flies at the extremity of the under-
ground quarry at Burdiehouse.

In conclusion, I would remark, that I have several times
repeated the above-detailed observations, and that the results
have been invariably the same. The observations were made
with great care, and no opinion has been advanced without
repeated verification of the facts adduced. Should the ex-
periments be deemed by any to be inconclusive, I can only.
wish that they may be repeated and put to the test.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

PLATE V.
Fig. 1. Spores from a favous crust,

2. Do. forty-eight hours after being placed in a saccharine solution.

3. The same after three to seven days.

4, The same after nine days ; commencement of budding.

5. The same after a month ; the tubes contain oval cellules.

6. Mycelium of the same age as the last ; some of the tubes containing cellules ;
others having granules in their interior.

7. Mycelium four days older than the last ; contains both cellules and granules.

8. The fungus arrived at its full development thirty-six days after the immer-
sion of the spores,

9 and 10. Sacculated and moniliform tubes, containing spores. Spores in pro-
cess of germination.

II. On the Properties of Lolium temulentum.
By Jonn Lowe, M.D.

After noticing the physiological effects which have been
ascribed to the action of Darnel, the author remarked that
there exists a great want of information as to the amount
of the seed requisite to produce these results. From all that
has been written on the subject, it would appear as if the
virulence of the herb varied in different localities. A series
of experiments was given in detail, showing that Darnel
grown in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden produced no effect
when taken in dozes of half an ounce. The observations
of Professor Christison on the Gnanthe crocata show an
analagous result, this plant being a virulent poison when
grown in England, but innocuous in Scotland. A similar
example is seen in the Cannabis indica, which only yields
its gum-resiu when grown in a hot climate. Further ex-
periments are required with regard to Lolium. The diffi-
culty experienced in obtaining the pure seed has prevented
the above series from being extended further, but it is
hoped that others will make further observations in dif-
ferent parts of Scotland.

Dr Lawson on Dust Showers. 205

TIl. Further Observations on Dust Showers.
By Grorce Lawson, Ph.D.

After some preliminary observations, referring to the
views adopted in his previous paper on this subject, Dr
Lawson laid before the Society a letter from Dr J. O.
M‘William, R.N., in which that gentleman remarks :—
“In your paper on dust showers, you allude to the sand
showers described by Humboldt and by Ehrenberg, as
occurring near the Cape de Verd Islands, when the decks
of ships navigating the ocean became covered with sand.
While I was at Boa Vista, the easternmost of the Cape de
Verd group, during the months of April, May, June, and
part of July 1846, I had ample opportunity of witnessing
these phenomena. In my meteorological register, which
includes observations three times in the twenty-four hours,
of the barometer, thermometer, the dry and wetted bulb
thermometer, the temperature of the sea, the force and di-
rection of the wind, and the character of the clouds, I find
that in April 1846 the atmosphere is recorded as hazy, and
filled with sand ten days; in May, eleven days; in June,
five days ; and during the first ten days of July, three days.
As a general rule, when these sand fogs prevailed, the north-
east trade winds were blowing with more than usual force ;
they sometimes lasted forthree or four days without any inter-
mission. At the period of their prevalence, the sand heaps
-which abound in this barren, parched, volcanic region, are
drifted about from the windward to the leeward side of the
island, fillmg the hollows in the plains, and, sometimes in
the course of a few hours, obliterating all traces of path-
ways, and thus bewildering the newly-arrived traveller. I
was in the leeward side of the island when the first sand
shower occurred, and the residents differed in opinion as to
its source, some saying that it came from the beach and
sand-hills on the windward side of the island ; while others
more correctly, as I consider, attributed its origin to the
African desert. I had soon an opportunity of ascertaining
that they did not originate on the island itself, for I wit-
nessed a sand shower of considerable density over the sea
to windward of the island, between which and the African coast

TRANS. BOT, SOC, VOL. V, Q

206 Dr Lawson on Dust Showers.

no land intervened, and I therefore came to the conclusion
that that coast was its source.”

The following letter, addressed by the Hon. C. A. Murray,
H.M. Envoy to Persia, to Sir Charles Lyell, has appeared in
the Literary Gazette :—

“My dear Sir Charles,—We have lately witnessed here a
phenomenon so strange, that a brief description of it may not be
uninteresting to you. On the 20th instant, a few minutes before
6 p.m. (which is here about an hour before sunset), I was sitting
with my mirza reading some Persian letters, when on a sudden I
became sensible of an unusual obscuration of the light on the
paper. I jumped up, and, on going to the window, saw a huge
black cloud approaching from the north-west, exactly as if a pall
were being drawn over the face of the heavens, It must have
travelled with considerable rapidity, for in less than three minutes
we were enveloped in total darkness, a darkness more intense
than an ordinary midnight when neither stars nor moon are Visi-
ble. Groping my way amidst chairs and tables, I succeeded
in striking a light, and then feeling assured that a simoon of
some kind was coming on, I called to my servants to come
up and shut the windows, which were all open, the weather
having been previously very sultry. While they were doing so
the wind increased, and bore with it such a dense volume of dust
and sand, that before they could succeed in closing the windows
the room was entirely filled, so that the tables and furniture were
speedily covered. Meanwhile a panic seized the whole city; the
Armenians and other Christian sects rushed through the gloom
to confess and pray in the churches; women shrieked and beat
their breasts in the streets ; and the men of all classes prostrated
themselves in prayer, believing that the end of the world had
arrived. After a short time the black darkness was sueceeded by
a red lurid gloom, such as I never saw in any part of the world,
and which I can only liken in imagination to the effect that might
be produced if all London were in conflagration in a heavy Novem-
ber fog; to me it was more striking (I may almost say fearful)
than the previous utter darkness, and reminded me of that ‘ dark-
ness visible’ in which the poetic genius of Milton placed the
demons and horrid shapes of the infernal regions. This lurid
fog was doubtless occasioned by the rays of the western sun
shining obliquely on the dense mass of red sand or dust which had
been raised from some distant desert, and was borne along upon
the blast. I inclose you a specimen of the dust. The Arabs
here think that it came from the Nejd. The storm seems to have
travelled in a circular direction, having appeared first from the
south, then south-west, then west, then north-west. After about

Dr Lawson on Dust Showers. 207

two hours it had so far passed away, that we were able to open
the windows again and breathe the outer air. It cannot have
been a simoon, for during those which I have experienced in
Arabia and Egypt the wind is hot and stifling. On the 20th the
wind was high; but only oppressive from the dense mass of dust
that it carried with it.—I remain, &c.,

“ Cu. A. Murray.”

Professor J. Quekett, of the Royal College of Surgeons,
having examined the specimen of red dust from Bagdad,
which accompanied Mr Murray’s letter, states that he could
detect, under the microscope, only inorganic particles, such
as quartz sand, in the dust. There are no relics of Diato-
mace apparent ; and, though a small portion of calcareous
matter was present in the sand, yet he could observe no
microscopic shells or other organic matter.

The results of this examination accord with those arrived
at by Dr Lawson respecting the sand shower at Corfu.

IV. Analogy between the Serial Arrangements of the Leaves
of Plants and Crystalline Forms. By Witu1AmM MircHe...
Communicated by Professor BALrour.

Having, some time ago, had my attention drawn to the
series expressing the spiral arrangements of the leaves of
plants, and more recently to the same series as regulating
the scales of cones, I was led to inquire whether a similar
relation might not be found to exist among crystalline forms.
The result of this inquiry will form the subject of this short
paper.

The series for plants, as given in Professor Balfour's Class-
Book of Botany, and here extended a few terms, is

24g 3 5 8 18 21 34 55 9
29 32 52 89 13° 212 349 552 899 1449 XC.

If se ° > represent any three consecutive terms of this
ss Oe eee Oe ee : .
series, then a al will express their relation.

If the alternate terms are arranged in two series, we have
12 5 18 34 ¢,

And if * 2 . denote, as above, any three terms of either
Q 2

208 Analogy between the Serial Arrangements of the

of the two series, then me a will express their relation.

I shall now endeavour to show that this relation holds
exactly throughout the different systems of crystals.

To begin with the cubic system—the. tetrakis-hexahedron
is considered a simple crystal, and is bounded by 24 equal
and similar isosceles triangles. When referred to 3 axes
of co-ordinates, its symbol, according to the notation of
Naumann, is oOm, or oml, which signifies that the

planes or faces of the crystal cut the three axes respectively
at the distances oc, m, 1, where the variable m may be any

whole number or rational fraction.

Every different value of m would yield a tetrakis-hexa-
hedron of correspondingly different dimensions, but the
values hitherto observed in nature, arranged in the order of
their magnitude, form the following series :—

1, 3 B 2 B 3: 4 5.
At first sight, no regular law seems to connect the terms;
but writing the whole numbers in a fractional form, we
have
eo 32 1 2 1) DP Pb
c

ee = a

Again, taking the co-efficients of the octahedral or rhombic
axes corresponding to each of the preceding forms, we find
the series to be

which now exactly agrees with the formula ——*

154325383465
: 2) 99 7) 5) 3’ 7? 4 & &
which observes precisely the same law.
Another solid in this system, to which Naumann gives

the symbol nO or n11, affords the series—

\

Poe pS PD p &.
and this, as well as that for the corresponding octahedral
axes, agree with the given formula.

The forms expressed by the general symbol mOm give
the series one th

1 42°3 2°09" se 3 es
TPH pD #, 7 &e.

the asterisks indicating that I am not aware if the inter-
mediate values have yet been observed to occur in nature.

Leaves of Plants and Crystalline Forms. 209

Passing on to the pyramidal system of crystals, we find
for mP« the series

and in mP,—

bee #2028 SA

Lee eee ee ee ae
7 5 9 4 3 2° & 2? I) B WD I
Next, we take an example from the rhombohedral system,
and find in mR the series

See a2 2 1 85 oe ee 8 ES 8 BT
Se ee eo 2 7? 3) 52 2 5? 8’? 3? ee Aor to es Far
Sie a) gaye
BR Digi ET he

Lastly, let us take three examples from the prismatic
system, as the oblique prismatic systems give similar series :

In mPo , we find

32332 bDP PP

And in mP,
Mee E Aad 22 4.1 4) 812.84 pg,
7? Gb 4? 2 2 3? 4 52/1» 3 2 1 1 1, V-

The most of the foregoing numbers I have found very
conveniently arranged in a small but comprehensive treatise
on Crystallography by Professor Tennant and the Rev.
Walter Mitchell, lately published in Orr’s Circle of the Sci-
ences; and as here applied, it will be seen that they con-

ate_e
form to the law expressed by the formula hee

In combination, the several members of each series have
their faces in the same zone-circle, and form parallel edges
of combination ; and this taken in connection with the
similar adherence to position, evidenced by the series for
plants, would seem to indicate the action of polar forces in
the production of similar forms in both the vegetable and
mineral kingdoms. Besides, may we not infer, from the
serial law, here shown to be common to both, that a series

210

of nodes in plants corresponds to a series of similar crys-
talline forms, and dissimilar appendages of the plant to dis-
similar crystals? At least the subject seems worthy of
consideration, and might lead to still closer analogies, illus-
trative of unity with diversity, which we already know to
be a distinguishing characteristic of the works of God.

9th July 1857.—Professor Fiemine, President, in the
Chair.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s
Herbarium and Library :—

From Miss Robertson—aA parcel of European and Indian Plants.

Rev. H. Macmillan—Specimens of Chroolepis Arnottii, Hook.,
from Yews at Cleish Castle.

Mr John Nowell—Specimens of Jungermanniz from Yorkshire.

The Warwickshire Natural History and Archeological Society,
their Twenty-first Annual Report.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had
been made to the Museum at the Royal Botanic Garden :—

Professor H. D. Rogers, Boston—Specimen of Gossypium sp.,
furnishing cotton and fibre from the bark ; Seeds used for making
oil-cake; Refuse of Cotton, and Seeds used as a manure; Acorns of
White and Chestnut leaved Oak from the same tree.

Mrs Laycock—Fruit of Palm.

Mr John Pollock—Philadelphia Moss, incrusted with caleareous
matter, from Falls of Niagara.

Dr Harvey—Cone and Wood of the Pinea de Terra.

Rev. Zerub Baillie—Leguminous Pods and Seeds.

Professor Balfour exhibited specimens of Bryum palles-
cens, collected by Mr W. Wilson, near Warrington. He
observes :—‘ I never gathered it before, and have reason to
think it a rare British species. I believe it grows on the
Ochils ; but somehow my friend Dr Lyell never obtained
satisfactory specimens for me.”

Dr George Lawson exhibited a series of photographs of
microscopical objects, by Mrs Colonel Spottiswood, Benares,
including spiral cells of Collomia, scales of Eleeagnus sporan-
gia, and spores of ferns, sections of various woods, &. Dr
Lawson also exhibited specimens of Peucedanum Ostruthium,
collected by Mr Peter Mackenzie, near West Plean, Stir-

Rev. Hugh Macmillan on Cryptogamic Plants. 211

ling, where he had known the plant for nearly thirty years
in a perfectly wild state, having the appearance of a bed of
gout-weed.

The following papers were read :—

I. Notice of Cryptogamic Plants found near New Abbey.
By Rev. Hueu Macmiian.

While residing for a few weeks, during May 1857, at New
Abbey—a well-known district in Kirkcudbrightshire —I
gathered several rare and interesting cryptogamic plants
among the surrounding woods, which it may be useful to
notice briefly, as a small contribution to the stock of know-
ledge already accumulated with regard to the distribution
of these obscure plants in this part of the kingdom. I was
particularly struck with the immense profusion of Parmelia
Borrert and Parmelia tiliacea, two of our rarest and most
interesting lichens. They occurred on almost every tree—
pines, oaks, and ashes indiscriminately, sometimes even to
the complete exclusion of the common species, such as P.
saxatilis and pulverulenta, which usually monopolize their
bark. I found them, also, occasionally spreading in large
patches over rough boulders of the characteristic grey
granite of the district—a matrix on which they are seldom
observed to develop themselves. They very rarely fructi-
fied ; yet I gathered here and there a few specimens of both
species covered with fine apothecia. I am not aware that
the Parmelia Borreri has ever previously been gathered in
Scotland; and the only Scottish station recorded for the
Parmelia tiliacea was the battlements of Brodick Castle, in
the Island of Arran. In order to facilitate the discovery of
these lichens by those who may deem it worth their while
to search for them in the locality I have indicated, I may
mention more particularly that they occur in a little wood,
with a stream running through it, at the base of Criffel, a
lofty mountain, rising up immediately behind New Abbey.
They also occur in Shambelly Wood, along with immense
quantities of Parmelia caperata and perlata, Sticta limbata,
fuliginosa, and scrobiculata, and Opegrapha elegans, which
affects most of the smooth-barked trees, and is particularly
beautiful and luxuriant on the hollies. Hypnum Crista-

912 Dr Lawson on Glandular Structures in Plants.

Castrensis is very abundant on mossy boulders, in damp
shady places in the same wood ; and Parmelia sinuosa occurs
sparingly on the exposed rocks at the top of the wood;
while Neckera pumila spreads in large patches over the oak
and beech trees, amid dark masses of Jungermannia tamar-
iscifolia. Upon the whole, I may safely say, there are few
districts in Scotland richer in rare and interesting crypto-
gamic plants.

II. On the Occurrence of Pertusaria Hutchinsize and other
rare Lichens, on the Breadalbane Mountains.
By ALEXANDER C. MAInGay.

III. Notice of Localities for some of the rarer Plants collected
during the recent Excursions of the Botanical Class
around Edinburgh. By Professor BALrour.

Draba muralis, rocks at Corra Linn, Lanarkshire (Mr
M‘Taggart Cowan). Poteriwm Sanguisorba, Eildon Hill
(Mr Gorrie). Carum Carui, near Cleghorn Junction, and
about two miles from Burntisland inland road. Carex limosa,
near Melrose (Mr T. Ainslie). Ophioglossum vulgatum, near
Ford (Mr Gorrie).

IV. Remarks on Certain Glandular Structures in Plants.
By Gerorce Lawson, Ph.D.

The author of this paper, after briefly alluding to Meyen’s
researches on vegetable secretion, stated that the advance-
ment of our knowledge of this subject had not kept pace
with other branches of vegetable physiology, for it was very
much in the same position as Meyen left it twenty years
ago. He then referred to Dr Carpenter's views as expressed
in the new edition of his Principles of Comparative Physt-
ology, and especially called attention to the following state-
ment of that author: ‘ Besides that separation of effete
matters (in animals) from the blood, for the purpose of
maintaining its purity, which is usually distinguished as
excretion, we find that certain products are elaborated from
it for special purposes in the economy ; and it is to the pro-
cess by which this is accomplished that the term secretion,
in its more restricted sense, is applicable. But even this
has searcely any parallel in the vegetable kingdom. For
although there is a large class of substances which are com-

Dr Lawson on Glandular Structures in Plants. re pa

monly designated as ‘ vegetable secretions,’ yet these are not
poured out upon the surface nor into the cavities of the plant,
but are stored up in its constituent cells, of which they form
the characteristic contents; and thus they bear the same
relation to it as the oleaginous contents of the fat cells,
or the calcareous deposit in the cells of shells, &., bear
to the animal organism.” Dr Lawson pointed out many
instances in which the secretions of plants were poured out
upon the surface and into the cavities of the plant, and not
stored up in its constituent cells; and referred particularly
to the glands of Rubiacez, Galiacee, Aurantiacee, Passi-
floraceze, &c., specimens of which were exhibited under the
microscope. Dr Lawson then observed :—The next remark
which I wish to make in regard to vegetable glands has re-
ference to the homological character of these bodies. The
statement that glands are modified epidermal cells long
remained unquestioned. Some years ago Dr Weddell dis-
covered peculiar glands in Cinchonacee, and the results of
his observations, as well as of my own on the similar glands
of Galiacee, were detailed to the Society. (Ann. Nat. Hist.,
ser. 2, vol. xiv.; Trans. Bot. Soc., vol. v.) The homological
character of these glands were not then referred to; for,
when viewed in connection with the glands of Sundew and
some other plants, their structure did not appear explicable
on the supposition that they were formed of epidermal cells.
Since my former paper was published, an extended series of
observations on vegetable glands, and especially on the sti-
pules of plants belonging to the Apocynacez, has shown that
the cinchonaceous glands, and all other forms, are, in reality,
reconcilable with the idea of epidermal origin. The cincho-
naceous gland consists of two kinds of cells,—viz., those form-
ing the central cone of tissue, which represent ordinary leaf
tissue, and those forming the outer layer of the gland, which
may be regarded as the epidermal cells transformed for secre-
tion. The gland is, in fact, the homologue of the leaf,—a leaf
very much reduced in size, as stipular leaves usually are, and
with its epidermal cells changed into secreting ones ; and it
closely resembles in structure the stipules of _Dipladenia,
which no one can regard as being other than reduced leaves.
When we see a gland thus formed by a cone of tissue ele-
vated above the general surface of the organ to which it is

214 Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant.

attached, with its whole epidermal surface consisting of
secreting tissue, we can readily understand how an epider-
mal gland can also be formed in the tissue of the plant, by
simply introverting the epidermis. In this way the remark-
able ovarian glands of endogenous plants are explained, and
probably also the imbedded glands of the orange, the latter
bearing the same relation to the cinchonaceous gland as
the conical receptacle of the strawberry does to the hollowed-
out receptacle of the fig. The ovarian glands of endogens
are especially deserving of attention on this point, for we find
them to be of very frequent occurrence ; and in cases where
three or more carpels are united into one fruit, these glands
always occupy a position corresponding with the points of
union of the carpels. Irrespective of histological characters,
the glandular tissue is seen in these cases to be necessarily
formed by the contiguous layers of epidermis where the two
surfaces of the carpels are brought into contact.

V. On the Development of the Yeast Plant. By Joun Lowe,
M.D., F.B.S.E., &. &e.

One of the very few writers of the present day who coin-
cide with Ktitzing in recording this plant as an alga is M.
Robin, who, after describing the gemmation of the cells,
says, “ We only know of this mode of the plant’s propaga-
tion ; its aérial fructification has not been seen, and cannot
be seen, because it (the plant) dies on coming into contact
with the atmosphere. This plant is in fact an alga, and not
a fungus.”* How far this statement is correct will be shown
presently.

Kiitzing, while he regarded the plant as an alga, looked
upon it as such, in its lowest condition only, and, believing
as he did, in the convertibility of species, imagined that it
became exalted into a fungus.

Putting out of view the conversion of the plant into one
of a higher order, the facts derived from Kiitzing’s observa-
tions were correct ; his deductions alone being faulty.

No doubt can be now entertained that the yeast plant is
merely a stage in the development of one or more genera
and species of mucedinous fungi—the algoid form being.
due to the growth of the sporules in nitrogenous fluids, hy

* “ Vegétaux Parasites qui eroicsent, &e.,” p. 823, 1853, Paris.

_—

Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant. 215

which multiplication of the cells is encouraged, and the
formation of the normal mycelium checked.

This opinion appears to have been gradually gaining
ground, and is now almost universally received. Pereira
was amongst the first to arrive at a true conclusion regard-
ing the precise nature of the plant ; and, apparently without
having seen it in itsperfect condition, he says, “ it is probably
a fungus in all its stages, and it is perhaps allied to Penicil-
lium.”* It remained for Messrs Berkeley and Broome to
prove that the fully developed yeast plant is identical with
Penicillium glaucum.

Dr Hassall, without identifying the genus from which
yeast is derived, came very near the truth. He figures
what he considers to be the yeast-fungus in a state of fruc-
tification, but the specimen does not appear to have been
a perfect one.

After numerous examinations of yeast in all its stages,
and after repeated experiments, I have no doubt whatever
that it is produced by more than one genus and by nume-
rous species. In a former paper, an opinion was expressed
to the effect that the vegetable growths found in skin
diseases were referable to two genera of fungi; and from a
long and careful investigation of the subject, I feel con-
vinced that the same fungi which produce skin disease, also
produce yeast ; and conversely, those which produce yeast,
may, under favourable circumstances, produce skin disease.

Dr Hassall remarks, that there are three kinds of yeast
employed in making bread, viz. :—brewers’ yeast, German
yeast, and patent yeast. “‘ The fungus is of the same species
in each.”}

This, which is asserted as a fact, is by no means proved,
and I believe is far from being correct ; for, as I shall after-
wards show, there are certainly two genera, and probably
many species of those genera which are equally capable of
originating the ferment. Dr Hassall, indeed, shortly after
making the above statement, says, that patent yeast “ ap-
pears to belong to a distinct species, but the development
was not followed out.”}

Brewers’ yeast, when seen under the microscope, consists,
or should consist, entirely of cells, spherical in form, trans-

* Materia Medica, vol. ii. part 1. t On Adulteration of Feod, p, 150,

216 Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant.

parent and nucleated, varying from 1-7500th to 1-2500th
of an inch in diameter. The nuclei are ‘highly refractive,
and vary from two to ten in number. Pereira thought that
there were nucleoli within them, but these I have never
been able to see, although, in a certain stage of the cell’s
growth, the nuclei are granular, and exhibit in certain aspects
a dark central spot resembling a nucleolus, but which I
believe to be only an optical effect produced by the nucleus
being out of focus. It appears to me that the mode of
growth is altogether opposed to the idea of nucleoli being
present. The nuclei were termed globulin by Turpin, who
entertained the idea that they, as well as the globulin of the
barley, were converted into yeast cells, and that they under-
went a fissiparous development. Lindley confirms this view
to a certain extent, by saying that he has seen the smaller
granules sprout during fermentation.

After watching this phenomenon very carefully in some
scores of slides, I formed the opinion that the bodies ob-
served were not globuline, but a species of vibrio which is
commonly found in all decomposing saccharine matter.
Further observation has, however, convinced me that Tur-
pin’s opinion is true. At the same time, I think that there
was sufficient reason for the above statement. The fact is,
we have here one of those points upon which two observers
may make different and opposite assertions, and yet each be
correct.

I have now not the least doubt that the bodies described
by Turpin as globulin have been by others described as a
species of vibrio. I believe it to be, under certain circum-
stances, a permanent form of cell-growth ; but that, under
suitable conditions, this globulin or vibrio-like form will
develop into a mycedinous fungus. This, however, is a
point which need not here be considered, as I propose to
make a few separate remarks on it at a future time. I shall
therefore confine myself to the subject under consideration.

The growth of yeast has been divided by Pereira into
three stages—Ist, That in which the cells are single ; 2d,
That in which they have become elongated, and form a my-
celium ; 3d, That of aérial fructification. The first stage,
or that of yeast proper, is said by Mitscherlich to consist of
two kinds, viz.,—oberhefe (or surface yeast), and wnterhefe

Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant, 217

(or sediment yeast). These two varieties are propagated in
different ways, and each produces specific results upon the
fermenting liquor. The wnterhefe is the ferment of Ba-
varian beer, which is allowed to ferment very slowly, and at
a low temperature. The formation of lactic and acetic acids
is thus avoided. The following is a brief account of the
changes which I have observed yeast to undergo in the pro-
cess of fermentation at the distillery of Messrs Duncanson,
and at the brewery of Messrs Jeffrey, to whose kindness I
am much indebted. Before its application to the wort, yeast
is seen to consist of isolated cells of a spherical form inter-
mixed with some which are oval or tubular. These latter
are only formed on the surface of the yeast where it has
come in contact with the air. They are the commencing
mycelium, and should never be present in any considerable
quantity, as they materially affect the process of fermenta-
tion. The spherical cells are seen to be of two kinds; the
one haying a thin very transparent cell-wall, containing
from two to ten nuclei—these are found in the yeast which
has become sour, and they are usually met with at the bot-
tom of the cask. They appear to correspond with the wn-
terhefe of Mitscherlich. In specimens of yeast kept in bot-
tles, I have found that the cell-wall became thinner and the
nuclei more numerous in proportion as the fluid became
more acid. The other kind of cell has a thicker cell-wall,
and contains, instead of a number of nuclei, a large globular
granular mass or blastema, which in older yeast is converted
into nuclei. This is the most perfect form of yeast, and is
the only kind which should be used. Its activity I have
found to be always proportionate to the thickness of the cell-
walls, and this, a most important subject to brewers, can
easily be determined under the microscope, and thus the
value of any specimen of yeast made apparent. After being
added to the wort, yeast, which consists of the two varieties
- of cell above mentioned, is observed to undergo two kinds
of growth. The nucleated cells with the thin walls burst
and liberate the nuclei (‘ globulins seminiferes’ of Turpin),
which then increase in size, and become like the second
kind of cells. This is the form of propagation which Tur-
pin observed in the rupture of the cells, although he makes
the cell contents appear to be finely granular instead of

218 Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant.

nuclear, Iam satisfied that it only takes in old acid yeast,
and not, as Turpin imagined, as a result of normal fermenta-
tion; and this explains why others have failed to observe
the process of bursting in fermenting yeast, for it can
only be seen on the first addition of the yeast to the
wort ; and, moreover, in new yeast these are often alto-
gether absent. The thick-walled cells, and the enlarging
nuclei, after a period varying according to the temperature
and the activity of the yeast, are observed to put forth mi-
nute bud-like processes, which soon separate and enlarge,
and afterwards undergo the same process. This is the second
mode of growth noticed by Turpin, and is, in fact, the only
result of true fermentation. My own observations confirm
those of Mitscherlich, who thinks the two modes of propa-
gation just mentioned are the only ones, and that the con-
version of “globulin” into cells is entirely erroneous. The
budding was observed by Turpin to begin after an hour, and
the gemmations were doubled in size in three hours; in
eight they had attaimed the size of the maternal cell. There
can, however, be no stated time for these changes, for they
vary with the temperature. In distillery wash, which is
worked at a much higher temperature than brewery wort,
the process begins much sooner, and is sooner completed ;
and, as might be inferred from the fact of their rapid growth,
the cell-walls are much thinner in the former than in the
latter. One very important fact results from this, viz., that
yeast which has been worked at a high temperature loses a
considerable amount of its activity. It is, in fact, “ forced,”
and if yeast of this kind be applied at once to work at a
lower temperature, the process of fermentation will be late
in commencing, and will often stop. If, however, the yeast
be allowed to stand for a day or two it recovers some of its
activity, but it is never so good for working at a lower tem-
perature ; and therefore, as a general rule, yeast should al-
ways be worked at a higher temperature in each succeeding
operation—that is, it should, if possible, be worked in cool
wort before being applied to wort which requires to be worked -
ata greater heat. As soon as the process of fermentation has
attained its maximum, the budding begins to decline, and
ceases towards the close of the operation. The cells, which
were before of very variable size, now become more uniform,

|
;

Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant. 219

and the nebulous mass in their interior assumes a more de-
finite outline, and appears to be finely granular. After re-
maining on the liquor for five or six days, a portion of the
cells which is exposed to the atmosphere becomes oval and
then elongated into tubes, multiplying still by gemmation
and fissiparous division. Similar formations are also found
in the sediment of the tun. This is the first stage in the
formation of the mycelium, and exercises an influence of an
important kind over the fermentation of the liquor. The
subsequent changes consist in the formation of a myce-
lium composed of a network of ramifying tubes. These
tubes are identical in form with those given in a previous
paper, and need not therefore be again described. The per-
fect fructification in the specimens which I have examined
is that of Aspergillus glaucus; but there can be no doubt, as
I have before remarked, that other species and genera are
also present. In proof of this, a series of experiments were
made in Messrs Jeffrey’s brewery, with the following re-
results :—I1st, a quantity of mixed Penicillia and Aspergilli
(P. glaucum, Asp. glaucus, A. nigrescens, &c.) were placed in
a gallon of wort at a temperature of 65° Fahrenheit, and al-
lowed to stand in the tun-room. On the second day the
surface was covered with specks of foam. On the third day
the fermentation had fairly set in, and the surface became
coated with pale yeast, which, under the microscope, exhi-
bited oval non-nucleated cells in a state of gemmation. On
the fourth day the fluid gave off a naseous “foxy” odour,
which disappeared on the sixth day, when the yeast cells
were observed to have become spherical, and in all respects
like good yeast. On the eighth day the yeast was removed
from the surface and applied to a fresh quantity of wort at
the same temperature. This entered into fermentation on
the first day, and exhibited all the characters of perfect
yeast. The second experiment was made by placing a por-
tion of Penicillium glaucum in wort, under the same circum-
stances asin experiment1. The same series of phenomena
ensued, ending in the production of good yeast. A third
and fourth experiment were made with Aspergillus glaucus
and A. nigrescens, with like results; the only difference
being that the sporules produced by the latter were at the
commencement larger and more spherical than in either of

220 Dr Lowe on the Development of the Yeast Plant.

the other species, from which it may be inferred that this
species would yield a better kind of yeast. The idea that
yeast can be produced spontaneously in nitrogenous fluids, we
hold to be entirely erroneous, for we see that the lower class
of fungi are capable of yielding it; and, from the general
distribution of these, they must be present in every kind of
exposed fluid.

A subject which has not received the attention which it
deserves, is the growth of fungi on malting barley. Whole
floors of malt may be seen in summer time covered com-
pletely with various fungi, which grow from the interior of
the grain, and ramify within the perisperm. These must
have a most important influence on the saccharine matter
contained in the grain; and there can be little doubt that
they effect its decomposition, and cause an immense loss to
the brewer. The fact that malt made in summer time is
never so sweet as that made in winter, sufficiently attests to
the truth of the observation. It is not improbable, where the
fungus is so abundant as I have sometimes seen it, that one-
third of the saccharine principle is destroyed, and the foun-
dation laid for the inefficient working of the wort during
fermentation. In conclusion, I would merely remark upon
one or two cases of skin disease which I have met with in
those engaged amongst the yeast in breweries. Brewers,
generally speaking, are not likely subjects for the growth of
parasitic plants, but I have met with several cases which |
seem to me to prove that these are derived from the growing
yeast, and thus tend to establish the proposition laid down in
my last communication regarding the origin of skin diseases.
In one brewery, I met with two cases of Lichen, Annulatus soli-
tarius, and one of Sycosis. These occurred in the only persons
who were engaged amongst the yeast. I have recently met
with another case of like nature, namely, of Favus occurring
on a person engaged in a wine vault which was densely co-
vered with fungi. The former were both situated on the right
upper extremity—in the one case on the back of the hand,
and in the other on the anterior of the fore-arm, about 3
inches above the wrist. The sore commenced as small red
spots, and in eight days had attained to the size of a shilling.
On examining them carefully under the microscope, a
distinct mycelium was obtained, differing in no respect from

Trans.Bot Soc. VOL.5. PL.V.

2. PL VE

. VOL.

Bot. Soe

Trans.

SCXD

J. Lowe, delt

ws ‘ ;
' ‘ © 4 aff ,
. «
~s my
* . “a é
8
, ‘
‘ : a |
:
’ a
‘ '
é
* é
. -
Ls fr - ioe
* ¥ - _
- , S
. °
‘ ryt ’
.° '
.
i 4 P at -
‘ ¢

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BOTANICAL SOCIETY

EDINBURGH.

POR THE YEAR 1855.

EDINBURGH :
PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY BY
DAVID GUTHRIE, 377, HIGH STREET,

MDCCCLY

Page

ERRATA.

6, line 14, for ‘‘ sud,” read ‘‘sub.”

6, line 24, for ‘‘ Aviemreo,” read ‘‘ Aviemore.’’

13, line 10 from bottom, for ‘“‘ Voandesia,” read “‘ Voandzeia.” :

13, line 29, for ‘‘in,” read “ for.”

(For Errata in Mr More’s Paper on the Flora of Castle Taylor, see p. 60.)

32, line 26, for ‘* Polytrichum,” read ‘‘ Polygonum.”

32, line 52, for ‘‘at,” read “as.”

37, line 16 from bottom, for ‘ Vanderia,” read ‘* Voandzeia.”

43, line 4, for ‘‘ Rauge,” read ‘* Range.”

43, after line 24, add the following note by Colonel Madden :—* Dr{Faleoner
has lately informed me that on specimens which occurred in Little
Tibet, four carpels were matured, a fact which shows that the abnormal!
conditions of the flowers are not confined to the stamens.”

49, line 21 from bottom, for “ Calicium Beomyces,” read “ Calicium ehry-
socephalum and Bzomyces rufus.”

83, line 23, for ‘‘ Grimmia deusta,” read ‘‘ Grimmia ovata.”

96, line 12 from bottom, for ‘‘ Speeliaca,” read ‘* Rheetica.”

96, line 11 from bottom, for ‘* Vincula,” read ‘* Venicnla.”

96, line 8 from bottom, for “ Trebalana,” read ‘‘ Trebulana.”

96, line 6 from bottom, for “ Pharia,,’ read ‘' Phaia.”

96, line 4 from bottom, for ‘* Fiyas,” read “ 'Troas.”

98, line 5 from bottom, for * Simaruba,” read ‘‘ Simaba.”

109, line 10 from bottom, for ‘* Sorarmha,” read ‘ Jatropha.”
109, line 4 from bottom, for “ Sokaria,” read ‘* Souari.”

110, line 1, for “ Piassack, #4 read ‘¢ Piassava.”

111, line 9, for “ Ligusticum,” read ‘** Ligustrum.”

112) line 4 from bottom, for “‘ Blackhouse,” read ‘* Backhouse.”
114, line 5, for “4°,” read 40,” and omit ‘and upwards.”
116, line 24, for “ Kay, ” read Roy. a

116, line 28, after ‘‘ inches,” insert ‘‘ high.”

117, line 3, ‘for ‘the latter,” read “ all these. ve

123, line 14 from bottom, for ‘‘ inerm,” read ‘‘ inerme.”’

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PROCEEDINGS FOR JANUARY, 1855. ae!
PROCEEDINGS FOR FEBRUARY, 1855.

Botanical Excursion to Braemar. By Professor BALFouR ac 3

Report on Diatomacee. By Dr GREVILLE. ee 7

Geological Relations of Alpine, Plants. By Dr Gitcurist | Ay 9

Descriptions of new Conifere. By ANDREW Murray, W.S. as il

PROCEEDINGS FOR Marcu, 1855-

Comparative view of the more important stages of development of some

of the higher Cryptogamia and Phanerogamia, By C. JENNER, 13
Botanical Tour in Channel Islands. By C. BAxTEer : 14
On Gall-like appearances on leaves of Chr ysophyllum. By J. Harpy 15
On the discovery of the Gutta Percha Plant in Malabar. By Dr CLEc-

HORN. ss sas 16
On plants which have flowered in the Botanic Garden. “By Professor
BALFOUR. 16
On the temperatures, and Pose of plants i in the Botanic Garden. By
James M‘Naps 16
On the temperatures and flow ering of plants in the Isle of of Wight. ‘By
Dr T. BELL SALTer, and Mr Barrow 17

Notes of a Tour in Switzerland. By Dr J. Sippa.p. ue oF
On Breadalbane Lichens. By H. MAcMiLLAN ... He As 23

PROCEEDINGS FoR Aprit, 1855.
On Placentation. By J. CLELAND zs
On the Flora of Castle Taylor, Co. Galway. By "A. G. More
Notes on the Flora of the Bass Rock. By Professor BALFouR

Notice of Trip to Loch Lomond. By Professor BALFouR a 32
Notes on Geology of the Trip. By J. Hector

On flowering of plants, and temperatures in Botanic Garden. By Jas.
M‘NaB : — sc 36
PROCEEDINGS FoR May, 1855.
On the Cotyledons of Conifer. By P.S. Ropertson _ ... 38
On new species of Diatomacee, and on the.value of certain specific charac-
ters. By Professor GrEGorY ... 38
Remarks on Megacarpea polyandre. By Professor BALrour 41

Register of thermometer and Sevcrae of plage in Botanic oe den By
: : James M‘Nasp = 43, 44

Le CONTENTS.
' PAGE
On the effects of frost on plants in the Glasnevin Garden. By D. Moore 44
On the disease of Finger-and-toe in root crops. By Sir J. S. Forres 46

On the origin of the name Chenopodium Bonus Henricus. By J. Harpy 48
PROCEEDINGS FOR JUNE, 1855.

On Mosses collected at Bridge of Allan. By Dr GrEVILLE ei 50
Oa Plants from Botanic Garden. By Professor BALFour =e 50
Remarks on Calamite and Sternbergia. By Professor FLEMING ... 51
On the Dyeing Properties of Lichens. By Dr Linpsay ... “0 52
On Sub-fossil Dfatomacew found in Dumfriesshire. By iis
HARKNESS 54
On the Flowering of Trees and Shrubs in the Botanic Garden. By ,
JAmeES M‘NAB 55
On the effects of last winter on. ‘plants in the Belfast Botanic Garden.
By Professor DICKIE ~ ... 55
Account of the origin, and of some of the contents of the Museum at the
Edinburgh Botanic Garden. By Professor BALrour eee 56

PROCEEDINGS FOR JULY, 1855.
On the introduetion of the Cinchona Tree into India. By Dr T.
ANDERSON 62
On the presence of Diatomacee, ke. +» in Soils. By Professor Grecory 69
On the effects of Jast winter’s frost on Plants around Sige. By the

Right Hon. Joun WYNNE ae 72
Botanical Trip to Falkland and Lomond Hills, Fife. “By Professor

Ba.rour om ef oa 73
Report on Diatomacee. ‘By Professor Grecory aes sale 74
Report on Musci, Desmidew, &e. By G. Lawson a aes 75
Sketch of Geology of Lomond Hills, By J. Heoror aoe ate 81
Record of Localities for Rare Plants. By Professor BALFOUR se 82
List of Vegetable Excrescences. By J. Harpy 83
Notice of some of the contents of the Museum at ‘the Edinburgh Botanic

Garden. By Professor BALFoUR = ets 85
Presentation to Mr BARCLAY ... ae Bae ais a. 108

PROCEEDINGS FOR NOVEMBER, 1855. .

On Phyllium Scythe. By A. Murray ... Too a 112
Localities for Rare Plants. By Professor BALFOUR oe ny 112
On Indian Hemp. By James M‘Naz ... ave bas 113
On the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain. By C. ‘C. BABINGTON ... 113
Note on Linaria Sepium By C. C. Basineton 113
On the influence of .last winter on Trees and Shrubs at Aberdeen. By

Professor DicKIE 113
On the Flowering of the Victoria regia in the Glasgow Botanic Garden.

By P. Cuarxe, Curator Sa 118
On the Sieictais of Victoria regia. By G.L 119

Notice of some of the contents of the Manon’ at nt the Edinburgh Botanic
Garden. By Professor BALFOUR 52 i

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY
FOR JANUARY 1855.

The Society met at 6, York Place, on Thursday, 11th January, 1855,
Professor Batrovr, President, in the Chair.

The following candidates were balloted for, and duly elected Ordinary
(Resident) Fellows :-—

Ocravics Jepson, Esq., 2, Nelson Street.

Davin Pamir Macracan, Esq., 28, Heriot Row.
Wiis Nicnot, Esq., 2, Queen Street.

Dr Stevenson Macapam, F.R.S.E., Surgeons’ Hall.
Pau Denecs, Esq., 12, Hill Place.

Huex Macwiay, &sq., 7, Rankeillor Street.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s Library and
Herbarium, viz.—Dr Balfour’s paper “‘ On certain Vegetable Organisms
found in Coal from Fordel,” from the Author; Mr Ondaatjee’s “‘ Observations
on the Vegetable Products of Ceylon, with Suggestions for the Introduction
of a few useful Plants into the Isiand’’ (two pamphlets), from the Author;
Specimens of Hypnum Crista-Castrensis, from near Cupar-Fife, and of Juncus
lamprocarpus, affected by Livia juncorum, from Mr Howie, St Andrews (per
Mr Jenner).

Dr Balfour stated that the following donations had been made to the
Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Garden since last meet-
ing of the Botanical Society :—

From Dr J. B. Balfour, Kilsyth, specimens of coal.

From Robert Begbie, Esq., twelve specimens of wood from Moulmain,

Bi eae Alexander Bryson, Esq., specimen of Cycadites megalophytum,
uckl.

A letter was read from Dr Senoner, Vienna, accompanying plants and
papers for the Society.

Dr Balfour exhibited specimens of diseased Vines, sent by Mr James
Alexander, wine merchant, Frederick Street. He made remarks onthe ex-
tension of the disease throughout almost all the European wine countries, and
read some observations by Mr Quarles Harris on the subject.

Dr Balfour exhibited some interesting plants which he had received from
Mr Kirk, Coventry, including Potamogeton flabellatus, gramineus, and
rufescens ; Myriopyllum pectinatum; Chara flexilis, with the fructification
on the faces of the branchlets, as well as in the axils of the leaves; Rubus
Balfourianus ; R. nitidus; Populus adalascenda ; also specimens of a_peculi-
arly delicate form of Pteris aquilina, Mr Kirk’s remarks upon which are
published in the Scottish Gardener, vol. 4, p 91.

The following papers were read :—

1.—Notes on the Flora of Dumfries, by W. Lauper Lixpsay, M.D., Perth.
—/(Scottish Gardener, iv., p. 91.)

2. Notice of Plants in the neighbourhood of Oban and in part of the Island
of Mull, by Davi Pair Mactacay, Esq. Mr Maclagan’s list embraced
about 400 species and varieties.—({ Scottish Gardener, iv. p. 93-5.)

Mr Evans stated that during a visit to Mull last summer, he observed
Lobelia Dortmanna; Rubus saxatilis; and Cinanthe crocata, near Salen.

3. On Plants found in Strachur, Argyllshire, and in Roxburghshire. By
Wurm Nicuot, Esq.—(Scottish Gardener, iv., p. 95-6.)

4. On the Lichens collected on the Breadalbane Mountains and Woods By

Huex Macsiian, Esq.

5. On Harmonious Colouring in Plants. By Professor M‘Cosn, Belfast.
An abstract has been published.—(Scottish Gardener, iv., p 96.
A

ae

2 PROCEEDINGS OF

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY
FOR FEBRUARY, 1855.

The Society met at 6, York Place, on Thursday, 8th February, 1855,
Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair.
The following candidates were balloted for and duly elected Ordinary Re-
sident Fellows, viz. :—
Puruie Broke Samira, Esq., Abercromby Place.
Dr James Marruews Duncan, F.R.C.P., 55, Castle Street.
A. C. Marneay, Esq., 16, Salisbury Street. ~

Donations to the Society’s Herbarium were announced from Professor Bal-
four and Mr Evans, the former including duplicates of rare Scotch Plants, and
the latter, Orobanche rubra and others in quantity from the Island of Mull.

Dr Balfour mentioned that the following donations had been made to the
Museum of Economic Botany since the last meeting of the Society :—

From Mr G. S. Blackie, specimens of brown coal from Bonn.

From Dr T. A. G. Balfour, specimens of sugar, the produce of Juglans
cinerea the Butter-nut, and of the Sugar Maple.

From Wm. Murray, Esq., Monkland, specimens of Armadale and Calder
Braes gas coal; the former being similar to Torbanehill, and in a like posi-
tion in the strata; also Legbrannoch black band, rough band, and mussel
band ironstones, from the Monkland Iron Works.

From Alex. Hunter, Esq., M.D., specimen of paper, made from the leaves
of the Banana, from Madras.

From Chas. Jenner, l'sq., a beautiful specimen of Sigillaria Ungeri, from
the Wigan Colliery.

From Henry Paul, Esq., an abnormal specimen of Polyporus squamosus,
found in a cellar at Portobello; also a piece of Honduras wood, perforated
by a species of Xylophaga.

From Messrs P. Lawson & Son, cones of the following Pines :—

Pinus nobilis. Pinus Jeffreyi.
» grandis. » Beardsleyi.
» Lambertiana. yy Craigana.
», tuberculata. s> Hookeriana.
3; cephalonica. >> Mac Intoshiana.
», Monticola. Abies Douglasii.

», Pinsapo.
Also specimens of the timber of—

Pinus nobilis.
» Lambertiana.
», Monticola.
» Jeffreyi.
» Beardsleyi.

Pinus Hookeriana.
Thuja Craigana.
Taxus Lindleyana.
Pinus Benthamiana.

And Dissections of the parts of the cones, of the following species of Coni-

ferze :—

Pinus Mac Intoshiana
», Craigana.
»; Lambertiana,
», tuberculata.

33 nobilis.
» deffreyi.
Monticola.

” “é
>, Beardsleyi.

Pinus grandis.

», Hookeriana.
Abies Douglasii.
Taxus Lindleyana.
Cupressus Lawsoniana.
Thuja Craigana.
Cupressus Mac Nabiana.

Acorns of the Valonian Oak, and Herbarium specimen of Pinus Bentha-

miana.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 3

Dr Balfour stated that models in wax of the following Fungi, made by Mr
James B. Davies, had recently been added to the Museum of Economic
Botany—many of which were exhibited :—

Agaricus campestris in the young and Geoglossum hirsutum.

old states. Clavaria coralloides.
» eruginosus. Ascyria punicea.
Boletus luridus, with section. Penicillium glaucum.
» edulis. Aspergillus glaucus.
Polyporus Betulinus, (on Birch). Mucor caninus.
Cautharellus cibarius. Peziza coccinea.
Hydnoum auriscalpium. », aurantiaca.
Sclizophyllum commune. Nidularia campanulata.
Lycoperdon pyriforme. Uredo Geranii (on Geranium).
Scleroderma verrucosum. Vermicularia trichella (on Ivy).
Helvella leucophza. Erysiphe adunea (on Salix).
Morchella esculenta. Puccinia rosz (on Rose).
Phallus foetidus. Polystigma rubrum (on Slee).
Tuber cibarium. Erineum aureum (on Populus niger).
Hypoxylon vulgare, AKcidium laceratum (on Hawthorn).
Spheria punctata. Geaster fornicatus.
Cryptospheria pulchella, (on Birch). Also the Red Snow Alga (Protoco-
Leotia uliginosa. ecus nivalis),

Dr Balfour exhibited from Mr T. Kirk, Coventry, a specimen of Cerastium
triviaie with the carpellary leaves partially turned inwards so as to show
distinet parietal dissepiments, while the placentas were free in the centre.

The following papers were read :—

1. Account of a botanical excursion to the Bremar Mountains in August,
1854, by Professor Balfour. In this paper it was remarked: ‘‘ The records
of botanical trips always possess a certain degree of interest, more especially
to those who have taken partin them. Itis seldom that a zealous botanical
student visits even a well-known locality without making some observation
which tends to the advancement of science. We cannot too strongly impress
upon all naturalists the importance of accurately recording at the time, facts
which may have been brought under their notice, however insignificant they
may appear. It is only by the conjoint exertions of many labourers, both
small and great, that the superstructure of science can be reared upon a sound
and secure basis. Attention to minute objects is becoming of more and more
importance as microscopic investigation proceeds, and the botanist of the pre-
sent day who takes into account the recently added Diatomaceous depart-
ment will find that this field alone will give him sufficient occupation tor a
lifetime. Dr Greville’s report on the Diatoms collected during this Braemar
trip will, I doubt not, show you the interest connected with these micro-
scopic organisms.

* Our botanical trip last autumn was confined to the Bremar district, one
which has often been visited by botanical parties, but which still presents
unexplored treasures. Itis a district interesting in many points of view, and
a visit to it never fails to call forth the enthusiasm of the student. The grand
mountain scenery, the peculiar localities of the plants, the fatigues and trials
connected with the collecting of them, and the mode of living in a Highland
district, all conspire to invest the scene with peculiar charms. We look back
with singular satisfaction to our sojourns among the Scottish Alps, and our
companionship is sweetened in after life by the recollection of the very hard-
ships we underwent.

‘““ My party last autumn consisted of the Rev. John Earle, of Oriel College,
Professor of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford; Mr Barclay, Sheriff-Clerk of Fife; Dr
Gilchrist of Montrose; and Mr George Lawson, our Assistant Secretary and
Curator; Messrs G. C. Bell, H. M. Birdwood, E. W. Cropper, G. 8. Lawson,
James Miller, David Ross, M. J. Soubki, and J. G. Whitehead. We left
Edinburgh by rail on Tuesday 8th August, 1854, at 9.45 a.w., and reached
Aberdeen at 5.30 p.m., and we were accompanied as far as that city by

4 PROCEEDINGS OF

Messrs Katib and Badre, who contented themselves with examining the
botany of that neighbourhood. We proceeded at seven p.m., to Banchory.
Here we found that the extension of railway communication had material y
interfered with our comfort, for there was not a bed to be had in the hotel.
The party accordingly were dispersed in all directions, some being accom-
modated in lodgings, others in a sort of barn, others paying exorbitant
prices for beds in a second class inn, called the Douglas Arms. The adven-
ture taught us a lesson in regard to Banchory in future, and at the same
“otk it initiated some into the discomforts often attendant on botanical
rips.

“On Wednesday, 9th August, we rose more or less refreshed, but all
eager for our work, Sending on our baggage, boards, paper, &e. by cart, we
started after breakfast for Aboyne, which we reached in the afternoon. The
chief plants of interest collected were Rubus cordifolius, Plantago maritima
far from the sea, Goodyera repens, and Trientalis europea. After lunchin
at Aboyne, we proceeded by the suspension bridge over the Dee, and walke
along the southern bank of the River to Ballater, which place we reached in
the evening after a very wet walk, the annoyance of which was soon dis-
pelled by the comfortable arrangements at the inn. On our way we visited
Pannanich chalybeate wells, and found in the neighbourhood, abundance of
Mimulus luteus, a Chilian plant now naturalized in various parts of Britain.
Near Ballater, Melampyrum sylvaticum was gathered in abundance.

“Thursday 10th August, After sending our baggage by cart to Castle-
ton, Braemar, we started on foot at eight in the morning, and walked along
the northern banks of the Dee, as far as the Balmoral Suspension Bridge,
visiting on the way the singular rope bridge across the Dee at Abergeldie,
and gathering a few of the rarer subalpine species of plants. _

“On reaching Balmoral we were allowed to visit all the grounds, through
the kindness of Dr Robertson, and we were accompanied by the intelligent
gurdener, Mr Paterson, The new Palace at Balmoral is being built of
white granite from Glen Gelder, and is a chaste and elegant building. The
flower garden is well kept, and the beautiful private walks in the neighbour-
hood furnish admirable views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. In
the woods of Balmoral we gathered Melampyrum sylvaticum, Neottia Nidus-
avis, Pyrola secunda, Vaccinium Vitis-Idea, and abundance of Lycopodium
clavatum. Wreaths of the latter we were informed were often collected to
grace the Royal table. After spending a considerable time under the guid-
ance of Mr Paterson, in seeing all the objects of interest in the vicinity of
our Queen’s Highland Home, we bent our steps towards the dark Loch-na-
gar, full of energy and zeal, and invigorated by the alpine air. Before
reaching the lake in the Corrie we found specimens of Polypodium alpestre,
a Fern which extended up to the cliffs above the tarn, unaccompanied here
by Athyrium Filix-foemina, We also gathered Drosera anglica. We pro-
ceeded along the cliffs of the mountains towards the deep ravine by which
there is an ascent, a difficult and laborious one, to the summit. The plants
observed were Lastraea dilatata in various states, Saxifraga rivularis, Poa
laxa, P. alpina vivipara, Cerastium alpinum, Cornus sueciea, Hicracium
alpinum very hairy, Phleum alpinum, Luzula spicata, Lycopodium annoti-
num, Equisetum umbrosum, and Allosorus ecrispus, besides all the ordinary
alpine species of plants. The party did not visit the cliff where Mulgedium
alpinum grows. On reaching the summit of the mountain a partial mist
came on, and as the day was now far spent it was necessary to make a
hasty descent towards the Ballochbuy side of the hill. On the way Splachnum
mnioides and Betula nana were seen. On reaching the woods we had some
difficulty in finding our road, and as darkness was coming on there was no
small anxiety as to some of the party who liad lingered on the way. After
various adventures, all the party joined the high road, and reached Castle-
ton Braemar at half-past nine p.m., after a very long and fatiguing walk,
which fully tried the powers of the party as regards endurance. All were

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 5

more or less knocked up'by their exertions, and it was curious to contrast
the buoyancy of the morning with the complete prostration of the evening.
Tea and bed at Mr Clark’s excellent inn, the ‘‘Invercauld Arms,” however,
worked a marvellous change, and on the 11th, we started at ten for a hill
ealled Little Craigindal, in the vicinity of Ben Avon and Ben-na-Bourd.
On this mountain we were rewarded with specimens of Astragalus alpinus
(very sparingly in flower), Carex capillaris, Saussurea alpina, Dryas octope-
tala, Potentilla alpestris, Silene acaulis, Pyrola secunda, P. minor (small
state), Vicia cracea var. angustifolia, and many other alpines. In the wet
places also many Diatoms were picked by Mr Lawson and myself.

“On the 12th August, we took a conveyance to the foot of Loch Callater,
and then walked to the high cliffs in the glen, gathering Carex atrata,
rupestris, stictocarpa, Saussurea alpina, Thalictrum alpinum (abundantly in
flower and fruit), Salix reticulata, arbutifolia, venulosa, Lapponum, &c.,
many Hieracia, Lobelia Dortmanna, and Subularia aquatica, the two last in
Loch Callater ; also numerous Diatomacex, and Desmidiex in the pools and
streams. Rain and wind interrupted our progress in the after part of the day,
and we were compelled to walk back to Castleton without examining the high
rocks above Loch Ceandlich.

“ Sunday the 13th was a day of rest alike for body and mind. We heard
the Rev. Dr Cumming of London preach in the morning, and the Rev. Mr
Cookson in the afternoon.

“On Monday 14th we proceeded in a large car to the back of the Caenlochan
Mountains, the rocks of which we visited, gathering Carex vitilis, aquatilis,
rariflora, capillaris, atrata, Erigeron alpinus, Gentiana nivalis, Sibbaldia pro-
cumbens (very large specimens), Mulgedium alpinum, Saxifraga nivalis,
Veronica alpina and saxatilis, Draba incana, Dryas octopetala, Polystichum
Lonchitis, Polypodium alpestre in large quantity, Poa alpina, P. nemoralis
(alpine var.), P. Balfourii, Pyrola rotundifolia, Asplenium viride, Cerastium
alpinum, and many other alpines. After examining the rocks in this quarter,
we proceeded to the summit of a high mountain called Glass-Meal, whence
we had a'splendid view of all the surrounding mountains and glens. The
afternoon was particularly clear, and we were enabled to see the Lomonds in
Fife, and even the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. The mountain was very
stony, bare, and yielded no plant of interest. We reached the road about 3
miles from the Spittle of Glenshee, and returned to Castleton in the evening.

“Tuesday, 16th August.---The morning being fine, we purposed to visit
Ben-na-Muic-Dhui, and the mountains in its vicinity. Accordingly, we
started at 7 a.mw., taking a conveyance as far as the Linn of Dee. Our party
this day consisted of 15, having been joined by Mr Esson and Mr Rattray.
After viewing the Linn, we proceeded by Glen Lui, gathering in the bed of
the river fine specimens of Arabis petreea. In passing through this glen and
Glen Derry, we remarked many old Fir trees, dead and deprived of their bark,
and showing a beautiful spiral arrangement of their wood. We ascended the
hill by Loch Etichan, which is the point reached by ponies on the way to the
Shelter Stone. We got to the summit of Ben-na-Muic-Dhui between 1 and 2
o'clock, and had a splendid view of the surrounding alpine scenery. The plants
gathered on the summit were---Carex rigida, Luzula spicata, L. arcuata, Silene
acaulis, Salix herbacea, Gnaphalium supinum, Festuca ovina, var. vivipara,
Lycopodium Selago, Dicranum nigro-viride, Polytrichym alpinum, Andrea
rupestris, Trichostomum lanuginosum, Lecidea geographica, Cetraria islan-
dica and nivalis, Cladonia rangiferina and furcata, and species of Gyrophora.
In the vallies round Ben-na-Mac-Dhui many moraines were observed, more
particularly in Glen Derry and Glen Dee. Similar moraines were seen also
near Cairntoul, near Lochnagar, and in the glens leading to Ben-na-bourd and
to Craigindal. On leaving the summit we descended towards the Shelter
Stone and Loch Aven, gathering Carex leporina on the side ofa stream which
flows into the Loch, not far from large patches of snow. Here also Stellaria
cerastoides and other rare alpine plants were picked. Polypodium alpestre

6 PROCEEDINGS OF

was found in large quantity on the ascent to Loch Etichan; also in the de-
scent to Loch Aven. After a wet walk we reached the Shelter Stone, where
we intended to take up our quarters for the night, having previously sent a
pony with some provisions and plaids for our comfort. The stone is a ~~
mass of granite which has fallen from the cliffs in the vicinity. Its
average length is 40 feet: it is 20 feet broad, and about 16 or
18 feet high. Its cubic contents were estimated at 500 cubic yards and its
weight was calculated by Mr Birdwood at 1000 tons. Under it there isa large
space which afforded good shelter for all of the party who chose to avail them-
selves of it. Mr Rattray, afraid of exposure, left us at 7 P.m., and reached
Castleton at about 2 in the morning. The rest of the party occupied them-
selves in pulling abundance of the dwarf Juniper, with the view of making a
fire. From the moderate allowance of viands the Commissariat required to be
put under careful management. After tea sud jove frigido, most of the party
endeavoured to get what repose they could by lying down under the stone.
Some sat up all night beside the fire, fuel having been gathered in sufficient
abundance to keep it burning till breakfast time.

“ On Wednesday 16th August, after making a hearty breakfast in a ve
rustic style we ascended Cairngorm, gathering abundance of Polypodium al.
pestre, Luzula arcuata and other alpines. On reaching the summit at half-
past mine A.M., our view was but transient, owing to the sudden coming on of
mist. We descended to the cliffs which look towards the Spey. These seem
to be worthy ofa more complete examination, and it is probable that the best
way of reaching trem would be from the Aviemreo district. It would be of
great importance to have accommodation on the ee side of this mountain
mass. We walked by the back of Ben-na-Muic-Dhui collecting snow mud
with Diatoms, as well as numerous confervoid plants. Finally, we descended
by avery steep side of Ben-na-~Muic-Dhui into the valley of the Dee, visited
the Wells of Dee in the valley, and found plenty of Polypodium alpestre very
large, and in fine fructification. On the descent from prea “eer Ma
Mr Lawson found Asplenium Filix-foemina considerably above the station for
P. alpestre. Among other plants gathered were Stellaria cerastoides, Vero-
nica alpina, Phleum alpinum and Hieracium alpinum. Rain came on in the
evening, and finding it impossible to visit Cairn Toul and its Corrie, we pro-
ceeded directly by the valley of the Dee to the Linn, and thence to Castleton,
which we reached about 7 in the evening.

“Thursday, August 17. Left Castleton by a conveyance which took us as
far as two or three miles beyond the Linn of Dee, and along the banks of
that river. Thence we walked to the upper part of Glen Tilt, and proceeded
through the glen to the Bridge of Tilt. At the upper part of the glen we
gathered Epilobium angustifolium, some alpine Saxifrages, Polystichum
Lonchitis, Rubus saxatilis, Asplenium viride; and in the woods at the
lower part of it, Melampyrum sylvaticum and Campanula latifolia. Our
party were not interrupted in their progress. The road, however, through
the glen is in one place interrupted by the breaking down of a bridge, and
the stream is so large and rapid that it is no easy matter to ford it.
We took the trouble to trace out the old road which leads to the Bridge
of Tilt, and which has been so dovetailed into new roads in some places as
to render it difficult of detection.

“Friday, 18th August. Leaving the Bridge of Tilt Inn, where we had
been accommodated for the night, we proceeded by the Pass of Killicrankie
to Dunkeld. In the Pass we found that the old road along the banks of the
ri er had been shut up, and a padlocked gate forbade the entrance of any
one withouta guide. We gathered in the Pass, Lathyrus niger in fruit. At
Dunkeld, we met the cart which had conveyed our baggage from Castleton,
and we at once proceeded by train to Edinburgh. Thus ended a very plea-
sant trip, which occupied ten days, and the expense of which amounted to
between L.4 and L.5 each.”

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 7

The paper was illustrated throughout by specimens of the plants men-
tioned, and by a plan of the Flora of the districts examined.

Mr Lawson has prepared the following list of some of the more interesting
Mosses observed during the trip :—

Conostomum boreale, on several spots on the Cairngorm summits, both
barren and fruitful. Polytrichum septentrionale. in similar places as the pre-
ceding, near snow. P. alpinum. P. urnigerum, Balmoral. Hedwigia zstiva,
Glen Callater; capsules not ripe. Hookerialucens, Glen Callater. Hypnum
rufescens H. uncinatum, Glen Callater. H. lycopodioides. H. loreum.
H. rivulare, Brocu. H. Crista-castrensis, Glen Callater. We were too late
in the season to get this in perfection; most of the capsules were fallen.
Zygodon lapponicus, Glen Callater. Weissia acuta, Glen Callater, in great
abundance, and in a fine state. Didymodon capillaceus, Glen Callater.
Fissidens adiantoides, Callater. Dicranum squarrosum. Orthotrichum ano-
malum. O. Drummondiiand O. leiocarpum, Birch trees in the Palace grounds,
Balmoral Splachnum mnioides, very abundant on the footpath leading
through Glen Dee, and on footpath leading from Glen Derry to Ben-na-
Muie-Dhui. Andrza alpina. A. rupestris. Fontinalis antipyretica, slen-
der form; Lochnagar. Bartramia pomiformis, var. crispa. J. gracilis, Glen
Callater. B. fontana, in fruit, and, with antheridia, very abundant in the
glen leading to Craigindall. Bryum pallens, Glen Callater. B. cuspidatum.
B. crudum, Glen Callater. B, ventricosum, margins of streams in the glen,
going to Craigindal. B. Zierii, Glen Callater. B. nutans. B. subglobosum (?),
barren. B. obconicum, found on the way between Castleton and Craigindal.
Only one station is given for this species in the Bryologia Britannica—viz.,
near Barnard Castle; but it hasalso been found by Mr Wilson in Wales.

2.—Report on the Diatomacee collected in Braemar in the autumn of 1854
by Professor Barrour and Mr Grorce Lawson. By Dr GrevitLe.

The author of this paper observed :—

“* Individuals are still alive who remember the excitement produced by
the discoveries of that indefatigable naturalist, George Don—discoveries of
which he so long retained the exclusive distinction that it began to be
doubted whether he had made any discoveries at all. In due time, however,
when Scottish botany revived under the influence of the late Professor
Graham and his pupils, and still more under the enthusiastic leadership of
our present Professor, not only have most of the phenogamous plants added
to the British Flora by George Don been again found, and in considerable
abundance, but many others of equal interest. At the same time, several of
the Cellulosz attracted corresponding attention, especially the Mosses, He-
patice, and Algw, and a host of new or rare species have been the result.
The Lichens have been comparatively neglected ; and a wide field is open to
any ardent young botanist willing to enter upon it.

** It cannot be expected, that year after year botanical excursions into the
Highlands should be rewarded by new acquisitions. The most lynx eyed of
Dr Balfour’s followers can scarcely now hope to do more than add a new
station now and then for some of the rarer plants; still it is something to
think of, and will always remain a source of delight to collect for one’s self,
plants peculiar to remote districts, and amidst the grandest scenery. Nor
is this pleasure at all diminished by our having to penetrate into regions not
particularly prolific in what the delicately nurtured consider essential com-
forts; where we must be prepared on occasions to pass the night under a
stone, or to be initiated in the right construction of a Heather bed; to learn
the mystery of brewing tea at the bottom of a kail-pot, and to assemble 4000
feet nearer the sun, by the time many a man, who fancies himself an early
riser, is taking his breakfast in our large cities.

** Within the last few years a new field of inquiry has been opened to

8 PROCEEDINGS OF

the botanist. Recent investigations have led to the separation of a large
number of those minute organisms which Ehrenberg included in his magni-
ficent work oninfusorial animals. Kutzing and other continental writers re-
gard them as unquestionably of a vegetable nature; and the subject has
been taken up in the same point of view by the Rev. William Smith, now
Professor of Natural History in the Cork College, who has published the
first volume of an admirable work on the British species. His figures—far
more accurate than any which had previously appeared, render the investi-
gation of those microscopic forms comparatively easy, and the Diatomace,
as the family is called—are likely to become as popular as any others in the
vegetable kingdom. They can be collected with the greatest facility by the
travelling naturalist, a supply of small bottles, and a spoon for skimming the
surface of wet mud, being the whole apparatus required. It is true that he
cannot ascertain the value of his collections, or gatherings as they are generally
called, unless he can enjoy the leisurely use of a good microscope; but he
has the comfort of knowing that his siliceous treasures are indestruetible ;
that he is almost certain to secure something good if not new; and he
enters upon the examination of them at any future time, with much the same
feeling that the collector of marine productions overhauls the mass which his
dredge has brought up from the mysterious depths of the sea. In this
department, then, the active botanist may hope to be rewarded by the dis-
covery of novelties for some years to come.

‘* During his excursion to Braemar in the course of last autumn, Professor
Balfour did not neglect the Diatomacez. He and Mr Lawson filled a goodly
array of bottles with materials collected at a high elevation, where patches of
snow are always to be found on the higher Grampians, down to the yalleys of
Braemar, Glen Callater and Glen Tilt, and I may here mentionasa proof how
easily such things may be“preserved, that, when their supply of bottles ran
short, they made use of linen rag ; and it happened that several of the gather-
ings so brought home—looking nothing better to the naked and unlearned e\ e
than coarse black mud—contained some of the most interesting forms.

‘*In Mr Smith’s work, some very interesting species are mentioned as hay-
ing been found at a high elevation on the Grampians, and some of them in the
mud deposited by the melting of the snow on Ben-na-Mac-Dhui. Dr Balfour
was kind enough to collect some of thismud, but it proved entirely unpro-
ductive.

‘« After cleaning and preparing the gatherings placed in my hands, I sent a
_ portion of each to the Rev. William Smith, in order to obtain from him an
authoritative determination of the new and more dubious forms, which he
very kindly communicated to me. As an illustration of the care required in
the examination of collections of this kind, I may mention that at the last, I
observed a form which both of us had overlooked, and which proved to be an
additional new species.

‘« The following is a general list of the species collected. It is not so ex.
tensive as might have been expected, but it is rich in interesting forms. The
novelties, whether new species or otherwise, are printed in italics—

Epithemia alpestris, W: Sm. Eunotia guaternaria, Ehr.
£ rupestris, W. Sm. Cymbella cuspidata, Kutz.
gibba, (Ehr.) vs is, Kutz.
sig turgida, (Ehr.) ..» Ventricosa, Kutz.
Eunotia Arcus, (Ehr.) ... Scotica, W. Sm.
+ incisa, Greg. ... Helvetica, Kutz.
gracilis, W. Sm .. limata, W. Sm.
monodon, Ehr- --.» @qualis, W. Sm.
diodon, Ehr., 3 forms. Amphora ovalis, Kutz.
Camelus, Ehr. Cocconeis Pediculus, Ehr.
triodon, Ehr. 2 forms. Cyclotella operculata, Kutz.
tridentula, Ehr. Surirella linearis, W. Sm.

tetraodon, Ehr. .» biseriata, Breb.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. i 9

Cymatopleura Solea, (Kuts.) Gomphonema dichotomum, Kutz.
oes cocconetjormis, Greg- a tenellum, W. Sm.
... Fhomboides, Ehr. ees capitatum, Ehr.with var. 6
crassinervia, Breb. -+ olivaceum, (Lyngb.)
... serians, Kutz. lair intricatum, Kutz.
... firma, Kutz. Meridion circulare, Ag.
ovalis, W. Sm. ..» constrictum, Ralfs.
angustata, W. Sm. Himantidium Arcus, Ebr.
... gibberula, Kutz. tas majus, W. Sm.
+. eryptocephala, Kutz. ove pectinale, (Dillw.)
Pinnularia major, (Kutz. tee undulatum, W. Sm.
es viridis, (Ehr.) Odontidium hyemale, Lyngb.
ee hemiptera, Breb. ste mesodon, (Ehr.)
pe acuminata, W. Sm. oes anomalum, W. Sm.
lata, (Breb.) oes Tabellaria, W. Sm.
alpina, W. Sm. os ? Harrisonii, var. W. Sm.
late-striata, Greg. Denticula tenuis, Kutz.
radiosa, (Kutz.) + obtusa, (Lyngb.)
Le acuta, W. Sm. +. Sinuata, W. Sm.
nae tenuis Fragilaria virescens, Ralfs.
divergens, W. Sm. Achnanthidium, flexellum, Breb.
a= stauroneiformis, W. Sm. st lanceolatum, Breb.
Stauroneis Phoenicenteron, Ehr. Diatoma tenue, (Ag.)
pe gracilis, Ehr. Diatomella Balfouriana, W. Sm.
23 anceps, Ehr. Tabeilaria flocculosa, (Roth.)
Synedra lunaris, Ehr. -. fenestrata, (Lyngb.)
radians, W.Sm.,with var. band cMelosira nivalis, W. Sm.
Gocconema lanceolatum, Ehr. ... distans, Kuts.
= Cistula, Ehr. Orthosira spinosa, W. Sin.

Gomphonema acuminatum,Ehr.withvar.c ... orichalcea, (Mert.)

Dr Greville proceeded to notice in detail the new species, those which
were added for the first time to the British Flora, and one or two others of
interest.

The paper will appear at length in the Annals of Natural History, and the
Society’s Transactions.

- 3.—On the Geological Relations of some rare Alpine plants. By Dr Gu
CHRIST.

The author remarked :—

“In August, 1853, I formed one of the party which now annually employs
itself, in Botanical pursuits, under the auspices of Professor Balfour. Our
ground for that year was the now classic one, botanicaliy, of Clova. While
there, we had an opportunity of gathering a few of those plants, which,
from their rarity and isolation, would almost warrant the inference, either
that they are new creations which have not yet had time to secure posses-
sion of a wider extent of surface, or that they are aged plants which have
lived their time, and, yielding to the universal law of created life, are abuot
to disappear for ever from this scene of things. Not being well satisfied
with either of those theories, it occurred to me that some approximation,
at least, to the solution of the problem, might be obtained by an ascertain-
ment of the nature and relations of each individual plant—a problem, no
doubt, very difficult of solution, from its extreme complexity, involving, as
it does, not only an accurate knowledge of the plant itself, in its living and
its dead state, its anatomy, its physiology, its chemistry, but also its entire
relation to whatever can modify its growth—to the soil on which it grows,
to the air which it breathes, to the sun which gives it light, to the rain,
dew, or snow which afford it moisture, to the electrical conditions which in-
fluence its chemico-vital affinities ; in short, its relations to fire, air, earth,

and water, :

B

10 PROCEEDINGS OF

‘*T had not the presumption to attempt the solution of such difficulties,
but applied myself to the more modest task (which was more in accordance
with my geological tastes), of ascertaining the relations of the plants to the
soil on which they grew, and my success or failure will be indicated by the
following illustrations :—

«The first plant thus examined was the Oxytropis campestris, a plant, as
botanists well know, rare in Britain, and confined to a single isolated locality
in Clova. There it grows on a cliff facing the south in Glen Fiadh. The
cliff is somewhat isolated from the surrounding rocks, by two perpendicular
indentations running along the entire face of the rocks, which, as they are
not the result of water, but of weathering, would indicate some change in
the structure or composition of the rocks. This is at once confirmed by an
examination of the rocks themselves. That on which the plant grows, and
to whichit is limited, is a Micaceous Schist, extremely rich in mica, of a
dark colour, and rapidly undergoing decomposition. The immediately sur-
rounding rocks are of the same general character ; but the mica is greatly less
in proportion to the other materials, and lighter in colour.

‘¢ The next plant which came under my notice, was the Lychnis alpina,
a plant also confined to a few isolated localities. It grows on the summit of
a hill, called Little Gilrannoch, at about equal distances from Glens Isla and
Dole. It seems limited to about half an acre of surface. The rock is a
tabular mass of compound felspar, apparently capable of resisting decomposi-
tion. While in many places, it is bare and flag-like, other portions of it pre-
sent asingularly rough and irregular surfaee, as if the rocks had undergone
fusion, previous to expulsion, small portions of it bearing a distinct resem-
blance to similar specimens from the so called ‘ vitrified forts.’ The rela-
tions of this plant to the rock on which it grows, are well seen, many of the
specimens growing in little crevices of the bare rock, where there is not the
slightest vestige of soil, ordinarily so called. The rock coextensive with
the limits of the plant, is unvaried in character. Its relations to those around
could not be ascertained.

‘* Enjoying a similar trip to Braemar this season, (1854), I had further
opportunities of pursuing the enquiry. The Astragalus alpinus, another of
the class of plants of which I have been speaking, crowns the summit of
Craigindal, a hill about 3000 feet in height. To the east of Braemar, we
gathered specimens of this elegant little plant, in two separate localities, at
considerable distances from each other, but the rocks, on which both grew,
were the same, a very pure compact felspar, of which the entire hill seems to
be formed.

‘«The Gentiana nivalis, found in Glen Isla, was also examined as to its
Hae relations ; but, from the varying character of the rock, and the
ificulty of finding the plant, so as to ascertain its exact limits, the
examination was not satisfactory. A porphyritie granite, rich in felspar,
associated with a dark syenite, abounding in hornblende, was the prevailing
rock.

‘With reference to the plants examined, two facts seem to have been
ascertained: first, that each plant was limited in its range to a rock of the
same specific character: second, that, in one case, at least,—the only one in
which the examination could be completed—the limits of the plants’ distri-
bution, and of the rock possessing such character was identical. On the
ascertainment of these two facts, the writer would base the propriety of
these remarks, as well as of the question be has now to ask, whether a
farther and more minute examination is not justifiable and desirable.

‘* It is obvious that this brings us only to the threshhold of the enquiry,
for the relations of a plant to the soil cannot be determined by the external

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. ll

characters alone of the rock on which it grows. They may serve as indi-
cators, as we think we have proved they do. If they do this, it is well.
If they do not, it may still be well. For example, a plant may require, at
least for its healthy and continued existence, a small quantity of some
specific salt. (ne portion of an ordinary granite rock might yield this salt,
or the “materials for its formation, merely by undergoing a slight change in
the composition of its mica, so slight as not to alter the external characters
of the rock; while another portion of it, with the same external characters,
might be destitute of it; and consequently, unable to sustain the plant.
Again, the same plant might be found growing upon rocks specifically
different, simply because the pabulum which the plant required was to be
found in both, yet not in such quantity as to modify the external character
of either. To conclude, in either case, that the plant had no relation to the
rock on which it grew, would be manifestly erroneous.

‘¢ What we want, therefore, is not the geologist merely, but also an ac-
complished mineralogist. To complete the inquiry, there should be added a
meteorologist and analytical chemist. Surely at our next autumnal trip
Edinburgh might supply these materials.

‘¢ The botanical trips of Professor Balfour are well known; but we are
afraid they are viewed by many rather as holiday rambles than as a means of
bringing most important contributions to practical science. Should some
such definite inquiry as that indicated form an item in the next bill of fare, it
might inspire with new enthusiasm the whole party, and justify its leader in
setting up a new claim to the gratitude of the scientific public.”

4, Descriptions of some New Coniferous Trees, recently introduced into this
country by Mr William Murray of San Francisco. By AnprEw Morray,
Esq.

The expedition in which they had been procured left San Francisco under
Mr W. Murray’s direction last autumn, and explored a considerable part of
the range of mountains which runs between the coast range and the Rocky
Mountains, lat. 40°, 41°, &c., N. The new Pines which Mr Murray de-
scribed were the following, viz. :—

Pinus Beardsleyi.— From the description given, it would appear that this
tree has more affinity with Benthamiana than any other described species ;
but the cone of Benthamiana is5 inches long, while that of Beardsleyi is only
3 inches. Its leaves are 11 inches in length, while in Beardsleyi they are
only Ginches. The sheath of the leafin Benthamiana is an inch long, while
in Beardsleyi it is short, being only an eighth of an inch. The wing of the
seed in Benthamiana is much longer and larger than in Beardsleyi, and the
seed itself is nearly twice aslarge, The timber of Beardsleyi is homogenous
all through ; the heart of Benthamiana is redder than the sap wocd, and the
sap wood runs along way intothe stem. The tree is of great beauty and
size ; one which was cut down measured 123 feet in height, and 44 inches in
diameter at the stump. Another tree next it measured 17 feet 4 inches in
circumference three feet from the ground. The stem was a very handsome
column, about thirty feet to the first branch; timber good andclear. It was
found on the top of the mountain same altitude as P. Jefireyi, Monticola,
and grandis, and higher than Benthamiana or Lambertiana. The Pine has
been named in honour of A. F. Beardsley, Esq., who accompanied Mr Mur-
ray in his expedition.

Pinus Craigana. This is a tree which also has some resemblance to Ben-
thamiana, as well to the preceding species (Beardsleyi). It differs from it in
having the prickle of the scale pointing towards the tip instead of the base.
The prickle too is strong and firm in Craigana; in Beardsleyi, it is small
and weak. The apophysis or excrescence on the exposed part of the scale
is much more developed in Craigana than in Beardsleyi, which has the ex-

12 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

posed part somewhat flat, while in Craigana the upper part projects consi-
derably over the lower. The wing of the seed of Craigana is shorter and
relatively broader—the seed is nearly twice the size of that of Beardsleyi,
although the cones are about the same size. The leaf of Craigana is also
very distinct from that of Beardsleyi. It is much finer and not so long,
while its sheath is considerably longer and more delicate. This species was
found in the same mountains as Beardsleyi, but one-fourth of a mile further
down, and higher up than Benthamiana. It spreads its branches wider from
the stems than Benthamiana, and sheds its seed a month later. This Pine
has been dedicated to Sir William Gibson-Craig, who has done so much for
the introduction and cultivation of this valuable family.

Abies Hookeriana. This species is closely allied to Pattoniana introduced
by Jeflrey, and figured by the Oregon Committee, but may be readily dis-
tinguished from it by the following characteristics. Both trees are of
exceeding beauty; but Pattonianais described by Jeffrey as being 150 feet
in height and towering over the rest of the forest: the height of Hookeriana
was only about 50 feet. The cones of Pattoniana are uniformly of a dark
brown colour, while those of Hookeriana are of a light fawn, somewhat
of the hue of our common Larch cone. ‘The scales of Pattoniana are at
least a third less than those of Hookeriana, they are deeply and firmly
crenulated, while those of Hookeriana are not crenulated. ‘The bract of
Pattoniana is quite differently formed from Hookeriana; in the latter it
commences to contract near the top, which it does not in the former. The
seed and the wing of Pattoniana are both about one-third shorter than in
Hookeriana, and the wing of the former has a purplish brown tinge at the
top and back, while the latter is entirely fawn coloured. This species was
found high up the Californian mountains, about lat. 41°.N., where the
ground was already covered with snow on the 16th of October.

Cupressus Lawsoniana. This was the handsomest tree seen in the whole
expedition. It was found on the banks of a stream in a valley on the moun-
tains; is about 100 feet high, and 2 feet in diameter; the foliage is most
delicate and graceful. The branches spread upwards like a Spruce, and hang
down at the tips like an ostrich feather—the top shoots droop like a Deodar.
The timber is good, clear, and workable.

,Cupressus Macnabiana. This is the same species as one sent home by
Jeffrey, without a name, and distributed by the Oregon Committee in 1852.
The cone is about the size of a Hazel nut, with hard scales, having a project-
ing umbo in the centre, It is of small growth, and fitted for shrubbery.

Taxus Lindleyana. This tree was found growing on the banks of a creek,
under the shade of lofty trees. It was of considerable size; the trunk of
one which was measured being 50 inches in circumference at 5 feet from the
ground. The branches are exceedingly long and pendulous, and the wood
extremely elastic. It is used by the savages for their bows. The berry is
red, and grows on the under side of the branches. It is exactly like the berry
of the Irish yew, and has one seed iu each.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. ia

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY
FOR MARCH, 1855.

The Society met at 6, York Place, on Thursday, 8th March, 1855. Pro-
fessor Balfour, President, in the Chair.

The following candidates were balloted for and duly elected Ordinary Re-
sident Fellows, viz. :—

Wiri1am Armsrrone, Esq., 5, Saunders Street.
Anprew Murray, Esq., of Conland, W.S., 1, Scotland Street.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s Library and Her-
barium, viz. :—Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, from the
Club; American Plants from Mr David Philip Maclagan.

Professor Balfour exhibited the following Donations to the Museum of
Economic Botany, made since the last meeting of the Society :—

From William Rashleigh, Esq., younger of Mannibilly, Cornwall, Peculiar
Fasciated Stem from Brazil,-probably a species of Bannisteria; Stem of Ban-
nisteria scandens, shewing the effect of compression; Fruit from the West
Indies.

From Mrs Murray of Philiphaugh, Selkirk, Broom made from Bamboo and
Palm fibres.

From Mrs Spottiswoode, section of gle Marmelos, Bela or Pel of India,
a remedy in dysentery.

From George Keith, Esy., Northumberland Street, section of a Cedar of
Lebanon from Lebanon ; of an Olive from Gethsemane; and of Abraham’s Oak
from Hebron.

From Miss Yule, Inverleith Row, Legume, of a species of Dolichos; two
specimens of the fruit of the Sand Box Tree (Hura crepitans); Whip
formed from a branching Alga from South America, (Lessonia sp.)

From Charles Jenner, Esq., Preparation of the Leaf of Buxbaumia aphylla
in the microscope. c

From Robert Daw, Esq., three specimens of Fordel Coal, with peculiar
organic bodies. J

From Professor Christison, a new “ Ground-nut” (Voandesia) from Bam-
badra, near Timbuctoo; pods of the Bambadra Tobacco plant, &c.

The following papers were read :—

1. A Comparative View of the more important stages of development of some
o the higher Cryptogamia and the Phanerogamia. By Cuar.es JENNER,

sq.

_This paper will appear in the Annals of Natural History, and in the So-
ciety’s Transactions. The following Table indicates the views taken by the
author of the analogies of the various processes of reproduction in the Musci,
Filices, and Phanerogamia :—

Cc

14

MUSCI.

ARCHEGONIUM
OR
SroRANGIUM.

PROCEEDINGS OF

COMPARATIVE TABLE.

PHANEROGAMIA.

OVARIUM.

Placental Bud.

FILICES.

SPORANGIUM
OR
THECA,.

Axile Bud or

Nucleal Germ. RESTING
Spore. RESIdE

S Ovular =. Primine.

Sporular Envelope. Envelopes.) — Secundine. Pro-Embryo.
pi Embryo Sac.

“Embryonal Cell. Germinal Vesicle. Archegonial Cell.

FECUNDATION FECU ‘DATION ¥ECUN VATION
Fertilized Fertilized Fertilized
Embryonal Cell m2 Germinal Vesicle Archegonial Cell.
or Spore. RESTA
Confervoid Pro-Embryo. Confervoid Suspensor. Septate Cellular Process.
Plumular Bud. Plumule. ge Plumular Bud.
Phyllary Axis. Phyllary Axis. Phyllary Axis.
DESCRIPTIVE TABLE:
PHANERO.
MUSCI. GAMIA. FILICES.
Arehegonium Sporangium
GENERAL INVESTING ORGAN. or Ovarium. or
Sporangium. Theca.
~ Ovular
ij ; Envelopes.
arse Sporular -——
SpeciA INVESTING ORGAN. Mexnbranc. | ees Pro-Embryo.
Seeundine.
Embryo Sae.
1 Embryonal Germinal Archegonial
GERMINAL Bopy. Cell. Vesicle. Cal,

2. Notes of a Botanical Tour in the Channel Islands in August, 1854—By .
Mr C. Baxrer—Communiecated by Mr James Rar,

On arriving at St Heliers, the author first searched for Asplenium lan-
ceolatum, which he found so abundant as to render it unnecessary to mention
localities ; it was growing on banks everywhere, and readily distinguished
from A. Adiantum-nigrum, not only by its lanceolate fronds, but by the pinnse

THE BOYPANICAL SOCIETY. 15

being all reflexed as if by drought, a circumstance which does not occur
with its kindred species.

On the grassy slopes close to St Heliers, he found Silene anglica, Bras-
sica Cheiranthus, Delphinium Consolida. Near the second Martello
tower, by the roadside, Allium sphzrocephalum, A vineale, Arenaria planta-
ginea, Silene conica. Ona sandy flat near the centre of the bay, Centaurea
Calcitrapa, and Matthiola sinuata, the latter but sparingly west of the tower
above Mautinel. By the roadside near St Aubins is a piece of marshy
ground, producing Cicendia filiformis, Anagalis tenella Herniaria, glabra,
Lotus angustissimus, Trifolium suffocatum, Samolus Valerandi, Sparganium
simplex, and Alisma ranunculoides.

The locality given for Gymnogramma leptophylla, is a lane leading to “ La
Quart,” on the St Aubins side of the bay. He found it but sparingly{distri-
buted, and not likely to hold a prominent place long, owing to so many coarse
plants growing on the banks. The principal habitat of this plant is a lane
leading from the bay a mile from St Heliers. The situation is dry, and the
soil a light loam. Of the dried remains of fronds, very little was visible, but
the stipes were very numerous, showing that the plants had been plentiful.

In a moist lane near St Aubins, he found two interesting plants, Sibthorpia
europea and Isolepis gracilis. Beyond St Aubins he gathered Papaver hy-
bridum, Linaria minor, Antirrhinum Orontium, Polycarpon tetraphyllum,
Mercurialis ambigua, Centaurea solstitialis, Trifolium strictum, and Festuca

lauca.
S Betwixt ‘ La Moye Point” and the “ Corbierre,” Mr B. met with Lythrum
hyssopifolium, Peplis portula, Helianthemum guttatum, Sium augustifolium,
and Scillaautumnalis. On the cliffs were Rubia peregrina, Asperula cynanchica
and Asparagus officinalis, Near this was found Inula crithmoides, not in
salt marshes, its assigned locality, but.on the most inaccessible cliffs, and al-
ways accompanying Crithmum maritimum.

St Ouen’s Bay, 7 miles from St Heliers, the most southern part of the Bri-
tish Isles, has rather a peculiar Flora; it is a large piece of land, apparently
formed by accumulated sands, containing a piece of brackish water. The rare
Centaurea Isnardi is said to grow here, but is now almost extinct. (C. Sal-
mautica and C. paniculata have lately been discovered in the island). Orchis
laxiflora, Bartsia viscosa, Erythrea pulchella, Centunculus minimus, Anthe-
mis maritima, Euphorbia Paralias, Bupleurum aristatum, Linaria Peleseri-
na, Orobanche czrulea, and Ranunculus ophioglossifolius, constitute the
rarer plants found in this neighbourhood.

In the mild climate of Jersey very little frost is felt, consequently many of
our ordinary greenhouse plants have stood for years unprotected. In the
nursery grounds of Mr Saunders are fine specimens of Metrosideros, Arau-
earia Cunninghami, and masses of Camellias ; but Mr Curtis, in his garden
at Rozel, has surpassed all others in testing the hardiness of plants. The
situation is a rock, with a southern aspect, overlooking the little harbour of
Rozel. This has been terraced throughout, and now forms a miniature Bo-
tanic Garden of the most romantic description ; numerous species of Mesem-
bryanthemum form a grand feature in the more exposed and overhanging
crags, many of them now forming immense pendant masses.

In this neighbourhood was discovered what was considered an approach to
Asplenium acutum. It is not such a well marked plant as that recently dis-
covered by Dr Allman, in Ireland. The Jersey plant is more like the Ma-
deira form, the fronds recurved pendulous, slender, and the pinne acute. We
may look upon it as another link between A. acutum and A. Adiantum
nigrum.

Mr Rae stated that Mr Stark had received living plants of all the more in-
teresting species found by Mr Baxter.

3 On some gall-like appearances on the leaves of a species of Chrysophyllum
from the Rio-Negro collected by Mr Serucr. By Mr James Harpy, Pen-
manshiel,

These productions consist of aconsiderable number of deep brown, polygonal
or sub-oblong spots, situated near each other on the under surface of the leaf,

16 PROCEEDINGS oF

andoccupying slight depressions. They are about one line in diameter, and are
only slightly raised above the level of the leaf, and are very densely covered
with a short, closely intertwined, crisp hair. From each of these, when per-
fect, arises a small sub-globular wart, about three-fourths of a line in diameter.
These are of a pale chestnut, and are also densely pubescent, but the hair is
longer, and nearly straight. The upper surface of the leaves opposite to these
spots is slightly protuberant, and sometimes withered. Occasionally there
is asmall depression corresponding to the centre of the gall; but this is never
pierced. The gall-formed portions are hollow in the centre, and in one of the
largest was traced something like the smooth walls of a cell, although it was
not quite free from the hairs that occupy the interior as well as the outside.
Externally they appear to be closed at the apex, but this is owing to a dense
coating of these hairs overlying the orifice. They appear to have been the
habitation of some insect, but at present are mere empty cenotaphs. They
have probably not attained their full growth, and this will account for the
want of a definite nucleus. The substratum reminds one of the agency of
Mites, while the central elevation is more like the work of a Gall-midge.
There is a minute immature yellow scale near one of the patches, allied to
Coccus Hesperidium, but its presence appears to be accidental,

Specimens of the leaves were shown by Professor Balfour.

4, Extracts from a letter from Dr Circuorn, on the discovery by Major Cor-
TON of the Gutta Percha plant in Malabar. Communicated by Professor Bat-
rour. In his letter, dated 13th January, 1855, Dr Cleghorn remarks :—
‘“‘ Three days ago Major Frederick Cotton of the Madras Engineers, made a
discovery which will win for his name almost as much notoriety as that which
waits on his distinguished brother. Riding through the Wynaad district a
week or two since, and intent as usual on making the most of his opportuni-
ties, he discovered the Gutta Percha tree, and forwarded a specimen of the
gum with a branch of the plant to me, from which it appears to be a true
Isonandra. It is believed that the tree grows abundantly in the jungles of
Malabar, but that is a point which é¢an only be asourtaiellt by diligent search.
The importance of the discovery can hardly be over-rated, now that the
forests of Singapore have been almost entirely exhausted. The Government
will no doubt take measures to prevent the wholesale destruction of trees in
the present instance, by placing them under a strict conservancy. We await
further intelligence from the jungle with very deep interest.”

5. On some Plants which have recently Flowered in the Royal Botanie Gar-
den. By Professor Batrour. These plants were Tricyrtis pilosa, Bouce
rosia Munbyana—noticed by Munby in his Flora of Algiers, and Erianthus
japonicus. The last had been sent to the Garden under the name of Nepal
Sugar Cane. In regard to it Major Madden writes—‘‘ E. japonicus occurs
all along the Himalaya from Assam up to Simla, growing on the northern
sides of the mountains, in damp woods, and generally near rivulets, up to 7000
feet, or perhaps 7500, and is a fine species That in the Garden is as yet
small. I sent the seeds to, Glasnevin from Kemaon some years since, and
this, I suspect, is some of their produce. It has only recently been identified
as the Japan plant, and you will find it frequently noted in Griffith’s Jour-
nals as Saccharum rubrum. It has, however, no saccharine qualities, and
dees not merit the name of Nepal Sugar Cane.”

Mr M‘Nas laid before the meeting the following table of observations of
the Lowest ena tae indicated by the Register Thermometer kept at the
Botanic Garden during January and February 1855—

Average lowest temperature for January 31° Fah.
Average lowest temperature for February 23°.
Average lowest temperature from 15th January to 28th February 23°.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY.- 17

anes b ... 137 © dans 16.:.:. 30 (Jan. 31 ....-30°|Feb. 15... S
eee ee ASO) Ag. es iMeb. 1 222/159]... 16) °°... 10°
=~ 2M eng: Shea Wena eal pies Sle) = mao 17 25°
_ ASS) Le =. 32° aes oo 18 15¢
a. 5 ic 432 20 29° 4 35° 19 94
G G2 44982 - OP t:5-:349 5 33° 20 15°
Fe Se SY ane | “A cacao > 6 31° 21 18°
Soi ano tes tee sss BOO 7 26° 22 21°
Ye Se es 24 ... 320 8 27° 23 22°
1a sore. 26. 52.29! fe. 28e 24 30°
11 Soo te 96. <0 302 10 29° 25 31°

a hie - 27° Th StS} 11 22° 26 26°
13 EMRO beat SR = 22.0 2 AGS 27 31°
14 Zb° 29- .2. 19° 13 17° 28 35°
15 34° Me jae 22C 14 14°

Mr M‘Nab also called attention to the following table, forwarded to him
by Mr John Reid, Orton Hall, Peterborough, Yorkshire, for the purpose of
showing the severity of the frost during the 40 days storm, as noted at 7
a.m. daily.

;
Jan. 15 ... 4°|Jan.97 ... 6° |Feb. 7 ... 42 |Feb. 18 ... 26°
Petpet Gis.) 25". 2..4¢ OO 8 Grite aut .7 19-).-. 22°
Mite ee oe OO Ss. ~4° bass ie dg LY, San AD. 8) ese LO
Peer eee ee fe * 30. LO yg 6° 21 ge
BOR ct FLO 31 2° so. £0 big 22 20°
See) OC) Keb: t 4° 11 18° 23 5°
zee ye 5 TAS 2 12° 12 Z2 24 14°
BF lise, AP 3 thaw Us Re ee oe 25. ...change
73 ie ee 4 cold east 14 0° 26 0°
= DA: ye wind 15 - 18° 27 4°
ceed sek? epee te 16 a i6° 28 0°
Ee Or ina: OS 6 122 17 Z12°

Average lowest temperature from 15th Jan. t 28th Feb. 1855, 8°.
Average lowest temperarure for Feb. 1855 10°.

Register of the flowering of the first spring plants in the Royal Botanic
Garden, since the breaking up of the storm, as compared with the four
previous years, by Mr M‘Nab :—

1855 1854 1853 | 1652 | 1851. |
Galanthus nivalis... ..|March 2) Jan. 24| Jan. 24) Jan. 28) Jan. 17|
Eranthis hyemalis__... Be ein Sets. Soe. AL si eH] 3 a5
Knappia agrostidea_... ee OD Sati. at hy eel 25": 28
Leucojum vernum —... » 3] ,, 15|March21|) Feb. 21) ,, 20
Crocussusianus _... aa) Pihatye ee Pet sae i O)s, se Sh. es 26|
Sisyrinchium grandiflorum | Sl Cag ie ek got: BE ee
Erica herbacea aoe » OF 4, 20] Jan. 28) Jan. 24) ,, 16|
Crocus vernus vars. » 6] ,, 4\March15| Feb. 18| Feb. 3}
Hepatica triloba » 7 Jan. 20| Feb. 2) |

{ During the middle of January, the following plants were in flower, but
ph by the late storm:—Helleborus odorus; H. olympicus; H. viridis ;
- atrorubens; H. niger; Tussilago fragrans.

Dr T. Betz Sarrer sent the following Meteorological Observations taken
during the month of February, 1855, at Ryde, Isle of Wight, by Mr Barnow,
and lists of plants in flower at the same place, during the months of January
and February last, as observed by himself. ‘

18 PROCEEDINGS OF

en vcunCrene
o
no
BARoMETER READINGS TEMPERATURE OF AIR. Be Rain
CorRECTED. 5°O
ad es by | abe
S| Sul | Pele se
ss S/ $| sg | 3s) o3) Sal culgsics
‘= o ¢ x 2 & | gal ee] aal galoos~
ec: | s| 2| =F] €| S5| 82) 8] 8° sis=
Men.| HY 3 | S| 8] 4) 2 |S.) be eee
cd in. in: ° ° ° ° ° ° ° o | ane

29.647 | 29.981 | 29.231 | 31.7| 60.0} 18.0 | 32.0| 37.8) 25.9 11.9] 30.81 0.23) 9

The mean elastic force of vapour, or that portion of the reading of the
barometer due to the pressure of water mixed with the air in the invisible
shape of vapour, was 0.189 inch; therefore the pressure of dry air was 29.983
inches. The weight of vapour, in a cubic foot of air, was 2.22 grains. The
degree of humidity, considering complete saturation to be represented by 100,
was 0.768, and the weight of a cubic foot of air, under the mean pressure of
temperature and humidity, was 554.7 grains

Summary of direction of wind for the same month.

INS | | a «>| SaWs |) AW ae

MontuLy List oF SOME OF THE PLANTS FLOWERING IN THE OPEN AIR IN RypE
AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, AS SHOWING THE CHARACTER OF THE CLIMATE AND
SEAsoN, For JANUARY, 1855.

The area comprised is bounded on the west by Wottom Creek and stream, on
the south by the highest line of the Downs, and on the north and east by
the sea. All bedded-out plants which have not lived through one win
ter in the open ground, are excluded from the list or else enclosed in
brackets.

Ix roe Witp Srate.—Ranunculus repens; Fumaria micrantha; Capsella
Bursa-pastoris ; Nasturium officinale; Sisymbrium officinale, Sinapis arven-
sis; Erysimum Alliaria; Viola tricolor; Lychnis dioica; Stellaria media;
Cerastium triviale ; Malva sylvestris; Hypericum calycinum; Ulex europzus,
U. nanus; Geum urbanum; Potentilla reptans; Fragaria vesca; Hedera
Helix; Aithusa Cynapium; Silaus pratensis; Daucus Carota; Scabiosa suc-:
cisa ; Helminthia echioides ; Picris hieracioides ; Apargia autumnalis ; Sonchus
oleraceus ; Crepis virens; Taraxacum officinale; Lapsana communis; Cen-
taurea nigra; Senecio aquaticus, 8. vulgaris; Bellis perennis; Pyrethrum
inodorum, P, Parthenium ; Achillea Millefolium; Veronica arvensis, V. ag-
restis, V. polita, V. Buxbaumii; Linaria vulgaris; Ballota nigra; Lamium
album, L. purpureum; Stachys sylvatica, 8. arvensis; Prunelia vulgaris;
Primula vulgaris; Anagallis arvensis; Beta maritima; Euphorbia—severat
species; Mercurialis annua; Urtica urens; Corylus Avellana; Avena fatua ;
Holeus lanatus; Bracypodium pinnatum; Linum perenne, &c.

In roe Garpen.—Larkspur; Black Hellebore or Christmas Rose ; Chimon-
anthes fragrans ; Eschscholtzia ; Erysimum Perofskianum; Alyssum; eandy-
tuft, German, tenweek, and Virginian stock; Wall-flower; Cabbage; Ra-
dish; Mignonette; Violet and Pansy; Carnation and Picotee; St John’s
Wort; pencilled Geranium ; Coronilla glauca; Bean; double Furze; Medi-
cago arborea; Geum; Potentilla; Strawberry and Hautboy; Roses of the
China group; Kerria japonica; Escallonia macrantha and E. rubra;
Laurestinus; Vallerianella ; Hawkweed ; Coreopsis; Chrysanthemum ; double
Daisy ; Centaurea ; | Ageratum conyzoides|; Margarite or everlasting ; sweet
Colt’s: foot; Marygold; Aster; Scabious or Sweet-Sultan; Campanula; Gillia,
capitata; Arbutus; Jasminum revolutum; large and mall Periwinkle ;
Gentianella; Veronica Lindleyana; Linaria Cymbalaria; Antirrhinum ;
Pentstemon and Cuphea; Hybrid Verbena: Salvia Grahami; |heliotrope ;]

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 19

true Forget-me-not; Omphalodes verna or vernal Forget-me-not; Auricula,

Polyanthus, and single and double Primroses ; Mezereum and scented Daphne :

Filbert; Cypress and arbor-vite; Tradescantia; Tritoma aurea; quaking

grass, &c. : ’
Remarks.—The weather, during the month just closed, has been variable.

In the former part of the month it was mild, and vegetation was begin-
ning to start into activity. Timely frosts, which set in about the 20th, have
proved a salutary check, and they have not been sufficiently severe to pro-
duce any damage. They have, however, materially lessened the number of
plants which would otherwise have been in bloom, and the number flowering
at the close of the month is far less than at the commencement.

Monruty Lisr or some OF THE PLANTS FLOWERING IN THE OPEN AIR IN RypE
AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, AS SHEWING THE CHARACTER OF THE CLIMATE AND
SEASON, FoR Fepruary, 1855. 3
In tae Wixp Srare.—Capsella Bursa-pastoris, Stellaria media; Cerastium

triviale ; Ulex enropeus; Potentilla Fragariastrum ; Hedera Helix; Taraxa-.

cum officinale; Senecio vulgaris; Bellis perennis; Pyrethrum inodorum;

Veronica hederifolia; V. arvensis; V. agrestis; V. polita; V. Buxbaumii;

Lamium purpureum; Primula vulgaris; Mercurialis annua; Corylus Avel-

lana, &c.
iy THE GArDEN.—Black hellebore or Christmas Rose; Chimonanthes fra-

grans or Japan chimonanthes ; white Alyssum; German, tenweek, common

double and single stock ;-single and double wall flower; Cistus salvzefolius

single and double purple violet, and Neapolitan double violet, and
double and single pansy; Coronilla glauca; double furze; Medicago
arborea, or moon-trefoil ;

roses of the China and perpetual groups;
Kerria japonica or Pyrus japonica; laurustinus; double daisy ; sweet colt’s-
foot; arbutus; Jasminum nudiflorum; large and small periwinkle; gentia-
nella; Omphalodes verna; auricula, polyanthus, single and double primroses,
and cowslip ; Mezereum and scented Daphne ; Garrya elliptica ; filbert ; Vir-
ginian cedar; Juniperus chinensis; Cupressus goveniana and common cypress;
Thuja occidentalis or American arbor-vite ; yellow crocus and purple-and.--
white striped crocus; double and single snowdrops; Yucca gloriosa; Tri-
toma aurea; &c.

Remarxs.—The month just closed has been for the Isle of Wight one of
unusual severity ; yet, when compared with other places, it appears that we
have only had about half the degrees of frost which have been recorded by
the average of English observers. It has been before remarked in these
monthly observations, that of all months in the year, February, in the Isle of
Wight, is that which produces fewest flowers in the open air; and, for the
present year, this is remarkably evident, How far the more tender plants
and shrubs, which in other parts of England do not grow in the open ground,
will have suffered by the frost it is yet too early to say. The perfectly dor-
mant state of the buds, owing to the previous dry weather, is much in their
fayour Vegetation has now been so long in a state of repose, the drought of
last summer and autumn having early checked further growth, and the sea-
son being already late, that probably, the spring will be very rapid. Indeed
the impatience of vegetation to be again on the move was evinced by the
buds of trees and shrubs generally, swelling, even while sharp frost lasted,
and it was curious to observe that even while the ground was hard frozen
the tender leaves of the wild Arum, or lords-and-ladies, found their way
through. Immediately the thaw set in, every thing at once began to start.

The publication of the following papers, read at previous meetings, was
unavoidably postponed at the time :—

1. Notes of a Tour in Switzerland. By Joun Simpatp, M.D., Perth. On the
15th of August of last year, our fellow-member, Mr Blackie, and myself started
from Bonn, on the Rhine, to go up that river and walk for a short time among the
Alps. The first part of our journey lay between verdant terraces, rising ab-
ruptly from the banks of the river, and covered with the Vitis vinifera, bearing
on its branches the raw material for the famous Hockheimer and J ohannisberger
but meanwhile adorning the path for the passage of ‘ Old Father Rhine,” the banks
being studded now and then with pretty German villages and legend-telling

20 PROCEEDINGS OF

castles, the footprints of a time less favoured than our own. After reaching
Maintz, we diverged from the river many times, in order to see the many interest-
ing towns which lie scattered near its course, but still managed to reach Basel by
a dag of the month, when we commenced the, strictly speaking, pedestrian part
of the tour.

We walked along the right or German bank of the Rhine from Basel to Schaff-
hausen, with very little worthy of note occurring except, perhaps, a few adventures
in unfrequented villages, with our passports, but which can scarcely be said to be
botanically interesting. By this time, however, we had ascended sufficiently high
(about 700 feet) to become sensible of a coolness and harshness of climate, easily
distinguished from the warmth of the sunny vales we had left. We passed through
a portion of the Black Forest, with its ancient oaks, and observed numerous pine-
clad hills on the Swiss side of the river. Amongst other things, near Schaffhausen,
we collected the Cirsium acaule andthe Dianthus superbus. Here, also, we saw the
Rhine falls, the most remarkable of their kind in Europe—the river, when about
300 feet broad, rushing over a precipice 100 feet high. And here, also, an intelli-
gent gendarme, mis-reading my passport, proceeded to insert my description in the
police-office record as George Frederick William, Earl of Clarendon,» Medical
Student, travelling for pleasure. From Sehaffhausen we went on to Constance, on
the lake of its name (or the Boden See), seeing on our road the labourers pruning
their Vines, and carefully nourishing them with bucketfuls of liquid manure, all
done with the simplest instruments and much manual labour. We then sailed up
to Rorshach, and in continuous wet weather we dragged ourselves on, still keeping
by the banks of the Rhine, which here flows between the Tyrol and the north-
eastern corner of the Swiss Alps. Here we saw, as we had often remarked before
quantities of Colchicum autumnale and, less abundantly, Gentiana Asclepiadea.

On reaching Sargans we struck off from the Rhine, which we had followed
pretty closely till then, not to approach it again till we reached Mount St. Gotthard.
where it rises ; and when we left it here we had seen no reason to controvert the
beautifully expressed passage in Longfellow’s ‘‘ Hyperion,” that ‘of all the rivers
of this beautiful earth there is none so beautiful as the Rhine. There is hardly a
league of its whole course, from its cradle in the snowy Alps to its grave in the
sands of Holland, which boasts not its peculiar charms.” From Sargans we went
on to Lake Wallenstadt and then to Zurich, and while there the weather cleared
up again. We now sailed to Horgen, and, gathering Chlora perfoliata and the
elegant Gentiana Pneumonanthe by the way, we walked by Lake Zug to Art, at the
foot of Mount Righi, where we considered ourselves as on the threshold of the
most interesting part of our tour—“ nature’s palaces, the Alps.”

Early next morning we began to ascend Mount Righi, the Pisgah from whose top
we were to behold the colossal wonders of the land beyond. As the morning was
very fine, we had a good view of that part of the Alps usually called the Berner
Oberland, which includes the well-known names of the Jungfrau, Finsteraarhorn,
Shreckhorn, and others. And truly no more advantageous position could we have
had for forming high ideas of the grandeur of those mighty hills, than the summit
of the Righi Kulm. The enormous mass of immense peaks, white with eternal
snow, and obscured by scarce a single cloud, is one of those sights, the seeing of
which brings no disappointment with it. The sun shone bright, but a fresh breeze
kept the air sufficiently cool. At our feet lay the celebrated and lovely Lake of
Lucerne, its blue depths reflecting the pure sky above, its wooded and rocky banks
glowing with all the varied tints of a warm southern summer, and studded with the
pretty town of Lucerne, and several sweetly-lying villages and hamlets; while,
glancing upwards, the eye changed its gaze to the colossal masses covered with the
snows of an everlasting winter, suggestive of nothing but bleak magnificence and
unchanging desolation. During our ascent, we gathered that graceful little fern,
Asplenium viride, and near the summit, the Gentiana acaulis in fruit, and the
Gentiana germauica abundantly in flower, and the very highest point afforded
numerous specimens of Ranunculus alpestris. While scrambling along the preci-
pitous side of the hill, we came upon Hedysarum obscurum, Dryas octopetala, Geum
montanum, Potentilla aurea, Sibbaldia procumbens, Epilobium alpinum, Saxifraga
Aizoon, stellaris, and oppositifolia, Myosotis alpestris, Veronica bellidioides, Glo-
bularia nudicaulis, and others.

After descending the Righi, we amused ourselves by visiting the spots rendered
romantic by their association with Schiller’s ‘‘ Wilhelm Tell,” saw Thorwaldsen’s
famous sculpture of the dying lion at Lucerne, and then by steamer, reached Alt-
dorff, the town noted as the scene of the story of the hat, and Gessler’s insolence,
and Tell’s proud patriotism. We now began the ascent of the St Gotthard road,
reaching Hospental, near the summit of the pass, by the evening of the samo day,

4
?
re

3

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. oF

The road is remarkable for the savage sublimity of the greater part of it, passing,
as it does, up the valley of the roaring Reuss, and shut in laterally by bleak, ma-
jestic, and precipitous mountains, it can easily be imagined to be one of the grand
est pathways in Europe. Here, amongother things, we picked up the Lycopo
dium denticulatum, and passed abundance of the Allosorus crispus. I may also
mention that almost the only person we met on the road, besides beggars at the
eceasional hamlets, was Professor J. D. Forbes of this University, who was driv-
ving down to Altdorff on his way from Italy.

In the mountain which we had now reached are cradled the two infant rivers of
the Rhone and Rhine, which though pursuing such dissimilar courses, are born of
the same parent. The one spends its youth amid the pestilential vapours of the
Vallais—a muddy stream, flowing along a desultory track, till it debouches into the
Lake of Geneva, where it is cleansed; then, having caught somewhat of the
heavenly hue ofthe beautiful lake, it rushes joyously on by a happier path into the
wide ocean of the Mediterranean.

Longer and more equable is the course of the Rhine. Spending more of its youth
among its native mountains, its path is at first more rugged and stormy, but its
stream is purer. When at Schaffhausen, it has gained sufficient strength and has
passed throngh its time of tutelage, it tosses itself boldly and with the vigorous en-
thusiasm of youth, down from its lofty seclusion, to take part in the labour of
men, and contribute to their sustenance and enjoyment. Now, it bears along its
load of timber from the Black Forest, and then it moistens the tender roots of the
springing Maize, and the struggling Vine—flowing steadily onward on its even way,
while merchants thank it for its benefits, poets sing its praises, and the peasant
dweller on its banks prays for a blessing on the Rhine. When at last the aged
veteran’s step becomes feeble, and it ‘ lays itself down to rest in the sand ;” its fune
tion does not stop, but changes and becomes exalted, as it glides out of sight to take
Lees with its fluvial brethern in contributing to the greater glories of the bound-

ess sea.

But to return tothe tour. From Hospental we ascended the hill leading to the
Furea pass picking up Campanula barbata on our way ; and here for the first time
we trod the ground where winter reigns supreme. After crossing the summit of
the pass, between two mountain peaks, we came in sight of the glacier of the Rhone,
out of which that river pours by several chanuels which quickly unite and roll down
the ravine which commences the valley of the Rhone. One of these tributaries
commences in a fine waterfall which rushes from the summit of the glacier, dashing
without a break into an icy cavern about 150 feet below. The stream then forms
a for itself under the glacier, and issues forth from a cavern at its foot.
Longfellow well describes this glacier as ‘‘a frozen cataract, more than two
thousand feet in height, and many miles broad at its base. It fills the whole valley
between two mountains, stretching back till it is found commencing in the snow
which covers their summits. At the base it is arched like a dome, and above it is
jagged and rough, and resembles a mass of gigantic crystals of a pale emerald tint
mingled with white. A snowy crust covers its surface, but at every rent and crevice
the pale green ice shines clear in the sun. Its shape is that ofa glove, lying with
the palm downwards, and the fingers crooked and close together. It is a guantlet
of ice which centuries ago, Winter, the king of these mountains, threw down in de-
fiance to the sun: and year by year the sun strives in vain to lift it from the ground
on the point of his glittering spear.”

Before descending upon the glacier we gathered Ranunculus aconitifolius, Car-
damine alpina, Trifolium alpinum, Sempervirum arachnoideum, Saxifraga mus-
eoides and bryoides, Achillza Clavennae and moschata, Erigeron alpinus, Gentiana
Thomasii and nivalis, and Thesium alpinum. The Rhododendrons, hirsutum and fer-
rugineum, covered the entire side of one of the hills, and although we were not
fortunate enough to see them in their prime, still several bushes were in full bloom,
and readily suggested to our minds the beauty which a number of these alpine Roses
must, when in season, bestow on those generally bleak hillsides. While on the
glacier itself, we were fortunate enough to come on a patch of that interesting
though humble member of the vegetable kingdom—the Haematococcus nivalis, or
Red Snow plant. These microscopic vesicles were so plentiful as to form a thiu

, covering a large portion of the surface of the glacier, giving ita pale pink
tinge, and on scraping a little of the surface snow together, it became of a blood red
from the greater aggregation of these minufe organisms.

Leaving the Rhone glacier, we crossed, by the Mayenward and the dark waters
of the Lake of the Dead, to the Grimsel Hospice, where we dined, partially on
what was said to be Chamois, but which was more probably a piece of one of the
govts which are common on the hills. From the Grimsel we went down the

D

22 PROCEEDINGS OF

Hasli Thal to Meyringen, passing Veratrum album, Vaccinium uliginosum, and
Vitis Idea, and again abundance of Allosorus Crispus, which is there as common as
the Pteris usually is here.

From Meyringen we crossed the Scheideck pass to Grindelwald, seeing on our
way the falls of Reichenbach and the Rosenlaui glacier. The pass lies over a com-
paratively low hill, separated by a narrow valley from the majestic row of giants,
formed by the Wetterhorn, Eiger, Moench, and Jungfrau, whose lofty summits
we were fortunate enough to see freed from clouds, and which, as the day wore on,
and the sun’s rays betame more powerful, rolled down their acres of snow in
thundering avalanches into the valley beneath. During our walk we passed the
two Grindelwald glaciers, which stretch down like arms of that frozen ocean which
lies in the middle of these hills, and which covers an uninterrupted surface of 115
square miles. Among the plants gathered were Arabis alpina; Trifolium badicum ;
Silene alpina; Pyrethrumi alpinum; Centiana ciliata, nivalis, and acaulis ; Andro-
sace Chamejasme; Tofieldia calyculata; Poa alpina; Cystopteris montana ; and,
down in the valley, beside where we had seen a small avalanche fall, we gathered
Epipactus latifolia and Botrychium Lunaria. From Grindelwald we had an
excursion upon the larger of the glaciers of the same name, but saw nothing of a
remarkable interest botanically. The glacier itself is a convenient one for studying
the developement of glaciers, if I may use the term; the scenery was very wild,
especially when we had penetrated so far into the midst that we appeared shut in
on an immense and desolate sea of ice, surrounded by apparently impassable
precipices. .

Leaving Grindelwald and walking over the Wengern Alp and down the valley
of Lauterbrunnen we passed the famous Staubbach,—a beautiful cascade which is
formed by a small stream shooting gracefully over the summit of a precipice 900
feet high, and breaking entirely into spray before it reaches the bottom. Staying
a day or two at the pretty English town of Interlacken we went on by the lake of
Thuu, and Frutigen to the Gemmi pass. On the road to Frutigen we picked up
amongst other things Campanula pusilla, and Cuscuta Europea. When ascending
the hill south of Frutigen we again came on tufts of Cystopteris montana.

A few miles south of Frutigen the traveller has to make the tedious ascent of a
hill, at the top of which he comes to a table land of several square miles in ex-
tent, and in which lies the Dauben Sea; a small lake, “‘ supplied not by springs, but
by snow which often swells it so as to cover the path : for three months of the year it
is frozen. Nothing can exceed the seared and naked appearance of the limestone rocks
which form the summit of the pass; they seem too barren for even the hardiest
lichens.” Reaching the top of the southern descent, one of the finest views presented
itself which it ever was our lot to witness. From the precipice on whose edge we
stood, we looked down the dark valley of the Leuk to that of the Rhone, here
widened out to a considerable extent, and which is entered by the Leuk valley at
right angles. Behind the mountains, rising directly from the side of the Rhone
valley opposite, stood the majestic snowy range of the Pennine Alps, which in-
cludes among its peaks those of Mount Rosa and Mount Blane, though neither of
these formed part of our view, the former being hid by the graceful summit of the
Weisshorn and the latter being at the extreme right of the range was shut off by
the shoulder of a rock close by us. We had, however, many summits not far be-
hind them in grandeur.

It was about seven o’clock when we came in sight of them, and the sky had ae-
quired a pink hue from the rays of the retiring sun. The pure white of the moun-
tain tops was not yet affected, so that the outline of the range had an extraordinary
distinctness asit stood boldly in relief against the glowing heavens. Gradually
however, the mountains became tinged with the fiery tint, and the cold peaks
seemed to blaze with a lambent flame ; and we became sensible of a soft, red light
which tinged every object in the landscape with a strange unusual colour. Notwith-
standing these signs of approaching night, we were constrained to wait and watch
the dissolving beauties which were thus disclosed. The whole landscape had a
quiet sublimity about it which filled the mind with that awe which the grand in
nature never fails to awaken in those who contemplate an expression of it for the
firsttime. A gradual change soon came over the view ;—the tops of the hills which
before glowed with pink now lighted up into a fiery purple, and as the colour became
more intense, it seemed to condense itself into smaller compass; then some of
the less lofty peaks regained their natural whiteness, and at last, the highest
peaks lost their colouring also. The sky, too, began to lose the appearance, and a
pale green, spreading from the eastward, slowly took its place The shades
of evening were now closing rapidly around us, and after a short twilight, the
curtain of night dropped on one of the grandest spectacles which the eye could
witness.

q
,

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 23

The latter part of the Gemmi pass, forming the descent from the table-land, is
one of the most wonderful in Europe, The path leads in zig-zags down an almost
perpendicular face of rock. Murray’s Guide describes it as ‘t a mere shelf—in some
parts a mere groove cut in the face of the huge cliff, just wide enough for a mule to
pass, and at the turns of the zig-zags you constantly overhang a depth of more than
500 feet. . . . In many places the rocks overhang the path, and an upper ter-
race projects further out than the one immediately below it.” At the bottom is the
village of Lenkerbad, famous as a watering place, at which we slept.

The next morning we ascended the Torrenthorn, a mountain 10,000 feet above
the level of the sea, from the top of which we had a view of our old friends of the
Berner Oberland, and a most complete one of the Pennine range, not excluding
Mount Blanc and Mount Rosa. On the road up we gathered Gentiana imbricata:
it was growing near the summit, and close to a small field of snow which our guide
told us had been gradually accumulating for several years, and which was the founda-
tion of a future glacier. It certainly appeared to have hardened considerably, and
to be acquiring that consistence which glacier ice usually possesses. After this,
we travelled down the Rhone valley to Martigny, and over the Col de Baline to
Chaumouni. From the latter place we had some excursions on the Mer de Glace
and Mount Blane, but without much new, botanically: From Chaumouni we went
is Geneva, where we separated, and I left Switzerland, Mr Blackie going north to

onn.

Before sitting down, I may perhaps be allowed to say a few words in favour of
such excursions as that I have just detailed. Besides the mere fact that health,
pleasure, and instruction are all obtained at once, there are many other reasons
which might be urged in their favour. }

The Alpine Flora is of a kind quite distinct from that known to the dweller in’
plains, and neither books nor dried specimens will ever give him an adequate idea
of it. To those who love botany for its own sake, the study of dried or cultivated
specimens is always a very second-rate pleasure. One-half of the beauty and cha-
racter of a plant is destroyed when it is taken out of its natural place on the earth.
Take the beautiful Gentiana imbricata from its place among the scanty herbage on
the bleak summit of the Torrenthorn, and plant it ever so artistically in the flower
beds of a Botanic Garden, or glue its withered remains ona sheet of Herbarium
paper, and who will think it worth his while to spend a glance on the modest blue
flower, half hid among the more gaudy, though not more beautiful blossoms gathered
from a milder climate, or find anything for enjoyment in the Herbarium specimen.
But ascend the Alp on which it grows: As you approach the summit, the cold and
biting wind that plays around it reminds you with its sting of the ungenial nature
of the region which you have now reached, and the common mountain grasses
struggle for a bare subsistence. But here, the little Gentian meets your eye; the
individuals are not perhaps so large, or planted so symmetrically as its garden bro-
ther, but you feel the beauty of its clear blue eye, as it enlivens the pale verdure
of the mountain carpet with its sprinkling of blue flowers—you recognise its fitness
for the place, and wonder at the wisdom and goodness of its Creator.

Plants can only be properly understood when seen in their normal localities, and
with reference to this subject I may, before concluding, quote the eloquent words of
Mr Ruskin :—

‘“ The first time I saw the Soldanella alpina it was growing of magnificent size, on
a sunny Alpine pasture, among bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle, associated
with a profusion of Geum montanum and Ranunculus pyreneus. I noticed it only
because new to me, nor perceived any peculiar beauty in its cloven flower. Some
days after, 1 found it alone, among the rack of the higher clouds and howling of
glacier winds, piercing through an edge of avalanche, which in its retiring had left
the new ground brown and lifeless, as if burned by recent fire. The plant was
poor and feeble, and seemingly exhausted with its efforts; but it was then that I
comprehended its ideal character, and saw its noble function and order of glory
among the constellations of the earth.

“The Ranunculus glacialis might perhaps be blanched from its wan and corpse-
like paleness to purer white, and won to more branched and lofty development of
its ragged leaves ; but the ideal of the plant is to be found only in the last loose
stones of the moraine, alone there, wet with the cold unkindly drip of the glacier
water, and trembling as the loose dust to which it clings, yields ever and anon, and
shudders and crumbles away from about its roots.”

Specimens of the plants named in the communication were exhibited.

On Lichens collected on the Breadalbane Mountains and Woods. By Huan
MACMILLAN, Esq.

The author remarked—. While botanizing last summer among the hills and woods
of Breadalbane, Perthshire, I was fortunate enough to meet with a few rather rare

24 PROCEEDINGS OF

Lichens in localities where, | believe, they had not been previously noticed. I
found, for instance, several specimens of the very rare Sticta crocata of Acharius,
growing in company with the S. sylvatica, and Nephroma resupinata on the perpendi-
cular rocks, beside the second fall of Moness, near Aberfeldy. Mr Borrer of Hen-
field Hall informs me in a letter that he gathered this Lichen only in two places— on
trees by the river Aray, where it crosses the road from Inverary to Dalmally, and
on rocks on Dartmoor, Devonshire. Iam inclined to think, however, that it is
much more common in mountainous woods than is generally supposed; and were
Lichenology to become a more favourite study with botanists than to all appearance
it is at present, I am quite sure that the general distribution of this tropical Lichen,
as well as of other obscure species, over Britain, would be better ascertained Ihave
myself gathered it in all the situations indicated in the English Flora of Hooker, on
trees in the Duke of Argyle’s grounds, and on the Beech trees of Glenmoriston ; and
have, besides, noticed it on rocks in various situations in my wanderings through
the Highlands of Perthshire, but always in tufts consisting of two or three indi-
viduals growing among its relative, the S. sylvatica. It seems to have been noticed
by the older botanists, for Lightfoot, in his Flora Seotica, evidently alludes to it
when he says, ‘‘ In one specimen we observed these tubercles, and the little holes
(cyphellz) among the down, of a bright yellow colour.’ I observed one specimen,
and one only, in fruetification, and this I have unfortunately mislaid, otherwise, I
should have sent it with the rest. The scutella, 1 thought, resembled very
much those of the S. limbata, only they were not so deeply embedded in the thallus,
and the border seemed thicker and more entire. I gathered all the Stictas, with the
exception of the 8. macrophylla and S. aurata, which can scarcely be regarded as
natives of Britain, in a very wild and beautiful spot, the Coill Dhu, or Black Wood,
near the pass ‘or entrance of Glenlyon—a shady valley lying in the heart of the
Grampians, about nine miles from Aberfeldy, easily accessible to the botanical
tourist from Ben Lawers, and pretty well known as the best habitat in Britain for the
Meum athamanticum. As far as I am aware, this wood and the hills that tower
high above it have not been much frequented by the botanical explorer since the
days of the Rev. Mr Stuart of Killin (afterwards Dr Stuart of Luss), Lightfoot’s ac-
complished correspondent and fellow traveller, and Mr Menzies of London, the
learned prototype.of the Menziesies, who very successfully explored this remote
scene, as well as the other localities around his native place (Styx, a small hamlet
between Kenmore and Aberfeldy). I am quite sure, however, that the botanist,
and especially the Lichenist, would find it worth his while to spend a summer day
among its recesses, for [, at least, never saw a place more favourable for the growth
of Mosses and Lichens, or where such a number of rare and beautiful species can be
procured. Lest you may think that I am exaggerating, I subjoin a short list of the
rarer and more beautiful Lichens which I myself gathered during my last visit to
it :—Parmelia glomulifera, in great abundance, and beautiful perfection’in the rocks
and trees; P. herbacea, associated with above, and fructifying abundantly ; P.
caperata; P. conspersa; P. perlata; P. stellaris; P. Fahlunensis, on rocks above the
wood, and fruetifying; P. aleurites; P. physodes, in fructification. Sticta
crocata; S. pulmonaria, on almost every tree, and producing fruit in * abundance ;
8. serobiculata; §. limbata, S. fuliginosa, on the wet rocks, among mosses; S.
sylvatica. Collema cheileum; C. plicatile; C. fasciculare; CU. saturmium; C.
nigrescens ; C lacerum, in fructification on the old rotten trees. Peltidea apthosa,
on the moist rocks, in fructification. Nephroma resupinata, always fertile.
Gyrohora polyphylla; G. cylindrica; G. pellita, crowded with apothecia on rocks

above the woods. Cornicularia tristis; ©. lanata, in fructification; C. bicolor ;
C. aculeata. Borrera ciliaris, B. furfuracea, on the rocks in the forest. Cetraria
glauca, C. sepincola, in the forest. Lecanora Hamatomma, (this species grows in the
greatest abundance on the perpendicular cliffs in the Birks of Aberfeldy, and

occasions that hoary appearance which Burns notices. ‘ The hoary cliffs ascend
like wa’s.” Placodium plumbeum, this lichen ocenrs in great abundanee, and in

fine condition on Ash trees above the second fall, Birks of Aberfeldy.

Squamaria affinis; S. gelida, in fructifieation. This lichen I also noticed on

micaceous boulders, built into the wall, by the roadside between Aberfeldy and

Kenmore, and also near the summit of Ben Lawers, on the north side as you

deseend to Loch-an-na-cat. .

I may also add for the benefit of those botanists who may be induced next
summer to pay a visit to the localities I am indicating, that the Lemania
fluviatilis of Agardh occurs in abundance attached to the rocky bottom of the
Moness burn, Birks of Aberfeldy, two or three hundred yards down from the
heather house, about the months of June and July, disappearing early in Autumn.
The mycologist may also find nice specimens of the rare Geoglossum viride, and
the Leotia lubrica in the same wood, beside the railing of the first fall, on tie
damp earth.”

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 25

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY FOR APRIL.

The Society met at 6, York Place, on Thursday, 12th April, 1855. Prof.
Balfour, President, in the Chair.
The following candidates were balloted for, and duly elected :—

I. As Onpinary Resmwent FELLows.
1. ALexanDER Gricor, Esq., 38, Broughton Street.
2. CHartes JouN Burnett, Esq., 8, Walker Street.

II. As Orpivany Non-Reswent FEttow.
Witism Mupp, Esq., Cleveland Lodge, Great Ayton, Stokesley.

III. As Foreign Messer.
Cavalliere Trxeo, Direttore dell’ Orto Botanico, Palermo.

The Council reported that they had made arrangements with Mr Guthrie,
the Proprietor of the Scottish Gardener, for the regular publication of the So-
ciety’s Monthly Proceedings, in an official form in that Journal.
sig cecrer em were announced to the Society’s Library and Herbarium, as

‘ollows :—

From Dr Hugh F. C. Cleghorn, H.E.I.C.S., Madras, his paper on gle
Marmelos.

From Col. Macadam, per Robert Daw, Esq., H. M. Customs, Leith, a
packet of Cornish plants.

: From Hugh Macmillan, Esq., specimens of several rare Scotch Li-
chens.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had been presented
to the Museum of Economic Botany, at the Botanic Garden, since the last
meeting of the Botanical Society :—

From Colonel Yule, Inverleith Row, thirty sections of named woods from
the West Indies.

From Mr J. B. Davies, models in Papier Mache of orthotropal, campylo-
tropal and anatropal ovules ; also, a model illustrating the parts of the ana.
tropal ovule.

From Robert Girdwood, Esq., specimen of the Black Stone Turnip.

From Captain Grange, Ayr, two sheets of wove paper, made of Bamboo
cane.

From John Shaw, Esq., Elm Row, two fresh specimens of the Mango
fruit (Mangfera indica), from the West Indies.

From Mrs Dr Smith, India Street, specimen of the fruit of Solanum angu-
latum (Ruiz and Pavon), the Naranjo de Quito, covered with silver wire and
glass ornaments, as used by the natives of the Andes for birth-day presents,
&c.; also, fruit of the Arnotto, Bixa Orellana.

From Robert Daw, Esq., a specimen of Fordel coal, containing peculiar
organic bodies.

From J. F. Dewar, Esq., seeds of the Indian Shot (Canna indica), collected
by the late Dr Shortt, from a specimen planted by Buonaparte at St Helena.

From Dr Cleghorn, Madras, Lump of Cattimandoo Gum, procured from
the Euphorbia Cattimandoo; four specimens of Fossil Woods from Pegu;
Section of the Pterocarpus santolinus, from the Gaggery Hills, Madras:
Circinate Thorns, from the Hugonia Mystax, &c.

From Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser, (.B., Royal Engineers, a Burmese musi-
cal instrument, made of graduated pieces of the Bamboo cane connected with
cords; a Burmese water pitcher, manufactured from a large joint of the Bam-
boo cane; two cloth brushes (each 6 inches long, by 44 inches wide), made
apparently from the bristly receptacle of some plant, also from Burmah.
padi Neil M‘Lean, Esq., Oakfield, Geelong, Australia, a South Sea Island

e.

E

26 PROCEEDINGS OF

From James Hector, Esq., specimen of Stigmaria ficoides, from St
Andrews.

From Charles Burnett, Esq., specimen of the Quandang Nut of Australia,
(Fusanus acuminatus).

Mr M‘Nab exhibited a specimen of a white flowered variety of Sisy-
rinchium grandiflorum, raised from seed, by Mr P. Loney, gardener at
Fingask Castle, Errol.

The following papers were read :—

1. On Placentation, by Joun Cietanp, Esq. Communicated by Professor
Batrovr. In this paper the author endeavoured to show that in some cases
of supposed axile placentation, the ovules were attached to the reflected
margin of an inner row of carpels. The paper will appear in the Annals of
Natural History, and the Society’s Transactions.

2. Notes onthe Flora of the neighbourhood of Castle Taylor, in the County
of Galway. By A. G. More, Trinity College, Cambridge.

The following short sketch from the pen of a beginner, by no means pro-
fesses to give a complete account of the peculiarities of this interesting dis-
trict, which is so well known already for several rarities. It is offered as a
small contribution towards what has hitherto been so little explored—the
geographical statistics of West of Ireland Botany.

Being far removed from the different centres of migration, and without a
single prominent example of the Asturian plants so remarkably prevalent in
Connemara, the poverty of the Flora is, perhaps, its most striking feature.
This deficiency is in part redeemed by the beautiful and interesting lime-
stone and Alpine plants.

The results now laid before the Society are derived almost exclusively from
the analysis of about 70 species, while the whole number noticed only
amounts to 416 flowering plants, and 16 Ferns: and, allowing that 50 were
overlooked, the whole Flora can scarcely be estimated at above 500 species.

The great bulk of the vegetation is naturally made of such as_ belong to
Watson’s ‘“ British Type,” and it is most curious that many of these gene--
rally common plants could not be found.

The district alluded to is of no great extent, comprising the immediate
neighbourhood of Castle Taylor, and what little could * accomplished during
an occasional excursion to Garryland and Kilmacduagh, which lie about 8 or
9 miles further south. All three places are on the western verge of the great
limestone tract, and beyond the direct influence of the sea, from which the
are distant some 5 or 6 miles. The surface is broken and rocky, not muc
above sea level, and affords by numerous subterranean hollows a ready drain-
age. It is thus, for Ireland, very deficient in water and peat, to which cause
may probably be referred the apparent absence of a large number of plants
partial to moorish and watery localities. These will be noticed at length
under the second head.

It is a difficult thing to account for certain Alpine species ranging to a
lower levelin Ireland than in Britain under the same latitude, especially
when we know how much fewer they are both in number of species and in-
dividuals. Still more so when we find the Alpine hare at sea-level. Can
this be ascribed simply to the humid and equable climate, resembling that of
the northern Scottish Isles, where the same thing takes place? or is therea
cores cause dependent on some complication of geological changes and con-

itions ?
Division First.

To begin with the positive features—

A. 1. There are 9 Subalpine species belonging to Watson’s Highland Type.
Ranunculus Flammula, var. reptans.

Dryas octopetala, var. pilosa (Bab)......South limit in York.
Saxifraga hypnoides.
Hieracium cerinthoides............60++s +++. South limit in York.

Ashutis UT PARES. 15 500s: cavsevvessorbannny ..-South limit in York.

THE BOTANICAL SQCIETY, B27

Gentiana verna.........ss008: Sichsblodd bidads South limit in York.
Sesleria ccerulea ..... 6: eewwe Sd owecdind see South limit in York.
Juniperus nana,
Plantago maritima (occurring 7 miles inland).
Five of these find their south limit in York as regards Britain, and hence
range further south in Ireland, while the occurrence of the whole number at
little above the sea level (50.110 feet) is well worth notice.

2. Nine species are northern plants, appertaining to Watson’s Scottish
Typ

e.
Thalictrum minus Galium pusillum Vaccinium Oxycoccus
Rubus saxatilis Galium boreale Cystopteris fragilis
Rosa villosa Antennaria dioica Lycopodium selaginoides

These two sections, numbering 18 species, include all that can be called
northern plants.
B. Of the Atlantic Type we find but 6 species—fewer than might have been

anticipated.
Coronopus didyma (Cor- | Cotyledon Umbilicus | Pinguicula Lusitaniea
rofin also Kiavarra) Rubia peregrina Drosera intermedia

Hypericum Androsemum
I may here be allowed to remark that from the paucity of “ Atlantic”
species in Ireland, Forbes’ term of “ French Type” is more appropriate for
these, and also for the majority of the plants at present referred to the so-
ealled “ Atlantic Type.”
C. Of English Type or southern species there is comparatively a large num-
ber, viz. 44, and most of them are rare in Ireland.

Thalictrum flavum Thrincia hirta Euphorbia exigua
Papaver hybridnm , Carduus nutans Spiranthes autumnalis
Viola stagnina | « tenuiflorus Epipactis media
Hypericum dubium pratensis | Orchis pyramidalis
Geranium columbinum Carlina vulgaris lris feetidissima
Euonymus Europeus Artemisia Absinthium | Potamogeton lanceolatus
Rhamnus catharticus Erigeron acris Arum maculatum
... Frangula Anthemis Cotula Cladium Mariscus

Spirea Filipendula Monotropa Hypopitys Carex stricta
Rosa arvensis Chlora perfoliata Alopecurus agrestis
Poterium Sanguisorba Verbascum Thapsus Lolium italicum
C£nanthe Phellandrium _—_Linaria Elatine Avena flavescens
Asperula cynanchica | Verbena officinalis Bromus erectus
Fedia dentata Chenopodium Bonus Ceterach officinarum

.-- Auricula Henricus Lastrea Thelypteris

N.B.—Veronica Buxbaumii, first introduced with turnip seed in 1851, is
gradually becoming established as a weed.

The following are not marked as Irish in the 3d Edition of Babington’s
Manual. Those marked T, G, and K occur respectively at Castle Taylor,
Garryland, and Kilmacduagh.

Cardamine sylvatica T Myriophyllum alterniflo- ; Potamogeton lanceolatus K
Viola stagnina G@ tum T Alopecurus agrestis T
Spirza Filipendula G Hieracium cerinthoides T | Lolium italicum
Geum intermedium G Epipactis media G
Nearly one-third of the southern plants are peculiarly partial to a calcareous
soil.
Geranium columbinum __, Monotropa Hypopitys Bromus erectus
Spirea Filipendula | Chlora perfoliata Ceterach officinarum
Poterium Sanguisorba _ Linaria Elatine Ophrys apifera
Asperula cynanchica. (I Epipactis media Ophrys muscifera
have also gathered it on Orchis pyramidalis
sandhills).
Only the two Ophrides represent the Germanic or South-eastern Type, and

28 PROCEEDINGS OF

they are inserted amongst the “‘ limestone plants,” in the belief that their

range in Great Britain is more affected by the distribution of calcareous soils

than any geographical reason. Their occurrence at the western extremity of

the great limestone plain of Ireland would seem to favour this hypothesis,

and they probably ought to be transferred to the English Type.

Other species found at Castle Taylor which are said by Lecogq, “ Etudes sur
la Geographie des Plantes,” to prefer a calcareous soil. 19 species.

Thalictrum minus Rosa arvensis Fedia Auricula
Papaver hybridum Pimpinella Saxifraga | Carduus crispus

«» dubium Pastinaca sativa | Centaurea Scabiosa
Sinapis alba Daucus Carota Tragopogon major (?}
Geranium pratense Sambucus Ebulus eee exigua
Lathyrus tuberosus Rubia peregrina Sesleria cerulea
Rubus cesius

Other uncommon plants observed growing near Castle Taylor, which are
more or less generally distributed. 385 species.

Ranunculus Lingua Primula veris Avena pubescens
Barbarea arcuata Utricularia minor Catabrosa aquatica
Arabis hirsuta Littorella lacustris Glyceria plicata
Sinapis alba Rumex sauguineus (red | Festuca bromoidas
Viola canina (flavicornis) veined) «arundinacea
Geranium lucidum Habenaria chlorantha .- _ loliacea
.. sanguineum aa viridis Bromus commutatus

Geum intermedium Potamogeton plantaginens | Lolium temulentam
Pyrus Aria ore perfoliatus ... Var. arvense
Myriophyllum alterni-| Sparganium minimum Botrychium Lunaria

florum Carex intermedia Ophioglossum vulgatum
Tragopogon pratensis - acuta
Carduus crispus, var. acan-| ... fulya (much rarer

thoides than var. Hornshuchiana

On drawing a comparison between our district and Yorkshire (one degree
further north, and where the Teesdale limestone affords many of the same
species), it is interesting to notice the very great difference of numbers—
premising, of course, that considerable allowance should be made for the re-
stricted nature of the lrish district, when balanced against the largest Eng-
lish county—

Yorkshire has Castle Taylor. Proportion.
Total, .. 1001 432 eA
Atlantic, vas. 9218 5 Te fon!
Northern, ... 91 18 TM
Southern, .... 277 44 Bo208

From this we may sce how great a thinning cut there is of species as we ad-
vance westward. Of all the 432, only 3 are not found in Yorkshire, and
these three are eminently western species, viz.—Coronopus didyma, Rubia
peregrina, and Pinguicula Lusitanica.

The occurrence of the Bee and Fly Orchis, characteristic of the Infer-
agrarian zone, among such alpine plants as Sesleria, Gentiana verna, Juni-

erus nana, and Arbutus Uva-ursi, strictly belonging to the (infer-) arctic
is perhaps the most remarkable feature of the district, and presents a com-
bination of characters probably nowhere else to be met with by the explorator
of British botany.

N.B.—To render these remarks as far as possible complete, it may be as
well to mention three plants which were observed on the same strata in the
north of Clare. They are introduced to show that their range extends as far
as Castle Taylor. They are scarce plants in Ireland,

Orobanche rubra, on Festuca rubra, and on Thymus Serpyllum,

Nepeta Cataria.

Marrubium vulgare.

The first a northern, the two latter southern plants.

Division Second.
We now proveed to consider the negative characteristics, This attempt is

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 29

confessedly imperfect ; and, indeed, it would be extremely difficult, and would
require longer experience than I have enjeyed, to arrive at a correct estimate
on this point. Still, it is too interesting to be passed over. i

The species here employed as a standard are those omitted in the New
Botanist’s Guide as being of too common occurrence, deducting, however,
those whose range has since been ascertained not to exceed 14 of Watson’s
provinces. It will also be safer to neglect 38 of these which, though not
checked with certainty, were either doubtfnlly noticed or reported, or, most
probably, only overlooked. This will leave 107 species to represent the de-
ficit, and of course there are several others of more restricted range belonging
either to the English or Atlantic (French) type that might also be reason-
ably expected to occur, as well as some ascertained to be more common since
the “‘ Remarks” were published.

Out of these 107 absentees, some are to be ascribed to the physical aspect
of the country, combined, perhaps, with geographical causes; for instance,
those that effect water, hedge banks, and especially wood and copse, there
being no vestige of aboriginal forest.

A second class evince a sort of repugnance to the soil. I have never seen
them on limestone. This is a curious point, because it is well known that
very few plants are really confined to any one class of soils.

For example, the following “ Sand Plants ” :—

Arenaria rubra

Cerastium semidecandrum | Ornitho

Erodium cicutarium
Cytisus Scoparius

Trifolium arvense

Scleranthus annuus
Filago minima

pus perpusillus

Myosotis versicolor
=. Collina
Aira precox

Vicia augustifolia Lycopsis arvensis
Those of sandy or moorish ground—
Spergula arvensis | Chrysanthemum segetum | Digitalis purpurea

| Plantago Coronopus

Galium saxatile Senecio sylvaticus
Those of moorish soil not found—

Viola palustris Juncus squarrosus

Lastrea dilatata
Jasione montana Aira flexuosa

Athyrium Filix femina

I cannot quote any plant whose absence can, strictly speaking, be ascribed
to the want of clay.

Table of negative results obtained from the apparent absence of the follow-
ing species, which are none of them rare or wanting under similar latitude in
England :—

(1) Belonging to Watson's British Type, and rated at from 18 to 16 pro-
vinces—

Anemone nemorosa
Ranunculus sceleratus
a hirsutus

Papaver Argemone
Draba verna
Thlaspi arvense
Erysimum Alliaria
Raphanus Raphanistrum
Lychnis dioica
Stellaria Holostea,

-.. uliginosa
Meehringia trinervis

Geranium pratense (too
near an orchard to be

admitted)
Ononis arvensis
Trifolium medium
Lotus major
Vicia sylvatica
ae ae
yriophyllum spicatum
=e pa Portula
Sedum Telephium
gopodium Podagraria

(nanthe crocata
Anthriscus vulgaris
Adoxa Moschatellina
Galium eruciatum
Hieracium boreale

Ris vulgatum

umbeilatum
murorum

“ne cesium
Centaurea Cyanus
Cichorium Intybus
Tanacetum vulgare
Guaphalium sylvaticum
Solanura Duleamara
Veronica montana
Lamium amplexicaule
Lycopus Europeus
Echium vulgare
Hyoscyamus niger
Stachys arvensis
Chenopodium album
Polygonum Bistorta
Mercurialis perennis

Alnus glutinosa
Salix (species plures)
Allium ursinum
Sparganium simplex
Zannichellia palustris
Luzula pilosa
Scirpus sylvaticus
fluitans
«+ pauciflorus
Carex vulpina
+» paniculata
curta
e.- Yremota
ovalis
-«» pallescens
pilulifera
paludosa
-» -Vesicaria
Milium effusum
Alopecurus pratensis
Holcus mollis
Poa nemoralis
Avena pratensis

30 PROCEEDINGS OF

(2) Species absent (British Type, but 15 provinces)—14 species.

Ranunculus auricomus Hypericum hirsutum Listera Nidus-avis
Lepidium campestre Lychnis vespertina Potamogeton pectinatus
Sisymbrium Sophia Trifolium filiforme LO wav eterophyllus
Hejianthemum vulgare (not | Calamintha Clinopodium | Carex muricata

Trish.) Galeopsis versicolor -. pendula

(3) Of Watson’s English Type, and rated at 16 provinces—5 species.

Malva moschata | Pyrus Malus Linaria vulgaris
Ononis antiquorum Bidens tripartita

(4) English Type, and 15 Provinces—11 species.

Papaver Rheas Valeriana dioica Paris quadrifolia

Viola odorata Dipsacus sylvestris Poa compressa

Rosa rubiginosa Apargia hispida Symphytum officinale (com-
(nanthe fistulosa Stachys Betonica mon in gardens.

We have thus enumerated 123 plants of general occurrence in England
but not known at Castle Taylor. This shows sufficiently the deficiency of
species. There are many others such as Polypodium calcareum, which we
ala expect under similar circumstances on the other side of the Irish
Sea.

3. Notes on the Flora of the Bass Rock. By Professor BaLrour.

The Bass Rock isan object of so much interest both in a historical and in a
natural history point of view, as to have called for a separate publication,
in which its Civil and Ecclesiastical History are given by the Rev. Dr M‘Crie,
its geology by Hugh Miller, its Martyrology by the Rey. James Anderson,
its Zoology by Dr Fleming, and its Botany by myself.

The Bass is one of the numerous rocky islands which are met with in
the Firth of Forth. Near it we find others, such as Fidra, Leith, and
Lamb, islands all of the same nature. It consists of trap rock assuming the
character of greenstone in some places, and of clinkstone in others, but it
does not exhibit any of the tufaceous appearance observed in the rocks on
the shore at Tantallan.

I visited the Bass several times in the month of August and September,
1854, and I made full notes regarding its Flora. I also was fortunate enough
to get a good opportunity of entering the great cavern by which the island
is perforated. In speaking of this cave Hugh Miller remarks, ‘“ One of those
slicken-sided lines of division so common in the trap rocks runs across the
island from east to west, cutting it into two unseparated parts, immediately
under the foundation of the old chapel. As is not uncommon along those
lines, whether occasioned by the escape of vapours, or the introduction of mois-
ture from above, the rock on both sides, so firm and unwasted elsewhere, is
considerably decomposed ; and the sea by incessantly charging direct on this
softened line from the stormy east, has, in the lapse of ages, hollowed a pas
sage for itself through. A fine natural niche, a full 100 feet in height, forms
the opening of the cavern, the roof bristling high overhead with minute tufts
of vegetation, the basement course, if I may so speak, roughened with brown
Alge, and having the dark green sea for its floor. The height of the tun-
nel is about 30 feet throughout, and its length about 170 yards. Not far from
its western opening, there occurs a beach of gravel, which, save when the
waves run high during the flood of stream tides, is rarely covered. Its middle
space contains a dark pool filled even at low ebb, with 3 or 4 feet of water ;
and an accumulation of rude boulders occupies the remaining portion of its
length, a little within the eastern entrance. It is a dark ari dreary recess,
full of chill airs and dripping damps.”’

On the 12th September, 1854, I landed at the western side of the cavern, as
being the calmest on the day of my visit, and after scrambling over some
boulders reached the dark part of the cavern, where the bottom rises consider-
ably so as to form an elevated beach, the highest part of which seems to be
generally untouched by the tide. About the middle of the cave I had to de-
scend into a pool containing water to the depth of 2 or 3 feet, the passage at

THE BOTANICAL SOCTETY. 31

this place being narrow, and its Sides formed by slippery rocks inclined at a
very acute angle, so that it is impossible to geta footing onthem. After
emerging from this dark pool I had to climb up some steep rocks at the eas-
tern side, and then had the benefit of the light from the other entrance. I
now encountered some large boulders, which being surmounted, I reached
the eastern entrance. Here, to our surprise, we found a sea otter of large
size, which made the best of its way through the cave to the western side,
passing the boat and causing no small alarm to the men who were waiting in
it. They struck its tail with the oar, but were disabled by fear from doing
more. ‘The otter seemed to have established itselfin the cave for some time.
It had been seen on several occasions by the men who visit the Bass for the

urpose of taking the Solan geese. At the eastern end of the cave there were
beantiful Actiniz on the rocks.

The Flora of the island is very limited. In some places there is a rank and
luxuriant vegetation, from the action ofthe guano. Lychnis dioica, Rumex
Acetosa and crispus and Cochlearia officinalis in such places attain a large
size. In the case of the latter plant leaves were seen of a very fleshy
nature, nearly three inches indiameter. The grass in the island is sufficient
to afford pasture to 15 sheep, and the mutton they furnish is prized. I found
the sheep at the time of my visit on the northern side of the island, as the
grass at the other part had been parched by the long continued dry
weather. The pasture on the northern side seems to consist chiefly of
Holeus lanatus with a small admixture of Festuca ovina, On the sheltered
rocks at this part of the island I found Lastrea dilatata and several mosses.
At low water I observed the sea weeds indicative of the Laminarian Zone,
such as Laminaria digitata, L. saccharina, Alaria esculenta, Chendrus
mammillosus ; in brackish water in a pool on the island, Enteromorpha in-
testinalis was collected, and Callithamnion Rothii grows abundantly in damp
shaded spots on the walls and steps of the old buildings; while Prasola
orbicularis, Kutz. (Ulva terrestris Lyngb. not of Lightfoot) was gathered on
some of the rocks on the northern side.

I have appended a list of the species which I observed, and was able to
identify. Lhave no doubt there are others, especially among the Cryptogamic
orders which will probably be noticed by future observers:— _

Last or THE Frora or THE Bass Rock.
Phanerogamous Plants.

Ranunculus repens Leontodon Taraxacum Narcissus biflorus. In site
Crambe maritima ? Carduus tenuiflorus of the old garden
Cochlearia officinalis lanceolatus Agrostis canina
Silene maritima palustris a vulgaris
Lychnis diurna Hyoseyamus niger Holeus lanatus
Cerastium tetrandrum Armeria maritima Poa trivialis

SARE semidecandrum| Atriplex rosea +.» pratensis
Lavatera arborea Beta maritima annua
Geranium moile Rumex erispus Sclerochloa maritima
Vicia lathyroides -. <Acetosa Dactylis glomerata
Montia fontana Urtica dioica Festuca ovina
Sonchus oleraceus Narcissus Pseudo-narcis- duriuscula

Hieracium Pilosella

Lastrea dilatata
Hypnum, 3 species?
Parmelia parietina

te aquila

se saxatilis
Ramalina scopulorum
Placodium canescens
Squamaria murorum

sus (old garden)

Cryptogamous Prants.

Prasola orbicularis
parorctehe intestinalis
Laminaria digitata

Dh; saccharina
Alaria esculenta
Callithamnion Rothii

Chondrus crispus

mammillosus

Serrafalcus mollis

Rhodymenia palmata
Delesseria sanguinea, be-
sides other Algae, which
were not seen by me
during my visit.
Agaricus personatus
amethystinus

on PROCEEDINGS OF

The total number of species observed by m€, were :—

Phanerogamous, ; ; : 38
Cryptogamous, ; ; ; 2 ame
60

4. Notice of Plants collected during a trip to Loch Lomond, in July, By
Professor Batrour,.

On the 26th July, 1854, a party of 45, conducted by the late Professor Ed-
ward Forbes and myself, left Edinburgh for Glasgow, where they remained
for the night. On the 27th we proceeded to Loch Lomond, and reached In-
verarnan, at the head of the loch, about 11} a.m., and were comfortably ac
commodated in Mr M‘Lellan’s Inn.

The trip was partly botanical and partly geological, Prof. Forbes taking
charge of the latter department, and myself of the former. The first day
we visited Glen Falloch, and gathered specimens of Quercus sessiliflora and
pedunculata, in various states, and then ascended one of the lower hills,
which furnished specimens of Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, Saxifraga aizoides,
S. stellaris, Oxyria reniformis, and Sedum Rhodiola. We returned by Glen
Cunn, where we collected a number of sub-alpine plants.

On the 28th we started early, with the view of visiting some of the higher
summits. The botanical and geological parties separated, and we were thus
enabled to visit Ben Oss and Ben Duchray, the latter occupied the atten--
tion of the botanists, fourteen of whom reached the top about 124. a.m. The
mountain seemed to be a promising one, but on examination it was not found
to be so productive as might have been expected. Some of the plants col-
lected were as follows:—The usual alpine Saxifrages, Arabis petrea, Silene
acaulis, Gnaphalium supinum, Polystichum Lonchitis, Poa alpina, P. Bal-
fourii, Thalictrum alpinum, Sibbaldia procumbens, Polytrichum viviparum,
Saussurea alpina, Carex saxatilis, Juncus trifidus, J. triglumis, Epilobium
alpinum, Armeria, Cochlearia, and Plantago, Botrychium Lunaria, Salix lap-
ponica, 8. herbacea, Asplenium viride, Oxyria reniformis, Rubus Cha-
mzemorus, Vaccinium uliginosum, Luzula spicata, Carex capillaris, Ma-
laxis paludosa, peculiar forms of Euphrasia, which Professor Forbes looked
upon at being distinct, Polypodium Phegopteris, besides several other alpine
and sub-alpine species. In addition to these, the geologists gathered on Ben
Oss, Allosorus crispus. On returning from the mountain the geological party
wandered from the direct path, and did not reach the hotel till late in the
evening, after a very long and fatiguing walk. Their labours were, however,
rewarded by the discovery of some interesting phenomena, in regard to the
foliation of metamorphic rocks at Crianlarich, which snpplied materials for a
communication by Prof. Forbes at the meeting of the British Association at
Liverpool

In his paper, on this subject, he stated that the question of the construc-
tion of rocks was a matter of considerable importance, but allthat he had to
say depended on a few minute observations. The distinctions between
lamination, cleavage, and foliation were distinctions of great importance in
geology. Lamination, in the sense which he would use it, was applied to
the deposition of sediment; cleavage to the splitting up of a rock; and folia-
tion, the separation of a rock into laminations which were of different charac-
ters. He remarked that those distinctions were confined to the geologists of
Great Britain, and continental geology did not conform to this division.
The causes of those structures were very different, and different opinions were
held about them. Professor Sedgwick attributed cleavage to the result of
electrical action, although many papers had been read showing that mechani-
cal force had a great deal to do with rock cleavage, whilst others attributed
it to the union of both forces. Foliation, as seenin the mica state, was a se-

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 33

paration into thin layers. That structure had been attributed to various
causes. Onetheory attributed it to a metamorphic change in the layers of
sediment of different mineral matters. Others thought that foliation and
cleavage passed into each other, whilst others thought that foliation was a
superinduced structure quite distinct. He directed attention to a limestone
quarry in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, in which wasa pale blue limestone,
exhibiting curious mineral appearances, depending on the presence of decom-
posing iron, the lamination of colour running parallel with the bed of the lime-
stone. He referred to several cases where a curious phenomenon was exhi-
bited by foliation in metamorphic works, and noticed a remarkable quarry of
metamorphic limestone passing into mica schist, near Crianlarich. In
this quarry the mineral matter contained in the limestone are collected, some
into coloured stripes and some into irregular foliated bands, all parallel to the
bedding. But where the limestone is so charged with mica as to become a
schistose rock, the foliations present the usual character, and exhibit con-
tortions in various directions. The decision to which he had come was that,
though in this case limited and local, there was adifference between foliation
and cleavage, and that the foliation of the schist is a distinct phenomenon,
both in time and as to cause from either cleavage or sedimentary lamina-
tion, and that the cause of the structure was probably of a chemical nature,
induced by more agents than one.

On Saturday, 29th July, the united party proceeded along the banks of the
Falloch, towards the head of Loch Lomond, with the view of aseending Ben
Voirlich, butthe fatigues of the previous day had so knocked up many (es-
pecially our geological friends), that only 14 ventured to ascend Ben Voir-
lich, the remainder walking along the shores of the Loch. The mountain
visited is one which yields a number of good alpine plants. Nearly all those
found on the previous day were gathered, with the exception of Arabis petrea
and Allosorus. In addition, we collected Cerastium alpinum, Listera cordata,
Lycopodium annotinum, Carex Persoonii, isoetes lacustris. After reaching
thesummit, we descended by a very steep side of the mountain, to Loch
Hoy, and reached the shores of Loch Lomond, whence we proceeded to
Tarbet.

On the lower grounds some of the more interesting plants collected were—
Lysimachia vulgaris, Hypericum Androsemum, Carum verticillatum, Os-
munda regalis, Corydalis claviculata, Crepis biennis—near Tarbet, Scutel-
laria galericulata, Sedum anglicum. At Tarbet the various members of
the party reunited, and joining the steamboat at 4 p.m., reached Glasgow at
8, whence they proceeded to Edinburgh.

We all look back with pleasure to the trip, but our joy is mingled with
sorrow when we reflect that he who conducted the geological department, and
who contributed so much to the profit and to the happiness of the party, is no
longer among us. We can hardly believe that he is gone, for his image
comes before us fresh as ever, associated with many scenes of happiness and
enjoyment.

Mr Hecror then read the following account of the geological phenomena
observed during the trip :—

The lower part of Lochlomond lies in Old Red Sandstone strata, and the
islands which form such picturesque objects in that part of the loch are com-
posed of portions of the beds which have either withstood or have been left
untouched by the agencies which produced the rest of the valley. These
islands are arranged in indistinct lines, which run from N.E. to S.W -, and
which direction is very probably that of the mean strike of the beds. In
sailing up Lochlomond, after leaving the Old Red strata, the beds come upon
next are those belonging to the thin series of Clay-slate formation, which

F

34 PROCEEDINGS OF

runs right across the island in a N.E. direction, skirting the southern flank
of the Grampians. These beds, on the west side of the loch at any rate,
form many alternations with the Mica-schist, which lies immediately inferior
to it, the one seeming gradually to merge into the other. The contortion of
the strata, which is afterwards so well marked in the schist, makes its ap-
pearance in the lower beds of the clay-slate, those at Luss, which are
quarried for economic purposes, being entirely free from it, although the late
Professor Forbes, at a al acuncal visit, thought he detected true cleavage,
and distinguished it from lamination by its being at right angles to veins
of cale spar, which intersect the beds, agreeing in its direction with those of
quartz. This he reported at the meeting of the British Association.

After we arrived at Inverarnan, on the same day we ascended a height in
the neighbourhood, situated to the N.W. It was composed of mica-shist
beds, and had nothing peculiar about it. In walking over the moor behind
it, roots of trees were found in a bog. The destruction of these trees was
accounted for by supposing that the elevation of the country, which is other-
wise proved to have taken place, had raised them into a zone of altitude in
which they were not fitted to live. Walking in a south-west direction we
came to a valley which presented the typical characters of a valley of this
district. Narrow and gorge-like at its lower part, it widened into a strath
towards its upper, ending in several smaller valleys which bear down
the tributaries that go to form the principal stream. The valley lies in the
strike of the beds, the S.E. side of it being formed by their surface, dipping
to the N.E., at about 23 degrees, and being the least steep and abrupt of the
two, while the opposite side is formed by the fractured section of the beds.
Standing on the northern side, Professor Forbes’ eye at once distinguished
evidence of glacial action upon the opposite side of the valley, at about 150
feet above the level of the stream below. Upon examining, as we descended
at the same level on the northern side, no such marks could be found. The
reason of this was obviously explained by masses which were strewn about,
removed from their places by the action of the weather, so that any traces
which might have existed would long since have been destroyed.

On arriving at the level of the stream, and pretty near the outlet of the
valley, where it assumed a narrow and almost gorge-like appearance, it was
found, ist, That the surface of the rocks were smoothed and striated in the
direction of the length of the valley; 2d, That the sides of the gorge had a
torn and fractured appearance ; and 3d, That there were strewn about, and
in the bed of the stream, large and small fragments, smoothed and polished,
consisting of the mica-schist, and likewise of a red felspar porphyry, similar
to that found at Inverary, none such being known to exist nearer than that
place. In running over the rocks, which bore striated markings, it was
noticed that the stream had cut to the depth of about five feet. As Professor
Forbes hardly thought that the porphyritic fragments could have come from
Inverary, it was determined that next day should be devoted to a search for
a nearer source from which it might have been derived.

On the Friday we started for three hills situated to the N.W. by W., and
the centre one was chosen for our destination. Having gained the moor
upon which we were the day before, we struck across it in the direction
before mentioned, and after descending a little and very slowly, and having
walked about five miles, we at last began to ascend the hill, Like all the
country for miles around, it was composed of mica-schist, the general dip of
which, 50°. to the 8., could only be recognized by an extensive view of the
rock, owing to the confusion introduced by the foliation, In ascending the
hill, the first thing marked was a great vein of quartz, having a lenticular
section, the greatest thickness of which could not be less than 12 or 14 feet.
Professor F. mentioned ‘that it was in such veins —e slate that
gold was found in gold-bearing districts. Immediately below the quartz
there was a stratum of thin grey beds, having black crystals inthem. Above

—

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 35

the quartz was a quantity of decomposed rock, of a bright ochre colour. A
little higher up the hill we came upon a bed of mica-schist, filled with garnets,
having met only with scattered specimens before. This bed was found to
coincide with the true dip of the strata, which at that place was almost
at right angles to the direction of the foliated structure. The foliation
being 15 deg. N., and the dip of the strata 50 deg. S. It is to be remarked
here that as the dip of the beds in the valley visited the day before, and
which was situated to the south, was in an entirely opposite direction from
that of the beds composing the hill, it seems probable that the moor over which
we crossed forms the syncline of a great wave in the strata. On continu-
ing to ascend, we came upon first fragments, and then a vein or dyke of
the porphyry, of which we were in search, and which we traced passing
right through the apex of the hill. Till we arrived at the top, we saw
nothing more worthy of remark, excepting a few more of the garnet beds,
and also the curious manner in which the mica schist weathered, forming
large joints, which having become loose, lay strewn about the face of the
Pe gee walking rather difficult. This did not occur, however, until
we had reached what might be likened to the cone of a volcanic hill. On
gaining the summit, we found besides the vein of porphyry a vein of quartz,
which had a more easterly direction than the porphyrite one, and we re-
cognized it running up the face of the hill to the north of us. We like-
wise found a second dyke or vein, which passed through the hill a
little to the south of the summit, and at right angles to the first one.
It had a slightly different mineral appearance. The foliation of the beds on
the back of the hill was now found to alter its direction, so that it almost
coincided with the dip. The hill descended abruptly on its northern aspect,
and a splendid specimen of a fault, on a large scale, was noticed on the back
of the ridge which connected Ben Oss with Ben Duchray. The valley into
which we now descended was much wider than that we were in the day
before, and differed from it likewise in having its narrowest part at its upper
end, and widening into a strath at its lower, which characters are the opposite
of those of the other valley, Throughout its lower half, which was the por-
tion we examined, there were numerous moraines irregularly dispersed. On
gaining the high road, we found the road-metal to consist of greenstone, and
on looking about, a mass of that rock was found, forming a portion of a dyke
apparently, the direction of which could not be ascertained. About a mile
from Crianlarich there is a limestone quarry. The limestone was seen to
form a bed of no great thickness. It was of a bluish colour, and crystalline
texture. Its dip was towards the north, and immediately above, it was over-
laid by the mica schist, in the neighbourhood of which the limestone was in-
terfoliated with mica, so as to render indistinct its boundary. In the lime-
stone there were also nodules, which Professor Forbes said had quite the
appearance of metamorphosed fossils. Also, I remember he hinted that gar-
nets might have had a similar origin.

On the Saturday we walked down the side of the Loch, and on coming
to a stream, which flowed into the head of the Loch, we found among the
boulders in its bed, masses of syenite and hornblend slate. Three thin beds
of limestone were met with in the course of our walk, all of which dipped to
the south at angles varying from 5 deg. to 30 deg. The only sign of me-
tamorphic action which they presented was their crystalline texture, and
jointed structure, while the mica-schist on either side was greatly contorted.
Professor Forbes mentioned how useful these might be in unravelling the
structure of the country, by their giving the true dip, and in detecting faults
and rollings of the strata. Several local deposits of a blue laminated clay
were found at slight elevations above the level of the Loch, but we failed to
discover any shells in them. An enormous boulder of Red Porphyry was
seen on the shore opposite Inversnaid.

36 PROCEEDINGS OF

5. Register of the Flowering of Spring Plants in the Royal Botanic Garden,
as compared with the four previous years. By Mr M‘Nas,

1855. 1854. 1853. 1852. 1851.

Tussilagoalba_... ee ... |March15|Feb. 14 March Feb. 27jJan. 26
Symplocarpus fetidus ... ... — 20)March 3 20/Feb. 4
Corylus Avellana ... sa 3h — 21) — 10) — 9 San. 25\Jan. 16
Narcissus pumilus evs .- {April 2) — 10) — 21)March11/March 5
Scilla bifolia, alba an 5} — 13) — 27) — 21) — 8

» Tubra : 6) — 14 — 28) — VW
Rhododendron atrovirens 6\Feb. 18)Feb. : Jan. 14Jan. 2
Daphne Mezereon 6} — 18 21; — 28
Primula denticulata 7] — 27 March 95 Feb. 19/Feb. 15
Arabis albida 8 — 15 — 15 18} — 7
Aubretia grandiflora 8| — 17\Feb. 1 March 18|March 1
Nordmannia cordifolia 9|March 1/March24) — 10/Feb. 20

OP SRY al ed i

Dondia Epipaetis ... 9) — 11) — 25) — 8Jan. 4
Primula nivalis 10) — — 15)Feb. 20)March a4
Scilla bifolia, cerulea 10} — 15) — 27)March20); —
Pulmonaria angustifolia 10| — 19) — 30) — 1
Symphytum caucasicum ... 10) — 11) — 26/Feb. 2) — 23
Doronicum caucasicum 11} — 11] — 26 — 25
Draba aizoides_... : 11} — 20/April 1)Marech26) — 2
Erythronium Dens Canis. 11} — 10)March 19 — 12
Anemone Pulsatilla 11} — 14 ae - Feb.. 21 April 15
Tussilago Farfara 11 Feb. 19

Note—Between 10th March and 12th April, 1854, 65 spring flowering species were
recorded, and during the same period this year, only 22 of the species have come
into bloom.

Mr Evans stated that the first expanded flowers of the Apricot were ob-
served in the Experimental Garden on 24th March, being about three weeks
later than last year.

Lowest Temperatures indicated by the Register Thermometer kept at the
Botanic Garden during March 1855 :—

deg. deg. deg. deg,
March 1 37 |March 9 ... 31 Mee 17... 94 | een eo oes 0
wa 2 30 Areas 4 yaks yE ale 16") Soe. ee ee 2G Soon pee
SK ie i a Aaa ch. ORR eae SSA Re eS 8
£5... BB hat. fees a 40208 46 Oe ee ABS Se: RS
D lis aae We 13.72 (26 oan '¢ SE CREE eit GON. ae
6 27 14 24 22 31 30 27
7. was LPO Al) knot eee aes tre 31 26
Bs eas en ibe 16) <csecce von, ) Dees ee

Average lowest temperature for March 294°.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 37

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY FOR MAY 1855.

The Society met at the Royal Botanic Garden, on Thursday, 10th May,
1855—Professor Balfour, President, in the chair.
The following candidates were ballotted for, and duly elected.

Orpisary Resipent FELtows.
Dr Wruus Geecory, Professor of Chemistry in the Edinburgh
University.
Wim Tartor, Esq., 22 Charles Street.
J. W. Happen, Esq., Register Place.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s Library and Her-

um :—

From C. E. Parker, Esq., Torquay, a large parcel of English plants.

From Dr Adolph Senoner, Vienna, the Transactions of the Zoological and
Botanical Society of Vienna, and several pamphlets,

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had been presented
to the Museum of Economic Botany, at the Botanic Garden, since the previous
meeting of the Botanical Society :— '

From Mrs A. P. Thompson, 4 Leopold Place, a large specimen in frame
of Delesseria sanguinea, from Lismore, Ireland.

From Mr Stratton, Botanic Garden, Cambridge, a section, 8 feet in cireum-
ference, of the Dragon tree, from Teneriffe.

From Mr M‘Kie, Genoch, section of a stem of Yucea gloriosa, 2 feet 3
inches in circumference. It was blown down in the garden at Genoch,
Stranraer, during the past winter.

From Charles Murray, Esq., fruit of a Snake nut, Ophiocaryon paradoxum,
from Demerara.

From J. B. Fleming, Esq , a bottle of Otto of Roses, procured from Nor-
thern India.

From Dr Horatio N. Storer, of Boston, specimen of the bark of the Slippery
Elm, Ulmus fulva, from America, remarkable for the large per-centage of
mucilage which it yields.

From Colonel Yule, Inverleith Row, three sections of West India woods.

From Dr Douglas Maclagan, specimen of the fruit ofa Luffa, from the West
Indies ; also a bunch of the twigs of the Bitter Bush, stated to have been suc-
cessfully used in the West Indies for Asiatic cholera.

From John Lowe, Esq., hazel nuts, and beechwood found imbedded in
vegetable mould at Lochend.

Professor Balfour stated that, during the past month, plants, cuttings, and
roots had been presented to the Botanic Garden, as follows :-—
Professor Christison, tuber of the Vanderia.
Mrs Blackwood, tropical Orchids.
Messrs P. Lawson & Son, Daphne Fortuni, Roses, &c.
Mr Evans, 2 plants of Cupressus Macnabiana.
Mr Moore, Botanic Garden, Dublin, Erica mediterranea, hibernica, alba.
Mrs Haig, Viewpark, variegated Geraniums, of sorts.
: Mr — Guernsey, Ophioglossum lusitanicum and Gymnogramma
€ ylla.
Ste MiIntosh, Dalkeith, Pistia Stratiotes, &c.
ao nearer. Inverleith Row, Hindsia longiflora, alba, and Chrysanthemum
aphne.

Seeds have been presented to the Botanic Garden by the following indivi-
dnals during the past month :—
Mrs Dr Smith, Edinburgh, Lima seeds.
Dr Christison, Bambadra Tobacco.
Mr Tod, Inverleith Row, select annual seeds,
G

38 PROCEEDINGS OF

Mrs Balfour, Indian seeds.

Mr Blythe, Hyde Park, London, Indian seeds.

Mr Laing, Dysart, Rhododendron seeds.

sy egal Madras, Indian seeds.

Colonel Yule, Inverleith Row, West Indian seeds.

Mr Moore, Glasnevin, Dublin, seeds of Megacarpea polyandra.

Mr Evans, annual seeds.

Miss Gibson-Craig, Hermiston, Indian seeds.

Mr Baxter, Riccarton, annual seeds.

Mr Jenner, Howard Place, seeds from Syria.

Mr Burnett, Indian seeds.

Lieut. Dodds, Indian seeds.

Mr P. 8. Robertson exhibited from the Nurseries of Messrs P. Lawson and
Son, germinating plants of the following species of new and rare Conifers,
and called attention to the remarkable variation in the number of their
cotyledonary leaves. :—

“Pinus nobilis; normal number of cotyledons 6, varying with 4, 5,
and 7.

“Pinus Sabiniana; 14, 15, 16 prevailing numbers; variations 13, 17,
18, 19.

“ Pinus Jefireyi ; prevailing numbers 9 and 10, varying with 7, 8, 11.

“ Abies Hookeriana; usual number 4, varying from 3 to 5.

“Pinus Beardsleyi; prevailing numbers 6 and 7, varying with 3, 5, 8, 9,
and 10. This species occasionally produces two perfect plants from one
seed.

“ Thuja Craigana (Libocedrus decurrens) ; usual number 4, varying from 1
to 4.

“ Cryptomeria japonica; usual number 3, varying from 2 to 4.

“ Pinus Lambertiana; usual numbers 14, varying with 10, 12, and 13.

** Pinus monticola ; usual numbers 8, and 10, varying with 6, 7 ,9, 11.
The following papers were read :—

1. On some New Species of British Fresh Water Diatomacee, with remarks
on the value of certain specific characters. By Professor Grecory.

The author described the new species under three heads, as follows :—

I. Species new to Britain, but known to foreign authors :—

1. Eunotia tridentula. Ehr. 7. Pinnularia Dactylus. Ehr.
2. Navicula Follis (or Trochus?) Ehr.| 8. i. ygmea. Ehr.

3. rs Bacillum. Ehr. 9. Stauroneis etacnl Kutz.
4, 7 dubia. Kutz 10. 4 ventricosa. Kutz.
5. Pinnularia nodosa. Kutz. 11. Cocconema cornutum, Ehr.
6 > megaloptera. Ehr. 12. Gomphonema subtile. Ehr.

II. Species not yet figured, but observed by other naturalists about the
same time as by the author. ‘
13. Navicula apiculata Sm. 15. Navicula seutelloides. Sm.
14 ay rostrata. Sm. 16. Mastogloia Grevillii.
The last named species was first observed by Dr Greville.
III. Species, now first described.

17. Cymbella sinuata. W. G. 29. Pinnularia subcapitata. W. G.
“Cael turgida. W.G. 30. “i digitoradiata. W. G.
19. 9% obtusa. W. G. Si, - lobiceps. W.G.

20. ‘i Arcus. W. G. VE 5. 3 inensis. W. G.

21. di Pisciculus. W. G. 33. Stauroneis obliqua. W. G.

22. Navicula cocconeiformis, W.G. 34, Pe dubia. W. G.

a8. ” lacustris. W. G. 35 ovalis. W.G.

24. » bacillaris. W. @ 36. Surirella tenera. W. G.

bp me lepida. W. G. 37. Gomphonema insigne. W. G.

26. incurva. W.G. 38. ” ventricosum. W. G.
27. Pinnularia biceps. W.G. 39. 1 Sarcophagus. W. G:

28. * linearis. W.G. 40. - equale. W.G.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 39

Figures of the whole of the above species were exhibited, drawn by Dr
Greville, to a uniform scale of 10,000 times the actual linear dimensions.
After some remarks on the distribution of Fresh Water Diatoms, the author
proceeded to consider the value of certain specific characters. We give
this part of his paper fully, omitting any description of the new species
ah named, which will be figured in the Transactions of the Microscopical
ciety.

Species, among Diatoms, are generally distinguished by the following
particulars, which are noted in the character attached to the specific name,
viz., the form ; the structure, where anything remarkable occurs ; the length
of the individual frustule, within the usual limits; the arrangement and
number of the strize, where these are visible, as well as their nature, whether
moniliform or continuous, narrow or broad, close or distant, &c , and fre-
quently the aspect of the median line, if present, and of the nodules at its
centre and extremities.

I shall not here enter on the subject of the structure of the frustule, partly
because this is rather a generic than a specific character, and partly because
but little is known of it in reality.

But I propose to direct attention to some points ‘which occur in almost
every character of a species, namely, the form or outline ; the number of the
strie in a given space, and the aspect of the median line and nodules, be-
cause it appears to me that these characters, at all events in some species,
are subject to considerable variation, and cannot, therefore, be safely trusted
to as specific characters.

First, as to form or outline. Ina large number of species this varies so
much that, if we were guided by it, we should make many species out of
what certainly is kut one, as is shown by the fact, that these forms pass by
gentle gradations into each other. This kind of variation occurs in some of
the forms here figured ; as, for example, in Navicula lacustris, of which two
very different forms occur. There is, however, a third, not figured, which
is precisely intermediate. It is seen also in Navicula elliptica, of which four
varieties are figured, only three of which are oval, but of different propor-
tions, while the fourth is constricted. Navicula dubia is believed to belong
to the same species as N. amphigomphus and N. dilatata, and by some, all
three are united to N. firma. It is certain that all four agree in having the
side lines, but they all differ in outline. Navicula lepida, one of the new spe-
cies, exhibits three varieties, differing in form, only one of which is here
figured. One of the others is very short and broad, nearly orbicular, while
the other has straight sides. But the most remarkable example is found in
a species which I have elsewhere described, and which has, although very
frequent, been most unaccountably overlooked hitherto. [I have named it
Navicula varians, and I exhibit a proof of a plate, not yet published, in which
I have figured a considerable number of the types of form in which it ap-
pears, along with many of the intermediate or transition forms which I always
find to accompany them. It would require a second plate to show all the
marked types, of different outline, observed in this species, and the connect-
ing transition forms. Of all those figured in the plate, not more than three
have ever been figured before, and these all as distinct species, namely,
Navicula inflata. fig. 20, c, N. rhyneocephala, fig. 22, and N. scutelloides, fig.
16. But the first and the last of these are only doubtfully placed by me
under N. varians. The former may be a distinct species, although the
figures 20 b, and 20, seem to show that it also has atendency to vary. As to
the latter, the N. scutelloides of Smith would seem, according to Dr Greville,
to be a Cocconeis, not a Navicula, but I have since found a form, of the same
outline as fig. 16, which seems to be a true Navicula varians, but which I
could not find in time for the plate. Asit happens, fig. 16 resembles it
almost exactly. Perhaps fig. 30, c, or fig. 30, d, may have been figured by
others as Pinnularia gracilis, but in all the specimens of that species, marked

40 PROCEEDINGS OF

and named by others, which I have, the striation is far less conspicuous.
Some of the figures are like P. peregrina, but that is a form of salt and
brackish water while the whole of these are from fresh water. :

My reason for uniting nearly the whole of the forms in the plate, and a
number of others, in one species are, first the similarity in the general aspect,
and in the peculiar arrangement of the strie. Secondly, In the gatherings
where I find them, all, or most of them, occur together, with every degree of
intermediate form. Yet, if several of those which differ most in form were
to be found unmixed with others, they would certainly have been considered,
indeed, so far as observed, they have been considered as distinct species, aad
some have even been placed in different genera.

It is plain that in describing this species, we cannot give any form as a
specific character. And if our description or our figures are to be of use to
observers, we must give, at least, figures of all the distinctly different types
of form, adding that transition forms occur between any one of these types,
and all the others. The same rule applies to all the species already noticed
as varying in form. To these I may add the following, viz., Pinnularia
divergens, Navicula rhomboides, Eunotia triodon, E. bigibba, Himantidium
bidens, and others.

The next character is that of the number of striae, which in this country
are usually given for 1-1000th of an inch, on the continent for 1-100th of a
line or 1-1200th of aninch. In some species, perhaps in many, this charac-
ter is by no means constant. In Navicula varians, I find that in the smaller
individuals there are often 24 to 26 striz in 1-1000th of an inch, while in the
larger there are only 14 to 16, and this in individuals of the same type of
outline. Smith describes Pinnularia divergens with 11 strie in 1-1000th
inch, while I find it more frequently with from 22 to 26 in 1-1000th inch—the
arrangement, which is peculiar, being the same in both.

A very striking example occurs in Navicula elliptica, which, as we have
seen, also varies in form. The species, as described by Kutzing, has very
coarse striz, even coarser than appears by any of the figures. But in a
variety to which I have directed attention, and which I regarded, on this
account asa distinct species, till I found a gradual transition to the first
named type, the striz are so very much finer, being about three times more
numerous, that the aspect of the frustule is totally changed. In comparing
examples of the extreme types in regard to striation, I took individuals of
equal size, and I found in one very coarse striz, in the other, striz so fine as
not to be easily seen unless the valve were placed in the most favourable
position with reference to the light. I might adduce other examples, but I
shall pass on to another character.

Thisis the appearance of the median line and nodules. In the coarsely
striated variety of N elliptica, there are lines on each side of the median line,
forming a double cone, of which the bases meet near thecentre. But in the
finely striated variety, these lines are parallel to the median line; only bend-
ing outwards round the central nodule. This assists in giving a very differ-
ent aspect to the two forms, which yet are connected by a graduated chain
of transition forms.

Time will not allow me to dwell longer on this subject, but I may add
that in the variety 6 of Navicula lepida, the character and aspect of the
median line and nodules is quite different from those in the typical form «
In this case the striation is also more conspicuous in f# than in @.

We have then, if we consider only the three characters of form or outline,
number of strie, and aspect of medial line and nodules, evidence that great
variations may occur in any one of them. Nay, in Navicula elliptica and N.
lepida, variations occur in all three together. In such cases as these last, it
is difficult to define the species by these characters in the usual way, and we
have apparently no resource but to state the fact of the tendency to vary in
one or more of these points, as one of the specific characters. In Navicula
varians the arrangement of the strise is always the same, as it is also in Pin-

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 41

nularia divergens, and many others, but in Navicula elliptica even this fails,
for the strie are highly radiate in the coarsely striated form, and nearly
parallel in that with finer striz.

In all such cases the definition should be accompanied by accurate figures,
showing the way in which the species vary, and in regard to outline, as al-
ready remarked, giving all the marked types of form between which the
transition forms will naturally find their place.

As to size, in some cases enormous variations occur, as may be seen in the
plate of N. varians, even in the same type of form; also in N. elliptica,
Eunotia triodon, Pinnularia divergens, and many others. If Pinnularia mega-
loptera be referred to P. lata, we have a variation in length from about
20 ten-thousandths of an inch to nearly 80.

The distribution of Diatoms over the world is one of the most remarkable
points about their history. Not only do we find, if we examine a gathering
from auy part of the world, that most of the forms are identical with those of
our own waters; but in tracing these minute organisms through the later to
the earlier sedimentary rocks (and it is said that they occur in the lower
Silurian strata, the oldest in which any organic remains occur), we find still
the greater number of species to be those of the present day. This part of
the subject well merits a close investigation.

Ehrenberg, in his last great work on the distribution of microscopic forms
over the earth, both in the present period and in past geological times, has
shown that in all soils in which plants grow, Diatoms are present, often in
considerable quantity, and in great variety. He ascribes to them a great
part in the formation of such soils, and it is probable that by their life and
growth they extract much silica from the water in which they live, and trans-
fer it at their death to the soil. The sediment of all rivers contains a con-
siderable amount of Diatoms, as, for example, the mud of the Nile and that
of the Ganges, which have formed the great Deltas of Egypt and Bengal.

I propose to lay before the Society, at a future meeting, the results of an
examination of some small portions of earth taken from botanical specimens
in herbaria from foreign, chiefly tropical, countries. In all of these Diatoms
occur, so far as I have examined them, as is also reported by Ehrenberg in
the work I have alluded to. If any member of the Society can supply me
with such earth from exotic specimens, as in many cases a little earth ad-
heres to them, I shall be very grateful, and they shall be carefully examined,
and the results made known at the time referred to. If any plants should
arrive from abroad, with earth adhering to them, such earth ought to be care-
fully preserved for examination. ‘The results of the examination of the speci-
mens of earth given to me by Professor Balfour are in several respects very
interesting.

2. Remarks on Specimens of Megacarpewa polyandra, Bentham. By Dr
Barour. r

Mr Moore having kindly sent from Glasnevin a specimen of the flowers
and leaf of this plant, I think that it is of sufficient interest to call for notice
at a meeting of the Botanical Socicty.

The seeds of the plant were sent by Colonel Madden to Dublin, and he
gives the subjoined remarks in regard to the plant as seen by him in
India :-—

Colonel Madden states :—‘‘ The following notice of Megacarpzea polyandra,
(Bentham) extracted from my Road Book, containing merely hurried remarks
made on the spot on plants collected, and cursorily examined, at the end of
a frequently fatiguing day’s journey in a very difficult country, do not pre-
tend to any minute accuracy, and are only calculated to afford a general
idea of the plant and of the site and conditions under which it exists. A
more scientific description of the plant will be supplied from specimens grown
in the Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin, by Mr D. Moore, the curator
from seeds transmitted by me from Kumaon in 1849, and which, thouch
speedily germinating, and attaining a great size, have only flowered this

42 PROCEEDINGS OF

spring, for the first time in Europe; as Mr Moore thinks, in consequence of
the past severe winter, which must closely resemble the extreme rigour
of that proper to the locality where the Megacarpza is indigenous.

“The interest of the plant consists in its possessing a number of stamens;
(from 12 to 15), quite abnormal in the order of Cruciferz, to which it other-
wise belongs; and which might seem, taken alone, to place it between that
order and Papaveraceew; but when these extra stamens are viewed as
developements of the glands which are present in the Crucifere on the disc
or torus, between the petals and the ovary and ordinary stamens, the plant
may well be referred simply to that order.

‘The Genus Megacarpea was first discovered, I believe, by Fischer, in the
salt Steppes and calcareous hills of Turkistan, in the neighbourhood of the
Caspian Sea; and by Ledebour in Siberia; and was originally referred to
Biscutella. Two species are described by De Candolle, (Prod. I., 183), but so
imperfectly, that till further information is obtained, it is impossible to
determine whether the plant before us, from the Himalaya, is identical with
either of them, especially M. laciniata, from the Altai Mountains, or a new
species which is to bear the name of M. polyandra.

“« Megacarpea (probably this very species) was next met with by Dr Hugh
Falconer in the Highlands of Little Tibet, on the Husora river, an affluent
of the Indus, and in the same country by the late Mr J. E. Winterbottom,
who described it to me as growing 6 to8 feet high on the Barzil Pass, upper
glen of the Kishenganga River, between Kashmere and Astor; but neither of
these botanists was, I believe, so fortunate as to obtain the flowers, which were
first seen by Captain R. Strachey in 1848, on a visit to the glacier sources of
the Pindar River in Kumaon, upto which date the existence of the plant in the
British Himalaya was unknown; nor has it been discovered, so far as I am
aware, in any other of our provinces—at least those south of the Sutlej River.
Here it occurs in three localities, where the climate resembles or approximates
to that of Little Tibet, Turkistan, and the other habitats, viz., extreme cold
in winter, and extreme heat and aridity in summer, conditions which have
proved favourable to the migration or presence of many other Thibetan and
Siberian plants on the dry northern slope of the Himalayan range, where a
system of vegetation is established in marked contrast with what prevails on
the Indian face, which is annually for three months deluged with rain.*

‘In Kumaon the plant occurs on the open sunny downs, at from 11,500 to
14,000 feet above the sea level, where all arboreous vegetation has ceased.
It is well known to the mountaineers by the name of Roogee. They eat the
pounded root as a condiment; it has like the whole plant a strong permanent

* A very instructive example of the manner in which plants are distributed in
distant regions of similar physical character is afforded by Calligonum Pallasii.
This, like the Megacarpza, abounds in the Caspian province, and equally or much
more, in the sandy deserts of Western India, between the Jumna and the Indus
rivers. The heat for many months annually is extreme, and one is at first surprised
to find a plant flourishing here, which is also indigenous to the steppes of the Cas-
pian, where the winter cold is equally extreme. But, as is now well known, the
Caspian and its deserts occupy a deep hollow at the western end of a plane descend-
ing from the sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes, and as a consequence of this low
position on the earth’s surface, possess a summer temperature as high as the winter
one is low, and perhaps equal to that of the Indian desert above referred to. In the
latter, during the months of April, May, and June, when everything else is burnt
up, the Calligonum, with its innumerable green leafless twigs, covers the waste of
sandhills with a mantle of verdure, yielding a favourite food to the camel, the pro-
per beast of burden of the country. It is known to the people by the name of
Lhoke, and under this designation is first mentioned by Mr Elphinstone in his ac-
count of the kingdom of Caubul. A species of Ephedra likewise occurs, which is
also ealled by the same name, but the true plant is the Calligonum, and neither
Ephedra ner Ascelpias acida (the Soma plant) as some have supposed.

ee

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. . 43

odour and flavour, something like horse radish. The localities in which it

ws are—1. Champwa near the Kaphini glacier: 2. Near the Soondurd-
nate glacier,the heads of the Pindar River, and ; 3. At Ralim, on one of the
spurs of the snowy Panch—Choola Rauge, which bounds the next great valley
to the east. Here the Roogee flowers in May, June, and ripens its fruit in
September, October. The root is fusiform, a foot or more in girth at the
collar, and from 1 to 2 feet long, forked below ; internally of light cellular
substance, externally exhibiting very numerous horizontal annular ridges.
Several annual stems from 4 to 6 feet high. When young in winter protected
by many erect, rectangular, straw-like scales. Radical leaves spreading from
2 to 23 feet long, the exterior half occupied by 7 or 8 distant, distinct, sub-
opposite or alternate pinnz ; petiole dilated at the ba:e; cauline leaves scat-
tered, erect, pinnato-pinnatifid, about a foot long, with 10 to 12 segments,
linear-lanceolate, acuminate, incised, the lower ones more or less separate,
terminal more confluent. Flowers in dense terminal and axillary leafy
corymbs, shorter than the leaves; smail, white or yellowish white, with a
sweet fragrance or strong odour of Horse Radish (according to taste), and
much frequented by bees, flies, &c. Peduncles and pedicels villous, the lat-
ter long and one-flowered. Sepals 4, oblong, obtuse, coloured, from 1-5th to
1-4th inch long; petals alternate, oval, veined, half the height of the sepals;
stamens 12 to 15, hypogynous, erect, as long as the calyx, and disposed in 2
or 4 sets. Ovary one, flat, obcordate, resembling the silicle of Capsella
Bursa-Pastoris, with 2 auriculate, 1-seeded cells; stigmas 2 on a very short
style. The silicle is about 13 inch by 13, one of the cells being abortive.”

The following is a description of the plant taken from the specimen sent by
Mr Moore :—

Megacarpza polyandra, Benth.—Leaf sent by Mr Moore about a foot long—
greatest breadth about 7 inches; deeply pinnatifid—lobes narrowish, taper-
ing at the apex—toothed ; upper surface dark green—under surface glaucous,
covered with short hairs, many of which are glandular. Similar hairs occur
on the petiole, which is thick, with ridges and grooves, flattened on the upper
side androunded below. Flowers in compact racemose clusters, of a yellow-
ish white colour, and having a strongish odour. Sepals whitish, with a yel-
lowish and purplish tinge in some places, rugose, deciduous, broadly obovate,
and convex externally. Petals smaller than the sepals—obovate, tapering
below—rugose. Stamens varying from 11 to 13, some longer than others,
but not apparently in any definite number; filaments thick—broader below.

thers innate, two-lobed, yellow; green circle of glands round the
base of the stamens, attached to a broadish thick receptacle. Ovary
transversely elliptical, with a short style and large stigma—two-celled,
Fruit a silicula, with the replum across its narrow part. Seed brownish,
about 13 inch in length, and about the same in breadth—winged ; the wing ©
nearly a quarter of an inch deep—veined ; hilum straight or slightly curved
about half an inch long.

3. Lowest Temperature indicated by the Register Thermometer (Fahr.) kept
at the Botanic Garden, during April, 1855. By Mr M‘Nas.

deg. : deg.) ’ deg. | deg

April 1 - 27 jApril 9 ... 35/April 17 ... 30 jApril 24 ©... 31

See 2 25 eee SG) S.. 18 39 us) ries 40

=e 3 25 il 39 19 37 26 29

4 30 12 33 | 20 24 27 39

F er a 13... 36) ... 21 ... 25 Sat ee sas

5 Sat. .S7 Bis Pe tb) 42 inakin BAina.229 ea Geel: i.) Se

ae a, c0 2 an yas a (SG cin (\2Be rras5i) 1 3B osa% BO 37
SEM LOS vyiSde (39 wat AG rane: 33 |

Average lowest temperature for April 333°.

44 PROCEEDINGS OF

4. Register of the flowering of Spring Plants in the Royal Botanic Garden
as compared with the four previous years. By Mr M‘Nas.

1855. 1854. 1853. 1851. 1850.
Rhododendron Noblianum April 13/March 2
Narcissus moschatus 13 28|April 8)April 1/|March 26
Anchusa sempervirens 13 25 12\/Feb. 21/)Feb. 14
Fritillaria imperialis 14 26 12|\pril 3)|March 13
Hyacinthus botryoides 14 24|March 22|March 20 11
Tussilago nivea 14 18|April 1/Feb. 27|Jan. 28
Gagea lutea 14 23 12/April 6/March 2
Hyoscyamus physaloides 14 15 12 2 28
Corydalis cava 14 14 5 21
Holosteum umbellatum 15 20|March 30 April 17
Tussilago hybrida 15 14/April 4 March 5
Hyoseyamus Scopolia 15 14 4\Marech 25|Feb. 24
Puskenia scilloides 16 27 2 28 |March 15
Sesleria cerulea 16 24 12 April 5
Vinca minor 16 7
Orobus vernus 16 16 8 31|Feb. 17
Potentilla alba 16 16 12 March 28
Coiydalis solida 16 8 28 29
Asarum europeum 18 16|March 28 29/|Feb. 10
Ribes sanguineum, first flower
seen open on _ standard 19 14/April 4 21/March 5
plants . ?
Orobus Fisheri 19 18 1 Jan. 27
Dalibarda geoides 19 25 12/April 2/March 30
Adonis vernalis 19 28 6\March 6/Feb. 18
Narcissus pseudo-narcissus 20 25 6 28 {March 27
Doronicum Pardalianches 20 26 12 April 6
Cochlearia officinalis 20 28
Anemone nemorosa 20 22 12 March 21
Carex montana 20 30
Saxifraga crassifolia 21 20|March 27|March 27 20
Scilla siberica 21 30/April 10)April 1 26
Omphalodes verna 23 26 12 2 22
Ranunculus Ficaria 24 29 7\Mareh 15 30
Hierochlee borealis 27 30;March 7 April 7
Orobus cyaneus 29 17 28 Feb. 10
Anemone apennina 30|April 3)/April 12 April 9
Phyllodoce exrulea 30 1
Rhodothamuus Chamecistus |May 1 4
Alyssum saxatile 1 Il
Iberis sempervirens — 1 11 28/Feb. 10
Sanguinaria canadensis 2 4
Scilla italica 2 3
Fritillaria Meleagris 2 5|April 12 March 13
Epigea repens 2 3
Jeffersonia diphylla 2 5
Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi 2 11
Diclytra eximia 3 11
Scilla ameena 4 10
Leucojum estivuam 5 7
Polemonium pulchellum 5 10
6 3

Bryanthus erectus
a

5, Professor Batrour called attention toa paper by Mr D. Moore on the
effects produced | the intense frost of February, 1855, on the out door plants
in the Bova Dublin Society’s Garden, Glasnevin, from which the following
is an extract :-—

‘“« | have not been able to obtain much relative information which could be
depended on, to show at what previous periods any very intense frosts of long

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 45

duration occurred in Ireland. It is said that the temperature has not been so
low during the last forty years; but there may be some mistake in this, My
own impression is, that I saw the thermometer as low as zero in 1831, at the
south side of the city, when a greater fall of snow occurred than we have
lately experienced. Plants suffered very much in consequence, though not
nearly to the same extent they have this year, which may have resulted from
the cold happening earlier in the winter, when they were in a more dormant
state, or, probably, their wood had been better ripened during the previous
autumn, thereby enabling them to withstand the effects of the frost.
This year they were particularly liable to be injured, owing to the state of
excitability many of them were in, arising from the remarkably mild weather
which had prevailed during the months of November, December, and Janu-
ary. The Roses had young shoots, some of them several inches long,
and were in full leaf, and other out-door plants were in a state of
unnatural forwardness at that early period of the season. Scarcely any
frost occurred during those three months to arrest vegetation, the
thermometer not having fallen lower than to 28 degrees above zero, indi-
cating 4 degs. of frost during November, and that only on one night. In De-
ecmber it also fell to 28° on one night, that being the lowest until the 28th
of January, when it fell to 25 degrees, up to which period the temperature of
the winter months was equable and mild; yet I do not find so great a differ-
ence as I expected, on comparing the average mean temperature of the
months of November and December 1854, and January 1855, with the cor-
responding months of the year 1851, as given by Dr Lloyd for the locality of
Dublin. In his table showing the mean temperature of each month of the
years at the several registering stations through Ireland, Dublin is marked,
for January, 43.3; February, 43.6; December, 43.3, which indicate a more
than ordi mild winter, since according to my calculations, taken from
the readings of the thermometers at the Botanic Garden, registered once
during 24 hours, the average mean temperature of the month of December,
1854, is 42 degrees, and that of January, 1855, 40 degrees, being rather under
than over those of 1851. Those differences may, however, be owing in some
degree, to several readings having been taken in one case during 24 hours,
and only once in the other, as well as to the situations where the instru-
ments were placed—the Botanic Garden being 65 feet above the level of the
sea, and freely exposed, whereas the College garden is less than 10 feet, and, no
doubt, influenced by the heat of the city. A very marked difference, however,
occurs in February, the mean of that month having been 41.7 in 1851, whereas,
in February, 1855, it was only 32 deg. at the Botanic Garden, which I believe
is the lowest on record; besides, the minimum thermometer fell to 2 deg.
above zero, indicating 30 degrees of frost on the night of the 15th, and, again,
on the 18th it fell to 5 deg., and on the 19th to 10 deg., which alone go far to
show the principal cause of so much destruction to our out-door plants; but
when considered in connection with the state they were in at the time when
these frosts occurred, and the severity of the weather during the present
month, when they were recovering, fully account for all the damage.

“On the 6th inst., the thermometer marked 8 degrees of frost, followed by a
bright sun next day; and on the 25th, 7 degrees, followed also by a bright
sunshine, along with piercing frosty winds which prevailed during the
month, circumstances which have been very injurious to plants in their pre-
sent condition.

“T could not get any reliable registerings of the thermometer, indicative
of the state of the weather during the early part of the present century, but
Mr Yeates has kindly furnished me with notes of the lowest points to which
his thermometer fell during the last twelve years, from which, I find, it did
not mark lower than 10 degrees above zero during that period. I learn, also,
from the same data, that the greatest colds during those years occurred be-
tween the 6th and 18th February, though, in some instances, in January.

“ Before passing from this part of the subject, there is one other meterovlogi-
H

46 PROCEEDINGS OF

cal circumstance I shall briefly notice, because I consider that many of our
herbaceous as well as woody plants owe their partial safety to it—namely,.
the unusually small fall of rain which occurred during the autumnal and
winter months. By referring to the meteorological tables published lately by
the Dublin Society, it will be found that only 104 inches of rain
fell from the 1st of July to the 31st of December, which is below the average
quantity for that periodin the neighbourhood of Dublin, The ground was,
consequently, drier than it usually is in February ; and although the smaller
ea were snugly ensconced under a good covering of snow—which was, no

oubt, the principal protecting medium—they would have suffered more had
the ground been more saturated with moisture, as I find the same species

rr! en more affected in wet parts of the garden than where the ground is
ier,”

6. On the Disease of Finger and Toe in Root Crops. By Sir Jouy &.
Forzes.

The mortifying result in our green crops from unequal plants and early
disease and decay, does not excite the inquiry and caution which it ought, but
is too often attributed to vicissitudes of weather and other adventitious
causes, though the actual loss, from the expense of money and trouble in rear-
ing them, and the great inconvenience from disturbing our arrangements for
feeding by their failure, ought to set our wits to work to hit upon some preven-
tive plan, which it becomes the more necessary to discover, as the failure is

scarcely ever uniform in a district, and our neighbour’s exposure to ordinary
vicissitudes is as great as ours.

The increase of the disease of fingers and toes has recently stimulated this
inquiry, and two valuable papers have appeared upon the subject. 'The
foundation of that by Professor Anderson was a remit from the chemical de-
partment of the Highland and Agricultural Society, and the answers he ob-
tained from all parts of the country to a numerous list of queries circulated
with this view. His results were chiefly negative. He found by analysis
—1. That the chemical ingredients of the soils in which they were grown,
and of the sound and diseased roots themselves, afforded no available explana-
tion of the cause or character of the evil. Of other causes, the results of the
inquiries give no uniform explanation ; still, from the majority of the returns
under each head, a proximate conclusion may be arrived at. The softer
varieties seem most generally attacked, and the lighter soils, especially when
weak and deaf, are most affected. Though the chemical character of the
soil does not appear materially to influence it, its mechanical condition has
a marked effect; land artificially compressed, and a sudden change of texture,
or unseasonable working in bad weather, predispose to disease, but rotation
and even frequenf repetition of turnips, seem immaterial. Many observers
attribute the disease to insects; but their appearance in conjunction with the
disease may of course be the effect or concomitant, as well as the cause, and
it is extremely difficult to discriminate between these two. The appearance
of infection in the land where the disease has recently been prevalent may
also arise from the natural connection of parasites with weak and unhealthy
vegetation ; but the beneficial effect of lime even upon soils where it is not
deficient, or rather from frequent application is abundant, seems to favour
the theory that animal ravages are partly its origin. At all events, the ap-
plication of lime is the only specific which these reports suggest, and though
not uniform in its action, when applied a year or two before, it has almost
always been found beneficial. Salt is said also to have produced good effect ;
but the theory of its being the work of insects should be tested by applyin
other matters, such as tar, tar-oil, &c., which are injurious to them, and whic
might throw additional light upon this theory.

The other observer, to whose opinions we have referred (Professor Buck-
man), takes a different plan of investigation, proceeding on the supposition
that the disease depends upon the effect of treatment in cultivation on the

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 47

constitution of the plant. This isa very interesting view, and there is much
that ~ eda in his reasoning upon it. All our agricultural plants have
their wild analogues, and as their properties are changed by the processes to
which we subject them in forcing their produce, whether in succulent bulb or
ripened seed, the means employed may be expected to have an important ef-
fect on their natural or normal condition and characteristics.

To test this, the seed of the wild Parsnip and Carrot, which grew abun-
dantly in the neighbourhood of the place of experiment, was gathered and sown
in cultivated ground. It is well known that in their wild state these plants
have roots very much divided, similar to cultivated plants of the same fami-
lies affected with Anbury. This was done from each season’s produce for
three years, and the progress of the experiment proved that by degrees the
plant cast off its wild character, the leaves became smoother, losing their
native hairy appearance, and of a more delicate green. Their tissues were
increased, and the roots less forked during the first two years, but the result
of the third year’s cultivation was a cessation oftheir progress inimprovement
and even a disposition to retrograde. Now, the theory drawn from these ex-
periments is, that the plant grown under the same circumstances which
ripened the seeds will naturally in time degenerate towards their original
type; and as the great change at first to the new position of cultivated
garden plants improved the form and value of the roots as compared with
the wild specimens, a continuance of the same circumstances immedi-
ately tended to produce a reversion to the old conditions, because the habits
of the plant became accustomed to its condition, and its natural characteris-
ties returned. Two points, then, are particularly observable as necessary to
be attended to in practice—to surround your plants with circumstances as
dissimilar as possible from those of its natural growth, and to select your
seeds from plants possessing in strongest development the qualifications or
characteristics which you wish to cultivate. This view of the case is ma-
terially corroborated by attention to the natural history of root crops in culti-
vation. The first general observation we make is, that every alteration in
structure and habit of growth consequent upon cultivation is a departure from
the normal state, and this constitutes a derivative. Now, changes from the
wild state produce varieties, and no variety can ever be absolutely permanent.
Hence we must be constantly at work with these varieties to keep the super-
induced qualities, or on the stretch to find new types with properties equally
valuable. It may be observed, by the by, that the very same process is going
on in breeding stock, and the universal observation that the tendency of high
proof animals to go to weeds is the development of the same natural law, that
the departure from the normal type by artificial cultivation cannot be per-
manent in one strain. But to return to the root crops, one of the accidents of
degeneracy to which they will always be liable is this very mischief of fingers
and toes, and we may look for its casual appearance under the most careful
efforts to keep up the freshness and progressive character of new varieties.
The best chance for controlling its appearance among our crops is to study and
avoid the exciting causes in their condition which appear to favour its develop-
ment. Fingers and toes will always appear where the seed has been brought
from a rich to a poor soil, and is likely to result from using the seed
long raised in the same district. The reasons for these facts are obvious.
The effect of rich culture being a rapid improvement in the character
of the plant, the sudden change to a poorer soil naturally produces
degeneracy and mal-formation. The want of variety in the stimulants
for the constant advancement of the crop is the natural conse-
quence of raising plants from the seed grown in the same district. The same
reasoning applies in the case where the wild plant is a native of the district,
as the conditions of its natural growth will of course in many respects pre-
vail even under the altered circumstances of its cultivated position. In
management, also, the selection of particular seed is of the utmost importance.
The ons plan usually adopted of transporting wholesale the plants from

48 PROCEEDINGS OF

two or three rigs of a turnip field to a seed bed, where good, bad, and indif-
ferent are allowed to propagate their kind, cannot be defended, and it is to
be hoped does not need to be exposed. The utmost care in selecting the
»arent roots should be conjoined with choice of a situation suited for matur-
ing the seed, and free from the risk of admixture.

If this view of the subject be correct, fingers and toes is not to be regarded
as a disease, but as the natural type returning, in spite of cultivation, where
the conditions are not sufficiently removed from those incident to the wild
ylant, and degeneracy is consequently taking place. This arrives sooner or
fase according to the treatment of the plant, and also according to its char-
acter, for it is found that, as the wild Parsnip more rapidly assumes the fair
round form and succulent cellular tissue than the Carrot under cultivation, so
the latter more gradually recedes from its civilised form, and returns to its
wild condition.

7 Dr Balfour laid on the table the following notice of the origin of the name
Chenopodium Bonus Henricus, contained in a letter from Mr Hardy, Pen-
manshiel :—

Lately, in turning over J. Bauhin’s Historia plantarum, I met with the
following, tom. ii., p. 965. ‘ Dodon. Gall. et Lat. in fol. qui sub Tota
Bona describit et depingit; ait Bonum Henricum a singulari quadam
utili facultate vocari; veluti et perniciosam quandam plantam Malum Henri-
cum appellant, de quo alibi dicendum.”” I have not the Latin copy of Do-
donzeus, but in the English translation ot Lyte, 1st ed. 1578, p. 561, this ex-
planation is not given: we have, however, the English “Good Henry,”
being a translation of the’ Dutch and German name. The term Bonus
Henricus it appears from Mentzel (Index sub Lapath.) occurs in Brunsfel’s
Herbal, printed in 1532. I suspect, however, that it will be found in the
Herbarius of 1484, or the Ortus Sinitatis, as in an early Herbal that I pos-
sess, without a date, but published by Egenolf, who is said to have given an
improved edition of Cuba’s work, I find the name Gut Heinrich over the figure
of this plant. (This book of Egenolf has no text, being merely colour-d
figures.) The English names are attached in MS. in a very old hand.
“Good King Harry” occurs for the first time in Gerard, who says it was so
called in Cambridgeshire. (Johnson’s edit. 1633, p. 329), Malus Henricus
seems to have been Lathrwa squamaria, J. Bauhin, ii., p. 785, compared
with Parkinson’s Theatrum, 1363.

8 The following plants were placed on the table, from the Royal Botanic
Garden :—

Arum Dracunculus, and crinitum; Rhododendron glaucum, one of the
branches producing snow white flowers; box of Seedling Ferns (Lastrea
Filix mas, var. monstrosa). From 120 seedlings raised, a!l were observed to
partake of the same fringed form of the fronds from which the spores were
taken. The same peculiarity was observed in a box of Seedlings raised from
spores of Scolopendrium vulgare, var, marginatum. There were also shown
plants of Ophioglossum lusitanicum, Gymnogramma leptophylla, from Guern-
sey, Ranunculus alpestris, Calceolaria grandis, and. violacea.

There were we ET from Messrs P. Lawson & Son, a plant of Daphne,
Fortuni; and from Mr R, M. Stark, Edgehill Nursery, Primula capitata, and
Viola palma ‘a.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 49

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY FOR JUNE, 1855.

The Society met at the Royal Botanic Garden, on Thursday, 14th June,
1855—Professor Balfour, President, in the chair.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s library :—From
the Horticultural Society of Prussia, their Transactions; and from the War-
wickshire Natural History Society, their Nineteenth Annual Report (1855).

Dr Balfour intimated that a large and most valuable donation of Indian
plants had been sent to the University Herbarium by Dr J. D. Hooker and
Dr Thomson. Some of the specimens were exhibited, among which were the
following species of Rhododendron :—

Rhododendron anthopogon, Don Rhododendron Griffithsii, Wight, Auck-

eee arboreum, Sm. Fn dii, H. f.
argenteum, Hook. fil. Eee Hodgsoni, H. f.
barbatum, Wall. “s lepidotum, Wall.
camelliefiorum, H. f. = aes elzagnoides
campanulatum, Wall. oad abi obovatum

--- Var. zruginosum 28 ae salignum

campylocarpum, H. f. =? Maddeni, H. f.
ciliatum, H. f. sa nivale, H. f.
cinnabarinum, H. f. Ss niveum, H.f.
Dalhousiz H. f. ons pendulum, H. f.
Edgeworthi, H. f. F pumilum, H. f.
Falconeri, H. f. Soa setosum, Don.
formosum, Wall. ae Thomsoni, H. f.
fulgens, H. f. se vaccinioides, H. f.
glaucum, H. f. a virgatum, H. f.
lanatum, H. f. oe = triflorum

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had been presented
to the Museum of Economic Botany, at the Botanic Garden, since the last
meeting of the Botanical Society :—

From Mr Robert Hutchison, large rhizomes of Nuphar lutea, from Balkail,
Stranraer.

From F. Lyon, Esq., specimens of Stigmaria in Torbanehill coal.

From Mr Dickson, calcareous deposit around a species of Moss, found on the
banks of the Water of Leith, near Currie.

From W. Nichol, Esq., Calicium Beomyces, from Ravelrig.

From Frederick Gourlay, Esq., specimen of fossil wood found in Yorkshire.

From Dr Geo. Wilson, Foorsa root, from Bombay, where it is used as a
cure for the bite of the Cobra.

From Messrs P. Lawson & Son, three spikes of fruits of Magnolia grandi-
flora, from America.

From Mrs J. Millar, Edinburgh Castle, three pullicat boxes from the Mad-
ras Presidency, made of a species of Reed; also a basket made from strips
of Bamboo.

From Capt. Grange, Newton, Ayr, a Socotra dish and Burmah box, made of
strips of the Bamboo; also, two Burmese wooden combs, and six sections of
Burmah woods—viz., Gaumar, Koromfala, Tilsur, Teak, Iron wood, and
Parool (Lagerstreemia reginz).

From Mr J. B. Davies, piece of coal with Stigmaria impressions.

From Andrew Murray, Esq., cones of Pinus Craigana and P. Beardsleii—
being the type specimens described and figured by him in the Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal, 1855.

From Henry Paul, Esq., three carib cups from the West Indies, manufac-
tured from various species of Gourds.

From Professor Fleming, New College, stem from Cuba, with internal par-
titions.

I

50 PROCEEDINGS OF

From Mr G. 8. Blackie, specimens of Lecidea geographica from the Mer de
Glace, and a specimen of Lecanora atra from the summit of Torrenthorn,
10,000 feet above the sea level.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations of Plants and Seeds
had been presented to the Royal Botanic Garden during the past month—

From Messrs P. Lawson & Son—Collection of Ornamental Trees, consist-
ing of most of the recently introduced kinds.

From Mrs Colonel Spottiswoode—Colle ction of Indian Seeds.

From Mr Murray—Collection of Indian Seeds.

From M. Connal, Esq., Glasgow—Chinese Seeds.

From Miss Hope, Wardie Cottage—Seeds collected on the Missouri.

From J. C. Cox, Esq.—Australian Seeds.

From Miss Buckland—Seeds of Wellingtonia gigantea.

From Sir George Ballingall—Seeds collected on the Heights of Inkermann.

From Dr Traill—Seeds from Thibet.

From Mr Jeffrey, Madras—Collection of Indian Seeds.

From Captain Brown, R.N.—Seeds of the ‘‘ Copique,” a Chilian climber.

Dr Greville exhibited Specimens of the following Mosses, collected by him
during the past month in the neighbourhood of Bridge of Allan—
Hypnum depressum (with pistillidia). Shady rocks, Allan Water.
ypnum Swartzi. Banks of the Forth and Allan Water.
ypnum piliferum, Keir.
Dicranum polycarpum—Near the summit of Dumyet.
Tortula papillosa—By the Forth above Stirling. (No fruit known.)
Tortula latifolia—By the Forth above Stirling. (Barren.)
Tortula Mulleri, Bry. Eur.—Menstrie Glen. (Only previously found by
Drummond.)
Tortula levipila, Brid. var—This species is usually found on trees, and is
rare on walls, but near Bridge of Allan the variety is abundant on walls and
rare on trees,

Professor Balfour called attention to some interesting plants placed on the
table from the Botanic Garden. among which were—

Arnebia hispidissima, Punjaub, Mr Burnett.—A fragrant- flowered species
of Prophet’s Flower.

FHorl:elia congesta, Oregon.

Pentstemon (apparently) acuminatum. Do.

Dodecatheon integrifolium. Do.

Chrysobactryon Hookeri.

Eriogonium californicum, Oregon.

Isaac Anderson, Esq.. Maryfield, exhibited a number of new plants intro-
duced by him from North-west America.

Mr Evans exhibited some interesting plants from the Experimental Gar-
den, including Mutoca sericea, raised from seeds received from Jeffrey by
the Oregon Association ; Pinguicula grandiflora, Erinus alpinus, &c.

Professor Balfour stated that Pontederia elongata had been cultivated in
the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, and distributed under that name. It seems
to be only a variety of Pontederia crassipes, produced by being grown in soil
in place of water. The effect of this treatment is to cause the inflated pe-
tioles to elongate and lose their globular form. When the plants are put into
deep water so as to float, the roots being unable to reach the soil, then they
mugs the proper form of P. crassipes. Specimens were shown illustrating
this fact.

The following papers were read—

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 51

1. Remarks on the Calamite and Sternbergia of \the Carboniferous Epoch.
By Dr Friese.

The author made some preliminary remarks regarding the study of vege-
table paleontology. The specimens accessible for the illustration of the sub-
ject usually occur in a fragmentary form, macerated, rubbed, squeezed, and
without indications of age or conditions of growth, so that the greatest sym-
pathy should be extended to those who attempt to decipher in such circum-
stances. The investigation of these relics, he next observed, should be pre-
ceded by the study of the structure, functions and distribution of living plants,
and hence he viewed with delight the formation of a collection of the re-
mains of extinct plants within the walls of the Botanic Garden.

Dr Fleming then exhibited several examples of Catasntes of different
kinds, which he considered as justifying the following conclusions :—1.
That many species have the original matter, now forming a thin film of coal,
smooth on the outside, or not exhibiting externally any traces of joints or
longitudinal ribs. 2. From the inside of their woody cylinders, now con-
verted into coal, diaphragms proceeded at regular, but occasionally at irregu-
lar, intervals, dividing the inside of the hollow stem into a series of chambers.

These partitions appear to have possessed a very loose texture towards the
centre, but become more dense in substance towards their junction with the
stem, and usually leave traces of coaly matter at the sides. The jointed
character of the casts of the inside, in general all that is noticed by the geolo-
gist, is thus referable to the dissepiments, and cannot be regarded as resem-
bling the jointing of a Calamus. 3. The inside of the woody cylinder, al-
though smooth on the outside, was grooved longitudinally in the spaces
between the partitions or on the walls of the chambers, and hence the
rubbed surfaces of the casts. 4. The stem, unlike Stigmaria and Lepido-
dendron, had no woody axis, nor dense medullary sheath.

The author next exhibited specimens of Srerxpereia, displaying, like the
Calamite, the external cylinder of coal with a smooth surfaee, and giving no
indication of the internal arrangements. The inside exhibited diaphragms
having the same origin as in the Calamite, but less regularly disposed, fre-
quently wanting, and giving to the surface of the cast, not a distinctly
jointed, but a transversely crumpled appearance. He concluded, by stating
that, from the smooth surface, and thickness of the coaly matter into which
the plant had been converted, joined to its independent or detached condition
in the rocks, it could not be regarded as the remains of a discoid pith, but,
like the Calamite, as a plant which had a hollow stalk, the cavity divided
into chambers by transverse partitions, the remains of which give to the
casts their characteristic appearance.

In reference to Dr Fleming’s paper, Professor Balfour exhibited numerous
specimens of rhizomes and stems of plants which seemed to illustrate in some
measure the appearances presented by such coal plants as Stigmaria, Cala-
mite, and Sternbergia. Dr B. agreed with Dr Fleming in his views regard-
ing these plants, and referred particularly to the statements recently made by
Dr F. in his paper on Stigmaria, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society,
from which the following is a quotation: — “ He stated that in the
many examples of Stigmaria which he had examined, he had never ob-
served these rootlets articulated to the stem by anything resembling a ball
and socket joint, considering the appearance which had led to this notion as
due to shrinkage and state of preservation. The views of Dr Hooker, as
— in his valuable paper on Stigmaria in the “‘ Memoirs of the Geological

ey,” vol. ii., p. 437, were next considered. This acute observer, from an
examination of a particular specimen, concluded that these rootlets, within
the body of the stem, form obconical or flagon-shaped bases, the summits of
which are on a level with the mouths of the cavities in which they are con-
tained. In the two specimens which Dr Fleming exhibited from the Bog-

52 PROCEEDINGS OF

head parrot coal, it clearly appeared that the rootlets communicated directly
with the body or trunk, which in this case had been filled from within, with
the pulpy matter of the coal, and had thus entered the tubular rootlets which
extended for some distance into the argillaceous matter on the outside. Hence
he inferred that the flagon-shaped bodies noticed by Dr Hooker were the
lower portions of the rootlets, not in the inside, but on the outside of the
Stigmaria. Dr Fleming next exhibited examples of the different quantities
of coal produced by Stigmaria, Sigillaria, Favularia, Calamite, Sternbergia,
Lepidodendron, observing that as these plants can furnish coal-making ma-
terials separately, and as their remains exist in coal, it cannot be denied that,
in the aggregate, they would be equally productive ; nor, with these facts in
view, could it be maintained that coal can only be formed from Fir or allied
woods. The author then proceeded to observe that in ordinary household
coals, such as caking, cherry, or splint, each bed is stratified, and the strata
are separated at their partings by patches of fibrous anthracite, as if formed
from broken portions of woody matter. These partings indicate a recurring
intermittency of action, probably arising from season changes, during the ac-
cumulation of vegetable matter in a form analogous to peat. The parrot
coals, on the other hand, by the absence of stratification (being merely la-
minated or slaty parallel with the plane of stratification of the neighbouring
sedimentary rocks), indicate a more decidedly simultaneous origin, and ap-
pear to have been in the state of disintegrated vegetable matter, mixed more
or less with earthy mud, and distributed like the beds of sandstone and clays.
That these coals were originally clays into which bituminous matter was in-
jected will not be countenanced by any one acquainted with their structural
character, contents and relative position. ‘There is no bitumen in the Bog-
head parrot, nor any substance analogous to what has been termed ozokerite
from Ginny Quarry, to which Dr Bennett has referred. The last substance,
indeed, melts at a heat considerably below that of boiling water. The pulpy
condition of the original material of the parrot coals, must have been fayour-
able for molecular changes usually termed metamorphic, which may have so
far modified the forms and structures of the vegetable tissues as to give them
a segregated or concretionary character ”

2. On the Dyeing Properties of Lichens. By Dr W. Lauprr Laypsay.

In this paper the author endeavours to direct public attention specially to
the two following facts, viz., First—that, in our own country, many native
Lichens, which grow more or less abundantly, might, with advantage and
economy, be substituted for the somewhat expensive and searce foreign
Roccellas and other dye-Lichens usually employed in the manufacture of
orchil, cudbear and litmus ; and, secondly—that, in our colonies, and foreign
countries to which we have access, species valuable as dye Lichens probably
grow in abundance—might be collected and transported easily and cheaply,
—and thus become important and lucrative articles of commerce. He is
desirous of bringing the subject under the notice of the following classes of.
persons or scientific bodies, to whom he leaves its practical or economical
application, viz., Firstly,—chemists, orchil, cudbear and litmus manufac-
turers, importers and exporters of orchella weeds and other dye-Lichens,
dyers, &c.: secondly, scientific societies, such as the Royal, Geographical
and Botanical, and the Society of Arts;—public boards, such as the East
India, Army and Admiralty Boards; industrial exhibitions, such as the
Sydenham Crystal Palace and Paris Exhibition: scientific and exploring
expeditions, &c.: and, thirdly, colonists, emigrants, travellers, officers of our
commercial and royal navy, and of the army, and Hast India Company ;
residents abroad, and in our own Highlands and Islands, &e. He remarks :-—
“This is pre-eminently an .age of discovery and enterprise in scientific
matters; the strongest tendency everywhere exhibits itself to multiply the
natural resources of our native country and its colonies,—to turn to practical
account, for the improvement of our arts and manufactures, their hitherto

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. a3

valueless vegetable products. The efforts at present being made to intro-
duce the fibre of the common Nettle, Thistle, and other native weeds, in the
manufacture of textile fabrics and paper, as substitutes for flax, is only one
limited example of this utilitarian tendency. Believing that this desire
requires only to be led into suitable channels, my object is to submit to
scientific and commercial enterprise, the importance of this particular field
of inquiry, and the richness of the fruits it promises. The fact that manu-
facturers or importers might find it economical or remunerative to be sup-
plied with substitutes for the Roccellas, which are fast becoming scarce, and
consequently expensive, is the most limited view we can take of the advan-
tages of such an investigation. Indirectly a multiplied trade in dye-Lichens
might scatter the seeds of civilization, and place the means of a comfortable
subsistence at the command of the miserable inhabitants of many a barren
island or coast, at present far removed from the great centres of social
advancement; for the dye-Lichens will probably be found luxuriant where
no other vegetation can thrive, frequently attaining their highest degree of
perfection on the most bleak rocky coasts, or on elevated mountain ranges.
It is probable that many rocky isles in the broad Pacific and Atlantic—
many hundred miles of desolate sea-coast and vast extents of mountain dis-
tricts in Africa, America, Asia, and Australasia, which at present yield no

ucts to commerce, and are too barren to support higher vegetation,
might furnish an unlimited supply of Lichens useful in dyeing. The vast
continent of India and {neighbouring countries and islands, for instance,
already promise valuable results in this respect. In the Indian collection of
raw vegetable products exhibited in the London Crystal Palace of 1851,
several specimens of ‘Orchella weeds’ from India, Ceylon, Socotra, &c.,
were shown; and an explanatory note appended to some from the vicinity
of Aden in Arabia, stated most suggestively ‘ Abundant, but unknown as
an article of commerce.’ Specimens of Roccella fuciformis were there exhi-
bited from Ceylon, estimated as worth £380 per ton, and Parmelia perlata
at £190 to £225. But the whole world may be said to be an open
field; in every clime, in every soil, at almost every elevation, and in all
seasons, tinctorial species grow, and even Iuxuriate. In Northern Europe,
in Scandinavia, and even in our own Highlands and Islands, many such
species are abundant, and might surely be collected at a rate so cheap as to
render it remunerative for the manufacturer to employ our destitute High-
landers in gathering them. Moreover, in connection with the developement
of the economical applications of Lichens, it is not unimportant to bear in
mind that many species contain such an amount of starchy matter as to
become, or to furnish excellent articles of food; many are used as fodder for
cattle, some are eaten in Iceland and arctic countries, and one, at least, is
frequently used in the making of jellies in this country. I need only here
allude, in confirmation of this statement, to the Cetraria islandica, or
‘Iceland moss’ of our shops; the Gyrophora or ‘tripe de roche’ of the
arctic regions, whereby the lives of many intrepid travellers have been
preserved ; the Lecanora esculenta, a kind of manna, peculiar to the steppes
of Tartary, and the Cladonia rangiferina, or familiar ‘ Reindeer moss’ of
Lapland. On the mountains of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, species of
Lecanora, Gyrophora, Umbilicaria, and Isidium, capable of yielding fine
qualities of orchil, cudbear, and litmus, are more cr less abundant.
While the cudbear manufacture flourished in Leith and Glasgow, the
Lecanora tartarea, from which it was prepared, was collected to a
great extent in our Western Highlands and Islands, but with the
transference of this manufacture into the hands of English orchil
makers, this source of remunerative employment to our poor Highlanders
suddenly ceased, and this Lichen is now chiefly or wholly imported
from Norway and Sweden for the London market. The value of this
Lichen in Scotland is said to have averaged £10 per ton. Hooker states
that, at Port Augustus in 1807, a person could gain 14s per week by collect-

54 PROCEEDINGS OF

ing it, estimating its market price at 3s 4d per stone of 22 Ibs. Pennant re-
cords it as an article of commerce about Taymouth in Perthshire. Miss
Roberts mentions its having been collected in North Wales at 14d per lb
for the London market; and it appears also to have been largely gathered
in Derbyshire, the price there given to the collector, who could gather
twenty to thirty lbs. per day, being 1d per lb. The re-introduction of this
trade or means of employment might be a great boon to the Highlanders,
who have, within the last few years, been deprived of another source of
remunerative labour and comfortable sustenance,—the collection of ‘ kelp’ or
‘sea-wrack’ on our rocky and stormy western coasts,—and whom dire
necessity now compels to transfer their energies to foreign lands.”

He then made observations on the mode of collecting Lichens, their
mode of transport, and the mode of testing the colorific value, and of
evolving the colouring matters. Finally, he gave tabular views showing
the chief dye-Lichens applied by the peasants of various countries to the
dyeing of stockings, yarn, woollen stuffs, &c., as well as showing the chief
dye Lichens used ix this and otner countries in the preparation of orchil,
cudbear, and litmus.

3. On Diatomacee found in a Sub-fossii state inDumfriesshire. By Roserr
Harxness, Professor of Geology, Queen’s College, Cork.

In this paper, the author remarked :—“ While examining the boulder de-
posits which occur on the northern shore of the Solway Frith, last summer,
my attention was directed to a locality about a mile west of the mouth of
the river Annan, where there is an interesting association of indurated gravel
beds, hill deposits, and peat-bog, overlaid by the vegetable soil of the district.
The boulder gravel, which here is the lowest deposit exposed, consists of
the ordinary Silurian sandstone, mixed with the carboniferous grits, and a
few fragments of the Bunter sandstone of the neighbourhood. It had a
hardened nature, and in this respect bore considerable affinity to many con-
glomerates. Above this bed of indurated boulder gravel fhere is seen a
silty deposit, which consists of beds of fine drab-coloured sandy clay, having
vegetable remains scattered through the mass. These vegetable remains,
when in such a condition that they can be recognised, are, for the most
part, fragments of Equiseta. The contents of this silty deposit are, how-
ever, not confined to such organisms as ordinary swampy vegetation. On
submitting portions of the silt to microscopic examination this substance is
found to afford many species of diatomacez, associated together in an inter-
esting manner. Professor Gregory, who was kind enough to examine for
me the contents of this deposit, states, that the following forms of Diatoms
occur :—Epithemia Hyndmanni, Cymbella Scotica, C. maculata, Coseinodiscus
radiatus, Cyclotella operculata, C. Kutzingiana, Campylodiscus cribrosus (?),
Tryblionella acuminata, T. punctata, T. marginata, Surirella minuta, 8. no-
bilis (or, biseriata ?), Navicula didyma, N. ovalis, N. rhomboides var. (Gregory),
N. varians (Gregory), Pinnularia major, P. viridis, P. acuta, P. tenuis
(Gregory), Gomphonema tenellum, Doryphora amphiceros (fine), Synedra
radians, Nitzschia (sp. ?), Grammatophora marina, Melosira suleata, M.
distans, Fragilaria virescens, Odontidium mesodon, Meridion cireulare, Ach-
nanthidium lanceolatum. This association of marine and fresh-water forms
indicates the occurrence of conditions of an estuary nature, and leads to the
inference that the circumstance under which the silt was deposited ap-
proached such as now prevails at the mouths of rivers.

“The occurrence of marine forms of Diatoms in silt, puts us in possession
of another element, by means of which we are enabled to ascertain the changes
which have taken place in the physical geography of the earth. It furnishes
us with a means applicable in many instances where other and more perfect
organisms have disappeared, the siliceous skeletons of these minute bodies
being capable of resisting that agent by means of which the solid coverings
of molluses are dissolved. Many of the raised sea-beaches, now affording no

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 55

shells, will probably be found to contain Diatoms, which will tell of the
conditions under which these raised sea-beaches were originally deposited,
and provide us with information concerning the circumstances which operated
in the production of strata of this nature.”

Dr Gregory alluded to the interesting fact that Diatoms had been found by
Ehrenberg in all fossiliferous rocks as far down as the Silurian; and that
while the higher organisms exhibited striking differences in the rocks of dif-
ferent epochs, there was, in the case of Diatoms, a striking similarity.

4. Notice of the time of flowering of certain Trees and Shrubs in the Royal
Botanic Garden during the past month. By Mr M‘Nas.

First flower | When in full

Name. observed

open. flower.

Prunus Avium, aes us ae eu May 1 May 20
» Cerasus, Double Flowered Cherry aa otk 5 23
Wistaria chinensis (on wall) * its cas ae 18 June 8
Prunus Padus, Bird Cherry “<0 = ae “ 20 10
Azalea pontica a at oe “ee age dae) 23 9
Sorbus domestica, Service tree ... aaa aaa ae 27 8
Crategus coccinea .. ne va é 28 9
= precox .. . 28 8
Pavia flava ... sf - 28 7
Prunus Mahaleb..... H 30 8
Zsculus Hippocastanum June 1 12
Rhododendron Catawbiense 1 14
Syringa vulgaris (varieties) 2 12
Sorbus Aucuparia ... “on “es “re or ae 3 10
Cytisus Laburnum a oe “oe a oes 4 13
Crategus Oxyacantha..... ae se 2 ot 8 20
Fraxinus ornus eee A dss a ape aaa 9 20
Crategus Oxyacantha rubra ne = 2. 3; 12 20
Mespilus grandiflora oom “ee eos ee 12 20
Cytisus alpinus, Scoteh Laburnum ae ood oo 13 25

5. Notes on the Eifects of last winter upon plants in the Royal Botanic Gar-
den, Belfast. By Dr Dicxm, Professor of Zoology and Botany, Queen’s Col--
lege, Belfast.

The following table shows the lowest point to which the thermometer fell
during the month of February 1855. It is taken from a Register kept at
Queen’s College, Belfast—

Min. Thermometer for February 1855.

Date. Min. Date Min. Date. Min. Date. Min.
LORE. SP. ane. Tor 3e LROW 2 et BUOE:
oe tates AO Ps. (50-0 16 <x +190 23)... 730.0
ae se? 30 a0 sss 729.0 fT? a + 20:0 24 ... 944
Bethe SRO OP 0022.0 ASH csy 24.0 ADin td? SEO
LS Pom AY Ped. a>: GO:0 Be TOS Wa Fa 26 * teu (S40
Gri toomn «20-0 AS nat 23.0 Pah an eee BT . ssa ti DO
7 Age Mea ie F* $a. 18.0 ir cen, Bhs ZO coe, SUA

Mean temperature
for the month.

Mean Maximum. | Mean Minimum. Amonnt of Rain.

27.7 1.690

32.45 37.6

It will be observed that the absolute lowest temperature was on the 15th,
viz.. 13° F. In 1845, on March 5th, the thermometer in the Botanic
Garden indicated 10° F., lower, than in 1855, The injury to the

56 PROCEEDINGS OF

ee, however, in 1855, was greater, because in February last a generally
+ a acai with east and north-east winds, prevailed during two
weeks,
The following list of plants injured or killed in the Belfast Garden during
last winter has been made out by the curator, Mr Ferguson—
Pinus macrophylla, much injured, 12 feet high.
apulcensis, killed, 8 feet high.
»; patula, much injured, 6 feet high.
pseudo-Strobus, slightly injured, 7 feet high.
,, Devoniana, much injured 24 feet high.
Russelliana, Scere
», palustris, killed.
Abies Brunoniana, killed.
., Jezoensis, killed.
Cupressus funebris, north side killed.
deana, much injured.
+ elegans, killed.
‘; Mexicana, killed.
torulosa, 1 killed, and the other much injured.
es Lusitanica, killed.
Juniperus macrocarpa, slightly injured.
Fitzroya Patagonica, killed, 4 feet high.
Saxegotha conspicua, killed, 4 feet high.
Cephalotaxus Fortuni, not injured in the least, whereas the large-
leaved variety has suffered very much,
Erica arborea, killed, 10 feet high.

For the sake of comparison, it may be interesting to insert here the follow-
ing report by the late Mr Templeton of Oranmore respecting the severe win-
ter of 1813-14, as reported in the Belfast Magazine for that year :—

“Viburnum Tinus, Cistus ladaniferus, Cistus creticus, Erica arborea, E.
australis, E. mediterranea, Ulex Europzus, the common and Portugal Laurels,
in many places were killed to the ground, or had their young branches de-
stroyed. Edwardsia microphylla and Coronilla glauca, which, trained against
a wall, had stood the frost of several winters, are either killed to the ground,
or have their branches of two or three years killed.

“Calycanthus precox, Pyrus japonica, and Corchorus japonicus, have
passed the winter in the open ground.

“Timber trees suffered greatly, especially the Oaks, which were split
with great violence.

“ Walnut, Ash, and other trees had their last year’s shoots killed.

“The frost began in November—on December 29, the thermometer fell to
dale 6:

6. Account of the Origin and of some of the Contents of the Museum of
Economic Botany attached to the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. By
Professor BaLrour. :

When I began to lecture on Botany in May, 1840, I found the need of a
Botanical Museum to illustrate the various economical products brought under
the notice of the student. Accordingly, I commenced the formation of such
a collection; and on my being appointed to the Regius Chair of Botany in the
University of Glasgow, I availed myself of the many opportunities presented
by that large and flourishing commercial city to increase my museum. I
was indebted much to the kind aid of many mercantile friends there, more
especially to Mr Michael Connal and Mr William Gourlie. In Glasgow I
took oceasion to give a few separate lectures on economical vegetable pro-
ducts, such as Cotton, Coffee, Tea, Sugar, &c , illustrated by museum speci-
mens. In such cities as Glasgow it seems to be of great importance that lec-
tures of this nature should be delivered.

At the time of my return to Edinburgh in 1845, as Professor of Medicine
and Botany, I had accumulated a large and valuable mass of materials, which

”

”

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 57

I used regularly for class purposes. The use of the collection, however, was
confined almost entirely to my pupils, and it was not available for the pub-
lic, as there was no room for arranging and displaying it. ,

In the year 1849, finding that the class-room in the Botanic Garden was too
small, and that, moreover, in consequence of dry rot in the beams, extensive
repairs required to be executed, I made application to her Majesty’s Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests for an improvement and enlargement of the
room. In doing so, I suggested the propriety of building an entirely new
hall for the lectures, and of converting the old class-room into a room for a
Museum of Economic Botany.

I was aided in no small degree in my application by Sir William Gibson-
Craig, at that time member for the city, and one of the Lords of the Trea-
sury, by whose exertions I had previously got the management of the
garden transferred fiom the Treasury to the Department of Woods and
Forests. Mr Alexander Milne, one of the Commissioners of Woods, was
also much interested in the cause.

After some delay, I succeeded in my object, and, accordingly, a new
class-room was built, under the able superintendence of Mr Matheson, and
was opened on ist May 1851; while the old one was at the same time ap-
propriated for museum purposes.

The nucleus of the collection was formed:—1. By specimens collected by
my predecessor and preceptor, Dr Graham. 2. By my own museum, which
I handed over entirely to the public collection. 3. By specimens kindly
contributed by Mr James M‘Nab.

The museum, however, was not opened to the public until January 1852.
Since that time numerous donations have been sent from all quarters. My
pupils, now scattered over the world, have annually contributed specimens,
and some of them have presented models and dissections prepared by them
for prize competition. Among the pupils who have thus contributed, I may
notice Dr Charles Murchison, Dr Lauder Lindsay, Dr Priestley, Mr John
Maclaren, Mr Surenne, Mr Symons, and Mr Lowe. I am deeply indebted
to the Directors of the East India Company, who, at the suggestion of Dr
Royle, kindly presented specimens of products from the Great Exhibition of
1851. Visitors are constantly contributing to our riches. The donors from
ist May, 1852, to 31st December, 1854, have been 260. The collection is
now so much increased that there is a demand for further accommodation,
which, it is hoped, will be afforded by lighting the room from the roof—thus
allowing cases to be fitted in the side windows.

The museum is.open freely to the public at all times, and the number who
avail themselves of the privilege is very large, as shown by the following
statement :-— ‘

Visitors to Garden and Museum from 1st April, 1852,

Sp ela Le 5S ee ee eee ee 34,224
Visitors to Garden and Museum from Ist April, 1853,
to 31st March, 1854,........... A a ee 41,513

Visitors to Garden and Museum from 1st April, 1854,
SAD cy EISEN PINC EI SEPES TIERS occ <5 Sool eodeccaccececacuncccecss «100239,9880

co Es © ee eae 115,622

The students of botany varying in number annually from 200 to 240, and
those attending the popular class embracing 70 or 80 more, have also the
means of studying in the Museum. The specimens are regularly used by
me for the purpose of demonstration.

Thus, in addition to the extensive and valuable collection of plants in the
garden, and the large herbarium of the University which is kept in cases
partly in the Museum and partly in rooms contiguous to it, students have the
means of seeing the vegetable products of various natural orders and of dif-
ferent climes, and are enabled to become acquainted with those which are
valuable in medicine and in the arts and manufactures.

K

58 PROCEEDINGS OF

The importance of the Museum both to scientific and unscientific visitors
can scarcely be over-estimated. The interest shown in it by all, and
especially by the working classes during their holidays, shows its value as a
means of useful instruction.

There is great need for an assistant curator in order to get all the arrange-
ments carried out satisfactorily, but as no funds are allowed as yet for that
purpose, I am compelled to attend to the whole myself, with the excellent aid
given by Mr M‘Nab and some of my class assistants.

I trust that ere long this want will be supplied, and that thus the collec-
— will be kept up in such a condition as to do credit to our Scottish Metro-
polis. ;

Believing that it may be useful to bring under the notice of the Botanical
Society, from time to time, some of the contents of the museum, classified
and arranged according to the natural system, I commence this evening by
enumerating some of the specimens.

Crass I,—DicoryLepones, Exocen2 or ACRAMPHIBRYA.
SUB-CLASS I.—THALAMIFLOR2.
Natural Order—RanuncuLacE&.

Buttercup or Crow-foot Family.

This order contains many acrid and narcotic plants, some of which are
used medicinally.

Aconitum ferox, Wall. Root, (E. I. Company.)—This constitutes the
Indian poison called Bikh, Bish, or Nabee. The plant, according to Dr
J. D. Hooker and Dr T. Thomson, is identical with Aconitum Napellus.
Hooker states that the Ghoorkas employ the root to poison the waters, and
to protect their country from an enemy.

Aconitum heterophyllum, Wall. Root called Butees. — Simla, (Colonel
Madden.) Used in India as a tonic.

Aconitum Napellus, L. Common Monkshood.—Root and extract used in
neuralgic affections. Of all the European Aconites it seems to be the only
one which is of value as a medicine. (See Dr Fleming on Aconite.)

Aconita or Aconitina, the active Alkaloid of Monkshood.—(T. and H.
Smith.)

Anemone patens, L., North America. — Achenes, with feathery styles
attached.

Clematis Vitalba, L., Traveller’s Joy.—Achenes, with feathery styles at-
tached.

Coptis trifolia. Salisb—Gold Thread. N. America. Root. Bitter and
tonic.

Delphinium Staphisagria, L., Stavesacre Seeds, (Messrs Duncan & Flock-
hart.)—Used externally for destroying vermin. They contain an alkaloid
called Delphinia. The seeds are used by the Affghans under the name of
Siah dana for flavouring curries.

Helleborus niger, L., Christmas Rose, South of Europe.—A drastie purga-
tive. It is imported into Britain from Hamburgh,

Nigella sativa, L.. Fennel flower. Europe and Northern India. Seeds,
(£. I. Company.)—The seeds are probably the Ketzach or Black Cumin of
Scripture. They have pungent properties.

Pvonia officinalis, Retz.—FYollicles open; also fecula or starch from the
roots.

Podophyllum Lémodi, Wall.—Suceulent fruit.

Podophyllum peltatum, ., May Apple.—Succulent fruit and roots. The
root is used as a purgative in North America. It is sometimes called Man
drake root.

Natural Order—MaaGyouiacex,

Magnolia Family.
The plants of this order have a luxuriant foliage and large showy odo-
riterous flowers. Their properties are bitter, tonic, and aromatic. Magnolia

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 59

is the Pendre-kun of the Lepchas, and Hooker states thatithe Indian mountains
and islands are the true centres of Magnolias,

Drimys Winteri D.C. Winter’s Bark. Bark, tonic and aromatic. The
tree was discovered in the Straits of Magelhaens, by Captain Winter in 1578.
It extends over no less than 86° of latitude, or 5160 geographical miles,

‘Drimys granatensis L, fil—Wood and bark. (Dr G. Gardner.) In
Brazil the bark is called Casca d’Anta. It seems to be only a variety of the
Winter’s bark.

Iilicium anisatum L. Star Anise, so called on account of its flayour and
the stellate arrangement of its carpels. (E. I. Company.) Japan and Cochin
China. Aromatic and carminative. Used by the Chinese as a spice and in
the manufacture of liqueurs.

Liriodendron tulipifera L.—Tulip Tree or White Wood. North America.
Fruit. (Messrs Lawson & Son.)

Magnolia acuminata L.—Cucumber Tree, so called from its fruit resem-
bling a young Cucumber. Alleghany Mountains. Wood and bark.

lia glauca 1:..—Swamp Sassafras or Beaver Tree. New Jersey.
Wood and bark. The latter is bitter and aromatic, and is used as a substi-
tute for Cinchona.

Magnolia grandiflora W.—Spikes of carpels opening by their dorsal suture.
(Messrs Lawson & Son.)

Talauma fragrantissima, Gardner.—Seed vessel. Brazil. (G. Gardner.)

Natural Order—ANoNACEx,
Custard Apple Family.

Trees or shrubs having aromatic fragrant qualities, and many of them
yielding esculent fruits.

Anona muricata L.—Soursop or Rough Custard Apple. Fruit. West
Indies. The fruit is large, and is covered with soft prickles. It has an acid
taste.

Anona reticulata L14.—Common or Netted Custard Apple. Bullock’s Heart.
Fruit. West Indies, The name of Coeur de Boeuf is given by the French
colonists from the resemblance which the fruit has in form to an ox heart.
The fruit has reticulations on the surface. It has a custard-like consistence,
and is highly prized by many.

Anona squamosa, L., Sweetsop or Scaly-fruited Custard Apple. Fruit and
seeds (Dr G. M‘Nab, Jamaica); Wood (Major Yule). The fruit is eaten by
the Creoles in the West Indies, butit is not relished by Europeans.

Duguetia quitarensis, (Schomb.) Wood, West Indies (Mr Hay). The lance-
wood of coachmakers ; the yari-yari of Guiana.

Habzelia wthiopica (Alph. D.C.) Fruit. Africa. The fruit is aromatic, and
is known in commerce under the name of Piper xthiopicum, Guinea Pepper
or Negro-pepper.

Aylopra glabra, (L.), Bitterwood. Wood in the form of a cup (Miss Yule).
West Indies. Water drunk out of the cup has a bitter taste.

Natural Order—MeEnisperMACEX.
Moonseed Family.

Trailing shrubby plants with drupaceous fruit, seeds and embryo in a
lunate form, and having bitter narcotic qualities.

Anamirta paniculata, Miers, Menispermum Cocculus, L. Cocculus indicus.
Fruit. The plant is found in Malabar and the Malay Islands. Its seeds are
used for intoxicating fish, and have been sometimes illegally employed for
imparting bitterness to malt liquor. They contain a crystalline narcotic
principle, called Picrotoxine, and the pericap yields another poisonous alka-
loid called Menispermine.

Cissampelos Pareira, LL. Wild Vine or Velvet Leaf. Root. West
Meat The root is tonic and diuretic, and is known by the name ot Pareira

rava,

60 PROCEEDINGS OF

Cocculus macrocarpus, W. and Arn. Fruit. East Indies.

Coscinium fenestratum, Colebr. Root. (Dr Stenhouse), Ceylon, The
root is called False Calumba, and it contains much Berberine.

Jateorrhiza palmata Miers, Calumba, Root. The plantis a native of
Mozambique. The root constitutes the Calumba of the druggists, which is
sold cut into slices, It is an excellent tonic, and contains a bitter principle
called Calumbine,

Corrections ON Mr More’s Parer on THE Botany or Gatway, published
in the Botanical Society’s Proceedings of April 1855 :—
Page 26, line 30—Instead of ‘‘ made,” read ‘‘ made up.”

27, line 12—Add to the northern plants ‘“‘ Drosera anglica,” making
them 10.

27, line 20—Instead of ‘“ Atlantic species in Ireland, Forbes’ term of
French type,”’ it should have been ‘ Atlantic species
in the West of Ireland, Forbes’ term of Norman type.”

27, line 18—After Pinguicula lusitanica, add “ and perhaps Viola
stagnina.”

27—Add Cerastium arvense to the Clare plants.

28, line 27—-Add Euphrasia gracilis (Fries).

29, line 11—Instead of ‘“‘ French type,” read “‘ Norman type ”

From the list of supposed absent species erase Scirpus pauciflorus.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 61

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY FOR JULY, 1855.

The Society met at the Royal Botanic Garden, on Thursday 12th July,
1855. Professor Balfour, President, in the chair.

James Wardrop, Esq., Upper Grey Street, was elected an Ordinary Resi-
dent Fellow.

The following donations were announced to the Society’s Herbarium :—

From Henry Paul, Esq., plants from Sicily.

From Alexander Cowan, Esq., a parcel of Scotch and Irish plants.

From Mr G. Lawson, Mosses collected on the Braemar and Clova Moun-
tains, and West Lomond Hill, Fife.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had been presented
to the Museum of Economic Botany, at the Botanic Garden, since the last
meeting of the Botanical Society :—

From Charles Harmer, Esq., Philadelphia, section of the wood of Wel-
lingtonia gigantea.

From Mr Mackenzie, cone of the Leucodendron argenteum, or Silver tree
of the Cape of Good Hope.

From E. Dubuc, Esq., fossil plants from Trias near Strasburg, also a speci-
men of Gyrogonites or fructification of Chara in millstone, from the Paris
Basin.

From Dr James B. Balfour, Sigillaria stem in sandstone, from the neigh-
bourhood of Kilsyth.

From Robert Daw, Esq., five pieces of Cuba wood, with peculiar internal par-
titions.

From Miss Marsh, Craigintinny, branch of a Poplar tree, exhibiting natu-
ral engrafting.

From Francis Lyon, Esq., Edinburgh and Leith Gas Company, piece
of Arniston coal, having a flattened stem-like appearance.

From Andrew Kerr, Esq., a piece of opalized wood from Australia.

From Mr Pender, Melon from the Crimea, raised at Moredun, from seeds
sent by Dr White.

From Mr Laing, Dysart House, flower of Rhododendron Maddeni pre-
served in brine.

From Mr Niven, Keir Gardens, Stirling, specimens of paper and rope manu-
factured from the stems of Hollyhock.

From James Wise, Esq., Lycium, as sold in the bazaars in India, probably
from a species of Berberis, such as B. Lycium.

From W. M‘Farlane, Esq., two specimens of Chew-stick Gouania domin-
gensis from the West Indies, used as a dentifrice.

From Johnston Boyd, Esq., specimen of the wood of the Fortingall Yew.

From William Taylor, Esq., fruit of the Tea tree from China.

From Dr J. B. Balfour, gelatinous tincture of Kino; Kmeri-wood from
Tunis; Rhizomes of Lastrea Filix-mas.

From Mr John Dawson, specimens of Stigmaria found on Steele Farm,
Habbies How, Newhall.

From Dr M'‘Vitie, Dress made from vegetable fibre, worn by the inhabi-
tants of the South Sea Islands.

From W. Cattlet, Esq., Secretary of the Botanical Society, Sydney, a packet
ot Sydney plants.

From Messrs Lawson, Branch with cones of Abies cepnalonica.

Professor Balfour stated that the following Donations of plants, cuttings,
and seeds had been presented to the Botanic Garden during the past month—

From Isaac Anderson, Esq., Maryfield, plants and cuttings of recently in-
troduced plants.

From J. O. Mackenzie, Esq., seeds of a species of Cyperus from Constanti-
nople.

Pro Miss M‘Innes, Cape of Good Hope seeds.

From Mr Mackenzie, Cape of Good Hope seeds.

From Mr Baxter, Riccarton, collection of Phloxes.

L

62 PROCEEDINGS OF

From Mr M'‘Neill, seeds of a climber from Assam.

From Professor Christison, seeds from the Chadda.

From D. T. Murray, Esq., Australian seeds.

From D. P. Maclagan, Esq., Australian seeds.

From Messrs Sang & Sons, Kirkaldy, plant of Lysimachia Leschenaultii.

From Dr J. B. Balfour, Chinese seeds.

From William Taylor, Esq., seeds of the Oil Cabbage (Brassica chinensis )
from China; also seeds of the Sappan wood from Penang.

The following papers were read, viz.—

1. On the Introduction of the Cinchona Tree into India. By Tuomas
Awnverson, M.D., H.E.I.C.S.

From the large extent of country composing the British Possessions in
India, and the consequent variety of climate, a congenial spot may be found
for the vegetable productions of many climes. As the acquisitions of territory
made within the last few years, on the northern frontier, and our friendly
relations with the hill tribes, have opened to us a large portion of the vast
Himalaya range, this variety of climate is greatly increased. Within Bri-
tish India may now be experienced the cold of the snowy north, with all in-
termediate degrees of temperature up to that of the torrid zone. As
the temperature varies, so does the face of nature. On the lofty mountain
slope, the botanist gathers dry Lichens, Alpine Mosses, Grasses, Saxifrages,
Gentians, and Primroses, analagous to those of the Aretic regions; further
down the mountain side he finds himself under the shade of Oaks, Chestnuts,
Planes, Firs and Cedars, reminding him of his native land and Central
Europe ; descending still more he reaches a vegetation somewhat like that of
the south of Europe, but mingled with forms from the plains beneath; and
at length passing through the thick jungle which skirts the base of most
mountains of warm climates, he arrives in the level country among the
Palms, Banyans, Figs, gigantic Grasses, and tropical fruit trees of the
{Indian forest.

Aware of this extensive range of climate, Roxburgh, Wallich, Royle, and
others, during their residence in this country, endeavoured to introduce
many plants of medicinal or commercial importance, and to extend the cul-
tivation of many that are indigenous, The fruits of their philanthropic la-
bours are numerous, and in many instances are the sources of considerable
riches to the country. Among the plants of foreign growth introduced into
India since its possession by the British, may be mentioned the Tea plant,
succeeding admirably in Assam, and some parts of the Himalaya, Coffee,
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Breadfruit, Mahogany, Logwood, Alligator Pear, Cheri-
moyer, Litchee, Longan, Arrowroot, Mabolo ; and among valuable vege-
tables the Potato, Carrot, and Turnip, and some English fruit trees. ‘To
these may be added a list of many ornamental trees and shrubs, and several
indigenous plants, the cultivation of which has been greatly improved and
extended.

Notwithstanding this long list, it must be confessed that too little has
been done as regards the development of the resources of the country, espe-
cially when we consider the long and comparatively undisturbed tenure the
British have had. Dr Royle, in his work on the Produetive Resources of
India, mentions many valuable plants likely to sueceed in some part of the
Honourable Company’s possessions.

He says—“ Among plants which seem worthy of introduction from Ame-
rica into India, the Cinchonas are particularly desirable, and would, no doubt,
succeed in the Neilgherries ; the different kinds of Ipecacuanha, Psychotria
emetica, and herbacea would also thrive.’ He gives a catalogue of other
medicinal and economic plants, which, however, it is foreign to my purpose
at present to enumerate. The following remarks will be confined to the
consideration of the introduction into India of the first of these plants, the
Cinchona. In doing so it will be my endeavour to point out from resem-
blances in the climate and Flora of the Cinchona Forests of the Andes, and

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 63

a portion of the Company’s territories, reasons for the introduction being
successful, and in addition to show, from a commercial point of view, the
advantages likely to accrue to the country, The genus Cinchona belongs to
the natural order, Cinchonacez, a family containing a large assemblage of valu-
able remedial agents, and numbering among its members the Coffee. The
order is confined chiefly to the tropics of the Old and New World, abounding in
the neighbourhood of the great mountain ranges of the Andes and Himalaya.
The genus Cinchona, as now limited by many botanists, is found only on the
slopes and in the valleys of the first of these chains, extending from the
equator to 8° or 10° N. Lat., to 17° or 20° S. Lat., at elevations ranging
from 4500 to 9000 feet, with a mean temperature from 50° to 60° Fah.—
the temperatures of Florence and Madeira, but without the extremes of cold
experienced in those places. It is principally on the eastern side of the
Andes that the forests are found. On the western side, little or no rain falls,
and consequently vegetation is there very scanty, but as a well known writer
on Physical Geography, remarks—‘“ excessive heat and moisture combine to
cover the eastern side and its offsets, with tangled forests, of large trees and
dense brushwood.” In these moist valleys and thick forests the Cinchona
trees delight, and, according to Humboldt, “their fever-healing bark is
deemed the more salutary, the more frequently the trees are bathed and re-
freshed by the light mists which form the upper surface of the lowest stra-
tum of clouds.” Some travellers, however, refer the localities of this last
named species of Cinchona to the dry mountain pastures, where they are ex-
posed to considerable vicissitudes of temperature, but the weight of name and
number is on,the side of those who state that the most productive species are
found in the moist mountain valleys. Weddell, the most recent writer on
this subject, and whose comprehensive work is considered by all as an autho-
rity, records the difficulty he experienced in procuring the flowers of some
of the well-known species for examination, from the trees he had felled, being
sustained by the tropical climbers with which the Cinchona forests abound,
products of moist and warm situations alone. In the lower portion of the
zone of Cinchona forests, Maize, Coffee, and Pepper trees grow, and at its
upper limit are found European fruit trees, Wheat, and grains, such as Lu-
ie Medicago sativa, along with Daturas, Mimosas, Willows, Yews, and
aks.

The rocks on which the Cinchona tree is found are formed of gneiss and
micaceous schist, and the soil, from the humidity of the atmosphere, is always
very moist.

Having thus briefly detailed the climatological conditions under which the
Cinchona is found in its native land, and enumerated some of the characteris-
tics of the Flora, I will now attempt to show that similar conditions are to be
found in the Company’s possessions, and that, favoured by them, plants of
nearly allied, and, in some cases, of the same genera, forma leading feature
of the vegetation.

As all the species of Peruvian bark trees require only a moderate tempera-
ture (59° to 68° mean temperature), in fixing on a spot for their cultivation
we at once direct our attention to the Himalaya range. The western portion
of that range being far removed from the influence of moisture brought up by
the monsoon from the Bay of Bengal, and possessing what meteorologists de-
nominate an “ excessive” as well as a dry climate, is thus unsuited for a
plant, the climate of whose habitat is marked by great humidity and no ex.
tremes. All the range, however, east of the longitude of Calcutta (88° E.)
enjoys an equable climate, ‘and rains are there abundant, and the atmosphere
is always charged with moisture. In this part of the Himalayas, Darjeeling
and the valleys near itseem to me with the exception of the Khasia hills the
most eligible spots in India for attempting the cultivation of the Peruvian
bark tree, and I shall now devote some space to the consideration of their
climate and Flora. Inso doing I must draw largely from Dr Hooker's very
instructive work, the Himalayan Journals.

64 PROCEEDINGS OF

Sikkim, in which Darjeeling is situated, from no mountains intervening
directly between it and the sea, is fully exposed to the moist south winds
bringing up vapour from the Bay of Bengal. These striking against the
outer portion of the Sikkim range deposit their moisture as rain, and sus-
pend it as mists clouding the sun for nearly the entire year, As Dr Hooker
says, “ Sikkim is hence the dampest region of the whole Himalaya.” These
moist winds which give the damp character to the climate also contribute
chiefly to render the temperature equable.

During the day the moisture-laden atmosphere precludes the entrance of
the sun’s rays to the deep and wet gorges, and the same cause acting by night
prevents terrestrial radiation going on to any extent. Nor is the dampness
of the climate confined to the rainy seasonalone. During the rest of the year,
the heavy moist air of Bengal is attracted by the rarified atmosphere of the
mountains of Sikkim, and blows as a moist southerly wind still, while the
other parts of India are under the influence of the dry north-west monsoon of
the winter season.

Darjeeling at the height of 7430 feet above the sea has a mean annual tem-
perature of 50° Fahr., and a remarkably equable climate, the difference be-
tween the hottest and coldest months being 22° Fahr., showing one degree
of mean temperature for every degree of latitude north of Caleutta, whose
mean annual temperature according to the latest accounts is 78° Fahr.
(Humboldt gives 82 © ), and one degree for every 300 feet of ascent, up to a
certain altitude. We have the following scale of mean annual temperatures
for the various heights. Of course they are only theoretical, and must vary
according to northern or southern exposure, and the clearing of ground from
forest ; still they approximate nearly to the truth.

Mean annual tem- Mean annual tem-
Feet. perature, Fahr. Feet. perature, Fahr.
600... ee (Aes . 3600... eae 62°
teagan Aeon: p7" Ae 60°
1800... “5 68° | 4800... ate 58°
2400 aay 66° | 5400... adi 56°
3000... bbe 64° 6000... add 54°

I have already stated that the mean temperature of the Cinchona forest
varies from 59° to65°. According to this table, then, the region of the
Sikkim Himalaya, where a climate much resembling this is to be found, will
be between 2400 and 4800 feet, but 500 feet or more may be allowed, both
above and below these limits. The botany of those portions of the Hima-
laya, near Darjeeling, is particularly interesting.

In the plains below, the usual features of a tropieal vegetation are observed,
especially in the Terai, or land jungle, which skirts the base of the moun-
tains, where, however, forms from the high land begin to appear. At about 2000
feet of elevation, forests of gigantic trees of Magnolia, Cedrela, sub-tropical
Oaks, mingled with Acanthaceew, &c., occur. Dr Hooker remarks :—
“The gullies are choked with vegetation, and bridged by fallen trees, whose
trunks are ‘richly clothed with Dendrobium Pierardi, and other epiphytal
orchids, with pendulous Lycopodia, and many Ferns, Hoya, Scitaminex, and
similar types of the hottest and dampest climates. Convolvuli and Vines are
very common, and those rope-like plants which I have already noticed as a
feature in forests of the Andes, are here observed in great abundance, throw-
ing their cable-like stems from branch to branch. They belong chiefly to the
genera Bauhinia and Robinia, among the Leguminose. The diversity of this
aspect of the Flora is increased by scandent trumpet-flowered Bignoniacex
and slender Araliacex (Ivies), and Dioscoreas, nearly allied to the Smilaci:
nex ; Peppers, wild Plantains, and many species of Bamboo, are common :
the latter a useful article to the ingenious Lepchas. There is no climbin
Bamboo among them analagous to the Chusquea scandens of Humboldt an
Bonpland. Its place, howeyer, is supplied by climbing Palms of the genera

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 65

Calamus and Plectocomia, which are found in the zone of the Sikkim Flora,
along with the Phcenix acaulis, a species of Date-Palm. The other Palms of
the Sikkim mountains are, Wallichia oblongifolia, Areca grandis, Caryota
urens, and Licuala peltata. Here, too, grows the Tree-Fern, Alsophila gi-
gantea, extending from 2000 feet to, in some cases, 6500 feet of elevation, on
the mountains near Darjeeling, and probably indicating here, as its congener
in the Andes does, the upper limit to which the cultivation of Cinchona might
be carried with success.”

To these may be added the Cinchona gratissima, and C. Pinceana, of
Wallich, now made by some botanists a separate genus, under the name
Luculia, twin natives of these mountains, whose forests are enlivened by the
gorgeous colours of their flowers.

Above Darjeeling, Oaks and Chestnuts occur abundantly, with Rhododen-
drons, and the English Yew; Pines, however, from the humidity of the
atmosphere, are rare on the outer range. English fruits, grains, and Potatoes
are cultivated near Darjeeling, and in the valley below many varieties of
Rice and Indian Corn.

The geological structure of the mountains of Sikkim is nearly uniform,
the rocks being principally varieties of micaceous schist and gneiss.

_ The soil is generally formed by the disintegration of these rocks, and is
deeply covered in some places with vegetable mould.

he causes of these resemblances in the Floras of districts so widely re-
moved, is evidently to be sought for in the similarity of climate, a constantly
moist one, in the identity of geological formation, and the proximity of the
most stupendous mountain chains in the world. From this similarity we are
entitled to expect that, if temperature be attended to, which can easily be
done, by regulating the elevation above the sea, the Cinchona trees will be
certain to succeed in the moist, warm valleys about Darjeeling.

There are many species of Cinchona bark trees, but all are not equally
valuable, and those only which afford the greatest amount of Quinine should
be introduced. Of these, the Cinchona Calisaya (two plants of which are
growing at Darjeeling, and are succeeding well), a tall tree, requiring a higher
temperature than most of the species, and yielding the largest amount of Qui-
nine, C. condaminea, C. micrantha, C. cordifolia, and C. hirsuta, with some
others, are the best to introduce, and from the difference in the temperatures
they require, could cover the limits I have given,

As some of the Quinine-producing species are said to be found in much
drier parts of the Andes than the Darjeeling valleys, they would be better
adapted for the climate of the more inland regions of Sikkim than those I
have particularly referred to. The trees in the Andes are subjected to no
cultivation, but are found growing in the forests, where the Cascarilleros or
bark-gatherers go out, and in a manner hunt for them among the other trees.
This is done at all seasons except in the height of the rains, and is then dis-
continued from the inconvenience to which the gatherers would be exposed.
The trees are generally felled before being peeled, but formerly this was
neglected, the bark being removed from the lower portion of the trunk, a
practice which, from the number of trees it sacrificed, greatly increased the
scarcity of the bark. The outer coating of the bark or periderm is scraped
off from the larger pieces, and beyond this and drying in the sun and slight
pressure in order to render it more portable, it undergoes no preparation, but
is considered ready for market. The tree is of very rapid growth, and,
according to Humboldt is ready to be felled when 6 years old.

Were the trees to be introduced into the Sikkim mountains it would not be
necessary nor desirable to clear the ground completely for their reception, as
in their native country they seldom form entire forests; but grow in groups
or a the shade of the loftier trees.

All that would be required would be a partial clearance of spots in the
forests at heights ranging from 1500 to 5500 or even 6000 feet above the sea,
and in the warmest and dampest valleys below Darjeeling, and in parts shel-
tered from the cold winds which sometimes blow from the snowy range be-
hind. There the plants should be carefully observed in order to discover the

M

66 PROCEEDINGS OF

most suitable elevation for them. In the course of 3 or 6 years a sufficiency of
bark could be obtained from them in order to ascertain the amount of Quinine
likely to be produced by a given quantity. Before this, young plants could be
reared from the original stock. Cuttings easily take root (the CO. Calisaya in
the Greenhouses of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens grows readily from cut--
tings), and thus in 2 or three years after the introduction of the original
stock, the plants might be doubled if not trebled.

The expense of introducing the Peruvian bark tree into India, would depend
more on the number of species brought than that of the plants. If several
species were desired, much travelling in South America would be required;
in some cases entailing a long journey to the interior, and the carriage of the
plants over lofty mountain passes. Plants, however, of a species suchas C.
Calisaya, which in some parts grows at no great distance from a seaport,
might be brought at little cost. The seeds might also be sown in Wardian
cases, and allowed to germinate on the voyage. I find, after some enquiry,
that 4000 plants might be imported for from £3000 to £4500, including all
charges, and, of course, seeds at a much less expense.

As most of the Cinchonacee are remarkable for their seeds retaining their
vitality for a short time only, it is probable that the Cinchonas are distin-
guished by the same features, and, therefore, it would be advisable to sow
the seeds almost immediately on being gathered. But this isnot the time to
enter fully on such a question; if the scheme were seriously entertained,
these details might easily be adjusted.

I will, therefore, devote the remainder of my space to the consideration of
the advantages likely to accrue from the cultivation of so valuable a plant in
India.

The South American States derive a considerable revenue from the forests
of Cinchona. Recently the bark gathered amounted to two millions of dollars
in value in one year, and the demand is on the increase. In Britain, the
imports range from 225,500 to 556,000 Ibs. annually. In 1850, we imported
from France, 489 ewt. of bark, of the value of £6840, and in 1852, it had in
creased to 1128cwt., costing £15,787. Sulphate of Quinine is, in addition,
largely imported from France. The following is a table of the import for 4
years :—

1848 ae .. 3856ounces ... 1L.5,398
1849 RS, one Hi 1,560
1050 2 i asehag Sage <i 12 566
1851 ez 2) ag ee a 10,647

In Paris alone, Quinine is manufactured annually to the amount of
120,000 ounces.

Certainly the range of territory in the Himalaya suited for the growth of
the Peruvian bark trees is quite extensive enough to produce bark for the use
of Europe, and even of the civilized world, independently of meeting the de-
mand for the drug in India. Even supposing that the introduction was made
only with the intention of supplying India with Quinine, that desire alone
would justify the attempt being made, Were the plant a product of India,
Quinine could be manufactured at an infinitely less expense than the present
cost of the medicine, and the truth of this is apparent when we consider the
original cost of Peruvian bark in America, the importation to England, and
the revenue duties, the expense attending the preparation of Quinine in
Britain, from the high rate of labour there, compared with India, and lastly,
the charges for freight from England to India. Were so valuable and effli-
cacious a remedy to become an article easily procurable in the bazaars,
doubtless the health, both of Europeansand natives, would be improved.

Intermittent fever is common all over India, and the mortality from it con-
siderably swells the number of deaths. But from its great cost, Quinine, the
only specific for this disease, must be dealt out sparingly, and to the natives
must be refused. As articles of export, Quinine and Cinchona bark would
soon become of considerable im portance, and the demand for them being uni-
versal,it would always exceed the supply.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

67

With reference to this view of the subject, Darjeeling, from its proximity
to the navigable portion of the Ganges, would be a most suitable spot for the
introduction being made.

Memorandum from the East India Company’s Dispensary, shewing the ex-
penditure for Quinine and the different Cinchonas, from 1849 to 1853:—

Quine disulphas.

1850 to
1851 to
1852 to
1853 to

From Jan. 1849 to December

Cinchona lancifolia, Bark.

1850 to
1851 to
1852 to
1853 to

From Jan. 1849 to December

Cinchona lancifolia, Powder.

1850 to
1851 to
1852 to
1853 to

From Jan. 1849 to December

Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.

Cinchona cordifolia, Bark.

1850 to
1851 to
1852 to
1853 to

From Jan. 1849 to December

Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.

Cinchona cordifolia, Powder.

Cinchona oblongifolia, Powder.
From Jan. 1849 to December

=
S
al
1849
- 1850 Do.
1851 Do.
1852 Do.
1853 Do.
1849
1850 Do.
1851 Do.
1852 Do.
1853 Do.
1849
1850 Do.
1851 Do.
1852 Do.
1852 Do.
1849
1850 Do.
1851 Do.
1852 Do,
1853 Do.
1849
1850 Do.
1851 Do.
1852 Do.
1853 Do.
1849
1850 Do.
1851 Do.
1852 Do.
1853 Do.

1850 to
1851 to
1852 to
1853 to

1850 to
1851 to
1852 to
1853 to

From'Jan. 1849 to December

Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.

Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.

Ib. oz.

512 0
415 12
700 0
656 0
664 0

2947 12 |31375 11 10

5773 (0

1024 12

& ss: d.

4846 18 8
4226 15 10
8283 6 8
7500 5 4
6518 5 4

——-_ —

SSS ee

6724 3

90 0
128 0
449 0
308 0
100 0

1075 0

1625 10 6

24 3 9
37 6 8
141 4 11}
9619 8
33 12 11

333 7 11}

10118 13
4617 3
154 9 8
10215 1
2719 5

433.19 5}

ey D9

ae dS

C. Rupees.

334,672 15 6

12,758 3 6

17,338 14 11

3556 3 10

4629 0 8

43 0 0

| 372,998 6 5

68 PROCEEDINGS OF

Statement shewing the amount expended and the cost of the undermentioned
articles for 5 years in the Bombay Presidency.

QUININE. Cincuona Bark.

Quantity. Amount. Quantity. Amount.
Ibs. oz. d. £ 8s. d.|| Ibs. oz. d.| 2 8. ad.
0

For 1849 50 ... | 262 11 2] 2470 0 575 12 61163 0 0
» 1850-51 ... | 338 10 7 | 4230 0-0} 417 0 0} 100 0 0
» 1851-52 ... | 262 12 14] 3296 0 0|) 543 10131127 0 O
», 1852-53 ... | 268 1 8] 3308 0 0O}| 685 4 0)161 0 O
» 1853-54 ... | 251 3 9 | 2412 0 O}f 367°15 0) 90 0 O

Total. 1383. 7 8 [15,716 0 0|/2589 10 3] 641 0 0

Memorandum of Annual Expenditure and cost of Cinchona and Quinine,
exclusive of carriage, freight, &c., in the Madras Presidency, for 1853-54 :—

MEDICINEs. Quantity. | Valuation.

* Ry Ibs. oz. £ 8. d.
Yinchona cordifolia, powder... | 551 8% 245 0 0
9 +. bark ee aes 70 2} a 00

“ lancifolia, powder... -»| 525 0 123 0 0

” ” bark Mt. Ap: 79 0 16°C" 10
Quinz Disulphas ane oe oss], 179 28 2183 9 0
Total. ost Roc | 1404 133 2594 0 O

From these data it appears that 1094 lbs. of Quinine, and 4650 lbs. of Cin-
chona bark were consumed in India during the year 1853-54. The total cost
of this valuable, but expensive drug, was no less than £9678.

According to the’ best authorities, from 2 Ibs. of the;bark of Cinchona Cali-
saya, 1 oz. of pure Quinine is procured; by this ratio, therefore, the amount
of bark required to afford Quinine for the Indian market is 8752 lbs., giving,
when added to the bark imported into India, a total sum of 12,405 Ibs. Aliow-
ing 10 lbs. of bark as the produce of one tree, and this is certainly below the
average, 1240 trees are required to furnish bark for the consumption in India.
Were Government to devote, for the purpose of introducing this boon into
India, the sum annually expended on the medicine in the Bombay Presi-
dency alone, a favourable beginning would be made, such a beginning as
would probably be sufficient, through time, and by efficient management, to
supply the demands for Government purposes, at least in the whole of India.
It should be borne in mind that the expenditure shown in these tables, is al
most entirely devoted to the European servants of the Company, and the drug
is too expensive to be dealt out even to them, to the extent considered neces-
sary by some professional men. In addition to these sums exhibited above,
large sums are expended in the three Presidencies, for Quinine for private
use, as many Europeans, from the difficulty of procuring it in the inte-
rior, consider it absolutely necessary to have a small amount of it with
them. But I fear I have extended these remarks already too far; my ex-
cuse for doing so must be my zeal for the development of what I feel is an im-
portant resource of the country, and my desire to present as far as in my
power, a full view of so interesting a subject.

APPENDIX.

I am well aware that I am not the first to propose the cultivation of this
genus in India. Dr Royle several times mentions the subject in his works.
In one place he says :—‘‘ There would apparently be no difficulty in finding

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 69

suitable localities for the several species of this very important genus
(Cinchona). In India, where the seasons are similar, and the southern parts
equally covered by mountains, as the Neilgherries, between 10° and 11°

N. latitude, and 8000 feet high, with a range of the thermometer of 43°,
a mean temperature of 53 ° , and where no snow falls, or perhaps on the moun-
tains of Shittagong and Silhat as on Chirrapoonjee, in lat. 25 ° , elevated 4286,
with a range of the thermometer of from 12° to 20° below that in the plains
of Bengal, and where the Luculia (Cinchona, Wallich) gratissima is found in
great luxuriance” Some years ago, Mr Piddington, author of Handbook of
Storms, in a letter to the editor of the Calcutta newspaper, strongly advocated
the same subject. His statements are so powerful that I cannot refrain from
inserting his letter. He remarks :—‘ There is one tree, the introduction and
the copious distribution of which within certain limited appropriate points of
the sub-Himalayan range, would confer a greater blessing on the great body
of the natives than any effort the Government has made, or can make, and
that isthe Cinchona bark tree. Without any reference to the greater or less
force of medical theories as to the efficacy of Cinchona bark, I now only take
an experienced and practical view, well knowing that the sufferings of many
millions of poor and rich natives, especially in the jungle districts, are yearly
very great, and the mortality quite enormous, from remittent and intermittent
fevers, by far the greater part of which would be immensely relieved, or
wholly cured by the free use of Cinchona bark. If by abundance the price be
once brought within the poor native’s reach, he will readily take to it, having
no objections whatever on account of caste to anything of the nature of the bark
ofa tree, Ifthe Cinchona tree were once growing in abundance, Quinine could
be easily prepared in India from the facility of procuring and the cheapness of
spirits of wine used in the process of its elimination. 1 take it that every 100
Sepoys ill of fever remaining in hospital off duty for 30 days drawing an ave-
rage pay of 8 rupees each form a full monthly loss to Government of 800
rupees ; while a free use of Quinine and bark would cure them in 10 days on
the average, costing at present about 40 rupees, thus by the 20 days’ service
gained, Government would save nearly 500 rupees. But the Cinchona tree,
once grown abundantly, Quinine would, of course, become infinitely cheaper.
In Lord W. Bentinck’s time, before there were steamers in or to India, see-
ing,the immense profit to be derived, I sent a proposition to procure young
Cinchona plants from Vera Cruz, begging to be then permitted to proceed
there on that account, and my proposition was civilly and then favourably
xeceived, but these were not the days to act on it.”

Dr Balfour stated that some of the Cinchona plants now growing in India
had been transmitted by him from the Botanic Garden in a Wardian case at the
suggestion of Dr Royle, and that the seeds from which they had been ori-
ginally raised were sent by Mr Pentland, who received them from Dr Wed-
dell in Paris. These seeds seem to have retained vitality for a long time, and
therefore itis probable that the Cinchona might be introduced successfully
and with less expense into the cooler parts of India by means of seeds than by
living plants.

2. On the presence of Diatomacee, Phytolitharia, and Sponge Spicules, in
Soils which support Vegetation. By Witiiam Grecory, M.D., F.R.S.E.,
Professor of Chemistry.

Ehrenberg, inhislate work, “‘Mikrogeologie,” has stated that in specimens of
soils from all parts of the world, he has found many microscopic organisms ;
he divides these into Siliceous and Calcareous, the former including Diato-
macez, Phytolitharia, and Polycystina, as well as Sponge Spicules, the lat-
ter minute Mollusks and other shells. The present observations are confined
to the silicious organisms, and among these, chiefly to the Diatomacez, with
Phytolitharia, and Sponge Spicules, the soils examined being such as are con-
nected with fresh water, in which the Polycystina do not occur.

Many of Ehrenberg’s observations were made on the small portions of soil
found adhering to dried plants in herbaria, and I requested Professor Bal-
four to supply me with such portions of soil if possible. By his kindness I

70 PROCEEDINGS OF

obtained upwards of 60 such specimens, almost all of which were of very
small bulk, on an average, not exceeding that of a pinch of snuff, and some-
times less. Of these a certain number consisted chiefly of earth, with some
half decayed vegetable matter, and many contained hardly anything but de-
caying vegetable matter, with a mere trace of earth. Of course, the latter
are not fair specimens of soil, but I have subjected all to the same treatment,
namely, boiling with nitro-muriatic acid, washing, straining through gauze,
and examining the fine insoluble residue. This, of course, contained the
siliceous matter present, but it also contained much organic matter, ofa brown
or red colour, insoluble in acids, which, if necessary, might be destroyed by
ignition, when it would leave a trifling ash.

In every case I found Diatomacez in the residue, as wellas Phytolitharia.
Sponge spicules apparently of fresh water sponges, were less frequent, but
occurred inmany. Ina few cases, where the acid caused effervescence,
there was calcareous matter present, but in most, this was not the case.

Of course, in those cases in which the proportion of earth was small, the
residue consisted chiefly of the insoluble organic matter, through which, how-
ever, Diatoms and Phytolitharia were scattered, in greater or smaller pro-

ortion.

x In the cases where the proportion of earth was larger, the residue was
much richer in Diatoms and Phytolitharia, but almost always contained
also the dark insoluble organic matter. In several, the proportion of Di-
atoms in the residue was so large, that it had the appearance of a regular
Diatomaceous gathering, after boiling with acids. The most remarkable
soils in this respect were one from the Sandwich Islands, one from Lebanon,
one from the roots of a German moss, and one from Ailsa Craig.

It is to be noticed, however, that Diatomacez were found in every case,
without exception, and that in all, their proportion to the whole non-calea-
reous earthy residue was considerable, and often large. In many of those
where the proportion of earth was smallest, there was no silicious matter in
the residue, except Diatomacez and Phytolitharia.

The soils examined were from various and distant localities; there were
about 20 from the Andes, several from Brazil and other parts of South Ame-
rica, a few from North America, a few from the West Indies, one from the
Sandwich Islands, one from New Zealand, a few from India, one from Leba-
non, a good many from Germany, some from France, a few from Spain, and
some from Britain.

The great majority of the species of Diatoms in all these were found
to coincide with our British forms, but a good many species occurred in the
exotic soils which have not yet been found in Britain, and most of these not
even in Europe, but which have been figured by Bailey, Ehrenberg, Kiitzing,
Rabenhorst, &c.

A good many were observed, which, so far as I know at present, have
not yet been figured or described. Lastly, a certain number of species,
lately found by Smith, Greville, and others, as well as by myself in Britain,
and some of which are scarce, have occurred in these exotic soils, Among
these I may name here Navicula scutelloides, W. Sm. (Lebanon), Orthosira
spinosa, W.Sm., Grev. (Andes, mei al Cymbella turgida, W. G. (Sand-
wich Islands), and Navicula varians, W. G. (various soils).

Of such species as are unknown to Europe, I shall only mention here,
Terpsince musica, one of the most striking of known forms, which I found
in the first soil I examined, ene from Brazil. It is accompanied by Nitzschia
scalaris, a fine form, which occurs in Britain, but is far from uent here.

I am satisfied that a close examination of such specimens of soil, which
are often thrown away ,in putting jup specimens in herbaria, will bring to
light many new forms, and supply us at home with many exotic and rare
species. It is very desirable that collectors of plants should preserve a little
of the earth adhering to their roots, and in this way copious materials would
be obtained.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 71

I have not yet worked out the apparently new forms occurring in these
soils, but there are a considerable number which require investigation.

The above observations entirely confirm Ehrenberg’s statements as to
the distribution of the Diatomacee. They furnish evidence of the fact that
these organisms are far less affected by climate and temperature than larger
plants or animals; since many of the very same species are found in every
latitude and in every country. For example, such common forms as Ach-
nanthidium lanceolatum, Achnanthes exilis, Gomphonema tenellum, G. con-
strictum, G. capitatum, Cocconeis Placentula, C. Pediculus, Cocconema
lanceolatum, C. cymbiforme, Synedra radians, Navicula elliptica,N. rhomboides,
Pinnularia viridis, P.major, P. oblonga P. borealis, Surirella biseriata, S. ovata,
Meridion circulare ; M. constrictum; Cymbella maculata; C. scotica ; C. cus-
pidata; Epithemia turgida; Ep. Argus; Himantidium Arcus; H. gracile;
H. majus; Odontidium mesodon; Diatoma tenue; D. vulgare; Nitzschia
linearis ; N. amphioxys ; Melosira varians, and many others actually occur in
every part of the world from whence these soils have come; and there is
absolutely no difference between the exotic and the British forms.

Ehrenberg specifies two species, namely, Pinnularia borealis (P. latestriata
W. G.), and Eunotia amphioxys (Nitzschia amphioxys, W. Sm.), as having
been found by him in almost every instance. My results confirm this. In
no one case have both of these been absent, and in at least nine-tenths of
these soils both are present. They are often the predominant forms, and in
a few cases almost the only forms present. As both of them occur very much
scattered in ordinary gatherings from water, I suspect that moist earth is
their usual habitat. 1 may add that Gomphonema tenellum and Achnanthi-
dium lanceolatum are also found in a large majority of all these soils.

I am disposed to agree in opinion with Ehrenberg, that the microscopic
organisms found in soils contribute materially to the increase of the soil.
This is true both of the siliceous and caleareous forms. The Diatomacez,
for example, live as we may see daily, in moist earth. They obtain silica
from the water, and at their death their shells are added to the soil. Where
many are present, this process of transference of silica from the rock out of
which it is dissolved by the rain, to the soil where it remains in a solid but
finely divided form, goes on very rapidly where many Diatoms are living.
Now, we have so far evidence that they live (as we know they can do) in
these soils, that we find them there very often in the state of self-division,
which is not observed in old accumulations of the dead shells.

The peculiar capacity of the Diatomacez for resisting climatic changes,
whereby the same species can live and thrive as well in the Arctic circle as
under the line, corresponds well with the results of the study of the same or-
ganisms in the fossil state. In Ehrenberg’s late great work, Mikrogeologie,
will be found very fine figures of the Diatoms occurring in the different forms
of Bergmehl, Tripoli or polishing slate, Kieselguhr, pumice, and other vol-
canic rocks, mountain limestone, Amber, &c., and it will be seen that by far the
greater number of these species are quite identical with recent ones. Al-
though microscopic organisms have been found so low down as the green
sand of the Silurian system, I find that these do not appear to be Diatomace-
ous, but rather belong to the Polythalaria. But the earliest Diatoms, geo-
logically speaking, yet found, as figured by Ehrenberg, agree in every point,
as far as the great majority of the species is concerned, with those now living
in our waters, and forming deposits which will become rock at some future
time. It is evidently the same power of resisting change by climate, which,
as we have seen, leads to the occurrence of many identical recent species in
all parts of the earth, that has led to the permanent existence of so many of
the same species, from the time of the Kieselguhrs and polishing slates to the
present day.

Some years ago, it was supposed that most of the species in the much more
recent Bergmehl, were no longer to be found living. But since then, most
of them have been found recent. I myself have lately found two species of
the Lapland Bergmehl to be still in existence, namely, Eunotia octodon, and

72 PROCEEDINGS OF

Synedra hemicyclus ; and I may add that Eunotia incisa, which occurs both
in the Lapland and the Mull earths, has been found recent by me in a dozen
British gatherings. Yet all these forms were supposed, not long since, to
be exclusively fossil. We cannot say that there are no species exclusively
fossil, but so many that have been thought so are daily found living, that it is
probable the rest may be so found too, and at all events, a very large propor-
tion of the forms in the oldest fossil deposits are absolutely identical with the
forms of the present day, as a glance at Ehrenberg’s figures will prove.

I have only further to mention, that although so many species are universal
in their habitat, some appear to be local. Thus Terpsince musica does not
occur in Europe, nor has it yet been found except in America, and, I think,
in Australia.

Some species are decidedly Alpine ; for example, Orthosira spinosa, which
Professor Smith found on the Mont d’Or in Auvergne, and Professor Balfour
on the Grampians, occurs also in nearly every soil from the Andes.

3. On the Effects of the Severe Frost of last winter on Plants in the neigh-
bourhood of Sligo. By the Right Hon. Jonny Wynne, of Haslewood.

The following facts indicate the severity of the frost :—

First—The adjoining lake was frozen across, so as to bear skating for about
one-third of its length for about a fortnight—a circumstance which never oc-
curred in my recollection and I believe only once during the lifetime of my
father, who lived to be 85, and spoke of his having once skated across the
lake, which we did several times this last season. Secondly — The
number of birds killed by it was very great, especially sea birds—curlews
and seagulls. After the thaw the sea shore was covered with dead sea
fowl. The thermometer at Markree Observatory, only six miles from
this, and equally near the sea, on the 12th of February stood at 13.2
Fahrenheit, and on the 18th 17.6; on the 17th, 17.2; on the 18th, 15.
There was no snow here during the continuance of the frost — only
about two inches fell on the first day of the thaw, so that the plants
were exposed to its full severity. Some days after its commencement I had
the roots of the plants marked * covered with sawdust, but by no means
soon enough.

“Plants killed—Erica arborea, Erica ciliaris, growing in bog; same very
slightly injured in garden; Phyllodoce cxrulea, Rhododendron altaclarense,
Adiantum Capillus Veneris, from Arran; *Davallia eanariensis. This Fern
has been for years in the rockery, covered during frost with a piece of calico.

Plants much injured—Edwardsia tetraptera, old plants on west wall; E.
microphylla, old plants on north wall; Laurus nobilis, *Myrtus communis,
on wall, both narrow and broad leaved; Ulex europzeus in some places, not
the least in others, Calluna vulgaris, in bog; *Abutilon striatum on east
wall, out 4 or 5 years; Dabecia polifolia, Verbena triphylla, *Aspidium
longifolium, covered with calico.

Slightly injured as to the leaves—Arbutus Unedo, much injured a few
miles off; Photinia serrulata, both on wall and standard very slightly; Vi-
burnum Tinus, some plants close to others which were much injured received
no injury; *Ceanothus azureus on south wall.

Uninjured—Fuchsia globosa major, on east wall; Magnolia grandiflora, on
south wall; M. tripetala, standard; Rhododendron arboreum. Rhodotham-
nus Chamecistus, Arbutus Andrachne, Olea excelsa, standard, sheltered ;
Daphne pontica, Peonia Moutan, Pawlonia imperialis, Erica mediterranea,
also Irish variety ; Cedrus Deodara, Araucaria imbricata, Cupressus,tomentosa,
Taxodium sempervirens, Pinus canariensis, Abies Webbiana, A. cephalonica,
Cryptomeria japonica, Quercus coccifera, Juniperus bermudiana, Buddlea
globosa, Cistus ladaniferus, Garrya elliptica, Woodwardia radicans covered
with calico, as it has been for some years; Trichomanes brevisetum, Pingui-
cula grandiflora, Anemotheca cruenta, Mimulus moschatus.

=

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 73

4. Notice of a Botanical Trip with Pupils to Falkland andthe Lomond Hills,
Fife. By Professor Baurour.

On Saturday 30th June 1855, a party of upwards of 100 left Edinburgh by
the train for Falkland Road Station. The party included Botanists, Geolo-
gists, and Artists. The two former employed themselves in the examination
of the West Lomond Hill, the Bishop Hill, and Loch Leven, while the latter,
under the direction of Mr Christie of the School of Design, took measure-
ments of the old palace of Falkland, and casts ‘of the more important sculp-
tured figures.

Falkland was reached about 10 a.m.; and there, through the kind attention
of Mr Barclay, Sheriff Clerk of Fife, a zealous promoter of science, breakfast
was prepared on the green sward in front of the old palace. One hundred
and fourteen sat down to a most abundant and sumptuous entertainment.
The Rey. Mr Macduff, minister of the parish, officiated as chaplain; and
there were present, besides the Edinburgh party, Mr Barclay, Mr Howden,
factor for Mrs Tyndal Bruce of Falkland, who had kindly granted the use of
the ground for the breakfast table; Mr Cruickshank, the schoolmaster of the
parish; Mr Gulland, factor for Mr Johnston of Lathrisk; and others. After
returning thanks to Mr Barclay for his liberal entertainment, and to Mrs
Bruce and Mr Howden for their attention, the party proceeded to view the
rooms in the old palace. Leaving the palace and town of Falkland, the
party next walked to Falkland House. Passing through the interesting
grounds around the house, they directed their course, under the guidance of
. the gardener, towards Maspie Den and the West Lomond Hill, which seemed
to promise most in a botanical point of view. After skirting the hill on the
northern side, they ascended to the summit, which is about 1720 feet above the
level of the sea. From the top of the hill their course lay in a southern
direction towards Glen Vale and the back of the Bishop Hill. Some of the
party visited the latter, and particularly examined the Carline Knowe, while
the greater part proceeded through the glen to Ballo and Purin—encountering
on the road a very heavy thunder shower, which lasted during the remainder
of their walk, and interfered with their intended examination of the East
Lomond Hill, by the southern side of which they walked to the Falkland
Road Station to meet the train at half-past seven in the evening.

The plants gathered were many of them of interest, and one or two of them
very rare. The following may be recorded as some of those which deserve

notice :—

Chelidonium majus, near Loch Leven.

Fumaria micrantha.

Viola lutea, abundant on Lomond hills.

Sagina subulata, West Lomond.

Geranium pusillum.

Oxytropus Halleri, Bishop Hill. The
plant is abundant in this station;
and now that the station at North
Queensferry has been destroyed by
the progress of agriculture, it is
well to find that there is another in
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh.

These are interesting localities for
a plant which is usually more alpine
in its nature.

Epilobium angustifolium.

Hippuris vulgaris.

Sedum villosum.

Chrysosplenium alternifolium.

Saxifraga hypnoides, West Lomond.

Galium pusillum, Glen Vale.

Antennaria dioica.

Hieracium atratum, gathered and
determined by Mr W. Nichol.

Epilobium alsinifolium. By the sides
of rivulets on the northern side of
the West Lomond, and in Glen Vale.

Leontodon Taraxacum, var. palustre,
Solidago Virgaurea.

Tanacetum vulgare

N

74

Vaccinium Vitis-Idea.

Myosotis repens.

Solanum Dulcamara.

Veronica scutellata.

Trientalis europea, in great profusion
on West Lomond hill. as well as in
the woods near Falkland House.

Littorella lacustris.

Polygonum viviparum, abundant in
Glen Vale,

Gymnadenia conopsea.

Habenaria bifolia,

Listera cordata, very abundant on the
west Lomond hill.

Orchis latifolia and var. incarnata.

Orchis maculata.

Orchis mascula,

Juncus supinus.

Potamogeton heterophyllus.

34 oblongus.

Carex ampullacea.

.. binervis.
- curta.
. dioica,
. flava.

--» fulva,
. glauca.
- ovalis.

..+ panicea,
. pilulifera.
.. preecox.
. pulicaris.
. stellulata.

PROCEEDINGS OF

Carex vulgaris.
Nardus stricta.
Poa nemoralis var. montana, on the
West Lomond.
Equisetum arvense.
“hs limosum.
palustre.
sylvaticum.
umbrosum, in large quan-
tity on the northern side
of the West Lomond hill.
Allosorus crispus. On south side of
West Lomond hill,
Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum.
.... Ruta-muraria.
... Trichomanes,
Athyrium Filix-femina.
Blechnum boreale. ‘
Botrychium Lunaria.
Cystopteris fragilis (also forked).
Lastrea Filix-mas.
Oreopteris.
... dilatata,
Polypodium Dryopteris.
& Phegopteris.
at vulgare.
Polystichum aculeatum.
Pteris aquilina.
Pilularia globulifera,
Lycopodium alpinum.
sae clavatum,
selaginoides.
Selago.

The total number of Phanerogamous plants, collected during the trip

amounted to about
Equisetacez
Filices
Marsileacex
Lycopodiace
Musci
Desmidex
Diatomacez

6
16

1

4
70
30
45

Total 422

Besides numerous Jungermannia, Lichens, Fungi, and Algez,

5. Report on the Diatomacee: collected during the Excursion, By Professo™
Grecory.

The two wet gatherings from the West Lomond turned out to be almost
exactly alike The dry one from the rock contained hardly re Diatoms, and
was not worth examining further. In the two others I found the following
species :—

1. Eunotia Arcus.
2. Cymbella cuspidata.
3. ae maculata.
4. Amphora ovalis
5 Cocconeis Pediculus.

a

. Cocconeis Placentula. .
. Cyclotella operculata.

. Surirella linearis.

ovata.

Crumena.

—
Sper

THE BOTANICAL SOCIEY. 75

11. Surirella panduriformis. 28. Cocconema Cistula.

12. Cymatopleura Solea. 29. Gomphonema geminatum.

13. Nitzchia linearis. 30. ee constrictum.

ens oss. parvala. 31. oe coronatuin.

15. ... _ amphioxys. 32. ae tenellum.

16, Navicula cuspidata. 33. de Fusticulus.

17. “i varians, W. G., (several | 34. os olivaceum.
types.) 30. “et curvatum.

Is. .. inflata. 36. Meridion circulare.

19. .. rostrata. 37, Achnanthes exilis.

20. -- lepida, W. G 38. Achnanthidium lanceolatum.

21, Pinnularia acuta. 39. Fragilaria capucina.

22. a” viridula. 40. Odontidium mesodon.

23. Stauroneis Phenicenteron. 41. Tabellaria flocculosa.

24, Pleurosigma attenuatum. 42. Diatoma vulgare.

25, Synedra radians. 43. .. elongatum.

26. ... pulchella. 44. Melosira varians.

27. Cocconema cymbiforme. 45. Encyonema ccespitosum.

Many of the above are far from frequent in the gathering. The predomi-
nating forms are those I have given as Nitzchia parvula and Pinnularia
viridula, and I do not feel sure that either of these is rightly named. The
first may be Ntz. minutissima, or even Synedra minutissima or 8. fasciculata ;
and the second may be possibly Nav. cryptocephala; but both are common
forms. Next to these in frequency come P. acuta, Cymb. maculata, Gomph.
tenellum, Synedra radians, Cocconema cymbiforme, and Nav. cuspidata, of
which there are fine specimens. Most of the other forms are much scattered.

There is one small form which I cannot refer with certainty to any species
known to me. I am not sure whether it be a Gomphonema or a Pinnularia,
for want of the front view which I have not yet recognised. I daresay there
are still several species which I have not noticed. Eunotia diodon also
occurs.

6. Report on the Musci and Desmidece collected during the Trip to Wes
Lomond Hill, Fife, 30th June 1855. By Grorcr Lawson.

In the following List of Mosses, those species only are included which ap-
ear to deserve attention, either from their rarity or other points of interest;
ut in the case of the Desmidex, whose distribution is so imperfectly known,

all the species collected during the trip are enumerated. The nomenclature
is that of our two standard British works (those of Mr Wilson and Mr Ralfs)
in the respective departments of Musci and Desmidez.

ANDREZACES.

Andreea rupestris, Hedwig.— Abundant on those parts of the hill where
the bare rock (greenstone) is exposed, but not observed near its base.
Andreea Rothii, Web. & Mohr.—With the preceding, (Mr Nichol.)

SPHAGNACEX.

Sphagnum cymbifolium, Dillenius, Ehrhart—This was the most abundant
species observed, varying much in size, according to the moisture of its loca-
lity (occasionally not more than half-an-inch high ); but in every case
readily distinguishable from all other species of the genus by its cauline
sheath, the cells of which are furnished with spiral fibres, as in the analogous
tissue which surrounds the aerial roots of epiphytal orchids.

Sphagnum molluscum, Bruch—In marshes in very small quantity, inter-
mixed with other semi-aquatic Mosses. This species not having been long
known in Britain, its distribution is probably imperfectly ascertained. It is
moreover liable to be overlooked, and, from its slender stunted appearance, to
be discarded as an imperfect state of other species with which it generally
grows intermixed, in a manner unusual in this genus. When once known
however, it is readily distinguished by its weak habit, and when in fruit by

76 PROCEEDINGS OF

the long pedicel. Under the microscope its best character is the remarkable
form of the cells of the cauline sheath; these somewhat resemble in form the
petiole of Pontederia crassipes, and their apex is so recurved as to project at
a right angle with the body of the cell. The curved neck is slightly flat-
tened anteriorly, and is marked on either side with a longitudinal line or
ridge. A young branch with a few of the leaves carefully picked off shows
these cells in profile under even a low power. In mounting preparations
from dried specimens these cells often remain filled with air long after all the
other tissues of the plant are completely saturated. This species I had seen
only from Risley Moss (Mr Wilson, 1847) until Mr A. Oswald Brodie,
Ceylon Civil Service, sent me specimens from Tore and Black Valley, Kil-
larney (April 1855) both in fruit.

Sphagnum acutifolium, Ehrhart.—Abundant, and plentifully furnished
with antheridia, which in the Sphagna differ remarkably from all other
mosses in their minute size and globose form. Abundant, with ripe capsules,
in the Glen Vale.

Sphagnum cuspidatum, Dill., Ehrhart.—Our specimens of this are of a fine
green cvlour, but otherwise appear to agree well with the typical form of the
species.

Sphagnum contortum, Schultz.—Rare, on West Lomond.

Sphagnum contortum, Schultz var. subsecundum, Nees & Hornsch., Wilson.
On bogey ground in small quantity. This appears to agree with specimens
sent to me by Mr W. M. Ogilvie, who has devoted much time to the study
of Sphagna.

Sphagnum contortum, Schultz, var. obesum, Wilson.—In still water, with
Littorella and Pilularia. The specimens to which I assigned the above
name were sent to Mr Wilson, who reports them to be not essentially diffe-
rent from obeswm, but scarcely so tumid as his Cheshire specimens, which
have not the lurid hue of the Lomond hill plant. Specimens recently col-
lected by Dr Greville at Demyat agree well with the Fife form, and partake,
in some measure, of its hue, but are more robust, and have larger leaves.

Sphagnum squarrosum, Persoon.—Plentiful on various parts of the hill.

BRYACEZ.

Rhabdoweissia denticulata, Bruch & Schinp.—(Weissia striata var. major,
Hook. & Tayl.). (Mr Lowe, Mr Nichol). This rather uncommon and alpine
species could scarcely have been expected to occur on so low a hill, and the
spot where it was got was far from the summit.

Dicranum squarrosum, Schrad.—(Barren).

Ceratodon purpureus, Brid.—In immense profusion on bare earthy spots,
inviting attention by the numerous forms assumed under different conditions
of soil, moisture, and exposure.

Racomitrium heterostichum, Bridel.—(The male plant). On perpendicular
greenstone rocks, with Andreza rupestris,

Racomitrium lanuginosum, Bridel.—On rocky banks at 1400 feet and
upwards.

Racomitrium canescens, Bridel.

Atrichum undulatum, P. Beauv.—(Polytrichum, Hook, & Tayl.). Woods at
the base of the hill, near to House of Falkland, and traced a short way up
the ravine, where Epilobium alsinifolium first appeared.

Pogonatum aloides, Bridel.—(Polytrichum, Hook. & Tayl.). Near House of
Falkland.

Polytrichum commune, Linn. (normal form).—Abundant with antheridian
flowers and ripe fruit.

Polytrichum commune, L. var. minus, Wilson—On heathy spots, at a low
elevation. This form, which is the Polytrichum perigoniale of Funck (not
of Michaux, whose species so called is Wilson’s var. perigoniale), is very
distinct in habit from the ordinary state of P. commune, and may prove a
separate species. It is well distinguished by its short, sometimes branched
stem, crowded appressed leaves. short seta and pale calyptra.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. as

Aulacomnion palustre, Schwegr.—(Bryum palustre, Hook. & Tayl.). This,
in a barren state, was gathered on various parts of the hill; and in one very
moist spot I obtained a patch bearing the pedicellate masses of gemme,
styled ay Bridel “ pseudopodia.” Mr Wilson states (Bryologia Britannica,
ae’ that the pseudopodia are of much rarer occurrence in this species than
in A. androgynum, apparently depending on the successive degrees of heat
and moisture of the locality, and being formed at the expense of the fruit,
which is then abortive.

id eptobryum pyrtforme, Wilson.—Found only in small quantity, with pistil-
idia.

Bryum pallens, Swartz.—On wet clayey banks in Glen Vale, with Epilo
bium alsinifolium. Conspicuous from the deep vinous tinge of the leaves of
many of the tufts.

nium rostratum, Schwegr.—Abundant in fruit in Maspie Den.

Mnium hornum, L.—On heathy places, an unusual habitat for this species.

Mnium wndulatum, Hedivig.—Grounds around House of Falkland.

Mnium punctatum, Hedw.—Plentiful, with ripe capsules and antheridia, by
the stream in Maspie Den.

Bartramia fontana, Bridel.—Abundant with antheridia and capsules
nearly ripe. This plant and Polytrichum commune permit the antheridia to
be dissected out with great facility, and are on this account very convenient
to use in investigations relative to reproduction.

Splachnum ampullaceum, Linn.—In wet boggy ground, growing appa-
rently upon cow dung. ‘The fructification being in a green state, and im-
perfectly formed, this was at first overlooked as a state of 8, sphericum. The
form of the turbinate apophysis, which is much widened at the upper part,
and the narrower, toothed leaves, are unfailing characters whereby it may be
distinguished from that species. (First found by Mr Alex. Davidson.)

Splachnum sphericum, Hedw.—tn wet boggy ground with the preceding,
and apparently growing on cow dung; elevation about 1300 feet, and there-
fore much lower than usual for this species in a locality quite disconnected
from alpine districts. (Gathered by Mr Lowe, Mr Nichol, and myse!f). All
the tufts obtained were covered with an abundance of ripe capsules; and
there were also plenty of antheridia, which were found to be in an excellent
stage for examination, most of them being ready to discharge their contents.
It was observed that in the same perichetium there were antheridia in
various stages of development, those in the centre appearing to ripen first,
even while some of those at the outer edge were of small size, and quite
green. There is thus a constant succession of phytozoa produced—a pro-
vision which tends to ensure their application to the pistillidia at the proper
time. In many of the antheridia examined, slight pressure of the thin- glass
cover caused their granular contents to escape; this was beautifully seen
under Nachet’s lowest object-glass; the matter passes out in a con-
tinuous stream through a very small orifice in the apex of the antheri-
dium, afterwards collecting in masses on the field of the micros-
cope, as if of a gelatinous nature. The natural discharge of the con-
tents of the antheridiumis probably a much slower process thaiy what
we observe under artificial treatment. This granular contents is by a
higher power (say } inch) resolved into a mass of living phytozoa, display-
ing the most active and lively movements, each whirling upon its own axis,
and quickly moving about the field as if from an intense sense of animal
enjoyment. Under Ross’s one-eighth the form of the phytozoa was well seen;
but the morning being cloudy, there was not sufficient light to show the
cilia with which these,bodies are furnished. The movements entirely ceased
about two hours after their discharge from the antheridium, and on some
oceasions in a shorter period. In one preparation, however (mounted in
water), Mr Forbes observed that the phytozoa still moved actively, two
days after mounting. As in this case several antheridia were mounted
together, it is possible that some of them, entire when put up, had dis-

)

78 PROCEEDINGS OF

charged their contents in the interim, and that the movements were seen in
phytozoa of these, and not in those originally discharged. The empty
antheridium consists of a bag whose membrane is formed of somewhat
oblong cells, most of which contain, in addition to granular matter, a
bright red nuclear body, which appears in many cases to become divided into
a number of smaller.vesicular bodies of precisely the same character, thus
presenting a striking resemblance to Protococcus nivalis, the curious develop-
ment of which has excited so much attention.

Fissidens adiantoides, Hedwig.

Fissidens taxifolius, Hedwig.

Antitrichia curtipendula, Bridel.—(Anomodon curtipendulum, Hook. &
Tayl.)—On dry rocky parts of the hill towards the summit.

Climacium dendroides, Web. & Mohr.—Boggy places, near the base of
the hill.

Hypnum Schreberi, Dill., Willd.—This species approaches H. purum, but is
well distinguished by the faintly two-nerved leaves, which, as in that species,
have distinctly recurved points. In the field the deep red colour of the stem
is a ready character, that of H. purum being quite pale.

Hypnum purum, Dil., Linn.—With the preceding.

Hypnum plumosum, Swartz, Schwegr.—A sub-alpine species.

Hypnum rivulare, Bruch.—This species was gathered near Manchester
by Mr Wilson so long ago as 1828, but does not appear to have been known
as a Scotch species until found on the Braemar mountains during our trip last
autumn. It is probably not uncommon in alpine and sub-alpine districts.

Hypnum ruscifolium, Dill.—Glen Vale (ft.) (Leaves large, pale, capsule
sub-erect.

ji stramineum, Dickson.—Fruiting freely in marshy places at the
margin of a small muddy lake, at an elevation of about 1300 feet. This
species is rare in fruit, and usually in small quantity when it does occur.
(Gathered by Mr Lowe, Mr Nichol, and myself.)

Hypnum cuspidatum, Dill., Linn, —In marshy ground with the preceding.

rea tamariscinum, Hedw.—Abundant on heathy ground at the foot of
the hill.

Hypnum splendens, Dill.

psi cpa hs ie Dill.

Hypnum revolvens, Swartz.—Abundantly in fruit in marshy places, espe-
cially in Carex grounds.

Hypnum aduncum, Dillenius.—Pentiful in fruit in boggy ground, intermixed
with other Hypna.

Hypnum filicinum, Dillenius.

ypnum scorpioides, Dill._(Myr Lowe.)

Hypnum pulchellum, Dickson.—Found in small quantity in fruit. Searce
in England and Ireland, but apparently not uncommon in Scotland.

Hypnum denticulatum, Dill_—Earthy banks by the stream where Equise-
tum umbrosum was got.

Neckera crispa, Dill.—Obtained in small quantity, (barren.)

Hookeria lucens, Dill.—(Mr Nichol.) Barren.

HEpATIcZ.

Marchantia hemispherica, Linn.—Wet banks in the Glen Vale. (Mr H. Stew-
art.) Of the Liverworts collected, this is almost the only one requiring
gee notice. It was obtained with sporangia just ripening, and antheridia ;
the former are usually stated in books to be produced in March. ‘The latter
are rare, and furnished interesting materials for the microscope. In Marchan-
tia polymorpha, which I have used much in examining antheridia, there is
always a difficulty in dissecting out these organs uninjured from the recep-
tacle in which they are imbedded ; but in Fegatella hemispherica this can
done with great facility.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 79

FucacEz.

Phyllactidium hellum, Ralfs, Trans. Bot. Soc., Vol. II, plate XX.
(Coleochzte, Kage) West rae hill, on leaf of Potamogeton, only one
specimen noticed. This beautiful and rare species has been obtained by Mr
C, Jenner and myself in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and was found
on a water-lily leaf sent by Mr Croall from Forfarshire.

Bulbochete setigera, Agardh.—In still water upon leaves of Potamogeton.
Plentiful, but much broken up and intermixed with Confervacez and Desmi-
dez. Remarkable from the long hair-like processes which project from the
_ and which are more distinctly seen than those of Phyllactidium pulchel-

um.
ConFERVACER.

Nostoe sphericum, Vaucher 2—I have placed my specimens under this name
as that of the only species in Hassall’s book with which they appear to agree,
but the determination is by no means satisfactory. The plant is very minute,
the *‘ jelly balls” being individually scarcely visible to the naked eye.

DeEsMIDEz.

Our party were ill prepared for collecting Desmidex, having neither
bottles nor spoons for that purpose ; nor were we aware of the abundance of
these interesting organisms which lay in our path until our return, when the
decaying leaves of Potamogetons and other aquatic plants furnished an
abundant supply of species. The whole of our Desmidez were obtained at an
elevation of about 1300 feet.

Those marked with an asterisk do not appear to have been hitherto ob-
served in Scotland.

Hyalotheca dissiliens, Smith.—Scarce, and not observed until, by keeping
in water, it had broken up into single cells.

Didymoprium Grevillii, Kutzing— Abundant, and in a good state; a most
elegant plant.

Did ium Borreri, Raljfs—With the preceding, but less abundant.

Desmid ium Swartzi, Agardh.

Micrasterias truncata, Corda—Adhering to Hypnum aduncum in moist
ground, notin water. (Desmidez, Diatomacez, and other aquatic organisms,
speedily vegetate in pools formed by rain on the public roads in Edinburgh.)

Euastrum ansatum, Ehrenberg.—Dr Dickie and Mr Grant have observed
this species to rise so high as 3600 feet in Banffshire. On the Lomond Hill
it was found at about 1300 feet.

Euastrum pectinatum, Brebisson.

Euastrum binale, Turpin.

Cosmarium pyramidatum, Brebisson.

Cosmarium bioculatum, Brebisson.

*Cosmarium Meneghinii, Brebisson.—This species might be readily mis-
taken for an Euastrum ; in fact it appears to connect Cosmarium with that

enus.

* Cosmarium undulatum, Corda.—In this and the preceding species the
remarkable molecular movements or “swarming of granules” described by
Mr Ralfs were well seen. Mr Ralfs states than when these granules escape
from the mature frond they appear to give rise to new plants. This mode of
reproduction has been traced in many Alge by Agardh, Berkeley, Borrer,
Hassall, Itzigsohn, andothers; and its occurrence in the Desmidex appears
to furnish a strong indication of their affinity. In the Annals of Natural
History (July 1855), Dr Carter, H.E.I.C.S., gives a highly interesting ac-
count of observations on the development of ‘“ Gonidia ?” from the cell-con-
tents of Chara, which, it is to be hoped, will be carefully followed up. The
above movements are not to be confounded with the “ circulation’ or rotation
of the cell sap hereafter noticed.

Cosmarium tetraophthalnum, Kutzing.—This species was obtained with
mature sporangia.

Cosmarium margaritiferum, Turpin. (Normal form.)

80 PROCEEDINGS OF

Cosmarium ornatum, Ralfs.

* Cosmarium orbiculatum, Ralfs.

Cosmarium Cucurbita, Brebisson.

* Cosmarium Thwaitesii, Ralfs.—Hitherto only observed at Bristol and
Swansea.

Arthrodesmus convergens, Ehrenberg.—Only a few cells observed.

* Stawrastrum teliferum, Ralfs.

Tetmemorus levis, Kutzing. (Mx H. Stewart.)

Tetmemorus granulatus, Brebisson?—The specimens to which I have as-
signed this name appear to agree with Mr Ralfs’ description, but may prove
different from his plant: for, when the empty frond is examined, it shows on
either side of the sinus two distinct rows of dots, much stronger than the
markings on other parts of the frond; this is not indicated in Mr E. Jen-
ner’s drawing.

Penium Digitus, Ehrenberg.—-In this species some interesting phenomena
were observed. ;

I. Locomotion.

The power of locomotion possessed by the Desmidew, in itself highly in-
teresting, derives additional importance from the fact that it has been brought
forward by Ehrenberg and his tollowers in support of the animal character of
these organisms. ‘ That the Desmides move,” says Mr Ralfs (Introduction,
Brit. Desmid., pp. 20-21), “must be admitted, for this fact has been noticed
by too many accurate observers to permit any doubt of its truth; and although
I have myself failed to perceive their actual movement, I have sufficient
evidence of its occurrence ;’’ but, again, ‘‘ the movements of the Desmidex
must be very sluggish, or exercised only under very peculiar circumstances,
since I have never witnessed it, notwithstanding I have almost daily living
specimens under my inspection. Mr E. Jenner has been equally unsuccess-
ful; and several friends, experienced in the use of the microscope, either have
not seen it, or speak of it in uncertain terms.” It is therefore useful to notice
species in which the movements occur. The motion observed by me in this
species was not a continuous one, such as appears to be described by the
varions writers on this subject, but strikingly similar to the jerking move-
ments of Pleurosigma and other Diatoms. Movements precisely similar
were observed in Cosmarium undulatum and other species.

II. Circulation.

In Penium Digitus I had likewise the opportunity of observing a pheno-
menon which appeared to me precisely identical im character with that
termed the “rotation of the cell sap” in Chara and Vallisneria, and which I
have described as oceurring in Anacharis Alsinastrum, (Microscopical Journal,
ii., 54). In Penium, as in these plants, large globular granules flow, in unin-
terrupted currents on the inner surface of the utricle, and, as in Vallisneria
and Anacharis, are best seen at the edge of the cell. The course of the cur-
rents is not very determinate, and they seem to pass, each, other in close
proximity, continuing, however, for hours moving in the same manner. By
using the fine adjustment, a single granule may often be followed in its
course round the end of the cell, down the edge, and across the suture, thus
affording a beautiful demonstration of the unicellular character of the plant.
At the suture, however, the manner in which the granule, passes seems to
indicate a contraction there; its passage is not a slow steady movement,
as in other parts ofthe cell; when it enters the clear space its progress is sud-
denly arrested, and then it quickly starts across into the part containing gra-
nules, asif suddenly released from compression; after which it resumes the even
tenor ofits way. The phenomenon is different from the usual appearance of the
“circulation” of Closterium Lunula; but the granules 24s owe their
movements to the same cause.

Docidium Baculum, Brebisson.

Closterium Lunia, Muller.—In this organism I had; the opportunity, of

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. §1

examining the “ circulation” which has excited so much attention, and which
has been observed by Dalrymple, Ralfs, E. Jenner, and others, and by Pro-
fessor Goodsir so long ago as 1842. It is easily seen under Nachet’s No. 3
objective with No. 2 eyepiece. The Hon. and Rey. 8. G. Osborne, and Mr
Hogg, have given full details of the circulation in this species, (Microscopical
Journal, July and October, 1854). They believe that the currents are due to
the action of cilia over the whole surface of the endochrome ; these cilia I
looked for with Ross’s 1-8th inch, high eyepiece, and 4 inch as illuminator,
but was unsuccessful, probably from want of convenient arrangement of light
at the time. These gentlemen argue that the phenomenon is quite different
from the rotation of the cell sap in Chara and Vallisneria. 1 do not think so
Our knowledge of the true nature of the movements in these plants is, how-
ever, too meagre to enable us to understand the relations of the phenomena.
Osborne’s discovery of cilia in Desmidee is an important step; in our utter
ignorance of the cause of the movements in Hydrocharidacez, cilia ought to
be looked for there also.

[Since the above remarks were read to the Botanical Society, the 12th No.
of the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science has reached me, containing
two valuable papers on this subject—one by Mr Wenham, in which he
argues strongly in favour of the presence of cilia in Anacharis, and gives by
far the best general account that has hitherto appeared of the circulation in
that plant; the other by Dr Branson of Sheffield, in which he details the actual
observation of the ciliary wave in Anacharis, by Powell & Lealand’s 1-8th
inch,"aided by their improved achromatic condenser, and a No. 2 eyepiece.
He describes the cilia as probably not much larger than the dots on some of
the Navicule; but his belief in their existence appears to rest not upon his
having seen them but entirely upon the observation of a ‘* waving motion,
such as would undoubtedly be attributed to ciliary action if seen in an animal
structure.”’|

Closterium Diane, Ehrenberg. This was the most abundant species ob-
served.* Several specimens appeared to approach C. Leibleinii, Kutzing, from
which it is perhaps not distinct,

Closterium didymotocum, Corda, var. (The normal form, which is rare,
was not noticed.) Swarming of granules was observed in this species.

Closterium striolatum, Ehrenberg.

Closterium juncidum, ee

Pediastrum ellipticum, Ehrenberg. (Colonel Spottiswoode.) Only one
specimen observed.

7. Sketch of the Geology of the District Visited in the Course of Professor
Balfour's Excursion. By Mr James Hecror.

Mr Hector stated that the West Lomond and Bishop Hills were closely
related to one another in their structure. Taken together they present a
ridge bent at right angles, the exterior faces of which are presented abruptly
to the north and west respectively, while their interior faces slope gradually
in an easterly direction until they meet, thus forming a large triangular table
land, from the eastern corner of which the East Lomond Hill arises. The
surface of the table-land is broken into subsidiary valleys by conical hills
and ridges which are scattered throughout its whole extent. The greatest
in magnitude, as well as the most elevated in the position of its. base, of all
these cones is that which forms the top of the West Lomond. This cone
rises to the height of 340 feet above the table-land at its base, which is 1380
feet above the level of the sea, making in all an altitude of 1720 feet. In
that side of the ridge which faces the west there.is a deep notch which forms
the valley of Glen Vale, and which separates the West Lomond from the
Bishop Hill. These hills are separated on the NW. from the Ochils by the
vale of Eden, and on the SW. from Benarty and Cleish hills by the hollow in
which Loch Leven lies. Mr Hector then described this ridge as consisting
of a great thickness of sedimentary rocks, all dipping to the SE. at an
average of 25 degrees, thus presenting their cross section in an exposed

82 “PROCEEDINGS OF

manner on the abrupt sides of the ridge. Overlying and intruding among
the upper of these beds, is the trap which forms the cones and secondary ridges
before mentioned as existing upon the table-land. The succession of the
sedimentary rocks is as follow:—I1st, The great conglomerate of the Devo-
nian System, which stretches across from the Ochils, being exposed for
nearly half way across the Vale of Eden, at its upper part, and then dipping
under the next series of rocks. It thus forms the ftoor upon which the hill
is built. Next come a series of rocks, of which by far the greatest mass of
the stratified part of the hill is composed, and which, although tolerably
uniform in their mineral character, hold a doubtful position in Palxontolo-
gical classification. The lower beds of the group afford Devonian fossils,
while the upper abound in Sigillaria, Stigmaria and other coal plants. Mr
M‘Laren has called them Calciferous sandstones—a name which accurately
expresses their lithological character—and considers them as a group inter-
mediate between the Old Red and the Carboniferous epochs in Scotland, and
parallel with the lowest beds of the carboniferous, and the highest of the
Devonian ofthe English and Irish geologists. Mr Hector then stated that
Falkland stood upon the lower beds of this series, at perhaps about the
same horizon as that of the famous fish bed of Dura Den. At Nuthill, where
there was an opportunity of examining them at a higher horizon, there were
no traces of organic remains to be seen, but upon gaining the higher beds of
the series, as for instance at the Pavillion, an ee on the open hill it was
found that they abounded in fossil plants. He then passed on to the next
group of sedimentary rocks, viz., the northern limestone, and which he said
was found to be separated from the last series by a trap floe of considerable
thickness, what seemed to be the same floe being met with both on the
northern and southern aspects of the hill. Only an obscure and small sec-
tion of the limestone was seen, lying a little to the north of the base of the
conical top. It had evidently been to some degree altered by the trap, but
it abounded in ill-preserved specimens of the ordinary mountain limestone
corals, and other fossils. The section also showed a few feet in thickness of
the Culme shale, a white fissile rock, which in some places is quarried for
the manufacture of slate pencil. Regarding the igneous rocks of the dis-
trict, there are greenstones and basalts, which seem to pass into one another,
probably according to the rate at which the rock had cooled. The basalt
was found to occupy the summit of the hill, and one thin floe which was
examined, while all the other portions were greenstone. 1n the section
along the face of the Bishop Hill, the ftoe of greenstone, which was before
mentioned as separating the sandstone from the limestone beds, presents a
sub-columnar structure, and weathers into spheres.

Mr Hector next proceeded to consider the causes which have produced the
present configuration of the district, stating that the gentle slope to the east-
ward was due to the dip of the beds, while the abrupt face to the westward
must be the result of the denudation of those parts of the soft beds which had
not been preserved by being overlaid by the more indestructible trap. In con-
nection with this he stated that certain appearances at Glen Vale lead to the
belief that there still exists at that place some remains of an ancient sea
margin, at an altitude of 700 feet above the present sea level,

8. Record of Localities for Rare Plants. By Proresson BaLrour

Diatomella Balfouriana, Bracklin Bridge (Dr. Greville).
Scutellaria galericulata, near Lead-burn (T. G. Stewart).
Valeriana dioica, near West Linton WW Nichol).
Littorella lacustris, near Lead-burn (W. phil
Galium uliginosum, near Lead-burn (W. Nichol) ‘
Jungermannia decipiens, Wilson, near Ardglass (A. C, Maingay).
Borrera flavicans, Ach., on Ardglass Downs (A. C. Maingay).
Rubus Chamemorus, Hill South of Habbie’s Howe (J. Lowe).
Rhinanthus major, Leven Links (J. Lowe).

Potamogeton prelongus, Kinghorn Loch (J. Lowe).

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 83

Eriophorum latifolium, near Crichton Castle (J. Lowe).
Saxifraga oppositifolia, Allermuir Burn, Pentlands (J. Lowe).
Lactuca muralis, near Musselburgh (J. Lowe).
Mentha sylvestris, Gogar Burn (J. Lowe).
Lythrum Salicaria, Lochgelly (J. Lowe).
Silene anglica, side of Peebles Railway (J. Lowe).
Helosciadium nodiflorum, Duddingston Loch.
Tulipa sylvestris, near Ravelrig J. Lowe); Donibristle, near Aberdour.
Viola canina, Fries and Bab. (V. pumila, Vill.), Dirleton and Gullane.
Lychnis Viscaria, Minto Crags (Mr Nichol).
Valeriana dioica, Marsh at foot of Middle Eildonhill, Melrose.
Crepis biennis, Field at Luffness.
Campanula Trachelium, Luffness (Mr Pow).
Lathrea squamaria, Woods near Melrose,
Neottia Nidus-avis, Woods near Melrose ; near Ayton Castle.
Potamogeton gramineus, Pond in Dysart Garden (Mr Evans).
Typha latifolia, near Hassendean (W. Nichol).
Carex incurva, near Longniddry.
Céderi (true form) Gullane Links.
Alopecurus agrestis, North Berwick.
Asplenium germanicum, Minto Crags, near Hassendean (W. Nichol).
Lycopodium alpinum, near Tynehead.
Grimmia deusta, Eildon Hills.
Sticta serobiculata, near Melrose.
Calicium furfuraceum, Ground ina Plantation at Bonaly (Messrs Main-
gay, Macmillan, and Nichol).
Gyrophora polyphylla, Arthur’s Seat (Messrs Armstrong, Macmillan,
Maingay, Nichol).
Gyrophora proboscidea, Stones on the top of Carnethie (Messrs Lowe,
Maingay, Nichol).
Bryum atropurpureum, Experimental Garden (G. Lawson).
Closterium Lunula, Road behind Edinburgh Academy (G. Lawson).
Cuseuta Trifolii, Buckstone, Braid Hills (W. W. Evans).
Campanula latifolia, Eaglescairnie Woods (W. W. Evans), Craigcrook.
Cypripedium Calceolus, Arncliffe, Craven (Rev. J. L. Bigge).
Professor Balfour exhibited specimens of Conferva capillaris L. (Agahrd),
sent by Mr Wilson from the farm of Rauburn, Craushaws, Berwickshire.
Dr. A. Donglas Maclagan, exhibited specimens of plants received by him
from the Crimea, among which were the following :—

Convolyulus cantabrica. | Lathyrus tuberosus.
Paronychia serpylilifolia. Helianthemum vulgare.
Salvia Horminum. _ | Linum hirsutum, L.
Sideritis sp. | Adonis estivalis, L.
Onobrychis petrea. | Myosotis sp.

Professor Balfour exhibited from Sir W. C. Trevelyan, a small form of
Leontodon, with deeply cut leaves, and short, upright, outer scales to the
involucre, described by Dr Johnston in the Botany of the Eastern Borders.

Professor Balfour laid on the table the following list, prepared by Mr James
Hardy, Penmanshiel, of Vegetable Excrescences, &c., (chiefly formed by Gall
midges), that have not yet been discovered in Britain; but which may be
expected to occur :—

Acer pseudoplatanus. The middleof the leaves crumpled together by
Ceeidomyia irr ris, Bremi.

4£gopodium Podagraria. A gall on the receptacle of the florets (C. Poda

Alisma Plantago. Galls on the leaves by Lasioptera auricincta of
Winnertz,

84 THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

Artemisia campestris. Round aggregated gall on the summit of the stalks
C. Artemisix, Bouche.

Tube-shaped production of the receptacle. C. tubifex, Bouche.

Barbarea vulgaris. Pseudo gallof the ftower. ©. Sisynibrii, Sehrank.

Berberis vulgaris. Bushy aggregations of leaves. Lasioptera berberina,
Schrank.

Bryonia dioica. Gall on the stems. Trypeta sp.

Carpinus Betulus. Cylindrical galls with a lid, on the upper sides of the
leaves. C, tornatella, Bremi.

Crateegus Oxyacantha. Leaves rolled up. C. Oxyacanthe, Schrank.

Echium vulgare. Lateral buds deformed. C. Echii, Lew.

Euphorbia cyparissias. Large tufts of eurved leaves on the tops of the
barren twigs. C. Euphorbizw, Bouche.

Euphorbia cyparissias. Round buttons of leaves on the top of the barren
twigs. C. capitigena, Bremi.

Galeobdolon luteum vel Lamium purpureum. Pouch-shaped swelling of
the terminal leaves of the young twigs. C. strumota, Bremi.

Genista tinctoria. Bundles of altered leaves mentioned by Rennie.

Hieracium murorum. Blood red blisters on the radical leaves. C. san-
guinea, Bremi.

Hieracium Pilosella. Gall on the midrib. C. gemini, Bremi.

Leontodon Taraxacum. Blister-shaped galls on the leaves. C. Leonto-
donta, Bremi. p

Lithospermum officinale. Tufts of leaves inflated at the base, on the
summits of twigs. C. Lithospermii, Lew.

Lotus coniculatus. Pods excessively turgid; flowers rendered like bulbs.
C. Loti, Degeer.

Lythrum Salicaria. Stalks in vicinity of the tops of twigs. C. Lythrii, Lew.

Medicago falcata, and sativa. Buds and pod altered. C. Loti, Degeer.

Nasturtium sylvestre. Flowers form a pseudo gall, ©. Sisymbrii,
Schrank.

Onobrychis sativa. Leaves formed like a pod. C. onobrychidis, Bremi.

Papaver Rheas. Under part of the receptacle much swollen. Unknown.

Peucedanum palustre. Seeds swollen. ©. Tysselini, Leew.

Pimpinella sp. var. Seeds swollen. C. Pimpinelle, Lew.

Pinus sylvestris. Leaves. C. Pini, Degeer.

ns ase Sheaths of the leaves. C. brachycentra, Schweeg.

Pisum sativum. Pods. C. Pisi, Loew.

Polygonum amphibium. Margins of the leaves rolled backwards. C. Per-
sicariz, L.

Populus tremula, Pea-shaped galls on the leaf and leaf stalk. C. populea,
Schrank.

Prunus avium and Cerasus. Dried up spring tops. C. Cerasi. Loew.

Ranunculus bulbosus. Edge of the leaves rolled together above. C. Ra-
nunculi, Bremi.

Ribes rubrum. Margin of the leaves rolled upwards. C. Ribesii, Meig.

Rubus cesius. Youngleavesrolled together. C. plicatrix, Lew.

Rubus. Woody galls on the branches. Lasioptera Rubi.

Salix. Numerous galls on various species, more especially §. alba, 8S.
amygdalina, §. frigilis, 8. purpurea, 8 riparia, 8. rubra.

Sisymbrium Sophia. Flowers deformed. C. Sophie, Lew.

Stachys sylvatica. Swollen pouches at the top of the lateral twigs. C.
Stachydisi, Bremi.

Tilia europxa. Margin of leaves rolled upwards and thickened. C, Tilie,
Schrank,

Do. Pea ng woody, deciduous leafy gall. C. tiliacea, Bremi.
Tormentilla erecta. Roundish gall on the stalk. C. Torméntille, Lew.
Verbascum Thapsus. Flowers deformed. C. Verbasci, Vallot.

Veronica spicata. Large hairy gall under the receptacle.
Viburnum Lantana. Small flat blistered space on the leaves, mentioned
by Reaumur.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 85

9. Notice of some of the Contents of the Museum at the Edinburgh Botanic
Garden. By Professor Batrour.

(Continued from page 60.)
Natural Order—BeErRBERIDACE*.
Barberry Family.

The plants of this order usually supply an acid fruit, while the wood and
bark possess bitter and astringent, as well as dyeing qualities.

Berberis vulgaris, L.—The common Barberry. Europe. Fruit, containing
oxalic acid, used as a preserve: wood and bark, astringent, used in dye-
ing. yield a yellow, bitter, azotised matter called Berberine.

Berberis aristata, DC., B. Lycium, Royle, and B. asiatica, Roxb., are
supposed to be the sources of the Lycium of Dioscorides. Specimens of Ly-
cium, as sold in the bazaars in India under the name of Ruswut (Dr James
Wise). This extract is used in diseases of the eye. Fruit of B., aristata is
used like raisins in the Himalaya.

Caulophyllum thalictroides, Mich. North America. Seeds used as a sub-
stitute for coffee.

Natural Order—NymrH ACE.
Water-Lily Family.

Aquatic plants with large showy flowers, and cordate or peltate leaves
arising from large rhizomes which are sunkin the mud. The order possesses
bitter and astringent qualities, and the rhizomes and seeds contain much
starch, which is used as food. The spiral fibres in the vessels of the leaf-
stalks are occasionally used as wicks.

Nuphar luteum, Sm. Yellow Pond Lily, Europe. Rhizome dried; also
preserved in diluted acetic acid (Mr Robert Hutchinson, Stranraer.) The
markings left after the rootlets fall off resemble, in many respects, those of
Stigmaria. The yellow flowers have a smell of brandy, and the fruit has a
flask-like shape ; hence it is sometimes called brandy-bottle. The rhizomes,
steeped in water, yield a blue coloured powder, resembling indigo in appear-
ance. The Turks prepare a cooling drink from the flowers.

Nymphea alba, L. White Water Lily. Europe. Rhizome or under-
ground stem. It is used for dyeing black or grey, as well as for tanning
leather. It resembles also, in many respects, Stigmaria.

Victoria regia, Lindl. Still water in tropical America, east of the Andes.
Fruit (MrG. Lawson). The orbicular leaves of the plant are 6 to 63 teet
in diameter, leaf stalks 18 feet long, and flowers 14 to 16 inches in dia-
meter. The seeds are called Water Maize in South America, and are
eaten.

Natural Order—Ne.oumpiace2.
4 Water-Bean Family.

Aquatic plants havinga remarkably large top-shaped receptacle, in the
hollows of which the nuts or fruits ea haif-buried. PThe jade are eatable.
The receptacle resembles in appearance the rose of a watering-pan.

Nelumbium speciosum, Willd. Sacred Water-Bean of Egypt, or the Sacred
Indian Lotus. Egypt and India. Receptacle with nuts immersed in it; also
nuts separate (E. I. Company). A kind of Arrowroot prepared from the
Rhizome in China (Mr;Fortune). The flower is the Lotus represented on
Egyptian and Indian monuments. The fruit is supposed to have constituted
the Cyamus or Pythagorean bean. The edible nuts are saidto be sowngby
being enveloped in clay and thrown into the river, so as to sink in the

P

86 PROCEEDINGS OF

mud. Hence, it is said, the origin of the proverb, “ Cast thy bread upon the
waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.”—Eccles, x1., 1. Sacred neck-
laces made from the nuts are sold at Benares. The rhizome is also used for
food in China.

Natural Order—SarracENIACE&.
Water- Pitcher or Side-Saddle Flower Family.

Plants growing in boggy ground in America and remarkable for their
pitcher-like leaves, which contain a fluid secretion in which insects are
usually found in large quantities. There are inverted hairs on the inner
surface of the pitcher, which allow the entrance of the insects, but prevent
their egress. At the top of the pitcher there is an elongated lid-like

ortion.
. Darlingtonia californica Torrey. California, head-waters of the Sacramento.
Portion of Pitcher laid open, showing peculiar transparent dots from thin-
ning of the tissue (Mr Murray).

Sarracenia purpurea, Mich. Purple Side-saddle flower. North America.
Pitcher or Ascidium.

Sarracenia flava, L. Yellow side-saddle flower. North America. Pitcher
(Messrs Veitch).

Natural Order—CepHaLorace.

Cephalotus Family.
Plants found in the marshes of King George’s Sound, New Holland,
remarkable for their hollow pitcher-like leaves.
Cephalotus follicularis, Labil. New Holland. Pitcher-like leaf (Messrs
Veitch).
Natural Order—PAapavERACEX.
Poppy Family.

The plants of this order possess narcotic qualities in a marked degree.
Some of them have also acid properties. The juice is frequently white asin
the Poppy, at other times it is coloured, being orange in the Celandine, and
red in Blood-root or Puccoon of Canada. The seeds are oily, and usually
have no narcotic qualities.

Papaver somniferum, L. White or Opium Poppy, supposed to be a native
of Asia and Egypt, but cultivated in many warm en temperate climates.
Capsules, commonly called Poppy heads. Opium prepared from the capsules,
Morphine and narcotine prepared from opium. Seeds of the Opium Poppy,
yielding a bland oil (T. C. Archer, Esq.) Poppy-oil cake is madé from
the seeds, and used for feeding cattle. In India the capsules are sliced by
means of a little instrument like a saw, made of 3 iron plates, with ragged
edges, tied together. Hooker states that 6,500,000 lbs. are annually bought
up for manufacture, and as a source of revenue, by the East India Company.
It has been calculated that 20,000,000 Ibs. of opium are annually consumed
by mankind, representing a value of £20,000,000.

Natural Order—Crucirer2& or BRAssicacEx.
Cruciferous or Cabbage Family.

The plants of this order have four petals arranged in the form of a cross
and six stamens, four of which are long and two short. They are generally
distributed, but abound in cold and temperate regions, especially in Europe.
There are no poisonous pa in this order, which contains many esculent
culinary vegetables and plants yielding oileake. Antiscorbutic qualities
occur. Some are pungent and a few are acrid. The plants contain much
nitrogen and sulphur in their composition, and hence give out during decay
very fetid gases.

Anastatica hierochuntina, 1.., Rose of Jericho. Deserts of Syria and Egypt.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 87

Annual stem and branches rolled up like a ball in the dry state (Mr Keddie).
When the dried ball is exposed to moisture it opens and spreads out the
branches.

Brassica Rapa, L., Common Turnip. Egypt. Peculiar black Turnip cul-
tivated near Edinburgh, and said to stand the winter well (Mr R. Gird-
wood).

Tati indigotica._Shanghae Indigo plant. China. Dye (R. Fortune,
Esq.) Itis the Tein-ching of the Chinese, and is extensively used in dye-
ing the cotton cloth produced in a district near Shanghae.

Isatis tinctoria, L., Woad. Europe. Seed vessels and seeds. Plant used
for dyeing blue.

Megacarpea polyandra, Benth. Roogee. East Indies. Winged seeds,
from an elevation of 12,008 feet in Kumaon (Colonel Madden).

Sinapis alba. White or Essex Mustard. Europe. Seeds. The seeds
contain a fixed oil, with a principle called sinapin, which gives rise to the
formation of an acid substance when mixed with water.

Sinapis glauca, Roxb. East Indies. Seeds (E. I. Company). Used for
yielding oil.

Sinapis nigra, L. Black Mustard or Cambridge Brown Mustard. Europe.
The seeds are dark coloured and supply the best table Mustard. They con-
tained a fixed oil, besides Myronic acid and Myrosine. The two latter on
the addition of water combine and form a pungent oil, on which the phy-
siological action of Mustard depends.

Sinapis rugosa, Roxb. East Indies. Seeds (E. I. Company).

Natural Order—Capraripace2z.
Caper Family.

The plants of this order have pungent, stimulant, and antiscorbutic
qualities.

Capparis spinosa, L. Caper-plant. Flower buds preserved in vinegar,
constituting capers. Other species appear also to furnish capers ;
C. , Sib. in Greece, C. Fontanesii, DC. in Barbary, and C.
egyptiaca Sieb. in Egypt. The last named plant is supposed to be the Hys-
sop of Scripture.

Natural Order—Resepacez.
Mignonette Family.

This order possesses few properties of importance. The Mignonette, Re-
seda odorata, is prized for its fragrance.

Reseda Luteola, L. Yellow-weed or weld. Europe. Plant used to fur-
nish a yellow dye.

Natural Order—Fiacovurtiacez or Brxacez.

Arnotto Family.

Some of the plants of this order are bitter and astringent; others yield
dyes and edible fruits.

Biza Orellana, L. Arnotto plant. South America. Fruit (Mrs Dr
Smith). Seeds and cake made from the pulp around the seeds. The angu-

_ lar seeds are covered with an orange-red pulp, which constitutes Arnotto or

Annotto, and is used for a red dye, and for staining cheese, as well as in the
manufacture of chocolate. In 1853 upwards of 4590 cwt. of Arnotto were im-
ported into Britain.

Kiggelaria africana, Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr C. Watson).

Natural Order—Cistacez.
Cistus, or Rock-Rose Family.

The plants of this order are generally resinous and balsamic.
Cistus creticus, L. Crete and Syria. Ladanum or Labdanum, the stimu-

88 PROCEEDINGS OF

lant resin procured from it. This resinous matter is also procured from
Cistus ladaniferus, L., and Cistus Ledon, Lam. Some suppose that Ladanum
is the Myrrh mentioned in Genesis under the Hebrew name of Lot.

Cochlospermum Gossypium, DC. East Indies. Seed vessel (Dr Christison.)
The plant yields Gum Kuteera.

Natural Order—VioLacex,
The Violet Family.

The Violets and Pansies belong to this order. They have irregular
flowers. Some tropical plants of the order have regular flowers. The roots
of many of them are emetic, and contain a principle called Violin, similar to
emetine.

Tonidium parviflorum, Vent. Cuchunchully. South America. Roots.
Emetic and purgative. The roots of I. microphyllum, H. B., have similar
qualities.

Viola odorata, L., Sweet Violet. Europe. Roots used as emetics and
purgatives. Petals used to give a blue colour to syrup, and as a test for acids
and alkalies.

Natural Order—PoryGaLacex.
Milk-wort Family.

The plants of this order are generally bitter and acid, and their roots yield
a milky juice.

Polygala Senega, L., Seneka root, or Snake root. North America. Root
used as an emetic, cathartic, and to promote the flow of saliva. It contains
an acrid principle called Polygaline or Senegine.

Natural Order—KRraMERIACEX.
Rhatany Family.

The plants of this order have astringent qualities.

Krameria triandra, R. P, Rhatany plant. Peru. Rhatany root is an
astringent. It yields a blood red infusion, which has been used to adulterate
Port wine. Itis mixed with charcoal in tooth powder.

Natural Order—TamanricacEe#,
Tamarisk Family.

The plants of this order have an astringent and slightly bitter and tonic
bark. Those growing near the sea abound in the salts of soda.

Tamarix orientalis, Forsk. Persia. Wood and bark (James Cunning-
ham, Esy).

Natural Order—CaryorHYLLACE&.

Clovewort and hickweed Family.

The plants of this order have scarcely any marked properties. Some say
that the principle called Saponine found in some of the plants is poisonous.
Some of the plants have showy flowers.

Dianthus Caryophyllus, L. Clove Pink, Clove Gilly Flower, or July Flower.
Europe. Flowers used as a syrup.

Saponaria officinalis, L., Soapwort. Europe. Root and herb. The plants
form with water a lather like soap, and are used as a substitute for it.

Natural Order—Matvace.
The Mallow Family.

The plants of this order have mucilaginous and demulcent qualities. They
supply various kinds of fibres.

Abelmoschus esculentus, Medic., or Hibiscus esculentus, L., Ochro plant.
Tropical America and India. Fruit or pods (Dr M‘Nab). The green pods
or seed vessels, called ochro, okra, or gombo are mucilaginous and are used
for thickening soups.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 89

Althea officinalis, L., Marsh Mallow. Europe. Dried flowers and leaves
supply mucilage, and are used as a demulcent. } :

Althea rosea, Cav., the Hollyhock. South of Europe. Spike of dried
flowers and fruit, showing a peculiar fasciated stem (Mr D. P. Maclagan).
Mucilaginous qualities. Leaves dye blue. Fibres from the stem, and paper
made from them (Mr J. Niven, Keir).

Gossypium.—V arious species of this genus supply the cotton of commerce,
which consists of the hairs attached to the seeds. There are probably four
distinct species of plants furnishing the cotton of commerce—1. Gossypium her-
baceum, L., the common Cotton plant of India, a variety of which supplies
the Chinese or Nankin cotton. 2. G. arboreum, L., the Tree Cotton of India,
with red flowers, and a fine silky cotton. 3. G. barbadense, L., Barbadoes
cotton, called in India Bourbon Cotton. This supplies the highly esteemed
sea island cotton, also the Georgian and New Orleans cotton. 4. G. peru-
vianum, Cay., or G. acuminatum, Roxb., which supplies the Pernambuco or
Brazil cotton; it has black seeds, which hang together in a kidney-shaped
mass. There are nearly eight millions of hundred-weights ofraw cotton con-
sumed in the manufactories of this country.

Gossypium herbaceum, L. Pods containing seeds and cotton (Mr
M‘Nab and others).

Gossypium barbadense, L. Pods.

From Messrs Hussey, Graham, and others, Glasgow :—

1. Sea Island Cotton. 8. Peruvian Cotton
2. Stained Sea Island Cotton 9. Pernambuco Cotton
3. Georgian Cotton 10. Egyptian Cotton

4. Mobile Cotton 11, Surat Cotton
5. New Orleans Cotton 12. Bowed Georgian Cotton
6. Maranham Cotton 12. Georgian Cotton, cleaned with a
7. Madras Cotton circular saw
Also specimens of Cotton in various stages of manufacture :—

1. Raw Cotton | 5. Drawn Cotton

2. Machine Cotton | 6. Stobb rove Cotton

8. Cotton once carded 7, Finished rove Cotton

4. Cotton twice carded 18. Cotton Yarn

From the East India Company the following specimens have been received :—

1. Nankin Cotton (Gossypium barba-| 5. Bourbon Cotton (Gossypium barba-

dense var.) dense)
2. Cotton Red, Palamcottah 6. Hybrid var. of Sea Island Cotton,
3. Cotton called Cupas, Gwalior terri- Shapoore

tory 7. Sumatra Cotton
4. Landum Cotton, Salem ~ | 8. Opium Cotton

9. Burmese Cotton (G. herbaceum)

Australian Cotton (T. C. Archer, Esq.)
Zante Cotton (Miss White).
West India Cotton (Mrs Sawers).
Fine Cotton Yarn (Mr Hussey).
Mr Murray, of Manchester, states in Hooker’s Kew Guide that the com-
parative fineness of the Yarn is estimated by the number of hanks in a pound
avoirdupois, and that a hank is 840 yards in length.
A pound of No. 100 is 84,000 yards in length.
Do. No. 300 is 252,000 yards in length.
Do. No 600 is 504,000 yards in length—286 miles.
Cotton Seeds—used for supplying oil and oileake.
Hibiscus cannalinus, L. t Indies. Fibres. A kind of Sun-Hemp.
Malva sylvestris, L. Common mallow. Plant used as a demulcent.
Thespesia populnea, Corr. E.and W. Indies. Seed kernels and seeds (E.
I. Company.) The fibres of the plant are used as cordage.

Q

90 PROCEEDINGS OF

Natural Order—Srercvuniace®.
Silk-Cotton- Tree Family,

This order includes tropical trees of the old and new world, having large
handsome flowers, and possessing mucilaginous and demulcent properties.

Adansonia digitata, L., the Baobab-tree, Monkey-bread or Ethiopian Sour
Gourd. Tropical Africa. Fruit (Dr. Greville, Mrs and Misses Yule,
Dr. Dumbreck). This tree is one of the most remarkable known, some trunks
being 30 feet in diameter, while the height rarely exceeds 80 feet. The fruit
yields an acid pulp, which is mixed with water and used asa drink. The
leaves, when dried, furnish the substance called Lalo, employed in Africa as
an astringent.

Bombax Ceiba, L., Silk Cotton tree. British Guiana. Cotton in seed
vessel surrounding seeds. The Silk Cotton is used for stuffing cushions, and
in the manufacture of hats. Silk Cotton from Bolivia (Dr. Mathie
Hamilton).

Bombazx pentaphyllum, Cav. Simool or Semul. East Indies, Gum (E.
I. Company).

Bombax pentandrum, L., Cotton tree of India. East Indies. Capsule and
Cotton with seeds (Dr. Christison).

Durio zibethinus, L. Durion or Durian tree. Malay Islands. Fruit.
This fruit is said to be delicious, although it has a civetelike odour. At first
the perfume is very disagreeable, but by degrees the fruit is highly
relished.

Helicteres Isora, L., Screw tree. East Indies. Fruit, which has a screw-
like appearance in consequence of the twining of the follicles (E. I.
Company).

Ochroma Lagopus, Sw. E.and W. Indies. Silk Cotton, and pods containing
it (Dr. Cleghorn ; Mr Crichton, Barbadoes). This cotton is used for making
hats. Nest of one of the Humming birds formed by means of it.

Sterculia fetida, L. East Indies. Fruit formed by 5 follicles (Dr. Cleg-
horn). Single follicle of Sterculia open.

Natural Order—Byrrnerracez.
Chocolate Family.

The plants of this order have mucilaginous properties in general.

Pterospermum glabrescens, W. & A. East Indies. Flowers and fruit (E.
I. Company, and Dr. Greville).

Theobroma Cacao, I.., the Cacao tree. South America. Fruits and seeds.
The fruit is large, and contains several seeds immersed in pulp. From the
seeds called Cacao beans, the substances denominated Cocoa and Chocolate
are prepared. The former consists of the seeds with their outer crustaceous
shell or husk reduced to powder; while the latter is prepared from the seed
after the shell has been removed. Chocolate is made into a paste, and
mixed with vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and annotta.

Mr Law has sent the following preparations :—

1. Raw cacao or cacao from Trinidad }|5. Soluble cocoa
2. Roasted cacao 6. Rock Trinidad or navy cocoa
3. Cacao nibs, broken up shells of the|7. Fry’s chocolate _
seeds 8. Chocolat de Santé in cake.
4, Ground cacao

Natural Order—Tinicex.
Lime or Linden Family.

The plants of this order possess mucilaginous qualities. Many of them
yield timber, fibres, and edible fruits.

Corchorus capsularis, L. East Indies. Fibres (M. Connal, Esq.) These
fibres constitute the Jute or Jute Hemp of India, used for ene
canvas or Guernsey cloth, of which Rice bags are made. The fibre is use
in making paper.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 91

Tilia europea, L. Linden or Lime tree. Europe. Wood, bast, and
matting. This is prepared from the endophlceum or inner bark of the tree,
and is imported in large quantities from Russia. The wood is used for wains-
coating and carving, and for the manufacture of gunpowder charcoal. The
flowers are antispasmodic or sedative. Pulp of Tilia fibre for making paper
(Chevalier Claussen).

Natural Order—DirrerocarPACce& OR DIPTERACEZ.

Malay Camphor Family.

The plants of this order are trees found in the Indian Islands, yielding a
resinous balsamic juice, which assumes various forms.

Dryobalanops Camphora or aromatica, Gertn. Borneo or Sumatra Cam-
phor tree. Camphor oil of Borneo. This tree is 100 to 130 feet in height,
and 7 to 10 feet in diameter at its base. In the interior of its trunk there
are large cavities containing, it may be, five gallons of liquid or more.
Camphor is deposited in crystals on the walls. This is the hard camphor of
Sumatra, which is sometimes found in the trunk in pieces weighing 10 to
12 lbs.

Shorea robusta, Gert. East Indies. Resin called Dhoona or Dammar
pitch (E. I. Company). It is used for incense. Wood known under the
name of Sal.

Vateria indica, L. Malabar or Ceylon. Resin called Piney resin or
Piney-Dammar (E.1.Company). It is used as varnish, and for making
candles, The resin is sometimes made into beads resembling amber. When
rubbed it is electric.

Natural Order—TeErnsTR@MIACZ.
Tea Family.

The plants of this order have stimulating and slightly narcotic qualities.
It is an order of great importance as furnishing a beverage to millions of
mankind.

Camellia japonica, L. Common Camellia. Fruit.

Thea is the genus which includes the species and varieties of tea. There
are three species in extensive cultivation. Thea viridis, L.; Thea Bohea,
L., and assamica, respectively called green, black, and assam Tea
plants. Fortune states that green and black tea are prepared from the same
plant, and that from each of the species both these kinds of tea may be pre-
pared. Thea viridis is the species which supplies the tea sent from China to
Britain. The difference in the appearance and quality of teas depends partly
on the climate and species, but chiefly on the time of gathering, and on the
mode of manufacture. The young leaves quickly dried and subjected to a
particular kind of manipulation supply the green tea, while the older leaves
dried more slowly, and after undergoing a process of fermentation, consti-
tute the black tea. The importation of tea into Great Britain amounts to 70
millions of lbs. Teais scented by means of various plants.

The following are some of the plants indicated by Fortune :—
1. Rose scented (Tsing moi-qui-hwa) ; 6. Olea fragrans (Kwei-hwa)
2. Plum, double (Moi-hwa) 7. Orange (Chang-hwa)
3. Jasminum Sambac (Mo-le-hwa) 8. Gardenia florida (Pak-sema-hwa)
4, Jasminum paniculatum (Sieu- | 9. Chloranthus inconspicuus (Chu-

hing-hwa) lan) is also said by some to be
5. Aglaia odorata (Lan-hwa, or Yu- used.
chu-lan)

Samples of various kinds of Teas, presented by Michael Connal, Esq.,
Glasgow :—

Black Teas—W oping, alone and mixed with low Congou; Chincha, a coarse
tea, consisting of a mixture of leaves, seed vessels, &c. ; Spurious Souchong,
formerly imported from Singapore; Canton Bohea, East India Company’s

92 PROCEEDINGS OF

import of Bohea; Congou; Congou from Java; Fine blackish leaf Congo¥
with Pekoe flavour; Souchong; Pouchong (Sincapore); Sonchi Tetsin§
(Ankoi district); Flowery Tetsing (do.) ; Ning-yong (Ankoi); Imperial Ca-
per; Ankoi Tea; Ankoi Caper; Ankoifrom Siam; Campoitea; Fine Oolong,
when grown by the Priests called Oolong Padre; Flowery Pekoe; Java
Pekoe ; Orange Pekoe.

Green Teas—Twankay ; Hyson ; Young Hyson or Pontazan, two kinds, one
having a silvery aspect; Hyson skin or bloom; Imperial Gunpowder ;
Java Gunpowder.

Souchong Tea, in small balls, wrapped in Bamboo paper, and called Lung:
twan (Mr Fortune, Mr Connal).

Tea in large balls, enclosed in the flowering sheaths of Indian corn, to
preserve the aroma (Mr Fortune).

Tea in the form of short twisted sticks, called Lung-seu and Old Man’s
Eyebrows (Mr Fortune and Mr Connal).

Brick Tea, made from old damaged leaves and stalks pressed into moulds,
used in Tibet (Mr Fortune).

Tea leaves and stalks arranged in flat circular masses, 74 inches in’
diameter and an inch in depth, with a depression in the centre about three
inches in diameter (Mr Fortune). *

Extract of tea in large cakes (Mr Fortune).

Extract, in the form of lozenges of various shapes, marked with Chinese
characters, and used to dissolve in the mouth during long journeys (Dr.
Murchison).

Java Jungle Tea (Mr Connal).

Burmese 'I'ea made into balls the.size of an orange (Mr Connal).

Tartar Tea, highly glazed (Mr Connal).

Brazil Tea (Rio Doce); & Sao Paulo Tea or Perola, from Brazil (Mr O. Adam-
son.

Wild Green Tea from Sincapore (Mr Connal).

Hyson Tea made close to Deyrah Dhoon on Himalaya (Mrs J. Drummond).

Assam Bohea, and Assam Souchong (Mr Connal).

Pouchong from Kemaon (Mrs J. Drummond).

Himalayan Black Tea (Dr Thos. Thomson).

Assam Tea Dust (Mr G. Law).

Pekoe of the Hyson, for the Emperor’s use only (Mr Connal).

Lung Ching, Gems of spring tea.

Tea made trom the plants of Thea viridis, in the Edinburgh Botanic
Garden, by Mr Thomas M‘Nab.

Fruit and seeds of the Tea plant from China (Sir John Robison, W. Taylor
Esq., T. C. Archer, Esq.)

Materials used in China for dyeing Tea—Prussian blue, Turmeric, and
Gypsum, received by Mr Fortune at a Tea manufactory in China.

Theine, bitter principle found in Tea, as well as Coffee, and other plants
(Dr. Stenhouse).

Ash of Java Gunpowder Tea, and of Assam Bohea Tea, analysed by Mr

Jones :
Java Gunpowder.

Water, : . ; . 8.86
re aap matter, - 84.68
Ash, . > . ‘ 6.46

100.00

Assam Bohea,

Water, ° . > - 8.70
Organic matter, . - 86.89
Ash, 5 " ‘ . 4.41

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 93

Natural Order—AvRranTIACEZ.
Orange Family.

The plants of this order are familiar to all, as supplying Oranges, Lemons,
&c. The leaves and the rind of the fruit contain a volatile oil, and the pulp
of the fruit is more or less acid. They are handsome trees of India, having
fragrant flowers, and the blade of the leaf articulated to the petiole.

Aigle Marmelos, Corr. East Indies. Fruit, entire and sliced. The ripe
fruit is excellent, but is laxative. The unripe fruit, called Bael, Bela, or
Bengal Quince, sliced (Mrs Col. Spottiswoode); used as a remedy for
diarrhcea and dysentery.

Citrus Aurantium, L. Sweet Orange. West Indies. Fruit, wood, and
seeds. The chief varieties of the Orange are—St Michael’s, Maltese, Blood-
red, Tangerine, and Chinese or Mandarin. Majorca, or Seedless Oranges,
are alsoknown in commerce. The Navel Orange of Pernambuco exhibits at
one end an abortive condition of part of the ovary, and has been named from
its aspect in this particular. The wood in sections (Colonel Yule); walking
sticks made from it.

— Decumana, L. Shaddock. Fruit. The largest of the Orange
tribe.

Citrus Limetia, Risso. Lime. Fruit (Mr Hinshaw), Wood (Colonel
Yule). Pulp acid.

Citrus Limonium, Risso. Lemon fruit. Yields an acid antiscorbutic juice,
and an oil.

Citrus medica, L. Citron fruit. Rind used as preserves. Citron from
China, in which the fruit is divided into numerous separate portions (R.
Fortune, Esq.) called Fingered Citron.

Citrus Paradisi, Macf. Forbidden fruit, and wood. Jamaica.

Citrus vulgaris, Risso. Bitter or Seville Orange; perhaps a variety of
Citrus Aurantium. Fruit. The young fruit called Orangettes or Curacoa
Oranges. Nerolioil procured from the flowers. Rind used for marmalade.

Some Indian botanists are disposed to think that the Citron, Orange,
Lemon, Lime, and their numerous varieties are all derived from one botanical
species, Citrus medica, indigenous, and still found wild on the mountains of
the East Indies. A singular variety, called Bizzaria, has been raised by
hybridizing or cross grafting, in which the same tree produces Oranges,
Lemons, and Citrons, on the same branch, and sometimes combined into one
fruit.

Feronia elephantum, Corr. Wood Apple. East Indies. Fruit. A kind of
gum resembling gum Arabic is produced by the plant.

Natural Order—Gurtirerz or CLUSIACEZ.
Gamboge Family.

The plants of this order yield a yellow gum resin which is acid and pur-
gative. Some bear edible fruits.

Cambogia Gutta, LL. Hebradendron cambogioides of Graham. Gamboge
plant of Ceylon. Gum resin in lump.

_ Garcinia cochinchinensis, Chois. Siam Gamboge plant. Gum resin in
pipe. '

Garcinia Mangostana, L. Mangosteen. Molucaas. Fruit dry and in fluid.
It is one of the finest known fruits. The plant was flowered at Syon House in
1855.

Garcinia pictoria, Roxb. India. Gamboge prepared for it (Dr Hugh
Cleghorn). Fruit, This Gamboge is procured in the Wynaad.

Garcinia purpurea, Roxb. East Indies. Solid oily matter called Kokum
‘butter produced in Seinde (D. C. Bell, Esq.).

Other specimens of fruits of Garcinia, the species unknown.

Mammea americana, l.. Mammee Apple, West Indies. Fruit in liquid.

94 PROCEEDINGS OF

Seeds (Dr G. M‘Nab). Wood and bark. The fruit is esculent, and in
America is called wild Apricot. The plant yields a kind of gum.
Moronobea coccinea, Aubl. West Indies. Gum procured from it called
Hog gum, according to M‘Fadyen (Dr M‘Nab); some say this gum is
the produce of Clusia flava belonging to the same order.
Natural Order—MatruiGiacez,
Malphigia or Barbadoes Cherry Family.

The plants of this order are handsome trees or climbers with sh flowers, |
and often remarkable stems, as regards the arrangement of the wood. Their
properties are astringent.

Banisteria Clausseniana, Juss. South{America. Section of stem showing
prea wood (Dr Gardner). See p. 186 in Balfour's Class Book of

otany.

Banisteria nigrescens, Juss. South America, Section of fasciculated stem
(W. Rashleigh, Esq.)

Banisteria scandens, Juss. South America. Twining stem peculiarly
flattened (W. Rashleigh, Esq.).

Natural Order—EryTHROXxYLACER.
Coca Family.

The plants of this order have stimulating qualities. The bark is tonic-
The wood has a red colour, hence the name of the order.

Erythroxylon Coca, Lam. Coca plant. Pern and Columbia. Leaves
ealled coca; also, alkaline cakes used along with them (Dr Mathie Hamil-
ton). The Coca is used as a masticatory. It stimulates the nervous system,
and when taken in large quantities acts like opium. Dr Hamilton in send-
ing the specimen writes :—

“These leaves are much used by the Indians of Peru; they are chewed
together with a small portion of an alkaline substance called by them
‘Llucta,’ which is made by mixing the ashes of the Cactus and stalks of
Maize, or Indian Corn, with a little boiled potato, so as to form a mass, which
is then formed into cakes such as the one herewith sent.

“The Coqueras, i.e. the people who prepare the Llucta and sell the Coca,
are usually Indians, and give the necessary quantity of Llucta gratuitously along
with the Coca which is not of much use when taken singly. The aid which
an Indian derives from the use of Coea, is according to his belief, very great ;
so much does he count upon it, that he cannot, or will not labour well, nor
undertake any fatiguing work, nor attempt to go on a long journey, without
this fascinating and strengthening substance.

‘It is prepared for immediate use in the following manner :—A portion of
the leaves and a small bit of the ‘ Llucta’ are slightly masticated so as to
form a mass somewhat like a quid of Tobacco, which is deposited in a bag
carried by the Indians, suspended in front, and which contains the Coca in
its natural state, as well as in the above-mentioned state of Peepers
When a few portions have undergone this process and been stored in the hag
or purse, the Indian begins his journey or labour of any sort; putting a qui
of Coca in his mouth; he retains it so long as the taste of the Coca, or a
roughness in the mouth is felt, which roughness is caused by the leaves, and
is much relished by the native Peruvian.”

This plant is called Ipadu by the Indians of the Rio negro. The leaf re-
places Tea in Peru. In the province of Yungas the annual consumption
amounts to 9,600,000 Spanish pounds. (See Weddell’s Journey into the north
of Bolivia and the adjoining parts of Peru.)

Natural Order—AcERACEX,
Maple Family.

The plants of this order are trees with light and useful timber, and havin&
saccharine qualities.
Acer platanoides, L. Winged fruit or Samara.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 95

Acer campestre, L., Common Maple. Europe. Wood.

Acer Pseudo-platanus, L., Common Sycamore or Great Maple. Europe.
Wood, and sections showing the silver grain caused by the medullary rays.
Sycamore Wood from the garden of the Archbishop of York (Mr Baines).
Sycamore stem, with a horse shoe imbedded in its substance. The shoe had
been hung over a branch where it joined the stem, 11 or 12 years before, and
had gradually been covered by the woody layers (Dr John Smith.)

Acer saccharinum, L., Sugar Maple. United States and Canada. Wood
and sugar. Sugar Maple stems from the Alleghany Mountains (Mr M‘Nab).
Sugar prepared from it by tapping the tree in spring. Specimens of the
sugar in a small basket made of American Birch bark.

Natural Order—Sapinpacex&.
Soap-berry Family.

The plants of this order are usually trees or shrubs, some of which yield
edible fruit and seeds. Some are astringent, others poisonous. Many have
saponaceous qualities—hence the name of the order.

4sculus Hippocastanum, L., Horse Chestnut. Europe and Persia. Wood
and seeds. Bark is febrifugal. Seeds contain starch and are saponaceous.-

Cupania or Blighia sapida, Roem, Akee-plant. Tropical Africa. Fruit.
The Akee plant is esculent, and has a remarkable succulent aril. Model of
the fruit in wax (Dr G. M‘Nab).

Nephelium (Euphoria) Litchit,G. Don. The Li-chi plant, China. Fruit
(Miss Neill, T. C. Archer, Esq.). The pulp is edible, and the fruit is used in
China and India. It is also imported into Britain.

Ophiocaryon paradoxum, Schomb. Snake nut tree. British Guiana.
Fruit sent from Demerara (W. H. Campbell, Esq., Charles Murray, Esq.).
The embryo is twisted,and has a marked resemblance to a coiled snake.

Paullinia pinnata, L. South America. Section of stem showing a peculiar
arrangement of the wood (Dr Gardner.) The stem is called fasciculated.
The seeds of another species of this genus, P. sorbilis, yield the Guarana,
which is used as a beverage in the Amazon district.

A me of wood called Bastard Mammee has been sent to the museum by
Mr T. Hay.

Sapindus saponaria, 1..,Soap-berry plant. India. Branch with leaves and
fruit; specimen of fruit separately (Mrs Sawers, Col. Madden) ; also seeds.
The acrid fruit of this and other species forms a lather with water, and is used
assoap; hence its name. The pounded fruit is said to poison fish.

Natural Order—RuizopoLacez&.
Suwarrow or Souari-nut Family.

The plants of this order are large timber trees, some of which yield edible
fruit.

Caryocar butyrosum, Willd. Souari-nut tree, South America, fruit and
seeds (T. C. Archer, Esq.). The seeds are sometimes called Butter-nuts,

They yield a bland oil, and are esteemed the most agreeable of all the
nut kind.

Natural Order—Me.iacez.
Melia Family.

The plants of this order have bitter, astringent, and tonic properties.
Some of them are emetic and purgative.

Canella alba, Mur. Canella bark tree. South America. Bark and seeds
(Dr. G. M‘Nab). Bark used as an aromatic tonic. Some put the plant in a
separate order denominated Canellacezx.

Ekebergia capensis, Spaum-Essenhout. Cape of Good Hope. Wood
(Mr Charles Watson).

_ Melia Azedarach, L., Neem-tree, or Pride of India. East Indies. Wood.
Seeds made into a necklace,

96 PROCEEDINGS OF

Natural Order—CEpDRELACE.
Mahogany Family.

The plants of this order are trees found in Tropical India and America.
Their bark is tonic and febrifugal, and they yield valuable timber.

Cedrela odorata, L., Cuba Cedar. West Indies. Wood. This tree yields
excellent timber.

Cedrela Toona, Roxb., Cedar wood of New South Wales. This plant is
found also in India. Wood. This tree is the Simal-Kun of the Lepchas.

Chloroxylon Swietenia, Dec. Satin-Wood tree. East Indies. Wood
(Dr Cleghorn). The wood is remarkable for its satiny aspect. This plant
yields an oil.

Flindersia australis, R. Br. Australia. Seed vessels (Dr Greville).

Oxleya xanthoxyla, Cumming. Yellow wood. Australia, Seed vessels.

Soymida febrifuga, Juss. Red Wood tree. India. Wood and bark (T.
Hay, Esq.). The bark is febrifugal and astringent.

Swietenia Mahagoni, L., Mahogany tree. America. Wood (Col. Yule
and Mr Brown). Seed vessels in various states, and winged seeds. This
tree grows in dense forests, and forms one of the most lofty and gigantic
tropical trees. This valuable wood is imported chiefly from Honduras, St
Domingo, and Cuba. In 1853, 27,495 tons were imported into Britain.
Single trunks or logs in the Liverpool and London markets often bring from
£300 to £800.

Natural Order—Viracem® or AMPELIDACEZ.
Vine Family.

The Vine is the characteristic plant of this family. The plants of this
order have acid leaves, and a pulpy fruit, more or less acid at first, but pro-
ducing grape-sugar as it ripens.

Vitis vinifera, L., Vine. Europe and India. Fruit of various kinds. Cur-
rants of Zante or Levant Currants in fluid (Miss M‘Nab.) These small
stoneless Grapes, originally from Corinth, constitute the common dried Cur-
rants of the shops. In 1853, 267,265 ewts. were imported,

The Grape-Vine has followed the footsteps of man. Its fruit has been used
for making wine for more than 4000 years. It is said that 300 tons of Grapes
are imported annually into Britain from Sicily, Lisbon, and Hamburgh. Of
Raisins the annual import is 12,000 tons. The Muscatel Raisins are the best.

In the Journal of the Horticultural Society of London the following re-
marks are made regarding the ancient Grapes:—The Vine is indigenous
in Southern Europe, and has extended over the greater part of South-Central
Asia— Vitis indica not being specifically distant. Noah planted the Vine
after the flood. Pliny records sixty kinds of Vines; others are enumerated
by Virgil, Columella, Varro, Macrobius, and others. In some collections of
the present day there are above 300.

The Apiana of Pliny, or Apicea of Cato, is supposed to be a Muscat im-
ported from Greece, The Ambrosiaca is supposed to be a Muscat. The
Grecula is the Corinth stoneless or Currant Grape. The Speliaca, the uva
passa of Spoleto, another stoneless or Currant Grape. The Vincula, Sircula
or Stacula, is the Marzemina of the Venetians. The Dactylites is perhaps
the uva galetta of Modern Italy. The Trifera, the uva di tre volte from
Chio. The Picina, perhaps the uva colore. The Trebalana, the Trebbiano,
yielded a wine celebrated for its excellence by Tasso. Other Roman names
of Grapes are derived from countries, —Biturgica from Bourdeaux, Pharia from
Illyria, Prusina from Broussa in Anatolia, /igios from Aigia near Corinth,
Alexandrina from Alexandria in the Fivas, Aminca (highly prized) from
Aminci near Falerno,

Vitis vulpina, 1.., called Wild Vine in Rhode Island, North America.
Wood, Its fruit is known as Fox Grapes.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. OT

Natural Order—GERANIACE.
Cranesbill Family.

This order embraces the Geraniums and Pelargoniums which are so well-
known to every one; the latter abound in South Africa. The plants of the
order have astringent and aromatic qualities. Some are very resinous.
Many are fragrant, and some have a musky odour.

Erodium gruinum, Willd. Spain and Africa. Seed-vessels with long
beaks.

Geranium maculatum, L., North America, Root called Alum root, used as
a powerful astringent.
Natural Order—Linace#.
Flax Family.

The plants of this order have mucilaginous qualities, and yield valuable
fibres. Some of the plants are purgative and diuretic.

Linum usitatissimum, L., Common Flax. Europe. Flax prepared from it
in various states (Redford Flax factory, Kirkcaldy). Linseed (E. I. Com-
pany). Flax cotton (Mr Hodges, Belfast).

Specimens sent from the Redford Flax Factory :—

1. Specimen of the Flax plant straw as received from the farmers with the
seed vessels attached.

2. Specimen of the green straw with the seed vessels removed, ready for
steeping.

3, Specimen of the straw after being steeped.

4, Specimen of the green straw partially scutched to show the fibres.

5. Specimens of steeped straw partially scutched to show the fibres.

6. Specimen of finished Flax.

7. Specimen of the Flax chaff used for feeding cattle.

8. Linseed.

Paper made from Flax grown on the farm of Braidwood (Mr Maclean).
Linseed oil, Linseed meal, and Linseed cake or oil cake, as prepared from
the seeds. Tow used by surgeons, being the broken Flax fibres detached
during the process of heckling. Flax cotton is prepared by steeping the

fibres in carbonate of soda, and afterwards dipping them in a weak solution
of acid.

Natural Order—Oxauipacrem.
Wood-Sorrel Family.

The plants of this order have generally acid properties, from the presence
of oxalic acid, in the form of binoxalate of Potass, which is called Salt of
Sorrel, The roots of some, as Oxalis crenata are used as food.

Hugonia Mystax, L. East Indies. Circinate thorns of the plant (Dr H.
Cleghorn),

Natural Order—Troraonace®,
Indian Cress Family.

The plants of this order have acid and pungent qualities.
Tropeolum majus, Li. Common Indian Cress or garden Nasturtium,
South America. Unripe fruit, used as a substitute for capers.
R

98 PROCEEDINGS OF

Natural Order—ZyGorHuyLLAce®.

Bean- Caper and Guaiae Family.

The plants of this order have diaphoretic and anthelmintic qualities. They
yield a stimulant resin. The wood is hard and durable.

Guaiacum officinale, L. Guaiae plant. West Indies, _ Wood and Resin
(Dr G. M‘Nab). Resin (Messrs Duncan and Flockhart). The wood receives
the name of Lignum Vite. It is hard and has a greenish-black colour.

Natural Order—Rurace x.
Rue Family,

The plants of this order have a ghee: penetrating odour. They have
antispasmodic, tonic, and febrifugal qualities.

Barosma crenata, Eck. and Zeyh. JB. serratifolia, Willd., and other
species. Buchu or Bucku plants. Cape of Good Hope. Leaves (Messrs
Duncan and Flockhart). They are antispasmodic and diuretic, and have an
overpowering odour.

Correa alba, Andr. Australia. Leaves; used as a substitute for tea.

Galipea officinalis, Hanc. and G- Casparia St. Hil. South America, Bark
called Angostura, Melambo Bark; supposed to be furnished by another
species.

Ruta graveolens, . Rue plant. South of Europe. Herb and unripe
fruits; used as antispasmodics.

Natural Order—XANTHOXYLACEX,

Xanthoxylon Family.

The plants of this order have pungent and aromatic qualities. They
yield a volatile oil, and a bitter principle called xanthopicrine. They are
used as stimulants and tonics.

Xanthoxylon Budrunga, D.C. A kind of prickly ash. East Indies.
sark (E, I. Company). The seeds have an odour of Lemons,

Natural Order—CoriaRiAces.
Coriaria Family.
The plants of this order have astringent and narcotic qualities.

Coriaria myrtifolia, L., South of a Leaves used to adulterate
Senna. They have been employed to stain black.

Natural Order—Smrarusace®.
Quassia Family.

The plants of this order have bitter properties, and they are used as
tonics.

Nima (Picrasma) quassoides. East India. Wood (Colonel Madden) ;
used as a tonic.

Picrena excelsa, or Simaruba excelsa, DC. Bitter wood or Bitter Ash.
West Indies. Wood. This constitutes the Quassia wood and chips of the
shops. It is used asa tonic and occasionally as a substitute for hops. An
infusion of it poisons flies.

Quassia amara, L., The true Quassia plant. Surinam. Wood and Bark
(Dr G. M‘Nab), Fruit. The plant is called Guavito Amargo in Panama.
its wood is now rarely exported, It is bitter and tonic.

Simaruba Cedron. Cedron plant. New Grenada. Large cotyledons.
They are used as a tonic, and contain a bitter principle called Cedrine.

Simaruba amara, Aubl., S. officinalis, DC., Simaruba bark plant. British

(Guiana, Stem and bark. Tonic and astringent. Timber resembles that of
the white pine. :

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 99

SUB-CLASS II. CALYCIFLOR 4.

1. PotypeTaL2 or DrALYPeTaLz.
Natural Order—CeLasTRACEs.
Spindle Tree Family.

The plants of the order are more or less acrid, some yielding oil.

Celastrus scandens, L., Virginian wax work. N. America. Wood and
bark. Emetic and purgative bark.
Wood of a species of Celastrus from the Cape of Good Hope (Mr Wat-
son).

Euonymus atropurpureus, Jacq. North America. Wood.

Euonymus europeus, L., Common Spindle tree. Europe. Wood used for
spindles. Charred wood employed in France for making common gun—

powder; young shoots charred, used in drawing. Fruit, showing scarlet
arillode.

Natural Order—SraprHyLeace x.
Bladder-Nut Family.

The bark of the plants is often bitter, and their seeds oily and acrid.

Staphylea pinnata, L., Bladder-nut tree. Europe. Branch showing the
inflated fruit.

Natural Order—Raamwnacez.
Buckthorn Family.

The properties of this order are generally acrid and purgative. Some ot
the plants are bitter and tonic, others yield edible fruits.

Rhamnus catharticus, L., Buckthorn. Europe. © Wood.

Rhamnus glandulosus, Ait. Madeira. Wood called Sanguinho (Mr J.
M‘Laren).

Rhamnus infectorius, L., South of Europe. Fruit called Persian or yellow
berries, used in calico printing. 2. saxatilis and R. amygdalinus are said
also to yield these berries.

Natural Order—ANACARDIACEZR.
Cashew Nut Family.

The plants of this order abound in a resinous or milky, acrid and poison-
ous juice, which often becomes black in drying. In some cases, however,
the fruit is edible.

Anacardium occidentale, L. Cashew Nut. Eastand West Indies. Fruit
or Nuts separate and attached to the Pear-shaped peduncle called Cashew
Apple (Dr Giibert M‘Nab).° Preserve made from Cashew Apple (Dr
M‘Nab). Gum from the Cashew called Cadjii gum.

Mangifera indica, L., Mango tree. East and West Indies. Fruit (Dr
Christison, Join Shaw, Esq., &c.) This is one of the best tropical fruits.
Fruit grown at Leigh Park, (Mr Scott). Seeds of Mango, East Indies.
(Colonel Mackinnon). Wood.

Pistachia Lentiscus, L., Mastichtree. Mediterranean. Gum Mastich pro-
eured from it. P. atlantica also yields Mastich.

Pistachia vera, L., Pistachio tree. South of Europe. Nuts procured from
it called Pistacia or Pistachio Nuts. ;

Rhus Cotinus, L., Venetian Sumach, Wig tree. Southof Europe. Dried
branches, with hairy flower stalks (Mrs Willoughby); used for dyeing
black.

Rhus glabra, L. North America. Wood and bark. Used for tanning.

Semecarpus Anacardium, L. Marking Nut tree. East Indies. Nuts (E.
I. Company, and Mr W. Macfarlane); used for marking linen.

Spondias lutea, L. West Indies. Wood.

100 PROCEEDINGS OF

Natural Order—Amyripace%.
Myrrh Family.
The plants of this order abound in balsamic resin.
Balsamodendron Myrrha, L., Myrrh tree. Arabia. Gum-resin called
Myrrh.
Natural Order—Lecuminosa, or Fasacem.
Leguminous Family.

Properties of the order various. Some of the plants are nutritious, others
tonic and astringent, others purgative, and some poisonous.

Sub-Order 1.—Parmionacem.
Pulse Section.

Abrus precatorius, L., Crab’s eyes. India, Legumes and seeds. Neck-
lace formed of the latter.

AEschynomene aspera, L. East Indies. Soft pithy stem called Shola; sup-
plies a kind of Rice paper. Hat made from the stems (Dr Hutchinson).

Apios tuberosa, Moench. North America. Tubers used as a substitute for
Potatoes.

Arachis hypogea, L. Ground Nut. Africa. Pods and seeds (Dr Christi-
son). The fruit is buried under ground. The seeds yield food and oil.

Astragalus glycyphyllus,L. Europe. Pods showing the septum formed by
the dorsal suture.

Astragalus verus, Oliv. Smyrna. Tragacanth procured from it.

Butea frondosa, Roxb. Dhak tree, or Pulas. East Indies. Flowers used
for dyeing (E.I. Company). Kino procured from the plant (E.I. Company.)

Cajanus indicus, Spr. Pigeon or Cajan Pea. East and West Indies.
Seeds used as food (T. C. Archer)

Calabar Ordeal Beans, the produce of a leguminous plant (Mr Waddell,
Dr Christison).

Cicer arietinum, L. Chick Pea or Gram. Iydia. Seeds (Dr Christison,
E.1, Company, and T. C. Archer). Gram oil containing oxalic acid (Dr
Owen).

Oolutea arborescens,1. Bladder senna. Europe. Pods showing the in-
flated pericarp. Leaves used to adulterate Senna. Wood.

Crotalaria juncea, L. East Indies. Fibres procured from it, forming Sunn
or Bengal Hemp. Legumes of species of Crotalaria (Dr M‘Nab.)

Cytisus Laburnum. 4. Common Laburnum. §. Europe. Wood; pods
and seeds. Seeds poisonous,

Dalbergia arborea, Heyn. East Indies. Pods and seeds from Calcutta
(Dr Christison).

Dipterix odorata, Willd. Tonka Bean. Guiana. Beans having a fra-
grant odour (T. C. Archer).

Dolichos Catjang, L. East Indies. Pod (Dr Christison), Seeds from
Palamecottah (E.1. Company). é

Dolichos wniflorus, Lam. East Indies. Seeds, from Bellary (E. I.
Company).

Various other pods of species of Dolichos (Miss Yule, &c.)

Ervum Lens, L. Lentils. Europe. Seeds used for food. Egyptian
Lentils (T. C. Archer).

Erythrina latifolia, Schum. Africa. Pods and seeds from Algoa Bay
(Dr Fraser.

Faba vulgaris, L. Common bean. Legume and seeds,

Genista virgata, D.C. Madeira. Wood called Piorno.

Geoffroya, sp.? Wood.

Glycyrrhiza glabra, LL. Liquorice plant. §. Europe. Root and Ex-
tract.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 101

Indigofera tinctoria,L. Indigo plant. East and West Indies. Indigo,
various samples (M. Connal).

Medicago ciliaris, Willd.; WU. intertexta, Willd.; WM. muricata, Ait.; and
MM, orbicularis, Willd. European species of Medick. Curved Legumes.

Mucuna atropurpurea, DC., M. gigantea, DC., M. pruriens, DC.;
species of Cowitch. East Indies. Pods with irritant hairs (Drs Greville and
Christison); another species of Mucuna, allied to monosperna, DC., from
Sierra Leone. ;

Phaseolus multiflorus, Lam. Scarlet Runner. America. Seeds.

Phaseolus vulgaris, L. Kidney beans or Haricots. Pods and seeds.
Seeds and pods of several species of Phaseolus (E. I. Company, &c.).

Pisum sativum, L. Common pea. Pods and seeds.

Pterocarpus Marsupium, Rox. Malabar. Wood and bark (Dr Cleghorn).
Supplies Malabar kino. Solid tincture of kino (Dr J. B. Balfour).

y ane Santalinus, L. fil. East Indies. Wood, called red Sanders
wood, or Sandal wood, from Madras (Dr Cleghorn).

Robinia Pseudacacia, L. Locust tree. North America. Pods and wood
(Mr Fairly).

hie hispida, Moench. Bengal. Seeds (E. I. Company). Used in the sauce
called Soy.

Trigonela Fanum-grecum, 1. Fenugreek. South of Europe. Seeds.

Triptolemea, sp.? 8. America. Rose-wood of commerce.

Ulex europeus, L. Common whin or furze. Europe. Wood.

Vicia sativa, L. Tares. Seeds.

Virgilia capensis, Lam. Keurhout. Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr C.
Watson).

Sub-Order—CzsaLPrniez.

Senna Section.

Baphia nitida, Lodd. Sierra Leone. Wood called Cam-wood, or Bar-
wood (Mr Connal). Yields a red dye for the Bandana handkerchiefs.

Bauhinia candida, Ait. India. Pods from Calcutta (Dr Christison).

Cesalpina braziliensis, L. South America. Wood called Brazil wood, or
Braziletto, used as a dye (Mr Connal, Mr T. Hay).

Cesalpinia coriaria, Willd. South America. Twisted legumes called
Libi-dibi or Divi-Divi; used for tanning (T, C. Archer, Dr Stenhouse).

Cesalpinia echinata, Lam. South America. Wood, called Solid Nicara-
gua wood, or Rio de la Hache wood, used as a dye (Mr Connal).

Cesalpinia Sappan, L. India. Wood called Sappan, Wukkum or Buk-
kum wood; used as a dye (Dr Christison, Mr Connal).

Cassia—various species, yielding Senna, ;
an gpeneio, Collad. Leaves and pods; Port Royal, Jamaica (Dr G,

‘ a is

Cassia Fistula, L. (Cathartocarpus Fistula). India. Legumes and
seeds and wood. (Dr Christison, Miss Yule, Mr Connal). Pulp is
laxative.

Cassia grandis, L. fil. Brazil. Large legume (Dr Gardner).

Castanospermum australe, Cunn. Australian Chestnut. Legumes and
seeds. One of the few esculent seeds of Australia.

Ceratonia Siliqua, L., Algaroba Bean or Carob tree. 8. Europe. Pods
used as food ftir fore, &e (Dr Cornwall). The tree is also called Locust
tree, St. John’s Bread, and Husk tree.

Cercis canadensis, L. N. America. Wood.

Copaifera multijuga, Mart. Brazil. Balsam of Copaiva ; used in inflam-
mation of mucous membranes.

Copaifera pubiflora. Guiana, Wood called Purple Heart or Zapatero, or
Mariwayana.

Gleditschia Triacanthos,L. N. America, Wood. (Mr Henderson).

s

102 PROCEEDINGS OF

Guilandina Bonduc, L. Nicker-tree. East Indies. Pods and seeds
(E. I, Company, Dr Duff, Professor Anderson),

Gymnocladus canadensis, Lam. N. America. Legumes,

Hematoxylon campechianum, L. Logwood tree. &. America, Wood and
extract (Mr Connal, Dr M‘Nab). Used as a dye and astringent.

Hymencea Courbaril, L. South America. Brazilian Copal. Pods called
Locust pods, and resin called anime (Dr Seller, T. C. Archer, Dr G. M‘Nab,
and Miss Yule). Wood is called Locust wood, and is used in ship carpentry ;
the bark, called Simiri bark, is employed as a vermifuge.

Mora excelsa, Benth. British Guiana Wood used in naval architecture
(Mr Campbell, Mr John Gray, Dr Christison).

Poinciana pulcherrima, L. East Indies. Pods, seeds, and wood.

Tamarindus indica, L., Tamarind tree. India. Podsand wood (Dr Christi-
son, Mr T. Hay). Pulp used as a laxative.

Sub- Order 3—Mimosex.
Gum Arabic Section.

Acacia arabica, L., and other species. Arabia, India, and Africa. Gum
Arabic, and Gum Senegal. Bark under the name of Babul bark used for
tanning (Mr Connal); pods (Dr Christison); wood (Mr Cunningham).

Acacia Catechu, Willd. East Indies. Extract call East Indian cutch
(Mr Connal); used as an astringent, and in tanning.

Acacia eburnea, Willd. Branch, with long, ivory-like spines.

Acacia horrida, Willd. Doornboom. Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr
C. Watson).

Acacia Lebbeck, Willd. Egypt. Wood.

Acacia lophantha, Willd. Australia. Pods.

Acacia melanoxylon, R. Br., and Acacia mollissima, Willd. Australia.
Bark imported under the name of Mimosa bark. Astringent. ;

Adenanthera pavonina, L, India, Pods and seeds; the latter in the
form of necklaces.

Entada gigalobium, DC. West Indies. Large pods and seeds (Miss
Yule, Mr Blackie).

Entada Pursactha, DC. India. Large pods and seeds (Dr Cleghorn).

Mimosa abstergens, Roxb. East Indies. Pods. -Fibrous bark imported
from Manilla under the name of Gogo or Gogoo (T. C. Archer). Hairy
pods of a species of Mimosa from South America (Mrs Dr Smith),

Vachellia Farnesiana, W. and A, East and West Indies. Legumes (T.
C, Archer).

Natural Order—MorinGace&.
Moringa Family.

The plants of this order have usually stimulant and pungent qualities.

Moringa pterygosperma, Gert., Horse Radish Tree. India and South
America. Seed vessels and winged seeds called Ben-nuts. The root is used
as Horse radish, and the seeds yield Ben-oil. Fruit of a species of Moringa
from the East Indies (E. 1, Company).

Natural Order—Rosacez,
Rose Family.

The Bark and Root of many of the plants are astringent. Some yield
prussic acid. Many supply edible fruit,

Sub-order Amygdalee or Drupifere.
Stone: Fruit Rosaces.

Amygdalus communis, L. var., dulcis, sweet Almond; var amara, bitter
Almond. §. Europe. Fruit and seeds or kernels, Amygdaline, a nitro-
genous product of the bitter Almond, Almond oil.

Cerasus Avium, Moen. var., common Cherry. Europe. Fruit, Cerasine,
a kind of gum procured from the tree. Wood.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 103

Cerasus Laurocerasus, Bosc. Cherry Laurel, Levant. Wood.

Cerasus serotina, Loesl, Black Cherry. Bark used as a bitter astringent.

Prunus Armeniaca, L., Apricot. Wood,

Prunus communis, Huds, var. domestica. Common Plum. Europe, Fruit.
Double plum, Wood (Miss Jackson, Kingston).

Prunus lusitanica, L. 8. Europe. Portugal Laurel. Wood.

Prunus Padus, L., Bird Cherry. Europe. Wood. Peculiar pod-like fruit,
produced in place of Drupes (Dr Wyville Thomson).

Prunus spinosa, L., Sloe. Europe. Wood (Messrs Lawson).

Sub-order Rosee.

Brayera anthelmintica, Kunth. Kousso. Abyssinia. Plant used as a
vermifuge (Dr Douglas Maclagan).

Geum. Specimen of the fruit showing geniculate styles.

Quillaia saponaria, Poir. South America. Bark used as soap, and
called Quillai or Calliguaja bark.

Rosa. Fruit of various species of Rosa. . moschata, Ait. India,
Genuine attar of Roses, prepared from it in northern India (Dr J. B.
Fleming).

Rubus ideus, L., Raspberry. Black Fruited Raspberry from America
(Mr W. T. Thomson).

Sub- order—Pomrez.

Apple and Pear Section.

Cotoneaster affinis, Lindl. India. Fruit.

Crategus coccinea, L. N. America. Fruit.

Crataegus Oxyacantha, L.,Common Hawthorn. Europe. Wood. Section
of Graft, showing union between C. tanacetifolia and C. Oxyacantha as the
stock. Section of a large thorn called Queen Mary’s thorn, which grew at
Loch Leven Castle (Sir Graham Montgomery, Bart.) Section of a similar
thorn from the neighbourhood of Duddingston, and from Jardine Hall (Sir
W. Jardine, Bart.)

Eriobotrya japonica, Lindl. China. Loquat. Fruit.

Mespilus germanica, L. Medlar. Europe. Fruit.

Pyrus Aucuparia, Gaertn. Mountain Ash. Europe. Wood.

Pyrus communis, L. Common Pear. Europe. Several varieties of Fruit.
Wood, A variety showing the production of leaves from the upper part of
the fruit.

Pyrus domestica, Sm. Service tree. Europe. Wood.

Pyrus Malus, . Common Apple. Europe. Common Crab fruit, Siberian
Crab, &c. Wood.

Pyrus pinnatifida, Ehr. Europe. Wood.

Pyrus prunifolia, Willd. Siberia. Wood.

Natural Order—Lyrurace2x.

Loosestrife Family.

Astringency is met with in many plants of the order. Some of them
furnish dyes.

Lawsonia imermis, L. Henna plant. Egypt. Wood and bark. Plant
used in the East for dyeing the finger nails.

Natural Order.—RuizorHoracez.

Mangrove Family.

Plants are usually astringent, and are used for tanning and dyeing black.
Rhizophora Mangle, L., Mangrove tree. W. Indies. Wood and Bark.

104 PROCEEDINGS OF

Natural Order—Compretaces.
Myrobalan Family.

Astringency prevails in the order. Some yield timber.

Terminalia angustifolia, Jacq., a kind of Myrobalans. E. Indies, Fruit.
(East India Co.)

greene ia belerica, Rox. Myrobalans. East Indies. Fruit. Seeds
eaten.

Terminalia Chelula, Roxb, Myrobalans. India, Fruit in a ripe and an
an unripe state (Dr Christison, Mr T. C. Archer), used for dyeing.

Terminalia tomentosa, W.& A. East Indies. Gum (East India Co.).

Natural Order—Myrracex.
Myrtle Family.
__The plants of this order are generally aromatic, and yield a pungent vola-
tile oil, Some supply edible fruits, others yield spices.
_ Caryophyllus aromaticus, L. Clove plant. Malay Islands, but cultivated
in Tropics generally. Flower buds dry and in fluid, constituting cloves
(East India Company, J. Rose, Esq., Penang).

Eucalyptus dumosa. Australia. Lurp, a saccharine matter formed on it
by a Coccus,

Eucalyptus pulverulenta, Sims. Australia. Wood (Wentworth).

Eucalyptus robusta, Sm. Australia. Red gum procured from it in
Western Australia (Dr Bower).

Other species of Eucalyptus exhibiting leaves and flowers.

Lugenia Pimenta, DC, Allspice. West Indies. Fruit, as well as
branch and leaves (Mr Daw, Mr W. Macfarlane). The fruit has the flavour
of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It is also called Pimento and Jamaica
pepper.

Stem of a Pimento tree from the West Indies, having the interior filled
with the hive of a bee (Sir W. Jardine).

Melaleuca minor, Sm. Cajeput oil plant. Malacca. Stem with foliated
bark ; oil used as an antispasmodic. Fruit of various species of Melaleuca.

Metrosideros sp.? Australia. Fruit attached to branch.

Psidium pomiferum, L., Apple-shaped Guava, East Indies. Fruit.

; Psidium Cattleyanum, Sabine. A kind of Guava. South America.
Fruit.
Punica Granatum, L. Pomegranate. South of Europe, Fruit

Natural Order—LrcyrnmacEe2,
Monkey-pot Family.

Many of the plants yield edible seeds. The seed vessels resemble pots
with lids, and hence their name. The seed-vessels are also used to entrap
monkeys. 1

Bertholletia excelsa, H. B. South America. Seed vessels and seeds called
Brazil, Castanha or Para nuts. Oil used in the Amazon district.

Couratari legalis, Mart. South America, Seed vessel in the form of a
small narrow pot (Dr G. Gardner).

Lecythis grandiflora, Aubl. South America, Large capsules with seeds
(Dr Traill, Dr Gardner),

Lecythis minor? Jacq. South America. Capsule imported for tanning.
(T. C. Archer).

Lecythis Zabucajo, Aubl. South America. Capsule and seed, which are
called Zabucaio or Sapucaia nuts.

The seed vessels of several other unknown species of Lecythis.

Natural Order—BarrinGTontace.e.
Barringtonia Family.
Some of the plants have a bitter and tonic bark.
Barringtonia acutangula, Gert. India. Seeds (East India Company).

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 105

Barringtonia speciosa, L. India. Flowers and fruit.
Natural Order—Ha oraGEAcEz.
Water-Chestnut Family.

Some of the plants yield edible seeds.

Trapa bicornis, L. India. Fruit having the shape of a bull’s head. It
is used as food.

Trapa bispinosa, Roxb. India. Fruit eaten in India.

Trapa natans, L. Water Chestnut, Marron d’ Eau. South Europe. Fruit
used as food (Mr Greliche).

Natural Order—CucurpiracEz.
Gourd Family.

The plants of this order in general possess acridity. The fruit of many
is edible when cultivated. The seeds are usually harmless, and yield an oil.
Citrullus Colocynthis, Schrad. Coloquintida or Bitter Apple. Turkey
7 Mogadore. Fruit and seeds. Pulp of fruit constitutes Colocynth of the
shops.
mcumis Melo, L. Melon. Asia. Fruit from Crimean seeds (Dr White).
Seeds (East India Company).

Cucumis sativus, L. Cucumber. South America. Fruit.

Cucurbita ovifera, L. Vegetable marrow. Fruit.

Cucurbita Pepo, L. Gourd. India. Fruit. Club Gourds of various
forms used as water-vessels (Miss M‘Nab, Dr M‘Nab, Mrs Mackay. These
are often called Calabashes.

Echalium purgams or agreste, Rich. South of Europe. Squirting Cucum-
ber, socalled from discharging its seeds and juice with force through an
opening formed by the separation of the fruit from the stalk. Fruit and
feculence called Elaterium.

Feuillea cordifolia, L. Cacoon antidote seeds. West Indies. Seeds (Dr
Bowerbank).

Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser. Bottle Gourd. Tropics. Fruit (Mr Gourlie,
Dr Douglas Maclagan). Various kinds of vessels made of the Bottle
Gourd. Carib baskets (Mrs Miller). Mate cup made from a small Gonrd
(Dr Gardner).

Luffa egyptiaca, DC. TowelGourd. Africa and West Indies. Fruit
entire, and with the outer skin removed, showing internal network (Dr
Douglas Maclagan). A sort of sponge or flesh brush made from the Gourd
(Mr T. Hay). Other species of Luffa are also in the collection.

Momordica muricata, Willd. East Indies. Stalks (East India Company).

Natural Order—Parayacez.
Papaw Family.

The plants have an acrid milky juice, while the fruit is eatable.

Carica Papaya, L. Papaw. South America. Fruit (Dr Christison, Mr
Connal). The juice of the unripe fruit is used to render meat tender.
Natural Order—Pancriacex.

Pangium Family.

The plants of this order are poisonous,

Gynocardia odorata, Roxb. East Indies. Chaulmougra Seeds and Fruit
(Dr Murchison), used for Leprosy.

Natural Order—PassiIFLORACEX.
Passion-Flower Family.
Astringent and narcotic qualities occur in the order. Many yield edible
fruits.
Passiflora cerulea, L. Blue Passion Flower, South America. Flowering
branch in fluid. Fruit (Capt. Boyle).

106 PROCEEDINGS OF

Passiflora quadrangularis, L. Granadilla. West Indies, Fruit (Dr J.
T. Mackay). ;

Tacsonia mollissima, H. B, South America. Fruit (Professor Syme).

Natural Order—MesempryaNTHEMACEZ or Ficomea,
Fig Marygold Family.

Some of the plants are esculent, others yield soda. Some have edible
fruit.

Lewisia rediviva, Pursh. N. America. Dried roots called Spztlum used
as food by the Indians of North-west America. ; p

Mesembryanthemum Tripolium, L, Africa, Seed-vessel expands in aradiat
ing manner when moisture is applied. The esculent fruits of some Mesem-
bryanthemums are called Hottentot figs.

Natural Order—CactTace.
Cactus Family.

Succulent plants with a sub-acid, esculent fruit.

Cereus grandiflorus, Mill. Night flowering Cereus. West Indies.
Flowers preserved in diluted acetic acid.

Cereus speciosissimus, DC. Mexico. Flowers preserved in liquid.

Opuntia cochenillifera, Mill. Cochineal Cactus. 8. America. Stem dried
with the Cochineal female insects having their cottony covering surrounding
them.

Natural Order—GrossuLARIACEZ.
Gooseberry and Currant Family.

Wholesome plants often yielding edible fruits.
Ribes Grossularia, L. Gooseberry. Europe. Fruit preserved.

Natural Order—CunoniAcex,
Cunonia Family.

Some of the plants have astringent properties
Cunonia capensis, L. Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr C, Watson).

Natural Order—HamaMeELIDACE.
Witch Hazel Family
Hamamelis virginica, L. N. America, Wood.

Natural Order—UmpeLLirerm oR APIACER,
Umbelliferous Family,

Various properties exist inthis order. Some of the plants are esculent,
others poisonous, some yield oils, others fetid gum resins.

Anethum graveolens, LL. Dill. India. Fruit called Dill seed.

Apium involucratum, Roxb. India. Fruit (Dr Christison),

Apium ,maculatum, Loftus. Persia. Beelahar Gum resin (Mr Mather).

Carum Carui,L. Carraway. Europe. Fruit called Carraway seeds.

Conium maculatum, L. Hemlock. Europe, Leaves.

Coriandrum sativum, L. Coriander. Europe and India.. Fruit called Cori-
ander seeds (E. I. Company).

Cuminum Cyminum, L. Cumin. Levant. Fruit called Cumin seeds (E. I.
Company.)
. he Ammoniacum, Don, Persia, Gum resin, called Ammoniac (Mr

ather).

Dorema robustum, Loftus. Persia. Gum resin (Mr Mather).

Ferula sp.? yielding Sagapenum,

Faniculum dulce, D.C. Sweet Fennel. Europe. Fruit (Dr Christison)
called Fennel seeds. :

Feniculum Panmorium, D.C. India, Fruit (Dr Christison).

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 107

Galbanum officinale, Don. Levant. Gum resin.

Narthex Assafetida, Fale. Assafcetida. Persia. Gum resin.

@nanthe crocata, L.Hemlock Dropwort. Europe. Root like parsnip, said
to be-poisonous in some situations.

Opoponax chironum, Roth. South of:Europe. Gum resin, called Opoponax.

Pimpinella Anisum, L. Anise. 8S. Europe, &c. Fruit.

There are also numerous umbelliferous Gum resins from Persia, presented
by Mr Mather, the sources of which are unknown.

Natural Order—Aratiacex, or HEDERACER,
Ivy Family.

The plants have stimulant and tonic qualities.

Aralia papyrifera, Hook. Chinese Rice paper plant. Formosa. Paper
be various drawings on it; the paper is the pith of the plant cut into small
sheets.

Hedera Heliz,. Common Ivy. Section of large stem. Also large stem
encircling a tree by,union of its branches (Mr Scott); the Ivy stem is two
feet in circumference at the base.

Natural Order—Cornacegz,
Cornel Family.

The plants have tonic and febrifugal qualities.
Cornus florida, L, N. America. Wood.
Cornus mascula, L. Europe. White and red Cornel berries (Mr
Jackson),
Cornus sunguinea, 1. Europe. Wood.
Specimens of wood of Cornus, called Dogwood.
urtisia faginea, Thunb. Cape of Good Hope. Wood.

CALYCIFLORZ.

2 GAMopeTALz or MonoperaLez.
Natural Order—LoranTHACEz.
Mistleto Family.
Parasitic plants having generally astringent qualities.
Viscum album, L. Mistleto. Europe. Section to show the mode in which
the Mistleto is attached to the tree on which it grows.
Natural Order—CarriroLiacez.
Honeysuckle Family.

Some of the plants are astringent, others emetic and purgative.

nigra, L. Common Elder. Europe. Pith manufactured into a
cross in Ireland (Miss Rutherfurd).
Natural Order—Cincuonacez.
Peruvian Bark Family.

The plants of the order have tonic, stimulant, febrifugal, emetic, and pur-
gative qualities.

Cephielis Ipecacuanha, Rich. Brazil. Root used as an emetic and
diaphoretic.

Cinchona Calisaya, Wad., and other species. South America. Yield
various kinds of Peruvian bark. Sulphate of Quinine as prepared from Cin-
chona bark.

Coffea arabica, L. Coffee plant. Arabia. Berries, seeds in the husk, and
freed from the husk. Specimen of coffee seeds presented by Mr Connal from
Jamaica, Manilla, Sincapore, Porto Rico, La Guayra, Demerara, St Domingo,

108 PROCEEDINGS OF

Ceylon, Cuba, Maracaiba. Coftee from Aden (E. I. Company). Wood of
Coffee tree. A fine specimen of Caffeine under glass cover (Messrs T. and
H. Smith).

Gardenia armata, Sw. India. Fruit (HB. I. Company).

Gardenia radicans, Thunb. China, Fruit (Fortune). The fruit yields a
yellow dye, used in colouring wood. It is boiled with a small quantity of
glue, and rubbed over the wood, and then oiled over.

Morinda citrifolia, Sooranjee. E. Indies. Roots used as a dye (Mr W.
Graham).

Portlandia grandiflora, L. W. Indies. Seed vessels.

Uncaria Gambir, Roxb. East Indies. Astringent extract called Gambeer
in the form of square and oblong pieces, also in large and small round cakes.
Stem and flowers of plant preserved in liquid.

Natural Order—Ga.iacea or STELLATZ.

Madder Family.

The plants yield valuable dyes.

Rubia cordifolia, L. Munjeet. India. Root used as a dye (East India
Company, Mr W. Graham, Mr Connal).

Rubia tinctorum, L. Madder. South of Europe. Root used as a dye.

Natural Order—VALERIANACEZ.
Valerian Family.
Nardostachys Jatamansi, Dec. India. Root supposed to be the spike-
nard of the ancients (East India Company, and Colonel Madden).
Valeriana officinalis, LL. Europe. Root used as an antispasmodic.

Natural Order—DrirsacacEZz.
Fuller's Teasel Family.
Dipsacus Fullonum, Mill. Europe. Flower heads used for fulling cloth.

At the close of the meeting, the President stated that he had been requested
to convey to Mr Barclay the thanks of the party who enjoyed his generous
hospitality and attention during the trip to Falkland and the Lomond Hills ;
and, in their name, he presented to Mr Barclay a handsomely bound copy of
Harvey's Phycologia Britannica, accompanied by an address contained in a
Silver Botanical Box, and signed by Professor Balfour and seventy botanical
pupils and friends, in acknowledgment of the kind attention they received.

Mr Barclay expressed his acknowledgments to Professor Balfour and his
students for this nnexpected mark of their regard, and stated that it afforded
him great pleasure at all times to do anything in his power to facilitate their
investigations, either in the county with which he was connected, or else-

where.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 109

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY FOR
NOVEMBER 1855.

The Society met on Thursday, 8th November, 1855, Professor Balfour,
President, in the chair. ’ ,

Donations were announced to the Society’s Herbarium and Library, as
follows :—

From Mr John Lowe, rare English plants.

From Mr Hector, fine specimens of Eriocaulon septangulare, and other
Scotch plants. ‘ :

From Professor Balfour, a parcel of Scotch Alpine plants, including up-
wards of 30 specimens of Cystopteris montana, Saxifraga cernua, Draba
rupestris, Gentiana nivalis, &c. i

From the Academy of Science of New Orleans, their Proceedings.

From the Smithsonian institution, their 8th and 9th Annual Reports, and
other publications.

From the Boston Natural History Club, their Transactions. — F

From the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society, their Proceedings.

Mr Sansom’s Paper on Illumination of Diatomacez, from the Author.

M. Alphonse De Candolle’s Geographie Botanique, from the Author,

Mr Dana’s Isothermal Oceanic Chart, illustrating the geographical distri-
bution of marine animals, from the Author.

Professor Balfour stated that the following donations had been made to the
Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Garden, since last
meeting of the Society :—

From Dr M’Vitie, Dress worn by the Natives of the South Sea Islands.

From H. Graham, Esq., specimen of Abies excelsa, showing the
leading shoot of the tree terminated by a peculiar cone supported on an
elongated stalk.

From Messrs. P. Lawson & Son, cones of Picea Pinsapo; specimens of
Californian Wheats; Tussack grass seeds, ripened in the Lewis. f

From Mr John Sadler, specimens of Lichens, from Lochwood Wood
Dumfriesshire, arranged on stones:—Scyphophorus pyxidatus ; Ramalina
fraxinea ; Sticta pulmonaria and Lecidea geographica.

From Mr M‘Nab, cones taken from the Old Larch at Monzie.

From Dr Cornwall, Pods of Ceratonia Siliqua.

From Mrs Mackay, 3, Toll Cross, Edinburgh, a’group of Wax Flowers.

From Dr Cleghorn, Madras, Seeds of Aleurites triloba; Plamunjel, a fun-
gus found growing on the Jack tree, considered an efficacious Cattle medicine ;
Moonshee reed pens (Saccharum fuscum) ; Senna seed, native of Tinnivelly.

From Mr Thomas C, Archer, Cheshire, Chinese mat made of a rush, used
extensively to cover Tea chests; Fibre called Pine apple fibre, and the
leaves from which it is made (Manilla), probably a Bromelia or Billbergia ;
Palmetto plaiting, from E. Indies ; Myrobalans, Terminalia chebula, supposed
to have been gathered ripe; the same, supposed to have been gathered
unripe ; Hickory nuts; Safflower; Gogo or Go Goo, probably the bark of
Mimosa abstergens; Niger seeds, Guizotia oleifera; Capsule of Lecythis
minor, imported for tanning; Kessuree flowers used for dyeing blue (Butea
frondosa) ; Divi divi, Savanilla (Cxsalpinia coriaria ) ; Mandioca Sorarmha ;
Tea seed yielding oil; Pigeon pea (Cajanus); Juglans cinerea; Australian
cotton; Poppy seeds (oil seeds); Exidia aur. Jude from Manilla said to be
used both as food and medicine; Pecan nut ; Litchi; Agar carang (Plocaria
candida) ; Vegetable wax (Coryphacerifera); legumes of Vachelia Farnesiana ;
a fibre from Para called Tecum supposed to be the produce of some Palm
leaf; Myrtle Wax (Myrica cerifera); Sokaria or Demerara nut; Cici or
chick pea (Cicer arietinum); Fruit of Hymenxa Courbaril; Dipteryx
odorata; Egyptian Lentil; Lecythis ollaria; Gingelly or Sesamum seed
(Sesamum orientale); Sassafras nuts; Cotyledons of Nectandra Puchury;

T

110 PROCEEDINGS OF

Ceara Piassava probably from Leopoldina sp.; Para Piassaok, from Attalea
funifera.

From Dr Cleghorn, Madras, Cloth made from Aloe fibre and Tassah
silk mixed; Cloth made of Aloe and silk of two twists; Cloth made from
Aloe (Agave Cantula); Cloth made of Aloe and silk of 4 twists, the latter
made at Aurungabad; Slippers made by a Mochee in the Bazaar from the
cloth of Aloe and silk mixed; sections of Diospyros Ebenaster (Ebony wood),
and Chloroxylon Swietenia (Satin wood),

From Robert Paterson, Esq., portion ofa large fossil coniferous tree found
in asandstone quarry.

From William Thomson Esq., Trinity Grove, Fruit of the black Raspberry,
from N.America; also sections longitudinal and transverse of Cedrus Deodara
and Pinus excelsa.

From Mr Scott, Leigh Park, fruit of the Mango (Mangifera indica); a
cluster of fruits of the Caryota nrens ; branches of Cupressus funebris, Crypto-
meria japonica, and Taxodium sempervirens, each covered with cones ; also
heads of Nelumbium luteum and speciosum, all ripened at Leigh Park.

From Robert Nasmyth Esq., peculiar twisted root of an Ash tree from
Greyfriars Churchyard.

From Mrs Baillie, specimens of Cotton.

From Mr Loney, Fingask Castle, Large Branching Fungus, found grow-
ing at Camperdown in the hollow of an Ash tree (probably a form of Poly-
porus squamosus).

From the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Cone and male flowers of Arau-
caria columnaris (Hook) collected on the Isle of Pines, by Mr Wm. Milne,
H. M. Ship Herald.

From Michael Connal Esq., Cohoon nuts as imported for the preparation of
Oil (Attalea sp.). :

From Mr Moore, Botanic Garden, Chelsea, two cones of Zamia furfuracea.

From Misses Jackson, Kingston, Surrey, white and red berries of Cornus
mascula, produced at Claremont; large fruit of the Black Mulberry, from an
old tree in Hampton Court Gardens ; also, a twin Plum from the same Gar-
dens.

From Sir W. C. Trevelyan, a collection of seeds, consisting of 500 kinds,
arranged in cases.

From Mrs W. Thomson, Trinity Grove, a collection of well executed wax
models of the following fruits, &¢: Achras Sapota (naseberry, sappodilla),Chry-
sophyllum cainito (Star Apple), Persea gratissima (Avocado Pear), Artocar-
pus incisa (bread fruit), Anona squamosa (sweetsop), Anona muricata
(soursop), Solanum melongena (a kind of egg plant), Citrus paradisi (For-
bidden fruit), Tamarindus indica (Tamarind), Eugenia Jambos, or Jambosa
vulgaris (Rose Apple), Musa sapientum (Banana), Capsicum annum (Cay-
enne Pepper), Ficus Carica (Fig), Eugenia fruit, Psidium Cattleyanum (a
kind of Guava), Psidium pomiferum (Guava), Opuntia vulgaris (common
prickly Pear), Lycopersicum esculentum (var, Tomato), Spondias mombin
Hog Plum), Punica granatum (Pomegranate), Mangifera indica (Mango),
Saccharum officinarum (Sugar Cane), Zea Mais (Indian Corn), Abelmoschus
esculentus (Ochro or Okra fruit).

From Dr Hooker, Kew, cone of Altingia Cunninghami.

From Alexander Beattie, Esq., cluster of Hops from Kent.

From Dr Thomas Anderson, H,E.I.C.S., stem of Gnetum from Penang.

From Misses Walker, Drumseugh, two fruits of the Passion Flower, ripened
at Drumpellier.

From Mrs Fortune, Portobello, section of Spartium junceum.

From the Gutta Percha Company, City Road, London, specimens of Gutta
Percha, and a series of articles manufactured from it, including cups, flasks,
tubes, funnels, stethoscopes, ear trumpets, salvers, vases, mouldings, ink-
stand, coverings for telegraph wires, &c.

From Thomas Patton, Esq., Glenalmond, cluster of Cones of the Abies Picea
(Silver Fir).

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 111

From Dr Douglas Maclagan, two specimens of Jack fruit—one measuring
1 foot 4 inches long, and 2 feet 5 inches in circumference; Bananas, large
heads of Celosia cristata, flowering Spadix and Spathe of Coco Nut, warted
stick—all from West Indies.

From Mr V. E. L. Walker, Arno’s Grove, Southgate, fruit of Berberis vul-
garis red and white, Cones and male spikes of Cedrus Lebani, a kind of
Hickory Nut, Corylus with laciniate calyx round the fruit, Crategus pyrifolia
(fruit), Crategus tanacetifolia (fruit), Pyrus syriaca (fruit), fruit of Platanus
occidentalis and fruit of Ligusticum lucidum.

From Mr Ziervogel, fruit ef Podophyllum peltatum, from a garden at
Leyden.

From James Hector, Esq., 57, Inverleith Row, four specimens of Fucoides
from Balruddery Den ; six specimens of Parkia decipiens, Flem. same locality ;
large branched plant, with carbonized stem of doubtful nature, same locality ;
Sphenopteris affinis Hib., Burdie House; curious vegetable structure (Core
of Stigmaria?) Gilmerton ironstone shale.

Mr M‘Nab read the following list of plants presented to the Royal Botanic
Garden during the last three months, amounting in all to 314 species and
varieties

From G. L. Hay, Esq., Campie, Musselburgh, three Nutmeg plants, pro-
duced from seeds brought home in soil.

From John Duncan, Esq., Burnhead, plant of Phytolacea Icosandra.

From Mr Henderson, Wentworth House, several recently introduced
species of Lycopods and Ferns, also a plant of Theobroma bicolor (White
Chocolate.)

From James Blyth, Esq., Isle of Wight, a strong plant of Mangifera indica
(Mango Tree, &c.)

From Robert Marnock, Esq., Regents Park, Chamerops excelsa, &c.

From Messrs Low and Son of the Clapton Nurseries, London, a collection
of rare and interesting plants, including Garcinia Mangostana ( Mangosteen).
Cephalotus follicularis, Artocarpus rigida (a species of bread fruit), Sar-
racenia rubra, &c.

From Messrs Lee, Nurserymen, Hamniersmith, several interesting plants,
including Cereus senilis, Dammara obtusa, &c.

é From Professor B=lfour, several luxuriant tufts of Cistopteris montana, Ben
sUwers.

From the Horticultural Society’s Garden Chiswick, some recently intro-
duced and useful plants, as Centradenia Skinneri, Bambusa glomerata,
Asagrea officinalis, Poterium spinosum, &c.

From Mr Moore, Botanic Garden, Chelsea, a collection of interesting
Ferns and Lycopods.

From the Royal Gardens, Kew, some rare and valuable plants, including
Palms, Theobroma Cacao (Chocolate), Antiaris saccidora (sack tree), Eugenia
dysenterica (Pitanga fruit), Argania Sideroxylon (Argan), also the plant
which yields the Cuba Bast of Commerce, &c.

From James Backhouse and Son, York, several British plants, including
Pseudathyrium flexile, Lastrea abbreviata, &c.
ae Charles James Hope, Esq., plants of Woodsia hyperborea from

eff.

From Mr Thomson, Dalkeith Park, strong bulbs of Amaryllis Aulica.

From Messrs Veitch and Son of the Exeter and Chelsea Nurseries, some
remarkably interesting and rare plants, including Nepenthes ampullacea, N.
levis, Wellingtonia gigantea, Desfontania spinosa, Sonerilla margaritacea, &c.

From Mr Lonie, Fingask Castle, Perthshire, bulb of Sisyrinchium grandi-
florum album.

From Messrs Dickson and Turnbull of the Perth Nurseries, several useful
plants, including the cut leaved Mulberry (Morus alba laciniata), &c.

Fromj Messrs Glendinning of the Chiswick Nurseries, London, some very
useful stove, greenhouse, and hardy plants, including Gesnera Donkelairii,
Curcuma Roscoeana, Campanula primuloides, Conifers, &c.

112 PROCEEDINGS OF

From Mr Scott, Leigh Park, several useful plants, including a grafted
plant of the Alphanzo Mango, also the Sycamore of the Ancients (Sycomorus
antiquorum), and the Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) &c.

From Miss Clarkson, Avenue Road, Regents Park, several interesting
British Ferns, including branching forms of Lastrea dilatata and Blechnum
boreale, also some singular forms of Asplenium lanceolatum.

From N. B. Ward, Esq., Clapham Rise, a luxuriant tuft of Lycopodium
dendroideum.

From Messrs Jackson and Son of the Kingston Nurseries, a rich collection
of interesting and useful plants, including a beautiful branching silver Fern
(Gymnogramma pulchella), Lychnis Sieboldtii, also the recently introduced
Geraniums, Verbenas, Fuchsias, &c.

P From Miss Beever, Coniston, some peculiar forms of Athyrium Filix
emina,

From Dr Knapp, Inverleith Row, a strong plant of Bouvardia longiflora.

From Messrs Weeks and Co., Nurserymen, King’s Road, Chelsea, two
fine plants of Chamzedorea concolor, Rhapis, &c.

From Messrs P. Lawson and Son, of the Golden Acres Nursery, a growing
plant of the Doom Palm of Egypt (Hyphene thebaica.)

From the Cambridge Botanic Garden a collection of interesting plants,
including several species of the genera, Pothos, and Caladium, also some
beautiful Ferns and useful succulents.

From Francis Brent, Esq., Sandgate, Kent, some plants of Polypodium
vulgare, showing a remarkably forked state of the pinne, also plants of
Scolopendrium vulgare showing fructification both on the upper and under
side of the frond.

Mr M‘Nab stated that the following collection of seeds had been presented
to the Royal Botanic Garden during the last three months :—

From C, Garstin, Esq., Darjeeling, a collection of Indian seeds.

From Mr Jeffrey, Botanic Garden, Madras, a collection of Indian seeds, also
cuttings of Euphorbia Cattimundoo.

From Miss Hamilton, Ranelagh, Dublin, a collection of Australian seeds.

From Dr James M. Maclagan, a collection of Indian seeds,

From E, Ravenscroft, Esq., a collection of Indian seeds.

From the Cambridge Botanic Garden, seeds of Hardy Herbaceous plants.

a — Brande, Esq., Chiswick, seeds of Gynerium argenteum (Pampas
grass.

From Messrs P. Lawson and Son, seeds of Dactylis cxespitosa (Tussack
grass.)

From J. H. Archer, Esq., Indian seeds.

From Dr Ferdinand Muller, Melbourne, a collection of Australian seeds.

Mr Murray exhibited a specimen of Phyllium Seythz, which had lived for
many months in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden on a Myrtle. The eggs of
the insect had been sent from Assam to Mrs Major Blackwood, who had sent
some to the Garden. The insect was a male, which underwent several
metamorphoses before acquiring wings, after which it died.

Professor Balfour exhibited the-following specimens :—

Carex irrigua, near Symington Railway Station (Mr Alex. Dickson.)

From Mr Maingay, specimens of Cladophora Brownii (Dillw.), from the
only recorded locality, in a cave about 150 or 200 yards beyond the Black
Castle, Wicklow, exposed to the drip of fresh water and the occasional over-
flow of the tide, as well as from another station nearer the Castle; Parmelia
Borreri, Turn. (in fructification), on a fallen tree in Rossava Demesne, Co
Wicklow; Ceramium acanthonotum, near Ardglass; Lyngbya majuscula,
Wicklow ; Cladophora falcata, Wicklow.

From Mr Hope, forked form of Asplenium viride ; varieties of Cystopteris
fragilis, Wondsia hyperborea, &c., from the neighbourhood of Crieff.

rom Mr Blackhouse, Athyrium Filixfemina var, marina, and Cystopteris
montana from Canlochan.

From Mr G. Mann, Lastrea rigida, Ingleborough ; Lastrea collina, Newm.,
Little Langdale, Westmoreland.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 113

From Mr Nichol, Calicium furfuraceum, near Bonaly, Pentland Hills.

From Mr Eyton, a variety of Polystichum lobatum, Lochindaal, Isle of
Skye.

From Mr Hardy, Penmanshiel, a specimen of Dianthus barbatus, with
the upper leaves united in the form of a tubular involucre, also several plants,
respecting which, he writes as follows :—

“Ranunculus hirsutus occurred in some abundance in a grass field at
Dulow, and in a few instances here—most likely introduced with Clover
seeds. Thymus Acinos is from a field near this place. As 1 have seen it
abundantly elsewhere in the parish, I take it to be a native species. Thlaspi
arvense has occurred abundantly near St Helen’s Church. I have lately
discovered too localities for the Cranberry within reasonable distance.”

From Mr Laing, Saponaria officinalis, near Newburgh.

Mr M‘Nab exhibited specimens of Indian Hemp grown in the Botanic
Garden, from seeds communicated by Mrs Colonel Spottiswoode. The seeds
were smaller than those which had previously been sent to the Garden as
those of Indian Hemp. The plants had a strong resinous odour, and appeared
to be hardier than those of the common Hemp grown in the same circum-
stances. The latter were also much less odoriferous. Sir W. Gibson Craig
had also raised similar plants at Riccarton from Indian seeds,

Mr Lowe exhibited specimens of Anagallis arvensis, showing the conversion
of the petals into green leaves, the other parts of the flower being apparently
perfect.

Mr M‘Nab read a notice from Mr Gorrie of Rosemains, Ford, announcing
that an Ash tree, with a stem four feet in circumference, growing on the
Farm of Turniedykes, Parish of Crichton, had been shivered with lightning
during a thunderstorm which passed over that district in July last.

During the month of October, an Ash tree growing at Balgonie, in Fife-
shire, had also been struck with lightning.

The following papers were read :—

1. On the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain. By C. C. Basinertoy,
M.A.,F.R.S.

The author opposes the view of those botanists who conceive that there is
only one species of Batrachian Ranunculus, and adopts the opinion of Fries,
Koch, Godron, Cosson, ard other continental botanists who divide Ranuncu-
lus aquatilis into several species. After stating the characters upon which
the species ought to be founded, he proceeds to arrange the species in the
section Batrachium into three subsections.

I. Submersed leaves twice or thrice trifurcate with filiform segments
spreading in the form ofa section of a sphere, rarely wanting. Receptacle
hispid. This includes R. trichophyllus, Chois., R. Drouetii, Schultz, R.
heterophyllus, Fries, R. confusus, Godron, R. Baudotii, Godr., R. floribundus.
Bab., R. peltatus, Fries, R. tripartitus DC.

IJ. Submersed leaves not like those of the 1st subsection. Receptacle
hispid. This includes: R. circinatus, Sibth., R. fluitans, Lam.

III. No Submersed leaves. Receptacle not hispid. This includes: R.
cenosus, Gun., and R. hederacens, Linn.

The paper will appear in the Annals of Natural History, and in the
Society’s Transactions.

2. Note on Linaria sepium, Allman. By C. C. Basineron, M.A.,F.R.S. In
this paper the author stated that seeds of L. sepium, sent from Bandon, pro-
duced.—1. The proper L. sepium. 2. Plants closely resembling L. repens.
3. Plants slightly differing between L. repens and L. vulgaris.

Professor Allman remarked that he found some difficulty in allowing the
plant to be a hybrid as represented by Mr Babington, but that from a recent
examination of specimens at Bandon he believed it to be only a variety of
L. repens.

3. On the Influence of Last Winter on Trees and Shrubs at Aberdeen. By
G. Dicxiz, M.D., Professor of Natural History, Queen’s College, Belfast.
I am indebted to Professor Gray of Marischal College for the aceompany

114 PROCEEDINGS OF

ing table of temperatures during the month of February last (1855). The
absolute lowest temperature occurred on the 15th, viz., one degree below
zero; the absolute highest was on the 24th, viz., 41 degrees F. The ther-
mometer had been compared by Mr Glaisher at Greenwich. Temperatures
of 4° and upwards were however observed in districts more inland.

Extract from Meteorological Observations at Aberdeen. February, 1855.

1855. ? At 8.45 || 1855. . At 8.45
s.. Max. ) Min. ae Feb. Max. Min. re
1 36 18 29 15 33 20 28
2 34 Bea ie ay 16 39 a | 9
3 36 25 35 17 23 4 10
4 s9° | 35)C(«d| (8 18 | 31 rh 30
5 39 «| 85 37 19 34 21 26
6 37 31 35 20 39 22 24
7 40 | 31 34 21 34 22 28
8 98 1s) 180 32 22 35 14 17
9 Cs ee | 30 23 34 15 26
10 a3}. 18 27 24 37 20 28
11 Ba. fs Lies 31 25 41 25 27
12 37 23 27 26 35 19 21
3 34 22 28 27 37 14 24
14 33 17 22 28 40 23 35

Mean temperature of February, 26° 8.

The readings (which were taken daily at 8.45 a.m.) refer to the preceding 24
hours.

D. Gray.

Most of the facts respecting the damage occasioned were communicated to me
by Mr Roy, Ferryhill, by Mr Benjamin Reid, of Alford Place Nursery, and by
Mr Cardno; I am also indebted to Mr Aitchison for a general statement of
the effects produced at Huntly Lodge, 40 miles N. W. from Aberdeen ;
both at Aberdeen and Huntly Lodge I had opportunities personally of test-
ing the accuracy of the statements. The following records were made dur-
ing the last week of July :—

At Ferryhill every grafted Rhododendron was killed, the stock generally
safe ; the same sorts not grafted but dependant on their own roots were not
jost, but, although generally killed to the ground, or within a few inches of
it, they are now pushing out afresh.

Hybrids between Rhododendron arboreum, and Rhododendron catawbiense,
twelve years old, and 4 feet in height, are generally all killed to the ground.
A few branches are now pushing buds (July 24, 1855); a cross section
shows their bark and outer layers of wood to be completely dead and disor-
ganized.

At Ferryhill, Rhododendron cinnamomeum seven years old, very fine,
grafted upon Rhododendron ponticum, were all killed; one of the same on
its own roots was safe; the Rhododendron ponticum on which they were
grafted is now pushing shoots.

Kh. robustum and Rh. campanulatum, not grafted, were safe; the same
was generally the ease with Rh. caucassicum, Rh. lepidotum and Rh.
dauricum.

Plants of a hybrid of Rh. arboreum, with another species not stated,
grafted on Rh. ponticum, were all killed, the stock was uninjured; one low
graft protected i the snow was safe.

Rh. robustum and Rh. campanulatum in sheltered places were only
slightly injured; but more generally untouched.

Mr Cardno reports that scarlet hybrid Rhododendrons were killed to the
very ground, but are now pushing buds from below. Old plants of Rhodo-
dendron ponticum were all killed to the ground; young plants covered by
the snow were safe,

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 115

At Huntly Lodge early Scarlet Rhododendrons were almost all killed to
the ground. The influence of last season has proved that Rh. ponticum is
less hardy than Rh. catawbiense and that hybrids of the former with Rh.
catawbiense, or Rh. maximum, are hardier than the pure Rh, ponticum.
The only two of the Sikkim Rhododendrons kept in the open air at Ferryhill,
viz., Rh. glaucum and Rh. ciliatum, were killed down to the point where
the snow covered them. With respect to the almost total destruction of
grafted species, it may be observed that this had no reference to the fact
that they were grafts, but was owing to this, that the stock being of consi-
derable height (a foot or more) they were thus deprived of shelter from the
accumulated snow, for wherever a stock was short the supported graft was
generally safe.

Roses. At Ferryhill, all budded cloth of gold roses were killed—all on
their own roots were killed to the ground, but are now pushing shoots—that
called Souvenir de Malmaison when budded, was completely destroyed, but
not injured when on its own root. Everyone was killed belonging to the
kinds called Tea, Noisette, China, and Bourbon. Both at Huntly Lodge and
at Aberdeen, all the Ayrshire roses were killed to the ground; common Moss
and Cabbage Roses were not hurt.

Conifere.

Pinus Cembra of all ages quite untouched.

P. sylvestris in exposed places lost young shoots.

P. macrophylla—all the young ones killed—one of seven years old also ap-
pears to be killed.

P. Russelliana, killed.

P. insignis. Plants 21 years old killed—young plants in another part of
the nursery not killed.

P. Teocote, killed to the ground.

P. longifolia, killed to the ground, but sending up shoots from below.

P, Sabiniana, not injured.

P. Hartwegii, not injured.

P. austriaca, safe everywhere.

P. Pumilio. At Huntly Lodge—lost the leading shoot.

Abies Douglasii. Of all ages, uninjured.

A. Morinda, 20 years old, all but killed—a few green shoots only (July
23, 1855).

Picea Nordmanniana. Quite safe.

P. nobilis. Of all sizes, uninjured.

P, Pindrow. Five or six years old; safe in a sheltered part of Ferryhill
nursery.

Cedrus Deodara. Slighly injured at Ferryhill. In other places in the
Vicinity of Aberdeen, plants 18 to 20 inches in height were safe on high
ground, but almost all destroyed on low ground, At Huntly Lodge,
Deodars 8-9 feet high were uninjured.

Cedrus Libani (var. argentea) was untouched,

Aracuaria imbricata. At Ferryhill, plants of seven years old were killed
to the ground. Young plants were safe, excepting any branches protruding
above the snow. One tree of this species, 12 or 13 years old, had always
stood unprotected, but was last winter killed to the’ ground, andis now pushing
buds below. Generally speaking, all of this species not protected by snow
were destroyed. At Huntly Lodge the same remark generally applies, es-
eee in low spots; some of those on high ground were injured but not

Taxodium sempervirens. At Ferryhill plants seven years old were killed
to the ground, but are pushing below.

Thuja japonica. Slightly injured,

Cupressus macrocarpa. Six to seven years old, killed In one case the
lower shoots safe.

C. Goveniana. Killed.

116 PROCEDINGS OF

C. funebris. Almost entirely destroyed.*

Fitzroya patagonica. Killed down to part protected by snow, all below
uninjured.

Saxegothea conspicua. Same as the preceding.

Cephalotaxus Fortuni. Nearly three feet high, killed to the ground.

Species of Juniper from E. Indies, Mexico, and N, America, have all
escaped uninjured.

Irish Yew. At Ferryhill, all above the snow were damaged. Mr Cardno
reported that Irish Yews four to five feet in height were killed to six inches
from the ground, the part covered by snow.

: Portugal Laurels, at Aberdeen, were all killed down to the part covered
y snow.

Common Laurel. A good deal injured, but not so much as the Portugal.

Variegated Holly. Six to eight feet high. Were killed to within a few
inches of the ground. J

Ornus europea. At Ferryhill, flowered twice in 1854; the second time
abundantly, up to the middle of November. Plants 30 years old, lost one
year’s wood; had never, so far as known, suffered during any preceding
winter.

Garrya elliptica. At Ferryhill, plants 12 years old had all the main
branches killed to near a foot above the ground. No injury observed during
any previous winter.

Syringa Emodi. Suffered no injury.

The following were also reported at Ferryhill, by Mr Kay :—-

Mitraria coccinea. Killed to the ground, 1 year old.

Calycanthus macrophylla, 1 year old, safe, covered by snow.

Magnolia Thomsoniana, 4 years old, safe, 10 feet high.

Weigelia rosea, 1 year, 18 inches; and1 year old, 48 inches: not injured.

Arbutus Andrachne. Killed to the ground, but pushing from below.

Arbutus procera, 10 years old, 8 feet high, quite hardy.

Veronica Lindleyana, 2 years old, 18 inches high, safe,

Mahonia nepalensis, 1 year, 8 inches, safe, protected by snow.

Neillia myricifolia, 1 year, 16 inches, safe, quite hardy.

Veronica decussata, killed to the ground.

Viburnum magniflorum, safe, protected by the snow.

At Ferryhill, a tree of Acer obtusatum had a large branch ringed five years
ago near its junction with the stem, in order to promote the development of
seed; the desired result was obtained. This ringed branch has ever since
expanded its leaves a month earlier than the rest of the tree. The low tem-
perature of last winter occasioned the death of a considerable number of
shoots, particularly on the ringed branch. Last spring (1855) the leaves of

the ringed branch were two months later than usual in expanding. The
exposed wood at the ringed part is dead to a depth of at least an eighth of an
inch; the two lips of the wound are widely separated; the process of healing
has made little progress,

With respect to the influence of last winter on wild plants, the most con-
spicnous effect is upon Whin and Broom. Of these, it may generally be
stated, that in all exposed places they were killed nearly to the ground.

Small bushy plants of Whin browsed by cattle were uninjured, because
protected by snow. The effects of the low temperature of last winter on
Whin and Broom, were most conspicuous near the coast line, for two reasons.
The plants there attain large size, and the shelter afforded by snow is less.
In the more inland districts, the accumulations of snow are greater and more
permanent, and the plants never attaining very great height, are conse-
quently less likely to suffer from the inclemency of the season, In every
instance examined, where the species in question had been injured above,

* Every Cypress not covered by snow, was killed, as reported by Mr Cardno.

+ At Banchory House, old Laurels were almost entirely destroyed. At Huntly

Lodge, the common Laurel was killed to the part covered by the snow; the Portu-
gal Laurel did not suffer so much.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 117

they were this season pushing vigorous shoots from below. It was remarka-
ble to observe the contrast between them and species of Rosa, and Rubus,
and Salix growing along with them, the latter keing uninjured. Sections of
stems of Whin and Broom killed by the frost were very carefully examined
under the microscope, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any physical
change in their tissues had occurred; no such could be detected; the only
apparent difference between such stems and sections of healthy living ones,
by way of comparison, was this,—viz., brown stains in the vicinity of the
ducts ; such, however, were not always present. We can only account for
the death of certain plants from exposure to low temperatures, by the suppo-
sition that constitutionally they are less fitted to resist cold than others.

Respecting the exotic trees and shrubs reported as either materially injured
or totally destroyed, it would be rash to say that this indicates their inability
to resist low temperatures under any circumstances. In every instance it
was observed that the destruction was greater in low than in high localities,
and this even in the same garden. Thus, at Ferryhill, Rhododendron cinna-
momeum was more injured in shady, sheltered spots than in high and open
situations. At Huntly Lodge, Pinus excelsa was scarcely injured on high
situations, but in places not distant more than a hundred yards, but 20 feet
lower, all the plants were killed; the same remark applied generally to
Araucaria imbricata. The great destruction occasioned at Ferryhill was
attributed by Mr Roy to the fact that there was continued growth till Janu-
ary, and the sudden transition to a lower temperature, occasioned the de-
struction of parts not properly matured. It is probable that the same expla-
nation will account, in some degree, for the greater loss sustained in high
than in low localities; in the latter, especiallyif shaded, maturation of
tissues will be less perfect, and therefore greater risk of injury from cold.
There seems, however, some reason for the belief held by not a few, that the
gravitation of very cold air into low lying spots may be at least one cause of
the difference to which we have alluded.

A report already published respecting the loss sustained in the Belfast
Botanic Garden, may be worthy of notice here, as contrasted with the results
of inquiry at Aberdeen. The comparatively small amount of loss at Belfast
is worthy of notice, but easily accounted for when it is considered that the
site of the garden is high and well drained, and the lowest temperature re-
corded was only 13° F., and therefore 14° F. above that recorded at Aber-
deen on the same day. Still it is worthy of record that in such a favourable
locality as that of the Belfast Garden the temperature just mentioned occa-
sioned the death of the following plants, viz. :— Pinus apulcensis, P.
Russelliana, P. palustris; Abies Brunoniana, A. jezoensis ; Cupressus
elegans, C. mexicana, C. torulosa, C. lusitanica; Fitzroya patagonica;
Saxegothea conspicua; and Erica arborea. It is worthy of notice, however,
that at Beneden, three miles N.E. from the Belfast Botanic Garden, one mile
from the shore, and 450 feet above the level of the sea, the above named trees
have stood uninjured.

‘The experience of past winters has demonstrated that lower temperatures
than that observed at Belfast occasion almost irreparable damage, even to
such plants as the common and Portugal Laurels, the Holly, Irish Yew,
Rhododendrons, certain Roses, such as the Ayrshire, &c.; and even some
indigenous species, such as Whin and Broom, are liable to periodical destruc-
tion of all the part above the soil. Such facts also enable us better to
appreciate that admirable arrangement by which most of our native perennial
species are able to resist the inclemency of the severest season. The
subterranean stock is protected by the snow which accumulates in severe
winters, and the soil in which it is imbedded; the reviving influence of
spring stimulating to the upward development of the subterranean buds, and
the formation of leaves, flowers, and seed.

It appears unnecessary to urge at any length the importance of recording
the influence of different seasons upon exotics as well as on our native species.
Much has been done of late years to increase the number of foreign plants

118 PROCEEDINGS OF

likely to bear free exposure in our climate, and no inconsiderable amount of
capital has been expended with this view. Past experience has shown that
not a few highly ornamental as well as useful trees and shrubs may continue
to thrive for some years in different parts of the United Kingdom, thus giving
promise that they might ultimately prove valuable acquisitions to our
arboretums or our forests. But the experience of last winter has demonstrat-
ed that too sanguine expectations have been formed regarding some, and
that our collections are liable to periodical thinning, occasioned by the influ.
ence of low temperatures on species which are more delicate than had been
supposed. The loss of time, and of capital occasioned by such occurrences,
render these inquries more than mere subjects of interest to the physiologist.

Every garden in the kingdom, whether public or private, pe to be con-
sidered as an experimental establishment; the subjects of experiments are
already provided, viz, the trees and shrubs which have been introduced,
and the varying seasons are the agents whose influence on such we ought to
observe and record. A continued series of such observations would ultimate-
ly lead to valuable results, and we should cease to hear of money vainly ex-
pended, and of valuable soil encumbered by vegetable productions which
must ultimately in most instances succumb under the influence of unusually
severe winters It would not be necessary to keep a continued register of
temperature throughout the whole year, Records kept for a few weeks at the
coldest season, and especially attended to during very cold winters would be
amply sufficient, and doubtless in course of time we should arrive at very
important results. A dealer in exotics ought to be able to recommend in
general such ornamental or useful trees or shrubs as might be expected to
withstand the severest winter in any part of the United Kingdom, instead of
indiscriminately sending out to every locality species reported by the trade
as hardy, to the ultimate disappointment of both seller and buyer, but
especially the latter. Such intimate acquaintance with the constitution of
exotics, is not in every instance at present possessed by cultivators, and we
cannot therefore blame them for disappointments experienced by purchasers
It is the interest, therefore, of all parties to aid in collecting the kind of infor-
mation to which we have been referring, and in our forests, and our gardens,
we cannot fail ultimately to reap important results from the accumulation of
such practical knowledge.

4. Notice of the Flowering of the Victoria regia in the Royal Botanic Ga-
den, Glasgow. By Mr Perer Crarxe, Curator of the Garden.

A Victoria House has been erected in the Royal Botanic Garden
at Glasgow. It measures 40 feet in length by 34 feet in breadth; and is
constructed on the ridge and furrow principle. A tank is formed in the
centre, measuring 22 by 20 feet, which is thus amply sufficient for the full
development of the plant. It is so constructed as to give a depth of 3 feet
of water, gradually becoming more shallow towards the margin, where it is
only 18 inches. Heat is applied by means of four rows of hot water pipes.
A pit is formed in the centre of the tank for the reception of the compost of
charred loam and leaf mould, which is raised upin the form of a conical
mound—about three cart loads were required. The young Victoria was
planted on the summit of this mound on the 12th of May last, having then
no leaves larger than 12 inches across. The temperature of the tank was
maintained at from 83° to 85°, and the plant soon increased in the
size of all its parts. By the end of May the leaves reached a foot-and-
a half in diameter; by the middle of June two feet—after which, in conse-
quence of dull weather, no progress was made during a whole month. By
the end of July the return of clear weather exercised a marked effect on the
health of the plant, and in a week afterwards it had 14 good fresh leaves,
some of which were 3 feet-and-a-half across. By the middle of August the
plant was in great vigour, and some of the leaves increased in diameter at
the rate of 12 or 14 inches in 24hours, On the 22d August the first flower
bud appeared, the largest leaf ea then 4 feet 10 inches across, but some
of the leaves subsequently produced have measured more than 5 feet across,

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 19

On 3ist August, 9 days after the bud’s first appearance, it began to expand,
filling the house with a perfume resembling that of a well-ripened pine-
apple. During the afternoon and night it continued to open, and at ten
o’clock on the following morning began to close again, being quite shut up
an hour afterwards. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, however, it opened again,
and reached its full expansion about half-past-six, when the rosy central
petals became elevated, and the flower thus assumed its most beautiful form
—its diameter was 13 inches. During that evening alone it was inspected
by 2000 visitors. Afterthis period the plant continued to produce flowers
abundantly, but gradually decreased in vegetative vigour. Notwithstanding
its continued health, however, and a constant succession of fine flowers, no
seeds have been produced, probably owing to the pollen being imperfect; in
the specimens examined by Mr Lawson, there were no perfect pollen grains,

5. On the Structure of Victoria regia, Lindl. By Mr Georcr Lawson.

While attending the recent meeting of the British Association at Glasgow, I
was very kindly allowed facilities for examining the Victoria regia, then flower-
ing inthe Glasgow Garden. This plant presents many points of interest to the
vegetable anatomist, which have long been before the public; and although
my observations were necessarily little more than a repetition of some of the
researches of Lindley, Hooker, Planchon, Loescher, Henfrey, and Trecul,
still there are one or two points which appear to have been hitherto imper-
feetly explained, and to these I shall limit my remarks.

The accordance of the Victoria in all its important botanical characters
with other Nymphzacez has been well shown, so much so indeed, that its
place is not now doubted by any one. This similarity also exhibits itself in
the anomalous structure of the stem, which has been shown by Henfrey to
bear a striking resemblance to that of Nuphar, partaking of the same so-
called ‘‘ monocotyledonous” character. In my examinations I have been
much struck with the remarkable manner in which many details of minute
structure exhibited in the tissues of our common Water Lillies are repeated
in the Victoria. We have in all the same paucity of vascular, as compared
with the vast abundance of cellular tissues, and throughout the latter there
are numerous lacunez, many of which are remarkably large, larger than in
any other family of plants with which I am acquainted; and some of these
lacune are furnished with internal stellate hairs so peculiar as to forma
characteristic mark of the family.

It is a well-known fact, that although the stomata (or breathing pores) of
most plants chiefly occur on the under surface of the leaf, it is different with
those leaves whose under surface is closely applied to the soil, or to the surface
of water. In Water Lilies accordingly, the stomata occur on the upper surface
of the leaf only. In the Victoria the massive ribs appear to act as floats, and
prevent the actual contact of a large portion of the under surface of the leaf
with the water, notwithstanding which, however, the plant agrees with other
Nymphzacez in having no stomata on the under surface. We have in this
plant an upturned margin, and both surfaces of this portion of the leaf are
equally exposed to the action of the atmosphere, notwithstanding which, how-
ever, the lower or outer surface of the rim partakes of the same purple hue as
other parts of the lower surface of the leaf, and has no stomata, these being
present only on the green inner surface of the rim.

The stomata are nearly circular, formed of two crescentic cells. They are
minute, measuring only the 1-960th of an inch in diameter, and so closely
placed that one square inch of epidermis will contain 139,843. An ordinary
sized leaf, 4 feet in diameter, with a surface of 1850.08 square inches, will
thus contain upwards of twenty-five millions of stomata (25,720,937.)

The lower surface of the Victoria leaf is somewhat peculiar. It exhibts no
stomata, but is thickly clothed with flexuous hairs, consisting of cylindrical
cells, and arising each from a small round basal cell very distinct both from the
other cells of the hair and those of the epidermis, which latter are filled with
diffused colouring matter, mostly red, but some blue, and a few without colour.
These hairs average about the 1-55th part of an inch in length, by the 1-490th
of an inchin breadth. There are secn scattered over the surface, in addition to

120 PROCEEDINGS OF

the hairs, numerous round cells, precisely similar to those which form the bases
of the hairs ; these apparently indicate non-developed hairs. The arrangement
of these cells (taking together those which from the bases of hairs and those
whose hairs are abortive), is so strikingly similar to the arrangement of
the stomata on the opposite surface of the leaf as to suggest the question
whether these cells are not homologous with the stomata; are in fact the
cells from which stomata would be evolved if they were produced. This idea
is strengthed by the fact that a trace of chlorophyll is seen in these cells
while it is entirely absent in the ordinary epidermal cells, but present in
well-defined globules in the cells of the true stomata. Whatever be the
homological relationship between the hairs and the stomata, there can be no
doubt that the cells to which I have alluded represent undeveloped hairs ;
and, indeed, Dr Lankester has long ago shown the tendency to non-develo
ment of hairs on aquatic plants, such, for example, as in the case of Calli-
triche, where peculiar rosette-shaped cells in the epidermis, represent non-
developed hairs, *

The under surface of the leaf of Victoria, and especially its large ribs, as
well as the petioles and peduncles, are abundantly provided with strong
prickles; these vary much in size. They are more or less of a conical form
and consist of cellular tissue; the central part being formed by large elon-
gated cells, which gradually decrease in breadth towards the outside, where
numerous compressed cells of much smaller size give strength to the prickle
which is soft in the interior; those I examined did not contain spiral
vessels.

It will be observed that there is an appearance of a canal at the termina-
tion of the prickle ; attention has been drawn to this structure as probably an
important one in the economy of the plant, serving for gaseous absorption, or
some other function; but it appears to me to be a simple depression in the
apex of the prickle of no physiological importanee.

If a portion of the leaf of the plant be held between the eye and the light
it will be seen that the thinner parts are perforated with numerous minute
holes ; indeed these are distributed more or less over the whole leaf, except-
ing those parts occupied by the ribs. The nature of these openings, as well
as their purpose in the economy of the plant, have given rise to some specula-
tion. Hooker describes them thus+:—‘ Conspicuously may be seen the
numerous pores or stomata; these are circular, generally margined with red,
and apparently formed of a thin membrane, surrounded by a circle of red
cells ;” and Fitch’s drawing shows a membrane stretched across the pore. This
is only the case, however, in the early condition of the leaf; at maturity, the
thin pellicle disappears, leaving an actual perforation, measuring in the
specimens I examined the 1-84th part of an inch across. The development
of these pores has been carefully described by Planchon,j who has given
them the name of Stomatodes, and subsequently by Tyecul.|| Planchon
believes that they are designed to permit the escape of gases which are
disengaged from the water, and would otherwise collect in the spaces formed
between the ribs and the under-surface of the leaf. It appears to me, how-
ever, that they might with equal propriety be regarded as intended to drain
off the superflous water which, from rain or other sources, might collect upon
the surface of the leaf, whose edges being turned up as a bulwark against the
surface ripple of the water, would prevent its speedy escape otherwise; and
we well know that such a huge mass of cellular tissue shut out from the air
by a covering of water soon dies. But, I believe, neither bypothesis explains
the real nature of the so-called stomatodes. It is desirable to understand
their homology before we speculate on their functions. They have none
other than a fanciful relationship with stomata. In their own structure, they
Leer Serif ya "ToS ets 5 hyd Sie eee

* English Clyclopedia, Nat. Hist., I., 722.

+ Fitch’s IJustrations, (1851).

t Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l’Europe, vi., 249 &e.
|) Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Botanique, 4 ser., I., 145-172.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 121

present no characters in common with stomata, nor are they even connected
with true stomata; on the contrary, there is an absence of stomata around
their margin on the upper surface, the thinning of the tissue at that part
rendering such organs unnecessary.

While the perforations may serve both the purposes indicated above, and
thus afford an example of the modification of a structure to suit the require-
ments of a plant, such as we see every day in the organs of animals and
plants. I believe that they are merely the simplest form of a reduction of
tissues more fully brought out inother plants. We well know the tendency of
phanerogamous plants growing in water to lose the soft tissues of their
leaves; Ranunculus aquatilis is a familiar example wherein the sub-
mersed, as well as some of the floating leaves exhibit only a very
partial development of parenchyma; we also know that this reduction
of parenchyma is not confined to leaves actually submersed, but is par-
ticipated in by those which float upon the surface. Ouvirandra fenes-
tralis is a striking example, the parenchyma being so much reduced
as to give the leaf the appearance of a skeleton leaf. In the Victoria it
appears to me that the perforations indicate the beginning, as it were, of a
reduction of this kind, which if it proceeded far enough would result in a
lattice-work leaf like the Ouvirandra, represented only by the strong ribbed
venation with which the Victoria is furnished. In fact the thinness of the
intercostal parts of the leaf as compared with the ribs, is an equally striking
indication of such a reduction. Viewed from this point of view, these pores
resolve themselves into a form of development with which we are familiar
in other plants, and lose their supposed singularity as a feature of structure
peculiar to the Victoria.

Mr Lawson exhibited specimens illustrating his remarks; also micro-
scopical drawings, showing the various epidermal structures of both surfaces
of the leaf, as well as the stomatodes, lacunz, and stellate cells, prickles,
and the tissues of the petals containing colouring matter, &c.

6. Notice of some of the Contents of the Museum of Economic Botany in the
Edinburgh Botanic Garden. By Professor Batrour. (Continued from page
108.)

Natural Order—Compositx.
Composite Family.

This is a most extensive family, embracing about 10,000 species. The
plants are found in all parts of the world. Their properties are various;
some are inert, others bitter and tonic, others stimulant and aromatic, and
others narcotic.

Sub-order I,—Cicnoracex.
Chicory or Lettuce Section.

Cichorium Intybus, L. Chicory. Europe. Root in various states, raw
and prepared, sliced and roasted, in chips and ground (Mr James Fulton).
Used as a substitute for Coffee.

Lactuca virosa, LL Wild Lettuce. Europe. Inspissated milky juice,
called Lactucarium, or Lettuce Opium. Of this plant the garden Lettuce is
probably a cultivated variety.

Leontodon Taraxacum, . Dandelion. Europe. Inspissated milky juice,
which is used asa diuretic and alterative. Roots sliced, roasted, and ground,
and used as a substitute for Coffee.

Sub-Order I1.—CynarocerHaL%.
Artichoke Section.

Aucklandia Costus, Koosht or Puchak. Cashmere. Root constituting
the Costus of the ancients, used as incense (Dr Christison).

Carthamus tinctorius, L. Safflower. India. Dried flowers, which yield
a pink dye (E.I. Company and Mr Archer).

_ Cynara Scolymus,L. Artichoke. Europe. Head of flowers; the bottoms
or prepared receptacles being used as food.

Tripteris sp.? from Algoa Bay. Fruit (Dr Fraser).

122 PROCEEDINGS OF

Sub-Order III. —Corymbirer2.
Chamomile Section.

Anacyclus Pyrethrum, Cass. Pellitory of Spain. §S. Europe, N. Africa-
Root—used as a masticatory.

Anthemis nobilis, L. Chamomile. Europe. Flowers, used as emetic,
diaphoretic, and for fomentation. Extract bitter and tonic.

Baccharis halimifolia, L. N. America. Wood.

Ceradia furcata, Lindl. West Africa. Stem having a coral-like appear-
ance; yields a resinous matter.

Gnaphalium eximium, L., and other species of Everlasting from the Cape
of Good Hope (Prof. Piazzi Smyth and Mrs Elliotson).
- ae oleifera, D.C. Ramtil. Madras. Seeds, yielding oil (Mr

rcher.

Lychnophora Pinaster, Mart. Brazil. Part of stem, covered with a thick
coating of hairs (Dr G. Gardner).

Madia sativa, Molin, Chili. Oil from the plant (Cal. Hort. Soc.).

Mikania Guaco, H.B. Guaco. S America. Portion of stem (John Mac-
lean, Esq.). Plant used for cure of snake bites

Spilanthes oleracea, L, India. Plant used asa potherb (E.I Company).

Natural Order—LoseLiace®.
Lobelia Family.

The plants of this order have usually an acro-narcotic milky juice.

Lobelia inflata, L. Indian Tobacco, United States, Herb used in
asthma.

Natural Order—Sryracacex,
Storax Family.

Some of the plants are bitter and aromatic, others yield a fragrant resin.

Styrax Benzoin, Dryand. Benzoin tree, Malay Archipelago, Concrete
balsamic exudation called Benzoin.

Natural Order—Vaccin1acez,
Cranberry Family.
on have astiingent properties. The berried fruit is sub-acid and eat-

able

Vaccinium Oxycoceus, L. Cranberry. N. Europe. Fruit.

Vaccinium Myrtillus, L. Bilberry, or Blaeberry. Europe. Pulp prepared
from it for making paper (Chevalier Claussen), Tannate of soda'prepared
from the plants (C. Claussen).

SUB-CLASS COROLLIFLORZE.
I, HyposramMiInex&.

Natural Order—Enicace”.
Heath Family.

Some of the plants are astringent, others yield edible fruits; a few are poi-
sonous.

Arbutus Andrachne, L, 8. Europe. Section of stem.

Arbutus serralifolia. Section of stem.

Arbutus Unedo, L. Strawberry tree. Europe, Fruit and wood.

Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi,Spr. Bearberry. Europe, Leaves—astringent.

Calluna vulgaris, L. Common Heather or Ling. Europe. Pulp pre-
pared from it for paper (C. Claussen),

Clethra arborea, Ait. Madcira. Wood.

Erica arborea, L. Tree Heath, Madeira, Wood,

Kalmia latifolia, L. N. America. Wood.

Rhododendron arboreum, Sm. Tree Rhododendron. Stem.

Rhododendron catawbiense, Mich. N. America. Section of stem.

Rhododendron Dalhousie, Hook. fil. Sikkim. Flowers preserved in fluid
(Mr Laing).

Rhododendron maximum, L., N. America. Wood.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 123

2, Ericorotiz or Epiretau.
Natural Order—EBENACEZ.
Ebony Family.

The trees of the family yield hard and durable timber. Fruit is often
eatable.

Diospyros Ebenaster, Retz. Bastard Ebony of Ceylon. Wood (Dr Cleg-
horn).

yess Ebenus, Retz., Ebony. Africa. Wood (Mr Connal).

Diospyros Melanoxylon, Rox. East Indies, Fruit (Dr Christison).

Diospyros hirsuta, L. fil., Ceylon. Calamander wood (Messrs Kinnear
& Watson).

Diospyros,sp. Iron wood. West Indies (T. Hay, Esq).

Royena villosa, L., Zwartbost. Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr C.
Watson).

Natural Order—AQuIFOLIACE.
Holly Family.

Bitter tonic, astringent and emetic properties exist in the order.

Ilex Aquifolium, L., Common Holly. Europe. Wood, Frit. Fasciated
branch with flowers. Bark tonic, and yields birdlime. Berries cause
vomiting.

Ilex opaca, Ait., North America. Wood.

llex poraguayensis, St. Hil. Mate or Paraguay Tea plant. 8S. America.
Tea prepared from it (Dr Gardner, Mr Macfarlane, Dr Maclagan). _It con-
tains theine. Mate cup and tube used in drinking the infusion.

Tlex Perado, Ait., and varieties. Madeira. Wood.

Prinos glaber, L., N. America. Wood and Bark.

Natural Order—Savroracez.
Sappodilla Family.

The fruit of many of the plants is eatable. The barkis bitter. Some
furnish caoutchouc, others fatty matters.

Achras sapota, L., Sappodilla Plum or Naseberry. W. Indies. Model of
fruit in wax (Mrs W. T. Thomson) Seeds. Section of stem.

Bassia butyracea, Rox. Madhucatree. Yel Pote of the Lepchas. India.
Butter prepared from it (Colonel Madden).

Bassia Parkii,G. Don. Butter tree of Mungo Park. Africa. Shea or
Galam butter prepared from it; and section of stem (Dr Stanger).

Bumelia nigra, Sw. Bully tree. Jamaica. Wood (Mr T. Hay).

Chrysophyllum cainito,L. Star Apple. W. Indies. Fruit modelled in
wax (Mrs W. T. Thomson). Section of wood.

Imbricaria obovata. Wit Peer. Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr C,
Watson,

Isonandra Gutta, Hook, Taban tree. Singapore and Malay Islands.
Gutta Percha procured from it’ in the raw state, and in the form of various
manufactured articles, such as tubes, coating of telegraphic wires, inkstands,
salvers, mouldings, mugs, shoes, surgical instruments, &c., (Gutta Percha
Co., City Road, London).

Mimusops, sp. White Bullet tree. W. Indies. Wood.

Sideroxylon inerm, L. Milkwood. Cape of Good Hope. Wood.

Stderoxylon mastichodendron, Jacq. West Indies. Section of wood.

Sideroxylon meermulana, Low. Madeira. Wood.

Natural Order—Myrsinacex,
Myrsine Family.

Many of the plants are handsome Evergreen Shrubs. Some yield food.

Heberdenia excelsa, Banks. Madeira. Wood.

Embelia robusta, Rox. East Indies. Fruit (E. I. Company).

Myrsine melanophleos, R. Br. Beukenhout. Cape of Good Hope (Mr
Watson).

Natural Order—OLEacex,
Olive Family.

Some of the ee have laxative properties, others are bitter and tonic.
Some supply oil.

124 THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

Fravimus excelsior, L. The Ash. Europe. Wood and bark; the latter
tonic, Section of Ash stem, 5 feet 2 inches in diameter (Sir Wm. Keith
Murray).

Olea capensis, . Cape of Good Hope. Section of stem.

Olea europea, L. Olive tree, §S. Europe and Palestine. Wood from the
mount of Olives (Dr Keith and Dr Bryce).

Olea excelsa, Ait. Pao Branco. Madeira. Wood. ‘

Olea lavrifolia, Lam. Gezerhout. Cape of Good Hope. Wood (Mr C.
Watson).

Ornus rotundifolia, Pers., and O. ewropwa, Pers. Manna trees, Europe.
Manna procured from them.

Natural Order—AscLEPIADACE2.
Milkweed Family.
The plants have acrid, diaphoretic, and emetie properties. Most of them
yield a milky juice.
Asclepias, sp ? India. Fibres made in Madras from it (Dr A. Hunter).
Calotropis procera, R., Br. Kind of Mudar plant. E. Indies. Stem and
bark (Captain Maclagan).
Hemidesmus inilicus, R. Br. India. Roots used as a substitute for sarsa-
parilla (Prof, T. Anderson). Sold in London as root of Smilax aspera.
Stephanotis floribunda, A. Brongn. Fruit ripened at Millbank (Professor
Syme).
Tylophora asthmatica, W. and A. India. Seeds with hairs attached.
Follicles with comose seeds of several other species of Asclepiadacee.
Natural Order—ArocyNacE2,
Dogbane Family.
Many of the plants of this order are poisonous. Bark is often tonic.
Aspidosperma excelsum, Schomb, Paddle wood or Yarroura wood. South
America. Large specimen of the trunk of the tree from Demerara (Dr W.
H. Campbell).
Echites splendens? Seed vessels (Mrs Henderson).
Gonioma Kamassi, E. Mey. Gomassichout. Cape of Good Hope. Wood
(Mr C. Watson).
Nerium antidysentericum, L. E. Indies. Seeds and hairs from Caleutta
(Dr Christison).
Nerium odorum, Soland. India, Section of stem.
Plumieria rubra, L. Red Jasmine tree. 8. America. Section of stem.
Tabernemontana utilis, Arm. Cow-tree. Demerara. Milky juice, used as
a nutritious fluid.
Natural Order—LoGantace®.
Strychnia Family.
Poisonous plants causing tetanic spasms.
Tgnatia amara, L., St Ignatius’ Bean. India-Seeds (Dr Christison).
Strychnos Nux vomica, L. Nux Vomica plant. E. Indies. Fruit and
seeds (Dr Christison, Dr Fraser, E. I. Company). Bark called false Angos-
tura bark. Strychnia prepared from the seeds (Messrs Duncan & Flockhart).
Strychnos potatorum, L. Clearing nut. India. Seeds (Dr Christison),
Natural Order—GenTIANACE®.
Gentian Family
Bitterness prevails in this order. E
Ophelia chirata, Griseb. Chirita or Chirayetta. India. Plant used as a
tonic.
Gentiana lutea, L. Yellow Gentian. Europe. Root used as a tonic.

er

‘*

QK Botanical Society of Edinburgh
I Transactions and proceedings

B564
Ti

Biological
& Medical
Serials ~

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

STORAGE