the speaker, in taking solar spots on a very large scale, the pictures of the Sun's disk being on a scale of 3 feet for the Sun's diameter. There are certain difficulties in taking those pictures by means of a reflector; but Mr. Cooke has recently undertaken the construction of a 13-inch refractor, which it is intended to apply to solar and lunar photography. On the 9th February, the forty-fifth annual general meeting of the Astronomical Society took place, and the report of the council was read by the President, Warren De la Rue, F.R.S. Before commencing, he announced the gratifying fact that although the medal awarded to Professor Bond, of the United States, did not reach that country till after his lamented death, yet he was some time before his decease made aware of the honour that had been conferred upon him, and of the grounds on which the award had been made. After the usual obituary notices of deceased Fellows, the President gave an account of the proceedings of various observatories, and then touched upon the progress made in different branches of astronomical science during the past year. Among the most remarkable of modern astronomical discoveries, and, until a year ago, certainly among the most unexpected accessions to our knowledge, is that which has come to us latest in the order of discovery. We refer to Mr. Huggins's observations on the spectrum analysis of the light from a comet. The light of the nucleus of Comet I. 1866, as examined under his instrument, gives a spectrum consisting of but one bright line, whereas the spectrum formed by the light from the coma gives a spectrum which is continuous. The inevitable conclusion to be drawn from these observations is opposite to that which our prepossessions would have led us to expect, inasmuch as, consistently with the present state of our physical knowledge, we are forced to conclude that the light of the cometary nucleus examined by Mr. Huggins must have emanated from a gaseous source; whereas, guided partly by other physical considerations, no doubt remains that the coma contains fluid or solid materials. Thus the suspicion of analogy between cometic and nebular matter has received this further confirmation. No doubt difficult observations of this nature require repetition, but the known caution and experience of the observer invite our confidence. III. BOTANY AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. ENGLAND. Mr. Darwin, in an interesting paper "On the Phenomena of Motion and Sensitiveness in Climbing Plants," has shown that the unsupported, outstretched extremity of a hop or convolvulus continues to revolve in circles, ever widening as it grows, and has calculated the rate of revolution, which varies in different plants, increases or decreases with a rise or fall of temperature, is diminished by any disturbance such as jarring or moving the plant from place to place, and varies also with the age and the general health of the plant. Mr. D. also experimented on the sensitiveness of the petioles and internodes of such plants as the clematis, &c., which climb by their leaf-stalks. Some of the experiments were very delicate. "A loop of thread," says Mr. D., "weighing a quarter of a grain, caused the petiole to bend ; a loop weighing gth of a grain sometimes acted, and sometimes not. In one instance, the weight of even theth of a grain, brought into continuous contact with the petiole, caused it to bend through nearly 90°." Young internodes alone are sensible on all sides along their whole length.' An internode, "rubbed six or seven times with a twig, became just perceptibly curved in one hour and fifteen minutes, and subsequently, in three hours, the curvature increased much; the internode became straight again in the course of the night."' In numerous cases, particularly in Solanum Jasminoides, the clasping petioles increase in rigidity and thickness, the fibro-vascular bundles undergoing a change in their arrangement, so that from being originally semi-lunar on the cross-section, they develop into a close ring like that of an exogenous stem. Mr. Darwin thinks that both "leaf-climbers and tendril-bearers were primordially twiners; that is, are the descendants of plants having this power and habit." He regards plants which climb by tendrils as the highest type of climbing plants. 66 The following interesting and curious results were obtained from experiments on tendril-bearers. "A loop of soft thread, weighing and of a grain, placed most gently on the tip" of a tendril (Passiflora gracilis), "thrice plainly caused it to curve, as twice did a bent bit of platinum-wire, weighingth of a grain; but this latter weight did not suffice to cause permanent curvature." After being touched with a twig, the tip of a tendril begins to bend in from 25 to 29 seconds. Transient irritation causes a tendril to coil into an open helix, but it soon straightens itself again, recovering its sensibility. If, however, left in permanent contact with the irritating object, the spiral coil continues. It is a remarkable fact that no curvature of the tendril results from the touch of other tendrils, or the impact of drops of rain, to which they appear to be habituated. Of Cucurbitaceous tendrils, next to Sicyos the most active are those of Echinocystis lobata. The internodes and tendrils of this plant revolve in about 1 hour; the former sweeping a circle or ellipse 2 or 3 inches in diameter, the latter often one of 15 or 16 inches in diameter. If a full-grown cucurbitaceous tendril fails to lay hold of an object, it soon ceases revolving, bends downward, coils up spirally, and ultimately withers and falls off; should it succeed in attaching itself, however, to a support, on the contrary, it thickens, hardens, and gains wonderfully in strength and durability. The contraction of tendrils into a spiral coil renders them highly elastic, and therefore in a gale of wind powerful organs of defence. Mr. Darwin says that the tendrils of Bignonia capreolata avoid the light, crawling into dark holes and crevices after the manner of roots. The tendrils of this plant will clasp a smooth pole, but soon detach themselves and straighten; a rough, fissured, and porous surface alone satisfies them, such as the bark of trees, to which they attach themselves. Ampelopsis quinquefolia, or the Virginia Creeper, also avoids the light, uniformly seeking dark crevices or broad flat surfaces, as a wall, a rock, or the trunk of a tree. The tips of the tendrils, brought into contact with such a surface, swell out, and form in a few days those well-known discs or cushions by which the plant firmly adheres to its support. The learned and accomplished lichenologist, Dr. W. Nylander, has described, during the past year, 23 new species of British lichens; viz., one new species of each of the following genera, Collema, Leptogium, Pyrenidium, Calicium, Lecanora, and Opegrapha, two new species of Pertusaria, five of Lecidea, and twelve of Verrucaria. Some of these lichens are so small, that they certainly required for their detection great nicety of botanical discrimination; as, for example, Verrucaria tristicula, Nyl., which was discovered by Admiral Jones on Moss (Weissia), in Aberdeenshire, and Lecidea contristans, Nyl., discovered by Isaac Carroll, Esq., on decaying Andreæ, on the summit of Ben Lawers. Dr. Nylander has also described a collection of lichens made in New Zealand, in 1861, by Dr. Lindsay, including 26 genera and 117 species. Many of these lichens are common to Britain, Scandinavia, and the United States. We notice in the list seven species of Lecanora and Lecidea, three species of Opegrapha, two species of Sticta and Pertusaria, and one species of Arthonia, Platygrapha and Physcia, for the first time described by Dr. Nylander, and therefore new to science. Among the rarer and more interesting species in the collection, already described by other botanists, are Collema carpium, Tayl., Bæomyces fungoides, Ach., Cladonia and Stictina fragillima, Bab. ཀྐ་་ British flowering plants have been discovered. on old Hedera Canariensis, described by Professor Babington, white-thorn trees, Phoenix Park, near Dublin; "Rosa collina, Jacq., discovered near Plymouth by Mr. T. R. A. Briggs; Eurucastrum Pollichii (Eurucastrum inodorum, Reichen.), collected by Mr. Joshua Clarke, near Saffron Walden, Essex. Mr. F. E. Kitchener sends us a 'First List of Flowering Plants and Ferns found within Four Miles of the Close, Rugby.' Mr. K. publishes the list "incomplete, in the hope that additions will be sent." Botanists will be careful to mention the localities in which the plants are found, and their "earliest and latest dates of flowering." We would suggest to Mr. K., that the next list will be improved by avoiding the typographical errors which occur in this one, and by the substitution of the Botanical for the English names of the Families, as more appropriate and equally intelligible to the practical botanists, for whose use this list is printed. Mr. J. Miers describes † 69 new species of Cissampelos (Menispermacea,) of which 46 belong to America, 11 to Africa, and 12 to Asia. The plants throughout the genus are dioecious, excepting in two or three instances where monoecious flowers occur; in one, the sexes are found in distinct racemes on the same plant, and in another the male and female flowers are on the same raceme (androgynous). Mr. M. denies that Cissus Pareira is the normal type from which these species are derived, and thinks that "nothing in the shape of sustainable evidence has been offered to prove" such a position. But supposing it to be true that all these species have thus originated, "if such modifications be now permanent, each confined within a limited range of distribution, and we can assign to them severally constant and determinable characters, then clearly, according to the rules of science, they ought to be considered distinct and valid species. In determining different kinds of plants, the practical botanist should not be guided by any theory of the distant origin of species, but should regard them in their present forms." There is some force in these remarks of Mr. Miers. Mr. Isaac Seaman, M.R.C.V.S., says that sprouted grain is a superior nutritious cattle-food, and "an excellent substitute for the turnip and green rape of winter, and the different clovers and grasses of summer." Mr. Seaman affirms that, "during the past season, a very large number of lambs have been reared, thousands of sheep fattened, and upwards of twenty different flocks restored to health, by the use of semi-malted grain." That semi-malted grain should be a nutritious cattle-food is not at all unreasonable, and probably owing to the conversion of the starch of the grain into sugar, which, for both plants and animals, is more nutritious than starch, because more readily absorbed into the circulation.‡ * Journal of Botany,' December, 1865. + Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' February, 1866. The herbarium at Kew has recently acquired two very valuable private collections, Dr. Burchell's South African and South American collection, by gift from his sister, and the herbarium of Orchids of the late Dr. Lindley, by purchase. The latter contains upwards of 3,000 species, in perfect condition, fastened upon cartridgepaper and copiously illustrated with dissections and sketches by Dr. Lindley's own hand, and from other sources. An international botanical congress is to be held in London. on the 22nd and 25th of May, 1866. President, M. Alphonse de Candolle. The congress is restricted to two morning meetings. Two conversazioni and a banquet are announced to be held in the Guildhall, and to which the leading foreign visitors are invited as guests. Botanists desirous of reading a paper must forward MS. to Dr. Seeman, 57, Windsor Road, London, N., not later than the 31st of March. The second part of the 'Genera Plantarum,' by Dr. Hooker and G. Bentham, F. L. S., &c., is published. It contains the Leguminosa, Rosacea, Saxifragaceæ, Haloragaceæ, Rhizophoreæ, Combretacea, and Myrtacea. The recent illness of Dr. Hooker has delayed his revision of the Melastomaceæ, which may be expected next summer in the third part of the Genera Plantarum,' and this part will complete the Polypetalous orders and the first volume of 1,000 pages. SWEDEN.-The Academy of Sciences at Stockholm is about to publish a fac-simile of a very interesting relic-a photo-lithographic copy of the first edition of the 'Systema Nature' of Linnæus, a folio of about fourteen leaves. Though very thin, it contains the groundwork of nearly all that the great Naturalist has accomplished. AMERICA.-A catalogue of plants found in Oneida County, New York State, has been recently published by the authorities. This catalogue embraces the whole of the central part of the State of New York, and its author, Mr. John A. Paine, jun., has expended a great deal of labour in its preparation. Eighty-one native plants (species and varieties) are enumerated at the close, which are additions to the Flora and Catalogue of the plants of this State by Dr. Torrey. Twenty-five new plants are enumerated as naturalized. Professor Asa Gray says, "For a public document, this catalogue is well-printed, and as a hasty essay by an unpractised hand, it is creditable to its author, although there are many points which would not bear close criticism." * At a recent meeting of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, it was stated that the native plants of Pennsylvania were being rapidly displaced by the European flora. European * Silliman's Journal,' January, 1866. |