who has never seen one. This is no difficult matter, every plant in the world being stamped, as already said, with peculiarities which, if they do not render it unique, serve at least to give it character and physiognomy. All the parts of plants supply these signs and tokens, though some more immediately than others. The Flower and Fruit, as the loveliest and noblest, and the parts to which all the aims and energies of the plant are directed from the first moment, naturally stand foremost. Next in importance comes the Leaves, then the Stem and inferior members, the value of each part, as a witness to identity, gradually diminishing in the degree that it is coarser and less perishable. Everywhere in nature, that which most powerfully characterizes a thing is its most fragile part, and however frequently renewed is, like the sparkle of a diamond, the quickest to come and go.—Grindon's British and Garden Botany.
British Species of Burdock.—In the last number of the Annals of Natural History, Professor Babington has worked up the English species of Arctium, which he considers to be a certainly four, with a doubtful fifth. These are A. majus, intermedium, minus, and the Llanberris plant, which is named A. nemorosum, Lej.; the doubtful one is A. tomentosum, Schkr. It should be observed that these are not all the plants described under the same names in his "Manual," of which A. tomentosum is the present A. majus; A. pubens is A. intermedium; and A. intermedium is A. nemorosum. Bentham includes all these forms under Arctium Lappa.
Tomb of Van Rhede.—Under an imposing monument, at Surat, lie the bones of Van Rhede, formerly chief of the Dutch possessions in Ceylon, and afterwards of the Dutch Factory at Surat. He was an enlightened Protestant, according to the ideas of enlightenment prevalent in the seventeenth century, and really a man of science and learning. His business at Ceylon was hunting Jesuits, and flogging their congregations; his amusement was composing that noble work, the "Hortus Malabaricus," with its magnificent plates, in twelve folio volumes. He died in 1691.
Fern Growing.—I have had Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense growing in an earthenware dish in company with a few common ferns, since the beginning of 1861, covered with a common bell glass. The taller ferns acted as a screen to their dwarfish brother, and to them I attribute my success. I have, however, seen it in great luxuriance at Tunbridge Wells, where it is the custom to place it in vessels by itself, and on a mound. I suppose this latter assists drainage? My roots were found by myself, growing on a huge piece of granite on the Dewer Stone, in Devonshire, the most beautiful spot, by the by, which my eyes have ever rested upon.—William Gibson.
Green Spleenwort (Asplenium viride).—Dr. Hooker has lately received a specimen of this fern from St. John's, New Brunswick, collected on sea-cliffs, Taylor's Island. This discovery is a most interesting one in connection with the glacial migration of Scandinavian plants over the North American continent; the plant being common in the sub-alpine regions of Europe, and also found in the Rock Mountains, but not occurring in Greenland, or in any other part of North America.—Natural History Review.
GEOLOGY.
Bighorn at Belfast.—A few weeks ago, a very beautiful and perfect specimen of the Irish bighorn (Megaceros Hibernica) was found in the marl bed, underlying a stratum of peat. It is a great mistake to suppose that the bighorn is found in the bog or peat; it is always found in the marl below the peat, as in this case. The locality of the bed in question is the small peninsula to the north, as you go down our Lough, called "Island Magee."—J. Hartley, Belfast.
Drift of the East of England.—A very interesting paper on this subject was read by Mr. S. V. Wood, jun., at the meeting of the Geological Society, on Dec. 21st.
Glacier Phenomena.—A very interesting and instructive chapter on this subject appeared in the Reader of the 21st January, tracing the history of opinion thereon, and indicating the changes wrought during a quarter of a century.
Gigantic Fossil Beaver.—At a recent meeting of the Norwich Geological Society, Mr. J. O. Harper read a paper on the comparative anatomy of Rodents, illustrated by numerous specimens, among others several of Trogontherium Cuvieri (a gigantic fossil beaver, found in the forest bed at Bacton, Norfolk), from the Norwich Museum and the Rev. J. Gunn's collection.
Phosphor Stone.—Towards the close of the eighteenth century, in a narrow winding street of the old town of Bologna, a cobbler—Vincenzo Cascariolo by name—might have been found more intent on the pursuit of alchemy than in making or repairing boots. While enjoying a walk one Sunday evening, near the Monte Paterno, not far from the city, he picked up a stone, which, from its great weight, struck him as peculiar, and from which he fancied he could extract gold. This stone was sulphate of Baryta, which Cascariolo, heating in his crucible with charcoal, converted into a sulphuret of Barium, and produced a body well known for its strange property of giving out light after it has been exposed for some time to the sun's rays. Since then, other substances have been discovered endowed with this strange property, and from the most remarkable of them, phosphorus, the name of phosphorescence is derived.
Geological Changes in Scotland.—At a meeting of the Geological Society (Jan. 11th), Mr. T. F. Jameson read a paper on the "History of the last Geological Changes in Scotland," which he divided into three periods,—Pre-glacial, Glacial, and Post-glacial. The absence of later tertiary strata leaves the first somewhat obscure. The author considered it in some degree represented by some thick masses of sand and gravel on the coast of Aberdeenshire, and he stated there were indications of the mammoth inhabiting Scotland at this period. The Glacial period was sub-divided into the period of Land-ice, the period was sub-divided into the period of Land-ice, the period of Depression, and the period of Emergence of the land. To the Post-glacial period Mr. Jameson referred the formation of submarine forest beds, which he considered was succeeded by a second period of Depression, and this again by the elevation of the land to its present position. It is in the old estuary beds and beaches formed during the second period of Depression that the author