BOTANY. 321 



leaf. In some plants the lateral branches are disposed pretty equally 

 along the axis, whereas in others a number are gathered together at 

 one point, and the plant becomes in consequence verticillate or 

 whorled. The Professor stated, that wherever the branches are 

 whorled, the leaves of the plant, as in the rhododendron, or the veins 

 of the individual leaf, as in the common sycamore and lady's mantle, 

 are also whorled. When the leaf has a petiole the tree has its trunk 

 unbranched near the base, as in the case of the sycamore, apple, &c.; 

 and when the leaf has no petiole the trunk is branched from the root, 

 as in the common ornamental low shrubs, the bay, laurel, holly, box, 

 &c. Prof. Me Cosh exhibited an instrument for the measurement of 

 the angles at which branches, &c., go off, and in 210 species of plants 

 he found the angles of the branches with the stem and those of the 

 veins with the midrib to coincide. The Professor stated in conclusion, 

 that he believed there was a similar unity running through linear- 

 leaved plants and monocotyledons. If substantiated, these views will 

 give greater exactness to our distinctions of genera and species, and 

 will lend more exactness to our ideas of the physiognomy of plants ; 

 they will at the same time exhibit an unity of design in the skeleton 

 of the plant, similar to that which exists in the animal world, and so 

 subserve the purpose of the natural theologian. 



SLEEP OF PLANTS IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



MR. SEEMANN, the naturalist of Kellett's Arctic expedition, states 

 a curious fact respecting the condition of the vegetable world during 

 the long day of the Arctic summer. Although the sun never sets 

 whilst it lasts, plants make no mistake about the time, when, if it be 

 not night, it ought to be ; but regularly as the evening hours approach, 

 and when a midnight sun is several degrees above the horizon, droop 

 their leaves, and sleep even as they do at sunset in more favored 

 climes. " If man," observes Mr. Secmann, " should ever reach the 

 Pole, and be undecided which way to turn, when his compass has 

 become sluggish, his timepiece out of order, the plants which he may 

 happen to meet will show him the way ; their sleeping leaves tell him 

 that midnight is at hand, and that at that time the sun is standing in 

 the north.'' 



THE POTATO NOT INDIGENOUS TO SOUTH AMERICA. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the New England Cultivator, states that 

 Col. Mure, of Caldwell, county of RenfreAv, Scotland, has raised pota- 

 toes from the germ, obtained from clay thrown up from a depth of 

 forty feet, while digging for water. The clay, it is said, was placed 

 under a glass, and in due time signs of vegetation began to manifest 

 themselves. These were various in character. Among them a few 

 were taken, when strong enough to withstand the process, and trans- 

 planted. One, in particular, presented indications showing it to be a 

 specimen of the solanum tribe. After careful cultivation, it finally 



