80 



Natural History i?i London. 



The director, Mr. Frost, in his annual oration, commenced by showing 

 the advantages derivable from the extended sphere of the Society, and its 

 use to the medical officers of the army and navy. He then pointed out 

 the salutary effects that would accrue from the regulations instituted by 

 Sir James M'Grigor, Director-General of the Army Medical Board, rela- 

 tive to their studying botany. 



A notice was read, offering a reward of 25/., or a gold medal of equal 

 value, for an accurate description of the plant yielding the myrrh, and 

 which is merely supposed to be the produce of the ^^myris Kataf. 



April 11. A folio drawing, from Sir A. Johnson, of that curious vegetable 

 production, the Pitcher plant, A'ep^nthes {ne, negative, /)ew^Ao5, grief j sup- 

 posed effects) distillatoria {fig. 43.), 

 from the original drawing) was ex- 

 hibited; and a collection of seeds 

 presented by Mr. Morris, the secre- 

 tary. The Pitcher plant is a native 

 of Ceylon, Amboyna, Madagascar, 

 and various places in Asia and South 

 America. It is so called from the 

 pitcher-like termination of the ra- 

 dical leaves. These leaves and stalks 

 are highly vascular, and the pitchers 

 are so large as to hold two ounces 

 or more of clear water each, which 

 is distilled into them through the 

 stalks. According to Rumphius, the 

 water is the habitation of a small 

 shrimp ; and, if so, the fact is. won- 

 derful. A communication was read 

 on two species of Melaleuca, and a 

 variety of elegant plants exhibited. 



It was announced that on May 9. Mr. Frost, the director, and professor 

 of botany, would deliver a lecture on the genus iaurus and its properties. 



Scientific Institutions. — A new feature in the metropolis is the practice 

 of holding evening parties at the principal literary and scientific institutions, 

 and at some of these ladies may attend. Various objects of interest are 

 displayed throughout the largest apartments, which objects are either 

 named or explained by affixed cards, or, if articles manufactured for sale, 

 by some one interested in them. Frequently, also, some object or topic is 

 explained or discussed scientifically to the surrounding group, and occa- 

 sionally a lecture is delivered to the whole company. Tea and coffee, with 

 other refreshments, are on a side-table. In the course of the two last 

 winters, various meetings of this sort have been held at the Royal, Lon- 

 don, and other Institutions, and at the College of Surgeons, which were 

 numerously attended, and proved highly gratifying to all parties. 



At the London Institution^ on the evening of April the 16th, the conver- 

 sazione contained a considerable portion of the mind of the city of London. 

 The company began to assemble about 7 o'clock ; and entering the library, 

 upwards of fifty different objects in the arts, natural history, antiquities, and 

 literary productions or curiosities, placed on tables, or suspended from the 

 book-cases, attracted their attention. About 8 o'clock the doors of the 

 theatre were thrown open, and, soon after, about 500 persons, perhaps one 

 fifteenth of whom were ladies, heard a discourse by E. W. Brayley, jun., on 

 the circular or quinary arrangement, as existing in the animal kingdom, 

 particularly with respect to birds. Mr. Brayley began by some observ- 

 ations on the difference between a natural and an artificial system in 

 natural history, stating that, in the latter, some particular character of the 

 subjects of classification was selected, to form the basis of an arbitrary 



