S8S Natural History in the English Counties.'^ 



Hertfordshire. 



Plants collected by the Rev. S. Palmer of Ckigwell, Essex. The rather 

 uncommon marked with a star(*), the more rare with a cross (f). — 

 Asp^rula odorata, common in a copse near Leverstock Green, Hemel 

 Hempstead. Menyanthes trifoliata, marshes near Two Waters. 'Campa- 

 nula hjbrida, corn fields, Hemel Hempstead ; this is the original of the 

 favourite garden annual, Venus's Looking-Glass. *iyyoscyamus niger, road- 

 side near the Swan, below Two Waters. *iViarclssus Pseudo-iVarclssus 

 grows spontaneously in the meadows near Leverstock Green. *Paris qua- 



drifolia, Hon. Ryder's park, near Hemel Hempstead. fTragopogon 



joorrifolius, edges of fields near Hemel Hempstead. O'rchis bifolia, copses 

 near Hemel Hempstead. *0'phrys muscifera and «pifera,on the chalk bank 



of a field between the Swan and the Hon. Ryder's Park. *0'phrys 



aranifera was found in a copse near a brick-work, on the side of the lane 

 leading from Two Waters to Leverstock Green. — S. P. Sept. 1828. 



Huntingdonshire. 



Plant collected by the Rev. S. Palmer of Chigwelli Essex. — (Stratiotes 

 aloides, ditches near Molesworth. — S. P. Sept. 1828. 



Cambridgeshire. 



The Cambridge Philosophical Society have lately purchased an extensive 

 collection of British birds. The money for the purpose was raised by sub- 

 scription ; and it is highly gratifying to observe that nine tenths of the 

 subscribers are clergymen. 



The wild Cochineal Insect found in the Botanic Garden at Cambndge. — 

 Dr. Gorman discovered, a few weeks ago, the Grona sylvestris, or wild 

 species of the cochineal, living among the leaves of the coffee plants, the 

 acacia, &c., in the botanic garden at Cambridge. This is the kermes, or 

 gronilla of Spain, about which so much has been said ; some endeavouring 

 to identify it with the Grona fina, and others as strenuously denying such 

 identity. 



At all events, this is the same species as the gronilla found on the leaves 

 of the green oaks in the Ronda Marisca, in Andalusia ; and, in some years, 

 large and valuable crops of the gronilla are gathered in that part of Spain 

 by the peasantry, and sold to the Moors to dye their scarlet. 



The gardener at Cambridge could not inform Dr. Gorman how long 

 the insects had been there, or whence they came ; but they went there by 

 the appellation of " Amelca bug." The gardener found these insects very 

 destructive to plants upon which they fastened; and although he tried 

 every means, short of injuring the plants, to remove them, he found it im- 

 possible, as they adhere to the leaves and parts of the stem with such 

 tenacity, and are so prolific, that the young ones are often found spreading 

 themselves over the neighbouring plants. On this account, it would be 

 worth while to attempt the cultivation of the prickly pear in the open air 

 in this country, and place the insects upon them ; for, in all probability, 

 the insects would, by good management, do well. — A Traveller y in the 

 Times, January 26. 1829. 



Plants collected by the Rev. S. Palmer of Chigwell, Essex. — Delphinium 

 Consolida, corn fields on the roads between Loham and Fordham. Cen- 

 tauriea Calcitrapa, near Newmarket. Butomus umbellatus, ditches near 

 Chatteris. — S. P. Sept. 1 828. 



Suffolk. 



Bungay Botanical Society. — This Society was established in April 8. 1826 

 Its rules nave been transmitted to us, and from them we learn that the 



