238 Miscellaneous. 



Anderson, " near Abbot's Langley." Proceeding by the Birming- 

 ham railroad to the King's Langley station, I first examined the 

 neighbourhood of that village and made some fruitless inquiries. I 

 then proceeded to Abbot's Langley, examining carefully some woods 

 on the way. At length, in passing through the village of Abbot's 

 Langley, I observed the plant growing under a tree on the lawn be- 

 fore a house not far from the church. Having found out the gardener, 

 I learned from him that it is reputed wild in this situation ; that it 

 has never been known to be planted, and comes up yearly, sometimes 

 in one spot, sometimes in another, in considerable abundance ; but he 

 does not believe that it grows in other places in the neighbourhood. 

 He obliged me with several specimens, which I presume are as wild as 

 any found in England, and I have little doubt of this being the very 

 station referred to both by Mr. Hudson and Mr. Geo. Anderson ; 

 though if it be true that the plant is found nowhere else in the sur- 

 rounding country, its being entirely within the enclosure of one gen- 

 tleman's grounds must lead to a suspicion that it has at some time 

 been introduced. 



Believe me to be, dear Sirs, very truly yours, 



William Hincks. 

 Torrington Square, April 20, 1 841 . 



On the Irish localities for Dianthus plumarius. — The Dianthus 

 plumarius has no claim to a place in the Irish Flora, being evidently 

 an outcast from gardens where it has been found; as, for example, 

 at Blackrock, which abounds in gardens, and on the cliffs of Hop 

 Island, immediately over which there is a flower-garden; it was 

 also said to have been found on an old castle near Kinsale, since 

 pulled down. I have searched all these places in vain for the plant. 



The only Dianthus found near Cork is Dianthus deltoides, which 

 occurs very sparingly in a dry hilly pasture near Dunscomb Wood. 

 I met with it in June 1836, and specimens from that locality are in 

 the possession of J. T. Mackay, Esq. — Wm. T. Alexander. 



Naval Hospital, Plymouth, March 11, 1841. 



[The Dianthus plumarius and Caryophyllus have as little claim to 

 a place in the English Flora, for they are scarcely ever naturalized 

 in the stations recorded for them. — Edit.] 



Suicidal powers of Luidia. — " The wonderful power which [the 

 Luidia possesses, not merely of casting away its arms entire, but of 

 breaking them voluntarily into little pieces with great rapidity, ap- 

 proximates it to the Ophiurse. This faculty renders the preservation 

 of a perfect specimen a very diflicult matter. The first time I ever 

 took one of these creatures I succeeded in getting it into the boat 

 entire. Never having seen one before, and quite unconscious of its 

 suicidal powers, I spread it on a rowing-bench, the better to admire 

 its form and colours. On attempting to remove it for preservation, 

 to my horror and disappointment I found only an assemblage of re- 

 jected members. My conservative endeavours were all neutralized 

 by its destructive exertions, and it is now badly represented in my 

 cabinet by an armless disc and a discless arm. Next time I went 



