Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 40? 



at Baise, of Pliny at Tusculum, and Laurentum. Mr. Falconer con- 

 siders, that although a taste for gardening evidently prevailed to some 

 extent among the ancients, yet that it never attained to any perfec- 

 tion except among modern nations. Flowers he also believes never 

 constituted a peculiar feature of ancient gardens, and that they were 

 not esteemed as objects of taste by the ancients, who appear to have 

 cultivated them only as decorations to be employed on occasions of 

 public and private rejoicing. 



Mr. James Macaulay then read a paper, the object of which was 

 to prove, that flowers were esteemed by the ancients as objects of 

 taste, and cultivated as a source of amusement. He argued that the 

 very fact of flowers being deemed worthy of being offered to the 

 gods proved a previous taste and value for them ; and gave examples 

 of gardens among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Oriental nations, 

 where amcenitas, and not utilitas alone, must have been the object in 

 the cultivation of flowers. He next alluded to the gardens mentioned 

 in the Latin classics, and contended that the garden of Lucullus, so 

 often referred to, ought not to be regarded as a specimen either of 

 the art or the taste of his time, as it was censured by his own con - 

 temporaries Cicero and Varro, the latter expressly stating " Hortos 

 Luculli non ftoribus fructihusque sed tabulis fuisse insignes." He also 

 showed, on the authority of Horace, Martial, and Pliny, that the citi- 

 zens of Rome used to cultivate plants in the balconies of their houses, 

 and to rear flowers in boxes and in flower- pots, which were called 

 V Horti imaginarii ;" and that it is not likely the rich would do this 

 merely to procure materials for their votive offerings, or to supply 

 the ornaments for their entertainments ; but that a taste for their 

 cultivation as objects of amusement must a]so have prevailed. 



Dr. Graham read the continuation of his observations on the plants 

 collected in Scotland in 1837, by Dr.M'Nab. 



Erythreea lit I or alii. Dr. Graham thinks it doubtful whether there 

 is more than one British species of Erythr&a ; and if the present is to 

 be considered distinct, that its only character would seem to rest on 

 the narrow linear segments of the 5 -partite calyx, equal to the tube 

 of the corolla. — Hab. Brodick, Arran. 



Lathyrus maritimus is apparently the plant of the North of Europe, 

 of Canada, and of the United States as far south as Boston ; and 

 may be easily distinguished from L. pisiformis of Ledebour, or the 

 figure of Gmelin quoted by him and in Hooker's British Flora, by 

 the winged stem and the shape of the stipules. The variety which 

 Dr. Graham considers to be the type of the species is distinguished 

 by its compact robust growth, and by the common petioles being 

 much arched backwards ; whereas the present plant is of a slender 



