394 Miscellaneous. 



third meeting an introductory address was read by Dr. Sigmond. 

 After stating the objects of the Society, and the necessity there is 

 for a garden within reach of those lovers of the works of Nature 

 who are found for a great part of the year congregated within this 

 vast metropolis, but who have hitherto been denied so great and 

 healthful a luxury, the Doctor entered upon a historical review of 

 the gardens of antiquity ; he referred to both sacred and profane 

 history to show, that whenever Man was painted in a situation of 

 pure felicity and of virtue he was placed in one of these delightful 

 spots : such were the gardens of Eden, of the Hesperides, of Adonis, 

 of Alcinous. He then traced the history of gardens from Grecian 

 and Roman authorities ; and showed that our Saxon ancestors were 

 repositories of botanical knowledge; he referred to the reigns of 

 Henry the First, Henry the Third, Richard the Second, and Eliza- 

 beth, to show that the cultivation of flowers had always been car- 

 ried on with singular avidity. The discovery of the New World, 

 and the persecution which drove the Protestants from the Nether- 

 lands, gave a great impetus to botanical research in England. 

 Charles the First created the place of Royal Herbalist. Gardens 

 have been established in various parts of England, at Oxford, in 

 1632, at Chelsea, in 1673, &c. ; but still a garden so near the 

 metropolis as to serve as a school for the rising generation, and a 

 source of recreation to all classes, has been long a desideratum. 



[It is surely much to be wished that this Society should meet with 

 due encouragement, as the greatly increasing number of those stu- 

 dents in the medical schools and the colleges now established in the 

 metropolis, and others, of whose studies and recreations Botany forms 

 a part, makes a well-stocked garden in the immediate vicinity ex- 

 ceedingly desirable ; and no spot could have been selected within 

 the same distance so well adapted as the Inner Circle of the 

 Regent's Park, or likely to retain its salubrious air so long un- 

 impaired by surrounding buildings. A plan of the Garden is an- 

 nexed to our present Number. Its attraction as a scene of healthy 

 and delightful relaxation may well be made tributary to the interests 

 of science in behalf of a numerous class whose opportunities of pur- 

 suing botanical studies at a greater distance from town must neces- 

 sarily be much less frequent than a garden so readily accessible 

 would afford.— R. T.] 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



A new species of the Australian genus Alcyone. — It is thus cha- 

 racterized : Alcyone ruficollaris ; plumage glossy green ; upper parts 

 and sides blue ; under parts rufous ; chin of a lighter red ; a semi- 

 collar of rufous feathers on the nape of the neck. Wings short ; 

 third and fourth quills longest. Tail short. Bill black at the base, 

 shaded to dark brown at the tip. Legs reddish-yellow. Claws of 

 all the toes longitudinally furrowed. Seven inches in length from 

 the tip of the bill to the extremity of the tail. 



Habitat, mangrove trees, Port Essington. It is active, and so 



