Plants. ncu 367 



exotic plants, are of a purging quality? and I think it is 

 quite clear that they ate them for their purgative effect, as I 

 had never before had a plant of ^4'loe touched by the rats, 

 nor have I had since. — Thomas Hitchen. Norwich. Oct. 20. 

 1832. 



Plants. — The Common Berberry ( Berber i s vulgaris L.) 

 perfectly harmless to Wheat. — Sir, It must be satisfactory to 

 every botanist to have the characters of his favourites cleared 

 from all accusations ; I therefore make no apology for request- 

 ing a place for the following: — It is a commonly received 

 opinion that the Berberis vulgaris (common berberry) has the 

 effect of completely preventing the fertility of corn growing 

 near to it, even to the distance of some hundreds of yards 

 from it. As illustrative of the inaccuracy of this idea, a friend 

 of mine, residing at Bath, mentioned to me, that, during the 

 last autumn, when walking round some corn land belonging 

 to one of his relatives who lives in Wiltshke, his attention 

 was particularly called to the very heavy crop in one of the 

 fields ; in the hedge adjoining which, he, at the same time, 

 observed Berberis vulgaris in plent}\ His relative was fully 

 impressed with the idea of the destructiveness of Berberis, 

 and, not being a botanist, did not know that it grew there. 

 I may add that the wheat from that field, on being threshed, 

 completely answered the expectations raised by its fine ap- 

 pearance. — Charles C. Babington. , ■< r.t 9wouit V 



Typha latifblia, or Broad-leaved Reed Mace. — I am not 

 aware whether the following applications of the reed mace 

 (too commonly called bulrush) are generally known, and I 

 communicate them, because I consider that such facts should 

 be recorded. A weaver of velvet told me, that in Spital- 

 fields, and other places, the head of this rush is used for 

 cleaning their work, in preference to a common brush. Since 

 then, on being in the neighbourhood of Blackheath, I met a 

 man carrying a large bundle of them, and, upon enquiry, he 

 told me that they would be sold to the poor at one penny 

 each, for the purpose of a hat brush. I see no reason to 

 doubt their utility in either case, for their softness and elasti- 

 city render them very applicable to these purposes. — James 

 Fennell. Nov. 1832. 



Four several Habitats for Four rare Species of British Plants. 

 — Qdrex speirostdchya. On the 5th of July, 1832, I found 

 this plant in plenty, at the foot of Clogwyn ddu'r Arddu, 

 Snowdon, between the lake and the bottom of the perpendi- 

 cular part of the rock. This is the black precipice which 

 appears in front of a person, during the greater part of the 

 ascent from Dolbadarn Castle. This plant had not been 



