236 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 



with verditer-green, forming crescentic bands when the wing is ex- 

 panded ; tail dark green ; lower part of the abdomen, vent and thighs 

 dull bluish black ; under tail-coverts white ; bill and feet red. 



Total length of the body, 26 inches ; bill, from the gape to the 

 tip, 2\ ; from the tip to the posterior edge of the plate on the fore- 

 head, 3 ; wing, 8^ ; tail, Z^ ; tarsi, 3^ ; middle toe, 3 ; nail, ^ ; 

 hind-toe, ^ ; nail, |. 



I cannot conclude these remarks without bearing testimony to the 

 very great importance of the results which have attended the re- 

 searches of Mr. Walter Mantell in the various departments of science 

 to which he has turned the attention of his cultivated, intelligent and 

 inquiring mind, nor without expressing a hope that he may yet be 

 enabled to obtain some particulars as to the history of this and the 

 other remarkable birds of the country in which he is resident. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



January 8, 1852. — Dr. Seller, President, in the Chair. 



Dr. Balfour read an extract from a letter which he had received 

 from Dr. R. C. Alexander, in which he remarks : — " Should any col- 

 lector be undecided where to fix himself, I would recommend the 

 West Indies. Although longer known to us than any other tropical 

 country, it is still very imperfectly explored, and every island yields 

 different results. The Blue Mountain peak is almost wwexplored. 

 1 ascended it once only, not being aware how many of the species 

 were new till my return ; the usual case, for even if you have the 

 books, you have no time to use them. The Cuban species, as far as 

 can be deduced from De Sagia's Flora, seem to be very different, and 

 almost equally those of St. Domingo, of which there is a large col- 

 lection at Philadelphia, made by a French botanist, Pouteau I think, 

 before the Revolution." 



Mr. M'Nab mentioned that on the 7th instant the following plants 

 were in flower in the open air, in the Royal Botanic Garden : — Tri- 

 tonia media, Helleborus niger. Phlox verna, Primula veris, Hepatica 

 triloba, Doronicum caucasicum, Pyrus japonica, and Tussilago fra- 

 grans ; and Dr. Greville stated that he had received sweet violets 

 from the neighbourhood of Darlington a few days since. 



The following papers were read : — 



1 . " Descriptions of Rubiy' by Charles C. Babington, M. A. (See 

 p. 123.) 



2. "On the Growth of various kinds of Mould in Syrup," by Pro- 

 fessor Balfour. Much interest has been recently excited by state- 

 ments relative to the Vinegar Plant, as it has been called. This 

 plant, which has a tough-gelatinous consistence, when put into a 

 mixture of treacle, sugar and water, gives rise to a sort of fermenta- 

 tion by which vinegar is produced. After six or eight weeks the 

 original plant can be divided into two layers, each of which acts as 

 an independent plant, and when placed in syrup continues to produce 

 vinegar, and to divide at certain periods of growth. The vinegar 



