[ 137 ] 

 XVI. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



REMARKS ON THE COMMENCEMENT OF SIR E. FF. BROMHEAD's 

 TAPER ON BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



The subjoined remarks were intended to be appended as a note to this 

 paper, but were omitted for want of room, as stated in p. 51. 



THE introductory passages of Sir E. Ffrench Bromhead's inter- 

 esting paper have vividly reminded us of the principles on 

 which the natural arrangement of organized beings should be in- 

 vestigated, as laid down in the Hone Entomologicce. The principle 

 of the " first attempt to arrange natural families," that of assemblage, 

 is one of those on which Mr. Macleay has most strongly insisted. 

 The remark on the representation of the progress of development 

 by a spiral, perfectly agrees with the result of investigating the affi- 

 nities of animals, already compared by the Rev. Mr. Kirby (Intro- 

 duction to Entomology, vol. iv. chap, xlvii. p. 407.) to *' a convol- 

 ving series." We may add, however, that the relation between the 

 opposite points of contiguous whorls of the spiral, " which appear 

 to be the nearest, though distant by a whole round," is of a different 

 nature from that which unites into a series the groups forming 

 each whorl. The former is the relation of analogy : the latter that 

 of affinity. Were Sir E. Ff. Bromhead to subject the principles 

 hitherto followed in investigating the classification of plants, and 

 those advocated by Mr. Macleay, to the reciprocally severe test of 

 applying the latter, directly, to botanical arrangement, and com- 

 paring the results, we are convinced that new light would be thrown 

 on the subject of classification in general. We understand that 

 Mr. Macleay himself, while surrounded with the varied forms of tro- 

 pical vegetation, has pursued this line of research, and found that 

 the principles which he has already demonstrated to pervade the 

 animal world are equally apparent as regulating the vegetable king- 

 dom. Nothing could aid the progress of the science of natural 

 arrangement, generally, more than the publication of the results 

 which Mr. Macleay has obtained. May we hope that he will not 

 long delay to present them to the world? 

 June 21, 1837. E. W. B. 



ON THE COLOURING MATTER OF THE ANCIENT RUBY GLASS. 

 BY J. T. COOPER, ESQ. 



To Richard Taylor ', Esq. 

 Dear Sir, 



Since the publication of my paper in the Annals of Philosophy, 

 to which Mr. Essex has referred in your No. for June, as relating 

 to the composition of the ancient ruby glass, I have obtained a 

 variety of specimens from various places, which I have also submit- 

 ted to analysis for the purpose of determining whether they all agree 

 in containing silver as a necessary constituent, which I find not to 

 be the case ; but in most instances, and in those which possess 



Third Series. Vol. 11. No. 65. Supplement. July 1837. T 



