MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 211 



the said noble lord was in the habit of pulling out of the dusty pigeon- 

 holes of his mind. Had the speech of Mr. Disraeli been made after tho 

 1st. instant, I must have concluded that he had just been reading the 

 article on the Stormy Petrel, published on that day in my "British Birds," 

 but that could not have been the case, however much he and every other 

 member of the two houses may ordinarily study the said work as the best 

 aid they can possibly have in the preparation of their speeches. At all 

 events it satisfactorily shows that ornithological thoughts must be constantly 

 uppermost in their minds. — F. O. Morris, Nunburnholme Rectory, August 

 10th., 1857. 



Resuscitation of Plants. — Dr. Cox, in an article to the Royal Society, 

 (Philos. Trans.: No. 108,) after describing the manner he procured salt 

 from Fern aslies, states, "That he placed a quantity of it (in solution) in 

 a capacious glass, and after it had been in for five or six weeks, a deposit 

 of the salt was formed at the bottom, from which there sprung out at 

 small distances from each other, about forty branches, which, excepting the 

 colour, did most exactly resemble that kind of Fern which is single, like 

 Polypody, and not branched, sending out several leaves on each side from one 

 stem." Dr. Cox likewise adds, "that mixing equal parts of Sal Ammoniae 

 and Potashes, and placing the mixture into a tall glass body; immediately 

 upon feeling the heat a great deal of volatile salt was sublimed, and in the 

 glass head he observed to his surprise a Forest in Perspective, of Firs, 

 Pines, etc., so admirably delineated as not to be excelled if imitated by 

 the pencil of the greatest master." Are there any modern instances of such 

 Phoenix-like resurrections corroborative of the above statements on record, or 

 is the inference that the plants mentioned by the worthy Doctor, were pro- 

 ductions, not of the salts, but of his own more fertile imagination? — J. P. 



Turtle Doves. — The Turtle Doves are particularly numerous here this 

 year; I never before saw so many. They first established themselves here 

 about fifteen years ago, and are very regular in their return — the first 

 week in May. — Charles Watkins, Badby House, near Daventry, Northants. 



Eristalis nubilipennis in Ireland. — I took a week's holiday lately, and 

 made a short tour in Ireland, from Dublin to Killarney and the Lakes, 

 and so over the mountains to Kenmare. While crossing the said mountains 

 between the latter-named towns, about a quarter of a mile from a pass 

 called "Windy Gap," I had got off the "car" to relieve the horses, and 

 was rewarded for my humanity by the capture of a fine specimen of Eristalis 

 nubilipennis, settled upon a stone wall by the side of the road. I never 

 took but one specimen of this rare fly before, namely, at Charmouth, in 

 Dorsetshire. It is figured in "Curtis," and noticed there as being "in the 

 cabinets of Mr. Dale, Mr. Morris, and the Author." — F. 0. Morris. 



