500 Proceedings of the Botanical Society. 



Qimens collected by Dr Pollexfen in 1835 were shewn to the So- 

 ciety. — Cerastium latifoliumy var. with dense, cespitose habit, or- 

 liicalar leaves, profuse glandular pubescence, and straight cylindrical 

 capsule, scarcely longer than the calyx. Hah, Shetland. — Lychnis 

 dioicay var. with pale rose-coloured flowers, and stem rarely three 

 inches high. Seen by Mr James M'Nab some years ago, and 

 foand to retain its peculiar habit in cultivation. JIab. near New- 

 ton-Stewart, Galloway. — Agrostis canina var, is perhaps Tricho- 

 dium alpinum or rupesire. Dr Graham thinks the absence of the 

 Inner valve of the perianth, though not a generic, is a good speci- 

 fic character ; plant first noticed by Dr Graham in Sutherlandshire, 

 ^ome years ago, and afterwards by Mr W. M'Nab, in a vivipa- 

 rous state in the same county. Hab. on the tcp of Goatfel, Arran. 

 m-^Fedia mixta, Vahl ; specimens were gathered along with this, 

 shewing the transition from F, dentata, Hab. near Whithorn. 



Mr R. W. Falconer read a paper containing an account of the 

 most celebrated gardens of antiquity, with observations on the 

 Hortulan taste which they exhibit. After some introductory re- 

 marks upon the probable origin of gardens, he proceeded to give a 

 detailed account of the gardens of Alcinous mentioned by Homer ; 

 the Hanging Gardens of Babylon ; the parks or gardens of the 

 Persians, mentioned by Xenophon ; the gardens of Daphne, in Sy- 

 ria, and the gardens of the Hesperides. He then gave an account 

 of the gardens celebrated by the ancient Greeks and Romans ; 

 among the latter, those of Lucullus at Baiae, of Pliny at Tuscu- 

 lum, and Laurentum. Mr Falconer considers that although a taste 

 for gardening evidently prevailed to some extent among the an- 

 cients, yet that it never attained to any perfection except among 

 modern nations. Flowers, he also believes, never constituted a 

 peculiar feature of ancient gardens, and that they were not esteemed 

 as objects of taste by the ancients, who appear to have cultivated 

 them only as decorations to be employed on occasions of public 

 and private rejoicings. 



Mr James Macaulay then read a paper, the object of which wag 

 to prove that flowers were esteemed by th^ ancients as objects of 

 taste, and cultivated as a source of amusement. He argued that 

 the very fact of flowers being deemed worthy of being ofl^ered to 

 the gods proved a previous taste and value for them ; and gave 

 examples of gardens amongst the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and 

 Oriental nations, where amoenitaSf and not utilitas alone^ must have 

 been the object in the cultivation of flowers. He next alluded to 

 the gardens mentioned in the Latin classics, and contended that 



