92 



BOTANICAL REMINISCEXCES. 



colour, there is a protruding process, or beak, by wliich the animal probably 

 attaches itself to masses of rock or coral, and in this the cellular formation 



is not so regular. 



Thus we discover in these 

 apparently ordinary objects, 

 wonderful and admirable struc- 

 tures, of which we have no 

 conception without the aid of 



Fio. 4.-Lingiiia. *^^ S^^^^- What wondcrs does 



this not open to us, and how 

 insensible must he be, who once having seen the wonder in one, does not 

 thirst to inspect more! 



Before closing this paper, and as an appropriate branch of this subject, it 

 may be as well to refer to a fact, which Mr. Quekett also has the merit of 

 discovering, namely, the use to which the two sets of Cilia, observable in the 

 gills of the common Sea Mussel, are adapted. These Cilia are in double 

 rows, the one row being superior in size to the other, and these he supposes 

 may cause the currents of water to and from the shell, whilst the smaller 

 ones keep in motion the fluid which had been thus introduced. Cilia are 

 formed in almost all parts of nature, and there can be no doubt that 

 they answer most important purposes, although it is still an occult principle; 

 like many other things, the universal presence of which speaks clearly to their 

 necessity, for everything proves to us that nothing was made in vain. Ehrenberg 

 supposes that at the globular root of each Cilia there are exceedingly mi- 

 nute muscles that give it the motion; and many others have put forth various 

 conjectures, but the fact alone can be said to be known. 



In my next paper I shall consider the structure of the creatures which 

 inhabit these cellular shells, and then pass on to the branch of Marine 

 Animals, (the Echinodennata,) which I have on a former occasion introduced 

 to my readers. 



{To he continued.) 



BOTANICAL REMINISCENCES. 



By JOHN ROSE, ESQ., A. M., M. D., ASSISTANT SURGEON R. N. 



The neighbourhood of Stirling, famous for the beauty of its scenery and 

 its historical associations, presents a rich field for the botanist. The author 

 of these notes spent the greater part of two summers at the Bridge of Allan, 

 a romantic and beautifully situated village, three miles north-west of Stirling, 

 where there is a celebrated mineral spring, which is annually resorted to by 

 crowds of visitors in search of health and relaxation. As some of the readers 

 of "The Naturalist" may visit this locality, we may mention that the fol- 

 lowing plants are found in the neighbourhood: — Along the banks of the 

 Forth and Allan, and adjacent woods and fields, we have found Ranunculus 



