396 Scientific Intelligence. — Botany. 



1. That the city of Nysa, the native country of wheat and bar- 

 ley, is the same as Scythopolis or Bethsane, and is situated in 

 the valley of the Jordan. 2. That the identity of the wheat and 

 barley, anciently cultivated in Egypt and Palestine, with our 

 Cereales, is certain. 3. That the habitat of all the vegetables, 

 animals, and minerals, indicated by the most ancient monu- 

 ments, as existing in the country of barley and wheat, has 

 been confirmed beyond doubt. 4. That the comparison of the 

 various zodiacs, the migrations of the worship of Ceres, confirm 

 this origin of the Cereales. 5. That the greater number of 

 species of the genera Triticum, Hordeum, and Secale, whose 

 habitat is known, being indigenous in the East, the testimony of 

 history accords sufficiently with the rules of criticism established 

 by science ; and that the valley of the Jordan, the chain of Li- 

 banus, or the part of Palestine and Syria, which borders upon 

 Arabia, may with great probability be assigned to our Cei^eales, 

 as their native country. 



8. Instructions for Collecting and Preparing Fungi Jbr 

 Herbariums, and Jbr Preserving them from the JttacJc's of' 

 Insects and their Larv/e. By M. C. H. Persoon, — A few words 

 regarding the proper time for gathering Fungi, and the "locali- 

 ties in which they are found, precede these useful instructions. 

 The following are the principal rules of preservation given by 

 this celebrated mycologist : — 1. To gather the coriaceous and 

 suberose fungi, before they begin to get old, lest they 

 should contain germs of destruction, the most formidable of 

 which are the eggs of insects, and to expose them from time to 

 time to the rays of the sun. 2. To subject to pressure, with- 

 out squeezing too much, the thinner species, to change the pa- 

 per often, and expose them to the open air. 3. To leave in 

 the open air, until perfectly dry, the gelatinous fungi, such as 

 the Tremellfe, Auricularia, &c. When immersed in water, 

 they resume their original form and colours. 4. To model in 

 wax, or immerse in weak spirits, the species whose forms cannot 

 be exactly preserved., 5. To gather the Lycopeixlinece when 

 half mature, and let them dry in the air, that they may bear a 

 sHght degree of compression, without being deformed. 6. To 

 preserve' the Trichiacca. and Isaria, which grow upon chrysa- 

 lids, in small boxes furnished with cotton, in order to retain 



