THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 79 



centre, whereas in Ammonites there are several siphuncles at the 

 margin of the septa. The shell of the Ammonites, when favour- 

 ably preserved, shines like that of the Nautilus, with beautiful 

 iridescent hues ; it is of a nacreous structure, resembling that of 

 the Gasteropods, or the inner layer of the shell of the Lamelli. 

 branch bivalves. H. F. Parsons. 



Alpine Rose, Leaf of the, from Montauvert— The writer would 

 feel obliged if some member would inform him the name of the 

 Micro Fungi upon the same, and how to remove the beautiful 

 star-shaped Raphides from the leaf, and the best method of 

 mounting the same as transparent objects. The plant is believed 

 to be a wild Rhododendron, and is very common in the Swiss 

 mountains. Travellers are very fond of decking themselves with 

 bunches of the crimson flowers to show that they have been for a 

 climb. A. Kempson. 



Ditto. — I have travelled through many miles of these, but had 

 no idea that their apparently smooth leathery leaves were so beau- 

 tifully covered with crystals. Though found at Montauvert, it is 

 much more abundant a few miles further on the range; in making 

 the ascent of Mont Blanc from Chamouni, the upper lower ranges 

 are covered with it, reaching to Pierra Pontua, just below the 

 Snow-line. J. Rookledge. 



Ditto. — The two species of dwarf Rhododendron called "Alpine 

 Rose " are R. hirsutum and R. feirigineum ; the latter is the one 

 under observation. The beautiful discs on the u?ider side of the 

 leaves occur in both species, and are similar yet different. I for- 

 merly wrote some notes in our books on the subject, and enclosed 

 specimens showing how these rosulate hairs, not crystals, extended 

 over calyx and corolla, and therefore I now limit my remarks to 

 saying that, by means of these hairs, I can often trace the parent- 

 age of garden hybrids known by mere florist's names, such as 

 R. Wilsoni, R. Getsoni, etc. While writing, I find the species 

 and varieties mentioned are now in full bloom in my garden. The 

 hairs \n freshly gathered blooms are lovely in the extreme — pressed 

 and dried the vivid colours of the leaves and petals fade, and the 

 appearance is as changed as that of a mummy from the living 

 person. 



