182 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



to its junction with the Gaule}- River the hills rise on either side 

 higher as the distance from the mouth increases, until they fairly 

 earn the title of mountains. At the confluence of the Greenbrier 

 and New Rivers the mountains recede to left and right in tlie Flat 

 Top and Greenbrier ranges, the latter sharply defining the course of 

 the Greenbrier River while the New comes through the numerous 

 chains— collectively the Alleghanies — between the Blue Ridge and 

 the Cumberland Mts. The whole region is wild beyond description. 

 The hills along the Kanawha are densely wooded with beech, ash, 

 oak, walnut and tulip, interspersed with patches of pine an(J cedar. 

 Deep rugged ravines run back from river to hill-top, the work of the 

 torrents of the Quaternary. These valleys are easy of access by 

 means of the Chesapeake and Ohio R. R. which, commencing at Hun- 

 tington on the Ohio River, passes up the Kanawha and New Rivers 

 as far as the Greenbrier, where it branches off and passes out of West 

 Virginia near the White Sulphur Springs. I can think of no more 

 desirable botanical tour, in which cheapness is an object, than to 

 take the Chesapeake and Ohio R. R. at Huntington, spend a week or 

 two at Charleston, Kanawha Falls, Hinton, Hawk's Nest and White 

 Sulphur, with short side trips to desirable points by local convey- 

 ances. The limited time spent at Charleston gave promise of many 

 good things if we had only had an opportunity to prosecute our la- 

 bors at greater length. Many of the dry banks were covered with 

 Aristida oligantha and Arenaria scrpyllifoUa. In a clump of pines we 

 picked Silene Virginica, Tradescantia Virginica, Pentstemon jjubescens, 

 Pinus rigida and the rarer one P. pungens. Along shaded hill-sides 

 was Rosa lucida and climbing over the low shrubs, Smilax glauca. 

 The dry grade of the C, & O. R. R. abounded in stunted specimens of 

 Geranium Carolinianum and Tnfolmm procumbens while on the adja- 

 cent hill-sides were much larger and finer individuals showing the 

 beneficial influence of shade and moisture. A deep shady gorge 

 yielded such species as Kalmia latifolia, Mag)iolia Uuihrella, Cedronella 

 cordata^ Fragaria Tndica, Ilex opaca, Azalea viscosa, Scatellaria galericu- 

 lata (white), S. serrata, Asclepias quadrifolia, Polypodium vulgare, As- 

 plenium ehenenmi, Aspidium marginale., Ligvstram vidgare, etc. These 

 are enough to indicate the character of tlie flora, and make us wish 



to spend the season in roving these coal valleys and romantic hills. 



C. R. B. 



On the Self-fertilization of Plants. — In the American Journal of 



Science and Arts for June, Dr. Gray gives the folloAving review of 



Rev. Geo. Henslow's paper on the above subject: 



