28 



species even to the limits of forest, at present unknown in 

 England, and employed in the hills, along with the Deodar, 

 for building purposes. 



I have "been particular in quoting the native names of 

 these valuable plants, in order to enable persons resident in 

 England, the more readily to ask their correspondents for 

 them, 



Roscoea alpina. A curious and very pretty little plant, 

 with bright blue flowers, found at the height of 9000 feet 

 and more, where, like the snow-drop in European countries 

 in early spring, it pushes up immediately after the rains, in 

 places where the snow has just melted. This most interesting 

 species would doubtless be hardy in England ; it is a most 

 curious deviation in its habits from the usual tenderness of 

 Scitaminege. 



Of Iris several species are found in the Himalayas, some 

 of which are very pretty. 



DERIVATION OF THE WORD MYRTLE. 

 At Gilan in Persia there is a spring surrounded by 

 myrtle bushes, and held in great veneration. The sacred 

 character of the myrtle {mart as it is called in Persia, from 

 which was borrowed the Greek fxvpTo^) I believe to have 

 originated in the East. Its connexion with the worship of 

 Venus is well known, and it is a curious relic of ancient 

 observances, that, at the present day, wherever the myrtle 

 bush is found among the Kurdish mountains (and it is very 

 rare) a sort of mystic reverence is attached to the spot, which 

 the people are altogether unable to explain. — Major Mawlin- 

 sons March from Zohah to Khuzistan, in Journal of Geog. 

 Soc. ix. 43. 



Recherches sur Vanalyse et la Composition chimiques de la Betterave d 

 Sucre, par Eugene Peligot ; et sur l' organization anatomique de cette 

 racine, par J. Decaisne. Paris, 1839. Svo. 



The cultivation of Beet root has not much importance in 

 this country, where colonial sugar, for political reasons, 

 enjoys a monopoly of consumption ; but to those who in 

 other countries occupy themselves with the manufacture of 

 Beet root sugar, this pamphlet will be read with great inte- 

 rest. It is full of curious and valuable research. The 

 best variety for cultivation appears on the whole to be tlie 

 " White Silesian." The principal obstacle to the manufac- 



