Rcvicius. 797 



be selected. But if there be no choice, and the pLant-beds must be made 

 on a level piece of ground, let the beds slope slightly from the centre line 

 on both sides to the trenches which separate them. Let the trenches or 

 paths, furthermore, be kept free from grass, weeds, leaves, and other litter, 

 which being bad conductors of heat, will only retain and store up the cold 

 of radiation ; and let care be taken that the earth of the trenches be not 

 kept loose by raking, but be beaten or trodden into as firm a mass as 

 possible, so that the hent of the soil may the more readily be conducted to 

 the surface to counteract the cold rapidly increasing there through the 

 effects of nocturnal radiation." 



The second paper in the Transactions gives an interesting account by 

 W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., &c., of " Recent Contributions to the Flora of 

 Iceland." 



In the third paper an excellent account is given of many fine and rare 

 specimen trees and plants growing in the open air in Dr. Shapter's garden, 

 Cobham, near Exeter, accompanied by a beautiful engraving, in which is 

 shown an elegant plant of Gordyline Austmlis, 17 feet high, with a circum- 

 ference of stem of 2 feet ; and a magnificent specimen of Cuprssns 

 macrocmya, upwards of 51 feet high, beautifully furnished and tapering 

 gracefully from bottom to top, a perfect spire. The garden and district 

 is rich in other rare and noteworthy trees and shrubs, and will well 

 repay a visit from any one with a taste for arboricultural objects. 



An instructive paper (4) follows, by A. Stephen Wilson, on " Experi- 

 ments with Turnip Seeds," which will be read Avith equal interest by 

 vegetable physiologists and agriculturists. Number five is an exceedingly 

 interesting pliysiological paper on " Vegetable Digestion," by J. Bayley 

 Balfour, M.B., F.L.S., in which he supports with great ability Professor 

 Morren's (of Liege) well-known views on the subject, and the analogous 

 functions peculiar to the so-called carnivorous plants. 



A capital paper (9j by John Sadler, F.R.P.S., describes in an 

 instructive and interesting manner the " Alpine Flora of Ben Nevis, 

 Inverness-shire," to which famous mountain the Scottish Alpine Botanical 

 Club paid a visit in the month of July, 1876. Even in that semi-tropical 

 month " the summit of the mountain was reached amidst sleet and rain, 

 thick mist, and a fierce cold wind, which unfortunately prevented us from 

 seeing one of the most extensive prospects in Scotland. On a clear day 

 are seen mountain ranges in all directions, intermingled with extensive 

 water surfaces ; the view ranges from the Moray Firth and the mountains 

 of Ross and Sutherland in the north and north-east to Ben Lomond and 

 the island of Colonsay in the south and south-west, comprising a 

 distance of about 180 miles. The scene can scarcely be equalled, or at 

 least surpassed, in the diversity of magnificence and striking objects, in 

 majesty and grandeur." 



For many years a valuable report has appeared in the Transactions of 

 the Society on "The State of the Open-air Vegetation at the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh," at certain periods of the year, by the able 



VOL. I, 3 k 



