THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 373 



Royal Horticultural" Society's Rare Plant Medal. — We understand 

 that the Council of the lioyal Horticultural Sjciety have resolved on issuing a 

 hronze medal, to be called the " Rare Plant Medal," to be awarded at any of 

 the Society's meetings for the first exhibition in this country of plants of great 

 botanical interest. 



Prize Essay on Floral Criticism. — Lieut.-Col. Scott, Secretary of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, has offered five pounds for the best essay on the principles of 

 Floral Criticism. 



Decomposition of Carbonic Acid by the Leaves of Plants under the 

 influence of light is the subject of a note recently addressed to the French Academy 

 of Sciences by M. Deherain, in which ho observes that whilst M. Prilleux has 

 attributed the same decomposing faculty to all luminous rays of equal intensity, he 

 finds that more oxygen was disengaged from plants lighted by yellow and red rays 

 than by those which were exposed to blue or green ; and also that evaporation is 

 more active in plants exposed to yellow and red lights than in those exposed to 

 green and blue. 



Dahlia Imperials. — This noble autumnal flowering plant, has flowered 

 grandly at Mr. Salter's, Hammersmith, and in the Royal Horticultural Society's 

 Gardens, Chiswick, it being in both cases grown in a cool house. That at Chiswick 

 attained a height of twelve feet ; but Mr. Salter succeeded in dwarfing his plant 

 by grafting it on the tuber of one of the liliputian varieties. 



Testimonial to Mr. Barnes, late of Bicton.— The retirement of Mr. 

 James Barnes, for nearly thirty years director and manager of the Bicton Gardens, 

 Arboretum, Home Farm, etc., and the eminent services he has rendered to practical 

 gardening and horticulture for a period of fifty years, induced some friends to co- 

 operate with a view of marking their sense of his services by some visible token of 

 their warm appreciation and esteem. A testimonial, consisting of a very handsome 

 silver tea-service, was presented to him recently at the Bude Haven Hotel, 

 Exeter. 



Memorial to the late Mr. James Veitch. — A large and influential meeting 

 of horticulturalists was held in the council-room of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 at South Kensington, October 27, to consider the desirability of perpetuating the 

 memory of the late Mr. Veitch, by means of a fitting memorial. A committee was 

 formed, and subscriptions will be received forthwith, to be expended in a manner to 

 be decided upon hereafter. Considering the high esteem in which the memory of 

 the deceased gentleman is held by horticulturalists of all grades, we have no doubt 

 but sufficient support will be forthcoming to carry out the arrangements in a 

 manner worthy of his distinguished reputation. 



A Winter Garden for Edinburgh will shortly be commenced by the well- 

 known firm of Messrs. Downie, Laird, and Laing, Forest Hill, London, and Edin- 

 burgh. The site of the present garden is a portion of the West Coates Nursery- 

 grounds, and according to the plans a very handsome structure of a composite order 

 will be laid down in front of the present grounds facing the Glasgow Koad. The 

 facade extends to 130 feet, the height of the building will be 26 feet, and thebreadth 

 30 feet. From the centre of the main building, running backwards, will be another 

 house, similar in outline to the above, extending to about 50 feet in length, and 

 28 feet in breadth, which will be used as a fernery. It will be commenced imme- 

 diately, and the work is expected to be completed by Whitsuntide. 



NEW BOOKS. 



Flora of Middlesex : a Topographical and Historical Account of the Plants 

 found in the County. By H. Trimen, M.B., and W. T. T. Dyer, B.A. (Hard- 

 wicke, 192, Piccadilly). — A carefully prepared work, extending to upwards of 400 

 pages, with a physical map of the county, and an admirable introduction on the 

 geology, climate, and other conditions which determine the characteristics of a 

 flora. The authors are the very men for such a task, Mr. Trimen being engaged in 

 the Botanical Department of the British Museum, and Lecturer on Botany at St. 

 Mary's Hospital, and Mr. Dyer is Professor of Natural History at the Royal Agri- 



