56 PROCEEDING'S OF SOCIETIES. 



sample of the gunpowder-wood from the Roslin Mills, with the following 

 letter from Messrs. Hay, Merrieks, and Co. : — " We have pleasure in sending 

 jou a sample of the Dogwood we use here in the manufacture of gunpowder. 

 The sample sent is of English growth, in the county of Sussex, and the price 

 varies from £10 to £14 per ton, according to quality. We require all peeled 

 and packed into bundles of one hundred pieces in each. The wood is cut gene- 

 rally in May and Juue." The specimen sent from the Roslin Mills was sub- 

 jected to a microscopic examination, with recent woods of Buckthorn and 

 Dogwood, and turns out to be the true Alder Buckthorn {Rhamnus Frangula). 

 Besides structure, it can readily be distinguished, both in the fresh and dried 

 state, from the Dogwood {Oornm sangidnea), hy turning yellow immediately 

 on being moistened, which is not the case with Dogwood. If Dogwood is 

 really a charcoal-producing shrub, no plant could be so easily grown, as 

 cuttings can be got in quantity. They will soon strike root, and grow as free 

 as a Red or Black Currant. VII. Notice of Ruscus aculeatus. By Mr. 

 M'Nab. Mr. M'Nab exhibited a specimen of the Ruscus aculeatus, or Butcher's 

 Broom, covered with rich crimson berries, sent by George E. Frere, Esq., of 

 Roydon Hall, Diss, with the following letter : — "Some years ago, I found this 

 plant in a state of ripe fructification. It is brought every Christmas into the 

 market at Brighton, for the decoration of houses at that season. I had never 

 seen before, in any other part of England, more than one or, at most, two 

 berries in any one clump of the plant, and I wished very much to get it to 

 fruit in profusion at this place. I was reminded that the plant was dioecious, 

 and I found friends to supply me with female plants. Soon after I received 

 them, it was suggested to me that my plants might possibly not have been 

 hitherto barren, because they were of the male sex, but for want of impi'eg- 

 nating agencies." Mr. M'Nab mentioned that, although several large clumps 

 of the Butcher's Broom exist in various pai'ts of the Botanic Garden, he had 

 never seen ripe fruit on any of them. All the plants but one have a dark 

 green colour, all are very compact, and are now covered (8th of December, 

 1869) with rudimentary fruit buds, but no male flowers have yet been obtained. 

 Tlie one above alluded to, a tall light green variety, has a few,incipient scales 

 on the side of the leaf. This may be the male plant, but as it is not growing 

 beside what is undoubtedly the female plants, no seeds coXild be perfected. 

 The specimen sent by Mr. Frere, altiiough containing numerous ripe berries, 

 has also a number of appai-ent rudimentary fruit buds for next year, similar to 

 those now seen on the plants in the Garden. It is difficult to say at wliat 

 stage the impregnation of the ovule takes place. The plant is recorded as dioe- 

 cious, and flowers during March and April, and possibly this is the time when 

 the male blossoms expand. It will be interesting to ascertain whether these 

 rudimentary fruit buds, now covering the plants, remain as they are till the 

 month of March, when the male flowers expand. I have just received from 

 the nursery gardens of Messrs. P. Lawson and Son, two specimens of Ruscus, 

 one called R. aculeatus, and the other R. aculeatus rotundifolius. The former 

 is identical with the one cultivated here, and is also covered with rudimentary 

 female flowers. The specimen called R. aculeatus rotundifolius is also covei-ed 



