62 BOTANICAL NEWS. 



We are glad to hear that the Bev. A. Bloxam, so well known for his 

 critical acquaintance with Hoses and Brambles, has been presented to the 

 living of Harborough Magna, near Rugby. 



Tlie first part of vol. iv. of the ' Refugium Botanicum ' has appeared. 



It has been decided that this year's meeting of the British Association 

 in Edinburgh shall commence on August 2nd. Active steps are being 

 already taken by tlie scientific societies of the city to afford a suitable 

 reception. 



Dr. Hermann Beigel, a contributor to our pages, and who is now with 

 the army of General Mauteuflel, was decorated, on the 4th of January, 

 with the order of the Iron Cross, which can only be gained by personal 

 bravery on the field of battle. 



Dr. George Lawson, formerly of Edinburgh, now Professor of Chemistry 

 and Mineralogy in Dalhousie College and University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 

 has published a monograph of the Raiiunculacea of Canada aiul the adja- 

 cent" parts of British America, with a detailed account of the distribution, 

 within these limits, of all the species. 



The following is taken from the 'Times:' — The magnificent collection 

 of Orchids at the Museum of Natural History, in Paris, having been in 

 great part destroyed by the German shells, M. Chevreul, the Director of 

 the Museum, has addressed to the Academy of Sciences the following 

 protest: — "The garden of medicinal plants, founded in Paris by an edict 

 of King Louis XIIL, dated January 3rd, 1626, became a Museum of 

 Natural History on the 23rd of May, 1794. It was bombarded in the 

 reign of William I., King of Prussia, Count Bismarck being chancellor, by 

 the Prussian army, on the night of the 8th and 9th of January, 1871. 

 Until then it had been respected by all parties, and by all national and 

 foreign authorities. — Paris, January 9th, 1871." The Academy has de- 

 termined that the protest of M. Chevreul shall be printed at the head of 

 its reports, and the Committee of Professors of the jNIuseum have decided 

 that a marble monument, with an inscription of the protest, shall be placed 

 in one of the galleries of the building, surrounded with projectUes thrown 

 from the enemy's batteries. 



The first number of the ' Scottish Naturalist, and Journal of the Perth- 

 shire Society of Natural Science' is before us, consisting of thirty-two 

 well-printed pages on toned paper. Entomology is strongly represented 

 in this number, and there is a paper on " Natural Science Chairs in our 

 Universities," by Dr. Lauder Lindsay. The only botanical article is a 

 short review of Dr. Hooker's ' Student's Flora,' but there are two or three 

 cuttings. We hope the department, in which we take especial interest, 

 which is headed " Phytology " will be extended in future numbers. There 

 are also reports of the doings of six Scotch local societies. We congratu- 

 late the Perthshire naturalists on their creditable periodical, wdiich we 

 hope will meet with the support it deserves. 



Mr. Howne, Secretary of the Largo Naturalists' Pield Club, is com- 

 piling a catalogue of the plants of Fifeshire for publication. 



An interesting paper on the introduction of Maize into China, written 

 some years since by our valued correspondent, Dr. Hance, assisted by 

 Mr. Mayers, has been printed in the ' Pharmaceutical Journal.' It has 

 hitherto" been considered almost certain that this cereal was introduced from 

 America ; with the object, therefore, of discovering whether it was culti- 

 vated in China previous to the discovery of that continent, Mr. Mayers 



