40 THE NATURALIST. 



duction of the Tropics rather than of the chilly North. It lies, in truth, 

 far away from all its congeners, — the DioscoreacecB, of which it is the sole 

 representative in Britain, being pre-eminently a family of the hotter 

 regions of the world. No pjienomena in botanical geography are more 

 pleasing than those observable in this throwing out, as it were, of out- 

 posts. We are tempted by the sight of them, to ask in what direction are 

 the head-quarters, how far they are distant, and what may be the aspect of 

 the forms thus faintly announced. Like many other unisexual plants, 

 the Tamus shews in its male flowers, the rudiment of an ovary. For the 

 microscope, it supplies extremely beautiful compound spiral-vessels, 

 resembling those of the MusacecB. On a hot day, in high summer, the 

 very sight of it is refreshing, since the foliage is generally disposed in such 

 a way as to seem, in its green gloss, a fountain of water turned to leaves. 

 On the Saturday we made our way from Ambleside through Kirkstone 

 Pass, to Patterdale and the borders of Ulleswater. The swampy ground 

 upon the left, soon after ascending the first hill, is decked at this time of 

 year with the lively and verbena-like flowers of the bird's eye Primula, (P. 

 farinosa). They were in perfection on the sunny forenoon of this opulent day, 

 as were the blossoms of the Pingulcula, so like a little Gloxinia. The 

 two stamens of the latter plant are placed in close contact with the round 

 green ovary, one standing upon each side, like the " supporters " on the 

 armorial bearings of a nobleman ; the stigma is nearly sessile, blue, and 

 petaloid, like that of many Iridaceous plants : the hairs on the palate of 

 the corolla are formed, at the base of two or three cylindrical tubes, and 

 on the upper part of a succession of circular and flattened cells, shaped like 

 cheeses. Under the microscope the appearance is exceedingly rich and 

 curious. The instrument I use when in the fields or among the 

 mountains, is one formed like a pocket-telescope, with an extra tube, 

 capable of being drawn out when higher powers are desired. The ad- 

 vantages of this construction of instrument are very great. Instead of 

 placing the object to be viewed on a stage, and adjusting the light to it 

 with a mirror, it is merely necessary to place the object between two slips 

 of glass, (the lower one provided with a shallow cavity to prevent crushing), 

 then fix the slips below the steel springs at the end, and hold the instru- 

 ment up to the sk}^ as if it were actually a telescope, and we were looking 

 at a star. The amount of light thus procurable is the largest possible, 

 and can be regulated and changed at pleasure, and to suit the object; the 

 object itself is immovable, so that the microscope can be handed round. 



