298 



.Before concluding tLese remarks I liave to refer to certain 

 species proposed by Sesse and Mocino. It has already been 

 '^pointed but that they referred the '' Texocotl " of the Mexicans to 

 Crataegus Crus-galli in their '' Plantae ?^ovae Hisjpaniae '' (p, 78) ; 

 but they describe vn the same place three more species of Crataegus, 

 two of which, to judge from the descriptions, are very probably 

 mere forms of C. puhescens. They are : (1) C. indica, an unarmed 

 plant with lanceolate leaves^ serrulate from the uiiddle upwards 

 and villous below, and with subulate bracts, collected at S. Rosa, 

 near Guanojuato; (2) C. inermts, also unarmed, with elliptic 

 entire leaves, tomentose below, and with subulate purplish bracts, 

 collected near ^ ^ Michaelopolitanum . ^ \ The third , C. minor j 

 characterised by very small setaceously-mucronate leaves and 

 small flowers, is evidently quite distinct. The same descriptions 

 appear in the author^s *' Flora Mexicana '' (ed. ii., p. 125), which 

 was published in 1894. Of C. inennis^ figure (t. 349) is said to 

 exist in their collection of drawings at Madrid. An inspection of 

 that plate and of the specimens, if such exist, will in the future 

 solve the question of their identity : but this much seems to be 

 certain; they cannot welL belong to any other of the 

 species enumerated by Eggleston. 



Mexican 



LVII.-MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



M 



AND Ke 



The Eight Honourable Mr. 

 Austen Chamberlain writes to the Director : 



** Thank you very much for sending me the Kew Bulletin y^iih 

 Sir W. Thiselton-Dyer's memorial notice of my father's con- 

 nection with the Gardens. 



F 



" I do not know whether you are aware of the full story of the 

 completion of the Temperate House to which he alludes.- One 

 afternoon in th6 House of Commons Sir William Harcburt, then 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, asked my father to pair with him 

 for dinner. My father replied that he was afraid he could not do 

 that as he was intending to speak on the motion which was then 

 before the House. ...--. 



'': Oh ! ' said Sir William, ' donH do that, for if you speak I 



engagement this evening. 



keep my 



" * Well,' replied my father, ' I will make a bargain with you 

 ■"" like. If you will agree to put money in next year's 

 estimates to complete the Temperate House at Kew I will pair with 



if you 



William Ha 



you for as long as you wish.' 



inj; loath, assented. ^ 



"My fatlier at once communicated this to Sir William 

 Thiselton-Dyer; bnt when the next year's estimates came out" Sir 

 William found to his honorthat the money for the Temperate 

 House had been struck out. He appealed to my father, and my 

 father to Sir. William Harcourt, and the Chancellor, recognising 

 that a bargain was a bargain, directed that a supplementary 

 estimate should be brought in" to provide the promised fundg, 



V> 



