Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 343 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



Jan. 9, 1851. — Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair. 

 The following papers were read : — 



1. "Botanical Notes of a visit to Holstein, in August 1850," by 

 Mr. W. Lauder Lindsay. The author, in the first place, gave a 

 general view of the physical features of the country, alluding more 

 particularly to the geological formations. The Duchy of Holstein 

 may be divided into four great belts or zones, the most easterly being 

 the boulder clay, the next the boulder sand, then the sand-heaths 

 and sandy marshes, and the most westerly the marshes composed of 

 the alluvium of the Elbe, the richest soil in Denmark. The boulder 

 clay belt is characterized by the growth of the beech, which here 

 forms magnificent forests. The ordinary meadow and pasture, field, 

 forest, and hedge-plants grow here in profusion, and the cultivated 

 grains are wheat, barley, rape, and peas. The boulder sand belt is 

 characterized by the luxuriant growth of the oak and fir, but is not 

 so fertile as the last. The sandy-heath belt is characterized by Cal- 

 luna vulgaris. Erica cinerea and E. tetralix, and by the predomi- 

 nance of moor, amphibious, and certain aquatic plants. Rye is the 

 grain generally cultivated in this belt. The marsh-belt is the most 

 prolific. It is characterized by the abundance of Gramineae, with a 

 great number of aquatic and amphibious plants. The sea-coast and 

 the sand-dunes have also their pecuhar marine and littoral vegetation 

 — Psamma arenaria, Elymus arenarius and Carex arenaria being 

 characteristic of the latter. During the author's residence in Holstein, 

 his head-quarters were at Schneefeld, which is situated in the most 

 sterile of the four great belts already spoken of, viz. the sandy heaths ; 

 but within a circle of ten miles, he had types of all the chief forma- 

 tions of Holstein. He had made a full list of all the plants, which 

 was laid before the Society, along with numerous dried specimens ; 

 he enumerated 1290 phanerogamous plants and ferns, of which 1062 

 are found in Britain. 



2. "On the chemical composition of Cytisus Laburnum, Euphor- 

 bia officinarum, Lunaria biennis and Bryum ligulatum," by Mr. R. 

 Smith. 



3. "Biographical Notice of the Rev. Dr. Rottler," by Dr. Hugh 

 F. C. Cleghorn, H.E.I.C.S. The author had looked in vain for any 

 memoir of the venerable Rottler, Danish Missionary at Tranquebar, who 

 formed one of the little knot of early botanists who searched the plains 

 of Southern India, leaving comparatively little on the eastern coast 

 for subsequent discovery, and he considered it a duty to draw atten- 

 tion to some MSS. which had fallen into his possession, giving fuller 

 particulars than had yet appeared of this amiable and illustrious man. 

 He stated that Dr. Rottler had been engaged by the English Govern- 

 ment in 1/96 to make a tour in Ceylon, his acquaintance with the 

 native language and his knowledge of botany enabling him to collect 

 much valuable information after the island was captured from the 

 Dutch. This venerable man, after attaining the age of 87 years, 

 which few reach in India, died at Madras in 1836, having devoted 

 upwards of sixty years of his life to the work of a missionary. Dr. Cleg- 



