106 RE\^Ew : lessons on elementary botany. 



states on p. 90 ; that valvate means not " in folds," but " arranged like 

 folding doors, ralvce ;" that ovani does not mean " like an egg," (p. 36,) 

 but "that which contains eggs." There are some sentences which a 

 learner would misunderstand, but which the teacher, who knows what 

 the author intended to say, can easily correct ; e.g. he appears to state 

 that the stellate form of cell is pi'oduced by the mutual pressure of 

 adjacent cells (p. 87.) These, however, are small faults, easily coiTected 

 in a new edition, and they are pointed out with that view. For the 

 purpose for which the book was written it is well adapted — Part 

 I. to give a class of young children their first notions of morphology and 

 classification ; Part II. containing a practical experimental introduction 

 to vegetable anatomy and physiology for senior scholars, based upon 

 the South Kensington course. This part, indeed, comprises much inform- 

 ation upon the lower forms of vegetable life, which is not usually 

 included in an elementary book, and more advanced students than those 

 for whom it is intended may learn something fx-om it. 



W. B. Gro\-e, B.A. 



Corrtspnbciue. 



— » — . 



The Mildness of the Winter. — I found a bed of Petasites vnlgnris 

 in full flower, on January 17th ; and on March loth, Ado.ra Moschatellhta, 

 in a wood. — 0. M. Feilden. 



A Feathered Visitant. — I have had a very curious visitor — a black 

 and white blackbird — in my garden at Stoke. The markings of his 

 plumage were a good deal like those of the magpie, but with rather more 

 white, which was very conspicuous when he was on the wing. His 

 manners and customs, as weU as his voice, were pi-ecisely like those of 

 the ordinary blackbird, and he had a fine golden bill. He stayed with 

 us two or three weeks, but has since disappeai'ed. I was gi-catly in hopes 

 that he would have stayed to build his nest. — John Gulson, Coventry, 

 March 6th, 1878. 



The Harebell with White Flowers. — Will any botanical roadera 

 inform me of any spots where they have seen Camjxtnula rotundi'olia 

 producing white flowers freely ? Is there any connection between the 

 colour of the flower and the soil upon which the plant grows ? Last year 

 I found the white-flowered harebell growing abundantly on the mountain 

 limestone between Hartington and Buxton, and again at Brcedon Hill in 

 Leicestershire, also on the same rock. Is the white variety constant for 

 Buccoeding years, and has any one ever met with white and blue flowers 

 on the same plant ? — H. 



Is the Arum an Insectivorous Plant ? — During some rambles last 

 Bummer I examined numerous specimens of the common plant known 

 as " Cuckoo-pint," or " Lords and Ladies." Without exception I found 

 within the nearly closed spathe a number of small insects, some 

 apparently stupifiod, others dead, whilst chitiuous fragments of others 

 alone remained. The remarkable appearance of the plant — its spotted 

 leaves and strangely shaped and briglitly coloured spadix, are well fitted 

 to attract the attention of insects. Hitheilo their visits have been con- 

 sidered chiefly in connection with the fertilisation of the flower, but it is 

 possible that other ends may also be subserved. My only aim in men- 

 tioning the matter now is to call the attention of observers to this plant 

 during the coming summer. — H. 



