1869.] Chemistry. 425 



gonidia. He distinguishes three principal kinds : — 1. Epigenous, 

 which are the most frequent ; 2. Hypogenous, known only in 

 Peltidea and Psoroina ; 3. Endogenous, or Pyrenoid, which occur in 

 foliaceous hchens. Kecently Dr. Nylander has detected both 

 epigenous and hypogenous cephalodia in Lecanora araneosa from 

 New Zealand. 



Mr. Lauder Lindsay treats of a very interesting matter relating 

 to Lichens — viz. those species parasitic on other lichens — in the 

 ' Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.' 



A New Mode of Preserving Fungi. — Mr. James English has 

 hit on a very effective method of preparing Fungi for the herbarium, 

 and has communicated a paper on the subject to the Botanical 

 Society of Edinbm-gh. By waxing the specimens which it is 

 desired to preserve, the natural pileus and stipe are retained. 

 Specimens treated in this manner in 1866 are now as fresh as 

 when first prepared, and a series of fungi, treated in this manner 

 by Mr. Enghsh, are now in the Museum of the Botanical Society 

 of Edinburgh. 



Neio Diatoms from the Arran Islands, Galwaij. — The Eev. 

 Eugene O'Meara describes and figures in the ' Quarterly Journal of 

 Microscopical Science' more new Diatoms from dredgings oif the west 

 coast of Ireland. The species are : — Pleurosigma giganteum, var. 

 haccatum, Plagiogramma costatum, Melosira Wrightii, Pinnularia 

 marginata, Pinnularia seutellum, and Amijhiprora costata. 



Botanical Ap'pointment. — Dr. Henry Trimen, of King's Col- 

 lege, London, Lecturer on Botany at St. Mary's Hospital Medical 

 School, has been appointed an assistant in the Botanical Depart- 

 ment of the British Museum. Those who know the vast accumu- 

 lation of unworked material at the Museum will rejoice that an 

 additional office has been created, and that so able a gentleman as 

 Dr. Trimen has been chosen to fill it. 



5. CHEMISTKY. 



At the soiree of the Koyal Society, on March 6th, Mr. H. C. Sorby, 

 F.R.S., exhibited for the first time some phenomena in his spectrum 

 microscope, which have led him to the conclusion that they are 

 due to the presence of a new element, for which he has proposed the 

 name of jargonium. 



Mr. Sorby describes jargonia as being an earth closely allied to 

 zirconia, existing in small quantity in zircons from various locahties, 

 but constituting the chief ingredient of some of the jargons from 

 Ceylon. It is, however, distinguished from zu'conia and all other 

 known elementary substances by the following very remarkable 



