Scientific Intelligence. — Statistics. 377 



more slowly than in ordinary circumstances, on account of the 

 seeds being placed in an entirely gaseous medium ; and the 

 radicle, when it came to touch the surface of the mercury, 

 pierced it and sunk into it, as in the case when the seed rests 

 upon that metal. 



35. Notice hy Mr R. Spittal, of a specimen qf Bovista gi- 

 gantea, remarkable Jbr its great size. — Through the kindness of 

 ray friend Miss Macdonald, Powderhall, I am enabled to give 

 the following account of a remarkable specimen of the Bo- 

 vista gigantea, found by that successful and zealous botanist. 

 Along with the plant, which she kindly presented me with, I 

 received a short history of it, in which Miss Macdonald states, 

 that she found the specimen, 9th August last, on the borders of 

 Flora wood, about a mile and a-half from the village of Inner- 

 leithen, Peeblesshire. When found, it was of a cream colour, 

 shaded with brownish-yellow on the top. Apparently it had 

 not attained its full size, and unfortunately the plant was pulled 

 at that time. It lay for about two days after this, exposed to 

 the wind and rain, before being measured, having, during that 

 time, evidently lost considerably in size ; its average diameter, 

 however, was then upwards of eleven inches, the greatest cir- 

 cumferencei)eing three feet one and a-half inch, the least three 

 feet. The plant was nearly globular in shape. Dr Hooker, in 

 his Flora Scotica, and Dr Greville, in his Flora Edinensis, both 

 refer to Lightfoot, who mentions that this plant has been found 

 in the King's Park, Edinburgh ; and also says^ that it has been 

 found in England " as large as a man's head." Dr Withering, 

 in his Arrangement of British Plants, says, " sometimes as 

 much as twelve or fifteen inches in diameter,"" and specimens of a 

 much greater size are mentioned as having been found in fo- 

 reign countries. The specimen described, then, is nearly as 

 large as those of greatest diameter found in England, especially 

 if the greatest diameter of these be that mentioned. It is the 

 largest on record found in Scotland ; and this fact, along with the 

 new habitat which Miss Macdonald has discovered, may per- 

 haps be interesting to the botanist. 



