52 AiuUi/sis of Ptriodical Woiha on Natural History. 



provisions of so important a public measure, as the Weights 

 and Measures Act, commenced by Mr. Butter's pertinent and 

 correct little work : the contents are so fully stated in the 

 title, that it is not requisite to detail them ; and as their nature 

 affords no scope for criticism or quotation, we may dismiss the 

 subject with this general opinion of their utility. 



ANALYSIS OF PERIODICAL WORKS ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



Curtis's Botanical Magazine. No. 454'. 



PI. 2523. Calceolaria rugosa, a native of Chili;— this and intcgrifolia the 

 Editor considers as only varieties. — Ageratum mexicanwn, "hispiduni, foliis 

 cordato-ovatis crenatis rugosis, corymbo composito, paleis pappi laiiceolatis 

 aristatis ;" — from seeds brought from Mexico by Mr. Bullock. — ZyiwwocAa- 

 ris Plumieri. — Heliophiln stricta, " caule stricto, foliis pinnato-dentatis in- 

 tegrisque hirsutis, siliquis linearibiis subtorulosis pubescentibns erectis da- 

 vato-inucronatis." This species agrees in many respects with cornnopifotia, 

 and must be near to pilosa in DeCandolIe's system. — Melodimu monogynus 

 from the East Indies. — Ii-is longispatha, '' imberbis, foliis lineari-lanceolatis 

 falcatis scapo snbtereti tortuoso, germinibus dodecagonis, spatha exteriori 

 longissime antenuata." Introduced in the Chelsea Garden last yeai' from 

 Russia by Dr. Fischer. — Cynoglossum nitidum. Native of Portugal. This 

 has been recently and needlessly placed in a separate genus under the names 

 of Omp/ialodes and Picolia.—Jussieiia ovalifolia, " caule erecto ramoso, ra- 

 mis tetnigonis subulatis foliis ellipticis acuminatis nervoso-venosis villosis, 

 calycibus tetraphyllis ovatis acuminatis trinerviis hirtis." Raised from seeds 

 from Madagascar. 



T7ie Botanical Register. No. 217. 



PI. 840. CatasctiunClaveringi, " spica foliis breviore, label lo carnoso apice 

 tridentato, sepalis oblongis obtusis : interioribus maculatis." Brought from 

 Brazil in 1822 by Mr. George Don. " It is a far more remarkable plant," 

 observes Mr. Lindley, '• than the C. tridentatiim of Hooker, and. altogether 

 the most singular Orchideous plant which has yet been seen in a cultivated 

 state." A sketch of the history of this remarkable genus is given during its 

 first year "in which period alone it has increased from one certain and one 

 uncertain species to five certain and one uncertain species : Div. I. 1. via- 

 culatum, 2. Iridcntatum, 3. Claveringi, 4. Hoo/ceri, 5? viacrocarpum : Div. II. 

 6. crislatum. — Dracocephalum nutans, a hardy perennial from the Altai moun- 

 tains. — Boionia serrulata, a very beautiful plant from New Holland. — Aca- 

 cia undiitata; a green-house plant native of New Holland, flowering in win- 

 ter. — Camaridiitm ochrolrucnm ; an orchideous plant from Trinidad, where 

 it appears to be parasitical on the trunks of trees ; not hitherto described. 

 -—liraumuiia lii/pciicoldcs. — Coreopsis lincluria, discovered b} Mr. Nuttall 

 in the Arkansa country, North America, 



XL Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



Jan. 13.— A PAPER by Capt. H. Kater, was read, entitled 

 A Description of a Floating Collimator. 

 This instrument is destined to supply the place of a level or 

 plumb-line in astronomical observations, and to furnish a 



ready 



