Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 449 
traction, in the figures of the typical vertebre, in his work (p. 81, 
fig. 14, p. 82, fig. 15) criticised by Dr. Melville; and that he knew 
of nothing in nature which corresponded with Dr. Melville’s diagram, 
showing distinct hemapophyses and a hemal spine coexisting with 
vertebral ribs, sternal ribs, and sternum, in the same segment. On 
the principles on which Dr. Melville had constructed his ideal ver- 
tebra, viz. by the addition of mere adaptive processes of the centrum, 
exaggerated and artificially subdivided, to true and constant vertebral 
elements, such ideal vertebra might with a good reason be made 
symmetrical by the addition of a second concentric neural arch, as in 
Professor Owen’s sketch of the human parietal vertebra, to the true 
expanded neural arch, and in his opinion such superadded internal 
neural arch might, with as good reason, be viewed as the true neur- 
apophyses and neural spine, and had as good title to be diagramati- 
cally represented as subdivided into those three separate elements, 
as the second internal hemal arch, which Dr. Melville had super- 
added to his (Professor Owen’s) figure of the second form of the 
typical vertebra (On the Archetype, &c., p. 82, fig. 15). Such an 
‘ideal vertebra’ would then truly exhibit what Dr. Melville had de- 
fined as ‘‘ the most complete possible vertebra,” and what Mr. Mac- 
lise called “‘ the plus vertebral quantity.” 
Dr. Melville rejoined by reiterating his conviction that his ‘ ideal 
vertebra’ was the true one, and would ultimately be accepted as such 
by all anatomists. 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 
Noy. 8, 1849.—Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair. 
Numerous donations were announced. 
The President, in taking the chair, made a few remarks on the 
progress of botany since the Society last met in July. He alluded 
especially to the encouragement afforded to the science in the new 
Irish colleges, and to the great discoveries recently made in India by 
Dr. Joseph D. Hooker and Dr. Thomas Thomson. He read a letter 
from Dr. William Jameson of the Saharampore Gardens, giving an 
account of his botanical researches, and stating that he was pro- 
ceeding to survey the country between the Kelum and the Indus. 
His botanical collections are very extensive, and will ere long be 
transmitted to Europe. He mentions that Dr. Thomson’s collections 
were ready for transmission, and that Major Madden had made some 
interesting observations on the botany of the Himalayas. He states 
that the catalogue of the Saharampore Garden will be published 
soon. Dr. Jameson’s letter was accompanied with some seeds for 
the Botanic Garden, and a few dried specimens. 
ah following papers were read :— 
. ‘ Notice of Plants found in the neighbourhood of Durham and 
eee: by John Townley, Esq. In this communication, Mr. 
Townley mentioned that he had noticed nearly 400 species of pha- 
nerogamous plants and ferns in the neighbourhood of Durham. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 30 
