116 BRIEF REMARKS. 



Vulcan. — Twenty-two inches, very dark red, and very much blotched 

 with deep blood colour ; produces from thirteen to sixteen flowers. 



Voltaire. — Dwarf habit, thirteen inches, light orange, with reddish 

 bro" n blotches ; from twelve to sixteen blooms. 



Subeiis. — Seventeen inclies high, rich dark red, with a few blotches 

 and some black spots ; a very showy sort. 



Mr. Groom grows the fine Japan Lilies in immense nmiibers in the 

 open ground ; and attempts are making to obtain a hybrid race between 

 these and ttie common Lilies of our gardens, viz., ihe Orange, White, 

 Turncjip, Tiger, Japoniciim, bulbiferum, &c. Ii would amply repay 

 any person to give attention to such improvements. 



Weeting Thorn. — A short description of a species of Crataegus, 

 forming a principal ornament among shrubs of various kinds in the 

 pleasure-ground of a lady in the neighbourhood of Piescot, near Liver- 

 pool, and from its pticuliar habit of growtli called tiie Weeping Thorn, 

 may be interesting from the circumstance of its having been propagated 

 from a cutting taken from an ancient specimen growing in Kegent 

 Murray's garden, Edinburgh, and said to have been planted by the 

 hands of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. This interesting 

 memento of the ill-iated queen stands about twelve feet high, the 

 laterals springing from the principal branches forming a graceful and 

 gentle sweep in their descent, and trailing a short distance along the 

 ground ; the middle branches growing in a vertical direction, give tiie 

 entire mass the form of a true cone. The blossoms and fruit are 

 similar to those of the common Hawthorn, but larger. From the 

 peculiar habit of growth, a small party could be conmiodiously accom- 

 modated under its shade, the outer circumference forming a complete 

 circular screen of about forty feet round, impervious to the sun's rays, 

 or only admitting a jjleasantly subduefl light. 



On DliYING Pl^ANTS so AS TO PuKSERVE THEIR CoLOUKS. No 



science, perhaps, requires so much practitial knowledge as botany ; in 

 its study, botanical rambliiigs and the preservation of gathereil speci- 

 cimens are tif the greatest assistance. The usual method, however, of 

 drying plants is generally long and troublesome, and, above all, very 

 uncertain. Indeed, wiiatever quantity of papers is employed to sepa- 

 rate the plants, and even if the damp papers are replaced by dry ones 

 every twelve hours, ten days are required before the plants are properly 

 dried, and at the end of that time they are so discoloured, and their 

 ciiaracters are so altereil, that a great deal of practice is requi^•ite to 

 enable one to make them out. I have made several attempts to remedy 

 these inconveniences, and I take the liberty of laying their result before 

 the Academy. 



In a botanical excursion, I arrange my plants between sheets of grey 

 paper, which immeiiiaiely absorbs any free water arising from rain or 

 dew. In this state the plants can be preserved for twenty-four hours 

 without alteration. The next tiay I place them in very dry paper; 

 then I put them in an'apparatus of my own invention, in which they 

 are completely dried in twenty-four or thirty hours, preserving the 

 colour of their leaves and tlie brilliancy of their flowers. 



The following is the theory of my method : — The water of compo- 



