232 Proceedings of Philosophical Societies. (Marcu, 
under the name peonia officinalis. He afterwards added peonia 
tenuifolia, and the p@onia anomala was admitted into his Mantissa. 
Since that time very little has been done by botanists to this genus, 
which is still involved in much confusion. ‘The present monograph 
was owing to the zeal of Mr. Sabine, F.L.S. who collected into 
his garden all the. varieties of pzonia to be found in Great Britain, 
to the number of more than 70. ‘The descriptions were drawn up 
by Mr. Sabine and Mr. Anderson conjoiutly from living specimens. 
All the species of pzonia belong to the northern hemisphere and 
to cold climates. None of them have been observed in America. 
They are all hardy enough to stand the winter in England. ‘The 
species described are the following :— 
1. Montana.—This constitutes the pride of the Chinese gardens, 
in which it has been cultivated above 1400 years. More than 200 
varieties are known, and prized as much by the Chinese as the 
tulips are by the Dutch gardeners. This species is remarkable for 
the beauty and variety of its colours. 
2. Albiflora—Originally from Tartary. Introduced by seeds 
from Pallas. Different varieties are cultivated in England. 
3. Anomala.—Originally from Siberia. Admitted by Linnzus 
in his Mantissa. 
A, Tenuifolia.—Easily distinguished from the preceding species 
by its linear leaves. Admitted by Linnéeus in the third edition of 
his Species Plantarum. 
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, a paper by Capt. Marriott, of the Royal 
Navy, was read, giving a description of two shells. One a new 
species of mitra from the Mediterranean, The other, which he 
constituted a new genus, under the name of cyclosterma, was ob- 
served in a collection of shells chiefly West Indian, 
At the same meeting, the remainder of Mr. Anderson’s Mono- 
graph of the Genus Pzonia was read. Nine other species were 
described, making 13 in all; the principal of which were P. offici- 
nalis, corallina, humilis, arietina, peregrina, mollis, humilis. 
WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
At the first meeting of this Society for the winter session (Nov. 
23, 1816), Principal Baird communicated the copy of a letter 
from Lieut. Webb, dated Camp Fort, Peethora Gurh, April 2, 
1816; in which that officer gives the altitudes of the principal snow 
peaks visible from Kumaon, He ascertained the height of 27 peaks 
in the Great Snowy Chain. ‘The distances and bases were deter- 
mined trigonometrically. The lowest peak measured was 15,733 
feet above the level of the sea; the highest peak, 25,669 feet above 
the sea: 21 of the peaks were from 20,000 to 25,000 feet above 
the level of the sea! 
At the same meeting Mr. Dacosta read a series of observations on 
the mineralogy of some districts in the north of Ireland, and de- 
tailed several analyses of the indurations observed where certain 
rocks meet together, from which it appeared that these indurated 
