viir 



of Bachery, and singularly enough, it has not been no- 

 ticed scientifically by any of tlie botanists who have 

 visited the Island. The}- have confined themselves to 

 the bare mention that the "^ Pois d'Achery " is found 

 among the vegetables cultivated. Bojer, who has made 

 a catalogue of all the plants found in Mauritius in his 

 time, both indigeneous and exotic, omits all mention of 

 the ^ Pois d'Achery/ and it is not to our knowledge men- 

 tioned in any botanical list. 



The " Pois d'Achery " is undoubtedly an undescribed 

 species of the genus Phaseolus. The original type, as it 

 was first introduced, and according to the old travellers, 

 yields a round white bean, but since then, beans of 

 difierent colours have been produced by hybridity, brown, 

 yellow, red, the different colours sometimes found in the 

 same pod. But the white alone has remained innocuous, 

 though not when the plant is old or is the produce of 

 seeds of a second crop. 



Dr. Vinson proposes that it should be called the 

 Phaseolus dubius, and his opinion, as well as that of 

 Dr. Jacob de Cordemoy, is that it should be entirely 

 banished from the table. 



Your Secretary has forwarded to Dr. Hooker, Director 

 of Kew Gardens, specimens of the " Pois d'Achery ■" and 

 its varieties, with a request that he would examine them 

 and make know his opinion. 



Among the specimens which have been presented to 

 the Society, may have been remarked a very curious 

 Arachnid which has been described by Dr. Vinson of 

 Reunion under the name of Gasteracantha Mauritia. It 

 was found at Flacq by M. A. Regnard, its shape is peculiar, 

 and like others of its genus, its abdomen is bristling on 

 each side with pointed tubercles resembling thorns, and 

 it has a test like the carapace of a small chelonian. It 

 is very rarely met with. 



