936 



those three characters which render it less applicable to a specimen 

 of M. crispa, we can scarcely say, quite inapplicable ; for the diffe- 

 rences are those of degree more than those of kind, comparative ra- 

 ther than absolute. 



Malva verticillata, L. — ■" Annua erecta, foliis longe petiolatis cor- 

 datis subprofunde 5-angulatis angulis lobisve obtusis crenato-serratis, 

 floribus axillaribus fasciculatis brevi-petiolatis vel subsessilibus, peta- 

 lis calycem (demum fructus omnino tegentem) paulo superantibus, car- 

 pellis 10-12 in orbem totidem-lohatum dispositis orbiculari-renifor- 

 mibus glabris dorso uninerviis marginibus rotundatis lateribus alte 

 radiatim venosis venis dorso (nisi ad margines) obsoletis.'^ 



Mr. Fitt recorded his discovery of Sphaerocarpus terrestris " abun- 

 dantly in fructification near Yarmouth," at page 544 of our present 

 volume of the ' Phytologist.' In the 'London Journal' he gives figures 

 and a more extended description of the plants observed by himself, 

 " on clover layers at Bradwell, Suffolk. In the mild moist January 

 of 1846 the plant was very abundant, producing its capsules in plenty 

 from about the middle of February to the middle of March : in the 

 early part of April it had disappeared entirely." 



Dr. Dickie's notes on the Algae have reference to the altitudes at 

 which he has observed certain species in Aberdeenshire ; together 

 with some prefatory remarks on their motions, divisions and conju- 

 gation. Perhaps a paragraph or two from the latter may have inte- 

 rest for some readers of the ' Phytologist :' 



" The motions of certain species of Oscillatoria are at least equally 

 distinct as those of any organisms usually considered to belong to 

 the vegetable kingdom, and yet it has been denied that they possess 

 any independent power of motion. They move notwithstanding. 

 Three kinds of motion may be observed in them ; first, the oscillat- 

 ing, one end of the filament being fixed, the other describing a seg- 

 ment of a circle with greater or less rapidity ; second, a distinct 

 bending of the filament upon itself, presenting the appearance of a 

 writhing motion ; third, the progressive gliding motion of an entire 

 filament or of a fragment, resembling that of certain Mollusca or Pla- 

 narieae. 



" Mr. P. Grant has directed my attention to a remarkable motion 

 which may be observed in newly collected specimens of Haematococcus 

 binalis. This beautiful species propagates freely by self-division ; 

 and the cells vary in number in different individuals, in some two 

 and four, in others eight, and more rarely sixteen. The phenome- 

 non in question is that of rotation of the cells in the interior of the 



