24 



uncommon ; " as indeed would appear from the long list of localities 

 following the description. 



Galeopais versicolor, Curt. Mr. Leighton remarks, " I sowed seeds 

 of this plant in my garden in 1834, where it has now completely natu- 

 ralized itself; but I cannot perceive, on a comparison with the dried 

 specimens from which the seeds were taken, any change in its charac- 

 ters, or any tendency to run into Gal. Tetrahit (of which it has been 

 considered a variety), of which species I have never observed a single 

 specimen in my garden." This was written in 1838. 



LathrcBa squamaria, Linn. The economy of this singular parasite, 

 and its mode of attachment to the roots of the trees on which it grows, 

 have been most successfully investigated by Mr. Bowman, who com- 

 municated the results of his researches to the Linnean Society, in a 

 valuable paper read Nov. 3rd, 1839. This paper, with two exquisite 

 plates of details, was published in the ' Linn. Transactions,' xvi. 399 ; 

 and an abstract appeared in the 'Mag. Nat. Hist.' v. 45, illustrated by 

 three excellent wood-cuts, copied from Mr. Bowman's original draw- 

 ings. The 1st exhibits a perpendicular section (highly magnified) of 

 one of the minute tubers situated at and near the extremities of the 

 forked fibres of the root, showing the insertion of the tap-shaped base 

 of the tuber into the alburnum of the root of the tree ; the 2nd is a 

 view of the longitudinal section of a leaf, through one of the parallel, 

 perpendicular cavities or chambers excavated in the interior, each of 

 these cells communicating with the external atmosphere by means of 

 a very narrow opening " between the incurved lower edge of the leaf 

 and the underside of the leaf-stalk;" the 3rd cut exhibits a magnified 

 view of a transverse section of one of the subterranean leaves, wherein 

 are shown all the cavities or cells divided in the middle, and lined 

 with the minute, stalked papillee or glands, which perform the various 

 functions of the absorbing and perspiring cuticular pores of most other 

 plants, these pores being absent from the external cuticle of the sub- 

 terranean parts of Lathraea. 



One of the stations for Lathraea is given on the authority of Mr. Do- 

 vaston; who says it is "naturalized to excess on hazel-roots at the 

 Nursery, Westfelton." It will not perhaps be thought out of place 

 here, if we introduce a quotation in reference to this naturalization, 

 from a delightful article ycleped "Chit-chat," by Mr. Dovaston, in 

 'Mag. Nat. Hist.' v. 503. 



" Von Osclal. So you have at last succeeded in getting the toothwort (Lathraa 

 rirnuunaria) to grow on the roots of the hazel ? 



" Dovaslon. Not until I had utterly despaired. It was four years, and some fne, 



