45 



exceed their kith and kin, that we fail to recognise in them the forms 

 of our old famihar friends. The detached figures of the leaf and 

 florification are admirable : nothing can be better than the sprig of 

 holly at p. 47 ; and the botanist will justly attach greater value to these 

 details, than to the more showy effigies of the trees themselves. 



The following specimens of the letter-press are from the descrip- 

 tions of the sycamore and the common holly. 



" Frequently as we hear the sycamore abused as not worth growing for the value 

 of its timber, and devoid, as an ornamental tree, of beauty of outline and picturesque 

 effect, we nevertheless agree with Sir T. Dick Lauder, that it is ' certainly a noble tree.' 

 Vying in point of magnitude with the oak, the ash, and other trees of the first rank, it 

 presents a grand unbroken mass of foliage, contrasting well, in appropriate situations, 

 and when judiciously grouped, with trees of a lighter and more airy character, and af- 

 fording, as Gilpin expresses it, ' an impenetrable shade.' Lauder well observes, ' The 

 spring tints of the sycamore are rich, tender, glowing, and harmonious ; in summer its 

 deep green hue accords well with its grand and massive form, and the brown and din- 

 gy reds of its autumnal tints harmonise well with the mixed grove to which they give 

 a fine depth of tone.' The colour of the bark is also agreeable to the eye, being of a 

 fine ash grey, frequently broken into patches of different hues, by the peeling off, in old 

 trees, of large flakes of the outer bark, in the manner of the plane." — p. 15. 



" In natural woods, and especially in the deep glens and rocky denes of our nor- 

 thern districts, however beautiful and diversified the sceneiy may be, it never fails to 

 receive an additional life and charm wherever the holly is present to intermingle its 

 glossy foliage with the various tints around it. Oft have we stood and lingered in our 

 walks to watch and admire the bright and fleeting lights produced by our favourite 

 evergreen, as moved by the gentle zephyr, its polished leaves have reflected in dia- 

 mond-like coruscations, the rays of light as they penetrated the recesses in which it 

 grew, at the same time that its rich dark green foliage, by force of contrast, gave an 

 additional value to the paler tints of the mountain ash, the hazel, and various other 

 shrubs which grew around it." — p. 39. 



Art. XVII. — Varieties ; Original and Select. 



11. Value of Botanical Notes. I am glad to see any fresh effort to extend botani- 

 cal knowledge, and yours seems to be well calculated for this purpose. I hope that 

 your solicitation for " the slightest piece of information " will be responded to, for these 

 little affairs are sometimes productive of much pleasure and interest to succeeding bo- 

 tanists. I recollect an instance. A correspondent wrote to me for a specimen of As- 

 pidium fragile, Stvartz : I sought it in vain : but on turning to Withering I found 

 mention of a station within two miles of my own house, where it had been found thirty 

 years before by a lady who happened to have a temporary residence close to the spot. 

 I went in search of it, and had the delight to find a single plant, — the only one I have 

 ever discovered in the neighbourhood. — Benjamin Maund ; Bromsgrove,Juh/3,\SA\. 



12. Supposed effect of Chlorine on Blue Flowers. As we are alluding to trifles, I 

 will mention a circumstance which may lead to further enquiry. Near to the British 



