150 



from Soiithport were quite inodorous to me until they had lain some time in paper to 

 dry ; they then gave out a scent very similar to that of a raw potato, and I took care 

 to have the fact confirmed by other people's noses. I may also mention that Mono- 

 tropa has not been accurately described either by Smith or Hooker. What the for- 

 mer alludes to as smaller and interior petals, in reality constitute the calyx, and are 

 inserted on the outside of the true petals, which have cucuUate bases projecting farther 

 back than the point of insertion : hence the mistake into which Smith has fallen ; the 

 petals therefore are but 4 or 5, and the leaves of the perianth corresponding in number. 

 The hollow channelled stigma and style of Monotropa may be considered very favour- 

 able for exhibiting the pollen-tubes ; with a small hooked needle they may be drawn 

 out from a longitudinally divided style in considerable masses, each poll en- tube having 

 the same diameter as the grain of pollen at its summit. — W. Wilson ; Warrington, 

 December 23, 1841. 



107. Adiantum Capillus-Veneris in the Isle of Man. During the summer of 1841, 

 and but a short time previous to the date of Mr. Clark's notice (Phytol. 89), I had oc- 

 casion to visit the Isle of Man ; and foremost among the objects of attraction in the 

 island was Adiantum Capillus-Veneris at Glen " Meay," to see which, and the ruins 

 at Peel, a day was set apart. We were soon rolled across the island from Douglas, 

 and having wandered musingly for some time among the venerable ruins of Peel Cas- 

 tle, I proceeded to the extensive quarry of old red sandstone in the neighbourhood, and 

 thence directed my steps to " the Glen," which, after some trouble, I found. The 

 plantation was entered through a gap in the hedge-row, and following a narrow path 

 through the trees, I gained the brook-side about twenty yards below the fall ; with 

 some ditBculty I made my way, on the right hand side of the brook, to the basin, and 

 having leaped the stream, I found good footing on the extended gravel bed of the brook, 

 which was bounded by a precipitous bank of rock, but certainly in no way deserving 

 the appellation of a cave. It was in the crevices of this rock that I first observed the 

 Adiantum, and here I found only about four almost leafless plants ; fearful lest this 

 might be the only spot on which it grew, and deprecating, with Mr. Newman, every- 

 thing like botanical ravages, I made some further examination before any specimens 

 were gathered, and for the satisfaction of Mr. Clark and others I can state that there 

 is no need of doubt respecting its continuance, for in the course of my search, which was 

 continued as far as I could manage to get along the left bank, I found young plants, 

 intermingled with a few more mature ones, in tolerable quantities, though it required 

 some examination where the fronds were gone, and they were fast decaying, to disco- 

 ver the roots of the fern. Furthermore I may add that the finest root I saw, perhaps 

 the parent of the whole, was high above the waterfall, and perfectly inaccessible ; this 

 it was that left in my mind no fear of its eradication, I therefore gathered the few roots 

 I first saw, leaving little thei-e behind me. Such however was the state of these roots 

 that they only supplied about seven green fronds ; they are doing very well in cultiva- 

 tion. The difiiculty of discovering the frondless roots was perhaps, also, in some mea- 

 sure, the cause of Mr. Clark's disappointment ; but surely, to carry away the only root 

 to be found, is not the best method of rendering authentic a dubious locality. — Tkos. 

 G. Rylands ; Bewsey House, Warrington, December 24, 1841. 



108. Objection to the Alphabetical Arrangement of Local Lists of Plants. Mr. 

 Editor, will you allow me to make public (in the same periodical) an individual pro- 

 test against a recommendation made by the reviewer of the second edition of the Cata- 

 logue published by the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, (Phytol. 109). The reviewer 



