171 



tion for which, an apparently truly wild one, he pointed out to me in an excursion we 

 made to Beachy Head, in the autumn of 1840. From the periodical cutting of the 

 brushwood not permitting the trees to acquire a flowering size, Mr. Borrer cannot with 

 certainty refer them to their species, I understand however that they belong to the 

 kinds with broad foliage. Other stations for Tilia europasa and grandifolia are given 

 both in England and Scotland, as at Boxhill, Streatham, Blair Athol and near Edin- 

 burgh, but from what has been just said of the distribution of the broad-leaved limes, 

 it is not probable that they are indigenous to the latter country. In Ireland T. parvi- 

 folia is the only really indigenous species recorded by Mr. Mackay (' Flora Hibernica') 

 on the authority of Templeton, and this is what we might expect from the nature of 

 the climate of that island. Mr. Leighton's observations on the differences between 

 our three limes (now I trust fully established as aboriginal in Britain), are made with 

 his accustomed accuracy. Tilia parvifolia in particular is, as generally seen, an ex- 

 tremely well marked species, from its smaller, more numerous and much later flowers, 

 and their weak leathery capsules, besides the other striking features so ably pointed 

 out by Mr. Leighton ; yet varieties do present themselves with most puzzling and as- 

 piring tendencies to emulate the umbrageous honours of their more " civilized^ fellow 

 species. — Id. 



11J>. Additional Facts on Monotropa Hypopitys. Mr. Wilson, I see (Phytol. 149), 

 objects to my view of the parasitic growth of Monotropa ; and the difficulty of the sub- 

 ject is shown, when even with the aid of the microscope so acute an investigator could 

 not arrive at positive certainty, even with respect to the " woolly substance " investing 

 its roots. This hairy envelope, I still think, is part of the economy of the plant, 

 having found it present in every specimen, and appearing to my observation to be 

 wound about the young tubers of the Monotropa and the rootlets of the beech, at 

 their junction with each other. No doubt it may be detached from the clustered 

 fleshy radicles of the flowering plants, and from the shrinking of the beech-roots the 

 connexion, with the nicest observation, appears dubious. Had Mr. Wilson, however, 

 the harsh oolitic soil of the Cotswolds to deal with, as I had, instead of the sand of 

 Lancashire, and seen me working at my task for a week, he would scarcely have im- 

 puted to me a want of care, in so far as I had conducted the investigation. Anxious 

 only to elicit truth, I have stated what appeared to my observation with ordinary ap- 

 pliances, being desirous, if possible, to render the matter clear to general observation; 

 nor does it follow that due care was not employed because I had no facilities for mi- 

 croscopic dissection close at hand. A powerful double lens, my pocket companion for 

 years, certainly Ithiirielizes my sight to some extent, and as far as it goes may be de- 

 pended upon. It appeared to me, then, that the fleshy clustered radicles of the Mo- 

 notropa, about which there can be no doubt, had ultimate fibres, spongioles or suckers, 

 connecting them with the rootlets of the beech. But as I have stated throughout, young 

 tubers must be examined for this, the " woolly substance " about the old plants, what- 

 ever it is, being too inextricably entangled to allow us to arrive at any certainty as to 

 the nature of its connexion. I shall here, however, just state an additional fact, con- 

 firmatory of my views, and I invite other botanists to examine the subject, with a per- 

 fect freedom from prejudice. Wishing to see if the young plants I had obtained from 

 among the beech-roots could be kept alive, I immersed two in a tumbler of water, 

 where they remained about a month, when, as they made no progress, I took them out 

 for preservation, and placed them in the sun to dry on a piece of white paper. To my 

 great surprise I found them, some days after, affixed to the pajjcr as if glued thereon. 



