350 



'• When the peduncle becomes shorter, it is generally thickened or distorted; and 

 when present, as it often is in Q. sessiliflora, it is very short and robust. It would ap- 

 pear, that in proportion as the peduncle deviates from the normal state, as we observe 

 it in Q. Robur, and becomes more and more contracted, the acorns (no longer produ- 

 ced at ihe usual intervals) are developed in a clustered manner, till at length the pe- 

 duncle becomes so short, as to render them almost, if not really sessile. The acorns 

 of the British oaks are as sportive as the leaves ; so that no characters which have 

 been hitherto employed, taken singly or in combination, seem to be available for sepa- 

 rating our native oaks.'' — p. 67. 



" Were we to be guided by the result of such an examination as I have been able 

 to institute, into the characters hitherto employed for botanically distinguishing the 

 British oaks, we should be led to conclude that we certainly possess only one native 

 species. At the same time, it is quite possible that characters may have been over- 

 looked, which may really suffice to separate them. A remarkable diflference in the 

 timber has long been observed, that of Q. sessiliflora being termed Red Oak, — that of 

 Q. Robur, White Oak, from the colour of the wood. The relative merits of the two 

 kinds do not seem to be quite satisfactorily established ; but the gi'eatest weight of 

 testimony seems to be in favour of red oak (Q. sessiliflora), contrary to the expressed 

 opinion of Sir J. E. Smith. 



"It may still be a question whether the superiority of the one timber over the other 

 depends upon the specific difference of the tree. The subject is one of vast practical 

 importance, and still requires much investigation. It has not been in my power to 

 examine the wood of the trees from which my specimens were obtained, and therefore 

 I am unable to throw the smallest light on this part of the subject. My only object 

 at this time is to show, that the received botanical characters by which Q. Robur, Q. 

 intermedia, and Q. sessiliflora are at present distinguished, pass insensibly and com- 

 pletely into each other, and cannot therefore be depended on, in collecting acorns for 

 seed, and supplying the dock-yard with timber." — p. 68. 



IX. On the Vegetation and Botany of the Island of Madeira. JBy James 

 Macaulay, A.M., M.D., Foreign Secretary of the Botanical Society. 



The author observes that the island of Madeira " may be termed a 

 Transition station between the European and the African vegetation, 

 and intermediate between the temperate and intertropical regions of 

 botanical geography." In character its Flora appears to be most al- 

 lied to that of the northern shores of the Mediterranean, notwithstand- 

 ing the situation of the island off the African coast, between 32° and 

 33° N. lat. Many of the plants however are species not found in Eu- 

 rope, although they belong to European genera; some species are 

 peculiar to the island, while others are common to Madeira, the Cana- 

 ries and the Atlantic isles. 



" The scenery is of the inost glorious character, both as respects the beauty of the 

 cultivated parts and the sublimity of the mountain districts of the island. In the in- 

 terior, and on the rth coast especially, the traveller meets with combinations of na- 

 tural objects such as in no other part of the world can be witnessed, and which oblite- 



