400 



* Second Report on Mr. Spruce's Collections of Dried Plants from 

 North Brazil ; by George Benthara, Esq.' 



' Botanical Information :' — ' Death of Dr. William Arnold Brom- 

 field.' ' Mr. Rucker's Orchideous Plants.' 



Mr. Mitten is still persevering in his bryological labours. He de- 

 scribes the following fifteen new species : — Zygodon fasciculatus, 

 Neckera viridula, N. debilis, Pilotrichum ramosum, Hypnnm interme- 

 dium, Barbula limbata, Leptotrichum gracile, Bartramia aciphylla, 

 Hookeria venusta, Plagiochila revolvens, Jungermannia nigresceus, 

 Lejeunea robusta, L. rotundifolia, L. cyathophora, and L. pallescens. 

 Mr. Mitten also proposes a new genus, which he characterizes under 

 the name of Leptoscyphus, the type of which is the Jungermannia 

 Liebmanniana, Ldhg. 8f Gottsche. 



The following is an extract from M. Seemann's paper : — 



" In a country where Nature has supplied nearly every want of life, 

 and where the consumption of a limited population is little felt, agri- 

 cultui-e, deprived of its proper stimulus, cannot make much progress. 

 It is, therefore, in the Isthmus, in the most primitive state : our first 

 parents hardly could have carried it on more rudely. A spade is a 

 curiosity, the plough has never been heard of, and the only imple- 

 ments used for converting forests into fields, are the axe and the ma- 

 chete (or chopping-knife). In 1846, an English gentleman, residing 

 at Panama, often used to boast jokingly that he was one of the few, if 

 not the only one, in the city, possessing a spade. Since the com- 

 mencement of the railway, and a more active traffic, both spades and 

 wheelbarrows, the latter formerly an unknown vehicle, have become 

 better known ; still they are far from being familiar sights in the 

 country. A piece of ground intended for cultivation is selected in the 

 forests, cleared of the trees by felling and burning them, and sur- 

 rounded with a fence. In the beginning of the wet season the field is 

 set with plants, by simply making a hole with the machete, and 

 placing the seed or root in it. The extreme heat and moisture soon 

 call them into activity, the fertility of a virgin soil affords them ample 

 nourishment, and without the further aid of man a rich harvest is pro- 

 duced. The same ground is occupied two or three years in succes- 

 sion ; after that time the soil is so hard, and the old stumps have 

 thriven with so much energy, that a new spot has to be chosen. In 

 most countries this mode of cultivation it would be impossible to prac- 

 tise ; but in New Granada all the unoccupied land is common pro- 

 perty, of which anybody may appropriate as much as he })leases, 

 provided he encloses it either artificially or by taking advantage of 



