430 



" The rnontli of July came, and with it the evening primrose {CEno- 

 thera biennis), which covered the shores of the Rhine and other rivers; 

 also, though rarely, another species of Qi^nothera (muricata), having 

 the lower leaves lancet-shaped. None of the species are natives of 

 Europe, having been brought from Virginia, about 1614, and, escaping 

 from gardens, appeared universally over the country, and now have 

 the appearance of true natives. Euphorbia Gerardiana, Dianthus 

 prolifer, Armeria, and Carthusianorum were now in abundance. The 

 latter I have noticed seems to prefer particularly a soil of volcanic 

 tufa, for wherever the tufa lies there I have constantly found the plant 

 in most quantity. This is probably, however, only a coincidence. 

 The species of Verbascum were also numerous around Bonn. I found 

 V. Thapsus, Thapsiforme, nigrum, Blattaria, Lychnites, nigro-flocco- 

 sum, and Thapsiforme-floccosum. Digitalis ochroleucum I found now 

 and then rarely. On the tops of high hills I occasionally observed 

 Bupleurum longifolium, and once B. rotundifolium. Along the shores 

 of the Rhine near Bonn I picked Herniaria glabra, Corrigiola littora- 

 lis, Saponaria vaccaria, and Calla palustris. About this time, too, the 

 beautiful heads of Helichrysum arenarium, with which tombs are 

 decked here, as well as in France, began to appear, accompanied fre- 

 quently by Inula Britannica. Lepidium ruderale and graminifolium 

 flower also at this time, 



" Towards the end of my stay I looked at the ferns of the country. 

 Of these there are a good number, but only one species (Struthiopteris 

 germanica) that we have not in Britain, which, however, I did not find 

 till my last day in Bonn. The ferns, generally, are not distributed so 

 plentifully as in Britain. Osmunda regalis, Ophioglossum vulgatum, 

 and Scolopendrinm vulgare are pretty frequently found. Asplenium 

 septentrionale is very common, much more so than Ruta-muraria or 

 Trichomanes. I found five Lycopodia, L. alpinum, clavatum, Selago, 

 inundatum, and a common one there, though a stranger to us, L. 

 chamse-Cyparissias. I got the rare Woodsia hyperborea far up the 

 Rhine, in the vicinity of Bacharach." 



Mr. Blackie exhibited specimens of the more interesting species, 

 and presented to the Society's library a MS. catalogue of all the plants 

 observed by him during his three months' stay in the neighbourhood 

 of Bonn, which contains 586 Dicotyledones, 175 Monocotyledones, 

 and 28 Acolyledones, making a total of 789 species. 



5, ' Microscopical Observations on a kind of Paper made from Ve- 

 getable Tissue ;' by John Matthews, Esq. Mr. Matthews stated that 

 he had examined the specimen of paper presented at the last meeting 



