180:2.] BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 157 



4. The plants in the Laminaria zone are Laminaria digitata, 

 Li\F^»^b^\L> saccharina, etc. Has L. Fascia been seen in the 

 British seas, or on their shores ? 



5. The examples of the fifth zone are Chondrus crispus and 

 Laminarice. 'Ai oalA .Ji hoj'r' 



6. Those of the deep-sea zbne are Laminaria longicruris (? Bri- 

 tish), Belesseria sinuosa, etc. Has D. denticulata been detected 

 on our shores ? n[i lo ifi'iSYSg aLjixJ oib oi -^/nl- 



We wish Mr. Lothiiiii, who is cdnv^eniently located for the 

 study of the species, habits, and distribution of JMarine Algals, 

 would send us the results of his experience on the subject. 



friijiod owt t^P'^^A^^I^^L NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 



Lodo'iq blno'71 (v'l ■ Kew Gardens. 



; ^'3 rrifi There !were no fewer than 480,070 visitors to Kew Gardens in 1861, 

 by far the largest number in any year. The past year saw the erection of 

 the raagniiiccnt spar of Dou<2,las Pine, 159 feet long, a superb pole, unri- 

 valled in Europe for height, symmetry, and excellence of material. It 

 was presented by Mr. E. Stamp. Standing among iine trees, which how- 

 ever are not much more than half its height, it serves to show the public 

 th'e enormous size of the tiniber-trees of our new colony of British Columbia. 

 ' Tlie Cinchonas (trees yielding quinine) sent to the Neilgherry Hills, Sir 

 W. J. Hooker says, are flourishing, and there are now upwards of 8000 

 plants in most vigorous growth, while there are 2170 more at Kew, 

 which will be ready for transmission to India at tlie proper season. The 

 experiment has been successful, too, in Ceylon, and in Jamaica as far as it 

 has goiie, but of the seeds sent to Trinidad not one has germinated. 



It is now some centuries silice the miraculous virtues of the "Jesuits' 

 Bark " were made known, and apprehensions have been felt for the continu- 

 ance of the supply ; yet there is hardly a medicine in use which is so in- 

 dispensable. Bark is one of tlie few real specifics with which we are ac- 

 quahited. Wherever anything of a periodical character can be detected in 

 , a disease, bark acts as a remedy. Very \yisely, therefore, have our bota- 

 'iucalauthorities been engaged in ensuring a supply of this invaluable 

 Hiedicine, and the different steps in the proceecbng are curious enough. 

 First, organized parties were dispatched into the Andes to procure young 

 plants and seeds of the best quality. Then the plants thus obtained were 

 received at Kew, and cai'efuUy nursed in a forcing-house erected for the 

 purpose. Here, as every condition was skilfully adapted to the wants of the 

 seedlings, they grew and flourished, but it would be unsafe to rely upon such 

 artificial cultivation, or to trust to hot-houses for the replenishment of 

 our druggists' stores. Was there no phice in the British Empire where 

 the Cinchonas — the trees yielding quinine — would grow naturally ? Of 

 course there was. India will grow anything — Tea, Cotton, Bark, or what- 

 ever England wants. So the seedlings reared at Kew were sent to India. 



