1859.] THIRSK NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 351 



that ' thistles ' is a more correct or appropriate translation than 

 ' thorns/ 



Mr. Hind referred us to Lady Calcott's work on the Plants of 

 Scripture^, and upon that authority the Prunus spinosa was con- 

 sidered to be the thorny plant which sprang up with the seed, as 

 she tells us that this plant grows abundantly in the Holy Land. 



I observe, however, in the last number of the ' Phytologist/ 

 p. 134, the Editor, in his excellent Chapter on British Botany, 

 says, "There are many thorns in Palestine; those, however, 

 which are common to the British Isles and the Holy Land are 

 but few : our common Whitethorn, Cratcegus Owyacantha, is per- 

 haps the only one.'^ 



A better authority than Lady Calcott might be asked for, and 

 I hope it may be found. S. B. 



THIESK NATUEAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. 

 Botanical Exchange Club. 



The monthly meeting of the Thirsk Natural History Society 

 was held on the evening of Tuesday, the 28th of June. Mr. 

 Wm. Bean, of Liverpool, Avas admitted a member of the Bo- 

 tanical Exchange Club. Mr. J. G. Baker communicated the fol- 

 lowing notice relative to Fumaria capreolata as a British plant. 



" In the short address at the conclusion of the third volume 

 of their ' Flore de France,^ MM. Grenier and Godron speak of 

 having united in their first volume, under Fumaria muralis, 

 three species which they now consider truly distinct, none of 

 which is identical with the true muralis of Sonder and Koch. 

 One of these is, I presume, the plant described as muralis in the 

 second edition of Boreau's ' Flore du Centre,^ the same that M. 

 Jordan has since designated F. Borm. From capreolata it is 

 defined as diflFering by its smaller and shorter sepals, — ' sepalis 

 subrotundo-ovatis, corollse tubo baud triplo brevioribus,' — and 

 fruit somewhat longer than broad. Unless I am under a mis- 

 apprehension, this plant is not uncommon in our country, 

 usually passing muster as capreolata unchallenged, and is the 

 same that has occasionally been labelled agraria by British 

 botanists. I have met with both varieties in this neighbourhood, 



