Dr. Balfour on Megacarpsea polyandra. '?7 



The following is a description of the plant taken from the speci- 

 men sent by Mr. Moore : — 



Megacarpcea polyandra, Benth. — Leaf sent by ^Ir. Moore about 

 a foot long — greatest breadth about 7 inches ; deeply pinnatifid — lobes 

 narrowish, tapering at the apex — toothed ; upper surface dark green 

 — under surface glaucous, covered with short hairs, many of which 

 are glandular. Similar hairs occur on the petiole, which is thick, 

 with ridges and grooves, flattened on the upper side and rounded 

 below. Flowers in compact racemose clusters, of a yellowish-white 

 colour, and haA"ing a strongish odour. Sepals whitish, with a yellomsh 

 and purplish tinge hi some places, rugose, deciduous, broadly ob- 

 ovate, and convex externally. Petals smaller than the sepals — ob- 

 ovate, tapering below — rugose. Stamens varying from 11 to 13, 

 some longer than others, but not apparently in any definite number ; 

 filaments thick — broader below. Anthers innate, two-lobed, yellow ; 

 green circle of glands round the base of the stamens, attached to a 

 broadish thick receptacle. Ovary transversely elliptical, with a short 

 style and large stigma — two-celled. Fruit a silicula, mth the replum. 

 across its narrow part. Seed brownish, about 1^ inch in length, 

 and about the same in breadth — winged ; the wing nearly a quarter 

 of an inch deep — veined ; hilum straight or slightly curved, about 

 half an inch long. 



3. "Lowest Temperature indicated by the Register Thermometer 

 (Fahr.), kept at tho Botanic Garden, during April 1855," by Mr. 

 M'Xab. 



Average lowest temperature for April 33f ". 



4. " Register of the Flowering of Plants in the Botanic Garden, 

 compared with the four preceding years," by Mr, M'Nab. 



5. "Remarks on Mr. Moore's notice of the effects of the late 

 winter at Dublin," by Prof. Balfour. 



6. "On the Disease of Finger and Toe in Root Crops," by Sir 

 John S. Forbes. 



7. " Notice of the origin of the name Chenopodium Bonus Hen- 

 ricus," by Mr. J. Hardy. 



Lately, in turning over J. Bauhin's ' Historia Plantarum,' I met 

 with the following, tom. ii. p. 965. — " Dodon. Gall, et Lat. in fol. 

 qui sub Tota Bona describit et depingit ; ait Bonum Henricum a 

 singulari quadam utili facultate vocari ; veluti et perniciosam quan- 

 dam plantam Malum Ilenricum appellant, dequo alibi dicendum." I 

 have not the Latin copy of Dodouceus, but in the English translation 

 of Lyte, 1st ed. 1578, p. 501, this explanation is not given ; we have, 

 however, the English " Good Henry," being a translation of the 

 Dutch and German name. The term Bonus Henricus it appears 

 from Mentzel (Lidex sub Lapath.) occurs in Brunsfel's Herbal, 

 printed in 1532. I suspect, however, that it will be found in the 

 'Herbarius' of 1484, or the Ortus Sanitatis, as in an early Herbal 

 that I possess, without a date, but published by Egenolt, who is 

 said to have given an improved edition of Cuba's work, I find the 

 name Gut Heinrich over the figure of this plant. (This book of 

 Egenolf has no text, being merely coloured figures.) The English 



