Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 449 



traction, in the figures, of the typical vertebrae, in his work (p. SI, 

 fig. 14, p. 82, fig. 15) criticised by Dr. Melville; and that he knew 

 of nothing in nature which corresponded with Dr. Melville's diagram, 

 showing distinct hsemapophyses and a haemal spine coexisting with 

 vertebral ribs, sternal ribs, and sternum, in the same segment. On 

 the principles on which Dr. Melville had constructed his ideal ver- 

 tebra, viz. by the addition of mere adaptive processes of the centrum, 

 exaggerated and artificially subdivided, to true and constant vertebral 

 elements, such ideal vertebra might with a good reason be made 

 symmetrical by the addition of a second concentric neural arch, as in 

 Professor Owen's sketch of the human parietal vertebra, to the true 

 exj)anded neural arch, and in his opinion such superadded internal 

 neural arch might, with as good reason, be viewed as the true neur- 

 apophyses and neural spine, and had as good title to be diagramati- 

 cally represented as subdivided into those three separate elements, 

 as the second internal haemal arch, which Dr. Melville had super- 

 added to his (Professor Owen's) figure of the second form of the 

 typical vertebra (On the Archetype, &c., p. 82, fig. 15). Such an 

 * ideal vertebra ' would then truly exhibit what jDr. Melville had de- 

 fined as " the most complete possible vertebra," and what Mr. Mac- 

 lise called " the plus vertebral quantity." 



Dr. Melville rejoined by reiterating his conviction that his ' ideal 

 vertebra * was the true one, and would ultimately be accepted as such 

 by all anatomists. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



Nov. 8, 1849. — Professor Balfour, President, in the Chair. 



Numerous donations were announced. 



The President, in taking the chair, made a few remarks on the 

 progress of botany since the Society last met in July. He alluded 

 especially to the encouragement afforded to the science in the new 

 Irish colleges, and to the great discoveries recently made in India by 

 Dr. Joseph D. Hooker and Dr. Thomas Thomson. He read a letter 

 from Dr. William Jameson of the Saharampore Gardens, giving an 

 account of his botanical researches, and stating that he was pro- 

 ceeding to survey the country between the Kelum and the Indus. 

 His botanical collections are very extensive, and will ere long be 

 transmitted to Europe. He mentions that Dr. Thomson's collections 

 were ready for transmission, and that Major Madden had made some 

 interesting observations on the botany of the Himalayas. He states 

 that the catalogue of the Saharampore Garden will be published 

 soon. Dr. Jameson's letter was accompanied with some seeds for 

 the Botanic Garden, and a few dried specimens. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. " Notice of Plants found in the neighbourhood of Durham and 

 Lancaster," by John Townley, Esq. In this communication, Mr. 

 Townley mentioned that he had noticed nearly 400 species of pha- 

 nerogamous plants and ferns in the neighbourhood of Durham. 



Ann. 6f Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iv. 30 



