238 Miscellaneous. 



Anderson, " near Abbot's Langley." Proceeding by the Birming- 

 ham railroad to the King's Langley station, I first examined the 

 neighbourhood of that village and made some fruitless inquiries. I 

 then proceeded to Abbot's Langley, examining carefully some Avoods 

 on the way. At length, in passing through the village of Abbot's 

 Langley, I observed the plant growing under a tree on the lawn be- 

 fore a house not far from the church. Having found out the gardener, 

 I learned from him that it is reputed wild in this situation ; that it 

 has never been knoAATi to be planted, and comes up yearly, sometimes 

 in one spot, sometimes in another, in considerable abundance ; but he 

 does not believe that it grows in other places in the neighbourhood. 

 He obliged me with several specimens, which I presume are as wild as 

 any found in England, and I have little doubt of this being the very 

 station referred to both by Mr. Hudson and Mr. Geo. Anderson ; 

 though if it be true that the plant is found nowhere else in the sur- 

 rounding country, its being entirely within the enclosure of one gen- 

 tleman's grounds must lead to a suspicion that it has at some time 

 been introduced. 



Believe me to be, dear Sirs, very truly yours, 



William Hincks. 

 Torriiigton Square, April 20, 1841. 



On the Irish localities for Dianthus plumarius. — The Dianthiis 

 plumarius has no claim to a place in the Irish Flora, being evidently 

 an outcast from gardens where it has been found; as, for example, 

 at Blackrock, which abounds in gardens, and on the cliffs of Hop 

 Island, immediately over which there is a flower-garden ; it was 

 also said to have been found on an old castle near Kinsale, since 

 pulled down. I have searched all these places in vain for the plant. 



The only Dianthus found near Cork is Dianthus deltoides, which 

 occurs very sparingly in a dry hilly pasture near Dunscomb Wood. 

 I met with it in June 1836, and specimens from that locality are in 

 the possession of J. T. Mackay, Esq. — Wm. T. Alexander. 



Naval Hospital, PI3 mouth, March 11, iSll. 



[The Dianthus plumarius and Caryophyllus have as little claim to 

 a place in the English Flora, for they are scarcely ever naturalized 

 in the stations recorded for them. — Edit.] 



Suicidal poivers of Luidia. — "The wonderful power which ^the 

 Luidia possesses, not merely of casting away its arms entire, but of 

 breaking them voluntarily into little pieces with great rapidity, ap- 

 proximates it to the Ophiurse. This faculty renders the preservation 

 of a perfect specimen a very difficult matter. The first time I ever 

 took one of these creatures I succeeded in getting it into the boat 

 entire. Never having seen one before, and quite unconscious of its 

 suicidal powers, I spread it on a rowing-bench, the better to admire 

 its form and colours. On attempting to remove it for preservation, 

 to my horror and disappointment I found only an assemblage of re- 

 jected members. My conservative endeavours were all neutralized 

 by its destructive exertions, and it is now badly represented in my 

 cabinet by an armless disc and a discless arm. Next time I Avent 



