Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 123 
ledones, for there are several fishes which. have no vertebre. The 
Insecta of Linnzeus, or the articulated animals of authors, are di- 
stinguished by the absorption of the vitellus occurring by the back ; 
and as all of them are not articulated, it would be better to name 
them the Epivitelliens or Epicotyledones. Inthe Worms ( Vermes) of 
Linnzeus, of which Cuvier has made. his Mollusca and Radiata, the 
vitellus returns inwards neither by the back nor by the belly; and 
we may distinguish them by the names of Allovitelliens or Allocoty- 
ledones. ‘The Mollusca certainly do not differ so much from the 
Radiata, as the Vertebrata do from the Articulata. Time, as the 
author says, must test this arrangement, which must be admitted to 
be very ingenious. 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, 
Dec. 11, 1845.—Dr. A. Inglis in the Chair. 
Mr. J. M‘Nab read a continuation of his Journal of a Tour through 
part of the United States and the Canadas. 
In the present portion, embracing the journey from Niagara to New 
London, Mr. M‘Nab particularly alluded to the excellent state of 
the cultivated grounds through the Hamilton and Gore districts, and 
the suitableness of large tracts of the wooded country for emigrants. 
On some waste land round the head of Burlington Bay, many good 
specimens of herbaceous plants were observed in flower; of these 
the Lespideza hirta, Polygala verticillata, Gerardia tenuifolia, and 
G. pedicularia, were abundant, with Chrysopsis alba; the latter plant 
being noticed for the first time as an inhabitant of Canada. Two 
grasses with strong herbage, dadropogon furcatus and Limnetus cy- 
nosuroides, abound in the neighbourhood of. Hamilton, but neither 
seemed. to be: relished by cattle. The moerland ground in the 
vicinity of Brantford afforded many. interesting botanical rarities, 
among which Euphorbia corollata was conspicuous. Liatris stricta, 
Aletris farinosa, Lespideza frutescens, Batschia Gmelini, Arenaria 
stricta, Viola palmata, with many others, were plentiful in flower, 
and proved most attractive objects on the dry sandy plains; while 
the moister places yielded Tofieldia glutinosa, Zigadinus chloranthus, 
and Glycine apios in profusion. The forests of the inland districts 
were exceedingly rich and varied; many of them containing large 
and lofty trees of oak, elm, beech, hickory, ash, and white pine, 
Some of these districts, in process of clearing, presented a very re- 
markable appearance in consequence of large groups of stately trees 
standing dead, many with stems from 10 to 14 feet in circumference 
and varying from 80 to 100 feet in height. The mode resorted to 
by the settlers for killing the trees is by cutting, during the early 
part of winter, a notch five or six inches deep round the lower part 
of their stems. The white pines presented a very singular appear- 
ance, caused by a peculiar seeming twisting of the decayed trunks in 
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