12 FLOEA OP AUSTRALIA. 



allied. Clatlirus is represented here by a species that does not 

 possess the same disagreeable properties as the European C. 

 cancellatus or the Latticed Stinkhorn. Morchella esculenta, I have 

 seen only once in this colony. 



In concluding this rapid outline of the plants found in the 

 Parramatta District, I feel that the subject is too extensive for a 

 limited paper. Having made a humble attempt, however, I trust 

 that it may be the means of throwing some little light on the 

 natural beauties of the district, and of inducing others to see the 

 vast importance of devoting some portion of their time to the 

 study of nature. What Cicero remarked of the liberal arts, " that 

 they are nearly allied to each other/ and have, as it were, one com- 

 mon bond of union," may be extended to science in general, and 

 the observer of the phenomena in the vegetable kingdom will 

 often acknowledge with pleasure the intimate connexion that 

 exists between his favourite pursuit and other branches of science, 

 and perceive how beautifully and harmoniously one department 

 of knowledge illustrates and confirms the deductions of another. 

 We have already noticed in this brief sketch the commune mnculwni 

 between botany on the one hand, and medicine, horticulture, and 

 even the sublime study of natural theology on the other ; and if, 

 with the geologist, we were to dive into the bowels of the earth, 

 and gaze with wonder on a flora long extinct, the very district 

 that we have been considering, would assist us in investigating 

 the shadowy forms which are imprinted on the rocks. 



AUSTRALIAN ORCHIDS. 



COME time since, when I was engaged in collecting the orchids 

 of the Parramatta district, I calculated that we had forty-five 

 species of that interesting order, all of which, with one exception, 

 are described in Brown's Prodromus. Having reviewed my list 

 during the present season, (1866) and compared my conclusions 



