294 Natural History in London. 
cularly direct their attention to individuals of the Mustela, or weasel tribe ; 
the polecat, marten, ferret, weasel, &c. &c.; also the badger, hare, rabbit, 
pheasant (especially the ring-necked), partridge, and all kinds of birds from 
the house sparrow to the hawk. I have not ‘mentioned different varieties 
of Sorex, or shrew mouse, water rat, field mouse, &c. Any contributions 
would be very valuable, and I know that the Society would willingly pay 
any expenses incident upon their transmission to Bruton Street.—F. Z. 8. 
London, April 15. 1820. 
Linnean Society. — March 16. On this evening (being the eve of St. 
Patrick ), Mr. Bicheno, the secretary, read a paper on the plant intended by 
the shamrock of Ireland, in which he attempted to prove by botanical, his- 
torical, and etymological evidence, that the original plant was not the white 
clover, which is now employed as the national emblem. He stated that it 
would seem a condition at least suitable, if not necessary, to a national 
emblem, that it should be something familiar to the people, and familiar 
too at that season when the national feast is celebrated. Thus the 
Welsh have given the /eek to St. David, being a favourite oleraceous 
herb, and the only green thing they could find on the Ist of March. 
The Scotch, on the other hand, whose feast is in autumn, have adopted 
the thistle. The white clover is not fully expanded on St. Patrick’s day, 
and wild specimens of it could hardly be obtained at this season. Be- 
sides it was probably, nay, almost certainly, a plant of uncommon occur- 
rence in Ireland during its early history, having been introduced into 
that country in the middle of the seventeenth century, and made common 
by cultivation. He then referred to several old authors, to prove that the 
shamrock was eaten by the Irish; and to one who went over to Ireland in 
the sixteenth century, who says it was eaten, and was a sour plant. The 
name, also, of shamrock is common to several trefoils, both in the Irish and 
Gaelic languages. Now clover could not have been eaten, and it is not 
sour. Taking, therefore, all the conditions requisite, they are only found 
in the wood-sorrel, O’xalis Acetosélla. It is an ear ly spring plant ; it was, 
and is, abundant in Ireland ; it is a trefoil ; it is called sham-rog by the old 
herbalists, and it is sour: whilst its beauty might well entitle it to the 
distinction of being the national emblem. The substitution of one for the 
other has been occasioned by cultivation, which made the wood-sorrel less 
plentiful, and the Dutch clover abundant. (Phil. Mag., April 1830, p. 228.) 
Geological Society. — Feb. 19. This being the Anniversary Meeting, an 
excellent address was delivered from the chair by the president, Professor 
Sedgewick. The affairs of the Society are in a prosperous condition, and 
the number of members increasing. During the last year, fifty home and 
seven foreign members have been added to the list, and several excellent 
papers have been received and read, the most important of which were 
noticed by the Professor, in his most eloquent and philosophical discourse, 
The address, being too long for our pages, will be found at length in the 
Philosophical Magazine, vol. vil. No. 40, for April 1830, p. 289. 
The Meetings of this Society, unlike those of the Linnean, the Zoological, 
or the Horticultural, are characterised by discussions on the subject of the 
papers which have been read: this we consider an important feature in 
favour of this Society, and one which ought to be considered essential 
in ev ery similar association. Without this kind of discussion and convers- 
ation, it seems to us that nine tenths of the good to be done by an assem- 
blage. of men devoted to the same pursuits must be lost. Take away the 
personal intercourse between the members, which takes place before and 
after the main business of the Meeting, and the rest will appear a species of 
mummery, often dull enough. But more of this hereafter. — Cond. 
