f 



Miscellaneous Intelligence. 155 



5, Memoire sur le Vallisnerla spiralis^ L. ; par Ad. CnAxm, Paris : 

 1855. pp. 31, 4to, ^vith 5 plates. — The Vallisneria, famous in Lotauical 

 literature, is here treated, 1st, as to organography and vegetation; 2d, us 

 to the organogeny of the flower ; 3d, its anatomy ; 4th, its teratology ; 

 and 5th, its physiology. Upon the latter points the author has nothing 

 of any consequence to say ; nor do his investigations of the organogra- 

 phy and organogeny of the plant offer any important points for notice. 

 The so-called staminodia of the female flowers he shows to be petals, ac- 

 cording to the prevalent view. That the ovules are orthotropous is a 

 fact which he announced in the year 1854. The ^ame fact was pub- 

 lished in this countr}^ in 1848. Their dispersion over the walls of the 

 ovary is apparently an original observation; but the note remarking that 

 orthotropous ovules were not before known to be borne on funiculi was 

 written in forgetfulness of Helianthemum and other Cistacese, in which 

 slender funiculi have long been familiarly known, A. G. 



6. Freshwater Bivalves. — The following is a list of papers recently 

 published by I. Lea, of Philadelphia, in the Proceedings of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



Descriptions of four new species of exotic Uniones. — Descriptions of 

 thirteen new species of exotic Peristomata. — Descriptions of fifteen new 

 species of exotic Melaniana. — Description of the byssus of the genus 

 XJnio. — Descriptions of eleven new species of exotic Uniones, from Geor- 

 gia, — Remarks on Triquetra contorta. — Remarks on the visual organs of 

 the Naiades. — Descriptions of thirteen new species of Uniones, from 

 Georgia. — Descriptions of twelve new species of Uniones, fiom North 

 Carolina.— Descriptions of six new species of Uniones, from Alabama. — 

 Descriptions of eight new species of NaiadeS, from various parte of the 

 United States. — Descriptions of three new species of Naiades. 



V. Agassiz, — The first volume of Agassiz's great work is all printed, ex- 

 cepting a few pages. 



IV. MISCELLANEOUS SCIENTIFIC IKTELLIGEKClf. 



r 



1. Cold weather, — The record of the thermometer, at Dartmouth Col- 

 lege, has been kept twenty-tliree years; and shows the past month to have 

 been the coldest of that period. "The Januarys of 1844, 1840 and 183Y, 

 Avere remarkable for their severity, but yield the palm to January, 1857. 



The mean temperatures, at the hours of observation, viz. 7^ a. m., 1^ 

 ^. M., and 9^ p. m., together with the average, and the highest and lowest 

 temperature of these respective itidtiths, are given below. Also the ap- 

 proximate average of all the means, for the Januarys of the period of 



twenty-three years. 



i A.M. li P.M. HP'M. Average. Highest. Lowest. 



-n ^ < rn.z-k kO.O ^70.0 OCO OfiO 



January 1857, l«-3 15^0 5^-2 n^'2. 36^ -39 



" 1844 *7 17 '7 5 "3 1 '9 44 -SO 



1840| '4 18 -8 7-3 8 -8 40 -33 



" 1837, 1 '1 18 '5 8 -0 9-2 46 -81 



Average for 23 years, 11 2 25-3 16 -1 17 *5 46 "6 -21 



The 



winters of this 



period of twenty- three years, beginning with that of 1835, are as follows: 

 _30, -24, -16, -16,-33,-24,-18, -31,-29, -32,-20,-29,-22, 



" 34, - 21, - 33; - 29, - 23, - 13, - 29, - 26, - 18, - 39. Average - 25-6. 



