Dec. 29, 1855.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



55 



the creature he came from his Maker's (p. 284), lead to the inference that in tWse tw - m-r» . quite 



hands ! ^•--4 there are peculiarities worthy of more minute obaerva- 



« Who has not had this borne in upon his mind when tion, and the beautiful plates of Fischer von Roalerstamm 



green ; so great is tlie influe 



his feet carried him forth into the fields of nature ? I 



pass out among our sylvan scenes ; and here, on the 



spray of the tasselled Broom, there sits and sings a little 



bird ; it fills the glen with melody ; from his throat and 



throbbing breast he rings out the sweetest music, as 



with keen bright eye he now looks up to God 1 and now 



down on the bush where his mate sits with wings 



extended over their unfeathered nestlings ; with songs 



he cheers her maternal cares, and is then away on busy 



wing to cater for mother and her young. Next, I turn 



my steps to the open moor ; and so soon as the intruder 



appears on her lonely domain, the lapwing comes down 



upon the wind ; brave and venturesome she sweeps us 



with her wing, and shrieks out her distress as she 



wheels round and round our head ; her brood are 



cowering on that naked waste ; nor does she rest until 



our foot is off the ground, and even then, when the coast 



is clear, we hear her long wild screams, like the beating 



of a mother's heart when her child is saved ; like the 



mournful dash of waves upon the shore long after the 



wind is down. Next I climb the mountain, when snow 



drifts thick from murky heavens, and, like Satan taking 



advantage of a believer's trials, the wily fox is out upon 



the hunt ; every mother of the flock lies there with her 



tender lamb behind her ; with her body she screens it 



from the rudeness of the storm ; and with her head to 



the wind, and expanded nostrils snuffing the distant 



danger, she lies ready, the moment her eye catches the 



stealthy foe, to receive him on her feet, and die, like a 



true mother, in her lamb's defence. Such are God's 



creatures. The work is unmarred 



what it came from the Maker's hand 



have shown us what valuable aids may be obtained from 



this state ; we also miss the cocoons in the last two 

 plates. 



As this volume is stated to be the first of a 

 long series (the present subscription being for 10 

 volumes, and a second series to the same extent 

 being announced), we would suggest a closer mode of 

 printing with the omission of the sectional divisions of 

 each species with separate headings ; and if it be thought 

 necessary to publish Latin, German, and French 

 translations of the English text, we think each should 

 form a separate volume, so that the purchaser should 

 not be compelled to pay for four times the necessary 

 quantity of text. 



To his series of works on Popular Natural History 

 Mr. Lovell Reeve has added a Popular History of the 

 Palms and their allies (square 12ino with 20 litho- 

 tinted plates). The author is l>r. mann, whose per- 

 sonal acquaintance with tropical vegetation enables 



him to speak with confidence respecting much of the 

 matter contained in the volume ; besides which he 

 informs the reader that he has been very greatly 

 assisted by many distinguished botanical travellers and 

 others. With such advantages, aided by a ready pen, 

 Dr. Seemann has produced a book, small if we look to 

 its cubical contents, but large if it is measured by the 

 amount of valuable information contained in it. Nor is 

 it an exaggeration to say that it is the first book on the 

 subject from the hand of one qualified to deal with it in 

 its many aspects. 



The beauty of Palms is known to every reader who 

 cares for descriptions of tropical scenery, from the 





the workmanship 

 ; and away among 

 these old hoary hills, remote from man, his cities, his _ ... _ .. . . - _ _ . , , r . . . A 



sins, his works, his sorrows, we are out of hearing of the ^"^T^? ^ygf^y^-^^^^Z^,^^ 1 ^™^ 



groans of creation ; and, but for the corruption we 

 carry with and within us, we could almost forget the 

 Fall. Stretched on a flowery bank, with the hum of 

 bees, the song of birds, and the chirp of the merry 

 grasshopper in our ear, heaven serene above us, and 

 beneath us the placid lake, where every flower and bush 

 and Birch tree of the rock looks down into the mirror 



of its own beauty, the murmur of the waterfall sounds 

 to us like an echo from the crags of the Creator's 

 voice, « All is very good.'" 



The Natural History of the Tineina, vol. I. By H. T. 

 Stainton, assisted by Professor Zeller and J. W. 

 Douglas. London, Van Voorst. Pp. xiii and 338, and 

 eight coloured plates. 

 German, and Latin. 



the philosopher who recomputes the statistics of Hum- 

 boldt ; and now that Kew has become the favourite 

 resort of Londoners, even the shop-boy who never heard 

 of St. Pierre or the great Prussian physicist carries with 

 him a vivid impression of their graceful forms, after 

 wandering through the delicious Palm grove there, of 

 which by the way we are sorry to see quite a caricature 

 in the frontispiece of the work before us. As to their 

 utility, Palm oil, Palm brooms, Rattans, Palm wines, 

 Coir ropes, Sago, Palmyra bow staves, Vegetable Ivory 

 have became objects as familiar as Dates, C«>coa-nuts, 

 and Betel nuts have long been. To know something 



however rare their 



correctly about things so common, 



sources may be, has become an object of great general 



m , A . ? -, .. , _, . interest— and one which we think Dr. Seemann has 

 The text in English, French, 8ati8fied# It is more , ifc ; s now g su bject of very 



great commercial importance, as, for example, the 

 The study of the " little moths," or microlepidoptera, as I evidence collected by the author concerning Cohune oil 

 they have latterly been termed, has made great progress sufficiently proves. 

 during the last twenty years, especially in this country, 

 and as might have been expected a vast number of new 



species has been discovered, of which the continental 

 lepidopterists are entirely ignorant. Nor has this know- 

 ledge been confined (as has too generally been the case 

 with entomological collectors) to the capture of specimens 

 in the perfect or winged state, but with a laudable desire 

 to obtain a complete history of the species — as well 

 also as to secure for their cabinets a fine series of choice 

 specimens uurubbed by the collecting net— several en- 

 thusiastic microlepidoptei ists have traced many of these 

 insects through their different stages, and have thus 

 obtained very interesting results, both as relates to the 

 classification of the different species and genera (it being 

 now generally admitted that the characters derived from 

 the transformations are as valuable as those of the fully 

 developed insects themselves), as well as to the various 

 plants upon which the species subsist in their caterpilh 

 state. Amongst these observers Mr. Stainton stands 

 pre-eminent, and the untiring zeal with which he has 

 pursued the study in this point of view for several years 

 past merits the thanks of every lepidopterist. The 

 volume before us offers striking evidence of the good 

 results arising from such a course of investigation, con- 



Having said so much in favour of this work we must 

 not omit a notice of its blemishes, especially since we 

 hope soon to see a new edition in which they may be 

 avoided. Of the likeness of the Palm-house at Kew we 



than 



it 



have just spoken with no greater severity 

 deserves. Instead of representing the beautiful foliage 

 of that charming place it iB a picture of sucii dead 

 burnt-up vegetation, that if it were really like truth, the 

 Palm-houfe must be a furnace in which nothing 

 living could exist. The other plates are better; but 

 some reference should be made to the sources whence 

 they are derived, and they should be placed in communi- 

 cation with the matter to which they relate, y On the 

 contrary Chamserops humilis stands with Attalea, 

 Areca with Acrocomia, Borassus and Cory pi 1a with 

 Astrocaryum, and so on ; nor is this inconvenience at 

 all remedied by the index ; so that, in the case of the 



more 

 copious rains of the wwtt'rn districts. The difference 

 in elevation was hardly sufficient I v great to cat* -uch 

 a change of climate. They reckon nearly three weeks 

 between the seasons at Deloraine and Launceetor. Mr. 

 Archer came for me next day, and I spent the following 

 10 day 8 very pleasantly in his company, makii excur- 

 sions to all sides r md his house. He is one the 

 most western settlers in this direction, and surrounded 

 on all sides by ers of mountains at various distal* 

 His farm of 14,000 acres is well situated for cattle, a 

 considerable tract being tolerably level, and can le of 

 being irrigated by a perennial river (the Meander) 

 which winds tl ugh it : so he has green Grass at all 

 I seasons. Here I saw many int« ng tilings for the 



first time. Gleichenia diearpe every** re in the boggy 

 spots. Dicksonia Antarctica in the wet and shady 

 gullies of the hills (it ought » do well in Kerry and 

 Devonshire) ; its trunk is asset mes clothed with 

 Hvmenopylla and sometimes with pale green II na, 

 very beautiful. Mosses are abundant. On the river 

 banks Celery- top Pines, Podocsrpus bushes, Fagus 

 Cunninghami, and the noble VVaratah (T« -pia), with 

 the singul.rly beautiful Wax Cluster (Gaultheria 

 hispida), were iost striking things. The W aratsh 



was past flowering; its leaves resemble 1) ie of 

 one of the American Hhododendra, and its branch- 

 ing is not dissimilar. Under the bush' s panicles 

 of the cobalt berries of a lhanella looked like 

 hedge-sparrow- gs strung on slender wires: 1 could 

 hardly cease gatlv ng them. We $] it two days in an 

 excursion t<» 01 e of the highest points of the neighbour- 

 hood, called tk Cuming's Head,-' b< tween 3000 and 4000 

 feet. It was a very fatiguing walk of six hours to the 

 summit, the track king through an excessively thick 

 and entangled bush, ai »ng which we had to for our 

 way ; som imes creeping, sometimes edging sideways, 



and oft -ti walking along prostrate logs of gigantic dimen- 

 sions. In some places the whole undergrowth #ai made 

 up of Bed for di a, growing close and rod-like. At about 

 half the elevation we came on a dense forest of Heeches, 

 and passed some Fern valleys ; and at last emerged 

 above the wood, to scramble- up a steep ascent of piled 

 rocks near the summit On reaching the top we had to 

 descend over the ridge about 100 feet to a table-land, 

 where we encamped near some pools of delicious water, 

 and where we enjoyed a little glimpse of Alpine botany. 

 Two species of Leptospermum were in vast abundance 

 and in full flower on the summit, and many smaller 

 shrubs were interspersed as several Euryblse, a Bac- 

 charis, Boron ia rhomboidea, ■ ;. Gleichenia alpina, 

 which Mr. Archer thinks is only an Alpine form of G. 

 dicarpa, ami I a"m disposed to asree with him, covered 

 ihe whole plain. Drosera Arcturi was blosaomi _' by 

 the margins of the pools. Gentiana montana in full 

 flower, and G. Diemenensis going out, and in seed ; the 

 former much the handsomest. I found of 



Dr. Hooker's genus Pozoopsis, but whether a variety or 

 species cannot say ; it differs from his description in 

 having hairy leaves. One of the most remarkable things 

 on the tableland was the green cushions of many feet 

 in diameter, and very compact, formed primarily of a 

 Mniarum,* but among which grow a great number of 

 minute things — as Plantago Gunnii, a minute Composita, 



and Pernettia Tasmanica, the latter completely buried 

 in the cushion, except its berries and the tips of its 

 branches. A very showy Helichrysum with short sterna 

 and Crocus- col on red flowers was abundant, and some 

 handsome Senecios. On the whole, the table-late! was 

 pretty gay, considering the lateness of the season ; a 

 few weeks earlier it must have been quite a garden. 

 We descended a ravine at one side to see the Pines 

 (Arthotaxis lycopodioides and cupressoides) which grow 

 Chamserops humiiis already mentioned, we are unable j abundantly on the margins of a little stream, the woods 

 to discover either the part of the work to which it round being composed of Beech, Atherosp* rmum, &c, 



taining as it does the natural history of 24 species, of 

 which the tranformations of two only had been pre- 

 viously observed, namely the Nepticula anomalella,* 

 which infests Rose leaves, illustrated in one of our ento- 

 mological articles (Gardeners' Chronicle, vol. 1852, p. 

 292) under the name of Microsetia ruficapitella, and 

 the Cemiostoma scitella, the larvse of which form the 

 large blotches on Pear leaves,+ also illustrated in our 

 series by Ruricola (Card. Chron., vol.i.,p. 261), under the 

 name of Tinea Clerckella. No fewer than 20 other species 

 of Nepticula are given in the present volume as well as 

 two additional species of Cemiostoma. All these iu- 

 ^cts possess habits very similar to the two described in 

 our pages, and are therefore objects of direct interest 

 to the horticulturist and botanist. These 24 species 

 a ?e beautifully represented in the larva and perfect 

 states, each being moreover accompanied by a figure of 

 the leaf of the plant to which it is attached, and within 

 w Mch it forms its mining gallery or botch. Neither 

 however in the present volume, nor in his volume of 



belongs, or whence the figure has been borrowed, or 

 what it illustrates. Plates introduced in this manner 

 become mere u gays " to please children, and lose their 



scientific value. 



A Treatise on the Vine Disease, by Mr. James Cuthill, 

 is a great mistake in very small compass. Than the 

 author no one knows better how to deal with a practical 

 subject— if he happens to understand it, which we are 

 obliged to say is not the case in the present instance. 



Mr. Stanford of Charing Cross has published (in a 

 thin 4 to) A Statistic View of the Population, the Re- 

 ligions, and Languages of Europe, Transcaucasia, and 

 Turkey in Asia in 1855, by E. Ravenstein. This is 

 effected by aid of three coloured geographical maps, of 

 which one illustrates population, a second languages, 

 and a third religions. We have no doubt that the 

 information thus conveyed will be duly appreciated by 

 statistical inquirers. 





Miscellaneous. 



-We learn that Dr. 



College Botanic Garden, Dublin. 

 Mackay, the venerable curator of this establishment, 

 has resigned his office, and that Mr. John Bain has been 



th77 W1 " m « FT* T UUI £ "c 1 m / 110 ! u,umtJV1 appointed his successor. A better choice could not 

 Joe Insecta Britanmca, has Mr. Stainton given any ^/ w h ^ n mft(1<a 



figure of the chrysalides, although his short descriptions 



°f that state both iu Nepticula (p. 2), and Cemiostoma 



Although so common a species, Mr. Stainton has not cleared 

 Jip the question as to the sexes of the hlack and yellow-headed 

 Individuals noticed in our memoir, nor has he alluded to the fact 

 w our having reared the transverse barred species from the 

 garden Rose. 



J ^J r * Stamt °n mentions the curious fact that this species 

 ttacks the Hawthorn and Apple as well as the Pear leaves, 

 nrn eacnin 8 that difference in the plant does not necessarily 

 * r °ve a difference in the species of the mining caterpillar. 



On Valentine's 



have been made. 



Vi getat ion - of Van Diemen's Land, 

 Day I left Launceston by the afternoon coach for 

 Deloraine, 30 miles distant, where Mr. W. Archer pro 

 posed to meet me and take me to his place," Cheshunt,'' 

 10 miles further west, among the mountains. The road 

 to Deloraine is through an open but hilly country, much 

 improved. We left the harvest saved round Launc*s- 

 ton, but as we advanced to the westward the season was 

 sensibly later, and alter 25 miles the fields of corn were 



with the usual amount of Gums (Eucalypti), and re- 

 turned in the evening to our bivouac on the table-land. 

 Next morning we collected seeds, &c, and then retraced 

 our steps through the tangled jungle to Cheshunt. On 

 ascending the day before we had lighted a fire, which 

 by the time we returned bad spread over many acres, 

 and had reduced a great part of the Bedford ia obstruc- 

 tions to ashes ; while many of the larger trees were 

 still on fire and falling (like the summer avalanches of 

 the Jungfrau) on all sides of us. The fire was still 

 spreading, and by the end of the week, when I left the 

 country, had burned a greater part of the mountain 

 sides, and was still extending ! All the result of a 

 lucifer match ! Several days while I was at Cheshunt 

 the smoke from bush fires on all sides was so great 

 to conceal all but the foreground of the landscape ; the 

 smoke looking exactly like a London fog. Harvey in 

 Hooker's Journal of Botany, 



Seed of the Cotton Plant.— The Cotton plant (Gossy- 

 pium herbaceum), once so largely cultivated in~the 

 West In dies, offers this advantage, that it succeeds in 

 poor soils ; indeed, it is said to succeed best in the 

 poorest, and without manure. Another advantage is 

 that the old, infirm, and young, can be employed in 

 collecting its produce. The uses of the plant are many. 

 Its?cuttings are good for fuel : its seeds contain a good 

 deal of nutritive matter, and are eaten by cattle and 

 sheep, but not, I have been told, by horses, only by 

 ruminating animals, and it is said they are even fatal to 

 hogs; but' whether true or not I am ignorant. The 

 plant, as cultivate i in Barbadoes, is of three years' 

 duration. One self->own in my garden in that island 

 yielded the first year 192 pods ; in each pod or capsule 

 there were 20 heeds, togeth er we ighing in their dry 



* Probably a Composite plant roleima.— Ed, 



