Domestic Notices : — England. 465 



Ijail, or rather transparent ice, fell, of irregular forms, of from half an inch 

 to an inch in diameter. The roofs of the conservatory, green-house, stove, 

 propagating-house, frames, and the skylight of the dwelling-house had, 

 upon an average, fully one half of the glass in them not only broken, but 

 the greater portion battered completely in. The whole quantity broken 

 was about 1 500 square feet ; a great proportion in a few minutes after the 

 storm began. The hail storm was succeeded by torrents of rain, which, 

 from the inequality of the ground, broke up the walks in several places, 

 and removed a part of the soil in different parts of the garden. The 

 storm was but partial, not reaching to the town. A similar one passed 

 over the town six days afterwards, and broke some glass, but did not 

 reach this garden. The general size of our panes is 6i in. by 4 in. : in the 

 upper part of the dome of the conservatory they are smaller,* 



Species of Plants which tvitkstood, tmpi-otected, the Wiiiter of 1832, in the 

 Satanic Garden at Birmingham. — It may be interesting to inform you 

 that the following plants stood out of doors last winter, without an}' 

 covering, notwithstanding the open and exposed state of the garden : — 

 Terbena radicans and chamsedrifolia, Waehend6rfi« paniculata, Petunia 

 nyctaginiflora, Digitalis laciniata, Ornithogalura corymbosum, SkWm ful- 

 gens, Alstroemena acutifolia, Lophospermum erubescens ; O'xalis Bowiez, 

 tetraphylla, and ?;iolacea; Fuchsia ^hymifolia, MkXwa angustifolia, Sym- 

 phoria montiina, Piptanthus nipalensis, iEthionema membranaceum. The 

 last three are, however, quite as hardy as the most common garden shrubs. 



Hunnemannia ftimarice/dlia. — There are seedling plants coming up strong 

 of Hunnemannia /umai'issfolia where a plant stood last year, which would 

 indicate that the seeds of tliis rare plant ought to be sown in autumn, and 

 be grown as an annual ; whereas, if the seeds be not sown until spring, 

 few of them vegetate that season. 



O'xalis floribunda Lehm. is finer than those protected in the houses. I 

 am. Sir, yours, &c., — David Cameron, Botanic Garden, Edgbaston, Bir- 

 mingham, June 16. 1833. 



A white-flowered Schizanthus. — Mr. Myles Priest, nursei'yman, Reading, 

 has raised a white-flowered Schizanthus, of which he, on June 24., sent us 

 a coloured drawing. The branch depicted is an elegant object : the 

 corollas are wholly white, except a pleasing and contrasting yellow spot at 

 the base of the upper segment of each. The branch drawn exhibits the 

 airy graceful character of S. pinnatus, of which species the plant may be a 

 white-flowered variety. Mr. Priest, in his note, has thus spoken of it : — 

 "" I believe it to be an entirely new and distinct variety. It grov.'s about 

 2i ft. high, from a single bottom stem, and has about twenty-four branches, 

 or side-stems, each producing from twentj' to thirty flowers : hence the 

 plant had upwards of 600 flowers open at one time. It continues flower- 

 ing for upwards of three months. It has, indeed, a very beautiful appear- 

 ance, and cannot fail to be much admired. I purpose offering the young 

 plants for sale. — M. Priest. Reading, June 24. 1833. 



* Hail Storm and Hurncane at Lancaster. — In my last [dated May 4. 

 1833], I gave an account of the destructive hail storm which took place at 

 Lancaster in April. [This account we have published in the Magazine of 

 Natural History, vol. vi. p. 368.] We have since had a most dreadful hurri- 

 cane, which has cut and destroyed the vegetation. It is rather remarkable 

 that we should have it on the same day that you had it in London. A 

 consequence of it here has been several shipwrecks on our coast, and 

 several lives lost, both of the crews and of spirited individuals who 

 endeavoured to render assistance to the ships in distress. — M. Saul. 

 Lancaster, June 17, 1833. 



Vol. IX. — No. 43. ii h 



