280 General Notices. 



Plymouth introduced this plant, in 1833, from Caraccas; having 

 sent to his friend there, Sir Robert Ker Porter, His Majesty's 

 British consul, for the plant mentioned by Humboldt in his Per- 

 sonal Narrative, vol. iv. p. 82., so celebrated, on the banks of 

 the Zuy, for its delightful fragrance, and known under the name 

 of Lirio hermoso, which was supposed to be Pancratium undu- 

 latum. Whether this is the plant mentioned by Humboldt, or 

 not, it is of delightful fragrance, and ought to be in every col- 

 lection of Amaryllici'ac^'i^. Mr. Low of Clapton has plants of it 

 under the name of Pancratium undulatum ; at least, I gave him 

 plants of it, three years ago, under that name. Mr. Pontey of 

 Plymouth is very likely to have it likewise, under the same 

 name. 



Mr. Herbert adds, that he will be very thankful to receive 

 " any dry specimens, seeds, or roots, of newly introduced ama- 

 ryllidaceous plants, especially from the western hemisphere," to 

 enable him to make future editions of his work as complete as 

 possible. The following species are more particularly wanting 

 in his already extensive collection ; and it is earnestly hoped, if 

 this should come under the eye of any one in possession of any 

 or each of them, they will testify their love of science by sending 

 duplicates to the author as above : — Crinum Yoxhes,ichium, 

 Amaryllis grandiflora; Brunsvigz'a striata, minor, radula; Nerine 

 marginata; Strumaria hessea, imhofia, carpolyza; and Pancra- 

 tium canariense, amongst the African : Sternberg/^;, Ermosina 

 (Z/euc6jum) carpathica, Lapiedra, Vagaria, Tapeinanlhus ; 

 Hermionf elegans, serotina ; Queltmjuncifolia, pCimila, pusilla; 

 Ganymedes cernuus (triandrus), capax, and reflexus ; seed of 

 Queltm foe'tida, odora, montana, Macleans, among the species 

 of the Old World. — D. B. Haffield, near Ledbury, April, 1837. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General Notices. 



The Influence of Vapour on Vegetation. — Messrs. Edwards and Colin have 

 read, at the Academy of Sciences, a third memoir on the influence of vapour 

 on all the periods of vegetation. They observed, first, that the grains of winter 

 wheat did not germinate in air, because they were not saturated with moisture ; 

 but that the germination, which, when the grains are saturated with moisture, 

 takes place in about eight days, happens in from sixteen to twenty-four hours, 

 if the grain are plunged partly in water. From much experience, they have 

 discovered that a temperature nearly constant (for example, that of a cellar of 

 50° Fahr.) is better for germination than a more elevated, but variable, tem- 

 perature ; since the variations of temperature prevent the air from being 

 constantly saturated with moisture. It is worthy of remark, that the grains 

 absorb more water in the latter case than when exposed to the uniform tem- 

 perature of a cellar. 



There are two conditions necessary for germination to take place in air : 



