Description of the Vicca Pinsapo. 109 



is required in purchasing these stoves. I bought two of an 

 inferior construction, and found them both useless. Fortu- 

 nately, Messrs. Cottam and Hallen had supplied a neighbour 

 with one of the regular construction to heat his servant's hall, 

 a room of large dimensions. This acted so admirably, that I 

 immediately procured one from them ; the effects of which I 

 have thought it my duty to give you, to register in your legiti- 

 mate pages. 



Sarvbridgeworth, Jan. 1. 1839. 



Art. IV. Description of the Picea Pinsapo, a netv Species, discovered 

 in Spain by M. E. Boissier, in 1837. Abridged from a Commu- 

 nication in the " Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve," No. 26. 

 (Fevrier, 1838), by Peter Lawson and Son. Communicated by 

 Charles Lawson, Esq. 



In April, 1837, M. E. Boissier had an opportunity of in- 

 specting a collection of dried specimens from Sierra Bermeja, 

 near Estysona, made by his friend M. Hanseler (who had de- 

 voted much attention to the indigenous botany of the district of 

 Malaga), amongst which he discovered a branch of a Conifera, 

 the peculiar appearance of which struck him. On farther enquiry 

 of his friend, he was informed that the tree in question formed 

 forests in the higher parts of Sierra Bermeja ; that it was known 

 in the country by the name of Pinsapo ; that he never had found 

 it in fruit, and that he always looked upon it as a variety of 

 A^bies excelsa. Being at Estysona about a fortnight afterwards, 

 M. Boissier determined on visiting Sierra Bermeja ; and, after tra- 

 versing the forests of P. maritima which occupied the lower 

 grounds towards the sea, he first observed the Pinsapo at an 

 altitude of about 4,000 feet ; and, after looking in vain both on 

 the trees and on the ground for its cones, was informed by a 

 peasant that these only began to grow in the end of spring, and 

 that they ripened and fell to pieces in the beginning of winter. 

 He also heard the people at Ronda talk about Pinsapo, and was 

 told that great forests of it existed in the higher calcareous 

 mountains of Sierra de la Nieve, between Ronda and Malaga ; 

 where the leafy branches are much used in decorating rooms on 

 festive occasions, and also for carrying in religious processions, 

 on account of the horizontal ramification of the branchlets re- 

 sembling small crosses. 



M. Boissier returned to the Sierra de la Nieve, accompanied 

 by M. Hanseler in the end of September following, and, at the 

 height of 3,500 feet above the level of the sea, first observed a 

 few trees of the Pinsapo, the top of one of which was loaded 

 with cones, the appearance and habits of which showed that the 



