556 ^ Icones Plant, rar. Hort. Reg. Bot. Berolinensis. 



state of timber, and not in that of coppice wood, that forests give their maxi- 

 mum of produce. As we contemplate an abridgement of this most excellent 

 article, we sliall take no farther notice of it at present. 



M. Seringe, who had thought that the appearance of Cytisus purpureus on 

 C. iaburnum was the result of some trick, is now convinced that this singu- 

 lar anomaly is in nature, but he gives no explanation, (tome ii. p. 377.) 



The idea of procuring silk directly from the bark of the mulberry, which 

 Olivier des Serres had discovered and published in 1603, is discussed; and 

 also that of forming woollen cloth by means of strong pressure of wool on a 

 base of caoutchouc, (tome iii. p. 8.) Thishas been done in England by Mr. 

 Calvert, formerly nurseryman at Rouen. 



Diluted sulphuric acid has been found equally efficacious with gypsum in 

 the culture of clover, (tome iii, p. 15.) 



Seeds of Peganum Hdnnala L., iiutaceae, a herbaceous perennial plant, 

 a native of the Crimea, which produces a dye thought to rival that of the 

 cochineal, were received from Professor Mirbel of the Jardin des Plantes, 

 in order to be distributed among the more zealous and enlightened cultivators, 

 (tome iii. p. 27.) 



Oi7 the Organisation of the Anthers of Mosses, &c. ; by M. Seringe. (tome 

 iii. p. 229.) 



Art. II. Icones Plantarum rariorum Horti Regii Botanici Beroli~ 

 nensis. Figures and Descriptions of rare Plants in the Royal 

 Botanic Garden at Berlin. By H. F. Link, Fr. Klotzsch, and Fr. 

 Otto. Part I. 4to, pp. 16,. 6 coloured plates. Berlin, 1840. 

 Price 1^ rix-dollars ; about 45. 6^. 



The following address will show the intention of the authors of this new 

 pictorial botanical periodical : — 



" Our work will only treat of such new or rare plants as are remarkable for 

 their beauty, which have not yet been made known or figured ; and each 

 number will contain so many details, that, by a single glance at a plate, and 

 without even looking at the text, the natural order, the class and order of 

 the LinnEean sexual system, and the genus and species may easily be known. 

 The text will be in the Latin and German languages, in which the essential 

 characteristics of the natural orders, tribes, genus, and species will be given ; 

 also those that are nearly allied to them, with a full description of the latter, 

 the most suitable method of cultivating each plant, its native country, by whom 

 discovered, &c." 



In an address by the publisher, he states that the names of Link, Klotzsch, 

 and Otto guarantee the excellence of the work ; that Professor Kunth has 

 also kindly promised his assistance, and that the " celebrated artist " Schmidt, 

 who makes the original drawings, has also undertaken the superintendance of 

 the lithography and the colouring. 



The plants figured in the first Number are : — Piiya Altensteinw, Bromeh'- 

 acecE, from South America, not yet introduced into England, we believe. Lo- 

 beh'rt discolor from Mexico in 1838, not yet in England. Olinia capensis 

 Klofzsch, ilfjTtaceae, a Cape shrub which has been many years in Germany 

 imder the name of Cremastostemon capensis J acq., but neither of which names 

 occurs in British catalogues. O'xalis Ottojiis Klotzch, sent by Edward Otto, 

 the son of the director, from Cuba, and figured in 1837 in the Floral Cabinet 

 as O. geniculata Kn, et W., and recorded under this name in the Supplement 

 to our Hortiis Britannimcs : on comparing the figures there can be no doubt of 

 their being the same plant, and hence the Birmingham name must take prece- 

 dence of the other, Microstylis histionantha, Orchidaceae, sent from La 

 Guayrato Berlin in 1836, Oncidium carthaginense Swartz, Orchidacece, sent 

 from Maracay to Berlin in 1837 (Bot. Mag., t, 777,), introduced into England 

 in 1791, The figures are accurately and artistically drawn and exquisitely 

 coloured. Nothing of the kind, as it appears to us, can be more perfect. 



