General Notices. 571 



or ornamental. Some idea of the work will be obtained from the following 

 headings to the chapters on January, February, and March. 



January. — Introduction — Flowers in their relations to the Human Race 



— First aspect of the Year — Evergreens — Ivy and Holly contrasted — 

 Natural History of the Mistletoe — Its Stations on various Trees — Trees 

 upset by the Gales — Localities of remarkable Yew Trees — Yew-in-the-Oak 



— Groundsel, Dead Nettle, &c. — Stocking Gorse — Aspect of Nature. 

 February. — Various Tints of Buds and Twigs in the Sunbeams — Brilliant 



Effects of a Frozen Shower — Dandelion, Veronica, Daisy — Mosses in 

 perfection of Beauty — Hellebore, Periwinkle — Sudden Snow Storm — The 

 awakening of Spring in the Country and the City — Appearance of Gelatinous 

 Fungi — Miseries of a Thaw — Snowdrops. 



March. — A March Morning on Malvern Hills — Crocuses, Mezereon, 

 Apricot, Pyrus japonica, &c. — Flowers of the Woods and Fields — Flowering 

 of the Hazel, Yew, and Elm — Vernal Indications — Various Species of Violets 



— Golden Saxifrage, Tuberous Moschatel, White and Yellow Awlworts — 

 Daffodils and Sallows — Windflower. 



Art. II. Literary Notice. 



ILLUSTRATIONS of the Botany and other Branches of the Natural History of the 

 Himalayan Mountains, and of the Flora of Cashmere. By J. F. Royle, M.D., 

 F.R.S., &c, Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, King's College, 

 is about to be reissued in 22 monthly Parts. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General Notices. 



On the Existence of Sulphur in Plants. — M. Vogel, sen., remarks that it has 

 been proved by the late M. Planche and other chemists that many plants 

 contain sulphur. Water-cresses (Z/epidium sativum L.) are among those 

 which especially contain much sulphur. 



As soils distant from volcanoes do not contain perceptible traces of sulphur, 

 it appears to M. Vogel not impossible, that plants which are much disposed 

 to assimilate sulphur may have the property of deriving it from the decom- 

 position of the sulphuric acid of sulphates. M. Vogel, however, found that 

 seeds placed in a soil perfectly free from sulphur and sulphates yielded plants 

 which contained a notable quantity of sulphur. The soil employed for this 

 experiment consisted of coarsely powdered white glass ; it was first strongly 

 heated, but not fused, in a crucible, and, being afterwards washed with boiling 

 water, not the slightest trace of any sulphate could be detected. Seeds of 

 water-cresses kept in a moist state were placed in this, and when the plants 

 were several inches in height, they were removed with their roots. After 

 having washed the plants, the white fibrous roots were cut off, and these 

 as well as the plants were dried; and, on heating them in a retort, it was found 

 that both of them yielded considerably more sulphur than the seeds con- 

 tained. The expressed juice of the young plants cultivated in the powdered 

 glass also contained soluble sulphates. The seeds of water- cresses sown in 

 coarsely powdered quartz, flint-glass, and very fine silica obtained from si- 

 licated hydrofluoric acid, yielded similar results with respect to sulphur and 

 sulphates, though the plants did not flourish so well in the last as in the two 

 former substances. 



