294* Natural History in London. 



cularly direct their attention to individuals of the ilfustela, or weasel tribe ; 

 the polecat, marten, ferret, weasel, &c. &c. ; also the badger, hare, rabbit, 

 pheasant (especially the ring-necked), partridge, and all kinds of birds from 

 the house sparrow to the hawk. I have not mentioned different varieties 

 of Sorex, or shrew mouse, water rat, field mouse, &c. Any contributions 

 would be very valuable, and I know that the Society would willingly pay 

 any expenses incident upon their transmission to Bruton Street. — F. Z. S. 

 LondoHy April 15. 1820. 



Linnean Society/. — March IQ. On this evening (being the eve of St. 

 Patrick), Mr. Bicheno, the secretary, read a paper on the plant intended by 

 the shamrock of Ireland, in which he attempted to prove by botanical, his- 

 torical, and etymological evidence, that the original plant was not the white 

 clover, which is now employed as the national emblem. He stated that it 

 would seem a condition at least suitable, if not necessary, to a national 

 emblem, that it should be something familiar to the people, and familiar 

 too at that season when the national feast is celebrated. Thus the 

 Welsh have given the leek to St. David, being a favourite oleraceous 

 herb, and the only green thing they could find on the 1st of March. 

 The Scotch, on the other hand, whose feast is in autumn, have adopted 

 the thistle. The white clover is not fully expanded on St. Patrick's day, 

 and wild specimens of it could hardly be obtained at this season. Be- 

 sides it was probably, nay, almost certainly, a plant of uncommon occur- 

 rence in Ireland during its early history, having been introduced into 

 that country in the middle of the seventeenth century, and made common 

 by cultivation. He then referred to several old authors, to prove that the 

 shamrock was eaten by the Irish ; and to one who went over to Ireland in 

 the sixteenth century, who says it was eaten, and was a sour plant. The 

 name, also, of shamrock is common to several trefoils, both in the Irish and 

 Gaelic languages. Now clover could not have been eaten, and it is not 

 sour. Taking, therefore, all the conditions requisite, they are only found 

 in the wood-sorrel, (/xalis Acetosella. It is an early spring plant ; it was, 

 and is, abundant in Ireland ; it is a trefoil ; it is called sham-rog by the old 

 herbalists, and it is sour: whilst its beauty might well entitle it to the 

 distinction of being the national emblem. The substitution of one for the 

 other has been occasioned by cultivation, which made the wood-sorrel less 

 plentiful, and the Dutch clover abundant. {Phil. Mag., April 1830;, p. 228.) 



Geological Society/. — Feb. 19. This being the Anniversary Meeting, an 

 excellent address was delivered from the chair by the president. Professor 

 Sedgewick. The affairs of the Society are in a prosperous condition, and 

 the number of members increasing. During the last year, fifty home and 

 seven foreign members have been added to the list, and several excellent 

 papers have been received and read, the most important of which were 

 noticed by the Professor, in his most eloquent and philosophical discourse. 

 The address, being too long for our pages, will be found at length in the 

 Philosophical Magazine , vol. vii. No. 40. for April 1830, p. 289. 



The Meetings of this Society, unlike those of the Linnean, the Zoological, 

 or the Horticultural, are characterised by discussions on the subject of the 

 papers which have been read : this we consider an important feature in 

 favour of this Society, and one which ought to be considered essential 

 in every similar association. Without this kind of discussion and convers- 

 ation, it seems to us that nine tenths of the good to be done by an assem- 

 blage of men devoted to the same pursuits must be lost. Take away the 

 personal intercourse between the members, which takes place before and 

 after the main business of the Meeting, and the rest Avill appear a species of 

 mummery, often dull enough. But more of this hereafter. — Cond. 



