68 Miscellaneous. 



rocks in considerable abundance. Rubus Chamcemorus was plentiful 

 on the lower parts of the hill, while Vaccinium Oxycoccus occurred 

 sparingly. Dr. Balfour corroborated Mr. Stark's account of the 

 uninteresting character of Ben Wyvis as a botanical field. 



Mr. Stark exhibited portions of the wood of Tanghinia venenifera, 

 a poisonous tree, native of Madagascar ; Sterculia platanifolia ; 

 Bombax Ceiba, the silk cotton- tree ; and leaves of Theophrasta 

 Jussieui. The specimens, which were of considerable dimensions, 

 were grown in this country. 



Specimens of fossil earth, containing Diatomacese, found in Aber- 

 deenshire, were sent by Dr. Dickie, and exhibited under the mi- 

 croscope. 



Mr. James M'Nab exhibited a flowering plant of Meconopsis acu- 

 leata, from the garden of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, 

 seeds of which were received from the Himalaya mountains by the 

 late Sheriff Speirs. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME VANESSA. 



In reply to our correspondent who inquires respecting the origin 

 of the name Vanessa, first given, we believe, by Fabricius to a spe- 

 cies, and afterwards to one of those genera into which he divided 

 the genus Papilio of Linnaeus, we have no doubt he must have been 

 indebted for it to Swift's well-known poem Cadenus and Vanessa, 

 the former appellation being an anagram of Decanus, whilst by the 

 latter the poet designated the victim of her unhappy attachment to 

 him, Esther (or Hessy) Vanhomrigh. 



In the great demand for new names which Fabricius had to assign 

 to the novelties which he was occupied in describing, after having 

 availed himself of classical mythology and poetry, and scripture 

 history, we find evidence, in the names Gonerilla, Cordelia, and per- 

 haps Morna, that he sometimes had recourse also to the names oc- 

 curring in the literature of our own country, where he was long en- 

 gaged in examining the Banksian and other cabinets. 



M. Sodoffsky has sported a very superfluous critical conjecture 

 (Bull. Soc. Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou, 1837) that the 

 name should be written Phanessa, as if it were derived from the Greek 

 ^aj'ijs. But it can never be supposed, that if such had been the in- 

 tention of Fabricius, he would have written Vanessa. — R. T. 



Lucernaria fascicularis, Fleming. 



The Rev. Z. M. Hamilton, of Bressay, Zetland, has ascertained 

 that this beautiful zoophyte feeds upon the young Littorina littorea. 

 In a letter to Dr.Neill of the 3rd of March, he writes, " I discovered 

 that it feeds on small wilks, which it, by means of its arms and 

 feelers, puts into its stomach, so many even as four or five at a 

 time, and when the meat is fully extracted the shells are rejected." 



In a subsequent communication (20th of March) to Dr. Neill, Mr. 

 Hamilton says, — " With regard to the food which this creature seems 



