Miscellaneous. 149 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Apera interrupta, Beauv. 



I have the pleasure of announcing the addition of this grass to the 

 list of British natives. A few specimens of it were gathered on 

 June 9, 1848, near Thetford by the Rev. W. W. Newbould, but not 

 having then the means of determining their name, they were laid 

 aside and did not undergo examination until recently. Early in 

 July 1848 Mr. Newbould brought them to me as probable specimens 

 of Apera interrupta, and I had the satisfaction of confirming his de- 

 termination of the name. On July 4, 1848, we went together to 

 Thetford and found the plant in small quantity on walls in the town 

 (the Norfolk side), but in the utmost profusion in the neighbouring 

 sandy district of Suffolk. The greatest quantity was seen between 

 what, on the Ordnance Map, is marked as the 77th mile-stone (it is 

 different on the stone itself) near Elvedon, and the words " Redneck 

 Heath." A drawing of it has been made, which will be published in 

 an early number of the ' Supplement to English Botany.' — C. C. B. 



Orobanche Picridis, F. W. Schultz. 



This is another of Mr. Newbould's discoveries. It grows para- 

 sitically upon Picris hieracioides on the waste part of a field near 

 Comberton in Cambridgeshire. The general appearance distinguishes 

 the living plant from its allies, and as its technical characters will be 

 found in almost any good continental flora, it is undesirable to oc- 

 cupy space with them here. The plant was in perfection on July 15, 

 1848, when Mr. Newbould conducted me to the spot where it grows, 

 and although we examined carefully, we could not trace its attach- 

 ment to any plants except the Picris ; neither is it stated to prey 

 upon any other plants on the continent. A drawing of this also is 

 prepared for ' Eng. Bot. Supplement.' — C. C. B. 



Fossils of the Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles 

 Wilkes, U.S.N. : a Fossil Fish from Australia, and a Belemnite 

 from Tierra del Fuego ; described by James D. Dana, Geol. of 

 the Exped. 



Urosthenes (nov. gen.). — Allied to Palceoniscus. — Body elon- 

 gated, prolonged into upper lobe of tail nearly to apex. Anal fin 

 triangular, attached to the body as far as the base of the caudal. 

 Dorsal fin directly over the anterior part of caudal. Ventral fin 

 distant from the anal. Rays of the fins very fine and numerous ; 

 articulations oblong, the surface of each excavate. 



Urosthenes australis. — Body narrow oblong. Scales smooth and 

 without markings, subquadrate, over the posterior part of the body 

 transverse. Caudal fin slightly furcate. Anal fin larger than dor- 

 sal ; two to four free spines or accessory rays just in advance of each 

 of the fins ; articulations of rays oblong rectangular, those of dorsal 

 fin, near its base and outer margin, three or four times as long as 

 broad, and surface fluted-excavated. — From the B coal-pit, New- 

 castle, on the Hunter, where it was obtained by Mr. James Steel, 



