Miscellaneous. 381 



plants no necessity for circulation of air existed, but the vessel must 

 be placed in such a situation as to receive the influence of the sun, 

 for the purpose of causing- the leaves to reproduce the atmospheric air. 

 He had found that several of the Cacti throve better in the moist at- 

 mosphere of a closed glass, than in the dry state in which they are 

 generally kept, and that he had grown species in his own room in this 

 manner for the last two years, some of which had not received water for 

 eighteen months. The plants which the Doctor found to thrive best 

 under this treatment were the Lycopodii, the Grasses, which throve 

 remarkably, Begonise and Cacti. Orchideous plants did not thrive 

 under these circumstances ; and seed had never been seen to be 

 produced or ripened by any of the plants. Animals he considered 

 could not exist, for the reason that they had no power to reproduce 

 the atmospheric air; and the quantity which they would consume 

 would be so disproportionate to that produced by the plants, as to be 

 either insufficient for their maintenance, or would require vessels 

 much too large for the purpose of convenient experiment. Professor 

 Lindley bore testimony to the importance of this discovery, and to 

 the perfect manner in which some plants had been transported. The 

 Arucaria had been brought home and transplanted with the greatest 

 success. He concurred generally with the opinions expressed by Dr 

 Graham. 



Mr Bickersteth exhibited the milk from the Masaranduba tree 

 the cow-tree of Humboldt (Galactodendron utile.) Dr Traill remark- 

 ed that there were two kinds of cow-tree ; that he had analysed the 

 juice of the Galactodendron or cow-tree of the Caraccas, which con- 

 sists principally of wax and resin ; but that the juice of the cow-tree 

 of Demerara (botanical name unknown) contains chiefly caoutchouc. 



Mr Pooly brought before the meeting an instance which occur- 

 red to himself, of three swallows being found on one of the German 

 lakes completely imbedded and frozen up in ice, one of which when un- 

 covered revived and lived for a short time. He inferred from this that 



the old theory of these birds going under water during winter was tenable. 

 This notice excited considerable interest, and was remarked on by Mr 

 Allis, Mr Hutton, and Mr Selby, and after much cross- questioning it 

 was generally concluded that the fact did not bear on the question of 

 hybernation, but that the swallows in question might have been 

 those of a very late brood, and being benumbed when in search of food 

 had been frozen or surrounded with snow, a very short time previous 

 to their discovery. 



Mr Gould exhibited drawings of some new Trogons for the con- 

 tinuation of his monograph, and some figures for two new works 



VOL II. no. 10. c c 



