488 A walk through the Nat. History Museum at Florence, (May, 
ripening dates, an extraordinary product, preserved in spirits; 
Macrozamia spiralis from Melbourne, with its giant rhizoma, and 
others quite interesting and instructive.. Large horizontal cases 
filled with Fungi in colored plaster, and the minute fungi 
which attack the vine and the rose, Oidium tuckeri, &c., are 
represented in wax in gigantic proportions, the work of a mas 
ter hand. A magnificent illustration of the structure of the 
flower of a gourd and the process of fecundation of an orchid 
are also to be seen here, and can be readily studied. These 
offer admirable subjects for class illustration, while they are 
attractive to the least Scientific. The collection of specimens in 
these wall cases is rich in Coniferze, and many of this family from 
California wore quite a familiar aspect. The wonderful Welwit- 
schia from Africa may be seen among the Gnetaceze upon these 
richly-furnished shelves, 
On entering the halls, or saloons, containing the herbaria, my 
eyes first fell upon Loganiacez, named in honor of James Logs? 
of Philadelphia, the faithful friend and confidential agent of Wil- 
liam Penn, one of the most learned men of his day and author of 
a treatise on the sexual character of Zea mays (Indian cont} 
This treatise (Experimenta et Meletemata circa Plantarum Gi 
erationem, 1739) was so far in advance of the age as to be reje 
by the Philosophical Society of London, but having been pr 
by Dr. John Fothergill, at Leyden, it was admitted to be a . 
value to botanical science, which had not yet accepted. the i 
trine of the sexuality of plants. 
With kind courtesy I was conducted by Professor Theod n 
Caruel, the learned director of the botanical department, eo 
the great halls devoted to the preservation of the herbaria. s 
collections much exceeded my expectation, and the pers } 
which they are arranged should serve as a model for imita : 
similar institutions, On shelves around the walls of the nee T 
saloons, the fasciculi containing the dried plants are ar spect 1 
natural orders, and so classified that in a few iit pinned l 
men can be found; each is attached to its label, whic gand 1 
to a sheet of stiff paper so that the plant can be peor daa a 
ied without detachment from its definitely ascertaine® o 
since a 
number of species here arranged is not yet known, > y Prof 
lection is in process of reéxamination and entime m 
sor Caruel. Here may be seen those presented to uer | 
