15G 



Miscellaneous. 



and by far the most frequently not at all ; while in general, as is the 

 case at Thun, elatior grows by thousands in places within many 

 leagues of which vulgaris is absolutely unknown. P. vulgaris con- 

 tents itself with an elevation but little above the level of the sea, 

 although in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Geneva it is in perfect 

 condition at from 1200 to 1500 feet; but at Thun, with an eleva- 

 tion of 1900 feet, it languishes, whether planted in a thicket, on a 

 bank, or in a garden ; while elatior, being more aspiring, prefer- an 

 elevation of from 1500 to 2000 feet, and although climbing willingly 

 beyond the latter, descends reluctantly below the former level." 



Professor Balfour (of Glasgow) made observations on the distinc- 

 tions subsisting among the genera of Ferns, Anemia, Mohria, Copto- 

 phyllum, J'rochopteris, and Schizaa, some of which had been recently 

 established by Mr. Gardner. These distinctions, which are founded 

 partly on the mode in which the fertile and barren fronds are de- 

 veloped, were illustrated with a series of specimens belonging to the 

 above genera, most of which had been collected by Mr. Gardner in 

 the province of Goyaz, Brazil. The professor next alluded to the 

 various theories which have been advanced to account for the origin 

 of woody fibre, and more especially to that of Du Petit-Thouars. 

 He showed, by sections of palms, that the interlacing of the fibres 

 in endogenous plants was quite in conformity with Du Petit-Thouars' 

 theory, and that the appearance of the woody matter in tree-ferns, 

 and in the natural orders Piperacece, Aristolochiacea, and the forma- 

 tion of roots externally in some tree-ferns, in screw-pines, Vellosias, 

 &c, all supported the theory of wood being formed by the develop- 

 ment of fibres from buds acting as fixed embryos. Dr. Balfour also 

 endeavoured to show that the formation of what have been called by 

 Dutrochet embryo buds, may in many cases be accounted for by the 

 development of leaves on them at one period of their growth ; and 

 that on examining some others which he exhibited, the woody mat- 

 ter might be traced communicating with the alburnum at one point 

 by rupture of the bark, and insinuating itself between the layers of 

 bark. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Notices relative to Paleontology ; by the Rev. Dr. Buckland. From 

 his Anniversary Address to the Geological Society of London. 



MAMMALIA. OSSIFEROUS CAVERNS. 



Mr. R. A. C. Austen, in a notice on the bone caves of Devon- 

 shire, at Torquay and Yealmton, disputes the opinion that the bones 

 in these caves, many of which are evidently gnawed, have been 

 dragged in by the agency of hyaenas, founding his objection on 

 the assumption that modern hyaenas " do not inhabit caves," and 

 " never drag away their prey, but devour it greedily on the spot." 

 Mr. Austen must have overlooked the evidence of Busbequius, 

 quoted in my ' Reliquiae Diluvianae,' p. 22, 1st edit., " Extrahit- 

 que cadavera, portatque ad speluncam suam," and cannot have 

 heard of the gnawed bones in the Oxford Museum, extracted by 



