64< On Geological Climate. 



% 



Dry moorland ground near Brentford, and on the moist banks of the Maitland 

 River, Goderich, both in Upper Canada. 



The specimens gathered at Brentford agree with Nuttall's description of 

 Melanthium glaucurn, and with specimens in his herbarium at the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Its height is about a foot, raceme mostly 

 simple, few-flowered, and flowers perfect. The Goderich specimens varied 

 from 1J to 3 feet in height, raceme mostly branched, many-flowered, and 

 flowers occasionally unisexual. 



Tqfieldia glutinosa, Mx. Moist meadows, Brentford ; and moist places on 

 the banks of the Maitland River, Goderich. 



GRAMiNEiE. — Andropogon ftircatus, Muhl. Dry moorland ground near Ha- 

 milton, Upper Canada. 



Cyperaceje — Rhynchospora capillacea^Torvy. Moist places on the banks 

 of the Maitland River, Goderich. 



R. cymosa, W. Quaker-bridge Swamp, New Jersey. 



Filices — Woodsia ilvensis, Brown. Crevices of rocks, Mount Olympus, 

 near Troy, United States. . 



Pteris atropurpurea, Linn. Crevices of rocks on the banks of the Conodog- 

 winit Creek, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 



Lygodium palmahtm, Swartz. Shady swampy ground, New Jersey. No 

 plant seen during the whole range of our researches in America afforded us 

 greater interest, or more pleasure, than this remarkable climbing fern. On 

 the 16th of October 1834 we found it in great beauty in a Kalmia swamp, a 

 few miles west of Camden, in New Jersey, at a time when most other herba- 

 ceous plants were killed with frost. It is one of the most delicate looking, 

 and, without exception, the handsomest of the American ferns ; the fertile 

 stems were found twining upon the smaller twigs of Kalmias, Andromedas, &c. 

 to the height of 2| feet, while the surface of the ground was beautifully mat- 

 ted with the barren fronds, which were of a fine lively light-green colour. 



Remarks on the question, Does the observation made in Coal- 

 mines of Canada and of BaffirCs Bay, of plants analogous to 

 those which live at present in equatorial regions, announce a 

 change in the inclination of the Ecliptic ? By M. Marcel 

 de Serres. 



In the coal-mines of Canada and Baffin's Bay vegetable re- 

 mains have very lately been found, identical with plants which 

 are known to flourish at the present day in intertropical regions; 

 and the conclusion has been drawn, that since these plants re- 

 quire a large quantity of light and an elevated temperature, the 

 inclination of the ecliptic must have undergone important vari- 

 ations. This question, lately brought forward by M. Alphonse 

 de Candolle,* appears to us worthy of being examined with seri- 

 ous attention. 



We may commence by remarking, that, in proportion as the 

 phenomena of the ancient world become better known, it appears 



* Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, July 1834 ; and vol. xviii. of 

 Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, p. 81-102. 



