40 
[upper 
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY. 
The Botanical Exhibition comprises specimens of woods 
and oth^er vegetable stmctm^es, unsuited to the Herbarium, 
and capable of being advantageously exhibited. Entering the 
First Koom 
through the Eastern doorway, the Wall of the EoMern JSnd 
is seen to be occupied by numerous specimens of Fern- 
trees, among which the following merit particular notice : — 
A trunk of Alsophila Brunontana, Wall., forty-five feet in height, 
from the mountains of Sylhet ; two trunks of Alsophila contaminans, 
Wall, from the PhiHppine Islands, with a section of the same from 
New Guinea ; two lofty stems of the great New Zealand Fern-tree, 
Cyathea dealbata, Sivartz ; and another fine species from New 
Zealand, Cyathea medullaeis, Sivartz; the Tree-fern of the Cape 
of Good Hope, Hemitelia Capensis, R. Br. ; and several specimens 
of DioKsoNiA Ai^TAECTicA, LabUl., ono of which is remarkable in addi- 
tion for the bifurcation of its stem, and another for the curious 
'induration of its central pith. 
The numbering of the Wall-Cases commences at the 
Eastern end of the Northern side of the Koom, and their 
contents are arranged in the following order : — 
Case 1 contains specimens of remarkable Ckyptogamtc structures, 
chiefly Feens, but including also a few ALGiE and Fungl 
The Alg^e, or Sea-weeds, are represented by the Magellanic genera 
Lessonia and D'Uevilljla, and by Laminaeia euccinalis, Lamour., 
from the Cape of Good Hope, three of the most remarkable of Fucoid 
forms. 
The few Fungi exhibited belong to the subdivision of the genus 
Boletus named Polypoeus, and are chiefly remarkable on account of 
the large size of the specimens. 
At the back of Case 1 are placed specimens of the fronds of 
Alsophila peuinata, Kaulf., from Chili, and Thyesopteeis elegans, 
Kunze, from the island of Juan Fernandez. On the floor of the case 
is a specimen of Platyceeium alcicoene, Desv. ; and beside this are 
placed several bases and sections of the large trunks occupying the end 
