FLOOR.] 
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY. 
45 
above is a leaf, with the under surface exposed, of the great Victoria 
Water-Lily (Victoria regta, LindL); and on either side leaves 
(upper surface) of Nelumbium luteum, Willd., and N. speciosum, 
Willd. The shelves present some remarkable cases of the effect 
produced by incisions through the bark and into the wood of living 
trees, of which the most striking are supplied by two portions of trunks 
of the tree furnishing the Winter's Bark (Wintera aromatica, Sol.), 
from the Straits of Magellan, exhibiting inscriptions made during the 
voyages of Bougainville (1767) and Cordoba (1786), and cut down by 
Captain P. P. King, K.N., in the year 1832, in which the number of 
concentric layers exactly coincides with the number of intervening years. 
Below are specimens of the Bark, Wood, Foliage, and Fruit of the 
enormous Coniferous tree of California (Wellingtonia gigantea, 
LindL); a plank of Sandal-wood from the Feejee Islands ; a portion 
of the singularly lobed or channeled trunk, together with a transverse 
section, of the Yarura, or Paddle-wood, of Guiana (Aspidosperma 
EXCELSTJM, Bentli.) ; and portions of the stem, with sections, of the 
Kava-Pepper (Piper methysticum, Forst.), from which the intoxi- 
cating drink called Kava is prepared. 
In Case 13 are numerous Miscellaneous Specimens, chiefly Woody 
Climbers. On one side is a sack made by stripping off the inner bark 
of a tree of North-Western India (Lepurandra saccidora, J. Grali.) ; 
below it a stem of the Rice-Paper Plant of the island of Formosa 
(Aralia papyrifera, Hook.) ; and on the opposite side are specimens, 
with portions of the inner bark separated into layers by continued 
maceration, of the Lace-Bark (Lagetta lintearia, Juss.), the lace- 
like layers of which are occasionally made up into fancy articles of 
dress of diminutive size. On the shelves are placed some large woody 
fruits belonging to the tribe of Lecythide.e, including the Brazil- 
ISIuT of commerce (Bertholletia excelsa, Tlumh. and Bonpl.), the 
MoNKEY-PoT (Lecythis ollaria, L.), and a species of Eschweilera, 
Mart. 
Cases 14 and 15 contain a selection of specimens, chiefly Fruits, 
preserved in spirit of wine or pyroligneous acid. On the two upper 
shelves of Case 14 are placed specimens of the class Polypetal^ 
Hypogyn-e, including fruits of the Gamboge-Tree (Cambogja gutta, 
L.), of the SouARi-NuT (Pekea tuberculosa, AuhL), of the Camphor- 
Tree of Sumatra (Dryobalanops aromatica, Gcsrtn.), and of the 
DuRioN of the Malays (Durio zibethinus, L.), celebrated alike for its 
foetid odour and its delicious taste. There are also on these shelves 
flowers of the Canella (C. alba, Murr.) of the Hand-flower of Mexico 
(Cheirostemon platanoides, Huiiih. and Bonpl.), and of Carolinea 
TNsiGNis, Sicartz, one of the largest of South American flowers. On 
the front shelf of the lower range are placed specimens of the class 
PoLYPETAL^E Perigyn.e, such as the Mango (Mangifera Indica, L.), 
the Cashew-Nut (Anacardium occidentale. L.), Cloves (Caroy- 
PHYLLus AROMATicus, L.), the Jamboo or Rose-Apple (Eugenia Jambos, 
L.), esteemed one of the finest fruits of Eastern Asia, and C(Elebo, 
GYNE iLiciFOLiA, J. SniUIi, a plant of New Holland, which has become 
