70 
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY. 
[upper 
which may be noticed large trunks of Quercus alba and Jnglans nigra 
from Upper Canada, and of Gum-trees, Acacias &c., from Australia. 
There still remains to be noticed the large series of specimens of 
the natural order ProteacecB, exhibited in Table Cases 7-9 and 12-18 
in the Inner Room. This order has been selected because it consists 
of a group of plants which are very distinct in many important 
characters from their nearest allies, and yet have a remarkable variety 
and diversity amongst themselves in their habit and foliage. They 
are chiefly found in Australia (where they form one of the most 
striking peculiarities of the vegetation), and in South Africa ; a small 
group exists in Souih America, and a few species with Australian 
affinities pass northward through the Pacific Islands into Continental 
Asia. The order was represented in Europe by many species during 
the Tertiary period ; their foliage is frequent in pipe-clay beds of the 
Isle of Wight, and the section of a stem from the Crag is exhibited 
in Table Case 30. An attempt is made here to illustrate, as far as 
possible, the protean foliage of the order, but only a few of the 
thousand or more known species could be exhibited. 
WILLIAM CARRUTHEES. 
