450 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
the mode of contraction of the leaves of the sensitive plant is in some way 
allied to the muscular contraction of animals. 
The International Botanical Congress was held at Paris on the 16th. 
The meeting was held in the rooms of the Imperial Society of Horticulture, 
and was presided over by M. Alphonse de Candolle. Almost every 
European country was represented. 
The Fossil Plants of Bilin. — Herr Ettingshausen has published the third 
part of his fossil flora of the Tertiary basin of Bilin, in Bohemia. He treats 
of about thirty-four orders of plants belonging to the locality, and alleges 
that in great part the genera are the same as those which are now found 
living in the neighbourhood. 
A new Conifer from Arctic America is described by Mr. Andrew Murray, 
in the Journal of Botany for September. The plant, which was referred to 
Abies alba by Hr. B. Seemann, was first found by him and Lieutenant 
Bedford Pirn, and specimens of its wood may be seen in the Museum at 
Kew. It is the most northerly tree met with in the north-west coast of 
America, being found in a latitude nearly seven degrees farther north than 
the limit of trees on the eastern side of the American continent. Some of 
the trees measured from twenty to fifty feet in height, and from four to five 
feet in circumference. 
Adiantum Capillus-Junonis. — This rare species of maidenhair fern has 
been hitherto imperfectly described. "We are glad, therefore, to receive 
a more accurate and complete description of it from Dr. H. F. Hance, who 
has lately found some fine specimens growing in’ the interstices of the 
bricks in the vails of the city of Canton. It seems to resemble rather 
closely A. lunulatum, but is nevertheless quite distinct from it. The species 
was originally described by Dr. Hana (in Annales des Sciences Naturelles) 
as the A. Cantonense ; but the fact that an identical species found at Pekin 
had been styled by Dr. W. S. Williams A. Capillus-Junonis , induced the 
author to employ this latter specific name instead of Cantonense. 
An edible Fungus from Tahiti is described by Mr. Brander as being an 
article of commerce in the South Pacific Islands. It grows upon decayed 
trees, and is called Teria iore , or rat’s ear, by the natives. This fungus was 
first collected in 1863, and is said to fetch twenty cents per pound in 
China, where it is used in preparing certain soups. 
A Memorial of Sir W. Hooker is about to be erected in Kew Church. It 
consists of a tablet enclosing a cast in Wedgwood- ware of Mr. Woolner’s 
medallion of the late Sir William Hooker. The medallion occupies the 
centre of a composition of panels that are decorated with ferns, etc., in 
relief, the fronds being arranged so that their lines harmonise with their 
position on the monument ; the panels are divided and mounted in mould- 
ings of white marble. The tablet is the work of Mr. It. Palgrave, and is 
considered exquisite in design and execution. 
The presence of Gases in Plant-tissues. — At a recent meeting of the Botanical 
Society of Edinburgh, a most interesting paper was presented by Messrs. 
Faivre and Dupre. The plants especially examined by the authors were the 
mulberry and the vine, and the following are the conclusions arrived at : — 
1. The presence of gases in the interior of the root, of the stem, and of the 
branches in the mulberry and vine, is a normal and constant fact. — 2. The 
