73 
found to contain a considerable portion of oxide of iron; and 
although reduced to powder and mixed with sand, before being 
used, we have seen American shrubs which had been planted in 
it, dwindle year after year, and ultimately die. 
115 AVoodlice, to Destroy. Very few hothouses or frames are 
entirely exempt from that troublesome little animal, the Wood- 
louse, the Onisens ascellus of Linneus. AVhen few in number 
the injury done by them to growing plants is trifling; we may, 
notwithstanding, wish the sons of Galen possessed those few for 
the benefit of their jaundiced patients. In common hotbeds 
and mushroom beds, when from overheating or other causes, 
they become dry, and afford convenient places for shelter and in- 
crease, Woodlice are, sometimes, so numerous as to destroy 
much of their crops, and have been found difficult of extirpa- 
tion. By complying with the following directions this diffi- 
culty may be removed. These insects are very partial to the 
fleshy roots of the common white Bryony, — ’Bryonia dioica. If 
this be cut into thin slices, and allowed to become nearly dry, it 
makes an excellent bait for entrapping them. The Briony is 
conveniently used by putting one or two slices into a garden pan, 
or on a tile, with a little loose dry moss over it, where the insects 
resort. They will soon both find and feed upon the Briony 
root; and as the dry moss will afford them convenient shelter 
they will remain beneath it. These traps should be examined 
every morning or oftener, when the insects may be destroyed. 
The Bryony is found sparingly in most old hedge rows; but as 
the roots are difficult to discover, during winter, a root or two 
should be transplanted into the garden, to be ready when w anted. 
116 Fossil Ferns. In a number of the Athenzeum of 1835, was 
a notice on Fossil Ferns. As it contains an assertion somewhat 
at variance with our anticipations, geologically; and also a me- 
thod of comparison, worth remembering, we copy it. “As it is 
very rare to find a fossil fern, the mere impression, generally 
speaking, being all that remains, a M. Gcepper has taken the 
impression of a number of recent ferns, in order, by comparison, 
to try and ascertain the fossil species with greater facility. By 
this method, M. Gcepper has been able to recognize more than 
thirty species, which are analogous to those of the present day.” 
117 R.vfflesia Arnoldi. In the Floral Register we have fig- 
ured this most extraordinary production, and its character de- 
137 AUCT.iRIUM. 117, Trans. Lin. Soc. Vol. 13. Condensed in Loudon’s Mag. Nat. Hist. Vol. 1. 
