THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
63 
The exposed rocky places supply Capers, Cap- 
paris spinosa, the garden Stock, Matthiola incana; 
the wall pellitory Parietaria, officinalis, which 
covers the rocks and walls in every direction; a 
variety with leaves like the poplar, var, “populi- 
folia,” seems peculiar to Malta. Great quantities 
of the pink flowered Heath, Erica multiflora, and 
the “polyanthus” Hyacinthus Tazetta are brought 
to market. Inula crithmoides, a shrub with 
yellow composite flowers and fleshy leaves, res- 
embling furze-bushes in the distance, abounds 
along the rocky coasts. It is upon this as a host 
plant that the parasite Cynomoriura lives. Ma- 
gnificent thistle-like plants abound, as Cynara 
cardunculus, with enormous leaves, as well as the 
Acanthus mollis, the foliage of which is represent- 
ed on the Corinthian capitals. Labiatse are well 
represented, a large flowered Phlomis fruticosus 
as well as the garden sage, Salvia officinalis, and 
Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, both pink and 
white varieties; a dwarf Iris, Sisyrinchium, and 
the little purple Romulea bulbocodium are every- 
where; a tall ‘white flowered Asphodel, Asplrodelus 
ramos us; a Sarsaparilla, Smilax aspera is a com- 
mon prickly climber over walls and rocks; the 
Medicinal Squill, Scilla maritima and its ally, 
sicula are abundant. The white Lily, Lilium can- 
didum was a native, but it has been exterminated 
by florists, and is only occasionally seen by the 
houses of peasants. Of Orchids, there are nine 
species of Ophrys, e.g. 0. bombiliflora and 0. fusca 
being particularly abundant; the spider Ophrys 
less so, and the bee Ophrys is very rare. Nine 
species of Orchis occur. 
The largest orders are Leguminosae, which in- 
cludes 17 species of clover, Trifolium, and Urnbel- 
liferae which has 22 genera and 32 species; illus- 
trating the well-known feature of island floras, 
that the proportion of genera is large in compari- 
son with the number of species; thus in this order | 
there are 1*5 s.p. to each genus. 
Of cultivated trees, the only which is universally 
distributed is the Carob, or fc>t. John’s Bread, 
Ceratonia Siliqua; but as the land is so exposed 
they are stunted, with much twisted boughs. In 
some of the deep valleys they grow to a respect- 
able size. 
Dates and the dwarf Fan Palms are few and far 
between, as the former cannot ripen its fruit, and 1 
the natives object to all superfluous trees as ab- 
stracting nourishment from their crops. Figs, 
mulberries, oranges, and lemons, are the principal 
trees cultivated. 
Note on “Dioplodon farneaince,” 
We have received the following interesting 
communication from Professor P. J. Van Beneden 
of Louvain. 
J’ail’honneur de presenter 4 1’Academie un ex- 
emplaire d’un nouveau Memoire fort interessant 
du professeur Capellini: il a pour objet un rostre 
de Ziphioide fossile decouvert dans les environs de 
Rome, et qu’i.1 rapporte 4 une espece nouvelle, sous 
le nom de dioplodon fame since. 
Ces travaux sur les Ziphioides ont pour nous un 
tres haut interet. On sait que dans le vaste ossuaire 
des environs dAnvers, les Cetaces de cette famille 
dominaient, et il importe de pourvoir comparer 
ceux qui habitaient le bassin de la Mediterranee 
avec ceux du bassin de la rner du Nord. 
Nous savons aujourd’hui que la mer Noire pos- 
sedait, 4 la fin de Fepoque tertiaire, des baleines 
qui lui etaient propres; la geologie nous a appris 
aussi que le detroit du Bosphore n’existait pas 
alors et que ces Cetaces pouvaient aller prendre 
leurs ebats dan les eaux de la mer Arctique. 
Nous savons 6galement aujourd’hui qui la mer 
Noire n’a plus aucun Cetace propre et que les trois 
dauphins qu’elle renferme, originates de l’Atlanti- 
que, n’ont pu penetrer dans cette mer interieure 
que depuis la formation du detroit de Gibraltar et 
du Bosphore. 
The climate of Gephalonia. 
The climate of the Greek island, Cepha- 
! Ionia has been lately described by Dr. Partsch 
in Peterminn' s Mittch . Among the many details 
which the learned doctor there gives, the fol- 
lowing are perhaps some of the most interesting. 
At Angostoli the temperature reaches a maximum 
in July of 25°. 3. Cen, whereas at Corfu and Patras 
it does not get so high as this until August. After 
several days of calm and bright sunshine the air 
becomes ladened with moisture, and the atmos- 
phere is then hot, close, and unbearable. Yet the 
