MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 
■was made to Mr. J. Thomson, gai-dener to Dr. Neill, 
Camionmills, who had a fine specimen of Trichopilia 
tortilis, bearing eighteen er[)anded flowei's. 
The first prize for Auriculas was gained hy Mr. A. 
Forrester, Eatho, whose kinds were Ne Plus Ultra, 
Fletcher's Mary Ann, Sykes Complete, Lord Brougham, 
General Morello, and Thompson's Revenge; and a 
second hy Mr. E. Grieve, Liberton, for Stretche's 
Alexander, Harrison's "William Pitt, Eclipse, Smith's 
Waterloo, Ringleader, and Stretche's King. Messrs. 
James Dickson & Sons' prize for Cinerarias grown in 8- 
inch pots, was contested by five competitors ; and was 
awarded to Mr. J. Henderson, gardener to C. K. Sieve- 
wright, Esq., CargUfield, for Bessy, Carlotta Grisi, 
Eleanor, l^ymph. Delight, and Newington Beauty. A 
second prize was voted from the Society to Mr. Ritchie, 
Parson's Green, for Adela ViUiers, Cerito, Flora Mac- 
Ivor, Delight, Climax, and Pauline. 
There was a splendid display of productions sent for 
exhibition only, of which the most remarkable were : — 
From Messrs. Dickson & Co., Leith Walk, a splendid 
Erica vestita alba, Gompholobiumpolymoi-phum, Lesche- 
naultia Baxteri major, and Acacia platyptera ; with a 
basket of interesting Alpines. Messrs. J. Dickson & Sons, 
Inverleitb, a fine Gloxinia grandis, Mimolus sibiricus, 
&c. Mr. Carstairs, Wan-iston, fine Geraniums, Heaths, 
Cinerarias, and Epacrises. Mr. Stark, EdgehiH, the 
beautifid Cheiranthus Marshallianus. Messrs. Downie 
& Laird, 2 boxes of beautiful Cinerarias. Mr. Methven, 
Stanwell Lodge, several seedling Rhododendrons, one of 
which, a beautiful white-flowered variety, was stated to 
be perfectly hardy. Mr. Macintosh, Regent Road, 
two fine Pimelea spectabilis. Messrs. Ballantyne & 
Son, Dalkeith, the Rose Geant de BataiRes. Lady 
Hay, Kingsmeadows, Peebles, fine collection of Azaleas. 
Professor Dunbar, a large Scarlet Hybrid Rhododen- 
dron named R. Dimbarianum. I. Anderson, Esq., 
Maryfield, a beautifully flowered Rhododendron for- 
mosum, Nemophila maculata, and a new hardy Conifer 
from Australia. Dr NeiU, a fine Myrtle-leaved 
Orange, bearing a profusion of flowers and fi-uit, 
and some interesting Alpine plants. Professor Syme, 
a fine specimen of Pentstemon Cobea, and NcmophUa 
maculata. Messrs. Dickson and Tui-nbidl, Perth, a 
Scarlet Rhododendron, raised from Himalayan seeds. 
Mr. Baxter, g.ardener, Riccarton, a fine display of Bor- 
der Auriculas, raised from seed, many of them very 
beautiful. Mr. Stirling, Moray Place Gardens, rare 
Alpines, with flowering plants of Primula Stuartii, and 
Houstonia coerulea. There were also exhibited, from 
Mr. G. Aitken, Dalkeith, a new Syringe, invented by 
him ; and from Mr. KeUy, Tanfield, an improved Edging 
Iron for paring curved figui'cs. 
Pemliarities of Palms. — There is considerable uni- 
formity in the shape of the leaves of Palms ; they are 
generally either pinnate (dinded like the plume of a 
feather), or else palmate, or palmo-digitate (of a fan- 
like form). The leaf-stalk is, in some species, without 
spines, in others, sharply toothed. The foi-m of the 
leaf in Caryota urens, and Martinezia caryotifolia (which 
wc saw on the banks of the Oiinoco and Atabapo, and 
again in the Andes, at the pass of Quindiu, 3,000 French 
— 3,197 English — feet above the level of the sea), is 
exceptionable, and almost unique among Palms, as is 
the form of the leaf of the Gingko among trees. The 
port and physiognomy of Palms have a grandeur of 
character very difficult to convey by words. The stem, 
shaft, or caudex, is generally simple and imdivided; 
but, in extremely rare exceptions, divides into branches 
in the manner of the Dractenas, as in Crucifera thebiaca 
(the Doum Palm), and Hyphisne coriacea. It is some- 
times disproportionately thick (as in Corozo del Sinu, 
our Alfonsia oleifera) ; sometimes feeble as a reed (as in 
Piritu, Kunthia montana ; and the Mexican Corypha 
nana) ; sometimes swelling towards the base (as in 
Cocos) ; sometimes smooth, and sometimes scaly (Palma 
de covija o de sombrero, in the Llanos) ; sometimes ai'med 
with spines (as Corozo de Cumana, and MacaniUa de 
Caripe) ; the long spines being distributed ■with much 
regularity in concentric rings. Characteristic differences 
are also fui'nished in some species by roots, which, 
springing from the stem, at about a foot or a foot and 
a half above the gi-ound, either raise the stem, as it 
were, upon a scaffolding, or surroimd it -with thick 
buttresses. I have seen Viverras, and even very small 
monkeys, pass underneath this kind of scaffolding, 
formed by the roots of the Caryota. Often the shaft or 
stem is swoUen only in the middle, being more slender 
above and below, as in the Pahna Real of the Island of 
Cuba. The leaves are sometimes of a dark and shining 
green (as inMauritia and Cocoa-nut Palm) ; sometimes 
of a sQvery white on the under side (as in the slender 
Fan Palm, Corypha miraguama, which we found in 
the Harboirr of Trinidad de Cuba). Sometimes the 
middle of the fan or palmate leaf is ornamented ■with 
concentric yellowish or bliiish sti'ipes like a peacock's 
tail, as in the thorny Mauritia, which Bonpland dis- 
covered on the banks of the Rio Atabapo. The direc- 
tion of the leaves is a character not less important than 
their form and colour. The leaflets are sometimes 
arranged like the teeth of a comb, set on in the same 
plane, and close to each other, and ha"ving a very 
rigid parenchjTua (as in Cocos, and in Phcenix, the 
genus to which the Date belongs), whence the fine play 
of light from the sun-beams falling upon the upper 
surface of the leaves (which is of a fresher verdure in 
Cocos, and of a more dead and ashy hue in the Date 
Palm) ; sometimes the leaves are flag-like, of a thinner 
and more flexible textm-c, and cml towards the ex- 
tremities (as in Jagua, Pahna Real del Sinu, Palma 
Real de Cuba, and Phitu dell' Orinoco). The peculiarly 
majestic character of Palms is given not only by their 
lofty stems, but also in a very high degree by the 
direction of their leaves. It is part of the beauty of 
any particular species of Palm, that its leaves should 
possess this aspiring character ; and not only in youth, 
as in the case of the Date Palm, but also throughout 
the duration of the Ufe of the tree. The more upright 
the direction of the leaves, or, in other words, the more 
acute the angles which they form ■with the upper part, 
or continuation of the stem, the grander and more im- 
posing is the general. character and physiognomy of the 
tree. — HumbokH's As^iects of Nature. 
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