^&^= 
i 
304 
ItE^^E^v. — miscellaneous ^■OTICES. 
give a general notion of the purpose of the book, and of 
the very interesting ^ay in ■which it is worked out. 
Another passage must suffice : — 
" In Scripture, the formation of the human race is described as 
the terminal act of a series, ' good' in all lis previous stages, hut 
■which became 'verr good' then. , . Nature lay dead in a ^raste 
theatre of rock, vapour, and sea, in which the insensate laws, 
chemical, mechanical, and electric, carried on their blind unin- 
telligent processes : the creative Jiat Tvent forth ; and, amid waters 
that straightway teemed ■with life in its lower forms, vegetable 
and animal, the dynasty of the fish was introduced. Many ages 
passed, during which there took place no further elevation ; on 
the contrary, in not a few of the newly introduced species of the 
reigning class, there occurred for the first time examples of an 
asymmetrical misplacement of parts, and, in at least one family 
of fishes, instances of defect of parts ; there was the manifesta- 
tion of a downward tendency, toward the degredation of mon- 
strosity, when the elevatory fiat again went forth, and through 
an act of creation the dynasty of the reptile began. Again 
many ages passed by, marked apparently by the introduction of 
a warm-blooded o\iparous animal, the bird, and of a few mar- 
supial quadrupeds, but in which the prevailing class reigned 
undeposed, though at least unelevated. Yet again, however, the 
elevatory fiat went forth, and through an act of creation the 
dynasty of the mammiferous quadrui>eds began. And after the 
further lapse of ages, the elevatory fiat went forth yet once 
more, in an act of creation, and with the human, heaven- 
aspiring dynasty, the moral government of God, in its connec- 
tion ■with at least the world which we inhabit, ' took be- 
ginning,' and then creation ceased- "Why ? Simply because 
God's moral government had begun— because, in necessary con- 
formity -with the institution of that government, there was to 
be a thorough identity maintained between the glorified and 
immortal beings of the terminal dynasty, and the dying mag- 
nates of the dynasty which now is ; and because, in consequence 
of the maintenance of this identity as an essential condition of 
this moral government, mere acts of creatioti could no longer 
carry on the elevatory process. The work, analogous in its end 
and object to those acts of creation which gave to our planet its 
successive dynasties of higher and yet higher esistencies, is the 
work of BEDnrPTioy. It is the elevatory process of the present 
time — the only possible provision for that final act of re- 
creation to * everlasting life' which shall usher in the terminal 
dynasty." 
"W^e strongly recommend Mr. Miller's *^ JFootpi^nts" 
to be put into the hands of the young and inexperienced 
as a safeguard or antidote against the baneful influence 
of the " Vestigean theory." It is throughout nicely 
"written, and as nicely got up. The illustrations, chiefly 
palaeontological, but including also some facoids, ferns, 
and lignites, are numerously interspersed. — il. 
Syhrid Hpimedlums. — In the Ghent Ajinitls^ (v., t. 
243), Professor ilorren has published figures of three 
very interesting Epimediums, which are stated to be of 
hybrid origin ; they are called violaeeo-diphyllum, ver- 
sicolor, and sulphureum. It is stated on the autiiority 
of M. Spae, that violaeeo-diphyllum, is a hybrid ob- 
tained from crossing two plants belonging to difierent 
genera. One of these, the Aceranthus diphyllus, it is 
impossible to refer to the genus of the Epimeds, for 
it has no cup -shaped nectaries, but simple smooth petal- 
like organs. This Aceranthus diphyllus impregnated 
by the real Epimedium ■violaceum has produced the 
violaeeo-diphyllum, ■which M. Donckelaar sen. has 
figured in the catalogue of the Botanic Garden of Ghent, 
as Epimedium lilaeinum. !M. Spae observes that the 
plant bears the leaves of the Aceranthus and the flowers 
of the Epimedium; so that the branching portion of 
1^ " - 
the plant is firom the female side, and the flower firom 
the male side. M. Morren, however, considers that the 
leaves of the Aceranthus are distinguishable from the 
latter hv a more decided obliqueness, the margins less 
dentated, the under lobes being somewhat angular, each 
terminated by a tooth, while the new kind has the cor- 
date form, the rounded lobes, the numerous teeth at the 
margins, as in the leaves of the true Epimeds, and the 
only resemblance to the leaves of the Aceranthus, is 
confined to their geminate form. There is nothing in 
the flowers which has any resemblance to Aceranthus. 
They are furnished with true cucullate nectaries, the 
spur is extended in a point, the petals are smooth, large, 
extending a little beyond the nectary, and the colour 
is that of the Epimedium violaceum. If the hybrid- 
ation were not affirmed with so much certainty, it 
might have been considered a simple variety of Epi- 
medium violaceum, with geminate leaves. Whether a 
hybrid or a variety, it is a very pretty plant as a horti- 
cultural subject. The leaves are delicate, and it flowers 
in spring ; the flowers are of a tender lilac colour tinged 
with white and violet, il. Spae states that the Epi- 
medium versicolor, and E. sulphureum are varieties of 
E. macranthum. The former flowers much more early 
than E. (hybridum) violaceum or E. sulphureum. The 
flowers of the E. versicolor and sulphureum show a 
great shortening of the spurs, which terminate in small 
heads or globules, and a proportionate development in 
the breadth of the petals. E. versicolor is diutinguished 
by its deep yellow colour, with the spurs and margins 
of the petals tinged with rose. The flowers of E. sul- 
phureum are entirely yellow. The variety versicolor, 
as represented by M. Morren is a very beautiful plant, 
jr. Donckelaar, of Ghent, who is distinguished for the 
culture of the Epimediums, grows them in peaty soil, 
in a shady and moist situation. They may be propa- 
gated by division of the roots, in autumn. 
Beurre Capiaumont Van MonsFear. — This variety is 
of vigorous habit, with a pyramidal form. The leaves 
are large, entire, or fainfly dentated. The frviit is py- 
riform and elongate, measuring from four to fomr inches 
and a half from the eye to the stalk. In form it is 
oblique at the summit, where the calyx or umbiHcule 
is situated ia a shallow cavity. The stalk is thick, 
woody, and inserted into a shallow cavity. The skin 
is somewhat rough, yellowish-brown, considerably 
deeper at the exposed side, freely sprinkled with small 
vermcose dots. The flesh is white, delicate, and crisp, 
very juicy, sweet, and of agreeable flavour. This va- 
riety must not be confounded with the old Beurre Capi- 
aumont Aurore. The colour of the frnit is the same 
in both varieties, but in the Beurre Capiaumont Aurore, 
the fruit is smaller, its peduncle shorter and thicker, 
and not inserted so deeply as in the present variety. 
The difference in habit is more striking ; the Capiau- 
mont Aurore is less vigorous, with shorter and thinner 
branches, its leaves regularly and finely dentated; 
both come near Beiure Bosc, which differs from them 
by its peduncle being much longer. There is little 
difference in the quality, but the Beurre Bosc ripens 
nearly a fortnight later than the Capiaumont. It was 
raised by M. Dupuy-Jamain. — Becue Horticole. 
