ClxXXii PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
iron imbibed, producing tannate of iron, the usual ingredients 
of ink. Beyond being somewhat unsightly, nothing of a dele¬ 
terious character was present. Mr. Michael observed that it was 
of common occurrence in the peaty soils of Skye, and that the 
Potatos were even preferred so by the local inhabitants. 
Fig. 120 . —Monstrous Begonia. ( Gardeners' Chronicle.) 
A Monstrous Begonia. —Dr. Masters showed a male flower, 
in which the central axis was prolonged into a small funnel- 
shaped structure on a slender pedicle (see fig. 120). Similar 
structures are not uncommon, as foliar excrescences from the 
ribs of Cabbage-leaves, and the ovules of Mignonette have 
