144 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ June, 
somewhat glutinous in consistence. Possessed of a high refractive power, and a specific gravit- 
of 1-062. Odour, pleasant, hut faint, becoming more marked by a gentle heat. Neutral to testy 
papers. Becoming milky by concentration on the water-bath, it finally yielded a transparent 
gum, insoluble in alcohol. Oxalates produced no precipitate of lime, but basic lead acetate gave 
a curdy reaction. Concentrated hot sulphuric acid blackened the liquid. Although the taste 
was not acid, the mawkish flavour would render it quite unpotable. This examination, there¬ 
fore, proved the liquid to be something else than pure water. 100 parts of the liquid contained 
—water and volatile oils, 98-51; non-volatile residue, 1-49. 
-- £Tiiat the Stock or Gilliflower is a great favourite in gardens, the follow¬ 
ing statistics show :—At Erfurt, whence comes the main supply of German stock 
seeds, about 000,000 flower-pots are annually planted with about 3,600,000 of 
these plants, for the purpose of obtaining seeds. These pots, placed in a single row, would 
reach nearly 50 miles ! In the year 1863, 150,000 pots were planted with 1,550,000 Gilliflowers 
for seed, and these brought in an income of nearly 50,000 thalers. The production of the 
Gilliflower, in 16 varieties and over 200 colours, established the horticultural fame of Erfurt. 
- She Resurrection plant (Selaginella lepidophyllaJ, of which a figure 
from Messrs. Haage and Schmidt’s catalogue is 
subjoined, is a plant of much interest. It shares 
the habit possessed by some others of its family of forming 
a convolute mass when dry, in which state, rolled in like 
a hall, it is here shown. When growing it spreads flat on 
the ground, and after being dried up as here represented, 
it will expand again if placed in water. Hence it has 
obtained the name of Resurrection plant, though life is not 
really renewed, hut only the semblance of it. It is a 
native of Mexico and Peru. We have not seen living- 
plants, though an allied Texan species was for some years 
cultivated under the name of S. lepidophylla. This error 
has, however, been rectified by Professor A. Braun, who 
has named the garden plant S. pilifera. 
-- ££iie Dimorphanthus mandcliuricus is a 
noble Araliaceous, erect-growing, woody plant, of 
Palm-like habit, well adapted for the ornamenta¬ 
tion of lawns and shrubberies. It has something of the 
aspect of Aralia canescens (the falsely-called A. japonica of 
gardens), and produces very large spreading bipinnate 
spiny leaves, said to attain the size of 5 ft. in length and as much in breadth, of a bright green 
above and glaucous beneath. 
©fcitttars* 
-- 3)ames Yates, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., died at his residence, Lauderdale 
House, Highgate, on May 7. He was distinguished by his classical and scientific 
attainments, his learning being not only extensive, but profound and accurate. He 
was also an influential member of the Royal, Geological, and other learned and scientific 
societies, but among horticulturists was best known for his splendid collection of Cycads. 
-Ptr. William Wilson, the well-known museologist, died at Warrington 
on April 3. He was born in 1799, and was educated for the law, but resigned 
his legal studies to engage in botanical pursuits. His fame chiefly rests upon the 
Bryologia Britannica, the standard work upon British Mosses, which was issued in 1855. 
-- fiXR. William Bridgewater Page died at Hill, Southampton, on 
April 12, at the advanced age of 81 years. As a landscape gardener he had 
-enjoyed a high reputation, ranking in his day amongst the foremost men of his 
profession. The late Mr. Loudon frequently boro testimony to his abilities. He had also a 
thriving nursery and seed trade. 
