134 
NOTICES OF SERIALS. 
microscopic fungus, the Erigma (Phragrriidium) bulbosum , of Berkley; when mag¬ 
nified, it exhibited the appearance of a pedicle, supporting sometimes three, sometimes 
four (never more than four) sporidia, surmounted by a kind of button, representing 
an imperfect sporidium. The specimens of Erigma, examined by Mr. Curry, on 
Rosse, generally possessed eight sporidia. 
Hooker’s Journal of Botany. No. 63, April; No. 64, May. 8vo. London: 
Lovel Reeve. Price 2s. each. 
No. 63, April:—(Hooker, Sir W. J.) On the “ Argan” Tree of Morocco ( Ar - 
gania Sideroxylon). This tree, or shrub, but very little known to European bota¬ 
nists, is highly esteemed by the Moors for its useful properties. Through the 
exertions of Lord Clarendon, seeds and living plants were procured for the Royal 
Gardens at Kew.* These were accompanied with a descriptive letter from H. 
Grace, Esq., of Mogador. From this letter it appears that the plant, which attains 
a great age, is propagated mostly by seed, which is well watered till it shoots ; 
after this, there is no further care required. When from three to five years old, it 
bears fruit, which ripens between May and August. When the fruit ripens the 
cattle are driven to the trees, which are beaten with a long pole, and the ripe fruit 
which falls is quickly devoured. In the evening, when the flocks are driven home, 
they commence to chew the cud and throw out the nuts, which are collected every 
morning, and opened by the women and children, who use a stone for the purpose. 
The kernels are then parched in a common earthen vessel, ground in the ordinary 
handmills, and the flour put in pans and kneaded, with a little cold water, until 
the oil supervates, which is used for many domestic purposes in lieu of olive-oil; 
the cake, in which much oil remains, is used to fatten the cattle. Plates of the 
flowering specimen of the Argan, and various forms of the fruit, accompany this 
paper. (Spruce, Richard) Journal of a Voyage up Amazon and Rio Negro, con¬ 
tinued ; (Bentham, George) Florula Hongkongensis (continued); (Roe, J. S.) 
Report of Journey of Discovery, Western Australia (continued) ; Botanical Infor¬ 
mation ; Notices of Books. 
No. 64, May:—(Berkley, Rev. M. J.) Decades of Indian Fungi (continued), 
with 2 plates ; (Harvey, W. H.) Three new Algse, from shores of Ceylon— Van- 
voorstia spectabilis , Claudea multifida , Martensia fragilis. The genus Vanvoor- 
stia, just founded, and which is closely allied to Claudea, has been, with great 
propriety, dedicated to the well-known natural history publisher. (Roe, J. S.) 
Report of Journey of Discovery into Western Australia (continued); Botanical 
Information, &c. 
The Naturalist : conducted by B. R. Morris. No. 38, April; No. 39, May ; 
No. 40, June. 8vo. London : Groombridge and Sons. Price 6d. each 
number. 
No. 38, April, 1854 :—Habits of the Fox; Rare Animals, &c., occurring in 
Aberdeenshire; House Sparrow; Woodcock, remarks on; Birds occurring near 
Richmond, Yorkshire; Coleoptera round Exeter ; Land and Fresh-water Mol- 
lusca; Miscellaneous Notices ; Proceedings of Societies—Yorkshire Naturalists’ 
* Plants have been successfully raised from seed in the Gardens of the Royal Dublin Society.— Eds. 
