800 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, Femutaby 24, 1807. 
SIRENE SCHAFTA. 
Transmitted by Dr. Fischer, from the Botanic Garden, 
Dorpat; and from M. Vilmorin, Paris, in April, 1844. 
This proves to be a beautiful little herbaceous plant, pro¬ 
ducing a great number of spreading slender downy stems, 
which form compact tufts, and are terminated near the 
extremity by four or five bright purple flowers more than an 
inch long. Of these flowers that at the extremity of the 
shoot opens first, and those below it one after the other in 
succession, so that the branches are by degrees covered all 
over with blossoms. Its stems do not rise above six inches 
high, and render it well suited for bedding out, or for cul¬ 
tivating among collections of alpines, or for rockwork, over 
which it will bend gracefully. 
It appears from the work of Walpers that this species 
inhabits rocks on Mount Keridach, in the Russian province 
of Talysch. 
It is a hardy perennial, which grows freely in any light 
rich soil. It is increased by seeds, which are produced 
freely, and flowers from the end of June to October; the 
young plants from seed will not bloom before the second 
season. 
This species must be regarded as a very handsome little 
plant, and very desirable on account of its blooming pro¬ 
fusely and for a long time in the autumn.— ( Horticultural 
Society’s Journal.) 
A NOTICE OF SIMMONS’S PATENT HYGROMETER. 
By the Vice-Secretary. 
j At the Meeting of the Society in Regent-street, Feb. 17, 
: 184C, Mr. E. Simmons, of Coleman-street, in the City of 
London, produced an Hygrometer contrived by him for 
I horticultural purposes. Taking advantage of the well- 
j known Hygrometrical properties of wood, the inventor 
. adapted a thin strip of mahogany, cut across the grain, to a 
pulley and spiral spring connected with a vertical arm re¬ 
sembling the hand of a clock. This hand was made to 
traverse a dial-plate marked off into degrees, expressing the 
amount of moisture in the air between what is observed 
when the instrument is plunged in water on the one hand, 
and exposed to excessive atmospheric dryness on the other. 
The accompanying figure, and the description following, 
taken from Mr. Simmons’s Registration in the Patent Office, 
! will further explain the nature of the instrument. 
From trials made with this Hygrometer in the garden of 
! the Society, it has been ascertained that it is much better 
i adapted to horticultural purposes than any hygrometer yet 
in use. For strictly scientific purposes it is not indeed 
equal to Daniell’s, because it is impossible to make two in¬ 
struments which will work exactly alike; but it has the 
great advantage of being'as easy to use as a thermometer, 
and the instruments will be quite as comparable as common 
thermometers themselves. In fact, differences between such 
contrivances, to the extent of two or three degrees, are of 
no practical moment. 
In a trial made between Simmons’s and Danicll’s Hygro¬ 
meter in the Orcliideous House in the Garden, an unex¬ 
pected result was obtained. Placed in the same situation 
the following were the observations :— 
Simmons’s. Daniell’s. 
Jan. 22. Noon .. Wet .. Saturation. 
,, 4 a.m. .. Wet .. Saturation. 
In the course of the night the evaporating tanks lost 
their water in consequence of the bursting of a pipe, and 
the observations that followed the accident were remarkable : 
Simmons’s. 
Daniell’s. 
Jan. 23. 
8 A.M. 
1 
Saturation 
ft 
Noon. 
6 
do. 
»» 
4 P.M. 
10 
do. 
1 Jan. 24. 
8 a. in. 
50 
do. 
In this instance the air must necessarily have become 
drier every hour, because the usual supply of vapour was 
To be hung in the shade only. 
Not to be subjected to greater heat than is suitable to vegetable life. 
Not to be hung in the wet or damped with the syringe. 
cut off by the removal of the evaporating tanks; and yet 
Daniell’s Hygrometer remained invariably at what is called 
