Unity in Variety, as deduced from the Vegetable Kingdom, being an attempt at developing that oneness which is discoverable in the habits, mode of growth, and principle of construction of all plants. By CHRISTOPHER DRESSER, lecturer on botany &c., South Kensington Museum. London: J. S. Virtue. Montreal B. Dawson & Son.

This work is the result of a somewhat protracted study of the modes in which vegetable structures increase themselves by growth; the external appearances of plants during their enlargement being carefully considered, as well as the principles upon which their enlargement is dependent. The author's aim is to trace out the oneness of principle which pervades all the works of the floral creation. He deems that this view of the vegetable kingdom greatly simplifies the study of scientific botany in all its branches. The book is not intended for mere beginners but for those who have acquired some knowledge of the elements of botany, and it is believed that the consideration of its contents will conduce to the rapid progress of the student. The author very justly says, that, in order to the prosecution of any branch of botany, nature as well as, and even more than books, must be resorted to. The botanist must live among plants, and daily study their forms, and the principle upon which their growth depends. The book is a fine specimen of typography, and is most copiously illustrated, and that, too, with an artistic skill and beauty never before attempted in an elementary work on botany. We have seen no wood-cut representations of botanical subjects at all equal to these. They are most pleasing to look upon and leave nothing further, in their own department, to be desired. For artists and those who wish to study flower-drawing this book will be invaluable, and to all students of botany, even although they may not agree with the authors speculations, it will yet be of interest.

A. F. K.

MISCELLANEOUS.

"On an undescribed Fossil Fern from the Lower Coal-measures of Nova Scotia." By Dr. J. W. Dawson, F.G.S. (Abstract of a paper read at the meeting of the Geological Society of London, Nov. 7, 1860.)

In a paper on the Lower Carboniferous rocks of British Ame

tica, published in the 15th volume of the Geological Society's Journal, Dr. Dawson noticed some fragmentary plant-remains which he referred with some doubt, the one to Schizopteris (Brongn.) and the other to Sphæreda (L. and H.) With these were also fragments of a fern resembling Sphenopteris (Cyclopteris) adiantoides of Lindley and Hutton. Since 1858 the author has received a large series of better-preserved specimens from Mr. C. F. Hart; and from these he finds that what he doubtfully termed the frond of Schizopteris is a flattened stipe, and that the leaflets which he referred to Sphenopteris adiantoides really belonged to the same plant. Mr. Hart's specimens also show that what Dr. Dawson thought to be Sphæreda were attached to the subdivisions of these stipes, and are the remains of fertile pinnæ, borne on the lower part of the stipe, as in some modern ferns. This structure is something like what obtains in the Cuban Aneimia adiantifolia, as pointed out to the author by Professor Eaton, of Yale College. No sporangia are seen in the fossil specimens.

Dr. Dawson offers some remarks on the difficulties of arranging this fern among the fossil Cyclopterides, Naggerathiæ, and Adiantites; and, placing it in the genus Cyclopteris, he suggests that it be recognized as a subgenus (Aneimites) with the specific name Acadica.

The regularly striated and gracefully branching stipes, terminated by groups of pinnules on slender petioles, must have given to this fern a very elegant appearance. It attained a great size. One stipe is 2 inches in diameter, where it expands to unite with the stem; and it attains a length of 21 inches before it branches. The frond must have been at least 3 feet broad. The specimens are extremely numerous at Horton.

The author then notices that the long slender leaves so common in the Coal-measures of Nova Scotia, and hitherto called Poacites, though sometimes like the stipes of Aneimites, are probably leaves of Cordaites.

On some specimens of Aneimites Acadica, markings like those made by insects have been observed; also a specimen of the Spirorbis carbonarius.

Note on a specimen of Neaera, Collected by Mr. R. S. Fowler, and Exhibited to the Natural History Society.

This specimen was obtained from the stomach of a Flounder at

Portland. It is of the size of the Neaera cuspidata of Great Britain and much resembles it in form, but is less gibbous and thinner and has the teeth less developed. Still these differences are hardly more than sufficient to constitute a well marked variety. The N. pellucida obtained by Stimpson in 40 fathoms off Long Island, is probably the young of the species to which Mr. F's shell belongs; and as Stimpson's specimen is the only one heretofore recorded as found on the American coast, the present specimen is of much interest.*

J. W. D.

Note on Relics of the Red Indians of Newfoundland, Collected by Mr. Smith McKay, and Exhibited to the Natural History Society.

These objects were found in a sepulchral cave in the southern part of Newfoundland, with the remains of a body wrapped in birch bark and stated by the modern Indians to have been probably a "Medicine Man." They consist of a portion of a walrus tusk, cut across by a sharp instrument, three flat pendants of elongated triangular form of the same material, and ornamented with lines and dots forming various patterns, shell wampum finished and in various stages of manufacture, with portions of the unformed shells, small univalve shells perforated so as to be strung as beads or attached to wearing apparel, portions of an iron knife or dagger and of a hatchet completely oxidised, and the wooden stem of an arrow, with a stone head very rudely formed These relics must belong to the earlier portion of the intercourse of the Red Indians with Europeans. They resemble the objects found in graves of other tribes, the principal peculiarities being the use of the ivory of the walrus tusk, and the circumstance that the wampum is made of the shell of a large Mactra probably M. solidissima.

J. W. D.

KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY.

It is with much pleasure that we notice the formation of a vigorous Botanical Society in Kingston, in connection with

* Since the above was written, Mr. Stimpson has seen the specimen and regards it as the adult of N. pellucida, and distinct from N. cuspidata.

Queen's College under the auspices of the Principal and Professors. Professor Lawson, whose name as a botanist is already widely known, has evidently been the initiator of this movement, and will we doubt not prove the soul of the Society itself. His practical knowledge of botanical subjects and his genuine scientific enthusiasm, will we hope be the means of carrying on the society's affairs with efficiency, and of infusing into the minds of its younger members a zeal for the prosecution of this noble department of science. We hope from time to time to be able to report good work done in the way of original research and discovery in the fine region of country which lies around Kingson. Among other departments we trust that this Society will draw attention to the fine array of forest trees which our country contains, not so much for purposes of commerce as for purposes of preservation and economical use at home. The Canadian farmer has not yet learned the wisdom of planting as he has of cutting down trees, and the time seems not far distant when in many of the finest parts of the country the famous forestry of Canada will have disappeared from our sight. This Society has much work before it which we trust it will not only begin but carry out with effect. Our readers will be interested in the following extracts from Professor Lawson's admirable address.

"Dr. Lawson pointed out the peculiar sphere in which the botanist is called to labour, the range of his studies, and the means acquired for their pursuit. It is of great importance that at the outset the real object of our proposed Society should be understood. The establishment of a Botanical Garden and other appliances must be regarded as secondary to the great object of the Society, the prosecution of scientific botany. Botany is at a low ebb in Canada, at a lower ebb than in most civilized or half civilized countries on the face of the earth. At the close of the eighteenth century, only five dissertations, on botanical subjects had been published by the whole medical graduates of the great Continent of America. Since then the indefatigable labours of such men as Michaux, Pursh, Torrey, Harvey, Curtis, Boott, Englemann, Tuckermann. Sullivant, Lesquereux, and especially of one whose name and fame rise above all the rest, Asa Gray, have brought our knowledge, of the botany of the United States on a level with that of the best botanized countries of Europe. The Flora of Canada has also been elaborated since then by one who still presides over the destinies of botanical science, not in England alone, for

his authority is recognised wherever the science is pursued. But during a period of nearly thirty years very little has been added. to our published knowledge of Canadian botany. Information respecting our indigenous plants must still be sought in the work of Sir William Hooker, issued from the Colonial office in England in 1833. That work founded as it necessarily was, on dried specimens carried home by passing travellers, afforded to the botanical world an admirable example of how much could be made out of slender material when in good hands. Unimpeachable as a work of science, unsurpassed in the whole range of botanical literature in the accuracy and beauty of its illustrations, the Flora Boreali-Americana afforded the means of developing still more fully a knowledge of the Canadian Flora. The North American Flora of Torrey and Gray and the Manual of the Botany of the Northern States, offered additional temptations, to the pursuit; but advances have not been made commensurate with the advantages that were offered; we have still, therefore, the singular anomaly of a country distinguished by its liberal patronage to science, dependent for its information respecting its native plants on the descriptions of specimens culled by early travellers. What was thirty years ago, and is now, of the highest value, can only in a partial manner meet the wants of the country in these days, when new manufactures and new forms of industry, seeking new products to work upon, are daily springing up around us. We desire to place the science of Botany on a more satisfactory footing in Canada than that which it now holds; we desire to increase the existing stock of knowledge; we desire to diffuse a taste for the study, so as to add to the number of laborers now in the field; and we desire to place on record new observations and discoveries, as they arise. The Botanical Society is designed as a means for carrying out purposes such as these. Extensive circulation was given sometime ago by Canadian newspapers to a report that Sir William Hooker was on his way to Canada with a staff of assistants to explore the botany of the country. I have the best authority for stating that that report was without foundation. It probably originated in certain proposals that were made to the Colonial office regarding the publication of a series of popular Manuals of Colonial Botany; but no expedition was ever contemplated by Sir Wm. Hooker, or any one else, at the instance of the Government. On the contrary, recent communications from the botanical advisers of the Home Government indicate that