sæpè obliquæ, semunciales. Flores spicati, fragrantissimi, minores, excavationibus racheos inserti. Spice axillares, multifloræ, pedunculatæ, pendulæ, plerumque solitariæ, longitudine sæpè unciales. Pedunculus cylindricus, tomentosus. Bracteole ovato-lanceolatæ, acutæ, intùs pilosæ, basi concavæ, caducæ, floribus æstivantibus longiores. Perianthium subglobosum, substantiâ crassum, coriaceum, 4-fidum: lobis ovatis, acutiusculis, intùs densè barbatis, æstivatione valvatis, basi interiore squamulâ brevissimâ truncatâ crassiusculâ subcarnosâ auctis! Stamina definitè numerosa (12 v. 16), in 4 phalanges cum lobis perianthii et squamulis (serie perianthii interiore) alternantia, approximata, disco piloso imposita: filamenta capillaria, glabra: antheræ parvæ, reniformes, biloculares: loculis gibbosis, exteriùs longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium globosum, uniloculare: ovulis plurimis, adscendentibus, placentis 3 parietalibus insertis. Stylus subtrigonus, trisulcus. Stigmata tubercula 3, minutè papillosa. Cætera mihi ignota. * Species Dubia. 4. A? celastrina, foliis subrotundo-ovalibus subserratis glabris, stipulis minimis æqualibus, floribus axillaribus fasciculato-paniculatis. Hab. in Chili. Caldcleugh. h. (V. s. sp. in Herb. Lamb.) Fruter ramosissimus, Celastri facie. Rami teretes, flexuosi, cortice scabro transversè rimoso. Ramuli tenuissimè velutini. Folia alterna, petiolata, subrotundo-ovalia, subserrata, nunc rariùs ferè integerrima, coriacea, utrinque glabra, suprà nitida, subtùs opaca, venisque prominulis reticulata, atque in earum axillis pilosa, margine obtuso, calloso, parùm revoAuto; pollicaria v. sesquipollicaria, unciam v. minùs lata. Petioli simplicissimi, semicylindrici, 2-3 lineas longi, tenuissimè velutini. Stipulæ 2, minutæ, oblongæ, squamæformes, canaliculatæ, subitè caducæ. Flores axillares, paniculati, parvi. Panicula solitariæ, parvæ, axi abbreviatissimo fasciculatæ, tomentosæ. Pedicelli brevissimi. Bracteole squamæformes, minutæ, caducæ. Perianthium densè tomentosum, 4-5-partitum : laciniis ovatis, margine obtusis, muticis, patentibus. Petala nulla. Stamina definitè numerosa (12 v. 15); omnia fertilia : filamenta capillaria, glabra, perianthio longiora : antheræ subrotundæ, basi insertæ, extrorsæ : loculis connatis, longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium uniloculare: ovulis plurimis, placentis 3 parietalibus insertis. Stylus trigonus. Stigmata puncta 3, minutè papillosa. Cætera mihi ignota. OBS. Anne flores dioici ? The Homalinæ may be regarded as occupying, in the series of natural affinities, an intermediate station between Rosaceœ and Prockiacea, to each of which, respectively, they approach, both in habit and characters. The stamens, like those of Rosaceœ, are inserted in the calyx, whose segments are also frequently disposed in a double series; and to Prockiacea they ap proach in their unilocular ovarium, and in the structure and insertion of their seeds. The close relationship of Prockiacea and Tiliaceae, I consider as clearly established; the chief distinction of the latter family, consisting in the valvular æstivation of their calyx, and in their multilocular ovarium. I am aware that Azara and Pineda have hitherto been considered as be longing to separate families; but, I trust, the above description will establish their intimate affinity, and prove that they belong to one and the same family. Persoon had referred Pineda to Homalium, and M. Decandolle has adopted this indication of affinity, but has very properly retained it as a separate genus. In the arrangement of Azara, however, he has been less fortunate, as he has followed the suggestion of M. Kunth, who had proposed to place it among the Bixince, or Prockiacea, a name which I greatly prefer, as being derived from a genus that affords a much better idea of that order than Bira, which may be considered as an aberrant member of it. The valvular æstivation of calyx is not general throughout Tiliacea, for in some plants, clearly referable to that family, the margin of the lobes is folded inwards, and in Sloanea dentata and emarginata the lobes are slightly imbricated, and certainly decidedly so in the genus Trichocarpus. The large rough prickly capsule of Bixa, and the entire habit of the genus, correspond so exactly with Sloanea, that they may very properly be considered as forming the connecting links of the two families; and as a further proof of their close relationship, I may adduce the thickening of the petioles near the insertion of the leaf in both genera,—a circumstance which is not found in any of the other genera that have been referred to the Prockiaceae, although frequent in Tiliaceœ. Some analogies in structure might be pointed out between Prockiacea and Cistinæ, on the one hand, and between Homalinc and Passiflorea, on the other, but in neither case amounting to an indication of affinity. Neillia, formerly referred by me to the Spiraeaceae, may be regarded as forming the rudiment of a distinct group, more intimately allied to Homalina, being chiefly distinguished from the former by the presence of petals, and by the very reduced number of its pistilla, which are uniformly solitary. The Abatia of Ruiz and Pavon, which M. Kunth has doubtfully referred to his Bixina, appears to me clearly to belong to Salicaria, with which family it corresponds, in the seeds being destitute of albumen, and in its opposite leaves clothed with tufted pubescence, as is often the case in Cuphea, and some other genera of the same natural family. The following description of this curious genus will show these affinities in a clearer point of view. ABATLA, Ruiz et Pavon. Syst. Linn. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Calyx monophyllus: tubus brevissimus, subturbinatus: faux pilis muticis filamentosis numerosissimis (vix tamen stamina sterilia) munita: limbus 4-partitus: laciniis lanceolatis, æstivatione valvatis. Petala nulla. Stamina definitè numerosa (20) simplici ordine! prope tubi calycis basin inserta: filamenta complanata, glabra: antheræ obtusæ, introrsæ, biloculares, basi insertæ: loculis parallelis, longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium liberum, globosum, uniloculare, villosissimum. Stylus teres, glaber. Stigma parvum, truncatum, pruinosum. Capsula unilocularis, bivalvis, polysperma, apice dehiscens: valvis sublignosis, concavis, medio placentiferis. Placenta nunc demùm solutæ, basi connatæ. Semina parva, angulata, atrofusca, adscendentia, hinc convexa, inde planiuscula, apice alâ exiguâ cristata, basi umbilico prominenti instructa; testa exterior crustacea, superficie reticulatâ ; interior membranacea, pallidior: albumen nullum. Embryo erectus, teres, lacteus: radiculâ cotyledonibus semicylindricis parùm longiore, obtusâ, centrifugâ. Frutices (Peruviani) pubescentiâ fasciculatâ cinereo-tomentosi. Folia opposita, petiolata, exstipulata, simplicia, crenata. Flores racemosi. Pedicelli uniflori, bracteâ suffulti, solitarii v. fasciculati. 1. rugosa, foliis suprà rugosis, antheris oblongis : connectivo dilatato! Abatia rugosa, Ruiz et Pavon Syst. Veg. Fl. Peruv. et Chil. 1. p. 136. Gen. t. 14. Fl. Peruv. et. Chil. tom. 5. ined. t. 463. Hab. in Peruviæ collibus frigidis ad Rondos, Pillao, et Nauyan.- 2. A parviflora, foliis suprà planis, antheris subrotundis : connectivo angustissimo. Abatia parviflora, Ruiz et Pavon 1. c. 1. p. 136. Fl. Peruv. et Chil. tom. 5. ined. t. 464. Hab. in Peruviæ runcationibus circa Muna vicum.-Ruiz et Pavon. h. Floret a Maio ad Augustum. Vulgò Taucca-Taucca. (V. s. sp. in Herb. Lam.) Folia magis canescentia, suprà planiora. Flores duplò minores. Lacinia calycine ovato-oblongæ. Situs racemorum in utraque idem. Species Bogotensis ab amicissimo Kunthio descripta videtur dis tincta. OBS. Stamina quadruplum laciniarum calycinarum efficiunt, sed modo unusitato in simplici ordine disposita. Pili faucis ob formæ structuræque differentiam vix pro staminibus sterilibus desumpti. There is another genus, which M. De Candolle has placed in Homalina, namely Aristotelea, on which I beg to offer a few observations. The comparison of this genus with Tricuspidaria leaves no doubt of its being a legitimate member of the family Elaocarpeæ. In both genera the calyx is fivelobed; the petals five, and alternating with the lobes of the ca lyx; the stamens are inserted in the calyx; the anthers long, and opening at the top by two fissures; the leaves in both are generally opposite, of precisely the same structure, serrated at the margin, and furnished with innumerable minute pellucid dots; the stipules are small and deciduous; the fruit in both is three-celled; and the flowers are white and pendulous. The structure of the seeds in both genera is precisely similar, having a flat embryo placed in the centre of very copious fleshy albumen. The stigmata in Tricuspidaria are distinct, but united in Aristotelea, which has been hitherto considered as possessing a simple stigma. The leaves may more correctly be regarded as approximated in pairs than as decidedly opposite, and they are found often alternate, as might be expected, in both genera. (To be concluded in our next.) New Observations on the Blood-like Phenomena observed in Egypt, Arabia, and Siberia, with a View and Critique of the Early Accounts of Similar Appearances. By Mr C. G. EHRENBERG. THE blood-red colour of waters, and the scattered bloodcoloured spots which have sometimes appeared so suddenly as to excite the wonder, and often the alarm, of the people of all ages, however much the scientific investigations of these things may have been gradually refined and confirmed, are still objects of much ambiguity; and, even among learned men, the knowledge of the causes of this phenomenon is capable of farther extension, and of stricter demonstration. In my travels, I have had an opportunity of collecting many facts regarding these appearances, that is, on the red colour of the Red Sea, on the blood spots in Egypt; and, during the last journey which I, in company with Baron Humboldt, made to Siberia, on a very intense blood colour in a lake of the Steppe of Platow. I shall attempt to arrange these facts along with the appearances already known, so as to counteract the present disposition, created by Chladni, to refer all the historical accounts of blood-coloured masses to meteoric and cosmical appearances. As it is of consequence to distinguish, by the most accurate investigation, the appearances of this kind, which are indisputably meteoric; so, on the other hand, for the sake of comparison, it must be of consequence to know the genuine characteristics of such appearances as are not meteoric; and, although Chladni was so much inclined to enlarge his catalogue of meteoric masses by including in it bloodlike appearances on the earth's surface, it is no easy matter to prove that even a single one of his examples are really meteoric. The explanation of the appearances of blood is historically divided into four periods, which may be called, 1st, The theocratic or period of miracles; 2d, The period of the Hippocratic school; 3d, The physical or natural-historical; and, 4th, The atmospherical or cosmical. The first period extends from the commencement of history till the time of Cicero. In the second, the admissibility of miracles was questioned, and a belief in a crude and boiled condition of atmospherical and terrestrial moisture was prevalent. Peiresc of Aix commenced the third period; and Chladni, who strongly reprehended the encroachments of natural historians in these matters, established the fourth. We have the most ancient account of blood-coloured water from Egypt, in the books of Moses. That was an immediate operation of the Almighty, and one of the miracles which Moses performed in the presence of Pharaoh. The Nile was red, and stank; the fishes died, and all the water in Egypt was changed in the same manner *. After this, the poems of Homer mention the earliest appearance of a similar kind, or the poet took advantage of, at least repeated, the natural appearance of blood rain, known at that Exodus, chap vii. ver. 19.—And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. Verse 20. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded : and he lift up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. Verse 21. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. |