Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 123 ledones, for there are several fishes which have no vertebrae. The Insecta of Linnaeus, or the articulated animals of authors, are di-stinguished by the absorption of the vitellus occurring by the back ; and as all of them are not articulated, it would be better to name them the Epivitelliens or Epicotyledones . In the Worms ( Vermes) of Linnaeus, of which Cuvier has made his Mollusca and Radiata, the vitellus returns inwards neither by the back nor by the belly ; and we may distinguish them by the names of Allovitelliens or Allocoty-ledones. The Mollusca certainly do not differ so much from the Radiata, as the Vertebrata do from the Articulata. Time, as the author says, must test this arrangement, which must be admitted to be very ingenious. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGEI. Dec. 11, 1845.— Dr. A. Inglis in the Chair. Mr. J. M'Nab read a continuation of his Journal of a Tour through part of the United States and the Canadas. In the present portion, embracing the journey from Niagara to New London, Mr. M'Nab particularly alluded to the excellent state of the cultivated grounds through the Hamilton and Gore districts, and the suitableness of large tracts of the wooded country for emigrants. On some waste land round the head of Burlington Bay, many good specimens of herbaceous plants were observed in flower; of these the Lespideza hirta, Polygala verticillata, Gerardia tenuifolia, and G. pedicularia, were abundant, with Chrysopsis alba ; the latter plant being noticed for the first time as an inhabitant of Canada. Two grasses with strong herbage, Andropogon furcatus and Limnetus cy-nosuroides, abound in the neighbourhood of Hamilton, but neither seemed to be relished by cattle. The moorland ground in the vicinity of Brantford afforded many interesting botanical rarities, among which Euphorbia corollata was conspicuous. Liatris strict a, Aletris farinosa, Lespideza frutescens, Batschia Gmelini, Arenaria stricta, Viola palmata, with many others, were plentiful in flower, and proved most attractive objects on the dry sandy plains ; while the moister places yielded Tofieldia glutinosa, Zigadinus chloranthus, and Glycine apios in profusion. The forests of the inland districts were exceedingly rich and varied, many of them containing large and lofty trees of oak, elm, beech, hickory, ash, and white pine. Some of these districts, in process of clearing, presented a very re-markable appearance in consequence of large groups of stately trees standing dead, many with stems from 10 to 14 feet in circumference and varying from 80 to 100 feet in height. The mode resorted to by the settlers for killing the trees is by cutting, during the early part of winter, a notch five or six inches deep round the lower part of their stems. The white pines presented a very singular appear-ance, caused by a peculiar seeming twisting of the decayed trunks in K'2
BioStor
