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together at the top of the stem, further apart lower down, and net opposite one another; the flower-branches do not grow near the leaves, but are quite 3ft. above them. There were thirty-two branches, and taking each truss to average eighty blossoms, there were about 2,700 flowers on one plant. The flower buds look a pale greenish white, tipped with bright yellow; the flower lasts from three to four days. The scent is most disagreeable; an immense quantity of honey drops from the flower. The thickness of each leaf next the stem is from 6in. to 8in.; the width of leaf at the edge is over a foot; length about 6ft. The leaves are dark green, with stripes of yellow round the edge. These plants are said to have been in the conservatory nearly eighty years, As soon as the flowers expand, the leaves begin to droop, and the plants gradually die away. The dry stem of a plant, that flowered about eight years since, is preserved in two pieces in the conservatory; and although nearly 27ft. long, can be easily carried about by a lady or child, being as light as a piece of cork.—R. M. S.

Geology of Shropshire—Dr. Callaway having referred, in "The Midland Naturalist" for August, (p.206,) to some criticisms of mine on his paper in the "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society" for November, 1877, I may be allowed to say that these ware founded on a misapprehension of his words as reported in the discussion on his paper. I find him saying there that "the shales are one homogeneous formation marked throughout by the same fossils, the younger types occurring in the same beds with the older forms, and mixed indiscriminately with them. In the lower part of the upper series also, there are no signs of transition into an older fauna, the species being common Caradoc forms." At a recent excursion of the Caradoc Field Club to Pedwardine, Dr. Callaway explained that he here referred to two distinct strata, in the lower of which Tremadoc forms are found without intermixture with those of Caradoc age.—J.D. La Touche, Stokesay, Craven Arms, Aug. 6th, 1878.

The Reindeer in the Midlands.—An antler of the Reindeer (Cervus tarandus) has lately been found in the gravels of the Scar, near Leicester. The perfect portion is 2½ft. long, and 5in. in circumference at the beam. It is now in the Leicester Museum, which possesses another antler, and also a fine tusk of the Mammoth from the same deposits. These large bones seem always to occur at or near the base of the river-gravel, (here 10ft. to 17ft. thick,) resting upon the Keuper Red Marls.

Pond Life Collector's "Condensing" Bottle.—Mr. T. Bolton, of 17, Ann Street, Birmingham, has showed us a good form of "condensing" bottle, (price 3s.,) which collectors of pond life will find most convenient addition to their apparatus. The water as taken from a pond is poured through a long-necked funnel into a bottle, of which the exit pipe is terminated inside by a wire cage covered with fine muslin. By help of this apparatus the living animalcules in a considerable quantity of water can be rapidly condensed into a small bulk, and so conveniently carried home.

Rev. W. B. Clarke, born 1794, (Suffolk,) died 1878 (Sydney, N.S.W) Mr. Clarke was the "Father of Australian Geology." He went out in 1839, and was among the first, if not the first, to recognise the existence of gold in the Australian Continent. He was also the discoverer of diamonds and of tin there. An idea of his work may be gained from the fact that he is said to have officially reported on no less than 108,000 square miles of territory.