The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-25 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL BOTANICAL CONGRESS.

The congress re-assembled yesterday morning at
the South Kensington Museum, Professor de Candela, of
Geneva, again presiding. The attendance, as on the pre-
vious day, was numerous. The president exqibited a strip
of paper reaching tothree-quarters of the width of the room,
and explained that it was the exact measurement, recently I
taken, of the diameter of a Californian tree—the great
Sequoia. Professor Lecoq, of Clermont Ferrand, read a
paper " On the Migration of Mountain Plants," its object
being to show that the mountains of Auvergne have re-
ceived their Alpine plants by the agency of birds and of
wind, and not by a gradual migration during • supposed
glacial period, the existence of which he denies altogether.
This district, he said, was, at the tertiary period, a
vast plateau, with a mean altitude of 8-900 feet. Volcanic
eruptions then inundated it, altered its soil and climate,
and raised it in sonic places a thousand metres.
The boreal species, • list of which, about 10t in number, he
gave, could not, he said, have arrived till after the vol-
canic elevation of the district, and they could only have
come from the Alps, the Pyrenees, Lapland, or the moun-
tains of Grenada. Darwin's theory of their progress by
means of • glacial period he rejects ; and concludes that
they must therefore have been transported thither through
the air, and mainly by birds of passage and violent storms
of wind. Mr. James Anderson, of Glasgow, made some
observations " on the temperature of water, and its effects
upon plant cultivation," contending that practical gar-
deners do not attach sufficient importance to the science
of horticulture, but rely too much on routine, especially
so with reference to the temperature of the air in plant.
houses, and to that of the water supplied to the plants.
He urged the importance of employing water at
least as warm as the air, or a little warmer, for watering
tropical plants, especially orchids. Mr. Anderson's contri-
bution gave rise to an animated discussion, in which Pro-
fessors Bateman and Daubeny took part. Professor Hich-
enbach, of Hamburg, selected the orchids(' for his obser-
vations, the subject exciting much discussion; and after
the reading of some other papers the congress terminated
with • vote of thanks to the president
The Exhibition will remain open until next Thursday,
and the council of the Royal Horticultural Society have
consented to throw open their beautiful gardens at South
i Kensington to all thoeeviaiting the show during that time.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—At the Opera Concert to-
morrow, Mdlle. 'Miens (who will sing the finale to Men-
delssohn's Lorelei), Signor Mongini, Herr Jaell, with other
artistes of her Majesty's Theatre, will be the principal
performers. After the concert, Chang, the Chinese giant,
and party will attend, and as the great Wisteria is now
in full blossom, the gardens of Rocklcills will be open for
promenade until seven o'clock.
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNWRICT 07 1848.—The
death of M. Flocon reduces toseven the surviving members
of the Provisional Government of 1848. That gentleman
had been preceded to the tomb by Dupont (de l'Eure),
Francois Argo and Armand Marrast. He leaves after
him MM. Louis Blanc and Ledru Rollin, both residing in
London ; Marie and Garnier.Pages, who sit in the legisla-
tive body ; Cremieux, who has resumed his profession as
barrister • Albert, who holds a modert position in the
Paris Gas Company ; and lastly, 11. de Lamarne.—
Galifmani.
CRYSTAL PALACE. HALF-A-CROWN DAY.
THURSDAY, MAT 24.—Admissions on payment, 13,881 ;
ditto by season tickets, 6,793 ; total Yidtcas, 20,674.