rdinary reader; but curiosity would
be stimulated by the very occurrence of difficulty, and thus an impulse
might be given to the acquisition of rudimentary botany, which would
eventually enable the inquirer to contribute his quota to the natural
history of Ceylon.

P.S. Since the foregoing was written, Mr. Thwaites has announced the
early publication of a new work on Ceylon plants, to be entitled
_Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae: with Descriptions of the new and little
known genera and species_, and observations on their habits, uses, &c.
In the Identification of the species Mr. Thwaites is to be assisted by
Dr. Hooker, F.R.S.; and from their conjoint labours we may at last hope
for a production worthy of the subject.]

[Footnote 2: Rhizophera Candelaria, Kandelia Rheedei, Bruguiera
gymnorhiza.]

Retiring from the strand, there are groups of _Sonneratia[1], Avicennia,
Heritiera_, and _Pandanus_; the latter with a stem like a dwarf palm,
round which the serrated leaves ascend in spiral convolutions till they
terminate in a pendulous crown, from which drop the amber clusters of
beautiful but uneatable fruit, with a close resemblance in shape and
colour to that of the pineapple, from which, and from the peculiar
arrangement of the leaves, the plant has acquired its name of the
Screw-pine.

[Footnote 1: At a meeting of the Entomological Society in 1842, Dr.
Templeton sent, for the use of the members, many thin slices of
substance to replace cork-wood as a lining for insect cases and drawers.
Along with the soft wood he sent the following notice:--"In this country
(he writes from Colombo, Ceylon, May 19, 1842), along the marshy banks
of the large rivers, grows a very large handsome tree, named _Sonneratia
acida_, by the younger Linnaeus: its roots spread far and wide through
the soft moist earth, and at various distances along send up most
extraordinary long spindle-shaped excrescences four or five feet above
the surface. Of these Sir James Edward Smith remarks 'what these
horn-shaped excrescences are which occupy the soil at some distance from
the base of the tree from a span to a foot in length and of a corky
substance, as described by Rumphins, we can offer no conjecture.' Most
curious things (remarks Dr. Templeton) they are; they all spring very
narrow from the root, expand as they rise, and then become gradually
attenuated, occasionally forking, but never throwing out shoots or
leaves, or in any respect resembling