Edward Forbes, is put forward--'that the west of
Ireland was geologically united with the north of Spain;' admitting
which, there is no difficulty in supposing the plants to have
travelled along the intervening land, which has subsequently
disappeared, and that, owing to climatic changes, the hardier sort of
plants, such as saxifrages and heaths, have alone survived.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] The Vegetation of Europe, its Conditions and Causes. By Arthur
Henfrey, F.L.S. London: John Van Voorst. 1852.

A HALF-PENNYWORTH OF NAVIGATION.

Who's for a cheap ride on what a pleasant writer calls the 'silent
highway?'--silent no longer, since the steamers have taken to plying
above Bridge at a charge which has made the surface of the Thames,
where it runs through the heart of London, populous with life, and
noisy with the clash of paddles and the rush of steam, to say
nothing of the incessant chorus of captains, engine-boys, and
gangway-men--with their 'Ease her,' 'Stop her,' 'Back her,' 'Turn
ahead,' 'Turn astarn,' 'Now, marm, with the bundle, be alive,' 'Heave
ahead there, will you?' &c., all the day long.

Come this way, my friend; here we are opposite the Adelphi Theatre,
and this is the man who used to be a black man, or else it's another,
who does duty as talking finger-post, and shews you, if you are a
stranger, how you are to get at the half-penny boat. Come, we must
dive down this narrow lane, past the 'Fox under the Hill,' a rather
long and not very sightly, cleanly, smooth, or fragrant thoroughfare;
and here, in this shed-looking office, you must pay your half-penny,
which guarantees you a passage all the way to London Bridge. Look
alive! as the money-taker recommends--the _Bee_, you see, is already
discharging her living cargo, and others are hurrying on board. The
boat won't lose time in turning round--she goes backwards and forwards
as straight as a saw, and carries a rudder at her nose as well as one
at her tail. Never mind these jolting planks, you havn't time to
tumble down--on with you! That's it: here, on this floating-pier,
manufactured from old barges, we may rest a moment, while the boat
discharges her freight, and takes on board the return cargo. You see
the landing-stage or pier is divided into two equal portions; the
people who are leaving the boat have not yet paid their fare; they
will have to disburse their coppers at the office where we paid ours,
there being but one paying-place for the two t