Notabilis appulsus umbræ terrestris ad faculas maculasque lunares
differentia, dum partim vitro colore cæruleo tincto, partim absque
eo, observationes instituuntur, inventa a Dº. de Barros, & tum in
observatorio Parisino tum alibi sæpius confirmata, ad me duplicem
hanc lunæ eclipsim, ea qua vel licuit circumspectione, instituendam
determinavit, spe fretus; me phænomeni hujus causas, si non veras,
veritati saltem proximas, inventurum; unde in tempore de vitris planis
bene tersis, diametri mediæ lineæ, partim colore cæruleo claro, partim
flavo tinctis mihi provideram, his tamen ultimis uti non licuit ob
nimiam umbræ penumbræque confusionem.
Interjecto oculum inter, lentemque ocularem vitri cærulei fragmento,
sequentia observavi. 1. Umbra terrestris in immersione citius maculam
aut faculam lunarem attigit, & in emersione tardius deseruit, quam dum
absque eo observationem institui. 2. Claritas lunæ, alioquin offendens
oculum, suavior apparebat. 3. Limites umbræ perfecte terminabantur
excepta secunda eclipsi, in qua (flante borea) ab hora quinta
illuminata lunæ pars undulare videbatur.
Suppositis his phænomenis, uti et athmosphæra lunari, de qua vix
dubio locus, sequentia intuli: 1. Quo densior dicta athmosphæra
fuerit, major radiorum portio ab hac in immersam umbræ terrestri lunæ
portionem, limitibus saltem proximam, reflectetur, eosque reddet
dubios, quod quidem contingit, dum absque adminiculo per nudum
telescopium observatio instituitur, secus vero dum oculum inter,
lentemque ocularem, vitrum cæruleo colore tinctum interjicitur. Addito
secundo, ac tertio phænomeno, nempe per vitrum cæruleum lumen multum
apparere suavius, infertur, si color cæruleus sufficit ad mitigandam
tantopere eam lunæ illuminatæ portionem, quæ extra omnem umbram
conspicitur, quanto magis sufficit, ad tollendam omnem claritatem, quæ
ab athmosphæra lunari in hoc corpus reflectitur? & ecce tibi secundam
illationem, nempe limites umbræ facilius determinari. 3. Diametrum
umbræ majorem videri debere, & vel ideo immersiones macularum aut
facularum lunarium citius, emersiones vero tardius succedere debere;
quæ quidem omnia cum observationibus congruunt.
Dixi in prima illatione, reflecti aliquam luminis portionem a lunæ
athmosphæra in ipsam eclipsatam corporis hujus portionem, non secus,
ac in globo hoc terraqeno accidit, qui post solis occasum aliquo adhuc
tempore illuminatur. Hæc lucis reflexio tanto erit major, quanto
athmosphæra fuerit densior, & quia supponere licat, hanc in luna non
semper esse æqualem, infertur, differentiam temporis appulsus umbræ non
in omni eclipsi lunari posse esse æqualem, quod demum convenire videtur
duplici meæ observationi, ut ex adnotatis temporum differentiis liquet.
Hæc mea est circa propositum phænomenon opinandi ratio.
LXXXIX. _Observations upon a slight Earthquake, tho’ very particular,
which may lead to the Knowlege of the Cause of great and violent ones,
that ravage whole Countries, and overturn Cities. By_ John Andrew
Peyssonel, _M. D. F.R.S. Translated from the_ French.
[Read April. 20, 1758.]
I Went to make my observations upon the natural history of the sea;
and when I arrived at a place called the Cauldrons of Lance Caraibe,
near Lancebertrand, a part of the island of Grande Terre Guadaloupe,
in which place the coast runs north-east and south-west, the sea being
much agitated that day flowed from the north-west. There the coast is
furnished with hollow rocks, and vaults underneath, with chinks and
crevices: and the sea, pushed into these deep caverns by the force
and agitation of the waves, compresses the air, which, recovering its
spring, forces the water back in the form of the most magnificent
fountains; which cease, and begin again at every great pressure. This
phænomenon is common to many places in this island. The explanation of
it is easy; but the following is what I particularly observed.
As I walked within about forty paces from the brink of the sea, where
the waves broke, I perceived, in one place, the plants were much
agitated by some cause, that was not yet apparent. I drew near, and
discovered a hole about six feet deep, and half a foot diameter;
and stopping to consider it, I perceived the earth tremble under my
feet. This increased my attention; and I heard a dull kind of noise
underground, like that which precedes common earthquakes; which I have
observed many a time. It was followed by a quivering of the earth; and
after this a wind issued out of the hole, which agitated the plants
round about. I watched to see whether the motion extended to any
distance; but was sensible it did not reach above three or four paces
from the hole, and that no motion was perceived farther off.
I further observed, that this phænomenon never happens till after the
seventh wave rolls in; for it is a common thing in this country to find
the sea appear calm for some time, and then to produce seven waves,
which break upon the coast one after another: the first is not very
considerable; the second is somewhat stronger; and thus they go on
increasing to the seventh, after which the sea grows calm again, and
retires. This phænomenon of the seven waves is observed by navigators
with great attention, especially at low water, in order to be the
better able to go in or come out at the very time that the sea grows
quiet. These seven waves successively fill the caverns, which are all
along the coast; and when the seventh comes to open itself, the air
at the bottom of the caverns being greatly compressed, acted by its
elasticity, and immediately made those fountains and gushings I have
mentioned; and the waters continuing in the caverns, up to the very
place of the hole, began to produce that dull noise, caused the emotion
or earthquake, and finished with the violent wind forced up thro’ the
hole; after which the water retired into the sea, and having no further
impelling cause, on account of the waves, rendered every thing quiet
again.
I observed, that this phænomenon happened at no limited time, but
according to the approach of the waves, being strongly put in motion
after the seventh. I remained near half an hour to observe it; and
nearly followed the course of the cavern to its entrance, directed by
the disposition of the coast. I made my negroes go down where the water
broke; for they doubted the report of the greatness of these caverns;
and when the sea was calm one of them ventured in, but returned very
quickly, or he must have perished. Therefore I conclude, that these
small earthquakes round the hole, about forty paces from the wave, were
only caused by the compressed air in some great vault about this place,
and that by its force was driven up the hole that appeared: that this
air in the caverns, compressed to a certain degree, first caused the
dull noise, by the rolling of the waters, which resisted in the cavern;
then acting more violently, caused the small earthquake, which ceased
when the wind passed out of the hole, and that the sea retired, and
gave liberty to the air, which was contained and compressed.
Such are the observations I have made; from which the learned, who are
endeavouring to find the cause of earthquakes, since that dreadful one,
which destroyed the city of Lisbon, may make such conclusions as they
shall think proper.
At Guadaloupe, Jan. 6. 1757.
Peyssonel.
XC. _A Catalogue of the_ Fifty Plants _from_ Chelsea Garden, _presented
to the_ Royal Society _by the worshipful Company of Apothecaries, for
the Year 1757, pursuant to the Direction of Sir_ Hans Sloane, _Baronet,
Med. Reg. & Soc. Reg. nuper Præses, by_ John Wilmer, _M. D. clariss.
Societatis Pharmaceut._ Lond. _Socius, Hort._ Chelsean. _Præfectus &
Prælector Botanic._
[Read April 20, 1758.]
1751 ALlium sylvestre latifolium. C. B. P. 74.
Allium ursin. bifolium vernum sylvatic. J. B. 2. 565.
1752 Anacampseros flavo flore Amman. Ruth. 96.
1753 Anchusa strigosa, foliis linearibus dentatis, pedicellis
bractea minoribus, calycibus fructiferis inflatis.
Lefl. Linn. Sp. Plant. 133.
1754 Asplenium sive Ceterach. J. B. 3. 749. Offic. 121.
1755 Bidens calyce oblongo squamoso, feminibus radii corolla non
decidua coronatis, Miller. Icon.
1756 Cactus repens decemangularis Lin. Sp. Pl. 467.
1757 Cerasus pumila Canadensis, oblongo angusto folio, fructu parvo,
Du Hamel. Mill. Icons.
1758 Ceratocarpus Amæn. Acad. 1. p. 412. Hort. Ups. 281.
1759 Cotula flore luteo, radiato. Tourn. 495. Buphthalmum Cotulæ
folio C. B. P. 134.
1760 Cracca minor Rivini. Vicia segetum cum filiquis plurimis
hirsutis C. B. P. 345.
1761 Cucubalus calycibus subglobosis glabris reticulato-venosis,
capsulis trilocularibus, corollis subnudis, Flor. suec. 360.
1762 Cucubalus calycibus subglobosis, caule ramoso patulo, foliis
linearibus acutis, Mill. Dict.
Lychnis sylvestris quæ Been album vulgo, foliis
angustioribus et acutioribus C. B. P. 205.
1763 Cunonia floribus sessilibus, spathis maximis.
Butner Cunonia, tab. 1.
1764 Cupressus foliis imbricatis frondibus ancipitibus. Linn. Spec.
Plant. 1003.
Cupressus nana Mariana fructu cæruleo parvo. Pluk. Mantiss. 61.
1765 Cyclamen Hederæ folio C. B. P. 308. Offic. 162.
1766 Diosma foliis lineari-lanceolatis subtus convexis, bifariam
imbricatis. Linn. Sp. Plant. 198.
1767 Euonymoides Canadensis Saraz. Boerh. Ind. Alt. 237.
1768 Filipendula foliis ternatis Hort. Cliff. 191.
1769 Filipendula vulgaris, an Molon Plinii C. B. 163. Offic. 197.
1770 Heliotropium foliis ovato-lanceolatis, spicis plurimis
confertis, caule fruticoso. Miller’s Icons.
1771 Hieracium fruticosum latifolium hirsutum C. B. P. 129.
1772 Hyoscyamus rubello flore. C. B. P. 169.
Hyoscyamus Syriacus. Cam. Icon. 21. J. B. 3. 628.
1773 Hypericum floribus monogynis staminibus corolla longioribus,
calycibus coloratis caule fruticoso. Miller’s Icons.
1774 Hypericum floribus trigynis, calycibus acutis, staminibus
corolla brevioribus, caule fruticoso. Linn. Hort. Cliff. 380.
Miller’s Icons.
1775 Iris corollis barbatis, germinibus trigonis, foliis ensiformibus
longissimis, caule foliis longiore bifloro. Miller’s Icons.
1776 Isatis sativa, sive latifolia. C. B. P. 113. Glastum sativum. J.
B. 2. 909.
1777 Juniperus vulgaris fruticosa C. B. 488. Off. 252.
1778 Ixia foliis gladiolatis linearibus caule bulbifero.
Miller’s Icons.
1779 Ixia foliis gladiolatis glabris, floribus corymbosis
terminalibus. Miller’s Icons.
1780 Larix C. B. 493. Officin. 264.
1781 Laserpitium foliis amplioribus, semine crispo. Tourn. 324.
1782 Linum calycibus capsulisque obtusis. _Sibirian Flax._ Miller’s
Icons.
1783 Liriodendrum. Hort. Cliff. 223.
Tulipifera arbor Virginiana. Hort. Lugd. Bat. 612.
1784 Oenanthe Apii folio C. B. P. 162.
1785 Passerina foliis linearibus. Hort. Cliff. 146. Sp. 1.
1786 Platanus Orientalis verus. Park. 1427.
1787 Platanus Occidentalis aut Virginiensis. Park. 1427.
1788 Platanus Orientalis Aceris folio. T. Cor. 41.
1789 Prenanthes foliis integris serratis scabris, radice repente,
flore purpureo cæruleo. Mill. Dict.
1790 Ruta sylvestris linifolia; Hispanica Boccon. Barrel Icon. 1186
H. Mus. p. 2. 82. tab. 73.
1791 Saxifraga muscosa; trifido folio. Tourn.
1792 Scabiosa Virgæ Pastoris folio. C. B. P. 270.
Scabiosa latifolia peregrina. Tabern. Icon. 160.
1793 Thalictrum majus, siliqua angulosa aut striata, C. B. P. 336.
1794 Thalictrum majus non striatum. C. B. P. 336.
1795 Thalictrum Canadense majus caulibus viridantibus. Boerhaav.
1796 Thalictrum Alpinum Aquilegiæ foliis. Tourn.
1797 Thalictrum minus Asphodeli radice magno flore. Tourn. 271.
1798 Thuya strobilis squarrosis squamis acuminatis reflexis. Hort.
Upsal. 289.
1799 Tordylium Narbonense minus. Tourn. 320.
1800 Tridax. Hort. Cliff. 418. After American. procumbens, foliis
laciniatis et hirsutis. Houston.
XCI. _An Historical Memoir concerning a Genus of Plants called_ Lichen,
_by_ Micheli, Haller, _and_ Linnæus; _and comprehended by_ Dillenius
_under the Terms_ Usnea, Coralloides, _and_ Lichenoides: _Tending
principally to illustrate their several Uses. Communicated by_ Wm.
Watson, _M. D. F.R.S._
----_Natura nihil frustra creaverit, posteros tamen tot inventuros
utilitates ex_ Muscis _auguror, quot ex reliquis vegetabilibus_.
Cui bono? Amæn. Acad. III. p. 241.
[Read Apr. 27 & May 4, 1758.]
THE whole class of mosses were taken but very little notice of by
the revivers of botany in the sixteenth century: they indeed took
some pains to distinguish the particular species that the ancients
had mentioned, but disregarded almost all the rest. Modern botanists
however suppose, that they were but little successful in general in
their application of the ancient names to plants: nor is a failure in
such attempts to be wondered at, considering the too great conciseness,
and frequent obscurity, of their descriptions. In the class of mosses,
as in many others, the accounts transmitted to us are little more than
a scene of uncertainty and confusion.
It is to the moderns we are indebted for the discovery of the far
greater number of the plants of this class. In this branch of
botany our own countrymen Mr. Ray, Buddle, Dale, Doody, Petiver, and
Dr. Morison, Sherard, Richardson, and others, have distinguished
themselves: and amongst foreigners M. Vaillant, Sig. Micheli, and
the very eminent Dr. Haller: but, beyond all, the late learned and
indefatigable professor at Oxford, Dr. Dillenius, has herein made the
most ample discoveries and improvements, of which his elaborate history
will ever remain a standing proof.
The word _lichen_ occurs in the writings of Dioscorides and Pliny;
and tho’ it may be doubtful, there is nevertheless good reason to
apprehend, that Dioscorides meant to describe under that name the very
plant, or at least one of the same genus, to which the commentators
agreed to affix his description. Since then the name has been variously
applied by different authors; on which account it is necessary to
premise, that the _lichen sive hepatica Off._ or liverwort of the
shops, does not fall under this generical term, as it is now formed by
the three above-named authors. They comprehend under the term _Lichen_,
and Dillenius under those of _Usnea_, _Coralloides_, and _Lichenoides_,
the hairy tree-moss or _usnea_ of the shops; the _muscus pulmonarius_,
tree-lungwort, or oak-lungs; the _lichen terrestris cinereus_, or
ash-coloured ground liverwort; the coralline-mosses; the cup-mosses;
horned mosses; the _orchel_, or Canary-weed; the _muscus islandicus_ of
Bartholine; and a multitude of others found upon trees, walls, rocks,
and stones, in all parts of the world, and in many parts thereof in
very great abundance.
Caspar Bauhine in his _Pinax_, John Bauhine, and countrymen Gerard
and Parkinson, and their cotemporaries, as they wrote before the time
that generical characters in botany were in use, included these lichens
among the other herbaceous mosses, under the general name of _muscus_;
adding to the name in general some epithet descriptive of its form,
place of growth, or supposed virtue.
Mr. Ray, both in his History of Plants, and in the Supplement, as
he was usually averse to the forming of new names, has interspersed
them among other mosses, under the character of _musci steriles seu
aspermi_, retaining the synonyms of the two Bauhines, Gerard, and
Parkinson, to the general species.
Dr. Morison seems to have been the first, who separated them intirely
from the herbaceous mosses; and, from the analogy he supposed they had
with the fungus tribe, formed them into a genus, under the name of
_musco-fungus_. He enumerates fifty species and upwards under this term
in the _Historia Oxoniensis_, and has divided them into five orders,
according to their different appearances, as follows:
1. _Musco-fungi e terra prominentes, latiores._ 5.
2. _Musco-fungi pixidati._ 11.
3. _Musco-fungi corniculati._ 26.
4. _Musco-fungi crustæ modo adnascentes._ 37.
5. _Musco-fungi corticibus arborum dependentes._ 53.
Table the 7th of his 15th section exhibits several good figures of some
of these lichens.
Tournefort was the first, who adapted the generical term _lichen_ to
them; but it was in consequence of his joining them to the lichen
of the shops. He has however excluded the coralline-mosses, and
forms them into a genus, by the name of _coralloides_; to which he
has connected some plants, properly of the fungus tribe. In this
distinction he is followed by Dr. Boerhaave in his _Index alter
Plantarum_.
Dr. Dillenius first called them _lichenoides_, in the catalogue of
plants growing about Giessen, chusing to retain the word _lichen_ to
the liverwort of the shops. Under this name however, in this work, he
does not comprehend the _usneæ_, or hairy tree-mosses, but refers them
to the _conservæ_, adding the epithet _arborea_ to each species, to
distinguish them from the water kinds. He enumerates upwards of sixty
species of _lichenoides_, but has applied few or no synonyms to them.
Under the same generic term he has introduced them into the third
edition of Ray’s Synopsis of British Plants, taking in the _usneæ_, and
recounting upwards of ninety species, all found spontaneously growing
in England. Many of these are undoubtedly only varieties. They are in
this work very naturally divided into several orders and subdivisions,
for the greater ease of distinguishing them, as follows:
_Lichenoides_
_caulifera_
1. _Capillacea et non tubulosa scutellata._
2. _Coralliformia tuberculosa plerumque._
a. _Solida et non tubulosa._
b. _Tubulosa._
3. _Pyxidata._
4. _Fungiformia._
_cauliculis destituta_
1. _Mere crustacea._
2. _Crusta foliosa scutellata seu foliis scutellatis arcte
adnascentibus_ -
a. _Substantiæ gelatinosæ._
b. _Substantiæ durioris._
3. _Foliis magis liberis nec tam arcte adnascentibus_
a. _Scutellatis et tuberculatis._
b. _Peltatis._
M. Vaillant, in the _Botanicon Parisiense_, retains Tournefort’s
names. Many of these lichens, as well as other mosses, are accurately
represented in the elegant tables, which adorn that work. Dr. Haller
tells us he learnt to distinguish almost all the mosses solely by the
help of these tables, so well are they expressed. The lovers of botanic
science are greatly indebted to Boerhaave for his publication of that
work.
Micheli, after Tournefort, adopts the term _lichen_, and comprehends
all the species under it, except one or two, which he calls
_lichenoides_. This author however does not take into this genus the
liverwort of the _materia medica_; he describes the species of that
genus under the name of _marchantiæ_. Near twenty of the plates in his
_Nova Plantarum Genera_ are taken up in representing various species
of this genus. In this work they are divided into thirty-eight orders
or subdivisions; a circumstance very necessary indeed, considering
how greatly he has multiplied the number of the species. It is to
be regretted, that so indefatigable an author, one whose genius
particularly led him to scrutinize the minuter subjects of the science,
should have been so solicitous to increase the number of species under
all his genera: an error this, which tends to great confusion and
embarassment, and must retard the progress and real improvement of the
botanic science.
Dr. Haller retains Micheli’s term, and enumerates 160 kinds in his
_Enumeratio Stirpium Helvetiæ_: he divides them into seven orders,
according to the following titles:
1. _Lichenes corniculati & pixidati._
2. _Lichenes coralloidei._
3. _Lichenes fruticosi alii._
4. _Lichenes pulmonarii._
5. _Lichenes crustacei scutis floralibus ornati._
6. _Lichenes scutellis ornati._
7. _Lichenes crustacei non scutati._
The extensive number of the species, and the difficulty of
distinguishing them with a tolerable degree of certainty, has deterred
Dr. Haller from adding so full and complete a list of synonyms to the
plants of this genus as he has elsewhere done in that splendid work.
Plate the 2d exhibits several elegant sorts of these lichens.
Linnæus, and the followers of his method, who seem to have established
their generical character from Micheli’s discoveries, retain also his
generical title. Micheli’s passion for the multiplication of species
is no-where more conspicuous than in the plants of this genus, which
he has most enormously augmented to the number of 298 species. The
Swedish professor cannot be charged with this foible: it is one of the
excellencies of his writings, that they inculcate the reverse. He has
so far retrenched this genus, that in his general enumeration of plants
he recounts only eighty species belonging to it. They are in this work
divided into eight orders, according to the difference of appearance
which they form by their _facies externa_, little or no regard being
had to what are usually called the parts of fructification.
1. _Lichenes leprosi tuberculati._
2. _Lichenes leprosi scutellati._
3. _Lichenes imbricati._
4. _Lichenes foliacei._
5. _Lichenes coriacei._
6. _Lichenes scyphiferi._
7. _Lichenes fructiculosi._
8. _Lichenes filamentosi._
Dr. Dillenius, in his most elaborate work, intituled, _Historia
Muscorum_, has divided this Michelian genus into three, under the names
of _usnea_, _coralloides_, and _lichenoides_. Under the word _usnea_
he comprehends the hairy tree-mosses, among which are the _usnea_ of
the shops, and the true _usnea_ of the Arabians. Of these he describes
sixteen species. Under _coralloides_ he describes thirty-nine species,
among which are the cup-mosses, and many others, disposed according to
the following scheme:
Ordo I. _Fungiformia, non tubulosa, nec ramosa._ 5.