5Q0. l:-^ .3j- ^2;C^> i^iy ^mk THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 580.& LP 1890/ie93 •^^i'H,....^. "fW- lY 1894.] [Price 28. PROCEEDINGS ^^~\ OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. From November 1802^ r6 JuNtf 1893 L N D X : PRINTED FOR THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, BURLINGTON HOUSE, PICCADILLY. W., BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STRBBT. /?^o, 2,> 5 5/ OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. (SESSION 1890-91.) November 6tli, 1890. Prof. Chaules Stewart, President, ia the Chair. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. Alfred Taylor, Esq., was elected a Fellow. Tbe President announced that a selection of 58 volumes had been received from the Library of the late Mr. John Ball, a Fellow of the Society, and that an appropriate label had been placed in each of them in commemoration of the donor. Mr. E. M. Holmes exhibited and made remarks on some little- known seaweeds, including Monostroma Blythii and Capsosiphoii aureolus, collected at Taymouth and on the Devonshire Coast. Mr. Greorge Murray exhibited and described the peculiarities of some Galls o^ Rhodymenia. Prof. Greo. Bond Howes exhibited a specimen of Lima Mans, with a byssus " nest " which it had spun in 21 days in a vessel of sea-water in which it had been placed. Although constantly watched by day and night, the act of spinning had not been ob- served. (See Appendix, p. 30.) On behalf of Mr. J. W. Willis Bund, Mr. Harting exhibited and made some remarks upon a South Pacific Petrel {CEstrelata torquata, Macg.), which had been shot in Cardigan Bay in December 1889. On behalf of Prof. Martin Duncan, who was unable to be Llira'. SOC. PKOCEEDINGS.—SESSION 1890-91. <,^ h — 2 PEOCEEDIXGS OF THE present, Mr. AV. Percy Sladen exhibited two microscopic prepa- rations of the anibulacral ampullse of Echini, showing that each ampulla is supplied by one offshoot from the main ambulacra! water-vessel. (See Appendix, p. 30.) Mr. Hartiug exhibited a specimen of the Baltimore Oriole {Icterus Baltimore), Avhich had been lately obtained, at Balta Sound, Shetland, but which he regarded as an escaped cage-bird. The following paper was read : " A Contribution to the Study of the Eelative Effects of dif- ferent parts of the Solar Spectrum on the Assimilation of Plants." By the Eev. Prof. Henslow, M.A., E.L.S. November 20th, 1890. Prof Charles Stewart, President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. Joao Erancisco Braga, Esq., and the Eev. Edmund M'^Clure were elected Eellows. Mr. Greorge INIurray exhibited specimens of a freshwater Delesseria (D. amhoinensis) previously unknown. On behalf of Mr. Henry Hutton, of Cape Town, Mr. B. Daydon Jackson exhibited some follicles and seeds of a somewhat rare Asclepiad {Dregia floribunda) ; and showed also, on behalf of Mr. W. Matchwick, some ripened fruits of Ailantlius glan- dulosa from a tree at Eeigate, said to be 100 years old. Prof. E. 0. Bower exhibited several drawings of microscopic sections of Carboniferous Eern sporangia, belonging to Prof. "Williamson, and pointed out the peculiarities of their structure and the singular uniformity of type which they exhibited. Eor comparison with them he also showed sections of the sporangia of Todea larhara ; and while hesitating to refer them to any distinct genus, he thought that their Osmuudaceous affinity was unmistakable. Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited some original MSS. and water- colour sketches of birds, fishes, and plants found in Sussex by William Markwick, the friend and correspondent of Eev. Grilbert "White, of Selborne, w^hich had been presented by him to the Society in, his lifetime, and had been lost sight of for many years. The drawings were sufficiently well executed to enable the correct determination of several species which the author had failed to identify. —— LiyN"EA.X SOCIETY OF LOyOON". The following papers were read : 1. " On a browu Seaweed {Punctana, Grrev.)." By Prof. T. Johasoa, F.L.S. 2. " Oil a Variety of Alectona Mlllari." By A. Vaugliau Jeanings, F.L.S. December 4tb, 1890. Prof. Chaeles Stewart, President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. Surgeon-Major Arthur Barclay, E-ichard Bentley, Esq., William Brown, Esq., William Ambrose Clarke, Esq., Walter Grill, Esq., Charles M'^Eae, Esq., William Henry Miskia, Esq., Henry Greorge Plimmer, Esq., and Henry Williams, Esq., were elected Fellows. The President exhibited some eggs of the Shell Slug {Testa- cella haUofidea), and briefly described the habits and mode of feeding of this moUusk. He also delineated and described the feeding-tract of the Snail (Helix aspersa). Mr. F. J. Greorge exhibited an autumnal flowering form of Mercurialis pereniiis with stems 4 feet in length, which he had found at Preston, Lancashire. Mr. E. A. Eolfe exhibited and made some remarks on a coloured drawing of Cycnoclies Sossianum, showing both male and female inflorescence on the same pseudo-bulb. INIr. J. E. Harting exhibited an immature example of Bona- parte's Gull (Larus Philadelphia, Ord), of North America, which had been shot on the Cornish Coast at Newlyn on the 24th October last. Mr. T. Christy exhibited and made remarks on some Coca Leaves which had been forwarded from an East-Indian plan- tation, and were found to be superior to any received from South America. Mr. John E. Jackson exhibited some native implements used on the West Coast of Africa in the preparation of the astringent substance known as Gambir. The following papers were read : 1. " On the Genus of Orchids, Bromheadia.'^ By Henry N. Eidley, M.A., F.L.S. 2. " On the Vegetation of British Beluchistan." By J. H, Lace, F.L.S., and W. B. Hemsley, A.L.S. bit — 4 PHOCEEDINGS OF THE December 18th, 1890. Prof. Charles Stewart, President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. The Eev. Thomas W. Pyles, August Wilhelm Kappel, Esq., Seth Lister Moslej, Esq., Eeginald "W. Phillips, Esq., Allan Peter Swan, Esq., and Wilfred Mark Webb, Esq., were elected Eellows. Prof. T. Johnson exhibited and made remarks upon the male and female plants of Stenogramme interrupta. Mr. Clement Eeid exhibited specimens of Helix obvoluta from new localities in Sussex ; and, by the aid of a specially prepared map, traced the present very local distribution of this mollusk in England. Mr. E. M. Holmes exhibited some examples of G-alls formed in Styrax Benzoin by an Aphis, CEtegopteris styracophila. He also exhibited and described some new British Algae, Mesoglcea lanosa and Myriocladia tomentosa. The following papers were read : 1. " On the Structure and Development of the Cystocarps in Catanella Opuntia.'" By E. J. Harvey Gribson, F.L.S. 2. " On the Effect of Exposure on the Eelative Length and Breadth of Leaves." By Geo. E. Scott Elliot, F.L.S. January 15th, 1891. Prof. Charles Stewart, President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. Leopold Field, Esq., Edwin Stephen Goodrich, Esq., Hugh Sidney Streatfeild, Esq., John Symons, Esq., and Dr. Charles Wilson were elected Fellows. The President exhibited a bunch of holly berries, the middle zone of which was remarkable for being perfectly black instead of red, but which in no other respect looked abnormal. The peculiarity was attributed to the effect of a fungus. Mr. J. E. Hartiug exhibited a male specimen of the Wigeon (Anas Penelope), which had been shot in Ireland, and had a tassel of feathers about an inch in length depending from the undftr side of the neck. The explanation suggested was that it was the result of a former shot-wound, when the pellet, as often happens, plugged the wound with feathers, and the skin had grown round and below the obstruction. — — LIXNEA.N SOCIETY OF LONDON. 5 The following papers were read : 1. " On certain points in the Morphology of the Cystidea." By P. Herbert Carpenter, D.Sc., F.L.S. 2. '• A Botanical Visit to the Lord Auckland and other Ant- arctic Islands." By Thomas Kirk, F.L.S., in a letter commu- nicated by Sir J. D. Hooker. February 5th, 1891. Prof. Chaeles Stewart, President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. T. F. Bourdillon, Esq., Capt. Christopher Theodoe Pacey Keene, and Prof. A. Milnes Marshall, were elected Fellows. Thomas Hughes Buffham, Esq., was elected an Associate. The vacancy among the Foreign Members, caused by the deatU of Dr. Alexander von Bunge, having been announced by the President, the following nomination was read, and the Certificate ordered to be suspended: Prof. Carl Cramer, Stattehofen, Adlerburg, Ziirich, author ot" numerous and important papers on Cryptogams, especially Algae. Mr. Clement Eeid exhibited and described some recent addi- tions to the fossil Arctic flora of Britain. Mr. Thomas Christy exhibited and made remarks on some specimens of honey: — (1) " Arbutus honey" from Turkey, said " " to produce great drowsiness and sleep ; (2) Eucalyptus honey from Mount Barker, Adelaide, said to possess valuable thera- " " peutic qualities ; and (3) the so-called Wool honey from the Euphrates, collected by natives from the leaves of the oak, which would be more properly termed " honey dew," being formed by Aphides and not by Bees. Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited a living albino example of the Common Frog {Rana temporaria), captured in Wiltshire in September last, and remarked upon the infrequency of albinism amongst the Batrachia and Eeptilia, of which he had only been able to find four or five recorded instances. The following papers were read : 1. "The Tree-Ferns of Sikkim." By J. Gammie, Jun. (Communicated by C. Baron Clarke, M.A., F.L.S.) 2.