254 Glasgow Philosophical Society. 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



The following details were given of experiments made on the lands 

 of Knock, near Largs, in the spring and summer of 1841, by Mr. 

 Wilson. 



A piece of three-year-old pasture, of uniform quality, extending 

 to 200 falls, old Scotch measure, was divided into ten lots of twenty 

 falls each, and these were treated as follows, and produced respect- 

 ively the quantity of well-made hay marked opposite each of the 

 lots, as under : — 



Produce Rate Increase 



per lot. per acre. per acre. 



Lot. lbs. lbs. lbs. 



1. Left untouched 420 3360 — 



2. 21 barrels of Irish quick-hme added 602 4816 1456 



3. 20 cwt. of lime from gas-works. ... 651 5208 1848 



4. 4i cwt. wood charcoal powder 665 5320 1960 



5. 2 bushels of bone dust 693 5544 2184 



6. 18 lbs. of nitrate of potash 742 5936 2576 



7. 20 lbs. of nitrate of soda 784 6272 2912 



8. 2i bolls of soot 819 6552 3192 



9. 28 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia 874 6776 3416 



10. 100 gallons of ammoniacal liquor 



from gas-works, at 5° of Tweddel's 



hydrometer 945 7560 4200 



The value of each of the applications was precisely the same, 

 viz. 55. for each lot, or at the rate of 2Z. per acre. All the articles 

 were applied at the same time, on the 15 th of April 1841, and the 

 grass cut and made into hay in the following month of July. 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



March 21, 1842. 



1. A paper was read by Richard Parnell, M.D., F.R.S.E., on a 

 new species of British grass, which he named Holcus biaristatus. 

 This grass was found in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and grows 

 to the height of two feet or more. It is principally characterized by 

 the outer palea of the lowermost floret being furnished with a long 

 dorsal awn, arising immediately beneath the summit, which readily 

 distinguishes it from Holcus lanatus and Holcus mollis, which have 

 the lowermost floret without an awn. Several specimens were ex- 

 hibited, and the more minute characters pointed out. 



2. Mr. Goodsir presented a paper upon the Ultimate Secreting 

 Structure, and on the Laws of its Function. 



After referring to the labours of those anatomists who had verified 

 Malpighi's doctrine of the follicular nature of gland-ducts, the author 

 alluded to Purkinje's hypothesis of the secreting function of the nu- 

 cleated corpuscles which line these ducts. In a rapid sketch of the 

 results of inquiries since the appearance of Miiller's work, * De 

 penitiore Structura Glandularum,' and more particularly of the ob- 

 servations of Henle and others on the closed vesicles which are situ- 

 ated at the extremities of certain ducts, Mr. Goodsir stated that no 



