148 



Botanical Society of London. 



of the Flora of Hercynia; by E. Hampe. — Vegetation of the Brocken ; 

 by E. Hampe. — On the genus Grubbia, Endl. ; by Klotzsch. — On 

 Monstrosities of Plants ; by Schlechtendal. — Prodromus of a mono- 

 graph of Lemnacea ; by Dr. Schleiden. — On two remarkable trans- 

 formations of Plants ; by Weinmann. — Request to German botanists 

 to supply desiderata in the genus Artemisia; byW. D. Besser. — On 

 Mexican Plants collected by Schiede and others ; by D. F. L. De 

 Schlechten. — On the irregular form of Papilionaceous Flowers; by 

 A. Walpers. 



Part V. 



Critical Remarks on Cape Leguminosce ; by G. W. Walpers. — On 

 some phenomena in the growth of Dicotyledonous Plants ; by Dr. 

 Becks. — On Mexican Galphimiae ; by F. T. Bartling. — On PinusPu- 

 milio ; by H. R. Goppert. 



Part VI. 



On the family of Piperacete ; by C. Kunth. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



March 20. — Daniel Cooper, Esq., Curator, in the Chair. 



A paper was read by Dr. W. H. Willshire, " On the nature of 

 some of the lowest Organized Beings." The intention of the paper 

 was to bring before the Society the views lately advanced by Ehren- 

 berg, in his great work concerning the organization and relative 

 place in the scale of animated nature of many of the tribe Bacillaria, 

 Closterina, &c. It was endeavoured to be proved that a great many 

 members of the family Bacillaria, the genus Closterina, and several 

 others, must be considered as of a vegetable nature, and not of an ani- 

 mal, as Ehrenberg supposes, and that it is a matter of some doubt how 

 far the members ranking under his sub-division Naviculacea may be 

 considered as of an animal organization either. It was shown by 

 Dr. Willshire that the phenomenon of self-division is not peculiar to 

 the animal kingdom, but that it likewise occurs in that of the vege- 

 table ; that the whorled ramuli of Chara can increase both by trans- 

 verse and longitudinal self-division ; that the formation of spores in 

 Marchantia, Jungermannia, and some other plants, takes place from 

 self-division of the original cellule ; and that the increase of Conferva 

 glomerata, &c. is also known to ensue by the same means ; and that 

 therefore the mere fact of this mode of propagation in such struc- 

 tures as Diatoma, Fragillaria, Desmidium and others, is not a suffi- 

 cient proof of their animal condition. It was stated likewise that 

 granular matter, seen within many of these lower beings, and which 

 is regarded by Ehrenberg in many cases as the ova granules or eggs 

 of these creatures, cannot be such ; for according to other observers, 

 they become blue on the addition of the tincture of iodine, a further 

 proof of their vegetable nature, and a fact particularly noticed by 



