434 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



and on the formation of mountain chains, and on volcanos as the effects of Con- 

 tinental elevations." 



March 21. — The Pres. in the chair. — A paper was read by Mr. Owen, on the 

 dislocation of the tail, at a certain point, in the skeletons of many Ichthyosauri, — 

 An essay on the primary formations of England, by the Rev. Adam Sedgwick, 

 V.-P.G.S., was then commenced. 



April 4. — The Pres. in the chair. — A description of Lord Cole's specimen of 

 Plesiosauncs. macrocephalus, by Mr. Owen, was read. 



April 25. — R. I. Murchison, Esq., V.-P., in the chair. — Three communications 

 were read : — 1. A notice of the occurrence of Wealden strata at Linksfield, near 

 Elgin, by Mr. Malcolmson, F.G.S. ; 2. Notes on a small patch of Silurian rocks 

 to the West of Abergele, Denbighshire, by Mr. J. E. Bowmall; 3. On the origin 

 of the Limestones of Devonshire, by Mr. Austen, F.G.S. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 



April 20. — Dr. MacIntyre, F.L.S., in the chair. — The Secretary read a 

 paper from A. Wallis, Esq., on the genus Myosotis. Myosotis arvensis is most 

 usually found in Corn-fields, or other highly-cultivated land, where it sometimes 

 reaches a considerable height. Myosotis sylvatica is mostly found in shady 

 places, where it assumes a stouter form than M. arvensis ; the bristles of the 

 stem are shorter, and the leaves will generally be found longer than those of M. 

 arvensis. But would not the difference of soil and situation account for the more 

 luxuriant growth of the one than of the other ? There is another distinction, 

 also, for which neither soil nor locality would account ; it is, that the calyx of 

 M. sylvatica is more deeply cleft than that of M. arvensis, and the tube of the 

 corolla is longer in the former than in the latter ; but Mr. W. was inclined to 

 doubt whether these were sufficient to justify a specific distinction, and the 

 more particularly so when we recollect that many plants are subject to slight 

 variations in their structural minutioe. Admitting then that a difference of soil 

 operates so powerfully in producing such varied and perhaps permanent distinc- 

 tions of character, it will become a subject worthy attention how this peculiar 

 operation takes place, and whether by close observation on the soil as well as 

 locality, we may not be able to establish geological laws relating to it. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



May 1. — Dr. Henderson, V.-P., in the chair. — A letter was read from Mr. 



Disney, of Chelmsford, on the cultivation of Strawberries. — A considerable 



number of fine fruits, flowers, and vegetables, jjvere exhibited by Mr. Luscombe ; 



Sir C. Lemon, Bart., M.P. ; Mr. Ferguson;' gardener to P. C. Labouchere, Esq. ; 



