86 TJie Irish Xcituriilist. ^lay, 



March 15. — The President in the chair. W. Haigh, B.Sc, lectured 

 on the Ancient Volcanoes of Ireland, tracing the evidence for volcanic 

 activity in various parts of the country from Silurian to Eocene times. 

 The subject was discussed in a masterly way, and the lecture was ad- 

 mirably illustrated. The President, R. LI. Praeger and J. de W. Hinch 

 took part in the discussion. 



March 24. — Excursion to Trinity College Botanic Garden. — 

 A party of sixteen assembled at Lansdowne Road at 3 o'clock on the 

 kind invitation of Dr. Dixon, Professor of Botany, and favoured by 

 fine spring weather spent a most enjoyable and instructive two hours 

 in rambUng through the grounds and glass-houses. The abundance 

 and luxuriance of Cordyline, of which many fine examples upwards of 

 fifteen feet in height were grown here from seed, was perhaps the most 

 striking general feature on a first view of the grounds. An uncommonly 

 tall specimen of Salisburia adiantijolia, the Maiden-hair Tree or Ginko 

 of the Japanese, was pointed out by the conductor, and also a tree of 

 Pyrus bearing flourishing tutts of mistletoe, where planted in the trunk 

 by the late Archbishop Whately. Some picturesque old Stone Pines 

 {Pinus pinea), the species which yield the edible seeds, the Pinocchi 

 of the Italians, were noticed, and many plump cones were picked up 

 on the grass beneath. They bore apparently perfect seeds, but on 

 breaking open several they all proved to be " blind," the kernel being 

 quite undeveloped. It seems that the species never forms perfect seed 

 here. At the entrance to the orchid house, where inany handsome species 

 were in flower, a wall beautifully draped Avith Maiden-hair and frondose 

 Sclaginellae won the admiration of the visitors. 



Perhaps the most curious thing brought under the notice of the party 

 was a variegated variety of that delicate little creeper our Kerry Sibthorpia 

 europaea. In this the leaf-margins were pure white as long as the plant 

 was grown out of doors in a cold frame, but when removed to an adjacent 

 glass-house the plant ceased to produce these white-margined leaves, 

 the new shoots reverting to the normal tender green colour. An in- 

 teresting field for experiment appears to be opened up here. What arc 

 the precise changes of condition which induce this reversion to type ? 

 Does the variety come true to seed ? These are amongst the questions 

 suggested by the behaviour of this plant. 



Some of the curious forms which Dr. Dixon has produced by the 

 hybridising of our Kerry Saxifrages, 5 umbrosa and 5. Geum are grown 

 here in the open air. The nature and results of these experiments, 

 which have so clearly and for the first time demonstrated the hybrid 

 origin of Saxijraga hirsuta and other puzzling intermediates so frequent 

 in the Kerry Highlands, are fully set out in Mr. Scully's recently pub- 

 lished Flora of County Kerry. Owing to the very late spring few plants 

 were in flower in the gardens. On one of tlie rockeries, however, there 

 was seen in brilliant crimson bloom a line tuft of Saxifraga oppositifolia, 

 the hardiest of its hardy genus, equally at home at 11,700 ieet on Monte 

 Rosa, at 1 7,000 feet in the Himalayas, and at sea-level on the desolate 

 shores of Grinnel Land within eight degrees of the Pole. 



