290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



in a mounting they become dehydrated and shrivelled. It was 

 remarkable that these specimens, which had been in balsam for 

 twenty years, still retained this capacity for absorbing water; 

 those from the Indian Ocean behaved in a similar manner. 

 The conclusion was arrived at that they consisted of silica in a 

 colloidal state and contained a larger proportion of water than 

 usual. The material was well preserved. There was no difficulty 

 in identifying the mother-cells by which the spicules were formed. 

 These are known as sclerohlasts. They have a small nucleus sus- 

 pended in the centre Avith granules close to the cell-wall. The 

 illustrations showed the gelatinous spicules, or colloscleres, de- 

 veloping on the exterior of the mother-cells, enclosed in vesicles 

 in the ground-substance of the sponge. A detailed account of 

 this discovery was published in the Proceedings of the Royal 

 Society for 1916, the new genus Collosclerophora being proposed 

 for the Australian species in which colloscleres occur. 



The Chairman said we had had a very remarkable and interesting 

 communication from the President. The statement about the 

 preservation of drawings and material ought to be taken to heart 

 by everyone, as it is only by piecing together observations spread 

 over a series of years that many can arrive at the true results of 

 their work. 



Messrs. Blood, Hilton and Dr. Rudd Leeson took part in a 

 discussion. At the Chairman's suggestion, a hearty vote of 

 thanks was accorded to the President for his interesting address, 

 who, after replying, resumed the chair. 



Mr. N. E. Brown exhibited under a binocular microscope the 

 very beautiful white seeds of Anacam/pseros ruhens. He remarked 

 that really white seeds are very uncommon ; probably, with the 

 exception of a few of the beans, those present had very seldom 

 come across any. Plants of the genus Anacampseros came from 

 the drier parts of South Africa. There are two groups — one has 

 evident leaves, in the axils of which there is a tuft of hairs. These 

 hairs in some species are small and very much shorter than the 

 leaves ; in others they are more numerous and larger, and the 

 leaves, which are small, are partly concealed by the hairs. In 

 the other group the leaves are completely hidden by scales. 

 Examples of the latter group had been cultivated in a greenhouse 

 for many years in this country without it having been discovered 

 that they flowered at all. However, it was observed at last that 



