1886. J SOCIETIES. 707 



EDINBUIIGH BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 



A MEETING of the Edinburgh Botanical Society was held at 5 

 St. ^Vndrew Square on 0th ]\Iarch — Professor iJickson pre- 

 sidin-ir. There was a Gfood attendance of members. The first 

 communication was by Dr. J. ]\I. ]Macfarlane, who dealt with the 

 structure and functional arrangement of the leaves of Darlingtonia. 

 Mr. Symington Grieve contributed observations on the island of 

 Eum, and Dr. William Crai-' gave an account of the excursion of 

 the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club to Killiu and Loch Awe. Mr. 

 E. Lindsay, curator, reported on the temperatures and open-air 

 vegetation at the Eoyal Botanic Garden, Edinburgl). February, he 

 said, had been extremely wintry, with much snow and uninterrupted 

 low temperature. Vegetation had therefore most fortunately been 

 held well in check. Had it been otherwise, the results would have 

 been much more disastrous than they now found them, particularly 

 when such unusually severe weather had been protracted into the 

 present month. During February the thermometer was at or below 

 the freezing point on 22 mornings, indicating collectively 128 

 degrees of frost for the month, as compared with 67 degrees for 

 February 1885. The lowest readings were registered on the 3rd, 

 22 degrees; 4th, 20 degrees; 5th, 16 degrees; 25th, 23 degrees; 

 27tli, 22 degrees. The highest morning readings were on the 8th, 

 36 degi^ees ; 9th, 40 degrees; 10th, 38 degrees ; 12th, 34 degrees ; 

 13thj 39 degrees. The lowest day temperature was 30 degrees, 

 which occurred on the 3rd, and the highest, 50 degrees, on the 

 13th of the month. Not much direct injury had been done to 

 vegetation by the frost, notwithstanding the large amount ex- 

 perienced. This result was due in great measure to the almost 

 dormant condition in which most outdoor plants still remained, and 

 also to the absence of extremely low readings, 1 6 degrees being the 

 lowest marking for the month. Since the present month began 

 there had been no improvement in the character of the A\'eather, 

 but the reverse. Besides snowstorms of unusual severity, there had 

 been hard frost every morning without intermission. On the 

 morning of the 7th the glass fell to 13, or 19 degrees of frost, which 

 was the lowest register at the garden for the month of ]\Iarch since 

 1879, when 3 degrees lower were registered on the 14th March of 

 that year. The total amount for the whole month at that time was 

 60 degrees of frost, while during the last eleven days 89 degrees of 

 frost had been registered. A report was also submitted from Mr. 

 E. Bullen, of the Eoyal Botanic Institution, Glasgow. The severe 

 frosts and snowstorms experienced during the month of January 



