222 Gelehrte Gesellscliaften. 



gebürgert, Bidens radiatus (Falkenberg), Anthemis ruthenica von Grünberg, 

 ein Bastard von Xanthium strumarium nnd italicum von ebendort, Lappa 

 macrosi^erma von Liegnitz, Erigeron droebachiensis X canadensis von Grün- 

 berg, Campanula bononiensis desgl., Utricularia minor vonNimkau mit Blüten, 

 Adenophora liliifolia (Kuchelna bei ßatibor). Bastarde von Alnus und Salix, 

 darunter ein bisher nirgends beobachteter ternärer (S. cinerea X purpurea X 

 viminalis) von Breslau und die bisher nur aus Lappland bekannte S. Caprea X 

 Lapponum Laest. vom kleinen Teiche, Formen von Agrostis alba, viele andere 

 Gräser u. s. w. 



Herr Gart.-Inspector Stein zeigt folgende lebende und in vollster Blütenent- 

 faltung begi'iffene Pflanzen aus dem botanischeu Garten: Gagea Liottardi; 

 Drabaarten z. B. Kotsehyi, olympica, hispanica ; Viola alpina, gracilis ; Coch- 

 learia pyrenaica, grönlandia ; Saxifraga tridens, Tombeanensis, sancta ; An- 

 drosace glacialis, carnea ; Ranunculus hybridus ; Soldanella minima ; Roman- 

 zoffia Sitchensis ; Luzula Sieberi ; Ranunculus canariensis ; Fritillaria ruthenica ; 

 Asarum japonicum; Daphne Blagayana; Corydalis Kolpakowskiana, C. Lede- 

 bouriana ; Cryptoceras rutsefolium ; Primula denticulata, Facchinii, spectabilis, 

 pulcherrima, carniolica, villosa, rosea, alpina, Arctotis ; ferner ein prachtvolles 

 Exemplar von Phajus Wallichii. 



Liuueau Society of London. 



February 16, 1882. — F. C r i s p , Esq., Vice-President, in the chair. — A 

 paper by A. Stephen Wilson, entitled ,The Potato-Disease and the 

 theory of fungoid parasitis m,' was read. 



March 2. — Sir John L u b b o c k , President, in the chair. — Col. R. H. 

 Beddome, Revv. R. P. Murray, W., H. DaUinger, R. Hooper, 

 Messrs. T. B. Chambers, C. D. Ekman, W. Fream, C. I). Lab alestier, 

 R. y i p a n , were elected Fellows of the Society. — A paper by Mr. Charles 

 Knight, entitled ,Contributi ons to the Lichenogr aph y of New 

 South Wales,' was read; it includes the description of about fifty new 

 species. 



Mai'ch 16. — Sir John Lubbock, President, in the chair. — Messrs. 

 H. M. Brewer, V. J. Chamberlain, and A. P. Withiel Thomas, 

 were elected Fellows of the Society. — Mr. Worthington G. Smith called 

 attention to certain very destructive Australian tungi new to England, viz., 

 Capnodium australe, fatal to Conifers, especially Thuyas, and to Isaria fuci- 

 formis, a great pest to grass in Kent and Sussex. The latter plant is popularly 

 supposed to induce a disease similar to diphtheria, and said to be fatal to 

 cattle. Isaria frec|uently grows on animal substances, dead and living, as 

 on larvse and pupae of Ichneumons, spiders, moths, wasps, &c. Mr. Smith 

 exhibited a bee caught alive in this country, and having a profuse growth 

 of the Isaria-condition of the Cordiceps sphecocephala, a West Indian form 

 — the latter genus is closely allied to Claviceps on ergot. — Two papers by 

 Mr. Charles Darwin were thereafter read, viz.: (1) ,0n the Action of 

 Carbonate of Ammonia on the Roots of Certain Plauts.' 

 Many years ago the author observed that, when the roots of Euphorbia 

 Peplus were placed in a Solution of carbonate of ammonia, a cloud of fine 

 granules was deposited in less than a minute, and was seen travelling from 

 cell to cell. These enquiries were resumed by digging up plants of this 

 species, and carefully washing away the earth. The rootlets were then ex- 

 amined, and sections of the "thicker roots made. All the cells were found 

 to be colourless, and destitute of any solid matter, the laticiferous ducts 

 being excluded from Observation. These roots were left for different periods 

 in Solutions of diflerent strengths, viz., for 1 to 7 parts of the carbonate to 

 1000 of water ; they then showed a wonderful change. A Solution of only 

 1 part to 10 000 of water sufficed in twenty-four hours to produce the same 

 result. In well-deyeloped cases the longitudinal rows of cells close to the 

 top of the root, with the exception of those forming the extreme apex, were 

 filled with ])rown granulär matter, which rendered them opaque. Long-con- 

 tinued immersion in water produced no such eflect. Some rows of cells are 

 destitute of granulär matter, and alternate with those that are an appearance 

 sometimes continued to the stem of the plant. These exterior cells, which 



