PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 279 



mimicry miglit not exist amongst plants. 'Mr. R. Trimen sfiid that it 



had occurred to iiim that it might be an advantage to a phuit to adopt tlie 

 habit of one which was poisonous, and so be passed over by herbivorous 

 animals. The instances which hatl been adduced related to the vegetative 

 organs alone. He remembered a case mentioned by Harvey,* where two 

 South African plants growing intermingled coidd only be distinguished by 



careful inspection. Professor Lawson thought tliat it was notwholly true 



th.it minuekiug plants were separated in their habitats. He had been struck 

 with this in seeeing Villarsia uymphoideH and Nymphaa nlha growing to- 

 gether. Dr. Lankester considered that in Darwin's theory of natural se- 

 lection would be found the ultimate solution of these strange resemblances. 

 The iuHuence of the mineral food of plants was a very impoitant considera- 

 tion in their growth. Professor Thiselton Dyer in reply said that though 



he had not pretended to do more than indicate the direction in which 

 he thought a solution of'these problems might eventually be obtained, yet 

 he considered that the tone of the discussion su|)ported him in his views. 

 He was quite prepared to allow that real protective resemblance might 

 occur amongst plants. Plants certainly grew together which resembled 

 one another very closely in their foliage. Tlie excessively rare Menziesia 

 Cfjeridm had been protected, at any rate, from the rapaciousness of botanists 

 by the more plentifid EmpeLrran nigrum on the Sow of Athol being mis- 

 taken for it. Dr. Murie, " On the Development of Fungi within the 



Thorax of Living Birds." The low forms of vegetable life described did 

 not present any characters in the drawings by means of which it could 

 be determined with any certainty as to whether they were an imperfect 

 condition of a Mucediue or an Alga. They consisted of slender filaments, 

 mixed with small elliptical spore-like bodies; the whole collected together 



into a pale greenish spot. Mr. Cooke and Professor Perceval Wright 



were of opinion that they were rather of an algoid than a fungal character. 



Dr. Bastian made some observations on the development of organisms 



in closed cavities as conclusive arguments for the truth of the so-called 

 spontaneous generation theory. 



AiKjmt 5. — There was no meeting, but an excursion was made, under 

 Professor Balfour to Linlithgow. The party followed the banks of the 

 Avon. The woods contain a good many naturalized plants, such as 

 Geranium phceitui, Sijm phi/ tarn tnU'rosum., Dianlhits barbatns. Lynimachia 

 tkijrsijlora was met with near the canal. Campanula Intifolia, Mi/rrhis 

 odorata, Neotli'i Nidus-avis, and Epipaclin latifolia were collected. 



August 7. — Professor Wyville Thomson, F.ll.S., presitled. Mr. A. G. 

 More, F.L.S., called the attention of the meeting to some fine living spe- 

 cimens of Spirauthes gcmmipara, Lindl., or S. liovianzoviana, Cham., as 

 it had lately been renamed. The plant had been collected by himself 

 during an excursion lately made to Bereliaven, the only European locality 

 where this Orchid is known to occur, and the specimens, though obtained 

 now three weeks ago, still exhaled the delicious and delicate perfume 



which is characteristic of the L'ish Ladies'-tresses. Mr. A. G. More, 



F'.L.S., also made some remarks on Eriophorum alpinnm, L., observing 

 that his frieiul and colleague Dr. Moore, had, he believed, been iirt posed 

 upon when he aimounced it as an Irish plant (see Journ. of Bot. V. 



* Sarcoci/phula G'errardi and Sitrcosfciiima vimi'ialr, both asclepiads, which grow 

 intertwined, and can only be told by examination of their tlowcrs (see ' Thestiuriis 

 Caponsis,' ii. p. 58). 



