EOOK-ISOTES, NKWS, KTC. 03 



the sporopliyte were visible on the cover-glasses, a thick-walled eni])ty 

 cell always being- at the base of the sporopliyte, probably the empty 

 oogonial wall after the escape of the oospore. No sign of the 

 anthericlial cells has been noticed. The discovery of the filaments 

 developed from the zoospores and the subsecpient growth of the s])or()- 

 phytes from filaments bring it into line with other members of the 

 family. 



On the same occasion Mr. J. L. Chaworth Musters made a com- 

 munication on the flora of Jan Mayen Island. This may be divided 

 into four main groups : the floras of the sea-shore, of the bird- 

 elift's, of sheltered places in the "tundra," and the mountain flora. 

 The most luxuriant flora, which consists of Taraxacum or Oj'i/ria. 

 grows either under the bird-cliffs or in places where tuff has been 

 reassorted b}^ water. The limit of flowering plants seems to be about 

 3000 feet ; the total phanerogamic vegetation consists of about 43 

 species, all of which are common to both Norway and East Greenland. 

 The origin of the flora presents a very complicated problem : seeds 

 have probably been brought there on the feet of wading birds which 

 migrate to and from their breeding-grounds in East Greenland. It 

 is highly improbable that Jan Mayen has ever been connected with 

 either Iceland or Greenland ; many plants have probabl}^ reached Jan 

 Mayen during Yery recent 3^ears. 



At the meeting of the same Society on Feb. 2, Dr. J. C. Willis 

 read a paper on " Some Statistics of Evolution and Geographical 

 Distribution in Plants [and Animals and their Significance." The 

 general result seemed to be to show that Evolution and Geographical 

 Distribvition have proceeded in a chiefly mechanical way, tlie effects 

 of the various "other" factors that intervene — climatic, ecological, 

 geological, etc. — being only to bring about deviations this way and 

 that from the dominant plan. Every family and every genus, and in 

 every country, behaves in the same way. Strong evidence is thus 

 given for de Vries's theory of Mutation,*^ and for Guppv's theory of 

 Differentiation. Mrs. E. M. Eeid then followed with •' Note on' the 

 Hollow Curve as shown by Pliocene Floras." The material was that 

 published from Tegelen, Castle Eden, etc., the author concluding 

 that fossil floras take their appropriate place alongside living floras, 

 bringing dii-ect evidence from the host to show the universality of the 

 Law of Hollow Curve Distribution. In an animated discussion on 

 the two papers, Dr. D. H. Scott remarked that he did not see what 

 the curves shown had to do with Evolution. Dr. E. J. Salisbury 

 stated that in studying the Kanales he had found confirmation of the 

 lecturer's theory of the larger the group the greater the age. Prof. 

 II. E. Gates thought that the theory of Age and Area put forward 

 raised difliculties from the point of view of the Mutation theory, for 

 upon the latter theory the floras of islands must have originated by 

 oceanic transportation. The President questioned why a group con- 

 taining a large number of species should be older than one containing 

 a few, and cited the instances of the numerous species of antelopes 

 and the solitary species of Ri/cemoscJius found in Africa, the latter 

 having been proved by geological evidence to be the older. Mr. A. J. 



