4 pnocEKniNGS of the 



think it was a form of the yellow-flowered 7»aritimiim. Brotero 

 (Fl. Liisit. i. 27J^, ls<t4) {jave lo the iiiainhuid form the name of 

 O'entiaua 2'0)'t*:»sis, so calleil from ()|)()rto, near whicii place 

 it oi-eiirs. 



Since our plant is tlie pink-flowered plant of the mainland it 

 has been named as above, JJrotero's being the earliest trivial 

 name. Tlie ])lant was sent me in September 11)18, when 1 was 

 away from home, by Mr. Arnett of Tenby. This year 1 went to 

 visit the locality where the friend of Mr, Arnett discovered it, 

 and was informed it was limited to a piece of ground about two 

 yards s()uare, on a headland near Newport, Pembroke. However, 

 1 was glad to .see it growing on tlu; edge of a grassy cliff over 

 some considerable area in addition to the small patch first dis- 

 covered. There it seems undisputably native. The bay beneath 

 is open lo gahjs which J. was told bring in some considerable 

 quantity of wi-eckage, but the plant grows with other native 

 species above the reach of ordinary driftage. The (juestion arises, 

 can the sn)all seeds of |)Iant8 be conveyed in sea-spume, and may 

 this be the cause of the occurrence of FranJcenia and Lhnonium 

 h/chnidifoliiuii on the .lersey cliffs, and incidentally the cause of 

 other members than this interesting Centauriion, of the so-called 

 Atlantic species, being introduced in remote tin:es into the British 

 Isles. The record and description of the Pembroke plant as 

 Ei'iith)\ea sciUoides was made by Mr. A. J. Wilmott in Journ. Bot. 

 Ivi. 11)18, ]). IJ21. As in the case of xXmAjurju, there is a previous 

 record of this Centani-iniit as a Hritish plant, and that on the higli 

 authority of Nyman (Consji. 502). But Nymau blindly followed 

 Grisebach (DC. Prod. i.x. p. 5!)), w ho simply mis-read " Pr. Morlaix 

 Britt., Woods," to mean Britannia instead of Brittany, where 

 Morlaix is situated and where Joseph AVoods found it. 



Mr. A. J. Wilmott, Mr. C. E. Salmon, and Mr. K. (1. Baker 

 discussed various points. Dr. Druce replying. 



[Note received L'-4th November, 1919. — Specimens in the 

 herbaria of JJuddle and of Petiver in the British Museum (Natural 

 llistorv) and of Stonestreet, at Oxford, are not contemporaneous 

 with Thomas Johnson, bulr probably were collected fifty v^'fii's 

 later.] 



Dr. DiiucK also showed a few highly finished water-colour 

 drawings of British liuhi by Miss Tuowku. 



The last communication was by Prof. 11. C. McLeax, entitled 

 " Sex and Soma," of which the following is an abstract: — 



The Author enlarged npon the recently discovered phase of 

 multinucleosis in the developing soma cell of higher plants. The 

 genetic interest of the phenomenon has not received sulllcient 

 consideration, and the present paper was designed to direct atten- 

 tion to the |)ossibilities involved. The Author maintained, in 

 opposition to Arbcr and Beer, that there is evidence of nuclear 



