linNeak society of lokbox. 9 



Vertebrates, such as man. The IJerj^ctumonus iouud in iJentrx, 

 however, does not apjK-ar to be markedly pathogenic. 



Prof. E. S. Goodrich, See.L.S., having spoken, Lt.-Col. Tull 

 Walsh observed that the specimen sliowu will be of great interest 

 to the medical profession. Besides tlie Leishmania tropica, which 

 it resembles, we have L. donovani, the cause ot" Kahi-azar, a very 

 deadly disease in Eastern Bengal, Assam, etc. In this disease 

 only the ovoid form of Leishmania exists, in man. ISir Leonard 

 Kogers was, however, years ago, able to cultivate the flagellate 

 form. Both forms exist in the hsh mentioned by Dr. Porter. 

 The flagellate form of L. donovani is so like a flagellate found in 

 Nepa cinerea that tlie latter can be used in England to illustrate, 

 for teaching pin-poses, the fl.agellate form of L. donovani occurring 

 in subtropical countries, in cultures from the form found in man. 



Mr. Miller Christy, F.L.iS., followed with his communication 

 on " Wistman's Wood," supplying the abstract here printed : — 



Wistman's Wood is a small unique grove of ancient, and 

 exceedingly gnarled and diminutive, oak trees (all Quercns pe'litn- 

 culata), growing out of an extensive pile of huge angular blocks 

 of granite (known locall}^ as a "clatter"), without a particle of 

 visible soil. The wood is hung (so to speak) upon the steep left 

 bunk of the West Dart, about two miles north from Two Bridges, 

 almost in the centre of Dartmoor, and at an elevation of about 

 1500 feet. Its area is small (about 5-6 acres at the outside), and 

 the number of trees comprised in it is probably not more than 

 from 300 to 400, in spite of statements to the contrary. 



Wistman's Wood is not a remnant of a primaeval forest which 

 once covered Dartmoor, for none such can ever have existed. It 

 may be, however, the only survivor of other similar groves which 

 once occupied some of the deeper and more sheltered valleys. It 

 owes its continued existence, beyond question, solely to the 

 " clatter" of granite blocks out of which it grows ; for this pro- 

 tects it, not only from fire, but also from all animals gi-azing on 

 the moor; these being unable to cross it, owing to the steepness 

 of the slope and the crevasse-Wke open spaces between the great 

 masses of riick. whicli are piled together in great confusion. For 

 the same reason, access to the wood is, even for human beings, a 

 climb or scramble, rather than a walk ; while, within the wood 

 itself, progress is even dangerous, owing to the crevasses being 

 hidden by an abundant growth of moss, many tussocks of Luzula 

 syJvatica, and other herb^'ge. 



The oaks (with which grow two or tliree bushes of J\i/rus 

 Auciiparia, but no other kind of tree) are all exceedir;gly dwarfed. 

 Their average height is, perhaps, 10 feet, the iiighest not exceeding 

 15 feet. Many are of bushy or scrubby habit, presenting no 

 definite stem, and few (if any) have a stem 4 feet high. In the 

 case of adult trees, presenting measurable stems, the average 

 circumference ranges from 40-60 ins., but one measured reached 

 78 ins. 



