78 PROCEEDINGS OF TUE 



which was found growing in an apparently wild state near 

 Petersfield. 



Dr. Francis Day exhibited a series of shells of Pearl Oysters, 

 pointing outtliattlie Avicula margaritifera is not the form from 

 which tlie pearls of" Ceylon and Northern India are obtained, the 

 latter being got from the smaller and more convex A.fucata. Also 

 that tlie little A. vexillum has been mistaken for the spat of the 

 Ceylon Pearl Oyster by the various Inspectors of the Pearl 

 Pisheries, except Captain Piiipps of Tuticorin, and Mr. H. S. 

 Thomas, F.L.S., who has lately inspected the banks and obtained 

 specimens. The A. vexillum rarely exceeds one third of an inch 

 in lengtl), is convex, perfectly smooth externally, and somewhat 

 of the shape represented by Eeeve's figure (Conchol. Icon.) ; 

 wliereas the A. fucata, even when jL- of an inch in length, is 

 covered with spines. The existence of numerous deposits of 

 A. vexillum, on the Ceylon and Madras pearl-banks, has unfor- 

 tunately given rise to error ; and the anticipation of obtaining a 

 crop of Pearl Oysters within the next three seasons is therefore 

 likt'ly to prove a disappointment. — Dr. Day also exhibited a sj)e- 

 cimen of a Trout three months old which had two heads. He 

 iurther mentioned that the hybrids between the female Lochleveu 

 Trout and the male Salmon, whieh were hatched in 1881 at 

 Howietoun, have lately shown symptoms of spawning; and on a 

 female being opened, it was found to contain somewhat large 

 ova, showing that they may be expected to breed this winter. 



A characteristic series, from young to old stages, of the true 

 Pearl Oyster {A.fucata) of Cevlon, nndof the smalls, vexillum, 

 were also shown on behalf of Mr. Edmund W. H. Holdsworth. 



Mr. James Groves showed dried specimens o^ JVitella capitata 

 collected in Cambridgeshire, an addition to the British Flora. 



]Mr. Frank H. Cheshire drew attention to a microscopic pre- 

 paration demonstrating tlie peculiar dispositiou of the secretory 

 gland in the head of the Bee (worker). 



Specimens of three kinds of Leucojum were exhibited for 

 Mr. William Brockbank, and the follomng note thereon was 

 read : — "Leucojum Heniandezii was, I believe, tirst described by 

 Cambessides in 1827, and was named after its discoverer. Dr. 

 Hernandez. When Dean Herbert wrote his ' Amaryllidaceje ' 

 (published in 1837), he had the plant before him, and described it 

 as the third of Summer Snowflakes, the other two being L. cBstivum 

 and L. pulchellum ; but he states that he had never seen pul- 

 chellum, which he describes from Salisbury's plate in ' Paradisus,' 

 pi. 71'. Salisbury appears to have first described L. pulchellu7n 

 in 1807. These three Leucojums have thus appeared in our 

 botanical lists till now ; but the identity of L. Hernandezii has 

 bceu completely lost, whereas L. pulchellum has become a common 



