8 PBOCEEDTWaS OF THE 



people, and used as a means of manufacturing an acid drink 

 from a sugar solution and ginger, yet no scientific account of 

 the organism had appeared except a short note by Mr. G. 

 Wortbingtou Smith in the ' Gardener's Chronicle,' 1884. The 

 plant in question has the appearance of a white iVbs^oc, and is 

 composed of a Bacterium (passing through all forms of rods, coils, 

 and filaments), which apparently constitutes its greater part ; 

 and associated with this is a sprouting fungus. Judging from 

 the descriptions and figures of Kern of the " Kephir " used in the 

 Caucasus to induce fermentation in milk, the " Gringer-beer " 

 Plant resembles it, but with modifications. In connexion there- 

 with it is of interest to note that it is said the '' Ginger-beer " 

 Plant was introduced into Britain by soldiers from the Crimea in 

 1855. 



A letter was read from Mr. Benjamin T. Lowne, referring to 

 an exhibition by him of photograj^hs from microscopical speci- 

 mens of the retina of Insects. One section represented the 

 retinal layer detached from the opticon ; other sections showed 

 the basilar layer : thus practically affording evidence that the 

 nerves terminate in end-organs, viz. rods placed in groups 

 beneath the opticon, a view promulgated by Mr. Lowne in his 

 memoir published in the Society's Transactions (2nd ser. Zool. ii. 

 pp. 389-420). 



Mr. J. Waller exhibited a block of wood, part of an Oak 

 grown in Sussex, which, on being sawn through in a longitudinal 

 direction, was found to contain an excavated tunnel and a large 

 living larva of the Longicorn Beetle, Prionus coriarius. 



Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer showed and made remarks on two 

 sheets of dried specimens of Alpine Plants fi-om the Corea. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. " The Efl'ects of Stimulation on Turgescent Vegetable Tis- 

 sues." By Anna Bateson and I'rancis Darwin, P.L.S. 



2. " On the Anatomy, Development, and Morphology of the 

 Tissues of the Sporophore in Mosses. — I. Polytrichaceae." By 

 J. Eeynolds Vaizey, B.A. (Communicated by S. H. Vines, 



r.L.s.) 



3. " Report on the Hydroida and Polyzoa of the Mergui 

 Archipelago." By Eev. Thomas Hincks. (Communicated by 

 Dr. J. Anderson, F.L.S.) 



