1855.] lAnnean Society. 37 1 



it would have an important bearing on that theory which ascribes 

 the opposition of leaves to the absence or non- development of in- 

 temodes, for here, where the internodes are developed, the arrange- 

 ment is alternate. The position of all the branches in a line one 

 over the other is accounted for by the spiral course of the fibres of 

 the stem. And thus, if we conceive the fibres of this specimen un- 

 twisted and made to assume a vertical direction, and at the same 

 time imagine the absence of internodes, the result will be the oppo- 

 sition of the branches and the alternate position of the pairs of 

 branches as regards the side of the axis from which they proceed. At 

 the dilated portion of the stem the growth was probably much more 

 rapid than at the lower part, which, from its more solid and firmer 

 structure, may be conceived to have offered some resistance to the 

 lateral expansion of the stem. In so doing it may have been the 

 cause of that twisting of the stem upon itself, which, it will be 

 observed, begins at the point where the change of form also com- 

 mences." 



The communication was accompanied by a sketch of the monstro- 

 sity described in it. 



Read the commencement of a memoir entitled " Remarks on the 

 Botany of Madeira and TenerifFe." By C. J. F. Bunbury, Esq., 

 F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. 



March 20. 

 Thomas Bell, Esq., President, in the Chair. 



Dr. Daniell, F.L.S. , exhibited a specimen of Kino, the produce of 

 Pterocarpus erinaceus. Lam., from Nyami, on the Upper Gambia ; 

 and also specimens of preserved vegetables, reduced by powerful 

 pressure into very small compass, and intended for use during long 

 voyages, of which large quantities have lately been forwarded to the 

 army in the Crimea. 



Mr. S. Stevens, F.L.S., exhibited specimens of two species of 

 Euchirus, one recently brought from Amboyna by Madame PfeifFer, 

 the other from India. 



