LINNEAN SOCIHTY OF LONDON. c 



December 17tb, 1914. 



Prof. E. B. PouLTON, F.E.S,, President, iu the Chair. 



The Minutes of the General Meeting of the 3rd December, 

 1914, were read and confirmed. 



Mr. Edwin John Butler, M.B., was admitted a Fellow. 



Mr. Eichard Francis Towndrow was proposed as an Associate. 



Mr. Miller Christy, F.L.S., exhibited a remarkable gall which 

 he believed to be new in this country. It is in the nature of a 

 " Witches'-Broom," but appears on Salix frayilis; whereas no 

 " broom " of the kind has hitherto been recorded on any species 

 of willow in this country. It appears iu great abundance on 

 all trees of the species named growing in proximity. According 

 to Prof. Nalepa, it is due to a gall-raite Eriophyes triradiatus, but 

 not improbably a parasitic fungus may assist. 



So far, the gall is confined, apparently, to a limited area 

 within a radius of, say, twelve or fifteen miles around Loudon. 

 Mr. Christy has seen it or had it reported to him from Waltliam- 

 stow, Chingford, Eomford, Dagenham, and from Eltham and 

 other places in Kent ; and he has been uuable to hear of it 

 having been seen anywhere more than three or four years 

 ago. It is unnoticed, he believed, iu any Mork on the plant-galls 

 of Britain. 



The gall seems to appear only on SalLv frcuiilis ; never on 

 Salioc alba var. ccerulea. This is fortunate, as the former is a 

 tree of almost no economic importance, whilst the latter is of 

 high value. 



The gall is remarkable in that it appears on the female flower, 

 which develops during summer, till it resembles a bunch of moss, 

 of an olivaceous green colour, from two to eight inches in length, 

 hanging from a small twig. The bunch consists of hundreds, 

 perhaps thousands, of abnormal flowerets. 



In the course of the winter, the gall or broom shrivels and 

 becomes black, but continues to hang on the trees through the 

 following summer, presenting a most striking appearance. 



A discussion followed in which Mr. E, Step, Miss G. Lister, 

 Mr, W, C. AVorsdell, Mr. Stanley Edwards, Mr. J. C. Shenstone, 

 Dr. Marie Stopes, and Prof. Minchin took part. 



Mr. Wilfred Mark AVebb, F.L.S., described the circumstances 

 under which the Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary came into existence. 

 He said that twelve years ago the Brent Valley Branch of the 

 Selborne Society took steps to protect a wood of nineteen acres in 



