LIKNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDOX. 63 



Dr, Henry said that the text-book statement that ejiipli3'te3 

 oF higher types than ferns do not occiir in Europe is too sweeping ; 

 as in the moist warm dimate of Ireland, Cotyledon I'mhilicns in 

 AV^icklow covers the trunk and branches ot the Alder, \\hile 

 Rhododendrons in two cases were seen by him growing on the 

 bark of Finns sylvestris ; and Pi/rus Aacuparia seems to be a true 

 epiphyte in various parts of Scotland and AVales. Dr. Henry 

 alluded to " mimicry " in plants, in the case of two species of 

 LijsimacJiia (a protomorphic genus in China), one of which 

 mimicked Paris quadrifolia, with 4 leaves, w'hile the other I'ccalled 

 another species of Paris with 10-12 leaves. He referred also to 

 the extraordinary richness of species on calcareous soils as com- 

 l)ared with other soils, a fact constantly seen in China, and 

 well marked also in France ; and asked for some explanation. In 

 China, as elsewhere, pure woods were rare, being only formed by 

 a few conifers, like Abies Fargesii at high altitudes in Hupeh, 

 Cupressus funehris in the same province at Io\^"er levels (the home 

 of the Reeves's Pheasant), Pinus Massoniana (almost e^■erywhere 

 in the Central and Southern provinces), other species of Pinus 

 more local ; also certain species of Oak widely disti-ibuted ; and 

 Alnus nepahnsis in Tuniian. The explanation of the occurrence 

 of pure forests was also a subject not comj^letely understood : 

 e. (J., in this country Ash seeded freely, and in some places for a 

 time looked as if it would grow into a pure wood : but apparently 

 pure forests of Ash only occurred on exti-emely rich soil in some 

 districts in llussia. 



With regard to botanical collecting, three stages had occurred. 

 At an early period plants were collected to be merely named and 

 classified ; in fact they were treated like postage stamps. The 

 second period began with Sir Josei)h Hooker, who inaugurated the 

 study of the geographical distribution of ])lants. The third 

 period, that of the present day, was a step forward, in that 

 attention should be paid to the plants themselves as social 

 organisms, living in harmony and yet in competition together ; 

 and Dr. Henry urged that the time had come, when the hunt for 

 ]iew species should cease to be the sole aim of the collector, and 

 the study of the known species be taken in hand in their living 

 conditions. He advocated map-making of small areas, census- 

 taking, measurements, records of natural seedlings, soil, shade, 

 etc., etc. ; and to illustrate this plan, showed a series of slides 

 Taken in France, the idea of which was to explain how the 

 commoner species of trees behaved at different altitudes and on 

 different soils. These slides included Beech, Spruce, Pinus Cemhra, 

 Pinus montana (which, according to Dr. Henry, often attains 

 80 feet in height and thrives on peat-mosses and on rocky soil, so 

 thick with boulders that practically no vegetation existed except 

 this hardy Pine), Larch, Quercus sessilijlora and p>cduncidata. He 

 pointed out that these two species differed as to soil and situation, 

 and complained that their areas had never been mapped out in 



