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LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 

 December 20, 1888. —Mr. W. Carrutliers, F.R.S., President, in 

 the chair. The Rev. G. E. Post was elected a Fellow.— Mr. 

 Clement Reid exhibited fruit of the hornbeam from the pre glacial 

 forest bed at Pakefield, near Norwich, and not previously recorded 

 as occurring iu any British deposit. — Mr. T. Christy exhibited a 

 collection received from Java, of hairs from the base of various 

 ferns, notably Cibotiwn Cumint/ii, and a species, as supposed, of 

 Vickaouia, used as a styptic for staunching blood. Professor Stewart, 

 in pointing out that the use of similar material for a like i)^^i'pose 

 in China was well known to surgeons, took occasion to explain the 

 nature of the so-called "lamb of Tartary," on which an inst.iuctive 

 little volume had been published by the late Mr. Henry Lee, F.L.S. 

 — Mr. D. Morris remarked that the use of "fern-hairs" was also 

 known as a styptic in South America, whence specimens had been 

 forwarded to the herbarium at Kew. — A paper was then read by 

 Mr. D. Morris "On the Characteristics of Plants included under 

 Enjthroxijlon Coca, Lamarck," with a description of a new variety 

 which he proposed to name, from its origin, E. novo-granatense. He 

 pointed out that the well-known coca-^Dlant had been noticed by 

 botanists and travellers for the last 30.0 years, and that although 

 Clusius was generally regarded as the earliest writer on it, he had 

 been anticipated by Nicholas Monardes, in his ' Historia Medicinal,* 

 published at Seville, in 1580, and translated by Clusius, who 

 printed it in a condensed form in his ' Exoticorum libri decern,' in 

 1605. The plant was first described as a species by Lamarck, in 

 the * Encjxlopedie Methodique,' in 1786, from specimens brought 

 by De Jussieu from Peru. Until lately the leaves had been used 

 merely as a nervous stimulant, like opium in China, and betel in 

 the East Indies ; but had latterly come into prominence as the 

 source of cocaine, a valuable alkaloid possessmg anesthetic pro- 

 perties in contact with the mucous membrane. There were several 

 climatic forms more or less distinct, and after describing the typical 

 plant Mr. Morris pointed out the characters by which E. noro- 

 yrawitoise might be distinguished. — Mr. Spencer Moore contributed 

 a paper on Ajiioci/stis, which he regarded as a Volvocinea. The 

 ciliated form was described, and it was show^n that its zoospores 

 may sometimes escape as caenobia, like a degenerate Vulvociiiea 

 which has exchanged the motile for the fixed condition; the sexual 

 cells being zoogametes, its nffinity is rather with Vandorinem than 

 with oogamous Vulvocen. The paper was criticised by Mr. A. W. 

 Bennett and Professor Marshall Ward, who, while testifying to the 

 importance of the investigation, expressed the hope that no 

 changes would be made in classification until further examination 

 had been made of some of the stages at a critical period of deve- 

 lopment. — Mr. George Murray gave his support to the views 

 expressed by Mr. Moore. 



