60 PEOCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



leaves. It is no doubt a Taxinea, very near Phccnicopsis of the Jura. 

 The fact of the existence of Nymphmi, of large Grasses, often species 

 of Conifers, of Popuhis, JJetula, Corijlus, Uhmis and Viburnum near 

 82° N. lat. is very interesting. — ''On the classification of the 

 Vegetable Kingdom," by Prof. W. R. McNab. [Printed in full in 

 J. Bot., 1877, pp. 340-344.]— "The classification of the flowering 

 plants considered phytogenetically," by Prof. McNab. Haeckel's 

 monoiihyletic pedigree of the Vegetable Kingdom, as given in his 

 * History of Creation,' vol. ii. (English edition), was discussed and 

 objections to its conclusions urged. Thus in two cases the groui)s 

 are known to occur earlier than Haeckel's theory requires, in another 

 case (monchlamydeous Dicotyledons) the plants do not appear until 

 much later (in the Cretaceous instead of the Triassic). The geological 

 distribution of Dicotyledons, founded on Schimper's * Paleontologie 

 Vegetale,' was then fully discussed. The general conclusions di'awn 

 were the following : — 1 . That the Gamojjetalce are more recent than 

 the Choripetalcc. 2. That the apetalous orders must be looked upon 

 not as forming a separate group, but as being the lowest members 

 of the subordmate groups of the ChoripetalcB. 3. That the older 

 representatives in the challc of the larger group generally belong to 

 families having variable characters, more especially in regard to the 

 number of the parts of the flower. Thus the oldest representative 

 of Order 69, UinbellijiorcB, is Aralioj^hyllum in the chalk. The Ara- 

 liacece have variable characters, as shown by the formula — Ca(5_io) 

 Co5_ioAn5_ioGn("2i:io), a formula which will include that of the 

 UmbellifercB, viz., Ca5Co5An5Gn(2). 4. That while the Monoco- 

 tyledons are undoubtedly monophyletic, the Dicotyledons are cer- 

 tainly polyphyletic, and hence the great difference seen in the 

 formulae of their flowers. 



LiNNEAN Society of London. 



November 15, 1877.— J)i. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., Vice-President, 

 in the chair. — Dr. Trimen exhibited specimens of Boswellia Cartcrii, 

 Birdw. (foliage and branches), and B. Frereana, Buxlw. (in flower). 

 They were gathered in October last by Mr. J. Collins from the trees 

 planted at Aden, near the tanks. Dr. Trimen made some observa- 

 tions on the varia])ility of the foliage of Boswellia, and expressed an 

 opinion that B. Bhau-Dajiana, Birdw., was not specifically separable 

 from B. Carterii. B. Frereana in its wild state is confined to Somali- 

 land, where it was recently collected by Hildebrandt. It affords 

 the fragrant true resin called *'Luban Meyti," which Hanbury con- 

 sidered to be the African "Elemi;" this is much chewed by 

 Orientals, but rarely imported hito England. B. Carterii yields 

 the well-known " Olibanum," or "Frankincense," and grows wild 

 both in Somali-land and on the south-west coast of Arabia. 



December 6. — Prof. Allman, F.R.S., President, in the chair. — 

 Mr. Thiselton Dyer exhibited leaves and wood of the Nan-mu tree. 

 This tree grows in Yunnan, between 25° and 26° N. lat., and its 

 wood is highly valued by the Chinese court for building purposes, 

 and by the wealthy for coffins. It forms enormous columns 



