62 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



the margins of their leaves, although this is by no means universal, 

 while with those of the eastern area this is an exception ; with the 

 former the spines on the leaf-edges or midiihs, are seldom recurved, 

 whilst this peculiarity is common with those of the latter. The 

 nomenclature Dr. Balfour finds a source of great trouble, the multi- 

 plication of names by horticultmists giving rise to complexity and 

 confusion. A note on the means of preserving Pandani fruit, &c., 

 and a copious list of species and sjnionymy follow. — The Secretary 

 also read a communication from Dr. J. Stirton, "Notes on the 

 Rev. Mr. Crombie's paper on the Lichens of the 'Challenger' 

 Expedition." 



December 20. — Prof. Allman, F.R.S., President, in the chair. — 

 Dr. Masters showed a specimen of Colletia cniciata he had that day 

 received in a living state from Sig. Fenzi, of Florence, which was 

 of special interest in connection with those exhibited by Dr. Prior 

 at a previous meeting (see J. Bot. 1877, p. 377), and seemed to 

 throw some light on the history of the plant in question. The 

 remarkable form known as C. cniciata was originally described by 

 the late Sir W. Hooker from native Chilian specimens. Some years 

 after Dr. Luidley received sx)ecimens of the plant from the gardens 

 of Lady PioUe at Bicton, said to have been raised from the seeds of 

 C. spinosa by the gardener, Mr. Barnes, a man of much natural 

 keenness of observation. Dr. Lindley, overlooking the previous pub- 

 lication of the plant, and acce^^ting the statement as to its origin, 

 described and figured it as C. hictonensis, and referred to it as a 

 remarkable case of transformation. When, however, the previous 

 pubhcation of Sir W. Hooker's C. cniciata was remembered, and the 

 specimens examined, it was naturally thought that Mr. Barnes was 

 mistaken in his assertion, and that he had unwittingly sown the 

 seeds of the two species (known to be natives of the same localities). 

 The specimen exhibited by Dr. Masters, however, showed that Mr. 

 Barnes' statement was not necessarily entirely erroneous, for from 

 the same branch i^roceeded shoots with the broad flattened-deltoid 

 spines characteristic of C. cniciata and others, with slender cylindri- 

 cal spines, very similar to, but more slender than, those of C, spinosa. 

 — Mr. Worthington G. Smith exhibited, under the microscope, a 

 specimen of the fossil fungus {Peronosporitcs antiquarius) which he 

 has recently described and figured in the ' Gardeners ' Chronicle,' 

 and made some remarks thereon. He also showed a number of 

 enlarged drawmgs of sections of Fungi, among others that of Boletus 

 suhtomentosus stating that in this typical specimen, five inches in 

 diameter, there are 17,000 pores or tubes. Each pore when cut 

 across showing 2000 cells on the surface. The number of surface- 

 cells on the under side of a specimen is 36,000,000. The cells in 

 an entire plant are calculated to be 61,500,000,000, and the number 

 of spores produced by the same specimen 5,000,000,000. — Mr. 

 Stephen W. Silver exhibited a series of vegetable products, arrows 

 and other instruments, from the Fiji Islands and New Caledonia, 

 collected and forwarded by Mr. Edgar Layard, H.B.M.'s Consul, 

 Noumea. Among the specimens was a quantity of the substance 

 (from the island of Mallicollo) which is said to be used by the natives 



