31G PltOCEEDIXGS OP^ SOCIETIES. 



traiisfoiTed to parts of the plant where it could be obtaiued by the 

 insects without their serving the plant in the way of cross-fertiH- 

 zation. The colour, odour, and marking of flowers enable insects 

 to find the nectar more easily. The importance of these insects will 

 be apparent from the smallness of the amounts of sugar found in 

 the flowers experimented on by Mr. Wilson. Flowers of fuchsia 

 yielded a total of 7*59 mmg. of sugar — 1-69 of this was fruit-sugar, 

 and 5-9 apparently cane-sugar. Of red clover each head gave a 

 total of 7*93 mmg., fruit 5*95, apparent cane-sugar 1-98. On each 

 head of clover there are nearly sixty distinct florets. Calculating 

 from these results, there was the astonishing industry of the bee 

 brought out in an extraordinary manner, for in order to obtain the 

 kilo of sugar 7,500,000 distinct flowers must be sucked. As honey 

 contained roughly about 75 per cent, of sugar, a bee has then to 

 make two and a half millions of visits in order to collect a pound 

 of honey. It was rather a curious fact that nectar should contain 

 cane-sugar, seeing that honey never did ; indeed were a vendor to 

 sell honey containing cane-sugar he would probably be prosecuted 

 under the Adulteration Act. A change must therefore take place 

 while the sugar is in the bee's possession — possibly through the action 

 of the juices with which it comes in contact while in the honey-bag. As 

 nectar is acid in its reaction it is, however, possible that the process 

 of inversion may take place spontaneously. [The chemical portion 

 of this paper was also communicated in more detail to Section B 

 on August 15tli.] — "On the Stipules of Sperr/ularia marina,'' by 

 Prof. Alex. Dickson. As is well known, certain genera of Caryo- 

 phijllacea, of which Sjjergularia is one, are distinguished by the 

 presence of stipulary api^endages. On examining lately the stipules 

 of Spergularia marina, I was struck with a peculiarity j)resented by 

 them, which, if observed at all by descrii)tive botanists, has not 

 received the attention it deserves on account of its remarkable 

 character. The stipules are free from the petioles and wholly 

 cellular m structure. From connation of those of opposite leaves 

 they form iiiterpetiolar stipules with more or less regularly though 

 slightl}' bifid extremities. Lastly (and this is the important point), 

 these stipules are united to each other round the backs of the 

 petioles, so that a sheath is formed completely sarrounding the 

 axis and the two leaf-bases. This connation of stipules round 

 the backs of the petioles is very interesting as being a rare pheno- 

 menon. Cases are not uncommon where the two stipules are 

 connate on the inner side of the leaf-base, constituting the so-called 

 "axillary stipule," (\(j., Votamogeton lucens, &c., or on the opi30site 

 side of the axis from the leaf, e.g., Ficus dastica, Aatragalus aljiina, 

 &c., constituting the " oi)positifoliar" stipule; but the only reference 

 to connation behind the leaf-base I can find is in the case of certain 

 Astragali, by St. Hilaii'e, in his ' Morphologie.' In those species of 

 Antragalus which I have examined I have not seen any one m which 

 the stipules are actualty connate in this way; but in some, e.g., 

 A. alojicruroidcs, the bases of the stixniles extend round the back 

 till they meet — a condition just short of connation. In Spergularia, 

 as we have seen, we have the interesting combination of the inter- 



