Ixviii PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Mr. R. S. Wishart, M.A., exhibited specimens of Polypogon 

 monspelieiisis, Desf., a rare grass which has occurred as a casual 

 weed at Chryston. 



Mr. John Renwick exhibited a remarkable condition of the 

 mycelium of a species of Penicillium, upon which Professor 

 Bower made some remarks. The fungus had originally formed a 

 mould on the surface of ginger cordial in a bottle, and the hs^phfe 

 had continued to develop downwards so as to form a felted 

 horn-like mass, about three inches in circumference, filling nearly 

 the whole centre of the bottle. 



The Chairman (Professor Bower) made some remarks on the 

 process of ribbon section-cutting and its use in the study of 

 botany. After describing the striicture of the microtome, he 

 explained the method of preparing the tissues to be cut. The 

 great advantage of the ribbon microtome is that it enables 

 almost any niaraber of extremely fine sections to be cut in an 

 uninterrupted series. As these sections are not separated from 

 each other Avhen cut, but produced in the form of a continuous 

 ribbon, they may be mounted side by side. He referred to some 

 obvious advantages of this process, especially from the point of 

 view of botanical morphology, and exhibited the microtome in 

 operation, as well as niimerous series of sections which had been 

 produced by its agency. 



Professor Thomas King described a simple method of 

 illustrating biological lectures by means of the lantern. A 

 glass slide may be placed, over any figure of vegetable tissues 

 or other object desired to be copied, and the outlines traced on 

 the glass by means of a pen and stencil-ink. Slides can be 

 very readily prepared for the lantern in this way, and are in 

 some respects preferable to enlarged diagrams. Numerous 

 illustrative examples were afterwards shown by Professor 

 King, which fully demonstrated the advantages of the method 

 described. 



A Paper, entitled " Remarks on Temperature, Vegetation, 

 etc., in the Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, 1890," was submitted by 

 Mr. Robert Bullen, Cvirator. 



31 ST March, 1891. 



Professor F. O. Bower, D.Sc, F.R.S.E., F.L.S., President, in 

 the Chair. 



Mr. James Steel exhibited male and female specimens of the 

 Australian Duck-Mole {OrnitTiorhynchus anatinus, Shaw), and 

 gave an account of the habits of the species. Mr, Robert 

 Broom, M.B., CM., B.Sc, made some remarks on the affinities 

 of the remarkable group of mammals to which the Duck-Mole 

 belongs. 



