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male and female. Indeed he thought it was not so, as, according to his obser- 

 vation, the staminiferous and pistiliferous plants were almost always separated 

 if not on different trees, and hence arose a difficulty as to how fructification t jok 

 place. They must bear in mind that the Mistletoe being dioecious, one plant 

 only produced stamens and another pistile, and it was only from the latter 

 that the well known white berries were produced. He thought that the author 

 of the paper might have carried his observations further, and showed how the 

 pistiliferous plant of the Mistletoe was fructified, and whether any insect was 

 concerned in the process as Darwin had shown was the case with mar y other 

 plants. This was a point that required attentive consideration. Looking at the 

 matter in an economic point of view, it was evident, on looking at the apple 

 tree in view before them, almost dead from the persistent attack of the parasite, 

 that Shakspere was quite correct in his reprobation of the plant as "the baleful 

 Mistletoe." As long as the tree existed the Mistletoe fed upon its juices, but 

 in finally destroying the tree it killed itself. He had some years since written 

 an account of the Mistletoe, and the various trees on which it had been found, 

 and he then had an idea that the plant was useful in carrying off the redundant 

 juices of the trees on which it grew, cupping them like the process once much in 

 vogue in taking blood from the human subject. On this his friend Dr. Bull, 

 who had written a very learned and exhaustive paper on the Blistletoe, and better 

 understood its physiology, had cut him up most sharply — he might almost say 

 villainously — (laughter) ; and he had been unable to retort upon his learned 

 friend, but should bear him in mind at his next publication, and try the cupping 

 process on him (hear. hear). He believed, however, that the fact really was, as 

 stated by his friend Professor Buckman, that the Mistletoe stimulated a young 

 orchard tree to an earlier and more prolific production of fruit, although it caused 

 a premature decay of the apple-tree. Thus it might be advantageous to a farmer 

 who was looking only to a few years' cider production, but it was detrimental to 

 the owner of the soil (applause). 



The Rtv. T. T. Smith drew attention to a subject referred to in the paper 

 just read, viz. : The power which the processes of the Mistletoe had to penetrate 

 the annular layers of woody fibre of the tree on which it grows. A few weeks 

 ago he had favoured the commonly received opinion that these processes, deriving 

 their nourishment from the cambium layer, were gradually surrounded with 

 woody fibre by the growth of the stem. To settle the question in his own mind 

 he had procured some specimens, and made sections of apple stems with the 

 Mistletoe adherent. The result had fully ■convinced him that these processes 

 actually penetrated the wood. Some mistletoe sections were then shown to the 

 members, and attention directed to the following points : — 1. The wedge-like 

 form of the processes. 2. That they lay on the course of a medullary ray, and 

 none of these rays were obliterated, but pushed aside, as a fine wedge would do 

 it. 3. The fine points of the processes were formed of new cellular tissue, while 

 the centre of the broader part of the wedge was more dense in structure. 

 4. That in some instances the same rhizome had sent four or Jive processes into 





