i;»2 



another opportunity of reappearing ; while, from sources that were lett un- 

 touched, barren spots are again revivified, and the unexhausted stores of vitality 

 — ever latent, ever incubating, and dormant only for a time — are again roused to 

 action, and the enormous powers of multiplication, possessed more especially by 

 the lower orders of plants and animals, soon replaces the sterility that could 

 only endure while the ordinary course of Nature in seasonal progression was dis- 

 turbed or intensified. The changes that occur in the aspect of Nature demand 

 the continual attention of the naturalist, and it becomes his duty to carefully 

 observe them, not caring to attempt the formation of a theory as to their 

 recurrence till the accumulated stores of observation give a sufficient foundation 

 of facts on which truth may indubitably rest. 



It is instructive, however, to perceive how variable existence is kept up ; 

 the death of one organism awakening life in another, and the minuter objects 

 whose sporidia seem to pervade everything, rise before the eye more and more 

 minutely until the microscope is required to detect their presence. But there 

 they are perceptible, and experiment as well as experience alike show that 

 these motes of existence may rest long undeveloped till favourable or peculiar 

 circumstances call them forth to fill \ip the chinks of space they were destined 

 to occupy. The changes and alternations of life which drought and other de- 

 structive influences cause, may well justify what a deep-thinking poet has de- 

 clared in emphatic rhythm, and with which it will not be inappropriate to 

 conclude a scientific inquiry : — 



Look Nature through, 'tis revolution all. 



all to reflourish fades ; 



As in a wheel all sinks to re-ascend. 



(Applause) 



The world of matter with its various forms 

 All dies into new life, life born from death 

 Kolls the vast mass and shall for ever roll ; 

 No single atom once in being lost. 



Dr. Young. 



Dr. Trimen, of the British Museum, at the President's request, made some 

 short observations on Mr. Lees paper, which he characterised as one which 

 showed a great amount of hard work, and of which no society in the kingdom 

 need be ashamed. "With reference to the nature of the minute organisms 

 found on the -mud of dried-up ponds, he suggested that not a few might be con- 

 ditions of well-known species due to altered circumstances. The Botrydium 

 described and figured by Mr. Lees was, however, no doubt, an independent 

 species, and in connection with it Dr. Trimen mentioned a small European grass, 

 Coleanthua subtilis, which occurred in several European countries, but only at 

 the end of exceptionally dry summers, on the floor of dried-up ponds, and 

 therefore very irregularly. After the very dry season of 1868, it was found 

 in several places in Brittany, and is not unlikely to turn up in this country. 

 The conditions which usually stimulate the growth of minute Algce are de- 

 pendent on damp, as every one must have noticed who has seen the coloured 



