53 



Below a certain line lower down the hill, we find that Cednis 

 Deodora, Pinus insignis and other plants have suffered very 

 materially. 



The President exhibited a nest of social caterpillars from St. 

 Catherine, in Brazil, beautifully constructed by the drawing together 

 into a long rough, somewhat cylindrical tube, the leaves of a species 

 of Zeyhera. This was effected by a quantity of fine glossy silk-like 

 threads, which, drawn over the surface, held the leaves well in position, 

 and might also be useful in throwing off the rain. 



The President drew the attention of the members to a series of 

 plants of Primula sinensis, in flower, which were placed on the table, his 

 object being to show how by the aid of the horticulturist the plant had 

 been made to vary from its original condition, which latter was shown 

 by a plant in full flower, and which exactly con'esponded with a figure 

 published nearly fifty years since in Hooker's ' Exotic Flora.' The 

 flowers in this plant were of a pale pink, the divisions of the corolla 

 smooth on the margin, and the leaves somewhat round and broadly 

 notched or lobed. From this original condition the flowers had now 

 become changed in colour to pure white and deep rosy crimson, and 

 all gradations of tint intervening. The margins of the corolla 

 segments had been made to become deeply cut hke a fringe, and 

 perfectly double flowers, like a small rosette, had been produced. In 

 the leaves a change had been effected from the normal shape, to one 

 ovate-elongate, and so deeply cut and lobed as almost to resemble the 

 simply pinnate frond of a fern. 



The President then referred to a number of species of Selciginella, 

 which he had brought for exhibition in the growing state, with a view 

 of explaining the characters and properties of the family of plants called 

 Lycopodlacea, nearly allied to Ferns, and which produced a number of 

 very beautiful plants known to gardeners as Mosses, elegant in their 

 foliage, and very easy of cultivation. The President briefly gave an 

 account of the climate where the members of this family chiefly 

 grow, and their geographical distribution, and how they should be 

 treated to be successfully grown. He then pointed out how Lycopods 

 differed from Ferns, Mosses; and allied famihes, and referred to the 



