108 
water four weeks. The green colouring matter was in distinct 
cells, and the presence of starch was very evident on testing. 
The summary of the new matter in the Paper is as follows :— 
Detailed examination of the colouring matter of Englena, which 
corresponds with Sorpy’s examination of Spongilla. (2.) The 
fresh-water Rhabdocella worm, with the green colouring in 
special cells which contain starch, and which worm lived in 
distilled water for four weeks. 
A cordial vote of thanks was accorded to the author. 
Dr Wricut, F.R.S., in seconding the vote, expressed his 
admiration of the clear way in which the Professor had worked 
out this difficult subject, which, the Doctor observed, was not 
new to him. He welcomed this Paper as a happy divergence 
from the dry and dusty roads of Geology into the living lands 
of nature. But that which the Doctor regarded as most 
suggestive in the Paper was the discovery of the remarkable 
facts conveyed in the term “Symbiosis,” which seemed to 
furnish a clue to the very obscure subject of disease-germs, 
and to the mode by which they may be propagated. 
The Third Winter Meeting was held at the 
SCIENCE SCHOOL IN GLOUCESTER, 
on Tuesday, January 30th, 1883, when Mr G. Emprey read a 
Paper on “ Variations in Starch Granules.” 
After reviewing the mode in which plants obtain their 
food, and making especial reference to the production of starch, 
attention was directed to the following summary of the general 
characters by which starch granules may be distinguished from 
one another, and their source determined. 
1st. Those obtained from the roots, rhizomes and stems, are 
ovate in form, have excentrically arranged rings, the nucleus at 
one end, polarise powerfully, and have an unsymmetrical cross. 
2nd. Those obtained from the seeds of leguminous plants 
are elliptical in form, rings concentric, an elongated nucleus, 
polarise moderately, and show a cross by the union of two 
crescents. 
