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SECTIONAL SECRETARIES’ REPORTS. 
The following reports and records of the various subjects 
dealt with at the Lectures and Field Meetings during the past 
Session have been kindly provided by the Honorary Secretaries 
of the Sections :— 
BOTANICAL SECTION. 
Two meetings of the Botanical Section were held during the Winter 
Session. The first of these was on Thursday, November 9th, when Mr. Joseph 
Thompson lectured on ‘‘ Rambles in India.’”? The subject was one of general 
interest, and there was a large audience. The lecturer began with a descrip- 
tion of the cultivated parks of the great cities, and from these he went step by 
step to primeval forests, where animal and vegetable life flourishes in its 
wildest and most luxuriant state, untouched by man. The lecturer also 
explained the beneficial effect of sandstorms on plant life. Reference was 
made to many curious and interesting native plants, such as the bread fruit, 
paupau fruit, and jumlum fruit. A notable feature of the lecture was the fine 
collection of specimens of tropical plants, which the lecturer explained to 
the audience. The lecture was also illustrated by a splendid series of lantern 
slides. 
The second mecting of the Botanical Section was held on Thursday, 
February 8th, when Mr. Alfred Newstead, F.E.S., lectured on ‘‘ Plants in and 
about Formby Camp, from May to August, 1916.” 
The lecturer dealt briefly with the geological history of the sand dunes of 
the Lancashire coast, and he passed on to the flora of the sand dunes and of 
the lower levels behind them. The importance of maram grass and creeping 
willow in building the sand together and thus making a sort of natural sea 
wall was emphasized, and several excellent slides illustrative of this were 
shown, The lecture was illustrated throughout by lantern slides, some of 
which were from the lecturer’s own drawings. 
ZOOLOGICAL SECTION. 
On October 26th, 1916, a paper was read by Mr. W. F. J. Shepheard on 
‘The Evolution of the Common Frog.” The lecture was illustrated by a 
series of unique X-Ray lantern slides showing the evolution from the spawn, 
through the tadpole stage, to the mature frog, also the absorption of the tail 
and the development of the internal organs, and the skeleton. The photo- 
graphs were taken from life by Mr. W. M. Martin, of Redruth. By the aid 
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