106 REPORT — 1855. 



capital occasioned by such occurrences render these inquiries more than subjects of 

 interest to the physiologist merely. Every garden in the kingdom, whether public 

 or private, ought to be considered as an experimental establishment ; the subjects 

 of experiment are already provided, viz. the trees and shrubs which have been 

 introduced, and the varying seasons are the agents whose influence we ought to 

 observe and record. 



A continued series of such observations would ultimately lead to important 

 results, and we should cease to hear of valuable soil encumbered by plants which 

 must ultimately succumb under the influence of unusually severe winters. It is 

 the interest of all parties to give aid in collecting the kind of information to which 

 we have been referring ; and in our gardens and our forests we cannot fail 

 ultimately to reap important results from the accumulation of such practical 

 knowledge. 



On Impregnation in Phanerogamous Plants. By Dr. Duncan. 



1. Description of the development of the ovules of Tigridia conchiflora. 



2. Experiments upon the duration of the process of the passage of the pollen- 

 tube down the style. 



The rate of growth determined. 



The pollen-tube asserted to be cellular and to be nourished in its passage by the 

 cells of the female plant contiguous to it. 



3. The independence of the pollen-tube both in its powers of growth and impreg- 

 nation of the pollen grain proved by experiments of series 2. 



4. The pollen-tube abuts against the embryo-sac, but does not perforate; the 

 wall of the embryo-sac is cellular, the contents are granular. 



5. The embryo- sac is pushed back, and the end of the pollen-tube swells out 

 before losing its contents. 



6. Cells do not appear in the impregnated embryo-sac for some days. A 

 mingling of the granular contents of the last cell of the pollen-tube with the 

 granular contents of the embryo-sac first occurs. 



7. The cells of the coat of the embryo-sac have been usually mistaken for "germ- 

 cells." 



Exhibition of a Collection of Ferns from Portugal. 

 By C. H. Furlong. 

 These plants were prepared and dried by Mr. Pike, Consul for the United States 

 at Oporto, and were remarkable for the careful manner in which they had been 

 mounted. 



On the Floioers and Vegetation of the Crimea. By Dr. Michelson. 



The author confirmed what is known of the plants of this at present deeply inter- 

 esting part of the world. The vegetation is generally sub-tropical, and in the 

 valleys and sides of the hills most prolific. At present only a small part of it is 

 cultivated, but it is susceptible of the highest culture, and of supporting a dense 

 population. 



Zoology. 



Notes on the Brachiopoda observed in a Dredging Tour with Mr. M* Andrew 

 on the Coast of ISorway, in the Summer of the present year, 1855. By 

 Lucas Barrett, F.G.S. 



In the course of our cruise we met with four species of living Brachiopoda, belong- 

 ing to three out of the five recent families of those shells. Fresh specimens of one 

 or more of them were obtained almost daily for six weeks ; and as during a month 

 of that time we were north of the Arctic circle, enjoying perpetual sunlight, the 

 opportunity of watching their movements was extremely favourable. 



