302 President's Address. 



The Society had had three valuable papers from Mr John 

 Rattray — 1st, " On the Geographical Distribution of Algse 

 in the Firth of Forth," in which he dealt with the relation 

 of the distribution of different types to different bathy- 

 metrical conditions, varying illumination, &c. ; 2nd, " On 

 some New Cases of Epiphytism among Algse ;" and 3rd, 

 " Preliminary Note on the Evolution of Oxygen by Sea- 

 Weeds." 



A short, though important, note was communicated by 

 Professor T. R. Eraser on Strophantlnis hispidus, a plant 

 "which promises in his hands to yield a most valuable 

 remedy in cardiac affections. And, in this connection, 

 reference was made to the pleasure experienced, by the 

 Fellows on receiving a communication, in person, from 

 Mr John Buchanan of Blantyre, Central Africa, to whom 

 the Society, the Botanic Garden, and Professor Eraser 

 himself have been indebted for much valuable material. 



A communication was made by Mr William Coldstream 

 on the important subject of the Fodder-Grasses of India. 



Mr Scott-Elliot furnished a careful resume of Haberlaudt's 

 views on the physiological functions of plant tissues. Such 

 resumes were of great importance, and it was well to 

 remind the younger members that the presentation of such 

 communications is one of the original objects of the Society, 

 as laid down in its constitution. 



During the past year the Society had had to deplore the 

 loss of some well-known and highly-esteemed Fellows, 

 viz., the Earl of Selkirk, Mr W. W. Evans, Mr Alexander 

 Croall, Mr James F. Robinson, Mr James Welsh, Edmond 

 Bossier and Dr W. B. Carpenter. Of these obituary 

 notices would ere long appear ; but it was impossible to 

 refrain from special reference to the great loss which had 

 been sustained by the Society and the whole scientific world 

 in the very unexpected death of Dr W. B. Carpenter, whose 

 accomplishments in almost all the departments of natural 

 science may be said to have been unrivalled. 



The President then made some special observations 

 on certain points in the morphology of Frullania and other 

 leafy Jungermannieas. [These observations appear as a 

 separate paper in the Transactions.^ 



