Vill PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
to be “fattened” on the British culture grounds, and thus 
the alga had travelled along the coast. 
Mr. Wn. YouncG showed a fine series of crested forms of 
ferns, chiefly Nephrodiwm Filix-mas, from Crianlarich 
district. 
Mr. RurHEeRFOoRD Hui exhibited the horned or hooked 
capsule or fruit of Martynia proboscidea, a plant belonging 
to the Natural Order Pedalinee. The specimen came 
from Buenos Ayres to a tweed manufacturer in Galashiels 
embedded in a consignment of La Plata wool in which it 
not infrequently occurs. This species seems to be now 
regarded as synonymous with Craniolaria annua, which 
is the name given in the Kew index. In the Kew “ List of 
Hardy Plants” it is stated that Craniolaria annua is an 
Kast Indian plant, but this is surely a mistake. In the 
“Flora of Southern India” it is stated that the plant, which 
is American, grows freely in India, into which it has no 
doubt been introduced. It is a native of Mexico, but is now 
found all over tropical South America. It seems probable 
that the wide dissemination of the plant may be accounted 
for by the fact that the hooked capsules would readily become 
entangled in the hair or wool of domestic or wild animals 
and thus be carried from place to place. The curious shape 
of the capsule and horns explains the popular names, 
Devil’s Horn, or Claws, or Toe Nails, which are applied to 
them. In India they are called “Elephant’s Trunk,” and 
the name “ Mouse Burr” is also applied to them from their 
resemblance to a mouse. 
Mr. RUTHERFORD HILL exhibited roots of the common 
garden Pea, Pisum satvvwm, one set being inoculated with 
nitro-bacterine, a culture of the nitrogen-fixing bacillus 
Pseudomonas radicicola. The inoculated specimen showed 
numerous nodules consisting of colonies of the bacillus, 
while the other had relatively few such nodules. The plants 
inoculated with the bacillus yielded a much heavier crop 
than those not so treated. 
Mr. JAMES M‘ANDREW exhibited specimens of Juncus 
tenuis, Willd., which he found upona piece of waste ground 
