31 



reason for believing, that a good private collection, already including 

 many thousands of species, and still rapidly increasing, will event- 

 ually come into the possession of the Society. 



Cryptogamic Collections. — Numerous important additions to this 

 department of the Society's Herbarium have been made during the 

 year, chiefly by the following gentlemen ; namely, Messrs. Gray, 

 Thwaites, Bowerbank, Stephens, Dennes, Fordham, Beezley, Riley, 

 Jackson, Gardiner, Merrick, Sidney, Muggridge, Sidebotham, 

 Ibbotson, Rollings, Croall, Torry, and Sansom. To Dr. Ayres, and 

 Mr. H. O. Stephens, the Committee are indebted for many valuable 

 specimens of Fungi. And to Mr. Bowerbank, for a collection of 

 Algae, from the African coast, at Algoa Bay. 



Local Herbaria. — The Herbarium of Thame, in Oxfordshire, has 

 been completed by Dr. Ayres. A portion of that for Embleton, in 

 Northumberland, has been presented by Mr. Embleton. That of 

 Esher, in Surrey, has been collected by Mr. Watson, but is not yet 

 fastened to paper. Mr. Salmon has commenced one for the neigh- 

 bourhood of Godalming, in the same county. The Rev. W. R. 

 Crotch is forming one for the neighbourhood of Taunton, in 

 Somersetshire. 



December 6, 1844. — J. Reynolds, Esq., Treasurer, in the chair. 

 Dr. Dewar presented specimens of Carduus setosus, discovered by 

 himself, in July last, three miles from Dumfermline, Fifeshire. This 

 being a plant of Eastern Europe, and apparently hitherto unknown 

 on the western coasts, there seems much probability that the seed has 

 been accidentally imported from Russia. Its nearest ally in Britain 

 is C. arvensis. Mr. Thomas Bentall presented specimens of CEnanthe 

 fluviatilis (of Coleman), collected by himself, in the river, near Hal- 

 stead, Essex, in July. 



The Rev. W. R. Crotch presented specimens of Helianthemum 

 Breweri {Planchon), collected in the long-known locality of Holyhead 

 Mountain, Anglesea. This species has hitherto been confounded with 

 H. guttatum, by all British botanists; but is figured as an undescribed 

 species in the 'London Journal of Botany,' for November, 1844, 

 and explanations given in the succeeding number of the same 

 periodical. 



The true H. guttatum, from the south of France, was shown to be 

 quite a different plant, by specimens laid before the Society. 



Mr. Hewett Watson called the attention of the Society to a series 

 of specimens, in illustration of the three species of CEnanthe de- 

 scribed by Mr. Ball, in the ' Annals of Natural History,' under the 



