6i 



In regard to the latter tribe, the following points are noticed as fa- 

 vouring the opinion that the globule may be compared to an anther 

 and the nucule to the pistil. Their co-existence and close proximity 

 — the opening of the valves of the globule to allow the escape of fila- 

 ments and Phytozoa (similar to those of Fuci, which Thuret and 

 Decaisne have shown to be connected with staminal functions) — the 

 existence of an opening at the apex of the nucule allowing communi- 

 cation with the interior — the capability of germination in the contents 

 of the nucule when mature ■ — and the decadence of the globule prior 

 to the ripening of the nucule. 



The second and third parts of the paper on the reproduction of the 

 other orders of cryptogamic plants were deferred till a future meeting. 



Dr. Balfour read a communication from Mr. Charles Lawson, jun., 

 relative to the cultivation of potatoes by cuttings of the herbaceous 

 stems. Six cuttings were planted on 16th June, 1847, kept in a warm 

 frame for six weeks, then planted out, and they produced twenty tu- 

 bers of very considerable size, one of which was exhibited. The 

 communication was accompanied by a report from Mr. Alexander 

 M'Laren, gardener to the Dowager Marchioness of Queensbury at 

 Coten House, in which he states that he potted green cuttings in Fe- 

 bruary, 1847, three in a No. 4 pot, in a mixture of leaf-mould and 

 light loam. He then plunged them into a bottom heat of 75°, taking 

 care to shade them from the sun, and also to water them three times 

 every day. On 23rd April he found tubers of the size of a walnut. 



Mr. Brand read an extract from a letter from W. A. Stables, Esq., 

 relative to the plantations recently made on Lord Cawdor's estate in 

 Nairnshire. " The forester planted 230 imperial acres in nine days, 

 fifty-seven women and boys being employed each day, and the average 

 number of trees planted by each was 1566 a-day. Two-thirds of the 

 plants were larch, and the remainder Scotch fir — in all, 3465 plants 

 per aere. The plants were two-year-old seedlings, all raised in the gar- 

 dens here. The cost of enclosing was £76 6s. 10d., and of planting 

 £ 16 8s. 8d. — together, ,£92 5s. 6d., or about 7s. 7d. per acre of outlay." 



The following gentlemen were added to the roll of ordinary mem- 

 bers : James Mitchell, Esq., 21, Lothian Street; Charles Murchison, 

 Esq., 9, Alva Street ; Wyville Thomson, Esq., Musselburgh ; Francis 

 J. Ivory, Esq., 9, Ainslie Place ; Henry P. Morse, Esq., 3, Duncan 

 Street ; Alexander Grant, Esq., 34, London Street ; James Cunning- 

 ham, Esq., W.S., 50, Queen Street; Henry Hewetson, Esq., 113, 

 Princes Street; and Dr. C. Jessen, Kiel, Denmark, and Joh. Lange, 

 Copenhagen, were elected foreign members. 



