175 



Art. LV. — Proceedinys of Societlen. 



LINNEAN SOCIETY. 



December 21, 1841. — Bead : 1. Extracts from a letter to Mr. Solly from Mr. Griffiths, giving a summary 

 of the results of observations made by him on the development of the embryo in Santalum, Viscum, Osyris 

 and Loranthus, as well as remarks on the reproductive organs of Isoetes. 2. A paper by Mr. Miers, contain- 

 ing descriptions of new plants, viz., Solenomeles chinensis, previously published under the name of Cruik. 

 shankia, which name had been appropriated to another genus : and two species of the new monocotyledonous 

 genus Distrepta, — D. vaginata and oblita. 3, A letter from Mr. Bidvvell of Sydney, containing a description 

 of a new Araucaria, which attains the height of 200 feet, and about 100 feet of tlie stem is frequently without 

 branches : also of Nujtsia floribunda, in the botanic garden at Sydney, in the embryo of which three cotyle- 

 dons have been discovered by the author. 



Junuari/ ISih, 1842. — Robert Brown, Esq., V.P. in the chair. In consequence of the decease of Aylmer 

 Bourke Lambert Esq., V.P. one of the founders of the Society, no papers were read at this meeting. 



February 1st. — The Bishop of Norwich, President, in the chair. Bead, a paper on the development of 

 the embryo in Trojjteohim ma^jus, by Dr. Jerrold. The changes which take place in the ovule and embryo, 

 from the first appearance of the former to the perfect formation of the latter, were minutely detailed. 



February 15. — Robert Brown. Esq., V P. in the chair. This being the evening appointed for the elec- 

 tion of a person to fill the joint offices of Clerk, librarian and Housekeeper, vacant by the lamented death 

 of Professor Don, there was an unusually large attendance of Fellows. The chairman briefly announced the 

 object of the meeting, stating that two candidates had offered themselves for the joint offices — Mr. Kippist and 

 Dr. Lemann, and that balloting papers had been prepared in accordance witli the laws of the Society. The Se- 

 cretary having read the laws relating to the election of Librarian &c., the ballot forthwith commenced and 

 continued until 9 o'clock, when a scrutiny of the votes was taken and the result handed to the President, who 

 stated the numbers to be, — for Mr. Kippist, 87, for Dr. Lemann, 69 ; and declared Mr. Kippist duly elected. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



Thursday, December 9, 1841. — Professor Balfour, and subsequently Piofessor Graliam, in the Chair. 



Contributions to the herbarium were announced from Lady Keith Murray, and seven other members. 

 The specimens from her ladyship were particularly admired for their beauty and fine state of preservation. 



After the election of several members, the various office-bearers for the ensuing year were chosen, includ- 

 ing Prof. Christison, President ; Dr. Greville, Prof. Traill, Sir Wm. Jardine, Bart, and Professor Balfour, 

 Vice-Presidents ; Mr. Brand, W.S., Secretary and Treasurer ; Mr. Joseph Dickson, Corresponding Secretary; 

 Mr. Edward Forbes and Dr. Douglas Maclagan Foreign Secretaries. 



The following communications were read. — 



1. On the Groups Triandrte & Fragiles of the genus Salix. By the Rev. J. E. Leefe, Audley End, Essex. 

 " Whoever would study the willows with success, must see them growing at different seasons of the year; for 

 fragments gathered at one season only, serve but to perplex and confuse the botanist. Another soiu-ce of con- 

 fusion is the practice of collecting specimens, w ithout numbering them and the tree, U'usting subsequently for 

 identification to the memory alone, whereby a most unpleasant feeling of uncertainty is produced. The chan- 

 ges in the form of the leaves, and in the relative proportion of some of the parts of fructification at different 

 periods of growth, are often so surprising, that without a mark of recognition, I should frequently have doubt- 

 ed whether my specimens had been all collected from the same tree. Again, it is a common practice to select 

 for preservation the largest and most vigorous-looking sjiecimens, in consequence of which an erroneous idea 

 of the average character is very apt to be produced. If an unusually luxuriant specimen be chosen, it should 

 have a corresponding label." The author proposes the cultivation of the more intricate species of the genus 

 in gardens, in order that their variations may be regularly observed : and in continuation recommends the 

 adoption of a practice followed by himself : — "I should advise that the specimens of eveiy Salix in a herba- 

 rium (exceiJtiug, of course, species about which there can be no mistake), should be such as to present one or 

 more regular series illustrative of the progressive development of the catkins, each set being taken from the 

 same tree at intervals during the flowering season, — and that at least two specimens of the leaves, gathered at 

 different periods, should be preserved, so as to show the form of the stipules, and the progressive alteration 

 in the foliage ; — also, that thin sections of a catkin of each species, perpendicular to the axis, should be gum- 

 med dovra, by which means the form of the ovarium and any other particular respecting it — the length and 

 pubescence of its stalk, the nectary, the character of the axis, and the number of ovaria in a given length of 

 the spiral, could easily be seen without mutilating Uie other specimens. The exact date also of each specimen 

 should be registered, whereby many ambiguities would be removed. For instance, it is common to find cha- 

 racters derived from the relative proportion borne by the nectary to the ovarium ; but this varies greatly, as 

 a dated sei-ies of specimens would immediately make evident, — sometimes, as in the viminalis group, from J 

 to \. Good specific characters frequently disappear in the drying process, — for instance, the furrowed shoots 

 of -S. amygdalina, which afford an excellent mark of distinction from S. Hoffmanniana in fresh specimens, 

 cannot be relied upon when the specimens are diy, owing to the shrinking of the bai-k." After some remarks 

 ou the willows as occurring at Audley End, the author gives a description of each species in the above groups. 



