192 



Taylor; both new to the British Flora. Jungcrmannia Balfouriana, Taylor MSS., a new and highly 

 curious species, brought fi-om New Zealand by Dr. Stanger, and named by Dr. Taylor in comphment to Pro- 

 fessor Balfour of Glasgow, from whose herbarium the specimens were communicated. 



2. Notice of the discovery of Herniaria glabra in Berwickshire, by Mr. William Marshall; and 

 of Linncea borealis in the same county, by Br. Johnston : communicated by Dr. Greville. The former 

 of these species has genei-ally been regarded as a native of the south of England, but there seems no reason to 

 doubt its being indigenous in the above station. It was observed that Mr. Gorrie had found the plant abun- 

 dantly in Perthshire, where he had no doubt it must have escaped fi-om gardens, though now quite natural- 

 ized, and almost a weed in some places. The discovery of a new station for the lowly but beautiful plant 

 named in honoui- of Linnaeus, is always a matter of interest, and especially in the south of Scotland, where 

 it occurs very rarely. 



3. On four new species of Desmidium : by Mr. J. Ralfs. — Mr. Ealfs observes that " this natural genus 

 is not well defined either in Agardh's ' Conspectus Criticus Diatomacearum,' or in any of our British wox'ks. 

 Its best distinctive character seems to consist in the crenated appearance of its filaments, which is least evident 

 in D. mucosum. These filaments, which are generally twisted in a regular manner, are of a pale green co- 

 lour, simple, fragile, short and straight. The species are found during a great part of the year in clear shal- 

 low pools, or in old peat bogs, — the filaments being scattered in loose bundles in the water, or fonning a thin 

 gelatinous fleece at the bottom of the pool." The species ascertained by Mr. Ealfs are named by him Z>. cylin- 

 dricum, mucosum, Swartzii and Borreri. 



4. Illustrative Dratcings of Australian Plants : by the Misses M'Leod of Sydney. These drawings, 

 -which are extremely well executed, were transmitted to this counti-y by the ingenious ladies, in order to have 

 the species ascertained which had most struck their fancy in that land of remarkable productions. 



5. Notice on the adhesion of Lepas or Barnacle to Fuci ^-c. by Mr. Edmonston; with a specimen com- 

 municated by Mr. Archibald Gibson, Accountant. — Some observations were made by Mr. Edmonston and 

 others with regard to this parasite, which at one time was popularly regarded as the veritable origin of the 

 barnacle goose. 



6. Mr. Edmonston read a letter from Mr. P.J. Brown, of Thun, respecting the three species of pi-imroses 

 usually considered to exist in this country. He says — "Against Sir James Smith's opinion (in Eees's Cyclo- 

 pedia), that Primula elatior may be a mule between veris and vulgaris, I may obserse that the three are 

 not often the inhabitants of the same district, — veris is almost universally diffused; but where vulgaris 

 is very abundant, I have rarely seen elatior in any quantity, and by far the most frequently not at all; 

 while in general, as is the case at Thun, elatior grows by thousands in places -nithin many leagues of 

 -which vulgaris is absolutely unknown. P. vulgaris contents itself i\ith an elevation but little above the level 

 of the sea, although in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Geneva it is in perfect condition at from 1200 to 1500 

 feet; but at Thun, -nith an elevation of 1900 feet, it languishes, whether planted in a thicket, on a bank, or in 

 a garden; while elatior, being more aspiring, prefers an elevation of from 1500 to 2000 feet, and although wil- 

 lingly climbing beyond the latter, descends reluctantly below the former level. 



Professor Balfour (of Glasgow) made observations on the distinctions among the genera of Ferns — Ane- 

 mia, Mohria, Coptophyllum, Trochopteris and Schizaa, some of which had been recently established by Mr. 

 ■Gai-dner. The Professor next alluded to the various theories which have been advanced to accovint for the 

 origin of woody fibre, and more especially to that of Du Petit Thouars. He showed by sections of palms that 

 the interlacing of the fibres in Endogenous plants was quite in conformity with Du Petit Thouars' theoi-y, 

 and that the appearance of the woody matter in tree ferns, and in the natureil orders Piperacece, Aristolochi. 

 acece, and the formation of roots externally in screw pines, Vellosias, &c., all supported the theory of wood 

 being formed by the development of fibres from buds acting as fixed embryos. Dr. Balfour also endeavoured 

 to show that the formation of what have been called by Dutrochet embryo buds, may, in many cases, be ac- 

 counted for by the development of leaves on ihem at one period of their gi-owth ; and that on examining some 

 others which he exhibited, the woody matter might be traced communicating with the alburnum, at one point 

 by rupture of the bark, and insinuating itself between the layers of bark. — Id. March 16, 18i2. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



FebriMry 18. — Dr. 'WUlshire in the Chair. The folloT\-ing donations were announced. Specimens of 

 Ulva I calophylla, found on the coping of a wall in Banbury Chui-chyard by Mr. Thomas Beesley, and pre- 

 sented by him : foreign plants fi-om Mr. E. J. Shuttleworth, Professor Meisner, Mr. J. D. Salmon, and The 

 Eev. Chi-istian Munch : British plants from the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and Miss Moxon : British 

 mosses from BIr. G. H. K. Thwaites : books from Mr. E. J. Shuttleworth and Mr. Thomas Beesley. A pa. 

 per was read from Henry Oxley Stephens, Esq., being " Notes on Epilobium angiistifolium and Epilobium 

 macrocarpum." Since the publication of Mr. Leighton's papers on these plants in the 'Annals of Natural 

 History,' Mr. Stephens had received a communication from Sir W. J. Hooker, in which he stated that the 

 characters pointed out by Mr. Leighton and Mr. Stephens did not seem suflicient to constitute a species; and 

 subsequently Mr. S. states that his macrocarpum is the angustifolium of Linnajus. Dr. WiUshire oflfered 

 some remarks " On Adelia nereifoUa," and exhibited its structure by means of the microscope. — G. E. D. 



