240 



which he (Mr. E. D.) was disposed to concur. Mr. Doubleday next referred to an ar- 

 ticle in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' since republished in ' The Phytologist,' (Phytol. 

 204), and pointed out the resemblance of the Bardfield plant to the one there alluded 

 to. He expressed his opinion veiy decidedly that there were in England three distinct 

 species of Primula, known by the names of primrose, cowslip or pagel, and oxlip, but 

 that the oxlip commonly so called is nothing more than a hybrid between the prim- 

 rose and cowslip. This hybrid is extensively distributed over the country, especially 

 in localities where the primrose and cowslip abound : it constantly exhibits a tendency 

 to revert to the primrose by throwing up single flowers of precisely the primrose cha- 

 racter, as well as others possessing characters of its other parent the oxlip. 



As a natural consequence such a hybrid would reproduce at times both the parent 

 species, a fact Mr. Doubleday believes to be fully proved. 



The Bardfield plant, which Mr. Doubleday considers the true oxlip, differs from 

 the hybrid in the foiTU of the calyx, in its drooping umbel, and in its leaves dying off 

 in autumn : he has examined thousands of plants at and near Bardfield, and never 

 observed a single instance of a solitary flower being thrown up as in the hybrid. The 

 primrose does not occur for some miles round Bardfield, though the cowslip is abun- 

 dant ; therefore hybridization cannot well take place in that locality. The plant un- 

 der cultivation does not change its character. Should it prove a distinct species Mr. 

 Doubleday claimed for his brother the credit of first detecting the distinction. 



May 6. — J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &c. President, in the chair. The following spe- 

 cimens were exhibited : — Dicranum spurium, Hedw., collected in Stockton forest, near 

 York, in March last, by Mr. Spruce, presented by him. Leskea pulvinata, Wahl., collect- 

 ed on willows by the Ouse near York, by the same gentleman, and presented by him. 

 Desmidium Sivartzii and D. mucosum, collected near Penzance in December last, by 

 Mr. Ralfs, and presented by him. The following were presented by Mr. Wm. Gour- 

 lie, jun. — Jungermannia stellulifera,'Va.jloi; collected at Crich, Derbyshire, byMr. W. 

 Wilson ; Gi/mnostomum Hornschuchianum, Arnott, collected at Cromaglown, in July, 

 1840, and first discovered by Dr. Taylor; Jungermannia valuta, Taylor, found at Gor- 

 tagonee in March, 1841, by Dr. Taylor. Mr. J. G. Lyon presented specimens oi Jun- 

 germannia Lyoni, Taylor, collected at Dunoon, Ai'gyleshire. Mr. T. Sansom exhibited 

 specimens of the following mosses collected by the Rev. C. A. Johns, F.L.S. : — Bryum 

 Tozeri, Grev., collected at Swanscombe, Kent ;* Hypnum catenulatum, Schwseg. from 

 Betsham, Kent ; Tetraphis pellucida, Hedw., Abbey Wood, Erith, Kent. British 

 plants had been received from Dr. Francis Douglas, Dr. Spencer Thomson, the Rev. 

 W. S. Hore, Mr. W. Wilson, Mr. M. Moggridge, and Mr. Fordham ; and donations 

 to the library were announced from Dr. Willshire, Mr. H. O. Stephens and Mr. Adam 

 White. 



Dr. Spencer Thomson communicated a paper " On the Anatomy and Physiology 

 of the Seed of Phaseolus vulgaris" The paper was accompanied with drawings. — 

 G. E. D. 



* See note by the Rev. Mr. Johns, Phytol. 200. 



