591 



KOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 



March 9, 1843.— Dr. Neill in the chair. Dr. Seller, F.R.C.P., was elected a resi- 

 dent meinher. Numerous donations to the library and herbarium were laid on the table. 

 The following papers were read : — 



1. Remarks on the mode of growth of the British fruticose Rubi, &c. By Mr. 

 Edwin Lees, F.L.S. 



2. Continuation of Remarks on the DiatomaceEe. By Mr. Jolin Ralfs, M.R.C.S.L. 



3. On Fumaria micrantha and F. calycina. By Mr. C. C. Babington, M.A., F.L.S. 



4. On two new species of Jungermannia ; and another new to Britain. By Tho- 

 mas Taylor, M.D. Communicated by Mr. Wm. Gourlie, jun., Glasgow. 



5. Notice of the new fossil plant, Lyginodendron Landsburgii, Gourlie. By Mr. 

 Wni. Gourlie, jun. 



Mr. James Macnab exhibited a magnificent cluster of the male catkins of a palm, 

 from one of the South Sea islands, which Lady Ilar^ey had obtained from the captain 

 of a vessel, and kindly allowed to be shown to the Society. Its dimensions, when ex- 

 panded, were about three feet by three and a half, and it somewhat resembled an or- 

 namental grate-screen, formed of shavings. 



This being the anniversary of the Society's public institution, the members and 

 others present adjourned, at the close of business, to the Cafe Royal, where they sat 

 down to an elegant supper ; Dr. Neill, the president, in the chair, supported by Sir 

 William Jardine, Dr. Greville, Mr. Ball of Dublin, Mr. Gourlie of Glasgow, &c. — 

 Professor Graham, croupier. After supper, the usual loyal and appropriate toasts 

 were drank, and the proceedings were further enlivened by occasional songs. 



April 13. — Professor Graham in the chair. Numerous donations to the library and 

 herbarium were laid on the table. The attention of the Society was chiefly directed to 

 a dcmation by William Brown, Esq., R.N., consisting of a miscellaneous collection of 

 plants and fruits from Canton river and Chusan — from the Cape and Prince's Island, 

 including forty species of Ericeae from Simond's Bay and Table Mountain. 



The following papers were read: — 



L Two botanical visits to the Reeky Linn and Den of Airley, in April and June, 

 ]M2. By Mr. Wm. Gardiner, Dundee. 



2. On the Diatomaceae : No, VI. By Mr. Balfs, Penzance. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



April 2\. Dr. W. H. Willshire, in the chair. Dr. Thomas Taylor, F.L.S., pre- 

 sented specimensof the following mosses. — Trichostornum saxalile, Taylor, MS. found 

 near Dunkerron, Co. Kerry, Ireland, in 1841 : and Bryum remrvifolium, Taylor, MS. 

 found at Knockavolula, Co. Kerry, Ireland, 1842. 



Mr. J. Reynolds, Treasurer, read the commencement of a paper, being " General 

 Researches in the Physiology and Organogeny of Vegetables ; '' translated from a pa- 

 per by M. Gaudichaud. — G. E. D. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



April 19, 1843. — J. S. Bowerbank, Esq., in the chair. 



Read, a paper by Arthur Hill Hassall, Esq., entitled, " Some further observations 

 on the Decay of Fruit." The author refers to an opinion expressed by him in a fonner 

 paper, that the well-known principle adopted by Liebig, that a body in the act of de- 

 composition is capable of communicating the same to other bodies by a kind of indue- 



