424 



following the grain of the wood, and cutting out the bark two or three 

 inches in breadth all the way, as if it had been scooped out with a 

 gouge." 



Mr. M'Nab likewise laid before the meeting a list of temperatures, 

 as observed by the thermometer in the Botanic Garden, from the 1st 

 to the 9th of November. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. * Notice of a New British Viola;' by Charles C. Babington, M.A. 

 In this communication Mr. Babington stated that he had obtained a 

 new species of violet from Mr. A. G. More, of Trinity College, Cam- 

 bridge, who gathered it in June, 1851, in peaty ground in Garry-land 

 Wood, near Gort, county Galway. Mr. Babington remarks that it is 

 only recently we have learned, from the writings of Fries and of Gre- 

 nier, to distinguish the several species of violet which have been con- 

 founded under the name of Viola lactea, Sm., and that we have dis- 

 covered the necessity of separating those possessing rhizomes from 

 the non-rhizomatous species. The species called Viola stagnina is the 

 only known British representative of the former. The present spe- 

 cies is allied to it, and is probably one of those with rhizomes. It is 

 the Viola stricta of Hornemann ; and the following are its characters: 

 — Anther-spur short, broadly lancet-shaped, blunt, almost twice as 

 long as broad ; corolla-spur short, blunt, green ; leaves cordate-ovate; 

 petioles winged at the top ; stipules oblong-lanceolate, leaf-like, 

 inciso-serrate, {^) shoi-ter than the petioles, * on the middle of the 

 stem ;' primary and lateral stems flowering and elongated. The plant 

 is far more nearly allied to Viola stagnina than to any of our other 

 violets ; but the green colour of the corolla-spur, the differently- 

 shaped leaves, and remarkably different stipules clearly distinguish it. 

 The short corolla-spur, and also that of the anthers, are sufficient to 

 separate it from Viola canina. 



2. ' On the Fuchsia, considered Morphologically ;' by the Rev. Dr. 

 M'Cosh, Brechin. The branches of the Fuchsia whorl round the 

 axis. I have selected a species which whorls in threes. In this 

 plant I find that the leaves also come off in triplets. I cut a freely- 

 growing branch, and found it to have twenty-four branches, which, 

 when measured, were as follows : — 1st whorl, 63.56.60 ; 2nd whorl, 

 51.60.56; 3rd whorl, 63.60.58; 4th whorl, 60.57.60; 5th whorl, 58. 

 62.62 ; 6th whorl, 65-.60.57 ; 7th whorl, 85.62.60 ; 8th whorl, 58.60.58. 

 The normal angle of the branches is therefore about 60°. On mea- 



