724 SHORT CONTRIBUTIONS TO VARIOUS WORKS, 



suggested that the original was probably a succulent com- 

 pound berry, the seeds appearing to have been imbedded 

 in a pulpy substance, like the fruit of a mulberry, which is 

 a spurious compound berry, formed by a partial union of 

 the enlarged and fleshy calyces, each enclosing a dry 

 membranous pericarp. — Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. ii, 

 p. 54 (1846). 



The President exhibited portions of trunks of Winter's- 

 bark trees from the Straits of Magellan, cut down in 1826 

 by Capt. P. P. King, R.N., offering inscriptions made 

 through the bark by a midshipman who accompanied the 

 Spanish expedition under Captain Cordoba in 1786, and by 

 one of the companions of Captain Bougainville in 1767 ; the 

 annual rings in the former case distinctly corresponding with 

 the interval between 1786 and 1826. He also made some 

 observations on the structure of the woody vessels of 

 the genus. — Proc. Linn. Soc, ii, p. 95 (June 18, 1850). 



The President exhibited specimens of stems of Kingia 

 australis, R. Br., and Xanthorrhosa arborca, R. Br., together 

 with drawings of the former illustrative of its structure, 

 especially of the siliceous covering of the vascular fasciculi 

 of the persistent bases of the leaves ; and in both genera, 

 the means by which the stems are protected from the scorch- 

 ing fires of the natives. — Proc. Linn. Soc, ii, p. 113 — 4 

 (Feb. 4, 1851). 



The President exhibited specimens of the three known 

 species of Bafflesia {B. Arnoldi, B. Patma, and B. Cum- 

 ingii, particularly with the view of showing that they are 

 all three dioecious. — Proc. Linn. Soc, ii, p. 128 (April 15, 

 1851). 



The President exhibited numerous specimens of recent 

 and fossil Cycadece. Among these was a fine specimen of 

 a new species (Cycadites Saxbyanus, R.Br.) found in the 

 Isle of Wight by Mr. Saxby, of Bonchurch. The President 

 remarked, that all the specimens of Cycadites hitherto found 



