148 Botanical Society of London. 
of the Flora of Hercynia; by E. Hampe.—Vegetation of the Brocken ; 
by E. Hampe.—On the genus Grubbia, Endl.; by Klotzsch.—On 
Monstrosities of Plants; by Schlechtendal.—Prodromus of a mono- 
graph of Lemnacee ; by Dr. Schleiden.—On two remarkable trans- 
formations of Plants; by Weinmann.—Request to German botanists 
to supply desiderata in the genus Artemisia; by W. D. Besser.—On 
Mexican Plants collected by Schiede and others; by D. F. L. De 
Schlechten.—On the irregular form of Papilionaceous Flowers; by 
A. Walpers. | 
Parr V. 
Critical Remarks on Cape Leguminose ; by G. W. Walpers.—On 
some phenomena in the growth of Dicotyledonous Plants ; by Dr. 
Becks.—On Mexican Galphimie ; by F. T. Bartling.—On Pinus Pu- 
milio; by H. R. Goppert. 
Part VI. 
On the family of Piperacee ; by C. Kunth. 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 
March 20.—Daniel Cooper, Esq., Curator, in the Chair. 
A paper was read by Dr. W. H. Willshire, “On the nature of 
some of the lowest Organized Beings.” The intention of the paper 
was to bring before the Society the views lately advanced by Ehren- 
berg, in his great work concerning the organization and relative 
place in the scale of animated nature of many of the tribe Bacillaria, 
Closterina, &c. It was endeavoured to be proved that a great many 
members of the family Bacillaria, the genus Closterina, and several 
others, must be considered as of a vegetable nature, and not of an ani- 
mal, as Ehrenberg supposes, and that it is a matter of some doubt how 
far the members ranking under his sub-division Naviculacea may be 
considered as of an animal organization either. It was shown by 
Dr. Willshire that the phenomenon of self-division is not peculiar to 
the animal kingdom, but that it likewise occurs in that of the vege- 
table ; that the whorled ramuli of Chara can increase both by trans- 
verse and longitudinal self-division ; that the formation of spores in 
Marchantia, Jungermannia, and some other plants, takes place from 
self-division of the original cellule; and that the increase of Conferva 
glomerata, &c. is also known to ensue by the same means; and that 
therefore the mere fact of this mode of propagation in such struc- 
tures as Diatoma, Fragillaria, Desmidium and others, is not a suffi- 
cient proof of their animal condition. It was stated likewise that 
granular matter, seen within many of these lower beings, and which 
is regarded by Ehrenberg in many cases as the ova granules or eggs 
of these creatures, cannot be such ; for according to other observers, 
they become blue on the addition of the tincture of iodine, a further 
proof of their vegetable nature, and a fact particularly noticed by 
