November 6, 1902] 



NA TURE 



19 



on the grounds of utility English ought to be given an important 

 place in the school curriculum, it is one of the most neglected 

 subjects. The result is that few boys leaving school are able to 

 write a good letter, and many adults are unable to describe 

 things or events in precise terms. On this account many mis- 

 leading statements are made which might have been avoided. 

 Mr. Hartog pleaded for the rational and systematic teaching 

 of the mother tongue in our schools. By neglecting this sub- 

 ject the teacher is deprived of a very powerful instrument of 

 education. Prof. G. M. Minchin gave, in a paper, a number 

 of examples of the misuse of common English words and ex- 

 pressions, among them being split infinitives, without instead of 

 unless, misplaced shall and will, and many others which should 

 be avoided by all who desire to use words in their correct sense 

 and place, and preserve our language from barbarisms. 



Other subjects were considered during the meetings of the 

 Section, but limitations of space will not permit descriptions of 

 them, or of the many valuable points brought forward by 

 speakers in the discussions. It was evident from what was 

 read and said that a large amount of material of interest to men 

 of science and practical teachers is available, so the Section is 

 likely to be even more active in the future than it has been 

 during its two years of existence. R. A. G. 



BOTANY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



'THE semi-popular lecture was given on Monday, September 

 15, by Prof. F. W. Oliver, on ancient and modern seeds. 

 The lecturer gave a clear and interesting description, illustrated 

 with lantern slides, of the gradual evolution of the seed, and 

 dealt with some of the more interesting questions concerning the 

 morphology of various seed structures. 



On Friday, September 12, the botanists paid a visit to the 

 Belfast Botanic Gardens, and under the guidance of the able 

 curator, Mr. McKimm, inspected the extremely interesting fernery 

 which has recently been constructed. On Tuesday afternoon, 

 the Rev. C. H. Waddell, the indefatigable local secretary of 

 Section K, conducted a botanical excursion to Colin Glen. 

 After an interesting ramble, the members were entertained to 

 tea by Mr. and Mrs. Kidd, whose kindness was much 

 appreciated. 



Much interest was taken in a collection of characteristic 

 Australian plants, exhibited by Mr. Thomas Steel during the 

 meeting. 



Prof. I. Bayley Balfour, F.R.S., exhibited and described 

 specimens of the various forms of Erica telralix found in 

 Connemara. Mr. James Stirling, Government Geologist of 

 Victoria, in a paper on the flora of the Australian Alps, dealt 

 with the origin and distribution of the mixed types of plants now 

 growing on the highest altitudes over south-east Australia, and 

 their correlation with other Alpine and the Tertiary floras of 

 the region. 



Mr. R. Lloyd Praeger read a paper on the composition of the 

 flora of the north-east of Ireland. This area includes the 

 counties of Down and Antrim, and the flora numbers S20 species 

 of flowering plants and vascular cryptogams, the total flora of 

 Ireland being reckoned at 1020 species. There is in the local 

 flora an almost complete representation of British type plants. 

 English type plants are rather poorly represented. Scottish type 

 plants reach in Antrim their maximum for Ireland ; in Down 

 they are somewhat fewer. Of Highland type species there is a 

 fair representation ; Antrim, though of less elevation, contains 

 more Alpine plants than Down. Germanic plants are extremely 

 few in Ireland. In Atlantic type plants, Down and Antrim are 

 comparatively rich. 



Mr. Herbert Wright (Ceylon) contributed a paper on foliar 

 periodicity in Ceylon, in which he showed that some trees 

 undergo complete defoliation twice per year ; others exhibit 

 incremental foliar activity several times per year, in addition to 

 a complete annual renewal. The irregularity of foliar periodicity 

 is very pronounced. There is not a month when all the trees 

 are in full leaf. 



In the department of plant physiology, Prof. J. C. Bose, of 

 Calcutta, gave an interesting demonstration, illustrated by ex- 

 periments, on the response of plants to stimulation (vide Journ. 

 Linn. Soc, xxxv., 1902). Mrs. D. H. Scott gave an account of 

 the movements of the flower-buds and flowers of Sparmannia 

 africana up to the time of the setting of the fruit. At first the 

 buds hang all in one plane ; each bud has a joint on the stalk, 



NO. 1723, VOL. 67] 



which is much swollen below the flower. The buds rise one by 

 one from the drooping position to the horizontal ; then make a 

 sharp curve inwards, and just before flowering the bud hangs 

 down in an exactly vertical position. The flowers open during 

 sunlight at a temperature not below 60° F. (I5°'S C), so that on 

 a cold day perhaps only one flower and on a hot day three or 

 four may be open at the same time. The flowers reopen for 

 several days ; during this time they gradually take up a vertical 

 position, pollen often being formed for five or six days. Then, 

 if fertilised by bees, the flower-stalk falls again into the hori- 

 zontal position, from which it rises again as the fruit ripens. 

 Mr. Barnard and Prof. Allan Macfadyen, in a paper on luminous 

 bacteria, stated that these organisms require particular and 

 exact conditions in order to exhibit their luminous properties. 

 They must have a suitable nutrient soil containing such propor- 

 tions of salts as shall render the medium isotonic. A supply 

 of free oxygen is essential ; in the absence of oxygen the 

 organisms live, but are non-luminous. The luminosity appears 

 to be due to the vital processes of the cell, and an exposure 

 to the temperature of liquid air does not destroy it. 

 Prof. Macfadyen and Mr. Rowland also contributed a paper on 

 the suspension of life at low temperatures, in which they showed 

 that ten hours' exposure to the temperature of liquid hydrogen 

 (about - 252° C.) had no appreciable effect on the vitality of 

 the various organisms (bacteria and yeast) tested. Miss 

 Gabrielle L. C. Matthaei (Cambridge) described experiments 

 on the effect of temperature on carbon dioxide assimilation in 

 the leaves of the cherry laurel. The lowest temperature at 

 which assimilation could be detected was - 6° C. This is 

 the first well-established case of assimilation below 0° C. For 

 temperatures between - 6° C. and 33 C. it was found that 

 assimilation is affected in exactly the same way as is respiration. 

 Provided the illumination is sufficient, the assimilation increases 

 with the temperature. Dr. Henry H. Dixon (Dublin) gave an 

 account of some experiments made to determine the resistance 

 of seeds to high temperatures. The maximum temperature to 

 which the various seeds were exposed and still retained their 

 germinating power varied from 90° C. to 121° C. The president 

 communicated a paper by himself and Mr. H. Jackson on the 

 germination of fatty seeds. In the case of Ricinus, the reserves 

 consist mainly of oil and aleurone, hardly a trace of carbo- 

 hydrate being present. In germination, the oil diminishes and 

 both cane sugar and glucose make their appearance, accom- 

 panied by the formation of lecithin, a fatty body which contains 

 nitrogen and phosphorus. 



Several important papers on fossil plants were read. Miss 

 Margaret Benson described the seed-like fructification of 

 Miadesmia membranacea, Bertrand. The foliage leaf bears 

 a ligule in a longitudinal groove with thickened base and sides. 

 In the sporophylls, the sporangia are inserted singly in the prox- 

 imal end of the groove, and are large and pedicellate. In the 

 megasporophyll, the sides of the groove are completely coherent 

 above the sporange, and thus form a velum. The wall of the 

 megasporange is composed of several layers of isodiametric 

 cells, and encloses a single thin-walled megaspore or embryo 

 sac. The microsporange has no velum, and the wall is formed 

 of a palisade layer. Miss Benson also described the structure 

 of some sporangia found associated with petioles and other 

 fragments of Lyginodendronoldhamiiim. Mr. Lomax described 

 two specimens obtained from Dulesgate, which show that 

 Lyginodendron had a branching stem ; also that the branch was 

 given off in the one case between two leaf-stalks and in close 

 proximity to several roots. The position of the roots shows that 

 they must have been aerial roots, and not, as generally accepted, 

 basal or confined to the basal regions of the stem. Mr. Lomax 

 also read a paper on the occurrence of nodular concretions 

 (coal balls) in the Lower Coal-measures. These bodies consist 

 of a quantity of fragments of short pieces of stems, &c, some 

 with the cortex, some without, some split in fragments, and so 

 on. From an examination of these nodules it appears that, at 

 least in this case, these plant remains have not grown on the 

 spot where we now find them, and the author comes to the 

 conclusion that the various portions of plants have been carried 

 into their present position after being broken in fragments, and 

 before petrification, or they have been carried from a parent bed 

 after petrification. In a paper on sporangiophores as a clue 

 to affinities among Pteridophyta, Dr. D. H. Scott, F. R.S., 

 pointed out that some years ago he suggested the probability of 

 an homology between the ventral sporangiophores of Spheno- 

 phyllum or Cheirostrobus and the similarly placed synangia of 



