SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 471 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



Linnean Society of London. 



November 1, 1888. — W. Careuthers, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 



The following were elected Fellows of the Society :— William Overend 

 Priestley, M.D., F.R.C.P.; John Way, M.D. ; and John Evans, Esq. 



Prof. Bower exhibited, and made remarks upon, some adventitious buds 

 on a leaf of Gnetium gnemon. 



Mr. John Youug exhibited (1) a rare bird, Pluvianellus sociabilis, un- 

 observed for fifty years, and lately rediscovered by him in Patagonia; 



(2) a cluster of nests formed of lichen (Usnea) by a Swift, as supposed, of 

 the genus Collocalia, from a cave in Eimeo, one of the Society Islands ; 



(3) remarkably elongated tail-feathers of domestic cock (11 ft. in length), 

 artificially produced by the Japanese; (4) nest and eggs of the Snow 

 Bunting, Plectrophanes nivalis, taken during the past summer in Scotland. 



Mr. Thomas Christy exhibited a new method of transmitting light to a 

 microscope by means of a curved rod of glass. 



The Rev. R. Baron read a paper on the Flora of Madagascar, in which 

 he gave an interesting account of his explorations and collections in that 

 island. In a second paper entitled " Further contributions to the Flora of 

 Madagascar," Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., described the principal novelties 

 brought home by Mr. Baron, and paid a well-deserved tribute to his energy 

 and ability as a botanical explorer. 



November 15. — W. Carruthers, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 



Mr. J. W. Stroud was elected a Fellow of the Society. 



On behalf of Mr. Harry Bolus, Mr. J. G. Baker exhibited a specimen of 

 Eriospermum folioliferwn, a plant showing a very remarkable type of leaf- 

 structure. It was figured by Andrews, in his 'Botanist's Repository,' in 

 1807, and lost sight of until recently refound by Mr. Bolus in Nainaqualand, 



Prof. Stewart exhibited a substance which had been picked up on the 

 sea-shore, the nature of which it had puzzled many to determine, its 

 structure being regarded by some as animal, by others as vegetable. He 

 proposed to submit it to careful microscopical examination. 



Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited a South American Bat, from Trinidad, 

 Noctilio leporinus, alleged to be of piscivorous habits, and remarked upon a 

 similar habit which had been observed in a species of Pteropus in India. 



A paper was read by Mr. B. D. Jackson, on behalf of Mr. H. Chichester 

 Hart, " On the mountain range of flowering plants in Ireland," and was 

 criticised by Mr. J. G. Baker, who gave an interesting sketch of the 

 characteristics of the Irish flora. 



Two papers were then read by Mr. Sladen on the Mammalia and Birds 

 collected by Mr. H. N. Ridley in Fernando Noronha, in the determination 



