TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 145 



side, and the supposed con-espouding rent in the skin, ure so utterly unlike the 

 efiects of a gun-shot, that no sportsman could possibly so consider them. 



On the Flora of Manchester. Bij L. H. GuiN'ooy. 



After some observations on the climate and soil of Manciiester, tlie author re- 

 marked : — " The positive character of tlie Manchester Flora consists in tlie presence 

 or 370 or .380 British plants, which are indifl'erent to tlie soil they grow upon, and 

 wliich clay and sandstone suit as well as any other. These are, oi course, tlie com- 

 mon plants of the country in general ; and were it not that the peat-bogs furnish 

 many species peculiar to such habitats, and that the low level of the country and 

 the abundance of moisture combine to the production of innumerable marshy hol- 

 lows, in which plants are fouud plentifully that the limestone districts afford penu- 

 riously or not at all — were it not for these, tlie Manchester Flora would lie no more 

 than a list of cosmopolites. The ponds of the district, locally called ' pits,' are in- 

 numerable. In Chesliire they often become enlarged into beautiful sheets of water, 

 called 'meres,' which greatly enhance the picturesque character of the northern 

 parts of that county. South-east Lancashire contributes also a peculiar class of 

 habitats in its innumerable and very pretty little winding ravines, locally called 

 ' doughs,' the sides clothed with trees, and a stream running along the bottom. 

 These, like the marshy hollows, supply many plants in great abundance that 

 districts more favoured in soil aud climate fail to offer, and, along with the peat- 

 mosses, supply the principal part of what is locally interesting. Of rare and extra- 

 ordinary plants we do not possess a single instance, except when thej^ appear, as in 

 other places, adventitiously. We have no permanent treasures or rarities, such as 

 give celebrity to St. Vincent's Roclfs, the Great Omishead, and the Scotch moun- 

 tains. If a claim to such a character can be asserted by any of our plants, that 

 claim must come from Carex clom/ata." In conclusion, he noticed some of the 

 more remarkable and conspicuous plants of the district. He added that, on a 

 review of the whole subject, it appears that the Manchester district, although 

 expo.sed to some great disadvantages, is quite as productive of interesting plants as 

 any other. They are fewer in number aud they are less brilliant in appearance ; 

 nevertheless the botanist who woidd wish to enjoy himself, and to find everything 

 necessary to intimate acquaintance with the tj-jjes of the British Flora, needs not to 

 distress himself at the seeming dearth of JMancliester. If he will seek ho will find, 

 his reward augmenting in the ratio of his philosophy. 



On the Arranjcmcnt of Uardy Herhaceotis Plants adopted hi the Botanic 

 Gardens, Liverpool. B>/ the Eev. H. H. Higgins. 



On the Development of the Ilydroid Poli/ps, Clavatella and Stauridia, with 

 Bemarls on the Itelation between the Polyp and its MedAisoid, and between 

 the Polyp and the Medusa. By the Rev. T. Hincks, B.A. 



The author, after describing the characters of the Medusoid of Clavatella, and 

 comparmg it with Stauridia, went into the question of whether the poly|), or 

 stock which bore the medusoids, or the medusoid itself, whicli bore the eggs, should 

 be regarded as the perfect animal. Quatrefagcs and others regarded the medusoid 

 as the perfect fonn ; but the author**vas inclined to recognize the medusoid-bearing 

 individual (the stock) as the perfect animal. 



On the Ovicells of the Polyzoa, ivith reference to the Vieivs of Prof. Huxley. 

 By the Eev. T. IIincks,5.v4. 



In this paper the author gave the results of his study of the Polyzoan ovicells, and 

 showed, in opposition to the view of Professor Huxley, that these organs are not 

 "marsupial pouches" into which the ova pass to complete their development. 

 Repeated observations had convinced him that the ovum, which was idtimately 

 developed into the ciliated embryo, was produced within the ovicell, in an ovarian sac, 

 which Duds from the endocyst at the upper extremity of the capsule. This sac, from 



1861. 10 



