TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION K. 841 



Hugh Miller, in ' Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood,' makes reference to finding 

 ' what appears to be ash ' in the brickclays of Portobello. It is also recorded from 

 the mosses in Ballantrae, Ayrshire,' and Bowden Parish, Roxburghshire.' Then, 

 again, many of the implements found in Southern Orannogs are reported to be 

 made of ash -wood, but it must also be regarded as indigenous in Northern Scotland 

 if we accept its occurrence in the Bay of Keiss, Caithness- shire, mentioned by the 

 writer on Caithness in the 'New Statistical Account' (vol. xv. p. 129). 



The only records of the occurrence of the hawthorn, yew, and elder have been 

 obtained from Edinburghshire. 



In conclusion, the evidence, which is obtained by the examination of the various 

 post-Glacial deposits, indicates in a very clear manner that the trees recorded should 

 be considered truly indigenous to Scotland. 



5, Professor J. Reynolds Green, 3LA., F.B.S., delivered a Lecture on 



Flesh-eating Plants, 



6. Contrihutions to our Knowledge of the Gameto]jhyte in the Ophioglossales 

 and Lycopodiales. By William IJ. Lanc;, M.B., D.Sc. 



1. The prothalU of Ophioglossum pendulum and HehninthodaGhis zeylcmica. 



The wholly saprophytic prothallus of O. jjendulum was found in humus collected 

 by epiphytic ferns in Ceylon. It is at first button-shaped, but by branching the 

 older prothalli come to consist of a number of short cylindrical branches radiating 

 into the humus. The apices are smooth and convex ; the surface of the older 

 parts is covered with short unicellular hairs. Rhizoids are absent. The young 

 prothallus and the brancnes are radially symmetrical. In the older parts all the 

 cells except the superficial layers contain an endophytic fungus ; nearer the apex 

 the central strand of tissue becomes free from fungus. The prothallus is moncecious. 

 The antheridia are sunken, with a slightly convex outer wall one layer of cella 

 thick ; in .surface view this shows a triangular opercular cell. The neck of the 

 archegonium, which projects very slightly, consists of about sixteen cells in four 

 rows. The central series in all archegonia yet observed consists of ovum and a 

 single canal cell. A basal cell is present. 



The prothalli of Jlehnint/iostachi/s were found a few inches below the surface 

 of the soil in a frequently flooded jungle in Ceylon. The sporophyte is also 

 abundant in drier situations, but young plants found there were of vegetative 

 origin. The prothalli, which have not been observed to bi'anch, are radially 

 .symmetrical. The smallest were stout cylindrical structures the lower part or 

 which was darker in tint and bore rhizoids ; the upper bore the sexual organs, 

 which arise acropetally behind the conical apical region. In the vegetative region 

 the internal cells contain a mycorhizal fungus ; in older prothalli this may extend 

 into the lower part of the sexual region. In prothalli which bear archegonia the 

 vegetative region is relatively more developed, and in both these and the male 

 prothalli it becomes more or less lobed. An imperfect distinction of male and 

 female prothalli appears to be the rule, but both archegonia and antheridia may 

 occur on the same prothallus. The antheridii are large and sunken ; the slightly 

 convex outer wall is two-layered except at the places where dehiscence may occur, 

 which consist of single large cells. The archegonia have a neck, consistiiig of four 

 rows of cells, which projects considerably. The details of their structure have 

 not as yet been made out. 



2. On the mode of occurrence of tlie prothallus of Lycopodium selayo at Clova. 



The sporophyte of this plant is very common on moors, screes, and crags in the 

 Clova valley, and in these situations seems to be reproduced almost entirely by 



' Nerv Statistical Accoimt, vol. v. p. 417. - Tin;?., vol. iii. p. ?<6, 



