TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION K. 857 



Tlio occurrence of specimens of silicitied wood bavins' a covorlog layer of jet 

 is spoken of by Young in bis 'History of Wbitby ' (1817). Sections cut from 

 specimens wbicb consist in part of petrified wood and in part of jet enable us to 

 trace a gradual passage from well-preserved Araucarian wood to pure jet, wbicb 

 affords little or no evidence of its ligneous origin. Tbe conclusiou arrived at is 

 tliat tbe Wbitby jet owes its origin to tbo alteration of coniferous wood. Tbt3 

 fact tbat jet frequently occurs in tbe form of flattened blocks of wood in all 

 probability admits of tbe natural explanation tbat the jet has been derived from 

 the wood, tbe form of wbicb it has assumed, and not tbat tbe jet Avas formed 

 elsewhere and permeated tbe tissues of tbe wood as a fluid bitumen. 



6. On Government Planting in the Isle of Man. • 



By G. P. Hughes, F.R.G.S. 



In August last tbe author, by permission from Mr. Drinkwater, Crown Lauds 

 liecelver in tbe Isle of Man, inspected, with the bead forester, the three plantings 

 of about 1,000 acres commenced by Sir Henry Lock in tbe year 1882, and added 

 to on a larger scale by bis successor, the late Mr. George Galley, when Senior 

 Commissioner in the Department of Crown Lands. 



Tbe author was informed in an interview with Mr. Watt, of Carlisle, tbe 

 contractor who supplied tbe trees and planters, tbat tbe number of trees per 

 acre was 5,000, consisting of oak, Douglas l)ircb, beecb, silver, Scotch, and Russian 

 pine, and larch. He employed eighty of his nurserymen from Carlisle, erecting 

 bouses and supplying their food on tbe .spot, the cost being OA pur acre, inde- 

 pendent of a five-foot stone wall, which must have added one third to the cost. 



Tbe land bad no surface value, being overgrown by whins, heath, and fern upon 

 shale and impervious rock. 



Pruning and weeding from the young trees up to now have been imperative, 

 but over one half of tlie planted area may be dispensed with, the trees baling 

 mastered tbe situation. On the more exposed parts tbe trees bad suffered from 

 the winds and were dwarfed, but by mutual shelter these trees, ranging to an 

 elevation of mountain 1,000 feet high, have a healthy apjiearance, showing tbat they 

 have established roots and promise to become trees. On a level with tbe lower 

 elevation planted, the Araucaria imbricata and many sub-tropical trees are 

 thriving in the open at Guba Castle, having tree shelter. The writer made the 

 observation that, though shelter, tbe prospective possession by tbe Government of 

 forested binds for national emergencies, and tbe employment of labour for tbo 

 islanders were leading influences with the Department of Crown Lands, the 

 inhabitants and visitors to the island were much indebted for the climatic and 

 pictorial effects, which add to tbe amenities of the place as a summer and 

 winter health resort. The thinning of these plantations should sbortlj^ com- 

 mence, and should become a profit to the Government, and a great convenience to 

 the adjoining mines and industries of the island. In tbe House of Commons the 

 work of the Department of Crown Lands was censured by a few cheese-paring 

 economists, but in the Isle of Man, so far as could be judged, their work was 

 a lesson of sound judgment and exact administration with tenacity of purpose 

 resulting in the assurance of success in the near future and an enduring monu- 

 ment to the patriotic forethought of the eminent Commissioners by whom they 

 were originally planned. 



7. On SjJore-formation in Yeasts. By T. Barker. 



8. Oil a Diplodia jMrasilic oit. Cacao and on the Suyar Cane. 

 By A. Howard. 



9. On Abnormal Catkins of the Har.cl, By Professor F. E. Weiss, B.Sc, 



