192 Miscellaneous— The Darwin Centenary. 
In the reefs and low cliffs of Upper Jurassic rocks, near Culgower, 
many plant-remains occur; and these, together with other specimens 
obtained near Brora, were assiduously collected by Mr. Gunn, who had 
hoped to prepare a memoir, in conjunction with Professor A. C. Seward, 
on the fossil flora of that district. His valuable collection of Brora 
Jurassic plants had been given by Mr. Gunn, just before his death, to 
the Geological Department of the Natural History Branch of the 
British Museum. Mr. Gunn also obtained from the Old Red Sandstone 
of Achnarras, Caithness, a supposed fossil Marsipobranch fish, 
described by Dr. Traquair under the name of Palgospondylus Gunnt. 
A restoration of the remains was given in the GxrotocicaL MaGazine 
for 18938, p. 471. 
Mr. Gunn had become a Fellow of the Geological Society in 1908, — 
and his death causes a sad gap in the ranks of enthusiastic amateur 
workers. . Hi. Baw 
MISCHLILANHOUVUS. 
Tae Darwintan THeory. 
The Darwin Centenary, to the commemoration of which we called 
attention in August last (Gnot. Mac., 1909, p. 375), naturally led 
to the choice of topic in several presidential addresses delivered 
during the same year. 
This was the case in Dr. D. H. Scott’s address last year to the 
Linnean Society. He pointed to the evidence that at all known 
stages of the past history of plants there has been efficient adaptation to 
the conditions; and natural selection appears to afford the only key 
to evolution. The paleontological record reveals a relatively short 
section of the evolution of plants, and indicates that while there has 
been considerable change, there has not been, on the whole, any very 
marked advance in organization, except in such cases as the floral 
adaptations of Angiosperms. The simple forms of plants existing at 
the present day are, as arule, of a reduced rather than a primitive 
nature, and yet they may have a considerable degree of antiquity. 
Mr. B. B. Woodward dealt with Darwinism and Malacology in his 
address to the Malacological Society, 1909. He remarked that the 
Mollusca probably furnish the best means of tracing out the workings 
of evolution, as the shell, properly dissected, will yield evidence of 
the life-history of the animal. The nature of the changes in form 
during the growth of species of Cephalopods and Gasteropods was 
discussed and explained; and we are led to understand how it 
is necessary sometimes to break up an Ammonite before the species 
can be definitely determined. The address embodies the results of the 
latest researches on the subject. 
Quite recently, in commemoration. of the Jubilee of the Liverpool 
Geological Society, a meeting was held on January 11 at the Royal 
Institution, Liverpool, when Professor J. W. Judd delivered a lecture 
on ‘‘ The Triumph of Evolution ’’, justifying the selection of the topic 
by remarking that the foundation of the Society was coincident with 
the appearance of Lest s Origin of Species. 
