142 report — 1859. 



neous formation is checked, the extractive matter of the sap is rendered more 

 capable of affording nutriment to fruit. It is not, however, beneficial to prune much 

 in continental climates, where dry seasons diminish the tendency to form wood ; 

 and, indeed,the vineyards and orchards west of the Alleghany Mountains have suffered 

 much from being subjected to the modes of culture which have been adopted with 

 much success in the moist countries of Southern and Western Europe. During the 

 dry summer of 1854, it was observed in Ohio that those grape-vines which were 

 not pruned, produced the most abundant crops; and other facts might be adduced 

 to show that a diminution of foliage and a deficiency of rains operate, in the same 

 manner, in checking the ligneous formation and promoting the development of fruit. 

 To account satisfactorily for these results, and to remove the difficulty hitherto 

 found in reconciling the effects of pruning with the theory of vegetation, it will be 

 necessary to regard the soil as furnishing, not only the mineral ingredients, but also 

 much of the organic matter required for vegetable nutrition. Though there is abun- 

 dant evidence that carbonic acid is decomposed by plants, it cannot be regarded as 

 the exclusive source of their carbon ; and the explanation which the advocates of the 

 carbonic acid theory give for the production of wood in the trunk of a tree by a 

 chemical decomposition which is entirely confined to the leaves, seems to be unsa- 

 tisfactory. We cannot ascribe the source of vital energy in plants to the mere act of 

 decomposing carbonic acid ; for it is evident that the forces associated with vitality 

 must experience a loss, instead of a gain, in overcoming the resistance of a powerful 

 chemical affinity. While vegetative power is mainly derived from the heat and light 

 of the sun, it appears to depend in a great measure on the evaporation from the 

 leaves and the chemical action going on in the soil. Such operations might be ex- 

 pected to create a circulation of galvanic currents along growing plants ; and though 

 experiments show that these currents must be extremely feeble, they may be rendered 

 very efficient for controling chemical affinity, by the agency of cells, ducts, membranes, 

 and other appendages of vegetable life. 



Mr. J. Yates exhibited the cones and leaves of several species of Cycadaceous 

 plants grown in England. He stated that the Cycad known as Dioon eclule was the 

 Macrozamia pectinata of Leibmann. He gave some account of the method of culture 

 of these plants, and stated, they required an average temperature of 70° Fahrenheit. 



Zoology. 

 On the Birds of Banchory. By Dr. Adams. 



On a New Zoophyte, and two Species of Echinoderraata neiv to Britain. 



By Joshua Alder. 



The species described were dredged by George Barlee, Esq., off the Shetland 

 Islands, in the summer of 1858. The zoophyte was a peculiar form of the genus 

 Campanularia, distinguished by having an operculum of a roof-like form, sloping on 

 each side from two opposite angles. Mr. Alder named it Campanularia fastiyiata. 

 The Echinodermata consisted of Comatula Sarsii of Von Duben and Koren, a species 

 new to Britain, but previously obtained by Professor Sars off the Norwegian coast; and 

 a new species of the family Sipunculidaf, for which the name of Phascolosoma radiala 

 was proposed. The descriptions were accompanied by drawings of the new species, 

 and lists of the rare Mollusca and Zoophytes obtained by Mr. Barlee at the same time 

 were also added. 



On Dicoryne stricta, a New Genus and Species of the Tubulariadae. 



By Professor Allman, M.D., F.R.S. 



The subject of this communication had been recently obtained by the author in 



the Orkney seas, where it was found investing an old Buccinum undatum, dredged 



from water about three fathoms deep. It was defined by the following diagnosis :~r 



