45 



considerable cavity in the soft earth. Here it deposited 

 its eggs to the number of about thirty. Then it roofed them 

 over with earth, agglutinated by its slime, leaving only a 

 small hole, presumably for the exit of the young molluscs. 

 He remarked upon the retiring habits of the young, for he 

 had never yet found a juvenile specimen of this species. Mr. 

 Winkley confirmed Mr. Step's observations, and said that 

 some he had taken had laid their eggs. The animals were 

 feeding readily on rhubarb, and he had seen three in ccp 

 together. Mr. Step said that it was no unusual occurrence 

 to see a whole chain together at the same time, and that each 

 specimen produced ova for the species was a true herma- 

 phrodite. 



Mr. Step then exhibited the early stages of growth of 

 Osiminda regalis, L., with a series of enlarged drawings, and 

 stated that the prothallium differed considerably in form 

 from Goebel's figure in Bennett and Murray's " Cryptogamic 

 Botany," which he believed was sketched from an exotic 

 species of Osmunda, although there described as O. regalis. 

 Some time ago Mr. Carrington had given him a sheet of com- 

 pressed peat, which it was proposed to use as a substitute for 

 cabinet cork. This he had soaked for some time, and then held 

 under the fertile fronds of the Osmunda to catch the falling 

 spores. It was then placed in a fern case, with a seed pan 

 filled with water, and relegated to a cold greenhouse. The 

 peat was laid sloping and kept moist, but the moisture not 

 allowed to get stagnant. In time the surface became green, 

 and the prothalli appeared, gradually growing, and producing 

 minute fronds in the spring. He showed all the stages of 

 growth, and said that the earlier by no means resembled the 

 mature fronds. For comparison he had also brought the pro- 

 thallium and young fronds of the hartstongue {Scolopendrinm 

 imlgare, Sm.), which, he pointed out, showed a considerably 

 closer resemblance to the adult. He thought that this 

 difference in the amount of resemblance was explained by 

 supposing that the Osmunda was a much more highly de- 

 veloped cryptogam than the hartstongue, which had not 

 proceeded so far along the evolutionary lines. 



Mr. Turner read a report of the Field Meeting at Reigate 

 on June gth (page 86). 



