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Dr. George Osgood of Danvers, for many years an inhab- 

 itant of this town, and who may be considered the father of 

 botanical research in this part of the county, the friend of 

 Nichols and had herborized with him and furnished him with 

 plants to be described among his own in the Florula ; the 

 instructor of Oakes, and still retaining his love for flowers 

 and science, exhibited to the meeting the flowers he had 

 gathered during the day, relating many anecdotes connected 

 with them. He said it was now some fifty-seven years since 

 he began to observe the flora of this vicinity ; that his zeal 

 was in no wise impaired ; and that on each new season, when 

 the buds began to swell and the flowers to bloom, he felt as 

 if he had a new lease of life ; and that such would be the 

 experience of every one, who studied botany for its wonder- 

 ful objects of instruction, profit and pleasure. 



B. F. Mudge of Lynn, made the fructification of the oaks 

 a subject of his remarks, exhibiting branches of some species 

 occurring in his walk to-day ; spoke of the time requisite in 

 ripening the fruits of different kinds of trees, of which he 

 instanced the sea coco (^Laodoicea Sechellaruni) needing as 

 he averred, several years to mature its nuts : they being filled 

 with a delicious, milky fluid for the first two years, and thus 

 much sought for by the natives for the purposes of food. 

 Tliis palm grows in the Sechelle groups of islets of the Indian 

 Ocean. He spoke briefly likewise of the geology of this 

 vicinity, alluded to his examination of a mine worked once 

 for copper, though containing scarcely a trace of that metal ; 

 had been unsuccessful in procuring any specimens of interest 

 to him this forenoon, unless it were a stratified stone casually 

 picked up and looking like what occurs at Nahant ; mention 

 of which will be found in the account of the field meeting 

 there, in our preceding pages. 



The process and utility of girdling or " ringing" the fruit 

 branches of trees and of the grapevine, were described by Mr. 

 John M. Ives, in the course of whose remarks some points of 



