PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 155 
to a note in the * Gardeners' Chronicle' for March 23, on the occurrence 
of stamens in the flowers of mainly female plants of Aucuba. An editorial 
comment on the note adds “it is singular that the occurrence was never 
observed, to our knowledge, before the male plant was introduced.” 
Ep. Journ 
Proceedings of Societies. 
Linnean Society, March 21st, Dr. J. D. Hooker in the chair.—Mr. 
Bentham continued the reading of his paper on the Composite. He 
first e some remarks on the history of the Order ; the geological 
record is very scanty, probably parny owing to a fact that so few of the 
chen 
species are aquatic; a few achenia have been found in some Tertia 
deposits, which are perhaps referable to existing species. Notwithstanding 
this, the author considered that C s ust have existed at a very 
rom Australia. Of Zupatorium itself there are some 400 species in America, 
and about 8 or 10 in the Old World, none quite the same as the former. 
North American; it has Cape a 
Inulee are chiefly Old World ; the Gu mae aceite are xpo ith where , Gna- 
Africa and Aust thogh s some genera are so. The Helianthoidee are 
well defined, and apparently contain very — forms. They are chiefly 
natives of tropical America. The Amérosiee are placed here; they have 
as there exists every intermediate state. Passing the tribe 
Helenioidee, the Anthemidee are otim P ados in extra-tropical parts of 
ii Old World, The Senecionez contain 1400 species, of which two-thirds 
aced in the genus Se necio. This i is truly cosmopolitan, though less 
abundant i in "i tropics ; the species, however, have not wide areas, and 
no species is common to both the Old and baad worlds. The author had 
failed to find any good subgenera or secti s in this vast genus. The 
Calendulee, a well-defined tribe, are Mélaeicuicin and South African; 
the Arctotidee also South African, but the Cynaroidee are quite absent 
from the Cape district, and indeed are all but confined to the northern 
hemisphere, and chiefly found in the Old World. The Mutisiacea, on the 
