1 78 Proceedings. 



[Microscopical and Natural History Section.'] 



Ordinary Meeting, March ioth, 1890. 



Mr. J. C. Melvill, M.A., F.L.S., President of the Section, 

 in the Chair. 



There were exhibited by Mr. H. Hyde a specimen of 

 the fruit of Luffa JEgyptiaca ; by Mr. CURTIS, a number of 

 minerals ; and, under the microscope, by Mr. H. C. CHAD- 

 wick, a stained preparation of Flustra foliacea, with the 

 polypes extended. In this mount various stages of develop- 

 ment of individual polypes were clearly demonstrated. Mr. 

 J. C. Melvill showed a specimen of Disa grandiflora, 

 from Table Mountain, South Africa, also a coloured drawing 

 taken from a living flowering plant, and made the following 

 communication, " On Disa nniflora (Berg.), grandiflora 

 (Linn.//.)":— 



" The magnificent orchid of which I am exhibiting a 

 specimen, and also a drawing, is well known as one of the 

 chief, if not the chief, of the floral glories of the Cape 

 Peninsula. For years it has been generally termed Disa 

 grandiflora (Linn.), but this name must yield to D. nniflora 

 (Bergius), that writer, who likewise founded the genus, 

 having described it in 1767, whilst the better known name 

 bears date 1781, or fourteen years later. Both are appro- 

 priate to the normal condition of the plant, but sometimes 

 it bears two, or even three flowers when in cultivation. The 

 OrcJiidece, so much sought after by collectors of late years, 

 have been proved one of the largest families in the world as 

 regards the number of species. The latest census is that 

 of Bentham and Hooker, in Vol. III., ' Genera Plantarum/ 

 1883, who consider there are at least 5,000 'bene dis- 



