I 78 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



workers in this department of natural history. The classes of 

 plants called by botanists Cellulares and Thallophytes contain all 

 those which are found on the living human body. They have 

 neither stem, leaves, nor stomata. The mycelium, which is ana- 

 logous to the root fibres of more highly -organised plants, branches 

 .out in all directions underneath the cuticle or outer layer of the 

 skin, on which the plants are found, and this arrangement is found 

 to have a different aspect in the different species of these fungi. 

 The spores or germinating cells of the six species of Dermatophytes 

 which occur on the human subject were described in minute 

 detail, and an interesting account of the development, life, and 

 effects of each of the forms brought the paper to a close. An 

 animated discussion followed, and the election of a number of 

 new members terminated the business of the meeting. 



On 5th January the Chair was occupied by the President (Rev. 

 Dr. Macllwaine), and a paper was read by Mr. Adam Speers, 

 B.Sc, on the "Natural History of Water, and its Effects in 

 Nature." 



Among other facts, the reader stated that there is no compound 

 substance so widely diffused and so all-pervading as water. A 

 very large percentage of the bodies of animals and plants consist 

 of it. It is also an essential part of the atmosphere. It has been 

 calculated that the ocean makes up the 1-1 786th part of the weight 

 of the entire globe. The rocky masses which constitute the crust 

 are steeped in water, and it flows over the surface in streams of all 

 sizes, from the merest runnels to the mightiest rivers. Thales 

 fancied two thousand years ago that it was the principle of every- 

 thing ; that plants and animals were merely condensed water, and 

 that they were all resolved into it after death. His knowledge of 

 physics and chemistry was, of course, very slender ; but, although 

 wrong in his belief, he was impressed evidently with the truth that 

 this substance is an essential part of every living thing. Water 

 exists in three distinct states — gaseous, liquid, and solid. Pure 



