1904-1905.] 321 



large number of members and friends assembled to hear a 

 paper entitled " Plant Structure and Environment " by Mr. 

 G. H. Pethybridge, Ph.D., B.Sc, Demonstrator in Botany in 

 the Royal College of Science for Ireland, Dublin. Dr. Pethy- 

 bridge attended as a Delegate from the Dublin Naturalists' 

 Field Club, in accordance with the scheme of the Irish Field 

 Club Union, which provides for interchange of lecturers 

 among the affiliated Field Clubs of Ireland, and he was 

 awarded a cordial reception. 



Prior to the meeting, at the usual '' Science Cossip Half- 

 hour " in the Clubroom, Mr. Robert Bell exhibited a fine 

 crystal of quartz, and several interesting subjects were in- 

 formally discussed. Punctually at eight o'clock the Presi- 

 dent (Mr. W. J. Fennell, M.R.I.A.I.) took the chair, and 

 introduced the lecturer. 



In the course of his remarks Dr. Pethybridge said that 

 in taking a wide and comprehensive view over the realm of 

 living things one could not but be struck by the remarkable 

 diversity in form and structure presented both by animals 

 and plants. A closer study revealed to the naturalist 

 some forms which are relatively simple, and others which 

 are complex; further study revealed striking gradation 

 everywhere from the simple to the complex ; and, finally, it 

 was possible to arrange the organisms into groups, with simi- 

 larities of structure, whether simple or complex, and so to 

 arrive at a scheme of classification. The lecturer then briefly 

 illustrated the principal groups in the classification of the 

 vegetable kingdom, beginning with the simplest plant organ- 

 isms, and pointed out the more striking peculiarities in the 

 structure of the plants in each group. Having arrived at the 

 most highly developed plants — those which produced flowers 

 and seeds — the lecturer proceeded to discuss the organs of 

 these plants and the life functions which they had to perform. 

 Broadly speaking, the environment of a plant consisted of the 

 soil in which its roots grew and the atmosphere which sur- 

 rounded its aerial parts. It was pointed out that a plant's 

 environment was, however, a complex thing, and could be ana- 



