-6 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



Botanical Section. 



" LOWER FORMS OF PLANT LIFE." 



A meeting of the Botanical Section of the Club took place in 

 the Museum on Wednesday evening, 29th January, at eight o'clock, 

 when Mr. H. C. Marshall, in the absence of the regular chairman, 

 presided. The business of the evening was to hear an address 

 from Mr. Alexander Milligan, on " Lower Forms of Plant Life, and 

 the Phenomena of Reproduction." There was a large attendance. 



Mr. Milligan dealt in the earlier part of his address with the 

 historical side of the question. He pointed out that, owing to the 

 usually bright colours of the flowers in Phanerogamic plants, and 

 to the ease with which their sexual characters and methods of 

 reproduction could be observed and studied, the flowering plants 

 consequently became, and remained for nearly two centuries, the 

 principal study of botanists. With the flowerless or Cryptogamic 

 plants, on the other hand, botanists were long content to remain 

 in comparative ignorance regarding their modes of propagation 

 and reproduction. The obscure or hidden nature of the processes 

 led to their being lumped together as Cryptogamic. The study 

 of Cryptogams, had, however, in recent years made wonderful 

 progress, though naturally the investigations were to a large extent 

 confined to the laboratory, and to microscopic methods of exam- 

 ination. The lecturer went on to give, by means of diagramatic 

 illustrations sketched on a blackboard, a lucid description of the 

 structure, mode of growth, and phenomena of reproduction in 

 well-selected typical species of lower plant-life forms. 



At the conclusion of the address the Chairman intimated that 

 the meeting was favoured with the presence of a distinguished 

 West of England botanist, Mr. James W. White, F.L.S., who was 

 introduced as a visitor by Mr. W. J. Fennell, M.R.I.A. In the 

 name of the Section the Chairman gave a hearty welcome to 

 Mr. White. The latter, who is author of the standard " Flora 

 of Bristol," and very prominently identified with the Bristol 



