74 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



Linnean Society of London. 



Jan. \lth, 1895.— Mr. C. B. Clarke, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 



Surgeon-Captain J. H. Walsh and Messrs. S. Dunn, J. P. Hill, D. 

 Hooper, V. O'Rell, W. B. Stonham, and J. Wilshire were elected Fellows. 



Mr. George Murray exhibited lantern-slides representing a new part of 

 Pachytheca, consisting of a cup-shaped receptacle in which Pachytheca 

 was found by Mr. John Storrie, of Cardiff. The walls of the cup are 

 composed of radiating chambers like those of Acetabularia, and in the 

 centre there are traces of an axile structure. Mr. Murray considered that 

 this discovery only made the interpretation of the nature of Pachytheca 

 more difficult than ever. 



Mr. Arthur Lister exhibited and made remarks upon a Landrail, Crex 

 pratensis, which had been found a few days previously near Axminster in 

 Devonshire, where it had been killed by coming in contact with telegraph- 

 wires. The occurrence in mid-winter of a bird which is a summer visitor 

 to this country seemed to him to be worth notice. 



Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited specimens of northern sea-birds which had 

 been driven upon the east coast of England during recent gales; amongst 

 others the Little Auk, Mergulus alle, of which great numbers had come 

 ashore dead or in an exhausted condition ; the Little Gull, Larus minutus, 

 obtained at Whitstable on Jan. 5th ; and an example of Briinnich's Guille- 

 mot, Uria brunnichii, Sabine (Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 535), a species which, 

 though abundant in Greenland, N.E. Iceland, and Spitzbergen, is of such 

 extremely rare occurrence on our coasts that not more than two or three 

 authenticated instances of its appearance here have been recorded. The 

 specimen exhibited had been forwarded by Mr. W. J. Clarke, of Scar- 

 borough, near which seaport it was shot on Dec. 7th last. (See p. 70). 



A paper was then read by Mr. I. H. Burkill on "Variations in the 

 number of stamens and carpels." Of Stellaria media about 5700 flowers 

 were examined, showing that, towards the end of the life of the plant, the 

 number of stamens becomes reduced. Ranunculus Jicaria (nearly 800 

 flowers) showed that towards the end of the flowering period both stamens 

 a:id carpels become reduced in number without their proportion being 

 changed. Smaller numbers were examined of Caltha palustris, Ranunculus 

 arvensis, R. bulbosus, Thalictrum flavum, Bocconia cordata, Prunus padus, 

 P. lauro-cerasus, Crategus oxycantha, Rosa canina, Quercus ilex, and 

 Sayittaria montevidensis, all of whicli showed, either in carpels or in 

 stameus, a reduction in number towards the end of the flowering period. 

 Of other influences besides age which affect the number of parts, tempera- 

 ture might be one, but nothing could be safely assumed. 



Of a kindred nature was a paper by Mr. A. G. Tansley and Miss E. 



