188 



Proceedings and List of Papers read. 



In the above paper we compared the droplets of Blechnum occidentcde 

 with the granules or spherules described by Langley as occurring in 

 certain gland cells, e.g., the mucous cells of the sub-maxillary gland of 

 the dog; and I am still of opinion that such a comparison was a 

 pertinent one, and not entirely without significance in the case of the 

 plant cell wall also. 



I am disposed to regard the cell wall as fundamentally of the nature 

 of a mucous or, rather, mucilage secretion ; the droplet or spherules 

 (shall I call them provisionally " teichosomes'^ ?) being composed of a 

 substance which, when more hydrated, passes as " a mucilage," and when 

 less hydrated functions as "a cellulose." The spherules are embedded 

 in the "ground substance," and possibly the remains of even a proto- 

 plasmic framework (which may undergo mucilaginous change) is also 

 present. 



I regard stratification as the necessary accompaniment of the rhythmic 

 periods of activity and rest of the secreting protoplasm ; and as to the 

 method of secretion, it is external and not internal, as in the mucilage 

 cells described by Gardiner and Ito. 



The changes incident upon lignification and the like I have always 

 regarded as induced by secondary secretion or post-formation chemical 

 change. 



I may add that I see little in the above view of the structure of the 

 cell wall which militates against the facts which we have at our disposal, 

 either with regard to the properties of the cell wall or to the phenomena 

 associated with growth in thickness or in surface. 



I am aware that much remains to be done before the above views are 

 placed on a proper basis, but I have great hopes that this is only a 

 matter of time and of further detailed research. 



February 22, 1900. 



The LORD LISTER, F.R.C.S., D.C.L., President, in the Chair. 



A List of the Presents received was laid on the table, and thanks 

 ordered for them. 



The following Papers were read : — 



I. "Preliminary Note on the Spectrum of the Corona. Part 2." 

 By Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. 



11. " On the Structure of Coccospheres and the Origin of Coccoliths." 

 By Dr. H. H. Dixon. Communicated by Professor J. Joly, 

 F.R.S. 



