SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 12. 



ccxvii 



quite amorphous under the microscope, and probably were only insect 

 'frass.' The other object consisted of small, discoloured spots, about 

 half an inch in diameter, and of a dingy olive colour. On attempting to 

 remove a portion on the point of a penknife it flaked off in pieces, and 

 left the leaf beneath quite green and "uninjured. It could all be wiped 

 from the leaf, as there was no attachment. The object proved to be a 

 network of brown mycelium, with the slender threads and spores of a 

 species of delicate Cladosporium. As it was wholly superficial, I did not 

 attempt its specific determination, since it could not inflict injury on the 

 Vine, and could be readily wiped away." 



Club-root fungicide. — Eev. W. Wilks inquired, on behalf of a corre- 

 spondent, whether lime cures this disease, as some farmers consider its 

 prevalence to be due to a want of lime in the soil. 



Mr. Odell said that gas-lime was effective, as it is also for wireworm, 

 but doubted the value of lime by itself . 



Dr. Masters observed that Wallflowers which grow on chalk are very 

 liable to the disease, and attributed the destruction of the fungus to the 

 sulphur in the gas-lime, and not to the lime itself. 



Effects of London Fog upon Orchids. — Mr. Chapman brought speci- 

 mens of the flowers of Cypripedium insigne, a hardy mountain species, 

 which was quite uninjured. In the case of Odontoglossums, he scarcely 

 lost a plant in bud, whereas warmer varieties of Cypripediums had their 

 flowers limp, and collapsed. 



Galls. — Dr. M. C. Cooke exhibited specimens of two kinds of galls ; 

 one from Oaks, and a second from certain members of the Anacardiacece. 



Carnations diseased. — Mr. Douglas, V.M.H., sent some plants, which 

 were referred to Dr. Cooke for examination and report. 



Narcissus Bulbs Decaying. — Some bulbs were received, apparently 

 attacked by some grub at the apex. Mr. Saunders undertook to examine 

 them. 



Maple Branches Coherent. — Mr. Dicks exhibited a forking Maple 

 branch, which had apparently been pierced through by another bough. 

 It was suggested that the latter had been caught in the fork, and by 

 growth had split the main stem below it, then this had healed up all over 

 the shoot. The position of the inserted bough was rather below that of 

 the other two, which formed the angle between them. Rev. W. Wilks 

 said that he knew of a very similar occurrence in an Oak-tree, but the 

 bough was a fairly large one in that case, and the lower bough, starting not 

 far from the ground, had grown up and pierced right through a large 

 branch above and had then gone on growing in its original direction. 



Apple Spotted. — Dr. Masters exhibited an Apple covered with black 

 spots. Dr. Cooke observed that they were the early stage of the fungus, 

 Labrella p)omi. 



Skimmia japonica. — Dr. Masters showed a fruiting spray of this 

 plant. 



Beech-leaves ivith Galls.- -Mr. Odell showed leaves with galls of a 

 small gnat-like fly, Hormomyia piligcra, one of the Cccidoniyidcs, A 

 peculiarity in the autumnal colouring of the leaves was, that while all the 

 rest of the blade was orange-coloured, the portion near the galls, or the 

 upper half of the leaf beyond them, was still bright green. This retention 



