SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, AUGUST 4. 



cxvii 



again and again, the flowers themselves being almost aborted, the sepals 

 being much laciniated. Similar peculiarities are produced in certain 

 plants through the attacks of eelworm. Mr. Bowles, M.A., showed a 

 similar peculiarity in Dianthus superbus, the plant bearing the 

 inflorescence having been taken from a plant showing the same peculiarity 

 exhibited by Canon Ellacombe last year. 



Siveet Peas dying. — Mr. Fraser also showed Sweet Peas with 

 prematurely yellowed foliage. The root had been attacked by the fungus 

 Thielavia basicola, a species which is apparently very common this year. 



Salix undulata. — Mr. Fraser also showed two specimens of willow 

 shoots cut from the same bush at different periods in the year. In April 

 the ovary was completely glabrous ; but by August the ovary had become 

 pubescent — a character typical of S. undulata. 



Variation in plants. — Mr. Shea made some observations upon this 

 subject, exhibiting variegated leaves of a Sunflower. Last season one 

 side (that towards the magnetic north pole) had shown variegated leaves, 

 the remainder of the foliage being normal. He had saved seeds from that 

 side of the inflorescence, and the seedlings were weaker and bore varie- 

 gated leaves throughout, while seeds from other parts of the inflorescence 

 produced normal plants. Mr. Shea said that he had observed in other 

 cases that variation had been confined entirely to the side of the plant 

 towards the magnetic north pole. 



Variation in Delphinium 1 Carmine Queen.' — From Messrs. Veitch, 

 Chelsea, came inflorescences of 'this Delphinium showing some flowers of 

 a beautiful violet-blue, others of a pinkish tinge, and others again streaked 

 and splashed with both colours. All the flowers of some shoots were of 

 one colour, in others the two colours were restricted to separate flowers, 

 and in others the whole of the flowers were of both colours intermingled. 

 It was noticeable that there were no intermediate shades of colour. 



Varieties of Epilobium hirsutum. — Mr. Bowles showed specimens of 

 the normal form of E. hirsutum, a very hairy form, with flowers of a 

 deeper colour, from South Europe, a form with white petals and rosy 

 stamens, a form with white petals and stamens (the ovary, however, 

 showed the usual red tinge), and a virescent form. 



Ants and aphides. — The following communication was received from 

 the Rev. H. E. Bishop, M.A., Middleton Vicarage, King's Lynn : " Some 

 Gooseberry bushes are trained on a north wall in my garden. During 

 the wet weather I noticed that many shoots were encrusted with sand 

 and lime (somewhat in the manner of the case of a caddis worm), and 

 on breaking this away we were surprised to find the shoot covered with 

 aphides and the ants busy among them. After examination we came 

 to the conclusion that the ants had constructed the cases to prevent the 

 aphides being washed away by the rain. The piece broken away was 

 repaired the next day. The upper leaves seemed to serve as a roof, and 

 the sand built round left a clear passage way round the aphides. Since 

 the settled fine weather the casings have been completely cleared away." 

 Mr. Chittenden observed that he had seen a similar thing in a greenhouse, 

 where the ants constructed a covering over aphides on the stem of a 

 Cineraria. 



