SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, FEBRUARY 24. 



xxvii 



Wheat is different from English Wheat." The cause of the difference 

 could only be discovered by separate analysis and experimental tests. 



Carnation Cuttings dying. — Mr. E. H. Jenkins sent some cuttings, 

 the upper part of them dying. The cause was pronounced to be the hard 

 stem (not sufficiently herbaceous), which resulted in insufficient root 

 action. The damp weather had possibly encouraged leafy growth, so 

 that the main shoot was drained of its supply of sap. There was [no 

 disease present. ' v, 



MendeVs Principles applied to Calanthe Hybrids. — Mr. C. C. Hurst 

 sent the following communication on this subject : — " With reference to 

 the hybrid Calanthes 1 Oakwood Ruby ' and ' Sibyl,' sent to the last 

 meeting, and to the expression of opinion that they ' prove the inapplica- 

 bility of Mendel's laws to Orchids,' if the pedigree of these two hybrids is 

 correctly recorded in Mr. Chapman's notes, it seems quite clear that we 

 have in them a typical Mendelian case, and that Mr. Chapman's opinion 

 to the contrary must be due to a misunderstanding of the Mendelian 

 principles. According to Mr. Chapman's notes, ' Oakwood Ruby ' (with 

 darkly coloured flowers) and ' Sibyl ' (with pure white flowers) were 

 raised from the same capsule with the following pedigree, which, for the 

 sake of simplicity, I have reduced to Mendelian terms : — 



First generation. 



C. rosea x C. vestita ( =C. x Veitchii vars. 

 Rose x White j = Light rose to deep rose-carmine. 



Dominant x Recessive = D.R. 

 Second generation. — D.R. x R. = 1 D.R. + 1 R. 



Third generation to seventh generation. — D.R. x D.R. = ID + 2 D.R. 

 + 1 R. 



In this case, therefore, by continued selection of the darkest D.R.'s in each 

 generation, the seventh generation produces the darkest variety, 

 1 Oakwood Ruby ' (D.R.), and also the pure white ' Sibyl ' (R.), which 

 is in strict accordance with the Mendelian expectation. Further, according 

 to the Mendelian principles, 'Oakwood Ruby,' being an impure Dominant 

 (D.R.), should, when self -fertilised, continue to throw dark forms, rose 

 forms, white forms, and all intermediate colours; while 'Sibyl,' if a 

 pure Recessive when self-fertilised, should throw whites only. Here, 

 then, is a fine opportunity for Mr. Chapman, with his well-known 

 cultural skill and his Oakwood advantages, to test Mendel's principles by 

 actual experiment." 



Cineraria diseased. — Some plants were received from Mr. C. Buckland, 

 Braintree. Mr. Saunders reported : — " The plants were in a very sad 

 condition ; the leaves were infested by green-fly, and the roots with one of 

 the Poduridce, or Springtails, I believe by Lipura ambulans, which were 

 present in large numbers, and by some small worms belonging to the 

 family Enchytrceidce, which are nearly related to the true earthworms. 

 They were very abundant, particularly at the base of the roots. They die 

 almost instantly on being placed in limewater, so that they would easily 

 be destroyed by soaking the soil in which they were with limewater ; but 

 whether they would be reached by watering when on the roots close up to the 



