SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, FEBRUARY 2.3. 



xxxvii 



fumigation with tobacco or XL All is very effectual. (8) Pelargonium 

 leaves discoloured and shrivelled. No insect or fungus could be found on 

 these leaves, the condition of which was attributed to unfavourable con- 

 ditions of light, or temperature, or moisture, or all combined. 



Cyclamen Flowers, Synanthy in. — Mr. J. S. Davis sent flowers of 

 Cyclamen more or less united one to another, and with leaves developed 

 on the flower-stalk. Although the appearances are far from uncommon, 

 it is not easy to assign a definite cause for their production. 



Fasciated Holly. — Mrs. Morley, Southborough, sent a specimen of 

 this malformation, due to excessive growth. It presented no special 

 peculiarities. 



The Wood Leopard Moth. — Mr. A. D. Webster sent specimens from 

 Greenwich Park, to show how severely the trees were suffering from the 

 effects of this tunnelling caterpillar, which seems to be peculiarly abundant 

 in and around London. 



Bacteriosis in Carnations. — Dr. Cooke reported as follows on some 

 specimens exhibited at the last meeting : — " The Carnation-leaves are 

 undoubtedly affected by the disease described as Bacteriosis. The appear- 

 ance of the leaves is strikingly like that figured in the Bulletin of the 

 U.S.A. Experiment Station, Purdue University, May 2, 189G, p. 549, and 

 the minute organisms, whatever they may be, are similar. The name 

 given to the parasite is Bacterium dianthi. The disease is said to enter 

 the plants chiefly through the punctures made by aphides, and the 

 suggestions made are that the plants may be kept essentially free from the 

 disease by keeping the foliage dry and preventing the presence of aphides. 

 Overhead spraying should only be done occasionally on bright days, with 

 water containing a small amount of ammoniacal copper carbonate." 



Germination of the Seeds of Crinum and other Amaryllids. — ^Slr. 

 Worsley contributed the following note : — 



On more than one recent occasion this subject has been discussed 

 before the Scientific Committee of the R.H.S., and in the Journal of the 

 Society [August 1901, vol. xxvi. p. 89] Dr. Rendle published an interest- 

 ing paper, entitled " The Bulbiform Seeds of certain Amaryllidea}." He 

 maintained the accepted doctrine that the original process issuing from 

 the seed and terminating in the bud (bulb) was the cotyledon. In my 

 view it is impossible to so stretch the definition of the term " cotyledon " 

 as to include this original process. It does not serve the same function, 

 nor do we find any counterpart to it (that I am aware of) among dicoty- 

 ledons. In my view it would be correct to call such plants " primarily 

 monophyllous," but it would be incorrect to call them monocotyledonous, 

 unless we may consider that in such cases the simple amorphous mass 

 surrounding the embryo constitutes the cotyledon. 



All writers dealing with the germination of these seeds have tacitly 

 recognised that some difficulty existed in reconciling their organs and 

 processes with those described in botanical works. Had no difficulty 

 existed, it would evidently have been unnecessary to apply any special 

 treatment or arguments to the case, and the fact that these writers have 

 attempted to effect such a reconciliation is a proof that they, at least, 

 recognised that a difficulty existed ; a something that required to be over- 

 come or explained away. 



