SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, JUNE 9. 



xliii 



as purple and yellow, or scarlet and yellow, you are apt to get a 

 good proportion of whites." He gives as examples : — Corunna 

 (yellow) x Hayes (scarlet) : offspring, two whites, one scarlet ; 

 Germania (yellow) x purple, gives maroons and whites ; G. x 

 N. Murray (scarlet), four out of five were white ; Lord Sefton x 

 G. gave four whites, one maroon, three yellow or buff. 



Primulas as Skin Irritants. — Mr. Dod observed that besides 

 the well-known case of P. obconica (which, however, has no 

 effect upon himself), he finds P. japonica to be very irritating ; 

 and what is more remarkable, the " farina," a secretion of wax 

 on the surface of the plant, produces the same effect, causing 

 blisters on the hand. 



Cineraria Hybrids. — Mr. Bennett-Poe exhibited a plant of 

 C. l'Heritieri ( $ ) x a greenhouse variety of C. cruenta, raised by 

 Mr. Lynch, of the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge, and also a 

 similar cross by himself. The flowers were very different. In 

 the former they were red, whole-coloured, the petals long and 

 dependent ; in Mr. Poe's they were white, with tips purple, and 

 the heads flatter, more resembling an ordinary garden form. 



Cytisus scoparius var. Andreanus. — A question having been 

 raised as to the seed of this variety coming true, Mr. Wilks ob- 

 served that about one-third came true, but in others the blossom 

 reverted to those of the Broom, but were larger than on the wild 

 Broom. Mr. Henslow exhibited sprays from a seedling which 

 had come true. The plant had been grafted on the common 

 Broom. 



Peas Penetrated by Oats. — Mr. Henslow exhibited a speci- 

 men — one of many found among Peas — of a Pea which had 

 been hollowed out by a weevil, and then penetrated by an Oat. 

 It illustrates, presumably, the remarkable property of penetrating 

 the soil possessed by Oats, fruits of Erodium, &c, which are pro- 

 vided with a spirally- twisted hygroscopic awn. This on be- 

 coming moistened untwists, and so thrusts the lower end down- 

 wards. In this case it happened to penetrate the hollow Peas. 



Garden Hybrids. — Mr. Henslow described some specimens 

 received from Bev. C. W. Dod, consisting of natural crosses 

 between species of Polemonium, Papaver, and Heuchera. In 

 one case, Polemonium flavum x P. cceruleum, the hybrid 

 scarcely differed from the male parent ; but in all the others 

 the cross was more decidedly intermediate. The following are a 



