138 
The President's Address. 
tions in the affirmative ; but we do not stop here — his ob- 
servations, as far as facts are concerned, are confirmed by those 
of Mr. Davey, and to a great extent by those of Mr. Osborne. 
Of course much misunderstanding might arise in a ques- 
tion of this nature as to the true definition of a vegetable 
cell ; but as my predecessor entered at length upon the ques- 
tion in his address last year, I cannot do better than re- 
commend a re-perusal of that document, containing, as it 
does, a most lucid disquisition upon the subject. 
I should have before remarked that Mr. Wenham's paper 
was partly in reply to some animadversions on his state- 
ments in a previous paper, and partly a continuation; while 
Mr. Davey^s was confessedly the result of investigations upon 
a different kind of plant, undertaken with the special object 
of testing the accuracy of Mr. Wenham^s revelations. 
I have hitherto said but little respecting Mr. Osborne's 
paper ; not because it is in any way contradictory to the 
theory promulgated by Mr. Wenham; on the contrary, 
strongly confirmatory of the same : but it actually describes 
the simultaneous formation of numerous cells from the proto- 
plasm direct, not as an accessory, but as a prevailing mode 
of production in the embryo plant. 
This admirable paper is one of the highest interest, charac- 
terised by acuteness of research, accurate illustration, and 
novelty of manipulation, the author having successfully in- 
troduced colouring matter into the cell-structure in such a 
manner as to reveal secrets in Nature's handicraft otherwise 
unattainable. Those who take a special interest in this 
much contested question would do well to refer to figs. 32 
and 33, PI. V, of the illustrations, and page 112 of the text, 
to see how positively Mr. Osborne affirms the simultaneous 
development theory. 
As a finale to the papers belonging to this section, we have 
Professor Quekett's, " On Fungoid Growth in decayed and 
living wood." The author shows how much unsuspected 
injury to the timber may arise from broken branches, or in- 
judicious pruning of trees, when the circumstances are such as 
to afford favorable conditions to the growth of fungi; and in 
many cases the thread-like fibres of mycelium can be traced 
permeating every part of the trunk and branches. An 
opinion was also expressed as to the cause of attraction to 
wasps, presented by hollow trees, being the dried whitish 
substance of the fungus alluded to, which, on examination, 
appears identical in structure with the material of which the 
cellular nests of these insects are composed. 
The reading of the latter paper gave rise to some short 
