97 
A set of shells from various parts of the world, presented to the Insti- 
tution by Miss Jellie, of Redland, was exhibited. 
Several joints of bones of the Dinornis, the gigantic extinct bird of New 
Zealand, lately presented to the Institution by Mr. Joseph Vickery, were 
laid on the table. Mr. W. Sanders made a few remarks upon them. The 
earliest published notice of the bird was in 1839, hy Prof. Owen, who had 
examined a fragment of a leg-bone which had been brought first to that 
Institution, and had decided that it must have formed pare of a gigantic 
bird. Other similar bones had been found in Madagascar. Three species 
were believed to have existed, all larger than the Dodo. Casts of the leg- 
bones were shown, and drawings of the other parts. Much time was spent 
in comparing the phalanges and other bones exhibited, with the drawings 
in Professor Owen's memoir, and endeavouring to ascertain their exact 
position and relation to one another. The various joints did not appear 
to have belonged to the same limb. 
BOTANICAL SECTION. 
Thursday, December 20th.— Mr. W. Sanders, F.R.S., F.G.S., 
President of the Society, in the chair. 
Mr. J. W. Clarke exhibited a series of microscopic preparations illus- 
trating the fructification of ferns, including those of Davalia Canariense, 
Nothochlaena nivea, (or argentea), Niphrolepis pectinata, and of two New 
Zealand ferns, Ligodium articulatum, and Trichomanes elongatum. 
Mr. PocKSON laid on ^he table the first part of a work on "The Flora 
of Devon and Cornwall," by Mr. I. W. N. Keys, curator of the Plymouth 
Institution, comprising the orders from Ranunculaceae to Geraniacese. 
A small collection of British mosses, collected over a period of nearly 
twenty years by the late Mr. William Tanner, was also presented to the 
Section, through Mr. Pockson. The collection included nearly 130 species, 
many in very good condition, showing fructification, &c., and each specimen 
was labelled with its name, as well as the place and date of its collection. 
Mr. T. H. Yabbicom, Hon. Secretary of the Section, then brought 
forward some notes on the growth and structure of the Hyacinth, and 
illustrated his remarks with several sketches, and a very interesting series 
of microscopic preparations, by which the structure of the various parts was 
clearly demonstrated. Commencing with the seed, the contained embryo 
was pointed out, and its first development explained. Being monocoty- 
ledeous, its first appearance above ground was like a single blade of grass ; 
only one radicle was seen, in which was a small swelling, which subse- 
quently was developed into the bulb, the seed never being transformed into 
