34 
FIFTY YEARS OF BOTANY IN BRISTOL. 
the Bristol Naturalists' Society ; and therefore most if not all of 
the forms she has identified would have been unrecorded at that 
time. She intends to communicate an account of her work among 
these plants, with a detailed list of local discoveries, in the form 
of a separate paper for publication in the Society's Proceedings. 
Meantime it can be said that the following species are regarded by 
Miss Fry as of particular interest: — Lepidoderma Carestianum 
var. Chailletii Lister; Stemonitis splendens var. flaccida Lister; 
Trichia Botrytis var. lateritia Lister ; Arcyria Oerstedtii Rost. 
Alg^e. These closely related allies of the lichens and toadstools 
have as yet been very incompletely investigated. It is known 
that the late Dr. Thwaites did some work at Bristol on the algal 
flora of the neighbourhood, and it may be well believed that it was 
done with accuracy and sound judgment. It is doubtful, how- 
ever, if any result were put on record, and his microscope 
specimens, if still existing, will probablv have been spoiled. In 
the Proceedings of this Society for 1909 we have an account of five 
years' observations on the occurrence and reproduction of fresh- 
water algse in the Fish Pond near Abbot's Leigh, Bristol, by F. E. 
Fritsch, D.Sc, etc., and Florence Rich, M.A. The authors con- 
sider that the study of freshwater algal biology is a recent one, 
commencing only some twenty years back ; and they give a biblio- 
graphy of publications dealing with the subject that have appeared 
during that period. A perusal of this account is commended to 
those interested in the story of algal communities that people 
pools and inland waters, their life-history, seasonal changes and 
other external conditions. 
While we realise that the past fifty years form a memorable 
epoch in the history of Botany, let us hopefully believe that the 
scientific work done in this department by the Society whose 
Jubilee we celebrate has been at least of equal value with that 
accomplished by any other similar body in the kingdom. And if 
the members would cease to look on their Society as something 
outside themselves, and would keep in view the fact that they are 
the Society, with power to direct its policy and sustain its credit, 
then it need not be feared that future records of its achievements 
will tell a less honourable tale than that which is now told. 
