589 
1909-10.] Meetings of the Society. 
5. The Development of the Germ Cells in the Mammalian Ovary, with Special Reference to 
the Early Phase of Maturation. By A. Louise MTlroy, M. D., D.Sc. Communicated by 
Professor D. Noel Paton. Proc., vol. xxxi. 
6. The Theory of Wronskians, Recurrents, and all the other less common Special Forms of 
Determinants up to 1860. By Dr Thomas Muir,. Proc., vol. xxxi. 
Mr David Carnegie and Dr J. S. Goodall signed the Roll, and were duly admitted Fellows 
of the Society. 
The President read the List of three British and nine Foreign Gentlemen, proposed by the Council 
for Honorary Membership, to be elected by ballot at the Ordinary Meeting of 7th November 1910. 
FIFTEENTH ORDINARY MEETING. 
Monday, 18 th July 1910. 
Dr R. H. Traquair, F. R.S. , Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following Prizes were awarded and presented : — 
1. The Neill Prize for the biennial period 1907-08, 1908-09, to Francis J. Lewis, M.Sc., 
F.L.S., for his papers in the Society’s Transactions “ On the Plant Remains in the Scottish Peat 
Mosses.” 
This research was begun in 1904, and has been carried on for several years with the aid of 
grants from the Royal Society. The object was to make a systematic investigation of the strati- 
fication of the deep peat deposits and the plants contained in them in Scotland with the view of 
ascertaining the changes in climate during post-glacial time. Most generous help was given to 
the research by Dr Horne, F.R.S., who freely placed at the disposal of Mr Lewis information, in 
possession of the Geological Survey in Scotland, regarding the position and extent of many of the 
most promising areas for investigation. 
Thirty-five separate districts have now been investigated and described, ranging from the south 
coast of Scotland to the Shetland Isles, and from Aberdeenshire to the Outer Hebrides. Mr Lewis 
has shown that these deposits are distinctly divided into horizontal beds characterised by great 
differences in the vegetation forming the peat. At the base lies, what he has termed the First 
Arctic Bed, indicating a period when the lower limit of an arctic vegetation reached sea-level in 
Shetland. This is followed by a Lower Forest Bed and Lower Peat Bog, overlain by a Second 
Arctic Bed, an Upper Peat Bog, and Upper Forest Zone. 
The salient feature of the stratification is the fact that after the first arctic bed there have 
been two distinct forest periods separated by an interval during which an arctic vegetation spread 
over the ground formerly occupied by forest. Mr Lewis maintains that the existence of the first 
arctic bed at the base of the peat shows that it began its growth during the later phases of the 
glacial period, while the sequence of the overlying beds strongly supports the view that several 
distinct oscillations of climate occurred after the disappearance of the last ice-sheet. 
Mr Lewis has been the first to place our knowledge of the plants in Scottish peat mosses on a 
true scientific basis, and it is to be hoped that others will emulate his enthusiasm in pursuing this 
research. 
2. The Keith Prize for the biennial period 1 907-08, 1908-09, to Wheelton Hind, M.D., B.S., 
F. R. C. S. , F. G. S , for a paper published in the Transactions of the Society ‘ ‘ On the Lamellibranch 
and Gasteropod Fauna found in the Millstone Grit of Scotland.” 
The fossils forming the subject of this research were placed in the hands of Dr Hind for deter- 
mination by the Geological Survey. They were found by Mr Tait in certain marine bands in the 
basal portion of the Millstone Grit, charged with lamellibranchs, brachiopods, and gasteropods, 
and associated with Lower Carboniferous species of plants. They have been collected from the 
counties of Mid- Lothian, West- Lothian, Lanark, and Stirling, their horizon being not far below 
the line which has been drawn between the Upper and Lower Carboniferous Floras in accordance 
with the determinations of Dr Kidston. 
The remarkable feature of this research is the recognition in the Scottish collection of a 
lamellibranch fauna of which quite 50 per cent, of the species are new to Europe, and which closely 
resembles the lamellibranch fauna of the Coal Measures of Nebraska and Illinois of North America. 
The most striking member of the fauna is the shell Prothyris elegans (Meek), this being the first 
occurrence of the genus in the Carboniferous rocks of Great Britain. Dr Hind’s researches show 
that it is impossible to distinguish any characters sufficient to separate the Scottish and American 
species from each other. 
He has also shown that the gasteropods in this collection bear a strong relation to those of the 
North American fauna, several species being regarded as identical with those figured and described 
from the Coal Measures of Nebraska. He has also noted that the brachiopods belong to a late 
period of Carboniferous time. 
Although the Keith Prize has been awarded to Dr Hind for this special research, we must not 
