EXTRACTS OF PROCEEDINGS. 
lxXXY 
on the flower and only escape with the loss of their proboscis, 
as was seen in the specimen exhibited. Mr. Hemsley called 
attention to the circumstance that this curious faculty was 
described and illustrated in the Belgique Horticole and in the 
Flore des Serves , tom xvii., p. 137. 
Bamboo penetrated by Borer. —Mr. MacLachlan, alluding to 
the attempts to utilise the Bamboo for paper-making in this 
country by Mr. Routledge, of Sunderland, showed specimens of 
Bamboo received from Demerara perforated by some wood-boring 
beetle belonging to the Bostricliidae. Some conversation ensued 
as to the u“se of the Bamboo for paper-making. 
Orchis hircina .—The Rev. H. Harpur-Crewe showed a dried 
flowering stem of this plant, from his garden, measuring between 
4 and 5 feet. 
Plants Exhibited. —Mr. Elwes showed cut specimens in bloom 
of a Bomarea which was so hardy as to resist 9° of frost with 
impunity. Specimens of Senecio pulcher flowering for the second 
time this season were exhibited, as also specimens of Hedychium 
heteromallum and Gladiolus hirsutus, which flowers, like the 
Colchicums, before the leaves are developed. 
A Botanical Certificate was awarded to Mr. C. Green, gardener 
to Sir Geo. Macleay, for Hoplophytum calyculatum, and a vote of 
thanks was also awarded to the same gentleman for a fruiting 
plant of Nidularium triste. 
Pods of Lilium. —Mr. S. Jennings showed pods of L. auratum 
and of L. giganteum, to show how the valves of the pods were, as 
it were, tied together for some time after opening, in order that 
the seeds might mature. 
Trees Affected by Lightning .—A communication was read from 
Mr. T. H. Lewis with reference to the notion that certain trees 
are more affected than others by lightning, Cedar of Lebanon 
and Beech being rarely struck, while Oaks, Yews, and Lombardy 
Poplars are frequently so. Numerous instances were cited by 
various members of injury done to trees by lightning without 
disruption, the leaves being completely scorched. Dr. Bennett, 
of Sydney, mentioned a similar occurrence as having come under 
his observation at Sydney in the case of Araucaria imbricata. 
Larch Disease. —Mr. Elwes drew attention to this disease, and 
to the difficulty of growing the tree on soil and in localities 
similar to those in which years ago the trees used to thrive. 
