216 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
of Peziza coronaria. Mr. Wilkinson exhibited a fine specimen of 
proliferous daisy, Beilis prolifera , having seventeen flowerets. Mr. W. 
R. Hughes exhibited the English portion of Mr. Herbert Spencer’s 
“ Table of Descriptive Sociology.” Mr. W. Morley exhibited a 
number of ferns from the fernery of the late Mr. J. Morley. 
The President exhibited two larvae, and read a communication 
concerning them from Mr. Lloyd Bozwani, of Worcester. Mr. F. J. 
Cullis, lion. sec. of the section, read the second part of his paper on 
Dr. John Fiske’s “ Cosmic Philosophy.” Fifteen members present.— 
Ordinary meeting, Tuesday, July 24th. Mr. W. R. Hughes, F.L.S., in 
the chair. Mrs. Browett exhibited Peziza coronaria from a garden. 
Mr. Hughes exhibited a species of saw fly, found in imported timber 
used at Hamstead Colliery. Mr. Stone exhibited specimens of young 
furze ( TJlex Earopeus), showing the transition from the tripartite 
leaves that appear immediately above the cotyledons to the charac¬ 
teristic spines. Eight members present. 
BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ 
UNION.—June 18th. Mr. J. Collins gave a report of a visit made on 
the previous Saturday afternoon by members and friends to Hamstead 
Park, by the kind permission of George Kynoch, Esq., M.P, when many 
interesting objects were taken. Mr. J. Madison reported 28 species of 
slugs and snails. Mr. Hawkes showed a fungus Pilobolus Kleinii ; Mr. 
J. Moore, a specimen of Dytiscus marginalis, covered with vorticella; 
Mr. Madison, Avion ater, var. rufa. —June 25th. Mr. Corbet showed 
pebbles from the drift, containing parts of Phacops candatus; Mr. 
Sutton, root-galls of oak ; Mr. J. W. Neville, the butterfly orchis, 
Habenaria hi folia. Under the microscope : Mr. H. Hawkes, a marine 
alga, Galliblepharis ciliata; Mr. Moore, sections of butcher’s broom ; 
Mr. J. W. Neville, leaf of Deutzia corymbosa , compared with that of D. 
scabra. —July 2nd. Mr. H. Hawkes exhibited JEcidium geranii from 
Llandudno ; Mr. Hopkins, a collection of shells from Hamstead Park ; 
Mr. J. Madison, a specimen of Helix arbustorum , var. albinus , from near 
Thorpe.—July 9th. Mr. J. Collins read a paper on “ Plant Hairs and 
their Modifications.” The writer said, on careful consideration we 
should find this subject a most important one, particularly to the 
microscopist. He should have to refer to hairs of various kinds, 
including prickles, scales, glands, &c. The first form of hair is of 
papillose structure. Many hairs are short-lived, and are not found on 
mature plants. The modifications of hairs for useful purposes are 
many and interesting, and were described under the following heads :— 
Root hairs, as the only organs capable of absorbing nutriment; 
hairs of stem as prickles which soon die, not being found on old stems, 
and hairs of leaves. They doubtless existed as a protection from 
extremes of temperature, from drought, from the injurious effects of 
foreign matter, and from the ravages of animals. The hairs of floral 
organs were even more beautiful than those just referred to, and were 
useful in connection with insects’ visits. Glandular hairs are very 
common on flowers, and are a defence to the organs. The paper 
concluded by referring to the theory of the Rev. G. Henslow on the 
origin of plant hairs (that as they grow where they are of most use, 
they are the result of irritation to the parts) as a feasible one, and 
trusted many present would be stimulated to observe these interesting 
objects. The paper was illustrated by a series of slides under the 
microscope.—July 16th. Mr. J. W. Neville exhibited specimens of 
Lingula attenuata and other fossils from the Llandeilo formation. Mr. 
Corbet, Ammonites Johnstoni and other fossils from Wilmcote. 
