Aug., 1890 . 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
189 
Hughes in the chair. Mr. Chas. A. Loxton was elected a member of 
the society. Mr. W. H. Wilkinson exhibited a geranium blossom 
three times proliferous, the lower cluster of blossoms being mixed 
with small leaves. Mr. Herbert Stone exhibited, for Miss Gingell, 
some beautiful specimens of Bee and Frog Orchis, Ophrys apifera and 
Habennria viridis, from Dursley. Gloucestershire.— Geological Section. 
July 15th. Mr. T. H. Waller, B.A., B.Sc., in the chair. Exhibition 
of specimens : Mr. J. E. Bagnall, on behalf of Miss Gingell, Orobavche 
rubra , Monotropa hypopitys, and variegated leaves of Ulmus. Mr. 
Udall, specimens of various minerals, put at the disposal of members 
of the section by Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E.; Campanula media, 
with calyx becoming petaloid.— Sociological Section. July 22nd. 
Mr. W. R. Hughes, F.L.S., in the chair. Mr. Hughes exhibited, for 
Mr. Harry Heaton, specimens of abnormal foxglove, Digitalis 
purpurea , being an example of synanthy in which the terminal flower 
was cup-shaped, formed from the union of several ordinary blossoms. 
Mr. W. H. Wilkinson also showed, under the microscope, a section of 
the carpel, or seed vessel, of a large blossom of a similar kind, in which 
about thirty clusters of seeds could be seen, occupying the place of two 
clusters in the normal flower. Mr. W. H. Wilkinson exhibited a 
blossom of the African marigold, which had produced nine smaller 
blossoms, each on a stem, grouped around the central blossom, some 
of which were double, some semi-double and others single. 
BIRMINGHAM MICROSCOPISTS’ AND NATURALISTS’ 
UNION. June 23rd. Mr. Hopkins exhibited a curiously distorted 
specimen of Limncca stagnalis ; Mr. H. Hawkes, JEci'dium urticce with 
cups of abnormal length ; Mr. J. W. Neville, skin of Australian fish, 
Monocathus gramdatus. —June 30th. Mr. J. W. Neville showed speci¬ 
mens of I\Ionograptus Sedgwickii, a fossil of Llandovery age, from 
Wales; also specimens of Spinda Peronii, from the Indian Ocean ; Mr. J. 
Madison, fossil corals from Carboniferous limestone, Wellington; Mr. 
G. H. Corbett, quartz crystals containing cavities filled with gaseous 
or liquid substances ; also a few fossils from the Cambridge greensand ; 
Mr. Cardwell, thrush’s eggs showing a striking difference in colour, 
the spots of one being on the thin end ; Mr. Parker, Calcite crystals 
and galena. Under the microscope, Mr. J. Moore showed sections of 
fossil woods.—July 7th. Mr. J. Collins exhibited fossil ferns, &c., from 
Oldbury ; also, for Mr. Deakin, a collection of plants from Bourne¬ 
mouth ; Mr. Hawkes, for the editor of “The Naturalists’ Gazette,” 
plants from Penzance ; Mr. Linton, a monstrosity of Plantago media, 
the flower stalk being surmounted by a cluster of foliage leaves in 
place of the flower spike. Mr. H. Spears then read a paper on “Some 
Modern Aspects of the Developmental Theory.” The writer first called 
attention to some of the earlier philosophers who bad foreshadowed 
the great modern theory of evolution, amongst whom were Aristotle 
and later Erasmus Darwin. Buffon hinted there might be some im¬ 
portance in the theory, whilst Linmeus, on the other hand, saw no 
reason to doubt the permanency of species. France first, in the person 
of Lamarck, introduced to the world in a tangible form the theory of 
the evolution of the higher from the lower forms of organic 
life. But it was not till 1858 that serious attention was 
given to the subject, through the works of Charles 
Darwin. The diligent labours of Darwin, Wallace, Herbert 
Spencer, Romanes, Grant Allen, and others, were referred to at some 
length. Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection and the survival of the 
fittest was very carefully expounded.—July 14th. Mr. J. A. Grew 
