260 
THE PRESERVATION OP NATIVE PLANTS. 
assume a pale transparent brown colour. Tlie same reagent 
causes the spores to swell up into a roundish mass, bounded 
only by a faint contour, while the colouring matter which 
was dissolved in the spore contents is reconcentrated in 
granules. 
Under this head I may place the curious dicliroism of 
the yellow colouring matter of the protoplasm, which by 
reflected light is of a pure golden yellow, but by transmitted 
light appears of a rich red or red brown tint. 
(To be continued.) 
THE PRESERVATION OE NATIVE PLANTS. 
We have been requested by the Hon. Secretary of the 
Midland Union of Natural History Societies (Mr. T. H. 
Waller, B.Sc.) to publish the following :— 
At a Meeting of the Management Committee of the Mid¬ 
land Union of Natural History Societies, held July BOtli, 1884, 
the subject of the extermination of rare plants was introduced 
by Mr. A. W. Wills, who read the paper which has since 
appeared in the Midland Naturalist, and the following resolu¬ 
tion relating to the Swiss Society mentioned in it was carried 
unanimously :—“ The Committee of the Midland Union of 
Natural History Societies, deeply regretting the extermination 
of many of the native plants of Switzerland, desires to express 
its sympathy with the Societe pour la Protection des Plantes, 
and to pledge the members of its own Societies to contribute, 
by all means in their power, to the cause of the preservation 
of the native flora of that glorious land which has been the 
resort and the delight of so many of themselves and of their 
countrymen.” 
Action on Plants of Rain, Dew, and Artificial Watering.— From 
numerous experiments by Professor J. Wiessner (Bied. Gentr. 1883, 
p. 471) it has been found that the moistened leaves of plants transpire 
much more freely than when they are in a dry condition; therefore a 
larger quantity of water is then withdrawn from the soil by the roots 
of the growing plants. Consequently if there is plenty of moisture in 
the ground the plants flourish, but if otherwise they droop and 
languish. From this fact the Professor argues that plants should not 
be watered on the leaf unless the soil is likewise moist. The small 
amount of extra transpiration induced by dew he thinks can do no 
harm, as it is almost certain that the ground will at the same time be 
sufficiently moist to supply to the growing plants the requisite amount 
of water. The action of rain is proved to be by far the most beneficial 
to the plant, as by its aid the supply of plant food becomes the most 
rapid.— Gardener's Chronicle. 
