80 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
—Section D, Zoology and Botany. Chairman, E. T. Mott, F.R.G.S. 
Evening Meeting, January 19tli; attendance, eleven (five ladies). 
The Chairman exhibited some charred wheat found by Mr. Ingram, 
of Belvoir Castle, in an ancient British granary dug in the ground 
near Belvoir, and read a short article by Mr. Worthington Smith, 
which appeared in the “Gardeners’ Chronicle,” comparing various 
examples of old British wheat found in similar granaries, with the 
wheat now sold in English markets, and concluding that in size of 
grain there was no conspicuous difference. The Chairman suggested 
that probably, however, there would be a considerable difference in 
the length of ear and number of grains, and pointed out that in the 
wild u'Epilops, from which wheat was supposed to have descended, 
the number of grains was very small in each ear.—The subject for 
discussion was “The relations between evergreen and deciduous 
plants.” The Chairman exhibited a number of twigs of each kind, 
showing that in evergreens these were usually more or less green even 
in winter, while in deciduous trees and shrubs they were mostly 
brown or blackish. He believed that the physiological difference 
related to the storage of reserve food material, and depended largely 
upon the climatal conditions under which each species had been 
evolved. Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A., gave an interesting account of 
the elaborate phenological observations which he had carried on at 
Marlborough for about twenty years, and exhibited several large and 
valuable diagrammatic tables, showing some of the remarkable results 
obtained by a comparison of the average temperature, rainfall, and 
sunshine, with the date of flowering of a number of wild plants.— 
Evening Meeting, Feb. 16. Attendance 10 (three ladies). The following 
objects were exhibited, viz., by Miss Sloane, two specimens of Leicester¬ 
shire plants from districts in which they are not recorded in the new 
County Flora. By E. F. Cooper, F.L.S., a collection of the seeds of 
grasses and other plants neatly put up in glass tubes, labelled, and 
arranged in trays. By Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A., a valuable diagram 
showing the daily amount of sunshine for every day in the year 1882 ; 
also two curious hygrometric plants, a Selaginella and “ The Rose of 
Jericho,” from the desert districts of Asia, which although apparently 
dead and juiceless, opened out when placed in a dish of water. Also 
two specimens of the “Globe Conferva,” Conferva cegagropila, each 
about 1£ inch diameter, and a ball of fir-leaves five inches in diameter, 
all from the famous Shropshire lakes. By the chairman, one of 
Baker’s Dissecting Microscopes, with which several of the younger 
members had a little practice in dissecting vegetable tissues. The 
chairman then introduced a discussion on “ The Biological Meaning 
andActionof a Stimulant,” which was well maintained by Dr. Tomkins, 
Dr. Cooper, Rev. T. A. Preston, Mr. E. F. Cooper, Mr. Overton, and 
Mr. Garnar. The problem to be solved was whether organic “ stimu¬ 
lation ” implies the release of potential energy, or the imparting of 
kinetic energy, or a combination of both, or some action not referable 
to the known laws of energy. The phenomena of stimulation by 
mechanical blows or friction, by radiant or conducted heat, by the 
prick of a needle, by galvanism, by food, and by camphor, ginger, 
alcohol, and opium, were all considered. The discussion was interesting 
and instructive, and it was felt that the problem was at present by no 
means ripe for solution. 
