The Meeting of the British Association. 
217 
Ecological Papers. 
Professor H. H. W. Pearson’s paper describing his excursion 
to the “ Welwitschia-desert ” in German S.W. Africa was of great 
interest. This is of course the first thorough account we have had 
of this interesting plant in its native home. Two of the most 
interesting points brought out are the pollination of Welwitschia by 
a hemipterous insect and the inference from the non-occurrence of 
young plants in Damaraland that the conditions of germination 
must occur very rarely, and hepce that the species is probably 
doomed to extinction in its native habitat. Germination occurs 
readily enough under proper conditions, as is evident from the 
raising of numerous seedlings in this country from seeds sent home 
by Professor Pearson. 
Professor Yapp communicated some of the first results of his 
systematic study of the Ecology of Wicken Fen, showing that the 
distribution of hairiness of the leaves in the meadowsweet is 
correlated with the need of protection against over-transpiration 
both seasonally and also on each individual leaf. 
Mr. William Bell, the local Secretary of the section, read a 
paper on Charnwood Forest, illustrated by particularly beautiful 
lantern slides, in which, after a general description of the Forest, he 
traced the progress of enclosure and disforestation, and by 
comparison of early eighteenth century lists with present day 
records reached the result that while many bog and water plants 
have greatly lessened in numbers, and in some cases become extinct, 
woodland plants have decreased to a less extent, and pasture and 
arable plants have greatly increased. 
There was an excellent excursion to the Forest on Saturday, 
organised by Mr. Bell. In the course of some fourteen miles walk 
the members of the section visited Bardon Hill, Beacon Hill, 
Bradgate, and Groby Pool, and got a very good idea of the 
characteristic vegetation of several parts of the Forest still bearing 
woodland. The general type on the hills mentioned is the dry oak- 
wood with much Birch; Aiva flexuosa and associated plants form 
the undergrowth of the higher slopes, while Holcus mollis and Scilla 
are dominant at lower levels. 
Mendelism was represented by a paper read by Mr. Gregory 
on the inheritance of certain characters in Primula sinensis, which 
served to illustrate the complications of the simple Mendelian rules 
with which workers now have to deal. An excursion to Burbage to 
