64 
The London Botanical Society. 
from the various groups of plants, of the process of cortication of 
the stem by means of leaves. Among the Phycophytes Chara 
exhibits a striking illustration of the phenomenon. As do also the 
Mosses among the Bryophytes; yet in Chara coronata and C. stelligera 
and all Nitellas axial internodes are present from the earliest stage 
omvards, and no cortication is possible. Of the Pteridophytes 
excellent examples are afforded by Equisetum and Selaginella. 
But perhaps the most remarkable and at the same time familiar 
instance of the phenomenon is revealed by the Coniferae ; one 
section, however, the Abietineae differs from the rest in the fact 
that the foliar base (“ Blattkissen ”) here has a mixed origin, its 
lower portion arising from the axis, and its upper, broader portion 
from the leaf base; the former is already present at an early stage 
of the young bud, the latter is first formed on elongations of the 
axis. As regards the Phanerogams several cases, both from the 
literature and our author’s own observations, are cited, in which the 
apical buds exhibit complete contact between the young-leaf rudi¬ 
ments and subsequent cortication of the stem by the extension of 
their bases. 
Finally, he points out that further investigations are needed in 
order to shew whether there may not be cases in which, as in some 
Charas and the Nitellas, contact between the young bases, and 
cortication by the early-formed stem-segments (“ Stengelglieder ”) 
do not occur. For this purpose plants like the Cactaceae, pos¬ 
sessing rudimentary foliar organs are recommended. 
W.C.W. 
THE LONDON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 
T HE February Meeting of this Society was held in the Biological 
lecture-room, Royal College of Science, on Monday, 16th ult. 
The Secretary, Professor Farmer, shewed an interesting 
series of lantern-slides from photographs taken by himself in the 
autumn of 1902, illustrating the vegetation of certain districts of 
Ontario, Canada. Several were of the litoral flora of Lake Ontario. 
One of the most striking shewed magnificent plants of the common 
silverweed (Potentilla anserina) binding the loose sand of the lake 
shore. 
Dr. F. E. Fritsch read a paper on “ Recent Discoveries of Caout¬ 
chouc in Plants.” Most of the substance appeared in the last number 
of the New Phytoeogist (Vol. II., No. 2, pp. 25-30). The possible 
