354 Tta British Association at Birmingham . 
single large vascular bundle somewhat resembling that of Clepsy- 
dropsis or Asteroclilcena in form but with solid wood and external 
protoxylem, cortex differentiated into several distinct zones) ; 
Lepidostrobus devonicus n. sp. (the oldest known fructification with 
structure, axis of an ordinary Lepidostrobus type, sporangia with 
usual columnar wall, spores in tetrads). The high organisation of 
these early land-plants is remarkable, considering how little is 
known of the higher terrestrial animals at this period. A full 
account of these fossils is to be submitted shortly to the Royal 
Society. 
Mr. H. Hamshaw Thomas described a new type of Ginkgoalian 
leaf, from the Jurassic plant-bed of Cayton Bay, near Scarborough. 
These leaves are linear or oblanceolate in shape, with rounded or 
slightly bifurcated tips, short petioles, and dichotomising venation. 
The leaves are usually found in a mummified state ; they can be 
readily detached from the rock, and yield beautiful cuticular 
preparations. The form of the stomata and subsidiary cells is very 
similar to that of other Ginkgoalian leaves, while they possessed 
the secretory tracts between the veins as seen in the modern form. 
The epidermal cells possess very characteristic papillae. These 
leaves form the type of a new genus, Eretinophylluui , with two 
species, a second form having been found at Whitby. The 
specimens provide a further illustration of the importance of the 
Ginkgoales in the Mesozoic vegetation, while they are an example 
of the interesting preservation of some Yorkshire plants and of the 
importance of the study of cuticular structure. 
Physiological and Other Papers. 
Prof. J. Reinke read an interesting paper on “The Nature 
of Life.” The veteran Kiel botanist protested against the view 
that life can be interpreted merely mechanically, and urged that the 
greater the progress in experimental physiology, the better we learn 
to use our knowledge of non-living matter for the explanation of the 
processes of life, the more we understand that a complete physico¬ 
chemical analysis is impossible for any important life process. 
Behind all the physico-chemical facts ascertained by physiological 
studies there hides an unknown factor, “ an a not be solved by 
levers and screws and chemical reagents.” He maintained that 
although the laws of energy are valid in the organism as well as in 
unorganised nature, life being based on transformations of energy 
or “ elementary processes,” these processes are not thrown together 
without order in the living body, but are united by an invisible 
chain which maintains order among the elementary processes and 
represents the true difference between life and any event in lifeless 
nature. This “ life principle ” is, unlike the single elementary 
processes, inaccessible to physiological analysis; it is “ no force or 
power, it is a princible of succession, of order, of regulation, of 
harmony.” 
Prof. W. B. Bottomley described investigations to show that 
ammonium humate can supply the nitrogen need of plants if 
soluble phosphates and potassium salts are present in the culture 
