PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
41 
Measures near Bolton-le-Moor,” by Dr. Black. This fossil, when first exposed 
in the quarry, was about thirty feet long, but when it was examined by Dr. 
Black only twelve feet remained in situ , the thicker end of which was about 
fifteen inches in diameter, and the thinner end nine inches. It traversed three 
strata, and was inclined at an angle of 18° to the north-east, the strata dipping 
from 12° to 15° to the south-west, or in an opposite direction. The interior of 
the stem consisted of a finely-grained Sandstone mixed with carbonaceous matter, 
Clay and Oxide of Iron; and the surface was singularly striated and furrowed, as 
if from contraction or pressure, and was generally coated with a layer of Coal. 
Along the whole length of the fossil was attached, and in some places apparently 
imbedded in the bark, a S'ternbergia, about an inch in diameter. The allocation 
of these two plants formed the principal object of Dr. Black’s communication ; 
and he has been induced to infer, from the condition of the fossils, that the 
Sternbergia was not accidentally placed in juxta-position with the larger stem, but 
that it was originally a parasite, resembling, in this respect, the mighty creepers 
of tropical regions. 
2nd, “ On the distribution of Organic Remains in the strata of the Yorkshire 
Coast,” by Mr. W illiamson. 
ROYAL SOCIETY. 
Mag 31.— Davies Gilbert, Esq., V.-P., in the chair.—The only paper read 
in relation to Natural History was the following:— 
“ An Experimental Inquiry into the Influence of Nitrogen on the growth of 
Plants,” by Robert Rigg, Esq. 
The author, after briefly alluding to a former paper laid before the Royal 
Society, describing the chemical changes which occur during the germination of 
seeds, and during some of the decompositions of vegetable matter, proceeds, in 
the present paper, to trace a connection between the phenomena exhibited during 
the growth of plants and the direct agency of nitrogen. The experiments by 
which the author supports his views are arranged in separate tables, so drawn 
out as to indicate, in about 120 vegetable substances, not only the quantities of 
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and residual matter, but also the quantity 
of nitrogen in each compound, when compared with 1,000 parts by weight of 
carbon in the same substance. The most important of these tables are those 
which exhibit the chemical constitution of the germs, cotyledons, and rootlets of 
seeds; the elements of the roots and trunks of trees, and the characters of the 
various parts of plants, especially of the leaves, at different periods of their growth. 
From this extensive series, which is stated to form but a small portion of the 
experiments made by the author in this department of chemical research, it 
appears that nitrogen and residual matter are invariably the most abundant in 
VOL. iv.— no. xxv. g 
