88 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
And as to the re-production of the animal, he believes that it is a strictly internal 
gemmiferous process, in the course of which the gemmules burst their envelope, 
and escape into the interseptal spaces, where they receive that constant supply of 
sea-water which is necessary to their development. In proof of this opinion, the 
young of the small Actinia which abounds on our coast ( Actina equina') are 
found in the interseptal spaces, and not in the stomach, where the filaments 
terminate. 
Mr. Gray drew attention to the circumstance of Mr. Teale living in the centre 
of the island and yet having produced a paper on a sea animal in which its structure 
was developed more perfectly than in the researches of Ehrenberg, Spix, and 
others. The Rev. F. W. Hope having inquired how Mr. Teale preserved his 
specimens, the latter stated that specimens were often injured by being placed in 
spirit when alive. He allowed them to become moribund, then divided them to 
prevent the secretions from hindering the action of the proof spirit into which he 
immersed them. This plan was applicable to all animals. 
Mr. Wallace read a paper on the inosculation of two trees of the same species. 
This is not an unfrequent occurrence, and therefore we shall not enter into par¬ 
ticulars. 
Dr. Bellingham forwarded a paper containing an account of a new species of 
Ascaris , which he proposed to call A. alata. Its most remarkable character was 
its posterior extremity being larger than the inferior. 
Capt. J. E. Cook, R.N., read a paper 45 On the geographical distribution of the 
genera Pinus and Abies A There were about 70 known species of these genera. 
They might be distributed into five groups:—1. Those of Old America, which 
included the United States, the Mississippi and Canada, with Labrador; 2. Those 
growing between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, in the district known by the 
name of the Rocky Mountains, and which might appropriately be called the 
44 Douglas group”; 3. The uplands of Mexico; 4. The Himalaya Mountains; 5. 
Europe. The first group contains about 20 species, producing only second-rate 
timber. The second contains about 15 species, and from those growing in 
England the best results might be anticipated from their introduction. 3. The 
species from Mexico are few, and at present little known. The fourth group was 
also little known. The last, the European series, is the most valuable. In this 
group the quality of the species is, as nearly as possible, in a direct ratio with the 
ability of the tree to resist cold ; all the best species being found in an extreme 
northern latitude, or in an equivalent situation on Mountains in the south : no 
valuable species at all being found on the shores of the Mediterranean or the 
Baltic. The highest place given in the European series is assigned to Pinus 
cembra , and P. uncinata , both of which grow in their respective Alpine and 
Pyrenean forests, above P. sylvestris , the Scotch Fir, and both excel it in the 
