not been superheated, or had been contaminated by water which had not been boiled. Bacteria were shown not to exist in the air under ordinary circumstances. Water was shown to be the primary source from which the germinal particles of Bacteria are derived, whenever they seem to originate in the organic solutions experimented with. This conclusion was satisfactorily demonstrated by impregnating organic solutions (which otherwise could be kept indefinitely barren of all organisms) with a drop or two of ordinary water, whereupon, in the course of a week, the development of Bacteria manifested itself in the clearest manner to the naked eye. This zymotic property (i. e. the faculty of determining the development of organic forms in a test solution to which it is added) is not possessed by all kinds of water in a like degree. Distinct degrees of opalescence (due to Bacteria chiefly) are manifested in Pasteur's solution when eprouvettes, charged with a given quantity of boiled Pasteur's solution, are impregnated with equal quantities of water from different Sources. Even ordinary distilled water was never found to be free from Bacteria germs. This was attributed to contamination with other water, or improperly cleaned receptacles. Filtration seems to have no appreciable influence on the zymotic property of water. From the most careful and repeated examination of water proved to be zymotic, it was found that such waters often contain no elements or particles which can be detected by the microscope. Experiments were made with optically pure water as in the sense used by Prof. Tyndall, or so nearly optically pure, that the electric beam in passing through it displays a blue colour; such water obtained by the fusion of ice was shown to be as zymotic as many other varieties of water, which in the beam are seen to be full of light-scattering particles. Microzymes and their germs are deprived of vitality by thorough desiccation; they are likewise killed by permanganate of potash, ozone, carbolic acid in the proportion of 5 per cent. of the liquid, sulphate of quinia in the same proportion, peroxide of hydrogen, and chlorine. Torula and Penicillium, however, flourished in solutions which were fatal to Bacteria. When an albuminous or saccharine fluid is superheated (i. c. above 100° C.), it does not support microzyme life. Experiments were made to determine whether the liquids and tissues of the living body participate in the zymotic property possessed by microzymes. It was shown that blood, fresh tissues, urine, milk, white of egg, pus from deep-seated abscesses, were free from microzymes, and further, that these tissues and fluids could be kept indefinitely free from all traces of decomposition if proper precautions were taken to preserve them from external contamination. It was further shown that the slightest contact with ordinary water, or surfaces cleaned in the ordinary manner, was sufficient to set up septic changes in these tissues and liquids. It was therefore concluded that if microzymes are not the only cause of putrefaction, yet their presence is sufficient to set it up in liquids which otherwise manifested no tendency to septic changes. In regard to contagious liquids, few experiments had yet been made. Only in reference to pyæmic pus an experiment had been made; it was found full of Bacteria. From numerous facts and observations made during the progress of the inquiry, it was concluded that there is no developmental connexion between Bacteria and Torula, and that their apparent association is merely one of juxtaposition. This conclusion is a direct contradiction to the botanical doctrines on which Hallier's theory of contagion is founded. On the Establishment of Local Museums. By T. B. GRIERSON. The establishment of local museums was pointed out as a means of giving a taste for learning and science to the people, for which, in the smaller towns and rural districts, there was no provision. Collections could readily be made; and in every district objects of interest would be met with, which a local museum would be the means of saving and bringing to light. Persons commissioned by scientific societies or one of the central institutions should make periodic visitations, and aid by advice and otherwise. If an arrangement of this kind were extended all over the country, a knowledge of science would exist among the people, of which they are at present altogether destitute. The author entered upon some details of the system he proposed. BOTANY. On the Cultivation of Ipecacuanha in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden for transmission to India. By Professor BALFOUR, F.R.SS. L. & E. Ipecacuanha is a valuable remedy for dysentery, and has been administered in large doses with decided benefit by medical men in India. The cultivation of the plant, however, owing to the rashness or carelessness of collectors and other causes, has failed to a certain extent in South America; and unless means can be taken for more extended cultivation, it seems probable that the quantity of Ipecacuanha might be insufficient for medicinal purposes, and its price might rise in the market to such an extent as to interfere with its general use. In these circumstances the Secretary of State for India (His Grace the Duke of Argyll) applied to the Directors of the Botanic Gardens in Britain with the view of ascertaining whether a sufficient stock of plants could be procured for exportation to India with the view of cultivation there for medicinal purposes. In the Edinburgh Botanic Garden there were some specimens of the plant which had been cultivated for forty years or more, and it was found by Mr. McNab that these could be easily multiplied by making sections of the root or rhizome. A description of the method pursued was read to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, and separate copies were printed for the use of the India Office. The plant in the Garden was the same as that described by Sir William Hooker, and figured in the 'Botanical Magazine.' The supply from this source was obviously not sufficient for the purposes which the India Office had in view, and the time required for propagation would be too long. Accordingly, Professor Balfour and Dr. Christison wrote to a previous Graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Gunning, residing at Palmeiras, near Rio Janeiro, and induced him to take an interest in the matter. He entered cordially into their proposals, and very soon sent to the Botanic Garden boxes containing fresh plants. Although several of them suffered in the transit, owing to the mode of packing and the want of attention during the voyage, still a considerable number reached the Garden in a state fit for propagation after the method pursued by Mr. McNab. By this process a large stock of between 200 and 300 plants was secured. Of these, a considerable number have been transmitted to India successfully in a Wardian case. A figure of this case was given in Mr. McNab's published report. By the method employed, the small pots containing the plants were carefully secured, so that the case might even be turned upside down without injury. The plant sent by Dr. Gunning differs in some particulars from that formerly in cultivation in the Botanic Garden, more espe cially as regards the form of its leaves. The old plant has leaves of a firmer texture, more or less elliptical, and somewhat wavy at the margin, and the stem suffruticose. The plant also flowers readily after a year's growth. The recent plant sent by Dr. Gunning resembles more the form figured by Martius. leaves are more delicate and pointed, its stem not so shrubby, and it has not yet produced flowers. There may be two varieties of the plant. The full determination of this must be reserved till the Rio Janeiro plants come into flower. Its The drawings which were exhibited show the character of both varieties, so far as they can be at present represented from the specimens in the Botanic Garden. The drawings show the form of the leaves and stems, the character of the stipules and glands, the stomata and hairs of the leaves, and the microscopical structure of the stems and rhizomes. The subject has been brought under the notice of the Meeting with the view of calling attention to the cultivation of a plant which, like Cinchona, is highly *The case exhibited to the Meeting showed the arrangement. valuable as a medicinal agent, and which, without due care and attention on the part of collectors, might ultimately become scarce or be eradicated in its native country. On the Flora of Greenland. By ROBERT BROWN, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.G.S. An account of researches on the Phyto-geographical aspect of the Greenland flora compared with that of other portions of the arctic regions, the causes which conduced to it, and most general facts relating to the arctic flora, chiefly in relation to Dr. Hooker's classical memoir on the subject in the Linnean Transactions (vol. xxv.). On the Geographical Distribution of the Floras of North-west America. By ROBERT BROWN, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.G.S. After studying the subject for nearly four years, during travels through all parts of the country to the west of the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Brown considered that instead of one homogenous flora in North-west America there are in reality five, viz. (1) The great flora of the region to the west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada Mountains. (2) The flora between this range and the Rocky Mountains. (3) The Montane flora on the summits of the mountains about 4000 feet, chiefly arctic. (4) The flora of the Colorado descent. (5) The Athabascan flora, or the flora to the country. On Specimens of Fossil-wood from the Base of the Lower Carboniferous Rocks at Langton, Berwickshire. By the Rev. THOMAS BROWN. Suggestions on Fruit Classification. By Professor A. DICKSON. On the minute Anatomy of the Stem of the Screw-Pine, Pandanus utilis. By W. T. THISELTON DYER, B.A., B.Sc., Professor of Botany in the Royal College of Science for Ireland. Except that the tissues are less indurated, the general structure of the stem and the arrangement of the fibro-vascular bundles resemble that met with in palms. The bundles, however, are somewhat remarkable from containing vessels which belong to the scalariform type. In a transverse section these bundles are seen to become smaller towards the circumference and more condensed, forming a well-defined boundary to the narrow cortical portion of the stem. The bundles are, however, continued through the cortical portion, but are reduced to little more than a thread of prosenchyma. In the cortex there are numerous large cells containing raphides: these also occur in the rest of the stem, but are less frequent. Crystals of another kind are found in connexion with the fibro-vascular bundles. These are contained each in a square-shaped cell, forming part of a string or chain. A number of these strings or chains are distributed round the circumference of each fibrovascular bundle; they are especially abundant in its cortical continuation, as they do not suffer a degradation proportionate to that of the other constituent tissues. This peculiar arrangement of crystal-bearing cells seems probably unique. The crystals are four-sided prisms with pyramidal apices. They are almost certainly composed of calcium oxalate, though they are too minute and isolated with too much difficulty to allow of their satisfactory examination. On the so-called 'Mimicry' in Plants. By W. T. THISELTON DYER, B.A., B.Sc., Professor of Botany in the Royal College of Science for Ireland. In all large natural families of plants there is a more or less distinctly observable general habit or facies, easily recognizable by the practised botanist, but not always as easily to be expressed in words. The existence of such a general habit in legu minous and composite plants is familiar to every one. What have been hitherto spoken of as mimetic plants are simply cases where a plant belonging to one family puts on the habit characteristic of another. This is entirely different from mimicry among animals, inasmuch as the resembling plants are hardly ever found with those they resemble, but more usually in widely different regions. Mutisia speciosa from Western South America, a Composite, has a scandent leguminous habit closely agreeing with that of Lathyrus maritimus of the European shores. In the same way three different genera of ferns have species (found in distant parts of the world) indistinguishable in a barren state. The term Mimicry seems objectionable in these cases, and the author proposes Pseudomorphism as a substitute. As to the cause of the phenomenon, he can only suggest that the influence of similar external circumstances moulds plants into the similar form most advantageous to them. An illustration is afforded by the closely resembling bud scales which are found in widely separated natural orders of deciduous trees as modifications of stipules. The author does not, however, think that the moulding influence need always be the same. He believes that different external conditions may produce the same result; in this respect they may be called analogous. Several identical plants are found on the sea-shore and also on mountains; perhaps the reason is that they are equally able to tolerate the effect of soda salts and also of mountain climate. The tolerance of either unfavourable condition gives them the advantage over less elastically constituted plants, and both are therefore analogous in their effects. On Spiranthes Romanzoviana, Cham. By A. G. MORE, F.L.S., M.R.I.A. In exhibiting some living specimens of this rare Irish orchid, Mr. More called attention to their delicious perfume. He had gathered the plant near Castletown, Berehaven, where it was in full flower about the 15th of July. It grows in grassy meadows, and also in rather boggy ground bordering on the sea, and is found in so many different fields that there is no present fear of its becoming extinct. On Eriophorum alpinum, Linn., as a British Plant. By A. G. MORE, F.L.S., M.R.I.A. Eriophorum alpinum had, a few years ago, been announced as an Irish plant on faith of some specimens forwarded to Dr. Moore by Mr. J. Sullivan of Cork, who reported that they had been gathered on the banks of a mountain-lake near Millstreet, county Cork. Subsequent investigation had, however, caused considerable doubts as to the correctness of this information; for both Mr. More himself and Dr. Moore had on two different occasions made a most careful search on the borders of Gurthaveha Lake without finding a trace of Eriophorum alpinum; and they now believe that Scirpus cæspitosus, whose spikes are often slightly woolly with the growth of the bristles, was gathered by the side of the lake, and probably some mistake was afterwards made in transmitting the specimens, which belong to the right plant. With regard to the supposed Scottish locality in Sutherland, Dr. Balfour authorized him to say that he had always felt some slight doubt about the single specimen found in his herbarium; and this doubt was much increased on seeing the striking similarity of this specimen to others also belonging to the University Herbarium, and which were certainly collected in Forfarshire, rendering it highly probable that a piece of E. alpinum had by some accident been mixed with Dr. Balfour's specimens of Scirpus cæspitosus, or that a label had been inadvertently exchanged. Hence he believed that Eriophorum alpinum must, for the present, be erased altogether from the British flora. On the Development of Fungi within the Thorax of Living Birds*. By Dr. JAMES MURIE, F.L.S., F.G.S. The author referred to the circumstance of lowly organized vegetable structures This paper will be published in full, with a Plate, in the Trans. Roy. Micros. Soc., vol. vii. 1871. 9 being not unfrequently found growing in animals and man, both externally and internally. For the most part these affected the skin, giving rise to several cutaneous diseases. They also flourished in the alimentary canal; and among others, one peculiar form (Sarcina) had been described by the late Professor Goodsir from the human stomach. In nearly though not in all instances where vegetable organisms flourished within the living body, it was in organs where a certain amount of air had free access. It was more difficult to account for the cases where vegetable parasites arose in, so to speak, closed cavities. The instances which the author brought forward as coming under his observation were three in number, viz. a fungus-like growth in the abdomino-pleural membrane of a Kittiwake gull, Rissa tridactyla (Linn.), a great white-crested cockatoo, Cacatua cristata (Linn.), and a rough-legged buzzard, Archibuteo lagopus (Gm.). After a general description of the specimens in question, he referred to them as in some way bearing upon those doctrines whereby living organisms were supposed to originate out of the tissues themselves. Other weighty reasons undoubtedly might be given to the contrary; but as every fact, either furnishing doubtful evidence of, or opposed to the spontaneous generation theory, might be useful at the present juncture, the author thought a record of such worthy of being brought before the Association. On the Changes which occur in Plants during the ripening of the Seeds, in order to ensure the access of the Air and Light as well as Heat, which are generally requisite for this purpose, without the loss of the Seeds before the ripening is completed. By J. BIRKBECK NEVINS, M.Ď. Lond., F.B.S. Ed. In the poppy the capsule becomes erect because the valves are at the summit of the seed-vessel, whilst in Campanulaceae the seed-vessels droop, because the valves are at the base of the capsule, except in the case of the C. persicifolia, which has an erect capsule, the valves being at the summit. In the Primulaceae the drooping flower becomes an erect capsule in ripening, except in the Cyclamen, which ripens its seed in the ground, and therefore droops until the capsule is buried in the earth, after which its capsule opens at its apex downwards. The Anagallis, which has always a closed seed-vessel, ripens with the capsule in various directions. In the Stellarias, which are summer flowers, the flower is erect, as well as the capsules, the period of inflorescence being favourable to ripening. And in Composites, which flower in summer, the same is observed; whilst in the Coltsfoot and the African marigold, which ripen their seeds under difficulties, various changes of position occur, to shelter the immature seeds from injury from the weather. The Ranunculaceæ, Malvaceae, Scrophulariaceæ, and several others were passed under review, and their various changes pointed out, which had the object in view of promoting the ripening of the seeds without premature loss from the seed-vessels. On the Nature of the Cruciferous fruit, with reference to the Replum. The replum is a direct prolongation of the stem, which produces the seeds without the intervention of carpellary leaves; as is also the case in the Coniferæ. After having produced the seeds, the stem bears two leafy organs, which are directed downwards, and adhere by their apices to the stem, below the point from which the seeds spring, and thus close in the seed-vessel, which therefore consists of a stem bearing the seeds (the replum) and two external leafy organs (the valves). When ripening commences, the apices of these deflected leaves separate from the stem, until at last they are entirely detached, and fall off at their articulation with the stem, leaving the seeds still adherent along the edges of the stem in four rows. The replum is therefore not a dissepiment derived in any way from the carpellary leaves, but simply a seed-bearing stem, flattened and thinned in the central part (the pith) until it is transparent. In accordance with this view, the venation of the valves is that of a leaf turned downwards, being directed towards the base of the |