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 724 SHORT CONTRIBUTIONS TO VARIOUS WORKS,

suggested that the original was probably a succulent com- pound berry, the seeds appearing to have been imbedded in a pulpy substance, like the fruit of a mulberry, which is a spurious compound berry, formed by a partial union of the enlarged and fleshy calyces, each enclosing a dry membranous pericarp. — Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. ii, p. 54 (1846).

The President exhibited portions of trunks of Winter's- bark trees from the Straits of Magellan, cut down in 1826 by Capt. P. P. King, R.N., offering inscriptions made through the bark by a midshipman who accompanied the Spanish expedition under Captain Cordoba in 1786, and by one of the companions of Captain Bougainville in 1767 ; the annual rings in the former case distinctly corresponding with the interval between 1786 and 1826. He also made some observations on the structure of the woody vessels of the genus. — Proc. Linn. Soc, ii, p. 95 (June 18, 1850).

The President exhibited specimens of stems of Kingia australis, R. Br., and Xanthorrhosa arborca, R. Br., together with drawings of the former illustrative of its structure, especially of the siliceous covering of the vascular fasciculi of the persistent bases of the leaves ; and in both genera, the means by which the stems are protected from the scorch- ing fires of the natives. — Proc. Linn. Soc, ii, p. 113 — 4 (Feb. 4, 1851).

The President exhibited specimens of the three known species of Bafflesia {B. Arnoldi, B. Patma, and B. Cum- ingii, particularly with the view of showing that they are all three dioecious. — Proc. Linn. Soc, ii, p. 128 (April 15, 1851).

The President exhibited numerous specimens of recent and fossil Cycadece. Among these was a fine specimen of a new species (Cycadites Saxbyanus, R.Br.) found in the Isle of Wight by Mr. Saxby, of Bonchurch. The President remarked, that all the specimens of Cycadites hitherto found

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