VOL. i11.] Notes on Fertilization. | sit. 
for. 1 am unable, however, to give the length of the body and tail 
separately. The skin was measured ina straight line, and was of 
course somewhat stretched. The scalp was left on. The fur was of 
atawny yellowcolor. Mr. Kennedy says thatthe puma is often met with 
on the Penasco, and states that the above-named Mr: Newman and 
a Mr. Wm. York have killed a great many in that region, the skins 
having been shipped by Mr. Kennedy to St. Louis, where they 
rarely brought more than $1.00 apiece. The average length of the 
skins, Mr. Kennedy states, is from seven to eight feet to tip of tail ; 
but he asserts that he has received two or three which were over 
eleven feet long. 
The government offers a bounty of $5.00 on the puma in this ter- 
ritory, and therefore the skins brought in usually lack the scalp. 
NOTES ON FERTILIZATION. 
BY ALICE J. MERRITT. 
TRICHOSTEMA LANCEOLATUM Benth. The tube of the corolla is 
so bent back upon itself as to pretty effectually exclude small insects 
that could otherwise enter. Ants small enough to pass through the 
tube, were it not for the troublesome corner, are often seen upon the 
plants; but, though many flowers were examined to determine the 
method of fertilization, only one minute insect was found which had 
succeeded in reaching the nectar. The dusty color of the foliage 
renders this plant inconspicuous to a marked degree, but the bees 
seem to find it readily, aided doubtless by the strong odor, which 
probably warns grazing animals of its disagreeable taste. The bee 
whose visits were watched is an Anthophora. As it alights on the 
lower lip, its weight instantly straightens the tube, and brings the 
long curved stamens and pistil against its back with sufficient force 
to discharge much pollen. A bee too small to be struck by the 
stamens would have too short a tongue to reach the nectar. The 
anthers shed their pollen before the stigma matures, so that the bee, 
in passing from the younger flowers near the top of the stem to the 
more mature flowers at the bottom of the next cluster, is sure to 
effect cross fertilization. . It is uncertain whether the stigmas mature 
soon enough to be fertilized by their own pollen should cross fer- 
tilization fail. 
