59 



of which were originally described by Wellwitsch and Currey (Linn 

 irans. xxvi) from the southwest coast of Africa. As a whole, the 

 catalogue before us represents the results of a vast deal of labor on 

 tne part of the authors. We trust that they will continue the 

 work they have begun until they have made known to us the entire 

 mycological flora of the western coast of the United States. 



Prof. Lawson Tait, who has been making extensive researches on the 

 structure of Pitcher Plants," (including under this name Sarra- 

 cmta and Darhngtonia) is writing an instructive series of articles on 

 ttie subject for the Midland Naturalist, one of which occurs in the 

 March number, just received. 



Nature, March nth, prints an abstract of a paper read bv Dr 

 bieraens before the Royal Society, March 4th, on the influence' pro- 

 duced by the electric light on vegetation. Dr. Siemen's experiments 

 thus tar are but preliminary to other and more precise ones that are 

 soon to be undertaken, but their general result has shown that plants 

 exposed to the sunlight only, or to the electric light only, thrive about 

 equally ; while those exposed to sunlight first, and then to the elec- 

 tric light after sunset, surpass in vigor and rapidity of growth ^hose 

 submitted to solar light alone. These experiments are not only in- 

 structive in proving the sufficiency of electric light alone to produce 

 chlorophyll in the leaves of plants, and in promoting growth, but they 

 also go to prove the important fact that nightly repose is not abso- 

 lutely necessary for the life of plants. It may, however, be argued 



rrom analogy, that such repose is not necessary, seeing that annual 



crops grovy and ripen, and plants develop rich colors and aromas in a 

 wonderfully short space of time in the northern regions of Sweden," 

 worway, and Finland, where the summer does not exceed two months, 

 durmg which period the sun scarcely sets. 



^^ Science Gossip for March contains an article by J. Saunders, 

 Un Alternate Dehiscence of Anthers." In his work on "Insects 



J 



. i-ubbock states that the five polliniferousanth- 

 ^^^ ^\"qrmssia," ripen not simultaneously but successively, and as 

 each ripens it places itself right on top of the stigma, with its back to 

 It, and the pollen is then discharged from the anthers on the side 

 away from the stigma, so that it is scarcely possible for any to fall on 

 It, and this is done by the five stamens in succession." Mr. Saun- 

 ders, after careful observations made on upwards of two hundred 

 blossoms, arrives at the conclusion that a portion of this description is 

 scarcely correct. His own account of the phenomenon is as follows : 

 When the corolla expands, the stamens are recumbent on the 

 ovary and closely applied to it, forming a compact whorl on the 

 top of the stigma. First one of these anthers is slightly elevated, and 

 asjhe dehisence continues it is carried forward, describing an arc in 

 Its course, till the filament Hes extended between the petals. The 

 empty anther is suspended over the edge of the sepal, to which the 

 stamen is opposite, and soon falls off. These movements are repeated 

 by the stamens invariably in an inverse order, which may be ex- 

 pressed thus I I, and never in such a succession as would be repre- 

 sented by I \. Subset) uent observations showed that this alternate 



