60 



m 



ripening of anthers occurs also in Menyanthes trifoliata. In many in- 

 stances, in plants whose stamens are bicyclic, and thus double the 

 number of petals, the dehiscence of the outer whorl, or those opposite 

 the sepals, occurs first, and afterwards of the inner cycle or those 

 opposite the petals. In these instances the alternation is between the 

 cycles of the stamens, and agrees with the sequence of their develop- 

 ment. Examples of this are furnished by several species of Stdlaria^ 

 Saxifraga^ Epilobmtn^ and Lii turn. The other botanical articles'in this 

 number are " The Rose of Jericho," {Saulcya, not Anastatica,) by 

 T. E. Amyot, " List of Local Floras of Britain,'' by B. Hobson, and 

 *' Plant Rambles in Wales," by G. C. Druce. 



Grevillea for March, contains articles by the Editor, Mr. M. C. 

 Cooke, on the Fungi of the Libert Herbarium, '' On the sub-genus 

 Coniophora," -on ''The Fungi of- India," and on " Some New York 

 Fungi," — the latter including descriptions of several new species be- 

 longing to our City's flora. The other articles are by F. Kitton on 



H 'I' 



The Diatomaceae of Kerguelen's Land;" by Phillips and Plow- 

 nght on " New and Rare British Fungi;" by the Rev. J. M. Crombie 

 on " New British Lichens ;" and by Dr. Quelet on " Some New Fungi 

 from the Jura and Vosges." 



In the Botanical Gazette for March, Dr. Gray writes on " The 

 Genus Leavenworthia," and calls attention to the " Automatic Move- 

 ment of the Frond of Asplenium Trichomanes ;" Dr. Rothrock tells 



" How to make Permanent Botanical Objects for the Microscope ; 

 Mr. C. H. Peck describes a number of '' New Species of Fungi ;" and 

 Mr. G. E. Davenport contributes a note on " Pteris aquilina." Last, 

 but not least, the Editor speaks in complimentary terms of the Bul- 

 letin, for which we thank him. 



The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science prints an article 

 on the PoHen-bodies of the Angiosperms by F. Elfving, translated 

 and condensed from the " Jenaische Zeitschrift." A much shorter 

 abstract of this paper was given by Dr. E. P. Wright in " Nature " last 

 summer, and may be still further condensed as follows : It is asserted 

 in the more recent manuals of botany that Gymnosperms and Angi- 

 osperms are differentiated, one from the other, by certain strikin^r 

 peculiarities relating to their reproductive systems ; one of these be° 

 ing that in the former the pollen-grains are multicellular, and that in 

 the latter they are unicellular. This distinction now turns out to be 

 untrue. Fred. Elfving, of Helsingfors, working in the physiological 

 loboratory of Strasburger at Jena, has proved that the pollen-cell of 

 wmd-fertihzed or self-fertilized Angiosperms is also compound • or 

 in other words that each pollen-grain becomes divided into 'two 

 cells, one of which plays the part of a vegetative cell merely, and 

 the other one takes upon itself the growth and functions of the pol- 

 len tube. Of these cells, the '' vegetative " one is the smaller, and 

 by a urther division becomes developed into a two-or often a three 

 -celled thallome The vegetative cell, or cells, are only separated 

 from the larger cell by a wall of cortical plasm, which, in particular 

 instances, can become formed into a firmer membrane. Elfving does 



as sur.?stSl bJ Df W ' W ' ^^-"^^ °' cleistogamous flower "v^hich 

 as suggested by Dr. W right, might reveal some interesting farts 



