55 
a blow being struck with this weapon, the point, called a sui, penetrates 
the flesh, and being but loosely fitted into the handle, remains in the 
wound. Death ensues, on an average, in forty-eight hours. 
^ T/i€ Continuity of Protoplasm. — Dr. Schaarschmidt has recently 
pointed out that the continuity of protoplasm is well shown in the 
pith of the mistletoe, a transverse section of the stem colored with 
eosin showing the thread, visible as a faint streak almost entirely 
enclosed by the cell wall, the protoplasm which fills the cell sending 
.six or eight delicate threads through the closing membrane. The 
continuity is also visible in the cortical parenchyma, and can be 
determined throughout the entire epidermis. — Journ. Micr. Soc. 
Homology of 
Journal of 
send attempts to prove that the palea in the floret of grasses is the 
homologue of the ochrea and utriculus in Carex, that the latter is a 
single floral envelope, and that the seta found more or less developed 
m many species of Carex is the rudimentary development of a 
secondary axis, while the acicula of Dumortier is the terminal por- 
tion of the main axis of the spikelet, so that the seta and acicula are 
analogous portions of two different axes. 
The formation of Oil Receptacles in the Fruit of the Umbellifera. 
has been investigated by J. Lange. He finds that they originate 
from a group of four cells, distinguished from the surrounding ones 
by their greater refrangibility. They are arranged in the corners of a 
square with an intercellular space between them, which gradually de- 
velops into the oil receptacle. These secreting cells have very thin 
walls and a clear translucent protoplasm. — Journ. Micr. Soc, 
The formation of Gum in Wood has been examined by B. Frank 
|n a number of leguminous and rosaceous trees. He finds that it 
Js the universal product of special conditions, and can always be in- 
duced by the production of these conditions, as, for instance, by 
wounding any part of the stem. After four or five weeks the cells of 
the medullary rays are nearly filled vvith gum, its formation commenc- 
Jtig in the cavities of the vessels and' wood cells, which assume a 
niore or less yellow or red color due to small granules resulting partly 
from metamorphosis of starch grains. The purpose of the internal 
formation of gum appears to be to form air-tight plugs to the vessels, 
this oject being aided by the formation of thyllae or cells inside the 
vessels-— /c72^r«. Micr. S^c, 
The Spores of Lycopodium. — Mn D. H. Galloway, of the Chicago 
College of Pharmacy, has made some measurements of the spores of 
^^^^^tf^^V^z^ with the following results: He made careful measure- 
tnents of 50 spores and found their average diameters to be seven 
six-thousandths of an inch, the largest having a diameter of eight six- 
thousandths and the smallest six six-thousandths of an inch.^ It 
would therefore take 857 of them laid side by side to make an inch 
^n length; to cover a square inch 734449 would be required ; and 
to fill the space of a cubic inch 629,422,793. Or, in terms of the 
French system, a row one centimetre in length would contain 343 
spores; a square centimetre, 117,649, and a cubic centimetre, 40,353,. 
^07. On measuring the capacity of one of Powers & Weightman's 
L 
