BOTANY. 345 



ever, been proposed, and a specimen of the wood was sent to 

 Kew for identification. It was determined to be hornbeam 

 (Carpinus betulus), which lias been, at any rate formerly, 

 employed for gunpowder manufacture at Berne (Eep>. Kew 

 Gardens). 



Homogone and Heterogone or Homogonous and Heterogenous 



Flowers. 



That difference in relative length or height of stamens and 

 style, reciprocally, which in Torrey and Gray's " Flora of 

 North America" was very long ago designated by the term 

 dioeco-dimorphism, Mr. Darwin (who detected and has made 

 much of the meaning of the arrangement) called simply di- 

 morphism. Besides these dimorphic, he also brought to view 

 trimorphic flowers. The first name is too long for use, and car- 

 ries with it some ambiguity, since it may imply a separation 

 as well as a diversification of the sexes. Mr. Darwin's term 

 has the disadvantage of not indicating what parts of the blos- 

 som are dimorphic (hermaphrodite flowers may be dimor- 

 phous in the perigonium) ; and. a more generic name is now 

 required on account of trimorphic, etc. This has been sup- 

 plied, by Hildebrandt in Germany, who has introduced the 

 term heterostyled and the counterpart homostyled. These are 

 not particularly happy appellations; for the difference is in 

 the stamens as well as in the pistil, and in the latter is not 

 always restricted to the style. Well-established terms ought 

 not to be superseded on the ground of improvement; but 

 those which have not yet taken root sometimes may be. 

 Following the analogy of perigonium or per ig one, I propose 

 the more exactly expressive term of heterogone (or heteroge- 

 nous) for these flowers, such as those of Primula, Houstonia, 

 Lythrum, etc. The counterpart homogone (or homogonous) 

 would designate the absence of this kind of differentiation. 

 These terms, either in Latin or English form, would work 

 well in generic or specific characters, and have the advan- 

 tage of etymological correctness (Asa Gray in American 



Naturalist). 



Three Feet of Fern -Spores. 



Bureau and Poisson have examined a substance found in 

 large quantities in a cave at Reunion Island. The cave is 

 ten meters in depth by six meters square, and is covered to 



P2 



