BIOLOGY. 283 



is a remarkable instance of the direct transmission of solar heat 

 and light into motion. 



Curious Plant. One of the strangest members of the vegetable 

 kingdom, now not unfrequent in hot-houses, is the Myrmecodia 

 tuberosa, first sent to England from Malacca by Dr. Collingwood. 

 Its stem is tuberous, and everywhere covered with thorns. It is 

 constantly inhabited by thousands of ants, that have pierced gal- 

 leries through it in every direction. These galleries are coated 

 with an animal cement of such tenacity that, when a tubercle dies 

 and wastes away, the galleries remain, presenting the appearance 

 of certain ramified algse. 



Vitality of Seeds. M. Pouchet, the advocate of spontaneous 

 generation, has observed that a certain proportion of the seeds of 

 Medicago Americana (lucern) will withstand an uninterrupted 

 boiling for 4 hours without losing their vitality. In the greater 

 proportion of the seeds thus treated the contents had swollen and 

 broken the integument, and the water became therefore muci- 

 laginous ; but others successfully resisted the high temperature, 

 the outer integument remaining unbroken, so that when sown 

 they sprang up in from 10 to 20 days. 



Action of Electricity on Seeds. M. Ch. Blondeau, " Comptes 

 Rendus," Nov., 1867, states that by subjecting fruits, as apples, 

 pears, and peaches, to the action of an induced electric current, 

 he can hasten their maturity. Having also rendered seeds good 

 conductors by moistening them, he affirms that the effect of the 

 induced currents is to cause a germination earlier than in seeds 

 not subjected to this action. 



