March 1, 1S67.] 



HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



65 



BOTANY. 



Dombeya angulata. — The stamens in this plant, 

 as in all the Malvales, may be looked upon as com- 

 pound, while the ordinary stamen corresponds to a 

 simple leaf; the groups of stamens in the Mallows 

 and allied orders may be regarded as the equivalents 

 of compound leaves, united together at their bases. 

 Some of the lobes or leaflets of these compound 

 leaves bear anthers, while others are destitute of 

 anthers, and constitute the barren stamens or stami- 

 nodes. Some light is thrown on the uses of these 

 barren stamens by an examination of the plant now 

 under consideration. In the fully expanded flower, 

 the inner surface of the upper angle or point of each 

 petal is about on a level with the stigma and with 

 the tip of the barren stamen, the outer flat surface 

 of which latter, as well as the adjacent portion of 

 the petal, are often dusted over with pollen, the true 

 stamens, nevertheless, being at a considerable dis- 

 tance beneath these organs. In less fully developed 

 flowers the barreii stamens may be seen curving 

 downwards and outwards, so as to come in contact 

 with the shorter fertile stamens, whose anthers open 

 outwardly, and thus allow their contents to adhere 

 to the barren stamens. These latter, provided with 

 their freight of pollen, uncoil themselves, assume 

 more or less of an erect position, and thus bring 

 their points on a level with the stigma, whose 

 curling lobes twist rouud them and receive the pollen 

 from them. The use, then, of the long staminodes 

 seems to be to convey pollen from the short fertile 

 stamens to the stigma, which, but for their inter- 

 vention, could not be influenced by it. The presence 

 of pollen on the upper and inner corner of the 

 petals is readily explained by the fact that, owing to 

 their position and peculiar form, they all come in 

 contact with the ends of the staminodes and the 

 stigmas, and hence they too get dusted with pollen. 

 These arrangements would therefore seem to favour 

 self-fertilisation, and they show how an organ 

 spoken of sometimes rather contemptuously as 

 barren, rudimentary, imperfect, or the like, may yet 

 play an important part both in the architectural plan 

 of the flower, and in its life history. — M.T.M., 

 Garcl. Chron., Jan. 26, 1807. 



Eerns Buried with the Dead.— An urn, dug 

 up in the island of Anglesea, was, with its contents, 

 brought to me for examination by Mr. Albert Way. 

 After having determined the presence of human 

 bones belonging to an adult and to a child, pro- 

 bably to a mother and her offspring, certain fila- 

 ments were found adhering to the inner surface of 

 the urn ; these were of a brown colour, and arranged 

 in definite order like the veins of leaves. Upon 

 microscopically examiniug sections of these, scalari- 

 iorm vessels were noticed precisely similar to those 



occurring in the Bracken. This fern is very abun- 

 dant in the district in which the urn was discovered, 

 and most probably portions of fronds were placed 

 in the receptacle before the ashes of the deceased 

 persons were deposited in it. — Que/ceit's Lectures on 

 Histology. 



Papyrus in Europe. — The true Papyrus grows 

 abundantly on the banks of the river Anapas in 

 Sicily, not far from Syracuse, fully 10 or 12 feet 

 high, with stems 6 or 8 inches in circumference, and 

 with large tufts on the top. This is the only instance 

 of the free growth of the Papyrus in Europe. — 

 M. H. 



Enormous Boletus. —My friend, Mr. E. C. 

 Penrose, has just sent me a tracing of the section 

 of an enormous specimen of Boletus luridus, found 

 by him. The circumference is exactly three feet, and 

 the pileus and stem, are stout in proportion. It was at 

 first mistaken for a milking stool left out by accident 

 all night, but on closer acquaintance turned out to 

 be a gigantic fungus of the Boletus tribe. — 

 IF. G. S. 



The Evening Primrose.— This North American 

 flower was first sent from Virginia to Padua, in the 

 year 1619, but at what exact period it reached 

 England is uncertain, since Parkinson is the earliest 

 author who notices it ; but it must have been some 

 time previous to 1629, as in his " Garden of Pleasant 

 Elowers," which was published in that year, he 

 speaks of it in a more familiar style than he would 

 have done had it been of late introduction. This 

 author calls it Tree Primrose of Virginia. — Flora 

 Historica. 



Divination by Bib-grass. — It was once, and 

 perhaps still is, a custom in Berwickshire to practise 

 divination by means of "kemps" (Tlantugo lan- 

 ceolata). Two spikes were taken in full bloom, and 

 being bereft of every appearance of blow, they were 

 wrapt in a dock leaf, and put below a stone. One 

 of them represented the lad, the other the lass. 

 They were examined next morning, and if both 

 spikes appeared in blossom, then there was to be 

 " aye love between them twae ;" if none, "the course 

 of true love" was not "to run smooth."— Johnston'' s 

 "Eastern Borders.''' 



Plants in Australia.— A number of European 

 genera of plants indigenous to the country, or at 

 all events from their situations giving reason to 

 suppose so, grew in the vicinity of this river (Mur- 

 rumbidgee) ; among others the "sow-thistle" (the 

 young tops of which are eaten by the natives just 

 before the plant commences to blossom), a small 

 red poppy, the crow-foot, a dock, geranium, and 

 "shepherd's purse "were abundant, and they are 

 seen very far in the interior, beyond this place— 

 Bennett's " Wanderings." 



