374 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Allen and Maverick Counties, Kentucky, and Chattooga County, 

 Georgia, appeared to be identical with the one from Santa Rosa, 

 though found at places so distant from each other and described 

 as independent falls, while none showed the striking fracture of 

 the Butcher specimens. 



As the irons examined were among the most compact and mal- 

 leable of any in our collections, the result suggests a new way of 

 identifying fragments of the same original mass, where external 

 features are not sufficiently decisive, and, moreover, shows the 

 care that must be taken in determining supposed new falls. 



■»»» 



OBSERVATIONS UPON DOUBLING OF FLOWERS. 



By BYEON D. HALSTED, Sc. D., 



PBOFESSOB OF BOTANY IN BUTGEBS COLLEGE. 



FUNCTIONALLY a flower is for the production of offspring, 

 and in structure it may be considered as a transformed stem 

 with its metamorphosed leaves. In a typical flower — that is, one 

 having all the parts present and in an easily recognized form — 

 there are four sets of organs. The calyx forms the outer whorl of 

 leafy organs, and next within is the corolla, usually bright-col- 

 ored and showy. Inside of these two cycles of floral envelopes are 

 the essential organs : first the stamens, which bear the male ele- 

 ment as pollen-grains ; and the pistil or pistils, occupying the cen- 

 ter of the flower, the lower portion of which bears the seeds. In 

 the production of seed we find the aim and end of all floral struct- 

 ures. The pistil remains after the flowering period is past and 

 becomes the fruit, which may or may not be accompanied by 

 other portions of the flower. The stamens serve their purpose as 

 they shed their pollen, and usually quickly wither away, und the 

 latter is generally true of the petals. 



As above stated, all the several parts of a flower are now 

 considered as modified leaves. The calyx is often green, leafy, 

 and indistinguishable from ordinary foliage. All gradations may 

 be found between calyx and corolla. The bright color is no argu- 

 ment against petals being leaves, for leaves of the common sort 

 often assume the most brilliant colorations. Other wild plants 

 illustrate the transition from petals to stamens — as, for example, 

 the flowers of the water-lilies ; and pistils are frequently broad, 

 green, and leaf -like, especially after the seeds are ripe, and the 

 two infolded halves open out and take on the form and function 

 of foliage. 



We do not need to extend our examination upon this point in 

 search of proof for the morphological significance of the floral 



