30 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Feb. 1, 1870. 



bankia, Pedicellina, Coryne, &c. ; the polyps are 

 mostly still healthy, and the Pycnogons do not seem 

 to interfere with them. They are constantly crawl- 

 ing over the weed and about the bottom of the glass, 



| 





/ 



Fig. 41. Head of Achelia hispiilata, showing position of 

 gizzard, x 70. 

 A, triradiate mouth, further magnified. 



and I have no doubt they subsist upon the decaying 

 portions of weed— dead polyps, &c. At all events, 

 to judge from the contents of their numerous 

 stomachs, they cannot be classed with the " starving 

 poor." 



In conclusion I would commend this very curious 

 class of animals to the attention of students of 

 marine life. There are many points of their organiza- 

 tion which require patient investigation, and re- 

 specting their propagation and development very 

 little appears to be known. The foregoing, or allied 

 species, are, I have no doubt, common on every 

 shore, and many others inhabit deep water, while 

 the great transparency of their bodies, and their 

 hardiness in confinement, render them eminently 

 suitable for prolonged microscopic research.* 



Dover. Edward Horsnaill. 



* I have to express my obligations to the Editor of 

 Science-Gossip for his kindness in placing specimens of the 

 subjects of the foregoing paper in the hands of Mr. Spence 

 Bate for identification. 



CROSS FERTILIZATION OP THE DAISY 

 AND COMPOSITE GENERALLY. 



/""iOMPOSPLE is the largest natural order in the 

 *-' vegetable kingdom, and is therefore of vast 

 scientific importance. It comprehends nearly 10,000 

 species of plants, and yet an easily-detected family 

 likeness pervades the whole of that unwieldy 

 number. I believe that no one in England before 

 now has pointed out why the anthers are syngene- 

 sious, or traced the relation between the chief con- 

 trivances with which composites are furnished for 

 aiding in, if not securing, cross fertilization, and, as 

 the doing of these things is likely to impart a new 

 interest to a subject generally considered dull, I ven- 

 ture to lay before the readers of Science-Gossip the 

 leading principles of the whole matter, as illustrated 

 by the Daisy, leaving details and what few exceptions 

 there are to be treated of on another occasion. 



For the sake of those who are not botanists it 

 will be necessary to explain the meauing of the 

 technical terms to be made use of in this paper. 



Every complete flower consists of four perfectly 

 distinct organs. Starting at the outside and pro- 

 ceeding towards the centre the first of these organs 

 is called the calyx ; the second, the corolla ; the 

 third consists of stamens, and the fourth is called 

 the pistil. In the generality of flowers, such as that 

 of the Primrose for example, the calyx looks like a 

 green socket surrounding the base of the corolla, 

 but, in Composite, the calyx is represented by nothing 

 more prominent than long hairs, which aid in the 

 dispersion of the seed. As a rule, the corolla is the 

 gayest and most conspicuous of all the organs ; but. 

 compared with those which it surrounds and helps 

 to protect, it is unimportant. Each stamen consists 

 of a filament or little stalk, and an anther for con- 

 taining pollen. Passing from the stamens the pistil 

 is next reached, and it occupies the centre of the 

 flower. It consists of an ovary for inclosing ovules ; 

 of a style, generally about the thickness of a thread, 

 which surmounts the ovary ; and of an enlargement 

 at the top of the style, designated the stigma, which 

 becomes sticky, and receives the pollen to im- 

 pregnate the ovules. The stamens and pistil are 

 consequently all-important ; the former being the 

 male, and the latter the female portions of the 

 flower, and, of course, both are necessary for the 

 production of perfect seed. 



The preceding description of a flower, and of the 

 offices which its organs discharge, should enable any 

 one of ordinary intelligence to understand the 

 account which follows of the curious designs with 

 which the Daisy is furnished for securing a given 

 end, and I now proceed to relate what those designs 

 are, and as much as 1 know of their action. 



A magnifying-glass of moderate power shows that 

 what is by most people considered the " flower " of 



