1896. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 77 



No starch is present, but there is a small amount of sugar and much 

 oil. A further analysis of the germ-proteids showed that globulins 

 and proteoses existed as in the endosperm, but that the gluten was 

 replaced by soluble albumen. 



POLYEMBRYONY IN A LiLY. 



Mr. E. C. Jeffrey, in the same number of the Annals, describes 

 an interesting case of polyembryony in a liliaceous plant, Evythronimn 

 americanum. It resembles the polyembryony which is so frequent in 

 gymnosperms in the fact that the several embr^^os, two, three, or rarely 

 four in number, originate from a single egg-cell. After fertilisation, 

 which occurs in the normal way, the egg-cell forms a mass of embryo- 

 genie tissue, from the lower part of which several rudimentary 

 embryos grow out. Ultimately, however, as in the gymnosperms, all 

 except one perish, which in the seed is attached to a large, broad 

 suspensor, the remains of the embryogenic mass. 



Mr. Jeffrey's discovery adds another form of polyembryony to 

 those already described in the order Liliacese. In Funkia and 

 Nothoscordwii Strasburger showed that the multipHcity of embryos 

 arose from adventitious buds derived from the nucellus growing into 

 the embryo-sac after fertilisation of its egg-cell. Early last year 

 Tretjakow published an account of the formation of embryos from 

 the antipodal cells in Allium odoruin. Two modes of origin are dis- 

 tinguished by the present writer, extrasaccal and hitrasaccal, from their 

 occurrence outside or within the embryo-sac, that described . in 

 Erytkvonium coming under the second heading, where also must be 

 included the case, described by Dodel and Overton, of Iris sihirica, 

 where polyembryony is said to arise from fertihsation of the 

 synergids. 



The " Revue Scientifique " and Bibliography. 

 We observe that the Revue Scientifique, in its issue for December 

 28, 1895, announces that it will adopt the system of heading its 

 articles with their proper decimal indices. A very lucid explana- 

 tion of this method of bibliograpTiic classification is given by the 

 editor, Dr. Charles Richet. He concludes his article by saying, 

 " Nous serons fiers d'avoir ete les premiers a I'appliquer, en Europe, 

 apres MM. Lafontaine et Otelet." We are sorry that a journal which 

 has done such good work in the cause of scientific bibliography as has 

 the Revue should have been forestalled by another journal, even though 

 that be Natural Science. We venture, however, to point out to 

 Dr. Richet that the system was put into force in our January number, 

 which was in the hands of the public on Monday, December 23, 

 1895, whereas it did not appear in his paper until January 4 of 

 the present year. The learned editor of the Revue Scientifique will 

 doubtless join with us in the hope that we may not be the only 

 amicable rivals. 



