Descendenz und Hybriden. — Morphologie und Teratologie. 373 



good in spite of great irregularity in the visible deveiopment 

 of these characters. 



This paper is preliminary to a more detailed paper to be 

 published later. W. G. Freemann. 



"COULTER, J. M., Development of m o r p h o logi c a 1 con- 

 ceptions. (Science. N. S. XX. 1904. No. 515. p. 617 

 —624.) 



An iliustration of the change of attitude in reference to 



plant Organs since the middle of the I9th. Century. Three 

 distinct phases are recognised. in the first phase „h few 



theoretical types of organs had been selected, and all organs 



were forced by the doctrine of metamorphosis to lie upon this 



procrustean bed". All metamorphoses were explained upon 

 teleological grounds. 



The second phase has for its motto ontogeny in phylo- 

 geny, which resulted in a study of deveiopment and „life- 

 histories", Cytological investigation was stimulated. 



The third phase may be termed experimental morphology 

 and its object is, as far as organs are concerned, to discover 

 the conditions which determine their structure and nature. It 

 concerns itself with the possibilities contained in the living cell. 

 It is realized that the most fundamental problems of botany are 

 physiological. Hus. 



KlRKWOOD, J. E., The Comparative Embryology of the 

 Ciicurbitaceae. (Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden. 

 Vol. III. No. 11. 1905. p. 313—402. pl. II. fig. 6.) 



The articie describes the author's studies on seventeen 

 species representative of the five tribes recognized in Engler 

 •und Prantl's Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, which were mostly 

 investigated from material grown in the vicinity of New York 

 -on account of the difficulty of securing properly preserved floral 

 parts from the Eastern tropics. It is suggested that the genus 

 fevillea of the tribe Fevllleae may represent the primitive con- 

 dition of the gynoecium for the Ciiciiibitaceae, the ovary in 

 Ihis case being tricarpellary with three imperfect septa and the 

 ingrowth from the mesocarp being of somewhat late occurrence. 

 The writer discusses among other matters the organogeny of 

 the flower, the deveiopment of the embryosac, the fertilization 

 of the egg, the deveiopment of the embryo and endosperm and 

 the mode of penetration of the pollen tube. The conclusion is 

 reached that the morphological facts observed did not justify 

 sweeping conclusions as to the systematic position of the 

 Cucurbitaceae. In most points he considers, that the differences 

 between the Cucurbitaceae and the other Sympetalae are more 

 striking than the similarities. E. C. Jeffrey. 



