and on the Structure o/'Hydnora africana. 223 



Of the structure of the female flower of Rafflesia I judged entirely from 

 Dr. Jack's account in his letter published in my former essay ; and respecting 

 this structure several important points, which even his subsequent description 

 in the ' Malayan Miscellany' did not supply, were regarded as undetermined. 



Whether the ovarium is wholly distinct from the calyx or cohering with it 

 at the base, was the first of these points which required further examination. 

 The specimens now prove it to be chiefly superior or free in the flowering 

 state, and wholly so in the ripe fruit. 



The internal structure of the ovarium, especially the origin and arrange- 

 ment of the numerous ovuliferous surfaces or placentae, I considered one of 

 the principal desiderata. Dr. Jack's account of these placentae, which, as far 

 as it extends, is essentially correct, is confirmed by Dr. Blume's description 

 and figures of Rafflesia Patma, as well as by the more complete drawings 

 which accompany the present paper. The important question, however, 

 namely the analogy of this apparently singular arrangement with ordinary 

 structure, may be regarded as still in some degree obscure. 



The transverse section of the ovarium presenting an indefinite number of 

 cavities irregular in form, having no apparent order, and over the whole of 

 whose surfaces the ovula are inserted, is hardly reconcileable to the generally 

 received notions of the type of the female organ ; and as these cavities exist to 

 the same extent and with similar irregularity from centre to circumference, 

 they may with equal probability be considered as originating from the axis or 

 from the parietes of the ovarium. The vertical section too, if viewed without 

 reference to the external development of the top of the column, exhibits a 

 structure equally anomalous. If, however, the corniculate processes termi- 

 nating the disc of the column be regarded as styles, which is surely the most 

 obvious and not an improbable view, their arrangement would lead to the 

 supposition that the ovarium is composed of several concentric, circular series 

 of simple pistilla, each having its proper placenta, bearing ovula over its whole 

 surface. But the structure is so much obscured by the complete confluence 

 of the supposed component parts, that this view might not at once present 

 itself. It is readily suggested, however, by the seemingly analogous structure 

 oi Hydnora, in which the cylindrical placentae, whose number is considerable 

 and apparently indefinite, are all pendulous from the top of the cavity, neither 



