Mr. Prideaux on the Kauri Reshu 249 



cells, d. pollen-tubes, e. embryo. /. caecal cavities of the embryo-sac 

 in the parenchyma of the ovule, g. funiciUus. 



Fig. 25. Anther-cells of Pinus abies inclosing four pollen-forming cells. 



Fig. 26. The same, after absorption of the parent cells : a grain of pollen 

 may be perceived in each. 



Fig. 27. The same after they have been immersed in water : two grains 

 of pollen are just about to leave the cells; having burst the parietes. 



Fig. 28. A single grain of pollen from the same. 



Fig. 29. Two pollen-bearing cells oi Podostemon ceratophyllum. 



Fig. 30. Pollen of Podostemon ceratophyllum taken from the stigma, from 

 one of which a pollen-tube already proceeds. 



XXXVII. Description of the Kauri or Coisodee Ilesin,from New 

 Zealandj with Experiments in Relation to its Employment 

 in the Arts. By J. Prideaux, M, Plym, Instil.^ Sfc.^ 



T^HE Kauri wood was noticed by Captain Cook as a very 

 -■- fine mast timber, and has since taken the attention of 

 other navigators. Missionaries have been particularly struck 

 with it, and attempts have been made to bring home cargoes 

 of it to this country. These attempts are at last successful, 

 and some cargoes have arrived for the dockyard here (Ply- 

 mouth), fully bearing out the high reputation it had pre- 

 viously attained. 



Mr. Yatef describes the tree under the name of ^^ Dam- 

 mar a australis, or Pinus Kauri ," as running from 85 to 95 

 feet high without a branch, and sometimes 12 feet diameter, 

 yielding a log of heart timber 11 feet diameter. One he 

 measured, perfectly sound, 40 feet 1 1 inches circumference. 



The wood has much the appearance of deal, and works 

 well under the plane, yielding a strong odour of the resin. 



The appearance of the tree he describes as most majestic, 

 raising its head far above the other trees of the forest, and 

 crowned with the most splendid foliage ; its leaves small and 

 numerous, not unlike those of the English box. 



From the trunk, he says, oozes a gum insoluble in water, 

 and, he believes, in rectified spirit ; also a kind of resin, an- 

 swering the purpose of resin in ship-building : both having a 

 strong resinous smell ; the gum very fragrant, and chewedj 

 on that account by the natives. Both gum and resin diffuse 

 themselves over the whole tree, the cone and leaf being 



* Communicated by the Author. 



f Account of New Zealand, &c. Seeley and Burnside. London, 2nd 

 edition, 1835. p. 36. [An account of the Dammara Aiistralis, and a notice 

 of its resin, will be found in Lambert's Genus Pinus, vol. ii. p. 65. — Edit.] 



jj: A material brought home by Mr. George Bennett, to whom we are in- 

 debted for much information on the Oceanic Islands, and said to be used 

 by the New Zealanders as a masticatory, under the name oi' Ali7nika, was put 

 into my hands two or three years since by Lieut.-Col, Hamilton Smith. 



