NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 721 



type of plryllotaxis . He refers k> the phyton theory of Gaudi- 

 chaud and other authors who maintain that the stem is built 

 up of a succession of segments each composed of a leaf blade 

 and a leaf base, and presents the monocotyledonous seedling as 

 an example. In a reference to Umbelliferae, Worsdell (p. 228) 

 notes that Domin, who has described a typical genus (Didiscus) 

 of this family with unsegmented stem structure, observed an 

 interesting reversion to the original segmented condition in an 

 individual plant of D. cyanopetala Benth. — an endemic Aus- 

 tralian species — which had throughout, leaves with sheathing 

 bases enclosing the stem. In example (b) the shoot has been 

 prolonged through the flower, and in example (c) the branch 

 is t'aseiated and contorted in the region of flower formation, 

 and two shoots have sprung from the contorted apex. 



Dr. J. B. Cleland exhibited ovo-testes from mullet (Mugil 

 grandis) and a testis and an ovary from normal fish for com- 

 parison . The anterior poles on both sides, more so in one than 

 the other, are composed of testicular tissue, the rest of the 

 organs being ovarian. Microscopically there was no difference 

 between the testis and the ovary of the double organs and 

 those of normal fish. — He also detailed the occurrence of auric- 

 ular beats several hours after death in a Capuchin monkey, 

 Cebus fatuellus, received for post-mortem examination from the 

 Zoological Gardens. 



Mr. E. Cheel exhibited flowering specimens of "Giant Bam- 

 boo" (Bambusa arundinacea) taken from lateral growths of 

 plants which had been cut down in Mr. Hugh Dixson's shrub- 

 beries at "Abergeldie," Summer Hill. 



It is interesting to note that flowering specimens are very 

 rarely seen on the upper parts of the giant canes, but when cut 

 down flowering spikelets are produced fairly freely on the lateral 

 growths. In the National Herbarium, there are flowering speci- 

 mens taken from plants formerly cultivated in the Government 

 House grounds opposite the Health Office by Mr. W. F. 

 Blakely, who stated that they were taken from lateral growths 

 produced after the canes had been cut down. 



Mr. A. F. Basset Hull contributed the following note on 

 mortality amongst Puffinus tenuirostris : — On the 19th instant, 

 numbers of Short -tailed Petrels (Mutton Birds) Puffinus tenuir- 

 ostris, were observed off Sydney Heads, and during the following 

 days very large numbers of dead birds were cast up on the 



