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Plant hairs should be studied on the living plants, and at 

 various stages of growth ; they are usually most dense on the 

 unopened bud, their chief office being apparently to clothe and 

 protect it, a happy illustration of utility and adornment combined. 



It is desirable to cut sections of the leaves to show the attach- 

 ment and embedding of the hairs. This is easy enough for the 

 purposes of observation, although it is not so easy to mount per- 

 manent specimens, as a fluid mount is required. W. Teasdale. 



Ditto. — Some years since I made a careful examination of the 

 hairs of a good many plants, and would strongly indicate the study 

 of leaf appendages to the attention of any " low power " micro- 

 scopist who is hard up for a subject to work at. Amongst 

 Rhododendrons, the leaves of R. Nuttalli are, perhaps, the 

 prettiest and most interesting. H. Pocklington. 



Acrostichum alcicorne is now known as Platyceriiim alcicorne. 

 It is a native of the tropics, and is found in the East Indies, 

 Malayan Archipelago, and Australia. The name AcrosticJmm was 

 originally given to it and others whose fructification was borne on 

 the end or tip of the fronds— aKpoc [acros), highest; onxog [stichos), 

 order. The name Platycerium is given because the fronds are 

 divided in broad segments like stags' horns, from the Greek nXaTvg 

 {platys) and ^tpaq (cepas), a horn. W. H. Lett. 



Aregma bulbosum (Bramble Brand). — This is the leaf fungus 

 which produces the black dusty spot on the back of the Bramble 

 leaves in autumn. It generally occurs in company with the Fuc- 

 cinia peculiar to the Bramble, which appears as bright yellow or 

 orange spots ; indeed, there seems every reason to believe that 

 they are different forms of fruit of the same fungus. Both were 

 very plentiful in this neighbourhood (Glasgow) this autumn (1882). 

 I noticed a minute larva feeding on the spores of the Puccinia, 

 which were quite visible in its interior. W. Goodwin. 



This Aregnia is more common than is generally supposed. I 

 found some fine specimens a day or two ago (Jan., 1883) growing 

 upon a moss gathered near some bramble bushes. E. Hunter. 



Aregma obtusatum spores.— Mr. F. Carey investigated the 

 structure of these spores, and one of his conclusions, quoted from 

 the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, is as follows : — 



