VOL. III.] Notes oil Fertilisation. 311 



for. I am unable, however, to give the length of the body and tail 

 separately. The skin was measured in a straight line, and was of 

 course somewhat stretched. The scalp was left on. The fur was of 

 atawny yellow color. Mr. Kennedy says that the puma is often met with 

 on the Penasco, and states that the above-named Mr. Newman and 

 a Mr. Wm. York have killed a great many in that region, the skins 

 having been shipped by Mr. Kennedy to St. Louis, where they 

 rarely brought more than $1.00 apiece. The average length of the 

 skins, Mr. Kennedy states, is from seven to eight feet to tip of tail ; 

 but he asserts that he has received two or three which were over 

 eleven feet long. 



The government offers a bounty of $5.00 on the puma in this ter- 

 ritory, and therefore the skins brought in usually lack the scalp. 



NOTES ON FERTILIZATION. 



BY ALICE J. MERRITT. 



Trichostema lanceolatum Benth. The tube of the corolla is 

 so bent back upon itself as to pretty effectually exclude small insects 

 that could otherwise enter. Ants small enough to pass through the 

 tube, were it not for the troublesome corner, are often seen upon the 

 plants; but, though many flowers were examined to determine the 

 method of fertilization, only one minute insect was found which had 

 succeeded in reaching the nectar. The dusty color of the foliage 

 renders this plant inconspicuous to a marked degree, but the bees 

 seem to find it readily, aided doubtless by the strong odor, which 

 probably warns grazing animals of its disagreeable taste. The bee 

 whose visits were watched is an Anthophora. As it alights on the 

 lower lip, its weight instantly straightens the tube, and brings the 

 long curved stamens and pistil against its back with sufficient force 

 to discharge much pollen. A bee too small to be struck by the 

 stamens would have too short a tongue to reach the nectar. The 

 anthers shed their pollen before the stigma matures, so that the bee, 

 in passing from' the younger flowers near the top of the stem to the 

 more mature flowers at the bottom of the next cluster, is sure to 

 effect cross fertilization. It is uncertain whether the stigmas mature 

 soon enough to be fertilized by their own pollen should cross fer- 

 tilization fail. 



