BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 171 



making his observations, experiments, and notes, efach student, usu- 

 ally alone with the teacher, gives the main points for his thesis. 

 He may make additions before writing out the whole. These are 

 read before the class and credit is given for the work. Of course 

 more advanced students perform higher work. 



What we need is just such information as is contained in this 

 set of notes, and information as to methods in all ot our botanical 

 laboratories would be of great service to those of us who teach, for 

 we must keep comparing notes in order to arrive at the most im- 

 proved methods of training pupils. The notes from some of the 

 theses ot Dr. Beat's Freshmen areas follows: 



The Tendrils of Virginia Creeper. — J. A. Dart tied weights 

 to two old tendrils and found one sustained six pounds, another six 

 and one-half pounds. A common sized tendril sustained five 

 pounds. They were fastened to a high board fence. On a brick wall 

 two large tendrils held five and six pounds respectivel}\ The main 

 stem of a vine six feet long contained twenty-five tendrils another 

 contained twenty. One branch three feet long had twelve tendrils 

 and supported 35 pounds. Some main vines have no tendrils, and 

 the branches but few. There is quite a difference in vines about 

 the number of tendrils and their capacity to stick to objects. 



Fertilization of Catalpa speciosa, AVarder. — E. S. Antis- 

 dale studied insects on the flowers of Catalpa speciosa. The flow- 

 ers are too large for fertilization by honey bees or small humble 

 bees. Their backs will not reach high enough to touch the stig- 

 mas and anthers. A large humble bee touches stigmas and anthers 

 going in and out of a flower. The broad stigmas, before noticed 

 by others, are sensitive and close in a few seconds after they are 

 touched, close before a bee backs out ot the flower. He covered up 

 several panicles of flowers with mosquito netting. No bees were 

 placed inside of two of these. Small humble bees were placed in 

 a third sack containing flowers on which the bees were seen to 

 work. No fruit set on any of these three. In the fourth net large 

 humble bees were placed, but they failed to work on the flowers, 

 and no fruit set in this case. In several flowers not covered with 

 netting he saw a large humble bee working and watched it as the 

 back was dusted with pollen and the stigmas closed. He marked 

 three ot these flowers, two of which set fruit. 



^Estivation of Fuchsias.— R. C. Williams examined the aes- 

 tivation of 65 flowers of cultivated Fuchsias and made diagrams of 

 all the forms. The sepals were all valvate. The petals w ere ar- 

 ranged in 45 different ways, several variations of the convolute 

 prevailing. Some were reduplicate in whole or in part. 



Insects Caught by Apocynum. — H. T. French examined in- 

 sects about Apocijnam androscemifolium where they went for pol- 

 len and nectar. They are often caught while backing out of the 

 bell-shaped flower. There are five wedge-shaped grooves made by 

 the filaments— the larger part of the groove is at the base of the 



