BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 281 



thes<> insects, all striving to find the way out. These are females, and associated 

 with them are some helpless wingless males, and very often a number of a slen- 

 der ichneumon as well. The female of this generation visits not only the mam- 

 mon-i, but also the fruits of the fig, if there are any at hand, in order to deposit 

 her eggs. Now, the remarkable fact in connection with this, is that she is able 

 to do so effectually in the mammani, but not in the edible fig, though she suc- 

 ceeds in penetrating the fruit far enough to convey pollen to the female flow- 

 ers, perishing in the act. Furthermore, the generation of the insect that devel- 

 ops in the mavimtmi deposits eggs in the marime, and the generation proceeding 

 therefrom finds an asylum for its progeny in the profichi." 



Prof. Solms says that the eggs must be deposited within the integuments of 

 the ovule itself, or they will not develop. The ovipositor is thrust between the 

 branches of the stigma, down the pollen channel of the style into the ovary, 

 and into the solitary ovule itself. 



Classification of Plants.— Mr. Lester F. Ward, in a recent lecture at the 

 National Museum in Washington, proposed the following scheme of classifica- 

 tion, which he claims is the nearest approach yet made to a natural system, and 

 upholds it mostly upon paleoutological grounds : 



f Cellular. 



Cryptogams.. | [ Pilicineae { Rhi^carpeas. 



[ Vascular -J 



! T . , , . f Equisetinese. 



I Lepidophytee J L! ? copod i nefe . 



( Ligulatse. 



, Gym„osperms...j gSSST 



„, J I Gnetacese. 



Phenogams.... ■{ v - 



a., ,-,™„„™o f Monocotyledons. 

 I Angiosperms J ,• A petal£e. 



(. Dicotyledons - Polypetalse. 



(. Gamopetalae. 



The Effects of Moisture on Pine. 1 — Ten pieces one inch square by ten 

 long were selected from a piece of pattern pine that had been " in the dry " for 

 six or seven years. Inasmuch as this is the driest class of commercial pine, 

 the results are more satisfactory and conclusive. The pieces were numbered 

 consecutively, and two were taken for each experiment to obtain a mean result, 

 and avoid error as much as possible. Nos. 1 and 2 were placed in a drying- 

 oven in the chemical laboratory, and kept at a temperature of 100° C. Nos. 3 

 and 4 were placed in moist air; and Nos. 5 and 6 immersed in water. Nos. 7 

 and 8 were exposed to the ordinary atmospheric changes. Nos. 9 and 10 were 

 made into shavings, and placed in the oven for perfect drying. Each piece 

 was carefully weighed and measured once in twenty-four hours. (Experiment 

 lasted 14 days). The average weight of each piece at the beginning of the ex- 

 periment was 63 grams, or 6.3 grams per cubic inch. The tabulated result* 

 show : I. That there was a marked difference in the weight of some of the 

 pieces, those being heavier that were situated near the center of the tree. II. 



'Abstract of a paper read before the Scientific Society of Purdue Univer- 

 sity, by Philip S. Fitzgerald, class of '85. 



