JOURNAL OP PROCEEDINGS. 139 



pyle. The cotyledons form with the edge towards the raphe, conse- 

 quently in the radius of the torus, and the lowest leaf of the plumula 

 turns its back to the rhaphe and the periphery. 



Buds. — The buds, especially those which persist through winter, in- 

 clude the whole plant with all its organs (except the complicated parts 

 of the flower itself) completely preformed, and repeated several times. 

 A bud of 2 inches in length contained the primary organs a, b and C four 

 times, and the branch r twice repeated, the first blanch consisting of two 

 internodes, thus : 



1 2 i 



In 1 the leaf was 20 lines long ; in 2, 3 lines ; in 3, § line, and in 4, •§• 

 line long ; each one of the seven cycles distinctly showed the flower-bud 

 and the branch-bud at their proper places. 



Phyllotaxis . — The attempt to harmonize the very unusual disposition 

 of the organs with the ordinary laws of phyllotaxis has produced some 

 very odd theories. A rather specious explanation seems to be the fol- 

 lowing : the flower might be the termination of the main stem, which has 

 five distichous foliaceous organs, C, a, b, d and e; the lowest leaf, C, 

 bears one branch, r, and the second, a, another branch, i, which at last 

 becomes the continuation of the stem ; in the first the twin scales / and g, 

 in the second the leaf C, stand opposite to the supporting organs. Thus 

 all the foliaceous organs would be distichous, but the branches r and i 

 would not harmonize, r being left withont a leaf C. The principal objec- 

 tion, however, to this explanation is the unmistakable continuation of the 

 structure in what I have considered the stem, while in the peduncle it is 

 reversed just as it is in the branch. 



Use. — The tubers and the seeds of Nelumbium are edible and highly 

 nutritive, both being replete with amylum ; but they have been eaten only 

 by the aborigines.* The boiled seeds closely resemble chestnuts in taste. 

 Some of the largest tubers, obtained about the end of September, I had 

 cooked; they were not done as soon as potatoes, and retained much more 

 firmness; baked, they wpre much more palatable than boiled, and had a 

 pleasant, sweet and mealy taste, considerably resembling that of sweet 

 potatoes, without anything reminding one of their growth in stagnant wa- 

 ter. The decomposing tubers become gray and at last black, the inside 

 assuming a beautiful purple color, and a very fetid odor, somewhat re- 

 sembling that of rotten potatoes. The purple color is produced by deep 

 purple globules forming in the cells, one in each, and considerably larger 

 than the starch granules; undoubtedly some rudimentary fungoid pro- 

 duction. 



Prof. A. Winchell, Ann Arbor, Mich. ; E. G. Squier, 

 Esq., New York, N. Y.; C.H.Hitchcock, Amherst, Mass. ; 

 S. T. Wells, Cincinnati, O. ; and Dr. M. Johnston, Coshocton, 

 O., were elected Corresponding Members. 



November 5, 1860. 



The President, Dr. H. A. PitotrT, in the chair. 

 Nine members present. 



* The Chariton River in Missouri, after which Chariton Coun'y is 

 namei 1 , is said to derive its name from the Indian word for Nelumbium, 

 a plant very abundant there and highly esteemed by the Indians. 



