fiY J. .1. FLETrHEK AND C. T. MUSSOX. 213 



give an idea of the way in which shoots develop about the 

 summit of the tumours, when they are complete in late stages 

 When specimens like these are scorched by a bush-fire, and the 

 stem, and any shoots that may be present, are killed, provided, 

 of course, that the underground portions, including the tumours, 

 are not hopelessly injured, fresh second growth shoots may come 

 up freely, when the conditions become favourable. Kig.3 of PI. 

 vi.. is an example of a scorched seedling. Two second-growth 

 shoots only are present here. The growth-habit of such plants, 

 especially if they are scorched a second time, or oftener, and 

 recover, if they succeed in attaining any size, necessarily is much 

 modified. In the quotation from Mr. 'J epper's paper, the second- 

 growth shoots of the Mallees, under similar circumstances, are 

 mentioned. 



The shoots of all the pairs except those which supply them at 

 the summit of late stages of the encircling tumours, are doomed 

 to perish at an early stage, except under exceptional circum- 

 stances, because the tumours are gradually pulled underground. 

 Even those on the summit cannot last indefinitely, as a rule, 

 unless water-storage roots are incorporated. 



The nodules, when quite small, are smooth. As they increase 

 in size, the surface becomes warty, due to local proliferation. As 

 the warty protuberances increase in size, they meet and fuse, and 

 fill up the vacant spaces. In this manner, by constant local 

 proliferation at the periphery, the nodules, or the composite 

 tumours to which they give rise, increase in size. The latter, 

 when doing well, are excessively warty. This is indicated in 

 some of our illustrations, but the warts do not always show up 

 as conspicuously as they do in the specimens. 



The nodules and the surface of tumours, when fresh, are readily 

 sliced with a knife; but, when dry, they are hard and woody. 

 The tumours when fresh, and doing well, contain a good deal of 

 of moisture; but, when drying, gaping, longitudinal cracks, often 

 from top to bottom, appear. 



Later Stages. — Growing nodules very readily fuse with any 

 other suitable living tissue with which they make contact; so 



