246 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



as in the colour of branches and the like, and 

 discusses the causes that induce some annual plants 

 to become biennial and even perennial, and how 

 others, that in their natural state live for many- 

 years, get restricted to one. 



In treating of the Anomalies of the Leaf, he takes 

 up the variations that occur in number, size, shape, 

 pubescence, division, &c. He shows how leaves are 

 frequently found where they ought not to be, re- 

 placing petals and other parts of the flower ; how 

 some with flat and even surfaces become wrinkled 

 and crisped and curled; and how others cease to be 

 deciduous and get to be permanent and evergreen. 

 With regard to colour he points out that variegated 

 leaves are seldom altogether white, and that when 

 not irregularly blotched, they are usually striped 

 either longitudinally or round the edges. Leaves 

 with brown or black markings, he observes, often 

 retain or lose this appearance according to the soil 

 in which the plants grow. He refers to a variety 

 of the Olive with leaves entirely brown, to the 

 Copper-coloured Beech, and the Red Cabbage ; and 

 he shows that in these cases the peculiarity of colour 

 arises from the epidermis being tinted, while in 

 most plants it is transparent and without tinge and 

 thus transmits the green colour of the deeper-seated 

 tissues unaltered. He gives some curious instances 

 of etiolation and variegation which had come under 

 his notice. 



In treating of the Anomalies of the Flower he 

 begins with the calyx. Besides mentioning its 

 occasional enlargement, thickening, and additional 

 segmentation, he refers to the singular case of a 

 multiplied form in the Clove Pink (Dianthiis 

 CaryophyllusJ quoted by Linnaeus, and figured in 

 Curtis' Botanical Magazine. The case of Calla 

 pahistris is also of interest. It has normally a large 

 spreading one-leaved spathe ; but when cultivated 

 it has sometimes two spathes instead of one. This 

 abnormality, we find, occurred repeatedly in a plant 



