450 ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 



examined, a succession of hermaphrodite flowers may be observed at 

 intervals throughout the whole summer, from the beginning of May 

 to the end of August ; and that, in fact, about every fifth flower is 

 hermaphrodite. 



"With, these observations of Karsten the present report comes to 

 a close ; and the readers of it, being now in possession of the evidence 

 on both sides, may form their own opinion whether or not partheno- 

 genesis exists in the vegetable world. It is no part of the duty of 

 the writer of a report to give his own views upon the subject to which 

 it relates, although we ventured a statement at the outset that the 

 point in dispute was far from decided. Setting aside the case of 

 Coelebogyne, it appears to the writer that, although some of the facts 

 might lead to a suspicion on the subject, there is really no proof 

 whatever of the existence of parthenogenesis, at least, in phamo- 

 gamic plants ; and with regard to the Cryptogamia, the discovery of 

 their sexual organs is of such comparatively recent date, and the 

 examination of them is surrounded by so many difficulties, and is in 

 the hands of so few observers, that it would be rash in the extreme 

 to found any theory upon the results hitherto obtained. Coelebogyne, 

 however, still remains a striking instance of the apparent possibility 

 of reproduction without impregnation ; for, although the value of the 

 evidence afforded by this latter plant is doubtless shaken by Karsten's 

 observations, it is quite impossible to assume, with him, that partheno- 

 genesis is yet disproved. It cannot be supposed that the observations 

 of Smith, Itadlkofer, Deecke, and Braun have been so imperfectly and 

 carelessly conducted as must be the case if, as Karsten would lead 

 us to suppose, every fifth flower in every plant of Coelebogyne is 

 hermaphrodite. We do not at all intend to deny the correctness 

 of his observations, but we think it highly improbable that, if the 

 stamens of Coelebogyne were of such frequent occurrence, they would 

 have escaped the notice of so many other equally able observers. 



In conclusion, it is hardly necessary to remark, that further 

 observations by competent botanists, as to the anatomy of the in- 

 florescence of Coelebogyne, are much to be desired ; and that further 

 inquiries into the reproductive process in cryptogamic plants may 

 hereafter throw additional fight upon the subject. For the present, 

 all that can be said is that A'egetable parthenogenesis is not proven. 



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XLYII. — On the Systematic Arrangement of the Ehizopoda. 

 By William B. Carpenter, M.D. F.B.S., &c. 



Notwithstanding that, by the general consent of zoologists, the 

 group of RMzopods is now admitted to take rank as a class in the 

 sub-kingdom Protozoa, and although there is little or no difference 

 of opinion as to the extent of range which it comprehends, scarcely 

 anything has yet been done towards the determination of the prin- 



