DEPARTMENT OF BOTANICAL RESEARCH. 103 



operations; he next carried the work into Argentina, and returned in 

 October, having made an immense collection of living plants and pre- 

 pared specimens, together with much systematized information. 



Dr. Rose was much impressed with the similarity of the cactus flora 

 of the vicinity of Bahia to that of the West Indies. He remarks in a 

 letter to Dr. Britton : 



*'I have been greatly surprised at the close relationship between the flora 

 of Bahia and that of the West Indies, for there has been a general under- 

 standing that the two were quite distinct. This is strikingly true in the 

 cacti and there is good reason to believe that it is equally true in other families. 

 This relationship is much closer to the West Indies than to the west coast of 

 South America. The species of the two regions are quite distinct, but many 

 of the genera are the same." 



We had already known that the cacti of the Venezuelan coast and of 

 the Dutch Islands near that coast had some afflnity with West Indian 

 tj'pes, as is also indicated by the present incomplete knowledge of other 

 groups of plants, and this knowledge, taken together with the observa- 

 tions of Dr. Rose about Bahia, lead us to believe that an exhaustive 

 study of the flora of the whole northern coast of South America with 

 relation to West Indian affinities would be a ver^'- valuable contribu- 

 tion to geographic botan3\ 



As regards further field work, before closing the present cactus inves- 

 tigation, it is desirable that Ecuador and Venezuela be visited, that 

 some further studies be made in Arizona and New Mexico, and that 

 another expedition be made to Southern Brazil and Argentina. Cor- 

 dially proffered cooperation bj^ Professor J. J. Thornber, of the Univer- 

 sity of Arizona, is gratefull}' acknowledged, as also the contribution of 

 valuable specimens bj" ]\Ir. W. H. Long. 



The Immediate Effects of the Injection of Reagents into the Ovary in Torenia 

 fournieri, by Francis E. Lloyd. 



Torenia possesses an embryo-sac, one end of which, containing the 

 egg-apparatus, protrudes much beyond the mouth of the ovule. On 

 general grounds this genus therefore appeared to afford material 

 peculiarly suitable for ovarial treatm_ents. It has eventuated, however, 

 that so far as methylene blue is concerned, the progress of events is as 

 in Scrophularia (see previous report). The study has thrown some 

 additional light on the mechanism of the embryo-sac, especially of the 

 egg-apparatus. The structure of the ovule is essentially that of 

 Scrcphularia. It has, however, a longer funicle, and the exostome is 

 directed toward the placenta. The protuberant end of the embryo-sac 

 lies roughly parallel to the funicle and its conical free end lies normally 

 against a placental pollen- tube "'conductive tissue" of papillate cells 

 with strongly mucilaginous free walls. The embryo-sac is therefore free 

 only in a morphological sense and in practice it is difficult to reach 



