98 [October, 



somewhat drawn to a blunt point (not unlike tlie lower half of a camel's 

 hair pencil cut off and set up on end), but in this case I had no op- 

 portunity of examining the nature of the central gall-mass. 



One, or possibly two, other woody knob-like forms were noticeable 

 on the twigs and the pedicels, but the most unusual forms w^ere those 

 of the leaf galls given in figs. 1 and 2. 



Of these, fig. 1 shows a form occurring on the under surface of 

 the leaves of Parinarium curat ell i folium, of which the progress of de- 

 velopment may be traced from the commencement. 



Here the fii-st stage consists simply of a blister-like swelling 

 shown at (1). This is followed by the appearance of the future gall, 

 pressing forwards as a minute, fleshy, lobed ring, of a deep reddish 

 colour (2) through the first grey blister-like swelling, the growth of 

 the red gall and its grey basal involucre continuing until the former, 

 through the stage of a lobed bud-shaped mass (3), gradually lengthens 

 into a flask-shaped gall (4), about three sixteenths of an inch in length. 

 Internally, this gall is single-chambered and smooth, closed at the 

 mouth of the tube by a thick mass of downy yellovvisih hairs, and 

 another mass of straight and centrally-pointing hairs is placed at the 

 bottom of the chamber (5). The gall, in its fully developed condition, 

 is of a deep red colour, and hangs from the leaf like a miniature acorn 

 in its cup, for the growth of the blister-like swelling through which it 

 sprung keeps pace with it, and now forms a pubescent socket distinct 

 in colour and structure from the gall itself , from which it is ultimately 

 freed by the fall of the gall to the ground, whilst the socket remains 

 permanently attached to the leaf (0) . 



In the leaf-gall given at fig. 2, which, like the previous one, is on 

 Parinarium curat ellifoHum, and magnified to about four times its 

 natural size, the growth is still more peculiar. Here the appearance 

 of the gall when complete resembles a miniature tumbler-glass inverted 

 and set in a ring. At maturity, the two parts separate, or are sepa- 

 rable, the cap falling off and leaving (as shown at 2) the base formed 

 of a rinff enclosing a concave disc, with flutings from the circumference 

 to the centre, which rises in an upright cylinder, of a width of about 

 a quarter of that of the gall, and a length of somewhat moi-e than 

 twice its own diameter. The fallen cap is merely a truncated cone, 

 flat or slightly concave at the top, and slightly fluted vertically down- 

 wards from the summit for about half the length. The hollow central 

 cylinder is presumably the gall-chamber ; but insect presence w^as so 

 totally non-existent in the few specimens attainable for examination, 

 that I cannot hazard a conjecture as to the gall-maker. It would be of 



