16 JOURNAL OF THE [January, 



The Botanical Atlas'" contains a large colored drawing of the 

 ovule of Narcissus poeticus undergoing fertilization. The pro- 

 cess in Viola tricolor is also illustrated in the same publication. 



In Wood's Class-book of Botany may be found a figure*^ illus- 

 trating the fertilization of Polygonum P eiinsylvanicum. 



In the light of the mass of evidence which we have brought 

 forward in support of the accepted theory of fertilization (and 

 it is by no means a complete index to the literature of the sub- 

 ject), any further remarks are almost superfluous. I will merely 

 add that a few years ago I was fortunate enough to examine the 

 ovary of Cypripedium acaule at a favorable time, and there ob- 

 served the pollen-tubes filling the style like a skein of silk and 

 many of them connected with the ovules. The observation was 

 made in the field, by merely tearing open the ovary, and the 

 specimen was inadvertently lost. But even if I had not had the 

 aid of ocular evidence, I would hesitate to adopt a theory which, 

 like that of Mr. Kruttschnitt, is a deduction from negative con-' 

 siderations alone. The fact of failure on the part of one, or, 

 indeed, of several persons, to discover a pollen-tube in contact 

 with the embryo-sac of an ovule, can, it seems to me, have no 

 weight, when viewed in connection .with the fact that so many 

 able investigators have often and undeniably seen such contact. 



sofiy D. McAlpine, Pt. I., Phanerogamia, New York, 1883. 

 "Fig. 607. 



