2 5& " The Botanical Gazette. [September, 





glass rod. In like manner the disease can be introduced into 



the stems and leaves of various species of cucurbits. The 



same bacteria develop with rapidity in ripe tomato fruit upon 



the vines and spread through the stems of the inoculated 

 plants. 



Another chapter in the history of the Venus Fly- Trap: J. 

 M. Macfarlane. — It was shown that for mechanical stimu- 

 lation of leaf two touches are needed to cause contraction (un- 

 less the stimulus be very powerful), separated by a greater 

 interval than \ of a second. If less than \ of a second elapses, 

 there is no contraction and a third touch is then needed. In 

 the first case no effect is produced if 35-40 seconds elapse be- 

 tween stimuli. By repeated stimuli, with intervals of 40 sec- 

 onds between, the protoplasm becomes fatigued, so that when 

 the time interval is reduced sluggish movement is exhibited. 

 All parts of the lamina are sensitive to surface stimulation. 

 The author claimed that the explanation of the behavior to 

 stimulating and non-stimulating bodies is to be found in the 

 tetanus of the leaf, first produced by mechanical and later by 

 chemical stimuli. The behavior in this respect of numerous 

 organic and inorganic substances was noted, as was also the 

 agreement of these with Burdon-Sanderson's electrometer re- 

 sults. The nature of the digestive excretion was considered, 

 together with the structure of the leaf in relation to contrac- 

 tion and excretion. TJie author, in concluding, claimed a 

 perfect parallelism between combined nerve and muscular ac- 

 tion in animals, and contraction action in Diomea. The pa- 

 per was illustrated by testing the observations made upon 

 some magnificent Dionreas, obtained from the government 

 Botanic Garden. 



The Composite* collected by Dr. Edward Palmer in Colima: 

 J. \. ROSE.— Of the 515 species of plants collected by Dr. 

 Palmer in the State of Colima. 6i, or about 12 per cent., are 

 Composite. Among these were six new species and two new 

 genera, together with a number of rare forms, some of which 

 had not been collected for more than 100 years. 



The Flora 0/ Carmen Island: J. N. ROSE.— This contained 

 a sketch ot the collections made in this island by Dr. Kdward 

 Palmer in 1870 and in 1890, Dr. Palmer being the onlv col- 

 lector who has ever visited the locality. The total number 



of species obtained was 70, and of these six are new. Group 



