1896.] Dr. D. Vi-am—Note rm Dotille Rice. 60 



3. Nofes cm the iJecompositinn of Mrifcurous Cldoride and EsfAmaUon 

 of Free Chlorine. — By Yati BhuSana BirADURi, M.A.. Communicated by 

 the Natural History Secretary. 



4. Novicix Indicue, XI. Tivo new speciss of Lagotis. — By Dr. D. 



PRAIN. 



The papers "svill be published in tho Journal, Part II. 



5. Note on Double Rice.— By Die. D. Piiatn. (Willi Pla'I K V.) 



Some years ago Mr. Blccbynden, then Seci-etary to the Agri- 

 Horticultural Society of India, sent to the Botanical Garden specimens 

 of a "double " rice. Of these specimens I now offer an account. 



The plfenomenon was found to be due merely to " proliferation " 

 in the gynaecium, without any accompanying abnormality in the other 

 parts of the flower. 



The glumes are precisely those of the race of Oryza .saliva known 

 in Bengal as ' Kamal bhog,' a small-grained rice of high quality, of 

 which I take the double lice to be a sport. The andr«,ecium also in this 

 sport has always been found normal. 



In the gynaecium of over 150 flowers examined, not one was found 

 with fewer than 4 ovaries (all apparently perfect), the usual number 

 being 5 ; a good few flowers were found to have 6, and one or two had 7 

 ovaries ; no flower had more than seven. When 5, 6 or 7 ovaries were 

 present, sometimes only 3, but usually 4 or 5, appeared to be perfect. 



In some hundreds of flowers of ' Kamal bhog,' 'Kal magru,' 'Lai 

 kalam,' ' Mota huru, and ' Kala nadi ' — these are the races mostly 

 cultivated in the neighbourhood of Calcutta — which were examined 

 at the same time, no example of duplication of the ovary was met 

 with. 



In the gynaecium of the flowers in this spoit, the individual ovaries 

 are sometimes all quite similar; oftener, however, one or more may 

 have 3 styles instead of 2 (see fig. 8 b.), and in some of the flowers 

 with 4 or 5 ovaries this is all the abnormality that can be detected, 

 except that at times the two styles may be conjoined at the base in 

 one or more of the ovaries {see fig. 8 c.). But in flowers with more 

 ovaries than 5, one or more of them may remain flaccid, their walls 

 being without chlorophyll, and the embryo remaining undeveloped ; 

 this may happen even in cases where the style seems to be perfect. In 

 •other cases, only one style and stigma may be developed {see fig. 8 rij ; 

 sometimes also the styles and stigmas may be imperfect {see fig, 8 e) 

 and very abortive ovaries may even be organically united laterally to 

 adjacent ones {see also fig. 8 e). In cases where the stigmas are impei- 

 fect, there is apparently never any formation of chlorophyll in the 



