378 



« 



and G. brasiliensis with those having- " ramuli fmctiferi crassi, 

 carnose aucti." The branches of the inflorescence of G. manicata 

 as understood here are slender when in flower and shrink con- 

 siderably when dried, and might be described as " graciles " or 

 even " gracillimi." They become thickened only on attaining to 

 maturity, when they may measure up to 8 (rarely 10) mm. in dia- 

 meter, that is loss than those of G. chilensis. As the monographer 

 soys of his Gunnera 'manicata " Fructus ignotus," it is evident 

 that the " ramuli fructiferi " which he described as " haud in- 

 erassati " and in the key, and only there, as 4k gracillimi " were 

 not mature. 



It may be added that Fritz M tiller in a letter to Darwin pre- 

 served in the Herbarium at Kew, received in October, 18T5, 

 writes: " Lately I had an opportunity of examining the flowers 

 of a very stately species of Gunnera (the gigantic leaves not 

 springing from the ground, but from the tips of an erect palm- 

 like stem, about 4 met. high) . . . . " Overleaf there are 

 drawings of the flowers of this Gunnera exactly like those which 

 he sent to Sehwacke {see above) and written up as " Gunnera 

 (manicata?). 99 The formation of an aerial stem of such dimen- 

 sions in G. manicata is very remarkable, and probably exceptional ; 

 but it may be pointed out that Nicholson in his Dictionary of 

 Gardening, ii. 103, flg. 157, figures a specimen of Gunnera 

 scabra with an ascending aerial stem which to judge from the 

 dimensions of the leaves might have been well up to 1 m. high. 



XXVII.— MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



James William Uelexus Tkail. — The death of Professor 

 J. W. H. Trail, M.D., F.R.S., on 18th September, 1919, in a 

 nursing home at Aberdeen, has deprived Kew of a very devoted 

 friend and valued correspondent. The son of the Rev. Dr. 

 Samuel Trail, he was born at Birsay in Orkney, where his father 

 was parish minister, on 4th March, 1851. After a sound pre- 

 liminary education at home, Trail was sent to the Grammar 

 School, Old Aberdeen, and having passed through the various 

 classes there, proceeded to the University in 1866. The taste for 

 natural history studies, already marked during his school days, 

 became accentuated in the course of his undergraduate career, 

 and resulted in his obtaining his master's degree in 18T0, with 

 honours in natural science. Entering the medical faculty his 

 academic record there was equally distinguished, though this dirf 

 not deter him from laying aside his professional studies in autumn, 

 1873, in order to take advantage of an opportunity which had 

 offered itself to him of joining, as botanist, an expedition to 

 Brazil, organised by the Amazon Steam Navigation Company. 

 Returning from this journey, which extended over 16,000 miles 

 on the river Amazon and its tributaries, in 1875, Trail resumed 

 his medical studies and graduated as M.B., in the following 

 year, with highest academical honours. 



The value and character of the collections, both zoological and 

 botanical, obtained by Trail during his Amazon expedition, and 

 the ability and thoroughness with winch he proceeded to work 



