1898] NOTES AND COMMENTS 225 



of the fruit. This is small, and, as frequently happens in Rosaceae, 

 is a pseudocarp (like the apple) composed of the somewhat swollen 

 floral axis, enclosing the true fruit with a single seed. In shape it 

 is rounded, oval, or pyramidal, generally with a narrowed base, and 

 bears outgrowths in the form of spines, or more rarely wings. The 

 spines appear before flowering, and develop and often increase in 

 number as the fruit ripens ; they vary considerably in number, size, 

 and shape, and often end in a barb, like a fish-hook. Tliey are thus 

 eminently adapted for clinging to the fur of animals or plumage of 

 birds, and the wide distribution of the genus and its presence on 

 isolated Oceanic islands can be accounted for by the transport of 

 the fruits by widely-ranging sea-birds. It is of interest to notice that 

 M. Citerne, in his division of the genus into seven sections, relies to a 

 great extent for sectional characters on the number and form of these 

 outgrowths and their distribution over the surface of the fruit. 

 The chief centre of distribution, where, that is, the genus is most 

 richly developed, is in extra-tropical South America. Nine of the 

 thirty-eight species are endemic in Chili, four spread southwards 

 through Patagonia to the Straits of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, 

 one is confined to Patagonia, one to Tierra del Fuego. One species 

 occurs only in the Straits of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego, and the 

 Falkland Islands, another in these three localities, and is reported 

 from Mexico ; a third in the same three, and also in New Zealand. 

 The Falkland Islands, and the Islands of St Paul and Amsterdam in 

 the South Atlantic, have each a peculiar species, while one, the most 

 widely distributed of the genus {A. sanguisorhae), is found in Tas- 

 mania, New Zealand, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Island 

 of Tristan da Cunha and the Campbell Islands. One species is con- 

 fined to the Cape. A small section of three species, characterised 

 by fruits without spines, is confined to New Zealand, and three 

 others occur only in Australia (with Tasmania). Tracing its path 

 northwards we find a few species in the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, 

 Columbia, and New Grenada, two of which reach as far north as 

 Mexico, while one is peculiar to the Sandwich Islands. 



Japanese Explorers in Formosa 



In our January number, we alluded to the geological exploration of 

 Formosa now being undertaken by the Japanese. We learn from 

 the BAvue Scientifique that the highest peak of that island. Mount 

 Morrison, was ascended for the first time in 1896 by Sevioku 

 Honda, Professor of Forestry at Tokio, accompanied by various 

 people, amongst whom were a geologist and a topographer. 

 After landing at Kelung, the explorers gained Ling-ki-ho, the 

 last Chinese village, thenceforward they met with only the 



