( 168 ) 



< )ii the oilier hand the formic ester of pentandiol 2.4 is very stable 

 towards heat. 



At about 400°, however, the ester is decomposed and a liquid 

 is formed boiling at 42° which is most probably 1.2 dimethyl- 

 cyclopropane. 



Mr. van Maanen, is engaged in (he study of the decomposition 

 of the formic esters of mannitol. 



Utrecht, Org. ('hem. Lab. University. 



Botany. "(hi lite influence of wound stimuli on the formation 



of adventitious buds in tin- leaves of Gnetum G-nemon L." By 

 Mr. J. van Beusekom. Communicated by Prof. F. A. F. C. Went. 



(Communicated in the meeting of June 20, 1907). 



It had been observed for a long time already that adventitious 

 sprouts were formed on the leaves of a specimen of Gnetum Gne- 

 Uion L., cultivated in the Botanic Garden at Utrecht. 



In January 190(3 my attention was drawn to this circumstance 

 by Prof. Went, who advised me to study the development of these 

 adventitious sprouts, and to try to discover the origin of their formation. 



The results of this investigation will be concisely communicated here. 



The adventitious buds appear on the tips of the leaves, while these 

 are still attached to the plant. 



As far as I have been able to find out, the formation of these 

 adventitious buds has never before been observed with Gnetum 

 Gnemon, neither in its natural sites, nor in botanic gardens 1 ) except 

 at Utrecht. The Utrecht Garden possesses three specimens of Gnetum 

 Gnemon. One of these has been continuall} cultivated in a hothouse 

 where in winter the temperature is kept at about 25° C., and the 

 air is very damp. The other two were, when 1 began my investi- 

 gation, in an other hothouse where the temperature is lower (in 

 winter on an average 15° C), and the humidity less. Whereas of 

 the former I have always obtained leaves in different stages of bud- 

 formation, the other two showed the phenomenon only after they 

 had been conveyed to the warmer and damper hothouse. 



Although all three plants, apart from the formation of adventitious 

 buds, are evidently healthy and do not make a morbid impression 



1) On this point I gained information trom the other botanic gardens in our 

 country, from that at Munich and also from that at Buitenzorg. 



