330 PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION D. 



undisturbed from the tubes, each cell appears to have a ring-like 

 margin, which is closed at the bottom by a thin membrane causing 

 it to look like a cup. One might suppose air to traverse the tubes, 

 as some of the membranous centres appear ruptured. 



The longitudinal air vessels of the bai^k communicate with the 

 base of this honeycomb-like cell work. 



Herewith I have forwarded roots of the shore plants referred 

 to assist in the elucidation of the subject. 



Immersed in water many days the corky-cell work of the root- 

 pores doesnot become water-logged. Turpentine andalcohol closeup 

 the structure so that air no longer comes through the pore touched 

 with these fluids. 



Since the original paper of 1881 was written several additional 

 observations have been made. 



Some years ago, my son, Dr. Thos. Bancroft, brought from the 

 Johnston River, in North Queensland, a large breathing organ 

 which grows from the submerged roots of Sonneratia acida, 

 Willd., of the natural family Lythrariese, a tree not before 

 known to inhabit this colony, but entered in the "Flora Austra- 

 liensis"* as frequent in bogs on the N. N.W. coast of Australia, 

 observed by A. Cunningham. No mention is made of breathing 

 organs springing from the roots. In the " System of Botany " by 

 Maout and Decaisne, Sonneratia acida is considered to furnish 

 the best substitute for coal on the Indus steamers. 



In Lindley and Moore's " Treasury of Botany," the tree is said, 

 among other things, to be " exclusively confined to sea-coasts, 

 where it grows together in large masses, being what is called a 

 littoral and sociable plant," and that the acid fruits are eaten as a 

 condiment by the Malays. Roxburgh, in the " Flora Indica," 

 says of it : — " a native of the delta of the Ganges ; flowering time 

 the hot and rainy seasons." No one appears to mention the 

 breathers, which are of variable size up to six feet high, one of 

 which I now shew. 



In the American Agriculturist of December, 1886, will be 

 seen a woodcut of the " Deciduous Cypress" (PI. XXVII?), 

 and description which reads as follows : — 



" The Deciduous or Bald Cypress, probably because it is a native 

 of the Southern States, has been strangely neglected by the tree 

 planters at the North. Though naturally growing in moist 

 places and in a warm climate, it will grow on high ground, and 

 proves hardy in localities much farther north than those in which 

 it is native. The northern limits of its spontaneous growth are 

 Delaware and Southern Illinois, and it extends througliout the 

 Southern States, through Texas to Mexico. It grows upon river 

 banks, especially in those localities subject to annual overflow. In 



» Vol. III. 



