OPENING OF PALM SPATHES WITH AN AUDIBLE REPORT. 15 
fruit of that plant as an ornament on the chimney-piece, and its sudden 
explosion was the cause of our being awoke from a sound sleep in the 
upper part of the house. The different cocca had been propelled in 
every direction of the compass.” 
Meanwhile, a letter had arrived from Dr. George Bennett, of Sydney, 
which was published in the ‘Gardeners’ Chronicle’ of the 19th of 
July, 1862 .— 
“ With respect to the opening of the spathes of Palms with an ex- 
plosive sound, I was not aware there was any doubt on the subject, 
until I observed the remarks following Dr. Seemann’s communication 
in ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle’ and ‘Bonplandia.’ It has been asserted in 
more or less loud, but audible only to an attentive observer. This I 
have remarked in Ceylon, in the Cocoa-nut and Caryota urens, as 
well as the Betel-nut, but I have no doubt it obtains in all Palms ; 
yet I do not consider it occurs in every spathe that opens, as that 
phenomenon would depend upon the greater or less quantity of air 
contained within, for I do not regard the explosive power to result from 
. any accumulation of heat, but from compressed air. The expansion of 
the spathe occurs at all times of the day. The Palm spathes, it may be 
remarked, expand when in a green state, and the same circumstance 
occurs in peas, beans, and other leguminous plants when opened 
artificially, the explosive sound being emitted in them (according to the 
compressed air within) to a greater or lesser degree, and sometimes not 
all. It may also be produced in the pods of the Gomphocarpus or Cape 
Cotton shrub, the Bombadero of the Portuguese (Asclepias), Bladder 
Senna (Colutea), and many others. Many of the pods of the legumi- 
nous trees, when ripe, may frequently be heard expanding with a 
slight noise on shedding their seeds. The reason it is doubted is pro- 
bably that few persons have paid much attention to it, or had an oppor- 
tunity of making observations in large groves of Palms, such as may be 
seen in Ceylon, South Sea Islands, etc., or had the patience required to 
watch the result, As we have now growing in the Sydney Botanic 
Gardens specimens of Ptychosperma, Cocos plumosa, and Date Palms, 
