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BOTANICAL NEWS. 955 
E idis or Eprnpuren.—May 1Ath.— Professor Maclagan, 
in the chair. 1. Description of New Genera and Species of Diatoms, 
fro D 
m the South Pacific. By R. K. Greville, LL.D. 2. Experiments on the 
Fertilization of Orchids. By Mr. John Scott. After alluding to the more 
general phenomena of sterility manifested in the vegetable kingdom, and its 
ural 
supposed bearings on the “ origin of species by means of natural selection,” the 
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oS y the pollen. This stigmatic movement, he stated, was effected in two 
y the different species of Oncidium, vit. laterally by the closing of the 
: ; t versely by à 
sion of the clinandrium, O. sphacelatum exhibiting the former, O. divaricatum 
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repe mode. He also stated that he had dissected the column of a number 
owers operated upon as they dropped off, and invariably found an 
i ith pollen of O, alti 
tilizing a single capsule. Thirdly, he applied the pollen of. Q. sphacelatum to 
ee less w 
trasted them with his experiments on 
great predominance of yellow 
in the flowers of this genus, he remarked that the O. sphacelatum, with yellow- 
coii flowers, fertilized O. ornithorhynchum with rose-coloured flowers, while 
similarly-coloured species W | chine effective—8 significant in ication, 
:unetion of the sexual elements of varieties, and 
i a genus, is dependent on 
eate from such affinities the results 
n m sphacelatum were impre ated with. polen of ri- 
e f these, four have produced five capsules, now nearly 
iba cies, however, e former cases, We recipro- 
ed 
in the 10 
e remarked, “ though I have failed in crossing recipro- 
x :nk. satisfactorily shown an in- 
dividual self-impotence of organs by the action of other 
