140 Miscellaneous. 
seem to indicate that he is alive to the inconveniences of this prac- 
tice; and his selection of the Royal Society’s List of Scientific Papers 
as a model points in the same direction. We can only say that we 
hope his proposals may be carried out upon, or nearly upon, the 
lines indicated in his report; in this case he and his collabora- 
ters will richly merit the thanks of all paleontologists. Under 
favourable circumstances he thinks the first volume might appear in 
from two to three years, and the whole be finished in from eight to 
ten years ! 
Selenotropism in Plants. By M. C. Musser. 
Being struck with the influence exerted by light of very little in- 
tensity upon the so-called heliotropic movements of plants, the 
author, in order to vary the experiments, adopted the reflected light 
of the moon as his sole illumination. He sowed in pots seeds of 
plants well known for their phototropic sensibility, such as Lens 
esculenta, Ménch, Ervuwm lens, Linn., Vicia sativa, Linn., &e. 
When the young plants were a few centimetres long he placed them 
in a very dark place, where they remained until the night of the 
experiment. The stems became slender, long, and white; the 
leaves, which were but little developed, alone had a slightly yellow 
tinge. During the night of 23-24th February, with a very clear 
sky, these seedlings were placed in a large window looking to the 
south, so that they received the direct light of the moon from 9 p.m. 
to 83a.m. After a very few minutes of exposure the stems became 
bent, with the concavity and the terminal bud always presented to 
the moon, and following it in its course; only about 2 a.m., owing to 
the changed position of the moon, the bow became nearly straight. 
The seedlings were then carried to another window looking west- 
ward ; and a new influence was produced, and continued until the 
moment of the disappearance of the moon behind the mountain. 
After a pause of a few minutes the stems then erected themselves 
more or less under the influence of internal causes and geotropism. 
To these movements, which he observed for three successive nights, 
the author gives the name of selenotropism.—Comptes Rendus, 
March 5, 1883, p. 663. 
Jumping Seeds and Galls*. By Cuartes V, Riney. 
Having recently received some fresh specimens of so-called 
“¢ Mexican Jumping Seeds,” or ‘‘ Devil’s Beans,” as they are popu- 
larly called, I take occasion while yet they are active to exhibit them 
to the society. It will be noticed that these seeds are somewhat 
triangular, or of the shape of convolvulus-seeds, there being two flat 
sides meeting at an obtuse angle, and a convex one, which has a 
median carina. They not only roll from one side to another, but 
* Read before the Biological Society of Washington, November 24, 
1882 
