Miscellaneous. 313 



pie at their first appearance, each very soon develope two equal lobes ; 

 and that, from this moment until when the two seminal leaves have 

 attained their complete development, it becomes more and more 

 evident that each of them is only divided in the direction of the 

 medial line. 



A complete analogy of development and organization induced me 

 then to study the embryo of Schizopetalon Walker i, Sims., to which 

 Mr. Robert Brown, in the 'Botanical Register,' tab. 752, and recently 

 M. Barneoud, have assigned four distinct and separate cotyledons, 

 contrary to the opinion expressed by Mr. W. Hooker in the ' Exotic 

 Flora,' tab. 74. I show that the embryo of this plant passes through 

 a series of analogous states to those which I have mentioned in Am- 

 siiikia ; that its germination resembles that of the latter plant, al- 

 though the division of each of its two seminal leaves into two lobes 

 is still deeper ; lastly, I adduce in support of these facts those which 

 the anatomical structure furnishes, and 1 show that in the germina- 

 tions of Schizopetalon we find two fibro-vascular bundles which cor- 

 respond to the undivided portion of the two cotyledons, and which, 

 higher up, separate into two branches, each destined for one of the 

 two cotyledonary lobes. This singular genus of Cruciferae should 

 consequently be removed from the list of polycotyledonous plants. 



After having taken a glance at the species of Canarium and Aga- 

 thophyllmn, the embryo of which appears to have but two cotyledons, 

 each divided into three or more lobes, I come to those Coniferse that 

 have been considered to possess several cotyledons, and in which it 

 is generally agreed the type of the polycotyledonous embryos is 

 found. This opinion was admitted in science on the authority of 

 Gsertner, Salisbury, L. C. Richard, and M. A. Richard. It is en- 

 tirely opposed to that expressed by Adanson and Jussieu, who state 

 that these Coniferse have but two cotyledons deeply divided into a con- 

 siderable number of long narrow lobes. Although this latter view 

 has been abandoned by modern botanists, I have attempted to prove 

 that it alone is based on facts. After having discussed the objections 

 which have been raised against it by Gsertner and M. A. Richard, I 

 deduce from a careful examination of the embryo in seventeen dif- 

 ferent species, and of that of the germination in some of them, the 

 following results. 



The pretended multiple cotyledons of the Firs, and of the genera 

 in which the embryo is organized on the same plan, are not verti- 

 cillate, that is to say, arranged regularly in a circle around a point. 

 On the contrary, they always occur divided into two opposite groups, 

 absolutely placed like two ordinary cotyledons. In each of these 

 two groups, the appendages which have been regarded as distinct 

 and separate cotyledons, and which I regard only as lobes, are ge- 

 nerally pressed one against the other, whilst a very marked space 

 exists between the two groups, sometimes large enough to occupy, 

 towards the centre, about a third of the total diameter of the embryo. 

 Often, and particularly in the case where the lobes are numerous, 

 the embryo is compressed in the direction of the breadth of the two 

 cotyledons. "N'iewing the embryo from the top, the pretended mul- 



