BOTANICAL NEWS. . 281 
flowering specimen of the plant sent by H. Fox Talbot, Esq., and which was de- 
scribed at last meeting under the name of Yellozia Talloti. Dr. Balfour thought 
that, although the plant was very nearly allied to Yellozia, yet it possessed cer- 
tain characters in which it disagreed with that genus. He proposed, therefore, 
.1 ... , , . , i . .1 « • 1 1 J! lA. • 
ime he would name it m 
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honour of his friend Mr. Talbot, and designate it Talbotia elegans—2. Gases 
found in Plants. Messrs. Faivre and Dupre have recently examined the gases 
found in the mulberry and vine, the parts which contain them, and the changes 
produced in them by the process of growth and development. They have ar- 
rived at the following conclusions :— 1. The presence of gases in the interior of 
the root, of the stem, and of the branches in the mulberry and vine, is a normal 
and constant fact. 2. The composition of these gases changes with the epochs 
of vegetation. 3. During the period of inactivity, carbonic acid is in very small 
proportion, and is scarcely appreciable. Oxygen is present to the same extent 
as in atmospheric air. During the phase of activity the contrary takes place, 
and the changes are more marked in proportion as the vegetation is more 
energetic ; with the progress of vegetation, the proportion of oxygen diminishes. 
4. In the roots, during the epoch of vegetation, the quantity of oxygen is not 
so great, while that of carbonic acid is greater than in the branches examined 
under the same circumstances. 5. In the branches, as in the roots, there is 
an inverse relation between the oxygen and the carbonic acid ; by adding to 
the normal oxygen that disengaged under the form of carbonic acid, we obtain 
a number which is scarcely above the proportion of oxygen in the air. 6. In 
the mulberry and the vine, injections do not penetrate the pith or the bark, 
whether in the branches or roots. The ligneous layers are alone permeable to 
mercury. The more the formation of vessels increases, the easier and more 
complete are the injections. The injections are fuller in the roots than the 
branches ; they are also more in the branches than in the young herbaceous 
sho. j. In the old stems of the mulberry, the central layers erase to be per- 
meable. 7. Microscopic examination proves that the injection specially pene- 
trates the pitted and reticulated vessels, and also the spiral vessels in the young 
herbaceous shoots. 8. The pit d vessels show distinctly the mercury in the 
areoke, as if in so many little pouches formed by thin portions of the wall ; the 
same observations have been made in regard to the reticulated vessels. 9. The 
contents of the vessels expelled by the mercury is variable. Sometimes gas 
only is sent out : this is the case in winter and after dry weather. Sometimes 
the gas is mixed with sap, which is more or less abundant according to the 
epoch of vegetation and external temperature. These two latter conditions 
regulate, in a certain degree the contents of the vessels. 10. The contents are 
so variable that in plants, the root-vessels of which contain gases and sap, 
the stem-vessels contain only gases, or inversely. 11. The presence m the 
vessels of animals of oxygen and carbonic acid mixed with the blood, consti- 
tutes one of the best established facts in animal physiology; the pr. ice oi 
the same gases mixed with the sap in the vessels of plants, and the modula- 
tions which they there undergo, seem to establish an interest uig correspond- 
ence between these two kingdoms.- 3. Nature and Structure of the Pod of 
