1886.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



159 



I . Anthers of willo-vs^ changing to 

 ovaries. R.H.Ward. The descrip- 

 tion is as follows : — 



' In the absence of the lowest powers 

 mentioned above, use a good pocket 

 lens. The slide is covered with paper, 

 in hope of preventing its shaking to 

 pieces, an accident that seems nearly 

 unavoidable in dry mounted speci- 

 mens circulated by mail. 



' The object is circulated as an in- 

 teresting study in teratolog}'. It was 

 taken from a willow tree which, being 

 the male plant of a dioecious species, 

 bore only catkins of exclusively stami- 

 nate ffowers. Mixed with the normal 

 stamens, hov^rever, were a few which, 

 like those on the slide, were deformed 

 into a resemblance to pistils. 



' Pistillody of the stamens, of 

 which this is a typical example, is 

 a metamorphosis of the whole or a 

 part of the stamen into the form and 

 character of a pistil. It occurs oc- 

 casionally in the willows, heaths, 

 poppies, and some other families. 

 This change to a form belonging 

 nearer the centre of the flower is 

 somewhat less familiar than the 

 more common anomaly of revert- 

 ing to the foliar type which is nearer 

 in character as well as position to the 

 foliage-leaves. Only a portion of the 

 stamen may be modified, or. the sta- 

 men as a whole may be changed into 

 a pistil bearing ovules. 



^ In the present instance, the fila- 

 ments are unaltered, and each anther 

 is changed to an ovary, more or less 

 bifid, the division being so complete 

 in some cases that each anther-cell 

 appears as a single stalked ovar}- 

 looking like an entire carpel. The 

 normal anther cells have mostly dis- 

 appeared, or been reduced to ovule- 

 like nodules inclosed -wdthin the car- 

 pels. The short specimen, at the 

 bottom, is a doubly interesting trans- 

 itional form, having become pistil- 

 late in shape, and having a well- 

 characterized stigma, but still re- 

 maining open like the carpels of 

 the conifera;, and ^still retaining on 

 its surface a pair of normal anther- 



lobes containing pollen-grains. In 

 the absence of ovules, however, it 

 cannot be considered a fully hei-- 

 maphrodite organ.' 



2. Section of swelling of spinal 

 cord of cat. J. D. Lomax. Well 

 explained in the letter-packet. 



3. Section of human lung in con- 

 sumption. C. E. Hanaman. Also 

 well described. 



4. Temporarv tooth of puppy. 

 A. M. Wright.' 



5. Antheridia of moss. Joseph 

 McKay. A good specimen well de- 

 scribed. 



6. Louse of crow, Alenopon me- 

 soleucum. 



NOTES. 



— ' The Popular Science Monthly ' for 

 August will open with a richly illustrated 

 article of great economic value entitled 

 ' Woods and their Destructive Fungi.' 

 The author, Mr. P. H. Dudley, a civil 

 engineer of rising reputation, has, for 

 several years, been studying the struc- 

 ture of those woods most commonly em- 

 ployed in the arts, with reference to the 

 agencies concerned in their deterioration. 

 The results of his investigations put quite 

 a different aspect from the generally ac- 

 cepted one on the process of decay, and 

 promise to be of vast industrial import- 

 ance in their practical application. 



— Hon. David A. Wells closes his 

 series of papers in ' The Popular Science 

 Monthly,' on ' An Economic Study of 

 Mexico,' with an article in the August 

 number considering the attitude which 

 the United States should take toward that 

 country. Having given us what is accepted 

 by the best informed as a generally accu- 

 rate and approximately complete state- 

 ment of the deplorable condition of affairs 

 which now exists in Mexico, Mr. Wells 

 maintains that, being partly responsible 

 for this ourselves, we should assume the 

 role, henceforth, of the generous big 

 brother, and actively assist them in their 

 strivings after better thin^^s. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



To THE Editor : Although unable to 

 fully answer the query of W. in your July 

 number, I may be able to assist your 



