H \rnj:siA ak'noldf. 10.", 



but excited nnd detenniiKMl in its form Miid nature hv the 

 specitie stimulus of tlu^ parasite. I e\])e('te(l, tlierefoi'e, to 

 find it existing in ihc. foiMu of a eoveriiii^^ to tlie ])racteae in 

 tlie early state, as in Cijl'mus. This point lias been fullv 

 confii'med, and is well shown in Mr. Bauer's drawings of 

 the very young buds.^ From the same figures it appears 

 that the parasite is occasionally found on the stems of the 

 Vine, as Dr. Jack had stated, but which seemed to ine to 

 require confirmation. 



Of the structure of the female flower of J^aJJIe^ia I ::3-^3 

 judged entirely fi'om Dr. Jack's account in his letter pub- 

 lislied in my former essay ; and respecting this structure 

 several ini{)ortant points, which even his subserpient descrip- 

 tion in the 'Malayan Miscellany' did not suj)[)ly, were 

 regarded as undetermined. 



Whether the ovarium is wholly distinct from the calyx 

 or cohering Avith it at the base, was the first of these points 

 \vhich required further examination. The specimens now 

 prove it to be chiefly superior or free in the flowering state, 

 and wholly so in the rij)e fruit. 



The internal structure of the ovarium, especially the 

 origin and arrangement of the numerous ovuliferous 

 surfaces or placentae, I considered one of the principal 

 desiderata. Dr. Jack's account of these placentae, which, 

 as ftir as it extends, is essentially correct, is confirmed by 

 Dr. Elume's description and figures of llajlJe^ia Patnia, as 

 well as by the more complete draw'ings which accompanv 

 the ])resent j)aper. The important question, howevei-, 

 namely the analogy of this apparently singular ai-rangemenr, 

 with ordinary structiUT, may be regarded as still in some 

 degree obscure. 



The transverse section of the ovarium ])resenting an 

 indefinite number of cavities irregular in form, having no 

 apparent order, and over the whole of whose surfac(^s the 

 ovula are insei'ted, is hardly reconcileable to the generallv 

 received notions of the type of the female organ ; and as 



' Th.'it the whole of this covering: beloiiL's to the slock, is proved by its con- 

 taining those ra|)hides or acicuhir crystals whicii are so abundant in the root of 

 the VU'n or Cissnx, and \viiich are altoc^ptlior wantinc: in the parasite. 



