18971 MICROSCOriCAL .lOURNAL. 201 



of four coils, to which are attached a larg-e number of cilia; 

 but the swarming- motion was not actually detached. The 

 nucleus is surrounded by cyi)toplasm. They are found 

 in pairs in the extremity of the pollen-tube, and result 

 from the bi-partition of the genative nucleus. Professor 

 Ikeno states that the structure of the male and female 

 org-ans in (Tinkgo biloba and Cyeas revoluta at the time of 

 impregnation differs from that observed in any other 

 (Tymhosperm in this respect; that while, in the latter, the 

 pollen-tube penetrates deeply into the archegone, in the 

 two species under discusion it never reaches the arche- 

 g'one itself, but remains, at the time of impreg^nation, at 

 some considerable distance from it. It would therefore 

 be impossible for the pollen-tube-nuclei to impreg^nate the 

 oosphere without being previously transformed into motile 

 antherozoids. Fertilization is then rendered possible by 

 the copious excretion of a watery fluid by the archegone 

 at the time of impreg-nation. Further details of this most 

 interesting- discovery are promised. 



The \A^ild Nettle is known to contain a remarkable 

 number of useful qualities. The leaf is edible, and the 

 liquid to be obtained from the stalk makes an excellent 

 beverag-c. The fibre of the stalk may, under treatment, 

 produce an excellent silk. For ag-es the plant has been 

 used for this purpose in China, where it g-rows to a height 

 of seven or eig'ht feet. Only recently, however, has the 

 machinery necessary to make the manufacture of this silk 

 a profitable industry been produced. A machine called 

 the decorticator has been invented, by means of which the 

 fibre is stripped off in enormous (|uantities at a terific 

 speed. Ramie is the eastern name of the plant. — The 

 Counsellor. 



The Foot of the House Fly. — I have succeeded in 

 mounting a specimen of the flv's foot with the pui villi and 

 tennent hairs stained, and showing, adhering to the ends 

 of the hairs, the viscid globules by means of which the 

 insect is enabled to attach itself to smooth surfaces. I 

 have a fly's foot so mounted and stained with fuchsin, 



