456 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 



rim of greater or less depth, enclosing a hollow space in which cer- 

 tain organs are developed. The pitcher-like peduncle or receptacle 

 w r as often intimately connected with the calyx, and was lined by 

 cellular matter in the form of a disk. 



4. " On Linaria sepium of Allman," by C. C. Babington, M.A. — 

 See p. 408. 



5. "On Diseases in Plants caused by Mites," by Mr. Hardy, of 

 Penmanshiel. A specimen of Broom injured by insects, gathered in 

 the West of Scotland, having been submitted to Mr. Hardy, he sent 

 the following remarks upon it : — " I ascribe the disease in Broom to 

 colonies of young mites inhabiting the interior of the buds. I ob- 

 served them very distinctly with a triple lens, but the mites being 

 dead, I have not succeeded in detaching one to place under the mi- 

 croscope, but with fresh specimens I have no doubt you would detect 

 them. They are of a pink colour, or paler tinted. In the Berwick- 

 shire Club's Proceedings, vol. hi. No. 3. p. Ill, I have recorded all 

 the observations I have made on this subject. I have met with 

 three galls on the Broom, caused by the larvae of Cecidomyice, but 

 not, as yet, this mite production. The rent in the bark of the branch 

 appears to be owing to a caterpillar which I often observed in the 

 shoots ; a part of its web remains under one of the buds." On other 

 plants injured by mites Mr. Hardy remarked — " I send you specimens 

 of Helianthemum vulgare, altered in a singular manner by the larvae 

 of mites, and precisely similar to the buds of wild thyme and those 

 of broom sent by you lately, except that the stem takes part in the 

 alteration, owing perhaps to some of the mites harbouring in the 

 axils. It is from a dry steep bank at Monynnt, among the Lammer- 

 muirs. The young mites have the same appearance as those observed 

 in broom, and will probably reach you alive. The buds are often 

 occupied by a gall-fly larva, and the effects are not unlike, but not 

 to this degree. I also send dwarf plants of Epilobium palustre, 

 which have the leaves twisted and sometimes rendered involute by 

 larvae of mites. The buds of Lotus corniculatus, and sometimes the 

 leaves, have purple spots occupied by mite larvae. I can trace no 

 difference in any of them. Specimens are likewise sent of Geranium 

 molle from a barren pasture in the Lammermuirs ; it is completely 

 occupied by mites." 



G. "Botanical Notes," by Dr. J. D. Hooker, in a letter to Dr. 

 Balfour. Dr. Hooker remarks (1.) that the natural order Balano- 

 phoracece is truly Dicotyledonous, and far removed from Rafflesiaeece, 

 the latter being (as Brown pointed out) closely allied to Aristolochia. 

 The Balanophoraeece are far more perfect in their ovules, and have 

 albuminous seeds, with a Dicotyledonous embryo. They are closely 

 allied to Gunnera. — (2.) He finds the germination of Nymphceacece 

 to be genuinely Dicotyledonous. It is only the adventitious roots 

 which are sheathed, as is the case with many other exogens. The 

 rhizome of the Order is a very reduced form of the exogenous, but 

 not at all constructed on the endogenous type. The species of 

 Nymphceacece must apparently be reduced to a very few, for in India 

 half-a-dozen varieties in colour, number of petals, stamens and stig- 



