176 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [anNO 1751. 



light projected along the flat bottom of the spot Plato; and from what he was 

 then able to recollect of Bianchini's narrative, he doubted not but that it was of 

 the same kind with that he saw, and which he had so often looked for in vain. 

 By the position of the spot on the disk, and the shadow of the mountains on 

 the west side of it, we should not have expected to have seen any light on the 

 bottom. Soon after he discerned another streak of light extended along the 

 bottom, parallel to the first, but somewhat lower, which in a very short time 

 was evidently divided into two. He sought in vain for such a perforation, as 

 that hinted at in the other account; but through the great magnifying power of 

 this instrument, he was able to discover a gap or notch in the mountains to the 

 westward, which abutted against the first streak or stream, and pursuing the 

 object with great attention, he also perceived a similar gap in the direction of 

 the lower streak; but though this streak was divided into two, he was not able 

 at any rate to find out another notch, by which to account satisfactorily for the 

 whole appearance; which he would have considered as solved, could such a one 

 have been discerned in a right situation. 



XXIV. A Catalogue of the Fifty Plants from Chelsea Garden, presented to 

 the Royal Society by the Company of Apothecaries for the Year 1750, pur- 



- suant to the Direction of Sir Hans Shane, Bart. p. ^66. 



[This is the 29th presentation of this kind, completing the number of 1450 

 different plants.] 



XXV. Observations on the Sex of Flowers. By W. ffatson, F. R. S. occasioned 

 by a Letter on the same Subject, by Mr. My litis of Berlin, p. 169. 



i Extract of Mr. Mylius's Letter to Mr. Watson, dated at Berlin, Feb. 20, 

 1750-51. — " The sex of plants is very well confirmed by an experiment which 

 has been made on the palma major foliis flabelliformibus. There is a great tree 

 of this kind in the garden of the royal academy. It has flowered and born fruit 

 these 30 years; but the fruit never ripened, and when planted, it did not vege- 

 tate. The palm-tree, as you know, is a planta dioecia; that is, one of those in 

 which the male and female parts of generation are on different plants. We 

 having therefore no male plant, the flowers of our female were never impregnated 

 by the farina of the male. There is a male plant of this kind in a garden at 

 Leipsic, 20 German miles from Berlin. We procured from thence in April 

 1749 a branch of male flowers, and suspended it over our female ones, and our 

 experiment succeeded so well, that our palm tree produced more than 100 per- 

 fectly ripe fruit; from which we have already 11 young palm trees. This expe- 

 riment was repeated last year, and our palm tree bore above 2000 ripe fruit. As 

 I do not remember a like experiment, I thought convenient to mention it to 



