400 Miscellaneous. 



exuded. These hairs are filled with a purplish-red, violet, or even 

 hlue liquid. When the violet or hlue liquid is treated with dilute 

 sulphuric acid it becomes bright red. Ammonia restores the origi- 

 nal colour. The purple-red liquid scarcely changes colour with 

 acid ; but it becomes violet or blue under the influence of ammonia. 

 The purple-red hairs which cover a great part of the inner surface 

 of the spathe of Arum crinitum may therefore probably contain 

 an acid which, like that exuded from the hairs of Drosera, may 

 contribute to the conversion of the nitrogenous materials of insects 

 into matters capable of absorption by the spathe. 



The spathe is, in fact, a simple leaf, the parenchyma of which 

 contains grains of chlorophyll, like all leaves capable of assimilation. 

 We need only immerse the purple spathe of Arum crinitum for a 

 few days in a saturated solution of borax, to get rid of all the 

 colouring-matters which masked the green colour of the chlorophyll. 

 Thus, while admitting the possibility of the transportation of the 

 pollen of Arum crinitum by flies to tho stigmas either of another 

 individual or of the same, the author is of opinion that insects also 

 furnish nitrogenous nourishment to the plant through the mediation 

 of the spathe. The name of Arum muscivorum, given to the plant 

 by the younger Linne, would therefore be appropriate*. 



The so-called hairs which occur above the fertile stamens up to 

 the extremity of the spadix present a structure very different from 

 that of ordinary hairs. They are formed by an epidermic tissue, a 

 parenchyma, and an axial vascular cord composed of tracheids. 

 They are stamens, transformed, like those immediately below the 

 fertile stamens, into glandular organs, which perform the same 

 function as the aborted stamens of Parnassia palustris. The nume- 

 rous living Bacteria which occurred upon the bodies of the dead 

 flies among the hairs of the spadix of Arum crinitum show that 

 here we have to do with a simple putrefaction of the albuminous 

 materials of the insect ; none of the dead flies among the viscous 

 hairs lining the interior of the spathe presented any trace of 

 Bacteria. Between the stamens and the pistils there is a whorl of 

 aborted ovaries in the form of glandular appendages. — Comptes 

 Rendus, September 8, 1879, p. 508. 



On a new Specks of Wild Dog from Demerara. 

 To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, — I observe that inadvertently I have omitted to name 

 the new species of dog described by me supra, p. 316. I propose 

 for it the name of Canis rudis. 



Believe me, 

 British Museum, Yours truly, 



October 1, 1879. A. Gunther. 



* M. E. Aschmann has also cited Dracunculus crinitus among insec- 

 tivorous plants. See Just's ' Botanische Jahresbericht/ 1877, p. 730. 



