176 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. b D. mirabilis 
Hasrrat.—Probably South Borneo. The type specimens in the Herbarium at. 
Brussels. 
OBSERVATIONS.—J. mirabilis was established on only a portion of two sheathed 
stems, which I have examined and described above. One of these stems is 2'5, the 
other 3 cm. in diam.; they were sent by Reinwardt to Martius, without any 
special note of their place of origin. D. mirabilis is certainly a very singular Palm, 
and among all the species of myrmecophilous Daemonorops it certainly possesses the 
best developed ant-harbouring galleries encircling the leaf-sheaths. 
In D. mirabilis the galleries are formed by two equal opposed collars, of which 
the membranous part is as much as 10-12 mm. broad, their respective edges being 
in contact while the spines are set so closely together, as to form an impenetrable 
stockade by which the circular galleries are entirely closed in; should any ants 
desire to penetrate inside the galleries, and establish their abode therein they can 
do so only by gnawing through the rims of the collars. In one of the leaf-sheaths 
which I examined, and which was 15 em. in length, I counted 5 complete gal- 
leries of these. The lower 4 had each a circular hole in the upper collar made 
by the ants, exactly in the same vertical line. by which the ants could, as by 
gates, communicate with the exterior; the uppermost gallery had no such hole, as 
the edges of the collars were not in contact here, and the ants had been able to 
penetrate inside through the interstices between the spines; here however they had 
carried up some rubbish to close the fissures, 
DAEMONOROPS MIRABILIS var. OLIGOCYCLIS Bece, 
Descriprion.—Scandent, slender. Sheathed stem 17 mm. in diameter.  Leaf-sheaths 
furnished in their upper part with only one complete pair of equal, broadly mem- 
branous, spiculiferous, opposite collars, the remaining portion being surrounded by 
several such membranous spinuliferous collars but all single and reversed; the latter 
are interposed between horizontal rings of radiating spiculae, all the spiculae being very 
fine, unequal and black with a lighter-coloured base. eaves 60 cm. long in the 
pinniferous part, with 23 leaflets in all (in one specimen), approximated into 5 
groups, of which the lowest is composed of 7 leaflets; petiole somewhat flattened 
biconvex, with the edges and the dorsum along the centre armed with short 
solitary claws; on the upper surface the petiole has a few small prickles near its 
base; the rachis has the upper surface at first very narrow and flat, with a broad groove 
on each side, but it soon becomes  trigonous in section, with an acute smooth 
salient angle; leaflets very narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate; those of the lower 
group about 40 cm, long, 3 mm. broad and broadest above their middle ; 
those of the upper groups shorter, but very slightly narrower, and broadest at 
about their middle; they have 3 very remotely  spinulous nerves on their upper, 
but are smooth on their lower surfaces. Spadices when very young  cylindraceous, 
with a very short, flat, unarmed, peduncular part; primary spathes tubular, the 
outermost pervious at its upper end, the inner protruding one beyond the other, 
