OFFICCSRO\BURGHI 



»: 



The maturation of the male fleers is, then, dearly a mult of general fa*^ 



hypertrophy of the receptacular tissue as a whole, due to in** accL, and not 



result of the addition of any extraneous bodies to them; and when the res' . 

 evidence is taken into account, there can be little doubt that the phenomena prem 

 themselves in connection with the true female flowers are of essentially unflar nature 

 and origin. 



It may be objected that in the case of the female ree ptacles no deposit of 



»\ 



within the tissues takes place, and that, therefore, a source of irritative stimulation oi 

 sufficient magnitude is wanting. But although no ova are successfully deposited w 

 the ovaries of the true female flowers, owing to the strength and thickness of I r wslh 



this by no means implies that attempts at deposit are not made. On the coi mry as 

 has already been pointed out, the insects which attain access to female recent 



r 



on perseveringly attempting deposition until they are worn out and die ; in 

 words, they go on perseveringly stinging the ovarian tissues as long as their li 1 

 But it is the process of perforation, which is probably the real determinant of hyperl uy 

 in the gall-receptacles, and not the mere deposition of the ova, which profit by it 



presence. The essential stimulus is thus alike in both cases ; and this bring so, parall I 

 results naturally follow, and maturation of pollen-grains in the male flowers and embry 

 scenic growth of a specialised portion of the nucellar tissue in the female ones -ake 



While this is so ; while the development of embryos as a rule occurs independent! 



of pollination, it is of course possible that exceptions may occur, and that the emlry< eny 

 of certain flowers may take place in the normal fashion ; and it is even possible th t the 

 mbryos arising in this way may have a stronger vitality, and therefore more 



of ultimate survival, than the others : but if this be the case, it can only be so 4 an 





exceptional phenomenon, for among the hundreds of ovules which I have miined 1 

 have never seen anything suggestive of its occurrence. 



The development of embryos in F. Boxburgkii, then, appears normally to b an 

 asexual process dependent on hypertrophic budding of a specialised portion of the nucell 

 parenchyma, and it appears not improbable that the phenomenon is not peculiar tot! 

 species, but is the rule in the case of other figs also. This, of course, n [uires farther 

 investigation : but in the only instance in which I have yet had time to examin th 



matter— in the case of F. hispida— there can be no doubt that it is so. 



conclusion, I have to express my obligations to my friends Dr. Geor • Km 



and Dr. Gerald Bomford : to the former for having first directed my attention t< 

 supplied me with materials for the investigation of the subject dealt with in the pre™ 



and to the latter for a very fine set of serial sections of ovules from receptacl 



pages, 



before and after insect access. 



D. D. CUNNINGHAM. 



November 1888. 





