78 Miscellaneous. 



Note on the Wombats living in the Gardens of the Zoological Society* 

 By Dr. P. L. Sclater. 



Dr. Gray does not appear to have noticed that the "Wombat de- 

 scribed by him in the last Number of the 'Annals' Cp. 458) as 

 Phascolomys Angasii had previously been named by Mr. Gould, in 

 his Introduction to the * Mammals of Australia,' Phascolomys niyer. 

 I may also remark that, one of the specimens of P. lasiorhinus 

 in the Gardens having died, I sent the skull to Mr, Flower, who 

 has kindly compared it with the typical skull in the collection of 

 the Royal College of Surgeons upon which Prof. Owen founded his 

 P. latifrons. Mr. Flower pronounces it quite distinct, and much more 

 nearly resembling that of the common P. ursinus. It would appear, 

 therefore, that we have yet to become acquainted with the external 

 form of P. latifrons, unless it shall turn out that P. niger, Gould, or 

 P. setosus of Dr. Gray (figured by Mr. Gould as P. latifrons) shall 

 prove to possess a skull with the peculiar characters pointed out by 

 Prof. Owen in his description of the skull of P. latifrons. 



On the Functions of the Vessels of Plants. 

 By M. Gris. 



After referring to the different opinions held by botanists regarding 

 the functions of the vessels, some maintaining that, although con- 

 taining only air at most seasons, they are filled with sap in the 

 spring, whilst others hold that, when once formed, they contain only 

 air, the author indicates a means of settling the question by the use 

 of Fehling's solution. This liquid, which is used to determine the 

 presence of glucose, contains sulphate of copper, soda, and tartrates 

 of soda and potash ; remains limpid when boiled alone ; but if a 

 very small quantity of glucose be added to it, a red precipitate 

 of protoxide of copper is produced ; and this, when examined 

 under the microscope, is seen to consist of small flakes of a deep 

 brown or almost black colour. If a few drops of sap be added 

 instead of glucose, the same precipitate of protoxide of copper is 

 observed. 



On plunging for a few moments into the boiling solution thick 

 fragments of the wood of the chestnut, beech, poplar, laburnum, &c., 

 at the commencement of the spring, and cutting thin sections from 

 the heart of these fragments for examination with the microscope, 

 it will be seen that an abundant precipitate of protoxide of copper 

 clothes the inner face of the large vessels, so that their course 

 through the thickness of the woody layers is indicated even to the 

 naked eye, or with a simple lens, by very perceptible reddish 

 threads. 



As the precipitate is generally very abundant in the cells of the 

 medullary rays, the author thinks we may conclude, from this expe- 

 riment, that the so-called lymphatic vessels (at all events in spring) 

 contain a sap of a nature closely analogous to, if not identical with, 

 that which is found in the cellular elements of these stems, and that 



