﻿50 
  BOTANICAL 
  GAZETTE. 
  [ 
  February, 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Edward 
  Palmer 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  collecting 
  for 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  

   Agriculture 
  in 
  Lower 
  California. 
  He 
  will 
  try 
  to 
  reach 
  Cape 
  St. 
  Lucas 
  

   and 
  work 
  northward, 
  spending 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  in 
  Arizona, 
  

  

  The 
  Kew 
  Bulletin 
  for 
  January 
  is 
  entirely 
  taken 
  up 
  with 
  an 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  of 
  the 
  somewhat 
  famous 
  " 
  weather 
  plant" 
  {Abrus 
  precatorius 
  L.). 
  

   Great 
  claims 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  for 
  it, 
  that 
  by 
  certain 
  movements 
  and 
  posi- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  its 
  leaflets 
  it 
  could 
  forecast 
  with 
  certainty 
  weather 
  48 
  hours 
  in 
  

  

  1 
  Y 
  %**^*1. 
  ^ 
  n 
  

  

  advance, 
  such 
  as 
  sunshine, 
  rain, 
  wind, 
  storm, 
  etc., 
  and 
  even 
  subterranean 
  

   disturbances. 
  The 
  whole 
  matter 
  has 
  been 
  investigated 
  at 
  Kew, 
  and 
  the 
  

   results 
  published 
  in 
  this 
  bulletin. 
  The 
  movements 
  are 
  those 
  with 
  which 
  

   we 
  are 
  familiar 
  in 
  many 
  leguminous 
  plants, 
  but 
  the 
  certainty 
  of 
  its 
  pre- 
  

   dictions 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  clear. 
  For 
  a 
  condensed 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  plant 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  

   Kew 
  experiments 
  see 
  Gardeners' 
  Chronicle 
  for 
  January 
  25. 
  

  

  Since 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  sieve 
  tissue 
  by 
  Hartig.a 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  

   fifty 
  years 
  ago, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  repeatedly 
  studied. 
  Nageli, 
  Wilhelm, 
  Russow, 
  

   Janczewski 
  and 
  Fischer 
  have 
  made 
  it 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  special 
  memoirs, 
  and 
  

   various 
  authors 
  have 
  treated 
  it 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  other 
  tissues 
  of 
  the 
  

   cortex. 
  In 
  the 
  last 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  Annates 
  des 
  Sciewes 
  Naturelles 
  {Butan- 
  

   iquey 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  Lecomte 
  publishes 
  a 
  "Study 
  of 
  the 
  liber 
  of 
  Angiosperms," 
  

   which 
  18 
  a 
  valuable 
  contribution 
  to 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  tissues 
  which 
  

   comjiose 
  it. 
  Amongst 
  other 
  things 
  he 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  bast 
  of 
  the 
  leaves 
  

   the 
  sieve 
  tubes 
  are 
  always 
  of 
  the 
  gourd 
  type, 
  no 
  matter 
  what 
  their 
  form 
  

   m 
  the 
  stem. 
  The 
  same 
  is 
  true 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  primary 
  bast 
  of 
  the 
  stem. 
  

   The 
  partition 
  destined 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  sieve 
  plate 
  is 
  from 
  the 
  first 
  not 
  hom- 
  

   ogeneous, 
  but 
  the 
  cellulose 
  is 
  developed 
  along 
  the 
  bands 
  between 
  the 
  

   meshes 
  of 
  the 
  sieve 
  which 
  subsequently 
  become 
  perforations. 
  (This 
  

   primitive 
  wall 
  Mr. 
  Lecomte 
  thinks 
  is 
  not 
  cellulose, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  only 
  pec- 
  

   tate 
  of 
  lime, 
  such 
  as 
  that 
  described 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Fremy 
  forming 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  ce- 
  

   ment 
  between 
  the 
  parenchyma 
  cells.) 
  The 
  callus 
  which 
  covers 
  the 
  func- 
  

   tionless 
  sieve 
  plates 
  is 
  an 
  exaggerated 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  delicate 
  mem- 
  

   brane 
  which 
  covers 
  the 
  cellulose 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  plate. 
  While 
  the 
  nucleus 
  

   generally 
  disappears 
  at 
  a 
  certain 
  time, 
  it 
  can 
  sometimes 
  be 
  seen 
  later 
  in 
  

   the 
  parietal 
  protoplasm 
  of 
  active 
  tubes. 
  The 
  protoplasm 
  of 
  active 
  tubes 
  

   IS 
  living, 
  surrounding 
  a 
  large 
  vacuole 
  filled 
  with 
  water 
  containing 
  pro- 
  

   teid 
  substances 
  in 
  solution; 
  the 
  tubes 
  are 
  therefore 
  not 
  dead 
  elements, 
  

   it 
  will 
  perhaps 
  bear 
  repetition, 
  though 
  not 
  a 
  discovery 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Lecomte, 
  

   that 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  the 
  albuminoids 
  at 
  the 
  ends 
  of- 
  the 
  tubes 
  as 
  

   commonly 
  seen 
  in 
  alcoholic 
  material, 
  is 
  wholly 
  a 
  post 
  rmMem 
  appearance. 
  

   The 
  transport 
  of 
  the 
  albuminoids 
  must 
  be 
  greatly 
  aided 
  by 
  the 
  proper 
  

   movements 
  of 
  the 
  protoplasm.- 
  We 
  have 
  summarized 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  ^pilLw^K 
  ''''^ 
  l^'?^l' 
  °^ 
  ^^'- 
  ^' 
  ^^'^ 
  '^ 
  a 
  paper 
  that 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  

   neglected 
  by 
  any 
  histologist. 
  

  

  lnn/,f.nJ.^?^^.r'^' 
  ^""^ 
  '^°-"',^? 
  ^" 
  ^•''' 
  ^t^ 
  «^af« 
  of 
  the 
  observations. 
  A 
  

   develonmpn 
  ""^r, 
  T' 
  '""''^ 
  ^Z 
  ^'^'\^- 
  ^•^"^'O* 
  details 
  his 
  study 
  of 
  its 
  

   W„?K 
  f.! 
  ^ 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  plants. 
  MoUer 
  has 
  already 
  dia- 
  

   seir^l? 
  from 
  ?rr 
  ^^> 
  The 
  phellogen 
  formed 
  from 
  the 
  epidermis 
  

   deen 
  Ivinl 
  K.^1 
  ll^^' 
  immediately 
  under 
  the 
  epidermis; 
  (3) 
  from 
  a 
  

   Slot 
  fLtfc?/^^-T^^f' 
  ^""^ 
  ^*) 
  »" 
  t^« 
  ^^cular 
  bundle 
  itself. 
  

   ^?mat 
  on 
  o 
  tb. 
  nhS^"''^^' 
  *^°. 
  """^^^ 
  ^"^^ead 
  of 
  the 
  fourth 
  (a) 
  the 
  

   tormation 
  of 
  thephellogen 
  from 
  the 
  endodermis 
  ; 
  (6) 
  from 
  the 
  pericycle. 
  

  

  1 
  Nos. 
  4, 
  5, 
  6, 
  vol. 
  X, 
  pp. 
  193-324. 
  

  

  