1896] CURRENT LITERATURE 71 
Zellengrissen,"’ where he says different sized organs of the same sort in a 
plant individual consist of cells of the same or nearly the same size (//ora 
—: 207. 1893). 
. Filamentous staminodia as they appear, ¢.g., in species of Pentstemon 
correspond not to the filament alone, but they show in young stages a rem- 
nant of anther formation in their cell structure even if this is not outwardly 
apparent. 
6. The transformed male organs, like normally transformed and sterile 
entire flowers, serve for the enlargement of the attractive apparatus, for 
mechanical devices for the direction of insects or for secretion. 
7. There is a genuine transformation of the organ. Staminodia begin 
like normal stamens and partly complete the further development, but toward 
the end they form organs of secretion. 
Finally, it must be noted that mechanical causes cannot explain the 
reduction or transformation of these organs, because often from the first, 
without an external cause, a different formation is recognizable. It may be 
necessary to take into consideration an inner power resting in the plasma, so 
that sometimes, as Eichler remarks, the later development of the flower even 
at its earliest inception may exercise a noteworthy influence, and sometimes, 
by the entrance of internal disturbances, changes in the typical, external form 
may take place without necessitating the question of atavism,—CHAS. CHAM- 
BERLAIN. 
