i^6 Highfield : The Structure of a Garlic Bulb. 



daffodil, are very uncertain in the production of fertile seed, 

 and germinating seeds of these plants are seldom found under 

 natural conditions. 



The leaf of the garlic presents a perfect type of monocotyle- 

 donous leaf in which the three regions lamina, petiole, and 

 tubular base. are clearly defined. It is the utilization of the 

 base for food storage which gives rise to bulb structures, but 

 in the garlic the shedding of the outer rings is much more rapid 

 than in other bulbs, and only the last leaf base is retained for 

 winter storage. In the snowdrop and daffodil the leaf bases 

 of two or three years are retained. Also in these latter the 

 flower stalks disintegrate from within, whereas in the garlic 

 they fall away on the outside leaving no trace. 



The vegetative reproduction of new bulbs in the garlic is 

 also a distinctive feature. In the snowdrop a new shoot arises 

 from the base of the first or oldest leaf, and at a later period 

 a second shoot may arise from the base of the second leaf. 

 The two shoots are separated from each other by a complete 

 bulbous ring, and each is enclosed in a separate sheath. The 

 second formed shoot is not separated from the old bulb for 

 two or three seasons. In other bulbs consisting of many leaf 

 bases this mode of origin of new shoots in the axils of different 

 leaves appears to be the general rule, but in the garlic where 

 only one leaf base is retained it would be practically impossible 

 and, as has been shown, the second shoot is budded off from 

 the newly developed sheath ring. Consequently, both shoots 

 are enclosed in the same sheath, and the bulbs formed from the 

 two shoots attain maturity and a separate existence in one 

 season. 



Some Glimpses of old Hull in the light of recent Excavations. i8 pp 



and 6 plates. Hull Museum Publications, No. 89, August, 191 2, price 

 one penny. It is only a few months ago that we extended a welcome 

 to a volume on the Evolution of Hull, and now we have a' sort of appendix 

 to that work written by the same painstaking investigator. Those 

 whom pursuit of pleasure or business have taken Hull at intervals during 

 the last twenty years must have been struck with the immense improve- 

 ment that has taken place in the very heart of the city. In order to bring 

 this about, large areas have been purchased and the dilapidated buildings 

 with which they were occupied have been pulled down. The excavations 

 made in the course of preparing for, among other things, the new main 

 street and for the new buildings which now line it on both sides, have brought 

 to light many objects of varying interest. In an ancient and important 

 city like Hull this is no more than one would have expected, and it is 

 a gratifying feature that there were on the spot keen observers keeping 

 watch for " any relics of the past, and with excellent results." Ample 

 justification for this statement is furnished in the pamphlet before us. 

 Representatives of most of the centuries from the tenth down to the 

 eighteenth, comprising pottery, leatherware; iron-ware, masonry, coins, 

 and pipes, are all described and figured on the plates which accompany 

 the work. Besides these latter there are other illustrations in the letter- 

 press, which serve to make this one of the most interesting of the many 

 pubhcations of the Hull Museum. — E.G.B. 



Naturalist, 



