DOUBLE NUTMEGS, 
BY 
J. ©. COSTERUS. § 
(With Plate X). 
Some few months ago the Director of the Buitenzorg Bo- 
tanic Gardens obliged me by sending three specimens of double 
nutmegs '). Although double fruits of various kinds such as 
Apples, Cherries, Strawberries, Fuchsias, Clivias and so on 
are well known and have often been described , the present — 
examples seem to be of sufficiently rare occurrence to justify a col- 
oured drawing and a brief description. Mr. M. Baints of Aw- 
sterdam has been kind enough to draw the above-mentioned 
specimens and to paint them from a sketch that at my request 
was made at Buitenzorg in the natural colours. 
i Fig. 1 represents a fruit of Myristica Fragrans di- 
vided into four valves, showing at the same time a double 
seed. 
When taken out of the fleshy capsule the latter appears 
to consist of two, each of them inbedded in a separate 
layer of mace (Fig. 2). The two seeds are only slightly co- 
herent , but have nevertheless during their growth been pressed 
so tightly together that the adjacent sides are perfectly flat. 
1) They had been brought from Celebes, 
