236 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
PARTHENOGENESIS in Wikstroemia indica, one of the Thymelaeaceae, is an- 
nounced in a preliminary paper by WINKLER.35_ The pollen develops imperfectly 
or not at all, and attempts to germinate the pollen by the usual methods were unsuc- 
cessful. Although pollination was prevented, embryos developed, and sections 
showed that the embryos arise from unfertilized eggs. The behavior of the 
chromatin will be studied later. Up to date the angiosperms in which partheno- 
genesis has been shown to exist are Antennaria alpina, Alchemilla (several species), 
Thalictrum purpurascens, Taraxacum officinale, Hieractum, and Wikstroemia 
indica. Gnetum Ula is the only gymnosperm in which parthenogenesis has yet 
been reported.—CHarLes J. CHAMBERLAIN. 
LSSON-SEFFER?* has written a short defense of LiNNAEUS, 2 propos of 
the recent Swedish biography by T. M. Frres. The particular occasion 
for OLSSON-SEFFER’s paper is a choleric and most unjust attack upon LINNAEUS 
by KatiscHer and Hansen. Considerable attention is also paid to the 
unfair treatment which is accorded to LinnaEus in Sacus’s History of Botany. 
There can be no doubt that LrnNAEus has a secure place among the greatest 
botanists of all time, and the imputations that have been cast upon him are certain 
to be less harmful to - renown of LinNAEvs than to the reputation of his 
accusers.—H. C. Cow 
RCELLULAR PROTOPLASM has been further investigated by Kny.7_ The 
principal material was cotyledons of Lupinus albus and L. angustifolius. That 
the protoplasm in the intercellular spaces is in direct communication with that 
of the neighboring cells is probable from the fact that the spaces contain starch 
grains. If there is protoplasmic continuity between the intercellular spaces and 
the neighboring cells the absence of nuclei in the spaces would not be strange. 
Perforations and connecting threads could not be identified positively. How 
the protoplasm en) into the spaces the author is not yet ready to explain. J. 
CHAMBERLAIN. 
THE PHYTON THEORY is supported by Cor in a lengthy papers® which deals 
mainly with abnormally placed vascular bundles in dicotyledons. Starting with 
the Campanulaceae the author has extended his observations to a large number 
of families, and Teaches the conclusion that the bundles in question are normal 
tly for only a short distance. The chief argu- 
ments advanced in favor of the ‘phyton theory are (1) the bundles coming from 
eaves diminish in volume as they descend through the stem; (2) practically 
KLER, HANs, Ueber ae bei Wikstroemia indica (L.) C. A- = 
Ber. stacerage Bot. Gesells. 22:573- 1905. 
36 OLSSON-SEFFER, P., The a of Linnaeus in the history of botany. Jour $ 
Bot. 42:262-269. 1904. 
. “ 
37 Kny, L., Studien iiber intercellulares protoplasma II. Ber. Deutsch. Bo 
Gesells. 22: 347-355. 1904. d 
38 Co, A., Recherches sur la disposition des faisceaux dans la tige et les feuilles “© 
quelques dicotylédoien. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 8: 20: 1-288. 1904. 
