416 Scientific Proceedings^ Royal Dublin Society. 



I forthwith made inquiries as to the history of meteor from Sir Frederick 

 Moore, Keeper of the Koyal Botauic Gardens, Glasuevin. For his informa- 

 tion, so gladly given, as also for his ready supply of plant material, at times 

 of rare plant material, which he forwards at a moment's notice, I wish to 

 return my sineerest thanks. These inquiries elicited the information that 

 ill all probability the garden race of meteor arose from a cross between Pel. 

 zonale — the true specific Oape form — and Pel. inquinans. I then hand- 

 sectioned about half a dozen petioles each from P. zonale (true) and P. 

 inquinans, as well as fourteen different varieties of P. zonale, with the following 

 results ; — 



1. In both P. zonale (true) and P. inquinans wood and cambium were not 

 developed on the xylem-free side, so that the little speculation as to the 

 Mendelian origin of A 1374 and A 1386 was shown to be specious. 



2. The varieties varied very much thus : — 



(«) With no wood on xylem-free Manteau rouge, single crimson, 



side of central bundle in even Mrs. Gibson, single pink, 

 old petioles. 



(b) With a little wood occasionally Nipheta, single white. Constance, 



present (of. meteor). single salmon. California, double 



brick-coloured. Wilhelm Pfitzer, 

 brick-red. 



(c) With a few vessels— but only Gus Eniok, semi-double scarlet. 



a few — always on xylem-free Paul Blondeau, double pink. 



side. B. Isemberg, pink-tinged single. 



Madame Carnot, double white. 



Athlete, single scarlet. Nora, 

 single flesh-coloured. 

 {d) Well-developed wrood mass on Julius Caesar, double salmon. 



xylem-free side. Dagata, double pink. 



This tabulation shows us the variability of the anatomical nature of this 

 central bundle in the different varieties. It is unfortunate that the origins 

 of most of even the well-known garden races of Pelargonium have been 

 almost scrupulously lost, because it is possible that this variability might 

 have proved an interesting problem in genetics. We have, say, P. inodornm, 

 on the one hand, with a central bundle just like an ordinary collateral bundle, 

 and P. zonale v. Julius Caesar, with a well-developed wood cylinder, on tiie 

 other, and a whole gradation of forms between. The behaviour of this 

 anatomical character in the various crosses from which the many races sprang 

 miglit thus have been after Mendelian laws. 



