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The Comparative Embryology of the Cucurbitaceae. 
By Jos—EPpH EDWARD KIREWOOD. 
CONTENTS. 
PartI. Introducti 313 
Part Tl... DeSCri ptivesiicnisiasdiicsessuvencvensatereresiuetaer gactueacvsasaciver Neliuaes 324 
ey of the gynoecium 325 
br. 336 
Part III. Discusion aud conclusions 370 
Gynoecium 370 
Ewbryo-sac 382 
Bibliography 392 
Description of plates 398 
PART I. INTRODUCTION 
This work was begun at Princeton in the year 1898 while 
the writer was special fellow in biology in Princeton Uni- 
versity. Svcyos angulata L., which was found growing in 
that vicinity, seemed to be a favorable object for study and 
some of the inflorescences were accordingly gathered and a 
brief examination made of the development of the gynoecium 
and the embryo-sac. 
Though the results of this study were somewhat meager, 
it was nevertheless thought advisable to continue the work 
and extend the investigation to other members of the Cucurbi- 
taceae. This was undertaken at the suggestion of Professor 
F. E. Lloyd, and carried on during the years 1899 and 1g00 
and the summer of 1902 at the New York Botanical Garden. 
The characters of certain members of this large and inter- 
esting family suggested an attractive problem in the compara- 
tive organogeny a: the flowers. In this work special attention 
has been given to the organogeny of the gynoecium. Some 
evidence has been collected as to the nature of the inferior 
ovary in this family and a discussion of the literature on this 
point will be presented later (Part II). 
Besides the morphology of the flower there are interesting 
facts in connection with the development of the embryo-sac 
and associated structures which deserve attention. But the 
