ZOOLOaY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 765 



the author concludes from them, in the case of I. Balsamina^ that they 

 are not composed of cellulose, but of a substance probably identical with 

 Schleiden's amyloid. Similar thickenings occur in the embryos of some 

 species of Papilionacese, Ceesalpiniese, and Tropseolum. During germina- 

 tion large quantities of starch are formed, and the author states that this 

 is not the direct result of assimilation, but of the transformation of the 

 substance of these thickenings. This is shown by the fact that starch is 

 formed in just the same way when the germination takes place in the dark. 

 The object of these thickenings appears to be to protect the seeds from 

 injury by mechanical pressure, and also to a certain extent against being 

 devoured by birds and other animals. 



Anatomy of Nelumbium.* — Dr. E. Dennert publishes a monograph 

 of 'Nelumhium speciosum, completed from an unpublished MS. of Dr. A. 

 Wigand. The following points are treated of in detail : — The structure 

 of the seedling ; the arrangement and imbrication of the leaves ; the 

 morphology of the leaf ; the structure of the flower ; the structure and 

 form of the ripe fruit ; the mode of growth of the rhizome ; the develop- 

 ment of the leaves and flowers ; the development of the ovule ; the 

 anatomy of the rhizome and stem ; the structure and development of the 

 vascular bundles ; the structure and formation of the air-passages ; the 

 anatomy of the leaf and leaf-stalk ; the anatomy of the receptacle and 

 floral organs ; the formation of the starch in the leaves and rhizome. 



The vascular bundles of Nelumhium agree with those of Monocoty- 

 ledons in their isolated position, and in the absence of cambium ; but 

 differ in the fact that the xylem and phloem do not coalesce, but remain 

 distinct ; only in some small bundles were they found united into a closed 

 ring. The large air-passages of the internodes are separated from one 

 another by the pith of the nodes ; only in the periphery, where they 

 unite into a white, spongy, structureless mass, are they in communication 

 from one internode to another. The air-passages of .the nodes contain 

 unstalked clusters of crystals. The larger part of the leaf is occupied 

 by large air-passages ; they are in immediate contact with the epidermis 

 of the under surface, which is entirely destitute of stomata ; the single 

 layer of cells of which the lower epidermis is composed is united with 

 the spongy parenchyma above the air-passages by strings composed of a 

 single row of cells ; attached to the spongy parenchyma are clusters of 

 crystals projecting into the air-passages. Between the spongy paren- 

 chyma and the upper epidermis is a layer of palisade-cells. The upper 

 epidermis consists of a single layer of thick-walled cells, penetrated by 

 numerous stomata. It is elevated here and there into warts consisting 

 of several layers of cells. 



j8. Physiology, t 

 (X) Reproduction and G-ermination. 



Formation of Endosperm in Dicotyledons. | — Dr. F. Hegelmaier has 

 investigated with especial care the cases where the endosperm is formed 

 in Dicotyledons by free cell-formation. The filling up of the entire 



* Uhlworm u. Haenlein's Biblioth. Bot., 1888, Heft 11, 68 pp. and 6 pis. 



t This subdivision contains (1) Eeproduction and Germination; (2) Nutrition 

 and Growth (including Movements of Fluids) ; (3) Irritability ; and (4) Chemical 

 Changes (including Respiration and Fermentation). 



X Nova Acta Acad. Cses. Leop.-Carol. Germ., xxix. (1887) pp. 1-103 (5 pis.). Of. 

 this Journal, 1887, p. 116. 



