March 30, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



235 



the leaf (i.e., are axillary branches), yet in individual 

 variations a branch may occur in this situation, and 

 one or more ears be borne upon this branch, one ear 

 being terminal. 



The tassel may be transformed into groups of ears, 

 the whole character of the tassel being occasionally 

 changed to such an extent that the pistillate flowers 

 replace the staminate. The bearing of a few grains 

 upon the tassel is by no means an unfrequent occur- 

 rence. In the case of the tassel bearing many grains, 

 there is a tendency in the upper leaf to curve upward 

 and form a husk, and in cases a fair protection is thus 

 secured. 



On the other liand, the terminal portion of the nor- 

 mally situated ear may be extended so as to form a 

 tassel which bears staminate flowers. In rare cases 

 we have a normal appearance of ear for several inches, 

 then a few inches of staminate flowers, and at the 

 end a good ear again ; the two perfectly formed ears 

 being connected as if by a section of a tassel-stem, 

 and forming a structure protected by a common husk. 

 Staminate flowers are also occasionally produced on 

 the rachis, along with the normal pistillate flowers; 

 and i have even observed hermaphrodite flowers, — 

 in one case on the cob, and in two cases on the tassel. 

 In cases, also, the eai'S are branched; the brandies 

 starting from the base, or from the middle or terminal 

 portion of the ear. In the tassel we quite frequently 

 find ears crowded together through partial coalescing 

 of the branches, so as to form a corolla, or cup, from 

 which the main stem of the tassel emerges ; and, in 

 their normal situation, ears are occasionally so crowd- 

 ed, through branching, as to form a sort of bouquet. 

 The tip of the ear may also divide into many smaller 

 portions, forming the ajjpearance of a tassel-like 

 bunch of cobs terminating the grain-covered portion. 



The rows of corn are always even-numbered, but 

 may vary from 8 to 32 in varieties, and, in individual 

 specimens, from 4 to 48. In two ears from the same 

 stalk the number of rows may vary; the length of 

 ear, from 2 to 12 inches in varieties, and in individ- 

 nal variations perfect ears may be found from 1 to 

 16 Indies in length. The kernels are occasionally 

 arranged upon the cob in a spiral. The size of the 

 grain is also subject to great variation. In our col- 

 lection, normal kernels of a variety called ' miniature ' 

 maize weighed one-half a grain, while normal ker- 

 nels of a variety known as ' Benton dent ' weighed 

 12 grains. 



The sliape of the grain is very varied. It may be 

 longer than broad, or broader than long, varying from 

 oval to shoe-peg form in flat and spherical variations ; 

 the upper surface rounded, or flattened, or pointed, 

 or dented. The dent may be a central depression, as a 

 notch, or a crease, or irregular. A cross-section is in 

 some varieties square, in others rectangular, in others 

 round, in others oval, in still others irregular. The 

 structure may be all farinaceous, as in the Tuscarora; 

 or semi-transparent and hardened, as in sweet-corns; 

 or hard and horny, as in the pop-corns ; or partly 

 farinaceous and partly corneous, as in the common 

 flints and dcnls. The chit also varies in length in 

 the varieties, and in the form of the depression in 

 which it lies : and the pedicle of the grain may appear 

 strongly marked, as in the ' pod-corn.' 



In germination, occasionally twin-embryos are 

 formed, and in one case we have noted three. Tlie 

 roots may emerge from the base of, or may crowd off, 

 the caulicle, and appear from the under side, or, in 

 cases, may emerge from the caulicle at apparently any 

 point. From tlie first node they almost invariably 

 emerge. We thus seem to have a double system of 

 roots, — the tap-root, emerging from the base ; and the 



fibrous roots, which emerge from the sides of the 

 caulicle. In exceptional cases the tap-root seems sup- 

 pressed and the fibrous roots of the monocotyledon 

 appear in its stead. 



After the corn-kernel has germinated, it may be 

 thoroughly dried, and will then start anew when 

 planted. The plumule retains its life while new roots 

 are formed, or exceptionally the descending axis re- 

 tains its life, and renews its growth. This we have re- 

 peated to the fifth germination, with intervals of one 

 week's drying between germinations. In one instance 

 of variation a twin-embryo sent up two cotyledons, 

 one of which afterwards developed into a leaf. This 

 was the only case among many hundreds of observa- 

 tions. E. Lewis Stuktevant, Director. 



March 13, 1883. 



University of Cincinnati. 

 Laboratory notes. — Several investigations, con- 

 ducted under the direction of Prof. F. W. Clarke, 

 are far enough along to warrant preliminary notices. 

 The phosphides of platinum have been prepared by 

 O. T. Joslin. When phosphorus is thrown upon 

 white-hot platinum, fusion takes place, and a brittle, 

 silver-white button of PtjP., is obtained. This, 

 treated with hot aqua regia for at least forty hours, 

 only partly dissolves. The soluble portion agrees 

 sharply with the formula Pt.Pj, and PtP remains 

 absolutely insoluble. By long roasting in a muffle, 

 the original Pt;jP,, is reduced to Pt^P. The Pt^P* 

 is probably identical with the phosphide described by 

 SchrotterasPtP.,. 



The tartrates of antimony are being studied by 

 Mr. C. S. Evans, and. one set of results is complete. 

 When alcohol is added to a solution of SbiOj in aque- 

 ous tartaric acid, a white precipitate is formed, con- 

 cerning which earlier experimenters differ. We now 

 find, that at least three distinct compounds may be 

 thus produced, as follows: when there is a large ex- 

 cess of tartaric acid, the neutral salt Sb.2 (CjHiOb):!. 

 6H.7O is thrown down. With a slight excess of acid, 

 Sb,'(C4H406)o O. 6 H.,0 is produced. The third 

 compound should be Sb.^ (CiHjOfilO,, and is said 

 to have been described by Berzelius. We have ob- 

 tained a compound approximating to this formula, 

 but it was not absolutely pure. All three salts may 

 be regarded as derived from SbjOs by successive 

 replacements of one, two, and three atoms of oxygen 

 by C4H4O6. 



The specific gravity of cadmium iodide is given, on 

 Bodeker's authority, as 4.576. Mr. E. A. Kebler, 

 assisted by Mr. E. Twitchell, has prepared the com- 

 pound in a variety of ways; and we find that two 

 distinct modifications exist. The normal Cdl., has 

 a specific gravity of .5.6 to 5.7, and is very stable: 

 the other ranges from 4.6 to 4.7, is deliquescent, and 

 decidedly nnstablei. The conditions governing the 

 formation of the latter have yet to be made out. The 

 normal salt represents union of cadmium and iodine 

 without change of volume. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 — The lecture season at the Lowell institute in Bos- 

 ton is drawing to a close. So far back as most of us 

 can remember, the institute has annually tempted 

 some distinguished scientific Englishman or other 

 European to lecture to Boston audiences, and has 

 done, perhaps, as much as any other establishment in 

 the country to elevate the scientific standard. This 

 year an unusual variety has been ofiered, and the au- 



