438 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 91. 



tions. (2) Chalazogamy as an indication 

 of phylogeny. Nawaschin has maintained 

 that chalazogamy is a transition stage be- 

 tween gymnosperms and angiosperms, in 

 which the pollen tube seeks to adapt itself 

 gradually to traversing cavities. Adapta- 

 tion to cavities is shown by the author of 

 this paper to be largely unnecessary, and 

 chalazogamy gives no more suggestion of 

 gymnosperms. 



Ceres-pulver ; Jensen^s new fungicide for the 

 treatment of smuts : By W. A. Kellerman. 

 The speaker gave an account of the above. 

 The material consists of Potassium sulphide, 

 to which are added in small quantity some 

 other ingredients, regarded as important by 

 Jensen. A solution of two pounds in 125 

 liters of water is poured on the grain, the 

 latter being stirred thoroughly in the mean- 

 time. This fungicide is found by Jensen to 

 be effectual in case of oat smut and barley 

 smut. Prof. Kellerman has the past season 

 tested the ceres-pulver, and corroborates 

 Jensen's claim. He also stated that Jensen 

 has recently published the fact that the ex- 

 periments made in 1890 by himself and Mr. 

 Swingle and reported in a bulletin of the 

 Kansas Experiment Station, were the 'start- 

 ing point ' for the ceres-pulver. These ex- 

 periments showed that potassium sulphide 

 was an efficient fungicide for these smuts. 

 The hot-water treatment has no superior, 

 but farmers do not use it. Prof. Kellerman, 

 therefore, recommends the use of ceres-pul- 

 ver, and also of potassium sulphide. 



Parthenogenesis in Thalictrum fendleri : By 



David F. Day. 



In August, 1883, the author found in one 

 of the canons of Pike's Peak, Colorado, a 

 seedling specimen of Thalictrum fendleri, 

 and the plant was sent home for cultivation. 

 The plant bore only pistillate flowers and 

 matured seed. These seeds were the fol- 

 lowing year planted, and, in the judgment 

 of the author, with no possibility of pollina- 



tion, since there were no staminate plants ,^ 

 seed was matured. These results have been 

 obtained for several successive years, and 

 the phenomenon is regarded as an example 

 of parthenogenesis. 



What shoxdd eonstitide a type-specimen f By 



S. M. Tracy. 



The speaker called attention to the want 

 of uniformity in the term ' type,' ' duplicate 

 of type,' 'co-type,' etc., and urges the neces- 

 sity for the adoption of some uniform 

 method of expression. 



RemarT^s on the northern species of Vitis: By 



L. H. Bailey. 



A discussion of the systematic position of 

 certain native grapes. (In the absence of 

 the author, read by title.) 



TJie point of divergence of Monocotyledons and 



Diocotyledons : By Charles E. Bessey. 



In discussing this question the speaker 

 assumed that it is unnecessary to bring for- 

 ward proofs as to the common origin of the 

 two sub-classes, Monocotyledonse and Dico- 

 tyledonse. It is possible, but in his opinion 

 improbable, that some plants are now in- 

 cluded in them which have had an inde- 

 pendent origin, but all will agree that after 

 making the most liberal subtractions pos- 

 sible the two sub-classes must still remain 

 as two very closely related groups, with 

 essentially the characters now assigned to 

 them. 



We must bear in mind the well-known 

 biological law that in general the relation- 

 ship of allied groups is most marked be- 

 tween their lower members, that is, be- 

 tween those members which represent the 

 primitive types, and that it is less marked 

 between the higher members of the groups. 



In other words, we recognize the fact 

 that groups diverge as they are evolved. 

 If we represent the phylogenesis of plants 

 by lines we are compelled to arrange these 

 lines so that they show repeated series of 

 divergencies. 



