CVlll 



Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XII, 



is required for its more accurate definition and to indicate the precise 

 way in which it acts. Successful water-cultures with Sal seedlings, how- 

 ever, have proved that the injurious action is not due merely to an 

 excess of water in the neighbourhood of the roots. Other factor- 

 possibly concerned are the lack of sufficient oxygen for root respiration 

 and the production and accumulation in injurious quantities in the soil 

 of one or more substances which are directly poisonous to the roots. 



Some Irrational Aspects of Systematic Botany, — By 



A. T. Gage, LM.S. 



The paper gave a brief sketch of the general conditions that have led 

 to: the development of the present irrational burden of synonymy in sys- 

 tematic botany; discussed in more detail certain of the conditions: 

 referred to the views of Alphonse de Candolle and Thistleton-Dyer and 

 offered suggestions for lessening the evil. 



On the Occurrence of Endosperm in some South Indian Legu- 

 minous Seeds.— By M. 0. Parthasarathy Ayyangar. 



It is not generally known that some of the Leguminous seeds possess 

 endosperm, though its presence has been recorded in several floras and 

 books on systematic botany. But none of these books gives a complete 

 list of all the endospermous genera. Of the South Indian genera, only 

 the following are referred to in these books as possessing endosperm : — 



Mimosae : Neptunia, Prosopis, Dichrostachys , Adenanthera. 



Caesalpinieae : Bauhinia, Oassia 9 Parkinsonian Poinciana. 



Papilionaceae : No genera are referred to. 



It is found, however, that in addition to the above the following 

 genera also possess endosperm : — 



Mimosae : Desmanthus, Leucaena, Mimosa. 



Caesalpinieae: Caesalpinia (partly), Peltophorum. 



Papilionaceae : Crotalaria, Trigonella, Cyamopsis, Indigofera, Se>- 

 bania, Aeschynomene, Teramnus. 



The presence of endosperm appears to be a fairly constant generic 

 character, though an exception is found in the genus Caesalpinia, since 

 some of its species possessed endosperm and some did not. 



The endosperm tissue consists of cells with thickened cell walls and 

 very small cell contents. The thickening of the cell walls is due to the 

 deposition in them of a good quantity of reserve food material for the 

 benefit of the germinating seedling. This reserve food material resemble 

 in its reactions E. Schulze's Paragalactan, a name given by him to a 

 reserve hemi-cellulose found in the thickenings of the walls of the coty- 

 ledon of Lupinus luteus* 



Models to illustrate Segregation and Combination of Mendelian 



Characters l . — By H. M. Chibber. 



Soil Aeration on the Alluvium 1 .— By Albert Howard, CLE., 



and Gabrielle L. C. Howard. 



The dominant factor in the internal economy of the Indian Empire 

 is the monsoon. The well-being of the people, the commerce of the 

 country and the revenue collected by Government all depend on the 

 amount and distribution of the summer rainfall. It is not surprising, 



1 This paper will be published in extenso in the Congress number of 

 the Agricultural Journal of India. 



