212 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Nitrates in Living Plants. — M. Demoussy 

 explains the absence of nitrates from dead roots 

 and from withered leaves by the fact that in living 

 tissues their extreme solubility is counteracted by 

 their entering into a very close mechanical associa- 

 tion with protoplasm. When released from this 

 they are again readily dissolved out by water. 



Structure of Flower of Crucifer. — From 

 observations made on the genera Matthiola and 

 Cheiranthus, Herr T. Klein maintains the view that 

 the suppression of two of the shorter stamens 

 which constitute the outer whorl is due to the 

 presence of the honey-glands, and that two out of 

 the originally four carpels have become suppressed 

 in the course of development, and constitute the 

 septum or replum. 



Mummy Wheat. — The oft-mooted question 

 whether or not the wheat found in Egyptian tombs 

 really possesses the germ of life has again been 

 proved in a negative sense. A few months ago 

 Lord Sheffield, on his return from Egypt, gave 

 Lord Winchilsea a handful of wheat which he had 

 himself taken from a sarcophagus containing a 

 mummy. One hundred of these grains were care- 

 fully planted under a glass frame. The result was 

 awaited with interest by those who knew of the 

 experiment, but after some weeks the seeds were 

 discovered to have rotted away. 



Observations on Great Mullein. — It has 

 become customary to introduce the Great Mullein, 

 Verbascumt hapsus, into gardens. The seeds germinate 

 in sufficient numbers to maintain its presence. It 

 is biennial, but I have a case of a plant flowering 

 and producing seeds on the lower part of the spike 

 in 1893, and flowering at the top of the spike as 

 well as producing three short spikes near the root 

 this year. The strongest of these latter has pro- 

 duced flowers, being nearest the root with the other 

 two growing alternately from the old spike a few 

 inches further from the root, and is a case of more 

 than biennial duration. I have a case of hybridisa- 

 tion with a perennial species, the flowers being 

 somewhat variable. The plant was a perennial, 

 having grown several years and has strong roots. 

 A plant of the Great Mullein grew and flowered 

 one year by the side of a stream here, but the 

 flower spike was destroyed. Had this not occurred 

 the plant would probably have become naturalised 

 along the stream. A yellow mimulus has taken up 

 its quarters there and flourishes. It is important 

 to note these facts, firstly as an example of a plant 

 existing naturally after artificial introduction and 

 varying from its biennial duration ; secondly, as a 

 case of natural hybridising produced under excep- 

 tional circumstances, probably by the peculiarity 

 of a season which has brought both parents to 

 some particular point at one date so that they were 

 impregnated and matured seed properly, and thirdly, 

 how a plant may become naturalised apart from 

 gardens and fields when introduced to either. The 

 case just noticed being an example of how some of 

 our flora have become in time indigenous by one 

 plant growing and producing fruitful seeds. — 

 William Wilson, Alford, Aberdeen. 



A Cruel Plant. — Mr. W. Pearson, of Redgrove, 

 Epping, Essex, has kindly sent us a fresh specimen 

 of Physianthus albicans, which appears to be 

 identical with the Arangia albens of Mr. Maskell's 

 communication (ante page 181), and is certainly the 

 same as the flower which Miss Vogan sent to us 

 (ante page 64). In the specimen received from 

 Mr. Pearson, one of the flowers has captured a 

 honey bee. He says, " last year moths frequently 

 hung from the blossoms in the mornings by the 

 dozen, but this year moths are scarce. It is a 

 most cruel plant, as it does not kill the moths, 

 they hang by the proboscis until they die, which is 

 sometimes not before two or three days." 



Germination of Seeds. — The late Dr. Romanes 

 carried out a series of experiments for the purpose 

 of determining the extent to which the power of 

 germination of dry seeds is affected by preventing 

 their respiration for long periods. To this end they 

 were sealed in vacuum-tubes of high exhaustion (one- 

 millionth of an atmosphere) for three months, and 

 then transferred for a period of twelve months to 

 other tubes containing pure gases or vapours 

 (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, chloroform, etc.). In no 

 case was their power of germination deteriorated 

 to any considerable extent. M. R. Pictet states that 

 many seeds may be exposed, when dry, to a tem- 

 perature of 200 degrees, without in the least injuring 

 their vital activity. Similar results were obtained 

 with various bacteria. According to M. C. 

 Chauveaud, the germination of grape seeds can be 

 greatly accelerated by removing the hard integu- 

 ment of the beak. This is the result partly of 

 allowing free entrance of water to the embryo, 

 partly of the removal of the mechanical obstacle 

 to the emergence of the radicle. Mr. H. H. Dixon 

 has proved by experiment the incorrectness of the 

 assertion that the presence of bacteria is essential 

 to the germination of seeds. 



RlCCIA CRYSTALLINA AT LEICESTER. This 



small but interesting Hepatic is usually by no 

 means common in Leicestershire, yet it has 

 appeared this summer in countless myriads on the 

 exposed mud-banks of the public reservoirs which 

 supply the town with water. This year the water 

 is unusually low, and the mud flats left exposed 

 are literally paved with the little green fronds of 

 Riccia crystallina. There must be at least an acre of 

 them, and a very remarkable and curious sight is 

 presented. The mud must have been full of their 

 spores, for they have all appeared in the course of 

 two or three months, yet the plant has never been 

 recorded in the district during the last forty years. 

 There are several records of it in the neighbour- 

 hood of the streams which supply the reservoirs, 

 about fifty years ago, and though the district is 

 well known to recent botanists, this small plant 

 may have been overlooked ; but the enormous 

 numbers which have appeared on these mud- banks 

 would seem to imply so large a number of parent 

 plants as to make oversight almost impossible, and 

 the even manner in which they are distributed over 

 many hundreds of square yards, points to some 

 general and widespread origin. The two reservoirs 

 are five miles apart, yet this plant is equally 

 abundant on the mud-banks of both, Several 

 strange casuals have made their appearance on 

 these banks at the same time. A paper on the 

 "Flora of the Reservoirs," by the Rev. T. A. 

 Preston, giving a full account of what has been 

 found there, will appear in the " Transactions of the 

 Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society " next 

 January.' — F. T. Mott, Crescent House, Leicester. 



