-SCIENTIFIC NEWS., 307 



Messrs. Bosc, Silvestre, and Palisot de Beauvois have New members 

 been elected members of the institute. Mr. de Beaurois, i^utl" 51 "* 

 who succeeds Mr. Adanson, merited his success by his tra- 

 vels in Africa and America, the fruits of which were the 

 Floras of (^werra and Benin, already published, and that 

 of the United States, which he is preparing for the press^ 

 as well as by researches concerning the cryptogamia class. 

 These researches have not only furnished descriptions of 

 new species and genera, but more particularly a system of 

 the fecundation of mosses and mushrooms, of which we 

 shall give a brief outline. 



Amid that dust of the capsules of mosses, which Hedwig Beauvois's sys- 

 considered as the seed, is a kind of nucleus, or little axis, ti ^ ca j ion< ^ 1UC " 

 more or less swelled, called by botanists the columella. In mosses, 

 this nothing has been observed but a parenchyma, more or 

 less cellular; and so it is represented repeatedly by Hedwig. 

 In this Mr. de Beauvois says he has perceived very small 

 grains, which he believes to be the true seeds ; and the other 

 dust, that fills the capsule around it, he supposes to be the 

 pollen. When the capsule is ciliated, the setae by their 

 motion compress the pollen against the seeds, to fecundate 

 them, at the moment when they are about to escape. 



With respect to mushrooms his opinion is similar. The and of musH- 

 multitude of little grains, or dust, spread over the gills, or r00ms * 

 other parts of some, and included in others, as thelycoper- 

 dons, which have been supposed to be seeds, are according 

 to him the pollen ; which in the same manner fecundates the 

 true seeds, that are contained within the gills, or part co- 

 vered with this pollen, just as they burst from these. 



In consequence of this opinion, Mr. de Beauvois has New name of 

 taken the liberty of substituting the term aetheogamia, or 1 ecass - 

 uncommon fructification, to that of cryptogamia, to which 

 the class is equally entitled, even on his own hypothesis, 

 and which is certainly more scientific. 



Part of his Prodrome $ JEtlicogamie is published, hiProdramusof 



which he has announced his distribution of the mosses. In \ e c a "•< Etlie - 



oganna. 

 this he has some claim to impartiality; for while in forming 



his genera he rejects the sexual organs of Hedwig, he takes 

 no account of the columella, which he considers as the pistil. 

 Jn the second part, which is about to appear, he has re- 

 duced 



