82 A NATURALIST'S WANDERINGS 



radiated the galleries tenanted by ants and their larvas of the 

 same species as in Java. 



Since my original observations, Dr. Melchior Treub, Director 

 of the Botanic Gardens in Buitenzorg, has conducted and pub- 

 lished * a series of important researches into the development 

 of these bizarre plants, which have confirmed generally the 

 observations I had made, and have proved besides that what 

 I have called degeneration is the result of a transformation 

 into corh of the tissue of the plant ; which, becoming entirely 

 dried up, gradually extends the galleries towards the exterior, 

 when the fluffy mass disappears or is carried out by the ants. 



Notwithstanding these researches it remains still a mystery 

 what causes the development of these corky cells, what advan- 

 tage the plant derives from its unusual structure, and what is 

 the mutual benefit of this close relation between insect and 

 plant. That the ants should so persistently infest and yet 

 derive no advantage beyond accommodation from the plant, 

 seems unlikely ; it is probable however that the papillae in 

 the galleries, whose function is still an enigma, may afford some 

 nourishment to them, but that the insects are not absolutely 

 indispensable to the perfect performance of the functions of the 

 plant is certain from Dr. Treub's observations. He suggests that 

 they perhaps ward off enemies from the plant, or that they may 

 remove, for their own nourishment, injurious excretions from 

 the papilla? of these channels whose office may be to distribute 

 air through the fleshy mass of the bulb. Altogether these 

 Myrmecodia are among the most singular of vegetable pro- 

 ductions, showing us how much we have yet to learn of the 

 intricate processes of nature. 



I gathered here another interesting specimen in some 

 leaves of the Bryophylluni ealycinum. As is well known, the 

 marginal notches of the leaves of this plant, when laid on the 

 ground or in a damp place, produce buds which develop into 

 new plants. In the leaves I gathered here, however, complett 

 flowers and fruit were produced directly from the notches. 



While botanising in Portugal, in the spring of lS77,t I was 

 remarkably struck by the number of orchids I gathered that 



* In the ' Aiinales,' sup. cit., vol. iii., pp. 130-157, froai which the accom- 

 panying fignres'here reproduced are taken, 

 t Nature, vol. xvi. p. 102. 



