Botany and Zoology. 253 



Piedmont, of metallic grains, of an iron-nickel. They are mallea- 

 ble, strongly magnetic, and in appearance resemble native plati- 

 num ; the specific gravity is 7*8. An analysis by Mr. Mattirola 

 showed that they consisted of nickel (and cobalt) 75*2, iron 

 26*6 = 101*8, or conforming nearly to Ni g Fe. It will be remem- 

 bered that grains of a nickel-iron have been recently found in New 

 Zealand, and grains of nickel (oxide?) were some years since 

 reported from the Fraser river sands. — C. JR. cxii, 171, 1891. 



16. Index der Krystallformen von Dr. V. Goldschmidt. Band 

 III, Heft 4, 5, pp. 183-320. — This important work, commenced 

 nearly five years ago, is nearly completed with the parts now 

 issued. It has been a laborious undertaking, patiently and faith- 

 fully carried through. The species here included range from 

 Tantalite to Wurtzite. 



III. Botany and Zoology. 



1. JRecherches sur la croissqnce terminate de la tige des phanero- 

 games, by H. Douliot (Ann. des sci. nat. (bot.) ser. vii, tome xi, 

 pp. 283-350, pis. 13-19). — The existing disagreement in regard 

 to the apical growth of the higher plants is of too long standing 

 to be finally settled by the unconfirmed results of any single in- 

 vestigation. Each new work lends plausibility to one view or 

 another; but only in the agreement ol a number of observers can 

 ultimate certainty be attained. It is accordingly worthy of note 

 that in the work bearing the above title the author, to a great 

 extent, confirms and extends the interesting observations which 

 Dingier published some time ago. In the case of the gymno- 

 sperms, it will be remembered, Dingier has, in recent years, stood 

 alone in affirming that terminal growth takes place by the activity 

 of a single apical cell. Hofmeister held this view, but from the 

 time of his investigations in 1851 until the appearance of Ding- 

 ier' s work in 1882, no one was able to show the presence of 

 single apical cells among plants of this group, except in the 

 embryonic stages. As examples of the gymnosperms Dr. Douliot 

 has studied a considerable number of species from the different 

 tribes and genera of the Conifer w, and also Ephedra distacfiya 

 among Gnetacem. The Cycadacece do not 'appear to have been 

 examined, probably owing to the great difficulty of obtaining 

 material of them. In all the plants studied single apical cells 

 have been more or less clearly made out. The results were espe- 

 cially satisfactory in plants examined during the period of rapid 

 growth, while in material collected during the resting stages the 

 apical cells were much more difficult to discover, if distinguisha- 

 ble at all. The figures in the plates which accompany the paper 

 are, in some cases, clear ; in others not very convincing. The 

 segments supposed to have resulted from the successive divisions 

 of the apical cell are often so irregular in outline that one must 

 trust entirely to the represented thickness of the cell-walls to 

 determine their limits. Among the angiosperms a large number 



