336 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



The instances of carpotropic nutations which have been ob- 

 served in the pedicels and floral axes, although fewer in number, 

 are much more varied in character than those of the calyx and 

 bracts. To this category Hansgirg refers such movements as 

 tend to place the young fruit in a more protected position, and 

 those which subsequently assist in setting the mature seeds free. 

 As examples of the former mode of carpotropic nutation he cites 

 the plants in which the fruit is brought, by a movement of the 

 supporting peduncle, to rest upon the ground or even buried 

 beneath the surface ; and such aquatics as raise their flowers 

 above water but then by a movement or curving of the peduncle 

 draw the young fruit under the surface again. The closing of 

 the umbel in the carrot is regarded as similar in its biological 

 significance, and its subsequent opening is given as an example of 

 the second sort of carpotropic movement, to secure the better 

 dissemination of the seeds. b. l. r. 



5. The Missouri Botanical Garden ; St. Louis, Dec. 1890. — 

 The many botanists interested in the success of the garden and 

 school of botany at St. Louis, founded and endowed by the late 

 Henry Shaw, are indebted to the director for a very neat and 

 attractively illustrated volume upon the progress and condition 

 of these institutions. Considerable space has been devoted to 

 the life and will of Mr. Shaw, to various addresses, and an account 

 of the first annual banquet of the trustees, presenting thus a 

 social rather than a scientific aspect of botany ; special interest, 

 however, attaches to the official report of the director, which 

 describes the nature of the courses of instruction that have been 

 given, the extent of the original investigations, and the growth 

 of the collections. Althougn the report is most modest in its 

 statements, it will be apparent to every reader that the success 

 of the garden and school has been in great measure due to the 

 untiring energy of the director. b. l. k. 



IV. Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



1. Volcano of Kilauea^ Havmii. — A letter from Rev. E. P. 

 Baker, dated Volcano House, March 4th, stated that the Great 

 South Basin, Halemaumau, contained then three lakes, two besides 

 the previously described Dana Lake, on the west side of the cone. 

 Dana Lake was boiling up in places, and the lava, where liquid, 

 had a flow to the westward. One of the new lakes is to the east 

 of the cone; its condition is much like that of Dana Lake, but 

 the flow is to the eastward. The other is to the south of the 

 cone, and had a flow to the southward. Thus, in each, the move- 

 ment of the lava is outward or away from the center of the basin. 



The Daily Pacific Advertiser of Honolulu, March 12, has a 

 report from Mr. Maby of the Volcano House that on the night 

 preceding the 8th, the cone of Halemaumau disappeared alto- 

 gether, sinking out of sight, without other great changes in 

 Kilauea. Some light earthquakes had been felt to the south and 



