ABSTRACT OF PAPERS READ BEFORE SECTION B. 
THE MONOCOTYLEDON THE UNIVERSAL Type or Sreps.— By 
Tuomas MEEHAN. 
Ir must be evident to those who heard my paper on “ Adnation 
in Coniferze” at the Chicago meeting of the Association that the 
observation there detailed, could scarcely be accounted for, if the 
belief be true which is generally held by botanists, that the leaf orig- 
inates at the node from which it seems to spring. It is not, however, 
an object with me to attack existing theories, or establish new 
ones ; but simply to present facts as I see them. The origin of 
the leaf will no doubt prove a question which will in time take 
care of itself. But this generalization cannot be avoided by the 
readers of that paper, that the whole plant is originally a unity; 
and that the subsequent formation of elementary organs, and their 
complete development, or absorption into one another, is the result 
of varying phases of nutrition. ‘The leaves in Coniferse were 
found to be free or united with the stem in proportion to the 
vigor of the central axis. Following up the subject I now offer 
some facts which will show that all seeds are primarily Monocoty- 
ledonous ; and that division is a subsequent act, depending on cif- 
cumstances which do not exist at the first commencement of the 
seed growth. 
It is well known that in some species of Coniferous plants the 
number of cotyledons varies. I have noticed in addition to this 
that whether the cotyledons are few or many, there is no increase 
in the whole cotyledonous mass. In the Norway spruce, Abies ex 
celsa, there are sometimes as many as ten cotyledons, in others 
only two. In the latter case they are broad and ovate, while in the 
former they are narrow and hair-like; in short, when in the tw? 
cotyledoned state it is not possible to note any difference betw een? 
seedling Norway spruce and a Chinese arbor vite, Biota orientalis, 
except by the lighter shade of green. The twò leaved condition i 
not common, but spécimens of threes and others I exhibited to Drs 
Torrey and Gray at the Troy meeting. Any one who will exam! r 
sprouting seeds of the Norway spruce will agree to the proposition 
(510) 
