71-r 



General Notes. [September, 



aporated, leaving a dry gummy de- 

 While this was going on, the seeds 

 ejected with great force from their endocarps, being pro- 

 jected against the face with such force as to leave a stinging sen- 

 sation. Dr. Engelmann has' noted this power of ej'ection in the 

 berries of this plant. The Phoradendron exhibited no trace of 

 any such power, though there seemed to be little difference in the 

 structure of the berries. The facts raised a nice teleological ques- 

 tion. Birds did not seem to use the berries. As they were so 

 viscid that the famous bird-lime is made from some species, it is 

 probable the very viscidity would prevent the free use of the beak 

 in any attempt to use the seeds. But it was believed that by be- 

 coming attached to the feet or feathers of birds, the seeds were 

 widely distributed, and that in this way the plant had all the ad- 

 vantage necessary for distribution in the ' struggle for life.' But 

 Arceuthobium, besides all the advantages to be derived from this 

 mode of distribution, had an additional aid from a projecting 

 force. 



" Did Arceuthobium at one time exist when or where there were 

 no birds, and had it to depend on projection alone for its dis- 

 tributing power, and is the viscidity a later development? Did 

 Phoradendron once possess the power, and has it abandoned it 

 from having through the ages found out that it travels well 

 enough without its exercise ? Or is it rather, as the speaker him- 

 self inclined to believe, that nature loved to aim expressly at 

 variety, and was continually exhibiting her power to accomplish 

 the same end by a wonderful variety of means ? But whatever 

 might N be thought of the various theories of development, and 

 the laws of final causes which may have operated to produce 

 changes, there could be but little doubt but parasitism was an 

 acquired habit, and the endeavor to find out what these plants 

 were, and how they behaved before they were parasites, was fast 

 becoming one of the most interestii udies. 



"The seeds ejected from the endocarp in Arceuthobium fastened 

 themselves to the branches of trees by a glutinous mass at one 

 end. This end was opposite to the radicle, which, in germinating, 

 would have to push out from above, and curve downwards towards 

 the branch in order to attach itself. He had not seen them during 

 the process of germination, but as the testaceous covering was 

 held fast by the glutinous secretion, it is probable the cotyledons 

 would be drawn out as the plumule took its upright position, 

 leaving the testa as an empty case fastened to the branch. Pre- 

 suming that this must be the case with other Loranthaceous 

 plants, it was difficult to understand the process by which the 

 East Indian species performed the locomotive feat recently noted 

 by Dr. Watt, and which from its remarkable nature has had a wide 

 publication. It was reported as the observation of Dr. Watt that 

 a seed falling on and becoming attached to the coriaceous leal 



