686 ZOOLOGY. 
contraction of the horny albumen which surrounded the seed. The 
seeds were oval and in a smooth bony envelope, and when the 
albumen had burst and expanded enough to get just beyond the 
middle where the seed narrowed again, the contraction of the al- 
bumen caused the seed to slip out with force, just as we would 
squeeze out a smooth tapering stone between the finger and 
thumb 
Avrine FLrowers.—Dr. Parry, having devoted the whole summer 
to a third botanical exploration of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, 
has prepared beautiful sets of the more remarkable and novel 
Alpine flowers of the region, consisting of above a hundred species. 
A limited number ‘of these sets, interesting as souvenirs of travel 
as well as to botanists, may be obtained for twelve dollars a set 
upon application to Dr. Parry at Davenport, Iowa, or to the Natu- 
ralists’ Agency in Salem.—A. G. 
ZOOLOGY. 
Tue Zootocica, Station or Naries.— An undertaking which 
cannot fail to have an important influence on the progress of zool- 
ogy has been started at Naples. A zoological station to be in 
charge of a permanent zoological observer and opened under 
certain restrictions to all workers who may wish to avail them- 
selves of its facilities. It will form the natural complement or 
the advantages zoologists and anatomists now derive from the 
great zoological gardens of London and Paris, which constantly 
supply so much yaluable material for study to the members of 
the Zoological Society of London and the Professors of the Jardin 
des Plantes. Hitherto all the work done on the seashore has neces 
sarily been more or less interrupted; usually a stay of a few weeks 
at one place has been the utmost length of time which naturalists 
have been able to devote to one of the most fruitful branches of 
research in Zoology. Occasionally a more favored ee 
spends afew months on the seashore, but these are exceptions. 2 
who have had occasion to pursue embryological studies on ged 
seashore, or to trace the habits and study the anatomy of our pe 
. animals, know how difficult it is to obtain just the material whi r 
is wanted. To make a complete embryology of a single ee 
animal often requires several years of unremitting devotion to 0 
subject and, in order to obtain missing links, one must study on 
We ts E iE tt ee eee ee at 
