ZOOLOGY. 553 
one locality, it is natural to suppose that formerly it had oceupied 
all the intermediate ground, and that the glacier coming through 
the midst of it had divided it into two groups. He was also 
unable to understand how M. De Candolle’s theory could explain 
the fact of certain plants growing vigorously in limited spots 
without extending their area, and was inclined to attribute this 
limitation to the nature of the rock, its chemical properties, etc., 
— serpentine, for instance, almost always supports a peculiar vege- 
tation; thus the Engadine Valley, which must have very recently 
been freed from glaciers, is remarkably rich in rare plants.— M. 
Tchiatcheff remarked that in Asia Minor he could find no trace 
of glacial action which could help to explain the distribution of 
Alpine plants.— Journal of Botany. 
Amount or WATER CONTAINED IN THE DIFFERENT Parts OF A 
PLant.— At the same meeting M. Galeznoff gave the result of his 
researches in calculating the amount of water contained in the 
different parts of a plant. By dividing a trunk into a number of 
pieces from the base upwards, he found invariably that the quantity 
ot water increases from the base towards the summit. f the 
four species studied by him, he found Pinus sylvestris contained 
most moisture in the trunk, and Acer the least. Betula and Pop- 
ulus tremula were intermediate. In Pinus the bark is drier than 
the wood, and in Acer more moist. In Betula it is drier in the 
Winter and spring, and more watery in summer and autumn. The 
Contrary takes place in the case of the poplar. In the branches 
the Same law holds good but their bases are drier than the por- 
tion of the trunk from which they take their rise ; and the petioles 
are more watery than the leaves. In the flowers, the perianth, 
the filaments and the styles contain more water than the anthers. 
— Journal of Botany. 
ZOOLOGY. 
RECENT RESEARCHES ON TERMITES AND STINGLESS HONEY-BEES. 
~The accompanying letter, just received from Fritz Miller, in 
Southern Brazil, is so interesting that it appears to me well worth 
Publishing in “ Nature.” His discovery of the two sexually ma- 
ture forms of Termites, and of their habits, is now published in 
wasg ; nevertheless few Englishmen will have as yet seen the 
