752 BOTANY. 
her wise disposition of her eggs so that the larvæ cannot interfere 
„ With each other’s supply of food. May not this little insect while 
fluttering around within the flower, seeking a place to deposit her 
eggs, accidentally become laden with pollen? Then, when her 
work is done and she ascends the stigma to regale herself with its 
sweets, she brings her pollen-laden antenns in contact with the 
stigmatic surface, thus unwittingly performing her part in this life 
drama.—J. M. MILLIGAN. 
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4 
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l 
Tue Distixcrive Features or ArpLe FLowerrs.— We make 
a brief abstract of an essay on this subject by Prof. W. J. Beal, 
of the Michigan Agricultural College. The essay is contained in 
vol. iii of the Report of the State Pomological Society. Each flower 
bud of the apple contains five to eight flowers. The centre flower 
opens first, and is often provided with poor anthers ; it is most likely 
to set for fruit so far as the author has observed. The immense 
number and often very great similarity of varieties of apples make 
it often difficult to recognize and define them by the fruit alone, 
as is mostly done. No pomologists that he could hear of have 
made any use of the flowers of apples as a means of classifying 
them. He says, “the petal of the red astrachan is one and & 
fourth inches long by three-fourths broad. It is ovate. The 3 
petal of a Tolman Sweet is twelve-sixteenths by seven-sixteenths 
of an inċh, and is elliptical. Its length is about the breadth of 
the red astrachan. The petal of the Porter is thirteen-sixteenths by 3 
twelve-sixteenths and is nearly orbicular. It is also cordate at the - 
base, different from the other two varieties. Large numbers of 
_ flowers were examined on several trees of each, except the Porter. 
The petal of the sweet bough is seventeen-sixteenths by fourteen- 
sixteenths of an inch. It is broadly ovate, with a stem or claw 
longer than tither of the other three varieties mentioned. Other 
varieties were examined with similar results. The styles pe! 
vary much in size and in other respects in different varieties. 
They are usually united about half-way, and mostly smooth for tha, 
greater part of their length. In the Tolman Sweet, the styles are 
united in one small column for half their length, then appear i 
larger. The upper half of the styles are closely covered and 
bound together by a dense woolly substance, unlike the styles “ : 
any other variety examined. The sepals also differ considerably 
in different varieties.’ The author is confident that much use 
