172 TOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
alike in their reception of the re-agents, nor are all tissues in the 
same plant. Dr. Ralph has classified his plants according to the 
readiness with which they are acted upon, some giving a decided 
re-action, others a partial or moderate, and a third group no re- 
action at all. Among the last appear to be most of the Mono- 
cotyledons experimented on, but Hedychium and the Banana 
fruit gave most marked results, some of the constricted vessels 
of the latter taking an almost startling blood-red hue. The 
members of Myrtaceze and Proteaceze examined all gave positive 
results. Of 120 genera, 30 were unaffected, 62 gavea full, and 
the remainder a partial re-action. Dr Ralph is hopeful that 
with more extended experiments, ordinal or generic characters 
may be recognised. He suggests the trial of the re-agent in 
demonstration of pollen-tubes in style-tissues, and of the hyphe 
of endophytal and epiphytal microfungi. 
COPROSMA BAUERIANA.—A paper on the glands of thiS 
plant was read by Mr. Walter Gardiner at the meeting of the 
Linnean Society of London, on 20th December last. These 
glands are externally well developed and very typical. The so- 
called stipular body is placed immediately behind each leaf, and 
in the young condition the stipule arches over the leaf, and the 
glands with which it is provided secrete copiously a mucilagi- 
nous fluid, which bathes and surrounds the young leaf structure 
As to the development of the glands, they arise as protrusions 
of the stipule parenchyma, which are covered by an epidermis. 
Each epidermal cell then rapidly grows out at right angles to 
the protuberance. In Coprosma the glands are situated on the 
sides of the stipules, but it more usually occurs in other genera 
that they are distributed over the inner face of the base of the 
stipular organ.—WVature, 3rd Jan., 1884. 
THE SHARK ABROAD.—The following passage occurs in an 
account, by one of the party, of an exploring expedition into the 
Kimberley District, Western Australia, during the course of last 
year :—“ In one of the pools in the Margaret River, fully 350 
miles from the coast,a shark 5 feet long was captured. This 
caused us to doubt our knowledge of natural history, as before 
we had been under the impression that sharks could only exist 
in salt water. Loam: 5 2 
EARTHQUAKES.—Two shocks of earthquake were experienced 
in Wellington on 5th June. The first occurred at 2.58 a.m., and 
was somewhat sharp, causing the bells of the Post Office clock 
to ring ; a second but slighter shock occurred at about I1.50 
a.m. The first shock was also felt at Greytown (Wairarapa), 
and lasted about five seconds. There was neither rumbling 
noise nor perceptible oscillation, but considerable upward move- 
ment. 
