Hegelmai er Sept. 3, l8?0 _ 2 _ 



Spirodela polyrrhiza of the new world.if they were f ertile, would 

 produce only one ovule,and, thus, belong^to the present form,. All 1 

 that I~ wrote day before yesterday to Mi*. . Leggetfr, with the remark f , 

 that he would have to produce first a name for the novelty, or iit 

 could be dedicated to hinry further with the request, he shouldr 1 let 

 me have some material I with seeds in spirits, or at least several 

 seed bearing, dried fronds because it would be of great interest,, 

 to examine the seeds more accuratelyv and for this the supply/was in- 

 suf f icient.. 



There is generally quite a problem wfcth the seedbud number of 



thesexplantss : I know since my Visit to Löndonr a Lemna^ of all places 



from New Kolland (Australia, E.D. ) , which vegetatively is very slmilar 



to ^i^or ( also existing in New Holland) ,but has 2 ovultes hemianatmpous, , 



v^t raay form 

 i.eT^a connecting link to gibba.. . 



Ybu ask about the method for determining the venation. The process- 

 is as f ollows: : After softening the fronds first in hot water, they are 

 being bleached in alcohol in a covered porcelain dish, which 1 - goes the 

 fastest, if one brings them still wararinto alcohol absolutus, but 

 common spirits will do. If it is desired to use later etching potassiunr 

 then the alcohol must be eliminated first through washing. In some cases 

 it is useful to mix the potassium with a light-blue color through a 

 mixture of glycerin- and chlorzinkjor (whatever that is, E.D.)i€hlor - 

 zinkjor alone is mostly too dark blue,for which application- the pota- 

 ssium must first be washed out again... Specialis the bleaching with al- 

 cohol i has an excellent influence» and has the additional ! value, that it 

 gives the soft plant parts a certain hardness r , so that they can be cut 

 welli they cannot be cut without thi s e . Through such' expedients ('al- 

 cohol^ . potassium, glycerin, , chlorzink. . . ) one can prepare parts of dried 

 plants for the recoernitiorr of delicate morphological and everr develop- 

 mental condltions.. You will see af ter the bleaching also the little 





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