105 



closed report on same made by Miss E. M. Kupfer. As you will see 

 from this report, the fruits are not diseased in any manner, but the 

 non-development of the nut must be due to the fact that pollination 

 is not effected. This may result from the destruction of the pollen in 

 the flowers by animal or vegetable parasites, or perhaps something in- 

 terferes with the usual agent active in transferring the pollen from the 

 stamens to the pistils An examination of the living plant will be 

 necessary to determine this. These imperfect fruits are interesting 

 examples of the development of the accessory parts of a fruit with no 

 formation of seed, as may also be seen in two or three species of the 

 banana. 



Yours very truly 



D. T. MacDotjgal. 

 Director of the Laboratories. 



Report on Imperfect Coconuts Received prom Director of Public 

 Gardens and Plantations of Jamaica. 



One of these coco-nut fruits of average size, was found to weigh 575 

 grams. For comparison a coco-nut of about the same dimensions was 

 taken which had been lying for a year in a dark room and which, but 

 for a certain loss in weight by the drying up of the milk and the 

 ■** meat," might be considered normal. This fruit weighed c"<80 grams, 

 making a difference of 305 grams in favour of the normal specimen. If 

 the latter had been fresh, the difference, would, of course, have been 

 still more striking. 



The husks of both were then sawn open longitudinally and the con- 

 tents of the fruit compared. Nowhere, in the abnormal fruit could 

 any indication of seed be found. The locule was almost entirely over- 

 grown with the woody fibres of which the husk is composed, so that, 

 at first sight, the section showed nothing but a solid mass of this fibrous 

 tissue. Upon closer examination however, a shallow irregular, narrow 

 cavity, excentrically placed was discovered in one half of the fruit. It 

 was 15 cm. long, 2.5 cm. wide and 3 cm. deep. In this there were three 

 centers about which small quantity of shell substance had begun to 

 form. One of these regions was situated at the chalazal portion of the 

 seed, one on the floor, and the other directly above it on the roof of 

 the cavity. In each case the region so hardened was more or less 

 tubular, and did not exceed an inch in length, J inch in width, and \ 

 inch in thickness. A microchemical comparison of this shell substance 

 and that from the perfect fruit revealed no differences. Both were 

 found to be largely composed of highly lignified cells, containing, in 

 some instances, oil drops. 



A certain differentation of the husk substance, noticeable in the 

 normal fruit, was absent in the abnormal one. The husk is made up, 

 as was marked before, of woody fibres Each fibre is surmounted by a 

 quantity of loose pith so that the appearance of the material is decided- 

 ly spongy. In the healthy fruit, there is at the basal portion, at the 

 micropylar end, a felt of much looser fibres very different from the 

 general mass. They are finer and more pliant, and are not surrounded 

 by pith. The mass of finer fibres may serve to absorb and retain mois- 

 ture for the benefit of the embryo and seedling. There is also a layer 



