SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 28. 



cxxix 



the bud, and producing decay there, partial or entire. I have 

 noticed something similar in some Himalyan Primroses, especially 

 Primula Stuarti, which I have ceased to cultivate because the 

 base of the bud (I use bud in its botanical sense of crown from 

 which the leaves sprout) is so apt to rot into pulp. In P. capitata, 

 however, of which I have grown and flowered thousands during 

 the last fifteen years, no winter bud is ever formed. Mr. G. 

 "Wilson tells me that in his garden at Wisley it is a hardy peren- 

 nial, but with me it invariably dies if left out in winter. The 

 tissues are not destroyed by hard frosts, for after a hard winter 

 the leaves in the centre of the tuft often continue green in 

 February, but rot seems to commence at the base, as in the 

 specimens enclosed, and the open leaf tuft invariably rots off 

 before spring, being often still green. I should be glad of an 

 opinion whether the case is likely to be analogous to that of basal 

 rot in Daffodils ? " Mr. W^ilks corroborated Mr. Dod's experience, 

 as he found the plants died in a similar manner in his garden. 

 The specimen was forward to Kew for examination. 



Cuscuta reflcxa. — A specimen of this parasite growing on 

 Jasminum revolutum was received from Mr. F. W. Burbidge, of 

 the Tr. Col. Botanic Gardens, Dublin. He observes that " it 

 does nearly as well on Forsythia viridissima and F. suspensa, as 

 well as on Ivy. Indoors in a warm house, Pelargoniums, Fuch- 

 sias, and Crotons seem to suit it best. We had it growing on a 

 Zonal Pelargonium which was placed in the Jasmine on a west 

 wall last May, and it now forms a wiry net-like mass 10 feet high 

 and 8 feet wide. It often twists upon itself." An examination 

 of the suckers or haustoria showed that the Cuscuta often preyed 

 upon itself whenever two branches were spirally twisted together. 

 As far as a few observations can be trusted, the roots of the 

 thicker of the two stems always penetrated the other. It fre- 

 quently fixed itself to the surface of the leaves of the Jasmine 

 as well as around the stems and petioles. 



Preserving Fresh Fruit in Carbonic Acid Gas. — The follow- 

 ing communication was received from Mr. W. Sykes, of Wood- 

 leigh, East Dulwich, being a description of experiments suggested 

 at a meeting of the Scientific Committee on July 25 : "On 

 August 23 I put down some Apples, Pears, Plums, Tomatos, 

 and eggs, but am sorry to say that, so far, my experiments with 

 carbonic acid gas are unsatisfactory ; neither does it appear to 



