410 



Gibh : The Study of a Fircone. 



The eight secondary spirals running in the opposite direction 

 have still to be accounted for, and if the diagrams shewing the 

 manner of their origin are carefully studied, very little explana- 

 tion will be necessary. In fig. 5 the double spokes represent 

 the first five scales ; the single ones mark the position of the 

 next three, making the series of eight which starts the eight 

 spirals running to the right, each of these eight scales, as will 

 be seen, originating a spiral of its own in which every pro- 

 gressive member numbers eight more than its antecedent. 

 The dotted spokes are to shew how every point of space around 

 the stem is gradually filled as the general spiral proceeds, not 



Fig. 5. 



Showing the man- 

 ner of formation 

 of secondary spir- 

 als on a spruce 

 fircone having 8 

 spirals going to 

 the right and 5 

 to the left. 



Fig. 6. 



Showing the manner 

 of formation of 

 secondary spirals on 

 a cone having 5 

 spirals to the right 

 and 8 to the left. 



Fig. 7. 



Shewing the manner of 

 formation of second- 

 ary spirals in a larch 

 cone having 3 spirals 

 to the right and 5 tO' 

 the left. 



one single scale being placed exactly over another till 21 have 

 been arranged. The beautiful method displayed in the irregular 

 placing of the first eight scales is clearly seen if diagrams Nos. 

 3 and 4 are compared. No. 3 shews how the first and fourth 

 scale and the second and fifth cling together, leaving wider 

 spaces between ; No. 4 illustrates how cunningly these wdder 

 and narrower spaces have been calculated to accommodate the 

 occupants designed to fill them, and how marvellously the whole 

 plan works in a perfect order. Figs. 6 and 7 tell their own story, 

 and hardly need comment or explanation. 



Anyone who has taken the trouble to follow carefully the 

 details given in order to lay bare the hidden stor}^ of the fircone, 



Naturalist, 



