Wanted. — Short notes of interest to the general botr 
anist are always in demand for this department. Our 
readers are invited to make this the place of publication 
for their botanical items. 
Seed Dispersal in the Pine. — At the time the ovules 
of the pine are pollinated, the scales of the cone open 
allowing the pollen to reach them. After this the^^ are 
tightly closed until the seeds are ripe w^hen they again 
open. The cause of this second opening seems to be alack 
of moisture in the outer side of the scales. This side 
shrinks pulling the whole scale outward. In some of the 
iirs the scales open and shut according as the weather is 
wet or dry, thus loosing the seeds and ensuring that 
they shall be scattered only on fair days. 
Pollination of the Primrose. — Our British cousins 
are again going over the evidence for and against the 
theory that the English primrose is cross-pollinated. It 
seems that some inquisitive entomologist has been watch- 
ing the primroses for an hour or so each day and not find- 
ing many bees or other insects about, has jumped to the 
conclusion that not enough bees visit the blossoms to 
properly pollinate them. It would seem, however, that 
until some patient investigator has watched the blossoms 
"through the whole twenty-four hours a*t various times 
during the flowering season, he is scarcely warranted in 
making positive statements. There are many crepuscular 
or nocturnal insects like the sphynx-moths that might 
transfer the pollen. The sphynxes especially, are so active 
that a single individual is able to pollinate forty or fifty 
flowers a minute. A few of these insects fly by day, but 
many more appear only at dusk and dawn while a few 
are to be seen only in the middle of the night. He who 
studies cross-pollination must be abroad at a'l times, if no 
facts are to escape him. 
