BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. t> 
madder, even with a powerful Microscope. Another pecu- 
liarity was, that the nodi were fewer, and no development 
approaching to a perfect leaf could be observed ; rudimen- 
tary leaves were to be seen, and even more developed than 
those in the accompanying figure (PI. 1. Fig. 1.) of a light 
yellow colour. Beneath these nodi were observed light 
purple or slate coloured spots. In the specimens reared in 
the daylight, more than eight leaf-bucls could be distin- 
guished, while those excluded from the light developed one 
leaf-bud at a distance of eight or nine inches from the co- 
tyledon ; and, at the summit of the stem, a number were 
crowded together in the same rudimentary state. The coty- 
ledons of the specimen reared in the dark, remained nearly, 
if not quite the same distance, below T the surface of the 
mould, as when originally placed there; while in the other 
specimens they rose to the surface. On comparing the 
two specimens, it was noticed that about two inches above 
the cotyledons of the specimen produced in the dark had 
evidently been buried in the earth, for fibres were observed 
issuing from the lower part of the stem; (see PI. 1. Fig. 2.) 
while in the opposite one, the stem proceeds directly from 
the cotyledons, and no fibres were observed above the collum 
or neck, a circumstance worthy of remark ; proving that the 
cotyledon remained stationary, and was not uplifted to the 
surface of the earth, as happened in the specimens grown 
under ordinary circumstances. (PI. 1. Fig. 3.) 
Having satisfied myself of the great difference of growth 
exhibited by this plant, under the circumstances which have 
been related, I reversed the order of things ; brought the 
specimen from the dark into daylight, and vice versa, when 
neither flourished for any considerable space of time. The 
specimens placed in the light, the day after their removal, 
became flaccid ; the next day they could not support their 
own weight, and bent double, the tips of the imperfectly 
formed leaves began to be tinted of a green colour. The fol- 
lowing day, dark brown or chocolate coloured marks ap- 
peared under the leaf-buds ; and in four and twenty hours 
from that time, the leaves were dying off, and the stem was 
soon entirely withered. A similar effect was also observed 
in the specimen reared in the daylight, when placed in the 
dark apartment. From the time of its introduction, a gra- 
dual withering took place ; and at the end of five days, it did 
not exhibit the slightest appearance of vitality. 
Mr. Wilkinson informed me of a curious fact connected 
