84 
POPULAR SCIENCE EEYIE'W. 
The Fungus Shoiv at the Royal Horticultural Society on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 
was an attractive one. Notwithstanding the drought, a great many fine and 
curious specimens were exhibited; and as there was no collection in the first 
class, which was confined to edible fungi, the prizes were awarded to Mr. G. 
Worthington Smith and Mr. James English, whose collections were con- 
sidered of equal merit, while the second prize was given to Mr. Hoyle. 
The Fertilization of Salvia and other Plants. — Mr. Thomas Meehan called 
the attention of the* American Association to the arrangements of some 
plants for preventing fertilization through any other than insect agency, as 
discovered by Darwin. The Salvia family of plants had the most elaborate 
arrangements for insect agency, but it had been objected to Darwin’s theory 
that insects made no use of them. Bees bore holes through the tube from 
the outside for the honey, and do not enter by the mouth of the flower, as 
they ought. In the same way, In the Petunia , bees bore for honey from the 
outside. He had discovered that in these cases, where day insects failed to 
make use of these apparatuses, fertilization was carried on by night-moths, 
so that the objections to Darwinism were removed. He also referred to the 
common sweet chestnut, as bearing two classes of male flowers, only one of 
which probably aided in fertilization. The first class appeared ten days 
before the other, and are those which give whiteness to the trees. They 
appear in the axils of the weak shoots. The female flowers appear on the 
apices of strong shoots, according to his theory of the laws of sex. The 
second class of male flowers appear at the ends of the vigorous shoots 
bearing the female flowers. Whatever affects the vigour of the tree inter- 
feres with the production of female but not of male flowers, and this was 
the reason why some seasons had short crops. 
The Venation of Haivtliorns. — In a paper read before the Microscopical 
Section of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (Nov. 7), Mr. 
Charles Bailey says : — “ It is not a little remarkable that there is one pecu- 
liarity in the venation of the hawthorns which is invariably overlooked by 
the draughtsman and engraver, viz. the direction of the secondary nerves, 
which proceed from the midrib to the base of each sinus ; such an arrange- 
ment is very rare, being found only in some other species of Cratcegus, as C. 
Azarolus , &c., in species of Fagus, and in a few other plants.” 
Are certain Potrychiums Epiphytic ? — Mr. J. H. Bedfield states that on a 
recent visit to the northern part of the State of New York, he had noted the 
Botrychium lunarioides and Botrychium lanceolatvm growing under circum- 
stances that seemed to confirm the idea that these species are really under- 
ground parasites, or epiphytic plants. More than twenty plants were noticed 
scattered over a space of a mile in length, and in every instance they were 
growing near the common blackberry ( Rubus villosus), and every plant that 
was lifted had its roots in contact with the root of the blackberry. He 
referred to the peculiar character of the root of this genus— so different from 
that of other ferns, and so similar to that of some orchids — and to the fact 
that these species, so widely distributed, seem nowhere abundant — as favour- 
ing the idea of their epiphytic character. Mr. Newman some years ago 
expressed the opinion that the British Botrychium lunaria is an underground 
parasite, but Moore and others have doubted. Mr. Bedfield desired to call 
the attention of botanists to the conditions under which these and other 
