518 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
set down as memoranda of dates when eclipses were to be looked for, 
being the times of new moon. 
BOTANY. 
Respiration of Fruits. — In a paper lately read before the French 
Academy, M. Fremy gives some interesting details concerning the ripening 
process in fruits. In the development of the latter there are three stages, 
which are distinguished not only by physical -but by chemical features. 
The first period is that of development par excellence. The fruit during 
this stage is generally of a green colour, and acts on the atmosphere in the 
same manner as the leaves ; that is to say, it causes the decomposition of 
carbonic acid and the liberation of oxygen under the influence of light. 
In the second period, which is that of maturation, the green colour of the 
fruit is replaced by yellow, red, or brown ; the vegetable matter no longer 
decomposes carbonic acid, but absolutely developes it by the combination 
of its carbon with the oxygen of the air. Slow processes of combustion 
take place in the cells of the pericarp, which cause the disappearance of 
the soluble matters usually found there ; the tannin is first destroyed and 
the acids follow. At this stage the fruit is eaten. The third period is that 
of decomposition ; its final object is the destruction of the pericarp and 
liberation of the seed. At this time the air enters the cellules, and, acting 
in the first instance upon the sugar, it gives rise to alcoholic fermentation, 
marked by the disengagement of alcohol, which in operating upon the 
acids of the fruit gives rise to ethers, thus producing the peculiar aroma. 
This action when continued, destroys the structure of the fruit, and ter- 
minates in complete destruction of the tissues.— Yide ComptesRendusf . Iviii. 
No. 15. 
Raphides as Useful Characters of Plants. — Professor Gulliver continues 
his valuable researches concerning the absence from or presence in plants of 
these crystalline bundles. He now asserts, that by means of the raphidic 
features alone, the Epilobium and Lythrmn may be distinguished from 
each other at any period of their growth. 
Per-centage of Quinine in Jamaica Cinchonas. — The experiments which 
Dr. Daniell conducted to determine the proportion of quinine contained 
in the “ barks ” grown in Jamaica, demonstrate that the leaves of C. sue - 
cirubra produce as much as 1*00 per cent, of this valuable drug. The 
characteristic white acicular crystals deposited upon the evaporating 
glass, in the course of experimentation, could be plainly discerned by the 
naked eye, and presented a contrast to the larger, flat, four-faced oblique 
prisms of cinchonine obtained from the residual liquor. The plant em- 
ployed is that known to druggists as the red bark, and is not only the 
most valuable commercially, but, according to Mr. Wilson’s experience, 
the most easily propagated of all the species. — Yide Journal of Botany , 
No. xvi. 
The Flora of the Scilly Isles is, according to Mr. F. Townsend’s views, 
derived from the same source as that of the mainland, both having been 
produced by migration and not by transport. All the species hitherto met 
with in these islands occur also on the nearest mainland, with the excep- 
