520 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
contra- distinguished at a glance : if the grains have lost their fecundating 
property they feel like dry powder when placed upon the palm of the 
hand ; if, however, they still possess it, they adhere to the hand and seem 
as though they had been slightly moistened. In the latter case, it is 
evident that they exhibit the same physical qualities as the fresh pollen. 
The Male Flower of Gymnosperms is supposed by Dr. Eichler to be 
composed as follows : — Each anther-bearing scale of the amentum is a 
single leaf altered by metamorphosis, that is to sa # y, a single stamen. This 
is proved in many ways. These leaves frequently assume forms passing 
into true leaves, this transition having been observed in the cypress and 
other kindred plants. In the hermaphrodite aments of the pine tribe, 
stamens are found in place of the outer scales which are true bractiform 
leaves. Moreover, the development of the anther-bearing scale shows that 
it springs from the axis, exactly like a true leaf, and is in no way formed 
by the union of several distinct parts. — Vide Natural History Review , 
No. XIV. 
Geographical Distribution of the Byblus-Rush. — Mr. Hogg in commenting 
upon the discovery of this plant in the upper Nile regions, observes : — 
The Byblus-Rush was once so common on the banks of the Nile that Ovid 
assigned the epithet Papyrifer to that holy river. Nor was the plant itself 
esteemed less holy, inasmuch as it was used by the Egyptian priests, for 
the ornamentation of their statues and temples, and for a frequent model 
of columns, and as a representation in the ancient hieroglyphics. But of 
late years travellers have not found any of it in the Lower Nile and its 
adjacent waters ; and thus have been confirmed these words of Isaiah 
(c. xix. v. 7), “ The paper-reeds by the brooks .... shall wither, be 
driven away, and be no more.”— Vide Annals of Natural History , April, 
1864. 
Openings in Legumes . — Mr. A. H. Church has lately pointed out a very 
interesting peculiarity in the structure of the pods of leguminosse. Having 
observed that in the process of drying, a considerable quantity of water is 
evaporated, he was anxious to discover whether any channel existed, 
through which the watery matter could escape. At first he sup- 
posed that the liquid permeated the membranous walls of the legume, 
but a careful examination resulted in the discovery of a small oval 
foramen close to the proximal end of the ventral suture. This was 
detached in several specimens of Faba vulgaris. It was also observed in 
other species. The object of the arrangement is to prevent the dehiscence 
of the valves of the legume, and consequent shedding of the immature 
seeds. Mr. Church proposes to apply the expression a'eropyle to this 
aperture. 
Range of Woodsia Glabella. — The distribution of this species is far wider 
than is usually supposed. It was found by Mr. Backhouse, in Norway, at 
an elevation of a thousand feet above the level of the sea, in fact just below 
a permanent snow patch : Gystopterus alpina and Asplenium viride were 
growing near it. The station discovered by Mr. Backhouse was in latitude 
sixty-nine and a half, and since the fern has also been observed in the 
Tyrol, we may now expect to find it distributed over the intervening 
country. 
