SCIENTIFIC SUMMAEY. 
651 
writer describes, the parts are so large that the nature of the morphological 
changes which have taken place can be well studied. Their alterations are 
extremely interesting. On the sides of the labellum are two smaller labella 
with short spurs, and in the axils of these other flowers spring. These secon- 
dary florets have again rudimentary florets in the axils of their changed 
labella. There is no ovary, nor column, nor nectary distinct, though in some 
instances in the secondary flower they are present in a very rudimentary con- 
dition. The part where the column ought to be in the general flower is a 
mass of bracts and incipient florets, forming a depressed raceme. The mal- 
formed parts in the incipient flowers do not appear to exceed the usual 
number of pieces in the regular flower of Orchis. 
How to preserve the Colour of Flowers in drying. — Though an account of 
such a process hardly deserves a place in a botanical summary, it will be of 
interest to our readers to know that it is possible to preserve the natural 
colour of dried flowers. The following method has been given in a late 
number of the J ournal of the Society of Arts : — A vessel, with a moveable 
cover, is provided, and having removed the cover from it, a piece of metallic 
. gauze of moderate fineness is fixed over it, and the cover replaced. A quantity 
of sand is then taken sufficient to fill the vessel, and passed through a sieve 
into an iron pot, where it is heated, with the addition of a small quantity of 
stearine, carefully stirred, so as to thoroughly mix the ingredients. The 
quantity of stearine to be added is at the rate of half a pound to one hundred 
pounds of sand. Care must be taken not to add too much, as it would sink 
to the bottom and injure the flowers. The vessel, with its cover on, and the 
gauze beneath it, is then turned upside down, and the bottom being removed, 
the flowers to be operated upon are carefully placed on the gauze and the 
sand gently poured in, so as to cover the flowers entirely, the leaves being 
thus prevented from touching each other. The vessel is then put in a hot 
place, such, for instance, as the top of a baker’s oven, where it is left for 
forty-eight hours. The flowers thus become dried, and they retain their 
natural colours. The vessel still remaining bottom upwards, the lid is taken 
off, and the sand runs away through the gauze, leaving the flowers uninjured. 
Faphides as diagnostic characters. — Professor Gulliver continues his elaborate 
investigations into the characters of these curious crystalline bodies. In his 
“ practical applications,” he mentions that if any British dicotyledon be found 
abounding in raphides, it must be referred to one or other of the three orders 
Balsamacece, Onagracece, and Galiacece. These orders of plants are considered 
to be isolated in this manner from all others, and are especially entitled^ to be 
considered raphidiferous. Professor Gulliver has figured the raphides in the 
ovule of Onagracece, and he states that the peculiar characters are present in 
the seed-leaves and the leaves, and considers that when the diagnostic mark 
holds good, as between an Onograd and a Hippurid, there is no other single 
difFerence at once so fundamental and universal between the plants in question, 
as that those of one order are raphis-bearers, while the others are not so. — 
Vide Microscopical Journal, No. XIX. 
Fontinalis antipyretica. — At one of the meetings of the Dublin Micro- 
scopical Club, held during the present session. Captain Hutton called attention 
to the cell-contents of the perichastial leaves of the abovenamed plant. He 
stated that if these leaves are examined in spring, while the fruit they sur- 
