ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
217 
the agency of the wind under six types, viz. (1) The Acer-type ; (2) 
the Fraxinus- type ; (3) the Dipterocarpus-tyige ; (4) the Halesia-tyipe 
(5) the Ulmus-typc ; (6) the Bignonictcese type. The nature of the me- 
chanical contrivance is uniform in each type, whether it belong to the 
fruit or the seed, and is often entirely independent of the systematic 
affinities of the species. To the first type, which the author regards as 
presenting the most perfect construction for attaining the desired end, 
belong the samarae of the various species of Acer ; those of a number of 
species of Malpighiaccae ; of Securidaca among Polygalacese ; of several 
species of Leguminosae and Sapindaceae ; of Bajania among Dioscoreaceae ; 
and the seeds of many Coniferae, such as Finns and Larix ; and of many 
Cedrelacere and Melinceae. The second type occurs in Fraxinus and 
Liriodendron. The third, which bears a strong resemblance to a shuttle- 
cock, is generally diffused through the Dipterocarpaceae. The fourth 
occurs in Halesia and Combretum. The TJlmus type occurs also in Ftero- 
carjpus and Paliurus . To the sixth type, which is represented chiefly by 
the seeds of the different genera of Bignoniaccae, belongs also the fruit 
of Welwitschia. 
Septal Nectaries.*— Herr J. Schniewind-Thies treats of the nectaries 
situated in the septa of the ovary which are peculiar to certain orders 
belonging to the Liliiflorae and Scitamineae. The author classifies them 
under a number of different groups ; the simplest form occurring in 
Tofieldia 'palustris, where the nectar is excreted from the entire outer 
wall of the ovary; while in T. calyculata the secretion is limited to 
the furrows in the ovary which correspond to septa. The nuclei of the 
secreting tissue are distinguished from those of the parenchyme by 
the large amount of chromatin which they contain, and usually by the 
greater number of nucleoles. In most nectaries the nuclei are erythro- 
philous. Unusual positions of the nectaries occur ; — in the apex of the 
style of Leucojum vernum ; in the apex of the ovary of Galanthus 
nivalis ; and as club-shaped, or some other form of outgrowth on the 
ovary of the Zingiberaceae. 
Leaves of Ranunculacese and Umbellifer80.| — Herr G. Bitter points 
out, in a great number of examples, the remarkable similarity in the 
types of leaves in these two families. In both orders the phyllotaxis is, 
with very few exceptions, alternate (spiral) ; stipules are almost invari- 
ably wanting, and the petiole is commonly expanded laterally. A very 
deep and complicated division of the lamina is common ; hut in both 
orders we have species with narrow undivided lamina, and nearly 
parallel venation ( Banunculus gramineus , Bupleurum). On the other 
hand a heath-like foliage occurs in a large group of Umbelliferse in the 
Cape and Australia, but is altogether wanting in the Banunculaceae ; 
while pedate leaves occur in the latter, but not in the former family. 
Leaves of Arum italicum.J — Prof. G. Arcangeli discusses the cause 
of the variability in the leaves of this plant, which are sometimes fur- 
nished with a number of white or yellow spots, sometimes entirely 
* ‘Beitr. z. Kenntn. d. Septalnektarien,’ Jena, 1897, 88 pp. and 12 pis. See Bot 
Centralb]., lxix. (1897) p. 216. 
t Flora, lxxxiii. (1897) pp. 223-303 (31 figs.). 
t Bull. Soc. Bot. I tal., 1896, pp. 321-4; 1897, pp. 46-8. 
1897 
Q 
