306 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
structure without analogy among vegetable organisms. It finds its 
nearest equivalent in the nucellus of the ovule ; both structures being 
necessitated by their sexual functions. 
The author further reminds botanists that he had anticipated van 
Tieghem in pointing out that in Lepidoceras (Loranthacese) the ovary is 
destitute of ovules, and that Decaisne had still earlier called attention 
to the absence of an ovarian cavity in the mistletoe. 
Ovary of the Pomegranate.* * * § — M. L. Gaucher describes the struc- 
ture and development of the ovary of Punica Granatum. The chief 
peculiarity is that, in the course of development of the ovary, the recep- 
tacle undergoes a remarkable hypertrophy by which the loculi, at first 
horizontal, become basilar, and the axile placentation assumes the 
appearance of being parietal. An inferior row of three loculi is then 
formed below the original five ovarian cavities. 
Ovule of Christisonia.* — Mr. W. C. Worsdell has followed out in 
detail the development of the ovule in this genus of Orobanchese, and 
finds that it differs in no important respect from that in Orobanche. No 
tapetal cells were seen to be cut off from the archesporial cell. This 
cell first divides by a transverse wall into two equivalent cells. Each 
of these cells then divides again, so forming a row of four cells. Of 
these the hindermost, the one furthest from the apex of the ovule, alone 
increases in size, and gradually crushes and absorbs the three others. 
This is the young embryo-sac. 
Seeds of Papilionacese.J — Reverting to the structure of the seeds of 
Vicia narbonensis , Sig. L. Macchiati disputes the statement that they 
present no peculiarities of structure as compared with other allied 
species. The “twin tubercles” in the seeds of the Papilionacefe are 
not correctly described as identical with a strophiole, although in many 
Phaseoleae they present the appearance of two small projecting papillae. 
In Vicia Faba the strophiole is rudimentary. 
Symmetry of the Appendicular Organs. § — M. A. Chatin calls 
attention to the importance of the symmetry of the appendicular organs 
as an indication of the degree of organisation. The general superiority 
of the Dicotyledones to the Monocotyledones is indicated by the rarity 
of verticillate leaves and the very frequent absence of a corolla in the 
latter. Among Dicotyledones a lower stage is indicated by the spiral 
arrangement of the carpels in some orders of Thalamiflorae (Ranuncu- 
laceae). Further indications of a high type of structure are presented 
by the twisted or valvate aestivation of the corolla and the valvate 
aestivation of the calyx in some orders of Dicotyledones. 
Red Spots on Leaves. [| — Sig. G. Mattej has investigated the nature 
of the red spots on the foliage-leaves, petals, and other organs of many 
plants, 3Iyrsine, Lysimachici, Oxalis, &c. The pigment is composed 
essentially of a gum-resinous substance, coloured by a yellowish-red 
essential oil, its chemical constitution varying in different cases. They 
* Journ. de Bot. (Morot), xi. (1897) pp. 121-4 (7 figs.). 
f Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxxi. (1897) pp. 576-84 (3 pis.). 
X Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital., 1897, pp. 104-10. Cf. this Journal, 1893, p. 62. 
§ Comptes Rendus, cxxiv. (1897) pp. 1061-8. 
|| Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital., 1897, pp. 83-8. 
