ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 95 
of the seed of the beet. The testa consists of two distinct coats, both 
containing numerous crystals of calcium oxalate. It contains also a very 
large amount of pentosanes. The albuminoids are contained chiefly in 
the embryo. 
Stomates on Petals and Stamens.* * * § — Miss Grace D. Chester notes 
the occurrence of stomates on the petals of about one-half of the species 
examined. They occur especially on thick petals or perianth-leaves 
( Convallaria , Friiillaria, Lilium, Nuphar, Tulipa , &c.), where they are 
frequently not rudimentary, but have open fissures, the guard-cells 
being full of chlorophyll and capable of carrying on assimilation. In 
IAlium bulbiferum the guard-cells on the perianth-leaves have the normal 
irritability of those of foliar stomates. In Nuphar the pore is wanting, 
as in those of the foliage-leaves. On anthers stomates are also frequent. 
Rudimentary stomates are occasionally found on the filament. 
Stomates on the Bud~Scales of Abies, f — The rare occurrence of 
stomates on the bud-scales in Conifers is noted by Mr. A. P. Anderson 
in the case of Abies pectinata. They are found on all the scales, but 
only on the lower surface, and only near the base. 
Pitcher-Plants.f — Prof. S. H. Vines gives a resume of what is known 
respecting the structure and function of pitchers in plants belonging to 
the natural orders Sarraceniacese, Nepenthaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Saxi- 
fragaceae, and Lentibulariaceae, including also the subterranean scales of 
Lathrsea. The great majority of these structures are insect-traps, while 
others have apparently no relation to the capture of insects. Of the 
insect-traps the majority (Sarraceniaceae, Utricularia, Genlisea), appear 
to be incapable of digesting the animals which they capture, absorbing 
only the products of decomposition effected by micro-organisms, and 
are, therefore, not correctly described as carnivorous. The pitcher of 
Nepenthes , and possibly that of Cephalotus , undoubtedly secretes a 
digestive enzyme. Those pitchers which are not insect-traps are re- 
lated to the water supply of the plant, either relieving it of an excess 
of water which it may have absorbed, or storing it up for future use. 
Hydathodes.§ — Ilerr G. Haberlandt has studied the structured the 
water-secreting organs in Lathrsea squamaria and Phaseolus muliiflorus. 
In the former case he considers — in opposition to the view of Goebel || — 
that it is the capitate and not the peltate glands which act as hydathodes, 
founding this view on the result of pressure-experiments. The great 
efflux of water from these glands helps in the absorption by the parasite 
of large quantities of food-material from the host-plant, especially into 
the scales of the rhizome. In the case of the scarlet runner, the author 
contests the statement of Nestler,^[ that the excretion of water takes 
place chiefly through the stomates. As in other plants, the club-shaped 
hairs here act as hydathodes. 
* Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xv. (1897) pp. 420-31 (1 pi.). 
t Bot. Gazette, xxiv. (1897) pp. 294-5 (2 figs.). 
i Journ. R. Hortic. Soc., 1897, 22 pp. 
§ Jahrb. f. wiss. Bot. (Pfeffer u. Strasburger), xxx. (1897) pp. 511-28 (1 \ 1.). 
|| Cf. this Journal, 1897, p. 406. *[ Cf. this Journal, 1897, p. 557. 
