ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
495 
Proterandry in the Umbelliferae.* * * § — Herr A. Bekctow states that 
in those genera of Umbelliferae where the normal proterandry is most 
strongly developed, such as Anthriscus and Carum , the earliest central 
umbel has reached the female stage, while the later lateral umbels are 
still in the male stage ; and that the lower position of the central umbel 
insures its pollination from the lateral ones. Where proterandry is not 
so strongly developed, the central umbel often stands at a higher level 
than the lateral ones. 
Reproduction of Hydromystria-f— Sig. A. Bottini describes the 
structure of the male and female flowers of Eydromystria stolonifera 
(Hydrocharideae), and the mode of the pollination, which seems to be 
altogether anemophilous. After impregnation the stalk of the female 
flower lengthens and then bends downwards, and the fruit is matured 
under water, very much as in Vallisneria. 
Duration of the Life of certain Seeds.|— M. H. de Vries states that 
most seeds, if kept in a dry state, lose their power of germination in a 
few years. A certain number of seeds were taken and kept seventeen years, 
and it was found that only two out of the number possessed the power of 
germination, viz. those of Er odium cicinum and Nicandra jphysaloides. 
In the first case only a single plant was raised. An experiment showing 
the rapidity of germination in (Enothera Lamorckiana is then described. 
Seeds were sown on the 14th of March, 1887, and between March and 
April 908 of these germinated ; between April and May, 288 ; between 
May and June, 27 ; between June and July, 37 ; between July and 
September, 130 ; between September and October, 6. 
Germination of the Sugar-cane. § — Mr. D. Morris describes the pro- 
duction of fertile seeds in the sugar-cane, which has very rarely been 
observed. All the spikelets observed were one-flowered, and the flower 
hermaphrodite. In germination the plumule and radicle emerge without 
the cotyledon. 
Germination of Hydrastis Canadensis.|| — Mr. H. Bowers describes 
a singular phenomenon in the germination of this plant — one of 
the Ranunculaceae. The complete germination extends over two, or 
even over three years. At the end of the first summer the seedling 
consists of the two foliaceous cotyledons, with a thick tapering radicle 
and a very small plumule. The rhizome and flowering stem develope 
only in the second or third year. 
(2) Nutrition and Growth (including* Movements of Fluids). 
Biology of Parasites.il — M. A. Chatin contests the prevalent view 
that leafless parasites can only make use of nutritive substances already 
elaborated by their hosts. The statements that the mistletoe of the oak 
contains tannin absorbed directly from the oak, and that the Loranthus 
parasitic on Strychnos nux-vomica contains strychnine, are founded on 
* Arb. St. Petersb. Naturf.-Ver. (Bot.), xx., pp. 11 et seq. (Russian). See Bot. 
Centralbl., xlv. (1891) p. 381. f Malpighia, iv. (1891) pp. 340-9, 369-77. 
X Arch. Neerland., xxiv. (1891) pp. 271-7. 
§ Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxviii. (1890) pp. 197-201 (1 pi.). Cf. this Journal, 
ante , p. 218. II Bot. Gazette, xvi. (1891) pp. 73 82 (1 pi.). 
H Comptes Rendus, cxii. (1891) pp. 599- 604 ; and Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xxxviii. 
(1891) pp. 124-8. 
