June, 1882. 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST. 
13 
Huegel’s West Australian collections an exceedingly pretty 
leguminous plant as Euchilus linearis ; but noticing subse- 
quently also some affinity of this plant to Sphserolobium, he 
referred it in 1864 {Flora Australiensis II., 67) to that genus. 
On still closer examination I recognised the necessity of 
assigning to this Euchilus or Sphserolobium, full generic rank, 
and have thus defined the new genus as follows : — 
Fuchilopsis. 
Upper lip of the calyx very large, deeply divided into two 
cuneate-orbicular upwards not angular lobes ; lower lip 
minute, cleft into three equal semilanceolar segments ; tube 
very short, upper petal renate, orbicular, not callous ; lateral 
petals slightly shorter than the upper, little exceeding in 
length the lower petals ; the latter anteriozely connate at 
their upper portion, somewhat pointed ; stalklike base of the 
lateral petals and of the upper one very short ; stamens ten, 
perfectly free ; filaments slightly dilated from the middle to 
the base ; anthers alternately longer and shorter, the five longer 
basifised. Style setaceous, glabrous, without any appendage 
Stigma minute, terminal. Ovary short-stalked, biovulate. Pod 
obliquely orbicular-ovate, moderately compressed, outside 
foveolar-rough, 1-2 seeded . Funicle very short. Strophiole none. 
A dwarf half-shrub ; leaves scattered, coriaceous, linear, with 
revolute margin ; pedicels axillary, solitary or sometimes in 
pairs, as long as or longer than the flowers; bracts basilar, 
stipulelike, minute, deltoid ; bracteoles, smaller still, distant 
from the calyx petals red ; pod hairy. Habit, calyx, and fruit- 
valves almost of Bossiaea ; calyx also much like that of the 
section Euchilus of Pultenaea; affinity to Sphaerolobium more 
distant, the habit and foliage being quite different, the calyx 
dissimilar in form and not spotted, the bracteoles far removed 
for the calyx, the style thinner less twisted and without any 
appendage, the ovary hairy and the pod not spherical. From 
all these genera Euchilopsis is moreover separated by its 
dimorphous anthers, by which characteristic it approaches 
Templetonia and Hovea, thus connecting the tribe of Podaly- 
riese with a portion of that of Genistese by an intermediate 
genus. Among Indian plants, recently added as indi- 
genous to the Australian flora, are also some Leguminosas, 
for instance, Desmodium reniforme, obtained at Carpentaria. 
QUARTERLY EXAMINATIONS OF THE PHARMACY 
BOARD. 
The examinations were held as follows : — 
The Major Examination, on 6th June. 
Sidney Victor Say, St. Kilda, passed. 
Preliminary Examination was held at Melbourne, Ballarat, 
and Sandhurst, on 8th June. Seventeen candidates pre- 
sented themselves, and the following passed : — 
J. Canstoun Sandridge 
H. G. Mau Sandhurst 
E. Fisher ... ... ... Sandhurst 
F. Waller Sandhurst 
James T. Weaver Emerald Hill 
A. F. Davy ... ... ... Melbourne 
Edgar Wing Echuca 
For the Modified Examination five candidates presented 
themselves on the 12th June. The following passed : — 
Lewellyn Best Fitzroy 
George Phillips Hamilton 
SCHOOL OF MINES SCIENCE SOCIETY, SANDHURST. 
At the annual meeting of members of the School of Mines 
Science Society in Sandhurst, Mr. E. L. Marks, lecturer on 
chemistry, read the following very interesting paper, which 
was illustrated by copious sketches on the black-board, and by 
some well devised experiments : — 
“The study of any subject is greatly facilitated by method, 
and whether we take up history, literature, the fine arts, or 
natural science, by dividing and subdividing we obtain a 
clearer insight as to how one portion depends upon or in- 
fluences another, or how they reciprocally act, placing our- 
selves by such a system in a position to survey the completed 
subject, by uniting the hitherto separate parts, which, like the 
disjointed pieces of a dissected map, were until then but so 
many valuable yet isolated fragments. In studying any 
branch of natural science, we constantly find that collateral 
information is required to thoroughly explain it. Constant 
reference is at the same time made to some other branch. 
For instance, in botany we are referred to chemistry, medi- 
cine, physiology, physics, geology, meteorology, &c„ hence we 
must conclude that there is no sharp line of demarcation any- 
where ; indeed, the various branches of science touch at so 
many points, so constantly interlace, that an acquaintance 
with all is requisite for the thorough comprehension of any 
one, just as there is a correlation of the physical forces for 
chemical action. Heat, light, magnetism, and electricity are 
thought to be bub modifications of some one force, differing 
only in the manner in which the effects are produced, or 
according to circumstances in operation ; for chemical action 
may produce heat and light. Heat will effect chemical decom- 
position with the evolution of light. Electricity may arise 
from and will also occasion chemical action ; will again elicit 
those phenomena, the effects of the calorific. Luminous and 
actinic rays of the sunbeam are apparent to us in our daily 
intercourse with Nature, and in every case motion results. 
Now, motion may be due to the vibration of particles, and 
will itself occasion sound and colour. Hence it is easier, as 
well as more philosophical, to regard nature as a whole, for as 
Pope tersely says : — 
From Nature’s chain, whatever link you strike, 
Tenth or ten-thousandth, breaks the chain alike. 
If, now, we desire to know how a plant grows — by what meta- 
morphoses its constituents are assimilated, by what means the 
material of its structure are disseminated throughout its 
system — we require to do more than watch its growth, since at 
that stage of its existence it is the outcome of many combined 
agencies. It is a congeries of something and not a single 
body, hence we must look to the source of the fabric to unravel 
its history. 1 
The origin of a plant is the cell ; the complete fabric is an 
organism ; the various parts are organs ; the constituents of 
organs, cells. What these are I propose to indicate, with the 
assistance of a few sketches and collated facts from the best 
available sources. 
A cell is a small self-supporting body, that takes up its food 
through a membrane from without ; inwardly, by a process of 
diffusion called endosmone — endon , inwards ; osmos , im- 
pulsion. For such an operation to take place there must be a 
difference in the density of the materials on each side of the 
septum, or a difference in their character ; the thinner liquid 
then passes with force to mingle with the thicker, this passing 
outwardly more slowly by an exosmotic movement. To illus- 
trate this statement I have here a tube, one end closed with 
moistened bladder ; the other with a cork, carrying a long 
capillary tube. Some tinted alcohol is poured in, and the system 
is now immersed in water. Under these conditions the water 
will quickly diffuse inwardly by endosmone, as shown by the 
rising column of liquid, the alcohol very slowly, by exosmone 
into the water. That substances capable of permeating such 
a membrane must be in a liquid or gaseous condition will be 
evident, since no solid particles, however fine, could possibly 
pass through. Now, vegetable cells contain liquids of 
different densities and composition — acid, alkoline, starchy, 
sugary ; hence, such exosmotic movement must be always 
going on. 
By endosmone, therefore, water holding mineral substances 
obtained from the soil in a state of solution, penetrates the 
wall of the cell, ascends by capillary attraction, and under the 
influence of the vital principle, from one cell to another, 
through the entire plant, from the root to the leaves. Cells 
placed near the extremity of the roots contain a highly 
charged solution of these mineral salts, and, absorbing more 
water from the soil, dilution takes place ; the second cell then 
absorbs some of the contents of the first, transmitting them 
to the third, and so on from cell to cell, the solution deposit- 
ing in its passage solid matters in the cells it traverses. 
Arrived at the leaves, much water is given off by evaporation 
and by transpiration through the stomata that thickly stud 
those organs, chiefly on the under surface. The crude juice is 
now exposed to the influence of the carbonic acid gas in the 
air ; its quality is altered ; part returns downwards through 
the back to the root to reascend and complete a circulation . 
The typical cell is spherical ; through pressure from its neigh- 
bours it assumes various shapes, as shown by these sketches ; 
but in any case it may be regarded as a cavity enclosed by a 
thin membrane or wall. An inflated bladder will recall the 
idea. The cell-wall is the part that forms the skeleton of the 
plant ; that gives toughness to it. It is a continuous mem- 
brane, and frequently marked with dots, rings, lines, spheroidal 
threads, or a kind of network, thought to be due to the unequal 
absorption of water. 
