ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
63 
Classification of Fruits.* — Dr. G. Ritter v. Beck proposes the 
following classification of fruits : — 
I. Simple fruits, resulting from a single flower. 
A. Dehiscent fruits. 
1. Dehiscent apocarp, composed of a single carpel. 
a. Follicle (Delphinium, &c.) ; b. legume (Leguminos® 
and Proteace®) ; c. utricle (Lenina). 
2. Dehiscent syncarp, composed of several carpels. 
a. Capsule ( Colcliicum and Crucifene) ; b. pyxidium 
( Hyoscyamus , &c.) ; c. pore-capsule ( Antirrhinum , 
Campanula ) ; d. utricular capsule ( Chenopodium , 
Naias ). 
B. Indehiscent fruits. 
3. Indehiscent apocarp ; nut, drupe, or berry. 
4. Mericarpous apocarp ; lomentum. 
5. Mericarpous syncarp ; (Labiat®, Umbellifer®, &c.). 
6. Indehiscent syncarp; ( Ulmus, Vitis, & c.). 
II. Compound fruits, consisting of two or more flowers. 
7. Cone or strobilus ( Pinus ). 
8. Connate fruits ; ( Lonicera , Moms, &c.). 
9. Capitate fruits ( Castanea , Ficus , &c.). 
Seeds of Vicia narbonensis.f — In pursuance of his investigations of 
the morphology and anatomy of the seeds of Papilionace®, Prof. L. 
Macchiati has carefully examined those of this species, and states that 
he finds the spermoderm to be composed of throe different layers, viz. : — 
(1) An external epiderm consisting of the so-called Malpighian cells ; 
(2) a layer composed of cells with large intercellular spaces, the so- 
called “ columnar cells ” ; and (3) a parencliyme, the thin-walled cells 
of which are arranged in a variable number of strata. The first of these 
layers corresponds to the testa of authors, the second and third to the 
tegmen. A fourth layer, composed of the “ conducting cells ” of 
Le Monnier, docs not exist in this, or in other species of the genus. 
The seed possesses a thin layer of perisperm, derived from the uucellus. 
The general conclusion of the author is that the spermoderm of Papi- 
lionace® is not derived from both the primine and secundino of the ovule, 
but from a modification of the primine only. 
Leaves of Aquatic Monocotyledones.J — M. C. Sauvageau adopts 
Ascherson’s classification of the order Potamogetonace®, which includes 
the greater number of aquatic Monocotyledoncs, into five families, viz. 
Zostere®, Posidone®, Potamogetone®, (Jymodoce®, and Zannichcllie®. 
He enters, in considerable detail, into the various points of structure of 
their stem and leaves, and ends with the following general remarks. 
The anatomical characters of the leaf arc sufficient for the determina- 
tion of the marine species, of which there are eighteen, belonging to the 
genera Zostera, Pliyllospadix, Posidonia, Cymodocea, and Halodule. They 
* Abbandl. K. K. Zool.-Bot. Gesell. Wien, xii. (1891) pp. 307-12. 
t Kicerclie s. morph, ed anat. d. seme d. Veccia d. Narbona (1 pi.). See Malpighia, 
v. (1891) p. 126 and pp. 221-9. 
x Ann. Sci. Nat. (Bot.), xiii. (1891) pp. 103-296 (64 figs.). Cf. this Journal, 
1891, p. 764. 
