Thiselton-Dyer. — Morphological Notes. 781 
railway expeditor in Buckingham who labelled the parcel con- 
taining this specimen as an empty box, has had no serious conse- 
quences. I only regret very much the trouble which this absurd 
mistake has caused you, and I beg to apologize for it. It would 
indeed have been very unfortunate if this curious and anomalous 
growth had been lost for ever under a heap of old empty boxes. 
I thank you very much for the interesting lecture given in your 
letter upon the physiological characters of pine-cones. What struck me 
most in that specimen is the following fact : when it was picked up it 
must not have been lying on the ground more than two or three 
weeks, perhaps less. The young single shoot was not six inches long. 
It went on growing very rapidly, throwing off branches and showing 
all the appearances of an ordinary strong and healthy branch, without 
being ever fed in any way. After about six weeks it had attained its 
present size, and then the growth suddenly stopped and the needles, 
losing their dark green appearance, began to wither. It was in vain 
that I put the cone in a wet cloth, nothing could restore life in it. 
This shows evidently that there was a certain quantity of sap in the 
cone sufficient to insure this anomalous growth up to a given size, and 
that when this store of food was exhausted the autonomous life of this 
. cone became extinct. 
Excuse me for making this remark, and believe me, &c., 
PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. 
The total length of the specimen is 19^ inches. The figure 
is therefore reduced to rather more than a third. 
The cone belongs to the ‘ Stone Pine ’ (Pinus Pinea, L.). 
As is well known the seeds are edible, hence the Comte de 
Paris writes of them as ‘ almonds ’ : strung together they are 
sold in the market at Lisbon. Examples may be seen in the 
Kew Museum, where the specimen is also preserved. 
I have failed to find any record of terminal prolification 
in a Pinus cone, and Dr. Masters, F.R.S., who is an accepted 
authority on the Coniferae , kindly informs me that he knows 
of none. 
Normal cones of Pinus Pinea are usually about 6 inches 
long. That now described is only 3^ inches. It is there- 
fore a small cone. But as the apex of the largest scales 
