539 
June 20, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Pink Snowdrift. , 
The above name has been given to a strong-growing garden 
border variety of Pink, which has large very double flowers 
with pale purple central zone, but otherwise pure white. These 
tiowers are freely produced, and possessed of the delightful 
fragrance of the old-fashioned Pinks. The foliage is of a deep 
caesious hue and very good. Award of Merit to Mr. James 
Douglas, Edenside, Great Bookliam, Surrey. 
Kalanchoe kewensis. 
The parentage of this new hybrid was Iv. flammea x Bentii. 
The' flowers are larger than those of Iv. flammea, but. in¬ 
stead of being scarlet they are a beautiful shade of deep rose 
pink. The leaves are very singular in form, being semiterete, 
with a deep channel on the upper side, sometimes undivided 
and sometimes three-lobed upon, the same stem. All of them 
are of a glaucous, metallic hue, such as we frequently see 
amongst the Cotyledons. Award of Merit to Messrs. J. Veitch 
and Sons, Ltd. 
Schoenia cassiniana. 
This annual is a member of the Composite family, and comes 
from Australia. The stems grow lj ft. in height, and bear 
corymbs of yellow flowers, surrounded by white or pink bra.cts 
which are of the nature of an everlasting. The plant, is usually 
grown as a greenhouse annual, and is characterised by cottony 
or woolly leaves and stems. Award of Merit to Messrs. Hurst 
and Sons, Houndsditch. 
Gleanings from the World of Science. 
LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 
Jure 4th, 1903. 
Drawings of Hieracia. —Mr. F. N. Williams, F.L.S., showed 
a series of 100 drawings of British Compositae, twenty being 
Hieracia, drawn in pen-and-ink by Mr. E. W. Hunnybun. of 
Huntingdon, an accomplished artist and British field botanist. 
Mycelium of Polypokus. —Mr. George Massee, F.L.S.. showed 
a remarkable felted lining of fungus mycelium of Polyporus, 
taken from the interior of the node of a Bamboo ; the specimen 
belonged to Sir 1). Brandis. 
Thorns and the Wood Leopard Moth. —Colonel George 
Colomb sent for exhibition a fragment of a branch of a Thorn, 
which had been given to him by Mr. Thoms, gardener in Hyde 
Park. This branch shows the mischief done to Thorns near 
London by the larvae of what had been identified as belonging 
to the Wood Leopard. Moth, Zeuzera Aesculi, Linn. The. house 
sparrow was stated to destroy numbers of the perfect insect, on 
their emergence. Further remarks were contributed by Dr. 
D. Sharp, the Chairman, and Mr. E. M. Holmes. 
A Poisonous Plant. —Sir Dietrich Brandis, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., 
F.L.S., showed herbarium and museum specimens, from Kew, of 
Gelsemium elegans, Benth., a plant possessing powerfully 
poisonous properties. Mr. Holmes made some observations, to 
which Sir D. Brandis replied. 
A Parasite on Scale.. —The first paper was by Miss Alice L. 
Embleton, B.Sc., communicated by Dr. D. Sharp, F. R.S., 
F.L.S., entitled “On the Anatomy and Development of Comys 
infelix, Embleton, a. Hymenopterous parasite of Leoanium 
hemisphericum,’’ which was read by the author. 
The only paper already published on this subject is that, by 
Bugnion on the anatomy, development, and habits of an allied 
y (Encyitus fuscicollis) parasitic in a caterpillar ; there are 
numerous omissions in the results he records. The present 
paper also leaves points'unexplained, but the author has been 
aoie to add the following facts to the knowledge upon the sub- 
jec , the insect on which she has worked being Comys infelix, 
the eT ST>ecl ® s , (1) ^ e ' stalked egg. The egg was studied in 
thh h tUbeS ' and found th ‘ at ’ commencing as a simple mass, 
isthmus C +l Tle + ^ n *'° two halves, connected by an 
became Wr° hal 7 es ,: bein § unequal. The connecting isthmus 
Lav mo- at tvl’ an( ! d ™° n subse quently took place there, 
structure ofLll” i? Vision a peculiar bifurcated foot-like 
! k ' , No nucleus could be found, 
morphosis theTr^pl 1 * 11 ^ ' S a reiTr iarkabIe condition of hypermeta- 
some striking points^ ^Tfirst t" ^ Several instances showing 
this bifid termination of thl V l A!'™ P ossesses two tails ; m 
of the body there exist prolongations of 
the two main tracheae. Later, the terminal processes atrophy, 
and there are found four tracheal groups outside the larva. 
1 IThese tracheae radiate into the host; it is not clear whether 
'this peculiar arrangement arises from the parasite or the host. 
These four groups of trachea© are attached to the body of the 
larva at the points where there existed functional spiracles in 
the preceding instar. In the pupi the posterior pair of these 
groups of radiating tracheae becomes marked, at their base, 
by the appearance of three oval red plates on the sides of the 
abdomen ; when the pupal skin is shed these plates are cast 
with it. They do not appear to give rise to the tactile plates 
of the imago, though the situations are similar. (3) The 
morphology of the skeleton of the imago—male and female—has 
been worked out fairly fully, except for certain questions of 
homology of parts in the ovipositor. On each side of the 
ablomen there is a curious hinged plate, bearing four long 
setae ; this is called “ tactile,” considering that it is probably 
of the nature of a sensory organ. 
This fly has considerable economic importance, like its allies. 
In the neighbourhood of Cambridge it successfully keeps in 
check the ravages of Lecanium hemisphericum var. filicum. 
Though this Coccid reproduces at an unusually rapid rate, the 
author found that Comys infelix parasitised almost every 
individual on an attacked Fern or Palm. 
A discussion ensued, begun by Dr. D. Sharp, with the Chair¬ 
man, and Mr. E. M. Holmes contributing, to whom the author 
replied. 
Transition of Opposite into Alternate Leaves. —The second 
paper was by Mr. Percy Groom, F.L.S., “Notes on the Transi¬ 
tion of Opposite Leaves into the Alternate Arrangement: „ a 
new factor in morphologic observation.” The author stated that 
his observations began on Atriplex rosea, and to make a graphic 
representation of results he plotted the length of the internodes 
in a given manner, which produced a regular curve. When this 
principle was applied to Chenopodium and Salsola an entirely 
different result came out, and a zigzag course was plotted, due 
to the long and short internodes alternating. At first he sus¬ 
pected this might be due to its nearness to salt water, but inland 
specimens told the same tale, and neither the influence of day 
and night nor of salinity could account for it. His belief was 
that the fusion of branch and stem was the true solution, for 
axillary branches are given off, but without visible traces of the 
fusion which does exist ; in Salicornia, for instance, the leaves 
are fused up to the next node above. Continuing his observa¬ 
tions, the author examined Scrophularia nodosa, which showed 
leaves opposite at the bottom, while the inflorescence was 
alternate ; Symphytum showed the same, but Rhinanthus Crista,- 
galli presented a curious anomaly ; the leaves were commonly 
opposite, but sometimes the tip showed a cleft, becoming dis 
trnctly bilobed, and then, by displacement, passing into the 
alternate arrangement. Lysimachia vulgaris first showed 
opposite leaves, then by the process last described, splitting at 
the apex and becoming distinct, a whorl of four leaves finally 
appeared. The author laid stress on the fact that he had taken 
bis examples at random as they came to his hand, and were not 
specially selected. Although this was only a preliminary state¬ 
ment of the facts observed, it embodied a long series of obser¬ 
vations. 
Dr. Ridewood, Sir D. Brandis, and Dr. Scott took part in the 
discussion which followed, and Mr. Percy Groom replied to the 
questions which had been put. 
Houstonia caerulea. 
The slender habit of this plant is likely to cause misgivings 
m the minds of those who contemplate the plant growing on°a 
badly-attended rockery. During times of great drought, the 
plant also has a difficulty in pulling through unless a little care 
is exercised in the compost employed. A position should be 
selected for it on the rockery where it will not be exposed to 
the drying influences of the sun through the long afternoon. 
Light in itself is not objectionable to the plant, but regard 
must be paid to its likings in the matter of a little shade°and 
moisture. A compost consisting chiefly of peat and sand will 
serve to retain the moisture and enable the plant to exist, and 
even look happy, during periods of drought. During the cold 
spell of weather in May it had rather a bad time, but, never¬ 
theless it continued to flower, its pale blue almost porcelain- 
coloured flowers being both delicate-looking and pretty. 
