120 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
were needed, one was thrown carelessly under the 
greenhouse stage, where it shrivelled considerably, but 
retained some vital power, enough in fact to send down 
a few fibrous roots into the earth. It had shrivelled so 
as to be reduced to about half its normal weight. Its 
behavior under these conditions had not been observed 
till a few days since this date, when an examination 
showed that the greater portion of the axillary buds had 
developed into minute flowers, as in the case of the ac¬ 
cessory buds under the normal condition. Some of these, 
judging by their dry remains, had grown to nearly one- 
fourth the usual size of the normal flowers, though 
most of them were much smaller. In these cases no 
lateral accessory buds had been produced. A perfect 
flower from a healthy pot plant was exhibited, but not 
more than two-thirds the size of those produced in the 
growth of the first part of the season, when the plant 
was in the open air. Numbers had been produced 
during the winter from the accessory buds at the base 
of the secondary growths. One of these had borne a 
fine seed vessel, which was also exhibited. No seed 
vessels had followed the numerous stronger flowers 
produced by the plants in the open air during the 
summer. 
In commenting on these facts, Mr. Meehan pointed out 
their harmony with others bearing on the relations be¬ 
tween nutrition and the various phases of the vegetative 
and reproductive conditions of vegetation. Morpho¬ 
logically every development from the bud to the fruit 
is primarily the same. We imagine all these develop¬ 
ments to be founded on a primary leaf or leaves. Just 
when and how the various stages of development are 
brought about it is for physiology to determine. The 
student of fruit and forest trees knows that a rapid¬ 
growing young tree does not flower, and often when it 
commenced to flower no fruit followed. Its vegetative 
vigor had to be somewhat checked before the reproduc¬ 
tive forces induced flowers. The gardener brings about 
this condition by root-pruning or ringing, that is, taking 
off a portion of the bark of the vigorous trees. Trans¬ 
planting often makes a barren tree fruitful. What would 
have beep leaves become petals and parts of fructifica¬ 
tion in the transplanted tree. He had himself placed 
on record many illustrations of this. The Wistaria and 
other climbing plants might flower, but rarely produces 
fruit when growing vigorously over trees or trellises, 
but as soon as branches were thrown off which could 
not attach themselves to supports these lost their vigor, 
and the flowers produced seeds. But even when seeds 
resulted from the flowers of the Wistaria they were 
rarely from the most vigorous at the commencement of 
the raceme, but only after the weaker flowers had been 
reached. By a careful count in many hundred cases he 
had found that in racemes of the Wistaria which had 
produced seed vessels some forty or fifty flowers on the 
average faded before one produced seed. 
The observations on Stapelia were of a similar 
character. The axilary buds, in the normal condition 
of the plant, resulted in branches only, the flowers pro¬ 
ceeding only from the weaker lateral accessory ones. 
But when the vegetative powers of the plant are weak¬ 
ened the axiliary buds become flowering ones. The 
rarity with which seed-vessels are produced by the Sta¬ 
pelia under cultivation, he thought, might possibly 
be. traced to some cause relating to nutrition, rather 
than to matters connected with pollination. 
These observations were made solely on winter¬ 
growing plants, as illustrated by the specimens exhib¬ 
ited : how far they might be paralleled by open-air 
growth during the summer the speaker could not say. 
LINES ON THE LURAY CAVERNS OF - PAGE CO., VA. 
O wondrous cavern in the mountain’s heart! 
Within thee sprang an edifice sublime, 
Lit by no sunbright ray, nor reared by Art, 
But modeled by the mighty hand of Time. 
So brilliant are those walls of dazzling sheen, 
That they would shine earth’s palaces among; 
Yet, there no artist’s chisel e’er hath been, 
Nor sound of hammer or of anvil rung. 
Whilst earthquakes shook and cities rose and fell, 
And rocks from out volcanic fires were hurled, 
And meteors gleam athwart the midnight air 
In the high regions of this upper world, 
Within thy great laboratory there, 
Midst waters dripping o’er and o’er again, 
Arose great gleaming monuments of stone, 
As if in mockery of the works of men. 
Cold, veiled nuns, and priests with snowy stole. 
And organ grand in gallery are there; 
And crystal curtains whose translucent folds 
Gleam, opal tinted, neatli the torch’s flare. 
Tall angel forms with drooping wings are there. 
Like spirit held in durance for a while; 
And fallen, fluted columns, older far 
Than the famed “ Needle ” from the banks of Nile 
There magic bridges, on their columns grand, 
Resting below on boulders dark and rude, 
Cross the deep chasms, with aerial span, 
And glisten in the twilight solitude. 
And thus for ages in the lonely aisles, 
Where tinkling drops fall from high arches dim, 
The crystal rocks have reared their altar piles, 
And dark waves chanted a cathedral hymn. 
It is as if some genii of the hills 
Had caught the clouds when filled with pale 
moonlight, 
And turning them to purest crystal forms, 
Transferred them to his palace of the night. 
Hans Hathaway. 
