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ON THE TRANSMISSION OF FOREIGN SEEDS. 
ligneous fibres, and the vessels, were highly developed, they were very sinuous in their course and 
imbedded in a tissue much resembling that of the medullary rays. 
The new tissue formed beneath the bark, on the part of the stem below the decorticated portion, 
was less in quantity than that above the bare portion, but the woody fibres were more advanced in 
their development, and the vessels more numerous than above, and the medullary rays were larger and 
more numerous than in the old wood. 
Above the barked region the new ligneous tissue formed a thicker layer than below, but it was much 
less advanced in its development. Very few vessels were observed in the young wood, and the cells 
were smaller than those of the wood of the older part, and they were shorter in proportion to their 
distance from the older region. 
From the facts briefly enumerated here, M. Trecul draws the conclusions, that:— 
“ 1. The fibro-vascular bundles are not continued without interruption from the extremity of the 
leaves to that of the rootlets. 
“ 2. That the diameter of stems may increase without the intervention of ligneous fibres descending 
either from the leaves or the buds. 
“ 3. That the tissue of the wood and the vessels are formed in situ , as well as the medullary rays.” 
It will be very difficult for the advocates of the opposite theory to find a satisfactory objection to 
these propositions.— Arthur Henfrey, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. 
ON THE TRANSMISSION OF FOREIGN SEEDS. 
'R. M’NAB very recently communicated to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh an interesting 
notice relative to the transmission of foreign seeds in soil. His opinion is, that the transmission 
of fruits and seeds in a fit state for germination would be better accomplished by their being packed 
in soil than by any other known method. This view was fully tested by himself expeiimentally 
during 1834, when he brought over the seeds of many of the rarer American Oaks and other trees 
in boxes filled with soil, while portions of the same kinds of seeds packed, both in brown paper 
and cloth bags, were in many instances totally useless. The method adopted for the American 
tree seeds was as follows : — He purchased several strong deal boxes about fourteen inches in 
diameter, and made of three-fourth-inch wood. He afterwards procured a quantity of soil taken 
from a depth of eight or ten inches under the surface so as to possess only a natural dampness. A 
layer of the soil two inches deep was placed on the bottom of the boxes, above which a layer of 
seeds was distributed; another layer of soil and then seed, and so on till the boxes were full; the 
whole was pressed very firmly down, when the lids were nailed on, allowing no possible room to shake 
about. When they reached Edinburgh, December, 1834, the seeds and soil were sown over the surface 
of shallow pans and boxes. During the following spring they grew freely, while of those brought home 
in the paper and cloth bags comparatively few of the varieties grew, the Acorns being, without an 
exception, perforated with insects. The kinds which grew were from four to five weeks later in 
vegetating than those brought home in soil. Acorns brought home in a box of sphagnum moss, after 
the superfluous moisture had been wrung from it, were equally successful with those in soil. Owing 
to the success of the above experiment, Mr. M’Nab, some years ago, recommended to the Highland 
and Agricultural Society, through the late Dr. Neill, to encourage, by means of premiums or otherwise, 
the transmission of seeds in soil. This was accordingly done, but nothing has resulted from it, not¬ 
withstanding that the notice still exists in their premium list. During the summer of 1851, Mr. 
M’Nab induced his brother, Dr. M’Nab, of Kingston, Jamaica, to send a box of West Indian fruits and 
seeds, to be put up as described, and which he despatched in August, containing seeds of Granadilla, 
Gourds, Forbidden Fruit, Shaddocks, Sweet Sop, Sour Sop, Cherimoyer, Sapota, Guava, Lignum-vitce, 
Papaw, Alligator Pear, Mango, Ochro, Fustic, &c. The box reached Edinburgh last October; shortly 
afterwards, the seeds and soil were sown over the surface of boxes prepared with drainage and soil for 
the purpose ; and the result was perfectly successful. 
