ew a i ke ~~ . nh fetes Tho = sak Sealey AP beak Prey hn OL ES SS

ate OAH wth sa tenon amit Aden ie

+ , See et

sine eit ror a Coren eae one las pa ?

ers POR. ox te yf ce hy Om? ¥. Sapecatinne

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY,

INCLUDING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY.

(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ ANNALS ’ COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTH'S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. )

CONDUCTED BY

PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY, Esa., F.1.8., CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Ese., M.A., F.R.S., F.LS., F.G.S., JOHN EDWARD GRAY, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.LS., V.P.Z.S. &e.,

AND

WILLIAM FRANCIS, Ph.D., F.L.S.

nN I OT

LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS.

SOLD BY LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, AND GREEN ; SIMPKIN, MARSHALI, AND CO.; PIPER AND CO.; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS: LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH:

HODGES AND SMITH, DUBLIN: AND ASHER, BERLIN.

1864.

‘‘Omnes res create sunt divine sapientiz et potentie testes, divitie felicitatis humane :—ex harum usu bonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini; ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet. Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibirelictis semper estimata; 4 veré eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.”— LINNZUS.

** Quel que soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu’ouvrir les yeux pour voir qu'elle est le chef-d’ceuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rapportent toutes ses opérations.”—BruCKNER, Théorie du Systéme Animal, Leyden, 1767.

= Seve «se 6 6 ves Dhelsyivan’ powers Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs That press with nimble step the mountain thyme And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed, But scatter round ten thousand forms minute Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock Or rifted oak or cavern deep: the Naiads too Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush That drinks the rippling tide: the frozen poles, Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread, The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne, All, all to us unlock their secret stores And pay their cheerful tribute.

J. TAYLOR, Norwich, 1818,

BOS .r > Re F

CONTENTS OF VOL. XIII.

[THIRD SERIES. ]

NUMBER LXXIII. I. On the Menispermacee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c.

II. On the Homologies of the Insectean and Crustacean Types. EYP DAMES WS MVANIAY ccsicesats SntaciesSanandearncs, cansouscepeiedanacdgecwiguswietenine’

III. On Freshwater Rhizopoda of England and India; with Illus- trations. By H. J. Carrer, F.R.S. &c. (Plates I. & IL) .........

IV. On the Animal and Affinities of Fenella; with a List of the Species found in the Seas of Japan. By ARrHuR Apams, F.L.S. &c.

V. Observations on Raphides. By GrorGe GuLLtIveER, F.R.S. .

VI. Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley.

CoLeopreRA: Loneicornes. By H.W. Bares, Esq. ............ VII. On a new Species of Hyena from the Red Crag of Suffolk. BylRay DANKESTER. (Plates IDL.) co.cc. s.cdccs ccesssseeassgccasece

VIII. On Species of Ostracoda new to Britam. By Georee S. Peron Chaise EEL GE Vic) Sess ceqteaa naan edaacine sane aestanasqeudehanunties

IX. On the Foraminifera of the Crag. By Prof. T. R. Jonzs, BG SUG WY opin; SPAR RRR ALS feo sp iss acla sila bian doin cetiowisae sues otar'es

X. On the Law of the Production of the Sexes in Plants, Animals, and Man. By Prof. THURY; Of(Genevassc.i.cc.c.cecvsscrecvesenssuvtece

XI. On the Process of Mineral Deposit in the Rhizopods and

Sponges, as affording a Distinctive Character. By G. C. WaLLicH, DAME SGC? “aba s ca does tone aa te dtan acuws deeccawelecdchcdccaesnessacacsete

XII. On undescribed British Hydrozoa, Actinozoa, and Polyzoa. By the Rev. ALFRED MERLE Norman, M.A. (Plates [X., X., XI.)

New Book :—Flora of Surrey ; or, a Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns found in the County, with the Localities of the Rarer

Page

lV CONTENTS.

Page

Species. From the Manuscripts of the late J. D. Salmon, F.L.S., and from other Sources, by J. A. Brewer....-....++. Wapiren necanaleneaee 90 Proceedings of the Zoological Society .....scssssseseereeeneeeeenes 93—111

Notes on Pustularia rosea, Gray, and Hyalonema, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.; Note on Ophiolepis gracilis (Allman), from the Brick-Clay of Seafield, by Robert Walker ......+-+...s+0 ccuncuee toma

NUMBER LXXIV.

XIJI. List of the British Pyenogonoidea, with Descriptions of several new Species. By Georce Hopes. (Plates XII. & XIII.) 113

XIV. On the Climbing Habits of Anabas scandens. By Capt. Jesse Mircne.t, of the Madras Government Central Museum...... ib)

XV. Observations on Raphides. By Grorce Gu.tuiver, F.R.S. 119

XVI. On the Menispermacee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. GEC. eviteak nese besa sise tiene tesaten cca eeaee sD Reeen mee Merah ees oe teed eae meee ee lee

XVII. Characters of Coilostele, an undescribed Genus of Auricu- lacea(?), and of Species of Helix, Pupa, and Ancylus, from India, West Africa, and Ceylon. By W.H. BENSON, Esq. .......ceseeseeeee 136

XVIIT. Notes on some Molluscous Animals from the Seas of China and Japan. By ARTHUR ADAMS, F.L.S. &. .c.ccesecseeseeesceenees -. 140

XIX. Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley. CoLropTerRA: Loneicornes. ° By H. W. Barss, Esq. ...........- 144

New Book:—A Manual Flora of Madeira, by R. T. Lowe, M.A. are.) 4. ee assis sle'vsladeiiuesuiisuds uatlet'e@saenewenscgeeleassssce et ean 164

Proceedings of the Zoological Society ..........++ Bes sma, ceveeceneae 165—182

On the Classification of the Gasteropodous Mollusca, by M. Gouriet ; Note on Fucus Anceps, Ward & Harvey .......+....0+0 iheaees 183, 184

NUMBER LXXV.

XX. On the Red Crag and its Relation to the Fluvio-marine Crag,

and on the Drift of the Eastern Counties. By S. V. Woop, Jun. (Plate XVII.)

‘XXI. On the Oceurrence of Ameebiform Protoplasm, and the Emission of Pseudopodia, among the Hydroida. By Professor ALLMAN, F.R.S. (Plate XIV) (4si:)....cdecs datvetic se 203

CONTENTS. W

XXII. On the Species of Neera found in the Seas of Japan. By NG PEWUTR AUNAINES Sy Be Die S nic Gun eesaccatsiccsc sans secreesoe secs sieaseceaawecrts 206

XXIII. Characters of new Land-Shells from the Mahabaleshwar Hills in Western India, and from Agra in the North-west Provinces. By W. H. BENSON, Esq. ......---..seesseceeeeees eva bilevel dalclecbnme'atlsllav 209

XXIV. Description of a Labyrinthibranchiate Fish from the Nile. By Dr As GUNTHER)... .i5cneccnevsesasaccvocsecnconsmsanssadeciuiinels aneves 21)

XXV. Observations on Raphides. By GEorGE GULLIVER, F.R.S. 212

XXVI. On the Extent, and some of the Principal Causes, of Structural Variation among the Difflugian Rhizopods. By G. C. WAT PCH. MLW. . Bu lis. 6c.) (blateseXiV in Gc UXOVAL Ih a ncrcenccrisareseres 215

New Books :—The Natural History of Tutbury, by Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., D.C.L., F.L.S. Together with the Fauna and Flora of the District surrounding Tutbury and Burton-on-Trent, by Edwin Brown.—Homes without Hands ; being an Account of the Habita- tions constructed by various Animals, classed according to their principles of Construction, by the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S.

245—248

Proceedings of the Zoological Society .........sesesssesseseseees eee 248—261

On a Function of Roots, by M. Henrici; On the Air of the Swimming- Bladder of Fishes, by A. Moreau; On the Intercellular Substance and the Milk-Vessels in the Root of the common Dandelion, by By RV OET § WacGrnt arnt <cueweee nocd ea teieceoeewes eeanaaeeeene 261—264

NUMBER LXXVI.

XXVII. Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. Karsten. REEES OV Das VEL.) actiensca aeeaaaebtide tans ceadeaviawonnitleconecdes us aedeuee 265

XXVIII. Notes on the Byblus-Rush and the Byblus-Bok. By LOEUNMELO GGal MiAeee BS dR Ma OCC dacieaccresteecaesae ci etcecekcnuarens 290

XXIX. Observations on Raphides and other Crystals. By GEorGE GuLutver, F.R.S.

XXX. A Description of, and Remarks upon, some Fossil Corals from Sinde. By P. Martin Duncan, M.B. Lond., F.G.S. &ce. epee ON UES Oo, MOEN) inc avoccsscspevidgsteneipartaae svsdedecedecsveccaneaseee 295

XXXI. On some new Genera and Species of Mollusca from the Seas of China and Japan. By ArrHur ApAms, F.L.S. &e. ......... 307

XXXII. Diagnoses of new Forms of Mollusks collected at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. J. Xantus. By Puitip P. CARPENTER, B.A., Ph.D. 311

vi CONTENTS. Page XXXIII. On the Menispermacee. By Jonn Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S. &e. c.0s000 ebvevdcuctiaacsds iogcadedccardauesaetes qed twaceah nee tmcene mentee 315

XXXIV. New Observations on the Existence of Man in Central France at a period when that Country was inhabited by the Reindeer and other Animals which are now extinct there. By MM. Larret MUG COURISTY 060 cc0s0.0s xeoeectatscanemeacoopet tap Uaneevemesrsrhuameaheeeme=aarae 323

New Book :—Flora Belfastiensis. The Plants round Belfast, with their Geographical and Geological Distribution, by Ralph Tate, BG Sis fockdabercs ce toaster swecasseeecaaat casio-aduidhus scanqschesmscpcen ane 330

Proceedings of the Zoological Society .......csssssssseceeecseeeeees 330—343

On Alternate Generation in the Annelida, and the Embryology of Autolytus cornutus, by A. Agassiz: Note on the Reproduction of the Larve of Insects, by Prof. Nicolas Wagner, of Kasan. 343, 344

NUMBER LXXVII.

XXXV. On the Construction and Limitation of Genera among the Hydroida; By Prot. AUUMAN, FORCS. | fecsscsessneaec<avn=scweces eer ataen 345

XXXVI. Descriptions of new Genera and Species of Eumolpide from the Collection of the Rev. Hamlet Clark. By the Rev. T. A. WUAGISTT ATE stern vcesecssideyesneh ns=cbacntecs ere Reese web adice Ucaeapancghecseseene 380

XXXVII. On the Moth of the Esere or Ordeal Bean of Old Calabar. By THomas R. Fraser, M.D. Edin., Assistant to the

Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Edinburgh ......... 389 XXXVIII. On the Belgian Equivalents of tie Upper and Lower Drift of the Eastern Counties.: By S. V. Woop, Jum. ............000002 393

XXXIX. Observations on Raphides and other Crystals. By GEORGE GULLIVER) FUR.S)) (isccccccoeseccenenseeseeeeecseeee ee eee 406

XL. Histological Researches on the Formation, Development, and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof.H. Karsten ...... oveee. 409

XLI. Notice of the Capture of Mithras paradoxus in England. By JOHN BLACK WALL, F.LIS., ccctesicc.s scecensdvseseenencns say ceweuneears 435

New Book :—An Elementary Text-book of the Microscope, including a Description of the Methods of preparing and ieee Objects, &ec., by J. W. Griffith, M.D. 3 U'S. 4 ee 436

Dredgings in the Freshwater Lakes of Norway, by G. O. Sars; On

CONTENTS. Vil

Page the Expulsion of the Carbonic Acid from the Blood during Respiration, by Dr. Ludwig; ‘“‘ New Forms of Mollusks”? by Bovell: Reeve, Msg: Bobi Se Pie cesenrececdsascansacesclusddecses 437—440

NUMBER LXXVIII.

XLII. On the Classification of the Cyclostomacea of Eastern Asia.

By WiiwiAm T. BLANFORD, A.R.S.M., F.G.S. ......cscsssenscncesones 441 XLII. Notes on Irish Vespide. By RicHarp Lestrock EpGE- mong, of Erinity Collece: Diol ..i3.: iseisalcvakatasnisecccseasusecvave adda 466

XLIV. Diagnoses of new Forms of Mollusks collected at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. J. Xantus. By Puiuip P. CARPENTER, B.A., Ph.D. 474

XLV. Histological Researches on the Formation, Development,

and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. By Prof. H. Karsten ...... 479 XLVI. On the Menispermacee. By Joun Miers, F.R.S.,F.L.S.

Re ireretisan saeteaes cc ickfuss eaeasndeceuenesacscaxeceancsuc cease Vcanere teen eee 486 XLVII. Descriptions of new Species of Helix and Pupa from the

Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. By W.H. Benson, Esq. ...... 491 XLVIII. Note on the Habits of some Mexican Reptiles. By F.

NOG MITC HUIVA'S Daas cies ninssiciies ccc sasnauaecweseisoe con aderedceaisamaciecuetostesctesete 497

XLIX. Observations on Raphides. By Grorce GULLIVER, Be Sap cnwncsvank i Staqslstigse Ssieetmeakivowessa\aaisuvasmemesanebcecaasdcwvarcas codes 508

New Books :—The Birds of India, &c., by T. C. Jerdon, Surgeon- Major, Madras Army, Author of ‘ Illustrations of Indian Ornitho- logy.’—A Flora of Ulster, and Botanist’s Guide to the North of Ireland, by G. Dickie, M.D., Prof. of Botany, Aberdeen... 511—516

On Scientific Nomenclature, by Professor Asa Gray ; On the Roman Imperial and Crested Eagles, by John Hogg, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. ; Note on the Climbing Habits of the Anabas scandens,

By Capt Jeuse Mitchells. sccssnoscsiansanecssensseaacseoqssass 517—523

vill CONTENTS.

PLATES IN VOL. XIII.

ea | reshwater Rhizopoda of England and India. 4 New British Ostracoda. V. VI. }evstopment and Structure of the Vegetable Cell. VII.

VIII. New Species of Hyzena from the Red Crag of Suffolk. IX ah British Hydrozoa, Actinozoa, and Polyzoa.

a New British Pyenogonoidea.

XIV. Structure of Aglaophznia pluma and Antennularia antennina. eae | Structure of the Difflugian Rhizopods.

XVII. Red Crag, Fluvio-marine Crag, and Drift of the Eastern Coun-

ties. XV: bFossi Corals from Sinde.

THE ANNALS

AND

MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

[THIRD SERIES. ]

S€ , esosserseseeeeee PEF litOra spargite muscum, Naiades, et circdm vitreos considite fontes : Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores : Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum, At vos, o Nymphe Craterides, ite sub undas ; Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas Ferte, Dez pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”

N, Parthenii Giannettasii Ec). 1.

No. 73. JANUARY 1864.

I.—On the Menispermacee. By Joun Mirrs, F.R.S., F.L.S. &c.

IN 1851 (Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 2. vii. 83) an outline was given of the results of a careful examination of the Menispermacee, which I had completed three years previously: the object of that sketch was to call the attention of botanists to the subject, and to solicit the aid of better materials for the elucidation of some of the genera, which I had not been able to examine. During the long interval since elapsed, the addition to our knowledge on this subject has been small; and this is one reason why the idea of making a complete monograph of this little-known extensive family, as at first contemplated, has been renounced. But as the principal facts relating to this mquiry remain yet unpublished, it may be useful to give in succession some further details of my previous investigations; and with this view I now proceed to offer some prefatory remarks on the general structure of the order.

The Menispermacee are generally marked by an external aspect by which, even in herbaria, they are instantly recognized. With rare exceptions, they are all scandent plants, with twining stems, which are often of immense length, presenting a wood of considerable toughness : this has a coarse porous structure formed of radiating segments connected together by walls of dense ligneous tissue, thus bearing some analogy to the Lardizabalacee,

Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xu,

2 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez.

Nepenthacea, Aristolochiacee, Piperacee. &e. On this account, many years ago, Professor Lindley separated these families from Exogens, under the name of Homogens, the leading feature of which was then believed to be, that, “instead of their wood being formed by zone after zone, season after season, as is the case in the great mass of Exogens, they never have more than one zone of woody matter, to whatever age they may have arrived.” This conclusion was, however, soon abandoned, as the existence of more zones than one was fully proved. I have frequently seen several annular rings in the stems of Menisper- macee ; and Gardner found one, in Ceylon, in which he counted more than forty distinct concentric zones; but such instances are comparatively rare. It would be needless to detail the structure of the wood in this family, as the subject has been ably demonstrated by Decaisne and others, and as there is little novel information to offer respecting it.

The leaves in the plants of this order are constantly alternate, petioled, and always without stipules; but in many cases the petiole, finally deciduous, is articulated upon a prominent pulvi- nate cup, on the upper margin of which, adjoining the stem, is seen a budlike process, appearing as if a pair of stipules had embraced the cup, and had become agglutinated to it and the stem : this must not be confounded with the gemma of a nascent branch or flower-stem, which in most instances is supra-axillary. In the genus Antizoma, the pulvinate process just mentioned, at its articulation with the petiole, is elongated in the form of a spur, so that it bears the appearance of a short spine. The petiole is often much swollen and tortuous at its base, and, being suddenly bent back, it performs the office of a tendril in sup- porting the young climbing branches. Its insertion into the blade of the leaf is either peltate or palate. In the former case the point of union is never quite central, but always more or less excentric, Sometimes approaching the margin, where the leaf is more or less truncated or cordate. The palate insertion, how- ever, is more frequent, when the petiole, at its junction with the midrib, often subtends a considerable angle with the plane of the leaf, and is commonly much swollen at that extremity by an enlargement which the French botanists call a bourrelet. The leaves vary greatly in form, substance, and texture, and have generally, but not always, three, five, or more nerves springing from the point of insertion of the petiole : they are generally entire on the margin, but sometimes are sinuous or distinctly lobed, more rarely sinuately dentate, or cleft into palmate seg- ments, or (in Burasaia) divided into three sessile leaflets on the summit of a long petiole.

The inflorescence varies in different genera, being chiefly

Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceze. 3

axillary, with one or several racemes, more or less simple, grow- ing from a point a little above the origin of the petiole: the pedicels are sometimes branched, when the inflorescence becomes somewhat paniculate ; at other times the flowers are condensed into globular heads upon the peduncle; sometimes the axillary flowers appear in fascicles of pedicillated single flowers, or are simply umbellate, or in umbels compounded to the second or third degree. I have frequently observed the racemes growing abundantly on the stems devoid of leaves. The flowers are ge- nerally furnished with bracts; they are extremely minute, and, though often hairy, are sometimes destitute of pubescence : they are, with very rare exceptions, universally unisexual and dice- cious. They are said to be sometimes moncecious ; but this ap- pears doubtful. In the two instances recorded by DeCandolle, I found, by an examination of the original specimens, that they were decidedly dicecious. St. Hilaire records the existence of a moneecious species of Cissampelos (C. monoica): this has not been confirmed by any other observer, and is the only instance on record. I have, however, seen two cases where the flowers are distinctly hermaphrodite, or, rather, polygamous. I have ob- served, in Anomospermum, a solitary ovary in the male flowers in a few instances; and I found it a universal feature in a spe- cimen of Tiliacora from the island of Ceylon.

The arrangement of the floral envelopes (sepals) is usually in several ternary imbricated series, gradually decreasing outwards, the two internal whorls being in most instances considerably _ larger than the others; and they probably constitute the true normal number of six sepals; and all the outer ones, frequently very minute in size, may be considered as bracts. These six sepals, though in estivation generally in two imbricate series, are fixed in a nearly circular whorl around a small central torus; but sometimes as many as five ternary whorls are seen arranged, one above another, upon a cylindrical gynecium, as in the Mag- noliacee. The number in each series is generally three, though sometimes four, five, or six occur: in Anamirta and Quiniuwm we have a pentamerous arrangement; in Antitaxis the floral parts are disposed in opposite pairs, while in Antizoma we have the remarkable instance of two opposite sepals hooding two petals placed before them: rarely, as in Rhaptomeris, owing to the confluence of the margins of its six sepals, the calyx is gamo- phyllous, being quite tubular 4nd campanulate. In Synelisia, according to Mr. Bentham, the sepals are somewhat united at base into a very short tube; while in Stephania and Cyclea, although the sepals remain distinct, they assume, by their erect position and approximated margins, the semblance of a tube. The estivation of the sepals, although in most cases imbricate,

1*

4 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermaceze.

is sometimes valvate, as in the cases last mentioned: this occurs in Tiliacora, Abuta, and Limacia. The symmetry in the arrange- ment of the floral envelopes, though generally similar in both sexes, does not exist in Cissampelos, Cyclea, Clypea, Antizoma, and Stephania, where, in the female flowers, many of the parts are wanting, being sometimes reduced to a single sepal and only one minute petal, while the male flowers exhibit the usual num- ber of sepals.

The petals, usually six in number, are in the form of small scales or fleshy leaflets originating from the torus. Little notice was taken of them formerly, as they were looked upon as a mere nectary; but they are now universally regarded as real petals,: though of minute size; im some few instances they are en- tirely wanting, as in Abuta, Anelasma, and Batschia: in Fi- braurea they are apparently deficient, but they are probably con- fluent with the filaments, seemingly as if wrapped round them: in many of the genera the petals, though quite free, are found, in a similar manner, with their margins involute and embracing the filaments.

The stamens, especially in the male flowers, by their form and position, afford constant and valid characters; they are usually equal in number to the petals, opposite to them, and generally in two distinct approximated whorls. In most instances they are all quite free; but sometimes the three outer stamens are free, while the others are partially monadelphous in the centre ; at other times they are all more or less compactly united into a simple central column. They are usually as long as the petals, frequently double their length. The anthers are generally two- lobed, the lobes being often separated by a connective, which is continuous with the filament; sometimes they are combined to- gether without the intervention of any connective, and partially sunk in the apex of the filament, or often approximated and dorsally affixed upon it; generally these lobes open by a longi- tudinal suture, but they sometimes burst by a transverse, verti- cal, or oblique fissure. In the Cissampelos group, the stamen consists of a single filamentous column supporting a horizontal peltate disk bearing on its margin four, six, eight, or more anther-cells, combined in an annular form, which burst on their outer edge, like the indusium of some ferns. In other cases several anther-cells are combined into a globular mass, and are either sessile on the torus or supported on a central column. In many cases each anther-cell appears bilocellate, owing to a prominent septum that almost or completely divides it. These great varieties in the disposition and structure of the stamens

are constant in each genus, and may be trusted as good diseri- minating characters.

Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacec. 5

In the female flowers we generally find the same number and disposition of floral envelopes as in the male; and there is some- times a similar number of sterile stamens around the ovaria, but in most instances they are altogether wanting. In the centre of the flower the torus rises more or less in a cylindrical form, to the sides of which the sterile stamens, when present, are attached; they are generally free from one another, but are more rarely attached at their base by a short ring that surrounds the more elevated gynecium. This latter, in some few cases, bears on its summit only a single ovary; but most generally it carries three distinct ovaries, occasionally four, five, or six, or rarely as many as twelve, arranged in a single whorl. These ovaries are generally sessile, but are sometimes borne each upon a stipitate support, that lengthens considerably with the growth of the fruit. The ovary is unilocular in every instance that has fallen under my observation, and never contains more than a single ovule—a character which forms a valid line of distinction between this order and the Lardizabalacee, Schizan- dracee, and Winteracee.

The growth of the ovary and the development of the ovule, together with the changes produced in the structure and form of the fruit, present excellent and constant characters, that have not been sufficiently attended to. St. Hilaire was the first botanist who devoted any consideration to the subject, when, in describing a species of Cissampelos (Pl. Us. tab. 35), he gave a detailed account of this growth, from the period of the impreg- nation of the ovule to the final perfection of the fruit. Accord- ing to his view, the ovary, by its excentric growth, gradually curves itself round in the form of a horseshoe, until the two sides thus bent round touch one another, when they become agglutinated together (se soudent): it thus assumes an ovoid or subglobular form, and the original apex, indicated by the style, is thus approximated to the base, the two being separated by the septum thus formed, which extends far into the cell, and which is generated by the “ deux portions rapprochées et soudées du péricarpe.” The cell, and consequently the seed, thus assume a corresponding hippocrepical shape.

This view, not altogether correct as far as regards Cissampelos, wholly fails to explain the changes attendant on the development of the fruit in other cases. Although the ovule, in an early stage, is simply anatropal and attached to the ventral face, at a point somewhat above its middle from the summit, of a linear placenta on the inner angle of the cell, there is always seen upon the corresponding concave margin of the ovule, below the point of its suspension, a thickened and somewhat curved rib, which is probably the indication of the raphe and chalaza: the

6 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee.

ovule is now partly free from the placentiferous angle of the cell, but most generally it becomes at length adherent to it after the excentric growth and apparent duplicature of the ovary. It is incorrect to say, regarding this development, that the two halves of this curvature are brought together till they unite in order to form the incomplete dissepiment in the manner above described. The circumstance which St. Hilaire mentions as the cause of the metamorphosis appears to me, on the contrary, the result of an agency which he has entirely overlooked, and to this source only the apparent duplicature can be referred. My ob- servations tend to the conclusion that it originates im a peculiar expansion and induration of the placenta within the cavity of the cell, to which cause alone is to be attributed this excentric growth of the ovary ; for, in those cases where the placenta does not become expanded, no such duplicature occurs. In the in- stance of Cissampelos, cited by St. Hilaire, it may be seen that the linear placenta first protrudes and extends itself at right angles with the side of the ovary, in the direction of the centre of the cell, and that the growth of the pistil on that side is at the same time arrested, in consequence of which the style and the base of the ovary preserve nearly their original distance, while the growing force is all expended on the opposite or dorsal side, thus producing the hippocrepical appearance described. By observing a section of a half-matured seed of Cissampelos, the development of the pseudo-dissepiment may be seen distinctly, when the nourishing vessels belonging to the placenta can be traced in the centre of this line of extension, reaching to its ex- tremity, like an imbedded umbilical cord, which is found in the same position after the whole has become ossified. There is no appearance of any duplicature of the pericarpial covering of the ovary, and its subsequent agglutination, as described by the eminent botanist referred to: it will be found to exist only in the endocarpial portion. The development, as I have explained it, is even more evidently demonstrated in the seed-vessels of Lleocarpus and Stephania, where the hippocrepical cell is formed round a flat, solid, orbicular disk, in the substance of which the nourishing vessels can be traced, as in the pseudo-dissepiment of Cissampelos.

In a group which I have called Heterocliniee, the growth is somewhat varied: there, in the early stage, the ovule is attached as described in Cissampelos; but the placenta, from which it is suspended, is like a broad oval disk upon the inner face of the cell; and while the ovary continues to increase equally in all directions, the increment about the placentary space is somewhat less: this face of the cell thus gradually assumes a convex shape inside, and the placenta swells into a globular figure, forming

Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 7

sometimes a hollow prominent chamber within the cavity of the cell, round which the seed is moulded and becomes fungilliform and attached to it by its short line of raphe and chalaza. In Odontocarya, Jateorhiza, Calycocarpum, and Aspidocarya, the inner face of the putamen is nearly flat, or only slightly convex within, the placenta does not swell and form a vacant chamber, and the seed remains suspended from its normal point of attach- ment, the raphe and chalaza, more or less free from the epicarp, being clearly manifest along the middle face of the seminal in- tegument. Thus it will be found that the fruit and seed, in the several genera, assume different shapes and degrees of develop- ment, to be hereafter detailed, furnishing constant and valuable distinguishing characters.

For the facility of concisely describing the peculiar enlarge- ment of the placenta, which acts so important a part in the de- velopment of the putamen and seed, | proposed many years ago to call it a condylus, because the seed is articulated upon it as a socket. The use of this term has been objected to (as I think, somewhat hypercritically) by the learned authors of the ‘ Flora Indica’ (p. 169), because they consider it improper to apply specific terms to modifications of structure peculiar to single orders ; and they prefer to designate the same as a “ processus internus condyliformis putaminis ”—a term more objectionable, because more circumlocutory. If the term “condylus” is to be rejected on account of its use in zoological science, then we ought to discard the words “ umbilicus, placenta, vagina, vitel- lus,” &c., as well as other designations commonly used by botanists with much advantage, such as “retinaculum, hypan- thium, gynophorus, ochrea, rostellum, corona, labellum,” and a number of others peculiar to certain orders. I therefore still think itadvisable to give a comprehensible designation to that important development which, in the Menispermacea, offers a good and constant character for generic purposes.

The fruit in the Menispermacee is drupaceous, of an oval, gibbous, or pyriform shape, consisting of a membranaceous coloured pericarp, sometimes hairy, covering a more or less fleshy mesocarp, and enclosing a solid putamen. When the number of ovaries is three or more, some of them prove abortive and fall off, leaving distinct scars upon the gynecium to which they were attached. These drupes are sometimes sessile upon the gynecium; but in other cases the base of each drupe is nar- rowed and prolonged into a stipitate support, so that there is no immediate contact of the putamen with the gynecium; in other cases, besides this stipitated support, each drupe is articulated upon a distinct emanation of the gynexcium, which is pedicelli- form, as in Tiliacora, where it is comparatively short; but in

8 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez.

Sciadotenia this emanation becomes elongated in an extraor- dinary manner: in this case the number of ovaries is constantly . nine, uniserially sessile upon the summit of a columnar gyne- cium ; in the course of its growth a process is generated be- neath each ovary, which becomes elongated in the form of along pedicel on which the fruit is articulated; so that they bear the appearance of an umbel of nine distinct flowers, each bearing a single seed. This was the inference I drew when I first saw the plant *; but I was soon afterwards convinced of the true nature of this development, on obtaining a specimen where in some of the flowers eight of the ovaries remained sessile and abortive upon the gynecium, while only a single fruit was car- ried up by the pedicel-like expansion of nearly three times the length of the seed. This curious development, which some years afterwards was noticed by Mr. Bentham, is evidently the growth of the gynecium, not of the ovary, which is articulated on its summit, and leaves a scar when it falls off, while the pedunculiform expansion remains solidly attached to the gy- neecium.

The structure of the endocarp is deserving of some considera- tion. With few exceptions, it becomes hardened into a firm and often osseous nut, more seldom into a chartaceous putamen, which is sometimes thin and horny. In all the Leptogonee and Platygonee, where the cell is curved round a central condylus, the outer rim of the putamen is transversely marked with several broad and deep crenelures ; and as the shell is of uniform thick- ness, the seed becomes indented with corresponding impressions. In the Heterocliniee, where the form of the nut is usually oval or orbicular, the external surface, though sometimes smooth, is frequently covered with tubercular or irregular cristate projec- tions ; and sometimes, upon the internal and ventral surface of the cell, across each side, numerous more or less elevated cris- tate plates project, which enter into corresponding fissures of the albumen, much after the manner seen in the seeds of many of the Anonacee. In Odontocarya and Jateorhiza, genera of the Heterocliniea, and in Hematocarpus among the Pachygonee, the putamen is covered with an extremely dense tomentum, formed of innumerable fine simple hairs or fibres which are imbedded in the pulpy mesocarp. In Anomospermum, the drupes of which I examined in the living state, the mesocarp consists of a number of fleshy masses, each about a line in diameter, which, by mu- tual pressure, are somewhat angular; they adhere together with some tenacity, and can only be removed from the putamen by force. A number of cancellated furrows, filled with ligneous

* Ann, Nat. Hist. ser. 2, vii. 43. + Journ. Linn. Soe. y. Suppl. p. 51.

Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez. 9

fibres, are seen on the surface of the putamen, corresponding with the lines of junction of these gland-shaped masses. After the fruit has become dried, these glands cannot be detected, though the cancellated furrows always remain. Similar cancel- lated furrows, filled with fibres, are seen on the putamen in Coscinium and Anelasma, whence it may be inferred that, in the ripe state, their mesocarp is constituted as in Anomospermum.

The seed, in all the Menispermaceous plants that have fallen under my observation, is covered by two thin membranaceous integuments, the inner one being of delicate texture ; the raphe is always found on the ventral face of the outer one, in the form of a thickened line of a darker colour; and here generally is seen a thin carinated duplicature of this integument, extending along the whole length of the placenta, and this duplicature enters into a corresponding furrow on the condyle, by which, at the period of maturity, the seed is found attached.

Albumen is present in the genera of all the tribes, except in those of one, where it is altogether wanting. In the tribes Leptogonee and Platygonee it is simple and homogeneous ; in Anamirta, among Heteroclinee, it is nearly so. In Anomosper- mum and in most of the Tiliacoree, where the embryo is terete, the thick circumambient albumen is cleft transversely, almost to the centre, by numerous fissures, into which the integument enters, thus producing a ruminated structure similar to that seen in the Anonacee. In the Heterocliniee the albumen con- sists of two nearly distinct plates, that on the dorsal face being like a thin simple lamina, while that on the ventral side is much thicker and deeply cleft, as before mentioned, by a number of irregular fissures penetrating nearly its whole depth. In the Pachygonee, where the albumen is wanting, the embryo occu- pies the entire space of the cell.

The form of the embryo is various. In all the genera of the Leptogonee it is slender and terete, with the radicle equal in diameter to the cotyledons, and nearly of equal length, some- times a very little longer or a little shorter. In Anomospermum the embryo is also slender and terete ; but the cotyledons, which are coequal in diameter with the radicle, are ten times its length. In Tiliacora, where the embryo is of similar form, the cotyledons are only twice the length of the radicle. In all the Platygonee the radicle is always terete ; but the cotyledons are flattened, subfoliaceous, and at least double its breadth, often much broader. Throughout the preceding instances, the coty- ledons are adpressed and contiguous, as in ordinary cases, being accumbent in the Pachygonee, Anomospermee, and Hypserpee, but incumbent in the Tiliacoree, Leptogonee, and Platygonee : these are important distinctions, that merit more attention than they have

10 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacee.

obtained. The embryo is of a very different and very peculiar form in all the Heterocliniee, where the cotyledons are extremely thin, foliaceous, and present the singular anomaly of bemg widely and divaricately spread on a plane parallel with the ex- ternal face.

When, after careful study, I first attempted to classify the Menispermacee, it became manifest, from the foregoing evidence, that the floral parts, always of diminutive size, were little adapted for this purpose ; but by adopting as a basis the development of the fruit, it was easy to establish several valid and well-defined groups. An interval of nearly sixteen years has tended to con- firm this conviction; and accordingly the same arrangement which I formerly adopted is here repeated, with some modifica- tions, by dividing the family into seven well-marked tribes, in the following manner :—

Tribe 1. Hererociintiem. The putamen here is generally osseous, rarely chartaceous, somewhat compressed antically and postically, 1-locular, with an internal umboniform or globular condylus in the middle of its ventral face, which is often divided into two chambers by a partition, to which the more or less meniscus-shaped seed is attached in the manner before men- tioned, the line of the raphe with a portion of the integuments being drawn into this partition, from which it is difficult to detach it. But sometimes the condyle entirely vanishes in a mere umboniform depression of the ventral face of the nut, cor- respondingly convex within the cell, the seed being suspended from near its summit by a mere point or extremity of the raphe which is seen continuous upon the free integument, running down its ventral face: this modification occurs in Calycocarpum, Jateorhiza, Fibraurea, Parabena, Aspidocarya, and Odontocarya. It should be mentioned, as a general character of the tribe, that the remnant of the style is always seen near the summit of the drupe, or comparatively little removed from it. The embryo is consequently nearly orthotropous, with large foliaceous coty- ledons placed laterally and divaricately on the same plane, and imbedded in distinct cells of the albumen, which is thin and homogeneous on the dorsal side, always thicker on the ventral portion, which latter is most frequently deeply cleft or ramimated by numerous fissures, as in Anona, the radicle being short, terete, and superior.

Tribe 2. ANoMosPERMEH. Here the style is on the apparent summit of the drupe, whose stipitate support is on one side of the longer diameter of the fruit, so that the style is more or less excentric to the real base of the drupe, which, properly speak- ing, is transversely or obliquely oval and gibbous. The putamen is coriaceous, and the seed is quite cylindrical and straight for

Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez, 11

two-thirds of its length, and more or less uncinately curved at its base. In both cases the seed is folded upon a perpendicular internal laminiform condyle, which protrudes from the ventral face of the putamen nearly to the centre of the cell, where it terminates in a longitudinal placentiferous margin ; the copious albumen which fills the cell is deeply ruminated in all directions by numerous clefts; the integuments penetrate these clefts, and also cover the deep longitudinal groove formed by the projecting condyle, to the placentiferous margin of which they adhere along the line of the raphe. The embryo is nearly anatropous, a little bent or partially heterotropous, very slender, terete, and elongated, with cotyledons of the same diameter as the very short terete radicle, which is quite superior and only one-tenth of their length: these are accumbent, and placed on the axis of the al- bumen. The sepals are imbricated in estivation, and the free fleshy petals separately embrace and almost conceal the stamens.

Tribe 3. Trr1acorE&. The drupe is so extremely gibbous that the style is seen near the base of the fruit. The putamen is transversely oblong, laterally compressed, sulcated by a central line along the middle of each face, and rendered bimarsupiate by a long, horizontal, septiform, internal condyle; the cell (and therefore the seed) is hippocrepiform ; the albumen is deeply cleft or ruminated, as in the last tribe, the integuments pene- trate its sinuosities, and they adhere to the condyle along the line of the raphe. The embryo, which lies in the centre of the albumen, is elongated, hippocrepiform, and nearly terete; the radicle, pointing to the style, is of the diameter of the coty- ledons, and about equal to them in length; they are always in- cumbent (not accumbent, as in the former tribe). The sepals of the inner row are slightly imbricated in estivation in some genera, and valvate in others.

Tribe 4. Lerroconem. The growth of the fruit is equally excentric as in the last tribe, so that the style is always seen near the base. The putamen is generally osseous, nearly orbi-: cular, laterally very compressed, forming a crescent-shaped or nearly annular cell circumscribed round the edge of an external peltiform condyle, a portion of the integuments along the line of the raphe being drawn into a fissure of the condyle, The embryo partakes of the cyclical form of the cell, is slender, elongated, and terete, with incumbent cotyledons (not accum- bent as in Tribe 2), equal in thickness and length to the terete radicle, the whole being imbedded in the middle of simple albumen ; the radicle at the extremity of the upper horn points to the style. The sepals are imbricated in estivation. In one section of the tribe (Cissampelide) the number of floral parts is greatly reduced in the female flowers.

12 Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacez.

Tribe 5. Hypserpex. The style here also is seen near the base of the fruit, in consequence of its excentric growth. The putamen is formed as in the preceding tribe, and the embryo, imbedded in simple albumen, is of the same slender proportions; but the cotyledons are accumbent (not incumbent). The sepals in estivation are either imbricated or valvate, and the flowers are sometimes remarkable for bemg very unsymmetrical im the relative number of their parts.

Tribe 6. PLaryconeax. The style here also is near the base of the iruit. The putamen either resembles that of the Tilacoree in shape, divided by