in spirits, and resemble those of the female in all respects, but are not so numerous. I believe that I saw the nucleus projecting from the testa, but dare not, as in the case of the Monachanthus, speak positively. The pollinia are about a quarter of the size of those of the male Catasetum, but have a perfectly well developed disc and pedicel. The pollen-masses were lost in the specimens examined by me; but Mr. Reiss has given, in the Linnean Transactions, a drawing of them, showing that they are of due proportional size and have the proper folded or cleft structure, within which the caudicles are attached. Thus as both the male and female organs are in appearance perfect, Myanthus barbatus may be considered as an hermaphrodite form of the same species, of which the Catasetum is the male and Monachanthus the female. Nevertheless, the intermediate forms, which are common in Trinidad, and which resemble more or less closely the above described Myanthus, have never been seen by Dr. Crüger to produce seed-capsules.
It is a highly remarkable fact, that this sterile hermaphrodite form resembles in its whole appearance and structure the males of two other species, namely, C. saccatum and more especially C. callosum, much more closely than it does either the male or female form of the same species. As all orchids, with the exception of a few in the present small sub-family, as well as all the members of several allied groups of plants, are hermaphrodites, there can be no doubt that the common progenitor of the Orchideæ was an hermaphrodite. We may therefore attribute the hermaphrodite condition and the general appearance of Myanthus to reversion to a former state; and if so, the ancestors of all the species of Catasetum must
