H \rnj:siA ak'noldf. 10.",
but excited nnd detenniiKMl in its form Miid nature hv the specitie stimulus of tlu^ parasite. I e\])e('te(l, tlierefoi'e, to find it existing in ihc. foiMu of a eoveriiii^^ to the ])racteae in the early state, as in Cijl'mus. This point lias been fullv confii'med, and is well shown in Mr. Bauer's drawings of the very young buds.^ From the same figures it appears that the parasite is occasionally found on the stems of the Vine, as Dr. Jack had stated, but which seemed to ine to require confirmation.
Of the structure of the female flower of J^aJJIe^ia I::3-^3 judged entirely from Dr. Jack's account in his letter pub- lislied in my former essay; and respecting this structure several ini{)ortant points, which even his subserpient descrip- tion in the 'Malayan Miscellany' did not suj)[)ly, were regarded as undetermined.
Whether the ovarium is wholly distinct from the calyx or cohering Avith it at the base, was the first of these points \vhich required further examination. The specimens now prove it to be chiefly superior or free in the flowering state, and wholly so in the rij)e fruit.
The internal structure of the ovarium, especially the origin and arrangement of the numerous ovuliferous surfaces or placentae, I considered one of the principal desiderata. Dr. Jack's account of these placentae, which, as ftir as it extends, is essentially correct, is confirmed by Dr. Elume's description and figures of llajlJe^ia Patnia, as well as by the more complete draw'ings which accompanv the ])resent j)aper. The important question, howevei-, namely the analogy of this apparently singular ai-rangemenr, with ordinary structiUT, may be regarded as still in some degree obscure.
The transverse section of the ovarium ])resenting an indefinite number of cavities irregular in form, having no apparent order, and over the whole of whose surfac(^s the ovula are insei'ted, is hardly reconcileable to the generally received notions of the type of the female organ; and as
' Th.'it the whole of this covering: beloiiL's to the slock, is proved by its con- taining those ra|)hides or acicuhir crystals whicii are so abundant in the root of the VU'n or Cissnx, and \viiich are altoc^ptlior wantinc: in the parasite.
�� �
