One other point is worth notice. In botanical works many flowers are said to be fertilised in the bud. This statement generally rests, as far as I can discover, on the anthers opening in the bud; no evidence being adduced that the stigma is at this period mature, or that it is not subsequently acted on by pollen brought from other flowers. In the case of Cephalanthera grandiflora I have shown that precocious and partial self-fertilisation, with subsequent full fertilisation, is the regular course of events. (3/4. ‘Fertilisation of Orchids’ page 108; 2nd edition 1877 page 84.) The belief that the flowers of many plants are fertilised in the bud, that is, are perpetually self-fertilised, is a most effectual bar to understanding their real structure. I am, however, far from wishing to assert that some flowers, during certain seasons, are not fertilised in the bud; for I have reason to believe that this is the case. A good observer, resting his belief on the usual kind of evidence, states that in Linum Austriacum (which is heterostyled, and is considered by Planchon as a variety of L. perenne) the anthers open the evening before the expansion of the flowers, and that the stigmas are then almost always fertilised. (3/5. H. Lecoq ‘Etudes sur la Geogr. Bot.’ 1856 tome 5 page 325.) Now we know positively that, so far from Linum perenne being fertilised by its own pollen in the bud, its own pollen is as powerless on the stigma as so much inorganic dust. Linum flavum. The pistil of the long-styled form of this species is nearly twice as long as that of the short-styled; the stigmas are longer and the papillae coarser. In the short-styled form the stigmas diverge and pass out between the filaments, as in the previous species. The stamens in the two forms differ in length; and, what is singular, the anthers of the longer stamens are not so long as those of the other form; so that in the short-styled form both the stigmas and the anthers are shorter than in the long-styled form. The pollen-grains of the two forms do not differ in size. As this species is propagated by cuttings, generally all the plants in the same garden belong to the same form. I have inquired, but have never heard of its seeding in this country. Certainly my own plants never produced a single seed as long as I possessed only one of the two forms. After considerable search I procured both forms, but from want of time only a few experiments were made. Two plants of the two forms were planted some way apart in my garden, and were not covered by nets. Three flowers on the long- styled plant were legitimately fertilised with pollen from the short-styled plant, and one of them set a fine capsule. No other capsules were produced by this plant. Three flowers on the short-styled plant were legitimately fertilised with pollen from the long-styled, and all three produced capsules, containing respectively no less than 8, 9, and 10 seeds. Three other flowers on this plant,