Mr. J. Scott has given me the results of a series of experiments on Verbascum, made by him in the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh. (16/17. The results have since been published in 'Journ. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal' 1867 page 145.) He repeated some of Gartner's experiments on distinct species, but obtained only fluctuating results, some confirmatory, the greater number contradictory; nevertheless these seem hardly sufficient to overthrow the conclusion arrived at by Gartner from experiments tried on a larger scale. Mr. Scott also experimented on the relative fertility of unions between similarly and dissimilarly-coloured varieties of the same species. Thus he fertilised six flowers of the yellow variety of V. lychnitis by its own pollen, and obtained six capsules; and calling, for the sake of comparison, the average number of good seed in each of their capsules one hundred, he found that this same yellow variety, when fertilised by the white variety, yielded from seven capsules an average of ninety-four seed. On the same principle, the white variety of V. lychnitis by its own pollen (from six capsules), and by the pollen of the yellow variety (eight capsules), yielded seed in the proportion of 100 to 82. The yellow variety of V. thapsus by its own pollen (eight capsules), and by that of the white variety (only two capsules), yielded seed in the proportion of 100 to 94. Lastly, the white variety of V. blattaria by its own pollen (eight capsules), and by that of the yellow variety (five capsules), yielded seed in the proportion of 100 to 79. So that in every case the unions of similarly-coloured varieties of the same species were more fertile than the unions of dissimilarly-coloured varieties; when all the cases are grouped together, the difference of fertility is as 100 to 86. Some additional trials were made, and altogether thirty-six similarly-coloured unions yielded thirty-five good capsules; whilst thirty-five dissimilarly- coloured unions yielded only twenty-six good capsules. Besides the foregoing experiments, the purple V. phoeniceum was crossed by a rose-coloured and a white variety of the same species; these two varieties were also crossed together, and these several unions yielded less seed than V. phoeniceum by its own pollen. Hence it follows from Mr. Scott's experiments, that in the genus Verbascum the similarly and dissimilarly-coloured varieties of the same species behave, when crossed, like closely allied but distinct species. (16/18. The following facts, given by Kolreuter in his 'Dritte Fortsetzung' ss. 34, 39, appear at first sight strongly to confirm Mr. Scott's and Gartner's statements; and to a certain limited extent they do so. Kolreuter asserts, from innumerable observations, that insects incessantly carry pollen from one species and variety of Verbascum to another; and I can confirm this assertion; yet he found that the white and yellow varieties of Verbascum