. 114 
neighborhood to Kalmia, Azalea, Epigzea, Chimaphila, Gaultheria, 
Pyrola and the Vacciniee without discovering a seedling plant. 
Is this fine old family decadent ? One does not like to think so; 
it is so cleanly, fastidious, retiring and unweedy in character, and 
no changling, but adhering with precision to its lovely forms of 
flower, and its sculpturesque fruit. 
Circa Lutetiana with red sepals was found by Mrs. M. H. 
Dunton, in Westminister, Vt., on September 30th. The locality 
was a clearing in the woods where the leafage was extremely bright, 
and all the vegetation seemed charged with color. Even the in- 
volucral scales of the Asters were bordered and tipped with purple. 
In the same locality, and at the same time, Gaultheria procumbens 
was found in flower, and in one case the little white bells were 
clustered above the bright berries on the same stem. 
Ann E. Brown. O 
Bellows Falls, Vt. 
§ 119. Spurious Fungi.—A suspicion, which we have long enter- 
tained, that the objects on leaves of Solidago and Aster, described 
as fungi by Schweinitz under the names of Rhytisma Solidaginis 
and Kt. Asteris, were of insect origin has recently been confirmed 
by Prof. Riley, to whom we sent specimens. He writes us that they 
(at least the ones on Solidago) are galls made by Cecidomyia car- 
bonifera, O. 8. © It is a very common gall and white Avhen fresh. 
The Cecidomyia larva is much infested with parasites which are 
more often bred from the gall than the true maker.” 
_ W. R. Gerarp.p 
§ 120. Publications.—1. L’age dun arbre a-t-il une influence 
sur Pepoque moyenne de sa feuillaison?, by A. De Candolle. In 
studying this problem M. De Candolle availed himself of two 
methods : The first was the comparison of trees, young and old, 
of the same species, and in the same locality. In this he was assisted 
by competent observers; M. Decaime, at Paris, and M. Caruel, at 
Pisa. He finds, as the result of this method, that it gives some pro- 
bability to the idea that the appearance of the leaves is somewhat 
retarded as the tree advances in years, but the evidence, he thinks, 
is insufficient. His second method was that of prolonged observa- 
tions on one and the same tree, There are two sets of these obser- 
vations: the one on two Horse-chestnuts in Geneva, the other on a 
Grape-vine at Ostend. A careful record of' the earliest foliation of 
the Geneva trees had been kept by different observers: in the case 
of one for 68, and of the other for 57 years. The vine has been 
observed for 33 years. After a careful discussion of the records M. 
De Candolle concludes: 1. That for the majority ot arborescent 
species, the horse-chestnut in particular, there is no reason to sup- 
pose that, ceteris paribus, the foliation is advanced or retarded 
with years, at least in the case of trees from 50 to 180 years of age. 
2. For some species, and according to the observations of M. Caruel 
by the first method, and in the care of the vine of Ostend, the folia- 
tion appears to be retarded by age; but the first method is unsat- 
isfactory, and the vine was observed for a shorter time than the 
two trees, and was, besides, subject to pruning and other culture. 
