72 



indicating its limited season to be of from six to eight weeks' dura- 



tion. 



Medford, Mass., April 22, 1882. Geo, E. Davenport. 



A propos of a Paper on the Vitality of Seeds,— I think I can 



understand why a striking article on '* The Germination and Vitality of 

 Seeds," by Richard E. Kunze, M D., is '^published by subscription of 

 members of the Club "; but I do not understand why I am reported to' 

 give, in "How Plants Grow," '* extracts from a paper drawn up by the 

 Rev. Dr. Marks," the said paper being a circumstantial account of 

 the germination in Illinois of some seeds taken from a rose-hip found 

 in the hand of an Egyptian mummy, estimated to be about 2500 

 years old. I am sure there is nothing of this in " How Plants Grow," 

 and I greatly wonder that any one should have supposed that I 

 should have thought the account, upon the face of it, was worth 

 mentioning, even for the sake of showing that it is quite fallacious. 

 Dr. Kunze can perhaps explain how he came to connect my name 

 with this narrative. 



Cambridge, Mass. 



Asa Gray. 



(The above note has been submitted to Dr. Kunze, who desires 

 us to express his regret for having inadvertently copied an entire 

 paragraph and credited it to "How Plants Grow," while only the first 

 sentence of the note should have been ascribed to that work. The 

 error arose through Dr. Kunze's somewhat defective eyesight, which 

 led him to overlook quotation-marks. We are informed that Dr. 

 Kunze has made an explanation to Dr. Gray by letter. The above 

 disclaimer, with these few remarks, will serve to set the matter right 

 with those who have read the paper in question. — Ed.) 



w 



Notes from Chemung County, N. Y.— In my former notes from 

 this county I neglected to mention that I found Hydi^ 

 cens, L., growing on the rocks at the Wellsburg Narrows. This was 

 m 1879.^ I have since found it in a cool ravine one mile west, on the 

 north side_ of the Chemung, in the town of Elmira. I have no 

 record of its having been found elsewhere in the State. It is cer- 

 tainly quite common in the northern part of Bradford County. I 

 hope it will be looked for by those working in Tioga and Broome 

 Counties, as I desire to know its geographical distribution. The ele- 

 vation here is about 824 feet above tide-water. May that not influ- 

 ence Its range into this State ? I have never seen it in Steuben 

 County, whose elevation increases westward, C. D. Fretz, M.D., of 

 Sellersville, Pa., informs me that some years ago he found Polemo- 

 mum caeruleHm,l../m^ hog near Apalachin, Tioga County, N Y. 

 I shall look for it there this coming season. Have Foa caesia, 

 ^mxthy Eriophorum vaginaium, L., and Lespedeza Stiivei, Nutt., been 

 found m New York State? Can anyone give me a station for Carex 

 cephaloidea^ Dew. ? 



Lowman, N. Y. 



Thos. F. Lucy. 



