100 
Melanthium latifolium, Desrouss, has been found in New Jersey. 
It was collected on a field excursion of the Club at Swartswood, Sus- 
sex Co., and first noticed by Mr. Wm. Bower, growing on a dry lime- 
stone ledge in open woods. A single flowering specimen was seen 
among numerous sterile i^lants, and this was fully four feet high, the 
panicle of greenish-brown flowers and half-ripened pods being two 
feet long and one foot in width. The leaves were all borne' on the 
lower part of the stem and were eight inches long by two wide. 
N. L. Britton. 
Dioclea BoykiniL— I found this plant while" collecting in S. Ar 
kansas in 1881, but, unaware of its rarity, I put two or three speci- 
mens only in my hand-press, and sent those to Cambridge to Dr. 
Gray, from whom I learn that the species is so rare that a very few 
specimens only are known in the herbaria of the country. I propose 
to visit the locality next summer and collect enough for everybody, 
providing I get enough subscribers for the species to pay my expenses 
nay time being thrown in for the good of science. 
Those who desire specimens should send their subscriptions to 
me as early as possible. 
Fayetteville, Ark. 
F. L. Harvey. 
The Notholsena Lemmoni has been s^ccessfully grown during 
_ the past year in the conservatory of the Golden Gate Park, San Fran- 
cisco, and in several other conservatories in the same city, and also 
in Oakland. It proves to be quite hardy and makes much larger 
fronds than in its habitat on the Santa Catalina Mountains. The 
fronds are 12-15 inches high and 2 inches broad, and the broad, dark 
border of fruit contrasts very finely with the silvery whiteness of the 
powder beneath. It is becoming a very popular fern. 
■v 
Oakland, Cal. 
J 
Botanical Notes. 
T/ie Continuity of Protoplasm. — The subject of the continuity of 
protoplasm by means of delicate threads through the walls of vege- 
table cells attracted considerable attention at the meeting of the 
Biological Section of the British Association at Southport. Mr. W, 
Gardiner, who has examined fifty species of plants and found this 
continuity of protoplasm in all of them, pointed out that this fact 
places us in a position to obtain a clearer insight into such phenom- 
ena as the downward movement of a sensitive leaf upon stimulation, 
the influence of a germinating embryo upon the endosperm cells, and 
of the action of a tendril towards its support. Professor Hillhouse 
suggested that the protoplasmic threads may serve to transmit im- 
pulses from one cell to another and thus act somewhat like a nervous 
system. Dr. Carpenter remarked that there are forms in the animal 
kingdom in which the cell is never arrived at, but in which there is 
simply a continuity of protoplasm, so that the lower forms of the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms are here closely approximated to 
one another. 
