71 
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* 
The Parasites of Mouey.—The Frankfurter Zeitunq states tliat 
Dr. Reinsch has found, as the result of a long series of minute inves- 
tigations, that the surfaces of 50-pfennig pieces which have been long 
in circulation are the home and feeding-ground of a minute kind of 
bacteria and vegetable fungus. An extended series of observations 
showed that this is the case with the small coins of all nations, the 
thm incrustation of organic matter deposited upon their surfaces in 
the course of long circulation rendering them very suitable for this 
parasitical settlement. Dr. Reinsch scraped off some of these incrus- 
tations, and with a small scapel divided them into fragments, which 
were subsequently dissolved in distilled water. The employment of 
lenses of very high power showed the bacteria and fun^i distinctly. 
The Banyan //-^^.— Respecting this tree, Forbes, in his " Oriental 
Memoirs," says that a Banyan tree, named Cubbeer Burr, was nearly 
2 000 feet in circumference, measured round its principal stems, but 
that the ground covered by its overhanging branches was consider- 
ably more extensive. The large trunks numbered 350, and the 
smaller ones exceeded 3,000. This tree at one time was considerably 
larger, a fearful storm, accompanied by a flood ox\ the Nerbudda, 
having carried away a greater part of it, reducing the number of the 
larger trunks from 1,350 to the 350 now remaining. The original 
size of this colossal tree may be better conceived by remembering 
that 2,000 feet, its circumference when Forbes saw it, is more than 
one-third of a mile. It is truly one of the wonders of Nature. The 
careful provision by which everything is made to adapt itself to the 
circumstances in which it is placed is strongly exempHfied in the 
growth of this tree; for if these branches did not throw out roots, 
and so form a trunk with which to support their own weight, they 
would tear themselves off from the parent stem.— r//6' Garden, 
Absorption of water by plants, — Mr. F. Darwin, in an article on 
this subject recently published in Nature, shows that the rate of ab- 
sorption is influenced by the dampness or dryness of the air, being 
J^ore rapid in dry air, owing to the more rapid evaporation from the 
■^aves, and more rapid in sunlight than in shade. He also confirms ■ 
Ijaranetzky's statement that a small disturbance, such as a slight 
snake, by increasing the transpiration from tlie leaves, increases the 
^ate of absorption, while cutting off a twig rapidly diminishes it. A. 
orauer, however, found in some experiments on gourds that the 
removal of leaves from plants on two occasions did not alter the 
amount of evaporation in the least; and even when half the leaves 
w<^^e removed from another plant, although a reduction in the 
amount of evaporation ensued at first, after eleven days the evapora- 
"on was equal to that of an untouched plant. 
The American Association for the Advancement of Science. — The 
committee of the American Botanical Club of the A. A. A. S. has so 
^^ arranged the programme for the next meeting in Philadelphia, 
Pening September 4th, that they are enabled to assure the botanists 
^ ^"^ country a most enjoyable and profitable time. All botanical 
^^.mbers of the Association should call at the Academy of Natural 
finH^^^^ ^s early as possible after arrival and register. They will 
^ a committee in charge to welcome them to the privileges of the 
t 
