79 
The Ailantus. — An English exchange says: Many complaints 
have been made of the overpowering and offensive odor of the 
flowers of the Ailantus trees planted in the streets of Paris and other 
large cities. According to Mr. E. Andre, it is only the flowers of the 
male trees which exhale this unpleasant scent, and he recommends 
that none but female trees should be for the future planted in public 
or other places where the peculiar odor of the males might be offen- 
sive. This would seem an important point for Americans and others 
who plant the Ailantus largely as a street tree/' 
The fact pointed out by Mr. Andre belongs to the domain of 
ancient history in this country. 
A Large Poplar, — In the Botanical Garden at I)ijon there is a 
poplar of colossal dimensions (species not stated) to which Mr. Joly 
devotes a note in the Journal de la Societi Nationalc d' Horticulture, 
The height of this tree is 130 feet. Its circumference near the earth 
is 46 feet, and, at t6 feet above the earth, 2\ feet. Its bulk is now 
1,590 cubic feet, but six years ago, before the fall of one of the large 
branches, it was 1,940. From some historic researches made by Dr, 
Lavelle, and a comparison with trees of the same species in the 
vicinity, it has been pretty well ascertained that this poplar is at 
least 500 years old. 
Unfortunately, it is now completely hollow up to the point whence 
the large branches spring. All the dead portions have been removed, 
and the interior has been filled in with beton. — La Nature, 
Origin of the Name Tillandsia, — The long moss was named 7/7- 
landsia bec^-use of its aversion to water. Linn^neus says he named it 
after a professor at Abo, who, in his youth, having an unpropitious 
passage from Stockholm to that place, no sooner set his foot on 
shore than he vowed never again to venture upon the sea. He 
changed his original name to Tillands, meaning (in Swedish) 'by- 
land.* Afterwards, having occasion to return to Sweden, he took a 
circuitous journey of 200 Swedish miles through Lapland to avoid 
going eight miles by sea. — Garden, 
Ginkgo. — According to Mn B. S. Lyman (in Science)^ ginkgo, the 
usual orthography of the popular name for Salisburia adianfi/olia, is 
due to a misprint in Kaempfer's Amoenitates Exotic^e. In order to 
agree with the pronunciation as heard in Japan, the word (which 
nieans * silver apricot/ or ' silver almond ') should be written ginByoo 
(the g hard, and the two o's long.) Ginkiyoo is the name of the fruit, 
the tree itself being called icJioo {ch soft and the o's long, as before.) 
Mr. Lyman says: "The juice of the thick pulp outside the nut is 
very astringent, and is used in making a somewhat waterproof, tough 
paper, and a preservative black wash for fences and buildings. The 
meat of the nut is cooked and eaten." 
Botanical Literature. 
Microscope in Botany. A guide for the Microscopical Investiga- 
tion of Vegetable Substances. From the German of Dr. Julius 
Wilhelm Behrens. Translated and edited by Rev. A. B. Her- 
vev. AM a<=<5iQti-H hv T? LT Ward, M.D., F.R.M.S. Illustrated 
