90 
chlorophyll. Dr. Hansen therefore assumes that there are only four 
fundamental plant pigments — the two yellows and the red of flowers 
and chlorophyll green. 
Rhubarb Culture in the United States, — Mr. J. W. Colcord, of Lynn, 
Massachusetts, who, during the last few years has been turning his 
attention to the acclimatization of medicinal plants in the United. 
States, has been further experimenting as to the value of the leaf 
stalks of the home-grown Rheum palmatum as an esculent. He re- 
ports that plants raised from seed sown last May have now leaves two 
feet in length, with petioles an inch in diameter; and that these have 
been found to be equal in tenderness and flavor to the best pie rhu- 
barb in the market. As there are indications that the therapeutic 
value of the home-grown root will also be established, Mr. Colcord 
looks forward to the utilization of the plant (which- proves to be hardy) 
in both directions. 
Two neiv Terms have recently been added to the already over- 
burdened terminology of botany. Dr. F. Krasan has noticed that 
where the leaves of the oak are attacked by the Orchestes Quercus 
the deposit of the eggs of the insect arrests the growth of the leaves 
attacked, which become thicker and more rigid than the ordinary 
leaves, and that in June these are followed by a second growth of 
leaves of very large size, and later by a growth of normal leaves. To 
these phenomena he gives the name of " pachyphyllosis " and *'megalo- 
phyllosis." The distortions produced may, he believes, in some 
cases become hereditary and cause the appearance of apparently new 
species, as in the case of Quercus brachyphylla, Kotschy, probably 
derived from Q. pubescens. Similar changes occur in Abies and 
Thymus serpyilmn* 
Peptonizing Ferment of Ficus,—V>x, A, Hansen, having examined 
the latex of the common fig, Ficus carica, confirms the statements of 
previous observers concerning the presence of a peptonizing ferment 
in it. In iis effect on fibrin and the coagulation of milk this ferment 
resembles pepsine. It also produces the diastasic reaction of the con- 
version of starch into sugar, and a syrup made from dried figs has the 
same peptonizing property as the latex. It is remarkable that no 
similar effect could be obtained from the milky juice of Euphor- 
biaceae or of Papaver somniferum, Chelidonium, Taraxacum or Scor- 
zonera, although the fluid secretion in the pitchers of Nepenthes pos- 
sessed peptonizing properties similar to those of the latex of the fig 
tree. 
The Qualities of Redwood {Sequoia sempervirens) are peculiar. 
Though light, soft, weak to resist a transvere strain, brittle,^and easy 
to split, it excels oak in its power of resistance to the decomposing 
influences of the air and the soil. It is a little over a quarter of a 
century since the manufacture of 'redwood timber commenced, but 
the consumption is now enormous. In California it is preferred to 
any other lumber for all parts of the exterior of buildings, and is largely 
used also in the interiors. The roofs of almost all buildings in Cali- 
fornia, both in city and country, are covered with redwood shingles, 
while ruder erections are roofed with large rough shingles known as 
*' shakes " throughout the State. It is the almost exclusive material 
