NOTES. 



287 



which obtain all their food in either the 

 liquid or gaseous form by osmosis (diffu- 

 sion)." Immediately he finds that there are 

 certain facts which appear to invalidate 

 these conclusions. The myxomycetes at one 

 stage of their lives take solid particles 

 of food very much like the amoeba?, but 

 no other plants are known to do so, and 

 may not there be a connecting link ? The 

 tapeworm in the intestine does not ap- 

 parently take up any solid food, but is 

 nourished by absorption ; but this is an 

 exception induced by a parasitical life, as 

 near relatives of the tapeworm take up 

 solid food. The definitions are not, how- 

 ever, proposed as a fixed theory, but as a 

 speculation suggesting lines of research that 

 appear promising. 



NOTES. 



The economic value of fossils, says State 

 Geologist Charles R. Keyes in his report on 

 the Palaeontology of Missouri, is commonly 

 entirely overlooked. To the laity usually 

 these remains of life are merely curious ; to 

 the specialist the interest in the ancient or- 

 ganisms is largely scientific. But with him 

 who wills it even a slight acquaintance with 

 the true character of fossils enables the rocks 

 to be read as a printed page. It is one of 

 the best established facts in modern geologi- 

 cal science that an intimate relation exists 

 between mineral deposits and the surround- 

 ing rocks ; hence the geological age of the 

 particular beds becomes an important factor 

 in the early attempts to develop new mineral 

 districts. This suggestion, again, rests on one 

 of the cardinal principles of geology : that 

 the geological succession of strata is deter- 

 minable readily by the remains of life con- 

 tained. Thus, in reality, fossils are labels 

 on the rocks, telling man at a glance the age 

 of the bed he is working, and providing him 

 with the most reliable guides he could pos- 

 sibly secure to direct him to the layers most 

 likely to contain the mineral sought. 



Colgate University, with three depart- 

 ments leading to degrees in arts, philosophy, 

 and science, and offering a total of one hun- 

 dred and twenty-five courses of instruction, 

 has adopted the policy of requiring the 

 master's degree to be earned by graduate 

 work. The old plan will cease after 1896. 



The summer course in botany of the 

 Torrey Botanical Club and the College of 

 Pharmacy of New York was opened in the 

 College of Pharmacy, March 27th. It is to 

 include fourteen lectures by Dr. Smith Eli 

 Jelliffe, given on Wednesdays, with excur- 



sions for study in the field and the collection 

 of specimens. The lectures during May and 

 June will be on the stem, leaves, inflores- 

 cence, and parts of the flower, general con- 

 clusions, history, and herborization. Besides 

 the lectures, Dr. Jelliffe is giving a course of 

 lessons on Thursday evenings in Vegetable 

 Histology, or the microscopic anatomy of 

 plants. 



A curious instance of the formation of 

 snow was witnessed at Agen, France, on the 

 night of the 30th of January. A fire broke 

 out in a sawmill when the temperature was 

 ten degrees centigrade below the freezing 

 point. The water thrown upon it was in- 

 stantly vaporized, and, rising into the cold, 

 dry air, was immediately condensed and fell 

 as snow. What with bright starlight and a 

 strong northwest wind blowing, the whirling 

 snow above and the raging fire below, a bril- 

 liant spectacle was presented. 



A severe storm in England in December 

 last was marked by the deposition of notable 

 quantities of salt on the trees, the ground, 

 and various objects at considerable distances 

 from the coast. Similar phenomena have 

 been observed rarely before. Mr. G. Symons 

 has shown in the Monthly Meteorological 

 Magazine that the spray of the ocean was 

 carried to distances of between seventy-five 

 and one hundred miles from the sea. 



At the Los Angeles Public Library, Cali- 

 fornia, the copies of magazines not needed for 

 binding are filed away, some to replace worn- 

 out circulating copies, while others are taken 

 apart, the illustrations are cut out, sorted, 

 and mounted on gray Bristol board, forming 

 collections of pictures for teaching geog- 

 raphy, history, literature, and mythology, 

 besides being samples of the modern school 

 of illustrators and artists. The articles are 

 sorted into classified groups, which are sewed 

 together, some for school, some for library 

 use, some for the hospitals, etc. The comic 

 pictures and advertising pages are sent to 

 the social settlements and to kindergartens 

 for scrapbooks. "For all-around useful- 

 ness, attractiveness, and satisfaction," the 

 librarian says in her report, " the magazines 

 which are duplicated for home use are un- 

 surpassed. There is no trouble in securing 

 volunteers for the cutting of pictures, for 

 collectors of material will gladly exchange 

 work for pictures. The report of the teach- 

 ers on the use of this material in the school- 

 room is a general cry for more." 



An experience of the observers at the 

 meteorological station on the summit of Ben 

 Nevis, Scotland, is cited as bearing upon the 

 question of the value of high-level residence 

 in the treatment of tuberculous conditions. 

 These observers are changed every three 

 months. While on duty at the observa- 

 tory, with all the exposure to extremes of 

 weather to which they are subjected, they 



