NATURE-STUDY AND SCIENCE NOTES 277 



the close of the nineteenth century saw the final extinction of the passen- 

 ger pigeon in a wild state and there remained only the small flock, number- 

 ing in 1903 not more than a dozen, that had been bred in captivity by 

 Professor C. 0. Whitman of Chicago. These birds the descendants of a 

 single pair, had long before that ceased to breed and it was in an effort to 

 obtain fresh blood for this flock that I started a newspaper enquiry that 

 brought many replies none of which could be substantiated as records of 

 the passenger pigeon and many referred to the mourning dove. I am 

 aware that there has been lately widely spread and persistent rumors of 

 the return of the pigeons, but no rumor has borne investigation, and I 

 feel that Professor Whitman's small flock now reduced in 1906 to five birds 

 are the last representatives of a species around whose disappearance 

 mystery and fable will always gather. 



[J. H. Fleming in Ottawa Naturalist, March, 1907.] 

 Pollination in Evening Primrose. The common evening primrose 

 (Oenothera biennis) has an elaborate arrangement for cross-pollination, 

 including odor, nectar, color and the ripening of stamen and stigma at 

 different times as well as a difference in position of stamen and carpel, 

 and yet De Vries finds in some specimens that the stamens pollinate the 

 stigmas in the bud and the corollas may even fall off without expanding. 

 All the odor, color, nectar, etc., of such flowers is superfluous and goes to 

 waste. Just as we have figured out how the flower acts, it acts differently! 



[American Botanist.} 



Edible Ferns. An evergreen tree-fern in the Pacific Isles is a common 

 article of food with the natives. The roots and the lower parts of the 

 stem are soft and pulpy and have a pleasant smell and taste, so that the 

 medulla of this fern, which abounds in a reddish glutinous juice, is nearly 

 as good as sago. The silver tree-fern, a beautiful species from New 

 Zealand, is said to be eaten in the same way. [American Bota)iist.] 



Optimism in Study of Nature. That the study of nature may help us 

 in our pursuit of happiness is suggested by the first line of the preface in 

 Weismann's latest and probably last book on evolution theories. It 

 reads in the translation: "When a lifetime of pleasant labor is drawing 

 to a close — ." 



Nature-Study in South Africa. The African Monthly for May, J9°7» 

 ■contains a strong plea for the introduction of nature-study into the South 

 African schools. The author, Professor Duerden, gives as his aim the 

 investigation of how animals do things and how they come to be 

 what they are; further, a training in how to collect the facts methodically, 

 and then to utilize and interpret them on biological principles. To us in 

 this country these aims seem rather ponderous. As subjects of study 

 Professor Duerden cites the habits and instincts of monkeys, smaller 

 antelopes, moles, native rats, mice, birds, lizards, tortoises, frogs and 

 toads, fresh-water fishes, insects, crabs, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, 

 snails, slugs and worms. 



Qualifications necessary for teaching Agriculture in Common Schools. 

 •C. A. McXabb in an address before the Teachers' Countv Institute at 



