POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



285 



that lie partly outside of the epidermis en- 

 joy the least protection, a3 in certain ferns, 

 while a higher degree of protection is given 

 when the cells are sunk beneath the epider- 

 mis and framed in a kind of funnel ; and 

 the highest degree when the stomata are 

 arranged in rin^s or ovals on the under-side 

 of a rolled leaf. Another means of pro- 

 tection is afforded by the structure of the 

 epidermis, which is fortified by a strong 

 cuticular structure, hardly permeable to 

 vapor in many Australian plants, and is 

 sometimes re-enforced by deposits of oxalate 

 of lime. Such structures are peculiar to 

 plants which have to sustain great drought. 

 The epidermis of many plants, as the Euca- 

 lyptus globulus, is also covered with a coat- 

 ing of wax, which serves not only to pro- 

 tect it, but also to give a deeper setting to 

 the pores. The protective effect of hairs 

 operates in several ways: they cover the 

 pores ; they form a kind of space over the 

 pores in which air and vapor may collect ; 

 and they constitute a kind of screen over 

 the whole body of epidermis-cells against 

 insolation and desiccation. Thus, plants 

 growing on high, dry mountains, or in the 

 steppes, are generally thickly haired. Hairs 

 also serve to make the plant measurably 

 defiant of sudden changes of temperature, 

 and form an important part of the vege- 

 table economy of regions like Soodan and 

 continental Australia, which are subject to 

 such changes. Even in temperate climates, 

 varieties of the same species growing in 

 open and exposed places are more hairy 

 than those growing in protected woods. 

 In the eucalyptuses the intercellular spaces 

 and air-passages of plants growing in dry 

 situations are much contracted, while in 

 those growing in valleys and along rivers 

 they are expanded. Willkomm has called 

 attention to the fact that a sap strong in 

 saline solutions is much less subject to 

 evaporation than a thinner sap ; and thus 

 the halophytes keep fresh in stony places 

 and the driest climates, while the Chenopodi- 

 acecB (goose-foots), with much salt in their 

 juices, flourish in dry places, and are met 

 abundantly in the Asiatic steppes and the 

 interior of Australia ; and these look green 

 and vigorous in the driest time of the year, 

 when everything else is parched and brown. 

 The form and position qf the leaf also often 



show an adaptation to help the plant resist 

 drought. Plants having to grow in a dry 

 climate generally exchange the usual broad 

 leaves for a narrow, close one, have it re- 

 duced to a cylindrical form, or, as in the 

 brooms, make a green limb serve them as 

 the assimilating organ. Broad leaves are 

 seldom found in very dry regions. Many 

 species peculiar to hot and dry situations 

 have a faculty of arranging their leaves 

 vertically, so that only the edge is exposed. 

 The Lactuca scariola, the only European 

 plant having this peculiarity, grows on road- 

 sides and dry hills, while all the other spe- 

 cies of lettuce, growing in shady and moist 

 places, and in gardens, have the leaves ar- 

 ranged in the ordinary way, except that 

 Lactuca sativa puts out vertical leaves when 

 it is growing in a thin soil. The ethereal 

 oils and thorns of plants may also possibly 

 serve some protective purpose, but this is a 

 subject for further investigation. 



Terra del Fuegians in Paris. Eleven 

 natives of Terra del Fuego, four men, four 

 women, and three children, were taken to 

 Europe by 31. TVaalen, who has resided 

 for several years at Punta Arenas, Pata- 

 gonia, and have been entertained at the 

 Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris. M. "Waa- 

 len was fishing for seals in the waters of 

 their inhospitable island when he came 

 in contact with these savages, and suc- 

 ceeded, by giving them plenty to eat and 

 treating them with tact, in getting them 

 to stay on his vessel, whence they were 

 transferred to a Hamburg steamer on its 

 way to Europe, M. Waalen depositing secu- 

 rity with the governor of Punta Arenas for 

 their safe return after making their Euro- 

 pean tour. What mark their visit will make 

 upon them, and how long it will endure, is 

 a question which the experiment of Captain 

 Fitzroy may help to answer. He took back 

 three Fuegians, two men and a woman, after 

 they had been three years in Europe, and 

 had seemed to become nearly civilized, and 

 set them among their tribe, in a good house, 

 with a tract of tillable land, tools, and a 

 missionary to take care of them. Going 

 back to see them a few months afterward, 

 he found all that pertained to civilization 

 destroyed, that they had returned to com- 

 plete savagery, and that the missionary was 



