POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



429 



her, " with the expression of ' How can you 

 be so greedy ? why don't you give me a bit ? ' 

 Of course he did get it, and then departed 

 and hid himself in the leaves overhead." At 

 a place in California, where she stayed after all 

 the other visitors had deserted it, " a stag," 

 she says, " with great branching horns was 

 my only companion ; he had a bell round his 

 neck, and used generally to live in front of 

 the house, but liked human company ; and 

 when I appeared with my painting things he 

 would get up and conduct me gravely to my 

 point, and see me well settled at my work, 

 then scamper off, coming back every now and 

 then to sniff at my colors." 



The Succession of American Floras. No 



strongly defined line can be drawn, says 

 Prof. Warren Upham, in a paper on the 

 flora of the basin of the Red River of the 

 North, "between different portions of the 

 flora and fauna of the country from the At- 

 lantic to the Rocky Mountains and from the 

 Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Sea. But 

 great contrasts exist between the Eastern 

 region, with its plentiful rainfall, and the 

 dry Western plains, as also between the al- 

 most tropical Southern margin of the United 

 States and the tundras beneath the Arctic 

 Circle. In traveling from the once wholly 

 forest-covered country of the Eastern States, 

 across the prairies, to the far Western 

 plains bearing cacti and sage-brush, there is 

 observed a gradual change in the flora, until 

 a very large proportion of the Eastern 

 species is left behind, and their places are 

 taken by others capable of enduring more 

 arid conditions. Likewise, in going from 

 St. Augustine or New Orleans to Chicago, St. 

 Paul, Winnipeg, and Hudson Bay and Strait, 

 the palmettoes, the evergreen live-oak, bald 

 cypress, Southern pines, and the festooned 

 Tillandsia, or Spanish moss, are left in pass- 

 ing from the Southern to the Northern 

 States ; and instead we find in the region of 

 the Laurentian lakes the bur or mossy-cup 

 oak, the canoe and yellow birches, the tama- 

 rack, or American larch, the black spruce, 

 balsam fir, and the white, red, and Banksian 

 pines ; while farther north the white spruce, 

 beginning as a small tree in northern New 

 England and on Lake Superior, attains a 

 majestic growth on the lower Mackenzie in a 

 more northern latitude than a large part of 



the moss-covered barren grounds which 

 reach thence eastward to the northern part 

 of Hudson Bay and Labrador. Thus, al- 

 though no grand topographic barrier, like a 

 high mountain range, impassable to species 

 of the lowlands, divides this great region, 

 yet the transition from a humid to an arid 

 climate in passing westward, and the ex- 

 change of tropical warmth for polar cold in 

 the journey from South to North, are accom- 

 panied by gradual changes of the flora, by 

 which in the aggregate its aspect is almost 

 completely transformed." 



Timber-testing. The Forestry Division 

 of the Department of Agriculture is engaged 

 in making tests of timber, for the purposes 

 of obtaining a better knowledge of the quali- 

 ties of our commonest commercial timbers ; 

 of devising means of relating qualities to 

 physical structure and appearance; and to 

 establish, if possible, the influence which 

 divers conditions of growth exercise upon 

 the quality all conditions affecting the 

 usefulness of the specimens in service. The 

 records, which are preserved in duplicate, 

 include the definition of the locality where 

 the piece was cut, with its geological and 

 climatological features ; an exact descrip- 

 tion of the site and exposure, the soil, and 

 the surrounding growth and undergrowth ; 

 the origin of the tree, its age and dimensions ; 

 the positions in the tree of the various test- 

 pieces submitted ; and other points. It is 

 expected to submit to the regular series of 

 tests between one and two thousand test- 

 pieces of each species. It is hoped that 

 when the work is done means will be 

 afforded the engineer and architect to speci- 

 fy for timber of given quality, and also, by 

 a rapid macroscopic and microscopic exami- 

 nation, to pass on each stick as to its coming 

 up to the specification ; and, further, of 

 acquainting ourselves with the conditions of 

 growth that produce given quality. 



The Preservation of Historical and In- 

 teresting Scenery. At the instance of the 

 Appalachian Mountain Club, a law has been 

 enacted in Massachusetts incorporating a 

 Board of Trustees of Public Reservations, 

 with authority to acquire, hold, arrange, 

 maintain, and open to the public, under suit- 

 able regulations, beautiful and historical 



