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THE POPULAR SCIEXCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



is probable that such conditions have never yet 

 existed on this earth. 



Geologic history shows us, in vegetable life, 

 first, a wonderful development of the cellular 

 wave in the cryptogamic type, everywhere pre- 

 dominant ; and then a similar epoch in which the 

 osseous wave overtopped the cellular, clothing 

 the world with mighty conifers — huge masses of 

 trunk and branches, with little foliage or blos- 

 som. 



This was succeeded by an epoch of fibrous 

 development, represented in the vegetable world 

 by foliage. Forests of the broad-leaved Amenti- 

 ferce, the oak, the birch, the poplar, and the alder 

 — with elm, and maple, and plane, and other 

 trees conspicuous for foliage, but not for blos- 

 som — became the striking feature of the land- 

 scape. 



Finally, as the nervous wave advanced toward 

 its climax, blossom began to be developed in va- 

 ried and conspicuous forms. Magnolias, roses, 

 mallows, lilies, orchids, and many other " flower- 

 ing " plants, appear in the latest tertiary depos- 

 its ; and plants of this type still adorn the world, 

 and probably become more numerous and more 

 beautiful century by century. 



It has been shown that plants with inconspic- 

 uous blossom have the widest geographic range, 



that those with white flowers have a range more 

 limited, while species with brilliantly-colored 

 blossoms have a still smaller range of distribu- 

 tion. Taking the area of distribution to indicate 

 roughly the length of time during which a species 

 has been in existence, these facts go to prove 

 that the nervous wave of vegetable life, repre- 

 sented by the blossom — the most sensitive, the 

 most delicate, the most complex, and the most 

 vitalized of vegetable organs — is still approaching 

 its climax, and has not yet attained to it. They 

 show, also, that visible beauty is to us the index 

 of approaching climax, and not a quality which 

 can be added at any epoch at which a temporary 

 utility might seem to demand it. 



In the light of this reasoning, the doctrine 

 that " except for insects we should have no flow- 

 ers " cannot be maintained. Insects have, doubt- 

 less, aided the development of the life-wave among 

 the complex resistances through which it has to 

 make its way, but the beauty of the world, of 

 which flowers form so interesting a part, depends 

 upon laws far more profound, more deep-rooted 

 and far-reaching, and which would surely have 

 attained in due time their ultimate goal, even 

 though the race of insects had never formed part 

 of the same marvelous and admirable cosmos. — 

 Quarterly Journal of Science. 



THE FEAR OF LIGHTNING. 



OF all the risks to which mankind is exposed, 

 there is probably none so inaccurately esti- 

 mated as that of injury from lightning. The 

 ordinary risks of life are calmly considered and 

 truly appreciated ; but the danger arising from 

 the electrical disturbances which show themselves 

 in thunder-storms excites in many folks a feeling 

 of dread that renders the mind incapable of the 

 calm application needed to estimate a chance at 

 its real value. Hence there is a tendency to mag- 

 nify this danger, and the tendency is strong in pro- 

 portion as the nervous system of the individual 

 is weak and his imagination active. In other 

 cases, the fear of danger is diminished by being 

 habituated to it ; so powerful, indeed, is the influ- 

 ence of habit in this respect, that in time our ap- 

 prehensions vanish altogether, though their cause 

 remain unabated. 



There can be no doubt that the awe evoked 

 by a thunder-storm is in some measure due to the 



singularly imposing character of the manifesta- 

 tions. A flash of lightning comes upon the eye 

 with a rapidity and a vividness that cannot fail 

 to impress the mind with the idea of tremendous 

 force ; and, to deepen the impression, the flash is 

 followed by a crashing peal of thunder, a sound 

 that is alone in its grandeur. Thus our two chief 

 senses are acted upon successively in a degree 

 that is never otherwise reached. Another cause 

 cf the feeling of dread is ignorance of the nature 

 of the agencies at work. To the scientific man, 

 who sees in the storm the actions of a force with 

 which he is familiar, obeying laws that to him are 

 well known, this cause is of little import. But to 

 the man who is without this knowledge, the mani- 

 festations of this apparently irresistible force 

 present themselves in a different light. The er- 

 ratic course of the lightning suggests to his mind 

 an uncontrolled power ; a suggestion that is re- 

 peated by the irregularity of the interval between 



