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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



sacrificed as was the original trunk be- 

 fore, to the fuller development of the 

 tree, or vine, or bush. The examples 

 usually given illustrating' sympodial 

 development are : the grapevine, and 

 the linden tree for the zigzag or con- 

 cinnate type, and the forget-me-not and 

 other borage plants for the bostrycoid 

 type. 



Thus walking through the country, 

 and discovering that the sumac is sym- 

 podial, made me feel that joy and en- 

 thusiasm with which the knowledge 

 of a new fact in any department of na- 

 ture always fills the happy finder. 



I have made a drawing of a specimen 

 collected on the above mentioned oc- 

 casion, of Rims glabra, the only species 

 to be found about Stamford, Connec- 

 ticut, illustrating the sympodial mode 

 of growth. 



When I informed Dr. Ward of my 

 discovery he was greatly interested and 

 desired to know whether other species 

 of the genus Rhus had the same habit, 

 and he has since visited Washington, 

 D. C, in order to study the sumac in 

 that vicinity, his old stamping ground 

 for botany for so many years. He has 

 found that all the three other species 

 there, Rhus typhina, R. Capallina, and R. 

 vernix, grow according to the sympo- 

 dial law. 



I quote an interesting paragraph 

 from Dr. W r ard's Pure Sociology, p. 75, 

 "Each successive sympode possesses 

 attributes which enable it better to 

 resist the environment and therefore 

 constitutes a form of development of 

 structural advance so that the entire 

 process is one of true evolution, and 

 has culminated in the great class of 

 dicotyledonous exogenous plants which 

 now dominate the vegetable kingdom." 



It is most interesting to follow Dr. 

 Ward's splendid application of this law 

 into human history. Here we find a 

 parallel. "We may look upon human 

 races as so many trunks and branches 

 of what may be called the sociological 

 tree." Pure Sociology, p. 76. 



The sumac seems to offer the finest 



example of sympodial growth known. 

 So strong and well developed is each 

 sympode that it can be very quickly 

 determined. Those who wish to look 

 further into the study of sympodial 

 development, I refer to Lester F. 

 Ward's Pure Sociology, pp. 71-79. 



If any reader of The Guide to Na- 

 ture should happen to discover any 

 other examples of sympodial develop- 

 ment in nature, during their walks, I 

 hope they will send an account of it to 

 the managing editor, Dr. Bigelow, who 

 is doing so much to spread knowledge 

 that is worth while. 



The Columbine for National Flower. 



Pittsfield, Massachusets. 

 To the Editor : 



"Suburban Life" has this about the 

 columbine: "It is derived from the 

 Latin, columba, a dove, and is emble- 

 matic of peace. Another account says 

 is is from aquila, an eagle, the symbolic 

 crest of America." 



I find that, "The claim of the colum- 

 bine to become the national flower has 

 been pressed since 1896 by the Colum- 

 bine Association of Boston ; for these 

 reasons: (1) it is wild 1(2) it is com- 

 monly diffused ; (3) it has decorative 

 value; (4) it suggests Columbus; (5) 

 it symbolizes the dove, or peace ; (6) 

 also, the eagle, or power; (7) its spurs, 

 the Liberty Cap ; (8) its compound 

 leaves exemplify the Federal motto, 

 B pluribus unum." 



Its scientific name is Aguilcgia vul- 

 garis, and it comes to me (what I have 

 not seen mentioned elsewhere) that it 

 combines most beautifully the ideas of 

 peace and power represented on the 

 obverse of our democratic American 

 coins — the eagle, bearing in its beak 

 the legend, B pluribus unum, and in one 

 of its talons the sheaf of arrows, and 

 the other the olive branch of peace. 



Truly yours, and with congratula- 

 tions on the growing excellence of The 

 Guide to Nature. 



Addison Ballard. 



