NOTES AND NEWS. jg 



One of the Star-Thistles {Centaur ea solstitalis), a weed of South- 

 ern Europe, is reported in the November Erythea as a very obnoxious 

 weed-pest in California. It is known locally as "Buckthorn" and 

 " Russian Thistle," and is hurtful to growing crops, and often kills 

 horses which eat it after it has become matured and dry. 



To get a better view of the world-famed ruins that surround the 

 forum I climbed upon an ancient rostrum which still stands near the 

 Basilica Julia — perhaps the same that Antony stood upon when he 

 addressed the populace at Cesar's funeral. Glancing down upon a 

 patch of dust soil which had been scraped from the via sacra my eyes 

 met the upturned sunny faces of three old friends, the White and Red 

 Clovers and the Dandelion. They quickened such memories of home 

 that, for the moment forgetting Rome and all its ancient glories, I 

 hurried down to give them greeting. — Dr. C. A. White in a letter to 

 the editor. 



" No problem of greater importance was ever presented to the 

 American people than that of the preservation and reproduction of 

 the forests of the country. The accelerating consumption of timber 

 makes it a question of but a few years when the demand must be re- 

 stricted or the supplies must be drawn from other countries than our 

 own. At the present rate of consumption, a quarter of a century will 

 see all our grand forests denuded of their most valued timbers. There 

 are now more than $500,000,000 invested practically for the destruc- 

 tion of our forests, and not $50,000 invested for their preservation and 

 reproduction. This simple statement shows the grave reponsibility 

 resting upon the present generation." — J. B. Killebrew, Ph. D., in 

 " The Forests of Tennessee." 



In Science for January 7th Dr. Charles E. Bessey has an interest- 

 ing account of the modern views regarding the functions of stomata 

 or the so-called breathing pores of plants. After describing briefly the 

 structure and mechanism of stomata he says: "It has been found 

 that gases and water-vapor pass through the open stomata. In the 

 case of gases the passage is in either direction, while it appears that 

 the water-vapor passes in one direction only — namely, from the inier- 

 cellular spaces outward. From the fact that the stomata serve for the 

 passage of both gases and water-vapor have arisen two views as to 

 their proper function, some botanists holding that they are organs of 

 respiration, that is, breathing pores, while others regard them as 

 transpiration organs, that is, organs for permitting the escape of sur- 

 plus water from the tissues of the plant. " He then points out the fact that 

 when the stomata-bearing plants, which are now terrestrial, were de- 

 veloped from aquatic ancestry a division of labor was established 



