78 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



vanced to $17 for the first 25 volitnies or $21 for sets complete 

 to the present year. 



Catching Cold. — There are various ways of collecting 

 plants, and catching cold is one of them ! When we used to 

 speak of "catching cold" we thought that in some way our 

 trouble Avas caused by a lowering of the tempature, but it is 

 now pretty well understood that we really do catch a "cold" 

 germ, a small plant which proceeds to live upon our tissues 

 and causes the sore throat, cough and other symptoms that 

 accompany a "cold in the head." One of the easiest ways of 

 catching cold is by being infected from bedding, mufflers, 

 and articles of winter clothing that have been packed away 

 and in which the germs lie snugly concealed during the sum- 

 mer ready to get in their deadly work when these articles 

 are; brought into use again during the first cold snap of au- 

 tumn . In packing away winter clothing, therefore, it is well 

 to first rid them of their plant inhabitants. This may readily 

 be done by sprinkling the clothing with formaldehyde which 

 may be bought at the nearest drug store for a small sum. For- 

 maldehyde, or its weaker solution, formalin, is the substance 

 the wily milkman sometimes puts into the milk to discourage 

 another small plant which otherwise would sour it. It was 

 recently reported that cold in the head is the most popular in- 

 door disease in America. More than a hundred million peo- 

 ple indulge in it annually. A subscription to this magazine, 

 plus a nickle's worth of formaldehyde, will, however, enable 

 anyone to avoid the plant, escape the doctor, and live happily 

 ever after. 



American Tulifs. — We have depended upon Holland 

 adjacent countries for our tulip bulbs for so long that the 

 impression has become general that marketable tulips can be 

 produced nowhere else. It has long been assumed that there 



