78 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



i^he computation of the number of stomata in a leaf was not 

 -iffected by the mistake. — Ed.]. 



Phi/jx argilIvACKa IX THE Gardex. — Regarding that 

 interesting i)lant of the Middle West, known as the silvery 

 lavender [)hlox {P. argiUacea) a correspondent writes: 

 "My specimen has thived immensely in a light soil with sand 

 sub-soil, forming a handsome clump of some 30 or 40 stems. 

 .A pleasing characteristic is the persistence of its leaves in 

 autumn tUid the delightful yellow they take on. This clump 

 was the last spot of color in the garden long after our domes- 

 ticated phloxes and the peonies are dead and black." 



Birds and Bittersweet Berries. — A correspondent 

 asks information regarding the belief that when young birds 

 are caged, their parents will feed them bittersweet berries or 

 other berries to kill them. This may be a very ancient and 

 common superstitition but the writer of these lines has never 

 before heard of it and will welcome more data regarding it. 

 No doubt the parents of caged birds will visit them if pos- 

 sible and perhaps carry them food, but it would be going too 

 far to credit them with sufficient intelligence to understand 

 the meaning of capti^ntv and the resolution to cause the 

 death of their offspring rather them to leave them to endure 

 it. This superstition is akin to another which has come 

 down to us from hoary antiquity regarding the blasting 

 root or spring-wurzel. It appears to have even antedated 

 Aristotle, the so-called "father of natural history". Various 

 plants, conspicuous among which are the mandrake {Mandra- 

 gora) the- herb Paris {Paris qiiadri folia) and certain fern 

 roots, were credited with magic powers. To obtain the 

 charm, however, there was one standard way. One should 

 find the nest of a woodpecker, swallow, or other bird nest- 

 ing in holes and carefully stop uj) the entrance. As soon as 

 the mother bird finds herself barred from her young, she 



