THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 9 



seeds need moisture for growth is also familiar from every- 

 day experience. Certainly it is a waste of time to perform 

 experiments in this line with high school pupils. As to seeds 

 requiring air for growth, the case is different. Few people 

 have any very exact ideas on this subject. To show that seeds 

 make use of the air some germinating seeds may be corked up 

 in a bottle and after 24 hours the air in the bottle may be 

 tested with a lighted splinter. If it goes out, we may assume 

 that the oxygen has been replaced by carbon dioxide. That 

 this is so can be proved by pouring lime or baryta-water in the 

 bottle and shaking. It will become milky. A bottle with seeds 

 of the same kind but not germinating should be set up and 

 treated like the other as a control. This does not prove that 

 seeds require air, but it may be assumed. An experiment to 

 show that the seeds will not grow without air may be set up 

 by teachers who have an inclination to push the inquiry to 

 the end. A few seeds germinate slowly or not at all in the 

 light. The larkspur and poppy are reported to be in this 

 class. On the other hand some mistletoes and other epiphytes 

 will not germinate well in darkness. The fact that most 

 seeds are planted too deep in the soil to receive light, should 

 dispose of this question as a general proposition without an 

 experiment. 



THE PLANTS OF OUR HILL. 



By Catherine Harrison. 



''l STOOD tiptoe upon a little hill" and saw — thorns and 

 *■ mulleins and cows. Oh, yes ! I saw the polygala, too. 

 Think of it ! I had lived at the foot of the hill for more than 

 a dozen years, and had climbed to the top more than a dozen 

 times each year, and had never before found anything worth 

 mentioning — except cows. 



It was the polygala that opened my eyes. For the hill 

 was not really so commonplace as it seemed, of course not. It 



