120 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



might find our Primulaceae under the name of Rotaceae, our 

 Chenopodiaceae masquerading as Holeraceae, the Ambrosi- 

 aceae called Nucamentaceae, the Boraginaceae as Asperifoliae 

 and the Violaceae as Melanideae. All these names would be 

 used if priority prevailed, but what good would the changes 

 do? None that we can think of: but the harm the changes 

 would work are very potent. It would confuse the beginner, 

 make an endless trouble for the older student and render all 

 works of botany in a measure unintelligible to beginners who 

 took up the study of plants under the new names. Of all the 

 people studying plants not one desires a change of names. 

 Only those with axes to grind really favor a shake-up. 



Christmas Trees. — It requires about four million small 

 trees annually to supply the demand for Christmas trees and 

 some nervous individuals have inveighed against the Christ- 

 mas tree custom for fear it may add its share to the drain our 

 diminishing forests have to bear. According to the United 

 States Forester, however, we have little to fear from this 

 source. It would require only about 1,500 acres to grow all 

 the Christmas trees used in the United States. This is a very 

 small item compared with the hundred thousand acres needed 

 to supply the lumber mills for a single day. A single yellow 

 newspaper devoted to sordid records of murder, suicide 

 and other crimes makes a much heavier demand on the forests. 

 It would be far better for both the forests and the peeople if 

 there were Christmas trees in every home and only four mil- 

 lion yellow journals ever issued. 



Remedy for Ivy Poisoning. — For the benefit of the few 

 that cannot handle poison ivy without ill effects, we note 

 another remedy for poisoning by it. This is tincture of Grin- 

 delia. It is to be diluted with four or five times as much water 

 and the affected parts bathed with the solution or covered with 

 cotton or gauze saturated with it. 



