BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 121 



late in the afternoon I became entrapped, and had to chance a slid:; 

 down a limestone ledge of about 12 feet. A projection caught my 

 left hand and broke one of the metacarpal bones in the palm of 

 the hand, with a loud snap and much pain. 



And this is why, my dear readers, being confined to camp,! have 

 found the time out of our busy life, to scribble these lines for the 

 Gazette. The doubtful ferns have been forwarded to Prof. Eaton 

 for determination, and we hope next winter to be able to send out 

 from our herbarium in Oakland, Cal., several new ferns gathered 

 from our Colossal Fern Album. — Huachuca Mts., Arizona. 



Latent Vitality of Seeds.— In the current number of the 

 Am. Jour. Sci. Dr. Gray gives some account of the recent experi- 

 ments of Van Tieghem and G. Bonnier to ascertain the effect of 

 different conditions on the latent vitality of seed. Several packets 

 of seeds, in January, 1880, were divided into three equal parts and 

 placed under the following conditions: One was exposed to free air 

 but screened from dust; another in closed air, being tightly corked 

 up in a tube; the third in pure carbonic acid. At the end of two 

 years the seeds were taken out, weighed and sown. The seeds ex- 

 posed to free air had gained in weight; those in closed air had 

 gained a verv little; while those in carbonic acid gas hardly varied 

 from their original weight. In regard to their germination, over 

 90 per cent, of the peas and beans kept in the free air germinated; 

 45 per cent, of the peas and only 2 per cent, of the beans kept in 

 closed air germinated; while of those exposed to carbonic acid gas 

 not one showed any vitality. In conclusion Dr. Gray remarks: 

 "If the full course of experiments gives such results, it will (we 

 should say) be made clear, 1st, that the vegetable embryo in the 

 seed is not strictly speaking latent, but is doing some work, how- 

 ever little, is keeping up a respiration, which is essential to its con- 

 tinued life. 2, That the life of seeds cannot be indefinitely pro- 

 longed. Very old seeds exposed to the air must be dead by exhaus- 

 tion, and those deeply buried, by suifocation; and the numerous 

 recorded cases of the germination of ancient seeds are more and 

 more to be distrusted.' 



Trifoliuni liybruhim, L.— This species of Trifolium was 



found growing at Montreal in August, and though perhaps not 

 permanently established, yet deserves a place in our flora. The 

 description of the species as given in Hooker's "Students' Flora of 

 the British Islands," is given below, as it may be of use to identify 

 the plant when found. It seems to be often introduced into England 

 with the ordinary T. repens, and occasionally replaces it. 



"T 1 . hybrid um, L.; almost glabrous, leaflets obovate or oblong, 

 stipules oblong, tips triangular, heads axillary peduncled globose, 

 pedicels elongate at length reflexed, flowers drooping, calyx-tube 



