126 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



It is with regret that we have to record the death of one of 

 our well known botanists. Mr. Elihu Hall, of Athens, 111., died on 

 the 24th of September last, at the age of 60 years. Mr. Hall's 

 name is very intimately associated with many ot our Rocky Moun- 

 tain plants, the collection of Hall and Harbour in 1862, being 

 among the richest in new species ever made. He botanized exten- 

 sively in both Texas and Oregon, and in the second volume of the 

 Gazette he published quite an extended list, with notes, of the 

 "Arboreous, Arborescent and Suitrutieose Flora of Oregon." The 

 frequent appearance of the specific name HaU'ti among our western 

 plants will ever be a reminder of him and his work, a reminder 

 which he would most appreciate, his name linked with the plants 

 he loved so well. 



Dr. John A. Warder, President of the American Forestry 

 Association, has just issued a pamphlet bearing the title "Woody 

 Plants of Ohio. 1 ' In this work he has been assisted by Davis L. 

 James and Joseph F. James, of the Cincinnati Society of Natural 

 History. Dr. Warder is an old and skillful forester and few men 

 have so intimate a knowledge of the "tricks and ways 1 ' of our 

 woody plants. Having been fortunate enough to drink inspiration 

 from Nuttall himself, he has never lost it, and is ever anxious to im- 

 part his great practical knowledge to others. He has conceived rightly 

 that there is dense ignorance among farmers as to trees and this 

 pamphlet is ostensibly addressed to this class, for the purpose of 

 instruction, but the numerous notes are of great value also to the 

 scientific botanist. 



Prof. Gr. Briosi, of Rome, announces the discovery of a new 

 organ upon the germinating plant. It consists of a collar or ring 

 from which develop the equivalents of long "root-hairs." This 

 '"annulus" appears at the junction of the caulicle and root. The 

 discovery was made upon the germinating seeds of Eucalyptus 

 globulus. This organ is, of course, by no means of universal occur- 

 rence and the author mentions a few species and groups in which 

 it is found in greater or less prominence. Briosi considers the 

 function of this collar of hairs that of ordinary root-hairs; "it is a 

 provision for the absorption of moisture from the soil, which conies 

 into action at a very early period in germination, before the root 

 and its root -hairs are produced." An interesting notice of Briosi's 

 paper is given by Dr. Gray in the Am. Jour. Sci. for October. 



Prof. T. J. Burrill has for some years been engaged in 

 studying a certain plant disease, known as blight, which he con-, 

 eludes is caused by the presence of living organisms known by 

 that very poorly defined name, Bacteria. In the last number of the 

 Amer. Micr. Journal he gives a very interesting account of certain 

 vegetable poisons which he attributes to the presence of similar 

 organisms. Rhus Toxicodendron was the most carefully observed 

 and in its juices were discovered swarms of active bacteria, which 



