BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 127 



upon being applied to the skin in some" way effected an entrance 

 and soon began multiplying, giving rise to the well known itching 

 and blisters. In the serum from the blisters the white blood cor- 

 puscles were found filled with wriggling bacteria. The same were 

 found, though not so carefully studied, in the poisonous fungi. T^e 

 conclusion is reached that many plants harbor these bacteria, which 

 upon being transferred to man induce disease and hence are called 

 poisonous. 



In a history of Floyd County, Iowa, Prof. J. C. Arthur has 

 published an account of the botany of that region. It has the 

 merit of being an unusual method of treating such a subject which 

 is at the same time philosophical. The usual method is to give a 

 bare list of the Phanerogams, and may be the Ferns, entirely neg- 

 lecting those vast groups of organisms which are below them in 

 rank but are verj r important. Such a list could not be given in an 

 exhaustive way but the grouping of the leading forms in a scienti- 

 fic way will be a revelation to old fashioned botanists who know 

 of nothing lower than that old "catch-all" called "Fungi." Prof. 

 Arthur explains all these groups in such a simple way that any- 

 one can understand them and know where to look for illustrative 

 forms. The grouping is the one given in Besseys Botany which 

 divides the plant kingdom into seven great groups, viz: 1. Proto- 

 phyta or Sexless Plants, and some of the uninitiated citizens of 

 Floyd County must have been startled by the Professor when they 

 read of some members of this group that "they creep about over the 

 ground, and in dry weather crawl beneath the surface, or under 

 sticks and leaves"; 2. Zyyosporew or Unisexual Plants,under which a 

 simple description of the common Spirogyra is given and certain 

 molds; 3. Oosporece or Egg-spore Plants, illustrated by Saprolegniti 

 or the fly-fangtis and the potato-fungus; 4. Catposj)orece or Mush- 

 rooms and their Allies, in which group one can hardly look around 

 without finding abundant means of illustration; 5. Bryophyta or 

 Mosses and Liverworts; 6. Pteridophyta or Ferns and their Allies: 

 7. Phaneragamia or Seed-bearing Plants. The idea that Phanero- 

 gams form the principal part of the vegetable kingdom fades away 

 under such a treatment of the subject and this great division 

 shrinks to its proper dimensions as but one of seven groups. At 

 the same time, while this is science, sentiment will always consider 

 that Phanerogams contain about all the plants worth mentioning. 



The black-fruited Crataegi and a new species.— We know 

 within the limits of our flora of two black-fruited Cratcerp', both 

 from the western half of the continent. Mr. G. W. Letterman 

 has now discovered a third one along Red River. These three 

 species may be distinguished from our ordinary red-fruited ones, to 

 be designated as Sect.Erythrocarpus, asSect.MelanocarpUS, andmay 

 be characterized by their black or black-purple or bluish fruit; 



