I 



BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 119 



ons. I doubt if such an assemblage of execrable plants is to be found 

 in so small a space elsewhere in the whole world. Hidden among 

 the grass is the Opnntia Pi's-Corv), its slender, creeping joints armed 

 with long, sharp spines, which inflii.-t a most painful wound, the liarb- 

 ed points holding on so tenaciously that the joints of the cactus break 

 off with them. It is a plant not to be handled with impunity — much 

 less to be sat upon. Of the large Opiinfia vulgaris there is also an 

 abundance. It is armed with fascicles of minute, stinging spines 

 which seem to have a much stronger attachment for ones hand than 

 for the parent plant. Here are also barricades of Spanisli Bayonets, 

 tangles of spring vines, beds of Spanish needles and stinging nettles. 

 But worst of all is the MentzeUa Floridana or "Poor Man's Blaster.*' 

 It is as handsome as a primrose and as incapable of giving pain, yet 

 one soon comes to dread it more than the Yucca or Qpuntia. It is a 

 weak, diffusely branching plant, reclining on the ground and on other 

 plants, and adorned with bright yellow flowers similar to those of a 

 cactus. Its leaves are extremely pretty and change as they fade to 

 various shades of yellow and brown. A weary, unwary tourist is 

 tempted to recline upon the soft mats of herbage it spreads so invi- 

 tingly, but woe to him if he yields to the temptation, for upon rising 

 he finds himself clothed like Josepli in a coat of mau}^ colors, gor- 

 geous with patches of yellow, orange, russet and every shade of green. 

 Each leaf that touches him has stuck like an adhesive plaster and is 

 not to be removed by pulling or scraping. Tlie whole j)lant is cover- 

 ed with a pubescence consisting of minule, white, barbed, siliceous 

 hairs, and as the leaves are very tender it is almost impossible to de- 

 tach them from a woven fabric. 



The resources of this islet are soon exhausted, and the excessive 

 heat constrains us to betake ourselves to the water again. There is 

 no shade and the shells seem to give out as much heat as the sun 

 itself, producing a temperature of fully 150 degrees. Once again 

 floating between walls of living green, thoughts of sunstroke are sup- 

 planted by anticipations of rest and pleasure within the inviting 

 groves of Pine-Island to which we now draw near. Our journey has 

 been thus far a purgatorial passage to — perhaps — a botanical para- 

 dise. We shall soon know if our boatman finds the right channel 

 through the marshes and that before the tide ebbs. (To be contin- 

 ued.) 



Carbonic Acid in the Air of Forests. — The information has come 

 to us that Prof. Ebermayer and Dr. Schwappach find that the air 



