BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 75 



but nowhere west of that. The latter is throe times the height of the former, aad con- 

 stantly deep blue. * 



I was surprised to see the dillerence in grasses here from those of the rich, allu- 

 vial valleys of the west of the State; Af/rotttis .vabra, Willd., Arintida gracilis. Ell., 

 Fc»tura fenelhi, Willd., and Hp(iroh<)lHt< heterolepis. Gray, all indicative of a thin soil 

 and just suited to our decompo.sed Iowa-granite sub-soil. Hence 1 fear, botanical 

 science with the geographical distribution of plants, most exactly confirms the exhibit 

 of Iowa soils at the Centennial — making that of Story county the thinnest of all; a 

 fact confirmed by abounding .Innrtia temda and Artemisia Canadensis, both unknown 

 farther west. I think I make (jut in Story county these four tSalices which do not occur 

 in the west of the State, viz. : iSalix huniilis, iS. petiularis, S. sericea and »S'. eriocephala. 

 The willows are a notoriously diflicult lumily, but, after careful study and search dur- 

 ing the season, I am fully satisfied tliei-e are no "Red " or " Diamond Willows" in Story 

 county, nor anywhere east of the "Divide" at the head of Boyer Valley. I am equally 

 convinced that they are new sPeciks, and not at all Salix cordata witha var. myrtifolia. 

 With all their greater need of timber for jiosts, the common-place pioneers of Mo. River 

 Valley rould not have discovered in 20 years what the "live Yankee" had not discov- 

 ered in 250 years in the east, that tlwsc willous were as durable as lied Cedar for fence 

 posts! How long shall we wait for names 1o be assigned by the Masters'? Or, shall we 

 who alone have the tree, alive, or in lumber, to study with all due care, call them Halix 

 rhoinboideanudSaliv rhotnbin-indentala'^ For ^^/^/i species are noted for their diamond- 

 shaped depressions in root and trunk, from which our most unique canes are made. — 

 RouEKT BuuGESS, Ames, Iowa, JSfov., 1876. 



01>iituary. — We regret to announce to our readers the death of Professor Herbert E. 

 Copeland, teacher of Natural Sciences in the Indianapolis High School. The sad event 

 occurred on Tuesday', Dec. 12th, and was caused by his devotion to his favorite studies. 

 Abont o weeks before his death while he was fishing in one of the streams near Indian- 

 apolis to secure specimens for his scientific work, he fell into the water, and by this 

 means contracted a severe cold. This was followed by an attack of brain fever, which 

 later changed into the tyjihoid form, term i nail U'j; in death. He leaves a wife and two 

 small children. Professor Copeland was an enthusiastic student of the Sciences, and his 

 successes in the class room and with the pen, gave promise of a brilliant future. In 

 liim the Gazette loses one of its firmest friends and most constant contributors. At 

 the time of his death he had in i)reparation several articles which would have appeared 

 in subsequent numbers. 



Recent Publications. — The American Journal of Science and Arts, November. — 

 Dr. Gray reviews the Proceedings of the Anierican Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, Botanical Articles. He remarks that these are few and not of high im- 

 portance. 



The AmGrican Naturalist, November. — Dr. Geo. H. Perkins contributes an inter- 

 esting article on the " Hygiene of House Plants," in which he assures the lovers of 

 flowers that house plants are ph^'sically, intellectually and morally healthful. He 

 states that they are injurious only as they increase the carbonic acid in the air, and as 

 they give out injurious perfumes. He shows that both these effects are counterlialanced 

 and that house plants are ])ositively useful, " as they ]K)ur aqueous vapor into dry air, 

 as they demand plenty of light and air, and on this account many a room, otherwise 

 dark and unwholesome, is well lighted and aired." An interesting series of observa- 

 tions are given upon the growth of the flower-stalk of the Hyacinth, by A. W. Bennett, 

 which go to prove that the " greatest energy of growth is displayed by the apical por- 

 tion of the peduncle or that immediately beneath the flower-bud, the energy apparently 

 decreasing regularly towards the base of the flower-stalk." 



