

Botanical Gaze^tte: 



Vol. Vr. FEBRUARY, 1881. No. 2. 



Editorial. — A distinguished botanist has said, "He who demol- 

 ishes a false species does better service than one who establishes a 

 new one." Of tliC truth of this there can be no doubt, but the troub- 

 le lies in its application. We venture to assert that if there was any- 

 way by which such distii'agujshed service could be permanently record- 

 ed with the change, as there is when a new species is made, that 

 just as many botanists would be earnestly trying to destroy species as 

 are now eager to establish new ones. 



Prof. Alphonso Wood died at his home at West Farms, N, Y. , 

 January 4th, at the age of 71. Prof. AVood's name is known through- 

 out the country w herever tlie science of Botany is studied. His Text- 

 books and Manuals were very ])0|nilar and found a warm reception in 

 very many schools and botanical libraries. His whole object in ar 

 ranging and describing species seemed to be to make it easy for be- 

 ginners to find the names. While, of course, no such thought should 

 enter into the writing of a strictly scientific description, it is very re- 

 freshing to the puzzled student sometimes to turn from such a one to 

 another from which all difficulties have been cleared away and charac- 

 ters used that any one can see It was for this reason that 

 Prof. Wood's books found such ready sale and such probably was the 

 sole spirit of his work. As a scientific bf)tanist hi?, work can never 

 rank very high, but as an educator his name will always be remem- 

 bered. 



A NOTK IN Nature says that a ])lant recently introduced by acci- 

 dent into Queensland {Xaiitliiitm strumariuin) is giving trouble to the 

 colon'sts on account ot its poisonous effects on catt'e. Extract of the 

 plant being administered for experiment produced torpidity gradually 

 increasing till without struggling or excitement the breathing ceased, 

 after which the heart's action became feeble aiid stopped. From 

 smaller doses the animals recovered. Extracts of A' spiiwsum gave 

 similar results. Does any one know whether cattle in this country eat 

 these weeds, and if so, whether any ill ellects are noticeable ? 



M. Hknry Poi.oNiK has advanced the theory that the gritty par- 

 ticles near the core in pears and allied fruits, called sometimes "stone- 

 cells," are the rudimentary remains of a stone enclosing the seeds of 

 some ancestor of our i)resent pears. The theory is supported by the 

 fact that a series of fruits can be made in which there is a regular gra- 

 dation from almost no stone-cells to where they are in contact and 

 form a kind of casing for the seeds; and also some related genera have 

 stony fruits. 



Prof. W. W. Bailey is preparing a "Botanical Collector's Hand- 

 book," which is to be published by Geo. A. Bates of Salem, Mass., 



