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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



driven to the conclusion that one of 

 the most important results of the evo- 

 lutionary change has been the gradual 

 increase and perfection of heredity as a 

 function of organisms and a gradual 

 elimination of variability. This view, 



if it can be established, is of the utmost 

 importance to our theoretical concep- 

 tion of evolution, because it enables us 

 to bring our requirements as to time 

 within the limits granted by the physi- 

 cists. 



MINOR PARAGRAPHS. 



Of the archaeology of Block Island, 

 Arthur Hollick found in his explorations 

 that around the shores of Great Salt 

 Pond and on the sand dunes that bor- 

 der the western shores of the island evi- 

 dences of former occupation by the In- 

 dians are numerous. Kitchen middens 

 are exposed in several street cuttings, 

 implements are often found scattered 

 over the surface of the ground in cer- 

 tain localities, and skeletons have been 

 unearthed from time to time. In many 

 places the kitchen midden accumula- 

 tions were so obvious that it was im- 

 possible to ignore them entirely. They 

 were found to consist of the customary 

 collection of oyster and other shells, 

 bones, pottery fragments, fire-cracked 

 stones, charcoal, finished implements, re- 

 jects, flakes, chips, etc. The finished im- 

 l)lements found were two axes, of a 

 I>lagioclase igneous rock, and three ar- 

 row points, all of quartzite. In the 

 sand dunes were many old fireplaces, 

 mostly buried by the sand which has 

 drifted over them. They could general- 

 ly be located by the richness of the turf 

 on the surface immediately above. 

 Mixed with the accumulations in these 

 places were the bones and teeth of ani- 

 mals. The island promises a good re- 

 ward for arehajological investigation. 



In a form of disease known as pecki- 

 ness in the cypress and pin-rot in the 

 lihrocedrus, described by Hermann von 

 Schrenk in a thesis presented to Wash- 

 ington University, the wood is destroyed 

 in localized areas, which are surround- 

 ed by apparently sound wood. The cell 

 ■walls are changed into compounds, 

 which diffuse through the walls and fill 

 the cells surrounding the decayed cen- 

 ter, and tliese have been called humus 

 compounds. In both trees a fungus 

 mycelium occurs, with strongly marked 

 characteristics, which flourishes within 

 the diseased centers, and grows between 

 them without afl'ccting the intervening 

 wood. This wood can be utilized for 



many purposes even when much rotted, 

 and in neither case does the mycelium 

 grow after the tree has once been cut 

 down. The two trees thus diseased, 

 both representatives of a race of trees 

 the majority of which are extinct, are 

 closely related genetically, although 

 growing in difi'erent parts of the coun- 

 try. The two forms of decay differ but 

 slightly, and not more than might be 

 expected in two woods of different char- 

 acter. 



Mr. J. C. Arthur, of the Purdue 

 University Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, a few years ago picked up a small 

 white flower {Cerastium arvcnse oblon- 

 (jifoUum) growing unobtrusively among 

 the grass and low weeds of the roadside. 

 It was a little more atti-active than its 

 relative which is called the field chick- 

 weed, and the author suggests the name 

 of starry grasswort for it. Under culti- 

 vation it spread out over the ground in 

 a close mat of foliage in a manner char- 

 acteristic of many members of the pink 

 family, to which it belongs; and now for 

 six weeks in April and May it is a mass 

 of " dazzling whiteness, softened with 

 the pale green of stems and leaves," 

 while " all winter long the prostrate 

 stems remain alive to their very tips, and 

 the leaves maintain a summerlike ap- 

 pearance," without the indurated, pol- 

 ished look so usually associated with 

 evergreen foliage. This is one roadside 

 flower taken up, perhaps casually, for 

 cultivation and improvement. There are 

 others — no one knows how many — that 

 will doubtless likewise reward the pains 

 taken with them; and this inspires Mr. 

 Arthur to suggest to others that they 

 keep a lookout for plants that may 

 become desirable garden varieties and 

 try them. " It is evident that showiness 

 in the wild state is not the most impor- 

 tant criterion by wliich to gauge the fu- 

 ture culture value of a plant. One needs 

 to have many factors in mind to meet 

 with success, and it is hoped that the 



