EDITOR'S TABLE. 



123 



would add this description of a case observed 

 at " Harmon's Bottom," in Bedford County, 

 Pennsylvania, twenty years ago. Two sugar- 

 maples had been united by the natural 

 grafting of the branch of one of them upon 

 the trunk of the other, about six feet away, 

 and at ten feet above the ground. The tree- 

 trunks were both intact, with their roots, 

 hut the trunk of the second tree was strik- 

 ingly smaller below the graft than above it, 

 and one might consider this due to retarda- 

 tion of the circulation below, as well as in- 

 creased flow of sap above. In your corre- 

 spondent's illustration, the trunk below, 

 being severed from its roots, became an 

 appendage to the rest of the circulating sys- 

 tem. It has been speculated that there is 

 circulation downward in plants, the roots 

 discharging to as well as eliminating from 

 the soil, and that this action unfits a soil as 

 much for repetition of crops as does ex- 

 haustion of nourishing constituents. The 

 preference for change in kinds of trees that 

 spring up after forest-clearing — a natural 

 rotation of crops — has been very generally 

 remarked. F. Z. Schellenberg. 



Irwin, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1&S7. 



WHAT IS A BATOU? 



Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



Sir : A friendly, well-meaning, and time- 

 ly correction is never amiss. When the er- 

 ror to be rectified is such as is likely to 

 arouse feelings of regretful remonstrance in 

 a community, the correction is the more par- 

 donable ; when it is likely to color the opin- 

 ion of a nation, the correction becomes im- 

 perative. 



The correction which the writer, one of 

 a " commimity " supposed above, would 



most humbly beg leave to make, is to an 

 error that the writer of a most able and in- 

 teresting article in the July issue of " The 

 Popular Scieuce Monthly," entitled " The 

 >«orth American Lakes," has doubtless 

 unwittingly been guilty of. I do not pre- 

 sume to say that he was led to the com- 

 mission of the error by any ignorance of his 

 subject, but rather by a want of a sufficient 

 knowledge of the local nomenclature of 

 Louisiana. 



To quote the author's words — " Lake 

 Borgne and Lake Pontchartrain have been 

 captured from the Gulf by the delta of the 

 Mississippi, while numerous small lakes, 

 called bayous," etc. We will say nothing 

 of the derivation of the word, which, of it- 

 self, can not be construed to mean a lake, 

 for, alas ! local usages frequently defy all at- 

 tempts at classification, and are by no means 

 fair criteria for the true meaning and ap- 

 plication of a term ; but, as a Louisianian, 

 we will say that the term " bayou," in the 

 article cited, has been used under some mis- 

 apprehension. 



If the author will procure for himself 

 an authentic map of Louisiana, he will find 

 the lower part of the State to be covered 

 with almost a network of small water-courses, 

 although they scarcely deserve the name, 

 varying in size from the smallest " creek " 

 to charmels just navigable by small ves- 

 sels, all exceedingly sinuous and very river- 

 like. These are what, in Louisiana, are 

 called " bayous." Whatever may be the 

 geological origin and nature of these bodies, 

 the fact still remains that the term " bayou," 

 in Louisiana, is applied to nothing at all re- 

 sembling a " lake." Respectfully yours, 

 C. M. Williams. 



Cabeollton, LorisiANA, September 5, 1887. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



SCIENCE IN EABNESS. 



"VTO journal has upheld more stead- 

 -LN ily than "The Popular Science 

 Monthly " the principle that, as fast as 

 they are established, the truths of sci- 

 ence shall be applied to useful purposes, 

 and, through popular education, be 

 made as widely available as possible for 

 the general guidance of life. And yet 

 we can not look with favor upon what 

 many persons doubtless regard as a very 

 signal and happy example of the utiliza- 

 tion of scientific conclusions — we mean 

 the authoritative and dogmatic teach- 

 ing as to the effects of alcohol, now 



provided for by the school laws of 

 many States. It is only right, there- 

 fore, that we should assign our reasons 

 for holding that this is not a case of 

 the legitimate application of scientific 

 ti'uths to practical life. 



In the first place, it is an abuse 

 of power on the part of the majority. 

 In the "temperance" controversy as a 

 distinct social issue we have no wish 

 to interfere ; but we can not ignore 

 the fact that there is such a contro- 

 versy, nor can we consent to believe, 

 with the advocates of prohibitory legis- 

 lation, that their opponents are neces- 



