EDITORIAL 



129 



for Avhich the plant is noted. Trans- 

 ferred to the skin, the Alicrocom/s 

 nuiltipHes rapidly, penetrates the 

 sweat glands and sets up the well- 

 known inflammation. This would ex- 

 ])lain the transference of the poison by 

 the wind. The minute microbe, torn 

 lose by the breeze, might easily fall on 

 a sensitive skin and there excite the 

 annoying inflammation, as the cells of 

 the microbe are exceedingly minute, 

 measuring only one fifty-thousandth of 

 an inch in diameter. 



I have seen many a man pull up a 

 plant and rub the leaves over his hands 

 to show that he had no fear of delete- 

 rious efifects. Such a man might be en- 

 gaged by the Board of Health to ex- 

 terminate the plant. The vine is not 

 plentiful enough in any one locality to 

 make it worth while to hire a man to 

 eradicate it. The best and most eco- 

 nomical method would therefore be to 

 have the town, through the Board of 

 Health, engage an immune man, at 

 perhaps not much more than an ordi- 

 nary laborer's wages, to visit all re- 

 ported localities and do the work. 

 Probably when the plant has been 

 pulled up by the roots some chemical 

 might be applied to the ground, per- 

 haps common salt, that would prevent 

 the revival of any tiny root fibres that 

 may be left. The problem could be 

 easily solved if some central authority 

 would take the matter in hand. That 

 the work of eradication would not be 

 difficult is shown by the fact that the 

 ivy is not very plentiful though few^ 

 people attempt to destroy the plant. It 

 would be far better if the five-leaved 

 \'irginia creeper were substituted for 

 the poison ivy as a covering for old 

 fences and w^alls. The bittersweet too 

 would be a decorative plant for such 

 places. 



["Micrococcus toxicatus Burrill, 



(American Naturalist, Vol. XVII, 1883, 

 page 319.) Cells globular, single or in 

 pairs, rarely in chains, 0.5m in diame- 

 ter ; movements oscillatory only. In 

 species of Rhus, believed to be the pe- 

 culiar 'poison' for which these plants 

 are noted. Transferred to the human 

 skin, they multiply rapidly, penetrate 

 the epidermis through the sweat glands 

 and set up the w^ell-known inflamma- 



tion." See also "Synopsis of the Bac- 

 teria and Yeast Fungi," W. B. Grove, 

 London, 1884. This explains the pois- 

 oning by the wind. — S.] 



Famous Educator and Her School at 

 ArcAdiA. 



Airs. Winifred Sackville Stoner, di- 

 rector and lecturer of the Stoner Sum- 

 mer Institute in Natural Education at 

 The Scuddcr School, New York City, 

 with her pupils spent Saturday at Ar- 

 cAdi.V. They visited the grounds, saw 

 the spots on the sun through the tele- 

 scope, had a picnic in the grove, be- 

 came acquainted with the bees and 

 then had a literary, musical and illus- 

 trative program in the Welcome Re- 

 ception Room. Mrs. Stoner is known 

 the w^orld over for the remarkable man- 

 ner in which she succeeded w^ith her 

 daughter Winifred, Jr., by following 

 the laws of a natural education. Her 

 little daughter could speak several lan- 

 guages and wrote for periodicals at the 

 age of five and yet retained all the 

 characteristics of a healthy, playful 

 child. Though only thirteen years of 

 age she has already written and had 

 published ten books. Mrs. Stoner 

 claims that what she has done in the 

 remarkable development of her child 

 in the earliest years can be done equ-il- 

 ly w^elK or at least to a very efficient 

 extent, by any one wdio trains childen. 

 She says: "Natural Education will 

 bring better bodies, better minds, loft- 

 ier attainments, increased efficiency, 

 and augmented personalities." 



Appointment in Conservation. 



M. L. Alexander has been appointed 

 bv the governor of Louisiana to be the 

 Commissioner of Conservation of the 

 new Department of Conservation cre- 

 ated by the legislature of that state 

 during its last session. 



The Department of Conservation 

 supersedes the former Conservation 

 Commission of Louisiana, which was 

 composed of three commissioners. The 

 new department of state has but one 

 head, the Commissioner. Mr. Alex- 

 ander was the president of the former 

 commission and his appointment to the 

 head of the new conservation body is 

 in the nature of a recognition of his 

 efficient management of the old board. 



