l')i 



THE (iARPhXr.R'S M().\rill.y 



\.\Jay. 



loaf art' tlislinct tVuiu tlic nMiiaindiT of tin' leaf '». Tin- stnitiurcs and (lc\ rlDjuiicnls of \\\c 



and their motion is not simiillaiu'oiis witli ihat leaves s(i<j<;est the iivpolhesis that tlie inove- 



of the *'rhip])ers." nieiits of tlie " elajipeis" are dii'- to variahh* 



:^. Thestellatoa hair> and LrlamK are developed turLTCseonse (absorptions of sap) on n])pi'r 



from the ejiidermis, hnt the sensitive hairs tVom parenchynial surface alone, 



the snh-epidernial tissnes. ii. Sensitive liairs are the active oriians that 



4. Stoniata exist on both sid.-s of the leaf, hut convey the impulse of irritation direct to the 



only on the under sides of the "(dappers." sul>-epidermal tissues. — //o/. Zeifunir, <)d. 1S77. 



Literature, Travels i Personal Notes, 



COM ML \Y/C\i TlOyS. 



POST OFFICE LAWS. 



HY KLIlir IIAL1>, ATHENS, ILL. 



Since it turns out that our members of Con- 

 gress pass laws that are lia])le to be evaded by 

 their dishonest constituents (judging us, of course, 

 by themi^elves), taking this, the most charita- 

 ble view of the situation, for we do not want to 

 believe they are inHuenced by the express com- 

 panies" money. I would suggest that you origi- 

 nate in your journal a petition to the honest 

 members of Congress, to be signed by postal 

 card, addressed to you, and by j'ou presented to 

 the cleverest member you know of, for the law 

 to be so changed as to not admit of a construction 

 that excludes from the benefits of the office 

 Agriculturists, Horticulturists, Seedsmen, and 

 Scientists, in the transmission of their i)roducts. 

 The principle feature of the petition to be that 

 parcels of plants, seeds, specimens in natural 

 history, «&c., maj' be sent through the mails at 

 the rate now fixed by law, with labels or tickets, 

 printed or written, securely tied to secure safety 

 in transmission, subject only to inspection at the 

 delivery office by the sender paying three cents 

 additional to the amount required by law. This 

 would be a boon to thousands of us who do not 

 care so much about saving a penny as we do 

 about losing a pound, and certainly ought to 

 save us from suspicion of stealing our messages 

 through, when we could send them on a postal 

 card. This, it is true, would be an additional 

 burden imposed upon this large class of respect- 

 able (except in certain high law-making quar- 

 ters) citizens. Yet I believe that all who are 

 prescribed by recent constructions and rulings in 

 the law, from the use of the mails at all, would 

 gladly welcome this additional tax on their busi- 

 ness than be deprived wholly of its benefits ; aud 



let us all pray that the time may come when 

 writing on the wrapper of a parcel of seeds, the 

 word '"seeds" shall not subject the whole to letter 

 postage. What a terrible olTence to somebody 

 that must be I Were any other people but our- 

 selves ever guilty of such ridiculous absurdity ? 



THE WEEPING WILLOW IN NEW 

 ENGLAND. 



liV WILLIAM NISI5KTT, I'llOVIDENX'K, K. 1. 



In a recent number of the Monthly, you 

 made inquiry concerning the introduction of the 

 Weeping Willow into Xew England, and also 

 about the Xapoleon Willow, introduced b}' Capt. 

 Jacob Smith, into Rhode Island. 



It was in the year '1826 that Captain Smith, 

 who had touched at St. Helena on his homeward 

 voyage from the East Indies, presented a plant 

 of Weeping Willow to a gentleman of this city, 

 (the late well known and much respected 

 Thomas P. Ives, Esq.), who had it planted in his 

 garden. It was a slip taken from the tree, grow- 

 ing over Napoleon's grave in that island, which 

 the Captain planted and brought home in a nail 

 keg. This I learned from the person who set 

 out the tree. I saw this tree, for the first time, 

 in 1844. It was then a vigorous and shapely 

 tree, the parent of a numerous progeny, and 

 an object of no small interest. 



In the month of December, 18GG, it fell to me 

 as gardener, to take down this notable tree. It 

 had become much decayed, and was in danger of 

 being blown down at any time, to the damage 

 of surrounding objects. 



When prostrate, the trunk presented a singu- 

 lar spectacle. The interior for many feet from 

 the ground was completely rotten. Much of this 

 decayed mass had become geimine vegetable 

 mould. Into this, the tree in its efforts to live, 

 had sent numerous rootlets. One of these was 



