122 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[April, 



to the action of roots in aiding leaf develop- 

 ment. I should be much obliged if you will 

 give references to authorities for this view." 



[We are glad to find a disposition to look in- 

 to matters of this kind. It is too much the 

 habit to take things on trust. In this case we 

 did not know that "authorities" failed to con- 

 firm our view, — but we suppose they must have 

 thought it needless to refer to it, for the truth is 

 apparent to every practical gardener. For in- 

 stance, a grape vine may have two branches, — 

 one shall be led into a forcing house, the other 

 kept in a cool vinery ; the roots remaining in 

 the same border and under the same circum- 

 stances in both cases. The hothouse branch 

 will grow and bear fruit, while the other re- 

 mains dormant till the temperature rises. Again 

 you may cut down a willow log, and if it re- 

 mains exposed to the summer temperature it 



will sprout out into leaves and branches, with- 

 out any roots at all. These are a few illustra- 

 tions out of a large number, which might be 

 given, and while we commend the effort of 

 " Zero" to look into his books for authorities, 

 ma}' suggest at the same time that he look a lit- 

 tle into the "book of Nature" open all round 

 him. They are both good teachers. — Ed. G. M.] 

 Director Goodale of the Cambridge 

 Botanic Garden. — We are pleased to learn 

 that Prof. Goodale, who succeeded Prof. Sar- 

 gent in the directorship of these gardens is meet- 

 ing with good encouragement. It became neces- 

 sary to raise a fund of $60,000 to keep things up 

 to the best, and at the date of this writing one- 

 third of the amount has been contributed by the 

 public spirited citizens of Boston who seem 

 never behind-hand with the means when sci- 

 ence is to be advanced. 



Literature, Travels 5 Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



NOTES AND QUERIES-No. 11. 



BY JACQUES. 



Tlie green color of plants is, as is well known, 

 due to the presence in the cells of chlorophyl 

 granules, which consists of a protoplasm base 

 containing a green coloring matter. To the 

 chlorophyl which they contain plants owe their 

 power of decomposing carbonic acid gas, fixing 

 the carbon in their tissues, and setting free the 

 oxygen— a process which in plants corresponds, 

 at any rate in great part, to the process of diges- 

 tion and assimilation occurring in animals. 



The Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society just issued are very creditable to 

 that useful institution. The discussions on fruit, 

 especially the apple, are the result of experi- 

 ence. On rose culture the pamphlet is very 

 happy, though in our Philadelphia climate we 

 should differ as to some recommendations. 



As a proof of the essential identity between 

 animals and plants. Professor Allman in his 

 late address before the British Association, 

 which everybody should read, cited at length the 

 important experiments of Bernard on the effects 



of anaesthetics on plants. Bernard covered a 

 healthy and vigorous sensitive plant with a bell 

 glass, introducing under the glass a sponge 

 soaked in ether. In half an hour the plant was 

 in a state of complete anaesthesia ; all its leaves 

 remained fully extended, but they showed no 

 tendency to shrink when touched. The bell 

 glass was then removed, and the plant gradually 

 recovered its irritability. Other experiments 

 showed that anaeesthetics possess the power of 

 temporarily averting not only the irritability of 

 vegetable protoplasm, but also the phenomenon 

 of nutrition generally, and even those of germi- 

 nation. Seeds placed under the influence of 

 ether had their germination arrested for five or 

 six days, the process of development recom- 

 mencing on the removal of the ether. 



We read and study too little of our national pub- 

 lications. The late number of Hayden's Bulle- 

 tin of the United States Surveys of the Terri- 

 tories, contains much of interest on the Yellow- 

 stone Park. On the slopes of Amethyst Moun- 

 tain, 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the river valley, 

 are exposed at different levels at intervals 

 through the entire height, a series of silicified 

 trees, many rooted in the position in which they 

 grew, and from twenty to thirty feet in height. 



