1882.) 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



319 



All of these considerations have value in con- 

 nection with the question of the origin of species. 

 If one genus has grown out of, or proceeded 

 from another or others, there must have been 

 a severe destruction of intermediate forms to 

 leave this singular one standing so very much 

 alone. It may be a very old family. There 

 may have been forms branching off from this — 

 younger species — and these have been swept 

 away, leaving the parents still to live longer; or 

 these plants may be of a modern origin, of which 

 the whole ancestry is lost. Probably most biolo- 

 gists would be inclined to the latter view — in 

 which case we might inquire what it is which 

 has given these plants the power to maintain an 

 existence as against the ancestors which have 

 been destroyed. Unless we knew exactly what 

 these ancestors were, and what powers they 

 possessed, it would not be possible to decide 

 positively ; but, in the view that these are 

 modern introductions, Ave may suppose that the 

 ancestors were much like other plants, which 

 had not the pitcher-like appendages to the 

 leaves which these plants possess. They are 

 swamp plants, growing in the warmer parts of 

 the East Indies and China, and what possible 

 use they are to the plants, any more than pitch- 

 ers would be to any other plants, no one has 

 been able to suggest. The water in them is 

 rather a tax on the energies of the plant. In 

 our American pitcher plants the liquid secretion 

 has often numerous insects which seem to have 

 been drowaied therein, and these insects seem 

 to aid in the nutrition of the plant. But no one 

 appears to have noted that the nepenthes catch 

 insects, and Darwin makes no mention of them 

 among his '' Insectivorous Plants." 



Again, among all the various forms of nepen- 

 thes, what is there in one form that should have 

 called it into existence as a point of advantage 

 over the forms which characterize its brethren? 

 In this particular species, Nepenthes Rajah, the 

 pitchers are enormous. The drawing shows one 

 of only half the natural size. It is six inches 

 in diameter and twelve inches long. Some 

 species have pitchers not a quarter of this size, 

 and yet for all we see they get along just as well 

 as that with this enormous pitcher, requiring 

 such an enormous tax on the plant's resources 

 to draw water up from the root, and to sustain 

 the weight. Even the lid is ten inches long and 

 eight broad, and one might say performed some 

 good work in covering the mouth of the pitcher, 

 and preventing a too rapid evaporation ; but 



there are other species, with small and nearly 

 erect lids, and these again seem to get along 

 just as well in the " struggle for life." Besides 

 this there are innumerable other points in which 

 they vary from one another ; and yet no one 

 will say that any one is better equipped for the 

 great fight than another. While these and other 

 reflections will always occur to those who love to 

 endeavor to penetrate the great mysteries of 

 nature, there is yet one which needs no solution 

 —the question of its wonderful construction and 

 singular beauty. It is one of the great wonders 

 of the vegetable world, and was long ago de- 

 scribed by Sir Joseph Hooker, and named by 

 him in honor of the celebrated Rajah Brooke. 

 It has recently been introduced to culture from 

 Borneo, by the enterprise of the celebrated firm 

 of James Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, London. It 

 is rather expensive yet— $25 is the price set on a 

 single plant. 



Professor Joseph L. Barfoot. — Lovers of 

 natural history, passing through Salt Lake city, 

 have always been glad to make the acquaintance 

 of Professor Barfoot of the museum of natural 

 history, and will be sorry to learn of his decease 

 which it seems occurred on the 23rd of April last. 

 He engaged in a wide correspondence with dis- 

 tinguished scientific men all over the world. He 

 was born at Warwick Castle, England, on the 

 29th of March 1816; was a lineal descendent of 

 Robert Bruce, and, at the time of his death 

 was heir to the Earldom of Crawford. He em- 

 braced Mormonism in London in 1856, and in 

 1865 immigrated to Salt Lake city, where he 

 lived till he died. 



The Progress of Refinement. —At a recent 

 convention of undertakers it was resolved that 

 in future their business shall be known as that 

 of " Funeral Directors." Mr. Albaugh suggests 

 that nurserymen must not drag too far after 

 Eesthetic improvement, and that John Smith 

 should announce himself as "Arboreal Manipu- 

 lator." 



Hide-bound Beings.— Dr. Beadle suggests that 

 if slitting the bark of hide-bound trees be con- 

 ceded to be good practice, it might be extended 

 to those hide-bound dogs and cats which in 

 Canada, and sometimes elsewhere, will keep 

 tired horticulturists awake o' nights listening to 

 their unwelcome songs. 



Houghton Farm Experiments with Indian 

 Corn.— By Manly Miles, Cambridge, 1882. Pru- 



