372 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Sept. 



Water Lily is found here, but not the white. The Escholtzia is 

 here, but, I think, escaped from cultivation. "We have the pretty 

 Dielytra which is cultivated in Canada, and several other species 

 of the Fumariaceae. A number of Crucifers are native, and the Shep- 

 herd's Purse and Mustard, introduced here, have spread conside- 

 rably. The Blue Violet (F. cucullata) is the same, I think, as 

 the eastern, and is native, probably. A St. John's wort is com- 

 mon, and a Claytonia, representing the Portulaca tribe, is one of 

 our earliest visitors. Several kinds of Geranium and Malvaceae 

 are abundant. Of the other families, the Leguminosae and Lilia- 

 cea3 are most fully represented. There are, also, a great number 

 of Orchids. The most curious of these is one I take to be a 

 Calypso, perfectly white all over, like the Indian Pipe. Among 

 the Leguminosse we have several species of Lupine, some of them 

 very handsome. The Saxifrages are very delicate and pretty, 

 though rather obscure. One of the Ericaceae (Gaultheria Shallon), 

 called here sal-lal, in leaf and fruit resembles your Winter- 

 Green, though it grows up into quite a bush. There are several 

 kinds of Vaccinium, none of them to my taste quite as good as 

 your blueberries. The 'big-root,' with a flower and leaf like your 

 running cucumber and an intensely bitter root, as big as a per- 

 son's head, represents the Cucumber tribe. Two or three kinds 

 of Mimulus, one of the Musk Plant and a pretty blue Collinsia are 

 the most common of the Schrophulariceae. The Nemophila 

 covers the prairies in April and May, and several kinds of flowers 

 soon follow it. 



" Several kinds of Willow are common, and an ugly thing, 

 neither an herb nor a bush, a thorny stick with a spreading top 

 of immense prickly leaves and disagreeable scent, represents your 

 sarsaparilla. It is called Elk-Brush, or the Devil's Walking- 

 stick, and is a pretty sure sign of water on the mountains. 



" The Grasses are various and interesting, but I have not yet 

 done much with them. I hope by another year to examine them 

 and the Cryptogams somewhat. Much of the botany of the country 

 remains undescribed, and what has been described is scattered in 

 so many books, I am afraid that I shall never get hold of 

 them all." 



Spectroscopic Examination of the Diatomaceje: by 

 H. L. Smith. — " The vegetable nature of the Diatomaceae is 

 now generally admitted, but if any further proof is needed we 



