188 



THE AMEKICAN MOETIILY 



[October, 



cell nictliod excellent for the ex- 

 amination of urine. I give these 

 modes and means not because I think 

 they are any better than others, bnt 

 because I think that every observer 

 has the right, in justice to himself 

 and others, to allude to his tools. 



At some future time I hope to be 

 permitted to present a more com- 

 plete account of my own labors in 

 this direction. 



o 



Microscopical Collections in 

 Florida.* 



BY C. C. MEEEIMAN. 



It has been my fortune during 

 the past two Winters to spend a 

 few weeks in the regions of Cen- 

 tral Florida. Lake Harris is the 

 most southern and the most beauti- 

 ful of the cluster of lakes which 

 forms the source of that exceedingly 

 picturesque river, the Ocklawaha. 

 With high banks, and surrounded 

 by a belt of hummock land as rich 

 as any that Florida affords, this 

 lake is becoming settled upon, and 

 its lands are fast being taken up by 

 enterprising southerners for orange- 



f roves and pine-apple plantations, 

 'he sojourner will iind the society 

 of this lake-settlement intelligent 

 and hospitable beyond anything 

 that would be expected in so new 

 and pioneer a country. The vegeta- 

 tion of this almost tropical region 

 is so full of interest to the micros- 

 copist, and the causes conducing 

 thereto so peculiar, that I have 

 thought them deserving of especial 

 mention and illustration. 



The absence, or at least the rarity 

 of frosts injurious to vegetation in 

 these lake districts, gives the long- 

 est possible season for the growth 

 and maturity of such organs as are 

 best, or especially, adapted to the 

 exigencies of Florida plants. There 



* Read before the Sub-section of Micros- 

 copy of the A. A. A. S. 



is a period of rest, usually compris- 

 ing about the three Winter months, J 

 after which vegetation takes up 1 

 and continues its growth again as if 

 there had been no period of inter- 

 ruption ; so that practically there is 

 a continuous development of plant 

 life, whether annual or perennial, 

 from birth to death. 



The soil of Florida, as of all 

 the South- Atlantic sea-board, is 

 sandy and naturally barren. No 

 polar glaciers have ground up for 

 these regions, as for the Northern 

 States, a rich and abundant alluvi- 

 um, sufficient in itself for the pro- 

 duction of a rapid and vigorous 

 vegetation. The South has appar- 

 ently only the siftings of our 

 Northern soil, carried down to the 

 ocean by rivers, and then washed 

 up by the sea-waves to form their 

 interminable sandy plains. But 

 to compensate for this natural in- 

 fertility of soil, the atmosphere, 

 especially of Southern Florida, 

 abounds in all the elements of plant 

 growth. The winds which come 

 up from the Gulf on the one side, 

 or the Atlantic on the other, are 

 charged with moisture, and bear 

 also minute quantities of nitric 

 acid and saline compounds ; while 

 the exhalations from the swamps 

 and marshes furnish in abundance 

 the salts of ammonia and carbonic 

 acid. Now to utilize these precious 

 products from the air, it is neces- 

 sary for plants to have peculiar 

 organs, such as absorbing glands, 

 glandular hairs, stellate hairs, pro- 

 tecting scales, and a variety of 

 other special appendages. All these 

 have been developed by time and 

 necessity, in remarkable profusion 

 and perfection in the vegetation of 

 Southern Florida. Although the 

 meagre soil produces no nutritious 

 grasses, and scarcely enough of an 

 honest vegetation to keep an herb- 

 ivorous animal from starving; yet 



