1892.] MICROSCOPICAL JOCTRNAL. 101 



BIOLOGICAL NOTES. 



■ Senega. — This snake root is collected in the country near the 

 Lake of the Woods b}' squaws and children. In Marshall and 

 Kittson counties a traveler recently saw a thousand pounds await- 

 ing sale. 



Prof. Sayre has examined it under the microscope and finds 

 the wood cylindrical, whitish, ligneous, and occupying about ^ 

 the dia. of the root. It contains 3^ per cent, of polygalic acid. 

 See Amcr. your. Pharmacy., March, 1892. 



Scarlet Clover. — This clover, Trifolium incamatiim., has 

 been introduced from Europe in Kent and Sussex counties, Del- 

 aware. It is attracting wide notice, so much so that Prof. A. T. 

 Neale, director of the Experiment Station at Newark, Del., has 

 just issued a most valuable bulletin containing 15 pages of inter- 

 esting information. A copy can be secured by any person inter- 

 ested in the subject. It has been found that the scarlet clover 

 acts as a weed eradicator, especially in the case of sheep sorrel. 

 It proves an excellent food for honey-bees, and is very useful in 

 orchards. 



Circular Growth of Fungus. — On a recently mowed lawn 

 of blue grass, one morning in July, there suddenly appeared a 

 ring of grass affected with a fungus of a black color. The ring 

 was about nine feet in diameter and the affected rim about eight 

 inches wide. At a distance it looked as if some one had painted 

 a ring on the grass with a brush dipped in tar. It could be 

 plainly seen across the street a hundred feet away. The fungus 

 occupied a circular rim which was almost perfect. A wahoo 

 bush in the circle interrupted the fungus about four feet. On 

 handling the grass the fingers were blackened as with soot. 

 Each blade was dotted with black, globular dots. These globu- 

 lar objects, on being opened, were found filled with spores. Some 

 of the grass w^as sent to the Smithsonian Institution, and there 

 identified as Physarum chiereum., one of the Myxomycetes. 

 Now, what caused this fungus to grow in a perfect circle.^ The 

 lawn has been in grass for many years and no tree ever occupied 

 its site, the ground being originally prairie. Many years ago, 

 when an out-lot, the plat of ground was often occupied by a cir- 

 cus. No mowed hay had ever been stacked on this special patch 

 of ground. — H. M. Parr.. M. D. 



Attachment of Vorticellae. — A friend brought me some Cy- 

 clops which were utilized as an attachment for colonies of V^orti- 

 cellcc. While the Cyclops remained quiet the Vorticellce would 

 extend themselves outward and move their cilia actively, but 

 when the Cyclops began to stir, back they darted close to the 

 body. No matter how suddenly the Cyclops darted forth, the 

 Vorticellce seemed to anticipate and be close to the body as soon 

 as it began to move. I wish to ask if it is common for Vorti- 

 cellce to be attached to Cyclops and to other animals of rapid 

 movements? — H. M. Farr., J/. D. 



