70 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY. [March, 



BIOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Growth of Seeds. — -Dr. Leicester, of Bristol, has found seeds to 

 germinate with surprising rapidity in electrified earth. He filled with 

 soil a box (3 x 2^ feet) and placing at the ends metal plates, one zinc 

 and one copper (i x i foot), and uniting them on the outside with cop- 

 per wire, b)- a slow chemical action on the zinc a current passed through 

 the earth towards the copper and returned through the outside copper 

 wire. This is the minimum of apparatus and the simplest of cells. 



Seeds were then sown in the electrified earth. Similar use w^as made 

 of glass tanks filled with earth. The supply of moisture and other 

 conditions being the same, an electrified tank germinated hemp seed so 

 soon that the sprout was an inch out of ground before seed in a non- 

 electrified vessel showed signs of sprouting. A little very dilute acetic 

 acid sprinkled on the soil of the electrified earth still further accelerated 

 the growth, though it produced no effect in the non-electrified tanks. 



Digging Powers of the Newly-Discovered Mole. — The 

 Xotoryctes burrows obliquely in the sand, going two or three inches 

 under the ground, and never betraying its passage except by a slight 

 undulation of the soil. In digging it uses its conical nose, which is 

 protected by a horny plate, and the strong, mattock-shaped claws of 

 its fore feet. The hind feet, which are wider and spade-shaped, 

 throw the sand back so that no trace is left of the tunnel w^hich it hol- 

 lows. It comes to the surface a few yards farther on, and then buries 

 itself again, all without making any noise. It is prodigiously agile and 

 swift, a property on which Mr. Benham, who lived for some time at 

 Idracowra, says : " Everybody- here can tell you how some one of these 

 animals will get away by digging in the sand. I had brought a live 

 one to the house and we were talking of its agility in digging. Mr. 

 Stokes desired to see it at wo/k. After spading and turning over the 

 ground near the house, we set the animal down ; I held it in my hands 

 till it was nearlv hidden, and then tried to overtake it by scratching the 

 ground behind it, but it was quicker than I. I took a shovel and tried 

 to find it, but without success. Another man came to my help with a 

 second shovel, and also a native woman used to digging in the ground 

 w^ith her hands. But all three of us could not find it." — From The 

 Australian Marsupial Mole, by Dr. E. Trouessart, in The Pop- 

 ular Scie?zce Monthly for March. 



The Fresh-Water Sponges of the Mills Collection have been 

 reported on Ijy our collaborator. Prof. D. S. Kellicott, for the Buffalo 

 Society of Natural History. From the bulletin containing his paper 

 the following may interest microscopists : 



The vicinity of Buffalo is especially favorable as a collecting ground 

 for fresh-water animals. Additionally to the lake and large river there 

 are small rivers, swamps, and creeks. " These are teeming with a vast 

 variety of microscopic plants and animals, from early summer to 

 December." These conditions are especial!}' favorable to the growth 

 of sponges, and here the}' are found in remarkable abundance." 



The specimens had been dried. To re-examine them "a row of 

 watch-glasses, each with a few drops of carbolic acid, were placed on the 

 work-table and a selected fragment of sponge placed in each, with 

 projDer numbering to prevent confusion. After a short interval, exam- 



