116 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[June 



Kent's arguments as well worthy of 

 serious consideration, although they 

 will hardly prove strong enough to 

 induce mycologists to entirely change 

 their views upon the subject. 



Without attempting to fully discuss 

 the subject in this place, we may in- 

 quire whether it must be, as seems to be 

 universally assumed, that every simple 

 organism that exists must necessarily 

 belong to one or the other of the two 

 great kingdoms, animal or vegetal. 

 This we cannot believe, for the 

 protoplasm, the so-termed " physical 

 basis of life," which, so far as we can 

 ascertain, is identical in the cells of 

 both plants and animals, when uncon- 

 fined by a cell-wall and free to mani- 

 fest its characteristics, will certainly 

 move about, collect food and grow. 

 Is it therefore animal or vegetal ? 

 The theory, or hypothesis, of evolu- 

 tion requires us to assume a starting 

 point for life, which we may find in a 

 simple mass of protoplasm, from 

 which both animals and plants have 

 developed. Was the primordial germ 

 distinctively an animal or a plant ? 

 Probably it was not — it was simply 

 living matter ; and as the biologist 

 filjds great difficulty in determining 

 the true nature of many microscopic 

 forms, since the two great kingdoms 

 merge so imperceptibly together, the 

 sub-kingdom Protista, of Hackel, 

 seems to be not only a convenience, 

 but a scientific necessity, although 

 not including all the forms placed 

 therein by its illustrious founder. 

 o 



Prize-Objective. — It will be re- 

 membered that last year a prize-ob- 

 jective was given to Mr. C. M. Vorce, 

 at the Detroit meeting of the Ameri- 

 . can Society of Microscopists, for the 

 best essay upon adulterations. This 

 year another prize-objective, a one- 

 half-inch, first-class, adjustable, made 

 by Messrs. Bausch and Lomb, will be 

 presented by Mr. Griffith, at the 

 Columbus meeting. The objective 

 is now ready, and we understand that 

 It is a very excellent one. 

 o 



Handwriting. — Mr. C. M. Vorce 

 has lately made some interesting ob- 

 servations in the examination of 

 handwriting, which he has communi- 

 cated to us. The signature to a note, 

 which was claimed to be forged, was 

 compared with a number of other 

 signatures known to be genuine, 

 and under the microscope they all 

 appeared to be identical in every 

 respect. Nevertheless, the writer 

 of the other signatures, his wife, sis- 

 ter-in-law and son, all swore " to facts 

 which, if true, rendered it impossi- 

 ble " that the signature upon the 

 note could be his, and the jury de- 

 cided that the latter was a forgery. 

 A dozen or more experts swore that 

 the signature in question was genu- 

 ine. Mr. Vorce sums up the matter 

 thus : Either the experts were all 

 mistaken and one man committed 

 perjury, or else five men committed 

 perjury. 



The case is an interesting one, for 

 it indicates a possibility that a for- 

 gery may be so well executed as to defy 

 detection. We are unwilling to ad- 

 mit such a possibility, however, with- 

 out further evidence to prove it. 

 o 



Desmids New to Britain. — 

 M. C. Cooke, LL.D., F. L. S., read 

 a memoir before the Quekett Micro- 

 scopical Club of London, in October 

 last, which now appears in pamphlet 

 form, with two pages of colored figures 

 of desmids new to Britain. One form 

 is new to science, Staurastrum anati- 

 num. 



The St. arctiscon is evidently the 

 same as St. munitum of Wood, not 

 uncommon in this country. St. 

 Pringsheimii, we have as St. hirsu- 

 tiim, Ehr. St. aversum has not been 

 recognized, but probably it has 

 passed for a variety of brevispina, 

 which is not rare. St. megacanthum 

 has not yet been mentioned, but we 

 have it repeatedly sketched in MS. 

 from different localities. St. ophi- 

 ura was added to our list last sum- 

 mer, from Split-rock Pond, N. J. 

 With the exception of St. grande the 



