ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



383 



Vitality op Seeds. — There is much mystery 

 * about this subject. We recently read in a New 

 York paper that on the clay from a deep well, 

 plants of Sincepis arrensis, the "Yellow Char- 

 lock," grew, the seeds of which "must have 

 been there for ao^es." As this is not an Ameri- 

 can plant, but one which has followed the foot- 

 steps of the white man, of course there must be 

 an error here. We have no doubt it is so with 

 all the cases of so-called vitality, not even the 

 supposed well attested chscs of forests of trees 

 growing up after a tiii' in the West, different 

 from that which grew before, from seed which 

 had been for years in the ground. 



Farmers say that when they plow up old sod 

 which has been that way for many years, and 

 note the rag weed and white clover which 

 spring up, that these seeds are natural to the 

 t; soil, or have been there for a long time; but 

 ' tliere is no doubt but that this is wrong. The 

 most careful analysis of these soils fails to de- 

 tect their presence, which it would certainly do 

 if they were Ihere. Though surely there is not 

 near the vitality in seeds accorded to them, 

 there is really much more than is generally sup- 

 posed. It is rather how they are kept than any 

 peculiar limit to their age which determines 

 their goodness. We know the time when we 

 supposed it necessary to keep Magnolia seeds 

 moist from the time they were gathered till 

 they were sown in the spring. Once we found 

 a package which had been thrust under a rafter 

 in a tool shed in the spring, which grew as well 

 as any. More recently Mrs. Col. Wilder found 

 a package of Magnolia soulanyeana seed in Mr. 

 Wilder's wardrobe, which had been there be- 

 tween two and three years, and which on sow- 

 ing produced a plant from every seed. Yet the 

 belief is next to universal that Magnolia seed is 

 one of the most transitory in its hold on vitality 

 . that we have. 



These facta»show us that we really know little 

 about these matters vet; and they should stimu- 

 late practical men to careful experiment as to 

 what are really the laws which govern the pre- 

 servation and germination of seeds. — Gardener's 

 Monthly. 



Study of Natural History. — "For many 

 years it has been one of my constant regrets that 

 iio schoolmaster of mine had a knowledge of 

 natural history, so far at least as to have taught 

 me the grasses that grow by th^()^side, and 

 the little winged and wingless Sjghbors that 



liej^ftiis 



«giib 



itira sa 



are continually meeting me witTTa salutation 

 which 1 cannot answer, as things are. Why 

 did'nt somebody teach me the constellations 

 too, and make me at home in the starry heavens 

 which are always overhead, and which 1 don't 

 half know to this day ? I love to prophesy that 

 there will come a time when, not in Edinburgh 

 only, but in all Scottish and European towns 

 and villages, the schoolmaster will be strictly re- 

 quired to possess these two capabilities (neither 

 Greek nor Latin more strict), and that no in- 

 geiiious little denizen of this universe be thence- 

 forward debarred from his right of liberty in 

 those two departments, and doomed to look on 

 them as if across grated fences all his life I" — 

 Carlyle, in Edinburgh Courant. 



NOTES FR03I CORRESPONDENTS. 



We have a communication from Prof. G. H. 

 French, relative to some interesting plants of 

 Southern Illinois, observed during a vacation 

 trip. Our space permits us to present only some 

 of the more prominent statements : 



About two and a half miles from Makanda is a 

 ledge of rocks known as Giant City, consisting of 

 numerous large blocks of sandstone — a wild and 

 romantic place. Here I found some interesting 

 ferns, among which were beautiful specimens of 

 the Walking Fern (Campiosorus rhizophyllus) Wood- 

 sia obtusa, Cystopieris fragilia, Asplenium tnchomanes 

 and Aspidimn acrostichoides. 



Besides ferns, I found here a rare Heuchera, the 

 same as described in number 10, p. 310. It grows 

 from the sides of the cliffs, and rarely on the ground 

 at the base of the cliffs. The whole plant is viscid- 

 pubescent, the scape a foot to eighteen inches high, 

 the panicle about six inches long, anii three to four 

 inches wide. 



A ledge of rocks about four miles northwest of 

 Makanda has the local designation of Fern-rocks. 

 Among the most interesting things here was the 

 Asplenium pinnatifidum. It grows in considerable 

 abundance here, though I found it in no other place. 

 This delicate fern is an interesting plant, both on 

 account of its rarity and its manner of growth. It 

 grows from crevices in the sides of the cliff, in the 

 driest places, seeming to avoid moisture. The roots 

 penetrate the narrow crevices, so that it is difficult 

 to dislodge them with a knife. There is an inclina- 

 tion, I see, among botanists to class this plant with 

 the Walking Fern, and I should say with much 

 propriety. Although I did dot find it rooting at 

 the end of the frond, I doubt not it would if it could 

 find place to root. 



Growing from a moist moss-covered rock near 

 by I foiuid a bunch of the delicate Asplenium Felix- 

 fcemina, its large though delicate fronds contrasting 

 strangely with some small specimens of Asplenium 

 ebeneum growing at no great distance But among 

 the most beauttfid is the M aiden-hair ferri (Adianium 

 pedatum), that grows aU through the woods in this 

 vicinity Other ferns glowing common here were 

 the two Polypods [Polypodium vulgare and P. hexa- 

 gonopieru?n), the common Brake {Pteiis aguilina) , 

 the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), Aspidium mar- 

 ginale and A. acrostichoides. 



I found at the base of the ledges a pecuhar Dode- 

 catheon. The leaves are orbicular, crenate-dentate, 

 or sometimes entire, of a pale green color and thin, 

 obtuse at the base and not tapering to the petiole. 

 Scape from six to twelve inches high, and from one 

 to ten flowered. The flowers were all gone, but the 

 capsules were not more than half as large as those 

 of Dodecatheon meadia. It grows in the sand made 

 from the disintegrated rocks of the cliffs. It is at 



