192 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. [ August, 
BRIEFER ARTICLES. 
Zannichellia palustris L.—Prof. Stanley Coulter’s account, in the May 
number, ofa certain pond and its contents is quite interesting to usin Mon- 
tana. All the more so because we have a remarkable spring near Great 
Falls, known as the Giant Spring. This spring really seems to be the out- 
let of an underground river, the flow of water is so great and so strong 
It discharges immediately into the Missouri river, midway between the 
Black Eagle and the Coulter Falls, and has a river frontage of 500 feet. 
Upon a future occasion I hope to make some mention of the various forms: | 
of plant life therein found. Zannichellia palustris grows there in abun | 
dance, and may be found in flower from May to September, and yet the 
temperature of the water is only about 52° F., and does not seem to vary 
with that of the atmosphere. So far as my own observations have gone, 
the stems of these plants with the flowers and fruit when growing in this 
spring are nearly always buried in sand, only the slender grass-like leaves 
waving above. And _yet,covered up and packed in fine mud and sand a+ 
these plants are, their essential organs perform their functions unfailingly, 
and a prolific crop of fruit may be found each season. When the flowers 
are covered up in this manner they are always pale, often white, tinged 
with flesh-color, but when growing exposed to the light are olivaceousand 
the covering of the nutlets is thicker and stronger.—F. W. ANDERSON, 
Helena, Montana. 
Coloring the nuclei of living cells.—The most interesting fact 
brought out in my work at Tiibingen is the fact that several aniline col- 
i yi ave the property of coloring the nucleus of many plant cells without. 
killing them. That the living nucleus can be stained has been demon- 
strated by several observers in the case of animal cells but as far as 1 now 
know it has not hitherto been observed in plant cells. Though the work 
's not yet completed, it will perhaps be interesting to give briefly some of 
the processes by which the results were obtained, and some of the objects 
employed. . 
The first culor used was dahlia, a violet-purple pigment by 
Lavalette? had succeeded in coloring living Sil ge the nuclei of 
ch eaeees The most favorable object so far found by me is the nucleus 
i eat stamen hairs of Tradescantia. I. Virginica was ae 
from yobuete cca. qually good results. Hairs should bee ‘a 
soloved We its, me maker techie ae fectly colorless, not having developer 
‘oad Sears of the older hairs. The sepals and petals are meer 
s thus exposed are plunged into an aqueous solution ° ; 
whose aid 
” Unters: aus dem 
edi 
Pfeffer, ‘‘ Uber Aufnahme von Anilinfarben in lebende Zellen, tion. 
” fourth : =i 
1See 
* bot. Insti ' 
: tut, Tibingen, 1886. Also, Strasburger, ‘‘ Botanisches Practicum, 
Strasburger, Bot, Pract., fourth edition. 
