December 3, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



811 



prehensive value both to those who may be 

 interested from the popular standpoint and to 

 those who intend to work themselves. The 

 bibliography includes about five hundred and 

 sixty-five citations. 



For valuable counsel during the earlier 

 progress of the work the author makes ac- 

 knowledgment to Professor Wm. J. Gies. 



Raymond H. Pond 



BOTANICAL NOTES 

 THE EAR-ROTS OF INDIAN CORN 



Two recent bulletins deal with this serious 

 trouble to our most important crop. The 

 first is " The Life-History and Parasitism of 

 Diplodia zeae (Schw.) Lev.," by F. D. Heald, 

 E. M. Wilcox and Venus W. Pool, in the 

 Twenty-second Annual Report of the Ne- 

 braska Agricultural Experiment Station, Jan- 

 uary, 1909. This paper gives the results of 

 the investigations which have been in prog- 

 ress for several years as to the cause of the 

 extensive loss in Nebraska from ear-rots. 

 The complete life-history of the fungus is 

 worked out, the results of inoculations given 

 and its distribution in the state shown. The 

 illustrations are especially fine. 



The second paper bears the title " Ear Rots 

 of Com," by Thomas J. Burrill and James T. 

 Barret (Bull. No. 1.3.3, 111. Agric. Exp. Sta., 

 Feb., 1909). This a more extensive bulletin, 

 largely upon the same subject as the earlier 

 publication by the Nebraska Experiment Sta- 

 tion, and is one which merits the careful read- 

 ing of all plant pathologists, mycologists and 

 others interested in the botanical or practical 

 aspects of the subject. In Illinois the annual 

 loss from ear rots is from two to four and a 

 half per cent, of the entire crop, representing 

 a money loss of from two to five and a half 

 million dollars. This bulletin is the result of 

 extensive investigations covering several 

 years. Ninety per cent, of the rot was found 

 to be due to Diplodia zeae (Schw.) Lev. The 

 fungus was thoroughly studied in laboratory 

 and field; inoculations were made to show the 

 time and mode of infection ; its round of life 

 was carefully worked out, and means of pre- 

 vention suggested. 



Three species of Fusarium are largely re- 

 sponsible for the other rots. The character- 

 istic rot of each species is described but work 

 upon these forms is still incomplete. 



MORE DARWIN LITERATURE 



It may be well to record here several ad- 

 dresses that have seen the light in various 

 places in printed form : 



"Darwin as a Naturalist: Darwin's Work 

 on Cross Pollination in Plants," is the title 

 of Dr. William Trelease's address before the 

 Botanical Society of America last winter, and 

 published in The American Naturalist for 

 March, 1909. This is first a general estimate 

 of Darwin as a student of plants, followed by 

 an analysis of his contributions to our knowl- 

 edge of the mechanism and meaning of cross 

 pollination, including a list of his publica- 

 tions (twenty-two titles) on pollination and 

 fertilization. 



"Darwin and Botany" is the title of a 

 short address given by Dr. N. L. Britton at 

 the American Museum of Natural History 

 on February 12 last, and published in the 

 Popular Science Monthly for April, 1909. In 

 this the writer traces the evolution of Dar- 

 win's contributions to botany, and declares 

 that " the value of the impulse given by Dar- 

 win to botanical investigation in all its 

 branches is beyond estimation." 



Professor J. M. Macfarlane's first address, 

 " Darwin in Relation to his own and the Pre- 

 Darwinian Period," before the faculty and 

 students of Pennsylvania College, February 

 12, is a summary review of the period preced- 

 ing Darwin's work, and the steps by which 

 the different phases of the doctrine of evolu- 

 tion have been attained. His second address, 

 "Lessons from the Life and Writings of 

 Charles Darwin," before the members of the 

 Philadelphia Girls' High School, February 

 15 and 23, brings out Darwin's persistence in 

 his work, his self-denial, his sweet spirit, free 

 from envy or jealousy and his faith in the 

 ultimate dominance of truth. His third ad- 

 dress, " The Legacy Left us by Darwin and 

 his Collaborators," before the Linnean So- 

 ciety, the faculty and students of Franklin and 

 Marshall College, February 27, dwells upon 



