bEPTE.MUKK 



1^S3. 



SCIENCE. 



.y.i.} 



Those (liftcrent arraiicemenls are constant, ami iln 

 not pass into each other. Tlie proportion of lliese 

 elements is also, in general, constant Ihroniilionl the 

 (levelopineiit of the kernels. The [Kirallelism which 

 is apparent may he accounted for on the familiar 

 axiom that similar forces acting under like circnni- 

 stances produce similar results. 



Agricultural botany. 



BV E. I,. STURTEVAMT OF GENEVA, N.Y. 



If kitchen-garden plants he closely studied, in 

 many varieties it will he found that selection hjus 

 differeiiliated the various natural species in accoril- 

 anee with desired uses. It will he notice<l, that, while 

 there is a striking uniformity within varieties in those 

 portioils of the plant which have not been selected 

 for improvement, tliere is a great variation between 

 those portions which have secured attention on ac- 

 count of their uses. Thus, in forly-five varieties of 

 onions growing side by side, the foli.age is all similar; 

 yet the bulbs vary in size, color, shape, and habit of 

 formation. The effect of selection concentrated upon 

 visible forms has been to produce and fix changes 

 from the natural plant to such an extent as in ca^es 

 to mask the original plant, so that historical data 

 must supplement morphological data in order to con- 

 nect the genetic record. It is clearly evident, that 

 conscious .selection is a powerful agency for the 

 changing of form, and by long exercise can overcome 

 the type affixed by nature to a species. In the do- 

 mesticated plant, the power of intelligence to elimi- 

 nate, modify, and direct the action of natural laws 

 nnder a given purpose introduced a new factor to 

 influence plant-growth; and forms designed for uses 

 mask genetic resemblances in those portions of the 

 plant where change means value to man. If these 

 views are correctly stated, then it is seen that .in 

 agricultural botany, as an annex to natural bot<any, 

 is imperatively required for the purpose of furthering 

 classification of domesticated plants ; and such an 

 anne.x must vary in its methods as widely from the 

 methods of the n.atural botany a« cultivated plants 

 vary from feral plants, the key to the motive being in 

 one case the use, while in the other it is the floral 

 organs. 



The present condition of the box huckleberry, 

 Vaccinium brachycerum, in Perry county, 

 Pennsylvania. 



liY E. W. CLAYI'OLE OF NEW nLOOMFlELD, PE.NK. 



This was an interesting account of a plant that 

 may become extinct. The discovery of this plant 

 took place over hundred years ago, in Virginia, and 

 it subsequently disappeared until \Mn, when it was 

 again discovered by Prof. Spencer F. Baird in Penn- 

 sylviinia. This peculiar plant exists in Perry county, 

 Penn., and in New Castle county, Md., and in no 

 other known locality in the world. It exists in lim- 

 ited quantities there. It* geographical limits are 

 sharply delineil. and never c'.\tend. but rather recede, 

 indicating a probability of its extinction. 



Relation of root and leaf areaa ; com. 



liV I). 1'. rE.\M.\I.I,OW <)!■• IIONTKE.VL, CAX. 



In the absence of the author of the paper, the sec- 

 retary of the section briefly stated the contents. The 

 paper sets forth the imporlance of the relations be- 

 tween the aerial and subterranean surfaces of plants, 

 especially in respect to area. The experiinenis of 

 the author were mainly upon the growth and devel- 

 opment of maize, of which he has tabulated careful 

 measurements showing (he proi>ortions of areas above 

 and l)eneatli the soil. 



Influence of position on seed. 



BY E. L. STUKTKVANT OF GENEVA, N.Y. 



The ' position ' referred to in the title of this paper 

 is that of the individual seeds grown on a spike. The 

 object of experiment was Co ascertain the differences 

 of germinating force between seeds from the middle 

 and from the ends of the spike. In trials carried 

 forward at the New- York agricultural experiment- 

 st.ition -Jast winter, it was found, that, for an average 

 of yi per cent of butt kernels, 88 per cent of central 

 kernels, and 98 per cent of tip kernels, of flint corn, 

 germinated. Other experiments gave the following 

 results: In the butts planted, 7!) |>cr cent germinated; 

 of the centres, 84 per cent germinated; and of the tips, 

 8t! per cent germinated. For flint-corn, the tii>-ker- 

 nels have the stronger vegetative power. 



Periodicity of Sabbacia augularis. 



nv M.VltY E. MUKTFEI.DT OF ST. I.OLIS, MO. 



The attention of the authoress was first drawn to 

 this pl.int in Missouri. It is a matter of poj)ular be- 

 lief there, that the plant flowers only once in seven 

 years. Mindful of the story in the Greek Header, of 

 the scliolaslkui who bouglit a turtle to ascertain 

 whether it would live a hundred years, Miss Murt- 

 feldt obtained some seed of the Sabbacia, and planted 

 it at once. Seven years have expired since the 

 planting, and now the plant is for the first time in 

 flower. In a brief discussion on this paper. Pro- 

 fessor Ma*on showed rea.sons for doubting in general 

 the popular notions about periodicity in the flower- 

 ing of certain plants. 



An abnormal orchid, Habenaria hyperborea. 



UY W. R. DIDI.EY OF ITHACA, N.Y. 



The peculiarities of this orchid, as observed by the 

 author of this paper, consist of the spur character- 

 istic of its generic relations, the smaller size of the 

 plant, the narrowness of the side petals, and the 

 broad spatuKa-form of the lips of the flower. These 

 changes are apparently in a <lirection from an irregu- 

 lar to a regidar form of flower. The peculiar ca.^'ea 

 ol)served, of which mounted specimefts were ex- 

 hibited to the section, inuy be due to arrested de- 

 velopment; but, the author suggested, they possibly 

 iiidic.tte a tendency to revert to older and simpler 

 forms. The habitat of this orchiil is not invariably 

 ill swamps, but also in drv beerh-woods, where they 

 are found to bloom much later than in damp regions. 



