«54 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 415. 



plant-houses, where the relative humidity is 

 quite high, and are suddenly brought into an 

 atmosphere as dry as that of the Sahara. 

 What wonder that the plants do not behave 

 properly ! 



POLYPORUS OFFICINALIS IN .\MERICA. 



Several years ago a correspondent in the 

 Northwest sent me a fine specimen of a poly- 

 pore which he found on the trunk of a tall 

 tree in northern Idaho or western Montana. 

 It was so inaccessible that he shot it from its 

 resting place, bringing it down but little in- 

 jured beyond the destruction of the attach- 

 ment at the base of the fungus. As received 

 it measured thirty centimeters in length and 

 about thirteen centimeters in diameter, and 

 was almost cylindrical in shape. This cylin- 

 ■drical mass evidently depended from a curved 

 stipe at its upper end, but this had been de- 

 stroyed as indicated above. The exterior was 

 •quite white, and was covered with a mealy 

 coating derived apparently from the disinte- 

 gration of the tissues of the fungus. 



A year or two later another specimen was 

 trought to me from the vicinity of the Yel- 

 lowstone National Park (southward, I think), 

 ■which agreed with the first one in all particu- 

 lars excepting that it was much smaller, being 

 not more than half the length and width of 

 the first one. Both specimens are very cer- 

 tainly the Polyporus officinalis of the German 

 Pharmacopoeia, and like that species ours is 

 ■very heavily loaded with a pungent resinous 

 matter, to which doubtless its alleged medi- 

 •cinal properties are due. These specimens 

 ■were reported as occurring on ' larch ' trees, 

 hj which I suppose the correspondents meant 

 ■some Ahies or Picea. There can be no ques- 

 tion as to the coniferous nature of the host 

 trees, but I can not identify them further. 

 As this species has not been reported as oc- 

 •curring in America, it is desirable that col- 

 lectors should be on the lookout for it when 

 "botanizing in the Northwest. 



BOTANY IN THE WASHINGTON MEETINGS. 



Botanists should plan if possible to attend 

 the meetings of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, and the affili- 



ated societies in Washington during the holi- 

 days. This is the first time that these meet- 

 ings are to be held in the winter, and no 

 doubt the future policy of the association 

 (and of the affiliated societies, also) will de- 

 pend largely upon tlie success of the present 

 meeting. According to the program as al- 

 ready announced, there will be meetings of 

 interest to botanists as follows : The Section 

 of Botany of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, American Micro- 

 scopical Society, Botanical Society of America, 

 Botanists of the Central and Western States, 

 Society of American Bacteriologists, Society 

 of Plant Morphologists, and Society for the 

 Promotion of Agricultural Science. Doubt- 

 less, also, there will be meetings of the Botan- 

 ical Club of the Association, as has been the 

 practice for many years. When we add to 

 all these the many botanical divisions and 

 sections of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, with their laboratories, libraries, 

 herbaria and plant-houses, and the great Na- 

 tional Herbarium, the attraction should prove 

 strong enough to bring out a large number 

 of botanists. 



TWO books on FORESTRY. 



Several months ago Professor Gifford 

 brought out a book with the title ' Practical 

 Forestry,' intended for beginning students 

 of forestry in school and out, as well as for 

 the general reader who wishes to get some 

 knowledge of the subject. To this end the 

 author has made his book as practical as pos- 

 sible, ' so that the owner of a large tract of 

 woodland, and the farmer with his wood-lot, 

 or the owner of a country place, or those in- 

 terested in the various industries connected 

 with forests and forest products, may glean 

 hints of value.' A pretty careful examina- 

 tion of the book shows that Professor Gifford 

 has succeeded in making such a book as he 

 describes, and without question it will do 

 much good in the country at large. It con- 

 sists of four parts, as follows : Part I., which 

 is introductory, dealing with the generalities 

 of the subject ; Part II., ' The Formation and 

 Tending of Forests ' ; Part III., ' The Indus- 

 trial Importance of Forests ' ; Part IV., ' Sup- 



