i^CIENCE. 



[Vol. XVIII. No. 455 



araination in his locality, and such a local special examina- 

 tion should never be held in a more remote place tlian the 

 county -seat of the county where the person to be examined 

 ie"sides. There can be no reason why the paper containing 

 the examination questions may not be safely mailed to the 

 postmaster, the seals not to be broken save in the presence of 

 all of a board of three, to consist of the postmaster, a prom- 

 inent professional man of the town, snd a notary public. 

 Before these the applicant could appear, and in their presence 

 answer the questions sent to them. To the facts of the 

 regularity of the examination they could swear, returning 

 the affidavits and the applicant's answers to the commission. 

 As these special examinations are infrequent, and the posi- 

 tions for which they are held are of considerable importance, 

 and should be filled by the best men at the disposal of the 

 government, no plea of extra expense, of unnecessary trouble, 

 nor of danger of collusion should be heeded. The latter 

 danger would be practically nil; it. is inconceivable that 

 three prominent men, not more than two of whom should 

 be of the same political party, would jeopardize their posi- 

 tions and reputations in their communities by any form of 

 collusion. If these positions are not worthy of this small 

 extra outlay of time, patience, and cash by the commission, 

 they are confessedly not worth filling at all. The present 

 plan contributes to a degree of departmental degeneracy and 

 the continued existence of certain hangers-on, the relics of 

 the departing age of political preferment, which should no 

 longer he tolerated. At present it is quite as likely to be the 

 ne'er-do-well friend of some clerk in the bureau where the 

 vacancy is about to occur, who, getting an early hint of 

 the coming vacancy, rushes to one o'f the schools where 

 cramming for these examinations is given special attention, 

 as it is to be a trained expert from New England, the South, 

 or the West. 



These suggestions have been based on the supposition that 

 the present laws selecting the oflSces that shall be open to the 

 control of the commission will remain substantially as at 

 present. The outsider, who feels only an interest in the im 

 provement of official science as it is to be met in the capital, 

 will be quite likely to agree with me that at present the ex- 

 amination regulations are attached to the wrong end of the 

 machine. It is the heads of bureaus, and not the more 

 obscure officials, whose ofiices should depend on these exam- 

 inations. What matters it whether the stenographer of a 

 bureau be an expert in his profession if the chief whom he 

 is under dictates to him letters which plainly attest the fact 

 that he is holding his position by virtue of political favorit- 

 ism and has not yet become acquainted with the intricacies 

 or the science of his office ? So long as the head of a scien- 

 tific division of a department may be chosen without refer- 

 ence to his eminent fitness for the discharge of his duties, it 

 is but a pitiable farce that leads to such care being taken to 

 provide him with competent men to transact work which he 

 cannot direct and of which he is not a judge. If the cliiefs 

 were chosen after a searching examination into their position 

 among their fellows in the science, the knowledge of wiiich 

 they were called upon to display, it might be found then 

 that the government had thereby obtained the services of a 

 class of men who could be trusted to choose their own under- 

 lings. I believe that this can be now said of most of these 

 heads of divisions and bftreaus, yet one is compelled to admit 

 at times the justice of the slurs at the work done under these 

 that the American must be prepared to hear from the lips of 

 foreigners. Tliere is undoubtedly yet a taint of cheapness 

 and unworthy show about much of this work, for which the 



half-pay salaries allowed by Congress and the in)perfect sys- 

 tem of examination now in vogue, as here indicated, are 

 mainly responsible. EuGENE Murray Aaron. 



INDICATIONS OF EVOLUTION IN LEAVES. 



As evolution is the eternal plan of unfolding, in the past, 

 from nebulous matter to plant and animal life, it is absurd 

 to suppose the same principle of progression will not con- 

 tinue to produce changes in the whole realm of being in all 

 time to come. 



The investigator puts his finger on the long past geologic 

 ages and says, "These forms are all that existed at this 

 time:" then he points out the advance of later times, and 

 says, "This is evolution." But how this almost infinite 

 change has been brought about, even the imagination con- 

 structs no definite plan. It is only by studying the evolution 

 of the present that we can appreciate the changes of the past. 

 To say that things are unchangeable is to ignore the truths of 

 evolution. There is an ever on flowing, rising tide which 

 bears all things on its bosom, unfolding higher conditions, 

 and, as a result, more perfect forms and qualities. 



The leaves of plants offer to the evolutionist perhaps one 

 of the best opportunities for studying the principle of pro- 

 gression actually at work; producing changes in the forms 

 of leaves, their mode of individualization, aud numerical in- 

 crease. 



My attention was first attracted to the interesting study of 

 variation in leaves by the Ampelopsis quinquefolia. As its 

 name implies, it has five leaflets. Close observation, how- 

 ever, discerned leaves bearing seven leaflets. Sometimes the 

 two lower leaflets were more or less notched or deeply lobed; 

 continued search revealed various degrees of variation, from 

 three to seven leaflets. These specimens were considered 

 "abnormal," " freaks of nature," or "monstrosities," — in- 

 teresting because unusual. I soon observed that the Ampe- 

 lopsis was not alone in its manifest variation from typical 

 forms. On the contrary, plants quite commonly exhibit the 

 same tendency. Rubus villosus is especially conspicuous in 

 this respect. It has commonly from three to five leaflets, but 

 very often the trifoliate leaves are notched and lobed as in 

 the Ampelopsis. 



Could it be that these different forms, these variations 

 from the common type, were evidences of evolution in leaves? 

 Can a series of leaves be found illustrating successive stages 

 of variation, was ihe query which arose in my mind. The 

 leaves of Ampelopsis quinquefolia were again examined, in 

 all the neighboring region. They had given rise to the 

 query, and should therefore have the flrst opportunity of 

 rendering a verdict. As the search continued, these odd 

 forms, these "monstrosities," seemed to arrange themselves 

 in regular order, like crystals marching into line. Instead 

 of being "freaks of nature," they now stood like many bal- 

 lots in favor of evolution 



Starting with the ordinary leaf of Ampelopsis quinquefolia, 

 numbering five leaves, the progressive stages, until it num- 

 bers seven, were found repeatedly, perhaps a hundred speci- 

 mens, from a single vine of luxuriant growth. 



The first transition step apparently seemed to be but a 

 slight enlargement or fulness on the lower or outer portion 

 of the leaflets near the base; this fulness increases until quite 

 a conspicuous bulge is formed. A slight notch may be next 

 observed, which deepens as the series progresses until the 

 lobe is cut entirely from the leaflet, becoming itself a new, 

 perfectly formed leaflet. A prominent vein is found extend- 



