December 9, 1892,] 



SCIENCE. 



327 



ing their influence in a manner quite independent of the customs 

 and traditions of either parent, just as they seem to be doing. 



Whether they will come to represent a distinct yet intermediate 

 Rocky Mountain species, with cafer and auratus occupying a di- 

 minished habitat south-west and north east of their enlarged do- 

 mains, or whether, continuing southward, they will affect cafer 

 through its entire range until that species, as such, disappears, 

 replaced by a form combining the type characters of cafer with 

 the red nuchal crescent of auratus, is a mystery the present can- 

 not solve and the future will be loth to reveal. 



CONCERNING OUR WASTE GROUND. 



BT J. T. BOTHEOCK, WEST CHESTER, PA. 



Few persons, except those who have been west of the Mississippi, 

 have any real conception of the vast areas there svhich might well 

 come under the head of " Waste Ground. ' To eastern eyes the 

 miles of desert seem, from any productive standpoint, absolutely 

 hopeless. A little examination, however, may reveal the fact that 

 such a judgment is both hasty and erroneous. 



It is quite true that these regions are dry and, at present, deserts 

 whose vegetable productions are mainly cacti, sage-brush, and 

 various species of Chenopodiaceae. It is so true, though, that the 

 elements of plant life are in the soil, that whenever a spring or a 

 flowing stream appears, a more or less dense vegetable growth is 

 seen also. Hence the western aphorism that the value of a man's 

 farm depends not on its size, but on the quantity of water he can 

 put on it during the growing season. 



This preliminary statement leads to a consideration of the sub- 

 ject from two points of view. 1. Are the present natural pro- 

 ductions of no value, immediate or prospective? 2. Are we 

 utilizing the rainfall of those desert areas to the greatest advan- 

 tage? It may be said that this second question starts a vast train 

 of secondary considerations, quite beyond the limits of this paper. 



As to the first question, it is a fact that thus far mankind has 

 depended very largely on the more fertile ground for support. 

 This is especially true of our own country. It was, of course, in 

 the natural trend of events that a choice between promising and 

 unpromising areas must of necessity lead to the selection of the 

 promising first — the fertile before the barren, that which could 

 be irrigated before that which could not be. Increasing popula- 

 tion has left little choice, and the first problem is 01 what value, 

 if any, are these unattractive foruis of desert plant-life? We may 

 eliminate at once, without consideration, the sage-brush and the 

 cacti, because they are of no great promise. The case is otherwise 

 with the Chenopodiaceaj. This order of plants promises much. 

 Its general character, to betrin with, indicates latent possibilities. 

 For example, it furnishes the beet, mangel wurzel, garden orach, 

 and several species, also, of the mealy seeds are largely used by 

 our American Indians as food. In South America, qiiinoa is an 

 established article of food, and comes likewise from this order. 

 Add to the above the fact that Eurotia lanata, another representa 

 tive of the order, is a well known and highly valued forage plant 

 in some of the drier and more alkaline regions of our West, and 

 the case would seem pretty clear that we have to do with an 

 oi'der which is well worthy of extended observation and experi- 

 ment. 



Here then are three points for consideration : (a) What plants 

 of the order can be used as food, and what portions of them ? (b) 

 What does each pr-omise in the way of improvement under long- 

 continued, judicious cultivation? (c) Is there any way by which 

 such seeds (of this order) as contain active properties can be treated 

 so as to render them fit for food ? 



The fact at once suggests itself that here is a field of research, 

 which (however promising) is mainly beyond reach of the indi- 

 vidual observer. Time is a prime factor in the most important 

 of the three questions. To test the capacity of any species fully 

 for improvement would require not less than a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, and, more than likely, a much longer period. It is fairly 

 one of the problems which should be referred to a long-lived gov- 

 ernment, either for direct consideration by its own corps of ex- 

 perimenters, or, perhaps better still, by the agricultural colleges 

 of each State in which such plants grow abundantly. 



Among the Labiatae (or mint family) the Chia (seeds of Salvia 

 Columbaria) appears. Its use among the aborigines dates back 

 beyond our knowledge. We do know, however, that it was 

 among the so-called " Aztec" races of Mexico an article of food, 

 that it was accepted as tribute by the conquerors from the con- 

 quered, and that it still holds a place on the diet- list of the Cali- 

 fornia Indians. Such, then, are some of the indications as to 

 possible sources of food- supply which even the barren-ground por- 

 tions of our country may be made to yield to an increased and 

 himgry future population. Is it not, also, possible that desert 

 plants, having useful properties, might be introduced, from other 

 countries, into our own drier regions, with advantage to us? 



The second part of the barren-ground problem — to obtain the 

 largest utility from our rainfall — is already complicated by its 

 association with existing State lines. Take, for example, the 

 condition of affairs in Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah. Much of 

 the water received by those States and the territory comes from 

 the mountain slopes of Colorado, and how much of this water they 

 shall receive depends also upon Colorado. Yet Colorado was the 

 last of all to be settled. The continued prosperity of three earlier- 

 settled States is contingent upon the wants, the caprice, or the 

 cupidity of one later settled State. Clearly, there is something 

 wrong in a political economy which makes such a condition pos- 

 sible. There is no probability that lapse of years will simplify 

 the problem, and at once the question suggests itself as to whether 

 drainage-lines should not promptly be regarded and acted upon as 

 important factors in determining State boundaries. Here one 

 comes in contact with political organization. All the States con- 

 cerned (by their commissioners at least) must be in accord before 

 any change of boundary can be made. And one can readily see 

 the almost interminable line of contests, between statesmanship 

 on the one hand and politics on the other, which such change will 

 open up. 



There is, hon ever, another aspect from which this question can 

 be viewed. Thus water-storage may, to a certain extent, re- 

 move the pressure of an inadequate water-supply. There seem to 

 be certain districts, for example, that of the White Mountains of 

 Arizona, where the rainfall is within a very few inches of enough 

 to ensure crops. That this deficiency could be supplied during 

 the growing season from storage basins seems more than probable. 

 The exact method of constructing such basins so as to ensure the 

 safety of the residents on the lower grounds is more doubtful than 

 the benefits possible if the water were once hoarded. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Professor Geo. R. Vine of Sheffield, England, has recently 

 distributed a report of a committee of the British Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, appointed to investigate Cretaceous 

 Polyzoa. In this conclusion to a series of investigations extend- 

 ing over a number of years, we have discussions of the species 

 occurring in various sections, together with a catalogue of the 

 Polyzoa found in the Chatham t:halk. In this, references are 

 given to tlie original place of description of the genera and species, 

 the classification of D'Orbigny being followed to a large extent. 

 There is finally a catalogue of the species of British Cretaceous 

 Polyzoa, numbering 383 species, with references to place of de- 

 scription and the geological or zonal distribution. Students of 

 Polyzoa must be grateful to Professor Vine for the great amount 

 of work he has done at various times upon this difficult group. 

 In a second paper, reprinted from the Proceedings of the York- 

 shire Geological and Polytechnic Society, Professor Vine describes 

 and illustrates some new species, and remarks upon many others 

 from Cretaceous horizons. 



— '• Mother and Child " is a compendium of modern scientific 

 knowledge of the relationship between the parent and her family, 

 which J. B. Lippincott Company will publish at an early day. It 

 is prepared by Drs. E. P. Davis and John M. Keating, and con- 

 tains information which is of importance to women's well being, 

 as well as in regard to the varied diseases of children. It is speci- 

 ally adapted to domestic use, but will also be valuable for trained 

 nurses and the medical profession. 



