January 18, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



date than tlie appellation of Connecticut." 

 This review of the usages of names foi- 

 the trias shows that the name of Connecti- 

 cut was distinctly proposed bj' E. Hitch- 

 cock in 1833, and was constantly used by 

 the geologists specially interested in those 

 works before 185C: AV. C. Redfield pro- 

 posed the name of Xewark for the terrancs 

 in 1856: that instead of accepting the name 

 geologists universally employed the name 

 of Connecticut when using a local designa- 

 tion up to 1889: that in this period there 

 were several unmistakable formal proposals 

 of the use of Connecticut: and that there 

 were in this period allusions to the fact that 

 the name of Newai-k was not accepted. 

 Even ]SIr. Russell, in his leai-ned paper of 

 1878, used the name of Triassic in prefer- 

 ence to Xewark. 



Mr. Gilbert mentions three ' qualifica- 

 tions of a geographic name for employment 

 in stratigraphy, (1) definite association of 

 the geographic feature with theterrane, (2) 

 freedom of the term from pre-occupation in 

 stratigraphy, (3) priority.' These are ac- 

 ceptable with the addition of a fourth, ap- 

 propriateness of application. All of these 

 qualifications are possessed by the term 

 Connecticut , while the term Newark can- 

 not satisfy a single one of them. 



C. H. Hitchcock. 

 Dartmouth College. 



LEXGTff OF VKSSELS IX PLANTS. 

 The diameter of pitted and other vessels 

 is easily measured upon the cross-section of 

 any stem, but their length is less readily de- 

 termined. Probably, if the question were 

 put, a majority of botanists would say that 

 they rarely exceed a few inches in length, 

 especially if they still believe with Sachs 

 that the water ascends through the walls of 

 the vessels. As a matter of fact, the spiral 

 and pitted vessels <if plants often form open 

 passageways of great length. Some experi- 

 ments made upon woody stems by Strass- 



burger ( Ueber (/<■» liau u. die Verrieliliiiifjeii 

 der Leitunggbahiieii in den Pflanzen) seem to 

 place this beyond dispute. His method of 

 procedure was to fasten a glass tube to the 

 iipper end of a cut stem by a rubber Itand, 

 insert a funnel into the upper end of the tube, 

 and subject the cut surface to the jiressure 

 of a column of mercury kept at a uniform 

 height of twenty centimeters, successively 

 shortening the stem until mercury appeared 

 at the lower end. Using this method, he 

 obtained the following results : 



(1.) In a branch of Quercus rubra. 1.5 

 meters long and about three centimeters 

 thick, mercury ran out of thirty vessels on 

 the lower cut surface almost as soon as it 

 was poured into the funnel. When the 

 branch was shortened to one meter fifty- 

 four to fifty-six vessels were permeable. In 

 a slender branch of Quercus pedunadata, 

 one meter long, thirty-five vessels dropped 

 mercury, and Mhen this was shortened to 

 one-half meter mercury came out of more 

 than 100 vessels. Another branch five 

 centimeters thick at the base and 3.6 meters 

 long was tried, and drops of mercury fell in 

 quick succession from eight vessels. In 

 Quercus Cerris mercury came through seven 

 vessels of a branch four meters long and six 

 centimeters thick at the base. Shortened 

 to 3.5 meters nine vessels dropped mercurj- ; 

 at three meters, twelve vessels ; at 2.5 me- 

 ters, numerous vessels. Conclu.iion : Vessels 

 two meters long are quite common in the 

 oaks, and it is probable that single vessels 

 may be as long as the stem itself. 



(2.) In Eobiuia Pseudaeacia, a branch 

 two meters long and three centimeters thick 

 was impermeable and first let through mer- 

 cury when shortened to 1.18 meteis. Then 

 it dropped from four vessels. Successively 

 shortened mercury dropped from an inci-eas- 

 ing number of vessels as follows : One 

 meter, nine vessels ; fifty centimeters, thirty- 

 eight vessels ; twenty-five centimeters, fifty- 

 seven vessels. 



