91 



given, and another theory * as to the origin of these pecuHar 

 markings is added to those already known. Dr. Borthwick 

 thinks that this pecuHarity is due to the formation of adventitious 

 roots upon the stem, and that these arise from abnormal medul- 

 lary rays. In none of the cases examined (with possibly one 

 exception) were such roots due to mechanical injury, or the 

 attacks of fungi or insects. While the conditions which govern 

 the production of adventitious roots are not certainly determined, 

 he is sure that moisture is an important factor, as it is " only in 

 the moistest situation that they persist for any time after they 

 pierce the periderm." 



NEWS ITEMS 



Mr. Norman Taylor, who has been an aid in the New York 

 Botanical Garden for several years, has been appointed custodian 

 of the garden plantations. 



Ira D. Cardiff (Ph.D., Columbia, igo6), professor of botany in 

 the University of Utah, has been elected president of the recently 

 organized Utah Academy of Sciences. 



Mr. A. K. Chittenden has been appointed assistant in the 

 U. S. Forest Service to investigate the White Mountains and 

 the Appalachian Mountains in regard to the proposed national 

 park. 



* Ackervian' s Repository, an old English journal of "Arts, Literature and 

 Fashions," published in 1825 an article on " Botanical Theory " which is interesting 

 in this connection. The italics are ours. " This marking is an excellence not pecul- 

 iar to any one tree, but is occasionally met with in the maple, citron, yew, ash, 

 beech, lime and other trees. A knowledge of the particular time when trees may be 

 expected to exhibit such figured appearances, seems to have been a secret confined to 

 very few, who, by thus having the command of the market, contrived to keep up the 

 prices. To the discovery of this secret, the fair botanist [Mrs. Ibbetson] has been 

 led by her researches in support of a theory which she has the honor of originating : 

 namely, that the buds of trees ascend from the root. Willdenow thought that they 

 were formed in the bark ; Mr. Knight says that they originated in the alburnum next 

 the bark. ' Pliny's description of the bruscum, so prized by Romans in their tables,' 

 says Mrs. Ibbetson, ' immediately brought to my mind the different figures of the roots 

 of various trees, when cut down at the proper season, for this does not last above a 

 fortnight or three weeks at most in any tree ; but if taken within that lime, most roots 

 form a very beautiful picture.' This she contends may be attributed to the various 

 grouping of the buds, as they are about to start, or have started, from the root on 

 their progress up the different layers of the wood to the exterior." 



