228 



Now, let there be a gentle breeze, and by placing the feathery 

 balls upon the windward side of the "green," the race is off, 

 without scoring, unless the exact rate of speed is to be recorded, 

 when a scratch line must be drawn, and the usual rules of the 

 race course observed. 



From the above the reader has gathered between the lines 

 something of the lightness and airy texture of a subject that may 

 engage the attention of a lover of plants when he is away from 

 home and the weightier matters of life are purposely left behind. 



While drinking in the balm of the long-leaved pine, with watch 

 in hand one may test the speed of a pet tumbler, and in the 

 excitement — and it will be thrilling at times — he may lose sight 

 of the real meaning of the whole construction of the racer and 

 the marvelous mechanism that serves the end of seed depression. 



It is a lofty motherly instinct in plants, if you please, that 

 has caught the attention, and while it provides amusement in 

 this particular expression, yet, in the last analysis it serves to 

 polish an old thought, namely, the debt to the species is final 

 for the physical nature. But — 



Upon the world of matter rests an atmosphere of thought . 

 And in the upper reaches the Head-thinker's home is sought. 

 From facts to correlations, then these subtle laws combine — 

 'Tis called by many 'ologies, this lure of the Divine. 

 New Brunswick, N. J., 

 June, 1916 



MYOSURUS ARISTATUS BENTH. 



By Ivar Tidestrom 



In his catalogue of Geyer's plants* from the Upper Missouri, 

 the Oregon Territory, and the intervening portion of the Rocky 

 Mountains, Sir W. J. Hooker refers all the specimens of Myosurus 

 collected on the trip to Myosurus minimus L, 



On pages 458-459 of the volume cited,* a revision of Myosurus 

 is made by Hooker, so far as the Geyer plants are concerned, 

 and another species, Myosurus aristatus Benth. is added. Hooker 

 states in part: "Mr. Bentham has kindly pointed out to me an 



* London Journal of Botany, 6: 67, 1847. 



