106 



ferns, and several other phases of homoeosis, the complete or 

 partial translocation of foliage characters to the flowers or vice 

 versa, and the omission of one of the alternative generations as 

 in some ferns, where the tips of the pinnae may be converted into 

 prothallia bearing archegonia and antheridia. 



The Neiv York Trihine (or February 14 reports that " a buried 

 prehistoric forest on the New Jersey coast, near the Sandy Hook 

 military reservation, has been discovered by army engineers while 

 boring for an additional water supply. When the test pipes were 

 down nearly four hundred feet, through strata of red clay, shale, 

 and white sand, a broad strata of wood was found. At one point 

 the boi'ers reported that they went through twenty feet of wood, 

 which they think was a tree trunk still remaining upright. In- 

 vestigations are being made in the interest of archaeology. If 

 a forest flourished where the sand dunes are now, it is believed 

 it was covered with sand by the action of the sea until buried." 



The Calaveras National Forest, the famous grove which con- 

 tains about 1,400 giant sequoias over six feet in diameter is de- 

 scribed in Science, March 19. The grove also includes many very 

 large sugar pines, yellow pines, white firs, and cedars. Most of 

 the larger sequoias have been named for famous generals, states- 

 men, or for states. The Father of the Forests, now fallen, has a 

 basal diameter of over forty feet. Some of these trees contain 

 as much lumber as fifteen acres of ordinary timberland. The 

 first Calaveras bill was introduced some four years ago ; the pres- 

 ent bill is one of the last signed by President Roosevelt. 



Loco-weed, the cause of extensive losses of live stock in the 

 western United States, has been recently investigated by A. C. 

 Crawford (Bull. 129, U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry). Having 

 proved its toxic powers, which was doubted by some investi- 

 gators, Mr. Crawford next found that the toxicity remained after 

 boiling and was also easily proven in the ash of the plants under 

 examination. In the experiments with animals it was noticed 



