ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



351 



we distinguish in many cells a yellowish-green 

 globule, which Schleiden took, evidently, for a 

 cvtoblast. 



[Fit-. 217 ] 



In the hair of the Geranium stem (Fig. 101). 

 in many pith cells ol' the same (Fig. 217), and 

 of Cactus, the cytoblast was very manifest. 



I must state that I was unable to discover a 

 cytoblast in all cells which contained salt in 

 form of crystal, or in that of layers, iibres, or 

 pores, in the cells of ancient date, as the starch 

 cells of the roots which 1 considered in this paper. 



The Jmigus offers a good material for study- 

 ing the cytoblast. In fungus-cells we find one 

 or more cytoblasts, and we can easily observe 

 their dividing into two, four, etc. 



1 did not observe a cytoblast attached to the 

 wall of the primitive utricle and forming an 

 integral part of it, as related by Schleiden. 



We have now passed in review successively 

 all parts of the vegetable cell. I never found, 

 and perhaps there does not exist, a cell which 

 contains all the substances mentioned at once. 



Vegetation seems to extend much farther 

 toward the north, than toward the south pole; 

 thus in Lapland, the F'ir-tree extends to 70 deg. ; 

 the White-birch to 70 deg. 40 min., and the 

 Dwarf-birch 71 deg.; whereas, in the same de- 

 grees of south latitute vegetation is almost 

 wholly watidng. Even in Deception Island, 

 62 deg. 50 min. south latitude, only Lichens are 

 met with, and no longer any species of grass ; 

 and in Cockbnrn's Island, lat. Gl deg. 12 min., 

 only Lichens and a few mosses are to be found. 

 On the contrary, in the Arctic zone, ten species 

 of flowering plants were found on Waldcn 

 Island, .SOi deg. north latitude. 



"Nature seems to have accumulaled all the 

 beauties of form in the stately Palm, whose 

 smooth and slender stems rise to a height of 

 from GO to 75 feet, projecting like a colonnade 

 above the dense mass of the surrounding foli- 

 age. The leaves of some species incline verti- 

 cally upwards to a height of IG to 17 feet, and 

 are curled at the extremities in a kind of feathery 

 tuft. The flower-buds burst forth, in all Palms, 

 from the stem immediately beneath the leaves." 



WILD KICB. or INDIAN RICE. 



{Zizania aqu.itica, L.) 



The muddy borders of lakes and slow streams 

 in the Northwestern States produce a species of 

 wild IJice {Zizania aquatica), nearly related to 

 the cultivated grain. It is especially abundant 

 in the small lakes which abound in Minnesota, 

 and is there a means of subsistence for the In- 

 dians. It grows usually four to six feet high, 

 sometimes, however, reaching (he iK^ight of eight 

 or ten feet. The grain is jiroduced from pistil- 

 late flowers on the upper bran<^lies of the flower- 

 ing stalk, the lower branches bearing only the 

 staniinate flowers. The grain is smaller thau 

 that of the cultivated rice, but is said to be sweet 

 and well-llavored, but acquires a scorched taste 

 from the manner of removing the husks. 



We find in the Youth's Companion an article 

 by Helen C. Weeks, which gives an extremely 

 interesting account of the manner of collecting 

 and preparing the grain for food by the Indians 

 of Minnesota. We give below the principal por- 

 tion of the article referred to : 



" Some months later, in early September, we 

 left lied Lake, and journeyed by canoe from that 

 point to Leech Lake, a huudred miles and more, 

 below. The route lies through a chain of small 

 lakes, connected by streams, sometimes largo 

 and sometimes small, but ((uitc as often separated 

 by belts of land called ' portages.' 



"At times a field of wild Jlice may be found 

 in some shallow spot near the middle of the 

 lakes, but ofiener it giows nearer the shore, 

 souK'liiues many acres tdgellier, llie long, slender 

 stalks, with Iheir reddish-brown heads ol' gi-ain 

 rising high aliove one's head, as (he canoe sw<^eps 

 throuifh them. 



"The wives of our Indian boatmen set out at 

 the same time as ourselves for a rice-field in 

 Midge's Lake, and as they row more swiftly 

 than the men, we found them there at work, 

 when we started the next morning, after our first 

 night's camping out on its shores. 



" Curious to see the whole operation we waited 

 here an hour or two. in tlui bottDin of the mid- 

 dle of the canoe was laid the blanket; and as the 

 canoe was paddled slowly llirough the (iehl by 

 one woman, the other, kn(^i;lingand holding two 

 sticks, shaped like small paddles, bent over the 

 heads of rice with one, while witli the other she 

 hrusluMl out the ripe grains, which fell into the 

 blanket. As it gradually tills, the women 

 liaddU^ to some l)oint on the shore, wluu'e a fire 

 is lighted, and the j^rcat copper kettle, bought at 

 ISrilish forts in Hudson's Bay teiritory, and only 

 owned by the most well-to-do among them, is 

 swung over it to heat. Into this, wlieii almost 

 red-hot, the rice is poured, and <i)nstantly stirred 

 with a small paddle till the husks are scorched 

 oil', and the grain thoroughly parched. It is from 

 this process that the scorched taste comes, for 

 freed from the husk in the same way as the 

 Southern rice, it would be quite as sw(!et. Once 

 roasted, it is put up in bags woven from rushes, 

 and holding generally about half a bushel." 



