164 Miscellaneous. 



Now a similar case of direct action of alien pollen upon the 

 fruit, or grain, occurs in Indian corn, and is familiar to every far- 

 mer in the country, in the form of grains of different varieties on 

 the same ear. A decisive instance is before us in a small ear of 

 sweet corn, grown in the vicinity of a patch of the common hard, 

 yellow variety ; in consequence from three to six grains in every 

 row have become yellow corn, while the rest retain the character- 

 istic appearance of the sweet variety. It is not rare, where several 

 sorts of maize are cultivated together, to find nearly all of them 

 separately represented upon one ear. This must be the result 

 either of cross-fertilization of the previous year showing itself, not 

 in a blending of the characters of the fruit of the progeny, but in 

 a complete separation into the constituent sorts in the fruit re- 

 sulting from one seed, which would be a wonderful anomaly, but 

 no impossibility ; or else, of an immediate action of the pollen the 

 present year, as is reputed of squashes and melons. Bnt the oc- 

 curence of three sorts of corn upon one ear goes far towards ex- 

 cluding the first supposition, since there can have been but two 

 immediate parents to one embryo. (Prof. Gray). 



Ag-assiz's Contribution's to the Natural History of the 

 United States. — The first two volumes of this work have made 

 their appearance and are worthy of the high reputation of their 

 author. We shall in a future number review the work at length, 

 and in the meantime give the following summary of its contents. 



Vol. L, Part I. Essay on Classification. 



Chapter I. The fundamental relations of animals to one an- 

 other and to the world in which they live, as the basis of the 

 natural system of animals : under which head the author treats of 

 — the actual foundation in nature of the true zoological system or 

 classification, — the unity of plan throughout the diversified types 

 — the distribution of the same types over widely diverse geogra- 

 phical regions, and as widely diverse geological ages, — the per- 

 manency of types and the immutability of species,— the relations 

 between plants and animals and the surrounding world, — embry- 

 ology a basis for determining the rank of species — succession in 

 geological time a basis for deciding approximately upon rank ; — 

 all of which topics, besides others not here enumerated, are so 

 handled as to bear directly on the question of creation by physical 

 agencies, giving it a decided negative reply. 



Chapter II. Leading groups of the existing system of animals 

 — a philosophical disquisition on the true significance of th« 



