74 THE WEST AMEEICAN SCIENTIST. 



Nowhere is more strongly illustrated the practically inexhaustible 

 nature of microscopical research, for, notwithstanding the fact 

 that Hydra has been the subject of continued observation since 

 the days of Leeuwenhoek and Trembley, yet even its latest inves- 

 tigators, while adding to our knowledge, have also opened up a 

 new series of questions calling for additional patient search, im- 

 proved methods of study and increased optical facilities. We 

 may rest assured, therefore, that although Hydra was one of the 

 very first 'revelations of the microscope,' it will nevertheles s be 

 profitably studied as long as that magic lens has a single devotee.' 



SEED VITALITY. 



The limit of life in the embryo of seeds has long been a sub- 

 ject of experiment and discussion. In a late lecture. Prof. Bent- 

 ley, an English botanist, stated that it is perfectly true that oats 

 and other cerials have been raised from seed found in a mummy's 

 coffin but it appears to be equally certain that the grains Avere 

 placed in the ancient coffin by some means only a short time be- 

 fore the exhumation of the body. Not many seeds will germinate 

 under ordinary circumstances after the third year, and very few 

 indeed after the fourth. Peas and beans are very tenacious of 

 life. The lotus has been known to grow after a hundred years, 

 but there is scarcely another instance of such survival of vitality. 



A NATURAL TRAP. 



A curious form of animal trap exists in the Santa Paula valley, 

 Ventura county, California, where many unfortunate creatures are 

 captured by small streams of thick mineral oil which flow from 

 the mountains during the summer down ravines which are water- 

 courses in the wet season. Thus, it is stated on the authority of 

 Prof. E. W, Hilgard, gophers, moles, squirrels, rabbits, all kinds 

 of birds from the buzzard and hawk to the canary, as well as 

 many kinds of insects, may be found just caught or completely 

 submerged in the pitiless, viscid mass, which rarely releases a 

 victim once touched. The frequent occurence of bones of lambs 

 and calves proves that even larger animals are entrapped. It is 

 supposed that the shining surface of the pitch gives the impres- 

 sion that the streams are water. 



