204 PEARLS AND PEBBLES. 



POLLEN OF THE WHITE PINE. 



When I first settled in the backwoods of northern 

 Ontario, I noticed that after heavy thunder-storms the 

 water on the surface of the lake and the puddles on the 

 ground were covered with a fine sulphur-colored powdery- 

 substance, which lay like a thin yellow crust on the 

 earth after the water had evaporated. On asking an 

 old settler what it was,, he answered, " Sulphur, which 

 comes down with the rain from the clouds. We call 

 them sulphur showers, for it is always seen in this 

 country after thunder-storms." 



Not being quite convinced of the real nature of the 

 substance, I collected a portion of it, dried it and for- 

 warded it to a friend who was the possessor of a fine 

 microscope of four hundred magnifying power. I 

 received from him a drawing of the magnified powder 

 grains, which resembled grains of wheat, a central line 

 dividing the figure, giving the idea of duality to the 

 form of each atom. 



My friend pronounced the substance to be the pollen 

 of the White or Weymouth Pine (Pinus sti-obits). 



This settled the matter and was perfectly conclusive, 

 especially as this sulphur-looking substance is seen only 

 during ' the time when the cone-bearing trees are in 

 flower in July, which is also the time when thunder- 

 storms are most general. 



The extreme lightness of the pollen dust renders it 



