PHYSIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY. 381 



exclusive order of hereditary legislators and not of the men of science. 

 The order of England's peerage would certainly have sustained no 

 degradation, had it been able to reckon among its noble descents, those 

 who counted kin with the Lincolnshire farmer's boy, or with the son 

 of the German drummer who added so largely to the domain of know- 

 ledge by his brilliant genius and varied talents ; but it may be doubted 

 if either Newton or the Herschels would have been the gainers by their 

 transference from the ranks of England's untitled nobles, to those of 

 her hereditary peerage. Foreign sneerers and domestic grumblers may 

 consider these things and learn wisdom, or, at the least, gather the 

 comforting conviction, that if British science has gone on so well and 

 long without the bedizenment of aristocratic trappings, these latter mav 

 not be essential to her still further progress. We earnestly hope that 

 Professor Forbes may live to record, for the next quarter-century, even 

 greater achievements than those which he has here so admirably set 

 forth. 



J. B. 0. 



SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY NOTES. 



PHYSIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



ABNORMAL INDIAN CORN. 



Dr. H. Boys, of Barrie, in a letter to Professor Croft, of date 29th July, thus 

 writes ; " In the last number of the Canadian Journal, at p. 309, Professor Wilson 

 is stated to have read before the Institute some remarks on a specimen of Indian 

 corn, having male and female flowers developed on the same stalk. In reference 

 to this I send you a rough sketch I made some years back of a similar anomaly, 

 which fell under my own observation. You will perceive this case offered more 

 deviations from nature than are mentioned in the Journal as being noted by Pro- 

 fessor Wilson. I consider the subject one involving points of the greatest interest 

 to animal and vegetable physiologists. In thus noting the deviations occurring in 

 the simple structure of vegetables, an opportunity may be afforded of investigating 

 such phenomena, with a fair chance of leading to important results. I hope the 

 subject will not be allowed to drop. All I can promise to do is to look out for 

 fresh instances, and should I be so fortunate as to observe such this season, I shall 

 endeavour to make more careful drawings aud more minute and accurate remarks 

 and shall send you the result." 



In the sketch which accompanies the letter of Dr. Boys, the branched spike of 

 male florets is seen with a considerable group of the female introduced amopo- 



