i 
54 ! NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
Mare Frowers on THE Ear or Inpran Corn.—In the April 
number of the American Naruratist, we expressed a desire to see 
specimens with a part of the ear male, that being so very much 
rarer than the case of the male panicle bearing female flowers 
and fruit, which, indeed, is common enough. Our correspondent, 
Dr. Henry Shimer, of Mt. Carmel, Ill., has sent us a specimen, 
accompanied by a long communication, touching upon hypotheti- 
cal matters which we do not care now to discuss. We will only 
remark that the instance is not the one we had in view in asking. 
We wanted to see male flowers on the ear, that is, male flowers in 
the place of female ones, or else hermaphrodite flowers. But Dr. 
Shimer’s instance is not of that sort. It is a case of a male pani- — d 
cle produced from the apex of a female spike, which, as he re- 
marks, is too common to excite much attention. 
FLOWERING OF THE VICTORIA REGIA IN THE OPEN Arr. — Joseph 
Mager, Esq., has succeeded in flowering the Victoria Lily in his 
pond in England. The pond is perfectly open, but the water is 
heated by hot water pipes coming from a boiler near the pond, 
carefully concealed. The seeds of the Victoria were planted in 
May last, and the first flower was produced Sept. 10th. After- 
wards seven other flowers opened. The plant has eight leaves, of 
which the largest is five feet, two inches, in diameter. Mr. Mager 
has also succeeded in flowering a large number of other tropical 
-lilies in his pond. The “London Field” for Nov. 26th, gives an 
engraving of the pond, and an account of the treasures it con- 
tains. 
_ sores IN THE Derrorr River.—Though the Isoetes has been 
found in the Niagara river, and in the Oswego river near the Falls, 
and also at Sault St. Marie, near Lake Superior, the Lake botan- 
ists had failed to find it in our vicinity. This last season, how- l 
ever, after many fruitless searches, I discovered it (September 
lith, 1870) at Windsor, Ontario. The specimens I at once found 
to be a well-marked form of I. echinospora Durien. In a subse- 
quent search (September 18th), I found the same species, but of @ 
distinct form, at Sandwich, Ontario, a point farther down our river. 
At both points, which are about three miles apart, and opposite 
the city of Detroit, the plants were taken from the river; and I 
attribute their growing on that side to the soil being more grav- 
elly there than on the north side. 
