be named for contributors and in all 

 cases full credit will be given.— Lucien M. Underwood, Auburn, Ala. 



The Smut of Indian-Corn (Ustilago zeo2-mays).—lt has been 

 found out at the Indiana Experiment Station that the smut does not 

 attack the plant through the seed as has been supposed but like wheat 

 rust it starts in the leaves and stems, wherever the spores are carried by 

 the wind and find lodgment and sufficient moisture to enable them to 

 germinate. The spores will grow as soon as ripe, that is as soon as the 

 mass containing them turns black, and they will also retain their 

 vitality for a year or two in case conditions for growth are not favor- 

 able. 



It is evident from this that neither the time of planting nor the pre- 

 vious condition or treatment of the seed will have any effect upon the 

 ' ' i the crop. It is equally evident that meteorological 

 ive decided influence. Two things can be done to 

 decrease smut in corn. The growing crop can be sprayed with a suit- 

 able fungicide and the entrance of the smut into the plant prevented. 

 That this can be made effective is shown by experiments at the Indiana 

 station. The other, more convenient but less thorough, method, is to 

 gather and destroy the smut, and thus eventually rid the fields of it — 

 (Ball. Ind. Station.) 



Antidromy and Crossfertilization.— I have been much inter- 

 ested in Dr. Macloskie's article on Antidromy in the November num- 

 ber of The Naturalist. It reminds me of some observations which I 

 made several years since while investigating the subject of croaifeitHi- 

 7ation. They will be found recorded in the same journal August, 1880. 

 A suggestion is ventured as to the possible cause of it in the flowers of 

 Saxifraga sarmentosa on pages 573 and 574 of that number. In that 

 case it seems to have little or no value in aiding crossfertilization. 



Other cases, however, have been noted where it seems probable that 

 it may be of essential value in that direction, viz., in Solatium ros- 

 tratum and Cassia chamaecrista. They show lateral asymmetry, by 

 which the pistills on opposite sides, in successive flowers of a cluster. 

 These plants will be found described also in The American Natur- 

 alist, April, 1882. 



It may be an item of general interest, also, that the features of the 

 flowers there pointed out are so remarkable as to have attracted the 

 attention of Darwin. He addressed a letter of congratulation and 

 inquiry to the writer with his characteristic candor and cordiality. It 

 may have been the last letter from that illustrious hand, for he lay cold 



