484 The American Naturalist, [June, 
difficulty, but he nevertheless gives reasons, under four heads, 
to disprove the disease theory, and says in the fourth that " she 
can sing and eat at the same time." 
From the facts given above it will be observed how the cir- 
cumstances under which these mice sang agreed : when ejected 
from bed, when eating or gnawing, and, as I have shown, when 
forced to run rapidly about a room, in which act there could 
be no pleasure. Neither was it happy feelings that prompted 
the song when I meddled with her babies, when she cowered 
at the other end of the cage, evincing all the anxiety that is 
usually shown by animals under such circumstances. In birds 
we know the cause of song for rivalry or for pleasure, but we 
always hear quite other notes than those expressive of pleas- 
ure, when we look at their precious eggs. 
EDITOR'S TABLE. 
EDITORS : E. D. COPE AND J. S. KINGSLEY. 
As suggestions looking to the adoption of some flower as 
emblematic of our country are now being made, we present 
some opinions on the topic. The conditions to be satisfied 
are: ist, that the flower shall be conspicuous; 2d, that it 
shall be available for architectural carving; and 3d, that it 
shall be characteristically American. These conditions ex- 
clude many plants that have been named. Propositions in 
favor of introduced plants, such as the Convolvulus, are out 
of the question. Members of the Compositae are mostly un- 
distinguishable in sculpture, and such forms as the golden-rod, 
which has met with much favor, are unavailable for architec- 
ture. The mountain laurel (Rhododendron), is objectionable, 
since the genus is widely distributed in other regions; and the 
same objection holds true of the Magnolias. The Indian Corn 
and the Sweet Gum (Liquidambar) are both destitute of con- 
spicuous flowers. We wish to call attention to two species 
which satisfy all the conditions. These are the Kaltnia lati- 
folia (" laurel"), and the Liriodendron tulipifera (" tulip-tree"). 
Both are of wide distribution ; both are conspicuous in various 
