302 
Should the bill pass, it is not impossible that 
one of its benefits might be, that it would 
render more difficult the appointment to the 
responsible post of commissioner of agricul- 
ture of individuals such as some who have in 
the past held without filling that position. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
*,* Correspondents are requested to beas briefas possible. The 
writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good fuith. 
Red sunsets and precipitation. 
THE readers of the scientific journals have, no doubt, 
observed that the prevailing explanation for the red 
sunsets and colored sky during the past few months 
is that of chromatic diffusion of light by voleanic-ash 
particles. There are some apparent incongruities as 
pointed out by Mr. Proctor and others; but we be- 
lieve that the established physical laws will permit 
a satisfactory solution of the phenomena, assuming 
volcanic matter as the cause. 
The object of this letter is to notice what seems to 
the writer a probable connection between the con- 
spicuous sunset colors and the excessive cloudiness 
and precipitation during the last month or six weeks. 
With regard to precipitation we must recognize Pro- 
fessor Aitken’s discovery; viz., that clouds and all 
forms of precipitation occur by virtue of the solid par- 
ticles of inatter suspended in the atmosphere, serving 
as nuclei upon which the aqueous vapor is condensed. 
The supply of this solid matter in the aggregate is 
nearly uniform; but, if an excess occur from any 
cause, we should expect a larger precipitation for the 
same hygroscopic state of the atmosphere. ‘This con- 
clusion, we believe, has been verified during the past 
two months, in meteorological observations. It might 
be argued that the cloudiness and rain have not been 
evenly distributed, as would be expected if caused 
by the settling of the ash-particles; but in what has 
been said, no regard is taken of the various causes 
for an unequal distribution of the matter, and the 
common conditions of storms. We should expect 
weather-records to show the greater precipitation in 
regions where the sky colors have been most conspic- 
uous. The writer, however, has no data for verify- 
ing this. 
The above is advanced rather as a suggestion than 
as an exposition, in the hope that it may stimulate 
a more exhaustive study of this connection, if such 
there is. W. H. HOWARD. 
Does Unio spin a byssus? 
Attached to the female of a Unio which I collected, 
last August, from the middle fork of the Holston 
River, at Marion, Va., were stones, some of them 
more than an inch in diameter. So strongly were 
these attached that not only could they be lifted from 
the water by the attachment, but it took considerable 
force to separate them from the Unio. I had often 
seen Unio shells covered with gravel and mud firmly 
cemented by the Confervae that commonly grow up- 
on the anterior portion of the valves exposed above 
the water; but these shells under consideration were 
unusually free from such growths. At the time, 
I removed the pebbles without giving attention to 
the phenomenon; but, recurring to it afterwards, I 
found, on examination, what appeared to be the bases 
SCIENCE. 
, OW Ae 7ry 
[Vou. IIL; Nos 5S. 
_ of byssi, situated at about the middle of the anterior 
fourth of each valve. 
Again: these were only found on females, all of 
which were gravid, having the eggs well developed. 
Is it a provision to prevent the strong current of this 
river from sweeping them into unsuitable spawning- ° 
grounds while depositing their eggs? Are these 
byssi (?) seasonal, or permanent? If byssi, how are 
they spun? E. P. LARKIN. 
Retrograde metamorphosis of a strawberry- 
flower. 
Mr. J. H. Foster of Orange county, Fla., sends amon- 
strous form of a strawberry-blossom, which is shown 
in the accompanying engraving. During the winter 
there were several hard frosts which blasted many 
of the strawberry-flowers in Florida. This inju- 
rious weather may have been the cause of the strange 
malformation. The engraving shows the flower-stalk, 
a, raised from its re- 
clining position. The 
calyx-lobes are at b, 
b, b, and within these 
is a circle of stamens. 
In place of the fleshy 
receptacle, so. much 
relished by all when 
ripe, there is a small 
strawberry -plant, c, 
with its short stem, 
and a root, d, spring- 
ing from near its base. 
This root, doubtless, 
penetrated the soil 
soon after it started 
out from the stem, 
and became a source 
of nourishment for the young plant. The base of the 
stem has many undeveloped pistils scattered over its 
surface, which plainly show that the plant is a trans- 
formed receptacle. The young leaves, when un- 
folded, are of the normal form, consisting of three 
wedge-shaped, coarsely serrated leaflets. 
Flowers, and in fact all organs of plants, have been 
known to undergo strange changes of form. All 
gradations may be found, from one set of floral organs 
to another. This is seen between petals and stamens 
in almost every white water-lily, and between stamens 
and pistils in willow, apple, poppy, and other blossoms. 
Stamens are changed into, or become, petals in the 
familiar process of the ‘doubling’ of flowers. This 
tendency to retrograde is carried still farther when 
both the stamens and pistils become green, leafy ex- 
pansions, and thus reveal their true nature. In many 
cases the floral axis is prolonged beyond one or more 
circles of floral organs, and the stem again assumes 
the ordinary leaf-bearing form. Such a metamor- 
phosis sometimes takes place in an apple or pear 
blossom; and as a result, there may be a fully devel- 
oped fruit, with a leafy branch extending beyond the 
blossom end (basin). : 
The metamorphosis which has taken place in the 
strawberry-flower shown in the engraving is in the 
line of our expectation: the strawberry-plant propa- 
gates itself readily and rapidly by slender branches 
sent off from the base of the parent-plant. Each one 
of these runners strikes root at its apex, and soon 
develops a tuft of leaves and an independent plant. 
In the case discovered by Mr. Foster, this strong 
tendency to increase by runners is carried out by a 
flower-stem with a frost-injured blossom lying upon 
the moist earth. 
Byron D. HALSTED. 
