392 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. So. o.il. 



the host plant, coil up and dry out themselves. 

 In this dried-out condition they may remain 

 motionless hut alive for years. On falling 

 to the ground the affected seeds absorb mois- 

 ture and the worms uncoil, bore their way out 

 to freedom and, finding new grass plants, enter 

 them and ascend to the flower, thus completing 

 the circle of development. 



The affected seeds are usually shorter, some- 

 times, however, much longer than the normal 

 seeds and are incapable of germination. The 

 glumes are much enlarged and the spikelets 

 stand out at a different angle from, and are 

 often more crowded on the axis. In fact, the 

 affected plants may appear to be specifically 

 distinct, and one case is known in America 

 where a diseased plant was actually described 

 as a new species, the presence of the nematodes 

 having escaped the notice of the investigator. 



Although known in Europe for a long time, 

 practically no attention has been paid to this 

 type of nematode disease in America. On 

 behalf of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, the writer 

 has resumed his work, interrupted four years 

 ago, on the nematode diseases of plants. He 

 has found the disease in question in grasses 

 from Texas, Oregon and Alaska, in the genera 

 ChcetocJiloa, Agropyron, Elymus, Calama- 

 grostis and Trisetum. Two, possibly three, 

 species of nematodes were found, all belonging 

 to the genus Tylenchus. Cultural experi- 

 ments are now under way to determine, if 

 possible, whether any of them are identical 

 with T. tritici of wheat in Europe. In the 

 meantime, the writer would be very glad to 

 receive all specimens of grasses and other 

 plants suspected of harboring nematodes in 

 their parts above ground as he wishes to de- 

 termine what plants are affected and which 

 species of nematodes cause the diseases. 



Ernst A. Bessey. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



THE OLYSIPIC PENINSUL.\ OF WASHINGTON. 



A VISIT of five weeks in western Washington 

 in 1902 gave opportunity for the following 

 notes on a region as yet almost unexplored. 

 The Olympic Peninsula forms the extreme 



northwest corner of the United States, and, as 

 may be seen from any map, is almost cut off 

 by water on every side. The climate is mild, 

 temperatures ranging at sea level from 22° F. 

 in winter to 86° F. in summer. The annual 

 precipitation amounts to 120 inches at Xeah 

 Bay. Rain falls gently, and is to be expected 

 for ten months of the year. In July and 

 August there is usually no rain at all, so that 

 the forest litter becomes very dry, and serious 

 fires sometimes occur. Snow is only occa- 

 sional at sea level, but at high elevations all 

 of the precipitation is in the form of snow. 



The peninsula is mostly occupied by the 

 Olympic Mountains, an irregular group, radi- 

 ating out from Mt. Olympus, 8,150 feet. 

 Many other peaks rise from 7,000 to 8,000 

 feet, and large areas lie above 6,000 feet. As 

 the whole tract is only sixty miles wide from 

 east to west, and one hundred miles long, the 

 hills and valleys are extremely rugged and 

 precipitous. " Glaciers and snow-fields are 

 numerous in the central parts of the moun- 

 tains " (Dodwell and Rixon). Persons some- 

 times speak of the Olympics as volcanic, but 

 we saw no sign of volcanism either in the 

 rocks or in the pebbles of the Quiniault or 

 Queets rivers. Along the coast a soft, green, 

 marly. Cretaceous sandstone lies in gentle 

 folds, each crest jutting out to sea as a steep 

 headland 150 to 500 feet high. Elvers occupy 

 the synclines. In the sandstone many fossils 

 are found. Especially noticeable were stumps, 

 logs and fragments of wood at different levels 

 and in various stages of transition to lignite. 

 Capping this stratum is a layer of recent yel- 

 low gravel, varying from ten to forty feet in 

 thickness, and also enclosing logs and stumps. 

 Below Point Granville the beach is low and 

 sandy, but north of this steep cliffs rise di- 

 rectly from high water line. At various 

 points (Copalis, Klaylock Creek) government 

 inspectors have found indications of petro- 

 leum, but no other valuable minerals are 

 known. 



The vegetation of the Olympic Peninsula 

 is truly remarkable. Below 5,000 feet is the 

 great northwestern forest, which must be seen 

 to be appreciated. Douglas fir, tideland 

 spruce and 'red cedar' (Thuja plicata) reach 



