THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



35 



Death of Thomas Howell. — The death of Thomas 

 Howell at Portland, Oregon, on December 3, 1912, removed 

 from this life one of the most remarkable of botanists. It is 

 reported that his educational opportunities were limited to a 

 single term of six months In a log school house in the 

 Northwest, yet notwithstanding this handicap, he became 

 an acknowledged authority on the plants of his region and 

 wrote a monumental work entitled "The Flora of Northwest 

 America" in which he described a large number of new species 

 he had discovered. There is a story, which may well be true, 

 that Howell set up most of the type for this book, teaching 

 himself the printers' trade in order to do so. Such feats were 

 very characteristic of the man. Howell was born in Missouri 

 seventy years ago and removed with his parents to the North- 

 west when he was but eight years old, the entire distance 

 being covered by ox-team. His career may serve as an inspira- 

 tion to students better situated who are inclined to murmur at 

 their lack of opportunity. 



Nuts that are not Nuts. — Let us take in illustration, 

 some of the fruits that are popularly and erroneously called 

 "nuts." Why is a Brazil-nut not a nut ? Because it is a seed — 

 one of many from a large box. Why is a peanut not a nut? 

 Because it is a pod. Why is a walnut not a nut? Because it 

 is the stone of a drupe. Why is a horse-chestnut not a nut? 

 Because the fruit is really a capsule with big seeds. Why is a 

 cocoanut not a nut? Because it is the stone of a large drupe 

 with a leathery epicarp and fibrous mesocarp. The hazel has a 

 typical nut with a sheath of succulent bracts at the base; the 

 beech has three-sided nuts with woody external bracts ; the 

 acorn is a nut with an extra scaly cupule. — From Thomsons 

 ^'Biology of the Seasons/' 



