96 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST, 



and driest time the transpiration is probably at the max- 

 imum. It is therefore very difficult to correlate the decid- 

 uous phase with the theory of checking transpiration in 

 every instance, and in these cases we must look for other 

 forces which are probably internal. 



Wanted. — Short notes of interest to the general bot- 

 anist are always in demand for this department. Our 

 readers are invited to make this the place of publication 

 for their botanical items. 



American Absinthe. — According to the newspapers, 

 this intoxicant is now being made in America. The worm- 

 wood {Ambrosia absinthianum) from which it is made is 

 said to be cultivated in various parts of Wisconsin. 



Blasted Buds of the Mandrake. — It is almost an. 

 invariable experience to find dozens of blasted mandrake 

 buds for every perfect flower. The question is, what 

 causes it ? Anyone who can tell is requested to communi- 

 cate the information to this journal. 



The Prolific Groundnut. — Some plants of the 

 groundnut {Apios tuherosa) planted in the editor's 

 grounds a few years ago, have laid up such subterranean 

 stores that the earth is literally packed with them. Many 

 of the tubers are as large as medium-sized potatoes. 



Popular Novels and Trees. — According to The Sci- 

 entific American, the aggregate sales of nine of the recent 

 works of fiction have reached 1,600,000 copies. To make 

 that number of books, required 2,000,000 pounds of paper 

 and to make this amount of paper more than 4,000 trees 

 were used. And these nine novels form but a very small 

 part of the output of American printing presses. Some 

 novels may be worth 4,000 trees, but we all know of 

 others for which we would not exchange a single tree. 



