42 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
North Carolina the common laurel is universally dubbed ''ivy,'* 
and in Western Pennsylvania the wood sorrel, an herb of moun- 
tain woods with clover-like leaves that fold at night as though in 
slumber, is prettily called ''Sleeping Mollie." The hand of the 
arch enemy of mankind is hinted at in the name of many a noxi- 
ous weed, as devil's grandmother, devil's claws, devil's paint 
brush, devil's walking stick, and so on. — C. F. Sa}iders in Phila- 
delphia Record. 
NOTE AND CO:^IMENT. 
\\'anted. — Short notes of interest to the general botanist are 
always in demand for this department. Our readers are invited 
to make this the place of publication for their botanical items. 
Horse Chestnuts as Food. — According to recent report, a 
way has at last been found to utilize the horse chestnut as food. 
The nut i? rich in starch and albumen, and contains some sugar 
but a certain bitter resin has made it inedible, if indeed, not pois- 
onous as is currently believed. By the new process the nut is 
f>oW'dered and the resin removed by alcohol. The resultant meal 
is said to be rich in food value, and to have an agreeable taste. 
Vitality of Seeds. — The great range of temperature which 
seeds can withstand withqut losing their germinating power is 
remarkable. On the one hand, certain seeds have sprouted after 
being exposed to a temperature of more than 400 degrees below 
zero, while on the other, a temperature of 281 degrees above zero 
did not destroy the vitality of certain seeds exposed to it, in recent 
experiments. 
Production of Tubers in the Labiatae. — We rarely asso- 
ciate a tuber-bearing habit with species of the mint family 
(Labiatae) but half a dozen or more species are known to produce 
tuberous roots, some of which are edible. The natives of the 
Soudan make use of the tubers of a species of Plectranthus as 
food and in India Plectranthus Aromaticus is commonly known 
as "bread-and-butter-plant." 
American Trees in Europe. — European gardeners are cov- 
