62 



was still a weed, proving conclusively that the definition of a 

 weed as "a plant out of place" is the true one. And yet how 

 small an accident sometimes saves a species from becoming "out 

 of place." Numbers alone in the case of the dandelion make it 

 a weed, for if there was only one dandelion-spangled lawn in all 

 the world its owner would value it highly and people go long dis- 

 tances to see it. And is there a more showy and beautiful plant 

 than the common toad flax? If it were not so common we should 

 be cultivating it in our flower beds and borders along with highly 

 prized exotics. Indeed, it is said that all the multitudes of this 

 species that now threaten the farmer have sprung from ancestors 

 cultivated in the flower garden. The musk mallow, the high cin- 

 quefoil (Potentilla recta), the dame's violet {Hcspcris matron- 

 alts), and many another in the farmer's list of weeds have a 

 similar origin, and have left the confines of the garden for the 

 freer life of the fields, roadsides and river banks to the delight of 

 all lovers of the beautiful and the disgust of none save the culti- 

 vator of the soil. 



BOOKS AND WRITERS. 



— "A Laboratory Manual of Elementary Biology,'' by Prof. F. 

 D. Heald, will be issued in September. 



— Lee & Shepard announce "Among Flowers and Trees With 

 Poets," to be published in September. 



— The publication of "Southern W'ildflowers and Trees," illus- 

 trated by Mrs. Ellis Rowan, has been postponed until autumn. 



— Wm. Briggs, Toronto, has recently issued "Sylvan On- 

 tario; a Guide to the Native Trees and Shrubs," by W. H. 

 Muldrew. 



— The late Dr. Thomas C. Porter had for many years been 

 preparing a complete flora of Pennsylvania, but died before it 

 .was printed. The manuscript was practically completed, how- 

 ever, and it is announced that it will eventually be issued under 

 the editorship of Dr. John K. Small. 



