76 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
advantage of by ants for this purpose without design on the part 
of the plant. A recent report on two species of ^Malayan ferns of 
this kind describes the root-stocks as being thick and fleshy with 
a gallery in the interior running lengthwise and giving off two 
lateral series of galleries to the branches and leaf bases. These 
branches are connected with longitudinal chambers in the dorsal 
half of the rootstock. Ants are said to invariably inhabit these 
galleries and as the ferns develop no external openings to them, 
the ants have to make these for themselves in the softer parts of 
the plants. The ferns are both species of Polypodiuin and grow 
upon trees. 
Generic Names and Nomenclature.— Editor Grout of the 
Bryologisf has never been charged with being a conservative in 
matters nomenclatural, but he has a sensible way of looking at 
certain changes in scientific names that does not include him 
among the radicals. The following refreshing observations are 
taken from an article in the November Bryologisf. "The selec- 
tion of generic names which will stand every scrutiny is respect- 
fully offered to the logicians of today as a worthy substitute for 
the discussion of the famous syllogism proving motion impossible 
or perhaps it would prove as effective in promoting learned argu- 
ment as the discussion of how many angels can stand on the 
point of a needle. * Many of the rules made by the re- 
formers of nomenclature are wisely chosen, but the avowed pur- 
pose of some of them to make the whole matter of botanical nom- 
enclature depend on a set of rules to be mechanically applied with 
no reference to previous usages, savors of the methods of the 
middle ages." 
Revision of the BiRCHES.~Mr. M. L. Fernald who has been 
studying a large series of birch specimens, is of the opinion that 
too many forms of our white birch have been given specific rank. 
These trees like many other plants of the far north are very close- 
ly related to European and Asian species and Mr. Fernald says it 
is possible to trace by a series of specimens, a direct connection 
from one to the other. Our paper birch (Betula papyrifera) he 
regards as identical with the white birch {B. alba) of Northern 
Europe and our species should, therefore, be called by the latter 
