7'4 
T'fiTE AI^El^rCAN BOTANIST. 
to it ; and the more we investigate, the greater becomes^ 
our wonder and sense of reverence at the creative power 
which underlies it. 
From the more microscopic form's o=f plant life to the 
giant Sequoia, it is the tiny green grains which, in con- 
junction with the formative cell, the twin wonders of 
creation, enable them to ex^ist and reproduce themselves; 
and, as we have already indicated, in those lowly forms of 
plant life, the fur^gi, which manage to exist without their 
actual presence within their sul:«tance, they can only do 
so b^^ feeding, as carnivorous animals do, on organic 
matter previausly shaped by chlorophyll, and consequent- 
ly charged with nutritive elements. The green' leaf, in 
short, forms the link 'twixt so-lar force and life itself, and 
in viewing the wide expanse of verdure of hill and dale 
and field and forest in their spring and summer garb, we 
are the actual witnes-ses^ of the wondrous process- of trans- 
formation u])on which our very existence and that of life 
in every other form, is absolutely dependent. — Charles 
Druery in Journal of Horticulture. 
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. 
NiTROGEr^ Fixing Bacteria.— Examine the roots of 
the nearest thrifty clover plant and they will be found to 
bear numerous small, rounded nodules not much larger 
than pin heads. These are the homes of bacteria, vSpecies 
of fungi so small that notwithstanding the minuteness of 
the nodules, each one may contain a million or more 
individuals. The bacteria seem to have set up a sort of 
partnership with clovers and other leguminous plants and 
