OBSERVATIONS FOR YOUNG BOTANISTS 25 
short space the otter may be trusted to find out that tlie days of 
wanton gunning are past, and that he may make his holt there 
without fear. Herons from the heronry at Wanstead, king- 
fishers from the Thames, teal, curlew, snipe, and sandpiper will 
come back if they can do so in safety.” 
Wholesale Extermination ok Ferns. — A correspondent 
calls our attention to the advertisement in the daily papers of 
Devon and Cornish fern-roots to be supplied in large numbers 
at low prices, aud asks if nothing can be done to check this 
exterminating process. We have alluded to the subject in 
former years. Nothing is, we fear, to be gained by any appeal 
to any supposed finer feelings in the purveyors of these things, 
who act as they do simply because there is money in it. It 
might be possible, as suggested some time ago by Mr. David 
Howard, President of the Essex Field Club, to alter the law as 
to wild plants and animals, so that the landed proprietor could 
take proceedings for damage done to them as he can in the 
case of crops, and not merely for trespass, when he has to prove 
damage to a fence. But the more feasible check would seem to 
be a diminution in the demand for wild roots by the general 
determination on the part of all growers to buy none but 
cultivated specimens. 
Autumn “Tints.” — Mr. E. A. Martin writes: “I should 
like to say a word of protest against the fashion which has 
been noticeable during the past autumn, of using artificially 
dyed leaves and twigs, made somewhat to resemble autumn 
tints, for purposes of indoor decoration. Most extraordinary, 
too, some of these ‘ autumn tints ’ are. Surely, if there really 
is a wish present in a purchaser of such monstrosities to be 
surrounded by leaves of autumn’s colouring, the purchaser will 
take the trouble to procure the genuine article.” 
OBSERVATIONS FOR YOUNG BOTANISTS. 
II. — The Study of Roots. 
OOT-HAIRS. — In studying the peculiarities of roots, 
the root-hairs should be noticed, which arise by an 
extension of the superficial or epidermal cells, just 
behind the point. These adhere to particles of soil 
and help to give a purchase to the tip when entering the soil. 
Root-hairs, it may be observed are much more abundant in a 
dry loose soil than in a moist, heavy one, as they increase the 
surface of absorption. Many roots, as those of bulbs, often have 
none. In other plants they may vary in quantity according 
as the root passes through a dry or a wet soil. 
Secondary Roots. — On digging up a small seedling plant, 
