Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/448

 world depends, now as formerly, muinly on Germany for the progress it makes in the knowledge of the functions of life.

"It la ONE of the melancholy things con- nected with publication in government reports," writes one connected with the government, " that yonr work appears so manj' j'ears afl«r it has been completed, that the author has in the mean time quite outgrown it, and developed into another stage of opinion and activity." This is not a matter of months only, but of yetirs, and, tbongh not bo serious a difficulty as formerly, is still a great drawback to efficient and effective work. The administration of the public printing-office is such that every thing has to give way to congressional documents which are often of the smallest value. Is there no remedy for this uncomfortable state of things ?

��LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

���• Com^pondini

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��■,TiA<^. proof of good, fa

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FrogrosB of vegetation in the Ohio vallaj.

The spring of Ihe prei in the valley of the Ohio;

every one has Bald that it has not been bo long Ing for many yeara. A revlevr, under these circum- Rtances, oF a record kept of the earl; -flowering plants [or eiglit years, may be of Interest. The first appear- ance of flowers Is a more reliable indication of tlis state of the weather tban the thermometer. Plants Indicate the general average of climatic conditions; and the species, appearing In much the same sequence,

��AuT duyMTpnin ■ ■ Svnplocarpui rocUdiu £rlireiila balboH. .

SuDguUiarla Canadeuli Ulcoui Amerluuli. . UliDuifulvi. . . . Oudamioe roUindlfolU Brjthrooiuin »IbldoiB. CiaytotiUiVlrgtnlu. . UapMlln bnrn-puurla Anemong ihiLleualdci DonUiii luclnlnUi. . JnflenoDin dipbflli.

��indicate the progress of spring. In the table of t

generally appear, a number of facts si It is to be noticed that every alternate year Is a o year, or one, at lesst, with a iate spring. The yes 1674, 1876, 1S1». and 1884 are early ones, while 181 1677, 18S3, and 1685 are late.

In 1674elevenoiitoflbe fifteen plants w between Mareh 19 and 20, a period of eight d:. 1870 nine out of the fifteen were seen between I 12 and March 14, just a Bionth; in 1873 the e' of which there is record were found between HarcbS " and March IS, or sixteen days ; wlille Id 18S4 the thirteen were recorded between March 16 and 80, or fifteen days. TIjese were the early years. In 1878 fourteen out of the fifteen bloomed between Msrcb SO and ipril II, or in thirteen days; in 1877 two -were out on March 4, none others until April 1, and be- tween that and the 12th twelve came out; in 18S3 two were out on ^Inrch 4, one on March 13, and ten between April and 12; lastly, in the present ye»r the first Qower did not appear until April 1, and Uiir- teen others bloomed up to the ^th.

Accountis here taken of only fifteen species. More tban this number appeared during the time between the earliest and latest dates; but the ones here con- sidered may be regarded as the typical early flowers. They represent eleven different orders.

The earliest year of the eight Is 187i). In that year the spring cress (Cardamiiie rotundifolia) was In bloom Feb. 12, and the dandelion (Taraxacum dens- leonia), generally the earliest composite, on April 7, In 1875 the first flower, red elm (Ulmua (ulva), waa in bloom March 30, and the dandelion on April 29; while in the present year, in many respects llie coun- terpart of it, the first flower, white maple (Acerdaiy- carpum). was out April 1, and the dandelion on the 26tb. But even 1875, the latest of all, was, on an average, six days in advance of this year. This season is, then, nearly a week later tban any in eiRht re- corded years, and is seven weeks and tvo days behind the earliest year (1878) of the same eight.

In scanning the list, it Is further found that three out of these fifteen early flowers are trees; nine of the remainder are provided with bulbs, tubers, or rhixoraes, in which nourishment is stored up; one (Anemone acutiloba) has persistent evergreen leare*; and only tbe remaining two (Capaelta and Taraxacum)

seem to have no special fund upon which t* -*

The importance, then, to herbs, of a

���r* probsbly In bloom at.

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