The sun., 1890-01-05

which may. he thinks. haSs come tothe easter
| coast Of North America with the eeandipayiani
| or the Basdues Mr.. Gray IL more willing thar
De Cendolle 10 credit the statement Of Gar
! cilasso that the Peruvians had the banana be.
fore the conquest, and Stsvsnson's assertion
that he had found banana leaves in ancient
| Peruvian tombs. The evidence that purslain
! was indigenous to the New World seems even
| more decisive. In the account OF his first voy-
| age Columbus mentions It as one OF the only
two familiar plants which he saw growing on
the north shore. 1t was recognized by oviedo
on the island OF Hispanioa In 1926. by Jean do
Lery among the Brazilian flora in 1887. by
sagard- -Theodat in Canada in 1924. We should
add that while De Candolle was disposed to
deny that cultivated pumpkins or sduashes
were known In America before the arrival OF
the SpaniRrds. Mr.. Gray adduces n great deal
OF testimony on the Affirmative side.
DBrwin's paper on the habits Of limbinR
plants appeared In 1857 and was speedily re-
viewed at length by Prot. Gray After declaring
that the essay showed genius for biological
Investigation, and q power OF turning common
materials to high scientific account not sur
passed since the time OF Hunter, Mr.. Gray
goes on to sum up, with seeming approval, the
bearing OF the collateral researches embodied
in this paper on the authors theory OF the
he says. by certain plants OF advantageous
pecularitIos is inferred from tho graduation OF
forms and functions. Properties and powers
which arc latent. or feebly developed in most
plants are taken advantage OF by some, made
specially useful and enhanced from generation
to generation" Mr.. Gray does not seem
to notice that he is here guilty OF
confusing Dsrwinism proper natural selec-
tlon) with Lamsrckianism tthe doctrines
Of use and disuse. and OF tho transmissiblity
OF acquired charaotersl. That properties and
powers can be by use enhanced from genera
tion to generation Is just what Is denied by DR..
Wesmann who finds ample scope for the
operation OF natural selection In the vast
amount OF variability latent In every individual.
from its having inherited the innate differences
OF ofinnumerable ancestors. The phrase which
we italicize evidently involves the assumption
that acquired characters can be transmitted,
and In that way intensified. We should men
tion that three other works by Darwin are no.
ticed by Mr.. GRAY In the first OF the volumes
before us: but these reviews we pass over, be-
cause they do not point out the relation OF the
special Investigations to Darwins cardinal
theory. or throw much light ON the reviewers
attitude at the time toward that hypothesis.
Considered collectively. the reviews that fill
the first Of these two volumes should not be
classed with fugitive literature. for the works.
OF which they offer concise summaries or criti-
cal revisions. are for the most part Of enduring
scientific value. They. however, who desire to
be brought In more direct contact with the
mind OF Prof. Gray will find the wish gratlaed
in the essays to which, together with some
biographical notices, the second volume Is de-
voted. Among these delightful paper on the
/. 7 aag; ,ort
able conjunction in the authors case Of extern
sive scientific attainments and the habit Of
accurate statement with a love for
literature and command OF the graces as well
as OF the forces OF style. In this particular
Prof Gray resembled Prof. Huxley, and both
are contradistinRuished from Darwin. who
amid all his writings can scarcely be credited
with one eloquent or admirable sentence.
In reproducing some Of the interesting data
the size and age OF trees collected
by Prof. Gray in this article. we must remind
the reader that the author was writing In 1874
when the redwoods OF California had not been
carefully observed or scientifically classified
and when the height attained by species OF
eucalyptus In Australia was unknown. 1t must
also be recognized as probable that some OF
the old trees standing in 1874 have since fallen.
After defining the method of determining the
palms and their alies) from the number OF
their concentric layers. and pointing out the
qualifying circumstance that young trees
grow at q faster rate than old, Prof. Gray men, |
lions certain striking examples OF longevity. |
Tor which he thinks the evidence satisfactory.
There. for instance. was the oak felled at |
Bordza, In Russian Poland. in 1912. Seven |
hundred and ten concentric layers were dis
.inctly counted on the transverse section from |
he circumference toward the centre, where the |
space in which the layers could not be clearly
made out was estimated to have comprised
100 more. II the injured portion was not over
the tree must have been a thousand
Iears old. There. again. is the Winfarthing
,ak " In Eng and. said to have baen called an
I'D tree at the time OF the Norman conquest.
md the Cowthorpe oak" In Yorkshire. which
measures seventy eight feet In circumference
whose age is computed as nearly coeval
With the Christian era The patriarch. how
ver OF the species In Europe Is an oak near
;aintes, in the Lower Charente. whose diam
ter at the ground Is from eighty five to ninety
our feet A calculation based on the
lumber Of rings counted in an excised
lock would mako the age OF this tree nearly
900 years. Prof. Gray seems. on the whole.
disposed to acceptthis estimate Tits antiquity.
Worthy also OF special commemoration Is the
Tortworth Chestnut" which was remarkable
Or its size. and used as q landmark when
tephen became King OF England In 1135. 1t
). however, smaller and presumably younger.
han the three colossal chestnuts which stand
pom Mount Etna. Notwithstanding the light
ess and softness Of the wood Of the linden. q
rec of this species near Morat and another at
reiburG are pronounced by Prof. Gray. after
review of the evidence. to be at least 800 years
Id At Somma, in LombRrdy is q cypress