Year: 1874




At meeting last week OF the Philadel-
phia Academy of Natural Sciences, Mr..
Thomas Meehan introduced subject which
he said had never before, to his knowledge,
been brought directly to the attention of
scientific body-the popular belief that
wheat will turn to chess The scientific
world might we'll be pardoned for deriding
such an idea, for if so distinct a genus as
Triticum can be found to produce a Bro.
mus, our notion of the "leaping" power of
nature must be enlarged in considering
theories of evolution. For his own part he
had seen many popular impressions derided
by men Of science, prove true. When boy
his agricultural friends insisted that the
same toad which would deposit its eggs in
water when convenient, would bring forth
its young alive when deprived Of the water
privilege. He had proved the fact by keep
log toads in breeding condition in con6ne-
ment, and counting the toadlets when GER
tainly not more than few days old. The
idea was once derided by intelligent men,
but be believed most biologists now admit
that the common toad is oviparous or vivi-
parous according to circumstances. In like
manner in his youth he saw five young
snakes, one after another, enter the mouth of
the parent when alarmed This was a uni.
versal belief of country people yet only
last year, on overwhelming evidence before
the American Association, was it admitted
as scientific truth. Again, during the past
year we had seen how popular belief in re.
gard to an apparent elongation Of tree
trunks had proved to be true, though the
popular reasoning was wrong We now
know that trees may sometimes be lifted
from year to year By the gradual thickening
of roots growing over rock basis, so that a
side branch which in a young tree Is oppo-
site to mark may in time be as much as a
foot above it, as popular observation con-
tends it sometimes will. With these things
in mind he had held himself open to give
even some trouble to get reputed facts with
reference to this question of chess. He now
exhibited one Of several specimens collected
| by Mr.. Levette of the Indiana Geological
Survey, and proceeded to point out that
there could be no mistake about the branch
fsom the wheat ear being Bromus secalinus,
the common chess, so far as the palea aud
| glumes were concerned. In the flowers he
had dissected he found no perfect grain to
compare with wheat In instances previous
! ly recorded there seems never TO have been
any dispute about the appearance from the
wheat head being the real BrOmuS. But it
had been contended that in these cases an ex-
animation had shown an accidental union of
two culms, one from each plant, and which,
in some way, had formed an apparent union
one with another. The most careful exami-
nation of this specimen, both by himself and
friends, aided by powerful pocket glasses,
had failed to detect any such accidental
union. There was indeed every presump-
tion against the probability of any such ac-
cident in the present specimen. In the
wheat ear the small clusters Of flowers in
closing the ultimate grain, came out at each
bend Of the zig.zag rachis. The spike Of
chess came out ut Que of these bends, taking,
in fact, the place Of one of these small clus-
ters. 1t was not on accidental union Of two
distinct parts, but substitution of one
part for another. Again the BroMuS secaii.
nus rarely gets as tall as wheat, especially
so tall as this strong looking wheat head bad
evidently grown. There was, he said,
another remarkable fact connected with the
popular reports. Many other grasses grow
with wheat as well as BrOmuS Secalinus
the common chess or cheat. 1t was appar.
emily as easy for any of these to become ac-
cidentally conjoined with wheat as this ; but
no case is brought forward. 1t is always
the BromuS. Not to trust, however, to the
appearances Of this specimen, he suggested
that it would be best to refer il to the mi
croscopal section Of the Academy for an in.
strumental examination, which was DONE
Rural New Yorker.