usually devoid of soil; but we must not conclude therefrom that the choice jewellery of plant-life scattered over the ribs of the mountain, or the interstices of the crag, live upon little more than the mountain air and the melting snow! Where will you find such a depth of well-ground stony soil, and withal such perfect drainage, as on the ridges of débris flanking some great glacier, stained all over with tufts of crimson saxifrage? Can you gauge the depth of that narrow chink, from which peep tufts of the diminutive and beautiful Androsace helvetica? No; it has gathered the crumbling grit and scanty soil for ages and ages; and the roots enter so far that nothing the tourist carries with him can bring out enough of them to enable the plant to live elsewhere." Alpine plants are peculiarly exposed to sudden alternations of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness. The cold, almost frosty, night will be followed, in July and August, by an unclouded day, when the rays of the sun beat on the unsheltered surface of the rock with an intensity that would scorch up many an English meadow plant. Only a very small proportion of alpine plants are annuals; and they are frequently provided with a storehouse of nourishment in the form of rosettes or tufts of thick succulent leaves; but their chief water supply is through their roots; and thus we find that while our garden annuals have fibrous roots of insignificant dimensions, and even our forest trees will seldom strike their roots to a greater depth than the height of their foliage, the roots of alpine plants, scarcely an inch in height, will be found to penetrate the chinks between the rocks full of rich earth, to the depth of sometimes more than a yard, or forty times the height that they venture into the air. The neglect of this most essential condition for the growth of alpine plants is of itself amply sufficient to account for the failure which has generally accompanied the attempts to introduce these lovely flowers to our rockeries. A good depth of soil is indeed more indispensable to these plants than the presence of rock and stone. They no doubt prefer to expand their

flowers and extend their green shoots over the bare rock; and where rock-work is artistically managed, this faint attempt at a reconstruction of their native habitat adds greatly to the picturesqueness of the effect. But many of them will flourish equally well in open borders, and even when planted in pots, with a few stones about them to protect the roots from the direct action of the sun, if only the two requisites are attended to, of constant moisture and perfect drainage; and hence they are invaluable acquisitions to the cottage or window gardener. The Saxifrages, the beautiful purple Aubrietia, with respect to which Mr. Robinson says, "rockworks, ruins, stony places, sloping banks, and rootwork suit it perfectly; no plant is so easily established in such places, nor will any other alpine plant clothe them so quickly with the desired vegetation," the various species of Arabis, the alpine Primulas, all make excellent bedding plants. The ease with which a new alpine can be domesticated in our climate is shown by the rapid spread of the lovely early forget-me-not, Myosotis dissitiflora, brought not many years since from the Alps near the Vogelberg, now to be had from every nurseryman, and the treasure of many a cottage garden, with its exquisite sky-blue flowers, continuing from mid-winter till early summer.

But it is not alpine flowers only which will repay the small amount of trouble necessary for their introduction. Many plants which are never grown without the protection of a greenhouse, do not require any elevation of temperature for their successful growth, but merely an absence of great changes of both temperature and moisture. This is especially the case with not a few of the most delicate ferns, such as the elegant maidenhair, and the two fragile little filmy-ferns; and the requisite uniformity of temperature and moisture can be obtained out of doors by the erection of a partially underground grotto or ravine of rocks, through which water is perpetually trickling, the entrance being protected by a screen of foliage from the direct influence of the weather.

It is astonishing how equable a climate can be obtained by a simple device of this kind. The drawing given on p. 359 is from such a rock-cave constructed in the grounds of one of our most scientific and successful nurserymen near York, where he grows not only our royal so-called "flowering feru," the Osmunda regalis, and several foreign allied species, but the most beautiful of all this beautiful tribe, the moistureloving Killarney fern, which clothes the soil of the damp dark woods by the Torc waterfall.

The beauty of these horticultural experiments is that they can be tried on so small a scale, and are thus within the reach of almost every one; yielding a source of pure and healthy enjoyment which few other pursuits will afford. Mr. Robinson almost promises us that his little book shall be the first of a series of similar manuals on different departments of gardening; and we can hardly conceive a greater service than this to a large number of his countrymen, who merely require to be told how to set to work to cultivate this fascinating science. Quarterly Journal of Science.

WHAT IS THE "WASHINGTON EAGLE"?

BY J. A. ALLEN.

Editors of the AMERICAN NATURALIST: Sirs: - Will you please inform me through the NATURALIST or otherwise, whether you have ever known of the Washington Eagle (Haliaëtus Washingtonii), being captured or seen in New Hampshire. I have an eagle in my possession which I think is the "Washington Eagle." It was caught last spring in Goffstown, near Manchester, N. H. It is a large bird, measuring eight feet from tip tot p of wings, three and one-half feet in length, and weighs fourteen and onehalf pounds. I have also two other eagles, a Golden, and a Bald Eazie. The Golden Eagle measures seven and one-half feet from tip to tip, three feet in length, and weighs twelve and one-half pounds. The Bald Eage measures seven feet in extent of wings, and three feet from point of bea to end of tail, and weighs eleven pounds. I think that the Bald Eagle La a differently shaped beak from the other, and that is why I am in doght

as to its species. Besides, I never knew of a Bald Eagle being so large. If you will please inform me in regard to the Washington Eagle you will oblige me very much.- WILLIAM JARVIS, Hanover, N. H.

THE "Washington Eagle" (Haliaëtus Washingtonii Aud.) appears to be still looked upon, especially by amateur ornithologists, as a probably valid, though little known species. The question of its true character was formerly a source of perplexity to professional naturalists, some of which may still regard it as having claims to recognition as a "good species." As our knowledge of the birds of this continent becomes more perfect, the existence as valid species of several of the hypothetical species, especially of the rapacious birds, becomes less and. less probable. This results principally from two facts. First, through the constant accession of materials in our museums we are every year finding out more and more definitely the variations resulting from sex, age, individuality and locality to which each species is subject, and in these variations the forms which with greater or less probability gave rise to some of the doubtful species in our catalogues. Secondly, the continent itself and its fauna are becoming too well-known to render tenable the suppositions, formerly entertained, that some of the strange birds described in early times may have their habitats in unexplored districts, whence they have occasionally wandered to better known localities. The opinion long since advanced by some writers that the "Washington Eagle" is but a very large immature Bald Eagle, is hence gaining ground.

Audubon described his "Bird of Washington" from a large specimen taken by him in Kentucky more than fifty years ago. The original specimen from which Audubon made his drawing and description is not known to be extant, and seems to have never been preserved. Audubon appears to have been the only naturalist who examined it. He regarded it as a very rare bird, and states that he saw not more than eight or nine" specimens. He does not seem, however, to have actually examined more than one. It dif

It is astonishing how equable a climate can be obtained by a simple device of this kind. The drawing given on p. 359 is from such a rock-cave constructed in the grounds of one of our most scientific and successful nurserymen near York, where he grows not only our royal so-called "flowering fern," the Osmunda regalis, and several foreign allied species, but the most beautiful of all this beautiful tribe, the moistureloving Killarney fern, which clothes the soil of the damp dark woods by the Torc waterfall.

The beauty of these horticultural experiments is that they can be tried on so small a scale, and are thus within the reach of almost every one; yielding a source of pure and healthy enjoyment which few other pursuits will afford. Mr. Robinson almost promises us that his little book shall be the first of a series of similar manuals on different departments of gardening; and we can hardly conceive a greater service than this to a large number of his countrymen, who merely require to be told how to set to work to cultivate this fascinating science. -Quarterly Journal of Science.

WHAT IS THE "WASHINGTON EAGLE"?

BY J. A. ALLEN.

Editors of the AMERICAN NATURALIST: Sirs: - Will you please inform me through the NATURALIST or otherwise, whether you have ever known of the Washington Eagle (Haliaëtus Washingtonii), being captured or seen in New Hampshire. I have an eagle in my possession which I think is the "Washington Eagle." It was caught last spring in Goffstown, near Manchester, N. H. It is a large bird, measuring eight feet from tip to tip of wings, three and one-half feet in length, and weighs fourteen and onehalf pounds. I have also two other eagles, a Golden, and a Bald Eagle. The Golden Eagle measures seven and one-half feet from tip to tip, three feet in length, and weighs twelve and one-half pounds. The Bald Eagle measures seven feet in extent of wings, and three feet from point of to end of tail, and weighs eleven pounds. I think that the Bald F a differently shaped beak from the other, and that is why