Salted Leaves
One of the more curious relics of the September gales is the apparently scorched leaf of many of our inland trees. The edges are curled and browned exactly in the same manner as seaside trees, which are known to suffer from excess of salt in the windy air. It is a plausible' suggestion that the inland damage was indeed due to salt. The wind was so strong that it carried seawater across the breadth of the land ; and we know from the experiences of airmen that the air even at a consider- able height was full enough of salt to encrust the planes with glittering crystals. Doubtless a good deal of the injury to foliage was due simply to bruising ; but some chemical as
well as mechanical action was also in evidence. Seeds were doubtless carried at least as far as the salt ; and it is probable that a good many reached England from the continent along with the immigrant and the emigrant .butterflies which were blown over great 'distances.
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