r\ r'\ 7 } ^ s mssiR v^^^. n^j * r « « « H ARDWICK.E'S Science-Gossip : 1882. HARDWICKE'S WJH;=€0J5iJip: AN ILLUSTRATED MEDIUM OF INTERCHANGE AND GOSSIP FOR STUDENTS AND LOVERS OF NATURE. EDITED BY J. E. TAYLOR, Ph.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S.L VOLUME XYIII. UonlJon: D A.V I D B O G U E, 3 ST. MARTIN'S PLACE, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, W.C. 1882. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. io5i r PREFACE. -tom'itiformis, 274 Beggiatoa nivea, 274 Bugula pliimosa, Zigogiossa sigtiioidea (Corda). i. a, plug toj canal ; b, head ; c, anal termination ; d, sexual protuber-| ances ; y] intestinal canal ; _^, anus. 2. Head (side view),! It, plug ; b, cleft in cuirass with fuot protruded ; y, intes-^ tinal canal; i, contents. 3. Head (front view), a, plug ; h, foot ; d, sexual eiicrescence. 4. Posterior extremity ; the letters refer to the same parts as in 2. 5. a'^, plug protruded through aperture a^ and beyond the canaiy"; /', the part surrounding the ligament to which it is attached. Fig. S.—Surire/la Venus (Corda), = 6". striatula (Ehr.) a, a, cuirass ; b, hinge ; c, mantle; d, notch or slit in interior membrane ; e, contents brown or green. Fig. 7. — Scalptruni striatian (Corda). a a, pedal organs ; b, central opening passing through the brown contents d ; e, longitudinal rays between the sides c of the cuirass. account of the flexibility of the filament, although it is somewhat contradictory to place a genus called Fragilaria on account of its fragility, in a class distin- guished by its flexibility. F.K.), but in order to recog- nise the form of these creatures, it is necessary to de- scribe all the organs of which they are composed. The external integument (epidermis) of these animalcules is of two kinds ; one is a siliceous shell, transparent and glossy, and which is termed the cuirass (lorica), or the cuirass is absent and the epidermis is naked. The cuirass, in tl e majority of these animalcules, umbilicus which is placed on one side of the centre of the cuirass or simply at the side ; this umbilicus is sometimes large and elevated, as in N. costata, the sides of which are furnished with cilia. In Navicula and Frustulia the cuirass is smooth on the lower surface (partie inferieure), and is usually quadran- gular or parallelogrammic ; this is called the pedal surface, and by which the two animalcules always adhere (fig. 9). In the Diatoms, e.g. D.fenestratiim (fig. 10), the cuirass is flattened and crenate at the margins ; the HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. part also where the animals cohere has a narrow surface at the point of union. The form of the bivalve cuirass ahvaj's conforms to that of the animal. The cuirass of Surirella is not a single piece, but opens in the direction of the length of the animalcule (fig. 8 ). Each valve has the form of a plate, and which fit into each other in a peculiar manner by •means of a species of hinge, very much resembling a round tobacco box. On the margins are a series of elevations and depressions of equal size. In Surirella, JVavicuhi, Closterium and Cosmariuin, the epiderm lines the whole internal surface of the cuirass, forming a sac. In 6". Venus the epidermis is manifestly endowed Fig. 9. — Friistiilia agrcstis (Corda), two animalcules united. loii, do. do. ^, y, upright and apart; c, d, tlie canals uniting them. 11. View of pedal surface ; c, d, apertures in the same, canals withdrawn. 12. Side view ; g, h, two small openings at the euds (not seen in the figure) ; c, d, openings for the canals. o 00 01 Fig. TO. — Diaioma fenestrafum (Corda). a, colouring matter contained in the cells oi d ; b, side view ; c, intestinal tube common to the series of animals. -with muscular power, as we see when the sac opens, it also opens the valves, and when it contracts it closes them. Organs of Movement. — Tlie movement of these animalcules is produced by very simple organs where they exist, or by the whole body. When describing the cuirass and mantle, I spoke of the feet protruding through the apertures in the •cuirass, and of those formed by the elevation and extension of the mantle. These feet cannot be easily seen ; but in the large species of Xavicula and Frus- tulia, they are distinctly visible. In Pharyngoglossa sigmoidea (fig. 4) above the plug a is a longi- tudinal cleft, through which the foot b is protruded ; a similar foot c is seen at the posterior end of the body, at the termination of the intestinal canal. In Frustulia viridescens (fig. 6) these feet are plainly discernible. In Scalptriini striatum (fig. 7) we find two openings a, a, near the extremities of the body, and one b in the centre. Movement in the animalcules is rarely produced by vesicular feet. The Naviculas and Frustulias swim by a very gentle movement of the whole body. The Frustulias move at the rate of a line (j'g of an English inch) in from 1510 20 seconds. This is much faster than Smith states it to be (" .Synopsis," vol. i. p. xxiii). He gives the rate of progress as follows : Bacillaria paradoxa I 200' Finnularia radiosa 1 STOil' p. oblonga ,^, Nitzschia linearis 5^, and Pleurosigma Fig. ir. — Syrinx anmdatuin (Corda), frustule and valve; a, b, intestinal tube ; c, cuirass; e, annular folds; d, contents. strigosuvi nj'fju inch in one second of time. Our river Diatoms scarcely move at all, but those living in the sea are much more lively. (Tb be continued.) PULEX IRRIT.\NS. — F. Farrant makes some in- quiry about fleas. When I was a boy we were rather interested about fleas, and so put three or four into a glass tube with a little cotton wool at one end ; they fixed their eggs singly to the wool, and we used to feed them by taking the cork out, and putting the open end on the back of the hand, when the fleas would come down to feed. In some parts, where fleas abound, it is not pleasant, but not uncommon to find the grubs in the blankets. From specimens I have mounted for the microscope each flea will lay five eggs at a time. Talking of fleas, I would remark that African ones are darker coloured than English ones. Their apparatus for piercing and sucking is well worth noticing, but requires rather a high power to see with. —Edward Thomas Scott. Cormorants. — In this neighbourhood there is a beautiful lake. Lough Owel, and upon a very small and nearly submerged island near Mount Murray, indeed close to the lawn, are a few alder-trees ; upon these we have counted upwards of thirteen cormor- ants at one time, perching upon the stunted trees and giving them a most singular appearance. Lough Owel is about sixty miles from the sea.— /^ /. B. lO HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. NOTES FOR SCIE^•CE CLASSES. THE chief instruction given in our popular Science Classes is intended to be practical ; a few hints to students will just now be welcome. Blackboard illustration is no doubt useful in its place, but if the student can see an actual specimen under the microscope, and have each part of the section carefully explained (all the better if the section can Fig. i:.— Transverse Section of Lime-twig. i. Epiderrnis, formed of minute cells, without chlorophyll. 2. Cortical ground-tibsuc, containing chlorophyll. 3. PhlOem, composed of hard and soft-bast. 4- Cambium, veiy bright-looking cells ; this often disappears in roughly-cut seciions. s- Xylem, formed with spiral and dotted vessels, or the first year's ring of wood. 6. Medullary sheath, immediately surrounding the column of pith. 7. Pith, composed of ground or fundamental tissue. S. Medullary ray, crossing the xylem, and ending with a wide opening in the phloem. F'fi. '3 — Transverse Section of Rjisciis stem. i. Epiderm's. 2. Cortical layer of ground tissue. 3. Sclerenchyma ; observe this part with care, and compare it with section of Pteris. 4. Ground or fundamental tissue. 5. Fibro-vascular bundle .scattered amongst the ground tissue ; observe the xylem, always towards the centre of the stem. Also, trace out from .-» very highly-magnified fibro-vascular bundle the same parts as in Lime. be made in the class-room in his presence), then work it all out at home by reading a good text-book, the subject then becomes intensely interesting ; such students are not only content with making a good position in the examination, but it becomes a life- long .study. Our notes are intended merely to make the suVjject plain and simple, so that it may have general interest, and to fdl up a felt want in most text-books in use at the present time ; therefore we have marked each distinct part in the following sec- tions, and give the names of the different portions a? understood in our present advanced state of the science, and as specially indicated in the syllabus. To know each part, and tell where to find it, is the key to its structure, and if our readers will practically work out the three stems described, they have made a firm step towards success. The specimens selected are the best for the pur- pose, and can be found in eveiy district. Fig. 14.— Vascular bundle of Rnsciis. i. 2. Xylem. 3. Cambiform tissue, or soft-bast or bast-fibres. Ground tissue. , 4. Hard-bast, Fig. 15. — Transverse Section of Rhizome of Pteris. i. Scleren- chyma ; this is a brown cellular tissue in three distinct layers. 2. Fibro-vascular bundles ; here note position and structure as pointed out in the next engraving ; but in the entire section, by means of a low power, they should be first studied. 3. Ground tissue. 4. Epidermis. The first is a section of the lime-tree, and is a guide to the structure of all Dicotyledonous stems. First, trace out in an actual specimen the position of the fibro-vascular ring, in the following order, viz., Phloem, Cambium, and Xylem, commencing fronv the epidermis, then trace them out in the same po- sition in the butcher's-broom (Rusais aaileati/s, L.) stem, and so on with the common brake-fern (Pteris). Second, examine carefully the Phloem of the lime. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. II Note its formation : the layer next the cortical ground tissue is composed of bast-fibres, or hard-bast ; ob- serve its appearance ; adjoining this is soft-bast ; or the phloem is made up of liard and soft-bast. In tlie butcher's broom it is very distinct, the bright- looking portion is soft-bast, and the darker part bast- fibres ; all the ditliculty will vanish in the longitu- dinal sections we purpose giving next month. The numbers in the lime section refer to fig. 12. Fig. 13 explains the section of the stem of the butcher's-broom. Now we come to a section of the stem of an Fig. 16. — Part of Vu.>cular bundle of Fteris. i. Xylem in the centre of the bundle, formed of scalariform vessels. 2. Sieve-tubes. 3. Phloem, surroundini? the xylem, though encircled by 4, or bundle-sheath. 5. Packing parenchyma, or ground tissue. Acotyledonous plant (fig. 15) ; note the important difference from the Ruscus, which is a Monoco- tyledon. The fern stem has an important structural com- position ; the annexed numbers should be read up for home lessons (fig. 15). Now observe the fibro-vascular bundle of Pteris more highly magnified (fig. 16). ( To be continued.) ^• Herons. — I was lately laughed at by an eminent naturalist for believing the country people when they told me that herons sit upon their nest with a leg hanging down at each side. My son coming home on leave from Alderney tells me he met there an excel- lent amateur naturalist who collects and stuffs birds, and lately pointed out to him a specimen of the great northern diver approaching the island. This person told him he had frequently seen herons hatching their eggs in the above-mentioned strange position, and that my informants were perfectly correct. — F. I. B. HISTORY OF THE PEAR-TREE {PYRUS COMMUNIS). By H. G. Glasspoole. \Contititied from Jiage 254.] JOHNSON, in his improved edition of " Gerard's Herbal," in 1596, adds : Most of the pears are at this day to be had with Mr. John Miller in Old Street, in whose nursery are to be found the choicest fruits this kingdom yields. Shakespeare mentions only two varieties of pears in his plays, the warden and popering, and from him we find that the first named was used in pies, as the clown in the " Winter's Tale " says : I must have Saffron to colour the warden pies (Act iv. s. 2). This fruit was also known by the name of the Lukeward's pear, as perhaps the time when it was fit for gathering was near St. Luke's Day (iSthof October). The popering pear mentioned in " Romeo and Juliet " (Act ii. s. i), and described by Parkinson, is most likely of Flemish origin, may have been introduced by the antiquary Leland, who was presented to the rectory of Popeling. situated in the marches of Calls by Henry VIII. (1530) ; vide " Plant-lore of Shakespeare." There appear to have been about two hundred and fifty varieties of pears known in Philipo Miller's time ( 1 724) from which he selects seventy or eighty, as the best. During the last one hundred years great changes have taken place in the cultivation of this fruit, and the varieties which now grace our tables are far superior to those which our forefathers delighted to honour. Most of our fine pears are of continental origin ; the horticulturists of France and Belgium in former years paid more attention to this species of fruit than those of England. Belgium, indeed, has been termed the " Eden of the pear-tree," for to Professor Van Mons, of Brussels, who devoted a great part of his life to pears and their improvement, having raised eighty thousand seedlings, are we indebted for some of the most finest varieties we possess. The common Begarmot is supposed by pomologists to be one of our oldest pears. The name was formerly written Begarmont princely pear, which, according to Manger, is derived from the Turkish beg, or bey, a prince ; and armond, a pear, clearly pointing out its eastern origin. Another ancient variety, and one which is still common in England, is the Bon Chretien ; the origin of its name is thus related by Soyer in his " History of Food." Louis XL, King of France, had sent for Saint Franfois de Paule, from the lower part of Calabria, in hopes of recovering his health through his intercession ; the saint brought with him the seeds of this pear, and as he was called at court. Le Bon Chretien, this fruit received the name of him to whom France owed its introduction. The name of this pear has been corrupted by popular English 12 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. nomenclature from Bon Chretien to Boncrutching. One of the sub-varieties of this fruit is known as the William pear. Amongst our old best autumn pears stands the Jargonelle, which, Mrs. Bernard states, consists of little more than eau sucree enclosed in a rind ; the analysis of De CandoUe showing that when ripe, it contains S3"8o per cent, of water, and ii'52 per cent, of sugar. The same authoress informs us, that though we owe both the fruit and its title to France, by some strange contretemps the name there is given to quite a different kind. Our Jargonelle is called by the extraordinary appellation of Grosse Cuisse Madame, or great ladies' thighs. The German Frauen Schenkel has the same meaning. The pear as a dessert fruit is generally preferred to the apple ; still the latter, according to the old nursery rhyme, " An apple for the king, and a pear for the queen," appears to have taken priority in our forefathers' days. It is also used for baking, compotes, marmalade, &c. Loudon tells us that in France they dry large quantities which remain good for two or three years, and are used for pies, as apples are in England. We do not know for certain if this art of drying pears was practised in the days of the Tudors, but Shakespeare mentions one in his "Merry Wives of Windsor." Falstaffe says, " I warrant they would whip me with their fine wits, till I were as crestfallen as a dried pear." (Act iv. s. 5.) The pear-tree is extensively cultivated in different parts of Worcester and Herefordshire for the purpose of making perry. Dr. Bell tells us that Worcester- shire was famous for this kind of fruit at a very early period, for there is a pear orchard at Newland, near Malvern, which is known to have existed more than 400 years. Drayton states in his poetical account of the battle of Agincourt, that the feudal retainers of the Beauchamps, and other great landowners, who vowed suit and service to the crown, bore as their standard in the field a pear-tree laden with fruit. The people of that county have long adopted the pear as an emblem, and at the present day the arms of the city of Worcester are represented by three black pears, known by the name of the iron -hearted . Many pear and apple-trees in this country seem to enjoy a green old age, unconscious of decay. Loudon states that some trees in his time growing at Twickenham, which in all probability were from the nursery of Gerard's *' curious and cunning graffer Master Richard Rointer." He also mentions these fruit-trees growing in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh Abbey in good health and abundant bearers, said to be from 500 to 600 years old. Loudon mentions a very extraordinary pear-tree growing on the glebe lands in the parish of Hom-Lacey, which more than once produced enough fruit to fill fifteen hogsheads of perry in the same year. The growth of this tree ivas also abnormal, for when its branches became long and heavy their extreme ends touched tlie ground, they took root, and, like the Banyan of India, sent up fresh shoots and became a tree which in due time repeated the process, so that in 1805 nearly half an acre of land was covered by this tree. The coarser varieties of pear, whose fruit has rather an austere taste, are used for perry, which is made much in tlie same way as cider ; it is sweeter than that beverage and is extensively drunk in some places. Like the apple, there are now several hundred varieties of pears to be found cultivated in the United Kingdom ; some of the French varieties have retained their original names, but many corruptions have been produced in their popular nomenclature. Thus the Bon Chretien is converted into Boncrutching % the Beurre into the Bury, the Chaumontelle into Charmingtel. Some have curious local names, such as bishops' thumbs, &c. Mr. Robert Holland says in " Notes and Queries" that they have an old variety in Cheshire which, on account of its juiciness (juicy by comparison, for it is by no means as melting as the pears of the present day), rejoices in the elegant sobriquet of Slobber- chops. The pear is not indigenous to America, but, like the apple, an introduced fruit. Since its introduction hundreds of varieties suited to the climate and soil have been produced, so that our European pears such as the Bon Chretien, Jargonelle and others are con- sidered only second-rate fruit by the Americans. The Channel Islands, particularly Jersey, send large quantities of this fruit to the English market. Those enormous pears, the Great St. Germains, which one sees in Covent Garden market, price thirty-six shillings each, come from these islands ; also the early Jargonelle, Bon Chretien, Jersey, Louise, Bonne and the Chaumontel have been known to fetch £,^ per hundred. Botanically, the pear belongs to the Rosacea family, and is closely allied to the apple-tree, from which it is distinguished by its pyramidal form of growth. In its wild state it is rather a small tree, with an inclination to become thorny ; its leaves are ovate and serrated, smooth without glands. The- flowers are rather large and a pure white. Under cultivation the thorns disappear, and fruit buds are formed instead ; its leaves are less sharply serrated, sometimes only crenated, and frequently almost entire. The timber of the pear-tree is of a yellow colour. Gerard says the timber of the wild-pear is very firm and solid, and good to be cut into moulds. The plates for his Herbal were cut out of this wood, as were, says he, breast-plates for English gentle- women. In the present day it is much used by the turners and pattern makers ; the blocks with which the designs for floor-cloths are painted are made from pear-wood. When dyed black it can scarcely be distinguished from ebony. Handles for caqDenters" tools, measuring rules, &c., are made from this wood, The wood of the pear makes excellent fuel, gives out an intense heat with a bright flame. The leaves HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 13 dye yellow, and may be used to give green to blue cloths. The name Pyrus is derived from the Celtic Peren, and to this most of the European names of the pear may be traced. A GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION TO SWIT- ZERLAND. By Dr. Rudolf Haeusler. AS I have been several times requested to draw up a plan of a geological excursion to Switzer- land, to be accomplished in the shortest possible lime, I may answer many questions at once by sending these few lines to your widely-read paper. The pursuance of this plan in a longer or a shorter time depends entirely upon the mode of travelling, but I think a fortnight might be quite sufficient to allow the geologist to see the most interesting geo- logical features of the country. As it would be quite impossible to give a full description of the geology of the mentioned localities, I prefer to name chiefly the characteristic fossils which are the most likely to be found, and which will suffice to prove the presence of the different strata. Their geological features may better be seen than described in a few words. Arriving at ZUrich, a visit to the large museum of the Polytechnikum gives a good general idea of the characteristic geological formations, the principal fossils and their mode of preservation in strata of the same age at different localities. The museum con- tains, besides, an almost complete collection of Swiss Jurassic Alpine cretaceous and tertiary fossils, and is celebrated for its fishes from the Glarus slate, Oeningen plants, &c. The Wasserkirche contains the museum of objects from Swiss lake-dwellings, and is by far the most complete collection of this kind. A trip on the Uetliburg sliows a splendid pano- rama of the Alpine chain, the Jura, molasse hills, and Black Forest, the lake and town of Zurich. Ziirich itself is built upon glacial deposits, remains of the moraine may still be seen (" Katze " in the Botanical Garden). A few hours in the afternoon are sufficient to visit the lake - dwellings of Robenhausen and see the collection of Mr. Messikommer. Only at very low water the wooden piles are seen above the surface. The methods of working out the different objects, stone and horn weapons, ornaments, tissues, fruits, &c., is very interesting, showing the manner in which these remains are imbedded in the turf Return to Ziirich. Take train to Baden. Visit the quarries at the foot of the old castle Stein. The yellowish limestones, belonging chiefly to the upper Jurassic zone of Ammonite's Inmainmatits are not very fossiliferous, but contain besides large re- markably well preserved hexactinellid sponges, a few cephalopods, brachiopods, &c. The more interest- ing grey marly limestones near the railway cut (Nationalbahn) representing the zone of Am. tennilo- batns, are rich in cephalopods, of which the planulate (Perisphinates) are the most numerous. In the railway cut or on the opposite side of the river, in the vine- yards of the Lagern (between Baden and Wettingen), the following fossils, which are almost sure to be found, will indicate the presence of this interesting zone : Am. polyplocus, A. Lothari, A. iphicerjts, Rhynconella lacnnosa, R. ti-iloboides, Cidaris coronala, &c. &c. They are partly crowded with sponges. The highest part of the mountain near Baden is formed by the younger "Wellingerschichten," with flints and silicified fossils. Some of the characteristic species are Am, ezidoxus, A. miitabilis, RItabdocidaris maxima, which reaches here the size of a cocoanut, Cidaris propinqiia. On the north side of the Lagern, between Baden and Ehrendingen, most of the subdivisions from the upper Trias to the upper Malm may be seen, but the rocks being mostly covered by alluvium, it is not very easy to find them. From Baden take rail to Brugg, where a stay of two or three days should be made, to see some of the most interesting localities of the Jura. Mount the Bruggerberg. The mountain is built up of marine and freshwater molasse and conglome- rates (Nagelflue). By the action of the water the soft freshwater sandstones were removed, and large caves were left of which the Bruderhcihle is the most re- markable. Walk down to the village " Villnachern," and take a boy as guide to the Kalofen, an extensive quarry in the exceptionally reddish marine molasse, where already the Romans used to break their mill- stones, of which several broken pieces are still to be seen. ON THE EGG OF RUMIA CRAT^GATA. IN his treatise, " Ueber die Micropyle und den feinern Bau der Schalenhaut bei den Insek- teneirern," Leuckart describes the general characters of the eggs of Lepidoptera (p. 166), as follows :— "The eggs of Lepidoptera are very generally of a short and depressed (gedrungenen) more or less- spherical form ; often also flattened at the hinder end, by which they are attached (to leaves, twigs, &c.), hemispherical or even lens-shaped. All distinction between dorsal and ventral side is con- stantly absent.* . . . The micropyle is always com- plex : it consists of a variable number (mostly of 4-6) canals, which radiate from a common central pit in the anterior pole, through the investments of the egg. • " Ein Unterschied zwischen Riicken- und Bauchflache fehit bestiindig." 14 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. The surface of the chorion is more or less distinctly areolatcd, especially at the anterior pole where the areolae constantly compose an ornamental and rich rosette around the central pit." The so-called front or upper pole of the egg, or its cephalic end, is that end which, lying remotest in the ovitube, is last laid ; and in which the head of the future embryo will be found. In eggs of an elongate shape the tail of the embryo often occupies the opposite, lower, or hinder, pole of the egg, the first laid end, by which the &gg is sometimes attached to the leaf or branch in an upright position. Describing the egg "of Miisca vomitoria, Herold says (" Disquisitiones de Animalium vertebris carentium in ovi forma- tione ; " description of PI. xiii.) : "By reason of its curved shape, four regions or surfaces may be discovered in every egg. The convex surface under which the venter of the maggot is developed may be called the ventral rtgxon ; the opposite concave side, distinguished by a slit, the dorsal region, under which the dorsum of the maggot comes to lie, and which at the laying of the egg has a position fully parallel with the back of the fly. The two surfaces lying between these regions, corresponding to the two sides of the maggot, may be called the right and left lateral regions. As results from the foregoing, the lateral regions and the ventral region of the egg correspond exactly in position with the same regions in the fly at the moment when the egg is laid." In the case of lepidopterous eggs however the embryo is frequently doubled up in a U-shape, so that the head and tail lie close together in the front end of the egg. The egg of M. vomitoria is an instance of perfect bilateral symmetry. It is the only radially symme- trical or even spherical form of lepidopterous eggs, which makes it (nearly) always impossible, as Leuckart states, to distinguish between dorsum and venter, and right and left sides. The egg of Rtimia cratcegata, however, furnishes at least one exception to this rule. In the end of June last I received a box containing a dead female of this moth, together with about eighty eggs which she had laid in it after her incarceration. They were scattered about in rows of two or three to eight or nine, and sometimes one row on the top of another. The egg may be described as of a short oval shape, truncated anteriorly (at the front pole or cephalic end), and laterally compressed ; pearly white, iridescent, speckled coarsely and sparsely with irregular spots of a bright red. They were in various stages of development when I received them, and the doubled up horseshoe-magnet-shaped larvae were in many plainly visible through the trans- parent shell. Whether or not (at the moment of laying) these eggs occupied what may be called the normal position, as described above by Herold, they were all now lying on their sides (right or left in- differently) ; those in the same row of course having their cephalic ends all in the same direction. Each egg was about "75 mm. long, and '5 mm. in its broadest diameter (i.e. dorso-ventral). The general shape closely resembles that of Sphinx ocellata as figured and described by Herold (loc. cit. PI. viii. fig. I, &c.), which eggs also lie on their sides. The whole surface is covered with a beautiful hexagonal reticulation with dotted fields and elevated boundary lines, due to the juxtaposition of the cells of the outer layer of the chorion. These hexagonal areolations pass gradually into others of a lozenge or leaf-like shape, surrounding in a double rosette a little pit in the centre of the upper pole or flattened end of the egg, and pomting out the situation of the micropyle.* This rosette resembles closely that of Euprepia (Chelonia) Caja, as figured by Leuckart (PI. iii. fig. 9), with which I have also compared it. But the upper pole of the Rumia egg has another structure. This is an elevated angular ridge surrounding the whole polar area and giving the appearance of a lid to that end of the egg, especiallyjust before hatching. The opening, after the caterpillar has escaped, corresponds pretty accurately with the area so enclosed ; so much so that until I found one eating its way through it I always expected to find the burst-off operculum. Leuckart describes a similar peculiarity in the egg of Gastropacha neustria (p. 173 and PI. iii. fig. 5). ' ' The eggs of Gastr. neustria show yet greater pecu- liarities . . . especially in their external shape. In the hitherto mentioned species of this genus [viz, querciis, potatoria, dumeti'], the eggs are globular, or even depressed in the direction of the antero-posterior axis as in the case of G. dumeti ; here, however, in Gastro. neustria, we have eggs of a conical form, flattened in front where they are furnished with an elevated border (wulstigern Rande), narrowed posteriorly and laterally compressed in a marked degree." This border ridge, judging by the figure, is not so sharply defined in G. neustria as in R. craticgata ; but Leuckart describes also an inner concentric ridge (Ringwulsl) in the former which is wanting to the latter egg. The polar area in the egg of R. cratccgata, with its surrounding elevation, is ellipsoidal — rounded at one end, but running out in a sharp point at the other. Its longer axis corresponds with the greatest width of the egg, and the pointed end runs down a little on the adjacent side. This pointed end of the ellipsoid indicates the position of the head, as the rounded end does that of the tail, of the future larva, which, when developed, lies doubled up within the shell, with its dorsum external, in the manner figured oiPieris hrassiccc, by Herold, in PI. xii. figs. 3, 4, and 5. There is consequently complete bilateral symmetry in the egg of Runiia cratccgata, and the position that is to be occupied by the different parts of the future * If the hexagonal meshes of a net surrounding an opening in it were strung upon an elastic thread, and this thread should then forcibly contract so as, to close the opening, it would give ,-i somewhat similar shape to the adjacent meshes. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 15 embryo can be definitely pointed out in the new-laid ^gg» ^ condition which appears to be rare in the case of lepidopterous eggs, and so far as I know unique. J. A. Osborne, M.D. Mil/ord, CO. Donegal. MICROSCOPY. Mounts for Diatoms. — A blue glass cover gives monochromatic light into the object glass, a clearer image, and better resolution with object-glasses badly corrected for chromatic aberration. A blue glass slide, or a thin blue bottom to a cell, gives the same light on an object, and might replace the inconvenient sulphate of copper cell. With either blue cover or slide, stronger light is necessary than with ordinary glass. Recipe for Mounting Infusoria, Alg^, &c. — Wood vinegar S. G. i"04, 100 parts, salicylic acid I part. For AlgK, of this "salicylic vinegar " and of glycerine each i part, and water 20 parts. For Infusoria, S. V. i part glycerine 10, water 40 parts. Hollow Glass Illumination. — Mr. Kitten's paper about using a hollow glass sphere as a con- denser for microscopic illumination is very interesting. Will he kindly state where in London such a globe can be procured ? Seme parts of his description are not very clear to those to whom the idea is quite a new one. His solution of sulphate of copper must of course tinge the light with colour. I should like to know if it would suffice to fill the globe with plain filtered water. Also, when the mirror was turned off and a black field produced, the illumination must have been by direct transmitted light upon the object, and not by reflected light from below. Lastly, the directions about adjusting the lamp ascending to the letters C, B, A, are not quite intelligible. If Mr. Kitton will favour us in your next issue with a few additional explanations, I dare say he will oblige others besides—//. B. D. Quekett Microscopical Club.— The October journal of the above club contains the following papers : "Williams' Microtome, adapted for use with Ether as the Freezing Agent," by J. W. Groves, F.R.M.S. ; " On the Gustatory Organs of the Rabbit's Tongue," by T, Charters White, M.R.C.S., &c. (President) ; "On an Undescribed Species of Sponge of the genus Polymastia,^'' by B. W. Priest ; " The President's Address," by T. Charters White, M.R.C.S., &c. &c. Wax Cells. — At a recent meeting of the Man- chester Microscopical Society, the President (Mr. John Boyd) described a new method of making cells of wax for mounting opaque and transparent objects ; and urged for their adoption that, as it takes no more trouble to make a thick or deep cell than a thin or shallow one, it is a very expeditious method — no- waiting for varnish to dry before we can apply another coat. Again, the cell is not soft enough ta crush by ordinary accident, and the tenacity of wax: will enable it to withstand any ordinary blow without removing the cover, which is a great advantage over the ordinary cement cell. The Postal Microscopical Society. — We are pleased to find from the eighth annual report of this- very useful and cosmopolitan society that it is in a state of flourishing good health, and likely to continue doing good, thanks to the able management of tl-e Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. Allen. The President's- Address (which is printed in full) is most excellent reading. A plate of a "Tadpole Slide" and a. " Simple Section Cutter for Beginners " prefaces this- year's Report. ZOOLOGY. Deaths from Wild Animals in India. — The total number of persons killed by snakes and wild beasts in the several provinces of India during iSSo, has gradually increased from 19,273 in 1876 to 21,990- in 1880. The largest number of deaths occurred in Bengal and the North-Western Provinces and Oudh^ in which provinces the deaths during the year aggre- gated 11,359 and 5,284, respectively. In Bengal 10,064 deaths were caused by snake-bites, and 359, persons were killed by tigers ; while in the North- Western Provinces and Oudh, 4,723 persons died from snake-bites, and 265 were killed by wolves. The total number of persons killed by wild beasts and venomous snakes during the years 1879 and i88o> was — In 1879. By wild beasts By venomous snakes Total (Exclusive of the In 18S0. deaths in Mysore.) 2,890 2,840 . 17,266 19.150 20,156 >i,990 The increase was common to all provinces, except British Burmah. The number of cattle killed increased from 54,830 in 1876, 1055,9x1 in 1879, and 58,386 in 1S80 (exclusive of the figures for Mysore, where the deaths in the previous year amounted to 5,899). The increase compared with 1879 is common to all pro- vinces except the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, the Punjab, and Ajmere-Merwara. In the North- Western Provinces and Oudh, the totals for the two years are nearly the same, and in tlie Punjab there was a decrease of about 1,200 in the number of cattle killed. The total number of wild animals destroyed has fallen year by year from 23,459 in 1876 to 18,641 in 1879, and 14,886 in 1880. As compared with the i6 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ■previous year, the falling-ofF was common to all provinces, except the Central Provinces, Coorg, and Berar. The most remarkable decrease occurred under the heading "other animals" in the Madras presi- dency, the figures for 1879 and 18S0 having been 2,956 and 139, respectively. The number of snakes shown as destroyed was 211,775, ^s compared with 131,927 in the previous year, the increase being mainly due to the very large number (177,070) of snakes which were killed in the Bombay presidency. The total amount of rewards paid for the destruction of snakes was Rs. 11,663, as compared with Rs. 7,663 in the previous year. It is chiefly in towns and villages that the destruction of snakes is desirable, and for this reason it is satisfactory to observe that so many municipalities are now beginning to offer rewards. These results are not regarded as satisfactory, because the falling-off in the number of wild animals killed has been accompanied by an increase in the destruc- tion of men and cattle. The Government of India attributes this to the operation of the Arms Act, although the reports assert that licenses are freely granted in tracts where wild animals abound. Provincial Museums. — A thoughtful and sug- gestive paper on "The Functions of a Provincial Museum " has just been read before the Chichester and West Sussex Natural History and Microscopical Society, by the Rev. H. Housman. A Parasite from the Centipede. — In the few books on microscopic objects to which I have access, I have not been able to find any drawing of or re- ference to a parasite which I discovered on a centipede. Fig. 17. — Parasite of Centipede (X 60). I secured a centipede which was found under a flower pot in my garden, intending to mount portions of him for the microscope, and as a preliminary I put him "" to steep " in an ointment pot with some liqtLor potasscc. I did this without in any way examining him. On the following day I uncovered the pot to have a look at the centipede, when I was surprised to find twenty or thirty minute dots floating on the solution of potash, two or three of which were removed and put under a microscope with a power of forty diameters. The dots proved to be parasites, of one of which I subjoin a drawing made with a neutral tinted glass. I allowed the rest of the parasites to steep, as they are hard, and have high convex backs. They might appropriately be called turtle backed. The subse- quent process I adopted for mounting them pretty nearly ruined them ! Pressure, even after maceration for several days in the potash, split the upper and lower "shells'' of the parasite, either transversely or at the sides where they are joined by thinner mem- branes. There can be little doubt that if they could be mounted without pressure they would show to advantage. Owing to the prolonged maceration to which I subjected them, first in potash and then in turpentine, I have been unable to make anything of the mouth of the creatures, and I fear their general structure has been more or less injured. The parasite from which my drawing was made is the best pre- served of the seven or eight that I mounted. I enclose a small packet in which you will find some unmounted specimens, but as these were in potash and were cleaned and dried at the same time with the objects I mounted, they too will probably not be found perfect, I shall be glad to be furnished with any information or references on the subject.- — W. S. Simmons {Calcutta). Natural History, &c., of Jersey.— We hope to resume Mr. E. Lovett's interesting papers on this subject in our next number, Thalassidroma Pelagica. — During the stormy weather on the south coast on the 28th of November last, a stormy petrel, or Mother Carey's chicken, as they are styled by some, was driven in and took refuge on the West Pier at Brighton, and being much exhausted was easily captured. Another one was also caught on some oyster-beds at Southwick, near Brighton, and has since been forwarded to the Dyke Road Museum at Brighton. The above occurrences prove the severity of the late gales, and it may be interesting to some of your readers to hear of them. —F.F. Dredging in the Mediterranean. — The good work in zoological exploration dons with the French Government vessel Le Travailleur last year was fol- lowed up this year by another expedition in the same vessel, which, well equipped at Rochefort, left that place on June 9, and after a seventy days' cruise in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, returned on August 9. The expedition was organised by M. H. Milne- Edwards, and the naturalists who embarked were MM. A. Milne-Edwards, De Folin (editor of the journal Les Fondsde la Mer) and Fischer, and Professors Vaillant, Perrier, and Marion. From a short account of what was done in the Mediterranean, we learn that part of June and the whole of July were devoted to explor- ing the deeper parts of that sea (largely unknown hitherto). The general result arrived at is that the HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G OS SIP. 17 Mediterranean is not to be considered a distinct zoo- logical province ; most of its animals have come from the ocean, and the more we get to know of the animals off the oceanic coasts of Portugal, Spain, ^lorocco, and Senegal, along with Mediterranean fauna, the more do differences between the two dis- appear. In the Mediterranean, near the shores espe- cially, species seem often to have a more active growth and reproduction than in the parts whence they migrated, and the new conditions of life have somewhat modified the external characters. Various interesting types of crustaceans, mollusca, bryozoa, ccelenterata, &c., were met with, many of them found only in the Atlantic before, some corresponding to fossil forms, some presenting a transition between oceanic and Mediterranean fauna, and so on. A new species ofgalathodes (a crustacean largely represented in the Caribbean Sea) was found at 455m. depth ; like its congeners, it is blind. Between 500m. and 2600m. there are found in certain places enormous masses of empty shells of pteropoda and heteropoda. The finding (at depths below 550m.) of specimens of the splendid sea-star Brisinga, which has been thought to tenant only the deep and cold parts of the ocean, was quite unexpected. No infusoria were obtained at great depths ; there were few rhizopods, and the finest granulations from the bottom never revealed the presence of bacteria or other minute forms of life. Below 600m. sponges were rare and represented by only two species. BOTANY. Notes on the Flora of Maidstone .a.nd Neighbourhood. — The following is a list of some of the most uncommon plants to be found in this district. N'orth Downs. — Accras anthropophora, Ophrys cipifera, O. arachnites, Orchis inilitaris, O. tephrosanthus and 0. hircina. (The four last named have all been found on the hills, the monkey and lizard orchids about ten miles from this town.) O. pyramidalis, O. Jnsca, Epipactis grandiflora, E. lati- folia, Ononis arveiisis, Reseda Ititea, R. luteola, Heli- antheinnni znilgare, Atropa Belladonna, Vihirniim Lantana, Iris faetidissivia. In Withering's " British Botany," ed. 1841, Wrotham is mentioned as a locality for Anemone raniinculoides. Banks of the Medway. — Geraniiitn pratense, Symphytum officinale, Saponaria officinalis, Achillea Ptarmica, Lysimachia vulgaris, Bidens cerntia, B. tripartita, Petasites vul- i^aris. Lychnis Flos-cuculi. Woods and fields. — Pri- mula elatior, Neottia nidics-avis, Ophrys muscifera, Epilobium angustifolium. (The latter grows in a wood near the river, apparently in a wild state.) Habenaria bifolia, Paris qnadrifolia, Geranium colum- binum, G. lucidum, Erodium cicutarium, Malva moschata, M. rotundifolia. I have found Reseda J'ru- ticulosa in one or two localities, iMelilotus officinalis, Alercurialis perennis, Clienopodium Bonus-Henricus. Digitalis purpurea grows in many localities in this part of the country. Cobham (the locality for Salvia pratensis and Althca hirsuta) is about twelve miles from Maidstone. I found both of these plants there last year, growing in a waste field near Cobham park, with Viola tricolor, Sherardia ai-vensis and others. — Henry Lamb, Maidstone. Moss Labels. — Students and collectors of our moss flora are indebted to Mr. Cash, Coston Park, Alanchester, for a Catalogue of our British Mosses, available for labelling purposes. They are uniform with the second edition of the London Catalogue, and are so beautifully and neatly printed that we advise all collectors to obtain them. Diagnoses of Ferns.— I should be much in- terested if some of the correspondents of this Journal would send suggestions for a specific diagnosis of a fern ; that is to say, their idea of the proper order of the points to be ascertained in identifying a speci- men. I am endeavouring to base the nomenclature of my collection on Hooker's Synopsis, and would like to get a well-considered list of diagnostic points so as to fill up the form from the specimen, and then to refer to the Synopsis or any other descriptive work, for identification. For my own use I drew up the follov/ing arrangement when commencing the study of ferns. But I am dissatisfied with it, and wish to have it improved and made as full and comprehensive as possible, so that when filled up it may be a com- plete catalogue, history and description of any and every specimen in my collection. — A. H. Suborder Species . . Locality and Date Sori . Form ' Position Capsules Involucre Caudex Stipes I Frond... ^,^hape ,.;.■■; .' I icxture ' Vernation Desmobryoid ....) „, , .. . , Eremobryoid . . . . t" ,OfJ. Smub Syn I References Polarity of Moulds. — Two months ago I was struck with what appeared to be a novelty to me. The mould forming on exposed lemon juice, when floating upon the surface of some water, was dis- covered to possess positive and negative properties m a marked degree to bodies placed near it, in the liquid. One piece partaking of a somewhat cordate form, was found to be forcibly attracted by a steel bar, or a match, placed near either of the lobes in the water ; whereas the apex was as forcibly repulsed by the same objects. This phenomenon is not analogous to the attraction the sides of a vessel appear to have for a i8 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. piece of cork, for the positive lobes of the mould were positive to the corresponding ones of other pieces, but negative to the parts not corresponding, in others, to that property. Perhaps some reader could explain this phenomenon. May be it pertains to the dominion of Hydrostatics, or embodies some principle foreign to it. — George Stacker. Notes on the Arbutus. — All who have visited the lovely Lakes of Killarney will not fail to have noticed this beautiful shrub, beautiful at all times with its dark glossy green leaves, forming a charming contrast with the rock on which it loves to dwell, but especially so at this season of the year, when it is all aglow with blushing and ripe fruit peep- ing out here and there amid the foliage. As to the quality of the fruit it is altogether a libel to call it " Unedo " " one I eat," as if no " one would choose to try a second." Those who have eaten the fruit of the strawberry-tree, ripened under the sunny skies of southern France, will I think agree with me that it is excellent eating, indeed it is not uncommon to have it for dessert at the tables d'hote of some of the hotels in the Riviera : we propose to dub it " Multedo." The other day I came across an old work which must be at least 150 years old, from which I propose to cull a few notes that may prove interesting. It seems that the arbutus does not grow wild in any other part of Europe nearer to Killarney than the Alps. M. Tournefort observes in his travels that it also grows wild in the island of Candia. The arbutus, saith Sir Thomas Molyneux, is not to be found anywhere of spontaneous growth nearer to Ireland than the most southern parts of France, Italy and .Sicily, and there too it is never known but as a frutex or shrub, whereas in the i-ocky parts of the county of Kerry, where the people of the country call it the cane apple, it flourishes naturally to that degree, as to become a large tall tree. It also does so in Mount Athos and Macedonia, and Pliny quotes it as a thing extraordinary that the arbutus grows to a high tree in Arabia. Doctor Molyneux adds that the trunks of the trees in Ireland have been frequently 4 J feet in circumference or 18 inches in diameter, and that the trees grow to about 9 or 10 yards in height and iu such plenty that many of them have been cut down to melt and refine the ore of the silver and lead mines discovered near Ross Castle. The writer continues : " The arbutus which clothes these islands gives even haggard winter the beautiful ap- pearance of spring, for in that melancholy season this tree puts on its highest bloom, which rarely growing in other places, is the more likely to be admired by strangers in this. The preparation of charcoal for the iron works hath been the occasion of a great destruc- tion of this beautiful tree in other parts of the country, and it is said that even here, it suffered much by an accidental fire that laid waste a great part of a forest. Its growth upon rocks of marble where no earth appears and so high above the surface of the water,, renders it a matter of both surprise and pleasure. This tree is extremely agreeable in every different circumstance of vegetation, for it hath at one and the same time ripe and green fruit upon its branches, which as they approach to ripeness, from green become yellow, and at length terminate in a fine scarlet colour resembling in form a field strawberry, tliough in size that of the best garden kind. The blossoms grow in clusters of small white bells, not unlike those of the lily of the valley, and in such great abundance, as in that respect alone to be equal in beauty to the laurustinus and in other respects much superior to it ; for the agreeable verdure of the leaves,, not much unlike the bay, the scarlet hue of the tender part of the stalk, and all the different stages of vegeta- tion at one and the same time, from the knitting fruit to perfect ripeness, cannot but be exceedingly agreeable to the common observer. Upwards of forty islands in the lakes are covered with an intermixture of these trees and other shrubs, besides at least a fourth part of the ascent of the mountains, the verges of whose bases, like that of Mangerton and others, are washed by the waters of the Lakes." Many interesting inquiries are suggested by this tree. Dr. Cooke writes to me to say that the plants of the arbutus in Kew Gardens have no fruit. Why should it ripen at Killarney so readily and not at Kew, and again why is it found so common in Kerry and nowhere else in the British islands ? Let me add one word of caution to those of my readers who may be intending to visit Killarney next year, and who may wish to buy any of the ornaments said to be made from the wood of the arbutus. This wood is very rarely indeed used for that purpose, as it is very difficult to work on account of its extrenie hardness. — Jolin Rasor. GEOLOGY. The Land Plants from the Silurian Slate- quarry, NEAR Corwen. — A paper on this important question has recently been read before the Geological Society by Dr. Henry Hicks. The author stated that since the date of his former paper (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, August 1 881) he had ascertained that plant- remains occurred in the slaty beds down to the base of the quarry, though much obscured by cleavage. The larger specimens are in the form of anthracite. Mr. Carruthers states that there is sufficient evidence to show that they are the remains of vascular plants, with some resemblance to the Lycopodiacese. Some of the fragments are from 4 to 5 inches wide, and the author had traced trunks some feet in length. He thought they had drifted to the position where they were now found. Leaf-markings generally are not preserved ; but from the wrinklings still remaining on some specimens, he thought it probable they had HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-G OSSIF. 19 been covered with leaves spirally arranged. Some fragments show scars arranged irregularly on the surface ; probably these are fragments of roots. The plant seems to some extent to combine the characters of Stigmaria, Sigillaria, and Lepidodendron. Further details of the appearance of the specimens were given. For one which appears to differ from all hitherto described he proposes the name of Berzvynia Car- ritthersii. English Equivalents of Alpine Strata. — I should be obliged if any one would inform me of the English equivalents of the horizons treated of in Von llauen, " Cephalopoden der Nordostl. Alpen." If the Lias — what zones or what relative beds ? — E. A. \V. How TO GET FORAMINIFERA FROM ChA1,K. — Noticing an inquiry on the part of a correspondent as to the best method of washing foraminifera from chalk, diatoms from clays, &c., I thought that a description of a process by means of which I have obtained some splendid washings from the chalk of this locality, might be welcome on account of its simplicity. The apparatus consisted of two ordinary medicine bottles and about 18 inches of small india- rubber tubing such as can be purchased at any chemist's. First procure a piece of soft chalk, the softer the better, and that which has been partially broken up by the action of the weather is better still. Scrape this with a knife to a fine powder, and put in one of the bottles which should not be more than about I'j full ; then fill up the bottle % full of water and shake vigorously and repeatedly ; allow this to stand for some time, and then draw off the milky fluid with the siphon — do this again and again until when shaken up the bottle appears as it were no longer full of a milky fluid, but, when placed close to the eye against a bright light, of small separate grains diffused in the water. These are the treasures we are in search of, but they have next to be separated from the larger fragments of chalk which have not been disintegrated by the scraping and shaking. To do this shake up the bottle, and with the siphon im- mediately draw over water and foraminifera into the second bottle ; thus a certain portion of shells to- gether with nearly all the water is drawn over, allow these to settle, then draw off the clear water and repeat the process until all or nearly all the shells are in the second bottle, leaving the lumps, &c., in the first, then filter on to blotting paper and dry in an oven when they will be ready for mounting. I reckon about one pill-box full of foraminifera to a washing and store them dry ; to mount, boil in a test-tube with turpentine and mount in balsam. While my pen is in my hand I may as well mention that the prepara- tion sold as Stephen's Silicon in shilling boxes for cleaning jewelry is really a perfectly clean diatoma- ceous deposit ready for immediate mounting. Could any of the readers of SciENCE-GossiP tell me the names of the forms and the locality, as it makes a capital object ? If your correspondent cares to communicate with me at the Grammar School, Maidstone, I shall be happy to forward him a small enclosure of washed chalk foraminifera. — Frederick F. Grcnsted. A PROBABLE Marine Shell from Erith. — In a sample of lower brick-earth kindly sent me a few years ago by Mr. R. W. Cheadle, I discovered two small shells with the columella very much produced. These were recognised by Mr. G. B. Sowerby as "Fry of Fusus." Now this is somewhat curious, seeing that all the shells heretofore found in the brick-earth have been land or freshwater species, while the genus Fusus is truly marine and compara- tively speaking a deep-sea one, the common F. Islandkus ranging from five to eighty fathoms. Any indication of marine life in the Thames Valley might be looked for in such shells as Cardinm ediik, or Scorbkularia perforata, but no such estuarine shells have yet been discovered at Erith or Grays, although the Cyrena, so abundant in the brick-earth, appears in some cases to have had its habitat so near to salt water, that freshets carried it into marine deposits, as its association with the marine Mollusca of the gravels of Kilsea Hill, Yorkshire, proves. After the appear- ance of a short notice I sent to the " Bayswater Chronicle," a gentleman well versed in post-tertiary shells, gave it as his decided opinion that the two shells were not Fusus at all, but probably apices of some other shell. Now in this opinion I cannot agree, as I have carefully compared them with figures and specimens of Fusus, and I find their apices are exactly like that of Fusus, and I also find that no other genus of shells that I am acquainted with has these apices. If not really of the brick-earth age (which their con- dition seems to denote) they may have been derived from Eocene beds, seeing that such shells mostly derived from Woolwich beds frequently occur in the brick-earth ; but I think the matter requires further investigation. — //. \V. Kidd, Godalming. The Sea-Lily, Pentacrinus. — At a recent meeting of the Microscopical Society of Liverpool, a paper on this subject was read by the Rev. H. H. Higgins. He said the meridian of the sea-lilies, Pentacrini, seems to have been reached in the seas of the moimtain limestone, where they covered thousands of square miles, and became constituents of sedimen- tary rocks many hundreds of feet in thickness. Their extreme beauty and complexity of structure, is attained by natural selection, points to a pedigree of immeasurable antiquity, concerning which nothing is known. The sea-lilies have been placed near the polypes, but the latter are radiate in type, the forme are annuloid : the latter have a good canal open to, or constituting, the body cavity ; the former have a distinct good canal with oral and anal apertures : the 20 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. latter have no neural regions ; the former have a nervous system branching from a ring with pseudo- ganglia : the latter have thread-cells ; the former are without thread-cells : the latter generally are com- posite ; the former are always simple. The annuloid structure of the sea-lily has nothing whatever to do with the "ringed" appearance of the stem. The segments, which are five in number, are "ringed" in a horizontal plane, like the figures on the dial of a watch laid upon a table. This is true of all the Echinodermata, The star-fish is therefore not a rayed animal. From an example of a " mend" in a fragment from the plume of a sea-lily, the subject of the restoration of lost parts led to the following remarks. How a speck of "plasma" having from its position a special junction can take upon itself to change that junction, and charge itself with the duties attached to a fertilised ovum ; at the same time having its embryological potency modified so as exactly to suit the special requirements of a situa- tion determined by an accident, is an enquiry from the threshold of which he that assumes to be scientifically rich must be sent empty away. The Director-General of the Geological Survey. — Professor Ramsay, the Director-General of the United Kingdom Geological Survey, has just received the honour of Knighthood. We understand that Sir Andrew Ramsay retired from the post of Director at the end of December, and Professor Geikie takes his place. NOTES AND QUERIES. Carbolic Acid and Snakes. — Notice was brought to me yesterday (I write from Calcutta) that a large snake had been seen on a piece of waste land which adjoins my house, and which lies between two walls that meet at an angle. A native servant refused to attack it, as it was of a very deadly species, and had got away into the corner where the walls meet, and where, owing to the jungle, &c., it would be difficult to get at, while it would have the advantage of its assailant, at whom it would have sprung with ease. I thereupon mounted one of the walls, a wall between ten and twelve feet high, and saw the snake with his head and about six inches of his body pro- truding from a hole close into the corner. As soon as he noticed me he turned to escape, and in doing so managed to expose the whole of his body. I called for a bottle of carbolic acid, and poured some on the snake, but not more than a tea-spoonful actually fell on him. He then glided rapidly into his hole, and I feared he was lost. In three or four minutes he emerged, moving very much more slowly than at lirst, and making liis way out of the corner. I nov^ called for a stick and some stones, and my attention was thus drawn off for a minute or two ; when I looked again, I found that a second snake longer and considerably thicker than the first had entered an appearance. I succeeded in pouring quite a table- spoonful of carbolic on snake No. 2, which was making for the same hole. The instant the acid touched him he became perfectly confused. He tried to wriggle into the hole, but could not manage it, and turned to get out of the corner. He was evidently in pain. As he passed under me I dropped a brick-bat on his back, which disabled him. Snake No. i had meanwhile made his way through the weeds, for a distance of about fifteen feet from the corner where the carbolic was ])oured on him. He soon came to a dead halt. I noticed the weeds round him quiver- ing, probably from some tremulous motion of his body, for he was otherwise perfectly stationary. My servant now ventured to jump on the triangular plot of ground, armed with a stick, and soon smashed the head of snake No. 2. I directed the man to the spot where snake No. i was, but the reptile was already stone dead ; the carbolic acid alone seemed to have done for him, within ten minutes from the time it touched him. On a previous occasion I employed carbolic acid to disable a bad snake which had lodged himself at night in a small closet, and on a window frame where he could not be got at without some risk. The acid is a poison for both snakes and toads. Two or three drops placed on a large toad's back kill it in a few minutes. Persons residing in a snaky locality should always keep a supply of carbolic acid, the quality known as commercial, and used as a dis- infectant, will be found most useful. I managed to get two very good micro slides from the blood of my victims yesterday, which I have mounted dry. They show the oval corpuscles splendidly. The snakts were between three and four feet in length, the longer of the two about three feet seven inches. — IV. J. Simmons. Tadpoles in October. — I have this week found some young tadpoles of the newt (I do not know which) ; is not this rather an unusual time of year for them ? They were in a pond entirely shaded by trees, which the sun seldom or never sees. — Wilson Noble. Larks and Toads. — Can any person inform me what is the meaning of Shakespeare's line, " Some say the loathed toad and lark change eyes " ? — F. I. B. Cormorants. — An English farmer tells me he has shot cormorants on the banks of the river Teify, between Ystrad Meurig and Tregaron, and has seen them in the neighbourhood of Llyn Teify and Llyn Gynnow. The former locality is eleven and the latter sixteen miles in a direct line from the sea. There is no doubt they paid a visit to these waters for poaching purposes, as both river and lakes contain trout. — E. liaise. Objects in Aquarium. — About a month ago, I got a glass jar, filled it with sea-water, and put in some weed, a few anemones, and a periwinkle or two. This morning, whilst 1 was aerating the water, I observed some very minute creatures darting about amongst the weed. On looking at them through a quarter-inch lens, I saw they were quite transparent, and had a black line right througli the centre of their bodies, which, I suppose, is all the digestive system they possess. They also had, what seemed to me antenuK, at each end of them. On first looking at them, they appear very much like the common rat- tailed maggot, on a small scale. Can any of the readers of Science-Gossip tell me what they are, and oblige— -^« Amatciir Lady Naturalist. IIivE AND Humble Bees.— During ten years' experience of bee-keeping, I have noticed one circumstance that maybe of interest to entomologists, viz. that the hive or its vicinity is a favourite resort for a great variety of insects. Generally my hives are sixteen inches in diameter, and covered with large bread-pans of the old-fashioned conical type. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 21 M-hich are inverted and placed on tlie top of the hive. Tliis pan does not fit cjuite closely round the cdt;;es, especially when I am supering on the top of the hive. Various insects select this spot for a haV)itation. Frequently in the spring of the year, have I discovered the queen hornet, commencing her nest on the under- side of the pan, and at other times its removal reveals quite a museum of insects and their eggs. Then at this season of the year, wlien the resources of nature begin to fail and the chilling winds drive insects to winter quarters, queen wasps find their way to this strange hiding-place, and the quilt on the top ■of the hive is an additional attraction. Of course I take care to keep my stocks of bees strong and healthy, so that any insect intruders that may chance to pass the bee sentinels at the entrance of the hive may be ■overcome. Failing to effect an entrance, it is but natural that they should one and all take up their abode when possible on the top. Honey is a prize coveted, by all insects, and failing to obtain a taste, they would fain be content with the aroma at the top of the hive. Warmth may furnish an additional attraction. One day this summer, upon examining a hive upon which I had placed a crate of one pound sectional supers covered with a quilt of wadding, I heard a ■tremendous hubbub, and a closer examination dis- covered a nest of humble bees. They were of a very small variety, and throughout the summer afforded a most interesting opportunity for observation. Upon the wadding being removed for the purpose of inspection, the noisy way in which they resented the interference was very remarkable, and in the course •of a few hours the wadding was invariably replaced by the little creatures themselves, and as the colony grew the ball of wadding expanded. But the humble bees have entered upon their last sleep, and are now quite torpid, many have been overtaken by the autumnal cold, ere their cells were vacated. One can but admire the selection of so remarkable but suitable a home, by the little humble bees. They must have gained some help, from the warmth derived from the hive bees underneath them, while the wadding formed a good non-conductor of heat above iind around. It is rather strange that the wasps did not attack 'them, or were they deterred by the noisy protest of the inmates of this conical heap of wad- ding ? One autumnal day two field mice took possession of another corner of this same sheet of wadding, but without interfering with the bees. They were soon summarily ejected by me, and being very fat I wondered whether they were keeping the ]iumble bees' nest in reserve as a dainty morsel for winter consumption, certainly they had not lain so close to the nest for several days without discovering it. I should be glad to know if any of the readers of your interesting magazine, who are beekeepers, have ever found a colony of humble bees in such close proximity to their educated and domesticated neigh- bours.— J. A. Smith. Frog Spawn.— Li answer to the query of P. W. A. in the November number of Science-Gossip, I may say three causes would contribute to solve the mystery, (i) Water-snails often eat the jelly ur- rounding the young tadpole, thereby causir^ the death of the same ; (2) they ought to have plenty of food, both vegetable and animal, or else they fall on their nearest relations, " and finish them right away ; " (3) without a good light they will never come into frogs, but will gradually die off. — A. Fiddscnd. iMiLDNESS OF THE SEASON. — As I was taking a walk on Sunday, the 20th of November, along the road between Donnybrook and Blackrock, to the southern side of the city of Dublin, I noticed the following plants (twenty-six species) in blossom, a remarkable number I think for this time of year. Ranunculus acris, J\. repcns, Stellaria media, Draha verna, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Sisymbrium officinale, Rubus discolor, R. crsius, Geum 7irhanum, Geranium Robertianum, Veronica arvensis, ]'. polita, Bcllis perennis, Leonlodon taraxacum, Lapsana communis, JPypocfucris radicata, Scnecio jacob^ca, S. vulgaris, Soiiclius okraceus, S. asper, Petasites fragrans, Acfiillea millefolia, Lamiuin purpureum, Eupfiorbia Iielioscopia, Rumex obtusifoliiis, l^olygomun persicaria. Most of these were in considerable profusion, but the herb robert certainly eclipsed every other flower, covering whole banks with its pretty pink blossom. Among the few that showed only a lingering knot of flowers, here and there were the two brambles, the avens, and the whitlow-grass. — Cfiarlcs B. Moffat. Mildness of the Season. — It may interest some of your readers to hear that a very fine bunch of Viola odorata was brought me on Thursilay, December 1st, which had been picked by some ladies during a walk from Limpley-Stoke to Bath, a distance of about four miles. Primroses are also in fine bloom in the same locality. — Cfiarles F. JF. T. Williams, Bath, The jMild Autumn. — As I walked down the road to-day (November 12th) I saw a pliit of Jasminus nodiflorus in full bloom ; is it usual for those plants to be out so late in season as this ? We have had very mild weather lately, so that may account for it. — Alex. Win. Ogilzy, Windsor. Turnstone. — There can be no doubt that the description by Edward of the habits of this bird is correct. Edward has been for many years well known to many naturalists, and without at any time being suspected of misrepresentation. It seems to me not very good taste for your correspondent to throw doubts on Edward's statements, because your correspondent in his small experience (as is proved by the fact that he thinks the bird web-footed) has never seen a similar act performed. — Heniy Laver, F.L.S., Colchester. Query as to a Moth. — On referring to Newman's " British Moths," published 1869, under the heading Canned he says, "The moth has been taken in the fens of Cambridgeshire." I can find no mention of Neurica;. Can your correspondent mean Myric?e ? Ofthat moth he says, " Occurs plentifully at Rannoch, in -Scotland, and has also been taken at Killarney, in Ireland, but hithert© not in England." — R. E. Selrake. Botany of Spain. — Can any one inform me whether there is any book similar to Hooker's " .Student's Flora") on the botany of the east coast of Spain, written either in English, French, Italian or Spanish ? — II. Hi ickleb ridge. Late Appearance of " Hirundo rustica." — On November the 9th, I noticed a swallow flying strong on the wing for a considerable time over my garden and the buildings adjoining. — W. Cregson, Baldersley, Tliirsk, Do Parrots require Water ? — In a recent issue Mr. James Hooper stated that Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoological Gardens, says they do not require it. With all due deference to such authority, I think they do. I have a parrot thirty years old, and apparently as fresh as if four years old. I give it a drink of fresh milk in the morning, which it relishes. 22 HA RD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G 0 SSI P. I give it water twice daily, no baths. It has a peculiar cry when it sees anything it wants, or when it wants something not in sight. Sometimes I am at a loss to know what it wants, but frequently when such is the case, on offering water it drinks it with avidity. — Philip Barker, The Grove, Nantwich. Treserving Flowers. — Will any of the readers of this paper tell me, what is the best liquor to preserve flowers and parts of flowers in, without the destroying of their colour and structure ? — En. Svcnsk. The Winter Nest of the Harvest Mouse. — Although spread over a great part of Europe as far as Western Asia, yet the harvest mouse {AIiis mimitus) is generally reputed a species of rare occurrence. But several circumstances may account for this. Its very diminutive size and the rapidity of its motions often cause it to be overlooked. That this little creature builds for itself a bird-like nest has long been known, and it is so singular a fact that it must attract curiosity ; but it would now appear to have not only a summer nest, but to build, at least in certain localities, a winter nest, into which during the cold season it retreats. In a very charming article in a recent number of "Notes from the Leyden Museum," Professor H. Schlegel describes these winter nests as he found them in a locality near Leyden in 1868. This locality is situated at a distance of about two miles from Leyden, in the neighbour- hood of the castle of Endegeest, celebrated as having served for a refuge to the philosopher Descartes after his exile from France. Here, on the right-hand side of the road leading to the village of Rynsburg, not less celebrated for its abbey than for being the residence of Spinoza, there is to be found a ditch some quarter of a mile in length and six paces in width. Part of the border of this ditch was grown over with reeds. Close observation .soon showed that these reeds actually contained about fifty nests of this little mouse. During the breeding season these were of the usual globular form, of the average size of a man's fist, and showing near the top a little circular opening for the entrance of the little animal. But the winter nests were quite different. These were composed of various mosses, and were attached to and between several stems of reeds, exactly like the nests of the reed warblers, but more fusiform, of from six inches to a foot in diameter. They showed no inlet, and were placed at the height of a foot over the water's level. The animal when entering had to remove the upper part of the covering, which was less densely interwoven, and was concealed between the moss. It would seem evident that the building of these nests was a just cal- culation of being safe against the danger of drowning. Weasel or Stoat ? — My attention has been directed to S. A. Brenan's note at page 166, in which he says — " W. Thompson in his ' Nat. Hist, of Ireland,' writes that it has been found at Torhead." Your readers can judge of the value of S. A. Brenan's "own observation that the weasel is to be found in the North of Ireland," when they have the ipsissima verba of our Belfast naturalist before them, vol. iv. page 6. " The Weasel, &c. — I have never met with this animal in Ireland, nor do I consider that the species has yet been satisfactorily proved to be native, although it may be so. The stoat which passes under the name oi 7ueasel m this country is common thoughout the island : and from the circumstance of Templeton having noted the weasel as ' common,' and the stoat as ' rare,' I am led to believe that by weasel he meant stoat. Macgillivray tells us (' Brit. Quad.' page 164), that the weasel ' is generally distributed in Ireland,' but no authority is given. Mr. J. V. Stewart notes both the weasel and stoat as occurring in CO. Donegal ; and two skins of the true weasel were given to me in 1842, which were said to have been obtained at Tor Head (co. Antrim)." The italics are Mr. Thompson's, who evidently intended to convey that he doubted their Hibernian origin. Mr. Thompson's accuracy is too sacred to allow such a misquotation as above to remain uncorrected. The matter can be settled by .S. A. B. in his own favour by his producing some of his Ulster acquaintances, the Irish weasels. — A Member of the Belfast Naturalists^ Field Club. Hare-bell z'. Hair-bell. — ^Perhaps you are grow- ing weary of this subject, unless you agree with me that it is only by arguments such as these that we are able to come to any proper conclusion in such matters. Although, from the hair-like stalk of Campanula rotundifolia it may seem better to call it hair-bell, its most ancient name appears to be hare-bell, from its being found on heaths and in thickets most fre- quented by hares. Bailey, in his Dictionary, 1776, does not mention the flower under any name : but Walker, in his Dictionary, 1S57, speaks of hare-bell, as being a blue of a bell-shape ; and he also speaks of hair- bell as being the hyacinth. Indeed there appear some good grounds for such a name ; for Dioscorides, a Greek physician of the time of Nero, tells us that the root of this flower will procure hair on bald and beardless men. From this we may gather that Cam- panula rotundijolia is the hare-bell of the poets ; and that Hyacinthus non-scriptits is the Hair-bell of modern writers. — A. IF. Peachey, Tewkesbury, Gloucester. Hair-Bell, Hare-Bell and Air-Bell. — Surely the wild hyacinth is the hair-bell said to derive its name from the tremulous motion of its flowers, which inditate, so some writers opine, the breathing of the hare. The hair-bell was, I always thought, identical with the air-bell of the poets, the Campanula rotundifolia, whose stamen stem resem- bles the moss hair, and whose elastic stem also waves with even the slightest breeze. Scott calls this flower the hare-bell, but the succulent stem of the true Hyacinthus non-scriptus would, if trodden upon, be too crushed to rise again, as the poet describes his hair-bell to have done when " Ellen's " fairy step bent them ; therefore one can but conclude Scott mistaken and botanists right, when they say that the hare-bell is the wild hyacinth, and the hair- bell or air-bell the Campanula rotundifolia. — Helen E. IFatjiey. The Regime of a Fowl House. — From a window of my lodgings I can see a fowl-house, inhabited by about a score of fowls. During the summer there was order in this house, the order being maintained by the cock. Once, and once only, I saw two hens fighting, but after a few minutes the cock managed to pacify them, by a mixture of caresses and pecks. I may add, that this fight arose because one hen would not budge for another that had chickens. Recently the cock has been removed, and the hens left without a master. The consequence is, that now the hens are engaged in either real or sham fights all the day long. Sometimes the whole lot of tliem will start careering about their house, indulging in a species of tournament, which generally terminates in a pitched battle. Thus the order of the community seems to depend on the cock entirely. — JK H. Bansall, B.A. Cantab. HARDWICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 23 Dreissena polymorpha. — Whilst paddling up the Thames in search of microscopic material I came to a low weir whose well water-worn and green and brown timbers seemed to promise good hunting ground. On looking down into the water I saw attached to the stones and in the interstices of the wood-work masses of shells attached by their byssi that looked exactly like the common marine mussel [Mytilns ednlis). A close examination and dissection how- ever proved it to be Dreissena polymorpha, a native of the Black Sea, the Danube and the rivers of Russia. In Turton's " British Shells " it is mentioned as occurring in the Commercial Docks, the Union Canal and the river Nen in Scotland where it has been probably introduced, adhering to Baltic timber, and it is highly probable that it was introduced by the same means into the locality where I found it, /.»•., on the timber used in constructing the weir. It is at once distinguished from the common Thames swan mussel {Anodon cygneits) by its shape and I byssus, and from the marine mussel by its mantle ! being continuous, except just where the two siphons protrude, and by the shell possessing a septum. It is said to be capable of living out of the water for several weeks, and although I have not tried the experiment I have some in a glass jar filled with water that seems none the worse for the confined space and absence of the running water that I found them in. The shell is a dark brownish-olive, equi- valve, deeply keeled and inequilateral. The beaks very acute, and bent down a little, they almost touch, and are furnished internally with a septum. The interior is milky-white, indistinctly iridescent. The animal has the mantle closed all round, except small openings for the foot and the two siphons. The mantle is of a creamy-white colour, and towards the wider basal portion it becomes of an orange colour bordered with two blackish or deep purple borders. The foot is pale yellow, with a tuft of byssus at the base and a distinct byssal groove. I shall be very pleased to point out the locality where they occur, or to forward specimens to any one interested in British freshwater conctiology. — E. Gardner, Shepperton. Late Swallows. — Horace Pearse, F.L.S., Stour- bridge, says he saw a swallow on the 5th of November. I have in print a statement that I saw a chim- ney swallow on November 13th, 1875, about noon, flying before my windows in my garden ; about two hours afterwards I saw one, but whether it was the same I do not know. Swifts, chimney swallows, swallows or house martins, and the sand martin. The Swift comes late and goes early. Swallows, the woodcock, snipe, cuckoo, nightingale, wryneck, and many others. The locality has much to do with their appearance, for the place where they leave the coast must be the last place where they are seen, and the place on their return where they first reach land must be the first before they disperse themselves over the countr)'. — Thomas Kingsford, Canterbury. An International Association for the obser- vation OF Hailstorms. — Mr. J. A. Westwood Oliver has notified to us his intention of endeavour- infT to organise an International Association for the observation of Hailstorms, and wishes any of our readers who are interested in Meteorology, to com- municate with him at the London Institution, Fihs- bury-circus, E.C. Mr. Westwood Oliver states that no other instruments than an ordinary barometer and thermometer are needed. Correction. — Through an oversight, fig. 141, p. 244 (last vol.), represents a rhombic, instead of a pentagonal dodecahedron. — E. H. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now publish Science-Gossip earlier than heretofore, we cannot possibly insert in the following number any communications which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. To Anonymous Querists.— We receive so many queries which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to adhere to our rule of not noticing them. To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general ground as amateurs, in so far as the " exchanges " offered are fair exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of advertising, an advantage is taken oi a\ix gratuitous insertion of "exchanges" which cannot be tolerated. A. W. Preston. — We do not undertake to return specimens sent us to be named. " MucROSS." — The specimens are fungi, the yellow one being Tremella tnesenterica, and the white Tremella albida. T. B.— Get the " Pocket Guide to British Ferns," by M. S. Ridley, price is. dd., published by D. Bogue. It will give you just the information you seek. P. Barker. — A general index of the first 12 vols, of Science- Gossip was published at the end of 1876, price is. 6d., and may be had of our publisher. Grantlev. — Your clams are a species o( Cyikerea, not found in British seas ; but there is no reason in the world why they should not be acclimatised as food animals in our waters. J. B. M. — The "Aquarium" gives a list and description of fresh-water animals suited to an aquarium. Spence Bate's work on the sessile-eyed Crustacea includes those you mention,, but it is rather expensive. J. B. J.— Rimmer's " Land and Freshwater Shells " is by far the best for your purpose, as it contains a photograph of every species. Price io,f. dd., published by D. Bogue, 3 St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, W.C. Elliot. — The bones of Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus are very frequently found in the boulder clays of Norfolk and Suffolk. They have been deposited therefrom the wreck of the oolitic rocks. J. T. Hillier. — Your specimen is the bird's nest (Nidularia), and the shell a species of Pisidium. R. B.— Professor Greene's " Physical Geology" is by far the best we know for bringing up all matters to_ the most recent date. T. L. — Any of the microscope makers advertising in our columns will answer your query more satisfactorily than we can. J. W. O. — It is very difficult to safelj' name the species of corals from such small fragments as those sent, as much depends upon the manner of branching. But we have little doubt as to the genera, which are as follows : i, Fungia, 2, Creusia, 3, Pocillipora, 4 & 5. Stylaster. All are concerned in reef- building, but especially the last four, which are now classed as Hydrozoan corals. F. H. S — We are not aware that the common centipede when crushed gives outa phosphorescent light, but the common millipede [Geophilus electricns] constantly leaves a phospho- rescent trail. The insect you enclosed is the common cricket (Ache t a dornestica). F. H. Hele. — We have never seen or heard of scarlet fluor- spar ; Saxony and Alston Moor produce rose-coloured cubes, and nearly orange-coloured crystals are obtainable in Derby- shire, the colour being due to iron oxide. J. W. W. — You will find in " Notes on Collecting and Preserving Natural History Specimens," published in 1875, price 3J. td., edited by the Editor of Science-Gossip, that all the subjects you mention have already been treated upon, from, geology to entomology, and that each subject was written upon by well-known writers in each department. V. G. — Your tree (as indicated by the fruit sent) is the Wild. Service Tree {Pyrus torinhialis], T. B. W. — The plants are, i. Anemone sulphurea, and 2, Bi- scutella lavigata (Cruciferae). TEXCHANGES. Side-blown eggs of golden-winged woodpecker offered ; desiderata, eggs (side-blown), merlin, hobby, wood-sand- piper, Brummich's guillemot, bridled guillemot, gull-billed tern, white-winged black tern, great black-backed gull, &c. Offers solicited. — W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staffordshire. 24 HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. " Rapin of Gardens," a Latin poem, English'd by M. •Gardiner, in exchange for British birds' eggs ; sea birds espe- •cially. Oftcrs sohcitod.— \V. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staffordsh. For well-monnted slide of scale of Dee salmon, splendid polar obiect, ^cnd other good slide ; desideratum, Polycystina. —John k. Marten, Cottage Hospital, Redhill. Dupi.iCATE=; (Lepidoptera), V. lo, C. P/Uccas, L. Megcera, If. Semele, C. Cardui, M. Artemis ; desiderata. V. Atalanta, any of the Shecla genus, or what offers ?— W. E. Watkins, 32 Huntingdon Street, Barnibury, London, N. Canadian plants, insects, shells, bird-skins, skins of mammals, &c., in exchange for English species.— W. G. A. Birdie, 325 Parliament Street, Toronto. For slides, starch from Calabar bean (polar), and parasite of pig [HiEinatfl/iinus Suis], send other slides or material.— Linden, New Brompton, Kent. AnouT 140 British birds' eggs, including guillemot, lesser black-backed gull, lapwing, carrion crow, jackdaw, magpie, pheasant, partridge, moorhen, stockdove, and many others, in • exchange for good telescope, microscope, or opera glass. — Henry Porter, Goxhill, Lincolnshire. Offeked, about 400 fossils, chiefly carboniferous. Wanted, a good second-hand microscope.— J. A. H., 70 Helena Street, Burnley, Lancashire. A FEW duplicate slides of Holothurian (plates and skin), Crantia compressa, Halichondria incfitstans. Desmacidon ■ tega^rofiila, &c. Wanted, British marine shells, or mounted m'olluscan palates. — Dr. Keegan, Holywood, near Belfast. Wanted, L. C, 7th ed., 349, 377. 388, 58°. 613, 1035, and others. Can offer good specimens of 273b, 317, 556, 557, 594, 1635. and many others, in exchange. Send lists.— A. W. Preston, St. Philip's Road, Norwich. Wanted, old prints, engravings (small), sketches or early MSS. ; will give wrought flints.— G. Clinch, Rowe's Farm, Hayes, Kent. Large aquarium, 2 X 2 X 4 ft., slate ends and bed ; plate slass, on polished oak stand. Holds about 100 gallons. .Suitable for public institution or naturalist, cost about_ ;^I4. Exchange scientific or standard books, treadle lathe or offers. — H. H., 8 St. Mark's Road, Wolverhampton. For exchange, a limited number of slides of parasite of fly Ulyfioptts tnuscarinii], also other parasites. Communicate before sending any slides. —W. A. Hyslop, 22 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh. Wanted, two hawkweeds, //. calenduUJJ oruvi ^^nA floccu- -losuiii. Offered, the choice of many and great rarities, British and foreign. — R. Wood, Westward, Wigton. Wanted, in exchange for other works, Science-Gossip, Nos. 175-189 inclusive. — -W. Macmillan, Castle Cary, Somerset. Anatomical and pathological slides, material or sections ; entozoa and ectozoa, diatoms ; for parasites and other slides or material of interest. — F. L. Carter, 20 Trafalgar Street, Neivcastle-on-Tyne. A polished pine cabinet, six drawers, graduating in depth with 110 divisions, suitable for shells, birds' eggs, stones, &c. ; will exchange for small microscopic-cabinet, or well-mounted .slides, books, or apparatus. Also about eighty eggs, some rare, with or without the above ; a list of the eggs sent on application. — H. R. S., 10 Avenue Road, Regent's Park, London. Vv?M of Furcula, Vinula, Dictsea, Ziczac, Quercus, and fine series of .S". fopuli. Wanted, birds' eggs or other objects. — R. McAldowie, 4 Brook Street, Stoke-on-Trent. Two vols, of " Chronicles of Eri," by O'Connor, pub. 1822 ; " Gravitation," i vol., by G. B. Airy, 1834; "Travels of Mo- deen," i vol., by J. E. Alexander, 1827 ; all in good condi- tion. Will exchange for works on management of the microscope, and a fair collection of mounted microscopical slides, or what offers? — W. J. Hooper, Hermine Cottage, East St., Chatham. I HAVE four years of Science-Gossip complete, unbound — 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881 — for exchange. — H. C. Ransome, Stoke Hall, Ipswich. Miocene foraminifeka (named), large species, and mounted sections of spongilla, &c., offered for foraminifera, polycystines, diatoms, &c. (mounted or material). — Dr. Rudolf Haeusler, Dedham, Essex. A PACKET of twelve immounted micro objects sent in ex- change for a well-mounted slide. — Fairmount, 153 Breakspears Road, Brockley, S.E. Millek's " Chemistry," 2 vols., published at 40^-., nearly new ; Science-Gossip 1877, 1879, 1880, unsoiled, uniformly bound ; Tyndall's " Fragments" in one vol. — W. Jacobs, 41 Macfarlane Road, Shepherd's Bush, W. Unmounted material (echinus, &c.), offered for anatomical slides. — B., 9 Royal Terrace, W. Kingstown. Wanted, "Popular Science Review" for 1881. — Dr. Cunynghame, 6 Walker Street, Edinburgh. Wanted to exchange, a 50-in. bicycle. Singers' "Challenge," for a microscope or works and objects on natural history. — S. B. Axford, 15 Commercial Road, Bournemouth. Wanted, last edition of " Hogg on the Microscope," also good slides. Can offer several varieties gorgonias, spicules, starches, hairs, &c. — J. E. Fawcett, Rawdon, near Leeds. What exchange for fine copy of Prichard's "Man," 2 vols., 62 coloured plates, 1855 ?— B., 9 Royal Terrace, W. Kingstown. LoN. Cat., Nos. 275, 315, 394, 626, 653, 667, 657, 843, 862, 1271, 1276, also Rubi and Rosa; varieties and others, in ex- change for rare or local British plants. Lists to J. R. Neve, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. Will exchange several good mounted slides of hairs, Indian bat, spicules, photographs, &c., for others, physiological injected ones preferred.— S., 3 Cobden Place, Leeds. Will exchange good case of dissecting instruments, also a surgical instrument case, for Cole's series of physiological injection slides. — S., 3 Cobden Place, Leeds. For exchange, lo-in. plate electrical machine, with various apparatus for experiments, &c. ; wanted, micro-slides and material, air-pump, or ofiers. — T. E. Jobling, Coxledge Colliery, Newcastle-on-Tyne. What offers for 1858, 1859, 1S60, of "The Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London," with illustrations, unsoiled and unbound? Also 42 numbers of "The Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells," by G. B. Sowerby, with original plates (coloured), unsoiled and unbound.— John Boggust, jun., Alton, Hants. Wanted, a case of minerals and fossils to illustrate Lyell's " Manual ;" will exchange a large unmounted albatross, Cas- sells' "History of England" (calf); Bain's "Education;" physiological slides. — W. N., 37 Flaxman Street, Liverpool. Good plants of AsJ>lenitiin tauceolatntn and Gymnogramme leptopliylla offered for well-dried fronds of Ceterach officinalis and O. regalis, or plants of the former. — J. Sinel, Bagot, Jersey. Duplicates, Opiu-ys apifera, Potetitilla fruticflsa, Malaxis paludosa, Goodycra ripens, Alchcinilla alpiiia. Shells, CyprcFa aselhts, C. helvola, Neritina viridis, Strigila carnaria, Oliva luteola, Cobiiiihella inercatoria, 'J'cllina radiata, Apo- rhais pes-pelica)tns, Buliiniis acutus. — Rev. J. M. Hick, Stain- drop, Darlington. '^ KiiT¥,\n, Fittpiira lapillus, freshly-killed animal as well as shell. Dried specimens of ^cor^^i- Calanutt, Nigelia sativa, Loliutn tevailentum, exchange. — Tunley, Albert Road, Southsea. Swiss, Pyrenean, and Mediterranean plants (including grasses, carices, &c.). A magnificent collection of the above for sale at kd. each, all named and dried. The Swiss flora is especially complete. — Dr. B., care of Editor, 3 St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, London, W.C. BOOKS. ETC., RECEIVED. "The Microscope." By G. Davies. London: D. Bogue. " Life, Letters, and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart." 2 vols. London: John Murray. " Easy Star Lessons." By R. A. Proctor. London : Chatto & Windus. "Leaves from a Naturalist's Note-Book." By Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E. London : Chatto & Windus. "Practical Chemistry." By J. Howard. .London: W.Col- lins, Sons, & Co. "The Home Journal." "Journal of Applied Science." " Union Jack Naturalist." " The Antiquary." "Midland Naturalist." " Northern Microscopist." " Land and Water." " Ben Brierley's Journal." "Natural History Notes." " American Naturalist." " Canadian Entomologist." "Goud Health." " Cosmos, les Mondes." " Science pour Tons." " Le Monde de la Science." " Les Feuilles de Jeunes Naturalistes." &c. &c. &c. Communications received up to 9TH ult. from: — G. M.— J. A. H.— W. E. W.— H. W.— E. T. S.— M. H. B.— H. B. L.— E. L.— W. W. B.— E. H.— J. R. M.— A. M. McA.— I. S.-R. S.— Dr. K.— R. McA.— C. F. W. T. W.— A. R. S.— "W. A. G.— A. M.— X. F.-W. M.— R. W.-J. R.— C. V. R. _G. F. W.— F. F.— F. L. C.-J. C.-G. D.— W. J. H.-G.— W. A. H.-A. W. P.-H. H.-G. S. G.-J. A. W. O.— T. W. — T. E T— P. J. S.— J. R. N.-P. M. C. K.-F. N. H.— F. H. S.-W. N.-W. H. T.-A.W.-A. M.C-J. S.-T. E.J. -W. J.-S. B. A.— D. B.-G. T.-M. E. P.— J. B. M.- J. B., jun.-J. R.-W. T. G.-J. M. H.-H. P.-J. M. F.- W. E. D.-E. H.-W. G.-P. B.— J. H.-P. B.-A. B.— C E. K.— T. B.— F. F. G.— C C. A.— J. F.— A.L.-C B. M. -H. B.-C. C. A.— W. S. A. B.-S. S. H.-O. W. J.— &c. HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 25 EARLY HISTORY OF THE DIATOMACE^. By F. KITTON, Hon, F.R.M.S. IContinued froTtt page 9.] IGHT has great in- fluence on various species oi Navicii- la and Frnstulia, and when they are kept in cylindrical glass jars they al- ways attach them- selves to the side nearest the light, leaving that which is dark. I therefore always search on the light-side for the finest speci- mens : kept in porcelain vessels filled with water, and exposed to the light, they rise to the surface of the %vater. Siirirella Vemis (fig. S) generally keeps its cuirass a a closed during the day, when the opening is only seen in dead individuals ; during the night and by very feeble lamp-light I have found many open, but they quickly closed when exposed to a more intense illumination. Organs of Nutrifion. — Nutrition and the organs necessary for that purpose, are extremely difficult to detect ; we cannot adopt the means that enabled Ehrenberg to examine the true infusoria, seeing that the animalcules with which we are now occupied are unable to admit colouring substances. It is therefore only analogy that can assist us (and that very feebly) in these researches. In the Surirellas and Naviculas I have never been able to detect the parallel tube in the body. In Surirella Venus (fig. 8) we can easily perceive a skin separated from one of the points of the mantle ; this skin shows a slit a which leads to the contents e ; by means of this slit the animal can eject the whole of them, but I have never been able to detect any aperture or cleft in the mantle. No. 206.— February 1882. The Naviculas, according to my arrangement, in- clude the species of the older genera of Friistidia and Naviaila in which we find on the pedal surface two apertures at the axes of the body, leading to two empty tubes which traverse the entire length of the animalcule, and which terminate at the two openings close to the smooth pedal surface. The genus Pharyngoglossa is the only one of the series in which may be distinctly seen the mouth, the alimentary canal, and its anal aperture. The head is easily recognised by the fissure in the cuirass, from which the superior foot is extended ; below this foot is an orifice in which may be seen a plug which it protrudes, this plug forms a part of the cylindrical bowel, which becomes very delicate as it approaches the posterior part of the body, and terminates at the orifice in the cuirass, and through which the hinder foot is extended. Pharyngoglossa is also the only form of this class in which I have seen the ingestion of solid matter, which, when the plug is extended, rushes into the empty space (fig. 4) between what we, from analogy, have called the mouth and stopper. In speaking of the intestines, we alluded to the coloured substance in the animalcules, enclosed in the mantle ; this is some- what peculiar in its constitution and colour. In gene- ral this matter appears to be gelatinous, semi-liquid, homogeneous, containing drops of oil or fat, and verj' minute granules of solid matter. In Surirella Venus it forms a green or brown granular mass in the centre of the animalcule ; in Naviculas, Frustulias, and in some Diatoms, this mass is spread out into a thin layer, coloured and curved at the margin towards the base, and which after the death of the animalcule becomes irregular. The genus Scalptrum and some species of Namciila " (undescribed) have the power of expelling the coloured contents through the opening we see on the ventral surface, they also appear to possess the power of reproducing these contents. In the Diatoms and Fragilarias, we also detect this internal material excepting at the extremities of the body which are in consequence transparent In c 26 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. the articulations of Diatoma feiicstraltiin, it is com- ])ose(I of very pale globules of various sizes and isolated. Organs of Propagation. — The organs of generation in these forms are very obscure, and their existence highly problematical. I have never seen them. I have made some observations (and which I have published), which are perhaps not without importance, but since then I have not been able to identify these organs with positive certainty. The Naviculas and Frustulias attach themselves to each other by the pedal surfaces, and frequently remain in that position for several days before separa- ting. I have seen a couple of Naviculas iagrestis) (fig. 9) also connected, but at a slight distance apart; yet in spite of this apparent separation they were united by two very narrow tubes c d, and I have moreover seen that these tubes pass through the openings in the cuirass into the coloured contents ; I have ako seen at the orifices of tubes areolae ((ircvlts) produced by the contents being thicker and darker. They remained united about an hour, after which separation took place in the following manner, the tube c was withdrawn into the animalcule f and the tube d into the animalculeyi I was also able to see on the pedal surface (fig. 9) two apertures, d, e. one large and the other minute. After the withdrawal of the tubes, the two animal- cules separated. In a side view (fig. 9), I saw, although somewhat indistinctly, the two openings, ''s wallaby is a fine animal of a silvery-grey colour, which turns into purplish-brown upon the back ; it is rendered especially conspicuous by a band of pure white extending from the tip of the muzzle, along the cheek, to the angle of the eye. The length of this species is five feet five or six inches ; it is confined to a range of hills extending parallel with the coast from Tort Stephens to Moreton Bay. The Paddymellon, or I'ademelon wallaby, is 1 8. — The Kangaroo Rat {Hypsipryiniati minor) •:::&^r-A '~"&u. •"/V.I '.^ ^ Fig. 19.— Ursine Opossum {Dasyttrus iirsinns). perhaps the most widely diffused, and the best known of all the kangaroos ; it was first brought to Europe by some French navigators, who bestowed upon it the inappropriate designation of Thcditis, after the name of their vessel. It is about three feet in length, and the sexes do not differ in size. The kangaroo-hare [La^vrchestcs Icporoides) is singularly like our European hare in colour and size, and it is tolerably abun- dant on the plains of South Australia. There is no difference in the size of the sexes. The kangaroo-rat, the "putchook" of the aborigines (ffyp- sipryiHuus minor), is considerably smaller than the preceding animal, being about the size of a small rabbit ; it has a head very closely resem- bling that of a rat in shape, and although its hind legs are simi- lar in conformation to those of a true kan- garoo, it always runs upon all-fours ; its prevailing colour is light-brown ; dogs will not eat its flesh, which has a rank, disagreeable odour, but I knew a French- man who did, and pronounced it to be excellent gibier. It is very generally spread all over the country ; the sexes are of equal size. Bennet's wallaby, or kangaroo, is very common in Tasmania, where thousands are slaughtered every year for the sake of their hides, which make excellent leather, equal, if not superior, to the best kid — but without, as yet, • causing any appreciable diminution in their numbers. This species is gregarious, roaming in large herds through the dense humid forests of its native land. It might readily, if thought desirable, be domesti- cated in England, as it breeds freely in coufine- 1'" \ ■V'PO.j " HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 29 ment, and is not at all impatient of either cold or damp. The Tasmanian jerboa {Beftoitgia ctmiciibis) is only found, as its name implies, in Van Diemen's Land ; it is a small animal of about two feet in length, of a brownish-grey colour, and inhabits open, sandy or stony plains. Tlie foregoing are a few of the more remarkable species, belonging to the family of the Macropinre, that are at present to be met with in Australia ; which, however, in common with all other parts of the globe, presents indications of having been, in former times, inhabited by kindred races, far sur- passing in size and strength the comparatively di- minutive creatures that in this degenerate age roam through its primeval woods, or across its boundless and scantily herbaged plains. • For instance, the gigantic marsupial described by Owen, in his " P alseon- t ology," from a single tooth, and named by him Di- protodoii, rivalled in size the colossal sloth {Mega t Ji eriuDi) ot Southern America, with which it was contemporary, and was kept in check by carnivorous animals, represented in the present day by the Thylaciiies and Dasyurcs of Tas- mania, one species of which at least, to use the words of Professor Owen, "had carnassial teeth two inches three lines in longitudinal extent, twice the size of a lion" ! But these monsters have, happily, passed avi^ay for ever, and their place been taken by the existing races, which we have no reason to believe were, at any time, co-existing with them ; but these, too, are surely, if slowly, disappearing from their native haunts ; and although their place is no longer usurped by new creations, man and his various breeds of domesticated animals, the horse, ox, sheep and rabbit, especially the latter, are as certainly driving them from the scene they have so long occupied, as the terrible cataclysms of the older world removed their more formidable prede- cessors. Owing to the vast extent of continental Australia, this exterminative process will be necessarily slow ; Fig. 20. — Dog-headed Thylacinus [Thylacinns cynocephalus]. was fully yet when we hear of three thousand kangaroos being clubbed en masse, in one hatttie, and left to rot upon the ground, because, forsooth, they ate a portion of the grass a "squatter" called his, we cannot doubt the ultimate result. Even now, within the memory of the older colo- nists, these beautiful and harmless, not to say useful, creatures, which, as well as the emus and opossums, were a few years ago most abundant in those locali- ties, have become comparatively scarce, in some places they have altogether disappeared, within the settled districts ; so much so, that the appearance of one of them, on Keilor Plains for instance, would certainly create as great an excitement there among the farmers, as if the same animal were to be suddenly discovered feeding on Salisbury Plains, or the Curragh of Kildare. Is there no way, it may be asked, of putting a stop to this wholesale destruc- tion of a curious and beautiful animal, without doubt created by the Sove- reign Ruler of the universe for some wise, if unfathom- able purpose ? I scarcely know ; legislative enact- ments, I fear, would prove but of slight avail; and, most probably, would not be had recourse to, in " a free country," until too late. Much might, doubtless, be effected by the vari- ous acclimatisation societies of Europe and America, to postpone the inevitable hour of extinction ; but it is unlikely, and, indeed, scarcely desirable, that the kangaroo should ever be multiplied to any great extent out of its native land ; for, although its skin makes admirable leather, and its tail delicious soup, we have indigenous animals of our own which equal or surpass it, in the first, if not altogether in the last respect : and although the flesh of the young kangaroo, or joey, is reckoned tender and good, and is even compared by some enthusiasts with venison, it is not probable that it will ever tickle the public palate to such an extent as to supersede mutton in the market : accordingly, unless such a phenomenon should take place, there would be but slender chance of the Macropidce ever increasing in this country in sufficient numbers to insure them from ultimate extinction. 30 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. \ WEEK'S RAMBLING WITH A HAMMER IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. By W. W. Watts, E.A. AN account of a week's geologising in the Isle of Wight may be not uninteresting to some of the readers of Science Gossip, not as offering any new or original matter, but rather to induce more students to make use of this delightful epitome of Cretaceous and Eocene geology. I do not propose to give minute details of the strata, for they will be found at full length in the memoirs on the subject— for instance, the "Geological Survey Memoirs," by Bristow and Forbes, and the recent paper by Messrs. Tawney and Keeping (QJ.G.S. May, 1881, p. 85)— but merely to indicate the general plan of work pursued, and to give a few details of the principal strata met with. The first day was taken up by a visit to the Ham- stead cliffs, where the strata from the Hamstead Corbula beds to the I'.embridge limestone are well exposed. It is a wild and lonely place, overgrown by furze and wood, even down to the water's edge at high tide, and then quite impassable near the sea. The cliffs are in a terrible state of tumble-down, and great care is requisite in going about them if the weather is not dry, for the soft marls and clays are washed into a viscous mud by the rain, and this mud flows down in a kind of glacier, bearing to the sea-level a load of debris fallen from the cliffs, from which fine specimens of the characteristic fossils may be collected ; many of the fossils are thus borne down and mingled with the deposits now forming along the shore line, and are not necessarily more rolled in the deposit than the recent shells there. A detailed section is unnecessary, but a general one may be useful. At the top is an oyster bed (Ostria caliijira) and below it dark clays and marls, with Ccrithium plication, Corbula siib-pisum, and Valuta Rathicri ; then come beds with Cytherea LyclUi, Corbula Vecticnsis, and at their base sandy beds with Ccrithium dedans, Cyrena scmistriata, and Rissca Chastcllii, with much comminuted shell matter. These beds make up the Corbula beds or top division of the Hamstead strata. In the upper freshwater and estuarine marls (stiff green marl) the most important fossil is a Cypris, which occurs in a thin bed near the base. The middle freshwater and estuarine marls contain plants among which may be mentioned Equisetum, Nym- ph?ca, and fruits which occur intermingled with Cypris remains. At the base, the well-marked "white band" full of Cyrena semistriata, Mclauia fasciata, and largely made up of broken shells. Tlie lower freshwater and estuary marls may be seen close to the shore and sometimes on the strand, and consist of dark clays and marls, with fairly abundant fossils, such as Hydrobia /nipa and Cyrena semistriata, Mclania fasciata, Rissoa, fish remains, and wood. At the base of these marls the well-known black band was easily found, with its Paludina, Cyclas, and Rissoa. While walking along the shore at low tide, beneatli the exposures of the Hamstead beds we picked up a few crocodile scutes, and turtle remains, and much more rarely a fragment of Hyopotamus. Beyond the black band, going to the N.E. we immediately came on the Bembridge marls, which were exposed on the shore, as the east winds, which had long prevailed, had cleared away the shingle. They consisted mainly of stiff green and bluish marls in certain zones crowded with beautiful shells, among which we found three species of Melania, M. Forhesii, M. turritissima, and M. mnricata, besides Cyrena pulchra, C. obtusa, Melanopsis carinata. We just pushed on to the Bembridge limestone, which forms by its outcrop one of those dangerous ledges which are so common in the Isle of Wight, and then raced against the tide to secure specimens of the characteristic fossils from tlieir best exposures, before their site was again reclaimed by the envious sea. A heavy bag was carried back to Yarmouth after this fairly full day's work, and what little of the day remained was spent in sorting and naming the speci- mens, and in recording an account of the section worked through. The next day we resolved to start from Yarmouth and work as far as possible towards Headon Hill, intending to work out and tabulate the section as carefully as we could, without spending much time in collecting fossils except those which were absolutely necessary for correlating the beds at the different exposures. Going westwards along the shore and along the military road we came upon some exposures of the Bembridge limestone, a white tufaceous limestone, where we collected a few fossils, such as Limnaa longiscata, Buliinus ellipticus, Flanorbis discus, and the round bodies called by the Survey turtle eggs. Over the limestone some trace of the Bembridge marls were found, having the same characters as at Hamstead. Below this limestone, mottled green and reddish clays and marls occur, with here and there a band of comminuted shells and a very thin band of nodular limestone. This is exposed at Cliff End, and on the shore at low water may be found the highest beds of the Upper Headon, which consist of dark clays with Paludina lenta in fair preservation, and white bands of smashed Potamomya gregaria, and in one band the delicate freshwater Serpula tenuis. The shore is there grass-grown down to the sea-wall for some distance, and beyond, where the cliff is again seen, a little of the mottled marls is to be seen at the top and underneath the clay, with Paludina lenta and Serpula tenuis, and below that, bands of clay and a band of limestone, soft in situ, but forming HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 31 hanl blocks when exposed to weather action on the shore. Below this, clay occurs again, one band of which is noted for the profusion of Ccrithiitm tri- zonatum and Cyrena obovata, which weather out very well. Nothing of particular note now is seen till near Lynchen Chine, where a bluish clayey sand with Potamomya gregaria rests on a slimy clay which con- tains Cerithmm vcntricosnm and Mclania muricata, and in which Mr. Keeping and myself found Ceri- thitiin concaviim. This important bed is classed, as the top of the Middle Headon by Messrs. Tawney and Keeping. It holds up water, and makes the Middle Headon beds difficult to get at all along Colwell Bay. The next important bed in the Middle Headon is the so-called Venus bed (so named from its profusion of Cytherea (Venus) incrassata), which contains a considerable number of characteristic marine and brackish water-fossils, such as Fiisiis labiatus, Natica labcllata, Pkurotoma macilenta, Psaimnobia compressa, Aticillaria bnccinoidcs, Balanus tingiiiformis, most of which can soon be collected with the end of a knife and a little care from the greenish clayey sand which forms this bed. It is well exposed at Bramble and Colwell Chines. A curious phe- nomenon occurs opposite How Ledge, for the whole of the IMiddle Headon is replaced by a great oyster- bed packed with Ostrea veZata, and in which may be found other fossils, such as Murcx sexdentatus, Melaiiopsis nsiformis, Nuada Headonensis, &c. Near, or on, How Ledge too we were so lucky as to see a very curious exposure of the basement bed of the Middle Headon, a dark clay with an immense number of specimens of Neritina coiicava, Cyrena obovata, Cerithitiin pseudocinctum, Hydrobia pupa, and Natica Studeri. This bed was exposed just above the How Ledge limestone on the strand at How Ledge, the long-prevailing east winds having swept it clear of shingle and stones. The Venus bed crops out a little south of Warden cliff battery. The most notable beds in the Lower Headon are, in descending order : I. The bed of limestone which rises from How Ledge and forms a well-marked terrace in the northern part of Totland Bay ; 2. the Warden Ledge sands, rising at Warden Ledge and forming a lower terrace : their base is a band of sand with Potamomya ; 3. bands of clay and limestone (with Chara and Limncea), the lowest beds exposed by the anticlinal of this bay. Specimens of Limnssa and Planorbis may be collected, by using strong gum water, from the tumbled blocks of the hmestone (i) at Warden Point. The exposures in the middle part of Totland Bay are grassed and plastered over, but here and there the limestones (3) may be observed, and the Warden Cliff sands (2) crop out in a few places, and are distinctly seen to bend over in an anticlinal near Western Chine. (To be continued.) POND-COLLECTING IN MID-WINTER. THERE is an idea abroad among naturalists that in winter time all ponds are quite barren of life. Conchologists, I have observed, are particularly infected with this notion, but my own experience has uniformly contradicted it, although my collecting has been carried on in a neighbourhood which has a very low winter temperature. On the 2nd of January I fished some old brick ponds near York. The net brought up crowds of Valvata cristata, the specimens being fine an d large. It was accompanied by Platwrbis lineatiis, and the ubiquitous P. complanatiis and L. peregra. From some reason, which I cannot explain, I have taken in winter larger specimens of certain shells than I could ever obtain in the same locality in summer. The three species I refer to are L. palustris, L. peregra, and Physa hypnortim. The beetles were not numerous in this pond — Hydroporiis palustris, Noterus crassicornis and a few of the Philhydrida were all I saw. However, on taking a haul in an adjacent puddle I found two very good things — Hydroporiis rufifrons and Agabus idiginosus. These insects were in full vivacity— un- like the other species which appeared numb. Among the specimens of A. uliginosus were examples of the dull-backed female. It is a curious fact that two forms of the female are found in England, though only one is known on the continent. A striking feature in a pond-haul at this season is the number of coleopterous larvae which appear. The transfor- mations of these insects have only been imperfectly studied, and it would no doubt be very interesting and profitable to obtain a number of these larvse in winter and rear them with careful observation. In the same pond where these beetles occurred, were great numbers of Planorbis spirorbis, remark- able from the fact that a considerable portion of the specimens were more or less irregular in form— not scalariferous, but crumpled or waved. Such irregularities are not easy to explain, for (as in the present case) they often occur where the water is perfectly clean and quite stagnant. In a neighbour- ing pond, where Ancylus lacustris, Planorbis nitidus, Sphccrium laciistre and other species are perfectly well grown, nearly all the specimens of L. peregra that paragon of hardiness— are dwarfed and strongly decollated. I shall be glad if these remarks induce any of your readers to keep their nets in order in winter as well as summer. Rev. W. C. Hey, M.A. The Residence, York. PoLARiscoi'E Objects .—Can your readers give me a full list of polariscope objects, with full instructions how to mount some, including crystals, salts, &c. ?— John Alex. Ollard. 32 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. NOTES ON RHIZOSELEXIA SHRUB SO LIE RIIIZOSELENIA is a genus (though doubtful by some authors) of tJie family of Diatomacea". They arc found both living and fossil, and though de- scribed by Ehrenberg some forty years ago, are as yet but little known, and as little understood by the general microscopist. In a former volume of Science-Gossip, two species of this genus have been described and figured, and further information upon the subject is invited. I therefore offer the result of my observations upon this new species with greater willingness. The genus has been made to include several species, »o which Professor P. T. Cleve, of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, seems to be making additions, all of which are interesting, peculiar and beautiful ; while some from the .\ustralian waters are exquisitely in consequence of the many important discoveries brought to notice by its discoverer, he has named it " Shrubsolii." Shrubsolii is one of the minute species of the genus, and may be described as a long, slender, cylindrical tube, made up of sections (lorica) terminated at each extremity by a beak, or tooth, as its name implies, furnished with pocket-like impressions, and upon the opposite surface with a groove, adapted for the recep- tion of the beak, by which arrangement any number of frustules may be united into a continuous series of indefinite length. The cell contents do not appear to pass from frustule to frustule, so that each individual has an independent existence, though possibly depen- dent upon each other for the performance of certain functions in their union representing the conjugation of some other forms of unicellular organisms (fig. 21). The frustule consists of three parts, an inner, structureless membrane (primordial utricle), C ; an Fig. 21. — .A". Slinibsolii by direct, traBsmitted rays united, and with endochrome, X 400.' Fig. 22. — The Lorica, X Soo. Fig. 23.— With slightly oblique light, X 800. Fi^s. 24, 25, 26. — Wiih ceiitr.d stop to acliro condenser, X 650. Fig. 27. — Single frustule, with zigzag line, X 400. elegant, and may form the subject of a future note. In the month of August, last year, \V. H, Shrub- sole, Esq., F.G.S., while making a boating excursion off the Island of Sheppy for the purposes of discovery, suddenly came upon a green, slimy substance, which was covering the surface of the sea, apparently as far as the eye could reach, which soon filled a net he was towing from the stern of his boat, and which, on examination at home, proved to be Rhizoselenia. The proper habitat of this great rarity in the British seas is that part of th.e Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Greenland ; its presence here, therefore, occasioned some interest. On a further examination by Cleve, that gentleman made a communication to the Royal Swedish Academy, and in his elaborate and valuable work on " New and little-known Diatoms," has offered reasons for regarding this subject as a new and distinct species, characterised by the course of pitnctata, composed strice, and. intermediate inorganic, silicious coat, B ; and an external organic corpuscular layer, A. The contents of those with which I have been favoured, some in alcohol, and others (with other diatoms) in the water in which they were living, is cellular, of a grass-green colour, imbedded in a gela- tinous, sheath-like, coagulable base, separated from the original homogeneous, pellicular nitrogenous layer (protoplasm). Very occasionally, however, this granular matter is found free in the liquid contents filling the frustule (fig. 21). The form and arrangement of the punctata in the silicious deposit is determined by the exteriul organic membrane, the corpuscles, or cells, of which membrane are supported by the inflexible layer of silex. The direction of the stri?e is oblique, and con- tinuous, only to the extent of each section (lorica). There are often, therefore, many irregularities (fig. 22). A zigzag line traverses the entire length of the HARD WICKE' S SCIENCE-G OSSIP. 33 frustule, and under certain conditions of illumination, ihis is the only marking visible, but, by the employ- ment of unilateral oblique light, it appears as an internal spiral band, marked with longitudinal lines, that give the appearance of continuous oblique striae to the diatoms. These appearances, however, are fictitious, the line being really due to the visible connections of the lorica (fig. 27). As with alafa, a species inhabiting the western coast of Sweden, it has been said that no structure has yet been discovered in Shrubsolii. If, however, appropriate manipulation and objectives are em- ployed in it? examination, it will be seen to possess p-Il the characteristics of the genus, and will appear as a miniature imbricata. The presence of cellulose is demonstrated by appropriate reagents. It is scarcely possible to overrate the utility of this •organism as an object of study to the student in A CHRISTMAS FUNGUS FORAY. ON Monday, December 26th, accompanied by my friend Mr. J. T. Milow, of Scarborough, an enthusiastic collector, and who is thoroughly acquainted with every nook and corner in the North Riding, a start was made for the pine woods on Seamer moor, near Scarborough. The first find was a group of Agariais brevipes, the pileus was reddish- brown (just the colour of the brown form of Ag. laccatiis). Next, on fir posts and rails, NcBmatelia encephala occurred in abundance, looking exactly like a bram both in shape and colour; the smaller N'. niiclcata was there also on dead thorns in the ditch. On entering the wood the first thing of interest that presented itself was Ag. ca rcharias in tolerable abun- dance, it is a beautiful plant, but the smell is not pleasant ; close by, under a heap of fir branches Fig. 28. — Portion of frustule, wiih organic mem- brane partly re- moved, X 2000. Fig. 29.— Frustule by dark ground illumination, X 800. Fig. 31. — Scale of loooths. Fig 30. — Transv. Sec. of frustule, X t, HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. these few figures it will be seen what an enormous amount of material is removed from a given locality to others in ten or twenty years, simply in the form of ballast. \Ve will now return to Jersey. We find that in the year lS6o, 165 vessels with a gross tonnage of over 3000 tons were employed in oyster catching ; the destination of these oysters was, no doubt, England, and it is most probable that these boats took temporary ballast, even as many colliers do now, by helping themselves to the shingle of our south coast shores. But although the oyster beds of Jersey are of so little value now, it was even before 1S60 that very large quantities were obtained for the English markets ; add to this fact the number of small boats that other- wise traded with the island, and we shall see that, great as is the quantity of flints that are met with, their existence may most probably be thus accounted for, considering, too, that they are most abundant Fig. 32. — Spear-head (N.S.) where currents tend to deposit any such "jetsam." We have also obtained rolled fragments of Devonian fossils from the shore of Grouville Bay, which are ob- viously traceable to a similar cause. It will thus be seen that in all questions of this kind there are many things that may be worth con- sidering before arriving at any fixed conclusion, for, taking the phenomenon to which we have before re- ferred, namely, the encroachment of blown sand in the district of St. Ouen's Bay, we might at some future period obtain this complicated problem — hills of blown syenitic sand, at tlic base of which is a band of clialk flints, the whole overlying a weathered surface of clayslate. We will now consider the various evidences of the existence of prehistoric man as shewn by the very remarkable series of implements, ranging from the crudest type of palaeolithic flint weapons to the more developed and finished ones of bronze and polished greenstone that have been discovered in Jersey. Perhaps the most interesting facts in connection with a consideration of such objects of remote human work is, that it undoubtedly refers to a time when Jersey, with the other Channel Islands, formed not only a part of the continent, but was even included with England in that connection ; for we shall see that the flint from which the implements iir one small cave were formed is decidedly not of one Fig- 33- — Small Spear-head (N.S.) I'^'g- 34- — Spear-head (N.S. kind, but was in all probability derived from several different cretaceous localities. The existence of large mammalia, as proved by the discovery of a bone oi Bos privngcnius at St. Clements, also supports this theory, were such support necessary. On all the high headlands round the coast of the island, wherever the virgin soil has been turned uj^ to any extent, or where peat has, for some purpose or other, been removed, flint chips are to be found, HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 37 ill some few cases in considerable numbers, and in small patches. Now leaving all other considerations out of the question, it would be remarkable to find flints buried in the peat overlying the syenites and other old rocks of a small island like Jersey ; but in nearly every instance these chips show unmistakable signs of having been brought there and fractured by artificial and not natural means, the bulb of percussion being clearly seen on them, particularly those that are newly excavated — for many are to be seen on cul- tivated ground that, through long exposure and damage by farm implements, are by no means so conclusive, and these we would prefer to pass over altogether in favour of those that were actually taken from beneath the surface. It was not, however, until we had the good fortune ;Fig. 35.-DnlI (N.S.) to obtain a large number of these flints from a cave deposit on the north coast of the island that we appreciated the extent to which these very early implements occurred. The cave in which this most interesting discovery was made is one of the kind already alluded to as occurring in the syenite ; and the boulders, which not only protrude through the floor, but form a sort of rough shelf outside, are evidences of the breaking out of the internal core by the continuity of the lines of fissure. The cave itself is situated some sixty feet above the sea-level, hence its floor has been un- disturbed by the wash of the waves ; it is of rather small dimensions, being only about twenty-five feet long by ten or fifteen feet wide and about the same in height. Its floor is covered by a clay formed by the decomposition of the felspar from the roof and sides ; the present depth of this clay varied much, owing to the cave being so exposed to the weather, the rain having evidently washed a considerable quantity from that part of the floor near the entrance, forming a little platform outside and exposing many of the flint Fig. 36.— Small Celt (N.S.) F'S- 37' — Duck-bill Scraper (N'.S. implements which were sticking out here and there, and in some cases quite uncovered. Below the " clay," which might possibly have been about six or nine inches in thickness, there was a stratum of sand of about four inches thick, below this again was a band of about two inches of a dark brown HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. cave earch, and beneath this, sand again, but it is Jioped that a careful investigation and record will yet be made of this most interesting "cave. As regards the implements and chips that were ■obtained from this deposit, we have already stated that they represented flint of several distinct varieties, many being of the characteristic rich black colour, whilst others were very pale, in some instances re- sembling chalcedony, and in others being much im- pregnated with carbonate of lime. A few fine ex- amples of banded flint occurred. Amongst these were several small celts ; a fine broad spearhead ; other spearheads of a smaller size, about an inch and a half in length ; knives varying from an inch to two inches in length and half an inch in width ; saws having ^ very line serrated edge ; several drills, these were curiously enough found together and were all of one •type, the apex being slightly turned like a screw, their size was about two inches long and the same in breadth ; one or two piercers ; a fine duck-billed scraper ; other scrapers of various patterns ; a sling- stone and a number of flakes — possibly used as arrow- iheads. Besides these there was a quantity of cores, rough chips and faulty pieces, that showed signs of having been commenced, but were jDossibly discarded for a better piece to work upon. There were also a few other objects associated with the above which were of equal interest ; amongst these were two or three broken shells of a species of Fatclla, and a worked fragment of clay slate bearing several scratched marks. It is impossible to conjecture what may yet be found in this remarkably favoured resort of palseolithic man, but it is probable, considering the richness of tills one cave, that many others in the neighbourhood to which the sea has access, were as much frequented, and would have yielded as rich results, had not the sea cleared out their floor deposits. Again, referring to the flints themselves, they are evidently of that early paleolithic form which shows the gradual development to the more finished implement, but they are not at first sight of an attractive shape. An interesting fact in connection with them was the discovery of a celt broken into three pieces, and .although each portion was found some inches from the other, but on the same level, they fitted as accurately as if recently fractured. Of flints of the later periods, there does not appear to have been any discovery as yet, but the implements •of the polished type are mostly made of syenite, greenstone, &c. These have been found in consider- able numbers from time to time, and have either been i/tiia as enoneously printed, F. K.) group, which really pass into each other so gradually that even by the help of striation it is difficult to distinguish them; iV. ajjiiiis produces by conjugation true N. Jinn a, and I have even observed the large frustules of the latter again producing monsters by conjugation far more coarsely marked than the parent frustules. Shall w-e consider the sporangial form as one species and the parent form another ? . . . I am quite prepared to admit that a preparation of the so-called Frustitlia Saxonica, for example, will not show any appreciable difference in the striation of the frustules ; but I should be quite unwilling to admit that this diatom could not be obtained from another locality considerably more finely or more coarsely marked. Indeed Count Cas- tracane himself admits a difference, though he says it has never exceeded \, which, as Mr. Kitton shows, gives a range in N. crassiiicnns, if he understands aright, if 27 to 35 in '001 of an inch! . . . Any one looking over Mr. Habershaw's " Catalogue of the Diatomacere," will realise what a frightful increase of species was made by Ehrenberg and the earlier ob- servers from considering the number of rays in achno- cyclus as of specific value. Equally pernicious is the custom too largely indulged in by many observers, who, looking from the standpoint which Count Cas- tracane appears to advocate, find at stated intervals new species founded upon little else than finer or coarser striation, or perhaps somewhat different out- line. It is no doubt quite a comfortable way of working and keeping one's name before the public, when one finds what is supposed to be a new diatom ; if only knowing enough to distinguish the genus, one measures more or less correctly the length, breadth or diameter, and the number of striae in '001 of an inch, giving sometimes a representation which, if it be one of the smaller NaviciiUc, may too often represent many other forms, and finally to coin some unpronounceable word, or immortalise some friend and send forth the bantling, since nobody can venture to question its legitimacy; for does it not differ somewhat from every form hitherto figured or described in outline? and has it not a few stria; more or less in the '001 of an inch? I shall be very sorry i, in what I have said, I am considered as censuring men who are unquestion- ably hard-working and conscientious students of these interesting little organisms. I am only regretting that, instead of labouring to reduce the genera and species of the Diatomacea; and seeking for a broader and firmer principle to guide in their study and' classifica- tion, so many worthy persons are contented to accept trivial distinctions as of generic and specific value, and that they are so encumbering the subject that some day it will be crushed by ts own dead weight, giving place to a new structure utilising as far as possible HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 41 the ruins erected upon a more solid foundation. These are surely the words of truth and soberness, and apply with equal force to the fungologist, botanist, eivtomologist, ornithologist, as to the diatomist. In fact, the students in every branch of biology may in this respect, with few exceptions, cry : " wfa culpa, mai maxima culpa." — F. Kittoii, J Ton. F.R.M.S. ZOOLOGY. Local Names, co. Fermanagh.— Yellow Bunt- ing [Emheriza citrhtellu), •' Vellow-yorlin " ; Coot (Fulica atra), " Baldy " ; Cormorant {Phalacrocorax carbo), " Cormorel " ; Lesser Grebe or Dab-chick {Podiaps minor), "Puffin"; WtxQXi {Ardca cinerea), " Crane " ; Kingfisher {Alccdo hispida), " Blue-bird " ; CMs\\3.t or l<.\i\g-do\e {Columba palinubus), "Wood- quest"; Jack Snipe [Galliitago galliiiula), " Weather- blate" ; Starling {Sturnus vulgaris), " Starbird " ; Missel Thrush (Turdus viscivorus), "Jay"; Newt {Triton punctatus), "Man-keeper"; Horse-leech {Hicmopis sanguisorba), "Lough-leech"; Large Moths, "Bats"; Stickleback (C(7j/<7w/> a S r; 1 2 ' "e 7 4 21 1 i . . ■; 2 4 2 I 16 I 2 18 2 I I I I 2 I s 3 49 I 2 6 I oi c 12 2 3 13 16 6 92 1 I 1 I 3 8 5 4 17 I 3 2 2 1 3 3 I 4 I 3 4 63 I I 2 5 7 2 354 ►^ 8 3 I 18 11 2 94 I 2 6 2 8 20 64 71 3 6 I I 447 ti 3 < 2 3 I I 18 I 2 2 I 3 24 2 I I I 1 I 2 13 I I 82 a. 2 I 3 0 0 ;:! i ■"i ■■[ 0 Q 1 ""I Red .... Crimson . Scarlet . . . Pink .... Rose .... Flesh. . . . Pink-Red . . Yellow* . . . Yellow-Black . Yellow-Lilac Brown-Green . Brown- I'urple . Yellow-Red. . Yellow-White . Yellow-Green . Yellow-Purple (or J Blue) y Blue .... Lead .... Violet . . . Purple . . . Lilac. . . . Purple-Flesh ;. Purple-Violet . ■ Purple-Green . Violet-Blue . . . Lilac-Rose . Lilac-Blue . Lilac-Purple Purple-Cream . . Purple-Rose Blue-Red . . . Purple-Black . . Blue-PurpIe lilack-Green Green-Red . . . Green-White . . Gieen-Rose . Green .... White .... Crimson-White. Pink-White . . . Rose-White . . . Blue- (or Purple-)) White. r Cream .... Pink-Purple . . . 1 ^ 1.. . . \\\ 2 I l' I I 7 1 I 2 3 I I ;; ••, "1 s 22 1 I 2 I I 10 1 I X I 13 4 3 I I !.' I 3 14 I 26 7 4 41 38 14 1 254 I 4 2 10 22 II 15 71 I 3 II I 3 4 4 I I 2 2 12 5 2 II I I 13 I IS 217 3 5 5 18 II 3 Total .... i • • 5 52 168' "43 * Including brown, orange; dark yellow, light yellow, sulphur, straw, buff, &c. —Alfred Waller. Local Names of Plants, co. Fermanagh. — Cleavers or Goose-grass {Galiujn aparine), "Robin- run-the-Hedge"; Gotsc ( [flex Eur opcstis), "Whin"; Alder (Alnus gliitinosa), "Elder"; Elder {Sam- htictts nigra), " Boor-tree " ; Dog-rose (Rosa can iita). HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 43 ** Bucky-biiar," and its fruit, " Buckies " ; Foxglove (Digitalis fm-pirca), "Fairy-fingers"; Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), "Water-grass"; Aiiacharis al- siiiastrum, "Cats-tails"; Irish or upright Yew ( 7(?.v//j- Ilibcritica), " Palm," probably from its customary use on Palm Sunday by the peasantry ; Couch-grass (Triticumrepens), "Scutch-grass;" Iris, "Flagons"; Hart's-tongue Fern [Scolopendriujn vulgarc), " Fox- tongue " ; Earth-nut (Bittiiiim flcxnosum), "Pig- nut " ; Wood-sorrel [Oxalis acetosclla), " Sheep- sorrel"; CoTavaonSoxrel [Rutnex acetosa), " Cuckoo's- sorrel " ; Wild Hyacinth [Agr aphis tmtans), " Blue- rocket"; Vennywort [Cotyledon umbilicus), "Penny- grass"; Plantain [Plantago), "Ripple-grass"; Reed-mace (Typha), " Black-head."— ^ IT. H. GEOLOGY. Liverpool Geological Association. — We are pleased to receive a copy of the first annual report of the above Society, which shows it has commenced very successfully, and promises to continue so. The promoters are chiefly members of the Liverpool School of Science. Among the papers read last year, in addition to the President's address, are the follow- ing : — "The Giant's Causeway," by A. Quilliam ; "The Rise and Progress of Geological Discovery," by O. W. Jeffs ; " Chmatic Changes," by T. Brennan ; " The Lower Carboniferous Deposits of Anglesea," by Isaac E. George, &c. Geologists' Association.— The Proceedings of the above Society for October (now edited by Pro- fessor Blake) contain the following papers : "On a continuous Section of the Oligocene strata from Cohvell Bay to Headon Hill," by Professor Blake; "On the Geology of the Vale of Wardour," by W. H. Hudleston (President) ; "On Conifers," by J. S. Gardiner ; with notes of the various excursions. The Polyzoa of the Wenlock Shales, Wenlock Limestone and Shales over the Wenlock Limestone. — This was the subject of a hard-worked paper by Mr. G. R. Vine, an old contributor to the subject in our Journal. The author has received from Mr. Maw about i \ hundredweight of materials washed out of the Wenlock deposits of Shropshire, representing the contents of from 6-8 tons of unwashed material. From this material he extracted the specimens of plants, Actinozoa, Echino- dermata, Crustacea, and Polyzoa, and he gave a tabular synopsis of the species and their distrilmtion, with the addition of types from the Wenlock Lime- stone and of the species of Brachiopoda referred to in a paper by Messrs. Maw and Davidson in the "Geological Magazine" for i88r. With regard to the Polyzoa the author remarked that below the Cretaceous series the two great divisions of Chilo- tosmata and Cyclostomata do not hold good, and suggested that the classification of Palaeozoic Polyzoa should be based on the arrangement and character of the cells in combination with habit. The forms characterised in the present paper were : — Stotnatopara dissimilis. Vine, and vars. dongata and coinpressa, Ascodictyon stellatum, Nich. and Eth., A. radiciforinc sp. n., A. filifornie, sp. n. ?, Spiropora regularis, sp. n., S. intermedia. Vine, Diastopora cofisimilis, Lonsd., Ceriopora, Goldf., Hornera crassa, Lonsd., //. ? delicatnla, sp. n., Polypora ? problcmatica, sp. n., Fcnestella prisca, Lonsd., Glauconome disticha, Goldf., Ptilodiciya lanceolata, Lonsd., P. Lonsdalci sp. n,. (= P. lanceolata, auct.), P. scalpellum, Lonsd., P. interporosa, Vine, and P.minuta, Vine. The Zones of the Blackdown Beds and their Correlation with those at Haldon, WITH A list of the Fossils. — This was the title of a paper read before the Geological Society by the Rev. W. Downes, B.A. F.G.S., an old contributor to " Science Gossip." The author, after some remarks on the inexact way in which fossils had been collected from or referred to the Blackdown beds, and a sketch of the literature of the subject, passed on to a correlation of the Blackdown beds with deposits in other localities. He pointed out that they do not contain a sufUcient number of species in common with the Marne de Bracquegnies to justify an identification with this. He compared them with the Haldon beds, and by a comparison of the fossils bed by bed, showed that of 196 Blackdown species (omitting a i&\N corals) 50 occur at Haldon ; the latter section, however, represents not the whole, but only the upper part of the former, nine beds in the lower part of it being without representatives at Haldon. Here also the higher beds contain a thin band, distinguished by a distinct and all but unique fauna (the zone containing the corals described by Professor Duncan). Comparing the Blackdown beds with lists of Cretaceous fossils from other localities, it would appear that we have neither exclusively Upper-Greensand forms at the top, nor exclusively Lower-Greensand forms at the bottom, nor exclusively Gault forms in the middle. The Rocks of the Channel Islands,— At a recent meeting of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Professor Liveing read a paper on the above' subject. The author described the island of Serk as consisting of a table-land composed mainly of hornblende-schist, intersected by many volcanic dykes which, by the action of the sea and weather, have pro- duced deep ravines and curious caverns. Besides the dykes there are some large veins, filled up chiefly by debris from the sides, of which one, from the facility it has afforded for disintegration, has produced the Coupee and another the Havre Gosselin. The strati- fication dips away from a point near the Port du Moulin ; and above the hornblende-schist lies at both the N. and S. extremities of the island and at tlie W . 44 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. extremity of the neighbouring island of Brecqhou a syenitic rock which the author considered to be a metamorphic stratified rock. The form of Jersey he showed to be due to granitic rocks, which on the N., S. and W. have resisted the action of the sea, while the waves have scooped St. Ouen's, St. Brelade's, St. Aubin's and Grouville bays out of much softer volcanic ashes which form the mass of the interior of the island. On the N.W., Rozel consists of a con- glomerate of rolled pebbles connected with volcanic ashes which has well resisted disintegration. He traced the varying degrees of crystalline character to be found in the volcanic ashes, and argued that it was due to a slow process of crystallisation going on in the solid mass, but most marked and carried to the farthest point, where the rock was most easily permeable by steam and gases. He described granitic veins in a felsite rock at Cotil Point, which have the appearance of having been injected in a state of fusion from the neighbouring mass of granite ; but other evidence showed the granite to be older than the felsite, so that the author concluded these veins to have been filled by materials derived from the granite, not in fusion, but by a process analogous to that by which ordinary quartz veins are filled." — J. II'. Can: Obituary. — Death has been busy among Geo- logists. Mr. Edward W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., died at the close of the year. No man worked so much for Lancashire geology, or did so much to bring in young recruits and help them as he. We received our first field lessons from him, more than twenty years ago. Peace to his ashes ! It will be a long time before his name can possibly drop out of English geology. Mr. Charles Moore, E.G.S., of Bath, has also "joined the majority." An indefatigable worker, a gentle-natured man, labouring for years under ill- health enough to have soured many a man, neverthe- less he bore it manfully and patiently, and generously gave both his knowledge and his fossils to the service of the public. NOTES AND QUERIES. A VISIT TO A Welsh Stone Quarry. — The November number of Science-Gossip i88i, has a very interesting paper on this subject, by E. Halse, A.R.S.M. He has come to conclusions as to the condition of the rocks, which he calls making, " our strata tell their own tale." With all deference to this history it is just possible that there may be a different story. In offering it to the pages of Science-Gossip I lay down no dogma, I do not say that Mr. Halse is wrong, but my conclusions are drawn from nature, not from books. In his conclusion the beds are con- sidered as water deposits, as such we must treat them. In conclusion 2nd he writes, " after consolidation they were tilted up." — I read this page in another way. The beds, having been deposited by water, were once in the condition of mud, — they are now hard as the water left them ; they necessarily contracted. This contraction produced the effects described. There was no occasion for tilling up, and no force for it. 3rd* " Heated water from certain depths below the surface of the earth containing silica in solution filled up these veins. ' There was no occasion for hot water ; silica is held in cold solution ; quartz veins are formed by percolation from above, not from below. The "crystals of iron pyrites" were formed by the filtering process of metallic matter, the whole iron and silica, were in one solution, but were deposited by their varied densities. 4th, "The rocks were next subjected to tremendous lateral pressure, producing undeveloped cleavage." As in No. i, there was no occasion for pressure ; the contraction by drying gave the character described. It is asked, "What is the meaning of the want of parallelism of these plains of cleavage ? " This subject was fully explained in " The Biography of Dust," chap. xiv. Mr. Halse tells us it is the result of great mechanical pressure on the strata." We are not told how this force came, and no one of this pressure school has explained it ; there is how- ever a reading of this page of nature that seems to explain the case. Cleavage takes place along the line of grain, exactly as wood splits along its line of fibre. The rock in question was deposited by water ; when this is still, the grain of deposit is vertical, cleavage is the same. The grain of deposit varies with the water force, and the lines of cleavage do the same. Mr. Halse allows a change of density in the rock ; if the water force is the same then the heavy matter subsides in one line, and the light at another ; as quartz ran through both formations, it followed the line of grain in each, and necessarily lost its parallel. Under either of these natural and certain actions the effect is pro- duced without more pressure than that caused by the gravity of the material. In reference to the conclusions formed on fig. 143, it is often found that joints by silica are more adhesive than the rock itself. If these remarks can be of any use in getting at the truth, they will be as valuable to ]\Ir. Halse as to any other ot your readers who think of these things. — //. jP. Malet. Folklore. — In my note in your last number with reference to the names applied to the commoner species of Orchis in the ^^'esternIJOwlands of Scotland the words " Balderry " and " Balderries," appear (by mistake of the printer) as " Baldberry " and " Bald- berries."— A'. T. Collecting Otolites. — I am collecting Otolites, and should be obliged to any one who would answer the following queries. I see by books that I ought to find three bones on each side, but I have as yet never succeeded in finding more than one in any iish operated on. I know that in the human ear there are three, the malleus, incus and stapes ; are these three supposed to exist in fishes cemented into one, or are two to be found in a cartilaginous state, and only one ossified ; and if so, which is the ossified one, andhow can I find the other two ? What I do find is one bone enveloped in a gelatinous mass, lying in direct contact with the base of the brain. I have operated on the heads after more or less boiling ; perhaps there is a method of treating them which will allow of more structure being made out, if so, I should like to know how ; I can find nothing like an auditory canal, membrane, &c. I also find it difficult to identify any except the most common fish ; is there any list of synonyms as regards fish names ? The fishmongers give names which I cannot find in books ; for instance, some time ago I purchased a fish called by the sellev a gorball ; 1 have not yet found its proper name. It was an eel-like animal, 22 inches long, weight 2S ounces, dorsal fin commencing just in front of the tail, where it was an inch high, gradually diminishing till it ended close behind the head, lower fin from tad to HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 45 vent, two pairs of fins (pectorals) near the head, no others, snout pointed, teeth long and sharp, back various shades of brown, blotched with a lighter lemon-colour, sides dusky, belly white, a pointed ap- pendage below the mouth an inch and a quarter in length ; caught at Scarbro'. The other day, I bought some witches, said to be a deep-sea fish, caught in large numbers on the northern coast, but which I cannot identify with any common fish. On referring to some notes on flat fish taken from Yarrel's work, I find it most nearly agrees with the Craig Fleuk, but this is stated to be rare. My fish were sole-shaped, but much lighter in colour, being of an almost uniform light brown, inclined to pink, that is when I purchased them ; they must have been out of the water one day, perhaps two; lateral line rough, and I think, straight, the slight apparent curvature was caused, I believe, by the cut made to extract the viscera. The layer weighed a pound and a half, was fifteen inches from snout to tail, and five and a half broad between the fins, or eight inches including the breadth of fins. The ear-bones were large in comparison to the size of the fish, and could be seen through the thin walls of the skull, covering the greater portions of the brain ; their shape was unusual, discoid, resembling one of the Scarbro' " Thumb-flints."— /K A. G. Tuxford. Earthworms. — Your correspondent, W. Budden, Esq., may help me perhaps to solve two questions that occurred to me while reading Darwin's latest book. I. In what position were the paper-triangles placed with reference to the worms ? — for surely this would influence them as to where they should lay hold of them. 2. What would happen were paper footstalks to be put on the triangles? — A. M. Early Nesting. — A blackbird's nest containing three newly laid eggs, was found in a garden at Edgbaston, about the middle of November. The weather has been very mild here. — Geo. F. IVhecldon. Names of Flowers. — In my grandmother's garden, many years ago, grew a flower, which she always called a " Loveanidle." As I grew oldei-, I found it was more commonly called " Heart's-ease ;" and on asking my father, who was a great reader of Shakespeare, the meaning of the older names, he referred me to Oberon, and bid me notice that some of the flowers were purple, while others retained their original "milk-white" colour. Will any one, in return for this information, tell me why, in Dorset, Orchis viascida is called " Soldier's Jackets " ? If your anonymous correspondent will send me an address, I may get him some white heather next autumn, it is not uncommon about here. — Julia Colson. Heather. — Last year I found a small quantity of white heather at Caradale on the East Coast of Cantire, X.B., at about sea-level, and in July last, a tuft, about a foot in diameter on the moors above Redmires (1300 feet above sea-level), about six miles west of Sheffield : although I have spent much time on these moors I have never before seen any white heather on them, and thought that the colour of that which I found was due to accident, and that it was not a separate variety from the purple ; this opinion was strengthened by my finding, about the same time, a root of white hair- bells. I am told that a little white heather was gathered at Port Erin, Isle of Man, last year. — Thomas Winder, Sheffield. Heather, — I see in Science-Gossip of this month that a correspondent wishes to know whether the white variety of heather is uncommon. In reply I beg to say that I noticed it very frequently while shooting this year in Perthshire, both of the common heather, and of both varieties of "bell" heather. I notice also that the foliage of the white varieties is of a lighter brighter green than that of the usual colour. I have myself never seen the white varieties except in Scotland. — C. S. G. White HE.\TnER. — Seeing in December's number of Science-Gossip a query regarding white heather, I send the following for the information of the inquirer and others whom it may interest. Last year, and the year previous, when grouse shooting on the Lammermuirs in Haddingtonshire, I frequently came across patches or stray plants of the white heather, in fact I hardly remember shooting a single day without seeing some of it. It had a small flower, smaller thaa that of the purple heather amongst which it was growing. The patches were invariably small, gene- rally about a foot in diameter, though more often it was found growing as a single plant with one or two flowering shoots. — A. P. L. Shore Lark. — I have a young cock shore lark [Alaiida alpestris) caught with some skylarks at the end of October, 1881, near Stamford Hill, Clapton, which I have now in my possession in perfect health and coming very nicely on song. — L. IF. Hadler. Parrots and their Food. — If the friend of your correspondent W. E. B. in the December number of Science-Gossip is in the habit of giving the parrot animal food, that will account for the bird pluckinn- out its head and back feathers. I have had an Australiangrey parrot for about fifteen years, which is always in perfect plumage, unless when moulting. His food consists chiefly of canary seed, a spray of millet seed and a hard crust of bread or a biscuit. When in moult a little maw seed. His green food consists of chickweed, and when in seed he is very fond of it. Clean water is always at his command, of which he drinks sparingly about twice a day. Animal food he has never had offered to him. A friend of mine has an Australian parrot, and about two years a"-o " Polly " plucked out all its feathers it could reach. I was asked for a reason ; my answer was, do not give him any meat, knowing as I did the bird was given bones to pick. This not being by my friend considered a satisfactory solution of her inquiries, I was asked to consult a naturalist, which I did ; and received the same advice as that offered by me. This piece of advice was carefully attended to, and re- sulted in " Polly " regaining its natural plumage in a short time, and I believe still retains it. — J. Id. M. Do Parrots require Water ? — Some years since I had one of the small Australian parrots {Melopsittaciis tcndulafus) which was very tame and a pet. I never saw it drink ; after a wliile I ceased to give it water, and I know that during four or six months (I forget which) it had none in its cage. The food it had was the ordinary diy bird-seeds, and the room it was in was very dry from the daily use of fire and gas. After that time although water was kept in the cage I never saw it drink, and very seldom wash itself. During the time it was thus treated, the bird was active and lively, and continued so for about two years afterwards, almost to the day of its death. As parts of Australia are subject to such long and exces- sive droughts, this appears to be another illustration of the wonderful adaptation of animals to the conditions under which they live. It is worthy of remark that in Gould's " Birds of Australia," Captain Shaw states that the nature of its food (grass seeds), and the ex- cessive heat of the plains compel it frequently to seek the water and drink.— C. A. Rou,$. (sd. parts, is by far superior to the other serial work you mention in artistic merit, although it is deficient in not giving the caterpillar and chrysalis. H. R.Alexander. — Dr. Cooke's " Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi," would enable you to name most of your specimens. Stark's " History of British Mosses," published at lOJ. td. (coloured plates), would be an effective help ; " British Hepaticse," by Dr. Cooke, is a fourpenny attempt at popular science tried many years ago. It is an excellent thing, but we are not aware if any copies remain. Any bookseller will tell you the published prices of the books you name. Many of them may be obtained second-hand of W. Wesley, Essex Street, Strand, or W. Collins, 157 Portland Street, W. Ellen P. — Your fossils are all from the upper cretaceous bed, and are as follows: i. Ananchytes ovata (commonly called " P'airy loaves ") ; 1. Micrastercor-anzubtnrn; 3. Terc- bratulacarnea; 4. a species o{ Parasinilia, probably centralis (a fossil coral). R. Harden. — Your specimen is not a sea-weed, but a poly- zoon (a colony of molluscoid animals), called Flustra ckartacca. See Taylor's " Half Hours at the Sea Side." T. H. Baffham. — The two specimens of Australian algje have been submitted to specialists to name, and returned to us with the remark" Unable to tell the names for want of prop.r specimens." " Omph.a."— We have no doubt you could obtain a specimen oi U tricularia by offering something in exchange in our column, devoted to that purpose, and which we open free to all our readers. J. T.— Carefully read the chapter devoted to the subject in " Notes on Collecting and Preserving Natural History Speci- mens," price 3^-. 6a., published by David Bogue. F. A. Barton. — Mr. Mechan's paper on "Objects of Sex and Odour in Flowers" is not on sale. It was published, we believe, in the "Transactions" of one of the American learned societies. Old Subscriber.— You will see by the reference you quote to Pritchard's "Infusoria" in 1877, that we replied we were not aware of any new edition being prepared. None has appeared, nor is it likely there will be, now that Savillc Kent's magnificent monograph on the infusoria is completed. Novocastrian.— Your query concerning the " round worms" in the dog, &c., is not quite definite. The common round- worm (parasitic) is Ascaris luvibricoides, it belongs to the- order Nematoda. The "Midland Naturalist" contains mucb- microscopical information. 48 HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. C. S. Gordon. — The work on European lepidoptera, now being published by Messrs. Cassell in sevenpenny monthly parts, gives coloured illustrations of both caterpillars and chrysalides. Eels. — Can any of your correspondents tell me where and how eels breed? Are they viviparous ?— M. N. N. G. C. EXCHANGES. Wanted, Cassell's "New Natural History," will ex- change. Vols. 1. II. III. (bound), and IV. (in numbers), of "Science for All," for exxhangc, books or slides. — W. Ernest Milner, 47 Park Road, Haverstock Hill, N.W. Wanted, everyone interested in microscopical science to send address to Microscopist, (;5 Burbury Street, Birmingham. YoK sWAaoi So!anujii niiriciilatum, fine stellate hairs, from Mauritius. Send lists. — Rev. A. C. Smith, St. John's Vicarage, Crowborough, near Tunbridge Wells. Will exchange eleven of Jules Verne's shilling novels, published by Low, and illustrated, in very fair condition, for fossils either from the Norwich, red or coralline crags. — V. H. Parrott, Walton House, Aylesbury, Bucks. For a piece of Hyaloiievta 7nirabilis, including glassy threads, send good and rare diatomaceous material. — J. Tempere, Storrington, Sussex. Wanted, copies of the "London University Calendar" for 1879 and 1880. — F. W. Oliver, Kew, Surrey. Ten volumes of Science-Gossip, 1871 to 1881, inclusive, complete and in good order ; exchange for microscopical :ipparatus. — T. S., 16 King Street, Reading. Wanted, Gyfnriostoitnim rostellatuin, Weissia cris/iiila, . I rchidiuin fhascoides, and the species of ^ inhlyste^um except A. serpens. — Miss Ridley, Hollington, Newbury. Large mahogany cabinet of fiftj'-six drawers, lettered and numbered in brass, with ebony handles, suitable for either microscopical, geological, or other specimens, could be adapted with trays to hold 11, coo of the former, 3" X 11". Would exchange for either first-class lantern with microscope attached, or binocular microscope. — T. S., 16 King Street, Reading. What offers for twelve volumes of " Chambers's Reposi- tory"? all well bound and in good order. — Edmund Tye, High Street, Stony Stratford, Bucks. A FEW more specimens of Fellcca androntedcrfolia, P. Oritithopus , Gymncgratnnie triangularis, Adiantutn, var. Capillits-l'c>ieris,hom the Santa Cruz Mountains, in exchange for British ferns, mosses or shells. — J. Edward Reed, Wright s Station, Santa Clara Co., California, U.S.A. I AM making a collection of zoophytes and polyzoa, and shall be glad to make exchanges. Numerous foreign zoophytes for -exchange. Lists exchanged. — \V. H. C, 5 Birch Grove, Rusholme, Manchester. Wanted, Parts i to 16 inclusive. Vol. I. of "Quarterly Journal of Conchology," also Parts 109, no and 116 of Science-Gossip. Offers requested. — J. W. Cundall, Carrville, Alexandra Park, Redland, Bristol. Wanted, Science-Gossip for 1877 and 1878, clean and un- bound. Exchange.— E. D. Marquand, Hea, I'enzance. "London Catalogue," 7th ed., Nos. 5, 180, 184, 237, 241, 313. 317, 518, 698, 735, 769, 906, 907, 1337, i486, 1507, 1566, and other East Anglian plants for exchange. — William Jordan, Cockfield, Sudbury, Suffolk. Wanted, a good mahogany cabinet with glass frame, suit- able for insects and moths. I will ^ive in exchange my collec- tion of curiosities from here, such as arms, &c., and shells, Crustacea, fossils and minerals. Will send mine first if preferred. — Frank W. Newton, Mossamedes, Angola, West Coast of Africa. Having collected shells indiscriminately for about three years, but having now decided to collect British, marine, land and freshwater species only, I shall be glad to exchange foreign for British species, and will furnish full particulars on application. — Herbert Ellis, Hill House, Epsom, Surrey. For exchange, Science-Gossip, unbound, in good condition, for the years 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, and i88i ; what offers? Works on science or art preferred. — J. McKenzie, Nursery ■Cottage, Birkby, Huddersfield. Four volumes of Hardwicke's Science-Gossip, 1878 to 1881 ; would exchange for side-blown British birds' eggs. — F. J. Rasell, 30 Argyle Street, St. James' End, Northampton. For Puccinia vmbilici send stamped and directed envelope to E. C. J., 3 Florence Villas, Ilfracombe. For really good microscope, I offer scientific exchange — value of;ijioor more, viz., handsome mahogany micro-cabinet, collection of British mollusca, books, etc.— E. Wilson, 18 Low Pavement, Nottingham. Slides of Eccremocarpus scaler (in balsam), and others, in •exchange for other well-mounted slides. — T., Decoy Farm, Crowland, Lincolnshire. "L. C," 7th ed. ; 164, 274, 497, 739, 809, 844. 852, 854, 923, loxib, 1151, 1287, 1288, 1301, 1416, and others, for other rare plants. .Send lists. — F. C. King, i Tulketh Crescent, Ashton, Preston, Lancashire. Will exchange flint implements for coins or natural history works. — G. J. Aerks, Close, Salisburj'. Wanted, English silver and copper coins, tokens, medals, naval and military war medals, &c., in exchange for fossils and natural objects. — F. Stanley, 6 Clifton Gardens, Margate. Wanted, good pocket Coddington lens, in case. Can offer good exchange in slides. — J. E. Fawcett, Rawdon, near Leeds. Wanted, " Micrographic Dictionary" and other natural science books, recent editions. Good slides, material and books in exchange. Send for lists. — J. C. Blackshaw, Cross Street South, Wolverhampton. "Geological Rambles round London," and Page's " Geological Examinator." What offers ? — Geo. Hall, 5 Rasen Lane, Lincoln. Wanted, British or foreign correspondents for the inter- change of specimens of Algx, including the Desmideje. For particulars apply to W. Joshua, F.L.S., Cirencester. Wanted, named specimens of any common British shells. — Tunley, Albert Ro