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HARDWICKE'S 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP: 


1885. 


HARDWICKE'S 


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.I., 

HON.    MEMBER    OF   THE    MANCHESTER    LITERARY'    CLUB,     OF    THE    NORWICH    GEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY',    OF    THE 

MAKYPOBT   SCIENTIFIC    SOCIETY,    OF   THE    ROTHERHAM    LITERARV    AND    SCIENTIFIC    SOCIETY, 

OF    THE    NORWICH   SCIENCE-GOSSIP   CLUB,    OF   THE   GEOLOGICAL   SOCIETY   OF 

AUSTRALASIA,    OF    THE    VICTORIAN   FIELD    NATURALISTS*   CLUB, 

ETC.    ETC. 

ASSISTED  BY 

J.    W.    BUCK,   B.Sc,    &C. 


VOLUME    XXI. 


UonUon : 
CHATTO    AND    WINDUS,    PICCADILLY. 

1885. 


(All  rights  reserved.) 


LONDON  : 
PRINTED  BY  WILLIAM    CLOWES    AND    SONS,     LIMITED, 

STAMFORD   STREET    AND   CHAR'NG    CRCHS. 


/  0  L  6  / 


PREFACE. 


SOME  years  ago  Professor  Huxley  delivered  a  lecture  at  the 
Royal  Institution,  entitled  "The  Coming  of  Age  of  the  Darwinian 
Theory,"  celebrating  thereby  the  momentous  natural  history  discoveries 
and  events,  of  which  the  brilliant  discovery  of  our  Biological  NEWTON 
was  the  parent,  nurse,  and  suggestor. 

We  desire  only  to  compare  great  things  with  small.  The  present 
volume  also  witnesses  the  "Coming  of  Age"  of  Science-Gossip. 
For  twenty-one  years  we  have  endeavoured  to  meet  the  tastes  of 
students  of  natural  science — to  treat  of  the  discoveries,  theories, 
opinions,  and  guesses  in  every  department  of  the  same — Ornithological 
Entomological,  Conchological  (besides  many  other  ologicals)  ;  Botany, 
in  its  multitudinous  departments ;  Geology  (including  Paleontology, 
Petrology,  Lithology,  &c.) ;  Microscopy,  with  its  enormous  and  ever- 
increasing  "  Cast-net "  over  every  science  imaginable  ;  as  well  as  a 
host  of  subjects  bordering  on  Astronomy,  Meteorology,  Chemistry, 
Folk-lore,  and  "  Notes  and  Queries "  (which  latter  will  be  found 
tolerably  encyclopaedic). 

It  has  been  a  loving  and  loveable  work  on  the  part  of  the  Editors. 
For  the  first  seven  years  this  Magazine  had  the  advantage  of  the 
Editorship  of  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke — for  the  last  fourteen  years,  the 
present  Editor  has  had  the  enjoyment  of  personal  communication 
with  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  writers  whose  papers  have  appeared  in 
these  pages. 

A  brief  interregnum,  however,  has  occurred.  Owing  to  failing- 
health,  the  Editor  was  obliged  to  take  as  long  a  holiday  as  he  could. 
Fortunately,  the  same  able  agent  who  piloted  Mr.  R.  A.  Proctor 
through  Australia  as  a  Lecturer  on  Astronomy,  came  to  England, 
and  made  a  similar  arrangement  with  the  Editor  of  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


PREFACE. 


He  went,  he  lectured,  he  was  generously,  and  even  enthusiastically 
received  by  the  warm-hearted  Australian  Colonists  in  South  Australia, 
Victoria,  and  New  South  Wales.  He  has  returned  with  refreshed 
mental  and  bodily  vigour. 

But,  meantime,  a  well-known  correspondent  of  this  magazine,  Mr. 
J.  W.  Buck,  B.Sc,  &c,  was  kind  enough  to  act  as  Editorial  locum- 
tenenSy  and  he  performed  his  work  so  well  that  the  Editor  feels  he 
could  not  honestly  write  this  Preface  to  the  Annual  Volume  without 
recognising  it. 

The  mere  fact  that  we  are  now  chronicling  our  "  Coming  of 
Age,"  reminds  us  of  the  almost  numberless  competitors  for  public 
favour  which  "  twenty-one  "  years  of  active  Scientific  and  Literary  life 
in  England  must  necessarily  develop.  Consequently,  it  is  a  proud 
thing  to  say,  on  the  part  of  the  Editor,  that  our  Magazine  was  never 
so  popular,  never  so  much  appreciated,  never  so  widely  circulated  all 
over  the  world — in  all  the  eventful  years  of  its  history — as  it  is  at 
the  time  of  publication  of  its  Twenty-first  Volume. 

Nothing  shall  be  wanting  on  the  part  of  the  Editor  to  enlarge 
the  sphere,  and  intensify  the  operations  of  this  Magazine  for  the 
future.  His  office  is  smoothed  by  the  generous  patience  and  kindness 
of  his  multitudinous  Correspondents,  who  are  aware  that  all  their 
communications  cannot  appear  in  the  next  number — as  well  as  by 
those  patient  students  who  understand  the  difficulty  of  answering 
hard  questions  in  a  moment. 

We  commence  a  New  Era  with  our  next  volume.  We  are  taking 
out  a  new  Lease  of  Life.  The  last  twenty-one  years  has  seen  a  good 
deal  of  the  effect  of  natural  selection.  Hosts  of  magazines  with  a 
similar  scope  to  ours  have  appeared — and  ^-appeared.  We  recognise 
the  vital  fact  that  for  a  magazine  to  live,  it  must  prove  itself  worthy 
of  life  ! 

Our  intentions  for  the  next  volume  arc  that  our  literary  manhood 
shall  be  fully  maintained.  Will  our  numerous  readers,  all  over  the 
world,  help  us  to  carry  out  our  intentions,  by  also  aiding  in  the  cir- 
culation of  Science-Gossip  ? 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Acrodus  Anuingiie,  Jaw  of,  109 

Acrodus  minimus.  Tooth  of,  108 

Acrodus  nobilis.  Tooth  of,  &c,  108 

Acrodus,  section  of  spine,  108 

Adiantum  caudatum,  133 

Adiantum  fiabellulatuin,  133 

.Etobatis,  Straight  teelh  of,  270 

.Etobatis,  Arched  teeth  of,  270 

Ammonites  lautus,  29 

Ammonites  varicosus,  13 

Anemone  Halleri,  85 

Anemone  Pulsatilla,  84 

Anemone  mont  ma,  84 

Anthomyia  meteorica,  teeth  of,  4 

Anthracosia  ovata,  32 

Apor-rhais  Parkinsonii,  28 

Arion,  sp.,  225 

Arum  maculatum,  pjpilla;  and  spadi.v,  80 

Arum  maculatum,  p  ant,  conns,  starch, 

&c,  60,  61 
Aspleuium  fapouicitm,  149 

Botys  hyalinalis,  Embryology  OK,  33 
Brainea  insignis,  220 
Broom-rape,  157 

Cardium  Hillanum,  12 
Carica  Papaya,  Fruit  and  Leaf,  249 
Caricea  tigriua,  Teeth  of,  206 
Ccstracion  Philippi,  Jaw  of,  108 
Cinnamomum  Camphora,  248 
Confervas  from  the  Red  Sea,  52 
Ctenoptychius pectinatus,  228 
Cuscuta  Epithymum,  173 

Davallia  polypodioides,  221 

Davallia  tenuifolia,  220 

Devonshire,  Generalised  Section  of  South 

Eastern,  12 
Diatoms,  Diagram  of  movements,  188 
Dicksonia  Barometz,  220 
Diplodus  gibbosus,  tooth,  156 
Dodder,  173 
Drepanephorus  canaliculatus,  Teeth  and 

dorsal  spines  of,  156 

Epithemia  cistitla,  37 
Exogyra  conic  a,  12 

Flea,     Common  ;     Development     ok, 

Fucella  fucorum,  Teeth  of,  266 

Gervillea  anceps,  13 


Gleichenia  dichotoma,  105 
Grape  hyacinths,  244-5 
Gyrocantlius,  Spine  of,  271 

//aplographium   bicolor,  chloroceph ■ilinil, 

ttnuissimum,  197 
Helianthus  annuus,  204 
Helix  Icevipes  var.  alba,  77 
Hyalina  glabra,  cellaria,  Drapamaldi, 

nitidula  vax.fasciata,  225 
Hybodus,  section  of  spine,  108, 

hi  iceramus  conce  itricus,  28 

Jauassa,  Dental  Series  and  Succession 
ok  Teeth,  228 

Lathrwa  squamaria,  173 

Leucochroa  candidissima,  225 

Limn&a  glutinosa,  monst.  intortum;  pa- 

lustris,  monst.  turritnm  peregra    var. 

labiosa;  peregra   small  var.;  stagnalis 

var.  expansa  and  var.  elegant ula ;  var. , 

180 
Limntea  stagnalis,   monst.  scalariforme, 

77 
Lindscea  jlabellitlata,  133 
Lindsa-a  heterophylla,  133 
Live  cell,  Diagrams  of,  8 
Lygodium  Japonicum,  105 
Lygodium  scandens,  105 

Malvern   Hills,   Diagrammatic   Sec- 
tion of,  125 
Meniscium  simplex,  177 
Merganser,  The  Red-breasted,  181 
Mergus  Merganser,  181 
Microscope,  Direct  Illumination,  201 
Microtome,  Freezing,  38 
Microtome,  Inexpensive,  8 
Mistletoe,  173 
Muscari  comosum,  245 
Muscari  botryoides,  245 
Muscari raamosum,  244 
Myliobates,  Teeth  of,  270 

Nephrolepis  tuber osa,  177 

Observatory  Trough,  135 

Onchus,  Spine  of,  271 

Oracanthus  Milleri,  271 

Orchis  mascula,  anthers    and   pollinium, 

101 
Orchis  mascula  tubers,  124-5 


Orobanche  rapum,  157 
Orthacauthus,  section  of  spine, 


156 


Pal&ospiuax  priscus,  Teeth  and  Do  <sal 

S.'INES  of,  156. 
Parexus  incurvus,  Outline  of,  271 
Pecteu  quadricostatus,  12 
Petaladus  acuminatus,  156 
Petalorhynchus  psittacinus,  Teeth  of,  220 
Pliysa  acuta  and  foutiualis,  77 
Pleuracauthus     Icevissimus,     Spine     and 

section  of  ditto,  156 
Polyrhizodus  radicans,  Tooth  of,  228 
Pristis,  Head  and  rostrum,  228 
Pristis  blast ingsice,  Tooth,  228 
Pteris  semi-pinnata  and  serrulata,  149 
Ptychodus ;  Diagram  of  Dentition,  io.j 
Ptychodus  mammillaris,  Tooth  of,  to8 
Ptychodus polygyrus,  Tooth  of,  109 
Puccinia  Scnchi,  9 
Pulex  irritaus,  Development  of,  252-3 

Rata  antiqua,  Dermal  Tubercle  ok,  2^8 
Royston  Crow,  129 

Sarcophaga  carnaria,  Teeth  ok,  132 

Scatophaga  siercoraria,  Teeth  of,  59 

Siphonia  pyriformis,  12 

Sponge  spicules,  Fossil    13 

Squaloraja  polyspondyla,    Skeletal   parts 

of,  228 
Staurosira  Harrisonii,  var.  amphitetras, 

37 
Stenogyra  decollata,  77 
■Stictodiscus  Californicus,  135 
Stomoxys  calcitraus,  mouth  of,  152 
Stomoxys  calcitraus,  suctorial  apparatus 

and  teeth,  153 
S  trop/wdtts  asper,favosus,  and  reticulatus 

Teeth  of,  108 
Strophodus  medius,  Jaw  of,  108 
Sunflower  Bracts,  stamens,  &c.,  204 
Surirtlla  dementis,  37 

Tooth-wort,  173 
Turritella  granulata,  12 


Valvata  piscinalis,  77 
Viscum  album,  173 

Zygobatis,  Teeth  of,  271 


LIST   OF   COLOURED    PLATES. 


Eggs  of  Parasite  of  Vulture 
Eggs  of  Vapourer  Moth 
Group  of  Foraminifera 
Polysiphonia  clongata 
Polysiphonia/astigiata 
Red  Water-Mite 


To  face  page  265 

»  ..        73 

..      193 

»•  »        49 

,.      241 

Frontispiece. 


Seeds  of  Love-lies-bleeding 
Shell  of  Barnacle,  Section  . 
Small  Brittle  Star-fish. 
Spine  of  Echinus,  Section    , 
Toe  of  Mouse 
Tooth  of  Anteater,  Section 


To  face  page  121 

„      145 

»      169 

..        97 

25 

»  ,.      217 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


E.T.D.del.adnat. 


"Vincent  Brooks,!)  ay  &_Son]ith- 


EYLAIS    EXTENDENS. 

DORSAL  AND     VEN  T  R  A  L    V  I  E  W. 
*  30. 


GRAPHIC  .MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T     D. 


No.    XIII. —The    Red    Water-Mite    (Eylais    Extendens   (?)). 


^r^* 


N  reference  to  the  se- 
ries of  twelve  Plates 
published     during 
the  past  year,  the 
writer  is   desirous 
of    thanking    nu- 
merous correspon- 
dents for  valuable 
information, 
chiefly  relating  to 
minute   details   of 
st  ru  c  ture,  and 
n  omenclature  ; 
and    to    reply   to 
suggest  ions, 
worthy  of  consid- 
eration, which,  if 
accepted  (in  some 
instances),   would 
advance  the  selec- 
tion of  subjects 
beyond     the     scope     of     "  popularity  "     into     the 
region   of   biological   research.     With  low   powers, 
and  special  illumination  seeking  picturesque  effects, 
many    deep    and   important    peculiarities,    possibly 
bearing   upon    classification,    necessarily   cannot   be 
detailed  or  even  exhibited  ;  and  to  enter  into  intri- 
cacies  of  structure,  with  higher   objectives  (as   has 
been   proposed),   would  far  outstrip   the   motive   of 
the  work  ;  it  may  therefore  be  desirable  to  repeat  that 
the  raison  d'etre  of  "  Graphic  Microscopy  "  is  to  en- 
courage the  observations  of  our  younger  subscribers, 
in  presenting  them  with  an  attractive   and  accurate 
picture  of  a  distinct  subject :  simple,  popular,  easily 
procurable,  and  susceptible  of  artistic  treatment. 

The    present    example,    drawn    from    life,    under 

moderate  amplification,  necessarily  screening  specific 

character  (the  same  individual  furnishing  the  dorsal 

and   ventral   aspect),  fairly   represents   in  form   and 

No.  241. — January  1885. 


general  appearance,  a  British  fresh-water  spider-mite, 
of  the  Order  Acarina,  and  Family  Hydrachnea,  of 
which  there  are  six  Genera  ;  four,  Arrenurus,  Atax, 
Eylais,  Hydrachna,  the  most  attractive  in  beauty  j 
Diplodontus  and  Limnochares,  parasitic  and  some- 
what obscure. 

The    specimen   figured  is    an   elegant   and   lively 
individual  of  a  form  commonly  met  with  :  Eylais,  so 
designated  from  collation  with  published  description  j 
the  writer,  however,  was  fortunate  in  the  proof  of  the 
plate  having  been   seen   by  Mr.    C.   F.   George   of 
Kirton  in  Lindsey,  whose  articles  in  this  journal,  on 
t'hese  particular  organisms,  commencing  Sept.,  1882, 
continued  at  intervals  until  August  1883,  and  illus- 
trated with  woodcuts  "of  scientific   importance  and 
accuracy,  establish  a  basis  of  valuable  authority  on 
the  subject ;  the  number  of  the  eyes  in  these  minute 
creatures  appears  to  be  a  matter  of  important  obser- 
vation, and,  as   Mr.   George  remarks,  their  singular 
peculiarity  and  arrangement   cannot   be  overlooked. 
In   the   drawing,    their   position   is   only   indicated ; 
detail    would   have    demanded   an    amplification   so 
expansive  as   to  have  taken  the  subject  beyond  the 
scope  of  a  general  view  of  the  entire  creature  ;  under 
deeper  examination,  four  eyes  are  discovered  in  pairs, 
upon   the   dorsal   surface   of  the  cephalothorax,  ap- 
proximating  so   closely  that  each  pair  is  seemingly 
combined  in  one ;  even  in  such  minute  Acarina  these 
organs  possess  an  ocular  power  superior  to  those  of 
insects,  and  often  the  appearance  of  a  solitary  eye  • 
under   closer  examination  is   found  to  be  what  has 
been  happily  termed  "  helved,"  the  eye  projecting  on 
two  rounded  semi-circles,  reniform,  a  fusion  of  two 
stemmata  ;  a  divided  eye  ball.     Such  a  minute  condi- 
tion could  not  have  been  shown  in  a  field  involving 
the  general  aspect  of  the  upper  and  under  sides  of  the 
same  individual,  but  it  is  a  peculiarity  of  significant 
importance  in  the  decision  of  species,  and  upon  this 
point  (apart  from  the  portraiture  of  the  specimen),  Mr. 

B 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


George  is  of  opinion  that  it  may  be  a  variety  of 
some  other  Family.  Living  specimens  kindly  supplied 
by  him,  disclosed  this  crucial  peculiarity,  and  substan- 
tiate the  division  of  the  Group  into  those  possessing 
two  eyes,  the  Hygrobatides,  and  those  having  four,  the 
Hydrachnides. 

In  every  exhibition  ot  Microscopic  life,  such 
exclamations  as  "  wonderful,"  "  beautiful,"  "  quaint," 
are  ordinary  and  natural  forms  of  expression :  so 
perfect,  startling,  and  novel,  are  such  visions  as  re- 
vealed by  fine  instruments,  and,  conceding  this 
sweeping  admiration  as  a  condition  of  the  mental 
excitement  of  a  casual  observer,  most  assuredly,  to 
the  more  experienced,  rarely  are  seen  gems  of  anima- 
tion equal  to  these  creatures  when  exhibited  with 
good  illumination  from  an  argand  gas  flame  close  to 
the  mirror,  reflected  through  a  carefully  focussed 
paraboloid.  Under  such  conditions  these  dainty  mites 
(beyond  eccentricity  of  form)  disclose  marvellous 
beauty  of  colour,:  scarlets,  azure-blues,  browns,  greens 
and  yellows,  of  such  delicate  and  subdued  transfu- 
sions, as  might  teach  a  lesson  in  tone  to  the  finest 
artist,  and  beyond  this,  a  vivacity  of  motion,  a 
humour  of  attitude,  that  every  swirl,  every  movement 
reveals  fresh  shimmerings  of  light,  and_more  comical 
postures. 

In  the  December,  1882,  number  of  this  Journal, 
Air.  George  states  that  to  convey  even  an  ideal 
representation  of  their  beauty  requires  the  assist- 
ance of  "  colour."  It  may  be  added,  as  a  matter  of 
experience,  that  even  a  mere  semblance  requires 
something  more  ;  the  highest  resources  of  the  palette 
can  never  approach  "  light,"  and  what  is  the  white 
of  drawing  paper,  or  the  most  delicateresovrces  of  the 
lithographer,  compared  with  the  glowing  hues  and 
blazon  of  microscopical  illumination  ? 

The    life- history   of    the    Hydrachnea   has   been 
fairly    traced  ;  they  are   found  in  clear  ponds,  and 
slowly   running   brooks,,  easily   discovered  by  their 
peculiarity  of  motion  and  brilliancy  ;  a  mustard  seed 
in  dimensions,  a   ruby  in  appearance,  routing  about 
with    unmistakable    carnivorous    instincts  ;    in   their 
earliest  stage  they  require  hospitality  ;   at  birth  the 
young    swim   freely,    but    eventually    become    com- 
mensal,   possibly   parasitic  on   some   aquatic   insect. 
They  then   assume  a  condition   of  passive   content- 
ment, increasing  in  size,   and  passing  through   suc- 
cessive  larval    stages    to   a    perfect    condition,    only 
becoming   free   when  ready  for  reproduction.     This 
is  supported  indirectly  by  Westwood,  who,  referring 
to   pond  beetles,  states,  "  notwithstanding  their  large 
size,   they  are   subject   to   the   attacks   of  a  minute 
parasite,'''  at  that  time  considered  to  be  a  perfected 
creature.    But  it  was  proved  to  be  the  immature  state 
of  an  Hydrachna,  affixed  as  a  minute  oval  bag  with  a 
narrow   neck    to    the    upper   side    of. the   abdomen, 
infesting  particularlyZ>_)'//.sr#.r  margiualis,  beneath  the 
elytra.     It    is    possible    the  Hydrachnea    might    be 
developed  and  reared   in  a  tank  in  which  the  larger 


water  beetles  were  kept  and  liberally  fed  ;  it  has  been 
observed  that  an  excess  of  the  larger  life  in  a  tank 
will  develop  organisms  not  otherwise  attainable. 
Mexican  axolotls,  the  size  of  young  rats,  fed  once  a 
week  on  raw  beef,  have  lived  in  captivity  for  several 
years  in  a  receptacle  of  very  limited  dimensions  ;  the 
water  never  changed,  but  merely  replenished,  has 
always  been  in  all  seasons  a  world  of  microscopic  life. 

In  their  perfect  condition,  the  Hydrachnea  are 
predatory,  capturing  with  ease,  and  living  upon 
Entomostraca  ;  they  may  be  preserved  for  months  in 
a  vase  with  fragments  of  growing  weeds  ;  but  living 
food  must  occasionally  be  supplied.  They  should  be 
examined  "alive"  under  such  conditions  as  will 
subdue  and  restrict  their  activity.  Mr.  George  states 
that,  if  a  specimen  be  isolated  in  a  saucer  in  a  drop 
just  sufficient  to  keep  it  endeavouring  to  swim,  and 
then  deluged  with  hot  water,  it  will  exhibit  all  its 
features,  necessarily,  in  a  passive  condition.  It  may 
then  be  transferred  to,  and  closed  in  a  cell,  in  the 
same  water,  and  kept  sufficiently  long  to  afford  pro- 
longed examination  ;  but,  as  permanent  objects  for  the 
cabinet  they  appear  to  be  failures,  the  vascularity 
rotundity,  "tightness,"  and  delicacy  of  their  integu- 
ments seem  to  defy  any  known  preservative  medium  ; 
"  without  pressure,"  they  collapse,  and  become 
wrinkled;  flattened,  "  underpressure,"  their  integrity 
is  too  impaired,  either  for  accurate  observation,  or 
drawing. 

Crouch  End. 


WINTER  BOTANY. 
CHILLON  WOODS,  MONTREUX. 
(December  5,   1884.) 

WE  had  arrived  at  our  Montreux  quarters  for 
the  winter,  November  26th.  After  one  or 
two  days  of  brilliant  sunshine,  a  heavy  snowstorm  had 
set  in,  fully  six  inches  lying  on  the  ground  for  the 
next  thirty-six  hours.  This  was  followed  by  a  rapid 
thaw  with  several  very  bright  sunny  mornings.  On 
the  morning  of  December  5th,  we  determined  to  re- 
visit some  of  our  old  haunts,  choosing  a  well-known 
path  leading  from  Territet  through  the  upper  village 
of  Vey  taux,  and  climbing  the  wooded  mountain  slopes 
to  descend  on  the  opposite  side  by  the]  woods  and 
Chillon  Castle.  In  previous  years  we  had  found  an 
endless  wealth  of  mosses,  lichen  and  fungi,  with  some 
few  interesting  flowers  still  lingering  as  late  as 
December.  Nor  were  we  disappointed  in  our 
search.  Even  in  the  snow-covered  patches  the  hardy 
little  Gentiana  verna  had  opened  its  wonderfully  blue 
corolla  under  the  influence  of  the  genial  sun,  and  we 
counted  twenty-four  separate  plants,  at  an  elevation 
of  1500  feet  above  the  sea  in  full  vigorous  bloom  ; 
they  were  smaller  plants,  it  is  true,  than  the  ordinary 
spring  growth,  but  equally  brilliant  in  colour.     Hard 


BARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


by,  nestling  in  the  thickest  bed  of  moss,  and 
sheltered  by  the  stump  of  an  old  chestnut,  the 
ever-green  and  tough-stemmed  mountain  Polygala 
chamabuxus  was  in  full  flower ;  the  pairs  of  leaves 
closely  resemble  those  of  the  box-tree,  which  the 
varied  tints  of  the  petals  shade  from  white  to  yellow, 
red  or  brown  ;  a  honey-scented  plant  that  grows  in 
splendid  masses  in  spring,  and  very  frequently  in 
company  with  Gentiana  verna.  A  strong  spike  of 
Salvia  vcrbenaca,  larger  in  all  its  parts,  and  far 
brighter  in  colour  than  an  English  species,  was 
growing  out  of  a  wall.  It  had  escaped  the  heavy 
snows,  and  we  left  the  plant  in  the  hope  that  sunny 
days  might  preserve  the  handsome  coloured  stem  for 
the  last  few  weeks  of  the  year.  In  the  dry  bed  of  a 
mountain  torrent  a  tall  mullein  stood  upright, 
crowded  with  golden  yellow  blossom  to  the  very  tip. 
The  leaves  were  smooth,  slightly  clasping  the  stem  ; 
each  flower  had  a  patch  of  brown  in  the  centre, 
while  purple  hairs  covered  the  stamens';  the  species 
apparently  being  Verbascum  Blattaria ;  again  we 
had  not  the  heart  to  cut  it  down.  On  every  wall 
the  delicate  little  creeper,  Linaria  Cymbalaria,  with 
ivy-shaped  leaves  and  lilac  flowers,  was  out  in  pro- 
fusion. 

Two  very  striking  plants  next  claimed  our 
attention.  Helltborus  fcetidus,  type  of  the  Christmas 
roses,  filled  almost  every  crevice :  the  dark  leaves 
deeply  cut  and  serrated  with  the  lighter  green  of  the 
calices,  afford  a  most  pleasing  variety,  especially  when 
the  sepals  have  a  tinge  of  reddish  purple.  Daphne 
laureola,  the  second  of  these  evergreen  plants,  is 
also  plentifully  distributed  through  the  Chillon 
Woods.  The  leaves  are  entire,  of  a  dark,  shiny 
green  ;  the  axillary  clusters  of  greenish  flowers  were 
in  full  bud,  but  hardly  open.  A  little  later,  or 
rather  early  in  the  next  year,  the  sweet-scented 
Mezereon  {Daphne  Mezereori)  will  be  abundant 
higher  up  in  these  very  woods,  flowering  before  the 
young  leaves  appear.  Trailing  in  a  thicket,  though 
not  in  the  woods,  we  found  a  large  quantity  of  the 
orange  scarlet  capsules  of  the  Phy salts  Alkekengi,  or 
winter  cherry.  Though  not  indigenous  in  England, 
many  will  be  familiar  with  the  orange  calyx,  which 
fades  away,  leaving  a  network  surrounding  the 
orange  fruit,  which  is  extensively  used  as  an  article 
of  food  in  North  Italy,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
and  other  parts  of  the  world.  A  handsome  decora- 
tion may  be  made  of  this  plant,  which  preserves  the 
orange  scarlet  in  a  dry  state  for  many  weeks  after  it 
is  gathered.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that,  while  the  fruit 
of  so  many  genera  of  this  order  are  deadly  poison, 
the  physalis  is  harmless.  Even  the  fruit  of  the 
potatoe  is  said  to  be  injurious,  and  the  tubers  are 
unwholesome  in  a  raw  state. 

By  the  side  of  a  trickling  mountain  stream  a  few 
solitary  flowers  of  Saponaria  officinalis  still  lingered, 
though  the  beauty  of  the  delicate  flesh-tinted  petals 
was   somewhat    lost.     Here    and    there    a    crimson 


cluster  of  berries  still  hung  on  the  boughs  of  Guelder- 
rose  {Viburnum  Opultis),  a  shrub  or  tree  not  to  be 
confused  with  V.  Lantana,  the  mealy  guelder-rose,  s<  i 
common   to   English   hedgerows.      In    rocky   rirags, 
above  the  slopes  of  brush-wood,  a  splendid  array  of 
Asphnium  fontanum   was   in   full   beauty  ;  it   is  an 
evergreen    fern,    having    lacy    fronds    which    would 
enrich   any   collection,    and    is    extremely    easy    to 
cultivate.     It  is  said  to  have  been    exterminated    in 
North.  Wales,  where  it  once  flourished.     We  would 
earnestly  beg  of  botanists,  not  only  in  England,  but 
also  in  Switzerland,  to  gather  plants  and  ferns  only 
with  care   and  judgment.     It   is  generally  so  easy 
both  to  obtain  specimens,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
leave     plenty    of    a    plant,    for    propagation.       Un- 
fortunately this   care   is   not   always   exercised,    and 
unscrupulous   collectors   are  doing  great  harm  eacli 
year   in   the   Alps.       So   many   thousand    plants    of 
"edelweiss,"  for  example,  have  been  taken  recently 
for  trade  purposes,    that   the  Swiss  authorities  have 
been   compelled    to   publish   notices   to  tourists  and 
would-be    collectors,     strongly    urging    care    in    the 
matter  of  gathering  plants.     Having  been  diligent  in 
botanical   collecting  for   over   fifteen  years  we  must 
emphatically    repeat    an    opinion    that    it    is    never 
necessary  to  exterminate  rare  plants,  even  while  obtain- 
ing the  desired   specimens.     Aspleniutn   trichomanes 
and   A.  viride,  we   found  plentiful  in  several  parts, 
the  former,  indeed,  everywhere.  A.  Adianttim-nigrum 
is   more   sparingly  scattered   through    these   woods  ; 
splendid    fronds   of  Polypodium   vulgaris  we   noted, 
so  large  as  to  make  us  wonder  if  it  was  not  a  different 
species   of    polypody.      While    naming    the    winter 
ferns,  we  may  remark  that  Polystichum  lonchitis,  the 
holly-fern,    grows   in   woods,    the    opposite    side    of 
the  lake,  and  Ceterach  officinale  covers  one  wall  not 
two  miles   away   from   Montreux.      The    leaves    of 
Chelidonium  ma/us,  the  greater  celandine,  were  still 
fresh  on  many  of  the  stone  walls.     Out  of  curiosity 
we  cut  through  the  main  'stem  of  a  strong-looking 
plant  to  see  if  the  yellow  sap  was  still  flowing  ;  there 
was  little  trace   of  the  '  colouring  matter ;   the  stem 
appeared  dried  up  and  shrinking  away.     In  February 
the  fresh  life  will  well  up  into  leaves  and  stems  ;  the 
mysterious  power  in  nature  which  causes  the  renewal 
of  vital  energy   will  once  more  be  in   activity,  and 
the  suspended  process  of  growth  be  continued.     In  a 
corner  of  a  vineyard  at  Chillon,  several  deep  crimson 
flowers  of  Fitmaria  officinalis  attracted  the  eye.     On 
the  grassy  slopes  two  pink-blossomed  specimens   of 
Erythraa  centaureutn  remained,  all  the  leaves  faded, 
and,  with  a  few  terminal  flowers  only  ;  a  solitary  plant 
of  Solatium  nigrum,  with  a  cluster  of  white  flowers, 
we  found  on  a  heap  of  [loose  stones,  having  several 
of  the  rather  large  black  berries  on  a  second  stem. 
Of  the  numerous  fungi  we  cannot  say  more  now  than 
to  note  the  size    and    beauty  of  the   scarlet    Peziza 
cochinea,  which  is  plentiful  in  parts  of  Chillon  woods. 
It    was    a    strange    appearance    to   be   gathering 

B    2 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


gentians  and  other  flowers  in  December,  but  no 
■doubt  hard  frosts  will  shortly  kill  the  few  remaining 
species.  We  must  then  wait  till  February  when  the 
early  "  snow  flakes  "  will  show  their  heads,  hepaticas, 
Scilla  bifolia,  corydalis,  the  crocus,  sweet  daphne, 
and  an  endless  succession  of  spring  flowers  put  forth 
blossoms. 

To  the  above  list  of  flowers  on  December  5,  we 
should  add  Corydalis  lutea,  out  in  profusion  on  an 
old  stone  wall  at  the  upper  end  of  the  village  of 
Territet. 

('.  Parkinson,  F.G.S. 


The  fly  is  about  the  same  size  as  the  house-fly  ;  is 
of  a  dark  sage  green  colour,  rather  thickly  covered 
with  black  hair.  The  wings  have  a  tendency  to 
assume  a  rusty  brown  hue  towards  the  base  ;  the  legs 
are  decidedly  a  dead  black. 

I  have  selected  this  creature  as  the  subject  of  the 
present  sketch,  for  the  reason  it  may  be  looked  upon 
as  a  typical  example  of  form — all  the  teeth  being 
similarly  shaped,  as  in  the  blow-fly,  but  differing 
therefrom  in  the  following  respect  :  they  terminate 
in  three  distinct  points,  having  perfectly  straight 
edges,  and  therefore  differing  from  Musca  domcstica 


Fjg.  1. — Teeth  of '  Anthomyia  meteorica,  mag.  200  diams.     a,  position  of  secondary  teeth. 


TEETH  OF  FLIES. 

ANTHOMYIA  METEORICA. 

By  W.  D.  Harris,  Cardiff. 

No.  III. 

HOW  troublesome  and  teasing  is  that  cloud  of 
flies  {Anthomyia  meteorica)  which  readers  must 
often  have  noticed  in  summer  rides  hovering  round  the 
heads  and  necks  of  our  horses,  accompanying  them 
as  they  go,  and  causing  a  perpetual  tossing  of  the 
former  (Kirby  &  Spence).  To  this  might  be  safely 
added,  if  they  cannot  find  the  horse  they  have  no 
very  decided  objection  to  accompany  the  pedestrian, 
and  he  must  be  very  thick  skinned,  or  come  from  a 
very  well  behaved  stock,  if  he  is  not  tempted  to 
speak  of  his  persecutors  in  language  more  forcible 
than  polite. 


minor.  They  are  very  long  and  narrow,  but,  neverthe- 
less, very  strong  instruments,  the  chitine  being  quite 
dark  as  compared  with  some  creatures. 

Three  of  the  central  teeth  appear  to  be  backed  up 
with  indications  of  a  second  row  (a)  ;  but  the  chitine  is 
very  delicate,  and  if  present  in  the  remaining  teeth  is 
difficult  to  make  out  ;  each  lobe  of  the  proboscis 
contains  eight  teeth,  and  here  again  is  a  distinction 
which  often  creeps  in  when  the  same  form  is  preserved, 
as  will  be  seen  later  on. 

On  the  5th  December,  Mr.  R.  Meldola,  F.C.S., 
read  a  paper  at  the  Geologists'  Association,  on  a 
"Preliminary  Notice  of  the  East  Anglian  Earth- 
quake "  of  April  22nd,  1SS4.  Dr.  Hicks  also  gave  a 
paper  on  "  Some  Recent  Views  concerning  the 
Geology  of  the  North-West  Highlands." 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


EARLY  SUN-GLOWS. 

THE  remarkable  sun-glows  of  last  and  the 
present  year  having  attracted  a  considerable 
amount  of  attention  among  scientists,  and  being 
believed  by  many  to  be  wholly  unprecedented  in  the 
history  of  the  earth,  it  may  be  of  interest  and  value  to 
give  an  account  of  the  occasions  on  which  similar 
phenomena  have  been  observed  in  North  Europe, 
according  to  the  most  reliable  Scandinavian  his- 
torians. 

Such  purple  glows  as  we  have  recently  admired 
have  been  observed  in  the  earliest  times,  when 
people  believed  that  they  were  warnings  from  heaven 
of  great  coming  disasters,  as,  for  instance,  war, 
plague,  or  famine.  There  appears,  however,  to  be 
no  reliable  record  of  such  a  phenomenon  until  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Thus,  in  the 
summer  of  1553,  such  a  glow,  or,  as  it  was  then 
called,  fire-sign,  was  observed  all  over  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  Sweden,  and,  strangely  enough,  a 
terrible  plague  visited  these  countries  in  the  same 
year.  In  Copenhagen  its  ravages  were  so  great  that 
the  academical  lectures  at  the  University  had  to  be 
adjourned  for  several  months,  and  the  students  left 
the  capital. 

The  next  glow  was  seen  in  the  year  1636,  when 
sailors,  returning  to  Copenhagen  from  voyages  in  the 
Baltic  and  the  North  Sea,  reported  that  for  weeks  the 
sky  seemed  on  fire  after  sunset,  and  also  in  that  year 
a  plague  visited  the  shores  of  Sweden  and  Denmark. 
By  these  coincidences  popular  superstition  was  fur- 
ther strengthened,  although  it  was  subsequently 
proved  that  the  purple  glow  seen  in  1636  was  caused 
by  a  terrible  eruption  of  Hekla,  the  great  Iceland 
volcano. 

On  the  night  of  January  4,  1661,  a  frightful  storm 
broke  over  North  Europe.  One  whirlwind  after  the 
other  unroofed  houses  and  uprooted  trees  in  hundreds, 
while  the  tide  rose  so  high  on  the  coast  of  Jutland 
that  large  districts  were  flooded.  For  several  days 
the  sky  seemed  a  bath  of  lurid  fire,  and  a  great  terror 
was  caused  amongst  the  population,  most  of  whom 
believed  that  the  Day  of  Judgment  had  come.  The 
celebrated  Danish  historian,  Bishop  Jens  Birkerod, 
writes  in  his  diary  "  that  the  sky  was  terrible  to 
behold  ;  it  looked  as  if  on  fire  ;  "  while  his  father, 
Professor  Jakob  Birkerod,  asserts  that  he  felt  shocks 
of  earthquake  in  the  island  of  Funen.  The  same 
authority  records  that  evil  prophets  predicted  the 
last  day,  and,  as  the  phenomenon  passed  without 
disaster,  they  stated  that  it  had  only  been  postponed 
for  a  period  of  three  years  to  give  sinners  time  for 
repentance.  When  August  6,  1664,  arrived,  great 
terror  prevailed  in  Denmark,  and  all  churches  were 
thronged  to  suffocation. 

The  next  phenomenon  of  this  nature  was  seen 
throughout  Denmark,  according  to  the  first-named 
authority,  on  May  22,  1680,  at  sunrise.     Long  before 


the  sun  rose  the  entire  heavens  were  filled  with  a 
blood-red  light,  and  when  the  sunbeams  shot  forth 
"liquid  fire  seemed  to  rain  from  the  sky."  Again 
people  became  terribly  alarmed,  which  was  further 
increased  by  the  report  of  a  great  comet  approaching 
the  earth';  when  it  finally  became  visible  in  the 
following  December,  the  popular  mind  was  in  a  state 
of  perfect  madness. 

Another  aerial  phenomenon  occurred  in  Denmark 
on  Shrove  Tuesday,  1707.  At  about  seven  o'clock  two 
enormous  beams  of  light  were  seen  running  from 
W.N.W.  to  N.N.E.,  which  made  night  for  several 
hours  as  light  as  day.  Some,  however,  refer  this  phe- 
nomenon to  the  aurora  borealis,  but  it  is  strange  that 
it  should  not  have  been  more  widely  recognised^  as 
such  in  that  country. 

But  the_most  recent  true  sun-glow  was  observed 
in  1783 — exactly  a  hundred  years  ago — throughout 
Scandinavia.  It  first  became  visible  in  Copen- 
hagen, on  May  29th,  and  lasted  until  the  end  of 
September.  This  glow  is  stated  also  to  have  been 
seen  in  the  whole  of  Europe,  as  well  as  Asia  and 
Africa,  in  that  year.  The  sky  was  red  as  blood  at 
sunset  and  sunrise,  but  there  was  one  great  difference 
between  this  phenomenon  and  the  last  one,  viz.,  that 
the  sun's  disk  was  semi-obscured  during  the  day  and 
almost  completely  so  when  rising  and  setting.  In 
other  respects,  as,  for  instance,  temperature,  heat  and 
cold,  moisture  and  drought,  the  phenomena  of  1783 
was  identical  with  the  last  one  witnessed.  This 
glow  too  caused  great  consternation  in  North 
Europe  the  last  day  being  believed  to  be  at  hand. 
It  should  be  mentioned  as  a  point  of  weighty 
importance  that,  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year  (the 
exact  date  is  unknown),  a  frightful  eruption  of  the 
Skapta  Jokul,  in  Iceland,  took  place.  This  glow 
seemed  in  many  respects  to  have  resembled  that  of 
1636,  when  Hekla  was  in  terrific  activity. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  although  English  records 
of  sun-glows  such  as  the  recent  ones  are  limited  to  one 
or  two  instances,  the  phenomenon  has  been  observed 
in  North  Europe,  more  or  less  prominently,  on 
several  occasions  during  the  last  three  centuries. 

C.  S. 


A 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 

By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S. 

CURIOUS  statement  is  made  in  "  The  Journal 
of  Science,"  of  last  October,  by  a  correspon- 
dent who  states  that,  "  If  a  workman  is  allowed  to 
bring  his  dog  into  any  manufactory  where  he  is 
employed,  it  is  astonishing  how  quickly  the  animal 
finds  out  '  who  is  who '  in  the  concern.  His 
profound  respect  for  the  head  of  the  establishment, 
and  for  the  managers,  foremen,  and  office-bearers  in 
general,  forms  an  amusing  contrast  to  his  sauciness 
to   private   workmen."     This  is  an  observation  well 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


worthy  of  experimental  verification  or  refutation, 
and  the  required  experiments  may  be  easily  made.  I 
cannot  help  suspecting  that  the  officer  most  likely 
to  command  the  highest  degree  of  canine  respect 
would  be  the  watchman  or  door-keeper,  or  whoever 
else  had  the  power  of  turning  the  dog  out,  or  allowing 
him  to  come  in.  If  otherwise,  a  very  interesting 
lield  of  further  observation  is  opened  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  dog's  mode  of  arriving  at  his  conclusions 
concerning  official  status  :  whether  the  tone  of 
command  impresses  him,  whether  he  imitates  the 
bipeds,  or  how  otherwise  he  is  impressed. 

Further  observations  are  also  demanded  in  reference 
to  a  curious  statement  made  by  M.  G.  Rafin,  in  a 
communication  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences. 
Restates  that  a  large  wood  fire  having  been  kindled 
near  an  ant  hill  in  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas,  the 
ants  precipitated  themselves  into  it  by  thousands, 
until  it  was  completely  extinguished,  and  he 
proposes  to  name  this  species  of  ant  the  Formica 
ignivara.  The  first  impulse  on  reading  this  account 
of  the  fire-eating  ants  is  one  of  incredulity,  but 
further  reflection  on  well-known  facts  modifies  this 
impression.  The  fascination  of  a  bright  light  on 
insects  effects  a  wonderful  amount  of  suicide.  When 
I  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Twickenham 
(towards  Fulwell),  I  observed  during  three  successive 
summers  that  the  bottom  glass  of  the  road  lamps  was 
darkened  by  a  deposit  of  very  small  flies  that  had 
ilung  themselves  into  the  flame  and  perished  ;  and 
that  the  ground  around  the  lamps  was  strewn  with 
thousands  of  their  bodies.  A  multitude  of  similar 
instances  may  be  named.  Possibly  the  fire  exerted  a 
similar  fascination  upon  the  ants. 

A  correspondent  to  this  journal  (page  262)  inquires 
concerning  the  food  of  tortoises.  I  found  the  same 
difficulty  as  he  describes  in  feeding  some  that  I  had, 
but  afterwards  was  very  successful  by  simply  placing 
them  on  a  garden  lawn  under  an  inverted  packing- 
case,  in  the  bottom  of  which  was  an  opening  covered 
with  wire  gauze,  or  left  open  to  supply  light.  They 
fed  heartily  on  the  clover  leaves,  and  also  ate  some 
grass.  The  patches  where  they  had  been  were 
distinctly  displayed  by  their  industrious  mowing.  By 
cutting  away  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  of  the 
edges  of  opposite  sides  of  the  packing  case,  where  it 
rested  on  the  grass,  the  tortoises  were  enabled  to  shift 
their  prison,  and  did  so  in  their  endeavours  to  burrow 
under  the  raised  edges.  They  thus  supplied  them- 
selves with  fresh  pasture  during  the  summer,  but  died 
in  the  winter.  Their  mode  of  eating  shows  that  it  is 
scarcely  possible  for  them  to  feed  upon  loose  ready- 
gathered  leaves.  They  do  not  bite  the  leaf  through, 
but  simply  pinch  it  between  their  horny  jaws,  then 
break  it  by  a  jerk  of  the  head,  but,  for  this  to  be  done 
successfully,  the  leaf  must  firmly  be  fixed  by  roots  or 
otherwise. 

The  practice  of  swallowing  their  own  cast-off  skins 
observed  by  another   correspondent   seems   to   be   a 


part  of  the  established  domestic  economy  of  the  newt 
during  their  breeding  time,  when  they  live  in  water. 
Those  I  kept  some  years  ago  never  failed  to  perform 
this  duty,  though  well  supplied  with  earthworms, 
their  staple  food. 

The  International  Conference  which  decided  upon 
the  adoption  of  an  universal  prime  meridian,  and 
selected  that  of  Greenwich  for  the  purpose,  also 
discussed  some  questions  of  clock  reform,  one  being 
the  desirability  of  counting  and  naming  the  24  hours 
all  round,  starting  from  midnight  as  24  o'clock.  The 
advantages  of  this,  especially  in  railway  time-tables, 
would  be  very  great,  and  the  chief  objections  I  have 
heard  is  that  which  is  founded  on  the  mere  indolence 
that  shrinks  from  all  innovation.  But  this  is  really  no 
innovation,  excepting  as  to  the  time  of  fixing  the 
24  o'clock.  I  spent  a  few  months  in  Rome  in  1842-3 
when  the  time  was  reckoned  in  24  hours  as  a  matter 
of  course ;  all  public  announcements  of  time  were 
made  accordingly,  but  for  the  benefit  of  foreigners 
the  time  of  opening  certain  theatres,  &c  ,  was  further 
explained  by  adding  the  "  tempo  francese"  or  "  French 
time"  as  they  called  the  12-hour  enumeration.  The 
"tempo  italiano"  was  counted  from  the  chiaroscuro, 
or  twilight,  a  very  clumsy  device,  seeing  that  the 
24  o'clock  had  to  be  shifted  every  month.  Some  of 
the  public  clocks  had  (and  possibly  still  have)  a  double 
set  of  figures.  Referring  to  an  old  play-bill  of  the 
Teatro  Alibert,  I  find  that  the  performance  on  the 
25th  January,  1843,  was  announced  to  commence 
"  alle  ore  due  di  uotte,'"  at  two  o'clock  at  night,  i.e., 
two  hours  after  the  chiaroscuro.  In  this  play-bill  no 
tempo  francese  is  given. 

When  will  science  be  decently  represented  in  the 
organization  of  the  British  Government  in  such  a 
manner  that  its  scientific  expenditure  shall  be  wisely 
controlled  and  distributed  ?  The  pitiful  anti-climax 
of  the  "Challenger"  Expedition  brings  forth  this 
question  most  glaringly.  Here  was  lavish  expenditure 
in  the  sumptuous  equipment  of  a  magnificent  yacht  ; 
every  conceivable  luxury  was  generously  provided  for 
the  selected  few  who  were  paid  for  taking  a  charming 
holiday  cruise,  the  avowed  object  of  which  was  the 
obtaining  of  certain  scientific  information  for  the 
enlightenment  of  mankind  at  large,  and  the  British 
nation  in  particular.  By  the  aid  of  some  genuine 
workers  at  home,  the  crude  materials  of  the  yachtsmen 
have  been  arranged  and  edited  to  form  volumes  of 
reference.  These  volumes  contain  all  the  fruits  of 
the  expedition  (except  the  pay  and  personal  recreation 
supplied  to  the  aforesaid  holiday-makers)  ;  all  that  can 
come  to  the  nation  that  "paid  the  piper"  is  in  these 
volumes.  All  the  cost  of  finding  and  arranging 
materials,  of  engraving  and  setting-up  the  volumes 
has  been  incurred,  and  a  few  copies  actually  printed 
at  a  total  prime  cost  of  many  thousands  of  pounds  for 
getting  up  each  volume.  This  having  been  done,  the 
multiplication  of  copies  would  cost  about  ninepence 
per  pound  for  paper  and  press-work  on  the  sheets, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCJENCE-GOSSIP. 


and  a  shilling  per  volume  more  for  binding  decently 
in  cloth.  Such  being  the  case,  the  anti-climax  to 
which  I  have  alluded  is  simply  inconceivable.  On 
application  being  made  for  copies  to  be  sent  to  our 
public  libraries,  the  Government  has  declared  that  it 
cannot  afford  these  few  ninepences  per  pound  and 
shillings  per  copy. 

Compare  this  with  the  proceedings  of  the  Go- 
vernment Printing,  Office  at  Washington,  whence 
are  issued  the  noble  records  of  "  The  United  States 
Naval  Observatory,"  &c.  These  are  not  only  dis- 
tributed freely  to  the  American  public  libraries,  but 
are  sent  across  to  the  scientific  libraries  of  Great 
Britain,  and  not  only  to  them  but  to  individual 
members  of  the  scientific  societies.  I  have  a  very 
valuable  series  of  these  reports,  and  of  the  Reports  of 
the  "Department  of  the  Interior,"  and  other  works 
issued  by  the  United  States  Government  from  their 
Printing  Office  at  Washington.  These  are  sent  over 
to  me  through  their  agent,  and  carriage-paid  to 
London,  upon  no  other  asking  than  that  of  replying 
to  an  official  letter  enclosing  a  list  of  works  from 
which  I  am  asked  to  select  those  I  desire  to  have. 
Generally  speaking  they  are  invaluable  as  original 
records  of  most  important  and  laborious  scientific 
investigation.  All  Englishmen  desiring  to  be  patriotic 
must  be  bitterly  ashamed  of  this  melancholy  contrast. 

The  present  favourable  position  of  the  most  won- 
derful and  beautiful  of  all  the  heavenly  bodies,  the 
planet  Saturn,  with  its  mysterious  ringed  appendages, 
reawakens  an  old  project  that  I  have  often  longed  to 
carry  out,  viz.,  the  establishment  in  a  suitable  part  of 
London  of  a  popular  observatory.  I  don't  mean  an 
establishment  with  amateur  observers  pretending  to 
do  original  astronomical  work,  and  thereby  supple- 
menting or  superseding  the  Greenwich  business  ;  but 
simply  a  good  astronomical  peep-show,  where  millions 
of  people  who  have  never  looked  through  a  powerful 
telescope,  and  otherwise  never  would  do  so,  might 
have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  for  themselves  some  of 
the  magnified  glories  of  the  heavens.  I  believe  that 
it  might  be  made  commercially  self-supporting  if 
well  done,  and  all  pedantry  severely  excluded.  No 
mathematical  work  could  be  done  nor  need  be  at- 
tempted. Both  reflecting  and  refracting  telescopes 
equatorially  mounted  with  the  simplest  of  efficient 
clockwork  would  be  required ;  and  one  telescope 
should  be  provided  with  spectroscopic  appliances. 
The  physical  phenomena  are  all  that  the  popular 
visitor  would  desire  to  see,  and  the  fact  of  having 
once  seen  the  most  striking  of  these  would  leave  a 
life-long  impression  on  all  intelligent  men,  women, 
and  children.  A  small  charge,  with  proper  regula- 
tions as  to  time  allowed  at  each  instrument,  would 
cover  all  expenses,  including  a  modest  salary  to  the 
showman — I  beg  his  pardon — the  director.  The  sun 
and  moon  should  be  shown  first  with  a  low  power  to 
display  all  the  disc,  then  with  a  high  power  for 
particular  details. 


Apropos  to  telescopes,  Mr.  Cowper  Ranyard  lately 
read  to  the  Astronomical  Soeiety  a  note  on  the 
blurred  patches  that  appear  in  the  splendid  photo- 
graphs of  the  sun  taken  by  M.  Janssen  at  Meudon. 
Janssen  is  himself  inclined  to  attribute  them  to  solar 
clouds  or  gaseous  matter  above  the  photosphere,  but 
Mr.  Ranyard  has  made  some  experiments  indicating 
that  they  have  their  origin  within  the  telescope  itself, 
and  are  due  to  heated  currents  of  air  in  the  tube.  He 
produced  exaggerated  representations  of  these  in  the 
form  of  ripples  by  placing  a  heated  body  inside  his 
telescope.  The  difficulty  of  maintaining  a  perfect 
calm  wdthin  the  tube  of  a  large  telescope  must  be 
great,  and  the  sensitive  film  used  for  these  instan- 
taneous photographs  cannot  fail  to  display  any  dis- 
turbance affecting  either  the  transparency  or  re- 
fractive power  of  the  air  in  the  telescope.  I  think 
the  question  as  between  these  two  explanations  might 
easily  be  settled  by  taking  several  pictures  of  the  sun 
at  short  intervals  apart.  If  the  light  patches  or  blurs 
are  due  to  cloud-matter  in  the  sun  they  should 
appear  at  the  same  place  in  all  the  pictures,  seeing 
that  the  space  represented  by  every  square  milli- 
metre of  such  pictures  is  so  enormous  that  no  cloud 
could  travel  to  a  sensible  distance  on  the  picture  in  any 
short  period  of  time  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
atmospheric  irregularities  within  the  telescope  must 
be  visibly  shifted  during  small  fractions  of  a  second. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  A  CONVENIENT  FORM 
OF  LIVE-CELL  FOR  OBSERVATION 
WITH  THE  MICROSCOPE,  AND  OF  AN 
INEXPENSIVE  MICROTOME. 

THE  main  drawbacks  of  most  cells  for  the  obser- 
vation of  living  objects  are  that  they  either 
leak,  or  are  very  difficult  to  clean.  The  under- 
described  tform,  which  I  have  lately  contrived  and 
used,  obviates  these  defects,  and  may  therefore  be  of 
interest  to  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip.  It  is  of 
very  simple  construction,  and  can  be  made  up  at  a 
trifling  cost  by  the  help  of  any  ordinary  metal  worker. 

Take  a  stout  ground-edged  glass  slip,  and  have 
fitted  to  it  two  sheaths  of  thin  brass,  about  i|-irich 
wide.  These  should  be  made  to  fit  closely,  but  not 
so  tightly  as  to  prevent  the  glass  slip  from  sliding 
easily  through  them.  To  the  middle  of  one  end  of 
each  sheath  is  soldered  a  small  brass  arm  (shaped  as 
in  Fig.  2),  carrying  a  fine  screw  on  one  arm,  which, 
when  secured  in  position,  projects  about  5-inch 
beyond  the  end  of  the  sheath. 

A  piece  about  ij  inch  long,  cut  off  a  thin  glass 
slide,  and  a  thick  india-rubber  ring  (those  used  for 
Cod's  patent  soda-water  bottles  serve  excellently) 
completes  our  requirements. 

To  put  the  parts  together,  slip  the  sheaths,  one  on 
to  each  end  of  the  glass  slide,  with  their  two  little 
screw  arms  projecting  towards  each  other.    Now  cut 


8 


HARDIVICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


a  small  piece  out  of  the  circumference  of  the  india- 
rubber  ring,  and  place  it  on  the  slide  between  the 
sheaths,  with  the  opening  towards  one  of  the  long 
sides  of  the  slide.  Place  on  top  of  the  ring  the  short 
piece  of  glass,  and  slide  the  sheaths  towards  each 
other,  till  the  small  screws  project  over  its  ends. 
Then,  by  turning  down  the  screws,  the  ring  is  com- 
pressed between  the  two  pieces  of  glass,  and  a  perfectly 
water-tight  cell  results.  By  using  rings  of  different 
thickness,  cells  of  eveiy  convenient  depth  may  be 
obtained. 

When  one  has  finished  working  with  it,  the  whole 


It  consists  of  a  block  of  well-seasoned  wood, 
5X3x3  inches.  At  \\  inch  from  one  end  of  the 
block  a  hole  is  bored  of  such  diameter  as  may  be 
necessary  to  admit  the  cylinder  of  a  pewter  syringe 
of  about  \  inch  internal  diameter.  This  hole  runs 
vertically  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  surface  of  the 
block.  Across  the  opposite  end  of  the  block  is  cut 
a  horizontal  notch,  \\  inch  deep  and  wide.  Cut  off 
the  nozzle  end  of  the  syringe,  so  as  to  leave  a  piece 
of  tube  three  inches  long,  and  cut  the  handle  off  the 
plunger  so  as  to  leave  only  the  piston  part.  This 
should  be  packed   as   neatly  as  possible,  and  have 


W/Wa 


Fig.  2. — Live  Cell. 


" 


^j 


i&. 


Fig.  3. — Elevation  of  Live  Cell. 


1 


Lrl 


_  _" '","" 


z 


% 


§1 


tabl; 


3 


l§3 


Fig.  4. — Inexpensive  Microtome.     Vert,  section. 

thing  can  be  taken  to  pieces  in  an  instant  and 
cleaned.  If  a  well-polished  piece  of  glass,  free  from 
flaws,  be  chosen  for  the  upper  plate,  its  thickness 
will  not  be  found  to  interfere  very  materially  with  the 
performance  of  any  power  below  J-inch. 

While  on  the  subject  of  cheap  apparatus,  I  will 
describe  a  form  of  microtome  which  can  be  made  by 
any  one,  with  a  slight  mechanical  turn,  for  about 
eighteen-pence.  In  many  essential  points  it  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  Mr.  A.  B.  Chapman,  described 
in  your  June  number,  as,  however,  I  constructed  and 
used  it  more  than  ten  years  ago,  I  must  claim  to  be 
guiltless  of  plagiarism. 


CLASS     3X| 

0 

CLASS    3X1 

■ 

Fig.  5. — Upper  Surface  of  Microtome. 

soldered  to  its  upper  surface  a  small 
Z-shaped  piece  of  tin,  so  as  to  give  the 
parapin  a  firm  hold  on  the  piston. 

Cement  the  tube  into  the  hole  in  the 
block  with  shellac  or  'elastic  glue,  so  that 
one  end  projects  about  the  thickness  of  a 
glass  slide  above  the  upper  surface,  and 
cement  on  to  the  upper  surface  of  the  block, 
along  each  side  of    the  projecting  portion 

7         of  the  syringe,    an   ordinary  ground-edged 

^>  glass  slide,  taking  care  to  choose  a  pair  of 
equal  thickness,  and  with  well-rounded 
edges.     Now  procure  a  fine  screw  running 

on  an  oblong-nut  :    the  nut  to  have  a  hole 

to  take  the  head  of  a  wood-screw  at  each 
end,  and  secure  it  by  means  of  a  couple  of 
screws  to  the  under  surface  of  the  block,  so 
that  the  fine  screw  works  up  and  down  in 
the  centre  of  the  pewter  tube.  Get  also 
one  of  the  coarse  iron  screws  with  brass 
fittings,  such  as  are  used  to  fasten  old- 
fashioned  window  sashes,  procurable  from 
any  ironmonger,  and  fasten  this  to  the  under 
surface  of  block,  so  that  the  coarse  screw  may  work 
into  the  notch  already  described. 

To  use  the  machine,  place  it  with  the  edge  of  a 
lath  projecting  into  the  horizontal  notch.  Then  by 
screwing  up  the  coarse  screw,  it  will  be  firmly 
clamped  to  the  table,  and  projecting  beyond  it,  a 
position  extremity  convenient  for  working. 

Now  turn  down  the  fine  screw,  and  push  the 
piston,  with  the  finger,  down  through  the  tube  on 
to  it.  The  well  is  then  filled  with  a  melted  mixture 
of  five  parts  solid  paraffin  to  one  part  tallow, 
and  the  object  to  be  cut  embedded  in  this.  The 
sections  are  then  taken  in  the  usual  way,  the  two 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ground    edged   slides  acting   as    the   guides  to   the 


razor 


With  one  constructed  in  this  way,  I  have  procured 
sections  finer  than  I  have  got  with  any  other  non- 
freezing  machine. 

I  have  one  further  limit  to  add.  In  cementing  on 
the  two  glass  slides,  take  care  that,  if  not  quite 
horizontal,  they  may  tend  to  form  a  V,  rather  than 
an  A  with  each  other,  as  should  the  inner  edges  be 
the  least  higher  than  the  outer,  the  razor  will  be 
very  quickly  blunted,  whereas,  on  account  of  the 
razor  edge  being,  as  a  rule,  somewhat  curved,  the 
circumstance  of  the  outer  edges  being  a  little  high  is 
of  no  moment.  Also  do  not  be  tempted  to  make 
your  well  of  large  diameter  ;  \  inch  is  quite  as  large  a 
section  as  one  is  likely  to  want,  and  the  smaller  the 
diameter  of  the  well,  the  more  even  will  the  sections  be. 

Of  course  a  brass  tube  and  plunger  may  be  made 


form  sori,  seated  on  scarcely  perceptible  spots,  on  the 
underside  of  the  leaves  (only  rarely  on  the  upper 
side) ;  the  sori  were  scattered,  or  irregularly  grouped, 
occasionally  in  orbicular  clusters,  round  or  oval, 
averaging  300  /j.  in  diameter,  convex  and  elevated. 
The  epidermis  persisted  round  the  sori,  forming  a 
somewhat  dome-shaped  investment,  ruptured  at  the 
summit,  where  it  was  pale  in  colour,  but  below  dark- 
brown,  owing  to  the  paraphyses  showing  through. 
These  paraphyses,  which  formed  the  most  striking 
feature,  were  arranged  in  a  single  ring,  surrounding 
the  sorus,  just  within  the  persistent  epidermis  ;  they 
were  dark-brown,  shining,  oblong-cylindrical,  en- 
larged at  the  apex  (club-shaped),  inclining  inwards 
towards  the  centre,  from  80-100  fi  long  or  more,  and 
about  12-15  <"■  thick.     (Figs.  6  &  7.) 

Within  these  were  the  uredo-spores,  oval,  obovate, 
oblong,  or  roundish  in  shape,  surrounded  by  a  very 


.Fig.  6. — Sorus,  emptied  of  spores,  showing  the  paraphyses.  X  80. 


'I    '  W\  \  U 

f  Ji 

Fig.  7. — Paraphyses.     X  250. 


Fig.  S. — Puccinia  So'ichi.     a,  Uredospores  ;  b,  transition  to 

mesospores  ;  c,  mesospores ;  d,  teleutospore  (,:). 

X  250. 


■use  of,  if  desired ;  but,  somehow,  I  never  got  one  to 
act  as  well  as  my  old  "  sixpenny  squirt."     Though  I 
•made  many  of  them,  one  time  and  another,  either 
for  friends,  or  in  the  hope  of  improving  the  machine. 
G.  M.  Giles,  M.B.,  F.R.C.S. 
Peshaivar.  Surgeon  Ind.  Medical  Service. 


A   NEW   BRITISH    PUCCINIA. 

IN  October  la  it,  Mr.  II.  Ffawkes  sent  me,  from 
near  Birmingham,  a  fungus  upon  the  leaves  of 
Sonchus,  which  had  the  appearance  of  a  Puccinia, 
but  in  which  he  could  find  none  of  the  characteristic 
two-celled  spores.  A  careful  examination  convinced 
me  that  I  had,  in  all  probability,  the  uredo-stage  of  a 
Puccinia  hitherto,  I  believe,  unrecorded  in  Britain, 
viz :  Puccinia  sonc/ii,  Desmaz.  First,  to  describe 
the  fungus  in  question  :— It  occurred  in  small  puncti- 


thick,  colourless,  warted  membrane  (Fig.  S,  a) ; 
contents  very  pale  yellow,  with  a  few  oily  drops  ; 
30-50  n  long,  and  20-24  M  broad.  No  other  spores 
than  these  could  be  seen  in  situ  ;  but,  on  scraping  off  a 
few  sori,  asmall  number  of  meso-spores  were  observed, 
which  differed  in  being  of  a  darker  brownish  colour, 
and  less  or  not  at  all  warted  surface  ;  the  transition 
from  the  uredo-spores  to  the  meso-spores  could  be 
clearly  traced.  (Fig.  8,  b  and  c.)  A  persistent  search 
revealed  a  few  teleuto-spores,  which  were  oval,  not 
constricted,  smooth,  and  dark-brown  ;  but  so  small 
was  the  number  that  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that 
these  were  accidental  intruders,  and  did  not  belong 
to  the  same  species.  They  might  have  been  blown 
on  to  the  leaf  from  some  neighbouring  plant  infested 
with  a  Puccinia.    (Fig.  S,  d.) 

The  plants  on  which  this  fungus  was  found  were 
two  small  seedlings,  not  in  flower,  growing  on  rubbish 
which  had  been  thrown  out  of  the  canal  in  cleaning  it ; 


IO 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


every  leaf  was  infested.  If  the  description  just  given 
is  compared  with  that  of  P.  soncki,  which  I  will  pro- 
ceed to  translate  from  Winter's  "Pilze,"  p.  189,  it 
will  be  seen  that  ours  was  probably  the  early  stage  of 
the  latter,  but  had  not  yet  reached  the  time  for  the 
production  of  teleutospores.  The  chief  difference 
lies  in  the  fact  that  I  found  the  circle  of  paraphyses 
round  the  pustules  of  uredo  spores. 

Puccinia  sonchi,  Desm. — II.  Sori  at  first  covered 
by  the  epidermis,  which  is  swollen  like  a  bladder, 
afterwards  surrounded  by  it  like  a  bowl ;  roundish- 
pulvinate,  scattered  or  grouped  without  order,  brown. 
Spoies  roundish,  ovate,  elliptic  or  oblong,  with  a  very 
thick,  colourless,  warted  membrane,  and  yellow  oil, 
23-35  /*  l°nS>  J6-2i  jx  thick.  III. — Sori  more  com- 
pact than  in  II.,  roundish-pulvinate,  on  the  stem  ob- 
long, often  confluent,  scattered,  or  arranged  in  circles, 
or  even  grouped  without  order  ;  black,  surrounded  by 
brown  paraphyses,  which  are  clavately  thickened 
above.  Spores  on  a  pretty  long,  persistent  peduncle, 
elliptic  or  oblong,  somewhat  constricted,  rounded 
below,  or  tapering  into  the  peduncle,  only  slightly 
thickened  and  rounded  or  cap-shaped,  at  the  apex  ; 
smooth,  clear-brown,  30-60  /u.  long,  19-30  fj.  thick. 
Mesospores  numerous,  similar,  but  only  one-celled  ; 
generally  more  thickened  at  the  apex,  reaching  50  jjl 
in  length. 

W.  B.  Grove,  B.A. 


HOW-TO  KEEP  SMALL  MARINE  AQUARIA. 

IN  Science-Gossip  for  April  of  this  year,  I 
described  two  small  glass -jar  aquaria,  which  I 
had  started  in  the  middle  of  October,  18S3,  as  an 
experiment,  and  which,  up  to  that  time,  had  proved 
most  successful  for  so  small  a  quantity  of  water. 
Now,  on  October  20th,  1884,  one  jar  still  remains, 
with  four  of  its  original  occupants  after  a  most  trying 
time  of  it. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  felt  interested  in  my 
former  paper,  I  will  briefly  sketch  the  history  of  my 
miniature  aquarium  during  one  of  the  hottest 
summers  we  have  had  for  many  a  year. 

My  first  death  was  the  small  A.  dianthus,  which 
seemed  to  grow  gradually  less  for  want  of.  fresh 
sea-water,  and  ultimately  died.  About  the  end  of 
May  I  left  home,  but  before  going,  I  changed  the 
water  of  the  two  jars  (from  my  reserve  quart),  and 
stood  the  jars  in  a  pan  of  water,  covering  them  with 
a  piece  of  woollen  material  capable  of  keeping  moist 
by  capillary  attraction  ;  finally  placing  the  whole  in 
a  cool  dark  place. 

Upon  my  return,  I  was  sorry  to  find  the  mussels 
dead,  and  the  water  so  offensive  that  the  winkles  had 
crawled  out,  and  the  two  old  A.  mesembryatitheuiurii, 
were  much  contracted  ;  the  young  had  disappeared. 

I  thought  this  was  a  final  collapse,  especially  as  the 
weather  had  set  in  very  warm.     However,  I  found 


that  my  reserve  sea-water  was  beautifully  clear,  so  I 
poured  off  the  tainted  water,  rinsed  out  jar  numbei 
one,  which  was  now  to  become  the  receptacle  for 
what  was  still  living,  and  poured  the  clear  water  upon 
the  survivors.  In  half-an-hour  matters  were  "in 
statu  quo  ante."  A.  mcsembryanthemum  unfolded 
their  tentacles,  and  Littorina  littorea  recommenced 
their  travels,  although  their  shells  began  to  show 
signs  of  want  of  lime. 

The  bad  sea-water,  the  smell  of  which  was  simply 
unbearable,  I  strained  carefully,  and  corked  up  in  a 
bottle,  keeping  it  in  the  dark,  and  shaking  it  up 
vigorously  every  day.  In  about  ten  days  it  was  as 
clear  and  sweet  as  the  other  ;  but  as  the  heat  of  the 
weather  increased  I  found  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
keeping  my  little  stock  from  decomposition.  I 
have,  however,  so  far  succeeded,  that  for  more  than 
one  year  I  kept  alive  four  out  of  nine  animals  in 
a  pint  jar  of  sea-water,  without  introducing  any  fresh 
sea-water  or  any  alga;. 

Now  that  the  year  is  up,  I  have  put  into  the  jar  a 
good  clump  of  ulva,  fresh  from  the  coast,  and  a 
piece  of  chalk.  The  effect  is  evidently  gratifying  to 
the  prisoners,  for  there  is  a  sudden  addition  of  seven 
young  anemones,  which  I  saw  ejected  myself. 

Considering  the  great  heat,  and  the  fact  that  I 
confined  my  experiment  strictly  to  the  materials  I 
commenced  with,  I  think  that  there  is  as  little  trouble 
in  keeping  a  small  marine  aquarium  as  in  keeping  a 
fresh-water  one,  provided,  of  course,  that  one  or  two 
simple  laws  are  followed,  and  that  the  animals  selected 
be  hardy  species. 


Edward  Lovett. 


Addiscombe,  Croydon. 


GLASTONBURY  AND  ITS  THORN. 
By  William  Roberts. 

THE  Somersetshire  town  of  Glastonbury  is  one  of 
great  antiquity.  It  was  called  by  the  ancient 
Britons  Avalon,  from  the  abundance  of  apple-trees  in 
the  district  ;  and  by  the  Saxons  Glasln-a-byrig,  from 
which  its  present  name  is  immediately  derived. 

Within  a  short  distance  of,  and  in  a  south-west 
direction  from,  the  site  of  the  present  town,  is  situated 
a  place  known  from  time  immemorial  as  "Weary 
Hill,"  and  here,  it  is  conjectured,  the  first  society  of 
Christian  worshippers  established  themselves  in 
Britain.  St.  Patrick,  who  came  over  from  Ireland  in 
439,  is  said  to  have  spent  thirty  years  of  his  life  in  the 
convent  then  existing  at  the  spot.  Previous  to  this 
saint's  visit,  the  brethren  had  lived  in  miserably 
furnished  huts  scattered  round  about  the  vicinity  of 
the  place  of  worship  ;  and  the  primitive  form  of 
religion,  which,  after  the  death  of  Lucius,  the  first 
Christian  king  of  Britain,  had  fallen  into  disuse,  was 
again  resuscitated  with  all  its  former  vigour. 

In  530  David,  Archbishop  of  Menevia,  with  seven 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ii 


of  his  followers,  retired  to  Glastonbury,  where  they 
greatly  improved  the  church  and  form  of  religion, 
and  moreover  enriched  the  altar  with  a  sapphire  of 
inestimable  value. 

King  Arthur,  after  the  fatal  battle  with  his  nephew 
Mordred,  was  interred  in  Glastonbury  ;  his  remains 
are  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.,  who  instigated  a  search,  which  resulted  in 
a  large  cross  being  exhumed  from  the  tomb,  bearing  an 
inscription  in  rude  characters  something  to  the  effect 
of  "  Here  lies  the  famous  King  Arthur,  buried  in  the 
isle  of  Avalon."  Beneath  was  discovered  a  coffin- 
like  excavation  in  the  solid  rock  containing  the  bones 
of  a  human  body,  which  was  supposed  to  be  that  of 
King  Arthur.  These  bones  were  deposited  in  the 
church  and  covered  with  a  sumptuous  monument. 

In  708  Ina,  king  of  the  Saxons,  in  a  sudden  and 
spasmodic  fit  of  zeal,  greatly  improved_the  convent, 
but  it  was  left  to  Dunstan  to  execute  alterations  a*hd 
improvements  of  any  magnitude.  He  caused  the 
abbey  to  be  enlarged,  and  had  it  furnished  in  a  state 
of  unrivalled  magnificence  and  splendour,  to  such  an 
extent,  indeed,  that  in  a  short  time  it  became  "  the 
pride  of  England,  and  the  glory  of  Christendom,"  as 
an  old  chronicler  states.  This  was  soon  after  the 
year  942. 

Edgar,  who  had  a  palace  within  two  miles  of  the 
town,  and  in  a  romantic  situation  still  called 
v'Edgarley," — now  a  hamlet  in  the  parish  of  St. 
John — endowed  the  abbey  with  several  estates,  and 
invested  the  monks  with  extensive  privileges.  The 
abbots  ^lived  en  prince ;  the  revenue  having  been,  so 
far  as  we  can  ascertain,  quite  ,£40,000.  This  large 
sum  of  money,  in  common  with  the  revenues  of  other 
abbeys,  was  appropriated  by  William  I.  From  various 
causes,  partly  through  internal  ruptions  and  external 
civil  wars  and  strife,  these  magnificent  buildings 
vapidly  degenerated  into  ruins,  and  nothing  was 
present  in  1797  to  demonstrate  a  former  glory,  except 
the  abbot's  kitchen — which  was  pretty  entire. 

Having  briefly  sketched  the  history  of  the  ancient 
town  of  Glastonbury,  it  now  remains  for  us  to  mention 
a  shrub  narrowly  associated  with  the  legendary  lore 
of  this  place ;  it  is  the  Glastonbury  thorn,  a  variety 
of  Cratagus  oxyacantha.  Its  origin  is  obscure,  and 
even  that  highly-respected  individual,  "the  oldest 
inhabitant,"  is  not,  as  is  usually  the  case,  very  dog- 
matic on  the  point.  There  are,  however,  three  theories 
in  connection  with  the  history  of  this  shrub.  According 
to  some,  it  originated  with  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  who 
is  reputed  to  have  visited  England,  and,  having  struck 
his  staff  into  the  ground,  the  celebrated  thorn  of 
Glastonbury  grew  from  it.  It  is  also  alleged  that 
this  same  shrub  was  planted  by  St.  Peter  from  a  staff 
formed  from  the  Jerusalem  plant,  whence  the  "  crown 
of  thorns "  was  made.  The  third  version  is  that  it 
was  planted  originally  by  St.  Patrick  ;  and  if  we  are 
compelled  to  accept  at  least  one  of  these  theories  let 
t  be  the  last,  by  all  means. 


On  Christmas  Eve,  1753,  a  vast  concourse  of  people 
attended  the  noted  thorn  at  Glastonbury,  expecting  it 
to  flower  then  ;  but  they  were  disappointed.  It  is 
recorded,  however,  that  they  watched  it  again  on  the 
5th  of  January — the  old  Christmas  Day — when  it 
burst  forth  flotver  as  usual.  The  cause  of  its  blooming 
at  Christmas  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
owner  of  the  original  tree— whoever  he  may  have 
been — fixed  the  staff  into  the  ground  on  a  Christmas 
Day,  when  it  immediately  rooted,  put  forth  leaves,  and 
the  next  day  was  covered  with  milk-white  blossoms. 
It  continued,  so  we  are  told,  to  bloom  every  Christmas 
Day  for  a  series  of  years  with  great  regularity.  0 
tempora  ! 

At  Quainton,  in  Bucks,  we  have  it  authentically 
recorded  that  above  ten  thousand  persons  on  one 
occasion  went  with  lanterns  and  candles  to  view  a 
thorn  in  that  neighbourhood,  which  was  remembered 
to  have  been  a  slip  from  that  at  Glastonbury. 

Another  presumably  miraculous  wonder  inflicted  on 
the  credulity  of  the  Glastonbury  folks  in  former  days 
was  a  walnut-tree,  which  was  said  never  to  expand  its 
leaves  before  the  1  ith  of  June — the  feast  of  St.  Barna- 
bas— but  this  long  ago  ceased  to  exist. 

Equally  absurd  is  a  variety  of  legendary  tales  which 
have  become  interwoven  with  the  history  of  this 
place ;  particularly  that  in  connection  with  some 
Chalybeate  springs.  These  were  numerouslyattended 
formerly  by  invalids  from  all  parts,  ostensibly  for  the 
purpose  of  participating  in  their  reputed  curative 
qualities. 

Again,  adverting  to  the  thorn,  its  season  of  flower- 
ing, and  the  regularity  of  same,  is  passing  strange. 
We  have  had  it  in  flower  in  the  sunny  clime  of  Corn- 
wall repeatedly  at,  or  near,  but  rarely  before,  Christ- 
mas. We  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  after  a  patient 
research,  and  sifting  the  exceedingly  few  facts 
known,  that  its  pedigree  is  not  nearly  so  extensive  as 
is  popularly  supposed. 


THE   GEOLOGICAL   RECORD" 
HALDON,!  DEVONSHIRE. 


AT 


By  the  Rev.  W.  Downes,  B.A.,  F.G.S. 

WHEN  summer  visitors  to  Teignmouth  or 
Dawlish  have  spent  a  day  or  two  in  boating, 
bathing,  and  strolling  along  the  beach,  and  a  variety 
in  the  programme  of  the  day  is  becoming  desirable, 
the  first  thing  probably  which  will  suggest  itself  to 
them,  or  be  suggested  by  others,  will  be  a  walk  upon 
Haldon.  Nor  could  any  better  suggestion  be  made. 
That  elevated  plateau  is  equally  accessible  from  either 
of  the  two  watering  places,  and  is  about  equi-distant 
from  either.  Two  miles  of  stiff  and  steady  up-hill  work 
will  take  the  pedestrian  from  sea-level  to  760  feet 
above  it,  where  he  will  be  fully  rewarded  for  his 
climb  by  the  splendid  view  over  land  and  sea  which 


12 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


awaits  him.  The  conspicuous  headland,  known  as 
the  "  Ness,"  and  the  estuary  of  the  Teign  will  be  im- 
mediately beneath  him,  and  his  eye  will  range  east- 
ward, and  south-eastward  along  the  red  cliffs  of  S. 
Devon  ;  or,  if  he  faces  the  other  way,  along  the  Tors 
of  Dartmoor.  A  less  conspicuous  object,  but  one 
which,  if  he  be  a  geologist,  will  have  a  special  interest 
for  him,  will  be  the  Blackdown  range,  about  25*miles 
distant,  on  the  far  side  of  the  Exe  valley  upon  the 
Somersetshire  and  Dorsetshire  border. 

Of  this    Blackdown   rans;e,   the  Haldons  are  two 


supply  is  nearly  exhausted)  are  still  being  cut  out  of 
the  hard  concretionary  nodules  of  sandstone.  At 
Haldon,  however,  the  fossil  fauna  (corals  excepted)  is 
comparatively  poor,  for  out  of  some  200  species  found 
at  Blackdown  50  only  occur  at  Haldon.  'Whetstones 
moreover  are  not  quarried  at  the  latter  place  at  all. 
The  reason  of  the  above  facts  will  presently  appear. 

If  we  examine  the  general  structure  of  the  country, 
we  find  that  horizontal  beds  of  greensand  rest  uncon- 
formably  upon  the  edges  of  triassic  and  liassic  beds 
alike  (see  fig.  9).  Both  of  the  latter  differ  slightly  to  the 


Fig.  9. — Generalised  Section  of  South  Eastern  Devonshire. 


TRIAS 


^ 


LIAS  GREENSAND  FLINT  GRAVEl 

.Vertical  scale  about  800  feet  to  the  inch.     Distance  horizontally, 
about  30  miles. 


Fig.  10. — Ca?dium  Hillamim. 


Fig.  \\.—Exogyra  conica.  Fig.in.—T/triiellagrauulala.         Fig.  i^.—Pectenquadricostatus- 


Fig.  14.  —  Fossil 
sponge  {Si/>ho- 
nia  pyriformis). 


outliers  of  irregular  outline.  Great  Haldon  on  the 
north,  is  about  five  miles  long,  and  averages  about  one 
mile  in  breadth,  while  Little  Haldon,  separated  from 
the  larger  outlier  by  a  slight  depression  in  the  Trias  is 
two  miles  long,  and  rather  more  than  half  a  mile  wide. 
In  ascending  the  hill  the  trias  is  found  to  extend  to 
within  80  feet  or  90  feet  of  the  summit,  when  it  is 
covered  by  about  50  feet  of  greensand,  capped  in  turn 
by  about  40  feet  of  flint  gravel. 

The  greensand  of  Blackdown  is  famous  for  two 
things,  its  abundant  and  splendidly  preserved  fossil 
fauna,   and   its    whetstones.     The  latter   (though   the 


eastward.  With  regard  to  the  greensand  it  will  be 
sufficient  for  the  present  purpose  to  subdivide  it  into 
three  general  portions,  and  to  call  them  respectively 
lower,  middle,  and  upper  Blackdown  beds.  It  will 
then  be  found  that  the  lower  and  middle  beds,  which 
contain  the  whetstones  and  the  chief  fossiliferous  zones, 
have  thinned  out  to  the  westward,  so  that  only  the 
upper  beds  are  found  at  Haldon.  The  upper  beds 
themselves  have  however  rather  increased  in  thickness 
westward,  and  include  a  coral  zone  in  their  upper 
portion  not  found  at  Blackdown.  This  fact,  together 
with  the  greatly  increased  thickness  of  the  flint  gravel,, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


13 


render  the  cretaceous  matter  on  Haldon  approxi- 
mately (but  not  quite)  as  thick  as  at  Blackdown.  The 
corals  have  been  described  by  Professor  Duncan. 
(Q.  J.  G.  S.,  Feb.  1879.) 

The  angular  flints,  which  are  doubtless  the  result 
mainly  of  sub-aerial  denudation,  presuppose  a  con- 
siderable thickness  of  chalk,  which  at  one  time  capped 
l he  greensand,  but  which  has  now  vanished  altogether, 
with  the  exception  of  this  coarser  and  insoluble  resi- 


that  in  this  way  it  obtained  both  its  rounded  pebbles 
and  its  plateau  features.  It  became  in  fact  a  plain  of 
marine  denudation.  Since  that  time  however  it  has 
been  re-elevated  several  hundred  feet,  so  that  rain  and 
rivers  have  "writ  their  wrinkles"  upon  it,  and  have 
produced  a  vast  hiatus  between  the  outliers  and  the 
parent  mass. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  sum  up  the  record.  I.  We  have 
at  the  base,   Trias,  which   was   deposited   probably 


^CCjOQGoc 


Fi?.  20. 


Fig. 


Fig.  16.  Fig.  17.  Fig.  21.  Fig.  22 

Figs.  15-22.— Fossil  Sponge  Spicules,  nil  drawn  on  the  scale  of  J5th  to  r^j„th  of  an  inch.     (H.  J.  Carter  on  "  Fossil  Sponge: 
Spicules  .  .  .  from  Blackdown  and  Haldon,"  "  Annals  a.id"  Magazine  of  Natural  History,"  for  Feb.  1871,  p.  1 59.) 


Fig.  23. — Gcrvillea  auceps. 

duum.  But  sub-aerial  denudation  is  not  the  only 
physical  change  indicated  by  the  flint  gravel,  for  upon 
the  surface  and  for  about  a  foot  beneath  it  rounded 
pebbles  occur,  not  only  of  flint,  but  also  of  rocks 
foreign  to  the  bed  itself,  such  as  quartz  and  grit 
derived  from  the  Palseozoic  rocks  adjoining. 

Here  then  again  come  traces  of  aqueous  action. 
And  the  natural  inference  seems  to  be  that  the  bed 
had  sunk  again  beneath  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and 


Fig.  24. — Ammonites  varicosus. 

in  an  inland  sea.  2.  Subsidence,  and  more  truly  marine- 
conditions,  when  the  Lias  was  deposited.  3.  Eleva- 
tion, tilting,  and  denudation,  prior  to  the  depo- 
sition of  the  greensand.  4.  Subsidence,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  the  deposition  of  the  greensand  beds. 
5.  Elevation,  or  silting  up,  or  both,  until  shallower- 
water  and  littoral  conditions  favoured  the  growth  of 
encrusting  corals  and  polyzoa.  6.  Subsidence  again 
till  oceanic  conditions  prevailed,  and  chalk  beds  of 


14 


HARD  WICKE 'S  SCIENCE-  G  OSSIP. 


•considerable  thickness  were  formed.  7.  Re-elevation, 
at  least  above  sea  level,  to  account  for  the  sub-aerial 
denudation  of  the  chalk.  8.  A  slight  re-subsidence,  to 
form  the  marine  plateau  and  introduce  the  rounded 
and  foreign  pebbles.  9.  Re-elevation  to  the  present 
altitude,  combined  with  extensive  recent  denudation 
and  excavation  of  the  present  valleys.  Denudation 
has  swept  away  enormous  masses  of  both  Trias  and 
Greensand,  but  happily  it  is  a  broom  which  seldom 
sweeps  quite  clean,  and  hence  Haldon  is  left  to  tell 
its  tale. 


BRITISH  PLANTS  IN  NYMAN'S  "  CON- 
SPECTUS FLOR.E   EUROPyE^E." 

By  A.  R.  Waller. 

THE  following  notes  are  intended  to  give  the 
readers  of  Science-Gossip  some  idea  of  the 
differences  in  the  nomenclature  and  classification  of 
British  plants  in  Dr.  Nyman's  "  Conspectus  Florce 
Europseae."  Dr.  Nyman's  work  is  most  invaluable  to 
all  systematic  and  geographical  botanists ;  as  it  gives 
the  full  distribution  of  all  known  European  species 
and  sub-species,  and  in  many  cases  that  of  varieties. 
English  botanists  will  have  to  adopt  the  earlier 
names  he  uses,  as  the  only  safe  rule  for  botanical 
nomenclature  is  that  of  absolute  priority. 

The  classification  of  the  Thalictrums  (meadow  rues) 
is  rather  different  to  what  we  have  generally  been  ac- 
customed to  use.  T.  Jacquinianum,  K.  (=T.  minus, 
Jacq.  non  L.),  is  the  plant  we  have  so  long  called 
T.majtis,  Smith,  "Jacq."  :  T.  majus,  Murr.  "Jacq." 
is  not  a  British  plant.  England  might  be  added  to 
the  list  of  countries  for  T.  alpinum,  L.  (Alpine 
meadow  rue) ;  it  grows  in  Yorkshire,  Westmoreland, 
•&c.  It  is  mentioned  as  growing  in  Scotland  and 
Wales.  The  Jersey  buttercup  is  not  thought  to  be 
Ranunculus  charophy  litis,  L.,  but  R.  flabellatus,  Dsf. 
var.  Europaa.  R.  sardous,  Cr.,  1763,  rightly  replaces 
R.  Philonolis,  Ehrh.  1788,  as  the]  name  of  the  hairy 
buttercup,  and  Glaucium  flavum,  Cr.,  1769,  instead  of 
G.  lutcum,  Sep.  1772,  for  the  yellow-horned  poppy, 
is  another  change  in  the  right  direction.  Fumaria 
JBorai,  Jord.,  is  elevated  to  specific  rank  with  F. 
Bastardi,  Bor.,  1847  (  =  /'.  confusa,  Jord.  1848),  as  a 
sub-species.  Scotland  might  be  added  to  the  list  of 
•countries  for  F.  parviflora,  Lam.  We  are  not  credited 
with  Iberis  arnara,  L.  (candy-tuft) ;  it  is  certainly 
native  in  the  centre  of  England. 

Lepidium  Smithii,  Hook.,  is  considered  a  variety  of 
L.  heterophyllum,  Bth.  Coronopus  Ruellii,  All.  1785, 
gives  way  to  C.procumbcns,  Gil.,  1782.  Helianthemum 
vineale,  P.,  appears  as  a  full  species  with  H.  eanmn, 
Dun.,  as  a  variety,  thus  reversing  the  places  of  the 
two  plants.  Viola  per  mixta,  Jord.,  is  thought  to  be  a 
hybrid  between  V.  hirta,  L.,  and  V.  odorata,  L.,  and 
Drosera  obovata,  Mk.,    a   hybrid   between  D.  lougi- 


folia,  L.,  and  D.  rotundifolia,  L.  Polygala  serpyllacea, 
Whe.,  1826,  takes  the  place  of  P.  depressa,  Wend., 
1831,  and  Silene  Cucubalus,  Wib.,  1799,  that  of  S. 
infiata,  Sm.,  1800  (bladder  campion).  S.  quinque- 
vulnera,  L.,  is  thought  to  be  a  sub-species  of  S. 
lusitanica,  L.  Scotland  might  be  added  to  the  list 
of  countries  for  Dianlhus  Armeria,  L.  (Deptford 
Pink). 

Sisymbrium  Sophia,  Sinapis  arvensis,  Capsclla 
Bursa-pastoris,  Batrachium  heterophyllum,  and 
Violas  tricolor  and  arvensis  are  found  in  every  country 
in  Europe.  Erucastrum  Pollichii,  Schp.,  is  given  as  a 
native.  At  most,  it  is  only  a  colonist.  Arabiseiliata, 
Br.,  and  Brassica  mouensis,  Huds.,  are  among  the  very 
few  plants  which  are  confined  in  Europe  to  Britain. 


NOTES  ON  SOME  VARIETIES  OF  BRITISH 
SHELLS. 

I  HAVE  in  my  collection  several  interesting 
varieties  of  British  shells  which  do  not  corres- 
pond to  any  of  the  named  varieties  generally  regarded 
as  British,  but  are  nevertheless  fairly  well  marked. 
These  I  now  describe.  All  those  described  below 
were  taken  by  myself. 

1.  Hyatina  nididula,  var.  Shell  large,  whorls  4, 
slightly  whitish  beneath,  last  whorl  expanded,  and 
having  a  dull  waxy  appearance,  and  possessing  a 
rather  broad  band  in  thi  position  of  No.  5  in 
H.  nemoralis.  Found  at  West  Northdown,  in 
Thanet. 

2.  Hy.  glabra,  var.  Shell  greenish-white,  glossy, 
and  semi-transparent.     Bromley,  with  the  type. 

3.  Valvata  piscinalis,  var.  Shell  shewing  tracings 
of  spiral  banding.  I  am  not  sure  of  the  exact  locality, 
but  it  is  from  some  part  of  Kent. 

4.  Planorbis  vortex,  var.  Shell  large,  concave 
above,  keel  prominent,  and  placed  almost  in  centre 
of  periphery.     From  Fuiham. 

5.  Limnaa  glutinosa,  monst.  Spire  very  short, 
sunken,  slightly  raised  at  apex,  body  whorl  swollen 
above,  top  of  shell  nearly  flat.  St.  Nicholas  Marsh, 
with  type. 

6.  L.  peregra,  var.  Shell  showing  spiral  banding. 
From  a  ditch  near  Walmer  Castle,  Kent.     (v.  pictat) 

7.  L.  stagnalis,  var.  Shell  having  short  spire, 
body  whorl  large  and  expanded,  mouth  wide.  Pond 
at  Bromley  with  Lemna  minor.  Type  form  not 
present. 

8.  L.  stagnalis,  var.  Shell  smaller  than  type  and 
shaped  like  L.  palustris.  Suture  shallow.  Shell 
often  eroded.  Pond  at  Chislehurst,  with  Anacharis 
alsinastrum  and  Callitriche  verua. 

9.  L.  stagnalis,  var.  Shell  much  smaller  than 
type,  usually  about  %  inch  to  I  inch  in  length,  suture 
rather  deep.  Shell  eroded.  Pond  on  Chislehurst 
Common,  with  Polamogeton  crispus  and  Ranunculus 
aquatilis. 


HARD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SI  P. 


15 


10.  L.  stagnalis,  var.  Shell  shewing  traces  of 
spiral  banding.  Pond  at  Chislehurst,  with 
Ranunculus  aquatilis. 

1 1.  L.  palustris,  monst.  Shell  turrited,  about  i  inch 
in  length,  whorls  5,  last  whorl  more  than  half  length 
of  shell.     Pond  at  Bromley,  with  type. 

12.  L.  truncatula,  var.  Shell  having  3  whitish 
bands  on  body  whorl,  corresponding  to  3,  4,  and  5,  in 
H.  nemoralis.     Ditch  at  Bickley,  with  type. 

13.  SpJncrium  lacustre,  monst.  Shell  distorted  so 
as  to  resemble  Pisidium  amnicum  in  shape.  Pond 
at  Bromley,  with  type. 

14.  Cyclostoma  elegans,  var.  Shell  light  yellowish, 
traces  of  spiral  banding  on  upper  whorls.  Warling- 
ham,  Surrey,  with  type. 

15.  Helix  aspcrsa,  var.  Shell  having  four  well- 
defined  bands.  Chislehurst  Common,  amongst 
Pferis  aquilina. 

16.  Helix  aspersa,  var.  Shell  having  upper  portion 
of  whorl  chocolate  colour,  described  in  a  former  note 
(p.  91).  I  find  that  when  the  light  is  allowed  to 
pass  through  the  chocolate  coloured  portion  very 
faint  mottlings  become  visible,  indicating  those 
present  in  a  normal  shell. 

17.  H.  Cantiana,  var.  Shell  smaller  than  type, 
glossy,  and  semi-transparent,  slightly  tinged  with 
rufous,  especially  near  the  mouth.  Lip  pinkish. 
Farnborough,  Kent,  two  specimens. 

18.  H.  virgata,  var.  Shell  large,  and  having  one 
or  more  interrupted  bands.     Margate. 

19.  H.  nemoralis,  monst.  Shell  much  distorted 
from  repair  of  fracture,  umbilicus  wide  and  deep. 
Chislehurst  Common,  on  Pteris  aquilina. 

20.  Clausilia  biplicata,  monst.  Mouth  of  shell  oval, 
and  contorted,  probably  from  repair  of  fracture, 
channeling  of  lower  part  not  perceptible.  Three 
well-marked  denticles  present.  Near  Hammersmith, 
with  type. 

21.  C.  laminata,  var.  Shell  rather  tumid,  inside 
of  mouth,  including  denticles,  of  a  purplish-brown 
colour. 

Other  varieties  are  described  in  former  notes. 

T.    D.    A.    COCKERELL. 

Bedford  Park,  Chiszoick,  1884. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  JOTTINGS. 
On  Wasps,  chiefly. 

AS  stated  in  "  Natural  History  Jottings  for  1SS1," 
in  the  May  issue  of  Science-Gossip,  1882,  the 
summer  of  that  year,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Harnham  and  Bradford,  Northumberland,  was 
remarkable,  from  a  natural-history  point  of  view,  in 
the  almost  entire  absence  of  the  social  wasps  and 
humble  bees.  This  I  accounted  for  by  the  very 
severe  weather  prevalent  during  the  second  week  in 
June  killing  off  the  large  females,  or  queens,  with 
the  embryo  brood  which  they  would  be  undoubtedly 


at  that  time  rearing  ;  as  these  foundresses  of  colonies,, 
of  both  tribes,  had  been  plentiful  enough  during  the 
latter  part  of  May  and  commencement  of  June,  and  I 
had  already  observed  the  wasps  gathering  wood 
fibres  for  the  manufacture  of  the  paper  of  which  they 
build  their  nests  and  combs.*  Moreover,  during  the 
spell  of  wintry  weather  that  prevailed  from  June  6th 
to  10th  inclusive,  I  had  discovered  a  nest  of  the 
moss  or  carder  bee  (Bonibus  muscorum),  containing  a 
large  amorphous  cell,  or  wax-enclosed  mass  of  bee- 
bread,  enclosing  six  or  seven  larvae  of  varying  size 
from  very  small  to  what  I  took  for  nearly  full-grown, 
as  well  as  a  single  elegantly  urn-shaped  thin  wax 
cell  containing  a  very  little  clear  honey. 

The  summer  of  1883,  however,  was  remark- 
able for  a  superabundance  of  the  social  wasps,  and 
an  abundance  of  the  humble  bees.  To  give  an  idea 
of  the  great  plenty  of  the  wasps  I  may  state  that  I 
have  known  of  twenty-five  nests,  or  "bikes"  (as 
they  are  here  called),  within  an  area  of  not  more  than 
forty  acres  of  meadow  and  pasture  land,  this  area 
being  represented  by  the  figure  of  a  square  ;  as  well 
as  two  more  nests  a  very  little  outside  that  square. 
Within  this  same  area  were  found  three  nests  of  the 
orange-tailed  humble  bee  (Bornbus  lapidaria),  and 
one  of  the  common  humble  bee  (B.  terrestris)  ;. 
whilst  outside  of  it,  but  at  no  great  distance,  another 
nest  of  each  species  was  found. 

Of  the  above-mentioned  twenty-seven  nests  of  the 
wasps,  fifteen  belonged  to  the  Vespa  vulgaris,  six  to- 
the  V.  sylvestris,  five  to  the  V.  ritfa,  and  one  to  the 
V.  Germanica.  In  addition  to  these  were  two  others, 
small  secondary  nests  of  the  V.  tufa,  built  on  the 
sites  of  the  first  nests  which  had  been  destroyed. 

Premising  that  I  was  in  the  district  indicated  from 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  week  in  July  until  near 
the  close  of  September  ; — that  the  earthen  dykes,  with 
their  hedgerows  and  numerous  trees,  bounding  the 
several  fields,  were  mostly  stone-faced  to  strengthen 
them  against  the  rutting  and  butting  of  the  cattle, 
though  with  occasional  interspaces  free  from  stones  ; 
that  flies  (Diptera)  were  exceedingly  numerous, 
especially  in  the  lee  of  the  dykes  and  hedgerows,  and 
fruit  abundant  ;  and  that  the  weather  during  the 
most  of  that  period  was  warm,  though  variable  and; 
moist  ; — I  shall  give  some  of  my  observations,  on  the 
wasps  chiefly,  mostly  as  they  were  jotted  down  and 
commented  on  at  the  moment. 

July  25th,  1883. — Wasps  are  exceedingly  numerous  ; 
have  already  seen  nearly  a  dozen  nests,  or  ' '  bikes. " 

July  30th. — Observe  more  wasps'  nests  in  the 
dykes.  I  have  also  observed  three  nests  in  the  level 
ground  in  a  small  meadow,  two  being  those  of  the 
Vespa  vulgaris  and  one  that  of  the  V.  rufa. 

August  2nd. — In  the  evening,  after  a  very  heavy 
and  continuous  rainfall,  the  temperature  being  then 
much  lowered,  three  large  nests  of  the  Vespa  sylvestris 


*  Science-Gossip,  May,  1882,  pp.  102,  103. 


i6 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


were    taken    out    of  an    earthen  dyke  in  great    part 
faced   with   stones.      Through    the  lowering   of  the 
temperature,  few,  if  any,  of  the  wasps  were  on  the 
wing.     The  three  nests  were  all  within  a  distance  of 
■eighty  paces,  two  of  them  being  within  only  twenty 
paces  of  each  other.     All  were  built  well  up  in  the 
face  of  the  dyke,  and  were  near  the  surface  ;  indeed, 
one  of  the  nests  had  a  goodly  segment  of  it  exposed 
to  view  ;  another  was  not  more  than  an  inch  within 
<the  small  hole  of  entrance  ;    whilst   the   third   was 
farther  back,  but  was  well  revealed  on  removing  two 
■of  the  stones  at  its  entrance,   behind  which  it  was 
situated.     These  nests  were  rounded  in  form,  and  of 
the  size  and  nearly  of  the  shape  of  a  large  turnip  ; 
and  were  composed  of  grey  and  grey-green  paper, 
•the  layers  of  the  shell  being  large,  thin  and  numerous. 
The  cells  of  the  comb  are  made  of  similar  paper  to 
ihat  constituting  the  shell,  or  case  ;  and  they  appear 
to  be  built  up  as  the  larvae  grow — as  needs  required. 
•  On  the  larva   becoming  full-fed  it  apparently  fully 
lines  its  cell  with  white  silk,  as  well  as  continuing 
the  edges  upwards  and  completely  covering  the  top 
of  the  cell  with  a  rounded  cap  of  the  same  substance, 
which  is  tough  and  strong  and  greatly  increases  the 
•strength  of  the  cells,  these  used  cells   being   again 
utilised  after  the  emergence- of  the  imagoes.     There 
are  both  large  and  small  cells  filled  with  pupae,   or 
nymphs.     New  and  imperfect  cells  containing  larvae 
.  are  on  the  margin  of  the  circular  platform  of  paper 
cells  constituting  the  comb  ;    and  there  are  ova  in 
many  of  the  formerly  used  cells,  fastened  by  one  end 
.to  the  side  of  the  cell  towards  its  bottom.     The  ovum 
is  oblong,  curving,  white  in  colour,  and  of  fair  size. 
There  are  larvae  of  all  sizes,  and  pupa?  or  nymphs  in 
all   stages    of    development   to   close   on   hatching : 
.indeed,  there  were  many  newly-hatched  wasps  in  the 
nests  when  taken.     All  the  three  sexes  were  repre- 
sented, there  being  the  workers,  the  large  females  or 
queens,  and  the  males  or  drones  with  their  longer 
antennas  and  slimmer  bodies,  all  three  kinds  being  of 
large  size  and  bright  colours. 

August  3rd. — This  afternoon  I  took  a  small  nest  of 
the  Vespa  rufa  out  of  the  same  dyke  as  that  out  of 
which  were  last  night  taken  the  three  nests  of  the 
V.  sylvestris,  but  on  its  opposite  side,  where  are  also 
two  nests  of  the  V.  vulgaris.  In  form  it  resembles  a 
small  turnip  on  a  depressed  sphere  ;  and  it  has  the 
oundish  hole  of  entrance  and  exit  in  the  centre 
beneath,  and  a  single  circular  platform  of  comb,  about 
two  inches  in  diameter,  which  is  suspended  by  a 
broad  paper  pillar  from  the  top  of  the  shell  of  the 
nest.  A  second  pillar,  to  support  a  second  and  lower 
platform  has  been  formed,  being  attached  to  the  side 
of  one  of  the  central,  used,  silk-lined  and  con- 
sequently strong  ceils  ;  and  it  has  a  very  rudimentary 
cell  at  its  extremity,  which  already  contains  one  of 
the  oblong,  milk-white  and  somewhat  curving  ova. 
The  outer  cells  of  the  platform  of  comb  are  very  rudi- 
jnentary,  but  each  contains  an  ovum  ;  the  inner  ones 


contain  larva?  of  various  sizes  ;  whilst,  further  in, 
towards  the  centre,  are  pupa;  or  nymphs,  and  vacated 
cells  which  again  contain  ova,  mostly  two  and  three  in 
number,  but  in  some  instances  even  four :  some  of 
the  cells  nearer  the  circumference,  which  have  not 
before  been  used,  also  contain  two  ova.  The  larvae 
of  this  species  of  wasp  are  not  white,  but  are  yellowish, 
or  buff-coloured.  This  nest  was  not  far  back  into  the 
dyke ;  and  the  mould  was  easily  dug  into,  so  easily 
indeed  that  the  nest  was  got  out  with  a  walking-stick. 
Nearly  all  the  wasps  found  at  it  were  taken ;  fifteen 
in  all,  seven  of  which  were  males,  and  eight  workers. 
In  the  evening,  however,  a  few  more  wasps  were 
taken  from  the  cavity  out  of  which  the  nest  had  been 
dug.  These  wasps  were  not  at  all  vicious  ;  the  larger 
ones  ( V.  sylvestris)  disturbed  last  night  were  very 
vicious.  On  the  following  day  I  took  a  few  more 
wasps  from  the  nest-cavity,  and  left  yet  a  few  lingering 
about  the  place.  No  queen,  however,  was  observed, 
only  males  and  workers  ;  had  there  been  one,  she 
would  have,  in  all  probability,  been  in  the  nest  when 
it  was  taken.  In  all  there  have  been  not  more  than 
thirty  wasps  belonging  to  this  small  nest.  Is  it  not 
somewhat  singular  that  there  should  be  males  at  so 
early  a  stage  of  the  nest  ? 

In  the  evening  a  very  large  and  strong  nest  of  the 
Vespa    Germanica   was    taken   out   of   a  stone- faced 
earthen  dyke.     On  removing  two  of  the  stones  the 
nest  was  fully  revealed  lying  in  a  cavity  behind,  its 
entire  depth  being  distinguishable.     The  case  of  this 
nest  is  of  a  shelled  character,  the  several  layers  of 
grey  and  grey-green  paper  constituting  it  being  laid 
on  in  large  shell-like  pieces  varying  in  dimensions ; 
and,  though  consisting  of  fine  vegetable  fibres,  it  is 
thicker  in  texture  than  is  the  paper  of  the  V.  sylvestris 
and    V.  rufa.     There  are  six  tiers,  or  platforms,  of 
comb  ;  and  the  nest  is  the  largest  I  have  yet  seen. 
The  ova  in  the  comb  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  shallow 
rudimentary  cells  at  and  near  the  margin  of  the  tier, 
and  down  towards  the  bottom,  or  only  midway  in  the 
deeper   cells   towards   and   at   the   centre ;    and  are 
oblong,  a  little   curving,  and   milk-white  in  colour. 
They  are  fastened  by  one  end  to  the  side  of  the  cell 
in  an  angle  and  project  outwards  into  an  acute  angle. 
There   is   here   mostly   only  one  ovum  in  each   cell, 
though,  in  some  instances,  two  and  even  three  ova 
have   been    deposited    in    the    deeper   cells.      There 
are,  as   well  as   ova,  larvae  of  all   sizes,    and   pupae 
or    nymphs   in    all    stages    of   development    up    to 
perfection,    young   wasps   emerging  from    the   cells. 
The  very  young  larvae  are  attached  to  the  side  of  the 
cell  in  the  same  manner  and  position  as  are  the  ova, 
appearing  indeed  almost  to  be  simply  an  outgrowth 
from  the  ovum  in  the  anterior  or  cephalic  region, — 
just  as  though  a  head  had  formed  there.     As  the  cells 
are  vertical  and  mouth  downwards,  some  secure  attach- 
ment will  be  absolutely  necessary  for  the  suspension 
and  safety  of  the  head-down  larvae.     No  males  were 
found  at  this  nest,  nor  the  queen  (which,  probably, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i7 


had  been  destroyed  in  the  burning  out  of  the  nest)  ; 
but  there  was  an  immense  host  of  very  active  and 
very  fierce  workers,  which  freely  attacked  the  would- 
be  destroyers  of  their  home,  and  it  was  no  light  task 
evading  their  stings,  as  they  were  most  persistent  in 
their  attacks  and  would  follow  one  far  from  their  nest. 
Also,  this  evening,  a  nest  of  the  Vcspa  sylvcstris, 
not  quite  so  large  as  the  three  taken  on  the  2nd 
inst.,  but  of  fair  size  and  the  same  shape,  was  taken 
out  of  the  above-mentioned  dyke  at  no  great  distance 
from  that  of  V.  Germanica.  It  also  was  situated  in 
a  cavity  immediately  behind  the  facing  stones  of  the 
dyke,  being  completely  exposed  on  the  removal  of 
a  few  of  them  that  lay  in  front  of  it.  '  In  it  were 
found  all  the  three  sexes,  workers,  large  females  and 
males ;  and  out  of  one  tier  of  comb  I  extracted 
several  of  the  large  females,  or  queens  and  males, 
that  were  just  about  ready  to  emerge. 

{To  be  continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

Death  has  been  very  busy  lately  with  scientific 
men.  We  have  to  mourn  the  loss  of  two  old  and 
valued  contributors :  Professor  Buckman,  F.G.S., 
whose  papers  on  geology  and  botany  were  frequent 
in  our  earlier  numbers,  and  Mr.  J.  F.  Robinson,  of 
Frodsham,  whose  "  Notes  for  Science-Classes"  were 
among  the  last  of  his  contributions  to  Science- 
Gossip.  Mr.  Robinson  died  at  the  early  age  of 
forty-five,  an  earnest,  simple-minded  botanist  and 
naturalist,  who  was  never  so  pleased  as  when  assisting 
other  students. 

Two  distinguished  geologists  have  just  passed 
away  :  Dr.  Thomas  Wright,  of  Cheltenham,  the  well- 
known  authority  on  British  Oolitic  fossils,  and  Mr. 
R.  A.  God  win-  Austin,  of  Guildford,  whose  papers 
and  researches  on  the  physical  geography  of  various 
of  the  geological  periods  gave  a  new  charm  to  the 
science,  and  also  aided  in  the  discovery  of  many  new 
truths. 

Mr.  A.  T.  Metcalfe,  F.G.S.,  has  communicated 
to  the  Geological  Society  his  discovery  in  one  of  the 
bone  caves  of  the  Cresswell  Crags  of  the  portion  of 
the  upper  jaw  of  the  mammoth,  containing  the  first 
and  second  milk  molar  teeth,  in  situ. 

The'  Natural  History  Collections  at  the  Albany 
Museum,  Graham's  Town,  have  long  been  known  to 
naturalists,  who,  however,  have  not  hitherto  been 
aware  of  their  extensive  character.  A  catalogue  has 
now  been  compiled  by  the  curator,  M.  Glanville,  and 
presented  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament  by  the 
Governor.  It  is  in  every  way  an  admirable  ana 
creditable  piece  of  work,  and  cannot  fail  to  be 
interesting  and  helpful,  both  to  naturalists  at  home 
and  abroad. 


The  new  Executive  Council  of  the  National 
Association  of  Science  and  Art  Teachers  held  its 
first  meeting  on  Saturday,  November  29th,  in  the 
Technical  School,  Manchester.  Dr.  II.  C.  Sorby, 
F.R.S.,  of  Sheffield,  presided,  and  there  were  present 
representatives  from  several  district  associations.  Sir 
Henry  E.  Roscoe,  F.R.S.,  &c,  was  unanimously 
elected  president.  The  new  rules  adopted  at  the 
Annual  Meeting  were  submitted,  and  ordered  to  be 
printed,  together  with  the  annual  report,  an  abstract 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  district  associations,  list  of 
members,  &c.  Measures  were  adopted  for  a  large- 
extension  of  the  Association,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  desirability  of  establishing 
a  newspaper  or  other  journal  for  science  and  art 
teachers.  Several  other  matters  were  discussed, 
including  a  circular  of  the  Science  and  Art  Depart- 
ment, respecting  prizes  and  scholarships,  the  dates  of 
examinations,  and  details  respecting  examinations  in 
machine  construction,  and  drawing  and  building 
construction,  and  in  art.  It  was  decided  to  hold  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Executive  Council  in  Birmingham 
early  in  February. 

A  notable  man,  Professor  Voelcker,  F.R.S.,  well 
known  as  a  writer  on  agricultural  chemistry,  has  just 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-two. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Lang,  F.L.S.,  has  drawn  up  a  "  Syste- 
matic List  of  the  Butterflies  of  Europe,"  extracted 
from  his  work  on  this  subject.  It  is  published  by 
Messrs.  Reeve  &  Co. 

Mr.  Charles  Baily,  F.L.S.,  has  kindly  sent  us  a 
copy  (profusely  illustrated)  of  the  resume  of  the  com- 
munications he  made  to  the  Leenwenhoek-  Microsco- 
pical Club,  and  the  Manchester  Philosophical  Society, 
"  On  the  structure,  the  occurrence  in  Lancashire, 
and  the  source  of  the  origin  of  Naias  gramiuea,  Del. 
var.  Deli  lei,  Magnus." 

Professor  Owen  has  drawn  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  upper  molar  teeth  of  an  eocene  mammal 
(Neoplagiaulax)  from  Rheims,  has  premolars  like 
those  of  the  secondary  mammal  Plagianlax. 

Mr.  W.  Brockhurst  has  demonstrated  to  the 
Linnean  Society,  that  double  daffodil  flowers  can 
produce  seeds.    kHe  has  raised  them. 

The  Rev.  H.  Higgins  has  published  a  very 
thoughtful  paper,  in  which  is  condensed  a  good  deal 
of  personal  experience  in  the  matter,  on  "  Museums 
of  Natural  History."  He  is  rather  hard  on  the 
"loungers"  there — but  can  they  "lounge"  in  better 
or  more  harmless  places? 

Dr.  Percy  Wilde,  of  Bath,  has  issued  a  short 
pan-phlet  entitled  "Test  Type  for  Determining  the 
Acuteness  of  Vision."  It  will  be  found  of  great 
value  to  people  of  failing  sight.  The  paper  was 
originally  arranged  for  the  "  Medical  Annual  and 
Practitioners'  Index." 


i8 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


M.  Pouchet,  who  is  still  engaged  in  experiments 
on  the  subject,  states  that  the  blood  of  cholera 
victims  is  charged  with  biliary  salts,  whilst  there  is 
always  a  tonic  alkaloid  in  their  dejecta.  Experiments 
at  Marseilles  show  that  biliary  acids  are  relatively 
more  abundant  in  the  blood  of  cholera  patients  than 
in  others. 

Mr.  Ellery,  the  well  known  astronomer  of  Mel- 
bourne, is  still  of  opinion  that  the  recent  brilliant 
sunsets  are  attributable  to  the  presence  of  vapour  in 
the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere. 

Mr.  Gibbs  Bourne  has  found  ahydriform  stage  of 
the  freshwater  jelly-fish,  which  for  several  years  past 
has  made  its  unaccountable  appearance  in  the  tanks  in 
Regent's  Park. 

"THEBirdsofLancashire,"byMr.  F.  S.  Mitchell, 
of  Clitheroe,  will  be  published  shortly  by  Mr. 
Van  Voorst.  The  book  is  a  carefully  prepared  list 
of  the  species  of  birds  which,  either  as  residents  or 
visitors,  have  been  known  to  occur  within  the  limits 
of  the  county  of  Lancaster.  The  author  has  been 
aided  with  information  from  observers  in  all  parts  of 
the  county,  and  this,  added  to  published  matter,  has 
furnished  him  with  a  vast  number  of  facts.  A  map 
of  Lancashire,  showing  the  physical  features,  and 
with  all  the  places  referred  to  inserted,  has  been 
specially  drawn  for  the  work,  as  also  plans  of  Martin 
Mere  before  it  was  drained,  and  of  the  duck-decoy  at 
Hale,  with  woodcuts  illustrating  this  mode  of  catching 
clucks.     The  volume  promises  to  be  very  interesting. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Royal  Microscopical 
Society  a  new  Lantern  Microscope  with  the  oxy- 
hydrogen  light  was  exhibited,  which  will  be  of  great 
service  to  lecturers  who  require  to  exhibit  microscopic 
objects  to  classes  or  audiences.  A  number  of  ana- 
tomical and  other  objects  were  exhibited  on  a  screen 
fourteen  feet  square  ;  and  Mr.  Lewis  Wright,  and 
Messrs.  Newton  &  Co.,  of  Fleet  Street,  the  makers  of 
the  instrument,  received  high  commendations  for  the 
brilliancy  and  sharpness  with  which  the  details  of 
the  subjects  were  shown.  This  instrument  was  also 
exhibited  at  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Quekett 
Microscopical  Society,  when  the  blow-fly's  tongue 
was  shown  from  6ft.  to  14ft.  long,  and  a  section  of  a 
drone  fly's  eye  was  magnified  2500  diameters. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Academy  of  Paris, 
M.  Vulpian  read  a  paper  on  the  aneesthetic  action  of 
the  chlorohydrate  of  cocaine.  So  powerful  is  it  that  an 
aqueous  solution  of  I  part  of  cocaine  and  99  parts  of 
water  inserted  under  the  eyelids  produces  complete 
insensibility  of  the  conjunctiva  and  cornea  in  the 
human  eye. 

On  the  14th  of  November  last,  I  found  a  sprig  of 
hawthorn  in  full  and  fragrant  blossom  in  a  hedge 
near  Ipswich.  The  sprig  bore  ripe  fruit  as  well  as 
flowers. — J.  E.  Taylor. 


MICROSCOPY. 

To  Clean  Cloudy  Mounts. — On  mounting. 
sections  of  freshly  cut  vegetable  tissues,  they  become 
cloudy.  Will  any  reader  suggest  a  mode  of  clearing 
and  mounting  to  prevent   this  occurring  ? —  W.  H.  L. 

Staining  Vegetable  Tissues. — A  correspondent 
has  drawn  our  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  para- 
graph in  last  month's  Science-Gossip  under  the  above 
heading,  by  W.  F.  Pratt,  is  quoted  bodily,  verbatim 
ct  literatim,  from  Cole's  "Methods  of  Microscopical 
Research,"  part  xi.  for  June  1884. 

The  Quekett  Club.— The  Journal  of  this  well 
known  club  for  November  1884,  is  as  interesting  as 
usual ;  containing,  beside  the  Committee's  report, 
list  of  members,  &c,  the  address  by  the  president, 
Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke,  a  paper  on  "A  Hydrostatic  fine 
Adjustment,"  by  E.  M.  Nelson  ;  and  a  list  of  objects 
found  on  various  excursions  tox  Epping  Forest, 
Whitstable,  and  other  places. 

The  Norfolk  Diatomace/E. — Mr.  F.  Kitton,. 
Hon.  F.R.M.S.,  has  issued  the  second  series  of  his 
"  Century,"  and  in  every  respect  it  fully  maintains 
the  high  character  earned  for  the  work  by  the  first. 

Liverpool  Microscopical  Society: — The 
ordinary  monthly  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held 
on  5th  December,  the  president,  Mr.  Charles  Botterill, 
F.R.M.S.,  in  the  chair.  Some  notes  on  the  "  Seed- 
vessels  of  Senecio  vulgaris "  were  read  by  Mr. 
William  Oelrichs,  F.R.  Met.  Soc.  ;  special  attention 
being  called  by  him  to  the  minute  spiral  fibres 
emitted  from  the  hairs  on  the  surface  of  the  seed- 
vessels  after  immersion  in  water.  Another  paper 
was  read  by  Mr.  A.  T.  Smith,  junr.,  on  the  structure 
of  Alcyonium  digitatum,  the  dead  man's  finger 
zoophyte.  He  described  the  general  appearance  of 
the  zoophyte  during  life,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
water,  and  afterwards  detailed  its  minute  structure 
as  revealed  by  the  microscope — tentacles,  thread 
cells,  spicules,  &c. 

"  The  Journal  of  Microscopy." — The  January 
issue  of  this  journal  shows  no  falling  off  in  its  old 
vigour,  and  promises  well  for  the  coming  year.  It 
contains  the  address  of  the  President  of  the  Postal 
Microscopical  Society,  Mr.  C.  F.  George ;  together 
with  papers  on  "  A  Piece  of  Homwrack  :  Its  In- 
habitants and  Guests,"  by  Arthur  J.  Pennington, 
illustrated;  "  Rambles  of  a  Naturalist  near  Amber- 
ley,"  by  Miss  A.  M.  Charlesworth ;  and  "The 
Microscope  and  How  to  Use  it,"  by  V.  A.  Latham. 


Does  the  Sparrow-Hawk  attack  Toads?— 
Referring  to  this  query  (p.  215),  I  believe  such  an 
incident  to  be  quite  new  in  the'history  of  the  sparrow- 
hawk  •  but  not  uncommon  with  the  kestrel.  Is  your 
correspondent  certain  the  bird  was  not  a  kestrel  ? — 
//.  M.,  Ipswich. 


HARDWICK&S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP 


19 


ZOOLOGY. 

Notes  on  the  Mollusca  of  Surrey,  Sussex, 
and  Kent. — I  have  lately  been  on  a  walking 
tour,  and  have  collected  many  uncommon  shells  in 
localities  which  have  not  yet,  as  far  as  I  am  aware, 
been  recorded.  I  think  that  a  few  of  the  more 
interesting  will  be  worth  recording  now.  In  the 
neighbourhood  of  Addington,  in  Kent,  I  found  a 
.single  specimen  of  Helix  rotundata,  var.  alba,  and 
the  same  variety  also  turned  up  later  on  at  Eyns- 
ford,  where  I  also  got  a  specimen  of  H.pomatia,  thus 
extending  its  range  well  into  Kent,  in  which  county 
I  had  never  before  taken  it,  though  I  found  it  very 
common  in  Surrey  from  Caterham  to  Shiere.  About 
half-way  between  Reigate  and  Dorking,  Clausilia 
Rolphii  was  common  on  a  bank  on  one  side  of  the 
road,  and  with  it  Cochlicopa  tridens,  while  close  by  a 
stream  rather  nearer  to  Reigate  we  found  also  the 
variety  crystallina  and  some  specimens  of  Helix 
arbustorum.  Hyalina  (or  Zonites)  glabra  was  very 
abundant  in^  Surrey,  and  in  some  parts  of  Kent, 
but  we  did  not  meet  with  a  single  specimen  in 
Sussex.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  localities  : 
West  Wickham,  Addington,  Reigate,  Shiere,  Pad- 
dock Wood,  and  Eynsford.  H.  nitidula  seemed 
commonest  in  Kent ;  H.  cellaria  and  H.  crystallina 
were,  well  ^diffused,  but  H.  fulva  we  only  found  at 
Haslemere.  A  few  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Wrot- 
ham  I  found  a  few  specimens  of  a  greenish  variety  of 
H.  cellaria,  similar  to  one  found  at  Maidenhead, 
which  I  considered  at  the  time  to  be  alliarius  var. 
viridula,  the  specimen  being  immature,  but  com- 
parison with  the  adult  specimens  now  found  convinces 
me  that  they  are  identical.  Achatina  acicula  we 
found  in  two  Sussex  localities,  one  being  the  extreme 
summit  of  a  high  hill,  a  few  miles  north  of  Chichester, 
and  the  other  a  mossy  bank  at  Robertsbridge,  where 
we  found  several  other  good  shells,  such  as  Clausilia 
Rolphii,  which  was  by  no  means  uncommon,  and  with 
it  Cochlicopa  tridens,  Helix  arbustorum,  H.  lapicida, 
and  others.  On  a  wall  at  Battle  we  found  some 
specimens  of  Clausilia  rugosa,  var.  gracilior,  and  close 
by  one  C.  laminata.  Helix  cartusiana  was  found 
only  at  one  place,  a  little  to  the  east  of  Worthing, 
where  my  brother,  who  was  with  me,  got  two  speci- 
mens. We  found  a  large  number  of  other  shells,  but 
I  have  no  space  to  record  them  at  present,  and  as 
they  are  many  of  them  common  ones  they  would  be 
of  less  interest  than  the  above.  —  T.  D.  A.  Cocker  ell, 
August  18S4. 

Capture  of  Sun-fish. — A  fine  specimen  of  the 
sun-fish  {Orthragoriscus  mold)  was  captured  about 
four  miles  off  Redcar,  Yorks,  on  September  13th.  A 
party  of  gentlemen  were  engaged  in  shooting  sea- 
birds,  when  they  sighted  what  they  supposed  to  be 
the  fin  of  a  shark  standing  out  of  the  water  about 
18  inches.     When  within  range,  the  fish  was  fired  at, 


and  immediately  after  the  boatman  gaffed  with  the 
monster,  which  was  promptly  got  on  board.  On  the 
following  Monday,  Dr.  W.  Y.  Veitch  purchased  the 
fish  on  behalf  of  the  Middlesbro'  Museum  Committee, 
and  it  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  taxidermist.  The 
demensions  of  the  fish  were  as  follows  :— From  tip 
to  tip  of  fins,  5  feet.  From  nose  to  anal  fin,  3  feet 
9  inches.  From  back  to  belly,  2  feet  3  inches. 
Weight,  after  removal  of  entrails,  9  stone  2  pounds. — 
Baker  Hudson,  Middlesborough. 

Lantern  Illustrations  in  Natural  Science. 
— I  should  be  obliged  for  information  respecting  the 
best  means  of  demonstrating  to  large  classes  upon 
natural  history  objects  with  the  aid  of  microscopic 
slides  (not  micro-photographs)  and  lantern.  I 
understand  that  there  is  a  method  by  which  the 
image  of  opaque  objects  even  can  be  thrown  upon 
the  screen.  How  far  can  an  ordinary  microscope  and 
lantern  be  adapted  to  such  work  ? — E.  W. 

Scientific  Societies,  and  the  Work  they 
are  doing. — We  have  received  the  Transactions  of 
the  Hertfordshire  Natural  History  Society  and  Field 
Club,  Parts  I  &  2.  Amongst  the  papers  therein  we 
notice  the  following:  "The  Diatomacese,  with 
special  reference  to  species  found  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Hertford,"  by  Isaac  Robinson;  "The  re- 
corded occurrence  of  land  and  fresh-water  Mollusca 
in  Hertfordshire,"  by  W.  D.  Roebuck'  and  John  W. 
Taylor ;  "  Remarks  on  the  Land  Mollusca,  with 
reference  to  their  investigation  in  Hertfordshire,"  by 
John  Hopkinson  ;  "  Notes  on  Mosses,  with  an  out- 
line of  a  Hertfordshire  Moss-Flora,"  by  A.  E.  Gibbs  ; 
"  Notes  on  Birds  observed  in  Hertfordshire,"  by 
J.  E.  Littleboy  ;  "List  of  Land  and  Fresh-water 
Mollusca  observed  in  Hertfordshire,"  compiled  by 
J.  Hopkinson  ;  "  Notes  on  Boulders  and  Boulder-clay 
in  North  Hertfordshire,"  by  H.  G.  Fordham  ;  "  On 
the  Microscopic  structure  of  Boulders  found  in  the 
North  of  Hertfordshire,"  by  J.  Vincent  Elsden ; 
"  Notes  on  Lepidoptera  observed  near  Sandridge," 
by  A.  F.  Griffith  ;  "  Report  on  Insects  observed  in 
Hertfordshire  during  the  year  1883,"  by  F.  W. 
Silvester. 

The  Transactions  of  the  Ottawa  Field  Naturalists 
Club  is  of  great  interest,  proving  the  vitality  and 
thoroughness  of  scientific  investigation  amongst  our 
Canadian  neighbours.  Besides  the  inaugural  address 
of  the  president,  Dr.  H.  Beaumont  Small,  and  the 
various  official  reports  of  the  different  sections  of 
Geology,  Conchology,  etc.,  the  following  valuable 
papers  are  given  :  "  Notes  on  the  '  Flora  Ottawensis,' " 
by  Jas.  Fletcher;  "On  the  Sand  Plains  of  the 
Upper  Ottawa,"  by  E.  Odium;  "List  of  Ottawa 
Fossils,"  with  introduction,  by  Henry  M.  Ami  ; 
"  Edible  and  Poisonous  Fungi,"  by  J.  Macoum  ; 
"  List  of  Ottawa  Coleoptera,"  with  introduction,  by 
W.  H.  Harrington;  "Suctoria,"  by  J.  B.  Tyrrell; 
"On  the  occurrence  of  Phosphate  in  Nature,"  by 


20 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


G.  M.  Dawson  ;  "The  Deer  of  the  Ottawa  Valley," 
by  W.  P.  Lett  ;  and  a  "Note  on  Doassansia  occulta,'''' 
by  W.  G.  Fallow. 

The  Report  of  the  Liverpool  Science  Student's 
Association  is  mainly  occupied  with  accounts  of  the 
various  excursions  made  by  the  members  during  the 
past  session,  many  of  which  are  of  considerable 
interest.  Amongst  these  we  notice  more  especially 
visits  paid  to  Boston  Observatory,  and  to  the 
Seacombe  Phospho-Guano  Works. 

There  is  also,  as  an  Appendix,  a  valuable  series  of 
"  Local  Notes  for  Science  Students,"  by  Osmond  W. 
Jeffs. 

The  Report  of  the  Norwich  Science  Gossip 
Club  contains,  beside  the  list  of  members,  Report  of 
the  Committee,  &c,  the  address  of  the  president,  Mr. 
T.  Irwin  Dixon,  which  conveniently  summarizes  the 
proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  past  year, 
briefly  describing  the  various  meetings,  and  giving  in 
condensed  form  many  valuable  papers  and  addresses 
delivered  by  members.  t 

The  Proceedings  of  the  Folkestone  Natural  History 
Society  contains  the  following  papers  :  "  The  Hand, 
considered  as  an  organ  of  expression;  or,  Scientific 
Chirognomy  as  opposed  to  Chiromancy,"  by  Dr. 
FitzGerald,  the  president  ;  "Pain,"  by  Dr.  Tyson; 
"The  Nautilus  and  the  Ammonite,"  by  Mr.  Hy. 
Ullyett,  the  secretary ;  "Earthquakes and  Volcanoes," 
Dr.  FitzGerald  ;  and  a  most  useful  paper,  intended 
as  a  general  guide  to  the  amateur  naturalist,  read  by 
the  Secretary  at  the  field  day  at  Lydden  Spont. 


BOTANY. 

Sagittaria  sagittifolia.—  Cette  particularity 
de  vegetation  n'est  point  signalee  dans  la  plupart  des 
ouvrages  de  botanique,  ou  les  flores  que  j'ai  a  ma 
disposition ;  cependant  Cosson  et  Germain  de  St. 
Pierre,  dans  leur  "Flore  des^  Environs  de  Paris," 
s'expriment  en  ces  termes  (page  640)  :  "  Souches  a 
fibres  nombreuses,  emettant  plusieurs  rhizomes  qui 
portent  une  ou  plusieurs  ecailles  espacees  et  se  renflent 
au  sommet  en  une  bulbe  charnue  qui  devient  libre  par 
la  destruction  du  rhizome  et  donne  naissance  a  une 
nouvelle  plante  l'annee  suivante."  J'ajouterai  qu'il 
m'est  souvent  arrive  de  recueillir  des  echantillons  des 
bulbes  en  question,  flottant  dans  le  fleuve  la  Somme, 
a  Amiens,  soit  que  ces  bulbes  se  soient  eux-memes 
detachers  de  la  base,  soit  qu'ils  en  aient  ete  arrachees 
par  le  passage  des  bateaux  ou  par  les  travaux  de 
faucardage  (coupe  des  herbes  aquatiques  avec  une 
faux). — C.  C,  Somme. 

Parasitic  Fungi.— Professor  Trelease  sends  us  a 
copy  of  his  carefully  drawn  up  pamphlet,  entitled 
"  Preliminary    List    of   Wisconsin    Parasitic  Fungi.  ' 


It  includes  only  species  which  have  been  examined  by 
himself,  and,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  all  are  in 
his  own  herbarium.  The  list  includes  about  270 
species,  and  about  the  same  number  of  "  hosts  ;  " 
but  he  thinks  their  number  will  be  doubled  by  a  few 
years'  collections. 

"  The  British  Moss  Flora." — The  author  of  this 
beautiful  and  valuable  work,  Dr.  Braithwaite,  F.L.S.r 
has  now  reached  his  eighth  part,  which  deals  with 
the  family  Tortulacea:.  It  is  illustrated  by  six  plates, 
each  giving  from  eight  to  ten  species,  with  details  of 
structure,  &c.  This  is  unquestionably  the  most 
valuable  work  on  mosses  which  has  yet  appeared. 

Leaf  of  Nepeta  Glechoma. — Every  observer 
will  have  noticed  that  the  leaves  of  the  ground  ivy 
have  a  tendency  to  become  patched  with  white, 
thereby  assuming  a  pretty  variegated  appearance. 
Has  anything  been  written  on  this  subject  ?  I  have 
examined  several  leaves  under  a  strong  i-inch  power, 
and  find  that  the  white  spots  show  heaps  of  black 
refuse,  which  looks  like  excrement  from  some  small 
insect  that  has  been  feeding  on  the  leaf,  while  there 
are  proofs  that  the  chlorophyll  has  been  consumed.  I 
have,  however,  failed  as  yet  to  detect  either  insect  or 
fungus,  and  should  be  glad  to  know  whether  the 
cause  of  this  peculiarity  has  yet  been  traced. — IF. 
Friend. 

Double  Dahlias. — It  was  not  until  this  summer 
that  I  ever  observed  two  dahlias  upon  one  peduncle, 
back  to  back,  or  otherwise.  It  is  evidently  due  to  the 
economy  of  nature  to  utilise  one  peduncle  for  two 
flowers.  The  "freak"  could  not  have  arisen  from 
the  want  of  light  ;  for  my  plant,  also  old-fashioned 
double  dark  red,  was  exposed  to  ample,  being  in  a 
good  upright  position.  I  thought  at  first  one  flower, 
in  its  struggle  for  existence,  would  outdo  the  other ; 
but  no,  both  were  beautifully  developed  and  remained 
in  bloom  as  long  as  any  other.  Last  spring  I  was 
presented  with  a  primrose  {Primula  vulgaris)  suffer- 
ing from  the  same  abnormality  ;  in  this  latter  case  the 
peduncle  was  much  thickened  and  flattened. — R.  If. 
Wellington. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

Geologists'  Association. — The  Proceedings  of« 
the  Geologists'  Association  is  to  hand,  containing, 
besides  reports  of  the  ordinary  meetings,  papers  of 
great  interest  by  members,  among  which  are  the 
following  :  "  Fossil  Plants,"  by  J.  Starkie  Gardner  ; 
"  Notes  on  the  Krakatoa  Eruption,"  by  Grenville  J. 
Cole;  "The  Implementiferous  Gravel  cf  North-East 
London,"  by  J.  E.  Greenhill ;  and  an  address  on 
"  Fossil  Plants  from  various  Formations,"  by  William 
Fawcett.  Exceedingly  interesting,  too,  are  the 
reports  of  visits  paid    by  the  Society  to  the  British 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


21 


Museum  ('Natural  History),  and  to  the  British 
Museum,  Bloomsbury.  On  the  formei"  occasion,  an 
address  was  presented  by  the  president,  Dr.  Henry 
Hicks,  on  behalf  of  the  members,  to  Sir  Richard 
Owen,  on  his  retirement  from  the  directorship  of  that 
institution.  A  valuable  address  was  then  given  by 
Dr.  Henry  Woodward,  on  Fossil  Fishes.  The  visit 
to  the  British  Museum  was  the  occasion  of  "  a  demon- 
stration "  on  the  marbles  and  monumental  stones, 
illustrated  by  the  collection  in  the  Museum. 

A  new  Deposit  of  Pliocene  Age  at  St.  Erth, 
Fifteen  Miles  east  of  the  Land's  End,  Corn- 
wall.— A  valuable  addition  to  British  geology  has  just 
been  made  by  Mr.  Searles  Wood,  in  a  communication 
to  the  Geological  Society.  The  deposit  described 
occurs  about  five  miles  north-east  of  Penzance,  and 
consists  of  a  tenacious  blue  clay  with  shells,  resting 
on  sand.  Mr.  Wood  has  got  together  upwards  of 
forty  species  of  mollusca,  inclusive  of  a  few  of  which 
only  fragments  have  as  yet  occurred,  and  of  several 
minute  species.  Among  these,  besides  some  that  are 
apparently  altogether  new,  are  some  particularly 
characteristic  species  of  the  Red  Crag  not  known 
living,  such  as  Cypraa  {Trivia)  avellana,  Sow.; 
Melampus  pyramidalis,  Sow.;  and  Nassa  gramdata , 
Sow.  (or  else  N.  granifera,  Dujardin),  as  well  as 
other  characteristic  Crag  species  that  still  live,  but 
not  north  of  the  coast  of  Spain,  such  as  Turritella 
triplicate!,  Brocchi  (T.  incrassata,  Sow.),  and 
Ringicula  buccinea,  Brocchi.  The  most  interesting 
feature  of  the  fauna,  however,  consists  in  the  six 
species  of  Nassa  that  the  deposit  has  hitherto 
yielded,  of  which  all  but  one,  N.  granulata  Sow.  (or 
granifera,  Dujardin),  are  unknown  from  any  forma- 
tion of  Northern  Europe,  and  occur,  whether  in  the 
living  or  fossil  state,  only  in  the  southern  half  of 
Europe.  N.  conglobata,  a  species  of  a  group  near  to 
that  of  mutabilis,  has  occurred  in  the  Red  Crag  ;  but, 
so  far  as  the  author  is  aware,  neither  that  shell,  nor 
any  of  the  group  to  which  it  belongs,  has  occurred 
in  any  other  formation  of  Northern  Europe.  One  of 
these  is  Nassa  mutabilis,  Linne,  which  now  lives 
throughout  the  Mediterranean,  but  outside  that  sea 
north  of  Cadiz  (lat.  360  30')  ;  and  two  others  are 
new  species  of  this  exclusively  southern  mutabilis 
group.  Another  seems  to  be  a  rare  Italian  Upper- 
Pliocene  species  of  the  reticulata  group,  N.  reticostata, 
Bellardi ;  while  the  sixth  is  the  Lower  Pliocene  and 
Upper-Miocene  species,  N.  scrrata,  Brocchi.  This 
shell,  in  the  variety  of  form  it  presents  at  St.  Erth 
(where  it  is  one  of  the  most  frequent  shells),  seems  to 
connect  the  Red-Crag  N.  reticosa,  Sow.,  with  the 
Italian  N.  serrata,  while  the  shorter  forms  of  it  are 
identical  with  the  Italian  Lower-Pliocene  A7-,  emiliana, 
Mayer.  The  fauna  is  altogether  southern,  no 
exclusively  Arctic  shell  having  as  yet  occurred  in  it. 
Mr.  Wood  regards  the  bed  as  clearly  Pliocene,  and 
inclines  to  the  opinion  that  it  is  rather  Newer  than 


Older  Pliocene  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  coeval  with  the 
Red  Crag,  but  its  affinities  are  more  with  the 
Pliocene  of  Italy  than  with  the  Pliocene  of  the  North 
Sea  region  ;  and  this  seems  to  show  that  during  its 
deposition  there  was  no  communication  between  the 
Atlantic  and  the  North  Sea,  except  round  the  North 
of  Britain,  the  refrigeration  of  the  water  by  the  nine 
degrees  of  latitude,  through  which  Britain  extends 
northwards  from  St.  Erth,  preventing  the  access  on 
he  Italian  group  of  Nassa  to  that  sea. 

Flint  Hunting.— Remarkable  "Finds." — 
During  the  closing  clays  of  November  1884,  a  party  of 
geologists,  one  lady  and  five  gentlemen,  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  R.  Law,  of  Walsden,  paid  a  visit 
to  the  flint  deposits,  on  Midgely  Moor,  overlooking 
Mytholmroyd  village,  and  about  five  miles  from 
Halifax.  On  arriving  at  the  place  (a  bare  patch  of 
about  an  acre,  from  which  the  peat  has  been  denuded, 
exposing  a  bed  of  silver  sand  and  angular  stones, 
capping  flagstones  of  the  second  millstone  grit  rocks, 
and  near  to  which  is  a  circular  embankment  of  earth, 
marked  on  the  ordinance  maps  as  a  Roman  mound 
or  remains  of  a  Roman  camp).  The  party  made  a 
vigilant  search  for  "about  two  hours,  and  were  re- 
warded by  finding  about  forty  specimens  of  flint. 
Besides  numerous  chips  and  flakes,  from  1  to  2  inches 
long,  and  two  or  three  chert  and  flint  cores,  a 
beautiful  flint  arrow-head,  well  worked  round  the  edge 
but  broken  at  the  point,  a  scraper  showing  marks  of 
having  been  used,  a  rhomboidal  flint  was  found  ;  also 
a  very  rare  specimen  of  flint  thought  to  have  been 
used  for  carving  on  horns,  &c,  by  the  ancient  flinf 
makers.  If  valued  by  the  scarcity,  such  instruments 
were  worth  a  few  pounds  at  least.  The  party 
decided  to  pay  another  and  an  early  visit,  hoping  to 
find  a  barbed  arrow-head,  similar  to  what  has  on  a 
former  occasion  been  found  here. — J.  Fielding, 
Mytholmroyd,  Yorkshire. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Life  History  of  Mantis. —The  mantis  belongs 
to  the  one  carnivorous  family  of  the  orthoptera, 
namely,  the  mantidae.  The  mantidre  inhabit  the  hot 
parts  of  Europe  and  the  tropics  ;  one  species,  the 
Mantis  religiosa,  is  especially  common  in  the  south 
of  France,  coming  as  far  north  as  Fontainebleau.  Its 
name  is  derived  from  (j-ciptis,  a  prophet,  because  of  its 
reverential  attitude  whilst  waiting  for  a  victim.  It 
rears  itself  on  its  four  hind  legs,  the  thorax  being 
almost  perpendicular,  and  the  fore  arms  extended, 
and  thus  remains  motionless,  except  that  its  head 
turns  from  side  to  side,  until  some  unfortunate  insect 
comes  by,  when  it  is  seized  and  devoured.  The 
mantis  lays  its  eggs  at  the  end  of  the  summer  in 
rounded  fragile  capsules  attached  to  the  branches  of 
trees,  but  they  do  not  hatch  till  the  following  summer. 
When  it  leaves  the  egg  the  young  one  resembles  its 
parents ;  differing  only  in  size,  and  in  having  no 
wings.  After  moulting  four  or  five  times  it  has 
almost  reached  its  full  growth,  and  its  wings  begin 


22 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


to  appear  under  a  sort  of  membrane.  This  is  a  pupa 
state.  A  final  moulting  sets  free  the  wings  also,  and 
the  insect  is  now  perfect. — Dunley  Owen,  B.Sc. 

Phosphorescent  Insects. — I  venture  to  send  an 
additional  circumstance  which  seems  to  explain  the 
phenomenon  described  in  November  Science-Gossip. 
I  saw  the  other  evening,  on  my  gravel-walk,  a  bright 
light,  which  I  found  to  proceed  from  a  centipede, 
which  was  being  violently  attacked  by  a  beetle, 
apparently  Steropus  madidus.  The  latter  kept 
pouncing  on  its  victim,  and  biting  it  with  fury,  and 
the  beetle  itself,  as  well  as  the  gravel  around,  was 
covered  with  the  luminous  matter  from  the  centipede, 
so  that  its  form  was  distinct,  in  spite  of  the  darkness. 
I  brought  the  centipede  indoors,  and  it  seemed 
injured.  It  seemed  to  me  to  be  unusually  luminous, 
from  the  excitement  it  was  in  from  the  assaults  of  this 
carnivorous  beetle. — John  C.  Scitdamore,  Norfolk. 

Water  Voles. — To  substantiate  my  conjecture  as 
to  the  carnivorous  habits  of  water  voles,  I  may  mention 
that  it  was  on  the  5th  of  February,  1884,  that  I  found  the 
shells  in  their  runs,  and  amongst  them  was  a  quantity 
of  recent  excrement  of  some  small  animal.  With 
regard  to  Mr.  J.  A.  Wheldon's  suggestion,  that  it 
might  have  been  done  by  common  rats,  I  believe  they 
only  frequent  the  water  during  the  summer  time. 
There  is  no  building  of  any  kind,  I  should  think, 
within  a  mile  of  the  spot  where  the  shells  were  found, 
and  although  I  am  often  walking  by  the  side  of  this 
canal,  I  have  never  seen  a  common  rat  there. — F.  H. 
Parrott,  Aylesbury. 

Mildness  of  the  Season  at  Arundel. — While 
taking  a  long  walk  in  Arundel  Park  on  Sunday, 
November  23rd,  I  observed  several  new  shoots  on  the 
lime-tree,  with  their  leaf  buds  expanding,  and  in 
three  or  four  instances  fully  developed.  A  few  days 
a  friend  of  mine  noticed  some  new  shoots  on  the  oak 
tree.  These  shoots  must  owe  their  early  development 
to  the  then  mildness  of  weather  at  the  time  of  their 
evolution.  Primroses  have  been  gathered  here  quite 
a  month  ago. — A.  JK  Fry. 

Large  Unios  and  Anodons  in  Nottingham- 
shire.— Mr.  Planner's  note  concerning  the  Unio 
pictorum,  4  |3  in.,  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  answered 
by  Mr.  Tuxford  himself.  I  will  only  say  that  I 
have  collected  some  from  the  same  locality,  as  large 
and  larger  than  the  size  mentioned.  So  far  as  there 
is  any  doubt  as  to  their  being  Unios,  I  can  only  say 
that  after  fifteen  years'  collecting,  neither  Mr.  Tux- 
ford nor  myself  would  be  likely  to  mistake  the  species. 
Mr.  Harmer  mentions  large  anodons,  61  in.  I  took, 
a  month  since,  at  Sutton  in  Ashfield,  in  this  county, 
some  300  specimens  of  A.  cygnea,  150  of  which 
measure  more  than  6\  in.  One  specimen  measures 
7j  in.,  two  more  7  in.,  30  between  6|  in.  and  7  in.  and 
50  or  60  between  6^  and  6\.  These  are  the  largest  I 
have  ever  seen,  but  the  species  has  been  found  much 
larger  (see  old  numbers  of  Science- Gossip).  Speci- 
mens have  been  taken  at  Southampton,  measuring 
8^  in.,  and  in  one  case  as  much  as  9  in.  At  Worthing, 
also,  very  large  ones  have  been  obtained,  measuring 
"]\  in.  and  8  in.  Should  Mr.  Harmer  be  desirous  of 
seeing  a  specimen,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  send  him  a 
6^  in.  A  cygnea,  if  he  will  send  me  his  address  (see 
exchange  column  for  my  own). — C/ias.  T.  Musson. 

Large  Unios  and  Anodons. — Since  writing  my 
note  respecting  the  large  shells  in  Ossington  Lake, 
I  have  paid  another  visit  to  that  locality.  I  was 
pleased  to  find  that  one  portion  where  the  shells 
were    very   plentiful    had   been    untouched    by    the 


workmen  ;  here  I  gathered  many  large  specimens  of 
Unio  pictorum,  several  exceeding  five  inches  in 
length,  the  largest  measuring  5fs  inches.  I  also 
obtained  many  examples  of  Anodon  cygneus,  the 
largest  having  a  length  of  6-|  inches.  In  respect  to 
Mr.  E.  G.  Planner's  note,  I  must  remark  that  I  never 
saw  an  Anodon  cygneus  which  I  should  consider  "  a 
very  similar  looking  shell  "  to  Unio  pictorum,  nor, 
in  fact,  one  that  even  bore  a  remote  resemblance  to 
any  of  the  anodons.  If  Mr.  Harmer  has  any  such 
variety  of  this  species,  I  shall  be  very  pleased  to  make 
an  exchange  of  shells  with  him. —  IV.  Gain,  Tuxford, 
Newark. 

Bats.- — A  note  appears  in  your  December  number 
re  bats  flying  during  the  winter  months.  It  is  possible 
that  they  do  so,  and  I  should  say  the  reason  was, 
mild  weather  during  the  time  they  were  observed.  I 
have  noted  that  some  hybernating  animals  seem  to 
sufter,  owing  to  partially  renewed  activity  through 
mild  winters,  more  than  they  would  naturally  do 
through  a  cold  one.  The  warm  weather,  when  no 
suitable  food  exists,  must  cause  a  waste  of  tissue, 
which  cannot  be  replaced  until  the  following  spring, 
hence  hybernating  creatures  such  as  the  bat,  grass 
snake,  common  lizard,  &c,  would  present  a  more 
attenuated  appearance  in  the  spring  following  a  mild 
winter,  than  if  the  winter  had  been  cold,  and  thus 
inducive  to  complete  torpor.  I  have  observed  this 
with  respect  to  the  grass-snake,  but  not  yet  with  the 
bat.  However,  I  have  one  now  under  observation, 
which  is  hybernating  in  a  bird  cage,  and  I  notice  it  is 
rather  restless  on  a  warm  night. — F.  W.  Halfpenny. 

Camel. — A  dromedary  is  a  camel,  but  a  camel  is 
not  a  dromedary.  This  I  learned  to  recognise  in 
repeated  travels  in  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor.  The 
dromedary,  as  its  name  implies,  is  a  swift  animal, 
and  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  camel  as  the  fast 
trotting-horse  does  to  the  cart-horse,  or  pack-horse — 
these  last  being  strong,  heavy  and  slow.  The  drome- 
dary is  credited  with  trotting  about  twenty  miles  an 
hour — the  torture  of  such  a  trot  to  one  unaccustomed 
to  it  is  fearful.  An  Arab  bearer  of  despatches  will 
keep  up  the  pace  for  hours  together.  A  well-bred, 
well-trained  dromedary — for  there  are  great  dif- 
ferences— is  valuable.  A  regular  camel  or  burden- 
bearer  cannot  be  forced  more  than  some  four  or  five 
miles  an  hour.  Having  ridden  these  day  after  day 
across  the  desert,  I  can  say  the  movement  caused  by 
the  long  swinging  sort  of  walk — though  not  painful 
to  the  rider,  causes  great  fatigue  till  he  learns  to 
accommodate  his  back-bone  to  the  motion  of  the 
animal.  The  Egyptian  camel  then  and  dromedary 
have  respectively  one  hump,  and  a  camel  judge 
estimates  an  animal  by  the  plumpness  of  this  store- 
house of  fat.  I  never  saw  a  "  Bactrian  "  or  two-humped 
camel,  till  I  was  east  of  the  Crimea. — John  Anthony, 
M.D.,  F.R.M.S. 

Irish  Pearls. — In  the  muddy  banks  of  the  tidal 
river  Blackwater,  Waterford,  buried  to  the  depth  of 
some  inches,  is  found  a  shell-fish,  commonly  known 
as  the  sugar-loom,  and  which  are  used  as  bait  for 
fishing.  In  some  of  these  shells  have  been  lately 
found  a  number  of  pearls,  the  finders  of  which  looked 
upon  them  as  no  value,  the  shell  fish  being  only 
looked  for  as  bait.  A  few  days  ago  a  gentleman 
encountered  a  young  lad  who  had  several  of  these 
pearls  in  his  pocket,  and  one  of  these  having  been 
sent  to  an  expert  has  been  valued  at  j£$,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  but  that  a  large  number  of  pearls  of  con- 
siderable value  are  lying  covered  in  the  mud  of  the 
river. — J.  Graves. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


23 


"  Peculiar  Hailstones." — In  "Nature,"  vol. 
xv.,  at  page  163,  your  correspondent,  Alex.  Johnstone, 
F.R.S.S.A.  (in  the  last  number  of  Scienoe-Gossip), 
will  find,  I  think,  a  satisfactory  answer  to  his 
enquiries  regarding  hailstones.  The  article  in 
question  is  an  abstract,  with  illustrations,  of  a  paper 
"On  the  Manner  in  which  Raindrops  and  Hailstones 
are  formed,"  by  Professor  Osborde  Reynolds,  M.  A.,  in 
which  the  author  endeavours  by  theory  and  experi- 
ment to  explain  the  true  nature  and  mode  of  formation 
of  these  productions. — J.  A.  Osborne,  M.D.,  Milford 
Letterkcnny. 

Hailstones. — About   nine  or   ten  years   ago    I 
observed  that  the  form  of  hailstones  was  altogether 
different  to  what  I  had  in  my  earlier  days  been  taught 
to  assume.     I  had  always  been  under  the  impression 
that  they  were  spherical,  in  fact,  minute  blocks  of 
ice — frozen   rain   drops.      On    the    occasion   of  my 
enlightenment,  I  was  in  a  field  when  a  heavy  hailstorm 
took  place.    This  admitted  of  my  seeing  more  perfect 
specimens  than  if  I  had  been  in  the  street,  or  on  a 
public  highway,  as  there  was  less  probability  of  their 
being  broken  in  their  fall.     The  enormous  size  of  the 
stones  first  attracted  attention,  but  upon  examining 
them,  it  was  also  found  that  they  were  conical  with  a 
smoothish  rounded  base.     The  sides  of  the  cone  were 
striated  towards  the  apex.     Many  of  the  cones  had 
broken  apices,  but  sufficient  was  left  to  indicate  their 
complete  form.     Those  which  were  perfect  began  to 
melt  first  at  their  apex,  the  portion  last  to  melt  being 
the  rounded  base.     It  is  believed  that  this  peculiar 
form   is   due   to  the  nucleus  (a  frozen  ice  particle) 
passing  from  the  upper  portion  of  a  frozen  cloud  or 
fog.     In  its  descent  it  overtakes  and  adds  to  itself 
other  ice  particles,  these  form  the  originating  elements 
of  the   hailstone.      By   continued    accumulation    of 
particle  and  pressure  on  the  edges  of  the  base,  they 
begin  to  round,  until  eventually  it  partly  turns  over 
and  forms  the  commencement  of  the  cone  which  is  a 
rapid    process.      There  is  much    assumption  in  this 
theory,  but  there  is  evidence  of  its  practicability  from 
the  smoothness  of  the  base,  the  striae  of  its  sides,  its 
conical  shape  and  the  melting  of  the  apex  (the  last 
formed  part)  before  other  portions.     The  firmness  of 
the  hailstone  is  proportionate  to  its  size.     The  larger, 
the  firmer,  and  the  harder  its  base  is  to  its  apex, 
the  larger,  the  heavier,  and  the  greater  the  speed  it 
will  travel  through  the   cloud.     The   size  to  some 
extent   infers   the   depth  or    density   of    the    cloud 
through   which   it  has   passed,  perhaps  both.     The 
conical  shape  of  the  hailstone  is  well  known,  having 
been  seen  by  other  observers.     Since  first  seeing  it  I 
have  often  pointed  its  shape. — Matt.  Hedley,  F.  R.  C.  V.S. 

The  Corixa  in  the  Aquarium.— This  insect 
forms  a  very  handsome  and  interesting  object  of  an 
aquarium.  It  is  closely  allied  to  the  water  boat-fly 
(Notonecta  glanca),  and  is  very  abundant  in  our 
ditches  ;  in  fact  much  more  so  than  the  latter.  I 
have  several  in  my  aquarium,  and  they  are  literally 
the  life  of  it.  I  caught  them  from  the  bridged-over 
part  of  a  ditch,  when  fishing  for  minnows  and 
sticklebacks,  and  where  the  water  is  nearly  in 
darkness.  This  suggests  that  they  are  fond  of  dark 
nooks.  Unlike  its  relation  the  boat-fly,  it  swims  with 
its  back  uppermost  as  do  other  aquatic  insects.  Its 
longest  pair  of  legs  are  not  the  last  as  in  the  boat-fly, 
but  the  middle.  It  is  so  eccentric  in  its  habits-,  that 
its  actions  often  provoke  mirth.  I  have  closely 
studied  it  for  seme  time  past,  and  find  that  it 
frequently  has  to  rise  to  the  surface  for  a  fresh  supply 
of  air  which  it  does  by  a  series  of  vigorous  darts,  and 
when  it  has  obtained  that  supply,  it  regains  the 
bottom  by  still  more  vigorous  darts,  in  consequence 


of  its  increased  buoyancy.     So  great  is  its  buoyancy 
when  charged  with  air  that  I  have  seen  one  raise  to 
the   surface   a   dead   stickleback   which   must    have 
weighed  more  than  ten  times  the  weight  of  the  corixa. 
When  it  has  descended  to  the  bottom  (a  task  which 
is   only   performed  with   the   greatest  of   difficulty, 
judging  from  the  zig-zag  course  the  insect  is  compelled 
to  pursue)  it  clings  to  the  nearest  stone  or  pebble, 
and  stretches  out  its  two  flattened  elongated   legs, 
and  remains  in  this  peculiar  position  for  some  time. 
I    am   of  opinion   that    the    function    which    these 
members  now  perform  is  analogous  to  that  performed 
by   the   poisers  of  a  fly,  viz.  to  balance  the  insect. 
After  it  has  remained  in  this  position  for  some  time 
it   performs   a   number  of  very   comical    spasmodic 
movements   by  quickly  passing  its  two  oar-like  legs 
over  its  back,  and  as  quickly  withdrawing  them.     To 
the   ordinary   observer,   this  is   done  by  the  insect, 
probably  for     mere     pleasure.      A    close    observer, 
however,  detects   in  these  very  peculiar  motions  an 
object.     This  object  is  nothing  less  than  to  break  up 
and  set  free  parts  of  its  air-bubble  which  most  likely 
the  insect  finds  renders  its  body  too  light.     Its  under 
surface  where  the  air-bubble  is,  looks  like  a  globule  of 
quicksilver.     The  facility  with  which  it  bends  its  legs 
in  almost  any  direction  is  very  striking  (I  mean  its 
middle    pair).      I  Jhiink    its    food    consists    of    the 
disintegrated  particles  of  algae,  which  I  have  in  the 
aquarium,  and  which  by  some  means  or  other  have 
become    separated    from     their     respective     plants. 
Should  my  surmise  prove  correct,    then   the  corixa 
will  not  only  be  found  a  pretty  and  interesting  object 
of  the  aquarium,  but  also  a  useful  member  of  it. — 
Arthur  Ay  ling. 

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  of  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"exchanges"  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 

W.  White. — Apparently  your  nuts  belong  to  Juglandaceae, 
and  are  probably  Carya  amara  or  porcina. 

E.  Lamplugh  (Hull). — You  cannot  do  better  than  obtain 
Dr.  Cathcart's  new  ether  microtome,  manufactured  by  Mr. 
Charles  Coppock,  100  New  Bond  Street,  to  whom  write  for  its 
"illustrated  description." 

A.  L. — For  life-history  of,  and  experiments  on  the  common 
liver-fluke,  see  paper  by  Professor  Thomas  in  "  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Microscopical  Science"  for  1882.  A  good  popular 
paper  on  the  subject  was  also  written  by  Mr.  George  Dowker, 
F.G.S.,  of  Canterbury,  a  few  years  ago.  A  good  description  of 
the  earthworm  will  be  found  in  one  of  the  volumes  of  "  Science 
for  All." 

R.  H.  W.— You  will  find  a  good  account  of  Stonehenge  in 
the  Guide  to  that  place,  to  be  obtained  at  Salisbury  railway- 
station  ;  or  a  longer  one  in  Ferguson's  "  Rude  Stone  Monu- 
ments'in  Great  Britain";  for  an  account  of  bone  caves,  see 
Professor  Boyd  Dawkins'  work  on  "  Cave  Hunting."  Dr.  Hicks' 
address  on  "  Bone  Caves,"  will  doubtless  be  published  in  the 
4n=iJHUJsactions  of  the  Society. 

E.  E.  Turner  (Dublin).— Get  Thome's  "  Botany,"  edited 
by  A.  W.  Bennett,  and  published  by  Longmans.  It  will 
exactly  meet  your  wants. 

R.  C. — We  do  not  recognise  the  specimens  forwarded  to  us. 
Please  send  fuller  details. 

Ballywilliam. — You  will  find  a  good  account  of  the  Eu- 
calyptus in  the  "  Treasury  of  Botany."  It  has  been  planted 
in  Italy  in  order  to  drain  the  marshes.  Its  leaves  give  off  a 
great  deal  of  moisture.  The  Eucalyptus  is  sensitive  to  frost, 
and  will  not  prosper  where  the  nights  are  irosty. 


24 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


A.  Shaw. — We  do  not  undertake  to  name  foreign  specimens 
of  natural  history.  The  objects  shall  be  sought  up  and  re- 
turned to  you.  You  will  find  Chenu's  "  Conchyliologie,"  of 
help  in  naming  your  specimens. 

H.  \V.  S.  \V.  B. — The  best  diagrams  for  botanical  class 
lectures  are  those  of  Professor  Henslow's  (drawn  by  \V.  Fitch), 
issued,  we  believe,  under  the  direction  of  the  South  Kensington 
authorities. 

S.  C.  Cockerell. — There  is,  or  was,  a  useful  list  of  British 
shells  published  by  Messrs.  Mardon,  Son  &  Hall,  of  St. 
Stephen  Street,  Bristol,  compiled  from  Dr.  J.  Gwyn-Jeffreys' 
"  British  Conchology,"  by  Mr.  H.  K.  Jordan,  F.G.S.  The 
first  part  (1866),  one  shilling,  contains  all  the  land  and  fresh- 
water species,  and  the  marine  as  far  as  Littorinidae.  The  second 
part  (1870),  one  shilling  and  sixpence,  from  Rissoa  to  the  end  of 
the  work.  No  doubt  the  publishers  would  give  Mr.  Cockerell 
information  about  it. — G.  S.  T. 


EXCHANGES. 

Rare  British  plants  offered  for  British  or  foreign  Spargania. 
6".  ramosum,  only  if  in  ripe  fruit. — Beeby,  14  RidinghouseStreet, 
London,  \V. 

Wanted,  Sach's  "  Botany,"  latest  English  edition,  Mac- 
millan's.  Exchange,  Watson's  "  Theological  Dictionary," 
1068  pages,  and  Wesley's  "  Sermons,"  2  large  vols.,  or  offers. — 
J.  Wallis,  50  High  Street,  Deal. 

A  few  well-mounted  sections  of  human  teeth,  showing  dental 
exostosis,  in  exchange  for  other  well-mounted  slides. — Charles 
Arnold,  L.D.S.,  8  St.  John's  Villas,  New  Southgate. 

Wanted,  a  turntable,  also  live  box  for  microscope  ;  exchange 
books,  &c. — P.,  4  Merridale  Lane,  Wolverhampton. 

Pup^e  of  Myrica:  and  sea-birds'  eggs  in  exchange  for  Lepi- 
doptera  or  other  eggs  :  also  wanted,  fresh  killed  specimens,  for 
stuffing,  of  barn  owl,  kingfisher,  hawfinch,  and  goldfinch.  Give 
cash  or  exchange. — R.  McAldowie,1  12  St.  Nicholas  Street, 
Aberdeen. 

Wanted,  in  exchange  for  ?et  of  diaphragms  for  photographic 
lens,  dissecting-knives,  live  box,  or  mounted  and  unmounted 
objects  ;  unaccepted  offers  not  answered. — J.  W.  W.,  445  Shore- 
ham  Street,  Sheffield. 

Wanted,  butterflies  and  live  bat  (long-eared)  in  exchange 
for  fifteen  monthly  parts  of  Routledge's  "Every  Boy's  'Maga- 
zine "  for  1878  and  part  of  1879,  ar|d  twelve  numbers  of  "Photo- 
graphic News,"  1884.  Unaccepted  offers  not  answered. — 
J.  W.  W.,  455  Shoreham  Street,  Sheffield. 

Wanted,  the  numbers  of  Science-Gossip  from  No.  1  to  end 
of  1872,  also  from  beginning  of  1880  to  end  of  1883,  bound  or 
unbound,  separate  numbers  preferable,  all  clean ;  will  give 
microscopic  slides  in  exchange,  or  apparatus  and  materials. — 
Lists  from  J.  J.  Andrew,  L.D.S.Eng.,  2  Belgravia,  Belfast. 

Offered,  50-inch  bicycle,  with  fittings;  wanted,  centre  fire 
breech-loading  gun. — Albert  Newton,  24  Ryecroft  Place, 
Ashton-under-Lyne. 

Well-blown  eggs  of  British  and  American  birds  for  exchange. 
— Dr.  J.  T.  T.  Reed,  Ryhope,  near  Sunderland. 

A  few  choice  specimens  of  Anodonta  cygnca,  from  6i  to  6J£. 
Desiderata  numerous,  I'ertigos,  Clausilia  Rolphii,  &c,  named 
varieties.  Correspondence  invited. —  Charles  T.  Musson,  1  Clin- 
ton Terrace,  Derby  Road,  Nottingham. 

Wanted,  to  purchase  secondhand  copy  of  Jeffrey's  "British 
Conchology." — C.  W.  White,  2  Woodrow  Circus,  Pollokshield, 
Glasgow. 

Wanted,  any  species  of  Naiades  from  Asia,  Africa,  South 
America,  and  Australia,  New  Zealand,  or  any  of  the  East  India 
islands.  For  these  either  liberal  exchanges  or  cash  will  be  given. 
The  attention  of  collectors  and  dealers,  as  well  as  scientific  so- 
cieties, is  especially  directed  to  this  exchange. — A.  G.  Witherby, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  U.S.A. 

Wanted,  buil's-ene  condenser  polariscope,  2  inch  objective, 
all  of  best  make,  for  Ross'  binocular.  Will  give  copies  of 
"Flowers  and  Flower  Lore,"  1st  edition,  in  2  vols.,  £1  is., 
Chinese  coins,  or  cash. — Rev.  Hilderic  Friend,  F.L.S  ,  Worksop. 

Will  give  "Flowers  ard  Flower  Lore"  in  exchange  for  a 
good  senes  of  micro  slides,  sections  of  injects,  micro  fungi,  or 
foraminifera  preferred. — H.  Friend,  Worksop. 

Foraminifera  material  (good)  wanted  in  exchange  for  well- 
mounted  slides  of  horn  and  hoof  sections,  selected  foraminifera, 
&c. — A.  C.  Tipple,  35  Alexander  Road,  Upper  Holloway,  N. 

Wanted,  fossils  from  upper  miocene,  middle  eocene  of 
France,  upper  miocene  of  Belgium  and  Germany,  Solenhfen 
stone  ;  also  land  shells  from  Philippine  Islands  and  Madagascar. 
Offered,  other  foss'ls  and  shells. — Miss  Linter,  Arragon  Close, 
Richmond  Road.  Twickenham. 

A  large  lot  of  botanical  books,  &c.,  in  exchange  for  natural 
history  text-book-.  Desiderata,  a  few  dozens  of  fine  botanical 
micro  slides  for  first-class  mounts  only,  or  for  rocks  and  minerals. 
J.  Harbord  Lewis,  F.L.S.,  145  Windsor  Street,  Liverpool,  S. 

Well-mol'NTED  slides  of  insects  in  exchange  for  micro  pho- 
tographs, diatoms,  or  foraminifera.  Send  list.— -J.  Boggust, 
Alton,  Hants. 

Wanted,  collections  of  wild  flowers  and  plants,  or  micro 
slides,  books  on  natural  history  subjects,  in  exchange  for 
violin. — J.  W.  Whitehead,  10  Seedley  Park  Road,  Pendleton, 
Manchester. 


Wanted,  adult  specimen  of  mole  cricket  {Gryllotalpa  vul- 
garis). Young  adder  (alive),  or  other  exchange  offered. — 
F.  W.  Halfpenny,  2  Fern  Villas,  Park  Road,  West  Ham,  Essex. 

Wanted,  a  violin,  bow,  and  case  ;  Beattie's  "  Castles  of 
England  and  Wales  ;"  C.  R.  Leslie's  "  Handbook  for  Young 
Painters,"  or  any  other  work  on  painting,  in  exchange  for  well- 
rooted  plants  of  exotic  ferns,  blooming  greenhouse  plants,  and 
fine  varieties  of  the  Cactus  tribe,  or  British  land  and  freshwater 
shells,  or  British  Lepidoptera  and  fossils. — F,  R.  E.,  82  Abbey 
Street.  Faversham. 

Wanted,  Crataegi,  Hyale,  Cinxia,  Athalia,  Semele,  Rubir 
Betulae,  Agestis,  Alsus,  Argiolus,  Comma,  Actseon,  Elpenor, 
Fuciformis,  Villica,  Aprilina,  Festucae.  Duplicates :  Paphiar 
Selene,  Cardui,  Galathea,  Cervinaria,  Vetulata,  Illunaria,  Pu- 
dibunda,  Viminalis,  Flavocincta,  Trapezina,  Persicaria,  Ocel- 
latus,  Tiliae.— J.  Bates,  10  Orchard  Terrace,  Wellingborough. 

Wanted,  Charles  II.  half  crown  for  "Boy's  Own  Papers,''' 
or  James  I.  shilling  for  other  books. — John  T.  Millie,  Clarence 
House,  Inverkeithing. 

_  Wanted,  good  material  for  mounting,  more  especially  insects 
(in  spirit);  also  a  quantity  of  any  one  insect  (providing  it  is  not 
common)  ;  well-mounted  slides  given  in  exchange. — C.  Collins,. 
25  St.  Mary's  Road,  Harlesden,  N.W. 

Tran-section  of  stem  oiHelianthus  annuits,  double-stained, 
in  exchange  for  other  good  slide  ;  diatoms  specially  desired  ; 
send  list.  Other  slides  to  exchange  and  unmounted  material. 
Offers  to— P.  Kilgour,  163  Dallfield  Walk,  Dundee,  N.B.; 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  for  January  and  February,  1884; 
will  give  6d.  each,  and  pay  postage,  if  clean  copies. — J.  R. 
Hewitson,  The  Knowle,  Mirfield,  Yorks. 

Wanted,  material  for  micro-mounting,  the  following  most 
desired:  micro  fungi,  eggs  of  insects  (especially  those  of  para- 
sites), whole  insects  (preserved  in  spirit  for  dissection),  or 
foraminifera;  will  give  in  exchange' valentines,  knife,  or  good 
mounted  objects. — William  H.  Pratt,  15  Gill  Street,  Nottingham. 

Wanted,  paraboloid  or  Webster  condenser ;  good  field-glass 
or  induction-coil  offered — S.  C.  L.,  276  Middleton  Roadr 
Oldham. 

Wanted,  British  beetles  ;  will  exchange  British  beetles, 
lepidoptera,  shells,  fossils,  &c.  Send  lists  of  duplicates  and 
desiderata. — Delancey  Dods,  47  Chepstow  Place,  Westbourne 
Grove,  W. 

I  should  be  glad  to  correspond  with  a  Coleopterist  in  one  of 
the  midland  or  northern  counties  with  a  view  to  the  exchange 
of  specimens  during  the  forthcoming  entomological  season. 
I  desire  to  exchange  fresh  and  well-set  specimens  of  Lepidop- 
tera for  Coleoptera  in  a  similar  condition. — Address  :  W.  J.  V. 
Vandenbergh,  Esq.,  F.R.A.S.,  F.M.S.,  &c,  5  Yale  Terrace, 
Leytonstone,  Essex. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 

"  Universe  of  Suns,"  by  R.  A.  Proctor.  London:  Chatto  & 
Windus. — "  Geology  of  Weymouth,"  by  R.  Damon.  London  : 
Standford. — "  Natural  History  Sketches  among  the  Carnivora," 
by  Arthur  Nicols.  London:  L.  Upcott  Gill.— "  Aids  to  Long 
Life,"  by  N.  E.  Davies.  London  :  Chatto  &  Windus.—"  The 
Speaking  Parrots,  a  Scientific  Manual,"  by  Dr.  Karl  Russ. 
London:  L.  Upcott  Gill. — "Rabbits  for  Exhibition,  &c,"  by 
R.  O.  Edwards.  London  :  Sonnenschein  &  Co. — "'  Biblio- 
graphy and  Index  to  Climate,"  by  A.  Ramsay.  London : 
Sonnenschein  &  Co. — "Edible  British  Molluscs,"  by  M.  S. 
Lovell.  London  :  L.  Reeve  &  Co. — "The  Naturalist's  Would, ,r 
by  Percy  Lund.  Vol.  for  1884.  Sonnenschein  &  Co. — "  The 
Disk,  a  Prophetic  Revelation,"  by  E.  A.  Robinson  and  G.  A. 
Wall.  London  :  Griffith,  Farran,  Okeden  &  Welsh. — "  Annual 
Report  of  the  Metropolitan  Public  Gardens,  &c,  Association." — 
"Scientific  Romances,*No.  1.  What  is  the  Fourth  Dimension  1" 
by  C.  H.  Hinton,  B.A.  London :  Sonnenschein  &  Co. — 
"Book  Lore,"  No.  1.—"  Journal  of  Conchology."— "  The 
Gentleman's  Magazine." — "Belgravia."  —  "The  Journal  of 
Microscopy." — "  The  Science  Monthly." — "  Midland  Natural 
list." — ''Ben  Brierley's  Journal."  —  "Science." — "American 
Naturalist."  —  "The  Electrician  and  Electrical  Engineer." — ■ 
"  American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal."  —  "  Popular 
Science  News." — "The  Botanical  Gazette."  —  "Revue  de 
Botanique." — "La  Feuille  des  Jeunes  Naturalistes." — "  Le- 
Monde  de  la  Science." — "  Cosmos,  les  Mondes."     &c.  &c.  &c. 


Communications  received  up  to  13TH  ult.  from  :— 
R.  S.— A.  S.— M.  G.— J.  C.  M.— J.  C.  S.-C.  W.  W.— 
Dr.  J.  F.— A.  R.  W.— G.  T.— S.  A.  B.— W.  D.— A.  G.  W.— 
A.  E.  P.— J.  B.  B.— S.  F.— R.  McA.— J.  W.  W.— E.  D.— 
E.  A.  W.~ J.'J.  A.— A.  N.-Dr.  J .  T.  T.  R.— W.'H.  L.— J.  W— 
A.  W.  F.— T.  B.,  jun.-F.  H.  P.— F.  E.  C— C.  T.  M.— C.  A.— 
A.  N.  T.— W.  B.— L.  E.  A.— H.  F.— J.  T.  M.— C.  C— 
C.  P.— J.  B.— C.  R.  F.— J.  A. -J.  W.  II .— R.  H.  W.— 
J.  W.  W.— J.  B.  (Wellingborough)— J.  H.  L.— C.  C— 
E.  E.  T.— W.  G.— J.  E.  L.— H.  W.  S.  W.  B.— G.  S.  T.— 
j.  \y.  G.— A.  C.  T.— P.  K.— Dr.  A.  D.— W.  W.,W.— C.  P.— 
H.  F.— G.  S.  T.— Dr.  H.  W.  S.  W.  B.— F.  K.— A.  W.  L.— 
J.  G.— D.  D.— D.  S.— A.  D.  W.-A.  A.— J.  R.  H.— M.  H.— 
S.  C.  L.— W.  O.— J.  P.  W.— M.  J.  H.-A.  U.— W.  H.  P.— 
Dr.  J.  A.  O.— A.  A.— W.  J.  V.  V.— R.  C— &c.  &c.  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


E.TD.dfiLaa-nal. 


"VmceiitT3rooks,Day  &.Sonlith 


TOE   OF   MOUSE,  INJECTED. 

x   30. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


25 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    D, 


No.  14. — Toe  of  Mouse,  Injected. 


*^&^£HIS      subJect      ex' 
plains    itself, 

revealing  a  distri- 
bution of  blood 
vessels,  in  a  trans- 
parent section  of 
the  toe  of  a  mouse. 
The  skill  required 
to  success  fully 
inject  the  vessels, 
and  afterwards 
procure  so  delicate 
a  scission,  is  es- 
sentially the  pro- 
vince of  the  pro- 
fessional preparer ; 
but,  the  object  is 
sufficiently  "popu- 
lar," to  be  pur- 
chasable, and  is 
found  in  most  col- 
lections of  microscopic  objects.  Although  not 
approaching  the  stern  requirements  of  the  biologist 
or  anatomical  student,  as  revealing  disentanglement 
of  delicate  tissues,  or  isolation  of  determinate 
structure,  it  is  eminently  a  valuable  educational  or 
class  preparation,  as  exhibiting  conditions  of  distinct 
parts  seldom  found,  in  one  view  so  intimately  or 
compactly  associated.  The  drawing  was  made  from 
a  "happy"  cut,  just  cleaving,  without  injuring  or 
disturbing,  the  tarsal  bones,  showing  them  in  perfect 
integrity,  surrounded  by  minute  blood  vessels 
spreading  from  the  digital  artery,  and  continuing  to 
the  capillary  loops  terminating  in  the  papillae  of  the 
thick,  but  highly  sensitive,  and  vascular*  epidermic 
cushion  under  the  surface  of  the  claw,  the  matrix  of 
which  is  seen,  penetrated  with  minute  blood  vessels. 
Elegant  and  instructive  as  this  preparation  may  be,  as 
a  microscopic  exhibit,  it  is  as  nothing  compared  to 
such  a  condition  in  a  living  state,  with  the  blood 
coursing  through  the  vessels ;  the  web  of  a  frog's 
foot,  the  branchire  and  transparent  parts  of  a  tadpole, 
No.  242. — February  1885. 


the  fins  and  tail  of  minnows,  many  of  the  larva;  of 
water  insects,  and,  par  excellence,  the  yolk  bag  of 
freshly  hatched  fish,  may  be,  by  well-known  methods, 
arranged,  and  disclose  on  the  stage  of  the  microscope, 
exhibitions  of  energetic  life,  in  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,  of  the  deepest  and  most  impressionable 
significance. 

Addendum.  Eyla'is  cxtendens :  In  the  January 
article  on  this  subject,  it  was  stated  that  the  comely 
rotundity  of  the  Ilydrachnas  rendered  them  difficult  to 
preserve,  as  permanent  specimens  for  the  cabinet, 
except  at  the  sacrifice  of  their  shapeliness,  the 
dilemma  being  to  find  a  medium  of  just  the  density 
needed  to  preserve  the  integuments  from  wrinkling 
or  collapse.  The  writer  has  since  received,  through 
the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Henry  Francis,  the  President  of 
the  Bristol  Microscopical  Society,  a  specimen  en 
permajience,  mounted  three  years  ago  :  enclosed  in 
a  deep  circular  cell.  The  medium  Mr.  Francis  used 
is  a  mixture  of  eight  parts  of  distilled  water  (just 
tainted  with  carbolic  acid),  to  one  part  of  pure 
glycerine ;  under  severe  examination,  although  a 
little  "  off  colour,"  its  characteristic  plumpness  is 
perfectly  intact,  and  such  important  features  as  the 
curious  ocelli,  the  palpi,  the  parts  about  the  mouth 
and  the  genital  plates,  are  so  well  preserved  and 
displayed,  as  to  bear  scrutiny  under  the  highest 
reaching  powers. 

Crouch  End. 


Bats. — A  correspondent  in  the  December  issue 
tells  us  he  has  often  seen  bats  flying  about  the  streets 
of  Maidstone  in  mild  weather  during  the  autumn  and 
winter  months.  This  reminds  me  of  what  I  saw  in 
Paris  on  the  first  Sunday  in  January  1S71.  During 
the  service  in  the  church  of  St.  Roch,  I  saw  several 
bats  flying  about  in  the  church  between  three  and 
four  in  the  afternoon.  Afterwards  in  the  evening 
twilight  of  the  same  day,  I  saw  a  good  number  flit 
about  in  a  very  lively  fashion  on  the  banks  of  the 
Seine.— H.  M.,Birkdale. 

c 


26 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


E 


NOTES  ON  NEW  BOOKS. 

LEMENTARY  Text-Book  of  Zoology,  by  Dr. 
C.  Claus.  Translated  and  edited  by  Adam 
Sedgwick,  M.A.,  and  F.  G.  Heathcote,  B.A.  (London: 
W.  S.  Sonnenschein  &  Co.).  To  a  seeker  after 
scientific  truth  and  knowledge  that  parochial  minded- 
ness  which  w^e  sometimes  dignify  under  the  title  of 
"Patriotism"  gives  place  to  a  candid  recognition 
of  merit  wherever  it  is  found.  Otherwise  we  should 
have  regretted  that  no  English  Zoologist  had  pro- 
vided students  with  a  work  of  this  class.  Nicholson's 
Manuals  go  part  of  the  way,  but  only  a  part.  A 
really  good  text-book  of  Zoology,  something  like 
Sachs'  Manual  of  Botany,  was  much  wanted.  Dr. 
Claus's  name,  both  as  a  teacher  and  investigator,  are 
well  known,  and  this  translation  of  his  well-known 
manual  will  be  thankfully  received  by  zoological 
students.  Let  us  add  that  we  think  the  work  has 
been  improved  by  editing  and  translating.  Certainly 
none  could  better  have  fulfilled  this  task  than  Mr. 
Adam  Sedgwick.  The  chief  feature  which  strikes 
us  in  reading  the  present  work  is  its  lucidity.  The 
English  is  of  the  best,  and  the  illustrations  apt  and 
pointed.  Although  it  only  includes  the  invertebrate 
animals  from  the  Protozoa  to  the  Insecta  (in  the 
special  part),  the  preceding  general  part  is  of  great 
value.  Nothing  in  connection  with  the  science  and 
philosophy  of  zoology  has  been  lost  sight  of,  and  the 
comparison  of  the  same  organs  in  different  classes  of 
animals,  of  similar  structures,  their  embryological 
and  general  development,  the  discussion  of  the 
doctrines  of  evolution,  natural  selection,  the  histori- 
cal review  of  Zoology — all  of  which  are  duly  treated 
upon  in  the  general  part — recommend  the  work  as  a 
most  attractive  one.  The  woodcuts  are  very  numerous 
and  of  a  high  artistic  character. 

On  the  Fossil  Fishes  of  the  Carboniferous  Lime- 
stone Series  of  Great  Britain,  by  J.  W.  Davis,  F.G.S. 
(Dublin  :  Published  by  the  Royal  Dublin  Society). 
Here  is  a  work  of  quite  another  character,  one  which 
demands  infinite  pains  and  patience,  and  that  quick 
and  ready  intuitive  diagnosis  of  specimens  which 
almost  amounts  to  genius.  And  yet  the  author  (a 
young  man)  is  no  salaried  professor,  or  state  endowed 
investigator,  but  a  British  manufacturer,  with  a 
brisk  business  to  successfully  superintend.  British 
science  owes  much  to  such  men,  and  we  are  proud 
of  them — our  Lubbocks,  Evans,  Tylors,  Sorbys, 
and  Davises  !  The  present  monograph  will  be  a 
great  boon  to  real  workers,  particularly  on  the 
interesting  carboniferous  limestone.  Mr.  Davis 
derived  the  materials  for  his  examination  and  study 
from  the  well-known  collection  of  the  Earl  of 
Enniskillen,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  South 
Kensington.  He  has  laid  under  contributions  the 
collections  in  the  National  Museum  ;  the  museums  of 
the  Geological  Society,  of  Dublin,  Cambridge,  York, 


Bristol,  &c,  besides  private  collections.  Mr.  Davis 
accepts  Giinther's  classification  ;  and  without  de- 
voting more  than  half  a  page  to  his  introduction, 
he  plunges  at  once  into  his  subject,  like  a  practical 
man.  The  plates  are  65  in  number,  coloured,  and 
very  artistically  got  up  ;  so  that  the  volume  is  a 
credit  to  the  Royal  Dublin  Society,  and  one  which 
cannot  fail  to  greatly  enhance  the:  high  reputation  as 
a  palaeontologist  which  the  author  has  been  deservedly 
earning  for  some  years  past. 

Phillips's  Manual  of  Geology,  edited  by  Robert 
Etheridge,  F.R.S.,  and  H.  G.  Seely,  F.R.S.  (London  : 
Charles  Griffin  &  Co.).  We  cannot  complain  of 
want  of  manuals  in  geology,  although  palaeontology 
is  by  no  means  so  well  off.  The  present  volume  is 
devoted  to  "  Physical  Geology,"  and  is  edited  by 
Prof.  Seely,  who  has  taken  the  well-known  and 
almost  classic  work  of  Prof.  John  Phillips  as  a  basis, 
and  it  evolved  this  book.  It  must  have  been  a 
harder  task  for  Mr.  Seely  to  work  on  these  lines  than 
to  have  written  an  original  manual.  But  he  has 
loyally  fulfilled  his  work,  and  under  the  role  of 
editor,  has  really  given  to  geological  students  a  work, 
whose  erudition,  painstaking  succinctness,  and 
thoroughness,  none  would  have  more  heartily 
recognized  than  the  genial  John  Phillips  himself — 
who  would  have  been  amused  in  no  small  way  at 
finding  how  his  little  book  had  grown  into  a  big  one  ! 
Many  of  the  illustrations  are  those  used  in  the 
original  work. 

The  Student's  Elements  of  Geology,  by  Sir  Charles 
Lyell,  Bart.,  F.R.S.  Fourth  edition,  Revised  by 
P.  M.  Duncan,  F.R.S.  (London  :  John  Murray). 
It  is  late  in  the  day  to  praise  Lyell's  Elements.  It  is 
far  beyond  the  region  of  criticism.  But  one  feels 
glad  that  so  old  a  friend  as  this  book  is — endeared  by 
those  recollections  of  the  past,  when  it  sent  us  with 
delighted  enthusiasm  to  the  work,  and  the  fossils  of 
which  it  treated — has  not  been  allowed  to  fall  out  of 
the  ranks  of  geological  literature.  It  is  seven  years 
since  the  last  edition  appeared,  and  geology  has 
progressed  marvellously  in  the  meantime ;  more 
particularly  with  regard  to  the  help  it  has  received 
from  microscopical  investigation.  The  publisher  was 
fortunate  enough  to  get  an  editor  who  has  a  high 
reputation  as  a  geologist  and  palaeontologist,  and 
who  also  knows  how  to  write  for  students.  Con- 
sequently this  is  by  far  the  best  edition  of  Lyell's 
"  Student's  Elements,"  which  has  ever  appeared. 

Plant-Lore,  Legends,  mid  Lyrics,  by  Richard 
Folkard,  jun.  (London  :  Sampson  Low  &  Co.).  No 
department  of  natural  knowledge  has  taken  such 
a  hold  on  the  public  mind  as  plants.  No  other 
natural  objects  are  so  intimately  associated  with 
the  historical  mental  and  moral  development  of 
mankind  at  large,  or  have  so  grown  up,  and  inter- 
mingled with  its  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and  sorrows. 
There  is  hardly  a  common  wayside  weed  which  is 
not    sanctified    to    us    in    these   modern   times   by 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


27 


associations  of  this  kind  !  It  is  a  right  and  a  good 
thing  not  to  allow  these  old-world  beliefs  concerning 
the  ascribed  virtues,  &c,  of  plants  to  die  out.  Con- 
sequently we  warmly  welcome  the  handsome  volume 
before  us,  in  which  the  myths,  traditions,  superstitions, 
and  folk-lore  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  fully 
worked  out.  The  author  is  also  the  printer  of  the 
book — so  that  it  is  everything  the  book-lover  can 
wish  as  regards  type,  woodcuts,  paper,  &c.  More- 
over, the  fact  lends  additional  point  to  the  remarks 
already  made  concerning  the  contributions  made  by 
British  industry  to  British  science.  Mr.  Folkard  has 
the  charm  of  an  interesting  and  clear  style,  as  was 
unavoidable  from  the  thorough  manner  in  which  he 
is  interpenetrated  with  his  subject.  His  book 
displays  much  learning  and  research,  and  it  is  both 
pleasant  to  read,  and  useful  to  refer  to. 

Origin  of  Cultivated  Plants,  by  Alphonse  de 
Candolle  (London  :  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.).  This  is 
another  of  the  now  famous  "International  Scientific 
Series,"  and  it  is  also  one  of  the  most  important, 
both  on  account  of  the  high  scientific  rank  of  its 
author,  and  the  importance  and  interest  of  the 
subject-matter.  The  latter  is  almost  as  much  archaeo- 
logical and  historical  as  it  is  botanical  and  horticul- 
tural ;  for  many  of  the  most  important  of  our  food- 
plants  have  their  origin  lost  in  the  mists  of  anti- 
quity, just  as  the  races  of  mankind  are.  Prof,  de 
Candolle  only  deals  with  the  plants  useful  as  food, 
he  leaves  out  the  medicinal  kinds.  With  wondrous 
patience  and  learning,  he  has  traced  the  history  of 
some  plants  for  thousands  of  years  back,  and  shown 
how  their  culture  was  carried  on  at  different  epochs. 
At  the  same  time  he  points  out,  that  three  out  of  four 
of  the  original  homes  of  cultivated  plants  (as  indicated 
by  Linnaeus)  are  wrong.  Nevertheless,  these  have 
been  continuously  repeated  by  subsequent  authors, 
who  will  now  have  a  better  authority  to  appeal  to. 

Leisure  Time  Studies,  Chiefly  Biological,  by  Andrew 
Wilson,  Ph.D.  (London  :  Chatto  &  Windus).  This 
is  the  third  edition  of  a  series  of  essays  and  lectures, 
whose  literary  success  is  proved  by  the  fact,  that  their 
republication  is  thus  constantly  called  for.  Dr. 
Wilson  has  a  very  quiet  but  effective  way  of  telling 
what  he  has  to  say,  which  charms  his  readers  into 
following  him  from  essay  to  essay.  Some  of  these 
(as  that  on  corals,  for  instance)  are  models  of  how 
much  information  can  be  clearly  and  effectively 
packed  into  so  small  a  space.  The  last  essay  on 
science  and  poetry  rises  to  a  lofty  expression  of 
poetical  feeling,  and  its  perusal  would  be  a  complete 
answer  to  those  who  imagine  that  science  and  poetry 
are  antagonistic  to  each  other. 

Effie  and  Her  Strange  Acquaintances,  by  the  Rev. 
John  Crofts,  M.A.  (Chester  :  Phillipson  &  Golder). 
After  reading  this  delightful  child's  book  ourselves, 
we  subjected  it  to  the  criticism  of  a  little  book -worm 
of  ten  years  old,  who  has  read  it  four  times  through  ! 
This  will  be  considered  as  a  fair  test  of  its  readable 


character.  The  author  has  skilfully  combined  the 
form  of  Kingsley's  "Water-Babies"  with  Carroll's 
"  Alice  in  Wonderland,"  and  has  brought  out  a  book 
which  plainly  shows  how  much  he  loves  both 
children  and  flowers,  or  he  could  not  intellectually 
cater  for  them  so  attractively. 

The  Geology  of  Weymouth,  by  Robert  Damon 
(London  :  Edward  Stanford).  This  is  a  new  and 
enlarged  edition  of  a  very  successful  geological 
handbook  to  a  very  attractive  and  highly  fossiliferous 
locality — a  locality  known  to  the  author  for  many 
years.  The  volume  is  beautifully  got  up,  and  well 
illustrated  ;  and  no  naturalist,  certainly  no  geologist, 
ought  to  be  without  it  who  wishes  to  enjoy  the  feast 
of  fat  things  offered  in  our  Southern  English  coasts. 

Natural  History  Sketches  among  the  Carnivora,  by 
Arthur  Nicols,  F.G.S.  (London:  L.  Upcott  Gill). 
The  delightful  freedom  from  any  form  of  literary 
stiffness  which  marks  all  this  author's  previous  works 
is  evident  in  the  present.  It  is  a  most  attractive 
volume,  inside  and  out ;  and  the  subject,  although 
to  some  extent  a  hackneyed  one,  is  redeemed  by  the 
graceful  style  of  the  author. 

The  Speaking  Parrots,  by  Dr.  Karl  Russ  (London  : 
L.  Upcott  Gill).  This  is  a  nicely  got  up  manual, 
dealing  with  the  habits,  food,  training,  health,  &c.  of 
this  class  of  birds.  We  are  frequently  asked  to 
recommend  a  book  of  this  kind,  and  we  are  there- 
fore glad  to  draw  attention  to  it,  and  to  speak  of  it 
as  one  which  seems  to  fulfil  all  the  requirements  of 
"  A  Manual  of  Talking  Birds." 

The  Universe  of  Suns,  by  R.  A.  Proctor  (London  : 
Chatto  &  Windus).  It  requires  only  the  announce- 
ment of  a  new  book  by  Mr.  Proctor,  for  it  to  be 
read.  The  present  volume  consists  of  a  series  of 
essays,  chiefly  relating  to  solar  and  planetary 
astronomy,  and  embracing  earthquakes  and  volcanic 
phenomena,  and  even  social  subjects,  all  discussed  in 
that  terse  and  elegant  English  of  which  the  author  is 
so  skilled  a  master.  It  is  a  most  delightful  book  to 
read. 

The  Story  of  a  Great  Delusion,  by  William  White 
(London :  E.  W.  Allen).  A  nicely  printed,  and 
altogether  attractively  got  up  book.  The  literary 
contents  are  about  as  hopeless  a  jumble  as  we  ever 
saw  in  print,  and  a  believer  in  vaccination  could  not 
desire  to  inflict  a  more  refined  act  of  cruelty  upon  an 
anti-vaccinator  than  oblige  him  to  read  the  present 
volume  right  through. 

Rabbits,  by  R.  O.  Edwards  (London  :  W.  Swan 
Sonnenschein  &  Co.).  A  handy  little  manual  on 
this  perennial  subject,  as  useful  to  the  amateur  as  to 
the  professional  rabbit-keeper,  with  full  and  minute 
details  relating  to  everything  which  concerns  the 
well-being  of  these  familiar  pets. 

List  of  British  Vertebrate  Animals,  by  Francis  P. 
Pascoe  (London :  Taylor  &  Francis).  All  British 
naturalists  should  procure  this  most  useful  and 
compact  little  manual.     It  will  save  much  time,  and 

C  2 


2S 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


assist  in  securing  greater  accuracy.  The  newest 
views  and  changes  in  classification  are  included  ; 
and,  although  the  book  is  a  small  one,  there  is  a  good 
deal  in  it. 

Nature's  Hygiene,  by  C.  T.  Kingzett,  F.C.S. 
(London  :  Bailliere,  Tindall,  &  Co.).  Although 
this  is  the  second  edition  of  a  book  which  we  noticed 
favourably  when  it  first  came  out,  the  author  has 
improved  it  by  partly  rewriting  some  chapters,  and 
adding  others,  as  water  supply,  sewage,  infectious 
diseases,  &c.  It  is  a  good  practical  manual  on  all 
matters  relating  to  health,  and  we  are  pleased  to  see 
the  public  taking  so  much  greater  interest  in  this 
subject  as  to  require  a  second  edition. 

The  Naturalist's  World,  edited  by  Percy  Lund 
(London :  W.  Swan  Sonnenschein).  This  is  the 
first  volume  of  a  bright  and  attractive  monthly 
magazine,  published  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Practical  Naturalists'  Society.  It  covers  a  good  deal 
of  ground,  contains  a  variety  of  well-written  articles, 
and  shows  plain  proof  of  careful  editorship. 

We  have  also  received  a  neatly  got  up  volume, 
containing  the  Reports  of  the  Meetings  of  the 
Scientific  Association  recently  held  in  Montreal  and 
Philadelphia,  as  given  in  the  American  weekly 
journal  Science.  It  is  a  very  handy  volume,  and 
contains  the  pith  of  the  best  papers  and  addresses, 
carefully  edited. 


GAULT  FOSSILS  AT  FOLKESTONE. 

DURING  a  recent  visit  to  the  Warren,  near 
Folkestone,  Kent,  in  search  of  Lepidoptera, 
the  weather  having  become  unfavourable,  I  was 
obliged  to  turn  my  attention  to  some  other  branch  of 
Natural  History,  otherwise  I  should  have  to  return 
with  empty  boxes.  On  looking  from  the  cliffs  above 
the  Warren,  I  observed  the  dark  line  of  gault  near 
the  beach,  and  remembering  having  read  that  fossils 
were  to  be  obtained  somewhere  near  this  spot,  I 
thought  I  would  become  a  geologist,  for  the  first 
time. 

On  descending  the  cliffs,  "which  are  here  much 
broken,  and  often  very  wet  from  the  springs  which 
trickle  over  the  impervious  clay  to  the  beach,"  I  soon 
observed  remains  of  shells  in  various  parts  of  the 
gault,  but,  on  attempting  to  dig  them  out,  I  found 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  obtain  them  in 
perfect  condition  ;  however,  I  managed  to  get  a  few 
specimens  of  such  species  as  Inoceramus  concern 'ricus 
and  /.  sulcatus,  Ammonites  interruptus  and  A. 
itnritits.  These  Ammonites  were  mostly  broken  in 
extricating  them  from  the  clay  in  which  they  were 
found. 

I  then  turned  my  attention  to  the  beach,  and 
found  the  fossils  were  much  more  plentiful  there,  but 
they  were  in  most  cases  in  the  form  of  interior  casts 


filled  in  fact  with  iron-pyrites,  but  many  were  very 
perfect.  By  searching  under  lumps  of  clay  and 
boulders,  I  found  many  species,  such  as  Ammonites 
varicosus,  A.  lautus,  very  plentiful ;  Nucula  ovata 
and  N.  pectinata,  common,  but  only  occasionally 
found  perfect.  Nucula  -oibrayana,  not  so  common 
as  the  two  other  species.  Belemnites  minimus,  B. 
ultimus  and  B.  attenuatus,  rather  plentiful.  These 
singular  objects  when  water  worn,  are  not  unlike  bits 
of  slate-pencil,  a  comparison  which  I  fear  will  shock 
a  geologist. 

In    some   places  lately  left  bare   by   the  tide,  I 


Fig.  26. — Inoceramus  concentricus. 


Fig.  27. — Aporrhais  Parkinsonii. 

found  hollows  in  the  gault  filled  by  a  deposit  con- 
sisting of  small  fossils,  pebbles  and  fragments  of  iron- 
pyrites.  I  here  found  many  small  species,  some  of 
which  I  have  net  yet  got  named,  Aporrhais  Parkin- 
sonii and  A.  rostellaria,  rather  plentiful,  but  very 
imperfect.  IPamites  tuberculatus,  only  broken  parts  of 
this  species  could  be  found,  also  portions  of  serpula 
tubes,  and  encrinite  stems.  Corbula  gaultina,  two 
specimens  only  were  found  on  this  occasion,  but, 
being  much  pleased  with  my  first  attempt  at  collecting 
fossils,  I  went  again,  and  obtained  many  specimens 
of  Corbula  gaultina  and  also  Cardita  tenuicosta, 
Solarium    ornatum,    some    nearly  perfect.      Acteon 


HARD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  O  SSI  P. 


29 


pulchclla,  Hemiaster  minimus,  Trochocyathiis  har- 
veyana,  a  few  specimens  of  each  were  found.  Many 
specimens  of  a  cerithium  [?]  were  found,  but  not  perfect. 
Natica  gaultina,  a  few  were  obtained  in  a  fair  state 
of  preservation.  Hamitcs  rotundus,  only  broken  bits 
of  this  species  could  be  obtained.  Rostcllaria  carinata, 
a  few  good  specimens  were  found.  I  also  found  a  few- 
specimens  of  Bellaropuina  miniata :  a  species  which 
I  understand  is  rather  rare  ;  it  is  certainly  rather 
difficult  to  find,  on  account  of  its  small  size  and 
general  resemblance  to  a  rounded  fragment  of  iron- 
stone.    A  shark's  tooth  was  obtained  fairly  perfect, 


Fig.  28. — Ammonites  lautus. 

and  also  a  number  of  small  teeth,  not  yet  named. 
These  are  remarkably  perfect.  All  the  above  smaller 
species  require  much  care  to  detect  and  separate 
them  from  the  sand  and  stones.  I  observed  that  the 
few  persons  who  did  collect  the  fossils  appeared  to 
look  for  the  larger  Ammonites  only,  taking  very  little 
notice  of  the  smaller  species.  I  think  the  fact  that  I 
have  obtained  nearly  thirty  species  in  two  or  three 
visits  to  this  locality,  may  be  of  interest  to  many. 
My  object  in  writing  the  above  list,  is  to  induce 
others  to  collect.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Newton,  of  the 
Geological  Museum,  London,  for  his  kind  assistance 
in  naming  my  specimens. 

A.  H.  Shepherd. 
London. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

THE  very  active  people  who  have  lately  been 
denouncing  physiological  investigations  made 
upon  living  animals,  and  misrepresenting  97  per  cent, 
of  them  by  applying  the  title  of  "vivisection  "  ;  and 
who  evidently  imagine  that  all  perpetrators  of  physio- 
logical research  are  mere  sportsmen  finding  personal 
enjoyment  in  the  infliction  of  pain  and  death  upon 
helpless  animals,  should  read  Dr.  Richardson's  lecture 
on  "The  Painless  Extinction  of  Life  in  the  Lower 
Animals,"  delivered  at  the  Society  of  Arts,  and 
published  in  the  Journal  of  that  Society  for  December 
26th  last.  They  will  learn  thereby  that  a  very  emi- 
nent physician  and  experimentalist,  who  according  to 


their  confession  of  faith  should  be  a  heartless  beast- 
torturing  ogre,  has  during  more  than  thirty  years 
been  working  most  industriously,  at  considerable 
expense  of  money  and  still  greater  cost  of  valuable 
time,  without  any  pay  or  prospect  of  pay,  in  devising 
methods  for  rendering  the  customary  slaughtering  of 
animals  absolutely  painless.  If  these  denouncers  of 
vivisection  are  really  sincere  they  will  at  once  emu- 
late the  truly  humane  efforts  of  Dr.  Richardson,  will 
sacrifice  their  time,  their  labour,  and  their  cash  as  he 
has  done,  by  co-operating  in  a  great  national  effort  to 
introduce  the  use  of  the  "  lethal  chamber"  in  all  our 
slaughter  houses.  There  is  no  excuse  for  holding 
back,  as  the  effectiveness  of  the  method  has  been 
practically  demonstrated  and  is  practically  carried 
out  at  the  "  Dogs'  Home  "  at  Battersea,  where  as 
many  as  a  hundred  at  a  time  of  dogs,  that  would 
otherwise  be  violently  butchered,  are  gently  made  to 
sleep,  not  suffocated,  but  lulled  by  a  device  as  pain- 
less as  the  cradle  rocking  of  an  infant.  In  this 
simple  sleep  they  remain  until  the  heart  follows 
the  example  of  the  dormant  brain,  and  beats  no 
more.  All  the  practical  details  are  described  and 
illustrated  in  the  above  named  report  ;  and  a  society 
is  already  formed  for  carrying  them  out  on  animals 
to  be  killed  for  food  (The  London  Model  Abattoir 
Society  of  which  Dr.  Richardson  is  president)  ;  the 
heaviest  of  the  work  is  already  done.  I  have  a  list 
of  the  names  of  many  that  have  spoken  loudly  as 
antivivisectionists,  and  shall  look  for  those  same 
names  among  the  leading  supporters  of  this  move- 
ment. If  they  do  not  thus  appear,  I  shall  be  driven  to 
conclusions  that  need  not  here  be  specified  and  which 
will  be  shared  by  all  who  appreciate  moral  consis- 
tency. 

The  Students  of  the  University  of  Paris  are 
forming  an  association  which  is  to  be  worthily  in- 
augurated by  a  public  celebration  in  honour  of  the 
oldest  living  philosopher,  M.  Chevreul,  whose 
hundredth  birthday  will  presently  be  attained.  In  a 
paper  which  he  read  at  the  Academy  of  Sciences  two 
years  ago,  he  had  occasion  to  say  : — "  Moreover, 
gentlemen,  the  observation  is  not  a  new  one  to  me. 
I  had  the  honour  to  mention  it  here,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Academy  on  May  10th,  1812."  Here  is  a 
chemist  about  as  old  as  chemistry  (which  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  existed  before  the  discovery  of 
oxygen),  and  still  alive,  and  intellectually  vigorous. 
Fontenelle,  who  died  in  1750,  was  nearly  as  old,  and 
shortly  before  his  death  said  to  his  inquiring  friends, 
"  I  have  no  suffering,  but  am  feeling  merely  an  in- 
creased difficulty  of  living."  In  another  part  of  the 
same  number  of  "  Nature,"  from  which  I  quote  this 
saying  of  Fontenelle,  are  the  last  words  of  John 
Lawrence  Smith,  the  American  chemist,  geologist, 
and  engineer ;  they  were  "  Life  has  been  very  sweet  to 
me ;  it  comforts  me.  How  I  pity  those  to  whom 
memory  brings  no  pleasure."  Such  expressions, 
such  feelings  in  the  evening  of  life  are  the  logical 


30 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


results  of  earnest  devotion  to  Science.  The  gloomy 
visions  of  a  wicked,  ill-fashioned  world,  and  dread  of 
a  worse  to  come,  which  darken  the  later  moments  of 
so  many  of  those  who  have  groped  through  life  in  the 
midst  of  artificial  darkness  due  to  the  blindness  of 
ignorance,  is  impossible  to  men  who  have  earnestly 
explored  the  wondrous  harmonies  of  Nature,  and  have 
done  so  not  merely  for  trading  purposes,  but  with 
genuine  scientific  enthusiasm.  Neither  the  past  nor 
the  future  can  appear  ill-shapen  and  miserable  to  them. 

The  influence  of  coloured  light  on  plants,  concern- 
ing which  such  contradictory  conclusions  have  been 
formed,  has  been  further  studied  by  Hellriegel.  In 
his  later  researches  he  arranged  the  plants  so  that 
they  should  have  the  benefit  of  free  air  during  fine 
weather,  and  be  removed  to  shelter  in  bad  weather, 
instead  of  keeping  them  continuously  in  a  glass 
house.  Better  general  results  were  thus  obtained. 
Barley  plants  were  grown  under  blue  cobalt  glass 
and  yellow  carbon  glass.  Less  ash  and  more 
organic  matter  were  produced  under  the  blue  than 
under  the  yellow.  Those  under  the  blue  glass  grew 
well,  while  those  under  the  yellow  seemed  to  be 
retarded,  and  when  shaded  were  long  in  the  inter- 
nodes,  and  the  leaves  were  thin  and  delicate.  The 
general  conclusions  derived  from  these  and  other 
experiments  are,  that  leaves  are  not  very  sensitive 
to  moderate  changes  in  the  composition  of  the  light 
to  which  they  are  exposed,  and  consequently  that  the 
modifications  of  light  produced  by  the  ordinary  glass  of 
greenhouses  can  have  but  little  effect,  so  little  that 
there  is  no  practical  necessity  for  specially  selecting 
the  glass  used  for  this  purpose. 

The  persistence  of  an  old  fallacy  has  been 
curiously  shown  by  a  paragraph  which  has  lately 
"gone  the  round"  of  the  daily  papers.  After 
describing  the  bursting  of  water  mains  in  Buchanan 
Street  and  Paisley  Road,  Glasgow,  and  the  stoppage 
of  the  music  in  the  churches  having  hydraulic  organs, 
we  are  told  that  "  sudden  thaw  after  the  severe 
frost  caused  the  bursts." 

Another  popular  fallacy,  not  quite  so  elementary, 
is  continually  breaking  out  among  newspaper  corre- 
spondents. The  following,  written  from  Vevey, 
appeared  in  "Nature,"  December  nth.  "On  the 
night  of  November  28th,  at  about  six  in  the  evening, 
I  went  to  the  window  to  look  at  the  moon,  and  saw, 
as  it  were,  a  second  moon,  behind  the  other.  The 
effect  was  so  like  what  one  sometimes  experiences 
from  suddenly  going  out  of  a  light  room,  or  other 
causes  (my  own  italics)  that,  at  the  time,  I  fancied  it 
was  only  a  defect  in  my  sight.  On  going  into  my 
son's  room  an  hour  afterwards,  he  said,  *  If  something 
has  not  gone  wrong  with  my  eyes  there  are  two 
moons  to-night.'  On  this  I  went  out  again,  but  only 
saw  one  moon  "as  usual.  Later  in  the  evening,  a 
young  girl  who  had  been  meeting  a  friend  at  the 
Montreux  train,  said  her  friend  had  said  the  moon 
looked  queer    all  the  while  she   was   in  the   train. 


The  night  previous  a  pretty  severe  shock  of  earth 
quake  occurred  in  Geneva  and  Lausanne,  and 
a  few  hours  after  we  had  observed  the  moon  on 
the  28th  a  very  violent  gale  and  snowstorm  took 
place."  It  should  be  noted  that  this  account  states 
that  each  of  the  observers  saw  the  double  moon 
through  windows,  and  that  the  writer  only  saw  one 
moon  "on  going  out."  Herein  lies  the  explana- 
tion without  invoking  any  of  the  "other  causes"  to 
which  temporary  double  vision  is  usually  attributed. 
The  moon,  or  any  other  luminous  object  viewed 
obliquely  through  a  pane  of  glass,  is  always  visually 
doubled.  The  light  passing  obliquely  through  the 
side  of  the  glass  next  to  the  luminous  object  is 
reflected  when  it  reaches  the  inner  surface  next  to 
the  observer,  and  then  is  re -reflected  by  the  opposite 
inner  surface,  and  thrown  towards  him.  This  second 
reflected  image  appears  near  to  the  directly  trans- 
mitted image,  but  is  not  coincident  with  it,  the 
distance  between  varying  with  the  thickness  of  the 
glass.  When  the  object  is  large,  it  only  appears 
to  have  blurred  outlines,  when  small  the  true  double 
character  of  the  image  is  evident.  Double  stars  may 
thus  be  discovered  without  any  telescopic  aid. 

After  all  the  protection  and  subsidies  and  bounties 
that  have  been  bestowed  on  that  very  political 
agricultural  product,  beet  sugar,  it  is  now  in  danger 
of  being  outrivalled  by  Sorghum  sugar.  German  and 
French  chemists  are  working  out  the  scientific 
elements  of  the  problem.  In  Biedermann's  Central- 
blatt,  V.  Pfuel  describes  his  experiments  on  its  culti- 
vation, finds  that  when  the  seed  ripens  there  is  15 
per  cent,  of  sacchrose  present ;  before  that  time,  only 
from  one  to  three  per  cent.  After  the  autumn  cutting 
the  plants  throw  up  a  good  fodder  for  sheep.  N. 
Minangoin,  in  the  same  journal,  says  that  Sorghum 
may  be  cultivated  in  France  at  less  cost  than  beet, 
that  its  yield  of  molasses  is  less,  but  good  brandy  is 
obtainable  from  it,  and  the  residue  makes  good 
fodder.  Beet  and  Sorghum  are  evidently  running  a 
close  race,  with  the  advantage  of  the  start  and 
consequent  experience  and  skill,  on  the  side  of  the 
beet.     But  this  may  not  be  maintained. 

Two  elaborate,  and  from  a  purely  chemical  point 
of  view,  able  papers  are  contributed  to  Dingler's 
Polytechnisches  Journal  by  E.  Valenta,  onjhe  action 
of  glacial  acetic  acid  on  different  oils.  One  of  the 
results  of  these  researches,  which  the  author  claims, 
is  the  detection  of  the  adulteration  of  mineral  oils 
with  resin  oils,  the  resin  oils  being  soluble  in  acetic 
acid,  the  mineral  oils  almost  insoluble.  The  idea  of 
such  adulteration  is  rather  amusing  now  that  these 
mineral  lubricating  oils  are  so  much  cheaper  than  the 
imaginary  adulterant.  I  find  by  the  price  current  in 
last  month's  "  Oil  Trade  Review,"  that  the  heavy 
mineral  lubricating  oils  go  as  low  as  £5  per  ton,  i.e. 
about  fivepence  per  gallon  ;  the  light  mineral  oils 
range  from  6\d.  to  n\d.  per  gallon,  while  light  resin 
oil   is  24J.  (yd.   per  cwt.  or  is.  per  gallon.     This  is 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


3i 


something  like  the  supposed  adulteration  of  tea  with 
iron  filings,  which  was  so  gravely  and  repeatedly 
asserted  to  be  a'widespread  commercial  villany,  until 
(in  1S73)  I  showed  that  in  China  iron  filings  would 
cost  more  than  tea  leaves,  and  that  the  adulteration, 
if  practised  on  this  side,  to  the  asserted  extent  would 
demand  four  or  five  million  pounds  of  selected  fine 
iron  filings  per  annum,  sufficient  demand  to  produce 
an  extensive  and  very  visible  traffic  to  London,  which 
is  the  tea  port  of  Britain.  The  fact  is,  that  iron 
filings  are  practically  unsaleable  from  absence  of 
demand.     Firework  makers  use  a  few  steel  filings. 


OBJECTS  OF  INTEREST  IN  OUR  PIT 
DISTRICT. 

A  STRANGER   travelling   through    our   district 
would    meet    with    no    rugged    scenery,    or 
headlong  waterfall.      For  a  radius  of  a  few  miles,  he 
would  find  he  was  entirely  free  from  any  mountain, 
and   a   level  piece  of  country  would   stretch   before 
him.     Looking  eastward,  he  would  have  a  clear  sea 
view  of  the  sea  only  a  few  miles  distant.     Turning 
in  any  other  direction,  he  would  see  numerous  small 
plantations    mixed   with   farm    houses,    and    a    few 
villages  teeming  with  a  busy  population.      If  he  were 
fond  of  botany,  he  would  find  some  veiy  interesting 
plants.     If  an  ornithologist,  he  would  see  some  fine 
rookeries,  as  well  as  flocks  of  starlings.     The  latter 
used  to  be  a  migratory  bird,  but  has  now,  for  several 
years,  remained  all  the  winter  through.    Often  have  I 
stood     in     the     summer    evenings    watching    their 
movements.      Magpies   he   would   not   see,    as   they 
have  for  more  than  twenty  years  entirely  deserted  our 
district.     The  conduct  of  our  youngsters,  I  fancy,  will 
have  been  the  cause  of  their  desertion.     The  ornitho- 
logist would  only  on  very  rare  occasions  meet  with  any 
blackcaps,  as  they  are  with  us  fast  dying  out.      Two 
species    of   wagtail    stay    with    us    long    after    the 
migratory  birds  have  left  us.      A  lover  of  entomology 
would    meet    with     the     two    garden     white,    red, 
admiral,    small    tortoiseshell,    orange    tip,    meadow 
brown,  painted  lady,  the   small    copper,  and   occa- 
sionally  the  peacock.     The   small   streams  are  well 
stocked  with  small  fishes.      I  give  an  extract  I  once 
sent  to  a  Newcastle  paper  on  our  stickleback.      One 
fine   summer   evening,    the   sky   very   clear,  the  air 
quiet,  the  scenery  calm  and  peaceful,  and  all  nature 
appearing  at  rest,  I  took  a  stroll  by  the  side   of  a 
gentle   stream.     In    my   company   was  a  gentleman 
who   was   very   anxious  to  be  shown  some  nests   of 
stickleback,  as  he    had  never  before  seen  anything 
of  the   kind.      As    we    wandered    along,  shoals   of 
stickleback  darted    rapidly    past    us,   for,    with    their 
keen  sense  of  sight,  they  soon  recognised  us  on  the 
banks  as  strangers.    We  sat  down  on  the  bank,  and  the 
fish  soon  returned,  and  began  their  usual  pranks.    The 


males  took  their  places  and  stood  guard  over  their 
charmed  circles,  like  the  Roman  soldiers  of  old  went 
on  doing  their  duty,  and  ready  to  die  rather  than  be 
driven   from  their  posts.     My  friend  expressed  much 
surprise  to  find  all  those  having  the  prettiest  colour  to 
be  the  worst  tempered.    "  Yes,"  I  said,  "  that  is  true, 
but  let  us  look  at  their  motive.    You  see  those  little 
raised  mounds,  with  a  round  hole  in  the  centre  ;  they 
are  nests,  and  the  coloured  stickleback  you  see  close  by 
are  the  males  guarding  their  precious  homes.     The 
males  have  the  places  to  select,  the  nests   to   build 
and  to  keep  in  order,  the  females  coming  when  all 
is  right,  to  deposit  their  spawn,  and,  unless  the  nests 
were  closely  guarded  by  the  males,  not  only  against 
the   attack  of  other   fishes,    but    even     against   the 
parents  themselves,  as  the  ova  or  spawn  is  always  a 
precious  meal  to  fishes,  they  would  soon  be  destroyed." 
Their  colour  I  have  found  to  be  mostly  due  to  their 
valour  in  fighting,  the  bolder  they  are  the  more  fierce 
they  look,  and   the    more    courage    they    show    in 
defending   their   nests  the   more  colour  they  get.    I 
have  frequently   seen  females  go  from  nest  to  nest, 
depositing  ova  without  being  molested.      Yet,  at  the 
same  time,  I  have  seen  them  chased  away,  when  I 
much  fancied  they  had  not  any  ova  to  deposit.     The 
nests   I  could   see   were   repeatedly   visited   by   the 
males.      1st.  To  see  the  nests  are  kept  in  order,  and 
to  make  fast  any  loose  material  by  a  gummy  substance 
which  they  have  the  power  of  discharging.     2nd.  The 
eggs  of  the  female  have  to  be  fertilised  by  the  males  ; 
without  this  the  fecundity  of  the  eggs  would  not  take 
place.     Now  these  eggs,  and  those  of  snails,  frogs,  &c, 
that  I  have  examined,  are  the  same  shape  as  the  eggs 
of  birds,  when  viewed  under  the  microscope.     As  I 
was  in  want  of  a  nest  for  my  home  aquarium,  my 
friend  insisted  on  taking  one  home.     He  stretched 
himself  across  the  stream  with  his  head  close  to  the 
nest  which  he  wanted,  and  which  was  only  a  few  inches 
under  the  water.    As  he  listened  very  attentively,  he 
fancied  he  heard  something  moving.     Presently  the 
whole    brood   of  young   ones   came   away,    and   so 
fascinated  were  we  with  the  sight  before  us,  that  a 
few  seconds  passed  away  before  we  could  speak  to 
each  other  again.     He  took  off  his  round  felt   hat, 
and  indented  the  crown  so  as  to  hold  about  a  pint  of 
water.     Into   this   miniature   vessel    he    placed    the 
whole  shoal  of  young.     This  mass  of  life,  so  newly 
ushered  into  existence,  was  to  us  the  most  interesting 
of  all  sights  we  had  before  witnessed.      I  have  found 
these   last  few  years,  that  that  pretty  little  fish  the 
minnow  fails    to    keep   its    own    in  the   struggle    for 
existence,  in  some  of  our  very  small  streams.     Where 
it  used  to  be  plentiful,  it  has  now  entirely  died  out. 
They   fail    to    stand    the    repeated    attacks   of  the 
pugnacious     sticklebacks.       The     traveller     in     our 
country  would  pass  acres  of  land,  scarcely  fit  to  graze 
a  single  animal.     On   his  route   he   would  notice  a 
peculiar   looking   hill,  or   heap,  varying   in  different 
shades    of    colour,    mingled    with    patches    of    the 


32 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


coarsest  of  grass,  to  which  no  living  animal  would 
care  to  give  a  passing  glance.  All  the  strata  are  cut 
through  ;  when  sinking  a  pit  the  rubbish  is  sent 
away.  When  the  pit  gets  under  way,  falls  of  shale 
are  almost  of  daily  occurrence,  and  the  greater  part 
of  this  shale  has  to  be  brought  away,  which  soon 
makes  the  heaps  grow  larger.  The  geologist  will 
perhaps  find  in  no  part  of  the  world  so  rich  in  fossil 


Fig.  29. — Anthracosia  ovata,  a  common  fossil  in  coal  shales. 

remains,  as  those  refuse  shale  heaps,  met  with  at  our 
colliery  places.  If  he  were  to  split  some  of  the  shale 
open,  he  might  find  abundance  of  fossil  mussels,  such 
as  Anthracosia,  as  well  as  of  fossil  ferns  and  other 
plant  remains,  and  thus  discover  that  even  in  our 
district  there  is  plenty  of  interest,  although  it  is  only 
a  Pit  one  ! 

John  Sim. 
North  u  in  be r  land. 


ON  THE  EMBRYOLOGY  OF  BOTYS 
HYALINALIS. 

By  Dr.  J.  A.  Osborne. 

~\\  7TIILST  according  the  first  place  in  embryo- 
V  V  logical  research  to  the  method  of  investiga- 
tion by  means  of  sections,  Dr.  August  Weismann, 
in  his  latest  work  ("  Beitr.  z.  Kenntniss  d.  ersten 
Entwickelungsvorgange  im  Insektenei,"  Bonn,  18S2), 
is  yet  of  opinion  that  the  older  method,  by  "contin- 
uous observation  of  the  living  and  developing  egg," 
has  of  late  years  been  much  underrated.  "There 
are,"  he  says  (loc.  cit.  p.  2),  "certainly  phenomena 
of  development,  where  the  method  by  section  fails  us 
altogether,  and  of  whose  course,  nay,  very  existence, 
only  direct  observation  gives  us  any  intelligence." 
Perhaps  there  are  few  eggs  of  insects  which,  owing  to 
their  extreme  flatness  and  transparency,  are  better 
suited  for  direct  observation  during  development  than 
those  of  Botys  hyalinalis.  They  are  small  oval  discs 
of  about  2" 3-2 •  5  mm.  in  length  by  2  mm.  or  rather 
more  in  breadth,  not  thicker  in  proportion  than  the 
body  of  a  sole  or  plaice  is  to  its  diameter,  and  thin- 
ning off  in  like  manner  to  a  sharp  edge  at  the 
circumference.  The  shell  is  transparent  as  glass,  and 
the  view  but  little  impeded  by  the  somewhat  coarse 
reticulations  of  the  chorion  in  irregularly  polygonal 
fields  with  linear  borders  and  uneven  areas. 


On  the  4th  of  August  last,  I  received  by  post  from 
Mr.  W.  R.  Jeffrey,  of  Ashford,  Kent,  a  small  batch  of 
seven  of  these  eggs  which  had  been  laid  on  glass 
some  time  on  the  morning  of  the  2nd.  The  batch 
had  a  somewhat  greasy  whitish  appearance,  and  on 
closer  inspection  the  eggs  were  seen  to  be  arranged 
in  an  oval  or_  ring  of  six  surrounding  a  central  one, 
but  all  overlapping,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  central 
egg  was  overlain  by  three  at  one  end  of  the  oval,  and 
overlay  the  three  at  the  other  end  ;  whilst  of  the 
former  three  the  middle  (or  remotest)  egg  overlapped 
the  other  two,  and  of  the  latter  three  the  middle  (or 
nearest)  egg  was  overlapped  by  them.  The  lateral 
pair  of  the  first  three  also  overlapped  the  lateral  pair 
of  the  second  three,  but  the  eggs  of  each  pair  did  not 
touch  each  other.  In  this  arrangement  there  was 
one  egg  (only)  at  the  nearest  extremity  of  the  long 
axis  of  the  group,  which  lay  directly  on  the  glass 
without  overlying  a  part  of  any  other  ;  and  one 
(only)  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  axis,  which, 
overlying  two  others  in  part,  was  itself  not  overlapped 
by  any  other.  The  conclusion  appears  inevitable 
that  these  eggs  were  respectively  the  first  and  last 
laid  in  the  group  :  otherwise  a  later  egg  must  have 
been  partially  inserted  beneath  one  already  deposited 
on  the  glass — a  supposition  which  the  character  of 
the  eggs  themselves  would  appear  to  negative 
decidedly.  I  found  it  convenient,  taking  the  longer 
axis  of  the  group  as  a  meridian  running  north  and 
south,  and  designating  the  central  egg  as  "C,"  to 
distinguish  the  others  by  the  points  of  the  compass, 
as  N.,  S.,  N.W.,  &c,  and  regarding  the  group  always 
from  the  free  side.  The  moth,  then,  in  depositing  her 
eggs,  must  have  proceeded  along  the  glass  in  a  general 
direction  from  south  to  north  ;  and  the  eggs  must  have 
been  laid  in  the  following  order: — S.,  S.W.  and  S.E., 
C,  N.W.,  and  N.E.,  N.  The  order  of  precedence  in 
the  lateral  pairs  is  no  t  determinable  from  these  premises . 
Subsequently  Mr.  Jeffrey  sent  me  the  shells  of  another 
group  of  nine  of  these  eggs,  laid  at  the  same  time, 
which  give  some  further  insight  into  the  method  of 
oviposition.  In  this  group,  which  has  a  transversely 
elongated  rhomboidal  form,  the  extreme  lateral  eggs, 
E.  and  W.,  which  were  absent  in  the  first,  are  present. 
Here  it  is  plain  that  the  eggs  were  laid  in  rows  of 
three  each,  forming  an  acute  angle  with  the  meridian, 
and  each  row  beginning  a  step  further  east  or  west  and 
further  north  than  the  row  before  it.  The  order  must 
(mostlikely)havebeenS.,  S.W..W.  ;  S.E.,C,  N.W.  ; 
E.,  N.E.,N.  ;  or  else,  S.,  S.E.,  E.  ;  S.W.,C,  N.E. ; 
W.,  N.W.,  N.  I  enclose  diagrams  (Figs.  3o"and  31), 
the  better  to  illustrate  my  meaning,  but  if  it  should 
be  inconvenient  to  engrave  these,  the  grouping  may 
be  very  well  imitated  with  the  requisite  number  of 
pence  or  half-pence,  taking  the  vertical  line  of  the 
figure  on  the  coin  to  represent  the  long  axis  of  the 
egg.  In  all  cases  the  long  axis  of  the  egg-oval  lay 
north  and  south,  i.e.  parallel  with  the  meridian  of  the 
group  ;  and,  as  subsequent  observation  showed,  in 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


33 


all  cases  the  head  of  the  embryo  lay  south.  The 
question  now  arises  :  does  the  south  end  of  the  egg 
correspond  with  its  lower  pole  or  first  laid  end? 
This  question  must  be  answered  affirmatively,  unless 
we  are  prepared  to  admit  either,  on  the  one  hand 
that  the  eggs  in  laying  could  have  been  partly  slid 
under  ones  already  laid,  which  their  thinness  and 
delicacy  and  their  firm  adhesion  to  the  glass  and  to 
one  another  seems  to  render  impossible ;  or,  on  the 
other  hand,   that  the  ovipositor  of  the  moth,  whilst 


lower  pole,  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  (somewhat 
important,  inasmuch  as  it  is  at  variance  with  the 
statement  of  Leuckart  that  "the  upper  pole  in  all 
cases  contains  the  head  end  of  the  embryo." — See 
Entom.  Month.  Mag.  vol.  xx.  p.  146),  that  in  these 
eggs  the  head  of  the  embryo  normally  occupies  the 
lower  pole  of  the  egg.  The  physiological  reason  is 
obvious.  In  those  cases  where  (as  in  Pieris  brassica:)  the 
egg  is  attached  by  its  lower  pole  to  the  food-plant, 
the  escaping  larva,  if  its  head  occupied  that  end, 


NW. 


SW 


NE 


SE 


Fig-  30. 


Fig.  35- 


S.W 


ISte&kS 


Fig.  34- 


Fig.  33- 


Fig.  36. 


4P  s.w 


Fig. 


37- 


Fig.  38. 


Fig,  39- 


depositing  the  egg  is  bent  in  under  her  venter  so  as 
to  extrude  the  egg  with  its  lower  pole  to  the  front. 
Such  an  inversion  of  the  normal  orientation  does  take' 
place  in  the  case  of  the  sawfly  (Zartza  fasciata),  and 
probably  also,  more  or  less,  in  the  case  of  other 
insects  laying  their  eggs  in  mines  or  in  the  ground,  or 
in  other  situations  where  a  long  ovipositor  is  required, 
but  I  am  ignorant  that  there  are  any  grounds  for  such 
an  assumption  in  the  case  of  Botys.  Taking  it  for 
granted  then  that   the  south  end   of  the  egg  is  its 


would  not  only  have  to  eat  its  way  out  of  the  shell, 
but  also  through  the  substance  to  which  the  egg  was 
attached  ;  while  in  the  case  of  Botys  if  the  head  of 
the  larva  occupied  the  upper  pole,  it  would,  after 
eating  its  way  through  its  own  shell,  come  in  contact 
with  the  egg  above  it  with  disadvantage  to  itself  and 
probable  destruction  to  its  neighbour. 

When  I  received  the  eggs  on  the  4th  of  August, 
they  were  already  in  the  third  day  of  incubation,  and 
presented    the   following   appearances.      The   yolk- 


34 


HA  RD  WICKE  'S  S  CIENCE-  G  O  SSI  P. 


granules  were  aggregated  in  spherular  masses,  which 
again   were   arranged   in   two   groups  :    an   annular 
larger  mass  having  a  clear  space  outside  between  it 
and  the  shell,  and  a  clear  central  area  in  which  the 
smaller  mass  lay  in  an  irregularly  curved   spiral  or 
crescentic  form.     For  the  sake  of  convenience,  I  shall 
call   these  two  masses  of  [opaque  yolk  the  Annulus 
and  the  Spiral.     The  former  was  composed  of  yolk- 
spherules  (i.e.  aggregated  masses  of  yolk-granules), 
arranged,  somewhat  loosely  at  first,  but  by  degrees 
more  compactly,  so  as  to  flatten  their  sides  and  give 
them  a  polygonal  form,  in  a  flat  oval  ring,  having  the 
same  contour  as  the  egg  itself,  but  gradually  wider  at 
one  end  than  the  other,  not   unlike  a  horse-collar. 
The   broader   end   was   at  first  in  all  cases  (except, 
perhaps,  N.W.)  towards  the  south  end  of  the  egg.* 
It  maintained  its  shape  with  little  change,   except 
some    diminution  in  width  and  increase  in  density, 
all  the  time  that  the  eggs  were  under  observation,  i.e. 
till  the  9th  August,  when  they  were  unfortunately 
destroyed    by    an    accident    a    day   or    two   before 
hatching  would  have  taken  place.      The  spiral,   on 
-the    contrary,    was    constantly  undergoing    change, 
and  it  soon  became  evident  that  its  convex  border 
was  the   true  seat  of  development.     Regarded  as  a 
mass   of  unchanged  yolk,  it  had,  on  the  5th  August, 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  double  scroll  (Fig.  32), 
something  like  the  capital  of  an  Ionic  pillar,   and 
with  a  stalk  between  roughly  corresponding  to  the 
shaft   of  the   pillar,  or,  at  least,  the  upper  end  of  it. 
The  volutes  of  this  scroll  or  double  spiral  were  not 
similar.      One  was  sharp,    dark  and   well  defined  ; 
the  other  vague  and  changing,  and  made  up  of  looser 
granules   of  yolk.     In   all   cases   the   sharper  well- 
defined  volute  lay  towards  the  north.     The  stalk  or 
shaft   between  the  volutes  pointed  in  a  general  direc- 
tion east  or  west,  and  after  some  hours  became  more 
slender  and  formed  an  attachment  with  the  annulus 
on  the  inside.     At  this  time  the  scroll  was  not  unlike 
the   vertebrate    embryo   in   an   early   stage  with  its 
umbilical  stalk,  and,  as  no  doubt  yolk  granules  passed 
into   the   embryo   by   this  channel,  there  may  have 
been   something   functional    in  the   resemblance   as 
well. 

To  explain  this  annular  arrangement  of  the  food- 
yolk  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to  the  formation  of  the 
amnion.  After  the  yolk  has  become  surrounded  by 
the  growth  of  cells  called  the  blastoderm,  and  after 
the  germinal  stripe,  or  foundation  of  the  embryo, 
has  been  differentiated  along  one  side  of  this  blasto- 
derm, a  double  fold  of  the  latter  grows  up  all  round 
the  circumference  of  the  germinal  stripe  and  finally 
closes  in  over  it,  the  edges  of  the  fold  fusing  together 
and  the  two  layers  (of  blastoderm)  of  which  it  is 
composed   at   the   same   time  ,  separating   from   one 


*  Under  date  August  7th,  I  have  the  following  note.  "In 
the  three  northern  eggs  it  is  the  northern  half  which  is  widest 
now — in  the  three  southern,  the  southern  half,  and  more  dis- 
tinctly so." 


another.  The  inner  of  these,  continuous  with  the 
embryo  itself,  and  lying  immediately  over  it,  is  the 
amnion  ;  the  outer,  continuous  with  the  blastoderm 
surrounding  the  yolk,  is  the  serous  membrane.  Two 
sacs  are  thus  formed,  the  one  within  the  other,  and 
between  them  lies  the  yolk.  In  the  lepidopterous 
egg  the  yolk  next  finds  its  way  into  the  space 
between  the  amnion  and  the  serous  membrane,  flow- 
ing over  the  former,  and  depressing  it  and  the 
embryo  beneath  it  till  both  are  completely  submerged 
in  yolk  and  consequently  hidden  from  view.  But 
owing  to  the  extreme  flatness  of  the  Botys1  eggs,  little 
or  no  yolk  finds  its  way  to  the  sides  of  the  embryo, 
but  is  constrained  to  lie  in  a  ring  around  it,  leaving 
the  centre  clear,  except  that  part  immediately 
beneath  the  germinal  stripe,  which  by  the  involution 
of  the  two  extremities  of  the  embryo  becomes  soon 
reduced  to  a  narrow  capitate  peduncle,  the  "  umbilical 
stalk,"  &c.  (Fig.  33). 

A  glance  at  the  diagrams  (Figs.  30  and  31),  will 
show  that  the  umbilicus  did  not  lie  uniformly  in 
one  direction  east  or  west.  When  it  had  its 
attachment  to  the  annulus  on  the  west,  this  meant 
that  the  venter  of  the  embryo  was  facing  east,  and 
that  (having  its  head  south)  it  was  lying  on  its  right 
side  or  with  its  right  side  next  the  glass  :  and  vice 
versd.  This  arrangement  may  be  very  well  imitated 
with  the  half-pence  by  placing  them  upside-down, 
and  with  the  queen's  head  up  to  represent  the  embryo 
on  its  right  side,  and  the  figure  of  Britannia  up  to 
represent  it  lying  on  its  left  side  with  the  venter 
looking  west.  The  only  thing  to  be  noted  in  this 
connection  (and  the  small  number  of  the  total 
observations  makes  it  the  less  reliable),  is  that  in 
both*  groups  of  eggs  all  the  lateral  eggs,  i.e.  those 
not  situated  on  the  central  axis  or  meridian  of  the 
group,  had  their  umbilici  directed  towards  the 
meridian,  and  their  ventres  consequently  looking 
outwards.  To  this  statement  there  were  two  excep- 
tions in  the  group  of  nine  ;  viz.  N.W.,  which  did  not 
develop  at  all,  and  N.E.,  which  had  its  venter  looking 
inwards,  but  failed  to  hatch  out. 

There  was  a  considerable  difference  in  the  rate  of 
development  of  the  different  eggs  in  the  group  of 
seven.  S.W.  appeared  to  be  the  most  advanced, 
although  latterly  N.E.  was  not  much  if  anything 
behind  it.  But  N.W.  was  all  along  several  hours 
behind  the  others  in  its  development.  These  might  be 
arranged  in  the  order  of  development  thus  : — S.,  S.E., 
N.,  C. ;  but  with  smaller  differences  between  them. 
On  the  evening  of  the  6th  August  the  umbilical  stalk 
and  spiral  had  dwindled  to  a  small  dense  inverted 
cone  with  a  rounded  base  and  having  its  apex  at  the 
annulus  (v.  Fig.  33).  On  its  north  side  a  sort  of 
notch  separated  the  sharp  curved  bird-like  beak  from 
the  rest  of  the  stalk.     The  clear  central  area  was 


*  In  the'group  of  nine  eggs  I  deduce  this  from  Mr.  Jeffrey's 
observations  communicated  by  letter. 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


35 


therefore  much  increased  in  size,  but  not  so  limpidly 
transparent  as  the  (empty  ?)  space  surrounding  the 
annulus  externally.  Immediately  within  the  annulus, 
on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  I  observed  the  clear  area 
all  round  to  the  peduncle  or  umbilicus  on  both  sides, 
to  have  its  outer  edge  crenated.  In  the  more  advanced 
eggs  these  crenations  soon  developed  into  a  row  of 
(ventral)  segments,  twelve  in  number,  marked  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  central  area  by  a  curved  concentric  line. 
These  segments  had  an  optical  area  from  four  to  six 
times  as  large  as  the  reticulations  of  the  chorion  (say 
about  555  inch  in  diameter).  Soon  three  of  them, 
at  the  south  extremity  of  the  series,  appeared  larger 
than  the  rest  and  furnished  with  processes  sloping 
northward  ;  whilst  still  further  to  the  south,  but  less 
distinctly,  two  or  three  other  segments  could  be  made 
out  having  also  processes  sloping  in  the  opposite 
direction.  Into  this  space,  corresponding  to  the 
region  between  the  head  and  the  body,  faint  cloudlets 
of  yolk-granules  appeared  as  it  were  passing  in  from 
the  annulus  towards  the  central  area.  Owing 
probably  to  the  sloping  in  opposite  directions  of  the 
thoracic  and  cephalic  processes,  there  was  lesspressure 
here  of  the  amnion  against  the  serous  membrane  and 
freer  passage  for  the  yolk.  This  appearance  at  this 
region  was  visible  persistently. in  all'the  eggs  (Fig.  34). 
The  thoracic  processes  or  legs  were  about  half  the 
width  of  the  segments  from  the  posterior  Jialf  of  which 
they  took  their  origin,  but  considerably  longer, 
passing  out  of  sight  in  the  annulus  (Fig.  34).  About 
this  time  I  noticed  also  other  appearances  as  of 
curved  concentric  lines  marking  out  a  tube 
(mesenteron  ?)  but  which  would  require  further 
observation  for  their  certain  interpretation.  Upon  the 
same  day  (Aug.  7)  in  the  afternoon,  I  noticed  eye 
spots  (in  all  but  N.W.)  a  group  of  about  six  arranged 
in  a  circular  form  (Fig.  35).  There  were  now  visible  at 
least  four  cephalic  segments,  and  it  was  at  the  base 
of  the  third  (reckoning  from  behind  forwards)  that 
the  group  of  eye-spots  was  situated.  Later  on  I  saw 
a  fifth  larger  terminal  mass  forming  the  extreme 
anterior  extremity  of  the  embryo.  The  thoracic  legs 
appeared  to  be  jointed.  At  2.50  P.M.  I  noticed  that 
the  twelfth  (ninth  abdominal)  segment  was  somewhat 
longer  than  the  others  and  projected  inwards  towards 
the  centre,  beyond  their  level.  At  6.55  p.m.  this 
inward  projection  had  disappeared,  and  a  very  im- 
portant change  in  the  terminal  segment  had  been 
initiated.  It  had  become  ventrally  incurved  upon 
itself  (Fig.  36).  This  segment  was  elongated,  and 
narrowed  at  the  apex.  It  advanced  steadily  forwards 
along  the  ventral  aspect  of  the  embryo,  followed  by 
the  others,  and  growing  larger  at  the  same  time ;  but 
the  head  remained  always  in  its  original  place.  On 
the  morning  of  the  8th  the  last  three  segments  (10-12) 
were  round  the  corner  (Fig.  37)  ;  at  9.10  a.m.  the  tail 
was  in  contact  with  the  metathoracic  legs  ;  at  12.45 
P.M.  it  had  gone  beyond  the  two  posterior  pairs  of 
legs,  which,  with  the  forelegs,    were    now    directed 


forwards  in  place  of  backwards  as  at  first.  The 
middle  of  the  bend  of  the  abdomen  (at  the  incurvature) 
was  between  the  third  and  fourth  abdominal  segments  ; 
at  1  p.m.  the  tail  had  come  quite  up  with  the  fore- 
feet ;  at  2.40  P.M.  it  reached  fully  up  to  the  head  and 
fully  filled  the  larger  northern  bay.  At  this  time  the 
stump  of  the  umbilicus  on  the  one  hand,  now  reduced 
to  a  mere  conical  point,  and  a  similar  projection  from 
the  opposite  side  of  the  annulus,  where  cloudlets  of 
yolk-granules  were  passing  in  towards  the  neck 
region  (see  Fig.  34),  indicated  a  division  of  the  whole 
interior  space  into  two  unequal  bays,  of  which  the 
smaller  (southern)  contained  the  head,  and  the  other 
the  rest  of  the  body.  The  second  abdominal  segment 
might  be  said  to  form  the  keystone  of  the  arch  where 
the  abdomen  was  bent  on  itself,  but  the  head,  though 
free  in  its  bay,  remained  mostly  in  close  contact 
with  the  umbilical  stalk.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th 
the  tail  reached  quite  to  the  level  of  the  head  and 
beyond  the  eye-spots.  The  embryo  lay  in  a  loop 
with  the  legs  inside,  a  position  which  it  had  reached 
by  the  growth  and  enlargement  of  the  tail  without  any 
change  of  place  in  the  head  and  anterior  segments. 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  this  incurvature 
and  growth  of  the  tail  by  which  the  lepidopterous 
embryo  attains  the  loop-form  in  the  shell,  because 
Kowalevski  has  stated  (Mem.  de  l'Acad.  Imp.  des 
Sciences  de  St.  Petersbourg,  vii.  serie,  tome  xvi. 
No.  12,  p.  56),  that  it  does  so  by  the  whole  embryo 
turning  round  in  the  shell  after  its  tail.  "Dem 
Hinterende  folgend,  dreht  sich  der  ganze  Embryo  so, 
dass  er  jetzt  der  ihn  noch  bedeckenden  serosen 
Hiille  den  Rucken  zuwendet,  und  die  Extremitaten 
erscheinen  nach  innen  gerichtet."  Perhaps  the 
subject  may  be  made  clearer  by  a  brief  consideration 
of  the  different  kinds  of  motion  which  may  be 
observed  in  eggs.  These  may  be  classed  under  four 
heads.  1st.  Movements  due  to  gravitation.  The 
ventral  or  developing  side  of  the  yolk  in  the  egg  of 
Gastrophysa  raphani,  e.g.,  turns  always  towards  the 
upper  surface,  though  this  change  takes  place  so 
slowly  that  it  may  occupy  several  days  in  comple- 
tion. 2nd.  Movements  of  growth  ;  strikingly  illus- 
trated in  the  egg  of  Calopteryx,  in  which  the  embryo 
becomes  inverted  in  the  shell  (v.  Balfour,  Comp.  Em- 
bryol.  i.  334).  3rd.  Embryonic  movements ;  by  which 
limbs  or  parts  show  movements  without  any  change 
of  place  in  the  whole  ;  and,  lastly,  larval  movements  ; 
when  the  perfectly  formed  embryo  changes  its  position 
in  the  shell,  or  acts  in  any  other  way  as  if  it  were 
independent  of  it.  The  loop  form  of  the  lepidop- 
terous embryo,  Kowalevski  supposes  to  be  due  to  the 
latter  class  of  movements,  whilst  in  reality  it  is  only 
a  movement  of  growth.  When,  in  its  final  stages,  as 
stated  by  Kowalevski  and  as  observed  in  these  eggs 
by  Mr.  Jeffrey,  the  embryo  of  Botys  devours  the 
remainder  of  the  yolk  and  cuts  its  way  out  of  the 
shell,  these  actions  may  be  fairly  described  as  larval 
movements. 


36 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


On  the  afternoon  of  the  Sth  August,  I  had  a  pretty 
clear  view  of  the  head  unobscured  by  the  annulus. 
The  four  processes  were  approximated  like  the 
fingers  of  the  hand,  whilst  the  fifth  or  terminal  lobe 
lay  away  from  them  like  a  thumb  (Fig.  3S).  Pro- 
jecting into  the  bay  between  the  thumb  and  the 
fingers,  and  crossing  the  latter  obliquely,  there  was 
faintly  visible  another  process  which  I  was  unable  to 
follow  further.  On  the  other  side  of  the  umbilical 
stalk,  now  worn  down  to  a  conical  stump,  a  dense 
crescentic  streak  of  yoke  had  been  as  it  were  detached 
and  carried  away  by  the  growth  of  the  tail  till  it 
came  to  occupy  the  northern  curve  of  the  bay. 
This  included  yolk,  according  to  Kowalevski,  marks 
the  extent  of  the  mesenteron,  in  this  case  about  a 
fourth  of  the  whole  alimentary  canal.  The  incurved 
portion  of  the  tail  was  free  from  the  annulus,  and 
its  growth  seemed  to  be  caused  by  the  formation 
of  the  dorsal  half  of  the  body  carrying  along  the 
ventral  segments  with  it.  In  the  tail  this  dorsal 
portion  increased  much  in  size  beyond  the  ventral, 
both  in  length  and  thickness.  Up  till  its  full  growth 
the  dorsal  section  of  the  abdomen  had  been  without 
segmentation,  but,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  8th  August, 
I  observed  it  to  be  crenate  externally ;  and  that  the 
indentations  corresponded  to  the  lines  of  division  of 
the  ventral  segments.  That  portion  of  the  dorsum 
extending  beyond  the  venter  and  beyond  the  last 
crenation  opposite  the  last  ventral  segment,  was 
much  larger  than  any  other  division,  and  showed 
itself  a  crenate  division  into  three,  of  which  the  last, 
much  narrower  than  the  others,  I  supposed  might 
turn  out  to  be  the  anal  proleg,  whilst  the  penult 
crenation  would  represent  the  anal  flap.  I  thought 
also  I  could  trace  the  posterior  section  of  the 
alimentary  canal  terminating  in  the  space  between 
the  anal  flap  (?)  and  the  proleg  (?)  In  the  evening  of 
the  same  day  I  was  able  to  distinguish  four  prolegs 
on  the  anterior  abdominal  segments,  near  the  point 
of  flexure,  but  could  not  see  whether  one  or  two 
segments  intervened  between  them  and  the  thoracic 
legs.  On  the  Sth  also,  in  the  evening,  the  remote 
group  of  eye-spots  became  dimly  visible  through  the 
transparent  head.  At  first,  directly  opposite  one 
another,  the  two  groups  of  eye-spots  diverged  more 
and  more  till  they  came  to  be  situated  at  the  lateral 
borders  of  the  head,  and  between,  and  rather  in 
advance  of  them,  a  cupid's-bow-shaped  line  (Fig.  39) 
appeared  to  indicate  the  anterior  border  of  the 
clypeus.  The  direction  of  this  torsion  of  the  head 
was  always  such  that,  whether  the  embryo  was  lying 
on  the  right  or  left  side,  its  effect  was  to  bring  the 
dorsal  aspect  of  the  head  next  the  free  unattached 
side  of  the  egg,  and  the  under  surface  next  the  glass. 

Unfortunately  my  observations  were  brought  to  an 
untimely  close  by  an  accident  on  the  morning  of  the 
9th,  so  that  the  last  stages,  as  well  as  the  earlier, 
both  of  which  should  have  much  of  interest  to  offer, 
escaped  me.     I  believe,  however,  that   what  I  have 


been  fortunate  enough,  thanks  to  Mr.  Jeffrey's 
kindness,  to  see,  is  not  without  some  interest  and 
importance  from  its  bearing  on  two  points  :  the 
orientation  of  the  embryo  in  the  shell,  and  the 
incurvature  of  the  tail.  If  there  were  any  certainty 
of  obtaining  similar  eggs  another  season,  I  would 
have  reserved  some  of  the  other  points  for  further 
observation  :  as  it  is,  I  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning 
the  hypothesis  that,  as  plants  are  bent  to  or  from  the 
light  by  a  preponderance  of  growth  on  the  opposite 
side,  so,  here,  the  proximate  cause  of  the  ventral 
curvature  of  the  tail  end  is  the  later,  but  then 
quicker  and  predominant  growth  of  the  dorsal  section 
of  the  embryo. 
Milford,  Letterkenny. 


SOME  NEW  DIATOMACEOUS  FORMS 
FROM  THE  "SAUGSCHIEFER"  OF 
DUBRAVICA. 

By  F.  Kitton,  Hon.  F.R.M.S. 

HERR  GRUNOW  in  his  "  Beitriige  zur  Kent- 
niss  der  fossilen  Diatomaceen  Oesterreich- 
Ungarn"  ("  Beitrage  zur  palaontol.  Oester-Ungarns 
und  d.  Orients  von  Majsisovics  u.  Naumayr,"  Bd. 
ii.  1882),  describes  the  following  diatomaceous 
deposits  found  in  Hungary:  (1)  "  Saugschiefer " 
(absorbent  slate)  from  Dubravica  ;  (2)  Polierschiefer 
Tallya  ;  (3)  the  argillaceous  tufa  from  Holaikluk  -T 
(4)  diatom  deposit  from  Kis-ker ;  (5)  Kieselguhre 
from  Eger  and  Franzenbad  in  Bohemia.  The  last 
named  deposits  are  generally  well  known  to  Dia- 
tomists  (particularly  that  found  in  Franzenbad). 
Ehrenberg  described  many  of  the  forms  in  the 
"  Monatsberichte  "  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Berlin, 
1840,  which  are  afterwards  figured  in  his  "  Micro- 
geologie."  His  figures  of  Campylodiscus  clypeus  have 
been  frequently  copied. 

The  Hungarian  deposits  were  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  unknown  until  the  recently  published  in- 
vestigations of  Herr  Grunow,  which,  unfortunately, 
are  not  readily  accessible  to  Diatomists,  excepting 
by  the  purchase  of  the  volume  of  the  work  (at  a  cost 
of  40  marks)  in  which  they  appeared.  Having 
through  the  kindness  of  a  correspondent  been 
enabled  to  examine  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
them,  viz.  that  from  Dubravica,  I  have  identified 
most  of  the  species  named  in  the  list  which 
accompanied  the  sample.  The  deposit  is  some- 
what delusive  ;  from  its  general  appearance  we 
should  suppose  it  would  be  easily  cleaned  ;  but  this 
is  not  the  case ;  when  boiled  in  acids  the  material 
split  up  into  thin  laminae  of  sufficient  tenuity  to 
allow  of  mounting  without  further  manipulation  ;  to 
separate  the  diatoms  a  careful  boil  in  dehydrated 
soda  is  necessary  to  dissolve  the  silicic  acid  which 
cements   the   diatoms  together.      This   cementation 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


37 


seems  to  indicate  that  the  deposit  is  of  ancient  origin, 
and  this  is  further  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of 
the  Diatoms ;  although  no  new  genus  has  been  ob- 
served, and  not  more  than  three  or  four  new  species. 
Many  of  the  forms  have  an  old  world  look,  and 
exhibit  minute  differences  from  those  of  more  recent 
times. 

As  this  deposit  will  perhaps  become  better  known, 
and,  as  before  observed,  access  to  Herr  Grunow's 
original  paper  is  somewhat  difficult,  I  propose  giving 
a  list  of  the  new  species  and  varieties,  and  figures  of 
three  of  the  most  remarkable. 

Cymbella  abtiormis,  var.  antiqua,  Grun.  ;  C. 
austriaca,  var.  prisca,  Grun.,  var.  excisa,  Grun.  ; 
C.  gastroides,  var.  neogena,  var.  dubrdvka,  var.  c?-assa, 
C.  lanceolata,  var.  cormita  ;  C.  sturii,  Grun. 


S.  intermedia,  Grun. ;  S.  brevistriata,  var.  subacute, 
Grun. 

Surirella  dementis,  Grun.  Valve  linear-lanceolate, 
gradually  constricted  towards  the  apices,  slightly 
cuneate  ;  aire  almost  obsolete  ;  canaliculi  marginal 
9  in.  "ooi";  centre  of  valve  with  a  slightly  elevated 
ridge  or  median  line  not  reaching  the  apices,  and 
terminating  in  short  and  sometimes  curved  spines. 
Length  of  valve,  •0040  to  '0x348;  greatest  breadth, 
•0012"  to  •0015" ';  breadth  at  centre,  •ooo6"to  'oooS". 

This  very  remarkable  form  approaches  in  general 
appearance  very  near  to  the  genus  Cymatopleura, 
but  a  careful  examination  shows  that  its  proper 
position  is  in  with  the  Surirella;.  The  inflations  so 
conspicuous  on  the  frustular  view  of  the  species  of 
the  former  genus  are  absent,  and  in  their  place  alas 


Fig.  40. — Epithemia  cistula,  ""- 


Fig.  41. — Staurosira  Harrisonii, 
var.  atnphitetras. 

Epithemia  cistula  (Eh.)  var.  hinaris,  Grun.  Valve 
arcuate,  ventral  margin  slightly  rounded  opposite  the 
turgid  dorsum  ;  ends  produced  slightly  inflated  : 
costae  distant ;  irregular  striae  moniliform.  Length, 
•0020  to  •0030. 

Herr  Grunow  considers  this  form  to  be  a  var. 
of  Ennotia  cistula  (Eh.).  I  have  examined  Ehren- 
berg's  figures  of  this  species  (of  which  there  are 
several  in  the  "  Microgeologie "),  but  cannot  see 
any  resemblance  between  them  and  the  above-named 
variety. 

Navicula  nobilis  (Eh.)  Kg.,  var.  neogena,  Grun.  ; 
N.  viridis,  Kg.,  var.  semicrnciata,  Grun.  ;  N. 
impress7is,  var.  semicrnciata,  Grun. ;  2V.  modesta, 
Grun. ;  N.  decurrens,  var.  Eh.  var.  subsolaris,  Grun. ; 
N.  haueri,  Grun.  ;  N.  radiosa,  var.  dubraviccnsis, 
Grun. ;  N.  gastrum,  var.  styriaea,  Grun.  ;  Ar. 
dementis,  Grun.  j  IV.  tuscula  (Eh.),  var.  ornata, 
Grun.  ;  IV.  elliptica,  var.  grandis,  Grun.  ;  JV. 
vcntricosa,  var.  truncatula ;  N.  informe ;  JV.  cruci- 
cula,  var.  protracta  ;  Peronia  antiqua,  Grun. 

Staurosira  Harrisonii,  W.  S.  var.  atnphitetras, 
Grun.  Frustule  linear,  valve  quadrangular ;  sides 
concave  ;  apices  produced,  rounded  ;  striae  cost  ate  ; 
length  of  sides  '0015,  fig.  2. 

This  charming  little  form  is  rare  in  the  deposit. 
The  type  form  is,  however,  common. 


Fig.  42. — Surirella  dementis,  sss-. 

may  be  detected,  and  also  a  spinous  median  line. 
This  species  is  not  uncommon  in  the  deposit. 
Synedra  ulna  (Ehr.)  ;  S.  ddicatissima,  W.S. ;  6". 
familiaris,  Kg.,  var.  neogena,  Grun. 

Nearly  all  the  Synedras  are  more  or  less  distorted, 
apparently  caused  by  pressure,  and  not  by  any  terato- 
genic  influence   exerted  during  the   development  of 
the  frustules. 

Nortvich,  July,  18S4. 


A   FREEZING   MICROTOME. 

IN  reply  to  E.  Lamplough,  I  have'  tried  many  forms 
of  freezing  microtomes  while  working  in  the  Strass- 
burg  laboratories,  and  got  by  far  the  finest  sections  of 
soft  tissue  by  using  the  one  described  below,  which 
was  made  from  descriptions  of  one  which  I  am  told 
is  in  use  in  Dr.  Klein's  laboratory.  The  freezing 
vessel  consists  of  a  small  wash-tub,  twelve  inches  dia- 
meter, by  three  and  a  half  inches  deep.  Get  a  cover  made 
of  wood  on  which  is  cemented  a  plate-glass  top  with 
a  hole  cut  in  the  centre,  one  and  three-quarter  inches 
in  diameter  ;  out  of  this  hole  projects  slightly  a  brass 
or  iron  grated  top.  (on  which  the  tissue  is  frozen),  this 
top  rests  on  a  hollow  pillar  screwed  on  to  the  bottom 
of  the  tub,  and  this  pillar  is  honey-combed  with  holes, 
to  give  free  access  to  the  freezing  mixture  with  which 
the  tub  is  filled,  viz.,  ice  and  salt.  The  microtome  is 
made  on  the  principle  of  a  joiner's  hand  plane,  and 
consists  of  a  metal  frame  (brass  is  best)  to  hold  three 
large  and  fine  threaded  screws,  A,  B  &  C,  which  are 


HA  RD  WICKE'S   S  CIENCE-  G  OSS  IP. 


exactly  like  those  used  for  adjusting  a  theodolite. 
The  razor  blade  can  be  made  by  any  blacksmith 
accustomed  to  fine  work,  and  must  be  made  of  the 
best  steel ;  each  end  is  clamped  to  the  frame  by  a  strip 
of  brass,  and  two  screws  subsidised  by  indiarubber. 
The  way  to  use  it :  fill  the  tub  with  ice  ;  sprinkle  on 
salt  ;  screw  on  the  lid  ;  put  on  the  tissue  on  the 
grating  which  will  be  hard  in  five  minutes  ;  adjust 


Fig.  43. — Freezing  Microtome.    Plan  of  top. 


B 

-HE. 


A 


PLATE  GLASS  TOP 


JL^Z  ! 


•RAZOR  BLADE 


1     r 

Fig.  44. — Section  of  Freezing  Microtome. 

the  microtome  by  means  of  the  three  screws,  A,  B  &  C, 
until  the  razor  blade  touches  the  tissue  plane  a  slice 
off,  then  lower  the  point  by  giving  A  half  a  turn, 
plane  off  another  section  and  so  on.  I  have  heard  it 
recommended  to  tip  the  screws,  A,  B  &  C,  with  ivory, 
so  that  they  would  slide  better  on  the  plate-glass 
cover,  but  I  found  the  brass  ones  work  beautifully. 
Plymouth.  B.  Sc. 


THE   ORIGIN  OF   DOUBLE   FLOWERS. 

AFTER  reading  the  papers  on  double  flowers  in 
Science-Gossip  recently,  I  felt  encouraged 
to  talk  about  them  to  my  neighbours,  one  of  whom 
showed  me  a  bed  of  double  stocks  raised  from  the 
seed  of  a  solitary  plant  with  single  flowers,  which, 
growing  in  an  isolated  spot,  had  probably  received  no 
pollen  from  the  flowers  of  other  plants.  Here  and 
there  a  plant  with  single  flowers  might  be  found 
among  the  lot  I  saw,  but,  besides  being  comparatively 
few,  the  plants  bearing  single  flowers  were  small  and 
weakly.  The  next  gardener  that  I  saw  showed  me 
two  zonal  pelargoniums  with  double  flowers.  He  said 
that  he  had  raised  those  plants  from  seeds,  the 
produce  of  a  single  flower,  with  which  he  had  not 
interfered,  nor  did  he   think    that   any  insect  had 


cross-fertilised  it.  He  had  found  three  ripe  seeds 
and  sowed  them.  They  all  germinated,  but  one 
seedling  plant  had  died.  The  other  two  grew  to 
maturity,  and  each  of  them  bore  double  flowers. 
Thus  we  see  how  double  flowers  appear  on  plants 
under  cultivation  without  conscious  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  happy  gardeners  who  raise  them.  When 
a  plant  appears  which  pleases  its  owner  more  than 
others  he  takes  the  seed  from  that  particular  plant 
and  sows  them  apart  from  other  seeds.  If  the  plants 
raised  from  such  seeds  are  grown  together,  so  that 
their  flowers  inter-cross,  the  effect  of  such  inter-crossing 
is  not  like  that  of  crossing  freely  with  other  plants 
not  so  nearly  related,  but  tends  to  fix  any  character 
by  which  a  variety  may  be  distinguished  from  the 
species.  Florists  often  keep  apart  the  seeds  of  such 
a  plant  as  they  like  best,  having  first  been  careful 
that  its  flowers  should  not  be  crossed.  So,  without 
•knowing  or  intending  it,  they  make  arrangements  for 
the  appearance  of  double  flowers.  A  striking 
difference  appears  however  between  the  solitary  plant 
with  double  flowers  occurring  among  a  lot  of  seedling 
sweet  williams  and  the  two  plants  of  zonal  pelargonium, 
each  having  double  flowers,  with  no  single  flowered 
seedling  by  their  side.  If  the  theory  of  Mr.  Mott  be 
right,  it  would  not  be  likely  that  so  many  double 
flowers  would  appear  among  the  offspring  of  a 
young  plant  like  Mr.  Sim's  sweetwilliam  as  among 
those  of  an  older  plant  under  similar  conditions. 
Now  it  is  well  known  that  zonal  pelargoniums 
are  extensively  propagated  by  cuttings  which 
retain  the  character  of  the  individual  plant  from 
which  they  are  taken,  and  survive  for  many  years 
to  be  like  Moses  in  his  old  age,  when  the  natural 
force  of  his  strength  was  not  abated.  If  the  flower 
of  such  a  plant  be  fertilised  by  its  own  pollen,  or 
by  that  of  another  flower  on  the  same  plant,  or  on 
any  plant  derived  from  a  cutting  of  the  same  stock, 
nothing  would  be  more  likely  than  that  plants  grown 
from  seed  so  generated  would  bear  double  flowers,  as 
it  seems  they  do.  If  Mr.  Sim's  sweet  william  be 
kept  for  so  long  as  it  may  live  in  a  state  of  isolation, 
so  that  its  flowers  be  not  crossed  with  strange  pollen, 
it  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  the  plants 
raised  from  its  seed  would  bear  an  increasing  number 
of  double  flowers  as  the  plant  grows  old. 

John  Gibbs. 


Curious  conduct  of  Pigeon.' — My  attention 
was  called  to  a  rather  novel  bit  of  Natural  History 
on  Monday  6th  January.  It  was  in  the  conduct  of  a 
pigeon  playing  and  splashing  on  the  water,  enjoying 
itself  as  if  it  was  in  its  natural  element.  The  same 
thing  occurred  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday.  When 
it  was  startled  it  rose  with  perfect  ease  and  flew  back 
to  its  loft.  I  can  testify  to  its  having  been  the  same 
pigeon  on  all  three  occasions.  Can  any  readers  assign 
a  reason  for  this  occurring  ? — A.  W.  Fry. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


39 


ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES  FOR  1884. 

LOOKING  over  my  last  year's  notes,  I  find  one 
or  two  which  may  be  worth  preserving.  My 
knowledge  of  the  literature  of  the  subject  is  not  large 
enough  to  enable  me  to  judge  of  their  general  value. 

(a.)  Late  in  the  summer,  the  vital  fluids  of  insects 
seem  to  become  inspissated,  in  the  same  way  as  those 
of  leaf-petioles.  Hence  they  may  be  touched  when 
at  rest,  before  able  to  summon  sufficient  energy  for 
flight. 

(/'.)  During  the  summer,  I  observed  in  some  marshy 
ground  by  the  upper  Thames  that  an  atrous  Limax 
was  attached  profusely  to  the  stems  of  a  rush,  whose 
black  flowering  spike  was  distantly  similar.  Is  this 
mimicry,  and  if  so,  to  what  end  ? 

(c.)  On  February  15th,  after  a  fire,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  autumn, 4iad  been  alight  an  hour  or  two  in 
a  room,  a  blow-fly  emerged  from  its  pupa-case,  and' 
stayed  in  the  room  for  four  days,  although  doors  and 
windows  were  constantly  open.  The  cold  air  would 
seem  to  have  formed  an  impenetrable  barrier. 

(</.)  Out  of  an  incomplete  brood  of  P.  rapae,  which 
perfected  early  in  May,  9  were  ^the  last  to  emerge, 
and  d  the  first,  the  percentage  of  <?  was  22,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  confinement  of  some  two  or  three 
weeks,  all  of  them  died,  without  having  made  any 
attempt  at  coition,  the  2  surviving  hardily.  This 
would  point  to  d  as  the  subjected  factor  in  lepidop- 
terous  social  life. 

(e.)  A  lepidopterous  larva,  not  full-grown,  having 
been  inadvertently  kept  in  an  air-tight  box  for 
24  hours,  commenced  to  pupate,  with  the  apparent 
object  of  preserving  its  life.  When  released,  and 
placed  with  its  food-plant,  it  still  proceeded  with  the 
work  of  pupation.  Bees  confined  under  similar 
circumstances  having  died,  it  would  appear  that 
larvra  respire  less  abundantly  than  perfect  insects, 
and  pupae  less  still,  if  at  all.  Also  that,  when  the 
process  of  pupating  has  begun,  some  internal  re- 
arrangement of  the  larval  parts  takes  place  at  once 
(cf.  development  of  spinnerets),  as  a  result  of  which 
larval  growth  cannot  be  resumed. 

(_/".)  An  unfortunate  and  unintentional  experiment 
with  a  T.  pronuba  would  show  that  the  asphyxiating 
property  of  hydrocyanic  acid  fumes  may  be  overcome 
if  brought  into  contact  with  the  poisoned  specimen, 
especially  if  of  robust  habit  in  time.  This  may  serve 
as  a  hint  to  keep  up  the  strength  of  cyanide  bottles, 
in  order  to  prevent  needless  cacopathy.  Thus  this 
specimen,  after  being  pinned  out,  was  found  three 
days  after  fluttering  in  full  vigour,  its  wings  being 
withdrawn  from  the  pressure  of  the  setting  slips. 
Again,'a  Spilosoma  menthastri  laid  160-170  eggs  after 
being  stifled  and  pinned  out,  although  this  very 
common  phenomenon  is  no  proof  of  return  to 
consciousness. 

{g.)  Observed  a  solitary  bee  on  the  wing  one  mile 
out  at  sea  off  the  Norfolk  coast.     It  did  not  secure 


the  opportunity  to  rest  afforded  by  the  crab-boat 
whence  it  was  seen.  It  being  comparatively  calm  at 
the  time,  the  journey  must  have  been  to  some  extent 
voluntary. 

(h.)  In  the  end  of  June  a  pupa  of  C.  ligniperda. 
broke  through  its  cocoon,  which  was  buried  in  a 
flower-pot,  worked  its  way  some  3  inches  to  the 
surface,  exserted  the  head-parts,  leaving  the  abdomi- 
nal parts  of  the  case  firmly  embedded  in  the  earth, 
and  emerged  in  this  way.  Another  specimen,  whose 
cocoon  was  half-exposed,  fixed  its  pupa  case  midway 
in  the  mouth  of  the  cocoon  while  it  emerged. 
Neither  the  uplifted  case,  nor  the  half-protected 
cocoon,  was  broken  or  crumpled  by  the  weight  of  the 
moth.     This  is  an  interesting  instance  of  adaptation 

to  circumstances. 

Ernest  G.  Harmer. 


NOTES  ON  HYDRACHNIDES. 

MR.  DRAPER'S  beautiful  illustration  of  Lim- 
nesia  reminds  one  that  a  monograph  of  the 
British  fresh-water  mites  still  remains  to  be  written, 
and  therefore  a  description  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
sub-families  Limnesia  and  Eylais,  may  be  of  some 
interest  to  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip.  These 
mites  belong  to  Koch's  second  division  Hydrachnides, 
and  with  regard  to  Limnesia,  he  says,  "  They  are  to 
be  found  in  large  and  small  pools,  tolerably  common, 
swim  quickly  without  soon  tiring,  and  are  the  richest 
in  species  of  all  the  four-eyed  water-mites."  He 
describes  twenty  species :  of  these  Hermann  had 
previously  described  two,  and  Midler  three.  The 
mite  Koch  takes  as  his  type  of  the  species  is 
Limnesia  fulgida,  and  is,  I  believe,  the  one  figured 
by  Mr.  Diaper.  The  body  is  oval,  smooth,  very 
convex,  of  a  beautiful,  somewhat  transparent  scarlet 
colour,  varied  with  darker  markings  produced  by  the 
caeca.  Eyes  four,  in  two  pairs,  each  pair  rather  far 
apart,  but  the  ocellus  of  each  pair  near  together, 
forming  an  oblong  figure  thus  — :  :  Palpi  and 
legs  blue — the  four  hind  legs  are  well  endowed  with 
long  swimming  hairs,  and  the  tarsal  joint  of  the  hind 
legs  is  without  claws.  All  the  legs  are  used  in 
swimming.  The  sub-family  Eylais  contains,  ac- 
cording to  Koch,  but  five  species,  and  he  remarks 
that  they  differ  very  little  from  each  other.  Eylais 
extendens,  first  described  by  Latreille,  is  the  type 
species.  The  body  is  oval,  but  much  broader  behind 
than  before,  only  slightly  convex  ;  the  skin  velvety ; 
the  colour  vermilion.  The  eyes  are  placed  rather 
near  together,  forming  almost  a  square  thus — :  :  and 
are  arranged  on  a  plate  of  chitin  or  thickened  skin. 
The  palpi  and  legs  are  of  the  same  colour  as  the 
mite ;  the  last  pair  of  legs  has  no  long  swimming 
hairs,  consequently  when  the  mite  swims,  these  legs 
are  not  used,  but  dragged  after  it,  in  a  peculiar  and 
very  characteristic   manner,    which   alone,   at  once 


40 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


•distinguishes  Eylais  from  all  other  mites ;  the  hind 
tarsi  also  have  claws.  The  differences  between  these 
mites  are  therefore  sufficiently  marked  and  numerous. 
They  differ  in  the  shape  of  their  bodies,  in  the  texture 
of  their  skin,  in  the  position  of  the  eyes,  in  the  form 
■of  proboscis  and  palpi,  and  notably  in  the  structure 
of  their  hind  legs.  The  genital  plates  of  Limnesia  are 
also  very  characteristic  ;  they  differ  in  the  various 
species,  and  will  no  doubt,  when  better  known,  be 
aids  of  great  value  in  their  discrimination. 

When  Eylais  extendens  is  kept  in  an  aquarium,  or 
even  in  a  wide-mouthed  bottle,  it  lays  large  quantities 
■of  eggs  of  a  brilliant  scarlet  ;  these  produce  a  minute 
six-legged  larva,  not  in  the  least  like  the  parent  mite  ; 
they  are  very  active,  running  about  apparently  with 
equal  ease  on  the  glass  or  on  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  no  doubt  become  parasitic ;  but  I  have  not  yet 
discovered  what  is  the  host,  although  I  have  had 
scores  of  the  eggs  hatched  at  various  times.  With 
regard  to  the  parasite  of  Dytiscus,  I  have  been  able 
to  keep  the  beetle  in  an  aquarium  until  the  mite 
reached  the  next  stage,  when  it  detached  itself  from 
its  host :  it  belongs  to  the  sub-family  Hydrachna, 
which  is  distinguished  from  all  other  Hydrachnidre 
by  having  a  long  proboscis,  almost,  or  quite,  as  long 
as  the  palpi. 

C.  F.  George. 


THE  FOUR-SPINED  STICKLEBACK. 

ALTHOUGH  it  is  well  known  that  the  four- 
spined  stickleback,  as  well  as  many  other 
fresh  and  salt  water  fish,  is  in  the  habit  of  building 
nests,  it  may  interest  some  of  your  non-scientific 
readers  if  I  give  a  short  account  of  one  which  I  have 
in  an  aquarium.  Before  I  begin,  I  may  mention  that 
the  individual  to  which  I  refer  is  darker  in  colour, 
and  has  the  lower  jaw.  more  elongated  than  any  of 
the  others  I  have,  and  I  believe  is  a  male  fish.  He 
had  not  been  twenty-four  hours  in  the  tank  before  he 
began  to  collect  the  finest  fibres  of  roots,  and  to 
weave  them  among  the  fronds  of  a  small  hart's-tongue 
fern,  and,  after  incessant  labour  for  two  days,  he  had 
constructed  a  beautiful  nest  about  the  size  and  shape 
of  an  elongated  walnut.  Having  made  the  exterior, 
he  then  lined  it  with  still  finer  material,  until  it  was 
quite  opaque,  and  at  length  put  the  finishing  touches 
to  it  by  crawling  (I  can  call  it  by  no  other  term)  all 
over  the  outside  until  it  was  perfectly  smooth. 
Having  finished  it  to  his  satisfaction,  he  sallied  forth 
to  seek  for  a  wife,  and  having  set  his  affections  on  a 
female  heavy  with  spawn,  he  chased  her  for  half  an 
hour,  when  having  succumbed  to  his  attentions,  they 
swam  quite  slowly  together  up  to  the  nest.  Here 
they  remained  for  a  minute  or  two,  when  he  put  his 
mouth  to  her  gill,  and  he  appeared  to  lead  her  to 
the  entrance,  into  which  she  went,  and  settled  down 
into  the  nest.  How  long  she  would  have  remained 
there  I  know  not,  but,  unfortunately,  he  bit  her  tail 


which  was  projecting  out,  and  she  left  the  nest ;  and 
although  he  has  been  incessant  in  his  attentions  to 
others,  he  has  not  again  been  able  to  induce  another 
one  to  enter.  His  time  is  occupied  when  not  chasing 
other  fish,  in  repairing  the  nest,  constantly  pulling 
bits  out,  and  taking  fresh  material  to  it.  Whenever 
he  has  been  inside  himself,  his  whole  body  stiffens 
and  quivers  with  excitement.  He  is  very  pugnacious 
and  jealous,  and  if  an  unfortunate  caddis-worm  or 
"boatman"  comes  near,  he  carries  off  the  former 
bodily,  and  generally  manages  to  frighten  off  the 
latter.  Two  stone  loaches  are  objects  of  his  par- 
ticular hatred.  If  this  simple  account  is  worthy  of  a 
place  in  your  valuable  journal,  I  shall  feel  obliged  if 

you  will  insert  it. 

A.  H.  Smith. 


IN  MONTIBUS  SANCTIS.* 
John  Ruskin—  Loquitur. 

TIS  strange  my  form  of  scientific  thinking 
Upon  the  public  fails  to  bite  or  hold ; 
My  name  with  Art  it  ever  will  be  linking, 
Obdurate,  deaf,  to  other  truth,  it's  told. 

Oft  have  I  sought  the  Geological  Society, 
Of  which  I've  been  a  Fellow  for   so  long. 

My  great  discoveries  shook  its  cold  propriety, 
It    treats    me   with    neglect — 'tis    shameful — 
wrong. — 

For  with  a  little  clay,  and  sand,  and  sugar, 
The  earnest  student  soon  may  make  a  trial ; 

And,  in  two  jiffeys  with  some  lugger  mugger, 
Learn  geologic  truths  unknown  to  Lyell. 

Oh,  vain  and  foolish  men,  they  cannot  tell 
How  grew  the  stone  on  aklermanic  finger, 

Yet  on  "catastrophes  of  chaos"  dwell 
Or  on  the  earth's  creation  longer  linger. 

For  one  and  sixpence  spent  upon  my  teaching, 
They'd,  learn  how  mountains  crystal  folds 
enclose. 

How  grew  the  faults, — a  theory  far  reaching — 
Like  crystals  how  contortions  first  enclose. 

How  folds  in  agates  do  those  truths  express, 
Which  rub  so  much  'gainst  geologic  grain  ; 

How  all  creation  beauty  doth  impress, 
While  mine  it  is  to  make  that  beauty  plain. 

A  Conifer. 

At  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Geologists'  Associa- 
tion on  Tanuary  2nd,  Dr.  Hicks  (President)  read  a 
paper  on  "Some  Recent  Views  Concerning  the  Geology 
of  the  North-West  Highlands  ;  "  and  Mr.  J.  Allen 
Brown,  another  on  "Paleolithic  Man  of  the  Thames 
Valley  in  North-west  Middlesex." 

*  Part  I.      "  Of  the  Distinctions  of  Form  in  Silica." 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


41 


NATURAL  HISTORY  JOTTINGS. 
On  Wasps,  chiefly. 

[Continued from  />.  17.] 

AUGUST  6th.— In  another  stone-faced  earthen 
dyke  there  are  two  wasps'  nests,  one  of  which 
belongs  to  the  Vespa  sylvestris  and  the  other  to  the  I '. 
rufa.  In  the  former  there  are  males  and  large  females 
or  queens  present,  as  well  as  the  workers.  In  the 
burning-out  of  the  latter  no  queen  was  obtained,  and 
only  one  male ;  but  both  may  have  been  present  in 
numbers  exceeding  one,  and  been  destroyed  in  the 
destruction  of  the  nest. 

In  a  small  meadow  of  barely  four  acres,  the  hay  of 
which  has  shortly  been  cut,  there  are  no  fewer  than 
six  nests  of  wasps,  three  of  which  are  built  in  one  of 
the  dykes  and  three  in  the  ground.  Of  the  three 
nests  in  the  ground  two  belong  to  the  Vespa  vulgaris 
and  one  belongs  to  the  V.  rufa  ;  and  two  of  them, 
one  pertaining  to  each  of  the  species,  are  well  out 
into  the  field,  the  third  being  much  nearer  the  hedge. 
Of  the  three  in  the  north  dyke  of  the  field,  on  its 
southern  side,  one  pertains  to  the  V.  rufa,  one  to 
the  V.  sylvestris,  and  one  to  the  V.  vulgaris ;  the 
first-mentioned  being  the  westernmost,  the  second 
within  twenty  paces  of  it  to  the  east,  whilst  the  third 
will  not  be  much  more  than  the  same  distance  from 
the  second  nest.  On  the  western  side  of  the  first 
nest,  that  of  the  V.  rufa,  and  only  nine  paces  from 
it  is  a  small  nest  of  the  common  humble-bee  {Bombus 
terrcstris)  situated  behind  the  facing  stones  of  the 
dyke,  as  are  also  the  nests  of  the  V.  sylvestris  and 
V.  vulgaris,  that  of  the  V.  rufa  being  at  a  point 
where  there  are  no  stones  ;  and  nearly  in  the  middle 
of  the  field,  in  the  level  ground,  is  a  nest  of  the 
orange-tailed  humble-bee  (B.  lapidaria).  The 
meadow  is  a  moist  one,  and  is  overrun  with  the  water- 
rat  or  vole  {Arvicola  amphibius)  and  the  field  vole 
(A.  agrestis),  being  in  many  parts  literally  riddled 
and  furrowed  with  the  burrows  and  runs  of  the  former 
quadruped ;  the  abundance  of  these  two  species  of 
vole,  not  only  in  this  particular  meadow,  but  also 
in  other  of  the  meadows  and  pastures  around,  will 
probably  account  for  the  apparent  ease  with  which 
the  various  colonies  of  the  four  species  of  wasp 
and  the  two  species  of  humble-bee  enumerated  have 
been  established,  and  consequently  in  part  for  their 
abundance  there. 

Standing  by  two  of  the  nests  that  are  built  in  the 
ground,  one  of  which  belongs  to  the  Vespa  vulgaris, 
and  the  ether  to  the  V.  rufa,  both  nests  being  large 
and  strong  ones,  I  observed  that  at  both  the  worker 
wasps  were  very  busily  engaged  in  bringing  up  out 
of  the  nest-cavity  pellets  of  earth  and  small  stones, 
and  flying  away  out  of  sight  carrying  them  in  their 
mandibles.  These  pellets  were  frequently  of  the 
size  of  a  small  pea,  and  then  were  with  difficulty 
borne  away,  the  wasp  not  seldom  striving  vainly  for 


a  longer  or  shorter  period  being  able  to  take  wing 
with  its  burden.  Sometimes  the  pellet  proved 
altogether  too  large  or  heavy  to  be  thus  carried  off, 
when  the  V.  vulgaris  would  carry  it  down  again  into 
the  nest-cavity,  possibly  to  store  it  in  some  recess  to 
be  there  found,  the  entrance  to  the  nest  being  small 
and  direct  from  the  surface,  not  recessed  at  all ;  and 
once  I  observed  a  wasp  of  this  species  bring  up  out 
of  the  cavity  a  large  thin  wedge-shaped  piece  of 
stone  or  brick  which  was  too  heavy  to  be  borne 
away,  and  which  was  also  again  carried  down  into 
the  burrow.  In  the  case  of  the  V.  rufa,  the  pellet 
when  too  large  or  heavy  was  deposited  on  the  sides 
of  the  rather  large  recess  at  the  entrance  or  mouth 
of  the  burrow ;  this  nest  being  only  a  little  distance 
underground.  The  nest  of  this  latter  species  con- 
tained many  of  the  large  females,  or  queens,  as  well 
as  males  ;  and  its  shell  or  case  was  composed  of  thin, 
fine  in  texture  and  moderately  tough  paper  laid  on  in 
large  sheets,  not  in  small  convex,  coarse,  brittle, 
shell-like  pieces,  as  was  the  nest  of  the  former,  which 
contained  neither  queens  nor  males,  or  drones. 

August  9th. — This  forenoon,  as  the  wind  blew  a 
gale  from  the  west,  and  there  were  alternations  of 
sunshine  and  cloud  and  scuds  of  rain,  the  nest  of  the 
Vespa  sylvestris  was  successfully  taken  from  the 
north  dyke  of  the  little  meadow.  It  lay  in  a  cavity 
immediately  behind  two  of  the  facing  stones,  and 
much  resembled  another  of  the  rounded  grey  stones, 
•uch  as  are  much  used  in  dyking,  the  entrance  to  the 
nest-cavity  being  a  small  hole  between  two  of  the 
stones  lying  in  front  of  it.  This  nest  was  of  the 
usual  form,  turnip-shaped ;  and  it  contained  three 
tiers  of  comb,  the  second  of  which  contained  many 
large  cells  occupied  by  the  large  females,  and, 
adjoining  them,  a  few  smaller  ones  occupied  by 
males,  all  of  which  were  about  ready  for  emerging. 
There  were  also  many  of  these  large  females  or 
queens,  as  well  as  a  few  males  or  drones,  in  the  nest 
when  taken.  In  the  comb  there  were  also  larvae  of 
all  sizes  from  shortly  hatched  to  about  full-grown,  as 
well  as  pupae  or  nymphs  in  all  stages  of  evolution  ; 
but  I  only  observed  one  ovum.  Such  was  the  force 
of  the  wind,  that,  standing  on  the  windward  side  of 
the  nest,  there  was  little  danger  of  getting  stung,  as 
the  wasps  could  not  cope  with  the  gale  blowing  ; 
and  the  occupants  of  the  nest,  after  it  had  been 
dislodged  and  removed  out  into  the  open  field,  were 
easily  knocked  down  and  secured. 

August  1 8th. — A  nest  of  the  Vespa  rufa  taken  at 
dusk  this  evening  out  of  a  stone-faced  earthen  dyke, 
on  its  southern  side,  contained  three  tiers  of  comb, 
and  many  of  the  large  females  or  queens.  This 
species  of  wasp  is  either  remarkably  mild  in  disposi- 
tion, or  it  is  comparatively  lethargic,  as  not  one  of 
them  flew  at  us  whilst  taking  out  the  nest  from  a 
cavity  behind  the  stones,  cutting  it  up  and  extracting 
the  comb  :  from  prior  experience  in  the  taking  of 
the    nest    of   this   species,   in    the    bright   and   hot 


42 


HARDWICKE'S  S\CIENCE-GOSSIP. 


sunshine,  I  am  inclined  to  ascribe  to  it  the  latter 
characteristic.  The  roundish  hole  of  entrance  and 
exit  in  the  case  or  shell  of  this  nest  was  on  one  side 
down  towards  the  bottom  of  it ;  in  the  small  nest 
taken  on  the  3rd  inst.,  it  was  immediately  in  the 
centre  beneath. 

In  the  same  dyke,  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
site  of  the  above  nest  and  each  other,  are  two  nests 
of  the  V.  vulgaris,  whilst  somewhat  farther  off  is  a 
third  nest.  All  the  three  are  strong  and  in  full 
vigour,  as  are  also  several  other  nests  of  the  V. 
vulgaris  known  of.  The  latter  species  of  wasp  is 
(the  V,  Gcrmaiiica,  perhaps,  excepted)  the  most  agres- 
sive  and  persistent  in  its  attacks  upon  intruders.  If 
you  once  disturb  it  at  its  nest,  you  cannot  again  with 
safety  tamper  with,  or  indeed  go  very  near  the  nest  ; 
and  in  its  attacks  upon  an  aggressor  it  hurls  itself,  as 
it  were,  against  him,  and  sticks  to  him  :  it  has  to  be 
struck  off,  and  is  apparently  wholly  fearless. 

Charles  Robson. 

Elswick,  Neivcasle-ufion-  Tync. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Hinton,  B.A.,  has  written  a  pleasant 
and  lively]  brochure,  entitled,  "  Scientific  Romances  : 
What  is  the  Fourth  Dimension  ?  " 

In  the  "  English  Mechanic"  we  are  pleased  to  see 
that  Dr.  Van  Hewick  and  Dr.  Royston  Pigott  speak 
in  the  highest  terms  of  Mr.  E.  Hinton's  "  Diatome- 
scope "  as  an  aid  in  defining  the  markings  and 
strire  on  diatoms,  &c. 

We  have  received  No.  2  of  "The  Albertian,"  a 
magazine  got  up  by  the  boys  of  Framlingham  College. 
The  ability  which  we  noted  in  the  first  member  is 
equally  evident  in  the  present.  The  interest  dis- 
played in  science  is  very  striking.  Two  of  the 
papers,  "A  Scene  in  Autumn,"  and  "A  Holiday 
Week  in  Derbyshire,"  show  considerable  natural 
history  knowledge. 

Professor  Mobius  says  that  flying-fish  are 
incapable  of  flying,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
muscles  of  their  pectoral  fins  are  not  large  enough  to 
bear  the  weight  of  the  body  aloft  in  the  air,  and  that 
what  has  been  mistaken  for  a  rapid  muscular 
movement  of  the  fins  is  only  a  vibration  of  the 
elastic  membrane. 

A  statement  is  made  in  the  "Colonial  Mail"  to  the 
effect  that  insects  avoid  the  ground  where  tomatoes 
grow.  Have  any  of  our  readers  observed  this  ?  If 
it  is  correct,  the  information  is  valuable. 

The  recent  appearances  of  the  sun-glows,  at 
precisely  the  same  period  as  last  year,  is  regarded  by 
Professor  Landerer  as  an  argument  in  favour  of  their 
cosmical  rather  than  of  their  volcanic  origin. 


Professor  Ray  Lankester  maintains  that  the 
"comma  bacillus  "  of  Dr.  Koch  is  not  a  bacillus  at 
all,  but  merely  the  segments  of  a  Spirillum,  the 
result  of  the  breaking  of  a  spirillum  into  little  pieces, 
each  piece  corresponding  to  a  turn  of  the  spire. 

The  Trunk  Telephone  Line  between  London  and 
Brighton  was  opened  the  day  before  Christmas  Day, 
and  was  duly  celebrated  by  a  dinner  at  each  end,  so 
that  the  two  dinner-parties  enjoyed  each  other's 
speeches,  songs,  &c,  through  the  mediumship  of  the 
line. 

Sir  Lyon  Playfield  will  be  the  President  of  the 
British  Association  Meeting,  which  will  meet  at 
Aberdeen  on  September  9th. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Knobel,  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Astro- 
nomical Society,  writes  from  Booking,  Braintree, 
under  date  January  6 :  "  Encke's  comet  readily 
picked  up  this  evening,  near  computed  place  ;  faint, 
with  slight  condensation  of  light." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Superintendents  of  National 
Education,  at  Washington,  Dr.  B.  Joy  Jeffries  read 
a  paper  on  colour  blindness,  urging  that  the  three 
primaries  are  red,  green,  and  violet ;  that  blindness 
to  the  latter  is  so  rare  that  practically  colour  blind- 
ness means  blindness  to  red  or  green  ;  urging  also 
the  danger  of  persons  with  such  deficiency  being 
employed  in  many  occupations,  and  the  necessity  of 
an  experimental  method  of  finding  it  out. 

Colonel  Berkeley  who  has  lately  returned  from 
the  Andaman  Islands,  fished  up,  with  the  assistance 
of  sixteen  men,  a  very  large  bivalve  Tridacna 
gigautea  shell,  which  weighed  232-lbs.  The  inside 
measurement  of  one  side  of  the  shell]  is  1  yard 
6  inches,  and  of  the  outside  1  yard  8  inches.  The 
inside  is  of  a  beautiful  delicate  white.  The  mantle 
of  the  fish,  when  taken  out,  was  a  beautiful  blue 
colour,  and  the  fish  made  a  sufficient  meal  for  the 
sixteen  men  and  their  families.  The  shell  is  now  in 
England. 

The  wing  of  a  fossil  cockroach  has  been  found  in 
the  Silurian  sandstones  of  Jurques,  Calvados,  France. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Charman  writes  to  say  that  on 
Christmas  Day  last,  he  found  a  total  of  no  fewer 
than  90  species  of  plants  in  flower  (of  which  he  has 
sent  us  a  list),  within  a  radius  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  Heath  End  nursery.  On  the  preceding  Christ- 
mas Day  he  found  75  species  in  bloom  in  the  same 
locality. 

A  proposal  to  connect  Sicily  with  the  mainland 
by  a  submarine  railway  from  Messina  to  Reggio  has 
been  made  by  the  Engineering  Society  of  Venice. 

It  is  a  notable  sign  of  the  progress  which  science 
is  making  in  the  public  mind  to  observe  that  this 
year  the  Times  and  other  newspapers  gave  a  long 
review  of  scientific  discovery  in  1884. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


43 


The  Royal  Society  has  made  arrangements  to 
obtain  a  Photographic  Atlas  of  the  stars  of  the 
southern  hemisphere.  It  will  be  under  the  super- 
vision of  Dr.  Gill,  Astronomer  Royal  at  the  Cape. 

Dr.  C.  Callaway  has  shown  that  the  views 
recently  published  by  Professor  A.  Geikie  concerning 
the  extraordinary_thrust  of  old  rocks  on  to  newer  strata 
in  Sutherlandshire  were  published  by  himself  as  far 
back  as  the  "  Geological  Magazine  "  for  March  18S3. 

Mr.  Wm.  Tylor  has  brought  out  a  simple  and 
clean  method  of  using  balsam.  It  is  enclosed  in 
compressible  metal  tubes,  like  those  containing  moist 
colours,  so  that  the  smallest  quantity  can  be  expelled 
at  will. 


MICROSCOPY. 

Clearing  Fluid  for  Vegetable  Tissues. — 
When  freshly  cut,  put  the  tissues  in  alcohol  for  a  few 
minutes.  Then  transfer  them  to  a  clearing  fluid  consist- 
ing of  absol.  alcohol,  and  eucalyptus  oil  in  equal  parts. 
After  remaining  in  this  fluid  for  ten  minutes,  place 
them  in  pure  eucalyptus  oil,  to  remove  the  alcohol. 
Then  mount  in  glycerine  jelly. — Dunley  Owen,  B.Sc. 

Staining  Vegetable  Tissues.— It  seems  from 
last  month's  Science-Gossip  that  one  of  your 
correspondents  was  under  the  impression  that  I  was 
quoting  the  method  there  mentioned  as  my  own.  I 
therefore  wish  to  inform  him  that  I  had  no  intention 
of  the  sort,  but  unfortunately  omitted  to  state  that  it 
was  quoted  from  Messrs.  Cole's  "  Methods  of 
Microscopical  Research,"  part  xi.  for  June  18S4.  It 
is  also  mentioned  in  other  papers,  and  one  good 
method  which  I  thought  would  be  of  use  to  querists. 
—  IV.  P. 

Cloudy  Mounts.— The  cloudiness  alluded  to  at 
p.  1 8  arises  from  a  minute  quantity  of  moisture 
remaining  in  the  tissue,  which,  as  soon  as  mounted, 
disperses  in  the  form  of  microscopical  bubbles 
through  the  balsam.  If  W.  H.  L.  will  look  at  the 
cloudiness  under  Jin.  O.G.  he  will  see  that  it  is  so. 
The  fault  can  be  corrected  by  dehydrating  the  sec- 
tion (see  Cole's  "Methods  of  Mounting"),  placing  it 
first  in  methylated  spirit,  then  for  a  few  seconds  in 
pure  alcohol,  and  then  in  oil  of  cloves,  when  it  is 
ready  to  be  mounted  in  the  balsam.  I  next  get  rid 
of  superfluous  oil  of  cloves  by  placing  the  object  on  a 
bit  of  clean  note  paper  for  half  a  minute.  Blotting- 
paper  (which  I  have  heard  recommended)  is  the 
worst  possible  for  this  last  purpose,  as  it  goes  off  its 
fibres.— #!  IV.  Lett,  MA, 

The  Royal  Microscopical  Society. — The 
Journal  of  this  Society  for  December  last,  besides 
the  ably-condensed  summary  of  current  researches 
relating  to  Zoology,  Botany,  Microscopy,  &c,  con- 


tains the  following  papers — "  Description  and  Life- 
History  of  a  new  Fungus  (Milowia  nivea),  illustrated 
by  G.  Massee  "  ;  Notes  on  the  Structural  Character 
of  the  Spines  of  Echinoidea,"  by  Professor  F.  Jeffrey 
Bell;  and  "On  some  ,Photographs  of  Broken 
Diatom  valves,  taken  by  lamplight,"  by  Dr.  Jacob  D. 
Cox. 

Lantern  Illustrations. —I  fear  E.  W.  will 
find  some  difficulty  in  obtaining  what  he  requires, 
unless  he  is  ready  to  pay  for  the  oxy-hydrogen  light, 
and  to  put  up  with  all  its  inconveniences.  But,  as  a 
step  towards  carrying  out  his  desires,  I  may  refer 
him  to  my  direct  vision  camera,  as  described  in 
the  "  Quekett  Journal  "  for  May  last,  p.  560.  This 
might  be  enlarged  so  as  to  show  imagos  fairly  well 
up  to  2  feet, "according  to  the  object.  If  E.  W.  is  in 
London,  I  shall  be  happy  to  see  him  at  the  Hackney 
Society's  meeting  on  the  4th  February,  when  I  shall 
be  repeating  this  demonstration. — J.  D.  Hardy. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Helix  concinna. — In  my  list  of  Maidenhead 
shells  in  the  December  number,  I  forgot  to  mention 
H.  concinna,  of  which  I  got  one  specimen.  On 
page  19,  it  is  stated  that  I  found  H.  rotundata  v. 
alba  at  Addington,  in  Kent,  but  on  looking  at  my 
map  I  find  that  Addington  is  just  on  the  Surrey  side 
of  the  border  between  the  two  counties. — T.  D. 
Cockerell,  Bedford  Park,  Jan.  3. 

Amalia  Gagates. — A  few  days  ago  I  found  some 
slugs  at  Acton  and  Bedford  Park,  in  Middlesex, 
which  Mr.  Roebuck,  of  Leeds,  has  identified  as  A. 
gagates  var.  plumbea.  This  species_is,  I  believe,  quite 
new  to  the  London  district,  the  nearest  records  I  can 
find  being  Hastings  and  Christchurch.  With  the 
gagates  I  found  Amalia  marginata,  type  and  v. 
mgrescens ;  Limax  agrestis,  type  and  vars.  tristis  and 
sylvatica,  Limax  flavus,  L.  maximus  v.  suhunicolor, 
Arion  hortensis,  and  others. — T.  D.  A.  Cockerell, 
51,   Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park.  W. 

Night  Heron  in  Scotland. — On "  the  14th 
November  last,  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Night  Heron, 
{Nycticorax  griseus,  L.)  was  presented  in  the  flesh  to 
the  Kelvingrove  Museum,  Glasgow.  The  bird,  which 
was  a  female  in  immature  plumage,  was  caught  a  few- 
days  before  by  Mr.  W.  Anderson  Smith,  of  Ledaig,  at 
Loch  Creran,  in  Argyleshire,  and  was  in  a  somewhat 
exhausted  condition,  having  been  probably  blown  out 
of  its  latitude  by  the  severer  storms  prevalent  at  the 
time.  The  species  may  be  considered  rare  in  Scotland, 
where,  since  Jardine's  time,  there  are  only  seven 
examples  recorded  as  having  been  taken,  this  being 
the  eighth  and  the  first  from  the  West  Highlands  of 
Scotland.  It  is  a  species  having  a  wide  distribution, 
being  found  in  both  the  Old  and  New  World  :  the 
latter  was  said  to  possess  a  species  differing  from  that 


44 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


found  in  Europe,  but  which  has  now  been  proved  to 
be  merely  a  climatal  variety  of  a  slightly  larger  size, 
but  not  differing  in  colour. — J.  M.  Campbell. 

Rossia  MACROSOMA  (Belle  C///aje).— This  interest- 
ing little  squid  is  of  rare  occurrence  on  our  shores, 
and  has  not,  as  far  as  I  know,  been  observed  in  the 
West  of  Scotland.  During  last  summer  a  specimen 
was  taken  in  Loch  Creran,  Argyleshire,  by  Mr.  W. 
Anderson  Smith,  of  Ledaig,  and  by  him  presented  to 
the  Kelvingrove  Museum,  Glasgow. — y.  M.  Campbell. 

Daubenton's  Bat  in  Renfrewshire.  —  On 
Wednesday  evening,  20th  August,  1884,  Mr.  Stewart, 
George  Street,  Paisley,  when  insect  hunting  at 
Cragienfeich,  near  Paisley,  caught  a  bat  in  an  insect- 
net  out  of  a  flock,  which  on  examination,  proved  to 
be  Daubenton's  bat  ( Vespertilio  Daubentoni).  I 
received  the  bat  alive  from  Mr.  Stewart,  which  I 
kept  for  some  time,  and  the  following  are  observations 
on  its  habits.  For  food  it  got  fragments  of  raw  mice 
flesh,  pieces  of  tinned  salmon  (of  which  it  was  very 
fond),  and  flies.  Each  fragment  of  food  was  seized 
with  a  sudden  jerk,  and  often  with  a  peculiar  file-like 
cry.  In  masticating  it  moved  its  jaws  very  rapidly — 
so  much  so  as  to  produce  an  optical  illusion.  It  was 
very  fond  of  drinking,  either  water  or  milk,  which, 
from  a  teaspoon,  it  lapped  with  its  tongue  like  a  cat, 
but  rather  quicker.  It  generally  suspended  itself  in 
its  cage  by  the  hind  feet,  and  the  head  downwards  ; 
and  in  that  position  dressed  its  wings  with  its  tongue, 
and  with  one  of  its  hind  feet  combed  its  fur.  After 
the  bat  was  kept  in  the  cage  for  some  days,  it  was 
set  at  liberty  in  the  house.  It  often  crept  on  the  floor 
on  "  all  fours,"  moving  amazingly  quickly  from  place 
to  place  with  an  odd  hobbling  motion.  From  the 
floor  it  often  arose  to  wing  with  graceful  ease.  Its 
flight  was  but  moderately  quick.  During  the  evening 
and  forepart  of  the  night,  it  spent  much  of  its  time 
on  wing,  hunting  house  flies.  It  was  a  noble  hunter, 
only  killing  the  flies  when  they  were  on  wing.  When 
it  found  the  flies  resting  on  anything,  it  set  them  to 
flight  by  bringing  its  wings  close  and  suddenly  past 
them.  At  first  this  method  set  the  flies  to  flight ;  but 
latterly  they  were  less  willing  to  rise,  as  if  they  knew 
their  fate.  On  the  evening  of  the  27th  August  it 
took  a  large  fly,  and  alighted  on  my  shoulder,  where 
it  ate  it  all  save  the  wings.  It  was  seldom  observed 
to  eat  the  wings  of  flies.  I  would  recommend  the  use 
•  of  this  bat  for  keeping  down  house  flies,  but  it  has 
somewhat  of  a  disagreeable  smell.  Once  or  twice  it 
hid  about  the  top  of  my  bed,  and  its  whereabouts 
were  unknown  ;  but  on  the  return  of  night  it  came 
out  on  wing.  When  thus  hidden,  it  came  forth  about 
3  p.m.,  on  the  1st  September,  when  it  was  nearly 
dark,  on  the  approach  of  a  heavy  thunder  rain.  On 
the  28th  August  its  weight  was  2"  125  drams,  avoird. 
On  the  7th  September  it  was  found  dead,  hanging  in 
its  cage  by  the  hind  feet,  after  being  eighteen  days  in 
captivity. — Taylor,  Sub-curator,  Museum,  Paisley. 


BOTANY. 

Nepeta  Glechoma. — The  variegation  is  caused 
by  an  insect  which  burrows  underneath  the  epi- 
dermis, and  feeds  on  the  soft  cellular  tissue  of  the 
plant,  leaving  the  epidermis  intact,  and  producing 
beneath  it  cavities  ;  thus  giving  to  those  portions 
lighter  colour  than  the  rest  of  the  leaf.  I  do  not 
know  of  any  work  on  the  subject,  and  can  therefore 
only  speak  from  my  own  observations.  I  have  seen 
it  in  other  plants,  but  have  noticed  that  it  especially 
affects  the  Nepeta  glechoma. — Dunlcy  Owen,  B.Sc. 

A  "  Glastonbury  Thorn." — On  the  20th  of 
November  last,  near  Ipswich,  I  gathered  a  sprig  of 
hawthorn  in  full  bloom  giving  out  its  characteristic 
odour.  The  same  branch  bore  both  flowers  and 
fruit.  Being  so  near  Christmas,  I  thought  this  was 
not  an  unapt  illustration  of  how  the  "  Glastonbury 
thorn "  might  have  been  developed,  without  the 
aid  of  any  other  miracle  than  those  which  are  taking 
place  every  day  around  us. — y.  E.  Taylor. 

The  Botanical  Record  Club  has  published 
its  Report  for  18S3,  which  will  be  gladly  welcomed 
by  all  practical  botanists,  and  prove  invaluable  to  all 
practical  botanists.  It  contains,  in  a  compact  and 
tabulated  form,  all  the  most  recent  "finds"  in 
phanerogamic  and  cryptogamic  botany. 

"  The  Sagacity  and  Morality  of  Plants." — 
I  am  not  alone  in  holding  this  view,  or  in  advocating 
it ;  nor  is  the  subject  so  far-fetched  as  some  at  first 
thought  suppose.  Thus  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Linnean  Society,  Mr.  Alfred  Tylor  read  a  paper 
"On  the  Growth  of  Trees  and  Protoplasmic  Con- 
tinuity," his  chief  object  being  to  show  the  principles 
that  underlie  the  individuality  of  plants,  and  to  prove 
that  plants  have  a  certain  sort  of  intelligence,  and 
are  not  merely  an  aggregation  of  tissues  responsive  to 
the  direct  influence  of  light.  Not  only  this,  but  that 
the  tree  as  a  whole  knows  more  than  its  branches, 
just  as  the  species  knows  more  than  the  individual, 
and  the  community  than  the  unit.  The  result  of 
Mr.  Tylor's  experiments,  which  have  extended  over 
many  years,  has  been  to  show  that  many  plants  and 
trees  can  adapt  themselves  to  unfamiliar  circum- 
stances, such  as  avoiding  obstacles  artificially  placed 
in  their  way,  by  bending  aside  before  touching,  or  by 
altering  the  leaf  arrangement  so  that,  at  least,  as- 
much  voluntary  power  must  be  accorded  to  such 
plants  as  to  certain  lowly-organised  animals.  Finally, 
Mr.  Tylor  contends  that  a  connecting  system,  by 
means  of  which  combined  movements  take  place,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  threads  of  protoplasm  which  unite 
the  various  cells,  and  that  this  connecting  system  is 
found  even  in  the  new  wood  of  trees.  He  has 
observed  that  most  new  wood  points  upwards,  but 
year  after  year  it  changes  its  position,  showing  great 
mobility  even  in  old  wood. — y.  E.  Taylor. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


45 


Botanical  Ingratitude.— Mr.  J.  M.  Macfar- 
lane,  of  Edinburgh,  has  just  given  in  "Nature"  the 
result  of  his  study  of  the  pitcher  plant  {Nepenthes 
bicalcarata) .  Its  flowers  are  dioecious,  so  that  the 
services  of  insects  are  necessary  to  carry  the  pollen 
from  one  flower  to  the  other.  Mr.  Macfarlane  says 
that  the  same  structures  which  by  their  secretions 
attract  insects  for  aiding  in  fertilisation,  also  lure 
them  to  the  fatal  "  pitcher,"  so  that  their  dead  bodies 
may  help  in  the  nutrition  of  the  plant. 

Abnormity  of  Plants. — In  my  garden  last 
summer  a  few  peculiar  "  freaks  of  nature  "  occurred. 
In  a  plant  of  the  new  tall  French  poppy  the  two 
peduncles,  or  flower  stems  on  one  plant,  being  united 
together  at  the  top  for  about  a  foot,  the  stems  being 
separate  at  the  bottom  for  a  few  inches,  the  two 
flowers  were  perfect  blooms,  and  the  plant  was  a  free 
growing  one,  unstaked  or  tied  up  in  any  way.  The 
same  kind  of  abnormality  occurred  to  many  plants  in 
a  bed  of  Linnianthcs  douglasii,  one  plant  in  particular 
having  the  peduncles  united  together  so  as  to  become 
an  inch  and  a  quarter  in  width,  while  of  the  usual 
thickness.  This  feature  was  also  to  be  seen  in  the 
Canterbury  bell.  Can  this  be  due  in  any  way  to  the 
dry  summer  ? — J.  C.  S.,  Penrith. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

A  Buried  Valley.— In  connection  with  the 
Mersey  Tunnel,  now  so  rapidly  approaching  comple- 
tion, a  discovery  has  been  recently  announced  of 
considerable  importance  to  geologists.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  during  the  progress  of  the  works  evidence 
would  be  afforded  on  the  question  of  the  pre-glacial 
river  valley  which,  it  was  predicted  by  Mr.  T. 
Melkrd  Reade,  F.G.S.,  so  long  ago  as  in  1S72, 
would  be  found  to  exist  below  the  level  of  the  present 
valley  of  the  Mersey.  Mr.  Reade's  deductions  were 
based  upon  certain  borings  at  Widnes,  and  the 
upper  reaches  of  the  Mersey,  revealing  an  unexpected 
gorge  deep  below  the  "drift,"  on  which  the  town  of 
Widnes  stands,  and  connecting  the  rocky  bed  above 
Runcorn  Gap  with  that  below  it  by  a  regular  gradient. 
The  course  of  the  pre-glacial  river  was  presumed  to 
be,  in  the  main,  identical  with  that  of  the  existing 
river  Mersey.  It  now  appears  that,  at  about  300 
yards  from  the  Liverpool  side,  the  upper  part  of  the 
tunnel  intersects  for  a  distance  of  about  100  yards  a 
gorge  filled  with  boulder  clay,  containing  erratics. 
The  clay  is  hard,  and  of  the  usual  type  of  lower 
boulder  clay  elsewhere  found  resting  on  the  triassic 
sandstone.  Well-rounded  boulders  of  granite, 
felstone,  and  greenstone  were  taken  out  of  the  clay. 
The  rock  through  which  the  tunnel  is  cut  belongs  to 
the  pebble  beds  division  of  the  bunter  sandstone,  and 
was  found  to  be  remarkably  free  from  faults.  The 
tunnel  is  now,  we  believe,  completely  arched  in  under 


the  river,  all  difficulties  having  been  surmounted 
with  entire  success.  The  pre-glacial  valley  of  the 
Mersey  is  now,  therefore,  an  admitted  fact.  The 
discovery  affords  a  very  complete  proof  of  the  truth  of 
Mr.  Reade's  theory,  submitted  over  twelve  years  ago. 

The  Liverpool  Geological  Society.— The 
Proceedings  of  this  Society  for  the  last  session 
contain  the  following  highly  interesting  papers  : 
"  On  a  Section  across  the  Trias  recently  exposed  by  a 
Railway  Excavation  in  Liverpool,"  by  G.  H.  Morton  ; 
"  Experiments  on  the  Circulation  of  Water  in  Sand- 
stone," byT.  H.  Reade,  "On  Indented  Pebbles  in 
the  Bunter-sandstone,  near  Prescot,"  by  Dr.  Charles 
Recketts ;  and  the  Address  of  the  President  (Mr.  D. 
Mackintosh)  on  "  The  Time  which  has  elapsed  since 
the  close  of  the  Glacial  Period." 

Obituary.— It  is  with  deep  regret  we  have  to 
chronicle  the  death  of  one  of  the  most  active  contri- 
butors to  field  geology  of  modern  times,  Mr.  S.  V. 
Wood,  of  Martlesham,  near  Woodbridge.  Mr. 
Wood's  name  is  associated  more  particularly  with 
Pliocene  and  Pleistocene  geology,  and  only  in  our 
last  number  we  recorded  his  new  discovery  of  beds  of 
crag  age  in  Cornwall.  In  spite  of  his  wonderful 
intellectual  activity,  Mr.  Wood  has  for  years  been  a 
great  sufferer.  Another  geologist  of  note  who  has 
recently  died  is  Mr.  Alfred  Tylor,  brother  of  the 
distinguished  ethnological  writer  and  discoverer. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Food  of  Tortoises.— In  reply  to  an  inquiry  in 
your  issue  of  Science-Gossip  for  November,  from 
K.  H.  J.  respecting  the  food  of  a  land  tortoise,  I 
have  found  one  thrive  well  on  dandelions,  grass,  and 
buttercups,  and  even  a  few  rose  leaves.  It  sometimes 
took  a  little  milk,  but  preferred  water.  Little  food 
is  required  in  winter. — A.  U. 

Late  Swallows.— It  may  be  interesting  to  note 
that  on  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  November,  while 
walking  in  a  lane  near  Exmouth,  I  saw  about  a  dozen 
swallows  (house  martins).  The  day  was  fine  and 
clear,  and  they  were  flying  high  above  the  tree-tops, 
evidently  hawking  for  insects.  On  the  21st  I  again 
saw  several  swallows  early  in  the  day,  not  far  from 
the  same  place.  On  this  occasion  some  friends  living 
near  also  observed  them. — E.  S.,  Exmouth. 

Mounting  Insects,  &c— I  shall  be  glad  of  any 
and  all  information  which  will  enable  me  to  mount 
for  the  microscope  the  head  of  a  spider  and  similar 
objects  as  an  opaque  preparation  for  reflected  light 
preserving,  without  contraction,  the  natural  colours 
and  appearance  of  the  head  and  eyes.  Also,  to 
know  where  the  pure  tin  cells  with  caps  or  covers  (of 
which  I  remember  to  have  heard  or  read)  can  be 
procured. — J.  JZ.  Brokenshire. 

A  Hybernating  Cuckoo. — One  of  the  strangest 
tales  about  a  cuckoo  was  recently  related  to  me  that 
I  ever  heard,  and  had  it  not  been  told  me  by  a  friend 
in  whose  veracity  I  have  the   most  unlimited  faith, 


46 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


I  should  not  have  deemed  it  worth  recording. 
Having  requested  my  friend  to  write  down  the  facts, 
I  send  them  in  his  own  words.  "Remembering 
your  request,  I  will  now  fulfil  my  promise  to  send  you 
all  the  particulars  I  could  obtain  respecting  the 
cuckoo  that  spent  a  winter  in  England.  The  bird 
was  reared  when  young  by  hand  from  the  nest,  and 
became  quite  domesticated,  flying  in  and  out  of  the 
house  occupied  by  a  farm  labourer,  whose  father  was 
an  invalid,  who  never  left  his  room,  and  who  pre- 
vented the  bird  being  disturbed  after  taking  up  its 
place  on  a  clothes  peg  over  his  bed,  in  which 
position  the  bird  remained  the  whole  of  the  winter, 
without  moving  or  taking  any  food,  apparently  in 
quite  a  dormant  state.  In  the  month  of  April  it  flew 
away  uttering  the  usual  'cuckoo,  cuckoo,'  and  was 
seen  no  more.  The  bird  on  the  perch  was  a  familiar 
object  to  all  who  entered  the  cottage  during  that 
winter  and  continued  to  excite  astonishment.  This 
occurred  some  years  since  in  the  village  of 
Humphrey's  End,  near  Stroud,  Gloucestershire." 
Surely  some  witnesses  can  still  be  found  of  such  an 
extraordinary  event  amongst  the  residents  of 
Humphrey's  End,  and  your  readers,  like  myself, 
would  like  to  know  what  they  have  to  say  about  this 
hybernating  cuckoo. —  W.  P.,  Shrewsbury. 

A  White  Sparrow. — On  the  2nd  of  October 
last,  I  got  from  one  of  the  porters  at  the  railway 
station  here  a  beautiful  specimen  of  what  may  be 
termed  a  "white  sparrow."  It  had  been  frequenting 
the  station  for  some  time  back,  and  had  been  traced 
to  its  roosting-place  in  the  goods  shed,  where  it  was 
caught  at  night  by  means  of  a  lantern.  Its  head  and 
neck  is  pure  white,  its  breast  and  belly  of  a  dull 
white,  the  forepaws  of  the  wings  pure  white,  the 
flight  feathers  of  the  usual  colour,  centre  feathers  of 
the  tail  white,  its  beak  and  legs  of  a  very  light 
colour  with  a  faint  tinge  of  yellow.  I  have  kept  it  in 
a  cage  since  I  got  it,  and  it  is  now  getting  very  tame. 
— A.  F.,  Anstruther,  N.B.  ,; 

Golden  Eagles'  Eggs. — The  relation  of  a  friend 
of  mine  has  in  captivity  a  female  golden  eagle  that 
has  this  past  season  laid  two  eggs  of  which  I  am  now 
the  fortunate  possessor.  They  are  of  the  usual  dull 
white  colour,  and  one  of  them  only  has  the  reddish- 
brown  markings  on  it  which  are  rather  faint  ;  the 
other  is  almost  a  uniform  dull  white,  with  scarcely  a 
mark  on  it.  Would  the  fact  of  the  eagle  being  kept 
in  captivity  have  anything  to  do  with  the  marks  on 
the  eggs  ?  And  is  it  not  remarkable  that  an  eagle 
kept  in  captivity  should  lay  at  all?  Perhaps  some 
of  the  numerous  readers  of  Science-Gossip  would 
kindly  give  me  this  information. — A.  F.,  Anstruther, 
N.B. 

Twin  Flowers  on  same  Stalk. — I  have  ob- 
served the  same  peculiarity  as  R.  H.  Wellington 
mentions  in  your  issue  of  January,  not  only  on  dahlia 
stems,  but  on  hellebore  with  purple  flowers. — S.  A.  B., 
Cushendun. 

Large  Unios  and  Anodons. — My  December 
note  seems  to  have  been  a  little  misunderstood.  I 
did  not  cite  my  64  in.  A.  cygnaus  as  in  any  way 
extreme,  specimens  quite  equalling  the  largest  men- 
tioned on  p.  22  (9  in.)  having  been  found  profusely, 
I  am  told,  in  Victoria  Park,  London,  a  few  years  back. 
The  record  of  U. pictorum  up  to  5T36  in.  is  most  interest- 
ing as  being  by  no  means  general.  A  critical  synopsis 
of  authenticated  maximal  lengths  would  form  a  valu- 
able addition  to  future  works  on  this  subject,  especially 
if  accompanied  by  short  notes  of  habitat,  as  bearing 
on   the   elaboration  of  shell-matter.      Do   the  most 


prolific  areas  produce  the  largest  forms  as  well? — 
Ernest  G.  Harmer. 

Yucca. — Is  it  usual  for  the  yucca  to  blossom  out- 
of-doors  in  midwinter?  At  the  present  time  three 
plants  of  one  of  the  yucca  species  have  each  a  fine 
spike.  The  heights  are  respectively,  thirteen  inches, 
fifteen  inches,  and  eighteen  inches,  clear  of  the  stalk 
supporting  them.  They  have  not  developed  into  a 
panicle,  nor,  I  should  think,  are  they  likely  to  do  so. 
We  have  now  (December  31st)  had  frost  for  a  week, 
and  yet  the  spikes  are  only  slightly  touched  by  it. 
These  plants  are  to  be  seen  on  the  south-east  terrace 
of  a  house  ;  the  house  coming  between  them  and  the 
sea.  Birkdale  is  a  suburb  of  Southport,  about  seven- 
teen miles  from  Liverpool,  and  on  the  shore  of  the 
Irish  Sea. — H.  M.,  Birkdale. 

The  Anatomy  of  the  Cockroach. — The 
authors  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  papers 
upon  the  anatomy  of  the  cockroach  recently  published 
in  Science-Gossip  would  confer  an  additional  favour 
upon  your  readers  if  they  would  describe  the  methods 
adopted  by  them  in  preparing  the  specimens  from 
which  their  drawings  were  made. — J.  II.  Moorhead. 

Lion  and  Tiger. — I  should  be  glad  if  some 
zoologist  would  explain  what  appears  to  me  a 
difficulty  in  natural  history,  and  that  is,  placing  the 
lion  and  tiger  in  the  same  genus  (Felis),  as  they  are 
so  very  dissimilar  in  many  respects.  The  lion  has  a 
tuft  on  his  tail.  Mr.  Dallas,  in  his  Natural  History, 
writes,  "  In  the  typical  genus  (Felis)  the  tail  is  much 
elongated,  but  destitute  of  a  tuft,  and  the  skin  is 
almost  always  marked  with  stripes  or  spots."  The  tiger 
has  retractile  claws  ;  lions  have  not.  The  cat  family 
climbs  trees — lions  do  not.  The  cats  live  in  the  woods, 
lions  roam  on  the  plains ;  besides,  there  are  other 
differences  between  the  two  animals  which  will 
occur  to  your  readers.  I  have  talked  this  matter 
over  with  a  sportsman,  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  them  in  their  native  haunts,  and  shot  many  ;  he 
agrees  with  me  that  they  should  have  a  separate  class. 
— S.  A.  Brenan,  Cushendun. 

Recent  Suggestions. — -Two  capital  observations 
or  suggestions  have  recently  appeared  in  Science- 
Gossip.  One  of  these  refers  to  the  tide  of  bricks, 
mortar  and  plaster  which  is  surging  all  around 
London,  and  which  in  its  course  threatens  to  so 
materialise  the  suburbs  that  scarcely  any  vestige  of 
natural  beauty  or  power  will  survive.  Green  fields, 
trees,  wild  flowers,  &c,  will  rapidly  disappear,  and 
the  wearied  artisan,  the  rambler,  the  naturalist,  will 
alike  be  deprived  of  their  rural_haunts  of  pleasure  and 
instruction.  Epping  Forest  has  been  preserved, 
thanks  to  the  energy  of  some  naturalist,  or  sports- 
man, I  forget  which ;  and  now  Highgate  Wood 
with  its  flowers  and  birds,  Hornsey  with  its  pleasant 
landscapes  and  walks,  Muswell  Hill  rich  in  the 
romance  of  geology,  &c,  are  threatened  with  the 
inevitable.  Even  the  very  presence  of  houses  in  any 
considerable  number  seems  deleterious  to  vegetation. 
During  last  summer  I  spent  many  weeks  in  Patter- 
dale,  perhaps  the  most  retired  and  beautiful  valley 
in  all  England,  and  I  can  amply  testify  to  the  lavish 
and  beautiful  efflorescence  there  to  be  seen.  The  wild 
roses,  the  campions,  the  fox-glove,  the  stitch-worts,  the 
cranesbills,  the  wound-worts,  the  garlics,  the  burnets, 
&c,  were  exquisite  in  colour  and  of  a  larger  size  than 
those  commonly  known  to  townsfolk.  The  other 
suggestion,  which  I  alluded  to,  refers  to  the  establish- 
ment in  a  suitable  part  of  London  of  a  popular  obser- 
vatory. I  understand  that  about  ten  years  ago  there 
did  exist  some  sort  of  peep-show  observatory  some- 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


47 


where  in  or  near  the  Euston  Road.  How  it  managed 
to  go  "down  the  hill,"  is  more  than  I  can  say  ;  but 
that  it  was  not  a  very  remunerative  concern  seems 
evinced  by  the  fact  that,  to  my  knowledge  at  least, 
nothing  of  the  sort  has  ever  been  established  since. 
We  all  remember  what  a  fine  show  there  was  at  the 
Education  Department  of  the  Healtheries  Exhibition. 
In  a  mechanical  point  it  seemed  almost  perfect  ;  but 
nevertheless  it  is  true  that  the  scientific  culture  of  the 
English  public  mind  has  proceeded  much  slower  than 
that  of  most  foreign  nations.  We  read  that  during  the 
eclipse  of  October  last,  the  French  Government  pro- 
vided in  the  streets  of  Paris  a  number  of  telescopes 
for  the  gratuitous  use  of  the  public.  When  will  the 
British  Government  be  so  far  actuated  by  British 
public  opinion  or  feeling,  or  whatever  it  be,  as  to  act 
in  a  similar  manner  ? — P.  Quin  Keegan,  LL.D. 

Sewage  Schemes. — In  Science  -  Gossip  for 
September  there  is  an  article  on  sewage  which 
reminds  me  of  a  plan  which  is  adopted  with  great 
success  in  Copenhagen.  It  is  merely  this,  that  there 
is  a  division  by  which  the  liquid  is  run  off  from  the 
house  into  the  drains.  There  is  nothing  in  the  smell 
from  the  residue  ;  in  fact,  I  could  not  perceive  any  in  a 
large  hotel  in  Copenhagen.  The  ammonia  from  the 
liquid  is  by  no  means  injurious  to  health  ;  of  this  we 
have  had  ample  experience  in  Smithfield.  Of  earth 
closets — to  make  a  slop  as  is  done  in  earth  closets,  and 
then  to  put  in  earth  to  dry  it  up,  seems  a  round- 
about way  to  get  rid  of  a  nuisance.  I  have  very  little 
doubt,  that  (in  crowded  places  especially)  the  Copen- 
hagen plan  will  have  to  be  adopted.  Gas  water 
contains  considerably  more  ammonia  than  the  liquid 
which  is  absorbed  in  the  earth  closets,  and  as  this 
gas  water  is  sold  for  less  than  a  penny  a  gallon  for 
heating  sulphate  of  ammonia,  such  liquid  as  runs 
into  the  drains  at  Copenhagen  is  probably  not 
worth  attending  to  except  in  particular  situations. — 
J.  G.,  Malvern. 

A  Musical  Mouse. — One  evening  in  the  summer 
of  1883,  I  noticed  a  mouse  making  a  peculiar  noise  in 
the  sitting-room  of  my  house.  The  noise  resembled 
that  made  by  a  kettle  just  beginning  to  boil,  or  a 
sort  of  low  whistle,  and  was  very  clear  and  distinct. 
This  singing  (?)  power  appeared  to  be  under  the 
control  of  the  mouse,  for  as  the  little  creature  moved 
about  in  search  cf  stray  crumbs  over  the  carpet,  it 
ceased  occasionally,  and  also  when  alarmed,  as  the 
animal  hurried  off.  I  observed  the  little  visitor 
hundreds  of  times  afterwards,  and  it  always  made  the 
same  (by  no  means  unpleasant)  noise,  when  out  in 
the  room  foraging.  After  some  months,  however,  it 
mysteriously  disappeared  without  apparent  reason. 
A  friend  of  mine  informs  me  that  this  "musical" 
power,  though  uncommon  has  been  observed  before, 
and  is  the  result  of  some  disease  to  which  the  animal 
must  have  succumbed.  I  have  also  been  informed 
by  others,  that  it  is  a  natural  peculiarity.  Would 
any  contributor  to  this  Journal  kindly  give  a  true 
solution  to  the  mystery,  or  particulars  of  similar 
cases  that  may  have  been  observed  ? — S.  H.  Vcale. 

Black  Rat. — The  black  rat  is  still  to  be  met  with 
at  most  of  the  London  docks,  and,  although  it  does 
not  now  occur  so  frequently  as  in  years  past,  it  can 
hardly  be  considered  rare.  The  war  of  extermination 
carried  on  by  the  Norway  or  sewer  rat  against  the 
black  rat,  means,  that  not  only  does  it  kill  its  victim 
but  devours  it  too.  A  friend  of  mine  employed  at 
one  of  the  docks,  has  occasionally  found  skins  of 
freshly  killed  black  rats,  turned  inside  out,  in  various 
drawers,    boxes,   &c. ;   this   seems   to   be   the  usual 


process  with  rats.  For  experiment  I  have  given  the 
carcass  of  a  white  rat,  to  a  black  and  white  variety, 
and  observed  the  same  result — only  a  few  bones  of 
the  head  remaining  attached  to  the  skin. — F.  W. 
Halfpenny. 


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  of  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


Vicar. — The  "  Popular  Science  Review "  is  not  now  in 
existence.     It  has  been  defunct  about  five  years. 

Miss  L. — We  do  not  insert  exchanges  gratuitously  in  which 
the  word  "  cash  "  occurs.  Those  are  "  sales,"  not  "  exchanges," 
and  have  to  be  paid  for  as  advertisements. 

J.  Ellison. — Your  shells  are:  1.  Anodonta  anatina;  2. 
Unio  pictorum  ;  3.  Unio,  sp.  (?)  (American)  ;  4.  U.  tumidus  • 
5.  Paludinavivipara;  6.  Limnea  auricularia. 

G.  Smith  and  others. — We  will  let  our  readers  know  con- 
cerning the  proposed  General  Index  in  time.  The  last  was 
published  in  1876,  price  Sd.  It  included  the  contents  of  the  first 
12  volumes,  and  may  be  had  of  our  publisher. 

B.Sc. — Thanks  for  the  interest  you  take  in  our  journal,  but 
we  think  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  leave  out  the  botanical  names 
in  the  description  of  plants,  &c,  and  give  only  the  trivial  names. 
It  would  open  the  door  to  considerable  inaccuracy  and  misun- 
derstanding. 

C.  G.  D.  (Guernsey).— Your  Coralline  is  a  very  fine  speci- 
men of  the  Polyzoon,  Eschara  foliacea,  not  uncommon  in  the 
deeper  parts  of  the  sea  oft"  our  southern  coasts. 

G.  T. — The  last  edition  of  Carpenter's  "  Microscope  "  was 
published  in  1883.  It  is  a  fine  work,  and  will  fully  serve  your 
purpose,  and  answer  every  question  relating  to  practical  micro- 
scopic work. 

J.  E.  C,  jun. — The  last  number  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Geologists'  Association  was  published  in  October,  and  may  be 
had  of  E:  Stanford,  Charing  Cross,  price  is.  6d. 

J.  M.  B.  Taylor. — Many  thanks.  All  your  notes  will  appear 
in  due  course. 

W.  J.  "J. — Rimmer's  "Manual  of  Land  and  Fresh-water 
Shells"  is  the  best.  Nearly  all  the  species  are  there  photo- 
graphed, price  io.r.  6d.  There  is  no  regular  work  on  the  fossils 
of  the  chalk,  but  you  will  find  a  good  deal  about  them  in  the 
various  works  of  Dr.  Mantell,  ("  Medals  of  Creation,"  2  vols.  ; 
"Geology  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,"  &c),  or  in  "Our  Common 
British  Fossils,  and  where  to  find  them,"  by  J.  E.  Taylor, 
which  will  be  published  in  March  next. 

Alchemist.— Meldola's  "Elementary  Text  Books  on  Che- 
mistry," are  among  the  best  used  in  connection  with  the  South 
Kensington  Examination.  They  are  cheap,  and  published  by 
Murby  &  Co.  Apply  to  Messrs.  Churchill,  publishers,  for  in- 
formation respecting  an  elementary  text-book  on  Medicine. 

R.  Connor. — No  sketches  of  objects  were  enclosed  in  your 
letter.  If  you  will  send  them  we  will  do  our  best  to  identify 
them. 

A.  Shaw. — We  do  not  undertake  to  name  foreign  objects  of 
Natural  History.  The  shells  shall  be  looked  up  and  forwarded 
to  you. 

S.  A.  Brenan. — The  "fungoid  growth"  was  a  species  of 
Nostoc— the  so-called  "  Witch's  Butter."  Specimens  sent  to  be 
named  are  not  returned.  The  one  you  forwarded  us  was  in  a 
state  of  high  decay  when  it  reached  us. 


EXCHANGES. 

Wallroth's  (Latin)  "  Compendium  Florae  Germanicas " 
(1831),  vol.  iii.,  containing  the  rhizopterides,  equisetum,  ferns, 
lycopods,  hepaticse,  mosses,  and  lichens,  654  pp.,  in  strong 
pocket-book  binding,  to  be  exchanged  for  books  or  specimens 
illustrating  the  fungi. — W.  B.  Grove,  269  St.  Vincent  Street, 
Birmingham. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  for  February  and  March,  1884.— 
G.  A.  Grierson,  74  Market  Place,  Sheffield. 


43 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Wanted,  to  exchange  with  some  one  living  in  North  Brftain, 
mosses  and  hepaticse  from  Gloucestershire.  —  E.  J.  Elliott, 
Middle  Street,  Stroud,  Gloucestershire. 

Ceylon  insects,  mainly  lepidoptera,  to  exxhange  for  other 
exotic  lepidoptera  or  entomological  micro,  slides  . —  Surgeon 
Clements,  Army  Medical  Staff,  care  of  P.M. O.,  Ceylon. 

Offered,  a  geologicil  collection  of  from  eighty  to  a  hundred 
well-selected  and  named  specimens  for  good  chemical  balance  ; 
or  what  offers  in  books  either  on  geology,  botany,  chemistry,  or 
animal  physiology  ? — J.  T.  Backland,  93  High  Street,  Paisley, 
N.B. 

What  offers  in  dried  plants  for  Ophioglossum  Lusitanicum  ? 
— Apply,  Free  Museum,  Paisley,  N.B. 

Wanted,  bats,  any  others  than  the  common,  long-eared,  or 
Daubenton's  bats,  either  bkins  or  in  flesh,  for  palmated  smooth 
newt  [Lissottiton palmipcs),  in  spirit. — J.  T.  Backland,  93  High 
Street,  Paisley,  N.B. 

X.  Unmouni  ed  spores  of  Equisetitm  arvense  (very  curious)  for 
well-mounted  slide  or  prepared  material. — W.  Sim,  Gourdas, 
Fyvie,  N.B. 

Duplicates:  L.  stagnalis  and  P.  corneus  (very  fine),  L. 
peregra,  P.  complanatits,  P.  spirorbis,  D.  polymorpJia,  H .  pi- 
sana,  H.  lupicida,  var.  alba  of  H .  virgata,  H.  caperata,  H . 
arbustorum,  H.  ericetorum,  H.  rufescens,  C.  rngosa,  &c. — 
Desiderata  very  numerous,  land,  freshwater,  and  marine  shells  ; 
also  algae. — W.  Hewett,  26  Clarence  Street,  York. 

Humatopinus  atini 'and  other  well-mounted  slides  in  exchange 
for  lantern  photos  or  micro  slides. — Dr.  Moorhead,  Errigle, 
Cootehill,  Ireland. 

Eighteen  packets  of  unmounted  microscopic  material  sent 
in  exchange  for  one  well-mounted  slide  and  stamp. — M.  B., 
9  Kirkdale,  Sydenham,  S.E. 

A  large  quantity  of  British  and  foreign  shells,  minerals,  &c, 
in  exchange  for  a  small  white  wood  microscopical  cabinet,  glass 
door  required,  to  hold  144  slides. — M.  B.,  9  Kirkdale,  Syden- 
ham, S.E. 

Wanted,  English,  silver,  and  copper  coins,  tokens,  and 
medals  ;  good  exchange  offered  in  fossils  and  other  objects  of 
natural  history. — F.  Stanley,  Margate. 

Wanted,  well-mounted  slides  of  eggs  of  insects,  moth  eggs 
preferred ;  first-class  slides  in  exchange. — George  Timmins, 
Syracuse,  N.Y.,  U.S.A. 

Wanted,  October,  i863,  number  of  "Anthropological 
Review,"  a  fair  price,  or  a  copy  of  "  A  Few  Words  on  Zoology," 
together  with  "A  Short  Account  of  Giraffe,"  by  J.  H.  Garrit, 
given  in  exchange ;  also  Vogt,  "  Lectures  on  Man,"  English 
translation,  if  not  very  expensive. — John  H.  Garfit,  The  Cairns, 
Boston,  Lincolnshire. 

Duplicates  :  Rhamni,  Cardui,  Atalanta,  Tages,  Selene, 
Tithonus,  Adonis,  Corydon,  S.  popidi,  Oculea,  Lllmata,  Chi, 
Bipunctaria,  Festucae,  Glyphica,  Illumaria,  Betularia,  Comitata, 
Bucephala,  Perla,  Caeruleocephala,  Menthastii,  Auriflua.  De- 
siderata: British  birds'  eggs,  side  blown,  or  butterflies  and 
moths. — F.  J.  Rasell,  30  Argyle  Street,  S.  James  End, 
Northampton. 

Duplicates:  Io,  Atalanta,  Corydon,  Cardamines,  Linea, 
S.  popidi,  Ligustri,  Z.  Trifolii,  Potatoria,  Bucephala,  Betularia, 
Atomaria,  Piniaria,  Rhomboidaria,  Perla,  Instabilis,  Cubicu- 
laris,  Haworthii,  Libatrix,  Meticulosa,  OxycanthaeJ  Spadicea, 
Lota,  Hybridalis,  Cerella.  Desiderata  numerous.  Accepted 
offers  answered  by  return  of  post. — George  Balding,  Ruby 
Street,  Wisbech. 

British  birds'  eggs. — Duplicates:  coot,  moorhen,  red-legged 
partridge,  &c.  Desiderata  very  numerous. — George  Balding, 
Ruby  Street,  Wisbech. 

Wanted,  odd  back  numbers  of  scientific  periodicals  :  Science- 
Gossip,  "Nature,"  "Zoologist,"  "Journal  of  Conchology," 
&c.  Will  give  in  return  a  good  series  of  British  Shells. — S.  C. 
Cockerell,  51  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Shells  for  exchange  :  L.  glutinosa,  A.  acicula,  Z.  e.xcavatus, 
Bulla  hydatis,  Lit.  ncritoides,  Physa  acuta  (from  Kew 
Gardens),  and  many  others.  Wanted,  Acme,  Vertigo,  and 
varieties  of  nemoralis,  hortensis,  &c. — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Wood- 
stock Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Micro  slides  offered  in  exchange  for  scientific  books  and 
instruments. — Samuel  M.  Malcolmson,  M.D.,  55  Great  Victoria 
Street,  Eelfast. 

Fossils. — Over  400  specimens,  miocene,  eocene,  chalk,  lias, 
oolite,  from  Red  Crag,  Bognor,  Barton  Cliff,  Shepton  Mallet, 
Lyme  Regis,  and  Portland  ;  also  a  few  mineral  and  rock  speci- 
mens from  Cornwall,  in  exchange  for  two  pairs  of  canaries  for 
breeding  purposes,  or  Morriss's  "British  Birds." — T.  Lawson, 
9  Marshall  Street,  Golden  Square,  W. 

Offers  wanted  in  exchange  for  240  birds'  eggs,  many  varie- 
ties, both  land  and  water  birds. — Alfred  Draper,  Abbey  Dale 
Road,  Sheffield. 

Wanted,  microscopist's  collecting  case,  net,  &c. — A.  Draper, 
275  Abbey  Dale  Road,  Sheffield. 

Wanted,  members  for  Botanical  Evercirculator.  Full  par- 
ticulars on  application  to — T.  F.  Uttley,  17  Brazennose  Street, 
Albert  Square,  Manchester. 

Wanted,  back  numbers  of  Science-Gossip,  from  commence- 
ment to  present  date,  to  complete  volumes.  Send  list  of  spare 
numbers  for  exchange  to— T.  F.  Uttley,  17  Brazennose  Street, 
Albert  Square,  Manchester. 


Science-GosS'P,  clean,  1S82,  1883,  1884,  plates  of  "Graphic 
Microscopy."  What  offers?— John  Kitchin,  Grosvenor  Place, 
Upper  Parliament  Street,  Nottingham. 

Science-Gossip,  1880  (unbound  and  in  good  preservation), 
for  good  scientific  (natural  history)  book  of  same  value. — Arthur 
Ayling,  Tarrant  Street,  Arundel,  Sussex. 

Offered,  "Scientific  Recreations"  (unbound  and  in  excel- 
lent condition^,  for  vols.  ii.  or  iii.  of  "Science  for  All,"  or  other 
good  scientific  books  or  periodicals. — Arthur  Ayling,  Tarrant 
Street,  Arundel,  Sussex. 

Wanted,  Continental  plants  in  exchange  for  other  Conti- 
nental or  English  plants. — A.  R.  Waller,  Low  Ousegate,  York. 

1500  British  moths  (many  rare),  including  400  species,  for 
exchange  for  a  similar  collection  of  British  Coleoptera  ;  also 
foreign  butterflies  for  foreign  Carabidae  and  Longicornia. — 
Delancey  Dods,  47  Chepstow  Place,  Bayswater. 

Most  of  the  Longicornes  and  many  of  the  Chrysomela 
and  Geodephaga  for  exchange.  Desiderata  :  marine  shells, 
British  and  foreign.  Lists  sent. — G.  Pullen,  Free  Library  and 
Museum,  Derby. 

Wanted,  fossils  from  Upper  Miocene,  Middle  Eocene  of 
France,  Upper  Miocene  of  Belgium  and  Germany,  Solenhofen 
stone  ;  also  foreign  land,  marine,  and  freshwater  shells.  Offered, 
fossils  and  shells. — Miss  Linter,  Arragon  Close,  Twickenham. 

Polariscopic. — In  exchange  for  any  good  micro  photograph, 
I  will  forward  a  very  beautiful  slide  of  copper  sulphate,  showing 
circles  on  variegated  ground. — Mathie,  42  McKinlay  Street, 
Glasgow. 

Offered,  Science-Gossip  for  1883,  in  clean  separate  copies; 
also  with  covers  off  for  binding  1874  and  1875.  Wanted,  books 
on  British  Flora. — A.  V.,  Mount  Cottage,  Red  Hill,  Surrey. 

Offered,  Black's  "Three  Feathers,"  6s.  edition,  one  vol., 
post  free,  for  last  number  of  "  Popular  Science  Review,"  edited 
by  Dallas,  post  free.  Wanted,  terms  for  this  quarterly,  second- 
hand, post  free. — Vicar,  Salcombe  Regis,  Sidmouth. 

Wanted,  to  purchase  a  few  specimens  of  flint  implements 
(British). — F.  Chams,  10  Broomfield  Road,  Chelmsford. 

Reptiles  in  spirits,  young  crocodile,  whip  snake,  viper,  sea 
snakes,  scorpion,  centipede,  <&c.,in  exchange  for  flint  and  stone 
implements,  or  British  birds'  skins. — R.  McAldowie,  12  St. 
Nicholas  Street,  Aberdeen. 

Good  specimens  of  British  butterflies  wanted  in  exchange 
for  local  British  plants. — F.  and  C.  Towndrow,  2  Commercial 
Buildings,  Malvern  Linlc. 

Will  exchange  a  good  selection  of  several  hundred  dried 
specimens  of  British  plants,  for  restoration  or  Elizabethan 
dramas  or  poetry.  Offers  requested,  silence  negative. — W. 
Roberts,  jun.,  Heamoor,  Penzance,  Cornwall. 

Offered,  "Illustrated  Science  Monthly,"  first  two  volumes, 
cost  10s.  ;  wanted,  botanical  or  other  slides,  lepidoptera,  pupa;, 
&c. — S.  M.  Wellwood,  320  Duke  Street,  Glasgow. 

Pinnules  of  Neuroptcris  gigantea,  from  the  coal  measures  of 
South  Staffordshire,  given  in  exchange  for  other  fossils. — A.  M., 
Martin's  Hill  House,  Dudley. 

Wanted,  good  material  for  mounting,  more  especially  insects 
(in  spirit)  ;  also  a  quantity  of  any  one  insect  (providing  it  is  not 
common)  ;  well-mounted  slides  given  in  exchange. — C.  Collins, 
25  St.  Mary's  Road,  Harlesden,  N.W. 

Microscopic  slides,  by  Watson  &  Son,  to  exchange  for 
others  of  similar  value. — A.  P.  Williamson,  Chapel  Alberton, 
Leeds. 

"  Longman's  Magazine,"  vols.  1-4  ;  "  English  Illustrated 
Magazine," vol.  i.  (both  unbound)  ;  Cassell's  "Illustrated  Read- 
ings," (2  vols,  bound  in  one)  ;  offered  in  exchange  for  fossils, 
corals,  shells,  &c. — H.  L.  E.,  34  Ling  Street,  Liverpool. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"Authors  and  Their  Works,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  Brewer.— "The 
Magic  Lantern  and  its  Management,"  by  T.  C.  Hepworth, 
(both  from  Chatto  &  Windus).  —  "  Midland  Natura- 
list."— "Gentleman's  Magazine."  —  "  Belgravia."  —  "  Science 
Monthly." — "  Ben  Brierley's  Journal."— "  Science." — "Ameri- 
can Naturalist." — "  Canadian  Entomologist." — "  Medico-legal 
Journal  of  New  York'" — "  American  Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal." — "The  Botanical  Gazette." — "  Revue  des  deux 
Mondes." — "  La  Feuille  des  Jeunes  Naturalistes." — "  Cosmos." 
&c.  &c.  &c. 


Communications  received  up  to  12TH  ult.  from  :— 
T.  M.  R.— G.  T.  G.— D.  O.— J.  D.  H.— W.  G.  C— W.  R.  P. 
—J.  F.-W.  R.— E.  O.  M.— J.  C.  M.— W.  S.— J.  R.  B.— 
E.  G.  H.— W.  T.— H.  M.— T.  H.  M.— W.  D.— Dr.  P.  Q.  K.— 

E.  W.  O'M.— M.  B.— J.  E.— F.  M.— F.  S.— G.  T.— J.  H.  G.— 
C.  S.— F.  J.  R— W.  R.,  jun.— S.  A.  B.— W.  H.  C— S.  R.— 
S.  M.  M.— J.  E.  L.— T.  F.  W.— A.  D.— W.  W.  B.— W.  M.— 
T.  L.— J.  M'C— A.  V.— F.  C— W.  J.  B.— A.  C— W.  M.— 
T.  D.  A.  E.— S.  C.  C— W.  J.  J.-R.  McA.— J.  G.— J.  K.— 
A.  P.  F.  G.— W.  H.  P.— D.  D.— G.  B.-A.  A.— A.  R.  W.— 
S.  H.  V.— G.  P.  H.— W.  P.  C.  C— J.  W.  B.— C.  G.  De.— 
L.  M.— J.   B.  M.  T.— W.  R.— A.  M.— J.  P.  G.— H.  W.  L.— 

F.  and  C  T.-F.   W.   H.— J.   C.  S.— A.  W.  F.— S.  M.  W.— 

G.  E.  E.— G.  S.— W.  R.  S.— W.  T.— H.  F.— H.  W.  M.— C.  R. 
H.  L.  E.— J.  E.  C— S.  C.  C— A.  P.  W.— W.  L.  R.  C— &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


E.T.D.deladnat. 


VinceritBrooksDay  kSonlith. 


MARINE  ALG/£;POLYSIPHONIA    ELONGATA 


x   50. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


49 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    D. 


NO.   XV. — FOLYSIPHONIA    ELONGATA. 


HEN  plants 
were  studied 
only  in  connec- 
tion with  their 
medicinal  uses, 
the  marine 
algae  escaped 
scrutiny,  and 
were  compara- 
tively neglected 
and  unclassified, 
the  earlier  sys- 
tematic botan- 
ists scarcely 
recognised 
their  existence, 
and  it  is  only  in 
recent  times 
that  algology 
has  assumed  the 
importance  of 
a  scientific  speciality.  This  is  undoubtedly  due 
to  the  improvement  in  the  microscope  and  its 
accessories.  Without  this  instrument  the  beauty 
of  many  of  the  minute  species,  and  certainly  their 
structure  and  mode  of  fructification,  could  never  have 
been  completely  approached,  or  understood. 

In  comparison  with  land  plants,  the  sea-weeds 
differ  greatly,  and  offer  many  characteristic  peculiari- 
ties, depending  on  the  medium  in  which  they  grow, 
influenced  by  abrupt  changes  of  heat  and  light, 
affected  by  localization. 

When  botany  became  a  science,  sea-weed  history 
arrested  the  attention  of  patient  observers,  and  the 
dim  horizon  was  illuminated  by  the  researches 
(among  others)  of  Greville,  Carmichael,  Agardh, 
whose  labours  were  eventually  consolidated,  and 
enriched  by  Professor  Harvey  in  the  "  Phycologia 
Britannica,"  4  vols.  1846-51,  the  greatest  work  on 
the  subject.  It  might  be  presumed  that  to  supplement 
such  results  would  be  impossible,  that  nothing 
No.  243. — March  1885. 


remained  !     But    new   varieties  are  yet   to   be   dis- 
covered, and  important  facts  traced  and  investigated. 

Of  the  Florideous  Alga;  (red  filamentous  sea- 
weeds), the  families  Delesseriacese,  Ceramiaceae,  and 
Rhodomelaceae,  are  the  most  delicate,  and,  under 
microscopic  examination,  singularly  beautiful.  Poly- 
siphonia  elongata,  the  subject  of  the  plate,  is  a  genus 
of  the  latter  family,  and  exhibits  a  filiform  articulated 
frond,  the  filaments  interrupted  at  the  joints  by 
tubes  sufficiently  transparent  to  reveal  the  purple  or 
pink  contents.  In  this  family  the  number  of  the  tubes 
are  distinctive  of  the  genus.  The  circles  of  longi- 
tudinal cells  surround  a  central  axis,  not  unlike  the 
wood  bundles  enveloping  the  pith  of  a  Dicotyledonous 
stem,  and  very  elegant  microscopic  objects  are 
transverse  sections  of  such  fronds,  showing  the 
appearance  of  rosettes — these  twisted  filaments  are 
covered  with  a  thin  cellular  tissue ;  the  disposition 
and  arrangement  of  the  cells  of  minute  algae,  with 
the  brilliant  colour  of  the  endochrome,  in  multi- 
farious combinations,  are  amongst  the  most  attractive 
objects  of  microscopical  investigation. 

The  specimen  figured  exhibits  a  condition  of 
fructification  resulting  in  "  ceramidia,"  cup-like  or 
pitcher-shaped  capsules,  with  membranaceous  walls, 
thin  and  filmy,  attached  to  the  sides  of  the  branches, 
and  containing  at  the  base  numerous  pear-shaped 
spores.  The  drawing  was  made  from  a  permanently 
mounted  preparation,  necessarily  somewhat  flattened  ; 
but  in  a  fresh  condition,  in  a  deep  receptacle,  the 
ceramidia  show  a  more  decided  urn-like,  or  ovate 
condition;  under  other  conditions,  "  tetraspores " 
are  developed  in  the  central  cells  of  the  fronds,  and 
"conidia,"  and  "  antheridia,"  in  elongated  whitish 
sacs  at  the  summit  of  the  branches. 

Specimens  are  frequently  found  on  scallop  shells, 
and  at  very  low  tides  (after  heavy  weather)  some 
rare  forms  may  be  collected,  which,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  could  only  be  procured  by  dredging. 
On  a  shelving  coast  terraced  with  rocks,  it  may  be 
observed   that   the  algae  near  high-water  mark  are 

i> 


5° 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


stunted,  scattered,  and  torn,  and  as  a  lower  point  is 
approached,  not  only  greater  variety,  but  more 
perfect  specimens  are  discoverable,  although  the 
delicate  genera  thrive  in  deep  waters  unaffected  by 
rough  tidal  influences  ;  many  depending  for  favour- 
able development  on  comparative  darkness,  and  con- 
tinuous immersion,  may  be  found  in  rock  pools,  and 
this  condition  is  essentially  the  habitat  of  the 
polysiphonia. 

Specimens  of  ceramium,  lithothamnion,  ptilota,  and 
many  others  (exquisite  objects  under  low  powers) 
may  be  arranged  or  disposed  for  future  examina- 
tion by  floating  in  a  shallow  vessel  of  fresh  water, 
lifting  them  on  conveniently-sized  pieces  of  stout 
cartridge  paper,  and  after  superfluous  water  drained 
off,  drying  in  beds  of  blotting-paper  under  gentle 
pressure.  But  for  microscopic  observation  a  selected 
portion  may  be  at  once  placed  in  a  shallow  cell,  in 
glycerine  jelly  covered  and  cemented  by  the  usual 
methods.  Growing  specimens  thrive  for  a  consider- 
able time  in  small  glass  vases,  or  test  tubes  ;  success 
depending  on  placing  them  in  moderate  darkness, 
and  even  temperature. 

A  very  simple  and  useful  addition  to  the  "  material" 
of  a  microscopist  are  pieces  of  ordinary  glass  (not  too 
thick),  three  and  a  half  inches  square  ;  between  such 
plates,  specimens  capable  of  being  dried  and 
flattened  without  injury,  as  portions  of  fronds  of 
ferns,  zoophytes,  wings  and  parts  of  insects,  sea- 
weeds, and  many  various  objects  may  be  temporarily 
stored,  and  thus  protected  from  dust,  or  fracture. 
The  glasses  are  held  together  by  strips  of  gummed 
paper  bordering  the  edges  ;  the  advantage  being  they 
can  be  examined  on  the  stage  of  the  microscope  when 
it  is  desired  to  select  any  part  for  a  permanent 
mount. 

Crouch  End. 


NOTES  ON  MUSICAL  MICE,  &c. 

MICE  to  which  is  given  the  characteristic  term  of 
"musical,"  or  sometimes  "whistling,"  or 
"  singing,"  because  of  a  peculiar  sound  that  certain  of 
them  make,  are  known  to  the  scientific  world,  as  well 
as  to  many  others.  I  have  had  one  of  these  mice  in 
my  possession  for  some  time,  and  the  following  are 
observations  made  on  it.  The  scientific  world,  it 
would  appear,  is  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  music  of 
the  musical  mice,  whether  it  is  the  effect  of  disease, 
or  a  voluntary  act.  The  property  in  which  I  dwell  is 
new,  and  when  I  took  possession  of  it  in  May  last  the 
tradesmen  were  not  through  with  it,  and  then  mice 
were  not  to  be  expected  in  the  house,  neither  did  I 
observe  any  in  it,  but  from  the  9th  to  the  16th  June 
a  flock  of  mice  took  up  their  abode  in  the  house, 
probably  driven  hither  by  the  taking  down  of  an  old 
property  near  by.  The  musical  mouse  did  not  make 
its  appearance  till  23  July,  when,  towards  midnight, 


it  came  from  under  the  grate,  having  probably  made 
its  way  to  the  top  of  the  third  story  behind  the  ceiling 
or  in  holes  in  the  wall.  I  was  at  once  attracted  to 
the  mouse  by  its  cry.  The  mouse  wandered  from  the 
fire-side  and  took  up  its  abode  below  a  chest  of 
drawers — its  wherealiouts  being  well  made  out  by  its 
incessant  music  or  cry.  I  drove  it  from  this  retreat  ; 
and  got  it  into  the  dark  lobby,  where,  in  pursuing  it 
with  a  lighted  taper,  I  caught  it  with  my  hand.  I 
may  mention  that  I  believe  this  to  have  been  the 
mouse's  first  visit  to  this  house,  for,  in  moving  through 
the  house  it  looked  so  like  a  stranger,  yet  when  they 
are  suddenly  exposed  to  light  they  get  somewhat 
bewildered.  Of  this  I  have  often  taken  advantage 
where  they  are  numerous,  as,  for  example,  in  a  press 
or  cupboard.  I  have  quietly  but  suddenly  brought  a 
light  into  their  presence,  and  in  their  bewilderment 
have  taken  them  with  my  hands,  either  to  get  rid  of 
them,  or  to  have  them  for  investigation.  I  put  the 
musical  mouse  into  a  cracked  water  carafe,  in  the 
bottom  of  which  was  a  small  hole.  To  this  new 
situation  it  soon  became  reconciled.  In  it  it  slept 
and  ate,  and  when  not  sleeping  it  spent  much  of  its 
time  in  dressing  itself,  which  it  did  with  great  activity 
— sitting  on  its  hind  legs,  with  its  tongue,  like  a  cat, 
but  double  as  quick,  it  licked  the  fur  on  its  belly,  and 
other  parts,  then  licking  its  fore  paws  with  its  tongue, 
it  would  dress  the  fur  on  its  face  and  its  ears.  During 
all  these  movements  of  itself,  the  music  was  kept  up, 
which,  as  I  observed  at  the  time,  and  entered  in  my 
observation  book  as  a  "  round-squeaking  sound." 
The  only  time  I  ever  observed  the  music  stopped  was 
when  it  got  into  a  very  deep  sleep.  Even  when 
pursued  to  be  taken,  its  musical  cry  was  kept  up,  but 
only  somewhat  more  rapidly,  being  caused,  no  doubt, 
by  the  greater  frequency  of  its  breathing  through 
exertion,  a  fact  that  would  seem  to  point  to  the  cause 
of  the  music  as  some  disease  of  the  respiratory  organs. 
In  this  water  carafe  it  remained  for  over  a  week,  and 
became  a  favourite  with  the  children — it  taking  frag- 
ments of  meat  from  their  fingers,  and,  it  may  be  added, 
drank  from  a  teaspoon — lapping  with  its  tongue  like 
a  cat,  but  much  more  rapidly.  The  children  made 
somewhat  free  with  the  mouse,  and  took  it  from  the 
water  carafe  in  feeding  it,  when  it  made  off,  yet  it 
never  left  the  house.  After  its  escape  from  the  water 
carafe  its  cry  or  music  became  much  changed,  its  note 
was  not  the  same,  and  was  over  a  double  louder,  so 
that  its  whereabouts  behind  the  ceiling  or  otherwise 
was  known.  I  often  went  and  surprised  it  and  others 
from  the  cupboard,  from  which  it  would  jump  making 
a  dull  thud  on  the  floor,  but  the  others  darted 
timorously  about  to  make  off.  After  the  mouse  had 
been  some  time  at  liberty,  I  got  a  box  trap  and  set, 
and  after  taking  several  other  mice  in  it,  the  musical 
mouse  was  secured — and  at  its  music  as  usual  even  in 
the  trap.  It  was  transferred  from  the  trap  to  the 
water  carafe,  which  it  seemed  to  remember ;  and  as 
the  carafe  was  on  the  floor  it  had  to  be  removed,  and 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


51 


to  keep  the  mouse  from  getting  out  by  the  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  the  carafe  I  put  the  palm  of  my  hand  over 
it,  but  to  which  the  mouse  made  so  free  use  of  its 
teeth,  that  I  had  to  set  it  quickly  down  when  the 
cracked  carafe  fell  in  pieces,  and  the  mouse  was  again 
free.     It  scampered  somewhat  awkwardly  across  the 
floor,  keeping  up  its  musical  notes  as  it  went  and  got 
under  the  grate.     I  again  set  the  trap  in  the  same 
place,   but   had    not   bright   hopes   of  again  getting 
the  mouse,  but,    strange  to  say,   it  was  in  the  trap 
again  in  not  many  minutes.     I  could  hear  the  mouse 
go  up  behind  the  grate,  and  from  hence  behind  the 
ceiling  to  the  press  where  the  trap  was — its  constant 
musical  cry  being  so  loud.     This  was  on  the   20th 
August,  and  it  was  kept  and  fed  in  the  trap,  till  a 
cage  was  made  for  it,  and  into  which  it  was  put  on 
the  23rd.     A  younger  and  smaller  mouse   was   put 
into  the  cage  beside  the  musical  mouse  on  the  24th, 
with  which  at  first  there  was  a  fight,  but  soon  after- 
wards   both    were   on  good    terms    and    remained 
together  till  the  27th,  when,  through  the  opening  of 
one  of  the  wires  both  escaped.     The  same  day  the 
trap  was  re-set,  and  by  night  the  musical  mouse  was 
again  in  it,  and  was  put  back  to  its  cage,  and  in  which 
it  has  remained  to  the  present  time  (8th  November). 
During     this    time     the    mouse    has    been    in    my 
possession     its     note    has    undergone    considerable 
change,  and  has  even  at  times  been   stopped.     The 
following  is  an  extractive  summary  from  the  observa- 
tions : — On  25th  August  its  cry  during  the  night  like 
a   young   chicken   when    warm   under  its   mother's 
wing — i.e.  "wet,  wet,"  the  vowel  being  sounded  as  in 
"  eat."     On  morning  of  26th,  a  friend  came  to  see  it, 
but   he   was   not   favoured  with    its   music ;    it   was 
aroused  from  its  sleep,  but  he  was  not  long  gone 
when  it  began.     On  27th  two  other  mice  put  into  the 
cage  ;    all   agreed   well,    only   they   were  allowed  a 
second  share  of  the  food  as  long  as  they  remained  in 
the  cage  ;  2Sth,  the  musical  mouse  quite  tame,  and 
spends  much  of  its  time  biting  the  wires  of  its  cage  ; 
29th,  little  music  ;  its  hair  sickly  looking  ;  at  1. 30  p.m. 
all  three  in  a  cluster  sleeping  or  resting.     September 
1st,    the  other    two   mice  escaped,  and  the  musical 
mouse  in  great  activity.     2nd,  resting  and  very  in- 
active.    September   7th,    it  now   takes   very   sound 
sleep  during  the  day,  when  it  is  silent,  but  at  night, 
when  out,  its  note  is   considerably    changed,  being 
something    like    the    croak    of   a   frog,    or    cok-cok- 
cok-cok,    in    quick    succession.     About    10th,    rests 
much;  not  so  much  music;  hair  getting  drier,  and 
its   back  somewhat  bent  up.     October   19th,    silent 
during  day  and  Dight,  but  on  20th  at  a  great  height 
— crying  in   its  nest,  and  during   the   evening   very 
loud,  but  ate  cheese   and   drank    milk  very   lively ; 
again  on  the  26th,  in  the  evening,  had  a  violent  and 
sudden  attack  ;  its  cry  loud  and  rapid,  and  its  body 
with  rapid  breathing  terribly  convulsed  ;  I  offered  it 
some  cream    which  it  lapped    from  a  teaspoon,  and 
was     relieved.     At    present    (November    Sth)     the 


creature  is  still  alive  and  active,  but  little  of  its 
music  is  now  heard,  but  when  the  ear  is  brought 
near  it  a  complicated  wet-ing  sound  is  heard  in  its 
breathing.  The  mouse  is  the  common  one,  Mus 
vmsculus,  a  female  having  six  teats,  in  size  moderate, 
but  for  this  locality  would  be  called  large  where  mice 
are  smaller  than  in  districts  where  oats  are  more  in 
use.  The  inside  of  the  mouse's  ears  is  partly  covered 
with  warts,  akin  to  what  I  have  often  observed  on 
sick  and  dying  rats  in  both  town  and  country.  The 
above  observations,  I  think,  point  to  the  cause  of  the 
music  as  being  the  effect  of  disease  connected  with 
the  respiratory  organs.  Another  item  that  favours 
this  is  its  great  fondness  for  fat  or  butter. 

Looking  on  disease  as  the  cause   of  the  so-called 
music  in  our  "musical,"   "singing,"  or  "whistling" 
mice,  we  may  look  around  ourselves  and  consider  the 
extent  to  which  such  a  disease  prevails  among  mice. 
In  London  musical  mice  have  often  been  exhibited. 
In   vol.    i.    of  the    "Zoologist"  (1843),  there   is   a 
lengthy  notice  of  one,  and  again  in  vol.  vii.  (1849) 
there  are  two  described  as  "whistling"  mice,  and  in 
the  same  an  extract  is  given  from  "A  paper  on  the 
study  of  Natural  History,"  by  W.  D.  King,  where  he 
says  "much  has  been  written  of  late  years  "  on  them, 
and  he  says  the  music  of  the  mice  is  a  voluntary  act. 
In  vol.  xv.   (1857)   two  singing  mice  are  described, 
and  another  in  vol.  xxiii.  (1865),  and  in  this  case  the 
editor,    E.    Newman,  in   a  note,  says  he  believes  it 
"to  be  the   effect   of  some    lung   disease,    perhaps 
tubercular  phthisis ," — which,  in  short,  is  consumption. 
The  Rev.  J.  G.Wood  in  "Illustrated  Natural  History" 
(1865),  makes  reference  to  "singing  mice,"  but  leaves 
the  reader  to   come  to   his  own  conclusions  on  the 
subject — whether   voluntary  or  caused  by  disease  ; 
but   he,  nevertheless,   quotes  from  a   long  letter  by 
the  Rev.  R.  L.  Bampfield,  Essex,  who  believes  the 
cause  to  be  voluntary.     In  the  first  volume  of  "  The 
Science   Monthly   Illustrated,"    for   the  recent   year 
(18S4),  there  are  references  to  musical  mice,  one  being 
by  W.  B.  Kesteven,  M.D.,  in  which  he  says,    "  I  in- 
terpreted   this    musical   performance    as    being    the 
expression  of  intense  gratification,  comparable  with 
the  pleased  purring  of  a  cat."      Another   reference 
in  the  same  magazine  is   by  W.  T.  Green,  F.Z.S., 
who  took  a  small  musical  mouse  that  died  by  the  next 
morning  and  when  dissected  was  seen  to  be  suffering 
from  pleuro-pneumonia.     In  Paisley,  here,  other  six 
musical  mice,  in  addition  to  the  one  described,  have 
been  brought  under  my  notice.    One  of  these  which  at- 
tracted attention  by  its  cry  in  a  room  was  to  be  taken, 
when  it  got  on  the  window  blinds,  and  its  cry  was  so 
increased   in  its  excitement  that  its  pursuer  in  awe 
left  it.     Another  of  these  was  tied  by  a  string  round 
its  neck  to  a  gas  pipe  on  the  mantelpiece,  where  it 
lived  and  was  fed  for  some  time,  keeping  up  its  music, 
till,  at  last,  it  fell  over  the  edge  of  the  mantelpiece 
and  was  hanged. 

Taylor,  Sub-Curator,  Museum,  Paisley. 

D  2 


52 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE  COLOUR  OF  THE  RED  SEA. 
By  Dr.  Stonham. 

OX  a  recent  voyage  to  the  East,  our  route  lay 
through  the  Red  Sea,  the  water  of  which  is 
usually  of  a  bright  sky-blue  colour  ;  but  sometimes 
we  came  to  long  streaks  of  a  red-brown  colour,  often 
two  or  three  miles  long,  but  of  no  great  breadth — not 
more  than  two  or  three  hundred  yards.  These  streaks 
presented  an  irregular  but  well-defined  border,  so 
tliat  a  glance  was  sufficient  to  show  the  exact  line 
v.  here  the  red  left  off,  and  the  ordinary  blue  began. 
This  same  appearance  was  also  observable  in  the 
Gulf  of  Aden.  I  only  saw  it  in  calm  weather,  but 
it  is  rare  that  the  water  is  very  rough  in  the  Red 
Sea,  and  I  am  unable  to  say  whether  it  is  to  be  seen 
in  rough  weather  or  not. 

The  favourite  theory  with  the  sailors  concerning 
this  colouring  was,  that  it  was  due  to  spawn,  but  of 
what  fish  they  did  not  seem  very  certain;  others 
again  thought  that  animalcula  caused  it. 


matter  of  a  pale  yellow  colour  had  taken  its  place. 
Some  of  the  cylindrical  bodies  could  be  observed  in 
process  of  undergoing  the  change  ;  the  segments  at 
one  end  would  be  visible,  while,  at  the  other,  they 
were  indistinct  and  filled  with  granular  material. 

The  red  appearance  of  the  sea  was  due  to  the 
bodies  breaking  up  into  this  granular  material ; 
previous  to  this  they  gave  no  colour  observable 
more  than  a  few  yards  off,  and  for  that  distance  only 
a  slight  light  brown  appearance  mixed  with  the  blue. 

I  find  that  Darwin  in  his  "  Voyageof  a  Naturalist," 
mentions  that  he  came  across  red  bands  of  this  kind 
near  the  Abrohlos  Islets  off  the  coast  of  South 
America,  and  says  that  they  are  due  to  Conferva? 
of  the  species  Trichodesmium  cryt/inaii/i,  and  that 
they  are  also  found  in  the  sea  near  x\ustralia.  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  they  are  by  no  means  peculiar 


Fig.  45. — Confervas  in  bundles.     X  40. 

On  drawing  up  some  of  the  water  in  a  bucket,  I 
found  a  reddish  scum  floating  on  the  top,  but  mixed 
with  this,  and  also  distributed  through  the  body  of  the 
water,  numberless  little  objects  just  visible  to  the 
naked  eye,  and  looking  like  little  pieces  of  cotton 
finely  cut  up.  These  were  colourless,  if  seen  singly, 
but,  seen  in  the  mass,  gave  a  light  brown  colour.  The 
colour  to  the  sea  was  given  almost  entirely  by  the 
reddish  scum.  After  some  of  the  water  had  been 
kept  standing  for  twenty-four  hours,  nearly  all  these 
little  bodies  had  disappeared,  but  the  scum  was 
greatly  increased  in  quantity,  being,  in  fact,  formed 
by  the  degeneration  and  breaking  up  of  these. 

Under  the  microscope,  they  were  found  to  consist 
of  bundles  of  long,  jointed,  cylindrical  bodies,  quite 
colourless,  and  made  up  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
segments,  each  segment  being  nearly  square  and 
apparently  structureless.  The  last  segment  differed 
from  the  others  in  shape  forming  a  hook.  Thirty  to 
forty  of  these  cylindrical  bodies  were  aggregated  to 
form  each  bundle,  and  it  was  rare  to  find  one  detached 
from  the  bundle.  The  hooked  ends  were  not  arranged 
all  at  one  end  in  the  bundle,  but  some  at  one  end, 
some  at  the  other.  On  examining  some  of  the  water, 
that  had  been  kept,  I  found  the  bundles  very  indistinct, 
the  structural  character  was  obliterated  and  a  granular 


? 


3 


':>/«i  $"//# 


A 


1/ 


Fig.  46.  —  Single  confervae, 
when  separated  from  a 
bundle.   X  100. 


mm 

Fig.  47.  —  Confervae  bundle 
breaking  down  into  gra- 
nular material. 


to  the  Red  Sea,  and  can  bear  a  lower  temperature 
than  they  experience  in  those  hot  waters.  Their 
distribution  in  the  water  in  bands  of  great  length 
and  little  breadth,  their  well-defined  margins,  and 
how  and  when  they  take  their  origin,  are  facts  which 
I  cannot  explain,  and  concerning  which  I  shall  be 
glad  to  gain  information. 


THE     VALE     OF    LLANGOLLEN: 
A  PERSONAL  VISIT. 

HAVING  read  with  great  interest  the  glowing 
paper  written  by  the  Editor  of  Science- 
Gossip  in  last  July  number,  of  his  visit  to  Llangollen, 
my  sister  and  I  determined  to  visit  it  ourselves.  We 
owe  Dr.  Taylor  thanks  for  our  stay  at  one  of  the 
sweetest  spots  we  ever  stayed  at.  Armed  with  the 
number  of  SciENCE-Gossil1  containing  his  paper,  we 
went  to  Llangollen  in  the  middle  of  September,  and 
visited  nearly  every  locality  he  names  for  fossils,  and 
our  searches  were  crowned  with  success.  Hafod  is  a 
wonderful  spot.  We  believe  we  saw  there  some  of 
the  identical  huge  corals  which  Dr.  Taylor  describes  as 
being  beyond  his  strength  to  remove,  and  there  they 
still  remain  for  other  admiring  eyes  to  rest  upon.    My 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


sister  and  I  brought  away  some  exquisite  specimens 
from  Hafod,  also  from  the  Eglwyseg  rocks,  &c.  At 
the  "  World's  End  "  we  found  very  fine  Productus. 
In  a  quarry  near  the  canal,  guided  there  by  Mr. 
W.  B.  Hardy,  we  found  most  interesting  upper 
Silurian  bivalves  among  the  slates  ;  but,  although  we 
searched  diligently,  we  could  only  find  small  pieces 
of  trilobites.  Barber's  Hill,  and  all  the  other  lovely 
mountains  were  clothed  in  the  richest  and  most 
brilliant  autumnal  tints,  and  as  we  had  some 
showery  days,  rainbows  seem  to  reflect  themselves 
on  every  mountain-top.  The  river  Dee  tumbled 
and  foamed,  and  sounded  as  merrily  in  its  autumn 
tones  to  us  as  in  its  summer  voices  to  Dr.  Taylor. 
Wild  flowers  and  ferns  gladdened  our  eyes  everywhere, 
our  only  difficulty  being  the  Welsh  tongue.  Often  in 
our  ten  or  twelve  or  fourteen  mile  walks  we  needed 
guidance,  but  had  to  follow  signs — the  country  folks 
could  not  understand  us,  nor  we  them  ;  the  louder 
they  shouted,  the  more  we  laughed. 

Of  course,  we  put  up  at  the  Royal  Hotel,  and 
found  the  host  and  hostess  most  attentive.  No  one 
should  visit  Llangollen  without  going  to  the  Royal 
Hotel. 

For  several  weeks  we  remained  in  North  Wales, 
seeing  many  beautiful  spots.  Barmouth,  with  its 
exquisite  Panorama  Walk  ;  Glandovey,  with  its  far- 
famed  valley  ;  Dolgelly  with  its  splendid  mountains, 
the  old  Cader  Idris  towering  above  them  all  ; 
Aberystwith,  with  the  wonderful  Falls  at  the  Devil's 
Bridge,  &c.  But  we  returned  home  by  Llangollen 
again,  and  concluded  no  spot  could  be  fairer  than 
this  little  paradise,  so  truly  and  beautifully  described 
by  our  Editor  last  summer. 

Fanny  M.  Hei.e. 
Bristol. 


DWARF  ELDER  OR  DANE'S-BLOOD. 

IN  the  January  part  of  the  P.  M.  S.  Journal,  at 
p.  12,  it  is  stated,  regarding  the. 4 nemone Pulsa- 
tilla, pasque  anemone  or  pasque  flower,  so  called 
because  it  flowers  about  Easter  time;  that  "there 
is  a  legend  that  this  flower  only  grows  where  Danish 
blood  was  spilt.  From  such  names  as  '  Woeful 
Dane's  Bottom,'  one  might  certainly  conclude  that 
fierce  battles  may  have  been  fought  with  the  Danes 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Minchinhampton."  And 
the  writer  of  the  article  then  gives  two  original  verses, 
embodying  this  statement  which  is  quite  new  to  me. 
I  have  always  heard  the  legend  told  about  another 
plant,  the  dwarf  elder  {Sambucus  ebulus)  which  is 
called  in  Smith's  English  Flora,  Hooker's  Flora,  and 
Bentham's  Flora,  "Danewort." 

In  the  first  of  these  works  is  this  passage  in  ex- 
planation of  the  name,  —  "Our  ancestors  evinced  a 
just  hatred  of  their  brutal  enemies  the  Danes,  in 
supposing  the  nauseous  fetid  and  noxious  plant  before 


us  to  have  sprung  from  their  blood."  And  in  a 
modern  book,  entitled  "Flower  Lore,"  pp.  233,  the 
writer,  whose  name  does  not  appear,  says  :  "The 
dwarf  elder  is  said  only  to  grow  where  blood  has 
been  shed  either  in  battle  or  in  murder.  A  patch  of 
it  grows  on  ground  in  Worcestershire,  where  the  first 
blood  was  drawn  in  the  Civil  War  between  the 
Royalists  and  the  Parliament.  The  Welsh  call  it 
Llysan  gzuaed gwyr,  or  plant  of  the  bloody  man  ;  "  a 
name  of  similar  import  is  its  English  one  of  deathwort. 
It  is  chitfly  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the 
Danes  in  England  that  the  superstition  holds, 
wherever  the  Danes  fought  and  bled  there  did  the 
dwarf  elder,  or  Dane's  blood  spring  up  and  flourish. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  if  ground  be  deeply 
stirred  or  cleared  by  fire,  plants  grow  up  often  of  a 
species  previously  unknown  to  the  district.  The 
Bartlow  Hills  in  Cambridgeshire  were  raised  in 
memory  of  the  Danes  who  fell  in  the  battles  fought  in 
1016,  between  Cnut  and  Edmund  Ironsides.  It  is 
probable  that  the  danewort  may  have  been  there 
observed  for  the  first  time- ;  and  what  so  natural  as  to 
connect  the  new-found  plant  with  the  blood  of  the 
fallen  Danes  ?" 

The  dwarf  elder  is  not  a  common  plant,  but 
wherever  found  it  is  mostly  abundant.  I  have  never 
heard  any  legend  about  it  in  Ireland.  Among 
several  of  its  localities  with  which  I  am  acquainted 
in  Ulster,  by  a  strange  coincidence,  there  are  two 
which  quite  corroborate  "the  legend  of  its  bloody 
origin,"  one  is  the  earthen  fort  of  Rathmore,  near  the 
town  of  Antrim,  where,  according  to  Bede's  Hist. 
Eccl.,  as  cited  by  Keating,  Egfrid,  king  of  the 
Northumbrians,  fought  a  battle  with  the  Picts  in 
a.d.  684 ;  and  the  other  is  Moira  the  modernised 
form  of  pronouncing  Magheath,  where  one  of  the 
most  momentous  battles  ever  fought  in  Ireland 
occurred  a.d.  637,  between  the  exiled  Congal  Cloan 
and  Donald,  king  of  Ireland,  resulting  in  the  defeat 
of  the  rebels  and  invaders. 

H.  W.  Lett,  M.A. 


NIDIFICATION  IN  STAFFORDSHIRE. 

I  HAD  the  pleasure  of  finding,  at  Sandon,  on 
June  9,  1879,  the  nest  of  the  pied  fly-catcher 
(Muscicapa  atricapilla)  ;  it  contained  six  eggs,  partly 
incubated.  The  nest,  composed  of  dried  grasses, 
moss,  roots,  and  feathers,  was  placed  against  the 
gnarled  side  of  a  pollard  oak,  underneath  an  over- 
hanging branch. 

The  hawfinch  {Coccothraustcs  vulgaris)  I  usually 
find  nesting  at  Sandon  ;  a  friend  has  found  it  at 
Eccleshall ;  and  at  Swynnerton,  where  it  was  formerly 
scarcely  ever  seen,  it  is  now  becoming  comparatively 
common  ;  the  gardener  there  tells  me  it  is  very 
troublesome,  being  very  fond  of  peas.  In  the  season 
it  destroys  more  of  them  than  any  other  bird. 


54 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The  nightingale  (Daulias  luscinia)  is  coming 
nearer  to  the  north  of  the  county  ;  in  the  summer  of 
iSSj,  many  were  delighted  by  listening  to  the  sweet 
song  at  Sandon.  Unfortunately  one  night  it  was 
frightened  by  some  dogs,  and  deserted  the  place,  at 
least  it  was  not  heard  again. 

It  has  been  heard  in  Brandesert  Park,  Rugeley,  for 
some  years  past.  On  May  13,  1880,  I  found  also  at 
Sandon,  the  nest  of  the  Zwete  or  Mountain  Linnet 
{Linola  flavirostris),  it  was  built  at  the  extremity  of 
the  bough  of  a  holly-tree,  just  on  the  ground  ;  this  is 
much  further  south  than  the  usual  nesting  range  of 
this  interesting  bird. 

The  Great  Crested  Grebe  (Podiceps  cristatus) 
nests  with  us  yearly  at  Copmere.  In  June  last,  a 
friend  and  I  observed  the  male  bird  covering  the 
eggs  before  leaving  the  nest,  showing  that  he  was 
sharing  the  labours  of  incubation.  I  have  often 
observed  the  nest  of  this  species,  and  have  always 
found  the  decaying  weeds  of  which  they  were 
composed  to  be  very  hot  ;  no  doubt  this  arises  from 
their  decomposition,  and  it  materially  assists  to  hatch 
the  eggs. 


THE  MOSSES  AND  HEPATIC/E  OF  THE 
FOREST  OF  DEAN. 

IN  March  of  last  year,  a  small  party  of  kindred 
spirits  addicted  to  confirmed  habits  of  grubbing 
about  under  hedges  and  in  ditches  and  bogs,  for  mosses 
and  such-like  unconsidered  trifles,  visited  the  Forest 
of  Dean  with  the  object  of  ascertaining  how  many 
species  of  the  classes  Mitsci  and  Hepaiiac  could  be 
obtained  during  a  day's  walk  in  this  paradise  for  the 
cryptogamic  botanist.  The  day  proving  all  that 
could  be  desired,  in  the  absence  of  drying  winds  or 
hot  sunshine,  such  drawbacks  to  the  successful  obser- 
vation of  these  frail  cellular  plants,  the  list  may  be 
considered  a  fairly  representative  one  ;  and  the  follow- 
ing record  of  the  species  observed  during  the  walk 
shows  that  this  locality  teems  with  good  things, 
though  having  previously  decided  to  record  every- 
thing met  with  in  these  classes,  some  of  the  included 
species  are  common  almost  everywhere.  The  start- 
ing point  in  the  morning  was  the  Newnham  Railway 
Station,  and  the  route  fixed  upon  lay  by  the  way  of 
Pleasant  Stile,  through  the  valley  running  from  Little 
Dean  to  Soudley  Furnace,  past  the  Abbott's  Wood, 
thence  through  the  Soudley  Valley  to  Blakeney,  in 
time  to  catch  a  homeward  train  in  the  evening  from 
the  Severn  Bridge  Station,  after  a  most  enjoyable 
day.  The  distance  traversed  would  be  about  ten 
miles  ;  though  collecting  was  practically  over  after 
eight  miles,  on  account  of  the  growing  dusk. 

The  mosses  were  as  follows  :  —  Rhynchostegium 
rtiscifolium,  R.  tenellum,  A',  confertum,  Brachythecium 
glareosum,  B.  albicans,  B.  rutabulum,  B.  populeum, 
Eurhynchium  striatum,  E.  pnclongum,  Piagiothecium 


denticulatum,  Amblysfcgium  serpens,  Hypnnm  filici- 
unin,  H.  cupressiforme  (two  or  three  forms),  H.  pa- 
ticnticc,  H.  molluscum,  H.  chrysophyllum,  H.  stellalum, 
II.  enspidatum,  II.  Schreberi,  H.  pnruni,  Hylocomium 
splendcns,  H.  squarrosum,  H.  triquetrum,  Catnpto- 
thecium  lutescens,  Homalothecium  sericeum,  Thuidium 
taiuariscinum,  Fissidins  bryoides,  F.  adiantoides,  F. 
taxi/olius,  Neckera  complanata,  Homalia  irichoma- 
noides,  Pogonatnm  nanum,  P.  abides,  P.  urnigerum, 
Airichum  undulatum,  Polytrichum  pilip'erum,  P.juni- 
perinitm,  P.  commune,  Aulaccmnium palustre,  Milium 
undulatum,  Jll.  hornum,  M.  rostratum,  Bryum  bimurn, 
B.  pallescens,  B.  caspificium,  B.  argenteum,  B.  capil- 
lare,  Webera  carnea,  Physcomitriutn  pyriforme,  Philo- 
notis  fontana,  Funaria  hygrometrica,  Orthotrichum 
saxatile,  O.  Lyellii,  Ulota  crispa,  Rhacomitrium  cane- 
scens,  R.  lauuginosum,  Grimmia  apocarpa,  G.  pul- 
vinata,  Eucalypta  vulgaris,  E.  streptocarpa,  Ccratodon 
purpureus,  Tor  tula  ru  rails,  T.  unguiculata,  T.fallax, 
T.  convoluta,  T.  muralis,  T.  subulata,  Didymodon 
rubellus,  Anacalypta  lanceolata,  Plcuridium  subu- 
latum,  Dicrauella  heteromalla,  D.  varia,  Dicranum 
scoparium,   Weissia  cirrhata,  Sphagnum  molluscum. 

The  Hepatiac  met  with  were  these  : — Jungermania 
gracillima,  jf.  crenulata,  Diplophyllum  albicans, 
Plagiochila  asplcnioidcs,  Porella platyphylla,  Ccphalozia 
divaricata,  C.  bicuspidata,  Lopliocolea  heterophylla, 
Chiloscyphus  polyanthos,  Kautia  Trichomanis,  Nardia 
scalaris,  Frullania  dilatata,  Aneura  multijida,  Metz- 
geria  furcata,  Marchantia  polymoipha,  ConocepJialus 
conicus,  Anthoceros  lavis. 

The  nomenclature  of  the  London  Catalogue  has 
been  followed  in  this  list,  which  must  not  be  by  any 
means  considered  exhaustive  of  this  interesting  and 
delightful  locality,  as  the  route  lay  over  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  outskirts  of  the  forest.  It  is  hoped  at 
some  other  time  to  supplement  this  by  a  further  list 
to  include  other  species  to  be  hunted  up  during  future 
visits,  and  already  met  with  in  past  visits,  but  not 
falling  under  notice  in  this  present  one. 

G.  Holmes  and  E.  J.  Elliott. 
Stroud,  Gloucester. 


GEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERY,   1SS4.* 

The    Two    Views. 

The  Official  View. 

Oil  !  where  do  patent-rights  exist 
Outside  of  governmental  camp  ? 
Or  why  with  loud  complaints  rjersist 
When  we  put  the  official  stamp — 
The  survey  stamp — on  what  is  done 
By  others,   by  their  labour  won  ? 

What  gold,  we  ask,  would  circulate 
Until  impressed  within  our  mint  ? 


*  See   papers   by   Dr.    Geikie   in    "  Nature  "    on    Highland 
Geology,  and  letters  by  Dr.  Callaway  in  "  Daily  News,"  &.c. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


55 


Go,  cease  your  howling— can  we  state 

In  larger  or  in  clearer  print, 
"That  when  the  survey  sheets  appear, 
Your  work  will  stand  out  bright  and  clear." 


The  Unofficial  Vicio. 

That  then  it  will  shine  bright  and  clear, 
We  venture  to  express  a  doubt ; 

And  pardon  us  if  we  do  fear 

The  work  you'll  linger  long  about. 

At  all  events,  we  fain  would  try 

To  get  some  praise  before  we  die. 

Meanwhile  'tis  you  too  greedy  eat 

The  modest  amateurs'  food  ; 
Come,  let  us  fairly  share  the  meat, 

'Tis  on  our  banquet  you  intrude. 
Big  dogs  !    you'd  take  our  only  bone. 
Ah !   where  have  truth  and  justice  flown  ? 

A.  Conifer. 


HUMBLE-BEES  OX  THE  PAMPAS. 
By  W.  H.  Hudson. 

TWO  humble-bees,  Bombus  thoracicus  and  B. 
violaceus,  are  found  on  the  pampas  :  the  first, 
with  a  primrose  yellow  thorax,  and  the  extremity  of 
the  abdomen  bright  rufous,  slightly  resembles  the 
English  B.  tcrrcstris  ;  the  rarer  species,  which  is  a 
trifle  smaller  than  the  first,  is  of  a  uniform  intense 
black,  the  body  having  the  appearance  of  velvet, 
the  wings  being  of  a  deep  violaceous  blue. 

A  census  of  the  humble-bees  in  any  garden  or  field 
always  shows  that  the  yellow  bees  outnumber  the 
black  in  the  proportion  of  about  seven  to  one  ;  and  I 
have  also  found  their  nests  for  many  years  in  the 
same  proportion  ; — about  seven  nests  of  the  yellow  to 
one  nest  of  the  black  species.  In  habits  they  are 
almost  identical,  and  when  two  species  so  closely 
allied  are  found  inhabiting  the  same  locality,  it  is  only 
reasonable  to  infer  that  one  possesses  some  advantage 
over  the  other,  and  that  the  least  favoured  species  will 
eventually  disappear.  In  this  case,  where  one  so 
greatly  outnumbers  the  other,  it  might  be  thought 
that  the  rarer  species  is  dying  out,  or  that,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  a  new-comer  destined  to  supplant  the 
older  more  numerous  species.  Yet,  during  the  twenty 
years  I  have  observed  them,  there  has  occurred  no 
change  in  their  relative  positions  ;  though  both  have 
greatly  increased  in  numbers  during  that  time,  owing 
to  the  spread  of  cultivation.  And  yet  it  would 
scarcely  be  too  much  to  expect  some  marked  change 
in  a  period  so- long  as  that,  even  through  the  slow- 
working  agency  of  natural  selection  ;  for  it  is  not  as 
if  there  had  been  an  exact  balance  of  power  between 
them.  In  the  same  period  of  time  I  have  seen 
several   species,  once  common,  almost  or  quite  dis- 


appear, while  others,  very  low  down  as  to  numbers, 
have  been  exalted  to  the  first  rank.  In  insect  life 
especially,  these  changes  have  been  numerous,  rapid, 
and  widespread. 

In  the  district  where,  as  a  boy,  I  chased  and  caught 
tinamous,  and  also  chased  ostriches,  but  failed  to 
catch  them,  the  continued  presence  of  our  two 
humble-bees,  sucking  the  same  flowers  and  making 
their  nests  in  the  same  situations,  has  remained  a 
puzzle  to  my  mind. 

The  site  of  the  nest  is  usually  a  slight  depression 
in  the  soil  in  the  shelter  of  a  cardoon  bush.  The 
bees  deepen  the  hollow  by  burrowing  in  the  earth ; 
and  when  the  spring  foliage  sheltering  it  withers  up, 
they  construct  a  dome-shape  covering  of  small  sticks, 
thorns,  and  leaves  bitten  into  extremely  minute  pieces. 
They  sometimes  take  possession  of  a  small  hole  or 
cavity  in  the  ground,  and  save  themselves  the  labour 
of  excavation. 

Their  architecture  closely  resembles  that  of  B. 
tcrrcstris.  They  make  rudely-shaped  oval  honey- 
cells,  varying  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half 
in  length,  the  smaller  ones  being  the  first  made  : 
later  in  the  season  the  old  cocoons  are  utilised  for 
storing  honey.  The  wax  is  chocolate-coloured,  and 
almost  the  only  difference  I  can  find  in  the  economy 
of  the  two  species  is  that  the  black  bee  uses  a  large 
quantity  of  wax  in  plastering  the  interior  of  its  nest. 
The  egg-cell  of  the  yellow  bee  always  contains  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  eggs.  At  the  entrance  on  the  edge 
of  the  mound  one  bee  is  usually  stationed,  and,  when 
approached,  it  hums  a  shrill  challenge,  and  then 
throws  itself  into  a  menacing  attitude.  The  sting  is 
exceedingly  painful. 

One  summer  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  discover  two 
nests  of  the  two  kinds  within  twelve  yards  of  each 
other,  and  I  resolved  to  watch  them  very  carefully,  in 
order  to  see  whether  the  two  species  ever  came  into 
collision,  as  sometimes  happens  with  ants  of  different 
species  living  close  together.  Several  times  I  saw  a 
yellow  bee  leave  its  own  nest  and  hover  round  or 
settle  on  the  neighbouring  one,  upon  which  the 
sentinel  black  bee  would  attack  and  drive  it  off. 
One  day,  while  watching,  I  was  delighted  to  see  a 
yellow  bee  actually  enter  its  neighbour's  nest,  the 
sentinel  being  off  duty.  In  about  five  minutes'  time 
it  came  out  again  and  flew  away  unmolested.  I 
concluded  from  this  that  humble-bees,  like  their 
conquerors  of  the  hive,  occasionally  plunder  each 
other's  sweets.  On  another  occasion  I  found  a  black 
bee  dead  at  the  entrance  of  the  yellow  bees'  nest ; 
doubtless  this  bee  had  been  caught  in  the  act  of 
stealing  honey,  and,  after  it  had  been  stung  to  death, 
it  had  been  dragged  out  and  left  there  as  a  warning  to 
others  with  like  felonious  intentions. 

There  is  one  striking  difference  between  the  two 
species.  The  yellow  bee  is  inodorous  ;  the  black  bee 
when  angry  and  attacking  emits  an  exceedingly  power- 
ful odour  ;  curiously  enough,  this  smell  is   identical 


56 


JHAKDWICKE'S   SC 1 E NCE-GO SSJ P. 


in  character  with  the  smell  made  when  angry  by  the 
wasps  of  the  S.  American  genus  Pepris — dark  blue 
wasps  with  red  wings.  This  odour  at  first  produces 
a  stinging  sensation  on  the  nerve  of  smell,  but  when 
inhaled  in  large  measure  becomes  very  nauseating. 
On  one  occasion,  while  I  was  opening  a  nest,  several 
of  the  bees  buzzing  round  my  head  and  thrusting 
their  stings  through  the  veil  I  wore  for  protection, 
gave  out  so  pungent  a  smell  that  I  was  compelled  to 
retreat. 

It  seems  strange  that  a  species  armed  with  a 
venomous  sting  and  possessing  the  fierce  courage  of 
the  humble-beff  should  also  have  this  repulsive  odour 
for  a  protection.  It  is,  in  fact,  as  incongruous  as  it 
would  be  were  our  soldiers  provided  with  guns  and 
swords  first,  and  after  that  with  phials  of  assafcetida  to 
be  uncorked  in  the  face  of  an  enemy. 

Why,  or  how,  animals  came  to  be  possessed  of  the 
power  of  emitting  pestiferous  odours  is  a  mystery  ; 
wc  only  see  that  natural  selection  has,  in  some 
instances,  taken  advantage  of  it  to  furnish  some  of 
the  weaker,  more  unprotected  species  with  a  means 
of  escape  from  their  enemies.  The  most  striking 
example  I  know  is  that  of  a  large  hairy  caterpillar  I 
have  found  on  dry  wood  in  Patagonia,  and  which, 
when  touched,  emits  an  intensely  nauseous  effluvium. 
Happily  it  is  very  volatile,  but  while  it  lasts  it  is  even 
moie  detestable  than  that  of  the  skunk. 

The  skunk  itself  offers  perhaps  the  one  instance 
amongst  the  higher  vertebrates  of  an  animal  in  which 
nil  the  original  instincts  of  self-preservation  have  died 
out,  giving  place  to  this  lower  kind  of  protection. 
All  the  other  members  of  the  family  it  belongs  'o  are 
cunning,  swift  of  foot,  and,  when  overtaken,  fierce- 
tempered  and  well  able  to  defend  themselves  with 
their  teeth. 

For  some  occult  reason  they  are  provided  with  a 
gland  charged  with  a  malodorous  secretion.  The 
skunk  alone  when  attacked  makes  no  attempt  to 
escape  or  to  defend  itself  by  biting  ;  but  thrown  by 
its  agitation  into  a  violent  convulsion  discharges  its 
foetid  liquor  into  the  face  of  its  opponent.  When 
this  animal  had  once  ceased  to  use  so  good  a  weapon 
as  its  teeth  in  defending  itself,  degenerating  at  the 
same  time  into  a  slow-moving  creature,  without  fear 
and  without  cunning,  the  strength  and  vileness  of 
its  odour  would  be  continually  increased  by  the 
cumulative  process  of  natural  selection  :  and  how 
effective  the  protection  has  become  is  shown  by  the 
abundance  of  the  species  throughout  the  whole 
American  continent.  It  is  lucky  for  mankind — 
especially  for  naturalists  and  sportsmen — that  other 
species  have  not  been  improved  in  the  same  direction. 

Put  what  can  we  say  of  the  common  deer  of  the 
pampas  [Cervus  campestris),  the  male  of  which  gives 
out  an  effluvium,  quite  as  far-reaching  if  not  so 
abominable  in  character  as  that  of  the  Mephitis  ''.  It 
comes  in  disagreeable  whiffs  to  the  human  nostril 
•vhen  the  perfumer  of  the  wilderness  is  not  even  in 


|  sight.  Yet  it  is  not  a  protection  ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
I  is  the  reverse,  and,  like  the  dazzling  white  plumage 
I  so  attractive  to  birds  of  prey,  a  direct  disadvantage, 
!  informing  all  enemies  for  leagues  around  of  its  where- 
j  abouts.  It  is  not,  therefore,  strange  that  wherever 
pumas  are  found,  deer  are  never  very  abundant  ;  the 
only  wonder  is  that,  like  the  ancient  horse  of 
America,  they  have  not  become  extinct. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S. 

I  HAVE  just  turned  up  an  account  of  the  Superga 
Railway  in  the  "  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts," 
of  September  12th  last.  Carriages  are  there  run  on 
the  system  invented  by  Tommaso  Aguido,  and  they 
climb  an  incline  of  I  in  51  by  means  of  an  endless 
rope  connected  with  a  stationary  engine  ;  the  rope, 
however,  does  not  pull  up  the  carriages,  but  merely 
communicates  motion  to  the  driving  carriage  of  the 
train,  thereby  saving  the  weight  of  locomotive  and 
tender,  and  demanding  a  much  tighter  rope  than 
would  do  the  haulage.  This  system  having  been 
practically  tested  on  a  small  scale  with  a  gradient  of 
1  in  2- 53,  the  Italian  Government  gave  a  subsidy 
of ,£36,000,  and  the  city  of  Turin  a  further  subsidy  of 
,£12,000,  together  with  special  concession  to  a 
company  for  making  the  line.  This  is  how  such 
projects  for  the  practical  application  of  science  are 
generally  encouraged  on  the  continent,  but  what 
occurs  here  ?  A  company  is  formed  to  carry  out  a 
project  that  shall  benefit  the  nation  at  large— such 
for  example  as  the  Manchester  Canal,  and  immedi- 
ately all  the  obstructive  parliamentary  machinery  of 
both  houses  is  hired  by  vested  interests  for  the  purpose 
of  suppressing  it.  Some  years  ago  I  travelled  from 
Flintshire  to  Westminster  in  order  to  give  evidence 
to  a  parliamentary  committee  in  favour  of  the 
Wrexham,  Mold, and  Connah's  Quay  Railway,  which, 
besides  opening  out  a  rich  mineral  district,  would 
have  shortened  the  route  between  London  and 
Holyhead  by  some  miles  when  extended  to  Fllesmere, 
&c.  But,  just  in  proportion  to  such  usefulness,  would 
it  compete  with  the  vested  interests  of  the  Great 
Western  and  North-Western  Railways,  and  there- 
fore they  combined  to  crush  it.  On  presenting 
myself  at  the  committee  room  with  others,  we  were 
informed  by  the  counsel  for  the  small  line  that  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  was  a  Great  Western 
man,  the  rest  were  either  ditto  or  North-Western, 
and  therefore  the  case  was  prejudged  and  no  evidence 
could  be  of  any  use.  We  all  returned  to  Wales 
accordingly,  and  gave  no  evidence.  Finally  only  a 
bit  of  the  line  was  graciously  permitted  by  the  big 
companies  to  be  constructed,  that  bit  which  could 
not  compete  with  their  monopoly.  The  parliamentary 
expenses  of  this  far  exceeded  those  of  construction, 
and  the  trains  carried  a  sheriffs  officer  "  in  possession." 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


57 


Still,  we  Englishmen  express  our  pharisaical  horror 
of  the  commercial  corruption  of  New  York.  We 
thank  God  that  we  are  not  as  those  wicked  people 
are,  and  grumble  about  commercial  depression. 

The   season   is   now  approaching   for   testing  the 

question  of  whether  or  not  the  tomato  possesses  the 

property   attributed   to    it    by    some    of    the    Cape 

colonists  ;  that  of  driving  away  insects  from  the  land 

on    which   it   is   grown.     Its   cultivation  under  fruit 

trees  is  accordingly  recommended.      It  may  possibly 

be   thus   efficacious   at   the    Cape,  but    not  so  here. 

Our     greenhouses     afford     better     opportunities    of 

settling   the  question  than  any  open  air  plantations 

can  supply  ;  nothing  being  easier  than  to  carry  a  few 

pots   of  growing   tomatoes    into   an   insect-pestered 

house,  leaving  open   doors  and  windows   and  noting 

the  result.     If  this  were  done  skilfully,  we   should 

also  learn  whether  insects  generally,  or  only  particular 

species,  manifest  the  alleged  aversion  to  this  plant. 

Tatagonian  geology  is  not  profoundly  studied    in 
this  country,   but  is  very  interesting  nevertheless,  as 
shown  by  the  results  of  the    explorations  of  Senor 
F.     T.     Moreno,    communicated    to    the    Argentine 
Scientific  Society.  Palaeontological  evidence  indicates 
that  Patagonia  is  not,  as  usually  supposed,  of  marine 
origin,  but  that  much  of  it  is  terrestrial  and  lacustrine. 
Senor   Moreno   concludes  that  at   the   beginning  of 
the   Tertiary    period    a    vast    continent,    of    which 
Patagonia   was    a    part,    extended    east    and    west. 
Oscillation  is  still  proceeding  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  continent,  and  the  depth  of  the  sea  around  is  so 
small  that  an   elevation   of  150  metres  would  unite 
Patagonia  with  Tierra  del  Fuego  and  the  Falkland 
Islands,  forming  a  continent  there  as  wide  as  Africa 
at   the   Orange    River.     Less   than   2000   metres   of 
elevation   would    further   unite   all   this   with  South 
Ceorgia,   South  Sandwich  Land,  and  the  Antarctic 
Continent. 

I  doubt  whether  the  conclusions  based  merely  on 
this  shallowness  are  sound,  I  mean  those  suggesting 
the  former  existence  of  such  a  continent.  The  sea  all 
thereabouts  must  be  subject  to  continual  shallowing 
by  the  deposits  from  the  icebergs  which  there  abound, 
and  are  continually  thawing.  Senor  Moreno  describes 
the  visible  moraines  that  form  the  labyrinth  of  islets 
in  the  Straits  of  Magellan  and  their  neighbourhood  ; 
but  besides  these,  there  must  be  a  vast  "moraine 
profonde  "  ever  growing  upwards  from  the  sea  bottom. 
One  of  the  results  of  the  introduction  of  gelatine 
■dry  plate  photography,  is  the  supplying  of  accurate 
pictures  of  the  heavens.  The  fixed  stars,  so  called, 
-can  thus  be  easily  and  accurately  represented,  both  in 
position  and  magnitude,  and  by  putting  together  the 
different  pictures  of  limited  areas  thus  obtained  a 
■complete  self-drawn  chart  of  the  heavens  is  obtainable. 
Mr.  A.  A.  Common  recently  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Astronomical  Society  pictures  of  a  part  of  the 
constellation  Orion,  and  of  the  Pleiades,  in  which 
stars  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  magnitudes  were  shown. 


Such    pictures   supplementing,   correcting,  and  con- 
firming the  star  catalogues  made  in  the  usual  way, 
supply  data  upon  which  may  be  founded  the  solution 
of  that  great  problem  of  "star  drift,"  representing 
the  greater   movements   of   the  universe,    compared 
with  which  those  of  our  own  world  in  its  orbit,   or 
even  the  wanderings   of  our  sun  in  space,  are  but 
minor   creepings.     By  the  spectroscopic    method    of 
Dr.  Iluggins  we   learn  the    approach  and  recession 
of  stars  in  the  line  of  sight ;    by  the   photographic 
pictures  we   may  be  shown  their   movements  across 
that  line ;  by  combining  these,  the  actual  direction 
of  travelling.     Shall  we  thus  ever  learn  the  position 
of  the  universal  centre  around  which  all  the  suns  and 
all  their  attendant  worlds  are  moving  ? 

The  barrenness  of  the   Pampas  is  explained  by  Mr. 
Arthur  Nicols  in  an  interesting  letter  to  "  Nature"  of 
January  29th   last.     He   tells  his  experience,   in  the 
Pampas  of  La  Plata,  of  the  ravages  of  the  omnipresent 
leaf-eating  ant,  which  clears   away  the  first  leaves  of 
any   tree   that   may   be   planted   either  naturally   or 
artificially.       The    animals   prove    their   prowess    by 
shearing   off  the   hard  cuticle   of  the    thumbs    and 
fingers  of  those  who  pick  them    up.      Nevertheless 
it    is    possible    to    overcome    them.       Mr.     Nicols 
describes  a  splendid   grove  of   Kucalypti  of  several 
species  that  were  reared  from  seed  by  first  painting 
a  circle  of  gas  tar  around  each.     The  disappearance 
of  the  first  leaves  was  thus  prevented,    as   the   ants 
objected  to  cross  the  tar,  and  then  by  painting  the 
stems  with  tar  during  the  first  three  years  the  trees 
made  such  a  start  as  to  grow  faster  than  they  could 
be  destroyed.     Many  of  these  trees  were  forty  feet 
high,  and  measured    three  feet   round   at   three  feet 
above  the  ground  when  eight  years  old.     By  lighting 
fires  over   the   nests  of  the  ants  during  the  winter, 
when  the  colony  is  all  at  home,  these  pests  may  be 
destroyed.     From  Mr.  Nicols'  account  it  appears  that 
their  assimilation  and  distribution  of  vegetable  matter 
has  richly  manured  the  surface,  and  thus  prepared  it 
for  the  use   of  men  who  are    sufficiently  intelligent 
and  energetic  to  avail  themselves  of  the  services  of 
these  ants,  and  regulate  their  destructiveness. 

The  subject  of  earth  tremors  is  a  very  interesting 
one.     There  are  good  reasons  for  supposing  that  the 
so-called   "solid"  crust  of  the  earth  is  uplifted    in 
tidal  waves,  is  agitated  by  big  waves,   by  wavelets 
and  ripples  as  the  ocean  is,  but  accurate  observation 
of  these  is  difficult,  one  of  the  chief  obstacles  being 
the  confusion  of  artificial  with  natural  vibrations.     As 
everybody  knows,  the  passing  of  a  wagon  along  an 
ordinary  street,  produces  earth-waves  that  can  be  felt 
as  we  sit  on  our  chairs,  or  lie  in  bed.    These  of  course 
are  but  local  and  very  limited,  but  beyond  these  are 
far    reaching   natural    waves    demanding    systematic 
study.     Much  has  already  been  done  in  Japan,  which 
is  a  stormy  earth-region  continually  agitated  by  earth- 
quakes, great  or  little.     We  reside  on  a  less  stormy 
crust,  but  one  that  is  by  no  means  absolutely  calm. 


58 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The  Government  grant  committee  has  wisely  supplied 
Professor  Ewing,  of  Dundee,  with  ,£100  for  the  pur- 
pose of  instituting  observations  of  earth  movements 
on  Ben  Nevis.  The  isolated  position  of  this  mountain, 
distance  from  railways,  factories,  or  other  artificial 
disturbers,  renders  it  suitable  for  such  observations, 
which  are  to  be  added  to  the  work  of  the  observatory 
already  established  there. 

According  to  a  communication  to  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences  (December  29)  from  M.  Sacc, 
there  is  cultivated  in  Bolivia  a  cotton-tree  which 
yields  abundantly  a  seed  which  is  richer  than  any  of 
the  known  grains  in  nitrogenous  food.  M.  Sacc  is 
convinced  that  the  flour  from  this  seed  is  destined  to 
take  an  important  place  in  human  food  supply, 
especially  in  the  preparation  of  all  kinds  of  pastes,  as 
it  contains  so  much  vegetable  oil  as  to  render  the 
addition  of  milk  and  animal  fats  unnecessary.  The 
vegetarians  should  look  after  this  and  obtain  samples. 
Their  chief  difficulty  hitherto  has  been  in  finding  a 
supply  of  fatty  matter  sufficient  to  meet  the  food 
demands  of  our  climate,  without  being  dependent  on 
animal  products.  Most  of  them  would  like  to  be 
independent  of  the  dairy ;  the  leguminous  plants 
enable  them  to  be  so  as  regards  casein,  but  still  their 
puddings  and  pastry  generally  appeal  for  butter.  A 
seed  containing  both  Hour  and  butter  in  pastry-cook 
proportions  is  exactly  what  they  now  want. 

Carbon  disulphide  is  growing  in  importance.  I 
remember  buying  it  at  two  shillings  an  ounce  in  order 
to  make  a  solution  of  phosphorus  for  the  precipitation 
of  metallic  silver  on  plaster  of  Paris  casts  when  the 
electrotype  was  a  new  art.  Now  it  is  retailed  at 
sixpence  per  pound.  This  difference  arises  simply 
from  the  increased  demand  which  has  usually  such  a 
cheapening  effect  upon  chemical  products.  At  the 
time  I  refer  to  the  best  obtainable  was  most  foul  in 
odour,  and  even  now,  the  ordinary  commercial 
samples  are  very  suggestive  of  essence  of  sewage. 
Ckandi-Bey  ("  Comptes  Rendus,"  vol.  99,  p.  509)  tells 
us  that  alone  and  in  aqueous  solution  it  arrests  all 
fermentations,  kills  microbes,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
energetic  of  antiseptics.  Dr.  Dujardin  Baumetz 
administers  its  aqueous  solution  as  a  medicine  in 
cases  of  typhus.  He  says  that  it  arrests  diarrhoea 
and  disinfects  the  breath  and  excretions  of  the 
patients.  This  is  curious  in  connection  with  its  own 
foulness,  even  though  that  foulness  be  due  to 
impurities.  It  certainly  does  not  obey  the  injunction, 
"  Physician  heal  thyself." 


Singing  Mice.— There  are  several  notices  of 
singing  mice  in  Science-Gossip,  as  follows  :  p.  274, 
1871  ;  pp.  47,  65,  and  94,  1872  ;  and  p.  187,  1873. 
As  regards  the  true  explanation,  that  seems  to  be  a 
difficult  task,  for  I  find  there  are  some  who  attribute 
it  to  disease,  whilst  others  consider  it  a  natural 
peculiarity,  and  even  intelligence.—./.  G.  Rudd, 
Lufion. 


BRITISH    PLANTS   IN   NYMAN'S   CON- 
SPECTUS FLOR.E   EUROP/EiE. 
By  Alfred  R.  Waller. 
II. 

Jl/TCENCIIIA  QUATERNELLA,  Ehrh.,  1788, 
J  VI  rightly  replaces  M.  erecta,  Fl.  Wett.,  1800. 
Stellaria  umbrosa,  Op.,  is  placed  as  a  sub-species 
of  S.  media,  Cyr.,  with  S.  Boreana,  Jord.,  as  a 
variety.  S.  palustris,  Ehrh.,  1795,  takes  the  place  of 
S.  glauca,  With.,  1796,  and  Sagiua  Lintusi,  Pr., 
1835,  that  of  S.  saxatilis,  Wimm.,  1S40.  Spergularia 
media,  Pers.,  and  S.  sali/ia,  Presl,  are  thought  to  be 
species.  The  form  of  Linum  pcrenne,  L.,  we  get  is 
L.  anglicum,  Mill.  (Spr.),  which  out  of  England  is 
found  only  in  West  Germany  and  France  (?).  Tilia 
platyphyllos,  Sep.,  1 772,  rightly  replaces  T.  grandi- 
folia,  Ehrh.,  1790,  as  the  name  of  the  large-leaved 
lime.  Mtdicago  dentieulata,  W.,  is  thought  to  be  a 
sub-species  of  M.  lappacea,  Desv.,  while  AI.  apiculata, 
W.,  is  raised  to  specific  rank.  Scotland  might  be  added. 
to  the  list  of  countries  for  Trigonella  ornithopodioides . 
The  following  are  changes  in  the  right  direction  : — ■ 
Melilotus  officinalis,  Desv.,  1797,  instead  of  M. 
aruensis,  Walk.,  1S22  ;  M.  altissima,  Th.,  1799, 
instead  of  M.  officinalis,  W.,  1S09  ;  Lotus  uliginosns, 
Schk.,  instead  of  Z.  major,  Sm.  ;  Astragalus  danicus, 
Retz,  instead  of  A.  hypoglottis,  L.  Stellaria  media, 
Sper^ula  arvensis,  Sagi/ia  procumbens,  Trifoliuin 
repens,  and  Geranium  Kobertianum,  are  found  in 
every  country  in  Europe.  Geranium  nodosum,  L., 
and  Osalis  stricta,  L.,  are  erroneously  given  as 
natives. 


TEETH  OF  FLIES. 

THE     DUNG-FLY     {SCATOFHAGA 
STERCORARIA). 

By  W.  II.  Harris. 

No.  IY. 

I  HAVE  selected  for  illustration  on  this  occasion  a 
very  interesting  and  robust  form  taken  from  the 
common  dung-fly  {Seatophaga  stercoraria),  whose 
winged  eggs  are  always  objects  of  interest,  providing, 
as  they  do,  in  a  very  remarkable  manner,  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  species.  It  is  necessary  for  the  development 
of  the  larvae  that  the  eggs  should  be  deposited  in  soft 
dung,  at  the  same  time  they  must  not  be  immersed 
entirely.  To  guard  against  such  a  misfortune  the 
eggs  are  provided  with  two  lateral  expansions,  or 
wings  as  they  have  been  termed,  which  effectually 
prevents  them  sinking  by  their  own  weight  in  the 
soft  dung  in  which  (during  the  summer  months)  any 
quantity  may  be  procured. 

The  teeth  presented  to  us  in  this  creature  are  of 
three  distinct  forms.      Taking  the   blow-fly  a"s   the 


HAEDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


59 


original  type  form  (and  it  is  quite  worthy  of  the 
distinction),  it  will  be  found  the  two  marginal  ones 
retain  the  shape  and  general  appearance  of  our  type ; 
those  situated  next  depart  in  some  degree  therefrom  ; 
one  portion  or  dentule,  if  I  may  use  the  term,  is 
much  more  developed,  being  both  longer  and  broader  ; 
of  the  two  central  teeth  one  may  be  said  to  be  a  still 
further  development  of  those  last  referred  to,  but 
the  large  dentule  stands  out  conspicuously  robust, 
whereas  the  smaller  one  has  not  been  correspondingly 
enlarged  ;  the  remaining  tooth  appears  at  first  sight  a 
simple  enlargement  of  the  blow-fly  type,  but  it  will 
be  seen  the  difference  occurs  in  the  shape  of  the  inner 
edges  of  the  dentules.      In  the  original  form  these 


division  of  the  muscidse,  and  so  far  as  my  investi- 
gation of  their  dentition  has  gone,  there  appears  to  be 
greater  uniformity  in  number  of  teeth,  form,  and 
arrangement,  than  is  met  with  in  other  divisions  of 
this  order  of  insects. 

During  the  coming  season  I  should  be  glad  to 
receive  from  any  person  freshly  killed  specimens  of 
Diptera,  correctly  named,  with  the  view  of  carrying 
these  observations  still  further.  Specimens  so  in- 
tended, should  be  placed  in  a  small  quantity  of  dilute 
glycerine  and  sent  to  my  address,  44  Partridge  Road, 
Cardiff.  Any  specimens  having  distinctive  features 
shall,  with  the  editor's  kind  permission,  be  made 
known  through  the  pages  of  Science-Gossip. 


Fig.  4S. — Teeth  of  Dung-fly  (Scafo/Atiga  stercovaria).     Enlarged  200  diams. 


edges  are  quite  straight,  whereas  in  the  present 
object  they  are  decidedly  curved.  Each  lobe  of  the 
proboscis  is  provided  with  six  teeth,  and  the  whole  of 
these  teeth  still  further  depart  from  the  blowfly  type 
in  being  very  considerably  thickened  throughout  their 
entire  width  instead  of  at  the  margins  only. 

It  is  well  known  to  those  who  have  been  close 
observers  of  the  diptera  that  the  Scatophagidse  are 
occasionally  carnivorous  in  their  habits,  they  have 
been  frequently  seen  to  seize,  crush  and  extract,  the 
juices  of  smaller  flies,  and  appear  to  be  rather  expert 
in  doing  so  ;  the  dentition  is  very  powerful  for  a 
creature  of  its  size,  and  as  the  two  series  of  teeth  can 
be  approximated,  it  can  be  readily  conceived  how  the 
execution  is  effected. 

All    the    Scatophagidae   are    in    the    acalypterate 


STUDIES  OF  COMMON  PLANTS. 

No.  I. — The   Cuckoo-Pint.     {Arum   macu/dlum.) 

By  Charles  F.  W.  T.  Williams,  B.A.  Cantab. 

THERE  are,  perhaps,  few  plants  better  known 
than  Arum  maculatum.  There  are  many 
reasons  for  this.  It  is  very  common,  and  is  found 
growing  almost  in  every  spot  where  there  is  sufficient 
earth  to  nourish  it.  Then  again  its  leaves  are 
amongst  the  earliest  to  present  themselves  before 
the  delighted  eye  of  the  observant  rambler  ;  and,  as 
he  gazes  on  them,  he  knows  that  spring,  with  all  its 
varied  forms  of  infant  life,  is  not  far  distant.  Lastly, 
there  is  a  recollection  of  sunny  summer  days  in  the 
distant   past,    when    as   happy  children,  we  roamed 


Go 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


through  wood  and  meadow,  plucking  with  all  eager 
expectancy  the  spadix  of  this  plant.  Thus,  as  far  as 
outward  form  is  concerned,  it  has  been  known  to  most 
from  very  early  years. 

My  object  in  this  paper  is  not  however  to  examine 
into  the  lore  of  the  plant,  or  to  discuss  its  various 
common  names,  but  to  look  somewhat  closely  into  its 


belongs,  does  not  furnish  many  plants  to  the  flora  of 
this  island.  Examining,  first,  the  underground  portion 
of  the  plant,  we  find  a  corm  producing  leaf-buds  at 


Fig.  50.— Corms  of  Arum  maculatum.    a,  this  year's  corm  ; 
b,  old  corm  ;  c,  young  corm  ;  d,  roots ;  e,  petiole. 


g    * 


% 


^ 


*  V  „ 


o   0$   00 


Fig.  51. — Starch  grains  from  corm  of  Arum  maculatum. 


Fig.  49. — Young  plant  of  Arum  maculatum. 
b,  living  corm  ;  c,  old  corm. 


a,  roots  ; 


Fig.  S2. — Transverse  section  through  corm  cells  and  thick 
starch  masses. 


construction  and  economy,  considered  botanically  and 
microscopically.  I  venture  to  think  that  by  the  time 
we  have  finished  our  investigation,  it  will  be  found 
that  Arum  maculatum  possesses  points  of  interest 
well  worthy  the  attention  of  all  careful  observers. 
The   natural   order  Aroideoe,  to  which  the  Arum 


one  point  and  roots  at  another.  (Fig.  49.)  It  fre- 
quently happens  that  a  specimen  is  met  with  in  which 
three  distinct  periods  of  life  and  growth  may  be 
observed.  Such  is  the  case  in  Fig.  50.  The  corm 
of  the  arum  is  of  great  interest  when  examined  with 
care.     If  a  corm  be  cut  across,  a  white  deposit  will 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


61 


be  left  on  the  blade  of  the  knife,  and  also  on  the 
fingers,  if  they  come  in  contact  with  the  section.  On 
microscopical  examinations  of  a  transverse  section  the 
whole  field  will  be  found  to  be  full  of  a  dense  mass  of 
bodies  which  are  starch  grains.  Such  a  quantity  of 
starch  is  stored  up  in  the  cells  that  it  is  difficult  to 
obtain  a  section  giving  any  clear  view  of  the  cell 
structure.  Fig.  51  represents  some  of  the  starch 
grains  highly  magnified.  Fig.  52  is  an  attempt  to 
show  the  cells  of  the  conn  in  some  cases  empty,  and 
in  others  densely  crowded  with  starch  grains,  so 
densely,  in  fact,  as  to  become  all  but  black.  A  J  is 
the  lowest  power  with  which  to  observe  these  points. 
At  the  present  time  the  corm  of  the  arum  is  not, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  any  great  request,  either 
medicinally  or  otherwise.  Dr.  Taylor  mentions  that 
the  starch  has  been  "  misused  "  in  order  to  adulterate 
arrowroot.*     In  order,  however,  to  learn  some  of  the 


wholesome  nourishment  as  well  as  those  sorts  which 
are  natives  of  hot  climates.  The  roots  when  dried 
and  powdered,  are  used  by  the  French  as  a  wash  for 
the  skin,  and  sell  under  the  name  of  Cyprus  powder, 
at  a  high  price,  being  an  excellent  and  innocent 
cosmetic.  Starch  may  also  be  made  from  them,  but 
the  hands  are  liable  to  be  blistered  in  using  it.  They 
have  occasionally  been  substituted  for  soap.  When 
newly  dried  and  powdered  the  root  has  been  given  as 
a  stimulant,  in  doses  of  a  scruple  and  upwards  ;  but 


Fig.  53. — Cells  of  the  epidermis  of  petiole,     a,  raphides  \ 
l>,  nucleus ;  c,  stoma. 


valuable,  not  to  say  wonderful,  properties  of  this 
portion  of  A.  maculatum,  and  some  of  the  uses  to 
which  it  has  been  applied,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back 
a  little  for  information. 

In  a  certain  dictionary  published  in  London  in  the 
year  1832,  and  known  as  "The  Universal  Herbal  or 
Botanical,  Medical  and  Agricultural  Dictionary,"  by 
Thomas  Green,  2  vols,  we  learn  much.  Mr.  Green 
first  informs  his  readers  that  if  they  have  been  rash 
enough  to  taste  the  "root,"  an  antidote  will  be  found 
either  in  milk  butter,  or  oil.  Writing  still  of  the 
"roots"  he  goes  on  to  say:  "When  dried  they 
become  farinaceous  and  insipid,  in  which  case  they 
might  be  used  for  food  in  case  of  necessity  ;  and  by 
boiling  or  baking  would  probably  afford  a  mild  and 

•  "  Half-hours  in  the  Green  Lanes,"  p.  227. 


Fig.  54. — Hastate-cordate  leaf  ot  Arum 
>uaculatu»i. 


in  being  reduced  to  powder  it  loses  much  of  its 
acrimony ;  and  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
compound  powder  which  takes  its  name  from  the 
plant,  owes  its  virtues  chiefly  to  the  other  ingredients. 
The  pulvis  ari  compositus,  or  powder  composed  of 
arum,  is  therefore  discarded  from  the  London  dispen- 
satory, and,  instead  of  it,  a  conserve  is  inserted,  made 
by  beating  half  a  pound  of  fresh  root  with  a  pound 
and  a  half  of  fine  sugar. 

"In  the  medicine  recommended  by  Sydenham 
against  rheumatisms,  the  acrid  anti-scorbutic  herbs 
are  largely  joined  with  it.  Dr.  Lewis  orders  the 
fresh  root  to  be  beaten  with  a  little  testaceous  powder, 
and  mixed  with  an  equal  quantity  of  gum  arabic, 
and  three  or  four  times  as  much  conserve,  and  thus 
to  be  made  up  into  an  electuary  ;  or  else  to  be 
rubbed   with  a  thick   mucilage   of  gum   arabic   and 


62 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


spermaceti,  adding  any  watery  liquor  and  a  little 
syrup  to  form  an  emulsion  ;  two  parts  of  the  root, 
two  of  gum,  and  one  of  spermaceti.  In  this  form, 
he  has  given  the  fresh  root  from  ten  grains  to  up- 
wards of  a  scruple  three  or  four  times  a  day.  It 
generally  occasioned  a  sensation  of  slight  warmth, 
first  about  the  stomach,  and  afterwards  in  the 
remoter  parts  ;  it  manifestly  promoted  perspiration, 
and  frequently  produced  a  plentiful  sweat.  Several 
obstinate  rheumatic  pains  were  removed  by  this 
medium,  which  he  therefore  recommends  to  further 
trial.  Chewed  in  the  mouth  it  has  been  known  to 
restore  the  speech  in  paralytic  cases,  and  made  into 
a  conserve  it  is  efficacious  in  scurvy  and  rheumatism. 
It  likewise  increases  the  urinary  secretion,  and  is 
good  in  the  gravel.  But  in  whatever  form  it  is  used 
the  root  should  be  fresh,  for  it  loses  the  greater  part 
of  its  efficacy  in  drying,  and  becomes  insipid." 

In  these  more  enlightened  days  it  may  possibly  be 
difficult  to  find  persons  with  sufficient  faith  to  try  for 
themselves  the  truth  of  the  above  remedies.  Certainly, 
for  my  own  part,  I  should  prefer,  if  suffering  from 
rheumatism,  a  course  of  our  own  thermal  waters.  I 
need  hardly  say  that  this  plant  has  ceased  to  be  used 
in  medical  practice.  It  is  no  easy  task  to  procure  the 
■corms  of  A.  maculatum.  Again  and  again  failure 
marks  the  attempt  to  dig  them  up.  I  use  a  fern 
trowel,  but  frequently  do  not  go  deep  enough, 
with  the  result  that  up  come  the  leaf  stalks,  leaving 
the  corm  deep  in  the  earth.  The  arum  loves,  too,  a 
soil  somewhat  stony,  and  when  the  plant  is  met 
with  in  such  ground,  it  is  well  to  leave  it  alone. 
Anyone  who  tries  to  dig  up  the  corm  will  soon 
discover  the  difficulty. 

The  petioles  are  sheathed  at  their  base. 
The  structure  and  arrangement  of  the  cellular  and 
fibro-vascular  tissues  is  fairly  representative  of  the 
monocotyledons.  Here  again  as  in  the  corm,  we 
find  starch  in  the  cells,  though  not  in  such  large 
quantities.  Here,  too,  for  the  first  time,  are  to  be 
noticed  with  distinction,  large  numbers  of  raphides. 
These  occur  in  the  corm  also,  but  are  not  so  easily 
distinguished,  owing  to  the  dense  mass  of  starch 
grains.  In  a  longitudinal  section,  through  a  petiole, 
we  get  a  view  of  the  fibro-vascular  bundles,  and  of 
the  cellular  tissue  with  cells  containing  starch  and 
raphides.  The  raphides  are  very  minute,  and  a  \  is 
required  to  see  them  at  all  well.  The  epidermis  of 
the  petiole  consists  of  elongated  cells  with  some  few 
stomata  as  in  Fig.  53. 

The  external  appearance  of  the  leaf  varies.  Its 
vernation  is  convolute.  The  most  general  and 
marked  form  of  the  leaf  is  hastate-cordate.  (Fig.  54.) 
Sometimes  the  lamina  are  spotted  black,  though  the 
spots  are  more  frequently  absent.  On  examining  one 
of  the  spots,  a  mass  of  cells  filled  with  chromule  will 
be  observed.  Other  examples  of  a  like  nature  will 
readily  occur  to  the  mind  of  the  reader.  In  the 
epidermal   cells    of   the    lamina    stomata    occur,    but 


only  in  very  small  quantities,  and  widely  scattered. 
In  structure,  the  cells  of  the  leaf  are  of  the  ordinary 
type  and  arrangement,  (a)  The  empty  thick-walled 
cells  of  the  epidermis.  (l>)  Oblong,  closely  packed 
cells  containing  chlorophyll,  (c)  Loosely  packed 
cells  containing  chlorophyll,  and  so  arranged  as  to 
have  air  spaces.  It  must,  I  should  think,  strike  the 
most  casual  observer  that  the  leaves  of  the  arum 
show  signs  of  being  singularly  unhealthy.  There  are 
several  causes  for  this.  Even  early  in  the  season, 
many  leaves  exhibit  a  sickly  yellow  waxy  appearance, 
very  different  from  the  healthy  green  of  some  of  their 
relatives.  On  making  sections  it  will  be  found  that 
the  vivid  green  of  the  chlorophyll  bodies  is  in  these 
changed  to  a  golden  hue  and  less  in  quantity.  In 
several  cases  I  have  noted,  in  sections  through  the 
thickness  of  the  lamina,  an  increase  in  the  quantity  of 
raphidian  bundles  and  a  surprising  increase  in  size  of 
the  same. 

{To  be  continued.') 


CIVILISATION  AND  EYESIGHT. 

AVERY  important  point  and  one  which,  in  these 
times  when  health  questions  in  general  occupy 
so  prominent  a  position,  ought  to  engage  the  serious 
attention  of  school  authorities,  is  the  question  of  the 
eyesight  of  boys  and  girls,  and  the  injury  which  may 
be  done  by  working  under  bad  conditions  of  light. 
The  matter  is  not  ended  by  seeing  that  a  large  school- 
room is  as  a  whole  well  lighted,  because  the  evil  effects 
will  probably  be  found  where  the  pupils  sit  at  some 
distance  from  the  light,  near  the  walls  or  corners  of 
the  room,  reading,  it  may  be,  small  print,  or  working 
by  artificial  light  on  greasy  slates  on  which  the  marks 
are  at  no  time  very  easy  to  see,  and  with  here  the 
added  difficulty,  that   the   desk   at   which   they   are 
working  perhaps  slopes  so  that  the  light  makes  but  a 
small  angle  with  the  plane  of  the  slate.     There  can 
be   little   doubt  that   this   state  of  things,  where   it 
prevails,  is  one  cause  not  only  of  rounded  backs,  and 
undeveloped  chests,  but  of  injured  eyesight  and  the 
need  for  spectacles  among  school-boys.     Surely  it  is 
bad    economy    to    stint    light.     In    a    paper   on    the 
"Influence   of  Civilisation   on    Eyesight,"   by   Mr. 
Brudenell  Carter,  read  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Society  of  Arts,   the    author   gives   very  interesting 
details   as    to    the    prevalence    of    defects   of  vision. 
"  An    enormously    large    proportion    of    the    whole 
German    nation    is    composed    of    the    wearers    of 
spectacles,  and  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the 
need  for  such  assistance  dated  from  a  comparatively 
recent    period."     In    an    investigation    of  a    London 
Board  School,  made  last  year  by  Mr.  Adams  Frost, 
it  was  found  that  rather  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
children    had    defective   or   subnormal    vision.      Mr. 
Carter   thinks   that   ignorance  of  what   the    normal 


HARDWI CKE '  S  S  CIE  NCE  -  G  O  SSI  P. 


powers  of  the  eyes  should  be,  on  the  part  of  parents, 
and  perhaps  it  might  be  added,  of  some  school 
authorities  also,  is  accountable  for  such  a  condition 
of  things.  Whatever  be  the  causes,  he  says,  that 
there  is  evidence  of  deterioration  in  two  special  ways, 
viz.  short-sightedness  "which  had  come  into  exis- 
tence within  historic  time,  and  into  prevalence  almost 
within  living  memory,  and  which  now  affects  at  least 
one-tenth  of  our  population  ; "  and  the  malformation 
of  "flat-eye."  He  urges  care  on  the  part  of  parents, 
the  testing  of  the  eyesight  of  children  on  their  admis- 
sion to  school,  the  use  of  larger  print  in  school  books 
for  very  young  children,  and  the  high  estimation  of 
excellence  of  vision  in  connection  with  athletic  sports 
and  contests.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  recommenda- 
tions will  bear  fruit  and  do  something  towards 
checking  the  evil,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the 
individuals  who  may  otherwise  suffer  in  the  future, 
but  for  the  sake  of  the  general  benefit  of  the  race. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

In  the  "  Midland  Naturalist "  for  February,  Dr. 
C.  T.  Hudson  describes  the  very  curious  Floscularia 
mutabilis  discovered  last  year  by  Mr.  Bolton  in  Olton 
reservoir,  near  Birmingham. 

We  have  received  from  Mr.  William  Wesley, 
No.  63  of  his  welcome  and  useful  "  Natural  History 
and  Scientific  Book  Circular." 

It  is  with  much  regret  we  have  to  record  the  death 
of  Dr.  J.  Gwyn  Jeffreys,  the  distinguished  palaeon- 
tologist and  conchologist.  He  was  one  of  the 
liveliest  and  sprightliest  of  men,  and  died  suddenly 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  Only  the  night  before  he 
was  present  at  the  Royal  Institution,  listening  to  a 
lecture  by  his  son-in-law,  Professor  Moseley. 

We  have  received  from  Mr.  J.  E.  Ady,  an 
additional  issue  of  his  able  papers,  entitled  "Deep 
Sea  Soundings,"  illustrated.  Mr.  Ady  also  offers 
what  he  calls  "  Optional  Slides  "  to  his  subscribers. 

Mr.  Francis  Galton  contributes  to  "Nature "  an 
account  of  the  development  of  deaf-mutism  in 
America.  It  appears  from  the  investigations  of  Mr. 
Graham  Bell,  which  have  been  based  upon  the 
experience  afforded  by  institutions  devoted  to  the 
training  of  deaf-mutes,  that,  in  consequence  of  their 
isolation  from  ordinary  society,  and  their  being 
thrown  so  largely  upon  association  with  one  another, 
and  the  large  proportion  of  consequent  intermarriages 
which  take  place  among  them  in  after  life,  the 
numbers  of  deaf-mutes  are  increasing  so  much  as 
to  make  it  probable  that  a  deaf-mute  variety  of  the 
human  race  may  be  established,  if  means  be  not  taken 
to  hinder  such  a  result  by  preventing  the  isolation 
that  leads  to  it. 


In  the  same  paper,  Mr.  G.  J.  Burch  describes 
various  experiments  on  the  nature  of  flame,  and 
thinks  "that  the  proof  is  fairly  complete,  that  the 
luminosity  of  a  candle  or  gas  flame  proceeds  from 
incandescent  matter  in  a  state  of  extremely  fine 
division."  If  this  view  be  substantiated,  it  will  be- 
practically  a  return  to  the  old  theory  of  flame. 

Dr.  R.  von  Lendenfeld,  who  has  been  studying 
the  sponges  of  the  Australian  shores  for  the  Linnean 
Society  of  New  South  Wales,  thinks  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  discovering  the  nervous  system  of  these 
low  animals,  which  has  hitherto  escaped  observation. 
The  nervous  system  consists  of  small  miodermal, 
spindle-shaped  cells,  similar  to  those  ectodermal 
elements  which  perform  the  functions  of  sensitive 
cells  in  jelly-fish  and  higher  animals. 

Professor  Flower,  in  his  recent  anniversary 
address  to  the  Anthropological  Institute,  expressed 
his  opinion  that  the  Australian  aborigines  were  not  a 
pure  race,  but  descendants  of  a  cross  between  an 
original  Melanesian  population,  and  later  intruders, 
probably  from  the  South  of  India,  and  of  Caucasian 
descent. 

A  great  advance  has  been  made  in  the  life 
history  of  the  Lycopodiacere.  Mr.  W.  T.  Thiselton 
Dyer,  F.R.S.,  says  that  Dr.  Treub,  the  director  of 
the  Botanic  Garden  at  Buitenzorg,  in  Java,  has  been 
engaged  for  some  time  on  their  study,  and  is  now 
acquainted  with  the  prothallia  of  three  species  of 
Lycopodium.  Dr.  Treub  has  given  in  a  recent  paper 
an  exhaustive  account  of  the  prothallium  of  L. 
cernuum,  and  a  brief  resume  of  his  results  is  given  by 
Mr.  Dyer  in  "  Nature  "  for  February  5th. 

J.  C.  G.  writes  to  "  Nature  :  "  In  Mr.  Johnston's- 
interesting  account  of  the  ascent  of  M.  Kilimanjaro, 
in  equatorial  Africa,  which  appears  from  time  to 
time  in  the  "Daily  Telegraph,"  occurs  a  passage 
which  seems  deserving  of  being  rescued  from  the 
comparative  oblivion  of  the  pages  of  a  daily  news- 
paper. It  will  be  found  in  the  number  of  the  16th 
ult.,  and  is  as  follows  :  "Other  noticeable  features 
in  the  scene  were  the  tall  red  ant-hills,  and,  strange 
imitation,  the  tall  red  antelopes,  a  species  of 
hartebeest,  resembling  faintly  in  shape  the  form  of  a 
giraffe  with  sloping  hind-quarters,  high  shoulders, 
and  long  neck.  Being  a  deep  red-brown  in  colour, 
and  standing  one  by  one  stock-still  at  the  approach 
of  the  caravan,  they  deceived  even  the  sharp  eyes  of 
my  men,  and  again  and  again  a  hartebeest  would 
start  up  at  twenty  yards'  distance  and  gallop  off,, 
while  I  was  patiently  stalking  an  ant-hill,  and 
crawling  on  my  stomach  through  thorns  and  aloes, 
only  to  find  the  supposed  antelope  an  irregular  mass 
of  red  clay." 

An  account  of  Dr.  Emanuel  Witlaczil's  researches, 
on  the  Embryology  of  Aphides  may  be  found  in  the 
"American  Naturalist"  for  February. 


64 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The  Hemel  Hempstead  Natural  History  Society 
has  issued  its  Annual  Report  for  1SS4,  which, 
besides  notes  of  field  excursions  and  fungoid  and 
insect  finds,  contains  abstracts  of  lectures  delivered  by 
Dr.  Collingwood  on  "The  Floating  Population  of 
the  Ocean  "  and  by  Dr.  J.  E.  Taylor  on  "  Mountains 
and  Valleys." 

During  the  past  month  lectures  were  delivered 
by  Dr.  J.  E.  Taylor  before  the  Hitchin  Natural 
History  Society,  on  "  Coal,  and  how  it  was  formed," 
and  before  the  Clevedon  Natural  History  Society,  on 
"  Flowers  and  Fruit  in  relation  to  Insects  and  Birds," 
and  at  Alton  Institute,  Hampshire,  on  "  Earthquakes 
and  Volcanoes.'' 

The  newly-formed  Society  of  Amateur  Geologists 
is  making  progress.  At  the  last  meeting,  held  at 
31,  King  William  Street,  E.C.,  Mr.  Henry  Fleck 
read  a  paper  on  "Granite;"  microscopic  and  hand 
specimens  were  exhibited  in  illustration  of  the  reader's 
remarks. 

Canterbury  Cathedral  has  just  received  a 
donation  of  geological  and  mineralogical  specimens 
from  the  Rev.  J.  H.  S.  Sparrow.  This  is  the  first  step 
towards  the  conversion  of  cathedrals  into  museums  ! 

Rich  deposits  of  graphite  and  haematite  have  been 
discovered  in  Aberdeenshire. 

We  have  received  from  Mr.  W.  Henshall  a  box  of 
"fabric"  slides,  a  new  departure  in  microscopic 
mounting,  and  one  which  is  of  promise  for  the  future, 
as  it  is  calculated  to  render  assistance  in  determining, 
by  means  of  the  microscope,  the  nature  and  quality 
of  textile  fabrics. 

A  A"ery  useful  feature  in  the  "  Journal  of  the  New 
York  Microscopical  Society "  (a  new  publication  of 
which  we  have  received  the  first  number),  is  a  list  of 
articles  of  interest  to  microscopists  which  have 
recently  appeared  in  other  journals.  This  number 
also  contains  useful  matter  in  connection  with  the 
application  of  electricity  to  microscopy. 

It  is  said  that  the  supposed  new  island  off  Iceland 
does  not  exist  ;  that  the  locality  has  been  examined 
by  French  and  Danish  vessels,  with  the  result  that  no 
new  island  is  to  be  found. 

We  are  glad  to  find  that  the  University  of  St. 
Andrews  (which  has  always  been  the  first  to  recognise 
scientific  merit  by  its  distinctions),  has  just  conferred 
the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  upon  Professor  Ray 
Lankester. 

We  are  pleased  to  find  that  the  Linnean  Society 
has  conferred  the  distinction  of  Associate  upon 
Mr.  J.  E.  Uagnell,  of  Birmingham,  in  appreciation  of 
the  botanical  work  he  has  done. 

Mr.  S.  Gilchrist  Thomas,  the  inventor  of  the 
basic  Bessemer  process  is  dead,  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-four. 


We  are  always  pleased  to  call  attention  to  the 
numerous  praiseworthy  efforts,  now  being  evolved 
among  young  people,  for  obtaining  a  practical 
knowledge  of  normal  science.  We  know  of  none 
better  than  the  "Practical  Naturalists'  Society," 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  practical 
scientific  work,  &c,  among  its  members  and  the 
collection,  exchange,  arrangement,  and  preservation 
of  objects.  The  society  is  purely  postal,  and  is 
forming  a  useful  exchange  library  of  reference. 
The  hon.  sec.  is  H.  Snowdon  Ward,  Great  Horton, 
Bradford. 

Anything  which  may  tend  to  prevent  those 
distressing  collisions  which  too  often  take  place 
between  ships  at  sea  cannot  fail  to  be  of  importance. 
Mr.  W.  Balch  has  patented  a  portable  rocket-firing 
apparatus  which  can  be  held  in  the  hand,  loaded  with 
a  rocket  or  shell  at  a  breech  in  the  tube,  and  discharged 
by  a  blow  from  the  other  hand.  The  shell  when  at 
its  height  bursts,  producing  a  group  of  red  or  green 
stars,  as  the  case  may  be,  directing  the  on-coming 
vessel  which  way  to  steer  her  course.  These  rockets 
may  also  be  made  to  give  loud  and  distinctive  reports, 
and  can  be  utilised  for  other  purposes  in  connection 
with  shipping. 

It  is  with  unfeigned  sorrow  we  have  to  record  the 
death  by  smallpox,  of  an  old  and  genial  friend  both 
of  the  editor  and  his  magazine,  Mr.  E.  C.  Rye,  the 
well-known  author  of  "  British  Beetles,"  editor  of  the 
"Zoological  Record,"  and  librarian  of  the  Geogra- 
phical Society.  Many  will  miss  his  cheery  presence, 
his  ready  wit,  his  abounding  humour,  his  delightful 
readiness  to  help  anyone  who  wanted  it  and  deserved  it. 


MICROSCOPY. 

Electrical  Microscopic  Lamps. —  "The 
American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal  "  con- 
tains an  account,  with  illustrations,  of  various  adapta- 
tions of  electricity  to  purposes  of  microscopy.  The 
incandescent  lamps,  in  which  platinum  wire  occupies 
the  place  of  the  ordinary  carbon  filament,  are 
supported  on  jointed  arms,  attached  either  to  the 
microscope  itself,  or  to  a  separate  stand,  so  that  the 
light  may  be  placed  near  the  object,  and  either  above 
or  below  the  stage.  A  warm  stage  can  also  be 
provided,  by  allowing  the  current  to  pass  through  a 
spiral  of  platinum  wire  placed  in  the  stage  below  the 
object. 

Liverpool  Microscopical  Society. —The 
President,  Mr.  Charles  Botterill,  at  the  annual 
meeting  recently  held,  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Theory 
aml  Practice  of  Microscopical  Illumination."  He 
first  called  attention  to  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
pointing  out  that  no  matter  how  perfect  the  micro- 
scope and  its  appliances  might  be,  nor  how  beautiful 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


65 


or  well  mounted  the  objects,  the  result  with  imperfect 
or  unsuitable  illumination  must  be  unsatisfactory.  It 
was  a  fact  that  illumination  was  very  generally  a 
weak  point  of  microscopists  ;  the  inference  being 
either  that  they  were  unacquainted  with  its  principles 
or  failed  in  their  practical  application.  He  then 
proceeded  to  explain  and  illustrate  by  means  of 
diagrams  the  laws  of  reflection,  refraction,  total 
reflection,  &c,  so  far  as  they  applied  to  the  subject. 
He  next  passed  in  review  the  various  sources  of  light, 
of  which  a  bright  white  cloud  is  generally  said  to  be 
the  best,  but  unfortunately  it  is  not  often  available, 
especially  as  the  bulk  of  microscopists  must  neces- 
sarily work  only  at  night.  Next  to  this,  in  point  of 
purity,  comes  the  electric  light,  but  though  it  has 
been  used  with  a  certain  amount  of  success  it  can 
never  be  much  used  on  account  of  its  cost  and  trouble, 
and  the  same  applies  to  the  oxy-hydrogen  and  oxy- 
calcium  lights.  Ordinary  microscope  lamps  then 
are  practically  the  best,  and  of  these  there  are 
various  descriptions,  some  very  elaborate  and  costly, 
but  it  is  doubtful  if  they  are  worth  (except,  perhaps, 
for  very  special  purposes)  their  extra  cost,  and  if  as 
good  results  cannot  generally  be  obtained  with  the 
less  expensive  ones  properly  managed.  He  then 
Teferred  to  the  various  modes  of  illuminating  objects 
by  transmitted  light,  urging  the  neces>ity  of  so 
arranging  the  lamp,  bull's-eye,  &c,  as  to  ensure  the 
rays  of  light  passing  to  the  microscope  parallel  to  its 
axis.  This  being  the  light  usually  required  not  only 
for  ordinary  transparent  objects,  but  also  for  polari- 
scope  dark  ground  appliances,  &c,  he  expressed  a 
•strong  opinion  as  to  the  advantage  of  using  the 
light  direct  from  the  lamp,  without  the  intervention  of 
a  mirror,  and  described  a  simple  plan  adapted  by 
himself  whereby  the  microscope,  lamp,  &c,  having 
been  once  satisfactorily  placed,  could  after  removal 
be  quickly  replaced  in  exactly  the  same  positions, 
thereby  effecting  a  very  considerable  saving  of  time, 
less  than  one  minute  being  required  for  the  whole 
operation,  from  lighting  the  lamp  to  beginning  to 
observe.  After  describing  various  modes  of 
illuminating  opaque  objects,  he  concluded  by  urging 
all  microscopists  who  had  not  yet  done  so  to  make 
themselves  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  con- 
struction of  the  microscope  and  its  various  accessories, 
so  as  to  understand  each  part,  its  use  and  mode  of 
action,  for  with  this  knowledge  and  by  the  intelligent 
application  of  the  optical  laws  involved,  they  would 
be  able  readily  and  certainly  to  obtain  results  which 
otherwise  would  only  be  got  by  chance,  if  at  all. 

Mounting  Insects. — In  reply  to  a  query  of 
T.  R.  Brokenshire  : — The  best  cell  I  have  seen,  or 
used  for  mounting  insects  whole,  without  pressure,  is 
a  metal  cell  with  four  equidistant  projections.  It 
was  lately  figured  and  described  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Microscopical  Society.  The  projections  on 
the  cell  are  to  support  the  cover  glass,  and  the  spaces 


between  the  projections  allow  the'balsam  or  other 
medium,  in  which  the  object  is  mounted  to  harden. 
The  cell  is  admirably  adapted  f'ir  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  intended,  and  is  certainly  a  most  ingenious 
arrangement.  Mr.  George  Wilks,  of  Weaste,  near 
Manchester,  is  the  inventor ;  and  doubtless  a  note 
dropped  to  him  would  bring  far  more  information 
about  the  invention,  and  how  to  use  it,  &c,  than  I 
can  give  the  inquirer. — E.  B.  L.  Brayley. 

Mounting  Insects. — Replying  to  the  query 
respecting  mounting  insects,  &c,  I  beg  to  call 
attention  to  a  paragraph  on  page  477  of  the  "  Royal 
Microscopical  Journal  "  for  1S84.  Mr.  George  Wilks, 
Salford,  suggests  a  new  cell  for  mounting  without 
pressure  in  Canada  balsam.  The  cell  is  made  of 
soft  metal,  and  has  four  elevations  alternating  with 
depressions,  the  cover  glass  resting  on  the  upper 
points  of  the  curves.  By  leaving  an  excess  of  balsam 
round  the  cell  and  cover  glass,  air  bubbles  ultimately 
escape  through  the  spaces,  and  loss  by  evaporation 
or  essential  oil  in  the  balsam  is  provided  for.  If  the 
cell  is  too  deep  for  the  object,  it  can  be  pressed 
between  two  glass-slips  until  shallow  enough.  The 
utility  of  this  cell  has  been  successfully  demonstrated, 
by  Mr.  John  W.  Miles,  before  the  mounting  sections 
of  the  Manchester  Microscopical  Society. —  IV.  S. 

Diatom  Structure. — In  a  letter  on  diatom 
structure,  which  appears  in  the  "  English  Mechanic  " 
for  February  6th,  Dr.  Wallich  gives  reasons  for 
agreeing  with  Dr.  Flogel  "that  in  such  genera  as 
triceratum  and  coscinodiscus,  the  little  hexagonal  or 
cylindrical  cavities,  though  completely  closed  by  a 
silicious  film  on  the  internal  surface  of  a  valve,  are 
not  closed  by  any  such  membrane  on  the  outer 
surface  of  the  valve." 

Life  Histories  of  little-known  Acari. — 
Mr.  A.  D.  Michael,  who  has  distinguished  himself  by 
his  researches  in  this  difficult  and  little  known  group, 
recently  read  a  paper  on  the  Tyroglyphidae  before 
the  Royal  Microscopical  Society.  In  1873,  Riley 
published  a  report  on  the  ravages  of  the  apple-bark 
louse  {Aspidotus  cotuhiformis),  and  described  an 
acarus  which  was  supposed  to  destroy  that  pest,  and 
which  he  thought  might  be  the  Acarus  mains  of 
Shinier.  Riley  only  describes  the  female.  Mr. 
Michael  has  found  the  acarus  in  England,  under  the 
bark  of  reeds,  destroying  the  reeds,  not  feeding  on 
any  insect,  and  concludes  that  it  is  probably  a  feeder 
on  various  kinds  of  bark,  not  on  animal  life  ;  he  has 
traced  the  whole  life-history.  The  male  (previously 
unknown)  presents  the  exceptional  features  possessed 
by  the  male  of  Tyroglyphus  carpis,  discovered  by 
Kramer  in  1 881,  and  the  hypopial  nymph  has  been 
figured  by  Canestrini  and  Fanzago  in  1877,  under  the 
name  of  "  parasite  of  an  Oribata,"  but  without 
explanation.  Mr.  Michael  finds  in  the  life-history  of 
this  hypopus  a  confirmation  of   his  views    that   the 


66 


RARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


hypopial  stage  is  not  caused  by  exceptional  adverse 
circumstances,  as  Megnin  supposes,  but  is  an  ordinary 
provision  of  nature" to  ensure  the  distribution  of  the 
species,  which  it  is  intended  to  call  Tyroglyphus 
corlicalis.  Mr.  Michael  also  called  attention  to  the 
prevalence  of  Rhizogliphus  Robini  on  Dutch  bulbs 
imported  into  England  in  1SS4,  and  to  the  destructive 
character  of  that  species,  and  the  damage  it  did  to 
hyacinth,  dahlia,  and  cucharis  bulbs,  &c,  and  recom- 
mended that  imported  bulbs  should  be  carefully 
examined. 

Cole's  Microscopical  Studies. — All  our  readers 
will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  this  useful  and  attractive 
publication  is  resumed.  Four  parts  are  now  ready, 
dealing  with  the  following  subjects  : — "The  Compa- 
rative Morphology  of  Typical  Reproductive  Organs  in 
the  Vegetable  Kingdom  ;  "  "  The  Primitive  Cell  and 
its  Progeny"  (Animal  Histology)  ;  "  Alveolar  Pneu- 
monia" (Pathological  Histology);  and  "Popular 
Microscopical  Studies,"  as  illustrated  by  the  spin- 
nerets of  the  Spicier.  Each  part  is  not  only  illustrated 
by  an  exquisitely  coloured  plate  (whose  artistic 
character  is  vouched  for  by  the  letters  E.  T.  D.),  but 
also  by  slides  of  the  various  objects  specially  treated 
upon,  mounted  in  Mr.  Cole's  best  manner.  Plate  2 
appears  to  be  wrongly  named. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Notes  on  the  Mollusca  of  North  Hants. 
— This  county  has  never  been  thoroughly  searched, 
as  regards  the  mollusca  inhabiting  it,  and  as  I  have 
recently  found  several  rare  species,  I  think  it  may  be 
interesting  to  some  of  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip 
to  hear  of  them.  Unfortunately  I  have  not  been 
able  to  extend  my  researches  very  far,  the  centre 
being  Preston  Candover,  near  Basingstoke ;  and  I 
have  examined  the  country  within  a  radius  of  three 
miles  round  that  centre  ;  but  even  within  that  space 
I  have  collected  over  seventy  species  and  varieties, 
which  is,  I  think,  above  the  average.  The  following 
is  a  list  of  some  of  the  rarer  sorts  and  varieties,  which 
may  be  interesting  to  some.  Valvata  pisciuolis,  v. 
depresta;  Limnaa  peregra,  and  the  vars.  acuminata, 
Candida,  ova/a,  labiosa  ;  Ancylus  fluviatilis,  var. 
albida ;  Zonites  alliarius  and  erystallinus.  Helix 
pomatia  ;  as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  this  mollusc  only 
occurs  in  one  locality.  II.  aspcrsa,  vars.  zonata,  nn- 
dnlata,  and  an  immature  specimen  resembling  var. 
tenuis.  IT.  nemoralis,  vars.  libcllula,  rubella,  castonea, 
IT.  hortensis,  vars.  incarnata,  lutea,  castonea;  IT. 
cantiona,  II.  rufescens,  var.  rubens  ;  II.  sericea,  var. 
cornea ;  H.  virgata,  var.  albicans  ;  H.  caperaia,  var. 
oi  nata  ;  II.  eritetorum,  vars.  alba,  minor ;  H.  lapi- 
cida,  var.  albino  ;  II.  obvoluta  and  Bulimus  montanus, 
from  Buriton.  B.  obscurus ;  Pupa  umbilicata,  var. 
edentula  ;  P.  mar gi nata  ;  Clousilia  rugosa  ;  C.  lami- 


nata,  var.  albinos  (with  type) ;  Cocldicopa  lubrica ; 
Carychium  minimum  ;  Cyclostoma  elegans.  The  rest 
are  more  common  than  the  above,  and  therefore  would 
not  be  of  such  interest  to  the  reader.  I  am  now 
engaged  in  working  up  the  conchology  of  North 
Hants,  and  would  be  much  obliged  for  any  notes  of 
additional  captures,  and  to  hear  of  any  local  lists 
from  that  county.—//.  P.  Fitz-Gerald,  JII.C.S. 

Helix  pygm.ea.— On  December  31st,  I  took  a 
single  specimen  of  this  species  on  Barnes  Common, 
from  which  locality  it  has  not,  I  think,  been 
previously  recorded.  It  was  amongst  rushes  in-  a 
damp  situation,  where  one  usually  finds  Hyalina 
nilida.  Barnes  Common  also  yielded  specimens  of 
Li  max  agrestis,  var.  sylvatica,  and  J'itrina  pellucida 
on  the  same  day.  Vitrina  is  a  most  beautiful  object 
when  alive,  as  these  were,  and  it  is  very  little  af- 
fected by  cold  weather,  and  a  frost  seems  only  to 
increase  its  activity.—  T.  D.  A.  Cockerell,  Bedford 
Park,   IV. 

Limax  flavus,  var.  grisea. — This  variety  was 
described  by  Mr.  Roebuck  from  a  single  specimen 
taken  at  Bath,  last  year,  and  has  not  been  recorded 
from  any  other  district.  On  the  4th  of  January  of 
the  present  year,  I  found  a  dark  form  of  flavus  at 
Acton,  Middlesex,  which  I  sent  to  Mr.  Roebuck, 
and  which  he  identified  as  belonging  to  the  above 
variety.  The  specimen,  however,  was  not  thoroughly 
characteristic,  since  it  showed  traces  of  yellow,  which 
in  the  type  specimen  were  entirely  absent.  It  was 
found  in  company  with  the  type  form  under  a  log  of 
wood.  The  only  other  point  worthy  of  notice  is  that 
it  was  on  the  brick-earth,  whereas  the  Bath  specimen 
was  found  on  the  oolite. — T.  D.  A.  Cockerell. 

The  Report  and  Proceedings  of  the  Belfast 
Naturalists'  Field  Club  for  1SS3-84,  contains  a  long 
paper  by  Mr.  J.  Starkie  Gardner,  F.G.S.,  on  "The 
Age  of  the  Basalts  of  the  North-east  Atlantic,"  in 
which  the  author  discusses  the  plant  and  stratigraphical 
evidence  for  the  supposed  miocene  age  of  the  Antrim 
and  Mull  beds  ;  a  List  of  Irish  Coleoptera  from  Notes 
by  the  late  A.  L.  Halliday,  F.L.S. ;  an  Account  of 
the  Cromlechs  of  Antrim  and  Down,  by  W.  Gray  ;  and 
Notes  on  the  Prehistoric  Monuments  at  Carrowmore, 
near  Sligo,  by  Charles  Elcock.  These  two  papers 
are  both  illustrated,  and  both  topographical,  and 
should  be  of  great  use  to  those  desirous  of  studying 
these  remains. 

Mimicry. — To  the  "  Entomologist,"  for  February, 
Mr.  Roland  Trimen,  F.R.S.,  contributes  an  account 
of  "  Protective  Resemblances  in  Insects,"  in  which 
he  mentions  disguises  by  means  of  which  butterflies 
are  caught  by  spiders.  In  one  case  he  witnessed,  he 
says,  "  the  actual  capture  of  a  small  blue  butterfly 
(Lycsenesthes)  by  a  white  spider  of  the  genus 
[Thomisus].  The  butterfly  was  engaged  in  honey- 
sucking   on    a    white    flower-head   of    lantana,    and 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


67 


explored  each  individual  flower  with  its  proboscis. 
"While  I  was  watching  it,  the  butterfly  touched  and 
partly  walked  over  what  looked  like  a  slightly  faded 
or  crumpled  flower  about  the  middle  of  the  cluster. 
This  turned  out  to  be  a  spider,  which  instantly 
seized  the  butterfly,  throwing  forward  its  front  legs 
somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  a  mantis.  In  this 
spider  the  effect  of  the  little  depressions  on  the  limb 
of  the  corolla  was  given  by  some  depressed  lines  on 
the  back  of  its  smooth  white  abdomen."  This  paper 
will  repay  perusal. 

Land  and  Fresh-water  Moi.lusca  of  the 
Middi.esbro'  District. — In  addition  to  the  species 
and  varieties  already  recorded  (S.-G.  vol.xix.  pp.  163, 
185,  and  vol.  xx.  p.  91)  for  the  twelve  miles'  radius, 
having  Middlesbrough  for  its  extremity,  I  have 
pleasure  in  adding  the  following: — Planorbis 
nilidus,  and  var.  albida ;  Lim/nra  peregra,  var. 
Jabiosa  ;  Arion  atef,  and  vars.  maiginata  and  rufa  ; 
Avion  liortensis,  and  vars.  grisea  and  fasciata ; 
Limax  maximus,  var.  cellar ia,  and  a  peculiarly 
marked  vaiiety,  at  present  under  Mr.  W.  D. 
Roebuck's  hands.  Mr.  Roebuck  believes  it  to  be  an 
undescribed  variety,  but  its  peculiar  coloration  and 
markings  would  seem  to  entitle  it  to  varietal  rank, 
and  he  has  proposed  to  name  the  variety  pallida- 
dorsalis ;  Limax  flavus,  and  vars.  colubrina  and 
■virescens ;  Umax  agrestis,  and  its  vars.  Irish's  and 
sylvatica. — Baker  Hudson. 

Sinel's  Zoological  Laboratory. — At  Jersey 
visitors  with  natural  history  tastes  who  find  their 
way  to  the  Channel  Islands  this  summer,  will  be 
immensely  interested  by  visiting  the  above  Institution. 
Mr.  Sinel  has  enthusiastically  worked  the  neighbour- 
ing seas  for  marine  spoils  of  all  kinds,  and  we  have 
repeatedly  drawn  attention  to  the  slides  he  has  issued 
illustrative  of  the  embryological  development  of  the 
Crustacea,  &c.  The  sea-bed  of  the  Channel  Islands 
is  a  wonderful  treasure-house  to  marine  zoologists, 
and  all  those  who  propose  to  trawl,  or  in  other  ways 
■to  explore,  would  do  well  to  visit  Mr.  Sinel's 
laboratory  first,  and  there  get  all  the  information 
•they  can.  The  geology,  mineralogy,  natural  history 
of  the  islands  will  be  also  found  deeply  interesting. 


BOTANY. 

White  Peziza. — While  searching  for  the  pretty 
scarlet  pezizas  in  a  locality  where  I  have  frequently 
found  them,  I  recently  discovered  one,  pure  white  in 
colour.  It  is  about  half  an  inch  across  the  cup,  and 
is  attached  to  a  piece  of  stick  as  the  scarlet  ones  always 
are. — //.  Miller,  jun.,  Ipswich. 

Notes  ox  Fasciation,  &c— The  respect  which 
I  entertain  for  every  original  observer  of  plants  will 
.not  allow  me  to  contradict  your  correspondent  who 


ascribes  to  the  economy  of  nature  phenomena  which 
botanists  in  general  refer  to  another  cause  ;  i.e.  the 
cohesion  of  two  flower-stalks,  by  which  they  become, 
or  at  least  seem  to  be,  one.  This  is  commonly  called 
fasciation,  which  has  been  the  subject  of  several 
interesting  papers  in  Science-Gossip.  Fasciated 
stems  do  sometimes  show  such  peculiarities  of  growth 
as  to  suggest  problems  to  the  scientific  mind  that  are 
rather  metaphysical  than  practical,  but,  in  the  case  of 
primrose  flowers  on  a  flattened  stalk,  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  recognising  the  union  of  two  pedicels, 
each  bearing  a  flower  on  its  top.  Such  cases  happen 
frequently  in  polyanthuses,  which  are  the  subjects  of 
cultivation.  Sometimes  the  two  flowers  are  distinct, 
at  other  times  they  are  blended  into  one,  having  ten 
teeth  to  the  calyx,  as  many  lobes  of  the  corolla,  and 
a  similar  number  of  stamens.  In  other  cases  a  calyx 
with  ten  teeth  encloses  two  corollas,  each  with  its 
normal  five  stamens  in  its  tube.  In  the  dahlias 
mentioned  by  your  correspondent,  the  case  is  very 
different.  As  what  is  called  the  flower  of  a  dahlia  is 
in  fact  a  capitulum  or  head  of  flowers,  the  stalk 
which  bears  it  is  not  a  simple  pedicel,  but  a  peduncle 
or  flowering  stem.  The  two  flower-heads,  if  really 
collateral,  must  therefore  be  at  the  summits  of  two 
united  stems.  Whether  or  not  two  such  stems  are 
ever  derived  from  the  splitting  of  one,  is  a  question 
as  to  which  botanists  are  not  quite  agreed,  but  the 
prevalent  opinion  is  in  favour  of  the  theory  that  two 
or  more  stems  first  grow  together,  so  that  fasciated 
stems,  however  apparently  simple,  are  really  com- 
pound before  their  component  parts  diverge  above,  or 
if  they  remain  united,  produce  at  the  top  more  than 
one  head  of  flowers.  I  have  seen  in  the  dandelion  a 
phenomenon  like  that  recorded  in  the  dahlia.  I  have 
often  had  wallflowers  with  fasciated  stems  with  two 
racemes  of  flowers  at  the  top.  On  one  occasion, 
saving  some  seeds  from  such  a  flowering  stem,  I  sowed 
them,  and  had  about  twenty  young  plants  with  more 
than  two  cotyledons  on  each.  Most  of  these  plants 
afterwards  produced  fasciated  stems,  from  which  we 
may  conclude  that  fasciation  has  its  origin  in  the 
embryo.  Further  observations  are,  however,  most 
desirable. — Joint  Gibbs. 

"Fire-Weed." — America  has  the  reputation  of 
doing  things  on  a  large  scale.  A  correspondent  of 
the  American  "Botanical  Gazette "  gives  a  graphic 
account  of  a  brilliant  sight  he  witnessed  in  Maine  last 
summer.  A  large  tract  of  some  4000  acres  had  been 
cleared  by  a  fire  which  broke  out,  and  lasted  for  two 
weeks.  Three  weeks  after  the  fire,  vegetation  re- 
appeared ;  and  in  August,  "our  road  passing  through 
this  tract  for  four  miles,  the  whole  region,  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach,  over  hill  and  valley,  ridge  and 
interval,  was  one  mass  of  colour  from  the  '  fire-weed  ' 
(Epilobium  angustifolium).  It  looked,  as  one  of  the 
party  said,  as  if  the  earth  were  covered  four  or  five 
feet  deep  with  a  fall  of  pink  snow." 


68 


HA  RD  W1CKE  'S  SCIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


Double  Primrose. — In  1881,  I  had  an  abnormal 
primrose  (P.  vulgaris)  brought  to  me  ;  obtained 
at  Gedling,  Nottinghamshire.  Its  peduncle  was 
flattened  (as  is  described  at  Science-Gossip,  p.  20, 
January,  1S85).  The  throat  of  the  corolla  was  some- 
what hour-glass  shaped,  the  general  appearance  of 
the  flower  giving  one  the  impression  that  two  flowers 
had  become  joined  into  one ;  it  looked  as  if  about 
two-fifths  of  each  of  two  plants  had  been  sliced  away, 
and  the  two  remaining  (larger)  parts  had  been  joined 
together  along  their  cut  edges,  forming  one  flower. 
Unfortunately  I  omitted  to  examine  its  different 
parts. — C.  T.  Musson,  Nottingham. 

The  Defences  of  Plants. — Messrs.  Foremy  and 
Urbain  have  recently  drawn  attention  to  cutose,  the 
substance  which  covers  and  protects  the  aerial  organs 
of  plants  ;  and  in  a  paper  just  read,  it  is  shown  to 
approach  the  fatty  bodies  in  its  properties  and 
composition.  Cutose  resists  the  action  of  energetic 
acids,  it  is  insoluble  in  dilute  alkalies ;  neutral 
solvents  have  no  action  upon  it,  but  boiling  alkaline 
liquids  modify  its  conditions. 

A  New  Flora  of  Oxfordshire,  including  the 
Berkshire  border,  is  announced  to  be  published  by 
subscription  under  the  editorship  of  Mr.  G.  C.  Druce, 
F.L.S.,  High  Oxford,  the  well-known  botanist, 
author  of  a  Flora  of  Northamptonshire.  The  new 
work  is  to  include  also  a  history  of  local  species  and 
local  botanists. 

Blossoming  of  the  Artichoke.— I  am  anxious 
to  know  whether  any  correspondent  has  already 
remarked  upon  the  blossoming  last  autumn  (1884)  of 
ITclianthus  tnberosus.  It  has  done  so  freely  in  South 
Herefordshire,  though  decaying  immediately,  so 
that  no  fructification  could  take  place.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  know  whether  this  was  general  through- 
out England,  or  confined  to  the  more  southern 
counties.  The  blossom  is  insignificant  compared  to 
the  size  of  the  plant,  a  typical  composite  flower,  like 
a  miniature  sunflower,  about  one  to  two  inches  in 
diameter. — E.  A. 

A  Remarkable  Primula.— In  December  1883, 
my  gardener  sent  into  the  house  a  plant  of  the  white 
primula,  which  was  then  in  bloom.  It  continued  in 
bloom  all  through  the  winter,  and  the  plant 
continued  to  grow ;  it  went  on  throughout  the 
summer  of  1884,  and  is  now  a  strong  vigorous  plant 
covered  with  bloom,  which  it  has  never  lost.  It 
measures  now  \\  yard  in  circumference,  and  eight 
inches  in  height.  It  has  5  spikelets  of  flowers,  with 
five  to  seven  flowers  in  each  cluster,  and  there  are 
some  more  coming.  The  flower  is  single-pearl  white, 
with  crenated  edges  and  a  yellow  centre.  It  has 
generally  been  my  companion  in  my  bedroom  when 
in  cold  weather,  there  is  a  fire  till  about  midnight, 
but  in  the  summer  it  is  kept  in  a  cool  room,  with 
the  window  open  all  day.  —  C.  P.  Bree,  M.D.,  Hill 
House,  Long  Melford. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

Dolerite  and  Hornblende-schist. —  In  a 
paper  by  Mr.  J.  J.  Harris  Teall,  M.A.,  F.G.S.,  on 
"The  Metamorphism  of  Dolerite  into  Hornblende- 
schist,  read  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Geological 
Society  of  London,  the  writer  referred  to  two  dykes 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Scourie,  Sutherlandshire  ; 
of  which  one,  the  southern,  is  well  exposed  on  the 
shore  on  the  north  side  of  the  bay,  and  especially  at 
the  promontory  called  C'eag  a'  M'hail.  The  pecu- 
liarity to  be  observed  is  the  actual  evidence  of 
the  transition  of  dolerite  into  hornblende-schist, 
Professor  Bonney  pointing  out  "  that  while  others 
had  suggested  the  relations  in  certain  cases  between 
igneous  and  metamorphic  rocks,  to  the  author 
belonged  the  merit  of  having  demonstrated  this  in  a 
particular  instance."  It  was  suggested  that  this 
observation  might  not  be  of  very  wide  application  in 
the  question  of  the  formation  of  schistose  rocks,  and 
the  author  replied  that  he  had  not  argued  that  all 
hornblende-schists  were  metamorphosed  dolerites, 
but  only  that  a  particular  hornblende-schist  had  been 
produced  in  this  way. 

Remains  of  Crustacea  from  Brick-Earth, 
Wedford,  Essex. — It  may  interest  some  readers  to 
know  I  have  obtained  specimens  of  Crustacea  from 
brick-earth,  some  of  which  are  in  a  capital  state  of 
preservation.  The  remains  are  principally  of  crabs 
and  lobsters.  I  have  never  met  with  them  before  in 
brick-earth.  I  have  studied  brick-earth,  boulder 
clay,  and  drift-gravels  in  this  part  of  Essex  for 
over  four  years,  and  have  collected  500  specimens  of 
fossils  and  rocks.  Can  any  reader  inform  me  if  they 
are  common  or  not  ? — F.  Challis. 

Fossil  Insects,  &c. — Only  in  our  last  number 
we  had  occasion  to  record  the  discovery  of  a  fossil 
cockroach  in  the  Silurian  rocks  of  Calvados, 
Normandy.  Now  we  have  to  mention  a  still  more 
important  "  find,"  that  of  a  fossil  scorpion,  discovered 
in  the  Silurian  rocks  of  the  island  of  Gothland, 
Sweden.  In  "Nature,"  for  January  29,  there  is 
a  capital  article  on  "Ancient  Air-Breathers,"  by 
Mr.  B.  N.  Peach,  in  which  an  engraving  is  given, 
from  a  photograph,  of  this  oldest  known  "air- 
breather."  Mr.  Peach  suggests  that  it  may  have 
visited  the  shores  of  the  Silurian  seas  to  feed  on 
the  eggs  of  Parka  and  Eurypterids. 

The  Boulder-Clay  of  Lincolnshire.— In  a 
paper  on  this  subject  read  before  the  Geological 
Society  of  London,  Mr.  A.  J.  Jukes-Browne  describes 
the  positions  of  two  groups  of  clays,  the  grey  or 
blue,  and  the  red  and  brown,  the  two  types  being 
rarely  in  contact.  He  considers  that  the  "  brown- 
clay  series,"  which  includes  the  purple  and  hessle 
clays  of  Mr.  S.  V.  Wood,  is  of  much  newer  date 
than  the  "  blue  and  grey  series,"  which  he  considers 
an  extension  of  the  upper  or  chalky  boulder-clay  of 
Rutland  and  East  Ansrlia. 


HA  RD  WICKE'  S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SI  P. 


69 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Praying  Mantis.— The  insect  descried  by  W. 
Harvey  would  appear,  from  the  description  given  in 
the  November  number  of  Science-Gossip,  ti  belong 
to  the  empusse  ;  probably  it  is  Empusa  pauperata. 
The  empusse  are  distinguished  from  the  genus  mantis 
by  the  high  projections  over  their  eyes  which  Mr. 
Harvey  described  ;  also  by  the  legs  being  furnished 
with  small  leaf-like  projections.  This  specimen  is 
very  likely  a  survivor  from  last  year.  The  eggs  of 
the  mantidce  are  laid  at  the  end  of  summer.  They 
are  placed  in  peculiar  cases,  and  attached  to  shrubs 
or  stones,  or  some  such  object.  The  larvae  are 
attached  to  the  interior  of  the  eggs,  which  are  placed 
in  cells,  by  two  silken  threads.  On  their  emerging 
from  the  eggs,  they  are  suspended  in  the  air  at  the 
end  of  these  threads.  They  then  change  their  skin, 
and  descend  to  the  ground,  and  search  about  for 
food.  After  this  the  larvae  develop  like  other 
orthoptera. — II.  P.  Fitz-Cerald. 

Motion  in  Spider's  Severed  Leg. — Mr.  H. 
E.  U.  Bull,  in  Science-Gossip  for  November, 
mentions  the  fact  of  a  spider's  leg  sustaining  violent 
motion  after  being  severed  from  the  creature's  body. 
This  is  no  unusual  circumstance  in  connection  with 
this  spider  (name  unknown  to  me),  and  it  has  always 
appeared  to  me  that  this  severing  of  the  leg  from  the 
body  was  a  voluntary  action  on  the  part  of  the  spider 
as  a  means  of  diverting  the  attention  of  its  foes  whilst 
it  makes  good  its  escape.  For  the  legs  appear  to 
come  off  with  the  least  touch,  and  moreover  the  spider 
does  not  seem  in  the  least  inconvenienced  by  the  loss 
of  one  or  two  of  its  legs,  as  it  makes  off  to  a  place  of 
safety  with  all  possible  speed  on  its  remaining  legs. 
However,  it  would  be  interesting  to  hear  the  opinion 
of  other  readers  of  this  paper  on  the  subject. —  IV. 
Finch,  jitn. ,  Nottingham. 

Paradise  Tree.  —  Can  any  reader  say  if  there  is 
a  plant  so  called  in  Trinidad,  and  where  we  can  find 
an  account  of  it  ?  We  are  told  it  cannot  be  moved, 
so  it  is  not  the  bird  orchid  ;  that  it  dies  down,  or, 
as  was  expressed,  "  sinks  to  ashes  every  year."  The 
blossom  was  described,  "  white,  like  a  dove's  head, 
with  extended  wings  !  "  The  party  had  only  read  of 
it.     Can  it  be  a  "  traveller's  tale  ?  "•—J*'.  S. 

Unrecognised  Birds. — On  August  4th,  in  last 
year  I  saw  two,  to  me,  remarkable  and  unusual  birds 
on  a  Yorkshire  moor.  Having  described  them  to  a 
game-keeper,  he  said  they  were  stone-snatches  ;  not 
common  even  on  the  moors,  but  very  rare  in  the 
plains.  I  shall  be  glad  if  one  of  your  readers  will 
tell  me  more  about  this  bird,  for  I  have  not  been  able 
to  identify  it  beyond  learning  from  the  game-keeper 
that  he  calls  it  a  stone-snatch.  The  colours  were  so 
bright  and  decided  that  at  first  I  thought  a  pair  of 
foreign  birds  had  escaped  from  a  cage.  The  birds 
were  a  trifle  larger  than  a  king-fisher  ;  a  sharply 
defined  purple  or  peacock -green  band  ran  from  the 
base  of  the  beak  to  the  back  of  the  head,  back  and 
shoulders  yellowish-brown,  tips  of  tail  and  wing 
feathers  yellow  ;  cry,  a  shrill  kind  of  chirp  ;  flight 
short  and  jerky. — //.  M.  Birkdale. 

.  Carnivorous  Water  Voles. — I,  too,  believe 
the  water  vole  to  be  carnivorous.  On  the  banks  of  a 
canal  near  Nottingham  (the  nearest  point  being  about 
two  miles  from  that  town),  occurring  for  a  consider- 
able distance,  we  find  numerous  little  heaps  of  fresh- 
water shells  lying  in  nooks  and  crannies,  on  ledges, 
and  also  in  the  openings  of  holes  in  the  banks,  most 


of  them  between  the  water  and  the  foot-path,  where 
it  is  from  two  to  four  feet  high,  in  quantities  varying 
from  five  to  thirty  or  forty  specimens  in  a  heap. 
Hidden  as  they  generally  are  by  reeds  and  grass,  they 
are  not  seen  without  being  diligently  searched  for, 
with  but  very  few  exceptions.  The  species  found  in 
the  heaps  are  :  A.  cygnea,  U.  tumidus,  U.  pictornm, 
and  D.  polymorpha.  The  shells  are  all  broken,  and 
invariably  at  the  posterior  margin,  sometimes  nearly 
half  the  shell  gone,  more  commonly,  only  a  small 
portion.  Some  of  the  shells  have  distinct  marks, 
showing  where  an  animal's  teeth  have  slipped  in 
trying  to  bite  a  piece  out.  Now,  for  several  reasons, 
it  is  clear  that  no  human  agency  will  account  for  the 
presence  of  shells  under  such  conditions.  That  the 
water  vole  lives  in  the  vicinity  there  is  plenty  of 
proof — the  presence  of  dung  with  the  shells,  for 
instance  ;  and  though  I  have  never  seen  them,  except 
for  the  fraction  of  a  second  once  or  twice,  many  times 
I  have  started  them,  and  they  have  startled  me  with 
that  peculiar  "plop,"  always  heard  on  their  taking 
to  the  water  ;  evidently  having  been  reposing  in  some 
of  the  very  nooks  and  crannies  mentioned.  It  would 
seem  that  in  this  instance  the  water  voles  are  in  the 
habit  of  bringing  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  water, 
bivalves  of  various  species,  selecting  a  favourite  or 
convenient  ledge  in  a  retired  spot,  there  to  eat  their 
meal  so  easily  obtained.  This,  after  a  mild  winter. 
Probably  it  is,  therefore,  a  preference  for  animal  food, 
and  not  "scarcity"  of  food,  that  is  the  inducement. 
My  only  doubt  is  whether  it  really  is  the  water  vole, 
or  whether  it  may  not  be  the  brown  rat.  At  Sutton- 
in-Ashfield  (Notts)  we  find  evidence  very  similar,  so 
far  as  broken  and  marked  shells  are  concerned.  But 
here  they  cccur  on  mud  left  bare  by  the  retreat  of  the 
waters  (in  a  mill-dam)  during  the  past  long  dry 
summer.  (In  this  case  "birds  "  have  also  helped 
themselves  to  the  supply  of  animal  food  present  in 
great  plenty  in  the  shape  of  Anodonta  cygnea.)  Here, 
for  various  reasons,  we  conclude  that  rats  are  the 
probable  aggressors  ;  though  it  is  quite  likely  that 
foxes,  weasels,  &c,  may  take  their  share  of  the  food. 
At  Lincoln,  too,  evidence  has  occurred  leading  to  a 
similar  conclusion  as  to  rats  feeding  on  anodons  and 
unios. —  Chas.  T.  Jlfusson,  Nottingham. 

Water  Voles. — Notwithstanding  Mr.  Parrot's 
"  conjecture  "  of  the  carnivorous  habits  of  the  water 
vole,  I  continue  to  believe  it  to  be  entirely  phyto- 
phagous. So  many  people  have  advanced  circum- 
stantial evidence  against  it,  and  so  few  (in  fact,  none 
at  all)  have  had  real  proof  of  its  flesh-eating  pro- 
clivities that  nothing  short  of  the  latter  will  convince 
me.  Two  days  ago  I  had  a  conversation  with  an 
enthusiastic  fisherman,  who  had  seen  a  note  of  mine 
in  Science-Gossip.  He  was  convinced  that  I  was 
wrong,  and  was  certain  that  the  voles  fed  upon  dead 
fish,  if  ever  they  came  across  one.  But,  upon  close 
questioning,  I  elicited  the  fact  that  he  had  never 
seen  one  so  engaged  during  the  many  years  he  had 
haunted  a  stream  where  they  were  unusually  abundant. 
I  don't  wish  for  one  moment  to  say  that  a  vole  would 
not  touch  a  piece  of  flesh  if  it  could  get  nothing  else, 
though  that  remains  to  be  proved.  But  I  do  assert 
that  flesh  is  very  far  from  being  even  an  occasional 
item  on  its  menu. — J.  A.  Wheldon. 

Water  Shrew. — A  gentleman  having  seen  the 
correspondence  concerning  the  supposed  carnivorous 
habits  of  water  voles,  wrote  to  me  a  few  days  ago, 
and  suggested  that  the  gnawed  shells,  which  I  found, 
as  before  described  in  a  previous  number  of  SciENCE- 
Gossip,  were  brought  there  by  a  water  shrew 
(Sorcx  fodicns),    which   is   purely  an  animal  feeder. 


7° 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


This  at  once  explains  the  whole  matter,  and  it  ought 
to  have  occurred  to  me  before,  as  I  have  read  about 
its  habits,  but  never  had  the  opportunity  of  observing 
them.  The  same  gentleman,  who  is  well  acquainted 
with  these  little  animals,  gives  the  following  account 
of  their  mode  of  feeding.  "I  have  often  seen  the 
shrew  diving  for  large  specimens  of  Limne^a 
auricularia  and  Planorbis  coriicus  ;  and  the  heaps  of 
shells  I  sometimes  come  across,  testified  to  the 
success  of  their  efforts.  They  also  dive  for  the 
caddis-worm,  of  which  they  are  very  fond,  bringing 
each  one  separately  to  the  bank  and  devouring  it, 
then  diving  for  another.  I  have  frequently  watched 
them  when  thus  engaged.  Their  appearance  under 
water,  like  that  of  the  water-spider,  resembles  a  ball 
of  silver."  I  therefore  beg  to  publicly  withdraw  my 
insinuations  against  the  character  of  the  water  vole, 
and  thus  leave  it  no  ground  for  an  action  for  libel. — • 
F.  Haywood  Parrot,  Aylesbury. 

Beetles'  Burrows. — On  turning  over  a  stone, 
which  lay  on  the  roadside,  in  the  month  of  September 
last,  I  noticed  two  holes  in  the  ground  similar  to 
those  made  by  dor  beetles  under  patches  of  cow  and 
horse  dung,  and  on  digging  into  them,  I  found  in 
each  a  specimen  of  Gcotmpcs  stcrcorarins.  Perhaps 
some  reader  will  kindly  inform  me  whether  these 
beetles  are  in  the  habit  of  making  burrows  under 
stones,  as  well  as  beneath  dung. — R.  W.  Goulding. 

Birds  Killed  on  Telegraph  Wires.— It  seems 
to  be  a  fact  that  many  of  our  birds  must  perish  by 
knocking  themselves  against  the  telegraph  wires  when 
they  are  flying  at  night ;  the  wires  being  unseen  by 
them.  In  the  summer  of  1870,  when  wandering  at 
night,  I  started  a  flock  of  partridges,  which  in  their 
rapid  flight  from  me  struck  themselves  with  great 
force  against  a  set  of  five  telegraph  wires,  making  the 
wires  bend  considerably,  and  several  of  the  birds  fell 
to  the  ground.  What  was  the  fate  of  those  birds 
that  fell  I  did  not  search  to  see,  as  the  wires  were 
within  a  railway  enclosure ;  but  I  could  hear  them 
give  out  their  wounded  cries  of  suffering  from  pain. 
During  the  last  autumn  I  examined  two  birds  of  the 
family  Scolopacidae  that  were  killed  on  telegraph 
wires  in  this  neighbourhood.  One  of  these  was  a 
woodcock  {Scolopax  rusticola),  and  the  other  a  jack- 
snipe  [Scolopax  gallinitla).  The  woodcock  was  found 
dead  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  November,  1SS4, 
and  the  jacksnipe  on  the  13th  of  NovemlxT.  Both 
these  birds  in  general  rest  during  the  day  and  come 
forth  during  the  night ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  jack- 
snipe  it  is  believed  that  they  rest  a  portion  of  the 
night,  and  fly  in  the  mornings  and  evenings,  except 
when  the  moon  is  very  clear.  The  nocturnal  habit 
of  the  woodcock  is  well  made  out,  and  the  fact  is  well 
known  to  lighthouse  keepers  :  the  woodcock  in  flights 
reach  our  coasts  by  night,  and  in  their  bewilderment 
with  the  light  of  the  lighthouse,  they  are  taken  by  the 
keepers.  Flights  of  them  continue  to  come  for  seven 
or  eight  nights  in  succession,  and  hundreds  perish  by 
striking  against  the  lamps.  At  first  thought  it  appears 
strange  that  these  night-flying  birds  should  strike  them- 
selves against  telegraph  wires  and  be  killed  ;  but  an 
examination  of  my  meteorological  register  shows 
that  on  both  nights  when  the  birds  were  killed  fog 
prevailed.  A  dissection  of  the  two  birds  showed 
their  wounds  to  be  on  the  same  parts  of  their  body, 
viz.,  the  base  of  the  bill,  back  and  wing.  The  birds 
had  been  in  perfect  health,  and  were  very  fat,  and 
the  gizzards  in  both  were  about  empty  ;  but  the  in- 
testines were  full  of  chyle.  The  total  weight  of  the 
woodcock  was  ten  ounces  three  drams,  which  is  a 
light  bird  when  compared  with  Dalgleish's  weights 


of  the  woodcock  shot  at  Gartincaber,  near  Doune, 
Perthshire,  between  i860  and  1870,  the  average  being 
between  11  and  12  ounces  ;  the  heaviest  14J  ounces, 
and  lightest  75  ounces.  Whether  the  death  of  the 
woodcock  or  the  jacksnipe  on  the  telegraph  wires  is 
the  most  remarkable,  it  is  difficult  to  hazard  an 
opinion.  The  flight  of  the  jacksnipe  is  wavering, 
somewhat  bat-like,  but  swift ;  and  it  can  turn  on 
wing  with  the  utmost  ease  ;  but  the  night  when  the 
specimen  under  consideration  was  killed,  the  fog  was 
remarkable.  In  the  afternoon  and  evening  it  was 
calm,  very  humid,  rain-drops  hanging  on  every  twig, 
and  the  Valley  of  the  Clyde  was  covered  by  a  dense 
nimbus  cloud  that  was  only  a  few  feet  from  the 
ground,  a  circumstance  that  naturally  causes  birds  to 
fly  near  the  earth.  That  afternoon,  when  out  about 
four  o'clock,  I  witnessed  a  flock  of  lapwings  and 
rooks  nearly  get  entangled  in  the  telegraph  wires, 
and  these  birds  were  accustomed  to  flying  in  the 
same  locality.  The  jacksnipe  is  but  a  winter  visitor, 
being  here  only  between  October  and  April,  and 
none  of  them  ever  remain  with  us  to  breed.  The 
woodcock  is  abundant  with  us  in  winter.  In  the 
autumn  of  1883  it  was  very  abundant  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Johnstone  Castle,  and  in  the  last  autumn 
it  was  more  abundant  there  than  it  has  been  for  the 
last  seven  years.  The  woodcock  breeds  in  this 
neighbourhood,  and  has  also  been  observed  doing  so 
from  Wigtonshire  to  the  Orkney  Islands.  On  the 
night  when  the  woodcock  was  killed,  the  fog  was  not 
remarkably  dense. — Taylor,  Sub-Curator,  'AIusciuii, 
Paisley. 

Tomatoes. — The  fact  that  insects  avoid  ground 
where  tomatoes  are  planted  is  well  known.  Indeed, 
our  cucumber-frames  and  marrow-beds  always  have 
a  row  of  tomatoes  planted  in  them,  to  preserve  the- 
vegetables  from  insects. —  C.  F.  W. 

Lion  and  Tiger. — Mr.  Brenan's  curious  note  on 
the  Felidae  (p.  46)  will,  I  am  afraid,  not  bear  much 
serious  criticism.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  in  dis- 
cussing a  question  of  classification,  in  which  accuracy 
of  definition  is  of  the  first  moment,  the  terms  "genus,  ' 
"  family,"  and  "  class,"  should  have  been  used  as  con- 
vertible synonyms.  The  position  of  the  lion  in  the 
zoological  scale  is  briefly  this  :  Class,  Mammalia  ; 
Order,  Carnivora  ;  Family,  Felidse  ;  Genus,  Leo. 
Taking  it  for  granted  that  the  class  and  order  are 
not  called  into  question,  although  it  is  literally 
contended  that  lions  should  have  a  separate  class,  we 
may  premise  that  the  basis  of  classification  is 
structural  intimacy,  rather  than  similarity  of  habit 
and  appearance.  It  will  therefore  be  clear  that  the 
family  is  rightly  chosen,  as  the  only,  or  at  any  rate 
the  chief  digitigrade  carnivorous  families  besides  the 
Felidse  (cats),  are  the  Canidse  (dogs)  and  the 
Mustelidse  (weasels).  ■  The  comparative  scarcity  ot 
molars  and  premolars,  and  the  presence  of  recurved 
papilla;  on  the  tongue — typical  of  the  lion — are  two  of 
the  most  unmistakable  marks  of  the  Felidre. 
Dealing  with  the  points  of  difference  referred  to,  it 
may  easily  be  shown  that  as  departures  from  the 
normal  type,  they  are  not  confined  to  the  lion.  He 
is  charged  with  not  having  (a)  the  power  to  climb. 
But  the  tiger,  an  undoubted  feline,  is  no  climber. 
(/')  A  retractile  claw.  But,  granting  this  to  be  true, 
and  it  is  open  to  grave  doubt,  the  claw  of  the  cheetah 
(Gucparda  jiibata)  is,  on  the  authority  of  many,  only 
partially  retractile,  if  at  all.  (<)  A  sylvan  halm. 
But  this  is  the  case,  to  much  the  same  extent,  with  the 
puma  (Leopardus  concolor).  (d)  A  marked  skin. 
But  the  puma  is  only  so  marked  in  infancy,  acquiring 
with  age  a  skin  as  plain  as  the  lion's.     In  fact  one 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


7i 


would  expect  leonine  cubs  to  show  traces  of  markings, 
although  I  cannot  say  without  reference  whether 
they  do  so  or  not.  Lastly,  placing  the  lion  and  tiger 
in  the  same  genus  (Felis)  is  not  attempted,  as  the 
lion  constitutes  the  genus  Leo,  the  tiger  Tigris,  and 
the  wild  cat  and  its  congeners  Felis,  all  three  genera  j 
making  up  with  others  the  cat  family. — Ernest  G. 
/farmer. 

Hybernation  of  Cuckoo.— I  see  that  W.  P.  is 
exercised  about  the  hybernation  of  a  cuckoo.  Such 
a  hybernation  has  been  known  before.  I  remember 
having  read  somewhere  (I  believe  in  White's 
"  Selborne  "),  that  a  bundle  of  sticks  was  on  a  certain 
•occasion  brought  into  a  room,  and  the  heat  roused  a 
cuckoo  which  was  hybemating  in  the  bundle.  This 
is  even  a  more  extraordinary  case  than  that  mentioned 
by  W.  P.,  and  goes  to  confirm  the  truth  of  his 
statement. — F.  II.  Perry  Coste. 

Bats. — As  another  correspondent  mentions  the 
fact  that  bats  are  seen  flying  in  Maidstone  in  mild 
weather  in  winter,  it  may  interest  him  to  know  that 
according  to  White,  bats  fly  whenever  the  temperature 
is  above  56  degrees.  (I  quote  from  memory,  but 
believe  I  am  right  in  the  number.) — F.  H.  Perry 
Coste. 

Flint  or  Stone  Implements. — I  should  be 
greatly  obliged  if  any  of  your  readers  can  inform  me 
if  any  such  implements  were  found  in  the  peat  on  the 
wild  moors  of  Allendale,  Northumberland  ?  Where 
were  they  found,  and  what  kind  of  stone  were  they 
composed  of  ? — J.  R.  Hewitson,  Mirfield,  Yorks. 

Stickleback. — Can  any  readers  kindly  enlighten 
me  as  to  the  cause,  or  probable  cause  of  this  fish  turning 
an  iridescent  colour  after  death  ?  The  reason  the 
bodies  of  sticklebacks  become  such  beautiful  colours 
during  life,  I  believe  is  due  to  the  excitement  which 
at  such  times  is  generally  prevalent.  As  to  how  these 
colours,  the  predominant  of  which  is  brilliant  red, 
are  exhibited  by  the  fish,  full  particulars  concer- 
ning it  will  be  gratefully  accepted  by  me. — A.  II. 
Fry. 


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  out  gratuitous  insertion  of 
'•  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end.. 


Investigator.  —  Harvey's  "Phycologia,"  3  vols.,  with 
coloured  illustrations  of  species,  deals  with  British  marine  algae  ; 
the  "  Phycologia  Australis "  deals  similarly  with  southern 
species.  The  "  Treasury  of  Botany,"  2  vols.,  is  a  work  such  as 
you  require,  each  short  paragraph  being  written  by  a  specialist. 
No  dictionary  of  natural  history  is  out,  except  that  of  Beeton's, 
which  would  not  come  up  to  your  requirements.  Get  Cassell's 
"Natural  History,"  6  vols.,  edited  by  Prof.  M.  Duncan. 

H.W.  D. — The  best  wav  of  killing  the  small  animals  you 
mention  is  by  means  of  chloroform. 

W.  Boardman. — The  "  Botanical  Gazette"  is  an  American 
periodical,  published  at  Indianapolis. 


Arion. — Address  Mr.  J.  W.  Taylor,  St.  Ann  Street,  Leeds, 
for  information  as  to  the  Conchological  Society. 

R.  F.  Z. — The  theories  about  the  American  gas  and  oil  wells 
have  been  published  in  various  American  Geological  Survey 
works.  There  is  little  doubt  they  originate  from  rocks  rich  in 
organic  matter,  and  the  latter  is  distilled  by  the  heat  in  the 
interior  of  the  earth. 

A.  E.  Hudson.  — For  all  details  concerning  the  Botanical 
Record  Club,  inquire  of  Mr.  Charles  Bailey,  F.L.S.,  Ashfield 
College  Road,  Whalley  Range,  Manchester.  For  Botany  of 
Switzerland,  see  the  articles  by  Dr.  De  Crespigny,  published  in 
Science-Gossip  four  years  ago. 

A.  P. — In  spite  of  the  terracotta  representation  of  a  stork 
carrying  off  a  child,  we  do  not  think  those  birds  are  guilty  of 
the  trick  !  It  would  have  to  be  a  much  more  powerful  stork 
than  any  we  know  of  to  carry  off  a  child. 

J.  Hamson. — Get  Mr.  English's  book  (price  is.  6d.),  on 
"  How  to  Preserve  Fungi  with  all  their  Colours."  Address  him 
at  Epping,  Essex. 

G.  E.  A.,  jun.— The  volumes  of  the  Pateontographical  So- 
ciety are  published  annually  to  members,  who  subscribe  one 
guinea  a  year.  Applv  to  the  honorary  secretary,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Wiltshire,  25  Granville  Park,  Lewisham,  London,  S.E. 
J.  S.  H. — From  your  description,  we  have  no  doubt  the 
object  you  mention,  obtained  during  your  friend's  voyage,  is 
the  glass  rope-sponge  {Hyalonc/ua  mirabilis). 

Ledaig. — The  specimen  you  sent  is  purple  sandpiper  (Tringa 
maritima). 

J.  Hart. — We  thank  you  for  your  kind  offer. 
James  Sims. — Your  letter  to  hand,  but  the  moss  is  missing. 
F.  M.  P. — See  Science-Gossip,  18S3,  Nos.  225  and  226,  for 
"A  New  History  of  the  Sparrow." 

C.  A.  M. — You  cannot  do  better  than  get  Shuckhard's 
"  Briiish  Bees"  (with  illustrations),  published  by  Lovell  Reeve 
and  Co.,  at  10s.  6d. 

R.  Cairns. — Davis's  monograph,  "On  the  Fossil  Fi?hes  of 
the  Carboniferous  Limestone,''  may  be  obtained,  we  should 
imagine,  of  the  secretary  of  the  Royal  Dublin  Society.  Apply 
to  him. 

W.  H.  B.— Your  specimens  are  :  (1)  Filago  Gallica;  (2)  Tri- 
folium  procumbens  ;   13)  is  too  obscure  even  to  guess  at. 

J.  Challis  — Your  specimens  (from  Broomfield,  &c.)  are  not 
from  the  Boulder  clay  at  all,  but  from  the  London  clay.  No.  1 
is  a  phosphatic  nodule,  just  as  formed  in  the  London  clay. 
These  nodules,  when  washed  out  of  the  London  clay  and  re- 
deposited  in  the  crag  beds,  form  the  well-known  "  Coprolites  " 
of  the  latter  formation.  No.  2  is  a  fragment  of  hardened  sand, 
whose  particles  are  coated  with  manganese.  No.  3,  a  cluster 
of  macled  crystals  of  Selenite,  from  the  London  clay. 


EXCHANGES. 

Good  botanical,  histological,  crystals,  polariscopic,  diatoms, 
fish  scales  and  miscellaneous,  microscopic  slides  for  others  as 
good  of  bacilli,  entozoa,  algae,  desmids,  zoophytes,  rocks,  fossil 
woods. — B.  Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

Offered,  specimens  of  Cynomorion  coccineum  in  exchange 
for  works  on  natural  history. — Cajetan  Platania  Platania,  Yia 
S.  Giuseppe  14,  Acireale,  Sicily. 

Duplicates  :  Helix  scabriuscula,  Fissurclla  neglecta,  Ha- 
liotis  lamellosa,  and  many  other  Sicilian  land  and  marine 
shells.  Desiderata :  British  and  foreign  land  and  marine 
shells. — Cajetan  Platania  Platania,  Via  S.  Giuseppe  14,  Acireale, 
Sicily. 

Offered,  six-chambered  pin-fire  revolver,  nearly  new,  and 
cartridges.  Wanted,  skates  (full  size"),  good  coins,  or  other 
things. — A.  W.  Harrison,  Edith  House,  Parchmore  Road, 
Croydon. 

Offered,  mounted  specimens  of  the  wonderful  and  beautiful 
lichen  Ramalina  reticulata,  also  specimens  of  Usnea  barbata, 
in  exchange  for  rare  lichens,  ferns,  or  shells. — J.  Reed,  Santa 
Clara,  Santa  Clara  Co.  California,  U.S.A. 

A  very  good  collection  of  English  lepidoptera,  well  set  and 
'n  fine  preservation,  including  several  hawk-moths,  for  sale  or 
in  exchange  for  works  on  Natural  History.  List  sent  on  appli- 
cation.— F.  Hayward  Parrott,  Walton  House,  Aylesbury. 

A  very  fine  and  complete  collection  of  fossils  from  the  chalk 
of  Surrey  and  Kent  (specially  rich  in  sharks'  palate  teeth,  both 
in  variety  and  number)  together  with  a  collection  of  minerals 
and  crystals  (including  a  group  of  amethyst  crystals  40  inches 
in  circumference,  and  a  slab  of  flexible  sandstone)  will  be  ex- 
changed for  English  coins  in  fine  preservation. — A.  B.,  97  Burton 
Road,  Stockwell,  S.W. 

Specimens  of  Urania  Sloanci  in  exchange  for  good  micro 
camera  lucida,  or  good  photographic  wide  angle  lens,  or 
offers. — J.  Hart,  Gordon  Town,  Jamaica. 

Hugh  Miller's  "Old  Red  Sandstone"  (1882)  and  Science- 
Gossip  in  part,  complete  from  i88r  to  1884  for  good  rock-sec- 
tions.— E.  Halse,  15  Clarendon  Road,  Notting  Hill,  W. 

Thirty  different  starches  mounted  in  balsam,  for  exchange. 
Desiderata :  insects'  eggs,  parasites,  pollens,  gorgonias  and 
histological  sections. — N.  Irving,  16  Acomb  Street,  Manchester. 

Last  six  years'  numbers  of  Science-Gossip  for  exchange. 
Offers  wanted  in  slides,  books  or  micro-material. — J.  Beaton, 
M.A.,  219  Upper  Brook  Street,  Manchester. 


72 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


"  Bk'tish  Wild  Birds"  from  number  i  to  26,  both  unbound. 
Wanted,  Darwin's  "  Insectivorous  Plants,"  and  "  Variation  of 
Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication." — F.  Willoughby, 
St.  Paul's  Square,  Birmingham. 

Wanted,  Foreign  and  English  beetles,  will  exchange  Foreign 
and  English  Coleoptera  and  Lepidoptera.  Will  correspond 
with  foreign  Coleopterists. — D.  Dods,  47  Chepstow  Place, 
Bayswater,  W. 

British  silver  coins,  in  good  preservation  of  Henry,  Edward, 
Elizabeth,  Charles,  Anne.  Also  Roman  coin  -,  silver  and  copper, 
offered  in  exchange  for  flint  stone  or  bronze  implements. — R. 
McAldowie,  12  St.  Nicholas  Street,  Aberdeen. 

Stained  sections  of  Coba-ci  scandens,  Ilex  Aquifolium,  and 
several  other  botanic.il  slides,  in  exchange  for  other  well-mounted 
slides.  Lists  exchanged.  J.  William  Horton,  Brayford  Wharf, 
Lincoln. 

Wanted  one  or  two  examples  of  bone,  shell,  or  stone  fish- 
hooks from  South  Sea  Islands,  or  the  Eskimo  or  American 
Indians.  Liberal  exchange  offered  in  Crustacea,  mollusca, 
rocks,  or  nucro-slides  of  marine  objects.  E.  Lovett,  43  Clyde 
Road,  Croydon. 

For  exchange  or  otherwise.  A  fine  mahogany,  40  drawer 
microscopic  slide  cabinet  with  panel  door,  &c,  to  hold  1920 
slides,  flat. — E.  Lovett,  43  Clyde  Road,  Croydon. 

Wantpd,  old  English  coins.  Six  flakes  from  the  neighbour- 
hoods of  Dover  and  Hemel  Hempstead  offered  in  exchange.  A 
coin  of  the  above  description,  of  the  value  of  about  one  shilling. 
— B.  Piffard,  Hill  House,  Hemel  Hempstead,  Herls. 

Wanted,  perfect,  correctly  named,  British  and  Foreign  but- 
terflies, in  exchange  for  some  good  bulbs  of  liliums  and  other 
hardy  flowers,  British  shells,  and  a  few  Paris  basin  fossils 
(named). — J.  T,  R.,  Spring  Cottage,  Dee  Banks,  Chester. 

OBJECTIVES  wanted  of  half  an  inch  and  higher,  and  other 
micro-apparatus  to  exchange  for  micro-slides,  collection?  of 
phanerogams  and  mosses,  or  botanical  works. — J.  Harbord 
Lewis,  F.L.S.,  145  Windsor  Street,  Liverpool. 

Offered,  mountain  hare  stuffed,  new,  without  case,  and 
Sciknce-Gossii-  unbound,  March  to  May,  1880,  and  Aug.  1880 
to  Dec.  1882  :  wanted  uncommon  British  mammals,  skins  or  in 
flesh  —J.  Kelsall,  Ball.  Coll.,  Oxon. 

Wanted  a  polariscope  for  microscope.  Will  give  5  vols. 
(1877-81),  "  Popular  Science  Review,"  bound  and  in  good  con- 
dition.—  F.  Adams,  92  Upper  Alma  Street,  Newport,  Mon. 

WELL-blown  eggs  of  golden-winged  woodpecker,  spotted 
sandpiper,  Leaches  petrel,  and  red-winged  starling,  to  exchange 
for  others  not  in  collection. — Dr.  J.  T.  T.  Reed,  Kyhope,  near 
Sunderland. 

Wanted  a  good  second-hand  slide  cabinet  to  hold  at  least  500. 
Apply,  stating  price,  or  exchange  required,  to  W.  Irving,  16 
Acomb  Street,  Manchester. 

Wanted  the  vols,  or  numbers  of  Science-Gossip  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  1872  ;  also  any  of  G.  Eber's  novels, 
translated  from  the  German.  Will  give  in  exchange  good  slides, 
various. — J.  J.  Andrew,  L.D.S.  Eng.,  2  Belgravia,  Belfast. 

Diatoms. —  Exchange  twelve  prepared  tubes  of  diatoms 
(from  different  parts  of  the  world),  for  three  well-mounted  insect 
slides. — F.  Cresswell  DuBois,  15  West  Cromwell  Road,  Ken- 
sington. 

Botanists  and  others  in  all  temperate  regions  are  cordially 
invited  to  enter  into  correspondence  as  to  the  collecting  of 
bulbous  plants  with  a  view  to  exchange  for  other  similar  plants, 
not  indigenous  to  their  districts  ;  or  to  exchange  for  Geological, 
Conchological,  and  other  Natural  History  specimens. — J.  T.  R., 
Spring  Cottage,  Dee  Banks,  Chester. 

Chessvlite,  bloodstones,  jet,  actinolite,  wood  opal,  pyro- 
morphite,  specular  iron,  erubescite,  dolomitic  limestone,  gra- 
phite, polished  madrepores,  practical  microscopy  by  George 
Davis  (new);  "Human  Race,"  by  Louis  Figuier  (new). 
British  tertiary  fossils. — Wanted  fossils  from  tertiary  formations 
of  France,  Italy,  and  Germany.  Also  rare  British  and  foreign 
shells. — Miss  Linter,  Arragon  Close,  Twickenham. 

Foreign  butterflies,  Orn.  brookiana,  (Sumatra)  ;  Morpho. 
cypris  (Bogota);  Mania  rhyplieas  (Madagascar);  the  three 
most  splendid  butterflies  known  ;  also  wings  of  brilliant  species 
for  microscopic  purposes.  Rare  papilios  much  wanted  for  figur- 
ing, condition  immaterial,  over  two  hundred  already  figured. — 
Hudson,  Railway  Terrace,  Crosslane,  near  Manchester. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty  foreign  stamps  used  and  unused, 
valued  at  11s.  in  exchange  for  entomological  apparatus,  or  good 
collection  Lepidoptera,  or  Coleoptera. — Thomas  Mackie,  162 
James  Street,  Bridgeton,  Glasgow. 

Offiiked,  Rye's  "  British  Beetles,"  10s.  6d.,  sixteen  coloured 
plates;  wanted,  "Common  British  Fossils,"  by  Editor  of 
Science-Gossip;  or  what  offers? — T.  Brewis,  Boro'  College 
School,  Rotherham. 

Offered,  Cyclostyle,  complete,  quarto  size.  Wanted,  equi- 
valent in  physiographical  or  geological  books  or  implements. — 
T.  Brewis,  Boro'  College  School,  Rotherham. 

Offered  Science-Gossip  for  1883,  new,  bound,  also  "The 
Mysteries  of  Creation  Solved  "  (new) ;  also  "Six  Months  on 
Duty  "  (new),  for  works  on  Astronomy  and  Natural  History. — 
W.  M.  H.,  AUtonfield  School,  Ashbourne. 

Wanted,  Vertigo  lilljeborgi  (West),  V.  tuntida,  V.  alpcs- 
tris,  V.  pmillti  and  V .  minntissima.  Other  British  land  and 
fresh-water  shells  in  exchange. — W.  Gain  Tuxford,  Newark. 


Duplicates:  Atalanta,  Io,  Cardui,  Galathea,  Semele,  Ti- 
thonus,  Hyperanthus,  Egerides,  Alexis,  Phlojas,  Bucephala, 
Caja,  Lucipares,  Meticulosa,  Oleracea,  Fluctuata,  Rhomboid- 
area,  Cratasgata,  &c.  Wanted,  other  Lepidoptera. — F.  H. 
Perry  Coste.  15  Bruce  Grove,  Tottenham,  N. 

Science-Gossip,  wanted  the  following  Nos.,  43.  46,  51,  52, 
55.  59.  67,  68,  72,  76,  83,  84,  210,  212-216,  and  for  1865-67,  1883, 
and  1884.  Numerous  exchanges,  periodicals,  books,  slides, 
Natural  History  specimens,  &C. — W.  T.  Taylor,  Seymour 
House,  Keswick. 

Wux  give  chalk,  gault,  lower  greensand,  and  post-tertiary 
fossils,  also  land  and  fresh-water  shells,  for  British  lepidoptera, 
micro-slides,  or  books. — A.  Beales,  37  Kingsley  Road,  Maid- 
stone. 

Will  exchange  parts  and  first  6  vols,  of  Science-Gossip  for 
"  Zoologist,"  or  bird  skins  in  good  condition. — J.  R.  Hewitson, 
Knowle,  Mirfield,  Yorkshire. 

Wanted,  eggs  of  moths,  &c,  for  mounting. — R.  J.  Cowling, 
47  Dockley  Road,  S.E. 

Will  collect  and  forward  specimens  of  shells,  marine  and  land 
seaweeds,  and,  during  the  coming  season,  butterflies  from 
counties  Dublin  and  Wicklow.  Lists  sent. — John  R.  Redding, 
165  North  Strand  Road,  Dublin. 

A  few  micro-slides  of  archegonia  and  antheridia  of  mosses 
and  hepatics  to  exchange  for  other  good  slides  ;  send  lists  to 
W.  G.  Green,  2j  Triangle,  Bristol. 

Exchangb  offers  requested  for  "  Science  for  All,"  vol.  i. 
and  last  monthly  parts;  "Amateur  Work,"  3  vols.,  and  last 
parts;  "European  Ferns,"  eighteen  yd.  parts;  "  Cassell's 
Popular  Educator,"  cost  $os.  "  Beale  on  the  Microscope" 
wanted. — H.  Ebbage,  Halesworth,  Suffolk. 

Wanted,  batches  of  living  Helices  aspeisa,  nemoralis,  hor- 
tensis,  and  arbustorum,  from  different  soils  ;  exchange  land 
and  freshwater  shells. — B.  Hudson,  15  Waterloo  Road,  Middles- 
brough. 

Wanted,  to  exchange  upwards  of  100  species  of  North 
American  eggs,  all  side-blown,  in  complete  clutches,  with  full 
data,  for  clutches  of  eggs  on  British  list.  Correspondence 
solicited  by — W.  Wells  Bladen,  Stone,  Staffordshire. 

Exchange  for  other  land  or  freshwater,  fine  Anodonta 
anatina,  A.  cygnus,  Unio  pictorum,  U.  tumidus,  Unio  sp. 
America,  Paludina  vivipara,  Limnea  anricularia,  L.  stag- 
nalis,  Helix  pomatia,  H.  aspersa,  P.  corneus. — James  Ellison, 
Stecton,  Leeds. 

Wanted,  to  exchange  "  Knowledge,"  vol.  v.,  January  to 
June,  1884,  for  the  "  Postal  Microscopical  Journal,"  1884. — 
J.  B.  J.,  145  Highbury  New  Park,  London. 

Wanted,  first  seven  numbers  of  "  Knowledge,"  also  Nos.  36, 
40,86,115;  will  give  in  exchange  micro  slides,  apparatus,  or 
books.  Physiological  slides  to  exchange  for  others  of  interest. 
— W.  Tutcher,  22  North  Road,  Bristol. 

Skins  of  spotted  eagle,  male  and  female  ;  exchange  for  Ice- 
land or  Greenland  falcon. —  Henry  Walton,  Birtley,  Chester-le- 
Street,  co.  Durham. 

Wanted,  birds'  eggs,  named  and  side-blown,  in  exchange  for 
exotic  and  British  butterflies  and  moths,  also  a  good  second- 
hand cabinet  for  birds'  eggs. — R.  Garfit,  Vine  House,  Alford, 
Lincolnshire. 

Wanted,  good  material  for  mounting,  more  especially  insects 
(in  spirit)  ;  will  give  well-mounted  slides  in  exchange. — Charles 
Collins,  Bristol  House,  Harlesden,  N.W. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 

"The  Collector's  Manual  of  British  Land  and  Freshwater 
Shells,"  by  Lionel  E.  Adams.  London:  George  Bell  &  Sons. — 
"  The  Student's  Botany,"  by  C.  MacDowell  Cosgrave,  M.D. 
Dublin  :  Fannin  &  Co. — "  Medical  Annual  for  1885,"  edited  by 
Dr.  Percy  Wilde.  London:  Henry  Kimpton. — "Cactaceous 
Plants  :  their  History  and  Culture,"  by  Lewis  Castle.  171  Fleet 
Street.  —  "Popular  Science  News"  (Boston).  —  "American 
Naturalist." — "  Report  and  Proceedings  of  Belfast  Naturalists' 
Field  Club." — "Science."  —  "Journal  of  New  York  Micro- 
scopical Society." — "Belgravia." — "Gentleman's  Magazine." 
— "Midland  Naturalist." — "Ben  Brierley's  Journal."   &c.  &c. 


Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from  :— 
M.  A.  M  — E.  W.  O'M.— J.  E.  R.— F.  H.  P.— J.  A.  W.— 
R.  W.  G.— J.  H.   M.— R.   L.   H— A.  B.— E.  K.  L.— J.  S.— 

F.  M.  P.— J.  H.— E.  H.-F.  S.— H.  M.  B.— A.  W.  H.— J.  S. 
C  T.  M.— F.  W.— D.  D.— E.  G.  H.— C.  A.  M.— W.  I.— 
T.  D.  A.  C— J-  M.  B.  T.— R.  McA.— J.  F.  C— J.  H.  L.— 
J.  T.  R.— E.  B.  L.  B.— J.  B.— E.  L— J.  W.  H.— A.  E.  H.— 
A.  K.— J.  E.  K.-F.  C— F.  A.— W.  S.— J.  J.  A.— L.  C— 
C.  P.— J.  T.  T.  R.-C.  F.  W.— W.  I.— F.  C.  D.  B.— J.  H.— 
C.  C— A.  A.  R.-B.  W.— R.  C— W.  E.  G.— J.  T.  R.— J.  E.  L. 
_H.— A.  W.  F.— T.  M.— T.  W.  B.-W.  M.  H.— W.  T.  T.— 
J.  W.— G.  M.  B.— E.  A.— F.  H.  P.  C— W.  G.— A.  B.— J.  R.  H. 
— R.  J.  C— H.  F.— R.  D.— A.  H.  S— J.   R.  R— A.  M.  P.— 

G.  E.  E.— H.  E.— F.  S.— B.  H.— W.  H.  B.— W.  W.  B.— J.  E. 
—  I.  B.  J.— W.  T.— W.  B.— A.  H.  S.— W.  S.— W.  O.— H.  W. 
— C.  C— A.  E  R.-R.  G.— C.  P.  P.— H.  S.  W.— H.  C.  C— 
S.  C- C.-&C. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


EXD.  del  ad  rial 


YmcenfcBrookSjDay  &.SonHK. 


EGGS    OF     VAPOURER    MOTH 

x  30 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


73 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    D, 


No.   XVI. — Eggs  of  Vapourer  Moth. 


4^{f?^teli^IIE'  outer  "shell" 
(if  it  may  be  so 
called),  of  the  eggs 
of  the  majority  of 
insects  is  composed 
of  a  chitinous 
membrane,  of  such 
protective  tough- 
ness, that  the  eggs 
are  frequently 
found  in  the  crops 
of  insectivorous 
birds,  mixed  with 
digested  portions 
of  food,  so  intact 
and  unaltered  in 
form,  colour,  and 
integrity,  as  pos- 
sibly to  be  found 
to  retain  even  their 
vitality.  In  the  article  accompanying  the  plate  of  the 
egg  of  the  house-fly  in  the  October  1884  number  of 
this  journal,  on  page  218,  an  authentic  case  is  referred 
to,  of  the  eggs  of  the  vapourer  moth  {Orgyia  antiqua) 
having  been  found  in  large  numbers  in  the  intestines 
of  a  cuckoo,  which  was  captured  last  August  in  the 
garden  of  the  old  Charterhouse  School,  London, 
and  a  detailed  account  of  the  circumstances  pub- 
lished in  the  "Field"  newspaper  on  the  30th  of 
the  same  month.  The  present  illustration  shows  a 
group  of  these  eggs,  after  having  been  extracted, 
washed,  and  carefully  dried;  although  the  experi- 
ment was  not  tried,  it  is  possible  they  might  have 
been  hatched. 

The  regularity  of  the  various  forms  of  the  eggs  of 
insects,  added  to  exceptional  appearances  of  colour, 
markings,  and  even  sculptures,  render  them  peculiarly 
attractive  as  microscopic  objects.  As  a  distinct  subject 
of  interest,  they  offer  great  diversity  and  beauty — 
unlike  the  eggs  of  birds,  exhibiting  external  appliances, 
strange  structural  appendages,  fringes  of  extreme 
delicacy,  eccentric  forms  and  curvatures,  with  lids, 
No.  244. — April  1885. 


and  caps  of  various  devices  to  aid  the  emission  of 
the  larva. 

It  is  not  unworthy  of  note,  that  sculptured  surfaces 
of  rare  beauty,  raised  nodules,  pitted  depressions, 
surrounded  with  ridges  arranged  with  geometrical 
precision,  radiating  from  the  base  to  the  apex,  as 
found  in  the  eggs  of  some  insects,  are  peculiarities 
frequently  seen  in  minute,  and  isolated  germ  life,  in 
unicellular  plants,  the  cells  of  desmids,  diatoms, 
minute  seeds,  spores,  and  particularly  in  pollen 
granules  where  external  appearances  take  the  most 
singular  and  elegant  forms. 

The  collector  of  the  eggs  of  insects  must  be  guided, 
in  his  explorations,  by  the  habit  of  the  parent.  The 
suitable  deposition  of  the  egg,  and  its  future  develop- 
ment, depend  on  the  supply  and  position  of  the  food  ; 
it  would  be  impossible  to  conceive  an  organism  in  a 
more  helpless  condition  than  a  larva  just  emerged, 
unless  it  found  itself  surrounded  by,  or  within  reach 
of,  abundant  nutriment ;  the  eggs  of  all  leaf-eating 
caterpillars  are  consequently  deposited  on  the 
branches,  and  in  the  interstices  of  the  trees  themselves, 
or  in  close  proximity.  Particular  trees  or  plants, 
probably  with  some  regard  to  locality  and  aspect,  are 
selected  by  different  species.  In  some  cases  the  parent 
collects  and  stores  the  future  food,  depositing  an  egg  in 
a  cell,  and  packing  it  with  just  the  amount  required  by 
the  larva,  anticipating  a  supply  in  proportion  to  the 
size  of  the  cell  which  invariably  is  a  sufficient,  and 
an  exact,  quantity.  Many  of  the  vegetable-feeding 
beetles  maintain  the  preservation  of  the  future  progeny 
by  rolling  up  balls  of  food,  in  which  is  enveloped  an 
egg — a  case  where  the  individual  is  evidently  of  less 
importance  than  the  perpetuation  of  the  species,  the 
chances  of  survival  being  enhanced  by  the  separate 
isolation  of  the  egg.  It  is  engagingly  interesting  to 
consider  the  powerful  impulses  which  induce  such 
actions ;  involving  favourable  positions,  selection  of  her- 
bage, and  often  temperature  and  moisture,  as  affecting 
the  putrefaction  or  fermentation  of  organic  substance 
in  which  the  young  maggots  may  revel,  an  impulse 
without  doubt  emanating  from  maternal  presentiment 


74 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


— for,  in  many  cases  progeny  are  actually  nursed 
and  protected  by  the  parent,  even  supported  and 
supplied  with  untiring  zeal.  As  a  rule  insects  are 
only  destructive  in  a  larval  state — destructive,  in  many 
instances,  in  the  sense  of  being  beneficial.  In  that 
condition,  development  is  rapid,  and  the  chief 
business  of  life,  i.e.,  the  preparation  for  a  higher  and 
more  important  condition,  is  performed. 

In  consequence  of  the  minuteness  of  eggs  of  insects, 
and  the  extraordinary  care  taken  in  depositing  them, 
they  frequently  baffle  detection,  but  it  is  certain 
few  localities  escape,  and  they  may  be  sought  for  in 
the  most  unexpected,  and  apparently  unlikely  places. 
Many  singular  instances  might  be  mentioned  :  the 
larvae  of  the  Curculios  feed  on  the  developing  seeds 
of  plants,  the  eggs  are  deposited  in  the  flowers, 
and  during  growth,  the  hatched  larvae  bore  through 
the  soft  tissues  of  the  "receptacle,"  and  devour  its 
contents.  In  the  larger  order  of  the  lepidoptera 
extraordinary  care  is  exhibited,  even  to  the  extent  of 
mechanically  providing  protection  by  enveloping  the 
eggs  in  peculiar  coverings,  or  securing  a  defence  with 
glue-like  varnishes  of  considerable  tenacity.  The  life- 
duration  of  the  egg  condition,  is  often  a  factor.  Many 
moths  only  deposit  on  fruits  just  ripening,  a  matter  of 
days,  and  adjustment  of  time ;  unripe  fruits  are  never 
touched.  The  cocci,  or  scale  insects  (infesting  peach- 
houses,  and  conservatories),  fix  themselves  firmly  on 
the  leaves  and  brood  over  the  eggs  ;  even  after  death 
the  body  forms  a  tent  or  covering  under  which  the 
young  remain  until  mature. 

The  orthoptera  dig  holes  in  the  earth  and  deposit 
eggs  in  groups,  enveloped  in  some  instances  in  a  case. 
As  in  this  order  the  young  when  hatched  immediately 
exhibit  the  lively  appearance,  appetites,  and  instincts 
of  the  parents,  and  are  capable  of  at  once  seeking 
food,  a  storage  of  provision,  or  a  contiguous  supply- 
is  unnecessary.  Living  and  growing  tissues  are 
often  the  nidus  and  receptacle  of  eggs.  The  gad-fly 
(Tabanus)  has  a  sheath  capable  of  penetrating  the 
skins  of  animals,  and  not  only  depositing  the  egg,  but 
of  setting  up  a  condition  of  excitement  necessary  for 
the  future  preservation  of  the  young.  The  means 
and  instruments  employed  are  endless  ;  the  various 
forms  of  ovipositors  is  a  subject  in  itself.  They  are 
capable  of  cutting  into,  and  boring  beneath  the 
cuticles  of  leaves  or  the  rinds  of  fruits,  leaving  an  egg 
in  the  parenchyma,  with  the  addition  of  a  corrosive 
fluid  of  such  virulence  as  to  excite  abnormal  growths  in 
aid  of  the  sustenance  of  the  future  larva;,  producing  con- 
tortions of  tissues,  and  excrescences,  as  in  the  well- 
known  gall-nut ;  a  curious  reciprocity  as  affecting  the 
functions  of  the  plant,  and  the  requirements  of  the 
insect. 

Space  does  not  admit  the  pursuit  of  this  interesting 

subject ;  our  younger   readers  must  be   referred    to 

Kirby  and  Spence's  most  charming  Introduction  to 

Entomology. 

Among  remarkable  forms  may  shortly  be  specified, 


the  yellow  eggs  of  the  cabbage  butterfly  (Picris 
brassica:),  the  puss  moth  (Centra  vinula),  the  privet 
moth  (Sphinx  ligustri),  the  transparent  eggs  of  the 
honey  bee,  the  cockroach,  the  cricket,  and  the  eggs 
of  most  of  the  parasites,  especially  those  infesting 
the  pheasant.  Many  of  these  open  longitudinally 
through  well-marked  sutures  aided  by  the  tension  of 
curvature.  For  the  cabinet,  eggs  are  easily  prepared 
as  opaque  objects,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  arrange 
them  for  observation  on  the  stage  of  the  microscope, 
in  a  living  condition,  showing  the  movement  of  the 
larva  within,  and  with  patient  watching,  its  ultimate 
emergence. 
Crouch  Hind. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

AVERY  interesting  paper  on  labour  and  wages  in 
America  was  read  at  the  Society  of  Arts  by 
Mr.  D.  Pigeon,  the  Hon.  J.  Russell  Lowell  in  the 
chair.  Among  many  other  facts  proving  the  superior 
education  afforded  to  artizans  there,  he  showed  that 
the  number  of  public  schools  in  the  United  States  is 
225,800,  or  one  to  every  200  of  the  entire  population 
of  both  sexes  and  all  ages.  In  Massachusetts  alone 
there  are  nearly  2000  free  libraries,  or  one  to  every 
800  inhabitants.  No  wonder  then  that  Mr.  Lowell 
was  able  to  say  that  "one  thing  he  thought  he  had 
noticed  in  the  real  American  workman,  was  the 
amount  of  brains  which  he  mixed  with  his  fingers," 
as  compared  with  the  workmen  of  other  countries. 
Now  that  science  is  interfering  with  every  kind  of 
industry,  this  ability  to  mix  up  brains  with  fingers 
will  determine  the  destiny  of  nations.  Not  only  the 
arts  of  peace,  but  also  the  grim  business  of  war,  is 
dependent  upon  science.  The  victory  of  the  Germans 
in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  was  largely  due  to  the 
mixing  of  brain  with  fingers,  in  the  handling  of 
delicate  arms  of  precision,  and  the  intelligent  use 
of  maps  by  common  soldiers. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Chemical  Society,  on  19th 
February,  Mr.  E.  C.  H.  Francis  described  a  simple 
but  very  valuable  discovery,  viz.,  that  if  filter  paper 
be  immersed  in  nitric  acid  of  1*42  sp.  gr.,  and 
washed  in  water,  it  becomes  remarkably  toughened 
without  losing  its  porosity,  as  when  treated  with 
sulphuric  acid  in  making  parchment  paper.  We  are 
told  that  the  paper  treated  with  nitric  acid  may  be 
washed  and  rubbed  without  damage,  like  linen.  It 
contracts  and  loses  a  little  weight,  but  contains  no 
nitrogen.  The  weight  of  its  ash  diminishes,  which  is 
an  advantage  in  analytical  chemistry,  especially  in 
rough  and  ready  commercial  analyses  where  the  ash 
is  neglected.  As  non-chemical  readers  may  not 
otherwise  appreciate  the  important  position  held  by 
filter  paper  in  an  analytical  laboratory,  I  will  explain 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


75 


that  in  most  cases  the  quantity  of  a  given  substance  is 
determined  by  dissolving  the  mixture  in  which  it  is 
contained,  and  then  adding  a  precipitant,  which 
throws  down  the  substance  in  question  in  solid 
insoluble  form,  usually  a  compound  of  known 
composition.  The  solid  is  separated  by  filtration  and 
weighed.  The  filtering  agent  must  be  removable, 
and  blotting  paper  answers  the  purpose  admirably. 
If  the  precipitate  is  incombustible,  the  paper  is 
burned  with  its  adhering  precipitate,  which  is  then 
weighed.  Otherwise,  it  is  weighed  on  the  paper, 
after  drying ;  another  piece  of  paper  of  equal  size  and 
proved  equal  weight,  being  used  as  counterpoise. 
Specially  made  paper  that  leaves  but  an  infinitesimal 
ash  is  used. 

In  the  Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India, 
vol.  1 7,  is  a  memoir  by  Dr.  \V.  King,  on  the  "  Smooth 
Water  Anchorages  of  Narrakal  and  Alleppy,"  on  the 
Travancore  Coast.  These  remain  smooth  even  when 
the  surface  of  the  sea  outside  is  torn  by  the  south- 
westerly moonsoons  into  white  surf-topped  billows. 
The  explanation  of  the  mystery  is  simple  enough,  and 
is  interesting,  as  affording  further  evidence  on  the 
disputed  question  of  oiling  the  waves.  The  bottom 
of  these  anchorages  is  a  soft,  unctuous  mud  found  to 
contain  oil,  and  from  it  is  a  continuous  oozing 
upwards  of  petroleum.  My  friend  Arthur  Robottom 
describes  a  similar  calm  region  on  the  Californian 
coast,  but  at  some  distance  out  at  sea.  Here  the  oil 
wells  up  in  large  quantities,  spreads  visibly  over  the 
surface  and  effectively  becalms  a  great  area  around 
the  spring.  Franklin's  experiments  on  the  ponds  of 
Clapham  Common,  and  his  conclusion,  that  the  oil 
prevents  the  wind  from  taking  hold  of  the  water,  by 
acting  as  a  lubricant  against  the  wind-friction,  are 
confirmed  by  these  cases,  by  the  experiments  at 
Peterhead,  and  by  all  that  has  since  been  learned  on 
the  subject. 

In  the  same  volume  is  an  account  of  a  fiery 
eruption  from  one  of  the  mud  volcanoes  on  Cheduba 
Island,  where  a  body  of  flame  600  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence is  said  to  have  at  one  time  reached  an  elevation 
of  2400  feet.  Petroleum  again.  The  earth  evidently 
contains  a  much  larger  store  of  petroleum  than  is 
usually  supposed. 

Very  few  people  appreciate  the  interesting  collection 
of  meteorites  in  the  British  Museum.  The  majority 
of  ordinary  visitors  pass  through  the  whole  of  the 
show  without  seeing  them  at  all.  A  very  interesting 
addition  is  about  to  be  made  to  this  collection — will 
pdssibly  be  there  when  this  is  printed.  It  is  a 
meteorite,  weighing  46  kilos  (101J  lbs.),  which  was 
discovered  in  the  autumn  of  1882,  near  Durango,  in 
Mexico,  at  a  depth  of  about  a  foot.  The  slight  depth 
and  other  indications  have  led  to  the  inference  that  it 
had  fallen  quite  recently.  Its  composition  is  :  iron, 
91*78;  nickel,  8*35;  cobalt,  o*oi  ;  with  traces  of 
phosphorus  and  carbon.  Specific  gravity,  7  '74-7  '89. 
The  detection  of  the  ordinary  adulteration  of  milk 


by  water  is  unsatisfactory,  on  account  of  the  varying 
composition  of  the  milk  from  different  cows,  and 
even  from  the  same  cow  at  different  periods.  The 
milk  of  an  Alderney  or  Jersey  cow  may  be  much 
diluted,  and  yet,  when  tested  by  the  proportion  of 
water  to  cream,  shall  come  out  richer  than  the  milk 
from  some  other  cows  when  unmixed.  The  method 
recently  introduced  by  M.  Sambuc  is  said  to  over- 
come this  difficulty.  Experiments  made  by  him  in 
1879,  and  m  October  and  November  of  last  year, 
show  that  the  serum  of  the  milk — that  which  is  left 
when  the  casein  and  cream  are  removed,  varies  very 
little  in  specific  gravity,  never  falling  below  i,0278. 
To  effect  its  separation,  the  milk  is  heated  to  400- 
500  C.  (1040  to  1220  F.),  and  an  alcoholic  solution  of 
tartaric  acid  is  added.  After  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  the  mixture  is  taken  from  the  fire,  agitated  with 
a  small  bundle  of  twigs,  and  strained  through  a  linen 
filter.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  serum  or  whey  is 
then  determined  by  a  lactometer. 

In  Dingler's  "  Polytechnisches  Journal,"  vol.  254, 
p.  443,  is  an  account  of  a  method  of  enamelling  casks 
invented  by  F.  G.  Sponnagel,  and  apparently  not 
patented.  Instead  of  coating  the  wood  with  enamel, 
the  cask  or  vat  is  first  treated  with  an  aqueous  solution 
formed  by  fusing  100  parts  of  silica  with  50  parts  of 
alkali,  and  when  this  has  penetrated  the  wood 
thoroughly  the  cask  is  filled  with  a  solution  of  alumi- 
nium acetate  in  water  mixed  with  sulphurous  acid  in 
the  proportion  of  4  :  2  :  1.  ,  This  effects  a  precipitation 
of  neutral  enamel  of  silicate  of  alumina  within  the 
pores  of  the  wood.  Assuming  that  such  precipitation 
is  successfully  effected,  we  obtain  in  such  internally 
enamelled  wood  a  material  of  great  usefulness  for  a 
multitude  of  purposes  besides  cask  making. 

In  the  same  volume  of  the  same  Journal,  page  399, 
an  honest  method  of  manufacturing  soap  is  described. 
Perhaps  I  should  explain  what  I  mean  by  honesty  as 
applied  in  the  manufacture  of  soap.  Shrewd, 
observant  house-wives  know  that  bars  of  soap  when 
stored  in  a  dry  place  have  a  curious  habit  of  shrinking, 
and  that  the  amount  of  shrinkage  varies  with  the 
samples.  Not  very  long  ago  a  petty  fraud  was  rather 
extensively  perpetrated  by  a  gang  of  vagabonds,  who 
strolled  from  door  to  door  in  poor  neighbourhoods* 
offering  '"  salvage  soap  "  for  sale.  They  told  a  tale  of 
the  shipwreck  of  a  cargo  of  soap,  and  how  it  was 
damaged  by  sea  water,  how  they  had  bought  it  cheap 
and  could  sell  at  three-halfpence  or  twopence  per 
pound.  The  soap  was  sufficiently  wet  to  correspond 
with  the  story.  It  contained  70  or  So  per  cent,  of 
water,  on  the  evaporation  of  which  a  long  bar 
shrivelled  to  a  short  twisted  stick.  Ordinary  soap  of 
fair  quality  contains  20  to  25  per  cent,  of  water,  but 
may  be  made  to  contain  much  more,  even  the  salvage 
quantity.  Pure  soap  is  a  compound  of  fatty  acids 
with  alkali,  no  free  alkali  remaining.  Such  remaining 
alkali  renders  it  irritant  to  the  skin,  though  suitable 
enough  for  washing   greasy   clothes   or   very   dirty 

E  2 


76 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


people.  In  these  cases  the  free  alkali  combines  with 
the  exuberant  grease.  In  common  yellow  soap  more 
or  less  of  the  fatty  acid  is  replaced  by  resin. 

The  novelty  to  which  I  refer  is  the  use  of  a  centri- 
fugal machine  or  drum,  which  is  made  to  rotate  very 
rapidly  while  containing  the  crude  soap  before  it 
has  been  cooled.  All  the  alkali  or  salt  is  thereby 
separated,  and  a  larger  quantity  of  the  water ; 
the  soap  is  very  dense  and  perfectly  neutral,  and 
therefore  non-irritant.  I  may  add,  by  way  of  warn- 
ing, that  among  the  fancy  soaps  is  a  vile  com- 
pound, in  which  the  fatty  acids  are  more  or  less 
replaced  by  silicic  acid.  It  is  very  smooth,  lathers 
admirably,  but  treats  tender  skin  most  cruelly.  One 
of  the  indications  of  the  adulteration  and  of  saline 
impurities  generally  is  the  efflorescence  of  very  pretty 
crystals  orr  the  surface  of  the  soap  as  it  dries. 

A  more  recent  contribution  of  science  to  domestic 
economy  has  been  discussed  by  the  Hygienic  Council 
of  the  Department  of  the  Seine  at  Paris.  It  is  the 
use  of  vaseline  as  a  substitute  for  butter  or  fat  in 
pastry.  It  appears  that  the  chief  motive  of  the  pastry 
cook  in  adopting  this  "  improvement  "  (?)  is  to  obtain 
a.  pastry  that  will  keep  longer.  From  the  tradesman's 
point  of  view  this  may  be  a  desideratum,  but  to  the 
consumer  it  is  not  so  advantageous,  seeing  that  this 
mineral  grease  is  absolutely  indigestible.  It  may  slip 
through  the  digestive  organs  by  virtue  of  its 
lubricating  properties,  and  carry  with  it  the  particles 
of  flour,  sugar,  &c,  which  it  envelopes,  but  it  cannot 
be  assimilated,  and  probably  protects  the  materials 
with  which  it  is  incorporated  from  the  action  of  the 
digestive  solvents.  The  strongest  mineral  acids  do 
not  disturb  vaseline,  neither  do  the  most  caustic 
alkalis  saponify  it.  In  the  pastry  it  comes  as  vaseline 
and  goes  as  vaseline,  and  probably  does  mischief  in 
the  course  of  its  journey  through  the  body.  "  The 
Council  therefore  advises  that  its  use  for  pastry 
making  shall  not  be  permitted  in  France."  Let  us 
hope  that  such  use  may  not  be  permitted  in  England. 

While  M.  Perrotin,  director  of  the  Nice  Observa- 
tory, was  making  an  observation  on  Hyperion,  one 
of  the  satellites  of  Saturn,  the  object  suddenly  dashed 
to  the  right  of  the  spider-line  of  the  telescope,  and 
then  returned.  It  was  the  telescope  that  moved,  and 
the  earth  that  moved  the  telescope.  A  slight  but 
sharp  earthquake  tremor  occurred.  This  incident 
suggests  a  delicate  means  of  measuring  such  move- 
ments. 


We  have  received  the  first  number  of  a  new 
monthly  periodical,  the  "Journal  of  Mycology" 
(Manhattan,  Kansas).  It  is  intended  to  be  a  medium 
for  the  publication  of  matter  of  mycological  interest ; 
to  note  the  discovery  of  new  species  of  fungi,  to  give 
an  account  of  the  literature  of  the  subject,  and  so 
assist  in  the  extension  of  North  American  mycology 
in  general. 


THE    VARIATION    AND    ABNORMAL    DE- 
VELOPMENT OF  THE  MOLLUSCA. 

THE  variation  of  the  Mollusca  is  an  exceedingly 
interesting  subject,  but  it  is  as  vast  as  it  is 
interesting.  There  seems  to  be  hardly  a  species 
which,  if  sufficiently  studied,  does  not  present  here 
and  there  some  marked  difference  from  what  is  known 
as  the  typical  form  ;  and  some,  as  Helix  nemoralis,  are 
so  variable,  that  two  exactly  similar  specimens  are 
rarely  found;  And  this  variation  does  not  seem  to 
rest  on  mere  chance,  but  varieties  are  often  local, 
abundant  at  one  place,  and  not  to  be  seen  in  the 
surrounding  country  :  and,  strangely  enough,  this 
localness  seems  also  to  be  to  a  certain  extent  peculiar 
to  what  are  generally  called  mere  monstrosities.  I 
mean  the  sinistral,  scalariform,  and  decollated  forms. 
Miss  Hele,  in  Science-Gossip,  records  the  occurrence 
of  three  sinistral  Helix  aspersa,  and  two  H.  hortensis, 
all  in  the  same  lane,  and  I  cannot  think  that  this  was 
purely  accidental ;  there  must  have  been  some  reason 
for  these  shells  becoming  reversed,  but  what  that 
reason  may  be,  I  cannot  imagine.  On  Chislehurst 
Common  I  took  a  specimen  of  the  monst.  scalariforme 
of  Limiuca  stagnalis,  having  the  whorls  almost 
disunited,  and  the  suture  between  the  fourth  and 
body  whorl  forming  an  acute  angle.  This  specimen 
was  found  in  a  very  small  pond,  where  the  typical 
form  of  L.  stagnalis  does  not  occur,  but  the  pond  is 
crowded  with  a  variety,  which  is  smaller  than  the 
type,  and  has  a  deeper  suture.  In  the  same  pond  my 
brother  took  another  scalariform  L.  stagnalis,  and  he 
also  found  a  third  specimen  in  a  pond  not  far  off. 
Another  brother  (L.M.C.)  has  taken  L.peregra,  monst. 
scalariforme  at  St.  Mary  Cray,  two  miles  from 
Chislehurst,  and  a  scalariform  Helix  aspersa  on 
Chislehurst  Common.  Whether  there  is  any  connec- 
tion between  the  occurrences  of  these  scalariform 
shells  I  do  not  know,  but,  if  so,  I  suppose  it  must 
be  due  to  the  soil,  or  possibly,  but  not  probably,  to 
some  parasite.  I  fancy  the  food  has  little  or  nothing 
to  do  with  it,  but  I  may  as  well  mention  that  the 
pond  in  which  the  two  scalariform  L.  stagnalis  were 
found,  contained  Ranunculus  aquatilis,  and  Pota- 
mogeton  crispus,  and  the  jjond  in  which  the  other  one 
was  found  contained  Anacharis. 

And  now  for  an  instance  of  decollation.  On 
Barnes  Common  I  have  found  Bythinia  tentaculata, 
monst.  decollatum,  Liiimcea  stagnalis,  monst.  decolla- 
turn,  and  a  decollated  specimen  of  L.  palustris*  The 
decollation  is  most  marked  in  the  Bythinia,  and  less 
so  in  the  Limncea.  Now  in  the  instance  of  these 
Barnes  specimens,  I  think  there  cannot  be  much 
doubt  that  the  truncated  spire  is  caused  by  a  want  of 
calcareous  material  in  the  water,  and  that,  if  a 
number  of  them  were  introduced  into  a  pond  contain- 
ing a  sufficient  amount  of  carbonate  of  lime,  the  next 

*  My  brother  (S.CC.)  has  also  taken  the  decollated  form  of 
L.  peregra.  at  Barnes. 


BARDWICKR'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


77 


generation  would  have  perfect  spires,  the  decollation 
not  being  transmitted. 

White  varieties  would  seem  to  be  caused  by  the 
non-development  of  the  colour-forming  organ,  but, 
again,  as  in  the  cases  given  above,  white  varieties 
are  also  local,  being  confined  to  one  spot,  or  to  one 
neighbourhood,  and  it  is  rarely  that,  one  having  been 
found,  a  careful  search  does  not  reveal  others.  That 
these  white  or  colourless  varieties  are  due  to  the 
nature  of  the  food  or  of  the  soil  is  unlikely,  because 
they  are  always,  or  nearly  always,  found  with 
typical  coloured  specimens. 

It  cannot  be  due  to  a  contagious  disease  of  the 
colour-gland,  as  in  that  case  we  should  find  specimens 
which  had  commenced  life  with  coloured  shells,  but 
having  subsequently  lost  the  colour-forming  function, 
would  have  the  last  few  whorls   colourless ;   and   I 


fig-  55- — Helix  ltevij>es,  var. 
alba.  Calcutta.  A  nor- 
mally sinistral  Helix. 


Fig-  S7-~ Limnaa  stagnalis, 
monst.  scalariforme. 
Chislehurst  Common. 


Fie.  '56. — Stetwgyra  decollata- 
Marocco.  An  instance,  of 
normal  decollation. 


Fig.  53. —  Valvata  piscinalis, 
depressed  variety.  Crayford 
brick  earth. 


Fig-   59- — Physa  fontinalis. 
A  large  specimen.     Ealing. 


Fig 


60. — Physa  acuta. 
Kew  Gardens. 


have  never  seen  or  heard  of  such  a  specimen. 
Again,  there  are  the  colour  varieties,  also  local  in 
their  distribution,  and  apparently,  though  of  course 
not  really,  without  cause.  The  bright  colours  of 
some  varieties  of  Helices,  such  as  H.  nemoralis,  seem 
even  to  be  injurious,  as  they  make  the  shells  such 
conspicuous  objects  as  they  crawl,  and  enable  the 
birds  to  find  them  readily ;  and,  that  birds  do  eat 
numbers  of  these  brilliantly  coloured  snails,  is  well 
testified  by  the  heaps  of  broken  shells  round  a  suitable 
breaking-stone.  But  there  is  one  instance,  that  of 
the  green  H.  nemoralis  at  Crayford  (see  page  236), 
in  which  variation  would  appear  to  be  protective, 
but  it  was  a  variation  in  the  animal,  and  not  in  the 
shell,  that  caused  the  green  tint. 

And  there  are  many  other  points  which  seem  to  me 
to  need  careful  study  before  any  conclusions  can  be 
arrived  at,  and  I  will  give  an  instance  :  of  what  use 
are  the  bands  to  the  helices  ?  why  are  they  developed  ? 


and  why  do  they  vary  so  much  ?  All  I  can  say  is 
that  I  do  not  know  why,  but  it  would  seem  that 
form  from  which  the  now  existing  helices  were 
developed  had  five  definite  bands,  like  H.  nemoralis  ; 
or  perhaps,  we  may  go  still  farther  back  and  say  that 
the  form  from  which  all  the  Gasteropoda  sprung,  the 
first  type  of  the  Gasteropod  shell-bearing  Mollusc, 
was  banded.  The  reason  for  this  speculation  is  that 
the  bands  are  always  in  the  same  relative  position  in 
the  Gasteropoda  when  they  are  developed,  the  band 
just  above  the  periphery  being  specially  characteristic. 
However,  this  is  a  subject  to  which  little  attention 
seems  to  have  been  given,  but  I  think  that  it  will 
well  repay  research. 

In  the  present  paper  I  shall  not  deal  with  so  huge 
a  subject  as  the  variation  of  the  mollusca  throughout 
the  world ;  I  leave  this  to  others,  and  shall  only 
describe  the  variation  of  the  mollusca  in  the  counties 
of  Kent,  Surrey,  and  Middlesex,  the  counties  which  I 
am  now  working. 

Gasteropoda. 

Neritina  fluviatilis. — This  shell  does  not  seem  to 
vary  much,  and  I  have  never  taken  an  abnormal 
form.  Nevertheless  four  varieties  have  been  recorded 
as  British.* 

Paludina  vivipara. — The  bandless  form  (var. 
efasciata, =v3.r.  unicolor),  has  been  recorded  from 
Richmond,  I  have  not  taken  it  myself. 

Bythinia  tentaculata.  —The  colourless  or  white 
variety  occurs  in  the  district,  and  the  varieties 
ventricosa  and  excavata  are  also  recorded.  Monst. 
decollatnm  I  have  found  at  Barnes. 

B.  Leachii. — Var.  elongata  is  recorded  for  West  Kent. 

Valvata  piseinalis. — I  have  taken  a  variety  showing 
traces  of  bands  ;  var.  subcylindrica,  a  dead  shell  at 
Hammersmith.  The  type  and  a  variety  approaching 
var.  depressa  occur  fossil  at  Crayford. 

Planorbis  lineatus,  var.  albina  has  been  recorded 
for  East  Kent. 

Planorbis  nautilens. — This  has  two  main  forms, 
the  so-called  type  and  the  var.  crista.  Both  are 
found  in  the  district. 

Planorbis  spirorbis. — A  dead  shell  of  var.  albida 
at  Bedford  Park  (D.  B.  Cockerell). 

P.  vortex. — At  Fulham  I  have  taken  a  variety 
of  this  species.     (See  p.  14.) 

P.  carinatus. — I  have  found  the  variety  disciformis 
near  Guildford. 

P.  complanatus. — Mr.  J.  W.  Taylor  describes  the 
monst.  sinistrorsam  from  a  specimen  found  by  Miss 
Hele  at  Wye.  This  instance  of  a  sinistral  monstrosity 
of  Plano7-bis  is,  I  believe,  unique.  The  white  variety 
is  said  to  have  been  taken  in  West  Kent,  and  also 
the  var.  rhombea. 

P.  corneus. — This  species  varies  in  size,  the  largest 
specimen  I  have  found  is  from  Ealing.     The  young 

*  Mr.  R.  A.  Freeman  has  a  specimen  having  a.  broad  white 
band  below  the  periphery  which  he  found  near  Barnes. 


73 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


shells  are  sometimes  striated  like  P.  a/bus.  Some 
specimens  collected  at  Minster  have  a  reddish  tinge. 
I  have  taken  the  white  variety  in  Thanet,  and  also  a 
single  young  specimen  at  Kew  Gardens.  The  white 
var.  has  also  been  reported  as  occurring  in  Middlesex. 

Physa  hypnornm. — The  mouth  of  this  shell  is  some- 
times tinged  with  pink. 

Physa  acuta. — This  is  not  really  a  British  shell, 
the  only  locality  for  it  being  one  of  the  water-lily 
tanks  in  Kew  Gardens,  where  it  is  abundant.  One 
of  my  specimens  has  the  bands  4  and  5  slightly 
developed. 

Physa  fontinalis. — This  varies  in  size  ;  my  largest 
specimen  I  took  at  Ealing,  with  the  large  P.  corneus, 
it  is  slightly  more  than  \  of  an  inch  in  length.  I  have 
taken  a  single  specimen  of  the  white  variety  at  Heme 
Bay,  living  with  the  type. 

T.  D.  A.  COCKERELL. 
(To  be  continued.) 


AN  AQUARIUM  IN  A  BOTTLE. 

I  HAVE  kept  small  shore  crabs  (Carcinus  mccnas) 
in  wide-mouthed  glass  pickle  bottles  for  many 
months,  and  also  hermit  crabs  (Pagurus  Pcrnhardi), 
but  the  former  do  the  best.  Serpulae  (Serpula 
triquetral  and  also  very  small  terebellae  do  well  too, 
but  I  have  never  been  able  to  keep  full-grown  mussels 
for  more  than  a  day  or  two.  My  plan  is  to  fill  the 
bottle  one-third  full  of  fine  sand,  and  place  on  this  a 
large  stone  with  a  piece  or  two  of  ulva  growing  on  it. 
This  stone  is  tilted  up  in  such  a  way,  that  there  is 
deep  water  (comparatively  speaking),  in  the  front  of 
the  bottle,  while  behind  it  is  only  just  covered. 
"When  first  made  a  strip  of  paper  should  be  pasted  on 
behind  to  mark  the  level  of  the  water,  and  it  should 
always  be  kept  up  to  that  level  with  a  spoonful  or  so 
of  fresh  water,  as  needed,  to  make  up  for  the  loss  by 
evaporation.  The  less  water  there  is  in  the  bottle,  the 
better  ;  it  will  be  found  quite  sufficient  to  fill  it  half 
or  two-thirds  full  (including  the  sand).  The  plan 
suggested  by  Mr.  Lovett  (vol.  xx.  p.  75)  will  be 
found  a  very  good  one  by  those  who  have  not  a  cool 
place  in  which  to  stand  the  bottle  in  hot  weather. 
If  the  water  turns  a  little  green,  placing  it  in  the 
shade  a  day  or  two,  I  find  soon  remedies  it.  If 
anything  goes  wrong,  and  the  water  turns  black,  I 
pour  it  into  a  clear  glass  bottle,  put  a  few  pieces  of 
confervae  in,  and  place  it  in  the  sunshine  ;  the  oxygen 
produced  by  the  influence  of  the  sunlight  on  the 
seaweed  soon  neutralizes  the  offensive  gases  produced 
by  putrefaction,  and  in  a  short  time  the  water  is  as 
clear  as  ever.  I  do  not  shake  the  water,  but  let  it 
remain  constantly  still  ;  shaking  it  retards  the 
purifying  process.  Although  I  use  bottles  when  I 
have  so  many  creatures,  such  as  crabs,  requiring 
isolation  that  I  scarcely  know  what  to  do  with  them, 
I  do  not  recommend  the  plan,  except  as  subsidiary  to 


other  aquaria.  A  propagating  glass  can  be  bought 
for  a  few  pence,  and  this  inverted  and  placed  on  a 
suitable  stand  will  be  found  by  far  the  best.  Stocked 
with  anemones,  serpulae,  terebellae,  a  young  nereis, 
periwinkles,  very  small  mussels,  and  a  few  acorn 
barnacles  with,  perhaps,  one  or  two  small  prawns,  it 
will  be  a  constant  fund  of  amusement  and  instruction. 
A  few  pieces  of  green  seaweed  will  make  it  look  very 
effective,  but  care  must  be  taken  not  to  introduce  too 
much,  or  it  will  decay,  and  blacken  the  water. 
Fish  and  crabs  require  vases  to  themselves,  as  they 
will  neither  agree  with  the  other  inmates  nor  among 
themselves. 

Albert  Waters,  B.A. 
Cambridge. 


A  NET  FOR  MICROSCOPISTS. 

AS  the  bright  days  increase  in  number,  every  one 
is  led  involuntarily  to  look  over  his  collecting 
apparatus  in  anticipation  of  that  sudden  starting  into 
renewed  life  of  all  aquatic  vegetation,  and  the 
consequent  crowds  of  Infusoria,  Entomostraca,  &c, 
which  afford  all  those  who  are  keenly  interested  in 
their  birth  and  "  education,"  such  an  endless  amount 
of  pleasant  recreation.  The  pleasure  of  such  collect- 
ing, I  always  think,  is  greatly  increased  by  the  use 
of  a  convenient  net,  which  should  enable  one  to 
remove  any  object  of  value,  and  recommence  the 
netting  without  unnecessary  loss  of  time. 

The  methods  usually  adopted  for  attaining  this, 
are,  either  to  wash  the  muslin  in  a  wide-mouthed 
jar,  which  must  therefore  be  carried  out  on  all  ex- 
peditions, or  to  use  a  set  of  muslins,  each  one  of  which 
when  sufficiently  covered  with  life,  is  removed  and 
dropped  into  a  bottle,  of  necessity,  large  and  cumber- 
some. 

I  tried  the  simpler  of  these  two  modes,  i.e.  washing, 
for  some  time,  but  never  found  that  the  result  was 
altogether  satisfactory,  many  specimens  of  worth 
being  washed  out  of  the  net,  if  its  passage  through 
the  water  happened  to  be  in  the  least  degree  hurried. 

The  next  that  I  tried  was  a  deep  conical  net, 
stretched  upon  a  framework  of  cane,  bent  (after 
boiling)  somewhat  to  the  shape  of  an  iron  hook,  ^\— 
Across  the  semicircular  portion,  i.e.  from  A  to  b,  I 
stretched  a  copper  wire,  not  less  than  six  inches  in 
length,  which  served  as  a  finer  cutwater  than  the 
cane,  and  made  a  strong  and  effectual  "  scraper  "  for 
such  stems  as  those  of  the  water  lily.  I  had,  from  the 
first,  considerable  difficulty  in  turning  a  net  of  this 
shape  inside  out,  and,  to  overcome  this,  at  length 
contrived  one,  whose  construction  I  hope  the  following 
explanations  will  render  sufficiently  clear  to  enable 
those  who  may  care  to  copy  it  to  possess  one  similar 
to  my  own.  The  framework  is  precisely  the  same  as 
that  shown  above.  The  muslin  bag  is  so  arranged 
that  the  point  of  the  cone  comes  exactly  opposite  to 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


79 


the  centre  of  its  mouth  when  stretched  out  behind  it, 
and  within  this  point  is  inserted  a  half-inch  test-tube 
having  the  bottom  ground  off.  The  ends  of  the 
muslin  for  the  space  of  half  an  inch  are  bound  tightly 
round  the  head  of  the  tube  ;  the  projecting  rim  of  the 
glass  preventing  it  from  being  pulled  out.  Round  the 
whipping  is  placed  a  broad  band  of  cork — a  wine  cork 
with  the  centre  burnt  out,  and  the  edges  bevelled 
forward,  to  prevent  undue  resistance  to  the  water, 
which  keeps  the  tube  always  behind  the  muslin,  and 
ready  to  receive  the  contents  of  the  net ;  otherwise, 
when  the  net  is  moving  very  slowly  in  the  water,  the 
tendency  of  the  tube  is  to  sink  below  the  mouth, 
thereby  causing  all  animal  life  to  be  merely  washed 
in  and  out  again.  The  tube  is  closed  by  placing  a 
square  of  muslin  over  the  open  end,  and  securing  it 
with  a  very  small  band  of  india-rubber.  It  is  worth 
remembering  that  duplicates  of  both  muslin  square  and 
elastic  band  are  indispensable,  these  being  the  two 
most  important  parts  of  all. 

Care  should  be  taken  when  cutting  the  muslin  that 
the  piece  coming  from  the  wire  be  quite  flat  and 
remain  so  after  being  fixed  in  its  place,  for  if  there  is 
any  looseness  near  the  wire,  thereby  forming  a  small 
hollow  below  the  level  of  the  tube  head,  solid  matter, 
instead  of  flowing  at  once  into  the  tube,  will  "  hang  " 
in  this  hollow.  When  it  is  required  to  remove  the 
contents  of  the  net  to  the  collecting  bottle,  proceed 
thus. 

After  a  favourable  spot  has  been  thoroughly  fished, 
the  net  should  be  drawn  in  to  the  bank,  raised  from 
the  water  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  the  thumb  of 
the  right  hand  pressed  tightly  against  the  bottom  of 
the  tube,  so  that  it  may  be  kept  full  of  water.    All  that 
is  within  may  then  be  readily  examined,  by  holding  the 
glass  against  the  light,  when  organisms  of  any  size  are 
at  once  discerned,  and  the  small  diameter  of  the  tube 
does  not  prevent  the  use  of  a  pocket  lens,  which  is 
practically  useless  when  the  objects  are  procured  in 
the  dipping  bottle.     If  the  tube  contains  anything  of 
value,  the  thumb  of  the  left  hand  should  be  placed 
upon  the  head   of  the  glass,  which  should  then  be 
turned  upside  down,  the  square  and  band  removed, 
and  the  water  gently  poured  into  a  medicine  bottle, 
this  being  a  shape  of  vessel  admirably  adapted  for 
carriage  in  a  pocket.     In  constructing  this  net,  it  is 
advisable  so  to  arrange  the  muslin,  that  when  travelling 
in  the  water  the  wire  may  precede  the  cane,  for,  when 
skimming,  if  the  shadow  of  the  framework  is  allowed 
to  pass  over  the  life  collected  on  the  surface  before 
the  wire  with  the  net  attached  is  able  to  follow  it  up, 
it  is  more  than  likely  that  many  specimens  will  make 
good  their  escape.     After  using  this  net  for  a  few 
minutes,  I  have  always  found  more  in  the  glass  tube 
than  others  have  been  able  to  collect  in  as  many  hours, 
while  using  the  favourite  bottle  and  stick  ;  and  it  is 
worth  remembering  that  each  plunge  of  the  dipping 
bottle  adds  seldom  less  than  half-a-pint  of  water  to 
the  total  amount  that  must  be  carried,  perhaps  for 


miles,  while  the  net  and  tube  increases  the  amount 
by  never  more  than  one  table-spoonful.  Indeed, 
I  have  frequently  returned  from  half-an-hour's  collect- 
ing with  enough  in  my  medicine  bottle  to  occupy  me 
for  many  evenings,  and  to  completely  colonise  a  two 
gallon  globe.  I  generally  cut  a  stick  from  the  nearest 
thicket,  to  lengthen  the  handle,  which  gives  one  a 
wider  field  for  netting,  the  size  of  which,  naturally,  is 
in  proportion  to  the  length  of  stick  obtained.  The 
whole  construction  of  this  net  is  so  simple  that  from 
the  boiling  of  the  cane  to  the  first  trial  in  the  water- 
butt,  occupied  me  for  little  more  than  an  hour,  and, 
to  adopt  the  language  of  advertisements,  "  since  that 
time  I  have  used  no  other." 

Should  these  explanations  not  be  sufficiently  clear 
to  enable  those  who  are  desirous  of  copying  my  design 
to  do  so  to  their  own  satisfaction,  I  shall  be  very 
pleased  to  forward  more  exact  dimensions,  and  a 
paper  pattern  of  my  own  net  to  any  who  may  apply 
for  it. 

Herbert  Alexander  Walters. 

77/i?  Hermitage,  Reigate. 


STUDIES  OF  COMMON  PLANTS. 
[Contuiiied  from  J>.  62.] 

No.  II. — The  Cuckoo-Pint  {Arum  maculatum) 
(continued). 

By  Charles  F.  W.  T.  Williams,  B.A.  Cantab. 

THE  next  disease  to  be  noted  is  one  which  fre- 
quently causes  mistake  and  annoyance  to  the 
ardent  searcher  after  micro-fungi.     I  mean  a  decom- 
position of  internal  cell  structure,  extending  over  but 
a  small  area,  and  clearly  apparent  to  the  naked  eye  in 
the  form  of  dirty  brown  or  light  spots.     Again  and 
again    beginners,    and    others,    who  I   presume   lay 
claim  to  being  something  more,  send  me  leaves  of  the 
arum  thus  marked,  in  the  fond  belief  that  they  have 
found   the   somewhat   uncommon    CEcidium  ari,    in 
large  quantities  !    Only  the  other  day,  I  heard  of  the 
case  of  a    gentleman  who  devoted   much  time  and 
trouble  to  the  examination  of  such  leaves,  but  in  the 
end  confessed  to  the  lady  who  had  brought  him  the 
valuable  specimens  that  "he  could  see  nothing."     It 
may  be  well  then  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  two 
forms  of  disease  which  should  be  distinctly  separated 
from    one  another  in  the  mind  and  the  eye  of   the 
enthusiastic  collector.     And  this  brings  me  to  speak 
of  the  actual  attack  of  the  fungus  known  as  CEcidium 
ari. 

In  the  first  place,  as  I  have  mentioned,  CEcidium  ari 
is  not  common.  The  leaves  on  which  it  appears  are 
not  always  marked  on  the  upper  side,  and,  as  is  so 
often  the  case,  are  more  frequently  healthy  in  appear- 
ance than  the  reverse.  In  general,  however,  there  is 
some  slight  indication  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 


8o 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


lamina  of  mischief  below.  On  turning  the  leaf  over, 
round  orange-coloured  spots  will  be  observed  scattered 
over  the  leaf,  and  in  some  cases  affecting  the  petiole. 
The  central  peridia  are  abortive.  Most  of  these 
points  can  easily  be  distinguished  with  the  naked 
eye. 

Dr.  Cooke's  description  is  as  follows  :  CEcidium  art, 
Berk. ;  wake-robin  cluster  cups  ;  spots  round,  con- 
fluent ;  peridia  circinative,  not  crowded,  central  ones 
abortive. 

The  whole  plant  seems  to  exist  very  comfortably 
even  when  severely  affected  with  this  fungus.  Many 
of  the  unhealthy  plants  of  arum  I  have  examined  this 
season  have  been  entirely  free  from  the  CEcidium, 
though  in  company  with  numbers  affected.  The 
plants  in  this  part  of  the  country  are  only  locally 
affected,  one  locality  only  furnishing  specimens. 

It  is  now  time,  I  think,  to  pass  on  to  the  contempla- 
tion of  that  interesting  and  curious  structure,  the 
spadix.  The  spadix  of  the  arum,  commonly  known 
as  "  the  flower,"  is  well  calculated  to  puzzle  the 
novice  at  botanical  description.  The  spadix  is 
enclosed  in  a  green  spathe,  considerably  longer  than 
the  spadix.  This  spathe,  on  opening,  is  sometimes 
found  to  be  spotted  in  the  same  manner  as  the  leaves, 
only  the  colour  is  brighter,  and  the  spots  have  the 
appearance  of  being  raised  above  the  surrounding 
tissue.  It  does  not  follow  that  the  plants  whose 
leaves  are  spotted  have  their  spathes  spotted  also. 
The  spadix  terminates  in  a  naked  cylindric  column 
contracted  below  the  middle.  The  colour  of  the 
column  is  dull  purple,  or  sometimes  yellow  ;  rarely 
white.  The  shades  of  purple  vary  somewhat,  but  it 
is  not  common  to  find  the  yellow  and  white  varieties, 
though  I  have  done  so  several  times  this  season. 

The  column  has  a  very  velvety  appearance  and  is 
beautifully  smooth  to  the  touch.  On  examination  it 
will  be  found  to  be  covered  externally  with  minute 
papillae,  secreting  colouring  matter  (Fig.  61).  These 
are  very  minute,  and  the  best  way  to  view  them  is  to 
take  a  very  thin  section  of  the  column  and  view  with 
a  \  or  \.  The  column  is  of  cellular  structure  with 
every  cell  so  closely  packed  with  starch  grains  that, 
as  in  the  corm,  it  is  very  difficult  to  discern  the  tissue 
of  which  it  is  composed,  except  in  the  centre  through 
which  run  cells  with  numerous  air  cavities  ;  raphides 
can  also  be  seen.  I  have  noticed  this  year  a  curious 
disease  of  the  column  which  may  possibly  be  common 
enough,  only  it  has  never  before  come  under  my 
notice.  In  numbers  of  cases  on  the  spathe  opening, 
I  have  discovered  the  terminative  column  of  the 
spadix  covered  with  a  mould.  In  some  instances  the 
column  presented  a  miserable  shrivelled  appearance, 
while  in  other  cases  perfect  size  was  gained.  In  very 
few  cases  did  the  diseased  column  affect  the  organs  of 
reproduction.  Many  of  the  plants  noted  by  me  as  so 
affected  are  now  in  fruit.  The  column  showed  very 
plain  signs  of  disease  throughout  its  structure.  If 
picked   and    brought  home   the   spadix   so  diseased 


gradually  reached  a  gelatinous  consistency,  and 
emitted  a  most  offensive  odour.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  have  the  work  of  some  authority,  on 
the  subject  of  this  mould.  Unfortunately,  the  time 
is  so  short  between  the  opening  of  the  spathe  and  the 
fall  of  the  column  that  almost  hourly  attention  would 
have  to  be  given  to  the  matter. 

Leaving  the  column  and  descending  the  spadix,  we 
come  first  of  all  to  a  ring  of  organs  which  in  reality 
are  aborted  stamens  or  staminodes  j  next  to  these  are 
a  crowd  of  sessile  anthers.  The  pollen  possesses  no 
special  feature  in  markings  or  shape.  Below  the 
anthers  are  a  ring  of  rudimentary  ovaries,-  and  lastly 
a  crowd  of  naked  sessile  ovaries.     Fig.  62  shows  the 


—ft, 


Fig.  61. — Papillae  from  the  column  of 
the  Spadix.    (Mag.) 


Fig.  62.  —  Spadix 
with  the  spathe 
removed,  a,  ex- 
tremity of  the 
spadix  ;  b,  stami- 
nodia ;  c,  sessile 
anthers;  d, 
naked  sessile 
ovaries. 


spadix  with  the  spathe  removed,  with  the  various 
organs  I  have  mentioned.  The  fruit  of  A.  maculatum 
is  a  berry,  a  large  quantity  being  clustered  together, 
bursting  the  base  of  the  spathe,  which  is  persistent. 
When  ripe  the  berry  becomes  red,  and  should  be 
most  carefully  avoided  by  all  persons  having  a 
tendency  to  taste  luscious-looking  berries,  or  the  result 
of  the  repast  may  be  alarming,  if  not  serious.  Should 
a  child  be  unfortunate  enough  to  eat  any  of  these 
berries,  an  emetic  should  be  given,  and  the  mouth 
should  be  carefully  cleansed  from  all  particles  of 
berries  remaining  there. 

There  is  one  curious  property  connected  with  this 
plant,  which  it  would  be  very  negligent  not  to  mention. 
I  mean  the  power  of  evolving  heat  possessed  by  the 
spadix  on  its  first  opening.     I  had  hoped  to  give  a 


HARDW TCKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


81 


table  of  my  own  experiments  on  this  subject  ;  but 
(hough  I  tried  time  after  time  to  take  a  reading,  I 
regret  to  say  I  failed.  Either  I  was  on  the  spot  too 
early  or  too  late,  and  I  have  really  nothing,  for  this 
season,  at  any  rate,  of  a  reliable  nature  to  record  on 
my  own  account.  I  must  content  myself,  therefore, 
by  giving  a  quotation  on  the  subject  from  the  late 
Professor  Balfour's  Class  Book  of  Botany,  p.  522. 
After  remarking  on  the  evolution  of  heat  during 
flowering,  and  the  fact  that  the  natural  order  Aroideae 
present  the  most  marked  instances  of  this  evolution, 
the  Professor  says,  "  Deubrocket's  examination  of 
the  spadix  of  Arum  maculatum  gives  the  following 
results  : — 


Date  and  Hour. 

Deviation  of 
Thermo-elec- 
tric Needle. 

Heat  of 

Spadix 
above  Air. 

Temperature 
of  Air. 

P.M. 

May  2nd,  4 

5-3° 
,,           6.30 

»>           7 

8 

9 

„         10 

* 

65 
58 
55 
44 
30 

J9 

0  F. 

I7'6 
18-7    - 
12-5 
io"6 

6-3 

3'4 

2'I 

0  F. 

59"9 
60*2 

60  "2 

6o'o 

59"5 
59-0 
58-6 

From  these  observations,  it  appears  that  the  maximum 
of  temperature  in  the  spadix  occurred  at  5.30  p.m., 
one  hour  and  a  half  after  the  complete  opening  of  the 
spathe,  and  that  the  heat  was  1870  above  that  of  the 
surrounding  air."  The  spadix  emits  a  curious  odour, 
resembling  that  of  the  thyrse  of  the  horse  chestnut. 

As  with  the  corm  so  with  the  fruit,  starch  and 
raphides  are  found  in  every  section  examined.  Pro- 
fessor Gulliver,  in  his  paper  on  "  Plant  Crystals," 
(Science-Gossip,  p.  97,  1S73)  mentions  the  occur- 
rence of  raphides  in  the  berry  of  A.  maculatum,  and 
on  page  98  gives  a  figure  of  the  same.  The  raphides 
of  the  berry  appear  to  be  larger  than  those  of  other 
parts  of  the  plant.  Many  months  will  have  to  pass 
before  again  an  opportunity  is  given  of  observing  in 
all  its  various  details  this  interesting  plant ;  but  when 
that  time  arrives,  there  will  yet  be  found  much 
material  for  examination,  and  a  field  for  isteresting 
research,  and  perchance  new  discoveries. 

Bath. 

Mr.  G.  C.  Walker,  F.R.C.S.,  writing  to  the 
"  Lancet,"  says  that  after  he  had  operated  for  cataract 
upon  a  favourite  fox-terrier  belonging  to  a  friend, 
chloroform  having  been  used,  the  animal  appeared 
after  the  operation  to  be  completely  dead,  none  of  the 
remedies  tried  producing  any  good  effect.  At  length 
it  occurred  to  him  to  employ  artificial  respiration  and 
nitrite  of  amyl  simultaneously,  instead  of  separately 
as  he  had  already  done.  The  result  was  that  "two 
or  three  compulsory  breathings  of  the  amyl  caused  the 
dog  to  jump  up  and  stagger  about  the  room  most 
actively."  Since  that  time  Mr.  Walker  makes  it  a 
rule  not  to  administer  chloroform  without  having 
nitrite  of  amyl  at  hand. 


MY  GARDEN  PETS. 

By    E.    H.    Robertson. 

Part  I. 

"  "\  70 U  are  so  fond  of  dumb  creatures,  have  you 
JL       no  other  pets  ?  "  was  one  day  the  enquiry  of 
a  friend,   who,  from  my  dining-room  window,  had 
been  long  admiring  my  trustful  window  pets. 

"Many,"  I  replied;  "follow  me,  and  you  shall 
see  them." 

I  led  him,  all  expectation,  into  my  garden,  where, 
at  a  few  paces  from  the  house,  stood  a  row  of  bee- 
hives, and  smilingly  was  about  to  remark  that  there 
were  a  few  thousands,  but  was  arrested  by  his  dis- 
appointed exclamation,  "Oh,  bees!"  "  This  does 
not  augur  well  for  his  interest  in  my  pets,"  thought  I, 
and  the  added  assertion,  "But  you  can't  make  pets 
of  them — they  can't  be  tamed — -such  little  things 
can't  possibly  know  you,''  drew  from  me  the  reply, 
"  Indeed  !  I  not  only  can,  but  do,  make  pets  of  them, 
and  they  certainly  know  me  as  well  as,  perhaps 
better  than,  the  birds  do." 

Although  politeness  kept  him  silent,  the  look  of 
incredulity  with  which  he  regarded  me  told  me 
plainly  what  he  thought. 

' '  Are  you  afraid  of  bees  ? "  I  asked.  His  stammered 
out  "  N-no.  Oh,  n-no,"  as,  after  turning  up  the 
collar  of  his  coat,  and  down  the  brim  of  his  felt  hat, 
he  plunged  his  hands  into  the  depths  of  his  trousers 
pockets,  and  fell  into  the  rear,  led  me,  however,  to 
think  that  it  would  be  wise  to  protect  him  from 
possible  attack. 

The  alacrity  with  which  he  retreated  into  the  house 
when  I  suggested  that  he  should  be  veiled  and  gloved 
did  just  a  little  amuse  me,  I  must  confess,  and  when 
I  add  that,  although  my  dear  friend  is  the  author  of 
works  treating  largely  upon  bees  and  ants,  he  yet 
does  not  really  know  the  difference  between  the 
largest  Bombus  and  an  ordinary  honey  bee,  I  think 
my  readers,  also,  will  give  free  scope  to  their  sense  of 
the  ludicrous.  Be-veiled,  be-gloved,  and  closely 
buttoned  up,  my  bee-literary  friend  was  again  brought 
forth,  to  be  led  to  a  spot  where  stood  my  four 
strongest  stocks.  It  was  a  lovely  summer  day, 
and,  honey  being  abundant,  my  pets  were,  in  their 
thousands,  pouring  in  and  out. 

"Aren't  you  afraid  of  their  stinging  you?  "  asked 
my  friend  tremblingly,  as,  standing  a  little  on  one 
side  of  a  hive,  so  as  to  allow  homing  bees  to  enter, 
I  placed  my  bare  hand  upon  the  alighting  board. 
I  made  no  reply,  and  as  the  in  and  out-flowing 
streams  passed  over  my  hand  and  I  yet  remained 
unhurt,  he  saw  that  his  question  was  unnecessary. 
Presently,  "Dear  me,  how  very  singular — most 
remarkable.  Evidently  look  upon  you  as  a  personal 
friend." 

"Well,  so  I  am." 


82 


HA  RD  WICKE'S   S  CIENCE-  G  OSS  IP. 


After  a  moment's  silence,  he  enquired,  "  Now, 
could  /  do  that  ?  " 

My  answer  did  not  encourage  him  to  try  the 
experiment.  "Certainly,  if  you  wish,  but  they  will 
possibly,  nay,  probably,  sting  you." 

"But  tell  me — if  you  can  do  it,  why  can't  I — why 
can't  any  or  everybody  else  ? " 

It  is  possible  that,  with  my  friend,  many  readers, 
who  may  also  be  bee-keepers,  would  like  to  know 
my  secret ;  know  how  they  may  pass  unscathed 
through  an  army  of  bees  ;  may  introduce  an  ungloved 
hand  into  the  midst  of  a  thickly  peopled  hive — in 
fact,  may  manipulate  with  the  tiny  creatures  as 
though  they  were  but  bits  of  cork  or  feathers.  Let 
me  at  once  assure  such  that,  although  quite  un- 
protected, I  move  and  operate  amongst  my  petted 
host,  I  yet  possess  no  secret  charm  ;  that  my  skill  is 
no  greater  than  that  of  a  large  number  of  bee  masters. 
Rigidly  observe  but  two  rules,  and  success  in 
manipulating  with  bees  is,  with  few  exceptions, 
assured.  They  may  be  made  as  much  pets  of  as 
dogs  or  birds.  The  first  is,  ever  to  deal  as  gently  as 
possible  with  them.  Never  jar,  jolt,  shake,  or  other- 
wise disturb  or  irritate  them.  The  second  is,  make 
them  become  as  familiar  as  possible  with  your  person. 
In  dealing  with  them  it  is  essential  that  it  should 
ever  be  borne  in  mind  that,  although  they  have  many 
enemies,  they  have  but  one  weapon  of  defence,  their 
sting  ;  which  is  never  used,  as  the  bee  believes, 
unnecessarily — its  effectual  use  meaning  certain  death 
to  the  devoted  possessor.  Some  persons  assert  that, 
if  a  bee  be  not  disturbed,  he  will  withdraw  his  sting 
without  injury  to  himself.  I  can  as  confidently  assert  , 
that  he  cannot. 

Show  that  you  are  not  a  foe,  but  a  friend,  and  you 
need  never  fear  being  stung,  that  is  to  say,  not 
intentionally.  I  use  this  word  advisedly,  because, 
the  slightest  pressure  on  the  creature's  abdomen  is 
sufficient  to  project  its  weapon,  and  should  the  inside 
of  a  sleeve  or  collar  be  selected  as  a  snug  retreat,  the 
almost  certain  result  will  be  the  tiny  puncture  which 
the  timid  so  much  dread. 

"It's  all  very  well,"  some  novice  may  exclaim, 
"it's  all  very  well  saying  show  yourself  to  be  a 
friend,  but  how  am  I  to  do  this  ?  When  I  approach 
my  bees  too  closely  I  am  invariably  beset." 

Let  me  say  that  all  depends  upon  the  way  in  which 
each  individual  beekeeper's  approaches  towards 
friendship  are  made. 

When  I  commenced  bee-keeping,  some  few  years 
since,  I  had  but  two  stocks  ;  I  have  now  fifty ;  and 
being,  of  course,  as  all  novices  are  in  any  new 
pursuit,  enthusiastic,  it  was  my  chief  delight  to  seat 
myself  upon  the  hive  bench  between  the  hives,  to 
watch  the  proceedings  of  the  busy  little  workers. 
To  familiarise  them  with  my  person,  I  frequently 
gently  placed  a  hand  upon  an  alighting  board,  and 
although  it  might  sometimes  be  covered  with  bees,  I 
never  withdrew  it  on  that  account,  and  finding,  after 


careful  examination,  that  no  danger  was  to  be 
apprehended,  they  would  re-enter  the  hive.  In  no 
instance  was  I  stung.  To  the  present  day,  I  occasion- 
ally, too,  adopt  the  following  plan.  However 
seemingly  indifferent  to  the  presence  of  a  stranger,  or 
foreign  body,  they  may  be  when  the  work  of  the  hive 
is  in  full  swing,  and  the  light  of  day  reveals  that 
presence,  it  is  quite  a  different  matter  when  the 
object  can  be  but  imperfectly  seen  in  the  dusk  of 
evening.  Disturb  a  hive  then,  and  instantly  the 
contented  hum  of  the  fanners  is  hushed,  and  not  one, 
nor  two,  but  many  brave  defenders  of  the  hive  issue 
forth,  to  discover  the  cause  of  the  disturbance  ;  some- 
times scores,  nay,  in  hot  weather  even  hundreds  rush 
out,  and  should  it  be  the  bee-keeper's  hand  placed 
before  the  mouth  of  the  hive  it  will  be  instantly 
covered  with  bees,  eager  to  inspect  every  part  of  it, 
and,  if  possible,  learn  its  nature.  The  arm,  both 
outside  and  inside  the  coat  sleeve,  will  be  ascended, 
and  a  few  more  inquisitive  than  their  fellows  will 
probably  cross  the  shoulders,  and  descending  the 
disengaged  arm  will,  if  it  be  placed  upon  the  hive, 
return  to  their  home  by  this  route.  It  requires  some 
little  moral  courage  to  remain  immovable  whilst  the 
alert  insects  thus  perambulate  one's  person.  Some 
short  time  since,  I  was  kept  a  prisoner  for  upwards 
of  twenty  minutes  before  the  last  of  my  pets  took 
his  departure. 

I  must  here  plead  guilty  to  a  practice  much  depre- 
cated by  many  bee-keepers,  nor  have  I  found  that 
any  evil  result  has  followed.  Of  course  I  exercise  a 
reasonable  amount  of  judgment  as  to  time,  place,  &c, 
having  far  too  great  a  regard  for  my  pets  to  imperil 
their  safety  simply  for  the  gratification  of  a  whim. 
I  allude  to  occasional  open-air  feeding — to  me  a 
source  of  pleasure — to  my  friends  of  wonderment. 
Always  choosing  a  warm  spring  or  summer  day,  I 
select  a  sunny  spot  in  my  garden  or  orchard,  some 
distance  removed  from  my  hives,  and  place  on  the 
ground  an  open  pan  or  dish  filled  with  syrup,  upon 
the  surface  of  which  float  strips  of  perforated  wood 
or  cork,  to  prevent  danger  to  the  bees.  Not  long 
have  I  to  wait,  for  in  and  near  an  apiary  they  are 
ever  skimming  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  visiting 
plant  and  flower  in  search  of  honey  and  polltn. 
Sometimes  immediately,  occasionally  after  the  lapse 
of  two  or  three  minutes,  a  sharp-scented  bee  alights, 
and  after  taking  his  fill  of  the  luscious  feast,  flies 
home.  Meanwhile,  probably,  two  or  three  others 
have  also  been  gathering  a  supply  ;  whether  or  not, 
the  first  will  certainly  soon  return,  quickly  followed 
by  some  of  his  brethren.  Half-a-dozen  soon  becomes- 
a  score,  these  soon  increase  to  hundreds,  until,  as 
the  news  spreads,  the  air  becomes  filled  with  bees, 
all  bound  to  or  from,  or  in  search  of,  the  store. 
Should  the  supply  be  a  long  continued  one,  there  is 
no  limit  to  the  vast  horde,  and  when  at  last  it 
becomes  exhausted,  the  vessel  is  found  to  contain  a 
seething  mass  of  black  bodies  and  glittering  wings,. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


33 


mingled  with  slips  of  wood  and  cork  tossing  upon  a 
troubled  living  sea.  Thrust,  without  injury  to  the 
bees,  a  hand  into  their  midst,  and  though  ten  thousand 
should  be  present,  not  a  sting  will  be  received  ; 
sharply  tap  the  pan  and  a  thick  cloud  will  arise  ; 
carry  it  away  but  a  few  feet,  the  insects  will  follow, 
and  so  eagerly  intent  are  they  upon  gaining  the 
treasure  that,  regardless  of  all  else,  they  immediately 
again  settle.  When  holding  the  pan  in  my  hand,  so 
thickly  have  I  sometimes  been  enveloped  by  the 
cloud  of  eager  honey-seekers,  that  timid  onlookers 
have  often  declared  that  I  have  been  almost  obscured 
by  them.  Realising  at  last  that  the  supply  has 
stopped,  the  army  gradually  disperses,  the  loud  hum 
ceases,  and  the  business  of  the  apiary  proceeds  as 
usual.  Not  a  few  patient  gatherers  most  persistently 
hover  about  the  spot  until  darkness  falls  ;  many  will 
most  certainly  return  to-morrow,  and  each  succeeding 
day,  and,  should  the  syrup  have  been  often  ad- 
ministered in  the  same  place,  all  through  the  summer 
my  pets  will  be  ever  seeking  for  a  fresh  supply,  and 
when  seated  on  my  lawn  I  am  usually  attended  by  a 
goodly  company  of  my  satellites.  If  I  were,  however, 
to  bestow  my  sweet  gifts  with  too  bountiful  a  hand, 
my  whole  apiary  would  soon  be  in  a  fierce  commotion, 
and  my  pets  would  become  so  demoralised  that 
serious  mischief  might  result.  As  it  is,  I  carefully 
watch,  to  discover  if  robbing  is  likely  to  take  place. 
Should  I  find  that  robbers  are  striving  to  effect  an 
■entrance  into  any  particular  hive,  I  immediately 
narrow  the  entrance,  and  a  liberal  administration  of 
carbolic  acid  and  water  puts  an  effectual  stopper 
upon  their  plundering  proclivities. 

I  never  indulge  in  the  amusement,  except  in  suitable 
weather,  and  would  here  warn  bee-keepers  who  may 
be  tempted  to  try  the  experiment,  not  to  entice  the 
little  fellows  from  their  snug  homes  when — although 
the  sun  may  be  shining — the  wind  may  be  cold,  or 
the  result  will  assuredly  be  the  opposite  to  that  de- 
sired. There  are  few  living  creatures  so  susceptible 
to  changes  in  temperature  as  the  great  family  of  the 
Hymenoptera.  The  amount  of  labour  performed  by 
them  is,  to  a  considerable  extent,  determined  by  the 
degree  of  heat,  and  the  hygrometric  condition  of  the 
atmosphere.  It  appears,  however,  to  be  not  so  much 
the  prevailing  temperature  as  the  fluctuation  which 
most  affects  them — sudden  falls  being  particularly 
obnoxious  to  them.  For  example  at,  say,  500,  my 
pets  are  quiescent — but  let  a  sudden  rise  to  700  take 
place,  and  all  is  life  and  activity.  The  delighted  in- 
sects issue  from  the  hives  in  their  thousands  to  gyrate 
and  rise  and  fall  in  the  welcome  sunshine,  repeating 
on  the  following  day  their  merry  dance  ;  finally,  if 
the  weather  remain  propitious,  scattering  to  every 
point  of  the  compass  in  search  of  provender.  Should 
the  temperature  continue  to  rise,  as  it  almost  invari- 
ably does,  for  about  a  fortnight,  in  March,  each 
returning  day  brings  with  it  renewed  activity,  till  the 
air  becomes  resonant  with  their  cheerful  hum. 


But  suddenly  all  is  changed — dense  clouds  obscure 
the  sun — the  wind  is  chill,  for  as  quickly  as  the  tem- 
perature rose  from  500  to  700,  and  thence  up  to  900 
or  ioo°,  it  once  more  falls  to  700 — the  heat  which  so 
delighted  them  but  perhaps  one  short  week  before — 
yet  now  all  is  still,  not  a  bee  ventures  beyond  the 
door  of  his  home,  and  the  merry  active  little  rascals 
of  yesterday  are  to-day  sluggish  and  inactive.  'Tis 
the  suddenness  of  the  alternation  that  has  wrought 
this  change,  and  when  the  sensitive  little  fellow 
gets  accustomed  to  the  lower  temperature,  he  will 
once  more  set  to  work. 

(7o  be  continued.) 


THE  ANEMONES  OF  THE  ALPS. 
By  C.  Parkinson,  F.G.S. 

VERY  soon  after  the  snows  and  frosts  have  dis- 
appeared from  the  lower  valleys  of  the  Alps, 
and  the  sun  gains  power  in  the  lengthening  days  of 
early  spring,  the  brilliant  anemones  of  the  Alps  burst 
into  flower,  throwing  such  colour  into  the  woodland 
and  hillside  scenery,  as  only  Swiss  flowers  can  do.  In 
February,  we  may  commence  to  search  in  sheltered 
copses  for  the  delicate  hepatica  (which  Swiss 
botanists  include  in  the  genus  Anemone).  From  a 
warm  layer  of  moist,  leafy  mould,  the  strong  shoots 
of  the  Hepatica  put  forth,  surrounded  by  the  dull, 
brownish-green,  trilobed  leaves  of  the  previous  year, 
which  remain  hardy  throughout  winter.  The  tiny 
shoot  is  protected  by  a  silvery  white  covering,  from 
which  the  blue,  pink,  or  white  sepals  are  quickly 
drawn  out  on  a  slender  stem  by  a  few  days  of  sun- 
shine. Later  on,  a  profusion  of  fresh  green  leaves 
are  produced,  and  the  woods  are  brilliant  with 
colour. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  common  hyacinth 
of  English  woods  is  not  known  in  the  Swiss  flora, 
and  the  hepatica  (Anemone  triloba)  certainly  takes  its 
place.  Very  early  in  March,  and  abounding  in 
woods  with  the  hepatica,  the  graceful  little  wood 
anemone  (A.  nemorosa),  is  as  plentiful  as  in  English 
I  woods.  A  fortnight  later,  or  perhaps  early  in  April, 
the  Anemone  ranunculoides  covers  the  moist 
meadows  with  golden  flowers.  The  roots  of  this 
species  spread  in  light,  damp  soils  in  a  wonderful 
manner ;  creeping  around,  and  putting  up  fresh 
shoots  in  all  directions.  The  sepals  are  usually  five, 
and  less  pointed  than  the  yellow  anemone.  We 
recollect,  as  figured  in  Sowerby's  "  English  Botany," 
the  flowers  are  mostly  solitary,  but  sometimes  two  or 
three  on  a  single  stem,  the  deeply  cut  leaves  branch- 
ing from  the  same  stem. 

In  March  also  we  may  look  on  grassy  ledges, 
higher  up  among  the  mountain  paths,  for  the  deep 
violet-coloured  Anemone  montana,  which  braves  the 
early   winds   of  spring.     It   is   essentially   a   robust 


84 


BARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


plant,  covered  with  a  thick  down  of  silvery  hairs, 
which  lend  a  peculiar  beauty  to  this,  and  several 
kindred  species.  The  carpels  also,  are  very  hand- 
some with  their  long  hairs  and  silver  down.  The 
plant  attains  considerable  height,  and  specimens  we 
have  gathered  have  measured  from  12-16  inches. 
It  is  much  larger  in  growth  than  an  English  pasque 
flower  (Anemone  Pulsatilla),  which  we  may  also  look 
for  in  Switzerland  on  the  borders  of  woods  ;  it  is, 


beauty  ;  indeed  the  fields  covered  with  A.  sulplurea, 
near  the  village  of  Simplon  are  worth  the  expedition 
up  the  pass  to  see. 

Anemone  Baldensis  is  a  small  species,  having  a 
single  longish  stem,  and  white  flower  of  7-8  sepals, 
and  delicately  cut  leaves  chiefly  radical,  but  leaflets 
clasping  the  stem. 

In  order  to  clearly  express  the  different  species,  we 
give  the  following  classification. 


Fig.  63. — Anemone  Pulsatilla,  L. 


Fig.  64. — Anemone  Montana,  Hoppe. 


however,  of  humble  growth,  averaging  a  few  inches 
in  height,  and  having  the  sepal  reversed  at  the  tip. 
Less  common,  and  at  a  greater  altitude  Anemone 
Halleri  (DC.)  is  found,  having  lilac  sepals  ;  standing 
erect,  and  more  hoary-looking  than  A.  montana, 
which,  however,  it  resembles.  Any  of  the  three  last 
species  may  occasionally  be  found  with  white  sepals. 
A.  vemalis  is  a  lovely  plant.  We  have  found  it  in 
April  and  May  some'  3000  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
leaves  are  all  radical,  the  whole  plant  is  hairy,  with 
an  involucre  of  linear,  downy  segments  immediately 
beneath  the  white  sepals  which  are  exquisitely 
shaded  on  the  back.  The  narcissus-like  anemone  is 
plentiful  on  grassy  slopes  from  2000  to  3000  feet 
above  the  sea,  flowering  in  May.  The  large  Alpine 
anemone  and  its  sulphur-coloured  variety  may  be 
found   in    May  and  June  on  the  Simplon  in  great 


Genus  Anemone  (L.). 

Sepals  5-10,  coloured  ;  petals,  none  ;  stamens, 
numerous  ;  carpels,  1 -seeded  ;  usually  an  involucrum 
of  cut  leaves. 

o.  Leaves  radical,  stem  furnished  with   involucrum, 
carpels  plumed. 

1.  A.  alpina  (L.).  Involucrum  leaf-like ;  short 
pedicel ;  large  flower  ;  solitary,  white  sepals  ;  plant 
hairy  ;  leaves  deeply  cut  and  divided. 

2.  A.  sulphured  (L.).  Regarded  by  many  botanists 
as  a  variety  of  A.  alpina  ;  plant  hoary,  and  covered 
with  white  hairs  ;  sepals  sulphur  colour  ;  involucrum 
slighter  than  the  previous  one,  but  also  tripartite. 

3.  A.  vcrnalis  (L.).  A  beautiful  plant  covered  with 
hairs ;   involucrum    close    below   the   single    flower, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


85 


consisting  of  narrow  segments  ;  sepals  mostly  white, 
clove  coloured,  or  silvery  at  the  back. 

4.  A.  Pulsatilla  (pasque  flower).  Plant  some  six 
inches  high ;  silvery  down  over  leaves,  stem  and 
back  of  sepals,  carpels  feathery,  sepals  violet 
pointed,  bell  shaped,  and  hardly  curved  back  at  the 
points  ;  involucrum  of  linear  downy  leaflets  ;  leaves 
small,  delicately  cut,  and  few  in  number.  (We 
believe  this  is  figured  in  Weber's  "Alpine  Flora," 
vol.  i.  as  A.  Halleri.) 


involucrum  of  3,  5  divisions ;  leaves  3  divided  and 
subdivided  (a  variety  occurs  with  one  flower,  A. 
monanthos). 

8.  A.  ranunculoides  (L.).  Sepals  yellow  ;  1-3  flowers 
on  a  stem  ;  involucrum  leaf-like  ;  carpels  pointed. 

9.  A.  Baldensis  (L.).  Single  flower  ;  white  oval 
sepals  6-9  ;  leaflets  of  involucrum  twice  ternate, 
leaves  the  same. 

10.  A.  sylvestris  (L.).  Single  flower,  large  white 
sepals  ;  leaves  5-partite  ;  unequally  serrated. 


Fig.  65.— Anemone  Halleri.     (After  plate  in  Bennett's  "Alpine  Plants,"  vol.  i.) 


5.  A.  montana  (Hoppe).  Plant  much  larger  than 
A.  Pulsatilla,  of  similar  growth  ;  sepals  more  turned 
back,  growing  12-16  inches  high  ;  leaves  cleaner  cut, 
spreading;  flowers  bend  down  in  a  remarkable  manner, 
and  colour  is  deeper  than  that  of  the  pasque  flower. 

6.  A.  Halleri  (DC).  Sepals  lilac,  about  six  in 
number,  spreading,  not  so  downy  on  the  back  ; 
prominent  involucrum  of  broader  dark  green  segments. 
A  strong  plant,  with  thick  stem  and  few  leaves 
(beautifully  figured  in  Bennett's  "  Alpine  Plants," 
vol.  i.). 

/8.   Carpels  not  plumed,  involucre  sessile. 

7.  A.  narcissiflova  (L.).  Several  white  flowers  in 
a    terminal    cluster    or    umbel ;     carpels   glabrous ; 


11.  A.  nemorosa  (wood  anemone).  Identical  with 
our  English  wind  flower. 

12.  A.  hepatka  (Bepatica  triloba).  Involucrum  of 
3  entire  calyx-like  divisions ;  sepals  blue,  white  or 
pink ;  leaves  boldly  tribobed ;  each  part  entire  ;  carpels 
pointed. 

Of  A.  hortensis  (L.),  with  rose-coloured  terminal 
flower,  10-12  sepals,  given  by  Mortier,  in  "Flore 
Analytique  de  la  Suisse,"  as  a  doubtful  plant  near 
Montreux  we  can  find  nothing. 

The  Physical  and  Chemical  Laboratories  of  Uni- 
versity College,  Bangor,  were  opened  by  Sir  William 
Thomson  on  February  12.  A  description,  with  plans 
of  them,  may  be  found  in  "  Nature  "  for  February  26. 


S6 


HARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


NOTES  ON   NAIADES. 

IN  number  239,  p.  261,  Mr.  W.  Gain  records  the 
taking  of  some  large  examples  of  Unio 
pictorum,  4}-!  in.  long  (I  take  the  length  as  from  umbo 
to  front  margin,  analogous  to  the  apex  and  lip  of  a 
gasteropod,  not  as  taken  by  Mr.  Gain)  and  asks 
whether  that  size  has  been  exceeded.  I  can  answer 
him  in  the  affirmative.  I  have  in  my  cabinet  some 
Unio pictorum,  the  dimensions  and  weight  (Avoir.)  of 
some  of  them  being  as  given  below. 

in.  in.  oz. 

2i6  X  5     =  2\  over. 

2tb  x  5     =  4   nearly. 

2     X  5ts  =  3i  over. 

2^  x  si  =  31 

2is  X  5+    =  3*  over. 

These  are  careful,  fair  measurements,  the  weight 
.not  being  given  exact  in  every  case,  as  will  be  seen. 

The  shells  are  clean  and  beautifully  grown,  with 
little  erosion  even  on  the  umbones,  and,  so  far  as  my 
knowledge  goes,  they  are  the  finest  of  their  kind 
ever  seen.     The  following  are  Unio  tumidus, 

in.  in.         oz. 

2^     X  4^  =  5i 

2 16  X  4'i  =  5f  nearly. 

2|    X  4  =  5    over. 

2l   X  5  =  5f  nearly. 

Both  the  species  occur  in  a  pool  near  Birmingham, 
which  may  fairly  be  called  dirty,  having  the  muddiest 
basin  I  ever  saw,  with  abundance  of  decaying  vege- 
table matter. 

I  think  I  may  answer  for  the  accuracy  of  Mr.  Gain's 
identification  of  the  species,  which  is  also  confirmed 
by  Mr.  J.  W.  Taylor  ("Jour,  of  Conchology,"  No.  4, 
vol.  vii.  p.  224).  This,  for  the  satisfaction  of  Mr.  E. 
Harmer  (Science-Gossip,  No.  240,  p.  280). 

In  order  to  make  this  a  little  record  of  giant  Naiades 
let  me  note  the  following  : — ■ 

In  Science-Gossip,  No.  43,  p.  160,  Mr.  W.  Ham- 
brough  records  two  fine  shells  of  Anodonta  cygnea, 
taken  at  Worthing,  of  the  following  dimensions. 

7^  in.  X  45  in.  and  8  in.  X  5  in. 

(The  shells  are  measured  as  Mr.  Gain's — the  longest 
way  being  taken  as  the  "  length.") 

No.  125,  p.  11S,  Mr.  A.  W.  Langdon,  of  Hastings, 
gives  the  size  of  a  Southampton  shell  of  this  species 
as  75  inches  wide. 

No.  126,  p.  136,  Mr.  Sclater  crowns  all,  by  record- 
ing two  of  the  largest  shells  of  which  I  have  heard,  one 
being  85  inches  wide,  the  other  over  9  inches  wide, 
both  from  the  river  Dart.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  whether  these  fine  shells  are  still  in  existence, 
and  to  have  their  portraits. 

No.  129,  p.  212,  Mr.  W.  Budden  gives  7  inches  as  the 
width  of  a  shell  in  his  possession  taken  near  Ipswich. 
The  largest  shells  I  have  from  this  neighbourhood  are 


6£   in.    wide.       All    the   widest    shells    among   the 

Unionidre  I  have  seen  have  occurred  in  pools,  the 

placid  and  even  conditions  of  their  life  enabling  them 

to  increase  the  size  of  their  shell,  while  in  rivers  and 

streams  they  rather  increase  it  in  strength,  the  usually 

rough  pebbly  or  coarse  sandy  bed  in  which  they  live, 

being  inimical  to  their  expansive  growth.     I  have  a 

grand  shell  of  the  variety  incrassata  {A.  cygnea)  sent 

to  me  some  years  ago  by  Dr.  Buchanan  White,  which 

weighs  7  oz.,  an  extraordinary  weight  for  this  species  ; 

an  average  shell  of  the  same  superficial  measure  would 

weigh   under   \   oz.     Like    Unio   margaritifer,  with 

which  it  dwelt  in  the  river  Earn,  it  had  to  construct 

a  house  which  would  withstand  the  knocking  of  stones, 

and  it  has  successfully  done  it,  coming  out  of  the 

conflict  scathless — here  is  beautiful  adaptation.    I  have 

much  to  say  about  my  old  friends  the  Naiades,  which 

I    hope   to   have   an   opportunity   of  saying    "some 

day." 

I  am  pleased  to  see  the  growing  interest  taken  in 

conchology  as  evidenced  by  the  frequent  notes  in  your 

columns.     I   remember  the  time  when  they  were  few 

and  far  between. 

G.  Sherriff  Tye. 

Ilandsworth,  near  Birmingham. 


JAPAN  WHITE,  OUR  WHITE  BUTTERFLIES 
IN  JArAN. 

By  the  Author  of  "  Insect  Variety." 

I  SEE  from  my  window  a  white  butterfly  fluttering 
and  settling  on  the  cabbage  beds.  She  scents 
each  leaf  over  with  a  quick  electric  touch  from  the 
knobs  of  her  antenna;,  and  when  she  is  persuaded  she 
is  right,  the  extremity  of  her  body  is  depressed  with  a 
spasm,  and  a  melon-shaped  egg  remains  glued  to  the 
spot.  Once  upon  a  time  the  white  butterflies  had 
only  the  wild  cruciform  flowers  to  resort  to,  and  it  is 
evident  that  the  increase  of  cabbage  culture  has 
multiplied  their  numbers  in  Europe,  for  in  northern 
Spain  they  are  not  nearly  so  abundant  in  the  fields  as 
the  Bath  whites,  nor  in  Italy  are  they  as  common  as 
the  black  veined,  and  in  these  countries  cabbages  do 
not  in  the  same  degree  populate  the  wilderness.  The 
green  vein,  on  the  other  hand,  has  no  sense  for  the 
alien  vegetation  of  the  garden,  and  is  still  a  wild 
butterfly.  To  purloin  her  eggs  you  must  go  down  to 
the  inky  pool  mantled  over  with  water-cresses,  and 
watch  there  until  a  vagrant  piece  of  white  calico 
comes  dabbling  in  the  mire,  or  you  must  track  her 
whims  on  the  chalk  cliff  where  the  scentless  mignonette 
shoots  rank.  She  is  yet  wild  as  the  wolves,  and  has 
none  of  the  cat  and  poodle  nature  of  your  cabbage 
whites. 

I  have  reared  both  the  small  white,  and  the  green 
vein  from  the  egg.  Until  they  attain  the  length  of 
seven   lines   there   is   little   to  discriminate  the  two 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


87 


caterpillars,  save  that  that  of  the  small  white  is  the 
greater  coward,  for  stretching  its  prolegs  backwards 
you  will  frequently  observe  it  reposing  flat  on  the 
cabbage  leaf,  while  that  of  the  green  vein  walks  with 
head  erect  contemplating  the  sky.  After  this  stage, 
the  caterpillar  of  the  small  white  commonly  acquires 
some  orange  in  the  clear  line  along  its  back,  and  an 
orange  speck  on  and  behind  its  spiracles.  In  this 
country  the  small  white  butterfly  is  white  or  pale  buff, 
and  the  yellow  on  the  under-side  is  buff  or  canary 
yellow ;  it  has  also  its  pale  spring  and  darker  summer 
brood,  differing  in  the  amount  of  black  marking 
which  needs  the  midsummer  sun  for  its  full  develop- 
ment. Perhaps  the  buff  coloured  variety,  which  is  not 
the  result  of  any  especial  food,  is  commoner  in  spring. 
The  green  vein  varies  in  precisely  the  same  manner  ; 
but  I  have  never  noticed  the  under-surface  of  the 
hinder  wings  buff  in  this  country.  In  Lombardy, 
where  we  meet  with  larger  races  of  butterflies,  the 
green  vein  may  be  found  with  a  buff  under-surface  to 
the  hinder  wings  ;  and  this  form  so  nearly  approaches 
the  small  whites  of  southern  Europe,  that  no  disciple 
of  Linnaeus  could  with  any  confidence  say  to  what 
species  a  white  butterfly  from  that  portion  of  the 
globe  should  be  referred. 

But  to  trace  the  ancestry  of  the  white  butterflies,  I 
would  as  soon  go  east  as  south.  On  reading  the 
Entomologist's  Monthly  Magazine,  for  September, 
1883,  my  eye  was  caught  by  a  paragraph  by  Mr.  H. 
Pryer  stating  that  he  had  bred  from  eggs  laid  by  P. 
napi  many  specimens  of  a  summer  brood  that  proved 
to  be  the  P.  Mekte,  hitherto  considered  a  distinct 
species  of  butterfly.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Pryer  in  Japan, 
and  he  had  the  kindness  to  forward  me,  through  Mr. 
Janson,  quite  a  series  of  Japan  whites,  the  oriental 
races  of  our  small  white  and  green  vein.  But,  as  I 
said  before,  the  butterflies  and  moths  we  knew  in  our 
school  days  are  giants  when  we  see  them  come  from 
Japan.  The  climate  of  the  south  of  Europe  adds  a 
good  quarter  of  an  inch  to  the  wing  expanse  of  the 
green  vein,  which  becomes  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
when  we  arrive  at  Japan,  and  these  larger  forms  have 
the  same  buff  colour  on  the  under-surface  of  the 
hinder  wings.  In  Japan,  as  in  England,  the  spring 
variety  (Megamera)  is  more  or  less  immaculate  above, 
and  beneath  the  hinder  wings  the  veins  are  strongly 
chalked ;  while  the  summer  variety  (^Melete)  is  a 
counterpart  of  our  dusky  summer  form  :  Science- 
Gossip,  for  iS8j,  p.  221,  d).  The  spring  variety 
appears  from  March  to  April,  the  summer  variety 
from  May  to  August.  (See  Mr.  Pryer's  paper.  Trans. 
Ent.  Soc.  Lond.  1882,  p.  48.)  In  England  the 
dark  female  green  veins  appear  in  May  and  June,  and 
I  fancy  they  result  from  a  retardation  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  butterfly  in  the  chrysalis  stage,  and  a 
consequent  greater  exposure  to  the  photographic 
action  of  light.  With  regard  to  the  small  white 
butterfly  in  Japan  (var.  crucivora),  the  female  is  a 
little  dark,  as  it  is  sometimes  with  us  in  summer  (but 


perhaps  there  is  also  a  spring  variety),  it  is  a  trifle 
larger,  but  does  not  differ  in  marking  from  those  of 
our  own  cabbage  beds  ;  it  is  a  swarthy  race.  The 
big  cabbage  white,  which  I  believe  every  physiologist 
will  recognise  in  India,  despite  an  idea  to  rebaptise 
it,  has  been  thought  likewise  to  extend  to  Japan 
(Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  15  Nov.  1SS1),  but  Mr.  Pryer  has 
not  noticed  it  there. 

Now,  somewhat  for  microscopists,  who  will  find  ia 
insect  physiology  plenty  of  wonderful  research.  Let 
any  one  hold  a  white  butterfly  from  Japan  to  the 
light,  and  a  play  of  yellow  radiance  kindles  on  the 
wings  like  the  glare  of  a  lamp,  or  the  hue  that  falls 
on  Alpine  snow  at  sunset.  This  tincture  of  a  warmer 
sky,  peculiar  to  white  butterflies  in  the  east,  is  owing 
to  the  scales  lying  in  even  rows  on  the  wings  so  as  to- 
throw  alternate,  distinct  lines  of  reflection  ;  whereas 
on  the  wings  of  our  ill-fledged  kinds,  light  grows  as 
confused  as  it  does  on  ground  glass  and  sea  foam. 
Nor  can  I  doubt  but  that  these  muslin  wings,  shimmer- 
ing with  golden  tinsel,  are  the  delight  of  ardent  eyes, 
on  the  sunburnt  meadows  of  Japan,  just  as  the  little 
striations  along  the  plumes  of  a  male  purple  emperor 
bathe  the  forest  gloom  in  lovely  blue  light  that  blinds- 
the  diamond  insect  eye  with  all  the  fascination  of  the 
prism.  To  produce  these  beautiful  colours  all  that  is 
required  is  a  smooth  evenly  striated  surface.  My 
bookbinder  has  bound  my  last  volumes  of  Science- 
Gossip  in  a  lively  blue  that  retains  its  gloss,  the 
surface  of  the  cover  being  covered  with  minute  beading.. 
When  I  hold  the  cover  away  from  the  light  it  is  blue, 
when  I  place  it  against  the  light  it  is  orange.  Seen 
nearer,  the  little  beads  have  their  shady  side  blue,  and 
their  bright  side  orange,  a  matter  which  fairly  puzzled 
an  old  writer  in  the  "  Insecten  Belustigung,"  who 
appears  to  have  supposed  that  the  notches  along  the 
scales  of  the  purple  emperors  had  their  two  surfaces- 
differently  coloured.  But  any  object  that  absorbs  blue 
rays,  as  a  white  butterfly  with  a  tinge  of  blue,  or  a 
butterfly,  more  intensely  blue,  must,  if  it  be  a  good 
reflector,  reflect  the  complementary  colour,  and  an 
orange  butterfly  the  reverse.  Some  call  the  natural 
colour  chemical,  and  the  other  the  dioptric  ;  if  so  the 
white  butterflies  in  Japan  have  a  dioptric  light.  Could 
we  not  apply  the  matter  to  increase  the  light  of  our 
lighthouses,  and  make  them  dioptrics  ?  On  the  sugges- 
tion of  a  leaf-cricket,  I  once  thought  a  file  attached 
to  a  drum  and  fiddled  on  would  make  a  good  fog 
signal,  but  a  mechanical  friend  said  it  would  never 
hold  its  own  with  the  steam  whistle. 


On  February  5th,  the  Duke  of  Westminster  laid 
the  foundation  stone  of  the  new  Chester  Museum, 
which  is  "intended  for  teaching,  for  study,  and  for 
exhibition."  Readers  of  the  life  of  Charles  Kingsley 
and  of  "Town  Geology"  will  hardly  need  to  be 
reminded  of  the  interest  he  took  in  the  Chester 
Natural  History  Society. 


88 


HARDW/CKE'S  SCIENCE-G  OSS/ P. 


NOTES  ON  FASCIATION. 

THE  subject  of  abnormal  growth  is  always 
associated  with  various  conclusions  as  to  the 
origin,  use,  &c,  of  such  abnormalities,  consequently 
your  previous  correspondents  came  to  different 
conclusions.  Mr.  Gibb  does  not  hesitate  to  con- 
clude that  fasciation  has  its  origin  in  the  embryo, 
and  in  this  conclusion  I  think  he  is  well  supported 
by  such  instances  as  the  cauliflower,  and  celosia  ;  in 
both,  fasciation  has  become  hereditary,  and  the 
malformation  is  perpetuated  by  seed.  Last  summer 
I  paid  some  attention  to  the  subject  and  found  that 
fasciation  was  far  more  common  in  cultivated  plants 
than  iu  our  wild  flowers.  Amongst  the  former  I 
found  the  compositae  especially  prone  to  fasciation 
of  the  flower  heads,  dahlias,  zinnias,  and  heli- 
chrysums  often  occurring  with  misshapen  and  enlarged 
heads,  due  to  the  cohesion  of  the  capitulum  in  an 
early  state  of  growth.  Azalea  Indica,  and  rose  "  Paul 
Neron  "  were  both  affected  with  a  flattened  kind  of 
stem,  which  was  clearly  traceable  to  fasciation ;  in 
these  two  cases  the  terminal  bud  died,  so  that  I  had 
no  chance  of  further  observing  the  growth. 

Amongst  wild  flowers,  I  noticed  the  common  daisy 
{Bellis  perennis),  with  an  abnormal  flower  head.  The 
white  dead-nettle  [Latnium  album)  I  found  with  a 
thickened  stem,  in  which  I  was  unable  to  trace  any- 
thing pointing  to  two  cohesive  stems,  owing  to  the 
whole  of  the  stem  being  very  curiously  curved  and 
twisted.  I  planted  last  April  a  few  plants  of  Chry- 
santhemum k'ueanthemum  (the  ox-eye  daisy),  taken 
from  a  poor  pasture,  in  good  garden  soil.  From  one 
of  the  plants  a  few  misshapen  flowers  were  produced, 
which,  on  close  examination,  I  found  to  be  due  to 
the  fasciation  of  the  capitulum.  I  isolated  the  plant 
by  removing  it  with  a  large  ball  of  earth,  and  let  it 
seed  itself.  This  spring  there  are  some  fifty  or 
sixty  seedlings  growing  under  and  around  the  old 
plant,  and  I  shall  carefully  note  what  proportion  of 
them  have  abnormal  flowers.  I  noted  one  other 
instance  where  the  seed  does  not  seem  to  me  to 
perpetuate  abnormal  growth.  Sedum  glaucum  when 
taken  from  rockwork  and  planted  in  rich  soil  pro- 
duces "coxcombs,"  which  are  due  to  coalescence  of 
two  or  more  stems,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  find 
the  character  in  seedling  plants. 

In  examining  cases  of  abnormal  growth,  care  must 
always  be  taken  to  distinguish  between  mere 
redoublement  of  the  parts  of  a  flower,  and  en- 
largement due  to  the  phenomenon  of  fasciation. 

John  W.  Odell. 
Pinner. 


Sir  John  Lubbock  points  out  that  in  old  holly- 
trees  the  leaves  above  the  reach  of  browsing  cattle 
tend  to  lose  their  spines.  Have  any  of  our  readers 
observed  this  1 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

The  question  of  civilisation  and  eyesight  still  con- 
tinues to  engage  attention  in  recent  numbers  of 
"  Nature."  Lord  Rayleigh  suggests  that  the  reputed 
.  advantages  attributed  to  savages  are  not  possessed  by 
them,  inasmuch  as  a  limit  is  imposed  on  the  power 
of  sight  by  the  aperture  of  the  eye,  which  limit  he 
thinks  is  nearly  reached  by  civilised  physicists,  and 
that  any  superiority  which  savages  enjoy  is  a  question 
of  interpretation  of  what  they  see.  'Mr.  Rand 
Capron  considers  that  aperture  may  not  be  a  fixed 
quantity,  but  variable  in  different  cases,  and  capable 
of  modification  ;  while  Mr.  G.  A.  Berry  suggests  that 
among  civilised  peoples,  where  the  law  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  is  to  some  extent  frustrated,  those 
who  suffer  from  short  sight  naturally  tend  to  those 
occupations  which  suit  their  condition,  tending  also 
to  perpetuate  the  condition  in  connection  with  those 
occupations. 

In  a  paper  on  British  Snakes  lately  read  before  the 
Warrington  Field  Club,  Mr.  L.  Greening  describes  in 
an  interesting  and  popular  manner  the  structure  and 
habits  of  these  animals. 

In  a  recent  lecture  on  the  Solar  Corona,  Dr. 
Huggins,  F.R.S.,  is  reported  (in  the  "  English 
Mechanic")  to  have  said, with  regard  to  the  matter  of 
the  corona,  as  distinguished  from  gas,  that  "  if  there 
were  but  one  particle  of  matter  in  every  cubic  mile, 
it  would  account  for  the  corona,  the  particles  being 
so  close  to  the  brilliant  source  of  the  light  of  the  sun." 
"  In  the  high  vacua  used  by  Mr.  Crookes,  the 
residual  material  particles  represent  a  crowded  city  as 
compared  with  the  coronal  waste." 

The  death  is  announced  of  Dr.  Samuel  Row- 
botham,  author  of  "  Zetetic  Astronomy,"  and  the 
upholder  of  the  theory  that  the  earth  is  flat.  He  was 
best  known  under  the  nom  de plume  of  "  Parallax." 

The  council  of  the  Geological  Society  has  awarded 
the  Wollaston  medal  to  Professor  George  Busk,  for 
his  palrcontological  researches  in  the  Polyzoa  and  the 
larger  Vertebrata  ;  the  Murchison  medal  to  Dr. 
Ferdinand  Romer,  of  Breslau  ;  the  Lyell  medal  (with 
a  grant  of  ,£40)  to  Professor  H.  G.  Seeley,  F.R.S.,  in 
recognition  of  his  investigations  into  the  anatomy 
and  classification  of  fossil  reptilia,  especially  the 
Dinosauri ;  and  the  Bigsby  Gold  medal  to  Professor 
Renard,  of  Brussels. 

In  "Science"  for  February,  is  an  account  of  the 
building  of  the  Washington  National  Monument, 
U.S.A.  It  was  begun  in  1847,  and,  after  some 
delay,  was  finished  last  December.  It  is  a  sharply 
pointed  four-sided  tapering  shaft,  standing  on  a  base 
of  masonry,  and  built  of  marble,  iron,  granite,  &C. 
It  is  probably  the  loftiest  structure  in  the  world,  being 
555  feet  high. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


89 


As  a  result  of  numerous  observations  on  under- 
ground temperatures,  and  a  consideration  of  the 
conditions  under  which  they  were  conducted,  Professor 
Prestwich,  F.R.S.,  suggests  i°  F.  for  45  ft.  as  the 
mean  rate  of  increase  of  temperature  below  ground. 
This  is  a  more  rapid  increase  than  that  hitherto 
generally  accepted,  viz.  i°  F.  for  60  ft. 

Mr.  A.  G.  Bell  furnishes  statistics  to  "Science" 
founded  on  the  United  States  census  for  18S0, 
bearing  on  the  question  whether  defects  of  the  senses 
are  correlated  to  one  another.  He  considers  that 
they  are,  and  that  instead  of  a  defect  in  one  sense 
being  usually  compensated  by  special  excellence  in 
another,  the  census  returns  "  indicate  that  the  deaf 
are  much  more  liable  to  blindness  than  the  hearine, 
and  the  blind  more  liable  to  deafness  than  the 
seeing ;  "  and  he  further  thinks  that  there  is  some 
correlation  between  these  two  defects  and  idiotcy  and 
insanity. 

We  have  received  a  copy  of  the  Guide  to  the 
Fossil  Fishes  in  the  British  Museum  of  Natural 
History  at  South  Kensington.  It  consists  of  over 
40  pp.  and  is  profusely  illustrated,  containing  aiso  an 
Introduction  by  Dr.  H.  Woodward,  a  copious  index, 
and  a  list  of  some  important  works  of  reference. 

Messrs.  W.  Swan  Sonnenschein  &  Co.,  will 
shortly  publish  a  translation  by  Professor  Hillhouse, 
M.A.,  of  the  Mason  Science  College,  of  Strasburger's 
"  Das  Reine  botanische  Practicum,"  a  book  which  is 
a  condensation  of  a  much  larger  work  by  this  most 
acute  and  active  of  German  botanical  observers, 
published  in  the  spring  of  last  year.  It  is  intended 
chiefly  for  beginners,  both  students  and  amateurs,  its 
great  peculiarity  being  the  method  whereby,  starting 
with  the  use  of  the  microscope  in  the  study  of  objects 
of  the  simplest  character  and  needing  no  preparation 
(e.g.  starch  grains),  the  student  is  carried  by  thirty- 
two  successive  and  easy  stages  up  to  work  of  the 
greatest  difficulty. 

The  question  of  vivisection  has  been  again  raised 
at  Oxford,  the  occasion  being  a  decree  for  payment 
°f  £S°°  a  year  for  three  years  to  Dr.  Burdon 
Sanderson,  the  Waynflete  Professor  of  Physiology, 
"for  assistance,  coal,  gas,  water  and  other  expenses 
of  his  department."  The  anti-vivisectionists  made 
strong  efforts  to  oppose  this  grant  on  the  ground  that, 
though  Dr.  Sanderson  had  pledged  himself  not  to 
perform  experiments  on  living  animals  in  his  lectures, 
this  undertaking  would  not  be  binding  on  his  suc- 
cessor. The  decree  was  however  passed,  after  a 
somewhat  uproarious  discussion,  by  412  against  244. 

It  appears  that  even  tornadoes  have  been  submitted 
to  the  art  of  the  photographer.  Woodcuts  prepared 
from  photographs  of  tornadoes  may  be  found  in 
"  Science  "  for  February.  They  are  reproduced  from 
other  papers,  and  their  authenticity  is  assumed. 


Incandescent  electric  lamps  are  to  be  used  to 
illuminate  the  gardens  in  the  coming  "  Inventories" 
exhibition,  and  also  in  the  interior  of  the  shops  in 
"  Old  London,"  which  attractive  feature  of  last  year's 
exhibition  is  to  be  retained  this  year. 

The  Dover  Field  Club  and  Natural  History 
Society  had,  on  February  19,  a  very  successful  and 
largely  attended  conversazione,  when  many  objects 
of  interest  in  different  departments  of  Natural  Science 
were  shown. 

The  Society  of  Amateur  Geologists  is  progressing. 
Dr.  Maybury  has  become  the  first  president  of  this 
society,  and  will  probably  deliver  his  presidential 
address  at  the  meeting  in  April.  At  the  last  meeting 
Mr.  Allen-Brown,  F.R.G.S.,  read  a  paper  on  Fala;o- 
lithic  Man  in  North-West  London. 

It  is  said  that  the  Skrivanow  primary  battery  has 
been  successfully  adapted  to  the  production  of 
portable  electric  lamps  for  domestic  use.  The 
materials  used  in  the  cells  are  chloride  of  silver,  zinc, 
and  a  weak  solution  of  caustic  potash  ;  the  light  can 
be  continued  for  twelve  hours  ;  and  the  cost  of  main- 
taining the  battery  in  working  order  is  very  small. 

The  following  has  been  forwarded  to  us  by  an 
Australian  correspondent,  Mr.  C.  Burt,  Melbourne, 
Victoria.  "As  hydrogen  gas  is  the  lightest  known 
element,  and  as  all  water  contains  in  its  composition 
eight  parts  oxygen,  and  one  part  hydrogen,  it  may  be 
concluded  that  a  tremendous  amount  of  these  and 
other  gases  were  liberated  at  the  late  Sunda  volcanic 
action  of  nature,  by  the  decomposition  of  the  water 
by  electric  force.  Should  this  have  been  the  case, 
the  hydrogen  and  other  gases  would  at  once  ascend 
to  the  outside  of  this  planet's  envelope  of  atmosphere, 
or  be  suspended  in  it,  and  the  sunlight  shining  at  an 
oblique  direction  at  sunset  may  possibly  reflect  to  us 
the  peculiar  tint  we  see.  Hydrogen  and  other  gases 
have  the  power  of  refraction  of  light.  Could  this 
be  proved,  in  1899,  in  the  month  of  November,  14, 
15,  or  16,  a  curious  freak  of  nature  may  happen, 
when  the  belt  of  meteors  pass  through  this  planet's 
orbit." 

"The  Medical  Annual  and  Practitioner's  Index  " 
for  1S85,  edited  by  Dr.  Percy  Wilde  (London: 
Henry  Kimpton,  High  Holborn)  is  in  its  second  year 
of  issue  ;  and,  successful  as  it  proved  last  year,  there 
is  no  doubt  the  editor  has  gained  by  his  first  year's 
experience,  so  as  to  produce  a  better  and  fuller  volume 
for  the  present  year.  Practically,  it  is  a  Handbook, 
or  Yearly  Record  of  useful  information  on  subjects 
relating  to  the  medical  profession.  Dr.  J.  E.  Taylor, 
F.L.S.,  contributes  an  "Annual  Review  of  Popular 
and  General  Science,"  and  there  are  also  papers  on 
"Cases  of  Insanity,"  by  Dr.  Robert  Jones  ;  "  Sani- 
tary Memoranda,"  by  C.  W.  Dymond,  C.E.  ; 
"  Bandages,"  by  Dr.  P.  Wilde,  &c.  &c. 


9° 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


News  appears  in  the  "  Pall  Mall  Gazette  "  from 
Miss  Marianne  North,  who  is  at  present  in  Chili  and 
wrote  last  December.  Speaking  of  the  embothrium, 
which  has  sprays  six  or  eight  feet  high  covered  with 
pure  vermilion  flowers.,  she  says:  "But  I  saw  none 
grow  into  such  a  tree  as  I  saw  in  my  cousin's  garden 
in  Cornwall  last  year ;  perhaps  it  may  enjoy  a  new 
soil  and  climate,  and  treat  England  as  our  common 
weeds  do  Chili ;  they  have  quite  driven  the  natives 
out  on  the  great  plain  or  valley  of  Santiago,  and  show 
unbroken  masses  of  camomiles,  thistles,  turnips  and 
cornflowers,  far  stronger  than  those  of  Europe." 


MICROSCOPY. 

Liverpool  Microscopical  Society. — At  the 
last  monthly  meeting  of  the  above  society,  Dr.  W. 
Carter  called  attention  to  some  further  investigations 
of  Monsieur  Pasteur  which  proved  that  no  germina- 
tion of  seeds  could  take  place  in  sterilised  earth,  and 
referred  to  some  experiments  of  his  own  with 
mustard  seeds.  Afterwards,  Dr.  J.  Sibley  Hicks 
read  a  paper  on  "The  Aphides  and  their  Habits." 
He  referred  to  the  wide  distribution  of  these  insects, 
and  how  each  plant  has  its  peculiar  species  of  aphis 
which  occasionally  works  immense  destruction.  The 
ravages  of  the  hop  aphis  were  specially  referred  to, 
and  details  given  of  the  enormous  loss  incurred  by 
hop  growers  through  this  pest,  which  in  the  year 
1S82  amouuted  to  £1,750,000.  This  damage  is 
explained  by  the  fabulous  reproductive  power  of  the 
aphis  ;  a  single  female  may  see  in  her  own  lifetime  a 
progeny  of  over  4500  million  individuals.  Another 
destructive  species  occurs  on  apple-trees,  and  is 
known  as  American  blight,  which  was  first  observed 
in  1785  in  an  orchard  near  London.  In  more  recent 
times  the  vine  aphis  phylloxera  has  done  immense 
damage  in  the  vineyards  of  France,  where  it  was 
first  found,  in  1865;  these  species  attack  the  leaves 
and  roots,  &c.  Fortunately  the  aphides  have  numer- 
ous enemies,  notably  the  ladybird  and  its  caterpillars, 
especially  the  latter,  each  of  which  will  devour  forty 
to  fifty  daily.  Other  enemies  are  the  lacewing  fly 
and  its  grub,  the  ichneumon  fly,  which  deposits  its 
eggs  in  the  body  of  the  aphis,  where  they  are 
hatched,  &c. 

The  Quekett  Club.— The  March  number  of  the 
Journal  of  the  above  club  contains  the  inaugural 
address  of  the  president,  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  which  he 
gives  an  account  of  the  structure  of  Orbitolites.  The 
paper  is  well  illustrated,  and  concludes  with  some 
remarks  addressed  to  would-be  workers  in  science. 
At  the  November  meeting  of  the  same  club,  Dr. 
M.  C.  Cooke,  and  apparently  also  Dr.  Carpenter, 
agreed  with  the  opinion  expressed  in  a  paper  by 
Mr.    Bates,   that   at   present   there  is  no  sufficient 


ground  on  which  to  assert  the  distinct  sexuality  of 
the  threads  of  the  Zygonemacese.  At  the  same 
meeting  Mr.  E.  M.  Nelson  announced  that  he  had 
recently  been  successful  in  detecting  a  flagellum  on 
the  cholera  bacillus. 

Royal  Microscopical  Society. — Mr.  F.  R. 
Cheshire,  F.R.M.S.,  contributes  to  the  Journal  of  the 
above  Society  (February)  a  paper,  accompanied  by 
illustrative  plates,  on  the  receptaculum  seminis  and 
adjacent  parts  of  bees  and  wasps.  In  it  he  describes 
minutely  the  anatomical  structures  bearing  on  the 
vexed  questions  of  the  reproduction  of  bees.  The 
same  number  contains  also  a  paper  on  Variations  in 
the  Development  of  a  Saccharomyces,  by  Mr.  G.  F. 
Dowdeswell ;  Notes  on  Tyroglyphidse,  by  Mr.  A.  D. 
Michael ;  and  the  usual  capital  summary  of  current 
researches. 

Cole's  "Microscopical  Studies." — These  wel- 
come serials  are  issued  with  remarkable  punctuality. 
Part  3  of  the  "Studies  in  Microscopical  Science" 
deals  with  Vaucheria  racemosa  (illustrated  by  a 
coloured  plate  and  slide  showing  oogonia  and 
anthrozoa)  ;  with  the  "  ovary  of  kitten  ;  "  alveolar 
pneumonia,"  and  "foot  of  spider" — all  illustrated 
by  plates  and  slides,  whilst  the  letter-press  descrip- 
tions are  remarkably  lucid  and  terse  ;  in  fact,  they 
are  models  of  scientific  teaching. 

Crystals  for  the  Polariscope. — I  should  be 
glad  to  know  if  any  of  the  crystals  of  the  various 
salts  mounted  for  polariscopic  objects  are  really  per- 
manent. "A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  for  ever," 
says  the  poet.  About  the  beauty  of  the  crystals 
there  cannot  be  two  opinions ;  but,  alas  !  so  far  as 
my  experience  goes,  it  is  of  a  decidedly  fleeting 
character.  I  have  slides  by  Topping  and  others, 
nearly  all  of  which  show  signs  of  deterioration,  and 
in  some  the  crystals  have  vanished  altogether.  This- 
cannot  arise  from  damp,  as  my  cabinet  is  kept  in  an 
exceptionally  dry  room,  in  proof  of  which  I  may 
state  that  such  a  thing  as  mould  I  have  never  seen 
in  my  cabinets  of  entomological  specimens.  Before, 
therefore,  I  expend  anything  more  on  this  class  of 
microscopic  mounts,  I  would  ask  for  the  advice  of 
microscopists,  and  information  as  to  the  durability  of 
crystals. — Joseph  Anderson,  jun. 

Staining  Nerve  and  Muscles. — Would  any  of 
your  readers  furnish  me  with  the  most  delicate  stains 
and  tests  for  the  elucidation  of  very  obscure  nervous 
and  muscular  structure  in  fresh  minute  organisms, 
with  best  mode  of  application  1—E.  B.  L.  Brayley. 


Unrecognised    Birds. — A   correspondent   says 
he  saw   two   strange   birds   on   a   Yorkshire   moor. 
They  were  probably  stonechats  (Saxicola  rnbicola), 
birds  which  are  almost  confined  to  heaths  and  moors. 
— H.  Lamb,  Maidstone. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


9i 


ZOOLOGY. 

Motion  in  Spider's  severed  Leg. — The 
"  spider  "  referred  to  under  the  above  heading,  in 
■"Science-Gossip"  for  March,  1885,  p.  69,  was  in 
all  probability  one  of  the  Phalangiidaj  or  harvest-men, 
not  a  true  spider.  Harvest-men,  especially  those  of 
the  genus  Liobunus,  throw  off  their  legs  voluntarily 
and  with  great  facility,  but  never,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  unless  the  leg  is  in  a  captive  state.  The  leg 
thrown  off  will  continue  to  move  for  some  little  time, 
its  muscular  power  and  nervous  sensibility  being 
very  great.  Escape  is  doubtless  the  motive  on  the 
part  of  the  harvest-man,  but  whether  any  idea  of 
drawing  off  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  by  means  of 
the  motion  of  the  cast-off  leg,  is  mixed  up  with  that 
motion,  seems  improbable.  True  spiders,  especially 
those  of  the  genus  Clubiona,  will  also  throw  off  their 
legs,  but  they  appear  to  require  a  greater  purchase  to 
enable  them  to  do  so  than  the  Phalangids,  and  their 
legs  when  severed  have  not  nearly  the  same  amount 
■of  motion.  I  have  always  found  that  if  a  spider  be 
held  by  two  of  its  legs  it  cannot  obtain  the  necessary 
purchase,  and  so  cannot  throw  off  the  limb.  It  is 
•quite  true  that  the  spider,  or  harvest-man,  suffers, 
apparently,  a  minimum  of  inconvenience  in  the  loss 
of  a  leg  or  two,  but  there  must  certainly  be  a 
•considerable  drain  on  the  system  as  the  stump  always 
bleeds  freely.  I  once  saw  an  example  of  Liobunus 
rotundus  running  with  very  fair  speed,  and  in  wonder- 
fully steady  time,  having  only  three  out  of  its  eight 
legs  remaining. — O.  P.  Cambridge,  Bloxwortk 
Rectory. 

Melanic  Variation  in  Lepidoptera. — In  his 
presidential  address  to  the  Yorkshire  Naturalists' 
Union,  "  On  some  probable  causes  of  a  tendency  to 
Melanic  Variation  in  Lepidoptera  of  high  latitudes," 
Lord  Walsingham  remarked  that  northern  representa- 
tives of  southern  forms  of  lepidoptera  showed  a 
tendency  to  assume  a  darker  or  more  suffused  colour, 
the  same  tendency  being  observable  in  those 
frequenting  high  mountain  ranges,  and  he  discussed 
various  reasons  which  have  been  suggested  to  account 
for  such  phenomena.  He  supposes  it  to  be,  perhaps, 
due  to  the  advantages  derivable  by  the  insect  from  its 
being  able  the  more  rapidly  to  absorb  invigorating 
warmth  ;  and  also  to  surplus  vital  energy  leading  to 
the  deposition  of  pigment.  He  pointed  out  also  that 
though  the  same  darkness  of  colour  would  cause  a 
more  rapid  loss  as  well  as  gain  of  heat,  this  would 
not  be  of  so  much  consequence  in  the  case  of  insects, 
while  in  the  case  of  the  power  of  dark  races  of 
mankind  to  support  tropical  climates,  the  tendency 
of  the  darker  skin  to  absorb  heat  would  be  compen- 
sated by  the  quicker  loss  of  the  same. 

Another  attempt  to  carry  humble-bees  to  New 
Zealand  to  fertilise  the  clover  has  failed.  All  the 
insects  were  found  dead  when  the  case  was  unpacked. 


BOTANY. 

Cocain  in  Different  Species  of  Erythroxy- 
lon. — A  grain  of  cocain,  from  the  South  American 
tree  Erythroxylon  Coca,  has  been  selling  in  London 
up  to  three  shillings  and  sixpence  as  a  retail  price, 
and  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  has  forwarded  to 
the  Government  of  India  a  letter  from  Surgeon- 
General  Balfour,  suggesting  that  the  plant  should 
be  introduced  into  that  country.  Surgeon-General 
Shortt  has  been  asked  to  ascertain  whether  similar 
properties  to  those  possessed  by  E.  coca,  may  not 
be  found  in  some  of  the  East  Indian  species.  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker's  "  Flora  Indica  "  enumerates  seven 
species  there  :  E.  Burmanicutn  ;  E.  Kunthianum  ; 
E.  lauceolatum  ;  £.  lucidum  ;  E.  monogynum ; 
E.  obtusifolium  and  E.  sideroxyloidcs. 

The  Edelweiss. — So  favoured  by  legend  and 
romance,  the  edelweiss  is  worth  cultivating,  and 
this  is  easily  done.  It  is  rather  a  new  introduction  to 
our  florists'  catalogues,  but  every  lady  may  soon 
have  it  in  her  drawing-room,  if  she  wishes.  It  will 
flower  almost  as  well  in  town  as  in  country,  at  least 
under  glass.  I  got  some  seed  of  Freeman's,  of 
Norwich,  two  years  ago  ;  and,  sown  early  in  spring  in 
a  flat  pot,  with  sandy  peat  and  good  loam,  and  kept 
moist,  it  vegetates  in  a  fortnight,  and  must  then  be 
pricked  out,  and  put  in  a  cool  frame,  and  then 
planted  out  of  doors  in  about  six  weeks.  It  takes  as 
much  sun  as  can  be  given  it.  The  above  are  the 
nursery  directions,  and,  having  followed  them,  I 
raised  some  nice  plants.  Any  lady  who  wishes  to 
emulate  the  brides  of  Switzerland  has  only  to  order 
her  gardener  to  sow  the  seed,  and  the  edelweiss  may 
be  ready  for  the  boudoir  or  the  hair  in  a  few  weeks, 
as  easily  grown  as  forget-me-nots.  The  mystery  of 
the  edelweiss  may  be  then  studied  at  leisure,  as  long 
as  it  continues  flowering,  or  it  may  be  put  into  an 
album  or  herbarium  when  it  has  ceased  to  do  so. — 
John  Emmet,  F.L.S. 

Fertilisation  of  Geraniums.— The  following 
observations  on  Geranium  plueicm  and  G.  sanguineum 
may  be  of  interest  : — At  an  early  stage  of  inflo- 
rescence the  pistil  is  surrounded  by  the  anthers  in 
such  a  manner  that  if  the  pollen  was  shed,  and  the 
stigma  ready  to  receive  it  at  the  same  time,  self- 
fertilisation  would  be  inevitable.  After  the  pollen  is 
shed,  the  anthers  fall  off  and  the  filaments  turn  away 
from  the  style.  Then  the  stigma  opens  out  and 
shows  its  five-cleft  form,  ready  to  receive  the  pollen- 
grains  which  may  be  brought  by  bees  from  other 
flowers.  Afterwards  it  closes  again  and  remains  so. 
—  G.  W.  Bulman. 

Blossoming  of  the  Artichoke. — The  flowering 
of  this  plant  appeared  to  be  general  in  Middlesex, 
last  autumn.  Our  crop  here,  in  N.W.  Middlesex, 
was  much  liner  than  usual,  and  nearly  every  plant 


02 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


flowered  ;  early  frosts  prevented  the  seed  from  coming 
to  maturity.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  why 
this  plant  is  so  shy  of  flowering,  more  especially  as 
several  other  species  of  Helianthus  from  S.  America 
are  noted  for  their  free  flowering  habits  ;  H.  tuberosus 
being  a  native  of  Brazil,  and  not,  as  its  name  implies, 
a  native  of  the  Holy  Land. — J.  W.  Odell,  Pinner. 

Blossoming  of  the  Artichoke.— In  answer 
to  E.  A.  (Science-Gossip,  No.  243),  I  have  noticed 
the  blossoms  of  Helianthus  tuberosus  during  the 
past  autumn  in  Kent  as  well  as  here  in  Jersey. — 
M.  E.  Fope. 

Helleborus  viridis. — When  examining  for  the 
first  time  a  plant  of  Helleborus  viridis,  I  was  struck 
with  the  curious  form  of  the  stem  immediately 
beneath  the  flower.  It  has  a  wrinkled  appearance 
for  about  half  an  inch.  Can  any  one  give  me 
information  about  this  phenomenon  ;  the  nature  of 
it,  and  reason  for  it  ?  I  have  examined  it  under  the 
microscope,  but  cannot  see  anything  remarkable, 
excepting  two  lines  inside  the  stem,  which  appear  to 
me  to  be  nerves.  It  is  the  same  as  the  pulvinus  of 
the  cotyledons,  described  by  Darwin  in  "Movements 
of  Plants."— If.  P.  FitzGerald. 

Teratological  Notes.  Dactylis  glomerata. — I 
recently  obtained  at  Bramcote,  near  Nottingham,  by 
the  roadside,  near  a  farmhouse,  two  specimens  of  an 
abnormal  development  in  a  grass,  I  take  to  be 
Dactyiis  glomerata,  the  rough  cock's-foot  grass,  but 
the  inflorescence  is  slightly  altered  owing  to  the 
malformation,  the  panicle  being  very  irregular  ;  it  is 
well  described  in  Maxwell  T.  Masters'  work  as 
'■viviparous  grass."  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote 
his  words.  "  The  spikelets  of  certain  grasses  are 
frequently  found  with  some  of  their  constituent  parts 
completely  replaced  by  leaves,  like  those  of  the  stem, 
while  the  true  flowers  are  usually  entirely  absent ;  a 
shoot  in  fact  is  formed  in  place  of  a  series  of  flowers. 
In  these  cases  it  generally  happens  that  the  outermost 
glumes  are  changed,  sometimes,  however,  even  the 
outer  and  inner  paleae  are  wholly  unchanged,  while 
there  is  no  trace  of  squamulre  or  of  stamens  and 
pistils  within  them,  but  in  their  place  is  a  small 
shoot  with  miniature  leaves  arranged  in  the  ordinary 
manner.  This  occurs  in  many  species,  amongst 
others  Daetylis  glomerata." — C.  T.  Musson, 
Nottingham. 

Pelargonium  Leaf.— A  short  time  ago  a  curious 
leaf  malformation  was  brought  to  me.  A  pelargonium 
leaf  had  developed  into  the  shape  of  a  wineglass, 
the  bell  being  like  a  hollow  cone,  the  leaf-stalk 
springing  from  the  apex,  and,  of  course,  the  hollow 
base  upwards. — C.  T.  Musson,  Nottingham. 

The  Exploration  of  Roraima. — Information 
has  been  received  from  Mr.  im  Thurn,  who  is  at 
present  in  British  Guiana,  to  the  effect  that  he  has 
succeeded  in   ascending    Roraima.       He  found   the 


plateau  treeless  and  cold,  and  by  no  means  so 
isolated  as  it  has  been  supposed.  His  party  could 
only  explore  for  a  short  distance,  but  he  speaks  of  the 
scenery  of  the  mountain  and  the  vegetation  on  the 
top  as  most  wonderful,  and  he  found  several  new 
species  of  plants  there,  but  no  new  animals. 


GEOLOGY,  &C. 

Archaean  Rocks  of  the  North-West 
Highlands. — In  the  October  number,  lately  issued, 
of  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Geologists'  Association," 
is  a  long  paper  by  Professor  J.  F.  Blake,  F.G.S.,  on 
the  stratification  of  the  Durness  and  Eriboll  district 
of  the  North-West  Highlands,  where  Archaean 
gneiss  is  found  overlying  beds  of  later  formation, 
and  the  subject  is  also  dealt  with  in  the  same  number 
by  Professor  Lapworth.  In  referring  last  year  to  the 
work  done  in  the  Geological  Survey  in  this  region, 
Professor  Geikie  stated  that  the  prodigious  displace- 
ments of  strata  to  be  found  there  are  without  a 
parallel  in  Britain.  Reversed  faults,  with  so  low  a 
hade  that  the  rocks  on  the  up-throw  side  are  pushed 
almost  horizontally  over  the  others,  produce  disloca- 
tions to  which  the  name  "  thrust-plane  "  has  been 
applied,  the  effects  being  almost  incredible.  "In 
Durness,  for  example,  the  overlying  schists  have 
certainly  been  thrust  westwards  across  all  the  other 
rocks  for  at  least  ten  miles." 

Drift-Coal.— The  March  number  of  the  "  Natura- 
list "  contains  a  note  by  Professor  G.  A.  Lebour  on 
an  Abnormal  Deposit  of  Drift-Coal  in  North  Durham, 
which  consists  of  a  bed,  over  two  feet  thick,  of 
comparatively  large  coal  fragments,  which  however 
are  unlike  any  coal-measure  coal  known  in  the 
neighbourhood,  while  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
travelled  far. 

The  Flint  Deposits  on  Midgeley  Moor. — 
Another  vigilant  search  was  made  for  flints  on  the  now 
well-known  Midgeley  Moor  on  Monday,  March  2, 
1S85,  with  very  satisfactory  results.  Among  the 
finds  may  be  mentioned  several  "chips,"  "cherts," 
a  "scraper,"  and  two  perfect  "arrow-heads,"  one 
not  very  well  worked,  but  the  other  as  sharp-pointed 
as  a  needle,  with  a  rounded  base  and  angular  sides. 
The  presence  of  so  many  chips,  cores,  &c,  with 
numerous  arrowheads,  it  was  thought  may  indicate 
the  site  of  an  ancient  flint  manufactory. — S.  P., 
Mytholmroyd. 

"  Schillerization." — What  is  it  ?  At  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London  a  paper 
by  J.  W.  Judd,  F.R.S.,  was  read,  on  "  The  Tertiary 
and  Older  Peridolites  of  Scotland,"  in  which  the 
author  proposed  the  term  "schillerization,"  to  denote 
"the  development  of  microscopic  enclosures,  in  the 
form  of  plates  or  rods,  along  certain  planes  within 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


93 


the  crystal,  giving  rise  to  metallic  reflections  or  a 
play  of  colour."  He  further  stated  that  schillerized 
forms  are  produced  by  deep-seated  hydration, 
weathered  forms  being  due  to  hydration  near  the 
surface. 

A  Crinoid  with  Articulating  Spines. — In 
the  March  number  of  "  The  Annals  and  Magazine  of 
Natural  History,"  may  be  found  an  account  of  a  new 
species  of  crinoid  from  calcareous  shales  of  middle 
Devonian  age  at  Arkona,  Province  of  Ontario, 
Canada,  collected  and  described  by  Dr.  G.  J.  Hinde, 
F.G.S.  The  author  refers  to  the  description  in  1SS3, 
by  Professor  H.  S.  Williams,  of  a  crinoid  with 
movable  spines,  to  which  the  name  of  Arthroacantha 
Itkacensis  was  given  from  Devonian  strata  at  Ithaca, 
in  the  State  of  New  York.  Of  this,  impressions  only 
were  found,  while  Dr.  Hinde's  specimens  were 
fragments  themselves.  This  new  species,  which  was 
found  at  a  lower  geological  horizon  than  those  of 
Professor  Williams,  Dr.  Hinde  has  named  Hysiri- 
crinus  (=  Arthroacantha)  Carpenter/,  and  he  says  that 
his  specimens  "  conclusively  show  that  Professor 
Williams  had  correctly  interpreted  the  impressions 
and  casts  of  the  spines  and  plates  in  the  Devonian 
shales,  and  that,  however,  novel  the  feature  of 
movable  spines  may  be  in  the  history  of  the 
Crinoidea,  no  doubt  can  be  entertained  of  the  fact." 

Silurian  Insect  and  Scorpions.— The  following 
is  taken  from  some  Notes  contributed  to  the  "  Geo- 
logical Magazine,"  by  Mr.  Herbert  Goss,  F.G.S. 
Till  lately  fragments  of  neuroptera  found  in  Devonian 
rocks  of  North  Brunswick  were  the  oldest  known 
insect  fossils.  Recently  the  wing  of  a  cockroach 
(Blatta)  has  been  found  in  middle  Silurian  rocks  at 
Jurques,  Calvados,  France,  and  to  this,  the  oldest- 
known  insect,  and  oldest-known  terrestrial  animal, 
the  name  of  Pahvoblattina  Douvillci  has  been  given. 
Recently  also  two  scorpions,  insectivorous  animals, 
whose  presence  furnishes  additional  evidence  of  that 
of  insects,  have  been  found  in  Silurian  rocks,  one 
from  the  Ludlow  beds  (upper  Silurian)  of  Lesma- 
hagow,  Lanarkshire,  and  the  other  from  the  upper 
Silurian  of  the  isle  of  Gotland.  The  latter,  which 
has  been  named  Palccophonus  nuncius,  is  said  to  have 
been  clearly  an  air-breathing  animal,  and  to  have 
observable  in  it  "  the  presence  of  four  pairs  of  thoracic 
legs,  which  are  stout  and  pointed  like  those  of  the 
embryos  of  many  tracheata,  and  of  forms  like 
campodea.  This  form  of  the  leg  no  longer  exists  in 
the  fossil  scorpions  of  the  Carboniferous  formations, 
in  which  fossils  these  appendages  resemble  those  of 
existing  species." 

Coral-stone  converted  into  Phosphate  of 
Lime. — Mr.  George  Hughes  finds  that  this  change 
has  taken  place  in  deposits  in  the  West  Indian 
islands  of  Berbuda  and  Aruba.  In  the  latter  case  the 
deposit  occurs  at  a  headland  called  Sierra  Colorado, 


and  Mr.  Hughes  is  of  opinion  that  this  was  formerly 
the  resort  of  sea-birds,  whose  excrement,  which 
contained  soluble  phosphates,  caused  the  change  in 
the  rock. 

Paramorphoses  of  Pyroxene  into  Ampiii- 
bole.—  From  the  paragraph  in  Science-Gossip  for 
March,  it  is  refreshing  to  find  that  some  of  the  British 
scientists  are  taking  up  this  subject  practically  ;  as  it 
seems  rather  derogatory  to  British  lithologists  that 
just  as  the  Americans  are  casting  aside  their  "fad" 
about  the  old  crystalline  rocks,  the  former  should 
step  into  their  old  clothes.  Mr.  Harris  Teall,  how- 
ever, can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  the  first  in  the  field,  as 
there  are  a  few  others  before  him,  as  mentioned  in  the 
recently  published  paper  by  Professor  G.  H.  Williams 
of  John  Hopkins  College,  Baltimore  ("American 
Journal  of  Science  ").  Paramorphoses  is  the  field  to 
which  the  microscopist  ought  to  turn  his  attention, 
as  by  it  he  learns  what  changes  may  and  do  take 
place  during  metamorphosism,  no  matter  what  is  the 
age  of  the  rocks.  The  changes  to  which  the  pyroxene 
is  subjected  are  those  more  easily  seen  ;  but  asso- 
ciated with  them  are  other  changes,  as  of  the  felspars  ; 
the  latter,  however,  seem  to  be,  at  least  in  part, 
more  methylatic  than  paramorphosic,  as  there  appear 
to  be  new  minerals  developed  ;  the  change  of  a 
triclinic  into  a  uniclinic  felspar  being  accompanied 
by  the  development  of  accessory  minerals.  This 
subject  is,  however,  treacherous  ground,  as  it  seems 
possible  that  it  may  be  paramorphoses  and  not 
methylosis  that  has  been  at  work  ;  as  the  different 
minerals  that  make  up  a  triclinic  felspar  may  be 
developed  and  not  actually  chemically  changed. 
There  are  some  peculiarities  in  connection  with 
pyroxenic  rocks,  often  absent,  but  not  always,  in 
felstones.  Very  commonly  associated  with  a 
pyroxenic  rock,  let  it  be  as  an  "intende"  or  mass, 
bedded,  or  as  a  dyke,  there  are  schistose  portions, 
and  the  pyroxene  in  the  latter  changes  much  more 
rapidly  into  hornblende,  than  the  pyroxene  in  the 
more  solid  portions  ;  also  a  pyroxenic  tuff  or  tuffose 
rock  will  change  more  rapidly  than  a  compact  rock. 
Subsequently,  however,  there  appears  to  be  a  change 
in  their  relative  sensibilities,  as,  during  more  excessive 
metamorphic  action,  the  compact  rock  may  change 
into  a  granyte,  while  the  hornblendyte  retains  more 
or  less  its  schistose  character.  The  ordinary  changes 
seem  to  be  in  the  following  order  : — 1st,  there  is  the 
pyroxenic  rock,  in  part  tuffose,  and  in  part  compact ; 
2nd,  hornblendyte,  and  a  rock  in  part  pyroxenic  and 
in  part  amphibolic ;  3rd,  hornblendyte  and  horn- 
blendic  gneiss  ;  4th,  gneissose  hornblendic  granyte, 
having  subordinate  hornblendic  schistose  beds  or 
courses  ;  and  5th,  metamorphic  granyte ;  the  action 
having  become  sufficiently  intense  to  destroy  the 
individuality  of  the  original  rocks. — G.  H.  K. 

"  Our  Common  British  Fossils,  and  Where 
to  Find  Them."    By  Dr.  J.  E.  Taylor,  F.G.S., 


94 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


F.L.S.,  &c— Our  position  with  regard  to  the  author- 
ship of  this  book  forbids  us  doing  more  than  an- 
nouncing its  recent  publication.  (Chatto  &  Windus, 
Price  7-r.  6d.)  It  contains  about  350  pp.  and  331 
illustrations.  The  thirteen  chapters  of  the  book 
are  headed  as  follows  :  I.  Fossil  Sponges,  &c.  ; 
2.  Fossil  Corallines  ;  3.  Fossil  Corals  ;  4.  Encrinites  ; 
5.  Fossil  Star-fishes  and  Sea-Urchins  ;  6.  Fossil 
Worms  ;  7.  Trilobites,  and  other  Fossil  Crustacea  ; 
8.  Fossil  Sea-Mats  ;  9.  Fossil  Lamp-Shells ;  10.  Fossil 
Mollusca  (Primary)  ;  II.  Fossil  Mollusca  (Secondary) ; 
12.  Fossil  Mollusca  (Tertiary) ;  13.  Fossil  Cephalopoda. 
Perhaps  the  best  outline  of  the  author's  intention  with 
regard  to  this  Handbook  will  be  conveyed  by  quoting 
the  preface  : — "The  following  pages  are  intended  as 
a  help  to  the  young  student  of  geology,  who  is  usually 
bewildered  by  the  abundance  of  invertebrate  fossils, 
when  he  commences  collecting  them  himself.  There 
are  books  of  a  much  higher  and  more  extensive  character, 
such  as  the  treatises  on  Palaeontology  by  Owen  and 
Nicholson,  to  which  I  am  hopeful  this  present  volume 
will  prove  introductory.  I  have  not  attempted  to 
introduce  the  student  to  other  than  invertebrate  fossil 
animals,  not  only  because  these  are  by  far  the  most 
numerous,  but  also  because  such  an  attempt  would 
have  expanded  the  volume  beyond  due  limits.  I  have 
recollected  the  nature  of  the  difficulties  which  begin- 
ners in  fossil-collecting  feel,  and  have  tried  to  meet 
them.  My  hope  has  been  rather  to  whet  the  appetite 
than  to  satisfy  it." 

Flint  or  Stone  Implements. — In  reply  to  query 
by  Mr.  Hewitson,  I  may  say  that  there  have  been 
finds  of  pre-historic  implements  in  Allendale  and  the 
surrounding  district.  The  implements  were  celts, 
arrow-heads,  flakes,  drippings  and  cores.  The 
materials  consisted  of  greenstone  and  flint.  The 
localities  were  Allendale  Fell,  Kilhope  Fell,  Ram- 
shaw  Fell,  Tows  Band,  and  Cowburn  district.  In 
1878,  the  Rev.  W.  Howchin,  F.G.S.,  contributed  a 
paper  on  this  subject  to  the  Natural  History  Society 
of  Newcastle-on-Tyne. — y.  T.  T.  Rccd. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Arum  Maculatum. — On  reading  Mr.  Williams' 
article  on  this  plant  I  referred  to  an  old  work 
wherein  I  find  the  following  account,  which  I  quote 
verbatim,  thinking  it  may  be  of  interest  to  him  as 
well  as  your  readers.  The  book  is  titled  "  Pharmaco- 
poeia Officinalis  Extemporanca,  or,  a  Complete 
English  Dispensatory,"  by  John  Quincy,  M.D. 
printed  for  Thomas  Longman,  at  the  Ship  in  Pater- 
noster Row,  London,  1739,  Part  ii.  Sect.  4.  Of 
Balsamics.  Radices,  Roots  of,  Ari,  Cuckow  Pint ; 
distinguished — vulgare  by  Gerhard,  and — maculatum 
cr-5  non  maculatum,  by  Parkinson.  It  grows  in  Hedges 
and  Shady  Places.  This  Plant  appears  very  early  in 
the  Spring.  It  is  most  violently  pungent  and  vola- 
tile ;  insomuch  that  the  least  Touch  of  its  Juice  upon 


the  Tongue  is  scarce  tolerable,  and  almost  caustic. 
This  Quality  makes  it  recommended  in  all  Viscidities, 
and  in  phlegmatic  and  scorbutic  Cases  ;  because  it 
penetrates  and  rarefies  tough  Concretions  and  In- 
fractions of  the  Glands  and  Capillary  Vessels.  It  has 
been  prescribed  in  humoral  Asthmas  and  Obstruc- 
tions of  the  Bronchia  ;  and  by  the  great  Force  and 
Activity  of  its  Parts  it  breakes  thro'  and  wears 
away  those  little  Stoppages  in  the  Extremities  and 
cutaneous  Glands,  which  occasion  Itchings  and 
Scabs ;  and  is  therefore  justly  rank'd  amongst  the 
most  powerful  Antiscorbutics.  Van  Helmont  com- 
mends it  greatly,  with  Vinegar  in  Bruises  or  Falls ; 
because  it  will  prevent  the  Blood  from  stagnating 
and  falling  into  Grumes,  upon  the  injured  Parts. 
And  Etmuller,  with  a  Mixture  of  Sallads,  seems  to 
think  it  will  form  a  Tertium  Quid,  very  much  of  the 
Nature  of  Nasturtium.  Some  have  affirmed  a  Dram 
of  this  Root  fresh  powder'd  and  taken  in  any  proper 
Vehicle,  to  be  a  most  excellent  and  infallible  Remedy 
against  Poison  and  the  Plague.  Mathiolus  com- 
mends, and  with  great  reason,  a  Cataplasm  made 
with  this  fresh  bruised  and  Cow-dung,  to  be  applied 
hot  in  arthritic  Pains ;  for  such  a  Composition  cannot 
but  do  all  that  is  expected  from  the  most  penetrating 
Substances.  Schroder  reports,  that  the  distilled 
Water  from  its  fresh  Leaves,  is  a  Specific  in  Melan- 
choly and  Distraction.  Dr.  Grew  says  that  this 
Root  kept  long  dry,  loses  its  efficacy  ;  which  it 
certainly  does  ;  the  volatile  Parts,  in  which  it  con- 
sists, flying  away,  and  leaving  it  insipid. — yohn 
Redding,  Dubfai. 

Unrecognised  Birds  :  waxwings  ? — The  birds 
seen  in  Yorkshire  by  Mr.  Birkdale  (p.  69)  were 
probably  specimens  of  the  Bohemian  chatterer  or 
waxwing  {Ampclis  garruhis,  Linn.),  an  irregular 
winter  visitor  to  this  country  ;  if  so,  they  would  have 
a  slight  crest,  a  dark  throat,  and  white  bands  on  the 
wings,  besides  the  features  he  mentions,  and  the  wax- 
like appendages  to  wings  and  tail,  of  a  bright  scarlet, 
but  perhaps,  not  visible  at  a  distance,  from  which  they 
are  named  ;  in  young  birds  some  of  these  characteris- 
tics would  be  wanting.  The  date  seems  unusual. 
Stone-snatches  would  be  wheatears,  whinchats,  or 
stonechats. — y.  E.  Kclsall. 

Last  Autumn's  Aberrations. — I  forward  you 
a  cherry,  gathered  on  November  6th,  rather  damaged 
by  birds,  but  rich  in  colour  ;  and  also  a  cluster  of 
strawberry  bloom  and  green  fruit.  Both  were  found 
out  of  doors.  The  gardener,  an  old  and  observing 
man,  never  before  met  with  a  cherry  at  this  season. 
The  autumnal  tints,  too,  were  remarkable,  and 
surpassingly  beautiful.  Prior  to  the  rougher  nights 
of  early  November,  elms  retained  full  luxuriance  of 
foliage,  and  a  few  days  previously,  showed  each  a 
daily  increasing  single  blotch  of  sharply  defined  and 
unbroken  orange  colour,  the  rest  of  the  leaves  re- 
maining unchanged  in  hue,  and  all  of  them  as  to 
denseness. — S.  S. 

Abnormal  Orange. — This  orange  consists  of  an 
inner  and  an  outer  one ;  the  inner  being  of  the  shape 
of  a  miniature  barrel,  flat  at  the  top,  and,  as  it  nears 
its  other  extremity,  rather  abruptly  terminates  in  a 
blunt  point.  It  is  at  this  point  that  a  pithy  stem 
joins  it.  The  outer  part  of  the  orange  discloses 
nothing  unusual  to  view,  being  of  the  ordinary  shape. 
It  is  also  remarkable  for  its  paucity  of  pips. — Arthur 
Ayling. 

Illustrations  of  Pond  Life. — Will  any  reader 
of  Science-Gossip  kindly  say  how  I  can  give  illus- 
trations of  pond  life  with  the  lantern  in  a  small  hall. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


95 


In  all  the  lists  of  Dr.  Maddow's  photographs  of 
microscopic  objects,  I  fail  to  find  any  representing 
the  Infusoria,  Polyps,  Rotifers,  etc.  Can  lantern 
photos  of  these  be  had  ?—  G~.  M.  B. 

Pond  Life  in  Nottinghamshire.— Can  any 
reader  inform  me  where  the  best  ponds,  ditches,  or 
streams,  are  to  be  found  in  Nottinghamshire  for 
micro  life,  viz.,  Hydra  viridis,  Hydra  fusca,  Stentors, 
Vorticella,  Volvcx  globator,  Melicerta  ringens,  Desmi- 
diacese,  or  Diatomacea:  ?  Any  information  on  this 
point  will  be  much  valued. —  ]V.  H.  P. 

Branched  Tentacle  of  Hydra. — Some  months 
■or  so  since,  Mr.  Dunn  exhibited  at  the  Birmingham 
Microscopists'  and  Naturalists'  Union,  a  specimen  of 
Hydra  viridis,  having  a  small  tentacle  growing  out  of 
one  of  the  others,  and  looking  like  the  letter  Y.  A 
short  time  after,  I  found  two  specimens  of  Hydra. 
vulgaris  having  the  same  peculiarity,  except  that  one 
branched  out  much  nearer  the  base  than  the  other. 
Another  member  of  our  society,  Mr.  Henry  Hawkes, 
also  found  a  specimen.  As  I  have  never  read  of 
anything  of  the  kind,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  if  any 
one  else  has  noticed  a  similar  occurrence  ?  I  have 
mounted  a  specimen,  and  shall  be  happy  to  show  it 
to  any  one  calling  on  me  at  33  Geach  Street, 
Birmingham. —  IVi/liam  Tylar. 

Water-Voles  (Arvicola  amphibius).- — I  have 
often  seen  water-rats  gnawing  rushes  at  the  edge  of 
the  water.  They  are  plentiful  along  the  banks  of  the 
Med  way  here. — H.  Lamb,  Maidstone. 

• 

Paradise  Tree. — The  flower  your  correspon- 
dent F.  S.  mentions  is  an  orchid  and  is  indigenous  to 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  is  rare,  even  in  its  native 
land.  The  plant  grows  to  a  height  of  about  4  feet, 
the  flower  being  of  a  creamy  white  colour,  exhaling  a 
faint  perfume.  The  petals  of  the  flower  are  folded 
back,  and  in  the  centre  are  arranged  in  the  exact  shape 
•of  a  small  white  dove  with  wings  extended,  as  if  just 
about  to  take  flight.  It  is  regarded  with  religious 
veneration  in  its  native  land,  and  the  inhabitants  have 
given  it  the  name  of  "  Espiritu  Santo,"  the  flower  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  I  unfortunately  do  not  know  its 
scientific  name.  Of  its  existence  there  is  no  doubt  at 
all ;  it  is,  I  believe,  growing  at  Chatsworth,  and  I 
know  it  is  or  was  in  the  conservatories  at  Windsor. — 
M.  L.  S.,  Pendleton. 


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  of  owe  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


I".  Marshall.— Morris's  "  History  of  British  Birds."  For 
price,  consult  the  secondhand  catalogues  of  W.  P.  Collins, 
157  Great  Portland  Street,  or  \V.  Wesley,  Essex  Street,  Strand. 

A.  S.  B.,  and  others. — Perhaps  you  are  not  aware  that 
furze  may  be  found  in  blossom  all  round  the  year,  under 
anything  like  favourable  conditions.  The  furze  sent  is  U. 
EitropiEus. 


Faux. — This  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  in  bulbous  plants, 
but  occurs  in  the  orchids  more  particularly. 

C.  Frkd  Fox. — The  paper  you  mention  on  the  "  Cephalopoda 
of  the  Isle  of  Wight,"  by  C.  Parkinson,  F.G.S.,  is  to  be  found 
in  No.  177  of  this  journal,  viz.,  September  1879. 

W.  W.  Bladen. — Your  name  as  author  of  the  paper  oa 
"  Nidification  in  Staffordshire,"  in  our  last  number,  was  un- 
fortunately omitted. 

G.  E.  East,  jun. — "The  Natural  History  Journal"  is  not 
in  existence.  "The  Annals  and  Magazine  of  Natural  History  " 
(London:  Taylor  &  Francis),  price  of  an  ordinary  monthly 
number,  2s.  6d.  "The  Geological  Record  "  (London:  Taylor 
&  Francis),  is  published  annually  to  subscribers,  price  10s.  6d. 

E.  C. — We  cannot  undertake  correspondence  of  the  kind  you 
mention  other  than  that  connected  with  this  column. 

F.  Harding. — Get  J.  Harting's  "Rambles  in  Search  of 
Shells." 

F.  J.  G. — Your  letter  with  regard  to  M.  B.'s  exchange  notice 
is  the  first  we  have  received.  We  hope  we  shall  not  hear  the 
like  from  others,  which  might  render  it  necessary  to  take 
further  steps. 

B.  B.  (Bath). — Thanks  for  your  note.  Your  address  has 
been  taken  in  case  it  might  be  wanted  for  future  reference. 

H.  A.  F. — For  information  as  to  works  on  the  botany  and 
natural  history  of  Florida,  apply  to  the  editors  of  the  "  American 
Naturalist "  (Philadelphia)  or  the  "  Botanical  Gazette  "  (Indian- 
apolis'). 

F.  A. — We  have  received  a  number  of  letters  replying  to 
E.  A.'s  query  about  the  blossoming  of  the  artichoke  in  England. 
It  blossomed  at  Croydon  and  elsewhere,  besides  the  places 
alluded  to  in  the  notes  now  published. 

J.  Ritchie. — (1)  Grattan's  "  British  Seaweeds  "  ("Bazaar" 
Office),  published  at  is.  6d.  Landsborough's  "British  Sea- 
weeds," published  at  10s.  6d.  by  Lovell  Reeve,  coloured  plates. 
(2)  Stark's  "Popular  History  of  British  Mosses"  (Routledge), 
published  at  10s.  6d.,  coloured  plates.  Many  years  ago  a 
special  number  was  published  of  Science-Gossip  on  Hepaticae, 
by  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke.  It  is  now  out  of  print,  but  may  possibly 
be  obtained  through  some  scientific  bookseller.  Dr.  Carrington's 
work  on  the  Jungermanniaceae  is  slowly  coming  out. 

W.  B. — Your  specimen  is  Betula  alba,  or  white  birch. 

H.  H. — See  articles  in  Science-Gossip  on  "  Hybernation  of 
Swallows."  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Abbott. 

J.  B.  B. — Your  specimens  are  as  follows:  Xenodochus  car- 
bonarius,  or  Burnet   leaf;    54,    Polytrichum ;    55,    species     of 
Pterogonium  ;  80,  imperfect.     Probably  a  pinnule  of  Aspidium 
Jalcatum. 

P.  O'K.  (co.  Clare). — Your  specimens  are  the  cup-moss 
lichen  {Cenomyce  pyxidatd],  the  reindeer's  horn  lichen  (Cla- 
donia  rangiferina),  and  catkins  of  the  common  club-moss 
(Z. ycopodium  cla va turn). 

H.  M. — Your  specimen  is  the  partition  or  septum  of  the  fruit 
of  the  garden  plant  called  Honesty. 

M.  A.  M. — The  specimen  you  enclosed  is  a  fragment  of  the 
egg-capsules  of  the  common  whelk  {Bncciuum  widatiim) . 
See  Taylor's  "  Half-hours  at  the  Seaside,"  for  figures  and 
description. 

F.  R. — Your  slide  of  specimen  was  smashed.  "The  white 
object  attached  to  a  pebble  "  and  "  dropt  by  a  male  bird,"  is 
the  entire  mass  of  egg-capsules  of  the  white  whelk,  referred  to 
above.    The  other  object  is  a  fresh-water  alga,  showing  oogonia. 

F.  W.  C. — See  recent  numbers  of  "  Nature  "  for  letters  on 
lantern  screens.  A  lantern-microscope  would  be  very  helpful 
to  you  in  your  difficulty.  Apply  to  Messrs.  Chatto  &  Windus 
for  Hepworth's  cheap  treatise  on  the  Magic  Lantern,  and  how  to 
work  it. 

S.  J.  M.  —The  following  are  excellent  works  connected  with 
Sericulture:  "Report  in  regard  to  the  Manufacture  of  Raw 
Silk,  &c,  in  India,"  1836.  "  Cultivation  of  Silk  in  Australia, 
Sydney,"  1870,  "Silk  Culture  in  Japan,"  "Roxburghe's  Ac- 
count of  the  Silkworms  of  Bengal,"  "  La  Sericulture,"  by 
Bavier,  Lyons,  1874.  You  had  better  apply  for  any  of  these  or 
other  books  on  the  subject,  to  B.  Quaritch  or  W.  Wesley, 
scientific  bookseller,  Essex  Street,  Strand. 

J.  E.  R. — Your  exchanged  note  is  not  in  hand. 

E.  H. — 1st.  Foreign  Conchology  by  Chenu,  published  in 
French  ;  Wood's  "  Index  Testaceologica";  Sowerby's  "Genera 
of  Shells."  The  above  are  abundantly  illustrated  with  coloured 
plates.  2nd.  Any  London  dealer,  or  the  Assistants  in  the 
Conchological  Department  of  the  Brit.  Nat.  Hist.  Museum. 
For  British  mollusca,  see  Gwyn  Jeffrey's  work  in  five  vols. 


EXCHANGES. 

Good  botanical,  histological,  crystals,  polariscopic,  diatoms, 
fish  scales  and  miscellaneous,  microscopic  slides  for  others  as 
good  of  bacilli,  entozoa,  algae,  desmids,  zoophytes,  rocks,  fossil 
woods. — B.  Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip,  Nos.  230,  231.  What  offers  for 
Balfour's  "Outlines"  and  Paley's  "Theology"? — F.  Marshall, 
Benwick,  March,  Cambridgeshire. 

One  or  two  specimens  of  Tcstacclla  haliotidea,  taken  in  this 
locality,  which  I  am  willing  to  forward  alive  or  dead  for  another 
equally  rare  species.— F.  Fenn,  20  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford 
Park,  Chiswick,  W. 


96 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


I  will  send  twelve  packets  of  micro  material  in  exchange  for 
a  well-mounted  slide. — G.  A.  Baiker,  i  Northwold  Road, 
Clapton,  E. 

Sconce-Gossip,  1876-79,  bound  in  cloth  ;  1880  in  numbers  ; 
also  1881,  Jan.  to  April,  Nov.,  Dec.  ;  1882,  Dec.  ;  Coleman's 
"British  Butterflies;"  Wood's  "Common  Objects  of  the 
Country;"  Wood's  "  British  Moths  ;"  Brown's  "Astronomical 
Geology."  All  the  above  clean  copies,  though  marked  with  a 
stamp  ;  will  exchange  for  micro  apparatus  or  material,  or  for 
land  and  freshwater  shells. — B.  B.  W.,  2.3  Batoum  Gardens, 
West  Kensington  Park,  W. 

Wanted,  a  good  turntable  :  also  skull  of  bull  frog,  and 
skeleton  of  full-sized  common  frog.  — K.,  The  Manse,  Bollington, 
near  Macclesfield. 

Wanted,  lantern  photographic  slides;  will  exchange  six 
sculpture  and  twelve  abbeys  and  cathedral i,  six  castles,  and 
twelve  others,  send  list  ;  or  will  «ive  microphotographs  mounted 
on  3  X  1  polished  slips  for  lantern  slides. — R.  Blakeborough, 
Guisborough. 

A  double  nose-piece  to  fit  Hartnack's  microscopes,  made 
specially  by  Collins,  Great  Portland  Street,  almost  new ; 
"  Hogg  on  the  Microscope,"  6th  edition,  as  good  as  new. 
Wanted,  last  edition  of  Carpenter  on  "  Beale  on  the  Microscope 
in  Medicine."— E.  R.  T.,  24  St.  Patrick's  Hill,  Cork. 

Wanted,  a  pair  of  healthy  bullfinches  in  exchange  for  either 
vol.  iii.,  iv.,  v.,  or  vi.  of  "  Boys'  Own  Paper,"  in  monthly  parts, 
with  piates  and  index  in  perfect  order,  or  vols.  i.  and  ii.  of 
Imison's  "  Elements  of  Science  and  Art,"  bound  in  tree  calf. — 

E.  P.  Turner,  6  Dagnall  Park  Terrace,  Selhurst,  S.E. 
Micro  slides:  wing  of  Papilis  Paris  (green   scales  on  rich 

brown  ground)  for  other  good  slide.  Plea^e  send  box. — 
A.  Dovvnes,  Glenmore,  Waverley  Road,  Bristol. 

Duplicates:  Amathusio  phidippus,  Agauisthos  Orion, 
Callidryaspkilas,  M  egahtra  peletts,  Papilio  thoas.  Desiderata  : 
other  exotic  butterflies,  or  pupa:  of  British  lepidoptera. — Joseph 
Anderson,  jun.,  Chichester,  Sussex. 

Fine  examples  of  Australian  foraminifera,  selected  and  named, 
including  Discorbina,  Valvulina,  Clavalina,  Patellina,  Nubecu- 
laria,  and  other  rarities.  Desiderata  :  Carpentaria,  Tinoporus, 
Cymbalopora,  Hanerina,  Cassidulina,  or  any  of  the  rarer 
species.  Also  rich  foraminiferal  material  from  the  Tertiary 
beds  of  England  and  the  continent. — W.  Howchin,  Goodwood 
East,  Adelaide,  South  Australia.  Parcels  in  bulk  can  be  sent 
for  enclosure,  addressed  as  above,  to  the  care  of  R.  Fenwick, 
Sutton  Street,  Commercial  Road  East,  London. 

Will  forward  ant  parasites  in  exchange  for  anything  useful 
in  microscopy. — H.,  1  Madelaine  Square,  Liverpool. 

Wanted,  a  Rosszentmayer  microscope  stand.  State  ex- 
change or  price  required  to — S.  C.  L.,  276  Middleton  Road, 
Oldham. 

"  English  Mechanic,"  Nos.  758  to  796,  the  following  numbers 
missing,  770,  776,  788,  790 ;  exchange  for  fine  cock  and  hen 
bullfinch,  or  for  a  piping  cock  only.  A  printing  machine  and 
type  also  wanted. — E.  P.  Turner,  6  Dagnall  Park  Terrace, 
Selhurst. 

Wanted,  a  hen  ring-dove  in  exchange  for  a  blue  pigeon. — 
Frederick  Harding,  Shipley  House,  13  York  Road,  Eastbourne. 

Will  exchange  one  pair  of  blue  pigeons  for  pair  of  dormice. 
— Frederick  Harding,  Shipley  House,  13  York  Road,  East- 
bourne. 

First  twenty-four  parts  of  "  Entomologists'  Monthly  Maga- 
zine," foreign  shells,  a  horn  of  rhinoceros,  minerals,  and  sucking 
fish  (remora\  for  foreign  curios,  or  shells  or  micro  slides. — 

F.  M.,  69  Duke  Street,  Old  Trafford,  Manchester. 
Wanted,  gold  and  silver  medals,  and  collections  containing 

rare  foreign  postage  stamps,  in  exchange  for  natural  history 
specimens. — W.  K.  Mann,  Wellington  Terrace,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Wanted,  following  nests,  with  clutches  of  eags:  dipper,  ring 
ouzel,  nightingale,  stonechat,  whinchat,  grasshopper  warbler, 
woodlark,  cirl  bunting,  hawfinch,  goldfinch,  lesser  redpole,  &c. 
Offered,  eggs,  insects,  shells,  and  various  natural  history  speci- 
mens.— W.  K.  Mann,  Wellington  Terrace,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Wanted,  various  eggs  in  quantities,  and  nests  with  clutches 
of  eggs  of  uncommon  species.  Offered,  British  and  exotic 
insects  and  shells. — W.  K.  Mann,  Wellington  Terrace,  Clifton, 
Bristol. 

L.  C,  Nos.  40,  1039,  1127,  1128,  1330,  for  exchange.  Send 
lists  to— H.  Purefoy  FitzGerald,  M.C.S.,  North  Hall,  Basing- 
stoke. 

Wanted,  the  February  and  March,  1884,  numbers  of  Science- 
Gossip.  State  price  or  what  wanted  in  exchange. — H.  P. 
FitzGerald,  M.C.S.,  North  Hall,  Basingstoke. 

Offered,  six  vols,  of  "  Knowledge,"  complete,  up  to  De- 
cember, 1884,  first  four  bound,  and  a  collection  of  birds'  eggs, 
in  exchange  for  a  good  half-inch  micro  objective  and  slides. — ■ 
C.  B.  Keene,  All  Saints,  Derby. 

Wanted,  any  articles  of  bric-a-brac,  viz.,  coins,  tokens, 
medals,  seals,  china,  arms,  armour,  old  Roman  pottery,  flint 
flakes,  or  stone  or  bronze  weapons,  in  exchange  for  fossils, 
minerals,  stuffed  birds,  &c  — F.  Stanley,  Margate. 

Wanted,  axial  crystals,  quartz  plates,  &c,  for  table  polari- 
scope,  in  exchange  for  lantern  and  micro  slides. — H.  E.  Free- 
man, 60  Plimsoll  Road,  Finsbury  Park,  N. 

British  and  Foreign  birds'  eggs  offered  for  others  not  in 
collection. — Dr.  J.  T.  T.  Reed,  Ryhope,  Durham  co. 


Will  exchange  Goldsmith's  "  History  of  the  Earth  and 
Animated  Nature,"  4  vols.,  with  plates,  almost  as  good  as  new, 
for  manuals  of  British  botany  or  geology.  What  offers? — 
William  Lyon,  Broomhill  Terrace,  Keith. 

"  Nature,"  vol.  xi.  ;  the  first  two  vols.  "  Magazine  of  Art  ;" 
also  "  Knowledge,"  two  vols,  of  which  are  bound,  Wanted, 
micro  slides  in  exchange,  apparatus,  or  offers. — H.  Moulton, 
37  Chancery  Lane,  London,  W.C. 

Science-Gossip,  complete  for  1883  and  1884,  unbound. 
Wanted,  Tyndall  "  On  Sound,"  Wallace's  "  Natural  Selection," 
or  Deschanel's  "Physics,"  vols.  i.  and  ii. — F.  R.  Tennant, 
Port  Hill,  Stoke-on-Trent. 

Microscope  slides  wanted  in  exchange  for  pair  of  photo- 
graphs. General  Gordon  and  Colonel  Burnaby,  coloured  in 
oils  on  convex  glasses,  value  ior. — Mr.  Ebbage,  Watton, 
Norfolk. 

Vol.  ii.  "Christian  Million,"  and  several  "Rare  Bits"  and 
"Tit  Bits,"  in  exchange  for  natural  history  books  or  apparatus. 
— Frederick  Harding,  Shipley  House,  York  Road,  Eastbourne. 

Shilling  editions  of  Coleman's  "Butterflies,"  Wood's 
"Moths,"  Wood's  "Beetles,"  and  the  three  last  numbers  of 
Science-Gossip  with  plates,  will  exchange  for  natural  history 
books  or  apparatus- — Frederick  Harding,  Shipley  House, 
York  Road,  Eastbourne. 

A  very  fine  and  complete  collection  of  fossils  from  the  chalk 
of  Surrey  and  Kent  (specially  rich  in  sharks'  palate  teeth,  both 
in  variety  and  number)  together  with  a  collection  of  minerals 
and  crystals  (including  a  group  of  amethyst  crystals  40  inches 
in  circumference,  and  a  slab  of  flexible  sandstone)  will  be  ex- 
changed for  English  coins  in  fine  preservation. — A.B.,  97 
Burton  Road,  Stockwell,  S.W. 

"  A  large  number  of  shells  in  duplicate.  Wanted,  other 
shells,  mounted  molluscan  palates,  and  back  numbers  of 
scientific  journals. — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Woodstock  Road, 
Bedford  Park,  Chiswick. 

Desiderata  :  5".  oblonga,  P.  roscnm,  Vertigos,  Acme 
marine  shells,  and  vars.  of  ncmoralis,  hortensis,  &c.  Dupli- 
cates:  Testacella  haliotidea,  Z.  glciber,  A.  acicula,  L.  glu- 
tiuosa,  P.  pusilhim,  &c. — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Woodstock  Road, 
Bedford  Park,  W. 

Wanted  fossils,  shells,  or  eggs,  in  exchange  for  chalk  fossils, 
nummulites,  Trigonia,  Gibbosa,  &c.  Also  beetles  from  Peru 
and  Luscor  ;  staghorn,  Ncciopliorus  vcstigator,  &c. — M.  T.  C, 
Wrasenham  Vicarage,  Swaff  ham,  Norfolk. 

Offered  for  other  species,  either  British  or  foreign  :  H. 
revclata,  Piscina,  arbustorinn,  aspersa  v.  temiior,  P.  contecta, 
L.  neritoides,  V.  verrucosa,  H.  titberctilata  (Herm),  M.  acicn- 
latus,  CI.  Rolphii,  H.  ventrosa,  &c. — B.  Tomlin,  59  Liverpool 
Road,  Chester. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  for  1884,  complete  with  plates  of 
microscopy,  unbound.  Offers,  quite  new  :  "  Among  the  Wild 
Flowers,"  by  Rev.  H.  Wood,  or  "Wild  Flowers,  where  to  find 
and  how  to  know  them,"  by  Spencer  Thomson,  M.D.,  L.R.C.S., 
F.B.S.E.,  or  pressed  specimens  of  two  rare  centaureas  ;  C.  cal- 
citrapa  and  C.  solstitialis. — Miss  E.  A.,  Dadnor,  Ross. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  The  Worcester  County  Naturalist"  (Mass.). — "  Feuille  des 
Jeunes  Naturalistes."—"  Canadian  Science  Monthly." — "The 
American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal." — "  The  Naturalist." 
— "Journal  of  Conchology." — "Journal  of  the  New  York 
Microscopical  Society." — "Science." — "  Report  of  _  the  Ento- 
mologist."—  "Catalogue  of  the  Exhibit  of  Economic  Entomo- 
logy." —  "  Proceedings  of  the  Geologists'  Association."  — 
"Canadian  Entomologist." — "American  Naturalist." — "The 
Microtomist's  Vade-Mecum,"  by  Arthur  Bolles  Lee  (London  : 
J.  &  A.  Churchill).— "  Transactions  Herts.  Nat.  Hist.  Soc," 
vol.  iii.,  parts  3  and  4. — "  Report  of  S.  London  Entomolog.  and 
Nat.  Hist.  Soc.  for  1884." — "Proceedings  of  Acad,  of  Nat. 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia." — "Popular  Science  News." — Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Holmesdale  Natural  History  Club,"  18S1-1883. 
— "  Handbook  to  the  Geology  of  Shropshire,"  by  J.  D.  La 
Touche  (London  :  Ed.  Stanford).  —  "  Revista  Scientifica  " 
(Porto). 

Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from: — 
C.  A.  G.— A.  S.  B— F.  R.— F.  H.  L.-W.  T.— F.  M.— F.  F.— 
R.  B.— S.  F.-J.  E.  K.-J.  B.  B.— W.  S.  S.  &  Co.-E.  H.— 
J.  H.  C  R.-E.  W.  O'M—W.— E.  R.  T.-E.  P.  T.— J.  E.— 
E.  B.-J.  A.— E.  F.-S.  J.  M'I.-W.  P.-A.  H.  F.— A.  A— 
W.  H.-(H.  A.  K.)-G.  A.  B.-C.  B.-H.  B.-E.  T.  D.— 
H.  A.  W.— F.  S.— H.  E.  F.-B.  B.-E.  B.  L.  B.— H.  A.  F.— 
H.  P.  F.— M.  E.  P.-S.  C.  L.-G.  W.  B.-J.  A.— F.  J.  G.— 
J.  R.  R.— E.  P.  T.— A.  R.  W.-E.  A.— B.  T.— A.  B.-F.  H.— 
T.  W.  O.-Mr.  E.— H.  F.-F.  M.— D.  B— J.  T.  T.  R.— 
W.  W.  B.-W.  H.  P.-A.  A.— C.  T.  M.— E.  C— M.  L.  S.— 
F  R  T.— M.  T.  C— G.  E.  E.— S.  C.  C— H.  M.— L.  M.  W.— 
H.  S.  W.— J.  R.-C.  F.  F.-H.  W.  K.-W.  L.-C.  B.  K.— 
A  M.  P.-A.  D.— W.  K.  M.— J.  F.— H.  L.— Dr.  A.  B.  G.— 
G.  H.— 0.  P.  C— J.  E.-A.  D— H.  G.  G.-G.  E.  T.— 
M.  W.  N.— C.  S.— W.  H.  H.— T.  D.  A.  C— H.  H.— J.  M.  C— 
W.  T.— T.  S.— H.  M.— C.  M.— J.  H.— B.  B.  W.— T.  N.  K.— 
&c,  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


E.T.D.del,adnat. 


"Vincent  Broaks,Day  ScSonMx 


TRANS.  SECTION,  SPINE  OF  SEA   URCHIN    (ECHINUS 


x  75. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


97 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


No.  XVII.— Transverse  Section  of  Spine  of  Echinus. 


HE  intimate  cor- 
relation of  parts, 
and  the  manifest 
mechanical  per- 
fection of  the 
structures  of  an 
Echinus,  or  sea- 
urchin,  renders  the 
creature  peculiarly 
adapted  for  inter- 
esting and  contem- 
plative micro- 
scopical investi- 
gation ;  every  part 
has  a  curious  fit- 
ness, and  expe- 
diency may  be 
revealed  in  all  the 
more  important 
organs  ;  among 
other  features,  the  character  of  the  nearly  globular 
box,  containing  the  animal,  built  up  of  an  enormous 
number  of  accurately-fitting  plates,  the  calcareous 
pieces  forming  the  mouth,  the  five  sharp  socketed 
incisor  teeth,  of  great  strength,  arranged  in  a  circle, 
and  in  such  a  position  as  to  simultaneously  close  upon, 
and  crush  the  hard  crustaceous  substances,  or  any- 
thing that  comes  in  its  way,  as  food ;  guided  to  the 
centre  of  the  mouth  by  a  similar  number  of  inter- 
posing osseous  processes,  with  jaws  of  such  complex 
structure  as  to  establish,  with  the  dental  system,  a 
masticatory  apparatus,  unique  in  character  and 
adaptability.  Supporting  this,  and  enclosing  other 
softer  tissues  is  the  "lantern  of  Aristotle,"  a  frame- 
work of  five  symmetrically  curved  bones  with  trans- 
verse ties  firmly  attached  to  the  interior  of  the  box, 
strengthened  by  a  similar  number  of  elegantly  formed 
pieces  rising  from  the  base ;  all  the  hard  parts  are 
formed  on  a  pentagonal  principle,  a  multiple  of  five  ; 
the  whole  locked  together  with  mathematical  pre- 
cision ;  exteriorly,  the  interest  is  sustained  by  the 
prehensile  suckers  emerging  through  multitudinous 
No.  245.— May  1885. 


apertures,  and  where  least  expected,  a  disclosure  of 
rare  beauty  in  the  structure  of  any  one  of  the  forest 
of  hard  spines  with  which  the  creature  is  completely 
surrounded  ;  each  capable  of  separate  movement. 
A  transverse  section  of  such  a  spine,  ground  and 
polished,  is  the  subject  of  the  plate. 

The  case,  or  envelope  of  an  Echinus  consists  of 
a  somewhat  flattened  spherical  box,  made  up  of 
many  hundred  jointed  pieces,  the  whole  ap- 
pearing like  a  single  shell.  In  some  species  the 
texture  is  light  and  porous,  in  others  considering  the 
number  of  parts  of  exquisite  solidity  ;  five  pairs  of 
"  ambulacral "  plates,  connected  by  well-marked 
sutures,  traverse  the  shell  in  polar  lines.  This  set  of 
segments  is  perforated  with  many  apertures  for  the 
emergence  of  prehensile  locomotive  suckers.  Between 
each  is  a  similar  number  of  rather  wider  segments, 
the  "interambulacral,"  accurately  fitting  the  others; 
on  these  project  a  double  row  of  knobs,  or  tubercles, 
on  which  the  spines  are  articulated  by  a  ball  and 
socket  joint.  All  the  pieces  forming  the  wonderful 
box  are  serrated,  and  compacted  with  minute  precision, 
giving  great  strength  ;  the  actual  substance  of  the  shell 
is  composed  of  calcareous  material  and  silicates 
obtained  from  the  sea,  secreted  by  a  soft  organic  mem- 
brane which  invests  and  permeates  every  fissure.  The 
spines  are  articulated  to  the  tubercles  on  small 
polished  nipples  seen  studding  the  outside  of  the  inter- 
ambulacral plates,  and  vary  in  form  and  size  according 
to  species  ;  generally  they  are  grooved  horizontally. 

Vertical  cuttings  of  these  organs  are  interesting  ; 
but  their  true  beauty  is  only  disclosed  when  transverse 
sections  are  made,  carefully  ground  and  polished 
to  a  requisite  thinness  ;  and  so  diversified  are  the 
patterns  that  a  collection  of  many  hundred  specimens 
rarely  discloses  two  absolutely  alike,  differences  in 
appearance  and  complexity  resulting  from  the  position 
of  the  cutting,  and  its  distance  from  the  base  or  the 
apex  ;  as  the  spine  consists  of  a  series  of  cones  either 
of  overlapping  or  inter-deposited  growths,  necessarily 
a  section  reveals  annular  bands  in  number  equal  to 
the  cones  included  in  the  part  where  the  cutting  is 


9S 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


made,  colour  being  affected  by  the  same  cause, 
towards  the  base  generally  showing  pink  or  golden, 
and  nearer  the  harder  apex,  blue  and  purple  tints. 

Some  species  have  hollow  spines  ;  such  specimens 
are  deeply  furrowed  longitudinally  on  the  outside, 
and  are  generally  too  large  to  make  perfectly  circular 
sections  to  fall  within  a  microscopic  "field  "  of  view, 
but  delicately  cut  and  ground  ;  segments  of  such  slices 
display  such  remarkable  elegance  and  neatness  of 
design,  that  when  carefully  illuminated,  and  the 
configuration  of  the  parts  studied,  they  at  once 
impress  the  mind  with  their  adaptability  to  purposes 
of  artistic  decoration.  It  is  possible  no  class  of 
microscopical  presentations  can  be  more  suggestive 
to  the  designer  of  geometrical  patterns,  and  under 
various  conditions  of  light  they  are  materially  altered 
in  appearance.  Many  parts  with  transmitted  light 
show  configuration,  and  but  slight  colour  or  sub- 
stance ;  under  the  radiation  of  dark  ground  illumina- 
tion they  become  totally  different,  and  flash  out 
exquisite  translucent  pearly  lustres.  With  the  polari- 
scope,  especially  when  the  cutting  is  carefully  selected 
for  extreme  thinness,  but  yet  preserving  the  denser 
parts  intact,  the  beauty  is  incomparable.  Even 
mounted  as  purely  opaque  objects,  under  the  radiance 
of  the  side  speculum,  porcellaneous  specimens  show  a 
rare  delicacy. 

A  minute  examination  of  one  of  these  sections 
recalls  the  rings  and  medullary  rays  of  the  stem  of  an 
exogenous  tree,  and  their  number  and  position  (as  in 
the  tree)  depends  on  the  age  of  the  spine  and  the 
part  from  which  it  is  cut.  In  the  centre  is  an  open 
network  slightly  divergent,  at  intervals  zones  of 
larger  deposits,  calcareous  tracery  intervening,  the 
whole  cut  up  by  equidistant  structural  radiations  ; 
illuminated  with  the  paraboloid,  what  appear  to 
be  the  larger  "spaces,"  as  distinguished  from  the 
general  intersections,  are  seen  of  uniform  substance 
and  colour.  A  spine  may  be  defined  as  a  fluted  spur 
of  connective  hard  pellucid  tissue,  with  interspaces 
filled  with  solid  glass.  Spines  of  the  British  Echini 
have  no  concentric  rings,  it  is  supposed  in  con- 
sequence of  periodical  shedding,  while  in  tropical 
species  in  the  course  of  growth,  layers  are  added.  A 
crushed  spine  resolves  itself  into  glass-like  particles, 
transparent  and  brittle.  A  power  of  repairing 
fracture  and  injury  has  been  observed,  the  vitality 
of  the  spine  and  its  increase  in  size  is  maintained 
through  a  connective  tissue  at  the  base,  and  although 
the  internal  structure  is  apparently  unprovided  with 
vessels,  reparation  takes  place,  as  long  as  the  animal 
be  living  and  the  injured  spine  attached ;  many 
sections,  especially  when  cut  through  the  length, 
often  reveal  such  interferences  of  regularity,  obviously 
the  result  of  injury,  and  recuperative  power. 

An  attempt  was  made  by  the  writer  to  depict,  in  the 
second  volume  of  Coles'  "Microscopical  Studies" 
(Methods  of  Research)  one  of  these  sections  to 
illustrate  appearances  under  four  different  modes  of 


illumination.  The  difficulty  in  preserving  delicate 
line,  with  painting  effects  of  colour  bathed  in  light ; 
supplemented  by  the  more  limited  resources  of  even 
the  best  chromo-lithographer  (a  condition  of  things 
seen  in  the  present  subject)  reduces  such  drawings, 
when  printed,  to  mere  semblances  of  the  reality  ; 
but  they  offer,  at  least,  sufficient  inducement  to 
direct  attention  to  the  general  elegance  found  in 
these  most  popular  of  microscopical  objects. 
Crouch  End. 


THE  VIOLET. 

BUY  my  sweet  violet,  a  penny  a  bunch  !  is  one  of 
the  familiar  cries  we  hear  every  morning  at 
this  time  of  year  (spring)  as  we  hasten  to  our 
respective  callings  in  London  (and  no  doubt  in  other 
cities  as  well).  It  is  a  most  refreshing  sight,  to  any 
person  who  has  the  least  spark  of  the  love  of  nature, 
to  look  at  the  beautiful  baskets  of  button-hole 
bouquets  which  meet  our  eyes  in  the  different  streets, 
but  more  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Bank  of  England  and  Royal  Exchange.  The  city 
clerk  on  his  way  to  his  office,  purchases  a  bunch  of 
violets — places  them  on  his  desk,  surrounded  with  his 
day-books,  ledgers,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a 
mercantile  house  :  perhaps  once  or  twice  during  the 
day,  while  his  mind  is  engaged  on  the  routine  of  his 
daily  duties,  the  delicious  perfume  from  his  morning 
purchase  causes  him  for  a  few  moments  to  look  up  at 
these  emblems  of  modesty  and  innocence,  and  awakens 
a  train  of  thought  of  the  days  of  his  childhood,  when 
he  and  his  companions  hunted  for  the  fragrant  flower 
among  the  green  fields  and  hedgerows  in  the  early 
spring. 

But  time  flies  ;  work  must  be  finished  ;  no  leisure 
for  such  meditations ;  still  those  few  moments  have 
not  been  spent  in  vain  :  his  brain  has  been  rested  by  a 
change  of  thought,  and  he  is  enabled  to  go  on  with 
his  work  with  fresh  energy  and  vigour.  Thanks  to 
the  little  violet.  This  flower  was  held  in  high  estima- 
tion by  the  ancient  Greeks.  A  golden  violet  was 
offered  as  a  prize  in  their  floral  games,  and  we  are 
told  in  their  fables  that  la,  the  daughter  of  Atlas, 
fleeing  into  a  wood  from  the  pursuit  of  Apollo,  was 
through  the  power  of  Diana  changed  into  a  violet, 
which  still  retains  the  bashful  timidity  of  the  nymph, 
by  partly  concealing  itself  from  the  gaze  of  Phcebus  in 
its  foliage.  The  Greek  name  for  this  flower  was  vlov, 
said  to  have  been  given  it  because  Iov  the  daughter  of 
Inarchus,  whom  Jupiter  transformed  into  a  heifer,  fed 
upon  violets,  or,  as  some  mycologists  state,  sprung 
from  her  breath.  The  Athenians,  we  know  from  the 
writing  of  Anacharsis,  had  beautiful  gardens  attached 
to  their  country  houses,  in  which  they  cultivated  the 
narcissus,  hyacinth,  iris,  and  violets  of  different  colours, 
likewise  roses  of  various  kinds.    All  these  flowers  were 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


99 


extensively  sold  at  Athens  in  a  market  appropriated 
for  their  disposal ;  even  in  the  cold  season  violets  were 
to  be  seen  there — for  Aristophanes,  in  his  Seasons, 
speaking  of  the  glories  of  that  luxurious  city,  says  : 

"  There  you  shall  at  mid  winter  see 
******* 

wreaths  of  fragrant  violets. 
Covered  with  dust  as  if  in  summer." 

Yitruvius,  a  celebrated  writer,  who  flourished  under 
Julius  Ccesar,  tells  us  that  the  flowers  of  the  violet 
were  not  only  used  to  adulterate  or  counterfeit  the 
celebrated  blue  of  Athens,  but  were  also  employed  to 
moderate  hunger,  to  cure  ague  and  inflammation  of  the 
lungs,  &c,  and  the  blossoms  worn  as  garlands  were 
considered  as  a  charm  against  falling  sickness.  The 
Romans  used  to  put  large  quantities  of  violet  petals 
into  casks,  and  cover  them  with  good  wine  ;  from 
this  infusion  they  procured  a  drink  called  Violatum, 
which  was  only  used  on  festive  occasions.  The  petals 
of  roses  were  also  used  in  the  same  fashion,  and  called 
Rosaltum.  Pliny  gives  a  long  list  of  the  virtues  of  this 
flower.  The  ancients  believed  the  seed  counteracted 
the  effect;  of  scorpions'  stings.  The  violet  has  been 
in  all  ages  a  favourite  flower,  and  is  recognised  by  the 
poets  as  the  emblem  of  modesty  and  innocence. 
Spencer  calls  it  the  cool  violet,  and  Shakespeare 
compares  the  soft  strains  of  plaintive  music  to  its 
perfume. 

"  That  strain  again  ;  it  had  a  dying  fall. 

O,  it  came  o'er  my  ear  like  the  sweet  sound, 
That  breathes  upon  a  bank  of  violets. 
Stealing  and  giving  odour." — Twelfth  Xiglit. 

And  again,  the  touching  remark  of  Ophelia,  who 
coloured  all  nature  with  hues  of  her  own  sad  thoughts, 
"I  would  give  you  violets,  but  they  withered  all  when 
my  father  died."  Milton  makes  echo  dwell  amongst 
violets  : 

"  Sweet  Echo,  sweetest  nymph  that  lives  unseen, 
By  slow  Meander's  margent  green 
And  in  the  violet  embroider'd  vale." 

From  Googes'  translation  of  that  old  work,  the 
Popish  Kingdom,  we  find  that  the  violet  was  among 
the  flowers  used  in  the  ceremony  called  "  creeping  to 
the  cross  "on  Good  Friday,  and,  no  doubt,  it  was 
present  in  all  the  old  floral  usages  of  spring  in  "  days 
gone  by."  Our  old  botanist  Gerard  mentions  several 
kinds  of  violets  in  his  Herbal,  but  the  sweet  violet  he 
says  has  a  great  prerogative  above  all  others,  for  one 
reason  he  states,  "because  they  are  delightful  to  look 
upon,  and  pleasant  to  smell  too.  They  also  bring  to 
the  mind  the  remembrance  of  all  kinds  of  virtues. 
For  it  would  be  unseemlie  for  him  that  doth  look 
upon  and  handle  faire  and  beautiful  things,  and  who 
frequenteth  and  is  conversant  in  faire  and  beautiful 
things  to  have  his  mind  not  faire — but  filthee  and 
deformed."  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  a  conserve 
called  violet  sugar,  or  violet  plate,  was  sold  by 
apothecaries,  and  continually  recommended  by  phy- 
sicians to  their  consumptive  patients. 

This  flower  has  been  made  the  badge  of  political 


feeling  in  France,  the  violet  being  the  emblem  of  the 
liberal  party.  In  1814  many  pictures  were  circulated 
in  France  which  appeared  to  represent  merely  a 
bunch  of  most  innocent  violets,  but  a  little  scrutiny 
of  the  shadows  cast  by  the  violets  enabled  any  one 
looking  for  such  a  thing  to  discover  portraits  of  the 
first  Napoleon  and  his  wife  and  son — (vide  "  Flower 
Lore.")  The  violet  was  the  favourite  flower  with 
Napoleon  the  first ;  and  the  Bonapartists,  during  the 
banishment  of  their  chief  to  Elba,  while  plotting  for 
his  return,  filled  their  snuff-boxes  with  violet-scented 
snuff,  and  when  offering  a  pinch  would  significantly 
enquire  :  Do  you  love  this  perfume  ?  and  at  the  time 
when  he  was  expected  to  return  to  France,  they 
toasted  his  health  under  the  name  of  Caporal  Violetta 
or  the  flower  that  returns  with  the  spring. 

Botanically,  the  violet  belongs  to  the  order  Violacese. 
which  contains  about  a  hundred  species  spread  over 
the  greater  part  of  the  globe,  but  is  limited  in  Europe 
to  the  single  genus  Viola,  containing  several  varieties, 
as  the  marsh  violet  ( V.  palustris),  hairy  violet  ( V. 
hirta),  dog  violet  ( V.  canina) — {V.  tricolor)  heart's- 
ease  or  pansy — all  (except  V.  odorata)  with  scentless 
flowers.  In  all  the  British  violets,  except  the  pansy, 
the  perfect  flowers  seldom  set  their  fruit ;  but  if  a  plant 
is  examined  during  the  summer  and  autumnal  months, 
large  capsules,  containing  fertile  seeds,  will  be  found 
produced  by  minute  flowers  almost  without  petals  or 
stamens. 

It  was  the  violet  which  induced  John  Bertram,  a 
Quaker  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  friend  and  patron  of 
Alexander  Wilson,  to  study  plants.  He  had  employed 
his  time  in  agricultural  pursuits  without  the  know- 
ledge of  botany,  but  one  day  he  gathered  a  violet, 
examined  its  formation,  and  reflected  upon  it  until  he 
became  so  prepossessed  with  the  flower  that  he  dreamed 
of  it.  This  circumstance  inspired  him  with  a  desire  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  plants,  he  therefore  learned 
for  that  purpose  as  much  Latin  as  was  necessary,  and 
soon  became  the  most  learned  botanist  of  the  new 
world.  The  colour  extracted  from  the  violet  by  in- 
fusion affords  the  very  delicate  test  called  violet  paper 
used  by  chemists  for  acids  and  alkalies,  being  reddened 
by  the  former,  and  rendered  green  by  the  latter. 
Syrup  of  violets  is  greatly  used  by  confectioners  for 
making  confections,  candies,  &c,  also  by  perfumers  for 
scenting  oils,  pomades,  and  making  Eau  desViolettes- 
Large  quantities  of  violets  used  to  be  cultivated  at 
Stratford-upon-Avon  for  this  purpose.  The  root,  or 
rather  the  underground  stem,  has  a  strong  smell, 
particularly  when  dried,  and  its  taste  is  acrid,  bitter 
and  nauseous. 

Professor  Burkman  states,  that  in  some  parts  of 
Gloucestershire  the  violet  is  considered  unlucky  to 
have  in  the  house,  the  reason  alleged  being  that  these 
flowers  "certainly  brought  in  fleas."  Probably  the 
warmer  weather  of  spring  which  ushers  in  the  violet, 
said  to  be  "a  stinking  flower"  by  the  foxhunter. 
causes  the  troublesome  little  insect  to  be  hatched. 

F  2 


TOO 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Violets  are  cultivated  on  a  large  scale  round 
London,  at  Twickenham,  Strawberry  Hill,  Rich- 
mond, and  other  places  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames. 
They  are  usually  grown  under  orchard  trees,  a 
position  in  which  they  thrive  remarkably  well.  They 
are  also  grown  in  large  quantities  in  some  parts  of 
Kent,  Surrey  and  Sussex,  Pevensey,  &c.  Violet 
culture  is  said  to  be  a  most  lucrative  industry. 

HAMrDEN  G.   Glasspoole. 


NOTES  ON  NEW  BOOKS. 

A  BIBLIOGRAPHY,  Guide,  and  Index  to 
^±  Climate,  by  Alexander  Ramsay,  F.G.S. 
(London  :  W.  S.  Sonnenschein  &  Co.).  This  is  in 
reality  a  magazine  of  systematic  notes  relating  to 
climate,  with  digests  of  papers  and  books,  &c,  on 
the  subject.  The  volume  exhibits  immense  industry 
and  research,  and  the  student  will  save  much  time 
by  using  it  as  a  reference  book. 

Edible  British  Molhtsea,  by  M.  S.  Lovell  (London  : 
L.  Reeve  &  Co.).  The  second  edition  of  this  nicely 
got-up  book  has  appeared,  illustrated  by  beautiful 
coloured  plates,  and  containing  a  large  number  of 
recipes  for  cooking  all  our  natural  mollusca.  The 
reader  will  be  astonished  to  find  what  a  number  of 
recipes  are  available.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  quaint 
reading  in  the  work,  and  altogether  it  is  one  unique 
in  this  department  of  literature. 

A  Handbook  of  the  Geology  of  Shropshire,  by  J.  D. 
La  Touche  (London  :  Edward  Stanford).  Mr.  La 
Touche  is  well  known  as  a  field  geologist  and  ardent 
worker  with  the  hammer,  and  he  has  laid  all  British 
students  under  obligation  by  bringing  out  this  com- 
pendious little  handbook  of  the  geology  of  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  geological  county  in  Great 
Britain.  It  is  a  digest  of  all  that  is  good  and  useful 
from  "Siluria"  to  the  last  published  paper  of 
Callaway,  Lapworth,  Hopkinson,  Maw,  and  others, 
besides  the  author's  own  original  observations  ;  and 
it  is  illustrated  by  twenty  lithographed  plates,  con- 
taining above  700  figures  of  fossils  from  the  Cambrian 
to  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  inclusive. 

The  Microtomisfs  Vade  Alecu/u,  by  Arthur  Bolles 
Lee  (London  :  J.  &  A.  Churchill).  This  is  a  valuable 
book,  especially  to  medical  students  who  are  diligent 
in  the  use  of  the  microscope,  as  it  describes  all  the 
methods  of  microscopic  anatomy.  It  is  intended, 
however,  more  for  the  instructed  anatomist  than  the 
beginner,  and  therefore  country  doctors  who  wish  to 
keep  their  "hand  in  "  work  they  always  loved,  but 
have  found  little  time  to  continue,  will  hail  this  little 
work  with  pleasure. 

The  Collector's  Manual  of  British  Land  and  Fresh- 
tualcr  Shells,  by  Lionel  E.  Adams  (London  :  George 
Bell  &  Sons).  A  beautifully  got-up  little  manual, 
with    exquisitely   engraved  figures   of  every   British 


species.  Perhaps  no  department  of  natural  history 
has  come  more  to  the  front  lately  than  that  of  land 
and  fresh-water  mollusca.  Mr.  Adams  is  well  known 
as  a  conchologist,  and  he  therefore  knows  what  he  is 
writing  about.  Moreover,  he  also  knows  how  to 
present  his  knowledge  in  a  useful  form.  The  present 
work,  besides  describing  every  species,  its  habits, 
localities,  &c,  gives  an  account  of  all  the  varieties, 
hints  on  arranging  and  preserving  shells,  &c. 


FERTILISATION  OF  ORCHIS  MASCULA. 
By  Edward  Mai.an. 

IN  a  back  number  of  Science-Gossip  (Aug.  18S3, 
p.  181),  your  correspondent  G.  M.  pointed  out 
some  errors  into  which  I  had  fallen  with  respect  to 
the  fertilisation  of  O.  mascula,  and,  when,  in  a 
subsequent  number  (Nov.  1883,  p.  249),  I  asked 
him  to  favour  me  with  his  address,  he  did  so  at  once 
with  the  utmost  courtesy. 

To  this  day,  shame  on  me,  he  has  received  neither 
thanks,  answer,  nor  recognition  of  any  sort. 

But  I  have  not  been  idle,  meantime,  and  if  G.  M. 
will  read  what  I  now  have  to  say,  he  will  see,  and, 
I  trust,  accept  the  reasons  for  my  lengthened  silence. 
The  reasons  are  two.  I  waited  in  hopes  that 
some  one  would  reply  to  his  remarks,  for  here  and 
there  he  has  not  quoted  my  words  quite  correctly ; 
and  I  wanted  to  make  further  observations,  by  way 
of  verifying  my  statements.      Quod  feci. 

First  of  all,  as  regards  the  quotation  from  Mr. 
Darwin's  book,  it  was  not,  of  course,  given  word  for 
word.  It  wasn't  meant  to  be  given  word  for  word, 
and  I  thought  that  the  absence  of  inverted  commas 
would  show  as  much,  but  I  see  now  that  my  version 
is  different  in  words  and  substance  from  the  original. 
I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  G.  M.  for  correcting  me. 
I  will  be  more  careful  in  future. 

I  do  not  think,  however,  that  my  remark  about  the 
viscid  drop,  which  exudes  directly  the  roslellum  is 
touched,  is  altogether  wrong.  At  any  rate  there  is 
no  inaccuracy  or  confusion  in  what  I  said.  A  viscid 
drop  does  exude.  I  have  seen  it  do  so  frequently. 
For  instance,  a  viscid  drop  almost  invariably  exudes 
when  the  air  is  dry  and  the  sun  shining.  Then,  for 
some  reason,  the  pollinia  are  not  inclined  to  adhere, 
and  bees,  as  if  aware  of  this,  scarcely  deign  to  visit 
the  spikes  on  fine  days.  I  have  fertilised  literally 
scores  of  orchis  flowers  in  Mr.  Darwin's  own  way, 
i.e.  with  a  pencil,  and  repeatedly  a  tiny  drop  of 
milky  fluid  has  remained  on  the  point  of  the  pencil, 
without  either  pollinium  becoming  detached.  There- 
fore please  observe  that  I  did  not  use  the  expression 
explosion,  nor  did  I  say  a  pollinia.  By  explosion,  I 
presume,  a  forcible  expulsion  is  intended.  This  will 
not  apply  to  0.t  mascula.  I  have,  also,  on  very 
many  occasions,  watched  with  great  delight  the  drop 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


101 


shoot  out  from  the  flower  of  Listera  ovata  and 
Areottia  Nidus-Avis  and  once,  while  fertilising  a  spike 
of  Spirauthes  autumnalis,  the  flowers  behaved  in  the 
same  way,  though  not  with  such  force.  Besides,  my 
statement  is  so  easily  proved  or  refuted.  Let  only 
anyone  go  out  this  lovely  May  day,  and  make  the 
experiment  with  a  spike  of  O.  mascula,  and,  provided 
the  sun  is  shining  and  the  air  dry,  I  believe  a  viscid 
drop  will  exude.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  a 
warm  cloudy  morning  is  necessary  to  enable  the 
pollinia  to  escape  freely,  and  indeed  it  is  only  on  such 
a  morning  that  I  have  ever  seen  humble-bees  visiting 
the  plant.  Thus  the  chances  of  O.  mascula  being 
fertilised  by  humble-bees  in  the  legitimate  way  are 
very   often    narrowed    down  to  an    extremely   small 


Fig.  66. — Anthers  of  Orchis  mascula. 


themselves,  concealed  from  view.  For  want  of  some 
name  I  will  call  this  process  the  thong.  This  thong, 
then,  is  the  wonder  of  the  whole.  While  drawing 
it  (May  I,  1S82),  I  was  entirely  at  a  loss  to  account 
for  its  use,  but  subsequently  it  dawned  on  me.  As 
far  as  I  understand  its  economy  at  present,  it  seems 
to  be  attached  at  its  upper  end,  something  like  the 
tongue  of  a  frog,  and,  apparently,  for  the  same 
reason.  It  is  highly  elastic  and  retractile.  I  do  not 
observe  that  G.  M.  notices  it.  lie  says  "should  the 
pouch  be  depressed  without  the  pollinia  being 
removed,  it  rises  and  protects  the  viscid  balls  ;  or  if 


Fig.  67. — Pollinium  of  Orchis  mascula. 


Next,  as  to  the  lip  ox  pouch  which  covers  the  viscid 
balls  attached  to  the  base  of  the  pollinia.  In  the 
spring  of  1SS2,  I  made  this  drawing  of  the  anthers  of 
O.  mascula,  and  I  think  it  is  correct.  I  had  it  by 
me  in  iSSj,  when  I  wrote  my  paper,  but  I  forebore 
from  describing  it,  as  I  had  already  sent  in  too  many 
diagrams,  and  there  were  the  plates  also  in  Mr. 
Darwin's  book.  I  should  like  to  make  a  few  remarks 
about  it  now. 

To  my  mind,  and  probably  to  the  minds  of  those 
who  examine  the  drawing  attentively,  the  most 
wonderful  part  of  this  most  wonderful  piece  of 
mechanism,  is  the  central  strap-like  process  arising 
from  and  attached  to  the  rim  of  the  pouch,  and 
passing  between  the  enclosed  caudicles  of  the  pollinia, 
until   its   end    is   on  a  level  with  the   pollen-masses 


only  one  be  removed,  it  rises  and  protects  the  other." 
Fxactly  so  :  but  why  ?  The  pouch  rises  and  returns 
to  its  place,  I  believe,  because  of  this  elastic  thorn  . 
but  not  of  its  own  accord.  And  further,  I  believe 
that  this  thong  is  expressly  intended  to  prevent  the 
removal  of  both  pollinia  at  once,  which  it  certainly 
often  does  do,  for  the  humble-bee  becomes  quarrel- 
some when  two  pollinia  are  attached  to  his  forehead, 
and  tries  to  rub  them  off.  This  I  have  witnessed. 
One  single  pollinium,  on  the  contrary,  appears  to 
cause  little  or  no  inconvenience.  If  this  is  a  fact, 
it  is  a  very  interesting  and  marvellous  one. 

Then  G.  M.  finds  my  description  of  the  drying  of 
the  viscid  disc  rather  misleading.  Here  is  a  drawing 
of  a  pollinium  made  on  May  12,  1SS3.  It  is  the 
most    perfect    one    I    have    been   able   to   observe 


102 


HARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-  G  OSSIP. 


Notice  the  superb  symmetry  of  its  proportion, 
Notice  particularly  the  viscid  disc,  and  the  way  the 
caudicte  is  attached  to  it.  Now,  whether  the  viscid 
disc  as  a  whole  dries  or  not,  seems  to  me  a  little 
beside  the  question.  Perhaps  it  does,  and  perhaps  it 
does  not.  I  am  not  evading  the  question,  but  I 
prefer  to  ask  how  it  would  be  possible  to  maintain 
such  a  structure  as  this pollinium  perfectly  rigid  and 
in  a  perfectly  upright  position  for  30  seconds  even, 
without  some  depression  taking  place  ?  How  would 
it  be  possible  even  on  an  immovable  basis  ?  How 
would  it  be  possible  in  architecture  ?  Let  us  take  an 
instance.  A  Greek  column,  the  ideal  of  simplicity 
and  strength,  tapers  towards  the  capital  and  thickens 
towards  the  base.  The  thickening  occurs  at  one- 
third  of  the  distance  from  the  base,  as  being  the 
weakest  point.  Experiment  with  a  roll  of  moist  clay. 
The  construction,  therefore,  of  this  pollinium  must 
evidently  induce  rather  than  prevent  a  subsidence, 
and  the  drying  of  the  viscid  disc  can  only  assist 
in  a  secondary  degree.  What  actually  does  occur 
during  the  operation  of  fertilisation  is  this.  The 
humble-bee  alights  on  the  labellum  and  cranes  his 
serviceable  head  well  forward,  in  order  to  sweep  the 
base  of  the  nectary  in  a  horizontal  manner  with  his 
proboscis,  so  that  when  he  withdraws  his  head,  with 
a  pollinium  attached,  the  pollinium  projects  from  his 
forehead,  not  at  all  in  an  upright  position,  but  nearly 
at  right  angles.  Why  a  forward  movement  of 
depression  is  bound  to  occur  !  and  even  without  the 
depression,  the  pollen-mass  would  strike  on  the 
stigma,  only  there  would  not  be  the  same  chance  of 
leaving  so  much  pollen.  I  trust  this  is  plain  now, 
but  I  trust  also  that  G.  M.  will  observe  and  consider 
for  himself. 

While  touching  on  this  subject,  I  wish  to  draw 
attention  to  another  delightful  piece  of  intentional 
adaptation.  If,  as  I  have  just  supposed,  the  thong 
retains  the  pouch  in  its  proper  position,  then  a  mere 
forward  thrusting  movement  on  the  part  of  the  bee 
will  not  be  sufficient  to  disengage  the  pollinia,  a  fact 
which  I  have  often  proved  with  the  pencil ;  but  a 
horizontal  movement  from  side  to  side  will  be 
necessary,  or  a  rotatory  movement  of  the  pencil,  which 
amounts  to  the  same  thing.  Now  do  please  notice 
the  shape  of  the  nectary  (Science-Gossip,  April 
18S3,  p.  76),  widened  as  it  is  towards  its  end,  like 
the  mandibles  of  a  spoonbill's  beak,  and  do  please 
tell  me  what  it  is  for,  if  it  is  not  to  allow  of  the 
horizontal  movement  of  the  bee's  proboscis  ?  Perhaps 
you  will  object  that  the  nectary  is  not  widened 
throughout.  I  anticipated  that  objection  on  Aug.  22, 
1884,  by  securing  the  proboscis  of  a  dead  bumble- 
bee, and  I  found  that  it  resembled  a  spear,  with  the 
shaft  thickened  at  the  base  and  tapering  till  it  joined 
the  head.  The  head  was  nearly  l  inch  long,  and  the 
shaft  \  inch  long  (i.e.  the  head  was  \  of  the  whole 
length),  and  when  compared  with  the  length  and 
shape  of  the  nectary,  the  adaptation  was  so  remark- 


able as  to  compel  outspoken  admiration.  The  nectary 
formed  a  case  for  the  proboscis  as  if  made  to  measure  ! 
Then,  to  assure  myself  of  my  theory,  I  took  a  fly-rod, 
and  removing  the  top-joint,  and  holding  the  thicker 
end  so  as  to  give  the  remaining  9  ft.  a  gentle  free 
horizontal  motion,  I  observed  the  airy  delineations 
and  peculiar  shape  the  rod  took.  Well,  it  was,  of 
course,  something  like  a  flat  paint-brush,  the 
minimum  of  the  sweep  being  at  about  2  ft.  6  in.  from 
the  tip  (i.e.  \  of  the  whole,  nearly).  This  was  a 
most  singularly  faithful  representation  of  the  bee's 
proboscis,  and  the  reason  of  the  spear-like  shape  at 
once  became  apparent.  Really  this  is  worth  close 
observance. 

( 7b  be  continued.) 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

THE  Editor  of  "The  Popular  Science  Monthly" 
(New  York)  says  "  Harvard  University  is  to  be 
congratulated  on  its  leadership  in  the  important  work 
of  liberalising  the  traditional  college  education.'' 
This  refers  to  a  reform  of  the  practice  of  forcing 
modern  students,  whatever  their  ultimate  aim  may  be, 
to  waste  their  time  and  degrade  their  intellects  by 
the  tedious  and  shallow  cramming  of  memory  with 
those  dead  languages  which  constitute  the  sole 
attainments  of  the  dominating  pedagogues,  whose 
vested  interests  and  monkish  inheritance  our  universi- 
ties are  still  constructed  to  uphold.  The  University 
of  Harvard  is  a  great  and  growing  university,  its 
degrees  are  justly  honoured  everywhere.  What  then 
will  follow  ? 

Simply  the  natural  operation  of  the  laws  of  supply 
and  demand.  A  trip  across  the  ocean  is  a  trifling 
exploit  now-a-days,  and  in  itself  an  almost  necessary 
element  of  a  truly  liberal  education.  Therefore,  if 
Harvard  continues  moving  in  this  direction  faster  than 
our  universities  the  practical  British  parent,  who  is 
now  groaning  with  disgust  at  the  intolerable  impedi- 
ments that  are  placed  on  the  threshold  of  our 
academies,  will  simply  send  his  son  where  he  can 
obtain  what  he  requires ;  the  useful  and  truly 
elevating  culture  of  scientific  education,  without  the 
preliminary  penalty  of  learning  what  every  sensible 
man  contemptuously  forgets,  as  soon  as  he  enters 
upon  the  practical  business  of  life.  This  competition 
will  tell  most  powerfully  on  the  non-clerical  uni- 
versities. Oxford  and  Cambridge  will  not  for  a  long 
time  be  sensibly  affected  by  it,  but  the  London 
University  and  others  which,  like  it,  were  intended 
by  their  founders  to  supply  modern  and  secular 
requirements,  may  suffer  seriously  and  soon.  They 
will  lose  the  students  they  can  least  afford  to  spare, 
viz.  those  endowed  with  the  higher  intellectual 
powers  demanded  by  science,  and  who  consequently 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


103 


despise   the  prevailing  exaltation  of  mere  linguistic 
grindery. 

In  the  same  magazine  is  a  letter  from  Mr.  E.  C. 
Mason,  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  stating  a  fact  which 
refutes  the  widely  prevalent  notion—  I  may  almost 
say  superstition — that  many  of  the  lower  animals  are 
endowed  with  marvellous  powers  of  predicting  the 
far-ahead  weather.  In  America  the  musk  rat  is  one 
of  these  supposed  meteorologists.  It  is  there  believed 
that  when  he  builds  his  winter  quarters  lightly,  he 
does  so  because  he  is  inspired  with  foreknowledge  of 
a  mild  [coming  winter.  Last  autumn,  the  musk  rats 
of  Wisconsin  built  their  houses  "  exceptionally  light 
and  unsubstantial."  The  winter  was  severe,  and  the 
rats  perished  exceptionally.  The  actual  reason  for 
the  flimsy  building  was  that  the  autumn  was 
unusually  mild,  and  the  rats  simply  adapted  their 
present  proceedings  to  present  weather. 

This  American  delusion,  however,  is  a  very  mild 
one  compared  with  that  which  still  prevails  here, 
concerning  the  complex  intelligence,  foresight  and 
benevolence  of  the  holly,  which  is  seriously  credited 
with  developing  an  extra  supply  of  berries  on  the 
approach  of  a  hard  winter,  in  order  that  the  birds, 
especially  sparrows,  shall  be  provided  with  food  when 
the  snow  covers  the  ground. 

I  need  scarcely  add  that  anybody  who  knows  how 
to  observe  facts  accurately,  and  record  them  fairly, 
may  refute  this  absurdity.  The  development  of  the 
berries,  like  the  proceeding  of  the  rats,  is  a  result  of 
past  and  present  weather,  with  possibly  some  other 
past  and  present  conditions  co-operating. 

Before  closing  the  above  quoted  magazine,  I  must 
borrow  from  it  an  amusing  story  of  medical  evidence, 
given  in  a  trial  for  damages.  A  physician,  called  as 
witness,  stated  that  the  plaintiff  was  suffering  from  the 
remote  effects  of  an  injury  to  the  vaso-motor  system 
of  nerves,  and  would  in  time  become  insane.  In 
cross  examination,  the  doctor  was  asked  whether  he 
was  acquainted  with  the  works  of  Grosse  "On 
Recent  and  Remote  Effects  of  Head  Injuries," 
Lanery  on  "Injuries  of  the  Head,"  Leymaher  "On 
the  Subsequent  Effects  of  Nervous  Shock,"  and 
Carson  "  On  the  Surgery  of  the  Head."  The  doctor 
affirmed  that  he  had  read  these  books,  and  that  his 
library  contained  them  all.  The  opposing  counsel 
then  called  to  the  witness  box  a  clerk  from  his  office, 
who  testified  that  all  these  works  were  fictitious,  and 
that  he  had  invented  the  titles  in  order  to  expose  the 
doctor's  ignorance. 

The  ruling  machine  of  Nobert  is  now  in  London, 
has  been  purchased  by  Mr.  Frank  Crisp,  and  was 
exhibited  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Royal  Micrcsco- 
pical  Society.  I  remember  when  a  micrometer  slide 
for  a  microscope  ruled  to  ^m  of  an  inch  was  an 
object  of  curiosity,  and  rather  costly.  With  Nobert's 
machine  m'a6J  of  an  inch  is  attainable.  Remembering 
that  the  divisions  of  -^  gave  to  the  strip  of  glass  the 
appearance  of  being  ground  where  they  crossed,  the 


lines  and  spaces  being  separately  invisible  to  the 
naked  eye,  this  exploit  of  dividing  the  invisible 
divisions  into  112  parts  appears  impossible.  The 
difficulty  does  not  consist  in  moving  the  point,  or 
stage  holding  the  glass,  accurately  through  the  small 
distance.  An  ordinary  driving  engine  constructed 
on  the  principle  of  those  of  Ramsden  and  Parsons, 
which  were  in  active  operation  50  and  60  years  ago, 
does  this  easily,  but  the  two  other  necessary  elements, 
a  point  sufficiently  fine  to  cut  a  line  less  than  x^-, 
of  an  inch  thick,  and  a  surface  of  glass  capable  of 
receiving  such  a  cut  presented  problems  which 
Nobert  overcame.  The  cutting  point  was  of  course 
that  of  a  diamond,  worked  to  a  knife-edge,  either  by 
grinding,  or  chipping,  or  slitting. 

Everybody  has  read  of  the  wondrous  rapidity  of 
the  growth  of  Arctic  vegetation.  Now  that  summer 
excursions  round  the  North  Cape  to  the  Varanger- 
fjord  are  running  weekly  aud  even  oftener  (see 
"  Belgravia  "  of  June  last)  anybody  who  has  a  month's 
holiday  at  about  midsummer  may  witness  it  and  see 
the  midnight  sun,  &c,  at  less  cost  than  spending  the 
time  in  English  hotels.  On  my  first  visit  to  Norway, 
Hammerfest  was  the  ultima  thule  of  steam  packets, 
but  even  on  this  short  journey,  the  difference  between 
the  aspect  of  the  country,  in  the  course  of  ten  days 
between  going  and  returning  was  marvellous,  though 
I  did  not  repeat  the  experiment  of  the  American 
tourist  who  tells  us  that  by  placing  his  head  on  the 
ground  he  could  hear  the  grass  growing.  Not  only 
is  the  vegetation  stimulated  to  excessive  rapidity  by 
the  continuous  daylight,  but  the  leaves  and  seeds  of 
the  plants  are  larger  and  heavier.  Schiibeler  has 
lately  analysed  these  larger  seeds  (see  Biedermann's 
"  Centralblatt  fur  Agricultur  u.  Chemie,"  1884, 
p.  S60),  and  finds  that  the  extra  weight  is  not  due 
to  nitrogenous  matter,  as  this  remains  unaltered. 
Plants  that  produce  white  blossoms  in  other  places 
frequently  have  violet  flowers  here.  Perfumes  are 
remarkably  developed. 

The  best  time  for  witnessing  the  rapidity  of  vegeta- 
tion in  Arctic  Norway,  is  about  the  first  week  of 
July.  Starting  from  Trondhjem,  on,  or  a  little 
before,  the  first  of  the  month,  the  northward  trip 
displays  snowclad  regions,  which  on  the  return 
journey  a  fortnight  later  have  become  so  transformed 
as  to  be  difficult  of  recognition. 

A  very  simple  method  of  testing  the  quality  of 
compressed  or  "German"  yeast,  is  given  by  O. 
Meyer  (Biedermann's  "Centralblatt,"  1874,  p.  792). 
A  small  piece  of  the  yeast  is  placed  in  water  at  the 
temperature  of  250  Cent.  (770  of  our  thermometers). 
If  the  yeast  is  in  good  active  condition  it  will  rise  to 
the  surface  in  one  and  a  half  to  two  minutes,  if  of 
poorer  quality,  in  about  five  minutes.  Bad  yeast 
will  not  rise  at  all. 

Having  devoted  a  whole  chapter  of  my  "  Chemistry 
of  Cookery  "  to  the  subject  of  "malted  food,"  which 
until  I  wrote  about  it  in   "Knowledge"  had  been 


io4 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


sadly  neglected,  I  am  glad  to  see  that  its  importance 
is  becoming  recognised  by  "  the  faculty."  In  the 
"Lancet"  of  April  4th,  Dr.  J.  Milner  Fothergill 
commences  a  communication  on  the  subject  by  saying 
that  "  Malt  as  food  has  a  great  future  before  it."  So 
said  I,  and  further  practical  study  of  the  subject  not 
only  confirms  my  original  expectations,  but  greatly 
extends  them.  Dr.  Fothergill  naturally  looks  upon 
the  subject  from  a  physician's  point  of  view,  and 
describes  the  value  of  malt  llour  as  a  supplement  to 
the  food  of  dyspeptic  patients.  I  am  by  no  means  a 
dyspeptic,  quite  the  contrary,  troubled  with  over- 
nutrition  and  its  bulky  consequences,  but  nevertheless 
I  have  found  the  use  of  malt  as  an  addition  to  every 
kind  of  food  containing  farinaceous  matter  very 
advantageous,  and  am  receiving  communications  of 
gratitude  from  strangers  who  have  followed  my 
advice  'given  in  "  Knowledge, "  and  repeated  in  the 
volume  above  named. 

So  much  having  been  said  concerning  the  value  of 
malt  as  cattle  food  during  the  agitation  for  the  repeal 
of  the  malt  tax,  we  might  have  supposed  that  human 
beings  should  have  been  considered  at  the  same  time, 
but  instead  of  this  the  idea  of  using  it  ourselves  is 
almost  a  new  one.  The  cost  has  shut  out  the  cattle, 
but  it  need  not  exclude  us,  though  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  the  price  I  have  had  to  pay  for  malt  flour  hitherto 
is  simply  ridiculous.  It  is  at  present  regarded  by 
vendors  as  a  fancy  article,  and  retailed  at  perfumery 
rates  of  profit.  This,  I  hope,  will  right  itself  by  the 
wholesome  operation  of  competition  when  it  takes  its 
place  as  a  primary  kitchen  requisite.  I  have  already 
brandished  a  rod  of  terror  in  the  face  of  one  shop- 
keeper. I  have  threatened  him  with  William  Whiteley 
and  the  Stores. 

Another  difficulty  is  kitchen  prejudice.  My  pet 
experiment  for  demonstrating  the  "  potential  energy  " 
resident  in  malt  is  to  make  a  portion  of  oatmeal 
very  thick  or  pudding-like  ;  then  to  add  a  spoonful  of 
dry  malt  flour  to  this  at  the  temperature  of  about 
1400  to  1500,  and  stir  the  mixture,  when,  lo,  presto  ! 
the  thick  pudding,  instead  of  further  thickening  by 
the  dry  addition,  gradually  becomes  thinner  and 
thinner  till  quite  sloppy.  This  effect,  so  much  like 
that  produced  by  adding  water  is  naturally  supposed 
by  the  orthodox  cook  to  be  of  the  same  nature  ;  a 
dilution  or  "  taking  out  the  goodness."  When  cooks 
are  sufficiently  educated  to  understand  that  all  their 
farinaceous  thickenings  must  be  reduced  to  watery 
solutions  before  doing  the  work  of  nutrition,  they 
will  appreciate  the  importance  of  performing  this 
necessary  first  stage  of  digestion  in  the  kitchen. 

I  have  recently  made  an  interesting  visit  to  the 
works  of  Messrs.  Burrowes  &  Wellcome,  where 
"malt  extract"  is  prepared  on  a  large  scale,  by 
boiling  an  infusion  of  malt  in  vacuo,  so  as  to  extract 
and  concentrate  the  diastase.  The  result  is  a  honey- 
like syrup  of  maltose,  &c,  the  resemblance  of  which 
to  the  honey  of  a  Swiss  breakfast-table  has  suggested 


another  simple  mode  of  obtaining  malted  food.  I 
spread  it  like  honey  or  jam  on  bread  or  toast,  with 
or  without  previous  buttering.  A  very  thin  film  is 
sufficient  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  salivary 
glands  in  the  manner  described  in  the  book  above 
named.  To  those  who  take  hurried  breakfast,  and 
rush  off  to  business  immediately  after,  this  is  a  matter 
of  vital  importance,  however  robust  they  may  be  at 
present.  To  supply  this  and  other  similar  every-day 
domestic  demands,  the  extract  of  malt  must  become 
much  cheaper  than  it  is  now,  as  it  probably  will, 
when  it  becomes  a  grocery  commodity  demanded 
by  the  hogshead  like  sugar,  instead  of  a  pharmaceu- 
tical product  supplied  in  bottles. 

I  attended  the  lecture  of  Mr.  Fletcher  at  the 
Parkes  Museum.  His  object  was  to  show  that  we 
may,  if  we  choose,  do  away  with  the  nasty  practice  of 
burning  coal  in  dwelling  houses,  and  thereby  not 
only  griming  everything  indoors,  but  also  rendering 
our  towns  and  cities  hideous  by  smoke  and  brown 
fogs.  This  is  to  be  effected  by  using  gas  fuel  for  all 
domestic  purposes.  If  the  gas  companies  were 
compelled,  as  they  may  be,  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of 
their  charters  by  supplying  the  public  with  gas  at 
cost  price,  plus  the  maximum  profit  allowed  by  their 
charter,  this  wholesale  reform  might  be  effected  with 
a  considerable  economy.  Mr.  Fletcher  showed  us 
that  not  only  domestic  heating  may  be  economically 
effected  by  gas,  but  that  bakeries,  manufactories,  &c. 
may  be  similarly  served  by  means  of  gas,  plus  gas- 
coke.  He  has  proved  by  practical  experiment  in  his 
own  works,  that  with  a  properly  constructed  furnace, 
a  steam  boiler  of  the  cheapest  form  may  be  made  to 
do  better  duty  with  coke,  and  last  much  longer, 
than  the  complex  and  more  expensive  boilers  fired  in 
the  usual  manner  with  flaming  coal.  But  the  coke 
must  be  mixed  with  brains.  The  users  must  understand 
that  the  coke  fire  does  its  work  by  radiation  almost 
entirely,  while  the  flame  acts  chiefly  by  convection. 
Therefore,  the  furnace  must  be  modified  accordingly. 
It  was  evident  from  Mr.  Fletcher's  description  of  his 
furnace  that  its  efficiency  depended  on  this  principle, 
though  he  did  not  thus  explain  its  rationale. 


SOME  FERNS  OF   HONG-KONG. 
By  Mrs.  E.  L.  O'  Malley. 

A  SHORT  account  of  some  of  the  Hong-Kong 
ferns  may  be  interesting  to  the  general  reader. 
There  are  few  persons  who  take  no  notice  of  the 
works  of  nature,  and  the  study  of  ferns  constitutes 
one  of  the  simplest  branches  of  natural  science.  The 
material  for  such  a  study  meets  us  everywhere,  and 
there  is  hardly  a  corner  in  the  world  where  ferns  are 
not  found.  In  the  northern  regions  beyond  the  Amur, 
in  Scandinavia,  and  amidst  the  snows  and  long 
winters  of  Labrador  ferns  flourish,  when  flowers  can 
only  show  their  tender  tints  and  disappear. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i°5 


Countries  subject  at  times  to  extreme  cold  and 
long  drought  are  the  least  favourable  to  their  growth. 
In  the  temperate  zones  they  abound  everywhere  ; 
but  it  is  in  the  deep  shade  of  tropical  forests,  where 
the  air  is  densely  saturated  with  moisture,  and  the 
sun's  rays  can  never  penetrate,  that  these  exquisite 
plants  luxuriate  most  freely.  Nay,  if  we  go  back  to 
the  beginning  of  creation,  before  flowers,  before 
•trees,  long  before  animal  life  had  commenced,  we  find 
ferns  and  their  allies,  the  club-mosses  (Lycopodiace?e) 


we  fear  "  fragrant "  no  longer,*  at  least  not  deliciously 
so),  cannot  be  compared  in  point  of  size  and  grandeur 
with  our  king  of  British  ferns,  O.  regalis.  But  there 
are  sufficient  points  of  resemblance  for  any  acquainted 
with  one,  to  recognise  the  other.  The  clusters  of 
spore-cases  occupy  the  centre  of  the  frond,  narrowing 
and  altering  it  in  appearance.  The  frond  is  simply 
pinnate,  and  often  deeply  serrate,  usually  from  2-3 
feet  high.  The  colour  is  bright  green  with  a  firm, 
shiny,  erect  appearance,  differing  in    this   from   the 


Fig-  69. — Lygodiutn 
scandens,  Sw. 


Fie.  6S. — Lygodium  Japoiiicum,  Sw 
(Fertile.) 


covering  the  almost  drowned 
world  in  strange  preparation 
for  the  wants  of  future  ages. 

Can  we  fail  to  take  an  inter- 
est in  them?  And  can  our 
interest  be  satisfied  until  we 
have  bestowed  some  attention 

upon  the  structure  and  classification  of  the  different 
species  we  meet  with  in  our  daily  walks  ? 

The  following  notes  may  be  of  assistance  to  those 
who  wish  to  know  something  about  the  common 
•ferns  growing  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Victoria  and 
the  Peak. 

Gen.  I.  OsMUNDA,  Linn. 

[O.  Javaiuca,  Blume.) 

The  species  we  shall  find  in  many  water-courses 
and  along  the  banks  of  rocky  streams  (some  of  them 


Fig.  70. — Glckhcnia  dichotoma,  Willd. 

herbaceous  texture  and  golden-brown  tints  of 
O.  regalis,  and  the  veins  are  light-coloured  and 
distinct,  especially  when  the  plant  is  young. 

Gen.  II.  Lygodium,  Sw. 

(Creeping  or  Climbing  Fern.) 

There  are  three  species  of  lygodium  to  be  found  in 
I  long-Kong,  but  in  Lygodium  Japonicum,  Sw.,  we 
have  the  commonest,  if  not  the  loveliest,  fern  in  the 
island.  Examine  the  sori  all  round  the  edge,  like  the 
joints  of  a  cog-wheel.  How  beautifully  the  seed- 
coverings  are  plaited,  or  laid  like  the  tiles  of  a  roof 
one  upon  the  other,  each  tiny  tenement  containing 
one  capsule  or  spore-case,  which  in  its  turn  holds 
numerous  spores  (or  seeds),  almost  invisible  to  the 
naked  eye  !  The  leaves  are  either  in  pairs  or  else 
pinnate  (i.e.  with  pinnae  or  plumes  like  a  feather), 
the  segments  or  divisions  of  the  frond  often  numbering 
from  5-10.  There  is  no  need  to  say  that  this  fern  is 
a  climber.  It  creeps  up  anything  it  can  catch  hold 
of,  and  often  attains  in  this  way  to  a  considerable 


•  The    name    Hong-Kong 
fragrant   streams." 


Chinese    means    "Land   of 


io6 


HA  RD  WICKE'S    S  CIENCE-  G  OSS  IP. 


height.  A  word  about  it  in  other  lands  may  perhaps 
be  interesting.  Miss  Gordon  dimming  says  :  "Love- 
liest of  all  are  the  delicate  climbing  ferns,  the  tender 
leaves  of  which,  some  richly  fringed  with  seed,  hang 
mid-air  in  long  hair-like  trails,  or  else,  drooping  in 
festoons,  climb  from  tree  to  tree,  forming  a  perfect 
net-work  of  loveliness.  It  is  a  most  fairy-like 
foliage,  and  people  show  their  reverence  for  its 
beauty  by  calling  it  the  Wa-Kalon,  or  God's  Fern."* 
For  superstitious  reasons  also  the  natives  encourage 
it  to  grow  up  their  walls  and  door  posts.  Lygodium 
japonicum  has  a  pinnate  frond  ;  in  L.  scandens,  Sw., 
the  divisions  are  in  pairs,  broad  at  the  base  and 
narrowing  to  a  rounded  apex,  and  of  a  more  delicate 
texture  than  the  last,  not  nearly  so  common.  L. 
dichotomum,  Sw.,  has  fronds  8-IO  inches  long. 

Gen.  III.  Gleichenia,  Sw. 

{Called  in  some  places  "  Comb  Ferny) 

Gleichenia  dichotoma,  Willd.,  is  abundant,  not  only  in 
Hong-Kong  where  it  is  cut  down  for  bedding  for  cattle, 
but  in  the  tropics  all  round  the  world.  If  it  were  not 
for  its  trailing  propensities,  it  might  be  compared  to 
the  brake  of  our  native  land ;  it  is  also  not  unlike 
this  fern  in  roughness  of  texture,  although  quite  apart 
in  the  position  which  by  the  formation  of  its  seed  it 
holds  in  fern-classification.  The  spore-cases  have  no 
covering,  but  are  lightly  set  in  a  white  flour-like 
substance  in  loose  groups  of  2,  3,  4,  or  5,  under  the 
leaf.  The  fern  is  not  very  often  met  with  in  seed. 
The  arrangement  of  the  long,  stiff,  pinnate  leaves  is 
an  easy  distinguishing  feature,  as  they  grow  in  pairs, 
or  forked  (hence  the  name  di-chotoma,  2  cleft),  each 
fork  resulting  in  another  fork  and  so  on,  until  the 
long  straggling  branches  form  in  some  countries  an 
impenetrable  jungle,  too  thick  for  a  horse  to  break 
through,  and  mounting  6,  8,  or  10  feet  high  on 
boughs  of  trees,  low  shrubs  and  underwood.  It  has 
been  called  the  "Comb  Fern,"  as  the  leaves  when 
dry  are  stiff  and  like  the  teeth  of  a  comb. 

( To  be  continued.) 

For  some  years  past,  attempts  have  been  made 
(without  much  success)  to  acclimatise  the  tea  plant  in 
Italy.  The  Italian  Minister  of  Agriculture  has 
determined  to  act  upon  the  suggestions  of  Professor 
Beccari,  who  has  been  investigating  the  subject,  and 
to  procure  some  plants  from  the  coldest  provinces  of 
Japan,  as  well  as  some  from  the  province  of  Novara 
in  Italy.  The  T/iea  Sinensis  has  been  grown  to  some 
extent  in  the  open  in  Italy,  and  Professor  Beccari 
thinks  there  is  no  reason  why  tea  should  not  succeed 
there,  under  proper  management  in  procuring  plants 
and  seeds  and  in  the  conditions  under  which  they 
are  cultivated. 

*  "At  Home  in  Fiji,"  by  Miss  G.  Gumming. 


CHAPTERS     ON     FOSSIL     SHARKS      AND 
RAYS. 

By  Arthur  Smith  Woodward, 
of  the  British  Museum  (Natural  History). 

IV. 

CESTRACIONTID/E. 

UNTIL  quite  recent  years,  the  family  of  Cestra- 
ciontidse  was  regarded  as  including  all  the 
varied  forms  now  grouped  under  the  Orodontidse, 
Psammodontidse,  Copodontidce,  Cochliodontidre,  and 
Petalodontida?,  and  thus  its  zoological  and  palaeonto- 
logical  signification  has  been  considerably  altered  of 
late.  The  most  modern  researches  seem  to  show 
that  Acrodus  and  Strophodus  are  the  only  important 
extinct  genera  that  can  be  referred  to  it  with  certainty, 
but  Ptychodus  is  also  placed  here  by  most  pakeonto- 
ists,  although  it  appears  much  more  nearly  allied 
the  Rays,  judging  from  the  little  that  is  known 
about  the  arrangement  of  its  teeth. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  dentition 
of  Cestracion,  the  only  existing  genus  of  this  family, 
in  the  account  of  the  Cochliodonts  (vol.  xx.  p.  270). 
The  diagram  (fig.  71),  however,  will  give  a  more  cor- 
rect idea  of  the  aspect  of  the  jaw  :  there  is  much  more 
variation  in  the  dental  forms  in  different  parts  of  the 
mouth  than  is  to  be  observed  among  those  sharks 
with  laniary  teeth,  such  as  the  Carchariidae  and 
Lamnidre,  and  the  hindermost  are  adapted  for 
crushing  food,  while  those  at  the  symphysis  are  dis- 
tinctly conical  and  prehensile.  Several  rows  are  in 
function  at  a  time.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  also,  that 
Cestracion  has  defensive  weapon;  in  the  form  of 
dorsal  fin-spines,  while  the  members  of  the  families 
just  alluded  to  are  destitute  of  these,  their  sharp 
piercing  teeth  being  a  sufficiently  formidable  arma- 
ture. Only  four  species  of  Cestracion  are  described 
by  Dr.  Gvinther,  in  his  British  Museum  Catalogue, 
living  off  the  coasts  of  Japan,  Australia,  California, 
and  the  Galapagos  Isles,  and  no  undoubted  fossil 
remains  of  the  genus  have  hitherto  been  recorded. 

As  in  the  case  of  Hybodus,  all  the  more  perfect 
specimens  revealing  the  structural  characters  of 
Acrodus  have  been  obtained  from  the  Lower  Lias  of 
Lyme  Regis.  There  have  been  discovered  some 
beautiful  examples  exhibiting  the  arrangement  of  the 
dentition,  others  showing  the  two  dorsal  spines  in 
association  with  scattered  teeth,  and  others  indicating 
that  this  genus  possessed  the  four  remarkable  cephalic 
spines  so  characteristic  of  nearly  all,  if  not  all,  the 
species  of  Hybodus.  The  most  typical  teeth  of 
Acrodus  (fig.  73)  are  distinctly  of  the  Cestraciont  form, 
and  usually  differ  considerably  from  those  occupying 
similar  positions  in  the  mouth  of  Hybodus,  being 
quite  flat  or  only  slightly  rounded,  and  ornamented 
with  very  fine  ridges  and  furrows  radiating  from  a 
more  or  less  central  longitudinal  line  ;  the  dentition 
of  this  genus,  too,  varies  more  on  different  parts  of 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


107 


the  jaw  than  in  the  typical  species  of  Hybodus,  and 
there  are  some  dissimilarities  in  microscopical 
structure.  The  symphysial  teeth  approach  a  conical 
form,  and  there  is  sometimes  a  slight  indication  of 
lateral  or  secondary  cones.  It  must  be  remarked, 
however,  that  some  species,  such  'as  A.  Anningia 
(fig.  84),  are  quite  on  the  borders  of  the  two  genera, 
and  the  ornamentation  on  a  few  of  even  the  most 
characteristic  Acrodont  teeth  (fig.  74)  is  suggestive  of 
their  close  relationship  to  those  of  the  true  Hybodont 
type. 

The  dorsal  spines  of  Acrodus,  unknown  to  Agassiz, 
were  first  described  in  the  "  Geological  Magazine,"* 
twenty  years  ago,  by  Mr.  E.  C.  H.  Day.  In  this 
elaborate  paper,  he  points  out  how  nearly  they 
resemble  those  of  Hybodus,  and  is  unable  to  discover 
more  than  two  points  of  difference  between  them. 
He  endeavours  to  show  that,  in  spines  of  the  latter 
genus,  the  double  row  of  posterior  denticles  is  fixed 
upon  a  somewhat  prominent  ridge,  as  seen  in  the 
section  (fig.  75),  while  in  Acrodus,  the  back  of  the 
spine  is  comparatively  flat  (fig.  76)  ;  also,  that  the 
denticles  themselves  are  fewer  and  stouter  in  Acrodus, 
than  in  Hybodus.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that, 
since  the  date  of  these  studies,  much  more  valuable 
material  has  accumulated,  and  it  is  questionable 
whether,  when  a  large  number  of  specimens,  such  as 
are  now  available,  are  examined,  many  intermediate 
gradations  will  not  be  found.  The  object  of  Mr. 
Day's  paper  is,  indeed,  to  prove  that  Hybodus  and 
Acrodus  are  closely  allied,  and  that  the  only  differ- 
ences between  them  are  merely  in  degree  and  not  in 
kind  ;  and  he  concludes  a  very  careful  discussion  of 
their  characters  by  suggesting  that,  according  to  their 
dentition,  the  Hybodonts  and  Acrodonts  might  be 
regarded  as  forming  a  single  group,  divisible  into 
three  sections  : — "  the  first,  with  very  elongated 
cones,  represented  by  H.  basanus ;  the  second,  with 
the  cones  more  obtuse,  by  H  Delabechei ;  and  the 
third,  almost  or  altogether  wanting  conical  elevations, 
by  A.  nobi/is."  How  far  these  conclusions  are  to  be 
accepted,  future  research  must  decide. 

Species  of  Acrodus  range  from  the  Triassic  to  the 
Upper  Cretaceous  strata,  inclusive.  The  Continental 
Muschelkalk  has  yielded  A.  Gaillardoti  and  others, 
and  the  Rhaetic  of  Devonshire  is  characterised  by  the 
little  A.  minimus  (fig.  77).  A.  nobi/is  (fig.  73)  and 
A.  Anningim  (fig.  84)  are  the  most  important  species 
of  the  Lias,  being  found  chiefly  in  the  lower  divisions, 
and  not  so  abundantly  as  the  remains  of  Hybodus. 
A.  hiodus  and  A.  kiopleurus  occur  in  the  Stonesfield 
Slate  ;  and  two  species,  A.  IUingworthi  and  A.  cre- 
taceus,  have  been  described!  from  the  English  chalk. 

The  genus  Strophodus  is  not  quite  so  well  known 
as  that  just  considered.  No  certain  information  has 
hitherto  been  obtained  concerning  any  feature  in  its 


*  "  Geol.  Mag.,"  1864,  vol.  i.  pp.  57-65. 

t  Dixon's  "  Geology  of  Sussex,"  1st  edit.,  1850,  p.  364. 


organisation  beyond  the  dentition,*  and  only  one 
specimen  affording  a  definite  clue  to  the  arrangement 
of  the  teeth  appears  to  be  yet  known  to  science. 
This  beautiful  example  is  preserved  in  the  Oolitic 
Caen  Stone,  and  was  described  by  Sir  Richard  Owen 
in  the  "Geological  Magazine"  for  1869.  It 
exhibits  about  sixty  teeth  in  situ,  and  is  represented 
in  fig.  72.  As  regards  the  arrangement  of  the 
different  dental  forms,  it  bears  a  close  resemblance  to 
the  jaw  of  Ccstracion,  but  differs  from  the  living 
genus  in  the  same  respect  as  does  the  jaw  of  Acrodus, 
namely,  in  the  symphysial  teeth  being  much  fewer 
and  relatively  larger.  There  are  two  principal  rows 
of  crushing  teeth  (fig.  72,  a,  b),  as  in  Ccstracion,  and 
there  are  likewise  indications  of  some  posterior  rows 
of  smaller  and  somewhat  elliptical  teeth  (ib.,  c)  ; 
but,  instead  of  nine  rows  occupying  the  space  in 
front  of  the  principal  series  on  each  side,  only  three 
are  to  be  observed  (ib.,  b,  c,  d),  and  no  median 
azygous  row  is  present.  The  teeth  themselves,  when 
isolated,  are  readily  distinguished  from  those  of 
Acrodus  by  means  of  their  surface-ornament,  which 
consists  of  reticulate  markings,  but  a  glance  at  the 
figure  of  the  Caen  specimen  is  sufficient  to  show  the 
extreme  difficulty  of  determining  the  species  of  such 
detached  fossils. 

Strophodus  ranges  from  the  Upper  Permian  to  the 
Chalk,  inclusive.  It  is  represented  in  the  Kupfer- 
schiefer  of  Germany  by  S.  arcuatus,  and  at  least  one 
species  is  also  found  in  the  Triassic  Muschelkalk. 
S.  magnics  is  characteristic  of  the  Lower  Oolites,  and 
other  so-called  species  (S.  tenuis,  &c.)  likewise  occur 
upon  the  same  horizon ;  ^.  favosus  is  the  name  of 
some  small  teeth  (fig.  78)  from  Stonesfield.  The 
Middle  and  Upper  Oolites,— particularly  the  Oxford 
and  Kimmeridge  Clays, — yield  the  well-marked 
form,  6".  reticu/atus  (fig.  79),  which  is  easily  recog- 
nised by  the  prominence  of  its  ornamentation  :  of 
this  species  we  know  more  than  any  other,  except 
S.  medius  (fig.  72),  a  large  number  of  teeth  having 
been  found  associated  in  the  Kimmeridge  Clay  of 
Shotover,  and  described  by  Agassiz  in  his  great  work 
on  the  "  Poissons  Fossiles."  The  Cretaceous  series 
contains  the  last  traces  of  the  genus,  so  far  as  is  yet 
known,  and  only  two  forms  appear  to  have  been 
recorded  from  this  group  ;  one  is  S.  sulcatus,  from 
the  Greensand  of  Maidstone,  and  the  other  the  very 
rare  and  curious  S.  asper  (fig.  So)  of  the  Chalk. 

Ptychodus  is  an  essentially  Cretaceous  genus,  and 
has  not  hitherto  been  met  with  in  rocks  of  any  other 
age,  either  in  the  Old  or  New  World.  Nothing 
beyond  the  dentition  is  known  with  certainty, 
although  Agassiz,  in  his  original  description  of  this 
shark,  associated  with  the  teeth  certain  peculiar 
elongated   fossils   which   he   thought   might   be   the 


*  It  has  been  suggested  "that  the  spines  known  under  the 
name  of  Asteracanthus  really  belong  to  Strophodus ;  but  abso- 
lute proof  is  at  present  wanting,  and  we  shall  thus  reserve  their 
consideration  for  the  chapter  on  "  Ichthyodorulites." 


ioS 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


dorsal  fin-spines.  More  recent  discoveries  in  America 
have  proved  the  identification  of  the  latter  to  be 
incorrect,  and  Prof.  Cope  has  shown  that  the 
remains  in  question  are  the  fin-rays  of  Teleostean 
fishes,  which  he  places  in  a  family  under  the  name  of 
Pelecopteridoe. 


specific  characters  and  arrangement  in  the  mouth. 
Species  may  generally  be  founded,  with  a  considerable 
approach  to  accuracy,  upon  detached  teeth,  from  a 
consideration  of  the  ornament  of  the  crushing 
surface ;  this  has  been  proved  by  the  discovery  of 
numerous  large  groups  (each  evidently  the  remains 


Fig-  73-—  Tooth  of  Ac  rod  us  nobiVis. 


Fig.  74.— Ornamentation  of  tooth  of  Acrodus- 
nobilis. 


II,;.  71. — Jaw  of  recent  Cestracion  Philippi 


Fig.  75. — Transverse 

section  of  spine  of 

I/ybodus. 


Fi».  76. — Transverse 

section  of  spine  of 

Acrodus. 


Fig.  77. — Tooth  of 
Acrodus  minimus. 


I  '3-  79- — Tooth  of  S/rop/iodus 
reticulatus. 


Fi?.  78.— Tooth  of 
Sf>  ofhodiis  Javosus- 


Fig.  So. — Tooth  of 
Stropkodus  asfer. 


Fig.  72.— Jaw  olStrophodus  medius.     (After  Owen.) 


Fig.  Sr. — Tooth  of  Ptychodtts  mammillaris. 


As  the  teeth  of  Ptychodtts  are  so  well  known  to 
all  acquainted  with  the  fossils  of  the  Chalk,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  describe  their  general  shape  in  detail 
here,    and    reference   need    only   be   made   to   their 


of  a  single  mouth),  in  which  all  the  forms  may  be 
easily  recognised  as  modifications  of  a  single  type. 
About  ten  species  occur  in  the  English  Chalk,  and  of 
these  the  commonest  are  P.  dccurrens,  P.  polygyms, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


109 


and  P.  mammillaris.  The  first  has  the  central  part 
of  the  tooth  not  much  raised,  with  the  transverse 
ridges  all  insensibly  merging  into  the  surrounding 
granulated  area ;  in  the  second  (fig.  82),  the  trans- 
verse ridges  and  furrows  are  coarser  and  mostly  bend 
round  on  reaching  the  granulated  area,  producing 
gyrations  suggestive  of  the  specific  name  ;  in  the 
third  (fig.  Si),  the  central  part  of  the  tooth  is  raised 


British  Museum.  To  whichever  jaw  this  dental 
armature  belonged,  its  arrangement  is  obviously  very 
different  from  that  of  Cestracion,  and  if  we  were  now 
venturing  upon  innovations,  instead  of  simply 
recording  the  present  state  of  this  branch  of  Palaeonto- 
logy, we  should  remove  Ptychodus  altogether  from 
the  Cestraciont  family,  and  endeavour  to  find  a  place 
for  it  in  proximity  to  some  of  the  Rays. 


Fig.  82. — Tooth  of  Ptychodus J>olygyrus. 


Fig.  S3. — Diagram  illustrating  arrangement  of  dentition  of 
Ptychodus. 


Fig.  84  —Jaw  oi  Acrodus  Anningice.     (After  E.  C.  H.  Day.) 


into  a  more  or  less  prominent  dome,  and  the 
surrounding  granulated  area  is  characterised  by  the 
delicacy  of  the  markings,  and  the  frequent  presence 
of  radiating  grooves. 

With  regard  to  the  disposition  of  the  teeth  in  the 
mouth,  very  little  as  yet  has  been  ascertained,  owing 
to  the  fragmentary  nature  of  most  of  the  fossils  ;  so 
much  is  known,  however,  as  is  represented  in  the 
diagrammatic  plan  (fig.  83),  which  embodies  the 
information  afforded  by  specimens  exhibited  in  the 


One  other  extinct  genus  is  usually  referred  to  the 
Cestraciontidae, — Plethodus  from  the  English  Chalk. 
It  is  founded  upon  detached  dental  plates,  which  are 
flat,  and  of  somewhat  irregular  outline,  with  a 
punctated  grinding  surface. 

( To  be  continued.) 


"Engineering"  mentions  weather  vanes  illu- 
minated by  electricity,  and  a  trial  suggested  with 
one  twenty  feet  long,  with  a  light  at  either  end. 


I  IO 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


MY  GARDEN  PETS. 

By    E.    II.    Robertson. 

Part  II. 

STRING-TIME   is  particularly  disastrous  to  my 
pets.     Tempted  by  the   bright  sunshine  they 
roam  to  distant  pastures,  to  provide  for  the  wants 
of  a    daily  increasing    family.     After  a  night's   rest 
and   refreshment,    they   issue   forth   full   of    energy, 
and  without   impedimenta,  but    return    later    in    the 
day   tired   and   heavily  laden,    to   be   cut  down   on 
the    very   threshold    of  home,    by  the    cruel,    biting 
wind,   thousands  of  the  weary  labourers   being  thus 
sometimes    lost.     To    a    lover    of    bees    it     is    dis- 
tressing to  see  the  ground  strewn  with  their  chilled 
carcases,  and,  as  I  never  pass  a  chilled  bee  without 
making  an  effort  to  warm  him  into  life,  I  gather  mine 
into  a  bell   glass,   which,    inverted   over  a  stand,   I 
place  before  afire.     I  may  have  collected  but  a  score, 
perhaps  it  contains  500  or  600.     Soon  the  inert  mass 
shows  signs  of  vitality — here  and  there  a   tiny  leg  or 
antenna    quivers,    a    silvery  wing   shimmers    in    the 
flickering  firelight,  a  few  moments  later  and  sundry 
pollen-laden  little  fellows  may  be  seen  brushing  their 
coats  and  wings,  and  loudly  buzzing,  as  they  scamper 
up  and  down  the  side  of  their  prison,  in  search  of 
some  means  of  escape,  and  soon  nearly  all  are  astir. 
Turning  the  glass  mouth  upwards  in  the  open  air,  the 
thoroughly  resuscitated  fly  off  to  their  hives,  a  few 
not  yet  fully  recovered,  after  a  short  flight,  descend- 
ing to  the  ground,  to  be  returned  to  the  glass,  re- 
warmed,  and  fed  with   honey   until   fully   restored. 
Sometimes  every  bee  may  thus  be  brought  back  to 
life,    but  more   frequently  a   small    proportion    (say 
from  five  to  twenty  per  cent.)  are  not  to  be  so  easily 
restored  ;  they  are  almost  invariably  the  old  and  worn 
out,     quickly    recognised    by    their    black,    hairless 
bodies,  whose  slender  thread  of  life  has  been  severed 
1  iy  the  north  wind's  keen  edge.   If  apparently  drowned 
bees  be  placed  upon  a  blotting  pad,  and  thus  treated, 
the    genial    warmth    will    almost     certainly    revive 
them. 

To  a  person  not  familiar  with  bees  the  statement 
that  the  sounds  emitted  by  them  are  as  varied,  and 
as  expressive  of  fear,  anger,  pain,  &c,  as  are  those  of 
human  and  other  animals,  may  seem  incredible  ;  it  is, 
nevertheless,  strictly  and  literally  true,  and  the  ear 
of  the  experienced  apiarian,  or  observant  naturalist, 
soon  learns  to  distinguish  them.  There  is  not  a 
greater  difference  between  the  soft  purr  of  the  con- 
tented puss,  and  her  threatening  growl  when  tearing 
her  prey,  her  pleading  ''mew,"  and  her  diabolic 
caterwauling,  or  unearthly  sleep-disturbing  yell,  than 
there  is  between  the  droning  hum  of  the  tired 
homing  bee,  and  the  fierce  threatening  buzz  which 
warns  the  intruder  to  decamp. 

The  crisp  whirr  with  which  the  active  little  fellow 
-prings  from  the  threshold  of  his  hive  into  the  regions 


of  light  cannot  pass  unnoticed,  and  the  delightsome 
hum  which  expresses  his  happiness,  as  he  circles  and 
shoots  to  and  fro,  when  the  cloud-dispelling  sun 
cheers  him  into  activity,  is  pleasant  indeed  to  him 
who  loves  such  rural  sounds.  His  pathetic  cry  oi 
distress,  too,  when  unable  to  extricate  himself  from 
the  cruel  grip  of  a  spider,  or  has  been  accidentally 
squeezed  beneath  some  weight,  calls  for  the  ready 
help  of  him  whose  ear  is  alive  to  the  cry  of  pain. 
This  diversity  of  cries  alone  should  teach  the  novice 
when  to  avoid  proximity  to  bees'  quarters ;  but  as 
there  is  an  art  in  seeing,  so  is  there  in  hearing,  and 
some  there  are  who  never  learn,  and  if  they  have 
anything  to  do  with  bees  they  soon  pay  the  penalty 
of  their  ignorance. 

Dear  reader,  have  you  ever  witnessed  the  contortions 
of  a  terror-stricken  bee  observer  ?  If  not  I  can  pro- 
mise you  an  entertaining  sight,  and  even  if  you  be  an 
unfortunate  wight  upon  whose  liver  that  most  baleful 
of  all  subtle  malignancies— the  east  wind — has  laid 
its  firmest  hold,  it  will  most  assuredly  provoke  your 
mirth.  It  always  reminds  me  of  the  mechanical 
figures  which  the  cockney  void  of  taste  erects  upon  a 
post  or  staff  in  his  small  garden.  The  figure  gyrates 
upon  a  pivot,  and  every  breath  of  wind  sets  in  rapid 
motion,  windmill  fashion,  two  fin-like  appendages, 
that  are  supposed,  by  a  wide  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
tion, to  resemble  arms.  See  but  the  terrified  one  as 
he  wildly  smites  the  air  in  his  futile  efforts  to  beat 
down  his  puny  foe,  and  the  inanimate  figure  will 
present  itself  to  the  mind's  eye.  His  ludicrous  antics 
can  have  but  one  effect.  The  bee,  perfectly  innocent 
of  mischief,  naturally  enough  believes  itself  to  be  the 
object  of  unprovoked  attack,  and,  resentful,  makes 
short  work  of  his  enemy,  and  if  the  latter  escape  scot 
free  his  escape  is  due  either  to  the  thickness  of  his 
garments,  or,  more  probably,  to  the  hastiness  of  his 
retreat.  It  may  be  stated  that,  as  a  rule,  bees  never 
sting  when  roaming,  nor  even  close  to  their  homes, 
unless  irritated  by  the  recent  plunder  of  their  store, 
or  disturbed  by  the  passing  and  repassing  of  any 
person  in  front  of  their  hives. 

Perhaps  there  is  nothing  that  more  readily  excites 
a  bee  to  anger  than  the  latter.  The  term  vicious,  so 
often  applied  to  bees  and  wasps  by  the  ignorant,  is  a 
senseless  misnomer,  and  although  there  is  probably 
as  great  a  diversity  of  disposition  to  be  found  in  any 
one  bee  community  as  amongst  the  individuals  of 
other  races,  they  are  most  certainly  not  aggressive, 
and  the  notion  that  they  sting  of  malice  prepense  is 
an  absurd  one.  Even  a  stranger  may,  with  impunity, 
stand  before  a  hive  when  bees  are  returning  home 
heavily  laden,  and  although  his  garments  may  be 
thickly  studded  with  the  weary  little  labourers,  not 
one  will  molest  him,  nay,  if  the  tip  of  the  finger  be 
presented,  the  tired  insect  will  almost  invariably 
accept  the  proffered  aid.  Let  the  stranger,  however, 
beware  lest  some  watchful  sentinel  dashes  at  some 
unprotected  part  of  his  Larson. 


BAHDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


in 


When  beekeepers  are  standing  near  hives,  single 
bees  very  frequently  make  close  examination  of  the 
intruder.     I  am  constantly  the  object  of  their  close 
attention.     Perhaps  the  little  examiner  is  but  passing 
away  a  spare  moment  by  way  of  recreation,  probably, 
mistrustful,  he  is  warning  me  to  give  his  home  and 
friends  a  wider  berth.     First  he  buzzes  within  an  inch 
of  one  eye,  then  visits  its  fellow,  then  makes  a  tour 
of  inspection,  sounding  his  trumpet  first  in  one  ear, 
then  in  the  other,  his  observations  being  almost  en- 
tirely   confined    to    the  head.      When   I    hear   his 
threatening  buzz,  knowing  that  he  is  not  to  be  trifled 
with,  and  wishing  to  spare  his  life,  I  close  my  eyes 
and  remain  quite  stationary,  and,  after  awhile,  my 
little  friend,  seeing  that  he  has  nothing  to  fear,  settles 
usually  upon  my  face,  sometimes  the  lobe  of  an  ear, 
more  frequently  the  tip  of  my  nose,  and  after  a  few 
preliminary  brushings  up  pursues  his  peaceful  way, 
and  I  mine.     We  have  become   better  acquainted, 
and  he  is  far  less  likely  to  trouble  me  on  any  future 
occasion,  whereas  a  timid  person  would,  by  his  frantic 
fears,  provoke  a  catastrophe.     His  terror  may  perhaps 
be  excused,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  dislike  is 
probably  mutual ;  bees'  antipathy  to  particular  indi- 
viduals being  as  remarkable  as  their  liking  for  others, 
and,  whilst  some  persons  may  handle  them  with  im- 
punity, there  are  others  who  dare  not  venture  within 
yards  of  their  hives  without  being  attacked.     That 
the  odour  of  some  persons,  not  perhaps  in  itself  un- 
pleasant, may  yet  be  disliked  by  the  bees,  is  the  most 
reasonable  explanation  of  the  strange  facts  that  can 
be  offered. 

Swalcliffe,  Banbury,  Oxon. 


ARTISTIC  GEOLOGY. 

Ffestiniog  and  its  Neighbourhood. 

By  T.  Mellard  Reade,  F.G.S.,  &c. 

IN  addition  to  its  reputation  for  picturesque 
scenery,  and  the  soft  beauties  of  its  vale, 
Ffestiniog  is  a  very  good  centre  for  the  geological 
student.  Situated  on  a  sort  of  promontory  between 
two  valleys,  the  Cynfael  and  the  Dvvyryd,  at  a 
sufficient  elevation  to  maintain  a  bracing  atmosphere, 
the  mind  and  body  retain  that  elasticity  which 
makes  mountain  scenery  so  enjoyable.  At  the  same 
time,  those  whose  delight  is  the  investigation  of 
nature  can  fully  gratify  their  cravings.  I  will 
proceed  to  describe  some  of  the  geological  problems 
which  force  themselves  upon  the  notice  of  the 
thoughtful  mind. 

SURFACE    FEATURES. 

The  grand  flank  of  Moelwyn,  perhaps  the  finest 
mountain  of  its  height  I  have  ever  seen,  is  to  my 
mind  of  more  interest  than  the  much,  if  not  over, 
praised  vale.     It  can  be  seen  at  one  view  from  base 


to  summit.     The  river  Dwyryd  runs  deep  below  you 
at  the  bottom  of  the  vale,  while  Moelwyn  rises  from 
a   tree-covered   breastwork    of  hills   in   a  great  and 
serried  scarp  from  Tan-y-Bwlch  to  Blaenau  Ffestiniog 
slate  quarries.     Its  beauty,  to  my  mind,  is  its  variety, 
the  contrast  between  the   ornamental   nature  of  its 
foreground  of  hills,  and  the  steep  treeless  scarp  of  its 
main  mass.     Facing  the  south-east,  it  changes  much 
under  the  varying  light  of  the  sun,  now  lighted  up  in 
every  detail  of  its  structure,  and  anon  a  vast  mystery 
of  gloom.     A  descent  from  the  village  of  Ffestiniog 
to  the  Dwyryd  down  a  steep  foot  walk  gives  us  some 
very  picturesque  views.     The  vale  is  well  wooded. 
We  cross  the  river  by  a  foot-bridge,  noticing,  by  the 
way,  some  well-rounded  boulders  in  the  river  bed.. 
Ascending  the  other  bank  we  strike  the  main  road 
which  skirts  a  deep  and  picturesque  ravine  thickly 
timbered.     Arriving  at  the  turnpike,  we  turn  towards 
Tan-y-Grisiau,  noticing  a  large  bank  of  drift  which 
lies    near   the  fork    of  two  streams,    one   of  which 
rises   in    Cwm   Orthin,    the   other   nearer   the    slate 
quarries   of    Blaenau.      The   road    to   Tan-y-Grisiau 
skirts    the   former   stream,    in   which   are   two   very 
picturesque   falls.      The   lower  fall  is  crossed  by  a 
bridge  just  above  it.     Passing  over  this,  with  some 
climbing   through   ferns   and  heath,   and  over  walls 
ascending  the  right  bank  of  the  stream,  we  get  a  very 
beautiful  view  of  this  upper  fall.     The  rock  here  is 
part  of  a  large  mass  of  intrusive  Syenite  forming  Moel 
Tan-y-Grisiau,  and  the  stream  has  cut  back  a  deep 
gorge  into  it.     Further  along,  the  stream  can  be  again 
crossed  by  another  bridge  near  to  Tan-y-Grisiau.     At 
the  Tan-y-Grisiau  station  of  the   narrow  gauge   or 
"Toy"   railway  we  begin   the   ascent  of  Moelwyn. 
Skirting  the  railway  and  ascending  a  footpath,  not 
very  difficult  climbing,  we  reach  Llyn  Trwstyllon,    a 
cwm  lying  under  the  great  scarped  face  of  Moelwyn. 
The  rocks  at  the  open  part  of  the  cwm  slope  towards 
the  lake.     The  dip  is  iS°  north-west.    It  appears  to  be 
striated  south-east,  but  very  faintly.    The  surface  of  the 
rock  is  much  broken  up  in  places  since  the  glaciation. 
The  cwm  is  a  very  perfect  cup,  broken  through  on 
the  south-east  side.     The  scenery  is  very  fine.     A  steep 
ascent  of  green  turf-covered  slope  brings  us  on  to  the 
back  of  Moelwyn.     The  remainder  of  the  ascent  is 
up    what    appears    from    below  a   small  hillock,    but 
develops  into  a  mountain  when  you  get  on  to  it.     It 
is  very  steep  and  grass-covered,  sheep  grazing  up  to 
the  very   top.     A    magnificent   view  rewarded   our 
exertions,  the  weather  being  delightfully  bright  and 
clear,  and  the  light  breeze  exhilarating.     I  have  been 
up  many  mountains,  but  never  saw  a  finer  view  than 
that  to  the  north-west  over  Snowdon.     I  preserved  my 
impressions  in  a  sketch  taken  at  the  time,  in  which 
the  mountain  forms  are  reproduced    in   outline.     It 
represents  a  grand  series  of  mountains  rising  in  a  low 
but  sublime  pyramidal  mass  culminating  in  the  peak 
of  Snowdon.  The  hollow  of  Llyn  Llydaw,  the  entrance 
to  the  pass  of  Llanberis,  and  the  Glyders,  and  other 


112 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


•well-known  features  are  distinctly  visible.  To  the 
left  is  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  high  up  in  the  horizon. 
Moel  Hebog,  the  Glaslyn  and  pont  Aberglaslyn  are 
also  distinguishable.  The  Glaslyn  runs  like  a  silver 
.streak  through  a  mass  of  green  fields  to  the  Traeth 
Mawr.  Beyond  is  the  embankment  across  the  marsh 
for  the  road  and  railway  terminating  in  Port  Madoc, 
the  houses  showing  distinct  and  clear  with  Moel-y- 
geist  in  the  back-ground,  and  in  the  far  distance 
-stretches  the  long  promontory  of  Caernarvonshire  till 
almost  lost  in  the  blue  haze  of  the  distant  sea.  The 
Rivals  showed  like  little  cobs  on  the  relief  map  of 
Caernarvonshire.  Further  to  the  west  shone  the 
brilliant  orange  sands  of  the  estuary  of  the  Dwyryd 
below  Tan-y-Bwlch,  and  beyond  this  was  the  sea  with 
its  shore  sweeping  round  to  Harlech  Castle,  which, 
with  its  towers,  appeared  as  a  little  group  of  dots.  To 
the  south  could  be  seen  the  Rhinogs,  and  the  long 
scarped  face  of  Cader  Idris  beyond,  and,  to  the  east, 
appeared  a  sea  of  mountains  out  of  which  arose  the 
Arenigs  and  the  Arrans.  To  the  north  the  land  rose 
and  fell  in  billowy  swells  till  lost  in  the  grey  haze. 

The  immediate  foreground  of  the  view  over  Snow- 
donia  is  occupied  with  the  remarkable  mountain 
called  Cynicht.  From  the  road  between  Tan-y-Bwlch 
and  Bethgelert  this  mountain  looks  like  a  pyramid  ; 
but  it  is  there  seen  in  profile.  From  the  summit  of 
Moelwyn  we  see  it  as  a  long  ridge  with  its  flanks 
scored  with  gullies  and  talus,  which  traverse  its  steep 
sides  like  streams  till  they  become  confluent  in  the 
talus  cones  at  the  foot.  Immediately  below,  to  the 
left,  were  the  rocky  north-west  precipices  of  Moelwyn. 
The  day  was  a  perfect  day,  the  clouds  floating  high, 
•the  air  clear  and  exhilarating,  yet  warm. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  this  view  perhaps  more  than  a 
geological  article  warrants ;  but  let  us  pause  and 
consider  if  it  will  yield  us  any  scientific  information. 

The  traveller  about  Ffestiniog  will  soon  find  out,  if 
he  carries  a  compass  with  him,  that  the  general  strike 
of  the  rocks  is  from  south-west  to  north-east.  At 
right  angles  to  this  the  strata  have  been  thrown  into 
a  series  of  anticlinal  and  synclinal  folds,  broken  up, 
and,  to  some  extent,  obscured,  by  faults,  it  is  true. 
Perhaps  this  feature  in  the  structure  of  the  country 
■can  be  best  appreciated  in  the  general  view  of  the 
mountains  of  Snowdonia  obtained  on  the  coast  road 
between  Maentwrog  and  Harlech.  It  can,  however, 
be  observed  on  Moelwyn  itself.  A  slate  quarry  on 
the  back  of  Moelwyn  shows  the  rock  to  dip  rapidly 
to  the  north-west.  Without  going  into  details,  the 
structure  of  the  mountain  is  a  series  of  shales  and 
slates,  with  an  interbedded  massive  series  of  felstones 
and  felspathic  ashes. 

It  is  these  hard  massive  beds  which  form  the  grand 
■scarp  in  which  lies  Llyn  Trwstyllon.  The  whole  of 
these  beds  belong  to  the  Lower  Silurian  series, 
commencing  with  the  Lingula  beds  in  the  Ffestiniog 
and  Tan-y-Bwlch  valley,  and  terminating  in  the  Bala 
.beds    at    the   summit    of    Cynicht.      The  slates   of 


commerce  are  interbedded  in  the  series,  and  as  the 
beds  dip  steeply  to  the  north-west  the  quarrying 
operations  have  to  be  mostly  followed  by  galleries, 
and  not  in  great  cuttings  open  to  broad  daylight,  as 
is  the  case  with  the  quarries  at  Penrhyn,  near 
Bangor,  which  lie  in  the  older  Cambrian  slates.  To 
the  north,  in  the  valley  of  Dolwyddelan,  the  cal- 
careous ashes  there  largely  developed  are  the  actual 
representatives  of  the  Bala  limestone  and  the  Caradoc 
sandstone  of  Shropshire,  and  the  vast  masses  of  ashes 
that  crown  the  felstones  of  Snowdon  and  Moel 
Hebog  are  but  an  enlarged  development  of  the  same 
strata.* 

To  understand  the  present  surface  form  of  the 
country,  it  is  requisite  to  keep  in  mind  the  great  fact 
that  the  whole  of  the  Upper  Silurian  strata  which 
formerly  covered  Merioneth  and  Caernarvonshire  has 
been  entirely  removed  by  denudation.  It  is  only 
when  we  get  as  far  to  the  south-east  as  the  river 
Vyrnwy,  where  the  great  reservoir  to  supply  Liverpool 
is  being  constructed,  that  we  come  upon  the  remains 
of  the  Upper  Silurian,  here  preserved  in  a  synclinal. 
A  general  glance  at  the  geological  map  of  North 
Wales  shows  the  persistent  strike  of  all  the  rocks 
from  south-west  to  north-east.  It  is  along  these 
lines  that  the  denudation  has  principally  acted, 
many  of  the  main  valleys  possessing  the  same  paral- 
lelism of  direction.  The  hard  beds  of  felstone  and 
ash,  and  the  intrusive  greenstones  and  other  igneous 
rocks,  have  helped  to  preserve  that  peaked  and  ridgy 
character  which  here  gives  the  distinguishing  beauty 
to  the  scenery. 

A  walk  down  the  north-west  slope  of  Moelwyn 
brings  us  to  Bwlch  Cwm  Orthin,  a  pass  between 
Cwm  Orthin  and  Cwm  Croesor,  which  lies  between 
Cynicht  and  Moelwyn.  Here  we  may  stop  to 
examine  some  slate  works.  The  slates  are  gener- 
ally of  small  size,  but  beautifully  true  and  fine. 
Descending  the  path  to  Cwm  Orthin,  we  get  a  good 
view  of  the  Llyn  below,  now  being  rapidly  filled  up 
with  the  debris  from  the  Cwm  Orthin  slate  quarries. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  cwm  may  be  seen  those 
well-rounded  rocks  specially  noted  by  Ramsay  as 
good  instances  of  roclie  moutonnce  glaciation.  Beyond 
these  we  may  again  examine  slate  works.  Here  some 
of  the  slate  is  of  that  peculiarly  fine  and  soft  nature 
which  fits  it  for  manufacture  into  school  slates,  the 
process  of  which  may  be  watched.  I  impressed  on 
my  mind  the  view  of  Cwm  Orthin  looking  towards 
the  glaciated  rocks,  in  the  best  possible  way,  by 
sketching  it.  It  is  a  true  rock  basin,  the  dip  of  the 
strata  to  the  north-west  and  the  hardness  of  the 
felspathic  rocks  at  the  outlet,  no  doubt  being  deter- 
mining causes,  together  with  ice,  in  producing  this 
form  of  denudation.  A  steep  down-hill  walk  brings 
us  to  Tan-y-Grisiau  station,  but  we  may  pause  a 
moment  to  look  at  the  waterfall.     The  stream   from 


*  Ramsay,  "  Memoir  of  the  Geology  of  North  Wales,"  ist 
ed.  p.  95. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


1 1 


tTie  Llyn  Cwm  Orthin  has  cut  a  narrow  channel  in  the 
rock,  some  fifteen  feet  deep,  I  should  judge.  It  then 
falls  about  twenty  feet  down  a  nearly  vertical  joint 
plane.  The  peculiarity  that  attracts  attention  is 
the  extraordinarily  small  influence  the  water  has  had 
in  eating  away  the  surface  down  which  it  falls,  and  the 
great  effect  it  has  had  upon  its  more  horizontal  bed. 
This  is  a  characteristic  that  may  be  observed  else- 
where, at  the  Rhiadr  Ddu,  or  Maentwrog  falls,  for 
instance.  It  seems  to  point  to  the  grinding  action 
of  stones,  sand,  and  gravel,  as  the  effective  cause  in 
the  sawing  down  of  a  stream-bed,  in  hard  rock,  in  a 
mountain  district.  These  materials  propelled  along 
the  bed  of  the  stream  would  be  always  in  contact 
with  the  rock,  whereas  at  the  fall  they  would  be  shot 
over,  often  without  touching  the  vertical  face.  This 
subject  of  waterfall  denudation,  is  one  that  requires 
exploration.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  geologist  having 
specially  investigated  the  subject. 

We  have  now  returned  to  the  point  we  commenced 
to  ascend,  having  made  a  circular  tour  on  Moelwyn. 
We  may  return  to  Ffestiniog  by  another  route,  by 
following  the  road  towards  Blaenau.  I  would 
recommend  two  excursions  to  be  made  of  this,  which 
I  have  described  as  one.  A  drive  to  Tan-y-Grisiau 
to  commence  with,  will  leave  quite  enough  work  to 
be  done  on  Moelwyn.  The  geologist  will  then 
commence  his  work  fresh,  and  will  experience  no 
difficulty  on  the  return  journey  in  walking  back  to 
Ffestiniog. 

(To  be  continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

The  first  balloon  ascent  ever  made  in  our  army  in 
presence  of  the  enemy,  took  place  near  Suakin  on  the 
25th  of  March.  The  balloon  used  was  made  of  gold- 
beaters' skin,  contained  7000  cubic  feet  of  gas, 
measured  23  feet  in  diameter,  and  weighed  90  lbs. 
It  was  inflated  from  compressed  reservoirs  with  gas 
made  at  Chatham,  and  was  guided  by  means  of  a  rope 
attached  to  a  wagon  below.  Communication  was  kept 
up  by  means  of  pieces  of  paper  attached  by  a  loop 
to  a  rope.  The  balloon  remained  up  nine  hours,  and 
the  results  were  apparently  considered  successful. 

We  have  received  a  pamphlet  by  Mr.  G.  A. 
Rowell,  entitled,  "  Electric  Meteorology.  What  is 
Gas  ?  How  the  Theory  was  worked  up.  An  Appendix, 
1884." 

In  "  Science "  for  February,  is  an  account  by 
Lieut.  Greeley  of  the  geographical  work  of  the  late 
Arctic  expedition,  illustrated  by  a  large  map.  The 
discoveries  made  to  the  westward  of  his  winter 
quarters  into  Grinnell  Land  and  Arthur  Land  led 
Lieut.  Greeley  to  the  opinion  that  the  western  shores 
of  these  regions  will  be  found  at  no  great  distance. 


The  "  Annales  Industrielles  "  give  an  account, 
says  "  Science,"  of  the  making  of  cork  bricks,  now 
being  employed  for  coating  steam-boilers,  ice-cellars, 
&c.  The  cork  is  winnowed  from  impurities,  ground 
in  a  mill,  kneaded  up  with  a  suitable  cement,  and 
pressed  into  bricks  ;  then  dried,  first  in  the  air,  and 
afterwards  by  artificial  heat.  They  are  not  hard,  and 
not  liable  to  decomposition  ;  they  keep  out  moisture, 
heat,  cold,  and  sound. 

In  its  bearing  on  the  question  of  hereditary  trans- 
mission of  peculiarities,  the  following  case,  recently 
reported  to  the  "Lancet"  from  Bridgewater,  is 
interesting.  The  abnormal  number  of  six  digits 
occurred  in  the  case  of  a  man,  his  son,  his  grandchild, 
and  two  grandchildren  (not  all  in  linear  descent),  and 
in  all  cases  it  was  the  left  foot  which  possessed  the 
extra  feature. 

In  a  paper  lately  read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Chemical 
Society,  Mr.  H.  Brereton  Baker,  F.C.S.,  described 
some  experiments  he  had  made  with  reference  to 
the  effect  of  moisture  upon  combustion.  He  heated 
both  amorphous  phosphorus  and  carbon  in  dried 
oxygen  and  in  oxygen  saturated  with  moisture.  In 
both  tubes  containing  moist  gas,  combustion  took 
place,  but  in  the  dry  gas,  the  phosphorus  slowly 
distilled,  forming  a  red  and  yellow  deposit  on  the 
cooler  part  of  the  tube,  while  in  the  case  of  the  carbon 
in  dry  gas,  no  apparent  combustion  took  place.  Dr. 
Armstrong  said  he  had  some  time  ago  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  probably  chemical  action  did  not  take 
place  between  two  substances,  and  that  he  had  even 
ventured  to  affirm  that  some  day  it  would  be  found 
that  a  mixture  of  pure  oxygen  with  pure  hydrogen  was 
not  explosive. 

In  the  Annals  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist,  for  last  month 
is  a  description  by  Mr.  C.  V.  Riley,  of  a  new  insect 
injurious  to  wheat,  to  which  the  name  of  Isosoma 
grandis  has  been  given. 

The  strict  political  economists  will  have  in  future 
to  make  allowance  for  new  motives  and  new  courses 
of  action.  It  deserves  to  be  placed  on  record  that 
the  workmen  in  the  employ  of  Messrs.  William 
Cooke  &  Co.,  of  the  Tinsley  Iron,  Steel  and  Wire 
Works  recently  offered  a  week's  work  without  wages, 
which  was  accepted  by  their  employers.  The  men, 
being  desirous  of  assisting  their  employers  in  some 
way  during  the  present  depression  in  trade,  and 
being  unable  to  accept  reduced  wages,  inconsequence 
of  their  being  controlled  by  a  board  in  this  matter, 
decided  to  make  this  generous  offer,  one  probably 
without  precedent  in  English  trade,  and  which  has 
naturally  attracted  considerable  notice. 

Sir  William  Dawson,  principal  of  M'Gill 
College,  Montreal,  has  been  nominated  president  at 
the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Birmingham 
next  year,  1886. 


H4 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


After  a  colliery  explosion  at  Unsworth  in  March 
last,  Mr.  C.  S.  Lindsay  showed  great  endurance  and 
heroism  in  endeavouring  to  save  the  lives  of  two 
fellow  explorers  who  were  overcome  hy  choke-damp. 
Mr.  Lindsay  is  said  to  have  carried  iron  nails  in  his 
mouth,  which  he  sucked,  and  was  thus  enabled  to 
resist  the  effects  of  the  choke-damp  longer  than  his 
companions.  The  explanation  given  was  that  the 
carbonic  acid  gas  coming  into  contact  with  oxide  of 
iron  formed  insoluble  carbonate  of  iron  and  so  was 
rendered  innocuous.  F.  R.  S.,  writing  to  the 
"Times,"  with  reference  to  this  explosion,  says  that 
the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  absorbed  by  this  means 
is  inappreciable,  as  might  indeed  be  expected,  and 
suggests  a  respirator  filled  with  cotton-wool  and  slaked 
lime  or  caustic  soda,  to  absorb  the  carbonic  acid  gas 
or  choke-damp;  "or,  better  still,  a  cylinder  filled 
with  the  same  material  carried  on  the  back  with  a 
flexible  breathing  tube  and  mouthpiece  will  enable 
an  explorer  to  remain  for  some  time  in  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  choke-damp  which  would  be  at  once 
fatal  if  inspired  directly." 

Though  rather  late,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  warn 
those  of  our  readers  who  are  experimental  chemists 
against  phosphorus  trichloride.  Dr.  Edward  Divers, 
principal  of  the  Imperial  Engineering  College,  Japan, 
has  had  a  severe  accident  through  the  bursting  of  a 
bottle  containing  the  trichloride.  It  had  been  used 
for  years  as  a  lecture  specimen,  but  while  Dr.  Divers 
was  warming  the  neck  in  order  to  extract  the  stopper 
the  bottle  burst,  and  the  injury  caused  was  so  serious 
that  it  was  feared  the  sight  cf  one  eye  would  be 
destroyed. 

A  useful  means  of  cultivating  among  its  readers 
that  desirable  faculty,  observation,  is  afforded  by  the 
"  Natural  History  Journal  and  School  Reporter,"  in 
the  form  of  a  list  of  flowers  with  dates  of  opening, 
the  average  of  three  years,  appended,  so  that  early 
appearances  may  be  noted,  and  a  Floral  Calendar 
formed.  This  Journal  which  is  conducted  by  the 
Society  of  Friends'  Schools,  and  is  published  by 
William  Sessions,  York,  is  in  many  respects  a  good 
example  of  a  school  magazine,  and  the  amount  of 
attention  to  Natural  Science  which  it  reveals  is 
highly  commendable. 

Mr.  Adam  Sedgwick  has  in  preparation  a  new 
book,  to  be  entitled  "  The  Elements  of  Animal 
Biology,"  which  is  intended  to  serve  as  an  intro- 
duction to  the  study  of  Animal  Morphology  and 
Physiology.  Messrs.  Swan  Sonnenschein  &  Co.  are 
to  be  the  publishers. 

We  have  received  a  report  of  a  lecture  by  Mr.  E. 
Lovett,  delivered  before  the  Croydon  Microscopical 
and  Natural  History  Club.  The  subject  of  the  paper 
was  the  evolution  of  the  fish-hook  from  prehistoric 
times. 


We  must  have  systematic  names  in  science,  we 
cannot  communicate  our  knowledge  satisfactorily 
without  them,  but  they  are  not  science.  What  do 
our  readers  think  of  "  Amblystoma  tigrinum  viazwr- 
tium  hallowelli  suspect um  maculatissimum "  for  a 
systematic  name  ?  But  this  is  the  sort  of  thing  held 
out  in  "  Nature,"  as  an  example  of  what  trinomialism 
may  lead  to.  It  is  said  that  a  shortening  process  has 
been  devised,  whereby  the  above  may  be  written 
"(Cal)  Amblystoma  tigrinum."  This  looks  as  if 
scientific  knowledge,  instead  of  being  open  to 
common  folk,  as  it  ought  to  be,  "were  to  be  the 
exclusive  property  of  the  favoured  few,  and  to  be 
hedged  round  with  mystery  as  it  was  in  the  middle 
ages. 

Japan  seems  at  present  to  be  the  headquarters  of 
earthquake  study,  and  we  have  fortunately  so  few 
earthquakes  in  this  country  that  no  such  systematic 
attention  has  been  given  to  them.  Meantime  the 
one  which  occurred  in  the  East  of  England  in  April 
last  year  has  been  turned  to  good  account  after  the 
event.  In  the  February  number  of  the  "  Proceedings 
of  the  Geologists'  Association,"  is  a  paper  with  map 
by  Mr.  R.  Meldola,  F.R.A.S.,  on  some  of  its 
Geological  aspects.  The  author,  discussing  the 
position  of  the  paloeozoic  and  other  rocks  below  the 
surface,  regards  the  older  rocks  as  not  being  neces- 
sarily concerned  with  the  origin  of  the  earthquake. 
The  disturbance  originating  below  later  formations 
was  first  spread  by  the  harder  sub-cretaceous  rocks, 
and  at  the  extreme  limits  the  shock  was  propagated 
along  the  palaeozoic  rocks  which  acted  as  mecha- 
nical conductors  of  the  wave,  and  thus,  as  it  were, 
exaggerated  the  westward  extension  of  the^effects. 


MICROSCOPY. 

A  new  Bacillus. — At  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Royal  Microscopical  Society,  an  account  of  a  new 
Bacillus  {B.  alvei)  was  given  by  Messrs.  Cheshire 
and  Cheyne.  This  bacillus  is  the  cause  of  a  serious 
disease  which  has  prevailed  among  hive  bees,  exter- 
minating, in  some  cases,  whole  stocks  ;  both  larva: 
and  bees,  including  the  queen,  being  affected  by  it. 
The  disease  readily  yields  to  treatment,  which  consists 
in  feeding  the  larva;  with  syrup  containing  1-600  per 
cent,  of  phenol. 

Micro-organism  of  Swine-plague. — At  a 
meeting  in  January  of  the  New  York  Microscopical 
Society  it  was  stated  that  Dr.  Salmon  had  recently 
demonstrated  the  presence  of  micrococcus  in  Pneumo- 
enteritis,  or  swine-plague,  of  which  bacilli  had  been 
said  to  be  characteristic,  and  that  Dr.  Sternberg  had 
just  obtained  a  pure  culture  of  the  micrococcus  of 
this  disease. 


HA  RD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


"5 


Staining  Nerve  and  Muscle. — As  to  the  most 
perfect  mode  of  demonstrating  the  distribution  of 
nervous  structures  microscopists  differ.  Klein  and 
Cohnheim  consider  that  preparation  stained  with 
chloride  of  gold  will  show  the  ultimate  ramifications 
of  nerve  fibres  ;  whilst  Beale  ("  Microscope  in  Medi- 
cine ")  says  he  has  never  been  able  to  demonstrate 
the  final  distribution  of  nerve  fibres  by  the  chloride 
of  gold  stain,  but  did  so  by  specially  preparing  the 
specimens  and  then  acting  on  it  with  acetic  acid. 
Soak  the  specimen  in  glycerine  for  some  days, 
beginning  with  a  weak  watery  solution,  and  gradually 
increasing  the  density  of  the  fluid,  finishing  with 
Price's  glycerine,  sp.  gr.  1240.  Now  wash  the 
tissue  with  glycerine  containing  5  drops  of  acetic  acid 
to  the  ounce.  Put  a  drop  of  glycerine,  containing 
2  drops  of  acetic  acid  to  the  ounce,  on  a  clean  slide, 
place  the  tissue  in  it,  and  apply  a  thin  cover  glass. 
Examine  with  a  high  power.  The  prolonged  action 
of  the  acid  causes  the  nerve  fibres  to  become  slightly 
granular,  and  thus  to  be  easily  distinguished  from  the 
tissues  in  which  they  ramify.  The  muscular  structures 
of  the  specimen  will  also  be  shown  by  this  mode  of 
preparation. — Dunley  Owen,  B.Sc. 

Examination  of  Fibres,  &c. — The  "  American 
Monthly  Microscopical  Journal  "  for  March  contains 
a  translation,  from  "  Etudes  sur  les  Fibres,"  by  M. 
Vetillart,  in  which  flax,  hemp,  nettle,  cotton,  jute, 
phormium,  and  other  fibres  are  classified  and  their 
appearance,  dimensions,  &c,  described.  The  prelimi- 
nary directions  given,  however,  scarcely  seem  full 
enough,  but  the  translation  is  not  stated  to  be  a 
continuation. 

Crystals  for  the  Polariscope. — It  is  most 
vexatious  that  some  of  these  attractive  preparations 
should  be  so  fleeting.  From  my  own  experience 
this  applies  to  some  only,  for  others  appear  to  be 
just  as  enduring.  I  once  had  a  somewhat  large 
collection  of  objects  of  this  class,  but  as  they 
deteriorated  I  took  them  to  pieces  until  only  a  few 
now  remain.  All  crystals  containing  sulphate  of 
copper  lost  their  sharpness  in  a  few  weeks,  and  were 
almost  useless  in  a  few  months.  Sulphate  of  iron 
also  lost  its  sharpness,  but  afterwards  appeared  to 
get  no  worse,  while  crystals  of  oxalurate  of  ammonia, 
hippuric  acid,  and  salicine  are  in  every  respect  as 
beautiful  and  perfect  as  when  prepared  some  seven  or 
eight  years  ago.  That  dampness  will  destroy  these 
objects  I  have  had  abundant  proof;  for,  once  wishing 
to  finish  off  two  slides  in  a  hurry,  and  my  brown- 
cement  being  dried  up,  I  ran  a  ring  of  gum-water 
round  the  cover-glasses  and  afterwards  finished  them. 
Shortly,  the  crystals  could  be  distinctly  seen 
dissolving  from  the  outer  edge,  their  gradual  dis- 
solution towards  the  centre  being  very  interesting 
under  the  microscope.  A  friend  who  devoted  much 
time  to  this  branch  of  microscopy  once  told  me  that 


pure  balsam  would  preserve  crystals,  that  would 
gradually  dissolve  if  the  balsam  contained  turpentine. 
Perhaps  some  readers  can  say  whether  this  is  so,  or 
whether  gum  dammar  or  copal  would  be  a  better 
preservative,  for  any  method  of  micro  preparation 
that  is  not  permanent  must  be  very  unsatisfactory. — 
J.  W.  Neville,  Handsivortli. 

I  venture  to  ask  you  to  give  me  space  for  an  appeal 
to  brother  microscopists  in  various  parts  of  the  world. 
I  am  desirous  of  obtaining  samples  of  mud  from 
abroad,  especially  from  tropical  and  sub-tropical 
countries  in  South  America  and  elsewhere,  with  a 
view  of  cultivating  them  here.  I  hope,  by  so  doing, 
to  bring  to  light  many  new  forms,  both  of  infusoria 
and  rotifera,  as  the  power  which  these  creatures  have 
of  protecting  themselves  against  changes  in  external 
conditions  is  so  great.  The  mud  should  be  taken 
from  the  surface  of  the  bed  of  a  pond  or  lake,  or 
some  similar  body  of  water,  preferably  from  the 
surface  of  the  part  which  dried  up  last,  and  should 
be  labelled  with  the  name  of  the  locality.  A  few 
ounces  will  be  amply  sufficient  from  each  spot,  and  I 
shall  be  glad  to  refund  any  expense  incurred  in 
forwarding,  and  to  communicate  results  to  the 
senders. — Edward  C.  Bousficld,  363,  Old  Kent  Road, 
London,  S.E. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Astarte  Borealis. — I  have  received  amongst 
other  shore-shells  from  the  beach  at  "Warkworth, 
Northumberland,  a  valve  of  this  shell  with  a  very- 
fresh  epidermis.  Its  condition  resembles  that  of 
specimens  taken  from  a  fish's  stomach. — R.  D. 
Darbishire,  in  "  The  Journal  of  Conchology." 

The  Proceedings  of  the  Holmesdale 
Natural  History  Club  for  18S1-2-3,  recently 
published,  contains  an  interesting  paper  by  Mr.  H.  M. 
Wallis,  of  Reading,  on  "  Character,  as  one  of  the 
Causes  of  the  Rarity  or  Abundance  of  Different 
Species  of  Birds."  In  it  the  author  points  out  how 
the  different  qualities  of  brute  courage,  "coolness," 
teachableness,  and  adaptiveness,  operate  in  different 
cases  for  or  against  their  possessors  in  the  struggle 
for  existence.  Sparrows  drive  martins  from  their 
nests  and  pigeons  from  their  food,  and  in  the  winter 
during  stress  of  weather  such  boldness  would  serve 
the  sparrow  in  good  stead.  The  amount  of  disturb- 
ance birds  will  tolerate  during  nesting  varies  with 
different  species,  and  the  more  timid  a  bird  is  the  less 
will  be  its  chance  of  bringing  up  its  young.  The 
Great  Auk  has  been  exterminated  through  its  clinging 
to  its  traditional  breeding  sites  while  the  Greater 
Shearwater  escapes  in  consequence  of  its  solitary 
habits,  so  that  nothing  is  known  of  its  nest  or  eggs. 
Other  instances  of  the  adaptive  faculties  of  birds  are 
given  by  Mr.  Wallis,  whose  paper  is  most  readable 


n6 


HA  RDWICKE'S  SC 1 EA C E-G  OSS/ P. 


and  interesting.  The  Proceedings  contain  also 
reports  of  many  other  papers  or  addresses,  together 
with  other  matter  botanical,  geological  and  micro- 
scopical, and  accounts  of  numerous  excursions.  The 
Holmesdale  Club,  most  of  whose  members  hail  from 
Redhill  and  Reigate,  appears  to  be  in  a  very 
flourishing  condition. 

Arion  ater,  var.  bicolor. — This  variety  which 
I  noted  in  a  late  number  of  Science-Gossip,  as 
being  found  near  Stroud,  and  referring  to  which 
Mr.  T.  D.  A.  Cockerell  in  his  note  last  month 
mentions  that  I  do  not  give  any  description  of  the 
slug,  is  upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  Roebuck,  the 
recorder  for  the  Conchological  Society,  to  whom  I 
sent  some  specimens,  not  having  noticed  it  before  or 
having  means  to  identify  it.  He  wrote  me,  that 
though  he  had  it  previously  sent  to  him  from  Ireland, 
this  was  the  first  time  he  had  seen  it  from  an  English 
locality.  Not  taking  any  notes  at  the  time,  nor  able 
at  present  to  visit  the  place  where  I  found  them,  I 
cannot  venture  upon  any  accurate  description,  but,  if 
Mr.  Cockerell  will  send  me  his  address,  I  shall  be 
happy  to  forward  him  some  specimens  of  this 
interesting  variety  when  I  can  procure  them.  I  may 
mention  here,  that  the  chosen  locality  of  this  variety 
seems  to  be  damp  marsh  spots.  Have  any  readers 
of  Science-Gossip,  who  take  an  interest  in  these 
matters,  met  with  a  variety  of  Arion  ater,  which  has 
the  wrinkles  of  the  skin  and  the  mantle  of  a  uni- 
colorous  ash  colour,  and  the  interstices  of  a  much 
lighter  colour,  almost  white,  so  that  when  the  animal 
is  extended  it  appears  much  lighter.  This  I  have 
found  in  company  with  the  common  black  kind,  but 
have  not  noticed  any  of  an  intermediate  character. — 
E.  y.  Elliot,  Strou J,  Glos. 

Notes  on  Mollusca,  Middlesex  and  Kent. — 
Limax  Levis.  On  March  29  I  found  this  species  in  a 
damp  spot  near  the  Thames  at  Twickenham,  associ- 
ated with  H.  pulchella,  Z.  crystallinus,  C.  lubrica, 
and  Carychium  minimum.  The  river  here  is  very 
prolific  in  freshwater  shells.  I  have  seen  the  bed  at 
lovv  water  covered  with  countless  specimens  of 
Unio  pictorum  and  Anodonta  analina,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  Lim.  peregra,  Z.  aurieularia,  Ancylus 
/luviatilis,  Paludina  vivipara,  and  Neritina  pluvia- 
tdis  ;  while  the  grassy  banks  abound  in  L.  palnstris, 
Z.  truncatula,  and  Snccinea  elcgans.  On  April  5, 
I  again  met  with  Limax  Icevis  living  under  very 
similar  conditions  on  the  banks  of  the  Cray,  at  St. 
Mary  Cray  in  Kent,  this  time  with  Zonites  nilidus, 
JT.  con  a an a,  Snccinea  elcgans,  and  S.  virescens,  as 
well  as  Z.  crystallinus  and  Car.  minimum.  The 
river  contains  Sph.  corncum,  B.  tentaculata,  V. 
piseinalis,  V.  cristata,  Plan,  vortex,  P.  contortus, 
P.  complanatus,  Lim.  pcregra,  and  Z.  palnstris.  I 
may  here  mention  that  Z.  lapis  is  the  ninth  species 
of  slu<r   recorded   for   Middlesex,    the   others   beitis 


Arion  ater,  A.  hortensis,  Amalia  gagates,  A.  mar- 
ginaia,  LJmax  flavus,  L.  agrestis,  L.  maxiinus,  and, 
last,  but  not  least,  Tes/acella  haliotidea,  v.  scutulum, 
which  has  been  found  in  gardens  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  including  Bedford  Park. — Sydney  C. 
Cockerell. 


BOTANY. 

Swiss  Plants. — Your  notice  in  Science-Gossip 
(January)  called  my  attention  to  your  observation 
about  the  double  dahlia.  I  have  watched  the 
enclosed  Cyclamen  Europaum,  apprehending  by  the 
slowness  in  its  full  flower  that  it  would  be  over- 
powered by  the  first  flower.  It  has  succeeded.  This 
plant  is  cultivated  and  the  second  year  with  me,  first 
with  the  double  flower,  originally  brought  to  a 
nursery  here  found  only  at  one  place  ;  up  the  mountain 
two  miles  off  there  I  have  found  it.  I  have  now 
collected  over  1000  wild  flowers,  &c,  and  having 
duplicates  I  offered  exchange.  After  five  or  six  years 
search  in  the  four  cantons  by  a  celebrated  botanist 
here,  the  result  did  not  exceed  1415  ;  a  few  new  ones 
I  have  found,  he  has  added  to  the  work  he  had 
published,  and  is  pleased  with  my  searchings. — 
Z.  H.  C.  Russell. 

Helleborus  viridis. — Dr.  FitzGerald  observes 
of  this  plant  :  "I  was  struck  with  the  curious  form 
of  the  stem  immediately  beneath  the  flower.  It  has 
a  wrinkled  appearance  for  about  half-an-inch." 
Having  a  number  of  recently  gathered  specimens 
before  me,  March  30,  I  would  remark  that  while  the 
stems  immediately  beneath  the  flower  have  uniformly 
this  wrinkled  appearance  of  various  length,  it  is  also 
to  be  observed  on  the  petioles,  in  one  instance  I  find 
it  nearly  three  inches  long.  The  cuticle  of  this  plant 
seems  to  be  of  unusual  tenuity,  which  may  account 
for  the  circumstance  mentioned.  I  am  not  acquainted 
with  the  growth  of  this  hellebore  at  a  later  stage, 
but  hope  to  note  it  further  on. — F.  LL.  Arnold. 

Watson  Botanical  Exchange  Club. — We 
have  received  a  Report  of  this  recently  formed  club, 
the  object  of  which  is  "to  promote  more  intercourse, 
help,  and  exchange,  between  working  botanists,  and 
particularly  with  regard  to  critical  species."  The 
club  already  numbers  over  thirty  members,  and  the 
report  contains  a  long  list  of  desiderata  which  should 
give  them  plenty  of  work  during  the  coming  season. 
The  hon.  sec.  is  Mr.  A.  R.  Waller,  Low  Ousegate, 
York. 


A  beautiful  specimen  of  the  ospiey  (Pandion 
haliceetus)  visited  Copmere  in  October  1SS2,  and 
remained  a  week  on  its  southern  migration. —  VV, 
Wells  Braden. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCJ EJVCE-G  OSS/T. 


"7 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

Flint  or  Stone  Implements. — A  considerable 
number  of  flint  and  stone  implements  has  from  time 
to  time  been  found  on  the  top  of  a  ridge  of  fell-land 
lying  between  the  East  and  West  Allen,  about  two- 
and-a-half  miles  south-west  of  Allendale  town. 
Although  the  number  now  known  to  be  preserved  is 
large,  yet  the  probability  is  that  it  does  not  represent 
a  tithe  of  those  which  are  lost.  Until  a  few  years 
ago,  the  country  people  living  in  the  district  were  in 
the  habit  of  picking  up  these  flint  implements  and 
taking  them  home  to  strike  a  light  for  their  pipe. 
The  greatest  portion  of  the  implements  are  composed 
of  flint  of  various  colours,  white,  red,  black,  Sec,  and 
consist  principally  of  arrow  heads  of  various  forms, 
leaf  shaped,  stemmed,  double  and  single  barbed,  and 
a  very  few  triangular.  Some  of  the  double  barbed 
are  formed  with  great  exactness  ;  sharply  pointed 
with  serrated  edges  and  chipped  to  a  fineness  almost 
microscopic.  The  serration  is  of  great  precision, 
showing  a  wonderful  uniformity  in  size,  and  occur  in 
about  equal  numbers  on  both  edges.  Scrapers, 
hatchets,  saws,  flukes,  cores  and  chippings — the  latter 
three  being  numerous — have  also  been  found.  A  few 
implements  of  greenstone  have  also  been  found.  The 
ground  where  all  these  articles  have  been  found 
is  covered  with  a  thin  deposit  of  peat  of  about  a  foot 
or  iS  inches  in  thickness,  and  it  is  below  this  where 
they  have  been  picked  up.  Similar  implements  have 
also  been  found  on  some  of  the  adjacent  Fells  ;  for 
instance,  Kilhope  Fell,  near  Bent-Head,  Wellhope 
Fell,  Weardale,  Langley  Mill  Fell,  Plenmiller  Fell, 
&c. — Dipt  011  Burn. 

The  Position  of  Pterichthys. — In  the  March 
number  of  the  "American  Naturalist,"  Professor  E.  D. 
Cope  gives  the  results  of  an  examination  of  numerous 
specimens  of  P.  Canadensis.  He  points  out  three 
important  peculiarities,  the  presence  of  a  single 
opening  in  the  middle  line  above,  which  is  compar- 
able with  the  "nasal  pouch  "of  the  lampreys  ;  the 
absence  of  orbits,  which  condition  is  comparable  with 
that  of  the  lancelet  ;  and  the  absence  of  a  lower  jaw, 
in  which  it  agrees  with  both  these  types.  Professor 
Cope  finds  resemblances  between  Pterichthys  and 
the  tunicate  Chelyosoma,  and  thinks  that  the  former 
genus  may  have  descended  from  such  a  type  as  would 
be  represented  by  the  larva  of  Chelyosoma,  if  that  be 
caudate  and  notochordal  as  are  other  Tunicata,  and 
especially  if  the  larva?  possess  lateral  limb-like 
processes  as  in  the  Appendicularia.  The  tail  has 
been  retained  in  the  European  form  of  Pterichthys, 
but  no  trace  was  found  of  it  in  P.  Canadensis.  In 
view  of  the  single  cephalic  opening  being  the  mouth, 
the  author  considers  that  this  family  should  be 
removed  from  the  Craniata  to  the  Urochorda. 
Among  these,  it  differs  from  the  Tunicata  in  having 


the  anus  in  the  normal  position,  and  he  proposes  to 
form  a  second  order  of  the  class  to  receive  it,  calling 
the  order  Antiarcha.  Suspecting  that  /'.  Canadensis 
should  belong  to  a  genus  distinct  from  P.  Milleri,  he 
would  give  it,  for  the  present,  Eichwald's  name 
Bothriolepis. 

The  Granite  and  Schistose  Rocks  of 
Northern  Donegal. — Dr.  Callaway,  F.G.S.,  in  a 
paper  read  before  the  Geological  Society  of  London, 
considers  the  Donegal  granitic  rocks  to  be  a  true 
igneous  granite,  posterior  in  age  to  the  associated 
schists.  No  gradation  into  other  rocks  was  found  ; 
where  the  granite  was  in  contact  with  limestone  the 
latter  contained  garnets.  The  granite  was  distinctly 
foliated,  the  direction  of  pressure  being  perpendi- 
cular to  the  planes  of  foliation.  The  author  then 
described  the  schistose  rocks  of  the  region,  those  of 
the  Lough  Foyle  series,  of  most  of  which  the  semi- 
crystalline  condition  was  characteristic,  being  well 
seen  at  Londonderry  and  on  Lough  Foyle.  This 
series  he  referred  to  the  Pebidian  system.  The 
schistose  rocks  of  the  Kilmacrenan  series,  with 
intruave  granite,  were  described  as  crystalline  and 
older  than  the  Lough  Foyle  group.  During  the 
discussion  which  ensued,  Mr.  Teall  and  others  ex- 
pressed doubts  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  lithological 
composition  alone  for  the  correlation  of  rocks. 

The  Relation  of  Ulodendron  to  Lepidoden- 
dron,  Sigillaria,  &c. — At  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Geological  Society  of  London,  a  paper  by  Mr.  R. 
Kidston,  F.G.S.,  was  read,  in  which  the  author 
expressed  the  opinion,  that  the  genus  Ulodendron  of 
Lindley  and  Hutton  included  several  species  and 
even  different  genera ;  the  three  species  which  have 
furnished  the  specimens,  usually  described  as 
Ulodendron,  being  Lepidodendron  Veltheimianum, 
Sternb.,  Sigillaria  discophora,  Konig,  sp.,  and 
.S".  Taylori,  Carruthers,  sp.  Fie  was  of  opinion  that 
the  ulodendroid  scars  marked  the  point  of  attachment 
of  caducous  sessile  cones.  Mr.  Carruthers,  in  the 
discussion  which  followed,  considered  the  organs 
borne  by  these  scars  to  be  aerial  roots,  while  Professor 
Boyd  Dawkins  and  Professor  Seeley  agreed  with 
the  author  that  they  probably  bore  seed  or  fruit 
organs. 

A  Recent  Tertiary  Survival? — At  the  same 
meeting,  a  paper  by  Dr.  H.  Woodward  was  read,  on 
"  Steller's  Sea-cow  "  {Rhytina  gigas  =  R.  Slelleri)  a 
toothless  Herbivore  which  lived  along  the  shore  in 
shallow  water.  In  1741  it  was  confined  to  Behring's 
Island  and  Copper  Island,  but  it  was  believed  to 
have  been  wholly  extirpated  by  1780.  Dr.  Wood- 
ward regarded  Rhytina  as  a  last  surviving  species  of 
the  old  Tertiary  group  of  Sirenians,  and  its  position 
as  marking  an  "outlier"  of  the  group  now  swept 
away. 


uS 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Large  Unios  and  Anodons. — In  Ossington 
Lake  both  unios  and  anodons  were  extremely  abun- 
dant as  well  as  of  large  size,  good  food  supply,  being,  I 
suppose,  one  reason  of  this  profusion.  The  water  is 
very  rich  in  lime,  containing  i6"2  grains  of  CaO 
per  gallon.  This  is  equal  to  nearly  29  grains  of 
carbonate  of  lime.  Probably  a  considerable  portion 
is  in  the  form  of  sulphate,  as  veins  of  gypsum  are 
plentiful  in  the  district  ;  but  I  had  not  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  water  to  determine  this  point.  I  made  a 
note  of  the  distribution  of  the  shells,  which  the 
■  '.raining  of  the  entire  lake  rendered  easy  of  observa- 
tion. In  the  upper  part  I  found  no  shells  ;  from  the 
middle  they  were  abundant.  A  few  were  close  to  the 
edge,  about  four  feet  out,  a  band  of  from  six  to  ten 
feet  wide  was  closely  packed  with  unios  and  anodons 
of  all  sizes.  For  another  couple  of  yards  a  few  might 
be  found.  The  whole  of  the  middle  of  the  lake  was 
bare  of  shells,  except  a  few  empty  ones,  which  had 
probably  been  carried  out  by  the  receding  water.  The 
only  other  species  observed  in  this  part  were  one 
.S".  lacitstre,  and  a  few  L.  percgra. —  IV.  Gain,  Tnxford, 
Newark. 

HOLLY-LEAVES. — Professor  Henslow,  writing  to 
"  Nature,"  says  that  it  is  not  at  all  usual  for  hollies 
to  lose  the  spines  of  their  leaves  when  the  latter  are 
above  the  reach  of  cattle.  He  had  several,  from  six 
to  nearly  twenty  feet  high,  and  not  one  had  borne  an 
unarmed  leaf.  Sir  John  Lubbock,  in  reply,  points 
out  that  Hooker,  in  the  "  Student's  Flora,"  says  of 
the  leaves  of  holly,  "those  on  the  upper  branches 
often  entire." 

Holly  Leaves. — Southey  in  his  beautiful  lines  on 
the  holly  tree,  published  more  than  half-a-century 
ago,  makes  the  fact  the  central  idea  of  the  poem. 
The  second  stanza  runs  thus, 

Below,  a  circling  fence  its  leaves  are  seen, 

Wrinkled  and  keen  ; 
No  grazing  cattle  through  their  prickly  round 

Can  reach  to  wound  ; 
But,  as  they  grow  where  nothing  is  to  fear, 
Smooth  and  unarmed  the  pointless  leaves  appear. 

— D.  S.,  Exmonth. 

Holly  Leaves. — T  have  frequently  noticed  that 
old  holly-trees  tend  to  lose  the  spines  on  their  leaves 
when  above  the  reach  of  browsing  cattle,  as  Sir  Tohn 
Lubbock  points  out.  I  have  noticed  it  also  in  old  ivy 
bushes,  and  enclose  you  three  leaves  taken  from  one 
such  bush  ;  the  leaves  were  picked  within  six  inches 
of  one  another. — M.  B.  Windiis. 

[Other  correspondents  have  written  to  similar  effect 
as  regards  holly  leaves.] 

Unrecognised  Birds.— I  am  obliged  by  the 
notice  taken  of  my  question  by  Mr.  Kelsall,  but  I 
am  still  in  the  dark,  as  to  my  two  birds  (p.  69).  Of 
the  waxwing  I  have  a  stuffed  specimen,  and  the 
stonechat  or  wheatear  I  know  very  well.  Perhaps 
after  all  my  original  supposition  was  correct,  viz. 
that  they  were  two  foreign  birds  escaped  from 
confinement.  The  colours  were  bright  and  vivid  as 
those  of  the  king-fisher.  The  most  noticeable  item 
of  colour  was  a  distinct  and  sharply  defined  purple 
band  from  the  'base  of  the  beak  over  the  head  as  far 
as  the  shoulders.  I  shall  be  glad  if  some  one  can 
help  me  in  fixing  my  birds. — //.  M.,  Birkdale. 

Paradise  Tree.— I  have  seen  the  account  of  this 
wonderful  vegetable  curiosity,  and  though  I  do  not 
know   exactly   where  or  when  it   was  published,    I 


think  I  can  add  a  few  more  "facts  '"  about  it  from 
memory  :  There  is  only  one  group  of  paradise-trees 
in  existence,  and  they  form  a  large  perfect  circle 
The  flowers  are  exactly  like  a  dove,  "  every  feather 
perfectly  represented."  For  some  reason  which  I 
forget,  the  flower  is  never  fertilised,  and  in  no  other 
manner  can  any  new  specimens  of  the  tree  be  pro- 
duced, so  that  the  circular  groove  always  has  consisted 
of  the  same  individuals,  and  will  do  till  the  end  !  I 
think  the  foregoing  will  show  that  the  ardent  botanist 
who  wishes  to  fully  and  scientifically  describe  the 
paradise-tree  cannot  get  far  wrong  so  long  as  he 
makes  every  item  sufficiently  miraculous.  —  //". 
Snowden  Ward. 

Paradise  Tree.— The  dove  plant  {Pcristeria 
data)  mentioned  by  "  M.  L.  S,"  is  not  a  deciduous 
orchid,  therefore  I  fail  to  see  how  it  can  be  identified 
with  the  tree  described  by  "  F.  S."  who  writes  of  the 
tree  "  fading  away  to  ashes."  This  I  take  to  mean 
simply  the  leaves  dropping  off.  Even  if  this  were  so, 
there  would  still  remain  the  large  pseudo-bulbs, 
which  would  not  correspond  with  the  idea  of  a  plant's 
disappearance.  Can  your  correspondent  '  M.  L.  S.' 
tell  us  whether  the  dove  plant  is  epiphytal  or 
terrestrial  ?  I  am  at  present  growing  it  as  an 
epiphytal  orchid,  and  have  succeeded  in  flowering  it 
under  these  conditions,  but  I  am  unable  to  say 
myself  whether  it  is  a  true  epiphyte  or  not.  Its  very 
large  pseudo-bulbs  would  lead  one  to  consider  it  an 
epiphytal  plant.  If  this  be  so,  there  seems  to  be  more 
reason  to  identify  it  with  the  reputed  paradise  tree. — 
J.  IV.  Odell. 

Vegetable  Ivory.— M.  S.  W.,  Hereford,  would 
be  glad  of  information  about  the  perforation  by  insects 
of  vegetable  ivory,  the  nuts  of  Phytelcphas  macrocarpa, 
and  whether  there  are  any  known  means  of  guarding 
against  these  ravages.  A  specimen  of  the  nut,  and 
some  of  the  insects,  were  sent  us,  the  nut  being 
bored  in  all  directions,  and  rendered  useless  for 
manufacturing  purposes. 

Food  for  Tortoise. — In  answer  to  a  query  in 
Science-Gossip  as  to  proper  food  for  land  tortoise. 
The  reason  the  tortoise  mentioned  by  K.  H.  I.  would 
not  eat  lettuce  was  probably  because  it  had  left  off 
eating  for  the  winter.  This  they  generally  do  as 
soon  as  the  cold  weather  sets  in,  when  they  make 
preparations  for  hybernation.  I  had  one  two  or 
three  years,  and,  although  he  never  hybernated,  he 
would  not  touch  a  morsel  of  food  throughout  the 
winter,  from  about  the  middle  of  September  until 
the  latter  end  of  April,  when  his  appetite  returned, 
and  in  proportion  as  the  weather  got  warmer,  the 
more  ravenously  he  ate.  Roaming  at  will  in  the 
garden  he  would  eat  of  just  the  choicest  plants- 
tiger  lilies,  pinks,  pansies,  &c.  The  proper  food  ti  1 
give  them  is  any  succulent  or  milky  vegetable  or 
plant,  as  lettuce,  cabbage,  dandelion,  milk  thistle, 
&c — IV.  Finch,  jun.,  Nottingham. 

Food  of  Tortoises.— Had  "W.  Maltieu  Williams 
been  as  slovenly  a  gardener  as  myself,  he  would 
doubtless  have  learned  a  fact  or  two  in  natural  history 
of  which  his  prim  and  well-kept  lawn  has  evidently 
held  him  in  ignorance.  It  appears  from  his  accoun! 
of  the  tortoise  which  fed  upon  his  fine  grasses  and 
clover,  that  these  alone  fail  to  impart  the  robustness 
requisite  for  withstanding  the  severity  of  our  wintei. 
Perhaps,  also,  he  has  not  in  the  middle  of  his  lawn,  as 
I  have,  a  number  of  the  old-fashioned  fuchsia  bushes, 
surrounding  a  rockery,  and  offering  a  tempting  retreat 
where  a  tortoise  can  burrow,  and  find  a  comfortable 
winter's  bed.     It  is  seven  years  next  summer,  since, 


EARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


119 


in  passing  "  up  "  the  "  High  Street "  of  Deal,  a  street 
-everal  feet  lower  than  any  of  the  rest,  and  perfectly 
level,  I  observed  an  Italian  with  a  truck-load  of 
crawling  tortoises,  which  he  was  offering  for  sale. 
It  was  a  sight  calculated,  and  perhaps  intended,  to 
excite  compassion.  At  all  events,  it  did  mine,  with 
the  result  that  I  sported  a  shilling,  in  order  that  one, 
at  all  events,  should  taste  the  sweets  of  liberty.  Being 
placed  upon  my  lawn,  it  soon  found  itself  "in  clover," 
such  a  rare  variety  of  food  as,  I  presume,  seldom  falls 
to  the  lot  of  an  alien  tortoise.  There  were  docks  and 
plantains,  milfoil  and  mallows,  daisies,  duckweed, 
and  dove's-foot,  trefoil,  groundsel,  and  dandelion. 
Many  of  these,  with  an  occasional  snap  at  the  young 
grasses  and  clover,  were  quickly  utilised  ;  but  the 
prime  favourite,  and  the  only  food  I  can  ever  persuade 
it  to  take  from  my  hand  is  the  dandelion,  especially 
the  flower.  In  fact,  it  is  to  the  dandelion  I  attribute 
the  creature's  preservation.  It  is  now  buried  beneath 
one  of  the  fuchsias,  from  which  I  hope  to  see  it 
emerge. — J.  IVallis,  Deal. 

A  Musical  Mouse. — E.  P.  Turner  writes  referring 
to  a  recent  occasion  on  which  a  singing  sound,  heard 
in  the  house  of  a  friend,  was  said  to  proceed  from  a 
mouse  in  the  wall.  Some  little  time  after,  a  guinea 
pig  which  had  been  injured  by  a  cat  was  obliged  to 
lie  drowned.  It  had  kept  up  almost  unceasingly, 
except  when  moved,  a  singing  sound.  "This  sound 
struck  me  as  being  very  similar  to  the  singing  of  the 
mouse.  I  held  a  post-mortem  examination  on  the 
body  and  detected  two  small  holes  in  the  skin  on  the 
left  side,  where  the  cat's  teeth  had  entered  and  pene- 
trated as  far  as  the  lung,  round  which  there  was  a 
quantity  of  gore  indicating  the  rupture  of  one  or  two 
blood  vessels.  Its  left  fore-leg  was  also  broken  int\vo 
places.  From  the  lung  being  damaged  I  drew  the  con- 
clusion that  this  was  the  cause  of  the  singing  sound." 

Bird's  nesting-habits. — I  believe  it  is  generally 
taken  for  granted  that  our  song-birds  and  migrants 
are  in  the  habit  of  seeking  mates  every  season,  and 
not  keeping  to  the  same  mate  year  after  year.  I  do 
not  know  that  any  author,  standard  or  otherwise, 
actually  states  this,  but  the  fact  of  the  raven  remain- 
ing paired  for  life  is  mentioned,  as  if  it  were  an 
extraordinary  and  exceptional  fact.  Now,  in  the  face  of 
this  general  understanding,  and  the  very  noticeable 
frequency  with  which  exactly  the  same  nest-sites  are 
used  year  after  year  by  the  same  species  of  bird,  it 
would  seem  as  if  a  wide  field  is  opened  for  practical 
observation  during  the  present  spring.  I  think  the 
conclusion  arrived  at  will  be  that,  almost,  if  not  quite 
all  birds  are  fairly  constant  in  their  attachment.  If 
this  is  not  so,  we  must  conclude  that  the  regularly 
recurring  use  of  a  nesting-site  is  due  either  to  its  very 
apparent  suitability  for  the  purpose,  or  to  the  return  of 
one  bird  of  the  last  year's  pair.  In  the  latter  case  it 
would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  the  old  site  is 
in  bird-law  considered  the  property  of  the  cock  or 
the  hen.  Possibly  it  is  inherited  by  one  of  the 
youngsters. — H.  Snowden  ]Vard. 

The  Star  of  Bethlehem. — Mr.  Swinton 
appeared  to  have  a  difficulty  in  accepting  the 
explanation  of  the  "  Star  of  the  Magi  "  which  I  had 
adopted  from  St.  Chrysostom,  viz.  that  it  was  a 
miraculous  appearance  in  the  form  of  a  star,  because 
the  sacred  narrative  does  not  expressly  state  this. 
But  surely  it  is  the  manner  of  the  Scriptures  to  speak 
of  celestial  phenomena  according  to  their  appearances. 
No  one  supposes  that  during  the  battle  of  Beth-horon 
the  sun  actually  stood  upon  Gibeon,  or  the  moon  in 
the  valley  of  Ajalon  ;  but  they  appeared  to  remain  in 
the  parts  of  the  heavens  over  those  places  longer  than 


usual,  and  the  immediate  cause  which  produced  this 
appearance  is  not  recorded.  But  let  me  refer  Mr. 
Swinton  to  a  place  in  the  New  Testament  where  the 
very  word  star  is  certainly  used  for  something  made 
to  represent  the  appearance  of  one.  In  Acts  vii.  43, 
St.  Stephen  (quoting  from  the  prophet  Amos)  says 
that  the  Israelites,  when  wandering  in  the  wildernes  5 
carried  with  them,  amongst  other  idolatrous  images, 
the  star  of  the  god  Remphan  (in  the  revised  version 
Rephan),  which  is  thought  to  be  a  name  of  the  planet 
Saturn.  Most  certainly  they  did  not  carry  the  star, 
but  something  intended  to  be  an  image,  representation, 
or  likeness  of  it. —  IV.  T.  Lynn,  Blackheath. 

A  Choked  Perch.  —  Curiously  enough,  last 
summer,  1884,  a  large  perch  {Percafluviatilis,  Yarrell). 
ten  inches  long,  was  found  in  a  pond,  choked  by  a 
small  perch.  A  suitable  punishment  for  cannibalism, 
and  which  happens,  no  doubt,  more  frequently  than  is 
usually  thought  to  be  the  case. — E.  A.,  Hertfordshire, 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  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  fan- 
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  of  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"exchanges"  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


C.  C.  D.— See  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke's  "Ponds  and  Ditches," 
published  at  is.  6d.  by  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge.  There  is  no  cheap  book  on  Algae.  A  most  elabo- 
rate work  by  Dr.  Cooke  is  now  appearing  in  2s.  6d.  parts, 
coloured  plates.  An  older  book  is  Dr.  Hassall's,  of  which  a 
secondhand  copy  is  sometimes  obtainable.  Works  on  Diatoms 
are  rare  and  costly,  Smith's  "  Diatomaceae "  fetching  several 
times  its  original  value.  Leucojum  Carpathicum  is  not  a  British 
plant ;  L.  eestivum  is  the  English  form. 

A.  A.  and  W.  C.  C  —The  exchange  columns  are  intended 
for  exchanges,  not  sales. 

E.  H.  R. — (1)  See  our  last  number.  (2)  Write  to  the  secretary 
of  the  Botanical  Record  Club,  Mr.  C.  Bailey,  F.L.S.,  Ashfield, 
College  Road,  Whalley  Range,  Manchester.  (3)  Probably 
Mr.  Bailey  will  be  able  to  help  you  in  this.  (4)  Apply  to  Dr. 
Carrington,  Eccles,  near  Manchester,  who  is  the  authority  on 
the  Hepaticae. 

H.  Lamb. — Dried  specimens  look  like  (1)  Carex  glauca; 
(2)  Luzula pilosa  ;   (3)  Luzula  Forstcri  (?)  ;.  (4)  a  Lepidium  (?). 

W.  (Dorsetshire). — (1)  The  scientific  name  of  cup  moss  is 
Cenomyce  (Scyphophorus)  pyxidata.  (2)  For  Dr.  Braithwaite's 
"  Moss  Flora,"  apply  direct  to  the  author,  303  Clapham  Road, 
London.     The  price  varies. 

R.  A.  H. — Perhaps  "  The  Fresh  and  Salt  Water  Aquarium," 
by  J.  G.  Wood  (Routledge),  will  answer  your  purpose.  For 
the  other,  get  "  Ponds  and  Ditches,"  by  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke 
(Sor.  Prom.  Christian  Knowledge). 

In  Science-Gossip  for  1879-81,  the  names  and  addresses 
are  given  of  assisting  naturalists  who  are  willing  to  help 
others  in  their  respective  subjects.  Will  correspondents  take 
note  of  these  ?  Also  see  the  notice  in  this  number  of  the 
Botanical  Exchange  Club.  The  subscription  is  is.  6d.  per 
annum. 

Will  Mr.  J.  E.  Ady  be  so  good  as  to  furnish  his  correct 
address  for  publication  in  this  column? 

J.  G. — We  are  not  aware  that  Mr.  Stevenson's  work  on 
British  fungi  is  actually  published  yet.  Perhaps  Mr.  Steven- 
son himself  will  supply  us  with  the  publisher's  name. 

D.  B. — Doubtful.  Your  specimens  were  too  far  gone  to  be 
satisfactory. 

W.  S. — Thanks  for  yours. 

Blossoming  of  the  Artichoke. — On  this  and  on  the  origin 
of  the  name  Jerusalem  as  applied  to  it,  see  vol.  i.  of  Science- 
Gossip. 

Initials  Lost. — It  appears  that  neither  Le  Maout  and 
Decaisne  nor  Sachs  mention  the  nectaries  of  ferns. 

For  Zwite,  p.  54,  read  Twite. 


I  20 


RARDWICKE'S  SClEftCE-GOSSlP. 


EXCHANGES. 

Good  botanical,  histological,  crystals,  polariscopic,  diatoms, 
fish  scales  and  miscellaneous,  microscopic  slides  for  others  as 
good  of  bacilli,  entozoa,  algae,  desmids,  zoophytes,  rocks,  fossil 
woods.— B.  Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Kore<t  Hill. 

Science-Gossip  for  1883  unbound.  What  offers?  Also 
Cassell's  "Technical  Educator,"  24  parts,  unbound.  what 
offers?— W.  C.  C,  342  Green  Lanes,  Finsbury  Park,  London,  N. 

Science-Gossip,  bound  volumes,  one  each  of  1873  to  1879, 
two  of  1880.  Exchange  for  other  books,  &c— 6S  Middle  Street, 
Yeovil. 

Wanted,  Rye's  "  British  Beetles,"  and  works  on  entomology. 
Exchange  other  works  on  kindred  subjects.— Frederick  Bishop, 
50  Bartholomew  Street,  Leicester.  m-i.ii 

Wanted,  specimens  of  carboniferous  bmestone  from  froghall 
and  Gloucester,  good  value  given  in  either  other  rocks,  ready 
for  mounting,  or  well-mounted  objects,  anatomical  or  otherwise, 
also  pieces  of  horn  of  rhinoceros,  bison,  &c,  for  cutting  sections 
from.— R.  M.,  59  Hind  Street,  Poplar,  London,  E. 

A  herbarium  of  British  plants  numbering  over  1000  speci- 
mens, and  including  most  of  the  rarest  species,  all  uniformly 
mounted  and  labelled ;  in  return,  British  or  other  Lepidoptera, 
3r  books  on  natural  history.— J.  E.  Robson,  Hartlepool; 

Large  telescope,  with  tripod  stand  and  brass  elevating  rod, 
in  exchange  for  turniture  or  pier  glass,  framed  or  not.— E.  E., 
4  Padua  Road,  Penge,  London,  S.E. 

British  land  and  freshwater  shells  in  exchange  for  others, 
duplicates  and  desiderata  numerous  :  also  British  land  and 
freshwater  for  British  marine  or  foreign  marine,  land,  or 
freshwater  species.— W.  Gain,  Tuxford,  Newark. 

Wanted,  eggs  of  insects  of  all  kinds,  also  parasites  of  birds, 
fishes  &c,  or  any  other  good  micro  material;  will  give  well- 
mounted  slides  in  exchange.  —  C.  Cullins,  Bristol  House, 
Harlesden,  N.W.  .  . 

Wanted,  to  purchase  the  following  dried  specimens  of 
British  ferns,  viz. :  Polypodium  alpcstre,  Gymnogramma  Up- 
tophylla,  Aspidium  tlielypteris,  Asplenium  fontanum,  Asple- 
i,ii, in  Germanicum,  Cystopteris  montana.—C.  F.  Oakiey,  Lee 
Street,  Uppermill,  near  Oldham. 

Fossils  from  the  Mt.  limestone,  London  clay,  \\  enlock  teds, 
Great  Oolites,  chalk  infr.,  Oolites,  coal  measures,  Woolwich 
beds,  in  exchange  for  fossils  from  Teriiary  (animal  remains), 
Eracklesham,  flint  implements,  or  fossil  fish  from  chalk.— 
Geo.  E.  East,  jun.,  10  Basinghall  Street,  London,  E.C. 

Wanted,  old  volumes  of  Science-Gossip,  and  the  fob  owing 
odd  numbers:  1S81,  Jan.  to  May,  inclusive,  and  July,  August, 
and  Sept.;  1882,  f-ept.,  Nov.,  Dec;  1883,  April  and  May; 
1884,  Feb.,  July,  Aug.  and  Sept.  Micro  objectives,  appliances, 
and  material  also  wanted  ;  will  give  in  return  micro  slides  or 
British  and  foreign  birds'  skins.— Fred  Lee-Carter,  25  Lands- 
downe  Terrace,  Gosforth,  Newcastle-on-Tyne.     _ 

Foraminifera.— Haliphysema  tumanowiczn  and  Hapio- 
fihragmium  agglutinans  offered  in  exchange  for  other  rare 
vpecjes._F.  W.  Mellett,  Marazion,  Cornwall. 

Aouaru-m,  34X15X15.  stand  slates  and  rockwork ;  will 
exchange  for  cabinet  suitable  for  minerals.— H.  W.,  39  Lrower 
Street,  Bedford  Square,  W.C.  ,  . 

Coins  or  medals  wanted.  What  offers  for  twenty-four  micro- 
scope slides?  Six  or  more  exchanged  for  others.  Send  list.— 
Henry  E.  Ebbage,  Frnmlingham,  Suffolk. 

Nos.  i  to  54, of  "Knowledge"  (No.  22  missing)  ;  will  ex- 
change for  minerals,  fossils,'  or  micro  slides  10  value.— R.  H., 
8  Draycott  Street,  Chelsea,  S.W.  _ 

Cassell's  "Dante,"  Dore's  engravings,  perfect  condition, 
unbound.  Wanted,  first-class  microscopical  objects,  scientific 
books,  or  apparatus.— G.  E.  Cox,  Capworth  Street,  Leyton. 

Aquantitv  of  micro  slides,  well-mounted  and  of  various 
subjects,  to  exchange  for  books,  micro  accessories,  shells,  or 
curios.— Alfred  Drapper,  275  Abbey  Dale  Road,  Sheffield.   _ 

Several  well-mounted  slides  (chiefly  botanical  and  micro 
fungi)  to  exchange  for  others;  or  will  exchange  for  books  on 
chess,  or  for  scientific  works  and  appliances.  — J.  W.  Horton, 
Bravford  Wharf,  Lincoln. 

Wanted,  good  secondhand  entomological  cabinet ;  exchange 
miscellaneous  natural  history  objects,  &c.  List  sent.  Silence 
negative.— F.  R.  Rowley,  60  Lower  Hastings  Street,  South- 
fields,  Leicester. 

Lepidostrohiis  variabilis  fruit  of  Lepidodendron ;  fair  ex- 
amples of  this  I  am  willing  to  give  for  Trilobita  or  other  good 
characteristic  Silurian  fossils.— A.  Eneas  Robertson,  3  Hillhead 
Gardens,  Glasgow. 

Wanted,  back  volumes  of  Science-Gossip  or  Nature  in 
exchange  for  forty-nine  parts  (clean  and  unbound)  of  "  Concho- 
logia  Iconica,"  published  by  Mr.  Lovell  Reeve,  containing 
upwards  of  3000  life-size  figures  beautifully  hand  coloured.  Or 
what  offers?  Write  first  to— S.  J.  W.,  22  Richmond  Terrace, 
Clnpham  Road,  London.  .  .  ,    _  .  , 

Wanted,  examples  of  the  British  Limnseae  from  as  many 
different  localities  as  possible  ;  other  British  shells  in  exchange. 
— S   C.  Cockerell,  51  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick. 

Desiderata:  northern  British  (esp.)  and  foreign  shells. 
Duplicates:  H.  revelata,  H .  aspcrsa,\3X.  tennis,  H.  pisana, 
//.  laiicida,  H aliotis  tuberculata,  PI.  nautileus,  contortus, 
corneus,  Calyptra-a  chinensis,  B.  Leachu,  H.  vcntrosa,  H. 
nine,  &c— B.  Tomlin,  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge. 


Several  fair  duplicates  of  that  rare  and  lovely  butterfly, 
Morpho  aurora  from  Bolivia  ;  also  some  other  South  American 
species  lately  considered  unprocurable  ;  also  wings  of  brilliant 
species  for  microscopic  work.  Morplio  Cypris  exhausted  for 
the  present;  unanswered  applicants  kindly  accept  this  notice. — 
Hudson,  Railway  Terrace,  Cross  Lane,  Manchester. 

'"  Knowledge,"  from  Oct.  271b,  1882,  to  Dec.  26th,  1884,  11S 
numbers  in  all;  also  Wood's  (Rev.  J.  G.)  "Insects  Abroad," 
600  illustrations,  cloth ;  wanted,  a  good  microscope,  or  what 
offers? — John  Inglis,  12  Glen  Street,  Edinburgh. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  for  1883,  also  Jan.  and  Feb.  1884, 
in  exchange  for  vols,  xxxviii.  (less  Nos.  1  to  j\  xxxix.,  and  xl. 
of  "English  Mechanic,"  all  in  clean  condition. — F.  Stainton, 
New  Street,  Chatteris,  Cambs. 

Wan  1  ed,  small  batches  of  Helix  nemoralis  and  //.  hortensis 
from  different  soils:  shells  or  phnts  given  in  exchange. — H.  P. 
Fitzgerald,  M.C.S.,  North  Hall,  Basingstoke. 

Waisted,  to  exchange  British  plants;  lists  exchanged. 
Likewise  Biitish  land  and  freshwater  shells. — H.  P.  Fitzgerald, 
M.C.S.,  North  Hall,  Basingstoke. 

Whll-mounti-d  teeth  of  the  Leuciscus  rutilus  (showing 
anchylosis)  in  excharge  for  other  well-mounted  slides. — Charles 
Arnold,  L.D.S.,  8  St.  John's  Villas,  New  Southgate,  N. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  from  beginning  of  1865  to  end  of 
1884,  either  bound  or  in  loose  numbers;  and  also  any  other 
microscop:cal  books  or  journals.  State  what  is  wanted  in  ex- 
change for  them.— Charles  Von  Eiff,  jun.,  347  Greenwich  Street, 
New  York  City. 

A  SThONG  tricycle,  in  excellent  order,  cost  21  guineas  ;  will 
take  a  good  microscope  or  botanical  works  in  part  or  whole 
payment.  Front  steering  wheel,  central  gearing,  saddle  and 
treadles,  ball-bearings. — J.  Hamson,  19  Victoria  Road,  Bedford. 
Well-mounted  micro  slides  for  exchange  ;  diatoms,  ento- 
mology, micro-fungi,  &c.  Lists  exchanged.  Shall  be  pleased 
to  hear  from  former  correspondents. — Dr.  Moorhead,  Lrrigle, 
Cootehill,  Ireland. 

Fine  healthy  cock  canary,  sweet  singer,  in  exchange  for  a 
good  book  on  British  mosses,  also  a  splendid  large  hen  canary 
for  a  book  on  lichens  or  liverworts.— E.  A.  M.  W.,  31  Aynhoe 
Road,  West  Kensington  Park,  W. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip,  any  of  the  following  numbers:— 
1-34,  51,  52,  55-59,  67,68,  72,  76,  83,  84.  Also  any  odd  numbers 
of  "Zoologist,"  "Entomologist,"  "Entomologist's  Monthly 
Magazine,"  or  Loudon's  "Magazine  of  Natural  History." 
Good  exchange  given  in  micro  slides,  birds'  eggs  (one  hole), 
books,  magazines,  periodicals,  &c— W.  T.  Taylor,  Seymour 
House,  Keswick. 

Eggs  of  osprey,  grosbeak,  grebe,  petrel,  cuckoo,  woodpecker, 
and  tern  offered  for  others  not  in  collection.— J.  T.  T.  Reed, 
Ryhope,  Durham  Co. 

For  specimens  of  Dreisscna  polymorpha,  Pall.,  send  box  and 
stamped  addressed  envelope  to— J.  M.  Campbell,  Kelvmgrove 
Park,  Glasgow. 

Eggs  of  Sterna  hirundinacea,  Less.,  from  Patagonia,  111 
exchange  for  other  natural  history  objects.  Accepted  offers 
replied  to  per  return.— J.  M.  Campbell,  Kelvingrove  Park, 
Glasgow. 

Wanted  a  fine  healthy  cock  and  hen  bullfinch  or  extra  fine 
cock  only,  will  exchange  any  of  the  following:  "  English 
Mechanic,"  Nos.  758-796,  nos.  788,  776,  770  790  missing.  Gray  s 
"  Natural  Arrangement  of  British  Plants,"  in  2  vols,  with  21 
plates.  "  Boy's  Own  Paper,"  either  vol.  3,  4.  5.  or  6,  in  monthly 
parts  with  plates  and  index.  Vols.  i.  and  11.  of  Inuson  s 
"Elements  of  Science  and  Art,"  bound  in  tree-calf.— W.  S. 
Castle-Turner,  6  Dagnall  Park  Terrace,  Selhurst,  S.E. 

BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 

"The  Metaphysical  Aspect  of  Natural  History,"  by  Dr. 
Stephen  Monckton  (.London  :  H.  K.  Lewis).— "  Science.' — 
"The  Botanical  Gazette."— "  The  American  Monthly  Micro- 
scopical Journal."— "  The  Naturalist."-"  Feuille  des  Jeunes 
Naturalistes."  — "  The  Midland  Naturalist."- "  Journal  of 
Microscopy  and  Natural  Science."— "  Journal  of  the  Health 
Society  "  (Calcutta).—"  Ben  Brierley's  Journal.  —  Report  of 
the  Mitchell  Library,  Glasgow,"  1884.-"  Results  of  Twenty 
Years'  Observations  on  Botany,  Entomology,  Ornithology^nd 
Meteorology,"  taken  at  Marlborough  College,  1865-1884.—  L,e 
Monde  de  la  Science."-"  Journal  of  the  New  York  Microsco- 
pical Society."—"  Revista  Scientifica."— "  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Microscopical  Society." 

Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from:- 
C.  F.  O.-G.  F.  H.-C.  C.  D.-W.  H.  H  -A.  A -W.  G.- 
G.  A.  A.-M.  S.  W.-H.  C.  B.-J.  H.-E.  L.-T.  M.R.- 
T  G— G  A  R.-T.  E.  A.-E.  H.  R.— F.  B.-A.A.-F.H.A. 
-AH  S-R  D--M.  B.  W.-E.  H.-W.  C.  C.-C  C- 
H  r  G-F.  W.  C—R.  M.-J.  E.  R.-W.  A.  P.-S.  J.  Mel. 
-DB-C  H  R-A.  R.  W.-A.  H.-J.  W.-C.  P.- 
w  H  P  -R  A  H.-J.  W.  N.-E.  C.  B.-S.  C.  C.-W.  S— 
H.'  £  B.-T.-  W.  O.-B.  B.  L  T.-R ■  W.  G.-D  S.-H  M. 
— T  H  M  — C.  A.— F.  S.— H.— A.  E.  R  — H.  P.  F.  G.— 
P,  T-G  E  C-R.  H.-S.  J.  W.-J.  W.  H.-J.  M.C.- 
FR-R-g'e  E.-F.  L.  C.-E.  A.  M.  W.-F.  W.  M- 
H  W -H  E.  E.-W.  T.  T.-J.  I.-W.  S.  C.  T.-A.  D.- 
J.  T.  T.  R.— C.  V.  E.— E.  H.,  &c.  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


E.T.D.cLeL&cLiial 


7mceatBrool£s,Day  &  SimMh- 


SEEDS    OF    LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING. 

*  25. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


12  r 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER 


No.  XVIII. — Seeds  of  Love-lies-bleeding  {Amaranthus  caudatus). 


UR  plate  exhibits 
simply  the  external 
character  and 
appearance  of  an 
elegant  seed,  as  seen 
with  a  moderate 
power  under  the 
microscope.  From 
this  aspect  the 
subject  is  intro- 
duced, to  invite 
attention  to  an 
attractive  class  of 
e  a  s  ily-p  rocured 
objects,  showing 
elegance  of  form 
and  colour. 

The  microscopist, 
however,  contem- 
plates a  seed  with 
deeper  significance,  its  hidden  mystery,  its  absolute 
totality,  an  independent  whole,  involving  an  embryo 
lying  dormant  (often  for  years),  but  ready,  under 
favourable  surroundings,  to  start  a  new  plant  true  to 
its  species.  At  such  a  point  it  may  be  interesting  to 
devote  a  few  preliminary  lines  in  an  attempt  to  de- 
scribe what  may  be  seen  of  this  compacted  quiescence 
when  set  in  action  by  the  force  of  germination,  and 
revealed  by  the  instrument. 

In  a  dry,  intact  seed,  the  embryo  of  the  future 
plant  is  hidden  beyond  the  power  of  observation, 
but  when  subjected  to  external  influences  alterations 
commence.  At  this  stage,  examination  leads  the 
imagination  to  what  may  have  been  the  primary 
condition  ;  a  germ,  enclosed  in  a  simple  and  minute 
cylindrical  body  of  dense  organisation  hardly  pre- 
senting a  trace  of  complicated  or  differentiated 
structures,  and  only  when  influenced  by  moisture 
and  moderate  heat  the  mysterious  principle  "ger- 
mination "  sets  in  ;  changes  appear  by  the  gradual  ab- 
sorption and  elimination  of  the  surrounding  and  pro- 
tecting provision  ;  the  embryo  then  breaks  through  the 
No.  246.— June  1885. 


integuments  and  acquires  a  distinct  vascular,  tubular, 
and  cellular  organisation  ;  this  process,  or  develop 
ment,  may  be  observed.     A  grain  of  corn,  although 
partaking  more  of  the  character  of  a  fruit  than  a  seed, 
is  peculiarly  adapted  for  experiment ;  by  soaking  in 
water  for  a  few   hours   germination  is  quickly  pro- 
moted ;   to  see  the  acme  of  interest,  it  must  not  be 
carried  too  far,  in  fact,  just  started  ;  thin  transparent 
sections  cut  from  the  centre  of  the  grain  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  axis,  and  placed  under  a  thin  glass  cover 
in  a  drop  of  glycerine  jelly  or  chloride  of  calcium, 
will  exhibit  developments  which  may  be  assumed  to 
be  analogous  to   the  germination  of  other  seeds  ;  a 
minute  sheath,  or  sac,  formed  by  the  single  cotyledon, 
which  represents  the  undeveloped  leaves,  will  be  seen, 
enclosing  the  plumule,  the  rudiment  of  the  ascending 
growth ;  outside  the  sheath,  the  radicle,  the  nascent 
descending  axis.     These  organs,  still  confined  within 
the  seed,  or  at  least,  only  just  breaking  through  the 
pericarp  or  outer  skin,  are  sustained  by  the  exhaustion 
of  the  albumen  of  which  the  greater  part  of  the  seed 
consists,  stored   in   cells  —  reservoirs   of  nutriment, 
starches,  oils,  and  other  matters  in  varied  combina- 
tions.    Cuttings  from  grains,  soaked  in  water,   taken 
at  successive  periods,  exhibit  phases  or  progresses  of 
development.      But,  from  an  embryological  point  of 
view,  microscopical  interest  is  lost  after  the  initial 
process   is   past ;    the   albumen   cells   then    become 
exhausted  and  effete,  and  the  minute  stem  and  root 
push   forth   and    assume    the    character   of   a   plant, 
entirely  dependent  on  external  resources.     A  trans- 
verse section  cut  through  the  point  of  a  germinating 
grain  shows  the  cotyledon  like  a  pale  oval  border, 
surrounding  the    minute  and  compacted  convoluted 
tissues,  which   afterwards  become  the  leaves  of  the 
plumule. 

The  gay  and  persistent  blossoms  of  the  somewhat 
weedy  shrub-like  Amaranthus  caudatus  (love-lies- 
bleeding)  are  prominently  attractive  in  old-fashioned 
gardens  ;  the  fruit  is  a  utricle,  a  seed  vessel  with  a 
loose  rind,  or  pericarp ;  rubbed  off,  or  winnowed,  it 
reveals   the   object,  as   seen   in   the   illustration ;   i.i 

G 


122 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


colour,  of  delicate  intermingled  pinks  and  yellows 
with  the  embryo  curved,  like  an  annulus  round  the 
circumference  of  a  central  store  of  farinaceous  albu- 
men ;  the  object  well  displays  the  hilum,  or  scar  of 
union  with  the  mother  plant. 

The  integuments  of  seeds  are  composed  of  structu- 
ral membranes  of  significant  interest  ;  after  soaking, 
and  in  some  cases  boiling,  they  may  be  teased  out, 
and  excellent  preparations  secured  ;  the  disclosure 
of  spiral  tissue  in  the  testa  of  the  seeds  of  Cobcea, 
and  Collomia,  an  oft-repeated  demonstration,  still 
retains  its  old  interest ;  a  thin  particle  cut  from  the 
surface,  placed  in  a  drop  of  water,  between  glasses, 
will  disclose  positive  action ;  cells  bursting,  and 
imprisoned  coils  darting  forth  in  all  directions. 

Of  seeds,  in  their  simple  and  natural  integrity,  as 
objects  of  beauty,  may  be  mentioned  :  poppy  and 
mignonette,  showing  reticulations  ;  Eccremocarpus 
scaler,  with  membranous  wings  ;  this  seed  mounted 
in  balsam  is  a  fine  polariscope  object.  Antirrhinum 
majus  (snap-dragon)  roughly  corrugated  ;  the  seeds 
of  the  carrot  have  curious  radiating  processes  ;  those 
of  wild  indigenous  plants  are  always  attractive,  and 
exhibit  marked  peculiarities ;  Goose-grass,  covered 
with  equidistant  hooks ;  Burr-reed  with  four  ribs 
running  longitudinally,  terminating  in  projections, 
each  armed  with  a  double  row  of  barbs  ;  even  chick- 
weed  has  a  spinous  seed,  worth  looking  at.  As 
regards  configuration  the  most  striking  are  the 
reniform,  and  the  obovate,  as  in  the  larkspur, 
marked  with  prominent  irregular  ridges. 

The  following  carefully  selected  list  of  microscopic 
seeds,  as  showing  peculiarities  in  great  variety,  is 
extracted  from  the  "  Micrographical  Dictionary'' 
(Van  Voorst). 

Hypericum,  Lychnis,  Stellaria,  Reseda,  Lepidium, 
Nigella,  Erica,  Anagallis,  Orobanche,  Linaria, 
Chironia,  Gentiana,  Datura,  Nicotiana,  Petunia, 
Sedum,  Saxifraga,  Capparis,  Elatine,  Gesnera, 
Begonia,  Delphinium,  Scrophularia,  Antirrhinum, 
Maurandya,  Sphenogyna,  Hyoscyamus,  Semper- 
vivum,  Silene,  Dianthus,  Papaver,  Digitalis. 

Seeds  perfectly  dry  and  clean,  require  little  or  no 
preparation,  as  opaque  objects  ;  the  beauty  of  many, 
as  Drosera,  Hydrangea,  Pyrola,  Orchis,  and  very 
minute  specimens,  is  much  enhanced  by  mounting  in 
balsam  in  a  cell,  after  a  washing  in  spirit  of  turpen- 
tine, in  this  -way,  the  edges  or  any  projecting  parts, 
as  hairs,  spines,  corrugations,  hooks,  &c,  are  within 
reach  of  the  dark  ground  illumination,  which  added 
to  condensed  light  from  above,  brings  out  their 
perfect  beauty,  with  binocular  vision,  presenting  a 
solidity  eminently  adapting  them  for  artistic  study 
and  practice  as  models  of  form,  colour,  and  shadow. 

Crouch  End. 

A  new  volcano  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  or 
near  the  government  of  Smolensk  in  Russia,  and  to 
have  been  showing  signs  of  activity. 


ARTISTIC  GEOLOGY. 

Ffestiniog  and  its  Neighbourhood. 

By  T.  Mellard  Reade,  F.G.S.,  &c. 

[Continued  from  p.  113.] 

JT)  WLCH  Drzus  Ardudwy.  —  We  may  devote  a 
-L-)  good  long  day  to  this  excursion,  which  will,  with 
fine  weather,  well  repay  the  geological  student  no  less 
than  the  lover  of  scenery.  Taking  an  early  train  to 
Trawsfynydd  on  the  railway  to  Bala,  we  get  on  to  the 
main  road  from  Maentwrog  to  Dolgelly.  About  two 
miles  frcm  the  station,  and  about  half-a-mile  before 
turning  off  to  the  right,  on  the  east  side  of  the  road, 
is  an  outcrop  of  the  Cambrian  rocks,  here  of  a  blue 
slaty  nature,  the  direction  of  dip  being  from  west  to  east, 
which  it  will  be  well  to  bear  in  mind.  Turning  off 
along  an  unfrequented  road,  we  cross  the  Afon  Eden 
by  a  foot  bridge,  and  about  a  mile  onwards  we  cross 
an  extensive  surface  of  bare  rock  having  a  dip  about 
nine  degrees  north-west ;  but  it  varies,  as  the  surface 
is  part  of  an  anticlinal  curve.  No  glacial  strice  are 
to  be  seen,  but  the  smoothness  of  the  rock  may  never- 
theless be  due  to  glacial  action. 

It  may  be  as  well  here  to  observe  that  we  have 
been  walking  along,  and  then  across  a  valley  denuded 
out  of  an  anticlinal  and  situated  at  a  very  considerable 
altitude,  as  any  one  who  walks  from  Maentwrog  will 
find  out  before  he  gets  to  Trawsfynydd.  This  valley 
is  a  wide  trough,  running  north  and  south,  occupied 
entirely  by  Cambrian  rocks,  out  of  which,  indeed,  it 
has  been  scooped. 

The  eastern  side  is  for  a  considerable  distance 
bounded  by  a  fault  which  must  pass  very  near  to 
Trawsfynydd  station,  though  I  did  not  see  it.  This 
elevated  valley  is  remarkable,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
divided  into  two  watersheds,  the  southern  part  being 
drained  by  the  Afon  Eden  towards  Dolgelly  into  the 
Mawddach,  and  the  northern  by  the  Afon  Pryser, 
which  rises  in  the  Silurians  to  the  east,  and  flows, 
after  passing  round  the  village  of  Trawsfynydd  to  the 
estuary  below  Maentwrog,  discharging  over  the 
beautiful  falls  of  the  Rhiadr  Ddu  before  alluded  to. 

From  the  smoothed  rocks  we  left  off  at  to  describe 
the  valley,  there  is  a  gradual  ascent  to  the  Drws 
Ardudwy,  which  is  a  wild  pass  between  Rhinog 
Mawr  and  Rhinog  Fach,  two  grand  Cambrian 
mountains.  As  we  traverse  the  pass,  or  the  "  gates  " 
of  the  Ardudwy,  we  are  going  in  a  south-westerly 
direction.  From  the  time  of  entrance  between  the 
Rhinogs  to  the  summit  of  the  pass,  we  are  still 
rapidly  ascending.  Beyond  the  summit  we  may  rest 
to  survey  the  prospect,  taking  care  to  have  a  good  big 
block  of  stone  behind  us,  for  the  wind  blows  keenly 
through  this  mountain  channel.  Looking  back,  that 
is  to  the  north-east,  we  have  a  sublime  view  of  the  bare 
and  somewhat  terraced  flank  of  Rhinog  Fawr.  The 
grandeur  of  the  scene  is  due  to  the  enormous  mass  of 
rock  which  is  almost  devoid  of  vegetation,  and  the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


123 


blocks  of  grit  scattered  profusely  about  and  around  us 
in  wild  confusion. 

Examining  the  stone,  after  fracture  with  the 
hammer,  we  find  it  is  a  bluish-grey  grit,  largely 
composed  of  felspathic  materials  and  almost  crystal- 
line. Indeed,  at  first  sight,  one  would  take  some  of 
the  Cambrian  beds  to  be  felstone,  but  a  careful 
examination  will  show  the  rounded  grains  of  which 
it  is  composed,  and  assure  us  of  its  clastic  character. 
Some  of  the  blocks  which  have  been  detached  from 
the  precipices  above  are  well  worthy  of  study,  as  the 
grit  contains  in  some  cases  veins  of  slate,  usually  of  a 
greenish  colour,  which  by  weathering  exhibit  the 
cleavage  distinctly,  though  the  grit  is  unaffected  by  it. 
In  one  block  I  counted  no  less  than  six  bands  of  slate, 
all  cleaved  in  the  same  direction,  the  intermediate 
grit  showing  no  signs  of  cleavage.  In  another  case 
the  weathering  brought  out  current  bedding  in  the 
grit  itself,  though  a  more  unlikely  material  to  display 
this  structure  it  would  be  difficult  to  conceive. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  geology  tends  to  the 
enjoyment  of  scenery,  for  many  years]  ago,  before  I 
had  practically  worked  at  the  science,  I  visited  this 
spot  and  made  a  sketch  of  the  pass,  approaching  it 
from  Llanbedr  ;  but  it  did  not  yield  me  the  same 
pleasure  then  as  on  my  last  visit,  even  discounting  the 
fact  that  on  the  first  occasion  a  horridly  cold  wind 
was  blowing  through  the  pass,  and  on  the  last  the 
day  was  sunny  and  bright. 

After  lingering  to  enjoy  this  wild  scenery  we  had 
to  turn  our  faces  homewards,  but  not  before  being 
passed  by  three  travellers,  one  a  lady  with  approved 
Alpine-stock,  who  walked  briskly  and  in  good  style 
through  the  pass.  I  could  not  help  admiring  the 
swing  at  which  they  were  going,  and  watched  them 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  follow,  curiously  wondering  in 
what  way  the  scenery  affected  them.  Their  feelings, 
however,  were  a  sealed  book,  for  they  looked  not  to 
the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left,  nor  heavenwards, 
towards  the  summits  of  the  mountains.  They  were 
evidently  "doing  their  distance,"  and  could  not  be 
troubled  with  such  frivolities  as  scenery  !  Still,  no 
doubt,  they  expatiated  on  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery 
when  they  arrived  at  their  destination, — and  had 
time. 

The  sun  was  now  getting  lower  in  the  heavens, 
and  the  Rhinogs  with  the  range  extending  to 
Diphwys  was  dyeing  deep  purple,  showing  sharply  in 
outline  against  the  western  sky.  The  structure  was 
well  displayed  ;  long  low  curves  ending  in  scarps 
taking  a  direction  a  little  eastward  of  north,  showing 
that  the  strata  is  not  bent  merely  into  parallel  folds, 
but  has  a  curvature  in  a  minor  degree  along  its  major 
axis.  Arriving  at  the  Dolgelly  road,  we  sat  down  to 
survey  and  sketch  Cader  Idris.  Lighted  up  by  the 
afternoon  sun,  the  long  escarpment  showed  every 
detail  of  its  furrowed  side,  exhibiting  a  marked 
contrast  to  the  forms  of  the  Cambrian  mountains  we 
had   been   studying.      The  golden  face   and  purple 


shadows  of  Cader  were  appropriately  set  off  by  a 
foreground  of  bright  green  turf,  with  a  little  farm- 
house and  group  of  trees  to  the  right  distinctly 
outlined  against  the  mountain  background.  Arrived 
at  the  Trawsfynydd  station,  while  waiting  for  the 
train  we  had  ample  time  to  watch  the  soft  rosy  light 
of  evening  overspread  the  scene,  while  the  mountains 
beyond  the  Rhinogs  shone  in  light  golden  tint, 
intensified  by  the  dark  deep  purple  of  the  Cambrian 
range  to  the  right.  This  was  truly,  though  gained  by 
considerable  walking,  a  red-letter  day. 


FEATURES   IN   THE   NEIGHBOURHOOD   OF 
FFESTINIOG. 

Next  to  Moelwyn,  the  most  prominent  objects  near 
Ffestiniog  are  [the  two  Manods.  One  is  struck  by 
the  contrast  of  form  they  exhibit  as  compared  with 
Moelwyn  and  other  Snowdonian  mountains.  A 
geological  examination  shows  that  they  are  in  greater 
part  carved  out  of  massive  felspathic  porphyry, 
estimated  by  Ramsay  at  1500  feet  thick.  This  rock, 
as  may  be  seen  on  a  smaller  scale,  weathers  into 
rounded  forms,  the  Manods  being,  in  fact,  bossy  hills 
formed  by  denudation  from  a  bed  of  igneous  rock, 
ejected  during  the  deposition  of  the  Llandeilo  beds, 
upon  the  lower  beds  of  which  they  repose.  These 
beds  are  altered  by  contact,  whereas  the  slaty  beds 
above  are  unaltered.  (See  section,  p.  54.  Memoir  of 
Geo.  of  North  Wales.) 

An  instructive  example  of  the  rounded  form  into 
which  this  rock  weathers  may  be  seen  in  a  hill  near 
the  slate  quarry  above  Llyn  Morwynion,  from  which 
lake  the  water  supply  of  Ffestiniog  is  obtained.  A 
climb  up  to  Llyn-y-Manod,  a  small  tarn  lying  in  the 
hollow  between  the  two  Manods,  will  repay  the 
exertion.  Good  views  over  Cardigan  Bay  and 
towards  Harlech  Castle  are  obtained.  The  mountain 
is  seen  to  be  covered  with  angular  blocks  of  stone, 
derived  from  its  own  mass.  The  rock  weathers  with 
a  rough  white  crust  forming  with  the  lichens  thereon 
a  beautiful  gray  tint  in  the  distance,  with  the  faintest 
dash  of  purple  therein.  Underneath  the  crust  is  a 
reddish-brown  iron  stain,  which  no  doubt  is  washed 
out  of  the  outer  skin  of  the  stone.  The  talus  of 
broken  blocks  are  not  bad  climbing,  being  filled  in 
between  with  soil  and  turf,  but  unfortunately  we  had 
not  time  to  get  to  the  summit.  When  we  started  on 
this  journey,  clouds  and  mists  covered  the  vale,  which, 
gradually  lifting,  showed  the  bright  green  vegetation 
bathed  in  the  sunlight  below. 

(To  be  co  11  fin ued.) 


The  American  Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal  for  April  contains  the  first  part  of  a  pro- 
visional key  to  the  classification  of  freshwater  alga3, 
by  the  editor,  Mr.  Romyn  Hitchcock,  F.R.M.S. 

G  2 


124 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


FERTILISATION  OF  ORCHIS  MASCULA. 

By  Edward  Malan. 

[Continued  front  p.  102.] 

THE  tubers,  I  believe,  behave  pretty  much  as  I  de- 
scribed. Most  of  the  plants  that  I  have  taken  up 
in  April,  have  been  about  2  inches  below  the  surface. 
In  August  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  find  the  tubers, 
as  there  is  absolutely  nothing  above  ground  to  assist 
your  search,  and  although  I  have  frequently  marked 
the  place  and  position  of  plants  in  April,  yet  I  have 
been  disappointed  when  I  returned  four  months  later. 
You  may  dig,  and  you  may  dig,  but  nothing  will  you 
find.  Why  is  this  ?  Clearly  the  tubers  descend ; 
and  the  reason  of  this  descent  is  to  prevent  premature 
germination,  which,  if  allowed  to  proceed  without 
the  proper  interval  of  rest,  considerably  weakens  the 
plant  of  the  following  year.  The  case  of  the  tuber 
that  I  mentioned  as  being  deeply  planted,  was  an 
experiment,  and  it  was  purposely  prevented  from 
rising,  by  being  kept  at  a  uniform  depth  of  3  inches 
below  the  surface.  The  result  was  very  disastrous  to 
the  plant,  but  the  new  tubers  grew  better  when  the 
leaves  were  above  ground.  The  drawings  which  I 
made  at  the  time  can  be  seen. 

Lastly,  as  to  the  breaking  of  the  stem  affecting  the 
flower  of  the  new  tuber.  Here  G.  M.  has  not 
quoted  my  words  correctly.  Breaking  the  stem 
certainly  cripples  the  plant  of  the  following  year,  and 
prevents  its  flowering  ;  at  least,  I  have  only  observed 
one  exception  to  this,  and  the  notes  that  I  made  can 
be  had  for  the  asking.  But  I  did  not  say  that  I  saw 
a  perfectly  healthy  plant  minus  its  tubers :  I  said 
tuber.     This  rather  alters  G.  M.'s  case  against  me. 

Now  let  me  go  out  and  select  a  plant  of  O.  mascula 
and  let  me  explain  what  I  mean.  [One  hour 
occupied  in  finding  a  plant.]  This  one  that  I  have 
found  (March  9th,  1885)  will  just  do.  Clear  away 
the  soil  carefully,  and  do  not  break  a  single  root. 
Then  proceed  to  vivisect  the  victim.  Just  place 
your  knife,  my  classic  Ajax,  where  it  will  cut 
sharpest,  and  divide  the  plant  in  half,  leaves,  tubers 
and  all.  There,  the  thing  is  done,  and  this  drawing 
is  a  faithful  representation  of  the  result.  We  will 
call  the  left-hand  tuber  (i.e.  the  tuber  of  1884-5)  A  ; 
and  we  will  call  the  right-hand  tuber  (i.e.  the  tuber 
of  18S5-6)  B;  evidently  the  plant  arises  from  A; 
evidently  B  has  no  independent  existence  as  yet. 
Accordingly  A  answers  to  the  old  tuber  of  my 
description,  and  B  answers  to  the  new.  There  can 
be  no  mistake  now. 

Last  autumn,  while  men  were  slumbering  and 
sleeping  and  caring  very  little  for  this  particular 
tuber,  the  silent  processes  of  life  were  at  work,  and 
A  took  courage  and  started  the  thing  going.  First 
of  all  the  embryo,  containing  the  leaves  and  spike, 
germinated  little  by  little,  drawing  upon  A  for  its 
resources,  in  this  the  first  stage  of  its  growth.  The 
embryo  is  now  the  plant  on  the  table  before   me. 


How  long  A  directly  supplied  the  embryo  I  cannot 
say  for  certain,  as  it  appears  to  depend  very  much  on 
the  moisture  or  dryness  of  the  soil,  but  it  cannot  be 
for  long,  for  as  soon  as  the  roots  appear,  the 
germination  of  the  embryo  is  considerably  ac- 
celerated, and  A  hardly  decreases  in  size  at  all, 
afterwards.  If  you  ask  how  I  know,  I  reply  because 
I  have  been  there  to  see.     So  far,  then,  my  remark 


Fig.  85. — 0.  mascula.    a,  Old  tuber ;  b,  new  tuber. 

about  the  tuber  containing  a  store  of  food  not  for  the 
leaves  and  stem,  is  correct,  I  believe.  The  remainder 
of  the  remark  must  be  considered  next. 

A  glance  at  my  drawing  will  show  that  the  roots 
supply  the  leaves  directly,  for  otherwise  why  should 
they  not  proceed  from  the  base  of  the  tuber  ?  and 
the  plant  that  I  mentioned,  minus  the  tuber,  ought  to 
have  been  crippled  or  dead.  But  it  wasn't. 
Therefore   my   conclusion   is   that    the    leaves    and 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


125 


spikes  are  mainly  instrumental  in  the  production  of 
the  new  tuber,  for  how  could  that  new  tuber  have 
been  healthy  and  plump,  when  the  old  tuber  itself  was 
nearly  empty  ?  I  am  aware,  of  course,  that  I  cannot 
argue  from  a  particular  to  a  general  case,  and  so  I 
have  stated  my  theory  cautiously.  I  am  also  aware 
that  this  conclusion  is  opposed  to  my  remark  about 
the  old  tuber  containing  a  store  of  food  for  the  new 
tuber.  The  fact  is  this.  I  am  extremely  obliged  to 
G.  M.  for  pointing  out  the  discrepancy  in  my  paper, 
and  thus  compelling  me  to  observe  more  carefully, 
and  I  hope  that  he  will  observe  many  plants  during 
this  season  and  help  me  further.  The  offending 
remark  was  written  some  time  before  the  remainder 
of  the  article. 

Then,  another  thing.  I  have  succeeded,  in  two 
years,  in  entirely  clearing  the  leaves  of  a  plant  of 
O.  mascula  of  spots,  so  that  the  leaves  of  the  plant 
are  perfectly  spotless.  If  the  roots  supplied  the  new 
tuber  directly,  why  should  not  one  year  be  sufficient 


Figs.  86,  87. — 0.  mascula.     a,  Old  tuber  ;  b,  new  tuber; 
c,  spike. 


to  produce  this  result  ?  Look  at  the  drawing  atten- 
tively. The  roots  are  exactly  opposite  the  new 
tuber,  but  they  join  the  plant,  and  the  new  tuber  is 
connected  with  the  leaves.  The  spike  alone  appears 
to  descend  to  the  old  tuber.  O.  mascula  appears  in 
a  critical  case.  If  the  roots  are  damaged  by  wet,  &c, 
the  plant  has  to  feed  on  the  old  tuber,  and  the  spike 
suffers  :  if  the  embryo  starts  too  soon,  or  remains 
too  deeply  buried,  the  new  tuber  suffers.  If  the 
spike  is  broken,  the  old  tuber  doesn't  suffer,  but 
somehow  the  flower  of  the  following  year  is 
affected. 

There  were  two  misprints  in  my  article  (vol.  xix. 
p.  52)  which  have  not  been  noticed.  In  one  place, 
column  was  written  for  collum,  and  in  another,  skin 
for  stem.  I  also  made  the  mistake  of  calling  the 
embryo  the  plumule. 

Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin  {Botanic  Garden,  Canto  iv. 
37)  says  that  the  seed  of  O.  mascula  only  ripens 
when  the  tuber  is  picked  off.  Then  how  can  this 
occur  in  nature,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  unless 


some  pitiless  surgeon  of  a  slug  amputates  the  new 
tuber  ? 

I  must  apologise  for  occupying  so  much  space,  but 
I  trust  the  attention  focussed  on  this  interesting  plant 
will  be  excuse  enough. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  MALVERN  HILLS. 
By  J.  Walter  Gregory. 

THOSE  members  of  the  fraternity  of  the  hammer 
who  have  the  good  fortune  to  visit  the 
Malvern  Hills,  will  find  themselves  in  a  land  rendered 
classic  to  geologists  by  the  researches  of  Murchison, 
Ramsay,  Phillips,  Horner,  Symonds,  Brodie,  Salter, 
Holl,  not  to  mention  a  host  of  minor  names,  and  in  a 
district  into  whose  varied  features  as  many  interesting 
geological  problems  and  strata  are  compressed  as  into 
any  area  of  England  of  similar  extent.  The  fossili- 
ferous  Keuper  Marl  and  osseous  conglomerate  of 
l'endock  and  Moorcourt,  the  splendid  sections  of  the 
Upper  Silurians,  West  of  Worcestershire  Beacon, 
the  Mayhill  sandstone  in  its  typical  locality,  the 
Ludlow  Bone  bed  of  Hale  end,  the  noted  Permian 


Fig.  8S. — Diagrammatic  section  of  Malvern  Hills,     a,  syenite  ; 
b,  gneiss,  &c.  ;  c,  Hollybush  sandstone ;  d,  Silurian  ;  f,  Trias. 


breccia  of  Berrow  and  Bromesberrow,  the  Hollybush 
Sandstone  and  Black  Shales  with  their  lavas  of 
Coalhilland  Fowlett's  Farm,  the  Old  Red  Sandstone 
of  Ledbury,  and  last  but  not  least  the  physiography 
of  the  Woolhope  ellipse,  are  all  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood. 

But  to  any  geologist  above  the  rank  of  a  mere  fossil 
collector,  there  is  one  point  of  surpassing  interest  on 
which  he  is  sure  to  commence,  and  to  which  he  is 
tolerably  sure  to  return.  However  interested  he  may 
be  in  the  inversion  on  the  west  of  the  hills,  however 
fascinating  he  may  find  the  study  of  the  denudation 
of  Woolhope,  and  the  comparison  of  the  wooded 
undulating  Silurian  strata  of  the  west  with  the 
fertile  Keuper  plain  that  stretches  away  on  the  east 
to  the  Severn,  the  question  of  the  age  of  the  rocks 
constituting  the  chain  of  hills  is  sure  to  retain  most 
of  his  attention. 

In  a  series  of  articles  on  the  Pre-Cambrian  Rocks 
of  England  and  Wales,  published  in  SciENCE- 
Gossip  in  1883,  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Watts,  B.  A.,  F.G.S., 
the  author  commenced  with  a  brief  notice  of  the 
Malvern  Hills,  which  he  boldly  claimed  as  Archean. 
I  propose  in  the  present  article  to  see  what  evidence 
can   be  adduced  in  favour  of  such  a  conclusion,  to 


126 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


discuss  its  value,  and  finally  to  summarise  the  ar- 
guments which  led  Murchison  to  the  opinion  still 
retained  by  the  Survey. 

First,  let  us  briefly  examine  the  geological  structure 
of  the  range.  The  hills  consist  of  a  central  ridge  of 
Syenite  with  much  syenitic  and  granitoid  gneiss  and 
diorite  :  on  each  flank  are  beds  of  schist  which 
become  more  and  more  brittle  and  contorted  as  we 
approach  the  syenitic  nucleus  which  is  exposed  at 
many  points,  as  at  Keys  End  Hill  and  the  valley  of 
the  Whiteleaved  Oak,  and  was  passed  through  in  the 
Malvern  and  Ledbury  Tunnel.*  Resting  very 
unconformably  upon  these  schists,  we  find  on  the 
west  of  the  Keys  End  Hill,  the  Hollybush  Sandstone, 
the  basement  bed  of  which  contains  pebbles  of  the 
igneous  rocks  derived  from  the  hills,  the  presence  of 
which  proves  that  the  sandstone  is  the  more  recent 
formation.  From  its  fossils  {Trachyderma  aiiti- 
quissima,  Salter,  Scrpulites  fistula,  Holl,  Obolclla 
Phillipsii,  Holl,  Lingula  squamosa,  Scolitlnis  and  four 
undetermined  species),  Dr.  Hicks  has  correlated  it 
with  his  Festiniog  beds  (middle  Lingula  Flags). 
This  is  the  oldest  fossiliferous  bed  in  the  district,  and 
it  limits  us  to  two  possible  theories  as  to  the  age  of 
the  hills  ;  they  may  be  Archean,  or  they  may  be 
Lower  Cambrian. 

With  the  above  sketch  in,  at  any  rate,  its  main 
points,  most  geologists  would  agree  ;  but  here  the 
two  paths  diverge,  the  old  school  holding  that  the 
hills  were  formed  by  the  metamorphism  of  Longmynd 
rocks  into  gneiss  and  schist  by  the  intrusion  of  the 
underlying  syenite ;  the  Archeanists  maintaining 
that  the  rocks  were  deposited  in  some  peculiar 
manner  in  Pre-Cambrian  times. 

The  latter  school  found  their  case  mainly  on  the 
three  following  propositions  :  1st  (which  would  only 
be  advanced  by  the  more  thorough-going  members 
of  the  school)  that  as  no  Post-Archean  regional 
metamorphism  is  possible,  these  rocks  being  meta- 
morphic  are  consequently  Pre-Cambrian  ;  2nd,  that 
even  if  we  admit  the  possibility  of  Post-Archean 
metamorphism,  the  period  of  time  between  the 
Loncmynd  and  the  Hollybush  Sandstone  would  be 
insufficient  for  the  deposition  of  these  strata,  and 
their  alteration  into  gneisses  ;  3rd,  that  the  Malvern 
rocks  are  similar  to  those  from  other  Pre-Cambrian 
areas. 

Let  us  briefly  examine  these  arguments.  The 
truth  of  the  first  proposition  most  geologists  would 
deny  in  toto  ;  and  while  admitting  the  possibility 
that  many  areas  now  considered  metamorphosed 
Cambrian  may  prove  to  be  Archean  (as  has  recently 
been  done  by  Geikie,f  with  the  "  Newer  Gneiss  "  of 
the  Highlands),  when  one  remembers  how  many 
instances  have  been  described  of  the  passage  of 
sedimentary  into  schistose  and  gneissose  rocks,  and 

*f  Symonds  and  Lambert  on  Strata  exposed  in  Malvern  and 
Ledbury  Tunnel.     "  Quart.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc."  vol.  xvii. 
"i"  "Nature,"  vol.  xxxi.  pp.  29-34.     (Nov.  13.) 


that  its  most  enthusiastic  adherents  only  claim  that 
it  is  supported  by  negative  evidence — one  cannot  but 
receive  such  an  argument  with  great  caution.  Of 
such  instances  are  the  fossiliferous  schists  of 
Christiania,*  the  Liassic  Mica  schists  of  St.  Gothard,f 
and  the  passage  in  the  Pyrenees  so  well  described 
by  Fuchs,!  of  clay  slate  through  Fruchtschiefer 
chiastolite  slate,  andalusite  schist,  and  Mica  schist 
into  gneiss. 

The  objection  of  lack  of  time  cannot  be  accepted 
when  we  remember  that  during  the  Lower  Cambrian 
era  were  deposited  over  500  feet  of  the  Menevian, 
the  6000  feet  of  the  Harlech  Grits  and  the  20,000  feet 
of  the  Longmynd  :  even  if  the  gneiss  and  schists  of 
Malvern  represent  the  whole  of  the  Longmynd,  we 
have  a  period  represented  by  the  deposition  of  6500 
feet,  and  this  would  certainly  seem  ample  for  the 
elevation  of  so  small  a  chain  of  hills,  when  we  bear 
in  mind  that  the  gigantic  ranges  of  the  Alps,  Andes, 
and  Himalayas  were  all  elevated  during  the  much 
shorter  system  of  the  Miocene. 

In  replying  to  the  third  argument,  that  from  the 
structure  of  the  rocks,  I  need  not  here  discuss  the 
possibility  of  correlating  rocks  by  their  mineralogical 
composition.  We  need  only  note  the  great  differences 
as  pointed  out  by  Murchison  between  the  fissile, 
fine-grained  syenitic  gneiss  of  the  Malverns,  and  the 
thick-bedded  coarse  gneiss  of  the  Highlands,  which 
differ  in  every  respect  save  in  the  abundance  of 
hornblende.  Nor  do  these  rocks  more  resemble  the 
so-called  Pre-Cambrian  of  St.  David's.  Dr.  Calla- 
way, whose  fairness  and  moderation  in  a  controversy 
that  has  not  been  lacking  in  personalities  command 
our  respect,  and  whose  able  and  lucid  series  of  papers 
on  the  Malvern  Hills,  the  Wrekin,  Anglesey,  and  the 
Highlands,  have  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of 
English  Archeanists,  says  :  §  "  The  Malvern  Series  is 
almost  exclusively  gneissic,  foliation  is  well  marked, 
and  hornblende  abounds.  In  the  St.  David's  area 
gneiss  is  absent."  He  further  points  out  the  absence 
at  the  latter  place  of  schists,  as  the  so-called  "  quartz 
schists  "  of  Hicks  are  really  granitoids  and  quartzites. 
{To  be  continued.') 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

THERE  appears  to  be  fair  reason  for  hoping  that 
the  cattle  plague  will  become,  like  small- 
pox, an  historical  disease.  Pasteur's  method  of  vac- 
cination has  been  successfully  applied  in  India  to 
elephants,  horses,  asses,  cows,  buffaloes,  and  sheep. 
I  say  "  like  small-pox  "  because  the  effect  of  vaccina- 


*  Reusch,  "  Upper  Silurian  Fossils  in  Metamorphic  Rocks  of 
Christiania.     Universitets  Programm,  1882." 
+  Ball's  "  Introduction  to  Alpine  Guide,"  p.  74. 
J  C.  W.  C.  Fuchs,  "Neues  jahrb.  fur  Miner,"  1870,  p.  742. 
$  Callaway,  "Quart.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc."  vol.  xxxvi.  p.  538. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


127 


tion  is  not  that  of  a  complete  preventive  of  disease, 
but  rather  an  alteration  of  its  character,  a  conversion 
from  a  malignant  horror  to  a  mere  outbreak  of 
pimples.  Instead  of  being  the  most  fatal  and  the 
most  filthy  of  all  diseases,  the  small-pox,  as  it 
appears  in  vaccinated  patients,  has  become  so  mild 
that  there  are  fanatics  who  actually  describe  it  as  a 
beneficent  purifier  of  the  blood.  I  have  heard  a  lady 
who  is  an  eminent  agitator  and  a  healing  medium, 
but  otherwise  fairly  intelligent,  describe  a  case  of 
chronic  life-long  suffering  as  cured  by  a  "refreshing 
outpour  of  small-pox."  On  the  other  hand,  I  have 
witnessed  the  horrors  of  malignant  small-pox,  a  whole 
family — father,  mother,  and  unvaccinated  children — 
all  in  one  room,  and  all  in  a  condition  of  superficial 
putrescence,  a  sight  and  stench  too  horrible  for  de- 
scription. This  is  what  Jenner  and  his  contemporaries 
familiarly  beheld,  but  which  the  lady  above-named 
and  those  who  are  similarly  infatuated  have  not  yet 
seen,  but  will  see  presently  in  Leicester  if  the  agita- 
tion makes  much  further  progress. 

Pasteur's  prophylactic  for  the  cattle  plague  and 
rabies  appears  to  act  chiefly  in  effecting  an  "  attenua- 
tion "  of  the  disease  by  means  of  attenuated  virus. 
The  demonstration  of  the  efficacy  of  his  attenuation 
of  hydrophobia  is  difficult  on  account  of  the  rarity  of 
the  disease  and  the  necessary  limitation  of  experi- 
mental proof,  but  when  cattle  plague  settles  in  a 
district  and  threatens  an  extermination  like  that 
which  occurred  in  the  Cheshire  cheese  country  twenty 
years  ago,  nothing  is  easier  than  to  vaccinate  one  half 
of  a  given  number  of  cattle,  and  expose  them  and  the 
other  half  to  the  same  conditions  of  infection,  and 
watch  the  result.     This  has  been  done  in  India. 

In  last  month's  "Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society  " 
is  printed  a  paper  read  at  the  Society  (with  the  usual 
omission  of  the  date  of  reading)  by  Dr.  Peter  Griess 
and  Dr.  G.  H.  Harrow,  on  "  The  Presence  of  Choline 
in  Hops."  This  substance  is  otherwise  named  sin- 
caline,  neurine,  and  amanitine.  It  is  called  neurine 
because  it  is  found  in  the  brain.  This  name  and  its 
existence  there  have  promoted  fanciful  theories  con- 
cerning its  influence,  similar  to  those  popularly  enter- 
tained concerning  the  mysterious  or  quasi-spiritual 
potency  of  phosphorus  as  an  element  of  brain- 
matter. 

The  writers  of  this  paper  find  this  neurine  in  hops 
and  beer,  and  conclude  their  paper  as  follows  : — 
"Whether  the  circumstance  that  choline  is  present 
in  beer  lias  any  physiological  significance,  is  a 
question  which  we  are  not  in  a  position  to 
decide  ;  it  is,  however,  interesting  that  this  never- 
failing  and  peculiar  constituent  of  the  brain-sub- 
stance should  also  be  present  in  one  of  our  most 
important  articles  of  diet." 

I  will  not  stop  to  discuss  the  question  whether 
beer  is  "  an  article  of  diet"  I  think  it  better  described 
as  a  drug,  but  must  protest  against  the  description  of 
this  many-named  substance,  the  choline,  or  neurine, 


or  sincaline,  or  amantinine,  as  a  "  peculiar  constituent 
of  brain  substance."  The  authors  of  the  paper  have 
misused  this  word  "peculiar."  It  signifies  exclusive- 
ness,  and  thus  used  implies  that  the  substance  only 
exists  in  the  brain  ;  whereas,  as  they  state  in  the 
early  part  of  their  paper,  it  is  "  a  constantly  occurring 
constituent  of  several  parts  of  the  animal  body  "  and 
"  it  has  also  been  proved  to  exist  in  some  plants." 
Its  various  names  indicate  various  sources  from  which 
it  has  been  derived.  Therefore  we  need  not  lower 
the  vitality  of  the  mucous  membranes  of  our  digestive 
organs  by  drinking  tonic  hop  bitters,  nor  stupefy 
ourselves  with  beer,  in  order  to  nourish  the  brain. 
Cervclli  fritti  (fried  brains)  is  a  standing  dish  at 
Italian  restaurants.  I  met  a  man  at  the  Lepre  in 
Rome  who  ate  that  dish  there  daily  in  order  to 
strengthen  his  intellect.  The  result  by  no  means 
indicated  that  even  this  very  direct  consumption  of 
neurine  was  efficacious. 

Another  paper  read  by  Mr.  H.  Brereton  Baker  at 
the  same  society  is  very  interesting  and  important. 
As  Mr.  Baker  states,  his  researches  were  suggested 
by  some  recent  experiments  of  Mr.  Harold  B. 
Dixon  (Philosophical  Transactions,  1884,  part  2), 
showing  that  a  highly  explosive  mixture  of  carbonic 
oxide  and  oxygen  is  not  explosive  when  dry.  We 
are  so  accustomed  to  regard  water  as  antagonistic  to 
combustion  that  the  mere  suggestion  that  ordinary 
combustion  cannot  take  place  without  the  help  of 
water  appears  an  extravagant  paradox.  Neverthe- 
less this  appears  to  be  the  case.  The  experiments  of 
Mr.  Dixon  and  those  of  Mr.  Baker  concur,  so  far  as 
they  go,  in  showing  that  there  can  be  no  fire  without 
water.  The  difficulty  in  making  these  experiments 
is  that  of  getting  rid  of  the  water.  "  Water,  water, 
everywhere "  expresses  a  great  chemical  truth.  It 
holds  on  with  desperate  tenacity  to  the  air  we 
breathe,  and  every  gas  we  produce  in  our  labora- 
tories. I  need  not  here  state  the  particular  methods 
adopted  by  Mr.  Baker  to  dry  the  oxygen  used 
in  his  experiments.  They  were  the  best  known, 
and  the  drying  was  continued  from  one  to  sixteen 
weeks. 

He  subjected  purified  charcoal  and  phosphorus  to 
the  action  of  the  dried  gas,  and  to  ordinary  oxygen 
containing  its  usual  supply  of  aqueous  vapour. 
These  placed  in  comparison  tubes  were  equally 
heated.  The  general  result  was  that  in  the  moist 
oxygen  complete  combustion  of  the  carbon  and  the 
phosphorus  occurred,  with  brilliant  outflash  of  the 
latter.  In  the  dried  oxygen  there  was  no  visible 
combustion,  and  examination  of  the  residual  gas 
showed  that  all  the  moist  oxygen  had  combined,  but 
only  a  small  and  varying  proportion  of  the  _  dry 
oxygen. 

There  is  fair  reason  to  infer  that  this  small  amount 
of  oxidation  would  not  have  occurred  had  the  gas 
been  perfectly  dry,  a  condition  at  present  unattain- 
able. 


128 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Santini  ("  Gazetta  Chimica  Italiana,"  vol.  xiv. 
p.  274)  has  already  shown  that  the  flame  of  hydrogen 
assumes  all  the  colours  of  the  spectrum,  and  now 
replies  to  the  objection  that  this  coloration  is  due  to 
impurities  of  the  gas,  as  at  first  prepared,  by  making 
it  from  potassium  formate  heated  with  potash.  He 
still  observes  the  same  phenomena  with  this.  To 
show  these  colours,  the  hydrogen  should  be  collected 
in  a  bell  jar  about  8  inches  long,  and  2  inches 
diameter,  which  should  be  then  held  with  its  mouth 
downwards,  a  light  applied  and  the  vessel  gradually 
inclined.  A  flame  pours  upwards  in  which  all  the 
prismatic  colours  may  be  observed  as  the  jar 
approaches  the  horizontal  position.  Carbonic  oxide, 
sulphuretted  hydrogen,  methane,  and  vapours  of 
alcohols,  ethers,  &c,  display  similar  colours. 

In  the  current  volume  of  "  The  Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Society,"  W.  N.  Hartley  states  that  the 
sensitiveness  of  the  spectrum  in  detecting  magnesia 
is  practically  unlimited  ;  that  it  is  possible  to  obtain  a 
definite  magnesium  spectrum  from  a  spark  carrying 
only  a  one  thousand  millionth  part  of  a  milligramme, 
(a  milligramme  is  a  little  more  than  Tyo  of  an  ounce). 
Also  that  a  solution  containing  one  part  of  magnesia 
in  ten  thousand  million  parts  of  water  displays  two 
of  the  characteristic  lines  of  magnesia.  These 
quantities  are  inconceivably  small,  but  still  the 
substance  is  outspread  and  continuous  ;  no  physical 
indication  of  discrete  molecules  is  displayed.  Some 
of  my  readers  may  know  that  I  am  a  heretic  in 
reference  to  the  actual  physical  existence  of  any 
ultimate  atoms  or  molecules,  regarding  all  the 
speculations  concerning  the  limits  of  littleness  as 
vain  and  worthless,  quite  as  vain  as  discussing  the 
boundaries  of  space. 

A  very  interesting  and  important  paper  was 
recently  read  at  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences, 
(Comptes  Rendus,  vol.  xcix.  p.  1072)  by  J.  Thoulet, 
describing  experiments  which  justify  the  conclusion, 
that  an  attraction  is  exerted  between  a  dissolved  salt, 
and  an  insoluble  solid  immersed  in  the  solution,  and 
that  the  amount  of  this  attraction  varies  with  the 
surface  of  the  solid.  Thus  when  marble,  kaolin, 
cjuartz,  or  other  solid,  is  immersed  in  a  solution  of 
barium  or  sodium  chloride  in  which  they  are  chemically 
inert  and  insoluble,  they  nevertheless  disturb  the  solu- 
tion, and  render  it  weaker  by  effecting  a  deposition 
upon  themselves  of  some  of  the  dissolved  salt. 

Important  practical  consequences  follow  from  this. 
One  of  the  oft-repeated  fallacies  of  the  half-learned, 
but  not  of  the  unlearned,  is  that  of  stating  that  a 
filter  can  only  remove  mechanical  impurities  from 
water,  that  it  cannot  remove  matter  which  is  there 
dissolved.  This  statement  has  been  disproved  by 
experiment.  By  repeated  nitrations  sea  water  may 
be  rendered  less  and  less  salt,  until  it  becomes  nearly 
if  not  quite  tasteless.  This  fact  has  hitherto  been 
rather  puzzling,  but' is  now  readily  explained  by  the 
adhesion  of  some  of  the  salt  to  the  filtering  medium. 


It  should  be,  however,  understood,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  in  order  to  obtain  this  result,  fresh 
filtering  material  (sand  for  instance)  must  be  used  at 
each  filtration,  since  the  sand  thus  used  ultimately 
takes  up  its  utmost  attainable  supply  of  salt,  and 
then  may  rather  give  some  back  to  fresh  water  than 
take  any  more  away  from  salt  water. 

As  far  back  as  1878  similar  results  were  obtained 
by  Bayley,  but  in  a  different  manner.  He  let  fall 
upon  the  white  blotting-paper  used  for  filtering,  drops 
of  various  solutions,  and  observed  that  generally  the 
salt  remained  near  the  centre,  and  that  a  ring  of  water 
extended  round  this.  By  using  solutions  of  metallic 
salts  which  became  blackened  by  hydrogen  sulphide, 
he  was  able,  by  simply  applying  this  reagent,  to 
obtain  a  picture  of  the  diffusion,  and  produced 
similar  pictures  by  staining  the  blotting-paper  with 
turmeric  or  litmus,  and  then  adding  allkaline  or  acid 
solutions  which  change  the  colour  of  the  stain.  The 
greater  the  dilution,  the  broader  the  water  ring 
surrounding  the  coloured  spot  and  indicating  the 
position  of  the  salt.  Concentration  of  the  solution, 
heat,  and  looseness  of  the  texture  of  the  paper, 
increase  the  mobility  of  the  solution,  i.e.  the  distance 
to  which  the  dissolved  matter  may  stand  before  the 
water  leaves  it.  The  mobility  of  different  salts 
varies,  and  in  mixed  solutions  they  act  independently 
of  each  other. 

These  results  have  been  recently  confirmed  by 
J.  U.  Lloyd  ("  Chemical  News,"  vol.  li.  p.  51),  who 
modifies  the  experiments  by  dipping  chips  of  blotting 
paper  into  various  solutions,  and  observing  how  far 
the  substances  in  solution  climb  up  the  paper  before 
they  are  left  behind  by  the  water.  Various  solutions 
were  "thus  tried ;  in  some  cases,  as  with  very  dilute 
solutions  of  ferric  sulphate,  the  salt  just  creeps  up 
above  the  surface  of  the  solution,  while  the  pure 
water  travels  to  the  end  of  the  paper  (five  inches). 
A  concentrated  solution  of  the  same  travels  with  the 
waters,  no  separation  taking  place.  Such  a  solution 
of  this  salt  is  like  a  syrup. 

When  solutions  of  ferrous  sulphate,  copper  sulphate 
and  ferric  sulphate  were  mixed,  each  salt  showed  a 
limiting  line  at  the  same  distance  above  the  solution  ■ 
as  when  tested  separately  and  of  corresponding 
strength  ;  the  ferrous  sulphate  travelling  farthest,  the 
copper  sulphate  next,  and  the  ferric  sulphate  lagging 
behind.  Other  salts  behaved  in  like  manner.  Even 
sulphuric  acid  is  separated  from  water  when  the 
solution  is  dilute  ;  water  quite  free  from  acid  passing 
onwards.  By  bending  the  blotting-paper  over  at  a 
height  above  the  reach  of  the  salt,  and  allowing  the 
further  end  to  hang  below  the  level  of  the  solution, 
a  perfect  filtration  of  ferric  sulphate  was  effected, 
drops  of  water  free  from  iron  salt  falling  from  this 
lower  end.  Quantitative  experiments  were  made 
on  this  and  other  solutions,  showing  their  relative 
distances  of  travelling  in  solutions  of  measured 
strength. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


129 


LEAVES  FROM  MY  NOTE-BOOK  FOR  1S84. 
By  A.  Kingston. 

IN  transcribing  the  following  extracts  from  "  Leaves 
from  my  Note-book  for  18S4,"  it  is  scarcely 
necessary,  perhaps,  for  me  to  caution  the  reader 
against  expecting  anything  very  profound,  or  anything 
directed  to  a  special  branch  of  enquiry  ;  still  less  will 
he  expect  them  to  contain  much  in  the  way  of  novelty. 
They  are  the  casual  observations  made,  and  jotted 
down  as  they  were  made,  in  leisure  moments ;  and 
their  only  merit  perhaps  will  be  that  they  may 
possibly  suggest,  here  and  there,  a  line  of  inquiry  to 
others  having  more  ability  and  leisure  to  follow  it  to 
a  profitable  issue. 


Fig.  89. — Royston  Crow. 

The  opening  days  of  1884  were  well  calculated  to 
stimulate  observation  in  many  directions.  The  close 
of  1883  had  left  such  a  legacy  of  early  promise  as  is 
rarely  witnessed  on  New  Year's  Day.  In  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  flowers  enjoyed  almost  a  second  summer. 
Many  of  the  yellow-flowered  species  of  the  Composite 
among  wild  flowers,  and  many  annuals  in  the  garden 
had  flourished  far  beyond  their  appointed  time. 
Gardens  were  gay  with  wallflowers,  marigolds, 
daisies,  and  pansies,  and  other  favourites.  The 
skylark  and  thrush  had  vigorously  warbled  in  the 
new  year,  and  the  industrious  little  honey  bee 
{Apis  mellifica)  was  busy  making  adventures  on  its 
own  account  at  an  abnormally  early  date.  Some 
evidence,  too,  was  forthcoming  on  the  subject  of  the 
hardihood  of  one  or  two  of  our  hibernating  lepidoptera. 


The  hardiest  of  all  proved  to  be  the  common  small 
tortoise-shell  butterfly  ( Vanessa  icrticce),  several  speci- 
mens of  which  came  under  the  observation  of  the 
writer  during  the  first  ten  days  of  January,  stimulated 
by  the  atmosphere  of  a  warm  room,  into  a  vigorous 
flight.  I  may  add  that  next  to  the  tortoise-shell  in 
hardiness  among  the  hibernators,  comes,  apparently, 
the  fine  old  peacock  butterfly  (Vanessa  lo). 

The  Royston,  or  hooded  crow  (Corvns  comix),  as 
it  is  seen  in  its  migrations  southward,  has  so  distinctly 
the  opposite  of  the  gregarious  habit  of  the  rook,  that 
I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  notice,  during  January, 
a  little  community  of  half-a-dozen  of  them  together, 
and  showing  an  unusually  sociable  disposition.  This 
somewhat  remarkable  member  of  a  familiar  ornitho- 
logical family  having  enjoyed  its  local  designation  for 
centuries,  has,  I  suppose,  a  fair  claim  to  the  name  by 
which  ornithologists  and  naturalists  have  for  so  long 
recognised  it.*  It  could  of  course  only  have  derived 
this-local  name  from  the  fact  of  its  attachment  to  the 
heathy  country  about  Royston,  and  of  its  not  going 
much  further  south  in  its  winter  migration.  This, 
however,  is  not  absolutely  conclusive  evidence  of  its 
claim  to  the  title,-  for  in  the  writer's  birds'-nesting 
days,  it  was  commonly  known  as  the  "Dunstable 
crow,"  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  chalk  ridges  of 
the  Chiltern  Hills,  where  its  peculiar  plumage  was 
occasionally  recognised.  Whether  this  interesting 
corvus  is  likely  to  preserve  its  local  claims  and  specific 
distinction,  as  it  has  done  in  the  past,  may  perhaps 
be  doubtful ;  for  Mr,  Henry  Seebohm,  a  great 
authority  on  ornithological  questions,  and  well  versed 
in  the  habits  of  migratory  birds,  makes  out  a  strong 
case  against  the  Royston  crow  for  its  disposition  to 
interbreed  with  the  carrion  crow  and  other  members 
of  the  family.  The  opinion  of  so  accurate  an  observer 
is  of  course  entitled  to  the  highest  respect,  and  yet  it 
is  not  a  little  singular  that  the  present  representatives 
of  the  hooded  crow,  as  they  are  caught  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Royston  Heath,  are  as  distinctly  specific 
as  any  of  their  predecessors,  with  the  same  distinct 
light  grey  markings  as  of  old,  and  no  perceptible 
traces  of  hybridisation.  Indeed,  I  am  informed  by 
Mr.  Norman,  a  naturalist,  whose  business  of  taxidermy, 
and  that  of  his  father  before  him,  has  for  a  period  of 
sixty  years  enjoyed  a  more  than  local  repute,  that 
although  many  specimens  of  the  local  and  general 
rarce  aves  have  passed  through  their  hands,  yet  during 
the  whole  of  that  period  only  one  specimen  of  the 
hooded  crow  has  ever  come  under  their  notice  showing 
traces  of  hybridisation.  With  this  there  was  the 
uncertain  element  of  its  being  a  young  bird  ;  but  on 
being  submitted  to  Mr.  Gold,  of  London,  it  was 
pronounced  by  him  to  be  a  hybrid,  and  the  result  of 
interbreeding  between  the  Royston  and  carrion  crows. 
This  specimen  is  now  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Bray- 


*  Since  writing  the  above,  I  find  that  this  local  name  is  given 
to  the  bird  in  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ward's  "  Natural  History," 
1775  ;  the  earliest  mention  I  know  of. 


13° 


HA  RD  WICKE  *S  S  CIENCE-  G  0  SSIP. 


brooke  at  Audley  End.  With  but  this  solitary  piece 
of  evidence  in  so  long  a  period,  my  informant  naturally 
asks,  "Where  do  the  hybrids  go,  if  there  is  such  an 
interbreeding  ?  "  The  point  is  one  that  I  must  leave 
to  those  more  competent  to  deal  with  it.  It  is  not 
likely,  however,  that  such  an  accurate  and  patient 
observer  as  Mr.  Seebohm  would  countenance  such  a 
theory  without  the  fullest  justification  ;  but  if  the 
carrion  crow  is  generally  as  rare  as  it  is  now  becoming 
in  the  home  counties,  his  local  namesake,  if  he  persist 
in  his  ways,  will  have  to  seek  an  alliance  with  the  more 
numerous  rook  family.  But  common  fairness  compels 
me  to  admit  that,  at  least,  as  he  is  seen  in  his  winter 
quarters,  Corvus  comix  may  fairly  claim  that  his 
family  escutcheon  is  comparatively  untarnished,  and 
that  he  can  boast  the  same  bold  markings  and  motley 
plumage  as  of  old. 

Until  the  opening  days  of  April,  vegetation  went 
forward  with  leaps  and  bounds.  In  the  almost 
summer  sunshine  of  the  third  week  in  March  the 
brimstone  butterfly  (Goiiepteryx  rhamni),  the  peacock, 
and  tortoiseshell,  sunned  themselves  for  a  little  day, 
and  a  very  little  day  it  proved  to  be,  for,  having 
regard  to  what  had  gone  before,  and  to  what  followed, 
the  month  of  April  was  quite  phenomenal.  The 
most  patient  observer  could  find  nothing  fresh  to 
chronicle  between  the  first  and  last  weeks  of  the 
month.  Rarely  has  there  been  such  a  notable 
instance  of  the  effect  of  clouds  upon  temperature  and 
in  protecting  the  young  fruit  crops  from  the  mischief 
of  a  sudden  radiation  at  this  season  of  the  year,  or  of 
the  disastrous  results  which  may  follow  upon  the 
sudden  disappearance  of  clouds.  Until  the  18th  of 
April  the  nights  for  some  time  had  been  very  cold, 
but  fortunately  so,  for  the  gardener  and  fruit  grower 
welcomed  the  solid  blanket  of  cloud.  But  on  that 
night  the  clouds  "rolled  -by"  with  a  vengeance, 
leaving  an  exceptionally  brilliant  starlit  sky,  with 
twelve  degrees  of  frost,  and  the  loss,  in  a  single  night, 
of  many  thousands  of  'pounds  to  the  fruit  growers  in 
the  one  district  of  the  south  of  Cambridgeshire  alone. 
The  effect  of  this,  and  the  frosts  which  continued 
with  almost  equal  severity  until  the  24th,  was  also 
felt  in  other  directions.  Upon  the  ^budding  horse- 
chestnut  tree  it  was  especially  noticeable,  the  leaflets 
being  shrivelled  up  and  blackened  as  if  scorched  by 
fire,  and  the  flower  spikes  in  many  cases  never 
attained  their  wonted  splendour.  Previous  to  this 
sudden  check  the  season  had  been  remarkably  for- 
ward, as  the  following  early  entries  for  flowering 
plants,  &c,  will  show  :  Corylus  Avcllana  (hazel), 
Jan.  12  ;  Ranunculus  ficaria  (pilewort),  Jan.  25  ; 
Tussilago  Farfara  (coltsfoot),  Feb.  12 ;  Uhiius 
montana  (wych-elm),  Feb.  20;  Drain  verna  (whit- 
low grass),  Feb.  28  ;  Pruuus  spinosn  (blackthorn), 
March  13  ;  Stellnria  Holoslca  (greater  stitchwort), 
March  25.  In  most  cases  these  and  other  entries 
were  nearly  a  fortnight  in  advance  of  their  mean 
dales  for  flowering  in  Hertfordshire. 


Whenever  a  season  sets  in  with  unusual  mildness, 
as  did  that  of  1884,  every  figure  in  the  usual  pageant 
and  retinue  of  spring  is,  in  England,  expected  to 
follow  suit,  regardless  of  consequences,  and  so  the 
competitive  spirit  which  seeks  to  get  the  earliest 
green  peas  into  Covent  Garden  sets  up  a  craze  for 
nightingales  and  cuckoos !  When,  therefore,  the 
year  1884  opened  in  such  a  phenomenal  manner, 
everybody  thought  the  nightingale  ought  to  come  a 
month  in  advance  as  well,  and  come  accordingly  it 
did  in  the  imagination  of  quite  a  number  of  persons. 
The  first  record,  or  report,  of  the  singing  of  the 
nightingale  came,  I  believe,  from  Surrey,  about  the 
third  week  in  March  ! 

Another  instance  was  related  to  the  writer,  of  one 
singing  vigorously  at  Hitchin,  Herts,  about  the  25th 
of  March.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Hitchin 
claims  to  be  a  favourite  spot  for  the  nightingale,  and 
can  even  boast  of  a  "nightingale  road,"  I  could  not 
help  doubting  the  identity  of  this  Lady-Day  nightin- 
gale. Unfortunately,  however,  the  circumstance  was 
related  by  a  friend  of  the  writer,  and  therefore 
common  courtesy  obliged  me  to  admit  that  that 
particular  nightingale  did  sing  on  Lady-Day,  but  I 
am  afraid  that,  as  in  the  case  of  Waterton  and  the 
hooting  white  owl,  I  had  a  lingering  prejudice  against 
admitting  that  any  other  nightingale  ever  sang,  in 
this  part  of  England  at  least,  as  early  as  Lady-Day. 
Perhaps  I  may  be  wrong,  though  an  observant 
octogenarian  informs  me  that  for  the  last  forty  years 
he  has  never  known  the  arrival  of  the  nightingale — 
the  first  singing  of  the  nightingale — to  happen  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Royston  (near  Hitchin),  but  very 
little  before  or  after  the  loth  and  21st  April  respec- 
tively. White,  in  his  "  Natural  History  of  Selborne," 
I  believe,  gives  a  wider  margin — between  the  1st  of 
April  and  the  1st  of  May.  The  mean  date  for  the 
nightingale  for  Hertfordshire,  arrived  at  by  observa- 
tions at  several  stations  in  different  parts  of  the 
county,  is  April  14th.  As  a  matter-of-fact  the 
nightingale  was  not  heard,  as  far  as  I  could  ascertain, 
in  the  district  from  which  I  am  writing  until  about 
April  24th  last  year,  the  cuckoo  being  observed  on 
the  26th,  and  the  swallow  on  the  27th,  all  three  being 
about  ten  days  after  the  mean  dates  obtained  by  the 
Herts  Natural  History  Society.  Probably  we  are 
not  giving  sufficient  credit  to  the  instinct  of  our 
feathered  summer  visitors  in]  supposing  that  they 
must  be  influenced  by  the  passing  variations  of  our 
seasons  as  much  as  we  are  ourselves,  and  it  may  not 
be  far  wrong  to  assume  that  insect-feeding  birds 
regulate  their  migratory  movements  on  safer  lines 
than  the  caprices  of  an  English  spring  ;  that  their 
guiding  instinct  is  the  perception  of  increasing  length 
rather  than  temporary  "strength"  of  days.  Even  if 
such  a  rule  should  occasionally  play  them  false,  and 
occasion  temporary  suffering  on  arriving  on  our 
shores,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  have  on 
their   side  the  inevitable  laws  of  the   universe,   the 


HARD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


131 


perception  of  which,  treasured  up  and  increasing, 
generation "  after  generation,  into  the  stream  of 
hereditary  tendency,  which  we  call  instinct,  is  the 
summitm  bonum  of  the  migratory  bird's  philosophy. 

(To  be  continued.) 


HOLIDAY  RAMBLES 


THROUGH   WIGTONSHIRE. 


By  G.  Claridge  Druce,  F.L.S. 

AT    the    request    of    the    able    recorder  of    the 
Botanical   Record   Club    of  the  British   Isles 
(Dr.   F.  Arnold  Lees),  I  undertook  to  visit  Wigton- 
shire  in  order  to  form  a  list  of  its  plants,  since  only  a 
few  of  the  rarer  plants  had  been  recorded  by  the  late 
Professor  Balfour  when  on  a  tour  round  the  Mull  of 
Galloway.     From     its     western    position    and    the 
frequent  "  Mosses  "  marked  on  the  map,  and  perhaps 
biassed  by  my  experience  in  Western  Ross,  I  looked 
forward   to   a   wet   relaxing   atmosphere   and  boggy 
walking,  over  flat  tracts  of  sphagnum,  with  not  even 
hilly  prospects  to  brighten  the  dull  moors  of  the  un- 
interesting country  ;  but  the  guess,  if  ingenious,  was 
certainly  wrong.    I  found,  on  alighting  at  the  Newton 
Stewart  Station,  little  to  tell  me  what  county  I  was 
in ;  and  setting  out  for  a  walk  by  the  Cree  side,  the 
first  hundred  species  noticed  contained  scarcely  one 
but  what  are  ubiquitous  plants  occurring  in   every 
county.       Eventually      CEnanthe     crocata    raised    a 
suspicion  of  a  western  flora,  which  the  occurrence  on 
the   dry  rocky  banks   by  the    rail-side   of  Lepidium 
Smitkii   also   supported.     On   the    west   there  were 
slight   eminences    of    dry    rocky    ground   on   which 
Jasionc     montana,     Sedum     Anglicum,     and    Aira 
caryophyllea  were   to   be   found ;   on  the  east,  fields 
sloping   towards   the   river   Cree, — a  broad    shallow 
stream,  beyond  which  on  the  Kirkcudbright  side  rose 
the  Cairnsmore'of  Fleet,  2300  feet  elevation.     About 
a  mile  below  Newton  Stewart,  on  a  clayey  bank  by 
the   river,  occurred    Cerastium  holosteoides,  Fr. ;  the 
specimens  varied  with  the  stem  having    the    typical 
lines  to  a  more  diffused  pubescence  ;  but  the  biennial 
growth  and  larger  flowers  well  distinguish  the  plants 
from  other  forms  of  trivialc,  although  the  tidal  river 
may  have  been  the  primary  cause   in   the   develop- 
ment of  the  characteristic  peculiarities.     (Afterwards 
we  found  it  in  a  similar  locality  on  the  Kirkcudbright 
side.)     The    roadside     yielded    great    quantities    of 
Burdock  (A.  minus  and  intermedium),  and  at  intervals 
Hypericum  dubium,  which  seemed  to  be  the  common 
St.  John's  Wort  of  Wigton. 

Carsegown  Moss  was  the  first  piece  of  bog-land 
visited,  and  it  soon  showed  a  great  difference  from 
the  Ross-shire  bog.  First,  the  great  paucity  of,  sedges 
was  remarkable,  muricata,  vulgaris,  and  glauca  being 
the  only  ones  seen ;  and  the  absence  of  Juncus 
squarrosus  was   equally   striking,   but   there   was   a 


profuse  growth  of  Scirpus  azspitosus  and  Luzula 
campestris,  with  Juncus  conglomeratus  ;  and  trailing 
about  the  sphagnum  patches  occurred  Vaccinium 
oxycoccos,  or  the  pretty  Andromeda,  with  both 
Drosera  Anglica  and  rotundifolia.  Pinus  sylvestris 
looks  native  on  the  Moss  of  Bree. 

The  Bishop  burn  was  next  visited,  but  the  stream 
had  recently  been  cleared  out,  so  very  little  was  found. 
However,  in   a  heap   of  vegetable   matter  collected 
about    a    bridge,    Potamogeton  j-ufescens,  prcelougus, 
and  Zizii  were  picked,  with  Callitriche  hamulata  and 
Myriophyllum   spicatum.     The   meadows   here   were 
full  of  Carum  verticillatum,  a  typical  Wigton  plant ; 
and   in  a  little   patch   of  marshy   ground,    between 
Penninghame  and  South  Barbucham,  Carex pulicaris, 
jtava,  dioica,  stelluiata, pauieea,  Hornschuchiana,  with 
Scirpus  setaceus,    Crepis  paludosa,    Orchis  incarnata, 
Habenaria  viridis  and  H.  chlorantha,  occurred.     (H. 
bifolia   was   not    seen   in   the  ^county.)     Sparganium 
affine  was  also  found  in  the  Bishop  burn,  and  Carex 
vesicaria  by  its  side,  as  were  also  the  willows  S.  rubra, 
viminalis,  ferruginea,  caprea,  etc.     In  the  river  Cree 
close   to   Newtown,    Myriophyllum   altemiflorum   is 
plentiful,    and   Asplenium    Trichomanes   abounds  on 
the  bridge. 

Epilobium  obscurum  is  the  most  plentiful  willow- 
herb  of  Wigton.  About  Barbuchan  Erica  cincrea 
occurred :  it  seems  rare,  Tetralix  and  Calluna  being 
the  heaths  of  the  county.  Pinguicula  vulgaris,  not 
common,  and  Eriophorum  vaginalum,  also  occurred 
here,  as  did  Athyrium  Filix-foemina,  var.  convexum, 
and  in  a  little  plash  of  water  Chara  fragilis,  the 
only  one  of  its  genus  seen  in  Wigton.  Altogether  the 
result  of  the  first  day's  walk  from  Newton  Stewart  to 
the  Moss  of  Cree,  and  back  by  Penninghame,  was  a 
list  of  over  300  species. 

The  next  day's  work  was  by  train  to  Wigton,  walk 
thence   to   Kirkinner,    and   by   Orchardton    Bay    to 
Garliestown,  the  latter  place  a  small  port,  which  the 
local   guide   states  is  remarkable   "  for  its  extensive 
sawmills,    which  give  employment  to  sixteen  men." 
By    the     Bladenoch    side     about    Wigton,     Glaux, 
Triglochin  maritimum,   Cochlearia,  Armeria,  Juncus 
Gerardi,     Sclerochloa     maritima,     Carex     vulpiua, 
Scirpus  maritimus,  Triticum  acututn,  &c.  were  seen. 
By  the  rail-side,  along  which  I  walked  to  Kirkinner, 
occurred  Atriplex  deltoidea  and  many  forms  of  Tri- 
folium  repens,    especially  one  with  foliaceous  calyx. 
Near  Baldoon  Epilobium  hirsutum  for  its  first  and  last 
record  occurred ;   and  in   the   pond   at   the   Mains, 
Potamogeton   crispus    and  pusillus,    Phragmites,    &c. 
Papaver dubium  and  Argemoue,  with  Filago  German  ica, 
Arenaria  serpyllifolia,  and  Linaria  minor,  were  on 
the  rail-banks.     Lamhun  intermedium  was  frequent  in 
garden   ground   at   Kirkinner.     In   Orchardton   Bay 
were  Salicornia  herbacca,  Statice  Limonium,  Festuca 
oraria,  Spergularia  marginata,  &c. ;  and  Convolvulus 
sepium,  Lamium  amplexicaule,    Valerianella  dentata, 
Agrimonia,     Conittm,     Urtica    urens    occurred     on 


T32 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


cultivated  land  about  South  Balfern.  In  plantations 
about  Stewarton  occurred  Erythrcea  Centaurium, 
Oxalis,Hierac.  vulgatum,  Blechnuin  and  Adianf.  nig., 
both  very  rare,  Myrrhis  abundant ;  and  on  the  shingle 
at  Garliestown,  Atriple.x  Babingtonii,  Scdum  acre,  Sec. 
A  short  walk  from  Newton  in  the  evening  to  the 
Moss  of  Shin  yielded  a  luxuriant  form  of  Triodia 
decm/ibens,  a  dark  glumecl  form  of  Carex  curta,  near 
alpicola,  Carex  ampullacea,  binervis,  pilidifera, 
Gnaphalium  dioiciim,  Junciis  sqitarrosus,  Nardil s 
stricta,  Salix  pentandra,  Menyanthes,  Comarum, 
Carex  pallescens,  etc.  Altogether  this  day  added  80 
species  to  the  previous  list. 

(To  be  continued.) 


for   this   service,  but   its   immensely  prolific   nature 
adds  another  qualification. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  one  female  fly  is  capable 
of  producing  twenty  thousand  young,  thus  enabling 
it  to  efficiently  perform  its  appointed  sphere  of  use- 
fulness. It  is  ovoviviparous,  and  "  Redi  has  ascer- 
tained, the  larvae  will  in  twenty-four  hours  devour 
so  much  food,  and  grow  so  quickly,  as  to  increase 
their  weight  two  hundredfold  !  In  five  days 
they  arrive  at  their  full  growth  and  size,  and  it  is 
a  remarkable  instance  of  the  care  of  Providence  in 
fitting  them  for  the  part  they  are  destined  to  act,  for 
if  a  longer  time  was  required  for  their  growth,  their 
food  would  not  be  fit  aliment  for  them,  or  they  would 


Fig.  90.— Teeth  of  Sarcophaga  camaria  (chequered  blowfly).     X  330  diameters. 


TEETH  OF  FLIES. 

THE    CHEQUERED    BLOWFLY, 
riJAGA    CARNARIA). 


(SARCO- 


By  W.  H.  Harris. 
No.  V. 

FOR  the  removal  of  dead  and  offensive  matter, 
few  insects  can  compare  with  the  creature  from 
which  the  present  illustration  is  taken.  It  is  one  of 
the  very  busy  army  of  unpaid  scavengers,  rendering  to 
mankind  an  indirect  but  nevertheless  useful  service. 
Not  alone  in  the  matter  of  diet  is  it  specially  adapted 


be  too  long  in  removing  the  nuisance  it  is  given  in 
charge  to  them  to  dissipate"  (Kirby  and  Spence). 
It  is  a  large  and  rather  handsome  fly.  The  thorax  is 
marked  with  four  longitudinal  stripes  of  a  silvery 
grey  tint,  while  the  abdomen  has  the  appearance  of 
alternately  being  black  or  grey  in  patches,  according 
as  the  light  falls  on  the  creature.  Swift  in  flight,  its 
musical  hum  is  the  announcement  of  energy,  and  it 
thus  eloquently  proclaims  it  has  no  time  to  waste  in 
idleness  or  ease,  hence  it  is  a  rather  difficult  fly  to 
capture. 

The  teeth  forms  a  very   compact   group.       They 
are    less     numerous    than   in   some    other  members 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


133 


of  the  flesh-eating  tribe.  They  consist  of  primary, 
secondary,  and  third  rows.  There  are  nine  teeth 
in  the  primary  row,  seven  in  the  secondary,  and 
four  in  the  last  set,  the  whole  forming  an  arrange- 
ment which  can  be  well  expressed  in  the  following 
formula,  viz.  I,  2,  3,  3,  3,  3,  2,  2,  1.  There  is 
scarcely  any  difference  in  the  width  of  the  main 
teeth  from  base  to  apex,  but  they  are  decidedly 
more  deeply  cleft  than  in  Mitsca  vomitoria.  They 
are  tolerably  strong,  breaking  with  a  clean  fracture  if 
unduly  pressed,  and  in  colour  they  are  a  deep  amber. 


B.  oriental e,  Linn.,  is  easily  recognised  if  the  sori 
are  developed. 

Down  the  centre  of  each  of  the  long  straggling 
pinna?  (the  frond  is  simply  pinnate)  a  row  of  sori  on 
each  side  of  the  midrib  seems  sometimes  to  compress 
the  fertile  leaf;  the  indusium  or  covering  runs 
parallel,  and  outside  between  the  sori  and  margin  of 
the  leaf.  The  lower  pinnse  are  smaller  than  the 
upper,  reduced  from  six  or  eight  inches,  to  an  inch  or 
half-an-inch  in  length. 

Blechnum  is  mentioned  by  Dioscorides,  a  Greek 


A 


V 


Fig.  91. — Linds&tz 
flabellulata,  Dry. 


Fig.  92. — Linds&a  heterophylla, 
Dry. 


Fig.  93. — Adiantam  caudatum,  and  Adiantum  flabellulatum, 
Hk.,  Linn. 


SOME  FERNS  OF  HONG-KONG. 
By  Mrs.  E.  L.  O'Malley. 

[Continued  from  p.  106.] 

Gen.  IV.    Blechnum,  Linn. 
{Hard-fern.) 

ONCE  more  we  meet  with  a  genus  of  world-wide 
distribution. 
The  species  so  common  in  Hong-Kong  and  on  the 
Peak  is  B.  orientate,  or  hard  fern'  of  the  east. 
Travelling  round  the  world  we  shall  find  almost  the 
same  in  the  western  tropics.  There  the  species  is 
called  B.  occidental,  or  hard  fern  of  the  west,  and, 
perhaps,  revisiting  our  native  land,  one  of  the 
commonest  objects  in  English  heaths  and  in  Scotch 
glens  is  B.  boreale,  a  hard  fern  of  the  north. 


botanist.  The  name  Blechnon  seems  to  mean  simply 
"  a  fern."  The  English  name  speaks  truly  of  the 
nature  of  the  plant.  It  is  longer  lived,  and  more 
able  to  resist  an  adverse  soil  and  climate  than  is  the 
case  with  ferns  in  general. 

Gen.  V.     Linds/ea,  Dry. 

The  formation  of  the  indusium  in  Lindsaea  is 
peculiar,  and  must  not  be  confounded  with  Pteris. 
It  is,  in  fact,  exactly  the  reverse.  It  is  attached  to 
the  leaf-edge,  not  at,  but  below  the  margin,  and  runs 
the  length  of  the  frond  or  pinnule.  When  the  seed 
is  mature  the  indusium  is  detached,  not  below,  but  at 
the  margin,  and  the  sori  appear  plainly. 

Three  species  are  common.      None  are  large  plants. 

Lindscea  ensifolia,    S\v.,  is  the  largest   and  rarest. 


134 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


It  is  in  habit  and  growth  like  Pteris,  simply  pinnate 
with  pinnae  from  four  to  ten  inches  long,  and  the 
general  aspect  straggling. 

L.  flabellulata,  Dry.,  has  little  half-round  pinnae 
ranged  up  both  sides  of  the  stalk,  which  is  occasion- 
ally eight  or  ten  inches  in  height. 

L.  heterophylla,  Dry.,  is  bipinnate,  that  is  the 
pinnre  are  pinnate  again,  and  these  secondary 
divisions  are  either  half  round  or  pointed.  This 
species  may  be  said  to  be  a  combination  of  the  other 
two. 

Lindsasa  may  be  distinguished  from  Adiantum  as 
the  fructification  is  continuous  and  not  in  patches. 
Ensifolia  moans  sword-shaped  ;  heterophylla,  ir- 
regular-leaved ;  flabellulata,  like  a  fan. 


Gen.  VI.     Adiantum,  Linn. 
(Maiden-hair.) 

Who  does  not  know  a  maiden-hair  fern,  so  called 
from  the  black  delicate  stalk  peculiar  to  every 
member  of  the  family?  The  well-known  form, 
however,  is  not  found  among  the  commonest  species 
in  the  island.  The  name  "  Adiantum  "  was  given  to 
the  fern  by  Pliny,  and  means  "not  to  be  wetted," 
from  the  faculty  the  leaves  have  of  throwing  off  the 
drops  of  water,  under  which  they  love  to  grow. 

Three  species  are  named  by  Dr.  Hance  as  found  in 
the  island. 

A.  luniilaliiin,  Burn,  (moon-shaped  maiden-hair), 
is  more  often  met  with  on  the  mainland.  It  is  a  very 
delicate  fragile  fern,  so  that  specimens  required  for 
the  herbarium  must  be  shut  up  in  a  book  or  paper  as 
soon  as  gathered. 

A.  caudatum,  Hook.,  is  common.  Like  the 
preceding,  simply  pinnate,  but  quite  unlike  in  form 
and  texture.  The  little  pinnae  on  each  side  of  the 
stalk  are  rough,  hairy,  close  together  and  deeply 
jagged,  each  jag  bearing  the  sorus. 

A.flabdlulatum,  Linn.,  is  the  most  universal  of  the 
three.  The  divisions  of  the  frond  are  in  the  form  of 
a  fan,  and  in  twos,  each  pair  nearly  starting  from  a 
common  centre.     The  venation  is  also  fan-shaped. 

The  sori  of  Adiantum  are  too  well  known  to  need 
description.     They  are  in  patches  along  the  margin. 

The  young  frond  is  often  tinged  red  or  purple. 
This  is  also  the  case  with  Blechnu/n  oricntale  (hard 
fern). 

(To  be  continued.) 


Hybernation  of  Cuckoo.— I  cannot  find  any 
allusion  to  the  hybernation  of  cuckoos,  either  in 
White's  "Selborne,"  or  in  Buckland's  Notes  to  the 
same,  although  White  has  so  much  to  say  about  the 
hybernation  of  swallows.  He  mentions  that  when  the 
thermometer  is  above  500,  bats  fly  abroad  in  any 
month  of  the  year. — M.  E.  Pote. 


THE  ASCENT  OF  RORAIMA. 

THE  successful  expedition  of  Mr.  im  Thurn  to  this 
remarkable  mountain  last  December  has  excited 
a  good  deal  of  interest,  from  the  difficulties  attending 
the  ascent,  and  the  consequent  ignorance  which  has 
prevailed  concerning  the  nature  of  the  summit.  It 
was  natural  to  expect,  from  the  inaccessibility  of  the 
plateau,  that  when  once  it  was  reached,  valuable 
information  would  be  obtained  as  to  the  fauna 
and  flora,  if  there  were  any,  which  had  been  for  so 
long  a  time  somewhat  secluded  from  the  surrounding 
country.  In  "  Nature"  for  April  30th,  extracts  are 
given  from  a  paper  lately  read  at  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Perkin,  who 
accompanied  Mr.  im  Thurn.  From  these  it  appears 
that  on  the  2nd  of  December  the  explorers  reached  a 
group  of  houses  about  four  miles  from  Roraima, 
which  is  near  the  border  of  British  Guiana,  and  three 
from  Kukenam,  these  flat-topped  mountains  with 
dark  precipitous  cliffs,  seeming  like  huge  fortresses 
built  on  a  mountain-top  7000  feet  high,  and  with 
walls  1200  to  1800  feet  in  height.  The  features  of 
these  mountains,  as  seen  from  a  little  distance,  seem 
to  be  extremely  grand.  Clouds  of  white  mist 
accumulate  in  the  gorge  between,  and,  as  the  day 
advances,  rise  towards  the  summits,  as  was  the  case 
on  Roraima  soon  after  the  top  was  reached,  whereby 
a  limit  was  put  to  the  wanderings  of  the  explorers  ; 
while  after  wet  weather  the  water  pours  over  the 
edge  in  splendid  falls,  some  having  a  clear  leap  of 
1500  feet  down.  The  scantiness  of  the  vegetation 
found  on  the  exposed  top  of  Roraima  is  attributed  to 
the  earth  being  thus  washed  away  from  the  surface. 
On  the  sloping  sides  of  the  mountain,  before  reaching 
the  cliffs,  a  large  piece  of  swampy  ground  was  met 
with,  which  produced  exquisite  orchids  and  ferns, 
and  also  the  Utricularia  Humboldtii  and  the  Heliam- 
phora  or  pitcher-plant  with  cup-shaped  leaves  full  of 
water.  Another  Utricularia  was  re-discovered  higher 
up,  a  small  plant,  two  or  three  inches  in  height, 
growing  on  the  branches  of  trees,  and  having  a  large 
deep  crimson  blossom.  Higher  still  was  a  quantity 
of  a  species  of  heath  with  dark  pink  blossoms  of  six 
petals,  about  the  size  of  a  halfpenny.  As  the 
travellers  reached  the  top  of  the  ledge  by  which  they 
made  their  way  up,  a  number  of  fantastic  weird- 
looking  rocks  were  seen,  but  no  trees.  Small  bushes 
from  three  to  six  feet  high,  a  few  orchids,  two  species 
of  thick-leaved  ferns,  and  a  Utricularia,  formed  all 
the  vegetation  seen  upon  the  summit.  The  rock  was 
found  by  Mr.  Perkin  to  be  too  hard  to  permit  of  his 
cutting  it.  The  height  attained  was  reckoned,  by 
boiling  the  thermometer,  to  be  ,8600  feet.  The 
ascent  to  the  summit  was  made  on  December  iSth. 
"Nature"  publishes  also  illustrations  of  the  scenery 
of  Roraima  taken  by  Mr.  im  Thurn,  from  whom  a 
more  detailed  report  is  expected. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


135 


OBSERVATORY  TROUGH. 

DR.  GILES'S  arrangement  for  making  a  trough 
for  watching  animal  and  vegetable  organisms, 
seems  to  me  to  supply  a  want  for  a  simple  apparatus 
of  this  kind  ;  therefore  I  beg  to  intrude  on  your  notice 
what  I  think  will  make  the  apparatus  as  useful,  but 
so  simple,  that  any  one  can  make  half  a  dozen  in  an 


it  was  a  valve,  not  a  frustule,  but  luckily  the  hoop 
or  cingulum  was  still  attached  to  it.  In  this  position 
it  was  very  easy  to  see  the  arrangement  of  the  puncta 
on  raised  wedge-shaped  radiating  bands,  and  that 
the  cingulum  also  was  adorned  with  circles  of  puncta. 
As  my  son  was  with  me,  who  is  a  tolerable  draughts- 
man, though  nodiatomist,  I  asked  him  to  sit  down  and 
draw  exactly  what  he  saw  under  the  microscope.     He 


Fig.  94. — a,  wire  bent  as  shown  at  B,   to  slide  on  glass  slip  far 
enough  for  a  to  press  on  cover  glass. 


hour  or  less  without  extraneous  aid.  I  append  a 
drawing  ;  the  clips  that  keep  the  glass  cover  on 
are  simply  a  piece  of  brass  wire  bent  to  fit  the  slide 
(on  a  piece  of  iron).  The  arms  of  this  can  be  bent 
to  have  sufficient  power  to  hold  the  cover  glass 
well  in  position. 

R.  Hawkins. 


A  BEAUTIFUL  DIATOM. 

AMONG  the  various  genera  of  the  Diatomacese, 
perhaps  there  is  not  one  that  is  more  beautiful, 
interesting  and  puzzling,  than  that  of  Stictodiscus. 
Puzzling,  because  of  the  curious  way  in  which  the 
numerous  puncta,  radiating  more  or  less  from  centre 
to  circumference,  seem  to  be  imbedded  in  the  silex  of 
the  valves,  so  that  it  is  most  difficult  to  ascertain  when 
their  correct  forms,  or  their  relative  position  with 
regard  to  the  surfaces  of  the  valve  is  obtained. 

The  other  day,  in  looking  over  a  general  balsam 
mount  of  the  St.  Marcia  deposit,  I  came  across  a 
specimen  of  Stictodiscus  Californicus,  which  may  be 
considered  the  typical  species  of  the  genus.  There 
were  of  course  many  on  the  slide,  but  this  particular 
one  was  tilted  up  at  an  angle  of  some  thirty  degrees  ; 


Fig.  95. — Stictodiscus  Californicus  (tilted  position).     X  too. 


did  so,  without  any  prompting  from  me,  but  I  can 
vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  the  sketch,  which  I  send 
for  publication  in  Science-Gossip,  as  it  may  be 
interesting  to  many  of  its  readers. 

Fred.  H.  Lang. 


MY  GARDEN  PETS. 

By  E.   H.  Robertson. 

Part  III. 

MANY  there  are  who  firmly  believe  that  bees 
are  attracted  by  the  colours  of  flowers,  a 
belief  in  which  I  need  scarcely  say,  I  do  not  share,  a 
life-long  observation  having  led  me  to  an  exactly 
opposite  conclusion.  Indeed,  as  a  set  off  to  the  few 
unreliable  experiments  occasionally  recorded,  proofs 
to  the  contrary  may  be  multiplied  indefinitely  ;  and 
every  observant  bee-keeper  well  knows  that  bees 
gather  some  of  their  richest  supplies  from  plants 
bearing  inconspicuous  blossoms,  such  as  the  goose- 
berry, raspberry,  snowberry,  mignonette,  &c.  Of 
all  pollen-bearing  plants,  the  almost  invisible  flowers 
of  the  box-tree  are  rifled  with  the  greatest  avidity, 
whilst  many  of  the  most  brilliantly-coloured  flowers 
either  yield  no  honey,  or  secrete  it  in  nectaries 
which  the  honey-bee  {Apis  mellifica)  cannot  reach. 

My  old-fashioned  garden  is,  during  a  great  part  of 
the  year,  a  blaze  of  colour,  but  comparatively  few 
flowers  yield  my  pets  any  sweets.  It  abounds  in  fox- 
gloves, monk's-hoeds,  delphiniums,  antirrhinums,  &c, 


136 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


and  from  early  morn  till  darkness  gathers  humble 
bees  of  every  size,  from  the  lumbering  giants  of  their 
race  clown  to  the  tiniest  black  pigmies,  are  busy 
extracting  their  honey,  but  beyond  an  occasional 
cursory  visit  by  a  roamer,  the  honey  bee  does  not 
come  near,  nor  ever  attempts  to  rifle  them  of  their 
sweets. 

Why  is  this  ?  Why  does  the  humble  bee  fly  direct 
to  the  flower,  and,  forcing  his  way  in,  clear  out  the 
nectary  ?  and  why  does  not  the  honey  bee  ?  His  per- 
ception of  odours  is  marvellous,  and,  unless  he  be 
colour  blind,  he  must  see  the  bright  colours.  The 
answer,  as  it  appears  to  me,  is  simply  that  the  humble 
bee  knows  that  honey  is  to  be  found  there,  and  that 
he  can  get  it.  My  pet,  too,  knows  that  there  is  a  rich 
store  at  hand,  but  does  not  waste  his  valuable  time  in 
trying  to  reach  it,  because  he  knows  that  he  cannot. 
Whether  this  knowledge  be,  as  some  believe,  a  mere 
blind  instinct,  the  possession  of  some  faculty  not 
cognizable  by  man,  or  an  intelligent  knowledge  ac- 
quired by  the  exercise  of  its  senses,  it  would  be 
beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  paper  fully  to  discuss. 
I  may,  however,  say,  in  short,  that  I  believe  that 
there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  to  support  the  first  ; 
that  in  regard  to  the  second,  we  need  not  credit  the 
bee  with  the  possession  of  some  marvellous  faculty 
surpassing  our  ordinary  senses  ;  and  lastly,  I  consider 
that  the  healthy  operation  of  the  several  senses  pos- 
sessed by  the  lower  animals,  in  common  with  man, 
serves  to  convey  to  each  creature  those  scraps  of 
knowledge  the  sum  of  which  we  call  experience,  bees 
being  no  exception  to  the  rule- — 'nor  can  their  experi- 
ence be  measured  by  our  own  ;  a  single  moment  in 
their  brief  span  of  life,  may  mean  infinitely  more  than 
an  hour  or  day  in  ours.  The  fact  is  that  the  honey 
bee  most  affects  those  flowers  which  yield  him  the 
most  abundant  supply  of  honey  and  pollen,  with  the 
least  trouble  to  obtain  it,  whether  the  colours  be  bright 
or  otherwise.  Sometimes  indeed  the  flower  is  a 
brilliantly-coloured  one,  as  in  the  case  of  the  old- 
fashioned  damask  rose,  in  the  pollen  of  which  they 
often  revel,  although  they  will  not  even  visit  equally 
richly-coloured  roses  hard  by,  the  pollen  not  being  so 
come-at-able.  What  is  sometimes  termed  the  bees' 
preference  for  particular  flowers  over  others  has  not 
often  really  anything  to  do  with  the  creature's  likes  or 
dislikes  :  as  a  matter  of  fact  being  oftener  than  not  his 
ability  or  inability  to  get  at  the  coveted  store.  Even 
humble  bees  cannot  reach  the  honey  so  abundantly 
secreted  by  the  scarlet  salvia  without  first  cutting  a 
hole  in  the  lower  part  of  the  tube  ;  when  this  has  been 
done  the  honey  bee  frequently  avails  himself  of  his 
labours,  and  clears  out  such  small  particles  as  may 
still  remain. 

Should  it  be  argued  by  the  supporters  of  the  "  here- 
ditary impulse  "  and  "  mysterious  faculty  "  theories 
that  the  fact  of  the  imago  of  insects  depositing  its 
eggs  where  its  future  offspring  will  find  its  natural 
food,  although  it  no  longer  itself  feeds  upon  it,  proves 


that  it  is  animated  by  a  mere  unreasoning  instinct,  I 
reply  that  this  is  pure  assumption,,  and  that  it  may, 
with  far  more  show  of  reason,  be  assumed  that,  not- 
withstanding the  creature's  wonderful  changes  of 
form,  its  individuality  has  not  been  so  entirely  trans- 
formed that  every  atom  of  its  larval  nature  has  been 
annihilated,  but  rather  that,  it  retains  so  much  of  it 
as  enables  it  to  select  for  the  larva  the  kind  of  food 
upon  which  it  once  itself  subsisted.  Even  in  verte- 
brates, remarkable  changes  take  place  between  in- 
fancy and  the  time  of  arriving  at  their  perfect  state, 
and  their  nature  has  not  been  changed  when  they 
have  passed  from  the  milk-imbibing  to  the  flesh  and 
fruit  consuming  stage.     But  I  must  draw  rein. 

I  should  be  doing  my  favourites  very  scant  justice  if 
I  brought  to  a  close  my  somewhat  desultory  gossip, 
without  paying  a  tribute  to  their  intelligence ; 
whether  it  be  greater  or  less  than  that  displayed 
by  other  members  of  the  same  great  family,  I  am 
not  now  concerned  to  show.  I  may,  however,  say 
that,  if  contrivance,  forethought,  and  calculation  of 
cause  and  effect  be  any  proof  of  intelligence,  then  my 
pets  are  worthy  to  be  classed  amongst  the  most 
intelligent  of  animals,  that,  indeed,  "  they  act  just  as 
we  act,  and  are  as  prompt  and  skilful  in  overcoming 
exceptional  and  artificial  difficulties." 

As  single  instances,  out  of  innumerable  that  I 
might  adduce,  let  me  mention  the  following. 

During  the  great  heat  which  prevailed-  one  recent 
summer  day,  I  observed  that  the  bees  in  a  super 
lately  placed  over  a  hive,  were  in  a  state  of  great 
commotion  and  consternation,  a  closer  inspection 
revealing  to  me  that  a  large  sheet  of  "foundation," 
which  depended  from  the  roof,  and  upon  which  they 
had  commenced  a  superstructure  of  comb,  had  in 
part,  by  their  weight  and  the  heat,  been  torn  from 
its  attachment,  and  was  on  the  point  of  utter 
collapse.  Here  was  an  impending  catastrophe,  to 
prevent  which  I  was  about  to  remove  the  sheet, 
when  I  discovered  that  my  wise  little  friends  were 
quite  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  soon  I  had  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  a  curtain,  or  chain  of  bees,  formed, 
after  their  manner,  from  the  roof  of  the  super  to  the 
edge  of  the  detached  portion,  to  which  they  most 
tenaciously  clung,  thus  by  sheer  strength  effectually 
upholding  the  collapsing  fabric.  This  would  have 
availed  but  little  had  their  labour  not  been  supple- 
mented by  that  of  a  body  of  wax  workers,  through 
whose  energy  I  could  almost  trace  the  growth  of  a 
deposit  of  wax  beneath  their  feet  and  jaws,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  hours  a  thick  column  was  formed  from 
the  edge  of  the  circular  hole  in  the  super  crown  to 
the  sheet  upheld  by  the  living  curtain,  and,  not  long 
after,  an  ever-lengthening  sheet  formed  a  continuous 
and  unbroken  comb  from  roof  to  floor.  This  most 
skilful  labour  fairly  accomplished,  the  commotion 
gradually  subsided,  the  curtain  broke  up,  and  all 
proceeded  in  the  usual  manner.  Evidently  conscious 
of    its    weakness    at     certain    points,     they    here 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i37 


strengthened  it  by  additional  wax  ribs,  and  it  ulti- 
mately became  the  thickest  comb  of  the  set. 

About  the  same  time  a  similar  accident  happened 
to  a  newly  hived  swarm,  which  had  been  furnished 
with  combs  of  considerable  size.     These  combs  had, 
doubtless,    not    been    securely    attached,    and     the 
weight   of  the   syrup,    which   I   had    supplied     too 
liberally,  brought  down  the  largest  comb  of  the  lot 
upon  the  cross  pieces  of  wood  driven  through  the 
skep.     Here,  ready  to  topple  over,  however  slightly 
the  balance  might  be  disturbed,  it  rested,  and   the 
sagacious   little    fellows,     to    avert   the    impending 
catastrophe,  set  to  work  with  such  goodwill  that  it 
was   soon   securely  attached   to  the  rods,   although 
lying  horizontally,  thus  preventing  any  further   upset 
of   their    domestic    arrangements.     This  preliminary 
operation  finished,  and  not  before,  the  bees  ventured 
to    remove  the   whole  of  the  syrup,    afterwards  so 
skilfully  adapting    this    and  neighbouring    combs    to 
each  other,  that,  in  process  of  time,  the  aspect  of  the 
full  hive  differed  but  slightly  from  that   of  a  hive 
v,  herein   no   such    accident   had    happened.  *  After 
witnessing  the  proceedings  of  the  bees,  I  could  not 
doubt   that,   conscious    of   the    danger    to  the   com- 
munity, should  the  insecure  comb  have  fallen  to  the 
floor,   and    conscious,   also,   that  the   crowding   of  a 
body  of  workers  upon  one  end  of  the  nicely  balanced 
comb  would  probably  precipitate  the  catastrophe  it 
was  their  object  to  avert,  they  had  avoided  the  ends 
of  the   waxen  see-saw   until   the   centre   was   made 
immovable. 

In  the  case  of  another  hive  in  the  same  row,  a 
fallen  comb  actually  reached  the  floor  board  ;  this 
being  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  efficient  working  of 
the  hive,  it  was  bit  by  bit  removed,  instead  of  being 
adapted.  These  random  instances  of  bee  intelligence 
will,  I  think,  be  sufficient  to  shew  that  they  can 
contrive,  adapt,  and  most  successfully  meet  excepiional 
difficulties. 

As  an  example  of  their  sagacity,  let  me  relate  the 
following.  During  my  absence  from  home,  a  large 
swarm  of  bees  having  been  hived,  the  hive,  with  its 
floor  board,  was  upon  the  ground,  awaiting  removal 
to  its  stand,  when  the  attention  of  my  wife  was 
attracted  by  the  remarkable  proceedings  of  two  bees, 
which  were  apparently  directing  their  course  towards 
the  mouth  of  the  hive,  although  at  the  distance  of 
about  a  yard  from  it.  Stooping  to  observe  them 
more  closely,  she  discovered  to  her  surprise  that  the 
foremost  was  a  queen,  who  was  being  urged  forward 
by  her  companion,  a  worker,  this  latter  displaying 
quite  as  much  intelligence  in  driving  the  mother  of 
the  colony  as  would  a  drover  driving  an  erratic  cow. 
Now  he  would  touch  her  gently  with  his  antennae, 
as  if  coaxing  her  to  proceed,  now  hasten  her  lagging 
feet  by  a  push  up  behind  ;  now  appear  on  the  right, 
and  anon  on  her  left  side,  as  she  seemed  inclined  to 
deviate  from  a  direct  course.  Soon  he  was  joined  by 
a  second  worker,  who  came  out  to  meet  them,  and 


helped  to  escort  his  queen,  and  before  the  hive  door 
was  reached,  she  was  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of 
delighted  subjects,  who  led  her  in  triumph  to  her 
new  home. 

Whether  the  first  bee  designedly  set  out  in  search 
of  the  missing  queen,  or  whether  he  accidentally 
discovered  her,  his  intelligence  was,  I  think  most 
persons  will  allow,  equally  remarkable,  not,  however, 
more  so  than  I  have  witnessed  in  hundreds  of 
instances.  Young,  and  probably  idle,  bees  are  com- 
monly driven  out  to  their  field  work,  for  idlers  are 
not  tolerated  in  these  industrious  communities  by 
the_  older  bees,  who  follow  them  to  the  edge  of  the 
board,  urging  them  forward  by  pushing  their  heads 
against  their  hinder  parts.  The  driven  one  fairly  off, 
the  hive  is  re-entered  and  the  process  repeated. 

{To  be  continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

Mr.  A.  G.  Cameron,  of  H.  M.  Geol.  Survey,  writing 
to  the  "  Geological  Magazine,"  says  that  fuller's  earth 
is  used  in  the  fen  districts  of  Cambridgeshire  and 
Lincoln  to  purify  the  water,  rendering  it  colourless 
and  pleasant  to  the  taste.  It  greatly  weakens  chaly- 
beate water  filtered  through  it,  and  will  clarify  muddy 
water,  while  springs  rising  from  below  the  fuller's 
earth  are  said  to  be  remarkably  limpid  and  free  from 
earthy  impurities. 

In  connection  with  the  columnar  structure  of  the 
basalt  of  the  Giant's  Causeway,  a  letter  in  "  Science" 
describing  hexagonal  columnar  structure  in  sub- 
aqueous clays  is  interesting.  It  was  observed  in  the 
clays  occurring  in  the  nearly  vertical  side  of  a  deep 
railway  cutting  near  Menomonee,  Wis.,  U.S.  The 
columns,  some  of  which  fell  out  individually,  varied 
in  diameter  from  ten  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  inches,  were 
irregularly  six-sided,  and  showed  convex  and  concave 
surfaces  where  divided  across  their  longer  axes, 
parallel  to  the  bedding  planes.  These  cross-section 
surfaces  exhibited  also  distinctly  concentric,  though 
somewhat  interrupted,  lines, — structure  lines,  not 
colour  lines. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Royal  Meteorological 
Society  the  report  of  a  Committee  appointed  ten 
years  ago  on  the  decrease  of  water  supply  in  springs, 
streams  and  rivers,  and  on  the  rise  of  flood  level  in 
cultivated  regions  was  read.  The  drought  period,  of 
which  till  lately  we  had  an  example,  is  said  to  occur 
in  cycles  of  ten  years,  and  to  be  followed  by  a  wet 
season.  In  accordance  with  this  view,  Mr.  Baldwin 
Latham  expected  a  wet  season  next  autumn.  The 
lowering  of  the  water  level  in  the  chalk  of  the  London 
basin  was  attributed,  not  to  the  condition  of  the 
general  water  supply,  but  to  the  constantly  increasing 
pumping  from  new  artesian  wells. 


133 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


In  a  paper  contributed  to  the  "  Midland  Naturalist," 
and  published  in  separate  form,  Mr.  E.  Wilson, 
F.G.S.,  curator  of  the  Bristol  Museum,  discusses 
the  Lias  Marlstone  of  Leicestershire  as  a  source  of 
iron.  This  rock  has  been  already  worked  to  some 
extent,  and  the  author  anticipates  a  great  extension  of 
the  industry  from  the  large  stores  of  iron  which  must 
be  contained  in  it  and  its  proximity  to  the  Notts- 
Derbyshire  coal-field.  The  upper  beds  only  are 
sufficiently  rich  in  iron  to  pay  for  working.  The 
paper  is  illustrated  by  a  map  of  the  Marlstone  Rock 
of  the  district. 

The  "  Youth  Scientific  and  Literary  Society  "  is 
now  in  its  2nd  or  3rd  Session.  Its  headquarters  are 
at  the  Tolmers  Square  Institute,  Drummond  Street, 
N.W.,  where  the  meetings  are  held,  and  lectures, 
&c,  delivered,  one  of  the  objects  of  the  Society  being 
to  encourage  the  study  of  Natural  History  among 
young  people.  The  President  of  the  Society,  which 
has  representatives  in  a  good  many  provincial  towns, 
is  Mr.  J.  W.  Williams,  B.A.,  B.Sc,  and  the  Secretary, 
Mr.  R.  A.  Neville-Lynn,  from  whom  further  informa- 
tion can  be  obtained. 

Dr.  P.  Q.  Keegan  writes  in  opposition  to  the 
certainly  rather  pungent  paragraph  of  Mr.  Mattieu 
Williams,  in  the  May  number  of  Science-Gossip,  on 
the  question  of  throwing  the  classics  overboard  in 
modern  education.  Dr.  Keegan  thinks  that  an 
exclusively  scientific  training  will  not  enable  a  man 
to  dispense  the  elevating  influences  of  science  to  the 
masses  sympathetically  or  with  the  spirit  of  humanity. 
There  are  doubtless  many  who,  for  the  same  or  other 
reasons,  will  to  some  extent  agree  with  Dr.  Keegan's 
views. 

It  seems  that  a  great  deal  of  lead  is  expended  harm- 
lessly in  war.  The  "Popular  Science  News"  for  April 
publishes  an  illustration  of  a  soldier  surrounded  with 
a  multitude  of  bullets,  grouped  pretty  closely  over 
a  circular  space  around  him.  It  is  intended  to 
convey  to  the  sense  of  sight  the  fact,  that  it  takes 
on  the  average  thirteen  hundred  bullets,  even  under 
the  conditions  of  modern  marksmanship  shown  in 
the  Franco-Prussian  war,  to  kill  each  soldier  who 
falls  in  battle.  The  assertion,  attributed  to  Marshal 
Saxe,  that  it  took  a  soldier's  weight  of  lead  to 
kill  him  in  battle,  is  said  to  have  been  shown  to 
be  not  far  fiom  the  truth  at  the  battle  of  Solferino, 
where  for  every  man  killed,  four  thousand  two 
hundred  bullets  were  expended,  which  would  weigh 
about  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  pounds  of 
lead. 

Mr.  A.  Melville  Bell,  who  has  been  absent  ful- 
some years  from  England,  has  been  lecturing  at 
Oxford  on  Visible  Speech,  or  the  Science  of  Universal 
Alphabefics,  of  which  he  is  the  inventor.  Mr.  Bell 
is  the  father  of  Mr.  Graham  Bell,  the  well-known 
inventor  of  the  telephone. 


CHLORiNE.hydrochloric  acid,  carbonicoxide,silicon 
fluoride,  and  arseniuretted  hydrogen  are  now  all 
known  in  the  solid  state. 

Mr.  F.  O.  Bower,  Lecturer  on  Botany  in  the 
Science  School,  South  Kensington,  has  been  ap- 
pointed Professor  of  Botany  at  the  Glasgow  Univer- 
sity, succeeding  Professor  Bayley  Balfour. 

In  the  April  number  of  "Science"  may  be 
found  notes  of  the  work  done  by  the  U.S.  fish-com- 
mission steamer  "Albatross,"  which  last  winter 
made  a  cruise  in  the  region  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Near  Havana  large  supplies  of  sea-lilies  were  hauled 
up  on  the  '  Pentacrinus  '  ground.  On  the  island  of 
Cozumel,  east  of  Yucatan,  thirteen  new  species  of 
birds,  and  two  new  sub-species  were  obtained. 

It  is  said  that  a  German  publisher  has  brought  out 
a  book  printed  in  dark  blue  ink  on  pale  green  paper, 
on  the  theory  that  neutral  tints  are  good  for  the  eye- 
sight. 

The  programme  issued  for  the  annual  conversazione 
of  the  Sheffield  Naturalists'  Club  (April  17th),  inclu- 
ded the  annual  address  by  the  President,  Dr.  Sorby, 
F.R.S.,  on  Biological  Researches,  carried  out  on  the 
yacht  "  Glimpse  "  in  1884,  with  lantern  illustrations  ; 
ants'  nests  after  Sir  John  Lubbock's  method,  from 
Mr.  Henry  Burns,  the  nests  being  illuminated  and 
magnified,  and  containing  the  living  ants  ;  a  collection 
of  skeletons,  zoological  models,  &c,  from  Messrs.. 
Moore  Bros,  of  Liverpool ;  entomological  specimens 
from  H.  L.  Earl,  Esq.,  Oxon.  ;  kbirds  and  other 
animal  specimens,  stuffed  or  living,  from  Mr.  A.  S. 
Hutchinson  and  others  ;  the  exhibition  of  microscopic 
objects  by  the  owners  of  the  instruments  ;  a  large 
number  of  mounted  specimens  of  flowers  from  Mr. 
G.  Hann,  living  wild  flowers  and  wild  ferns.  Alto- 
gether to  judge  from  the  programme  the  conversazione 
must  have  been  a  success. 

It  appears  now  that  not  only  coins,  but  bank  notes 
are  found  to  harbour  bacteria  and  other  microscopic 
organisms. 

On  the  20th  March  last  the  "  Society  of  Amateur 
Geologists"  met  at  31,  King  William  Street,  E.G., 
when  a  paper  was  read  by  Professor  Boulger,  F.L.S., 
F.G.S.,  on  "  Organic  Acids  and  their  Geological 
Effects."  Mr.  Charles  Lane  also  read  a  short  paper 
on  "Volcanic  Rocks."  On  April  nth,  the  members 
of  the  society  went  to  Finchley,  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Boulger,  to  examine  the  glacial  deposits 
there.  Both  the  meeting  and  excursion  were  tho- 
roughly appreciated  by  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who 
attended  them. 

It  is  announced  that  Dr.  Frankland  is  about  to 
resign  the  Professorship  of  Chemistry  at  the  Normal 
School  of  Science  and  Royal  School  of  Mines. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i39 


At  the  Royal  Institution,  Professor  Langley,  of 
the  Alleghany  University,  Penn.,  recently  delivered 
a  lecture  on  "Sunlight  and  its  Absorption  by  the 
Earth's  Atmosphere."  From  a  notice  of  it  in  the 
"  English  Mechanic  "  it  appears  that  he  ascended  one 
of  the  peaks  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  in  California, 
and  measured  the  heating  effects  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  spectrum  at  the  bottom  and  at  the  top  of  the 
mountain.  At  the  top  he  found  the  ultra-red  end 
greatly  elongated.  The  heating  effects  were  presum- 
ably observed  by  means  of  the  bolometre,  an  instru- 
ment which  Professor  Langley  invented,  finding  that 
the  thermopile  was  not  sufficiently  sensitive.  In  the 
bolometer,  an  exceedingly  fine  wire  of  platinum  or 
iron  (he  made  one  wire  from  a  leaf  of  iron  uoooth 
of  an  inch  in  thickness),  has  its  temperature  and 
hence  its  electrical  conductivity  changed  in  different 
parts  of  the  spectrum,  the  result  being  shown  on  a 
very  sensitive  galvanometer.  By  means  of  a  Row- 
land's grating,  the  effect  of  twenty  or  thirty  prisms 
can  be  obtained  without  the  squeezing  together  of  the 
red  rays  which  is  the  result  of  using  glass  prisms. 


MICROSCOPY. 

.  Cole's  "  Microscopical  Studies." — Four  slides, 
illustrative  of  this  series,  are  to  hand,  viz.  Jaws  of 
Epeira  Diadcma  ;  Batrachospermum  ;  Lung,  alveolar 
pneumonia,  3rd  stage  ;  and  a  transverse  section  of  the 
organ  of  Bojanus  from  an  Anodon. 

Type  Slide  of  Blood. — Mr.  Ernest  Hinton  also 
sends  a  slide,  showing  in  one  mount  the  blood 
corpuscles  of  man,  frog,  bird,  fish  and  snake,  a  very 
compact  and  instructive  method  of  showing  the 
differences  of  type  in  the  several  kinds  of  blood 
belonging  to  these  different  classes  of  vertebrate. 

Dry  Mounting. — In  mounting  objects  by  the  dry 
process,  a  vapour  condenses  on  the  under  side  of  the 
thin  glass  cover,  which,  on  evaporating,  leaves  a 
series  of  small  dots  ;  thus  entirely  spoiling  the  appear- 
ance of  the  object  under  high  powers.  I  may  as  well 
state  that  my  method  of  mounting  is  taken  from 
Martin's  well-known  manual,  with  the  only  difference 
of  using  a  thin  layer  of  gum  before  I  apply  the  gold- 
bize.  I  shall  be  much  obliged  if  any  of  your  numerous 
readers  could  give  me  any  information  on  the  subject. 
— F.  Cresrcuell  Du  Bois. 

Staining  Nerve  and  Muscle. — I  would  refer 
E.  B.  L.  for  directions  for  staining  the  above,  and  the 
best  modes  of  application,  to  read  "  Methods  of 
Research  as  used  in  the  Zoological  Station  of  Naples," 
in  vol.  ii.  of  the  "Postal  Microscopical  Journal,"  and 
also  "  How  to  Work  the  Microscope,"  by  Dr.  Beale, 
p.  299  (1868  ed.),  &c,  in  which  full  details  are 
given  for  demonstration  of  finest  fibres,  &c. —  V.  A. 
Latham. 


Liverpool     Microscopical      Society.  —  The 
ordinary  monthly  meeting  was  held  on  Friday  at  the 
Royal  Institution,  the  President,  Mr.  Chas.  Botterill, 
F.R.M.S.,    in   the   chair,    when    there  was   a   large 
attendance.     Mr.  I.  C.  Thompson  referred  to  the  loss 
sustained  to  microscopical  science  through  the  death 
of  Mr.  Charles  Vance  Smith,  who,  though  paralysed 
for  many  years,  had  attained  a  high  position  amongst 
microscopists  through  his  delineation  of  the  micro- 
scopical structure  of  plants.     Mr.  A.  Norman  Tate, 
F.I.C.,  read   the   paper   of  the   evening,   on  "The 
Microscopical     Examination     of    Potable     Water.*' 
After  alluding  to  the  impossibility  of  always  determin- 
ing  by  chemical   means   alone,  whether  a  water  is 
or  is  not  fit  for  dietetic  purposes,  he  proceeded  to 
speak  of  the  importance  of  microscopical  investigation 
in   relation   to  water   supply,    pointing   out    that   it 
afforded    better     opportunity    of    determining    the 
character  of  organic  impurities,   and  that    it  might 
frequently  assist  in  ascertaining  the  character  of  the 
mineral  constituents.     He  described  different  modes 
of  collecting  and  examining  waters  microscopically, 
and  urged  the  importance  of  further  investigation,  so 
as  to  ascertain  how  far  the  organised  matters  present 
in  water  are  capable  of  developing  disease,  and  how 
such  organisms  may  be  destroyed.     In  conclusion  he 
mentioned  impurities  found  in  natural  ice,  and  also 
two    methods    of  examination    of  rain  and    air.     A 
discussion    followed,  and   a  conversazione  was  then 
held  at  which   a  number  of  interesting  objects  were 
exhibited. 

Boro-glyceride  for  mounting  Micro-objects. 
— During  the  past  two  years  I  have  been  experimenting 
on  this  substance,  and  with,  at  present,  such  good 
results,  that  it  seems  very  worthy  of  extended  trial. 
Boro-glyceride  is  an  antiseptic  manufactured  under 
Professor  BarfFs  Patent  by  the  Kreochyle  Company. 
It  is  non-poisonous  and  non-corrosive.  Its  two  great 
uses  are  for  preserving  food  and  for  antiseptic  dressing 
for  wounds.  For  mounting  micro-objects,  I  use  a 
saturated  solution,  made  by  dissolving  the  substance 
in  warm  water — using  about  one  part  to  twelve  of 
water — and  allowing  the  surplus  to  crystallise  out  and 
settle.  When  it  is  known  that  this  solution  will 
preserve  white  of  egg  without  coagulating  the 
albumen,  it  will  be  seen  to  be  very  different  in  its 
chemical  action  from  such  powerful  antiseptics  as 
corrosive  sublimate  and  carbolic  acid.  As  far  as  my 
observation  goes,  boro-glyceride  solution  is  excellent 
for  vegetable  tissues.  It  does  not  act  on  them  in  any 
way,  grains  of  chlorophyll  even  remain  unchanged. 
It  does  not  destroy  the  aniline  colours  used  for  stain- 
ing sections,  although  the  delicate  colours  of  flower 
petals  appear  to  bleach  in  the  solution.  It  answers 
for  mounting  insects  whole  and  without  pressure. 
Gold  size  or  brown  cement  does  for  fixing  the  upper 
glass  of  the  cell.  The  boro-glyceride,  which  is  nearly 
a  new  substance,  having  proved  useful  and  easy  of 


140 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


manipulation  in  my  hands,  it  is  desirable  that  com- 
petent mounters  should  try  it  and  report  results.  To 
draw  attention  to  it  is  my  object  in  writing. — A.  P. 
Wire. 

Crystals  for  the  Polariscope. — If  Mr.  J.  W. 
Neville  uses  castor  oil  to  mount  crystals  in,  he  will 
not  be  troubled  any  longer  by  the  unpleasant  results 
described  by  him. — Charles  F.  IV.  T.  Williams,  B.A. 

Parasites  of  Birds,  &c. — Mr.  C.  Collins  has  for- 
warded specimens  of  a  new  series  of  his  "  special  " 
micro-slides  ;  a  series  of  parasites  chiefly  of  birds. 
Those  sent  are  the  parasites  of  heron,  gull,  and 
penguin,  each  slide  being  furnished  with  a  label 
giving  the  classification,  from  sub-kingdom  down  to 
species. 

Royal  Microscopical  Society. — The  Journal 
for  April  contains,  besides  the  summary  of  current 
researches,  the  president's  address  on  septic  organ- 
isms, "The  Lantern  Microscope,"  by  Mr.  Lewis 
Wright  ;  "On  some  unusual  Forms  of  Lactic  Fer- 
ment— Bacterium  lactis,"  by  Dr.  R.  L.  Maddox  ;  and 
a  paper  on  a  "  Cata-dioptric  Immersion  Illuminator," 
by  Mr.  J.  Ware  Stephenson. 


ZOOLOGY. 

In  the  recent  issue  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Zoological  Society  of  London  is  an  interesting  paper 
by1  Mr.  II.  Pryer,  giving  an  account  of  a  visit  to  the 
Birds'-nest  Caves  of  British  North  Borneo,  his  object 
being  to  ascertain  from  what  substance  the  edible 
nests,  so  much  prized  in  China,  are  made.  Large 
caves  in  Limestone  rocks  are  inhabited  both  by 
b  ats  and  by  the  swifts,  which  build  the  nests  in 
question,  the  nests  being  attached  to  the  roof  or  walls 
of  the  caves.  Mr.  Pryer  says  that  the  material  of 
which  they  are  made  may  be  found  encrusting  the 
rock  in  damp  places,  and  resembling  half-melted  gum- 
tragacanth.  The  account  of  the  departure  of  the  bats 
and  the  return  to  roost  of  the  swifts  is  worth  quoting. 
"  Soon  I  heard  a  rushing  sound,  and,  peering  over 
the  edge  of  the  circular  opening  leading  into  Simud 
Itam  [or  the  Black  Cavern],  I  saw  columns  of  bats 
wheeling  round  the  sides  in  regular  order.  Shortly 
after  five  o'clock,  although  the  sun  had  not  yet  set,  the 
columns  began  to  rise  above  the  edge,  still  in  a 
circular  flight ;  they  then  rose,  wheeling  round  a  high 
tree  growing  on  the  opposite  side,  and  every  few 
minutes  a  large  flight  would  break  off  and,  after 
rising  high  in  the  air,  disappear  in  the  distance  ;  each 
flight  contained  many  thousands.  I  counted  nineteen 
flocks  go  off  in  this  way,  and  they  continued  to  go  off 
in  a  continual  stream  until  it  was  too  dark  for  me  to 
see  them  any  longer.  ...  At  a  quarter  to  six  the 
swifts  began  to  come  in  to  Simud  Putih  [the  White 
Cave]  ;  a  few  had  been  flying  in  and  out  all  day  long, 


but  now  they  began  to  pour  in,  at  first  in  tens  and 
then  in  hundreds,  until  the  sound  of  their  wings  was 
like  a  strong  gale  of  wind  whistling  through  the 
rigging  of  a  ship.  They  continued  flying  in  until 
after  midnight,  as  I  could  still  see  them  flashing  by 
over  my  head  when  I  went  to  sleep.  .  .  .  Arising 
before  daylight,  I  witnessed  a  reversal  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  previous  night,  the  swifts  now  going  out 
of  Simud  Putih,  and  the  bats  going  into  Simud  Itam. 
The  latter  literally  '  rained '  into  their  chasm  for  two 
hours  after  daylight.  On  looking  up,  the  air  seemed 
filled  with  small  specks,  which  flashed  down  perpen- 
dicularly with  great  rapidity  and  disappeared  in  the 
darkness  below."  The  swift  has  been  determined  to 
be  Collocalia  fiuiphaga,  the  alga  a  species,  probably 
new,  of  Glceoeapsa,  and  the  bat,  Nyctinomus  plicatus. 
There  is  an  abundant  supply  of  guano  in  these  caves. 

Rana  esculenta. — This  frog,  commonly  con- 
sidered to  occur  only  on  the  continent,  has  been 
found  in  Norfolk.  It  appears  that  forty  years  ago  or 
more,  Mr.  G.  Berney  turned  some  out  in  that  county, 
and  it  is  considered  by  Mr.  G.  A.  Boulenger,  F.Z.S., 
that  the  specimens  captured  are  their  descendants. 

Succinea  Pfeifferi,  var.  parvula. — I  have 
recently  found  some  Succineoe  at  Barnes,  one  of  which 
I  sent  to  Mrs.  Fitzgerald,  of  Folkestone,  and  which 
she  determined  as  belonging  to  the  above  form.  I 
have  recently  taken  on  Barnes  Common,  with  the 
Succinea,  Limax  Levis  and  Hyalina  fulva,  and  a 
little  way  off,  on  a  grassy  bank,  a  specimen  of 
Cochlicopa  lubrica,  which  Messrs.  Taylor  and  Roebuck 
have  identified  as  var.  minima,  Siem. —  T.  D.  A. 
Cockerell. 

V  arieties  of  Arion  ater. — Mr.  Elliot  has  sent 
me  some  specimens  of  the  variety  bicolor,  which  he 
finds  in  damp  places  near  Stroud.  It  certainly  is  a 
very  fine  form,  being  rather  related  to  the  var. 
albo-latcralis  ^ol  Roebuck.  As  a  good  deal  of  con- 
fusion seems  to  prevail  concerning  the  varieties  of 
A.  ater,  perhaps  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  brief  de- 
scription of  the  various  forms,  as  I  understand  them. 
I.  Type  form.  Entirely  black.  2.  var.  marginata. 
Black,  with  an  orange  or  reddish  foot-fringe.  3.  var. 
nigrescens.  Dark  grey,  with  the  sides  usually  rather 
lighter  :  var.  plumbea,  Roebuck  ;  lead  colour,  seems 
to  be  very  nearly  allied  to  this  if  the  two  can  well 
be  separated.  4.  vzx.rufa.  Reddish  or  brownish. 
5.  var.  succinea.  Yellow  or  yellowish  ;  var.  palles- 
cens  of  Roebuck  is  light  yellow.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  better  to  call  both  these  yellow  varieties 
succinea.  6.  var.  albida.  White.  7.  var.  bicolor. 
Back  brown,  sides  primrose  yellow,  foot-fringe 
orange.  The  brown  of  the  back  is  sharply  defined 
from  ths  yellow  of  the  sides.  8.  var.  albo-lateralis. 
Back  black,  sides  white,  the  two  colours  sharply 
defined  as  in  bicolor,  foot-fringe  orange.  This 
variety  has  been  found  in  Carnarvonshire  and  in 
West  Sussex.     Mr.   Elliot's  variety,  with  the   inter- 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


141 


stices  of  the  wrinkles  light  and  the  wrinkles  darker, 
would  seem  to  approach  var.  nigrescens,  but  it  is 
probably  distinct  enough  for  a  separate  name.  I 
fancy  that  the  young  of  var.  succinea  are  often  alluded 
to  in  local  lists  as  " Arion  plainis." — T.  D.  A. 
Cockerel/. 


BOTANY. 

Protoplasmic  Continuity. — This  subject  has 
been  extended  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hick,  B.A.,  B.Sc, 
into  the  Fucaceae,  and  in  a  paper  contributed  to  the 
"Journal  of  Botany,"  and  published  in  separate  form, 
he  gives  an  account  of  his  researches.  He  thinks 
that  they  conclusively  establish  the  fact  of  a  continuity 
of  protoplasm  through  the  cell  walls  in  Fucacese, 
though  of  a  different  type  from  that  described  in 
many  of  the  Florideoe.  His  paper  is  accompanied  by 
a  plate,  showing  figures  of  Ascophyllum  nodosum. 

Twin  Primroses. — When  gathering  primroses  a 
few  days  ago,  on  a  hedge-bank  in  North  Wales,  I 
found  a  ' '  twin  "  primrose — two  flowers  growing  on 
one  calyx — one  of  the  flowers  having  six  petals,  the 
other  five.  In  another  place,  a  double  primrose 
was  found,  which  had  nine  petals,  six  on  the  outside 
and  three  in  the  centre.  These  flowers  were  carefully 
kept  as  good  specimens  of  uncommon  primroses, 
more  remarkable  perhaps  than  those  mentioned  in 
Science-Gossip  for  January  and  March.  Several 
very  fine  single  primroses  with  six  petals  were 
found. — M.  E.  Thomson. 

Orchids  of  the  Rhone  Valley. — In  the  last 
fortnight  of  April  we  have  found  the  mountain  slopes 
of  the  Rhone  valley  an  admirable  locality  for 
orchidaceous  plants.  Evidently  the  character  of  the 
rock  is  congenial  to  the  orchid  nature,  and  nearly 
ail  the  species  here  named  were  gathered  from 
sloping  pastures  or  woodlands  on  Lias  Limestone. 
We  must  notice  even  the  familiar  Orchis  mascida 
and  Orchis  morio,  for  beauty  of  the  spike  and 
strange  variety  in  tint,  and  Orchis  metadata  for  hand- 
some spotted  leaves.  Orchis  lalifolia  was  abundant 
in  the  marshes,  but  not  so  fine  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight.  Orchis  ustulata  (dwarf  brown  wing) 
studded  the  meadows,  interspersed  with  Ophrys 
arachnites  (late  spider),  and  Aceras  anthropophora 
(green  man).  Ophrys  mitscifera  was  appearing  here 
and  there  in  woods  with  Ncottia  nidus-avis  (bird's 
nest)  and  the  Twayblade.  Habenaria  bifolia  (butter- 
fly) was  in  bud  only,  in  the  woods  ;  Habenaria 
viridis  (frog)  being  fully  expanded.  Orchis  militaris 
we  found  fairly  common  in  meadow  lands.  The 
previous  year's  [spike  of  Orchis  hircina  (lizard)  we 
noted,  a  prize  seen  for  the  first  time  ;  the  prolonged 
though  shrivelled  life  being  quite  sufficient  to  identify 
the  plant ;  Ophrys  aranifera  (spider),  was  still  in  bud 
in  the  woods,   apparently  later  in  flowering  in  this 


locality  than  O.  arachnites.  In  the  less  accessible 
parts  of  a  mountain  gorge  Cypripedium  calceolus 
(lady's  slipper)  was  putting  forth  strong  shoots  to 
flower  later  in  spring.  A  plant,  however,  from  the 
same  locality  was  out  before  May  in  a  garden  at 
Montreux.  Orchis  sambricina  (the  elder  scented 
orchis)  was  scattered  in  profusion  over  the  fields  of 
the  Sal  van  road,  with  Orchis  rubra  (=papilionacea) 
a  splendid  crimson  flower.  —  C.  Parkinson,  F.G.S. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

Geologists'  Association. — At  Easteralarge  party 
of  the  members  of  this  Association  visited  Canterbury, 
Reculvers,  and  Richborough,  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  G.  Dowker,  F.C.S.,  and  Mr.  W.  Whitaker,  F.C.S., 
of  the  Geological  Survey.  Some  of  the  members 
went  down  on  Saturday  and  spent  the  day  over  the 
Tertiary  country  west  of  Canterbury.  On  Monday 
a  visit  was  paid  to  Heme  Bay  and  Reculvers,  to 
examine  the  newer  Tertiary  beds  of  the  cliff-section. 
The  divisions  between  the  Oldhaven,  Woolwich  and 
Thanet  beds  are  less  clearly  marked  here  than  near 
London,  and  hence  differences  of  opinion  exist  as  to 
the  classification  of  the  beds.  These  points  were 
fully  discussed  on  the  spot.  On  Tuesday  the  party 
visited  Pegwell  Bay,  where  the  lowest  Thanet  beds 
and  their  junction  with  the  chalk  were  seen ;  then 
walked  along  the  shore  to  Sandwich,  crossing  the 
Stour  to  Richborough  on  the  way.  Great  changes  in 
the  coast-line  have  taken  place,  both  here  and  at 
Reculvers  since  Roman  times.  These  were  explained 
by  the  directors.  A  pleasant  surprise  awaited  the 
members  in  finding  in  the  waiter  of  the  Fleur-de-lis 
Hotel  (Mr.  T.  B.  Rosseter,  F.R.M.S.)  an  excellent 
naturalist  and  original  worker  with  the  microscope. 
His  instruments  and  preparations  were  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  party  during  the  evenings. 

New  Species  of  Mammals  from  Florida. — 
The  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia  contain  an  account  of  two  teeth  from 
Florida,  one  of  a  supposed  new  species  of  Rhinoceros 
(R.proterus),  and  the  otherof  a  species  of  Hippotherium 
(Hipparion),  the  three-toed  genus  supposed  to  be  the 
progenitor  of  our  present  horses,  and  first  known  in 
the  European  form  of  H.  gracile.  The  latter  tooth  is 
an  upper  molar,  and  is  said  to  indicate  a  small  species 
little  more  than  half  the  size  of  the  domestic  horse,  or 
of  H.  gracile.  To  the  new  species  thus  indicated  the 
name  of  Hippotherium  ingenuum  has  been  given. 

Changes  of  Level  in  the  South  of  England. 
— In  the  "  Geological  Magazine  "  for  April,  Mr.  J.  S. 
Gardner  summarises  these  changes  of  level,  during 
recent  times,  pointing  out  that  there  are  indications 
of  a  rise  having  taken  place  at  the  Swale  at  Sheppey, 
the  Reculvers,  the  coast  off  Richborough  and  off 
Hythe,   the  Dungeness  Shingles,  the  Pevensey  flats, 


14: 


HARDWICKE1  S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Kent's  Hole,  and  to  the  east  of  the  mouth  of  Beaulieu 
river  ;  and  of  depression  at  Tilbury  Docks,  Selsea, 
Ryde,  Brading  harbour,  Portsmouth,  Bournemouth, 
Bourne  valley,  river  Dart,  Pentium,  Carnon,  and 
Torbay  ;  besides  changes  of  some  kind  at  Pagham 
Harbour,  the  Solent,  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  Poole. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

TheWaterOusel  in  Northumberland.— This 
is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  common  of  the  water- 
frequenting  birds  (wren  and  wagtail  excepted).     It  is 
perhaps  more   common    in  Northumberland  than  in 
any  other  county  in  England,  and  is  to  be  found  in 
almost  all    the    valleys    of  the    small    unfrequented 
streams  of  that  county.     There,  in  the  summer,  you 
may,  if  you  sit  by  the  banks  of  the  river,  catch  sight 
of  it  diving  into  the  water  in  search  of  insects.     It 
has  been  said  by  a  great  authority,  that  the  ousel  has 
the  power  of  walking  on  the  bed  of  the  river,  but  I 
am  very  much  inclined  to  doubt  that,  though  there  is 
no  doubt  that  its  food  consists  of  insects  that  cling  to 
the  bottom  of  the  stones,  as  well  as  of  small  fish,  and 
you  would  almost  wonder  at  its  power  in  getting  to 
these  insects.     It  is  capable  of  staying  a  long  space  of 
time  under  the  water,  and  it  also  swims  well  on  the 
surface.     It   is  most  interesting  to  stand  and   watch 
this  bird  obtain  its  food.     It  will  dive  headlong  into 
the  water,  rise  up  again  after  capturing  its  prey,  and 
proceed  to  devour  it,  and  if  you  go  to  the  spot  you 
will  generally  find  it  strewn  with  fragments  of  the 
shell,  or  cases  of  the  water-insects.     It  builds  its  nests 
in   the  banks  of  the  stream  which  it   frequents,  and 
prefers  to  be  in  the  solitudes  of  the  woods,  rather  than 
near  the  haunts  of  men,  though  I  have  known  one 
case  where  one,  or  rather  a  pair,  of  these  birds  built 
their   nest   in  close  proximity  to    a  large  town.     In 
winter  especially,  it  seems  to  draw  near  to  the  towns 
and  villages  on  the  banks  of  the  streams.     It  is  then 
that  its  low  sweet  song  may  be  heard  to  perfection. 
These  birds  are  very  early  builders,  a  pair,  to  my  know- 
ledge, having  commenced  to  build  their  nest  early  in 
the  month  of  February,  18S3.     It  was  then  beautiful 
mild    weather,    but  early    in    the    following    month, 
before  they  had  finished  their  building  operations,  a 
severe  frost  set  in,  followed  by  a  heavy  fall  of  snow. 
This  did  not  at  all  hinder  the  process  of  building,  but 
it  seemed   to   be  an  incentive    to    make    them  work 
harder,  for  one  morning,  while  the  ground  was  covered 
with  snow,   I  stood  and  watched  them  for  about  an 
hour,  and  I  saw  them  fly  into  the   tunnel  (in  the  wall 
of  which  they  were  building  their  nest),  every  two  or 
three   minutes,   with  roots   and  leaves  in  their  bills, 
and  on  March  15   it  laid  the   first  egg  ;  this  day  was 
probably  the  coldest  day  we  had  that  winter.     But, 
soon  after,  I  think  when  it  had  got  its  fourth  egg,  it 
was  robbed  by  some  idle   boys.     Strange  to  say,  it 
shifted  its  residence  to  a  new  spot,  not  .many  yards 
from  the  old  spot,  and  built  a  new  nest,  and  succeeded 
in  hatching  its  full  complement  of  eggs,  six  in  number. 
The  eggs  are  of  a  beautiful  white.     The  song  of  this 
bird  is  low  and  sweet,  and,  strange  to  say,  when  you 
hear  it  singing,  you  would  think  that  you  were  listen- 
ing to  a  chorus  of  birds  instead  of  one.     Its  song  may 
be  heard  at  its  best  in  winter. — J.  Bozoman,  Neivcastk- 
on-  Tyne,  Northumberland. 

Ranunculus   Ficaria. — Not  only  is  R.  ftcaria 
usually  classed  as  the  "pile-wort,"  but  it  is  equally 


commonly  described  as  Lesser  celandine.  The 
following  authors  so  name  it  :  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker, 
in  the  "  Student's  Flora  of  the  British  Islands  "  ;  Anne 
Pratt,  Spencer  Thompson,  in  "  British  Wild  Flowers, 
where  to  find,  and  how  to  know  them  ; "  J.  T. 
Burgess,  in  his  little  book  on  "Old  English  Wild 
Flowers."  It  is  not  wise  to  place  any  reliance  on 
the  popular  or  trivial  name  of  a  plant  when  seeking 
its  genus,  for  such  trivial  name  will  often  vary  with 
locality.  It  would  take  a  student  a  long  time  to  find 
the  evening  primrose  among  the  Primulacese. — F.  jf. 
George. 

Golden  Eagle's  Eggs. — The  fact  of  the  eagle 
mentioned  [by  A.  F.  being  kept  in  captivity  would 
not,  I  think,  have  any  effect  on  the  colour  of  the  eggs. 
They  are  to  be  found  from  pure  white  to  those  of  a 
rich  dark  brown,  and  I  have  a  pair  in  my  collection 
of  the  former  colour  taken  in  Scotland.  It  is,  I  think, 
more  remarkable  that  it  should  lay  at  all,  as, 
although  it  is  said  to  be  more  easily  domesticated 
than  the  white-tailed  eagle,  it  is  a  species  that  does 
not  readily  lay  in  confinement. — jf.  M.  Campbell. 

Tree  standing  after  a  fall  of  many  feet. — 
In  the  description  in  White's  "  Sel borne  "  of  a  land- 
slip at  Hawkley,  mention  is  made  of  several  oaks, 
which  slipped  thirty  or  forty  feet,  but  still  remained 
standing  and  in  a  state  of  vegetation.  Several  years 
ago,  a  similar  occurrence  took  place  in  Hubbard's 
Valley,  near  Louth,  when  a  beech  (Fagus  sylvatica) 
growing  near  the  top  of  a  steep  bank,  from  the  side 
of  which  much  chalk  had  been  excavated,  slipped 
down,  together  with  the  earth  at  its  roots,  for  a 
distance  more  than  equal  to  its  own  height.  This 
tree,  which  is  still  standing,  produces  every  year  an 
ordinary  supply  of  foliage,  and  seems  to  have  been 
but  little  affected  by  its  fall.—//.  Wallis  Kew,  Louth. 

A  correspondent  sends  from  Kent  a  specimen 
of  an  abnormal  bluebell  {Scilla  nutans)  in  which  the 
bracts  are  greatly  developed,  attaining  a  length  be-  • 
tv/een  two  and  three  inches,  or  even  more.  The 
bracts  are  yellowish  and  green,  instead  of  being  blue, 
as  in  the  normal  flower,  and  their  great  length  gives 
the  raceme  a  tasselled  appearance  as  in  a  sprouting 
ear  of  grass. 

Chara  and  Nitella. — Can  any  one  kindly  inform 
me  where  chara  and  nitella  can  be  found  near 
Tonbridge?—  C.  J.  Bohnso. 

Purple  Wtood  Sorrel. — Can  any  reader  kindly 
tell  me  if  this  is  a  distinct  species  ?  I  have  found  it 
several  times  in  North  Wales.  In  some  places  the 
flowers  were  a  deep  purple,  in  others  a  pinkish 
purple.  In  both  plants,  the  under  side  of  the  leaves 
was  very  dark,  those  of  the  deep  purple  flowers  being 
darkest. — M.  E.  Thomson. 

The  Colour  of  the  Red  Sea. — I  shall  be  glad 
to  add  a  few  remarks  to  Dr.  Stonham's  in  your  March 
number,  on  the  minute  weed  seen  by  him  in  the  Red 
Sea.  I  have  had  many  opportunities  of  observing  it, 
and  have  found  it  in  both  Atlantic  Oceans,  both 
Pacific  Oceans,  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  so  it  seems  to 
be  pretty  largely  distributed.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  it  is  often  noted  as  volcanic  dust  when  seen  in 
calm  weather  floating  on  the  surface,  and  also  that  it 
frequently  escapes  notice  altogether.  Sometimes  I 
have  seen  it,  and  even  when  I  have  called  attention 
to  it  floating  in  the  sea,  yet  till  I  got  some  water  in  a 
bucket,  other  people  could  not  distinguish  it.  In 
addition  to  the  little  bundles  Dr.  Stonham  figuies, 
little  balls  may  frequently  be  seen  very  similar  to  the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i43 


little  seeds  one  collects  when  walking  through  bushes, 
1  nit  which  can  all  be  pulled  out  with  a  needle  into  the 
separate  fibres.  The  separate  bundles  are  generally 
of  a  light  brown  colour,  but  when  in  great  quantities 
it  appears  sometimes  brown,  and  at  other  times 
almost  black.  In  calm  weather  it  collects  principally 
on  the  surface,  but  when  the  sea  is  agitated,  it  then 
sinks  to  a  small  depth. — D.  Wilson  Barker,  pen., 
F.R.Mrf.  Soe.j  Chief  Officer,  s.s.  "International:' 

The  Pied  Fly-catcher. — On  the  25th  and  26th 
of  April,  I  observed  near  here,  a  bird  very  rare  in 
this  part  of  the  country,  the  pied  flycatcher 
(Muscicapa  luctuosa)  ;  a  remarkable  bird,  owing  to  its 
strongly  contrasted  black  and  white  plumage,  and  its 
great  activity.  I  can  find  only  two  cases  recorded 
of  the  appearance  of  this  bird  in  Somerset  or  Glou- 
cestershire, and  both  of  these  were  many  years  ago. 
Morris,  in  his  "  British  Birds  "  states  that  he  had  never 
seen  this  bird  alive.  I  should  be  glad  to  learn 
whether  this  species  has  been  observed  elsewhere  this 
spring.— Alfred  C.  Pass. 

Holly  Leaves. — The  old  holly-trees  about  here 
(Epping  Forest)  invariably  show  this  tendency,  the 
leaves  of  the  upper  part  of  the  tree  usually  having  only 
the  terminal  spine,  with  sometimes  one  or  two 
additional  spines.  I  have  never  seen  a  holly  leaf 
in  the  forest  without  the  terminal  spine.  It  is  a 
question  whether  the  phenomenon  is  to  be  accounted  for 
on  the  cattle  theory,  since  those  long  upper  branches 
of  old  trees  which  hang  down  within  reach  of  the 
larger  animals,  frequently  bear  many  leaves  with  only 
the  one  spine.  Again,  why  should  this  one  spine 
always  remain  ?  Is  it  known  that  cattle  will  eat  holly 
leaves,  if  the  upper  ones  are  given  to  them  ?  There 
seems  to  be  an  analogy  between  the  upper  leaves  of 
an  old  holly  and  those  of  an  old  ivy,  as  in  both  the 
characteristic  shape  is  lost.  What  is  the  explanation 
in  the  case  of  the  ivy  ? — F.  W.  Elliott. 

Flint  Implements. — Are  any  flint  implements 
found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bagshot,  and  if  so 
where  is  the  best  place  to  look  for  them  ? — Charles 
Noble. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  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  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


A.  S.  Mackie. — i.  Limncra  percgra,  but  rather  doubtful. 
2.  Spluerium  lacustrc.  3  and  4.  We  do  not  undertake  to  name 
foreign  species.  5.  Cypraa  Europtra,  if  British.  6.  The  so- 
called  "seal's  egg"  is  the  shell  or  "test"  of  a  sea-urchin,  an 
Echinoderm.  A  somewhat  larger  one  with  spines  adhering  was 
recently  pointed  out  as  a  humming-bird's  nest ! 

Herbert  B.  Alexander. — Your  objects  "are  the  so-called 
pseudo-podia  of  the  moss  Aulacomnittm  attdrogynitffi."  The 
stalked  heads  "consist  of  little  gemma  which  in  this  moss  often 
replace  the  spores  (capsules  bearing  spores  are  rarely  found 
on  it)." 

S.  J.  H.— An  answer  next  month  if  possible. 


D.  Bradley. — See  "Engineering"  for  1877  for  articles  on 
the  Aneroid  Barometer,  which  may  answer  your  purpose. 
There  should  be  numbers  of  \ the  series  also  in  some  preceding 
year.  Negretti  and  Zambra's  "  Treatise  on  Meteorological 
Instruments  "  is  said  not  to  be  so  thorough. 

V.  A.  Latham. — Thanks  for  your  suggestion.  But  a  reviewer 
may  not  always  know  the  price  of  a  book  reviewed.  E wart's 
book  on  the  "Dissection  of  the  Frog"  is  published  at  is.  6d. 
(London  :  Simpkin.)  McAlpine's'work  is  at  present  withdrawn 
from  publication. 

G.  E.  E.  jun. — Write  for  specimens  of  "  The  Naturalist,"  (id. 
Editors,  Park  Row,  Leeds;  "The  Midland  Naturalist,"  6d., 
(London,  Bogue) ;  "  The  Natural  History  Journal  and  School 
Reporter,  i,d.,  (William  Sessions,  York)  ;  (2)  Lyell's  "  Student's 
Manual  of  Geology"  gives  a  good  many. 

C.  D.  jun. — Your  criticisms  are  too  violent  and  "unparlia- 
mentary."    Reconsider  them  and  write  again. 

S.  Chadwick. — Where  and  in  what  formation  was  the  fossil 
spine  found  ? 

Thirsk. — Several  of  your  mosses  either  had  no  fructification 
or  it  became  spoiled. 

Initials  lost. — The  lesser  celandine  is  Ranunculus Jicaria, 
a  flower  of  the  buttercup  order.  The  celandine,  or  greater 
celandine,  is  Chelidonium  majus,  also  a  yellow  flower,  but 
belonging  to  the  poppy  order.  The  two  plants  are  very  unlike 
one  another,  though  the  name  is  similar. 


EXCHANGES. 

Good  botanical,  histological,  crystals,  polariscopic,  diatoms, 
fish  scales  and  miscellaneous,  microscopic  slides  for  others  as 
good  of  bacilli,  entozoa,  alga:,  desmids,  zoophytes,  rocks,  fossil 
woods. — B   Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

Wanted,  British  and  foreign  Arionidae  and  Limacidae,  also 
foreign  Unioidae  and  Physae.  Offered,  shells,  minerals,  and 
specimens  of  Citiomorium  coccineum. — Cajetan  Platania  Pla- 
tania,  Via  S.  Giuseppe,  No.  14,  Acireale,  Sicily. 

Lepidoptera. — Duplicates :  Cardamine,  Corydon,  Io,  Ata- 
lanta,  .S".  fopuli,  Ligustri,  Z.  Trifolii,  Betularia,  Piniaria, 
Rhomboidaria,  Defoliaria,  Rubiginata,  Dubitata,  Pyraliata, 
Perla,  Lutosa  (fair),  Suffusa,  Lota,  Spadicea,  Ferruginea  (fair), 
Oxyacanthas,  Cerella.  Desiderata  numerous.  Accepted  offers 
answered  within  a  week. — George  Balding,  Ruby  Street, 
Wisbech. 

Lang's  "  Butterflies  of  Europe,"  value  .£3  15J.  Wanted, 
Lindsay's  "  Lichens,"  "  Journal  of  Microscopy,"  vols,  i.,  ii., 
and  iii.  Offers  solicited.  Martin  J.  Harding,  Old  Bank, 
Shrewsbury. 

Wanted,  an  aquarium,  with  slate  bottom  and  plate-glass 
front,  back,  and  sides,  size  about  2  ft.  X  10  in.  X  10  in.  Will 
give  in  exchange  complete  set  of  Cassell's  "  Technical  Edu- 
cator," unbound,  or  "Building  News"  for  1878  and  1880, 
bound  in  half-yearly  volumes. — W.  H.  Pratt,  15  Gill  Street, 
Nottingham. 

Wanted,  any  or  all  London  University  Calendars,  1879-1884, 
inclusive.  Offered,  Darwin's  "Cross  and  Self  Fertilis.  of 
Plants,"  Weale's  "  Integ.  Diff.  Calc,"  "Sybil  "(by  Disraeli), 
Swainson's  "  Insects,"  or  other  mathl.  or  scient.  works. — 
W.  G.  Woollcombe,  The  Close,  Exeter. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip,  Jan.  to  May" (or  complete  year), 
for  1870,  also  1871,  1872,  and  1873.  Miscellaneous  books  in 
exchange. — W.  Greener,  38  Black  Lion  Lane,  Hammersmith,  W. 

Wanted,  "  Hogg  on  the  Microscope  ;"  Clarke's  "  Objects 
for  the  Microscope,"  and  other  microscopical  books;  also 
Science-Gossip  complete  for  1881,  and  "  Common  British  Sea- 
Weeds,"  by  L.  Lane.  Will  give  in  exchange  well-mounted 
micro  slides. — W.  S.  Anderson,  7  Granby  Street,  Ilkeston. 

Large  number  of  British  marine  shells  to  exchange.  Will 
collectors  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  send  lists  of  duplicates 
and  receive  mine? — J.,  15  Warren  Street,  Tenby. 

Wanted,  a  good  microscope.  Can  offer  in  exchange  a 
double-barrelled  air-pump  and  accessories ;  electrical,  chemical, 
and  other  apparatus  ;  books  ;  stamps  ;  dried  plants,  &c,  to  full 
value. — Mr.  Edwards,  34  Ling  Street,  Liverpool. 

Wanted,  "Journal  of  Naturalist  during  Voyage  round  the 
World,"  by  the  late  Charles  Darwin  ;  and  the  first  two  vols,  of 
the  "  Journal  of  the  Postal  Microscopical  Society,"  unbound. 
Stand  condenser  for  microscope,  and  also  turntable. — L.  Francis, 
i  Elm  Villa,  Elm  Grove,  Rye  Lane,  Peckham,  S.E. 

Specimens  of  the  new  British  plant,  Potentilla  Norvegica 
(see  Hooker's  "  Student's  Flora,"  last  ed.),  for  new  varieties  of 
land  and  freshwater  shells  or  antiquarian  objects.  Plant  not  in 
flower  till  June. — G.  Roberts,  Lofthouse,  near  Wakefield. 

Wanted,  vols,  xi.,  xii.,  and  xiii.  of  Maund's  "  Botanic 
Garden,"  or  odd  numbers.— Miss  Higgins,  93  Wellington  Street, 
Luton,  Beds. 

=  Good  specimens  of  Canadian  insects,  reptiles,  birds,  and 
minerals  for  English  specimens  of  the  same  ;  also  a  few  Canadian 
land  and  freshwater  shells  for  exchange.  Correspondence 
solicited  with  parties  desiring  specimens  of  zoology,  botany, 
and  geology  from  Canada. — W.  D.  Shaw,  Sect.  Treas.  Montreal 
Agassiz  Association,  34  St.  Peter  Street,  Montreal,  Canada. 
•»  i  in.,  \  in.,  and  ^  in.  objectives  by  Ross;  exchange  good 
binocular  stand.— S.,  20  Montpelier  Road,  N.W. 


144 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Student's  monocular  microscope,  by  Johnson,  optician  to 
University  College,  with  mechanical  stage,  coarse  and  fine  ad- 
justments, sub-stage  diaphragm,  two  eye-pieces  a  and  v,  i  in. 
and  i  in.  object  t lasses,  polariscope  and  selenite  stage,  con- 
densor,  live  cage,  stage  forceps  and  tweezers. — M.  I.,  4  Lower 
Terrace,  Hampstend,  N.W. 

Wanted,  one  of  Shadbolt's  turntables,  or  an  equally  good 
one  ;  will  exchange  a  genuine  Mulready  envelope,  stamped, 
post-marked,  mil  undeniably  an  original  one. — F.  Cresswell 
Du  Bois,  15  West  Cromwrll  Road,  Kensington. 

Fine  micro  photographs  in  exchange  for  good  slides,  Sic. 
Microscopic  objects  photographed.  —  F.  Guardia,  HeUton 
House,  Rozel  Road,  Clapham,  S.W. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  from  beginning  of  1865  to  end  of 
1884,  either  bound  or  in  loose  numbers;  and  also  any  other 
microscopical  books  or  journals.  State  what  is  wanted  in  ex- 
change for  them.  — Charles  Von  Eiff,  jun.,  347Greenwich  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Wanted,  pennies,  halfpennies,  and  farthings  of  Edward  I., 
Edward  II.,  and  Edward  III.  Flint  flakes  in  exchange. — 
B    Piffard,  Hill  House,  Hemel  Hempstead,  Herts. 

Wil  L  send  tube  of  living  budding  Hydra  viridis  on  receipt 
of  a  good  mounted  object. — Thomas  W.  Lockwood,  Lobley 
Street,  Heckmondwike,  Yorkshire. 

Wanted,  fresh  specimens  in  fruit  of  the  Musci,  Hypnum 
Atrichimtm  Grimtnia,  Pottia  orthntrichttm,  also  Marchantia 
polymorpha  and  Riccia  glauca.  Well-mounted  micro  slides  of 
interest  offered  in  exchange..— R.  A.  Hawkins,  The  Cottage, 
Quarry  Road,  Hastings. 

Micro  slides :  will  send  in  exchange  for  four  good  mounts 
the  following: — fertile  pinnule  of  hare's-foot  fern  (Davillia), 
ditto  royal  fern  (Osmunda),  tr.  sect.,  ivy,  ditto  jessamine,  both 
double-stained. — J.  B.  Bessell,  Fremantle  Square,  Bristol. 

Wanted,  No.  11,  vol.  iii.,  of  "Natural  History  Notes," 
published  Nov.  1883,  edited  by  F.  J.  Rowbotham.  Offered  in 
exchange,  cretaceous  fossils,  land  and  freshwater  shells,  Lepi- 
doptera. — A.  Beales,  37  Kingsley  Road,  Maidstone. 

Will  exchange  Science-Gossip  for  1884,  the  March  number 
missing,  for  natural  history  specimens,  especially  stuffed  birds 
or  mammals. — George  H.  Brocklehurst,  B.Sc,  Roundhay, 
Leeds. 

Cypr&a  lyna  and  Cyprcea  helvola  from  Zanzibar,  and  Nassa 
reticulata  from  Scotland ;  exchange  for  other  shells  not  in  col- 
lection.— Mrs.  S.,  21  London  Road,  Brentford,  Middlesex. 

Offered,  Bourne's  "  Catechism  of  the  Steam  Engine  "  and 
"Handbook  of  the  Steam  Engine,"  Phillips'  "Mineralogy," 
also  "  Knowledge,"  vol.  i.  unbound.  Wanted,  books  on  aquarium, 
especially  Taylors  "Aquarium,"  or  works  by  Gosse,  or  back 
volumes  of  Science-Gossip,  &c. — G.  A.  Simmons,  102  Ladbroke 
Grove  Road,  London,  W. 

Wanted,  skins  and  eggs  of  British  birds  in  exchange  for 
land  and  freshwater  shells.  Duplicates :  P.  vivipara,  B. 
Leachii,  P.  hypuorum,  L.  lizvis,  T.  haliotidea,  Z.  nitidus, 
Z.glaber,  P. pusillum,  &c.  Desiderata:  i".  ovale,  U.  inarga- 
ritifer,  Z.  purus,  H.  fusca,  B.  perversa,  &c. — F.  G.  Fenn, 
20  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park,  W. 

Wanted,  local  varieties  of  British  shells  ;  also  mounted  mol- 
luscan  palates,  and  back  numbers  of  scientific  journals,  especially 
the  "  Journal  of  Conchology."  Shells  in  exchange,  including 
Paludina  contecta,  P.  vivipara,  Zonites  glaber,  and  Helix 
la?iiellita.—S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford 
Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Wanted,  books  by  Hogg,  Clarke,  Martin,  and  others  on 
the  microscope  ;  also  Clark's  "  Seaweeds,"  and  vol.  vi.  of  the 
"Boys'  Own  Paper  ;"  good  exchange  given  in  micro  slides. — 
W.  S.  Anderson,  7  Granby  Street,  Ilkeston. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  for  1879  and  1883,  also  any 
volumes  earlier  than  1876.  Will  give  good  micro  slides  in 
exchange. — Samuel  M.  Malcolmson,  M.D.,  55  Great  Victoria 
Street,  Belfast. 

Offered,  Gosse's  "British  Sea  Anemones,"  Lyell's  "  Anti- 
quity of  Man,"  Pratt's  "Wild  Flowers"  (large  4to.),  "Testi- 
mony of  the  Rocks,"  and  other  good  books.  Wanted,  French 
works  on  marine  alga;. — T.  H.  Buflham,  Connaught  Road, 
Walthamstow. 

What  offers  in  exchange  for  some  large  fossil  fern  slabs  from 
coal  pit,  Heath,  near  Bristol?  Tropical  recent  land  shells  pre- 
ferred.— Miss  F.  M.  Hele,  Fairlight,  Elmgrove  Road,  Cotham, 
Bristol. 

A  4-inch  reflecting  telescope  in  exchange  for  good  micro- 
scopic objective  or  offers  of  scientific  apparatus. — E.  B.  Fen- 
nessy,  Pallas  Green,  Limerick. 

Living  specimens  of  Hydra  viridis,  now  budding  in  tube,  in 
exchange  for  mounting  material,  insects  preserved  in  spirit 
wanted,  such  as : — Saw  flies,  horse  flies,  wood  ant,  fairy  fly,  or 
parasites  of  animals,  or  fish,  &c,  or  else  large  spines  of  foreign 
Sea  Urchin,  for  making  sections. — W.  H.  Pratt,  15  Gill 
Street,  Nottingham. 

Wanted,  British  and  foreign  land  and  fresh-water  shells, 
particularly  some  Tcstacella  mavgei  in  exchange  for  ?%  yards 
of  very  fine  aviary  wire-netting,  a  yard  wide  and  £  inch  mesh, 
unused;  also  some  of  first  numbers  of  "Knowledge"  and 
"  Amateur  Work,"  Pirates  of  Penzance  vocal  score,  and  various 
other  books,  &c— Wilfred  Mark  Webb,  31  Aynhoe  Road, 
West  Kensington  Park,  W. 


Sponge  spicules  :  will  send  a  well-mounted  slide  of  spicules 
of  the  Cliona  sponge  (parasite  on  oyster  shell),  in  exchange  for 
any  good  slide,  botanical  or  biological.— G.  Swainsun,  no  Park 
Road,  Bolton. 

Wanted,  a  T'.T  or  -?-  immersion  objective.  WJill  give  in  part 
exchange  Cassell's  "Popular"  and  "Technical  Educator," 
quite  new,  well-bound  in  scarlet  calf,  or  handsome  musical  box 
(ten  tunes). — G.  S.,  no  Park  Road,  Bolton. 

Good  shells,  fossils,  and  works  on  osteology,  &c,  offered  in 
exchange  for  odd  parts  of  Lovell  Reeve's  "  Conchologia 
Iconica"  and  of  the  Palseontological  Society." — Miss  Linter, 
Arragon  Close,  Twickenham. 

Botanical  cabinet,  36  in.  high,  18  in.  wide,  with  a  few 
specimens,  for  turntable  and  slides. — C.  H.  Goodman,  9  Dorl- 
cote  Road,  Wandsworth  Common. 

Wanted,  good  book  on  mechanics.  Offered,  Science- 
Gossip,  1880,  eighteen  numbers  of  "Youth,"  forty  numbers  of 
"Boys'  Newspaper,"  three  numbers  of  "European  Ferns." — 
Archibald  W.  Fry,  Bridge  House,  Arundel. 

Micro  slides  for  exchange.  Wanted,  books  (science)  or  other 
slides.  Lists  free  on  application. — A.  P.  Wire,  Seaton  Villas, 
Birkbeck  Road,  Leytonstone. 

A  few  slides  of  Antheridia  and  Pistillid:a  of  mosses  and 
hepatics,  also  ripe  capsules  of  same,  for  other  good  mounts. 
Lists  to — W.  E.  Green,  32  Belvoir  Road,  Bristol. 

Fresh  gathered  crowfoot  clustercups  {Qlcidium  raiiuncu- 
laceariim*)  and  dock  clustercups  (CEcidium  rubellum),  in  ex- 
change for  nettle  fungus  ((Ecidium  Urtictr). — T.  S.  Morten, 
3  Rosslyn  Trrraace,  Hatnpstead,  London,  N.W. 

Wanted  Geikie's  lectures  at  South  Kensington  on  Geology, 
Dand's  Geology,  Mineralogy,  or  books  on  coins,  for  "  Boy's 
Own  Papers." —John  Millar,  Clarence  House,  Inverkeithing, 
Fifeshire. 

Offered  for  exchange  one  hundred  eggs  with  data  of  chough, 
sparrow-hawk,  dipper,  stonechat,  grey  wagtail,  goldfinch, 
hooded  crow,  swift,  ringed  plover,  redshank,  heron,  mute  swan, 
puffin,  guillemot,  razor-bill,  cormorant,  gannet,  herring-gull, 
kittiwake,  storm-petrel  and  many  others.  Send  list  of  duplicates 
and  of  desiderata. — Richard  J.  Ursher,  Cappagh,  Lismore, 
Ireland. 

Wanted,  fossil  sharks'  teeth  from  any  formation,  not  more 
than  three  of  any  species,  must  be  named  and  localised,  in 
exchange  for  fossils  from  chalk,  gault  limestone,  oolites,  London 
clay,  &c. — George  E.  East,  jun.,  10  Basinghall  Street,  London.J 

Offered,  pair  of  tumbler  pigeons  in  exchange  for  three  or 
four  well-mounted  micro  slides. — R.  H.  T.,  28  Albert  Road, 
Devonport. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  The  Microscope  in  Botany,"  Dr.  J.  W.  Behrens  (transl.) 
(Boston:  S.  E.  Cassino  &  Co .) — "Celestial  Motions,  a  handy 
book  of  astronomy,"  W.  T.  Lvnn,  B.A.  (Stanford). — "  Birds  I 
have  kept,"  W.  T.  Greene,  M.A.  (L.  Upcott  Gill)  — "  Proto- 
plasmic Continuity  in  the  Fucacese,"  Thomas  Hick,  B.A.,  B.Sc. 
"Contributions  to  the  Fossil  Flora  of  Halifax,"  Thomas  Hick 
and  William  Cash. — "A  Correlation  Theory  of  Colour  Percep- 
tion," Charles  A.  Oliver,  M.D.— "  Geology  of  the  Comstock 
Lode,"  and  Atlas  (U.  S.  Geol.  Survey). — "  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey, 
3rd  Report,"  1881-2. — "Annual  Reports  of  the  Public  Gardens 
and  Plantations,"  Jamaica. — "  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia." — "The  Lias  Marlstone  of 
Leicestershire  as  a  source  of  Iron,"  by  E.  Wilson,  F.G.S. — 
"Special  Creation  and  Evolution,"  C.  C.  W.  Naden. — "The 
Gold-fields  of  Victoria,  Reports  of  the  Mining  Registrars." — 
"  Report  of  the  Kelvingrove  Museum,  &c,"  Glasgow,  for  1884. 
"American  Naturalist." — "Science." — "American  Monthly 
Microscopical  Journal." — "The  Naturalist." — "  Ben  Brierlcy's 
Journal."  —  "The  Journal  of  Conchology."  —  "  Feuille  des 
Jeunes  Naturalistes." — "Popular  Science  News." — "Canadian 
Science  Monthly."— "  The  Medico-Le?al  Journal,"  New  York. 
"Illustrated  Science  Monthly." — "Papers  and  Proceedings  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Tasmania,"  1884. — "East  of  Scotland 
Union  of  Naturalists'  Societies  Reports,"  1884. 


Communications  received  from  :— W.  G. — C.  C— H.  T. 
—P.  S.—  J.  M.— H.  C— A.  B.— H.  W.-J.  C.  S.— G.  H.  B.— 
M.  S.  —  W.  H.  P.  —  G.  A.  S.  —  F.  W.  L.  —  F.  G.  F.  — 
C.  F.  W.  F.  W.— A.  V.— S.  C  C.— W.  S.  A.— S.  M.  M.— 
T.    H.   B.-S.    C.-F.    M.   H.— J.   P.-E.   B.    F.  —  T.   W.— 

A.  D.  W.-J.  E.  L.— C.  D.-S.  J-  H.-G.  E.  E.-F.  R.  C— 
C.  H.  G.— A.  W.  F.— W.  E.  C— J.  B.  W.— J.  W.— A.  P.  W. 
— M.  E.  T.— W.  E.  G.— T.  S.  M.-W.  O.  —  W.  G.  W.— 
M.  J.  H.— E.-C.  N.-C.  P.  P.-J-  G.-W.  D.  S.-J— G  R. 
— D.  W.  B.  jun.-F.  W.  E.-G.  B.— W.  H.  P.-W.  G— 
W.  S.  A.— T.  W.  L.-C.  W.— D.  B.— B.  T.  &  C— .4.  A.— 
T.  F.-C  S.— A.  C— G.  F.  H— R.  C.-K.  A.  N.— L.— E.  D. 
— T.  S.-A.  B.-V.  A.  L.-T.  W.  D.-J.  C.  P.-F.  R.  C— 
M.  E.  T.-A.  E.  T.— C.  J.  B.-W.  W.-C.  v.  F.  jr.— F.  J.- 

B.  P.— C.  C— A.  S.  M.— A.  H.  S.— T.  ¥.— F.  C.  D.  B.— 
H.  W.— T.  W.  W.— H.— G.  R.— C.  F.  W.  F.  W.— G.  H.  B.— 

C.  R.-H.  W.  K.-S.  C.  C.-J.  F.— C.  F.  F.-R.  L.  H  — 
E.  S.  P.— R.  J.  U.—  K.  H.  T.— A.  K.— C.  P.— W.  M.  W.— 
&c,  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


E.T.D.dela&nat. 


Vincent  Brooks  Day  k  Soa.Luh . 


T.S    SECTION     OF    SHELL    OF    BARNACLE. 


X    30 


HARD  W I CKE '  S  S  CIE  NCE  ■  G  O  SSI  P. 


H5 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


No.  XIX. — Section  of  Shell  of  Barnacle  {BaJanus  sulcatus). 


HE  cirripeds,  or 
barnacles,  in  their 
adult  condition  have 
a  curious  dissimi- 
larity of  form.  The 
Lepadidse  appear  as 
p  edunculated 
masses,  and  elegant 
groups  of  these 
"necked  barna- 
cles" are  found  on 
floating  timber  or 
wreckage.  The 
fixed  stem,  or 
peduncle,  is  often 
several  inches  in 
length,  thick  in  pro- 
portion, freely  flexi- 
ble, of  peculiar 
tough  texture, 
possessing  voluntary  movement,  and  surmounted  or 
tipped  with  a  conical  articulated  shell  containing  the 
animal,  from  the  apex  of  which  emerge  the  "  cirri.'' 
Of  the  same  family,  although  so  unlike  in  appearance 
are  the  Balanidoe,  popularly  known  as  "acorn  shells," 
sessile,  the  creature  included  in  a  compact  although 
somewhat  moveable  calcareous  domicile,  firmly  at- 
tached to  the  surface  of  constantly  submerged  rocks, 
and  the  bottoms  of  ships,  enjoying,  as  the  vessel 
drives  through  the  seas,  the  luxury  of  a  vagrant  life, 
and  with  its  singular  and  well-adapted  casting  net, 
collecting  abundant  food  from  the  scums  and  shoals  of 
microscopic  organisms.  The  close  relationship  between 
the  Lepadidae,  with  their  long  flexible  stems,  and 
the  Balanidas  in  their  shelly  boxes,  is  detected  in  the 
perfect  identity  of  the  larval  free  swimming  condition. 
At  this  point  their  similarity  is  manifest.  When  the 
perfection  of  this  state  is  attained,  the  little  creature 
seeks  a  point  of  attachment  :  the  bottom  of  a  vessel, 
floating  substances,  or  the  solid  rock,  and  fixing  itself 
by  an  outpouring  of  glutinous  cement,  in  the  one  case 
No.  247.— July  1885. 


prolonged  into  a  stem-like  flexible  stalk,  in  the  other 
fixed  in  a  shelly  pyramid. 

Compared  with  the  brilliant  hues  and  elegant 
configuration  of  "shells"  in  all  their  interesting 
varieties,  as  appreciated  by  collectors,  the  appear- 
ance of  a  barnacle  scraped  from  the  bottom  of  a 
vessel  has  externally  no  great  beauty,  or  attraction  ; 
but,  like  many  apparently  obscure  objects,  when 
subjected  to  microscopical  examination,  it  reveals 
structural  peculiarities  and  adaptation  of  very 
significant  interest. 

In  the  sessile  group  of  the  Cirripedia,  of  which 
Balanus  sulcatus  and  B.  tinlinnahulum  are  the  most 
prolific  and  common  forms,  unlike  the  compact  and 
entire  solidity  of  a  shell  as  generally  understood,  it 
is  composed  of  four  or  more  thick  external  articu- 
lated conical  plates,  supported  on  a  flat  adhesive 
base,  the  apices  running  upwards.  Within  and 
enclosed  in  these  are  thinner  and  more  moveable 
processes  interlapping,  and  when  reaching  the 
summit  so  delicately  fine  as  to  become  a  mere  slit  of 
exquisite  adjustment  for  the  extrusion  of  the  cirri,  or 
curly  filamentous  appendages  ;  these  flash  out,  for 
the  collection  of  food  and  purposes  of  aeration,  and 
when  as  suddenly  retracted  the  delicate  edges  of  this 
sensitive  operculum  hermetically  close  the  aperture, 
and  the  creature  within.  The  growth  of  these  lami- 
nated plates  of  shell  is  seen  by  perpendicular  and  trans- 
verse ridges,  showing  expansion  in  every  direction. 
The  base  of  fixture  is  a  flat  foundation  of  accumulated 
calcareous  secretions,  and  in  specimens  taken  from 
the  hulls  of  ships,  more  or  less  incorporated  with  the 
paints  and  deadly  oxides  of  metals  used  to  discourage 
their  accumulation.  But  balani  generally  succeed  in 
eluding  these  ingenuities. 

If  a  shell  be  broken  into,  near  the  base,  inside, 
above  the  floor  of  attachment  (the  point  of  greatest 
resistance),  a  part  may  be  seen  corrugated,  and  having 
a  columnar  appearance  ;  if  a  slightly  oblique  horizontal 
thin  section  be  cut  through  this  point,  the  apparently 
uninviting  fragment  reveals  a  structure  of  adaptability 


146 


HARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


rarely  found  in  other  calcareous  organised  deposits ; 
a  series  of  tubuli  will  be  seen  permeating  through 
cancellated  walls.  This  tubular  development  obviously 
affords  strength  against  external  pressures,  and 
although  mere  conjecture  is  rarely  reconcileable  with 
scientific  accuracy,  it  seems  at  least  an  instance  of 
the  application  of  the  method  of  obtaining  the 
greatest  strength  in  the  least  compass,  an  idea 
supported  by  deeper  investigation,  as  under  a  power 
of  70  diameters,  the  tubular  streaks  running  through 
the  "supports"  to  the  edge  of  the  inner  surface, 
represented  in  the  illustration  by  waved  white  lines  are 
ound  to  be  not  solid  or  homogeneous,  but  so 
beautifully  interlocked,  that  the  whole  may  possibly 
possess  a  certain  amount  of  "play"  conducing  to 
power  of  resistance  and  expansion  ;  in  a  thin  section, 
each  piece,  with  its  aperture,  may  with  care  be 
accurately  separated. 

Although  space  is  somewhat  limited,  a  word 
may  be  said  of  the  "  cirri  "  of  the  barnacle,  the  long 
slender  incurved  fringes  of  filaments,  a  living  meshed 
net,  a  combination  of  barbed  tentacles,  a  perfection 
of  arrangement,  and,  according  to  the  dictum  of  a 
great  authority,  composed  of  "about  five  hundred 
distinct  articulations."  The  sensibility  of  these 
tendril-like  organs  must  be  most  exalted,  and  thus, 
the  barnacle  traps  and  sifts  its  food,  as  the  vessel 
sweeps  through  the  waters. 

The  parent  cirriped  is  a  fixture,  but  its  progeny 
are  free  swimming  atoms,  not  unlike  Cypris,  one  of 
the  minute  entomostracans  of  the  ponds,  except  that 
in  this  early  larval  locomotive  stage  they  keep 
together  in  shoals.  Under  magnification  they  are 
most  comely  and  quaint  objects.  In  one  of  Mr. 
Gosse's  sea-side  books  is  a  plate  of  a  pair  of  these 
creatures  drawn  and  tinted  with  extreme  elegance. 
No  one  who  has  seen  a  young  cirriped,  swirling  about, 
with  its  compact  form  and  apparently  completed 
organisation,  would  conceive  that  it  emanated  from  a 
parent  so  dissimilar  in  form  and  habits,  or  that  it 
would  eventually  subdue  its  incessant  activity  and 
become  an  "acorn  shell"  fixed  once  for  all,  and 
wedged  in  by  the  pressure  of  surrounding  neighbours. 

Barnacles  do  not  thrive  in  aquaria,  they  require 
the  incessant  rush  and  motion  of  water  added  to  an 
abundance  of  microscopic  forms  of  food.  Small  rock 
specimens  will  endure  a  few  days'  captivity,  when  the 
movements  of  the  cirri  may  be  watched,  and  attrac- 
tive microscopical  preparations  afterwards  made  of 
the  various  parts. 

Crouch  End. 


CHARA  v.  NlTELLA.— Last  year  a  chara  (probably 
foetida)  was  found  within  live  miles  of  Tunbridge 
in  a  pond  by  the  roadside  at  Hadlow.  If  C.  J.  Bohnso 
sends  his  address  to  me,  I  would  point  out  the 
locality.—  F.  W.  E.  Skrivell,  Hope  Cottage,  ITadlow, 
Tunbridge. 


NOTES  ON  LEPIDOPTEROUS  PUPyE. 
By  Albert  H.  Waters,  B.A.  Cantab. 

THE  situations  in  which  the  pupae  of  lepidoptera 
occur  are  many  and  varied.  The  common 
Pieridse  and  Vanessidae  are  very  partial  to  the  under- 
side of  the  coping  stones  of  walls,  and  some  moths — 
as  the  vapourer  [Orgyia  anliqua) — have  the  same 
preference  also. 

The  pupa  of  the  swallow-tailed  butterfly  {Fapilio 
Machaoti)  is  attached  to  the  sedge ;  that  of  the 
speckled  wood  (Satyrus  sEgeria)  to  the  lower  parts  of 
grass  stems,  the  pupa  of  Satyrus  Semele  is  buried  in 
the  earth,  and  that  of  Satyrus  Hyperanthus  is  also 
contained  in  a  little  cavity  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  Canonympha  Pamphilus  too  pupates  close 
to  the  ground  on  the  lowermost  part  of  the  grass 
stems,  and  Thecla  quercus  chooses  similar  situations. 
The  pupa  of  Thecla  betuhv  is  attached  to  the  under 
side  of  blackthorn  leaves,  and  those  of  the  blue  butter- 
flies to  the  stems  of  the  plants  on  which  the  larvae 
feed.  The  reed  tussock-moth  {Orgyia  cceuoso),  spins 
its  cocoon  on  the  stems  of  Arundo  phragmites,  the 
drinker  (Odonestis  potatorid)  attaches  itself  to  the 
grass  stems ;  the  rare  Aspilates  citraria  encloses  its 
variegated  chrysalis  in  a  slight  cocoon  among  the 
leaves  of  Daucus  Carota  and  Lotus  corniculatus. 
Emmelesia  albulata  pupates  in  the  domicile  it  lived  in 
throughout  its  caterpillar  life,  and  which  it  formed  by 
spinning  together  the  leaves  of  Rkinanthus  crisfa- 
galli.  The  prettily  coloured  eupithecia  pupae  are 
mostly  buried  in  the  earth,  and  the  green  chrysalis  of 
Thera  junipcrata  is  suspended  to  the  twigs  of  the 
juniper  bushes. 

By  digging  at  the  foot  of  willow-trees  in  October 
and  the  four  following  months,  we  are  pretty  sure  to 
turn  up  the  pupae  of  Taniocampa  instabilis  in  large 
numbers  among  the  loose  sods,  and  just  beneath  them 
we  may  possibly  find  the  slightly-spun  cocoon  of 
Ptilodontis  palpi na,  and  deeper  down  in  the  ground 
the  red  brown  glossy  chrysalis  of  the  eyed  hawk-moth 
(Stncriuthus  ocellatus). 

Among  the  fallen  leaves  at  the  foot  of  oak-trees 
we  may  come  across  the  pupa  of  Sclenia  illuslraria, 
and  we  may  also  find  it  at  the  foot  of  birch-trees  ;  the 
cocoon  in  which  it  is  enclosed  is  a  very  slight  one. 
If  we  pull  the  loose  sods  to  pieces  when  we  commence 
digging  at  the  foot  of  the  oak-trees,  we  are  pretty 
sure  to  find  abundance  of  chrysalides  of  Taniocampa 
stabilis,  and  may  expect  to  meet  with  those  of  Tcenio- 
campa  munda.  It  is  also  at  the  foot  of  oak-trees 
that  entomologists  living  in  its  localities  may  dig  for 
the  rare  Nyssia  hispidaria  on  the  chance  of  turning  it 
up.  Among  other  pupae  to  be  dug  for  under  oaks, 
mention  may  be  made  oiNotodonta  trepida,  N.  ckaonia, 
and  N.  dodoncea.  When  the  roots  of  the  oak-trees 
are  covered  by  an  interlacing  growth  of  brambles  it 
is  advisable  to  look  out  for  the  cocoon  of  Cymatophora 
ridens  anions?1,  the  dried  leaves  and  fragments  of  wood. 


HA  R  D  IV I  CKE'S  S  CI  EN  CE  -  G  OS  SI  P. 


J47 


The  pupre  of  Cymatophora  fluctuosa  is  enclosed  in 
a  slight  cocoon  among  the  fallen  leaves  at  the  Toot 
of  birch-trees.  Notodonta  dictaoidcs  and  Notodonta 
dromedurius  are  other  species  we  may  look  out  for  in 
the  same  locality.  They  both  attach  their  slightly 
made  cocoons  to  the  under  side  of  leaves  ;  of  the 
two  last  named,  dictaeoides  is  somewhat  the  largest. 
Notodonta  Caw  din  a  and  Amphydasis  betularia  are 
also  pupas  we  may  expect  to  turn  up  under  birch- 
trees.  Camelina  also  occurs  at  the  foot  of  maple  and 
oak,  and  betularia  beneath  lime  and  oak  trees  ;  I 
have  also  dug  it  up  under  willow. 

Other  pupae  the  trowel  may  be  expected  to  turn  up 
in  October  are  the  following  : — 

Smcrinthns  Populi.  Rough  ;  muddy  brown.  Near 
poplar-trees,  also  sometimes  in  gardens  under  laurel 
bushes. 

Smerinthus  Tiliu.  Rough  ;  dull  red.  At  foot  of 
lime  and  elm. 

Sphinx  Convolvuli.     Smooth,  with  beak  in  front. 
Sphinx  Lignstri.     Smooth  dark  brown,  with  curved 
beak-like  proboscis  in  front.     Under  lilac- trees  and 
privet  hedges. 

Deilephila  Euphorbia:. — Pale  brown,  delicately 
reticulated  with  black  lines  and  dots.  In  loose  sand 
on  the  sea  coast. 

D.  Galii.— Brown.  In  sand  on  sea  coast  near 
Deal. 

Biston  hirlaria. — Blackish  ;  somewhat  dumpy. 
At  roots  of  lime-trees  ;  also  pear  and  plum. 

The  following  are  among  the  non-subterranean 
species : 

Arctia    mendica. — Brown,     smooth.      In    a    dark- 
coloured  cocoon  among  rubbish  where  dock  abounds. 
A.  lubricipeda  and  A.  mcnthastri. — Dark  brown. 
In  cocoons  under  rubbish. 

A.  itrtica. — Dark  coloured.  In  a  slight  cocoon 
among  water  mint  and  other  plants  by  the  side  of 
wet  ditches. 

Orgyia  pudibunda. — In  a  cocoon  among  oak, 
lime,  hazel,  maple,  and  other  trees. 

Dcmas  coryli. — In  a  slight  web  under  moss  at  the 
foot  of  beech-trees. 

Pa~cilocampa  Populi. — Brown.  In  a  black,  oval 
very  compact  cocoon,  under  bark,  or  ash,  or  poplar. 
Sometimes  among  dead  leaves  at  the  foot. 

Eriogaster  lacustris. — In  a  small  oval  compact 
cocoon  under  hawthorn. 

Bombyx  Rubi. — Smooth,  dark  brown  ;  in  a  long 
loose  cocoon  with  intermingled  hairs.  Among 
bramble  and  heath. 

Satitrnia  carpini. — In   a   curious  pear-shaped  co- 
coon, open  at  one  end,  among  heath,  blackthorn,  &c. 
Ellopia  fasciaria. — Among  the    dead   needles   at 
roots  of  Scotch  fir.     End  of  October. 

Eurymene  dolobraria. — Under  moss  on  beech  or 
oak. 

Odontopera  bidentata. — Under  moss  on  oak  and 
other  trees.     End  of  October. 


Ephyra  omicronaria. — Green.  In  a  very  slight 
cocoon  in  moss  on  maple-trees. 

Platypleryx  falcula. — In  a  slight  web  inside  a 
doubled  up  birch  leaf. 

P.  unguicula. — Brown,  with  greenish  wing  cases. 
Among  beech  leaves  in  a  slight  web. 

Dicranura  bicuspis. — In  a  compact  gummy  cocoon 
on  the  bark  of  alder-trees,  generally  in  the  crevices 
half-way  down  the  tree  on  the  north  side. 

D.furcula. — In  a  glutinous  cocoon  on  the  bark  of 
sallow  ;  generally  very  low  down. 

D.  bifida. — In  a  very  tough  and  strong  cocoon  oh 
aspen  bark.  It  gnaws  a  cavity  in  the  bark,  and  fills 
the  depression  up  with  the  cocoon,  so  that  it  is  very 
difficult  to  find  it. 

Clostera  curtula.- — Dark  brown,  rounded  at  end. 
Between  united  aspen  leaves. 

Clostera  reclusa. — In  a  slight  cocoon  uniting  sallow 
leaves. 

Gonophora  derasa. — Conical,  terminating  in  a  horn- 
like point.     Within  united  bramble  leaves. 

Thyatira  bails. — Blackish  ;  with  stout  thorax  and* 
sharp  pointed  extremity.  In  a  slight  cocoon  among 
bramble  leaves. 

Cymatophora  fluctuosa. — In  a  slight  cocoon  among 
birch  leaves. 

C,  Or. — Red  brown.  Between  united  poplar 
leaves. 

Cambridge. 


ARTISTIC  GEOLOGY. 

Ffestiniog  and  its  Neighbourhood. 

By  T.  Mellard  Reade,  F.G.S.,  &c. 

\_Contimicd  from  p.  123.] 
LLYN   MORWYNION   AND   LLYNIAU   GAMALT. 

SEVERAL  excursions  and  wanderings  over  the 
hills  about  these  lakes  will  well  repay  the  labour. 
The  strata  are  very  much  broken  up  by  faults  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood,  which  is  well  displayed  on 
the  survey  map.  At  Llyniau  Gamalt  is  to  be  seen  a 
volcanic  conglomerate,  forming  precipitous  cliffs  on 
the  eastern  side.  These  lakes  from  the  boggy  nature 
of  the  surrounding  ground  are  not  easily  got  at. 
The  rock  is  full  of  large  boulders  of  felstone  ;  some 
of  them  in  shape  like  kidney  potatoes.  Thin  bedded 
ashes  are  interbedded  with  the  conglomerate,  and 
a  true  plane  surface  I  noticed  of  these  showed  such 
regular  jointing  as  to  look  like  masonry.  Following 
the  outlet  stream  we  came  upon  a  very  pretty  series 
of  falls  which  quite  enchanted  my  boys.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  distance  was  mostly  bog-trotting 
before  we  reached  the  main  road. 

Waterfalls. — These  are  very  numerous  and  beautiful 
in  the  neighbourhood.  The  falls  of  the  Cynfael  within 
a  half-mile  walk  are  lovely  in   their  variety.     For   a 

H  2 


148 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


mile  the  stream  may  be  followed  through  a  series  of 
glens,  gullies  and  gorges,  overhung  and  festooned 
with  trees.  The  geological  interest  as  an  example  of 
denudation  is  also  great.  I  sketched  a  view  of  Hugh 
Lloyd's  pulpit,  a  pillar  of  rock  left  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream.  Further  up  are  some  very 
large  boulders  wedged  in  the  walls  of  the  stream  in 
quite  a  remarkable  manner.  These  I  have  described 
in  a  paper  to  the  Geological  Society,  so  I  will  not 
repeat  it  here. 

About  three  miles  from  Ffestiniog,  on  the  road  to 
Bala,  we  get  fine  views  of  the  Rhaidr  Cwm,  a  series 
of  splendid  falls  on  the  same  stream  but  quite 
different  in  character  to  those  just  described.  It  is 
a  mountain  torrent  springing  from  rock  to  rock  and 
cutting  deep  gorges  in  the  hillside.  It  is  above  the 
level  at  which  trees  flourish. 

A  good  walker  may  cross  the  moors  at  a  point 
further  on  the  road  and  get  to  Bettws-y-Coed  by 
Penmachno.  Nothing  is  more  delightful  than  the  air 
of  these  moors  some  thousand  feet  above  sea  level, 
and  the  gradual  change  in  the  long  descent  to  the 
vale  of  Conway,  from  bare  mountain  sides  to  the 
luxuriant  foliage  of  the  vale  is  very  agreeable.  The 
falls  of  the  Conway  may  be  visited,  and  the  ~eturn  to 
Ffestiniog  made  by  train  to  Blaenau. 

Otlicr  Excursions. — I  fear  I  have  exhausted  my 
reader's  patience  in  these  descriptions  in  which  it 
is  difficult  to  reproduce  the  feelings  which  take 
possession  of  the  mind  open  to  the  influences  and 
ever-changing  moods  of  nature.  It  is  impossible  to 
wralk  anywhere  about  Ffestiniog  without  being  grati- 
fied with  the  scenery.  Many  a  walk  did  we  take  to 
Blaenau  Ffestiniog,  yet  one  may  safely  say  that  such 
is  the  variety  of  effect  produced  by  the  atmosphere 
and  cloud,  that  the  picture  was  never  the  same.  The 
mountains  at  times  seem  to  be  pervaded  with  an 
impenetrable  and  mysterious  gloom  which  excites  the 
curiosity  and  we  strive  vainly  to  picture  what  is 
behind,  while,  at  others,  every  detail  lighted  up  is  so 
distinct,  and  yet  so  tender,  that  one  feels  the  depths  of 
despair  in  trying  to  reproduce  the  effects  on  paper. 
I  have  said  little  about  the  vale.  It  is  very  beautiful 
but  its  beauty  is  not  of  that  mysterious  nature  which 
constantly  keeps  the  imagination  on  the  stretch  as  the 
mountainsdo.  At  the  same  time  some  prefer  the  sooth- 
ing effect  of  a  combination  of  trees  rocks  and  water 
making  up  such  a  landscape  ;  so  I  leave  it  to  them. 

Excursions  that  will  repay  the  geologist  may  be 
made  down  the  valley  of  Dolwyddelan,  past  the 
Castle,  and  across  the  mountains  to  Capel  Curig, 
and  thence  back  to  Bettws-y-Coed.  We  pass  the 
foot  of  the  grand  cone  of  Moel  Siabod,  a  landmark 
among  the  mountains.  Again,  a  trip  to  Harlech  may 
be  made,  noting  the  remarkable  anticlinal  hills  on 
the  left  (at  the  bottom  of  map  LXXV.,  north-east), 
the  surface  contours  of  which  are  formed  by  the  curved 
bedding    planes   which,   wrapping    over    the    hills, 


terminate  successively  to  the  southward  in  well- 
defined  scarps.  This  is  perhaps  as  curious  and 
instructive  an  example  of  denudation  as  may  be  seen. 
At  Harlech  Castle  we  note  how  remarkably  the 
Cambrian  grits,  of  which  the  walls  are  built,  have 
stood  the  weather,  while  the  sandstone  dressings  of 
the  openings  have  crumbled  away.  The  architecture 
of  the  front  to  the  interior  quadrangle  is  massive  and 
grand.  Beyond  Harlech  we  saw  quarries  in  which 
the  grit  and  interlaminations  of  slate  may  be  studied  ; 
and  still  further  on,  a  great  bank  of  drift,  lying  on  the 
mountain  side,  and  skirted  by  the  Cambrian  railway, 
may  be  investigated  ;  that  is,  if  the  explorer  is  not 
afraid  of  thorns  and  torn  clothes. 

A  trip  down   the   narrow  gauge   railway  to  Port 
Madoc,  and  a  visit  to  Borth,  is  both  pleasant  and 
instructive.      At   the   latter   place   geology   may  be 
combined  with  sea  bathing.     It  is  a  very  pretty  little 
bay,  hewn  by  the  sea  out  of  the  Lingula  beds.     Nor 
must  we  omit  a  visit  to  the  grand  volcanic  mass  of 
the  Arenigs,  or  fail  to  notice  the  enormous  blocks 
and    boulders    in    the    railway    cutting   near    Arenig 
station  here,  1200  feet  above  the  sea  level.     It  were 
impossible  to  do  justice  to  all  the  details  of  interest, 
geologic  and   artistic,  within  reach  of  the   sojourner 
at  Ffestiniog  ;  in  the  space  at  my  command  I  can  do 
little  more  than  outline  them.     Nor  is  the  district 
devoid  of  interest  to  the  antiquary.      A  good  pair 
of  legs  and  lungs,  guided  by  scientific  ardour,  will  do 
wonders.      I   have   avoided   all   references   to   fossil 
collections.     My  object  was,  firstly,  to  gain  health  ; 
secondly,  to  find  a  pleasing  occupation  for  the  mind. 
Without  the  latter  Ffestiniog  would  be  voted  slow ; 
with   it,    and   the   great    inducement    presented   for 
rambles  and  long  walks,  I  found  it   health-giving, 
exhdarating,  and  ennobling  to  the  mind.     What  is 
beauty?    has  been   a   question   debated    by   artists, 
philosophers,  and  poets.     We  know  by  feeling  what 
it    means,    but     the     metaphysical    analysis    which 
attempts  an  explanation  of  the  conditions  of  mind 
under  which  it  is  perceived  is  usually  unsatisfactory 
in  its  answers.     Of  this,  however,  I  am  sure  :  given 
the  constitutional  temperament  which  rejoices  in  the 
harmonies  of  nature,   the  wider  the  knowledge  the 
keener  will  be  the  perception  of  natural  beauty. 

But  I  must  not  forget  my  geological  readers.  In 
describing  my  trip  to  the  Bwlch  Drws  Ardudwy,  I 
was  so  taken  up  with  the  outward  show  and  sem- 
blance of  things  that  I  quite  forgot  to  explain  that 
we  were  passing  over  what  may  be  considered  the 
central  dome  of  the  Welsh  system,  forming  originally 
the  highest  part  of  the  mountain  system  of  North 
Wales,  but  now  stripped  bare  of  its  former  covering 
of  Silurian  rocks  both  upper  and  lower,  with  its  much 
altered  Cambrian  rocks  deeply  eaten  into  by  denuding 
agencies,  yet  still  presenting  mountains  rising  2400 
feet  above  the  sea  level.  These  great  mountains,  the 
Rhinogs,  Diphwys,  &c,  are  entirely  carved  out  of 
the  Cambrian  strata  from  base  to  summit  after  the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


149 


removal  of  many  thousands  of  feet  of  Silurian  rocks. 
What  a  vista  of  time  does  not  this  present  to  the 
imagination  !  But  to  read  about  these  denudations 
is  insufficient ;  it  is  necessary  to  walk  about,  map  in 
hand,  to  thoroughly  realise  their  meaning.  It  is  then 
that  geology  becomes  a  living  fact,  a  sublime  thought 
before  which  historical  ideas  of  time  and  action  are 
mere  fugitive  shadows.  Being  brought  face  to  face 
with  such  facts  cannot  fail  to  profoundly  influence 
our  ideas  of  the  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  Nature. 
There  are  many  aspects  in  which  these  relations  may 
be  viewed,  they  have  been  dwelt  upon  by  the  great 
minds  of  all  ages  ;  but  not  the  least  awe-inspiring,  if 
bewildering,  is  the  panorama  of  creation  which 
geology  only  within  the  last  fifty  years  has  unfolded, 
and  vaguely  in  broad  outlines  pictured  to  the  human 
eye. 


specially  transformed.  In  some  there  is  a  thin  inner 
membrane  turned  up  to  meet  the  proper  indusium. 
This  forms  a  connecting  link  with  Lindscea. 

P.  aquilina,  Linn.,  or  common  brake,  is  the  only 
species  with  the  double  indusium  found  in  the 
island.  Surely  no  description  of  the  fern  is  necessary 
for  English  people,  living  as  they  do,  and  bearing 
with  them  to  foreign  lands  the  recollection  of  the 
homes  of  their  childhood  ?  Brake  is  found  all  over 
the  hills  and  in  every  part  of  the  island. 

P.  nemoralis,  Willd.  (or  quadriaurita,  Retz.),  is  still 
more  abundant,  especially  in  the  town  of  Victoria. 
This  species  is  twice  or  bi-pinnate,  and  easily 
distinguished,  as  the  lowest  pinnse  on  each  side  of  the 
rachis  are  in  twos,  and  hang  down,  a  habit  common 
to  the  order,  and  no  doubt  suggesting  the  name  from 
the  likeness  to  a  bird's  wing  (pteron — a  wing). 


Fig.  96. 


-Pteris  scmi-pinnata, 
Linn. 


and 


Ftcris  serrulata,  Linn.,  sterile 
and  fertile  fronds. 


Fig.  qj.—Asj>Ienium  (Dipl.)  Jafonkum, 
Thunb. 


SOME  FERNS  OF  HONG  KONG. 
By  Mrs.  E.  L.  O'Malley. 

[  Con  tin  uedfrom  j>.  134.] 

Gen.  VII.     Pteris,  Linn. 
{Brake.) 

ALL  the  species  of  this  large  genus  by  no  means 
resemble  Pteris  aquilina,  or  eagle  fern,  so  called 
in  some  counties  from  the  supposed  likeness,  as  every 
boy  knows,  to  a  spread  eagle,  in  the  vessels  of  the 
stalk  cut  traversely ;  but  in  all,  the  covering  of  the 
sori  is  marginal  and  continuous.  It  runs  along  the 
entire  length  of  the  leaf,  and  consists  of  the  margin 


P.  longifolia,  Linn.,  or  long-leaved  pteris,  is  a  large 
fern,  fond  of  heat  and  dry  dusty  places,  simply 
pinnate,  except  the  two  lowest  pinnre,  but  all  the 
pinnce  narrow  straggling  and  long.  An  untidy- 
looking  fern,  and  one  which  might  at  first  sight  be 
mistaken  for  Blechnum  orientale,  but  the  sori  placed 
at  the  edge,  instead  of  down  the  centre  of  the  leaf- 
segment,  at  once  mark  a  different  genus.  In  pteris, 
the  extreme  point  of  the  segment  is  always  destitute 
of  sori,  a  peculiarity  we  do  not  observe  in  ferns  of 
other  genera.  Two  more  species  are  common,  both 
smaller  and  more  delicate  in  texture. 

P.  semi-pinnata,  Linn.,  or  half-pinnate  pteris,  is 
one  of  the  commonest  plants  in  the  island,  and  very 


i5° 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


easily  known  by  the  half-formed  frond,  of  which  the 
top  of  each  segment  or  division  appears  to  have  been 
cut  off. 

P.  semclata,  Linn.,  is  common  in  gardens.  The 
sterile  and  fertile  leaves  are  different— those  of  the 
former  being  serrated. 

Gen.  VIII.     Cheilanthes,  Sw. 
In   Cheilanthes  we  find  a  very  lovely  little    fern, 
almost  as  delicate  as  and  not  altogether  unlike  Lindsma 
heterophylla.      Its    name— C.   tenuifolia,    Sw.,  thin- 
leaved  cheilanthes,  well  describes  its  nature.      The 
stalk    is    slender,    black    and   hair-like.       The    tiny, 
curled,    much-cut   segments   of    the    leaf  have   son 
running   all   round  and  just   inside  the  edge.     The 
frond  seldom  exceeds  6  in.  in  height  ;  it  is  ovate, 
triangular   in   outline,   bright   green,   and    grows  in 
banks    along    with    Lindssea   and   maidenhair.      In 
some    countries   it   is   known   as    lip-fern,  from  the 
indusium  covering  the  seed,  as  the  lip  covers  the 
teeth,   but  it  must  be  remembered  the  covering  is 
single,  not   double.      The   very   tiny,  almost    round 
pinnules— the  under    side  rough  with  downy  hairs, 
and    often   nearly  covered  with   the   confluent   sori, 
which  has  the  appearance  of  being  curled  inwards, 
enable  the  botanist  easily  to  identify  the  species. 

Gen.  IX.     Asplenium,  Linn. 
(Spleenworts.) 

The  disposition  of  the  sori,  running  along  the 
veins,  constitutes  in  this  genus  the  principal  specific 
distinction. 

Of  this  very  large  genus  we  cannot  say  that  more 
than  two  species  are  really  common  in  Hong-Kong. 
Asplenium  Schkuhrii  (Mett.)  (Ihbg.)  reminds  us  at 
once  of  the  pretty  maiden-hair  spleenwort  of  English 
heaths  and  hedges,  only  the  black  stalk  is  missing. 
It   is   usually  found  from   S  to   12  inches  high,  but 
sometimes  attains  to  a  greater  size.     The  frond  is 
simply   pinnate,  tapering   to  a   point,  and   pinnules 
serrated.     Like  most  of  the  spleenworts  it  is  graceful 
and    delicate-looking.      Asplenium    dilatatum,    Hk., 
must  strike  many  as  an  old  friend.     It  grows  on  the 
Pok-fillum  road  and  elsewhere,  but  in  England  is  one 
of  the  commonest  objects  on  the  hillside.     The  frond 
is  twice  or  thrice-pinnate,  bright  green'ahd  feathery  in 
appearance.   We  have  heard  it  called  "  parsley-fern," 
from  its  likeness  to  the  leaf  of  wild  parsley  (Anthriscus 
sylvcstris).  A.  lanceum,  Th.,  is  uncommon.   The  frond 
is  undivided  (entire),  about  6  in.  long  and  h,  to  1  in. 
broad,  with  a   slightly   irregular    edge   and   sori   in 
streaks  along  the  upper  or  both  sides  of  the  veins. 
(To  be  continued) 


Vol.  XIX.  of  the  new  edition  of  the  "  Encyclo 
piedia  Britannica"  (pky-pro)  has  been  published 
It  contains  illustrated  articles  on  Polyzoa  and  Proto 
zoa  by  Prof.  E.  Ray  Lankester. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
J3y  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

IN    the   Bulletin    of    the   American  Geographical 
Society  is  an  account  of  the  mosquitoes  in  Alaska, 
which  to  those  who  have  not  had  some  experience  of 
these    pests    in   Arctic   regions,    appears    incredible. 
Shooting   is   described    as   impossible,    because    the 
clouds  formed  by  them  were  so  dense  as  to  prevent 
aiming.     Native  dogs  are  sometimes  killed  by  them, 
and   Lieut.   Schwatka  heard  accounts  from  reliable 
persons  which,   coupled  with  his  own  experience,  he 
fully   believes,   of    the   great   grizzly   bear   falling  a 
victim.     The  bear  having  invaded  the  swamps  where 
the  mosquitoes  breed  and  congregate,  stands  up  on 
his  hind  legs  and  fights  them  with  his  fore  paws,  but 
as  they  are  neither  huggable  nor  scratchable,  he  fails, 
is  blinded,  and  finally  starved  in  consequence. 

The  popular  notion  that   these   abominable   little 
wretches   are   chiefly    resident   in  tropical  and  sub- 
tropical  countries  is  quite  a  mistake.     The  home  of 
their  mightiest  legions  is  within  and  about  the  Arctic 
circle.     This  is  evident  even  in  the    course    of  an 
ordinary  coasting  trip  round  the  North  Cape.    At  every 
station  where  a  halt  is  made,  a  living  cloud  invades 
the    ship,    and    its    passengers    suffer    accordingly, 
especially  at  the  wrists,  where  the  blood-suckers  hide 
under  the  shirt  cuff,  and  operate  secretly.    On  proceed- 
ing out  again  to  sea,  they  are  blown  away.     On  the 
occasion  of  my  last  trip,  two  of  my  fellow  passengers 
landed  on  Magero  to  ascend  the  North  Cape  cliffs. 
We  picked  them  up  again  on  our  return.     They  were 
in  sorry  plight.     One  of  them,  a  sturdy  Uhlan  officer, 
who   had   ridden   through    France    during    the   war 
without   mishap,  was   unhorsed   by   the   mosquitoes, 
and  crippled  by  the  fall.     Both  horse  and  rider  were 
so  irritated  that  both  were  lost  to  rational  control. 
"  I  did  svallo  mosquitoes  ;  I  did  breeve  mosquitoes  ; 
I  did  spit  zem  out  of  my  mouf,"  were  the  terms  of  his 
description. 

I  find  that  as  the  limits  of  the  swallow's  summer 
visit  is  reached  the  plague  commences,  and  when 
those  limits  are  passed,  its  maximum  is  attained.  I 
believe  that  our  comparative  immunity  in  England 
is  due  to  the  abundance  of  our  swallows  and  martins, 
which  even  the  most  brutal  of  cockney  sportsmen 
respects,  or  fails  to  hit,  and  whose  nests  are  wisely 
protected  by  common  consent  of  all  our  rustics.  The 
swallow  is  as  loveable  as  the  sparrow  is  detestable. 

The  healing  power  of  living  whale  blubber  is  shown 
by  a  fact  narrated  to  the  Royal  Society  of  Tasmania, 
viz.,  that  in  a  whale  captured  in  Behring's  Straits  in 
Tune  1883,  a  harpoon  was  found  imbedded  in  blubber, 
having  "  Henty.  L.  1838  "  branded  upon  it.  In  1838 
a  whaling  establishment  belonging  to  an  old  Colonial 
family  named  Henty  existed  at  Portland  Bay, 
Victoria.  As  Behring's  Straits  are  a  long  way  from 
Victoria,  an  interesting  question  is  suggested.     Did 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


151 


the  Hentys  sail  nearly  half-way  round  the  globe  to 
harpoon  the  whale,  or  did  the  whale  travel  into  the 
other  hemisphere  to  avoid  further  communications 
with  the  Hentys  ? 

What  is  the  range  of  migration  of  whales  ?  Do 
they  cross  the  equator  ?  I  have  seen  several  in 
latitudes  of  considerable  variation ;  those  in  lower 
latitudes  going  straight  ahead  as  bona  fide  travellers, 
and  at  a  speed  that  would  soon  cover  a  few  thousand 
miles. 

If  scientific  mariners  and  ocean  passengers  would 
record  the  sighting  of  whales,  with  date,  latitude, 
longitude,  and  direction  of  the  monster's  course  and 
probable  speed,  I  think  we  might  obtain  some 
interesting  information.  I  have  little  doubt  that  on 
the  largely  frequented  ocean  tracks,  certain  whales 
might  thus  be  identified,  as  seen  in  different  parts  of 
their  journey  from  different  ships.  As  there  is  always 
a  lower  ice-cold  current  in  all  the  North  and  South 
ocean  highways,  the  cetacean  tourist  may  at  any  time 
take  a  refreshing  dive  when  the  surface  is  oppressively 
warm. 

Among  the  papers  published  in  the  "  Bulletin  of 
the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington,  for  1884,"  is 
one  by  Mr.  Washington  Matthews  on  "  Natural  Natu- 
ralists." The  author  finds  that  the  aboriginal  Indians 
are  students  of  Natural  History,  quite  outside  of  the 
animals  and  plants  they  require  for  use.  He  says : 
"I  never  failed  to  get  from  an  Indian  a  good  and 
satisfactory  name  for  any  species  of  mammal,  bird,  or 
reptile  inhabiting  his  country ;  and  I  have  found  their 
knowledge  of  plants  equally  comprehensive.  The 
Indians  are,  in  this  respect,  as  a  class,  incomparably 
superior  to  the  average  white  man."  The  editor  of 
"The  Journal  of  Science"  quotes  the  above,  and 
adds  :  "  This  evidence  shows  how  much  our  powers  of 
observation  have  been  stunted  by  the  exclusive,  or,  at 
least  mainly,  literary  character  of  our  educational 
systems.  From  childhood  our  attention  is  fixed 
upon  words,  written  or  spoken,  and  except,  among 
specialists,  inobservance  has  followed." 

It  appears  that  my  own  remarks  in  the  May 
number  of  Science-Gossip,  on  the  still  surviving 
exaltation  of  the  Latin  classics  in  modern  education, 
have  brought  forth  a  remonstrance  from  Dr.  P.  Q. 
Keegan  (see  page  138  of  June  number).  He 
misunderstands  me.  I  by  no  means  advocate  the 
exclusion  of  literature,  but  the  contrary  ;  and  would 
give  precedence  far  above  all  to  English  literature, 
which  is  practically  excluded  from  the  present 
curriculum  of  grammar  schools,  and  miserably 
neglected  in  our  universities.  If  there  really  is  any 
basis  for  the  popular  scholastic  notion  that  ancient 
literature  is  especially  elevating,  why  not  be  con- 
sistent, and  commence  with  Greek  ?  There  is  origin- 
ality, subtlety,  ideality  and  philosophy  in  the  Greek 
classics,  those  of  the  Romans  are  at  best  but  clumsy 
imitations  ;  their  poetry  and  philosophy  standing  as 
much  below  those  of  the  Greeks  as  their  sculpture  and 


architecture,  and  similarly  second-hand.  The-fact  is 
that  our  persistent  cramming  of  Latin  is  a  monkish 
inheritance  ;  the  reasons  alleged  for  its  continuance 
are  mere  afterthought  apologies  that  were  never 
imagined  by  its  founders,  who  were  clerics,  and  igno- 
rant of  everything  but  the  language  of  the  church. 

One  of  the  most  puzzling  manifestations  of 
"  instinct "  is  that  presented  by  the  overland 
migration  of  fishes.  That  they  should  leave  ponds 
which  are  gradually  drying  up  is  easily  understood,  as 
the  water  necessarily  becomes  more  saline  or  harder 
as  the  evaporation  proceeds,  but  that  they  should  steer 
directly  towards  larger  ponds,  or  towards  rivers,  as  we 
are  told  they  do,  is  very  astonishing.  My  own  sus- 
picion is  that  they  do  not ;  that  they  simply  wriggle 
blindly  through  the  wet  grass  and  either  perish  or 
survive  as  it  happens ;  that  the  wonderful  sense  of 
direction  exists  only  in  the  imagination  of  those  who 
describe  the  migration.  In  a  country  that  slopes 
towards  a  river  it  is  of  course  probable  that  the 
majority  will  proceed  in  the  direction  of  least 
resistance  i.e.  downwards,  and  thus  eventually  reach 
the  river. 

I  have  observed  that  pond  fishes,  such  as  eels,  tench, 
and  carp,  have  remarkable  powers  of  remaining  alive 
out  of  water  ;  eels  for  several  days  ;  carp  and  tench 
remain  alive  in  damp  grass  above  twenty-four  hours  ; 
in  cool  weather  double  this  time.  "  Nature,"  June 
4th,  page  in,  says  :  "The  eels  of  the  ponds  in  the 
woods  of  Vincennes  leave  them  every  spring  in  large 
numbers,  making  their  way  to  the  Seine  or  the 
Marne,  several  kilometres  distant.  They  take 
advantage  of  rainy  weather,  when  the  herbage  is 
wet,  and  their  instinct  guides  them  directly  to  their 
destination." 

Careful  observation  of  the  proceedings  of  these 
eels  would  be  very  interesting.  Do  they  ever  travel 
up  a  slope,  or  transversely  to  it  ?  If  they  only 
descend  from  higher  ground  downward  to  the  river, 
there  is  no  more  occasion  to  invoke  any  mystery  of 
instinct  to  explain  such  a  course  than  to  attribute  the 
seaward  flows  of  the  river  itself  to  the  directive 
instinct  of  the  water. 

The  origin  of  the  iron  pyrites  which  exists  in  all 
our  coal,  and  in  some  seams  so  abundantly  as  to 
render  them  nearly  worthless  (the  "brassy"  coal 
of  Flintshire  for  example)  has  long  remained  an 
unsolved  enigma.  M.  Dieulefait,  in  a  communication 
to  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  has  shown  that  the  ash 
of  plants  constituting  the  nearest  surviving  represen- 
tatives of  those  of  the  carboniferous  epoch,  contain 
much  more  sulphur  than  ordinary  recent  plants.  This 
is  especially  the  case  with  the  Equisetaceoe.  I  should 
add  that  besides  the  gold-like  crystals  of  iron  pyrites 
there  are  varying  proportions  of  sulphate  of  calcium 
in  coal.  If  this  large  proportion  of  sulphur  was 
common  to  all  the  plants  from  which  the  coal  was 
formed,  M.  Dieulefait's  solution  of  the  problem  is 
satisfactory. 


'52 


HARD  WI CKE ' S  S CIE NCE - G O SSIP. 


Mr.  Galloway  has  done  good  service  in  his  perse- 
vering study  of  the  agency  of  coal  dust  in  producing 
colliery  explosions. 

He  has  completely  refuted  the  old-established 
notion  that  they  are  simply  due  to  the  combustion  of 
the  hydro-carbon  gases  to  which  the  miner  gives  the 
name  of  "  fire-damp."  Mr.  Galloway  has  demon- 
strated clearly  that  fine  coal  dust  stirred  into  ordinary 
air  forms  a  mixture  having  fearful  explosive  energy. 
The  only  question  which  he  leaves  debateable,  is 
whether  a  destructive  colliery  explosion  may  be  due 
to  this  alone,  or  whether  an  initial  explosion  of  fire 
damp  always  occurs. 

That  such  initial  explosion,  by  stirring  up  the  coal 
dust  otherwise  lying  dormant,  and  at  the  same  time 
igniting  it,  may  be  in  many  cases  operative  is  not  to 
be  doubted  ;  but  the  very  practical  and  very  serious 
question,  of  whether  a  pit  free  from  outbursts  of 
carburetted  hydrogen  may  nevertheless  be  liable  to 
explosions  if  dry  and  carelessly  worked,  still  remained 
open.  Mr.  Galloway  contends  that  the  dust  alone 
is  dangerous  ;  others  have  denied  this,  notably  so 
MM.  Mallard  and  Le  Chatelier  in  their  report  to 
the  French  Commission  du  Grisou.  Since  this  a 
Prussian  Fire  Damp  Commission  has  been  appointed, 
and  has  investigated  the  subject  very  thoroughly,  their 
results  confirming  those  of  Mr.  Galloway. 

The  subject  is  of  great  and  growing  importance. 
"We  are  rapidly  exhausting  our  old  coal  seams,  and 
continually  going  deeper  and  deeper  to  supply  the 
voracious  demands  of  our  blast  furnaces,  gas  works, 
wasteful  fire-places,  &c,  and  as  we  get  deeper,  we 
come  upon  dry  workings,  where,  unless  special 
precautions  are  taken,  every  shot  stirs  up  a  cloud 
that  may  contain  particles  fine  enough  to  produce 
a  local  explosion,  the  which  stirs  up  another  cloud  to 
explode  in  like  manner,  and  so  on  to  fearful  results, 
even  in  a  pit  where  naked  candles  may  be  carried 
with  safety  if  the  air  is  not  violently  agitated.  The 
practical  bearing  of  this  upon  the  kind  of  pre- 
caution demanded  is  self-evident.  The  source  of 
danger  being  so  different  from  that  of  fire  damp, 
the  precautions  must  be  modified  accordingly. 

The  commercial  results  of  sewage  farming  are 
usually  very  discouraging.  This  however  has  not 
been  the  case  at  Forfar,  where,  according  to  the 
published  accounts,  a  field  of  38  acres,  which  cost 
,£3,600,  or  £94  per  acre  purchase  money,  has  yielded 
a  profit,  the  total  cost  of  working  being  ^220  l$s. 
including  horse  labour,  manual  labour,  seed  and 
repairs,  and  auctioneer's  commission.  The  receipts 
were  ,£509  12s.  6d.  leaving  a  balance  of  £288  17^.  6d. 
or  8  per  cent,  on  the  capital  outlay.  This  however  does 
not  include  any  management  expenses,  but  supposing 
a  capitalist  to  have  undertaken  it,  and  managed  his 
own  business  and  thereby  saved  the  £24  5^.  2d.  charged 
for  auctioneer's  commission,  he  would  have  obtained  a 
return  of  nearly  9  per  cent,  with  very  little  trouble. 
We  appear  to  be  within    measurable    distance    of 


returning  to  the  soil  nearly  all  we  take  from  it, 
thereby  restoring  our  rivers  to  their  pristine  purity 
and  vastly  increasing  our  food  supplies.  If  the  still 
continuous  downfall  of  rentals  urges  the  landlords  to 
give  to  this  subject  the  degree  of  practical  attention 
which  their  own  interests  demand,  we  may  have 
reason  to  exclaim  with  the  banished  duke,  that  "sweet 
are  the  uses  of  adversity-" 


TEETH  OF  FLIES. 

By  W.  H.  Harris. 

No.  VI. 

(STOMOXYS  CALCITRANS.) 

THE  genus  from  which  the  present  illustration  is 
taken,  forms  a  small  one  of  the  order  Diptera, 
embracing,  according  to  Walker,  three  species  only, 
viz.,  Stomoxys  calcitrans,  S.  irritans,  and  S.  stimulans. 
Towards  the  close  of  summer,  and  during  the  autumn, 


''"'<?-)  V7' 


Fig.  98. — Mouth  of  Stomoxys  calcitrans  X  14  diam.  ph,  ph, 
pharynx  ;  Ibr,  labrum  ;  /,  lingua  ;  la,  labium ;  mp,  maxillary 
palpi ;  le,  levers  or  fulcra  of  labrum. 

S.  calcitrans  enters  our  houses,  and,  by  its  persistent 
and  aggravating  attacks  on  mankind,  does  much  to 
destroy  the  equilibrium  of  the  best  of  tempers.  It  is 
commonly  known  as  the  stable  fly,  but  is  not  at  all 
disinclined  to  pay  attention  to  oxen,  &c.  So  similar 
is  it  in  general  outward  appearance  to  the  ordinary 
house-fly,  that,  unless  special  attention  is  directed  to 
the  mouth  organs,  it  may  easily  be  mistaken  for 
Musca  domestica,  but  while  the  latter  is  compara- 
tively an  inoffensive  creature,  the  former  is  an 
unmitigated  nuisance  ;  in  fact,  the  only  redeeming 
point  about  it  is  of  a  purely  negative  character. 
Possibly  by  stimulating  the  attacked  party  to  take 
some  exercise  to  rid  the  pest,  it  may  do  some  good, 
but  the  benefit  thus  derived  is  more  than  counter- 
balanced, if  a  quiet  after-dinner  nap  has  been 
contemplated.  The  proboscis  is  cylindrical,  with  an 
enlargement  near  its  point  of  attachment  to  the  head. 
Unlike  the  Muscidse,  it  is  incapable  of  being  with- 
drawn, but  always  projects  from  the  head  downward 
and  slightly  forward.  It  is  chitinous,  black,  hard,  and 
beautifully  polished.  Under  the  microscope,  about 
three-fourths  of  the  circumference  is  seen  to  be 
thickly  set  with  very  delicate  transverse  striae,  and 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


153 


a  fourth  part  at  first-sight  apparently  quite  devoid  of 
any  marking.  By  careful  manipulation  with  a  couple 
of  needles  this  may  be  withdrawn,  and  will  be  found 
to  consist  of  two  distinct  parts,  an  outer  one,  or 
sheath,  through  which  the  enclosed  needle-like  organ 
freely  moves.  When  the  proboscis  is  in  its  natural 
condition,  these  parts  are  seen  to  enter,  and  are 
capable  of  being  moved  within  the  cylinder,  which 
•extends  for  a  short  distance  towards  the  end  of  the 
proboscis.     A     reference     to    figure     99    will 


ijive 


and  necessary  to  some  extent  if  we  desire  to  compre- 
hend the  action  of  the  mouth. 

The  free  ends  of  these  organs  are  very  thin  and 
delicate,  and  quite  inadequate  as  a  means  of  inflicting 
a  puncture.  Their  use  undoubtedly  is  to  convey  the 
liquid  aliment  to  the  oesophagus  by  constantly  sliding 
the  parts  within  each  other,  on  the  same  principle  as 
that  employed  in  some  instances  for  lubricating 
machinery  by  means  of  the  needle  lubricator,  which 
may  be  familiar  to  many. 


Fig.  99  —Sucto- 
rial apparatus  of 
S.  calcitrans 
enlarged,  a, 
sheath(Iabrum); 
b,  needle  (lin- 
gua) ;  c,  aper- 
tures, use  un- 
known. 


Fig.  100. — Diagram  of  Teeth  of  Stonwxys  calcitrans  X  330  diatns.  , 


some  idea  of  the  two  parts  referred  to,    the  main 
portion  of  the  proboscis  being  omitted. 

a  is  the  sheath  (Labrum)  carrying  the  needle,  b 
(Lingua)  in  its  concavity,  while  the  convex  side 
being  outward  completes  the  cylindrical  outline  of 
the  proboscis.  The  aperture  at  the  extremity  of  the 
sheath  agrees  in  size,  and  comes  into  close  proximity 
to  the  mouth,  or  rather  that  part  of  it  ia  which  the 
organs  of  dentition  are  situated,  and  to  which  these 
notes  are  chiefly  intended  to  refer ;  but  the  whole  organ 
is  so  full  of  interest  I  have  been  led  to  make  these 
.remarks  as  bearing  in  some  measure  upon  the  subject, 


The  enlarged  portion  of  the  proboscis  is  liberally 
provided  with  muscles,  and  from  these  tendons 
extend  down  to  the  mouth  ;  they  are  very  numerous, 
sufficiently  so  to  supply  individual  movement  to  the 
teeth  and  other  organs  therein  contained. 

In  order  to  display  these  organs  a  different  mode 
of  procedure  is  necessary  to  that  employed  in 
Muscidre.  The  end  of  the  proboscis  must  be  cut  off, 
and  the  point  of  a  very  fine  knife  inserted  in  the 
opening  and  laid  open,  similar  to  what  is  done  to 
display  the  gizzard  of  a  beetle.  The  operation  is 
well  calculated  to  test  the  patience  of  the  operator, 


i54 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


and  many  failures  will  occur  before  a  satisfactory 
■view  will  be  obtained,  unless  singularly  fortunate  or 
proficient. 

The  teeth  are  of  two  distinct  types,  and  associated 
with  them  are  other  organs  to  which  reference  will 
be  made.     The  primary  set  are  stout  and  admirably 
formed  for  puncturing  the  skin  of  the  victim  selected. 
They  are  five  in  number  (dealing  as  heretofore  with 
one  half  of  the   mouth),  each   of  these  carries  one 
rather  small  point  or  denticle,  and,  in  addition,  they 
are  very  finely  serrated,  three  on  one  side  only,  the 
two  central  ones  on  both  sides,  but  it  requires  a  high 
power   to   see   this   distinctly.     In   this   respect   the 
figure   is   slightly   exaggerated    for    clearness'    sake. 
Immediately  behind  these  teeth,  and  situated  near  to 
their  apex,  is  a  set  of  short   curved  appendages,   a 
pair   being   allotted   to  each  tooth.     They 'are  quite 
opaque  and  uniform  in  thickness  throughout.     Their 
use  appears  to  be  for  maintaining   hold  while   the 
other    instruments    do    the    cutting   and   wounding. 
Next   follow  a  set  of  sabre  or  lancet-shaped  teeth, 
very  fine  at  the  points,  and  by  the  lightness  of  colour, 
delicate  in  structure,  but,  nevertheless  formidable  in 
number  for   the  size  of  the  mouth.     These  are  the 
organs  for  making  an  incision.     When  this  has  been 
accomplished,  the  small  hooks  are  inserted,  and  the 
primary  set  soon  completes  the  work.    The  margin  of 
the  mouth  is  very  thickly  set  with  strong  hairs,  each 
springing  from  a  well-defined  base,  apparently  capable 
of  movement.     The  integument  is  quite  opaque,  but 
near  the  margin   assumes   a   tesselated   appearance, 
the  original  cellular  structure  being  preserved,   the 
cells  are  partly  filled  with  pigment,  thus  leaving  the 
margins  well  defined. 

It  will  be  observed  there  are  no  pseudo-trachea 
present  as  in  the  Muscidas,  and  as  these  play  an 
important  part  in  the  collection  and  conveyance 
of  the  food,  their  absence  is  fully  provided  for  in  the 
organ  I  have  attempted  to  describe. 

If  these  creatures  are  plagues  when  alive,  to  the 
microscopist,  they  are  in  death  doubly  so,  at  least 
with  regard  to  their  mouth  organs.  Small,  hard,  and 
very  brittle  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  obtain  a 
fairly  representative  mount,  but  patience  and  per- 
severance will  accomplish  much.  In  this  case  it  has 
done  a  little  to  explain  the  wonderful  contrivance 
employed  to  replenish  the  larder  of  this  little 
creature. 


Slugs  Biting. — It  is  stated  by  Rimmer  that 
Testacella  will  "  bite  savagely."  I  have  never 
succeeded  in  making  it  do  so,  but  the  other  day  on 
handling  a  large  black  specimen  of  Arion  ater  the 
animal  at  once  seized  one  of  the  folds  between  the 
fingers  of  the  hand  on  which  it  was  placed.  The 
rasping  action  could  be  distinctly  felt,  and  after  he 
had  been  allowed  to  operate  for  about  a  minute  the 
skin  was  seen  to  be  abraded. —  W.  Gain,  Tuxford. 


CHAPTERS     ONf  FOSSIL    SHARKS    AND 
RAYS. 

By  Arthur  Smith  Woodward. 

V. 

SriNACID^E. 

THE  Spiny  Dog-fishes  and  their  allies  form  a  large 
family  whose  palaeontological  history  appears 
to  begin  with  the  deposition  of  the  Lias.  So  far  as  is 
known,  Palccospinax,  from  the  Lower  Lias  of  Lyme 
Regis,  is  the  fore-runner  of  the  race,  and  the  earliest 
example  of  a  living  genus  is  Spinax  primavus,  from 
the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Mount  Lebanon. 

Exceedingly    perfect    specimens    of    Pahzospinax 
have  been  discovered  in  the  well-known  Liassic  fish- 
beds  of  Lyme  Regis,  and  by  a  study  of  these  remains 
Sir  Philip    Egerton   has   been  able  to  elucidate  the 
structure  of  the  genus  ;*  space,  however,  prevents  us 
from  entering  far  into  the  anatomical  details,  and  it 
is  only  possible  to  glance  at  one  or  two  of  the  most 
prominent   features.     The    ordinary    length   of    the 
shark  being  not  much  more  than  eighteen  inches,  the 
teeth   are   very   minute,    and   the   use   of  a  lens   is 
necessary  to  reveal  their  characteristics.     They  are 
remarkably  Hybodont  in  shape,  but  a  great  difference 
exists  between  those  of  the  upper  and  lower  jaws, 
and  there  is  also  considerable  variation  even  in  the 
dentition  of  the  same  jaw  ;  fig.  101  represents  a  tooth 
from  the  anterior  part  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  fig.  102 
a  lower  tooth  of  corresponding  position.     The  dorsal 
fin-spines  (fig.  105,  A,  b)  are  likewise  of  small  size,  and 
their    external    surface    is     smooth,    exhibiting    no 
ornament    except    a    few    scattered    tubercles     and 
indistinct  lines  of  growth  at  the  base  of  the  exposed 
portion  :  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  anterior 
spine  (a)  is  smaller,  stouter,  and  more  recurved  than 
the    posterior    (b) — the   reverse   of  what   occurs   in 
Hybodus  and  Acrodus.     The  slender  body  is  covered 
with   fine   shagreen,    and    the   fins   appear   to    have 
possessed  strong  supporting  rays  of  cartilage;  and, 
although  the  second  dorsal  fin  almost  corresponds  in 
position  with  that  of  Cestracion,  there  are  indications 
of  the  anal  being  merged  with  the  caudal  (according 
to  Egerton),  and   this  is  a  special  character  of  the 
family  now  under  consideration. 

The  history  of  Drepanephorus  affords  a  typical 
example  of  the  slow  but  steady  progress  of  palaeon- 
tological  knowledge.  In  1S22,  some  spines  and 
vertebrae  from  the  Chalk  of  Lewes  were  referred  by 
Dr.  Mantell  to  the  Teleostean  "File-fish,"  Balistcs. 
In  1838,  Frof.  Agassiz  showed  that  the  fossils  in. 
question  really  belonged  to  a  shark,  and  considered 
them  to  indicate  an  extinct  species  of  the  living 
genus,  Spinax,  which  he  designated  S.  major. 
Twelve   years   later,    Sir   Philip    Egerton   described 

*  Mem.  Geol.  Surv.,  Dec.  XIII.,  1872,  PI.  VII.  ;  see  al-o 
"Quart.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc.,"  vol.  xxix.,  1873,  p.  420;  and 
"  Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,"  [5],  vol.  vii.,  1881,  pp.  429-432. 


HARDW1CKKS  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i55 


some  scattered  teeth  from  the  Chalk,  under  the  name 
of  Ccstrario7i  canaliculatus,  because  they  seemed  to 
differ  but  little  from  those  of  the  recent  Cestracion, 
except  in  their  smaller  size  and  the  possession  of  a 
minute  channel  passing  obliquely  through  the  root  of 
each.  Three  years  after  this,  in  1S53,  the  same 
ichthyologist  announced  the  discovery  of  a  specimen 
proving  the  teeth  and  spines  to  belong  to  one  fish ; 
and  in  1S72  Sir  Philip,  also,  published  detailed 
descriptions  of  all  the  more  important  specimens 
then  available,  and  proposed  the  generic  name  by 
which  this  Selachian  is  now  known.*  Fig.  106,  A,  B, 
are  drawings  (half  nat.  size)  of  the  first  and 
second  dorsal  fin-spines,  which  are  only  marked  by 
lines  of  growth  and  do  not  appear  to  have  been  very 
deeply  implanted  in  the  soft  parts  ;  and  figs.  103,  104 
represent  an  anterior  and  posterior  tooth,  the  former 
quite  prehensile,  and  the  latter  adapted  for  crushing, 
as  is  the  case  in  the  front  and  back  teeth  of 
Cestracion.  D.  canaliculars  is  the  only  species 
of  the  genus  at  present  recognised,  and  its  remains 
occur  chiefly  in  the  Chalk,  although  other  English 
Cretaceous  deposits  have  yielded  a  few  fragments. 

Rhinid^;. 

Our  object  in  this  series  of  articles  being  to 
dwell  chiefly  upon  those  Selachian  fossils  that 
most  commonly  come  under  the  notice  of  English 
collectors,  and  to  summarise  the  results  of  the  latest 
researches  relating  to  such,  a  passing  notice  will 
suffice  for  the  small,  but  interesting  family  of 
"  Angel-fishes  "  and  "  Monk-fishes."  None  of  their 
remains  are  known  to  occur  in  British  strata,  and  the 
Lithographic  Stone  (U.  Oolite)  of  Bavaria  and 
France  appears  to  be  the  only  Continental  deposit 
yielding  examples  of  importance.  These  have  been 
referred  to  the  living  Rhina  (=  Sqnatina)  and  the 
doubtfully  distinct  genus  Thawnas  :  though  the  gill- 
openings  are  lateral,  the  general  form  of  the  body  is 
much  like  that  of  the  Rays,  and  there  are  no  dorsal 
spines. 

Pleuracanthid.e  (Xenacanthid.e). 

This  is  an  extinct  family,  of  which  much  yet 
remains  to  be  learned.  It  comprises  the  various 
forms  that  have  been  described  at  different  times 
under  the  generic  names  of  Pleuracanthus,  Diplodus, 
Orthacauthus,  Xenacanthus.  and  Triodus,  and  which 
it  is  now  almost  universally  agreed  to  unite  under  the 
first  (the  earliest)  of  these  terms.  Triodus  is  un- 
doubtedly identical  with  the  previously-described 
Xenacanthus,  and  there  is  no  doubt,  likewise,  that 
this  is  the  same  as  Pleuracanthus.  The  chief  dis- 
puted point  is,  whether  Pleuracanthus  and  Ortha- 
canthus  really  differ  generically,  or  merely  specifically, 

*  Mem.  Geol.  Surv.,  Dec.  XIII. 


and  the  most  recent  contribution*  to  the  subject,  by 
Mr.  J.  W.  Davis,  of  Halifax,  seems  to  show  that  the 
latter  is  most  probably  the  case. 

The    ordinary  fossil    remains    of  this   family   met 
with  in  Britain,  are  confined  to  Carboniferous  strata, 
and  present  themselves  in  the  form  of  detached  spines 
(called  Pleuracanthus  and   Orthaeanthus)  and  teeth 
(known  as  Diplodus),  but  the  Continental  specimens, 
to   which   we   shall   shortly   refer,    are    much   more 
complete  and  occur  chiefly  in  the  Lower  Permian. 
The  spines  are  long,  usually  straight,  and  tapering 
to  a  point,   with  a  smooth  or  finely  striated  surface, 
upon  some  part  of  which  are  arranged  two  longitudinal 
rows  of  denticles  ;  they  much  resemble  the  spines  of 
recent  Rays  in  external  shape,  but  differ  from  those 
of  such  as  Trygon  and  Myliobatis  in  not  being  solid, 
but  possessing  a  hollow  cavity  which  opens  at  the  base. 
Fig.  107  represents  a  typical  example  of  the  Pleuracan- 
thus spine,  half  the  natural  size,  and  the  diagrammatic 
transverse  sections,  figs.  108,  109,  show  the  difference 
between  this   and  the  form  originally  termed  Ortha- 
eanthus ;    the    latter,    it    will  be  observed,   is  much 
more  cylindrical  than  the  former,   and  the  rows  of 
denticles  are   placed  close  together  along  the  back, 
instead  of  far   apart  along  the  sides,  but  in  the  paper 
already  mentioned,  numerous  intermediate  forms  are 
described,  which  demonstrate  that  these  are  only  the 
two  extremes  of  a  nearly  continuous  series. 

The  little  bodies  known  as  Diplodus  (fig.  no)  consist 
of  a  thick  bony  base,  upon  which  are  fixed  two 
comparatively  large  diverging  denticles,  with  a 
smaller  denticle  and  a  little  flat-topped  or  rounded 
boss  rising  between.  They  occur  not  unfrequently 
at  many  Coal  Measure  localities,  and  considerable 
numbers  are  sometimes  met  with  in  association. 
Agassiz  originally  described  them  as  teeth,  and  this 
seems  to  be  the  view  now  generally  accepted,  but 
some  palaeontologists  have  expressed  the  opinion 
that  they  are  simply  dermal  tubercles  analogous  to  the 
prickles  of  the  "  Thornback  "  and  other  recent  Rays.f 

The  Permian  specimens  of  Pleuracanthus  {Xena- 
canthus) found  in  Germany  elucidate  many  important 
details  in  the  anatomy  of  the  interesting  Selachians 
whose  fragmentary  remains  have  just  been  noticed. 
Some  examples,  in  fact,  exhibit  nearly  all  the  hard 
parts  of  the  fish  in  their  proper  relative  positions. 
The  body  is  slightly  flattened,  and  the  general  shape 
recalls  that  of  Rhina  ;  there  are  numerous  teeth,  of 
the    Diplodus    type, %    in    the  jaws,    and   the   large 


*  Quart.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc.  London,  vol.  xxxvi.  (1880), 
pp.  331-336.  References  to  previous  literature  are  here  given. 
t  "Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist."  [4]  vol.  i.,  1868,  p.  371. _ 
{  We  may  here  note  that  this  type  of  tooth  is  not  exclusively 
confined  to  Pleuracanthics,  having  been  found  in  association 
with  at  least  one  other  spine  in  the  Lower  Carboniferous,  (T. 
Stock,  "Nature,"  vol.  xxvii.  1882,  p.  22).  Further,  recent 
numbers  of  the  American  Scientific  Journals  contain  notices 
of  a  new  Shark,  named  Chlamydoselachus  from  the  Japanese 
seas,  of  which  the  dentition  is  exceedingly  similar ;  in  fact, 
Professor  Cope  has  ventured  to  refer  the  latter  to  the  Palaeozoic 
genus,  but  the  figures  show  the  fish  to  be  very  different  in  form 
and  indicate  the  absence  of  a  spine. 


i56 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


straight  spine  is  imbedded  in  the  muscular  tissues  at 
the  back  of  the  head.  The  structure  of  the  paired 
fins,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  is  singular,  and 
there  is  a  long  dorsal  fin  behind  the  spine,  but  the 
caudal  is  imperfectly  known.  The  skin  appears  to 
have  been  almost  destitute  of  shagreen,  and  hence 
traces  of  the  internal  skeleton  are  well  shown ; 
there  is  evidence  of  the  notochord  being  persistent, 
but  neural  and  haemal  arches,  with  interspinous 
elements  for  the  support  of  the  dorsal  fin,  are 
distinctly  visible. 


known  by  Sir  Richard  Owen  in  his  "  Odontography," 
in  1840.  The  crown  of  the  tooth  is  somewhat  petal- 
shaped — a  peculiarity  suggesting  its  name — and  is 
fixed  upon  a  remarkably  long  root ;  the  cutting  edge 
is  slightly  denticulated,  and  a  number  of  transverse 
folds  of  enamel  usually  appear  at  the  base.  It  is 
essentially  a  laniary  tooth,  and  no  part  can  have 
been  used  for  grinding  or  crushing  ;  but  the  mode 
of  arrangement  of  the  dentition  in  the  mouth,  and 
the  number  of  its  components,  can  only  be  inferred 
from  what  is  known  of  allied  forms,  no  very  perfect 


Fig.  101. — Upper  anterior 
tooth  of  I'alcrospinax 
prisons. 


Fig.    102. — Lower   anterior 
tooth     of    Palceospinax 

prisons. 


Fig.  103. — Anterior   tooth  of 
Drep  mephorus     canalicu- 
latus. 


Fig.  104. — Posterior  tooth  of 
Drepancpliorus  canahcu- 
latus. 


LM 


A  b 

Fig.  105. — Dorsal  spines  of  Pal&ospinax priscus. 


Fig.  106. — Dorsal  spines  of  Drepaucphorus  canaliculars. 


Fig.  107. — Spine  of  Pleuracanthus  lavissimus  (i  nat.  size). 


' 


o 


Fig.  10S.  —  Trans 
sect,  of  spine  of 
Orthacanthus. 


Fig.    109.  —  Tran?. 
sect,    i  f    s-pine    of 
Pleuracanthus 
lavissimus. 


Fig.  no. —Tooth  named 
Diplodus  gibbosus. 


Fig.  in. — Tooth  of 
Pctalodus  aciuiiiiiatus. 


PETALODONTIDjE. 

Like  the  group  just  considered,  the  Petalodonts 
constitute  an  extinct  family,  ranging  only  through  a 
limited  space  of  geological  time  ;  numerous  genera, 
or  so-called  genera,  are  known  to  occur  in  strata  of 
Lower  Carboniferous  to  Upper  Permian  age,  but 
none  appear  to  have  been  discovered  in  deposits  of 
later  date.  These  fishes  were  evidently  destitute 
of  spines,  and  so  are  represented  as  fossils  merely  by 
teeth,  shagreen,  and  occasional  fragments  of  cartilage  ; 
but  we  are  fortunate  in  possessing  important  informa- 
tion regarding  the  arrangement  of  the  dentition  in  at 
least  two  of  the  forms,  and  these  particulars  afford 
valuable  aid  towards  determining  the  natural  affinities 
of  the  group. 

The  type-genus  is  Pctalodus  (fig.  in),  first  made 


examples  of  jaws  of  Pctalodus  itself  having  hitherto 
been  met  with.  It  occurs  abundantly  in  the  Lower 
Carboniferous,  and  specimens  have  even  been  re- 
corded from  the  Coal  Measures,  but,  as  will  presently 
be  shown,  the  identification  of  the  latter  must  be 
regarded  as  doubtful. 

(7o  be  continued.) 


On  June  9th  a  statue  of  Mr.  Darwin,  executed  by 
Mr.  Boehm,  R.A.,  was  unveiled  in  the  British 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  South  Kensington,  in 
presence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  a  large  assembly. 
Professor  Huxley,  as  Chairman  of  the  Memorial 
Committee,  made  over  the  statue  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  represented  the  Trustees  of  the  British 
Museum. 


HARDWICKE'  S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i57 


PARASITICAL  FLOWERING  PLANTS. 
By  A.  D.  Webster. 

THIS  curious  and  interesting  class  of  plants  has 
but  few  British  representatives,  and  these, 
with  perhaps  one  exception,  by  no  means  ornamental, 
which  will,  to  a  great  extent,  account  for  the  very 
meagre  information  we  at  present  possess  regarding 
the  various  species  of  which  the  family  is  composed. 


Fig.  in. — Otobanche  r.ipum.     Broom-rape. 

Among  British  parasitical  plants  are  the  follow- 
ing genera  :  the  dodder  (Cuscuta)  ;  broom-rape 
(Orobanche)  ;  toothwort  (Lathrsea)  ;  and  mistletoe 
( Viscicm  album)  ;  these  again  being  subdivided  into 
about  a  dozen  species,  the  following  being  a  short 
description  of  each,  with  original  notes  jotted  clown 
as  opportunities  offered.  These  parasites  may  be 
divided  into  two  kinds,  viz.  :  those  that  attach  them- 
selves to  the  roots  of  different  plants,  as  the  broom- 


rape  and  toothwort,  hence  called  root-parasites,  and 
those  that  live  on  the  stem  or  branches  as  the  mistle- 
toe and  dodder. 

The  genus  Orobanche  comprises  some  half-a-dozen 
species,  most  of  which  are  difficult  to  recognise,  and 
have  given  a  more  than  ordinary  amount  of  trouble 
in  classification.  They  are  fleshy  herbs,  with  tuberous 
roots,  and  never  truly  green,  but  generally  of  a 
brown  or  russet  colour.  They  are  also  destitute  of 
leaves,  but  covered  instead  with  small,  brown  ob 
reddish  scales. 

These  plants  present  the  remarkable  peculiarity 
that  each  species  is  generally  confined  to  or  lives  on 
the  same  species  of  plants,  thus  the  Orobanche  major 
feeds  upon  furze  and  broom  ;  O.  rubra  upon  thyme  ; 
O.  ramosa  on  hemp  and  lucerne  ;  O.  minor  on  red 
clover,  turf,  &c. ;  O.  elatior  on  various  species  of 
composite,  as  centaury  and  milfoil ;  and  O.  ccerulem 
on  Achillea  millefolium. 

The  greater  broom-rape  (O.  major)  is,  as  its 
name  denotes,  our  largest  native  species.  Here  I 
have  found  this  plant  in  considerable  quantity,  but, 
strange  to  say,  always  parasitic  on  furze  and  never  on 
broom  as  the  popular  name  would  lead  one  to 
suppose.  In  most  botanical  works  it  is  also  stated 
to  be  found  in  greatest  quantity  on  broom,  less  so  on 
furze. 

This  cannot  be  attributed  to  the  want  or  absence 
of  broom   here,    for   in  several   cases  where  I    have 
found  the  broom-rape   growing  in  abundance,  there 
were  also  in  close  proximity  numberless  plants  of  the 
broom,  so  that  had  a   preference  been  given,  as  is. 
generally  believed,  there  is   no  doubt  it  would  have 
been  found  on  the  latter  plant,  especially  under  such, 
favourable   circumstances.      I  have   also   frequently 
noticed  that  this   broom-rape  seems  to  prefer  living 
on    such   plants  as   grow  in    a    warm,     dry,  usually 
sandy  soil  and    sheltered  situation,  as  on    the  more 
exposed  parts  of  the  ground,  although  furze  may  be 
growing     in    quantity,     the    broom-rape    gradually 
disappears,  whereas  on  the  southern  and  consequently 
warmer  side  it  is  found  in  abundance.     The  root  is 
tuberous  and   composed   of  a  number  of  lanceolate, 
fleshy   scales,    somewhat   similar    in   appearance    to. 
those  of  the  lily,  and  so  closely  packed  together  at 
the  centre  that  when  cut  across  with  a  sharp  knife 
the  root  appears  quite  solid.     The  scales  on  the  outer 
portion  of  the  root  are,  however,  less  firmly  packed,    • 
and  the  points  slightly  protruding.     When  bursting 
through   the  ground  the  shoot   in  size,    shape,    and 
appearance  very  closely  resembles  that  of  our  garden 
asparagus,  even  the  peculiar  purplish  hue,  so  char- 
acteristic of  that  plant  when  in  a  young  state,  is   not 
wanting   in    the   orobanche.      The   reproduction  of 
this  plant,  which  is  both  marvellous  and  interesting, 
is  affected  either  by  seed  or  increase  of  the  root.     In 
the   latter   case   the  new   root  or  tuber,   as   in    our 
common  Orchis,   is  produced  alongside  that  of  the 
one    supporting    the    present    plant,    and    inwards 


i58 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


towards  the  main  stem  of  the  gorse.  The  root  is, 
however,  capable  of  producing  more  than  one  new 
tuber  at  the  same  time  or  during  the  same  season,  as 
I  have  frequently  found  after  careful  examinations  of 
old  plants  that  there  were  two  and  in  some  cases 
three  new  tubers  formed,  and  ready  for  advancing 
into  active  growth  in  spring.  They  are  usually 
attached  to  the  roots  of  the  gorse  at  a  depth  of  from 
four  to  six  inches,  and  never,  that  I  have  seen,  above 
ground  level. 

The  propagation  by  seed  is  a  very  slow  process, 
these  usually  requiring  three  and  in  not  a  few  cases 
four  years  to  produce  flowering  plants.  The  plants 
never  appear  above  ground  until  of  a  flowering  size, 
which  will  readily  account  for  the  absence  of  young 
specimens — a  fact  which  has  frequently  been  noted 
and  commented  upon  by  accurate  observers.  As  all 
the  specimens  examined  were,  as  above  stated, 
growing  on  the  gorse  roots  at  a  depth  of  from  four  to 
six  inches,  I  have  often  been  puzzled  to  satisfactorily 
account  for  how  the  seeds  penetrate  to  such  a  depth. 
The  only  probable  explanation,  and  one  that  will  also 
account  for  the  greater  abundance  of  the  plant  in 
gravelly  porous  ground,  is  that  the  seeds,  being  very 
minute,  are  readily  washed  downwards  by  the  heavy 
rains  through  the  loose  sandy  soil  in  which  the  plant 
delights  to  grow. 

That  this  plant  is  parasitical,  and  not  epiphytal,  as 
supposed  by  some,  I  have  repeatedly  proved  beyond 
a  doubt,  for  on  carefully  digging  up  the  root  it  will 
be  found  impossible  to  sever  it  from  that  of  the  furze, 
and  even  when  cut  across  at  point  of  attachment 
both  seem  so  perfectly  united  as  to  appear  like  one. 
I  also  think  it  is  an  error  to  figure  this  plant  as  it  is 
in  most  floras  with  rootlets  at  the  point  of  parasitical 
attachment,  as  these,  although  I  have  gone  to  a  great 
amount  of  trouble  in  grubbing  up  plants  to  find  if 
such  really  was  the  case,  I  never  could  detect. 
Certainly  there  are  rootlets,  as  those  of  other  plants 
seem  to  have  a  particular  affinity  for  working  their 
way  between  the  loose  outer  scales  of  the  tuber  of 
this  plant.  The  root  of  the  furze  also  sends  out  tiny 
rootlets  which  may  readily  be  mistaken  for  those  of 
the  orobanche. 

That  part  of  the  furze  root  where  the  attachment 
takes  place  is  much  enlarged,  but  outward  from 
that  point  it  dies  off,  no  doubt  from  the  circulation 
of  the  sap  being  averted  by  the  parasitic  growth. 
The  plant  flowers  in  May  and 'June,  the  period 
being  however,  greatly  extended  in  some  specimens. 

From  observations  made  for  a  number  of  years  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  in  a  dry,  warm 
season  this  plant  attains  to  greater  perfection,  and 
remains  undestroyed  for  a  much  longer  period  than 
during  dull,  damp  weather.  The  largest  specimen 
I  have  found  measured  thirty-eight  inches  in  length, 
had  a  stem  one  and  a  quarter  inches  in  diameter,  and 
bore  ninety-nine  flowers. 

This  gigantic  specimen  I  have  carefully  preserved 


as  a  memento  of  the  plant.  The  average  size  in  this 
district  when  growing  under  favourable  circumstances 
is,  however,  from  two  to  two-and-a-half  feet  in 
height. 

The  lesser  broom-rape  (O.  minor),  though  smaller 
in  all  its  parts,  very  nearly  approaches  in  general 
structure  the  former  species,  indeed  it  is  questionable 
if  these  two  species  are  specifically  distinct,  as  the 
different  plants  on  which  the  orobanche  grows  seem 
to  alter  the  nature  of  the  so-called  species  in  a 
remarkable  degree.  As  the  name  indicates,  this 
plant  is  usually  of  smaller  growth  and  more  slender 
than  O.  major,  and  with  more  or  less  of  a  blue  tinge 
in  the  flower,  but  this  is  by  no  means  constant,  as 
forms  with  pale  yellow  and  deep  blue  flowers  are  not 
uncommon.  This  species  seems  to  be  by  no  means 
particular  as  to  the  plant  on  which  it  grows,  having 
been  found  somewhat  plentiful  on  our  common  ivy, 
clover,  the  Eryngium,  &c,  and  varying  much 
according  to  the  plant,  as  well  as  situation,  in  which 
it  is  found — this  having  no  doubt  given  rise  to  the 
several  varieties  into  which  the  plant  has  been 
divided  ;  but  the  differences  between  these  varieties, 
or  rather  forms,  are  so  minute  and  inconstant  as  to 
be  deemed  unworthy  of  separate  remarks.  It  occurs 
sparingly  in  this  country,  and  is  more  generally 
found  on  the  turf  than  any  other  plant. 

Two  other  species  very  nearly  approaching  the 
latter  are  the  clover-scented  and  red  broom-rapes 
(O.  caryophyllacea  and  O.  rubra),  the  former 
parasitic  on  galiums  and  the  latter  on  thyme.  It  is 
generally  believed,  indeed  has  been  recorded  on  the 
highest  botanical  authority,  that  0.  rubra  is  not 
parasitic,  and  that  the  plant  is  exclusively  confined  to 
basaltic  rocks,  such  as  those  of  the  north  of  Ireland 
and  east  coast  of  Scotland.  That  neither  of  these 
statements  can,  however,  be  accepted  as  wholly 
correct,  the  following  interesting  and  valuable  inform- 
ation, kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  Lindsay,  curator  of 
the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Edinburgh,  only  too 
plainly  shows.  Mr.  Lindsay  says,  "  In  reply  to  your 
note  regarding  Orobanche  rubra  being  parasitic,  I 
have  to  say  that  it  is  so,  and  think  there  can  be  but 
little  doubt  that  the  other  species  are  parasitic  also. 
In  the  rock  garden  here,  O.  rubra  has  become 
thoroughly  established,  self-sown  plants  have  come 
up  in  different  directions,  but  always  on  some  species 
of  thymus,  oftenest  on  T.  serpyllum,  never  on  any 
other  kind  of  plant."  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  plant 
is  more  abundant  in  Britain  than  is  generally 
supposed,  but  the  inconspicuous  appearance,  and  out- 
of-the-way  places  in  which  it  is  usually  found,  as  well 
as  general  resemblance  to  O.  major,  have  all  much  to 
do  in  accounting  for  the  supposed  rarity  of  O.  rubra. 

The  branched  broom-rape  (0.  ramosa)  is  a  rare 
British  species,  being  almost  confined  to  a  few  of  the 
southern  English  counties.  This  and  the  blue  broom- 
rape  (0.  cczrulea),  the  former  in  particular,  are  the 
only   members   of    the   family   having   branched   or 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i59 


divided  stems,  though  this  peculiarity  is  not  constant 
in  all  the  plants. 

The  branched  broom-rape  is  a  very  distinct  species, 
being  usually  of  a  pale  yellow  or  straw  colour,  and 
seldom  exceeding  six  or  eight  inches  in  height.  The 
branches  spring  almost  immediately  from  the  root, 
and  in  an  upright  position,  and  are,  at  the  point  of 
juncture,  slightly  enlarged.  When  fresh,  or  in  a  grow- 
ing state,  the  stem  is  almost  cylindrical,  but  becomes 
angular  when  old,  is  slightly  pubescent,  of  a  dirty 
yellow  colour,  and  furnished  with  but  very  few  scales. 
It  is  usually  found  on  hemp,  and  for  this  reason  is 
perhaps  less  plentiful  than  if  hemp  crops  were 
more  generally  cultivated.  This  is  an  annual  species, 
but  is  readily  propagated  by  sowing  the  seeds  along 
with  those  of  the  hemp,  to  the  root  of  which  it  will 
soon  become  attached. 

The  purple  or  blue  broom-rape  (O.  caruled)  is  a 
small  growing  plant,  rarely  reaching  a  foot  in  height, 
and  readily  distinguished  from  any  other  member  of 
the  family  by  the  colour  of  the  flowers,  which  is  of  all 
shades,  from  pale  violet  to  a  deep  purplish  blue.  It 
is  occasionally  found  branched,  though  much  less 
seldom  than  the  former  species. 

In  the  Channel  Islands  this  plant  is  pretty  abun- 
dant, more  so  than  in  England,  where  it  has  only  been 
found  in  Hampshire  and  Norfolk,  and  there  always 
parasitic  on  Achillea  millefolium. 

{To  be  continued.) 


HOLIDAY  RAMBLES 

THROUGH     WIGTONSHIRE. 

By  G.  Claridge  Druce,  F.L.S. 

{Continued  from  p.  132.] 

THE  third  day  was  by  rail  to  Castle  Kennedy,  the 
magnificent  demesne  of  the  Earl  of  Stair,  whose 
judicious  taste  has  made  the  park  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  Britain,  and  the  collection  of  conifers 
so  extensive  and  interesting  as  to  be  a  great  attraction 
to  horticulturists  from  all  parts  of  Britain,  its 
avenue  of  the  steel  blue  Finns  nobilis  being  an 
especial  feature ;  while  the  enormous  extent  of  the 
terraces,  the  fine  view  of  the  White  Loch,  the 
well-grown  araucarias,  all  contribute  to  the  general 
effect,  and  render  a  visit  to  Loch  Insh  a  day  of 
great  enjoyment.  In  the  extensive  piece  of  water 
called  the  WThite  Loch,  which  stretches  for  nearly  a 
mile  to  the  west  of  Castle  Kennedy,  Lobelia  Dort- 
mania,  Littorella,  Scirpus  palustris,  etc.  occurred. 
In  the  round  pond  grew  Alisma  ranunculoides, 
var.  subrepens,  which  possibly  is  the  Alisma  natans 
of  the  '  Botanist's  Guide '  recorded  from  the  Black 
Loch,  but  in  which  no  trace  of  it  could  be  found. 

Filularia   occurred  also,   with  Helcsciadium  inun- 
datum,  in  the  round  pond.     On  the  ruins  of  Castle 


Kennedy  Linaria  purpurea  is  completely  naturalised, 
as  is  Polemo)iiuin  in  the  grounds.  In  the  Black  Loch 
grew  Potamogcton  heterophyllus  ;  while  the  dry  grassy 
slope,  cut  into  terrace  gardens,  yielded  Gentiana 
campcslris,  Aira  pnecox,  Lysimachia  nemorum,  Carex 
prcecox,  Origanum,  and  Orchis  pyramidalis.  By  the 
side  of  the  Black  Loch  Galium  uliginosum  occurred, 
and  Nuphar  and  Nymphaa  grew  in  its  waters.  As 
to  the  indigeneity  of  these  latter  it  is  difficult  to  state. 

Between  Loch  Insh  and  Innermessan  Hypericum 
humifusum,  Armaria  rubra,  Ornithopus,  grew  in 
plenty  ;  while  the  sandy  and  shingly  tract  of  sea-board 
between  Intermessan  and  Stranraer  afforded  Atriplex 
Babingtonii,  Silene  mariiima,  a  most  profuse  growth 
of  Armeria,  Plantago  maritima,  Sclerochloa  lobacea, 
Honkeneya,  Sagina  mariiima,  S.  nodosa  (not  the  typi- 
cal form,  nor  yet  the  form  glandulosa),  Plantago  co- 
ronopus,  Zostera  marina,  Polygonum  Raii,  Lcpigonum 
salinum.  In  a  little  brook  that  ran  into  the  sea  near 
Intermessan,  Ranunculus  truncatus  grew,  and  a 
maritime  form  of  Fumaria  Borcei  was  frequent  on 
the  shingle.  A  solitary  specimen  of  Mentha  alopecu- 
roides  grew  near  Stranraer.  This  day  yielded  nearly 
50  additional  species. 

The  fourth  day  was  spent  in  first  strolling  up  the 
Bree-side  above  Newton.  In  the  shady  woods  were 
gathered  Solidago  virga-aurea  (a  rare  plant  in  Wig- 
ton),  Pyrola  minor,  Luzula  sylvatica  and  pilosa, 
Sanicula,  Geu?n  rivale  and  intermedium,  Thahctrum 
sp.,  probably  Kochii,  but  the  achenes  had  not  formed  ; 
Rubus  saxatilis,  Hieracium  boreale,  Asperula  odorata, 
Melica  uniflora,  Chrysosplenium  opposit, 'folium,  Allium 
ursinum,  Trollius  Furopwus,  Mercurialis  (rare  in 
Wigton),  and  a  Melampyruin,  a  form  of  pratense  so 
similar  to  sylvaticum  as  to  be  mistaken  for  it,  the 
book  description  of  the  species  contributing  to  the 
error.  This  had  the  deep  yellow  flowers  with  open 
mouth  of  sylvaticum,  but  their  size  and  spreading 
growth  were  like  pratense,  to  which  plant  the  bracts 
and  capsule  brought  it.  It  was  quite  different  from 
the  var.  montanum.  The  non-occurrence  of  sylvaticum 
renders  the  hybrid  theory  untenable.*  Galium  boreale, 
the  only  mountain  and  almost  the  only  northern 
plant,  grew  at  the  base  of  the  cliff,  but  Wigtonshire 
can  scarcely  own  it  as  a  native,  since  its  home  was 
undoubtedly  the  high  ground  of  the  Cairnsmore  of 
Fleet,  from  which  the  seeds  had  been  carried  by  the 
Cree.  Between  Glen  Cree  and  Glenrazie  Silene 
inflata  was  picked  in  its  only  locality  noticed,  and  also 
a  pink-flowered  form  of  Lychnis  vespertina.  Viola 
lutca,  var.  amosna,  also  grew  here,  and  about 
Challoch  a  small  patch  of  Equisetum  sylvaticum. 
Further  work  for  the  day  was  prevented  by  my 
ankle,  which  had  been  dislocated  in  Forfarshire  and 
had  been  troublesome  all  along,  at  length  preventing 
further  walking,  but  about  thirty  additional  plants 
had  been  noticed  during  the  morning's  walk. 


Dr 


Since  described  as  Melampyrum  pratense,  L.  var.  Mans, 


i6o 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The  fifth  day  was  by  train  to  Whauphill,  and  then 
drive   to    Portwilliam.      Along    the   road    Trifoliutii 

medium  was  noticed  in  one  place,  and  Sambucus  nigra 
occurred  in  the  hedgerows.  At  Portwilliam,  on  the 
sea-shore  and  shingle  grew  in  plenty  Carduus  tenui- 
florus,  Rosa  spinosissima,  and  the  Crambe  maritime, 
in  great  quantity,  with  ripe  fruit,  and  then  small 
patches  of  some  vetch,  which  at  first  from  the  rigid 
habit  looked  like  Orobus,  but  nearer  inspection  showed 
to  be  sylvatica*  very  different  from  the  type  :  instead 
of  the  large  rampant  plant,  "climbing  and  twisting  in 
iendrilled  strength  "  over  the  bushes,  with  thin  leaves 
and  white  flowers  delicately  pencilled  with  blue, 
appeared  a  small  compact  prostrate  plant,  about  two 
feet  across,  with  coriaceous,  glabrous,  and  frequently 
glaucous  leaves,  rigid  habit,  short  peduncles  and 
pedicels,  and  flowers  not  nearly  so  large  as  type,  suf- 
fused with  a  brownish-purple  colour  ;  which,  despite 
the  crowded  state  of  our  synonyms,  seems  worth 
varietal  distinction,  at  any  rate  if  such  forms  as  Lotus 
crassifolius,  Sarothamnus  procumbens,  or  Genista 
humifusa  are  to  be  so  distinguished.  This  probably  is 
the  plant  recorded  from  the  Galloway  coast  by  Prof. 
Balfour.  Glaucium  luteum  occurred  at  intervals  with 
Geranium  Robert.,  Convolvulus,  Soldanella,  &c.  In 
the  sandy  tracts  the  maritime  form  of  Galium  verum 
(G.  iittorale)  occurred,  and  in  the  shingle  a  prostrate 
growth  of  Prunus  spinosa,  about  six  inches  high,  was 
plentiful  ;  then  on  a  muddy  tract  where  Sclerochloa 
had  formed  a  turf  grew  Carex  extensa  in  considerable 
plenty  ;  later  on  came  Salsola,  and  then  on  the  sands 
near  Monreith  Bay  came  Eryngus  maritimus,  Carexare- 
naria,  Erythrcea  littoralis,  Carlina  vulgaris,  Erodiutu 
maritimum,  Triticum  junceum,  etc.  At  Monreith  on 
the  hillside  in  damp  ground  occurred  Juncus  glaucus, 
Samolus,  Anagaliis  tenella,  Triglochin  palustre,  Schce- 
nus  nigricans  (the  latter  singularly  absent  from  a  great 
part  of  the  county),  Helianthemum  vulgare  (another 
rarity),  Etipatoriuin  canndbinum,  Briza  minor  (rare), 
Rubus  ccesius,  etc.  On  the  hill-slopes  overlooking  the 
sea  in  early  spring  there  must  have  been  a  profuse  growth 
of  Scilla  vema,  here  and  there  the  dried  capsules  still 
showing  themselves,  and  the  tubers  could  be  turned  up 
by  scores  with  little  trouble.  Returning  to  Portwilliam 
and  keeping  on  the  hill-slopes,  Equisetum  maximum 
was  found  in  a  curious  state ;  the  barren  reslival 
branches  bearing  at  the  apex  the  fertile  vernal  spike, 
a  form  very  rarely  noticed  in  Britain.  Then  came 
some  nice  bushes  of  Rosa  Sabini,  then  Senebiera 
coronopus,  and  shortly  before  reaching  Portwilliam,  a 
discoid  of  Senecio  Jacobcca,  of  rare  occurrence.  Boswell 
records  it  from  Wexford  and  Sutherland  ;  and  Sherard 
in  Ray,  Syn.,  3rd  edition,  records:  "  Jacobaea,  Flore 
nudo  copiosissime  nascens  in  sabulosis  prope  littus, 
tribus  vel  quatuor  millioribus  a  Drogheda  occurrit ; " 
and  inspection  of  the  Sherardian  specimen  showed  it 
to  be  identical  with  the  Wigton  plant.     Between  Port- 

*  Since  described  as  Vicia  sylvaiica,  L.,  var.  condensata. 


william  and  Clone  Point  Malva  moschata  grew  in 
great  plenty  ;  Lycopsis  arvensis  occurred  in  cultivated 
fields,  and  in  the  grass  by  the  sea-shore  Ranunculus 
hirsutus,  which  I  should  think  to  be  wild  ;  nearer  the 
town  in  suspicious  localities  occurred  Echium,  Ana- 
cyclus  radiatus,  Phalaris  Cauarieusis,  and  other  intro- 
ductions. 

The  result  of  the  five  days'  work  in  the  county  was 
the  recording  of  509  species  and  34  varieties,  for  a 
detailed  list  of  which  I  must  refer  your  readers  who 
are  interested  in  the  subject  to  the  Report  of  the 
Botanical  Record  Club   of  the  British  Isles  for  1883. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  that  Balfour's  tour  in  N. 
Uist,  Harris,  and  the  Lewis  yielded  338  records.  My 
own  West  Ross  list  contained  373  ;  and  Balfour's  list 
of  plants  seen  in  the  Mull  of  Canty  re,  &c,  456. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

Some  details  have  lately  been  published  about  the 
Forth  railway  bridge.  It  has  been  in  progress  for 
two  years  and  is  expected  to  take  five  years  more. 
Some  of  the  girders  have  been  placed  upon  the 
piers,  though  the  piers  on  which  they  rest  are  not  yet 
built  to  their  full  height,  the  mode  of  procedure 
being  to  raise  the  structure  gradually  by  hydraulic 
power,  the  masonry  being  at  the  same  time  built  up 
foot  by  foot  beneath  it.  The  metal-work  is  all  of 
steel.  The  total  length  of  the  bridge  will  be  over  a 
mile  and  a  half;  the  two  main  spans  1710  feet  each, 
and  the  height  of  the  rails  above  the  water  150  feet. 
The  estimated  cost  is  £1,600,000. 

In  a  pamphlet  on  "  The  Origin  and  Reproduction 
of  Animal  and  Vegetable  Life  on  our  Globe,"  Mr. 
Thomas  Spencer,F.C.S.,  F.R.M.S.,  states,  among  the 
conclusions  at  which  he  has  arrived,  some  which  differ 
more  or  less  from  those  generally  received.  He  be- 
lieves that  he  has  discovered  "  the  hitherto  inscrutable 
principle  by  which  life  is  imparted  to  matter,"  not, 
however,  to  the  exclusion  of  a  Creator.  The  long 
sought  origin  of  the  life  on  our  globe  is  to  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  the  acid-forming  suboxide  or  magnetic 
oxide  of  iron  exists,  accompanied  by  moisture,  in 
every  reproductive  germ,  animal  or  vegetable,  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe  ;  though  the  author  allows  after- 
wards that  this  wide  statement  is  partly  arrived  at 
by  analogy.  The  preservation  for  ages  of  moisture  in 
the  seed  is  due  in  part  to  the  occult  action  of  ozone, 
which  "contains  a  double  atom  of  oxygen  with 
water  and  electricity,  in  combination  with  some 
iron."  It  seems  also  that  at  least  part  of  the  warmth 
of  the  body  is  due,  according  to  our  author,  to  the 
heat  liberated,  along  with  electricity,  at  the  same 
time  as  the  moisture  in  the  air  inhaled  by  the  lungs 
is  decomposed.  There  is  an  air  of  dogmatism  about 
these  statements.     They  are  indeed  said  to  be  in  no 


HARDU'ICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


161 


sense  speculative,  speculation  being  reserved  till  the 
last  few  pages.  Nevertheless,  their  variance  from 
commonly  received  ideas  makes  one  hesitate  to 
accept  them  at  once  as  truth. 

A  new  kind  of  warlike  apparatus  has  been  proposed 
and  was  recently  the  subject  of  a  lecture  by  Mr.  F. 
A.  Gower.  The  term  "air  torpedoes"  has  been 
used  in  reference  to  it,  but  Mr.  Gower  prefers  "air 
battery."  Directed  balloons,  or  "aerostats,"  filled 
with  hydrogen  from  reservoirs  of  the  compressed  gas 
would  be  sent  to  attack  forces  miles  away  and  by 
exploding  shells  of  gun-cotton  over  armies,  forts,  and 
arsenals,  would  expose  them  to  danger  in  a  new 
way.  How  they  are  to  be  directed  from  so  great  a 
distance  did  not  appear  in  the  report.  The  lecturer 
proposed  thus  "  to  make  the  loss  of  an  army  a  result 
of  its  meeting  with  an  opposing  wind  "  !  It  is  due 
to  his  humanity  to  add  that  he  considers  that,  on  the 
simplest  principles  of  self-preservation,  nations  must 
keep  peace,  and  great  armies  be  disbanded,  a  propo- 
sition however,  which  admits  of  an  opposite  opinion. 
But  there  is  little  likelihood  of  the  idea  being  carried 
into  practice  at  present. 

In  the  annual  Report  of  the  Public  Gardens  and 
Plantations  of  Jamaica  for  1883-4  may  be  found  a 
good  many  items  of  interest.  It  may  surprise  those 
who  have  paid  no  attention  to  the  subject  to  know 
that  a  descriptive  list  is  given  of  over  forty  varieties 
of  the  sugar-cane,  introduced  into  the  island  in  1882, 
and  that  this  is  by  no  means  all  it  possesses.  Jamaica 
is  said  to  contain  about  500  species  of  ferns,  or  one- 
sixth  of  the  ferns  of  the  whole  world.  A  great  loss 
has  been  sustained  in  the  cocoa-nut  trees  by  the 
ravages  of  rats.  The  rat  which  causes  this  damage  is 
the  black  species,  a  good  climber,  smaller  than  the 
brown  rat  of  the  cane-fields,  and  building  its  nest  in 
the  trees  A  method  of  defending  the  cocoa-nut 
trees  which  has  been  found  satisfactory,  is  to  nail 
thin  sheets  of  galvanised  iron  over  the  trunk,  as  the 
rats  cannot  pass  over  this.  Various  fibre  plants  are 
discussed.  Bananas  form  the  subject  of  the  chief 
fruit  industry,  and  the  mention  of  these  is  followed 
by  that  of  many  other  things,  oranges,  vanilla  pods, 
generally  said  to  be  the  only  economic  orchid  pro- 
duct, and  olives,  of  which  a  consignment  of  two 
hundred  plants  has  been  received  from  Italy  and 
distributed  with  a  view  to  establishing  this  plant  in 
the  island. 

Mr.  Galton's  method  "of  composite  portraiture 
has  been  applied  by  Professor  Pumpelly  to  obtain  type 
portraits  of  American  scientific  men,  and  the  results 
may  be  seen  in  a  plate  issued  by  "  Science,"  showing 
the  composite  portraits  of  twelve  mathematicians,  of 
sixteen  naturalists,  of  thirty-one  academicians,  and 
of  twenty-six  field-geologists,  topographers,  &c.  The 
individuals  photographed  were  all  taken  in  the  same 
position,   and   the  camera  was  so  adjusted  that  the    ' 


eyes  of  each  sitter  were  made  to  coincide  with  points 
marked  on  the  ground  glass  of  the  camera.  The 
negatives  were  then  photographed  successively  with 
an  exposure,  in  the  case  of  the  thirty-one,  of  two 
seconds  each,  and  a  picture  thus  produced  in  which 
the  individualities  should  be  almost  imperceptible 
and  only  the  features  more  common  to  all  brought 
out.  The  results  show  a  singular  similarity  in  all  the 
first  three  groups.  "Science"  says  that  one  face 
will  be  recognised  by  most  of  those  who  review  the 
faces  of  American  men  of  science  as  dominating 
portraits  numbers  two  and  three,  while  Professor 
Pumpelly  says  in  his  accompanying  article  that  the 
positives  of  the  mathematicians  and  of  the  naturalists 
suggested,  independently  to  himself  and  many  others, 
the  face  of  an  academician  who  belongs  to  a  family 
of  mathematicians,  and  that  of  a  deceased  eminent 
naturalist  respectively,  neither  of  whose  likenesses 
are  included.  It  does  not  seem  evident  why  the  eyes 
should  be  taken  as  the  points  for  adjustment.  No 
doubt  if  they  were  not,  a  very  confused  effect  might 
be  produced  in  that  part  of  the  face,  but  on  the  other 
hand  the  distance  between  the  eyes  is  variable  in 
different  faces,  the  difference  being  sometimes  con- 
siderable ;  and  to  make  the  distance  always  the  same 
must  surely  be  to  improve  the  eyes  at  the  expense  of 
the  other  features  in  the  composite  portrait. 

The  April  meeting  of  the  Liverpool  and  District 
Association  of  Science  and  Art  Teachers  was  devoted 
to  microscopy.  A  short  paper  on  "  The  Microscope 
as  an  aid  in  Science  Teaching,"  was  read  by  the 
president,  Mr.  Norman  Tate,  F.I.C.,  followed  by  a 
short  discussion,  after  which  some  time  was  devoted 
to  the  practical  examination  of  microscopes,  apparatus 
and  specimens. 

Inoculation  for  cholera  appears  to  have  taken 
decided  root  in  Spain,  and  details  given  by  Dr. 
Ferran,  through  Mr.  Charles  Cameron,  M.P.,  seem 
to  show  that  it  may  be  a  means  of  warding  off  the 
fatal  effects  of  the  disease.  A  test  experiment  has 
been  conducted  by  Dr.  Ferran  at  Alcira,  a  town  of 
about  16,000  inhabitants,  near  Valencia.  During 
the  first  three  weeks  of  May,  5432  persons  had  been 
inoculated.  Of  the  10,000  and  odd  persons  not 
inoculated,  cholera  had  attacked  sixty-four  and 
been  fatal  to  thirty.  Of  the  5,432  inoculated,  it  had, 
according  to  Dr.  Ferran,  attacked  seven  and  not  been 
fatal  in  any  case  ;  or,  put  otherwise,  of  the  uninocu- 
lated,  one  in  every  163  was  attacked  and  one  in 
every  352  died,  while  of  the  inoculated  one  in  every 
776  was  attacked  and  none  died.  The  circumstances 
are  open  to  comment,  inasmuch  as  the  facts  were 
published  by  the  20th  of  May,  but  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  the  data  were  fairly  given.  The  Spanish 
Government  has,  however,  prohibited  Dr.  Ferran 
from  inoculating  for  cholera,  pending  the  result  of 
the  inquiries  of  a  commission  on  the  subject. 


162 


HA  RD  WICKE  'S    S  CIE  NCE  -  G  OSS  IF. 


It  is  proposed  to  present  a  testimonial  to  Dr. 
Henry  Woodward,  to  celebrate  the  "majority"  of 
the  "Geological  Magazine,"  of  which  he  has  been 
concerned  in  the  editing  during  its  whole  existence 
of  twenty-one  years. 

From  an  abstract  given  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Chemical  Society  it  appears,  as  a  result  of  various 
analyses,  that  the  fallen  leaves  of  maple  contain  four 
per  cent,  of  valuable  matter  (soda,  potash,  lime, 
magnesia,  phosphorus  and  sulphur  compounds),  and 
poplar  and  willow  five  per  cent,  or  more,  while  various 
other  leaves  examined  contained  2-2  '3  per  cent,  and 
that  consequently  the  three  above-named  constantly 
manure  the  surface  soil  beneath  their  branches. 

From  another  abstract  in  the  same  journal,  it 
appears  that  some  supposed  pentanitrodimethylani- 
line  has  been  shown  to  be  trinitromethylnitraniline. 
The  substance  in  question  had  been  obtained  from 
naphthyldimethamidophenylsulphone  and  diphenyl- 
dimethamidosulphone. 

An  account  has  been  lately  furnished  by  Mr.  G. 
E.  Walker,  F.R.C.S.,  to  a  medical  contemporary 
which  brings  to  mind  Cheselden's  well-known  opera- 
tion. In  Mr.  Walker's  case  a  girl  nineteen  years 
old  was  operated  on  in  one  eye,  the  other  being 
hopelessly  blind.  She  had  been  able  to  perceive 
light,  but  could  not  count  fingers  with  either  eye. 
Several  operations  were  performed  at  intervals,  and 
Mr.  Walker  says,  "  One  would  have  expected  that 
the  great  benefit  which  accrued  most  markedly  after 
each  operation  would  have  made  her  eager  to  submit, 
but  the  contrary  was  the  case.  Her  first  sensation 
after  the  admission  of  light  into  her  eye  was  one  of 
profound  horror.  She  says  now  that  when  she  first 
became  conscious  of  sight,  and  therefore  to  some 
degree  of  space,  her  feeling  was  like  that  of  one  who 
looks  over  a  precipice  and  feels  that  he  will  be 
impelled  to  throw  himself  down,  and  she  at  the  time 
bitterly  repented  her  consent  to  be  taken  out  of  the 
darkness  which  all  her  life  thus  far  had  enshrouded 
her  .  .  .  The  wearing  of  this  [a  glass  for  correction  of 
myopia]  speedily  caused  a  change  in  her  state  of 
mind,  and  she  soon  ceased  to  regret  her  loss  of 
blindness.  Under  the  affectionate  tuition  of  a  fellow 
patient  she  learned  her  letters  in  a  day,  and  to  read 
in  a  week.  Of  course  this  was  all  the  easier  from 
her  ability  to  read  with  her  fingers  by  Moon's  types." 

Another  practical  result  of  scientific  investigation 
is  thus  reported  by  the  "English  Mechanic."  (Mr. 
Walker  (Walker,  Parker,  &  Co.,  Bagillt),  having 
read  the  lecture  on  "Dust,"  delivered  by  Professor 
Oliver  J.  Lodge,  at  the  Montreal  meeting  of  the 
British  Association,  was  struck  with  the  results  of 
the  experimental  passage  of  electric  sparks  through 
dust-  and  smoke-laden  atmospheres,  and  conceived 
the  idea  of  applying  the  principle  to  the  condensation 
of  lead  "  fume  "  at  the  smelting  works.    Experimental 


trials  gave  results  so  satisfactory  that  two  large 
Wimshurst  machines,  with  discs  five  feet  in  diameter, 
are  to  be  employed  for  dealing  with  the  "  fume"  at 
the  Bagillt  works. 

A  new  kerosine  lamp  has  recently  been  introduced 
by  Messrs.  Defries,  which  claims  to  be  greatly  in 
advance  of  those  in  ordinary  use.  The  objectionable 
features  of  the  diminution  of  the  flame  after  a  lamp 
has  been  alight  for  a  short  time,  the  danger  of 
explosion,  and  the  disagreeable  smell  emitted,  are 
said  to  be  overcome  by  the  Defries  Safety  Lamp. 
The  light  given  by  the  larger  size  is  equal  to  6i'3 
standard  candles,  and  is  remarkably  white.  It  is 
produced  by  a  single  wick,  and  was  found  to  show  a 
diminution  from  this  maximum  illumination  of  only 
6*7  per  cent,  after  burning  for  six  hours.  The  oil 
consumed  per  hour  is  2450  grains,  or  41*6  grains  per 
candle-light  per  hour.  A  smaller  size  is  also  made, 
which  has  a  maximum  illuminating  power  of  42*4 
standard  candles.  These  figures  are  given  upon  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Boverton  Redwood,  F.C.S.,  F.I.C., 
by  whom  the  lamps  have  been  tested,  while  Sir 
Frederick  Abel  considers  that  the  Defries  Lamp 
embodies  all  the  features  which  exhaustive  scientific 
enquiry  have  proved  to  be  necessary  for  the  perfectly 
safe  use  of  mineral  oils. 


MICROSCOPY. 

The  "Journal  of  the  Quekett  Club"  for 
June  contains  a  good  deal  of  interesting  matter. 
The  first  paper  is  an  account  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Parsons, 
F.R.M.S.,  of  a  New  Hydroid  Polyp,  found  by  him  in 
a  tank  at  the  gardens  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Society 
of  London.  He  at  one  time  thought  it  was  the 
same  as  was  found  last  autumn  by  Mr.  A.  G. 
Bourne,  in  the  Victoria  regia  tank  there,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  the  polyp  stage  of  the  Medusa 
Limnocodium  Sowerbii,  but  whether  it  is  so  or  not 
does  not  seem  to  be  at  present  clear.  The  paper 
is  illustrated  by  a  plate  shewing  different  conditions 
and  stages  of  development  of  the  polyp.  Papers 
follow  by  Mr.  F.  H.  Buffham  on  Newly-Observed 
Phenomena  in  the  conjugation  of  Rhabdoucma 
arcuatum,  a  diatom  which  grows  in  filaments 
attached  to  marine  algre,  and  by  Dr.  M.  C  Cooke 
on  Some  Remarkable  Moulds,  one  of  which  was 
found  in  the  meatus  auditorius  of  the  human  ear. 
Among  the  Proceedings  may  be  found  some  remarks 
by  the  president,  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter,  on  the 
Binocular  Microscope.  He  said  there  was  a  very 
curious  thing  about  the  Binocular  Microscope,  that 
it  increased  very  greatly  the  focal  depth.  This  was 
to  be  explained  partly,  Dut  not  wholly,  by  the  binocu- 
lar prism  halving  the  aperture  of  the  objective.  He 
had  talked  the  matter  over  with  Sir  Charles  Wheat- 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


163 


stone,  but  they  could  never  come  to  any  satisfactory 
conclusion.  At  the  same  meeting  the  president 
spoke  of  the  discovery  by  Professor  Moseley  of  eyes 
imbedded  in  the  actual  shell  of  a  Chiton.  Dr. 
Carpenter  had  himself  detected  forty  years  ago 
passages  in  the  shells  of  Chitons,  and  it  is  now- 
found  that  the  larger  perforations  contain  very 
perfect  simple  eyes.  This  number  of  the  journal 
contains  also  Notes  of  Demonstrations  by  Dr.  M.  C. 
Cooke,  on  Collecting,  Examining,  and  Preserving 
Fresh-water  Algre,  and  by  Dr.  T.  Spencer  Cobbold, 
F.R.S.,  on  Lung  Parasites. 

Cole's  Microscopical  Studies. — Three  more 
slides  belonging  to  this  series  have  been  received  and 
not  yet  noticed,  accompanied  by  the  usual  explanatory 
text,  viz.  vertical  section  of  thallus  and  apothecium 
of  Sodorina  crocea ;  transverse  section  of  leech, 
Hirudo  riiedicinalis ;  and  section  of  lung,  broncho- 
pneumonia. 

Cholera  Bacillus. — The  short  notice  at  p.  42 
of  Science-Gossip  for  this  year  demands  attention. 
Professor  Ray  Lankester  maintains  that  the  comma 
bacillus  is  a  spirillum.  Assuming  it  to  be  the  cause, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  of  cholera,  this  view 
would  support  those  held  by  persons  who  regard 
cholera  as  an  acute  fever.  But  is  this  spirillum  view 
maintainable  ?  Koch  cultivated  the  comma  bacillus 
successfully.  Its  action  in  cultivation  fluids  is  charac- 
teristic and  marked.  The  bacillus  obtained  in  fluids 
was  always  the  comma  bacillus.  A  fragment  of  a 
spirillum  containing  spores  would  develop  into  perfect 
spirilla  ;  but  for  disintegrated  spirilla  always  to 
develop  into  disintegrated  spirilla,  and  for  all  these 
disintegrated  spirilla  to  resemble  each  other,  and  to 
be  identical  with  Koch's  comma  bacillus,  does,  I 
think,  throw  doubt  on  the  accuracy  of  Professor 
Lankester's  view. —  W.  J.  Simmons,  Calcutta,  \6t/i 
April,  1885. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Conchological  Notes. — The  following  varieties 
may  be  added  to  the  British  list  : — 1.  Helix  Cantiana, 
var.  minor,  Moq.  Science-Gossip,  1885,  p.  15, 
var.  1 7.  This  might  be  mistaken  by  the  inexperienced 
for  H.  Cartusiana.  2.  H.  nemoralis,  var.  intcrrupta, 
Moq.  Bands  interrupted.  Chislehurst.  This  form 
is  better  expressed  by  using  a  colon  for  an  interrupted 
band  in  the  band-formula,  thus:  1:345.  3-  H. 
nemoralis,  var.  studeria,  Moq.  Lilac,  bandless. 
Science-Gossip,  18S4,  p.  236.  4.  Cyclostoma  ele- 
gans,  var.  pallida,  Moq.  SCIENCE-GOSSIP,  1SS5, 
p.  15,  var.  14.  5.  C.  ele^aus,  var.  albescens,  Moq. 
"Whitish,  without  markings."  The  specimens  I  have 
seen  have  not  been  absolutely  without  any  traces  of 
bands  or  markings,  but  these  have  been  so  very  indis- 


tinct, and  the  shell  so  white,  that  they  cannot  be 
separated  from  albescens.  "  Zoologist,"  18S5,  p.  12. 
Mr.  Baker  Hudson,  in  a  recent  number  records 
two  varieties  of  Limax  flavus,  var.  virescens  and  var. 
colubrina  as  occurring  near  Middlesbro',  but  he 
gives  no  description  of  them.  Since  they  are  not 
described  in  the  British  works,  it  will  be  just  as  well 
to  give  their  descriptions  now.  Var.  virescens,  Moq. 
is  yellowish  without  any  markings,  while  var.  colubrina 
is  (Mr.  Roebuck  informs  me)  also  yellow,  but  has 
black  markings  on  the  mantle  and  on  the  body.*  The 
typical  form  of  L.  flavus  is  intermediate  between  ■ 
these  two,  and  Moquin-Tandon  describes  a  var. 
jlavescens,  with  very  indistinct  markings,  which 
bridges  between  the  type  and  virescens.  In  the  above 
varieties  the  ground  colour  is  yellow ;  but  this  is  not 
always  the  case,  for  var.  grisea  has  it  grey,  and  in 
France  the  varieties  rufescens,  reddish,  with  very 
indistinct  markings,  and  maculata,  brown,  with  black 
markings,  have  been  found. — T.  D.  A.  Cockerell, 
Bedford  Park,  June  4. 

Arrival  of  Summer  Birds. — The  "  Naturalist" 
for  June,  contains  a  list  of  observations  of  the  first 
notices  of  twenty-eight  summer  visitant  birds  in  the 
North  of  England,  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
swallow  was  noted  at  Nottingham  on  April  13th, 
the  nightingale  at  Bourne,  S.  Lincolnshire,  on  April 
16th,  and  the  cuckoo  at  Flamborough  Head  on 
April  17th. 

Notes  on  Fish-Life. — In  the  June  number  of  the 
"Annals  and  Magazine  of  Natural  History,"  Pro- 
fessor MTntosh  contributes  from  the  St.  Andrews 
Marine  Laboratory  notes  on  the  spawning  of  certain 
marine  fishes.  These  include  the  herring,  the  ova  of 
which  he  believes  hardy  enough  to  take  but  little 
harm  from  being  hauled  on  board  by  the  trawl  and 
afterwards  tossed  into  the  sea ;  viviparous  blenny,  of 
which  in  one  case  at  birth  the  young  of  a  very  large 
adult  (15  in.)  measured  nearly  5  inches  (a  very 
similar  case  is  mentioned  in  Yarrell) ;  the  cat-fish 
and  others.  It  is  considered  that  pelagic  or  floating 
eggs  do  not  probably  float  by  virtue  of  their  oil- 
globules,  since  some  float  without  oil-globules,  while 
the  abundance  of  oil  in  some  other  cases  does  not 
cause  the  eggs  to  float. 

VORTICELL.E  WITH  TWO  CONTRACTILE  VESICLES. 

— In  the  "American  Naturalist,"  Dr.  A.  C.  Stokes 
says  that  besides  Vorticella  lockzuoodii,  which  he 
described  last  August,  and  which  was  the  first 
recorded  instance  of  the  presence  of  more  than  a 
single  pulsating  vacuole  in  the  Vorticella;,  V. 
monilata,  Tatem.,  a  species  originally  discovered  in 
English  waters,  and  not  uncommon  in  Europe  and 
America,  also  possesses  two  contractile  vesicles. 


*  The  original  description  is  "Animal  flavum.  Clypeo  dorso- 
que  late  ac  irregulariter  nigro-maculata  :  interstitiis  flavis 
maculas  nigras  aequantibus  "  (.Lessona  and  Pollonera)." 


164 


HARD  WI CKE '  S  S  CIE  N  CE-  G  OS  SIP. 


BOTANY. 


Apospory  in  Ferns. — An  important  advance  has 
lately  been  made  in  the  knowledge  of  the  life-history 
of  ferns,  and  communications  on  the  subject  from 
Mr.  Charles  T.  Druery  and  Mr.  F.  O.  Bower,  may 
be  found  in  the  "Journal  of  the  Linnean  Society." 
In  the  place  of  the  soii  on  Athyrium  Filix-fccmina, 
var.  clarissima,  a  plant  of  which  was  originally 
obtained  wild  in  Devon,  Mr.  Druery  found  little 
flask-shaped  or  pear-shaped  bodies  situated  within  an 
undoubted  indusium,  but  at  this  stage  no  spores  or 
spore-cases  could  be  detected.  On  pinnre  of  the  fern 
being  imbedded  in  soil  under  suitable  conditions, 
these  bulbilloid  [bodies  began  to  develop,  and  in  less 
than  three  months  decided  prothalloid  forms  were 
produced,  on  which  archegonia  and  an  antheridium 
were  afterwards  found.  Small  fronds  at  length 
projected  from  the  bifurcation  of  the  prothallus. 
Mr.  Druery  considers  that  they  had  evidently 
developed  from  the  archegonia  by  the  ordinary 
method,  though  the  prothalli  themselves  had  sprung 
from  something  very  different  from  spores.  Mr. 
Bower  confirms  Mr.  Druery's  results  and  also 
mentions  the  case  of  Polystichum  augu/are,  var. 
pulcherrimum,  in  which  there  are  undoubted  pro- 
thalloid bodies  formed  by  purely  vegetative  growths 
from  the  tips  of  the  pinnules,  and  without  any  con- 
nection with  sori,  sporangia,  or  spores,  and  which 
bear  antheridia  and  archegonia.  The  discovery  of 
this  was  due  to  Mr.  G.  B.  Wollaston.  The  ordinary 
series  of  conditions  is  thus  even  further  broken  in 
upon  in  the  case  of  the  Polystichum  than  in  that  of 
the  Athyrium,  since  in  the  cycle  of  the  former  there 
is  nothing  in  the  place  of  the  bulbilloid  growths  of 
the  Athyrium  or  of  the  normal  sporangium.  The 
antheridia  and  archegonia  of  the  Polystichum  were 
not  found  to  be  open  while  the  prothalloid 
structures  were  on  the  leaves,  the  cause  assigned  as 
probable  being  the  want  of  the  necessary  moisture. 

Diatoms  and  Bladderwort. — Mr.  Henry 
Taylor  has  forwarded  a  slide  containing  a  bladder  of 
Utricularia  upon  or  within  which  are  to  be  seen 
numerous  frustules  of  diatoms,  upon  the  decomposing 
endochrome  of  which  he  thinks  the  plant  may  have 
fed.  He  says  that  Mr.  Darwin,  who  does  not  in  his 
work  on  Carnivorous  Plants  mention  Diatomacese 
being  found  in  the  bladders  of  any  of  the  species, 
"appears  to  think  the  taking  in  of  food  by  the 
bladders  is  not  owing  to  any  voluntary  act  on 
their  part,  but  that  the  different  things  found  in 
them  have  merely  forced  their  way  in  ;  but  as  many 
of  these  diatoms  are  stipitate  and  attached  forms, 
having  no  power  of  locomotion,  like  the  free  frustules, 
this  looks  very  much  like  their  being  seized  by  the 
antennae  round  the  valve  of  the  bladder  and  conveyed 
or  swallowed  in.     I  may  add  that  the  specimen  I 


examined  is  a  dried  one,  which  has  been  in  my 
possession,  in  that  state,  for  at  least  twenty  years  — 
therefore  not  in  a  very  good  condition  for  examination. 
I  am  very  anxious  to  obtain  some  in  a  fresh  state,  and 
should  be  much  obliged  if  any  one  will  inform  me  of 
a  locality  (near  London)  where  it  can  be  found.'1 
Mr.  Taylor  is  not  however  certain  whether  the 
diatoms  are  inside  or  outside  the  bladder,  and  even 
if  they  be  inside  it  still  remains  to  be  shewn  that 
they  are  utilised  as  food  by  the  plant.  Mr.  F.  Kitton, 
F.R.M.S.,  has  been  kind  enough  to  give  his  opinion 
as  to  the  position  of  the  diatoms.  Speaking  about 
the  one  slide  forwarded,  Mr.  Kitton  says:  "The 
diatoms  are,  I  have  no  doubt,  upon  the  bladder  of  the 
Utricularia  as  the  species  are  all  parasitic  (and  no 
doubt  occurred  on  other  parts  of  the  plant),  they  could 
not  have  been  injected  by  the  bladder  as  it  possesses 
no  prehensile  organs  which  would  be  necessary  to 
detach  the  diatoms  from  their  stipes.  .  .  .  The  follow- 
ing are  the  species  attached :  Gomphoncma  con- 
strictum,  Synedra  capitata,  Cocconema  lanccolatum , 
Diatomevuigare."  The  point  is  one  however  of  some 
interest,  and  it  would  be  well  if  it  were  thoroughly 
cleared  up  by  means  of  the  examination  of  fresh 
specimens. 


GEOLOGY,  &C. 

Carboniferous  Flora. — In  "The  Annals  and 
Magazine  of  Natural  History  "  for  June,  is  a  paper 
by  Mr.  Robert  Kidston,  F.G.S.,  on  some  "Fossil 
Plants  from  the  Lanarkshire  Coalfield."  Mr.  Kidston 
is  intending  to  work  out  the  distribution  of  the 
carboniferous  flora,  and  will  be  glad  if  others  who 
possess  specimens  of  carboniferous  fossil  plants  will 
allow  him  to  examine  them,  and  he,  on  his  part, 
will  be  glad  to  help  students  in  this  department. 

Dr.  Callaway  on  Comparative  Lithology. 
— In  a  paper  entitled  "A  Plea  for  Comparative 
Lithology,"  contributed  to  the  "  Geological  Maga- 
zine "  for  June,  Dr.  Callaway,  F.G.S.,  returns  to  the 
question  of  mineral  composition,  and  refers  to  a 
paper  read  by  him  before  the  Geological  Society,  of 
which  a  notice  may  be  found  on  p.  117  of  this 
volume.  He  thinks  that  lithological  resemblances 
may  be  pointed  out  without  necessarily  correlating 
the  rocks  thus  shewn  to  be  similar,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  need  not  always  wait  for  ocular 
demonstration  before  venturing  to  correlate.  Though 
the  mineral  composition  of  Post-Archsean  strata  may 
not  be  of  much  value,  nor  serve,  even  if  fossils  were 
absent,  to  establish  a  law  of  correlation,  the  same  is 
not  the  case  with  the  Archaean  rocks,  and  Dr. 
Callaway  believes  there  are  grounds  for  the  "  conclu- 
sions that,  in  the  British  area  at  least,  crystalline 
schists  have  not  been  manufactured  on  a  large  scale 
in    Post-Archrean    times,    and    that,    amongst    the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


165 


Archaean  rocks,  the  antiquity  of  a  schist  is  in  direct 
ratio  to  its  degree  of  crystallization.     I   do  not  say 
'degree  of  alteration,'  because  this  would  involve  a 
theory,    and     introduce    complication."       For    the 
suggested    law   he   does    not    claim   more   than   an 
empirical  and  local  value.     He  starts  with  the  propo- 
sition,   "that  in   Britain    there  occur  (at  least)  two 
Archaean  groups,    of    which    the    older   is   coarsely 
crystalline,    and    the     younger    either    eruptive    or 
hypocrystalline.     These  are  the  Hebridean  and  the 
Pebidian."     After  giving  evidence  from  Shropshire, 
Anglesey,    North  and  South  Wales,   and  (in  some 
detail)  from  Ireland,    Dr.  Callaway  says  that  while 
some   regard    Archaean   studies   as   barren   and  un- 
promising, he  thinks  they  open   out  fruitful  fields  of 
labour,  and  that  workers  at  them   "are  working  at 
the   great  question  of  the  origin  of  the   crystalline 
schists,  and  striving  to  throw  light  upon  some  of  the 
earlier  chapters  in  the  earth's  crust." 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

A  Pair  of  Comets.—  The  "West  Briton"  (Truro) 
of  January  8,  contains  the  following  letter  : — Astrono- 
mers have  rarely  witnessed  the  appearance  of  a  pair 
of  those  mysterious  travellers  of  the   starry   depths, 
hand  in  hand,  or  like   the   Siamese  twins,  Eng  and 
Chang,  hip  by   hip.     But  Bodmin  last  week  offered 
a  favourable  situation  from  which  to  observe  such  a 
rare  phenomenon,  and  for  the   sake  of  those   who 
were  inconveniently  placed  I  send  a  few  notes  which 
I  shall  be  glad  to  compare  with  any  taken  by  brother 
amateurs.     I  first  noticed  the  twins  in   the  darkest 
part  of  the  northern  heavens.      The  path  was  one  of 
more  than  usual  eccentricity,  and  the  pace  a  headlong 
one.      Donati's  comet  in  1858  passed  round  his  solar 
majesty   superbly,    and   assumed   the   most  graceful 
curves.      But,   on  the  contrary,  each  of  the  pair  in 
question,  on  nearing  the  sun,  was  visibly  agitated, 
and   underwent   a  series  of  remarkable  contortions. 
If,  for  convenience'  sake,  we  term  one  B,  and   the 
other   C,    then   on   attaining   the   point    of    nearest 
approach  to  the  sun,  C  threw  out  three  separate  and 
distinct  tails,  in  one  of  which  B  got  entangled  and 
finally   disappeared.     When   receding,  each   tail   in 
turn  faded  and  was  lost  to  view,  .  .  .  The  nucleus 
of  each  and  of  the  affiliated  mass  was  of  the  usual 
ethereal  lightness,  and  stars  of  small  magnitude  were 
distinctly  visible   through   their   very   centres.     My 
observations  go  to  confirm  the  beliefs  that,  first — no 
cometic  substance    is    sufficiently    dense    to  visibly 
disturb  the  sun  or  any  of  his  satellites  ;  and  second — 
no  cometic  substance  can  too  nearly  approach  the  sun 
or  his   satellites  without   sustaining  loss  or  harm. — 
Arcturus,  The  Observatory,  Bodmin  .Beacon. 

Is  the  Water-Ousel  an  Enemy  to  Fish  ? — I 
think  it  may  be  well  to  direct  your  readers'  attention 
to  a  very  emphatic  declaration  on  this  point,  in  the 
latest  volume  (orn-pht)  of  the  new  "  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,"  produced  early  this  year.  The  descrip- 
tion of  the  dipper  (article  "Ousel")  contains  the 
following  passage :  "By  the  careless  and  ignorant  it 
is  accused  of  feeding  on  the  spawn  of  fishes,  and  it 
•has  been  on  that  account  subjected  to  much 
persecution.     Innumerable  examinations  of  the  con- 


tents of  its  stomach  not  only  have  proved  that  the 
charge  is  baseless,  but  that  the  bird  clears  off  many  of 
the  worst  enemies  of  the  precious  product."  This 
decided  statement,  in  a  work  of  such  authority,  ought 
to  be  warmly  welcomed  and  widely  circulated  by  all 
friends  of  the  mysterious  little  bird  whose  character 
it  tends  to  re-establish.  Nearly  all  modern  naturalists 
have  repeated  unhesitatingly  that  the  dipper  is  a 
great  destroyer  of  fish-spawn,  and  I  am  afraid  nearly 
all  river-fishers  are  strongly  prejudiced  against  it,  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  easiest  to  exterminate  of 
all  our  native  birds.  Can  any  of  your  correspondents 
say  whether  the  dipper  ever  touches  seeds  of  any 
kind  ?  From  its  relationship  to  the  thrushes,  I  should 
have  suspected  that  it  might  occasionally  prove  a 
berry-eater  ;  and  the  scarlet  fruit  of  the  cuckoo-pint, 
to  which  "birds  of  the  thrush-kind"  are  supposed 
partial,  is  sometimes  extremely  abundant  along  the 
banks  of  a  dipper-haunted  stream.  Considering  how 
few  of  our  non-migratory  birds  are  purely  insecti- 
vorous, it  seems  difficult  to  imagine  so  aquatic  a  species 
as  this  ousel  would  abide  our  bitterest  winters 
without  some  capacity  to  digest  vegetable  food. — 
C.  B.  Moffat. 

The  Clouded  Yellow  {Colias  edusa). — In  1877 
this  butterfly  appeared  very  abundantly  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Louth,  frequenting  the  banks  by  the 
roadsides,  the  railway  cuttings,  and  other  similar 
situations.  But,  I  believe,  not  a  single  specimen  has 
been  captured  or  seen  here  since  that  year.  Will 
some  reader  of  Science-Gossip  kindly  inform 
me  whether  this  insect  has  been  plentiful  in  any  of 
the  more  northern  counties  of  England  since  1877? 
And  what  were  the  "Edusa  years"  prior  to  that 
year  ? — //  Wallis  Knv,  Louth. 

Caterpillars  feeding  by  Night. — Very  many 
caterpillars,  principally  belonging  to  the  Noctuina 
group,  feed  solely  at  night,  or  very  early  in  the 
morning,  before  the  sun  is  up.  I  have  noticed  that 
the  larvae  of  the  carpet  moths  (Melanippe)  are 
nocturnal  feeders,  but  some,  at  least,  of  the  Geometrina 
feed  by  day,  and  most  of  the  Bombycina  do  so 
likewise.  I  do  not  think  it  is  an  invariable  rule  that 
butterfly  larvae  show  a  preference  for  feeding  in  the 
daytime.  I  am  rather  inclined  to  think  that  all 
caterpillars  feed  at  night,  those  of  butterflies  as  well 
as  those  of  moths.— A Ibert  Waters. 

Water  Voles. — Mr.  J.  A.  Wheldon  says  :  "  I 
don't  wish  for  one  moment  to  say  that  a  vole  would 
not  touch  a  piece  of  flesh  if  it  could  get  nothing  else, 
though  that  remains  to  be  proved.  I  should  think  it 
need  not  long  remain  to  be  proved,  for  if  some 
practical  naturalist  who  can  obtain  a  water  vole  for  a 
day  or  two  would  do  so,  he  would  soon  elicit  proof, 
without  any  great  amount  of  pain  to  the  animal.  I 
would  have  done  it  myself,  but  unfortunately  I  am 
not  in  a  position  to  get  hold  of  a  vole.  Our  old 
Yorkshire  proverb  says,  "  an  ounce  of  doing  is  worth 
a  ton  of  talking." — H.  Snowden  Ward. 

Cats  and  Kittens. — I  shall  be  glad  if  any  of  the 
readers  of  Science-Gossip  can  tell  me  if  the  following 
is  usual  or  no.  Our  cat  lately  had  four  young  ones, 
three  of  which  we  destroyed,  and  a  kitten  of  hers, 
about  a  year  old  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  the  new 
animal,  would  not  feed  with  the  old  one,  or  come  near 
it,  or  any  of  us.  About  three  days  afterwards  she  sud- 
denly took  a  turn,  came  and  played  with  the  kitten.  The 
three  slept  together,  and  now  the  young  one  is  acting 
the  part  of  guardian,  and  is  more  motherly  than  the 
mother  (this  young  kitten  has  had  none  of  her  own). 


i66 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


If  I  take  the  kitten  away  and  hide  it,  it  is  the  young 
one  who  comes  after  it.  Last  night  I  placed  it  under 
a  soft  hat  in  the  passage.  When  it  cried  they  both 
came  to  seek  it,  the  old  one  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  The 
young  one,  after  walking  round  the  hat  two  or  three 
times,  lifted  it  up  and  carried  it  into  their  cupboard, 
the  mother  most  complacently  following  and  quite 
contented  with  the  self-imposed  nurse. —  IV.  A. 
Tippet,  Didsbury. 

Fertilisation  of  Orchis  mascula. — Mr.  Malan, 
in  his  excellent  article,  is  evidently  at  home  on  the 
subject  generally.  His  new  idea,  however,  that  the 
pollen  masses  without  the  usual  depression  would 
strike  on  the  stigma  cannot  be  accepted  as  wholly 
correct,  simply  because  it  is  averse  to  actual  experi- 
ments. That  the  position  of  the  pollinium  when 
newly  removed  is  more  nearly  at  right,  angles  than  in 
an  upright  position,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Malan,  also 
requires  modification  by  the  contraction  and  down- 
ward movement  not  due  to  hygrometric  action. 
Would  Mr.  Malan  kindly  let  us  know  if  he  has  ever 
noticed  any  evil  effects  produced  on  insects  by 
removing  the  pollen  masses  ? — A.  D.  IV. 

Late  Foliage  and  Nesting.— The  foliage  has 
been  so  late  in  appearing  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
that  many  birds  which  usually  build  in  hedges  have 
actually  made  their  nests  on  the  ground.  I  have 
found  two  blackbirds  (Turdus meruld),  a  song-thrush 
or  throstle  (T?irdus  musicus),  and  a  hedge-sparrow 
{Accentor  modularis)  in  this  position. — Geo.  IF. 
Brocklehurst,  B.Sc,  Roundhay,  near  Leeds. 

Pied  Flycatcher  —  Kite  —  Unrecognised 
Birds. — I  have  been  informed  by  a  friend  that  he 
saw  a  male  pied  flycatcher  near  Abergwessin, 
Breconshire,  on  May  1st.  This  bird  is  not  recorded 
in  Yarrell  as  having  been  observed  in  South  Wales. 
My  friend  also  observed  in  April,  within  a  few- 
miles  of  the  same  place,  a  pair  of  red  kites  [Milvus 
Ictimcs)  and  nest.  The  unrecognised  birds,  p.  69, 
may  have  been  rollers  or  bee-eaters. — R.  Egerton. 

The  Pied  Fly-Catcher. — Last  week,  one  pied 
fly-catcher  was  observed  in  the  village  of  Pantperthog, 
Merionethshire,  and  last  spring,  one  was  seen  at 
Llwyngwern,  in  the  same  neighbourhood. — M.  E. 
Thomson. 

Curious  Sports  in  a  Wall-flower  — There  is 
now  growing  at  St.  Albans  a  wall-flower  of  average 
size  and  growth,  and  well  bloomed,  but  every  flower 
is  malformed.  The  sepals  remain  unchanged,  but 
the  petals  are  mere  narrow  strips,  resembling  the 
sepals  in  colour,  and  only  about  one-fourth  the  size. 
All  the  stamens  are  transformed  into  capillary 
leaves,  adhering  at  their  edges  and  enclosing  the 
ordinary  pistil.  Instead  of  an  anther,  each  stamen 
is  tipped  with  a  well-developed  stigma.  The  ovary 
thus  contains  six  or  eight  cells  consisting  of  the 
ordinary  double  celled  ovary,  and  four  or  six  others 
surrounding  it.  The  ovules  are  well-formed  in  all 
the  compartments,  but  are  not  yet  sufficiently  matured 
to  show  if  they  are  fertilised.  This  is  the  second 
year  the  plant  has  bloomed,  and  it  remains  true  to  its 
variations. —  G.  Bird,  Sydenham. 

The  Colour  of  the  Red  Sea. — Immediately 
upon  reading  Dr.  Stonham's  paper  on  the  "Colour 
of  the  Red  Sea,"  I  communicated  with  my  cousin,  the 
senior  naval  engineer  at  Souakin  concerning  it, 
forwarding  at  the  same  time  Dr.  Stonham's  remarks. 
This  is  what  he  says  :  "  I  kept  a  look  out  for  the  red 
.streaks  described  by  Dr.  Stonham  but  without  any 


results  ;  nothing  was  observed  but  the  ordinary  blue, 
and  I  asked  our  navigator,  who  had  been  out  here 
before,  if  he  had  ever  observed  anything  of  the  kind, 
but  he  had  not.  Perhaps  it  is  more  noticeable  in  the 
Gulf  of  Aden.  Dr.  Stonham's  statement  that  it  in 
very  seldom  rough  in  the  Red  Sea  I  take  the  liberty 
of  doubting  entirely.  From  the  experience  of  all  our 
fellows  on  board,  the  normal  condition  of  affairs  in 
that  part  of  the  Red  Sea  between  Suakin  and  Suez 
is  from  half  a  gale  to  a  gale,  and  as  it  generally  blows 
from  the  N.N.W.  it  raises  a  very  nasty  sea."  I  have 
heard  friends  who  have  voyaged  to  New  Zealand,  &c, 
describe  these  "bands"  in  the  Southern  Seas. 
Perhaps  they  are  common  to  Oceans,  and  like  the 
confervoid  alga;  of  our  ponds  and  ditches  appearing 
only  in  their  proper  seasons,  plentiful  one  week,  gone 
the  next. — Harry  Moore. 

The  Cross-fertilisation  of  Grasses. — On  a 
summer's  eve  as  the  swift-moths  {Hepialidce)  dart 
hither  and  thither  among  the  tops  of  the  grass  at  a 
time  when  it  is  in  full  flower,  they  must  brush  a  large 
quantity  of  pollen  off  with  their  wings,  and  abundantly 
scatter  and  distribute  it,  and  as  they  are  very  common 
it  is  easy  to  conceive  the  possibility  of  a  whole 
meadow  being  fertilised,  even  though  a  dead  calm 
might  last  for  days,  and  not  a  breath  of  air  come  to 
disperse  the  pollen  dust.  We  may  thus  see  how- 
insects  may  have  a  part  in  the  fertilisation  of  even 
anemophilous  plants.  Moths  also  dart  about  among 
the  ears  of  wheat  and  other  corn. — Albert  Waters. 

Missel  Thrush's  Nest. — There  is,  in  an  apple- 
tree  of  a  much  frequented  garden  of  this  neighbour- 
hood the  nest  of  a  missel  thrush  {Tardus  viscivorus), 
the  peculiarity  about  it  being  that  it  is  almost  totally 
composed  of  odds  and  ends  of  thick  string,  which 
remained  over  from  some  which  had  been  used  for 
tying  up  flowers.  Owing  to  many  of  the  strings 
being  nearly  a  yard  long,  a  curious  and  untidy 
appearance  was  given  to  the  nest. — J.  C.  S.,  Edenhall. 

Fungoid  Disease  in  Fishes,  &c. — Having  given 
some  attention  to  aquarian  pursuits,  my  success  has 
been  somewhat  marred  by  the  appearance  of  this 
malady  amongst  my  specimens — although  kept  in 
several  distinct  tanks.  Sooner  or  later  it  always 
ends  in  death.  Even  the  Siren  pisciformis  (Axolotl) 
does  not  escape  its  ravages.  The  water  employed  is 
from  the  Cotswold  Hills  and  is  rather  hard,  contain- 
ing considerable  lime.  Can  this  fact  be  the  cause  of 
the  trouble?  Will  any  of  your  experienced  readers 
be  kind  enough  to  give  me  some  hints  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  disease,  and  the  best  way  of  avoiding  or  curing 
it.—  Hal. 

Paulownia  imperialis. — I  enclose  some  flowers 
of  the  Paulownia  imperialis,  a  tree  said  by 
authorities  never  to  flower  in  England,  the  buds 
of  which  are  naked  on  the  tree  all  the  winter, 
developing  early  in  the  spring,  and  then  being 
withered  before  the  maturity  of  the  flower,  by 
the  east  winds.  The  tree  in  question  is  growing 
here  in  a  garden,  and  is  about  twenty  feet  high.  I 
have  watched  it  carefully  for  some  years  in  hope  of 
flowers,  but,  till  now,  it  has  never  fulfilled  my 
wishes.  I  attribute  the  rare  occurrence  of  flowers 
this  year  to  the  fact,  that  the  buds  have  been  kept 
back  by  the  continuous  cold  weather  we  have  had 
this  spring,  and  that  when  the  burst  of  heat  came  on 
the  last  of  May,  and  which  has  lasted  since,  the 
buds  suddenly  arrived  at  perfection  without  any 
cause  to  wither  them,  and  yesterday  the  flowers 
began  to  open,  and  to-day  the  tree  is  a  mass  of  lilac 
bloom. — Ditnley  Owen. 


EARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


167 


Rana  esculenta. — Years  ago,  when  the  late 
Professor  Henslow  used  to  organise  botanical  excur- 
sions around  Cambridge,  I  was  delighted  to  join  the 
party,  though  my  explorations  were  not  directed  so 
much  to  plants  as  to  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life. 
During  these  excursions  I  remember  we  found  this 
"  edible  frog  "  in  one  part  of  Cambridgeshire,  though 
not  in  large  numbers,  seeing  that  the  country  folks 
were  quite  awake  to  the  fact  that  this  particular  frog 
was  "  uncommon  good  to  eat."  I  could  not  find  out 
whether  the  village  "  gourmets  "  restricted  themselves, 
as  is  usual  on  the  continent,  to  the  hinder  extremities 
only,  as  a  matter  of  diet,  neither  could  I  learn  that 
this  undoubted  Rana  esculenta  had  ever  been  collected 
for  sale.  Perhaps  it  was  as  well  the  people  did  not 
know  its  value.  .  .  .  For  obvious  reasons  I  do  not 
name  the  habitat  of  this  frog  in  Cambridgeshire,  but 
assuredly  there  was  no  suspicion  at  that  time,  as  in 
the  case  of  Norfolk,  that  the  Rana  esculenta  had  been 
"turned  up"  in  a  remote  part  of  the  county  as  a 
matter  of  acclimatisation. — John  Anthony,  M.D. 
Cantab.,  F.R.M.S.,  Edgbaston,  Birmingham,  June  8th, 
1885. 

Canine  Sagacity. — I  saw  a  retriever  do  a  clever 
thing  last  week.  He  wanted  to  get  through  the 
swing  drive  gate  leading  to  the  house  of  his  master. 
He  stood  upright,  bent  his  forelegs  at  a  right  angle, 
placed  them  over  the  horizontal  bar  halfway  up  the 
gate,  and  tried  vigorously  to  pull  it  open — succeed- 
ing to  some  extent,  he  loosed  his  hold  suddenly  and 
tried  to  go  through  with  a  rush.  Twice  was  the 
gate  too  quick  for  him  in  swinging  to,  but  on  at- 
tempting a  third  time  and  pulling  "  like  a  bargee," 
he  managed  to  carry  out  his  idea.  I  am  since 
informed  that  he  never  attempts  this  method  of 
entrance  if  he  sees  the  gate  is  really  latched. — Alf. 
Freer,  Stourbridge. 

Holly  and  Ivy  Leaves. — F.  W.  Elliott,  in  the 
June  number  of  Science-Gossip,  asks  for  an  explana- 
tion of  the  cause  of  the  upper  leaves  in  old  hollies 
and  old  ivy  losing  their  characteristic  shape.  The 
real  reason  of  their  altered  shape  is  simply  the 
lack  of  strength  arising  from  old  age  to  form  leaves 
of  the  normal  type.  As  every  one  is  aware  the 
leaves  of  evergreen  trees  and  shrubs  are  of  a  more 
substantial  character  than  those  of  deciduous  kinds, 
and  this  doubtless  involves  a  greater  proportionate 
s'rain  upon1  their  recuperative  energies  than  in  the 
other  case,  hence  the  deteriorated  condition  of  the 
upper  leaves  in  old  specimens. — J.  F.  Cransioick. 

Fertilisation  of  Orchis  mascula.— If  Mr. 
Malan  will  look  up  "The  Garden"  of  May  23rd 
last,  he  will  there,  at  page  464,  see  the  following  note 
which  quite  upsets  his  theory  that  the  breaking  of 
the  stem  of  0.  mascula  affects  the  flower  of  the  new 
tuber  : — "  I  send  you  a  spike  of  Orehis  mascula,  being 
the  third  in  succession  that  has  been  annually  cut 
from  the  same  plant  and  sent  to  '  The  Garden ' 
office.  This  surely  proves  that  cutting  the  flowers 
of  some  Orchids  at  least  is  not  injurious,  but  really 
beneficial,  for  you  must  admit  that  the  present  spike 
is  the  first  that  has  yet  been  sent."  The  descending 
of  the  tubers  so  as  to  prevent  premature  germination 
is  a  rather  laughable  idea. — A.  D.  IF. 

Snails  and  Slugs. — I  have  noticed  that  in  my 
garden  ,in  a  large  town  snails  are  very  common,  and 
that  there  are  but  few  slugs.  In  my  garden  in  the 
country  I  found  that  there  were  but  few  snails  and 
very  many  slugs.  Is  there  any  natural  reason  for 
this  distribution  of  these  creatures  between  town  and 
country  ?  Is  my  supposed  fact  true,  and  have  others 
noticed  it?— A.  C.  Smith. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  '  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  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  of  omt  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


R.  O.  O. — Soak  the  nests  in  benzine  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
afterwards  keep  a  little  camphor  in  or  near  them. 

C.  C. — Yours  received. 

W.  R.  Waugh. — Thanks  for  your  suggestion.  It  is  a  good 
one,  and  has  been  noted  for  consideration. 

A.  S.  Mackie. — Both  probably  Helix  nemoralis. 

Thos.  Winder. — Bird  cherry  (Prunus  Padus). 

F.  W.  Lean. — The  small  bone  is  very  likely  one  of  the 
"  ear  bones." 

S.  J.  H. — "  Freshwater  Algae  "  is  now  complete  in  z  vols., 
wiih  coloured  iplates,  published  by  Williams  &  Norgate. 
Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden.  This  is  on  the  authority  of 
the  author. 

W.  R.  N. — 1.  Dried  up.  2.  Luzula  campestris.  3.  Un- 
known.    4.  Dried  up. 

J.  Walter  Gregory. — Please  send  your  address. 

T.  B.  Birchall.— There  are  articles  by  Mr.  Edward  Lovett 
on  the  Fauna  of  Jersey  in  Nos.  202,  208,  210,  211,  236,  237,  of 
Science-Gossip,  and  on  the  Geology  in  Nos.  204,  206,  but  he 
did  not  take  up  the  Botany.  There  is  a  botanical  note  of  a 
few  lines  in  No.  173.  See  also  "  Flora  of  Channel  Islands,"  by 
C.  C.  Babington  (Longmans)  4s. 


EXCHANGES.  1 

Good  botanical,  histological,  crystals,  polariscopic,  diatoms, 
fish  scales  and  miscellaneous,  microscopic  slides  for  others  as 
good  of  bacilli,  entozoa,  algae,  desmids,  zoophytes,  rocks,  fossil 
woods. — B   Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

A  number  of  superior  slides  of  general  interest  to  be  ex- 
changed for  other  well-mounted  slides  or  good  books.  Lists 
exchanged.  For  feather  of  starling,  a  splendid  object,  perfectly 
mounted,  send  one  well-mounted  slide. — J.  W.  Tutcher, 
22  North  Road,  Bristol. 

Wanted,  Morris's  "British  Birds;"  will  give  books. — 
F.  Marshall,  Benwick,  March. 

Coins  or  books  wanted  in  exchange  for  microscope  slides. — 
Mr.  Ebbage,  8  Lowfield  Street,  Dartford. 

For  exchange,  Science-Gossip  for  1881-1S84,  and  up  to 
date,  plates  complete,  all  clean,  first  three  bound  ;  also  Cooke's 
"  Rust,  Smut,  Mildew,  and  Mould,"  coloured  plates  (nearly 
new),  and  "Micro  Fungi:  When  and  Where  to  Find  Them," 
for  chemical  apparatus  and  books  on  analysis. — George  Ward, 
26  Mere  Road,  Leicester. 

Wanted,  Lepidoptera :  Sinapis,  Egeria,  Megaera,  Tithonus, 
Davus,  Alsus,  Acis,  Arion,  Adonis,  ^Egon,  Agestis,  Artaxerxes, 
Actseon,  Comma.  Duplicates  :  Cardamines,  Galathea,  Semele, 
Hyperanthus,  Antiopa  (Continental),  Euphrosyne,  and  Selene 
(this  season's),  also  Filipendulae,  Jacobeae,  and  Humuli. — 
F.  A.  A.  Skuse,  27  Campbell  Road,  Bow,  London,   E. 

Foraminiferous  sand.  Send  stamped  and  addressed  enve- 
lope for  some  of  the  above,  containing  splendid  objects  for  the 
microscope,  to — F.  A.  A.  Skuse,  27  Campbell  Road,  Bow, 
London,  E. 

Rye's  "  British  Beetles,"  Stephens'  "  British  Beetles,"  New- 
man's "Moths,"  Burmeister's  "Entomology"  (33  Opiates), 
Prior's  "Popular  Names  of  British  Plants."  What  offers  in 
exchange? — W.  Jordan,  Cockfield,  Sudbury,  Suffolk. 

Wanted,  the  back  numbers  of  Science-Gossip,  from  the 
beginning  up  till  end  of  1876  ;  will  give  eight  good  and  well- 
mounted  micro-slides  for  each  year's  parts. — J.  J.  Andrew, 
L.D.S.M.,  2  Belgravia,  Belfast. 

A  number  of  foreign  Polyzoa,  mounted,  dry,  and  opaque,  to 
exchange  for  other  slides  or  good  material ;  good  diatoms  pre- 
ferred.— Send  lists  to — Rev.  A.  C.  Smith,  3  Park  Crescent, 
Brighton. 


1 68 


HARBWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Davies's  "Welsh  Botanology,"  1S13,  Sole's  "Mentha?  Bri- 
tannicae,"  1798,  Hooker  and  Taylor's  "  Muscologia  Britannica," 
1827,  and  many  others,  for  natural  history  text-books  or  oflers. 
— J.  Harbord  Lewis,  F.L.S.,  145  Windsor  Street,  Liverpool, _S. 

"  How  to  Work  with  the  Microscope,"  by  Dr.  Beale,  third 
edition,  and  two  vols.  "  English  Mechanic  ;"  also  a  few  good 
opaque  slides,  exchange  for  Miss  Pratt's  "  Wild  Flowers,"  or 
other  well-illustrated  botanical  or  microscopical  books. — Jas.  C. 
Blackshaw,  4  Ranelagh  Road,  Wolverhampton. 

Wanted,  good  micro  slides  (no  physiological)  or  scientific 
works  in  exchange  for  four  vols,  of  "  Pictorial  World  "  (xi.-xiv.). 
— R.  Ridings,  1  Hampton  Terrace,  Lisburn  Road,  Belfast. 

Wanted,  specimens  of  uncleaned  Diatomaceous  earths,  con- 
taining any  of  the  well-known  forms  of  Diatoms,  &c,  either 
English  or  foreign.  Can  give  either  mounted  or  unmounted 
prepared  material  in  exchange,  consisting  of  botanical  sections 
or  anatomical  objects,  or  various  preparations. — R.  M.,  59  Hind 
Street,  Poplar,  London,  E. 

Freshwater  filamentous  algae,  comprising  the  Zygonema- 
ceae  ;  exchanges  of  mounts  or  gatherings  wanted. — C.  Peek, 
Princes  Road.  Heaton  Moor,  Stockport. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip  from  beginning  of  1865  to  end  of 
1884,  either  bound  or  in  loose  numbers ;  and  also  any  other 
microscopical  books  or  journals.  State  what  is  wanted  in  ex- 
change for  them. — Charles  Von  Eiff,  jun.,  347  Greenwich  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Eggs  of  osprey,  cuckoo,  woodpecker,  colin,  grouse,  rail, 
heron,  grebe,  tern,  gull,  and  petrel,  offered  for  others  not  in 
collection. — J.  T.  T.  Reed,  Ryhope,  Durham  Co. 

Fine  collection  of  foreign  and  British  shells,  750  species  ;  also 
collection  of  rocks  and  fossils,  most  formations,  1500  specimens, 
some  duplicates;  want  good  binocular  microscope. —  C.  T. 
Musson,  23  Mapperley  Hill,  Nottingham. 

Wanted,  the  number  of  "Nature"  containing  Index  to 
Vol.  XIII.,  to  complete  set.  Some  old  numbers  of  "  Punch" 
in  exchange. — W.  White,  55  Highbury  Hill,  N. 

To  foreign  stamp  collectors.  I  have  over  1400  stamps,  mixed 
kinds,  which  I  will  send  in  exchange  for  five  or  six  balsam 
mounted  slides,  not  being  a  collector  myself. — Mr.  Ebbage, 
8  Lowfield  Street,  Dartford. 

Wantkd,  in  good  preservation,  Edward  III.  half  noble; 
Richard  II.  quarter  noble;  Henry  V.  noble;  Henry  VI.  noble 
and  half  noble  ;  Edward  IV.  noble  and  half  noble,  and  half 
angel ;  Henry  VII.  'angel  ;  Henry  VIII.  angel  and  quarter 
angel,  in  exchange  for  micro  slides  (histological  and  morpho- 
logical).— B.  Piffard,  Hill  House,  Hemel  Hempstead. 

A  collection  of  six  skulls  (five  human  and  one  gorilla)  in 
exchange  for  microscope,  natural  history  books,  &c. — J.  W. 
Whitehead,  10  Seedley  Park  Road,  Pendleton,  Manchester. 

Rliyncospora  alba,  Vahl ;  will  send  a  specimen  of  this  sedge, 
from  Arisaig,  Invernesshire,  to  any  one  who  will  write  to  me 
for  it. — A.  Somerville,  34  Granby  Terrace,  Hillhead,  Glasgow. 

Wanted,  Herbarium  specimens  of  the  rarer  British  zoophytes 
such  as  -S\  fusca,  D.  pinnata,  N.  bursaria,  P.  myriopkylliim, 
A.  pennatula,  B.  Murrayaua,  &c. — A.  S.  Pennington,  Heaton, 
near  Bolton. 

Fifty-three  parts  of  "Monthly  Microscopical  Journal," 
clean,  edited  by  Lawson  ;  pair  of  buffalo  horns,  6  ft.  5  in.  tip 
to  tip.  What  offers  in  well-mounted  slides  ? — W.  T.,  258  New- 
town Row,  Birmingham. 

"Physical  Geography,"  Geikie  ;  "Physiography,"  Find- 
later;  "  Half-hours  in  the  Tiny  World  ;"  for  "  Lessons  in  Ele- 
mentary Physics,"  Balfour  Stewart  :  "  Elementary  Lessons  in 
Physical  Geography,"  Geikie  ;  or  "Popular  Astronomy,"  Airy. 
— F.  Hendry,  11  Poplar  Street,  Bolton. 

Eggs  of  pheasant,  jackdaw,  magpie,  starling,  redstart,  chaf- 
finch, missel  thrush,  wood  wren,  longtail  tit,  &c,  in  exchange 
for  other  eggs  or  butterflies. — James  L.  Mott. 

What  offers  for  eighty  numbers  of  Science-Gossip? — X., 
Stratfieldsaye,  Winchrield. 

Wanted,  micro  slides  or  geological  specimens  in  exchange 
for  "Zoologist,"  1880,  bound,  new. — C.  Rowland,  36  The 
Grove,  Ealing,  W. 

Wanted,   "The  Smaller  British  Birds,"  by &  Adams, 

published  by  Bell  &  Sons ;  also  various  kinds  of  scissors  for 
scientific  and  other  purposes,  in  exchange  for  shells,  fossils, 
lepidoptera,  plants  of  cacti,  exotic  ferns,  &c— M.  A.  O., 
82  Abbey  Street,  Faversham,  Kent. 

Wanted,  microscopic  slides  in  exchange  for  nine  bound  vols, 
(xi.  to  xix.)  of  "  Chemical  News,"  all  in  good  condition. — B.  H. 
Woodward,  80  Petherton  Road,  London,  N. 

Wanted,  a  good  secondhand  "  C"  eyepiece,  1^  in.  tube  for 
monocular  microscope. — W.  Henshall,  The  Hollies,  Bredbury, 
near  Stockport. 

Wanted,  good  fresh  specimens  of  Acta>a  spicata,  Matthiola 
sinuata,  hnpatiens  noli-me-tangcre,  Hydrocharis  morsus-rancp, 
Strat  totes  aloides,  Vaccinittm  oxycoccos,  roots  not  wanted. — 
Miss  Higgins,  93  Wellington  Street,  Luton,  Eeds. 

Alpine  knapsack,  good  condition,  only  used  once  ;  desiderata 
good  micro  slides,  and  British  birds'  eggs. — John  R.  Marten, 
The  Pharmacy,  Red  Hill. 

Well-mounted  slides  of  seeds,  love-lies-bleeding,  Sileiie 
pcndula,  Collinsia  bicolor,  alba,  Eschscholtzia,  Geuttt  cocci- 
iiiiim,  and  Caynns  minor,  in  exchange  for  other  micro  slides. 
— W.  S.  Anderson,  7  Granby  Street,  Ilkeston. 


Nos.  80,  81,  82,  83,  Aug.  to  Nov.  1871,  Science-Gossip  ; 
vols.  15,  16,  19,  20,  and  21  of  "English  Mechanic;"  Nos.  133, 
139,  140,  Jan.  to  March,  1375  ;  vol.  for  1874  ;  viz.  vol.  7,  bound, 
of  Newman's  "Entomologist."  Unaccepted  offers  not  replied 
to. — Whitmarsh,  5  North  Street,  Wilton. 

Six  good  insect  mounts:  gizzard  of  cricket,  eggs  of  vapourer 
moth,  tongue  of  honey  bee,  whole  flea,  antenna  of  earwig,  and 
wing  of  caddis  fly,  in  exchange  for  other  good  micro  slides. — 
W.  S.  Anderson,  7  Granby  Street,  Ilkeston. 

Old-fashioned  microscope,  stands  17  inches  high,  not  quite 
perfect ;  will  exchange  for  microscopic  material. — S.  J.  Tindall, 
5  Ballater  Road,  Acre  Lane,  Brixton. 

Can  offer  ten  vols,  of  Science-Gossip,  a  small  microscope, 
Clark's  "  Marine  Mollusca,"  and  a  large  series  of  shells.  Wanted, 
works  by  Professor  Ruskin,  back  numbers  of  "Journal  of  Con- 
chology,"  British  shells,  or  offers. — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Wood- 
stock Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Offered,  "The  Gardener's  Magazine"  (1884);  desiderata; 
any  of  the  following  vols.,  ii.,  iii.,  and  v.,  of  "  Science  for  All." 
— A.  Ayling,  Arundel. 

Offered,    "The    Garden"    (1884),   53   beautifully-coloured 


plates  and  engravings;  desiderata;  any  two  of  the  following, 
vols.,  ii.,  iii.,  and  v.  of  "Science  for  All,"  and  other  natural 
history  books  to  value. — A.  Ayling,  Arundel. 

I  have  just  received  from  Mauritius  some  fresh  material  of 
the  beautiful  leaves  of  Borago  Zeylanica,  hairs  on  stellate  cal- 
careous plates.  Send  lists  to — Rev.  A.  C.  Smith,  3  Park 
Crescent,  Brighton. 

Lyei.l's  "Student's  Elements  of  Geology;"  "Advanced 
Text-Book,"  by  Page;  Richardson's  "Geology;"  "Astro- 
nomical Geology  ;"  Waterton's  "  Natural  History  Essays  ;" 
"  Birth  of  Chemistry,"  Rodwell  ;  "Zoologist"  for  1883;  and 
good  Lias  fossils,  to  exchange  for  Reeve's  or  Rimmer's  "Land 
and  Freshwater  Shells,"  entomological  books,  or  offers. — H. 
Quilter,  4  Cedar  Road,  Leicester. 

Wanted,  fossils  of  any  formation  in  exchange  for  those  from 
the  Portland  Oolite.— C.  Fred  Fox,  .Strathearne  Villas,  Old 
Swindon,  Wilts. 

Wanted,  microscopical  or  natural  history  books  in  exchange 
for  well-mounted  micro  slides  or  offers. — Alfred  Draper,  275; 
Abbeydale  Road,  Sheffield. 

Will  es  change  in  clutches  or  single  eggs  of  rook,  ring  dove, 
mallard,  moorhen,  coot,  blackheaded  gull,  peewit  partridge, 
meadow  pipit,  also  nest  of  gold  crest. — J.  R.  Murray,  10  St. 
Paul's  Street,  Aberdeen. 

Wanted,  coins,  medals,  tokens,  foreign  stamps,  arms,, 
armour,  flint  implements,  canaries,  pigeons,  in  exchange  for 
fossils,  seaweeds,  coins,  tokens,  &c. — F.  Stanley,  6  Clifton 
Gardens,  Margate. 

I  have  clutches  of  about  100  species  of  American  eggs  to 
exchange,  also  many  British.  Wanted,  a  clutch  of  each  of 
following  :  stonechat,  blackcap,  goldcrest,  nuthatch,  twite,, 
crested  tit,  jay,  raven,  hobby,  tawny  owl,  heron,  ruff, 
dunlin,  woodcock,  and  many  others.  Please  send  lists  to- 
W.  Wells  Bladen,  Stone,  Staffordshire. 

BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  Text-book  of  Entomology,"  by  W.  F.  Kirby  (Sonnen- 
schein). — "Physical  Expression,"  Dr.  F.  Warner  (Kegan 
Paul,  Trench  &  Co.).—"  The  Moon  and  the  Weather,"  Walter 
L.  Browne  (Bailliere,  Tindal  &  Cox). — "The  Canadian 
Entomologist." — "The  Botanical  Gazette." — "Ben  Brierley's 
Journal." — "Illustrated  Science  Monthly." — Cole's  "Studies- 
in  Microscopical  Science."  4  parts. — "  Revista  Scientifica," 
Porto. — "  32nd  Annual  Report  of  Nottingham  Naturalists' 
Society." — "  Journal  of  the  New  York  Microscopical  Society." 
— "  Science." — "  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Natural' 
Science  of  Philadelphia." — "  Le  Monde  de  la  Science." — 
"On  Child  Culture,"  Dr.  T.  M.  Madden.  —  "American. 
Monthly  Microscopical  Journal." — "Midland  Naturalist." — 
"  Feuille  des  Jeunes  Naturalistes." — "The  Homing  Pigeon." — 
"The  Naturalist." — "Journal  of  the  Quekett  Microscopical 
Club." — "The American  Naturalist." — "  Notes  on  Books  Pub- 
lished by  Longman  &  Co." — "  Report  of  the  East  Kent  Natural' 
History  Society." — "The  Denudation  of  the  Two  Americas," 
by  T.  Mellard  Reade. 


Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from  :— 
G.  F.  H.— J.  C.  P.— W.  F.— R.  W.  G.— J.  E.  R.  G.— A.  S.— 
A.  N.  T.— J.  F.-J.  H.  L.-A.  C.  S.— R.  M.— R.  R.— G.  C. 
— C.  A.  S.— H.  G.  G— J.  C.  B.— A.  D.— M.  H.  R— C—  J.  P. 
— W.  B.  W.— A.  S.  P.— J.  H.  G.— A.  W.-W.  H.  H.— 
W.   R.   N.— C.   P.— R.    L.   H.— W.  B.— T.  C.  A.— H.  M.— 

C.  T.  M.— W.  W.— J.  T.  T.  R.— H.  D.— E— B.  P.— J.  W.  W. 
— H.  W.  L.— A.  O.— J.  A.  W.— W.  G.— G.  B.— J.  W.  T.— 
J.  M.  H.-F.  M.— E.— T.  F.  U.— G.  W.— W.  J.  S.— F.  M.— 
T.  E.  A.— F.  A.  A.  S-— A.  F.-W.  J.— T.   B.  B—  J.  J.  A.— 

D.  O.-W.  S.  W.— M.  E.  T.-W.  M.  W.-W.  W.  &  S.— 
W.  T.— C  D.— R.  G.  M.— A.  S.  M.—  W.  E.  C— F.  S.— 
J.  L.  M— X.— C.  R-— M.  A.  O.— B.  H.  W.— W.— A.  D.  W. 
— W.  H.-H.-J.  R.  M.— J.  R.  M— J.  A.— S.  J.  T.— 
W.  S.  A.— W.  W.  B.— A.  D.— S.  C.  C— A.  A— A.  J.  H.— 
J.  J.  A.— W.  J.  S.-J.  F.  C— R.  E.-H.  F.— A.  C  S.— 
H.  Q.,  &c,  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


Vincent  Brooks  Day  &  SonlMi 


SMALL    BRITTLE    STA  R-FISH. 
x  35 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


169 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


No.  XX. — Small  Brittle  Star-fish. 


s-fi'  HE  illustration  repre- 
sents the  ventral 
surface  of  the  disk 
of  Ophiocoma  neg- 
lecta  (the  small, 
or  grey  brittle  star- 
fish) of  the  family 
Ophiuridae,  and  also 
exhibits  the  attach- 
ments of  the  five 
long  spinous  radia- 
ting arms  ;  the  ob- 
ject is  sufficiently 
minute  to  require, 
for  the  exposition 
of  its  beauty  and 
symmetrical  struc- 
ture, a  magnifica- 
tion of  thirty  or 
more  diameters. 
Specimens  in  age,  and  development,  necessarily  vary 
in  size,  but  in  this  particular  species,  the  average 
diameter  of  the  disk  is  about  one-sixth  of  an  inch, 
and  the  rays,  or  radiating  arms,  are  of  such  dispro- 
portionate length,  as  to  maintain  and  justify  the  term 
Ophiuridae  (serpent  tailed)  ;  these  elongated  arms, 
unlike  those  of  the  true  star-fishes,  have  no  ambulacral 
tentacles,  or  processes. 

In  Ophiocoma  the  length  and  extraordinary 
flexibility  and  adhesive  power  of  the  arms  are  aided 
by  smaller  spinous  processes,  affording  the  capability 
of  very  active  powers  of  locomotion  and  prehension  ; 
this  characteristic  is  peculiar  to  the  species  ;  having 
no  perfect  sucker  tubes,  aiding  deliberate  progression, 
as  seen  in  the  Echini,  and  true  star- fishes,  they 
curiously  exhibit  far  greater  activity,  the  jointed  arms 
possessing  a  quivering,  jerky  movement ;  undeveloped 
membranous  tentacles  are  indicated,  but  never  reach- 
ing the  steady  crawling  capability  of  similar  organs, 
found  in  other  Echinoderms. 

Generic  character  depends  on  configuration  of  the 
rays   (always   five),   and  on   the   form   and   specific 
No.  248. — August  1885. 


distinctions  disclosed  in  the  arrangement  of  the  many 
plates  and  scales. 

Under  magnification,  disks  of  the  Ophiocomre 
reveal  great  elegance  ;  from  a  point  in  the  centre  of 
the  dorsal  side,  opposite  to  the  position  seen  in  the 
illustration,  is  a  series  of  radiating  imbricated  scales 
of  uniform  size,  overlapping  each  other,  turning  over 
the  circumference  of  the  disk,  and  eventually  reach- 
ing the  quinary  plates,  forming  the  mouth  and  bases 
of  the  rays ;  the  surfaces  of  all  the  parts  appear 
smooth,  but  under  high  magnification  disclose  areola/ 
markings.  The  central  disk  is  beautifully  patterned, 
and  the  various  pieces,  with  care,  are  capable  of 
separation.  The  mouth  is  in  the  centre,  leading  by  a 
short  gullet  to  a  digestive  sac  ;  this  one  aperture  serves 
for  the  reception  of  food,  and  the  expulsion  of 
unabsorbed  portions,  the  aliment  consisting  of  decayed 
animal  substances.  In  a  living  condition,  surrounding 
the  borders  of  the  mouth,  are  seen  a  series  of  very 
minute  tentaculae,  as  it  is  known  these  apparently 
helpless  creatures  are  notoriously  ravenous.  It  might 
be  assumed  that,  beyond  the  power  of  ingurgitationr 
they  possessed  some  enablement  of  mastication,  or  at 
least  prehension  ;  this  may  be  detected  !  If  one  of 
the  five  pieces,  involving  the  aperture  of  the  mouth, 
be  laid  open,  and  the  under  surface  examined  with  a 
high  power,  it  will  be  found  beset  with  minute  sharp 
pointed  recurved  spines,  which,  if  not  teeth,  evidently 
have  a  file-like  clutching  action ;  a  perfect  disk 
arranged  with  one  of  these  quincunx  parts  folded 
back,  is  a  striking  microscopical  exhibit,  showing  the 
points  referred  to,  also  the  cavity  of  the  stomach 
beneath. 

The  rays,  or  arms,  in  proportion  to  the  disk,  are 
comparatively  long,  excessively  friable  and  brittle 
in  the  living  condition,  falling  to  pieces  under  the 
slightest  shock,  or  even  touch,  rendering  it  somewhat 
difficult  to  capture  perfect  specimens.  These  fragile 
calcareous  rays  are  necessarily  permeated  by  organs 
of  motion,  secretion,  and  sensation  ;  externally 
appearing  like  curved-rounded  conical  boxes,  fitting 
into    each    other,    each    plate    or   cup   edged   with 

I 


170 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


spines.  In  another  variety,  0.  rosttla,  the  minute 
spikes  under  well-adjusted  conditions  of  magnification 
and  illumination  are  objects  of  extreme  elegance ; 
composed  of  a  hard  brittle  substance  of  brilliant 
transparency.  These  glassy  structures  are  observed 
in  great  perfection  and  variety  of  form  throughout 
the  entire  class  of  Echinoderms,  and  known  as 
Pedicellarias,  arming  the  tips  of  the  tubular  feet  of 
the  true  star-fishes  and  Echini,  fulfilling  in  some 
instances  the  functions  of  grappling  irons  ;  or  as 
spicules  as  found  in  the  genera  Holothuria,  Synapta, 
Chirodota,  imbedded  in  the  tissues  in  the  form  of 
perforated  plates,  circular  disks,  spikes,  and' curved 
points,  aiding  in  every  instance  some  supporting  or 
locomotive  power  ;  but  under  whatever  conditions 
these  glassy  structures  are  placed,  they  invariably 
retain  a  peculiar  grace  of  configuration,  and  a  typical 
principle  of  uniformity. 

In  securing  living  Ophiuridce,  the  greatest  precau- 
tion is  necessary,  as  under  the  slightest  interference, 
they  immediately  shatter  themselves  into  fragments, 
leaving  only  the  central  disk.  Sudden  death  by 
immersion  in  fresh  water  will  secure  them  intact. 
Dead  and  desiccated  specimens,  with  the  rays  attached 
may  be  found  on  some  coasts  in  drift  sand,  but  their 
beauty  is  always  impaired  by  abrasion. 

Professor  Edward  Forbes,  in  his  delightful  "His- 
tory of  British  Star  Fishes,"  refers  to  the  precautions 
necessary  to  obviate  the  suicidal  and  dislocating 
propensity  of  the  brittle  star-fish,  and  how  to  capture 
it  in  its  entirety.  He  gives,  in  his  learned  and 
amusing  volume,  a  graphic  and  ludicrous  description 
(often  quoted)  of  one  of  his  particular  failures  ; 
curiously  enough,  the  rich  humour  of  this  passage 
was  incorporated  au  serienx  by  a  learned  German 
naturalist,  in  his  work  on  the  same  subject. 

Crouch  End. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

AN  interesting  experiment  has  been  made,  and  is 
now  in  progress  as  a  practically  successful 
process,  in  disposing  of  the  sewage  of  Buxton  (Derby- 
shire), 100,000  gallons  of  which  have  to  find  their 
way  in  some  condition  to  the  Wye,  a  little  river 
which  in  dry  weather  becomes  a  half-and-half  mixture 
when  the  sewage  is  added  to  it.  The  necessity  for  a 
remedy  was  of  course  urgent ;  many  schemes  were 
tried  and  abandoned,  until  the  idea  of  mixing  the 
sewage  with  a  natural  chalybeate  water  flowing  from 
a  disused  colliery  was  carried  out.  The  water  con- 
tains sulphate  of  iron,  magnesia,  alumina,  lime,  and 
soda,  besides  some  carbonate  of  iron  and  silica.  The 
chalybeate  water  added  alone  partially  purified  the 
sewage,  but  by  adding  lime  to  it  before  mixing  with 
the  sewage  the  purification  was  effectual  to  the  extent 


of  producing  a  clear  effluent  from  which  ij  of  the 
original  organic  ammonia  was  removed,  and  f  of  the 
free  ammonia.  The  chemical  details,  which  are  very 
interesting,  but  too  much  for  quotation  here,  will  be 
found  in  a  paper  read  at  the  Society  of  Arts,  by 
Dr.  Thresh,  and  published  with  report  of  discussion 
upon  it  in  the  Society's  Journal  of  May  22. 

The  total  cost  of  thus  dealing  with  the  sewage  is 
£275  per  annum,  covered  by  a  rate  of  \\d.  in  the  £. 
If  the  precipitated  sludge  is  rendered  marketable  for 
manure,  as  it  should  be,  this  may  be  reduced  con- 
siderably. The  chalybeate  water  was  previously  a 
nuisance,  owing  to  its  ochreous  deposit  in  the  river. 
The  two  nuisances  now  neutralise  each  other ;  and 
the  condition  of  the  river  is  actually  improved  by  the 
sewage  and  lime.  Twelve  grains  of  slaked  lime  to 
the  gallon  of  mixture  is  the  mean  quantity  added. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Chemical  Society,  June  18, 
Mr.  R.J.  Friswell  stated  the  results  of  eleven  months' 
laboratory  experience  with  toughened  glass  beakers, 
made  according  to  De  la  Bastie's  patents.  They 
were  by  no  means  satisfactory. 

Of  twenty  beakers  two  burst  spontaneously  ;  one, 
when  hot  water  was  poured  into  it ;  six  became 
useless  from  fissures  and  exfoliation ;  three  were 
broken  by  unknown  means,  and  eight  remained  in 
good  condition.  They  were  supposed  to  bear  heating 
over  the  flame  of  a  rose  burner  while  supported  on 
wire  gauze,  as  the  best  Bohemian  beakers  do,  but  one 
having  burst  when  hot  water  was  poured  into  it  this 
severe  test  was  not  applied. 

The  fissures  and  exfoliation  were  curious,  the 
fissures  "so  close  together  and  running  so  completely 
over  the  surface  of  the  beaker  that  it  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  covered  with  a  tissue  of  spider's 
web."  Mr.  Friswell's  conclusion  is  that  "  taking 
into  consideration  the  loss  of  confidence  caused  by 
the  high  percentage  of  spontaneous  bursting,  it  may 
be  said  that  toughened  glass  is  a  complete  failure  in 
the  laboratory." 

The  cutting  of  bottles  and  glass  tubes  is  a  labor- 
atory operation  of  much  economic  utility  and  some 
difficulty.  Small  tubes  are  easily  and  quickly  cut  by 
simply  notching  with  a  triangular  ("  three  square") 
file  and  applying  a  binding  strain  combined  with  a 
pull,  but  when  the  tube  is  large  this  method  fails. 
There  is  another  method  described  in  some  books, 
that  of  passing  a  piece  of  string  round  the  tube, 
soaking  the  string  in  alcohol  or  turpentine,  and  then 
lighting  it.  According  to  the  aforesaid  books  this  is 
very  easy,  but  those  of  my  readers  who  have  tried  it 
know  better.  A  modification  is  now  proposed  which 
appears  to  be  really  effectual.  A  fine  iron  or  plati- 
num wire  is  wound  round  the  tube,  a  current 
of  electricity  is  passed  through  this,  making  it  red 
hot  or  nearly  so ;  then  it  is  cooled  with  water,  and 
the  heat  being  purely  local,  not  outspread  as  by  the 
flaming  string,  a  clean  cut  is  made,  My  own  ex- 
perience suggests   an  improvement   on   this,  viz.   to 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


171 


make  notches  with  a  "  three  square  "  file  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  glass  where  the  cut  is  required.  These 
direct  the  wire  and  give  a  start,  besides  preventing 
sideward  cracking ;  I  have  thus  succeeded  with  the 
string. 

Professor  Langley's  lecture  on  sunlight  and  the 
earth's  atmosphere,  delivered  at  the  Royal  Institution, 
is  very  interesting,  as  it  contains  a  summary  of  his 
researches  on  Mount  Whitney,  where  he  attained  a 
sufficient  elevation  to  leave  nearly  half  of  the  atmo- 
sphere below  him,  and  thus  was  able,  with  the  aid  of 
instruments  of  especial  delicacy,  to  compare  the  solar 
radiations  received  up  there  with  those  which  we 
ordinarily  receive  down  here  at  the  bottom  of  the 
atmospheric  ocean.  One  of  his  broadest  results  is 
the  conclusion,  that  "the  total  loss  by  absorption 
from  atmosphere  is  nearly  double  what  has  been 
heretofore  supposed."  Therefore  the  sum  total  of 
the  solar  energy  must  be  proportionally  greater  than 
the  usual  estimate.  He  sets  it  down  as  capable  of 
melting  a  shell  of  ice  sixty  yards  thick  annually  over 
the  whole  earth,  or  "of  exerting  over  one  horse 
power  for  each  square  yard  of  the  normally  exposed 
surface." 

There  is  one  inference  stated  in  the  report  of  the 
lecture  which  puzzles  me,  viz.,  that  "  if  the  planet 
were  allowed  to  radiate  freely  into  space  without  any 
protecting  veil,  its  sunlit  surface  would  probably  fall, 
even  in  the  tropics,  below  the  temperature  of  freezing 
mercury." 

In  this  there  is  a  physical  fallacy  which  I  would 
fain  believe  it  impossible  for  Professor  Langley  to 
perpetrate.  In  the  case  supposed  there  are  two 
bodies,  the  sun  and  the  planet,  opposite  each  other, 
mutually  radiating  and  receiving  radiations. 

According  to  the  well-established  "  lawr  of  ex- 
changes," when  bodies  are  thus  exposed  to  each 
other  and  their  temperatures  are  unequal,  "  the  hotter 
bodies  will  emit  more  radiations  than  they  receive 
from  the  colder  bodies,  and  therefore,  on  the  whole, 
heat  will  be  lost  by  the  hotter  and  gained  by  the 
colder  till  thermal  equilibrium  is  attained."  (J. 
Clerk  Maxwell.)  This  assumes  that  between  the 
bodies  there  is  no  absorbing  medium,  i.e.  free  space. 

It  is  clearly  evident  that  under  these  circumstances 
the  cooler  body,  i.e.  the  planet  (or  say  the  moon, 
which  is  an  unprotected  planet  with  one  side  thus 
exposed),  must  be  radiating  less  heat  than  it  is  re- 
ceiving and  therefore  becoming  warmer,  and  that  the 
temperature  of  "  its  sunlit  surface  "  must  be  greater 
without  the  protecting  veil  than  with  it.  This  con- 
clusion is  easily  confirmed  by  experiment.  A  black 
bulbed  thermometer  rises  higher  and  higher  when 
exposed  to  direct  solar  radiations  at  greater  and 
greater  elevations  in  a  given  latitude.  Water  may  be 
boiled  on  the  snow  fields  of  the  higher  Alps,  by 
simply  placing  it  in  a  blackened  copper  vessel  in  a 
blackened  box  with  glass  cover,  and  freely  exposing 
it  to  the  solar  radiations. 


My '  conclusion  is  that  Professor  Langley  did  not 
mean  what  the  reported  words  express.  His  meaning 
must  have  been,  not  that  its  actually  sunlit  surface 
would  thus  fall,  but  that  a  surface  which  had  bee?t 
sunlit,  and  is  now  dark,  would  fall ;  not  that  the 
bright  side  of  the  moon  would  fall  below  the  freezing- 
point  of  mercury,  but  that  the  dark  side,  or  the  side 
that  had  been  bright,  would  radiate  away  its  heat  as 
rapidly  as  it  received  it.  I  have  discussed  this  thus 
fully,  finding  that  Langley  has  been  credited  with 
having  proved,  by  his  experiments,  that  the  bright 
surface  of  the  full  moon,  in  spite  of  the  direct  solar 
glare,  is  colder  than  freezing  water. 

His  experiments  show,  that  all  our  estimates  of  the 
temperature  of  the  lunar  surface,  based  on  comparison 
with  that  of  the  earth,  must  be  raised  in  proportion 
to  his  correction  of  the  amount  of  our  loss  by  atmos- 
pheric absorption. 

Our  pre-eminence  as  "  the  land  of  tin  "  is 
becoming  seriously  disputed.  Cassiterite  containing 
94*895  per  cent,  of  tin  oxide  is  now  found  at  Irish 
Creek,  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  in  loose 
crystals,  as  fragments  on  the  surface,  and  in  veins. 
The  veins  occur  in  a  coarse  grained,  much  decom- 
posed, granite  or  gneiss.  Besides  the  tin  oxide,  it 
contains  3*418  per  cent,  of  sesquioxide  of  iron,  0*760 
of  silica,  0*244  of  lime,  0*27  of  magnesia,  and  0*237 
of  tungsten.  If  the  commercial  quantities  correspond 
with  its  chemical  richness,  this  mineral  will  exert  a 
considerable  influence  on  the  metallurgical  industry 
of  the  United  States. 

W.  Hempel  has  made  some  experiments  on  the 
combination  of  the  different  forms  of  carbon  with  iron, 
with  results  that  must  be  very  disgusting  to  certain 
superlatively  practical  people.  Different  parts  of  the 
same  piece  of  iron  foil  were  equally  exposed  at  a  high 
temperature  to  carbon  in  the  form  of  diamond  dust, 
to  graphite,  and  burnt  sugar  carbon.  The  diamond 
dust  did  the  work  of  converting  the  iron  into  steel, 
while  the  graphite  and  amorphous  carbon  were 
ineffectual.  The  heat  was  continued  for  two  hours. 
Ordinary  cementation  occupies  about  two  weeks. 
Other  experiments  have  shown  that  carbon,  in  the 
form  of  diamond,  combines  with  iron  at  a  lower 
temperature  than  either  of  the  other  forms  of  carbon. 

Within  the  reach  of  my  own  recollection,  as  a 
teacher  of  chemistry,  the  silvering  of  glass  by  pre- 
cipitation of  actual  silver  was  merely  a  laboratory  or 
lecture-table  experiment.  Now  it  is  extensively 
used  for  the  practical  manufacture  of  mirrors  on  a 
large  scale,  superseding  the  old  amalgam  of  mercury 
and  tin  foil.  It  has  done  good  service  to  the 
astronomer  by  supplying  him  with  "silver-on-glass  " 
mirrors  for  reflecting  telescopes,  which  are  now  so 
extensively  superseding  the  more  costly  and  ponder- 
ous speculum  metal.  Bottger,  in  a  recent  paper, 
recommends  the  following  proportions  of  materials  to 
be  used.  Dissolve  four  parts  of  pulverised  nitrate 
of  silver  in  strong  ammonia.     Then  add  to  this  one 

1  2 


172 


HAKDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


.part  of  ammonium  sulphate,  and  350  parts  of  distilled 
water  to  form  the  silver  solution.  The  reducing 
solution  to  be  made  of  I  "2  parts  of  starch  or  grape 
sugar,  with  three  of  caustic  potash  dissolved  in  350 
parts  of  distilled  water  (these  parts  all  by  weight). 
When  used,  equal  parts  of  the  liquid  are  mixed 
together  and  applied  to  the  substance  to  be  coated 
with  silver. 

Our  vegetarian  friends  who  encounter  the  objection 
to  their  system,  that  we  shall  be  deprived  of  leather 
if  they  prevail,  may  be  gratified  to  learn  that  in 
-the  last  volume  of  the  Chemical  "  Central blatt," 
p.  798,  is  a  paper  on  vegetable  leather,  by  M.  Bauer, 
L.  Brouard,  and  J.  Ancel,  who  join  in  stating  that 
the  following  forms  a  very  good  substitute  for 
leather:  6 lbs.  10  oz.  of  gutta  percha,  2  lbs.  sulphur, 
a\  lbs.  raw  cotton,  1  JTb.  of  zinc-white,  3^  oz.  colcothar, 
and  9  ounces  of  antimonic  oxide.  These  are  to  be 
vulcanised  by  steam.  The  essential  constituents  are 
the  gutta  percha  and  sulphur  ;  the  others  may  be 
varied  and  replaced,  according  to  the  character  of 
-the  leather  required.  This  "vegetable  leather"  is 
therefore  a  vulcanized  gutta  percha  hardened  by  the 
zinc,  and  toughened  by  the  cotton. 

Good  work  is  being  done  at  the  summit  of  the 
British  Isles.  The  Ben  Nevis  Observatory  is  in 
full  operation,  winter  and  summer.  The  observers 
have  a  remarkably  quiet  life  during  the  winter,  but 
are  now  threatened  with  tourist  invasion  in  summer 
time,  as  the  building  of  a  hotel  is  contemplated. 
Whether  a  climbing  railway,  like  that  on  the  Righi, 
will  be  added,  remains  to  be  seen.  Mr.  Buchan  has 
already  worked  very  effectively  on  the  following 
problems  :  1st,  the  normal  or  average  temperature 
and  barometric  pressure  for  each  month,  and  the 
normal  differences  between  these  averages  and  those 
at  sea  level  ;  2nd,  the  daily  variation  of  temperature 
and  pressure  during  each  month  ;  3rd,  the  daily 
variation  in  the  average  velocity  of  the  wind  ;  4th, 
variations  of  the  wind  as  regards  their  general 
prevalence  over  Scotland  ;  5th,  hygrometric  observa- 
tions, and  observations  of  rainfall,  and  depth  of 
snow,  &c. 

There  are  higher  observatories  in  other  countries, 
but  the  isolated  position  of  Ben  Nevis,  and  its  clear 
.uprise  directly  from  the  sea,  afford  special  facilities 
for  some  of  the  most  interesting  observations.  Its 
geographical  position,  in  reference  to  the  Gulf  Stream 
.and  polar  atmospheric  currents,  also  adds  to  the 
interest  and  value  of  the  observations.  Present  space 
does  not  permit  me  to  go  into  the  results  of  these 
observations,  but  I  hope  to  return  to  the  subject 
hereafter. 


A  very  useful  paper  on  the  so-called  "Wingless 
Birds,"  fossil  and  recent,  with  a  few  words  on  birds 
as  a  class,  by  Dr.  H.  Woodward,  F.R.S.,  may  be 
found  in  the  "  Geological  Magazine  "  for  last  month. 


PARASITICAL  FLOWERING  PLANTS. 
By  A.  D.  Webster. 

[Continued  from  p.  159-] 

THE  dodders,  of  which  there  are  three  recognised 
species,  Cuscuta  Europaa,  C.  epilinum,  and  C. 
ipithynium,  twine  themselves  around  the  stem  and 
branches  of  other  plants,  and  become  attached  to 
them  by  means  of  minute  tubercles  or  suckers,  and 
thus  attract  from  the  system  of  the  plant  and  air  the 
sustenance  necessary  for  their  own  support.  They 
1  ossess  the  double  power  of  germinating  either  in  the 
cap.  ule  or  the  earth  ;  in  the  latter  case  they  adhere 
to  the  round  by  the  original  root,  drawing  nourish- 
ment therefrom  until  the  young  stem  has  fixed  itself 
to  another  plant,  after  which  the  original  root  withers 
away. 

The  dodders  spread  with  terrible  rapidity,  and  are 
often  a  source  of  annoyance  to  husbandmen,  especially 
in  the  cultivation  of  leguminous  crops.  They  destroy 
the  plants,  either  by  deprivin  ;  them  of  their  nourish- 
ment or  by  strangling  them  in  their  folds. 

The  greater  dodder  (C  Europcta)  is  ;  enerally  to  be 
met  with  along  the  sides  of  hedges,  and  in  neglected 
ground,  growing  on  brambles,  nettles,  and  grass ; 
also  on  flax,  hemp,  and  clover.  It  is  an  annual 
parasitical  plant,  with  twining,  thread-like  stems  of  a 
purplish-red  colour,  usually  attaining  a  height  of  two 
or  three  feet.  The  stem  is  much  branched  and 
destitute  of  leaves,  except  here  and  there  a  small 
membranous  scale  immediately  under  the  branches. 
The  flowers,  which  are  bell-shaped  or  globose,  grow 
in  dense  round  clusters,  of  from  ten  to  twenty  in 
each,  are  sessile,  and  of  a  whitish  appearance  with  a 
slight  pinkish  tinge.  Rarely  more  than  half-a-dozen 
of  the  flowers  are  open  at  the  same  time,  the  lower 
ones  being  not  half  developed  when  the  upper  are  in 
full  bloom. 

Although  said  to  be  rarely  found  in  Wales,  this  is 
not  the  case,  as  I  have  frequently  met  with  it  and 
more  than  once  in  large  quantities.  The  plant  being 
of  diminutive  size  and  certainly  not  well  known,  may 
account  for  the  few  districts  from  which  it  has  been 
recorded.  On  a  farm  near  here,  several  fields  of 
clover  last  season  suffered  very  severely  from  the 
dodder,  large  patches  here  and  there  being  quite 
killed  down  by  its  encroachments.  In  walking  over 
the  fields  the  dodder  is  readily  recognised,  from  the 
pinky  appearance  it  gives  to  the  half-withered 
clover  that  is  gradually  becoming  strangled  in  its 
deadly  embrace.  The  leaves  of  the  clover  on  which 
the  plant  is  living  first  become  covered  with  small 
black  spots  or  patches,  gradually  turn  unhealthy,  and 
ultimately  die  back  to  the  ground.  The  roots  of  the 
clover  do  not  appear  to  be  injured. 

After  examining  the  neighbouring  plantations, 
fences,  and  hedges,  I  came  to  the  conclusion,  that 
in  this  case  the  dodder  seeds  were  imported  with 
those  of  the  clover,  which,  if  correct,  should  make 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


173 


seedsmen  very  careful  before  disseminating  the  germs 
of  such  a  troublesome  and  ruinous  plant.  Strange  to 
say,  all  the  fields  just  referred  to  were  sown  with 
clover  seeds  obtained  at  the  same  time  and  from  the 
same  source. 

The  lesser  dodder  [C.  epithytnum)  grows  on  thyme, 
heath,  and  other  small  shrubby  plants,  and  is  of 
much  finer  growth  than  the  latter  species,  though  in 
other  respects  the  two  plants  are  much  alike.  The 
stems  are  usually  of  a  deeper 
red  than  those  of  the  greater 
dodder,  and  generally  more 
twisted  or  entangled  ;  indeed  it 
is  no  easy  task  to  follow  one  of 
the  stems  from  base  to  tip,  so 
intricately  twisted  do  they  be- 
come. As  well  as  the  plants 
mentioned  above,  the  lesser 
dodder  has  been  found  some- 
what plentiful  on  clover,  gorse, 
&c. 


always  or  usually  less  than  a  foot  in  height,  and 
covered  with  numerous  white  fleshy  scales  instead 
of  leaves.  The  root-stock  is  of  a  dirty  white  colour, 
and  composed  of  numerous  short,  fleshy,  imbricating- 
scales.  Flowering  stem  naked,  or  with  sometimes 
one  or  two  oval  scales  which  gradually  pass  into  the 
bracts.  The  flowers,  which  are  numerous,  and 
arranged  in  a  somewhat  one-sided  spike,  are  of  a 
pale  purple,  streaked,  and  marked  with  light  blue 
and  red,  but  as  they  soon  fade  these  colours 
cannot  be  relied  upon  as  constant ;  so  that  the 
plant  at  various  stages  of  growth,  and  according 
to  the  locality  in  which  it  is  found,  presents  a 
diversity  of  features  by  no  means  easily  de- 
scribed. Sometimes  the  flowers  appear  of  a 
greenish  colour  to  the  casual  observer,  but  on 
closer  examination  faint  tracts  of  other  colours 
are  readily  detected. 

It  grows  on  the  roots  of  various  trees,  as  the 
hazel,  laurel,  and  elm,  and  is  generally  found 
in  the  most  hidden  recesses  of  dry  woods,  which 
may  partly  account  for  its  pallid,  unhealthy- 
looking  appearance.      It  is  not   an   uncommon 


Fig.  113. — Dodder  {Cuscuta 
epithymitni). 


Fig.  114. — Toothwort 
[(Lathraa  sqrtamatia). 


115.— Mistletoe  {Viscnm  album). 
a,  flower  ;  i,  fruit. 


The  flax  dodder  (C.  epilinum)  is  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  the  plant  from  which  the  popular  name  is 
derived,  and  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
introduced  into  this  country  with  the  cultivation  of 
flax. 

In  the  island  of  Anglesea  this  plant  was,  a  few 
years  ago,  pretty  abundant  amongst  a  crop  of  flax. 
I  have,  however,  not  heard  of  it  since.  The 
differences  between  this  plant  and  the  greater  dodder 
lie  chiefly  in  the  flowers,  which  are  fewer  in  number 
and  somewhat  larger. 

The  toothwort  {Lathraa  squamaria),  in  singula- 
rity of  habit  and  general  construction,  very  nearly 
approaches  the  orobanche.  It  is,  however,  dis- 
tinguished by  several  well-marked  technicalities, 
especially  in  the  construction  of  flowers  and  formation 
of  the  root,  both  of  which  differ  considerably  from 
those  of  the  orobanche.     It   is  a   diminutive  plant, 


plant,  having  been  found  in  many  English  counties,, 
as  well  as,  though  in  limited  quantity,  in  Ireland  and 
Scotland. 

The  mistletoe  {Visatm  album)  is  the  largest  and 
most  aspiring  of  our  native  parasites,  and  is  by  many 
considered  as  the  only  true  parasitical  plant  indi- 
genous to  Britain,  as  at  no  time  does  it  receive  any 
nourishment  from  the  soil  like  a  few  other  members 
of  this  family ;  but  although  the  dodders  do  not 
actually,  like  the  mistletoe,  plunge  their  roots  into 
the  wood  and  incorporate  themselves  with  the  tissue, 
still  the  fact  of  their  living  on  and  deriving  nourish- 
ment from  other  plants  will  be  sufficient  reason  for 
including  them  in  this  class. 

This  is  an  evergreen  bush  from  two  feet  to  some- 
times as  much  as  five  feet  in  diameter,  with  dichoto- 
mous  shoots,  and  pairs  of  light  green  leaves.  It  is 
dioecious,    having   the    sexes    separate    on   different 


174 


HARDW1 CKE ' ^  S CIENCE - G  O SSIP. 


plants.  It  flowers  in  spring,  and  is  usually  covered 
during  the  winter  with  small,  white,  glutinous  berries, 
not  unlike  tiny  pearls.  In  some  situations  the 
mistletoe  is  rather  difficult  to  propagate,  which  is 
most  readily  performed  by  inserting  the  bruised 
berries  into  crevices,  or  even  rubbing  them  on  the 
smooth  surface  of  the  bark  in  spring — the  glutinous 
matter  of  the  fruit  aiding  in  attaching  it — and  tying  a 
piece  of  matting  or  other  material  over  as  a  preserva- 
tive against  birds  and  insects,  both  of  which  are 
dread  enemies  to  the  young  plant.  The  mistletoe 
may  also  be  grafted  by  inserting,  early  in  May,  a 
scion  with  a  bud  and  leaf  into  an  incision  made  in 
the  bark  of  such  tree  as  it  is  intended  to  grow  upon. 
The  seed  is  not  long  in  germinating  ;  the  radicle 
penetrating  into  one  of  the  numerous  chinks  of  the 
bark  settles  between  the  wood  and  bark  of  the 
sustaining  tree,  and  finally  insinuating  its  fibres  into 
the  woody  substance  soon  becomes  one  with  its 
foster  parent,  deriving  the  ready-made  nourishment 
therefrom  necessary  for  its  own  support.  The  seeds 
are  triangular  in  shape,  and  at  two  of  the  angles  put 
forth  shoots  very  nearly  resembling  the  horns  of  a 
snail. 

Occasionally  both  horns  take  root  and  form  two 
distinct  plants,  supposed  by  some  to  be  male  and 
female,  but  of  this  latter  I  cannot  speak  with  any 
amount  of  certainty.  After  collecting  information 
from  various  sources,'  the  following  is  a  list  of  the 
trees  on  which  the  mistletoe  has  been  found,  the 
addresses  of  recorders  being  now  in  my  possession  : 
apple,  pear,  whitethorn,  oak,  elm,  willow,  maple, 
poplar,  lime,  service,  hazel,  horse-chestnut,  acacia, 
mountain  ash,  laburnum,  white  broom,  laurel,  locust- 
tree,  crab-tree,  birch,  sycamore,  medlar,  lime, 
service,  white  beam,  alder,  hornbeam,  larch,  and, 
according  to  a  correspondent  of  "  The  Garden," 
abundantly  on  the  Scotch  fir  between  Munich  and 
Innspruck,  in  the  Bavarian  Tyrol. 

The  late  Mr.  Bentham,  in  his  last  edition  of  the 
"British  Flora,"  says  that  mistletoe  is  not  known  in 
Scotland  or  Ireland.  This  is,  however,  surely  a 
mistake,  as  in  an  orchard  rented  by  my  father  on  Sir 
"William  Verner's  estate  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  I 
have  frequently  seen  the  mistletoe  growing  on  the 
apple-trees  ;  and  in  Scotland,  according  to  Mr. 
Henry  Evershed,  it  grows  on  the  north  side  of 
Kinnoul  Hill,  near  Perth,  and  in  the  nurseries  of  Mr. 
Morrison  at  Elgin,  and  at  Gordon  Castle  in  Moray- 
shire. 

I  believe,  however,  although  I  am  at  present 
anable  to  state  positively,  that  neither  in  Scotland 
nor  Ireland  has  the  mistletoe  been  found  growing  on 
the  oak. 

The  mistletoe  is  perhaps  more  frequently  associated 
with  the  oak  than  any  other  tree,  but  it  is  well  known 
that  the  plant  is  rarely  found  on  the  oak ;  how  rarely 
the  following  list  of  mistletoe  oaks  in  England  and 
Wales  will  show  : 


(i)  At  Clarendon  Park,  Salisbury,  Wilts;  (2)  two 
miles  from  Cheltenham  ;  (3)  at  Llindridge,  Worces- 
tershire ;  (4)  at  Lord  Lowndes'  Park,  Lees  Court, 
Kent ;    (5)    at   Knightrick  Church,    Worcestershire ; 

(6)  at  Hendre,   Llangattoch,   Lingoed,  Monmouth  ; 

(7)  at  Budwardine,  Herefordshire  ;  (8)  at  Haven,  in 
the  ancient  forest  of  Durford,  Hereford ;  (9)  at 
Frampton  Severn,  Gloucestershire  ;  (10)  not  far  from 
Plymouth  (by  the  side  of  the  South  Devon  Railway)  ; 
(11)  at  Hackwood  Park,  Basingstoke,  Hants  ;  (12) 
at  Badham's  Court,  Sunbury  Park,  near  Chepstow ; 
(13)  at  Ledstone,  Delamere ;  (14)  at  Eastnor,  Here- 
ford ;  (15)  at  Burningford  Farm,  Dunsford,  Surrey; 
(16)  in  an  old  forest  in  Carmarthenshire. 

The  above  may  be  considered  as  a  pretty  accurate 
summary  of  the  mistletoe  oaks  in  England,  but  I 
shall  be  very  pleased  to  hear  from  any  one  who  can 
further  extend  the  list.  Miss  Owen,  of  Knockmullen, 
writes  me  to  say  that  her  friend  Mr.  O.  Donnavan 
found  the  mistletoe  growing  on  several  oaks,  and  at 
least  one  fir-tree,  in  the  remains  of  an  old  forest  that 
extends  here  and  there  along  the  courses  of  both  the 
Towy  and  Cotti  rivers  in  Carmarthenshire. 

I  have  now  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  there  is  no 
tree  on  which  the  mistletoe  will  not  grow,  and  that 
its  scarcity  on  any  tree  is  not  owing  to  any  dislike  on 
the  part  of  the  mistletoe,  and  I  believe  that  further 
research  will  only  tend  to  confirm  my  statement. 

Of  the  Druidical  and  superstitious  uses  of  this 
plant  some  curious  particulars  are  related  by  Pliny  in 
his  "  Natural  History,"  where  we  learn  that  it  was 
ordained  to  be  cut  with  a  golden  sickle,  and  only  by 
the  priest,  clothed  in  white,  and  the  plant  received 
in  a  white  cassock  at  all  times  before  the  moon  was 
six  days  old  (literally  translated).  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  in  the  favourite  Mona  of  the  Druids 
— Anglesea,  that  greatest  seat  of  Druidical  super- 
stition— there  is  not,  according  to  the  Rev.  Hugh 
Davies,  a  single  specimen  of  the  mistletoe  oak, 
although  of  cromlechs,  carredds,  and  other  Druidical 
remains,  many  still  exist,  not  a  few  being  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation. 


THE  AGE  OF  THE  MALVERN  HILLS. 
By  J.  Walter  Gregory. 

[Continued  from  p.  126.] 

HAVING  thus  discussed  the  evidence  on  which 
the  new  interpretation  is  mainly  erected,  let 
us  briefly  glance  at  that  on  which  the  old  theory 
stands. 

The  leading  points  are  Firstly :  it  is  in  thorough 
accordance  with  the  general  structure  of  the  hills, 
the  chloritic  and  micaceous  schists,  which  are 
particularly  well  exhibited  at  Wind's  Point,  becoming 
more  gneissoid  and  less  schistose  as  they  approach 
the  syenitic  nucleus,  and  gradually  passing  into 
masses  with  the  lines  of  bedding  quite  obliterated. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


175 


Secondly :  the  strike  of  the  igneous  rock  is 
parallel  to  the  flanking  Cambrian  deposits,  differing 
most  distinctly  from  the  discordant  relations  of  the 
gneiss  and  newer  rocks  in  the  North-West  of 
Scotland,  and  entirely  agreeing  with  the  parallelism 
of  the  Cambrian  and  Silurian  strata  in  North  Wales. 
On  this  Murchison  lays  great  stress.* 

Thirdly,  the  absence  of  the  Lower  Cambrian  rocks 
which  attain  such  an  enormous  development  within  a 
comparatively  short  distance  to  the  north ;  and  their 
absence  is  all  the  more  extraordinary,  when  we 
remember  that  Longmynd  rocks  occur  only  nine 
miles  south  of  the  Malvern  Hills  on  a  direct  line 
with  the  great  fault  that  has  brought  both  to  the 
surface.  This  inlier,  which  for  many  years  has  been 
a  great  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Archeanists,  is  a  small 
boss  of  hard  silicious  schistose  rock  with  many 
quartzose  veins.  That  it  is  really  a  member  of  the 
Longmynd  series,  is  supported  by  an  overwhelming 
weight  both  of  evidence  and  opinion  :  in  1879,  during 
the  excursion  of  the  Geologists'  Association,  this 
rock  was  visited  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Callaway 
and  Dr.  Hicks,  who  state  in  their  report,  t  that  those 
members  acquainted  with  the  Longmynd  in  other 
areas  acknowledged  its  close  resemblance  to  those 
rocks,  both  in  mineral  character  and  state  of 
induration.  Since  this  date  Dr.  Callaway  has,  to  use 
a  recent  political  phrase,  "chucked  up  the  sponge," 
and  abandoning  the  attempt,  made  in  the  report 
quoted,  to  explain  away  this  knoll  of  rock,  has 
confessed  %  that  it  is  Longmynd.  This  admission  is 
of  the  greatest  value,  as  we  can  easily  see  how  the 
movements  that  intruded  the  syenite  into  and  altered 
the  Longmynd  rocks  at  Malvern,  should  have 
brought  up  on  the  same  great  line  of  fault,  crumbled 
and  contorted,  a  fragment  of  the  same  rock,  which  on 
any  other  theory  is  inexplicable. 

But  some  readers  may  impatiently  ask,  What  on 
earth  does  it  matter  whether  these  Malvern  rocks  are 
Fre-Cambrian  or  Cambrian  ?  And  whether,  as  the 
difference  is  so  slight,  discussing  so  apparently 
trivial  a  point  at  such  detail  is  not  the  mere 
affectation  of  specialists  ?  To  such  the  answer  is 
simple.  If  one  were  to  debate  whether  a  bed  was 
Triassic  or  Liassic,  it  would  be  a  mere  matter  of 
classification,  of  which  most  naturalists  would  know 
nothing,  and  for  which  they  would  care  less.  But 
this  is  no  mere  question  of  nomenclature  :  a  great 
fundamental  point  is  at  issue,  and  on  the  conclusion 
at  which  we  arrive,  depends  the  interpretation  of  the 
whole  record  of  the  world's  history  in  Pre-Cambrian 
times.  Should  we  accept  the  Archean  teaching,  we 
must  abandon  those  old  views  of  the  absolute 
uniformity  of  nature,  which  Lyell  made  the  foundation 
stone  of  much  of  the  geology  of  the  last  forty  years. 

*  It  is  of  course  possible  to  point  out  isolated  instances  in 
■which  this  is  not  the  case,  but  as  a  general  rule  the  strikes  are 
parallel. 

t  "  Proc.  Geol.  Assoc."  1879,  vol.  vi.  part  5. 

X  "Quart.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc."  toI.  xxxvi.  p.  537. 


We  shall  return  to  the  petrological  creed  that  Werner 
taught  a  century  ago,  and  believe  that  gneiss  and 
schists  were  deposited  by  chemical  precipitation  in 
some  boiling  ocean  "when  the  earth  was  young," 
and  must  hold  that  just  before  the  Cambrian  era 
some  great  change,  for  which  we  know  no  reason, 
and  of  which  we  have  no  satisfactory  evidence,  passed 
over  the  earth.  These  are  but  some  of  the  cloud  of 
intricate  and  complicated  problems,  that  we  raise  or 
allay,  as  we  decide  one  way  or  the  other,  and  a 
complete  revolution  of  our  petrological  ideas  hangs  in 
the  balance. 

It  is  from  no  desire  of  rushing  into  a  great  contro- 
versy, regardless  of  the  difficulties  in  the  generally 
received  interpretation,  or  of  the  great  names  arrayed 
in  the  ranks  of  the  new  school,  that  I  venture  to 
submit  these  few  notes,  but,  that  the  views  advanced 
by  Mr.  Watts  should  not,  by  being  unchallenged, 
appear  to  be  endorsed ;  and  that  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  by  men,  whose  lives  having  been  devoted 
to  geological  mapping  had  attained  an  experience 
and  skill  still  unrivalled,  should  not  be  lightly  cast 
aside ;  and  in  the  hope  that  fellow  students  of 
geology  may  be  induced  to  pause  before  adopting  a 
theory,  however  plausible  and  pretty  it  may  appear, 
or  however  ably  and  persistently  it  may  be  advocated, 
without  the  most  careful  consideration  of  both  sides 
of  this  complicated  and  interesting  subject,  and  of 
the  momentous  issues  involved  in  the  discussion. 


NOTES  ON  NEW  BOOKS. 

THIRDS  I  have  kept  in  Years  gone  by,  by  W.  T. 
JLJ  Greene,  M.A.,  M.D.,  F.Z.S.,  &c.  (London: 
L.  Upcott  Gill).  Dr.  Greene  has  evidently  a  kindly 
feeling  for  his  pets,  and  discourses  in  a  pleasant 
style  on  their  habits  and  the  best  ways  of  keeping 
them,  including  frequent  directions  for  dieting  and 
medicine.  His  list  of  birds  is  a  long  one,  contain- 
ing both  British  and  foreign,  and  his  book  is  illus- 
trated with  coloured  plates,  and  provided  with  a 
table  of  contents.  It  may  be  a  question  in  the  case 
of  some  birds,  whether  their  lot  is  happier  or  not  in 
captivity  than  in  freedom.  On  the  one  hand  they 
suffer  the  loss  of  liberty,  and  are  liable  to  disorders 
due  to  an  unnatural  diet,  bad  housing  or  other  mis- 
management, but  on  the  other  hand  they  are  protected 
from  the  contingencies  of  an  outdoor  life,  and  are 
generally  sheltered  from  the  attacks  of  their  natural 
enemies.  Anyhow,  if  birds  are  to  be  kept  in  captivity, 
they  are  not  likely  to  fall  into  more  experienced  hands 
than  those  of  Dr.  Greene,  and  perhaps  some  of  the 
pity  might  be  better  expended  if  bestowed  on  the 
captives  before  they  come  into  such  keeping  as  his. 

The  Birds  of  Lancashire,  by  F.  S.  Mitchell 
(London  :  Van  Voorst).  This  book  is  an  example  of 
that  Saxon  energy  which  enables  a  man,  though 
engaged  in  business,  to  find  time  to  devote  attentioa 


176 


HARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


'to  natural  objects,  a  feature  of  character  which  is  by 
no  means  unknown  in  Lancashire.  Mr.  Mitchell's 
book  is  an  account  of  the  birds  occurring  in  the 
county,  about  which  he  gives  notes  of  the  observa- 
tions of  others  and  his  own,  and  many  local  names, 
and  other  interesting  information.  By  text  and 
•illustration  he  shews,  also,  how  the  birds  fall  victims 
to  the  deceitful  ways  of  men. 

Elementary  Text-book  of  Entomology,  by  W.  F. 
Kirby  (London  :  Sonnenschein  &  Co.).  This  is  a 
handsome  book,  illustrated  by  87  plates  which  con- 
tain a  large  number  of  uncoloured  figures.  The 
table  of  contents,  showing  a  tabulated  list  of  the 
families,  grouped  under  seven  orders,  is  followed  by 
an  introduction  of  about  a  dozen  pages,  giving  a 
brief  account  of  insects  in  general,  their  zoological 
position,  structure,  physiology,  occurrence,  &c,  and 
lastly  their  classification.  Then  follows  the  main 
body  of  the  work,  over  200  pp.,  in  which  the  families 
are  taken  in  succession  and  described.  Last  of  all 
come  the  plates.  It  is  a  pity  ihat  so  good  a  book 
as  this  appears  to  be,  and  which  even  as  it  is  may 
be  of  great  use,  should  have  its  usefulness  diminished 
by  the  absence  of  alphabetical  indexes  of  scientific 
and  popular  names.  As  it  is,  if  a  student  wishes  to 
see,  for  example,  what  is  said  about  ladybirds,  he  is 
at  a  loss  to  do  so  if  he  does  not  know  to  what 
family  they  belong,  and  if  he  succeeds  he  cannot 
then  tell  from  the  text  whether  a  figure  is  given  or 
not  in  the  plates.  But,  in  spite  of  this  drawback, 
the  book  can  be  made  of  great  service.  The  butter- 
flies and  moths  treated  of  are  mostly  of  foreign 
species. 

Physical  Expression,  its  Modes  and  Principles,  by 
Francis  Warner,  M.D.  (London  :  Kegan  Paul,  Trench 
•<&  Co.),  5j.  This  book  is  not  everybody's  reading.  It 
gives  detailed  observations  of  various  modes  of  ex- 
pression, as  shewn  by  movements  and  postures,  by 
the  head,  face  and  eyes,  and  by  the  attitudes  of  the 
hands.  The  physiology  of  expression  is  noticed, 
and  reference  made  to  Dr.  Ferrier's  vivisectional 
-experiments  on  the  brains  of  monkeys  and  dogs  ;  while 
among  the  illustrations  are  some  shewing  apparatus 
for  obtaining  graphic  records  of  limb-movements. 
Perhaps  it  is  the  condensed  style  in  which  the  author 
has  written  which  makes  his  book  rather  hard  to 
follow,  and  allows  the  attention  readily  to  wander 
for  want  of  more  expanded  illustration. 

Walks  in  Epping  Forest,  edited  by  Percy  Lindley 
<London  :  123-5  F1eet  Street),  6d.  This  little  book  is 
published  in  a  form  convenient  for  the  pocket  in  stiff 
paper  boards.  Its  object  is  to  afford  a  guide  to 
Tamblers  in  the  forest,  and  with  this  view,  after  a 
short  and  pleasantly-written  introduction,  comes  a 
sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Forest,  and  then  one  of 
<the  Geology  (by  Mr.  H.  B.  Woodward,  F.G.S.) ; 
followed  by  "The  Forest  as  it  is  "  ;  Cycling  routes 
.(by  J.  Wilson)  ;  an  Account  of  Chingford,  walking 
.routes  in  or  near  the  Forest,  and  the  Fauna  and  Flora 


of  the  Forest,  &c,  most  of  these  articles  being  con- 
tributed by  A.  H.  Wall  or  the  Fditor.  At  the 
beginning  a  folding  map,  at  the  end  contents  and 
an  index ;  and  as  if  all  this  were  not  enough  for 
the  price,  numerous  illustrations  are  given  of  views 
in  the  forest  or  neighbourhood,  some  of  which  form 
attractive  pictures.  A  visit  to  Epping  Forest  is  to 
the  writer  of  this  notice  still  an  unknown  experience, 
but  he  hardly  expects  to  have  a  handier  and  more 
entertaining  guide,  for  such  a  visit,  than  this  of 
Mr.  Lindley's. 

The  Metaphysical  Aspect  of  Natural  History,  by 
Stephen  Monckton,  M.D.  (London  :  H.  K.  Lewis). 
This  is  a  well-printed  little  book  of  over  forty  pages, 
and  consists  of  an  Address  delivered  to  the  Rochester 
Natural  History  Society,  the  object  of  the  author 
being  to  show  that  a  student  may  advance  from  a 
sure  point,  by  sure  steps,  drawing  only  on  the  re- 
sources of  scientific  observation  and  admitted  history, 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  in  nature  an  intelli- 
gent will-force,  which  is  also  the  Author  and  subject 
of  the  Bible.  The  familiar  figure  given  of  the  Paper 
Nautilus  is  apt  to  perpetuate  the  old  idea,  that  it 
hoists  its  "  sails  "  to  the  wind. 

The  Moon  and  the  Weather.  The  Probability  of 
Lunar  Influence  Reconsidered,  by  Walter  L.  Browne 
(London  :  Bailliere,  Tindall,  &  Cox),  y.  The 
influence  of  the  moon  upon  the  weather  is  once 
more  brought  under  discussion  in  Mr.  Browne's  book. 
"The  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating,"  or,  to 
use  the  phrase  Mr.  Browne  adopts  :  "  Prevision  is  the 
test  of  true  theory,"  and  he  boldly  prints  at  the  end  of 
his  book  a  list  of  predictions  of  depression  areas  for 
last  April,  May,  and  June,  on  behalf  of  which  he 
suggests  comparison  with  published  weather-maps. 
The  book  was  received  when  about  half  that  time 
had  elapsed,  and  readers  have  in  this  list  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  them  of  judging  of  Mr.  Browne's 
success  in  predicting  storms. 

The  Microscope  in  Botany; — a  Guide  for  the  Micro- 
scopical Investigation  of  Vegetable  Substances.  From 
the  German  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Behrens,  translated  and 
edited  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Hervey ;  Dr.  R.  H.  Ward 
assisting  (Boston  :  S.  E.  Cassino  &  Co.),  price  5  dols. 
This  will  prove,  to  all  appearance,  a  very  useful  book. 
It  consists  of  about  450  pp.,  clearly  printed  on  good 
paper,  and  furnished  with  contents  and  index,  it 
deals  with  microscopes,  microscopical  accessories, 
preparation  of  microscopic  objects,  microscopical 
reagents,  and  microscopical  investigation  of  vegetable 
substances.  References  to  makers  of  particular  pieces 
of  apparatus  are  for  the  most  part  American,  being 
the  work  of  one  of  the  editors,  the  matter  introduced 
by  them  being  placed  in  brackets.  Microscopic 
drawing  and  measurements  receive  attention,  as  also 
the  preparation  of  objects,  section-cutting,  mounting, 
turn-tables,  labelling,  Sec,  detailed  directions  being 
given.  The  fifth  and  last  chapter  is  devoted  to  the 
microscopical  examination  of  vegetable   substances, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i77 


S' 


including  cellulose,  starch,  protoplasm,  &c,  and  the 
spectroscopic  behaviour  of  chlorophyll.  A  notable 
feature  in  this  chapter  is  the  list  of  references  to  the 
literature  of  the  various  subjects  given  under  their 
respective  heads.  Scattered  throughout  the  work  are 
numerous  good  woodcuts,  and  at  the  beginning  two 
plates  of  test  objects.  The  book  is  decidedly  one  to 
be  recommended. 

Year- Book  of  the  Scientific  and  Learned  Societies  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  (London  :  Charles  Griffin 
&  Co.).  This  is  the  second  annual  issue,  and,  to 
quote  from  the  preface,  it  aims  at  affording  :  (1)  An 
Account  of  Scientific  Work 
done  in  the  various  depart- 
ments throughout  the  year  ; 
{2)  A  Record  of  Progress ; 
and  (3)  A  convenient  Hand- 
book of  Reference.  With 
this  view,  it  gives  first  a  list 
of  Societies  devoted  to  Sci- 
ence generally,  including 
Literature,  from  the  Royal 
Society,  downwards.  In 
most  cases  the  names  of 
officers  are  given,  and  in 
many  cases  lists  of  papers 
read.  This  part  extends 
over  more  than  fifty  pages, 
or  about  a  quarter  of  the 
whole  book,  and  is  followed 
by  the  special  societies  ar- 
ranged under  their  subjects, 
and  treated  in  the  same  way. 
There  is  a  good  index,  and 
the  Annual  will  doubtless 
•be  found  a  useful  book  of 
reference. 

Celestial  Motions :  a  Handv 
Book  of  Astronomy,  by 
W.  T.  Lynn,  B.  A.,  F.R.A.S. 
(London  :  Stanford).  This 
handy  little  book  is  now  in 
its  third  edition.  It  consists 
of  about  eighty  pages  pretty 
well  packed  with  informa-  Fig.  iid—Nephrolcpis  tubercsa  (Presl). 
tion  about   the  earth,  moon, 

.sun,  planets  large  and  small — a  numbered  list  of  the 
latter  being  given,  now  amounting  to  nearly  250,  with 
names  of  discoverers,  and  date  and  place  of  discovery, 
— comets,  meteoroids,  and  fixed  stars.  The  last  chapter 
consists  of  a  short  historical  sketch  of  astronomical 
discovery,  and  is  followed  by  a  brief  glossary  of  terms 
used.  It  appears  to  be  a  very  useful  book  to  keep 
■on  hand,  for  reference  as  to  the  elementary  facts  of 
astronomy. 


SOME  FERNS  OF  HONG  KONG. 
By  Mrs.  E.  L.  O'M alley. 

{Continued  from  p.  150.] 

Gen.  X.     Aspidium,  Sw. 

{Shield-wort  or  Buckler-fern.) 

O  called  from  the  indusium  fastened   either   in 
the   centre,   or  on  one  side  (like  a   shield   or 
buckler),  and  covering  the  sorus,  or  seed-heap. 

Nephrolepis,  Presl,  or  kidney-shaped  buckler-fern, 
is  a  section  of  the  genus  in  which  the  indusium  is 
very  deeply  indented  on  one  side. 


Fig.  117. — Meniscium  simplex  lHo»k.). 


The  "  Geological  Magazine  "  for  May  contains  a 
somewhat   long   review,    with  figures,    of  Professor 
-Marsh's  monograph  of  the  Dinocerata. 


.V.  tuberosa,  Presl,  is  exceedingly  abundant,  and 
is  soon  recognised  by  the  short,  stiff,  erect  pinnae, 
growing  closely  together  up  each  side  of  the  stalk, 
and  round  the  inside  edge  of  which  are  the  kidney- 
shaped  sori,  and  outside  a  row  of  white  chalky-looking 
dots.  This  species  has  tubers  at  the  root.  It  is  also 
found  in  another  form,  and  without  tubers,  and  the 
pinna:  much  longer  and  more  straggling. 

In  N.  acuta,  Presl,  the  frond  reminds  us  of  Brainea, 
for  the  pinnae  are  long,  smooth,  and  not  at  all 
crowded.  The  leaf  is  a  bright  glossy  green,  slightly 
wavy  at  the  edges,  and  grows  to  a  considerable  size. 
In  Glenealy  it  is  abundant,  and  adds  much  to  the 


i78 


HA  RD  WICKE'S   S  CIENCE-  G  OSSIP. 


beauty  of  that  romantic  spot.  Two  of  the  commonest 
Hong-Kong  ferns  belong  to  the  real  shield-ferns, 
A.  molle,  Sw.,  and  A.  ttnitum,  Sw.  Both  are  alike, 
and  apparently  resemble  the  English  male  fern,  A. 
/llix-mas,  but  if  the  student  examine  them  closely  he 
will  find  a  connection  in  the  veins  at  the  sinus,  or 
bend  of  each  little  division,  or  lobe.  Of  the  veinlets 
that  branch  regularly  up  each  segment,  a  pair  meet 
and  terminate  at  every  bend  or  cut.  This  meeting  of 
veinlets  constitutes  the  main  difference  between  two 
of  the  largest  subdivisions  of  this  enormous  genus, 
viz.  Lastrea  and  Nephrodium.  A.  molle,  Sw.,  and 
A.  unitum,  Sw.,  are  both  about  two  feet  high,  and 
grow  everywhere  in  the  hills  and  in  the  town.  A.  molle 
is  a  light  green,  soft  and  downy  ;  A.  unitum  is  darker 
and  more  shiny,  the  former  has  very  few  very  small 
sori,  often  found  only  close  to  the  rachis.  In  A. 
unitum  the  fructification  is  dark-coloured,  densely- 
crowded,  and  closer  to  the  margin  of  the  lobes. 

Gen.  XI.     Meniscium,  Schreb. 

M.  simplex,  Hk.,  is  not  uncommon  at  the  Peak, 
and  is  easily  distinguished  by  the  very  marked  raised 
veins,  laid  as  it  were  like  net-work  all  over  the  under 
side  of  the  frond,  which  is  about  4  or  5  inches  long, 
entire,  and  very  finely  pointed,  having  two  half-lobes  at 
the  base  more  or  less  detached  from  the  main-stem. 
The  long  delicate  apex  is  often  half  the  length  of  the 
entire  leaf.  The  fertile  portion  differs  materially  in 
being  much  longer,  much  narrower,  and  more  up- 
right than  the  sterile,  and  closely  packed  with  the  fruc- 
tification, which  is  brown  and  destitute  of  covering. 

Gen.  XII.     Polypodium,  Linn. 

Every  polypody  does  not  resemble  our  old  friend  in 
England,  whose  yellow  buttons  of  sori  and  favourite 
haunts  on  old  trees  and  ruined  walls  render  it  familiar 
to  us  all.  The  technical  distinction  is  the  absence  of 
indusium  (often  overlooked  in  aspidium,  when  the 
indusium  is  sometimes  obsolete  or  lost). 

There  is  no  polypody  common  to  this  neighbourhood. 
The  searcher  in  the  hills  might  perhaps  be  rewarded 
by  finding  P.  adnascens,  Sw. — a  little  fern  covered 
with  furry  down  on  the  under  side,  and  round  sori, 
or  P.  lingua,  Sw.,  rather  larger,  with  less  down  or 
tomentum  and  sori  at  further  intervals.  In  both 
ferns  the  frond  is  entire. 

(To  be  continued.') 


An  Excavation  carried  on  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment is  said,  in  the  Times,  to  have  been  in  process 
near  Schladebach,  with  the  object  of  obtaining 
further  information  as  to  the  increase  of  underground 
temperature.  At  1392  metres,  the  depth  reached  at 
the  beginning  of  this  year,  and  believed  to  be  the 
lowest  yet  attained  by  boring,  the  temperature  was 
49°  C. 


THE  VARIATION  AND  ABNORMAL 
DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MOLLUSCA. 

Part  II. 

T  IMNMA  GLUTINOSA.  This  remarkable 
/  s  species  belongs,  not  to  Limnrea  proper,  but 
the  genus  Amphipeplea  of  Nilsson,  and  is  easily 
known  from  Limnaea  by  the  fact,  that  when  alive 
the  mantle  covers  the  shell,  and  in  this  way  and 
in  the  texture  of  the  shell  it  is  related  to  Physa 
fontinalis.  This  species  is  rare  and  local,  and  does 
not  vary  so  much  as  some  of  the  allied  species. 
In  the  district  we  are  now  dealing  with,  it  has  been 
recorded  as  living  on  Barnes  Common  ;  my  brother 
has  specimens  from  Deal,  Minster,  and  Sitting- 
bourne,  and  I  have  found  it  abundant  but  local  in 
the  St.  Nicholas  Marshes,  where  it  is  easily  seen  on 
the  leaves  of  Nuphar  luteum  and  other  plants. 
These  St.  Nicholas  Marsh  specimens  are  rather  light 
in  colour,  and  it  was  there  I  found  a  most  curious 
and  interesting  monstrosity  or  variety,  which  has 
much  the  relation  to  the  type  of  glutinosa  that  Z. 
involuta  has  to  Z.  peregra. 

This  specimen  has  the  spire  very  short,  and  sunken, 
but  slightly  raised  at  the  apex ;  the  body  whorl  is 
swollen  above,  and  the  top  of  the  shell  appears  nearly 
flat.  Should  this  form  turn  up  in  any  other  localities 
it  might  be  called  monst.  intortum,  but  as  long  as  we 
have  only  a  single  specimen  I  think  it  is  better 
unnamed. 

Limncea  peregra.  This  is  the  commonest  and  most 
variable  of  our  freshwater  mollusca. 

I  have  taken  a  very  globose  form,  probably  var^ 
ovata,  in  the  Regent's  Canal,  where  the  water  is 
stagnant  and  there  is  very  little  weed.  (I  record  the 
kind  of  situation  when  possible,  as  one  often  finds 
that  facts,  seemingly  of  no  account,  are  afterwards 
valuable  in  drawing  conclusions  as  to  the  origin  and 
use  of  variations.) 

A  specimen  from  Chislehurst  is  slightly  decollated, 
specimens  from  Bromley  and  Eltham  are  somewhat 
thinner  than  usual,  but  my  thinnest  specimen  was 
taken  by  my  brother  at  St.  Nicholas  Marsh.  I  have 
an  exceeding  thick  and  apparently  semi-fossil  shell 
from  Barnes,  and  from  what  has  been  said  above 
concerning  the  Barnes  shell  it  seems  improbable  that 
it  could  have  recently  lived  on  the  spot.  This  species 
occurs  fossil  at  Crayford,  but  the  specimens  do  not 
differ  from  those  now  living.  I  have  a  succinea- 
shaped  specimen  taken  in  a  well  at  Farnborough, 
it  is  possibly  the  variety  succinaformis  of  Jeffreys. 
A  monstrosity  from  Kew  Gardens  has  a  wide  and 
deep  umbilicus.  A  shell  I  found  in  a  ditch  close  to 
\V aimer  Castle  has  a  rather  long  spire  with  a  fairly 
deep  suture,  and  has  a  number  of  confluent  whitish 
bands  all  of  which  are  below  the  periphery.  (It  is 
remarkable  that  whenever  bands  are  abnormally 
developed  in  the  genera  Limnaea  and  Physa,  they  are 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


179 


usually,  as   far   as   my  experience  goes,  below    the 
periphery. ) 

There  is  a  pond  at  Bromley  where  Z.  peregra 
occurs.  The  specimens  are  very  variable  in  shape, 
and  are  covered  with  some  kind  of  growth  which 
makes  them  appear  almost  black  outside,  and  greyish 
within.  They  are  infested  with  a  parasite,  which  my 
brother  tells  me  is  a  very  beautiful  microscopical 
object,  but  I  have  not  yet  examined  any  microscopi- 
cally myself.  Some  of  these  shells  have  a  very 
expanded  lip,  and  belong  to  the  var.  labiosa,  Jeff., 
and  in  some  cases  the  lip  of  the  shell  is  even  reflected 
upon  itself,  so  that  the  mouth  presents  a  rounded 
edge  formed  by  the  inner  surface  of  the  lip  which  by 
the  reflection  becomes  outermost. 

Z.  auricularia.  The  var.  acuta  is  recorded  for 
Kent.  Specimens  from  Regent's  Park  have  a  rather 
long  spire  and  are  pale  in  colour. 

Z.  stagnalis.  Var.  fragilis  has  been  taken  in 
Middlesex  and  Surrey.  Monst.  scalar  if  or  me,  Chisle- 
hurst  (S.C.C.  and  T.D.A.C).  Monst.  decollatum, 
Barnes. 

A  variety  (which  might  conveniently  be  called 
expansa)*  lives  in  a  small  pond  at  Bromley,  where  the 
type  form  does  not  occur.  It  has  a  short  spire, 
the  body  whorl  is  large  and  expanded,  and  the  mouth 
of  the  shell  wide  ;  the  length  of  the  spire  is  about  |  of 
the  total  length  of  the  shell,  which  is  somewhat  less 
than  an  inch  and  a  half.  The  only  weed  I  noticed  in 
the  pond  was  Lemna  minor.  A  specimen  of  Z. 
stagnalis  taken  at  Deal  is  slender  in  shape,  light  in 
colour,  and  has  a  shallow  suture.  Shells  from  a 
small  pond  on  Chislehurst  Common,  on  the  contrary, 
are  dark  in  colour,  and  have  a  deep  suture  (two 
specimens  being  actually  scalariform,  as  stated  above), 
and  these  shells  are  a  good  deal  smaller  than  the  type 
form  ;  some  specimens,  apparently  full  grown,  being 
about  two-thirds  of  an  inch  in  length,  although  others 
are  much  larger.  Should  these  be  found  elsewhere, 
var.  elegantula  would  perhaps  be  a  suitable  name  for 
them.f  Another  pond,  also  on  Chislehurst  Common, 
produces  quite  a  different  variety.  This  form  has  a 
very  shallow  suture,  and  is  not  unlike  some  varieties 
of  Z.  palustris.  It  is  never  so  large  as  the  typical 
stagnalis,  the  usual  length  being  little  more  than  an 
inch.  Why  these  two  ponds,  only  a  few  hundred 
yards  distant  from  one  another,  should  produce  two 
forms  so  totally  distinct,  I  cannot  imagine ;  the  soil 
appears  to  be  the  same,  and  the  only  difference  I  can 
detect  is  that  the  one  having  the  first  variety  is  in  the 
open,  is  very  small,  the  Limnseaj  being  very  crowded, 
especially  in  the  summer,  when  the  pond  is  almost 
dried  up,  and  the  food  plants  are  Potamogeton  and 
Ranunculus.  The  second  pond  is  partly  under  the 
shade  of  a  chestnut  tree  ;  it  is  much  larger  and  not  so 

*  Unless  it  should  prove  identical  with  the  variety  lacustris 
of  Moquin-Tandon,  or  the  variety  fucincns is  of  Paulucci,  both 
of  which  it  resembles,  in  some  respects  at  any  rate. 

f  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Leeds,  is  of  opinion  that  this  form  does  not 
differ  from  the  var.  botanica  of  Clessin. 


crowded,  and  the  principal  food-plants  are  Anacharis 
and  Callitriche. 

From  a  third  pond  on  Chislehurst  Common  I  took 
a  specimen  having  whitish  bands  below  the  periphery, 
like  the  Walmer  Z.  peregra.  Specimens  from  Grove 
Park  have  a  pointed  and  slender  spire,  and  the  lip 
tinged  with  pink. 

I  will  now  venture  to  say  a  few  words  about  the 
naming  of  varieties.  There  are  some  who  would 
name  every  variation  that  can  be  defined,  and  others 
go  to  the  other  extreme,  and  will  have  nothing  to  do 
with  varietal  names.  To  me  it  seems  that  as  every, 
or  nearly  every  species  has  one  or  more  marked 
variations  from  what  is  called  the  "  type,"  and 
likewise  a  number  of  less  definite  varieties  connecting 
one  form  with  another,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
find  an  intermediate  course  between  giving  names,  or 
ignoring  them  altogether.  Suppose,  for  instance,  in 
the  present  paper,  I  had  refused  to  accept  any 
varietal  names,  but  had  written  out  a  full  description 
of  each  variety,  what  a  deal  of  space  would  have  been 
uselessly  expended  ;  and  the  difference  between  the 
space  taken  up  by  the  names  of  described  forms  and 
descriptions  of  undescribed  ones,  is  well  shown  above. 
"But,"  some  reader  will  exclaim,  "you  will  be 
naming  almost  every  shell  that  passes  through  your 
hands,  and  my  memory  will  be  burdened  with 
thousands  of  names  which  are  really  of  no  impor- 
tance ;  and  although  a  species  is  a  tolerably  fixed 
point,  varieties  are  infinite,  and  naming  them  can 
only  end  in  confusion. "  These  are  sentiments  I  have 
heard  expressed. 

I  would  reply  to  this,  that  the  varietal  names  are 
principally  of  use  to  specialists,  for  it  is  manifest  that 
a  general  student  of  conchology  is  scarce  able  to 
study  all  the  variations  of  all  the  species ;  but  to  one 
studying  any  particular  genus  or  species,  the  varietal 
names  are  most  useful  and  almost  indispensable. 
In  proof  of  this  I  will  ask,  How  many  specialists 
have  been  obliged  to  make  varieties,  and  how  many 
have  done  without  them  ?  I  fancy  the  former  are  in 
the  majority.  And  some  think  that  a  species  is  a 
fixed  point.  To  these  I  would  recommend  the  study 
of  Pisidium.  Others  say  that  varieties  are  of  no 
importance ;  I  contend  that  they  are  of  the  greatest 
importance,  but  I  cannot  enter  here  into  the  reasons 
why  they  are  obvious  enough  to  most  people. 

As  for  burdening  the  memory,  this  is  an 
equally  good  argument  against  bringing  forward  any 
information  whatever,  and  against  names  in  general. 
Lastly,  I  would  remind  those  who  do  not  already 
know  it,  that  all  names,  generic,  specific,  or  varietal, 
are  merely  a  matter  of  convenience,  and  although  it  is 
open  to  anyone  to  propose  names,  no  one  is  obliged 
to  accept  them  unless  he  finds  it  convenient  to  do  so. 
Some  people,  however,  seem  to  think  that  a  sort  of 
mysterious  change  comes  over  a  specimen  when  it  has 
a  name  tacked  on  to  it,  and  its  value  goes  up  95  per 
cent.    I  think  it  would  not  be  a  bad  idea  if  at  periodical 


i8o 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


times  the  opinion  of  the  conchological  world  were 
invited  as  to  the  advisability  of  accepting  names 
proposed  in  the  interval,  and  these  names  rejected  or 
accepted  as  it  might  be  found  convenient.  But  the 
worst  of  it  is  that  people  will  follow  their  own 
opinion  in  such  matters,  whatever  others  say.  It 
may  be  asked  here,  what  are  the  convenient  names, 
and  which  the  inconvenient  ones  ?  In  my  opinion 
the  convenient  ones  are  those  which  apply  to  varieties 
which  are  widely  distributed,  and  consequently  have 
often  to  be  referred  to,  or  for  any  other  reason  often 
spoken  of,  and  which  express  as  well  as  a  single  word 
can  express,  the  leading  feature  of  the  form  in 
question.  Constantly  recurring  monstrosities  I  would 
place  in  the  same  category.  Names  which  I  would 
reject  are  those  which  refer  to  a  single  specimen,  no 
similar  one  having  been  found  ;  but  of  course,  should 
the  form  be  found  afterwards  in  several  places,  the 


tincta,  St.  Nicholas  Marsh  (S.  C.  Cockerell).  In  these 
specimens  the  suture  is  exceedingly  shallow.  Var. 
albida,  Minster  (S.  C.  C).  I  have  taken  it  at  Sand- 
wich. Monst.  decollaium,  Barnes.  Monst.  carinatuni. 
Mr.  J.  W.  Taylor  described  this  from  a  specimen  found 
by  my  brother  in  a  pond  at  Bromley.  I  have  searched 
this  pond,  but  have  not  found  another  carinate 
specimen,  although  the  type  is  common  enough  ;  but 
while  looking  for  carinatum  I  found  another  mon- 
strosity, equally  curious.  It  was  a  turretid  specimen, 
which  may  be  described  as  follows  : — Shell  about 
half  an  inch  in  length,  whorls  5,  spire  turretid,  suture 
deep,  last  whorl  more  than  half  the  total  length  of 
the  shell,  and  flattened  at  the  sides,  instead  of  being, 
rounded,  as  in  a  typical  specimen.  The  upper  whorls 
are  somewhat  eroded. 

This  specimen  reminds  one  of  a  monstrosity  {im- 
perial, I  think  it  is  called),  of  Buccinum  undatutn, 


Fig.  118. — Limiura  glutinosa,  mnn«.t. 
"  intortum."  S.  Nicholas  Marsh, 
E.  Kent. 


Fig.  119. — Limnaa  fevcgra,  small 
variety.  Sub-alpine  stream,  Bail- 
don,  Yorkshire. 


Fig.  120. — Limntra  peregra,  var. 
labiosa.     Bromley. 


Fig.  121. — Limncpastagnalis, 
var.  " expansa."  Bromley, 
Kent. 


Fig.  122. — Limnaa  stagnalis, 
variety  approaching  /.. 
Jialustris  in  shape.  Chisle- 
hurst. 


Fig.  123. — Limitaasfagnahs, 
var.  "  elegantula."  Chisle- 
hurst. 


Fig.  124. — Limna'a  />atus- 
tris,  monst.  "  turritum." 


name  might  again  be  taken  up.  Also  those  which 
do  not  clearly  express  what  is  meant  in  the  description 
given  for  them,  as  var.  major,  "shell  larger  than 
type,"  without  saying  how  large,  or  var.  clongata, 
"shell  elongated,"  when  no  length  is  stated,  and  also 
all  those  named  after  the  discoverer,  or  anyone  else, 
such  as  Clausilia  rugosa,  var.  Everetti,  "shell  smaller 
than  type."  So  in  the  names  I  have  suggested  above, 
I  do  not  for  a  moment  propose  that  they  shall  be 
used  on  the  strength  of  one  or  two  specimens,  but 
merely  propose  them  as  useful  names,  should  it  be 
found  at  any  future  period  convenient  to  use  them. 

Limmca  palustris.  Var.  conica  has  been  taken  in 
the  Thames.  Some  which  I  took  in  a  ditch  near  the 
river  at  Putney,  Mr.  Kenneth  McKean  considers  to 
belong  to  this  variety,  but  although  they  are  lighter 
than  usual,  they  are  hardly  greyish-white,  and  the 
suture  is,  if  anything    shallower   than   usual.     Var. 


and  gives  the  idea  of  a  specimen  which  had  become 
telescopic,  and  had  got  partially  shut  up.  If  it  is  to 
be  named,  it  might  be  called  monst.  turritum.* 
Monst.  globosum,  Taylor,  Enfield,  one  specimen 
(S.  C.  Cockerell).  Although  this  was  described  as  a- 
variety,  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  it  is  really  a 
monstrosity,  and  my  brother  is  of  the  same  opinion. 
My  brother  has  taken  two  specimens  of  a  very  inte- 
resting variety,  which  has  the  whorls  compressed, 
the  suture  perfectly  flat,  and  the  periphery  bluntly 
angulated  ;  in  fact,  this  form  bears  exactly  the  same 
relation  to  L.  palustris  type,  as  Bucci7ium  acumin- 
atum bears  to  the  typical  undatum.  (The  corre- 
spondence between  the  abnormalities  of  L.  palustris 
and  B.  undatum  is  very  curious,  especially  as  the  two 
species  are  so  distantly  related.) 

*  Kreglinger  mentions  a  \ar.  itirrita,  which  may  possibly 
be  identical  with  the  form  here  described. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


181 


Limnaa  truncatula.  Var.  albida  is  said  to  have 
been  taken  in  Surrey.  At  Bickley  I  have  found  a 
specimen  with  two  broad  whitish  bands  below  the 
periphery.  One  of  my  largest  specimens  is  from  a 
small  rivulet  in  Camden  Park,  Chislehurst,  which  is 
dried  up  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  L.  trim* 
catula  is  fossil  at  Crayford. 

Ancyhts  Jluviatilis.  In  our  district,  at  any  rate, 
this  shell  varies  little  except  in  size,  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  A.  lacustris.  The  latter  species, 
however,  is  occasionally  compressed  at  the  sides. 

T.    D.    A.   COCKERELL. 
(To  be  continued.) 


reaching  description,  his  vigilance  is  indefatigable, 
and  let  but  pressing  danger  be  apprehended,  and  lo  I 
he  dives  beneath  the  water  with  marvellous  prompti- 
tude and  dexterity.  Where  is  the  sea-fowler  that  can 
overmatch  the  astuteness  and  agility  of  this  beautiful 
bird  ?  The  gun  is  presented,  and  well  and  truly 
pointed ;  the  trigger  is  pulled,  but  ere  the  com- 
paratively sluggish  shot  can  reach  its  mark,  the 
creature  has  vanished — disappeared,  as  if  by  magic, 
to  nestle  in  the  chambers  of  the  deep,  completely 
out  of  sight  and  in  security. 

During  the  dry  and  parching  summer  season,  the 
red-breasted  merganser  (for  that  is  the  name  of  this 


Fi° 


125.— Red-breasted  Merganser  [Mergus  Merganser),  Yarrell.     (The  larger  bird  after  Morris.) 


THE  RED-BREASTED  MERGANSER. 
By  P.  Q.  Keegan,  LL.D. 

ABOUT  the  period  of  the  autumnal  equinox,  at 
the  time  when  the  winds,  let  loose  from  their 
summer-caves,  sweep  with  wild  and  fitful  fury  over 
land  and  sea,  then  away  among  the  quiet,  retired 
recesses  of  some  sheltered  bay,  there  may  frequently 
be  discerned  a  most  beauteous  sea-bird.  Arrayed  in 
an  apparel  of  the  most  gaudy  and  varied  hues,  with 
neck  and  head  and  movement  correspondingly 
beautiful  and  graceful,  the  appearance  and  deport- 
ment of  this  bird  may  challenge  universal  admiration. 
His  accomplishments,  too,  are  by  no  means  to  be 
despised.     His  sight   is   of  the  sharpest,   most  far- 


beauteous  sea-bird)  sojourns  for  the  most  part  amid 
the  desolate  solitudes  of  the  Arctic  regions.  The 
cares  and  anxieties  attendant  upon  the  breeding 
duties  harass  him  then  ;  but  let  no  one  suppose  that, 
at  this  time,  his  lot  is  unhappy  and  difficult  to  bear. 
Let  no  one  think  that  there  he  encounters  no  warmth 
or  geniality  of  climate,  no  green  vegetation,  no  sunlit 
skies  or  gleaming  sea.  We  know  that  there  is  a 
broad  space  around  the  pole — a  "thrilling  region  of 
thick  ribbed  ice "  where,  during  certain  months  in 
summer,  the  sun  perpetually  shines,  his  light  never 
fades,  never  gives  way  to  night,  though  sometimes  it 
is  seriously  intercepted  by  fog,  which,  however, 
chiefly  occurs  seaward  ;  he  careers  all  day  and  night 
in   the   heavens,    and  thereby  concentrates  such  an 


182 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


intensity  of  heat  upon  certain  sheltered  portions  of 
the  land,  that  the  temperature  thereof  frequently 
surpasses  that  of  the  tropics.  Captain  Scoresby  during 
the  course  of  his  survey  of  the  eastern  coast  of 
Greenland,  having  landed  one  day  on  that  desolate 
shore,  found  the  temperature  of  a  certain  spot 
amongst  the  rocks  to  be  700,  and  he  describes  the 
effect  thereof  as  being  particularly  relaxing.  A 
lavish  and  widespread  vegetation  too,  decorates  these 
northern  shores  from  June  till  about  September,  and 
furnishes  ample  opportunity  for  the  prosecution  of 
breeding  undertakings  on  the  part  of  sea-birds.  In 
■order,  however,  to  illustrate  the  fact,  that  birds  can 
nidify  at  a  comparatively  low  temperature,  we  may 
mention,  that,  on  the  21st  of  June,  1853,  an  ivory 
gull  (Larus  eburneus)  was  found  sitting  upon  its 
eggs  in  a  small  island  to  the  north  of  Melville 
Sound  (l?.t.  760),  when  the  thermometer  indicated 
only  350  of  heat. 

As  soon  as  the  breeding  duties  of  our  bird  have 
terminated,  and  the  new-fledged  brood  can  provide 
for  themselves,  and  when  the  terrible  rigours  of  the 
Arctic  winter — the  sleet-charged  blasts,  the  blight- 
ing fogs,  the  destruction  of  vegetation,  the  soul- 
depressing  silence  and  frigidity  of  all  things — com- 
mence to  be  experienced,  then  he  abandons  his 
summer  seat,  and  travelling  southwards,  settles  in 
more  genial  latitudes.  With  strong,  rapid  unflagging 
(light,  he  poises  in  the  air  over  the  dreary  shores  of 
Greenland,  Newfoundland,  or  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
bidding  them  farewell,  advances  briskly  for  days 
and  days  till  he  lands  securely  in  Shetland,  in  Orkney, 
in  Sutherland,  or  the  Hebrides,  &c,  and  there,  in 
conjunction  with  his  "  co-mates  and  brothers  in  exile," 
forthwith  commences  his  winter  campaign  of  diving, 
fishing,  glutting,  &c. 

Unlike  the  great  black -backed  gull,  the  beauteous 
northern  diver,  the  Fulmar  petrel,  &c,  the  bird 
now  under  review  is  of  a  decidedly  social  disposition, 
and,  on  that  account,  is  more  frequently  to  be  seen  in 
flocks  than  in  a  solitary  state.  Its  voracity  is  excessive 
and  generally  known  ;  and  we  need  not  wonder, 
therefore,  that  its  principal  occupation  consists  in  the 
pursuit,  capture  and  consumption  of  various  species 
of  fish,  especially  sand-eels,  for  which  it  manifests  an 
especial  relish.  The  following  is  the  method  of 
procedure. 

The  bird  swims  about  gracefully  upon  the  surface 
of  the  sea  for  some  little  time,  occasionally  poking  its 
head  and  neck  beneath  the  water,  as  if  searching 
about  for  some  delicate  morsel,  then,  suddenly 
•elevating  its  body,  and  plunging  straight  ahead,  it 
instantly  disappears  from  view.  Its  comrades, 
suspecting  that  some  sport  is  to  be  had  below,  follow 
suit ;  so  that  the  entire  flock  seems  to  vanish,  as  if  by 
magic.  After  traversing  the  watery  regions  with 
•considerable  swiftness  and  dexterity  (using  the  wings 
as  well  as  the  webbed  feet),  the  merganser  appears 
once  more  above  the  surface,   bearing  a  fish  in  its 


mouth,  and  looking  as  lively  as  ever.  The  booty  is 
soon  disposed  of  down  "  red  lane,"  whereupon  the 
bird  drinks  a  little  water  by  way  of  condiment  or 
digestive,  or  perhaps  to  wash  the  meal  down  more 
thoroughly  ;  and  then  gleefully  flapping  its  wings, 
it  appears  eminently  satisfied  with  the  entire  pro- 
ceeding. To  inspect  a  pair  or  more  of  these  birds 
fishing  in  some  shallow  lake  left  amid  some  far  off 
waste  of  sand  by  the  receded  tide,  is  an  extremely 
interesting  occupation.  Such  graceful  movements, 
such  displays  of  agility,  such  attractive  forms  and 
colouring  cannot  be  discerned  every  day  within  the 
circle  of  human  intercourse.  He  who,  towards  the 
autumn  or  mid-winter,  occasionally  devotes  an  hour 
or  so  to  the  study  and  contemplation  of  sea-bird 
habits  and  deportment,  will  assuredly  not  repent  of 
the  proceeding.  The  ever-varied  and  beautiful  lints 
and  shades  of  ocean,  the  bleakness  and  desolation  of 
open  wastes  of  beach-sand,  will  touch  his  heart,  and 
impress  grateful  ideas  on  his  mind  that  will  haunt 
him  for  years. 

The  lavish  prodigality  of  life-energy  expended  by 
the  red-breasted  merganser,  the  pungent  stimulating 
character  of  the  regions  which  it  inhabits  during  the 
most  important  period  of  its  existence,  conspire  with 
extensively  endowed  digestive  powers  to  render  it 
excessively  voracious.  The  mouth  is  provided  with  a 
number  of  fine,  conical,  saw-like  lamellae  or  teeth, 
viz.  about  sixty  in  the  upper  jaw  and  about  thirty-five 
in  the  lower.  The  oesophagus  also  is  specially  large 
and  dilatable,  so  that  ample  provision  is  thuswise 
made  for  the  capture,  steadfast  seizure,  and  the 
storing  up  of  a  liberal  amount  of  edible  matter.  Sand 
eels  are  especially  delectable  to  the  gustatory  organs 
of  the  bird.  Away  upon  a  desolate  waste  of  sandy 
shore,  damp,  pool-bespread,  and  wreck-strewn,  the 
bird  establishes  itself,  and  commences  the  opera- 
tions necessary  to  the  procurement  of  victuals.  It 
perseveringly  digs  its  sharp  beak  into  the  retreats  of 
the  sand-eel,  until  a  desiderated  morsel  is  grasped. 
This  species  of  eel  is  of  a  beautiful  silvery  colour — a 
very  delicate  fish  about  five  or  six  inches  long  ;  so 
that  the  merganser  in  whose  body  it  is  recorded  no 
fewer  than  twenty-four  of  these  were  found,  had 
managed,  we  should  say,  to  obtain  a  pretty  good 
dinner  of  it  ! 

Hovering  on  the  confines  of  the  comparatively 
clumsy  Anatidse,  the  mergansers  seem  to  have 
borrowed  some  portion  of  their  marvellous  beauty 
and  gracefulness  from  the  allied  family  of  the 
Colymbidas.  The  diving  powers  of  our  bird  are 
remarkable.  It  is  shy  and  wary,  with  sharp  ears, 
and  exceedingly  acute  and  far-ranging  vision,  and 
so  completely,  so  adequately  and  promptly  can  its 
bodily  movements  be  adjusted  to  the  dictates  or 
promptings  furnished  by  the  senses— so  intimately 
associated  and  dependent  are  its  motor  and  sensor 
nerves — that  when  a  sea-fowler  fires  off  his  gun,  the 
bird  dives  with  incredible  dexterity,  disappearing  from 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


183 


view  ere  the  shot  can  reach  the  now  deserted  seat. 
The  predilection  of  the  bird  for  red  colour,  however, 
is  the  snare  which  frequently  proves  fatal.  It  is  re- 
corded, that  this  merganser  exhibits  a  weakness  for 
the  fascinations  of  this  colour,  and  that  the  Swedish 
hunters,  aware  of  this  fact,  frequently  take  advantage 
of  it,  and  by  wearing  red  clothes  become  enabled  to 
approach  much  nearer,  so  as  to  direct  their  fire  with 
more  sure  and  deadly  effect. 

The  wings  of  the  red-breasted  merganser  are  only 
of  moderate  length  (not  extending  to  the  tail), — and 
of  moderate  breadth.  The  body,  like  that  of  the 
divers  (Colymbidse),  [is  comparatively  heavy,  weigh- 
ing in  an  ordinary  specimen  about  two  pounds.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  the  unfavourable  circumstance,  the 
flight  of  the  bird  is  undoubtedly  strong,  swift,  and 
remarkably  well  sustained. 

Now  if  we  compare  these  facts  with  those  furnished 
by  an  inspection  of  the  flying  apparatus,  of,  say 
the  great  black-backed  gull  {Lams  marinus),  we 
shall  perhaps  be  able  to  glean  some  grains  of 
ornithological  truth.  Have  you  ever  observed  the 
mighty  sweep  of  this  gull's  wings?  They  measure 
five  feet  across,  and  the  weight  of  the  bird  itself  is,  on 
the  average,  only  about  three  or  four  pounds.  Now, 
if  we  compare  these  various  weights  and  measures 
with  those  of  the  body  and  wings  of  the  red-breasted 
merganser,  the  important  truth  may  flash  upon  us, 
that  the  greater  the  weight  of  a  bird,  the  less  pro- 
portionally is  the  spread  of  the  wing  necessary  to 
sustain  its  body  in  the  air.  In  the  consideration  of 
the  flying  capabilities  of  a  bird,  let  us  never  forget 
the  fact,  that,  in  heavy  birds,  the  motion  of  the  wings 
in  the  act  of  flying  is  comparatively  slow,  while  in 
light  birds,  it  is  comparatively  swift.  The  former 
circumstance  is  illustrated  in  the  dilatory,  lazy-paced, 
ungainly  flying  of  the  crane,  the  heron,  &c,  the 
latter  in  the  marvellous  agility  of  wing  displayed  by 
the  sylph-like  petrels,  skuas,  terns,  &c.  It  seems, 
too,  to  be  an  indisputable  fact,  that  the  larger  and 
weightier  birds,  when  once  fairly  launched  into  the 
air,  can  sustain  and  propel  themselves  with  a  much 
less  expenditure  of  animal  energy  than  that  required 
from  the  smaller  and  less  ponderous  among  the 
feathered  tribes.  Those  naturalists  who  have  mar- 
velled at  the  apparently  excessive  muscular  exertion 
involved  in  the  flight  of  birds,  have,  when  the  facts 
have  been  more  thoroughly  examined  and  elucidated, 
become  sensible  that  the  strength  of  these  aerial 
creatures  is  not  so  grievously  taxed  as  they  formerly 
supposed. 

The  red-breasted  merganser,  ever  beautiful  and 
accomplished,  and  not  exhibiting  any  very  marked 
or  reprehensible  meddling,  domineering,  piratical  or 
other  objectionable  proclivities,  may  be  fairly  ranged 
as  regards  "social  position"  on  the  same  level  with 
the  "aristocratic  "  divers.  Inspect  and  feel  the  soft, 
close,  blended,  velvety  plumage  of  this  latter  group 
of  sea  birds,  and  compare  it  with  the  hair  of  the 


thorough-bred  horse,  or  even  (if  such  be  allowed/ 
with  the  locks  of  the  well-bred  gentleman,  and  then 
declare  if,  as  respects  this  important  constituent  of 
their  external  aspect,  they  are  not  entitled  "to 
flourish  in  any  society."  To  speculate  upon  the 
social  position  or  upon  the  respectable  appearauce  of 
birds,  may  appear  ridiculous  ;  but  my  observations- 
and  studies  in  Natural  History  have  been  wholly 
valueless,  if  roughness  or  smoothness,  coarseness  or 
refinement  in  the  external  integuments,  in  the  hair, 
nails  and  other  appendages  of  animals,  does  not  stand 
as  a  sign  and  index,  a  mark  and  register  of  something 
more  recondite  and  fundamental,  of  something  in- 
timately connected  with  the  most  elementary  organic 
structures,  and  with  the  ultimate  fountains  of  animal 
energy. 

Every  movement  of  these  mergansers  is  pre- 
eminently graceful.  The  stream  of  their  animal 
energy  flows  easily  and  readily,  and  through  as  it 
were  a  smooth  and  well-worn  channel.  The  bone- 
joints  seem  perpetually  well-oiled  and  competent, 
and  the  muscular  apparatus  is  thoroughly  sound  and 
destitute  of  deteriorating  fatty  admixture.  The 
instruments  of  bodily  movement  being  thuswise  con- 
structed of  sound  and  unexceptionable  materials,  and 
being  admirably  adapted  to  the  end  for  which  they 
were  proposed,  the  utmost  ease  and  harmony  of 
movement  may  be  expected.  To  endeavour  to 
furnish  an  explanation  of  the  admirable  quality  of 
gracefulness  exhibited  by  animals,  would  be  a 
supremely  interesting  undertaking  ;  but  it  is  one  from 
which  the  restricted  limits  of  our  space  warn  us  to 
desist.  We  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  this 
quality  depends  entirely  upon  (1)  hereditary  endow- 
ment, and  (2)  the  manner  in  which,  during  youth  and 
early  life,  the  various  bodily  movements  have  been 
conducted,  and  the  consequent  change  and  modelling 
as  it  were  of  the  organism  in  accordance  therewith. 

The  hand  of  Nature  has  been  employed  so  assidu- 
ously in  the  lavish  decoration  of  the  sea-birds  under 
review,  now  touching  with  red  and  green,  now  patch- 
ing and  interlaying  with  yellow,  white  and  black, 
now  dropping  spots  of  black  and  grey,  and  shreds 
of  scarlet,  and  polishing  all  into  soft  and  uniform 
lustre,  that  fain  would  we  be  excused  from  recount- 
ing the  specific  delineation  thereof.  We  must  rest 
content,  therefore,  with  a  notice  of  the  more  con- 
spicuous and  important  peculiarities  of  colouring,  &c, 
as  exhibited  by  the  male  bird  during  the  breeding 
season.  We  know  not  how  it  comes  to  pass  that 
among  many  tribes  of  the  lower  animals,  the  male  is 
much  handsomer,  more  attractive  in  appearance, 
more  gaudily  attired,  than  the  female.  Perhaps  the 
lady  in  this  case  is  more  coy,  or  more  fastidious  in 
the  selection  of  a  mate  ;  or  mayhap  the  superior 
attraction  of  the  males  of  her  own  species  may 
counteract  any  inclination  on  her  part  to  extend 
favours  to  individuals  not  holding  precisely  the  same 
position  as  to  organisation,  &c,  in  the  animal  world. 


184 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The  following  account  of  the  specific  character- 
istics of  the  male  red -breasted  merganser  (Mergus 
scrrator)  cannct  be  regarded  as  complete  : — The 
head  is  decorated  with  a  long  loose  crest  of  a  glossy 
dark-green  colour  ;  the  upper  mandible  is  reddish- 
brown,  the  lower  one  is  of  an  orange  tint ;  a  few 
rather  large  feathers,  of  a  pure  white  colour  margined 
with  black,  crop  out  from  each  side  of  the  breast,  and 
fold  over  the  wings  when  these  are  at  rest ;  the 
■upper  breast  is  reddish-brown,  the  lower  is  pure 
"white,  but  when  the  bird  is  just  recently  killed,  there 
is  thereabouts  a  beautiful  salmon-colour  tint  ;  the 
outside  of  the  tarsus  and  toes,  and  the  webs  are  of  a 
purplish  shade,  while  the  claws  are  of  a  light  greyish- 
brown.  The  total  length  of  the  bird  is  about  twenty- 
one  inches.  As  is  the  case  with  almost  all  the  Anati- 
dx,  a  most  important  cpecific  indication  is  afforded  by 
the  appearance  of  the  trachea.  In  the  red-breasted 
merganser,  the  structure  and  arrangement  of  this 
organ  are  so  singular  as  to  merit  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion. Two  inches  from  the  mouth,  it  swells  out  to 
four  times  it's  diameter,  an  enlargement  which  it 
maintains  for  the  space  of  two  inches  and  a  half;  it 
then  continues  as  at  first  for  another  couple  of  inches, 
when  it  becomes  flattened  for  the  same  distance 
further  ;  it  finally  appears  under  the  form  of  a  bony 
labyrinth  which  measures  two  inches  long,  by  one 
and  a  half  in  breadth,  and  which  is  covered  with  a 
yellowish  skin-like  parchment. 

This  species  nidifies  from  about  March  till  May  or 
June.  Greenland,  Newfoundland,  and  the  shores  of 
Hudson's  Bay  are  the  localities  which  have  been 
•notified  as  its  special  haunts  during  the  breeding 
season.  But  away  along  the  margins  and  among  the 
islands  of  the  more  lonely  and  secluded  Highland 
•lochs,  the  nest  of  this  bird  has  been  frequently  dis- 
covered. It  is  said  to  be  commonly  situated  amongst 
brushwood,  and  at  a  few  yards  from  the  water,  and 
to  be  warmly  constructed  with  the  down  taken  from 
the  bird's  own  body. 

The  persecution  to  which  this  beautiful  bird  has 
been  subjected  by  the  human  race  for  ages  past,  may 
be  inferred  and  estimated  from  the  contemplation  of 
•its  incomparable  diving  powers,  and  by  its  shyness 
and  general  deportment  when  pursued.  The  love  of 
power  inherent  in  man,  which,  in  the  destitution  of 
other  means  of  gratification,  seeks  to  slaughter  the 
beasts  of  the  field  and  the  birds  of  the  air,  has  been 
especially  directed  against  this  beautiful  merganser. 
We  cannot  here  enter  into  a  discussion  regarding  the 
relation  which  may  subsist  between  the  shyness  and 
vigilance  of  the  bird,  and  the  amount  or  kind  of 
persecution  to  which  it  has  been  subjected,  since  the 
unlucky  period  when  it  first  became  known  to  human 
beings.  Nor  can  we  venture  to  suggest  a  cause  or 
reason  for  the  gorgeous  apparel  with  which  it  has 
been  clothed.  Neither  can  we  confidently  pronounce 
whether  this  ostentatious  drapery  subserves  any 
.particular  purpose,  whether  it  exists  only  to  please 


the  eye  of  man,  or  whether  the  bird  is  beautiful  for 
the  mere  sake  of  beauty.  All  these  questions  are 
replete  with  interest,  and  furnish  ample  material  for 
the  reflective  and  thoughtful  mind  ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  they  are  fraught  with  danger.  They  contain 
many  mazes  and  labyrinths,  which  are  difficult  if  not 
impossible  to  thread,  and  which  are  ever  liable  to 
land  the  rash  and  unwary  speculator  in  quagmires 
and  obscure  haunts,  where  the  glorious  light  of 
religion  is  for  ever  quenched.  Perhaps  the  most 
unequivocal  mark  of  design,  connected  with  the 
subject  of  our  paper,  is  the  peculiar  structure  of  the 
beak.  Unlike  that  of  the  generality  of  the  duck 
family,  it  is  adapted,  not  so  much  for  straining  the 
water  and  the  sandy  particles  from  the  edible  morsel 
within  the  mouth,  as  to  effectually  seize  and  firmly 
retain  the  solid  body  of  a  fish. 


PELORIC  FORM  OF  ORCHIS  MASCULA. 

PELORIA,  or  the  regular  form  of  flowers  normally 
irregular,  seems  to  be  most  common  among 
flowers  with  spurred  petals.  In  Linaria,  with  one 
spur,  the  flowers  are  sometimes  altered  so  that  all 
the  petals  are  spurred.  In  Columbine,  on  the  other 
hand,  with  all  the  petals  spurred  in  their  normal 
condition,  forms  are  sometimes  found  with  the  spurs 
suppressed.  For  peloric  forms  to  be  found  among 
the  orchids  is,  however,  much  less  common.  We 
have,  growing  wild,  in  this  neighbourhood,  about 
three  plants  which  every  year  produce  these  curious 
forms.  I  first  found  them  last  year,  and  sent 
specimens  to  two  or  three  friends,  who,  like  my- 
self, were  much  puzzled,  and  could  make  nothing  of 
them.  One  gave  it  up  in  despair,  another  thought 
the  plant  might  be  Epipactis  purpurea,  but  could  not 
make  form  of  ovary  to  agree.  This  year  I  submitted 
specimens  to  Dr.  Hooker,  who  was  much  interested 
with  them,  said  he  had  seen  nothing  like  them,  and 
pronounced  them  to  be  peloric  forms  of  O.  morio  or 
mascula.  After  subsequent  examination  and  informa- 
tion he  decided  upon  mascula.  I  regret  I  have  not  a 
specimen  to  send  for  engraving,  and  my  description, 
from  memory,  must  necessarily  be  vague.  I  hope, 
however,  to  remedy  these  defects  next  year.  The 
most  striking  difference  is  in  the  form  of  the  lowest 
petal,  which,  instead  of  being  much  larger  than  the 
upper  pair,  and  spurred,  is  equal  in  size  and  form  to 
the  other  two,  and  without  the  spur.  The  petals  of 
the  upper  pair  are  larger  than  in  ordinary  forms  of 
the  flower ;  all  are  purple  and  without  spots.  The 
calyx  is  coloured  like  the  corolla,  the  three  sepals  are 
about  the  usual  size  ;  so  that  the  floral  leaves,  six  in 
number,  are  alike  in  colour  and  size,  and  the  perianth 
is  therefore  regular.  As  there  is  no  spur,  and  there- 
fore no  apparent  receptacle  for  honey,  it  seems 
difficult  to  understand  how  this  form  can  be  repro- 
duced.    A  friend  of  mine  informs  me  on  the  authority 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


185 


of  Professor  Babington,  of  Cambridge,  that,  so  far  as 
he  is  aware,  these  spurless  orchids  have  never  before 
been  found  in  England.  I  hope  my  remarks  may 
have  the  effect  for  which  they  were  intended,  of 
sending  out  some  next  year,  to  look  more  carefully 
among  the  orchids,  to  see  if  these  forms  are  really  so 
uncommon  as  they  at  present  appear  to  be. 

John   Rasor. 
Woolpit,  Bury  St.  Edmund's. 


OUR  SEA-ANEMONES. 
By  H.  C.  C.   M. 

WHERE  did  you  get  them  from  ? " 
"  What  do  you  feed  them  on  ?  " 

"  How  often  do  you  change  the  water,  and  where 
do  you  get  your  supply  of  fresh  water  from  ?  "  Such 
are  the  questions  we  have  answered  repeatedly  since 
we  began  to  keep  anemones,  and  as  our  efforts  have 
been  attended  with  much  success,  we  venture  to  think 
a  record  of  our  experiences  may  be  acceptable  to 
many  readers  of  Science-Gossip. 

One  line  afternoon,  towards  the  close  of  our  stay  at 
Beaumaris,  in  July  1883,  we  went  down  on  to  the 
beach  just  as  the  tide  reached  its  lowest  ebb,  bent  on 
anemone  collecting.  Our  outfit  consisted  of  a  fish- 
can  and  a  pocket  knife.  The  hammer  and  chisel 
recommended  in  the  books  were  left  behind,  being 
unnecessary  and  burdensome. 

We  had  not  proceeded  far  before  we  came  upon 
several  specimens  of  the  common  daisy  anemone 
{Sagartia  bellis),  and  as  we  had  determined  that  this 
species  should  be  the  subject  of  our  first  experiments, 
we  very  carefully  detached  them  with  the  blade  of 
our  pocket  knife  from  the  large  pebbles  to  which  they 
adhered,  and  transferred  them  to  a  small  quantity  of 
clean  sea-water  in  our  fish-can.  In  less  than  an  hour 
we  had  collected  more  than  sufficient  for  our  purpose, 
so  we  examined  our  captures,  and,  after  selecting  six 
of  the  largest  and  healthiest-looking,  we  put  the  rest 
back  into  the  sea.  "Have  you  been  exploring  a 
bit  ? "  said  a  lady  to  us  as  we  neared  the  pier.  Our 
explanation  of  the  purpose  of  our  exploration  brought 
a  look  to  our  friend's  face  that  spoke  volumes.  What 
attraction  "  nasty  lumps  of  jelly  "  could  have  to  young 
men  like  us  seemed  a  mystery,  and  we  were  going  to 
take  them  all  the  way  to  Manchester  too  !  On  the 
following  morning  we  hired  a  boat,  and  taking  with 
us  a  gallon  glass  jar  and  some  smaller  bottles,  we 
rowed  into  mid-channel.  Here  we  filled  our  jar  and 
bottles  with  sea-water  and  collected  a  quantity  of 
floating  sea-weed  in  which  to  pack  our  anemones, 
an  operation  which  we  performed  just  before  leaving 
Beaumaris  for  home  in  the  afternoon.  A  layer  of 
wet  sea-weed  was  put  at  the  bottom  of  the  fish-can, 
the  anemones  laid  upon  it,  and  covered  with  another 
layer  of  the  same. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  home  we  inverted  two  propa- 


gating glasses,  each  about  twelve  inches  in  diameter, 
fixing  one  in  a  turned  wood  stand,  the  other  in  a  bed 
of  saw-dust  contained  in  a  glass  sugar  basin.  Into 
each  glass  we  put  a  quantity  of  well-washed  gravel 
and  two  or  three  fragments  of  limestone,  and  after 
pouring  in  the  whole  of  our  sea-water,  we  transferred 
our  anemones  to  their  new  home,  putting  three  into 
each  glass.  Our  efforts  were  soon  rewarded.  Ten- 
tacles were  protruded,  and  after  sundry  peregrinations 
round  their  glasses,  the  daisies  settled  down  into  the 
positions  which  they  occupy  to-day.  But  imagine 
our  dismay  when,  a  day  or  two  later,  we  saw  that  the 
water  had  assumed  a  milky  hue. 

We  thought  we  were  doomed  to  disappointment, 
especially  as  the  milkiness  seemed  to  increase.  But 
seeing  that  the  anemones  were  fully  expanded,  and 
apparently  unmoved  by  the  threatening  state  of 
things,  we  took  a  glass  syringe  and  with  it  vigorously 
syringed  the  water.  This  had  the  desired  effect. 
The  cloudiness  soon  disappeared,  but  we  continued 
to  syringe  the  water  almost  daily  for  some  time,  and 
still  do  so  occasionally. 

Our  next  care  was  to  provide  the  anemones  with 
suitable  food.  We  bought  some  mussels,  and  with  a 
knife  cut  several  of  them  in  half.  We  then  removed 
the  leaf-like  gills  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  after  cut- 
ting them  into  small  pieces,  gave  a  morsel  to  each  with 
a  'pair  of  wooden  forceps.  The  jack-in-the-box-like 
celerity  with  which  the  tentacles  closed  over  the  food, 
and  its  speedy  disappearance  into  the  digestive  cavity 
showed  that  it  was  appreciated,  and  the  completion 
of  the  process  of  digestion  was  duly  announced  on 
the  following  day  by  the  ejection  through  the  mouth 
of  rounded  pellets  composed  of  the  inr.utritious 
residue.  These  were  carefully  removed  with  a 
pipette.  Feeding  time  has  since  recurred  at  inter- 
vals of  three  weeks  or  a  month.  One  morning  early 
in  the  following  month  we  noticed  on  the  disk  of  one 
of  the  daisies  a  small  pearly-white  body.  What  was 
it '!  A  young  one,  sure  enough.  The  next  day  saw 
the  infant  fixed  on  a  small  pebble,  beginning  life  on 
its  own  account.  Another  and  another  soon  followed, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  year  about  twenty  had  made 
their  appearance. 

But  the  rate  of  increase  in  July  and  August  last 
year  astonished  us.  Three  adults,  during  those  two 
months,  gave  birth  to  at  least  seventy  young  ones, 
about  forty  of  which  we  distributed  at  a  subsequent 
meeting  of  the  Manchester  Microscopical  Society. 
During  the  earlier  months  of  the  summer  we  had  fre- 
quent opportunities  of  observing  the  very  young 
larvae.  They  are  small,  somewhat  pear-shaped, 
ciliated  planulse,  the  pointed  anterior  pole  of  which 
carries  a  tuft  of  longer  cilia,  the  opposite  end  some- 
what flattened,  bearing  the  mouth  in  its  centre. 
They  swim  freely  with  a  peculiar  oscillatory  move- 
ment. 

The  hot  weather  during  the  above-mentioned 
months  seemed  to  promote  the  growth  of  a  filamen- 


i86 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


tous  alga  on  the  glass  and  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  as  it  obscured  our  view  of  the  anemones  we 
decided  to  remove  it.  This  we  did  with  complete 
success  by  drawing  off  the  water  with  a  siphon,  and 
then  wiping  the  surface  of  the  glass  with  a  clean 
duster.  We  also  removed  some  of  the  gravel,  and 
replaced  it  with  fresh,  afterwards  filtering  the  water 
into  the  glasses  again.  A  short  visit  to  Beaumaris 
in  June  afforded  us  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  a 
reserve  supply  of  sea-water.  This  we  did,  and  upon 
our  arrival  at  home  put  the  whole  into  glass  bottles, 
each  holding  a  quart.  We  also  brought  a  single 
specimen  of  the  smooth  beadlet  [Actinia  mesembry- 
anthcmum).  Like  the  daisies  it  soon  commenced  to 
explore  its  new  home,  but  did  not  seem  to  be  so 
satisfied,  for  after  two  days  had  elapsed  the  tentacles 
were  retracted,  and  for  some  weeks  it  remained  in  an 
apparently  lifeless  condition,  from  which,  at  first, 
even  food  failed  to  arouse  it.  However,  after  several 
unsuccessful  attempts,  we  at  last  induced  it  to  swallow 
a  bit  of  mussel,  and  it  has  since  then  taken  food  and 
displayed  its  beauties  in  such  a  way  as  to  remove  all 
doubt  as  to  its  healthiness. 

Having  been   so  successful  in  our  first  attempt  at 
anemone  keeping,  we  determined,  during  a  holiday 
in  September,  to  try  what  we  could  do  with  one  or 
two  less   common  species.     A  visit  to  Rhoscollyn, 
Holy  Island,  where  the  green  opelet  (Anthea  cereus) 
abounds,  afforded  us  an  opportunity  for  collecting 
specimens  of  that  beautiful   species.      We   selected 
three    small    ones,   and  with    two    dahlia   wartlets 
(Tealia   crassicornis),   and    another    smooth  beadlet, 
started  our  second  venture  upon  our  arrival  at  home 
five  days  later.     The  glass  into  which  we  put  our 
new  captures  is  nearly  twice  the  size  of  the  two  men- 
tioned above,  and  having  a  fiat  bottom  it  affords  a 
better  view  of  its  contents  than  the  ordinary  propa- 
gating glass.     We  may  here  remark,  that  we  have 
constantly  kept  a  close  fitting  glass  cover  upon  each 
tank,  to  keep  out  the  dust  and  to  prevent  evaporation. 
Our  reserve  supply  of  sea-water  now  proved  useful, 
though    we  had    filled  all   our  spare  bottles    before 
leaving  Beaumaris.     The  green  opelets  were  at  home 
in  a  few  hours,  and  took  food  readily  on  the  follow- 
ing day.     About  a   week  later,  we  noticed  that   one 
of  them  was  about  to  undergo  the  process  of  fission. 
The   disk   by  which  it  adhered  to  the  glass  was 
divided  by  a  constriction  into  two  halves,  and  each 
half  seemed  to  be  trying  to  move   away  from   the 
other.       Three  days  later    there  were   two   distinct 
disks,    and    the    constriction    had    extended    up    the 
column  to  the  base  of  the  tentacles.     The  next  day 
found  the  two  halves  further  away  from  each  other, 
and    a  portion   of   the    digestive    sac    was    exposed, 
forming  a  sort  of  connecting  link  between  the  two. 
The  final  separation  took   place  on  the  ninth  day. 
The  dahlia  wartlets  refused  food  for  some  time,  but 
they  now  take  it  readily,  and   are  apparently  in  per- 
fect health.     We  recently  introduced  a  small  mussel 


(Mytilus  edulis),  and  have  been  much  interested  to- 
observe  the  behaviour  of  the  green  opelets  towards 
it.  The  stone  to  which  it  has  anchored  itself  has, 
since  its  introduction,  been  their  favourite  resting- 
place,  and  we  have  several  times  seen  one  or  other  of 
them  seated  upon  its  shell. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

According  to  the  "  English  Mechanic,"  the 
passage  of  the  electric  fluid  between  terminal  brushes 
of  very  fine  platinum  wire  was  shown  under  the 
microscope  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  San  Francisco 
Microscopical  Society.  When  films  of  soot  of 
different  thicknesses  were  interposed,  "in  its  passage 
through  these  the  current  was  deflected  into  meander- 
ing lines,  around  which  scintillated  showers  of  sparks. 
The  particles  of  soot  could  be  seen  arranging  them- 
selves in  symmetrical  groupings  around  the  ter- 
minals." 

The  Darwin  Medal,  instituted  by  the  Midland 
Union  of  Scientific  Societies  for  the  recognition  of 
original  research,  is  this  year  awarded  to  Mr.  W. 
Jerome  Harrison,  F.G.S.,  senior  science  demonstrator 
to  the  Birmingham  School  Board. 

The  cholera  has  increased  to  an  alarming  extent 
in  Spain,  and  the  Spanish  Government  after  per- 
mitting Dr.  Ferran  to  resume  his  inoculation  has 
again  withdrawn  its  permission. 

The  "  Botanical  Gazette,"  speaking  apparently  of 
a  botanical  club  in  connection  with  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Association,  protests  against  the  "  custom- 
ary practice  of  botanists,  which  is  to  have  no  paper, 
or  something  which  would  be  better  unsaid.  The 
disjointed  twaddle  .  .  .  should  be  reserved  for  the 
privacy  of  the  botanical  club."  "  Every  botanist 
should  prepare  a  brief  paper,  as  compact  as  possible, 
and  to  secure  exactness  and  ss.ve  time,  it  should  be 
written  and  read."  Excellent  advice  this  last ;  which 
might  indeed  perhaps  be  extended  even  to  the  privacy 
of  botanical  clubs  in  general,  not  to  say  other  of 
our  scientific  societies ;  and  by  following  which 
the  readers  of  the  papers  would  be  gainers,  by  the 
increased  exactness  which  ought  to  result. 

Mr.  A.  R.  Wallace,  in  a  review  referred  to  in 
another  column,  says,  "  It  is  now  generally  admitted 
that  the  celebrated  '  subsidence  theory '  of  the  forma- 
tion of  atolls  and  barrier  reefs  is  unsound  as  a  general 
explanation  of  the  facts  ;  yet  it  so  fully  and  plausibly 
explained  all  the  details  of  coral  structure  known  at 
the  time,  as  to  command  universal  acceptance  and 
unbounded  admiration." 

Professor  Huxley,  it  is  announced,  is  about  to 
retire  from  his  various  appointments  under  Govern- 
ment with  a  pension  of  ,£1200  a  year. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


187 


Professor  Fleeming  Jenkins,  who  occupied  the 
chair  of  engineering  at  Edinburgh,  died  in  June  last. 
He  was  born  in  1833,  was  at  one  time  professor  of 
engineering  at  University  College,  London,  and  was 
the  originator  of  the  scheme  of  telpherage  or  electrical 
transmission. 

Professor  Thorpe,  of  the  Yorkshire  College, 
Leeds,  has  been  appointed  successor  to  Professor 
Frankland  in  the  chair  of  chemistry  at  the  Royal 
School  of  Mines. 

A  FEW  extracts  from  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Facts 
Proving  that  Lightning  is  a  Composite  Force,"  by  Mr. 
William  Boggett,  will  suffice  perhaps  to  show  what  it 
is  like.     He  believes  that  water  consists  of  hydrogen 
and   oxygen,  plus  electricity,  only  that   the   voltaic 
current  employed  by  the  first  discoverers  of  the  gases 
in   water   united    gently    with    the    electricity   and 
removed    it   without    its   removal   being  discovered. 
Dynamos  obtain  their  powerful  currents  from  the 
water  in  the  earth,  which  is  the  great  reservoir  of 
electricity."     It  is,  of  course,  possible  to  misrepresent 
a  writer    by   giving   detached    quotations,    but    Mr. 
Boggett    certainly    speaks   of    "  the    discovery    that 
lightning   is    a    composite  force,     consisting    of    the 
electric  currents,  emanating,  one  from  water  in  the 
clouds,  the  other  from  water   in  the   earth.      Each 
of  these  currents    are  united    with  one  of  the   ele- 
ments   of   water— say,     oxygen    (heat)— the     other 
combined  in  like   manner  with  the  other  element  of 
water— hydrogen  (light),"  and  so  on.     Space  is  too 
valuable  to  do  more  than  just  to  mention  the  state- 
ment that  there  is  no  heat  in  incandescent  electric 
lamps  ("  neither  combustion  nor  heat  ")  ;  that  when, 
at  the  Polytechnic,  men  used  to  point  their  fingers  at 
suspended   electric  balls  the  balls  moved  one   way, 
but  the  other  way  when  pointed  at  by  women,  and  a 
somewhat  similar  difference  of  effects  when  hats  were 
made    to    move   by    "  electric   contact "   of  fingers. 
These  last  two  statements  are  not  on  the  author's 
personal  authority.     One  would  think  he  might  have 
tried  to  verify  them,  for,  speaking  seriously,  there  can 
surely  be  no  excuse  for  printing  such  things  without 
having   taken   the  trouble  to  put  them  to  practical 
proof. 

There  must  be  a  considerable  amount  of  unselfish 
benevolence  diffused  among  mankind.  Else  why 
should  the  Bread  Reform  League  in  two  years  and  a 
quarter  have  received  over£2'jo  towards  the  expenses 
of  inducing  people  to  eat  wheat  meal  bread  instead 
of  white  bread  ?  The  donors  and  subscribers  could 
enjoy  the  privilege  by  themselves  alone  if  they 
pleased.  However,  a  Report  lately  issued  gives  a 
short  statement  of  the  financial  accounts  from  Decem- 
ber 1882  to  last  March,  and  it  further  appears  that 
the  use  of  wheat  meal  bread  is  increasing,  and  that 
the  article  itself,  as  sold  by  bakers,  is  improving  in 
quality.  The  Report  is  dated  from  36,  Coleman 
Street,  London,  E.C. 


In  the  "  American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal  " 
for  June  may  be  found  a  short  paper,  with  illustrations, 
on  the  microscopical  structure  of  tea-leaves ;  and  a 
continuation  of  the  provisional  key  to  the  classifica- 
tion of  freshwater  algse. 

At  the  May  and  June  meetings  of  the  Entomolo- 
gical Society  of  London,  Mr.  F.  Enock,  of  Woking, 
read  a  most  interesting  paper  on  the  life  history  of 
Atypus piceus,  Sulz.,  the  only  British  representative  of 
trap-door  spiders.  His  observations,  made  from  1876 
to  the  present  time,  were  detailed  with  great  care  and 
minuteness,  and  many  interesting  facts  in  the  spider's 
economy  established.  The  paper  was  fully  illustrated 
by  the  exhibition  of  numerous  specimens  of  the  nests, 
spiders,  &c,  from  Hampstead  and  Woking. 

From  a  return  lately  issued  from  the  Home  Office, 
it  appears  that  those  among  us  who  oppose  vivisection 
have  not  much  ground  for  objection  on  the  score  of 
painful  experiments  in  this  country  in  1884.  Forty- 
nine  persons  held  licenses  during  some  part  of  the 
year  in  England  and  Scotland,  of  whom  fifteen  did 
not  use  them.  About  441  experiments  were  per- 
formed under  the  Act,  and,  as  regards  the  infliction  of 
pain  in  those  cases  where  anaesthetics  were  not  used 
or  only  partially  used,  some  consisted  in  inoculation  ; 
others,  performed  for  medico-legal  purposes,  resulted 
in  the  death  by  tetanus  of  three  frogs  and  six  mice 
which  survived  only  a  few  minutes,  and  others  again 
were  experiments  on  the  infection  of  fish  with  a 
species  of  fungus  very  destructive  in  certain  rivers 
and  streams,  or  on  the  effects  of  the  immersion  of  fish 
in  distilled  water  which  proved  fatal  to  about  thirty 
minnows  and  sticklebacks.  Two  other  cases  involving 
pain  "of  a  very  trifling  character,"  are  referred  to, 
and  the  Report  for  England  and  Scotland  ends  by 
saying  that  the  amount  of  direct  or  indirect  suffering 
may  be  stated  as  "wholly  insignificant,"  while  the 
report  for  Ireland  says  that  the  experiments  performed 
there  were  all  painless. 


MICROSCOPY. 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Microscopical 
Society. — The  June  number  contains  papers  on  New 
British  Oribatidae,  by  Mr.  A.  D.  Michael,  F.L.S. 
on  the  Structure  of  the  Diatom  Shell  by  Dr.  J.  D. 
Cox  ;  and  on  the  Structure  and  Origin  of  Carboniferous 
Coal  Seams,  by  Mr.  Edward  Wethered,  F.G.S., 
followed  by  the  summary  of  current  researches. 

Microscopes  with  Bent  Body  Tube.— The 
above  journal  gives  a  figure  of  a  microscope  intended 
to  combine  the  advantages  of  keeping  the  stage 
horizontal,  and  at  the  same  time  the  body  of  the 
observer  in  a  convenient  position.  The  tube  of  the 
instrument  has  a  break  in  it,  the  upper  part  sloping 
towards  the  eye,  the  lower  part  being  vertical ;  and  a 
truncated  equilateral  prism  is  inserted  at  the  junction 
of  the  two  pieces  of  the  tube. 


i88 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Motion  in  Diatoms. — On  examining  some 
Spirogyra  obtained  from  one  of  the  fresh-water  canals 
to  the  east  of  Calcutta,  my  eye  caught  a  diatom, 
which  in  form  resembled  the  figure  of  Bacillaria 
paradoxa  given  in  the  Micrographic  Dictionary.  The 
bacillaria  is,  however,  described  as  a  marine  diatom  ; 
the  water  in  the  canal  from  which  this  specimen  was 
taken  is  fresh  ;  and  the  object  was  associated  with 
Spirogyra,  a  fresh-water  conferva.  The  phenomenon 
to  which  I  would  draw  attention  is  the  curious  motion 
of  the  frustules.  Forming  at  the  outset  a  raft  (A  in 
the  diagram,  which  is  not  a  picture)  composed  of  six 
frustules,  the  outermost  diatom  on  the  left  slid  out 
along  its  neighbour,  which  in  its  turn  glided  along 
the  third  frustule  of  the  series,  and  so  on,  until  the 
raft  was  arranged  as  at  B  B'.  The  diatoms  then 
slipped  back  to  their  first  position,  and  as  soon  as  it 


1 

\ 

B' 

\, 

A 

1 

I 

^. 

I 

1 

/ 

J  / 

B  C 

Fig.  126. — Diagram  explanatory  of  movements  of  Diatoms. 

was  attained,  the  outermost  diatom  on  the  right-hand 
started  off,  to  be  followed  by  the  whole  series,  until 
the  position  C  C  was  attained,  when  they  slid  back 
to  the  first  position  B  C,  and  then  glided  off  to  the 
left,  and  so  on,  during  the  whole  time  the  diatom  was 
under  observation.  This  see-saw  motion  was  kept  up 
with  a  regularity  that  suggested  the  working  of  the 
shafts  and  rods  of  some  well-regulated  engine.  I 
notice  in  the  pages  of  that  exbaustless  n  ine,  the 
Micrographic  Dictionary,  that  Thvvaites  described 
some  strange  motion  in  Bacillaria  paradoxa.  Did  he 
observe  the  same  phenomenon  I  have  attempted  to 
describe,  or  a  different  one  ?  My  diagram  is  very 
rough,  the  spaces  between  the  frustules  are  exagger- 
ated, for  the  diatoms  were  apparently  in  contact.  I 
could  not  notice  any  investing  membrane,  or  gela- 
tinous envelope,  and  I  only  hope  I  shall  be  able  to 
resume  my  acquaintance  with  the  object.  It  was 
very  beautiful. —  IV.  J.  Simmons,  Calcutta. 


Helix  aspera,  var.  sinistrorsa. — It  will  be 
perhaps  interesting  to  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip 
to  hear,  that  I  have  lately  found  another  reversed 
Helix  aspera  near  Bristol.  It  is  a  young  specimen, 
and  will  not  attain  maturity  for  two  yea's.  I  intend 
to  carefully  rear  it. — Jessie  Hele. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Conchological  and  Malacologicai.  Notes. 
— In  Science-Gossip,  1885,  p.  163,  Mr.  T.  D.  A. 
Cockerell  notices  two  varieties  of  Limax  Jlavus 
which  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  near  Middles- 
borough.  I  refer  to  var.  colubrina,  Pini,  and  var. 
virescens,  Fer.,  and,  as  Mr.  Cockerell  seems  to  be 
under  some  misapprehension  with  regard  to  the 
latter,  which  is  possibly  due  to  my  not  having  stated 
the  authorship  of  the  variety,  I  hasten  to  make 
amends.  The  variety  virescens,  Fer.,  is  distinguish- 
able by  its  greenish  glassy  appearance,  with  the  usual 
markings  scarcely  conspicuous.  The  original  de- 
scription runs  :  Limax  virescens,  maculis  parum  con- 
spicuis.  This  does  not  agree  with  the  variety  vires- 
cens of  Moquin-Tandon,  as  quoted  by  Mr.  Cockerell. 
The  specimen  found  by  me  agreed  fairly  well  with 
Ferussac's  description,  and  I  have  since  taken  a  highly 
characteristic  specimen  in  the  same  locality  as  the  first. 
With  regard  to  the  new  variety  of  Helix  ncmoralis 
{Studeria,  Moq.),  which  Mr.  Cockerell  proposes  to 
add  to  the  British  list,  I  may  say  that  I  have  recently 
been  visiting  on  the  borders  of  Wales,  and  near 
Oswestry,  Salop,  have  taken  the  variety  which  Mr. 
Cockerell  describes  as  lilac  and  bandless.  This  form 
is  moderately  abundant  in  that  locality,  associated 
with  vars.  Libellnla,  Risso,  Rubella,  Moq.,  and 
Castanea,  Moq.,  into  the  latter  of  which  it  seems  to 
almost  insensibly  merge.  My  Oswestry  shells  are 
at  present  in  the  hands  of  the  Recorder  of  the  Con- 
chological Society,  but  on  their  return  to  me  I  shall 
be  happy  to  send  Mr.  Cockerell  a  specimen  for  com- 
parison. Though  the  colour  renders  this  shell  a 
beautiful  cabinet  object,  yet  I  am  loath  to  accord  it 
varietal  rank — in  fact,  without  expressing  any  decided 
opinion,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  present 
mode  of  making  colour  varieties  is  merely  provisional, 
as,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  one  colour  merges 
into  another  by  such  gentle  grades  that  it  is  next  to 
impossible  to  say  where  one  begins  and  the  other 
leaves  off,  and  the  student  is  lost  when  he  seeks  to 
give  place,  in  its  rank,  to  his  specimen.  I  am  not, 
however,  prepared  to  suggest  a  way  out  of  the 
difficulty,  unless  we  revert  to  the  division  proposed 
by  Sheppard,  viz.  7/.  ncmoralis,  Shepp.,  the  plain 
unhanded  form  ;  var.  Cintra,  Shepp.,  the  one-banded, 
or,  according  to  the  present  system,  00300,  and  var. 
fasciata,  Shepp.,  the  five-banded  form.  I  do  not, 
however,  agree  with  all  his  reasons  for  such  separa- 
tion, but  rather  because  the  many  varieties  of  banding 
and  colour  are  readily  referable  to  one  or  other  of 
these  three.  My  own  observation  of  H.  ncmoralis 
leads  me  to  believe  that  the  one-banded  form  breeds 
most  true,  whilst  the  plain  unhanded  form  generally 
interbreeds  with  the  other  two.  As  to  varieties 
having  such  banding  as  the  following,  10345,  02345, 
I    00045,   &c,    I   believe   them  all    to  be  referable    to 


HARDWICK&S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


189 


the  five-banded  kind.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  observe,  it  is  the  lower  bands  which  are  more  rarely 
absent  and  generally  the  upper  ones  which  are  so, 
and  my  attention  has  recently  been  considerably 
drawn  to  this  in  the  case  of  H.  kortensis.  Near 
Oswestry  the  type  form  is  common,  but  of  the  un- 
handed I  did  not  take  one  specimen  among  many 
hundreds  observed.  The  band  variation  in  these 
shells  was  entirely  confined  to  the  upper  bands, 
which  were  sometimes  thinned  out,  sometimes  alto- 
gether absent.  In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  I  have 
never  taken  a  specimen  of  either  H.  ncmoralis  or 
H.  hortensis  possessing  the  upper  and  lacking  the 
lower  banding. — Baker  Hudson. 

Rana  macrocnemia. — In  the  lately  issued  num- 
ber of  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  of 
London  "  is  a  figure  of  a  new  species  of  frog  from 
Asia  Minor.  Mr.  G.  A.  Boulenger,  F.Z.S.,  proposes 
to  give  the  name  of  Rana  macrocnemia  to  this  frog, 
whose  nearest  ally  is  R.  temporaria,  and  from  which 
it  differs  in  the  longer  hind  limbs  and  in  a  few  other 
respects. 

Abdominal  Legs  of  Caterpillar. — The 
"American  Naturalist  "  for  July  contains  a  note  by 
A.  S.  Packard  on  the  caterpillar  of  Lagoa  crispata, 
Pack.,  which  possesses  the  unusual  number  of  seven 
pairs  of  abdominal  legs,  and  which  was  first  described 
by  him  in  1S64.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  only  cater- 
pillar which  has  more  than  the  normal  five  pairs  of 
abdominal  legs.  Two  pairs  out  of  these  seven  pairs 
are  rudimentary,  and  as  the  embryology  of  Sphinx 
has  shown  that  it  has  ten  pairs  of  abdominal  legs,  of 
which  five  pairs  disappear  before  hatching,  it  is 
supposed  that  these  rudimentary  ones  in  Lagoa  may 
be  the  survivals  of  ten  pairs  of  embryonic  legs. 


BOTANY. 

Close-Fertilisation  of  Orchids. — Professor 
Henslow  contributes  an  article  on  this  subject  to  the 
"  Gardeners'  Chronicle,"  in  which  he  refers  to  a  paper 
read  at  the  Linnean  Society  last  December,  on 
"  Contrivances  for  Insuring  Self-fertilisation  in  some 
Tropical  Orchids,"  by  Mr.  H.  O.  Forbes.  Mr. 
Forbes  called  attention  to  the  general  fact  that,  in 
Portugal  and  the  Tropics,  Orchids,  especially  adapted 
for  insect  agency,  are  to  an  enormous  extent  utterly 
barren  (not  two  per  cent,  of  the  flowers  in  one  case 
being  fertilised),  and  described  several  species  which 
exhibit  remarkable  adaptations  for  close-fertilisation, 
thereby  more  or  less  preventing  cross-fertilisation, 
and  which  yet  produce  abundant  seed.  Mr.  Henslow 
takes  the  opportunity  of  questioning  the  necessity  of 
cross-fertilisation.  He  thinks  there  is  no  a  priori 
ground  for  assuming  that  Nature  abhors  self-fertilisa- 
tion, and  alludes  to  the  large  number  of  cleistogamous 


flowers,  including  one  in  orchids,  described  by  Mr. 
Forbes.     He  holds   that   there  is    no    experimental 
verification  of  the  theory  that  close-fertilisation  brings 
about  physical  weakness,  and  leads  to  the  extinction 
of    the    plant.      He    refers   to  his  paper  on  "Self- 
Fertilisation,"  in  Trans.   Linn.  Soc.  vol.   i.    p.   17, 
1879,  as  showing  that, — keeping  in  view  the  only  two 
ends  of  plant  life  which  he  thinks  can  be  recognised, 
viz.  self-preservation  and  the  production  of  numerous 
healthy  offspring, — self-fertilising  plants  are   incom- 
parably the  better  off.       Species  adapted  for  cross- 
fertilisation   are   generally  larger   plants  than  allied 
species  adapted  for  self-fertilisation,  and   have  finer 
foliage   and   more   handsome  flowers,  being  thus  of 
more   value  to  the  horticulturist.      Mr.  Forbes   de- 
scribed   Phaius   Blumei,    which    was   self-fertilising. 
In  Spathoglotiis  plicata  and  another  case  the  flower 
was  self-fertilised   before  it  opened,  an   approxima- 
tion to  cleistogamy — Plocoglottis  (?)  being  absolutely 
cleistogamous.     From  these  and  other  cases,  both  of 
orchids  and  other  plants,  Mr.  Henslow  says  that  all 
degrees  of  transition  may  be  found  between  flowers, 
apparently  well  adapted  for  inter-crossing,  yet  also 
adapted     for     self-fertilisation,     and     cleistogamous 
flowers,   many  exhibiting  adaptations  for  both    pur- 
poses.    Wherefore    he   traverses  Mr.   Darwin's  con- 
clusion with  respect  to  the  Bee  Ophrys,  when  Mr. 
Darwin  says  that  the  survival  in  it  of  the  apparatus 
for   cross-fertilisation,   though   the    flower  is  mainly 
self-fertilised,  points  to  the  fact  of  cross-fertilisation 
at  long  intervals.     Apropos  of  this  subject,  some  very 
interesting  remarks  by  Mr.  A.  R.  Wallace  may  be 
found  in  a  review  by  him,  in  "  Nature,"  of  a  book  of 
travels  in  the    Fastern  Archipekgo  by  Mr.  H.   O. 
Forbes.     Mr.  Forbes  remarks,  that  the  cross-fertilisa- 
tion of  orchids  is  by  no  means  so  universal  as  has 
been  supposed.     (This  is  probably  the  sense,  though 
concealed  by  an  apparent  misprint.)     He  mentions  a 
plant  related  to  Chrysoglossum  in  which,  though  the 
labellum  is  beautifully  marked  with  lines  of  purple, 
carmine,  and  orange,  and  the  column  also,  the  flower 
fertilises  itself  without  ever  opening  at  all. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

Geology  of  the  Highlands. — In  the  first  part 
of  his  paper  on  the  Age  of  the  Malvern  Hills  (p.  126), 
Mr.  J.  Walter  Gregory  seems  to  attribute  the  changed 
view  of  the  nature  of  the  rocks  of  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland  to  the  investigations  of  Dr.  Geikie.  Of  this 
question  a  somewhat  detailed  account  may  be  found 
in  the  presidential  address  of  Professor  T.  G.  Bonney 
to  the  Geological  Society  last  February.  Having 
mentioned  the  important  event  of  the  abandonment 
by  the  director  general  and  other  Survey  officers  of 
the  Murchisonian  hypothesis,  Professor  Bonney  shows 
that,  before  the  end  of  the  year  1S83,  in  the  summer  of 


190 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


which  a  detachment  from  the  Geological  Survey  took 
the  field  in  Sutherlandshire,  Dr.  Hicks,  Dr.  Callaway, 
and  Professor  Lapworth  had  all  thrown  light  upon 
the  subject ;  while  Dr.  Geikie  was  prevented,  by  want 
of  space,  in  his  paper  which  appeared  in  the  following 
year  in  "  Nature,"  from  indicating  the  share  which 
previous  writers  had  had  in  producing  the  result. 

Cone-in-cone  Structure. — In  a  paper  read 
before  the  Geological  Society  of  Glasgow  in  March, 
Mr.  John  Young,  F.G.S.,  described  the  structures 
known  as  Cone-in-cone,  and  gave  an  account  of  results 
arrived  at  by  him  after  a  careful  study  of  numerous 
specimens.  This  structure  is  found  in  sedimentary 
strata  of  various  formations,  being,  in  the  Car- 
boniferous rocks  of  West  Scotland,  often  associated 
with  beds  of  clay-carbonate  of  iron  of  probable  shallow 
lacustrine  deposition.  Cone-in-cone  consists  of  a 
series  of  cones  one  within  the  other,  arranged 
vertically  with  their  apices  downwards,  the  broad 
ends  of  the  upper  cones  in  the  case  of  the  larger 
examples  terminating  upon  the  upper  surface  of  the 
bed  in  which  they  occur.  Mr.  Young  thinks  the 
effect,  which  had  been  ascribed  by  previous  observers 
to  various  causes,  to  be  due  to  the  upward  escape  of 
gases  generated  in  the  deposit  by  the  decomposition 
of  organisms  present  in  it.  An  abstract  of  his  paper, 
with  other  conclusions  arrived  at  by  him,  may  be 
found  in  the  "  Geological  Magazine  "  for  June. 

Carboniferous  Sharks. — A  recent  issue  of  the 
Glasgow  Geological    Society's  Transactions  contains 
an  interesting  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  one 
of  the  Carboniferous  Selachians,  Psephodus  magnus, 
Agass.,  by  Dr.  R.  H.  Traquair,  F.R.S.     Slowly,  yet 
surely,  the   progress   of  palreontological  research   is 
tending  to  reduce  the  number  of  provisional  names 
with   which    the    difficult    study    of    fossil    relics    is 
necessarily  encumbered,  and  the  present  paper  is  one 
more   instalment  towards   bringing   about  this  very 
desirable  result.    After  reviewing  the  work  of  previous 
writers  on  the  subject,  the  author  proceeds  to  describe 
a   remarkable   specimen   from    a   shaly   bed    in   the 
Carboniferous    Limestone    Series   of  East   Kilbride, 
Lanarkshire,  which  not  only  exhibits  two  large  teeth 
of  the  kind  named  Psephodus  magnus,  by  Agassiz,  but 
also  shows  forty-four  others  in  intimate  association, 
with  portions  of  the  cephalic  cartilage  and  jaws,  and 
the    more    or    less    obscure    remains    of  a    series    of 
vertebral  spinous  processes.     The  dental  group,  un- 
doubtedly belonging  to   a   single   mouth,   comprises 
forms  hitherto  referred  to  no  less  than  three  genera 
and  four   species,  and   as   the  series  is  evidently  in- 
complete, there  may  possibly  have  been  more  of  these 
provisionally-named  types.    The  two  teeth  of  Agassiz' 
Psephodus  magnus  seem  to  belong  respectively  to  the 
upper  and   lower  jaws,   and  would    thus   imply   the 
deficiency  in  the  present  example  of  at  least  two  other 
co)  responding  forms  :  more  than  twelve  of  the  smaller 
teeth  are  referable  to  Agassiz'  Ilelodus  plaints,  which 


had  been  previously  identified  with  Psephodus  by 
Captain  Jones  ;  another  is  probably  Helodus  rudis, 
McCoy  ;  while  the  remainder,  in  advance  of  those 
just  mentioned,  belong  to  the  so-called  Lophodus,  and 
were  originally  designated  specifically  by  Agassiz  as 
L.  didymus  and  L.  livvissimits.  Helodus  and  Lopho- 
dus, therefore,  can  henceforth  have  only  a  "  con- 
ventional existence,"  and  the  discovery  of  this  Scotch 
specimen  is  an  interesting  confirmation  of  what  had 
already  been  ascertained  in  regard  to  an  allied  genus, 
Cochliodus,  from  the  Lower  Carboniferous  of  the 
United  States, — namely,  the  presence  of  small  Helodus- 
shaped  teeth  on  the  symphysial  portion  of  the  jaw,  iu 
front  of  the  main  crushing  plates,  exactly  as  is  the 
case  in  the  living  Port  Jackson  Shark  (Cestracion)  of 
the  Australian  Seas.  (See  article  in  these  pages  last 
December,  Vol.  XX.  pp.  269-271.)  Dr.  Traquair's 
specimen,  moreover,  indicates  that  some  of  the 
flattened  Helodoid  forms  were  placed  posteriorly, — 
again  analogous  to  Cestracion  ;  but  neither  the  Scotch 
nor  the  American  examples  of  Cochliodonts  are 
sufficiently  perfect  to  allow  of  a  complete  restoration 
of  the  dental  armature  of  the  mouth,  and  it  will  thus 
be  necessary  to  remain  content  with  these  partial 
glimpses  of  the  facts  until  further  research  has  provided 
more  ample  materials. — A.  S.  IV. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Fungoid  Disease  in  Fishes,  &c. — In  reply  to 
the    query  of   "  Hal,"    p.    166,    Science-Gossip,  it 
may  be  generally  insisted  that  fish  in  captivity,  sooner 
or  later,  suffer  ;  generally  from  sudden  and  injudicious 
changes  of  water,  but  even  under  the  best  conditions 
of  aeration  and  the  growth  of  plants  they  wither. 
Of  the   Axolotl   (Siren  pisciformis),  the  writer  can 
offer  reliable  information  from  actual  experience.     In 
a  tank  holding  about  five  gallons,  situated  in  a  cool 
corner  of  an  ordinary  domicile,  have  lived,  for  eight 
or  more  years,  Axolotls.     At  the  present  time,  the 
survivor  (by  right  of  age,  for  he  cannot  be  less  than 
ten  years  old)  is  perfectly  happy,  and  growing  grey 
in  the  service  of  admiration,  fed  once  a  week  (gene- 
rally Sunday  morning)  on  strips  of  beef;  the  secret 
of  his  health  and  longevity  is  the   outcome  of  the 
simple  lesson  which  may  be  applied  to  tank  manage- 
ment  in    general  :  ?iever   change  the  water ;    supply 
evaporation  from  good  ponds,  and  regulate  as  far  as 
possible   the  balance  of  animal    and  vegetable    life. 
Axolotls,  under  such  circumstances,  not  only  escape 
the  ravage  of  "  fungoid  growths,"  but  encourage  the 
development  of  a  world  of  microscopic  beauty,  seem- 
ingly keeping  the  balance  of  life  even.     Except  when 
running  water  or  artificial  aeration  can  be  secured, 
fish  are  not  desirable  occupants  of  an  aquarium  ;  at 
least,  they  should  never  be  included  in  a  tank  devoted 
to  microscopic  developments  ;  and  although  fish  in  this 
sense  are  foes,    it   can  be  confidently  and  emphati- 
cally stated  that  an  Axolotl  in  a  tank  of  prosperous 
permanence    not    only    encourages,    but    assists    and 
develops  an  amount  of  microscopic  life  rarely  seen 
under  any  other  circumstances. — E.  T.  D.,  Crouch 
End. 


HARD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SI  P. 


191 


The  Migration  of  Swallows. — I  send  a  short 
extract  from  the  "  Publisher's  Circular  "  of  June  15th, 
which  describes  an  interesting  experiment  with  a 
swallow  : — "Last  autumn  a  bookseller  named  Meyer, 
of  Ronneburg,  tied  a  waterproof  label  under  the  wing 
of  a  swallow  which  had  occupied  a  nest  at  his  house, 
and  had  become  comparatively  familiar.  On  it  he 
wrote  a  query  in  German,  to  the  effect  that  he  wished 
to  know  where  the  swallow  would  pass  the  winter. 
The  bird  returned  to  its  former  nest  bearing  an  ex- 
change label  similarly  fastened,  saying,  in  German 
also,  '  In  Florence,  at  Castellan's  house,  and  I  bear 
many  salutations.'"  I  am  not  aware  if  it  is  yet 
known  whether  the  swallows  of  one  locality  migrate 
and  settle  in  a  body  in  the  same  tropical  neighbour- 
hood ?  It  would  be  highly  interesting  if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  ascertain,  by  experiments  similar  to  that  made 
by  Meyer  the  German  bookseller,  how  far  these  birds 
in  their  migrations  keep  together.  One  can  almost 
see  in  the  future  an  "Annual  Continental  Bird  Post," 
"  Philosophy  in  Sport  made  Science  in  Earnest." — 
Walter  T.  Cooper. 

Ltassic  Fish  Bed. — I  shall  be  much  obliged  to 
Mr.  A.  S.  Woodward  if  he  will  tell  me  where  the 
liassic  fish  bed,  mentioned  by  him  in  his  article  on 
"  Fossil  Sharks  and  Rays,"  is  to  be  found  at  Lyme 
Regis,  and  also  how  it  can  be  identified. — FT.  P. 
Dodridge. 

Contest  between  Partridge  and  Weasel. — 
An  extraordinary  attack  by  a  weasel  upon  a  partridge 
was  witnessed  by  a  ploughman  last  week  at  Kidmore 
End,  Oxon.  The  man  hearing  a  noise  overhead, 
looked  up  and  saw  a  fierce  struggle  going  on  in  mid 
air  between  the  bird  and  its  foe.  The  partridge  was 
endeavouring  to  beat  off  the  weasel  with  its  wings, 
whilst  the  weasel,  finding  itself  off  terra  firma,  had 
evidently  lost  its  head  for  fighting,  and  its  struggles 
seemed  centred  in  retaining  its  hold  upon  the  bird. 
After  several  minutes  the  partridge,  not  succeeding 
in  dislodging  the  enemy,  which  "clung  like  grim 
death,"  became  so  exhausted  that  the  pair  fell  together 
in  a  piece  of  wheat,  but  neither  of  them  could  be 
found.  The  partridge  being  a  hen  bird  was  doubtless 
surprised  by  the  weasel  when  sitting  on  her  eggs, 
and  aided  by  fear  had  struggled  into  the  air  accom- 
panied by  her  relentless  foe. — Frank  Tufnail. 

Miss  M.  Jackson  would  like  to  know  if  it  is  a 
common  thing  to  find  the  bugle  {Ajuga  reptans)  of  a 
white  colour,  as  she  has  found  a  white  specimen. 

Treatment  of  Canary. — I  have  a  canary  (Frin- 
gilla  canaria),  which,  from  the  peculiar  motion  of 
turning  his  head  from  side  to  side  with  great  rapidity, 
is  apparently  suffering  from  a  severe  nervous  attack, 
brought  about,  I  fear,  by  the  intrusion  of  a  mouse  into 
the  cage  in  the  early  winter.  The  bird  manifests 
considerable  uneasiness,  accompanied  with  loss  of 
voice.  In  addition,  although  the  moulting  period  has 
passed,  there  remains  a  bare  patch  in  the  region  of 
the  throat,  which  may  perhaps  account  for  the  absent 
notes.  Can  any  of  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip 
kindly  explain  the  nature  of  the  disease,  and  remedies 
to  be  applied  ?  I  can  glean  nothing  in  "  Bechstein" 
applicable  to  the  case. —  IV.  W.  Ingall. 

Bees  and  the  Colours  of  Flowers. — I  re- 
men. ber  spending  nearly  the  whole  of  a  summer 
afternoon  investigating  the  movements  of  humble 
bees  searching  for  honey,  in  a  field  crowded  with 
many  kinds  of  flowers,  and  coming  to  the  conclusion, 
that  they  had  no  power  to  discriminate  between  one 
colour  and  another.     The  field  was  alive  with  bees. 


I  watched  an  individual  from  flower  to  flower  till  I 
lost  him,  then  followed  another  in  the  same  way,  and 
so  on  for  the  rest  of  the  afternoon.  Of  course,  with 
few  exceptions,  each  bee  restricted  himself  to  tbe 
flowers  of  some  particular  species.  However,  it 
would  frequently  happen  that  a  bee  would  make  a 
mistake  and  alight  for  a  few  seconds  on  a  different 
species  from  that  to  which  he  was  devoting  his  ener- 
gies, and  then,  after  inserting  his  proboscis,  would 
find  out  his  error  and  dart  off  at  once  to  rectify  it. 
What  struck  me,  in  nearly  all  these  cases,  was  that  the 
flower  inadvertently  visited  was  of  a  colour  perfectly 
unlike  that  of  the  flower  sought.  A  bee,  for  instance, 
which  was  gathering  exclusively  from  knautia,  made 
no  less  than  half-a-dozen  ineffectual  attacks  on  Hypo- 
chceris,  thus  repeatedly  mistaking  a  light  yellow 
flower  for  a  lilac  one.  Another,  whose  legitimate 
business  was  with  one  of  the  yellow  composites,  was 
prone  to  light  on  the  magenta  heads  of  a  plant  of  the 
same  order  (Centaurea  nigra).  A  third  bee,  occupy- 
ing himself  with  white  clover,  was  deceived  by  the 
golden  blossoms  of  the  bird's-foot  trefoil.  The  hive 
bees  as  a  rule  made  fewer  mistakes  than  the  humble. 
I  noticed  a  rather  singular  exception  to  the  common 
rule,  in  the  behaviour  of  one  red-tailed  humble  bee 
which  I  watched  for  about  half  an  hour.  This  bee 
confined  his  attentions,  in  a  most  precise  manner, 
not  indeed  to  one  species,  but  to  two  :  the  common 
centaury  and  bird's-foot  trefoil.  Here  pink  and  yellow 
were  favoured  equally  (for  I  think  the  one  was  visited 
as  often  as  the  other),  but  then  the  shapes  of  these 
flowers  were  as  different  as  their  colours,  and  even 
the  operation  of  getting  the  honey — the  point  of 
principal  importance  to  the  bee,  no  doubt — must 
have  considerably  differed  in  the  two  cases.  Indeed, 
I  could  tell  at  any  moment  with  eyes  shut  whether 
he  was  occupied  just  then  with  centaury  or  trefoil, 
for  in  extracting  honey  from  the  centaury  he  invari- 
ably uttered  a  sharp  shrill  buzz,  as  though  testifying 
against  some  obstruction,  whereas  the  trefoil  was 
always  rifled  in  solemn  silence.  This  apparent  de- 
parture from  ordinary  bee-principles  was,  therefore, 
quite  deliberate.  Is  any  scientific  sanction  to  be 
found  for  it?—  C.  B.  Moffat. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers.— As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  insert  in  the  following  number  any  communications 
which  reach  us  later  than  the  8th  of  the  previous  month. 

To  Anonvmows  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  of  out  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


J.  W.  Baylis. — Use,  for  drying,  porous,  botanical  paper 
made  by  Spicer  Bros.,  New  Bridge  Street,  Blackfriars.  Dry 
thoroughly,  changing  papers  daily  just  at  first,  for  three  weeks. 
Mounting  &c.  are  subsequent  processes. 

Miss  M.  Jackson. — A  white  variety  of  Ajuga  reptans  has 
been  noticed  more  than  once  in  Science-Gossip. 

R.  P. — In  Mr.  Darwin's  "  Cross-  and  Self-Fertilisation  of 
Plants,"  the  making  of  holes  in  the  corolla  of  Antirrhinum  by 
bees  is  mentioned.     Thanks  for  your  note  upon  it. 

W.  G.  W. — Yours  is  not  an  exchange. 


192 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


F.  H.  A. — Your  specimen  seems  to  be  Sedum  Anglicum,  bu 

■without  the  colour  shown  in  the  "English  Botany."  Notice 
the  leaves  gibbous  below. 

L.  N.-No  signs  of  life  were  perceived  in  your  honey-grub. 

R.  L.  H. — The  supposed  Ustilago  "is  Urocystis  pompholy- 
godes,  not  uncommon  on  the  Ranunculacea:."  The  second 
object  you  sent  is  a  "Fungus — a  Polyactis — probably/',  vul- 
garis." 

A.  Dowses.—"  This  is  a  fungus,  one  of  the  Myxogastres, 
perhaps  Licet* fra&iformis." 

M.  K. — Yours  received  with  thanks. 

C.  W.  H.  — Write  to  the  Scottish  Marine  Station,  Granton, 
Edinburgh,  for  price  list  of  specimens,  or  other  information. 

G.  E.  East,  jun. — "The  Journal  of  Science,"  i>.  6d. 
monthly,  3  Horse-shoe  Court,  Ludizate  Hill  ;  "  Science," 
The  Science  Company,  publishers,  Cambr  dge,  Mass.,  15  cents, 
weekly  ;  "Geology  of  Suffolk,"  by  Dr.  Taylor,  may  be  found 
in  White's  Suffolk  Directory,  &c.  (W.  White,  Hoole's Chambers, 
Bank  Street,  Sheffield). 

E.  Wade  Wilton. — Yours  is  not  an  exchauge. 


EXCHANGES. 

Good  botanical,  histological,  crystals,  polariscopic,  diatoms, 
fish  scales  and  miscellaneous  microscopic  slides  for  others  as 
good  of  bacilli,  entozoa,  alga;,  desmids,  zoophytes,  rocks,  fossil 
woods. — B.  Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

Wanted,  Sir  Chailes  Lyell's  "Principles  of  Geology,"  tenth 
edition,  and  SciENCE-Gossir,  to  value  ;  and  will  give  in 
exchange  the  "Imperial  Gazetteer:  a  General  Dictionary  of 
Geography,  Physical,  Political,  Statistical,  and  Descriptive, 
with  a  Supplement  bringing  the  Geographical  Information  down 
to  the  La'est  Dates,"  edited  by  W.  G.  Blackie,  Ph.  L>.,  F.R.G.S., 
in  two  vols. — James  Meek,  7  Rosebank  Road,  Dundee. 

What  offers  for  Science-Gossip,  Nos.  229  to  241,  inclusive, 
unbound? — Frank  Rayner,  Sherwood,  Nottingham. 

Foraminifh ra,  Haliphysema  Tumanowiczii,  for  any  other 
rare  species. — F.  W.  Millett,  Marazion,  Cornwall. 

Cabinet,  suitable  for  butterflies,  micro  objects,  Src  ,  exchange 
injected  micro  objects. — S.,  20  Montpelier  Road,  Highgate. 

Wanted,  a  quantity  of  insects  (in  spirit),  foraminiicra,  bo- 
tanical specimens,  and  specimens  of  horn  and  hoof  for  section 
cutting,  parasites,  eggs  of  insects,  &c.  ;  good  exchange  given 
in  well-mounted  micro  slides. — C.  Collins,  Bristol  House, 
Harlesden,  N.W. 

For  exchange,  50  kite's  eggs,  roller's,  raven's,  and  others. 
Wanted,  kestrel's,  long-eared  owl's,  snipe's,  redpole's,  ringed 
plover's,  woodcock's,  and  other  commoner  species. — W.  Raine, 
Studley  Terrace,  New  Leeds,  Leeds. 

Strong  tricycle,  telescoping  axle,  in  good  condition,  with  all 
accessories,  offered  for  microscope  or  botanical  works. — J. 
Hamson,  19  Victoria  Road,  Bedford. 

Waniei.,  any  odd  publications  (geological)  with  figures  of 
fossils  in  them  ;  write  stating  requirement ;  also  any  odd  numbers 
of  the  "  Proceedings"  of  the  Geologists'  Association  of  volumes 
vii.  and  viii. — George  E.  East,  jun.,  241  Evering  Road,  Upper 
Clapton,  E. 

"  System  of  the  World,"  "  Phenomena  of  the  Solar  System," 
"  Architecture  of  the  Heavens."  "  Planet  Neptune,"  "  On  the 
Solar  System,"  all  Nicols's  ;  Kolliker's  "Manual  of  Human 
Histology  ;"  "Polynesian  Mythology,"  Sir  G.  Grey;  Hodder's 
"Memoirs  of  My  Time;"  Heath's  "  Engli-h  Peasantry:" 
Aitkins's  "Annals  of  George  III.  ;"  Nolan's  "  History  of  the 
War  against  Russia,"  2  vols.;  H.  Clarke's  "History  of  the 
War,"  2  vols.  ;  also  some  proof  engravings  ;  offered  in  exchange 
for  best  micro  objective,  1  jn.  ;  Prcscot's  "  Conquest  of 
Mexico,"  original  edition  ;  entomological  works  or  other  ac- 
ceptable matter.  Ant  lion,  Myrmetion,  larva  ;  few  specimens 
wanted  in  exchange.— M.  L.  Sykes,  1  Seedley  Road,  Pendleton, 
Manchester. 

Pisidium  roseitm,  Faludina  contecta.  Helix  lamellata,  and 
other  local  species;  in  exchange  for  Acme  vertigo,  Succinea 
oblonga,  or  well-marked  varieties. — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Wood- 
stock Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Exotic  butterflies,  numerous  duplicates:  Orti.  Brookiana, 
Richmondii,  mines,  Papilio  Paris,  polyctor,  philoxenns,  pro- 
tenor,  Urania  rliypheus,  Morfho  amathonte,  &c.  :  also  wings 
of  brilliant  species. — Hudson,  Railway  Terrace,  Cross  Lane, 
Manchester. 

1  will  exchange  red  crag  fossils  for  any  others. — H.  P. 
Dodrid^e,  7  Baker  Street,  W.C. 

For  exchange,  geological  specimens  ;  botanical  or  geological 
cabinet  wanted. — P.,  4  Merridale  Lane,  Wolverhampton. 

Stam1-  and  crest  album  offered  in  exchange  for  any  geological 
publications  with  plates  or  woodcuts  cf  fossils  in  them  frum  the 
Eocene  formations. — George  E.  East,  jun.,  241  Evering  Road, 
Upper  Clapton,  E. 

Three  Urge  store  boxes,  containing  upwards  of  200  species 
of  Lepidoptera  ;  will  exchange  for  b^oks  on  cht  mi  try,  geology, 
physics,  eic.  Full  particulars  from — C.  H.  Ireland,  107  Bignor 
Street,  Cheetham,  Manchester. 

Heriiarium  of  upwards  of  500  British  plants,  many  rare 
species,  beautifully  preserved  and  mounted,  to  exchange  lor 
good  3  in.  and  4  in.  objectives  and  nose-piece  for  microscope. — ■ 
Erica,  71  High  Sticct,  Buaibury. 


Offered,  rhaetic  fossils  from  Aust  Cliff,  small  teeth,  copro- 
lites,  &c  ,  in  exchange  for  foreign  recent  shells,  or  good  fossils 
not  in  collection.  —  F.  Hele,  Fairlight,  ■  Elmgrove  Road, 
Gotham,  Bristol. 

Offered,  several  years'  Science-Gossip  in  exchange  fo- 
valuable  foreign  shells  or  offers.— F.  M.  Hele,  Fairlight,  Elm 
grove  Road,  Cotham,  Bristol. 

Will  give  Woodward's  "  Geology  of  England  and  Wales," 
Taylor's  "  The  Aquarium,"  and  Adams's  "  Collecior's  Manual 
of  British  Land  and  Freshwater  Shells,"  for  one  of  Elcock'ft 
type  slides  of  foramini'era  (50  species),  or  2  dozen  slides  of 
■  forams.  (single  species  on  each  slidel,  or  good  books  on  forann- 
niferA— Edward  Halkyard,  Knutsford,  Cneshire. 

Shells  for  exchange:  Paludina  vivipara,  Planorbis  line- 
atus,  Limncra  auricula ria,  Limax  Icevis,  Zon.  glaber,  Zeu. 
radiatulus,  V.  antivertigo,  and  many  others.  Desiderata, 
other  shells,  Briti-h  eggs,  or  parts  of  last  edition  of  "Yarrell  s 
British  Birds."— F.  Fcnn,  20  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park, 
Chiswick,  W. 

Wanted,  eegs  of  long-tailed  tit,  cole  tit,  bearded  tit,  crested 
tit,  grey  wagtail,  woodlark,  wryneck,  creeper,  nuthatch,  red- 
winged  starling,  spotted  flycatcher,  and  red-backed  shrike. 
Desiderata,  can  give  eggs  of  U.  gullimote,  herring  gull,  black- 
headed  gull,  kittiwake,  coot,  rook,  ringdove,  lapwing,  and 
partridge.— J.  R.  Murray,  10  St.  Paul's  Street,  Aberdeen. 

Science-Gossip  for  1878  and  1879,  in  numbers,  for  British 
biids'  eggs  (side- blown,  one  hole},  butterflies  or  moihs,  or  offers. 
— F.  J.  Ra^ell,  9  Raglan  Street,  Peas  Hill  Road,  Nottingham. 

Eggs. — Warned  a  good,  strong,  perfect,  and  light  trout  rod, 
in  good  condition,  with  approval,  in  exchange  for  179  perfect 
birds'  eggs,  only  29  common,  including  shrike  9,  wagtail  5, 
reed  Warbler  n,  rush  lark  9,  ringdove  4,  crow  5,  waterhen  b, 
plover  2,  stonechat  8,  redstart  3.  Almost  all  the  rare  eggs 
have  more  thin  two.  List  sent.  Address  by  letter  only  J.  F., 
Lyndhurst  Villas,  Grimsby.     Enclose  stamp  for  reply. 

Wanted  botanical  cabinet.  Offered — large  entomological 
corked  box,  with  a  few  lepidopteia,  small  corked  box.  gilt  pins 
of  various  sizes,  gauze  net,  lantern,  larva  box,  &c.  State  size 
of  cabinet. — J.  W.  Baylis,  56  Vine  Street,  Liverpool. 

Nests  and  eggs  with  full  data  of  lesser  redpole,  yellow 
wagtail,  whinchat,  meadow  pipit,  also  clutches  of  several  others. 
Wanted,  nests  and  eggs  of  ring  ouz  e,  stonechat,  rock  pipit, 
lesser  whitethroat,  woodlark,  &c. — Thos.  H.  Hcdworth,  Dun- 
ston-on-Tyne. 

Offki-ed — clutches  of  sp.  hawk,  dipper,  reed  bunting,  swift, 
ringed  plover,  oyster-catcher,  heron,  snipe,  swan,  little  grebe, 
cormorant,  shag,  kittiwake,  lesser  and  greater  black-backed 
and  herring  gulls,  Richardson's  skua.  Eg^s  of  chough,  long- 
eared  owl,  stonechat,  gold  crest,  rock  pipit,  bullfinch,  hooded 
crow,  nightjar,  woodcock,  guillemot,  razor-bill,  gannet,  shear- 
water, storm  petrel.  Wanted  complete  clutches  only. — R.  J. 
Ussher,  Cappagh,  Lismore. 


Wanted,  members  for  Entomological  Evercirculator.  Ad- 
dress for  particulars,  Mr.  T.  F.  Uttley,  17  Brasenose  Street, 
Albert  Square,  Manchester. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  Official  Year  Book  of  the  Scientific  and  Learned  Societies 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland."  (Charles  Griffin  &  Co.). — "A 
Manual  of  Health  Science,"  Andrew  Wilson.  F.R.S.E. 
(Longmans). — "  Birds  of  Lancashire,"  by  F.  S.  Mitchell  (Van 
Voorst) — "  The  Copper  bearing  Rocks  of  Lake  Superior,"  by 
Roland  Duer  Irving  (U.  S.  Ceol.  Survey  J. — '•  Walks  in  Epping 
Forest,"  by  Percy  Lindley  I123-5  Fleet  Street)— "  Annual 
Report  of  Hackney  Micro.  &  Nat.  Hist.  Soc," — "  Proceedings 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia." — "Ben 
Brierley's  Journal." — "  Botanical  Gazette." — "  15th  Annual 
Report  of  the  Wellington  College  Natural  Science  Society.'' — 
"On  the  Granite  and  Schistose  Rocks  of  N.  Donegal,"  by  Dr. 
C.  Callaway. — "A  Plea  for  Comparative  Lithology,"  by  Dr.  C. 
Callaway. — "  Journal  of  New  York  Microscopical  Society." — 
"  The  Naturalist."  — "  Ocean  and  Air  Currents,"  by  T.  D. 
Smellie. —  "American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal." — 
"  Feuille  des  Jeunes  Naturalistes." — "  Proceedings  of  the 
Liverpool  Naturalists'  Field  Club,"  1884-5. — "The  Mersey 
Tunnel,  its  Geological  Aspects  and  Results,"  by  T.  Mellard 
Reade,  F.G.S.— "The  Periodical  Cicada,"  by  C.  V.  Riley.— 
"Cosmos  " — "The  American  Natural. st." — "  The  Medico-legal 
Journal,"  New  York. — '"Journal  of  the  Royal  Microscopical 
Society." — "  Science." 


Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from:— 
J.  P.— T.  H.  H.— C  C— T.  S.-P.  S.— F.  W.  M.— E.  A.  F.— 
W.  W.— W.  E.  B  — C.  B.  H.— E.  J.  E.— G.  D.— J.  P.— W.  R. 
— F.  T.— J.  S.— G  E.  E.,  jun.— F.  H.  A.— J.  W.— C.  C.  D.— 
R.  L.  H— E.  H.  R.-J.  W.  B.— R.  H.— J.  M.— F.  R.— L.  N. 
—A.  J.  W.— F.  H.  A.— J.  H.— H.  G.  F.-  S.  &  S.— T.  D.  A.  C. 
— B.  H— A.  W.  jun.-C  B.  M.— F.  R—  C.  W.  H.— P.  Q.  Z. 
—J.  R.— W.  G.  W.— J.  W.  G.-M.  L.  S.— R.  P.— G.  F.  B.— 
V.  G— J.  B.— G.-J.  B.—T.  F.  U.— F.  H.— J.  H.— E.  H.— 
F.  G.  F.— R.  J.  U.-E.  W.  W.— F.  J.  R.-C.  R.-E.  A.  W. 
— C.  H.  I.— J.  F.— W.  T.  C— H.  P.  D.—].  R.  M.— A.  E.  P. 
—J.  R.  M.— S.  C.   C— H.     &  .  &c. 


GRAPH  I  C     MIC  RO  S  C  0  PY. 


E  T  D  del  adnat 


Vincent  Brooks  Day&  Sonjdih 


GROUP     OF    FORAMINIFERA. 

X  50 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i93 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


No.  XXI.— Group  of  Foramixifera. 


PPROACHING  the 
lowest  forms  of  ani- 
mal life,  the  Fora- 
minifera,  of  the  class 
Rhizopoda,  isan  or- 
der of  considerable 
importance.  The 
typical  animal  con- 
sists merely  of  a  tu- 
bulous  or  perforated 
shell,  in  some 
species  of  most 
elaborate  configura- 
tion ;  or  an  aggre- 
gation of  silicious 
particles,  enclosing 
and  invested  by  a 
living  substance. 
Simple  as  these 
animals  may  ap- 
pear, they,  have 
claimed  the  attention  of  the  most  distinguished 
naturalists,  from  the  fact  that  their  imperishable 
remains  constitute  the  greater  part  of  the  solids 
of  the  sedimentary  strata  of  the  earth,  the  chalk 
formations  in  particular. 

The  shells  and  tests  are  familiarly  known  to 
microscopists,  the  former  especially,  and  very  few 
cabinets  are  without  these  popular  slides.  Even  if 
space  admitted,  elaborate  description  would  be 
unnecessary.  The  literature  of  the  subject  may  be 
found  in  the  writings  of  D'Orbigny  in  1826,  Dujardin 
in  1835,  and  in  numerous  memoirs.  Most  works  on 
the  microscope,  touching  on  minute  forms  of  animal 
life,  contain  a  description,  and  Dr.  Carpenter,  the 
greatest  authority,  summarizes  the  subject  in  the 
article  "  Foraminifera,"  in  the  present  issue  of  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

In  reference  to  the  plate  representing  specimens 

of  the  shell-type,  drawn  in  relative  proportion,  and 

found  together  in  the  same  field  of  view,  it  may  be 

generally  stated  that  there  are  two  distinctive  types  of 

No.  249. — September  1885. 


foraminiferous  shells,  the  porcellaneous  and  vitreous, 
easily  detectable  under  microscopical  power,  the 
one  series  white  and  imperforate  (Miliolidse),  the 
shell  being  more  or  less  spiral,  made  up  of  a  series 
of  half  turns ;  the  other  Silicious,  or  perforate,  in 
which  the  forms  are  much  more  varied.  Beyond 
these  groups  is  a  sub-division  of  the  order,  the 
Arenaceous,  not  so  frequently  found  as  cabinet 
specimens,  but  as  microscopic  objects  of  great 
interest,  where  a  "shell,"  in  its  popular  sense,  is 
entirely  absent,  the  creature  building  up,  and  holding 
together  by  its  own  bodily  substance,  a  nest,  or 
compacted  mass  of  the  minutest  particles  of  sand. 

Dujardin's  description  in  1835,  as  to  the  general 
character  of  the  animality  of  the  foraminifera  could 
not  have  been  firmly  established — forms  were 
numerous,  but  examination  required  high  micro- 
scopical power,  to  establish  their  classification  with 
the  sub-kingdom  protozoa,  and  to  reveal  the  character 
of  that  vital  translucent  substance,  capable  of  extreme 
attennuation,  retraction,  self-division  and  fusion, 
then  termed  "  sarcode." 

The  foraminifera,  in  their  most  attractive  forms, 
are  microscopic.  It  would  be  difficult,  without  the 
aid  of  the  instrument,  to  convey  an  idea  of  the 
elegance  of  their  configuration  or  their  wonderful 
constructive  power,  where  carbonates  and  silicates- 
are  moulded  into  shapes  and  symmetries  curiously 
diverse,  by  atoms  of  glairy  plasma,  thus  secreting 
a  poriferous  shell,  and  pouring  itself  out  in  sensi- 
tive filaments ;  this  is  the  ordinary  form ;  but  in 
the  Arenaceous  group  the  slimy  life  aggregates 
together  the  minutest  granules  of  sand,  cement- 
ing and  holding  them  by  an  investment  of  the  living 
principle.  These  Arenaceous  "tests,"  appearing  like 
minute  seeds  delicately  formed  of  grains,  are  curi- 
ously interesting ;  globular  specimens  are  seen  in 
rows,  on  filamentous  threads  of  algae  or  sponges, 
sometimes  in  the  form  of  compacted  hard  thin  rinds, 
made  up  of  grains  of  all  angles  fitted  together  with 
curious  exactitude,  leaving  interstices  through  which 
pseudopodia  emerge  :  these  conditions  are  rarely  to 


194 


HARD  WICKE '  S   SCIE  NCE-  G  O  SSI  P. 


be  purchased  as  "slides" — being  "recent,"  they 
can  only  be  obtained  from  dredged  algae,  and  require 
the  closest  searching  ;  frequently  amidst  the  built  up 
atoms  of  these  "tests"  are  particles  of  brilliant 
colour,  aiding  the  general  elegance  of  the  object. 
Many,  loosely  compacted,  have  no  definite  surface, 
others,  apparently  more  solid,  when  fractured  and  the 
interior  revealed,  appear  under  the  microscope  as 
nests  of  stones,  cemented  with  the  precision  of  mosaic 
work  ;  various  substances  are  frequently  intermixed, 
curious  sponge  spicules,  and  fragments  of  the  dead 
shells  of  their  relations,  may  be  found  imbedded  in 
the  general  mass. 

Fossil  remains  are  abundant,  and  in  immense 
profusion,  in  the  sedimentary  strata,  calcareous 
rocks,  limestones,  many  of  the  clays,  and  notably 
in  the  chalk;  the  dust  falling  from  the  fracture 
of  a  minute  piece  may  contain  countless  specimens. 
Curious  and  somewhat  hypothetical  calculations  of 
numbers  have  been  attempted.  A  reliable  authority 
states  that  a  cubic  inch  of  limestone  imbeds  fifty- 
eight  thousand  of  these  shells,  and  that  in  the 
stones  of  Paris  the  miliolidae  are  so  abundant  that 
the  city  may  be  said  to  be  built  by  them. 

Recent  dead  specimens  may  be  sifted  from  the 
ridges  of  sand  left  by  tides,  in  a  living  state  on  deep- 
sea  algae ;  and  dust  from  a  case  of  freshly  imported 
sponges  is  most  prolific.  This  debris,  gently  scattered 
over  a  basin  of  cold  water,  will  cause  a  separation, 
the  sand  sinking ;  the  light  shells,  floating,  may  then 
be  skimmed  off,  carefully  dried,  and  mounted. 

Crouch  End. 


A  SEPTEMBER  PLANT-HUNT  IN  SOMERSET 
AND  DEVONSHIRE. 

IN  the  matter  of  numbers  we  were  more  successful 
than  last  September,  finding  about  one  hundred 
and  ten  species  of  flowering  plants  and  ferns,  together 
with  a  few  microscopic  fungi.  At  Bath,  out  of  four 
species  of  micro-fungi  that  we  found,  two  are  not 
mentioned  in  this  journal  in  "Micro-fungi  Batho- 
nienses,"  by  C.  F.  W.  T.  Williams.  These  are 
Puccinia  circece  on  enchanter's  nightshade,  and 
Triphragmium  ulmaricc  on  meadow-sweet,  both  in  a 
meadow  near  Freshford.  Apropos  of  Triphragmium, 
this  species  seems  always  to  be  rather  local  in  its 
habits  ;  in  districts  where  Spinca  ulmaria  abounds  it 
frequently  infects  only  one  patch  of  this  plant.  The 
other  fungi  found  were  Urocystis  pompolygodes  and 
the  ubiquitous  JEcidium  Tussilaginis.  In  flowering 
plants  we  found  Alchemilla  vitlgaris  at  Freshford,  not 
noticed  elsewhere  in  our  tour  ;  Euphorbia  amygda- 
loides,  Epipactis  latifolia  (probably  var.  purpurata), 
Inula  cotiyza,  Malva  moscliata,  Symphytum  officinale 
(purple  and  white),  Tanacetum  vulgarc,  Valerianclla 
den  lata,  &c,  and  I  have  received  specimens  of  Atropa 


Belladonna  and  Daphne  laureola  from  an  inhabitant. 
Professor  Babington  has  published  a  Flora  of  Bath. 

At  Shepton  Mallet,  our  next  stopping-place,  we 
were  in  the  home  of  the  rusty-back  {Ceterach  officin- 
aruni)  which  luxuriates  in  every  old  wall,  and  here 
we  also  found  abundance  of  Asplenium  ruta-muraria, 
A.  tricho7?iancs,  fine  specimens  of  Scolopendriicm 
vulgarc,  and  a  plant  of  Polypodium  vulgarc,  with  the 
pinnae  deeply  serrate.  In  the  Phanerogams,  Cam- 
panula  latifolia,  C.  trachelium,  Colchicutn  autumnale, 
both  lilac  and  white  varieties  equally  abundant, 
Cotyledon  umbilicus,  Sedum  lelephium  and  another 
sedum  not  in  flower  {?  rupestre). 

Fungi  :  Phragmidium  obtusum,  Puccinia  violarum, 
a  rust  covering  the  leaves  of ^Arctium  lappa,  and 
others  not  identified. 

Though  a  convenient  centre  for  excursions,  Shepton 
is  not  overrun  by  holiday-makers.  Thus  a  tourist 
there  once  asked  a  native  what  were  the  principal 
lions  of  the  place.  "  Red  Lion  and  White  Lion, 
sir,"  was  the  reply. 

We  visited  the  Cheddar  Cliffs,  and  of  course  did 
not  fail  to  spot  Dianthus  ccesius,  though  luckily 
most  of  it  is  out  of  reach.  Why  it  grows  in  such 
abundance  on  these  cliffs  and  nowhere  else  in 
England,  when  there  are  similar  rocks  at  Ebbor,  and 
other  places  in  the  vicinity,  where  it  might  equally 
well  grow,  is  one  of  those  mysteries  so  difficult  to 
explain.  Thalictrum  minus,  which  also  abounds,  is 
known  locally  as  the  "  Cheddur  furn "  (Cheddar 
fern).  Farther  up  the  gorge  we  find  Polypodium 
Robertianum,  and,  on  turning  up  to  the  top  of  the 
cliffs,  Epipactis  latifolia  in  a  plantation,  Gentiana 
amarella  on  the  exposed  ground  at  the  top. 

Glastonbury  need  only  be  mentioned,  as  the  cele- 
brated "  Thorn  "  is  already  known  to  the  readers 
of  Science-Gossip.  Curiously  there  is  nearly  the 
same  legend  at  Mentone.  A  visitor  going  into  one 
of  the  houses  is  said  to  have  stuck  his  walking-stick 
in  the  ground  and  forgotten  it,  and  the  stick  sprouted 
and  is  now  still  growing  in  one  of  the  places.  By- 
the-way,  some  plants  seem  to  grow  and  flourish  in 
one's  flower  press.  I  gathered  some  Sedum  telephium 
and  left  it  exposed  in  the  open  air  to  dry  till  the 
leaves  became  [flaccid,  then  laid  it  in  the  press 
and  changed  the  papers  once  or  twice.  About  a 
fortnight  later  at  Clovelly,  I  found  white  shoots 
\\  inch  long  sprouting  from  txhe  ails  of  the 
dessicated  leaves,  with  tiny  leaflets  on  them,  and 
when  placed  in  my  water  jug  for  a  day  or  two, 
they  increased  considerably  in  size  and  began  to 
turn  green.  And  a  plant  of  Cotyledon  umbilicus 
threw  up  a  'tiny  white  leaf  in  the  press ;  it  is  now 
living  in  our  garden,  though  the  mice  have  bitten 
it  down  once  or  twice. 

Another  day  we  took  the  train  to  Masbury  and 
walked  to  the  Roman  Camp  at  the  top  of  the 
Mendips.  On  the  neighbouring  ground  grew 
Athyrium  filix-foemina,  Blechnum  spicans,  Digitalis 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


i95 


purpurea,  Erica  cinerea,  Euphrasia  officinalis,  Lastrea 
dilatata,  L.  filix-mas,  Polygala  vulgaris  (white), 
Potcniilla  tormcutilla,  Rubiis  Idceus,  &c.  In  some 
meadows  a  little  lower  down,  Scabiosa  succisa  (white 
var.  among  them),  Rhinanthus  crista-galli.  We  got 
down  into  Ham  Wood,  which  extends  for  a  mile  or  two 
down  a  lovely  ravine,  here  we  found  Epilobium  an- 
gustifolium,  Chrysosplenium  oppositifolium,  Cystopteris 
fragilis  (very  fine),  Polygonatum  mult/fforum,  Paris 
qitadrifolia  (and,  as  usual,  a  specimen  with  five  leaves), 
Allium  ursinum,  Eipsacus  pilosus,  Hypericum  hirsu- 
tum,  the  lilac  and  white  vars.  of  Colchicum  autumnale. 
We  also  found  a  most  curious  frond  of  Scolopendrium 
vulgare,  somewhat  like  one  figured  in  Science- 
Gossip  in  1879,  but  different.  The  midrib  is  not 
more  than  f  in.  long,  and  the  leaf  forms  two  curved 
uniform  lobes  on  either  side  of  it,  but  the  midrib  is 
not  bifid  as  in  the  figure  alluded  to  and  the  lobes 
curl  round  a  great  deal  more.  Only  one  frond  was 
like  this,  but  the  others  on  the  same  plant  were  very 
curious.  In  the  adjoining  cliff  woods  grew  Malva 
moschata,  Daphne  law-cola-,  Asplcnium  Adiantum- 
nigrum,  and  near  here  a  solitary  cowslip  was  still 
flowering  in  a  field.  As  we  approached  Shepton  we 
came  to  a  wall  decked  with  evergreen  alkanet 
(Anchusa  sempervirens). 

From  Shepton  Mallet  to  Taunton  the  train  passes 
through  uninteresting  scenery,  but  thence  to  Minehead, 
and  on  by  coach  to  Porlock,  the  country  is  hilly  and 
pretty.  Round  Porlock  the  pine  woods  are  carpeted 
with  ferns,  the  sheep's  bit  (Jasione  monlana)  and 
Melampyrum  pratense  peeping  above  them,  and  the 
rampant  fumitory  (Eumaria  caprcolata)  appearing  in 
places.  A  salt  marsh  by  the  sea  seemed  to  contain 
nothing  botanical.  Climbing  Porlock  Hill,  we  found 
Sedum  album  and  S.  dasyphyllum  in  the  walls. 
Soon  we  emerge  on  open  heath,  purple  with  Erica 
cinerea,  and  Calluna  vulgaris,  interspersed  with  gorse. 
E.  tetralix  was  very  sparingly  distributed,  as  were 
the  whortleberry  ( Vaccinium  myrtillus),  and  such 
ferns  as  Lastrea  dilatata,  B lech  man  spicans.  Exmoor 
has  been  characterised  as  a  "  bit  of  Scotland  dropped 
down  in  Devonshire,"  and  as  we  tramped  along  the 
road  a  truly  Scotch  mist  blew  over  us,  which  ever 
and  anon  was  dispersed  by  the  sun,  forming  rainbows 
at  our  feet  where  the  hills  sloped  down  seaward,  and 
as  we  approached  Lynmouth  the  weather  cleared  up. 
It  were  impossible  to  describe  one-tenth  of  the 
rambles  that  could  be  taken  round  this  lovely  spot, 
we  can  therefore  only  mention  those  in  which  there  is 
most  to  be  found.  Leaving  the  Lyndale  Hotel,  we 
follow  up  the  Lyn  Valley,  and,  among  the  Cotyledon 
7imbilicus  filling  every  hole  in  the  walls,  find  some 
specimens  of  the  var.  foliosa,  in  which  the  transition 
from  peltate  radical  leaves  to  spathulate  leaves  on  the 
stem  is  well  seen,  many  intermediate  forms  of  leaf 
being  present  on  some  plants.  Keeping  up  the  road 
we  find  good  specimens  of  Asplcnium  Adiantum- 
nigrum   among    the    rocks,    and    a   patch    of  Sedum 


rupestre  in  fruit,  some  of  this  also  appeared  to  grow  a 
little  in  my  flower  press  ;  also  a  plant  of  Artemisia 
absynthium.  On  arriving  at  Watersmeet,  where  two 
valleys  join,  we  take  a  path  down  to  the  torrent  and 
find  Hypcricutn  Androscznum,  Sanicula  Europcea, 
Lastrea  oreopteris,  and  two  micro-fungi,  Phrag- 
midium  gracile,  Puccinia  circczcz.  Had  we  followed 
up  the  path  through  the  woods,  along  the  left  bank, 
we  should  have  found  Chrysosplenium  oppositijblium, 
Euphorbia  amygdaloides,  Angelica  sylvestris,  and  our 
"nine  lived"  friend  the  Sedum  telephium.  Con- 
tinuing along  the  left  bank,  we  find  several  Com- 
posite, Serratula  tinctoria,  Lactuca  muralis,  Hiera- 
cium  sylvaticum,  besides  the  spindle-tree  [Euonymus 
Europczus),  and,  among  the  luxuriant  fronds  of 
blechnum,  an  occasional  forked  one.  In  a  clearing, 
we  find  the  lovely  little  Wahloibergia  hederacca,  with 
such  an  unlovely  name,  nestling  amidst  the  moss. 
"Here  the  silver-washed  fritillary  butterfly  {Argynnis 
paphia)  flies  in  and  out  of  the  underwood,  anon  settling 
on  a  bush  and  fanning  its  wings  in  the  sun.  We  find 
little  new  of  interest  till  we  come  to  a  bog  near 
Bagworthy  Wood,  where,  in  the  space  of  a  few  square 
yards,  are  collected  together  Anagallis  tenella,  Drosera 
rotundifolia,  Hydrocotylc  vulgaris,  Hypericum  elodes, 
Narthecium  ossifragicm,  Pedicularis  palustris,  and  an 
orchis  now  in  fruit.  From  this  point  up  to  the  Doone 
Valley,  and  round  into  the  main  road  by  Millslade,  we 
had  no  particular  finds,  except  some  white  heather 
and  deep  blue  Polygala  vulgaris.  We  saw  a  couple 
of  the  red  deer,  natives  of  Exmoor. 

Or  let  us  climb  up  to  the  town  of  Lynton,  and 
follow  along  the  Valley  of  Rocks  to  the  coast.  The 
rocks  sloping  down  to  the  sea  at  this  point,  and  the 
bracken  and  heather-covered  slopes  at  the  back,  with 
thickly-wooded  hills  beyond,  will  compare  not  un- 
favourably with  some  parts  of  the  Riviera,  though  the 
changing  tints  on  the  sea  are  not  quite  so  bright  as 
on  the  Mediterranean.  Here  I  found  the  only 
specimen  of  Puccinia  umbilici  on  Cotyledon  ztmbili- 
cus.  Passing  the  venerable  buildings  of  the  Lee 
Abbey,  we  come  to  a  turning  down  to  the  coast 
where  some  patches  of  meadow  sweet  are  infested 
with  Triphragmium  ulmaruz,  and,  on  rocks  close 
down  to  the  sea,  find  Silene  maritima,  Cochlearia 
danica,  Armcria  vulgaris,  Plantago  coronopus,  Crith- 
mum  marilimum,  and  Asplcnium  marinum,  the  last 
two  named  being  mostly  out  of  reach.  Numbers  of 
the  bristle-tail  (Machilis),  an  insect  of  the  order 
Thysanura,  were  playing  about  the  rocks,  looking  at 
first  sight  like  miniature  greyish-brown  prawns. 

From  here,  on  to  Heddon's  Mouth,  we  had  no 
special  finds,  but  the  walk  is  splendid ;  the  path  now 
lying  through  gloomy  pine  woods,  now  bending  round 
a  ravine  with  a  sparkling  cascade,  and  now  rounding 
bold  headlands,  from  which  the  jagged  outlines  of  the 
coast  are  seen  fading  into  a  blue  empyrean  haze  in 
the  far  distance. 

At  Lynton  we  also  found  Echium  vulgare,   Gera- 
ld 2 


196 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


nium  columbinum,  Fumaria  capreolata.  Lycopodium 
ctavatum  is  said  to  grow  on  Exmoor  ;  Asplenium 
septcnlrionak  was  once  supposed  to  occur  at  Glen- 
thorn,  and  I  am  told  that  Adiantum  Capilhis-  Veneris 
ought  to  be  found  at  Lynmouth  somewhere.  I  have 
not  heard  of  Hymenophyllum  being  found. 

At  Ufracombe,  Spergularia  rupestris  grows  on  the 
rocks,  in  company  with  Plantago  maritima,  P. 
coronopus,  Crithmiim  maritimum,  Sec,  these  being 
easy  of  reach  compared  with  what  they  were  at 
Lynmouth. 

We  took  the  train  to  Morthoe  and  drove  to  the 
shore.  Here  the  furze  was  red  with  Cuscuta  epithy- 
mum ;  Erythrcea  latifolia  was  dotted  about  in  the 
grass,  and  Erodium  maritimum  grew  in  company 
with  E.  cicutarium  in  the  walls.  Along  Woola- 
combe  Sands  we  noticed  a  curious  phenomenon, 
probably  a  kind  of  mirage.  The  sands  are  about 
half  a  mile  wide  at  this  point,  and  the  sun  was 
scorching  down  on  them,  and  although  the  tide  was 
a  good  way  out,  yet  it  appeared  as  if  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  ahead  the  sand  was  covered  with  a  layer 
of  water  about  an  inch  or  two  thick,  which  seemed  to 
reach  close  up  to  the  shore  and  to  be  rippling.  But 
when  we  advanced,  we  found  the  sand  to  be  perfectly 
dry,  and  on  looking  back,  the  part  we  had  traversed 
seemed  covered  with  water  in  the  same  way,  and 
some  people  sitting  on  a  rock  seemed  to  have  their 
feet  in  the  water. 

On  the  sand-dunes  at  the  back  grew  Convolvulus 
soldanella,  Elymus  arenarius,  Euphorbia  paralias, 
Iris  fectidissima,  Liguslrum  vulgare,  Rosa  pimpinclli- 
folia  ;  and  CEtwthera  biennis  is  said  to  be  found  near 
here,  but  it  was  too  hot  to  make  a  prolonged  search. 
After  diving  inland,  we  again  reach  the  shore  at 
Croyde  Bay,  where  we  gather  Honckenya  peploides, 
Aster  Tripolium  (mostly  discoid),  Anthyllisvutneraria, 
Sec,  and  on  Saunton  rocks  find  Statice  occidental's 
and  Matthiola  sinuata,  and  near,  Lycopsis  arven- 
sis,  Saponaria  officinalis.  Want  of  time  prevented 
our  exploring  Braunton  Burrows,  where  Artemisia 
maritima,  Asperugo  procumbens,  Chenopodium  ru- 
brum,  Epipactis  palustris,  Erigeron  acre,  Scirpus 
Holoscho:nus,  Teucrium  scordium,  Sec,  are  said  to  be 
found.  The  burrows  were  planted  with  Elymus 
arenarius,  and  are  aptly  called  the  "Little  Egypt." 
Between  here  and  Braunton  station  we  found  a  good 
specimen  of  the  var.  lobatum  of  Scolopendrium 
vulgare,  and  saw  many  painted-ladies  (Vanessa 
cardui)  flitting  about. 

At  Clovelly  we  did  little  botanising,  but  Senebiera 
didyma  grows  between  the  stones  in  the  "main 
street "  of  that  quaint  old  village.  Epipactis  latifolia 
(?  var.  media)  up  the  Hobby  drive  ;  the  golden  rod  is 
lovely  in  the  woods  ;  Vicia  sylvatica,  and  Trifolium 
arvense  grow  close  to  the  shore,  and  Atriplex  rosea 
in  the  stones  of  the  beach  at  Mill  Mouth. 

Here  our  tour  ended. 

I  should  advise   any  readers  who  are  making  a 


similar  expedition,  to  provide  at  least  two  flower 
presses  for  the  reception  of  their  specimens,  one  for 
the  fresh  plants,  and  one  into  which  they  could 
be  transferred  when  partly  dry.  I  much  regretted 
the  want  of  a  second  press  myself.  In  country  inns 
there  is  much  difficulty  in  getting  the  papers  changed 
or  dried  ;  in  fact,  for  this  sort  of  collecting,  "  there's 
no  place  like  home." 

G.  H.  Bryan. 
Peterhouse,  Cambridge. 


HAPLOGRAPHIUM  :  A  GENUS  OF  FUNGI. 

THIS  genus  of  Hyphomycetes  was  founded  by 
Berkeley  and  Broome  in  their  "Notices  of 
British  Fungi,"  in  the  Annals  and  Magazine  of 
Natural  History,  1859,  where  they  described  it  as 
follows :  Flocci  atri,  non  fasciculato-stipati,  articulati. 
Spone  concatenate,  hyalinoe.  They  distinguished 
it  from  Graphium  by  the  character  mentioned,  that 
the  stem  was  single,  not  compounded  of  a  number  of 
parallel  and  cohering  hyphse,  and  pointed  out  that  the 
Graphium  tenuissimum  of  Corda  and  the  Periconia 
chlorocephala  of  Fresenius  belong  to  this  genus,  to 
which  they  also  added  a  new  species,  Haplographium 
delicatum. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  finding  another  species  near 
Birmingham,  which  belongs  to  the  same  natural 
group,  but  differs  in  one  important  particular  from 
all  the  three  previously  described.  While  walking  in 
a  field  between  Langley  and  Middleton,  about  eight 
miles  from  the  town,  I  came  upon  the  branch  of  a 
tree  lying  among  the  grass,  where  it  had  evidently 
been  left  undisturbed  for  some  time  till  it  had  become 
thoroughly  rotten.  Turning  this  over,  as  my  custom 
is,  I  saw  that  the  lower  surface,  which  was  black  from 
decay,  had  on  one  part  a  delicate  bloom  quite 
perceptible  to  the  naked  eye.  Portions  of  this  were 
secured,  and,  on  being  examined  microscopically  at 
home,  the  bloom  was  resolved  into  a  dense  forest  of 
tiny  vegetation,  formed  of  slender,  erect,  straight, 
dark-brown  stems,  about  a  quarter  of  a  millimetre 
high,  each  surmounted  by  an  obovate  head  of  a 
delicate  pale  honey-colour,  which  contrasted  strongly 
with  that  of  the  stein,  as  seen  by  a  half-inch 
objective  in  a  brilliant  light.  This  appearance 
suggested  to  me,  as  soon  as  I  ascertained  the 
structure  of  the  head  to  be  such  as  to  ally  it  to  these 
first-mentioned  species,  the  name  of  Haplographium 
bicolor,  as  a  suitable  one  to  designate  my  find. 
Another  striking  point  in  the  appearance  of  the 
fungus  is  that  each  stem  is  supported  on  a  broad, 
dark-brown,  cushion-like  base,  which  gives  it  a 
decided  look  of  rigidity  and  strength.  By  reflected 
light  the  brown  is  almost  black. 

The  stems  are  simple  and  septate,  the  number  of 
septa  varying  from  six  to  nine ;  the  upper  joint  is 


BARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


197 


blunt,  and  nearly  hemispherical,  and  from  it  radiates 
a  mass  of  branched  threads  from  which  the  spores 
are  produced  ;  but  as  the  evolution  of  the  spores  is 
accompanied  by  the  excretion  of  a  large  quantity  of 
a  mucous  substance,  by  which  they  are  bound  into  a 
compact  mass,  it  is  impossible  to  see  the  structure  of 
these  threads  until  all  the  spores  are  washed  away 
by  water.  The  aspect  of  the  stems,  before  and  after 
the  application  of  water,  is  represented  under  a 
comparatively  low  magnifying  power  in  Fig  127. 


From  the  latter  the  spores  originate ;  one,  two,  or 
three  spores  could  be  seen  still  seated  on  the  upper 
end  (fig.  12S).  One  point  I  could  not  determine, 
although  it  is  important,  viz.  :  whether  the  spores 
were  produced  separately  from  the  basidia,  so  that  as 
each  fell  off  its  sterigma,  its  place  was  occupied  by 
another  ;  or  the  spores  successively  produced  remained 
united  in  a  chain.  At  any  rate,  I  was  unable  to  see 
any  spores  still  concatenate.  The  affinity,  however, 
in  other  respects  of  my  fungus  with  those  previously 


-  9 — **^= 

Fig.  127. — Haplographium  bicolor.     X  150. 


Fig.  128. — H.  bicolor;  portion  of  the  branched  head 
and  spores.     X  750. 


Koqo 


Fig.  129. — H.  chlorocep/ialuin.     a,  stem,  X  120  ;  h,  summit 
of  stem  and  spores,  X  250. 


Fig.  130.—//.  tenuissimnm.    a,  two  stems,  X  150 ;  b,  head  of 
branches  ;  c,  spores,  X  750. 


The  threads  which  constitute  the  head  are  branched 
in  a  penicillate  manner,  and  form,  when  undisturbed, 
an  obconical  or  top-shaped  mass ;  under  pressure 
they  spread  out  so  as  to  radiate  in  all  directions,  and 
can  then  be  seen,  by  a  high  power,  to  spring  from  a 
few  oblong  cells  seated  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 
topmost  cell  of  the  stem.  The  further  end  of  each  of 
these  gives  rise  to  a  cluster  of  branches,  varying  in 
number  from  two  to  five,  each  of  which  similarly 
produces  in  turn  from  two  to  seven  ultimate  basidia. 


enumerated  renders  it  very  probable  that  they  were- 
so.  In  conclusion  I  will  give  descriptions  of  the  three 
species  of  Haplographium  now  known  in  addition  to- 
Berkeley  and  Broome's. 

Haplographium,  Berk,  and  Br.  (1859). 

Flocci  free,  septate,  dark-brown,  sometimes  penicil- 
lately  branched  at  the  apex.  Spores  simple,  conca- 
tenate, hyaline. 


198 


EARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


1.  //.  ddicatiun,  B.  &  Br.  For  description  and 
figure,  see  Cooke's  Handbook,  p.  56S. 

2.  H.  chlorocephalum  (Fres. ).  Pcriconia  ch., 
Fresenius,  Mykol.  pi.  4,  figs.  10-15  (^o). 

Stems  simple,  black,  shining,  rigid,  straight  or 
slightly  bent,  gradually  thickened  below ;  head 
greenish  ;  spores  in  dichotomous  chains,  oval. 
(Fig.  129.) 

On  rotting  herbaceous  stems,  Germany,  forming  a 
greenish-black  pubescence.  Stems  about  h  millimetre 
high  ;  spores  7-9  /x.  * 

3.  H.  tc7iuissimum  (Corda),  Graphium  /.,  Corda, 
Icones,  i.  fig  252  (1837). 

Effused,  very  thin,  pale  fuscous ;  stems  simple, 
straight,  filiform,  dilated  at  the  base,  brown,  semi- 
pellucid  ;  head  subglobose,  yellow,  its  threads  straight, 
of  the  same  colour,  very  slender  ;  spores  subacute, 
white.     (Fig.  130). 

On  wood  of  beech,  Bohemia.  Height  of  stem 
about  \  mm.  ;  length  of  spores  45  \i. 

4.  H.  bicolor,  Grove. 

Stems  effused,  gregarious,  occasionally  two  or  three 
connate  at  the  base,  erect,  straight,  rigid,  blackish- 
brown,  opaque,  paler  and  rounded  above,  bulbous 
below  ;  head  pale,  honey-coloured,  obovate,  the 
lower  part  composed  of  dense  persistent  radiating 
twice  penicillately  branched  threads  ;  spores  oblong  or 
ovate,  hyaline,  subacute.     (Figs.  127  &  128.) 

On  rotting  wood,  Birmingham.  Stems  |th  to  ^rd 
mm.  high  ;  spores  4-5  jj..  long,  accompanied  by  a 
mucous  secretion.  Approaching  in  some  respects 
Cephalotrichum  atrtiim,  Berk.  (Cooke,  Handbook, 
p.  569),  but  in  others  differing  widely.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  structure  of  the  head  is  much  more  compli- 
cated in  this  than  in  the  other  species  of  Haplogra- 
phium,  and,  in  fact,  is  almost  sufficient  to  entitle  it 
to  rank  as  the  type  of  a  new  sub-genus. 

W.B.  Grove,  B.A. 
Bir?ningha7)i. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

THE  official  Report  of  the  British  "Association 
meeting  at  Montreal,  just  issued,  is  rather  bulky, 
and  contains  much  interesting  matter.  Among  the 
reports  on  the  state  of  Science  may  be  specified  one 
on  a  subject  which  needs  serious  attention,  viz., 
Chemical  nomenclature.  The  tricks  that  have  been 
played,  and  still  are  being  played,  with  chemical 
names,  have  fully  constituted  themselves  a  scientific 
nuisance.      Thus   we   have — in    modem    text-books 

*  It  may  be  as  well  to  repeat,  for  the  benefit  of  those  not 
familiar  with  the  mode  of  measuring  microscopic  objects  now 
becoming  almost  universal,  and  which  should  be  quite  universal, 
that  the  unit  (called  a  micromillimetre  or  micron,  and  represen- 
ted by  ix,  mk.  or  mmm.)  is  5-^^  of  a  millimetre  or  about  -^\tTr> 
of  an  inch.  Any  one,  then,  who  can  place  his  microscope  so  as 
to  magnify  254  times,  and  divide  an  inch  into  100  parts,  can 
measure  objects  by  this  unit. 


dating  from  i860  to  1SS0 — no  less  than  seven  names 
for  carbonic  acid,  i.e.  the  following,  besides  the  old 
name,  carbonic  anhydride,  carbon  anhydride,  carbon 
dioxide,  carbonic  dioxide,  carbon  oxide,  and  carbonic 
gas.    Other  similarly  familiar  compounds  are  similarly 
disguised  with  or  without    reason,    usually    without. 
Pedantic  affectation  is  at  the  bottom  of  it,  doing  "the 
last  thing  out  "  in  science  as  in  shirt  collars.    Archae- 
ologists tell  us  that  the  large  families  of  the  Browns 
and  the  Blacks  and  the  Greys  were  originally  named 
from  the  colour  of  their  hair,  but  if  a  rectification  of 
this  were  attempted  on  the  original   basis,  how  great 
Would  be  the  confusion  !     All  the  Blacks  and  all  the 
Browns  that  attained  a  respectable  old  age  would  have 
to  change  their  names  to  Grey.     But  this  would  have 
more  rational  justification  than  most  of  the  recent 
changes  in  chemical  names,  as  it  would  represent  a 
change  of  fact.     The  tampering  with  chemical  names 
is  all  based  on  mere  theories,  some  of  them  very  wild 
and  ephemeral.     The  most  absurd  of  these  neologies 
is  that  of  "anhydride,"  which  simply  means  without 
water.     Thus  certain  compounds  of  carbon,  sulphur, 
nitrogen,  &c,  with   oxygen,  are   called  carbon   and 
carbonic  anhydride,  sulphuric  anhydride,  nitric  anhy- 
•  dride.    "  Carbon  without  water"  (carbon  anhydride), 
as  used  by  Oding  for   carbonic  acid,  is  bad  enough, 
for  if  C  Oo  is  to  be  called  waterless  carbon,  what  is  C, 
the   element   itself.      Carbonic  anhydride,  sulphuric 
anhydride,  &c,  are  still  more  atrocious  ;  applying  an 
adjective  to  qualify  a  negation,  as  though  we  should 
say  yellow  nothing,  blue  nothing,   big  nothing,   and 
little   nothing,    sweet    nothing,    and    sour    nothing. 
When  men  take  the  millinery  infection,  and  go  in  for 
the   latest   fashions,    they   are   worse   than   women, 
especially  men  of  science,  who  ought  to  know  better. 
After   this   tabular   display   of   retrogession,    it  is 
refreshing   to  turn  to  Mr.  de  Ranee's  report  of  the 
Underground   Waters  Committee.     This   committee 
has   been  at  work   during    twelve  years,  and    have 
worked    hard  and  well   with   most   interesting   and 
practically   valuable   results.      They   have   collected 
particulars  of  the  sections  passed  through  by  a  very 
large  number  of  wells  and  borings ;  a  daily  record 
has   been   obtained   of  the   height   at   which   water 
stands  in  many  of  these  wells  ;  investigations  have 
been  carried  out  as  to  the  quantity  of  water  held  by  a 
cubic  foot  of  various  rocks  by  Mr.  Wethered  ;  and  as 
to  the  filtering  power  of  sandstones,  and  the  influence  - 
of  barometric   pressure   and    lunar   changes   on   the 
height  of  underground   waters,  by  Mr.  J.  Roberts. 
During  the  year  the  attention  of  the  committee  has 
been   directed   to    the   remarkable   influence   of  the 
earthquake  which  visited  the  east  and  east-central 
counties  of  England,  in  March  last,  in  raising  the 
levels  of  the  water  in  the  wells  of  Colchester  and 
elsewhere.     They  are  still  at  work,  and  seeking  more 
detailed  information  as  to  the  proportion  of  actual 
rainfall   absorbed    by    various     soils,    over    extended 
periods  representing  typical  dry  and  wet  years  ;  and 


HARD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OSS  I  P. 


199 


invite  Canada  and  the  United  States  to  do  for  their 
respective  countries  what  this  Committee  has  done 
and  is  doing  in  the  British  Isles. 

I  am  very  cautious  in  advocating  Government 
endowment  of  scientific  research,  knowing  how  liable 
it  is  to  abuse,  and  firmly  believing  that  scientific 
poverty  is  preferable  to  questionably  gotten  scientific 
wealth  ;  but  here  is  a  case  where  the  physical  welfare 
and,  I  may  add  as  a  clencher,  even  the  ultra-sacred 
pockets  of  the  whole  community  is  concerned.  We 
are  paying  exorbitantly  for  polluted  surface  water, 
imperfectly  filtered  by  pettyfogging  artificial  filter- 
beds,  while  under  our  feet  are  vast  supplies  of 
nature-filtered  water.  The  primary  questions  as  to 
the  quantity  and  distribution  of  this  water,  and  its 
practical  availability  for  our  sore  requirements,  can 
only  be  determined  by  such  work,  and  is  being  done 
by  this  committee  ;  therefore,  say  I,  this  committee, 
justly  regarded,  is  a  national  institution,  like  the 
army  and  navy,  and  should  be  supported  accordingly. 

The  Boulder  Committee  still  continues  adding  to 
the  details  of  its  curious  history  of  the  resting  places, 
dimensions,  and  composition  of  wandering  blocks  of 
stone.  There  is  one  element  of  cruelty  in  their 
proceedings.  They  are  cutting  and  maiming  and 
murdering  the  old  traditions  concerning  the  giants 
who  carried  these  stones  about,  and  even  damaging 
the  Druids.  There  is  an  interesting  element  of 
observation  in  some  of  these  fables.  When  living 
at  Caergwrle,  in  Flintshire,  I  amused  myself  by 
studying  the  glaciation  of  the  district,  and  succeeded 
in  tracing  the  limits  of  a  very  large  glacier,  which 
(in  a  paper  read  at  the  British  Association,  1S65)  I 
named  the  Alyn  Glacier,  as  its  boundaries  were 
clearly  determined  by  the  same  general  configuration 
which  determines  the  curious  course  of  the  Alyn 
river.  Among  the  glacier  vestiges  is  a  very  large 
boulder,  near  the  Padeswood  station  of  the  Chester 
and  Mold  Railway,  which  bears  the  name  of  the 
"  Garreglwyd,"  or  Grey  Stone,  and  gives  its  name 
to  the  farm  on  which  it  stands.  Another  similar 
stone  of  smaller  size  is  near  to  it.  Formerly  the 
high-road  to  Chester  passed  between  these  stones, 
and  the  tradition  states  that  a  Welsh  giant,  jealous 
of  the  growth  of  Chester,  carried  these  with  malig- 
nant intent  towards  it ;  but,  growing  tired,  dropped 
them,  one  on  each  side  of  the  road.  He  is  said  to 
have  brought  them  from  Moel  Fammar.  They 
are  deeply  embedded  in  soil  of  glacial  origin, 
overlying  carboniferous  strata,  but  are  themselves 
of  millstone  grit.  Moel  Fammar  is  of  millstone 
grit,  and  eight  or  nine  miles  distant.  The  tradi- 
tion, therefore,  recognises  the  difference  between 
these  and  the  local  sandstones,  though  my  own  study 
of  the  glaciation  connects  them  with  another  mass  of 
millstone  grit,  the  Hope  Mountain. 

On  the  20th  of  June  M.  Gaston  Tissandier  made  a 
balloon  trip  from  Paris  to  Rheims,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  obtained  24  instantaneous  photographs  of 


the  country  below  him.  If  successful,  they  must  be 
interesting,  but  I  have  not  yet  met  with  any  account 
of  their  publication.  The  development  of  aeronauti- 
cal photography  has  "considerable  scientific  interest. 
Besides  supplying  us  with  actual  bird's-eye  views  of 
known  country,  with  interesting  effects  ot  radial 
perspective,  it  will  probably  be  useful  hereafter  in 
geographical  exploration,  an  application  of  ballooning 
that  I  have  frequently  advocated,  and  believe  will  be 
very  successfully  used  when  we  have  so  far  perfected 
the  fabric  and  varnish  of  the  body  of  the  balloon  as  to 
prevent  the  exosmosis  of  the  gas,  which  now  limits 
the  period  of  possible  flotation  of  the  machine  to  only 
a  few  hours.  With  this  one  defect  remedied,  and  the 
waste  of  ballast  obviated  by  the  use  of  the  drag  rope, 
days  may  replace  hours  in  balloon  voyages,  especially 
within  the  Arctic  Circle,  where  the  summer  daylight 
is  continuous. 

A  correspondent  writing  from  Kashmir  (G.M.G.), 
asks  why  corrections  for  temperature  are  added  to 
the  tables  for  determining  elevations  above  the  sea 
by  observations  on  the  boiling  point  of  water.  In 
reply,  I  ask  him  to  consider  why  water  boils  at  a 
lower  and  lower  temperature  as  we  ascend.  He  will 
easily  understand  that  this  is  due  to  diminished 
atmospheric  pressure,  and  that  this  diminution  of 
pressure  is  a  consequence  of  our  leaving  below  us  a 
larger  and  larger  fraction  of  the  whole  atmosphere  as 
we  rise  higher  and  higher.  But  the  quantity  thus 
left  below  for  every  hundred  feet  (or  other  unit)  of 
ascent  must  depend  upon  its  density  :  this  density 
diminishes  as  the  temperature  of  the  air  increases, 
and  therefore  if  he  climbs  100  feet  on  the  hill  side, 
from  the  valley  of  Kashmir,  in  the  midst  of  air  at 
8o°  Fahr.,  he  will  have  left  less  air  below  him  than  I 
should  leave  behind  me  in  climbing  100  feet  from  a 
starting  point  of  similar  elevation  on  the  side  of 
Snowdon,  in  the  midst  of  air  at  a  temperature  of  500. 
Or,  otherwise  stated,  his  atmosphere  at  Kashmir, 
being  warmer  than  ours  here,  is  proportionally  taller, 
pressure  at  base  being  the  same.  The  same  correction 
for  temperature  is  of  course  required  in  measuring 
heights  by  means  of  the  barometer. 

In  my  last  month's  gossip  I  referred  to  Professor 
Langley's  lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution,  and 
attributed  his  startling  conclusion  concerning  the 
effect  of  solar  radiation  on  a  planet  unprotected  by 
atmospheric  resistance  to  a  verbal  ambiguity  in  the 
report  of  the  lecture,  but  now  find  that  I  was 
mistaken  ;  that  Professor  Langley  really  does  mean 
that  such  direct  unimpeded  radiation  would  fail  to 
warm  the  surface  of  such  a  planet  up  to  the  freezing 
point  of  mercury.  I  learn  this  from  the  quarto 
volume  describing  his  "  Researches  on  Solar  Heat, 
and  its  Absorption  by  the  Earth's  Atmosphere,"  which 
he  has  kindly  sent  me.  In  spite  of  my  great  respect 
for  Professor  Langley  and  his  valuable  work,  I  am 
satisfied  that  he  is  wrong  on  this  point,  though  pro- 
bably right  as  regards  his  high  valuation  of  the  solar 


200 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


constant.  The  subject  is  discussed  in  my  Science 
Notes  in  the  "Gentleman's  Magazine"  of  this 
month. 

In  reference  to  Professor  Langley's  volume  above 
named,  it  may  be  interesting  to  the  readers  of 
Science-Gossip  to  learn  that  it  is  published  as 
No.  15  of  the  "Professional  Papers  of  the  Signal 
Service,"  under  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  by  the  War  Department  of  the  United  States 
Government,  and  that  these  Signal  Service  volumes 
form  only  one  of  a  series  of  purely  scientific  works 
issued  from  the  Government  Printing  Office  at 
Washington.  They  are  all  beautifully  printed  on 
excellent  paper,  and  abundantly  illustrated  with 
engravings,  and  are  gratuitously  distributed,  post 
free,  to  Englishmen  who,  like  myself,  are  known 
to  be  students  of  the  subjects  they  include.  Every 
time  I  receive  one  of  these  volumes  (and  I  have 
received  a  large  number),  I  blush  with  shame  at  the 
contemptible  higgling  of  our  own  Government  in 
the  publication  of  such  papers  as  the  Reports  of  The 
Challenger  Expedition,  which,  after  a  pitiful  delay, 
are  at  last  issued  at  a  price  that  any  private  publisher 
would  regard  as  grossly  extortionate.  There  was  no 
lack  of  liberality  in  fitting  out  the  expedition,  and 
providing  snug  berths  and  luxurious  free  yachting 
appliances  for  certain  privileged  gentlemen,  but 
immediately  the  general  interests  of  science  and 
those  of  the  whole  nation  are  concerned  in  their  publi- 
cation an  extravagance  of  economy  is  displayed. 

Dr.  Keegan  writes  as  follows  :  "I  am  glad  to  find 
{p.  151  of  July  number)  that  Mr.  W.  Mattieu 
Williams  disclaims  any  desire  to  see  literature 
excluded  from  the  curriculum  of  modern  education. 
I  am  sorry  that  my  remarks  were  misunderstood  ; 
but  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  studies  and  intellectual 
pursuits  that  fail  to  adequately  awaken  in  man  "  the 
sublime  consciousness  of  his  own  humanity,"  are 
defective  as  educational  engines.  I  quite  agree  with 
Mr.  Williams  as  to  the  superiority  of  the  Greek  ideal 
of  life  and  actual  civilisation  as  embodied  in  the 
sublime  literature  of  that  remarkable  people  ;  and  I 
am  disposed  to  think  that  the  old  Roman  literature 
was  so  far  influenced  thereby  that  it  was  not  really 
national,  strictly  speaking.  Its  being  more  nearly 
allied  to  modern  tongues,  and  its  acquirement  being 
rather  the  superior  as  an  intellectual  exercise,  are 
probably  the  chief  reasons  why  it  is  more  deeply 
studied  than  the  Greek.  With  regard  to  ' '  monkish 
inheritance,"  many  people  nowadays  are  beginning 
to  opine  that  those  old  ecclesiastics  were  not  alto- 
gether "ignorant  of  everything  but  the  language  of 
the  Church."  We  might  even  hazard  a  surmise  that 
some  of  them  would  turn  in  their  graves  if  they 
became  cognizant  of  sundry  matters  and  proceedings 
of  recent  date  relative  to  our  universities  and  semi- 
naries of  learning.  For  it  would  seem  that  the  study 
of  material  science,  with  a  view  to  the  propagation 
of  the  industrial  arts,    threatens,  in  this  terrifically 


enlightened  nineteeth  century,  to  eclipse  culture  in  a 
broad  and  liberal  sense." — P.  Q.  Keegan,  LL.D. 

It  is  evident  enough  that  we  are  perfectly  agreed 
concerning  the  educational  object  to  be  attained,  we 
differ  however  very  widely  as  regards  the  means.  I 
have  struggled  very  hard  to  discover  when  and  where 
"  the  sublime  consciousness  of  his  own  humanity" 
comes  into  the  soul  of  a  boy  while  he  is  struggling 
with  the  declensions  of  Latin  nouns  and  the  irregu- 
larities of  Greek  verbs,  or  during  any  part  of  the 
years  which  he  occupies  in  qualifying  himself  to  write 
bad  Latin  prose,  and  still  worse  Latin  verse.  Or 
supposing  that  by  sacrificing  the  most  precious 
period  of  his  intellectual  development  he  attains 
sufficient  vernacular  intimacy  with  Latin  and  Greek 
to  be  able  to  appreciate  their  untranslatable  peculi- 
arities, I  cannot  understand  how  such  profound 
intimacy  with  the  unspeakable  obscenities  of  the 
Pagan  mythology  can  operate  otherwise  than  injuri- 
ously upon  his  moral  growth.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  besides  the  books  which,  like  Ovid's 
Metamorphoses,  are  devoted  exclusively  to  telling  the 
details  of  the  foul  fables,  the  whole  of  the  classic 
literature  (excluding  the  mathematics  and  philosophy 
of  the  Greek  scientists)  is  pestiferously  saturated  with 
allusions  to  the  dirty  doings  of  Jupiter  and  his  very 
immoral  Olympian  associates. 

What  a  ballad  of  butchery  is  Homer's  Iliad ! 
What  mean-spirited  braggart  bullies  are  his  heroes  ! 
who  taunt  and  torture  their  fallen  dying  foes  with 
malignant  insults.  Granted  that  this  is  historically 
correct,  that  the  warriors  of  ancient  Greece  were 
habitually  addicted  to  practices  that  the  lowest  of 
modern  prize-fighters  would  scorn  to  imitate,  this  is 
no  excuse  for  teaching  boys  to  admire  them.  Bill 
Sykes  is  presented  by  Dickens  to  his  readers  as  a 
repulsive  vulgar  brute.  Achilles  is  presented  by 
Homer  as  a  hero  with  supernatural  endowments  and 
semi-divine  pedigree,  and  all  his  brutalities,  including 
the  disgusting  treatment  of  the  dead  body  of  Hector, 
are  so  effectively  blazoned  forth  in  poetic  glamour  and 
admiration  as  to  utterly  pervert  the  natural  moral 
sense  of  the  majority  of  the  students  of  the  Iliad — so 
much  so  that  they  will  probably  denounce  as  rank 
sacrilege  my  present  common-sense  view  of  the  true 
character  of  the  son  of  Thetis,  the  beloved  of  the  gods. 
I  freely  admit  that  the  teaching  of  physical  science 
by  rote,  the  mere  grinding  of  mathematical  conun- 
drums ;  training  young  men  to  formulate  instead  of 
exercising  their  reasoning  faculties,  and,  still  worse, 
leading  them  to  believe  that  such  mechanical 
formulating  actually  is  reasoning,  deserve  all  the 
condemnation  they  have  received.  Properly  taught 
science  presents  to  the  young  mind  the  sublimest  of 
poetry,  and  carried  upwards,  as  it  should  be,  from 
physical  to  social  and  moral  science,  it  truly  and 
soundly  awakens  the  sublimest  attainable  conscious- 
ness of  our  own  humanity,  and  our  relations  to  the 
divine  harmonies  of  the  universe. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


2CI 


On  a  recent  visit  to  Oxford,  living  for  a  while  in 
college  among  friends  who  are  students  of  the  best 
class,  young  men  who  have  gained  scholarships  by 
hard  work,  and  are  not  satisfied  with  merely  taking 
B.A.  and  M.A.  degrees,  but  are  aiming  much  higher, 
I  was  greatly  pleased  to  find  that  the  higher  work 
consisted  of  searching  study  of  both  ancient  and 
modern  sociology  and  moral  philosophy.  These 
students  were  learning  to  forget  the  brutality  and 
nastiness  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  poets,  and  replacing 
■such  recollections  by  logical  exercises  in  the  subtleties 
of  Aristotle  and  the  other  Greek  philosophers,  and 
•following  in  historical  order  the  development  of  their 
subjects  by  the  schoolmen  and  modern  philosophers, 
original  independent  criticism  of  all  being  encouraged 
by  their  teachers  and  examiners.  This  is  healthy 
•scholarship.  I  understand  that  Cambridge  is  moving 
in  the  same  direction.  Sidgwick  is  doing  noble 
service  there,  if  I  may  judge  by  the  influence  he  has 
already  exerted  on  the  high-class  Cambridge  students 
I  have  met. 

If  we  must  have  ancient  literature — old  stories  of 
love  and  fighting — let  us  have  those  of  our  own  race, 
the  Scandinavian  Sagas.  The  heroes  of  these  were 
manly  and  chivalric  ;  their  loves  were  comparatively 
decent  and  natural.  I  say  "  if,"  having  personally  no 
xespect  for  the  literature  of  any  noble  savages,  either 
ancient  or  modern,  and  believing  firmly  that  the 
highest  literature  mankind  has  ever  known  is  that 
which  is  written  in  the  truly  classic  language  which 
all  mankind  will  eventually  speak. 


DIRECT  VISION  MICROSCOPES. 

HAVING  but  few  opportunies  of  conversation 
with  microscopists,  I  write  with  some  diffi- 
dence on  a  subject  on  which  I  may  not  have  the 
credit  of  being  (as  the  saying  is)  "well  posted  ;  "  but 
being  in  the  constant  and  daily  use  of  a  direct-vision 
-microscope,  and  observing  from  recent  communica- 
tions and  engravings  in  catalogues  and  journals  that 
many  of  the  old/aults  and  deficiencies  of  the  instru- 
ment remain  uncorrected  and  unsupplied,  I  venture  to 
forward  you  an  account  of  certain  alterations  which 
1  have  had  made  in  one  now  before  me,  which  have 
-rendered  it  perfectly  available  for  many  purposes  for 
which  it  was  previously  inapplicable,  and  have  made 
it  in  fact,  as  far  as  my  own  requirements  go,  a  very 
•useful,  instead  of  a  nearly  useless  instrument. 

The  faults  of  all  the  instruments  of  this  class  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  are  the  following  : — 

1.  The  object  examined  is  rendered  indistinct  by 
rthe  amount  of  side  light  which  falls  upon  it  in  its 
exposed  position. 

2.  The  stage  arrangements  are  so  imperfect  that  it 
=is  impossible  to  examine  any  but  the  central  portion 
of  your  slide,  or,  at  best,  such  a  portion  as  you  have 
previously   arranged  for  examination.     There   is  no 


possibility  of  hunting  over  the  middle  inch,  which  is 
what  the  fleld-microscopist  frequently  wants  to  do.* 
In  one  form,  indeed,  there  is  a  brass  clamp  and  screw 
on  one  side  of  the  rim  of  the  orifice,  and  a  steel 
spring  holder  on  the  other,  but  though  very  likely 
sufficient  for  class  demonstration,  I  found  it  quite 
useless  for  my  sea-side  and  "green  lane  "  purposes. 

And  now  for  the  proposed  and  well-tried  remedies. 
Fault  No.  I  is  easily  dealt  with,  nothing  more  being 
required  than  one-third  of  an  inch  of  metal  tube 
blackened  internally,  the  size  of,  and  projecting 
beyond,  the  stage  aperture ;  this  too  would  easily 
carry  a   polarising  prism  or  a  spot  lens  if  desired. 


Fig.  131. — Diagram  of  Direct  Illumination  Microscope.  A. 
Brass  cylinder  containing  wire  spring  which  is  attached  to  D. 
B.  Stout  brass  disk  or  stage  fastened  to  cylinder  by  C— 
A  strong  bar  •}  inch  wide  and  Jth  inch  thick.  D.  The 
lighter  brass  disk,  kept  in  apposition  to  B  by  spring,  and 
having  two  rims,  the  one  for  protecting  the  object  from  pres- 
sure, and  the  other  for  steadying  purposes.  E.  Pin  and  tube, 
also  for  steadying  purposes.  F.  Brass  tube  blackened  inside, 
shutting  offside  light,  etc.  s,  Space  between  B  and  D  where 
slide  is  introduced. 


Fault  No.  2.  The  insufficiency  of  stage,  &c,  I  have 
remedied  thus,  the  instrument  on  which  I  worked 
being  the  very  nice  one  introduced  by  Dr.  Beale.  I 
removed  the  bell-shaped  end  entirely,  and  in  its  place 
fixed  a  brass  cylinder  with  a  gap  in  front  for  the 
use  of  reflected  light  when  required,  as  in  the 
original  arrangement.  It  is  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
long  and  two  inches  wide,  and  to  it  is  attached  by  a 
strong  bar  a  stout  brass  disk  or  stage  with  a  central 

*  Professor  Brown's  "pocket  microscope"  would  allow  of 
some  lateral  examination  of  the  middle  inch  of  a  tiny  slide,  but 
the  whole  instrument  measures  only  four  inches  long  by  one 
wide,  and  would  therefore  be  inapplicable  for  use  with  slides  of 
the  u<ual  dimensions,  or  for  the  purposes  required  by  the  field 
naturalist. 


202 


HARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


aperture  of  three-quarters  of  an  inch  diameter ; 
the  interval  between  it  and  the  cylinder  being  a 
quarter  of  an  inch.  A  thinner  brass  disk  of  rather 
smaller  circumference  and  similar  central  aperture, 
but  having  its  edge  bordered  by  a  projecting  rim 
both  above  and  below,  is  kept  in  close  apposition  to 
the  first  by  a  coil  of  wire  spring  soldered  to  it,  and 
to  the  base  of  the  internal  circumference  of  the  brass 
cylinder. 

It  is  between  these  two  disks  that  the  slide  is 
lightly  but  firmly  held,  it  being  easy  to  move  it  with- 
out jerk  or  unevenness  in  any  direction.  I  must  now 
explain  the  necessity  for  the  projecting  rims  which, 
as  I  have  said,  border  the  higher  disk.  The  shallower 
one,  which  is  deficient  in  front,  should  be  about  the 
depth  of  the  thickness  of  an  ordinary  slide,  and  is 
intended  to  prevent  the  possible  pressure  of  cemented 
objects  between  the  disks  when  searching  far  from 
their  centre.  The  deficiency  of  the  rim  in  front 
secures  the  cover  glasses  from  injury.  The  other 
rim  should  be  much  deeper,  its  use  being  to  keep  the 
disk  central,  and  working  within  the  cylinder  when 
drawn  down.  Its  border  is  arched,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  diagram,  and  the  points  between  the  arches  are 
bent  outwards  ;  the  centre  one  forming  a  convenient 
catch  for  the  thumb  of  the  left  hand  when  depressing 
the  disk  to  introduce  the  object,  and  the  others 
steadying  the  movement  in  the  inside  of  the  cylinder. 
There  is  also  a  small  pin  attached  to  this  rim  which 
works  in  a  tube  fixed  to  the  cylinder,  securing  perfect 
steadiness. 

When  using  the  microscope  for  field  purposes,  I 
carry  it  in  a  leather  case  with  shoulder  strap,  and  in  a 
little  pocket  case  I  carry  three  pairs  of  thin  glass 
slides  3x1  inches,  placing  any  object  I  wish  to 
examine  between  two  of  them. 

In  conclusion  I  will  only  say  that  these  improve- 
ments were  most  satisfactorily  carried  out  by  a  clever 
mechanic  in  this  town,  and  that  I  can  now  use  the 
instrument  with  any  object-glass  up  to  an  eighth, 
hunting  over  the  objects  in  my  cabinet  with  as  much 
ease  as  when  using  a  mechanical  stage,  while  the 
illumination  is  most  satisfactory,  admitting  of  all  sorts 
of  beautiful  modifications  which  practice  will  soon 
suggest. 

Diss,  Norfolk.  T.  E.  Amyot. 


FROM  WINCHESTER  TO  TORQUAY  ON 
FOOT. 

THE  following  plain  and  unvarnished  account  of 
a  short  walking-tour  may  possibly  interest 
some  of  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip.  The 
object  in  view  was  nominally  the  increase  of  our 
conchological  collections  ;  but  for  such  a  purpose 
we  could  not  have  chosen  a  worse  time  of  the  year. 
The  oppressive  heats,  which  occurred  day  after  day, 
served  to  drive  the  land-shells  far  into  their  lurking- 
places,    and,  moreover,   greatly  encouraged  in  us  a 


spirit  of  laziness.  This  being  the  case,  we  often 
tramped  along  the  dusty  roads  forgetful  of  our 
object,  and  totally  averse  to  a  dive  among  brambles 
and  stinging-nettles  in  a  search  which  Seemed  ever 
destined  to  prove  fruitless.  So  much  for  the  land- 
shells.  The  case  of  the  marine  species,  of  which  I 
was  especially  anxious  to  obtain  good  examples, 
seemed  even  worse.  The  calm  sea  had  neglected  to 
furnish  the  shore  with  its  usual  share  of  the  spoil, 
and  everywhere  the  same  answer  greeted  our  in- 
quiries. "  Shells,  do  you  want?  The  winter's  the 
time  for  shells,  but  you'll  get  none  now  without  a 
dredge."  Whether  this  remark,  which  we  had  from 
fishermen  and  collectors  alike,  was  strictly  true, 
every  reader  of  this  little  sketch  must  judge  for 
himself.  A  dredge  we  had  not  got,  and  we  did  not 
feel  disposed  to  hire  one  with  a  boat  and  man  to 
look  after  it. 

On  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  August  6th,  1884, 
we  alighted  from  the  train  at  Winchester,  with  the 
intention  of  finding  our  way  thence  to  Torquay. 
Our  desire  to  keep  the  sea  in  sight  as  much  as 
possible,  combined  with  the  difficulty  of  finding  a 
direct  route  to  Christchurch,  made  us  determine  to 
take  the  high-road  to  Southampton.  After  visiting 
the  old  cathedral,  we  took  a  short  cut  across  the 
fields.  In  the  river  and  streams  connected  with  it, 
we  met  with  the  following  species  :  Limneca  peregra, 
L.  stagnalis,  L.  palustris,  L.  truncatula,  Physa 
fontinalis,  Ancyhts  fluviatilis,  Planorbis  contortus, 
and  Bythinia  tentaculata,  and  on  the  banks  Succinea 
elegans  and  Zonitcs  cellarius.  About  halfway  to 
Southampton  we  found  Helix  hortensis,  II.  cantianay 
II.  sericea,  Cochlicopa  htbrica,  Claiisilia  rugosa,  and 
Cyclostoma  elegans,  but  for  the  rest  of  the  day, 
owing  to  the  extreme  heat,  we  did  not  attempt  to 
find  land-shells.  Our  search  for  marine  species  at 
Southampton  merely  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
Tellina  Balthica,  Mytilus  edulis,  Littorina  rudis, 
L.  obtusata,  and  L.  litoira. 

On  Thursday,  August  7th,  we  crossed  over  to 
Hythe.  The  heat  was  even  greater  than  on  the 
preceding  day,  and  our  captures  were  consequently 
almost  nil.  Our  journey  was  uneventful  until  we 
neared  Lymington,  where  we  met  with  Anodonta 
anatina  and  Bythinia  tentaculata,  and  swarms  of 
Hydrobia  ulvcc  on  the  muddy  banks  of  the  river. 
Finding  we  should  not  have  time  to  walk,  we  took 
the  train  thence  to  Christchurch. 

After  an  uneventful  walk  on  Friday  morning  to 
Bournemouth,  we  took  the  boat  to  Swanage,  which 
place  we  reached  early  in  the  afternoon.  The  town 
presents  a  very  compact  appearance,  all  the  houses 
being  built  entirely  of  hard  stone,  roof  included. 
Pushing  on,  we  came  to  Corfe  Castle,  a  famous  old 
ruin  of  the  eleventh  century.  On  its  walls  we  found 
Helix  virgata,  H.  rupestris,  H.  aspersa,  H.  lapicida, 
Claiisilia  rugosa,  and  Ftipa  umbilicata.  The  same 
evening  we  reached  Lulworth,  but  as  it  was  dusk  when 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


20' 


we   left   Corfe,   we   found    nothing    on   our  journey 
worth  mentioning. 

The  first  thing  I  met  with  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing (August  9th)  was  Helix  aculeata,  and  afterwards 
careful  search  revealed  several  other  species.  The  list 
of  our  captures  is  as  follows  :  Pisidium  pusillum, 
Spharium  lacustre,  Planorbis  nautileus,  Helix 
rupestris,  H.  virgata,  II.  hortensis  and  var.  roseo- 
labiala,  Clausilia  rugosa,  C.  laminata,  Baka  perversa, 
Carychium  minimum,  Bulimus  obscurus,  Zonites 
ccllariiis,  and,  lastly,  Bulimus  acutus.  Finding  a 
boat  just  starting  for  Weymouth,  we  took  it,  as  we 
were  informed  it  would  save  us  much  trouble.  On 
landing  at  Weymouth,  and  searching  along  the  sands 
and  rocks,  we  obtained  the  following  shells  :  Venus 
Gallina,  Pandora  incequivalvis,  Pecten  opercularis, 
Mactra  stultorum,  M.  solida,  var.  truncata,  Venerupis 
irus  (with  Saxieava  rugosa  in  crevices  in  hard  rocks), 
Tapes  pullaslra,  Trochus  magus,  Tr.  cinerarias,  T. 
lineatus,  T.  utnbilicatus,  Littorina  obtusata,  L.  ricdis, 
L.  litorea,  Odostomia  lactea,  Purpura  lapillus,  Nassa 
reticulata,  N.  incrassata,  Rissoa  cingillus  and  var.  ru- 
festris  (under  rocks  in  quantities,  alive),  R.  parva, 
R.  striata,  R.  costata,  Truucatella  truncatula,  and 
Cyprcea  Europiea.  The  following  day  being  Sunday, 
we  did  not  continue  our  journey,  but  remained  at 
Weymouth. 

On  Monday,  August  nth,  we  started  en  route  for 
Bridport.  In  the  hedges  near  Weymouth  we  took 
Helix  hortensis  and  var.  roseolabiata,  H.  rufescens  and 
var.  alba,  H.  rotundata,  Clausilia  rugosa,  Limax 
agrcstis,  L.  maximus,  and  Arion  ater,  one  specimen 
of  which  was  white  with  an  orange  margin.  We 
found  it  impossible  to  follow  the  coast-line  all  the 
way,  so  we  took  the  shortest  road  via  Portesham 
and  Abbotsbury.  Near  the  former  spot  we  noticed 
H.  caperata  and  H.  ericetorum,  and  also  the  butterflies 
Lyccena  corydon  and  Pyrarga  Galatea.  The  principal 
attraction  of  Abbotsbury  appears  to  be  a  swannery 
containing  fifteen  hundred  swans.  This  we  did  not 
see,  as  it  was  considerably  out  of  our  way.  We  met 
with  nothing  more  till  we  approached  Bridport,  near 
which  place  we  noticed  Helix  nemoralis  for  the  first 
time,  and  also  H.  hortensis,  H.  virgata,  and  Succinea 
putris. 

Tuesday,  August  12th,  found  us  on  our  way  to 
Lyme  Regis.  Near  Bridport  we  took  II.  hortensis  and 
H.  nemoralis  in  great  variety.  After  an  uneventful 
walk  as  far  as  Charmouth,  we  were  glad  to  find  the 
tide  out  and  our  way  open  along  the  shore.  The 
cliffs  at  this  place  are  very  imposing  and,  as  every- 
body knows,  swarm  with  fossils.  On  the  rocks  were 
Trochus  utnbilicatus,  Chiton  marginalus,  Patella 
■vulgata,  Littoj-itia  rudis,  and  Purpura  lapillus,  and 
nearer  high-water  mark  Trochus  lineatus  in  mode- 
rate abundance.  Littorina  neritorides  was  extremely 
common  on  the  pier  at  Lyme  Regis. 

On  referring  to  the  map,  the  reader  will  observe 
that  Lyme  is  just  in  Dorset.     We  were  anxious  to 


push  our  way  well  into  Devon  on  Wednesday,  and 
consequently  did  not  linger  in  search  of  specimens. 
It  was  dusk  when  we  reached  Budleigh,  after  passing 
through  Sidmouth  and  Otterton.  Our  captures  were 
limited  to  a  few  II.  nemoralis,  var.  castanea,  but 
those  of  the  next  day  quite  consoled  us  for  our  bad  luck. 

It  may  interest  entomologists  to  know  that  Salyrus 
semele  and  S.  CEgeria  were  very  common  on  the  hills 
near  Budleigh,  as  we  crossed  them  on  our  way  to 
Exmouth.  We  reached  the  latter  place  at  high- 
water,  and  found  little  else  than  single  valves  of 
Mactra  solida  and  Cardium  tuberculatum.  Crossing 
over  to  Dawdish  Warren,  we  paced  along  the  margin 
of  the  water  without  expecting  to  find  anything. 
We  w7ere  soon  agreeably  surprised  by  the  frequent 
occurrence  of  Tapes  decussatus  and  Scrobicularia 
piperata.  The  fresh  appearance  of  these  shells 
caused  us  to  look  about  for  something  better.  We 
were  not  long  in  finding  it.  The  discovery  of  one 
specimen  of  Bulla  hydatis  was  followed  by  that  of 
another  and  another  till  they  appeared  strewn  on 
every  side.  Nor  was  this  all.  We  soon  began  to 
notice  black  slug-like  creatures  slowly  traversing 
the  mud,  and  these  p roved  to  be  the  same  species 
in  a  living  state.  After  taking  several  we 
walked  on  past  Dawdish  to  Teignmouth,  and  on  our 
way  met  with  Donax  vittatus,  Cardium  tuberculatum, 
C.  exiguum,  Loligo  vulgaris,  Sepia  officinalis,  and 
single  valves  of  Lutraria  elliptica,  Mactra  subtruncata, 
and  Psammobia  Ferroensis. 

The  next  day  (Friday,  August  15th)  we  went 
across  country  from  Teignmouth  to  Torquay.  Near 
the  latter  place  we  met  with  H  virgata,  H  aspersa 
and  var.  grisea,  H.  nemoralis,  and  H.  hortensis  (one 
specimen  having  the  band-formula  00040)  all  in 
tolerable  abundance.  Torquay  being  our  destina- 
tion, we  remained  there  for  a  few  days,  and  then 
returned  home  by  train.  Our  principal  captures 
there  are  as  follows  : — Cardium  aculealum,  C.  tuber- 
culatum, Donax  vittatus,  Venus  Gallina,  and  Terri- 
tella  terebra  ;  dead  shells  common  in  the  harbour  at 
Torquay  and  on  the  sands  at  Paignton.  Trochus 
umbilicatus  and  T.  lineatus  associated  with  the 
ordinary  littoral  species  on  the  rocks,  and  Helix 
sericea  in  great  abundance  at  Paignton. 

Thus  ended  our  little  tour,  and  after  our 
experiences  I  am  convinced  that  there  is  no  more 
pleasant  way  of  spending  a  short  holiday  than  the 
one  we  adopted,  and  no  better  way  of  seeing  the 
country  than  on  foot.  Autumn  is  no  doubt  the  most 
favourable  season  of  the  year  for  a  shell-collector's 
tour,  when  the  high-tides  and  rough  weather  bring 
in  many  rarities  to  the  shore,  and  the  showers  induce 
the  land-shells  to  emerge  from  their  retreats.  In 
conclusion  I  may  say  that  it  will  give  me  the  greatest 
pleasure  to  furnish  every  particular  concerning  route 
and  expenditure  to  any  one  desirous  of  following  our 
example.  Sydney  C.  Cockerell. 

5 1  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chisxuick,  W. 


204 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


STUDIES  OF  COMMON  PLANTS. 

No.   II. — The  Common   Sunflower  {Hdianthus 

An  mats.) 

By  E.  A.  Swan. 

A  CAREFUL  study  of  the  flower  will  amply 
repay  the  trouble  taken.  The  various  parts 
are  beautifully  adapted  for  ensuring  fertilization  by 
means  of  insect  agency.  Most  people  are  ignorant 
of  the  elaborate  contrivances  by  which  this  is  effected. 
Many  look  upon  ^this  humble  denizen  of  our  gardens 
as  worthy  of  but  passing  notice,  yet  nothing  can  be 
more  unreasonable. 

The  stalk,  as  every  one  knows,  supports  a  flower 
which  consists  of,  first,  several  whorls  of  bracts 
forming  the  involucre ;  second,  one  or  more  whorls 
of  yellow  florets  constituting  the  ray ;   and  third,  a 


Each  blossom  consists  of  the  corolla,  which  is 
monopetalous,  and  ends  in  five  lobes ;  within  this, 
the  stamens,  which  are  joined  half  their  length  from 
near  the  top,  thus  forming  a  tube ;  and,  within  all,, 
the  pistil,  which  is  cleft  at  the  top.  The  base  of  the 
corolla  swells  out  so  as  to  form  a  vessel  for  the  nectar, 
and  it  is  joined  by  a  neck  to  the  achene,  from  either 
side  of  which,  at  the  top,  rises  what  I  may  call  a. 
short  pointed  wing.  Finally,  a  rudimentary  calyx, 
partly  surrounds  each  blossom  from  the  bottom  of  the 
achene  to  about  midway  up  the  corolla.  It  is  more 
developed  on  the  outside  blossoms,  but  it  is  present 
throughout.  It  has  spines  pointing  towards  the 
extremity ;  so,  too,  has  each  wing  ;  so,  too,  has  the 
corolla  on  the  outside  :  and  so,  too,  has  the  pistil  the 
whole  extent  of  the  cleft,  but  not  in  the  cleft. 

Fig.  133  is  a  sketch  of  the  uppermost  side  of  a  ray 


Fig.  134. 


Fig.  132.— Bracts  of  Sunflower. 


Fig.  133.— Ray  floret.         Fig.  136.  Fig.  135. 


Fig.  137.         Fig.  138.  Fig.  139. 


Fig.  140. 


Fig.  141. 


rig.  143. 


Fig.  144. 
Stamens       or 
sunflower  laid 
open. 


considerable  number  of  blossoms,  or  perfect  florets, 
called  the  disc.  Each  blossom  stands  on  an  achene, 
the  covering  which  contains  the  seed. 

The  general  principle  of  the  evolution  of  the  flower 
from  the  leaf  is  well  exemplified  here.  The  bracts 
are  clearly  modified  leaves.  I  have  a  specimen 
before  me  where  the  connection  can  be  clearly 
traced.  There  a  leaf  on  a  short  stalk  starts  from  the 
base  of  the  outermost  whorl  of  bracts.  Next  it  is  a 
bract  of  ordinary  dimensions,  and,  next  that,  a  bract 
much  larger  and  having  a  venation  almost  like  a  full- 
sized  leaf.  Fig.  132  is  a  rough  outline  drawing.  Both 
leaves  and  bracts  are  covered  on  the  sides  and  edges 
with  short  spines,  all  pointing  towards  the  extremity. 
Some  of  these  spines  are  pointed,  others  blunt.  I 
find  similar  spines,  though  much  smaller,  on  the  ray 
florets,  principally  on  the  under-side,  and  these  ray 
florets  have  rudimentary  achenes  on  which  they  stand. 


floret  on  its  rudimentary  achene.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  where  it  joins  the  rudimentary  achene  there  is  a 
neck  formed,  and  the  two  edges  of  the  floret  meet,, 
thus  making  the  primary  attempt  to  mould  a  cup.. 
My  meaning  will  be  clearer  by  referring  to  fig.  134, 
which  is  the  complete  achene,  wings,  neck,  cup,  anct 
corolla,  drawn,  like  fig.  133,  somewhat  about  the 
natural  size.  Thus  we  have  leaves,  bracts,  ray 
florets,  and  blossoms  showing  a  clear  connection. 

Figs.  135  to  143,  both  inclusive,  will  help  us  in- 
considering  the  method  of  fertilization.  The  outside 
blossoms  are  matured  first,  and,  when  their  work  is. 
done,  present  the  appearance  shown  in  fig.  143.  The 
innermost  blossoms  are  matured  last.  Fig.  135  shows 
a  blossom  not  yet  opened  ;  fig.  136,  one  where  the: 
stamens  have  just  begun  to  thrust  themselves  up- 
wards ;  fig.  137,  more  upwards  ;  fig.  13S,  the  pistil  first 
appears,  and  so  on.     In  an  ordinary  flower,  until  the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


205 


seeds  have  been  fertilized  throughout,  we  can  observe 
the  stages  indicated,  from  the  centre  to  the  outside 
(that  is,  from  figs.  135  to  143),  with  never-failing  regu- 
larity. One  more  sketch,  fig.  144,  much  enlarged, 
represents  the  stamens  and  anthers,  as  joined,  laid 
open.  Soon  after  the  blossom  opens,  the  stamens, 
with  pistil  enclosed,  appear  above  the  top.  I 
observed  bees  frequently  visit  the  flowers  and  thrust 
their  proboscides  down  the  corolla  so  as  to  reach  the 
nectar  cups,  at  the  same  time  rubbing  their  heads  on 
the  anthers  and  taking  off  pollen.  I  also  observed 
that,  as  soon  as  the  pistil  appeared,  the  stamens 
began  to  lower  themselves,  and  I  believe  this  was 
due  partly  to  shrinkage  and  partly  to  the  bees 
continually  pressing  with  their  heads  in  order  that 
they  might  the  better  reach  the  nectar  ;  but  I  should 
say  that  as  soon  as  the  pistil  has  opened  as  much  as 
to  form  an  angle  of  450,  it  also  would  exert  its 
influence  and  continue  to  do  so  until  the  anthers  were 
brought  to  the  level  of  the  top  of  the  corolla.  The 
pistils  are  only  capable  of  receiving  pollen  for  fertil- 
izing purposes  when  open  ;  so  that  a  bee,  rubbing  its 
head  against  anthers  where  the  pistil  has  neither 
appeared  nor  opened,  would  collect  pollen,  which  it 
would  deposit  on  the  open  pistil  of  another  blossom, 
perhaps  on  another  plant,  thus  securing  cross- 
fertilization. 

There  is  yet  another  matter  to  discuss  which  is  of 
no  little  importance.  Whence  come  the  stamens  and 
pistil  The  corolla  from  a  ray  floret,  the  ray  floret 
from  a  bract,  the  bract  from  a  leaf,  is  clear  enough. 
I  am  inclined  to  think,  though  I  have  not  conclusive 
evidence,  that  stamens  and  pistil  are  developed  spines. 
There  are  spines  on  the  outside  of  the  corolla,  but 
none  on  the  inside.  There  are  no  spines  at  all  on 
the  stamens  ;  there  are  none  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
pistil,  and  the  fact  of  there  being  spines  on  the  upper 
part  will  not  much  affect  the  argument  If  we  look 
at  a  ray  floret  under  the  microscope,  we  can  clearly 
see  delicate  spines  on  the  under-side,  spines  on  the 
rudimentary  achene  and  the  wings,  and  a  few  spines 
on  the  uppermost  side,  just  above  the  neck.  It  is  not 
unusual  when  one  organ  or  part  of  a  plant  is  reduced 
in  size  for  another  to  be  increased.  In  order  to 
evolve  a  blossom  from  a  ray  floret,  the  latter  must 
dwindle,  besides  closing  in,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  extra  nourishment,  thus  set  free,  may  go  towards 
increasing  the  internal  spines,  or  some  of  them,  until 
they  develop  into  stamens  and  pistil. 


The  first  number  of  the  "Bulletin  of  the  Des 
Moines  Academy  of  Science"  has  been  published. 
The  object  of  the  Academy  is  to  issue  a  series  of 
publications  to  cover  more  or  less  completely  the 
natural  history  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  this  first 
number  contains  a  geographic  catalogue  of  the 
Unionidce  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  by  R.  Ellsworth 
Call. 


TEETH    OF    FLIES. 
By  W.  H.  Harris. 
No.  VII. 
CARICEA   TIGRINA,  Fab. 

CARICEA  TIGRINA,  from  which  the  present 
illustration  is  taken,  is  a  rather  small  but 
prettily  formed  fly,  and  may  be  taken  rather  plenti- 
fully by  sweeping  among  grass  during  the  whole  of 
the  summer  months.  When  once  its  acquaintance 
is  made  no  difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  identi- 
fying it  on  subsequent  occasions. 

It  is  about  the  size  of  Musca  domestica  minor,  ashy 
grey  in  colour,  with  two  distinct  darkish  lines  on  the 
thorax.  An  examination  with  a  lens  shows  this  is- 
caused  partly  by  its  being  clad  with  rather  strong 
hairs  on  these  parts  and  partly  by  a  deposit  of  pig- 
ment in  the  integument  around  the  basis  of  the 
larger  hairs. 

There  are  eleven  distinct  spots  of  this  character  on 
the  dorsal  and  lateral  parts  of  the  abdomen,  arranged 
in  the  following  manner.  The  segment  immediately- 
succeeding  the  thorax  bears  one  spot  centrally  situated. 
The  next  segment  has  two  such  spots  separated 
by  about  the  thirty-second  part  of  an  inch,  the  two- 
succeeding  segments  have  each  four  such  marks,  thus- 
giving  this  part  of  the  insect  a  very  pretty  appearance. 
The  eyes  are  very  dark,  surrounded  with  a  ring  of 
the  body  colour,  the  thigh  is  of  the  same  shade,  the 
tibia  rusty  brown,  while  the  tarsus  is  very  dark  ;  the 
proboscis  for  a  considerable  portion  of  its  length  is 
hard,  dark,  and  highly  polished,  incapable  of  being 
wholly  withdrawn  as  in  many  species  of  the 
Anthomyiidse. 

The  general  character  of  the  Caricea,  as  given  by- 
Mr.  R.  H.  Meade  in  an  annotated  list  of  the  British 
Anthomyiidse,  will  be  found  in  "  The  Entomologists' 
Monthly  Magazine,"  vol.  20,  p.  60.  For  the  benefit 
of  those  readers  who  do  not  possess  the  work,  I 
append  the  description  thus  given  :  acknowledging 
my  indebtedness  to  that  gentleman  for  the  identifica- 
tion of  this  creature. 

"  Eyes  bare,  widely  separated  by  a  space  of  nearly 
equal  width  in  both  sexes  ;  arista  with  long  hairs  ; 
alulets  well  developed ;  tibiae  all  armed  at  their 
apices  with  four  or  five  spines  ;  anal  vein  rather  short, 
only  reaching  about  half-way  from  the  base  to  the 
margin  of  the  wing." 

The  lobes  terminating  the  proboscis  are  small 
and  not  readily  expanded.  To  display  this  portion 
of  the  mouth,  a  method  similar  to  that  adopted  in 
the  case  of  Stomoxys  calcitrans  must  be  employed  -y 
and  if  the  incision  is  made  at  the  right  spot  an  ex- 
ceedingly symmetrical  set  of  organs  will  be  revealed. 

In  this  case  a  departure  has  been  made  from  the 
course  hitherto  followed  in  these  notes,  the  whole  set 
of  teeth  being  given. 

The  dentition  of  this  creature  consists  of  two 
distinct  types,  which  are  comparable  only  with  organs 


2o6 


HA  RD  WICKE'S   S  CIENCE-  G  OSS  IF. 


possessed  by  animals  widely  separated  in  the  scheme 
of  classification  ;  thus  we  find  two  groups  of  pyrami- 
dally formed  teeth,  which  strongly  presents  the  char- 
acter of  fish  teeth  in  outward  form,  and  four  regions 
covered  with  minute  plates,  which  readily  recall  the 
gastric  teeth  in  some  species  of  Coleoptera. 

Taking  the  teeth  first,  we  find  two  groups  each 
consisting  of  four  teeth,  having  a  broad  base  and  termi- 
nating in  a  sharp  point ;  one  is  largely  developed, 
two  of  intermediate  size  and  one  very  small,  the  base 
of  each  appears  of  a  light  colour,  which  indicates 
a  thin  structure,  while  about  half  the  length  of  each 


teeth  two  are  large,  and  in  the  natural  position  of  the 
mouth  occupy  the  front  portion  ;  the  other  two  are 
smaller,  and  are  situate  at  the  back  part  of  the  oral 
aperture.  They  each  consist  of  an  accumulation  of 
small  plates  of  chitin,  arranged  like  tiles  on  a  roof. 
If  viewed  with  a  low  power  they  look  like  small 
spines,  but  when  an  enlargment  of  five  or  six  hundred 
diameters  is  adopted,  it  will  be  seen  they  are  tolerably 
broad  at  the  base  and  terminate  in  fine  points.  They 
are  light  amber  in  colour  and  unitedly  cover  a  large 
surface  of  the  mouth. 

There   is   also   another   organ,    somewhat    sickle- 


Fig.  145. — Teeth  of  Caricea  tig7-ina.     X  200  diam. 


tooth  towards  the  apex  is  exceedingly  dark,  and  points 
to  a  thickening  of  the  organ. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  former  notes  of 
this  series  attention  was  drawn  to  the  folding  of 
the  membrane  forming  the  tooth  as  it  approached 
the  point  of  attachment  ;  in  the  present  instance 
this  order  is  reversed,  the  basal  portion  appears 
delicate,  and  at  about  one-third  of  the  entire  length 
of  the  tooth  the  fold  takes  its  rise,  and  is  continued 
to  the  apex,  thus  giving  this  part  of  the  organ  a  great 
consistency  and  power  of  attrition. 

Of  the  four  regions  bearing  the  similarity  to  gastric 


shaped  (not  shown  in  the  illustration)  capable  of 
protrusion  and  retraction  ;  it  is  by  the  action  of  this 
part  operating  against  the  dental  organs  that  the 
creature  seizes,  crushes,  and  triturates  its  food. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  the  pseudo-tracheae  are 
few  in  number  and  insignificant  in  size. 

The  perpetuation  of  the  species  is  provided  for  by 
the  extrusion  of  perfect  larvae  about  one-tenth  of  an 
inch  long,  and,  judging  by  their  mouth  organs,  they  are 
powerful  agents  in  the  work  of  destruction  of  the  roots 
of  plants,  on  which  it  is  presumed  they  feed. 

Cardiff. 


HARD  WICKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


ioj 


SCIENCE  IN  THE  PROVINCES. 

VARIOUS  Reports  and  "  Proceedings"  of  Pro- 
vincial Societies  have  accumulated,  and  have 
been  awaiting  a  due  recognition  of  their  merits.  It 
is  surely  but  few  schools  that  can  shew  such  a  record 
as  that  contained  in  a  book  issued  from  Marlborough 
College,  the  result  of  twenty  years'  observations  in 
Botany,  Entomology,  Ornithology,  and  Meteorology, 
1S65-84.  The  bulk  of  it  consists  of  tables  of  figures, 
which  could  doubtless  be  made  the  basis  for  much 
induction  of  an  interesting  character.  The  first  set 
shows  the  earliest  observations  of  plants,  in  which 
Eranthis  hiemalis  heads  the  list  with  Jan.  23  as  an 
average,  and  Hedera  helix  comes  at  the  end  (Sept.  27). 
Last  notices  are  not  shown,  nor  how  long  the  plants 
lasted,  and  it  is  evident  that  more  is  required  to  be 
known  than  the  date  of  first  appearances  in  comparing 
a  plant  which  lasts  all  the  season  with  one  which 
lasts  a  month  or  two.  Other  tables  follow  for  Insects 
and  Birds  (93  kinds),  and  the  last  entry,  after  the 
meteorological  tables,  gives  the  heaviest  fall  of  rain, 
presumably  in  24  hours,  as  2*32  inches,  which  is  set 
down  to  July  14th,  1875,  the  hour  of  observation 
being  apparently  nowhere  given.  The  labour  repre- 
sented by  these  tables,  both  in  making  the  observa- 
tions and  in  arrangyig  the  results,  must  have  been 
very  considerable. 

The  Proceedings  of  the  Liverpool  'Naturalists' 
Field  Club  contains,  besides  the  presidential  address, 
an  account  of  the  field  meetings,  with  resumes  of 
their  botanical  results  and  lists  of  the  plants  found  ; 
accounts  of  the  botanical  exercises  and  prizes,  and  a 
list  of  books  useful  in  the  study  of  Natural  History, 
with  prices  and  publishers.  The  club  is  a  large  one, 
with  over  400  members,  and  its  work  seems  to  be 
largely  botanical.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  its 
authorities  will  keep  in  view  the  question  of  the 
preservation  of  rare  plants,  which  forms  the  subject 
of  a  note  in  another  column  ;  and,  indeed,  some 
remarks  by  Mr.  John  Vicars  show  that  the  subject 
is  not  wholly  overlooked. 

The  work  of  the  Hackney  Microscopical  and 
Natural  History  Society,  of  which  the  eighth  annual 
Report  is  published,  is  more  general,  to  judge  by  the 
notices  of  papers  read  or  lectures  delivered.  Among 
the  subjects  of  these  are  Insects  and  Flowers,  The 
Food  of  Man,  Natural  History  Notes  in  a  Town 
Garden,  The  Formation  of  Chalk,  Microscope  work, 
and  local  Geology.  A  list  of  Field  Excursions  for 
the  present  year  is  given,  and  a  Catalogue  of  the 
Books  in  the  Library.  The  meetings  of  the  Society 
are  held  at  the  Morley  Hall,  Hackney,  the  President 
being  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke,  M.A. 

The  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Wellington 
College  Natural  Science  Society  contains  notices  of 
numerous  lectures  delivered  at  the  open  meetings  of 
the  society,  and  lists  of  plants,  insects,  and  birds, 
which  seem  to  want  further  explanation  to  make 
them  comprehensible.  Monthly  meteorological  tables 


follow,  and  brief  entomological  and  zoological  reports 
conclude  the  volume. 

The  twenty-seventh  Report  of  the  East  Kent 
Natural  History  Society  shows  a  membership  of  over 
seventy,  and  gives  titles  of  papers,  addresses  and 
notes  presented,  and  the  names  of  objects  exhibited. 
A  very  important  feature  of  the  Society  is  its  extensive 
and  valuable  library. 

The  Louth  Naturalists'  Society  has  held  its  first 
annual  meeting,  and  has  issued  a  report,  balance 
sheet,  &c.  The  number  of  ordinary  members  is  at 
present  small,  but  if  they  are  all  working  members 
that  may  not  be  of  much  consequence.  Mr.  H. 
Wallis  Kew  is  the  hon.  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  Journal  of  Proceedings  of  the  Essex  Field 
Club,  now  published  separately  from  the  Transactions, 
though  only  recently  issued,  is  concerned  almost 
entirely  with  the  year  18S3.  It  contains  reports  of 
ordinary  and  Field  meetings,  and  also  of  papers  read, 
among  these  being  an  interesting  note,  by  Mr.  W. 
White,  on  an  abnormality  in  the  flowers  of  fuchsia, 
with  illustrations.  The  Transactions  of  the  same 
club  contains  the  Presidential  address  by  Professor 
Boulger  in  January  1884,  and  other  papers  mostly 
read  in  18S3,  including  Notes  on  Deneholes,  by  Mr. 
T.  Vincent  Holmes,  F.G.S.,  illustrated.  The  club 
is  fortunate  in  having  Epping  Forest  as  a  hunting 
ground,  and  the  Proceedings  contain  evidence  of 
work  done  by  them  in  opposing  the  extension  of  the 
railway  to  High  Beach. 

The  lately  formed  East  of  Scotland  Union  of 
Naturalists'  Societies  has  issued  a  volume  of  Reports. 
It  contains  the  address  of  the  president,  Dr.  F. 
Buchanan  White,  at  the  first  annual  meeting,  in 
which  he  gives  some  very  useful  hints  as  to  the  work 
of  such  a  local  union.  This  is  followed  by  a  number 
of  preliminary  reports,  which  have  been  drawn  up  on 
the  state  of  knowledge  of  the  various  departments  of 
Natural  Science  in  the  district.  It  was  suggested 
that  the  reporters  should  say,  as  far  as  possible, 
whether  the  subject  in  question  had  been  investi- 
gated ;  what  parts  of  it  more  especially  required 
further  investigation,  both  as  regards  the  district  and 
the  subject ;  what  was  the  probable  richness  of  the 
district  as  to  number  of  species  ;  and_whether  any 
important  works  had  been  published  on  the  subject, 
as  regarded  the  district  ;  and  also  to  offer  suggestions 
for  immediate  work.  Reports  based  on  such  lines  as 
these  should  be  very  useful  to  those  members  who 
have  a  fund  of  scientific  energy,  and  only  want  to 
know  in  what  direction  best  to  turn  it. 

The  Transactions  of  the  Chichester  and  West  Sussex 
Natural  History  and  Microscopical  Society  is  also  to 
hand.  This  society  numbers  no  members  and 
associates,  and  its  Transactions  contain,  besides  the 
ordinary  business  material,  several  papers  on  various 
Natural  History  subjects,  including  a  very  interesting 
one  on  the  Hymenofitera  {aculeata)  of  West  Sussex, 
by  Mr.  Edward  Saunders,  F.L.S. 


203 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 


NOTES     ON     THE     MOVEMENT     OF     THE 
POLLINIA  OF  ORCHIS  MASCULA. 

MR.  E.  MALAN,  in  his  interesting  paper  in  the 
May  number  of  Science-Gossip,  on  the 
Fertilisation  of  Orchis  mascula,  replying  to  some 
remarks  made  by  a  previous  correspondent,  infers,  if 
I  read  aright,  that  the  form  of  the  pollinium  probably 
has  something  to  do  with  its  movement,  and  suggests 
an  experiment  with  "a  roll  of  moist  clay." 

There  appears  to  me  to  be  an  insuperable  difficulty 
in  accepting  this  theory  as  an  explanation  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  pollinia.  The  change  of  position  is 
uniformly  in  one  direction,  and  this  notwithstanding 
that  a  pollinium  may  be  held  in  such  a  position  as  to 
cause  the  direction  of  movement  to  be  against 
gravity. 

An  additional  proof  that  the  overhanging  weight 
of  the  pollinium  has  nothing  to  do  with  its  movement 
may  be  tested  by  a  simple  experiment.  Remove 
with  a  pair  of  forceps  one  of  the  organs  in  question, 
without  touching  the  viscid  disc,  or  allowing  it  to 
come  into  contact  with  anything  ;  carefully  observe 
it  under  the  microscope,  while  still  held  quite  free  ; 
the  disc  will  be  seen  to  move  through  a  similar  arc, 
and  in  the  same  direction  as  it  would  have  caused  the 
•caudicle  to  sweep  had  the  disc  been  attached  to 
anything,  thus  showing  weight  and  form  are  not 
factors  in  the  sense  inferred  by  Mr.  Malan. 

That  the  drying  of  the  viscid  disc  is  the  cause  of 
the  movement  there  can,  I  presume,  be  little  doubt  ; 
the  following  experiments  were  made  with  the  view 
of  satisfying  myself  on  this  point.  Selecting  properly 
matured  flowers,  I  removed  a  pollinium  with  a  pair 
of  forceps  as  before  described.  I  immersed  the  basal 
portion  in  glycerine,  and  fixed  it  steadily  under  the 
microscope  ;  after  many  hours'  observation  no  visible 
movement  of  parts  had  taken  place.  Proceeding  in 
the  same  way  with  water,  I  found  the  function, 
though  arrested  for  a  time,  was  afterwards  performed 
when  the  water  had  evaporated  ;  substituting  benzine 
there  was  little,  if  any,  delay  in  the  movement  as 
compared  with  a  pollinium  in  its  natural  condition. 

Immersing  a  pollinium  in  glycerine  diluted  with 
water  on  a  slip  of  glass,  a  very  curious  phenomenon 
was  observed.  Tiny  viscid  globules  and  vermicular 
threads  of  same  were  ejected  from  the  cells  of  the 
disc  with  some  energy,  resembling  a  miniature  bom- 
bardment of  particles,  the  general  appearance  being 
similar  to  the  action  of  evaporating  spirit  when 
viewed  under  the  microscope.  A  globule  or  thread 
after  being  emitted  would  frequently  remain  station- 
ary for  a  second  or  two  ;  it  would  then  dart  off  with  a 
Tapid  motion,  as  though  propelled  by  an  explosive 
force  operating  in  the  region  of  the  disc. 

The  action  was  the  same  when  water  only  was 
used. 

In  both  cases  I  did  not  observe  any  subsequent 
movement  in  the  parts  of  the  pollinium.    Substituting 


benzine,  the  emission  was  exceedingly  feeble  in  some 
cases,  in  others  I  altogether  failed  to  detect  it,  while 
on  evaporation  taking  place  the  natural  movement 
again  set  in. 

With  pure  glycerine  there  was  no  emission,  the 
disc  became  quite  transparent  in  a  very  short  time, 
but  on  adding  a  little  water  the  action  instantly 
commenced,  the  globules  being  ejected  as  before 
described. 

The  movement  of  the  pollinia  may  to  some  extent, 
if  not  entirely,  be  due  to  the  chemical  qualities  of  the 
contents  of  the  cells  of  the  disc  ;  the  cause  of  move- 
ment is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  rapid  contraction  of 
the  cellular  tissue  caused  by  drying.  The  speedy 
evaporation  may  be  induced  by  the  contents  of  the 
cells  being  of  a  volatile  character,  as  indicated  by  the 
experiment ;  but  on  this  point  I  should  prefer  the 
judgment  of  others  more  competent  to  speak  than 
myself. 

Mr.  Malan  will  not,  I  hope,  think  these  remarks 
are  made  in  a  controversial  spirit,  but  simply  with  the 
view  of  contributing  a  mite  towards  solving  a  question 
in  the  economy  of  a  flower  which  is  at  once  as 
interesting  as  it  is  beautiful. 

W.  H.  Harris. 

Cardiff.  x 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

West  Sussex  Natural  History  Society. — A 
very  agreeable  soiree  was  held  by  this  Society  on 
June  9th  at  Chichester,  in  the  lecture  room  of  the 
Museum.  A  prominent  feature  in  the  exhibition  of 
natural  objects  was  that  of  about  200  species  of  living 
wild  flowers.  Some  excellent  diagrams  were  dis- 
played, and  many  interesting  microscopical  objects 
shown. 

It  appears  from  Dr.  Perkin's  presidential  address 
to  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  as  reported  in 
"Nature,"  that  derivatives  of  quinoline  as  substitutes 
for  quinine  have  been  prepared  from  coal-tar.  Though 
the  artificial  formation  of  quinine  itself  has  not  yet 
been  discovered,  nevertheless  other  bodies  have  been 
formed  which  are  thought  to  have  medical  value,  and 
it  is  pointed  out  as  an  interesting  fact  that  the  coal- 
tar  colour  industry  itself  had  its  origin  in  the  attempt 
to  form  quinine  artificially. 

"  Science"  says  that  during  the  last  twenty  years 
Swiss  glaciers  have  shrunk  in  size,  melting  away  up- 
hill and  retreating  as  much  as  a  thousand  feet  or  more 
from  their  fresh-looking  moraines.  Of  late,  however, 
it  adds,  not  only  has  the  retreat  in  many  cases  ceased, 
but  an  advance  has  taken  place  during  the  last  two  or 
three  years.  A  map  showing  the  recession  of  the 
glacier  of  the  Rhone  during  some  years  past  may  be 
found  in  the  same  number  of  "  Science." 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


209 


Science  has  lately  lost  one  of  her  oldest  workers 
in  the  person  of  M.  Henri  Milne-Edwards,  who  died 
on  July  29th,  at  the  age  of  85.  He  was  known  for 
his  Zoological  researches  on  Crustaceans,  and  in  the 
anatomy  and  physiology  of  marine  animals  of  the 
French  coast,  for  his  Cours  elementaire  de  Zoologie, 
and  his  great  work  on  the  comparative  anatomy  of 
man  and  animals,  which  was  finished  only  a  few  years 
ago.  He  succeeded  Isidore  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire  as 
professor  of  Zoology  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  besides 
holding  at  various  times  other  offices.  He  was  the 
father  of  M.  Alphonse  Milne-Edwards. 

It  is  understood  that  the  Government  will  apply  to 
Parliament  for  State  aid  for  the  Marine  Biological 
Association  on  condition  that  the  work  is  carried  on 
in  conceit  and  harmony  with  the  Scotch  Fishery 
Board. 

It  appears,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  A.  W.  Bennett, 
inaletterto  "  Nature,"  that  there  are  in  the  American 
flora  plants  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  same  species 
as  European  plants,  but  with  a  difference  difficult  to 
define  but  yet  recognisable.  He  instances  Osmunda 
regalis  and  Pteris  aquilina,  which  are  abundant  in 
Canada,  but  have  a  general  habit  which  marks  them 
off  from  the  English  forms.  The  American  Plantago 
major  is  stated,  he  says,  to  be  distinguishable  by  the 
American  horses  from  our  wayside  weed,  though  there 
is  scarcely  any  difference.  Some  English  weeds 
are  turning  out  the  native  ones,  but  the  daisy  and 
primrose,  it  appears,  will  not  naturalise  themselves 
in  America. 

The  "  Colonies  and  India"  in  an  article  on  wool 
growing,  after  speaking  of  the  successful  introduction 
of  the  Angora  goat  into  South  Africa,  suggests 
the  acclimatisation  in  new  countries  of  the  alpaca, 
vicuna,  and  llama,  at  present  restricted  to  South 
America.  The  hair  of  these  and  other  animals  is,  it 
says,  increasing  in  demand,  and  it  considers  the 
mountainous  districts  of  South  Africa  probably  better 
adapted  for  the  alpaca  than  the  plains  of  Australia, 
where  an  attempt  to  introduce  this  animal  did  not 
meet  with  the  success  expected. 

From  a  paper  published  in  the  same  journal  it 
appears  that  Messrs.  H.  B.  Dixon  and  H.  F.  Lowe 
"have  shown  that  by  the  ignition  to  a  white  heat  of  a 
platinum  wire  in  a  well-dried  mixture  of  carbonic 
oxide  and  oxygen  gases  in  the  required  proportions, 
the  gases  may  be  made  to  combine.  No  flame  was 
visible  round  the  wire  and  apparently  no  explosion 
took  place. 

In  the  same  journal  Mr.  Thomas  Turner  describes 
some  experiments  with  relation  to  the  influence  of 
silicon  on  the  properties  of  cast  iron.  They  lead,  he 
says,  to  the  conclusion  that,  at  all  events  under  the 
circumstances  given,  a  suitable  addition  of  silicon  to 
cast  iron  may  considerably  increase   its   tenacity,  a 


result  in  accordance  with  previous  opinion  as  quoted 
by  Mr.  Turner. 

The  result  of  experiments  on  the  leaves  of  Euony- 
mus  japonka,  by  P.  P.  Deherain  and  L.  Maquenne,  is 
said  to  indicate  that  the  respiration  of  leaves  is  not 
accompanied  by  a  simple  change  of  oxygen  into 
carbonic  acid  gas,  but  that  an  internal  combustion 
takes  place  in  them  similar  to  fermentation,  the  effect 
being  the  evolution  of  more  carbonic  acid  gas  than 
equals  the  oxygen  supplied.  An  abstract  of  the 
author's  paper  may  be  found  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Chemical  Society  for  August. 

A  new  volume  of  the  "  Nature  "  Series  (Macmillan) 
is  expected,  the  author  being  Sir  John  Lubbock,  and 
the  subject  "Flowers,  Insects,  and  Leaves." 

It  is  said  that  Professor  Huxley  has  been  asked  to 
retain  his  post  as  Dean  of  the  School  of  Science,  South 
Kensington,  and  to  direct  generally  the  course  of 
biological  teaching  there. 

The  ability  of  salmon  to  jump  up  waterfalls  is  the 
subject  of  some  interesting  details  given  by  Professor  A. 
Landmark,  chief  director  of  the  Norwegian  Fisheries, 
ofwhichanoticemaybe  found  in  "Nature."  He  states 
that  under  some  circumstances  salmon  have  been 
found  to  jump  sixteen  feet  perpendicularly,  and  that  he 
knows  this  by  having  seen  them  jump  across  two 
masts  three  and  a  half  feet  apart  which  have  been 
placed  across  the  river  about  sixteen  feet  above  the 
water,  at  the  Hellefos,  in  the  Drams  River,  at  Haug- 
send.  He  even  says  that  some  salmon  when  jumping 
a  perpendicular  fall  are  able,  if  they  strike  the  fall 
straight  with  the  snout,  to  remain  for  a  minute  or  two 
in  the  falling  mass  of  water  should  they  happen  not 
to  clear  the  fall  at  one  jump  ;  after  which  with  a 
switch  of  the  tail  the  rest  of  the  fall  can  be  cleared. 

In  a  report  by  Mr.  S.  Stack,  Director  of  Agriculture 
in  Assam,  an  extract  from  which  may  be  found  in  the 
"  Entomologist  "  for  August  the  author  in  considering 
Assam  as  a  source  of  supply  for  the  English  silk 
market  says  the  wild  silkworms  of  Assam  are  out  of 
the  question,  being  much  too  scarce.  Of  domesticated 
worms  there  are  the  mulberry  worm  (Bombyx  textor), 
the  muga  worm  {Antheraa  Assama)  and  the  castor- 
oil  worm  {Attacus  ricini).  From  the  two  latter  Mr. 
Stack  thinks  something  might  be  done,  in  the  export 
not  of  the  thread  but  of  the  waste~cocoons,  those 
from  which  the  moth  has  been  allowed  to  eat  its 
way.  It  appears  that  from  waste  cocoons  imported 
from  India  or  China  the  manufacture  of  silk  plushes 
and  similar  fabrics  forms  a  flourishing  branch  of  the 
English  silk  industry. 

It  appears  that  the  authorities  at  South  Kensington 
do  not  intend  to  appoint  a  successor  to  Professor  Hux- 
ley, as  Professor  of  Biology  at  the  School  of  Science, 
but  have  considerably  increased  the  salary  of  Mr. 
Howes,  Professor  Huxley's  assistant. 


2IO 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


It  seems  only  too  probable  that  ballooning  has  cost 
another  life.  Mr.  F.  A.  Gower,  who  was  associated 
with  Mr.  Bell  in  telephone  improvement,  left  Cher- 
bourg on  July  iSth,  to  cross  the  Channel  in  his  balloon, 
and  has  not  been  heard  of  since. 


MICROSCOPY. 


Mr.  A.  Graham  Bell  describes  in  "Nature"  some 
experiments  which  were  made  in  his  presence  of  the 
method  proposed  by  Mr.  F.  Delia  Torre,  of  Baltimore, 
for   preventing   the  collision  of  ships  with  icebergs 
during  a  fog  or  with  other  ships.     A  musket  with  a 
speaking  trumpet  attached  to  the  muzzle  was  fired 
with  blank  cartridges  at  passing  vessels,  and  after  a 
longer  or  shorter  interval  an   echo  was  heard.     This 
was  the  case  when  the  ships  were  as  much  as  appeared 
to  be  a  mile  off.     An  echo  was  even  obtained  from  a 
small  tug-boat  approaching  the  launch  on  which  the 
experiments  were  made.     It  seems  that  a  return  of 
sound  is  caused  also  by  the  ripples  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  the  effect  being  in  this  case  like  the  rolling 
of  thunder  and  lasting  for  some  seconds. 

The  hundredth  birthday  of  M.  Chevreul,  the 
chemist,  perhaps  the  oldest  man  of  science  living, 
takes  place  on  August  31st,  he  having  been  born  in 
17S5,  and  preparations  have  been  made  by  Paris 
students  for  its  celebration. 

It  is  stated  in  "  Science"  that  Professor  Tyndall 
generously  gave  the  net  result  of  his  American 
lecturing  tour  in  1872-3  as  a  fund  for  the  education 
of  young  physicists  at  European  Universities,  but 
that  as  difficulties  arose  in  this  disposal  of  the  fund, 
the  gift,  which  has  in  the  meantime  accumulated  to 
thirty-two  thousand  dollars,  has  lately  been  divided 
by  Professor  Tyndall  equally  between  Harvard, 
Columbia  College  and  Pennsylvania  University  for  the 
maintenance  of  graduate  scholarships  or  fellowships 
in  physics. 

A  biography  of  Mr.  Darwin  by  his  son,  Mr.  G. 
H.  Darwin,  is  expected  to  be  published  before  the 
end  of  the  year. 

From  a  report  in  the  "English  Mechanic"  of  a 
lecture  delivered  by  Dr.  P.  Ebell  at  Hanover,  it 
appears  that  the  effect  of  "grass  bleaching"  has  been 
shown  by  previous  investigation  to  be  due  not  to  ozone, 
as  was  supposed,  but  to  oxygenated  water  or  hydrogen 
peroxide,  which  forms  an  oxidising  agent  having  the 
advantage  over  those  practically  employed  of  not 
injuring  the  material.  It  is  said  that  the  difficulties 
of  preparing  oxygenated  water  on  the  large  scale 
have  been  overcome,  a  three  per  cent,  solution  (by 
weight)  being  obtainable  at  a  moderate  price  and  in 
any  quantity,  and  that  it  may  be  considered  as  the 
bleaching  agent  which  is  to  rule  in  the  future. 

A  new  soldering  material  for  sealing  up  food-tins 
is  said  to  have  been  patented,  consisting  of  a  solution 
of  lactic  acid  and  glycerol  in  water,  for  which  is 
claimed  a  freedom  from  the  ill-effects  which  have 
been  attributed  to  chloride  of  zinc. 


Cole's  Studies  in  Microscopical  Science. — 
The  last  set  of  these  studies  received  consists  of  slides 
showing  a  transverse  section  of  a  feather  in  its 
follicle ;  vertical  section  of  female  receptacle  of 
marchantia,  showing  archegonia  ;  lung  tuberculosis  ; 
and  a  transverse  section  of  tail  of  puppy  ;  together 
with  the  accompanying  chromo-lithographs  and  text. 

The  Journal  of  the  Royal  Microscopical 
Society. — The  August  number  contains  a  paper  by 
Messrs.  F.  R.  Cheshire  and  Watson  Cheyn  on  Bacil- 
lus alvci;  the  Cause  of  Foul  Brood  in  Bees,  illustrated 
by  two  plates  (see  this  vol.  p.  114) ;  a  paper  by  Dr. 
R.  L.  Maddox,  on  Feeding  Insects  with  Bacilli ;  an 
Account  of  Four  New  Species  of  Flosculari,  and  Five 
other  New  Species  of  Rotifera,  by  Dr.  C.  T.  Hudson, 
illustrated  ;  and  the  summary  of  current  researches. 

The     Journal    of     Microscopy.— The    July 
number  of  the  Journal  of  Microscopy  and  Natural 
Science,  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Postal  Micro- 
scopical   Society,    contains    papers   on   Cystopus,  or 
White   Rust,  by  Mr.    George    Norman,    F.R.M.S., 
illustrated  ;     on     Mounting    Beetles,     &c,    without 
pressure,   by  Robert   Gillo  ;    on    What   is  a    Plant  ? 
Part  ii.,  by  H.  W.  S.  Worsley-Benison,  F.L.S. ;  on 
Chironomus   Prasinus,   Part    ii.,   by    A.    Hammond, 
F.L.S.  ;  on  Animal  Metamorphosis,  Part  ii.,  by  J.  B. 
Jeaffreson,    M.R.C.S.,  illustrated;    the    Microscope, 
and  How  to  Use  It,  Part  iii.,  by  V.  A.  Latham  ; 
and  on  Diatoms  in  the  Stomachs  of  Shell-Fish  and 
Crustacea,  by  E.  B.  Courroux.     There  are  three  plates 
of  figures  at  the  end. 

The  Anatomy  of  the  Cockroach.— In  reply  to 
J.  H.  Moorhead,  I  venture  to  give  the  following  hints, 
until  some  friend  comes  forward  who  is  better  able 
than  I  am  to  do  so.     There  have  been  some  excellent 
slides  circulated  in  the  Postal  M.  Boxes  mounted  by 
one  of  our  members,  Mr.  A.  W.  Lyons,  illustrating 
these  very  articles  a  few  weeks  ago.     The  wing  of  a 
male   cockroach  may  be  bleached  in   the  following 
solution.     Hydrochloric  acid,  gtt.  (drops)  x.  ;  chlorate 
of  potash  5ss ;  aqua   5J.     This  will  render  antennae 
and  wings  transparent.     Wash  well,  dry  and  mount 
in  C.  balsam  and  benzole.     Many  are  rendered  trans- 
parent  enough   by   merely   soaking    in    turpentine. 
Instead  of  the  above,  a  weak  solution  of  chloride  of 
lime  may  be  used,  by  which  means   the   nerves  in 
antenna;  will  be  well  seen.     I  have  some  mounted  in 
glycerine   jelly,  first  soaking  them   in  equal  parts  of 
glycerine  spirit  and  water.     Elytron  :   after  soaking 
in  turpentine,  cleaning  and  drying,  soak  in  benzole 
and    mount    in    benzole    and   balsam.      Gizzard   is 
separated  >om    other   parts,    cut    open,    soaked   in 
potass,   wash  well,   mount  as  above  or  in  gly.     The 
gizzard  may  be  obtained  by  holding  insects   firmly 
with  pair  of  tweezers,   and  with  back  of  dissecting 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


211 


knife  draw  the  head  from  the  body,  the  head  brings 
with  it  the  stomach,  gizzard  and  chief  portion  of 
digestive  organs.  Eyes,  after  being  cut  from  the  head, 
are  soaked  for  a  short  time  in  liquor  potass ;  they 
may  be  mounted  dry,  the  facets  show  well ;  or  soak 
in  equal  parts  of  gly.  spirit  and  water,  and  mount  in 
gly.  jelly.  Tongue  mount  as  above.  Spiracles 
soak  and  mount  as  above,  but  to  see  them  properly, 
the  skin  must  be  stretched  to  show  the  part  between 
the  segments.  The  salivary  glands  sent  to  P.  M.  Soc. 
boxes  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Lyons  were  stained  carmine  and 
mounted  in  C.  b.  and  benzole.—  V.  A.  Latham. 


ZOOLOGY. 

The  Air-Bladder  of  Fishes.— A  very  interesting 
paper  on  this  subject  by  Mr.  Charles  Morris  is  printed 
in   the    "  Proceedings   of  the  Academy   of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia."     He   describes   the  air- 
bladder  as  at  present  most  generally  a  closed  sac, 
containing,  in  fresh- water  fishes,  nearly  pure  nitrogen  ; 
in    ocean  fishes,    particularly   in   deep  swimmers,  a' 
sometimes  considerable  excess  of  oxygen.     He  con- 
siders that  the  air-bladder  is  not   now  an  organ  of 
functional  importance,  though  it  may  serve  certain 
uses,  such  as  to  raise  or  lower  the  fish  in  the  water, 
to  keep  its  back  uppermost,  to  raise  or  depress  the 
fore  part  of  the  body,  &c.     He  looks  upon  it  as  a 
survival  of  a  breathing  organ,  and  as  being  now  on 
the    road  to  extinction.     This  view  he   supports  by 
reference  to  embryological  evidence  and  to  the  con- 
dition   of   existing  ganoids   and    elasmobranchs,    as 
affording  indications  of  the  possible  state  of  matters 
during  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  period  when  these 
two  orders  were  abundant.     Existing  elasmobranchs 
are  destitute  of  air  bladders,  both  in  the  larval  and 
mature   stages ;    while   existing  ganoids  possess  one 
which  retains  a  fully-developed  pneumatic  duct  in  the 
mature  stage.     The  sub-order  of  the  Dipnoi  possesses 
a   bladder  functionally  active  as  a   lung.     Of  these 
latter   the   Australian   lung-fish     (Ceratodus)    has   a 
single     air-bladder     with     symmetrically     arranged 
breathing  pouches,  and  is  supposed  to  breathe  with 
its  lungs  when  the  water  is  muddy  or  otherwise  unfit 
for  use.     Finally  Lepidosiren  and  Protopterus  have 
completely  formed  lungs  of  cellular    structure  with 
two  lateral  chambers  and  a  pulmonary  artery.     Mr. 
Morris  thinks  that  not  only  may  the  ancient  fishes 
have  used  their  air-bladders  for  the  occasional  direct 
breathing  of  air  when  the  water  was  thick  or  muddy 
or  lacking  in  sufficient  aeration,  or  when  the  pools 
dried   up,   though  it  was  such  causes  as  these  that 
probably  led  to  the  original  development  of  the  air- 
breathing  organ,  but  that  in  the  absence  of  foes  in  the 
shape   of  vertebrate   land   animals    they  may    have 
gained  the  habit  of  leaving  the  water  temporarily  in 
search   of  food.      Since  even  now,   when  so    many 


active  enemies  are  to  be  found  in  the  land,  many  fish 
do  invade  the  shore,  and  some  even  climb  trees,  he  is 
of  opinion  that  it  is  quite  possible  that  in  the  early 
period  when  it  could  be  done  without  danger,  very 
many  fishes  may  have  paid  temporary  visits  to  the 
land. 

LlMN/EA     Stagnalis    a    Paper-feeder.— This 
afternoon  I  visited  the  pond  on  Chislehurst  Common, 
where  the  variety  of  L.  stagnalis  which  I  provisionally 
call  elega?itula  abounds.      The  hot  weather  had  much 
diminished  the  size  of  the  little  pond,  and  the  water- 
weed    {Potamogeton     crispus)    is     quite    insufficient 
apparently  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  very  numerous 
Limnasae  as  well  as  an  abundance  of  Planorbis  spirorbis : 
At  one  particular  spot,  however,  there  seemed  to  be 
something  very   enticing,  for  here  the   L.   stagnalis 
were  gathered  together,  so  that  for  the  space  of  about 
a   square   foot   nothing   else  could    be   seen.     Being 
curious  to  ascertain  the  reason  of  this  vast  assembly, 
I  divided  the   crowd.     The   attraction  was  nothing 
more   than   an  old  newspaper,  which  had  probably 
been  blown  into  the  pond,  and  which  was  torn  to 
shreds  and  partly  devoured  by  the  ravenous  snails. 
It  did  not  contain  anything  wrapped  in  it,  the  paper 
was  the  sole  attraction.     Helices  in  confinement,  as 
most  collectors  are  aware,  will  readily  eat  paper  if 
they  can  get  nothing  better,  but   I   never  heard  of 
Limnsea  doing  so  before.     I  brought  some  of  these 
snails   home   and  put   them   into   some  water  with 
paper,  pelargonium  and  rose  petals,  leaves  of  ivy  and 
bracken,  and  flowers  of   Vicia  cracca.     They  "  went 
for  "  the  pelargonium  petals,  and  these  are  already 
riddled  with  holes.— 71  D.  A.  Cockerell. 


The  Nest  of  the  Fifteen-Spined    Stickle- 
back.—Professor  Karl  Mobius  says   that   the  sea- 
stickleback  (SpiuacAia  vulgaris,  Flem.)  constructs  a 
nest    for   its   eggs   and    young,    employing   delicate 
shallow   water    plants,    making   with    these    a    soft 
rounded  mass  5-8  centim.  in  diameter  upon  Zosters, 
seaweed   fronds,    or   piles   of  landing-stages,  which 
nest  the  male  surrounds  with  white  silky  threads,  and 
then  keeps  watch  over.     Professor  Mobius  has  been 
able  to  throw  light   upon    the   previously  unknown 
origin   of  these  white   threads.     He   says   they   are 
nitrogenous,    made    of   a    peculiar    modification    of 
mucine,  and  are  formed  in  the  kidney  of  the  male, 
which  produce  it  during  the  breeding-season  only  ;  and 
the  male  fish  has  only  to  swim  round  the  nest  while 
the    thread-forming    mucus   is   given   off,    and    this 
attaches  itself  to  solid  objects  that  it  touches.    Further 
details  may  be  found  in  a  translation  given  in  the 
August   number  of  the  "Annals  and  Magazine  of 
Natural  History." 


Mollusca  in  Manitoba.— In  the  "Journal  of 
Conchology  "  for  July  may  be  found  a  paper  by  Mr. 
Robert  Miller  Christy,  entitled  "Notes  on  the  Land 
and  Freshwater  Mollusca  of  Manitoba."    The  writer 


212 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


observes  that  it  is  remarkable  that  so  many  species  as 
exist  there  should  be  able  to  do  so  in  a  country  where 
the  temperature  has  been  known  to  fall  as  low  as 
5o-5°  F.  The  absence  of  shells  from  the  bare  open 
surface  of  the  prairies  he  attributes  to  the  extensive 
fires  that  take  place  upon  them,  and  refers  to  his 
previously-expressed  opinion  that  the  absence  of  earth- 
worms is  due  to  the  same  cause. 

Birds  of  the  Soiavay  District. — "  The 
Naturalist  "  for  August  contains  the  first  part  of  some 
notes  on  the  birds  of  the  Solway  district  by  Mr.  J.  J. 
Armistead,  the  notes  given  being  mostly  due  to  his 
own  observation,  together  with  observations  made  at 
the  Ross  Lighthouse, 

Dryinus  formicarius. — In  the  "  Entomolo- 
gist "  for  August  Dr.  E.  Capron  records  the  capture 
of  Dry  imis  formicarius,  Latr.,  at  Shiere,  and  in  his 
note  says  that  it  is  very  rare  both  in  England  and 
other  countries ;  the  male  is  unknown,  and  nothing  is 
known  of  the  habits  of  the  insect,  which,  although  his 
specimen  is  quite  three  lines  in  length,  he  thinks  is  no 
doubt  parasitic,  probably  finding  its  host  in  the  order 
Homoptera, 

The  Periodical  Cicada. — This  is  the  title  of  a 
Bulletin  issued  by  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  the  author  being  Dr.  C.  V.  Riley.  The 
Cicada  septendecim  is  an  American  insect  which  comes 
out  in  broods  every  seventeen  years,  while  there  is 
also  a  race,  with  no  perceptible  specific  difference,  of 
which  the  broods  come  out  at  thirteen-year  intervals, 
and  which  Dr.  Riley  has  therefore  named  C.  tredecim. 
Moreover,  in  both  races  there  are  two  distinct  forms, 
a  larger  and  a  smaller,  the  former  by  far  the  more 
numerous.  The  broods  come  out  in  different  years 
in  different  parts  of  the  States,  and  a  list  of  many 
broods  is  given  with  particulars  of  their  appearances, 
&c.  Every  year  it  is  said,  for  the  next  seventeen 
years,  except  1887,  1890,  and  1892,  will  be  some- 
where a  cicada  year.  Speaking  generally,  the  seven- 
teen-year broods  belong  to  the  Northern  and  the 
thirteen-year  to  the  Southern  States. 


BOTANY. 

The  Preservation  of  our  rare  Native 
Plants. — The  Council  of  the  Midland  Union  of 
Natural  History  Societies  has  taken  a  most  com- 
mendable step  in  issuing  a  notice  drawing  attention 
to  the  threatened  extinction  of  rare  plants,  a  question 
which  has  arisen  lately  in  connection  also  with  the 
Swiss  flora.  It  is  a  subject  which  ought  to  receive 
the  serious  attention  of  all  field-botanists  ;  and  indeed, 
those  who  collect  personally  or  by  agents,  in  order  to 
sell,  are  perhaps  not  all  of  them  beyond  the  reach  of 
an  appeal.  At  their  door  much  of  the  mischief  is  to  be 
laid,  but  they  are  not  the  only  causes,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  council,  who  name,  besides,  the  operations  of 


exchange  clubs,  the  careless  and  indiscriminate 
gathering  of  plants  by  botanists  and  students,  often 
with  their  roots  or  seeds,  and  the  reckless  gathering 
of  large  numbers  of  specimens  by  individual  botanists. 
Various  recommendations  given  with  a  view  to 
lessening  the  evil  are — to  abstain  from] countenancing 
the  purchase  of  native  plants  from  professional  plant- 
hunters,  either  for  their  rarity  or  for  their  decorative 
value  ;  that  botanists  should  make  but  limited  use  of 
exchange  clubs,  and  exclude  rare  plants  from  their 
operations ;  that  they  should  restrict  themselves  in 
the  gathering  of  plants,  and  even  abstain  altogether 
in  some  cases  ;  and  that  tourists  and  amateurs  be 
urged  to  refrain  from  collecting  rare  plants,  especially 
when  in  flower  or  in  seed,  as  few  of  those  gathered 
under  such  conditions  can  live  after  removal.  What 
seems  to  be  wanted  is  that  this  matter  should  become 
a  point  of  honour  among  botanists,  and  if  it  were 
widely  understood  that  a  true  botanist  did  not  pride 
himself  on  the  number  of  rare  plants  he  had  possessed 
himself  of,  a  feeling  would  probably  follow  that  it 
was  no  special  credit  to  have  such  in  one's  collection, 
and  certainly  not  to  make  them  an  object  of  eager 
acquisition.  One  other  recommendation  may  be 
added  to  those  advanced  by  the  council,  viz.,  to 
abstain  as  a  rule  from  telling  the  localities  where 
rare  plants  may  be  found.  The  compilers  of  floras 
will  hardly  like  this,  but  as  they  have  the  power  of 
doing  harm  in  this  direction,  it  is  as  well  to  point 
it  out.  Moreover,  there  is  no  credit  in  marching  off 
to  gather  rare  plants  whose  localities  have  been 
learnt  from  a  book.  Extinction  of  species  is  a  thing 
that  has  doubtless  gone  on  since  the  world  began ; 
but  botanists  need  not  hasten  it,  and  by  consideration 
and  the  practice  of  self-denial  may  do  something  to 
hinder  it. 

What  is  a  Plant?— Under  this  title  Mr.  H.  W. 
S.  Worsley-Benison,  F.L.S.,  in  a  paper  reprinted 
from  the  "  Journal  of  Microscopy  and  Natural 
Science,"  enumerates  various  points  which  appear  to 
afford  distinctions  between  plants  and  animals,  viz., 
Form,  presence  of  cellulose,  of  starch,  of  chlorophyll, 
function  of  locomotion,  of  digestion,  of  circulation, 
presence  of  nitrogen,  function  of  respiration,  of 
sensation,  and  lastly,  the  nature  of  the  food.  Under 
these  different  headings  he  gives  explanatory  remarks 
and  examples,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  paper  says 
that  the  case  will  be  found  to  be  pretty  much  this, 
that  while  many  of  the  points  are  not  distinctive 
enough,  "  in  the  presence  of  a  cellulose  coat  in  the  plant- 
cell,  in  digestion  followed  by  absorption,  and  in  the 
power  to  manufacture  protein,  we  find  fairly  constant 
and  well-marked  distinctions ;  the  morphological 
feature  of  plants  being  this  cellulous  coat ;  of  animals, 
its  absence  ;  the  physiological  peculiarity  of  plants, 
this  manufacturing  power ;  of  animals,  the  want  of 
it."  The  paper  forms  a  very  useful  summary  of  the 
points  bearing  on  this  question. 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


213 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 


Rate  of  Surface  Denudation. — The  following 
results  are  extracted   from  among    numerous   others 
given  in   a   paper   by  Mr.  Mellard    Reade,  F.G.S., 
entitled    "Denudation    of    the   Two    Americas,"   a 
presidential    address    to   the    Liverpool    Geological 
Society.     The  proportion  of  total  solids  in  solution  in 
the  Mississippi,  a  few  miles  above  New  Orleans,  has 
been  estimated  by  analysis  to  be  ^n  by  weight  of  the 
water.     This  amount  is  reckoned  to  give  in  round 
numbers  about  150,000,000  tons  or  So  square  miles 
of  rock  1    foot  thick  discharged   per  annum  by  the 
Mississippi  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and  the  propor- 
tion of  sedimentary  matter  has   been   estimated    at 
over  362,000,000  tons.     The  rate  of  removal  of  the 
surface   of  the   basin  of  the  Mississippi,  taking  into 
account  both  the  dissolved  and  the  suspended  matters, 
is  taken  to  be  about  a  foot  in  4,500  years.     Attention 
is  drawn  to  the  fact  that  over  20,000,000  tons  of  silica 
are  annually  poured  into  the  sea  by  this  river,  as  a 
remarkable  fact,  when  the  usual  apparent  insolubility 
of  silica  is  remembered.     A  sample  of  water  from  the 
Amazon   showed  of  dissolved  solids  only  TBgg5  of  its 
weight,  or  roughly  160,000,000  tons  discharged  per 
annum,  or  50  tons  per  square  mile  per  annum.     Mr. 
Reade  thinks  that  a  former  estimate  of  his  as  to  the 
general  rate  of  solution  by  rain  for  the  whole  world 
is  not  far  wrong,  viz.  about  loo  tons  of  rocky  matter 
per  English  square  mile  per  annum,  -j^g  of  a  foot  per 
annum  being  removed  in  a  soluble  form  every  year 
from  the  surface  of  England  and  Wales.    There  seems 
to  be  in  river  water  about  three  times  as  much  matter 
carried  down  in  suspension  as  in  solution. 

Mr.  A.  J.  Jukes-Browne  on  Stratigraphical 
Arrangement. — Mr.  A.  J.  Jukes-Browne,  in  a  paper 
on  rock-classification  in  the  "Geological  Magazine" 
for  July,  gives  a  Table  showing  some  new  proposals 
for  nomenclature.  He  divides  the  Tertiary  into  two 
systems,  the  Hantonian  (from  Hampshire),  which 
contains  the  Eocene  and  Oligocene  ;  and  the  Icenian 
(from  the  Iceni),  a  name  formerly  proposed,  with  a 
narrower  meaning,'by  Dr.  S.  P.  Woodward,  and  which 
includes  the  Miocene,  Pliocene,  and  Pleistocene.  His 
systems  thus  become  the  Icenian,  Hantonian,  Cre- 
taceous, Jurassic,  Triassic, ,  Carboniferous,  Devo- 
nian, Silurian,  Ordovician,  Cambrian,  Archaean  or 
Pie-Cambrian.  The  primary  divisions  of  the  Ordovi- 
cian are  the  Arenig  Grits,  Llandeilo  Flags,  and  Bala 
Rocks  ;  those  of  the  Silurian  being  the  Valentian 
(lowest),  Salopian,  and  Clunian  (forest  of  Clun).  The 
Permian  becomes  merely  a  primary  division  under  the 
name  of  Dyas.  The  Wealden  and  Neocomian  are 
placed  together  as  a  group  or  stage  of  the  Lower 
primary  division  of  the  Cretaceous  system,  followed 
immediately  above  by  the  Vectian  or  Lower  Green- 
sand,  the  name  Vectian  being  derived  from  the  Isle 


of  Wight.     This  paper  will  repay   perusal  by  those 
interested  in  Stratigraphical  Geology. 

Since  the  above  was  written  a  paper  has  appeared 
in  the  same  journal  for  last  month  by  Dr.  Henry 
Hicks,  F.R.S.,  in  which  he  proposes  to  use  the  term 
Cambrian  as  one  of  the  main  divisions  of  the 
Palaeozoic  Rocks,  the  others  being  the  Devonian  and 
Carboniferous.  The  Cambrian  he  would  subdivide 
in  descending  order  into  Silurian,  Ordovician,  and 
Georgian  primary  divisions,  the  latter  name  being 
taken  "from  the  districts  bordering  St.  George's 
Channel,  where  the  lower  rocks  (Llanberis,  Harlech, 
Menevian,  &c.)  are  best  exposed,  and  where  they 
have  been  mainly  examined."  He  says  it  may  be 
found  advisable  to  group  the  upper  system  also  of  the 
Palaeozoic  Rocks  into  one  system,  in  which  case  the 
Devonian  would  be  placed  as  the  lowest  of  three 
Primary  Divisions.  He  prefers  for  subordinate 
divisions,  as  far  as  possible,  geographical  terms  with 
wide  applications. 

Fossil  Algve  at  Kirkcaldy. — In  a  large  exca- 
vation made  at  the  Kirkaldy  Gas  Works,  a  stratum 
previously  unknown  as  existing  here  was  cut  through, 
and  found   to   contain    many   fossils,    apparently   of 
wood.     On  making  transparent  sections  of  them  for 
microscopic  examination,  however,  I  found  that  they 
are  fossil  algae,  having  a  very  near  agreement  with 
sections  of  recent  stalks  of  Laminaria  digitata  and 
L.    saccharina.      Like   the   Laminaria,    the   sections 
show  three  regions,  in  the  centre,  a   large  circular 
division  of  irregular  cellular  tissue  ;  surrounding  it, 
a  broad  zone  of  parenchyma  with  large  cells,  which 
are  somewhat  longer  vertically  than  their  horizontal 
diameter,  as  is  seen  by  longitudinal  sections ;  round 
this  another  broad  zone  of  parenchyma,  in  which  the 
cells  are  smaller  and  arranged  in  radiating  rows  ;  then 
the  epiderm.     The  three  zones  occupy  about  equal 
breadths.     The  largest  stems  I  have  seen  are  about 
four  inches  in  diameter.     Mr.  Macpherson,  manager 
of  the  gas  works,  has  two  of  this  size,  and  about  four 
or  five  feet  long.      There  is  abundance  of  pieces  of 
smaller  size,  many  of  them  flattened,  and  there  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  procuring  these  fossils  for  months  to 
come,  as  the  excavated  stuff  is  laid  on  the  beach,  and 
the  washing  of  the  sea  seems  to  separate  the  fossils 
and  make  them  more  easily  seen.     It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  outside  of  the   fossils  has  a  very  great 
resemblance  to  that  of  recent  Laminaria  which  have 
been  washed  ashore  and  dried.     The  sections  of  the 
fossils — both  cross  and  longitudinal — stand  grinding 
well,  and  are  very  beautiful.     The  stratum  is  situated 
in  the   Carboniferous  formation,   and  there  are  two 
seams  of  coal,  about  eighty  feet  apart,  not  very  far 
below   it,  which   have  been   anciently   wrought.      I 
propose  to  name  the  fossil  in  my  collection  of  slides 
Halophytis  magnum  till  I  hear  something  about  it 
— John  Sang. 


214 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Boring  in  the  S.E.  of  England. — It  appears 
from  notes  by  Professor  Judd  and  Mr.  C.  Homer- 
sham,  read  to  the  Geological  Society,  that  boring 
at  Richmond,  Surrey,  after  having  been  carried  on 
to  a  total  depth  of  1447  feet,  has  had  to  be  given 
up.  This  is  145  feet  deeper  than  any  other  well  in 
the  London  Basin,  and  the  strata  in  which  the  boring 
terminated  consisted  of  red  and  variegated  sandstones 
and  marls  with  a  dip  of  about  300,  which  might  be 
Poikilitic,  or  Carboniferous,  or  Old  Red  Sandstone. 
Furthermore,  a  boring  at  Chatham  yields  confirmatory 
evidence  as  to  the  distribution  of  the  Jurassic  rocks 
south  of  the  London  basin,  and  it  is  considered  that 
we  have  now  direct  evidence  of  the  existence  and 
position  of  Lower,  Middle,  and  Upper  Oolite  Strata 
respectively  below  the  Cretaceous  Rocks  of  S.E. 
England. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

A  Forest  of  Palms. — At  Bordighera,  on  the  Gulf 
of  Genoa,  can  be  seen  a  veritable  forest  of  palms, 
thousands  upon  thousands  flourishing  in  tropical 
luxuriance,  from  the  infant  plant  to  the  fully  grown 
with  its  leafy  crown  and  larger  clusters  of  fruit,  which, 
however,  rarely  comes  to  maturity,  the  sun  not  having 
sufficient  power  to  force  the  plants  to  secrete  the 
necessary  saccharine  matter.  One  may  also  see  around 
numerous  aloes  with  their  tree-like  blossoms,  and 
along  the  water-courses  in  the  lower  grounds  small 
groves  of  bamboos  cultivated  to  form  supports  on 
which  to  train  the  vines  on  the  mountain  sides.  Each 
year  a  large  quantiry  of  leaves  are  cut  and  despatched 
to  Rome  for  the  decoration  of  St.  Peter's  Cathedral 
on  Palm  Sunday ;  this  contract  appears  to  have 
originated  from  an  ancestor  of  the  present  owners 
rendering  the  Pope  some  great  service,  and  for  reward 
he  and  his  heirs  were  ordered  to  supply  the  whole  of 
the  palms  for  that  occasion  for  ever. — J.  R.  M. 

Notes  on  Insects.— Last  September  I  "treacled" 
on  various  walls  and  trees  in  my  garden,  and  in  the 
daytime  I  several  times  saw  V.  atalanta  enjoying 
the  sweets  meant  for  nocturnal  visitors.  I  believe  it 
is  not  usual  to  find  butterflies  at  treacle,  although  I 
have  frequently  seen  numbers  of  atalanta  on  plums. 
One  night,  on  examining  a  treacle  on  the  trunk  of  a 
young  black  poplar-tree,  I  saw  a  splendid  specimen 
of  C.  nupta  sitting  on  the  trunk.  Before  I  could 
capture  her,  she  flew  away.  I  returned  in  an  hour, 
and  found  her  on  the  same  tree,  and  captured  her, 
him,  or  it.  This  would  seem  to  show  that  Catocalas, 
as  well  as  Nymphalidse,  revisit  a  place  after  being 
disturbed  and  frightened  away.  Contrary  to  the  usual 
fate  of  "treaclers,"  I  several  times  in  September 
took  good  catches  on  moonlight  nights,  while  on  one 
dark  night  I  lound  very  few  moths.  The  weather 
during  the  week  had  been  rather  rainy.  I  have  several 
times  noticed  that  P.  Alexis  is  rather  fond  of  swampy 
fields.  Have  any  of  your  readers  noticed  this,  or  was 
it  a  mere  accident  ? — F.  II.  Perry  Coste. 

Notes  on  Blackbirds  and  Sparrows. — I  have 
just  witnessed  two  incidents  which  illustrate  the 
scarcity  of  food  for  birds  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
and    the   readiness  with  which   the   feathered   tribe 


adjust  their  habits  to  their  environment.  Last  even- 
ing I  saw  a  hen  blackbird  with  one  young  one 
hopping  over  the  lawn  in  search  of  food.  In  close 
attendance  were  two  sparrows,  and  the  reason  of  this 
attention  was  soon  apparent.  No  sooner  had  the  hen 
found  a  toothsome  morsel  for  her  chick  than  one  or 
other  of  the  uninvited  guests  helped  themselves  to  it 
before  it  could  be  passed  from  the  bill  of  the  old 
blackbird  to  that  of  the  young  one.  The  broad  bill 
of  the  sparrow  is  ill  fitted  to  drag  the  worms  from  the 
now  hardened  ground  ;  its  ingenuity  had  found  a 
substitute.  Somewhat  later  another  blackbird,  who 
evidently  had  some  hungry  young  ones  in  a  nest  at 
hand,  appeared  to  have  some  difficulty  in  finding 
sufficient  food  for  them.  The  ground  was  very  hard, 
worms  were  scarce,  and  the  lawn  had  been  carefully 
hunted  over  by  the  previous  pair.  A  lazy  beetle  is 
droning  overhead,  and  quick  as  thought  he  is  caught 
on  the  wing,  killed,  and  taken  to  the  nest.  Again 
and  again  was  the  feat  repeated,  and  not  even  the  fly- 
catcher, who  was  busy  at  his  usual  avocations  at  a 
little  distance,  could  have  shown  greater  dexterity. — 
John  I.  Plummer,  July  1st,  1885 

"  Druid  Stones  "  at  Stanton  Drew. — Can 
you  give  me  information  respecting  the  "Druid 
Stones "  at  Stanton  Drew,  about  five  miles  from 
Bristol.  1.  Are  they  Druidical  remains  ?  2.  What 
was  their  geological  origin  or  locality  ?  3.  How 
were  they  probably  transported,  i.e.  are^  they  erratic 
blocks,  or  of  local  origin? — Geo.  Bird. 

The  Pied  Fly-Catcher. — With  regard  to  the 
query  from  A.  C.  Pass,  I  beg  to  state  that  the  above 
bird  has  been  seen  several  times  this  season  in  the 
Keswick  district.  It  is  not  a  rare  bird  here. — J.  W. 
Goodall,  The  Museum,  Keswick. 

Glaucium  phceniceum. — Perhaps  it  may  interest 
your  readers  to  know  that  I  found,  on  a  waste  piece 
of  ground  in  the  vicinity  of  this  town,  July  14th,  a 
specimen  of  Glaucium  phceniceum  (Crantz)  ;  without 
doubt  it  is  an  introduction. — John  J.  Kidd,  Lynn, 
Norfolk. 

Corolla  of  Lonicera  periclymenum. — During 
my  botanical  wanderings  last  week  I  was  surprised 
to  find  numerous  specimens  of  Lonicera,  the  corollas 
of  which  had  assumed  a  green  hue,  instead  of  yellow. 
What  is  the  cause  of  this  peculiarity  ? — B.  L. 

Colias. — Though  south  of  Louth,  it  may  interest 
H.  Wallis  Kew  to  know  my  husband  caught  Colias 
hyale  in  1S68  ;  the  following  year,  1869,  C.  edusa.  In 
1877  the  edusa  were  very  abundant  in  a  clover  field, 
not  far  from  this  house,  which  is  near  the  river  Nene. 
We  did  not  see  hyale,  and  have  not  met  with  a 
Colias  since. — I'.  S.,  Wisbech. 

Nasturtium.— Having  this  year  grown  some 
Nasturtium  (order  Tropceolacea:),  I  have  noticed  at  the 
bases  of  the  blades  of  three  of  the  petals,  rather  in- 
clined inwards,  about  a  dozen  hairs  on  each.  Could 
you,  or  any  of  yours,  inform  me  what  purpose  they 
serve  in  the  economy  of  the  plant  ? — L.  Lee. 

Sand-Martins  and  their  Nests. — A  case  of 
the  persistence  of  birds  to  build  in  one  place,  occurred 
in  Nottingham  about  six  weeks  ago.  Nottingham  is 
built  upon  what  geologists  call  the  Bunter  Sandstone  ; 
which  is  well  shown  in  a  part  of  the  town  called  the 
Park.  The  rock  has  five  or  six  feet  of  soil  on  the 
top  of  it.  A  road  was  cut  through  a  part  of  it  some 
years  ago,  so  that  the  soil  and  the  sandstone  were 
exposed.     The  martins  found  the  soil  and  for  several 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


2I5 


years  have  built  in  it.  For  the  purpose  of  making 
some  stabling,  a  piece  having  about  twenty-five 
yards  frontage  was  cut  back  eight  or  ten  yards,  so  as 
to  leave  a  rectangular  opening.  The  soil  was  first 
removed  as  far  back  as  required  ;  and  next  morning, 
when  the  men  came  to  work,  they  found  the  birds 
busily  engaged  in  excavating  fresh  holes  in  it,  which 
they  continued  to  do,  and  utilise  for  nests,  all  the 
while  the  men  were  removing  the  hard  sandstone, 
which  required  the  use  of  wedges  and  pickaxes  to 
loosen  it. — L.  Lee,  Nottingham. 

Great  Grey  Shrike;  Little  Auk. — The 
occurrence  of  both  these  birds  is  mentioned  in  the 
"  Naturalist "  for  August.  The  former  (Lanius 
excubitor),  which  is  said  not  to  have  been  hitherto 
recorded  as  occurring  in  Britain  during  the  breeding 
season,  was  seen  by  Mr.  Thomas  Raine  last  June  near 
Leeds.  The  dead  body  of  a  little  auk  {Mergulus 
alle)  was  found  by  Mr.  J.  Chaloner  in  July  near 
Tadcaster. 

Swarms  of  Flies. — Have  any  readers  taken  note 
of  the  swarms  of  green  flies  which  occurred  during 
the  summer  ?  They  were  noticed  in  Ipswich  on  and 
near  the  15th  of  July,  and  it  was  suggested  that  their 
presence  was  due  to  the  comparative  absence  of 
swallows.  They  are  reported  in  the  "  Entomologist" 
for  August  by  Mr.  G.  E.  Sims,  jun.,  from  Oxford,  but 
the  date  is  not  given. 

Silkworms. — I  have  for  two  or  three  years  kept 
silkworms,  but  do  not  remember  before  noticing  the 
following  fact.  In  two  cases  a  cocoon  when  opened 
has  been  found  to  contain  two  chrysalises.  It  has 
been  impossible  to  unwind  the  silk  from  them,  and  it 
seems  likely  that  the  former  silkworms  had  broken 
each  other's  threads  in  the  process  of  spinning.  The 
cocoons  were  certainly  larger  and  flatter  than  usual. 
May  I  ask  some  one  to  inform  me  if  this  fact  has  often 
been  noticed  ? — Laurence  G.  J.  Epps. 

Toynbee  Hall. — "An  Amateur  Microscopist " 
writes  as  follows  :  I  dare  say  some  of  the  readers  of 
Science-Gossip  may  have  heard  of  the  Toynbee  Hall 
Institution  in  Whitechapel,  and  are  aware  that  its 
object  is  the  lessening  of  the  wide  gulf  dividing 
the  rich  and  the  poor  by  social  intercourse  between 
the  two  classes,  as  represented  by  the  workers  of  the 
Institution,  who  are  connected  with  the  leading  Uni- 
versities, on  the  one  hand,  and  the  poor  inhabitants  of 
the  East  End  on  the  other.  This  is  not  the  highest  nor 
the  most  worthy  of  the  objects  of  the  Institution,  but 
it  is  the  one  I  propose  dealing  with  in  this  letter. 
Subscriptions  are  now  being  received  for  the  purpose 
of  providing  the  Institution  with  a  microscope,  and,  of 
course,  objects  will  be  required  for  examination  and 
study.  Now  what  I  intend  doing  myself  to  assist 
this  work  and  what  I  beg  to  suggest  for  the  con- 
sideration of  your  readers,  is  as  follows  :  when  I  am 
doing  any  mounting,  I  will,  if  possessed  of  sufficient 
material,  mount  an  extra  slide  for  the  Toynbee  Hall. 
This  will  give  very  little  trouble,  as  it  is  as  easy  to 
mount  two  or  three  slides  as  one  when  the  material  is 
at  hand.  Hoping  that  I  may  have  your  approval  and 
co-operation  and  that  of  your  readers  in  this  matter, — 
I  remain,  &c. 

Toynbee  Hall. — As  I  learn  that  "An  Amateur 
Microscopist "  is  writing  to  you  on  the  subject  of  the 
Toynbee  Hall  microscope,  may  I  add  a  few  words  of 
explanation  about  the  undertaking  ?  The  idea  of  a 
microscope  for  Toynbee  Hall  was   suggested  by  a 


friend  much  Interested  in  that  Institution,  and  the 
suggestion  that  some  of  us  might  send  duplicate  slides 
for  exhibition  was  also  in  our  favour.  Thanks  partly  to 
the  kindness  of  friends  and  partly  to  the  lady  students 
of  Newnham  College  (who  established  a  fund  for 
this  purpose)  we  have  already  collected  about  three 
guineas.  We  do  not  doubt  that  if  a  few  of  the 
readers  of  Science-Gossip  would  contribute  a  shilling 
or  such  small  sum  towards  the  fund,  we  should  soon 
be  in  a  position  to  send  a  really  good  microscope  to 
the  Institution,  and  perhaps  to  procure  also  a  slide 
cabinet,  which  would  be  indispensable  if  donations  of 
slides  are  to  be  of  any  value. — G.  H.  Bryan,  Thomlea, 
Trumpington  Road,  Cambridge. 

White  Bugle. — In  answer  to  Miss  M.  Jackson's 
query,  I  may  state  that  I  have  preserved  in  my  her- 
barium a  white  bugle  (Ajuga  reptans).  It  was  found 
by  J.  Edmund  Clark,  B.A.,  B.Sc,  in  Helmsley, 
North  Yorkshire,  on  June  4th,  1872. — B.  B.  Le  Tall. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  insert  in  the  following  number  any  communications 
which  reach  us  later  than  the  8th  of  the  previous  month. 

To  Anonymous  Querists. — We  must  adhere  to  our  rule  of 
not  noticing  queries  which  do  not  bear  the  writers'  names. 

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  of  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


T.  H.  Marriott.— Direct  to  editor  under  cover  to  publishers. 
Kill  the  insect  first  with  benzole  or  chloroform. 

W.  C. — Articles  not  as  a  rule  received  on  the  condition  you 
refer  to.     Write  if  you  have  anything  to  send  otherwise. 

Exchange  Item. — It  is  possible  to  look  at  this  in  a  slightly 
different  light.  Neither  of  the  terms  of  the  exchange  were 
closely  particularised. 

F.  Marshall. — Yours  is  not  an  exchange. 

J.  M.— The  remains  of  shells  broken  as  you  describe  are  said 
to  be  frequently  seen. 

Miss  G. — The  scale  moss  has  apparently  no  fructification. 
The  rush  may  be  J.  acutiflorus  or  iamprocarpus.  Naming 
dried  _ up  specimens,  especially  when  only  part  of  the  plant  is 
sent,  is  apt  to  be  unsatisfactory. 

M.  E.  T. — Your  caterpillar  has  become  a  chrysalis. 

J.  G.— One  of  the  following  might  suit.  "  Popular  British 
Fungi,"  by  James  Britten,  F.L.S.  (London:  "Bazaar"  Officel, 
uncoloured  figures;  "A  Plain  and  Easy  Account  of  British 
Fungi,  esp.  esculent_  and  economic,"  by  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke. 
(London  :  late  Hardwicke  and  Bogue),  coloured  plates  ;  "  Rust, 
Smut,  Mildew  and  Mould — Microscopic  Fungi,''  same  author.' 
; London  :  late  Hardwicke),  coloured  plates.     Prices  unknown. 

F.  Challis. — Dissolve  shellac  in  naphtha,  till  it  is  as  thick 
as  cream.    If  the  specimens  are  rough  interpose  cotton-wool. 

M.  E.  T.— The  dark-winged  dragon  fly  appears  to  be  the 
female  of  Libellula  splendeus.     Both  are  somewhat  injured. 

John  Hill.— Your  vetch  was  too  dried  when  received  to  be 
of  much  good.  Flowers  packed  in  cardboard  boxes  are  apt  to 
be  dried  up  in  two  or  three  days,  and  moisture  may  do  harm. 

J.  Taylor. — The  present  number  is  the  ninth  of  the  volume. 
A  volume  contains  twelve  monthly  numbers,  beginning  in 
January.  For  skeleton  of  bird  or  small  animal,  boil,  but  not 
too  much,  and  remove  the  flesh.  If  small  do  not  disunite  the 
hjnes,  but  leave  them  attached  by  gristle.  Details  cannot  be 
given  here.  Papers  on  plant-preserving  have  appeared  in 
Science-Gossip,  one  of  which  is  republished  in  "Notes  on 
Collecting  and  Preserving  Natural  History  Objects."  As  to 
your  last  query,  write  to  the  address  given  and  ask. 

R.  H.  Wellington. — One  of  the  minute  fungi  which  are 
parasitic  on  cereals.  Popular  names  for  different  kinds  are 
"smut"  and  "  bunt." 


2l6 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


W._H. — Your  box  when  opened  (out  of  doors),  on  July  30, 
contained  a  most  unsavoury  mess,  which  had  apparently  in- 
fected the  parcel  in  more  ways  than  one. 


EXCHANGES. 

Several  well-mounted  slides  of  micro  fungi,  plant  hairs,  &c, 
for  other  well-mounted  slides,  or  for  books  on  microscopy  and 
biology. — James  W.  Horton,  Brayford  Wharf,  Lincoln. 

A  capital  air-pump,  worked  by  double  rack  and  pinion 
movement,  with  receiver,  &c,  complete.  Offers  solicited. — 
Henry  Vial,  Crediton,  Devon. 

Offers  requested  for  injected  tissues  of  cat,  rabbit,  guinea- 
pig,  and  hedgehog,  all  carmine  injected  and  first  class. — Henry 
Vial,  Crediton,  Devon. 

First-class  microscopical  slides  offered  in  exchange  for  fresh 
healthy  human  tissues. — Arthur  J.  Doherty,  33  Burlington 
Street,  Manchester. 

Horns  of  red  deer,  ibex,  &c,  for  natural  history  books  or 
specimens.  Wanted,  larvae  of  Lepidoptera,  birds'  skins,  shells, 
British  or  'foreign. — S.  L.  Mosley,  Beaumont  Park  Museum, 
Huddersfield. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip,  Nos.  193-200,  202,  for  1881,  in 
exchange  for  Lepidoptera,  fossils,  shells,  &c. — A.  Shepherd, 
70  Brecknock  Road,  N. 

Wanted,  in  exchange  for  books,  vols,  of  "  Bible  Educator  " 
{Cassell's),  with  the  exception  of  first  vol.,  Geikie's  "  Hours 
with  the  Bible,"  excepting  first  vol.,  or  McChayne's  "  Me- 
morials."— John  Millie,  Clarence  House,  Inverkeithing. 

Microscope  slides.  What  offers?  Fishing-rod  tackle  and 
books  on  angling  wanted ;  or  a  natural  history. — Mr.  Ebbage, 
8  Lowfield  Street,  Dartford,  Kent. 

Wray's  binocular  microscope,  22  inches  high,  glass  revolving 
stage  and  object-carrier,  eye-pieces,  2  B's  and  a  C  (Wray's 
best),  accessories,  without  objectives.  Will  exchange  for  mo- 
nocular 3  in.  microscope  with  objectives. — R.  E.  L.,  9  Lome 
Terrace,  Fallowfield,  Manchester. 

Aquarium,  octagon  shape,  slate  bottom,  good  condition,  size 
16  in.  high  by  15  across,  sloping  top ;  would  exchange  a  good 
parrot's  cage  or  first-class  microscopic  objects;  open  to  other 
offers  except  books  or  micro  apparatus. — R.  Mason,  24  Park 
Road,  Clapham,  London,  S.W. 

Wanted,  Reeve's  "  Conchologia  Iconica,"  those  volumes  on 
Unionidae,  Helicidse,  and  parts  on  Melania  and  Rissoidae. 
Offer,  in  exchange  for  any  volume  named,  over  300  species 
American  Unionidae,  Helicidae,  or  Strepomatids.— R.  Ellsworth 
Call,  619,  10th  Street,  W.,  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  U.S.A. 

Required,  vol.  xi.  of  "  Nature,"  in  any  decent  condition,  in 
exchange  for  a  selection  to  be  agreed  upon  value  from  the  fol- 
lowing, which  are  all  as  good  as  new  : — Trimmer  and  Dyer's 
"  Flora  of  Middlesex,"  Asa  Gray's  "  Handbook  of  Botany," 
Herschel's  "  Meteorology,"  Golding  Bird's  "  Nat.  Philosophy," 
Carpenter's  "  Microscope,"  Huxley  and  Martin's  "  Biology  ;" 
also  one  or  more  of  the  above  list  for  a  few  specimens  of  corals, 
in  good  condition. — G.  F.  Nest,  Jedburgh,  N.B. 

Side-blown  eggs,  separate  or  in  clutches,  ring  ouzel,  Ray's 
wagtail,  gray  wagtail,  rock  pipit,  goldfinch,  redpole,  brambling, 
for  others. — Jas.  Ellison,  Steeton,  Leeds. 

Dr.  Lang's  "  Butterflies  of  Europe,"  uncut,  to  exchange  for 
birds'  eggs,  corals,  or  any  natural  history  objects. — Jas.  Ellison, 
Steeton,  Leeds. 

Wanted,  1437,  1552,  1553,  1229,  1222,  1618,  1292,  360.  In 
exchange,  19,  1244,  800,  1504,  1293,  944,  1385,  and  others. — 
Rev.  F.  H.  Arnold,  Hermitage,  Emsworth. 

Wanted,  books  by  F.  O.  Morris,  Yarrell,  or  Bewick.  Will 
give  liberal  exchange  in  miscellaneous  works.— P.  Payne,  The 
Borough,  Hinckley. 

Wanted,  Stark's  "  British  Mosses."  Will  give  good  micro 
slides  in  exchange. — Samuel  M.  Malcolmson,  M.D.,  55  Great 
Victoria  Street,  Belfast. 

Wanted,  a  good  secondhand  copy  of  Newman's  "  British 
Butterflies  and  Moths."  Will  give  in  exchange  micro  slides, 
natural  history  objects,  &c. — F.  R.  Rowley,  60  Lower  Hastings 
Street,  Southfields,  Leicester. 

Fine  specimens  of  U.  Margariti/er  from  V'orkshire  Esk. 
Wanted,  Vertigo,  B.  moutanus,  also  varieties  of  Unio,  Ano- 
donta,  and  Helix.— B.  Hudson,  15  Waterloo  Road,  Middles- 
brough. 

Wanted,  nests  of  lesser  whitethroat,  stonechat,  tree-pipit, 
reed  warbler,  great  tit,  and  blackcap,  for  side-blown  eggs  of 
coot,  great  tit,  rook,  herring  gull,  &c. — A.  A.  ,Shaw,  Market 
Street,  Ashton-under-Lyne. 

Eggs  of  osprey,  cuckoo,  woodpecker,  heron,  grebe,  gull,  tern, 
and  petrel,  to  exchange  for  others  not  in  collection.  Wanted, 
ornithological  works,  also  any  odd  plates  or  numbers  of  old 
magazines  or  works  on  ornithology. — Dr.  J.  T.  T.  Reed, 
Ryhope,  Durham  Co. 

Wanted,  works  on  zoology,  particularly  Parker's  "  Zootomy," 
and  those  by  Huxley.  Will  exchange  Gibbon's  "  Imperial 
Stamp  Album,"  containing  about  425  stamps  (many  old  and 
very  rare),  also  small  microscope. — Jas.  Hornell,  123  Canning 
Street,  Liverpool. 

For  exchange,  skeleton  of  frog.  What  offers  in  micro  slides  ? 
— J.  Boggust,  Alton,  Hants. 


British  "marine  shells  in  exchange  for  the  rarer  land  and 
freshwater  shells.  Wanted,  Pisidium,  Paludina,  Hydrobia, 
Vertigos,  &c.  Lists  sent.— A.  Alletsee,  15  Roslyn  Terrace, 
Redland,  Bristol. 

Marine  shells:  Cardium  aculeatum,  C.  tuberculatum,  C. 
eckinatunt,  Bulla  hydatis,  A.  pes-pelicani,  Aplysia  kybrida. 
Many  others,  taken  alive  and  in  fine  condition.  Lists  from — 
C.  D.  S.,  Maplewell,  Loughborough. 

Offered,  a  glass  aquarium,  42  in.  in  circum.,  on  stand  ;  also 
"Knowledge"  for  1884  and  1885,  clean,  unbound;  or  foreign 
shells,  for  book  on  geology  or  fossils. — George  E.  East,  jun., 
241  Evering  Road,  Upper  Clapton,  E. 

Letts's  Popular  Atlas,  latest  edition,  4  vols.,  156  maps,  with 
index,  unbound,  in  cloth  cover.  Exchange  for  geological 
books,  fossils,  &c. — H.  P.  Dodridge,  7  Wharton  Street,  W.C. 

Well-blown  eggs  of  mute  swan,  blackcap  warbler,  herring 
gull,  great  b.  b.  gull,  less  b.  b.  gull,  com.  gull,  kittiwake,  jack- 
daw, night  heron,  and  puffin,  for  other  good  eggs.  Unaccepted 
offers  not  answered.— W.  H.  Heathcote,  61  Avenham  Lane, 
Preston,  Lancashire. 

Duplicates  :  Pisidium  roseum,  Paludina  contecta,  P.  vivi- 
para,  Flanorbis  lineatus,  B.  Leachii,  and  a  large  number  of 
other  species.  Rare  or  local  shells,  land,  freshwater,  or  marine, 
wanted  in  exchange  ;  also  back  numbers  of  the  "  Journal  of 
Conchology."  For  any  one  species  of  the  above  send  box  and 
stamped  label  to — S.  C.  Cockerell,  si  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford 
Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Will  exchange  2  doz.  good  histological  specimens,  well 
mounted,  for  a  fox  terrier,  a  dog. — Henry  Price,  102  Munton 
Road,  New  Kent  Road,  London,  S.E. 

Wanted  mounted  slides  of  good  diatoms,  named,  in  ex- 
change for  living  specimens  of  Hydra  viridis,  and  Alcyonella 
stagnoritm.  —  H.  Relton,  5  Carlton  Terrace,  Low  Fell,  co. 
Durham. 

"Illustrated  Carpenter  and  Builder,"  6  vols,  cloth,  and 
Cassell's  "Illustrated  Russo-Turkish  War."  2  vols.,  hand- 
somely bound,  offered  in  exchange  for  micro-slides,  no  anato- 
mical. —  R.  Ridings,  1  Hampton  Terrace,  Lisburn  Road, 
Belfast. 

Wanted,  shells  not  in  collection,  in  exchange  for  Sph.  rivi- 
cola,  Neritina  Jiuviatilis,  PI.  nitidus,  Testacella  hatiolidea, 
Lituax  Icevis,  Vertigo  autivertigo,  &c. — F.  Fenn,  20  Wood- 
stock Road,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  W. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  Scientific  Romances,  No.  II.— The  Persian  King,  or  the 
Law  of  the  Valley,"  by  C.  H.  Hinton,  B.A.  (Sonnenschein  & 
Co.).  —  "  The  Young  Collector,  British  Butterflies,  Moths 
and  Beetles,"  by  W.  F.  Kirby  ( Sonnenschein  &  Co.) — "A 
Tour  in  Sutherlandshire,  with  Extracts  from  the  Field- 
books  of  a  Sportsman  and  Naturalist,"  by  C.  St.  John,  2 
vols.  (Edinburgh:  David  Douglas). — "  Comstock  Mining  and 
Miners,"  by  Eliot  Lord  (U.  S.  Geol.  Survey). — "Contributions 
to  the  Knowledge  of  the  Older  Mesozoic  Flora  of  Virginia,"  by 
W.  M.  Fontaine  (U.  S.  Geol.  Survey.) — "On  the  Quaternary 
and  Recent  Mollusca  of  the  Great  Basin,"  &c,  by  R.  Ellsworth 
Call  (U.  S.  Geol.  Survey).— "Bulletins"  of  the  U.  S.  Geol. 
Survey,  Nos.  2-6. — "  Transactions  of  the  Essex  Field  Club." — 
"Journal  of  Proceedings  of  the  Essex  Field  Club." — "Cana- 
dian Science  Monthly."- — "  Proceedings  of  the  Geologists'  As- 
sociation."— "  Science." — "  Canadian  Entomologist." — "  Ben 
Brierley's  Journal." — "  Bulletin  of  the  Des  Moines  Academy 
of  Science,"  vol  i.,  No.  1.— "The  Journal  of  Conchology." — 
"  What  is  a  Plant?"  by  H.  W.  S.  Worsley-Benison,  F.L.S.— 
"  The  American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal." — "  The 
Asclepiad." — "  The  Geological  Magazine." — "  The  Animal 
World." — "  The  Revival  of  British  Industries." — "  Once  a 
Month  "  (Melbourne,  Australia). — "  Feuille  des  Jeunes  Natur- 
alistes." — "  Annales  de  la  Societe  Beige  de  Microscopie, 
1883-4."— "The  Naturalist."— "  The  Midland  Naturalist"— 
"  The  Illustrated  Science  Monthly."—"  A  Dictionary  of  British 
Plant  Names,"  by  H.  Purefoy  Fitzgerald,  (London:  Bailliere, 
Tindal  &  Cox.) — "  Transactions  of  the  Chichester  and  West 
Sussex  Natural  History  and  Microscopical  Society,"  March, 
1885. — "Testacella  Cuvier,"  and  "On  Land  and  Freshwater 
Mollusca  of  Dorsetshire,"  by  J.  C.  Mansel  Pleydell,  F.L.S. — 
"The  Canadian  Entomologist." 


Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from:— 
H.  V.— G.  F.  N.— J.  G.— J.  B.— T.  S.— W.  E.  C— J.  W.  H.— 
T.  M.-S.  L.  M.-T.  B.— A.  H.  S.-H.  R.-E.— W.  W.  I.— 
P.  M.— T.  P.— D.  M.  H.— A.  S.  M.— H.  C— B.  L.— A.  J.  D. 
—J.  T.  K.— R.  E.  C— A.  L.— W.  K.  S.— H.  W.  S.  W.  B.— 
A.  O.-W.  H.— R.  E.  L.-F.  J.  W.-H.  W.  K.— W.  C.-J.W. 
— T.  H.  M.— W.  W.  H.— A.  S.  W.— R.  M.— Y.— S.  M.  M  — 
C.  P— T.  D.  A.  C— C.  G.— P.  P.— F.  H.  A.— J.  E.—  W.  le  T. 
— R.  H.  W.— E.  G.— E.  A.  S— F.  R.  R.— F.  S.— F.  P.  D.— 
S.  L.— M.  H.  R.-J.  C.-D.  B.— J.  W.  O.— G.  R.— H.  P.— 
F.  F.— G.  B.-W.  H.  H.-S.  C.  C.-W.  H.— H.  P.  D.-J.  B. 
— G.  E.  E.— A.  A.— C.  D.  S.-J.  C.  S.— J.  T.  T.  R.— A.  A.  S. 
—  B.  H.— J.  G.— E.  de  C— R.  R—  E.  H.— G.  H.  B.— 
L.  G.  J.  E.— &c,  &c. 


CxRAPHIC    microscopy. 


"E.T.D.del  adnat 


it  Brooks  Day&  Soiliih 


T.S.  OF  TOOTH    OF  ANT    EATER, 


160 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


217 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


No.  XXII. — Transparent  Section  of  Tooth  of  Ant-eater. 


FULL  exposition  of 
the  general  and 
comparative  struc- 
ture of  teeth  may 
be  found  in  standard 
works  of  Physiology 
and  ordinary  text- 
books ;  but  in  ex- 
planation of  the 
singular  diversity  of 
form  and  character 
in  a  mammal  tooth 
as  shown  in  the 
plate,  it  is  necessary 
to  describe  generally 
the  typical  con- 
dition. 

The  teeth  of 
vertebrates  greatly 
differ  in  character, 
in  the  disposition  of 
the  tissues,  structure,  position,  numbers,  and  adap- 
tability, not  only  for  seizing  and  macerating  food, 
but  as  weapons  of  defence,  attack,  and  instruments  or 
tools  subservient  to  the  economy,  and  habits  of  the 
animal.  They  also  denote  age,  sex,  and  are  curiously 
adapted  to  the  quality  and  character  of  food  ;  to  meet 
these  and  many  other  exigencies,  their  structures  and 
condition  necessarily  divaricate  into  differences,  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  be  subservient  to  use  and  func- 
tions ;  the  shape,  character  and  organisation  of  a 
tooth  raises  it  to  the  importance  of  a  zoological 
touchstone  and  element  in  classification,  reaching  the 
deepest  researches  of  the  palaeontologist ;  every  class 
of  the  vertebrata — fossil  or  recent — may  be  distin- 
guished by  the  moulding  and  contexture  of  this  organ  ; 
notwithstanding  that  in  the  complex  creatures  of 
past  ages,  strange  approximations,  and  combinations 
of  class,  exist ;  the  recognition  of  an  extinct  Batra- 
chian,  the  Labyrinthodon,  was  determined  by  the 
character  of  the  convoluted  folds  of  the  dentine  of  its 
tooth. 

No.  250.— October  1885. 


In  the  beautiful  sections  as  now  prepared  for 
microscopical  investigation,  these  differences  are  so 
admirably  shown,  as  to  raise  them  above  "popu- 
larity," and  elegant  as  they  may  be  as  attractive 
objects,  to  the  student  they  are  of  deeper  interest  and 
educational  value. 

A  typical  tooth  (human  molar)  may  be  said  to 
consist  of  three  constituents ;  in  the  centre  a  cavity 
enclosing  a  soft  dental  pulp,  freely  supplied  with 
blood  vessels  and  nerves  ;  surrounding  this  is  the 
dentine,  the  actual  formed  substance  with  radiating 
canaliculi,  covered  on  the  surface  of  the  exposed  parts 
by  the  enamel ;  surrounding  the  imbedded  portion 
(the  root  or  fangs)  is  a  thin  vascular  structure,  the 
cement,  also  rich  in  blood-vessels.  A  section  cut 
horizontally  would  exhibit  all  these  components ; 
made  transversely,  the  pulp  cavity,  the  dentine,  and 
enamel  only  would  be  revealed  ;  such  a  preparation 
discloses  a  typical  condition  of  the  parts,  but  without 
deviating  from  the  fundamental  principle,  varieties 
and  modifications  are  found  in  lamination,  solidity, 
contour,  and  distribution  of  the  tissues.  These 
diversities  are  found  in  every  class,  and  extended 
modifications  in  species. 

It  is  common  knowledge  that  the  horns  of  some 
animals,  as  the  rhinoceros,  are  formed  of  a  dense 
compressed  mass  of  hairs,  and  the  component  parts 
of  these  compacted  structures  are  easily  distinguished 
by  the  microscope.  Such  cohesions  are  found  in 
teeth,  as  seen  in  the  plate.  An  infinite  number,  each 
with  its  distinctive  character,  may  be  aggregated 
into  one  mass  ;  to  external  appearance  it  is  a  single 
tooth  ;  on  microscopical  examination  it  is  found  to  be 
a  multitude  locked  together.  This  peculiar  compound 
intertexture  is  common  in  the  class  of  fishes,  but  some- 
what rare  in  the  mammalia.  The  object  depicted  in 
the  plate  is  an  instance  of  this  peculiarity,  and  is 
thus  described  by  Professor  Sir  R.  Owen. 

"  Each  tooth  of  the  Cape  Ant-eater  (orycteropus) 
presents  a  simple  form,  is  deeply  set  in  the  jaw,  but 
without  dividing  into  fangs ;  its  broad  and  flat  base 
is  porous  like  the  section  of  a  common  cane.     The 

T 


2l3 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


canals  to  which  these  pores  lead  contain  processes  of 
a  vascular  pulp,  and  are  the  centres  of  radiation  of 
as  many  independent  dentinal  tubules.  Each  tooth, 
in  'fact,  consists  of  congeries  of  long  and  slender 
prismatic  denticles  of  dentine,  which  are  cemented 
together  by  their  ossified  capsules,  this  columnar 
denticle  slightly  decreasing  in  diameter,  and  occasion- 
ally bifurcating  as  they  approach  the  grinding  surface 
of  the  tooth." 

The  drawing  represents  a  transverse  section  from 
the  thickest  part  of  a  molar,  and  meeting  the  above 
description,  displays,  in  the  separating  lines,  the 
columnar  denticles ;  in  the  centre,  the  pulp  cavity, 
and  in  the  intervening  spaces  the  radiating  dentinal 
tubules,  the  whole  showing  a  curious  example  of  a 
number  of  elementary  teeth  locked  together,  in  fact,  a 
compound  tooth  built  of  many  into  one  uniform  mass. 

An  interesting  and  singular  example  of  a  similar 
disposition  of  parts  maybe  seen  in  a  horizontal  section 
of  the  incisor  of  a  lemur,  with  the  difference  that  a 
space  exists  between  each  denticle  ;  although  a  com- 
bined tooth,  they  stand  out  alone,  as  free  processes 
from  the  base  to  the  crown,  without  adhesion  ;  con- 
sequently a  transverse  section  cuts  them  into  separate 
and  distinct  pieces,  each  (as  regards  structure)  a  tooth 
in  itself. 

Sections  of  teeth  should  be  prepared  and  mounted 
to  meet  every  possible  appliance  for  illumination. 

Crouch  End. 


LEAVES  FROM  MY  NOTE-BOOK  FOR  1884. 
By  A.  Kingston. 

\Continucd  from  p.  131.] 

THE  most  notable  circumstance  during  the  month 
of  May  was  the  remarkable  contrast  between  the 
severe  frost  at  the  latter  end  of  April,';  and  the 
summer  heat  which  prevailed  as  early  as  from  the 
9th  to  the  1 2th  of  May.  On  the  latter  day  the 
thermometer  registered  80  degrees  in  the  shade, 
while  a  correspondent  from  Doncaster  gave  a  record 
for  that  day  of  112  degrees  in  the  sun,  and  it  was 
certainly  considerably  upwards  of  100  degrees  in  the 
sun,  in  many  other  places  about  mid-day  on  the  12th. 

Few  things  in  the  botanical  world  were  more 
remarkable,  in  the  phenomenally  dry  summer  of  1884, 
than  the  superabundance  of  the  common  red  poppy 
{Papavcr  Rhceas),  which  brightened  up  many  a  broad 
stretch  of  cornfield  with  its  ruddy  glow,  and  in  many 
cases  outshining  the  green  corn  and  producing  a 
heavy  crop  of  itself,  which  afforded  employment  to  a 
number  of  young  people  and  casual  hands  in  collect- 
ing the  flowers  for  use  in  drug  distilleries. 

From  scarlet  poppies  to  bats  may  seem  a  far  cry, 
but,  on  a  summer's  evening  at  least,  it  need  only  be 
a  question  of  looking  up  or  down,  so  far  as  one  of 
these  curious  ' '  flying  animals  "  is  concerned.     Early 


in  the  evening  on  July  18th,  in  the  broad  daylight, 
and  some  little  time  before  sunset,  the  writer's  atten- 
tion was  attracted  by  what,  at  a  distance,  appeared 
to  be  a  number  of  swallows  hawking  vigorously 
for  insects  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  group  of  trees. 
On  getting  nearer  to  them  they  were  found  to  be 
bats,  from  12  to  20  in  number,  of  the  great  bat 
{Scotophilus  noctula).  I  am  aware  that  there  was 
nothing  very  extraordinary  in  the  number  seen 
together  of  a  bat  which  is  known  to  be  remarkably 
gregarious,  especially  in  its  winter  quarters.  Indeed, 
it  is  I  believe  on  record,  that  the  large  number  of 
185  were„  taken  from  beneath  the  eaves  of  Queen's 
College,  Cambridge,  in  one  night,  and  63  the 
following  night.  I  have  included  the  reference  to  it 
in  these  notes  as  a  confirmation  of  the  curious  fact, 
that  this  particular  species  of  cheiroptera,  which  has 
been  singled  out  from  about  fifteen  species  to  receive 
the  distinctive  name  Noctula,  is  remarkable  for  the 
very  opposite  peculiarity  of  coming  out  by  daylight, 
and  earlier  in  the  evening  than  any  other  species  ! 

It  would  have  been  singular  indeed,  if  such  an 
exceptionally  hot  and  dry  summer  had  not  produced 
some  effect  in  that  universe  of  "scales,  legs,  and 
wings,  and  beautiful  things "  which  make  up  the 
interesting  domain  of  entomology.  But  passing  over 
the  unusual  abundance  of  the  common  house-fly  and 
the  earwig,  my  notes  refer  chiefly  to  the  lepidoptera. 
A  passing  notice  must  however  also  suffice  for  the 
exceptional  numbers  of  the  pretty  orange-tip  butterfly 
(Atithocaris  cardamines),  the  variously  coloured 
species  of  the  Satyridre,  and  the  "blues,"  such  as 
the  charming  little  Polyommatus  Adonis,  to  make 
room  for  a  fuller  reference  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
better  known  Pieris  brassiaz,  or  large  white  butterfly. 
In  the  autumn  of  1883,  !the  caterpillar  of  this 
butterfly  was  so  abundant,  that  if  this  could  have 
been  conclusive  evidence,  horticulturists  might  have 
feared  a  direful  visitation  of  white  butterflies  in  1884. 
But  "there's  many  a  slip,"  &c,  even  in  butterfly 
economy.  Probably  owing  to  the  absence  of  that 
peculiarly  succulent  condition  of  the  cabbage  tribe, 
which  is  so  essential  to  this  caterpillar's  comfort,  the 
larva  of  the  large  white  butterfly  was  as  remarkable 
for  its  absence  last  autumn  as  it  had  been  for  its 
abundance  the  previous  year.  In  1883,  at  one 
particular  spot  where  the  writer  has  been  accustomed 
to  watch  their  intei-esting  transformations,  about  a 
score  of  caterpillars  of  this  butterfly  took  up  their 
positions  and  strapped  themselves  up  to  await  the 
coming  spring.  But  last  autumn  only  one  caterpillar 
was  seen  there,  and  the  busy  little  ichneumon  made 
short  work  of  that  one.  Yet  the  conditions  were 
just  the  same  as  to  plants  of  the  cabbage  tribe 
within  a  similar  distance.  I  mention  the  latter  point 
as  having^some  bearing  upon  the  interesting  question 
of  butterfly  instinct.  It  is  perhaps  too  often  assumed 
that  the  butterfly,  having  deposited  its  eggs  on  some 
object  suitable  for  the   food  of  its  caterpillar,  has 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


219 


accomplished  the  purpose  of  its  existence  ;  and  so  it 
has,  but  may  there  not  have  been  a  previous  element 
in    the    case  ?     Even    casual    observers   must   have 
noticed   that   the   further   you   get   away   from    the 
homes  and  haunts  of  men,  the  more  scarce  becomes 
the  white  butterfly,  while  with  many  of  the  brightly 
coloured  species  the  reverse  is  the  case.     This,  prima 
facie,  is  of  course  only  equivalent  to  saying  that  one 
finds   the   most   suitable   food  for   its  larvse   in  the 
garden,  and  the  others  in  the  fields  and  lanes,  but 
the  following  incident  will,  I  think,  carry  the  point  a 
little   further.     The   most   notable   instance   of    the 
destructive  operations  of  the  caterpillar  of  the  large 
white  butterfly,  which  came  under  the  writer's  notice 
in    1883,  was   near   a  railway  station  on  the  Great 
Northern    Railway,  where   a   bed  of  plants   of  the 
brassica   tribe  (I   think   cauliflower)  was  completely 
denuded  of  every  vestige  of  leaf,  leaving  nothing  but 
the  bare  fibre  and  stalk  of  the  plants.     Two  or  three 
yards  from  the  end  of  this  cabbage  bed,  was  a  newly- 
erected    waiting-room,    constructed   of    wood    from 
ground   to   roof.     Up    this    structure   the   tribes   of 
caterpillars  went   from   the  cauliflower  bed  in  such 
numbers  as  to  occupy  every  board  in  the  roof !   Forty 
or   fifty   yards   away   from   this  spot,    but  with   no 
suitable  hibernating  quarters  for  the  caterpillars  to 
pass  into  the  chrysalis  state  in,  were  similar  cabbage- 
beds,    but   in   this   case   the   injury   caused    by   the 
caterpillars  was  mild  in  comparison  with  the  havoc 
wrought  on  the  plants  near  the  waiting-room.     Was 
this   predilection   for  the   plants  near  the  structure 
merely  a  coincidence  ?     Or  was  it  a  recognition  on 
the  part  of  the  butterflies,  that  the  spot  would  afford 
the    best    chance    of    the    caterpillars    passing    the 
chrysalis    state    in    peace    and   comfort?     Had   the 
butterflies     no    interest    in    their    progeny    beyond 
providing  them  with  proper  feeding  ground  in  the 
larva  state,  or  did  their  instinct  lead  them  to  select 
a  feeding-ground  for  one  stage  of  their  progeny  near 
a  suitable    accommodation   for    the    succeeding,    or 
chrysalis  stage  1     The  point  is  one  which  might  be  of 
some  interest  in  market  gardening  districts,  or  where 
cabbages,  &c,  are  planted  in  open  situations.    To  this 
note  on  butterflies  I  may  add  that,  in  August  last,  I 
put  a  specimen  of  the  peacock  {Vanessa- Id)  into  a 
laurel  bottle  in  which  the  leaves,  though  not  very 
fresh,    were  sufficiently  strong   to    at   once   stupefy 
the   insect.     When   the  time   came   for  getting  the 
specimen  on  to  the  setting-board  I  had  quite  forgotten 
my  prisoner,  and, being  away  from  home  for  some  time 
afterwards,  I    thought  no  more  of  the  butterfly  for 
more  than  a  fortnight  afterwards.     On  opening  the 
bottle  and  taking  out  the  butterfly,  it  flew  across  the 
room  on  to  a  table,  and  after  a  few  exertions  akin  to 
a  gasp  (audible),  apparently  on  account  of  the  sudden 
change  of  atmosphere,  it  flew  away  in  vigorous  style 
over   the   neighbouring   houses   as    if    nothing    had 
happened  to  it !     I  do  not  mention  this  as  evidence 
against   the   use  of  the  laurel  bottle,  because  very 


much  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  frequency  with 
which  the  laurel  leaves  are  changed  ;  but  it  shows 
how  little  the  butterfly  needs  in  the  way  of  susten- 
ance, in  this  the  perfect  stage  of  its  existence,  and 
how  easily^it  can  adapt  itself  to  a  different  kind  of 
atmosphere. 

Reverting  once  more  to  ornithological^  subjects, 
the  season  of  1884  was  somewhat  remarkable  for 
the  free  breeding  of  our  fine  old  British  bird  the 
kingfisher,  a  circumstance  probably  due  to  the 
absence  of  floods ;  at  any  rate,  taxidermists  have 
rarely  had  such  a  harvest  of  kingfisher  customers. 
When  King  James  I.  had  a  hunting  box  and  stables 
(still  in  existence)  in  that  neighbourhood  for  indulging 
his  hunting  proclivities,  it  is  on  record  that  his  majesty 
frequently  resorted  to  Royston,  especially  "at  ye 
season  for  shooting  of  dotterails,  a  sort  of  bird  very 
common  in  these  parts."  I  am  afraid  if  his  majesty 
could  visit  "these  parts"  now  he  would  find  the 
dotterell  (Charadrius  Morinellus)  almost  unknown  ; 
for  it  has  now  become  very  rare,  and  during  the  past 
year,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  has  not  been  seen  in  its 
old  haunts. 

The  welcome  rainfall  in  September,  with  the 
warm  weather  which  followed,  produced  after  such 
an  exceptional  period  of  drought,  some  very  curious 
manifestations  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  led  to  not 
a  few  "strawberry"  paragraphs  in  the  newspapers, 
chronicling  the  abnormal  appearance  of  ripe  straw- 
berries and  apple  blossoms  at  Michaelmas.  The 
most  singular  instance  of  this  kind  which  came  under 
the  writer's  notice  was  a  horse  chestnut  tree  standing 
in  the  Hitchen  market  place,  and  which,  though  then 
divested  of  nearly  every  leaf,  had  quite  a  number'of 
fine  spikes  of  bloom  upon  it  on  October  21st.  The 
large  white  butterfly  was  on  the  wing  until  about 
October  25th ;  the  peacock  and  small  tortoiseshell 
to  the  last  day  of  the  month,  and  the  hardy  passion- 
flower {Passiflora  ccerulea)  bloomed  in  the  open  air 
until  the  same  date.  About  thirty  species  of  wild 
flowers  were  in  bloom  up  to  the  middle  of  November. 
One  incident,  as  a  curiosity  of  natural  history,  may 
perhaps  form  a  fitting  close  to  the  above  record  of 
odd  fragments.  It  is  not  often  that  in  the  chapter  of 
oddities  among  inferior  living  creatures,  one  comes 
across  an  incident  embodying  such  an  apparent  sense  of 
the  ludicrous,  or  so  much  of  the  elements  of  a  smart 
practical  joke,  as  in  the  following  case  of  insulting  a 
scarecrow.  The  incident  was  narrated  to  the  writer 
by  Mr.  Norman,  the  naturalist  whose  name  I  have 
mentioned  above.  Finding  it  necessary  to  put  up 
something  as  a  scarecrow,  for  the  protection  of  a 
particular  crop  in  his  garden,  he  fastened  up  in  a  tree 
a  dilapidated  specimen  of  a  stuffed  fox.  Exposure 
soon  resulted  in  poor  Reynard  showing  signs  of  decay ; 
but  imagine  the  owner's  astonishment  at  the  end  of 
the  summer,  on  finding  that  an  impudent  pair  of  fly- 
catchers had  actually  built  their  nest  inside  the  scare- 
crow, and  brought  up  their  brood  of  young  ones  there  ! 

L  2 


220 


BAKDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


SOME  FERNS  OF  HONG-KONG. 
By  Mrs.  E.  L.  O'  Malley. 

[  Coticludcdfrom  p.  178.] 

Gen.  XIII.     Dicksonia  {Cibotium),  Kaulf. 

CIBOTIUM  is  a  small  section  of  the  genus  Dick- 
sonia, a  genus  including  many  tree-ferns.  In  the 
real  Dicksonias  the  indusium  is  partly  formed  from  the 
leaf  itself ;  in  the  sub-section  Cibotium  the  outer  valve 
of  the  involucre  is  distinct  from  the  substance  of  the 


thing  by  classical  writers  of  the  olden  times  being 
Barometz,  by  which  the  fern  is  sometimes  still  called. 
Two  tree-ferns  are  common  :  Alsophila  podopkylla, 
Hk.,  not  nearly  so  finely  cut  as  Cibotium  and 
distinguished  by  the  raised  globular  sori  and  rough 
scaly  stem,  and  Brainea  insignis,  Hk.,  a  smaller 
plant  bearing  the  fructification  closely  packed  on 
arched  veins  near  the  midrib.  They  are  both  pretty 
generally  distributed  throughout  the  island. 

We  notice  in  the  last  place  one  of  the  prettiest  and 
commonest  of  the  ferns  of  Hong-Kong. 


Fig.  146. — Dicksonia  Barometz,  Link. 
{Cibotium  glaucum,  Hk.) 


Fig.  147.— Brainea  insignis,  Hk. 


Fig.  \4&.— Davallia  tcnuifolia,  Sw. 


frond,  and  situated  at  the  margin  and  in  the  sinus  of 
the  lobe. 

Cibotium  glauatm,  Hk.,  is  a  large  handsome 
graceful  fern,  the  much-cut  fronds  and  glaucous  or 
white  powdery  hue  on  the  under-side  easily  serving 
to  distinguish  the  species.  It  may  be  met  with 
in  every  ravine,  varying  in  height  from  1-10  feet, 
although  never  attaining  to  the  dimensions  of  a  tree. 
The  rhizome — that  portion  of  the  rachis  which  runs 
along  the  ground,  and  is  neither  root  nor  stem — is 
covered  with  short  golden  hairs,  and  is  occasionally 
to  be  found  above  the  ground  in  quaint,  curious 
forms  which  have  been  taken  to  represent  animals. 
These  portions  of  the  root  are  sometimes  to  be  seen 
hawked  about  the  streets  of  Hong-Kong  and  called 
"Lamb-Fern" — the  name  employed  for   the   same 


Gen.  XIV.    Davallia,  Sm. 

Hares'  foot  fern — it  has  been  called  in  conserva- 
tories at  home  where  one  species  is  very  often  to  be 
seen.  In  many  houses  here  the  root  (or  rhizome, 
properly  speaking)  is  trained  into  the  shape  of  balls 
and  rings,  and  the  fern  is  hung  up  as  an  ornament  in 
verandahs. 

The  common  species  is  Davallia  tenuifoKa,  Sw. 

The  frond  grows  from  \\  to  8  inches  high,  is  a 
bright  light  green  and  shiny.  The  tiny  divisions  are 
much  cut  and  wider  at  the  top  than  at  the  base. 
The  sorus  terminates  the  margin  of  the  lobe.  There 
is  no  mistaking  this  pretty  little  fern.  It  may  be 
found  everywhere.  When  growing  by  the  sea  in 
clefts  of  the  rock,  or  on  granite  shelves  at  Kowloon, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


221 


it  is  often  succulent  in  texture  and  the  stalk  assumes  a 
pinkish  hue. 

D.  polypodioidcs,  Don,  is  common  in  the  hills. 
It  is  as  graceful  and  delicate  as  the  preceding,  but 
larger  and  far  more  herbaceous.  The  pinnules  are 
rounded  at  the  apex,  and  do  not  bear  the  seed,  which 
is  situated  in  the  sinus  or  cut  between  the  lobes. 
The  leaf  is  soft  and  downy. 

The  climate  of  Hong-Kong  is  not  so  well  suited 
for  the  growth  of  ferns  as  some  countries  in  the  same 
latitudes  further  from  the  sea  and  with  a  damper 
atmosphere,  for  the  moist  heat  of  the  summer  is  more 
than  counteracted  by  the  dry  cold  winds  of  winter. 

But  an  attractive  feature  in  the  study  of  ferns  is, 
that  although  not  many  representatives  of  a  family 
may  be  forthcoming  anywhere,  a  few  species  of  the 
principal  genera  can  always  be  found,  and  thus  the 
student  derives  a  general  idea  of  what  a  wider  field 
might  contain.  The  wild  flowers  of  China,  for 
example,  are  wholly  different  to  those  of  England,  and 
the  labour  and  difficulty  necessary  for  their  identifi- 


Fig.  149. — Davallia  folypodioides,  Don. 

cation  and  preservation  beyond  the  powers  of  man'; 
but  a  spleenwort,  a  shield-fern  or  a  filmy  once 
known,  there  is  no  spot  in  the  world  where  one  of  the 
brotherhood  at  least  may  not  be  recognised.  The 
range  is  so  limited,  and  the  mode  of  collecting 
specimens  so  simple  and  easy,  that  the  humblest  lover 
of  nature  can  indulge  his  taste  in  this  direction.  And 
we  feel  sure  the  trouble  would  be  rewarded  of 
making  a  few  friends  more  in  the  fern-world  by 
those  who  care  to  improve  upon  perhaps  but  a  slight 
acquaintance.  We  have  heard  it  said  that  enjoyment 
in  the  beauty  of  flowers  and  the  like  is  diminished  or 
even  destroyed  by  any  scientific  or  technical  know- 
ledge. We  can  only  assure  our  readers  that  this  is 
indeed  not  the  case.  No,  let  nature  claim  the 
intimacy  which  is  so  naturally  hers,  and  we  shall 
find  that  in  a  world  where  faces  change,  and 
friendships  among  our  own  kind  are  apt  to  cause 
sometimes  more  sorrow  than  joy,  we  shall  be  able  to 
distract  our  thoughts  and  occupy  our  minds,  and 
gladden  our  eyes  and  hearts,  with  the  companionship 
of  those  silent  though  much  loved  friends  ;  and  the 
better  we  learn  to  know  them  as  we  wander  from 
place  to  place,  and  from  country  to  country,  the  more 
steadfast  will  be  the  love  we  bear  them  and  the  more 
welcome  the  sight  of  their  familiar  faces. 
Hong-Kong. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

THE  "  carbonari"  (charcoal-burners)  are  a  charac- 
teristic and  rather  important  element  of  the 
population  of  Italy.  In  my  adventure  days  I  walked 
alone  from  the  Alps  to  Calabria,  and  frequently  fell 
among  them.  Their  evil  repute  at  first  made  me  some- 
what uncomfortable  in  their  companionship,  but  I  soon 
learned  that,  like  our  own  navvies,  coal-miners,  and 
bargees,  they  are  shamefully  libelled  by  people  who 
imagine  that  rough,  hard,  dirty  work,  is  more  de- 
moralising than  usurious  money-lending  and  other 
genteel  occupations  of  that  class.  Having  so  often 
deplored  the  ignorance,  while  admiring  the  natural 
shrewdness  and  geniality  of  these  dark-faced  fellows, 
I  am  glad  to  learn  from  the  Society  of  Arts'  Journal 
(August  14th)  that  there  is  an  immediate  prospect  of 
their  rude  work  becoming  elevated,  and  with  it  the 
workers,  by  the  introduction  of  scientific  improve- 
ments, whereby  the  yield  of  charcoal  will  be  doubled 
(the  average  hitherto  has  been  but  15  per  cent,  on 
the  original  wood),  and  valuable  bye  products,  such 
as  gas,  acetic  acid,  and  tar,  will  be  obtained.  This 
has  long  been  possible  by  using  costly  plant,  beyond 
the  reach  of  a  carbonaro  or  an  association  of  carbonari. 
The  "  Agricoltore  Piceno "  describes,  in  a  recent 
number,  a  simplification  of  retorts  and  condensers 
that  are  likely  to  become  adopted,  even  in  the  most 
primitive  valleys.  As  charcoal  is  the  common  fuel 
of  the  country,  used  both  for  cooking  and  warming, 
the  national  importance  of  this  is  obvious.  It  is 
estimated  that  in  the  new  process  the  bye  products 
will  pay  the  cost  of  labour,  and  .the  wear  and  tear  of 
plant ;  while  the  yield  of  charcoal  is  not  only  doubled 
in  quantity,  but  greatly  improved  in  quality. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  I  placed  a  sitting  of 
ducks'  eggs  under  a  hen,  but  only  one  was  hatched. 
This  was  mothered  and  petted  by  all  the  members  of 
the  family,  and  became  amusingly  dog-like  in  its 
attachment.  It  is  now  full-grown,  follows  me  about, 
comes  when  called,  sits  by  my  side  when  I  am 
reading  in  the  garden,  and  especially  assists  in  my 
gardening  work,  its  share  being  worms,  slugs,  &c. 
I  have  made  some  experiments  on  the  food  of  this 
animal,  experiments  that  have  doubtless  confirmed 
the  attachment,  and  find  that  worms,  snails,  slugs, 
beetles  and  blatta  of  all  kinds,  and  in  all  stages, 
spiders,  wasps,  bees,  centipedes,  and  nearly  every 
other  living  creature  that  is  swallowable,  is  swallowed. 

In  the  course  of  our  co-operative  agriculture  we 
have  occasionally  disturbed  a  colony  of  ants.  Miss 
Waddle  made  a  dash  at  the  first,  but  was  sorely 
troubled  ;  shook  her  head  most  violently  to  throw 
them  out  of  her  mouth.  Two  or  three  subsequent 
attacks  were  made  with  like  result,  but  now  she 
understands  them.  The  contrast  between  these  and 
wasps  is  curious.     The  inhabitants  of  an  unearthed 


222 


HA  RD  WICKE'S   S  CIENCE-  G  OSS  IP. 


wasp's  nest,  both  larvae  and  winged  warriors,  were 
eaten  with  impunity,  the  duck's  active  tongue  being 
evidently  proof  against  their  stings.  I  have  little 
doubt  that  the  venom  of  the  ants  is  the  formic  acid 
they  secrete.  This  punishment  of  the  duck  indicates 
plainly  enough  the  use  of  this  secretion.  But  for  it 
a  creature  otherwise  so  helpless  and  wingless  would 
be  exterminated.  Earwigs  are  similarly  rejected,  as 
though  they  also  emitted  a  similar  acrid  secretion. 
Perhaps  some  of  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip 
who  have  caged  specimens  of  insectivorous  birds 
will  be  able  to  tell  us  whether  ants  and  earwigs 
are  able  to  defend  themselves  in  like  manner  against 
these.  I  ask  this  question,  having  a  vague  impres- 
sion that  some  such  birds  are  occasionally  fed 
on  ants  or  their  larvae.  The  question  of  course 
applies  to  the  complete  animal,  not  to  the  larvre 
of  the  ants  ;  these  helpless  babies  being  so  carefully, 
bravely,  and  skilfully  protected  by  their  parents  and 
soldiers. 

On  August  31st,  Chevreul  entered  his  hundredth 
year.  Chevreul  has  been  a  brain-worker  all  his  life- 
time, and  a  hard  worker,  was  assistant  to  the 
celebrated  Vauquelin  at  seventeen,  and  published  his 
first  original  paper  at  twenty,  and  more  than  a  score 
of  others  during  the  next  six  years.  It  is  said  that  he 
never  drank  a  glass  of  wine  in  his  life — a  wondrous 
eccentricity  in  a  Frenchman — and  that  he  never  wears 
a  hat  indoors  or  out  of  doors  for  protection's  sake, 
only  under  conventional  compulsion.  A  recent  por- 
trait displays  a  very  abundant,  supply  of  natural 
head-covering,  just  thinning  somewhat  at  the  top, 
but  spreading  out  exuberantly  on  each  side. 

He  is  still  a  worker  ;  only  a  year  or  two  ago,  he 
startled  his  brother  academicians  by  coolly  remarking 
in  the  course  of  some  supplementary  observations  on 
a  communication  he  had  just  read,  "Moreover, 
gentlemen,  the  observation  is  not  a  new  one  to  me. 
I  had  the  honour  to  mention  it  here,  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  on  the  10th  of  May, 
1812." 

Talking  of  the  mild  winter  of  1883,  he  remarked 
that  the  severest  winter  he  ever  experienced  was 
that  of  1793-  Two  years  ago  I  purchased  a  copy  of 
his  book  on  "  Animal  Fats,"  commenced  in  1813,  and 
published  in  1823,  and  read  it  with  much  interest 
and  instruction.  All  that  we  know  on  this  subject, 
and  its  very  extensive  applications  in  the  art  of  soap- 
making,  candle-making,  lubricants,  &c,  even  of 
"bosch"  (artificial  butter),  is  based  on  this  treatise. 
I  must  not  be  tempted  to  enumerate  his  work,  a 
mere  list  of  subjects  would  carry  me  far  beyond 
reasonable  limits  ;  and  there  is  the  less  need  of  this 
as  I  hope,  twelve  months  hence,  to  record  his  com- 
pletion of  a  century  of  admirable  life,  when  popular 
biographical  sketches  will  probably  rain  upon  all 
readers.     France  may  well  be  proud  of  such  a  citizen. 

As  all  my  readers  know,  the  question  of  whether 
we  should  use  "whole  meal"  or  ordinary  flour  has 


of  late  been  very  warmly  discussed.  The  whole  meal 
advocacy  is  based  upon  chemical  analyses,  which 
prove  that  the  envelope  of  the  grain  which  is  cast 
out  from  ordinary  flour  is  very  rich  in  nutritious 
material.  This  evidence,  however,  is  insufficient 
alone.  We  require  to  know  not  only  what  this 
portion  contains,  but  how  much  of  it  is  obtainable  as 
nutriment.  The  mechanical  structure  of  the  bran  is 
not  promising  as  regards  digestibility,  and  further 
investigation  appears  to  confirm  the  inference  its 
structure  suggests. 

A  paper  on  the  subject  by  A.  Girard  was  published, 
a  few  months  since,  in  the  current  series  of  the 
"  Annales  de  Chimie  et  Physique,"  page  289,  con- 
taining the  results  of  careful  researches  on  the 
subject.  The  author  tells  us  that  the  envelope  of 
the  grain  constitutes  14*36  per  cent,  of  the  whole, 
and  that  it  is  rich  in  nitrogenous  substances  (iS* 75 
per  cent.),  but  they  are  incapable  of  assimilation  by 
human  digestive  organs,  the  envelope  of  the  grain 
passing  through  the  body  in  a  practically  unaltered 
condition.  He  asserts  that  the  brown  colour  of 
whole-meal  bread  is  not  merely  due  to  that  of  the 
bran  contained  in  it,  but  chiefly  to  the  action  of 
ccrealin  (a  ferment  discovered  in  the  envelope  of 
wheat  by  Meges  Mouries),  which  diminishes  the 
plasticity  of  the  gluten  of  the  flour  and  gives  it  a 
brown  colour. 

A  careful.examination  of  brown  bread  will,  I  think, 
lead  the  reader  to  agree  with  me  in  accepting  this 
explanation,  as  an  ordinary  brown  loaf  composed  of 
a  mixture  of  white  flour  and  light  buff-coloured  bran, 
is  darker  [than  the  bran  itself,  and  is  evidently 
stained  throughout,  not  merely  mottled  by  the  bran 
particles.  By  comparing  the  colour  of  the  baked 
loaf  with  the  dough  before  baking,  this  difference 
is  very  obvious,  and  it  confirms  the  statement  of 
M.  Girard,  that  the  change  of  colour  occurs  during 
the  baking. 

When,  however,  he  accuses  the  cerealin  of  doing 
mischief  because  it  acts  on  starch  in  a  manner  similar 
to  the  action  of  diastase,  and  diminishes  the  plasticity 
of  the  gluten,  I  cannot  agree  with  him,  nor  with  his 
condemnation  of  the  embryo  or  germ  of  the  grain 
because  it  contains  not  only  cerealin,  but  a  highly 
oxidisable  oil,  which  he  says  imparts  the  odour  of 
rancid  grease  to  the  bread.  My  ground  of  difference 
here  is:  1st.  I  cannot  smell  this  rancidity.  2nd.  If  I 
could,  it  would  prove  the  existence  of  something 
equivalent  to  butter  ;  and  bread  and  butter  approaches 
nearer  to  a  complete  food  than  bread  alone.  3rd. 
The  conversion  of  starch  into  dextrine  by  diastase 
is  especially  desirable.  It  must  be  done  before 
the  starch  can  be  digested,  is  done  by  the  saliva, 
the  pancreatic  juice  and  the  intestinal  juice,  but  is 
better  done  with  the  assistance  of  vegetable  diastase, 
such  as  is  contained  in  the  germ  of  the  grain  (see 
"  Chemistry  of  Cookery,"  Chapters  XII.  and  XVIIL, 
where  I  have  more  fully  discussed  these  subjects). 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


I  think  therefore  that  M.  Girard's  conclusion,  that 
only  the  inner  farinaceous  portion  of  the  grain  should 
be  used  for  human  alimentation,  and  that  it  should 
be  the  aim  of  the  miller  to  completely  eliminate  from 
his  flour  all  the  other  parts,  is  refuted  rather  than 
supported  by  what  he  tells  us  concerning  the  cerealin. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  facts  concerning  the  non- 
digestibility  of  the  bran  indicate  considerable  ex- 
aggeration in  the  claims  of  some  of  the  whole-meal 
candidates. 

Assuming  that  the  cerealin  does  act  on  the  starch 
and  gluten  as  stated,  it  is  a  benefactor,  and  we  may 
do  well  to  retain  the  outer  skin  of  the  wheat  for  its 
sake  alone,  even  though  the  other  nitrogenous  and 
mineral  constituents  may  not  be  assimilable.  Besides 
this,  there  is  the  physiological  question  of  the  stimu- 
lating action  of  such  a  husky  material  on  the  bowels 
to  be  considered.  Is  it  good  or  evil  ?  Evidently  the 
whole-meal  question  is  not  yet  settled. 

I  may  add  that  Dr.  Randolph  has,  in  the  "Notes 
from  the  Physiological  Laboratory  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,"  a  paper  on  the  nutritive  value  of 
branny  foods.  He  concludes,  after  a  prolonged  course 
of  experiments,  that  the  carbohydrates  of  bran  are 
digested  by  man  in  a  slight  degree  only ;  but  as  the 
nutritive  salts  of  wheat  are  chiefly  contained  in  the 
bran,  those  who  feed  on  bread  alone  should  take  it 
brown  for  the  sake  of  these  salts,  while  those  who 
use  other  food  supplying  such  salts  should  select 
white  bread  ;  and  that  in  an  ordinary  mixed  diet  the 
retention  of  the  bran  is  a  false  economy,  as  it  quickens 
peristaltic  action  and  thereby  prevents  the  complete 
digestion  and  absorption,  not  only  of  the  proteids 
contained  in  the  branny  food,  but  of  other  food 
matters  mixed  with  it.  To  this  I  think  the  "  bread 
reformers "  may  fairly  reply,  that  the  peristaltic 
movement  is  a  part  of  the  machinery  of  digestion, 
the  promotion  of  which  may  be  beneficial ;  it  is  certainly 
needed  in  some  cases  of  sluggish  action,  and  it 
probably  increases  the  secretion  of  animal  diastase 
(intestinal  juice)  in  the  intestines.  On  the  whole, 
I  am  inclined  to  conclude  that  whole-meal  bread  is 
best  for  vegetarians,  though  perhaps  not  so  for  those 
who  eat  flesh. 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  Keegan  shows  that 
the  difference  between  us  is  still  less  than  even  his 
first  letter  indicated  : — 

Mr.  Williams,  in  his  reply  (p.  200)  to  my  remarks, 
dwells  upon  the  savagery,  brutality,  and  obtuse  moral 
sense  of  some  of  Homer's  heroes,  and  upon  the 
general  obscenity  saturating  (as  he  avers)  much  of 
the  old  classic  literature.  Now,  the  works  of  Homer 
are  generally  known  to  be  a  collection  of  legends 
relative  to  a  social  state  far  in  the  depths  of  human 
history,  and  therefore  it  may  be  doubted  if  their 
perusal  is  eminently  calculated  to  demoralise  persons 
reared  in  the  light  of  more  advanced  and  exalted 
ideas.  With  regard  to  the  other  matter,  it  may  be 
replied,  that  a  similar  sort  of  immorality  pervades,  to 


some  extent,   the  literature  of  every  people   in   the 
world.     The  works  of  our  own  peerless  dramatists 
of  the  time  of  Elizabeth  and  of  Charles  II.  are  not 
utterly  free  from  a  blackguardly  indecency  of  a  very 
pestiferous   nature,  written    though   they  be  in  that 
"truly    classic    language    which    all    mankind   will 
eventually   speak."      Of  the    study   of  literature   in 
general  it  may  be  observed,  that  therein  we  engage- 
in  the  survey  of  the  inner  moving  world  of  the  human 
soul,  and  the  more  ideal  and  abstract  (if  at  the  same 
time  moral)  this  be  portrayed,  the  more  humanising 
and  morally  edifying  and  beneficial  it  is  in  effect.     In 
the  study  of  the   classic  languages   and   literatures 
(notably   the   Latin),    there  is,    in    addition   to  this 
humanising  element,'  the  intellectual  gymnastic,  fur- 
nished  by   the   various    processes    involved    in    the 
translation  or  constructing  into  English,  or  vice  versa. 
The  eminent  value  of  classical  study  lies,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  in  the  combination  of  these  two  elements  of 
culture.      In    the    study    of   physical     science,    the 
humanising   or   moral   element   is   wanting,    or   else 
feeble ;    in   the  study   of    our   native   literature   the 
analytical    intellectual   faculty   is   not   so   vigorously 
exercised.    No  doubt  there  is  what  Professor  Tyndall 
styles   "  an  emotion  of  the  intellect  incident  to  the 
discernment  of  new  truth  ; "  but  it  is  at  best  a  rather 
dry  and  not  very  soft  sort  of  sentiment.     Indeed,  Mr. 
F.    Galton   expressly   avers   that    "  the   influence   of 
scientific    men   is   not    directed   to  persons    and   to 
human  interests,  and  they  are  deficient  in  the  purely 
emotional   elements,"  &c.     I   cordially  endorse  Mr. 
Williams's  approval  that  physical  science  should  be 
carried  upwards  to  social  and  moral  science,  and  I 
have  read  with  the  keenest  interest  his   attestation 
anent  the  proceedings,  in  this  particular,   of  certain 
worthy  gentlemen  and  excellent  scholars  of  Oxford. 
But  Mr.  Williams  seems  to  include  such  studies  as 
those  of  logic,  metaphysics,  moral  and  social  science, 
in  the  same  category  with   physical  science.     Most 
people  will  probably  think  that  as  regards  educational 
efficacy  they  are  widely  different.      The  former  are 
probably  less  humanising   than   literature   and   art ; 
but  they  are  of  eminent  value  in  this  respect,  and 
they  are  intimately  allied  thereto.     Nevertheless,  it 
would  be  idle  to  disparage  the  eminent  utilitarian  and 
intellectual  benefits  of  the  study  and  applications  of 
physical  science.    Nobody  nowadays  yields  allegiance 
to  the  ancient  philosophy  which,  according  to  Seneca, 
teaches   men    "to   be   independent   of   all   material 
substances  and   all  mechanical   contrivances."     Our 
great  aim  should  be  that  in  the  dispensation  of  this 
material    knowledge    its    "celestial    harmonies   and 
breathings  of  paradise  "  be  not  utterly  ignored  and 
overriden.      If  only   "the   sublime  consciousness  of 
their  own  humanity "  be  more  frequently  stirred  in 
the  breasts  of  our  eminent  scientists,  their  influence 
over  the  age  and  the  ignorant  vulgar  will  doubtless 
be   more   elevating   than   it   seems  to  be,  and   men 
would   probably  learn   to   reconcile  forces   (such  as 


224 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


religion,  science,  and  practical  work)  which  now 
seem  diametrically  opposed  and  mutually  subversive. 
— P.  Q.  Keegan,  LL.D. 

I  have  only  to  add  in  explanation,  that  my  objections 
to  Homer  and  the  poetry  of  the  ancients  apply 
especially  to  their  use  as  school  books.  As  historical 
records  of  one  of  the  stages  of  human  barbarism, 
they  have  great  archaeological  interest,  and  the  same 
may  be  said,  in  a  minor  degree,  of  the  early  English 
literature  to  which  he  alludes.  In  the  dark  ages 
when  there  was  no  other  literature  available,  these 
old  authors  were  desirable  objects  of  study  as  literary 
models  ;  but  now  that  all  the  excellence  of  their  art, 
minus  the  depravity  of  their  morals,  may  be  found 
in  modern  literature,  I  maintain  that  they  should  not 
be  chosen  for  the  education  of  youth. 

Intellectual  gymnastics  are  obtainable  by  the  study 
of  anything  demanding  intellectual  effort.  The 
manner  of  study  has  even  more  influence  in  this 
respect  than  the  subject  itself.  Mathematics,  physics, 
chemistry,  biology,  or  moral  philosophy  may  be 
degraded  by  mere  rote  cramming  for  examination's 
sake  ;  the  same  with  any  language  or  any  literature  ; 
or  they  may  be  taught  intelligently  and  philo- 
sophically, and  thus  afford  the  highest  mental 
discipline. 


THE  VARIATION 

AND  ABNORMAL  DEVELOPMENT 

OF  THE  MOLLUSCA. 

Part  III. 

Terrestrial  Gasteropoda. 

yj RIO N  ATER.— K  considerable  number  of 
■*1  forms  occur ;  at  Bedford  Park,  for  instance, 
we  find  the  type  and  varieties  rufa,  succinea,  and 
nigrescens,  as  well  as  a  form  which  does  not  agree 
exactly  with  nigrescens  or  plumbed,  but  is  not  distinct 
enough  for  a  name  ;  it  is  of  a  very  dark  slate  colour, 
with  a  dark  brown  margin.  The  variety  albida 
will  probably  turn  up  sooner  or  later,  but  I  have  not 
yet  seen  it.     It  has  been  found  in  Sussex  and  Herts. 

At  Chislehurst  a  form  of  var.  succinea  (yellowish, 
tinged  with  orange  posteriorly,  and  with  an  orange 
margin),  is  found  on  the  common  among  the  brake 
fern  and  brambles ;  but  in  the  old  chalk-pit,  in  the 
lower  Camden  valley,  amongst  the  coltsfoot,  this 
form  is  replaced  by  the  variety  called  pallescens,  very 
pale  yellow  with  an  orange  margin.  Some  of  the 
little  Arions  are  greenish,  almost  exactly  the  colour 
of  the  under-surface  of  a  Tussilago  leaf.  The  full 
description  of  one  of  these  juvenile  examples  is  : 
Tentacles  dark  brown,  mantle  yellowish-white, 
rather  darker  in  front,  body  greenish-white,  margin 
of  foot  yellowish-white. 

A  variety  with  a  very  dark  brown  mantle  and  a 
black  body  occurs  at  Chislehurst. 


Arion  hortensis. — A  variable  species,  but  (in  our 
district  at  any  rate)  less  so  than  A.  ater.  The 
ordinary  banded  form  (called  var.  fasciata  by 
Moquin-Tandon)  is  found  at  Acton,  Chislehurst, 
Croydon,  and  many  other  places.  The  sole  of  the 
foot  is  sometimes  of  the  most  brilliant  orange. 

Some  curious  varieties  are  found  at  Bedford  Park  : 
one  is  larger  than  the  ordinary  form,  and  grey,  with 
narrow  lateral  bands ;  another  is  dark  above,  and 
light  at  the  sides,  and  others  have  already  been 
described.  Some  very  little  ones  were  pale 
yellowish-red. 

A  number  of  Continental  varieties  of  this  slug 
have  been  described ;  one  of  the  most  interesting  is 
var.  virescens,  which  is  greenish  with  black  bands. 

Arion,  sp.  ? — Intermediate  in  size  between  A.  ater 
and  A.  hortensis  \  yellowish,  inclining  to  orange,  with 
brown  bands  placed  in  the  same  lateral  position  as 
those  of  A.  hortensis.  Three  specimens  under  a  log 
at  Haslemere  in  company  with  A.  ater,  A.  hortensis, 
and  Limax  maximus,  I  sent  two  of  these  to  Mr. 
Roebuck,  concerning  which  he  writes  as  follows : 
"  The  Arions  are  of  a  very  dubious  sort,  and  I,  like 
you,  am  uncertain  what  to  call  them  ...  I  have 
preserved  your  specimens  in  spirit,  and  pending  the 
settlement  of  their  specific  name,  I  am  calling  them 
provisionally  A.  hortensis  var.  stibfusca." 

They  seem  to  be  distinct  from  A.  hortensis ;  and 
Mr.  C.  Ashford,  who  has  dissected  both  these  species, 
tells  me  that  he  finds  slight  but  constant  differences 
in  their  anatomy. 

I  have  also  taken  this  form  at  Chislehurst,  where 
three  varieties  occur  ;  the  first  is  yellowish-white,  the 
second  purplish-brown,  and  the  third  yellowish-grey 
with  a  yellow  margin. 

I  fancy  that  these  Arions  will  be  found  all  over  the 
country  in  due  time,  and  many  of  the  records  of  A. 
flavns  possibly  refer  to  this  species.  I  have  recently 
found  what  I  consider  to  be  the  true  Arion  fiavns  at 
Kingsley,  Staffordshire.  It  is  not  unlike  A.  hortensis, 
from  which,  however,  it  differs  in  being  orange- 
yellow  on  the  sides  and  mantle  and  greyish  on  the 
back.  There  are  faint  lateral  bands.  The  slime  is 
orange-yellow  and  very  thick.  The  sole  of  the  foot 
is  white  and  translucent.  The  respiratory  orifice  is  a 
little  in  front  of  the  central  line  of  the  mantle.  Mr. 
W.  D.  Sutton,  in  the  "Journal  of  Conchology,"  vol.  i. 
p.  26,  records  what  is  evidently  the  same  form  from 
Northumberland  and  Durham  ;  he  says  :  "  A  variety 
(of  A.  hortensis)  or  possibly  a  species,  nearly  allied  to 
this  is  found  in  woods.  It  is  about  twice  the  size  of 
the  garden  slug,  and  its  colour  invariably  yellowish 
fawn,  inclining  to  amber,  with  a  brown  band  on  each 
side.  The  two  kinds  are  not  found  mixed,  one 
inhabiting  the  woods,  and  the  other  the  cultivated 
grounds."  However,  I  found  the  two  kinds 
together  at  Haslemere,  as  stated  above. 

Limax  agrestis. — In  my  notes  I  find  recorded  the 
following  varieties  : — 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


225 


(1.)  Entirely  light  brown.  Kenley.  Chalk  pit  at 
Croydon. 

(2.)  Purplish-brown.  Chislehurst.  This  would 
come  under  lilacina. 

(3.)  Mantle  brown  with  very'faint  mottling,  body 
greyish-brown.     Croydon  and  near  Godstone. 

(4.)  Mantle  mottled  with  grey,  body  reticulated 
with  grey  just  behind  mantle,  but  mottled  behind, 
head  and  tentacles  light  brown.  Croydon.  Inter- 
mediate between  reticulata  and  sydvatica  apparently. 

(5.)  Body  and  mantle  light  brown,  spotted  all  over 
with  grey  at  somewhat  regular  intervals  ;  head  and 
tentacles  darker  than  ground  colour  of  body.  Chalk 
pit  at  Croydon.  Possibly  allied  to  var.  punctata, 
Picard,  but  not,  I  think,  identical. 

(6.)  Body  distinctly  and  beautifully  reticulated. 
One  at  Acton,  others  less  marked,  and  approaching 
nearer  to  type  (var.  4).  This  would  seem  to  be  var. 
reticulata.     One  at  Croydon. 

(7.)  Ground  colour  light  brown,  body  and  mantle 


Succinea  Pfeifferi. — I  have  taken  an  almost  scalari- 
form  specimen  at  Bromley.  Var.  brevispirata,  Perivale, 
Middlesex. 

S.  vircscens. — Specimens  of  this  species  from  St. 
Maiy  Cray  have  the  animal  light  in  colour. 

S.  elegans. — My  brother  has  found  some  remarkably 
elongated  specimens  at  Minster. 

J.  Hazay,  in  the  German  Journal  of  Conchology 
for  1 88 1,  gives  a  list  of  the  species"  and  varieties  of 
Succinea  Mrs.  Fitzgerald  has  sent  him  from  England. 
Among  them  he  mentions  the  following — S.  putris 
var.  globuloidea,  Cambridge  ;  var.  Charpentieri, 
Notts ;  var.  limnoidea,  Dublin;  var.  Ferrussina, 
Matlock  ;  var.  Fitzgeraldiana  (var.  nov.),  Folkestone  j 
Succinea  elegans,  type  form,  Essex  and  Deal ;  var. 
Baicdoniana,  Yorkshire ;  sub-sp.  S.  Pfeifferi,  type, 
Folkestone  and  North  Wales ;  var.  elata,  Cornwall  j 
var.  contortida,  Yorkshire ;  sub-sp.  S.  suecica, 
Cheshire  ;  S.  oblonga,  type  and  var.  humilis,  Cork. 
It  would,  however,   be    desirable    to  obtain  speci- 


Fig.  150. — Arion,  sp., 
Bedford  Park,  Chiswick. 


Fig.  154. — Leucochroa  catidi- 
dissima,  Bordighera,  Italy. 
This  species  is  by  some 
writers  called  a  Zonites. 


Fig.  151. — 1,  Hyalina  glabra, 
Jeff.,  Bromley;  2,  Hyalina 
cellaria,Chis\shurst.  Show- 
ing the  difference  in  the 
shape  of  the  mouth,  by 
means  of  which  the  two 
species  may  readily  be 
distinguished.  (Somewhat 
enlarged.) 


thickly  but  irregularly  mottled  with  black,  mantle 
almost  entirely  black,  except  round  respiratory  orifice. 
A  form  of  sylvatica.     Croydon  and  Brentford. 

(8.)  Mantle  light  brown,  body  greyish  without 
markings.  Croydon.  Probably  identical  with  var. 
filans,  Hoy,  but  hardly,  I  think,  deserving  a  varietal 
name. 

Limax  arborum. — "  The  beautiful  sea-green  variety 
occurs  in  a  garden  on  Bramley  Hill,  where  a  family 
of  them  lives  in  a  hollow  in  an  old  oak  "  (K.  Mc 
Kean). 

Testacella  haliotidea. — It  would  seem  that  all  the 
British  individuals  of  this  species  belong  to  the  variety 
scutulum,  which  may  ultimately  prove  to  be  a  distinct 
species.  At  Bedford  Park  there  are  three  fairly 
distinct  colour  varieties.  They  may  be  described  as 
follows  :  (A)  ground  colour  pale  yellow.  (1) 
without  any  markings  =  pallida  ;  (2)  with  brown 
mottling  on  back  and  sides  =  typica.  (B)  ground 
colour  orange  =  aurea.  In  aurea  the  mottling  is  as  in 
the  type  form,  and  the  orange  of  the  sole  is  particularly 
vivid. 

Various  varieties  are  found  abroad.  The  Rev.  J.  W. 
Horsley  has  taken  some  at  Gibraltar,  which  may  be 
called  scutulum,  sub-var.  albida,  for  they  were  pure 
white. 


Fig.  152. — Hyalina  Drapar- 
naldi,  Clifton,  Bristol. 


Fig.  153. — Hyalina  nitidula 
vai./asciata,  West  North- 
down,  Thanet. 


mens    of    these    varieties    for    comparison     before 
admitting  them  into  the  British  list. 

Vitrina  fellucida. — Not  a  variable   species.      My 
largest  specimen  is  from  Beckenham. 

Hyalina. — The  species  of  this  genus  are  placed 
under  Zonites  by  writers  on  British  Conchology,  but, 
nevertheless,  I  would  reject  that  generic  name  for 
our  British  species  in  favour  of  Hyalina,  Albers,  and 
for  the  following  reasons.  The  type  of  the  genus 
Zonites  is  Z.  algirus,  L.,  a  species  totally  unlike  any 
of  our  British  species,  inhabiting  the  south  of  France, 
and  ranging,  it  is  said,  to  Constantinople.  Kobelt 
gives  fourteen  species  of  Zonites  proper,  none  of 
which  are  found  in  England,  but  have  their  home  in 
south-east  Europe.  On  the  Continent,  and  I 
believe,  in  America,  the  so-called  British  Zonites 
are  all  placed  in  Hyalina,  except  fulvus,  which  is 
sometimes  placed  in  a  sub-genus  Conulus.  It  is 
obviously  essential  that  we  should,  if  possible,  use 
the  same  nomenclature  as  foreign  conchologists,  and 
when  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion,  that  of  the 
majority  should  prevail,  but  as  those  who  use  Hyalina 
abroad  are  many  more  than  those  who  use  Zonites  in 
Britain,  it  is  hardly  reasonable  to  expect  them  to 
change  their  name  to  please  us,  and  all  that  remains 
is  for  us  to  adopt  Hyalina. 

The  late  Dr.  Gwyn  Jeffreys  once  wrote  to  me  on 
this  subject,  he  said  :  "I  cannot  accept  the  subgeneric 
name  Hyalina  or  Hyalinia.  .  .  Zonites  represented 
by  Z.  algirus  does  not  in  the  least  differ  from 
Hyalina.  .  .     By  the  rules  of  the  British  Association, 


226 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


adjective  generic  names  (such  as  Hyalina)  cannot  be 
used." 

Now  as  to  Z.  alginis  not  differing  from  Hyalina, 
Continental  authorities  are  fairly  well  agreed  that  it 
does  sufficiently  to  warrant  a  separate  generic  name, 
and  I  cannot  help  thinking  likewise. 

With  regard  to  the  other  argument,  it  is  absurd  to 
suppose  that  (the  "rules  of  the  British  Association  " 
are  going  to  bind  down  foreign  authors,  and  besides, 
what  about  Succinca?  Nevertheless,  Dr.  Jeffreys' 
opinion  is  one  that  should  not  be  lightly  ignored,  and 
so  it  will  be  interesting  to  see  if  any  evidence  can  be 
brought  forward  against  my  view  of  the  case. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Mr.  Ponsonby,  of  Halkin 
Street,  for  the  opportunity  of  seeing  his  valuable 
series  of  British  Hyalina:,  many  of  which  have  been 
sent  to  Dr.  Boettger  in  Germany,  and  which  have 
been  returned  with  the  names  affixed  to  them, 
according  to  his  view  of  the  question. 

Hyalina  cellaria. — Common  throughout  the  district. 
My  largest  specimen  is  from  Kenley  in  Surrey,  it  is 
about  three-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  This 
species  resembles  Hy.  Draparnaldi  closely,  but  I 
think  they  are  distinct.  The  latter  has  not.yet  been 
found  in  our  district.  Var.  compada,  Jeff,  has  been 
recorded.     Var.  albinos,  Minster  and  Kenley. 

Var.  shell  greenish-white  and  transparent.  One  at 
Maidenhead,  a  few  on  a  mossy  bank  (the  moss  was,  I 
believe,  Polytrichum  commune,  L.)  by  the  side  of  the 
high-road,  between  Wrotham  and  Eynsford.  "When 
I  first  found  the  single  specimen,  which  was  immature, 
at  Maidenhead,  I  identified  it  as  alliaria  var.  viriditla, 
Jeff,  as  it  had  a  strong  garlic  odour  ;  but  I  find  that 
the  young  of  both  cellaria  and  of  glabra,  Jeff,  have  a 
garlic  odour,  and  as  the  shell  is  in  shape  exactly  like 
a  young  cellaria,  and  like  the  more  mature  Kentish 
examples  of  the  greenish  var.,  I  am  obliged  to  refer 
it  to  cellaria. 

I  have  referred  the  Maidenhead  specimen  to  Dr. 
Gwyn  Jeffreys,  and  he  returned  it  with  the  note 
"  The  variety  of  Zonites  cellarius  is  my  albida."  This 
being  the  case,  it  would  seem  that  the  milk-white  and 
opaque  var.,  which  would  also,  I  suppose,  be  var. 
albida  (I  have  referred  to  it  above  as  albinos,  Moq.), 
is  not  to  be  separated  from  the  greenish  and  trans- 
parent form. 

Hyalina  glabra,  Stud.  (Jeff).— Mr.  Ponsonby 
submitted  some  of  these  to  Dr.  Boettger,  who 
returned  them  as  what  the  German  conchologists 
called  alliaria,  and  some  of  our  British  alliaria  he 
called  young  cellaria,  others  young  alliaria  = glabra, 
Jeff,  and  another  British  specimen  he  identified  as 
Hy.  pdronclla,  Charp.  Moreover,  he  sent  some  of 
what  he  called  glabra,  Stud.,  to  Mr.  Ponsonby,  and 
these  were,  without  doubt,  perfectly  distinct  from  the 
glaber  of  British  conchologists.  From  this  it  seems 
that  there  is  a  great  gulf  between  the  British 
and  German  notions  of  the  species  of  Hyalina; 
which  we  are  to  adopt  seems  uncertain,  but  it  seems 


extremely  desirable^that  the  matter  should  be  cleared 
up.  Jeffreys  considered  H.  petronella  to  be  the  same 
as  Hy.  excavata  v.  vilrina,  but  Dr.  Boettger's 
specimen  is  very  different  from  this.  In  the  British 
Museum  some  examples  of  Hy.  glabra,  Jeff,  stand  as 
a  Ilia  ri us. 

I  have  taken  glabra,  Jeff,  in  Kent  and  Surrey,  in 
which  counties  it  would  seem  to  be  abundant,  but  I 
fancy  it  does  not  occur  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet.  One 
specimen  at  Hanwell  (S.  C.  Cockerell).  I  found  a 
greenish -white  and  transparent  variety  (viridans  of 
my  note  book)  at  Bromley,  Kent. 

Hy.  nitidula.  Common  throughout  the  district. 
Var.  Helmii,  this  is  the  white  form  ;  alba  would  have 
been  a  much  better  name  for  it  than  Helmii. 
Near  Chislehurst,  but  rare.  I  found  a  curious  variety 
at  West  Northdown,  Thanet,  having  four  whorls,  the 
last  whorl  expanded,  and  shell  larger  than  usual,  and 
of  a  dull  waxy  appearance,  slightly  whitish  beneath, 
and  having  a  rather  broad  brown  band  below  the 
periphery  ;  band  formula  00005. 

Hy.pitra. — The  so-called  "  type  "  seems  to  be  less 
common  than  the  var.  margaritacea,  which  is  white. 
As  far  as  I  can  remember,  I  have,  taken  the  type  only 
near  Godstone,  Surrey,  but  I  have  found  the  variety 
at  Farnborough,  Addington,  near  Dorking,  near 
Shiere,  Haslemere  ;  andJMr.  Ponsonby  has  a  specimen, 
from  Leatherhead. 

{To  be  conlimied.) 


CHAPTERS     ON     FOSSIL    ;SHARKS      AND 
RAYS. 

By  Arthur  Smith  Woodward. 

IV. 

Petalontid,e,  continued. 

[From  f>agc  156.] 

CLOSELY  related  to  Petalodus,  and  from  the  same 
geological  horizon,  is  Ctenopetalus,  which  differs 
in  the  shape  of  the  root  and  the  coarseness  of  the 
serrations ;  and  not  far  removed,  also,  is  the  curious 
Polyrhizodus.  This  tooth  (fig.  155)  differs  chiefly  in- 
being  stouter  and  larger,  in  the  absence  of  serrations 
on  the  cutting  edge,  and  in  having  the  root  divided 
into  a  number  of  "radicles."  Nothing  is  known  of 
the  arrangement  in  the  mouth  of  either  of  these 
forms,  and  we  are  thus  left  to  supply  the  deficiency 
by  inference. 

Proceeding  to  Petalorhynclucs,  which  is  also  a 
Lower  Carboniferous  genus,  we  find  the  fossil  remains 
a  little  more  complete  and  instructive.  Numerous 
specimens  have  been  obtained  from  the  Mountain 
Limestone  of  Armagh  by  the  Earl  of  Enniskillen, 
and  Mr.  J.  W.  Davis  published  the  results  of  his 
study  of  them  in  the  Trans.  Roy.   Dublin  Soc.  for. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


227 


18S3.*  These  teeth  are  of  the  same  general  type  as 
those  of  Petalodus,  but  differ  in  several  respects,  and 
are  notably  longer  and  narrower,  with  the  crown 
more  spatulate.  When  one  of  them  became  useless 
in  the  mouth  of  the  fish,  and  its  successor  was  ready 
to  come  forward  for  active  service,  the  old  tooth  did 
not  fall  out,  but  was  always  retained  beneath  the  new 
one  as  a  support;  as  the  creature  approached  old 
age,  the  tooth  in  use  had  thus  a  considerable  series 
of  worn-out  predecessors  beneath  it,  and  these  seem 
finally  to  have  become  more  or  less  anchylosed 
together.  Such  series  are  not  unfrequently  found  in 
the  Armagh  limestone,  and  one  consisting  of  five 
teeth  is  represented  in  fig.  156 ;  the  lower  and 
smallest  tooth  evidently  indicates  a  young  stage  of 
the  creature's  existence,  and  as  the  mouth  enlarged 
so  did  the  dentition.  The  fact  that  some  of  these 
rows  are  symmetrical,  while  others  appear  "lefts" 
and  "rights,"  suggests  that  they  were  originally 
.ranged  alongside  each  other  ;  and  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  one  median  tooth  was  present,  with 
three  on  each  side,  but  absolute  proof  is  yet  wanting 
of  more  than  one  pair  occurring  besides  the  median. 

Still  more  interesting  and  satisfactory  are  the 
.remains  that  have  been  discovered  of  the  genus 
Janassa.  This  is  typically  a  Permian  form,  often 
met  with  in  the  Kupferschiefer  and  the  English  Marl- 
slate,  but  the  researches  of  Messrs.  Hancock,  Atthey, 
and  Barkas  have  revealed  numerous  beautiful 
examples  in  the  Coal  Measures  of  Northumberland 
and  Durham,  and  Mr.  John  Ward  has  also  recorded 
a  few  scattered  relics  from  North  Staffordshire.  It 
ought  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  Carboni- 
ferous forms  were  originally  described  under  a 
distinct  generic  name,  Climaxodus,  and  are  often 
-quoted  thus  ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  as  to 
'their  identity  with  Janassa,  and  Miinster's  Dictcea 
is  now  likewise  considered  synonymous.  Each  tooth 
consists  both  of  a  cutting  edge  (fig.  158,  a),  and  a 
crushing  surface  {ib.,  b),  and,  like  other  Petalodonts, 
possesses  a  well-developed  root  {ib.,  c).  The  dental 
-armature  of  the  mouth  consisted  of  five  of  these 
teeth,  ranged  side  by  side,  and  flanked  by  a  pair 
(fig.  157)  that  are  indistinguishable  from  Petalodus, 
except  perhaps  in  their  obliquity ;  this  arrangement 
is  shown  in  fig.  157,  taken  from  an  elaborate  memoir 
by  Messrs.  Hancock  and  Howse  in  the  "Ann.  & 
Mag.  Nat.  Hist."  for  1869  (vol.  iv.  ser.  4).  The 
vertical  disposition  of  the  teeth  and  their  mode  of 
succession  is  also  known,  and  the  same  palaeonto- 
logists published  the  illustrative  diagram  copied  in 
fig.  158,  from  which  it  is  obvious  that,  as.in  Petalorhyn- 
chus,  the  successive  new  teeth  must  have  arisen  from 
behind,  and,  on  coming  forwards,  not  caused  the  old 
ones  to  fall  out,  but  have  rested  upon  and  utilised 
them  as  a  support. 

Taking  into  account  these  various  well-ascertained 

*  In  this  work  will  be  found  a  full  account  of  the  Petalodon- 
.tida?,  with  references  to  previous  literature. 


facts,  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion,  that  although  the 
teeth  themselves  are  more  like  those  of  sharks  than  rays, 
their  arrangement  in  the  mouth  agrees  most  closely  with 
the  dentition  of  such  typical  rays  as  Myliobatis  and 
Zygobatis,  and  the  Petalodonts  must  thus  be  looked 
upon  as  probably  intermediate  forms.  Something 
like  a  transition  from  cutting  teeth  to  crushing  teeth 
may  even  be  noticed  in  the  family  itself,  for  Petalodus 
(Carb.  Limst.)  is  exclusively  laniary,  Petalorhynckus 
(Carb.  Limst.  and  Yoredale)  makes  a  slight  approach 
towards  the  development  of  a  tritoral  portion,  the 
so-called  Climaxodus  (chiefly  Coal  Measures)  is 
adapted  for  both  purposes,  and  the  front  cutting  edge 
in  some  specimens  of  the  Permian  Janassa  becomes 
almost  obscured. 

The  curious  teeth  known  as  Ctenoplychius  (fig.  1 59) 
and  Harpacodus,  also,  most  probably  belong  to  the 
Petalodontidae,  and  are  both  Carboniferous  genera, 
the  former  ranging  throughout  all  divisions,  and  the 
latter  being  exclusively  confined  to  the  lower.  No 
definite  evidence  of  their  mode  of  disposition  in  the 
mouth  has  yet  been  obtained,  and  it  ought  to  be 
remarked  that  certain  small  club-shaped  fossils, 
originally  referred  to  a  species  called  C.  icuilateralis, 
are  most  likely  not  teeth  at  all,  but  Labyrinthodont 
scutes.* 

PRISTIOPHORID/E. 

According  to  Dr.  Giinther,  this  small  family  is 
only  represented  at  the  present  day  by  species 
of  the  genus,  Pristiophorus,  which  exist  off  Austra- 
lian and  Japanese  coasts  ;  these  are  little  Selachians, 
with  the  snout  much  prolonged  as  in  the  next  family, 
the  "  Saw-fishes,"  but  having  the  gill-openings 
lateral.  Fossil  forms  are  rare,  and  the  only  im- 
portant genus  usually  referred  here  is  the  remarkable 
Squaloraja  of  the  Lias.  A  partly  restored  sketch  of 
this  fish  is  given  in  fig.  160,  and  among  its  many 
peculiarities  may  be  specially  noted  the  cephalic 
spine  {ib.,  s),  first  described  by  Mr.  William  Davies, 
of  the  British  Museum.f  When  a  complete  specimen 
is  met  with,  this  spine  is  generally  so  compressed  and 
bent  down  upon  the  snout  as  to  be  rendered  incon- 
spicuous, but  it  is  sometimes  found  detached,  and 
occasionally  (probably  in  females)  it  appears  to  be 
absent.  The  vertebrae  are  usually  nothing  more  than 
calcified  rings,  and  parts  of  the  body  are  provided 
with  dermal  tubercles. 


Pristid^e. 

The  "  Saw-fishes "  constitute  a  small  family  of 
rays,  chiefly  inhabiting  tropical  seas  at  the  present 
day,  and  seem  to  have  left  no  undoubted  traces  of 
their  past  existence  in  strata  of  an  earlier  period  than 
the  Eocene.     They  are  particularly  remarkable  for 

*  T.  Stock,  "Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist."  [5],  vol.  viii.  1881, 
pp.  90-95. 
t  "  Geol.  Mag.,"  vol.  ix.  (1872),  pp.  145-150,  PI.  IV. 


228 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


the  possession  of  a  greatly  elongated  snout  (fig.  161), 
having  the  form  of  a  nearly  flat  blade,  and  armed 
with  a  row  of  teeth  fixed  in  sockets  on  each  edge. 
More  or  less  imperfect  fragments  of  this  powerful 
weapon  are  the  only  fossil  remains  ordinarily  met 
with,  and  all  these  at  present  known  evidently  belong 
to  the  living  genus,  Pristis ;  they  occur  in  the  Ter- 
tiary formations  both  of  Europe  and  America,  and 
the  Middle  Eocene  of  Bracklesham  has  yielded  some 
good  examples.  Of  the  latter,  the  most  common  are 
detached  rostral  teeth  (fig.  162),  but  a  few  specimens 
of  the  snout  itself  are  also  known,  and  two  interesting 


depressed  as  in  the  most  typical  rays,  but  there  is  a 
relatively  long  and  slender  tail.  Spathobatis  is  an 
Oolitic  genus,  and  the  living  Rhinobatus  first  occurs 
in  the  Cretaceous  of  the  Lebanon. 


Torpedinid^e. 

The  "  Torpedoes  " — remarkable,  as  is  well  known, 
for  their  power  of  producing  electric  shocks — are 
represented  at  the  present  time  by  several  genera, 
chiefly  in  tropical  and  sub-tropical  seas,  but  the 
pakeontological    record  has  hitherto   revealed   only 


Fig-  155.— Tooth  of  Polyrhizodus 
radicans. 


Fig.  156. — Teeth  of 
Pet  a  lor hy  nek  us 
psittacinus. 


Fig.    157.— Dental  series  in  jaw  of      Fig.     159.— Tooth 
Janassa.      (.After    Hancock    and  of  Ctenoptychius 

Howse.)  pectinatus. 


T      ">- 


Fig.  158. — Diagram  showing 
succession  of  teeth  in  jaw 
of  Janassa.  (After  Han- 
cock and  Howse.) 


Fig.  162.— Rostral  tooth 
of  Pristis  Hastingsice 
(half  nat.  size). 


Fig.    163.— Dermal  tubercle 
of  Raja  antiqua. 


Fig.  160. — Sketch  of  skeletal 
parts  of  Sqnaloraja  poly- 
spondyla  (one  quarter  nat. 
size),  n,  rostral  prolonga- 
tion ;  s,  spine ;  o,  orbits ; 
/,  pectoral  fins ;  v,  ventral 
fins. 


Fig.  161. — Lower  aspect  of  head 
and  rostrum  of  Pristis.  (After 
Owen.) 


fragments  are  exhibited  in  the  British  Museum. 
These  fossils  are  referred  to  about  four  species,  but 
the  most  important  are  P.  Hastingsice  (fig.  162),  and 
P.  contortns — the  latter  with  the  rostral  teeth  slightly 
twisted. 

Rhinobatid^e. 

The  Rhinobatidae  do  not  appear  to  be  represented 
in  British  formations,  but  their  remains,  as  found  in 
the  Lithographic  Stone  (Upper  Oolite)  and  later 
deposits  on  the  Continent,  are  among  the  most 
beautifully  preserved  of  fossil  Plagiostomes.  They 
possess  no   dorsal   spine,  and   the   body   is   not   so 


very  few  of  their  extinct  progenitors.  None  are 
known  to  occur  in  British  strata,  but  a  very  perfect 
example,  from  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Mt.  Lebanon, 
was  described  long  ago  by  Sir  Philip  Egerton,*  and  a 
few  similar  relics  have  been  met  with  in  the  Eocenes 
of  Monte  Bolca,  near  Verona. 

Rajid^e. 

This  is  the  family  of  Rays-proper,  comprising 
several  genera  that  agree  in  possessing  a  much- 
depressed    body,    more   or  less    protected   by   hard 

*  Proc.  Geol.  Soc,  vol.  iv.  (1S84),  p.  446,  pi.  V. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIEJSl CE-GOSSIP. 


229 


dermal  granules  or  spinous  tubercles,  and  character- 
ised by  the  absence  of  a  caudal  spine.  But,  although 
these  fishes  exist  at  the  present  day  in  considerable 
nambers  and  have  a  remarkably  wide  geographical 
range,  very  little  is  known  of  their  past  history.  The 
Lower  Lias  of  Lyme  Regis  yields  some  fragmentary 
fossils  (Arthropterus)  that  have  been  thought  to  be 
properly  placed  here,  and  a  few  doubtful  indications 
of  other  members  of  the  family  have  been  noticed  in 
later  Mesozoic  formations,  but  among  British  rocks, 
the  Pliocene  Crags  appear  to  be  the  only  beds 
containing  reliable  evidence,  and  this  consists  merely 
in  detached  dermal  tubercles.  The  fossil  tubercles 
(fig.  163)  resemble  so  closely  those  disposed  upon  the 
back  of  the  recent  Raja  (vol.  xx.  fig.  101,  p.  1 73) — 
the  genus  to  which  the  Common  Skates  and  Thorn- 
backs  belong — that  they  have  been  referred  to  it  by 
Agassiz,  and  distinguished  under  the  specific  name  of 
R.  antiqua, 

Trygonid.e. 

So  far  as  known,  the  "Sting- Rays"  are  un- 
represented among  British  fossils,  and  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  met  with  on  the  Continent  in  strata  of 
an  earlier  date  than  the  Eocene.  These  forms  clearly 
exhibit  the  more  important  characters  of  the  family  as 
at   present   developed,    and   belong   to   still-existing 

genera. 

{To  be  continued.) 


ERYTHROXYLON  COCA. 
By  H.  Whittaker,  F.S.Sc. 

A  LEADING  article  in  the  "  Globe"  of  April  22 
brings  the  Erythroxylon  coca  under  our  notice. 
The  occasion  of  this  article  was  an  incident  in  a 
lecture  at  Madras  by  Dr.  Bidie  ;  viz.,  that,  in  the  last 
famine,  he  had  noticed  many  of  the  suffering  natives 
eating  considerable  quantities  of  devadru,  a  plant 
which  belongs  to  the  same  family  as  Eiythroxylon 
coca.  It  appears  that  of  late  this  plant  has  attracted 
the  attention  of  medical  men,  who  have,  as  the 
"Globe"  remarks,  "  recognised  the  merits  of  cocaine 
(the  active  principle  of  the  herb)  as  an  anaesthetic, 
more  especially  in  ophthalmic  operations."  Any 
medicine  that  has  the  property  of  subduing  the 
intensity  of  pain  attendant  upon  perhaps  all  surgical 
operations,  is  sure  to  be  welcomed,  and  will  un- 
doubtedly receive  that  searching  examination  and 
keen  criticism  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession to  bestow. 

Should  the  researches  of  eminent  men  confirm  the 
opinion  which  is  at  present  held  by  some  touching  the 
therapeutical  value  of  the  coca,  doubtless  it  would  be 
a  good  thing,  not  only  for  the  profession,  but  also  for 
the  planters  in  India.  It  appears  that  the  Erythroxy- 
lon motiogymim  (the  scientific  name  for  devadru)  is  a 
native  of  Cuddapah,  in  India,  and  the  presumption  is 


that   the  E>ythroxylon  coca   may  "easily  be  grown 
there  with  success." 

The  cultivation  of  the  coca  would  be  an  immense 
boon  to  these  people,  whose  realisations  from  coffee- 
planting  are  not  as  great  as  formerly. 

Up  to  the  present,  however,  opinions  of  experi- 
mentalists have  not,  unfortunately,  been  unanimous. 
Glowing  accounts  are  given  by  some  of  its  wonderful 
sustaining  power,  of  the  pleasant  sensations  or 
phantasmagoria  produced  by  its  internal  use,  and  of 
its  tonic  influence  on  the  nervous  system,  while  others 
derive  no  such  sensations,  not  "  even  that  exhilaration 
which  is  produced  by  a  draught  of  spring  water." 
The  testimonies  of  those  who  have  made  the  coca 
the  subject  of  personal  study  and  experiment  are 
diametrically  opposed  to  each  other.  Professor 
Brown  says:  "It  stimulates  the  stomach  and 
promotes  digestion.  In  large  doses  it  augments 
animal  heat  and  accelerates  the  pulse  and  respiration. 
It  induces  slight  constipation.  In  moderate  doses 
(one  to  four  drachms)  it  stimulates  the  nervous 
system,  so  as  to  render  it  more  tolerant  of  muscular 
fatigue.  In  larger  doses  it  gives  rise  to  hallucination 
and  true  delirium.  Its  most  precious  property  is  that 
of  inducing  the  most  pleasant  visions  without  any 
subsequent  depression  of  the  nervous  energies. 
Probably  it  diminishes  some  of  the  secretions."  He 
evidently  considers  it  of  the  greatest  value  in  nervous 
diseases,  on  account  of  the  tonic  power  it  apparently 
possesses. 

It  is  said  that  the  Indians,  after  chewing  a  few 
leaves  of  the  coca  plant,  can  perform  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  labour.  They  also  take  it  in  very  large 
doses,  which  act  as  an  intoxicant,  producing  somewhat 
the  same  effect  as  opium  or  hasheesh.  The  pedestrian 
Weston  is  said  to  have  used  this  plant,  probably  in 
infusion,  but  the  writer  is  under  the  impression  that 
this  rumour  has  been  contradicted. 

Professor  Bentley,  F.LS.,  in  his  excellent  work  on 
Botany,  says  :  "  The  leaves  of  this  plant  are  much 
used  by  the  natives  of  Peru,  and  some  other  parts  of 
South  America,  as  a  masticatory.  The  Peruvian 
Indians  have  always  ascribed  to  the  coca  the  most 
extraordinary  virtues.  Thus,  they  believe  that  it 
lessens  the  desire  and  the  necessity  for  ordinary  food, 
and,  in  fact,  that  it  may  be  considered  as  almost  a 
substitute  for  food  .  .  .  Dr.  "Weddell,  however,  speaks 
far  less  highly  of  its  virtues.  He  states  that  it  does 
not  satisfy  the  appetite,  but  it  merely  enables  those 
who  chew  it  to  support  abstinence  for  a  length  of  time 
without  a  feeling  of  hunger  or  weakness  ...  In 
France  a  tonic  wine  is  made  from  the  leaves.  Coca 
is  deserving  of  an  extended  trial  in  this  country  as  a 
medicinal  agent,"  &c. 

The  writer  experimented  with  an  infusion  of  the 
leaves,  but  perceived  none  of  the  effects  usually 
ascribed  to  the  drug.  This  diversity  of  opinion  may 
perhaps  be  explained  by  the  following  considera- 
tions. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Possibly  the  coca  requires  to  be  taken  in  a  concen- 
trated form,  such  as  a  tincture,  or  fluid-extract.  True, 
the  alleged  effects  of  the  drug  are  said  to  be  produced 
by  merely  chewing  the  leaf,  probably  in  its  fresh 
condition.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  green  leaf  of  this  plant  is  not  to  be  readily  obtained 
in  this  country  ;  or,  if  obtained,  the  influences  of  this 
climate  may  have  such  an  effect  upon  the  coca  as  to 
deprive  it,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  those  properties 
peculiar  to  it  when  used  in  a  fresh  and  native  state. 

The  strength  of  the  preparations  used  by  the 
different  experimentalists  may  not  have  been  uniform, 
so  that  the  weaker  infusion  or  tincture,  as  the  case 
may  be,  would  not  be  likely  to  produce  the  same 
effects  the  stronger  preparation  would  have  upon  the 
system.  Then  a  mistake  may  have  arisen  as  to  the 
plant  itself.  Were  the  leaves  from  which  the 
preparations  were  made  genuine  leaves  of  the 
Erythroxylon  coca?  It  is  very  difficult  to  obtain 
the  pure  article ;  much  that  is  spurious  is  to  be 
found  in  the  market.  At  present  the  genuine  plant 
commands  a  very  high  price,  and  a  low-priced  article 
may  at  all  times  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion. 
However,  it  yet  remains  for  the  scientist  to  continue 
his  researches  in  the  direction  of  ascertaining  its 
tnerapeutic  properties. 

The  coca  grows  to  the  height  of  between  three  and 
four  feet.  It  has  white  flowers  and  bright  green 
leaves.  It  belongs  to  the  natural  order  Erythroxy- 
laceae,  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  plants  of  that 
order.     It  is  found  chiefly  in  Peru  and  Bolivia. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  JOTTINGS. 

A  Lizard  throws  off  its  Tail;  and 
Earthworms  feed. 

71  /TA  Y^Qth. — This  forenoon,  I  was  agreeably  sur- 
1 VJ.  prised  to  see  a  fine  viviparous  lizard  [Zootoca 
z'iz'ifara)  quietly  basking  in  a  dry-stone  dyke  fully 
exposed  to  the  bright  and  very  hot  sunshine.  To  all 
appearance  it  was  a  pregnant  female,  "and  had  probably 
laid  itself  up  thus  to  further  the  evolution  of  the 
young.  Wishful  to  secure  the  lizard,  I  cautiously 
brought  clown  my  walking-stick  upon  it,  pinning  it 
to  the  spot  upon  which  it  basked ;  and  on  laying 
hold  of  the  tail  with  my  free  hand,  and  bringing  it 
forward  to  enable  me  the  better  to  secure  my  prize 
without  getting  an  unpleasant  nip  from  its  minute 
but  sharp  teeth,  I  had  most  of  that  organ  thrown  off 
and  left  twisting  and  writhing  in  my  hand.  Still 
keeping  the  creature  pinned  down  with  the  stick,  I 
dropped  the  portion  of  tail  presented  me,  and  was 
treated  to  a  sight  of  what  I  have  often  read  as 
obtaining  in  the  slow-worm  {Anguis  fragilis),  namely, 
the  severed  tail  writhing  and  jumping  about  in  the 
grass  at  my  feet  like  a  thing  endowed  with  life. 
These  motions    continued   for  perhaps  a  couple   of 


minutes,  during  which  period  the  severed  tail  would 
pass  over  nearly  a  foot  of  ground.  The  portion  of 
the  tail  thus  thrown  off,  or  broken  off,  was  three 
inches  long,  and  there  yet  remained  attached  to  the 
trunk  fully  one-half  inch  more  :  the  total  length  of 
the  lizard,  including  all  its  tail,  was  6jj  inches. 
A  little  blood  flowed  from  the  wound  caused  by  the 
severance  of  the  tail. 

I  dare  say  I  would  be  somewhat  rough  in  my 
handling  of  the  captive,  but  certainly  not  so  rough  as 
to  tear  off  the  tail,  which  from  accounts  is  not  in- 
frequently thrown  off  voluntarily  by  other  species  of 
the  lizard  kind  to  confuse  and  mislead  an  enemy  ; 
and  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  in  this  instance 
the  lizard  voluntarily  threw  off  its  tail  for  that 
purpose. 

As  I  wished  to  make  some  further  observations  on  the 
lizard,  I  boxed  it  (as  well  as  its  tail),  and  ultimately 
placed  it  in  a  large  glass  vessel.  I  kept  it  a  day  or 
two  ;  but — ah,  well  !  we  are  not  all  born  naturalists, 
and  "  What's  bred  in  the  bone  is  ill  to  drive  out  of  the 
flesh."  I  therefore  again  boxed  my  tailless  captive 
and  gave  it  its  liberty  in  a  suitable  locality  where  ^it 
was  shortly  lost  sight  of ;  and  I  have  since  speculated 
on  the  possibility  of  this  self-mutilation  for  protective 
purposes  becoming  intensified  in  the  subsequent 
offspring  of  this  individual.  Had  it  been  a  placental 
mammal  instead  of  an  ovo-viviparous  reptile,  I 
should  scarcely  have  doubted  that  the  habit  would 
have  been  intensified  in  the  immediate  offspring. 

By  the  way,  have  we  not  in  the  above  north- 
country  form  of  an  old  proverb  full  acknowledgment 
and  open  confession  of  the  law  or  principle  of  in- 
heritance, of  the  transmission  from  parent  to  offspring 
of  characters  and  idiosyncrasy,  long  ago  grasped  by 
the  popular  and  perhaps  more  especially  by  the 
agricultural  mind  !  Other  proverbs  there  are  of  the 
same  import ;  such  as  "A  chip  off  the  old  block"  ; 
"  Like  parent,  like  child  "  ;  "That  which  comes  of 
a  cat  will  catch  mice  "  ;  *'  That  which  is  bred  of  a 
hen  will  scrape."  Moreover,  in  every-day  con- 
versation you  find  the  principle  of  inheritance  admitted 
and  enforced. 

June  \bth. — At  about  6.30  p.m.,  while  rain  fell 
softly  and  the  air  was  mild,  I  observed  numbers  of 
very  large  earthworms  searching  for  food  in  the 
grass  of  a  hedgeside,  their  tails  remaining  in  their 
burrows  while  their  heads  and  bodies  were  projected 
in  search  of  food.  The  food  which  to  appearances  is 
most  acceptable  to  them  is  dead  or  dying  hawthorn 
leaves  and  blades  of  grass  in  the  same  condition. 
Twice  I  saw  a  fallen,  discoloured  small  hawthorn 
leaf  secured  by,  apparently,  the  invagination  of  a 
portion  of  the  pointed  muzzle,  after  which  the  worm 
withdrew  into  its  burrow  out  of  sight,  for  the  purpose 
undoubtedly  of  consuming  it.  Also,  I  saw  a  dis- 
coloured blade  of  bent-grass  that  was  still  firmly  at- 
tached to  the  parent  plant,  taken  hold  of  by  the  process 
of  invagination,  and  the  secured  portion  detached  by 


HAEDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIE. 


231 


the  fibres  of  it  being  apparently  rasped  through  lon- 
gitudinally, by  being  alternately  engulfed  by  this 
invagination  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  pointed 
muzzle  and  again  disgorged  by  an  opposite  process. 
A  small,  detached  trifoliate  leaf  of  the  crow-pea 
(Lotus  coruicuZattis)  was  also  seized  by  a  worm,  and 
the  muzzle  invaginated  until  most  of  the  leaf  was  out 
of  sight ;  this  leaf  was  again  disgorged  and  again 
swallowed,  the  alternate  action  being  repeated  a  few 
times,  and  finally  the  leaf  was  entirely  rejected  and 
other  food  searched  after.  On  picking  up  and 
examining  this  leaf  I  found  it,  though  detached, 
quite  fresh,  and  with  the  extremities  of  its  three 
leaflets  gnawed,  whilst  a  small  hole,  gnawed 
apparently,  also  existed  in  one  of  them.  Had  this 
leaf  been  detached  by  another  earthworm,  and  partly 
consumed — rasped  down — by  it  ?  Why  was  it  finally 
rejected  ?  Possibly  it  had  been  previously  attacked, 
gnawed  and  detached  by  a  snail  or  a  slug,  both  these 
creatures  being  out  in  force  this  evening,  the  large 
black  slug  being  very  observable  amongst  its  con- 
geners ;  and  this  latter  mollusk,  I  have  observed,  can 
very  effectually  mow  down  soft  vegetable  tissues  with 
the  rhythmical  sweep  of  its  lingual  ribbon. 

yune  \%th. — In  the  evening  after  a  heavy  rainfall 
accompanied  by  lightning  and  thunder,  when  it  had 
faired  up,  and  though  dull  was  otherwise  fine  and 
mild,  a  large  (half-acre)  garden  was  literally  alive 
with  earthworms,  mostly  of  large  size,  some  indeed 
of  enormous  dimensions.  At  dusk  they  became  still 
more  numerous,  their  numbers  being  to  me  simply 
wonderful.  Some  turnip-drills  in  particular  exhibited 
their  forces,  being  clad  with  them  both  in  the  furrows 
and  up  their  sides ;  though  the  garden  in  most  other 
parts  was  likewise  all  alive  with  them,  their  tails  in 
their  burrows  while  they  projected  the  body  to  many 
and  various  lengths  in  search  of  food,  in  some 
instances,  where  the  individual  was  of  larger  size 
than  ordinary,  to  nearly  a  foot.  Their  food  was 
vegetable,  consisting  of  the  flowers  of  the  sycamore 
and  the  seeds  of  the  elm,  both  of  which  lay  thick 
upon  the  ground,  the  garden  being  bordered  on  its 
south  side  by  trees ;  also  pieces  of  potato  leaves, 
both  fresh  and  decaying,  and  portions  of  decaying 
leaves  of  curly  greens,  which  I  broke  up  and  laid  in 
their  way.  As  soon  as  the  tapering  cephalic  extremity 
of  the  worm  came  into  contact  with  any  portion  of 
vegetable  suited  to  the  palate  of  the  individual,  it 
slowly  but  surely  secured  it  ;  and  then  the  worm 
contracted  itself  by  degrees,  drawing  with  it  what  it 
had  thus  secured,  which,  if  not  too  big,  was  entirely 
withdrawn  into  the  burrow  out  of  sight :  when  too 
big,  it  stuck  in  the  entrance,  but  I  could  not  discern 
whether  or  not  the  worm  fed  upon  it  thus  situated, 
as  the  light  was  now  much  too  feeble  to  admit  of  that. 
Though  now  nearly  dark,  the  curlews  (Numcnius 
arquata)  were  cur-letv-'mg  close  at  hand  ;  and  I  could 
trace  a  small  flock  of  sea-crows  (black-headed  gulls, 
Larus  ridibundus)  as  they  winged  their  way  along  the 


sinuous  course  of  a  small  stream,  by  the  occasional 
glancings  of  their  white  plumage.  Had  the  earth- 
worms brought  them  out  to  feed  ?  I  have  never 
before  observed  the  gulls  flying  at  dusk. 

Charles  Robson. 
Elswich,  Nezucastle-upon-  Tyne. 


NOTES  ON  THE  LEMMING. 
I  By  John  Wager. 

DURING  many  summer  tours  in  Norway  and 
Sweden,  including  part  of  Lapland,  and  to  a 
great  extent  pedestrian,  the  writer  has  repeatedly 
met  with  that  interesting  little  animal,  the  lemming. 
A  record  of  his  observations,  carefully  noted  down 
at  the  time  they  were  made,  together  with  information 
on  the  subject  derived  from  persons  dwelling  in  the 
vicinity  of  its  haunts,  may  have  some  value  in,  at 
least,  confirming,  and  perhaps  on  some  points 
correcting  —  if  not  in  extending — the  knowledge 
respecting  it  which  previous  writers  have  communi- 
cated. Exact  and  circumstantial  acquaintanceship- 
with  the  little  creature  is  not  easily  obtainable  ;  and 
the  intelligent  Swedish  pastor  of  a  wide  Lapland, 
parish  informs  me  that  even  the  naturalists  of 
Stockholm  have  little  precise  knowledge  of  its 
ordinary  life.  Its  proper  habitat,  or  home,  so  far  as 
it  has  a  fixed  dwelling-place,  is  situated  upon 
desolate  and  uninhabited  mountain  tracts  ;  and  even 
over  those  :you  may  chance  to  wander  for  days,  or 
possibly  weeks,  without  a  single  lemming  appearing, 
in  view.  The  nomadic  Laplanders,  who  have  the 
best  opportunity  for  observing  it,  say  there  is  no- 
certain  locality  where  it  constantly  and  permanently 
resides  ;  that  (independent  of  its  greater  migrations) 
its  habit  is  to  wander  at  intervals,  like  their  own 
reindeer,  from  one  mountain  tract  to  another ;  and 
Swedish  settlers  in  Lapland  have  also  informed  me 
they  may  at  one  time  meet  with  lemmings  on  any 
given  mountain  and  at  another  time  find  none. 

My  own  experience  tends  to  corroborate  this 
statement.  In  1S61,  when  I  first  visited  Norway, 
and  spent  three  months  there,  besides  a  coasting 
voyage  to  Hammerfest  from  Trondhjem,  among 
other  mountain  excursions  including  the  Dovre-fjeld, 
I  crossed  on  foot  the  wide  high  table-lands  between 
Romsdalen  and  Lorn  ;  the  fgrander  region  of  the 
Jotunfjeldene,  and  the  broad  and  dreary  backs  of  the 
mountains  which  rise  between  L?erdals6ren  and 
Urland  ;  and  during  the  whole  of  the  tour  I  caught 
sight  of  one  lemming  only,  just  as  it  was  disappearing 
in  its  hole.  Upon  the  same  tract  also,  on  the  way  to 
Lom,  the  excrement  of  some  small  animal,  probably 
the  lemming,  appeared  contiguous  to  numerous 
holes.  Next  year  (1S62)  starting  from  Christiansand 
about  the  first  of  June,  I  travelled,  chiefly  on  foot, 
from     Christiansand     to     Molde ;    again     traversed 


232 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Romsdalen  and  crossed  the  mountains  from  Holseth 
to  Lom,  without  seeing  anything  of  the  lemmings, 
except  a  few  skins  which  a  tourist  had  brought  from 
the  Fille-fjeld,  where  large  numbers  of  them  had 
appeared.  From  Lom  I  passed  up  Bsevredal  to 
Brevertun ;  and  while  walking  thence  (about  the 
middle  of  August)  over  the  grand,  but  desolate  region 
of  the  Sogne-fjeld  to  Optun,  I  got  for  the  second 
time,  the  first  on  this  tour,  a  momentary  glance  at  a 
lemming  ;  nor  did  I  see  one  other,  though  I  passed 
over  another  mountain  range  to  the  Justedal  glaciers, 
till  I  had  crossed  the  Sogne-fjord  and  landed  at 
Lrerdalsoren,  where  a  few  dead  bodies  of  lemmings, 
which  had  probably  descended  from  the  Fille-fjeld, 
were  strewn  upon  the  ground. 

The  Fille-fjeld  lies  to  the  east  of  Lserdalsoren  ; 
but,  on  leaving  this  village,  I  took,  as  on  the  former 
tour,  a  south-westerly  direction,  rising  over  the 
southern  extension  of  the  lofty  Blaa-fjeld,  and 
descending  to  Urland,  by  the  almost  trackless  route 
I  had  followed  before,  but  with  a  long  line  of 
telegraph  posts  to  guide  me  over  the  desolate  waste. 
Starting  rather  late  in  the  afternoon,  I  reached  at 
seven  my  resting-place  for  the  night,  a  wretched 
sreter  hut,  little  more  than  a  heap  of  rough  stones 
and  earth,  high  up  on  the  cold,  misty  and  dreary 
mountain  plateau.  So  far  the  route  had  been  as 
clear  of  lemmings  as  I  had  previously  found  it 
throughout ;  but  next  morning,  about  two  miles 
beyond  the  hut,  after  wading  a  wide,  but  shallow 
stream,  I  came  upon  them  in  swarms.  While  quietly 
seated,  resuming  my  stockings  and  shoes,  I  presently 
saw  them  in  all  directions ;  running  in  and  out  of 
their  holes  among  the  stones ;  swimming  across  the 
river ;  nibbling  the  herbage,  especially  a  small, 
tender,  succulent  leaf,  and  approaching  so  near  to 
my  feet  that  I  could  have  seized  them  with  my  hand, 
though  they  scampered  off  if  I  moved.  During  the 
remainder  of  my  walk  to  Urland,  I  must  have  seen 
some  thousands  of  them  ;  and  after  leaving  Urland 
for  Vossevangen,  by  way  of  Flaam,  through  Kaar- 
dalen  and  Rundsdal,  I  continued  to  see  them  in 
diminished  numbers  till  after  I  had  passed  into  the 
latter  valley.  At  one  place,  where,  having  missed 
the  way,  to  regain  it  I  rose  over  elevated  crags,  I 
saw  a  small  flock  of  the  little  creatures  in  a  hollow 
below  me,  running  about  upon  extensive  beds  of  icy 
snow.  Between  Romsdal,  Vossevangen  and  Gravdal 
on  the  Hardanger-fjord,  I  quite  missed  the  lem- 
mings ;  nor  did  I  see  any  again  till  I  got  to  Utne  on 
the  same  fjord  ;  at  which  place  they  had  made  their 
appearance,  I  was  told,  eight  days  before.  On 
leaving  Utne  (Sept.  2nd)  in  a  small  boat,  for  Odde,  at 
the  extremity  of  the  fjord,  a  lemming  passed  the 
boat,  swimming  in  a  direct  line,  having  apparently 
come  from  the  opposite  side,  distant  about  a  mile, 
and  was  making  for  the  shore  ;  but  a  few  others  we 
passed,  were  swimming  about  for  no  apparent  pur- 
pose.    From  Odde  I  passed  into  the  Thelemark,  by 


way  of  Roldal  and  Haukelid-fjeld  ;  chiefly  on 
mountain  tracks,  the  present  road  having  been  made 
since  ;  and  on  all  the  route  I  met  with  lemmings 
more  or  less,  though  not  very  numerously  till  I  had 
passed  Roldal  and  had  approached  the  flanks  of  the 
Haukelid.  Within  the  Thelemark  also,  as  I  pro- 
ceeded through  Grungedal,  they  continued  plentiful ; 
squeaking  among  the  bushes,  running  incessantly 
across  the  road,  here  and  there  swimming  in  the 
lakes,  and  angrily  jerking  their  little  bodies  as  I 
passed — the  young  ones  being  quite  as  saucy  as  their 
progenitors.  By  the  middle  of  September  a  great 
number  of  drowned  lemmings  lined  the  margin  of  the 
Tinsjo,  near  Ornres,  and  many  more,  as  I  saw  during 
my  passage  in  a  row-boat  down  the  lake,  were 
drifting  on  the  water  ;  and  next  year  I  learnt,  that 
later  in  the  autumn  the  lake  was  quite  blackened 
with  their  drowned  carcases.  A  similar  swarm,  the 
boatmen  said,  had  thus  drowned  themselves  twelve 
years  before.  A  week  afterwards,  having  meantime 
visited  Hiterdal,  Kongsberg,  Drammen,  and  Modum, 
I  passed  in  a  wood  not  far  from  Vigersund  the  bodies 
of  a  few  lemmings  which  had  been  killed,  serving  to 
show  that  they  had  begun  to  arrive  so  far  to  the 
south-east ;  but  I  find  a  remark  in  my  note  book, 
that  I  had  not  for  some  time  past  met  with  them  on 
my  way. 

In  August  of  the  following  year,  1S63,  I  took 
another  tour  of  the  Thelemark,  landing  at  Arendal 
and  passing  northwards  through  Nisserdal  to  the 
Bandak's  Vand  ;  then  circuiting  round  to  the  Totak's 
Vand,  the  Mjos  Vand,  the  Ruikan  Fos,  and  througb 
Vestfjorddal  to  Ornses  on  the  Tinsjo  again.  On  the 
former  tour,  it  will  be  remembered,  I  tracked  the 
lemmings  in  Thelemarken,  all  the  way  from  Roldal 
to  this  point,  where  they  had  begun  to  appear,  I  was 
told,  in  the  autumn  of  1861.  Now  I  found  them 
numerously  near  Arendal,  on  the  south-east  coast, 
and  continued  to  meet  with  them  in  decreasing 
numbers  as  far  as  Haugsjaasund,  near  the  foot  of  the 
Nisser  lake,  where,  or  thereabouts,  they  finally 
disappeared,  and  I  did  not  see  one  other  lemming 
during  the  remainder  of  the  tour  ;  but,  on  arriving  at 
Christiania,  I  learnt  that  some  time  before  a  swarm  of 
them  had  advanced  into  the  grounds  of  the  palace, 
and  even  into  the  streets  of  the  city. 

Passing  into  Sweden,  I  had  several  tours,  as  in 
Norway  chiefly  on  foot,  through  Dalecarlia,  Werm- 
land  and  part  of  Norrland,  before  gaining  sight  of  a 
single  lemming.  When  at  N&s,  in  West  Dalecarlia, 
the  pastor  informed  me  that  fifteen  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  lemmings  had  paid  them  a  visit ;  and  I 
learnt  from  a  Swedish  lady  that  she  had  never  seen  a 
lemming  in  her  life,  till  once,  during  a  twelve-years' 
residence  at  Slattne  on  the  Klar  river,  quite  in  the 
north  of  Wermland,  she  was  astonished  by  seeing  a 
great  swarm  of  them  pass  southwards  by  the  house, 
extending  down  the  hill  as  far  as  could  be  seen. 
They  moved  straight  forwards,  and  would  not  turn 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


233 


aside  for  her,  so  she  was  obliged  to  make  way  for 
them.  Early  next  morning  only  a  few  dead  ones 
were  visible ;  and  as  they  were  not  seen  at  Ransby, 
five  or  six  miles  below,  it  is  probable  the  swarm  had 
swum  across  the  river,  and  entered  the  forest  on  its 
western  side.  The  lady's  husband  once  saw  a  swarm 
of  them  crossing  the  river  Trysild  in  Norway  j  some 
of  them  were  drowned  in  the  attempt,  but  a  great 
many  got  well  over  and  continued  their  route  east- 
ward back  to  the  mountains  from  which  they  had 
probably  descended.  Her  maid-servant,  from  Dale- 
carlia,  says  they  are  not  so  rarely  seen  in  the  forests 
of  that  province,  especially  during  wet  summers  ; 
numbers  of  them  at  such  times  being  found  there 
lying  dead,  having,  according  to  peasant  belief,  fallen 
from  the  mountains  along  with  the  heavy  rain. 

The  first  time  I  saw  lemmings  in  Sweden  was  in 
1872,  at  or  near  Wemdalen,  in  the  poor  but  pic- 
turesque province  of  Herje&dal,  where  I  was  told 
they  are  usually  found  during  summer  in  the  valleys, 
and  not  unfrequently  in  numbers  sufficient  to  do 
much  damage  to  the  grass  and  corn  ;  but  in  winter, 
it  was  said,  they  remain  on  the  fjelds.  From 
Wemdalen  I  crossed  Herjeadal  in  a  south-westerly 
direction,  on  forest  tracks,  to  Fjaton,  the  first  little 
hamlet  in  Dalecarlia  ;  and  all  the  way  I  met  with 
lemmings ;  seldom  more  than  two  or  three  together, 
though  rather  numerous  here  and  there,  but  never  in 
swarms.  Thence  I  continued  on  foot  my  lonely  way 
through  forest,  and  over  the  broad,  elevated  heathery 
and  moss-grown  basement  of  Stadjan,  a  mountain 
near  4000  feet  high,  to  Idre,  the  most  northerly 
village,  or  hamlet,  of  East  Dalecarlia  ;  finding  there 
that  the  lemmings  had  preceded  me.  They  had 
arrived  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  summer,  it  being 
now  about  the  middle  of  August ;  and  the  people 
said  it  might  be  five  years  since  their  last  previous 
visit,  but  could  not  tell  me  where  they  came  from  ; 
some,  they  said,  were  always  to  be  found  on  the 
higher  fjelds.  In  winter  they  burrow  in  the  ground, 
and  eat  grass  under  the  snow.  From  Idre  I  drove 
southwards  to  Sarna ;  and  next  morning,  on  taking 
to  my  legs  and  forest  tracks  again,  saw  the  last  of 
the  lemmings — a  few  dead  ones  on  the  forest  floor — 
and  henceforth,  on  this  tour,  I  saw  nothing  more  of 
them,  though  I  continued  to  foot  it  for  a  week  longer, 
on  forest  tracks,  through  a  corner  of  Norway  and 
Norra  Finskogen,  to  Slattne  in  Wermland. 
(7<7  be  continued.) 

The  following  is  taken  from  a  small  "Handbook 
for  Emigrants  to  Queensland,  Australia,"  published 
by  authority  of  the  Agent  General.  "Fine  tracts  of 
rich  herbage  exist,  as  at  the  Herbert  and  Diamantina, 
on  the  western  broad  downs.  As  kangaroos  consume 
much  pasture,  a  recent  Act  offers  eightpence  for  a 
kangaroo  scalp.  One  party  of  hunters  killed  a 
thousand  in  two  days."  Readers  please  supply 
comment  according  to  taste. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

In  last  month's  "Gossip"  the  paragraphs  on  the 
chemical  investigations  of  Messrs.  Dixon  &  Lowe, 
and  of  Mr.  Turner,  should  have  followed  the  para- 
graph which  there  follows  them,  the  reference  being 
in  each  case  to  the  Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society. 

An  astronomical  matter  of  considerable  interest  has 
lately  been  attracting  much  attention.      On  August 
31,    Herr   Hartzig   announced,    from    Dorpat    Uni- 
versity, that  a  bright  body  had  appeared  in  the  great 
Andromeda  nebula.     There  had  been  a  condensation 
of   the   nebulous  matter  before,    but    this   intensely 
bright  point  was  new.    An  anonymous  correspondent, 
who   contributed   an  article   on   the  subject  to   the 
"  Times,"  says  that  this  appearance  disposes  of  the 
theory  that  this  nebula  may  be  a  distant  galaxy  of 
solar  systems,  distinct  from  our  own  galaxy.     The 
Andromeda  nebula  was  perhaps  the  one  star-cloud 
which  might  be  supposed  to  be  such  a  galaxy,  but 
that   a   star   of  the   eighth   magnitude   should  have 
appeared   in   it   shows   that    this   nebula  is    not   an 
exception  to  the  rule,  but  belongs  to  our  own  galaxy. 
For  if  the  Andromeda  galaxy  were  a  galaxy  equal 
in  size  to  our  own,   it  must  be  at  a  distance  of  at 
least  more  than  a  hundred  times  that  of  the  farthest 
star  in  our  galaxy  ;  and  to  put  it  briefly,  a  star  at  that 
distance  to  shine  as  does  this  star  would  have  to  be 
30,000   million   times    larger   than   our   sun,    if    its 
surface     lustre    resembled    his ;    and    even    if    the 
existence  and  sudden  development  of  such  a  mass 
be  admitted,  it  would,  he  says,  prevent  our  believing 
that  the  star-cloud  could  be  a  galaxy  like  to  the  same 
nature  as  our  own.     The  brightness  of  the  star  has 
been  observed  to  diminish. 

In  his  presidential  address  to  the  British  Associa- 
tion at  Aberdeen,  Sir  Lyon  Playfair  reviewed  the 
position  of  Science,  its  relation  to  the  State,  to 
Secondary  Education,  to  the  Universities,  and  to 
Industry.  He  expects  to  see  a  Minister  of  Educa- 
tion during  the  next  Parliament,  blames  the  middle 
classes  for  what  he  considers  a  too  great  attention  to 
classics,  and  thinks  that  under  a  proper  university 
system  teaching  and  investigation  are  not  incom- 
patible. He  attributes  the  progress  in  the  arts, 
independently  of  science,  to  three  conditions — the 
substitution  of  natural  forces,  as  those  of  fire  or 
water,  for  brute  animal  power  ;  the  economy  of  time 
or  of  production,  as  by  machinery  ;  and  the  methods 
of  utilising  waste  products,  as  in  manufacture  of  ink, 
dyes,  &c.  He  considers  abstract  discovery  in  science 
to  be  the  true  foundation  on  which  modern  civilisa- 
tion is  built,  and  that  in  this  view  science  should  be 
studied  and  advanced  for  its  own  sake,  and  not  for 
its  applications. 

Professor  G.  Chrystal,  President  of  the 
Mathematical  and   Physical  Section,  in   the  course 


234 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


of  his  address,  urged  the  contact  of  students  with 
the  working  minds  of  living  teachers  rather  than  a 
trusting  to  systems  of  examination.  These  systems, 
he  says,  have  been  tested  and  found  wanting  in 
nearly  every  civilised  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
He  would  like  to  see  the  British  Association  extend  its 
usefulness  by  providing  for  the  writing  of  scientific 
treatises  for  the  use  of  students,  by  furnishing  reports 
on  science  in  other  countries,  and  programmes  of 
instruction  for  the  guidance  of  schoolmasters  and 
private  students ;  and,  if  the  Royal  and  other 
Societies  are  necessarily  too  select  for  the  purpose, 
by  broadening  its  basis  in  some  way  so  as  to  en- 
courage the  "scientific  plebeian."  Finally,  he 
suggests  that  the  leaders  of  science  should  extend 
their  influence  by  coming  more  into  personal  contact 
with  others,  by  lecturing  from  time  to  time  in  the 
large  centres  of  the  higher  education. 

Before  passing  to  the  special  subject  of  his  paper, 
viz.  Chemical  Action,  Professor  H.  E.  Armstrong, 
president  of  the  Chemical  Section,  dealt  with  the 
teaching  of  science.  Examinations  are  evidently 
growing  in  disfavour,  and  Professor  Armstrong,  like 
Professor  Chrystal,  is  no  friend  to  the  system.  He  says 
that  both  in  teaching  and  examining  two  changes 
should  be  made,  by  which  students  at  the  very 
beginning  of  their  career  should,  by  performing  a 
few  simple  quantitative  exercises  in  determining 
equivalents,  &c.,  become  familiar  with  the  use  of 
the  balance  ;  and  secondly,  the  imaginary  distinction 
between  so-called  inorganic  and  organic  compounds 
should  be  altogether  abandoned.  In  the  second 
portion  of  his  paper  he  says,  "  the  inference  which 
I  think  may  fairly  be  drawn  from  Mr.  Baker's 
observations  [see  this  Vol.  p.  113],  that  pure  carbon 
and  phosphorus  are  incombustible  in  pure  oxygen — 
is  indeed  startling." 

In  the  Geological  Section,  Professor  J.  W.  Rudd, 
F.R.S.,  occupied  himself  with  Scottish  Geology, 
referring  at  some  length  to  the  controversies 
on  the  subject,  and  dealing  with  the  geology 
of  the  Highlands,  associating  with  it  that  of  Scan- 
dinavia. He  stated  that  he  failed  to  see  that  any 
such  connection  between  the  minute  structure  of  a 
rock  and  its  geological  age  had  yet  been  established, 
thatC would  enable  the  evidence  of  the  microscope  to  be 
a  substitute  for  palxontological  evidence  where  that 
was  wanting. 

A  NEW  edition  of  Yarrell's  British  Birds,  in  four 
volumes,  is  just  completed,  the  first  two  volumes 
having  been  revised  by  Professor  Alfred  Newton, 
F.R.S.,  and  the  two  latter  by  Mr.  Howard  Saunders, 
F.Z.S. 

It  appears  that  MM.  Paul  Gibier  &  Van  Ermengem, 
who  were  appointed  by  their  governments  to  study 
Dr.  Ferran's  method  of  preventive  vaccination  for 
cholera,  have  independently  arrived  at  the  conclusion 


that  inoculation  with  his  cultivated  virus  {comma 
bacillus)  does  not  prevent  animals  operated  on  from, 
taking  the  disease. 

It  looks  as  if  railways  were  at  length  on  the  way 
towards  becoming  accomplished  facts  in  China,, 
where  of  all  places  it  would  appear  to  be  most 
difficult  to  introduce  novelties.  Now,  however, 
several  lines  are  proposed.  Some  interesting  parti- 
culars are  given  by  Mr.  John  Dixon  in  a  letter  to  the 
"Times"  with  respect  to  an  experimental  line  that 
was  laid  down  from  Shanghai  to  Woosung  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  the  subject  in  a  practical  form 
to  the  notice  of  the  Chinese.  The  length  of  this  line 
was  nine  and  a  quarter  miles,  and  its  gauge  2  feet,, 
and  it  was  kept  open  for  15  months.  During  the 
making,  the  people  showed  great  interest  in  it,  and 
in  the  15  months  for  which  it  remained  open  it  was 
largely  patronised  by  them.  It  came  to  an  end 
through  the  action  of  Chinese  authorities,  but  Mr. 
Dixon  hopes  that  it  will  have  led  the  way  to  the 
extension  of  the  system,  and  moreover,  avows  that 
his  object  is  to  promote  the  opening  up  to  the  world 
of  a  magnificent  market  for  rails,  &c,  in  the  trade  of 
which  England  might  secure  the  largest  share.  But 
what  would  Mr.  Ruskin  say  to  all  this  ? 

Engineering  science  seems  to  have  long  ago 
exceeded  the  limit,  wherever  that  may  be,  to  which  it 
is  advisable  to  go  in  increasing  the  size  of  ships. 
Every  now  and  again  the  question  crops  up  as  to 
what  is  to  be  done  with  the  Great  Eastern.  The  last 
news  is  that  by  order  of  Mr.  Justice  Chitty  she  is  to 
be  offered  for  sale  by  auction  next  month. 


MICROSCOPY. 

Haplograpiiium. — Since  the  article  on  this  genus 
of  Fungi  was  put  in  type,  I  have  found  H.  bicolor  in . 
another  locality,  Barnt  Green  Reservoir,  Worcester- 
shire, on  willow  sticks,  and  was  able  satisfactorily  to 
ascertain  that  the  spores  were  in  chains.  See  p.  197. 
—  W.  B.  Grove,  B.A. 

Vorticell^e  with  two  Contractile  Vacuoles. 
— On  page  163  of  this  volume  may  be  found  a  note 
on  this  subject.  In  the  "  American  Naturalist,"  as  far 
back  as  last  March,  Dr.  Stokes  adds  that  he  found  two 
contractile  vacuoles  in  V.  vestita  and  also  in  V. 
rhabdophora.  It  is  necessary  to  have  the  vorticella  so 
placed  that  one  vacuole  may  not  conceal  the  other. 
He  remarks  that  the  two  vacuoles  have  hitherto  been 
observed  only  in  those  species  which  are  also 
apparently  more  highly  organised  in  having  some 
kind  of  cuticular  investment. 

Starches.— In  the  "Midland  Naturalist"  for 
September  may  be  found  a  short  paper  on  starch,  by- 
Mr.  Edward  Francis,  F.C.S.,  which  was  read  before 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


235 


the  Nottingham  Naturalists'  Society.  This  paper, 
which  includes  the  classification  of  starches  after  Dr. 
Muter,  should  be  useful  to  microscopical  botanists. 

Cole's  Microscopical  Studies. — The  last- 
received  box  of  this  series  contains  mounted  and 
labelled  slides  of  lung,  brown  induration ;  tracheal 
system  of  silkworm  ;  horizontal  section  of  gill  of 
Anodonta  cygnea ;  and  vertical  section  of  sorus  of 
scolopendrium. 

"The  American  Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal."— The  August  number  of  this  journal 
contains,  among  others,  papers  on  Cleaning  Marine 
Mud,  by  Dr.  G.  H.  Taylor ;  and  on  Mr.  Charles 
Fasoldt's  Detaching  Nose-Piece  for  Rapidly  Changing 
Objectives  (illustrated)  ;  and  a  continuation  of  the 
translation  of  Professor  Hans  Gierke's  notes  on 
Staining  Tissues  in  Microscopy. 

Protoplasmic  Movement.  —  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Bessey  states,  in  the  "  American  Naturalist,"  that  the 
movement  of  protoplasm  may  be  easily  seen  in  the 
"silky"  styles  of  Indian  corn.  Care  should,  he 
says,  be  taken  to  lay  them  flat,  the  styles  being  some- 
what ribbon-shaped,  not  cylindrical. 

Bolton's  Portfolio  of  Drawings. — The  August 
portfolio  of  this  series  contains  a  dozen  or  more 
drawings  to  accompany  the  living  specimens  which 
have  been  sent  out  by  Mr.  Thomas  Bolton,  of  Bir- 
mingham. The  drawings,  printed  in  black  and 
white,  are  very  interesting,  and  show  signs  of  great 
care.  Judged,  as  they  are,  apart  from  their  speci- 
mens, some  of  them  especially  seem  to  deserve  great 
praise  ;  and  on  the  back  of  each  may  be  found  some 
explanatory  text. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Helix  Aspersa  and  Aspera.  —  Mr.  W.  C. 
Atkinson,  pointing  out  a  mistake  on  p.  1S8  of  this 
vol.,  by  which  H.  aspera  is  printed  for  H.  aspersa, 
says  that  there  is  a  Jamaica  species,  to  which 
Ferussac  gave  the  name  H.  aspera,  and  observes  that 
it  may  be  needful  to  note  that  the  difference  in  the 
spelling  of  these  two  very  similar  names  indicates 
the  distinction  between  two  very  different  species. 

E.HYTINA  Stelleri.— In  the  "  Geological  Maga- 
zine," Dr.  H.  Woodward  has  a  paper  on  Fossil  Sirenia 
in  the  Natural  History  Museum.  A  nearly  complete 
skeleton  of  the  recently  extinct  Rhytina  Stelleri  was 
acquired  for  the  museum  during  the  early  part  of 
the  year.  This  animal,  seen  by  Stellerin  1741,  was 
exterminated  from  Behring's  Island  and  Copper 
Island,  to  which  it  was  then  limited,  over  a  hundred 
years  ago.  Its  bones  are  not  found  on  the  surface 
of  these  islands,  nor  at  the  sea  level,  but  in  old 
raised  beaches   and   post-tertiary   peat-mosses,    and 


their  presence  is  ascertained  by  boring  into  the  peat 
with  an  iron  rod  or  some  such  tool.  The  skeleton 
confirms  Professor  Brandt,  who  attributed  to  Rhy- 
tina seven  cervical  vertebrae,  the  number  usual  in 
mammalia.  Steller,  in  1741,  observed  these  "sea- 
cows  "  browsing  in  herds  on  the  sea-weed  in  the 
shallows  along  the  shore.  When  full  grown  their 
length  is  said  to  have  sometimes  reached  thirty-five 
feet,  and  their  weight  three  or  four. tons. 

"Pholas"  (P.  crispata). — Whilst  watching  the 
animals  in  my  aquarium  one  night,  I  was  surprised 
at  the  movements  of  the  pholas  (P.  crispata).  I 
have  three  specimens,  and  as  they  are  merely  lying 
upon  some  stones  at  the  bottom  of  the  aquarium,  the 
conditions  are  not  quite  natural  for  the  borer.  As 
soon  as  the  rays  from  the  lamp  fell  upon  the  water, 
the  pholades  quickly  turned  their  siphons  towards  the 
light,  even  so  far  as  to  bend  the  siphonal  tube  when 
the  light  was  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  end  of  the 
siphons.  When  first  bringing  the  light  into  a  dark 
room,  the  P.  crispata  is  very  sensitive  to  it,  and 
brings  the  end  of  its  tube  in  a  line  with  the  direction 
of  the  lamp  ;  but,  after  some  short  time,  it  takes  no 
further  notice,  unless  the  light  be  concentrated,  a 
little  to  its  right  or  left,  when  it  slowly  turns  the 
point  of  the  siphon  to  the  side  that  the  light  falls 
upon.  In  looking  up  the  pholas  in  a  number  of 
works,  I  find  no  mention  of  eyes,  not  even  that 
it  is  sensitive  to  light.  In  a  small  work  on  the 
"Common  Shells  of  the  Sea  Shore,"  by  the  Rev. 
J.  G.  Wood,  there  it  is  stated  that  "on  the  inside  of 
the  hinge  of  the  pholas  is  seen  a  curved  projecting 
piece  of  shell,  the  use  of  which  seems  to  be  rather 
obscure."  This  statement  led  me  to  look  for  the 
projecting  piece  of  shell  mentioned  by  Mr.  Wood. 
And  on  opening  the  pholas,  a  very  beautiful  modi- 
fication of  the  usual  hinge  presented  itself,  in  the 
form  of  a  pair  of  hooks,  one  on  the  inside  of  each 
valve.  The  hooks  are  imbedded  in  the  animal,  and 
enable  it  to  bring  the  shell  close  to  its  body  when 
the  siphons  are  extended,  and  to  force  the  shell 
asunder  when  they  are  contracted,  thus  allowing  a 
greater  amount  of  freedom  to  the  movements  of  the 
siphons.  Without  the  hook-like  hinge,  or  with  any 
other  form  of  attachment,  it  would  be  impossible  for 
the  pholas  to  bring  its  siphons  within  the  valves. 
When  the  siphons  are  withdrawn  into  the  shell,  the 
valves  gape  considerably,  and  are  quite  apart ;  but 
when  the  siphons  are  extended  the  valves  are  brought 
together  again  simply  by  this  hook-like  hinge,  if  so 
we  may  call  it,  the  ordinary  muscular  attachment 
has  very  little  power  over  this  posterior  gape.  I 
shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  some  of  ours. — P.  H. 
Marrow. 

Axolotls. — Would  E.  T.  D.,  Crouch  End,  kindly 
tell  Dr.  Willett,  Bristol,  where  he  could  obtain  the 
axolotls  he  wrote  of  in  the  August  number  of  Science- 
Gossip  ? 


236 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


BOTANY. 

Evolution  in  the  Vegetable  Kingdom. — 
This  is  the  title  of  a  paper  by  Lester  F.  Ward,  A.M., 
of  which  the  second  part  appears,  illustrated  by  a 
couple  of  diagrams,  in  the  "American  Naturalist" 
for  August.  The  writer  says  that  the  natural  affinities 
are  between  apetalous  and  polypetalous  plants,  and 
not  between  apetalous  and  gamopetalous,  and  con- 
siders that  the  systematic  value  of  the  subdivision  of 
dicotyledons  into  mono-  and  di-chlamydeous,  and  the 
latter  into  poly-  and  gamo-petalous,  diminishes  with 
the  progress  of  research.  He  regards  the  gamopeta- 
lous division  as  the  highest  in  point  of  structural 
development,  and  concludes  by  saying  that  "  the 
only  one  of  all  the  leading  forms  of  [plant  ?]  life  of 
which  we  can  positively  say  that  it  still  preserves  an 
upward  tendency  is  the  gamopetalous  division  of  the 
dicotyledons,  which,  unless  arrested  by  human 
agency,  seems  destined  to  form  the  dominant  type  of 
vegetation  for  the  next  geologic  epoch." 

Protoplasmic  Continuity. — The  continuity 
from  cell  to  cell  of  the  protoplasm  of  a  plant  has 
already  engaged  the  attention  of  several  workers.  In 
the  "Botanical  Gazette"  for  August  is  a  translation 
of  a  note  on  the  same  subject,  by  M.  L.  Olivier, 
presented  to  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  and 
published  in  the  "Comptes  Rendus."  By  photo- 
graphing thin  and  magnified  cross-sections  of  living 
tissues,  and  afterwards  examining  the  negatives  with  a 
lens,  the  cell  membranes  appear  perforated  by  canals, 
establishing  a  communication  between  the  contents  of 
the  cells.  By  projecting  the  microscope  into  a  dark 
chamber,  so  that  no  light  entered  his  eye,  but  what 
came  from  the  instrument,  he  was  enabled  to  see 
clearly  in  more  than  a  dozen  plants  the  interruption 
of  the  cell-walls.  The  method  of  staining  was  also 
resorted  to,  and  by  this  means  if  the  cell-walls  were 
coloured,  colourless  spaces  were  seen,  at  least  in 
some  plants ;  while  if  the  protoplasm  was  stained, 
the  canals  traversing  the  walls  are  then  traceable 
from  their  shewing  the  same  colour.  This  passage  of 
the  protoplasm  through  narrow  openings  occurs  in 
many  cases  ;  "  so  that  in  the  tissues  of  a  given  plant, 
where,  up  to  a  recent  date,  we  have  only  observed  a 
multitude  of  small  protoplasmic  masses  entirely 
isolated,  there  is,  in  reality,  a  single  enormous 
protoplasmic  mass." 

The  Absorption  of  Free  Nitrogen  by  Plants. 
— It  has  generally  been  understood  that  plants, 
though  surrounded  by  so  large  an  amount  of  free 
nitrogen  in  the  air,  are  unable  to  assimilate  it  while 
it  is  in  that  condition,  but  are  dependent  on  nitro- 
genous compounds  for  their  supplies  of  the  element. 
From  some  experiments,  however,  which  have  been 
made  by  Prof.  W.  O.  Atwater,  and  communicated  to 
the  "American  Chemical  Journal,"  it  appears  that 


growing  plants  can  take  a  large  proportion  of  their 
nitrogen  in  the  former  method.     The  plan  adopted 
was  to  grow  peas  in  purified  sand,  and  feed  them 
with  solution  of  nitrates  and  other  compounds,  the 
amount   of  nitrogen  supplied   being   known.      The 
plants  were   grown   in    the  open  air,  but  protected 
from   dew  and  rain,  by  being  taken  under  cover  at 
night  and  in  rainy  weather.      Under  these  circum- 
stances it  was  found,  by  comparing  the  amount  of 
nitrogen  in  the  seeds  and  supplied  to  the  soil,  with 
that  found  in  the  plants  and  in  the  soil  at  the  end  of 
the  experiments,  that  in  some  cases  as  much  as  one- 
third,  or  even  one-half  of  the  whole  nitrogen  of  the 
plants  had  been  obtained  otherwise  than  from  the 
soil,   that   is,   it  is   presumed,   in   the   form  of  free 
atmospheric  nitrogen.     In  the  other  cases,  with  one 
striking  exception,  there  was  also  a  gain,  though  to  a 
less  extent,  of  nitrogen  over  and  above  that  obtained 
from   the   soil.     The   possibility   of  the   acquisition 
being   from  ammonia   in   the    air    instead    of    free 
nitrogen  is  noted,  but  rejected  on  account  of  the  large 
amount  gained.     An  abstract  of  the  paper  may  be 
found  in  the  "  Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society  "  for 
September,  from  which  this  note  is  taken,  and  where 
further  details  are  given. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

Human  Bones. — In  some  excavations  made  in 
January  of  last  year,  near  the  city  of  Mexico,  several 
human  bones  were  unearthed,  an  account  of  which 
may  be  seen  in  the  ' '  American  Naturalist "  for  August. 
The  bones  exposed  comprised  part  of  the  cranium, 
lower  and  upper  maxillce  and  fragments  of  collar-bone, 
vertebrae,  ribs  and  bones  from  upper  and  lower  limbs. 
The  canine  teeth  have  the  peculiarity  of  being  of  the 
same  shape  as  the  incisors.  No  other  animal  remains 
were  found  in  a  sufficiently  satisfactory  condition  to 
fix  the  age  of  the  rock,  nor  any  vestige  of  ceramic  or 
other  modern  remains.  From  considerations  pointed 
out  in  the  paper,  however,  the  writer,  Mariano  de  la 
Barcena,  concludes  that  the  formation  in  which  the 
bones  lay  belonged  perhaps  to  the  upper  Quaternary, 
or  at  least  to  the  base  of  the  present  geological  age. 
He  considers  that  they  belonged  to  a  prehistoric  man 
of  ordinary  stature  and  about  forty  years  old. 

Underground  Heat. — In  a  very  interesting  and 
suggestive  paper  in  the  "Geological  Magazine"  for 
September,  Mr.  J.  Starkie  Gardner,  F.G.S.,  dis- 
cusses the  question  whether  the  heat  which  exists 
below  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  likely  to  be  at  any 
time  made  available  for  use  on  the  surface.  The 
interior  condition  of  the  earth,  he  says,  is  still  a 
debated  subject  ;  many  geologists  believing  that  it  is 
partially  fluid,  the  fluid  which  is  beneath  the  solid 
crust  resting  also  upon  a  solid  interior.  If  the  only 
reason  for  the  observed  prevalence   of  earthquakes 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


237 


in  winter  over  that  in  summer  be  the  diminished 
pressure  of  the  air,  which  allows  a  corresponding  ex- 
pansion of  fluid  in  the  interior,  how  thin,  as  the 
author  remarks,  must  be  the  crust  of  the  earth  !  He 
thinks  that  the  temperature  of  boiling  water  may 
perhaps  be  met  with  at  a  less  depth  than  that 
indicated  by  the  rate  of  increased  temperature  in 
artesian  wells,  viz,  10,000  feet,  but  says  that  modern 
engineering  might  possibly  be  equal  to  piercing  even 
this  depth.  His  suggestion  of  sinking  a  shaft  into 
molten  lava  is  certainly  bold,  but  if  things  go  on  as 
now,  the  time  will  come  sooner  or  later,  when,  as 
Mr.  Gardner  says,  we  shall  be  driven  to  try  to 
discover  modes  of  obtaining  heat  without  the 
combustion  of  fuel. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Nasturtium. — In  reply  to  L.  Lee,  permit  me  to 
give  my  view  of  the  laciniated  margins  (not  hairs)  at 
the  junction  of  the  blade  with  the  claw  of  the  petals 
of  the  so-called  nasturtium.     For  brevity,  I  will  call 
them  bristles,  especially  as  there  is  a  certain  rigidity 
about  them.     If  memory  serves  me  rightly,  Kerner 
mentions  them  as  a  contrivance  to  keep  out  "  un- 
welcome guests,"  but  does  not  state  in  what  manner 
this  is  brought  about,  and  I  fail  to  see  how  they  can 
keep  out  any  insects,  big  or  little.     The  arrangement 
in  the  flower  of  canary-creeper  is  much  the  same  as 
in  nasturtium,  and  my  remarks  to  one  will  apply  to 
the   other.     Briefly,  my  view  is  that  these  bristles 
serve  the  purpose  of  guiding  the  visiting  insect  so 
as  to  ensure  its  coming  in  contact  with  the  proper 
organs.      This   is   brought   about   in    the   following 
way  : — I.  The  bristles  stand  out  at  a  sharp  angle  to 
the    lamina    of    the    petal.      2.    The    trifid    stigma 
projects  to  nearly  the  same  height  as  the  bristles, 
and  midway  in  the  plane  between  the  bristles  and 
the  entrance  to  the   spur.     3.  The   anthers,   before 
dehiscing,  lie  back  between  the  claws  of  the  three 
anterior  petals  and  upon  the  two  anterior  sepals  in 
nasturtium,   but   between   them   in   canariensis.     In 
this   stage  the  filaments  are  bent  outwardly  at  an 
angle  of  450  at  least.     The  anthers  advance  succes- 
sively to  dehisce  in  the  plane  between  the  bristles 
and    stigmas.      4.    The    flower   is   half  pendulous. 
5.  Given  an  insect  of  proper  size  and,  weight,  it  will, 
in  making  for  the  spur  and   guided  by  the  purple 
blotches  and  streaks,  either  clamber  over  or  alight 
or  stand  upon  the  projecting  bristles.     In  any  case, 
the  under-surface  of  the  insect  will  unerringly  come 
in  contact  with  the  anthers  and  stigmas.     Bees  and 
wasps  are  too  heavy  to  do  this  work  properly,  and  I 
suppose  that  these  flowers  in  their  native  countries 
have  insects  especially  adapted  for  their  fertilisation. 
Note  length  of  spur,  &c.     I  do  not  think  the  same 
insect  that  fertilises  the  canary-creeper  would  do  for 
nasturtium.     The  flowers  appear  to  be  proterandrous, 
but  of  this  I  cannot  be  sure  ;  if,  however,  they  are, 
the   arrangement   for  cross -fertilisation  is  complete. 
The  flowers  are  wonderfully  free  from  small  insects, 
such  as  would  rifle  the  nectary  without  bestowing  a 
corresponding  benefit  upon   the   flower ;   but  what 
keeps  them  away  I  don't  know.     The  plant  generally 
is   free   from  insects,    and    the    leaves    retain   their 
intactness  to  a  remarkable  degree.     In  both  species 
of  tropaeolum  the  leaves  and  stem  are  glabrous,  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  their  principal  protection 


is    their    pungent    taste    and    smell. — J.    Hamsont 
Bedford. 

Pied    Fly  -  Catcher  ;    Woodcock  ;    Wood  - 
Warbler. — Notes  in  the  last  two  or  three  numbers 
of  ;Science-Gossip  show  that  the  pied  fly-catcher  is 
extending  its  range.     It  has  not  been  recorded  from 
the  south-west  of  Scotland,  but  last  year  a  pair  made 
their  appearance,  about  May  13,  in  a  glen  containing 
a  considerable  number  of  old  alder-trees,  which  form 
a   favourite   nesting-ground  for   tits,    redstarts,  and 
spotted    fly-catchers.     On    May    31    the    pied    fly- 
catchers' nest,  which  was  placed  in  rather  a  deep  hole 
in  one  of  the  alders,  and  composed  entirely  of  grass 
— coarse  grass  outside,  and  Tery  fine  grass  inside — 
contained  six  eggs,  rather  paler  than  the  redstarts. 
One  egg  was  taken  for  a  specimen,  four  were  hatched, 
and  one  was  left  in  the  nest,  which  contained  a  half- 
formed  bird.     This  year  the  fly-catchers  occupied  the 
same  nest,  and  laid  only  three  eggs  ;  but  none  of  their 
young  seem  to  have  returned  to  the  district  of  their 
nativity.     Two   other   birds   seem   to   be   extending 
their  breed-range — the  woodcock  and  wood-warbler. 
The  woodcock  breeds  plentifully  in  the  highlands  of 
Scotland — at  least,  in  some  parts  of  them  ;  but  it  is 
more  frequently  met  with  during  the  breeding  season 
in  Dumfriesshire  now  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago. 
The  wood-warbler  has  increased  immensely  during 
recent  years.     Ornithologists  of  Macgillivray's  time 
seem  to  have  considered  it  rare  in  Scotland,  whereas 
now  it  is  almost  as  plentiful  as  the  willow  wren,  and 
is  to  be  heard  in  every  bit  of  wood  in  the  district. 
On    landing   from   a  steamer   at  Balmacarra,  about 
four  A.M.  on  a  June  morning  in  1883,  it  was  the  first 
bird  I  heard,  and   it  was   almost    constantly  heard 
along  the  wooded  banks  of  the  Caledonian  Canal, 
from  Inverness  southward. — Scot. 

The  Common*  Sunflower. — That  the  bracts  are 
modified  leaves  is  not  a  matter  of  doubt.    It  is  not  so 
clear  that  the  ray-floret  is  derived  from  a  bract.    Most 
botanists  believe  the  series  of  bracts  to  be  continued 
in  the  scales  which  may  be  found  at  the  base  of  all 
the  florets,  and  surrounding  each  blossom  in  such  a 
way  that   Mr.  E.   A.  Swan   calls  it  a  rudimentary 
calyx.     As  described  in  most  works  of  elementary 
botany,  every  floret  of  the  sunflower,  or  other  plant  of 
the   same   natural  order,    is   a  flower   with    organs 
corresponding   to   similar   organs  in   other  flowers, 
which  appear  in  the  axils  of  leaves,  as  in  the  fuchsia, 
or  of  bracts,  as  in  mignonette.     Perhaps  the  analogy 
may  be  best  made  out  in  the  head  of  a  teasel,  in  which 
the   bracts   at   the   base   of  the   flowers   bear  more 
resemblance  to  those  of  the  sunflower,  but  are  larger. 
In  the  teasel,  too,  the  parts  of  the  flower  are  more 
easily  distinguishable.     The   real  calyx  of  the  sun- 
flower  appears  in  what  E.   A.  Swan   calls  a  short 
pointed  wing  from  either  side  of  the  achene.     These 
wings  are  analogous  to  the  sepals  forming  the  calyx 
of  a  proper  flower,  and,  in  the  language  of  botanists, 
are  sepals  as  much  as  those  which  cover  the  unopened 
blossom   of  a  poppy  ;    the   corolla  consists  of  five 
coherent  petals,  which,  in  a  ray-floret,  are  expanded 
into   a   flat    limb,    instead  of    being   tubular.     The 
stamens  are  held  by  modern  botanists  to  be  modified 
leaves,  of  which  the  leaf-stalk  is  represented  by  the 
filament,  and  the  blade  by  the  anther. — John  Gibbs. 

Nests  within  Nests. — During  a  recent  visit  to 
Ashdown  Forest,  while  looking  for  young  squirrels, 
I  found  no  less  than  four  old  dreys  which  were 
tenanted  by  the  common,  yellow-banded  humble- 
bee  {Bombus  terrestris) ;  and  in  one  case  the  bees  had 
not  been  the  first  to  take  possession  of  the  deserted 


238 


HA  R  D  WICKE '  S  S  CIE  NCE-  G  O  SSI  P. 


drey,  for  on  pulling  open  the  tangled  mass,  in  spite  of 
the  buzzing  remonstrances  of  its  occupants,  I  dis- 
covered a  small  bird's  nest  of  moss,  with  a  lining  of 
feathers  (most  probably  that  of  Certhia  familiaris,  the 
tree-creeper),  in  which,  having  descended  the  tree,  I 
found  the  queer,  bag-like  cells  of  the  humble-bees. 
The  tops  of  fir-trees  being  a  rather  unusual  field  for 
the  researches  of  naturalists,  and  also  a  place  where 
one  would  hardly  expect  to  find  the  nests  of  bees, 
which,  as  a  rule,  build  in  the  ground,  this  fact  may 
not  have  been  before  noticed,  and  therefore  it  may 
perhaps  be  interesting  to  the  readers  of  Science- 
Gossip.—  Wilfred  Mark  Webb. 

Paper-Eating  Molluscs. — I  was  interested  in 
Mr.  T.  D.  A.  Cockerell's  account  of  the  unusual  diet 
of  Limncca  stagnalis,  and  have  no  doubt  scarcity  of 
food  was  the  cause.  Whilst  a  friend  and  I  were 
collecting  in  a  large  sheet  of  water  near  Prestwich, 
about  a  week  ago,  I  chanced  to  lift  out  a  large  piece 
of  brown  paper,  which  had  become  quite  pulpy 
through  long  lying  in  the  water,  and  was  surprised  to 
find  it  studded  with  numerous  fine  specimens  of 
Sphariumjorneum.  We  picked  off  over  forty  shells. 
and  also  a  number  of  PlanorMs  carinatus  and 
Bythinia  tentaculata.  The  place  swarms  with  Z. 
stagnalis  and  L.  peregra,  and  many  were  close  to  the 
paper,  but  none  on  it,  so  it  would  appear  that  they 
had  not  been  driven  to  the  paper-eating  extremity  of 
Mr.  Cockerell's  specimens.  The  bottom  of  the  lake 
is  clothed  with  a  dense  growth  of  Anacharis  alsi- 
nastrum,  and  the  paper  was  lying!  upon  this,  about 
three  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  water.  I  did 
not  think  much  of  the  Bythinias  or  Planorbi  being  in 
such  a  situation,  but  certainly  was  surprised  to  find 
the  bivalves  "  at  home  "  there.  Each  bivalve  had 
nibbled  an  oval  hole  in  the  paper,  and  apparently  had 
been  there  for  some  time,  as  the  shells  were  beauti- 
fully clean,  and  all  seemed  thriving  upon  their  strange 
diet.  My  friend  and  I  had  for  over  two  hours  been 
expressly  "scooping"  for  bivalves  with  but  meagre 
results,  having  taken  less  than  a  dozen  specimens,  so 
the  paper  furnished  us  with  a  good  haul.— R.  Standen, 
Swinton,  Manchester. 

"  Druid  Stones  "  at  Stanton  Drew. — In 
reply  to  Mr.  Bird's  query  respecting  these,  I  beg  to 
furnish  him  with  what  information  I  possess  on  the 
question.  On  the  south  side  of  Stanton  Drew  Church, 
in  an  adjoining  orchard,  are  to  be  seen  three  Druidic 
stones,  of  which  two  are  erect  and  the  other  prostrate, 
the  latter  being  about  fourteen  feet  long  by  eight  feet 
wide.  A  short  distance  from  these  are  the  remains  of 
a  circle  of  stones,  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  in  diameter ;  however,  of  these  but  six  now 
remain,  and  are  nearly  all  prostrate,  and  more  or  less 
covered  by  the  soil.  In  an  adjoining  field,  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant,  is  the  circumference 
of  the  largest  of  these  circles,  which  has  a  diameter  of 
three  hundred  feet ;  the  largest  stone  is  about  eleven 
feet  long.  The  last  circle  has  its  diameter  stated  at 
ninety-six  feet,  with  the  principal  stone  some  fifteen 
and  a  half  feet  long  and  five  feet  square.  Lying  near 
this  circle  are  seven  stones,  which,  though  now 
scattered,  lead  to  the  supposition  that  they  formed 
part  of  an  avenue.  Stanton  Drew  is  believed  to  have 
had  an  earlier  construction  than  either  of  those  two 
grand  Druidical  monuments — Stonehenge  or  Abury. 
A  reference  to  No.  95  of  the  "  Archaeological 
Journal,"  and  to  Mr.  W.  Long's  paper,  will  no  doubt 
furnish  particulars  of  a  very  interesting  character. — ■ 
Alfred  W.  Griffin,  Bath. 

Flint     in     Bath-Stone. — A     rather     unusual 
occurrence  took  place  while  St.  Philip's  Church  was 


being  built  at  Arundel.  One  of  the  hewers  was 
sawing  a  large  block  of  bath-stone,  when  his  saw 
came  in  contact  with  a  flint  stone  about  the  size  of  a 
large  walnut.  I  think  that  this  is  worthy  of  being 
published,  as  I  have  never  heard  of  it  before. — 
Archibald  W.  Fry,  Arundel. 

Lyccena  ICARUS.— With  reference  to  Mr.  Coste's 
note  on  p.  214,  I  may  mention  that  a  few  days  ago  I 
found  a  specimen  of  Z.  teams  (or,  as  he  calls  it, 
P.  alexis)  at  rest'on  a  fancies  stem  in  a  very  swampy 
place  on  Chislehurst  Common.  I  was  rather  struck 
by  the  fact,  as  this  species  had  always  seemed  more 
fond  of  dry  fields.  Many  species  revisit  a  locality 
after  being  frightened  away.  I  have  noticed  it  in 
Chrysis  cyanea  at  Bedford  Park. — 71  D.  A.  Cockerel!.. 

British  Dragon-flies. — With  reference  to  a 
note  in  a  former  vol.  of  Science-Gossip  on  dragon- 
flies,  M.  Skelton,  M.C.S.,  writes  to  say  that  he  has 
obtained  a  book  on  the  subject,  and  gives  the  title 
as  follows:  "British  Libellulinas  or  Dragon-flies 
illustrated  in  a  series  of  lithographic  drawings,  with 
a  brief  description  of  the  insects,  times  of  appearances 
&c.  By  W.  F.  Evans,  M.C.S.  Printed  for  private 
circulation,  1845." 

Swarms  of  Flies.— In  reply  to  query  in  Sep- 
tember number  of  Science-Gossip  :  I  was  on  the 
Lincolnshire  coast  early  in  August,  and  observed  two 
or  three  times,  on  the  rising  of  the  tide,  a  line  of  green 
flies  which  had  been  cast  up  by  the  waves.  Once  I 
followed  the  line,  a  sinuous  one,  for  over  three 
miles.  The  flies  had,  of  course,  been  blown  out  to 
sea,  and  then  been  cast  up  again.  The  line  was 
thick  enough  to  be  observable  at  a  distance  of 
twenty  yards. —  W.  Mawer. 

Swarms  of  Flies. — A  swarm  of  green  flies 
(Aphis)  occurred  in  West  Cowes,  Isle  of  Wight, 
during  the  second  and  third  weeks  of  July.  In  the 
streets  the  air  seemed  full  of  them.  They  dis- 
appeared towards  the  end  of  the  month. — R.  H. 
Nisbett  Browne. 

Silkworms. — Some  time  last  month  a  little  girl, 
interested  in  watching  the  development  and  various 
changes  of  the  silkworm,  informed  me  that  a  young 
friend  of  hers,  in  winding  off  a  cocoon,  was  surprised 
to  find  it  contained  two  pupae.  At  the  time  I 
thought  there  must  have  been  some  mistake ;  but 
Mr.  Epps'  experience  seems  to  fully  bear  out  this 
statement.  I  understood  my  informant  to  say  they 
were  able  to  wind  off  the  silk  from  the  cocoon  in 
this  particular  instance  ;  consequently,  I  should  judge 
that  only  one  worm  did  the  spinning,  the  other 
remaining  dormant  meanwhile. — A.  Jenkins,  New- 
Cross. 

Silkworms. — Respecting  Laurence  G.  F.  Epps' 
query  about  double  cocoons,  I  beg  to  say  it  is  quite  a 
common  occurrence.  In  Tuscany,  where  I  pass  a 
great  part  of  the  year,  and  where  silkworm-rearing 
forms  a  portion  of  the  ordinary  business  of  the  farm, 
double  cocoons  are  generally  set  apart  when  bringing 
the  cocoons  to  market,  and  sell  at  a  lower  price  than 
the  ordinary  ones.  As  I  have  not  tried  to  unwind  the 
silk  thread  from  any  double  cocoons,  I  cannot  tell  if  it 
is  generally  broken  or  not.  But  I  know  that,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  they  are  not  liked  by  silk  merchants. 
— Z.  de  Virte. 

Fresh-water  Shells. — In  the  spring  of  last  year 
bivalves,  popularly  known  as  "fresh-water  cockles," 
belonging  to  the  group  Cycladaj,  and  to  the  species 
Cyclas  laenstris  (?),  were  plentiful  in  ponds  in  the 


HARD  Wl  CKE'S  S  CIENCE-  G  OS  SIP. 


239 


.neighbourhood  of  Louth.  One  of  these  cockles,  I 
observed,  had  attached  itself  to  the  foot  of  a  newt, 
and  another  was  enclosing  the  toe  of  a  frog.  Is  this 
a  common  occurrence  ? — R.  IV.  Goulding. 

Seeds  of  Solanum  dulcamara. — I  should  be 
glad  to  know  whether  the  seeds  of  Solatium  dulcamara 
are  poisonous  to  birds.  During  some  severe  weather 
in  the  winter  of  1SS3-4,  I  saw  some  bullfinches 
greedily  eating  them  ;  the  birds  seemed  to  avoid  the 
fruit,  for  the  snow  under  the  hedge  was  strewn  with 
the  pulp  of  the  red  berries. — D.  Jlf.  LL. 

Paulownia  imterialis. — I  have  a  large  tree  in 
my  garden  here,  more  than  twenty  feet  high,  which 
I  have  never  known  to  do  otherwise  than  flower  each 
spring  for  certainly  the  past  six  years  ;  I  have  not 
heard  of  its  failing  to  do  so  previously.  As  a  tree, 
the  Paulownia  is  by  no  means  handsome,  and  the 
.flowers  are  lost  sight  of  so  high  up,  but  I  have  been 
told  that,  as  a  shrub,  it  is  well  worth  cultivating.  I 
should  be  very  glad  therefore  if  any  of  your  readers 
could  tell  me  the  best  means  of  propagating  it.  My 
gardener  has  tried  cuttings,  but  without  success. 
There  used  to  be  an  old  tradition  here  that  at  one 
time  there  were  only  three  Paulownias  in  England,  one 
being  my  own,  another  being,  curiously  enough,  in  a 
garden  in  the  undercliff  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  belong- 
ing to  a  brother  of  mine  ;  the  third,  I  think,  somewhere 
in  Hampshire,  but  where  I  never  heard.  Can  your 
correspondent  D.  Owen  have  stumbled  on  this 
third  specimen  ? — A.  Lloyd,   The  Dome,  Bognor. 

[The  note  on  Paulownia,  on  p.  166,  was  written 
from  Clifton.] 

Mimulus  luteus. — In  a  ramble  in  North  Devon 
at  the  end  of  July  I  met  with  the  yellow  monkey- 
flower  completely  naturalised,  and  in  great  abundance 
for  more  than  three  miles  along  the  banks  of  the  Tarn, 
near  North  Sawton.  It  was  then  in  full  bloom.  A 
lady  informed  me  that  in  1876  there  was  none  of  this 
plant  by  the  river,  but  that  a  few  years  afterwards  it 
began  to  spread  from  a  garden  to  the  stream.  As  it 
is  now  thoroughly  established,  it  nay  be  well  to  fix 
the  date  of  this.  Since  Watson  in  the  "Topographical 
Botany  "  does  not  allude  to  the  distribution  of  this 
pretty  plant,  and  Syme  speaks  of  it  as  occurring  chiefly 
in  Scotland,  it  would  be  interesting  to  obtain  in- 
stances of  its  naturalisation  elsewhere  in  England. — 
F.  LL.  Arnold,  LL.B. 

Achatina  acicula.  —  This  shell,  which  is 
generally  considered  somewhat  rare,  has  lately  been 
found  by  Mr.  'Joseph  Wilcock  in  gardens  in  Wake- 
field. In  April  and  May  he  found  considerable 
numbers  in  a  neglected  garden  among  the  fibrous 
roots  of  weeds,  at  a  depth  of  from  6  to  10  inches. 
In  July,  whilst  digging  up  tulip  bulbs  in  a  garden  in 
another  part  of  the  town,  Mr.  Wilcock  found  some 
hundreds,  about  one-third  of  them  in  different  stages 
of  growth,  being  alive.  The  living  ones  were  dis- 
covered beneath  the  outer  envelopes  of  the  bulb,  and 
also  in  small  pits  or  cavities,  which  seemed  to  have 
been  eaten  into  the  bulb  by  the  mollusk.  A.  acicula 
is  generally  found  on  the  limestone,  but  Wakefield  is 
on  the  Carboniferous  Sandstone  ;  and  what  is  singular, 
the  gardens  are  within  the  town  close  to  the  streets. 
—  Geo.  Roberts,  Lofthouse. 

White  Flowers. — Ajuga  rcptans.  White  varieties 
of  this  plant  are  sometimes  found  in  this  district,  but 
they  are  not  at  all  common.  I  have  noticed  albino 
varieties  of  the  following  plants  this  season  ;  Lychnis 
Flos-cuculi,  Epilobium  angustifoliuin,  iMalva  moschata, 
Fritillaria  Meleagris  and  ATarcissus  Pseudo-narcissus  ; 


in  the  latter  the  corona  alone  was  white,  the  perianth- 
segments  being  lighter  than  the  type. — John  W. 
Odell  j  Pinner. 

Rana  esculenta. — When  I  was  a  boy,  some 
forty  years  ago,  we  used  to  find  the  Edible  Frog 
rather  plentifully  in  Foulmire  (or  Foulmere)  Fen, 
Cambridgeshire.  I  believe  that  Fen  has  been 
drained  and  cultivated,  so  that  probably  all  the  Rana 
esculenta  have  disappeared^  from  the  locality  now. — 
Thomas  Scott. 

Mistletoe. — To  Mr.  Webster's  list  of  28  "hosts" 
for  the  mistletoe,  I  can  add  one  more.  On  April  6th, 
1883,  in  Palestine,  in  the  Vale  of  Nabulus  or  Shechem, 
the  "fat  valley,"  I  found  a  mistletoe  growing  abun- 
dantly on  olive-trees.  It  is  not  dichotomous  ;  so  I 
suppose  the  species  is  not  album.  You  can  publish 
this  fact  if  you  deem  it  worth  while. — B.  B.  Le  Tall. 

Freezing  Machine. — I  have  searched  in  vain  for 
an  account  of  Carre's  Continuous  Freezing  Machine, 
and  should  be  glad  to  have  it  explained,  or  to  hear 
where  it  is  described.  I  am  also  desirous  of  learning 
the  amount  of  water-vapour  absorbed  by  sulphuric 
acid  at  any  pressure  and  temperature ;  also  the 
quantity  of  ammonia  absorbed  by  ice,  and  whether 
a  solution  of  ammonia  freezes  at  a  lower  temperature 
than  water. — J.  P. 

LlMNyEA   STAGNALIS,    var.  "  ELEGANTUXA." — Mr. 

Taylor  said  that  this  form  resembled  var.  bollnica,  not 
botanica  as  misprinted  in  the  footnote  on  page  179. 
I  know  of  no  var.  li  botanica."  My  brothers  have 
taken  three  more  scalariform  specimens  in  the  pond 
where  this  variety  is  found,  so  that  altogether  five 
have  been  found  in  this  little  pond,  which  has  un- 
fortunately been  dried  up  by  the  recent  hot  weather. 
—  T.  D.  A.  Cockerell. 

Zonitis  Draparnaldi. — Last  July  I  found  some 
Zonites  at  Torcross,  S.  Devon,  which  Mr.  J.  W. 
Taylor  has  identified  as  this  species.  This  is  the 
second  or  third  locality  in  South  Devon  for  which  it 
has  been  recorded,  and  it  is  evidently  more  widely 
distributed  than  has  been  supposed.  Other  things 
found  at  the  same  place  were  Z.  alliarius,  PL.  aspersa, 
LL.  nemoralis,  00300,  I2345,  00345,  023(45),  PL.  rufes- 
cens,  LL.  hispida,  LL.  revelata  (one  specimen  in  an  old 
slate  quarry  facing  the  sea),  LL.  virgata,  LL.  caperata, 
PT.  rotundata  and  var.  alba,  LL.  pulchella,  B.  obscurus, 
P.  umbilicala,  Balea  perversa  (common  in  one  place 
under  an  old  wall),  Clausilia  rugosa  and  Coch.  lubrica. 
—F.  G.  Fenn,  Bedford  Park,  W. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  insert  in  the  following  number  any  communications 
which  reach  us  later  than  the  8th  of  the  previous  month. 

To  Anonymous  Querists. — We  must  adhere  to  our  rule  of 
not  noticing  queries  which  do  not  bear  the  writers'  names. 

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  of  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  lull  address  at  the  end. 


240 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


J.  Sinel  and  W.  C  A. — Thanks  for  yours. 

R.  M. — An  anonymous  exchange. 

J.  Taylor. — "  Journal  of  Conchology."  London:  D.  Bogue. 
Probably  quarterly. 

J.  BRABY. — Sends  a  few  tiny  larvae  and  wants  them  named. 
No  information  supplied  as  to  what  they  feed  on,  or  where 
found,  &c.  &c.  ! 

J.  A.  Wheldon. — No.  1  looks  like  a  spurrey,  but  it  is  not 
easy  to  name  it  satisfactorily  in  its  present  condition. 

A.  Somerville.— Write  to  H.  Wallis  Kew,  Hon.  Sec,  Louth, 
Lincolnshire. 

B.  H.  and  W.  A.  H. — Yours  not  exchanges. 

L.  F. — These  are  not  exchanges,  nor  otherwise  suitable. 
W.  H-  Boland.— Your  exchange  is  not  inserted,  for  reason 
which  may  be  gathered  from  note  on  page  212. 
R.  Paulson.— An  answer  perhaps  next  month. 


EXCHANGES. 

L.C,  7th  Edition:  Duplicates,  40,  41,  1626,  315,  40O,  45s, 
468  g.  e.  u.,  539,  558,  561,  615,  628,  668,  801,  931,  1036,  1040, 
1043,  1072,  1090,  1125,  1319,  1384,  1421,  1438,  1570b.,  1586, 
,58g,  1591,  1597-  Desiderata  numerous.  Lists  exchanged.— 
J.  A.  Wheldon,  Burgess  Hill,  Sussex. 

British  land  and  fresh-water  shells  in  exchange  for  British 
marine  or  foreign  shells.  Wanted,  Vertigo  Lilljeborgi^fj 'es- 
terlung),  V.  tumida,  V.  alpestris,  and  V.  minutissima. 
Offered  very  large  examples  of  Uuio  pictorum  and  others. — 
W.  Gain,  Tuxford,  Newark. 

Helix  potnatia,  lapicida,  ericetonim,  virgata,  arbustorum, 
Cantiana,  Cochlkopa  tridetis,  Clausilia  laminata,  Clausilia 
Rolphii,  Bulimus  obscurus,  Zua  lubrica,  Pupa  umbilicata. 
Desiderata :  imagoes,  pupa,  larva  British  Lepidoptera,  or 
offers.— A.  Beales,  37  Kingsley  Road,  Maidstone. 

Duplicates:  Pisidium  fontinale,  P.  roseum,  P.  pusillum, 
Bythinia  Lcachii,  Zonites  glaber,  Z.  nitidus,  L.  lavis,  B.  per- 
versa, &c  Wanted  Pisidium  nitidum,  CI.  Rolphii,  Vertigos, 
and  many  others. — F.  Fenn,  20  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford 
Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Wanted,  Newman's  "  Entomologist,"  Nos.  102,  190,  193, 
194,  196,  197,  220,  221,  222,  223,  and  "Entomologists'  Monthly 
Magazine,"  Nos.  from  49  to  55,  inclusive  of  vol.  v.,  also 
"  Aichaeologia  Cantiana,"  vol.  i.— F.  F.,  1  Park  Place,  Eltham, 
Kent. 

Science-Go=sii-  for  1879,  and  1880,  in  numbers,  for  British 
birds'-eggs  side-blown,  one  hole  butterflies  or  moths  or  pupae. — 
F.  J.  Rasell,  9  Raglan  Street,  Peas  Hill  Road,  Nottingham. 

Double  bent  nosepiece,  stand  condenser,  microtome  with 
razor  and  hone,  for  vol.  i.  of  Bornet's  "Notes  Algologiques." 

X,  H.  Baffham,  Connaught  Road,  Walthamstow. 

British  marine  shells,  wanted  in  exchange  for  Turritella 
terebra  and  its  variety  gracilis  (both  very  fine),  Venus  gallina 
and  the  variety  alba,  Scalaria  Turtonis,  and  many  others. 
Send  for  list.— G.  O.  Howell,  3  Ripon  Villas,  Ripon  Road, 
Plumstead,  S.E. 

Micro-slides  for  exchange.  Skin  of  dog-fish  (polariscope). 
Hairs  of  mole  for  two  good  mounts.— J.  B.  Bessell,  Sidney 
Villa,  Fremantle  Square,  Brtstol. 

S.  bembeciformis,  H.  velleda,  B.  quercus,  N.  fiilva,  C.  gra- 
minis,  If.  Haworthii,  X.  silago,  P.  chi,  M.  typica  and  many 
others',  for  other  Lepidoptera.— E.  Eggleton,  12  Tillie  Street, 
Glasgow. 

"Knowledge"  for  1883-4,  just  bound,  in  exchange  for 
other  books.  Mudie's  "  British  Birds  "  with  coloured  plates 
wanted.— H.  F.  Medley,  Palmerson  Square,  Romsey,  Hamp- 
shire. 

WELL-blown  eggs  of  osprey,  yellow-billed  cuckoo,  golden- 
winged  woodpecker,  Virginian  quail,  Bartram's  sandpiper, 
spotted  sandpiper,  belted  king-fisher,  and  Leach's  petrel,  offered 
for  others  not  in  collection. — J.  T.  T.  Reed,  Ryhope,  co. 
Durham. 

Volvox  globator,  mounted  so  as  to  show  cilia  with  black 
ground  illumination,  in  exchange  for  other  good  mounts. — H.  B. 
Linthorn,  130  Hampton  Road,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Offeks  requested  for  two  dozen  histological  specimens  well 
mounted.  — H.  Price,  14  Munton  Road,  New  Kent  Road, 
London,  S.E. 

Send  stamped  and  addressed  envelope  or  box  for  specimens 
of  Clausilia  parvula  from  Rouen.  — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Wood- 
stock Read,  Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Wanted,  Silurian  and  Devonian  Fossils,  in  exchange  for 
Ferns,  Calamites,  &c,  from  Lancashire  coal  measures.— C.  F. 
Cross,  Werneth  Hall  Road,  Oldham. 

Wanted,  to  exchange  18th  and  19th  century  copper  tokens. 
—J.  Macmillan,  53  Gough  Road,  Edgbaston,  Birmingham. 

An  injecting  s>ringe,  nickel-plated,  in  case  with  stop-cock 
and  two  canulas,  never  been  used,  in  exchange  for  micro-slides, 


books,  apparatus,  &c.  Also  a  self-centering  turn-table  (Dr. 
Mathews)  for  exchange. — H.  J.  Parry,  10  Windsor  Terrace. 
Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Duplicate  microscopic-slides  of  various  sorts,  and  Lepidop- 
tera to  exchange  for  other  slides — algae,  and  fossil  woods  or 
other  rocks. — A.  Well-,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

Wanted,  good  Eocene  fossils  for  American  or  foreign  shells. 
— Geo.  E.  East,  jun.,  10  Basinghall  Street,  London,  E.C. 

A  few  fossils  from  the  Drift  for  exchange  for  other  good 
fossils. — A.  T.  Evans,  171  Cooksey  Road,  Small  Heath. 

What  offers  for  "  Knowledge,"  Nos.  30  to  199  (5  volumes 
and  a  part,  clean,  unbound)? — W.  Crompton,  89  Market  Street, 
Chorley,  Lane. 

Will  exchange  fine  healthy  cocoons  of  Pernyi  for  Cecropia, 
Polyphemus,  Luna,  Promethea,  Yama-Mai. — William.Thomson, 
62  Croft  Street,  Galashiels. 

Wanted  any  of  the  following  Carices:  1415,  1416,  14T7,  1418, 

I43S.  i436>  '438.  '44°.  !44i.  I446,  i447>  I456i  I458-  Can 
exchange  South  of  England  plants. — Robert  Paulson,  10  Ferron 
Road,  Clapton,  E. 

Electrical  Machine  cylinder  8  X  5I  inches,  brass  con- 
ductor 8  inches,  on  good  mahogany  stand  ;  wili  take  good 
natural  history  ;  also  several  unused  zincs  and  carbons  for 
batteries,  and  other  electrical  apparatus. — F.  Betts,  63  The 
Chase,  Clapham  Common. 

Wanted  Larvae  or  Pupae  of  .S".  Cecropia,  T.  polypliemus, 
promet/isa,  A.  Luna,  S.  pavonia-major,  &c.  Offered  British 
Lepidoptera  or  choice  flower  seeds. — R.  Laddiman,  Hellesdon 
road,  Norwich. 

Wanted  European  or  Foreign  beetles  for  South  African 
beetles.  Lists  exchanged.— R.  Lightfoot,  St.  Paul's,  Capetown. 
Wanted  sets  with  data,  with  or  without  nests,  of  the  following 
British  laid  eggs.  Eagle,  osprey,  hobby,  kite,  buzzard,  Hamer, 
short-eared  owl,  red  flycatcher,  stonechat,  marsh  and  Dartford 
warblers,  owl  bunting,  hawfinch,  chough,  ptarmigan,  dotterel, 
ducks,  divers,  grebes,  terns,  petrels. — Wm.  Mark  Pybus, 
38  Bewick  Road,  Gateshead-on-Tyne. 

Wanted  nests  with  clutches  of  eggs  of  following  species: 
spotted  flycatcher,  pied  flycatcher,  nightingale,  stonechat, 
marsh  warbler,  Dartford  warbler,  wood  warbler,  creeper,  rock 
pipit,  wood  lark,  cirl  bunting,  brambling,  hawfinch,  goldfinch. 
A  good  exchange  given  for  above. — W.  K.  Mann,  Wellington 
Terrace,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Will  exchange  a  collection  of  180  eggs,  including  mute 
swan,  puffins,  cormorants,  guillemots,  mallard,  curlews,  snipe, 
hooded  crow,  kestrel,  sparrowhawk,  cuckoos,  ptarmigans, 
spoonbills,  bee  eaters,  woodchats,  swifts,  and  many  others,  for 
a  good  banjo. — W.  Denison,  Courier  Office,  Halifax,  Yorks. 

Lond:  Cat:  7th  ed.  wanted  :  90,  153,  347,  580,  665,  780,  784, 
792.  793.  820,  828,  845,  934,  1029,  1299,  1415,  1451,  1545,  1552, 
1610,  1622,  1659,  1669,  1674  ;  for  2,  49,  81,  183,  270,  360,  415, 
416,  446,  451,  587,  626,  628,  841,  842,  946,  1034,  1125.  1128,  1209, 
1287,  1376,1433.  Agrostis  nigra  ;  Malva  borcalis  ;  Potentilla 
norvegica  ;  Sparganium  neglectuvi ;  Cliara  longibractcata  ; 
Cucubulus  bacciferus ;  Xanthinna  sirumarium.—P.  F.  Lee, 
West  Park  Villas,  Dewsbury. 

Living  specimens  of  the  rare  hydroid  Cordylof>horalacustris, 
loaded  with  infusoria,  and  rotifers,  sent  in  exchange  for  samples 
of  mud  and  water  from  ponds,  or  slow-flowing  rivers  ;  not  less 
than  four-ounce  bottles.— Medicus,  363  Old  Kent  Road,  S.E. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 

"Elementary  Star  Atlas,"  Rev.  T.  H.  Espin,  F.R.A.S. 
(London  Sonnenschein  &  Co.)— "  Grape  Rot,"— "Journal  of 
the  New  York  Microscopical  Society,"—"  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Microscopical  Society,"— "  The  American  Naturalist."—"  Ben 
Brierley's  Journal."—"  Science."—"  Procedings  of  the  Bristol 
Naturalists'  Society." — "  The  American  Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal."  —  "  The  Botanical  Gazette."  —  "  The  American 
Naturalist." — "  Feuille  des  Jeunes  Naturalistes." — "  Fifteenth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Ontario." — 
"The  Midland  Naturalist."— "  The  Naturalist."— "  Gossip." 
— "  Penzance  Nat.  Hist,  and  Antiquarian  Soc.  Reports  and 
Transactions,  1884-5."  — "  Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia." 


Communications  received  up  to  iith  ult.  from  :— 
E.  de  C.-J.  C.-J.  T.  R.-P.  H.  M.-T.  B.-W.  T— 
W.  K.  M.-W.  C.  A.-D.  M.  C.-J.  B.-R.  M.— D.  S.— 
C  B  M  — B.  P.-C.  E.  M.-C.  C— M.  S.— T.  D.  A.  C— 
W.  M.-W.  C.-A.  J.-J.  H.-R.  H.  N.  B.-A.  B.— F.  F.- 
A  T.  E.-G.  E.  E.-B.  W.— C.  P.-W.  B.  G.— H.  J.  P.— 
r  F  C  — F  F.— W.  G.— W.  E.  D.— F.  J.  R.— A.  C— T.  H.  B. 
—I  M.— T.  G.— G.  O.  H.— G.  R-— J-  B.  B.-R.  L.— R.  S.— 
E  E  —A  W.  F.— F.  G.  F.— A.  W.  G.— H.  F.  M.-L.  de  V. 
-B.  H.  B.-H.  L.  D.-A.  P.  W.-H.  P.-S.  C.  C.-J.  T.  T.  R. 
— G.  S.-L.  F.— H.  B.  L.-W.  M.  W.— E.  A.  D.-E.  H.  R.— 
R.  P  _\v.  M.  P.— P.  F.  L.— J.  M.— W.  K.  M.— B.— F.  B.  B. 
— W.— B.  L.— &c.  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY. 


ETD.deladiiat 


:  tBroaksDay&San.Iiah 


POLYSIPHONIA     FASTIGIATA. 

X  50 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


241 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


NO.   XXIII. — POLYSIPHONIA   FASTIGIATA. 


N  most  of  the  larger 
littoral  algae,  but 
rarely  beyond  low- 
water  mark,  may  be 
found  the  delicate 
and  elegant  parasi- 
tical Polysiphonia 
fastigiata ;  it  grows 
abundantly  on  the 
fronds  of  Fitats 
nodosus,  and  often 
entirely  covers  the 
long  thong  -  like 
stems  of  Fucks 
vesictilo  sus.  Al- 
though common,  and 
apparently  uninvit- 
ing as  an  object  of 
beauty,  the  micro- 
scope reveals  its 
extreme  elegance.  It  is  discovered  forming  dense 
globular  tufts  two  or  three  inches  long,  about  the 
thickness  of  a  horse  hair  at  the  base,  expanding  in 
parallel  branches  pointing  upwards,  somewhat  rigid. 
Microscopically,  the  frond  is  found  to  be  fili- 
form, and  articulated,  repeatedly  forked,  marked 
externally  with  striae,  interrupted  at  the  joints,  and 
generally  the  structure  is  disposed  in  a  series  round  a 
central  cylindrical  internal  cavity  ;  the  colour  brown- 
pink— purple-black  when  dry.  Although  the  mode 
of  propagation  has  until  recently  been  somewhat 
obscure,  it  is  ascertained  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
fructification,  in  distinct  plants.  Tetraspores  which 
at  maturity  divide  into  parts,  generally  four,  or  more  ; 
and  antheridia,  oblong  bodies,  rounded  at  the  extre- 
mities, produced  in  fascicles  on  the  summits  of  the 
ramuli,  and  subdivided  into  parts.  The  drawing 
shows  the  apices  of  a  frond  with  these  reproductive 
organs.  They  are  so  extremely  abundant  in  the  early 
spring  months,  as  to  give  a  very  conspicuous  yellow 
colour  to  the  tufts  on  which  they  are  produced. 
Minute  marine  algse,  for  microscopical  observation 
No.  251. — November  1885. 


and  preparation  may  be  cultivated,  or  rather  kept 
in  a  growing  condition  for  a  few  weeks  in  small 
vases  of  sea-water,  in  a  cool  and  shady  position, 
under  an  equable  temperature.  It  is  of  importance 
that  the  plants  should  be  attached  to  a  portion  of 
the  substance  on  which  they  are  found  growing  ;  for 
permanent  preservation,  the  lace-like  fragment  should 
be  floated  on  fresh  water,  lifted  carefully  on  the  usual 
glass  slip,  well  drained  and  immersed  in  glycerine 
jelly  under  a  thin  cover  ;  no  pressure  should  be 
used.  Dry  specimens  are  mounted,  but  they  rarely 
exhibit  the  integrity  or  delicate  features  of  the 
fructification. 
Crouch  End. 


ON  MIMICRY  IN  DIPTERA. 

WHEN  will  some  of  our  entomologists  who  have 
collected  and  studied  nearly  every  Lepidop- 
terous  insect  known  to  inhabit  Great  Britain,  devote 
even  a  small  amount  of  attention  to  the  other  orders 
of  insects  ?  The  Coleoptera  certainly  have  received 
a  fair  amount  of  attention,  but  the  Diptera  have 
been  sadly  neglected. 

And  this  unpopularity  is  scarcely  deserved  by  them, 
for  albeit  they  do  not  possess  the  brilliant  colouring 
and  large  dimensions  of  some  butterflies,  many  of 
them  are  extremely  elegant ;  while  their  points  of 
interest  will  be  found  to  be  almost  more  varied  and 
more  striking  than  those  of  the  Lepidoptera. 

Any  who  would  take  the  trouble  to  catch  and 
pin  out  the  Diptera  found  in  their  neighbourhood 
might  possibly  discover  new  habitats,  if  not  new 
species ;  in  any  case,  such  a  collection  would  greatly 
assist  our  knowledge  of  the  distribution  of  the  various 
species. 

Those  who  travel  miles  to  find  a  rare  moth  are 
usually  only  going  over  old  ground  that  has  been 
visited  by  scores  of  collectors  bent  on  the  same 
errand,  and  instead  of  increasing  our  knowledge  of 
the  insects,  are  only  lending  their  small  aid  to  the 
extermination  of  the  species. 

u 


242 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


The  subject  of  this  paper,  is,  however,  one  which 
opens  up  a  wide  field  for  observation,  and  in  which 
much  valuable  information  might  be  obtained  even 
by  those  who  have  not  sufficient  leisure  to  form  a 
local  collection. 

Many  of  the  species  mentioned  below  are  among 
our  commonest  insects,  while  other  not  rare  flies 
may  prove  on  observation  to  be  cases  of  mimicry. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  a  beginner  at  "fly 
catching  "  would  notice  is  the  extraordinary  similarity 
between  some  of  these  insects  and  the  bees  and 
wasps.  In  showing  my  Diptera  to  friends,  I 
notice  that  they  constantly  remark,  "That  is  a  bee, 
surely  ? "  or  "  That  is  a  wasp  ? "  And  the  editors  of 
"  Little  Folks  "  fell  into  the  same  error  some  years 
since,  for  I  have  before  me  a  volume  in  which,  among 
other  instructive  paragraphs  for  the  young,  I  find 
one  on  "Busy  Bees,"  accompanied  by  a  very  fair 
woodcut  of  several  flies  including  Stratiomys,  Tabanus, 
and  even  Tipula,  but  without  a  single  bee  or  wasp 
among  them. 

That  the  Romans  and  other  ancients  evidently 
made  a  very  similar  mistake,  owing  to  this  resem- 
blance, we  shall  see  presently. 

Beginning  with  the  Stratiomyidae,  we  find  among 
the  species  of  Stratiomys  a  considerable  similarity  to 
bees,  especially  when  flying. 

My  specimen  of  S.  f areata  was  captured  under  the 
impression  that  it  was  probably  a  bee,  especially  as 
the  insect,  when  settling  on  a  plant,  folded  its  wings 
over  the  back  in  the  same  manner  as  do  the  bees. 

Asilus  crdbroniformis  (Science-Gossip,  1876, 
p.  156,  Fig.  85)  is  so  called  from  its  having  rather 
the  habit  of  a  hornet  when  on  the  wing,  but  when 
captured,  it  is  seen  to  be  so  entirely  unlike  a  hornet 
that,  without  further  evidence  on  the  subject,  I  can 
scarcely  believe  it  to  be  a  case  of  mimicry.  Much 
more  is  Laphria  ephippium,  another  fnsect  of  this 
family,  like  a  bee.  This  fly  occurs  in  many  places 
on  the  Continent. 

In  the  Leptidse,  I  observed  a  remarkable  case  of 
undoubted  mimicry,  the  mimicked  insect  being  in 
this  case,  not  a  Hymenopteron,  but  a  Neuropteron. 
I  was  walking  along  a  lane  in  Warwickshire  one 
June,  some  two  or  three  years  back ;  the  scorpion 
fly  {Panorpa  communis),  a  neuropterous  insect, 
familiar  to  all  who  live  in  the  country,  was  ex- 
tremely abundant,  the  hedges  swarming  with  them, 
and  after  netting  one  or  two  of  these,  I  thought  I 
had  captured  another,  but  on  examining  it,  I  found 
it  had  two  wings  instead  of  four,  and  was  easily 
recognised  as  Leptis  scolopacea.  I  have  placed  the 
two  insects  in  my  collection  side  by  side,  and  even 
when  compared  closely  they  possess  considerable 
similarity  with  the  wings  folded. 

In  both,  the  wings  are  mottled  with  brown  spots, 
the  legs  are  longish  and  rather  thin,  and  the  abdomen 
is  also  slender. 
But  when  settling  on  a  hawthorn  bush,  the  insects 


were  only  with  difficulty  to  be  distinguished  from  one 
another,  so  that  it  is  beyond  doubt  that,  the  scorpion 
fly,  of  which  the  body  is  rather  hard,  not  being  a  very 
palatable  meal  for  birds,  the  Leptis  takes  advantage 
of  its  similarity  with  this  insect  to  escape  being  eaten, 
it  being  a  softer  bodied  insect  and  therefore  better 
food  for  birds.  The  fact  that  the  Panorpa  was  by 
far  the  more  abundant  insect  of  the  two  is  in  corro- 
boration of  this. 

The  species  of  Bombylius,  although  called  humble- 
bee  flies  by  some  entomologists,  do  not  much  resemble 
any  of  our  British  species  of  Bombus.  They  feed  on 
the  juice  of  flowers,  as  does  the  humming-bird 
moth. 

Though  rather  like  some  Apidse,  my  observations 
would  lead  me  to  give  my  opinion  against  their  being 
cases  of  mimicry,  but  perhaps  that  may  be  because  I 
have  not  found  the  mimicked  insect.  As  they  dart 
about  quickly,  they  may  not  need  protection. 

But  it  is  among  the  flies  of  the  family  Syrphidaa 
that  we  find  the  most  singular  resemblance  with 
Hymenoptera.  Who  has  not  seen  the  ubiquitous 
drone  fly  {Eristalis  tenax)  buzzing  on  the  window 
pane,  or,  in  late  autumn,  crawling  wearily  along  the 
sill,  and  who  has  not  mistaken  it  for  a  bee  (Apis 
iiicllijica)  1  I  have  but  to  go  into  the  garden  and. 
watch  a  patch  of  flowers  ;  there,  beside  the  numerous 
bees  which  come  to  gather  honey,  I  am  sure  to  find 
some  of  these  flies.  And  I  have  to  look  twice  before 
pronouncing  them  to  be  flies.  If  I  take  one  of  them 
in  my  fingers,  some  non-entomological  friend  will 
certainly  exclaim,  "  Take  care  it  does  not  sting 
you  !  " 

Baron  C.  R.  Osten  Sacken  has  pointed  out  that 
the  belief,  universal  among  the  ancients,  that  bees 
originated  from  carcases  of  dead  animals  (oxen,  &c), 
undoubtedly  owes  its  origin  to  this  resemblance. 
That  belief  is  often  mentioned  in  their  writings  (for 
instance  it  is  alluded  to  at  great  length  in  Virgil's 
"  Georgics,"  book  iv.  verses  285  et  seq.),  and  has  been 
reproduced  by  the  earlier  modern  writers,  such  as 
Aldrovandi  ("  De  Anim.  Insectis,"  p.  58,  edit.  1602), 
and  Moufet  (Theatr.  Insect.,  p.  12). 

The  rat-tailed  larvae  of  Eristalis  thrive  in  putrefying 
animal  matter,  and  the  very  natural  explanation  of 
the  superstition  is  that  the  perfect  insects  were 
mistaken  for  bees. 

Eristalis  ceneus,  as  well  as  Chcilosia  chrysocomus 
closely  resemble  some  of  the  Andrenidae,  both  in 
colouring  and  in  general  appearance. 

E.floreiis,  on  the  other  hand,  takes  after  the  wasps 
in  its  colouring  ;  some  specimens  of  this  fly  would  be 
mistaken  for  wasps  by  any  but  an  entomologist. 

In  that  respect  it  is  not  singular,  for  several 
Syrphidaa  are  somewhat  wasp-like  when  flying,  but 
perhaps  the  best  imitation  of  a  wasp  is  that  afforded 
by  Chrysotoxicm  arcnatum  and  C.  octomaadatum:  The 
latter  species  is  rare  in  England,  but  at  Heidelberg 
some  few  summers  past,  when  wasps  ( Vespa  vulgaris) 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


243 


were  very  troublesome,  there  was  rather  an  abundance 
of  C.  octomaculatum.  The  yellow  and  black  markings 
on  the  abdomen,  the  wings  with  a  brownish  tinge, 
especially  along  the  anterior  margin,  and  even  the 
long  antenna?,  all  combine  to  produce  an  appearance 
very  like  a  wasp.  Owing  to  this  fly  being  about 
when  wasps  are  plentiful,  it  doubtless  obtains  some 
protection  from  this  similarity. 

Still  more  closely  does  Vohicclla  bombylans  mimic 
several  species  of  humble-bee  (Bombus),  moreover  it 
is  subject  to  considerable  variety,  and  each  of  the 
different  forms  exactly  reproduces  the  colouring  of  a 
corresponding  type  of  Bombus. 

In  Britain  we  have  two  varieties,  distinguished  by 
many  entomologists  as  different  species,  V.  bombylans 
and  V.  plumata. 

Now  in  the  former  the  thorax  and  abdomen  are 
black,  the  thorax  is  covered  with  black  hairs,  while 
the  tip  of  the  abdomen  is  clad  with  hairs  of  an 
orange-brown  colour.  This  is  precisely  the  colouring 
of  Bombus  lapidarius  and  B.  rupesiris.  In  the 
latter,  most  of  the  thorax  is  clothed  with  yellowish 
hairs.  There  are  patches  of  yellow  on  the  sides  of 
the  abdomen  near  its  base,  while  its  tip  is  covered 
with  whitish  hairs — an  arrangement  of  colour  almost 
identically  the  same  as  in  Bombus  lucorum,  B. 
collinus,  B.  pratorum  and  some  others. 

So  much  for  the  British  forms  of  the  fly,  but  it 
does  not  confine  itself  to  imitating  the  colouring  of 
only  two  kinds  of  Bombus.  Baron  Osten  Sacken 
has  kindly  sent  me  a  copy  of  a  short  review  by  him  * 
of  a  Russian  work  by  J.  Portchinsky  on  the  Diptera 
of  the  Caucasus  resembling  Bombus.  M.  Portchinsky 
finds  that  in  the  Caucasian  mountains  the  humble- 
bees  (Bombus  eriophorus,  niveatus,  Caucasicus~)  are  all 
characterised  by  the  prevalence  of  white  hairs  on 
various  parts  of  the  body.  The  plain  black  and  orange 
coloured  humble  bees,  like  B.  lapidarius,  are  entirely 
absent.  It  is  therefore  remarkable  that  in  this 
region  the  black  and  orange  variety  of  Vohicclla 
bombylans  is  absent,  as  though  it  had  no  cause  for 
existing,  while  in  its  place  a  variety  ( V.  bombylans, 
var.  Caucasica)  is  found,  which  is  unknown  elsewhere 
in  Europe,  and  in  which  the  thorax  and  the  base  of  the 
abdomen  are  clad  with  white  hairs,  after  the  manner 
of  the  humble  bees  of  the  Caucasus.  A  translation  of 
M.  Portchinsky's  work  is  much  to  be  desired. 

All  entomologists  are  aware  of  the  great  resem- 
blance which  obtains  between  the  hornet  clearwing 
moth  ( Trochilium  api/ormc)  and  the  hornet  ( Vespa 
crabro).  Not  less  striking  is  the  resemblance  to  the 
latter  insect  of  a  fly  (Milcsia  crabroniformis)  which, 
though  not  found  in  England,  is  abundant  in  many 
parts  of  France  and  Italy.  It  is  exactly  the  size  of 
an  average  hornet,  the  colouring  of  the  thorax 
abdomen  and  legs  is  very  nearly  the  same,  while 
even  the  wings  are  of  a  brownish  tinge,  similar  to 
that  of  the  hornet's  wing. 

*  "  Wiener  Entomologische  Zeitung,"  i.  (1882),  Heft  9. 


When  first  I  saw  one  of  those  flies  buzzing  round 
a  trellis  at  Mentone  some  seven  years  ago,  I  captured 
it  under  the  impression  that  it  was  a  hornet. 

At  Cadenabbia,  on  the  Lake  of  Como,  Milesia 
crabronifornis  was  a  common  insect,  and  although  it 
was  doubtless  protected  from  the  attacks  of  birds  by 
its  likeness  to  a  hornet,  it  sometimes  suffered  for  its 
resemblance,  for  I  have  seen  the  natives  try  to  kill  it, 
and  no  amount  of  explanation  could  shake  their 
firm  conviction  that  it  was  a  hornet. 

Thus  in  one  family  of  Diptera  we  have  flies 
mimicking  several  types  of  common  Hymenoptera ; 
the  bee,  the  wasp,  the  andrena,  two  forms  of  humble 
bee,  and  the  hornet.  The  similarity  is  so  great  in 
these  instances,  particularly  when  the  insects  are  alive 
and  in  motion,  that  no  doubt  can  exist  that  they 
are  cases  of  protective  mimicry. 

There  are,  however,  other  instances  of  resemblance 
between  Diptera  and  Hymenoptera  on  which  it  is  not 
so  easy  to  decide  whether  they  be  cases  of  mimicry 
or  not. 

Before  concluding,  I  should  like  to  mention  two 
that  have  come  before  my  notice.  Comparing  a 
specimen  of  Myopa  fcrruginea  with  a  species  of 
Nomada  (probably  N.  lateralis),  I  was  at  once  struck 
by  their  general  similarity,  and  remarked  that  even 
the  whitish  patches  on  the  abdomen  of  Nomada  were 
represented  by  light  spots  on  the  body  of  Myopa. 
The  likeness  between  these  two  insects  has  pre- 
viously been  observed  by  entomologists.  The  other 
case  which  occurred  to  me  only  just  lately,  is  the 
resemblance  between  Mesembrina  meridiana  and 
some  of  the  Anthophorae,  as  A.  rctusa. 

The  fly,  one  of  the  Muscidae,  has  rather  curious 
colouring,  it  is  entirely  black,  with  the  exception  of 
the  wings,  which,  though  pale  grey  towards  the  tips, 
are  of  a  brilliant  orange-yellow  near  the  base.  The 
Anthophorae  are  black,  but  collect  a  quantity  of 
pollen  on  their  hind  legs.  They  are  about  the  size 
of  M.  meridiana.  Now  is  it  not  highly  probable  that 
the  yellow  at  the  base  of  the  wings  of  M.  meridiana 
reproduces,  when  the  insect  is  flying,  the  appearance 
of  the  pollen  on  the  tibiae  of  Anthophora  ? 

Whether  the  last  two  are  cases  of  protective 
mimicry,  could  only  be  ascertained  by  open-air 
observation.  If  the  flies  are  frequently  seen  asso- 
ciated with  the  insects  they  copy,  or  are  found  in 
similar  places  and  seasons,  we  may  fairly  suppose 
them  to  be  so.  With  regard  to  the  Myopa,  I  fancy  I 
have  caught  it  and  Nomada  near  the  same  spot,  but 
as  I  knew  scarcely  any  entomology  at  the  time,  and 
was  quite  a  young  boy,  I  may  easily  be  mistaken. 
Were  Diptera  studied  a  little  more,  we  should 
doubtless  find  numerous  other  cases  of  mimicry  among 
them,  including  some  that  are  now  quite  unknown. 
Let  us  therefore  earnestly  hope  that  some  entomolo- 
gists will  employ  their  leisure  in  further  investigations 
on  this  most  interesting  subject.  G.  H.  Bryan. 

Peter Jwusc,  Cambridge. 

U  2 


'44 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


THE    GRAPE    HYACINTHS    OF    SWITZER- 
LAND. 

"\  T  7E  have  previously  remarked*  that  the  English 
VV       "blue-bell"  (H.  non-scrip- 

tus)  does  not  grow  in  Switzerland, 
but  this  does  not  apply  to  the  several 
species  of  Muscari,  which  are  only 
too  plentiful  in  the  Swiss  vineyards. 
Towards  the  end  of  March,  as  we 
pass  by  the  vine-clothed  slopes,  an 
oppressive  odour  is  perceptible  in 
the  air  (which  is  said  to  resemble 
plums)  ;  it  is  carried  from  the  thou- 
sands of  grape  hyacinths,  which 
literally  cover  the  broken  ground 
between  the  vines,  and  resist  every 
effort  made  to  exterminate  them. 
If  once  this  species,  Muscari  race- 
mosum,  becomes  rooted  in  the  soil, 
it  spreads  in  the  most  prolific 
manner,  as  shown  in  the  figured 
specimen.  The  plant  is  bulbiferous, 
each  tiny  bulb  detaching  itself  from 
the  parent  root  to  start  an  indepen- 
dent existence.  This  single  specimen 
had  no  less  than  twenty-four  vigorous 
little  bulbs  attached,  a  clear  proof  of 
the  rapidity  of  reproduction.  It  was 
the  first  plant  that  came  handy  for 
examination,  not  being  in  any  way 
remarkable  for  size.  The  species 
may  at  once  be  identified  by  the 
scent  and  by  the  peculiar  form  of 
the  leaves,  which  are  channeled, 
curling  up  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  might  be  mistaken  for  those 
of  an  Allium.  The  flowers,  of  a  dull 
purplish-blue,  are  crowded  in  a 
raceme,  the  upper  ones  being  abor- 
tive ;  the  stem  stands  erect,  one  or 
more  from  each  bulb.  Another 
species,  Muscari  botryoides,  is  not 
nearly  so  commonly  distributed, 
occurring  more  in  shady  woods  than 
in  the  vineyards.  From  the  drawing, 
it  will  be  noted  that  the  bulb  is  of 
different  shape,  not  budding  young 
rootlets  in  the  wholesale  manner  as 
M.  racemosum.  The  raceme  of  blue 
flowers  is  more  graceful-looking  in 
M.  botryoides,  the  abortive  terminal 
buds  having  a  decided  pink  tinge. 
The  leaves,  though  slightly  chan- 
neled, are  linear-lanceolate,  and  do 
not  coil  up,  as  in  the  other  species. 


the  distinction"  is  well-marked,  as  an  examination  of 
the  two  plants  together  quickly  testifies. 

Muscari  comosum,  the  feather  hyacinth,  is  a  strange- 
looking  plant.     Visitors  to  the  south  of  France  must 


We  have  found 


these  two   species  very  generally  confused,  whereas 
*  Science-Gossip,  No.  244,  p.  8j. 


Fig.  164. — Muscari  racemosum. 

have  been  struck  with  its  appearance,  growing  from 
every  wall  in  such  profusion.  The  flowers  are  shortly 
pedicelled,  of  a  livid  brown  colour  as  regards  the 
fertile  ones,  which  form  the  lower  part  of  the  loose 


HARDIVICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


'■AS 


raceme,  while  the  larger-stalked,  blue,  sterile  flowers 
crown  the  terminal  part  of  the  raceme,  waving  in  the 
air  like  feathers.  The  leaves  of  this  plant  are  large 
and  broad.  It  is  found  in  the  vineyards  and  in  rocky 
situations.      The    M.    neglectiim    of    Dr.    Bouvier's 


imperceptibly  divided  into  six  points  ;  cylindrical, 
contracted  at  the  rim ;  six  stamens  inserted  on  the 
tube  of  the  perianth  ;  capsule  triangular. 

I.  M.  racemositm,   Mill,   (starch  hyacinth).     Bulb 
ovoid  ;  proliferous.    Stem  shorter  than  leaves  ;  leaves 


Fig.  16$.— Muscari  botryoides. 


"  Flore  Suisse"  we  have  not  been  able  to  meet  with. 
The  yellow- flowered  M.  moschatum  (Desf. )  is,  we 
believe,  a  species  known  in  France,  but  not  included 
in  the  Swiss  flora. 

Genus  Muscari,  Tournefort. 

A  genus  of  the  Liliaceous  order,  tribe  hyacinthie. 
Bulbous  plant  ;  segments  of  corolla  united,  or  almost 


Fig.  166. — Muscari  comosum. 

linear,  curled  up.     Flowers  in  dense  raceme ;  upper 
ones  abortive  ;  purplish-blue,  strongly  scented. 

2.  Jlf.  neglectum,  Gussone.  Larger  growth  than  the 
preceding  species.  Leaves  larger,  not  curled  up, 
raceme  loose ;  each  flower  pedicellated  (given  by 
Bouvier  as  a  distinct  species,  but  perhaps  a  variety). 

3.  M.  botryoides,  Mill,  (grape  hyacinth).  Bulb 
ovoid,    conical ;    stem    equal  to  leaves    in    length. 


245 


HARDIVJCKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Leaves  channeled,  but  linear-lanceolate,  not  curled  ; 
flowers  in  dense  raceme,  blue  ;  upper  and  above 
flowers  pink-tinged  ;  teeth,  of  corolla  white  and  well- 
marked. 

4.  M.  comosum,  Mill,  (feather  hyacinth).  Bulb 
ovoid  ;  leaves  large  and  spreading  ;  racemes  prolonged 
and  loose.  Lower  and  fertile  flowers  livid  brown  ; 
upper  ones,  long-stalked,  crowning  raceme  like 
feathers,  abortive,  and  of  blue  colour. 

It  is  now  but  the  commencement  of  April,  but 
other  plants  of  the  Lily  order  are  in  leaf,  and 
will  shortly  be  in  flower  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Montreux.  We  have  noted  species  of  Tulipa,  Scilla, 
Allium,  Ornithogalum,  Gagea,  Erythronium,  and 
Lilium  already  far  advanced  in  growth.  If  there  are 
botanists  among  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip 
who  wish  to  visit  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  of  Geneva 
at  the  best  season  for  the  flowers  of  the  lower  Alpine 
slopes,  we  strongly  recommend  the  month  of  May  as 
the  time  of  year  most  suitable.  The  Hotel  les 
Avants,  3200  feet  above  the  sea,  and  about  2000  feet 
above  Montreux,  is  a  very  Paradise  for  botanists,  and 
in  May  the  slopes  of  surrounding  mountains  are  a 
very  blaze  of  colour  from  the  brilliant  succession 
of  Alpine  flowers. 

C.  Parkinson. 

Montreux. 


NOTES    ON    NEW    BOOKS. 

J~\ICTIONARY  of  the  Names  of  British  Plants, 
J—S  by  Henry  Purefoy  Fitzgerald  (London  : 
Bailliere,  Tindall,  &  Cox).  This  little  book  is 
calculated  to  be  of  great  use  to  botanists,  especially 
to  self-taught  students  of  the  science.  It  gives 
the  generic  and  specific  names  of  British  plants 
arranged  alphabetically,  with  the  derivation  where 
known,  and  the  pronunciation.  In  the  case  of  specific 
names,  the  name  of  some  plant  is  also  given  to  which 
the  specific  name  applies.  It  is  from  no  desire  to 
find  faults  that  the  fact  is  pointed  out,  that  there  are 
no  accent  marks  given  in  the  pronunciation-words. 
Doubtless  in  most  cases  the  length  of  the  vowels  is 
practically  sufficient,  but  the  word  Helosciadum  at 
least  might  be  accented  in  several  ways.  Silaifolia 
might  be  inserted  in  the  next  edition. 

British  Butterflies,  Moths  and  Beetles  ("  The 
Young  Collector "),  by  W.  F.  Kirby  (London  : 
Sonnenschein  &  Co.),  is.  This  book  begins  with 
a  brief  outline  of  the  class  Insecta,  with  examples 
and  figures  under  each  order.  The  rest  of  the  book 
is  divided  into  two  parts,  in  which  are  treated  at 
greater  length  British  beetles  and  British  butterflies 
and  moths.  Brief  descriptions  are  given  as  well  as 
numerous  woodcuts,  while  in  the  case  both  of  general 
entomology,  and  of  butterflies  and  moths,  a  short  list 
of  books  likely  to  be  useful  to  beginners  is  given. 
There  is  neither  a  table  of  contents  nor  an  index. 


Our  Insect  Enemies,  by  Theodore  Wood  (London  : 
Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge).  In  this 
little  book  the  author  has  attempted,  he  says,  to  trace 
the  life  histories  of  injurious  insects,  pointing  out  how 
they  are  injurious,  and  as  far  as  possible  ^he  range 
and  extent  of  their  ravages,  treating  them  for  the  most 
part  in  the  order  of  their  present  system  of  classifica- 
tion rather  than  in  accordance  with  the  particular 
crops  they  frequent.  The  book  is  uniform  in  general 
appearance  with  the  Natural  History  Rambles  series, 
and  like  some  of  this  series  unfortunately  has  no 
index,  a  defect  only  partially  remedied  by  the  detailed 
table  of  contents.  The  Aphis  or  "  Green-Blight  "  has 
four  chapters  to  itself,  in  which  its  structure  and  life- 
history  are  taken  up,  and  various  individual  species 
noted.  Cockchafers,  wire-worms,  weevils,  turnip  saw- 
fly,  and  many  other  injurious  insects,  including  butter- 
flies and  moths,  follow  on.  The  clothes-moth  is 
omitted  on  account  of  the  limited  character  of  its 
ravages  and  its  beneficial  influence  out  of  doors.  The 
book,  which  is  illustrated  with  woodcuts,  contains 
much  that  should  be  commended  to  the  notice  of  all 
who  have  to  do  with  raising  crops,  for  it  is  almost 
entirely  with  out-door  life  that  it  is  concerned. 

Scientific  Romances,  No.  II.— The  Persian  King, 
or  The  Law  of  the  Valley,  by  C.  H.  Hinton,  B.A. 
(London  :  Swan  Sonnenschein  &  Co.),  is.  The 
clever  author  of  "What  is  the  Fourth  Dimension  ?  " 
has  here  produced  another  scientific  romance,  his 
ostensible  topic  this  time  being  Energy  and  its 
dissipation.  His  book  requires  to  be  read  with 
attention  and  care,  and  the  fact  that  he  has  supplied 
an  explanatory  second  part  may  be  taken  as  evidence 
that  he  does  not  consider  the  allegory  in  the  first  part 
as  likely  to  sufficiently  explain  itself.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  valley  in  which  the  Persian  king  finds  himself 
have  a  tendency  to  apathy,  the  pleasure  of  doing 
anything  being  exact)y  equalled  by  the  accompanying 
pain.  The  king,  however,  can  make  them  act,  by 
means  of  a  power  with  which  he  is  endowed,  of  taking 
upon  himself  some  of  the  pain  attending  any  action 
which  he  wishes  performed,  leaving  thus  an  excess  of 
pleasure  which  causes  the  performance  of  the  action. 
Now  the  king  corresponds  more  or  less  to  a  certain 
supposed  ultimate  medium,  which,  according  to  the 
view  here  propounded,  is  the  cause  of  all  motion. 
The  second  part  of  the  book  should  be  read  by  every- 
one interested  in  questions  of  physics  ;  and  if  the 
reader  afterwards  turns  to  the  first  part  he  may  find 
there,  whether  he  understand  them  or  not,  passages 
which  imply  that  the  writer  includes  in  his  subject 
higher  things  than  physics. 

A  Tour  in  Sutherlandshire,  with  Extracts  from  the 
Field-Books  of  a  Sportsman  and  Naturalist,  by  Charles 
St.  John,  with  Appendix  on  the  Fauna  of  Sutherland, 
by  J.  A.  Harvie-Brown,  F.Z.S.,  and  T.  E.  Buckley, 
F.Z.S.,  2  vols.  (Edinburgh  :  David  Douglas).  This  is 
the  second  edition  of  a  work  issued  between  thirty 
and  forty   years   ago,    the   author   being   an   ardent 


HARD  WJ  CKE'S  S  CIE  NCE  -  G  O  SSI  P. 


'47 


student  of  animal  life  in  days  when  the  evolution 
theory  had  not  made  its  -way  into  the  conceptions  of 
animal  history  as  it  has  now.  He  was  a  sportsman 
pure  and  simple,  seldom  killing  for  killing's  sake,  and, 
though  one  may  not  always  take  his  view,  it  is  im- 
possible for  a  lover  of  nature  not  to  be  interested  as 
the  author  carries  him  along  with  pleasant  discourse 
of  eagles  and  ospreys,  wild  swans  and  their  ways, 
seals,  otters  and  foxes,  not  disdaining  frogs,  and  cats, 
and  sparrows.  Mr.  St.  John  was  rather  too  anxious 
to  shoot  ospreys,  and  was,  indeed,  somewhat  incon- 
sistent with  his  own  remarks  in  doing  so  ;  and  to  the 
hooded  crow  he  was  a  determined  enemy.  His  style 
is  very  readable,  and  on  the  whole  these  volumes  are 
as  pleasant  a  sportsman's  record  of  animal  life  as  one 
is  likely  to  find  anywhere.  The  little  pen-and-ink 
tail  pieces  are  many  cf  them  delightful.  The  tour  is 
contained  in  about  half  the  first  volume,  and  is  fol- 
lowed by  field  notes  for  the  different  months  and 
extracts  from  note  books.  The  Appendix  by  Messrs. 
Harvie-Brown  and  Buckley  concludes  the  second 
volume.  A  word  or  two  of  praise  should  be  devoted 
to  the  printing,  paper,  and  general  get  up,  ;which 
makes  the  contents  of  the  sombre  covers  pretty  nearly 
all  that  can  be  desired  from  this  point  of  view. 

First  Year  of  Scientific  Knowledge,  by  Paul  Bert, 
translated  by  Madame  Paul  Bert  (London  :  Relfe 
Bros.),  2s.  6d.  It  is  announced  in  the  very  short 
preface  to  this,  its  English  edition,  that  there  is 
scarcely  a  school  in  France,  even  in  the  smallest 
village,  where  ' '  M.  Paul  Bert's  famous  book  "  is  not 
used.  It  is  to  be  inferred  from  this,  from  the  title, 
and  from  the  book  itself,  wherein  Paul,  George, 
Harry,  and  James  are  duly  informed  of  a  vast  number 
of  facts,  that  it  is  intended  for  young  children.  Here, 
in  rather  less  than  350  pp.,  one  has  animals,  plants, 
stones  and  soils,  physics,  chemistry,  animal  and 
vegetable  physiologies,  discussed  and  laid  aside  in 
succession.  It  is,  after  all,  but  little  more  than  a 
page  a  day  for  the  young  children,  and  the  illustra- 
tions are  so  many  and  so  entertaining,  some  so  really 
good,  that  if  by  the  end  of  the  year  the  child  is  not  a 
botanist,  a  physicist,  &c,  in  little,  the  failure  should 
perhaps  be  laid  to  the  door  of  the  system,  which  is 
not  that  which  has  of  late  years  been  advocated  as 
the  true  method  of  studying  science.  It  is  really 
wonderful  what  is  here  provided,  ready  cut  and  dried 
for  the  children  to  swallow,  if  only  they  can  hold  it 
all.  The  book  is  a  phenomenon  worth  considering. 
Its  illustrations,  of  which  there  are  said  to  be  550, 
are  many  of  them  attractive,  though  all  are  small. 
That  of  the  sheep's  jaws  happens  to  be  printed  upside 
down,  and  unfortunately  that  intended  to  explain  the 
apparent  movement  of  a  penny  in  a  vessel  when 
water  is  poured  in,  is  quite  wrong,  and  that  in  more 
ways  than  one ;  and  here  the  text  also  is  not  free 
from  blame. 

An  Elementaiy  Star  Atlas,  by  Rev.  T.  H.  E.  Espin, 
F.R.A.S.    (London:    Swan    Sonnenschein    &    Co.). 


This  is  a  book  of  star  maps  and  text,  the  maps  on  the 
right-hand  page  and  the  text  on  the  left.  The  book 
isjight  to  hold,  and  the  stars  are  marked  in  black, 
large  enough  to  be  seen  on  the  white  paper  in  a  dull 
light.  The  book  is  specially  intended  for  beginners, 
but  it  is  only  fair  to  warn  the  beginner  that  he  will 
probably  find  it  necessary  to  give  his  careful  considera- 
tion to  the  method  on  which  the  book  is  constructed. 
There  are  twelve  maps,  the  places  where  January  and 
July  would  be  expected  being  occupied  by  circum- 
polar  maps  (north  pole).  Should  a  second  edition  be 
called  for,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  various  matters  of 
more  or  less  consequence  will  be  attended  to,  and  so 
the  usefulness  of  the  book  be  increased.  A  preface  is 
supplied  by  Mr.  J.  A.  West  wood  Oliver,  editor  of 
the  "  Illustrated  Science  Monthly." 


THE  ECONOMICAL  PRODUCTS  OF  PLANTS. 
By  John  T.  Riches. 

CAMPHOR. — This  valuable  commodity  is  the 
produce  of  Cinnamomum  Camphora,  Nees  et 
Eb.  {Camphora  officinartim,  Nees),  a  native  of  China, 
chiefly  near  Chinchew,  in  the  province  of  Fokien,  also 
very  plentiful  in  Formosa,  and  some  parts  of  Japan, 
the  principal  supplies  of  the  material  coming  from  the 
former  part  by  way  of  Singapore  to  this  country.  It 
is  a  large  tree  (Fig.  167)  belonging  to  the  laurel  family 
[Lauracetr)  with  a  straight  trunk,  freely  branched  at 
the  top,  all  the  parts  when  bruised  emitting  a 
camphoraceous  odour.  Leaves  alternate,  on  long 
petioles,  ovate-lanceolate,  subcoriaceous,  entire, 
bright  green  above,  paler  beneath,  three-nerved. 
Flowers  in  lax  axillary  and  terminal  panicles,  small, 
bi-sexual.   '  Fruit  small,  roundish,  drupaceous. 

Camphor,  like  most  substances  the  produce  of 
countries  southwards  or  eastwards  of  India,  was  un- 
known to  the  ancients.  It  was,  however,  known  to 
the  Arabs,  who  called  it  "  kaphoor."  It  is  diffused 
throughout  all  parts  of  the  tree,  hence  all,  with  the 
exception  of  the  leaves,  are  used  in  the  process  of 
procuring  it  :  root,  stem,  and  branches  are  cut  up 
into  convenient  lengths,  and  boiled  in  water  in 
large  closed  vessels,  when  the  volatilised  substance  is 
sublimed  into  inverted  cones  of  straw  placed  within 
earthen  capitals.  In  this  form  it  is  collected  and 
imported  into  Europe,  and  is  known  as  crude 
camphor,  mainly  from  the  parts  mentioned  above, 
but  some  of  good  quality  is  obtained  from  Japan, 
which  is,  however,  chiefly  secured  by  the  Dutch, 
amounting  in  some  years  to  several  thousand  pounds. 
It  exists  in  this  stage  in  the  form  of  small  greyish- 
coloured  sparkling  grains,  which  by  aggregation  form 
crumbling  cakes,  with  all  the  properties  of  pure 
camphor,  but  mixed  with  impurities.  After  its 
importation  all  these  are  removed  by  another  process, 
after  which  it  assumes  the  form  in  which  it  is  usually 


248 


HARDWICKE'S   SCIENCE-GOSSlf. 


seen  in  commerce.  The  raw  material  is  mixed  with 
lime,  and  again  sublimed  into  glass  vessels  of  a 
special  shape,  which  are  ultimately  broken  away, 
leaving  the  camphor  in  the  form  of  concavo-convex 
cakes  from  two  to  three  inches  thick,  with  a  hole  in 
the  middle  ;  when  it  is  solid,  colourless,  and  trans- 
lucent, with  a  penetrating  aromatic  odour,  and  a 
bitter  pungent  taste,  with  a  crystalline  consistency. 
Its  specific  gravity  is  less  than  that  of  water,  conse- 
quently it  floats  on  water,  and  evaporates,  undergoing 
a  curious  rotary  movement  while  doing  so  ;  but  little 
soluble  in  water,  freely  so  in  alcohol  and  ether, 
also  in  volatile  and  fixed  oils:  At  ordinary  tempera- 
tures it  slowly  evaporates'  and  crystallises  on  vessels 


hysteria,  and  in  nervous  and  typhoid  fever.  If  taken 
in  small  quantities  in  solution,  it  is  said  to  strengthen 
the  teeth.  It  is  employed  in  domestic  economy  as  a 
protective  agent  against  the  attacks  of  insects,  and 
for  a  similar  purpose  by  natural  history  collectors. 
It  is  frequently  used  as  a  preventive  against  infec- 
tious diseases,  although  its  power  in  that  direction  is 
not  great. 

Borneo  or  Sumatra  Camphor. — This  is  another 
variety  of  camphor  produced  by  Dryobalanops  aro- 
matica,  Gaert.,  belonging  to  the  distinct  family  Dipte- 
rocarpccc,  and  which  was  for  a  long  time  erroneously 
supposed  to  be  the  tree  which  produced  the  kind 


Fig.  167. — Cinnammmitn  Ccunphora,  Nees  et  Eb. 


in  which  it  is  contained,  as  in  glass  jars  for  instance. 
It  melts  at  a  temperature  of  28S0,  and  boils  at  4000, 
is  very  inflammatory,  burning  with  a  blue  flame. 

The  uses  of  camphor  are  very  numerous,  and  its 
actions  are  equally  various.  When  taken  internally 
its  action  is  chiefly  upon  the  nervous  system,  in 
moderate  doses  producing  exhilaration,  quietude  and 
placidity  of  feeling,  allaying  irritation.  In  large 
doses  the  circulation,  especially  in  some  persons, 
such  as  those  suffering  from  heart  affections,  may  be 
effected  in  a  similar  way,  passing  off  afterwards 
through  the  skin  and  bronchial  membranes,  but  not 
by  the  urine.  In  excessive  doses  it  is  narcotic  and 
poisonous.  It  is  chiefly  employed  in  medicinal 
practice   as  an  anodyne   in    nervous    affections  and 


met  with  in  European  commerce.  This  tree  also 
yields  the  oil  of  camphor,  or  liquid  camphor,  as  it  is 
frequently  called,  wbich  is  obtained  by  incision  from 
the  younger  trees,  a  practice  which  eventually  destroys 
the  trees.  It  "has,  however,  the  same  properties  as 
the  solid  camphor,  and  would  have  ultimately  de- 
veloped into  that  substance  if  the  trees  had  been  left 
unmolested.  The  solid  camphor  of  this  tree  is  found 
in  the  cracks  of  the  bark  in  large  blocks,  varying 
according  to  the  age  of  the  tree  ;  and  to  obtain  it  the 
trees  are  cut  down,  split  into  blocks,  and  the 
camphor  extracted.  In  the  Museum  No.  I,  in  the 
Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  the  crystallised  camphor  is 
shown  in  siht  upon  the  wood,  so  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  development  of  camphor  in  the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


!49 


two  species  ;  for  while  this  is  naturally  prepared,  that 
from  C.  Camphora  is  obtained  by  artificial  means. 
It  possesses  the  same  properties  as  the  produce 
of  Cinnamomum,  although  it  does  not  evaporate  so 
readily  at  ordinary  temperatures,  and  its  crystals  are 
of  a  different  form.  It  does  not  find  its  way  into  this 
country,  as  it  is  eagerly  bought  up  by  the  Chinese  at  a 
most  exorbitant  price,  exceeding  many  times  the  value 
they  receive  for  their  own  produce,  although,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  European,  it  is  of  no  greater  value.  But 
the  Chinese  attribute  many  and  excellent  virtues  to 
it  for  which  they  are  ready  to  pay,  and  who  would 
fcrbid  them  enjoying  the  opinion  at  their  own  cost? 

The  Papaw-Fruit  (Fig.  168). — This  is  produced 
by  Carica  Papaya,  Linn.,  belonging  to  the  family 
Papayacetz.  It  is  now  widely  distributed  and  cultivated 
throughout  all  tropical  countries,  but  there  is  no  doubt 


Fig.  168.— Fruit  and  Leaf  of  Carica  Papaya,  Linn,  (reduced.) 

it  emanated  originally  from  the  Western  hemisphere, 
as  students  of  the  new  world  flora  now  regard  it  as  a 
native  of  Tropical  South  America.  It  is  a  small  tree, 
seldom  exceeding  twenty  feet  in  height,  with  a  straight 
unbranched  stem,  about  a  foot  in  diameter  at  the  base, 
where  it  is  moderately  hard,  but  soft  and  spongy  at  the 
top,  and  hollow  in  the  centre.  The  leaves  are  situ- 
ated at  the  top  of  the  stem,  on  long  petioles,  diverging 
almost  horizontally  from  the  stem  ;  the  blade  is  as 
much  as  two  feet  in  diameter,  deeply  cut  into  seven 
lobes  with  their  margins  again  cut  and  sharp  pointed. 
Flowers  in  racemes  produced  at  the  base  of  the  leaf- 
stalks. Fruit  oblong,  from  eight  to  ten  inches  long, 
three  to  four  broad  ;  or  shaped  like  a  melon  with 
projecting  angles,  of  a  dull  orange-yellow  colour 
when  ripe.  The  fruit  is  edible,  but  rather  insipid, 
and  is  eaten  raw  in  small  quantities,  but  largely 
consumed  in  many  parts,  when  cooked  and  flavoured 


with   salt,  pepper,  and    sugar;    it  is  also  employed 
in    sauces,    antl     preserved    in    sugar,    especially    in 
the   West    Indian    Islands.     The    unripe    fruits    are 
also  pickled,  and    boiled   and  eaten  as  a  vegetable 
prepared   in    a    similar  way  as    turnips   are    in    this 
country.     Throughout  the  latter  part  of  the  globe, 
the  juice  of  the  tree,  or  an  infusion  of  the  fruit  and 
leaves,   has  a   remarkable  reputation    for  rendering 
the  toughest  meat  tender,  as  it  possesses  the  power 
of  separating  the  muscular  fibre.     Sir  Joseph  Hooker 
says  "  the  whole  tree  possesses  this  remarkable  pro- 
perty."    The  exhalations  emanating  from  it  also  have 
the  same   power,  and  fresh   meat   hung   up   in    the 
branches  is  made  tender  in  a  surprisingly  short  space 
of  time.     This  practice  is  largely  resorted  to  in  the 
West  Indies.     It  is  also  stated  that  if  old  hogs  and 
poultry  are  fed  with  the  fruit  and  leaves  their  flesh 
is    rendered    extremely  tender.      The   juice  of  the 
fruit  is  used  by  ladies  as   a  cosmetic  for   removing 
freckles  from  the  face,  but  its  most  important  are  its 
vermifugal  properties,  it  being  largely  employed  as 
an  effective  vermifuge  ;  it  is  also  antiseptic. 

According  to  the  analysis  of  the  juice  by  Vacquelin, 
it  contains  fibrine,  a  substance  characteristic  of  all 
animal  tissues,  but  which  occur  in  other  vegetable 
tissue  besides  that  of  the  Papaw.  The  root  has  a 
very  strong  and  disgusting  odour,  similar  to  that  of 
decaying  radishes,  and  is  very  acrid,  a  clear  indication 
of  the  vermifugal  character  of  the  juice.  The  leaves 
are  employed  by  the  negroes  as  a  substitute  for  soup. 
So  the  uses  of  the  plant  are  manifold,  and  for  other 
details  respecting  it  I  must  refer  my  readers  to  the 
"Botanical  Magazine,"  2S98,  where  a  good  plate  is 
given.  The  plant  itself  is  also  cultivated  in  the 
Royal  Gardens,  Kew. 

The  acidity  is  infused,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
throughout  all  the  species.  In  C.  digitata,  a  Brazilian 
species,  known  under  the  native  name  of  Chamburu, 
it  is  most  prevalent,  and  the  tree  is  regarded  by  the 
natives  of  Mayna  with  as  much  dread  as  the  upas 
tree  by  the  Javanese  ;  in  this  instance  with  more 
propriety,  as  its  juice  is  very  poisonous.  Poppig  says 
"  that  the  juice  which  spirted  over  his  hand  when  he 
cut  the  tree  caused  itching  on  the  face,  and  drew  a 
few  blisters  on  the  hand."  The  male  flowers  are  said 
by  Dr.  Lindley  to  have  the  disgusting  smell  of  human 
excrement.  And  what  is  very  remarkable  is  the 
fact,  that  the  fruit,  although  handsome,  scentless, 
and  insipid,  is  untouched  by  birds  or  any  other 
creatures,  except  a  species  of  ant  belonging   to  the 

genus  Atta. 

[To  be  continued.) 

Fresh-water  Shells. — Mr.  H.  Wallis,  Kew, 
has  sent  me  some  shells  identical  with  those  found 
by  Mr.  Goulding,  attached  to  the  feet  of  newts  and 
frogs  and  recorded  in  the  October  number  as  (?)  Cyclas 
lacustris.  They  prove  to  be  Sphtzrium  cor/icum,  and 
not  S.  lacustre  (C.  lacustris).  It  will  be  well  to 
record  this,  to  prevent  error. — T.  D.  A.  Cockerel!. 


25° 


HARDWICKE'S  SCI ENCE-GOSSJP. 


GOSSIP  ON  CURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

PROFESSOR  HENRY  DRUMMOND  has 
propounded  a  theory  concerning  the  white  ant 
which  is  interesting.  He  states  that  there  can  be  no 
succession  of  crops  "without  the  most  thorough 
agriculture,"  and  that  where  man  is  not  doing  this 
work,  nature  employs  other  agents.  Darwin  has 
shown  how  the  soil  of  England  is  tilled  by  earthworms 
to  the  extent  of  having  ten  tons  of  dry  earth  per  acre 
annually  transferred  from  below  to  the  surface,  by 
passing  through  their  bodies  and  deposited  as  their 
casts.  But  in  tropical  countries,  where  the  soil  is  hard 
baked  by  the  sun  during  eight  or  nine  months  of  the 
year,  and  too  dry  for  worms  to  operate,  other  agencies 
are  demanded,  and  Professor  Drummond  finds  one  of 
remarkable  efficiency  in  the  termite,  or  "white  ant" 
as  it  is  called,  though  it  is  not  an  ant  at  all. 

The  working  termites  are  blind,  and  guarded  while 
working  by  soldiers  with  eyes.  They  cannot  live 
above  ground  on  account  of  their  blind  helplessness 
against  the  many  foes  whose  hunger  they  are  specially 
qualified  to  satisfy,  but  their  food  is  above  ground. 
They  eat  dead  wood,  and  all  kinds  of  dead  vegetable 
matter,  but  seem  incapable  of  feeding  on  living  plants. 
To  reach  the  dead  branches  of  a  living  tree,  they  build 
galleries  or  tunnels  running  up  the  stem,  these  tunnels 
being  made  up  of  minute  pellets  of  earth  brought  from 
below  and  cemented  together.  As  is  well  known, 
their  ordinary  structures  assume  great  magnitude, 
mounds,  cones,  and  strange  fantastic  edifices  all 
composed  of  subsoil  brought  upwards.  This  action 
is  doubtless  similar  to  that  of  our  earthworms,  but  there 
is  a  serious  difference  otherwise ;  as  the  earthworms 
work  for  themselves,  and  others  at  the  same  time  ;  and 
their  wages  are  very  small.  The  damage  they  do  to 
man  and  other  animals  is  barely  measurable,  but  the 
termite  is  a  terrible  devastator,  he  levies  black  mail 
on  the  food,  the  dwellings  and  furniture  of  man 
(under  favourable  circumstances  a  colony  can  devour 
a  four-post  bedstead  in  twenty-four  hours),  and  of 
other  animals,  to  such  an  extent  that,  in  spite  of  their 
subsoil  ploughing,  their  extermination  from  the  face 
of  the  earth  would  doubtless  be  voted  a  great  bless- 
ing by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  men  and  other 
tropical  anim  als,  if  a  fair  plebiscite  could  be  taken. 

The  state  of  the  Lea,  of  the  Thames,  and  I  may  add 
of  the  Brent  in  my  own  neighbourhood,  during  the 
past  summer  months,  shows  how  largely  we  are 
dependent  on  the  flushing  action  of  rain  for  the 
removal  of  sewage  poison  under  our  present  arrange- 
ments. This  flushing  action  of  rain-water  is  evident 
to  everybody,  but  there  is  another  action  that  is 
invisible,  and  therefore  far  less  widely  understood. 
I  refer  to  the  purifying  action  of  the  oxygen  contained 
in  water  that  has  been  freely  exposed  to  the  atmos- 
phere. A  gallon  of  such  water,  at  the  winter 
temperature  of  450  Fahr.,  contains  2  '2  cubic  inches 


of  oxygen  ;  at  summer  temperature  of  70°,  I  '8  cubic 
inch.  This  oxygen  is  a  most  efficient  disinfectant ; 
its  efficiency  in  effecting  complete  purification  is 
simply  a  question  of  quantity. 

Thus  the  mere  dilution  of  sewage  does  something 
towards  its  purification,  and  in  addition  to  this  the 
mixture  of  water  and  sewage  picks  up  more  oxygen 
as  it  travels  along  the  course  of  a  river.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  water  containing  32  per  cent,  of  sewage 
is  completely  disinfected  in  the  course  of  a  journey  of 
one  mile,  but  I  may  qualify  this  estimate  by  adding 
that  the  water  must  be  very  shallow  for  this  to  occur. 
The  case  is  very  different  where  the  sewage  of  London 
mingles  with  the  deep  water  of  the  lower  Thames. 

Old-fashioned  treatises  on  Natural  Philosophy 
included  "porosity"  as  one  of  the  general  "properties 
of  matter."  Thus  Dr.  Lardner  says,  "there  is  no 
substance  so  dense  as  to  be  divested  of  pores.  The 
celebrated  Florentine  experiment,  performed  at  the 
Academia  del  Cimento  in  1661,  and  often  repeated 
since  that  time,  with  the  same  result,  showed  that 
gold  itself  has  sufficiently  large  pores  to  admit  the 
particles  of  water  to  pass  through  them."  This  expe- 
riment was  made  by  filling  a  globe  of  gold  with  water, 
closing  it  with  a  screw,  and  then  squeezing  down  the 
globe  with  a  powerful  screw.  The  diminution  of  its 
capacity  caused  a  forcing  of  the  water  through  its 
pores,  the  water  appearing  on  the  outer  surface. 

Further  experiment,  however,  shows  that  such 
pores  are  merely  accidental,  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
metal  was  cast,  and  to  the  conditions  of  the  cooling 
of  cast  metal.  By  hammering  or  rolling  the  gold, 
such  pores  are  filled  up.  In  the  "  Gazetta  Chimica 
Italiana  "  is  an  account  of  experiments  by  Sig.  A^ 
Bartoli,  proving  the  absolute  impermeability  of  glass 
to  gases  under  a  pressure  of  126  atmospheres. 

As  everybody  knows,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
show  at  the  "Inventories"  contained  no  element  of 
new  invention  whatever,  and  these  mere  shop-front 
cases  by  their  bulk  and  pi  eminence,  dwarfed  the 
really  interesting  demonstrations  of  the  triumphs  of 
modern  invention.  Among  these  are  the  coal-tar 
products,  of  which  alizarin  may  be  named  as  one  of" 
the  most  remarkable  and  important.  Mr.  S.  B. 
Boulton,  chairman  of  the  British  Alizarin  Company, 
states  that  the  yearly  consumption  of  20  per  cent, 
strength  alizarin  in  Great  Britain  now  amounts  to 
3400  tons.  A  ton  of  this  does  the  dyeing  work  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  tons  of  madder  root.  At  the 
lowest  estimate  the  alizarin  we  use  in  Britain  represents 
61,200  tons  of  madder.  The  cost  of  this  at  the 
average  of  old  prices  (from  i860  to  1876)  would  be 
,£2,907,000,  while  that  of  the  artificial  alizarin  is 
£456,960,  thus  effecting  a  saving  of  nearly  two  and  a 
half  millions  per  annum  in  the  mere  dyeing  of  some 
of  the  colours  of  some  of  our  textile  fabrics.  Alizarin 
is  not  an  imitative  substitute  for  the  tinctorial  prin- 
ciple of  madder,  but  a  production  from  coal  tar  of  the 
actual  thing  itself.     Its  production  was  due   to   no 


HARDWICKE'S   SCJE A CE-G 0SS1P. 


251 


mere  accident,  but  to  a  series  of  profound  chemical 
deductions  with  which  the  names  of  Perkin,  Caro, 
Graebe,  and  Liebermann  (especially  Perkin)  will 
ever  be  honourably  associated.  Dr.  Perkin's  achieve- 
ments in  the  direction  of  <)  priori  theoretical  prophecy, 
followed  by  practical  realisation,  have  been  by  no 
means  limited  to  such  production  of  alizarin  ;  they 
were  preceded  by  the  earlier  aniline  colours,  and  are 
likely  to  be  followed  by  further  results  of  a  similar 
character  obtained  by  similar  means. 

The  great  international  bore  proposed  by  M.  J.  J. 
Martinez  has    been    ridiculed   by   some,    but   more 
thoughtful    people   regard    it    very    differently.       M. 
Martinez  asks  for  a  universal  subscription  to  defray  the 
expenses   of    boring   a    hole    150   feet    in    diameter 
vertically  downwards,  from  the  centre  of  which  are  to 
be  driven  convenient  stations,  chambers,  or  tunnels, 
for  the  observation  of  subterranean  phenomena.     Such 
a  shaft,  besides  displaying  a  grand  geological  section, 
would  help  us  to  determine  many  of  the  vexed  ques- 
tions concerning  the  internal  heat  of  the  earth,  the  pro- 
bable thickness  of  its  solid  crust,  the  phenomena  of 
internal  earth-tides,  &c,  all  of  which  are  intensely  in- 
teresting to  every  intelligent  man  whose  whole  soul  is 
not  completely  enveloped  in  the  calf-skin  of  his  ledger. 
The  proposal  to  emancipate  the  ring  finger  from  the 
thraldom   of  its   immediate   neighbours,   by   cutting 
through  the  oblique  accessory  tendon  which  renders 
its  independent  action  so  trammelling  to  pianoforte 
players,  is  by  no  means  favourably  received  by  "  The 
Lancet."     The  improvement  of  the  "  execution  "  of 
high  class  pianists  is  doubted,  on  the  ground  that  what 
-would  be  gained  in  range  of  action,  would  be  lost  in 
power,  [and  it  is  further  suggested  that  the  division 
of  the   lateral  bands  may   be  followed  by  cicatricial 
union  of  their  severed  ends  ;  and  again  we  are  told 
that  the  records  of  surgery  abundantly  prove  that  no 
wound  can   be   inflicted  with   absolute   certainty  of 
freedom  from  mishap  in  the  shape  of  suppuration,  or, 
it   may  be,  greater  evil ;    and  certainly  tendons  are 
not   the    structure    least    liable   to    resent   operative 
interference.     On  the  other  hand,  we  are  told  by  the 
Scientific  American  (quoted  in  "Knowledge  "  Oct.  2, 
with   engraving   of  the  structure)   that   Dr.   Forbes 
has  performed  fourteen  entirely  successful  operations. 
Still,  if  I  were  an  eminent  pianist  dependent  on  my 
ten  fingers,  I  should  say  to  them  that  we  will 

"  Rather  bear  those  ills  we  have 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of." 

The  failure  of  the  Eucalyptus  experiment  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Rome,  where  they  were  planted  to 
counteract  the  malaria,  is  disheartening.  The  euca- 
lyptus flourishes,  and  the  malaria  continues.  A 
government  commission  of  enquiry  has  been  appointed 
on  the  application  of  Dr.  Tommasi-Crudelli,  who 
regards  the  facts  as  instructive,  "proving,  as  they  do 
once  more,  to  what  risks  of  mistake  we  expose  our- 
selves to,  if  we  hold  h  priori,  that  the  methods  which 
have  resulted  in  a  permanent  improvement   of  one 


locality,  can  be  usefully  applied  to  all."  He  accord- 
ingly recommends  the  exercise  of  that  faculty  which 
distinguishes  the  philosopher  from  the  vulgar  theorist, 
viz.  the  suspension  of  judgment  until  a  broad  basis  of 
fact  has  been  obtained.  The  physical  conditions  and 
chemical  composition  of  malarious  districts  vary 
considerably,  and  therefore  the  remedial  measures 
should  be  modified  accordingly.  The  eucalyptus  has 
been  beneficial  in  some  places,  though  not  in  others. 
If  the  commission  succeeds  in  determining  the  cause 
or  causes  of  this  difference,  they  will  then  learn  where 
to  plant  the  eucalyptus,  and  where  to  adopt  other 
measures. 

Dr.  Tommasi-Crudelli   recommends  arsenic   acid, 
and    the   alkaline    arseniates    as    the   most   efficient 
protective   agents    against    malaria.       I    have    long 
advocated  the  same,  and  have  practically  acted  upon 
it,    by   selecting    wall    papers    containing    a   limited 
quantity   of   that   popular    bugbear,    arsenical   green 
pigments.     My  conviction   was   originally  based   on 
observations  made  in  Birmingham  when  I  lived  there. 
Arsenical  fumes  are  given  off  from  brass  foundries. 
Birmingham  has  escaped  from  cholera,  in  spite  of  the 
"back   houses"  and    "party   pumps,"   which    until 
lately  were  so  abundantly  in  immediate  contiguity  to 
back-yard  domestic  cesspools.     The  same  has  been 
observed  in  other  places  where  brass  foundries  and 
copper   and   zinc  smelting  abound.     Other  zymotic 
diseases   besides    cholera   fail   to   visit   these  places. 
Copper  and  zinc  ores,  and  ordinary  samples  of  the 
metals  themselves,  contain  small  quantities  of  arsenic 
which  is  a  volatile  metal  vaporising  at  the  melting 
temperature  of  the  constituents  of  brass,  and  of  brass 
itself.     In   "The  Gentleman's  Magazine"  of  April, 
1SS1,  I  said  and  now  repeat,  that  "if  I  lived  in  New 
Orleans,  or  any  other  focus  of  fever  horrors,  I  would 
envelope  myself  to  a  certain  extent  in  arsenical  fumes, 
by  covering  my  walls  with  highly-charged  arsenical 
papers,   furnishing  my   rooms  with   arsenical  uphol- 
stery, and  carrying  arseniuretted  pocket  handkerchiefs ; 
carefully  observing  the  effect  in  order  to  stop  short  at 
the  first  warning  symptoms  of  arsenical  poisoning." 


Freezing  Machine. — If  J.  P.  can  manage  to  see 
Dr.  Ure's  "  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and 
Mines,"  edited  by  Robert  Hunt,  F.R.S.,  and  published 
by  Longmans,  1867,  he  will  find  a  full  account  of 
"  Carre's  Continuous  Freezing  Machine,"  in  vol.  ii., 
p.  401,  402.  In  a  Carre-Leslie  machine,  containing 
2' 5  kilogrammes  of  sulphuric  acid,  4' 8  kilogrammes 
of  water  can  be  frozen  ;  after  which  the  acid  must  be 
renewed.  Concerning  the  ammonia  query  : — One 
gramme  of  water,  at  0°  C,  and  under  a  pressure  of 
760  mm.,  absorbs  "877  gramme  of  ammonia,  that 
is,  1 149  times  its  volume  of  gaseous  ammonia.  This 
solvent  will  have  a  sp.  gr.  "88,  and  freezes  at  —  380  C, 
forming  an  odourless  jelly-like  mass. — Dunley  Owen, 
B.Sc 


25- 


BARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


ON  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  FLEA'S  EGG. 
[PULEX  IRRITANS.) 

MICROSCOPISTS  have  perhaps  been  the  only 
class  who  ever  regarded  this  insect  with  any 
degree  of  favour,  and  that,  only  of  a  posthumous 
kind,  when  duly  balsamed,  and  prepared  as  an  object 
of  investigation  for  their  favourite  instrument,  but  its 


occasionally  be  seen  in  astonishing  numbers,  still,, 
nothing  to  equal  the  myriads  infesting  warehouses 
and  other  buildings  in  tropical  countries,  on  emerging 
from  which  the  visitor  finds  it  desirable  to  brush 
away  the  superfluous  swarm  from  his  clothing.  How 
they  subsist,  seems  a  mystery,  as  a  sanguinary  diet 
appears  to  be  impossible. 

Mr.  W.  M.  Williams  writes   in    Science-Gossit, 
December,  1884,  "  I  have  found  fleas  in  limestone 


Fig.  169. 


ng.  172. 


Fig.  176. 


Fig.  171. 


Fig-  173- 


Fig.  174. 


'.:/ 


Fig.  178. 


Fig.  177. 
Figs.  169  to  179  showing  stages  in  the  Development  of  the  Common  Flea  [Pule.tr  irritans). 


life-history  up  to  maturity,  beyond  which  it  might  not 
be  altogether  pleasant  to  pursue  it,  is  of  the  most 
interesting  and  instructive  character  ;  and  as  least  is 
popularly  known  about  the  earlier  period  of  the  flea's 
existence,  I  purpose  in  this  paper  and  accompanying 
sketches  to  submit  only  what  is  the  result  of  direct 
and  careful  personal  observation,  so  far  as  the  nascent 
stages  of  the  development  of  P.  irritans  are  con- 
cerned. 

In  our  climate,  as  compared  with  warmer  regions, 
the  supply  is  not  exuberant,  and  a  careful  housewife 
soon  reduces  it  to  a  minimum,  but,  in  hot  weather, 
among  the  dried  weed  by  the  seashore,  fleas. tmay 


caverns,  or,  rather,  they  have  found  me,  where  no 
other  supplies  of  food  existed,  excepting  the  animal 
matter  that  may  have  remained  in  the  fossils  of  which 
the  limestone  was  chiefly  composed."  Such  a  diet 
would,  however,  be  more  suitable  to  the  mandibular 
than  the  suctorial  stage  of  the  flea's  existence  ;  possibly 
after  completing  its  metamorphosis  pulex  may  live 
long  enough  to  deposit  eggs,  without  any  opportunity 
of  practising  phlebotomy,  and  so  maintain  its  swarms 
without  diminution. 

In  point  of  size  our  familiar  P.  irritans  is  a  mere 
pigmy  compared  to  its  relative  Pulex  imperaior,  a 
solitary  example  of  which  appeared  most  inexplicably 


HARDW1CKE' S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


25; 


in  a  house  at  Gateshead — as  recorded  by  Thos.  John 
Bold,  in  the  "Transactions  of  the  Tyneside  Natur- 
alists' Field  Club,"  1S57  :  "  Pulex  imperator, 
Westwood.  A  friend  of  mine  resident  in  Gateshead, 
brought  an  immense  flea,  which  he  had  found  in  his 
bed,  for  my  examination.  Not  being  able  to  identify 
it,  I  forwarded  the  creature  to  J.  O.  Westwood  Esq., 
by  whom  it  has  been  described  as  new,  under  the 
above  appellation,  in  a  paper  recently  read  before  the 
Linnean  Society."  Mr.  Bold  remarks  that  this  flea 
was  at  "least  ten  times  the  bulk  of  the  common 
species.  One  consolation,  however,  I  must 
not  omit  to  mention,  to  wit,  the  fact  that  he 
was  dead  when  found,  and  that,  so  far,  no 
heirs  of  the  imperial  line  have  turned  up  to 
claim  the  family  honours  ;  let  us  hope  that  he 
was  the  last  of  his  race." 


keenness  of  well-bred  terriers  ;  the  battle  was  a 
drawn  one,  as  after  some  tugging  about  the  box,  the 
belligerents  were  accommodated  with  separate  apart- 
ments. This  exhibition  of  pugnacity  was  quite  a  new 
feature,  and  afforded  considerable  amusement. 

The  tubes  and  boxes  were  kept  moderately 
warm,  and  the  fleas  soon  deposited  their  glutinous 
eggs,  averaging  a  dozen  from  each  individual, 
irregularly  scattered  ;  the  numbers  varied  from  three, 
the  smallest,  to  twenty-four,  the  largest,  in  each 
batch  ;    in    colour  the  eggs   are  of  a  dingy   white,. 


Fig.  179. 

After  considerable  perseverance,  Mr.  George 
Ilarkus  has  succeeded  in  maturing  a  few 
examples  of  P.  irritans  in  captivity.  It  would 
appear  that  when  fleas  are  permitted  to 
manage  their  own  affairs,  they  become  far 
too  prolific  ;  but  it  has  only  been  by  a  series 
of  patient  and  repeated  trials,  that  Mr.  Harkus 
obtained  pupa  from  imprisoned  progeny.  Brood 
fleas  were  of  course  essential  in  order  to  begin  ab  ovo, 
these  were  placed  in  glass  tubes,  or  glass-topped 
boxes,  a  piece  of  cloth  being  laid  at  the  bottom  for 
the  reception  of  the  eggs.  In  order  to  economise 
space,  two  egg-laden  females  were  located  in  one  box, 
but  this  arrangement  was  promptly  objected  to  by 
the  captives,  who  at  once  became  rampant,  confront- 
ing each  other  like  microscopic  kangaroos,  and 
instantly  seized  hold  by  the  head  and  thorax  with  the 


Fig-  175- 

in  shape  a  flattened  oval.  They  measure  the  ^  of 
an  inch  in  length,  and  in  breadth  the  J5  part  of  an 
inch. 

With  a  very  fine  -,'g  immersion  objective  by 
Swift  &  Son,  Mr.  Harkus  was  enabled  to  detect 
and  count  a  spiral  whorl  of  oval  punctures,  sur- 
rounding each  end  of  the  ova ;  that  these  were 
depressions,  and  not  merely  surface  markings  was 
apparent  from  an  edge  view,  when  the  surface 
presented  a  serrated  aspect.  About  eighty  of  these 
spots    pitted    the    end  next  the  germinal    vesicle, 


:54 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


and  half  that  number  the  opposite  end.  These  minute 
orifices  measured  the  ^  by  the  j^  of  an  inch. 

When  first  deposited,  the  eggs  appeared  to  have 
already  assumed  the  mulberry  condition,  the  yolk 
being  aggregated  into  spirules — ranging  in  diameter 
from  the  ^m  to  the  5i^5  of  an  inch.  The  ova  are  so 
nearly  diaphanous,  that  the  process  of  incubation  and 
development  of  the  embryo,  can,  with  an  instrument 
armed  with  adequate  power,  be  viewed  throughout  ; 
when  steadily  watched  the  marvellous  changes  and 
differentiation  of  parts  are  wonderful  in  the  extreme  ; 
and  perhaps  there  are  few  objects  of  greater  beauty 
and  interest  for  the  microscopist  than  that  afforded 
by pulex  in  its  nascent  stage.  (See  Figs,  magnified 
50  diameters,  Nos.  169  to  174.)  In  thirty-six  hours  the 
blastoderm  is  seen  to  occupy  about  one-third  of  the 
ovum's  length  (see  Fig.  170)  and  next  day  the  crene- 
lated embryo  has  extended  itself  along  one  side  of 
the  eerr,  curving:  round  the  ends  so  as  to  surround 
three-fourths  of  the  yolk  ;  on  the  third  day,  the  seg- 
ments of  the  larva  are  distinctly  differentiated,  and 
may  be  counted  ;  the  yolk  is  now  about  one-half 
absorbed.  The  larva  is  coiled  round,  and  almost 
fills  the  ovum  on  the  fourth  day  of  incubation,  the 
head  and  thirteenth  segment  being  nearly  in  contact, 
next  day  or  sometimes  on  the  sixth  day  it  hatches 
out,  and  at  once  begins  a  very  active  and  energetic 
existence. 

The  larva  resembling  elongated  little  worms  are 
like  other  dipterous  maggots,  destitute  of  feet,  they 
move  continually  with  a  lively  serpentine  action, 
occasionally  rolling  themselves  into  a  spiral  ;  on  the 
anterior  part  of  the  head  and  in  front  of  the 
mandibles,  are  four  tubercles,  each  digitated  on  the 
apex  with  five  spinous  hairs  in  a  straight  line,  with 
these  they  pull  themselves  forward  ;  little  tufts  of 
hair  also  appear  on  each  of  the  segments,  probably 
protecting  the  spiracles,  while  the  thirteenth  segment 
bears  hooks ;  all  the  processes  apparently  assist  in 
locomotion  ;  when  placed  upon  the  back  of  the  hand 
a  slight  prickly  roughness  is  felt,  as  the  larvae  sway 
about  with  eager  restlessness,  doubtless  in  search  of 
food  ;  there  are  two  small  antennae,  but  no  perceptible 
eyes  ;  there  is  also  a  spine  tipped  tubercle,  on  the 
back  of  the  head,  the  oval  base  of  which  appears 
through  the  diaphanous  structure. 

All  attempts  to  feed  the  larvae  were  unsuccessful — 
flies  living  and  dead  were  offered  them,  but  remained 
unnoticed— they  rejected  whatever  was  placed  beside 
them  for  food,  and  usually  died  in  a  few  days  ;  hence 
a  chrysalis  was  a  rarity,  and  one  or  two  could  only  be 
occasionally  obtained  from  a  dozen  maggots ;  when 
this  occurred  the  pupae  were  the  only  survivors,  the 
other  larvae  (having  gradually  disappeared  without  any 
means  of  escape)  had  probably  been  devoured. 
When  favourably  located  they  evidently  find  food  in 
abundance,  and  where  animals  are  infested  with  fleas 
the  larvae  may  possibly  subsist  upon  the  skin  ex- 
cretions, and  thus  to  some  extent  act  as  scavengers. 


In  Mr.  Harkus's  experiments,  the  rarity  of  cocoons 
was  owing  to  inability  to  feed  the  maggots.  No  doubt 
if  suitable  food  had  been  given,  the  greater  number 
might  have  matured,  and  numerous  repetitions  of  the 
attempt  would  have  been  spared  ;  in  spite  of  many 
failures  the  undertaking  was  persistently  carried 
through  ;  and  the  progress  of  the  embryo  sketched 
from  its  earliest  stage  onward.  Any  exposure  of  the 
larva?  to  cold  or  damp  was  immediately  fatal.  This 
should  be  a  useful  hint  to  those  who  possess  a 
superfluity  of  fleas,  as  by  reducing  the  temperature  of 
rooms  so  infested  their  numbers  would  be  considerably 
lessened.  The  larvae,  as  the  pupa  stage  is  approached, 
assume  a  red  hue,  and  about  eight  days  from  hatching 
spin  a  cocoon  like  a  fluffy  speck  of  white  cotton  ; 
the  threads  composing  it  are  closely  woven,  and  of 
extreme  tenuity  ;  when  attached  to  a  textile  material 
similar  in  colour,  these  must  be  very  difficult  of 
detection.  A  cocoon  from  which  the  flea  has  issued  is 
shown  in  Fig.  177.  A  cocoon  was  opened  after  the 
inmate  had  divested  itself  of  the  pupa  case,  but  still 
remained  enveloped  in  a  filmy  transparent  integument ; 
this  pellicle  covered  the  insect  completely,  following 
each  leg  and  the  antennae  continuously.  The  immature 
flea  is  shown  as  seen  through  this  gauzy  mantle  in 
Fig.  178.  This  together  with  the  chrysalis  case,  is  left 
in  the  cocoon  on  emergence,  which  occurs  in  about 
nine  days. 

The  translucency  of  the  embryo  flea,  before  be- 
coming a  pupa,  so  completely  enables  the  internal 
structure  and  action  of  the  various  organs  to  be 
visible,  that  in  point  of  actual  interest  there  can  be  no 
comparison  between  the  living  entity  and  an  object 
;t  Dead  and  buried  and  embalmed."  Moreover,  in 
closely  and  steadily  'watching  and  sketching  the 
development  step  by  step  of  any  creature,  the 
microscope  is  applied  to  its  legitimate  use — as  a  tool 
in  the  hands  of  the  naturalist  or  enquirer.  It  will  be 
seen  that  about  four  weeks  is  required  to  metamorphose 
the  speck  of  vitalised  matter  contained  in  the  minute 
ovum  of  Pulex  irritans  into  a  suctorial  tormentor, 
which  for  its  powers  of  annoyance,  can  neither  be 
despised  nor  ignored. 

M.  II.  Robson. 


Raised  Beach  at  Sark. — While  visiting  the 
Channel  Islands  last  month,  I  went  over  from 
Guernsey  to  Sark.  A  geological  friend  with  me 
pointed  out  what  evidently  appeared  to  be  a  raised 
beach.  It  is  about  100  yards  up  the  road,  after  going 
through  the  tunnel  in  the  rock  which  leads  from  the 
landing-place  on  the  east  side  of  the  island.  We 
estimated  the  height  of  the  raised  beach  at  about  100 
feet  above  the  present  sea  level.  Have  any  readers 
of  Science-Gossip  noticed  this  raised  beach,  or 
is  it  one  well-known  ?  I  picked  out  shells  from  it 
looking  exactly  like  some  I  had  found  on  the  well- 
known  shell  beach  on  Herm. — Joseph  Clark.  . 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-G  OSSIF. 


■bb 


NOTES   ON   THE   LEMMING. 
By  John-  Wager. 

[Continued  from  p.  233-] 

IN  1SS1  I  travelled  in  a  northerly  and  north- 
westerly direction  across  Dalecarlia,  Helsingland, 
Jemtland,  and  Angermanland,  to  Svanas,  near 
Withelmina,  in  the  south-western  part  of  Swedish 
Lapland ;  and  thence  eastward,  through  Asele  to 
Nordmaling,  near  Urmea,  on  the  Bothnian  Gulf, 
without  seeing  a  single  lemming,  though  on  much 
of  the  route  the  almost  continuous  forests  were  inter- 
sected only  by  foot-tracks.  Nor  could  I  learn  much 
about  them  on  the  way  ;  at  Sore,  for  instance,  a 
person  of  whom  I  inquired,  could  only  say,  that  on 
their  occasional  visits  they  came  from  the  west  and 
moved  eastward — whence  or  whither  was  unknown  ; 
none,  however,  had  been  seen  there  for  years.  At 
Gissekls,  farther  north,  the  landlord  said  they  ap- 
peared perhaps  once  in  about  ten  years  ;  where  they 
came  from  was  quite  uncertain — he  supposed  from 
the  mountains.  Even  the  Lapp  woman  who  presided 
over  a  kata,  in  which  I  spent  a  night  and  day,  upon 
the  brow  of  the  Blajk-fjeld,  could  give  information 
scarcely  more  reliable.  Lemmings,  she  said,  had 
been  seen  on  the  fjelds  two  years  since  ;  where  they 
had  come  from  she  did  not  know,  but  believed  it 
was  either  from  the  sea  or  the  upper  air  !  A  boat- 
man also  who  rowed  me  down  the  Angerman  river 
to  Stensek  said  there  had  been  lemmings  in  the 
neighbourhood  some  time  since,  but  they  had  then 
"flitted."  They  were  seen  at  intervals  on  the  fjelds, 
and  came  there,  he  also  supposed,  from  the  sea  ! 

On  the  second  tour,  in  1883,  through  the  same 
tract  of  Lapland  I  entered  it  by  tracing  upwards 
from  Hernosand,  on  the  Bothnian  Gulf,  the  course 
cf  the  noble  river  Angerman  to  its  source  in  the 
great  Malgom'aj  and  Kult  lakes — ascending  to  the 
head  of  the  latter,  among  the  mountains  which  form 
the  broad  boundary  line  between  Sweden  and 
Norway.  So  far  I  did  not  meet  with  a  single 
lemming  ;  but  here,  as  at  Wilhelmina,  I  was  told  they 
make  their  appearance  in  the  valleys  at  intervals 
varying  from  two  or  three  to  six  and  even  ten  years  ; 
often  their  numbers  are  not  very  remarkable,  but 
occasionally  the  predatory  mountaineers  descend  in 
hordes  which  eat  up  all  the  grass,  till,  as  a  peasant 
expressed  it,  the  ground  looks  swart.  They  are 
called,  he  said,  the  "  land's  plague  ;  "when  numerous 
the  reindeer  eat  them,  and  contract  thereby  a  sickness 
termed  "  renurina  ;  "  sometimes  you  may  find  multi- 
tudes of  them  upon  the  mountains,  at  other  times 
none  ;  and  they  migrate,  he  said,  in  different  directions, 
at  one  time  into  Norway,  at  another  into  the  Swedish 
dales.  From  Klimpen,  at  the  head  of  the  Kult  lake, 
I  walked  across  the  wild  and  desolate  tract  which  lies 
between  the  last  house  in  Sweden  and  the  first  in  Nor- 
way, a  distance  of  about  thirty-five  miles  of  wilderness 


totally  uninhabited,  except  by  the  wandering  Lap- 
landers, who  pitch  their  tents  in  its  elevated  valleys  and 
upon  its  mountain  sides  ;  how  in  one  place  and  now  in 
another,  to  suit  the  requirements  of  their  reindeer 
herds.  During  this  march  twice  or  thrice  I  startled 
a  lemming,  usually  among  covert  of  creeping  black 
birch  or  other  bosky  ground  ;  and  several  times  I 
heard,  without  seeing  them,  the  shrill  scream  of 
others  ;  but  evidently  they  were  not  numerous, 
though  no  doubt  this  tract  is  one  of  their  normal 
haunts.  After  entering  Norway  and  descending  to 
Kroken  in  Susendal,  Helgeland,  I  had  still  eighty- 
four  miles  to  traverse  before  reaching  the  coast  at 
Vefsen.  On  this  route,  which  was  chiefly  through 
forest,  while  walking  one  of  the  rather  frequent 
stages  where  no  carriage  road  existed,  I  met  with  a 
solitary  lemming  on  a  grassy  slope  in  Hatfjeldalen, 
and  supposed  this  elevated  valley  to  be  one  of  their 
usual  resorts,  but  was  afterwards  told  that  such  was 
not  the  case  ;  that  the  lemming  I  had  seen  pertained 
to  a  swarm  which  had  been  there  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  summer,  it  being  now  the,  third  of  July.  In 
1884  also  I  had  a  tolerably  wide  range  through  the 
forests  and  over  the  snow-patched  mountains  and 
bosky,  morassy  hollows  of  south  Swedish  Lapland, 
bordering  upon  Norway,  and  from  thence  to 
Ostersund  in  Jemtland,  without  seeing  any  lemmings, 
except  the  bodies  of  a  few,  at  Fatmomak,  which  had 
evidently  been  dead  a  considerable  time,  having  been 
trampled  upon  till  they  were  dry  and  flat  as  mere 
skins. 

The  habitat  of  the  lemming,  according  to  Schjoth's 
"  Geographisk  Beskrivelse  over  Kongeriget  Norge," 
is  the  birch  and  willow  region  of  the  mountains  ;  and 
a  Swedish  friend,  resident  in  the  south  of  Lapland, 
informs  me  that  the  usual  haunt  or  home  of  the 
lemming  is  some  moderately  dry  place  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  fens  and  morasses  with  which 
the  Lapland  mountain-tracts  so  greatly  abound.  As 
before  said,  I  first  saw  them,  and  in  numbers  ex- 
ceeding any  I  have  seen  elsewhere,  upon  the  high 
table-land  between  Loerdalsoren  and  Urland ;  a 
desolate  region  of  ruggedly  undulating  ground  and 
cragged  precipitous  hills  ;  white  almost  everywhere 
with  infinitude  of  blanched  stones ;  treeless,  and  in 
many  parts  almost  devoid  of  any  vegetation  except 
purple  lichens  ;  but  producing  also  grass  and  low 
herbage  of  other  kinds.  Being  quite  new  to  me  they 
added  greatly  to  the  interest  of  my  lonely  walk, 
affording  ample  opportunity  for  observing  their 
personal  appearance  and  behaviour.  The  lemming 
is  about  five  inches  in  length,  exclusive  of  the  tail, 
which  is  not  more,  and  frequently  less,  than  half  an 
inch  long  ;  the  legs  too  are  very  short — the  fore-legs 
about  half  an  inch,  and  the  hind  ones  not  more  than 
one  inch  in  length.  The  feet  are  furnished  with 
claws.  Its  fur  is  fine,  soft  and  close,  but  not,  as  I 
saw  it  in  summer,  very  thick  ;  in  colour,  brownish  - 
yellow,    or    dull    orange,    at    the    sides,    becoming 


256 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


almost  white  under  the  belly ;  black  and  orange 
about  the  face  ;  a  large  patch  of  black  on  the 
shoulders,  from  which  brown-orange,  intermixed  more 
or  less  with  black  hairs  extends  over  the  back  to  near 
the  tail — this  portion  having  commonly  a  margin 
in  which  the  black  hairs  predominate,  and  often  a 
similar  or  more  clearly  defined  dark  streak  extend- 
ing through  the  centre  of  it  from  the  black  patch  on 
the  shoulders.  Its  tail  is  covered  with  stiff  hairs, 
and  stiff  whiskers  project  from  about  its  mouth.  The 
eyes  are  small,  and  the  ears  are  so  short  as  to  be 
scarcely  perceivable  among  the  soft  fur.  Its  head 
in  shape  bears  some  resemblance  to  that  of  a  Guinea 

Pig- 
Such  are   the   bodily   traits  of  the   lemming ;  its 

mental    qualities    are    still  more   strikingly   marked. 
Among  Norwegian  peasants  lemmings  are  very  com- 
monly called  lomhunds  (Incnd  meaning  a  dog),  and 
very  pert  and  spirited  little  dogs  they  are — quick  in 
movement,  and  active  apparently  by  night  as  well  as 
by  clay ;  for  once,  when  benighted  late  in  the  year 
upon  the  Roldals-fjeld,  while  walking  to  and  fro  on 
a  limited  space  of  level  ground  to  keep  myself  from 
freezing,  I  heard  them  running  and  squeaking  about 
my  feet  at  intervals  all  the  night  through.     On  the 
Urlands-fjeld  when  they  saw  me  at  some  distance 
they  ran  to  their  holes  at  as  quick  a  pace  as  their 
short  legs  would  carry  them  ;  but  if  I  came  upon  them 
unawares,  as  frequently  happened,  when  they  were 
squatting  by  the  side  of  a  stone,  a  tuft  of  heather,  or 
dry   grass,   they    made    no    attempt    to    escape,   but 
uttered   a   shrill    and   startling   shriek   and   scream, 
coming  at  the  same  moment  as  suddenly  into  view, 
with  bent  backs  and  uplifted  heads ;  showing  their 
two  long  front  teeth  and  angry  little  eyes  ;  violently 
shaking  their   bodies  and    limbs   also  with  a   most 
irritable,     and      irritating,     movement — the     result 
perhaps  of  fear  and  anger  combined  ;  and  often  they 
sprang  fiercely  at  me  or  my  stick  to  the  alarming 
height  of  two  or  three  inches  from  the  ground.     If 
their  strength    and  size  were  equal  to  their  pluck, 
they  would  soon  rid  the  mountains  of  wolves,  instead 
of  supplying  them  with  dainty  morsels  of  fresh  meat. 
"When  you  present  to  them  the  end  of  your  stick  they 
bite  it ;  and  if  you  compel  them  to  retreat,  they  move 
hinder-end  foremost,   contesting   every  inch   of  the 
way.     Their  own  diet  consists  of  different  kinds  of 
grass  and  other  herbage,  roots,  leaves  of  the  dwarf 
birch,   reindeer  lichen,    and    bark   of  trees ;    on   the 
Urlands-fjcld,   as   before    said,    their  favourite   food 
seemed  to  be  a  small,  rather  thick  and  succulent  leaf. 
It  is  said  they  will  also  eat  insects.     Their  migrations, 
no  doubt,  'are  connected  with  the  state  of  the  food 
supply  ;  without  reading  Malthus  they  become  aware 
sometimes  that  population  has  a  tendency  to  increase 
faster  than  the  means  of  subsistence,  and,  therefore, 
to   avoid   starvation,  quit  their  mountain  fastnesses 
to     invade    the    fruitful    domains    of  man.      How 
numerously,  as  already  shown,  has  to  some  extent 


been  witnessed  by  myself  over  an  area  of  several 
hundred  miles.  But  occasionally  the  numbers,  and 
consequent  depredations  of  the  swarms,  far  exceed 
the  limits  of  my  experience.  On  this  subject,  Bishop 
Pontoppidan,  in  his  "Natural  History  of  Norway," 
published  in  1753,  has  the  following  remarks  :  "  Very 
prolific  must  these  mischievous  creatures  be ;  as 
appears  from  what  is  seen  of  them,  though,  thank 
God  !  very  seldom,  namely  once  or  twice  in  twenty 
years,  when  they  come  from  their  dwelling-places, 
collected  in  great  flocks  of  some  thousands,  like  the 
army  of  God,  to  execute  His  will,  namely  to  punish 
the  neighbouring  inhabitants  by  the  destruction  of 
their  corn  and  grass  ;  for  where  this  flock  advances, 
making  a  perceptible  track  on  the  ground,  they  cut 
off  all  that  is  green  they  can  come  over,  until  they 
reach  their  destined  goal,  the  sea,  in  which  they  swim 
awhile  and  then  drown  ;  for  longer  than  one  year 
God's  faithfulness  does  not  permit  this  plague — which 
moreover  strikes  only  here  and  there  in  certain 
districts — to  prevail  ;  for  they  either,  as  is  said,  have 
an  instinctive  impulse  to  drown  themselves,  or  also 
they  succumb  to  the  winter's  cold,  and  the  few 
which  are  able  to  survive  till  spring,  die  as  soon  as 
they  eat  of  the  new  grass,  which  does  not  agree  with 
them  as  before."  This  latter  statement  seems 
scarcely  correct,  as  a  man  in  Vestfjorddalen,  Thele- 
mark,  where  I  saw  them  numerously  in  September 
1S62,  informed  me  they  had  begun  to  arrive  during 
the  previous  September ;  and  though  the  bulk  of 
those  which  I  saw  there  had  probably  arrived  later, 
they  must,  I  think,  have  wintered  somewhere  on  the 
way,  having,  in  1862,  traced  lemmings  continuously 
on  my  route  from  the  Hardanger  district  through  the 
Thelemark  ;  and  in  1863,  when  they  had  quite  dis- 
appeared from  Vestfjorddalen,  found  a  swarm  of 
them  farther  south. 

(To  be  continued.) 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

The  address  (reported  in  "Science")  of  the 
retiring  President,  Professor  J.  P.  Lesley,  at  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  held  at  Ann  Arbor  last  August, 
presents  so  many  points  of  interest  that  it  would  be 
well  worth  quoting  largely.  Speaking  of  what  he 
says  is  technically  known  among  experts  as  "  dead- 
work,"  he  says,  "  To  describe  dead-work  is  to  narrate 
all  those  portions  of  our  work  which  consume  the 
most  time,  give  the  most  trouble,  require  the  greatest 
patience  and  endurance,  and  seem  to  produce  the 
most  insignificant  results.  It  comprises  the  collection, 
collation,  comparison  and  adjustment,  the  elimination, 
correction  and  re-selection,  the  calculation  and  re- 
presentation— in  a  word,  the"  entire  first,  second,  and 
third  handling  of  our  data  in  any  branch  of  human 
learning, — wholly  perfunctory,  preparatory,  and  me- 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIEN  CE-G0SS1F. 


=  57 


chanical,  wholly  tentative,  experimental,  and  defensive 
— without  which  it  is  dangerous  to  proceed  a  single 
stage  into  reasoning  on  the  unknown,  and  futile  to 
imagine  that  we  can  advance  in  science  ourselves,  or 
assist  in  its  advancement  in  the  world.  It  is  that 
tedious,  costly,  and  fatiguing  process  of  laying  a  good 
foundation  which  no  eye  is  ever  to  see,  for  a  house  to 
be  built  thereon  for  safety  and  enjoyment,  for  public 
uses,  or  for  monumental  beauty/'  ..."  And  this  fatal 
laziness  is  fostered  by  a  strange  misunderstanding,  a 
fancy,  sometimes  a  downright  conviction,  that  the 
dead-work  of  science  can  be  done  for  us  by  some  one 
else,  so  as  to  save  our  time  and  strength  for  specula- 
tion, for  thought,  for  'fine  writing  ;  it  can  be  done 
by  menials,  employees,  assistants,  colleagues,  special 
experts, — by  any  one  rather  than  by  ourselves." 

Professor  Lesley  urges  an  habitual  performance 
of  dead-work  in  the  pursuit  of  science,  and  would 
enforce  it  if  he  could  in  the  case  of  teachers  of  science. 
A  crumb  of  comfort,  since  we  are  human,  is  afforded 
to  the  conscientious  performer  of  good  dead-work  in 
the  fact,  that  "although  the  most  of  it  is  necessarily 
done  in  secret  and  silence,  enough  of  it  leaks  out  to 
testify  to  his  honest  and  diligent  self-cultivation  ;  and 
enough  of  it  must  show  in  the  shape  of  scientific 
wisdom,  to  make  self-evident  the  fact  that  he  is 
neither  a  tyro  nor  a  charlatan."  And  in  original  work 
"reap  your  field  so  thoroughly  that  gleaners  must 
despair.  Fortify  your  position,  that  your  most 
experienced  rival  can  find  no  point  of  attack.  Lay 
your  plans  with  a  superfluity  of  patient  carefulness 
that  fate  itself  can  invent  no  serious  emergency. 
Demonstrate  your  theory  so  utterly  and  evidently 
that  it  shall  require  no  defender  but  itself." 

Among  the  papers  in  the  biological  section  was 
one  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Arthur,  going  to  prove  that  bacteria 
ore  the  cause  of  pear  blight.  His  experiments  had 
shown  that  the  disease  could  be  produced  in  a  healthy 
tree  by  inoculation  with  sap  from  a  diseased  tree,  and 
also  by  inoculation  with  cultures  of  the  sixth  genera- 
tion ;  and  further  that  wherever  there  is  a  blight  not 
produced  by  freezing,  bacteria  of  this  species  are 
always  present. 

The  blue  colour  of  the  sky  was  said  by  Professor 
Nichols  to  be  due  not  to  an  excess  of  the  more  re- 
frangible rays  in  the  reflected  light,  but  to  be  sub- 
jective, he  having  previously  pointed  out  that  selective 
reflection  need  not  be  adduced,  but  that  the  rapidly 
increasing  sensitiveness  of  the  eye  to  violet,  with 
decrease  of  illumination,  was  sufficient  to  account  for 
the  effect. 

Three  sentences  from  the  abstract  of  the  address 
by  Dr.  Burt  G.  Wilder  of  Cornell  University  to  the 
biological  section,  should  commend  themselves  to 
those  who  have  charge  of  museums.  He  was  speak- 
ing especially  of  specimens  of  vertebrate  animals,  but 
his  remarks  will  bear  extension.  "Quality  is  more 
important  than  quantity,  and  arrangement  is  usually 


more  needed  than  acquisition.  True  economy  consists 
in  paying  liberally  for  what  is  wanted,  rather  than  in 
taking  what  is  not  wanted  as  a  gift.  The  usefulness 
of  a  specimen,  and  thus  its  real  value  is  to  be  measured, 
not  by  its  rarity  or  cost,  but  by  the  degree  in  which  it 
exemplifies  important  facts  or  ideas." 

IN  a  recent  number  of  "  Science  "  an  account  is 
given  of  the  lately  completed  Lick  Observatory,  built 
on  Mount  Hamilton,  in  the  Pacific  Coast  Range, 
about  fifty  miles  south-east  of  San  Francisco.  Mr. 
Lick,  who  had  acquired  a  large  fortune,  left  a  bequest 
of  700,000  dollars  for  the  erection  of  a  great  observa- 
tory at  a  mountain  elevation,  and  the  spot  chosen  is 
about  4,500  feet  high.  The  whole  will  be  handed 
over  to  the  California  University  when  the  great  tele- 
scope and  its  accompaniments  have  been  completed. 
A  flint  glass  disc  thirty-eight  inches  in  diameter  has 
been  made,  though  not  yet  worked  into  shape,  and  a 
disc  of  crown  glass  is  now  the  desideratum.  Popular 
attention  will  assuredly  be  directed  towards  its 
performances,  if,  as  is  here  suggested,  it  may,  under 
favourable  circumstances,  make  the  moon  appear  as 
if  a  hundred  miles  away,  and  render  visible  objects 
there  no  larger  than  some  of  our  larger  buildings. 

A  rapid  perusal  of  a  paper  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Simmons, 
which  forms  a  recent  number  of  the  "  Journal  of  the 
Health  Society  for  Calcutta  and  its  Suburbs," 
certainly  leaves  the  impression  of  wonder  that  folk 
can  continue  to  live  there  at  all,  if  there  be  anything 
in  the  sanitary  theories  now  so  prominent.  It 
almost  seems,  as  the  writer  says,  as  if  dirt  cannot  be 
so  injurious  as  the  doctors  say.  The  conditions 
under  which  clothing  is  washed  in  tanks  of  filthy 
water,  the  dirty  state  of  the  native  houses,  the  way  in 
which  milk  and  bread  are  likely  to  be  productive  of 
disease,  are  dwelt  upon  with  details  which  make  the 
picture  truly  disgusting,  and  show  what  a  great  deal 
of  work  there  is  to  be  done  in  cleansing  away  the 
foulness,  and  so  improving  the  public  health  o* 
Calcutta,  that,  as  the  author  says,  it  will  no  more  be 
dreaded  as  "  the  home  of  cholera." 

In  the  recently  published  Proceedings  of  the 
Scientific  Meetings  of  the  Zoological  Society,  Mr. 
H.  H.  Johnston  gives  a  short  account  of  some  of  the 
fauna  observed  in  the  Kilima-njaro  Expedition, 
which  is  followed  by  more  detailed  papers.  He 
was  obliged,  by  the  difficulty  of  getting  assistance,  to 
do  most  of  his  collecting  and  preservation  of  specimens 
himself.  Baboons  he  found  rather  abundant  and 
very  bold,  as  they  are  but  little  molested  by  the 
natives.  The  leopard  is  more  feared  by  the  natives 
than  the  lion.  The  zebra  (Eqiucs  chapmani)  is 
said  to  be  found  in  incredible  numbers  in  the  plains 
round  Kilima-njaro  ;  the  ostrich  is  also  abundant, 
but  it  never  produces  fine  plumes. 

From  a  recent  report  signed  by  Mr.  Henry  Trimen, 
M.B.,    it   appears   that    the    area    devoted    to    the 


>5S 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


cultivation  of  coffee  in  Ceylon  is  steadily  decreasing, 
and  that  in  several  districts  it  bids  fair  to  be  wholly 
superseded  by  tea  before  long. 

The  Distribution  of  Power  is  the  subject  of  an 
article  in  "  The  Machinery  Market  "  for  October,  from 
which  it  appears  that  the  system  of  conveying  power 
from  a  central  station  by  means  of  hydraulic  pressure 
is  already  carried  on  to  some  extent  in  London,  while 
preparations  are  being  made  in  Birmingham  for  its 
conveyance  by  means  of  compressed  air.  By  these 
means  the  necessity  for  separate  engines,  boilers,  &c, 
will  be  lessened,  with  the  attendant  advantage  of  a 
diminution  of  smoke.  It  is  thought  that  while  large 
factories  cannot  be  expected  to  come  successfully 
within  the  sphere  of  these  plans,  yet  that  for  driving 
warehouse  cranes,  lifts,  electric  lights,  working  dock- 
gates,  coffee-mills,  and  many  small  machines,  par- 
ticularly where  the  power  is  required  intermittently, 
they  may,  if  the  charges  are  reasonable,  offer  great 
advantages. 

"  Engineering  "  says  that  a  proposal  is  on  foot  to 
join  the  rivers  Volga  and  Don  by  a  canal.  The  two 
rivers  come  within  50  miles  of  one  another,  and  the 
idea  of  a  canal  to  unite  them  was  thought  of  by  Peter 
the  Great.  The  river  Volga  is,  by  encroaching  on  its 
western  bank,  gradually  approaching  the  Don. 

A  new  kind  of  life-saving  dress  has  been  tried  with 
success  in  the  Thames,  where  several  persons  wearing 
the  material,  jumped  into  the  water  and  were 
supported  by  it.  The  distinctive  feature  of  the 
substance  consists  in  the  use  of  fine  threads  of  cork 
interwoven  with  the  other  fibres.  The  new  idea  has 
been  brought  out  by  Mr.  W.  Jackson,  of  Pimlico. 

It  has  been  decided  to  hold  a  pocket-box  exhibi- 
tion of  entomological  specimens  in  connection  with 
the  Haggerston  Entomological  Society,  at  10  Brown- 
low  Street,  Dalston,  London,  E.,  on  November  12th. 
The  kind  co-operation  of  Entomologists  on  the 
occasion  is  solicited.  The  Secretary  is  Mr.  Ernest 
Anderson. 

The  Sydenham  and  Forest  Hill  Microscopical  and 
Natural  History  Club  opened  their  session,  with  an 
exhibition  of  microscopes  and  natural  history  objects 
at  the  Foresters'  Hall,  Forest  Hill,  on  Thursday, 
October  1st.  There  was  a  good  show  of  microscopes 
and  curiosities,  and  a  large  number  availed  themselves 
of  the  invitation  of  the  Club.  During  the  evening 
ten  applications  for  membership  were  received  by  the 
Secretary.  Further  new  members  are  much  wanted, 
and  any  lady  or  gentleman  desirous  of  joining  may 
obtain  information  about  the  club  from  the  honorary 
secretary,  Mr.  A.  C.  Perrins,  12  Sunderland  Villas, 
Forest  Hill,  S.E. 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  "Engineer"  is  an 
article,  illustrated  with  map  and  other  figures, 
describing  the  preparations  for  the  explosion  of  the 


Hell  Gate  Rock  in  New  York  Harbour.  The  rock 
was  a  ledge  of  gneiss,  in  the  form  of  a  very  irregular 
obtuse  cone,  only  a  small  portion  appearing  above  the 
Mater.  The  work  of  removing  it  was  begun  in  1875, 
and  since  then  galleries  had  been  bored  into  it  to  an 
agSrcgate  length  of  over  21,000  feet,  and  about 
45,000  cartridges  placed  in  position.  The  explosives 
used  consisted  of  about  eight  volumes  of  rackarock  to 
one  of  dynamite  No.  I.  The  former  substance  is  a 
mixture  of  chlorate  of  potash  with  dinitro-benzole, 
having  the  appearance  of  a  moist,  light-brown  sugar. 
The  explosion  was  effected  by  electricity,  and  took 
place  successfully  on  the  10th  of  last  month.  The 
intention  was  to  give  a  channel  of  the  clear  depth  of 
26  feet. 

Erythroxylon  Coca  is  now  said  to  have  been 
successfully  employed  as  a  remedy  against,  and  a  cure 
for,  sea-sickness. 


MICROSCOPY. 

Starch  in  Leaves. — An  easy  method  of  shewing 
starch  granules  in  situ  is  given,  in  the  "  American 
Monthly  Microscopical  Journal,"  as  having  been 
recently  described  by  Sachs.  The  fresh  leaf  should 
be  placed  in  boiling  water  for  ten  minutes,  after 
which  the  chlorophyll  should  be  extracted  by  placing 
it  in  alcohol.  The  cells  of  the  leaf  are  thus  rendered 
colourless,  and  are  not  broken.  The  starch  inside 
them  can  then  be  shewn  by  means  of  iodine.  Com- 
parative experiments  can  be  made  by  exposing  part 
of  the  leaf  to  the  sun,  while  the  rest  is  protected ; 
and  it  is  said  that  a  leaf  gathered  in  the  evening 
shows  more  starch  than  one  gathered  in  the  morning. 

Journal  of  the  Quekett  Microscopical. 
Cluk. — The  October  number  contains  a  Presidential 
Address  delivered  by  Dr.  Carpenter  last  July.  Speak- 
ing of  the  question  of  the  specific  differences  of  bacilli 
and  the  diseases  they  are  supposed  to  cause,  Dr.  Car- 
penter said  that  he  had  always  held  the  view  of  the 
very  wide  range  of  species,  especially  among  the  lower 
types  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  He  believed  that 
the  manifestation  of  disease  germs  may  be  extra- 
ordinarily affected  by  the  condition  of  the  body  in 
which  they  fructify,  and  that  a  large  range  of  forms 
of  disease  may  be  produced  by  the  same  infection  ;  the 
bacteria,  when  cultivated,  as  it  were,  in  the  human 
body,  giving  rise  to  one  or  another  form  of  disease 
according  to  circumstances.  Dr.  Carpenter  also 
spoke  of  a  paper  recently  published  by  Mr.  Wadding- 
ton  on  the  subject  of  nitrification  in  the  soil.  Although 
Mr.  Waddington  had  not  been  able  to  discover  the 
organism  microscopically,  his  conclusion  was  that  the 
action  was  due  to  some  protophyte,  a  conclusion  on 
which  Dr.  Carpenter  thought  very  little  doubt  was 
entertained  by  some  good  chemical  authorities  to 
whom  he  had  spoken  on  the  subject. 


HARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP 


259 


The  Journal  of  Microscopy. — Besides  the 
paper  on  How  Plants  Grow,  referred  to  in  another 
column,  the  October  number  of  this  journal  contains 
a  paper  by  V.  A.  Latham,  F.M.S.,  on  Practical 
Histology,  being  Part  IV.  of  "  The  Microscope  and 
How  to  Use  It ;  "  a  second  lecture  on  "  Pond  Life," 
by  Mr.  W.  E.  Hoyle,  M.A. ;  "Half  an  Hour  at  the 
Microscope  with  Mr.  Tuffen  West ;  "  Selected  Notes 
from  the  Society's  Note-Books,  &c.  At  the  end  are 
six  lithographic  plates,  which  in  this  number  are  to  a 
large  extent  entomological. 

Testing  Objectives.— In  a  note  on  this  subject 
in  "The  American  Monthly  Microscopical  Journal," 
the  process  of  testing  lenses  by  means  of  various 
■"  test  "  objects  is  considered  to  smack  somewhat  of 
charlatanism,  though  the  use  of  a  good  Podura  scale 
is  recommended.  "The  fact  is,  as  every  practical 
observer  well  knows,  the  best  test  for  a  working 
•objective  is  to  use  it  in  regular  work  for  some  time." 

Collins's  "Special"  Micro  -  Slides.  —  Mr. 
Charles  Collins's  Catalogue  of  his  " special"  slides 
for  the  present  season  is  to  hand,  and  with  it  half-a- 
dozen  sample  slides,  selected  from  different  series,  as 
follows  :  From  series  No.  4  (Heads  of  Insects)  the 
head  of  the  water  boatman ;  series  No.  6  (the  Silk- 
worm and  Moth  of  ditto),  the  trachea  and  spiracle  (in 
situ)  of  the  caterpillar  ;  series  No.  7  (Anatomy  of 
Blow-fly),  the  buzzing  organ  ;  series  No.  8  (Anatomy 
of  Honey-Bee),  the  wings,  showing  hooklets  ;  series 
No.  9  (Anatomy  of  the  Great  Water-Beetle),  the 
trophi ;  and  from  series  No.  10  (Anatomy  of  the  Oil- 
Beetle),  he  sends  the  antennae.  These  slides  ought 
to  be  of  great  service  to  those  who  cannot  provide  the 
objects  for  themselves. 


ZOOLOGY. 

Arion  ater. — Besides  the  varieties  of  this  slug 
described  in  the  June  number,  a  few  others  have  been 
described  as  inhabiting  foreign  countries.  One  of 
the  most  remarkable  is  var.  Miilleri,  black  with  a 
pale  greenish  keel.  Var.  Draparnaudi  of  Moquin- 
Tandon,  dull  red,  with  a  yellowish  or  reddish  foot- 
fringe,  is  scarcely  distinct  from  var.  ritfa.  I  have 
found  it  at  Croydon,  and  17  specimens  of  A.  ater 
collected  at  Bromley,  Kent,  were  in  the  following 
proportion  :  type  2,  Jiigrescens  2,  ncfa  10,  and  Dra- 
parnaudi 3.  Moquin-Tandon  also  mentions  var. 
rubra,  red,  and  var.  viresccns  greenish  with  yellowish- 
orange  lateral  bands.  Not  long  ago  I  found  at 
Chislehurst  two  examples  of  the  variety  rtifa  busily 
•engaged  in  devouring  the  remains  of  a  specimen  of 
Helix  horlensis,  var.  lutea  12345,  and  a  Limax  maximus 
which  had  been  accidentally  crushed,  thus  affording 
a  good  illustration  of  the  carnivorous  propensities  of 
this  slug.  Query,  does  it  ever  attack  living  snails  or 
slugs?— T.  D.  A.  Cocker  ell,  Bedford  Park,  June  30. 


Mosquitoes  killing  Trout. — In  a  very  in- 
teresting letter  which  appears  in  "Science,"  in 
advance  of  its  publication  by  the  U.  S.  Fish 
Commission,  Mr.  C.  H.  Murray,  of  Denver,  describes 
how  in  1882,  when  he  was  at  the  head-waters 
of  the  Tumiche  Creek  in  the  Gunnison  Valley, 
Col.,  he  watched  for  over  half-an-hour  the  ways  of 
trout  and  mosquitoes.  Very  young  trout  kept  coming 
up  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  possibly  for  more  air, 
so  that  the  top  of  their  head  was  on  a  level  with  the 
surface.  When  this  occurred,  a  mosquito,  of  which 
a  swarm  was  flying  above,  would  alight  upon  the 
trout's  head,  insert  his  proboscis  into  its  brain  and 
suck  away  till  he  had  extracted  all  the  life  juices,  after 
which  he  would  fly  away,  and  the  dead  trout  turn  on 
his  back  and  float  down  the  stream.  Mr.  Murray 
thinks  that  great  numbers  of  trout,  and  perhaps  other 
infant  fish  in  clear  water,  must  come  to  their  death  in 
this  way. 

The  Axolotl. — It  appears  that  Miss  Marie  von 
Chauvin,  in  continuing  her  researches  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Mexican  Axolotl  into  the  Amblystoma, 
has  succeeded  in  some  instances  in  accelerating, 
retarding,  and  reversing  the  metamorphosis,  so  that 
the  axolotl  may  be  made  to  pass  on  into  the  con- 
dition of  a  lung  breathing  animal,  to  remain  for  a  time 
in  a  state  of  suspended  metamorphosis,  or  even  to 
revert  to  the  axolotl  stage  once  more. 

A  swarm  of  Crabs. — A  very  interesting  occurrence 
has  been  reported  from  the  island  of  Cuba,  which 
reminds  one  of  the  "showers  of  frogs"  occasionally 
heard  of,  namely  the  appearance  of  enormous  quanti- 
ties of  small  crabs.  The  keeper  of  a  lighthouse  at  the 
western  end  of  the  island  says  that  they  came  in 
floating  patches  of  a  reddish  colour  from  a  south-west 
direction.  They  formed  heaps  upon  the  shore,  which 
they  approached  mostly  during  the  night.  They  ap- 
peared on  four  occasions  last  spring,  "they  invaded 
the  houses  and  the  yards,  and  the  tower  of  the  light- 
house up  to  a  certain  height,  so  that  we  had  to  brush 
them  away  with  brooms  and  shovels,  and  finally  to 
close  the  doors  and  windows,  and  cover  the  openings 
of  the  water-tanks  with  canvas  and  sacking;." 

The  Sun-fish.— It  appears  that  the  sun-fish  which 
has  comparatively  imall  pectoral  fins,  uses  them 
only  as  balancers  in  swimming,  and  progresses  almost 
exclusively  by  means  of  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins 
which  are  large,  about  the  same  size,  and  placed  in 
the  same  vertical  line.  In  a  letter  to  "  Science  "  by 
Mr.  John  A.  Ryder,  it  is  said  that  the  fish  moves 
the  dorsal  and  anal  fins  synchronously  from  side  to 
side,  twisting  them  at  the  beginning  of  each  stroke 
into  the  form  of  a  screw  propeller  blade ;  the  great 
expanse  of  the  body  gives  the  fish  stability.  Its 
slightly  developed  tail  it  uses  as  a  rudder,  by  which, 
however,  it  cannot  turn  very  quickly. 


260 


IfARD  WICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


BOTANY. 

Ozone  given  off  by  Plants. — Investigations 
which  may  have  a  decidedly  practical  tendency  have 
been  made  by  Drs.  J.  M.  Anders  and  G.  B.  M.  Miller 
on  the  production  of  ozone  by  plants.  Their  experi- 
ments, which  were  made  by  way  of  testing  results 
which  had  been  obtained  before,  lead  them  to  the 
following  conclusions.  First,  that  both  odorous  and 
inodorous  flowering  plants  generate  ozone,  but  the 
former  the  much  more  actively  that,  so  far  as  tested, 
scented  foliage,  especially  pine  and  hemlock,  produces 
it ;  and  finally  that  a  necessary  condition  apparently 
is  the  presence  of  the  sun's  rays,  or  at  least  a  good 
diffused  light.  It  is  evident  that  the  power  thus 
shown  to  be  possessed  by  plants  is  an  important  factor 
in  deciding  the  question  of  their  cultivation  indoors, 
though  it  does  not  follow  that  the  net  results  are 
beneficial.  As  to  the  pine,  the  authors  conclude 
their  paper  (which  may  be  found  in  the  "  American 
Naturalist "  for  September),  by  saying  that  "  since  the 
exhalations  from  the  pine  foliage  are  active  agents  in 
generating  ozone,  it  follows  that  all  of  the  important 
hygienic  advantages  of  ozone  are  to  be  derived,  to  a 
marked  degree,  from  the  presence  of  pine  woods." 

The  Botanical  Exchange  Club. — Two  Reports 
of  this  Club  are  to  hand,  those  for  1883  and  1SS4. 
The  latter  shows  an  increase  by  some  hundreds,  in 
the  number  of  plants  received  for  distribution,  over 
the  previous  year.  The  greater  part  of  the  Reports 
consists  of  notices  of  plants,  naturally  with  somewhat 
unfamiliar  names,  with  observations  appended,  pre- 
sumably those  of  authorities  to  whom  the  plants  were 
forwarded  for  identification. 

How  Plants  Grow.— The  first  paper  in  the 
"Journal  of  Microscopy  "  for  October  is  one  with  the 
above  title,  by  Mr.  H.  W.  S.  Worsley-Benison,  F.L.S. 
The  paper  may  be  taken  as  a  sequel  or  continuation 
of  the  one  on  "What  is  a  Plant?"  and  in  it  the 
author  touches  in  succession  upon  the  vegetable  cell 
as  an  individual,  the  cell  in  combination,  cell  forma- 
tion and  growth,  and  the  reproductive  processes — 
fertilisation,  embryonic  growth,  and  germination — 
to  show  the  origin  of  the  primary  cell.  The  methods 
of  feeding,  moving,  climbing,  and  reproducing  are, 
he  says,  worthy  of  a  separate  paper,  and  are,  for  the 
most  part,  passed  over  here. 

"The  British  Moss  Flora."— The  ninth  part 
of  Dr.  Braithwaite*s  important  work  on  "  British 
Mosses  "  is  now  out,  and  bears  date  of  September. 
It  contains  the  second  part  of  Fam.  VIII.,  Tortulacere, 
and  consists  of  the  usual  letterpress  and  four  plates 
full  of  figures.  This  work  is  published  by  the  author, 
at  303,  Clapham  Road,  London. 

The  Common  Sunflower.— The  flowers  are 
proterandrous,  although  the  stigmas  emerge  at  the 
same  time  that  the  pollen  is  shed,  but   the  stigma- 


lobes  do  not  separate  and  curl  back  until  after  the 
pollen  has  been  distributed  or  lost  its  virtue.  Briefly, 
the  process  seems  to  be  thus  :  The  stigma,  with  its 
lobes  closely  appressed,  is  thrust  through  the  tube 
formed  by  the  synandrous  stamens.  The  stigma- 
lobes  are  papillose  on  their  outer  surface,  and  the 
dehiscence  of  the  anthers  is  introrse.  Consequently 
the  pollen  is  forced  upward  by  the  ascending  stigma, 
aided  by  the  papilla?  on  the  latter,  and,  as  the  anthers 
are  then  very  prominent,  insects  readily  come  in 
contact  with  the  pollen.  Afterwards  the  stigmas 
become  more  projected,  separate,  and,  in  curling  back, 
force  down  the  anther  tube  into  the  corolla.  I  do 
not  think  either  shrinkage  or  bees  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  depression  of  the  stamens.  The  object 
of  forcing  back  the  stamens  seems  to  be  that  of  getting 
the  stigmas  in  the  same  relative  level  as  the  anthers 
had  been.  Mr.  Swan  said  nothing  about  the  copious 
secretion  of  viscid  saccharine  matter  on  the  unopened 
buds  in  the  centre  of  the  head.  Upon  this  the  bees 
sometimes  alight,  and  may  be  seen  busily  feeding. 
They  then  resort  to  the  flowers,  working  from  the 
centre  to  the  circumference,  and  in  doing  so  convey 
pollen  from  the  inner  florets  to  the  projected  stigmas 
of  the  outer  ones,  but  I  fail  to  perceive  in  this  any 
special  arrangement  to  secure  cross-fertilisation 
between  different  capitula.  If  the  insect  worked 
from  circumference  to  centre  (and,  seeing  that  the 
ray-flowers  are  the  most  attractive,  one  would  think 
that  this  were  the  case),  the  adaptation  to  secure 
cross-fertilisation  would  indeed  be  perfect ;  but  I  have 
been  informed,  on  good  authority,  that  the  bee 
generally  works  from  centre  to  circumference,  which 
process  would  simply  secure  cross-fertilisation  between 
the  inner  and  outer  whorls  of  florets  on  the  same 
head.  My  own  observations  upon  numerous  plants 
in  my  garden  do  not  satisfy  me  that  bees  have  a 
preference  for  one  mode  above  the  other,  but  that 
they  alight  without  much  discrimination,  and 
commence  operations  at  the  nearest  accessible  point. 
Mr.  Swan's  theory,  that  stamens  and  pistil  are 
developed  spines,  does  not  appear  probable.  Con- 
sidering the  normal  number  of  the  parts,  their 
consistency  with  the  arrangement  in  other  compositse, 
and  the  evidence  afforded  generally  by  analogy,  it  is 
unlikely  that  in  sunflowers  the  stamens  and  pistil  are 
developed  spines,  unless  Mr.  Swan  means  to  say 
that  in  the  composite  generally,  the  parts  are  thus 
developed.  If,  however,  they  are,  to  what  organs  do 
these  spines  belong  ?  In  the  sunflower,  their  object 
is  evidently  to  prevent  the  depredation  of  insects. 
The  immunity  of  sunflower  leaves  from  insect  attacks 
has  often  been  noticed,  and  Kerner  supposes  that 
they  contain  juices  or  secretions  distasteful  to  the 
insects.  In  my  opinion,  the  stiff  bristles  on  the  stem, 
branches,  and  leaves  are  quite  sufficient  to  account 
for  their  freedom  from  insects.  In  my  garden,  plants 
with  glabrous  leaves  were  literally  beset  this  summer 
with  aphides,  but  not  one  could  be  seen  upon  the 


BARDWJCKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


261 


sunflower.  Of  course  the  function  of  the  bristles  on 
the  floral  organs  is  to  prevent  insects  from  creeping 
into  the  head  from  below,  and  thus,  by  getting 
between  the  achenes,  to  get  at  the  nectar  cups  by  an 
illicit  process. — y  Ifamseu,  Bedford'. 

GEOLOGY. 

Recent  Progress  in  Geology.— From  an 
abstract  in  "  Science  "  of  the  address  delivered  at  the 
recent  meeting  of  the  American  Association  by 
Professor  Edward  Orton,  it  appears  "  the  oldest  living 
type  of  vertebrates  "  is  to  be  found  in  a  shark  recently 
described  by  Mr.  Samuel  Garman.  This  fish  proves 
to  be  a  cladodont,  and  is  closely  allied  to  the  genus 
Cladodus  of  carboniferous  time,  a  genus  hitherto 
supposed  to  be  long  ago  extinct.  Professor  Claypole 
discovered  spines  and  scales  of  fish  in  the  iron  sand- 
stone of  the  middle  Clinton  group  of  central  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  his  Onchus  clintoni  must  at  present,  says 
Professor  Orton,  enjoy  the  distinction  of  being  the 
earliest  known  representative  of  vertebrate  life  on  the 
globe,  while  the  first  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  dry 
land  is  the  cockroach  {Blatla) ,  of  which  the  fragment 
of  a  wing  was  found  in  middle  silurian  strata  in 
central  France. 

Proceedings  of  the  Liverpool  Geological 
Society. — After  the  annual  address  by  the  President, 
Mr.    T.   Mellard  Reade,    which    has    already   been 
noticed  in  this  volume  (p.  213)  comes  a  paper  by  Dr. 
Herdman  on  the  Conservative  Action  of  Animals  in 
Relation  to  Dynamical  Geology.     The  author  draws 
attention  to  the  protection  afforded  by  certain  animals 
to   the   rocks   of  the  sea-shore ;    and   instances    the 
common  acorn  shell,  sponges,  ascidians  and  polyzoa, 
and  a  species  of  annelid  (Sabellaria),  all  of  which 
may  in  some  way  form,  by  their  manner  of  growth,  a 
covering  to  the  rock,  thus  hindering  its  denudation. 
He  concludes  with  a  list  of  the  different  groups  of 
animals  which  he  believes   to   have   similar   effects. 
The  other  papers  published  in  the  same  number  are 
on  the  Microscopic  Character  of  the  Triassic  Sand- 
stones of  the  country  around  Liverpool,  by  G.   H. 
Morton  ;  on  a  Quarry  at  Poulton,  by  H.  C.  Beasley  ; 
The    Mersey  Tunnel,    its   Geological    Aspects    and 
Results,  and  two  other  local  papers,  by  the  President. 

Fossil  Slugs. — In  a  letter  to  "  The  Geological 
Magazine,"  Mr.  J.  Starkie  Gardiner  says  Testacella 
is  recorded  from  the  Middle  and  Upper  Miocene  and 
Pliocene,  Limax  from  the  Lower  Miocene  and  up- 
wards, Amalia  from  Upper  Miocene,  Parmacellina 
from  Upper  Eocene,  and  Arion  ater  from  Pleistocene. 
Vitrina,  Succinea,  and  Hyalinia,  scarcely  "slugs" — 
a  rather  vague  term — are  found  fossil  in  the  Tertiaries. 
"  Probably  many  other  slugs  are  known  as  fossils  in 
America,  but  it  is  of  course  only  genera  provided 
with  some  sort  of  shell  that  can  possibly  leave  behind 
any  fossil  remains." 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Trees  Struck  by  Lightning. — In  the  storm 
of   August    13th,    which    was    felt    severely   in    the 
neighbourhood    of  Richmond,    Surrey,    an    oak-tree 
was   struck   by   the    lightning    near    to    the    White 
House,  the  residence  of  the  Duke  of  Teck,  which 
presented  a  terrible  illustration  of  one  of  the  forces 
of  Nature.      The    tree   was   a   fine    old    specimen, 
forming    one    of  a  noble    family,   which    must   have 
counted  very  many  years  in  its  leafy  life,  and  was 
full  of  vigour   and  vitality  when    the   electric   fluid 
struck  it  ;  a  fellow  tree,  standing  only  a  few  yards 
off,   would  appear  to  have  received    the    first  blow, 
which,   falling    on    to    the    topmost  branch,   split  its 
trunk  from  the  top  to   the  bottom,  peeling  off  the 
bark,  and    making  a  clean    cut    right    down  to    the 
earth  ;  thence  it  would  appear  as  if  it  bounded  on 
to    the    neighbouring    oak    which    it    shivered    into 
fragments,  beginning  apparently  at  the  base,  as  one 
states  who  was  driving  past,  that  he  observed  some 
of  the  branches  tossed  upwards  into  the  air,  and  this 
statement  is  supported  by  the   fact,  that  the  writer 
noticed  portions  of  disintegrated  boughs  hanging  on, 
and  upon  other  trees  at  some  distance  from  the  one 
upon  which  the  heaviest  blow  fell.     So  powerful  was 
the  force  employed  that  the  fated  tree,  which  stood 
about  ninety-five  yards  from  the  duke's  garden,  had 
some  of  its  parts  scattered  in  it,  while  the  ground,  for 
many  yards  around  the  base  of  the  tree,  was  covered 
with  the  ruins  ;  and  the  tree,  completely  stripped  of 
its   bark,   was,    in    the    most    extraordinary  manner, 
reduced  to  ribands,  the   solid  wood  being  resolved 
into  fibre,  as  easy  of  division  as  the  strands  which 
compose  a  rope's  end.     So  perfectly  was   the   bark 
removed  from  the  main  trunk,  that  it  was  perfectly 
free  from  all  splinters,  and  as  smooth  as  though  it 
had  been  removed  by  careful  hands,  while  the  upper 
portion  which  remained  stood  pointing  towards  the 
sky   with   whitened    and   significant   fingers   in   the 
direction    of   the    expended    force.      A    number   of 
persons  visited  the  ruins,  many  of  whom  took  away 
specimens  of  the  disintegrated   fibre   as   affording  a 
very   remarkable    illustration    of    the    force    of  the 
electric  fluid. — y.  Crowther. 

Nesting  of  Mountain  Linnet.— It  may  be 
worth  recording  in  your  journal  the  fact,  that  a  pair  of 
mountain  linnets  have  this  summer  nested  on  Black- 
stairs,  a  well-known  mountain  in  this  vicinity,  and 
successfully  reared  a  brood  of  young  birds,  now  about 
ready  to  fly.  No  nest  of  the  species  has,  I  believe, 
been  heretofore  discovered  in  the  south  of  Ireland, 
and  certainly  its  breeding  in  these  latitudes  is  a  very 
unusual  event.  The  nest  is  built  in  a  low  clump  of 
heather  and  stunted  furze,  on  the  edge  of  a  pretty 
grassy  ravine  through  which  a  stream  trickles,  and  is 
composed  chiefly  of  dry  bents,  with  a  lining  of  the 
wool  of  mountain  sheep.  The  fearless  demeanour  of 
the  parent  birds  is  exceedingly  interesting.  On  the 
8th  of  August,  my  brother  and  I  first  disturbed  the 
male  bird  from  the  banks  of  the  stream  near  which 
his  nest  is  situated.  Instead  of  flying  to  any  distance, 
he  sought  refuge  and  concealment  a  few  yards  away 
by  lighting  against  the  bare  perpendicular  bank  of 
the  ravine,  which,  being  of  a  damp  gravelly  compo- 
sition, harmonised  so  exactly  with  the  dark  brown 
hue  of  the  bird's  plumage,  that,  even  after  seeing 
him  light  upon  it,  we  had  no  little  difficulty  in 
distinguishing  his  figure  from  the  sombre  background. 
We  several  times  dislodged  him  from  this  situation, 
but  he  invariably  took  up  a  similar  one  a  little  farther 
down,    and   would   peck   contentedly  at   the  gravel 


262 


HA  RD  WICKE 'S    S  CIENCE-  G  O SSIF. 


while  we  stood  within  six  feet  of  him  ;  even  after 
momentarily  casting  the  eye  aside,  it  was  by  no 
means  an  easy  matter  at  this  short  distance  to  detect 
him  again,  though  the  bank  was  perfectly  bare  of 
herbage.  After  watching  him  long  enough  for  our 
satisfaction,  we  passed  him  without  difficulty.  On 
that  occasion  I  never  thought  of  looking  for  a  nest. 
However,  on  the  22nd  of  the  month,  while  strolling 
up  the  same  ravine,  I  heard  what  seemed  to  be  the 
voice  of  a  linnet  quite  close  by,  and,  thinking  at  once 
of  my  friend  the  twite,  lay  clown  quietly  on  the  sward 
to  take  a  survey.  Nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  bird  was 
visible,  though  I  gazed  searchingly  at  the  dark  walls 
and  pebbly  stream-bed,  with  its  narrow  margins 
beautifully  sprinkled  over  with  bells  of  the  delicate 
little  Wahlenbergia  hcderacea,  and  I  had  just 
abandoned  the  quest,  and  stood  up  to  continue  my 
mountain  walk,  when  up  flew  a  pair  of  twites  from 
the  edge  of  the  ravine  immediately  beside  me.  This 
was  somewhat  tantalising.  But,  as  they  only  flew  to 
the  top  of  the  bank,  I  again  lay  down,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  their  confidence  was  perfectly  restored,  both 
birds  returning  to  the  brink  of  the  stream  and 
picking  about  among  the  gravel  with  quite  a  surprising 
unconcerr.edness.  Still  more  was  I  surprised  when 
the  hen  bird  suddenly  popped  into  a  clump  of 
heather,  and  was  greeted  within  by  a  chorus  of  shrill 
eager  little  voices.  Upon  her  exit  I,  of  course,  went 
and  peeped  at  the  nest  thus  unexpectedly  revealed, 
which  contained  three  yellow-beaked  youngsters.  At 
this  conduct  of  mine,  the  old  birds  manifested,  no 
doubt,  some  little  degree  of  anxiety,  hovering  round 
with  plaintive  calls  of  "twa-eet,  twa-eet ; "  never- 
theless, as  their  solicitude  did  not  seem  to  be  of  a  very 
frantic  nature,  I  made  the  experiment  of  lying  down 
again,  this  time  on  rhe  top  of  the  bank,  immediately 
beside  the  nest.  In  a  very  few  seconds  the  two  little 
birds  were  quite  at  ease  once  more,  and  resumed 
their  pecking  among  the  gravel  ;  what  manner  of 
edible  materials  they  were  collecting  I  did  not  succeed 
in  making  out,  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  mother 
paid  another  visit  to  the  nest,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  my  head  was  now  within  some  twenty  inches 
of  that  precious  edifice.  It  may  be  that  mountain 
linnets  have  peculiarly  short  memories  ;  at  all  events, 
no  birds  could  possibly  have  conducted  themselves 
with  a  more  total  disregard  of  a  spectator's  presence. 
After  repeated  visits  to  the  nest,  the  birds  went  down 
to  the  stream  together  and  enjoyed  a  good  splash  in 
the  waters  ;  and,  having  thus  refreshed  themselves, 
with  many  notes  expressive  of  extreme  self-gratulation 
and  contentment,  the  little  couple  flew  off  down  the 
ravine,  and  were  soon  lost  to  sight.  Finding  myself 
thus  left  apparently  sole  guardian  of  the  home  and 
family,  I  followed  the  parental  example,  and  at  once 
took  my  departure. —  C.  B.  Moffat,  Ballyliyland,  co. 
Wexford. 

Epping  Forest. — It  may  be  interesting  to  some 
of  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip  to  know  that 
during  the  past  few  months  the  beautiful  floscule, 
Stephanoceros  Eichoniii,  Plumatella  repens,  Volvox 
globator,  Melicerta  ringens,  and  many  other  infusoria 
have  been  pretty  abundant  in  the  ponds  of  Epping 
Forest  between  Forest  House,  Leytonstone,  and 
"Woodford. — A.  P.  Wire,  Harrow  Green, 

"  Is  the  Water-Ouzel  an  Enemy  to  Fish  ?  " 
■ — I  may  say  that  in  my  observations  of  this  most 
interesting  bird,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
small  fish  do  form  a  part  of  its  diet,  but  only  a 
small  part,  the  only  fish  that  I  have  known  it  to  kill 
being  the  minnow  and  roach,  and  these  only  very 
seldom,  its  principal  food  consisting  of  water  screws, 
larvae  of  May-day  flies,  and  such  insects  as  frequent 


the  beds  of  small  stony  streams.  I  have  never  known 
it  in  any  instance  to  eat  the  spawn  of  fish.  I  should 
like,  if  any  correspondent  could  give  me  a  list  of  the 
''  worst  enemies  to  fish  spawn,"  that  the  water-ouzel 
is  said  to  devour.  The  worst  enemies  to  fish  spawn 
that  I  know  of  are  "gudgeon  and  eels,"  neither 
of  which  to  my  knowledge  the  water-ouzel  destroys.. 
With  reference  to  the  berry-eating  capacity  of  the 
water-ouzel,  I  have  never  found  it  to  feed  on  berries 
or  seeds  of  any  description,  and  I  fail  to  see  how  our 
bitterest  winters  can  at  all  affect  its  diet ;  water  insects 
are  as  plentiful  in  winter  as  in  the  summer  time — 
far  more  plentiful  I  should  say,  than  the  fruit  of 
the  cuckoo  pint.  It  is  a  scarcity,  I  should  say, 
of  earthworms  and  slugs,  in  winter,  which  causes 
birds  of  the  thrush  family  to  depend  so  much  on 
berries  for  their  sustenance.  The  comparative  scarcity 
of  this  interesting  bird  (the  water-ouzel)  is  much  to 
be  deplored,  and  if  this  is  due  to  the  supposition  (as 
I  suppose  it  is)  that  it  destroys  a  number  of  useful 
fish,  I  think  with  your  correspondent  that  we 
should  do  as  much  as  we  can  to  put  this  supposi- 
tion to  naught.  I  find  that  it  is  principally  game- 
keepers, and  people  who  regard  any  bird,  beast,  or 
reptile,  that  does  not  claim  to  come  under  the  desig- 
nation "game,"  as  vermin,  and  therefore  to  be 
destroyed  at  every  opportunity — it  is  those  who  set 
down  the  water-ouzel  as  an  enemy  to  the  fish,  and 
destroy  it  at  every  opportunity. — J.  Bowman. 

The  Lesser  Shrew  in  Staffordshire. — 
Fauna  of  Staffordshire. — I  send  a  note  of  what 
I  believe  to  be  the  first  recorded  instance  of  the 
occurrence  of  the  smallest  of  our  British  mammals, 
the  lesser  shrew  (Sorex  pygmceus)  in  Staffordshire. 
The  little  creature  was  found  dead  (doubtless  a  victim 
to  the  mysterious  autumnal  mortality  peculiar  to  the 
shrew  family)  by  Mr.  Ernest  W.  H.  Blagg  on 
Tuesday,  8th  of  September,  near  Consall  Hall,  in 
this  county.  If  any  of  your  readers  can  furnish  me 
with  well-authenticated  instances  of  the  occurrence  of 
any  of  our  rarer  British  quadrupeds  or  birds  in 
Staffordshire,  I  shall  feel  much  obliged. — John  R.  B. 
Masefietd. 

Lesser  Dodder. — When  I  went  for  my  holidays 
in  last  August  to  the  Ashdown  Forest,  Sussex,  I 
found  the  le.-ser  dodder  {Cuscnta  epitkymum)  in  great 
quantities.  I  found  it  on  fifteen  different  varieties  of 
plants,  among  others  oak,  hawthorn,  agrimony,  gorse, 
needlewhin,  heath,  ling,  wax-heath,  blechnum  fern, 
both  on  fertile  and  barren  fronds  and  bracken.  It 
was  very  plentiful  on  gorse,  heath,  and  ling,  but  not 
so  much  so  on  the  others.  In  general  the  flowers 
were  pinkish,  hanging  in  little  round  bunches  on 
deep  purple  stems,  but  I  also  observed  some  with 
pure  white  flowers  attached  to  pale  green  stems,  they 
did  not  grow  in  such  full  clusters  as  the  purple  ones 
did.  The  green  plant  was  not  in  a  more  sheltered 
situation  than  the  purple.  Will  somebody  kindly 
inform  me  whether  it  is  a  different  species,  or  only  a 
variety  1— Ethel  Webb. 

Danais  Archippus  in  Cornwall. — I  have  to 
record  the  occurrence  of  this  splendid  North  American 
butterfly  {Danais  Archippus)  at  the  Lizard  this  year. 
No  less  than  three  specimens  have  been  captured  by 
Mr.  Alfred  H.  Jenkin,  of  Redruth,  all  within  a  few 
days  ;  the  first  being  taken  on  the  17th  of  September 
last.  A  fourth  specimen  has  been  seen.  All  are  in 
fine  condition,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  about 
their  having  been  bred  in  West  Cornwall.  I  may 
add  that  the  same  gentleman  had  the  good  fortune  to 
find  last  year,  also  at  the  Lizard,  a  specimen  of  the 
very  rare  beetle  Emus  hirtns. — E.  D.  Marqnand, 
Penzance. 


H  ARD  WI CKE '  S  S  CIE  NCE-GO  SSI  P. 


263 


Ch.erocampa  Celerio  (the  Silver-Striped 
Hawk-Moth)  at  Leicester. — It  may  interest  some 
of  the  readers  of  Science-Gossip  to  know  that  a 
specimen  of  the  above  rarity  was  brought  to  me  alive 
on  September  30th,  having  been  taken  in  a  house 
in  Guildford  Street  the  Sunday  previous.  Owing  to 
rough  handling,  the  specimen  was  somewhat  rubbed, 
but  is  otherwise  in  good  condition.  It  is  now  in  my 
collection. — F.  R.  Rowley,  Sub-Curator,  Museum, 
Leicester. 

A  Suggestion  for  Scientific  Societies. — I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  many  of  the  secretaries  of 
the  numerous  scientific  societies,  which  have  recently 
sprung  up  in  this  country,  have,  like  myself,  found 
how  difficult  it  is  to  provide  papers  to  be  read  at 
their  meetings.  The  society  to  which  I  am  hon. 
secretary  has  been  started  for  about  three  years,  and 
hitherto  we  have  been  fairly  successful,  but  it  is  im- 
possible that  the  few  members  who  have  come 
forward  and  have  read  papers,  can  be  expected  to 
continue  to  do  so.  It  has  struck  me  therefore,  that 
it  would  be  an  excellent  plan,  if  members  of  scientific 
clubs  would  read,  or  even  lend,  their  papers,  to  other 
societies.  If  you  agree  to  the  practicability  of  this 
suggestion,  perhaps  you  will  kindly  open  your 
columns  to  some  further  correspondence  on  this 
subject,  with  the  view  of  promoting  some  such 
arrangement  being  carried  out. — An  Hon.  Sec. 

Seeds  of  Solanum  dulcamara. — A  foreign 
correspondent,  C.  C,  writes  to  the  effect  that  in 
Orfila's  capital  tract,  Toxicologie  generate,  it  is  said 
that  a  cock  suffered  no  inconvenience  after  having 
swallowed  seeds  of  S.  dulcamara. 

Sagittaria  sagittifolta. — With  reference  to 
notes  in  this  and  preceding  vol.  of  Science-Gossip, 
the  same  correspondent  remarks  that  Casparus 
Bauhinus,  in  his  Prodromo  theatri  botanici  describes 
very  accurately  an  unknown  gramen  bulbosum  aqua- 
ticum,  and  gives  a  recognisable  figure  of  the  bulb  of 
the  Sagittaria.  Casparus  Bauhinus  seems  to  think, 
however,  that  the  bulb  is  the  origin  of  the  leaves, 
while  it  is  the  nutritive  reserve  for  the  next  year, 
and  a  mode  of  propagation. 

Birds  and  Ants. — The  same  correspondent, 
referring  to  Mr.  Mattieu  Williams'  remarks  on  p.  222, 
says  that  he  has,  during  the  past  spring,  gathered 
many  nests  of  ants,  and  given  the  larvre  and  the 
adult  ants  to  some  caged  nightingales.  These  ate 
the  ants  with  such  eagerness  that  none  could  escape 
their  notice,  and  the  birds  showed  great  impatience 
to  get  at  the  ant  box. 

Crocus  nudiflorus. — This  flower  is,  I  believe, 
rarely  if  ever,  found  in  the  north  of  England. 
Bentham,  in  his  "  British  Flora"  says,  "  It  does  not 
grow  nearer  to  us  than  south-western  France,  though 
it  is  said  to  be  perfectly  naturalised  in  the  meadows 
about  Nottingham,  and  in  some  other  localities  in 
central  England."  There  is  now  (October  7th),  or 
was,  some  twelve  or  fourteen  days  ago,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  these  bulbs  in  flower  in  a  field  on  the 
outskirts  of  Rochdale.  As  far  as  I  can  tell,  these 
have  never  been  seen  to  flower  before,  or,  at  least, 
not  for  some  years  past.  It  is  therefore,  I  think,  a 
fact,  quite  worth  the  notice  of  the  readers  of 
Science-Gossip.  This  flower  is  easily  distinguished 
from  the  Colc/iicum  autumnale,  by  its  bearing  three, 
instead  of  six,  stamens,  and  from  the  Crocus  vernus 
by  the  flowers  being  rather  larger,  and  only  flowering 
in  the  autumn.  I  should  be  glad  to  know  if  any 
of  the  Science-Gossip  readers  have  ever  seen  or 
heard  of  it  still  further  north  ? — Jane  Fish-wick. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  insert  in  the  following  number  any  communications 
which  reach  us  later  than  the  8th  of  the  previous  month. 

To  Anonymous  Querists. — We  must  adhere  to  our  rule  of 
not  noticing  queries  which  do  not  bear  the  writers'  names. 

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  of our gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


H.  L. — Answer  next  month. 

H.  W.  Case. — Your  exchange  unsuitable  in  form  as  sent. 
Inserted  as  altered. 

J.  J.  A. — For  all  information  about  Dr.  Braithwaite's  "  British 
Moss  Flora,"  apply  to  the  author,  303  Clapham  Road,  London. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Stokes. — Received  with  thanks. 

G.  S. — Write  to  Mr.  E.  T.  Draper,  8  Harringey  Park, 
Crouch  End,  London,  N. 

C.  C. — An  answer  probably  next  month. 

George  Rees. — Thanks  for  your  note  and  sketch.  Refer  to 
Dr.  Maxwell  Masters'  "Vegetable  Teratology,"  if  you  have 
access  to  it.  It  is  probable  you  will  find  some  figure  or  descrip- 
tion therein  a  propos. 

Fred  Chall'S. —  The  question  of  the  fluidity  of  the  interior 
of  the  earth  would  not  be  set  at  rest  by  the  sinking  of  a  shaft 
into  molten  lava. 

A.  P. — The  plant  seems  to  be  certainly  Erica  teti-alix,  or 
cross-leaved  heath.  At  the  same  time,  the  leaves  are  not  very 
definitely  in  fours. 

F.  J.  R.  —  Hewitson  gives  coloured  illustrations  of  the  eggs 
of  apparently  all  the  birds  he  names  in  his  two  volumes. 

R.  M.  and  another. — Exchanges  apparently  anonymous. 

J.  Forbes. — Dr.  Pereira's  "Materia  Medica  "  and  "Thera- 
peutics" (Longmans):  Royle's  "Manual  of  Therapeutics" 
(Churchill);  "The  British  Pharmacopoeia"  (Spottiswoode  & 
Co.).  One  of  these  might  suit  you.  If  you  could  get  a  sight 
of  the  Library  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  Bloomsbury 
Square,  London,  you  might  get  further  hints. 


EXCHANGES. 

Wanted,  "  Rust,  Smut,  Mildew,  and  Mould,"  by  Cooke  ; 
also  "Pond  Life,"  by  Slack.  Will  give  in  exchange  well- 
mounted  slides  of  insects,  &c. — J.  Boggust,  Alton,  Hants. 

Parts  up  to  press,  Braithwaite's  "  British  Moss  Flora,"  mag- 
nificent plates,  clean  and  uncut,  for  corals,  eggs,  Crustacea,  or 
other  objects. — James  Ellison,  Steeton,  Leeds. 

Wanted,  good  micro  slides  or  small  telescope  in  exchange 
for  my  large  glass  cylinder  for  electrical  machine.  —  Cook, 
Morton  Buildings,  Blackburn. 

Cassell's  "  European  Butterflies  and  Moths,"  Nos.  1  to  16 
inclusive,  and  several  numbers  of  "The  Entomologist"  for 
exchange :  wanted,  micro  slides,  chiefly  botanical. — H.  W. 
Birney,  Mayville,  New  Park  Road,  Bedford. 

A  tube  of  Volvox  globator  will  be  exchanged  for  well- 
mounted  slide,  diatoms  preferred. — F.  Shrivell,  Hadlow,  Kent. 

Wanted,  Hobkirk's  "British  Mosses"  and  volumes  of 
Science-Gossip,  bound  or  unbound,  from  1868  to  1875  inclusive. 
Will  give  good  micro  slides  in  exchange. — Samuel  M.  Malcolm- 
son,  M.D.,  55  Great  Victoria  Street,  Belfast. 

Exotic  butterflies:  rare  species  of  Papilio  much  wanted  for 
figuring  for  a  monograph  of  the  genus  ;  need  not  be  fine.  Many 
duplicates  of  such  and  others  for  exchange,  also  wings  of  bril- 
liant species. — Hudson,  Railway  Terrace,  Cross  Lane,  Man- 
chester. 

Offers  requested  for  "  Knowledge,"  up  to  date,  7  vols.,  and 
"Illustrated  Science  Monthly,"  vols.  1  and  2. — J.  Humphrey, 
253  GIossop  Road,  Sheffield. 

Wanted,  the  following  parts  of  the  "Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal,"  parts  1  to  7,  13,  17,  19  to  31,  33  to  39,  and  55  to  73, 
will  give  good  micro  slides  in  exchange,  or  unmounted  sections 
if  preferred. — J.  J.  Andrew,  2  Belgravia,  Belfast. 

Wanted,  from  beginning  to  end  of  1872,  Science-Gossip  ; 
good  micro  slides  and  pendulograph  writings  in  exchange. — J.  J. 
Andrew,  2  Belgravia,  Belfast. 

Aquarium,  17  X  7b  X  10  in.,  inside  measure,  fitted  with  rock- 
work,  fountain,  waste-pipe,  &c,  slate  bed,  plate-glass  front; 
also  Camden's  "  Britannia,  1695,"  numerous  maps  and  plates, 
and  "Half  Hours  in  the  Green  Lanes;"  exchange  one  or  all 
for  micro  accessories  or  "  Familiar  Wild  Flowers."  Metronome 
by  Maelzel,  mahogany  case  with  bell ;  will  exchange  for  con- 


264 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


densor  or  micro  slide  mounting  materials. — William  E.  Daw, 
jun.,  West  Winch,  King's  Lynn. 

Several  foreign  books,  mostly  German,  including  one  on 
natural  history.  Lists  sent  on  application.  Also  a  pair  of  ivory 
gilt  opera  glasses  by  Pillischer,  in  exchange  for  natural  history 
books  or  offers.  Unaccepted  offers  not  answered. — F.  H.  Par- 
rott,  Walton  House,  Aylesbury. 

Will  exchange  books:  Buckmaster's  "Elementary  Che- 
mistry" and  Jarmain's  "Qualitative  Analysis,"  also,  the 
"A.  B.  C."  water-testing  apparatus  (very  interesting),  for  slides 
of  well-mounted  algae,  zoophytes,  polycistina,  diatoms,  or  bac- 
teria.— H.  W.  Case,  Oxford  Street,  Cothain,  Bristol. 

Duplicate  microscopic  slides  ot  various  sorts,  and  Lepidop- 
tera  to  exchange  for  other  slides — algae,  and  fossil  woods  or 
other  rocks. — A.  Wells,  Dalmain  Road,  Forest  Hill. 

Duplicates  of  dried  plants,  L.  C,  7th  edit.,  Nos.  7,  9,  xi, 
26,  40,  41,  273,  273c,  274,  275,  305,  325,  350,  372,  374,  564,  568, 
572,  574,  570.  577,  581,  587,  591,  594,  595,  813,  816,  821,  823,  831, 
835,  838,  856,  858,  875,  914,  998,  999,  1007,  1008,  1039,  1040, 
1201,  1264,  1265,  1276,  1277,  1280,  1282,  1285,  1294,  129^,  1297, 
1305,  1314,  1325,  1326,  1327,  1330,  1333,  &c— H.  Goss,  Berry- 
lands,  Surbiton  Hill,  Surrey. 

To  American  diatomists:  American  gatherings  or  deposits 
desired  in  exchange  for  pieces  of  the  well-known  "Cement- 
stein"  from  Mors,  Jutland.  Send  list  in  first  instance. — H. 
Morland,  Cranford,  near  Hounslow. 

Offered,  L.  C,  7th  edit.,  48^,  49,  360,  384,  455,  1024,  1041, 
1106,  1187,  1188,  1240,  1417,  Carex /lava,  minor,  &c.  Wanted, 
363,  370,  404,  1050,  and  many  others.  Lists  exchanged. — 
Dr.  A.  Davidson,  Sauquhar,  N.B. 

Davus,  Artaxerxes,  Dicteae,  fuliginosa,  bidentata,  interro- 
gationis,  and  many  other  northern  species,  in  fine  condition 
and  well  set.  Wanted,  fresh-killed  specimens  of  barn  owl, 
kingfisher,  and  local  specimens,  &c. — J.  Mundie,  22  Watson 
Street,  Aberdeen,  N.B. 

Duplicates. — Bulbs :  Narcissus  bicolor,  major,  Macleai, 
oricntalis,  pseudo-narcissus  fl.  pi.,  poetiens,  oruatus,  Bulbo- 
codium,  triandrns,  &c,  Lilium  Calijornicum,  Clialcedonicum, 
eximium,  Gladiolus  Byzantiuus,  G.,  Colvillci  alba,  Cyclo- 
bothra  pulchclla,  Allium  Neapolitanum,  Iris  reticulata, 
Anemone  fulgens,  Hemerocallis  Jiava,  &c.  Wanted  in  ex- 
change, ether  choice  bulbs,  &c,  British  and  foreign  Lepidoptera, 
rare  British  and  foreign  shells,  scientific  (especially  botanical) 
books ;  all  offers  invited  and  replied  to.— J.  T.  JR.,  Spring 
Cottage,  Dee  Banks,  Chester. 

Living  specimens  of  Limnias  ceratophylli offered  in  exchange 
for  well-mounted  slides,  selected  diatoms  preferred. — G.  A. 
Barker,  1  iMorthwold  Road,  Upper  Clapton,  E. 

Scotch  Alpine  and  sub- Alpine  mosses  and  hepaticse  for  south 
of  England  species,  especially  from  chalk  and  limestone. — 
William  Smith,  Addison  Place,  Arbroath,  N.B. 

Wanted,  Roscoe  and  Schorlemmer's  "Chemistry"  and 
Dana's  "  Mineralogy,"  latest  editions.  Will  exchange  Beale's 
"  How  to  Work  with  the  Micro,"  and  other  good  books. — F.  C. 
King,  2  Clarendon  Street,  Preston,  Lancashire. 

"  Mining  Journal,"  complete,  clean,  unbound,  8  vols.,  1876 
to  1883  inclusive  ;  exchange  for  "  Micrographical  Dictionary  " 
and  Lyell's  "Principles  of  Geology,"  or  offers;  books,  &c, 
microscopical  and  geological  preferred. — J.  Barron,  Wakefield. 

Offered,  twenty-four  packets  of  microscopic  material  in  ex- 
change for  three  good  slides  or  other  material. — W.  Sim, 
Gourdas  Fyvie,  N.B. 

Zoophytes  and  Polyzoas  in  exchange  for  others. — J.  Smith, 
jun.,  63  Legh  Street,  Warrington. 

Wanted,  a  copy  of  Johnson's  "  British  Zoophytes  ;  "  state 
wants. — J.  Smith,  jun.,  63  Legh  Street,  Warrington. 

Wanted,  good  micro  slides ;  skins  and  mounted  specimens  of 
mammals  and  birds,  and  other  objects,  offered  in  exchange. — 

F.  R.  Rowley,  60  Lower  Hastings  Street,  Southfields,  Leicester. 
Subscriber's  edition  of  Cassell's  "  History  of  the  United 

States,"  by  Edmund  Oilier,  3  vols.,  complete,  unbound,  pro- 
fusely illustrated  with  wood  engravings  and  30  steel  plates  ; 
exchange  for  Geikie's  or  other  good  "Geology." — H.  P.  Dod- 
ridge,  7  Wharton  Street,  W.C. 

offers  requested  for  "  Midland  Naturalist,"  complete  series, 
up  to  end  of  1885. — F.  G.  S-,  2  The  Polygon,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Wanted,  binocular  microscope  with  rotating  stage  in  ex- 
■;  lor  monocular.  Full  particulars  to — J.  B.,  Gillsburn, 
Kilmarnock,  N.B. 

Microscope  by  Steward,  Strand  ;  capital  instrument,  with 
i  in.  objective,  polariscope,  condenser,  and  mahogany  case,  all 
in  thorough  condition  ;  will  exchange  for  another  secondhand, 
large  sue,  with  latest  improvements. — H.  W.  Gase,  Cotham, 
Bristol. 

W  hat  offersfor  "  Hopkinsonon  the  Indicator  "  and  Sciencl- 
Gossip  for  1880 ': — Archibald  W.  Fry,  Bridge  House,  Arundel. 

Wanted,  British  wild  bees  (fresh  specimens  only),  must  be 
correctly   named.      Good  exchange   given   in  micro  slides. — 

G.  Collins,  Bristol  House,  Harlesden,  N.W. 

Side-llown  eggs  of  willow  wren,  marsh  tit,  pied  wagtail, 
yellow  wagtail,  nugdove,  hooded  crow,  mallard  duck,  coot, 
Arctic  tern,  black-headed  gull,  guillemot,  and  others ;  wanted, 
other  eggs  in  exchange. — A.  Kelly,  5  Canal  Lane,  Aberdeen. 

A  Great  number  of  duplicate  Coleoptera  and  Lepidoptera, 
all  well-set  and  in  good  condition,  to  exchange  for  birds'  eggs 


or  skins,  works  on  oology,  or  books  of  sport.  Ser.d  for  lists  to — 
W.  P.  Ellis,  Enfield  Chase,  Middlesex,  N. 

British  and  American  birds'  skins  in  exchange  for  magic 
lantern  slides  or  offers. — James  Ingleby,  Eavestone,  Ripon. 

Fossils  from  the  shell  bed  in  the  millstone  grit  for  fossils 
from  the  red  cr.ig  or  others. — James  Ingleby,  Eavestone,  Ripon. 

Freshly-collected  marine  sponges,  zoophytes,  anemones, 
&c,  offered  in  exchange  for  shells,  eggs,  or  other  natural 
history  specimens.     Offers  requested. — C.  Jefferys,  Tenby. 

Humming-birds'  skins,  in  good  condition;  what  offers? 
Science-Gossip  for  1884,  in  numbers,  clean.— Joseph  Anderson, 
jun.,  Acre  Villa,  Chichester,  Sussex. 

A  good  exchange  offered  for  following  nests  containing  clutch 
of  eggs,  with  data :  pied  flycatcher,  nightingale,  stonechat, 
marsh  warbler,  Dartford  warbler,  woodwarbler,  great  tit,  rock 
pipit,  woodlark,  cirl  bunting,  hawfinch,  goldfinch;  also  wanted, 
foreign  species,  nests  with  eggs. — W.  K.  Mann,  Wellington 
Terrace,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Will  send  three  Hydra  fusca  in  tube,  or  two  young  newts 
with  external  gills  showing  circulation  of  blood,  in  exchange 
for  well-mounted  slide,  stained  biological  preferred.  —  Mr. 
Swainson,  Gilnow  Park,  Bolton. 

Exchange  Helix  visana,  Helix  obvoluta,  Bulimus  acutus, 
and  var.  bizona,  Bulimus  viontanus,  Clausilia  laminata, 
var.  albida;  for  Limntza  involuta,  Succinia  oblonga,  Acme 
lineata. — J.  Madison,  167  Bradford  Street,  Birmingham. 

Will  give  Cyclas  ovalis,  Paludina  Listerii,  for  Alismadon 
margariti/era,  U?iio  tumidus,  U?iio  pictorum. — G.  C,  68 
Rutland  Street,  Hulme,  Manchester. 

Wanted,  British  or  foreign  land  and  freshwater  shells.  Can 
give  in  exchange,  CI.  biplicata  from  Pulney,  P.  fontinale, 
P.  roseum,  PI.  lineatus,  Z.  radiatulus,  J',  antivertigo,  Balea 
perversa,  Coch.  tridens,  &c. — F.  G.  Fenn,  20  Woodstock  Road, 
Bedford  Park,  Chiswick,  \V. 

Duplicates,  Cataulus  pyramidatus,  Cataulus  Skinneri, 
Helix  Skinneri,  Helix  Wattoni,  H.  Gardneri,  and  many  other 
rare  shells  from  Ceylon.  Wanted,  rare  fossils  from  Upper 
Miocene  of  France  and  Italy,  or  state  offers. — J.  E.  Linter, 
Arragon  Close,  Twickenham. 

British  marine  shells  wanted  in  exchange  for  Kellia  sub- 
orbicularis,  Mya  Binghami,  and  others. — G.  O.  Howell, 
M.C.S.,  3  Ripon  Villas,  Ripon  Road,  Plumstead,  S.E. 

I  shall  be  happy  to  send  types  of  Suffumata  and  numerous 
other  insects  free  to  beginners  in  the  study  of  entomology. 
Box  and  return  postage  to  be  sent. — W.  Macmillan,  Castle 
Cary,  Somerset. 

A  beginner  would  be  glad  of  a  few  duplicates  ofland,  fresh- 
water, and  marine  shells;  algae,  beetles,  however  common, 
would  be  thankfully  received,  postage  paid  and  acknowledged. 
— Xema,  28  South  Street,  Carlisle. 

For  small  piece  of  "  cementstein "  from  Mors,  Jutland, 
(easy  to  clean  and  rich  in  diatoms),  send  stamp  and  address  to 
— H.  Morland,  Cranford,  near  Hounslow. 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  Our  Inject  Enemies,"  by  Theodore  Wood.  (London  :  Soc. 
Prom.  Christian  Knowledge.)—"  First  Year  of  Scientific  Know- 
ledge," by  Paul  Bert.  (London:  Relfe  Bros.)  —  "British 
Cage  Birds,"  Part  I.,  and  "The  Book  of  the  Goat,"  Part  I. 
(London:  L.  Upcott  Gill.) — "American  Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal." — "  Cosmos."— "  Reports  of  the  Botanical  Exchange 
Club  of  the  British  Isles  for  1S83  and  1884."— "  Proceedings  of 
the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Liverpool,  1883-4." 
(London:  Longmans.)— "  Science."— "Journal  of  the  New 
York  Micioscopical  Society."— "The  Canadian  Entomologist." 
— "  The  Amateur  Photographer."—"  Ben  Brierley's  Journal." 
— "The  Rochdale  Field  Naturalists' Journal."— "  Feuille  des 
Jeunes  Naturalistes."— "The  Garner."— "  Animal  World."— 
"  The  Naturalist." — "  Proceedings  of  the  Liverpool  Geologists' 
Association." — "The  Midland  Naturalist."— "  Journal  of  the 
Quekett  Microscopical  Club."— "Catalogue  of  Collins' '  Special ' 
Micro  Slides."— "The  Lost  Voice."  (Medical  Battery  Co.) 
"The  American  Naturalist."— "Proceedings  of  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia."— K.  F.  Koehler's  Anti- 
quarium,  Catalog.  No.  428.—"  British  Moss  Flora,"  Part  IX. 
&c.         &c.         &c. 


Communications    received    up   to    iith   ult.  from:— 

E.  A.  s.— W.  C— J.  P.-W.  G.  W.— H.  G.— J.  R.  B.  M.— 
M.  B.  G.— T.  E.  T—  M.  E.  T.— F.  J.  R.-T.  W.  H.— C.  C.  A. 
_A.  G.  W.— T.  D.  A.  C— W.  H.  H.-J.  H.— J.  G.  O.  T.— 
W    H.— P.   F.   L.— J.   W.   G.— H.   L.-A.   J.-W.   E.   D.— 

F.  H.  P.— H.  W.  C—  E.  W— W.  K.  S.— F.  W.  E.  S.— C.  S. 
-E.  D.  M.— S.  M.  M.— J.  M.-A.  D.— J.  B.— H.  W.  C— H. 
— W.  R.  W.— H.  M.— H.  W.  V.  B.— J.  T.  R.— A.  K.— J.  C— 
T.  B.-J.  E.— M.  E.  T.— W.  A.   C— A.  W.   F.— J.  A.,  jun.— 

G.  R.-J.  M.-C.  J.-S.  J.  H.-J.  S.,  jun.-E.  A.-G.  C— 
W.  S.— J.  B.-G.  A.  B.— J.  B.-F.  C.  K.— A.  P.— C.  C— 
E.  h.— W.  H.  H.— W.  S.— J.  W.— J.  E.  L.— J.  L— R.  S— 
W.  M.— C.  F.  W.— W.  P.  E.— D.  O— G.  O.  H.— F.  H.— 
J.  L.— S.  H.— F.  R.  R.-G.  S.— C.  C.-F.  G.  F.— J.  R.  R.— 
L.  J.— H.  P.  D— E.  W.,  &c.  &c. 


GRAPHIC     MICROSCOPY 


E.T.D  del  adnat. 


Sonjjflt 


EGGS    OF    ACARUS     OF    VULTURE. 


x  70 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


265 


GRAPHIC    MICROSCOPY. 


By    E.    T.    DRAPER. 


No.  XXIV. — Eggs  of  Parasite  of  Vulture. 


OMMONLY  sur- 
rounded with  un- 
inviting associa- 
tions of  decay  and 
pollution,  the  Ap- 
terous, or  wingless 
insects,  have  to  the 
uninitiated  a  repu- 
tation of  repulsive- 
ness  and  inherent 
ugliness  ;  but  with- 
out comparing  them 
for  beauty  with 
creatures  of  a  high- 
er class,  they  are 
found  under  micro- 
scopic examination 
to  possess  an  inter- 
est essentially  their 
own.  Possibly  no 
ether  order  shows,  from  the  egg  to  perfection,  a  greater 
diversity  of  form,  or  more  quaint  embellishment. 

The  division  Anoplura,  commonly  known  as  lice, 
are  parasitic  on  mammals  and  birds.  The  plate 
represents  the  eggs  of  the  species  infesting  the 
feathers  of  the  vulture.  The  number  of  varieties  is 
very  extensive,  and  the  egg  necessarily  greatly 
diversified  in  configuration.  Many  are  beautifully 
sculptured,  and  provided  with  contrivances  in  the 
shape  of  covers  and  lids.  Almost  every  bird  has  a 
distinct  variety,  some  two  or  three,  and  different 
forms  of  egg  may  be  found  in  distinct  and  separate 
localities,  in  the  breast  and  neck,  and  on  the  under 
side  of  the  primary  wing  feathers.  Birds  in  captivity 
suffer  severely,  but  scarcely  any  of  the  feathered 
tribe  escape.  Specimens  of  the  rarest  beauty  may 
be  obtained  from  the  pheasant. 

Of  the  Acarina,  or  mites,  a  wide  and  interesting 
field  is  open  to  the  young  microscopist.  Found 
wherever  there  is  decay  and  mouldiness,  even  in  the 
cavities  of  the  bones  of  skeletons,  they  may  be  re- 
garded as  ubiquitous.  Many  are  extremely  curious 
No.  252.— December  1885. 


in  shape  and  adornment,  well  exemplified  in  a 
beautiful  specimen  of  a  wood  mite  of  the  genus 
Oribata,  procured  from  Mr.  C.  Collins,  jun.,  of 
Harlesden.  It  presents  an  extraordinary  appearance  ; 
the  development  is,  egg,  larva,  nymph,  and  the 
adult  male  and  female.  The  nymph  changes,  or 
partly  moults  its  skin,  four  or  five  times,  carrying 
the  cast  skins  on  its  back  overlapping  each  other, 
and  being  necessarily  of  various  sizes  they  give  the 
appearance  of  its  being  surrounded  with  a  series  of 
flounces.  The  creature  in  this  condition  seems 
tricked  out  with  a  general  assortment  of  frippery  and 
furbelows.  The  reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Michael's 
papers,  and  beautiful  plates  on  this  interesting  species 
in  late  numbers  of  the  "Journal  of  the  Microscopical 
Society." 

Those  who  have  not  access  to  the  writings  of 
Nicolet,  Claparede,  C.  L.  Koch,  and  others,  on  the 
Acarina,  can  procure  a  cheap  handbook,  "  Economic 
Entomology  ;  Aptera,"  by  Mr.  Andrew  Murray,  pub- 
lished by  Chapman  and  Hall,  by  order  of  the 
Committee  of  Council  on  Education.  It  is  lavishly 
illustrated  with  typical  forms,  well  indexed,  and 
forms  a  valuable  key  of  reference  to  more  exhaustive 
research. 

Crouch  End. 


TEETH    OF    FLIES. 
1 

By  W.  H.  Harris. 

No.  VIII. 

"  FUCELLA  FUCORUM,"  Fallen. 

THIS  fly  was  taken  on  debris  cast  up  by  the  tide 
on  our  coast  during  the  latter  part  of  October, 
but  may,  very  probably,  be  taken  in  other  situations 
if  diligently  searched  for.  There  is  nothing  very 
peculiar  in  its  general  appearance  to  attract  attention, 
and  it  is  therefore  rather  difficult  to  describe  satis- 
factorily, so  that  it  may  be  recognised  by  the  collector. 
It  is  a  rather  small  fly,  being  not  more  than  about  a 

x 


266 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


quarter  of  an  inch  long.  The  thorax  is  of  a  drab  or 
greyish-brown  colour,  with  a  fairly  well-defined  stripe 
of  a  slightly  darker  shade  centrally  situated.  The 
dorsal  portion  of  the  abdomen  is  slate,  or  lead  colour  ; 
the  ventral,  a  trifle  lighter.  Each  segment  of  the 
abdomen  bears  two  spots  of  a  darker  hue,  but  which 
disappear  on  looking  at  the  creature  with  the  head 
pointing  towards  the  observer.  The  thorax  and 
abdomen  are  fairly  clad  with  tolerably  short  hairs, 
the  legs  are  cf  the  same  colour  as  the  abdomen,  the 
eyes  a  chocolate  brown.  The  proboscis,  for  about 
half  its  length,  is  fleshy ;  the  remaining  portion, 
towards  the  extremity,  being  considerably  harder,  but 
scarcely  chitinous.  When  dealt  with  microscopically, 
ii  will  be  found  that  the  lobes  of  the  labium,  although 
small,    are   capable    of    being   expanded,    and   then 


impression  that  a  minute  molar  is  being  observed. 
These  are  all  rather  dark  in  colour,  and,  for  the  size 
of  the  creature,  very  strong. 

A  modification  of  the  basal  portions  of  the  pseudo- 
trachea  form  the  secondary  and  third  sets  of  teeth. 
The  bases  spring  from  different  parts,  and  become 
united  as  they  approach  the  free  end.  They  are  very 
thin  and  delicate  in  structure.  On  comparing  this 
example  with  preceding  illustrations,  it  will  be 
found  to  be  by  far  the  most  minute  yet  dealt  with, 
yet  a  comparatively  powerful  set  of  organs  are 
presented  ;  in  fact,  it  would  appear  that  the  size  of 
a  fly  has  practically  little  to  do  with  the  general 
arrangement  beyond  limiting  the  size  of  these  organs, 
but  that  the  nature  of  the  food  has  probably  a  much 
closer  bearing  on  the  subject. 


PRESERVATION  OF  THE 
EYESIGHT. 


I 


Fig.  180. — Teeth  of  Fucellafncorum. 

reveal  a  rather  interesting  set  of  organs  of  dentition. 
These  consist  of  primary,  secondary,  and  third  sets  of 
teeth  in  some  portions  of  the  mouth.  Viewing  them 
in  a  lateral  position,  the  primary  set  are  six  in 
number,  the  two  marginal  members  being  of  the  same 
type  as  the  blow-fly  ;  then  follow  on  one  side  (which 
in  its  natural  position  is  the  fore  part  of  the  mouth), 
two  teeth  somewhat  similar,  yet  presenting  a  slight 
change  in  form,  inasmuch  as  one  of  the  two  points 
which  terminate  the  organ  is  considerably  longer 
than  the  other.  One  tooth  of  this  form  also  succeeds 
the  lateral  one  at  the  back  of  the  mouth,  but  it  will 
be  observed  the  long  point  is  here  reversed.  The 
remaining  tooth  of  the  primary  set  is  rather  remark- 
able, as  it  bears  three  points,  and,  when  looked  at 
with    an    eighth     of   an   inch  power,    conveys    the 


OBSERVE  with  great  pleasure 
that  one  of  the  Christmas  Annuals 
has  been  printed  on  green  paper  with 
the  type  in  blue  ink,  with  the  praise- 
worthy intention  of  saving  the  eye- 
sight of  readers. 

The  subscribers  to  SciEN(  £-GossiP 
probably  use  their  eyes  more  diligently 
than  most  persons,  both  in  reading, 
drawing,  working  with  the  microscope, 
and  examining  minute  objects  ;  this  is 
a  question  therefore  that  interests  them 
nearly. 

I  think  it  well  to  point  out  that, 
while  the  book  printed  as  I  have  de- 
scribed may  be  better  than  similar 
works  printed  upon  dead  white  paper, 
the  colours  of  both  the  paper  and  the 
type  might  be  greatly  improved.  The 
paper  is  too  much  of  a  bluish-green, 
and  the  ink  is  too  bright  a  blue.  Were 
the  paper  more  of  a  yellowish-green, 
and  the  type  dark  olive-green,  the  result  would  be 
much  more  restful  to  the  eyes.  I  find  it  is  a  great 
benefit  to  read  this  book  through  glasses  of  a  smoky 
brown  tint  ;  the  letters  appear  a  less  vivid  blue  and 
are  much  sharper  defined.  Furthermore,  a  great 
benefit  might  be  gained  by  using  heavier  type,  that  is, 
not  larger  letters,  but  letters  with  the  fine  strokes 
thicker  than  they  are  usually  made. 

I  believe  the  publishers  of  Science-Gossip  have 
already  paid  some  attention  to  this  question,  and 
I  trust  it  will  one  day  bring  forth  fruit. 

John  Browning. 


We  have  received  a  series  of  six  slides  from  Mr. 
H.  Vial,  Crediton,  containing  admirable  anatomical 
sections,  beautifully  mounted. 


BARD  WICKE'S  SCIE  NCE-  G  OSSW. 


267 


GOSSIP    ON    CURRENT   TOPICS. 
By  W.  Mattieu  Williams,  F.R.A.S.,  F.C.S. 

IN  the  October  number  of  "The  Popular  Science 
Monthly"  is  an  interesting  account  of  "  the 
trading  rat,"  alias  "  mountain  rat,"  "  timber  rat,"  and 

trade  rat."  His  place  of  residence  is  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  adjacent  hills.  He  is  larger  than  our 
domestic  rat,  his  tail  not  rat-like,  but  more  like  a 
squirrel's,  only  less  bushy,  being  covered  with  fur. 
Cats  are  afraid  of  him,  and  when  unacquainted  with 
human  habits  he  is  not  afraid  of  men.  The  com- 
mercial reputation  and  name  of  these  animals  is  founded 
on  a  curious  habit.  They  help  themselves  to  stores 
of  food,  but  scrupulously  pay  by  means  of  barter  for 
all  they  take.  Examples  of  this  are  given  in  detail. 
The  contents  of  a  bread-pan  were  annexed,  none  of 
the  bread  left,  but  it  was  equitably  refilled  with  scraps 
of  leather,  chips,  bones,  mouldy  beans,  rags,  &c. 
The  bread  thus  abstracted  was  found  carefully  stored 
and  hidden  in  an  old  tin  can,  together  with  bacon 
rinds,  bones,  rags,  &c.  In  another  case  a  meal-box 
■was  deprived  of  a  portion  of  its  normal  contents,  and 
the  remainder  was  mixed  with  bird-shot.  The  crown 
of  a  new  hat  was  eaten  round,  and  by  way  of  com- 
pensation the  hat-box  was  filled  with  rags,  remains  of 
food,  wheat  and  dried  fruits.  Knives,  spoons, 
watches,  and  other  glittering  things  appeal  to  their 
acquisitiveness,  and  are  accordingly  abstracted  and 
hidden  away,  miscellaneous  "dry  goods"  being 
substituted  for  the  hardware.  Red  cloth  is  similarly 
attractive,  especially  as  nest-building  material.  Their 
rema  kable  intelligence  and  natural  gentleness  sug- 
gest ihe  possibility  of  domestication,  and  training 
them  to  useful  industry. 

Windmills  appear  to  be  looking  up.  According  to 
Mr.  Alfred  R.  Wolfe,  who  has  published  in  New 
York  a  treatise  on  "The  Windmill  as  a  Prime 
Mover,"  their  use  is  increasing,  it  is  now  greater  than 
at  any  other  period  in  the  history  of  the  world.  We 
are  so  accustomed  here  to  regard  them  as  antiquated 
and  superseded  by  steam-engines,  that  this  statement 
will  be  doubtfully  received  by  many.  Mr.  Wolff 
states  that  in  some  cities  of  the  United  States,  on 
an  average,  over  five  thousand  windmills  are  manu- 
factured annually.  They  are  chiefly  used  for 
domestic  purposes,  such  as  pumping  and  storing 
water  in  isolated  country  houses.  We  are  also  in- 
formed that  great  improvements  have  been  made, 
that  the  American  patterns  are  superior  to  those  of 
Europe.  This  should  be  the  case,  as  our  European 
engineers  (excepting  Dutchmen)  have  scarcely  con- 
descended to  look  at  such  old-world  contrivances 
during  the  age  of  steam.  Modern  science  must 
surely  be  able  to  contribute  something  in  this  direc- 
tion. 

The  motion  of  the  wind  is  the  most  economical  and 
generally  distributed  source  of  power  available  by 
man,   and  certainly   should  not  be  neglected.     The 


principal  objection  to  it,  its  variability,  may  now  be 
overcome  by  the  use  of  compressed  air  and  electrical 
accumulators.  At  our  present  rate  of  coal  wasting  a 
scarcity  of  that  source  of  power  in  this  country  is 
within  easily  measurable  distance,  and  it  is  well  to 
know  that  a  substitute  exists,  one  which,  if  but  partially 
utilised,  might  supply  us  with  a  vastly  greater  amount 
of  horse-power  than  all  our  steam  engines  ten  times 
told.  0 

The  testimony  of  Mr.  Mitchell  Henry  concerning 
the  merits  of  the  Caucasian  variety  of  the  prickly 
comfrey  {Symphytum  asperrinium)  is  of  great  value. 
Having  visited  him  at  Kylemore  Castle,  and  seen  what 
he  has  done  there  in  converting  great  areas  of  the 
most  obstinate  of  Irish  bog  wastes  into  luxuriant 
meadows  and  arable  land,  and  the  mountain  slopes 
of  theConnemara  desert  into  lovely  gardens  and  most 
luxuriant  shrubbery,  with  choice  and  tender  exotics 
flourishing  where  gloomy  chatterers  and  indolent 
landlords  tell  us  that  ordinary  timber  cannot  thrive 
on  account  of  the  wind — I  read  the  letter  in  the 
"  Times  "  with  much  interest  and  perfect  faith  in  its 
practical  reliability.  Instead  of  making  an  abstract 
of  it  here  as  at  first  intended,  I  enclose  it  to  the 
editor  to  reprint  in  full,  as  I  cannot  condense  the 
plain  statement  of  facts  without  omitting  useful 
information.  The  agricultural  transformations  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Kylemore  Castle  present  the  most 
interesting  and  hopeful  sight  I  beheld  during  three 
summers'  wandering  through  Ireland.  If  every  Irish 
landlord  did  his  duty  as  Mr.  Henry  has  done,  Irish 
misery  would  be  at  an  end,  and  the  demand  for  Irish 
labour  on  Irish  soil  would  effect  a  considerable  re- 
emigration  of  true  Irishmen  from  America. 

"A  Paying  Crop. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Times: 

"  Sir, — I  have  occasionally  sent  you  notes  from 
this  place  on  agricultural  matters,  and  it  may  now  be 
useful  to  the  farming  interest  to  receive  a  confirma- 
tion of  the  great  value  of  a  crop  introduced  of  late 
years  into  the  United  Kingdom  as  a  forage  crop, 
inasmuch  as  conflicting  statements  have  been  made 
about  it.  I  refer  to  the  Caucasian  variety  of  the 
prickly  comfrey  {Symphytum  asperrinium). 

"Five  years  ago  I  obtained  a  small  supply  of  the 
roots  from  a  London  agent,  and  planted  them  in  a 
light  sandy  soil  in  which  they  did  not  do  very  well. 
The  roots  were  then  taken  up,  divided  like  Jerusalem 
artichokes,  and  transplanted  into  reclaimed  peat  land, 
receiving  a  good  supply  of  farmyard  manure.  Here 
the  prickly  comfrey  has  flourished  amazingly,  and  by 
subdivision  now  covers  several  acres.  It  has  been 
cut  this  year  already  five  times,  and  will  be  cut  again 
before  Christmas,  yielding  by  careful  weighing  after 
the  present  fifth  cutting  a  total  of  40  tons  to  the  acre. 

"  The  plant  is  uncommonly  handsome,  and  when 
planted  should  have  intervals  for  its  growth  of  not 
less  than  two  feet,  and  when  gathered  it  should  be 

x  2 


268 


HARDWICK&S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


cut  down  even  with  the  ground  and  receive  a  dose  of 
liquid  or  other  manure.  Cattle  eat  it  greedily,  and  it 
is  excellent  for  dairy  cows  as  it  does  not  flavour  the 
milk.  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  the  roughness  of  the 
leaves  makes  it  distasteful  to  cattle,  but  this  is  an 
error.  It  is  an  invaluable  food  for  pheasants,  ducks, 
and  all  kinds  of  fowl,  and  if  chopped  up  for  them 
in  that  most  useful  instrument,  Starritt's  American 
circular  cutter,  and  mixed  with  barley  meal  or  crushed 
Indian  corn,  it  fattens  them  rapidly,  and  saves  a  third 
of  the  grain.  I  have  had  two  of  these  mincing 
machines,  one  large  and  the  other  small,  both  pur- 
chased from  Gilbertson  &  Page,  Hertford. 

"Like  all  broad-leaved  plants,  which  derive  much 
of  their  food  from  the  air  and  the  rain,  comfrey  grows 
best  wherever  swedes  and  mangolds  flourish,  and 
amply  repays  the  expenditure  of  a  fair  supply  of 
manure.  It  has  been  stated  that  no  manure  is 
wanted,  but  this,  as  regards  all  plants,  is  nonsense, 
for  in  some  way  or  other  you  must  restore  to  the 
soil  what  you  have  taken  out  of  it,  and  root  crops 
especially  exhaust  the  soil.  Preserved  as  ensilage 
prickly  comfrey  does  not  seem  to  have  done  very 
well,  and  the  product  is  unusually  disagreeable  in 
smell. 

"  It  may  be  added  that  the  common  English  com- 
frey used  to  be  employed  as  a  poultice  or  to  stop 
bleeding,  for  it  contains  much  mucilage. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  faithfully  yours, 

" Kylemore.  "Mitchell  Henry." 

Dr.  Fiordispini,  Director  of  the  Manicomio,  the 
great  lunatic  asylum  of  Rome,  tells  us  that  among  a 
staff  of  327  persons  in  that  establishment  who  are 
engaged  in  watching  and  attending  the  insane  3-c;8 
per  cent,  have  themselves  become  insane.  This 
amounts  to  1  in  25  persons,  while  of  the  entire 
population  of  Rome  the  proportion  is  only  I  in  585  ; 
or  otherwise  stated,  the  attendants  at  the  asylum  are 
23  times  more  liable  to  insanity  than  people  outside. 
Dr.  Fiordispini  connects  this  with  the  tendency  to 
imitation,  or  moral  infection.  The  history  of  mankind 
in  all  countries  plainly  demonstrates  that  moral 
epidemics  have  prevailed  either  by  imitation  or  some 
influence  that  is  very  imperfectly  understood.  The 
facts  stated  by  Dr.  Fiordispini  plainly  teach,  that  no 
persons  having  even  the  remotest  hereditary  tendency 
to  insanity  should  seek  employment  in  a  lunatic 
asylum. 

The  Japanese  are  doing  good  service  to  science 
and  to  themselves  by  the  systematic  study  of  earth- 
quake movements,  and  the  British  Association  is 
co-operating  with  them.  By  suitable  instruments, 
seismographs,  the  movements  of  the  earth  are  made 
to  describe  themselves,  to  draw  their  own  portraits 
on  suitable  paper.  These  diagrams  tell  a  great 
deal,  and  to  render  them  more  expressive,  artificial 
earthquakes  have  been  made  by  exploding  dynamite 
in  the   ground,  dropping   cannon-balls  from  various 


heights,  and  otherwise  shaking  the  earth  in  a  definite 
manner,  so  as  to  compare  the  seismograph  diagram 
of  an  artificial  disturbance  of  known  character  with 
the  natural  disturbance,  and  thus  lead  on  to  explana- 
tions of  the  natural  phenomena.  Last  year  eighty 
natural  earthquakes  were  specially  studied  by  the 
British  Association  Committee,  the  year  before  thirty- 
nine,  and  the  year  preceding  that  twenty-six.  The 
Japanese  have  seismographs  in  their  coal-mines  as 
well  as  above  ground.  The  results  are  very  interest- 
ing, but  too  elaborate  for  me  to  attempt  anything  like 
a  general  account  of  them  here,  beyond  describing  a 
very  practical  application  of  these  researches,  viz., 
the  determination  of  how  to  construct  a  house  which 
shall  resist  earthquake  motion. 

This  has  been  done  by  resting  the  foundation  on 
cast-iron  balls.  At  first  10-inch  shells  were  used. 
The  record  of  a  seismograph  placed  inside  a  house 
thus  constructed  showed  that  although  it  was  sub- 
jected to  considerable  movement  at  the  time  of  an 
earthquake,  all  sudden  motion  had  been  destroyed. 
The  winds  and  other  causes  produced  much  more 
serious  movements  than  the  earthquake.  The  house 
was  floating  too  freely.  Then  8-inch  balls  were  tried, 
then  i-inch,  and  finally  the  house  was  rested  at  each 
of  its  piers  on  a  handful  of  cast-iron  shot  of  only 
\  inch  in  diameter  ;  these  shot  rest  between  cast-iron 
plates.  The  friction  in  this  case  was  sufficient  to 
resist  the  disturbing  agency  of  the  wind,  while  the 
earthquake  movements,  communicated  of  course  to 
the  piers,  merely  rolled  the  shot  under  the  foundation 
of  the  house  without  moving  the  house  itself.  I 
should  add  that  the  houses  were  not  of  the  London 
suburban  jerry  order  of  architecture,  not  with  9-inch 
walls  made  of  rotten  bricks  set  in  mortar  made  of 
dusthole  ashes,  but  were  respectable  wooden  and 
iron  structures.  As  I  have  said  before,  we  shall 
some  day  take  our  turn  in  the  matter  of  earthquakes, 
and  when  we  do  the  excessive  population  of  suburban 
London  will  be  very  much  regulated,  and  "  the  en- 
franchisements of  leaseholds "  will  be  radically 
affected. 

Mr.  A.  Buchan's  paper  read  to  the  British  Asso- 
ciation on  the  Rainfall  of  the  British  Islands  from  i860 
to  1883  is  very  interesting.  One  of  the  most  striking 
facts  brought  forth  is  the  quantity  of  rain  that  falls  in 
Glencoe,  viz.,  128J  inches.  This  is  the  heaviest  in 
Scotland.  The  average  in  the  regions  of  heaviest 
rainfall,  viz.,  Skye,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  main- 
land as  far  as  Luys,  on  Loch  Lomond,  the  greater 
part  of  the  Lake  District,  a  long  strip  including  the 
more  mountainous  part  of  North  Wales,  and  the 
mountainous  district  to  the  south-east  of  Waies,  is 
So  inches.  The  smallest  rainfall  is  in  the  south-east 
of  England.  The  observations  were  made  at  10S0 
stations  in  England  and  Wales,  547  in  Scotland,  and 
213  in  Ireland. 

Weather  prophets  are  usually  very  unfortunate ; 
their   failures   are   generally   proportionate    to   their 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


269 


confidence  of  success  and  the  supposed  magnitude  of 
their  discoveries.  I  have  received  a  curious  newspaper, 
"  The  Future,"  published  at  Richland,  Shawnee  Co., 
Kansas,  U.S.,  which  promises  magnificently  and 
gives  much  advice  to  agriculturists. 

I  was  a  boy  when  London  was  thrown  into  a 
spasm  of  temporary  insanity  by  "  Murphy's  Weather 
Almanac."  It  was  all  done  by  one  lucky  hit.  Any- 
body may  make  an  almanac  and  predict  the  weather 
for  each  day  in  the  year,  and  be  right  more  frequently 
than  wrong,  by  simply  taking  the  averages  from 
meteorological  observations  and  predicting  accord- 
ingly ;  but  Murphy  was  bolder  than  this.  He  pre. 
dieted  that  a  certain  day  early  in  the  year  would  be 
phenomenally  cold,  and  it  was  so  ;  28  degrees  below 
freezing  in  Hyde  Park.  Then  followed  a  rush  to 
buy  the  almanac,  and  a  ridiculous  excitement.  Songs 
were  sung  in  the  streets,  and  wild  stories  were  told 
of  the  magnetical  and  electrical  discoveries  of  the 
great  meteorological  Murphy. 

In  spite  of  all  our  meteorological  observatories  and 
observations,  we  are  still  unable  to  make  any  far 
forward  predictions  of  weather  beyond  stating  prob- 
able averages.  Storm  warnings  are  fairly  reliable, 
but  these  and  the  rest  of  the  daiiy  forecasts  of  the 
Meteorological  Office  are  not  exactly  predictions. 
They  are  statements  of  atmospheric  movements  that 
are  proceeding  in  certain  directions,  and  which,  if 
they  continue,  will  reach  certain  localities  a  few 
hours  later.  They  do  commonly  continue  as  antici- 
pated, but  not  certainly.  About  eighty  per  cent,  of 
the  forecasts  are  fulfilled,  and  the  rest  are  failures. 

A  really  valuable  contribution  to  weather-wisdom 
was  read  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  British  Association 
by  Dr.  Courteney  Fox,  "  On  Some  of  the  Laws 
which  Regulate  the  Sequence  of  Mean  Temperature 
and  Rainfall  in  the  Climate  of  London."  These  laws 
are  induced  from  observations  extending  over  the 
last  seventy  years.  They  are  necessarily  empirical, 
i.e.,  all  mere  generalisations  of  average  fact,  not 
deductions  from  necessary  causation.  Dr.  Fox  finds 
that  if  a  spring  or  a  summer  be  very  cold,  the  suc- 
ceeding season  will  be  cold,  and  that  warm  autumns 
succeed  very  warm  summers.  It  is  very  rarely  that 
a  dry  August  is  followed  by  a  wet  September.  A 
very  wet  and  cold  summer  is  usually  succeeded  by  a 
cold  autumn.  If  January,  April,  June,  July,  August, 
September  or  December  are  very  cold,  the  succeeding 
month  will  probably  be  dry.  Very  warm  January, 
expect  a  dry  February.  The  next  month  following 
a  very  warm  June,  July,  or  August  will  be  warm. 
Very  wet  January,  March,  or  April,  usually  fol- 
lowed by  a  warm  month.  Warm  and  wet  November 
and  December,  wet  month  to  follow.  Warm  and 
wet  January,  expect  a  warm  February.  A  warm 
month  usually  follows  a  warm  and  dry  June  or  July, 
and  a  wet  September  follows  a  warm  and  dry  August. 
Cold  and  wet  July  and  August,  expect  cold  month 
to   follow.     Cold   and   dry   December,    expect   cold 


January.       Cold    and    dry    November,    expect    dry 
December. 

A  difficulty  is  suggested  on  reading  these  indica- 
tions, viz.,  that  of  finding  when  the  changes  come. 
In  nearly  all  the  cases  specified  the  order  for  the  next 
month  or  next  season  is,  "As  you  were."  I  suppose 
that  we  must  read  all  these  descriptions  of  the  pre- 
ceding period  as  intended  for  exceptional  weather, 
and  that  such  weather  usually  shades  off  gradually, 
while  the  more  decided  changes  more  commonly 
follow  average  weather. 

I  am  glad  to  find  among  the  papers  read  in  Section 
B  (Chemistry),  one  by  Professor  Odling,  which  has 
the  merciful  intent  of  relieving  us  from  some  of  the 
structural  names  which  are  daily  poured  upon  the 
unhappy  student  of  organic  chemistry.  Every  plant 
that  has  an  odour,  or  has  a  flavour,  or  contains  any 
thing  that  has  any  special  property,  may  be  tortured 
until  it  yields  some  substance  with  real  or  imaginary 
special  composition  and  properties,  and  every  such 
substance  may  be  physicked  with  strong  acids  or 
strong  bases,  or  chlorine,  iodine,  bromine,  &c.  &c, 
and  forced  into  some  sort  of  combination  with  these  ; 
and  the  compounds  thus  formed  may  unite  with  other 
compounds,  and  thus  on,  ad  infinitum.  Millions  of 
millions  of  such  things  may  be  concocted,  then 
analysed,  then  formulated,  and  then  named  according 
to  their  imaginary  molecular  constitution.  Now  that 
we  have  hundreds  of  young  aspirants  fox  chemical 
fame  who  devote  themselves  to  such  mixing,  and 
messing,  and  analysing,  and  naming,  the  torrents  of 
papers  poured  into  the  learned  societies  combine  to 
produce  a  flood  that  is  simply  maddening,  and  would 
drive  all  our  chemists  into  lunatic  asylums,  but  for  a 
protecting  providence  which  has  ordained  a  beneficent 
law  that  operates  with  stern  rigidity ;  viz.,  that 
nobody  but  the  author  and  the  printer  ever  reads 
these  papers.  I  pick  up  at  random  the  two  last 
numbers  (October  and  November)  of  the  "Journal  of 
the  Chemical  Society,"  and  find  among  the  abstracts 
of  papers  on  Organic  Chemistry  more  than  a  hundred 
of  these  new  substances  discovered  during  each 
current  month.  This  has  been  going  on  for  years, 
and  may  go  on  for  ever,  if  the  supply  of  ordinary 
laboratory  aspirants  is  maintained.  As  an  example 
of  the  sort  of  names  which  Professor  Odling  desires 
to  reform,  I  will  quote  two  or  three  from  one  of  the 
numbers  of  the  journal  above  named.  "  Orthochloro- 
carbonylpheny  forth ophosphoricdichforide, "  obtained  by 
R.  Anschiitz,  and  re-named  as  above,  its  original  name 
given  to  it  by  Couper,  trichforophosphate  of  salicyle, 
being  too  short  (page  1062).  "  Tetrachloroquinone- 
metanitr aniline"  obtained  in  black  crystals  by  M. 
Niemeyer,  together  with  a  dozen  of  other  chemical 
cousins  (page  1066).  E.  Bamberger  and  S.  C. 
Hooker  present  us  with  several  of  their  new-born 
chemical  babies,  among  which  is  one  that  bears  the 
pretty  name  of  "  hydroxyisopropyldiphenyleneketone- 
carboxylic  acid,"  which   is  described  as    "a   strong 


270 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


acid  containing  only  one  carboxyl  group  "  (page  1070). 
When  its  younger  brothers,  containing  several  carboxyl 
groups  are  born,  and  named  according  to  their  more 
complex  composition,  the  result  may  be  imagined. 
These  are  all  culled  from  pages  1062  to  1070  of  the 
October  number.  I  have  marked  others  in  the 
November  number,  but  in  mercy  to  my  readers  will 
not  quote  them. 

Professor  Odling  proposes  to  supply  empirical 
names  instead  of  these,  justly  observing  that  "  the 
primaiy  purpose  of  a  name  is  undoubtedly  to  designate 
and  not  to  describe."  In  "  The  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine" of  October,  1880,  I  illustrated  the  result  of 
this  principle  of  naming  a  thing  by  a  description  of 
its  composition,  by  applying  it  to  the  case  of  our 
familiar  Christmas-pudding,  Suctofloiircggcandiedpcd- 
raisiiispicecurrantsconglomerate,  would  thus  be  its 
pretty  little  title. 

As  the  primary  object  of  99 '9  per  cent,  of  the 
researches  which  produce  these  violent  neological 
outbreaks  is  to  establish  the  reputation  of  the  analyst, 
why  not  carry  out  this  purpose  more  effectually  by 
bestowing  upon  these  new  concoctions  the  names  of 
their  parents,  with  a  distinctive  prefix  ?  Thus  Smith's 
chemical  first-born  might  be  named  Alpha  Smith,  his 
second  Beta  Smith  ;  then  Gamma,  Delta,  and  on  to 
Omega  Smith.  After  this  Alpha  A.  Smith,  Alpha 
B.  Smith,  &c,  to  the  end  of  the  Roman  alphabet. 
This  would  supply  24  X  26  =  624  names,  after 
which  numerals  might  be  used,  625  Smith,  and  so  on 
to  the  required  number  of  thousands. 


CHAPTERS  ON  FOSSIL  SHARKS  AND 
RAYS. 

By  Arthur  Smith  Woodward. 

V. 

Myliobatid^e. 

SOME  of  the  largest  and  most  pelagic  of  the  living 
Batoidei  are  included  in  this  family,  and  fossil 
remains  of  at  least  three  genera  are  not  uncommon  in 
the  Tertiary  deposits,  both  of  this  country  and  the 
Continent.  One  of  their  most  characteristic  features, 
and  that  which  is  of  greatest  interest  and  importance 
to  the  palaeontologist,  consists  in  the  nature  of  the 
dentition.  The  mouth  is  armed  with  a  number  of 
flat  crushing  plates,  often  united  firmly  together  by 
sutures  and  varying  in  arrangement  in  the  different 
genera ;  they  are  placed  in  successive  transverse 
series,  and  as  the  front  rows  become  unfit  for  use, 
they  fall  out  of  the  mouth,  being  replaced  by  new 
ones  from  behind.  These  dental  plates,  together  with 
specimens  of  the  barbed  spine  fixed  upon  the  tail  of 
some  forms,  constitute  all  the  known  fossil  evidence, 
and  are  met  with  in  Eocene  strata  at  Sheppey, 
Bracklesham,  and  Barton  ;  in  Miocene  at  various 
Continental  localities  ;  and  in  the  Pliocene  Crag  of 
Norwich.     The  type-genus  is  Myliobatis,  in  which  the 


six-sided  teeth  are  arranged  in  seven  rows  (fig.  1S1), 
the  median  row  consisting  of  much  elongated  plates, 
and  the  three  lateral  rows  on  each  side,  of  small 
hexagonal  plates.  About  eleven  species  are  recorded* 
from  the  London  Clay,  and  the  Bracklesham  and 
Barton  beds,  the  most  important  being  M.  Toliapicus 
and  M.  Dixon/,  and  associated  with  them  are  examples 
of  caudal  spines.  The  dentition  of  ^Etobatis,  also 
found  in  the  same  strata,  differs  from  that  of  Myliobatis 
in  consisting  only  of  a  single  row  of  plates  (fig.  182). 
About  six  species  of  this  genus  have  been  described 
from  the  English  Eocenes,  but  the  fact  that  the  teeth 


Fig.  181.— Teeth  of  Myliobatis. 


Fig.  182. —  Straight  teeth  of  sEtobatis. 


Fig.  183.— Arched  teeth  of  Mtobatis. 

of  one  jaw  are  sometimes  nearly  straight  (fig.  1S2), 
while  those  of  the  other  are  considerably  arched 
(fig.  183),  renders  the  specific  determination  of  de- 
tached plates  somewhat  uncertain.  Zygobatis  (fig.  184) 
is  another  form,  referred  to  the  living  RJmwptera  by 
Dr.  Gunther,  and  characterised  by  the  disposition  of 
the  dental  armature  in  seven  longitudinal  rows,  as  in 
Myliobatis  ;  here,  again,  the  plates  are  six-sided,  and 
also  united  to  form  a  tessellated  pavement,  but  besides 
the  relatively  great  breadth  of  the  middle  series,  the 
two  adjacent  rows  are  also  considerably  elongated 
in  a  lateral  direction,   and  there   are  thus  only  two 


*  Dixon's  "Geol.  and  Foss.  Sussex,"  1st  edit.,  pp.  197-200; 
see  also  "  Agassiz'  "  Rech.  Poissons  Fossiles." 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


>7i 


rows  on  each  side  that  comprise  approximately  true 
hexagons.  Z.  Woodwardi  (Agassiz)  occurs  in  the 
Norwich  (Mammaliferous)  Crag  of  Norfolk,  and 
other  species  are  known  from  the  Swiss  Molasse 
(Miocene). 


above,  are  merely  placed  temporarily  in  the  respective 
positions  assigned  to  them  upon  somewhat  slender 
evidence,  but  the  relics  to  be  considered  in  the 
present  section  are  even  less  satisfactory  in  the 
features  they  display,  and  can  thus  only  be  relegated 


Fig.  184.— Teeth  of  Zygohatis. 


Fig.  186. — Spine  of 
Onchus. 


j^V 


Fig.  185. — Outline  of  Parcxus  incurvus. 


Fij.  187.— Spine  of  Gyro- 
cantlnts  tubcrcu  'atus. 
(One-third  nat.  size.) 


ICHTHYODORULITES. 


In  conclusion  it  only  remains  briefly  to  treat 
of  a  series  of  Selachian  fossils  that  exhibit  no 
characters  sufficiently  distinctive  to  justify  their 
reference  to  any  particular  group  or  family.  Many 
forms,  indeed,   that  have   been    already  mentioned 


Fig.  188.— Oraccinthus  Milleri.     [After  J.  W.  Davis.) 

to  a  provisional  group  until  the  discovery  of  more 
complete  specimens  reveals  their  true  affinities. 
These  are  the  detached  fin-spines  of  cartilaginous 
fishes,  frequently  met  with  in  a  fossil  state,  and 
known  under  the  general  name  of  Ichthyodorulites 
("  fish-spine-stones  ").  They  were  first  so  designated 
by  Buckland  and  De  la  Beche,  followed  by  Agassiz, 


2"]: 


HARDWICKE'S    SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


and  as  it  is  the  custom  to  restrict  the  term  to  those 
spines  whose  precise  relationships  are  indeterminable, 
in  consequence  of  their  never  having  been  found  in 
association  with  definite  fragments  of  the  rest  of  the 
fish-structures,  to  which  they  originally  belonged, 
the  number  of  forms  included  in  this  category  has 
been  considerably  reduced  by  the  progress  of  research. 
Among  those  removed,  for  example,  are  the  Devonian 
Par  exits  (of  which  an  outline  is  given  in  fig.  185),  the 
Carboniferous  Ctinacanthus  and  Pkuracanthus, alluded 
to  in  previous  articles,  the  Jurassic  Lcptacantlius,  now 
known  to  belong  to  a  Chimseroid  (Ischyodus)  and 
many  others.  But  there  are  still  a  large  number 
that  can  be  referred  to  no  very  definite  place,  and 
though  they  may  not  all  be  truly  Selachian — as  is 
quite  probable,  and  has  proved  to  be  the  case  with 
Parexus  and  Leptacantkus  just  mentioned — it  will  be 
convenient  to  group  the  whole  together  until  our 
information  becomes  more  complete.  Some  forms 
appear  to  have  been  placed  in  front  of  dorsal  fins  (as 
shown  in  the  drawing  oiSpinax,  Vol.  XX.  p.  172,  or 
in  fig.  185,  a) ;  others  were  almost  certainly  pectoral 
or  ventral  fin-spines  and  perhaps  situated  like  those 
of  the  curious  Acanthodian  fishes  (fig.  185,  b) ;  and 
others,  again,  may  correspond  to  the  little  triangular 
dermal  scutes  (fig.  185,  c)  that  are  also  to  be  found 
in  pairs  in  the  same  primitive  tribe.  Nearly  all  are 
ornamented  on  the  external  surface  with  variously 
disposed  ridges  and  tubercles,  often  enamelled,  and 
the  portion  embedded  in  the  tissues  of  the  body— the 
extent  of  which  varies  considerably  in  the  different 
forms — is  usually  smooth  or  finely  striated..  More- 
over, all  agree  in  being  destitute  of  any  articular 
facettes  at  the  lower  end,  thus  indicating  the  cartila- 
ginous state  of  the  skeleton  with  which  they  were 
once  connected  ;  and  the  presence  of  an  internal 
cavity,  opening  lengthwise  behind  and  below,  or 
simply  in  a  hole  at  the  base,  is  also  evidently  a 
constant  character. 

The  earliest  of  these  dermal  weapons  hitherto 
described  is  the  little  Onchus  (fig.  186)  from  rocks  of 
Upper  Silurian  age.  W  ith  the  exception  of  Scaphaspis 
Imlcnsis,  from  the  Lower  Ludlow  of  Leintwardine 
(Shropshire),  and  the  doubtfully  piscine  conodonts, 
it  is  the  oldest  evidence  of  the  existence  of  vertebrate 
life  yet  known.  In  Britain,  it  occurs  in  the  celebrated 
Ludlow  bone-bed,  and  in  the  passage  beds  between 
the  Silurian  and  Old  Red  Sandstone  strata  of  the 
same  area,  and  quite  lately,  spines  of  a  similar  type 
have  been  recorded*  as  occurring  in  beds  of  a  slightly 
earlier  date  in  America  ;  but  the  remains  originally 
ascribed  to  this  genus  from  strata  of  the  carboniferous 
period  appear,  from  more  recent  discoveries,  to 
belong  rather  to  such  forms  as  Physoncmits  and 
Ctenacanthus.  The  external  surface  is  characterised 
by  thick  and   smooth    longitudinal    ridges,    and  the 


*  E.  W.   Claypole,    Quart.  Journ.    Geol.   Soc,   xli.   (1885), 
p.  61. 


most  distinctive  feature  of  the  spine  is  the  absence  of 
posterior  denticles. 

The  Old  Red  Sandstone  and  Devonian — at  least 
in  this  country — yield  no  ichthyodorulites  of  im- 
portance, but  almost  all  divisions  of  the  Carboniferous 
are  replete  with  examples  of  the  greatest  interest. 
The  largest  forms  hitherto  discovered  are  met  with 
in  the  Carboniferous  Limestone,  Phoderacanthus 
grandis*  from  Bristol,  probably  attaining  a  length  of 
no  less  than  three  feet.  Among  others,  we  may 
especially  refer  to  those  known  under  the  names 
of  Gyracanthus,  Orthacanlhus,  Acondylacanthus, 
Lcpracanthus,  and  Erismacanthus. 

Gyracanthus  is  a  genus  first  established  by  Agassiz, 
and  more  completely  elucidated  since  by  the  researches 
of  Hancock,    Atthey,    and    Traquair,   upon  a  much 
larger  series  of  specimens  :  it  ranges  throughout  the 
whole    of  the  Carboniferous  strata,    though  not  yet 
known  to  extend  either  above  or  below,  and  is  so- 
called  in  allusion  to  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the 
spine  produced  by  the  arrangement  of  the  ornamenta- 
tion (fig.  187).   The  ichthyodorulite  is  characterised  by 
its  very  slightly  compressed  form, — almost  round  in 
transverse   section, — by  an  extensive  internal  cavity, 
and  a  long  base  of  insertion  ;  some   examples  are  of 
considerable  size,    attaining  a  length    of   sixteen  or 
eighteen  inches,  and  almost  all  that  are  referable  to 
adult   fishes   exhibit   a  long  worn   surface  at  the  tip 
(fig.   187,  a),  evidently  due  to  constant  friction  with 
the  bed  or  sides  of  the  water  in  which  their  original 
possessors  lived.     It   is  further  noticeable  that — in- 
stead  of    being   symmetrical — all   these   spines    are 
distinctly  "lefts"  and  "rights," — a  fact   suggesting 
that  they  occurred  in  pairs,  and  taken  in  conjunction 
with  the  wearing  of  the    tips,    doubtless    indicating 
that  they  were  placed  in  front  of  pectoral  or  ventral 
fins.     Messrs.   Hancock  and  Attheyf  believed,  also, 
that  they  had  discovered  a  few  symmetrical  spines  of 
the    same    type,    and    hence    regarded  the    latter  as 
dorsal ;  but  Dr.  Traquair^  has   more   recently  shown 
that  there  is  no  unquestionable  basis   for  such  a  con- 
clusion, and   considers   it  to  have  been  founded  upon 
imperfect    materials.     Associated    with  the    ichthyo- 
dorulites, there  often  occur  patches  of  small  dermal 
tubercles,    and    occasionally    also   curious    triangular 
bodies,  once  looked  upon   as  the  carpal   cartilages  of 
Gyracanthus.     These    are    hollow    and    open  at  the 
base,    with    a    roughened    surface    destitute    of    any 
ornamentation,    and,   from    a   study  of  their    micro- 
scopical structure,  Dr.  Traquair  has  determined  that 
they  are  truly  dermal  appendages.     The  number  ol 
species  already  described  from  British   rocks  is  about 
seven,     and    the    best    known     appear    to    be    the 
G.  tubcrculatus  and   G.  for/uosus,  of  which   the  coal 


*  J.  \V.  Davis,  Trans.  Roy.  Dublin  Soc,  Ser.  2.  Vol.  I. 
(1883),  p.  534,  pi.  lxv.  Since  description,  the  original  specimen 
of  this  hue  ichthyodorulite  has  been  presented  by  Earl  Ducie 
to  the  British  Museum,  where  it  is  now  to  be  seen. 

f  Ann.  and  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  [4]  I.,  1868,  p.  368. 

J  Loc.  cit.,  [5]  XIII.,  18S4,  pp.  37-48. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


27: 


measures  of  Northumberland  have  yielded  a  most 
extensive  and  instructive  series,  now  in  the  Newcastle 
Museum. 

The  spines  included  under  the  name  of  Oracanthus 
(Agassi/.)  are  of  a  very  curious  and  problematical 
nature  ;  they  are  more  or  less  triangular  in  shape 
(fig.  188),  sometimes  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  in 
length,  and  ornamented  externally  with  transverse 
rows  of  blunt  tubercles  or  irregular  ridges,  but 
exhibiting  no  broad  smooth  surface  for  insertion  in 
the  soft  tissues  of  the  body.  All  possess  a  large 
internal  cavity,  opening  at  the  base,  and  seem  to 
have  been  originally  arranged  in  pairs,  for  (like 
Gyracant/nts)  they  are  invariably  "lefts"  and 
"  rights,"  and  some  show  traces  of  terminal  abrasion. 
O.  Milleri  (fig.  188)  is  the  species  to  which  the 
majority  of  the  British  fossils  are  referred,  and  with  it 
Mr.  J.  W.  Davis  has  recently*  associated  a  number  of 
dermal  plates  of  various  forms,  on  account  of  the 
close  resemblance  of  their  ornamentation  ;  if  the 
latter  are  correctly  so  placed,  Oracanthus  must  have 
possessed  a  strong  covering  of  armour — at  least,  in 
the  region  of  the  head,  but  any  satisfactory  evidence 
as  to  the  facts  is  at  present  wanting.  The  genus 
appears  to  be  exclusively  confined  to  the  Lower 
Carboniferous,  the  most  abundant  remains  being 
those  of  O.  Milleri  just  mentioned,  from  the  Car- 
boniferous Limestone  of  Bristol  and  Armagh,  while 
others  named  O.  pustuloses  are  sometimes  met  with 
in  the  equivalent  beds  of  Oreton,  Shropshire. 
(To  be  continued.) 


ASTRONOMY  AND  METEOROLOGY  FOR 
THE  MONTH. 

By  John  Browning,  F.R.A.S. 

VENUS  will  be  an  evening  star  throughout  the 
month  in  Capricornus.  She  rises  about 
eleven  in  the  morning,  souths  about  three  in  the 
afternoon,  and  sets  at  times  varying  between  "J.  12 
and  8 . 3.  Mercury  will  be  an  evening  star  until  the 
20th,  and  a  morning  star  after  that  date,  rising  at 
times  varying  between  9.42  A.M.  on  the  3rd,  and 
6.21  on  the  31st,  and  setting  at  5  P.M.  on  the  3rd 
and  2.49  on  the  31st.  Mars  will  be  in  Leo,  and 
will  be  in  conjunction  with  the  moon  on  the  27th  at 
9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  rising  at  10.50  p.m.  on  the 
17th,  southing  at  5.33  A.M.,  and  setting  at  o  hr. 
13  mins. 

Jupiter  will  be  in  Virgo,  and  will  be  in  conjunction 
with  the  moon  on  the  2Sth  at  9  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  He  will  rise  on  the  3rd  at  1  hr.  18  min. 
morning,  south  at  7  hr.  22  min.  in  the  morning,  and 
set  at  1  hr.  26  min.  in  the  afternoon. 

Saturn  will  be  almost  stationary  in  Gemini,  and 
will   be   in  opposition  on   Dec.   26th  at    10   in   the 

*  Trans.  Roy.  Dublin  Soc.  [2],  I.  pp.  525-531,  pis.  lxii-lxv. 


morning.  He  will  rise  at  5.27  in  the  morning  on 
the  3rd,  and  about  thirty  minutes  earlier  each  suc- 
ceeding week. 

There  will  be  an  occultation  of  Uranus  on  Dec. 
1st.  The  planet  will  disappear  at  5  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  reappear  at  6  hrs.  9  mins.  There  will 
also  be  occultations  of  «  Virginis,  /x  Piscium,  t  Leonis, 
and  9  Virginis,  but  these  stars  being  all  about  the 
5th  magnitude  their  occultations  will  possess  little 
interest. 

It  is  a  highly  interesting  question  how  quickly  the 
new  star  in  Andromeda  appeared,  that  is  whether  it 
was  first  visible  to  any  observer  faintly  and  then 
became  brighter  and  brighter  until  it  attained  its 
fullest  magnitude,  which  was  probably  about  the  7th 
or  8th  of  October.  For  my  own  part  I  should  think 
it  must  have  almost  flashed  into  existence  at  once, 
because  the  great  nebula  are  constantly  watched  1  y 
so  many  observers  that  I  do  not  think  it  couid  have 
been  present  for  more  than  two  or  three  evening  a 
without  being  seen.  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd,  of  Bramley, 
Surrey,  appears  to  have  seen  it  at  least  two  days 
before  any  other  observer,  as  he  noticed  it  on  the 
1st  of  September,  though  he  did  not  write  to  Green- 
wich Observatory  until  the  3rd  of  September,  because 
he  waited  to  see  it  again. 

Mr.  Frank  McClean,  of  Rusthall  House,  Tunbridge 
Wells,  informs  me  that,  seen  with  his  10-inch 
achromatic,  the  star  on  the  10th  of  November  was 
scarcely  brighter  than  many  of  the  surrounding 
small  stars,  that  is,  it  had  waned  probably  to  about 
the  12th  or  13th  magnitude. 

I  shall  be  glad  of  any  further  information  on  this 
subject. 

In  No.  2690  of  "  Astronomische  Nachrichten,"  the 
attenrion    of    observers    is    called   to    the  Searching- 

0 

Ephemeris  for  the  periodic  comet  of  Olbers  of  181 5, 
contained  in  Nos.  2613  and  2614  of  that  periodical. 
Its  perihelion  passage  is  calculated  to  occur  on  the 
17th  of  December,  18S6,  with  an  uncertainty,  one 
way  or  another,  of  I  "6  year.  During  its  apparition 
in  1S15  this  comet  remained  a  telescopic  object. 
Its  orbit  was  calculated  by  Dr.  Olbers. 

The  sun  will  enter  Capricornus  at  3  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  on  the  21st  of  December,  when  winter  will 
commence. 

The  month  of  November  was  unseasonably  cold, 
being  about  5  degrees  Fahrenheit  below  the  average, 
and  there  were  several  night  frosts. 

The  average  temperature  for  London  in  December, 
taken  from  observations  of  a  period  of  fifty  years, 
is  400,  while  at  the  Land's  End  it  is  460,  the  difference 
being  due  to  the  action  of  the  ocean.  The  average 
rainfall  for  the  month  in  London  is  between  two  and 
three  inches. 

M.  Robin,  the  celebrated  French  histologist,  author 
of  '•  The  Natural  History  of  Vegetable  Parasites  in 
Man  and  Animals,"  has  just  died  at  the  age  of  64. 


274 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


MY  GARDEN  PETS. 

By  Edward  H.  Robertson. 

Tart  IV. 

UPON  the  close  of  the  honey  harvest,  about  the 
end  of  July,  after  which  usually  follows  the 
hottest  period  of  the  year,  Apis  viellifica  appears  to 
get  into  an  uncomfortable  condition  of  body,  which 
brings  about  a  somewhat  unamiable  condition  of 
mind.  The  fierce  heat,  the  plundering  of  their 
store,  and  the  rude  treatment  to  which  at  such  times 
they  are  unavoidably  subjected,  beget  in  them  a 
chronic  state  of  irritability,  at  which  can  we  wonder? 
and  the  careful  beekeeper,  as  far  as  possible,  avoids 
any  cause  of  provocation. 

The  sordidness  of  many  modern  apiarians  leads 
them,  not  only  into  plundering  their  industrious 
servants  of  the  whole  of  their  sweet  store,  to  the 
very  last  drop,  giving  in  exchange,  too  often,  the 
veriest  trash,  and  barely  sufficient  even  of  that  to  keep 
them  from  actual  starvation,  but,  also,  to  the  habitual 
extraction  of  honey,  from  comb  containing  brood. 
The  apiarian  is  never  happy  unless  he  is  meddling 
with  his  pets !  little  wonder  then  that  the  much 
persecuted  little  fellows  become  irascible,  that  brood 
perishes,  that  stocks  dwindle — and  that  foul-brood  is 
disseminated  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land.  I  should  consider  myself  little  better  than 
a  lunatic  if  I  ever  extracted  honey  from  a  comb 
containing  brood,  and  never,  unless  honey  be  very 
abundant,  do  I  take  any  from  the  hive — bar  frame  or 
skep. 

When  an  angry  bee  means  mischief  he  emits  a 
remarkably  pungent,  but  not  unpleasant  odour — 
probably  formic  acid  ;  when  this  is  perceived  let  the 
timid  bee-keeper  take  to  his  heels,  if  he  would  avoid 
a  sting — or  rather  stings,  for  the  odour  seems  a 
signal  which  arouses  the' ire  of  other  bees,  and,  almost 
before  he  is  aware,  he  is  surrounded  by  an  angry 
host,  who  will  soon  put  him  to  ignominious  flight. 
As  the  odour,  although  frequently  perceptible  when 
bees  sting  unintentionally  through  pressure  or  injury, 
is  much  fainter  at  such  times,  it  seems  probable  that 
its  emission  is  as  much  under  the  insect's  control  as 
are  the  odours  emitted  by  many  animals  under  the 
influence  of  anger,  fear,  &c. 

A  sense  of  justice  here  impels  me  to  record  that 
Apis  mellifua  is  a  thief.  Some  bees  appear  to  take 
kindly  to  robbing  as  a  profession,  but,  as  a  rule,  they 
evidently  rob  to  obtain  possession  of  stores  they 
know  to  exist  not  for  their  own  use,  but  rather  for 
that  of  their  friends.  The  sagacious  little  rascals 
realise  that  the  well-being  of  future  generations 
depends  upon  the  labours  of  the  present,  and  when 
supplies  are  short,  or  are  becoming  so,  they  seek  to 
replenish  them  in  the  readiest  way  that  offers. 
There  is  nothing  selfish  in  a  bee's  nature,  his 
unselfish  object  is  the  good  of  the  community,  and 


in  pursuit  of  this  object  he  not  only  lives,  but  also,  it 
may  be  trulyj  said.  dies.  How  pertinaciously  the 
rascals  will  hover  and  zig-zag  close  to  the  mouth  of 
the  hive  selected  for  their  attentions,  few  but 
experienced  apiarians  would  credit — keeping  the 
watchful  sentinels  ever  on  the  alert,  sometimes  for 
weeks  together.  In  any  case  a  great  sacrifice  of  bee 
life  is  the  inevitable  result  of  these  marauding 
expeditions,  for  not  only  do  not  the  burglarious 
proceedings  of  the  robbers  pass  unpunished,  as 
evidenced  by  the  frequency  of  the  conflicts,  but  the 
tiny  heaps  of  slain  that  at  such  times  appear  on 
the  ground  beneath  doubtless  consist  of  the  bodies  of 
both  defenders  and  assaulters.  I  give  no  quarter 
to  these  robbers.  I  have  but  one  punishment  for 
them — death,  and  being  quick-sighted  and  deft- 
handed,  many  a  raider  falls  beneath  my  scissors. 
Snip  !  and  a  headless  carcase  tumbling  into  the 
midst  of  the  crowd,  always  on  such  occasions 
gathered  around  the  gates  of  the  citadel,  is  seized 
upon  by  the  enraged  defenders,  who,  dragging  it  to 
the  edge  of  the  board,  tumble  it  over  where  it  helps 
to  swell  the  heap  beneath. 

Scissors-slaughter  is  all  very  well  as  an  adjunct  to 
other  and  better  plans,  but  of  itself  will  not  go  far 
towards  keeping  robbers  in  check.  The  best  plan 
is  to  narrow  the  entrance  to  the  hive,  and  to  give  a 
liberal  washing  of  carbolic  acid  and  water,  which 
soon  scares  away  the  would-be-plunderer  ;  the  smell 
of  it  is,  however,  such  an  abomination  to  bees  that 
it  seems  too  bad  to  inflict  it  upon  the  poor  inmates. 
At  times  it  becomes  absolutely  necessary. 

The  best  antidote  to  robbing  is  to  keep  every  hive 
in  the  apiary  thoroughly  well  supplied.  The  danger 
to  your  stocks  will  then  generally  arise  from  your 
neighbours'  bees,  but  if  your  stocks  be  strong  they 
will  be  more  than  a  match  for  them. 

Of  the  many  pretty  sights  to  be  witnessed  in  the 
insect  world  not  one,  in  my  estimation,  surpasses 
that  to  be  seen  when  a  newly  hived  swarm  of  bees 
is  to  be  transferred  from  a  skep  to  a  bar  frame,  or 
other  hive.  The  skep  containing  the  swarm  is, 
usually  towards  evening,  carried  to  a  spot  where, 
upon  a  lawn  or  other  level  plot  of  ground,  has  been 
spread  a  sheet,  upon  one  end  of  which  rests  the 
frame  hive,  commonly  slightly  raised  towards  the 
bees,  to  afford  them  more  ready  ingress.  Lifting 
the  skep,  mouth  downwards,  the  operator  suddenly 
lets  go  his  hold,  and  as  suddenly  again  catches  it 
between  the  palms  of  his  hands,  as  it  descends 
towards  the  earth.  The  sudden  jerk  precipitates 
the  whole  of  the  bees  on  to  the  sheet,  the  heap 
spreading  outwards  as  a  bag  of  sand  or  peas  would 
do,  and  my  astonished  pets  have  become  a  confused 
and  struggling  mass  of  insect  life.  A  few  seconds,  when 
lo  !  in  the  twinkling  of  a  eye,  every  head  is  turned 
towards  the  hive,  whose  wide  open  door  invites 
them  to  enter,  and  a  mighty  phalanx  is  pressing  on. 
to  the  hospitable  shelter  ;  the  substrata  of  bees,  in. 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


:75 


a  compact  body,  remaining  quiescent  until  their 
companions  have  passed  over  Ibem,  when  they 
continue  the  march,  and  so,  until  the  last  bee  has 
entered. 

Now  and  again  the  queen  mother  may  be  seen,  as 
she  follows  in  the  wake  of  her  hurrying  children, 
but  invariably  wriggles  her  way  beneath  and  between 
their  bodies.  It  is  a  pretty  and  not  soon  to  be 
forgotten  sight,  and  although  oft  repeated,  one  I 
never  tire  of  looking  upon.  The  singularity  of  the 
whole  proceeding  is  that  the  creatures  should  so 
simultaneously  be  seized  with  a  common  impulse, 
probably  one  analogous  to  that  which  in  the  face  of 
a  common  danger  impels  a  panic-stricken  multitude 
to  flee — the  alert  senses,  when  strained  to  their 
utmost,  by  some  inconceivably  rapid  process  of  the 
mind,  catching  the  faintest  indications  of  danger  or 
deliverance. 

Let  me  here  remark,  that  these  somewhat  hastily 
arranged  notes  are  intended  not  so  much  for  the 
bee-keeper  as  for  the  naturalist.  To  him  I  would 
say  that  the  pursuit  will  afford  an  inexhaustible  fund 
of  pleasant  interest.  He  must,  however,  permit  me 
to  warn  him  against  the  adoption  of  many  of  the  so- 
called  scientific  methods  of  bee-keeping  ;  if  some  of 
these  were  to  be  generally  adopted  every  particle 
of  pleasure  would  soon  be  scienced  out  of  the  pursuit, 
and  it  is  more  than  probable  that,  in  process  of  time, 
•every  bee  would  be  scienced  out  of  creation. 

My  pets,  like  their  master,  are  decidedly  old- 
fashioned,  and  do  not  take  kindly  to  any  new  method 
not  unquestionably  preferable  to  that  it  is  intended 
to  supplant,  and  surely  when  we  derive  both  pleasure 
and  profit  from  the  little  toilers'  labours,  it  is  but  just 
that  we  should,  in  return,  consider  not  simply  their 
preservation,  but  also  their  comfort.  This  can  be 
best  done  by  observing  three  conditions  insisted 
upon  by  all  practical  bee-keepers.  They  must  be 
well  fed,  and  kept  warm  and  dry,  and  all  means  to 
this  end  should  be  provided  with  a  view  to  simplicity, 
economy,  and  efficiency.  Some  of  the  most  advo- 
cated of  modern  methods  fulfil  none  of  these  con- 
ditions, being  complicated,  costly,  and  inefficient, 
and  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  so  many  persons 
abandon  the  pursuit  as  being  risky  and  profitless. 
Hitherto  I  have  had  no  reason  to  regret  my  conserva- 
tism, for,  although  during  the  six  years  I  have  kept 
bees  75  per  cent,  of  my  neighbours'  stocks  have 
perished,  mine  have  never  shown  the  least  indication 
of  unhealthiness,  and,  if  I  except  the  loss  of  a  stock 
through  misadventure,  I  have  never  had  a  single 
casualty  of  any  kind  whatever.  To  the  present  day 
all  my  stocks  are  vigorous  and  strong,  how  long  they 
will  remain  so  I  fear  to  hope,  since  a  so-called 
scientific  bee-keeper  in  the  neighbourhood,  some 
short  time  since,  informed  me  that  he  had  lost  nearly 
the  whole  of  his  stocks  through  foul-brood. 

Sivalcliffe,  Banbury,  Oxott. 


NOTES  ON  THE  LEMMING. 
By  John  Wager. 

{Continued  from  /.  256.] 

THE  sudden  advent  of  such  hosts  of  lemming  is 
naturally  a  marvel  to  the  peasants,  as,  indeed,  to 
others— and  I  met  with  several  who  still  held  to  the 
faith  of  theirfathers,  recorded  with  credence  by  Pontop- 
pidan  and  Olaus  Magnus  before  him,  that  these  curious 
little  creatures  drop  down  from  the  clouds.  When 
at  Flaam,  in  Kaardalen,  near  Urland,  a  tall,  grave- 
visaged  man  said,  in  answer  to  my  enquiry,  "  Jeg  tror 
de  komma  fra  himmel,  i  regn,  eller  snoe,  eller  i 
hvirvelvinde — I  believe  they  come  from  the  heavens, 
in  rain,  or  snow,  or  whirlwinds."  Others,  less 
certain,  asked  my  opinion  respecting  this  high 
descent ;  and  a  peasant  at  Graven,  on  the  Hardanger- 
fjord,  where  they  were  numerous  at  the  time,  said 
that  on  a  former  occasion  they  appeared  in  such 
numbers  and  were  so  destructive  that  the  people  were 
quite  alarmed,  believing  not  only  that  they  had 
dropped  from  the  heavens,  but  had  been  sent  as  a 
judgment  from  God.  The  more  intelligent  of  the 
Norwegian  peasants  said  they  came  from  the  north  ; 
but  from  what  particular  part  of  that  indefinite  region 
they  could  not  suggest.  At  Utne  I  was  told  that  on 
a  former  visitation  they  had,  on  the  approach  of 
winter,  drowned  themselves  by  thousands  in  the 
Hardanger-fjord.  It  has  already  been  stated  that  I 
met  persons  in  Swedish  Lapland  who  thought  the 
lemming-swarms  came  from  the  sea  or  the  clouds ; 
and  my  friend  the  Lapland  pastor  also  asserts  in  a 
letter,  that  among  the  mountains  there  are  peasants 
who  insist  that  they  rain  down  from  the  sky,  not 
being  able  otherwise  to  account  for  their  sudden 
appearance  in  such  astonishing  numbers. 

It  is  an  old  belief,  and  not  confined  to  the  vulgar. 
Olaus  Magnus,  the  learned  Archbishop  of  Upsala, 
writing  in  the  sixteenth  century,  says,  in  the  quaint 
language  of  an  English  translation,  published  in 
1658,  that  in  Helsingia  and  other  parts  of  the  North, 
they  ' '  fall  out  of  the  air  in  tempests  or  sudden 
showers ;  but  no  man  knows  from  whence  they 
come,  whether  from  the  remoter  islands,  and  are 
brought  thither  by  the  wind,  or  else  they  breed  of 
feculent  matter  in  the  clouds  ;  yet  this  is  proved,  that 
as  soon  as  they  fall  down  there  is  found  green  grass 
in  their  bellies,  not  yet  digested.  These,  like  locusts, 
falling  in  great  swarms,  destroy  all  green  things,  and 
all  dyes  they  bite  on,  by  the  venome  of  them.  Their 
swarm  lives  so  long  as  they  feed  on  no  new  grass  ; 
also  they  come  together  in  troops  like  swallows  that 
are  ready  to  fly  away  ;  but  at  the  set  time  they  either 
dye  in  heaps,  with  a  contagion  of  the  earth  (by  the 
corruption  of  them,  the  air  grows  pestilential)  and 
the  people  are  troubled  with  vertigos  of  the  jaundice, 
or  they  are  devoured  by  beasts,  commonly  called 
Lekat  or  Hermelin,  and  these  ermins  grow  fat  there- 
by."     Tontoppidan   does   not   feel   quite  sure   that 


276 


HARDWICK&S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


lemmings  drop  from  the  air,  but  states  that  many 
persons,  both  in  his  own  and  former  times,  assert 
they  have  seen  them  thus  descend  ;  and  that  the 
possibility  of  the  circumstance  is  admitted  by 
Wormius,  Scaliger,  and  other  great  men.  These 
philosophers  suppose  that  the  embryos  of  lemmings, 
like  those  of  frogs  and  such  small  fry,  may  be 
attracted  to  the  clouds,  and  there  fed,  fattened,  and 
dropped  down,  all  ready  for  French  cooks  and 
Laplanders'  dogs.  But  other  philosophers,  of  pro- 
founder  insight,  account  for  the  singular  phenomenon 
by  the  hypothesis  that  the  mountain  fogs — which 
sometimes,  to  suit  their  special  purpose,  are  as  thick 
as  water -gruel  and  much  stronger — may  lift  up  the 
lemmings  in  multitudes,  and  carry  them  off  bodily  to 
a  great  distance ;  a  feat  which  the  incredulous 
Linneans  may  disbelieve,  but  which,  nevertheless,  is 
far  more  probable  than  that  such  a  fog  should  abduct 
a  Laplander  and  his  herd — as  formerly  some  of  the 
peasants  imagined  it  was  able  to  do  ! 

It  was  quite  commonly  said  by  the  peasants  of 
Norway,  with  whom  I  conversed  on  the  subject,  that 
the  lemmings  make  their  appearance  every  ten  years  ; 
but  this  statement  is  not  exact,  for  at  Urland,  I  was 
told,  thirteen  years  had  elapsed  since  their  previous 
visit,  and  at  Utne  and  in  Vestfjordalen,  twelve  years. 
Nor  does  the  statement,  that  they  always  proceed 
from  north  to  south,  appear  to  be  invariably  correct. 
Soderhjelm,  quoted  by  Lloyd,  says  they  seem  to 
migrate,  in-the  north  of  Sweden,  to  all  points  of  the 
compass,  including  a  north-easterly  direction  towards 
the  Icy  Sea.  Some  writers  affirm  they  always  begin 
their  migrations  in  spring,  others  in  autumn.  I 
have  never  seen  lemmings  actually  on  the  march  ; 
those  swarms  amidst  which  I  passed  almost  con- 
tinuously from  the  Sogne-fjord,  over  the  Hardanger, 
and  through  Theleinarken,  might  be  then  gradually 
extending  themselves  southwards,  but  wherever  I 
saw  them  they  were  running  about  in  all  directions, 
eating  the  grass  and  other  herbage  ;  and  I  certainly 
saw  young  ones  amongst  them,  not  only  on  the 
Urland's-fjeld,  but  also  in  the  Thelemark,  though 
Pontoppidan  says,  that  in  Norway,  during  their 
migrations,  young  ones  are  never  seen.  1  cannot, 
therefore,  from  my  own  observations,  corroborate  at 
all  points  the  following  account  of  their  mode  of 
procedure,  communicated  by  my  Laplandish  friend  ; 
nor  do  I  know  that  he  has  been  an  eye-witness  of  all 
it  relates.  It  is  a  good  summary,  however,  of  what 
is  known,  or  commonly  stated,  on  the  subject.  "  So 
long  as  the  numbers  of  the  lemmings  do  not  exceed 
the  available  means  of  subsistence  on  the  mountain, 
they  there  remain  ;  but  when  its  resources  prove 
insufficient  to  feed  the  increased  multitudes,  and 
famine  stands  at  the  door,  then  out  wander  they,  and 
on  their  course  eat  up  all  vegetation  they  are  able 
to  attain,  desolating  large  tracts.  If  during  their 
mountain  life  they  shun  water,  so  much  the  more 
spirit  and  courage  in  surmounting  it  they  display  on 


their  migrations ;  for  they  march  right  onwards,, 
allowing  neither  rapids  nor  great  waters  to  dismay 
them.  Many,  indeed,  perish  on  these  aquatic  tours, 
and  after  stormy  weather  the  mountain  lakes  may  be 
seen  overspread  with  dead  lemmings  ;  but  in  great 
multitudes  also  they  reach  the  sea-coast,  where  true 
to  their  persistent  and  fearless  inclination  they 
commit  themselves  to  the  sea,  in  which  thousands 
find  a  grave  ;  and  only  when  it  is  too  late  can  they 
be  brought  to  think  of  turning  back.  Consequently 
few  regain  the  mountain,  to  begin  a  new  migration 
when  their  numbers  have  again  augmented  beyond  its 
means  for  supplying  them  with  a  sufficiency  of  food." 
Hulphers,  an  old  Swedish  author,  says  that  the 
descent  of  lemmings  upon  the  low  lands  forebodes 
a  bad  year  ;  and  in  Norway,  when  they  scream  more 
than  usual,  bad  weather  is  supposed  to  be  at  hand. 


NOTE  ON  COCA. 

I  READ  Mr.  Whittaker's  short  article  on  Ery- 
throxylon  Coca  with  great  interest.  As  a  drug  it 
has  increased  very  greatly  in  use  during  the  last  year, 
from  the  discovery  of  the  anesthetic  properties  of  its 
alkaloid  ;  and  it  has  been  found  especially  useful  in 
ophthalmic  cases.  In  the  early  part  of  this  year,  the 
demand  for  the  alkaloid  cocaine  increased  to  such  an 
extent,  that  the  supply  fell  short  of  the  demand,  and 
the  price  of  the  drug  went  up  to  almost  a  prohibitive 
figure.  (Cocaine  reached  30  cents  per  grain.)  Ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Squibb  (in  Ephemeris,  May),  "  There 
appear  to  be  two  very  distinct  varieties  of  Coca,  the 
Peruvian  and  Bolivian,  each  country  claiming  each 
variety  as  being  the  best.  Each  variety  is  divided 
into  the  wild  and  cultivated  leaf.  Coca  from  wild 
plants  is  larger  and  thinner,  and  is  generally  con- 
sidered inferior,  but  of  its  inferiority  there  is  much 
doubt."  In  Bolivia  and  Peru,  from  three  to  four 
crops  of  leaves  are  procured  per  annum.  The  United 
States  Minister  Gibbs  of  La  Paz,  says  that  the  women 
pick  the  leaves  by  hand,  and  in  doing  so  are  careful 
not  to  touch  the  top  of  the  bush,  for  if  this  be 
touched  by  man  or  animal,  "it  withers  and  dries 
up."  The  consumers  of  Coca  in  Peru  and  Bolivia  are 
the  native  races,  and  the  habit  must  have  descended 
from  the  times  of  the  Incas,  since  Mr.  Gibbs  says  he 
has  found  buried  with  the  ancient  Peruvians,  small 
quantities  of  Coca,  and  the  small  earthen  vase  used 
with  it,  to  hold  the  lime  or  potassa  of  the  coca 
chewer." 

The  plant  has  been  grown  in  the  Botanic  Gardens 
of  Ceylon  for  several  years  past,  so  that,  as  Mr.. 
Whittaker  suggests,  it  may  start  a  very  lucrative 
industry  in  our  Indian  provinces.  As  Mr.  Whittaker 
states  in  his  article,  opinions  differ  as  to  the  virtues 
and  effects  of  the  leaves.  I  do  not  however  think 
any  of  his  surmises  hit  upon  the  true  reason  for  this 
discrepancy  in  results  obtained  by  different  experi- 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


277 


menters.  The  reason  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the 
instability  of  the  alkaloid,  cocaine.  Few  alkaloids 
are  so  sensitive  to  physical  and  chemical  action,  and 
hence  the  percentage  of  active  ingredient  varies 
greatly  in  different  samples  of  the  leaves.  "  Leaves 
dried  in  damp  weather,  or  pressed  into  the  sacks 
before  being  completely  dried,  undergo  a  fermentation 
that  destroys  the  cocaine.  The  destruction  goes  on 
gradually,  until  the  complete  disappearance  of  the 
alkaloid."  (M.  Bignon.)  In  the  new  edition  of  the 
British  Pharmacopoeia,  just  published,  coca  leaves 
are  made  official,  together  with  the  hydrochlorate  of 
cocaine,  and  a  preparation  of  this  salt  with  gelatine 
and  glycerine,  in  small  discs,  each  containing  JD  of  a 
grain  of  the  salt. 

The  coca  plant  blossoms  profusely  several  times  a 
year,  but  does  not  produce  seed  very  freely.  It  is 
readily  propagated  from  cuttings.  Mr.  Whittaker 
describes  the  flowers  as  being  white,  but  in  an  edi- 
torial in  the  "  Pharmaceutical  Journal  "  for  July  last, 
the  flowers  are  said  to  be  "yellow,  faintly  scented." 
Probably  they  vary  in  colour,  although,  as  far  as  my 
experience  goes,  yellow-flowered  plants  are  least 
prone  to  produce  albino  varieties. 

J.  A.  YViieldon. 


SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 

Another  journey  across  Africa  has  been  achieved, 
the  travellers  in  this  case  being  two  Portuguese 
explorers,  Captain  Capello  and  Commander  Ivens. 
They  left  Mossamedes,  a  place  on  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  lat.  about  150  S.  in  March  of  last  year,  and 
arrived  at  Quillimane  on  the  east  coast,  near  the 
mouths  of  the  Zambesi  river  in  May  last.  They  are 
said  to  have  discovered  the  sources  of  the  Lualaba, 
an  affluent  of  the  Congo.  It  seems  likely  that  the 
regions  they  have  traversed  contain  a  good  many 
elephants,  and  therefore  much  ivory,  for  they  noticed 
the  tsetse  fly  which  has  disappeared  from  the  south- 
east country,  to  be  very  abundant  farther  north. 
The  connection  between  the  two  statements  is 
supplied  by  the  observation  made  by  these  explorers, 
as  well  as  often  stated  before,  that  the  tsetse  fly 
abounds  where  there  are  plenty  of  elephants. 

The  Proceedings  of  the  Bristol  Naturalists'  Society, 
18S4-5,  came  to  hand  too  late  to  be  included  in  last 
month's  notice.  It  is  more  imposing  than  most 
similar  publications,  as  it  contains  a  coloured  geo- 
logical map  showing  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Avon 
from  Bristol  to  Avonmouth,  explanatory  of  a  paper 
on  the  Sub-aerial  Denudation  of  the  Avon  Gorge, 
by  Professor  C.  Lloyd  Morgan,  F.G.S.,  three  coloured 
plates  of  Fungi  illustrating  notes  on  the  Fungi  of 
the  Bristol  District,  by  Mr.  C.  Bucknall ;  and  a 
platinotype  of  a  Finn  whale  which  was  lately  stranded 
in  the  Bristol  Channel,  on  which  Mr.    E.   Wilson, 


F.G.S.,  curator  of  the  Bristol  Museum,  contributes 
some  notes.  Besides  these,  Mr.  C.  T.  Druery, 
F.L.S.,  gives  an  account  of  Apospory  in  Ferns.  On 
this  subject  he  read  a  paper  before  the  Linnean 
Society  last  year,  of  which  an  abstract  may  be  found 
on  p.  164  of  this  volume.  "  The  Flora  of  the  Bristol 
Coal-field,"  Part  v.  including  Dictyogense  and 
Floridse,  edited  by  Mr.  J.  W.  White,  concludes  the 
number. 

It  appears  from  a  review  in  "  Science  "  of  a  book 
by  P.  de  Lucy-Fossarieu,  that  the  Patagonians,  who 
formerly  had  the  reputation  of  being  giants,  are  of 
huge  make  in  the  upper  part  of  their  bodies,  but 
their  legs  are  disproportionately  short  and  slender, 
and  frequently  bend  outward.  It  is  stated  that 
before  the  horse  was  introduced  into  that  region  a 
little  over  two  centuries  ago,  the  natives  used  to 
chase  the  guanaco  and  ostrich  on  foot ;  and  it  is 
supposed  that  their  present  conformation  is  due  to 
constant  horse-riding.  It  is  suggested  that  they  may 
have  lost  as  much  as  two  inches  in  stature  owing  to- 
the  change  in  their  mode  of  life,  which  two  inches 
if  added  to  their  present  height  would  bring  them  up 
to  the  stature  of  the  giants  seen  by  the  companions 
of  Magellan. 

Those  members  of  the  Dorset  Natural  History 
and  Antiquarian  Field  Club  whose  tastes  are  Con- 
chological  owe  a  debt  of  thanks  to  their  president, 
Mr.  J.  C.  Mansel-Pleydell,  F.L.S.,  for  his  book  on 
the  Land  and  Freshwater  Mollusca  of  the  county. 
Though  said  to  be  taken  from  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Society,  it  forms  a  volume  of  nearly  sixty  pages,  in 
which  descriptive  text  and  habitats  are  given  to 
practically  all  the  species  named,  while  at  the  end 
are  half-a-dozen  uncoloured  lithographic  plates  with 
numerous  figures.  These  alone  would  make  the 
book  useful. 

From  a  notice  which  has  appeared  in  "Science" 
of  Thomas  Alva  Edison,  it  appears  that  he  was  born 
in  1847,  became  a  train  boy  on  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railway  ;  and  later  on,  when  the  line  was  completed 
between  Port  Huron  and  Detroit,  he  set  up  a  print- 
ing-office in  the  baggage-car,  employing  assistants, 
and  issued  therefrom  a  weekly  journal,  "  The  Grand 
Trunk  Herald."  His  attention  was  drawn  to  tele- 
graphy, and  he  became  a  telegraph  operator,  an 
inventor  and  manufacturer,  and  finally  an  investigator 
and  inventor  only.  He  has  already  taken  out  in 
America  about  four  hundred  patents,  among  the 
inventions  by  which  he  is  perhaps  best  known  being 
those  connected  with  incandescent  electric  lighting 
and  the  phonograph.  The  account  of  Mr.  Edison  is 
accompanied  by  a  portrait. 

It  appears  that  Dr.  H.  Hoffmann  has  shown  in  the 
case  of  several  dioecious  plants,  including  red  and 
white  campions  {L.  diur.  and  vesp.),  dog's  mercury 
[Mer.    annua),    and    hop    [Cann.    sativa),    that  the 


278 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


comparative  number  of  male  to  female  plants  is 
affected  by  thick  sowing,  which  increases  the  relative 
number  of  male  plants.  The  result  is  attributed  to 
an  insufficiency  of  nutrition  during  the  embryonal 
stage. 

As  a  method  of  destroying  infection  and  insect  life, 
it  is  said  in  a  contemporary  that  a  bottle  of  bromine 
left  open  all  night  in  the  room  will  answer  the 
purpose.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  one  who  is  un- 
acquainted with  bromine  will  rashly  try  to  put  this 
into  practice,  and  it  is  unlikely  that  any  one  who  has 
experienced  the  effects  of  a  little  bromine  vapour  on 
the  eyes  will  wish  to  be  the  first  to  go  into  the  room 
the  next  morning. 

Everybody  will  be  sorry  to  hear  that  Professor 
Huxley  has  been  obliged,  through  continued  ill- 
health,  to  resign  the  Presidency  of  the  Royal  Society. 
Professor  Stokes  is  to  succeed  him  as  President. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Taylor,  F.G.S.,  Editor  of  Science- 
Gossip,  has  just  returned  from  a  highly  successful 
lecturing  tour  in  the  Australian  Colonies.  His  last 
lecture  was  delivered  at  the  Melbourne  University  on 
"  The  Origin  of  the  Atmosphere." 

On  October  17th,  the  first  telpherage  line  was 
opened  at  Glynde  in  Sussex.  This  is  a  new  means 
by  which  goods  and  passengers  can  be  conveyed  by 
means  of  electricity  without  driver,  guard,  signal- 
men, or  attendants.  The  line  is  one  mile  in  length, 
and  is  used  for  carrying  clay.  It  is  not  intended  to 
compete  with  railways,  but  to  do  cheaply  the  work 
of  horses,  tramways,  &c. 

Liverpool  intends  to  hold  ah  International  Exhi- 
bition in  May  next.  The  corporation  have  granted 
a  site  of  35  acres  for  the  purpose. 

Dr.  Thomas  Davidson,  F.R.S.,  the  celebrated 
paleontologist,  has  just  died  at  the  age  of  69.  He 
was  distinguished  for  his  researches  and  numerous 
publications  on  the  Fossil  brachiopoda. 

Penny  Science  Lectures  are  being  delivered  at  the 
Royal  Victoria  Hall  and  Coffee  Tavern,    Waterloo 
Bridge  Road.     Sir  John  Lubbock  and  Mr.  W.  Lant 
_  Carpenter  have  already  lectured  there. 

The  third  annual  session  of  the  Youth  Scientific 
and  Literary  Society  commenced  November  19th, 
1885,  when  a  general  meeting  was  held  at  head- 
quarters, The  Tolmers  Square  Institute,  Drummond 
Street,  Euston  Road,  N.W.  The  officers  for  the 
session  are  :  President,  Alex.  Ramsay,  F.G.S., 
E.R.G.S.,  Editor  of  the  "Garner,"  &c.  ;  Vice-Presi- 
dents: (Scientific),  J.  W.  Williams,  D.Sc,  B.A., 
F.L.S.J  iVc.  (late  Pres.),  and  (Literary),  Rupert  Parry, 
F.S.Sc. 

Composite  portraiture  is  again  the  subject  of  a 
paper  in  "  Science,"  this  time  by  Mr.  Joseph  Jastrow, 
who  describes  how  the  effect  may  be  produced  by  a 
stereoscope,  and  even  from  two  living  faces,  without 


the  intervention  of  photography  at  all.  In  the  course 
of  his  paper  he  says,  that  the  characteristics  of  the 
results  are  the  means  of  those  of  the  originals  em- 
ployed. Thus  the  composite  portrait  of  a  young 
lady  of  twenty  and  her  mother  of  sixty,  gives  a  lady 
of  about  forty,  while  one  of  a  young  lady  and  her 
grandmother  gives  a  face  more  like  the  mother  than 
like  the  grandmother  or  the  granddaughter. 

The  simplest  form  of  electric  lamp  for  use  by 
surgeons,  &c,  according  to  "  Engineering,"  is  one 
brought  out  by  Messrs.  Woodhouse  and  Rawson,  in 
which  the  use  of  an  external  reflector  is  dispensed 
with,  one  side  of  the  lamp  bulb  being  silvered  so  as 
to  reflect  the  light. 

In  the  address  of  Mr.  B.  Baker,  M.S.C.E.,  presi- 
dent of  Section  G  in  the  British  Association,  he  said 
that  at  the  present  time  absolute  chaos  prevails 
among  engineers  as  to  rules  respecting  the  strength 
of  metallic  bridges.  That  a  bridge  which  would 
be  passed  by  our  Board  of  Trade  would  require 
strengthening  in  different  parts  from  five  to  six  per 
cent,  before  passing  the  German  Government  or  the 
leading  railway  companies  in  America  ;  that  iron 
girders  are  injured  by  a  change  in  the  weight  they 
support,  that  which  is  a  relief  to  a  muscle  being  bad 
for  a  bar  of  iron.  "  Hundreds  of  existing  railway 
bridges  which  carry  twenty  trains  a  day  with  perfect 
safety,  would  break  down  quickly  with  twenty  trains 
per  hour." 

Grano-metallic  stone  is  formed  of  a  certain 
proportion  of  blast  furnace  slag  and  granite,  crushed, 
chemically  treated,  dried,  and  mixed  with  Portland 
cement,  made  into  paste  with  alkaline  solution,  and 
laid  on  rough  ballast,  a  smooth  surface  being  given 
at  finish.  It  is  said  to  be  ready  for  use  in  twelve 
hours  in  ordinary  weather.  It  is  both  fire-proof  and 
water-proof,  and  is  not  slippery,  since  particles  of  hard 
slag  always  project.  It  has  already  been  laid  down 
in  the  Strand. 

Mr.  A.  Somerville,  F.L.S.,  has  conferred  a 
great  boon  on  students  of  British  Conchology,  by  the 
publication  of  a  list  of  British  marine  shells,  com- 
prising those  of  brachiopoda  and  mollusca  proper, 
after  the  arrangements  in  the  late  Dr.  Jeffrey's 
"  British  Conchology,"  including  additions  up  to  the 
present  year. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  more  enthusiastic  group  of 
naturalists  than  is  to  be  found  in  Yorkshire  and 
Lancashire.  Nowhere  is  the  upivard  levelling  ten- 
dency of  natural  science  more  plainly  seen.  Every 
town  has  a  society  of  some  kind — sometimes  several 
such— devoted  to  these  studies,  and  the  members 
include  every  class  of  the  community,  although  we 
are  glad  to  know  that  the  artisans  frequently  form  the 
chief  portion .  No  modern  studies  are  better  calculated 
to  sweeten  a  life  of  toil  than  those  of  botany,  zoology, 
and  geology.     We  should  like  our  readers  to  see  the 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


279 


new  "  Rochdale  Field  Naturalists'  Journal  "  (a  penny 
monthly)  in  proof  of  what  we  have  said.  It  is  a 
credit  both  to  the  society  and  the  town. 

"The  Garner,  and  Science  Recorders' 
Journal,"  is  the  name  given  to  a  new  and  ably- 
conducted  monthly,  edited  by  Mr.  A.  Ramsay, 
F.G.S.  The  principal  aim  of  this  magazine  is  to 
organise  systematic  investigation. 

The  paper  read  before  the  Essex  Field  Club  last 
October,  by  Mr.  Worthington  Smith,  F.L.S.  &c, 
(which  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention),  called 
"Botanical  Mare's-Nests,  chiefly  Fungological,"  was 
reprinted  at  length  in  "  The  Gardening  World  "  for 
October. 

Baron  von  Mueller,  the  distinguished  Govern- 
ment Botanist  of  Victoria,  has  recently  described  a 
new  cycadaceous  plant  from  South-Western  Australia, 
which  he  has  named  after  Professor  Dyer,  of  Kew, 
Eiiccphalartos  Dyeri.  The  same  botanist  has  also 
just  described  a  new  Papuan  Bassia,  -which  yields  an 
edible  fruit.  Pie  thinks  that  New  Guinea  is  almost 
sure  to  yield  from  some  of  its  Bassias  and  other 
sapotaceous  trees  new  sources  for  gutta-percha. 

It  is  with  much  sorrow  we  have  to  announce  the 
death  (the  result  of  an  accident)  of  Dr.  W.  B. 
Carpenter,  F.R.S.,  the  distinguished  physiologist 
and  author,  at  the  age  of  72. 

Mr.  Clement  L.  Wragge  has  been  commissioned 
by  the  Queensland  Government  to  visit  and  report 
"as  to  the  best  means  of  establishing  Meteorological 
Stations  in  Queensland,  including  Cape  York  Pen- 
insula and  Torres  Straits."  Mr.  Wragge,  who  lately 
returned  from  a  scientific  expedition  on  his  own 
account  to  North  Queensland,  commenced  this  im- 
portant work  early  last  month,  and  was  expected  to 
reach  Normanton,  in  the  Gulf  of  Carpentaria,  about 
the  15th  of  last  October. 

We  are  sorry  to  announce  the  death  of  Dr.  Walter 
Flight,  F.R.S.,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-four.  His 
"History  of  Meteorites,"  which  appeared  in  the 
"Geological  Magazine,"  first  made  him  known  to 
readers  of  popular  science. 


MICROSCOPY. 

Glass-Covers  in  the  Tropics. — Never  bring 
your  thin  glass  into  the  tropics  bedded  in  lime  or 
chalk.  I  have  seen  many  ounces  of  glass  destroyed, 
or  apparently  so,  by  such  means.  Shortly  after  the 
glass  has  reached  me,  or  even  when  received,  the  face 
begins  to  deteriorate,  becoming  first  iridescent,  and 
then  opaque,  like  ground-glass,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  the  breaking  up,  not  scratching,  of  the 
surface.  This  can  be  seen  at  once  under  the  quarter 
inch.     I  noticed  that  glass  which  had  been  used  to 


cover  down  did  not  fail  in  the  same  way  as  glass  from 
the  same  box,  unused  and  retained  in  the  lime. 
Taking  the  hint,  my  last  supply  was  sent  out  glued 
together  by  a  little  clove  oil,  run  in  between  the 
plates  by  capillary  attraction.  I  have  had  this  last 
lot  three  months  now,  and  the  covers  are  perfect. 
— I.  IV.  P. 

Development  of   Flea's  Egg. — The  following 
are  the  references  to  the  figures  last  month  :   Figure 

175,  First  segment,  head  and  mouth  organs  of  larva 
X  250,  a  base  of  tubercle  on  the  back  of  head  and 
seen  through  the  structure  of  larva,  b  b  b  b,  Tubercles 
which  assist  in  locomotion,     c,  Mandibles.     Figure 

176,  Mandibles  of  same  X  250.  Figure  179,  Newly 
emerged  male  flea  X  25.  Figures  177  and  178  are 
each  magnified  25  diameters. 


ZOOLOGY. 

The  Mollusca  of  Kerry. — The  following  list 
of  a  collection  of  shells  recently  made  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Dingle,  co.  Kerry,  is  interesting  on 
account  of  the  geographical  position  of  that  county, 
and  for  comparison  with  the  south  of  England  lists. 
Tapes  aureus,  Venus  gallina  (several),  V.  linota, 
Lucina  borealis,  Tellina  fabirfa,  T.  balthica  (a  worn 
single  valve),  Cardium  edule,  C.  exiguum,  Pholas 
Candida,  Psammobia  ferroensis,  Mactra  subtruncata, 
Pecten  maxi/nus,  P.  varius  (three  varieties,  the  first 
purplish-brown,  mottled  with  lighter,  the  second 
whitish  with  purplish-brown  markings,  and  the  third 
orange-brown).  Scalafia  communis,  Trochus  zizyphinus 
(several),  T.  magus,  T.cinerarius,  Buccinum  undatum, 
Cyprcea  Europcca  (both  spotted  and  spotless  forms), 
Rissoa  membranacea  (many),  R.  parva,  var.  intemcpta 
(one),  Lacuna  divaricata  (many),  Apporhais  pes- 
pelecani,  Nassa  reticulata,  AT.  incrassata,  Littorina 
rudis,  L.  obtusata,  Purpura  lapillus,  Murex  erinaceus, 
Actaon  tornatilis.  There  were  also  a  few  landshells, 
Helix  ericetorum,  and  its  variety  alba,  and  Cochlicolla 
acuta.  In  the  above  list  of  marine  shells  there  are 
four  species,  L.  divaricata,  C.  exiguum,  P.  Candida, 
and  T.  balthica,  not  mentioned  in  Messrs.  Smart  & 
Cooke's  list  of  Scilly  Island  Shells,  but  all  these  four 
are  found  in  Kent,  while  eight  others,  V.  gallina,  V. 
lincta,  A.  pes-pelecani,  L.  borealis,  T.  magus,  P. 
ferroensis,  M.  subtruncata,  and  T.  aureus,  are  not 
included  in  the  Kentish  fauna,  although  five .  of  them 
have  been  taken  on  the  Sussex  coast.  Wyville 
Thompson  gives  a  list  of  mollusca  dredged  forty  miles 
off  Valentia,  in  no  fathoms.  It  is  a  very  remarkable 
one,  and  includes  several  species  not  before  known  as 
British,  and  others  extremely  rare.  These  are  some 
of  them,  Necera  rostrata,  Verticordia  abyssicola,  Denta- 
lium  abyssorum,  Buccinum  Humphreysianum,  Pleuro- 
toma  carinata,  Ostrea  cochlearis,  Aporrha'is  serresianus, 
Murex  lamellosus,  and  Trochus  granulatus. —  T.  Z>, 
A.  Cockerell. 


2SO 


BAkDWICRE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Trochus  lineatus. — I  found  this  species  rather 
common  on  the  rocks  at  Herm  this  year  and  very 
fine.  One  colony,  however,  had  all  the  opercula  much 
deformed,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  it  was  altogether 
absent.  Dr.  Jeffreys,  I  believe,  mentions  a  similar  oc- 
currence in  his  third  vol.  Mr.  A.  H.  Cooke  informs 
me  that  he  has  found  Buccinum  undatum  on  the  Welsh 
coast,  which  had  had  the  opercula,  and  part  of  the 
animals  pecked  out  by  gulls.  This  would  account  for 
total  absence,  but  would  it  account  for  deformity  or 
depauperisation?  I  saw  no  peculiarity  in  the  habitat 
which  would  be  likely  to  influence  the  growth  of  my 
shells.  Does  the  operculum  of  molluscs  grow  again 
if  removed  ? — B.  Tomlin,  Pemb.  Coll.,  Cam/'. 


BOTANY. 

Polysii'HOXIA  fastigiata. — Accompanying  the 
plate  of  Polysiphonia  fastigiata  in  the  August  number, 
is  a  short  statement  purporting  to  describe  the  mode 
of  propagation.  This  is,  however,  somewhat  mis- 
leading, and  I  ask  your  permission  to  give  those  who 
have  relied  only  on  Mr.  Draper's  note  the  proper 
explanation.  This  plant  bears  three  kinds  of  fruit, 
generally  on  distinct  plants.  The  tetraspores  are 
analogcus  to  buds,  are  asexual,  and  divide  into  four 
parts  (not  more  as  stated)  each  of  which  is  capable  of 
developing  into  a  plant.  The  antheridia  drawn  in 
the  plate  are  the  male  fruit,  and  therefrom  issue  forth 
minute  rounded  bodies,  called  antherozoids.  These 
bodies  are  washed  near  the  female  plants,  on  which  is 
a  projection  readily  noticeable  under  the  microscope. 
From  one  part  of  this  projection  issues  a  very 
minute  hair-like  and  unjointed  process  called  a 
trichogyne,  and  to  this  trichogyne  the  antherozoids 
become  attached,  and  thus  effect  the  fertilising  act 
which  is  followed  by  the  complete  development  of  the 
female  fruit,  the  cystocarp  (Ceramidium  of  Harvey's 
"  Phycologia  Britannica"  )  containing  the  true  spores. 
This  fruit  is,  according  to  all  good  botanists,  the 
basis  of  classification,  and  naturally  the  most  im- 
portant of  all.  But  Mr.  Draper  has  entirely  passed  this 
over  without  remark.  The  cystocarp  (or  ceramidium)  is 
an  even-shaped  body,  and  the  spores  are  arranged  on 
a  placenta  near  the  base,  and  at  maturity  issue  forth 
through  an  opening  at  the  apex  of  the  urn.  The 
antheridia  on  a  properly-mounted  specimen,  form  a 
very  beautiful  object  with  the  paraboloid  and  bino- 
cular.— T.  II.  Buffham. 

Crocus  NUDIFLORUS. — This  autumnal  crocus  is 
extremely  abundant  and  quite  wild  in  fields  about 
Prestwich  clough,  about  four  miles  N.  of  Manchester, 
and  is  also  found  in  one  or  two  situations  on  the 
south  side  of  that  city.  It  also  occurs  in  fields 
sloping  to  the  south  near  Singleton  Brook,  Kersal, 
and  overlooking  Kersal  Moor,  about  one  mile  nearer 
Manchester  than  Prestwich.     And   again,   it   grows 


near  Bury,  about  five  miles  farther  north  of  this  last- 
mentioned  locality. — y.  Cosmo  Melville. 

In  the  November  number  of  the  "Journal  of 
Botany,"  I  have  enumerated  the  species  and  varieties 
of  "  Dianthus."  As  I  am  anxious  to  have  an  accurate 
topography  of  its  distribution  in  this  country,  might 
I  ask  some  of  your  readers  to  be  so  good  as  to  forward 
to  me  on  cards,  local  records  (if  possible  from  recent 
personal  observation)  of  the  indigenous  British 
species,  viz.  D.  Armeria,  deltoides  (with  var.  glaucus) 
ctcsius,  and  prolifer'i — Frederic  N.  Williams,  F.G.S. 

Metastasis  in  Leaves. — The  results  of  some 
experiments  on  this  subject  by  T.  Sachs,  which  may 
be  found  recorded  in  the  "Journal  of  the  Chemical 
Society "  for  July,  deserve  notice  here.  It  was 
found  that  in  the  case  of  many  plants  starch  was 
found  in  the  leaves  in  the  evening,  which  disappeared 
during  the  night,  so  that  they  contained  none  by 
sunrise  the  next  morning.  It  appears  that,  probably 
owing  to  its  conversion  by  a  soluble  ferment  into 
sugar,  the  starch  is  dissolved,  passing  into  the  stem. 
It  is  said  that  during  each  hour  of  the  day  a  square 
metre  of  Helianthus' was  found  to  gain  '914  grm., 
and  of  Cucurbita  ■  68  grm.  of  starch,  while  during  each 
hour  cf  the  night  they  lost  respectively  '974  grm. 
and  '828  grm. 


GEOLOGY,  &c. 

The  Geology  of  Corstorpiiine  Hill,  near 
Edinbro'. — I  have  been  engaged  in  examining  lately, 
microscopically,  a  series  of  sections  from  the  rock  of 
Corstorphine  Hill,  near  Edinburgh.  This  rock  is 
described  in  all  geological  memoirs  treating  of  the 
district  as  diorite.  All  the  specimens  but  one,  I 
found  to  have  more  or  less  the  structure  of  diorite 
(though  not  at  all  typical),  this  exceptional  one  was 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  gabbro.  This  gabbro 
was  a  crystalline  aggregate  of  labradorite  (with  very 
little  oligoclase)  diallage  augite  and  a  very  little 
hornblende.  The  other  specimens  were  diorites,  but 
bore  a  distinct  relationship  to  the  gabbro.  They 
were  crystalline  aggregates  of  labradorite,  oligoclase, 
hornblende,  and  augite.  Some  of  the  latter  mineral 
altered  to  diallage.  The  rock  of  Corstorphine  Hill, 
therefore,  as  far  as  I  have  examined  it,  appears  to  be 
quite  as  much  a  gabbro  as  a  diorite.  It  shows,  at  any 
rate,  what  I  think  has  never  been  pointed  out  before, 
the  close  relationship  existing  between  diorite  and 
gabbro,  and  that  one  may  pass  into  the  other. — Alex, 
yohnstone,  F.G.S. 

The  North  Atlantic  Basin. — The  subject  of 
Mr.  Melland  Reade's  presidential  address  to  the 
Liverpool  Geological  Society  was  "  The  North 
Atlantic  as  a  Geological  Basin."  A  chart,  embody- 
ing the  result  of  all  the  latest  soundings,  was  exhibited 


BARDWICKE'S  SCI ENCE-G  OSSIF. 


281 


having  contour  lines  showing  the  form  of  the  ocean 
basin.  Mr.  Reade  explained  that  in  many  localities 
the  more  frequent  the  soundings  the  greater  and  more 
numerous  were  the  irregularities  of  the  bottom,  and 
from  this  he  inferred  that  as  the  ocean  bed  became 
explored,  many  areas  now  supposed  to  be  plains, 
would  prove  to  possess  reliefs  similar  to  those  of  the 
land.  There  are  submerged  valleys  and  a  mountain 
chain  off  the  coast  of  Spain,  and  great  irregularities 
in  the  soundings  over  the  central  ridge  which  traverses 
the  Atlantic  from  north  to  south.  The  effect  of  the 
matter  brought  down  by  the  great  rivers  the  Amazon, 
Mississippi,  and  Congo  was  then  dwelt  upon,  the 
conclusion  arrived  at  being  the  existence  of  immense 
thicknesses  of  geologically  modern  sediment  as  sub- 
marine prolongations  of  the  deltas  proper,  forming  in 
many  cases  submarine  plateaus  to  the  great  con- 
tinents. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 

Notes  on  Birds. — I  observe  a  notice  in  your 
February  number)'  a  white  sparrow  being  found  at 
Anstruther.  Here  in  the  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  near 
one  of  the  vice-regal  lodge  gates  may  be  seen  any 
day  a  pure  white  chaffinch,  flying  about  among  the 
trees  and  shrubs  in  company  of  others  of  its  family  ; 
the  bird  is  familiar  to  the  mounted  police  doing  duty 
at  the  gate.  On  the  centre  road  of  the  park  may  be 
also  seen  a  jackdaw  of  peculiar  colour,  a  bronzy 
lavender  :  he  is  an  odd-looking  bird  :  has  stuck  to  the 
same  locality  for  the  last  three  years.  The  hawfinch 
or  grosbeak  is  also  to  be  seen  in  the  park,  one  was 
shot  last  November.  Very  large  flocks  of  red-wings 
frequented  the  park  last  month,  but  I  have  not  seen 
any  for  the  last  week.  The  missel-thrush  is  common, 
feeding  on  the  berries  of  the  yew-trees,  great  fat 
fellows  like  partridges. —  William  Dick,  Phanix  Park. 

Newt  Casting  Skin.— There  is  nothing  unusual 
in  the  fact  that  the  newt  kept  by  G.  A.  Simmons 
swallowed  its  old  skin.  Most  newts  do  so,  as  also  do 
toads.  It  is  very  amusing  too  to  see  the  latter 
disposing  of  his  "old  clo'."  After  pulling  it  off 
with  his  fore  feet,  he  proceeds  to  roll  it  into  a  ball, 
and  finally  thrusts  it  into  his  capacious  jaws  and 
swallows  it,  as  it  were  a  huge  pill.  Newts  will  often 
cast  off  their  skins  and  leave  them  floating  in  the 
water.  If  they  (the  skins)  are  then  carefully  floated 
on  to  a  piece  of  glass  and  then  allowed  to  dry,  they 
form  very  curious  and  interesting  objects.  —  W. 
Finch,  Jan.,  Nottingham. 

Andersonian  Naturalists'  Society. — A  meet- 
ing of  gentlemen  connected  with  Anderson's  College, 
Glasgow,  was  held  on  the  25th  August  last,  in  the 
College,  and  a  Natural  History  Society  was  formed, 
under  the  title  of  "Andersonian  Naturalists'  Society." 
A  code  of  rules  was  adopted,  and  Professor  A.  S. 
Wilson,  M.A.,  B.Sc,  was  chosen  president.  The 
meeting  w  as  very  enthusiastic,  and  the  prospects  of  the 
society  are  good.  Old  Andersonian  men  and  Glasgow 
naturalists  located  at  a  distance  from  home,  will  be 
glad  to  hear  of  this  venture,  and  wish  the  new  society 
every  success.  Naturalists  having  anything  to 
correspond  on,  or  any  assistance  to  tender,  should 
communicate  with  the  secretary,  Mr.  William 
Gumming,  West-End  College,  Chryston,  by  Glasgow. 


Starling  Eating  Earwigs.— Mr.  W.  Mattieu 
Williams,  in  Science-Gossip  for  October,  mentions 
the  case  of  a  duck  refusing  to  eat  earwigs.  About 
twelve  years  ago  I  was  at  a  station  where  we  kept  our 
lamps  and  oil  in  a  small  wooden  house  at  the  end  of 
the  office.  I  also  used  to  keep  a  few  geraniums  in 
the  window  of  this  house.  During  the  summer  months 
this  place  was  swarming  with  earwigs  ;  and  I  used  to 
get  a  number  of  stems  of  the  cow-parsnip,  and  cut 
them  in  lengths  of  seven  or  eight  inches,  and  placed 
them  among  the  flower-pots.  When  I  examined  the 
stems  in  the  morning,  they  were  always  full  of  ear- 
wigs. I  had  a  tame  starling,  which  I  took  out  with 
me  when  I  went  to  examine  the  stems  of  cow-parsnip 
in  the  morning.  When  I  shook  the  earwigs  out  of 
the  stems  on  to  the  floor,  the  starling  always 
devoured  them  as  fast  as  it  could  pick  them  up.  I 
also  sometimes  dug  up  the  sand  at  the  bottom  of  the 
wall,  where  there  were  numbers  of  earwigs  concealed 
among  the  sand.  When  doing  so,  the  starling 
followed  after  me,  and  greedily  devoured  every  ear- 
wig that  made  its  appearance. — F.  Brebner,  Portlc- 
then,  by  Aberdeen. 

Lunar  Rainbow. — One  night,  about  the  third 
week  in  August  (I  have  forgotten  the  exact  date),  I 
was  out  collecting  at  the  back  of  Caesar's  Camp, 
Folkestone,  when,  about  10  P.M.,  I  noticed  the  left- 
hand  half  of  what  appeared  to  be  a  rainbow.  The 
moon  was  moderately  bright  at  the  time,  occasionally 
covered  for  a  few  seconds  with  small  clouds,  and,  as 
far  as  I  could  judge,  was  due  west.  A  fine  rain  had 
been  falling  for  three  or  four  hours.  It  was  a  silvery 
green,  and  stood  out  rather  clearly  against  the  dense 
black  clouds  that  filled  the  east.  After  some  little 
time  it  vanished  and  the  right-hand  half  appeared, 
from  which  side  it  gradually  extended  until  it  formed 
the  complete  arc.  Is  a  night  rainbow  of  common 
occurrence  ? — Louis  Jarman. 

Freezing  Machine. — In  reply  to  J.  P.,  he  will 
find  an  account  of  Carre's  Continuous  Freezing 
Machine,  which  produces  800  lbs.  of  ice  per  hour, 
in  Richardson  &  Watt's  "  Chemical  Technology," 
part  v.,  page  296.—  Ernest  Hanwell. 

Fresh-water  Shells.— I  have  little  doubt  that 
similar  incidents  are  more  common  than  is  generally 
supposed,  a>nd  I  have  myself  frequently  met  with 
them.  I  have  often  seen  the  toes  of  newts,  frogs,  and 
toads  firmly  grasped  by  small  bivalves  [Spharium 
corneum).  A  short  time  ago  I  caught  a  fine  warty 
newt  {Triton  cristatus),  with  four  Sphaeriums  firmly 
attached  to  its  toes,  and  they  seemed  to  have  been 
clinging  there  for  some  time,  for  the  poor  creature's 
toes  were  quite  white  and  transparent,  as  if  they  had 
been  sucked  by  their  shelly  appendages,  and  it  could 
with  difficulty  stumble  along.  I  once  captured  a  toad 
that  was  tramping  leisurely  along  the  roadside,  in  the 
dusk  of  evening,  with  a  full-grown  Limucea  peregra 
on  its  back.  But  the  most  curious  instance  of  this 
transportation  of  mollusca  from  one  locality  to  another 
came  under  my  observation  one  evening  when  return- 
ing from  a  moth-hunting  expedition.  A  big  beetle 
came  booming  slowly  along,  and  a  random  sweep  of 
my  net  secured  it.  It  proved  to  be  a  fine  water- 
beetle  {Dytiscus  marginalis),  and  I  was  surprised  to 
find  a  full-grown  Sphoerium  firmly  clinging  to  one 
of  its  feet,  and  thus  being  conveyed  by  most  unlikely 
agency  to  some  far  distant  locality.  It  is  quite  likely 
that  the  larger  bivalves,  such  as  the  Unios  and 
Anodons,  may  often  be  removed  by  wading  birds,  as 
they  usually  lie  with  their  valves  slightly  open,  and 
the  toe  of  the  bird  being  introduced,  the  shell  would 
firmly  close,  and  then  be  carried  away  by  the  bird 


282 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


thus  conveniently  clogged,  to  be  afterwards  dropped 
in  another  sheet  of  water  ;  and  if  it  chanced  that  the 
shell  thus  conveyed  were  full  of  ova,  the  pond,  if 
barren  before,  would  soon  become  populated.  Such 
molluscs  as  deposit  their  ova  in  gelatinous  masses,  as 
the  Limnsea,  Planorbi,  &c,  may  readily  have  these 
ova  masses  conveyed  from  pond  to  pond  by  small 
reptiles  such  as  the  frog  or  toad,  or  even  by  birds  and 
rats.  To  my  mind,  these  instances  I  have  noted,  very 
satisfactorily  account  for  the  sometimes  apparently 
inexplicable  populations  of  ponds  and  other  sheets  of 
water,  and  the  distribution  of  various  species  of 
mollusca.  In  a  recent  issue  of  the  "  Field,"  an 
instance  is  related  by  a  correspondent  when  a  large 
fresh-water  mussel  was  found,  having  between  the 
valves  the  toe  of  a  small  bird,  apparently  that  of  some 
species  of  Turdus,  perhaps  a  blackbird ;  and  two 
other  instances  have  lately  been  recorded  in  the  same 
paper,  one  of  a  wader  being  caught  by  a  cockle,  and 
another  of  a  snipe  being  shot  which  had  a  small 
Sphrerium  clinging  to  its  toe.  It  was  for  long  a 
problem  to  the  late  Charles  Darwin  : — How  it  came 
about  that  mussels  and  other  shells  which  can  neither 
fly  nor  walk,  can  migrate  from  one  pond  to  another  ? 
This  was  solved  by  some  boys  who  found  some  frogs, 
and  a  Dytiscus,  with  small  mussels  clinging  to  their 
legs,  and  who  made  bold  to  write  to  him,  asking  if  he 
could  give  them  any  explanation  of  it,  and  he  wrote 
very  kindly  in  return,  thanking  them  for  the  light  they 
had  thus  thrown  upon  a  subject  which  had  long  been 
an  enigma  to  him.  Only  two  or  three  weeks  before 
his  death,  Mr.  Darwin  wrote  a  letter  on  the  subject 
of  the  "  Dispersal  of  Fresh- water  Bivalves,"  in  which 
he  relates  an  instance  of  a  Unio  being  found  attached 
to  the  tip  of  the  middle  toe  of  a  duck,  shot  on  the 
wing,  as  well  as  other  important  facts  of  the  same 
kind. — R.  Standen. 

Ants  and  Birds. — In  reference  to  Mr.  Mattieu 
Williams'  notes  respecting  the  duck's  great  antipathy 
to  the  ant,  I  may  mention  that  I  have  noticed  the 
same  thing  myself  in  many  other  birds.  When  hens 
hatch  off  young  pheasants,  it  is  usual  for  the  keepers 
to  feed  the  young  birds  on  ants'  eggs,  for  which 
purpose  they  frequently  place  a  whole  ant-hill  with 
eggs  and  ants  all  together  near  their  coop  for  them  to 
scratch  at.  The  pheasants  will  devour  the  eggs 
greedily,  but  I  notice  that  they  will  not  touch  the 
perfect  insects,  but  avoid  them  as  much  as  possible. 
The  old  mother  hen  too,  is  in  great  fear  of  these  active 
little  insects,  but  in  spite  of  all  her  endeavours  to  keep 
clear  of  them,  many  generally  manage  to  crawl 
amongst  her  feathers  and  make  her  very  miserable. 
Thrushes,  blackbirds,  and  starlings  will  not  touch 
these  creatures,  for  I  have  frequently  tried  them,  they 
nevertheless  show  a  great  liking  for  them  in  the  larva 
state.  I  once  killed  a  red  backed  shrike  which  was 
industriously  pecking  and  foraging  on  an  ant-hill, 
and  on  dissecting  it  I  found  about  a  dozen  ants,  a  few 
larvae,  and  a  large  number  of  small  beetles  belonging 
to  a  species  which  are  principally  found  in  ants'  nests. 
All  oologists  must  be  familiar  with  the  peculiar 
notched  and  long  tongue  of  the  birds  of  the  wood- 
pecker tribe,  and  many  no  doubt  have  seen  them  busy 
at  work  and  eating.  They  dig  a  deep  hole  into  the 
midst  of  the  ants'  homes  with  their  strong  beak,  and 
then  thrusting  in  their  tongue,  allow  it  to  remain 
there  for  a  moment,  when  they  draw  it  out  covered 
with  the  insects  which  the)'  eat  with  great  relish.  I 
have  often  wondered  why  it  is  that  some  birds  have 
such  a  dislike  for  ants,  whilst  others  number  them 
amongst  their  favourite  morsels. —  William  P.  Ellis. 

White   Flowers. — Three    specimens    of    white 
Ajuga    reptans  were    found    this    summer,    in    the 


neighbourhood  of  Llwyngwern  ;  also  on  a  mountain, 
not  far  from  the  same  place,  three  kinds  of  white 
heather,  Erica  Tetralix,  E.  ci/ierea,  Callima  vulgaris. 
— M.  E.  Thomson. 

Eggs. — We  have  occasionally  observed  on  the 
small  stems  and  surfaces  of  the  leaves  of  horse- 
chestnut  and  sycamore,  lumps  of  transparent  jelly 
clear  as  water  with  a  slightly  ribbed  outline,  con- 
taining inside  at  about  equal  distances,  though  set 
near  together,  small  yellow  eggs  a  little  larger  than 
common  spiders'  eggs.  These  curious  objects  are 
found  on  the  outside  leaves  of  lower  branches 
hanging  over  a  deep  freshwater  pond,  far  away 
from  the  tree-trunk,  but  nowhere  coming  nearer 
than  two  or  three  feet  to  the  surface  of  the  water. 
Seen  in  a  microscope  of  about  220  power  the  jelly 
is  still  clear  as  water ;  the  eggs  look  the  same  as 
before  only  larger — something  like  the  yolk  of  a 
hen's  egg  to  the  naked  eye,  but  a  less  dark  yellow. 
They  were  found  in  August  and  September.  If  any 
correspondent  could  tell  what  kind  of  reptile  or 
insect  may  have  laid  these  eggs  it  would  be  very 
interesting. — M.  C.  R. 

The  Knot. — It  is  a  very  unusual  thing  to  find  a 
knot  (Tringa  corniitus)  in  summer  plumage  on  the 
English  coast.  Such  an  one,  however  (a  female), 
was  shot  during  the  second  week  in  August  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  Ribble  below  Preston,  and  was 
purchased  by  J.  B.  Hodgkinson,  who  now  has  the 
specimen  in  his  possession.  He  remarks  that  al- 
though a  great  many  specimens  of  this  species  have 
passed  through  his  hands  at  various  times,  it  is  the 
first  he  ever  had  in  summer  plumage.  There  seems 
to  be  a  deal  of  uncertainty  attached  to  the  nidifi- 
cation  of  these  birds,  which  visit  our  shores  in 
immense  flocks  during  the  autumn  and  winter. 
The  eggs  have  rarely  if  ever  been  taken.  During 
the  explorations  of  Captain  Sir  G.  S.  Nares  in  the 
Arctic  seas  in  the  years  1875-6,  Mr.  Hy.  W. 
Fielden  (who  was  naturalist  to  the  expedition),  when 
camping  at  Knot  Harbour,  Grinnel  Land  (lat.  820 
33'  N.)  noticed  the  first  arrival  of  a  flock  of  knots 
on  June  5,  1S76,  which  circling  over  the  hillside, 
alighted  and  fed  eagerly  on  the  buds  of  the  purple 
saxifrage  (Saxifraga  oppositifolia).  They  began  to 
mate  soon  after  their  arrival,  and  although  careful 
search  was  made  by  various  members  of  the  expedition 
during  the  months  of  June  and  July  they  were 
unable  to  find  either  nest  or  eggs.  But  on  July  30, 
a  male  bird  and  three  nestlings  were  captured  near 
the  ship.  An  albino  var.  was  shot  near  Maldon,  in 
Essex,  Feb.  13,  1851.  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  of  any 
authentic  instances  of  the  knot's  eggs  being  found, 
and  to  have  a  description  of  them. — ■  W.  Hy.  Hcathcote, 
Preston. 

Willows  struck  by  Lightning. — On  the 
19th  of  May,  a  large  sized  willow-tree,  growing  in  a 
field  close  to  this  town,  was  struck  by  lightning, 
which  literally  wrenched  the  trunk  asunder  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom,  tearing  off  one  side  of  it,  and 
leaving  the  remainder  standing.  The  torn  surface  of 
this  bears  no  marks  of  having  been  burnt  or  charred 
by  the  flash,  but  is  comparatively  smooth,  and  has 
the  appearance  of  having  been  simply  split  by  a 
great  force,  except  that  for  a  breadth  of  four  or  five 
inches  down  the  centre  the  wood  hangs  in  shreds 
with  its  texture  almost  completely  destroyed.  On 
the  1st  inst.  I  examined  the  mutilated  trunk  left 
standing,  and  found  that  it  had  not  been  killed  and 
that  its  leaves  were  quite  fresh  and  green.  Two  men 
working  in  the  field  saw  the  lightning  strike  the  tree, 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


283 


and  say  that  splinters  of  wood  flew  about  in  all 
directions.  The  flash  was  immediately  followed  by 
a  very  heavy  peal  of  thunder,  the  vibration  caused 
by  which,  broke  several  windows  in  houses  about 
200  yards  from  this  tree. —  Win.  Self.  Weeks. 

Mimulus  luteus. — This  gay  flower  grows  in 
some  abundance  on  the  banks  of  the  stream  at 
Perranwharf,  Perranarworthal,  Cornwall.  I  have 
observed  it  during  the  past  three  summers.  It 
occurs  on  both  sides  of  the  river  in  company  with 
the  common  rag-wort.  —  T.  J.  Porter. 

Badgers  in  Worcestershire. — I  saw  one 
lately  (in  October)  which  had  been  shot  near  Ave- 
church,  and  another  was  killed  in  the  early  summer 
near  Bartley. — A".  D.  Co/ton. 

Sea-Birds  in  Worcestershire. — A  pair  of 
kittivvakes  were  on  the  reservoir  here  at  Whitsun, 
and  an  oyster-catcher  for  a  couple  of  months  ;  since 
then  common  and  lesser  terns  and  a  shag  (all  birds 
of  the  year)  have  been  shot  there.  There  are  now 
two  couple  of  green  sandpipers  about,  and  in  the 
alder-trees  near  a  flock  of  that  most  charming  of 
little  birds,  the  siskin. — K.  D.  Co/ton. 

Fauna  of  Staffordshire. — In  case  your  corre- 
spondent Mr.  Masefield  has  not  seen  the  book,  I 
•quote  from  R.  Garner's  "  History  of  Stafford,"  the 
statement  that  Daubenton's  bat  has  occurred  at 
Burton,  and  (from  the  Supplement)  that  the 
whiskered  bat  has  been  taken  in  the  same  country. 
— y.  Kelsall,  Fareham. 

Has  Pholas  Eyes  ? — As  far  as  is  at  present 
known,  visual  organs  in  the  Lamellibranchs  exist 
only  in  the  genera  Pecten,  Cardium,  and  Spondylus, 
where  they  are  found  on  the  edge  of  the  mantle, 
and  in  Pecien  number  about  100.  It  will  therefore 
be  of  great  interest  if  Mr.  Marrow  or  anyone  else 
can  discover  eyes  in  Pholas  also,  for  they  certainly 
seem  to  be  indicated  by  Mr.  Marrow's  remarks. — 
T.  D.  A.  Cockerel/. 

Breeding  Fleas. — Some  years  ago  I  carried  out 
a  series  of  investigations  into  the  life  history  of  the 
cat  flea,  collecting  the  eggs,  keeping  them  until 
hatched,  and  during  the  process  making  observations 
upon  the  various  changes  they  underwent.  These 
eggs  may  be  easily  obtained  in  considerable  numbers 
by  examining  carefully  the  place  where  the  cat  is  in 
the  habit  of  lying,  but  there  is  other  material  as  well 
which  requires  to  be  collected  simultaneously  for  a 
reason  I  shall  explain.  The  eggs  themselves  are 
easily  detected,  and  by  close  observation  scattered 
amongst  them  may  be  seen  numerous  little  masses  of 
a  dark  red  colour.  This  material  is  apparently  partly 
digested  food  derived  from  the  sanguineous  fluid  of 
poor  puss,  and  is  undoubtedly  designed  to  serve  as 
food  for  the  insect  during  the  period  it  remains  in  its 
larval  condition.  It  seems  probable  therefore  that 
some  similar  provision  exists  in  the  case  of  the 
common  house  flea,  and  it  was  for  the  want  of  this 
probably  the  only  suitable  food  that  Mr.  Harkus 
failed  to  mature  a  larger  number  of  his  specimens.  I 
should  like  to  know  whether  he  noticed  any  such 
masses  as  I  have  described  associated  with  the  eggs 
of  the  fleas,  and  I  feel  much  interested  in  any  further 
investigations  into  the  subject  he  may  carry  out. — 
G.  E.  Cox,  Ley  ton,  Essex. 

Crocus  nudiflorus. — A  well-known  locality  in 
the  north  of  England  is  by  the  Mersey,  in  meadows 
between  Northendon  and  LJidsbury,  near  Manchester. 
I  gathered  it  there,  Oct.  5th,  1S7S.--.ff.  B.  Le  Tall. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


To  Correspondents  and  Exchangers. — As  we  now 
publish  Science-Gossip  earlier  than  formerly,  we  cannot  un- 
dertake to  insert  in  the  following  number  any  communications 
which  reach  us  later  than  the  8th  of  the  previous  month. 

To  Anonymous  Querists. — We  must  adhere  to  our  rule  of 
not  noticing  queries  which  do  not  bear  the  writers'  names. 

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  our  gratuitous  insertion  of 
"  exchanges  "  which  cannot  be  tolerated. 

We  request  that  all  exchanges  may  be  signed  with  name  (or 
initials)  and  full  address  at  the  end. 


S.  Howahth. — From  your  sketch  we  judge  that  the  white 
sea-weed  is  the  common  coralline  [Coralliua  officinalis).  See 
Taylor's  "  Half-Hours  at  the  Sea-side." 

J.  B. — We  believe  that  the  new  edition  of  Yarrell's  "  British 
Birds  "  contains  figures  of  all  the  species. 

A.  Smith  (Invergordon). — The  existing  marine  shells  occur 
ring  in  the  "  vegetable  mound  "  may  be  the  remains  of  an  old 
sea-beach  ;    or  they  may  represent  some   "  Kitchin   Midden." 
It  is  impossible  to  tell  without  strict  details.     But  at  any  rate  it 
is  worth  your  while  to  investigate  all  the  phenomena. 

H.  P.  Marshall.  — Get  Dr.  Lankester's  little  work  on  "The 
Microscope  "  (edited  by  Mr.  F.  Kitton),  price  t.s.  6d.,  published 
by  Messrs.  W.  H.  Allen  &  Co.,  Waterloo  Place,  London. 

Clevedon. — Get  Stark's  "  British  Mosses,"  coloured  illustra- 
tions, price  10s.  6d ;  Rye's  "  British  Beetles,"  coloured  illustra- 
tions, price  ios.  6d ;  Rimmer's  "  Land  and  Freshwater  Shells," 
photographs  of  species,  price  10s.  6d;  Dr.  Cooke's  "  British 
Fungi,"  coloured  illustrations,  price  6s.  ;  see  also  Dr.  Cooke's 
"  Ponds  and  Ditches,"  fur  common  British  freshwater  algae 
(price  2S.  6d.),  and  "  British  Lichens,"  by  Dr.  Lindsay,  coloured 
illustrations,  price  10s.  6d. 

J.  F. — The  fungus  on  the  leaves  of  Adoxa  mosckatellina  are 
"  cluster  cups  "  [CEcidium)  ;  see  Cooke's  "  Microscopic  Fungi." 

J.  VV.  Odell. — Thanks  for  the  very  interesting  specimens  of 
Trofia-olum  tuberosum,  showing  various  degrees  of  fasciation. 
Article  on  the  same  will  appear  next  month. 

A.  P.  Carter. — "Elements  of  Mineralogy,"  by  F.  Rutley 
(London,  Murby  &  Co.,  price  is.  6d) ;  or  Dana's  "  Mineralogy," 
price  7s.  gd.  (London,  Triibner  &  Co.),  would  help  you,  es- 
pecially the  first  mentioned  capital  little  book. 

G.  M.  B. — No.  1  specimen  is  the  pretty  water-wasp  [Fonti- 
italis  anti/iyretica  :  No.  2  is  a  species  of  freshwater  alga. 


EXCHANGES. 

Wanted,  Testacellae,  either  shells  or  living  specimens,  also 
fine  or  peculiar  specimens  of  other  British  land  and  freshwater 
shells  for  figuring.  Good  returns  will  be  made  in  foreign  shells. 
— J.  W.  Taylor,  Outwood  Lane,  Horsforth,  near  Leeds. 

Wanted,  members  for  the  Scientific  Circulating  Magazine 
Society.  Address  for  particulars — T.  F.  Uttley,  17  Brazennose 
Street,  Manchester. 

A  quantity  of  first-class  slides  to  exchange  for  good  books. 
Wanted,  Cassell's  "  History  of  England." — J.  W.  ,Tutcher, 
22  North  Road,  Bristol. 

Offered,  Margaret  Plues'  "  British  Grasses,"  coloured  illus- 
trations, 1869,  in  good  condition  ;  J.  E.  Taylor's  "  Half  Hours 
in  the  Green  Lanes,"  1879,  good  condition  ;  J.  G.  Wood's 
"  Common  Objects  of  the  Sea-Shore,"  coloured  illustrations, 
fair  condition;  J.  G.  Wood's  "Lane  and  Field"  (Natural 
History  Rambles),  1879,  good  condition;  M.  C.  Cooke's 
"  Ponds  and  Ditches  "  (Natural  History  Rambles),  1880,  good 
condition;  George  Barnesby's  "(Jur  Native  Song  Birds, 
Warblers,  and  Canaries,"  in  exchange  for  Reaumur's  "  Natural 
History  of  Insects  relating  to  the  Diptera,"  original,  or  English 
translation. —  Miss  C.  Leigh,  37  Portman  Square,  London,  \V. 

Wanted,  Gray's  "  Anatomy  "  (descriptive),  latest  edition  ; 
also  a  stand  condenser  for  microscope. — J.  B.  Mayor,  5  Queen's 
Terrace,  Longsight,  Manchester. 

Eggs  of  following  species:  pied  flycatcher,  nightingale, 
stonechat,  Dartford  warbler,  wood  warbler,  creeper,  great  tit, 
rock  pipit,  cirl  bunting,  hawfinch,  goldfinch,  any  species  with 
cuckoos'  eggs  ;  a  liberal  exchange  for  any  of  above. — \V.  K. 
Mann,  Wellington  Terrace,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

First-class  anatomical  injections  from  cat,  rabbit,  guinea- 
pig,  &c,  for  magic-lantern  slides  or  natural  history  objects. — 
Henry  Vial,  Crediton,  Devon. 

Will  exchange  for  boianical  works,  or  conchology,  ento- 
mology works,  or  any  useful  exchange,  20  numbers  Cassell's 
"  Dictionary,"  21  numbers  Cassell's  "  Countries  of  the  World," 
5  numbers  Cassell's  "  Picturesque  Canada,"  5  numbers  Cassell's 
"  Egypt,"  and  9  numbers  Cassell's  "  Butterflies  and  Moths,"  all 
perfectly  clean.— J.  Taylor,  Duke  of  York  Hotel,  Eccles. 


284 


HARD  WJCKE'S  SCIENCE-  G  OSSIP. 


New  lantern  slides  of  Scottish  scenery  (unmounted)  in  ex- 
change for  others.  Lists  from — J.  M.  Bain,  12  Waterloo  Street, 
Glasgow. 

Wanted,  British  land  and  freshwater  shells.  Offered  in 
exchange,  micro-material,  slides,  or  other  shells. — J.  Moore, 
86  Porchester  Street,  Birmingham. 

Wanted,  good  chalk  fossils  ;  send  list ;  also  flint  implements  in 
exchange  for  fossils  from  other  formations. — Geo.  E  East, 
Junior,  10  Basinghall  Street,  London,  E.C 

Wanted,  Sacns'  "Botany,"  Hooker's  "Students'  Flora." 
Babington's  "Manual,"  and  other  scientific  books.  Will 
give  good  micro-slides  in  exchange. — Samuel  M.  Malcomson, 
M.D.,  55  Great  Victoria  Street,  Belfast. 

Wanted,  foreign  Lepidoptera  or  good  English,  in  exchange 
for  a  series  of  41  well-mounted  micro-slides  of  British  and  foreign 
zoophytes,  all  different,  and  all  named. — J.  Lilley,  2  Royal 
Promenade,  Clifton. 

Side-blown  eggs,  one  hole  :  starling,  wood  pigeon,  blackbird, 
thrush,  redstart,  house  sparrow,  greenfinch,  brown  linnet, 
yellow  bunting,  chaffinch,  turtle  dove.  Desiderata,  ova,  pupae, 
butterflies,  moths,  or  British  birds'  eggs. — F.  J.  Rasell,  ,9 
Raglan  Street,  Peas  Hill  Road,  Nottingham. 

Valuable  collection  of  British  land,  freshwater,  and  marine 
shells,  360  species,  nearly  2000  specimens;  offers  requested. — 
Thos.  H.  Hedworih,  Dunston-on-Tyne. 

Wanted,  the  "  Natural  History  of  Selborne,"  fully  illus- 
trated, "Familiar  Wild  Birds,"  Brown's  "Practical  Taxi- 
dermy," Cassell's  "European  Moths;"  will  exchange  several 
good  books,  2  fine  cases  of  staffed  birds,  and  about  400  duplicate 
specimens  of  moths,  good,  for  others  or  birds'  eggs,  and  birds 
for  stuffing. — Joseph  Bates,  10  Orchard  Terrace,  Welling- 
borough. 

Wanted,  an  £  inch  objective ;  will  exchange  3  vols,  of 
"  Picturesque  Europe,"  bound  in  halt-calf,  new.  Cost  ,£5  14J. 
— S.  S.  Ovens,  150  Lintburn  Street,  Galashiels. 

Wanted,  L.  C,  7th  edition,  106,  358,  611,  979;  offered,  575, 
500,  1646,  1650,  and  many  others.  Sute  wants  to  W.  W.  Reeves, 
2  Geneva  Road,  Brixton,  S.W. 

WELL-made  cabinet,  12  drawers,  graduated  in  depth,  nearly 
new.  Mahogany  show- cases,  and  over  200  species  of  shells  for 
exchange.  What  offers?  Fossils  from  Lpper  Miocene  of 
France  preferred. — Miss  Lintcr,  Arragon  Close,  Twickenham. 

Subscribers'  edition  of  Cassell's  "History  of  the  United 
States,"  by  Edmund  Ullier,  3  vols.,  complete,  unbound,  pro- 
fusely illustrated  with  wooi  engravings,  and  30  steel  plates  ; 
cost  30.S.,  exchange  for  Geikie's  or  other  good  text-book  of 
geology  or  geological  cabinet. — H.  P.  Dodridge,  7  Wharton 
Street,  W.C. 

Wanted,  fossils,  any  formation,  in  exchange  for  about  150 
butterflies,  all  good  specimens. — A.  E.  Dodridge,  7  Wharton 
btreet,  W.C. 

Wanted,  Berkeley's  "Mosses"  in  exchange  for  mosses  or 
good  fossils.  — Mrs.  Bishop,  The  Platts,  Watford. 

Wanted,  Science-Gossip,  No.  230,  February  1884.  Offered, 
two  well-mounted  micro  slides  ;  or,  if  preferred  is.  will  be  paid. 
— W.  J.  Atkinson,  131   Queen's  Road,  Peckham,  S.E. 

Micro  slides:  a  number  of  well-mounted  duplicates  in  ex- 
change for  others  or  good  material ;  also  a  lot  of  miscellaneous 
unmounted  objects  for  disposal. — Mathie,  42  McKinlay  Street, 
Glasgow. 

Hall's  "  Dictionary  of  Science,"  fine  old  work  in  three  large 
folio  volumes,  150  full-page  plates,  date  about  1790,  in  exchange 
for  good  high-power  for  microscope  or  accessories,  paraboloid. — 
Henry  Kendall,  B.A.,  17  Munition  Road,  Liverpool. 

Wanted,  a  few  ounces  of  foraminileral  sand  lrom  Dog's  Bay, 
Ireland  ;  will  give  in  exchange  micro  slides.  State  requirements 
to — Edward  Halkyard,  The  tirs,  Knutsford,  Cheshire. 

Duplicates:  Balea  perversa,  Trochus  lineatus,  T.  magus, 
Venus  exoleta,  O.  otis,  Lascea  rubra,  P.  glycymeris,  Tapes 
virgineus,  Venus  verrucosa,  H.  tuberculata,  Helix  pisaua, 
Trochus  agathensis,  E  issoa  striata,  Helix  aspersa  var.  tenuior, 
L.  neritoides,  &c.  Desiderata:  British  and  foreign  shells. — 
B.  Tomlin,  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge. 

Fresh  collected  "cluster  cups"  on  the  large  willow  herb, 
CEcidium  Epilobii,  neatly  mounted,  offered  in  exchange  for 
other  slides,  anatomical  ones  preferred.  Send  list. — G.  Garrett, 
30  Palmerston  Road,  Ipswich. 

Duplicates:  Lascea  rubra,  Trochus  lineatus,  T.  zi?y- 
phinus,  Balea per-aersa,  Rissoa  caucellata,  F.  Graca,  £.  rosea, 
IE.  acicutalus  (a  few),  Hydrobia  ventrosa.  Desiderata  :  shells, 
British  and  foreign. — B.  Tomlin,  59  Liverpool  Road,  Chester. 

British  shells,  including  CI.  biplicata,  H.  lamellata,  Pal. 
contecta,  Ach.  acicula,  Odostomia  plicata,  O.  rissoides,  O.  do- 
lioliforniis,  and  a  large  number  of  others.  Wanted,  rare 
species  and  varieties,  or  back  numbers  of  "  The  Portfolio  "  and 
other  art  journals.  — S.  C.  Cockerell,  51  Woodstock  Road,  Bed- 
ford Park,  Chiswick,  W. 

Will  exchange  the  following  and  others  for  British  marine 
or  land  and  freshwater  shells  :  Testaceila  haliotidea,  Z.  glabcr, 
Z.  radiatulus,  Z.  nitidus,  V.  antivertigo,  CI.  biplicata,  and 
C  minimum. — F.  G.  Fenn,  20  Woodstock  Road,  Bedford  Park, 
Chiswick,  W. 

Wanted,  "Trans  Linn.  Soc."  (Zool.),  Dec  1883;  will  give 
subsequent  parts,  equal  value.  — F.  N.  Williams,  F.G.S., 
181  High  Street,  Brentford. 


Two  neat  book-boxes,  15  X  n,  corked  for  insects,  gold  let- 
tered. Wanted  in  exchange,  pupae  of  Saturnia  pyri,  S.  Jo, 
Samia  Cecropia,  Tclea  yama-mai,  imagos  of  exotic  Lepi- 
doptera, set  or  in  papers. — Robert  Laddiman,  Hellesdon  Road, 
Norwich. 

Variety  of  double-stained  wood  sections,  dahlia,  vine,  elder, 
&c,  to  exchange  for  other  good  slides. — H.  B.  Linthorn, 
130  Hampton  Road,  Clifton,  Bristol. 

Wanted,  localised  Foraminifera  from  the  chalk  of  Ireland, 
south  and  east  of  England,  also  from  other  sources,  unmounted. 
Good  micro  slides  offered  in  exchange.  —  Calx,  15  Horton  Lane, 
Bradford. 

Will  give  Cynthia  and  Pernyi  cocoons  forMachaon,  Sinapis, 
Crataegi,  Hyale,  Daplidice,  C.  album,  Antiopa,  Sibylla,  Epi- 
phron,  //'.  album. — J.  Roseburgh,  18  Bank  Close,  Galashiels. 

I  have  been  collecting  land  and  freshwater  shells  for  some 
little  time,  but  I  find  great  difficulty  in  naming  my  specimens. 
Would  some  reader  of  Science-Gossip  kindly  help  me? — C. 
Chaytor,  Scrafton  Lodge,  Middleham,  Yorkshire. 

What  offers  for,  fin-spines,  teeth,  scales,  palates,  vertebras, 
and  bones  of  fish  from  coal  measures  '1 — T.  D.  Atkinson,  Tibshelf 
Colliery,  Alfreton. 

Seven  species  of  S.  American  bird  skins,  in  good  order. 
Also  Science-Gossip  for  1872,-3,-4,-5,  in  2  vols.  Wanted 
Wood's  "  Nat.  Hist."  (Mammalia),  and  "  Insects  at  Home." 
For  particulars  write  to  J.  H.  Keen,  18  Church  Street,  Spital- 
fields,  E. 

WELL-finished  slides,  micro-fungi,  spicules  of  sponges  and 
gorgonias,  palates  of  mollusca,  &c,  for  other  good-mounted  or 
prepared  objects. — A.  D.  Thompson,  139  Shirwood  Street, 
Nottingham. 

Wanted,  books  on  natural  history,  in  exchange  for  well- 
mounted  micro-slides.  Botanical  or  insecta. — W.  S.  Anderson, 
7  Granby  Street,  Ilkeston. 

Will  exchange,  L.  L.  Clark's  "  Seaweeds."  J.  G.  Wood's 
"Common  Objects  of  the  Microscope,"  and  Thos.  Moore's 
"  British  Ferns "  for  other  natural  history  books. — W.  S. 
Anderson,  7  Granby  Street,  Ilkeston. 

MicRO-slides,  well-mounted,  of  vegetable  sections,  trans,  and 
vert.,  double  stained,  and  others,  in  exchange  for  mosses  or 
algse. — Rev.  H.  W.  Lett,  Lurgan.  j 


BOOKS,  ETC.,  RECEIVED. 
"  Palaeontology  of  the  Eureka  District,"  by  C.  D.  Walcott 
Proceedings  of  Geologists'  Association,  (V.  S.  Geol.  Surv.). — 
"Report  of  Rugby  School  Nat.  Hist.  Soc." — "Journal  of  the 
Royal  Microscopical  Society." — "The  Naturalists' World." — 
"  Ben  Bnerley's  Journal." — "  The  Train." — "  Cosmos."—"  The 
Botanical  Gazette."—"  Science."—"  The  Asclepiad."— "  Liver- 
pool, Science  Students'  Association."—"  Proceedings  of  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia." — "The  Cana- 
dian Entomologist." — "The  American  Monthly  Microscopical 
Journal."— "The  Amateur  Photographer."— "  Ben  Brierley's 
Journal."— "The  Gardening  World."  —  "  Rochdale  Field 
Naturalist's  Journal."— "  Observations  on  Zoogloeae,"  by  W. 
Trelease.— "  The  Poets'  Beasts,"  by  Phil.  Robinson  (Chatto 
&  Windus).  —  "  Myths  and  Dreams,"  by  Edward  Clodd 
(Chatto  &  Windus).— "The  World's  Lumber  Room,"  by 
Selina  Gaye  (Cassell  &  Co.).— "The  Ocean,  a  Treatise  on 
Ocean  Currents  and  Tides,"  &c,  by  W.  Leighton  Jordan, 
F.R.G.S.  (London,  Longmans).— "The  Wanderings  of  Animals 
and  Plants,"  by  Victor  Heme,  edited  by  J.  S.  Stallybrass  (Lon- 
don, Swan  Sonnenschein&  Co.)— "Short  Studies  from  Nature" 
(Cassell  &  Co.).— "  Proceedings  of  the  Liverpool  Hist,  and 
Phil.  Soc,"  vol.  38.— "  Chemical  Students'  Manual,"  by  H.  L. 
Buckeridge  (London  Thos.  Murby).— "  Heat,  Sound,  and 
Light,"  by  R.  Wormell  (London,  Thos.  Murby).  —  "The 
Aryan  Maori,"  by  Edward  Tregear  (Wellington,  Geo.  Dids- 
bury).— "  British  Cage  Birds,"  by  R.  L.  Wallace,  parts  2  and  3 
(London,  L.  U.  Gill).—"  Poultry,"  parts  1  and  2,  by  Jos.  Long 
(L.  U.  Gill).—"  Book  of  the  Goat,"  by  H.  S.  H.  Pegler,  part  1 
(L.  U.  Gill).—"  Fancy  Pigeons,"  parts  1  and  2,  by  J.  C.  Lyell 
(L.  U.  Gill).—"  Longitude  by  Lunar  Distances,"  by  Major  H. 
Wilberforce  Clarke  (London,  W.  H.  Allen  &  Co.) 
&c.  &c.  &c. 


Communications  received  up  to  the  12TH  ult  from  :  — 

B.  T.— R.  N.  L.— C.  R.— A.  C.  R.  H.— J.  W.  T.— G.  S.  S— 

C.  H.  J.— F.  J.  W.— J.  R.— J.  A.  W.— M.  C.  R.— W.  K.  M.— 

E.  L.— O.  W.  J.— B.  T.— J.  A.  jun.— A.  W.— C.  B.  H  — 
B.   p._W.  W.— G.   G.-J.   W.   P.— B.   T.— H.    B.— J.  K.— 

F.  G  L.— T.  F.  U.— J.  W.  T.-A.  S.— T.  C  M.— J.  B.  M.— 
T.  H.  B.— T.  J.  D.— C.  L.— F.  N.  W.-H.  V.-J.  T.— 
T.  D.  A.  C.-M.  H.  R.— J.  M.  B.-T.  F.  U.— H.  P.  M.— A.  J. 
-J.  M.-H.  D.-G.  E.  C— J.  W.  O.-H.  E.-C.  L.  J.- 
Dk.  S.  M.  M.— J.  B.— E.  T.  D.— W.  M.  W.— W.  W.  R.— 
T.  B.— J.  L.— F.  J.  R.— S.  C.  C— L.  L.— F.  G.  F.— C.  C— 
T.  H.  H.— J.  E.  L.— H.  P.  D.— A.  E.  D.— Mrs.  B.— 
B.  B.  L.  T.— E.  L.— W.  J.  A.— R.  S.  P.— W.  M.— H.  K.— 
R.  L.— E.  H.— T.  T.  O.— H.  T.— H.  T.  M.-G.  S.  W.— 
H.  B.  L.— S.  H.— W.  S.  A.— W.  L.  S.— A.  P.  C— A.  D.  T.— 
T.  D.  A.— J.  H.  K.— J.  C.  P.— H.  W.  L.-J.  H.  B.-K.  A.  D. 
— &.C.  &c 


HARDWICKE'S  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


285 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  XXI. 


Aberrations,  Last  Autumn's,  94 

Abnormal  Orange,  94 

Abnormality  of  Plants,  45 

Acari,  Life  Histories  of,  little  known,  65 

AcJiatina  acicula,  239 

Air-bladder  of  Fishes,  211 

Algae,  Fossil,  at  Kirkcaldy,  213 

Amalia  gagates,  43 

"American  Monthly  Microscopical  Jour- 
nal," 235 

Anemones  of  the  Alps,  83 

Anodons,  Large,  22,  46,  118 

Anthomyia  meteorica,  Teeth  of,  4 

Ants  and  Birds,  282 

Apospory  in  Ferns,  164 

Aquaria,  How  to  keep  small  marine,  10 

Aquarium  in  a  bottle,  78 

Archaean  Rocks  of  Highlands,  92 

A  Hon  ater,  116,  140,  259 

Artichoke,  Blossoming  of  the,  68,  91,  92 

Artistic  Geology,  in,  122,  147 

A  rum  maculatum,  59,  79,  94 

Astarte  borealis,  115 

Astronomy  and  Meteorology  for  the 
Month,  273 

Auk,  Little,  215 

Axolotl,  235,  259 

Bacillus,  a  new,  114 

Badgers  in  Worcestershire,  283 

Bat,  Daubenton's,  in  Renfrewshire,  44 

Bats,  22,  25,  71 

Bats  of  Borneo,  140 

Bees  and  the  colours  of  Flowers,  igi 

Bees.     See  Garden  Pets. 

Beetles'  Burrows,  70 

Birds  and  Ants,  263 

Birds,  Arrival  of  Summer  birds,  163 

Birds  Killed  on  Telegraph  wires,  70 

Birds'  nest  caves  of  Borneo,  140 

Birds'  nesting-habits,  119 

Birds,  notes  on,  281 

Birds  of  the  Sol  way  District,  212 

Birds,  unrecognized,  69,  90,  94,  118,  166 

Blackbirds  and  Sparrows,  214 

Bladderwort,  Diatoms  and,  164 

Blood,  Type-slide  of,  139 

Blue-bell,  abnormal,  142 

Bolton's  Portfolio  of  Drawings,  235 

Books,  Notes  on,  26,  100,  175,  246 

Boring  in  the  S.E.  of  England,  214 

Boro-glyceride  for  mounting,  139 

Botanical  Ingratitude,  45 

Botanical  Record  Club,  44 

Botany,  winter  ;   Montreux,  2 

Botys  hyalinalis.  Embryology  of,  32 

Boulder-clay  of  Lincolnshire,  68 

Breeding  fleas,  283 

Bugle,  white,  191,  215 

Buried  Valley,  A,  45 

Camel,  22 

Canary,  Treatment  of,  191 


Canine  Sagacity,  167 

Carboniferous  Flora,  164 

Carboniferous  Sharks,  190 

Caterpillar,  Abdominal  Legs  of,  189 

Caterpillars  feeding  by  night,  165 

Cats  and  kittens,  165 

Cluerocampa  Celcrio  at  Leicester,  263 

Changes  of  Level  in  South  of  England,  141 

Chara  and  Nitella,  142,  146 

Cholera  Bacillus,  163 

Cicada,  The  periodical,  212 

Civilization  and  Eyesight,  62 

Clearing  Fluid  for  Vegetable  Tissues,  43 

Close-fertilization  of  orchids,  189 

Clouded  Yellow,  The,  165,  214 

Cloudy  mounts,  18,  43 

Coca,  Note  on,  276 

Cocain  in  Erythroxylon,  91 

Cockroach,  Anatomy  of  the,  46,  210 

Cole's  Micro,  studies,  66,  90,  139,  163,  210, 

235 
Colias,  165,  214 

Collins's  "  Special  "  micro-slides,  259 
Comets,  a  pair  of,  165 
Conchological  Notes,  163,  188 
Conchology  ;  Winchester  to  Torquay,  202 
Cone-in-cone  structure,  190 
Contest  between   Partridge   and   Weasel, 

igr 
Corixa,  The,  in  the  Aquarium,  23 
Corstorphine  Hill,  Geology  of,  280 
Crabs,  a  swarm  of,  259 
Crinoid  with  articulating  spines,  93 
Crocus  nudi/lorus,  263,  283 
Crustacea,  remains   of,  from   Brickearth, 

Wedford,  68 
Crystals  for  the  Polariscope,  90,  115,  140 
Cuckoo,  hybernating,  45,  70 
Cuckoo  Pint,  The,  59,  79 

Dahlias,  Double,  20 

Danais  A  rchippus  in  Cornwall,  262 

Dane's  Blood,  Dwarf  Elder,  53 

Dean,  Forest  of,  Mosses  and  Hepaticae,  54 

Defences  of  Plants,  The,  68 

Denudation,  Rate  of  Surface,  213 

Devonshire,  Plant  hunt,  194 

Diatom,  A  Beautiful,  135 

Diatom  Structure,  65 

Diatomacecp,  The  Norfolk,  j8 

Diatomaceae  from  the  "  Saugschiefer  "  of 

Dubravica,  36 
Diatoms  and  Bladderwort,  164 
Diatoms,  Motion  in,  188 
Direct  Vision  Microscopes,  201 
Dodder,  Lesser,  262 
Dog;  Canine  Sagacity,  167 
Dolerite  and  Hornblende-schist,  68 
Donegal,  Granite  and  Schistose  Rocks  of 

North,  117 
Double  Flowers,  Origin  of,  38 
Dragon-flies,  British,  238 
Drift-coal,  92 


"  Druid-stones "   at   Stanton   Drew,    214, 

238 
D ry inns formicar ins,  212 

Eagle's  Eggs,  Golden,  46,  142 

Earthworm,  230 

Echinus,  Section  of  Spine  of,  97 

Economical  Products  of  Plants,  The,  247 

Edelweiss,  The,  91 

Edible  Birds'  Nests,  140 

Eggs,  282 

Eggs  of  Parasite  of  Vulture,  263 

Eggs  of  Vapourer  Moth,  73 

Elder,  Dwarf;  or  Dane's  Blood,  53 

Electrical  Microscopic  Lamps,  64 

Embryology  of  Botys  hyalinalis,  32 

Epping  Forest,  262 

Erythroxylon  Coca,  229 

Evolution  in  the  Vegetable  Kingdom,  236 

Exchange  Club,  The  Botanical,  260 

Fasciation,  Notes  on,  67,  88 

Ferns,  Apspory  in,  164 

Ferns  of  Hong  Kong,   104,  133,  149,  177, 

220 
Fertilization  of  Geranium,  91 
Fibre,  Examination  of,  115 
"  Fire-weed,"  67 
Fish-bed,  Liassic,  191 
Fish-life,  Notes  on,  163 
Fishes,  Air-bladder  of,  211 
Fishes,  Fungoid  disease  in,  166,  190 
Flea's  Egg,  On  the  Development  of  a,  252, 

279 
Flies,  Swarms  of,  215,  238 
Flies,  Teeth  of,  4,  58,  132,  152,  205,  265 
Flint-hunting,  Remarkable  "finds,"  21 
Flint  in  Bath-stone,  238 
Flint  or  Stone  Implements,  71,  94,  117,  143 
Flora  of  Oxfordshire,  68 
Florida,   new  species  of  Mammals   from, 

141 
Folkestone,  Gault  Fossils  at,  28 
Folkestone,  Natural  History  Society,  20 
"  Fossils,  Our  Common  British,"  93 
Freezing  Machine,  239,  251,  281 
Freezing  Microtome,  A,  37 
Fresh-water  Shells,  238,  249,  281 
Fungi,  Parasitic,  20 

Gardhn  Pets,  Mv,  81,  no,  135,  274 
Gault  Fossils  at  Folkestone,  28 
Geological    Discovery,    1884.     The    Two 

Views,  54 
Geological  Record  at  Haldon,  Devonshire, 

11 
Geologists'  Association,  20 
Geology,  Artistic,  in,  122,  147 
Geraniums,  Fertilization  of,  91 
Glass  covers  in  the  Tropics,  279 
Glastonbury  and  its  Thorn,  10 
"Glastonbury  Thorn,  A,"  44 
Cta  11c in  in  J>hau  iceu  tit,  214 


286 


HARDWICKKS  SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 


Gossip  on  Current  Scientific  Topics,  5,  29, 

56,  74,  102,  126,  150,  170,  198,  221,  250, 

267 
Granite   and   Schistose   Rocks    of   North 

Donegal,  117 
Grape  Hyacinths  of  Switzerland,  244 
Graphic  Microscopy,  1,  25,  49,  72,  97,  lai, 

145.  169,  193,  217,  241 
Grasses,  Cross  Fertilization  of,  166 

Hailstones,  23 

Haldon,     Devonshire  ;     The     Geological 

Record  at,  n 
Haplographium,  196,  234 
Helix  aspera  and  aspersa,  188,  235 
Helix  co?icintia,  43 
Helix  pygma-a,  66 
Hellelorus  viridis,  92,  116 
Hepaticce  of  the  Forest  of  Dean,  Mosses 

and,  54 
Heron,  Might,  in  Scotland,  43 
Hertfordshire  Nat.  Hist.  Society,  19 
Highlands,  Geology  of  the,  189 
Holiday   Rambles   through   Wigtonshire, 

131.  159 
Holly  Leaves,  118,  143,  167 
Hong  Kong,  Some  Ferns  of,  104,  133,  149, 

177,  220 
How  Plants  grow,  260 
Human  Bones,  236 
Humble-bees  on  the  Pampas,  55 
Hydra,  Branched  Tentacle  of,  95 
Hydrachnides,  Notes  on,  39 

"  In  Montibus  Sanctis,"  40 
Insects,  Fossils,  68,  93 
Insects,  Notes  on,  214 
Ivy-leaves,  167 

Japan   White,    Our    White    Butter- 
flies in  Japan,  86 
"Journal  of  Microscopy,"  18,  210,  259 
Journal  of  the  Quekett  Micro.  Club,  258 
Journal  of  the  Roy.  Micro.  Soc,  43,  90, 
140,  187,  210 

Kirkcaldy,  Fossil  Alg.e  at,  213  * 
Kite,  166 
Knot,  282 

Lantern  Illustrations,  19,  43 
Leaves  from  my  note  book  for  18S4..119, 

21S 
Lemming,  Notes  on  the,  231,  255,  275 
Lepidoptera,  Melanic  variation  in,  91 
Lepidopterous  Pupae,  Notes  on,  146 
Lesser  Shrew  in  Staffordshire,  The,  262 
Liniax  Jlava,  var.  grisea,  66 
Lunncea  stagnalis  a  paper  feeder,  211 
Limna-a  stagnalis,  var.  elegantnla,  239 
Lion  and  Tiger,  46,  70 
Lithology,  Dr.  Callaway  on  Comparative, 

164 
Live  cell,  Description  of,  7 
Liverpool  Geological  Society,  43 
Liverpool  Microscopical  Society,  18 
Liverpool  Science  Students'  Association,  20 
Lizard,  230 

Llangollen,  The  Vale  of,  52 
Loniccra  periclymenitm,  Corolla  of,  214 
Lunar  Rainbow,  281 
Lycana  Icarus,  238 

Malvern  Hills,  The  Age  of  the,  125 
Manitoba,  Mollusca  in,  211 
Mantis,  21,  69 


Melanic  variation  in  Lepidoptera,  91 

Merganser,  The  Red-breasted,  181 

Metastasis  in  leaves,  280 

Mice,  Notes  on  Musical,  50 

Mice,  singing,  58 

Micro-organism  of  Swine-plague,  114 

Microscopes,  Direct  vision,  201 

Microscopes  with  bent  body  tube,  187 

Microscopical  Society,  Royal,  43 

Microtome,  7 

Microtome,  A  freezing,  37 

Microtome,  Description  of,  7 

Mildness  of  Season  at  Arundel,  22 

Mimicry,  66 

Mimicry  in  Diptera,  241 

M  iniulns  htteus,  239,  283 

Missel-Thrush's  Nest,  166 

Mistletoe,  239 

Mollusca  of  Kerry,  279 

Mollusca  in  Manitoba,  211 

Mollusca,  Middlesex  and  Kent,  116 

Mollusca  of  North  Hants,  66 

Mollusca  of  Surrey,  Sussex  and  Kent,  19 

Mollusca  of  the  Middlesbro'  district,  67 

Mollusca,  Variation  and  abnormal  de- 
velopment of,  76,  178,  224 

Montreux  Winter  Botany,  2 

Mosquitoes  Killing  Trout,  259 

"  Moss  Flora,  The  British,"  20,  260 

Mosses  and  Hepaticse  of  the  Forest  of 
Dean,  54 

Mountain  Linnet,  Nesting  of,  261 

Mounting,  Dry,  139 

Mounting  Insects  &c.,45,  65 

Mounts,  Cloudy,  18,  43 

Mouse,  A  musical,  47 

Mouse,  Toe  of,  25 

Musical  Mice,  50,  119 

Naiades,  Notes  on,  86 

Nasturtium,  214,  237 

Natural  History  Jottings,  15,  41,  230 

Nepeta  Glechoina,  20,  44 

Nesting,  Late  Foliage  and,  166 

Nests  within  Nests,  237 

Net  for  Microscopists,  78 

Newt  casting  skin,  281 

Nidification  in  Staffordshire,  53 

Nitrogen,  Free,  Absorption  of  by  Plants, 

236 
North  Atlantic  Basin,  280 
Norwich  Science  Gossip  Club,  20 
Nyman's  "  Conspectus  Flora?  Europse  ;  " 

British  Plants  in,  14 

Obituary,  45 

Objectives,  Testing,  259 

Objects  of  Interest  in  our  Pit  District,  31 

Observatory  Trough,  135 

Orchids,  Close-fertilization  of,  189 

Orchids  of  the  Rhone  Valley,  141 

Orchis  mascula,  Fertilization  of,  100,  124, 

166,  167 
Orchis  ?>tascitla,  Movements  of  the  Pollinia 

of,  208 
Orchis  mascula,  Peloric  form  of,  184 
Osprey,  116 

Ottawa  Field  Naturalists'  Club,  19 
Oxfordshire,  Flora  of,  68 
Ozone  given  off  by  Plants,  260 

Palms,  A  Forest  of,  214 
Pandion  halia-ctus,  116 
Paper-eating  Molluscs,  238 
Paradise  Tree,  69,  95,  118 


Paramorphosis   of  Pyroxene  into  Amphi- 

bole,  93 
Parasites  of  Birds,  140 
Parasitical  Flowering  Plants,  157,  172 
Pauloivnia  imperialis,  166,  239 
Pearls,  Irish,  22 
Pelargonium  leaf,  92 
Peloric  form  of  Orchis  mascula,  184 
Perch,  a  choked,  119 
Peziza,  White,  67 
"  Pholas  "  (P.  crispata),  233 
"  Pholas,"  Eyes  of,  283 
Phosphorescent  Insects,  22 
Pied  Fly-catcher,  143,  166,  214,  237 
Pigeon,  Curious  Conduct  of,  38 
Pitcher-plant,  45 
Plant-hunt,  A  September,  194 
Plant,  What  is  a?  212 
Pliocene  deposit  in  Cornwall,  21 
Polari>cope,  Crystals  for  the,  140 
Polysiplionia  elongata,  49 
Polysiphonia  fastigiata,  241,  280 
Pond-Life,  Illustrations  of,  94 
Pond-Life  in  Nottinghamshire,  95 
Preservation  of  the  Eyesight,  266 
Primrose,  Double,  68 
Primroses,  Twin,  141 
Primula,  A  remarkable,  68 
Protoplasmic  Continuity,  141,  236 
Protoplasmic  Movement,  233 
Pterichthys,  the  Position  of,  117 
Puccinia,  a  New  British,  9 
Pupae,  Notes  on  Lepidopterous,  146 

Quekett  Club,  Journal  of  the,  162, 
Quekett  Club,  the,  18 

Raised  Beach  at  Sark,  234 
Raua  esculenta,  140,  167,  239 
Rana  macrocnefoiia,  189 
Ranunculus  ficaria,  142 
Rare  plants,  Preservation  of,  212 
Rat,  Black',  47 

Recent  Progress  in  Geology,  261 
Red  Sea,  Colour  of  the,  52,  142,  166 
Rhone  Valley,  Orchids  of  the,  141 
Rhytina  Stelleri,  117,  235 
Roraima,  92,  134 
Rossia  macrosoma,  44 

Sagacity  and  Morality  of  Plants,  44 
Sagittaria  sagittifolia,  20,   263 
Sand-Martins  and  their  Nests,  214 
Scatophaga  stercoraria,  Teeth  of,  58 
Schillerization,  92 
Science-Gossip,  17,  42,  63,  88,  113, 137,  i6o> 

186,  208,  235,  256,  277 
Science  in  the  Provinces,  207 
Scientific  Societies,  a  Suggestion  for,  263 
Scientific  Societies,  and  the  Work  they  are 

doing,  19 
Scorpions,  Fossil,  93 
Sea-Anemones,  Our,  183 
Sewage  Schemes,  47 
Sharks  and  Rays,  Chapters  on  Fossil,  106, 

134,  226,  270 
Sharks,  Carboniferous,  190 
Shells,  Notes  on  Varieties  of  British,  14 
Shrike,  Great  Grey,  213 
Silkworms,  213,  238 
Silurian  Insects  and  Scorpions,  93 
Sinel's  Zoological  Laboratory,  67 
Slugs  biting,  154 
Slugs,  Fossil,  261 


HARD  WICKE'  S  S  CIENCE-  G  O  SSI  P. 


2S7 


Slugs,  Snails  and,  167 
Snails  and  Slugs,  167 
Societies,  &c.  : — 

Andersonian  Naturalist's,  281 
Belfast  Naturalist's  Field  Club,  66 
Geologists'  Association,  141 
Holmesdale  Natural  History  Club,  115 
Liverpool  Geological  Society,  261 
Liverpool  Microscopical  Society,  64,  90, 

139 
.Quekett  Club,  90 
Royal    Microscopical  Society,   90,    140, 

187,  210 
Watson  Botanical  Exchange  Club,  116 
Solatium  dulcamara,  Seeds  of,  239,  263 
Somersetshire,  Plant  Hunt,  194 
Sparrow,  a  White,  46 
Sparrovv-Hawk,  18 
Sparrows,  Blackbird ■;  and,  214 
Spider's  Severed  Leg,  Motion  in,  69,  91 
St.  Erth,  Pliocene  Deposit  at,  21 
Staffordshire,  Fauna  of,  262,  283 
Staffordshire,  Nidification  in,  53 
Staining  Nerve  and  Muscle,  90,  115,  139 
Staining  Vegetable  Tissues,  iS,  43 
Stanton  Drew,    "Druid  Stones"  at,  214, 

238 
Star  of  Bethlehem,  119 
Starch  in  Leaves,  258 
Starches,  234 

Starling  eating  Earwigs,  281 
Stickleback,  71 
Stickleback,  Nest  of  the  15  spined,  211 


Stickleback,  the  four  spined,  40 
Stratigraphical   Arrangement,    Mr.  Jukes 

Browne  on,  213 
Studies  of  Common  Plants,  59,  79,  204 
Succinea  Pfcifferi,  var.  parvula,  140 
Suggestions,  Recent,  46 
Sun-Fish,  19,  259 

Sunflower,  the  Common,  204,  237,  260 
Sun-Glows,  Early,  5 
Swallows,  Late,  45 
Swallows,  Migration  of,  191 
Swine  Plague,  Micro-organism  of,  114 
Swiss  Plants,  90 

Teeth  of  Flies,  4,  58,  132,  152,  205 
Teratological  Notes,  92 
Tertiary  Survival,  a  Recent,  117 
Tomatoes,  70 
Tortoises,  Food,  43,  118 
Toynbee  Hall,  215 

Tree  standing  after  Fall  of  many  feet,  142 
Trees  struck  by  Lightning,  261 
Trocliusliiicatus,  280 
Twin  Flowers,  46 

Ulodctidroti,  Relation  of  to  Lepidodendron, 

Sigillaria,  &o,  117 
Underground  Heat,  236 
Utiios,  Large,  22,  46,  118 

Vapourer  Moth,  Eggs  of,  73 
Vegetable  Ivory,  118 


Violet,  The,  9S 
Voles,  Water,  69,  95 

Vorticella;  with  two   Contractile  Vesicles, 
163,  234 

Wall-flower,   Curious    Sports  in  a, 

166 
Water-mite,  Red,  1 

Water-ouzel,  An  Enemy  to  Fish,  165,  242 
Water-ouzel  in  Northumberland,  142 
Water  Shrew,  69 
Water  Voles,  22,  69,  165 
Wasps,  15,  41 

Watson  Botanical  Exchange  Club,  116 
White  Bugle,  191,  215 
White  Flowers,  239,  282 
Wigtonshire,  Holiday  Rambles    through. 

Willows  struck  by  lightning,  282 

Winchester  to  Torquay  on  Foot,  202 

Woodcock,  237 

Wood  Sorrel,  Purple,  142 

Wood  Warbler,  257 

Worcestershire,  Sea-birds  in,  283 

Yucca,  46 

Zotiites  Draparnaldi,  239 
Zoological  Notes  for  1884.  .39 


Errata  in  Last  Year's  Index,  for  Mollusca 

of  Derby,  read  Mollusca  of  Derry. 
Vol.  xx.  p.  277,  for  Baun,  read  Bann. 


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