NE APS Pe rie ae mm ee ’ : aia tetar A : iy Siraae shat J ’ abt ih tt sia ireetetat beth att nh nivestatata ataette oy ‘ * Hit ” aw POL in {beh wong Arte is Vs ‘ OMIA Me OE Pthebts betty atudet tetera cnet crtas baat} ) ; matt nt it ist : : LHe :. LN i teh > 1 (s ty ie EU Othe ichenatectel ais i" tri Mosel Malas i oh t Sth mala tet He este asco. rove te “ raga igeteh te } eebehrins ws an wat YW MOM 0) 38 Aue, 4} Teeve: sti ‘bahy Eeeal ( i “th he hel ‘ ; iy rae tae " x} te LPL Mant as bike nah eur bal att Nk! redabe ult th W ne 4 ra ite i pura enya hte ‘i > ‘ ane heheh: 1" " : anos Nt WME att ater bag bebe be my Seb SAS bg at be ; ys ja . 1 A hes a, rary 2 Ratt ryt Hiicictie coin UNL SOORI AHN TURN CH TERR SARE | FOR THE PEOPLE | | FOR EDVCATION | FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY | get NCE-COSSIR - AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY RECORD OF. INGA IU TR AUN ID (COUUIIN TI ol Quince EDITED BY JOEIN Sie © Aan Gale @iNi VOL. II1—NEW SERIES 1845 - 134 \~ Le LONDON : SIMPKIN MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED NaAssAU STEAM PRESS, LIMITED BERLIN: R. FrRIEDLANDER & SOHN, CARLSTRASSE II ““WE HAVE COME IN SEARCH OF TRUTH, TRYING WITH UNCERTAIN KEY DOOR BY DOOR OF MYSTERY.” —John G. Whittier, in “‘ The Prayer of Agassiz.” “TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF THE FORMS OF LIVING THINGS IS THE AIM WITH WHICH THE NATURALIST OF TO-DAY COMES TO HIS WORK. HOW HAVE LIVING THINGS BECOME WHAT THEY ARE, AND WHAT ARE THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN THEIR FORMS? THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WHICH THE NATURALIST HAS SET HIMSELF TO ANSWER. “MANY OF THE PROBLEMS OF VARIATION ARE PRE-EMINENTLY SUITED FOR INVESTIGATION BY SIMPLE MEANS. IF WE ARE TO GET FURTHER WITH THESE PROBLEMS, IT WILL BE DONE, | TAKE IT, CHIEFLY BY STUDY OF THE COMMON FORMS OF LIFE. ANYONE CAN TAKE PART IN THIS CLASS OF WORK, THOUGH FEW DO.” has P a —William Bateson, in “ Study of Variation.” 1G -9 44 wy Our ANNUAL GREETING. Tt is with many apologies to our readers for the irregularities in publication of SciENCE-Gossip during the past year, that we close Volume II. of the New Series. The delays in issuing some of the monthly parts have been unavoidable. It would be as futile as disagreeable to make a long explanation of the delays; rather may we say that arrangements are now concluded for the rapid clearing off of arrears, and the future regular issue of the journal. One result of these unfortunate delays has been to find what a large and wide-spread interest is taken in our magazine; for we have had numerous enquiries from all parts of the world and frequent expressions of dismay in case anything should interrupt its appearance. We have to thank our numerous contributors who have sent, in such variety, the excellent material from which we have selected the communications that have appeared in the volume now closing. May we ask for a continuance of their support? Again we have to remind them of the value of short notes. Simple observations, when sent for insertion in our columns, often elicit important information from others, facts being placed on record which may later be correlated by a Darwin or a Huxley in some work that revolutionizes human thought. One of our leading biologists has recently discussed the decadence of amateur naturalists, suggesting that they are being ousted by the scientific student who confines his attentions to laboratory specimens. We understand from this discussion that the time is approaching when the lover of nature is to be as rare as the collector of specimens. With this opinion we entirely disagree. We believe that those who share this theory are simply out of touch with the increasingly great, but unobtrusive body who investigate natural objects in a state of nature. That there is a growing tendency among amateur students of natural history to follow their enquiries in a far more scientific manner than was formerly the custom, most people will allow. Method in observation is the desirable faculty to cultivate, and systematic investigation is now more generally conducted by amateurs than many people imagine. We have made these remarks because ScIENCE-Gossip has ever been the journal of the amateur. We will only add, with gratification, that during the past few months, quite casually and independently, two Fellows of the Royal Society occupying most important positions in the scientific world, each wrote to us, ‘“‘ My first taste for the study of Natural Science was acquired from the pages of SciENcE-Gossip.’”’ May many of our future readers be able to say the same words from similar eminence. JOHN @ CARRING TONE: CONTENTS. VOLUME II—NEW SERIES: Abbott, George, 167, 272 Absell, A., jun., 8z Amyot, T. E., 234 Anderson, E. D., 3, 50, 149 Armitt, Sophia, 120, 145, 254 Arnott, S., 272 Arrow, G. J., 201 Ashley, J. J., 248 Barber, Henry J., 54 Barber, Rev. Samuel, 51 Barbour, J. H., 52, 80, 234 Béchervaise, H. A., 207 Beer, Rudolf, F.L.S., 70 Bell, ie 13. 753 Bertram, Ge 19 Billups, T. R., Se Bing, F. G., 82 Binns, A., 109 Blakiston, C. H., 123 Blathwayt, Lieut. -Colonel, 26 Blundell, J., 167 Bowman, K., 248 Boycott, A. E., 82, 220, 304, 305 Bradley, D.. 139 Brain, Lewton J., 166, 167, 222, 306 Bretton, C. E., 209 Briggs, C. A., 83, 249 Briggs, H. Mead-, 22, 64, 156, 161, 194, 195, 278 . Briggs, T. H., 272 Briscoe, }| Testy Bryan, G. H.. F.R.S., 35, 47, 267 Bullen, Rev. R. AS 110, 249 Burton, J., 46, 53 122, 136, 192, Burtcn, WAG ay +, 194 194, 306, 326 Campbell, J. M., 138 Carrington, J. T., iii, 5, 6, 17, 18, 66, 75, 78, 77, 99, 104, 109, II0, 119, 129, 130, 131, 132, 138, 143, 148, 150, 155, 157, 163, 169, 17! 6, 178, 197, 206, 22), 245, 248, 249, 256, 268, 322, 327 Cates, E. P., 82 Chidwick, Robt. W , 80 Climenson, Mrs. E. J., 4, 35, 110, 179, 232, 314 Cockerell, T. D. A., 151 Cole, M. is 160 Cole, Prof. G. A. J., 253 Cook, A. E., 222 Cooke, i at Cooper, J. AY 327 Cooper, J.E ” 338, 329 Cooper, W. J., 60, 88 Corbet, A., 192 Crosbie, W., 276 Cross, M. J., 277 Crouch, C. H., 31 Crowther-Beynon, V. B., 34, 248 Dacie, J. C., 80, 108 Dallinger, Rev. Dr. W. H., F.R.S., 57 Davey, M. F., 137 Davison, C., M. A., F.G.S., 170 Dennis, A. W., 109 Dickson, Mrs., 53 Dow, W., 239 Druce, Mr., 16 Dymes, T. Alfred, 108 Eccles, J. C., 16 Elliott, E. J., 26 Enock, Fred., F.L.S., 89 Farrer, Captain W. J., 52 Ferguson, H. S., F.L.S., 116, 225 CONTRIBUTORS. Filer, F. E., 22 Flower, Lieut. S. S., 264, 289 Ford- Lindsay, H. W., 327 Fyfe, H. C., 52, 127, 164, Gain, W. A., 161, 172, 248 Gardiner, A. P., 272 Gatty, Rev. Reginald A., 36 Gibbings, Miss C. M., 21 Greening, S., 241 Gregory, R. ie 268 Grindrod, Mrs. K., 205, 258 Griset, Henry E., 136, 248 Guppy, Hy. B., 11, 42, 68, 171, 199 Harris, G. G., 137 Harrisson, F., 52, 132 Hawkins, R. L., 326 Hodgson, W., 137 Hogg, A. J., 261 Hooper, D., B.A., 164 Horsley, Rev. J. W., 249 Hulatt, A. J., 22 Hutchinson, Rev. H.N., F.G.S., 90 Jackson, A. B., 220, 222 Janson, Oliver J., 45 Jarrett, Miss Ne ., 110 Johnson, C., Jones, K. G. eastees 9 Jones, W. B., 96 Kane, W. F. de V., 204, 313 Kennard, Santer A , 39 Keegan, Dr. P. Q , 192 Knaggs, H. Guard, 282 Ladkin, S. A., 82 Lane, A. K., 82 Layard, E. L., C.M.G., 10, 54 Leighton, Thos., F.G.S., 61, 94 Lewton, 22 Ley, Rev. A., 16, 113 Lloyd, Ee B., 249 Lord, J. R er Lucas, Ww. Te *B. A., 40, 52, 192, 195 MacArthur, H., 222 Mann, Annie M., 82 Mansbridge, W.., 83, 173 Mansford, A. E., 3, 50, 149 Marefield, John R. B., 53 Marmery, J. Villin, 17 Marshall, Rev. E. S., F.L.S., 16 Martin, E. 1 ee 9 A 69, 137; 183, 325; 327 Martinelli, AG. 166 Maslen, Arthur J., 7 Maw, C. W.., 46, 81 Mayor, J. Beecham, 115, 295 McGregor, T. M., 11 McIntire, N. E., 166 Midgley, W. W.., 20, 128, 165 Mitchell, C. A., B.A., 309 Moore, H., 211, 285 Mosley, C., 164 Moss, A., 261 Neilson, G. B., 194 Newton, Professor, F.R.S., 1 Newton, W., 109 Nichols, G., 136 Nicholson, C., 55 Nicholson, W. A., 278 Nicholson, W. E., 174 Nowers, Geo., 137 Nunney, W. H. +; 109, 138, 194, 204, 257, 272 Oates, E. P., 82 Oldharn, C., 249 Ord, W. E., 117 Pearce, H., 137 Praeger, Lloyd R., B.A, 85 Prideaus, R. M., 37 Provis, F. J., 220, 327 Purchas, Rev. W.H., 141, 202, 236, 292, 320 Pyett, C. A., 263 Pym, J. T., 305 Quelch, W. P., 108, 110 Ransom, E., 125, 240 Rice, D. J., 167, 177 Rousselet, C. F., F.R.M.S., 29, 46, 326 Rowden, A. O., 136 Royal, W., 327 Rye, B. G., 192 Sauzé, H. A, 53 Sewell, A., 108 Shaw, J., 238, 249 Shepheard, T., 167 Sich, Frank, jun., 80 Sim, W., 22 Simpson, J., 305 Smith, A. C., 276 Smith, John, 32, 82 Stephenson, Isaac, 81 Stephenson, J., 21, 26, 81 Stevens, J., 309 Stewart, J. J., B.A., B.Sc., 260, 312 Stott, James, 22 Stuart, Major J., 21, 109 Suffolk, W. T., 46 Swan, H. K., 195 Tait, A. F., 73, 100 Teague, E. M., 137, 248 Teasdale, M. J., 164, 192, 249, 304 Temple, E. J., 108, ) 184, 198 Tomlinson, Jas., 8 Tuck, W. H., yer Turner, Edwin E., 44, 153, 222, 248 Ullyett, Hy,, 110 Varrand, W., 276 Waddell, C. H., 272 Wanklyn, J. A., 60, 88 Ward, Henry, a9 Warrand, W. E., Major-General R.E., 22 Watson, C. H., 180 Weaver, H., 325 Webb, J. C., 306, 326 Webb, W. M.. 227, 306 Welch, W., 109 West, W., 16 Wheldon, J. A., 284 Whittle, F. G., 52 Williams, C., 278 Wilson, W., 220 Winckworth, C. A., 118, 305, 306 Winder, Thos., 26, 194 Winstone, Flora, 20 Wiseman, C. Percival, 53 Zograf. Prof. N., 190 A Garden of Pleasure, 159 Abnormal Cabbage Leaf, 119 Abnormal Growth of Ash, 6 Abnormal Ox-Eye Daisy, 151 Abnormal Plantain, 178 Abnormal Primula, 99 Abnormal Strawberry, 150 Acorn Germinating, 147 Acorn, Sections of, 145 Algonquin National Park, 181 Allum Bay, Section, 05 Aquarium, Section of, 123 Ash in Summer Habit, 203 Ash in Winter Habit, 202 Atherfield to Blackgang, Section, 63 Aurora Display, 50 Beam, The, Lesser White, 113 Beech Tree in New Forest, 47 Binocular Zeiss Field Glass, 98 Binocular Zeiss Telescope, 98 Brazilian Motmot, 103 By Tangled Paths, 296 Camere, Chronophotographic, 242 Camera, open, 193 Catching Mussels, 185 Cell-Wall, 8 Centring Underfitting, 188 Corn Blue-Bottle, 43 Cotyledons, 172 Daisy, 42 Double Fruit of Orange, 31 Editor, Late. of ScIENCE-GOSSIP, 210 Eli Collins, Truffle Hunter, 187 Elm, Small-Leaved, 320, 321 Elm, Wych, 292, 293 Embryo, Section of Half, 146 Field Glass, folded, 212 Field-Glass, open, 212 Flight of Herons, 241 ABNORMAL ASH PLANT, 6 Abnormal Plants, 150, 178 Abnormal Primula, 99 Adactyla verrucosa, 30 “Eschna cyanea, 41 ZEschna grandis, 41 fEschna juncea, 41 ZEschna mixta, 41 Agriculture, Experimental, 124 Agrion puella, 42 Agrion pulchellum, 42 Alderfiy, Development of, 257 Alpine Plants, 254 Anax formosus, 41 Animals, Changing Habits of, 295 Aphelinine, Revision of, 231 Aquarium for Microscopic Life, 122 Aquatic Hymenopterous Insect, 89 Argon, Notes on, 60 Argon, The New Element, 5 Aria, Group of British Pyri, The, 113 Ascidia, Example of an, 119 ASTRONOMY, 25, 49, 77, 105, 133, 161, 189, 217, 245, 301, 325 Astrographic Chart, 161 “‘ Astrophysical Journal,” 25 Comets, Nature of, The, 25 Driving Clock, Improved, 325 Earth’s Rotation and Sleep, 301 Eclipse Committee, 105 Encke’s Comet, 25 Faye’s Comet, Return of, 217 Jupiter, 77 Mars, 77 CONTENTS. ILLUSTRATIONS. Flint Implements, 36, 37, 261, 262, 309, 310, 3II Fossil Pine, 20 “ Frena” Film-Holder, 3 figs., 126 Galvanometer Scale and Lamp, 233 Geology in Wee Cumbrae, 33 Himanthalia lorea, 215 Hydrometra stagnarum, 201 Hypnum fiicinum, 284 Incisors of Rat, 2 figs., 139 Isle ot Wight, Geological Sections, 63, 95 Limestone Boulder, 165 Limnea palustris, 39 Lithostyotion from Limestone, 128 Lunar Phenomenon, 327 Maple, Summer State, 239 Maple, Winter State, 239 Meltcerta ringens, X 100, 57, 59 Micro.-Photo Apparatus, 188 Microscope, New Pattern Student's, 188 Microscope, Student’s, 127 Molluscs, Sight in, 66, 67 Moncreitfe Museum, Perth, 12, 13 Moon, Rings round, 327 Mountain Limestone, 165 Mourne Mountains, 85, 87 Narina trogon, 102 Neolithic Remains, Surrey, 261, 262 Nest of Gadwall, 243 Nesting-Hole of Wryneck, 18 Oak Split by Frost, 51 Object-Holder, Adjustable, 277 Paraffin Bath, 160 Parrot, Portrait of a, 193 ARTICLES, NOLE Sim 2G: ASTRONOMY—continued. Mars, Atmosphere of, 25 Mars, Observation of, 133 Mercury, 77, 105, 133, 189, 245, 273 Meteors, 49, 105, 217, 301 Meteors, Shower of, 161, 245, 301 Moon, 25, 49, 77, 105, 133, 161, 189, 217, 245 Moon, Total Eclipse of, 25, 49 Mountain Sickness, 77 Nebular Theory, Notes on the, 273 Popular Astronomy, 189 Saturn, 49, 77, 105 Saturn’s Ring, 105 Scientific American, The, 133 Sinus Iridum, 217 Spectroscopic Astronomy, 105 Sun, 25, 49, 77, 105, 133, 161, 189, 217, 245, 301 Sun, Eclipse of, 301 Telescope, New Form of, 25 Uranus, 77 Venus, 49, 77, 105 Yerke’s Observatory, The, 189 Auk, Little, Visitation of, 1 Aurora Borealis, 51 BACTERIA AND FILTRATION, I24 Berlin Nat. Hist. Museum, 118 Bibliographical Bureau, 268 Binocular Telescopes, New Hand, 99 Biological Distribution, 175 Birds in long Frosts, 20 Pasteur, Louis, 197 Phaseolus multifiorus, 70 Pheasant, The, 158 Picris hieractoides, 44 Pinus Sylvestris, Abnormal, 281 Pigmy Flints, 36, 37 Plantago major, 178 Polynema natans, 89 Porphyritic Eurite in Ireland, 253 Pyrus minima, 113 Reinke’s Dredge, 214 Ring-net and Bottle, 326 Rocking Microtome, 228 Root-Nodule of Scarlet Runner, 71 Root Nodules of Red Clover, 70 Root-Nodules of Scarlet Runner, 7 Rotche, or Little Auk, 1 Scolopendrium vulgare, 270, 271 Sea-Birds’ Citadel, 19 Sedum telephium, 267 Sialis, Eggs of, 257 Spectra, Argon and Nitrogen, 5 Spherium corneum, 39 Splash of a Drop, 297, 298, 299 Skeleton of Casuarina, 234 Skeleton of Equisetum, 234 Sycamore, before Flowering State, 237 Sycamore, Summer State, 236 Sycamore, Winter State, 238 Syrian Rotifers, 29 Uninvited Guests, 157 Unio littoralis, from Crayford, 39 Vortex Ring, Birth of, 75 Wych Elm, 293 Wych Elm, Spray of, 292 Young Coots, 186 Books To READ, 17, 75, 102, 129, 157, 185 214, 241, 269, 296 Abstract Proceedings, South London Nat. Hist. Soc., 1894, 104 Annals of British Geology, 1893, 7 Astronomers and their Observations, 159 Birds, Beasts and Fishes of Norfolk Broadland, 130 Birds’ Calendar, 104 Bird Notes, 104 Birds of Wave and Woodland, 18 British and European Butterflies and Moths, 298 British Birds, 187 British Moths, 299 By Tangled Paths, 296 Cambridge Natural History, 269 Catalogue of Marine Mollusca o Japan, 242 Chats about British Birds, 322 Chemists and their Wonders, 159 Chess Openings, 160 Climates of Geological Past, 157 Collected Papers on Controverted Questions of Geology, 7 Consider the Heavens, 244 Country Pastimes for Boys, 185 Dictionary of Bathing Places and Climatic Resorts, 104 Earth-Knowledge, 244 Elementary Inorganic Chemistry 244 Elementary Physiology, 216 Fern Growing, 270 vi Booxs To ReEaD—continued. Field-Path Rambles, 104 Finger-Print Directories, 129 Food and its Functions, 244 Garden of Pleasure, 159 Guernsey Sotiety Nat. Science, 131 Half-Hours with Stars, 19 Handbook of British Macro-Lepi- doptera, 130, 186 Handbook of Grasses, 270 Heniooks to Birds of Great Britain, 2 Handbook to British Mammalia, 118 Handbook to Carnivora, 104 Handbook to Game-Birds, 158 Hidden Beauties of Nature, 244 Hints on Reflecting and Refracting Telescopes, 160 Historical and Future Eclipses, 323 History ot British Butterflies, 129 Horticulturist’s Rule Book, 130 Hymenoptera Aculeata of British Isles, 322 Ice-Work, Present and Past. 296 Insect Life, 300 International Naturalists’ Directory, 271 Introduction to Chemical Crystal- lography, 158 Introduction to Study of Fungi, 300 Introduction to Study of Rocks, 216 Introduction to Study of Seaweeds, 214 “Investigator,” Zoology of, 103 Journal of Royal Soc. of New South Wales, 244 Lens-Work for Amateurs, 102 Lepidoptera of the British Islands, roz Lessons in Elementary Physics, 160 Manual of Lithology, 322 Meteorology, 76 Methods of Art of Taxidermy, 129 Microbes and Disease Demons, 160 Microscopical Teachings, 216 Migration of British Birds, 131 Missouri Botanical Gardens. 186 Missouri Geological Survey, 322 Modern Microscopy, 269 Moon, The, 129 Monograph of L. and F. W. Mollusca of British Isles, 216 Movement, 241 Mycetozoa, Guide to, 271 Natural History of Aquatic Insects, 158 Nature in Acadie, 131 Nature versus Natural Selection, 186 Nature’s Story, 216 Notable Answers to One Thousand Questions, 185 Object Lessons in Botany, 131 On Phenomena belonging to last Glacial Period, 131 Our Country’s Butterflies and Moths, 323 Pheasant, The, 157 Planet Earth, The, 19 Popular Handbook to Microscope, 244 Popular Natural History for Boys and Girls, 19 Popular Treatise on Physiology of Plants, 19 Pre-Historic Man in Ayrshire, 300 Present Evolution of Man, 322 Primer of Evolution, 103 Primitive Man in Ontario, 103 Progress of Science, 17 Rambles in Alpine Valleys, 130 Royal Natural History, 102, 187 Short Studies in Nature Knowledge, 75 Simple Methods for Detecting Food Adulteration, 216 Splash of a Drop, 297 Story of Piece of Coal, 323 Story of the Plants, 129 Structure and Development of Mosses and Ferns, 243 Structure and Life of Birds, 130 Sweet-Scented Flowers and Fragrant Leaves, 76 Tit-Bits Guide to London, 186 Wayside and Woodland Blossoms, 75 What is Heat ? 75 Wild Nature Won by Kindness, 130 BOTANY, 16, 80, 108, 136, 164, 192, 220, 248, 304, 325 Abnormal! Plants, 248 Ampelopsis Fruiting, 192 CONTENTS. Botany—eontinued. Artificial Development of Flowers, 137 Arum maculatum with white spots, 80 Atrophy of Tree Branches, 325 Beech Foliage, Var. of, 137, 220, 248, 304 Botanical Exchange Club, 304 Botanical Field Clubs, 108 Botanical Chair at Cambridge, The, 203 Botanical Monstrosities, 44, 248 Botany, The Popularity of, 80 Botany near Liverpool, 284 Botany, Unanswered Questions in, 234 Brachionus bursarius, 31 Brachionus candatus, 31 Brachionus melhemi, 30 Brachionus obesus, 31 Brachionus pyriformis, 31 Brachytron pratense, 41 British Mosses, 192 Centaury, white var., 272, 325 Cohesion of Crabtree and Thorn, 220 Coltsfoot as a Weather Prophet, 16 Cuscuta euvopea in Sussex, 192 Development of Plants, 136 Dry-rot, 137 Effects of Frost, 325 Effect of Snow on Plants, 220 Epidermis and Cuticle, The, 136 Equisetum, Abnormal, 80 Euonymous japonica, Fruiting of, 16, 80, 108 Evening Primrose, Flowering of. 164 Exotic Trees at Dulwich, 304 Fasciated Asparagus, 136 Field Botanical Societies, 108 Flora of Berkshire, 16 Flora of Derbyshire, 304 Flora of Ireland, 16 Flora of Newfoundland, The, 164 Flowering, Second, of Sallow and Elder, 192 Forced Germination of Seed, 137, 164 Harmonious Colouring of Wild Flowers, 164, 192 Hawthorn Berries, Variety of, 248 Hteractum aurantiacum in Kent, 248 Impatiens fulva on the Thames, 136 Impatiens fulva in Surrey, 108 Impatiens fulva near Newbury, 220 Impatiens Noli-me-Tangeze, 80, 108 Ivy Seeds carried by Birds, 80 London Catalogue, 16 Mimulus Lutens, 192 Oak Seedling, An, 192 Pellia epiphylia, 136 Petunia Flower, Green, 137 Plant Life. Romance of, 136 Plants, Unusual Flowering, 304 Plants Under ‘Glass, 80 Pondweed, New Form, 304 Pyrus,British, new to Science, 16 Pyrus japonica, Fruiting, 305 Reed-Mace, Growth of, 164 Roses, New British, 16 Shrubs Killed by Frost, 108 She Oak, The, 304 Silene Nutans in Sussex, 248 Spring Season, The, 80 Stomata and Sunlight, 192 Vegetable Assimilation 80 Wild Hyacinths near London, 137 Butterfly Collecting in Canary Islands, 207 CaDDIs-WORMS AND DuCKWEED. II Calopieryx virgo, 4% Cambridge Natural History, The, 66 Cell-Walls, Structure and Growth of, 7 Chapters for Yeung Naturalists, 73, 100 Characteristic Branching of Forest Trees, I4I, 202, 236, 292, 320 Citrus aurantium, Double Fruit of, 31 Clausilias, Protective Colouration in British, 227 Collecting on Wheels, 285 Correspondence, 28, 56, 84, 112, 140, 224, 252 Cotyledons, Irregularity of, 171 Country Lorg, 20 Birds in Long Frosts, 20 Dana, Pror. J. D., DEATH oF, 72 Diamonds, Black, 288 Dragonflies, Preservation of Colours 204 Dragonflies in 1891, 40 EARTHQUAKES, CAUSE oF, 2£0 Echinus acutus in Scotland, 238 Elder-flowers, Variability of, 209 English Arboricultural Society’s Tran- sactions, The, 16 Entomological Notes, 21, 240 Eurite of Glasdrumman Port, The, 253 Evolution of the Eye, The, 127 Explosions in Electric Light Mains, 88 Exchanges, 28, 56, 84, 112, 140, 168, 196, 224, 252, 280, 308, 330 FASCINATION BY SNAKES, 116 Fauna and Flora of Ireland, 10 Field-glass, A Portable, 212 Flint Implements, 36, 261, 309 Floscularia brachyura, 30 F orest of Frankfort, The, 127 “Frena ” Film-holder, The, 126 Frost, Effects of, 325 Frosts, Great, of the Century, 3 Fungi, Wheeler’s Drawings of, 324 GALL FoRMATION, 120 Galvanometer Scale and Lamp, 233 Garden in Siam, A, 205. 258 Geographical Congress, The, 182 GEOLOGY, 17, 81, 166 Aturia ziczac in Suffolk, 166 Dendrites and Oldhamia, 17 Early Man in Britain, 8: Eurite of Glasdrumman Port, 253 Fossil Bacteria, 17 Geologists’ Association, 42 Geology of the Isle of Wight, 61, 94 Iguanodon at Kensington, 166 Neolithic Remains in Kent, 81 Section of Chalk at Croydon, 17, 81 Gilbert White’s House, 48, Gilbert White’s MS., Sale of, 69 Ginger-beer Plant, 35 Giraffe at the Zoo, 44 Goat Moth, The, 126 Hatr-WorMs AND HOSTS, 211 Helix hispida, Reversed, 233 Hezarthra polyptera, 3% Horse’s Foot, The, 97 Human Remains, 313 Hydrometra stagnarum., Habits, 201 In MEMORIAM, 132, 163, 221, 250 Babington, Charles C., F.R.S., 163 Baillon, Ernest H., 163 Ball, Valentine, Dr., F.R.S., 132 Brown, Robert, Dr., F.L.S., 221 Deby, J., 163 Dobson, Surgeon-Major, 246 Eaton, Prof. Daniel C., 163 Hind, Dr. John Russell, F.R.S., 273 Huxley, Right Hon. T. H., 163 Kitton, Frederick, 221 Lovén, Prof S. Louis, 190 Macmillan, Alexander, 302 Moore, Henry, R.A., 134 Pasteur, Louis, 197 Riley, Prof. Charles P., 221 Seebohm, Henry, 250 Sporer, Prof. G. F. W.. 165 Stapff, Dr. F. M., 218 Taylor, John E., 210 Tugwell, W. H., 221 Williamson, Dr. W. C., 134 JERSEY BIOLOGICAL STATION, 259 Jumping Seeds of S. Atrica, 155 LAND-SHELLS, 5-BANDED, LIST OF, 324 Larva ? What is a, 282 Lepidoptera in Epping Forest, 173 Lepidoptera in Suffolk, 263 Lepidoptera, Sale of British, 45 Lepidoptera, Notes on, in 1894, 37 Lepidopterology, The New, 229, 256 Lestes spousa, 41 Libellula quadvimaculata, 40 Liverpool Marine Biology, 265 Lobworms, Labour of, 170 Lodgers in a Pond, 73, 100 London, Site of, 313 Mavay PENINSULA, In, 264, 289 Maple, The, 237 Marine Biology at Plymouth, 45 Melicerta Ringens, Note on 57 METEOROLOGICAL, 50, 132 Aurora, 51 Notes, 50 Rainfall in London, 132 Thunderstorm of May, 132 Trees Split by Frost, 51 Meteorology, International, 149 Microscope, A Student's, 127 Microscopy, 21, 46, 81, 109, 137, 160, 188, 276, 306, 326 Caoutchouc Cement, Miller’s, 326 Cauthocamptus minutus, 81 Centring Underfitting, New, 188 Codfish, Sections of Eye, 81 Codfish, Crystalline Lens, 137 Conochilus volvox, 109 Deutzia, Incinerated Leaf of, 137 Eye of Beetle for Multiple Image, 188 Fresh-water Algz, Study of, 326 High Magnification, 276 Hydra, What becomes of, 268, 276 Leeches, Interesting, 306 Marine Glue, 276, 326 Melicerta, Adaptation in, 21 Micro-Botany in Norfolk, 306 Micro-Organisms of Sewage, 21 Micro-Organisms, Mounting Delicate, 21, 46 Micro-Photography, 188 Microscopic Object, Interesting, 306 Microscopical Society, Royal. 21 Microscopy, Questions on, 276 Microtome, Adjunct to, 277 Microtome, An Improved, 228 Mildew in Slides, 276 Nymphon gracilis, 306 Paraffin Bath, Inexpensive, 160 Polynema natans in August, 276 Pond Life under Ice, 306 Seasonable Objects, 326 Sea-Weeds, Preserving, 21 Symbiosis and the Microscope, 306, 326 Vegetable Sections, 21, 46, 81, 109 Vorticellidans on Daphnia pubex, 137 Xanthidia in Flint, 46 Mineralogy, 176 Moncriefte Memorial Museum, 11 Mourne Mountains, The, 85 NATURAL History EXHIBITION, 15, 213 Natural History at Penarth, 315 Natural History Society, Transactions, 16 Neolith's Haunt, A, 261 Nettle-Taps and Crocus Flowers, 206 New British Moth, 226 New F.R.S., 93 New Lepidopterology, 229 Newspaper Natural History, 138, 291 Night-Jar, Habits of, 177 Noble Sanctuary, A, 180 North Sea Trawl Fishery, 148 NOTES AND QUERIES, 26, 53, 82, 109 138, 166, 194, 222, 249, 272, 305, 327 Abnormal Goldfish, 327 American Zygenide, 194 Animal Hairs, 26 Animal Intelligence, 167 Autumnal Flowering, 222 Bats, Habits of, 272 Bees, Memory of, 272 Biology in Essex, 109 Bird-Notes, 194 Blow-Fly, Anatomy of, 249 Booth Museum of Birds, 327 Caddis Worms, 109, 138 Caddis Worms, Curious Behaviour, 82 Chaffinch and Hedge-Sparrow in same Nest, 249 Chalk Rock in Herts, 166 Clausilia, Cryptic Colouration in, 305 Clouded Yellow Butterflies, 138 Clouded Yellow Butterfly, Late, 249 Coleoptera of Gloucestershire, 53 Colonising British Insects, 327 Coloured Plates, 167 Common Centaury, White Variety, 272, Glasgow, 325 Dendritic Crystals, Recent, 109 Diptera Collecting, 82 Dry-rot, 194 Echinus norvegicus in Scottish Seas, 305 Edible Fungi in Winter, 272 Exchanging Birds in Flesh, 53 Fish, Suspended Animation, 222 Fishes, Shower of, 194 Frost, The Late, 82 CONTENTS: NOTES AND QuUERIES—continued. Fungoid Potato Disease, 166 Geology at New Thames Tunnel, 138 Ginger-beer Plant, 26 Growth of Rats’ Teeth, 139 Helix nemoralis as Ornament, 109, 138, House-Martins in Shetland, 222 Kingfisher, Nest of, 249 Lacerta agilis, Extending Range, 305 Land Shells, Local, in Kent, 249 Lightning, Unusual Sound from, 249 Luminosity in Animals, 167 Luminous centipede, 82 Lunar Phenomenon, 327 Marine Aquarium, 167, 194 Mollusca of Cheshire, 249 Molluscs, Notes on Land, 249 Moss Exchange Club, 272 Names Wanted, 26 Natural History Exhibition, 194 Notes from Norfolk, 222 Panchlora Madere in London, 249 Partridge, Sudden Death, 194 Pigmy Flints, 82 Plantago major, Abnormal, 272 Preservation of Fungus Spores, 327 Pseudo-Albino Sparrows, 53 Reptiles in Captivity, 54 Rook Stealing Chicken, 109 Sabine’s Gull in Yorkshire, 222 Sedge-warbler, Nesting-places, 249 Shells, Preservation, Colours of, 82 Snail Shell, Formation of, 194 Spider Crabs, 305 Splash of a Drop, 327 Spruce Fir, Rapid Growth, 167 Symbiosis, Plants and Animals, 26 Valvata piscinalis, a Spinner, 82 Volvox in Horse-trough, 222 Water Boatmen, 272 Winter Exhibitions, 167, 272 Woodpeckers near London, 327 Woodpigeons in London, 109 Notes of Home Naturalist, 4, 35, 179, 232, PP, ies ' Notholea ontentalis, 30 Notops macrourus, 30 Notice to Correspondents, 28, 56, 84, 112, 140, 168, 196, 224, 252, 280, 308, 330 Oak SEEDLING, AN, 145 Obituary (see In Memoriam) Oecistes syviacus, 30 Orthetrum cerulescens, 40 Orchids, Collecting stopped, 324 Oscillatoria in Hot Water, 294 Our Annual Greeting, iii. PARTRIDGES, 238 Perthshire Society, Natural Science, 11 Pigmy Flints, 36 PHOTOGRAPHY, 20, 47, 128, 165, 193 Amateur Photographers, 165 Camera in Forest, 47 Exhibition of Photography, 47 Foraminiferz in Mountain Limestone, 165 Fossil Pine, 20 Moving Pictures, 324 Photography for Naturalists, 193 Photography in Colours, 128 Photography by X-rays, 274, 324 Sections from Mountain Limestone, 128 Stenopaic Photography, 193 Plant Products, Substitutes for, 117 Plants, Growth of, in Press, 267 Plants in Sierra Nevada, 175 Plants of Black Pond, 199 Plants, Stations, and Buoyancy of Seeds, Platetrum depressum, 40 Pleistocene Mollusca of Crayford, 39 Prehistoric Human Remains, 313 Preservation, Fauna and Flora, 169 Primula, Abnormal, 99 Protection of Birds at Epping, ro1 Pseudo-Albino Sparrows, 9 Pyrrhosoma minium, 42 Pyrvrhosoma tenellum, 42 UnusuaL NESTING OF, Rassit, Curious DEATH, 34 Rain, Black, in Ireland, 294 vil Rambles on Highland Peak, 123 Reports of Two Societies, 16 Root-nodules of Plants, 70 Rotche or Little Auk, Visitations of, 1 Rotifer forficatus, 30 Rotifers, Syrian, 2 SCALE INSECTS, 151 SCIENCE ABROAD. 24, 49, 79, 107, 135, 162, I9I, 219, 247, 275, 303, 328 Academ. Nat. Science: Philadelphia, 219, 275 American Journal Pharmacy, 79 American Philosophical Society, 135 Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes, 303 Bolletino Musei. Zool. Torino, 303, 328 Bulletin, Botan. Depart., Jamaica, 24 Bulietin L’Académie Impériale, 303 Bulletin Mus. d’Hist. Nat., 107 Bulletin Soc. Indust. de Mulhouse, 191 Bulletin Société Philomatique, 219, 328 Bulletin Soc. Royale Linnéene de Bruxelles, 219, 275 Bulletin Société Zoologique de France, 275, 303, 328 Canadian Entomologist, 24, 79, 135, 219, 247 Contributions to Queensland Flora, 247 Cosmos, 162, 191 Feuilles des Jeunes Nat., 219, 247, 275, 303, 328 Insect Life, 135 L’Academie de France, 107 L’Aerophile, 191 La Nature, 24, 49, 107, 135, 162, 191 L’Eclairage Electrique, 191 Moniteur Scientifique, The, 162 Museum, The, 79, 275 N. York Micro. Soc., 191 Natur und Haus, 328 Nature Novitates, 135 Naturalista Siciliano, 303 New Science Review, 107 Open Court, 79 Popular Science, 247 Popular Science Monthly, 79 Portland Soc. Nat. Hist., 219 Reports, Exp. in Entomology, 135 Revue Biolog. du N. France, 328 Revue Scientifique, 107 Royal Soc. of Queensland, 219 Ruschenberger, W.S.W., 275 Science, 49 Trinidad Field Nat. Club, 24, 191, 219 Victorian Naturalist, The, 247 ScIENCE-GOSSIP, 23, 48, 78, 106, 134, 162, 1g0, 218, 246, 274, 324 Animals in Mitchelstown Cave, 23 Ascelepiad, The, 23 Atmospheric Electricity, 78 Auto-mobile carriages, 218 Beach, Alfred E., Death of, 302 Cylindrograph, The, 106 Eggs on Spurn Point, 78 Emily E. Johnson, Cruise of, 78 Entomologists’ Record, 48 Greenland Shark off Scotland, 106 Horseless Age, The, 302 House-Sparrows in Winnipeg, 78 Irone, 134 Liquefaction of Gases, 106 Manchester Museum, 302 Nyssta lapponaria, 78 Ornithologist, The, 274 Physical Phenomena of Atmosphere, 134 Polyporus Tablets, 162 Proceedings of the Liverpool Geologi- cal Society, 23 Putortus hibernicus, 78 Royal Society, Presidency of, 134 Stratiomyiidx, Larve of, 218 Symons’ Meteorological Journal, 23 University of America, 48 Sedge-Warbler, Nesting-places of, 156 Selborne Society Field Clnb, The, 183 Serpents’ Fangs, 225 She Oak, The, 234 Site of London, 312 Sole, Spawning of Common, 212 Spiders, Habits of, 115 Spring Flowers, First Appearance, 153 Sundew and Ants, 198 Sycamore, The, 236 Sympetrum scoticum, 41 Sympetrum vulgatum, 40 vill CONTENTS. ZooLoGy—continued Centipede, Luminous, r10 Chough, Cornish, 83 Trees Split by Frost, 51 TayLor, JOHN ELLOor, 210 Tunbridge Wells Congress, 283 Thinning Epping Forest, 99 TRANSACTIONS, 27, 54, 83, III, 139, 168, ee eeceenrs 195, 223. 250, 278, 307, 329 Accrington Naturalists’ Soc., 196 City London Ent. and Nat. Hist. Soc., 54, 168, 196, 223, 250, 307, 329 Conchological Soc., 329 Greenock Nat. Hist. Soc., 223, 279 Nat. Hist. Soc., Glasgow, 111, 224, 252, 279 Norfolk and Norwich Nat. Soc., 27, 55, 83, 139, 252, 280 North Staffordshire Nat. Field Club, 84, III, 251 Philosophical Soc. of Great Britain, Tit Royal Institution, 83 Royal Meteorological Soc., 27, 54, 83, III, 139, 278, 307; 329 Society for Protection of Birds, 28 South London Nat. Hist. Soc., 27, 55, III, 168, 195, 223, 251; 278, 307, 329 Victoria Institute, 330 Tree Branches, Atrophy of, 281,325 VALUE OF A Hossy, 143 Value of Specimens, 69, 126 WEE CUMBRAE, 32 Wild Birds Protection Acts, 316 Winter in Hebrides, 96 Whitening of Hairs and Feathers, 64 Work of a Scientific Society, 90 ZOOLOGY, 22, 52, 83, I10, 161, 195 241, 278 Animals, Courting of, 53 Aquaria and Frost, 52 Auk, Little, in Scotland, 22 Bat Flying in Daytime, 110 Beetle, New British, 195 Birds, Curious Nesting, 161 Birds in Firth of Forth, 278 Bird Notes from Canterbury, 22 Butterflies, Early, 52 Butterflies, Rare, in Kent, 195 Buzzard, Rough-Legged, near Warring- ton, 241 Crake, Spotted, in Argyll, 278 Cuckoo, Note of Female, 161 Cuckoo’s Eggs, 161 Dragonflies Captured by Sundew, 195 Evebia epsphron in Ireland, 52 Golden Eagle in Kent, 278 Gulls in London, 22, 52 Hairworms, 241 Hares, White Irish, 22 Helices, Winter Habits, 278 Hepialus hectus, Early, 110 Lepidoptera, Rare, in Essex, 52 Locusts in London, 53, 83 Mild December, A, 22 Mollusca, Mortality by Frost, 5 Planorbis nautileus in Surrey, 5 Sallows in Yorkshire, 83 Sedge-Warbler, Nesting of, 195 Stone Curlews in Kent, 278 Testacella haliotidea in Kent, 110 Warning Colours and Mimicry, 52 Wasps, Abundance of, 110 2 Zz NASSAU STEAM PRESS, LIMITED, 60, ST. MARTIN’S LANE, LONBON, W.C. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ViIStUalONS OF THE KROLTCHE OR Pree AWIs, By ProFessor NEwrTon, F.R.S. jae the many puzzles which await further elucidation at the hands of ornithologists, and especially the ornithologists of this country, is that of the winter-resort of the millions of birds of the family Alcide, which have their summer home on the cliffs of some of the British islands and of Arctic lands so far as man is yet known to have Spitzbergen, whether they be regarded as local races or good species, have never, to our knowledge, suffered death within British jurisdiction. The Guillemot of Spitzbergen, which commonly bears the name of the Danish zoologist, Briinnich (who, twenty years before our own Pennant, first gave a connected account of northern ornithology) has penetrated. The species are few in number, but long been accounted a ‘ British bird,” though on the indi- very insuf- viduals ficient are count- testimony, less, tho’ and the they seem evidence to escape of its oc- the notice currence of those on the people shores of who occu- the Euro- py their pean Con- business tinent is on the almost as great wa- slight, ters, and S pit zber- not only gen and are re- Greenland cords of are the the obser- chief a- vation of bodes’ of these birds alee Steaua on the smaller high seas species of almost the fami- wholly ly — the Ns ae Tue Rorcne or Litre Auk. (After Bewick.) Eel passage in to all who Audubon's ‘Ornithological Biography "' (iv. p. 304) is the only one I can call to mind at this moment—but I have in vain questioned intelligent men, who have often crossed the Atlantic from October to March, for information on the subject. Setting aside the Dovekeys, Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins which frequent our own coasts, we may here consider the case of the kindred forms which inhabit higher barren latitudes.» The Dovekey and Puffin of Marcu, 1895.—No., 13, Vol. II, have visited the Arctic seas, and not unknown to the English reader byits book-name of the “‘ Little Auk,”’ the Alca alle of Linnzus and Mergulus alle of most modern authors. No bigger than the Dabchick of our ponds, not a year passes without this little bird (which may be found well described in standard works, such as that of Yarrell or of Mr. Dresser) paying a visit—inadvertently we may be almost sure—to some part or other of Great Britain, and 2 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. especially to the eastern side of England, while it occasionally appears in Ireland. Very frequently half-a-dozen or more may thus occur. Sometimes they are found washed up by the tide; sometimes they are seen from a fishing-boat or a pier-head and are knocked over by the boys with a gaff ora ' stone; sometimes they are picked up many miles inland, on a ploughed field or a turnpike road, ina sheep-trough or a coal-cellar, or some equally incon- gruous place, where they have dropped exhausted, and in almost every case, if they be still alive, death soon follows their capture, even when, as now and then happens, the captor has spared or tried to save the life of his captive. This may be considered the regular state of things, but it is marked by the greatest irregularity, not only as to season of the year, but as to the number of occurrences, and at present it is generally impossible to correlate either season or number with the con- ditions of the weather—the weather, that is to say, as we have it here, for one can hardly doubt that these unhappy birds are the victims of meteorological influence at some greater or less distance from our shores. Like other extant Alcidz they are strong on the wing, and of fairly rapid flight, so that they are by no means so much the sport of the winds as many people are apt to believe, though they may well be unable to contend long against a ‘‘whole gale.” It seems far more likely that the effect of storms upon them is indirect, yet just as serious. These birds gather their food, consisting chiefly of small Crustacea, by diving, and it is obvious that their powers of submergence must have a limit. Now it is well- known that when the sea is running ‘‘ mountains high,” its ordinary inhabitants descend to depths below that to which the agitation of the water extends, and it is quite conceivable that those depths are beyond the reach of the birds which descend from the surface to pursue and feed on the other marine animals. The birds have therefore to seek their living elsewhere, and thus become wanderers. I think someone has suggested that it is extreme cold which drive the Rotches to our shores, but that can hardly be the reason, since examples have not infrequently occurred in the warmer months of the year, and, until the last few weeks, the most numerous visitation known tock place at the end of October, so that a low temperature could not account for it. This was in the year 1841, and, when we consider the compara- tive paucity of observers and natural-history journals more than fifty years ago, and also that it had not then become customary for the village ‘‘ taxider- mist,’’ where such existed, to record in the local newspaper every strange bird that came into his hands, it seems quite possible that the visitation of that autumn may have been on as great a scale as that of the present winter. It was first observed in the north of England, and to Yarrell word was sent by Dr. Edward Clarke, of Hartlepcol, that after a violent storm, which had lasted for several days, his attention was called to flocks of birds, till then unknown to the pilots and fishermen. There were several hundreds of them, and five or six were killed at a shot, whenthey proved to be Little Auks. The same thing happened at the same time at Redcar, and Yarrell heard of others obtained all along the east coast to Sussex. A great many were taken at Great Yarmouth (‘‘ Zoologist,’’ p. 182). Some found their way to the London market, and at least two met their death in Hertfordshire, while Strickland recorded (‘‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” viii., pp. 317, 318, 395) six taken in Warwickshire and three in Salop. They occurred also, says Thompson (‘‘ Natural History of Ireland,” iii., p. 218), even in the very middle of the sister island. But perhaps the most curious fact connected with this visitation is that the survivors of it were seen a little later by John Hancock (‘‘Natural MHistory Transactions of Northumberland and Durham,” vi., p. 164) in the act of returning northward, continuing to pass along the coast in detached flocks for several days, and paying a heavy ‘death duty” as they went their way, for no fewer than twenty-six were received by him alone. It is too early yet to give details of the recent visitation. It seems to have been first noticed in Scotland, and to have exceeded in magnitude any before chronicled; but by the middle of January the Yorkshire coast was strewn with dead Rotches, and I am informed that 130 had been noted by one Scarborough naturalist, Mr. W. J. Clarke, who, a few days later, saw at least 200 on the wingat once. These, mounting over the cliff, disappeared inland; and then for four hours he watched company after company, numbering from four or five to fifty or sixty, fly southward while ‘‘ the sea was also full of them.’’ For the same space of time, so I learn from Dr. Hewetson, of Leeds, a gunner on Filey Brigg saw an unceasing stream of these birds pass southward. Similar ob-ervations were made in Lincolnshire, and in Norfolk upwards of 250 are known to have met their death. Accounts from other parts are yet to come, but there is no doubt about what they wil! tell, and the number of observers is now so great that we may rely on obtaining a pretty accurate knowledge of the extent of their movements. The “wreck chart,” that is sure to be prepared, will be looked for with interest. Whether it will throw any light on the hitherto unsolved problem of the ordinary winter-resort of this and kindred species, is more than I dare to predict. Let us hope that it may, and that this vast and apparently useless loss of life may not have been wholly unserviceable. Magdelene College, Cambridge ; 14th February’, 1895. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. GREAT FROSTS OF THES GCENTURY. By E. D. ANDERSON and A. E. MANSForRD. Re recent frost is exceptionally interesting from having occurred so late in the season, such a spell of continuous cold rarely happening in February. It may be considered to have commenced on January 22nd, and continued for twenty-eight days. One or two slight thaws took place in the day-time, but the mean tempera- ture at Greenwich for the period was about 27° F., and the mean of the lowest night temperatures 21° F., or 11° of frost. On nine consecutive nights a minimum of 20° F. or under was recorded. The mean of the day temperatures in the great frost of 1890-1 was about 1° higher; and the mean of the night temperatures 4° higher, and none of the frosts of the present century have had a lower mean night reading than the frost of January and February, 1895. Many low readings are reported from the various stations in the British Isles; among them are: Holyhead, 17° F.; Donaghadee, 16° F.; Liverpool, 12° F.; Oxford, 7° F.; Greenwich, 6:9° F.; Cam- bridge and Aberdeen, 6° F.; York, 3° F.; Wick, 2° F.; Durham and Brookeborough, minus 2° F. ; Glenglee and Loughborough, minus 5° F.; Stam- ford, minus 8° F.; Braemar, minus 12° F., or 44° of frost. Very low temperatures are frequently quoted by individual observers, but they should be accepted with great caution, as not only may the instrument used be defective, but also its position and environment materially affect the reading. To ensure accuracy it is essential for a duly-tested thermometer to be placed in the open in a properly constructed screen, which should be about four feet from the ground, and so arranged that when ever the sun is shining its rays may reach it without the intervention of any vegetation or building. The varying influence of position on temperatures recorded may be exemplified by the following comparison of readings taken at Tulse Hill (London, S.W.). in the screen 20° F., on the snow 17° Feb. 6th, g p.m. yy midnight a To tele! chery 7k. Feb. 7th, 1.30 a.m. ” ” rae 21 8p ” ” a 1 (lowest guring | 8° F. i ; 4° F. » 9 (early morning J ” ro : The lowest reading on the snow at Tulse Hill was o° F. on February 8th, when in the screen the thermometer registered 6° F. On the Continent, also, intense cold has been experienced. Among the reports forwarded are: Berlin, 7° F.; Lyons, 6° F.; Paris, 5° F.; Munich, 1° F.; Brussels, 0° F.; and Moscow, minus 18° F. The above low temperatures are, however, far from equalling the record of Verkoyansk, in north-east B Siberia (Lat. 67° 34’, Long. 153° 31’), where, although only 164 feet above sea-level, in February, 1892, was registered minus 93°6°, or 125'6 degrees of frost. The lowest known reading in the United Kingdom was experienced in December, 1879, at Blackadder in Berwickshire, minus 23° F., or 55 degrees below freezing-point being recorded. Snow crystals of exceptional size and beauty were remarked in London during the last week in January, 1895, and there were considerable falls of snow in Ireland and Scotland. The greatest snowstorm known in the Lake District during the present generation took place on February 5th, and on the same day the fall in the Isle of Man was exceptionally heavy. The most noticeable of the frosts of the present century, with their mean and minimum tempera- tures in London, are as under : 1813-14, December 26th to February 5th, forty-two days ; the mean temperature for that period being 27°3° F., and the lowest temperature recorded 8° F, A week of unusually dense fog preceded the frost, which then set in with such severity that a fair was held on the Thames, which lasted six or seven days ; several printing-presses were erected on the ice, and shilling donkey-rides, skittles, and dancing were among the amusements indulged in. There are records of the Thames having been frozen over in Roman and Saxon times, as well as during the winters of 1150, 1281, 1434, 1515, 1564, 1608, 1620, 1634, 1683, 1715, 1739, and 1789, and it is supposed that the reason it has not happened since 1813-14 is that owing to the removal of old London Bridge, the narrow arches of which prevented the ice-floes from being carried out to sea, the so-called ‘scour "’ of the river is much increased, rendering it difficult for the ice to form into a continuous mass. 1838, January 5th to February 23rd, fifty days, mean temperature 28°9° F. minimum, minus 4° F. The burning of the second Royal Exchange took place during this frost, which was so intense that the fire-hose was found to be frozen, and when at length the Fire Brigade did get all into work- ing order, as soon as they ceased to play on any part of the building huge icicles were speedily formed. 1855, January roth to February 25th, forty-seven days, mean temperature 29°7° F., minimum 111° F. This frost is generally known as the ‘ Crimean winter,’ it having extended to the Continent and entailed severe suffering amongst our troops then in Russia. 1860-61, December 15th to January roth, thirty-six days, mean temperature 299° F., minimum 8° F. ? 4 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Temperatures several degrees below zero were registered in many parts of England. 1879, November 14th to December 27th, forty-four days, mean temperature 31° F., minimum 13°7°. 1881, January 7th to 26th, twenty days, mean temperature 27° F., minimum 12°7°. It is re- markable that this mean is the same as for the present year’s frost as calculated up to February 15th. Minus 4° F., was recorded at Wick, and minus 7.5° F. at St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, Garstang: Lancashire. At the close of this frost a severe easterly gale and an exceptionally heavy fall ot snow occurred over the south of England. 1890-1, November 25th to January 22nd, fifty-nine days, mean temperature 39.3°, minimum 12° F- This frost was not only the longest of the present century but was also very severe in England, in many parts of which the thermometer reached zero. In Ireland and Scotland, however, the weather was much milder. It has been observed that the spring and summer months succeeding these prolonged frosts have generally been fairly dry, though not perhaps exceptionally warm. Hitherto no periodicity has been remarked in the recurrence of prolonged frosts, nor has any satisfactory explanation been suggested to account for their visitation. Though many deaths have been traced to the recent severity of the weather, yet the death-rate has been considerably lower than in the frost of 1891, when in London it ran up to 29’7, or in that of 1880, when it reached 46:7. During the first week of the present frost the Registrar General’s returns gave 176, the second week ig, and the third 21. The unusual amount of sunshine and the absence of damps, have probably contributed largely to this satisfactory result. Many hundreds of our song- birds have, however, succumbed to the effects of the frost; numbers of sea-gulls have taken refuge inland, some arctic birds have been observed in Lincoln- shire, a seal was seen on the ice in Morecambe Bay, and about a hundred little auks were picked up on the shore at Filey in a very exhausted condition. On the Continent the plains of Piedmont have been invaded by hordes of wolves, which have killed many of the villagers, whilst at Tenda the Alpine troops have been told off to wage war against these ravenous beasts. In the London parks the ice has been unusually thick, on February 15th measuring at Finsbury Park nearly eleven inches, and on the Serpentine about six inches, at a later date it exceeded nine inches, that thickness having been only once previously attained since 1881. Thestrength of the jce on the Serpentine was effectively demonstrated on February 13th, when 600 Grenadier Guardsmen marched across it with their band. February 21st, 1895. NOTES OF A HOME NATURALIST. iy the second week in December, 1894, I took a glass jam-jar, some eight inches high, and dipped it nearly full of water from an old fish-stew at Shiplake Court, close to where I live. This fish- stew is always a favourite preserve for me, as a dip invariably brings up life in some form to be found in its stagnant waters. With a small hand-net I dipped for a weed or so, the result was I picked up some apparently dead pieces of Ceratophyllum demersum (or horn-weed). These pieces were like brown oval lumps, devoid of all apparent life, a few pieces of Lemnia polyrhiza, or greater duckweed, and Lemnia trisulca, or ivy-leafed duckweed, two tiny water snails (Lymnea peregra), one gyrinating water- beetle, one water-louse (A sellus aquaticus), and a pale- coloured nematode, and a leech. The bottle con- tained also Daphnia shefferri (tailed water-fleas), and Cyclops quadricornis, in the water dipped. At first I kept the bottle in a room without a fire; now, for three weeks, in my drawing-room, in which is a daily fire. It has been an endless amusement in dull days to look at ; at the moment I am writing this, February 3rd, 1895, the horn-weed, far from being brown, has shot out into the most vivid green lovely plants, the largest oval brown “‘lump”’ is over five inches long, the smaller ones all in lovely foliage. Probably from the folds of the weed, there have been born, since I fished, at least three nematodes—one with a sort of barley-sugar-coloured jointed body and a round excrescence at head—two pale white leeches or nematodes (I do not know which to name them), three cadises—two of Phryganea grandis in their curious leaf-cases, one of Limnophilus rhombicus —which grow daily. They are most diligent in adorning their cases with weed, etc. The water- fleas (Daphnia and Cyclops, or vaulters), are im- mensely grown, and seem to have produced and multiplied, considering the animated specks I see flying every way. The Cyclops, with their curious hanging egg-bags, are very funny. Sometimes the egg-sacs are both colourless, then full and dark, then one will be shed and the other still be dark, and then again both will be void, or entirely disappeared. Fond as I am of aquaria, I never have kept them in winter. As I leave home every summer for some time, I empty the contents of my bottles back into their own habitats before leaving. If I could only persuade others to take a glass jam-bottle and fill it in a similar way I think they might find endless amusement and diversion for a dull five minutes in this hard, cold winter, when the home naturalist almost despairs of find- ing material for study. My bottle is become a “thing of beauty,” and an endless amusement in watching its different inhabitants. (Mrs.) Emiry J. CLIMENSON. Shiplake Vicarage, Oxon. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. aa ARGON, THE “|~HE year 1894 will go down to posterity as marked by one of the greatest of scientific discoveries. During several years past the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., has been occupied with a series of intricate investigations of various gases and their physical measurements. For some time he has been puzzled by the varying weights of nitrogen under different chemical condi- tions. This led him to suspect that associated with this gas was some matter as yet uninvestigated. It came about by finding that nitrogen obtained from the atmosphere was one half per cent. heavier than when extracted from chemical compounds. This was mentioned at the last meeting of the British Association, at Oxford, and caused Mr. William Ramsay, F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry at Univer- sity College, London, in conjunction with Lord n NEW ELEMENT. Mr. Crookes said: ‘‘Through the kindness of Lord Rayleigh and Professor Ramsay I have been enabled to examine the spectrum of this gas in a very accurate spectroscope and also to take photographs of its spectra in a spectrograph fitted with a complete quartz train. The results are both interesting and important, and entirely corro- borate the conclusions arrived at by the discoverers of argon. “ Argon resembles nitrogen in that it gives two distinct spectra according to the strength of the induction current employed. But while the two spectra of nitrogen are different in character, one showed fluted bands and the other sharp lines, the argon spectra both consist of sharp lines. It is, however, very difficult to get argon so free from nitrogen that it will not show the nitrogen flutings superposed on its own special system of lines. I have used argon prepared by Lord Rayleigh, Pro- fessor Ramsay and myself, and, however free it was supposed to be from nitrogen, I could always SPECTRA OF (a) ARGON AND (2) NITROGEN. (From Photographs.:by Mr. W. Crookes, F.R.S.) Rayleigh, to pursue these investigations, the result being the discovery of one, if not two, new elements. These facts were placed unreservedly before the world by these gentlemen at a special meeting of the Royal Society held on the 31st of January last, in the theatre of the University of London, before an audience, perhaps never more brilliant in this country. Three papers were then read on the new gas, which proved the splendid results still to be ob- tained by patient and well-directed original research, The new gasis named Argon, and has been obtained from the air by atomolysis, by red-hot magnesium and by sparking with an electrical current. Critical examination shows that Argon is absolutely distinct not only from nitrogen, but from all other matter. An exceedingly interesting paper upon its spectro- scopic analysis was read by Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., as one of the three above referred to. We select from an abstract of Mr. Crookes’ statements, the following extracts to show how the gas behaved under his treatment. The spectra illustrating his paper, so far as refer to the comparison of Argon and nitrogen, are herein reproduced from photo- graphs taken by this eminent physicist. detect the nitrogen bands in its spectrum. These, however, soon disappear when the induction spark is passed through the tube for some time, varying from a few minutes to a few hours. “The pressure of argon giving the greatest luminosity and most brilliant spectrum is 3 mm. The best pressure for nitrogen is 75 or 80mm. At this point the colour of the discharge is an orange- red, and the spectrum is rich in red rays, two being especially prominent at wave-lengths 696°56 and 70564. On passing the current the traces of nitrogen bands soon disappear, and the argon spectrum is seen in a state of purity. ‘« Tf the pressure is further reduced, and a Leyden jar intercalated in the circuit, the colour of the luminous discharge changes from red to a rich steel-blue, and the spectrum shows an almost entirely different set of lines. It is not easy to obtain the blue colour and spectrum entirely free from the red. It appears that a low electromotive force (3 cm. spark, or 27,600 volts) is required to bring out the red, and a high E.M.F. and a very hot spark for the blue. The red glow is produced by the positive spark, and the blue by the negative spark. ‘‘T have taken photographs of the two spectra of argon partly superposed. In this way their dis- similarity is readily seen. In the spectrum of the blue glow I have counted 11g lines, and in that of the red glow 80 lines, making 199 in all. Of these 6 SCIENGE-GOSSIP. 26 appear to be common to both spectra. The disappearance of the red glow and the appearance of the blue glow in argon as the exhaustion increases also resembles the disappearance of the red line of hydrogen when exhaustion is raised to a high point. ‘‘T have prepared tubes containing other gases as well as nitrogen at different pressures, and have examined their spectra both by eye observations and by photography. The sharp line spectrum of nitrogen is not nearly so striking in brilliancy, number or sharpness of lines as are those of argon, and the most careful scrutiny fails to show any connection between the spectra. I can detect no lines in common. Between the spectra of argon and the band spectrum of nitrogen there are two or three close approximations of lines, but a pro- jection on the screen of a magnified image of the two spectra partly superposed will show that two at least of these are not really coincidences. “‘T have found no other spectrum-giving gas or vapour yield spectra at all like those of argon, and the apparent coincidences in some of the lines, which on one or two occasions are noticed, have been very few, and would probably disappear on using a higher dispersion. Having once obtained ABNORMAL E have received from Lieut.-Col. Blathwayt, of Batheaston, a photograph of an abnor- mal growth of ash, which we have reproduced in the hope of some discussion and elucidation of the causes of these growths. He says in his letter: ‘“‘ The interesting notice in the February number of ScIENCE-Gossip on Professor Hartig’s ‘ Text-Book of the Diseases of Trees,’ put me in mind of a curious abnormal growth on an ash tree (Fraxinus excel- siov) which I found in a hedge-row some years ago. It was a young shoot about five feet long, grow- ing from the base of a young tree that had been cut close to the ground, and which, at about eighteen inches from the top, suddenly turned in a spiral, making three com- plete turns and a half. Just below where the first turn commenced the stem began to flatten out forming a kind of wing, and this flattening extended to bark, wood and pith. Below the curve the stem was half an inch thick, and at the first turn the width had reached three- quarters of an inch, increasing gradually up to the growing point, at which the width was an inch and a half, the thickness diminishing in proportion. a tube of argon giving the pure spectra, I can make no alteration in it, other than what I have explained .takes place on varying the spark or increasing the exhaustion, when the two spectra change from one to the other. As far, therefore, as spectrum work can decide, the verdict must, I think, be that Lord Rayleigh and Professor Ramsay have added one, if not two, members to the family of elementary bodies.” The remarkable discovery made by Lord Rayleigh and Professor William Ramsay opens up a new field for investigation, the extent of which cannot even be conjectured; it is one from which the most important results may be expected in the future. Few subjects have created a more wide- spread interest than has this discovery, not only in scientific circles, but among the general public. Excellent accqunts have appeared about it in some of our daily papers, but by far the best was that in ‘Nature,’ of February 7th last, in which number appeared also a leading article describing the origin of the discovery. 1}. GesGe ASH PLANT. On the flattened side there were several notches — which looked something like cuts made by a knife; but their position was such that they could not have been thus caused unless the curving and flattening of the stem had taken place after the shoot had almost attained its present length, which is most improbable. I enclose a photograph of the branch two-thirds natural size.’ We might remind our readers that obser- vations of this character, though at one time slighted by those who only took interest in normal types and sneered at “freaks,’” may lead to much collateral evidence. The re- markable book on “‘Materials for the Study of Variation,” by Mr. William Bateson, which we reviewed in the last volume of SCIENCE- Gossip, has drawn attention to sports in Nature. We hear that Mr. Bateson has in hand a similar work on plants, so that material such as Colonel Blathwayt now brings forward cannot fail to be of service to him and those who are working in his field of inquiry. This will be especially valuable if accompanied by correct pictures and exact descriptions of the surroundings and probable causes of the particular sport discussed. ABNORMAL GROWTH OF ASH. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 3 STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OF THE, CELL-WALL. By ArtTHUR J. MASLEN. ihe cellular structure of plants was first de- scribed by Robert Hook about the middle of the seventeenth century. He distinguished between the hollow spaces and the dividing walls, to the former of which he gave the name of cells. But he really does not appear to have seen very much. A little later two anatomists, Malpighi and Grew, studied the subject and published figures of cells, and to their work must be attributed the foundation of our knowledge, although their works had but little resemblance to modern descriptions of vegetable anatomy. Thus, Grew conceived of the walls of all cells being composed of an extremely fine web. They both combined the physiological considera- tion of the functions of organs with the examination of their structure. But they did investigate the cell-wall. The subject lay practically dormant from Malpighi and Grew to the beginning of the present century, excepting, perhaps, Wolff (1733- 1794), who pointed out that but one cell-membrane lies between two adjacent cells, a point which succeeding anatomists determining. At the beginning of the present century the subject was investigated by a Frenchman, Mirbel, and he made the first important contribution to our knowledge from several points of view, and his ideas agreed in the main with those of Wolff. An important discovery was made in the second decade of this century by the younger Moldenhawer, who succeeded in isolating the cells of tissues by boiling and macerating in water (1812). This brought him into direct antagonism with Mirbel as to the structure of the cell-wall, He found that the cells and vessels were closed tubes and sacs after isolation, and must necessarily, as it would seem, so lie one against another in the living plant, that the wall between every two spaces is formed of two lamine. He also conceived of the cell-wall being a sort of lacework. The younger Moldenhawer may be taken as closing the first section of this century, during which time he had improved the methods of observation, compared his own observa- tions with those of others with great acuteness of judgment, and did all that could be expected with the instruments of his time. From 1812 to 1828 no important advance was made, although great improvements were made in were a long time in the compound microscope, thus enabling succeed- . ing observers to have the advantage of improved instruments. Now we come to Von Mohl, a man intimately acquainted with all branches of botanical science, many of which he materially advanced. He made the solid framework of cells the object of special and searching examination, and he never forgot that the interpretation of visible structure must not be disturbed by physiological views. His views on growth in thickness of cell-mem- branes and the sculpture caused by it was published in 1828. He conceives of all organs being originally formed of thin-walled closed cells, which in the tissues are separated by walls formed of two lamelle on the inside of which new layers were formed which lie one upon another and represent the secondary thickening layers, whilst on the inner side of the membrane thus thickened by apposition there may (in some cases) be seen a tertiary layer. He also supposed that pits and spiral and other thickening was due to deposition of thickening material locally on the inside of the originally smooth thin cell-wall. Von Mohl also definitely called the layer which gives way when a tissue is macerated, the inter- cellular substance, although he afterwards aban- doned this more and more until he limited its occurrence to certain cases only. Coming now to what we may call the more modern views of cell-thickening and growth we reach Nageli. Following naturally from Nageli’s conception of the micellar structure of protoplasm, which he considered to be made up of crystalline groups of molecules, to which he gave the name of micellz, and which are always separated from one another by water. The distance between the micelle varies; when water is given off the micelle come closer together, and vice versa. On this conception has been based the intussusception theory of the growth of the cell-wall. The intussusception theory holds that the crystals (micellz) can be moved about, get farther apart, etc., and fresh cellulose micellz are inter- calated between those already present (accom- panied by increase in size of the micelle already present), forcing them apart, and thus the wall grows both in surface and in thickness. On examination of the cell-wall in section, it is seen to be made up of concentric layers, to which was given the name of stratification (Schichlung). In surface view the cell-walls are seen to have fine lines running across them, often crossing one another at right This is striation (Streifung). Nageli viewed these appearances as the optical angles. expression of watery or less watery layers. According to his view there is no reason why the striation lines of one and the same lamella could not cross one another. This was one of the fatal things that upset his theory. We do not have two By 8 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. series of crossing lines in different directions in one layer, but they belong to two. This theory was the first attempt to apply mechanico-physical considerations to the explanation of the pheno- mena of organic life. Next came Strasburger, following Dippel and others. He throws over altogether Nageli’s con- ception of micellz, and to his mind only molecules of cellulose exist. To him the lamellze, seen as stratification, are the expression of intermittent thickening by apposition, thus re-instating Von Mohl's theory of cell-wall growth. The outer coat of a lamella differs from the main body of the same lamella, and the place of junction of the lamellz is therefore indicated by difference in the refractive index. Siriation he explained by saying that each lamella is not plastered on as a whole, but as a ribbon, or more in one place than in another, the striz being the contact lines. A few years ago an important paper on the cell-wall and striation was published by Krabbe, who insists that strie do not correspond to what Strasburger believed, but that the lamella in ordinary cells are plastered on as one sheet, and that the whole appearance of Striation is due to subsequent change. Since the publication of this paper, Stras- burger has re-investi- gated the question, and has practically abandoned his theory of striation, although still maintaining that thickening takes place by apposition, especially in such cases as the bars in tracheides and the spiral thickening in some vessels. Apposition explains the growth in thickness of cell-walls, and derives confirmation from the study of the growth of starch grains, which almost certainly takes place in this way. But growth in surface has always been somewhat of a difficulty from the apposition point of view. This was at first overcome by assuming that the layers were stretched by pressure exerted from within, and that whilst in this stretched condition fresh lamelle were plastered on, and that the optical properties were the expression of tensions. But there are cases where cell-walls grow in surface when there can be no question of stretching, as by reducing artificially the turgidity of cells when the growth in surface is not retarded to such an extent as might be expected. a wall, showing striation. BOBEE SO CEeLt-WaLti.—a, Bordered pits in section. showing thickening ring (dotted lines). thickening ring stretched out (a2 a), so intercalating new piece of cell-wall. d, Middle lamella (three lines), secondary thickening layer and limitinglaver. 2, Cell-wall, showing stratification. 7, Cell- The peculiar mode of cell-growth seen in Edo- gonium, etc., is also a difficulty from the apposition point of view. Here a solid ring appears which splits and eventually stretches out and increases the size of the cell-wall. The ring shows no signs of growth by apposition; and Strasburger himself admits that it probably grows by intercalation of fresh material, although not at all according to Nageli’s theory. Lastly we come to Weisner, who says that while the cell-wall is growing it always contains proto- plasm, by the activity of which what he calls derma- tosomes, which form ultimately the cell-wall, are secreted. This finds some confirmation from the subsequent changes that cell-walls undergo, ¢.z., lignification, etc. When the cell-walls are at all thickened in a tissue we can see clearly two regions—the party-wall or middle lamella and the rest of the wall (secondary layer) on each side. There can also be distinguished a third portion — the inner limiting layer, or tertiary layer. The middle lamella is partly the primary septum common to two cells, and this commonly, when the secondary layers are changed, retains a cellulose character. It differs from the sur- rounding wall, in that it is most soluble in Schultz’s macerating fluid, and, therefore, gives way first. It also gives way when schizogenous intercellular spaces are formed. The secondary layer shows the stratification, and is the layer which principally undergoes secondary changes, lignification, etc. But the growth and thickness of a cell-wall is often not uniform; thickenings take place locally. sometimes on the outer side, as in pollen-grains, and often when cells are combined into tissues on the inner surface, giving rise to annular, spiral, scalariform, and other thickenings, and to simple and bordered pits. In the latter case the unthickened parts of con- tiguous cells are opposite one another. Although cell-walls are always first formed of cellulose (except pectose) they frequently undergo chemical, accompanied by physical, changes. These changes do not generally begin until the cell has acquired its full size. With regard to lignification, there is some doubt as to what causes this change, and the term 6, G@dogonium c, dogonium showing SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 9 “lignin’’ is but a cloak for ignorance. Two substances, coniferin and vanillin, are always associated with lignified cell-walls, and it is these substances that give the colours with re-agents. By prolonged boiling in alkalies these substances can be extracted, and then the walls give the reactions for cellulose, so that the cellulose basis is simply permeated with these other substances. Lignified cell-walls are hard, pervious to gases and liquids, etc. Lignification commonly takes place in the xylem vessels, parenchyma, selerenchyma, etc. The middle lamella is commonly strongly lignified, often partly suberized and changed in other ways. In suberization, the secondary layer becomes infiltrated with a substance (suberin), the deposition of which in the cell-walls results in the formation of cork. This substance (suberin) includes really a number of different substances. The middle lamella is commonly lignified. We can extract the corky substances by warming in alkalies and then treating with alcohol, and the framework gives the ordinary cellulose reactions. Cork-cells are impervious to water and gases and will stand the action of strong H, SO, for a considerable time. When a cell becomes corky it becomes larger, and Strasburger has pointed out that cork walls, under polarised light, show colours due to stretching. Suberization takes place in the periderm of stems and roots, the exodermis of roots, radial walls of endodermis, etc. Cuticularization is a change closely related to the foregoing, and cutin closely resembles, and probably is a,form of suberin. The reactions (KOH, etc.) that distinguish distinguish cuticularized tissue. Cell-walls may be converted into mucilage, that is to say, mucilage may either come as a primary substance from the protoplasm, or by degeneration of the cell-wall. These vary in composition and in reactions with micro-chemical re-agents. Some turn blue with iodine and Hy, SO,, but most turn yellow. The middle lamella but seldom undergoes this change (ex., Ivy), Mucilaginous cell-walls when dry are hard and horny, but when moistened become sticky and swell up. Mucila- ginous cell-walls are common in the coats of seeds, as linseed, quince, etc. This change may go on so far as to result in the conversion of the cell-wall into gum, soluble in water (ex., peach, plum, etc.) Frequently during the genesis of cells a sub- stance is formed—-not cellulose, but soluble in boiling water and alkalies—to which is given the name of pectose. This may be a forerunner of cellulose. Another substance occurring in the cotyledons of leguminous plants, palm and liliaceous seeds, is known as amyloid. This is allied to dextrose and gives the blue colour with iodine without dehydrating agents. 16, Hadley Street, Kentish Town, N.W.; Fanuary 31st, 1895. same cork, PSEUDO-ALBINO SPARROWS. By K. HurisTonE JONEs. Seve eet notices have of late appeared in this paper referring to pseudo - albino sparrows—I use the term for want of a better. This abnormality of colouring is, as far as my personal experience goes, by no means un- common; almost every winter I have observed, from time to time, sparrows which represent this curious condition. The feathers which have lost their colouring matter are almost always the primary feathers of the wings and the rectrices, or quill feathers of the tail. Sometimes the whole of the primary feathers in the wing are white, and the same applies to the tail. Much more frequently one, two, or three or more will be uncoloured and the rest quite normal. Generally, I believe, the metacarpal primaries are more liable to lose their colour than the digital. I have also seen skylarks presenting the same curious condition, but not so frequently as sparrows, and we have in the Manchester Museum a good specimen of a sky- lark presenting uncoloured primary and tail quill feathers. Observations are all very well as far as they go, but only useful in that from them it is possible to B 4 draw deductions. We require to know how the condition has come about, and also we have several rather important questions to ask about the con- dition as it stands at the present day. With regard to the origin of the condition, it is only possible to theorize. Several theoriessuggest themselves toone, all of which have this in common, that they point to hereditary influence. In the first place, it is within the range of probability that the ancestors of the sparrows, and indeed of all the other birds, carried uncoloured feathers, such feathers being obviously less evolved than those which are coloured. It is possible, presuming the above to be true, that albinos revert to an original type, and that pseudo- albinos are abortive attempts at reversion. Secondly, it may have been necessary wken the winters were much more severe in this quarter of the globe than they are now, for the birds to change their plumage and lose the colouring matter of their feathers in the winter, in order to gain a protective colouration, just as the ptarmigan does to-day. Reversion might take place as before. It is significant with reference to this, that the pseudo-albinos have at least, as far as personal ite) SCIENCE-GOSSIP. observations go, been largely noticed in the winter. Thirdly, and in some way perhaps probably, these albinos are the productions of direct hereditary influence. An albino individual pairing with a normally-coloured specimen of its own species would probably produce some parti- coloured descendants. The only objection to the last theory is, that albino varieties do not as a rule get the opportunity in these days of precise fire- arms, of propagating their species. However, whether all the albinos fall victims to the destructive instinct which we inherit or not, there can be no doubt whatever of the extent of hereditary influence, and the way in which hereditary traits crop up after a lapse of perhaps several generations, and there is no abnormality for which this is more true than albinism. In some recent observations made upon albinism in mollusca, I demonstrated very clearly the mar- vellous extent to which albino peculiarities are transmitted from one generation to another, and everyone is aware how they are transmitted in man and other mammalia. There are several questions which we ought to put with regard to the condition, apart from its origin. Are pseudo-albino sparrows, and of course other birds as well, born pseudo-albinos, or have they the capability of becoming so later in life? If pseudo-albino varieties have changed at some time in their existence, later than their fledging, how did they get rid of the melanin granules from their feathers? This last question is complicated by the fact that there is no circulation in the plumules of the feather, or in the shaft. Thirdly, can a pseudo-albino revert to the normal type, and if so, how does the colouring matter become deposited? Fourthly, if the uncoloured feathers are removed, will those which grow in their places be uncoloured or typical? There are several other things I should like to add, but I am afraid I am already taking up too much space. These notes are confessedly hastily put together, and very crude, but I hope that I have said enough to make it plain to the readers of SclENCE-Gossip that there is work to be done, and observations are worth making on this very neglected subject. I hope we shall hear more about this question in future pages, so that as our knowledge increases, we may get nearer to the truth. St. Bride’s Rectory, Manchester; Feb. 11th, 1895. THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF IRELAND. By E. L. Layarp, C.M.G., F.Z.S. HAVE been much interested in Mr. R. F. Scharff’s article on this subject, as it has deepened the impression left on my mind by a visit to Ireland last autumn. Being my first visit to the ‘‘ Emerald Isle,” things connected with my favourite pursuits naturally most attracted attention. My son and I travelled from Dublin, right across to the opposite side of the island, to the sea coast of the wilds of Connemara. From Dublin to Galway we went by rail, so there was not much oppor- tunity for observation, but from Galway to the west coast the journey was performed on outside cars, so we had plenty of time to notice things as we drove along. We remained six weeks on the coast. Both my son and myself have been assiduous bird collectors, and we were both struck with the dearth of bird life throughout the country. Perhaps our surroundings were not well fitted for it. There was nothing but bog and rock, and the usual plants of such a region. Where we lived there was not a tree for many miles in any direction, though formerly there must have been timber, for large tree-trunks and roots are constantly found by the peat cutters while cutting peat, the sole fuel used in the place. These tree-trunks—chiefly, we were informed, pine—are wonderfully preserved in the bog, and are perfectly sound and much harder than the same kind of timber of the present era. We saw large logs being sawn into boards for boat- building purposes, for which they are preferred. We noted especially the absence of all swallows and swifts. Only once, after leaving Galway, did I see one of the former—not hawking for flies, but hurrying along as if he wished to ‘‘ get out of that.” It never greeted my sight again. We saw crows, sparrows, and an occasional lark. A couple of pairs of stone-chats evidently had nested in a stone wall we constantly passed. Wind-hover hawks were generally visible, and we once or twice saw a peregrine falcon, probably the same bird, or one of a pair nesting in the neighbourhood. These were about all the land birds we noticed. Of water-birds and sea-birds there were rather more. Herons, curlews, ducks, plover, snipe, gulls and terns, oyster-catchers, sanderlings, guillemots and cormorants are all I can remember, and they did not by any means abound. Of frogs there was a small species common enough, and I should think hardly an introduction in such an out-of-the-way place. With the ex- ception of grasshoppers, I noticed a great scarcity of insects; humble bees were very rare; butter- flies were also scarce. I noted the grayling—two or three examples,—the common meadow-brown, a painted-lady or two, a small blue, and once I saw SCIENCE-GOSSIP. II a butterfly that I thought was an Aran-brown. Among the land mollusca the common garden- snail (Helix aspersa) was plentiful in a cultivated garden. Nothing else turned up, but on the Island of Aran, my son found on the walls of the old ruins of the Firbolg Fort, a singular dark variety of Helix ericetorum. The animal was so mottled with black, and apparent through the shell, that when I first saw it I fancied we had found a wandering colony of the European Helix terveri. I hunted in vain for any fresh-water molluscs, such as Bythinia or Planorbis. Of the flora, I regret to add I can say little, as I am ignorant of botany, but I recognised Asplenium trichomanes in great profusion and beauty, in the old walls between Galway and Oughterard, as we drove along; and I found, after a search, the sun- dew (Drosera) on some of the bogs. Mr. Scharff’s paper will cause us to take a greater interest in the subject and make closer observations, if we visit Ireland again this ensuing summer, which we hope to do. Certainly our weather was inauspicious, cold north and north- east winds the whole time, and yet I never saw finer and larger fuchsias, really high bushes. “ Otterbourne,” Budleigh, Salterton ; February, 1895. CADDIS-WORMS & DUCKWEED. Wis attention was attracted last May by the remarkable manner in which some caddis- worms cleared one of my vessels of duckweed (Lemna minor and thin fronds of L. gibba). Five of these creatures disposed of, on the average, twenty plants daily, and I estimated that in a pond covered with duckweed one caddis-worm to every four square inches of the surface would not merely check the growth but in the course of two months would clear the surface of the duckweed altogether. Though most of the plants are eaten, many die from being partially devoured; and, as in this species the larve construct their cases of the fronds, quantities of the plants are expended in the constant repairs of their homes. Here, then, is one explanation of the absence of duckweed in certain ponds where caddis-worms abound, as in the Black Pond at Oxshott. It is in the spring, when the duckweed is beginning to cover a pond, that these larve are best able to carry out their destructive mission. Perhaps some of the numerous readers of this journal would be able to put these results to the test of further observation. We know far more of the forms of the Lemne than we do of the conditions in which they live, and an agency that allows these plants to flourish in one pond and banishes them from another may prove to affect the distribution of these plants in different regions of the globe. Hy. B. Guppy, M.B. 6, Fairfield West, Kingston-on-Thames ; Feb, 4th, 1895. MERE nike SOCTH AL Yar ae NATURAL SCIENCE. By .T. M. McGrecor. | Ee Perthshire Society of Natural Science was founded in Perth on February 28th, 1867, for the avowed purpose of ‘carrying on the practical study of natural science, by the exhibi- tion and preservation of specimens, the reading of communications, by lectures, excursions, and by the formation of a library and museum”’; and was - inaugurated on March 7th of the same year, under the presidency of the late Dr. F. Buchanan-White. The ordinary meetings of the Society were held in the Glovers’ Hall, George Street, until October, 1869. In this place the Society had no room for the storage of specimens, so it was decided to look out for more commodious premises, the members being of opinion that ‘‘ had the Society a room of sufficient size in which to begin its museum, there would be no lack of donations.’’ It was not, however, till October, 1869, that it was announced that a room had been secured, at Kirkside, to serve as a ‘‘store-room’’ for the Society's collections. In the Third Annual Report the members were asked to assist ‘‘in getting up a complete museum of the natural products of the county —now that there is accommodation for them.’’ These premises were also found to be unsuitable for the purposes for which they had been secured, so in May, 1870, the Society moved to rooms in St. Ann’s Lane, which it continued to occupy till May, 188r. In the Eighth Annual Report we find the curator (Col. Drummond-Hay) complaining of want of space, but the Society seems to have remained in an apathetic state until November 15th, 1875, when the Council took into consideration ‘‘ the propriety of having larger rooms that might be fitted up as amuseum.” It was ultimately agreed to take a lease of a room in the Exchange Buildings, George Street, which seemed suitable. Before this was done, however, further consideration of the matter had led to broader views. At the Tenth Annual Meeting, in 1876, Sir Thomas Moncreiffe reviewed the whole matter of the Society's museum, pointing out the difficulties that lay in the way of depositing valuable specimens in the rooms then occupied by the Society, and mentioned a site which might be secured for a suitable museum. No definite steps were taken in this direction until March, 1877, when Sir Thomas Moncreiffe (then President of the Society), in his presidential address, again brought forward the scheme of building a natural history museum (in South Tay Street), together with a large public hall. The proximity of this large public hall to the museum would make the former available for lectures, conversaziones, etc., for which the lecture-room in connection with the museum might prove too 12 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. small. As the outcome of various meetings, the museum committee resolved on April 4th, 1878, to take steps to raise funds to carry out the scheme of building a museum, etc., in South Tay Street, and they were encouraged in their efforts by the promises of handsome donations from well-known residents in Perth and others. In August of the succeeding year (1879), the Society received a very appropriate memorial to their late President, would be the raising of a fund for the carrying out of his cherished idea. With this object in view, a large and influential committee was appointed, a canvass for subscriptions organised, plans prepared, and a site secured. About this time, Dr. Jas. Geikie, F.R.S., succeeded Sir Thomas Moncreiffe in the presidency of the Society. The subscriptions MOoNCRIEFFE MEMORIAL MuSEUM BUILDINGS, PERTH. severe blow in the death of its large-hearted President, Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, Bart. Had not he, by reason of his untiring energy and perse- verance, prepared the way for the successful carrying forward of his favourite scheme, it is only too probable that it would, at this time, have fallen into abeyance. His enthusiastic earnestness, how- ever, was destined not to be lost upon his fellow workers. They justly deemed that the most promised up to the date of opening were exactly £1,787, while the contracts for the erection of the building, exclusive of incidental expenses, were £1,720. So well, therefore, was the appeal for subscriptions to the Moncreiffe Memorial Museum responded to, and so heartily did the public sympathize with the projected scheme, that on Saturday, October tst, 1881, at 3 p.m., the Perthshire Natural History SCIENCE-GOSSIP: Museum was opened in presence of a large and influential assemblage of subscribers to the fund, and of members of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science. The ceremony took place in the hall of the Perth Working Boys’ and Girls’ Society, Dr. James Geikie, F.R.S., President, in the chair. =—_—<———=— ———— 13 Thus we see that in less than fifteen years this humble body of students and lovers of nature—the founders of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science—had the gratification of meeting in a pretentious building of their own. This was the result of their patient labour, for which even the (mata | aT! / AMT / f === 5 Heys ae Potariint SSSSES=== SSS UE NEES NS ER TV NG oy = Bs tne, ids HSS P= S 3 Is oe a — —- ES Wy) ==af =< Li G Cover af the Yuseum MONCRIEFFE MEMORIAL MUSEUM. The Natural History Museum Buildings consisted of (1) lecture room, (2) laboratory, (3) library, and (4) museum. In addition to these, a large space of ground remained unoccupied behind the museum building, upon which the museum extension of 1894 is now built. most sanguine member had hardly dared to hope. During these fourteen-and-a-half years of its existence, the Society had held 114 ordinary monthly meetings, at which 169 papers, including fifteen presidential addresses, had been read. In addition, various lectures had been given under its 14: SCIENCE-GOSSIP. auspices, 57 excursions made, and two very suc- cessful conversaziones held. In regard to publications the Society had brought out several in this period, the first being the in- augural presidential address, which was followed by asmall volume of ‘‘ Proceedings,”’a continuation of which, was, however, abandoned in favour of ‘‘The Scottish Naturalist,’ the first number of which appeared in January, 1871. The publica- tion of this journal was retained by the Society till 1878, when it was taken over by Messrs. Blackwood and Sons, under the same editorship. In 1883, after the lapse of a few months, it began a new career in the hands of Messrs. Cowan and Co., of Perth. The year 1892 saw a new development of it under a change of ownership, its new title being “The Annals of Scottish Natural History,”’ under which designation it is now being published. Other publications of the Society are the ‘Fauna Perthensis,” the first part of which also appeared in 1871, as a catalogue of the Perthshire lepidoptera, which was followed by ‘‘The Pro- ceedings of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science,” the first part being published in 1881. Up to March 8th, 1888, fully 600 persons had been admitted as members of the Society, the greatest number elected in one year being seventy- eight, and the least five. At this date the museum contained about 20,000 specimens, while the library boasted the possession of about-600 volumes, so that the resolution of 1867 of forming a museum and library had been well carried out. Rumours were at this time prevalent as to a projected museum extension, but it was not until the toth of March, 1892, that the newly-elected President (Mr. Henry Coates, F.R.S.), in acknowledging the indebtedness of the Society to its retiring President, Dr. F. Buchanan White, proposed to raise a testi- monial fund to him, ‘‘ to be devoted to the scheme of museum extension which he has had so much at heart.”” As the result of this suggestion, an appeal was issued during the summer of 1892, and so wonderfully generous was the response, that, of the large sum of £2,500 asked, nine-tenths were subscribed in a few weeks. By March oth, 1893, the President was able to report that plans had been prepared and estimates received for the museum extension, and without further delay building operations were commenced on the spare ground already referred to. The plan of building adopted consists of a central hall, thirty-four feet wide by forty-four feet long, witha gallery running around it. It is entirely lighted from the roof, which is lofty and arched, and supported on iron columns. In connection with the museum are work-rooms, herbarium-room, etc. The new museum building is to be exclusively devoted to the collections of Perthshire Natural History, while in the old building the Index Collection will be arranged. The proposed arrangement of the Perthshire Collections is as follows: vertebrata on the ground floor, the mammals being in tall cases in the centre, while the birds, fishes, reptiles, and amphibians will occupy the wall-cases around the sides In addition to these, an interesting collection of Perthshire birds’-nests and eggs will be displayed in table-cases round the area. As many of these will be mounted with their natural surroundings, they will undoubtedly prove a most attractive feature of the museum. The gallery will be devoted to the invertebrata, the botany and the geology of Perthshire, the land and fresh-water shells and the fossils being dis- played in desk-cases round the gallery front, and the other collections in wall-cases. For the geology and the entomology, special cases have been designed, which present some novel features, and which are thought to be specially adapted for the display of small specimens. They are wall-cases, with glass fronts, sloping at a high angle, and with false backs to correspond. The lower part of the case is in the form of a cabinet, for the storage of reference collections, while the higher part is for the display of diagrams and photographs, the middle portion only being for the display of speci- mens. By this arrangement the specimens will be neither too high nor too low to be conveniently examined. The botanical collections will include a series of specimens of the native timbers of Perth- shire, illustrated by photographs of the trees, both in summer and winter conditions, and also by dried specimens of the leaves, flowers, etc. An instruc- tive geological feature of the museum is a series of large diagrams painted in oil-colours, round the walls, illustrative of the geology of the county. These have been most carefully designed by the President, from the Geological Survey maps. They are correctly drawn to vertical and horizontal scales, the prominent topographical details being also indicated. There is also shown, at a lower elevation on the wall, a colour-key and explanation of the respective geological signs. As these dia- grams are painted in the bright and harmonious colours selected by the Geological Survey, the effect on the walls is highly artistic, besides being of great educational value. The museum has been furnished throughout in the most substantial and complete manner possible, the cases being all of polished mahogany and plate- glass, the latter being in whole sheets from top to bottom of the cases. The total estimated cost is now between three and four thousand pounds, and the Council hope to be able to meet the whole of this heavy outlay before the building is ready to be opened to the public, which it is expected will be early next winter. The Council have recently appointed a thoroughly competent scientific curator SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 15 in the person of Mr. Alex. M. Rodger, formerly assistant to Professor D'Arcy W. Thompson, University College, Dundee, and under his able guidance the arrangements of the collections will be pushed on with all possible speed. It is therefore encouraging to know that—thanks to the combined effort of a humble body of zealous workers, and to the hearty co-operation of their fellow-citizens and others, Perth will at no distant date be in possession of a Natural History Museum, which will at once be an honour to science and a credit and an ornament to the city. Surely such monuments as these bode well for the advance- ment of science. No history of asociety would be complete without a brief notice of the life and work of its founder and organiser; and with the name of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science that of the late Dr. Frank Buchanan White must ever be associated. From the date of its foundation to the day of his death, December 3rd, 1894, he devoted much of his valuable time to promote the interests and welfare of this Society; and his diligent work and exemplary care won for him the esteem and admiration of all with whom he came in contact. His natural modesty led him at all times to under- estimate his own abilities, and to under-value his own services, his aim being to keep these persis- tently in the background; but those who were more closely conversant with the affairs of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science know only too well how very much that Society is indebted to him for its present influential position. Even the casual reader of its ‘‘ Transactions” cannot but be struck by the amount of valuable work done by him, and by the wide range of his subjects. For the first five years of the Society’s existence Dr. White held the post of president; for the next two years he was secretary. In 1882 he was elected editor, which post, however, he resigned, in April, 1883. He was re-appointed president in 1884, and held this office till March roth, 1892, when he retired, as already stated, from office in favour of Mr. Henry Coates, F.R.S. It is impossible in a passing tribute to his memory to do justice to the many excellent qualities which endeared him to his fellow-workers, as only those who knew him best, and who enjoyed the privilege of his personal friendship, can adequately estimate the great loss which the Perthshire Society of Natural Science and all students and lovers of nature have sustained in his untimely end. Certainly his was a record of ‘duties well- performed and days well-spent.”’ The block of exterior of the Museum building is from. photos by Mr. Magnus Jackson, of Perth; while the sketch of interior is by Mr. W. M. Fraser, of the same city. Perth ; February 15th, 1895. NATURAL HISTORY EXHIBITION. ee City of London Entomological and Natural History Society held an exhibition of natural science objects in the library of the London Institution on February 5th, which was well supported by members, exhibitors and visitors. The most important and novel exhibit was that of Mr. Thomas Hanbury, of fruit, seeds and flowers from his well-known gardens at La Mortola, in Northern Italy. Among these were freshly- gathered fruit still attached to the branches with green leaves, of thirty species of oranges, lemons and citrons. One beautiful orange was grown on a tree which is a direct descendant from the orange tree which still flourishes at Rome after 600 years cultivation. This is the more interest- ing as there seems little reason to doubt its history, which attributes to the parent the honour of being the first plant of Citrus auvantium that was introduced into Europe. The whole time it has been tenderly cared by successive generations of monks of the monastery, where it grows. Other portions of this fine exhibit included deliciously-scented fruit of Chinese quince (Cydonea sinensis), various sprays of Hakea trees allied to the eucalyptus, with oddly- shaped fruit, curiously hairy cones of Banksia marcescens, and many more. Mr. F. J. Hanbury showed a fine collection of British plants, many being exceedingly rare and some now extinct, for instance, Orchis hircina. The most important portion of this exhibit was upwards of fifty species and varieties, being a portion of Mr. Hanbury’s magnificent series of the British Hieracia, or hawk- weeds, accompanied by specimen copies of his handsomely-coloured drawings and monograph of this group, now in process of publication. Mr. Hanbury drew our attention to specimens of Hievacium hyparcticum from Sutherland, its only known station in these Isles. This is interesting because it is a common plant in Southern Green- land and Norway, with this single known connect- ing-link between the two continents. The president of the society, Mr. J. A. Clark, showed a large case of wasps’ nests. Those of Vespa britannica were attached to heather, fir, yew and ivy. One nest of V. arborea was found on Wimbledon Common. He had also six drawers each of British and exotic lepidoptera, the former containing many fine varieties. Among the president’s birds were two cinnamon-coloured blackbirds (both from the same district in Mon- mouthshire), an almost white variety of yellow- bunting, and a hawfinch with a strong band of white feathers on the wing covers. Mr. C. H. Williams brought a perfect hermaphrodite, Argynnis paphia. This fritillary butterfly shows the male markings on the left pair of wings and those of the 16 SCIENGE-GOSSTP: female on the right-hand side. Mr. A. H. Perks, an example of Zyganea filipendule, taken by himself in Worcestershire, with pale patches of colour in the red under-wings, also a remarkable Smerinthus tilie from the same county. Mr. George Elisha, twenty drawers of micro-lepidoptera, so well known for their beautiful preservation. Other lepidoptera were shown by Mr. C. A. Briggs (four large drawers of his celebrated British Lycaenidae), Mr. F. J. Hanbury, Dr. J. E. Sequeira (Exotic), Mr. W. A. Pearce (North American), Mr. J. W. Tutt and others. Coleoptera, by Oliver E. Janson, G. A. Lewceock and E. A. Newbery. A large hornet’s nest taken at Ware, with preserved insects from it, by Mr. H. A. Auld. Birds were represented by the President, Mr. F. J. Hanbury, a fine series of cases, and a pair of polecats from Norfolk; also by A. F. Bayne, Dr. Sequeira and Mr. Ashmed. Other orders were sparsely in evidence. Microscopy made a brave show, several tables being occupied by instruments. Entomological apparatus from Mr. J. T. Crockett, and a beautifully-made forty inter- changeable-drawer insect cabinet by T. Gurney, of Broadway, London Fields. Portable electric lamps suitable for entomologists in night work, made by the National Electric Company, at- tracted much attention. There were not many actual novelties in the exhibition, but there was one important addition to the British flora in a specimen of the new Pyrus, found by the Rev. A. Ley, in Brecknockshire, which will be shortly described and named, as it appears to be new to science. This was among Mr. F. J. Hanbury’s numerous exhibits. USIP OlmMIs: OW VW O- SONS IUES. THE NATURAL HIstToRY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW issues its ‘“‘ Transactions” from 1892 to 1894, with one plate, illustrating a paper on ‘‘ The Land and Fresh- water Shells of Palestine,’ by G. A. Frank Knight. The report of this Society occupies 166 large 8vo pages. The various papers read at the meetings of the Society are varied in their subjects, some being of more than local interest. Attention may be drawn especially to those on fungi, and an interesting report, edited by Prof. Thomas King and Mr. D. A. Boyd, upon the “‘ Disappearance of Native Plants in the Flora of West Scotland.” THE ENGLISH ARBORICUTURAL SOCIETY’S ‘“Transactions’’ for 1893-4 are issued by Messrs. Coward, of Carlisle, containing some very interest- ing articles and prize essays upon the growth of trees. The membership of the Society extends to about three hundred, the Secretary being Mr. John Davidson, Haydon Bridge-on-Tyne. Considering the tendency latterly showing itself for forestry in England, this Society should receive good support. a UY Wye INGE NZ ‘“ FLORA OF BERKSHIRE.’’—Mr. Druce announces that his ‘‘ Flora of Berkshire” is in the press, and will be on the same plan as the “‘ Flora of Oxfordshire.” Lonpon CATALOGUE.—The ninth edition of this list of British plants is in the hands of the printers. We hear that the annoying subject of nomenclature is to be well to the fore. We hope the synonyms will be fully explained where the changes of names are thought necessary. é New British Roses.—The Rev. E. S. Mar- shall, F.L.S., announces two new British members of the intricate family of Rosaceze. They are from Boxley Warren, East Kent, being allied to Rosa vubiginosa (Sweetbriar). There seems little doubt they are the result of hybridisation. FRUITING OF EvonymMous Japonica.—I enclose for your inspection cutting from Euonymous bush in fruit, as itis, I believe, most unusual for it to flower and bear ripe seed-pods in this country. I have noticed it this winter in several and by no means sheltered situations, in the open air, in this town.-—J. C. Eccles, 3, Dudley Terrace, Ventnor, Isle of Wight; February 6th, 1895. A BritisH PyrRuUs NEW TO SCIENCE.—The Rev. Augustine Ley has discovered what is considered to be anew Pyrus in Wales. This will be shortly described by him in a contemporary devoted to botany. We trust we may at a later date be able to place a description, by the discoverer, of this important addition to our flora, before our readers, accompanied by a drawing taken from a freshly- gathered specimen. Mr. Ley has kindly promised to do this when the shrub is next in flower. FLORA OF IRELAND.—In reference to the article last month by Dr. Scharff, I may mention that a paper of mine on ‘‘ The Minute Aquatic Flora of Ireland,” was read before the Linnean Society in December, 1891. It was printed in the Journal of the Society in the following year; it dealt with a very large number of species, many of which were not previously known to occur either in England or Scotland, and many were new to Science.— Wm. West, 15, Horton Lane, Bradford; Feb., 1895. COLTSFOOT AS A WEATHER PROPHET.—Many people consider that when the flowers of Tussilago farfava have appeared, as they do in the last winter months, the severe weather has disappeared for the season, and nothing more serious may be expected than an ordinary course of easterly winds. Experience, however, shows that this popular opinion, like so many others when investigated, is not borne out by facts. The flowers appear in the south of England frequently as early as the begin- ning of February, and we have seen them in mild seasons even in January. During a course of observation extending over several recent years it has been noticed that the earlier these flowers appear, the more likely are we to suffer from a ~ severe period towards the end of March, or beginning of April, with considerable fall of snow. The frequency of these spring snows has passed into a proverb among country people, who speak of the ‘‘ Blackthorn Winter.”’ SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 17 Ge FN EC Fossit BacrertA.—The following interesting note, on the discovery of fossil bacteria, appears in the ‘‘ Revue Scientifique’’: ‘‘ The silicious beds of Esnost and Regny, which belong to the culm, enclose numerous bacilli in the midst of almost unrecognisable vegetable remains. A new species B. vorvax, has been studied by M. B. Renault, and appears to have been the chief cause of the destruction of vegetation. The ‘rods’ are divided into cells, each containing a spore; six to eight spores have been counted in one ‘rod’; young ‘rods’ have also been found composed of two, three and four cells; the spores escape from one of the extremities. It is the most ancient of the known bacteria.”’ DENDRITES AND OLDHAMIA.—In examining certain dendrites which I have, alongside with small specimens of Oldhamia radiata from Bray, I have been much struck with their similarity in appearance. The latter, found fossil in ancient Cambrian beds, have long occupied an undecided position between animal and vegetable. I would throw out as a suggestion the possibility of the fossil being, after all, but the impressions left by crystals formed before the hardening of the material of the rock. Oldhamia antiqua, which you figure at the head of your Geological column, will illustrate what I mean. By the way, I may say how interesting and well-considered the whole of the head-pieces are.—E. A. Martin, Thornton Heath. SECTION OF CHALK AT CRoypoN.—I think your correspondent, Mr. A. Absell, is wise in placing a query after the words ‘‘ Thanet Sands” (vol. i., N.S., page 285). From his description of the uneven surface of the chalk, and of the contents of the clefts and fissures which he mentions, I should strongly suspect that the overlying formation is of recent alluvial age. Looking at the winding valley which leads from the Downs into Croydon (Croig- deane, a winding or crooked valley), there is every reason to suppose that the valley once drained part of the hills there, and that the present site of old Croydon was formerly a wide expanse of mere and marsh (cf, Waddon Marsh). Hence it would be expected that on the inclines at the sides of the valley we should find various alluvial deposits, and this is in fact what we actually find. I know the road to which reference is made, although I cannot call to mind the particular cuttings. His descrip- tion would serve almost accurately to describe one of the many fissures and wedge-shaped clefts which seem to push themselves downward into the chalk round about Brighton and Hove. With regard to the dip of the chalk, this is of course towards the north at Croydon, but in regard to the two sections referred to, an important factor is omitted in the description. Did the faces, or the outcrops at the faces of the sections, both run in parallel direction ? If they did, there was apparently a difference in the degree of dip ; this, however, is not uncommon in the chalk.—Edwd. A. Martin, Thornton Heath ; February, 1895. i ah BOOKS TO READ I ecis Progress of Science: its Origin, Course, Promoters and Results, By J. Vittin Marmery. With an Introduction by SAMUEL LANG. 376 pp., Crown 8vo. (London; Chapman and Hall, Limited, 1895.) Price 7s. 6d. “ This will be found to be a book of reference alike for the Students of Science and for the general reader. Some idea of the large amount of valuable material digested in its pages may be gathered from the general index, which embraces over 2,500 references to facts and persons. It is a concise survey of the history of science from the earliest attempts to understand the subject down to this present year. Especially fascinating is the chapter on the progress of scientific knowledge among the Arabs, from the ninth to the fifteenth century; even though we may individually know already the facts. set forth by Mr. Villin Marmery, yet as arranged by him one cannot resist reading on page by page to the end of the chapter. The author reminds us that ‘‘the Arabian race is gifted with an intellect which, under proper directionand cultivation, yields the most admirable effects. A general fact shows this very forcibly. It took the Greeks six centuries, the Romans seven, ourselves ten to emerge from barbarism into civilisation; the Arab’s transition did not exceed one hundred years—a phenomenon which speaks volumes with respect to their natural gifts.’ We presume the author desires to convey the idea that we have emerged from our ‘‘ten,”’ but one can hardly think this is so, when we find the following footnote at the end of one of his pages. ‘‘In atown of 130,000 people, which enjoys the benefit of a public lending library, the Essays of Herbert Spencer had in six months been issued eighteen times. Not one had read the three volumes through, for the writer of the present work found pages uncut in them !”’ A much abbreviated biographical dictionary is arranged, in chronological order, of upwards of 400 men of science who have good claims to fame, the work of each being explained. These are tabulated in one of the eight appendices at the end of the book. By the way, we are pleased to see an effort has been made to avoid the ugly word ‘‘scientists,’’ which we find only once, that being in the title of a chapter, and may be the perpetra- tion of the ‘‘man who made the index,” and not of the author. This work undoubtedly shows great learning and research upon the part of Mr. Marmery, and is one which will frequently be useful to all students and writers on scientific subjects, and invaluable to school teachers. There is a very marked difference between the literary style of the couple of pages forming Mr. Samuel Laing’s introduction and the general body of the monte In the former, the sentences are elegantly written, figuratively expressed and_ full of metaphor, as becomes the finished craftsman ; whilst Mr. Marmery sacrifices everything to brevity and conciseness. Still we do not think he has overdone the pruning, for his work appears to be well done. [bee 18 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Birds of the Wave and Woodland. By Pui ROBINSON. 244 pp.,crown 4to, with 44 illustrations by CHARLES WHyYMPER and others. (London: Isbister and Co., Limited. 1894.) Price tos. 6d. As a specimen of modern book production, Messrs. Isbister and Co., have succeeded in issuing a beautiful work. It states on the title-page that the illustrations are by Charles Whymper and others, but very few are those which do not bear Mr. Whymper's well-known signa- ture. The two pic- turesque drawings which we reproduce by permission of the publishers, are differ- ent examples of that artist’s style in this work. There are no less than eighteen full-page drawings, and many of the others are nearly as large. Evidently ex- pense has not been considered, for we have the full benefit of the wood engra- ver’s art in these pictures, instead of the growing tendency for process blocks. Mr. Phil Robin- son’s letterpress is as facile and readable as is usual with him. Pleasant enough to become most inter- esting is he as he rambles through his woodlands and by side of his waves. Always cheerfully confident in his facts and assertive as is his wont, but as was said, if we mistake not, of an ornate edition of Rogers’ “Ttaly,” on its ap- pearance—‘‘were it not for the plates, the book had been dished.” Why can- not our author take time for thought as he writes? Wehave no doubt he remem- bers now that many of his statements which are subject to correction, could have been accurately written by himself, had he thought of his bird experiences at Marlborough, when he and his brother used to find many “ good things.” A busy life, with some adventure, soon rubs off little corners of memory and the tendency to verify before committing oneself to the cruel glare of public print. Still, as we have said, this isa read- able book containing many passages of distinct literary merit. For those who care more for beauty NESTING-HOLE OF WRYNECK. From “ Birds of the Wave and Woodland.” than science, we may say we have not lately met with a book which is more pleasing or more read- able in its pleasant chattiness. j- ES A Hand-book to the British Mammalia. By R. Lypexker, B.A, F.R.S., V.P.G.S., etc. 352 pp. 8vo, illustrated with thirty-two coloured plates. Allen’s Naturalist’s Library. (London: W. H. Allen and Co., Limited. 1895.) Price 6s. The difference be- tween the old “ Jar- dine’s Naturalists’ Library’’ and the present series be- comes more apparent as it proceeds. Thisis largely to be attribu- ted to the greater scientific treatment of modern popular works on natural history than was the custom half-a- centuryago. Mr. Ly- dekker has brought his geological infor- mation to his aid in preparing the latest treatise on the wild mammals of Britain. This has been ju- diciously applied, not too speculatively as a rule, and forms one of the most pleasing features of the book. We are a little sorry to read on page 16, when introducing the bats, ‘‘ Since bats are, on the whole, less in- teresting than many other British mam- mals, our notices of the various species will be comparatively brief.” It is because they are so little known or understoed in this country that they are generally considered uninter- esting. We should like to have seen more notes from the author, on the life- history and habits of these strange ani- mals, in view of in- ducing those with a taste for natural history, who have opportunities for ob- serving, to take more interest inthem ; for we feel sure there is much still to learn about bats. These remarks, however, do not apply to some other parts of this hand-book, which is throughout most interesting, not to say entertaining. It is a valuable book and will be most useful, especially to those residing in the country, for it is quite surprising how very little is generally known about our wild agree zs SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 1g A Populay Treatise on the Physiology of Plants, for the use of Gardeners, ov for Students of Horticulture and of Agriculture. By Dr. PAUL SORAUER. Translated by F. E. Weiss, B.Sc., F.L.S. 266 pp. large 8vo, with 33 illustrations. (London and New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1895) Price gs. net. In his preface, as translator of this book, Professor Weiss says he undertook the work in consequence of there not being in the English language any book so useful for modern botany classes as that written by Professor Sorauer, now before us. The original author of the well-known and admirable ‘“Populire Pflanzenphysiologie"’ has had great opportunities of acquiring the necessary qualifica- tions to write such a book while he has been Director of the Experimental Station at the Royal Pomological Institute in Proskau, in Silesia, which post he has held for many years. As that institution is one for the scientific training of endoners and agriculturists, the book now under notice has been especially prepared for such classes by the author. The translator has maintained that charac- ter, so the book will be found invaluable as a basis of teaching in the new botany classes which are ©2222 coming intoexistence under the auspices - of various County : Councils. The work vy | is divided a into a doz- . he en chap- ah ters,which ~ bern are reall BREN RE divisions ARs sae eh ae. sa whole sub- Dy Oy BSA ject. They PES SERRE ON are such ED as the ine — Wage troduction [eee SS which de. 9 +- ~~ YS fines the ( ae concep- IF tions to 3 be formed pee by the stu- ~~ dent of a ce vegetable organism, and the various or- gans of the plant; rv the structure, nutri- tion and treatment of the root, the stem and the leaf; the treatment of the shoot ; for propagating ; the treat- ment of the leaves; the theory of watering; the flower and fruits, and seeds. The illustrations are clear, and descriptions of them simple and plain. Half Hours with the Stars: A Plain and Easy Guide to the Knowledge of the Constellations. By RicHaRD H. Procrer, B.A., F.R.A.S. 22 large 4to, with 12 maps. (London: W. H. Allen and Co., Limited.) Price 3s. 6d. This well-known and popular star-atlas is being agaia issued by the publishers. By its aid and the the use of shoots f AM A accompanying explanations there is no difficulty in finding the position of the principal star groups night afternight throughout the year, and it is true for any year. The Planet Earth: An Astronomical Introduction to Geography. By Ricuarp A. GreGorY, F.R.A.S. 116 pp. 8vo, with 36 illustrations and frontispiece. (Londonand New York: Macmillan Bwivi(sts (Gxop- 1894.) Asa primer for young people this little work will be found useful. The illustrations are well se- ' lected and the _letter- A press simply ile. yet lucidly Ah written. It is quite a book we can recommend for home in- struction of intelli- gent young people, and should help to teach observation of things a- round them, Even per- sons with limited tech- nical know- ~. ledge will be Vt « able to teach their child- ren many simple but necessary facts in con- nection with the world they live in by the aid of this book. fk tre
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1895. A.M. P.M A.M,
Sun April 1 5.38 ... 6.30 0°42 ... 4° 33/N.
Fry at 5.16 ... 6.47 VeLQ) cso Sa ZO!
ry rey a GP eS 1.50) <.. 11° 52!
WSndin. Sets.
P.M. A.M.
Moon ... rr ee acode SB arto. ens
» 8 + 11.29 .. 459
Rises. Souths,
A.M. A.M.
este Sh, cose ZEST ees ge4 a
Py ecg EP ee TOG
A.M. A.M.
Mercury’... oy 2h ote Si) coo HOR op FEO Ip EES
wy OL 4550 10147 0.3 Zod Dy)
of Tis} ory DEIGIOL SA one Gp LE EOIN
Souths. Sets.
PM. P.M.
Venus ... » 8 coo EGR ao OR peeNe eon 1G GH IE
A OP a RE nd OS G5 SENG) op EU
i Crd po HOG) FIO) ae Bee UL
Mars... Hoe em LW oo Oe a ES 24° 25’N
Poi ea rencer Ando reeenel/2°4 | Lameeeen 15032 24° 40/
9 BE ann lo oon DHE) 5.58 24° 57°
P.M. A.M.
Fupiter ... ree BIO oy eee 5-55 23° 28’ N
P.M,
RE os I a POY on OO 23° 209!
om 28) coo 4S} ce PA eg (OH 23° 29!
Rises. Souths.
P.M. A.M.
Saturn .., y 2 8.24 ... 1.36 14.17 10° 49'S
P.M. P.M.
59 ME cog ACIS) co, AGL F404) ter, 10> 36!
i 28} eco TOG ao at TAL nee LOu Tor
P.M. A.M.
Uranus ... aa! OHS on OH? ats USA Hoy Fel! SE
Soarme Sets.
P.M. P.M.
INOUE. oon oy 4.10 ... 12.10 4.49 ... 20° 59’ N.
Moon’s PHASES.
ist Qy. ... Apr. 2 ... 9.28p.m. Full... Apr. 9 ... 1.43 p.m.
ILE Oar fp UO) Aen RA Ten INA, Gy 2h won Hee
Mereors.—There will be a large shower of
meteors on the 2oth of April, which will be well
worth watching if the weather is favourable. The
radiant point is a 270° § + 33°.
VENUus is very well situated for observation.
She is an evening star, and towards the end of the
month does not set until more than three hours
later than the Sun. Her diameter is increasing,
and also her north declination.
SATURN will be coming well into view this
month, as he is in opposition to the Sun on the
24th. His declination is considerably south, so
observations should be made as near the meridian
as possible. The ring system is opening out.
At most stations the weather was very favour-
able for observing the total eclipse of the Moon in
the early hours of the morning of Monday, March
11th. The occultation of a large number ‘of small
stars was visible, and the Woon itself was clearly
to be seen throughout the totality. The coppery
tinge of the Moon’s surface was very pronounced,
but several observers noted that the copper colour
was much less marked when seen through a
powerful telescope than when viewed with the
naked eye or with only a field-glass.
50 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
se ETEOROLOCICIL
SS
OFTTIMES during February there are a few mild
days when the soft breeze and welcome sun give a
pleasant foretaste of spring, causing the leaf-buds
of the garden shrubs to. swell almost to bursting,
and throwing the whole bird-world into fluttering
excitement. This year, however, we had no such
delusiveinterval ; though there was much sunshine,
the keen air and ice-bound earth never let us
forget that we were still in a winter month. In
many parts of the country the mean temperature
for the twenty-eight days did not exceed thirty
degrees, whilst even in London on only six nights
was there an absence of frost. The soil at Berk-
was: Paris, 005 inch (1°25 inches less than mean
for month) ; London, 0°16 inch (1°57 inches less) ;
Leith, 0°36 (1°09 inches less); Parsonstown, 0°60
(1°60 inches less).. When it is borne in mind that
on an average about twenty-four inches of rain
fall in London annually, it is evident that if we
are to attain our usual record, we must look for a
much higher proportion during the ensuing months.
Exceptional amounts of sunshine were recorded
at many of the meteorological stations; the duration
in London on February 16th was about six hours,
that result being obtained by taking the average of
the registers of three instruments, one being at
Kew, another at Westminster, and a third at
Bunhill Row, Finsbury. As much as nine hours’
sunshine was experienced at Scilly during one day,
but for the total amount of sunshine Jersey heads
the list with a record more than treble that of
London.
The subjoined list gives some of the most
interesting of the sunshine comparisons, the means
for every week being computed from the observa-
tions taken during the ten years, 1881 to 1890. The
AurRoRA DISpLAy oF 13th Marcu, 1895, IN NoRTH OF ENGLAND.
hampstead was frozen to a depth of twenty inches,
and theshare that frost takes in aiding the ceaseless
work of sub-aerial denudation was strikingly shown
by the frequent fall of portions of the cliff between
St. Margaret’s and Dover.
For a considerable portion of the month, an anti-
cyclone spread over our islands and North Europe
generally, its centre. for several days being over
Ireland, and it was to its continuance that the
prolonged cold was due, it causing a comparative
absence of cloud, which, under cyclonic conditions,
would have been present, and kept the earth warm
by checking its radiation. It is remarkable that
when the thaw did set in, it was not accompanied
in England either by cyclonic systems, southerly
wind or rain.
In spite of the oft-quoted phrase ‘‘ February fill
dyke,’’ which Leader’s beautiful picture has firmly
impressed on the popular mind, February is, in
fact, one of the most dry months, and this year was
exceptionally so, the rainfall not having been so
slight since the February of 1891, when at some
stations the drought continued throughout the
month. The amount of rain actually experienced
figures represent hours, an asterisk (*) indicates
‘‘hours more than mean,” and + ‘‘ hours less than
mean. easint
Week ending February 9th—Jersey, 41, *21;
Cirencester, 39, *24; Brighton, 31, (no mean
avatlable) "Oxford, 31, #18) Mork jem22yapenee
London, 10, *I. 4
Week ending February 16th— Durham, 39, *24 ;
York, 36, *23 ; Cirencester, 34, *16; Jersey, 32, *10;
Brighton, 26, (mo mean available) ; Oxford, 20, *4 ;
London, 14, *4.
Week ending February 23rd— Valencia, 40, *19;
Jersey, 32, *7; Dublin, 23, *4; Brighton, 15, (no
mean available) ; London, 3, +8.
Week ending March znd—Scilly, 40, (no mean
available); Falmouth, 44, *19; Jersey, 39, *12;
Glasgow, 35, *20; York, 33, *16; Brighton, (no
mean available) ; London, 13, tr.
A solar halo was observed at Oxford, and
lightning was reported from Holyhead, but no
aerial phenomena occurred at all worthy of being
compared with the brilliant display during the
memorable storm of January 23rd.
March opened with a thaw, which for several
OO a
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 51
days remained very gradual and undecided, a
minimum of 16 degrees being registered at
Llandovery, and several frosts occurring in London
at night, though the day temperatures reached from
40° to 50°. Towards the middle of the month a
warm spell set in, 60° being recorded at Cambridge
and York, and 61° at Loughborough and London.
In most districts the rainfall still remains consider-
ably below the mean, half an inch of rain, however,
was registered in twenty-four hours at Prawle
Point, and nearly two and a half inches fell at
Lisbon in five days, giving rise to serious floods.
Lightning was reported from Biarritz on the oth.
In connection with lightning it is interesting to note
that although for generations it had been depicted
by artists and illustrators as a series of marvellous
zigzags, in the pictures of Turner and Nasmyth it
is represented as taking a wavy, sinuous course,
and the fine instantaneous photographs of lightning
=
Se
a
———— ae =
ee
=
———=
Sar
cee
=
Wire.
ce
Oak TREE SPLIT By Frost.
taken recently, add yet another proof of the freedom
from conventionality and fidelity to nature of those
great masters.
The proverbial March winds have so far been
absent, even on the coast the force having rarely
exceeded that of a strong breeze.
Solar and lunar halos have been frequently
observed at many of the meteorological stations,
especially at Jersey, Wick, Oxford and Stornoway.
They are often caused by a thin sheet of cirro-velum
or veil-cloud having spread over the sky, and the
cirro-velum being in winter generally followed by a
nimbus or rain-cloud, halos have been honoured
with a prominent place among the popular signs of
bad weather. Much interest has been shown in the
bright aurora observed on March 13th.—E. D. Ander-
son and A. E. Mansford, London ; March 20th, 1895.
TREES SPLIT By Frost.—During the severe frost
of February last, many trees in various parts of the
country were split. We have received several
reports on this exceptional occurrence. Mr. E.
H. Farr, of Uckfield, has kindly had photographs
taken for us, from one of which the accompanying
drawing has been made. Mr. Farr states that
many trees were split in the neighbourhood of
Uckfield, in Sussex. ‘‘ Only the trunks of the trees
are affected so far as I have seen, the boughs
having escaped. The girth of these trees—which are
apparently all oaks, no other species having been
found injured by frosts—vary from forty inches to
sixty inches at the part fissured. Since the frost
left the fissures have partly closed. The tree
photographed was to my certain knowledge intact
early in January. As will be seen from the drawing
there are four cracks, the longest measuring about
three feet, being five inches in depth.”
Avrora BorEALIS. --[t is over forty years since
the writer witnessed an isolated auroral belt of
equal brilliancy with that of March 13th last. On
that former occasion the band of light, about the
same width as on the recent appearance, was very
definitely jagged and angular in form, much more
so than on this recent occurrence. On Wednesday,
March 13th, 1895, the auroral light was visible in the
North of England, at about 8.30. the colour whitish
and not much movement. At about to p.m. the
great belt of the aurora formed and spanned the
heavens, passing within about seven degrees of the
zenith, on the south side; it had a gradually widen-
ing form, increasing from horizon to zenith. The
western limb sprang from a point near the arm of
Orion. The line was continuous, and the light
strongest in the upper part. It was not a symmetri-
cal arc like the bands of the great dome-like converg-
ing auroras, but presented an angular divergence,
small certainly, but distinct. The two most curious
features of this rare appearance were the feathering
or ‘‘herring-bone”’ processes of light which formed
upon one side of it, almost entirely on the northern
side, and the balls of light which travelled rapidly
along its course. I think it is important to note, as
bearing on the hypothesis of connection with clouds,
that these balls of light travelled definitely along
the line of the band without passing off its sides.
The wind, in the upper sky, was apparently from
the west, so the singular spectacle was observed of
dark patches, evidently some form of hazy cloud,
travelling along the belt in a direction exactly
opposite to the balls of light. I believe that these
balls of light had a greater elevation than the band
itself. They were not waves as in the great
auroras of 1868 and 1869. The feathering processes
had a relation of radiation to a point near the
summit of the arc. They moved visibly, lifting
from the sides of the band as if approaching a
parallel. It is well known that in the great dome-
shaped auroras, the belts, which widen towards the
horizon, meet at a point not far from the zenith.
Several forms of cirrus cloud were represented in
this last aurora, notably the small patches lying
nearly parallel and popularly termed ‘‘hen-scarts.”’
This recent manifestation has evoked some amusing
and curious folk-lore comments among country
people, and sailors of Maryport termed it ‘‘ Sailor's
Belt,” forecasting storms in consequence. The
colour of this belt was chiefly a creamy white ; the
edges, which showed linear strips as well as
radiating processes, being marked by a strong red
in certain parts. I enclose sketch (see page 50) of
processes.—(Rev.) Samuel Barber, West Newton
Aspatria; March 14th, 1895.
52 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
yl
a
ZOOLOGY}:
EREBIA EPIPHRON, VAR. CASSIOPE, IN IRELAND.—
After forty years this mountain butterfly has again
been taken in Ireland. The lucky capior was the
Rev. R. A. M‘Clean, who found it at Rockwood,
near Sligo, during the summer of 1804. As this
locality is about fifty miles from where the late
Edwin Birchall took a fine series in 1854, it seems
as though the butterfly only needed working for to
be fully established again in the Irish fauna.
Earty BUTTERFLIES—Last week (February
28th) I saw a common white butterfly flying about
in this district (Bangor, co. Down). The day was
by no means warm, and the snow had melted
away only a day or two previously. A gentleman
also informed me he saw one flying about near the
end of January. What with early records of
flowers out in bloom and insects on flight, which
have of late years been recorded fairly often, it
appears to me that both animals and plants are
gradually accommodating themselves to live in a
climate which has, during the past years, become
so changeable as our British one, and that we may
expect each year still more marked progress in the
same direction—/J. H. Barbour, Queen's College,
Belfast ; March, 1895.
RARE LEPIDOPTERA IN SOUTH EssEx.—In con-
sequence of reading a paper upon the entomology
of the Essex side of the Estuary of the Thames, by
Mr. John T. Carrington, in his series of ‘‘ Localities
for Beginners,” published some years ago in the
** Entomologist,” when he was Editor of that
Magazine, I have paid some atiention to the
district. The result has been most satisfactory, for
I have been enabled to add to my collection many
rare or local species of lepidoptera, such as
Hesperia linzola, our new skipper butterfly, being
among its first captors; Bombyx castrensis; Pho-
yodesma smaragdarvia, so long one of our greatest
rarities ; the scarce Epichnopteryx reticella, which is
one of the most elegant but difficult moths to
capture; the new Gelzchia suedelia and many other
species of interest.—F. G. Whitile, 3, Marine Avenue,
Southend-on-Sea; March 6th, 1895.
WARNING COLOURS AND Muimicry.—Protessor
Felix Plateau, in the most recently issued part of the
*‘Meémoires de la Société Zoologique de France,”
gives the results of his experiments to ascertain
whether the Magpie moth is really, as has often been
stated, an example of what is termed ‘‘ warning
colour.” This daring Professor actually himselfate
a number of caterpillars and found that the flavour
was very pleasant, reminding him of almonds. It
would indeed be well if all the examples of
“‘ warning colouration’ were subjected to as careful
an examination. Equally cautious also should
naturalists be before accepting examples of
‘‘mimicry ’’ among animals and plants. In some
cases the so-called ‘“‘advantageous mimicry ” falls
to the ground, for the insect which is supposed to
imitate one of its fellows appears at quite a
different time of year from it.—H. C. Fyfe,
Kensington.
PLANORBIS NAUTILEUS IN SuURREY.—I can add
another locality for P. nautileus in Surrey (vide
SCIENCE - Gossip, Vol. i. N.S., p. 45). I have
specimens which were found in one of the smaller
ponds in Richmond Park.—W. J. Lucas, Gordon
Road, Kingston-on-Thames.
Mortality oF Motriusca By Frost.—The
long and continuous severe weather of the past
winter months has been very destructive to the
terrestrial mollusca of the district around Folkestone.
Helix aspersa and Cyclostoma elegans being, so far
as I have noticed, the greatest sufferers. Of the
former, whole colonies, numbering scores of
individuals each, have been totally destroyed by
the frost, and the number of broken shells in the
hedge banks demonstrate the vast destruction
caused amongst this species by hunger-driven
birds. Of Cyclosioma I dug up hundreds on
Saturday, 16th of March, and fully ninety per cent.
were dead. Whilst searching for the last-named
species I came across many colonies of hibernating
Zonites niiidulus, clustered together as is the custom
with H. aspevsa. They were at least two inches
below the surface. On the same date several
tortoise-shell butterflies and honey - bees were
noticed feeding on the newly expanded celandine
blossoms.—Capiain W. ]. Farrer, 86, Coolinge Road,
Folkestone ; March 18th, 1895.
AQUARIA AND Frost.—I lost the contents of my
aquarium from frost three times, during compara-
tively mild winters; so I had it bricked round and
under the zinc tank, forming a hollow cell 3-it. x
2-ft. x 1-ft. 3-in., into which I inserted a small lamp,
costing is. 3d., through a sliding panel in the room,
and put a thick rug round the outside. The
window faces NN.W., an extremely cold aspect.
The last has been one of the severest winters on
record, but my aquarium has only been frozen over
one night; the following morning I increased the
size of the flame a little, which had the desired
effect of thawing. Ai the present time, my animals
and water-plants are quite healthy, and I have an
abundant supply of micro-organisms for this time of
the year. Last summer I frequently found Volvox
globatoy and Hydra viridis in it, and the stickleback
nursery was a source of great interest; unfor-
tunately, I broke the glass that I transferred the
young ones to when they were about three months
old, and consequently they were lost.—F. Harrisson,
Hoily Grove, Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent : March, 1895.
GUuLts 1n Lonpon.—On a small wharfjust above
Blackfriars Bridge, on February 11th, there was a
number of large gulls; they were about the size of
a small goose. I made them out to be the herring
gull, Larus argeniaius. It was noticeable that none
of the smaller species were with them, probably
because the larger gulls are of a predatory dispo-
sition, and apt to steal food from any of their
smaller relations who may be unable io resist ;
but just beyond, in a piece of clear water, there
were immense numbers of the smaller kind—Lavus
vidibundus, 1 think,—besides many flying about and
perched on the ice. There was a more than liberal
supply of food, which lay about and floated on the
water in all directions, and yet, it was singular to
observe thai, if a gull seized anything freshly-
thrown, it was immediately surrounded by a crowd
of others who fought with it and each other, and
attempted to take the piece away. This was quite
unnecessary because of the quantity all round tobe
had for picking up, and was probably a habit
acquired owing to the scarcity of provisions under
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 53
their normal conditions, when food has to be
sought and fought for. The birds varied consider -
ably intheir plumage, perhaps through differences
of age, but, so far as I could judge, were only of
the two species mentioned. Ata later date, when
the weather was milder, I saw only the smaller
kind, the others having all disappeared.—Jas.
Burton, 90, Theobalds Road, London, W.C.
THe CourTING oF ANIMALS.—This subject
seems to prove attractive to many naturalists. In
vol. x. of the ‘‘Transactions of the Wisconsin
Academy of Sciences,'’ there is a highly interesting
paper by Mr. and Mrs. Peckham on the ‘‘ Courtship
of Certain Spiders.’’ It seems to be the case that
the sharpness of vision in spiders is accentuated by
love. A male of Satis pulex was put into a box in
which was a female of the same species twelve
inches away, and the male “ perceived her at once,
lifting his head with an alert and _ excited
expression, and went bounding towards her.” By
experiments it was proved that this recognition was
really due to sight. These results are interesting
because’some have affirmed that spiders cannot see
nearly as far as twelve inches. Further experiments
seem to show that spiders can differentiate colour.
M. Racovitra, a Roumanian naturalist, has been
studying the courting and marriage customs of the
octopus, and in a recent number of the ‘‘ Archives
de Zoologie Expérimentale,”’ he gives us some of
his observations. It is satisfactory to know that
the octopus does not, as some have thought, behave
brutally in its love affairs. M. Racovitza assures
us that ‘‘there is nothing more than a courteous
flirtation,’ and ‘‘that the male behaves with a
certain delicacy towards his companion.”’
Locusts 1n Lonpon.—Two locusts have been
discovered in cauliflowers imported from Italy,
on the premises of Messrs. Mash and Sons, at
Brixton, on March oth. The insects are precisely
similar to that found under identical circumstances
in February last year, of which a paragraph notice
was printed in the March number of ScIENCE-
Gossip, 1894. They are fine-looking, strong
insects, the wings opening to five inches across,
and the body being as thick as a lead pencil, the
vigour of their jump is only comparable with the
force of a stone from a catapult. One specimen,
still alive, was exhibited at the South London
Entomological Society's meeting on Thursday,
March 14th, but although leaves of cauliflower have
been placed in their boxes, they do not appear to
nibble at them. The species was identified last
year to be CGdipoda tartarica. There is a keel
along the centre of the thorax and sundry longi-
tudinal ridges on each compound eye, the under
edge of the tibid is a lively red and the extended
wing shows a large, smoky lunar shading. Each
was found on turning back the enveloping green
leaves of the vegetable, closely wrapped in and
thus thoroughly protected from the weather, which
has been exceptionally wintry, even on the shores
of the Mediterranean. Those who know La
Fontaine's fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper,
on which the pretty opera, ‘‘La Cigale” was
founded, and the sad fate of the grasshopper,
which had spent the summer hours with music
and frolic and provided no shelter against the
snows of winter, unlike the laborious and provident
ant, will appreciate the manner in which three
individuals of the grasshopper family have impro-
vised a winter harbour, which their instincts do
not teach them to provide.—H. A. Sauzé, 4, Mount
Villas, Sydenham Hill Road.
COLEOPTERA OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE.—Can any
of your readers help me in the study of the
Coleoptera of Gloucestershire? I should be glad to
get specimens of beetles found in the county, and
to know if a county list has appeared. For any
help or advice I should be most grateful.—
C. Percival Wiseman, Painswick, Gloucestershire.
EXCHANGING Birps IN FLEesH.—Allow me to
protest against an exchange which has appeared in
this month’s SciENcE-Gossip. I refer to the
exchange, headed ‘‘ Birds in Flesh—wanted terns,
gulls, etc.” It is now the close season for the
birds by Act of Parliament. This is encouraging
an offence against the law, and also causing the
destruction of some of our most valued birds, which
have suffered quite enough diminution in numbers
from the late frost, without a further premium being
put upon their dead bodies by such an advertisement
as this. I trust such an ‘‘ Exchange’”’ will never
appear again in SclENCEe-GossiP, which has hereto-
fore done much for the protection of our bird life.
—John R. B. Marefield, Rosehill, Cheadle, Stafford-
shive ; March 8th, 1895.
PsEUDO-ALBINO SPARROWS.—Is it possible that
great terror and suffering may sometimes have
caused the loss of colour in the feathers of
sparrows and other birds? I can relate a fact
which may, perhaps, be thought to bear on this
subject. Many years ago a clergyman, well-
known to me, had in his poultry-yard a cock
entirely black. This cock one day invaded the
trough of a pig, with thievish intentions. The pig
seized the thief and nearly killed him. Their
owner noticed, some months afterwards, that this
black cock had become black and white. The
following year the bird was entirely white. He
moulted again; and the new feathers grew up,
some black, some white. It was hoped that the
fourth year might show the black plumage quite
restored ; but, unfortunately, before the moulting
season came round again, the cock was dead.—
Mrs. Dickson, The College, Ely ; March 7th, 1895.
PsEuDO-ALBINO SPARROWS.—Mr. K. Hurlstone
Jones, under this heading, asks (ante page 9) the
question, ‘‘ If pseudo-albino varieties have changed
at some time in their existence later than their
fledging, how did they get rid of the melanin gran-
ules from their feathers?’’ This last question is
complicated by the fact that there is no circulation
in the plumules of the feather or in the shaft.
But is this so? Iam inclinedto a different opinion,
for the following reason. Many years ago, at the
Cape of Good Hope, a hunter, wishing to discharge
his muzzle-loading ‘‘ Roer,’’ charged with buck-
shot, fired wantonly at a ‘Caffir-fink” (Lowa
capensis) in his full breeding livery of velvety black,
with yellow satin rump and shoulders. One shot
alone struck the unlucky bird, entirely cutting off
the half of the wing. Finding the bird otherwise
uninjured, we called it ‘‘ Nelson”’ from its one-armed
condition, and placed it in my ‘‘table-aviary,” a
large cage built on a table, and kept in my dining-
54 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
room, so under constant observation. He soon
became perfectly tame, and was very amusing.
When the winter came on, I remarked that though
‘Nelson’? was assuming the grey sparrow-like
plumage of that season, there were no black feathers
about the cage. Examination showed that he got
rid of the melanin granules from his feathers in
some way unknown to me, I concluded from want
of vital power. When spring returned, he moulted,
but not all his feathers, and we distinctly saw the
change in his plumage, to be more precise, in his
feathers, from the brown, to the black of the nup-
tial garment. I attributed this to an access of
vitality, which then came on with the breeding
season. Surely this indicated blood circulation in
the feathers. I have at this moment a great pet, a
little common red-pole linnet, taken from the nest.
He has been with me for two breeding-seasons, and
yet for want of the excitement of the presence of a
female of his own species, the breeding force has
not been developed, and he has never assumed the
brilliant plumage ofthe season. Surely the assump-
tion of the breeding-plumage shows that there
must besome circulation. ‘‘ Nelson”’ lived with me
several years, and we always noticed the gradual
change in coloration of the feathers each year. Poor
fellow! His fate was a singular one. In the same
aviary with him, among other birds, was a pair of the
hanging-nest- builders “(Hyp hantornis capensis)—the
birds that weave the wonderful retort- shaped nests
from the outer fibres of the aloe leaves. To amuse
them we gave them bits of thread, etc., which they
wove into the bars of one end of the cage, making
an impenetrable, unpickable mass. One unlucky
day they got hold of a very long thread, which they
fastened by the two ends to the roof of the cage,
just over a perch, thus forming a loop into which
poor ‘‘ Nelson ” got his head, and, struggling to ex-
tricate himself, twisted it tight round his neck, and I
found him in the morning strangled.—E. L. Layard,
Oiterbourne, Budleigh Salterton.
REPTILES IN CAPTIVITY.—My fernery may almost
be considered a vivarium for reptiles of various
kinds. I have no surer harbinger of Spring than
the yellow bespangled and much-abused salamander.
Several of these have made their appearance during
the past week from the holes and crannies in the
rockery work, whilst now the Grecian firefrog the
Italian green-tree frog, the natterjacks and toads,
have made their appearance, and with the continu-
ance of the warm and genial sunshine, the whole
fernery will soon re-echo with the musical love-
notes of these various reptiles. I have sometimes
kept the tree-frog in large numbers, and during the
breeding season (although they have never bred
with me as yet), their cheerful chirrup has been so
loud as to be heard a long way off, and many that
have escaped from captivity have disclosed their
whereabouts by their voices. Owing to the heating
apparatus being out of order I had several degrees
of frost in my fernery during the winter, and I am
much afraid many of my scarcer reptiles will have
succumbed to thecold. One warm day in February
a large and savage African lizard came out of its
hiding-place in a semi torpid condition, and advan-
tage was taken of its torpidity to capture it and
send it away, as I found when too late last year, that
these larger reptiles devoured the smaller ones with
a most ravenous appetite, and by the rapidity of
their movements no ordinary frog or toad or newt
had a chance of escape. I hope this season to take
special note of the breeding of the salamander, and
if I have anything new to report, I will at once
write to you.—Henry J. Barber, Brighouse, Halifax.
METEOROLOGICAL SociEty.—At the
RoyaL
Meeting of this Society on March 2oth, Mr. W. N.
Shaw, F.R.S., delivered a lecture on ‘‘ The Motion
of Clouds considered with reference to their mode
of formation,’ which was illustrated by experi-
ments. The question proposed for consideration
was how far the apparent motion of cloud was a
satisfactory indication of the motion of the air in
which the cloud is formed. The mountain cloud-
cap was cited as an instance of a stationary cloud
formed in air moving sometimes with great
rapidity ; ground fog, thunderclouds, and cumulus
clouds were also referred to in this connection.
The two causes of formation of cloud were next
considered, viz. (1) the mixing of masses of air at
different temperatures, and (2) the dynamical
cooling of air by the reduction of its pressure with-
out supplying heat from the outside. The two
methods of formation were illustrated by experi-
ments. A sketch of the supposed motion of air
near the centre of a cyclone, showed the proba-
bility of the clouds formed by the mixing of air
being carried along with the air after they were
formed, while when cloud is fem formed by
expansion, circumstances connected with the for-
mation of drops of water on the nuclei to be found
in the air, such as dust and smoke, and the
maintenance of the particles in a state of suspension,
make it probable that the apparent motion of such
a cloud is a bad indication cf the motion of the
air. After describing some special cases, Mr. Shaw
referred to the meteorological effects of the thermal
disturbance which must be introduced by the
condensation of water vapour, and -he attributed
the violent atmospheric disturbances accompany-
ing tropical rains to this cause. The difference in
the character of nuclei for the deposit of water-
drops was also pointed out and illustrated by the
exhibition of coloured halos formed under special
conditions when the drops were sufficiently uniform
in size.
City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL
History Society.—At the Meeting of March 5th,
1895, it was announced that the Coleoptera section of
the ‘‘ London Fauna List,’ which this Society has
undertaken to draw up, has been compiled by Mr.
H. Hensler in a masterly manner, and is now in the
Society’s library in manuscript form. Its magnitude
may be estimated when it is known that it contains
records of more than half the total number of
species of British beetles, with particulars as to
localities and methods of capture. Its only weakness
is the absence of records of the groups of beetles
inhabiting ants’-nests. Notes as to any authentic
captures of any of these species will, therefore, be
gladly received and duly acknowledged by the
secretary of the Society, London Institution,
Finsbury Circus,E.C. Exhibits: Mr. Bell,a female
specimen of Argynnis adippe, from the New Forest,
having a portion of the right upper wing somewhat
bleached, but otherwiseperfect. Mr. Clark, a short
series of Cucullia graphalii from the collection of the
late Wm. Machin, who himself bred them som
larvz obtained at Sevenoaks. Mr. Southey,
eS eee er
a
_
ee ee)
Ae Ved Roane ck An arta
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 55
specimen of Smevinthus populi having the right hind
wing of a light cream colour. Mr. A. Bacot read
an exhaustive and instructive paper on ‘ The
Genus Smevinthus.’’—Tuesday, February 19th, 1895.
Mr. Clark exhibited a sooty black specimen of
Dicranuva vinula, which he had purchased at a
recent sale at Stevens's. Mr. May, Catocala nupta
from Tooting BecCommon, which had been relaxed
slightly with damp sand and then with wood
naphtha; one of the specimens had an unusually
pale central blotch on each fore-wing, thus closely
resembling its congeners, C. promissa and C. sponsa.
Mr. Bacot; a bred specimen of Nyssia hispidaria
having male head and thorax and a female body.
On behalf of Dr. Knaggs, Mr. Clark exhibited a
sample of a preparation of linoleum, which, on
account of the closeness of its substance, is superior
to cork for setting boards, etc.; also samples of the
new ‘‘nickel pins’’ by Messrs. Deyrolle, of Paris.
Some of these had been exposed to the vapour of
butyric acid and were covered with a greenish
coating akin to, and resembling verdigris. This
showed that there was a good deal of copper in the
so-called ‘‘ nickel pins,” the green substance being
butyrate ofcopper. Dr. Knaggs also sent for distri-
bution some of his own ‘“‘sulphuretted”’ pins, which
are the ordinary white ones dipped first into a
nitrate bath and then into hydrosulphate of
ammonia. These pins are considerably hardened
by the process and are not liable to verdigris.—C.
Nicholson, A. N. Battley (Hon. Secs.)
THE SoutH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND
Natura History Society.—February 28th, 1895.
Mr. T. W. Hall, F.E.S., President, in the Chair.
Mr. Beauman, 18, Victoria Road, S.W., was
elected a member. Mr. Edwards exhibited larvz
of the Dipteron Eristalis tenax. L., found in some
water in the stump of anold apple-tree. Mr. Adkin
exhibited a series of Crambus ericellus, from Suther-
-land. It was stated that this species differed from
C. pascuellus, in always having the silvery stripe
narrow and even. Mr. Mansbridge, the skin and
rattle of a rattlesnake from the Indian Territory,
U.S.A., and referred to the habit of these reptiles
of swimming the Mississippi, and hibernating in
the ‘‘cluffs’’ on the eastern shore. Mr. Tutt,
continental specimens of Xanthia ocellavis, and
pointed out the features distinguishing it from
X. gilvago, viz.—(r) the lower part of the reniform
stigma was white, (2) the nervures were well
dotted with white scales, (3) the apex of the wirg
was different. Mr. Tutt also read a paper, entitled
“ Lithosia lutarella, L., and its varieties,” illustrating
it by a magnificent series from Deal and the Alps.
—March 14th, 1895. T. W. Hall, Esq., F.E.S.,
President, in the Chair. Mr. B. G. Rye, of Fulham,
was elected a member. Mr. Frohawk exhibited a
magnificent and long bred series of Vanessa c-album,
showing both light and dark forms of male and
female from one batch of ova. A discussion ensued
in which it was suggested that the pale form was
the one which produced a second brood, while the
dark form went early into hibernation. Mr.
Adkin, a series of Melanippe hastata, from Suther-
land, intermediate in colouration between the usual
southern and northern forms. Mr. Sauzé, a
specimen of a south European locust, dipoda
tartavica, taken among imported garden produce at
Brixton. Mr. A. Hall, a Pierine butterfly,
Ithomia patilla, with Danaine mimic Dismorhpia
fortunata, from Nicaragua. Mr. Edwards four
varieties of the female of Papilio memnon, P.segonax,
P. westwoodti, two P. epycides, two P. anticrates, and
P. pammon var. javernana. Mr. Adkin, on behalf of
Mr. South, read a paper on ‘‘ Nettles.’’ It was
announced that on May oth, Mr. Mansbridge will
read a paper entitled ‘‘Prairie Insects.’ May
18th, Field Meeting at Bookham and Ranmore,
conducted by Messrs. Carpenter and Henry J.
Turner. Whit Monday, Field Meeting at New
Forest (an endeavour is being made to have a
three days’ excursion). June 29th, Field Meeting
at Oxshott and Esher, conducted by Mr. Adkin.—
Hy. $. Turner (Hon. Report. Sec.).
NORFOLK AND NorwWiIcH NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY.—
A meeting was held on February 25th, at the Castle
Museum, Mr. T. Southwell, F.Z.S., in the Chair.
The Chairman reported that the sub-committee ap-
pointed to consider the resolution submitted to the
society from the Wild Birds Committee of the
County Council had met and drawn up a report,
which he read to the meeting, recommending that
the whole of the foreshore from Wolferton Creek
to the eastern boundary of the parish of Stiffkey
should be scheduled under the Wild Birds Pro-
tection Act of 1894, thereby rendering it illegal to
take or destroy the eggs of any wild birds nesting
in that area; they also recommended that certain
named species, on account of their usefulness to
man or increasing rarity, should likewise be pro-
tected by name. This report, the chairman said,
he had presented to the Committee of the County
Council on the 23rd inst. He had also presented
a memorial from the owners and residents in the
neighbourhood of Hickling, Somerton, Martham,
Horsey, Ormesby, Rollesby, and Filby Broads, and
the lowlands adjacent, praying that an application
might be made to the Secretary of State for an Order
prohibiting the taking or destroying of the eggs of
any wild birds nesting in those districts between the
ist day of May and the rst of August in any year,
Both these reports, he said, had been favourably
received by the committee, and he had reason to
believe that their adoption would be recommended
to the County Council. Mr. J. H. Gurney read a
paper on the recent abundance of the Little Auk
(Mergulus alle) in Norfolk, in the course of which he
said that from various sources he had received
reliable information of 277 of these dapper little
sea-birds being picked up dead or alive, and, in a
few cases, shot. Two of them were sent to the
Zoological Gardens, by Col. Feilden and Mr. le
Strange, but soon died there. The strange places
in which these most involuntary migrants were
found, included the roof of a stable, farm premises,
arector’s kitchen, St. Stephen’s Street (in Norwich),
and Chapelfield. The Rev. Mr. C. H. Bird sent a
“Note on the Water-rail”’ (Rallus aquaticus), in which
the great difference of size between individual spe-
cimens of this bird was noticed. Axillary feathers
of the two birds were shown, for comparison. The
feathers on the forehead of each were, apparently,
interspersed with little, black, horny processes.
The microscope showed that the terminal points of
these feathers were not those of ordinary feathers,
abraded by constant contact with vegetation, but
that the rachis was gradually enlarged from where
the rami ended, and then again contracted so as to
present the appearance of semi-transparent Indian
club-shaped vessels. Measurements of two of the
birds were given. A letter from the President,
Dr. Plowright, on luminosity in decaying wood, was
read by the Hon. Secretary. Mr. W. A. Nicholson
(Hon. Secretary) read a short paper advocating the
establishment of a freshwater biological station on
the Norfolk waters. The freshwater fauna and
flora of Norfolk offer a wide field for biological
study, waiting to be opened up.
56 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other
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Tue Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name
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only to be sent, which will not be returned. The specimens
must have identifying numbers attached, together with
Iccality, date and particulars of capture.
ALL communications, remittances of subscriptions, books
or instruments for review, specimens for identification, etc.,
are to be addressed to JOHN T. CARRINGTON, I, Northumber-
Jand Avenue, London, W.C.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Francis Hort (Accrington).— Uva grass is Gyweriuim
jubatum.
CHARLES THOMAS (Birmingham).—(1) Mamestra brassice;
(2) Boarmia gemmaria (rhomboidaria) ; (3) Gonoptera libatriz ;
(4) Odontopera bidentata; (5) Triphesa dubitata ; (6) Acidalia
aversata; (7) Apamea didyma. Try to find some one in
your district to help you and collect with.
FRANK BrownLow (Bournemouth).—The case is of the
larva of the moth Psyche villosella, a local species frequently
found near Bournemouth among heather, but feeds on
lichens. Wecould not find any other larve in tin.
T. H. Barsour (Belfast).—Alisma plantago and “ Calvary
clover” (Medicago echinus).
A. LoypELL.—A list of land and freshwater mollusca of
East Sussex may be obtained from the author, J. H. A.
Lewis, Esq., 4, East Street, Lewes; price about sixpence, to
cover printing, postage, etc.
EXCHANGES.
Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words
or less.
WANTED, foreign land and freshwater shells in exchange
for same; correspondence invited, and lists sent on applica-
tion.—E. L. Layard, Budleigh Salterton.
WANTED, SCIENCE-GossiP, No. 169 (January, 1879) or No.
3o1 (January, 1890) in exchange for No. 242 (February, 1885)
with plate; also wanted to purchase, volumes of same for
any of the years 1874, 1875, 1883, 1884, 1893 and 1894, unbound
preferred.—], G. Brass, Barnard Castle.
Microscopic cabinet, mahogany, dust-proof, lock and key,
brass handle, 9 partitioned drawers, each to contain 12 slides,
cost last year £2 tos.; price £1 5s., or exchange for Cathcart’s
improved freezing and embedding microtome.—C. Lance,
Brislington House, Bristol.
Terriary and other fossils offered for other fossils or
recent shells.— Rev. John Hawell, Ingleby Greenhow
Vicarage, Middlesbrough.
OFFERED, Purbeck and other fossils. Wanted, rare British
or foreign recent shells——J_ E. Cooper, 93, Southwood Lane,
Highgate, N.
NuMBER of species Achatinella from Hawaiian Islands for
other species foreizn land shells not in collection, and set of
Clausilia bidentata var. Cravenensis (Taylor) for any good
specimen foreign land shell.—T. Rogers, 27, Oldham Road,
Manchester.
WanTED, Natural History and scientific books or electrical
apparatus. Offered, ‘Strand Magazine,” vol. 4 (rare), io
splendid condition, with case for binding —R. F. McConnell,
19, Ash Grove, Cricklewood, London, N.W.
Dupticates. —Actaeon, adonis, zgon, edusa, semele,
galathea, sibylla, Paphia adippe; desiderata, blandina,
cassiope, w-album, hyale, athalia, c.-album, alsus. Date and
locality of capture required —S. Humphreys, 5, Regent’s
Terrace, Bournemouth.
ScIENCE-GOSSIP, 300-313; ‘‘Amateur Naturalist,” vol. ii.,
13-18; ‘Field Club,” vol. iii., 1-7; ‘The Garner,” 59-68.
What offers, or books on photography.—B, T. Bonser, 29,
Highbury New Park, London, N.
WanTED, Newman’s “ British Moths,” Staveley’s “ British
Insects,” ‘English Ants’? by Rev. W. Gould (pub. 1747).—
G. H. Kenyon, Oak Bank House, Eccles, near Manchester.
WANTED, live adders, smooth snakes and foreign reptiles,
also preserved Jarve and dead pup#; exchange birds’ eggs,
butterflies, books and pigeons.— J. Nicholson, 38, Brighton
Terrace, Brixton.
OFFERED, tooth of Elephas primigenius and other fossils,
which were dredged irom the North Sea, purchased of
Lowestoft fishermen. Wanted, coloured illustrated work on
British wild flowers.—E. A. Mart n, Kavenswood, Thornton
Heatb.
OFFERED, SCIENCE-GossiIP for 1894, complete, 12 parts, in
exchange for recent book on British Mollusca (suitable for
identifying the species) or book on grasses.—C. Elliott,
Giles Gate Moor, Durham.
BritisH and foreign shells, minerals, fossils, polished
geological specimens, micro. objects, slides, etc.; also to offer
ScIENCE-GossIp, 1888-92, 60 numbers. Offers.—A. J.
Sclater, Northumberland Place, Teignmouth.
OFFERED, “Young Man,” 1894, unbound; ‘‘ Romance of
Natural History,” first and second series. Wanted, butter-
fly-net, unbound volumes “ Entomologist,’”’ ScrENcE-GossipP,
or others.— A. Cockburn, jun., St. John’s Cottages, Montrose.
CLUTCHES —Osprey, red-shouldered buzzard, mottled owl,
killde-r plover, Bartram’s sandpiper, American bittern,
American widgeon, downey and hairy woodpeckers, etc.—
Robert Williams, Croase House, Kingsland, R.S.O.
OFFERED, 2 vols. Sc1ENCE-GossiP, with plates, bound, and
a few well-mounted tooth sections. Wanted, Vol. 28 of
SciENcE-Gossip and specimens of Anodonta cygnea and U.
margaritifera and other shells not in collection—Jas. C.
Blackshaw, 158, Penn Road, Wolverhampton.
WanTED, clean gatherings of freshwater or marine
diatoms, must be in a healthy living condition; good
exchange offered in selected or shewn slides of diatoms.—J.
B. Bessell, F.R.M.S., 8, Elmgrove Road, Cotham, Bristol.
OFFERED, Marine dredge frame, 18 inches by 6 inches,
steel sides, brass ends, galvanised, new. Wanted, books on
political economy or geology.—_W. H. Johnson, g, Wellington
Terrace, Preston.
WANTED, British dragon-flies or Diptera (named) for
micro. slides of rocks and minerals and micro. lantern slides.
—John Mearns, 52, Jasmine Terrace, Aberdeen.
WANTED, British birds’ eggs in exchange for 250 mixed
foreign stamps and stamp album, containing small collection
of stamps, suitable for beginner—W. A. Nicholson, 39,
Tower Street, Portobello, Scotland. .
GEOLOGICAL Maps.—Wanted, sheets 70, 83 and 84 of the
Geological Survey, with or without descriptive memoirs.—
John H. Cooke, 123, Monk’s Road, Lincoln.
DupicaTeEs.— Pictaria, Notata(afew), Castigata, Subnotata,
Pulchellata, Debiliata, Geryon, Xerampelina, E. fulvago,
Advena, Tincta; desiderata, Arion, Sphegiformis, Strigula.
Fascelina, Degeneraria, Immorata, Virgaureata, Valerinata,
Expallidata, Campanulata, Quadrifasciaria, Picata, Fluviata,
Obliquaria, Nubiculosa, Ochroleuca, Lutulenta, Contigua,
Genista, Asteris, Chamomillz, Peltigera.—]. C. Moberley, 9,
Rockstone Place, Southampton.
DupticatEes.— Edusa, *C. album, Adonis, *Lonicere,
Tipuliformis, Prunaria, *Lunaria, ~*Illunaria, Zonaria,
*Hirtaria, Punctulata, Taminata, Gilvaria, Boreata, Hexap-
terata, Juniperata, *Russata, *Spartiata, *Dromedarius
(southern), *Dictza, Nictitans, Australis, *Persicariz, Valli-
gera, Tritici, Populeti, Lunosa, Gilvago, KXerampelina,
*Affnis, Pinetellus, Contaminellus (true), *Kuhniella, *Bran-
deriana, Uncana, Monticolana, *Gigantana, etc. (* bred).
Desiderata, Rubricata, PlumariaQ, Ruberata, Chaonia,
Unanimis, Occulta, Melanopa, and many others.—C. Fenn,
Evenden House, Burnt Ash Hill, Lee, Kent.
DupiicaTes.— Clutches of thick-knee, nightjar, nightingale,
redstart, tree-sparrow, tree-pipit, red-legged partridge, tern,
crested grebe, etc.; desiderata—clutches of grouse, dunlin,
sandpiper, dipper, swift, kingfisher, pied flycatcher, grey
wagtail, quail, corncrake, sea-birds (except black-headed guil
and tern).—F. Norgate, 98, Queen’s Road, Bury St.
Edmund's, Suffolk.
Micro. Siipes.—A few good slides for sale or exchange
for other slides, on approval.—C. Lance, Brislingten House,
Bristol.
DupiicaTeEs. — Sybilla, Blandina, Antiopa, Io, Cardui,
Galathea, Tages, Thumas, Monacha, Carpini, Autumnaria,
Illustraria, Versicolora, Carpini, Philanthiformis; desiderata,
Epiphron, H. Comma, or stamps.—A. H. Blake, High Street,
Biggleswade, Beds.
Dup.icates.—Aphelocheirus zstivalis, in spirit (Hemip-
teron), larve of Orichalcea, prehistoric stone implements;
desiderata—rare and local Macro-Lepidoptera (British
localities and black pins), Sicula, Cassinea, Nubiculosa,
Versicolor, Fluctuosa, Cinerea, Depuncta, Sobrina, Alpina,
Xerampelina, Albinacula, etc.—F. Norgate, 98, Queen’s Road,
Bury St. Zdmund’s, Suffolk.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
p/
NOME ON Ver fre ER Ay RENGEN Ss;
By W. H. Dartinerr, LL.D., F.R.S., F.R.M:S., Etc.
HIS small and beautiful denizen of our ponds
has become so familiar an object to the
amateur, and has so long commanded the interest
and close observation of the student, that it may
fairly be supposed nothing short of prolonged and
systematic study could tell us more concerning
it, than from so many
contributors is now
known. Apart from
the beautiful results
obtained by the insight
and patient researches
of Gosse (!) confirmed
and enriched by scores
of subsequent observers,
it may be doubted if
anything more thorough
could be done than that
by Mr. Charles Cubitt (?)
and Judge Bedwell (°),
on the characteristic
and really wonderful
features of this rotifer,
all of which has been
carefully considered and
analysed by the chief
authority on this subject,
Dr. C. T. Hudson (°).
Nor is there any claim
in this note for the
addition of any fact to
our previous knowledge,
it is simply a demon-
stration of the manner
in which a detail fami-
liarly known to be
constantly carried out,
is accomplished.
No greater perplexity
presented itself to the
earlier microscopists in
the study of this and
similar forms, than the
extreme limits of space
involved in the use of
objectives of consider-
able magnifying power.
These frequently rendered certain actions of the
organism impossible, or only to be studied when a
happy coincidence gave the patient enquirer the
fortunate opportunity he could never arrange for
himself, Or else, as not infrequently happened,
led a vigorous animal under constrained conditions
May, 1895.—No. 15, Vol, IT.
Fig. 1.—MELICERTA RINGENS, X 100.
(Drawn from nature by Dr. Dallinger.
to perform partially or imperfectly a distinguishing
habit.
We are relieved largely in this matter by the
large advantages of the apochromatic system of
objectives and their accompanying compensation
eye-pieces, a system which, as is now well known,
provides such perfect
chromatic and spherical
correction that the aerial
image may with con-
stantly improved reveal-
ing power, be magnified
to a limit never before
attainable by the eye-
piece. The result is
that we can obtain
increasing power while
we leave the focal
distance unaffected.
It is well-known that
beyond the axial por-
tion of the visual ‘‘field”’
certain colour defects
are inevitable; they
arise from the chro-
matic difference of the
magnification, and this
may be the case al-
though the centre of
the field may be per-
fectly achromatised.
The differently coloured
images produced by
refraction, and which
unite to form the one
visual image, are differ-
ently magnified, that is
of different dimensions.
The red image is the
least, the blue image
the greatest.
The apochromatic
system corrects. the
primary and secondary
spectra; there is, how-
ever, still chromatic
error remaining, but the
‘‘apochromatic’’ system involves sucha construction
of the eye-pieces that they shall possess an equal
error of the opposite kind. The image formed by
the red rays is greater than that corresponding to
the blue rays. In this way, perfect compensation
is secured, and the image being unconfused by
ih RE
58 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
different foci may be (relatively) greatly magnified,
and as the eye-pieces are so arranged that the
lower focal point in every eye-piece lies in the same
plane when they are in their places in the tube, no
change of focus is involved, although we secure
true and accurate increase of magnification.
Thus, if we use say a 24:0 mm. objective—what
we have so long called a one-inch power—its
initial magnification will be 105. No. 1 compen-
sation eye-piece will give that only without
magnification. But the eye-pieces are arranged in
series, and are marked with the number of times
they magnify this initial magnification. Thus, if
we use an initial magnification of 1o0’5 and an eye-
piece numbered 4, it brings the magnification to
forty-two diams.
Now we can, with quite satisfactory results,
magnify by the eye-piece an inital power of 10°5 in
the cbjective to 280 diams., and as this leaves the
focus unaffected for practical purposes, it gives us
a means of research on certain objects which we
had not within our reach before.
For many years the habits and activities of
Mclicerta vingens have afforded me the keenest
pleasure and interest, and to many of these I have
applied with admirable resulis the advantageous
properties of the apochromatic system ; and there
is one point in which it has yielded an interesting
result.
In the summers of 1893 and 1894, 1 was fortunate
enough to come upon an exceedingly abundant
supply of these organisms, and they were nct cnly
very plentiful but extremely vigorous; moreover,
many of them were evidently cf greater age than
those I had usually seen. This was manifest in
the great comparative length of some of their
tubes, and the remarkably graduated sizes the
pellets presented from the base to the top edge;
also in the confluence or ‘“‘ weathering ’”’ of these in
the lower and middle rings, and in the numerous
growths of alge, diatoms, conferva, and other
things upon the tubes.
An average one drawn from life is shown in fig. 1.
The intense and rapid action of the cilia arrested
even an eye familiar with the object; and the lobes
assumed a great variety of soft and beautiful
curves, not unusual but never so frequently seen
before. A very common one of these is shcwn in
the illustration.
It is not too much to assume that the readers of
this journal are familiar with all the actions of this
beautiful rotifer as a brick-maker and a tube
builder. It is familiar to all that by the cilia about
the edge and upon the bosom of her petal-like lobes
she obtains a vertical stream of particles which are
with wonderful delicacy separated into material
serving for food and material serving for the
manufacture of the pellets, which are afterwards
used as ‘‘ bricks" to build her tube in a succession
of rings. We may perhaps be pardoned none the
less for borrowing a figure from Dr. Hudson (fig. 2)
which shows the cilicated lobes, the ‘‘chin’’ (cH),
the pellet in its mold or. cup (pM), and the
antennz (AN).
Mr. P. H. Gosse says: ‘‘Below the larger
petals (that is, on the ventral side) there is a
projecting angular chin (cu, fig. 2) which is
ciliated; and immediately below this is the little
cup-like organ . a small hemispherical
cavity. . On my mixing carmine with
the water the course of the ciliary current was
readily traced, and formed a fine spectacle. The
particles are hurled round the margin of the
disc until they pass off in front through a great
sinus between the larger petals. . . . . If the
atoms be few, we see them swiftly glide along the
facial surface, following the irregularities of outline
with beautiful precision, dash round the projecting
chin (cu, fig. 2) like a fleet of boats doubling a
bold headland, and lodge themselves one after
another in the little cup-shaped receptacle beneath
(pm, fig. 2). The contents of the cup
are whirled round with great rapidity” (°), and
beccme the bricks or pellets with which the tube
is built.
Now the fact that these pellets or “‘ bricks” were
deposited in rings, constituting the familiar tube, is
a mere common-place of the natural history of
minute life. In his first and most original paper,
Mr. Gosse, having seen the brick produced, says:
“T now watched the animal with eager expecta-
tion, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing it
bend forward its head, as I had expected, and after
a second or two raise it again, when I saw that the
little cup had lost its contents. . . . . This
process I saw repeated many times in succession,
until a goodly array of pellets were laid . . .
but very irregularly ”’ (°).
Again, in regard to a young melicertan, “A
pellet was quickly formed and instantly deposited
at the foot; the same operation was repeated with
energy and industry, so that in afew minutes a row
of pellets were seen forming a portion of a circle
around its foot-base ”’ (‘).
Again, the pellet having been formed, ‘‘ Suddenly
now we see the animal bend itself forward, till the
cup is brought into contact with the upper edge of
the case, it remains so bent foran instant, and then
as quickly resumes its upright position. The cup,
however, is now empty ; for the consolidated pellet... .«
has been left on the edge of the case’’ (°).
In the same way that most careful and acute
observer, Judge Bedwell, tells us in regard to the
deposit of the “‘ brick,’’ that ‘‘ It does it so quickly,
that before you have got over the agitation and
surprise which its unexpected and rapid change
of position causes you, the act, like a conjuring-
trick, is over, and the animal is in its old position
ae
again, with an empty pellet organ hard at work at
a new brick " (°).
It will of course be clear, and is fully known to
every observer, that it must
be a matter of difficulty to see
distinctly what are the details
of this bricklaying, effected,
as it is, so rapidly. The
prime elements of success are
sharpness of definition, with
sufficient magnification, and
ample room for the activities
of the rotifer.
With plenty of vigorous
specimens in full activity, and
by happy incidence, one well-
placed and building, taking a
24°0 mm. objective, we may
commence with the initial
magnification of the lens
(z0'5 times), and we may go
on 10 250 or more diameters
without change of focus or
disturbance of the object;
and by patience and repeated observation, we
may at last observe all the simple details of the
placing of
the brick.
Judge Bed-
well made
the observa-
tion that a
small pim-
ple-like pro-
tuberance
armed with
sete and
lying be-
tween two
hooks, on the
opposite side
of the cup
in which the
briieki its
made, pos-
sibly deter-
mine the
place im
which the
brick is to
be deposited;
for ‘* when
the pellet is
ready thean-
imal turns
vound and de-
posits it at
the spot with which this pimple . . . was in contact
at the moment before the animal began to turn” (1).
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
by him it may have
Fig. 2—M. RINGENS, showing the ciliated
lobes, the chin (cu), the pellet in its mold (pm)
and antennz (AN).
(Copied by Dr. Dallinger from figure by
Dr. Hudson.)
Fig. 3.—M. RINGENS, in act of placing pellet, x 210.
(Drawn from nature by Dr, Dallingeyr.)
D.
a)
“
59
This is undoubtedly true; in the cases observed
been always true, but in the
many observations made through two summers I
found that it was never so
with the first brick of a new
ring, but with the exception
of three instances was always
the case with every other
pellet of the ring. What
happened is shown in fig. 3.
The brick was ready, being
always formed in from three
to four minutes, then the
rotifer twisted swiftly round
about half the circumference
of her tube, pressed the side
of her body against the side
of the tube she had just
turned herself from, arched
her body over, laid her an-
tenne parallel with each other
and near enough to each other
to form a sort of double rail
or frame, down which the
pellet could roll or slide, and guiding it to the exact
spot to which it was destined to go. Then with
the end of
herwehinig
she pressed
it into posi-
tion, much
as, with a
finger, we
may press
an electric
knob, and
then in-
stantly rose,
mostly turn-
ed rapidly to
its former
position, and
again pro-
ceeded to the
construction
of another
pellet.
When we
remember
that the dot
ofan’ soVzian
this type will
probably
more than
represent the
superficial
area occu-
pied by the organism, all these refinements of
operation must surely awake interest in the mind,
60 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
and cause the least thoughtful to perceive that siz
is merely a finite mental concept and in no way
affects the perfection of the adaptations with which
a living organism is endowed.
REFERENCES TO WORKS QUOTED IN THIS ARTICLE.
—(!) Trans. Micros. Soc., vol. iii., 1852, p. 58;
Quart. Journ. Micros. Soc., vol. i., 1853, p- 71;
Pop. Sci. Rev., vol. i., 1862. p. 474. (?) Month.
Micro. Journ., vol. iii, pp. 240-1; ibid, vol. v.,
1871, p. 205; ibid, vol. viii., 1872, p. 8. (*) Month.
NOTES “ON
Micro. Journ., vol. xviii., 1877, p. 214; J. R. M
SoG. vOl-1, p.245. (4) Jo Rosey Soc evolenars
1879, p. 6; ‘‘ The Rotifera,’’ by C. T. Hudson and
P. H. Gosse, two vols., 1886. (°) Tenby, pp.
314-315. (°) Trans. Micros. Soc., vol. ili., 1852,
p. 62. () Quart. Journ. Micros. Sci., vol. i., 1853,
p- 75- (8) Popular Sci. Rev., vol. i., 1862, p. 485.
(°) Month. Micros. Journ., vol. xviii., 1877, p, 221.
(2°) Month. Micros. Journ., vol. xvili., 1877, p. 221.
Ingleside, Lee, S E.; March 28th, 1895.
ARGON.
By J ALFRED WANKLYN and W. J. Cooper.
HE article on Argon in the March number of
ScIENCE-GossiP is specially interesting to
chemists who like ourselves have devoted many
years and much labour to air and gas analysis.
The difficulties which beset this branch of
scientific investigation are very great, and the
number of experts who have attained eminence
sufficient to give work of this kind the stamp of
authority is extremely limited.
The scientific importance of the whispered
discovery at the Oxford meeting of the British
Association attracted us to the Chemical Section,
and we were disappointed that the subject was not
brought forward in the usual way for discussion, as
several eminent foreign chemists were present,
well-known authorities whose opinions would have
carried much weight. We recognised especially
Friedel from Paris, and Beilstein from St.
Petersburg, also Caro from Mannheim.
Ample details have since been published, and
these details together with Berthelot’s experiments
made upon Ramsay’s Argon, enable us to criticise
and examine the value of the work put forward.
After a careful investigation we have arrived at the
conclusion that the nature of the alleged new
constituent of the atmosphere is far from being
established, and that it is apparent that the
atmosphere does not contain the one per cent. of
Argon which was more particularly claimed by
Lord Rayleigh.
One of the chief if not the chief result set forth
by Rayleigh and Ramsay is a quantitative one.
The new element, Argon, was declared to be present
in atmospheric nitrogen to the extent of one per
cent. by volume. Not a minute fraction such as
the fraction of atmospheric carbonic acid, but a
comparatively large fraction like the water in the
atmosphere. Such Rayleigh and Ramsay say is
the occurrence of Argon in the air.
When, however, weask where is the experimental
proof, we find only one solitary experiment which
is of the most doubtful kind and has the further
interesting peculiarity of proving too much.
The experiment to which we allude is Lord
Rayleigh’s, in which 6-3 litres of atmospheric
nitrogen gave sixty-five cubic centimetres of gaseous
residue left unabsorbed in the large flask in which
the experiment was carried out. This volume of
unabsorbed gas is about one per cent. of the
quantity of atmospheric nitrogen taken for the
investigation, and so far the result appears to be
favourable. But when we reflect that the true
yield of Argon is not only the volume of unabsorbed
gas, but also comprises the gas held in solution by
the large volume of liquid contained by the flask,
the result appears in a very different light. Argon,
we have been told, dissolves in water to the extent
of about four per cent. Abundance of time was
occupied by the experiment in order to permit of
the Argon entering into aqueous solution. There is
indeed a fair probability there was as much Argon
held in aqueous solution in the flask as there was
in the shape of gaseous residue. Thus it becomes
manifest that the one solitary apparently favourable
experiment proves too much.
Nothing else presents even the semblance of
indicating a yield of anything like one per cent.
of the new substance.
The so-called Argon, separated by the magnesium
method, as will be seen on turning to the paper, is a
very small fraction of the atmospheric nitrogen.
In fine the experimental results negative the
statement that there is anything like one per cent.
of a new substance in atmospheric nitrogen. The
interesting guantitative resultannounced by Rayleigh
and Ramsay is therefore not maintained, and we
pass on to ask how far is there support for the
assertion that there is a minute proportion—say
about the same proportion as that of carbonic acid—
in the atmosphere.
The researches of the eminent French chemist,
Berthelot, appear to be decisive, and to negative
the statement that the gaseous residues to which
the name Argon has been given are elementary
substances.
In Berthelot’s hands these residues have yielded
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 61
a volatile alkali which (unless we adopt a very
farfetched hypothesis) can be nothing else than
ammonia. Argon—so far as it exists at all—is a
compound of nitrogen, and, when properly treated,
gives ammonia.
Quite in harmony with Berthelot’s observation
are the remarkable spectroscopic phenomena
described in ScieNcE-Gossip in March. The
change of spectrum from red to blue when the
temperature is raised is as much an indication of
decomposition as of mixture, and bears out the
observation of the eminent French chemist as to
the compound nature of the so-called Argon. In
this connection, inasmuch as the spectroscope has
played a very prominent part in this investigation,
it may be well to recall the pre-eminent service
which that admirable instrument has rendered to
chemical science during the past thirty-five years.
The alkali metals, coesium and rubidium, discovered
by Bunsen about the year 1860, and the metal
thallium, which was made known to us by Mr.
Crookes a little later, were the first trophies of the
spectroscope. But for the aid of that marvellous
instrument these metals, and also others of more
recent date, would have remained buried in the
unknown. The spectroscope, however, by reason
of its powers in certain directions—its supreme
sensitiveness for instance—is utterly unquantita-
tive. To use it aright is a work of art and
requires genius. We call to mind two instances
where the spectroscope has been misused with
disastrous results, and we are glad to see that
the great experience of Mr. Lockyer has led him
to abstain from any hasty pronouncement on
Helium, the most recent of the spectroscopic
achievements.
In years gone by the metal of common lime
was mistaken for something new by an operator,
and later on two other very eminent men of
science discovered the apocryphal metal, Jar-
gonium.
New Malden, Surrey ; April 15th, 1895.
GCEOKOGIQ.O RE SEE NOR WAG id:
By Tuos. LeEIcuTon, F.G.S.
ROBABLY no area within the three kingdoms,
of such limited extent as the Isle of Wight,
exhibits so many formations worthy of the attention
of the geological student. It may be said, with
almost equal truth, that no district receives less
attention at the present day; this in spite of the
fact that almost all the beds of the island yield
fossils, whilst the sections are almost entirely along
the coast, and therefore accessible to everybody.
It must not be supposed from the comparative
neglect of an interesting district that previous
observers have so exhausted the subject that
there remain no attractions to the original worker.
In spite of the careful observations of the past,
unrecorded fossils and new fossil horizons are not
difficult to discover, and those who know the
island best, look upon it as a promising field for
future work. The publication, in 1889, by the
Geological Survey, of a revised edition of Bristow’s
‘Geology of the Isle of Wight,” by Clement Reid
and Aubrey Strahan, has placed in the hands of
students a careful and exact statement of all that
was then known of the geology of the island,
together with lists of all fossils recorded from the
different formations, and a complete bibliography.
The chief service that such official publications
render to geology is that they provide observers
with a sure foundation for future work.
The rocks of the Isle of Wight consist of
secondary, tertiary and quarternary deposits, and
the following table exhibits their several divisions,
as generally accepted, in descending order :
Quarternary, Gravels, etc.
Tertiary, Oligocene, Hempstead Beds.
Bembridge Marls.
4 Limestone.
Osborne Beds.
Headon Beds.
Tertiary, Eocene (Upper), Headon Hill Sands.
Barton Clay.
Bracklesham Beds.
Bournemouth Freshwater
Beds.
Lower Bagshot Sands.
(Lower), London Clay.
Woolwichand Reading Series.
Secondary, Cretaceous (Upper), Upper Chalk (with
flints).
Middle Chalk.
Lower Chalk.
Chloritic Marl.
Upper Greensand.
Gault.
(Lower or Neocomian), Lower
Greensand.
Wealden.
The relations between the scenery of a district
and the geological phenomena there developed
have not infrequently been pointed out. Nowhere
62 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
is this relationship more clearly shown than in the
Isle of Wight. The beds enumerated in the
foregoing table strike generally east and west
across the island, and the great folding of the rocks
of the south-east of England which took place
during the Miocene period has thrown them into a
series of curves. At the south of the island
between Bonchurch and Blackgang the cretaceous
rocks are seen dipping south, whilst in the central
hills from Culver Cliff to the Needles the same
beds dip to the north. North of the central hills
the tertiary area is spread out, lying in a sincline
striking approximately from Brading to Yarmouth.
A broad valley stretches east and west between the
chalk hills from Sandown Bay to Brixton Bay,
from which the upper cretaceous rocks have been
denuded—a similar condition of things to that seen
in the Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. This
valley marks the line approximately of the Isle of
Wight anticline. The dip of the rocks affected
by the folds of the Island is remarkable; in common
with the similar folds on the mainland to the
north, the dip on the northern side of the anticline
is much in excess of that on the southern side.
This is well seen at Alum Bay in the west and at
Whitecliff Bay in the east, where the Chalk and
Eocene Beds are nearly vertical, the Oligocenes
which follow on to the north, although all affected
by the folding, very rapidly assume a low dip, that
is, they become very nearly horizontal. The dis-
tinctive characters of the coast scenery at Culver
Cliff, Alum Bay and Freshwater Gate, are entirely
due to these conditions, which, it may be mentioned
in passing, are continued on the mainland about
Ballard Down in Dorsetshire. A striking feature
of the scenery on the south side of the island,
between Luccomb and Blackgang, is the series of
landslips, due to well-recognised geological agents.
The rocks along the coast referred to, if free from
débris, would show Gault clay followed above by
Upper Greensand, both dipping south. Clays are
at all times unstable, and liable to collapse when
surmounted by hard rocks pervious to water, but
in the present instance the insecurity is vastly
increased by the dip of the beds towards the sea.
The result is seen in the Ventnor and Blackgang
Undercliff on a scale probably of unequalled
grandeur. The series of landslips which formed
the present Undercliff, occurred at the beginning of
this century, and although, from the amount of
fallen débris, the ground is at present fairly secure,
and may remain so for a century or two, neverthe-
less, with the existing geological conditions, similar
landslips may be expected to recur from time to time.
It is rather startling to the geologist, accordingly,
to notice boards near Ventnor and Blackgang, offer-
ing land upon building leases for a term of 999 years.
The lowest beds which are exposed in the Isle of
Wight belong to the Wealden Series. They may
be examined between Compton Bay and Atherfield
in the west, and in Sandown Bay in the east. In
both localities the anticlinal dips may be studied in
the cliffs. The Wealden is a freshwater formation
and consists of clays, with ‘‘ paper shales,” bands of
shelly limestone, and beds of sandstone. The series
can be most conveniently examined at and near Brook
Point in the western outcrop. Here occurs the sc-
called ‘‘ Pine raft,’”’ which consists of a number of
drifted trunks of coniferous trees lying prostra’e in
a bed of grey sandstone. It is quite a local occur-
rence—the fossil trees cannot be traced away from
Brook Point on this horizon. The Wealden Beds
of the island do not yield many fossils to the
collector. Cyprids may be obtained in abundaace in
the ‘‘ paper shales’’ at both ends of the outcrop,
whilst Cyvena, Paludina and Unio occur in com-
pressed masses in the limestone bands. Teeth,
scales and pieces of bone of fishes, and reptiles
occur on certain horizons.
Above the Wealden follows the Lower Green-
sand, a series of vast importance in the island.
The base of this formationis marked by the Perna
Bed, which forms the dangerous reef at Atherfiell
Point, upon which the North German Lloyd S.S.
“Eider” was lost a few years ago. The Lower
Greensand of the Isle of Wight is divided as
follows, in descending order : -
Carstone.—Iron sandy grit. Thickness: 6 feet in
Compton Bay, 12 feet at Niton, 34 feet in
Monk’s Bay, 73 feet at Redcliff. Possibly
equivalent to the Ammonites mammilaris zone of
the mainland, 7.e. the Gault, Lower Greensand
junction bed.
Sand-rock Series.—Slightly coherent white and buff
quartz sand. Thickness: 81 feet in Compion
Bay, 184 feet to the west of the Undercliff, 113
feet at Luccomb, 93 feet at Redcliff. Equiva-
lent to the Folkestone Beds of the mainland.
Ferruginous Sands.— Dark sands, brown and green,
with grit, clayey grit, sandy clay and beds cf
clay. Thickness: 251 feet in Compton Bay, over
500 feet in Chale Bay, not measured betwcen
Shanklin and Sandown, 367 feet at Redcliff.
Equivalent to the Sandgate and Hythe Beds of
the mainland.
Atherfield Clay.—Pale blue clay with hard argilla-
ceous limestone at base, known as the Perna
Bed. Thickness: 60 feet in Compton Bay, go feet
at Atherfield, obscured by buildings at Sandown,
83 feet at Redcliff (the Perna Bed varies from
2 to 6 feet in thickness and is included in these
figures). Equivalent to the Atherfield clay of
the mainland, where, however, the Perna Bed
has not been recognised.
The Lower Greensand is sharply defined from
the Wealden below, but the different divisions
mentioned above pass upwards into one another»
SCIENCE-GOSSIP., 63
although there is evidence of a break below the
Carstone, which again appears always to pass up
intothe Gault. The total thickness of the Lower
Greensand, as shown above (about 800
feet in Chale Bay and 600 feet in Sandown
Bay), when compared with that of the
equivalents on the mainland (in Surrey
about 300 feet), shows a sea opening to
the south, that being further indicated
by the lithological character of the de-
posits and by the fossils. In this the
Lower Greensand sea differs considerably
from the succeeding Gault, cum Upper
Greensand sea (for which we require
a distinctive name), since the latter had
certainly an easterly aspect, probably a
north-easterly one. As the one sea
followed the other in time, some slight
mingling of the two faunas was to be
expected, at the same time it will be
found that these are, on the whole, just
as distinct as the different conditions
would suggest. The flora of the adjoin-
ing land, however, does not appear to
have undergone material change. The
Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight
is best exposed in Chale Bay; the
accompanying section (fig. 1) will be
found of great assistance in identifying
the different horizons. The beds are
generally fossiliferous, and good speci-
mens may be obtained without difficulty.
To the south of Shanklin, also, fossils
occur plentifully, but at Redcliff and
Sandown they are extremely scarce.
There are a large number of species
recorded, perhaps the following may be
considered the more typical: Pseudo-
diadema Fittoni, Meyeria vectensis, Rhyncho-
nella Gibbsiana, R. depressa, Terebratula sella,
Exogyva sinuata, Gervillia anceps, Pecten
orbicularvis, Perna Mulleti, Panopea plicata,
Thetis Sowerbit, A porrhais Fittoni, Ammonites
Deshayesti, Am. Hambrovii, and Crioceras
Bowerbankii.
The Gault is not usually fossiliferous
in the Isle of Wight, although the whole
of it would appear to be present, since
Ammonites interruptus, typical of the lowest
zone, has been recorded. The thickness
is given at 139 feet in Compton Bay,
146 feet at Blackgang, and 120 feet south
of Redcliff, at all of which places the
beds may be seen.
The Upper Greensand belongs really
to the same series as the Gault; the two
Exogyra
Bed.
Coastguard
Station,
Q
St)
°
ss
o
—
a
Atherfield
Point,
Atherfield
Clay.
Perna Bed.
Shepherd’s
Chine,
<
=
oO
2
fav
oO
3
W.
Cowleaze
Chine
sets of beds contain the same fossils, only the
strong conservative instincts of modern geologists
maintain the confusion caused by the continued
use of the two names. On the mainland sandy
conditions chiefly obtain to the west, showing
the direction in which the land of the period
St.
Catherine's
M Down,
Gore
Clift
w
op
S =
iv) .
OD ~
ose 3
rs) =
eh =
a .
Carstone.
Ferruginous
Sands.
Xil., page 1065.)
,
.)
vol.
Signal.
en y-y | Ap
Geol, Assoc.,
REENSAND BEDS FROM ATHERFIELD TO BLACKGANG.,
1 esac
:
(Reprinted from Prot.
VY
Walpen Sands S
and Clays. cS)
2
a
oo |
iste ie
a4
20 Ay
Ladder
Chine,
Crioceras Beds.
Whale
Chine.
W.
lay, whilst clayey conditions preponderate to
the east. In the Isle of Wight the Chert Beds,
which form the picturesque crags overhanging
64 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the Undercliff at Niton, and which have been
shown by Dr. G. J. Hinde to consist entirely of
sponge remains, are the most noticeable feature
of the Upper Greensand, although less striking
beds of similar origin occur about the same horizon
at other places on the mainland. Below the Chert
Beds is the Malm Rock, containing beds of freestone
much used locally for building. The following
thicknesses are given, and good exposures may be
seen at each place named.
Compton Bay
13 feet
73 feet
Gore Cliff Culver Cliff
27 } 80 feet
94 feet
Chert Beds
Malm Rock ..
The fallen material of the Undercliff consists
almost entirely of Upper Greensand; the Gault,
except at Blackgang, is entirely concealed by it.
At Culver Cliff beds of chert occur, but the
passage from the Upper Greensand to the Chalk is
there so complete that it is difficult to define the
exact limits of the different beds as seen in the
southern downs. Exogyra conica, Inoceramus latus,
Pecten asper, Plicatula pectinoides, Ammonites vostratus,
and Am. vavians are the more typical fossils of the
Isle of Wight Upper Greensand.
Immediately above the Chert Beds follows the
highly fossiliferous Chloritic Marl, by some writers
classed with the Upper Greensand, and by others
with the Chalk. Itis of no great thickness, varying
from fifteen feet at Culver Cliff, where it is difficult
to recognize, to seven feet at Gore Cliff, where it is
very distinct. At the latter place it is simply
crowded with fossils, easily collected in perfect
condition. The more ccmmon are sponges:
Avicula gypheoides, Exogyra conica, Inoceramus,
latus, Pecten asper, Plicatula pectinoides, Pleurotomaria
Moreausiana, P. Rhodani, Solarium ornatum, Turbo,
Ammonites Coupei, Am. curvatus; Am. Mantelli, Am.
vavians (many forms), Nautilus, Turrilites Bergeri,
and Tu. Morrisit.
(To be concluded next month.)
WHITENING OF HAMS AND FA TEKS:
By Joun R. Lorp and H. MEADE-Briacs.
Y friend Mr. K. Hurlstone Jones’s paper on
‘‘Pseudo-albino Sparrows’’ seems to have
excited considerable interest, and it is in the hope
that I might be able to throw some more light on
the subject that I write this. The exact anatomy
and physiology on the condition would be difficult
to state, and there is no doubt that more observa-
tions will have to be made before a definite
announcement can be made. I have carefully
followed the structure and uses of both hairs and
feathers, and seeing that one is the homologue of
the other, I am of the opinion that the whitening
of the hair and the disappearance of colour from
feathers are homologous conditions. It would
seem then that the causes which act in one may
act in the other.
Of one thing there is no doubt: there is no cir-
culation of blood in a feather (see ScIENCE-GossIP,
O.S., 1893, page 54). We must therefore look else-
where for our explanation. If we were to accept
Mandl’s idea as to the growth of hair, the disappear-
ance of pigment would be easily explained; but since
the hair grows at its root and not near its tip that
theory falls to the ground. I am not convinced
that heredity, in the sense of a relapse to a
former condition, is the main cause in birds, and I
am less convinced that the same holds good in
mammals. In the first place I will take hairs. A
hairy coat may whiten as a result of a normal or
abnormal cause. At certain times of the year the
hairs may be cast and a new coat of white hairs
formed, i.e. hairs with less or without pigment.
As a result of deficient nutrition or of lower
vitality normal in old age, the hairs may be cast or
continue to grow, but with a gradually diminishing
amount of pigment in them. The hair may be
bleached by long-continued exposure. In this
case the tips of the hairs are first affected. These
are some examples of a normal modification. A
normal cause may become abnormal if the time at
which it produces its effects is wrong. Again, any
condition which deranges the trophic centres may
affect the production of hair, such as overwork,
mental anxiety, various diseases and neurotic
conditions.
People are very fond of finding and dilating on
the marvellous, and too much stress is certainly
laid on a few isolated cases of the hair suddenly
turning white which have been recorded. Even
these cases have much doubt about them, and are
so scarce that they hardly merit consideration. It
is so common in fiction that the public will barely
tolerate the idea that there are only a very few
cases on record that have any reliable foundation.
Let us now look at the condition in birds. Is it
not possible to think that there are similar causes
here? Feathers are not dead structures, but bear
nearly throughout them, a network of living cells
quite capable of absorbing or of producing melanin
pigment. Of course there are no trophic nerves
in the feather, but there are in the vascular
papilla, and there is abundant evidence elsewhere
to show that probably all living cells are to a
certain extent under the control of the nervous
system. It is not necessary that a nerve should
be closely related to a cell to modify its action.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 65
Say, for example, that cell a is in close relation to
a nerve, and cell b is away from the nerve but in
close apposition to cell a. Probably there are
bridges of protoplasm between the cells. If there
isa change in the nerve it results not only in a
modification of cell a, but of cell b also. To go
back again to hair. If we are to believe that
under strong mental excitement the hair suddenly
turns white, then it could be explained in a similar
manner to the above.
In conclusion, it seems to me that both the
whitening of hairs and of feathers is the result of
a change in the trophic centres, brought about in
some cases by a normal condition, in some cases
by normal cause acting at a wrong time, and in
other cases by an abnormal condition.
University Union, Edinburgh ;
April, 6th, 1895.
The interesting article on ‘‘ Pseudo-albino Spar-
rows," by Mr. K. Hurlstone Jones, opens a large
field for research and discussion, and although I feel
myself completely incapable of dealing fully with
the subject, there are a few remarks I should like
to add in answer to the question ‘‘ are pseudo-
albinos born pseudo-albinos?’ In some instances
T should say yes, but not inevery case. Last year I
obtained in May a curious variety of a young rook,
Corvus frugilegus (vide SCIENCE-GossIP, N.S., vol.i.,
page 106), having five white primary feathers in each
wing, the base of the bill and the throat white, also
white claws and partly white toes. Two others,
with a suspicion of white about the throat and
white claws, I also shot in the same rookery, and I
should say were evidently birds of the same nest.
How these extremities, for it was the extremities in
every case, became white I am unable to say, but I
am inclined to Mr. E. L. Layard’s suggestion in
your last issue of SclzNCE-GossiP, and put it down
to impaired vitality.
Passing on to the question ‘‘ If pseudo-albino
varieties have changed at some period of their exis-
tence later than their fledging, how do they get rid
of the melanin granules from their feathers?’’
Surely, it appears to me, either by the same process
as the plumage of the immature gull changes, or
else from the reason I suggest presently. No one
seeing a herring gull (Larus argentatus) of the
second year when it is ‘‘mottled brown” would
imagine it would turn in the fifth year to the hand-
some grey and white bird it eventually does. It is
some accident possibly that changes to white the
typical feather of the sparrow, but I imagine the
change takes place during the time the old feather
falls out and the new one grows. There may be no
circulation in the shaft of the feather. I take Mr.
Hurlstone Jones's word for it that there is none,
for I have not studied the question; but during the
process of the feather developing in the quill-
sheath there is always a store of blood at the root.
You have only to pluck a growing feather from a
bird and squeeze it to ascertain this fact. This
being so, does it not seem possible that by some
means or other, such as want of vitality or an acci-
dent, this well, if I may so term it, dries up, and
therefore the result is the white plume. It is to be
observed that often blackbirds get a few white
feathers, more especially to the outer primary
feathers, the primary and median coverts, and the
bastard wing. I know of a tame blackbird that
gets a few more white feathers every time it moults.
It is an old bird, not far short of ten years, and I
think it is highly probable its vitality is enfeebled
and its blood-wells are drying up. Its legs are
quite a curiosity and look as if they had never
been ‘ scaled.’’ Sparrows, of course, one often
sees with white feathers, sometimes with only one
or two, and sometimes with many. One sparrow I
got last autumn had been seen about all through
the summer, but then had not as many white
feathers as when shot about the end of its seasonal
moult. There is another about the roads here now
that boasts of one solitary white feather in its tail,
and I am hoping it will be spared till next autumn
to ascertain whether the white feather will have
been replaced by a type form.
The tendency seems to be to increased albinism
with each moult, but I see no reason for assuming
that this should always be the case. In fact, the
late Rev. F. O. Morris, in Vol. iii., page 83, of his
‘‘ British Birds,’’ mentions a blackbird that in the
sixth year obtained white feathers in the wing, in
the following year reverted back to the typical
form again, and he also mentions (page 139) two
robins which were white the first year, changing to
normal colour the second season. It is possible
that in every case of pseudo-albinism, the effect of
the accident or injury or fright that has caused the
blood-wells to become dry, is capable of being
removed after a certain time and a normally
healthy condition return, but it is hard to deter-
mine this in a state of nature, whilst captivity
might have the opposite effect. It seems to me
that it is obvious that the blood influence bears
vastly upon the growing feathers. One has only to
take the canary for example. Red pepper feeding
before and at the time of moult will, as every
canary fancier knows, produce orange-coloured
birds. It is just the same with bullfinches—in
order to keep up the colouring of the breast, arti-
ficial feeding has to be resorted to for show pur-
poses, and the dark oily red-brown pepper paste is
given to the little captive. Thus it would appear
that blood influence, or rather no-blood influence,
bears considerably upon the theory of pseudo-
albinism.
37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury ; April 3rd, 1895.
66 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
THE CAMBRIDGE NATURAL HISTORY.
[! has seldom been our pleasure to notice so
important a series of scientific books as that
announced by the publishers of ‘‘ The Cambridge
Natural History,’ the first volume issued being
now before us. This series will be from several
points of view unique. It is to extend to ten
volumes, each to contain about 500 large octavo
pages, with maps and copious illustrations as
required by the various subjects. These volumes
are to be edited and, for the most part, written by
Cambridge men. Commencing with the lower
forms of life, they will treat the various groups of
living animals of the world in sequence, and also
their fossil allies, in the simplest possible manner,
though the plan is fully scientific in its conception.
Thus, these books will be well within the range of
any educated person, even of those who do not
possess special scientific training, or familiarity
with terms employed by modern writers of treatises
or monographs on the subjects dealt with in “‘ The
Cambridge WNa-
tural History.”
The following
will probably be
the titles of these
ten volumes, and
the writers to a
whom they are to
be assigned. It
will be observed
that there may be
more than one
writer in a sin-
gle volume, as
the distinctive
sections of the subject will be entrusted to
specialists, with the object of getting the most
trustworthy information. The whole series are
under the guidance and editorial management of
Mr. S. F. Harmer, M.A., Fellow of King’s College,
Cambridge, Superintendent of the University
Museum of Zoology, and Mr. A. E. Shipley, M.A.,
Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, University
Lecturer on the Morphology of Invertebrates.
Vol. I. will contain ‘‘ Protozoa,” by M. M.
Hartog, M.A., Trinity Coll. (Prof. of Nat. Hist.,
Queen’s Coll., Cork); ‘‘ Sponges,’ by W. J. Sollas,
Sc.D., F.R.S., St. John’s Coll. (Prof. of Geology,
Trinity Coll., Dublin) ; “ Jelly-fish, Sea-Anemones,
etc.,” by S. J. Hickson, M.A., Downing Coll. (Beyer
Prof. of Zoology, Owens Coll., Manchester); and
‘«Starfish, Sea-Urchins, etc.,”’ by E. W. MacBride,
M.A., St. John’s Coll.
Vol. IIl.—‘' Flat Worms, etc.,’’ by F. W. Gamble,
M.Sc. (Demonstrator and Assistant Lecturer in
SIGHT IN MOLLUSCS.
A, Limnea peregva, Mill—ee, eyes, tt, tentacles. B, Helix nemoralis, Mall—
ee, eyes, tt, tentacles; f.0, pulmonary orifice—Fyvom Cooke’s “ Molluscs.”
Zoology, Owens Coll., Manchester); ‘‘ Nemer-
tines,” by Miss L. Sheldon, Newnham Coll. ;
‘“Threadworms, etc.” by A. E. Shipley, M.A.,
Christ’s Coll. ; ‘‘ Rotifers, etc.,’’ by M. M. Hartog,
M.A.; ‘‘Polychaet Worms,” by W. B. Benham,
D.Sc., Hon. M.A. Oxon. (Aldrichian Demonstrator
of Comparative Anatomy, University of Oxford) ;
‘‘Earthworms and Leeches,” by F. E. Beddard,
M.A., F.R.S. (Prosector to the Zoological Society) ;
‘‘Gephyrea,”’ by A. E. Shipley, M.A.; and
‘‘ Polyzoa,” by S. F. Harmer, M.A., King’s Coll.
Vol. III.—‘' Molluscs,” by A. H. Cooke, M.A.,
King’s Coll.; ‘‘ Recent Brachiopods,’ by A. E.
Shipley, M.A.; ‘‘ Fossil Brachiopods,”’ by F. R. C.
Reed, M.A., Trinity Coll.
Vol. IV.—‘‘ Spiders, Mites, etc.,” by C. War-
burton, M.A., Christ’s Coll. (Zoologist to the Royal
Agricultural Soc.); ‘‘ Scorpions, Trilobites, etc.,’’
by M. Laurie, B.A., King’s Coll. (Prof. Zoology,
St. Mungo’s Coll, Glasgow) ; ‘‘ Pycnogonids, etc.,”’
by D’Arcy W.
Thompson, M.A.,
Drindty, IColl:
(Prof. Zoology,
University Coll.,
Dundee) ; ‘‘ Crus-
tacea,” by W. F.
R. Weldon, M.A.,
F.R.S., St. John’s
Coll. (Jodrell
Prof. Zoology,
University Coll,
London).
Vol. V.—' Pe-
ripatus,”’ by A.
Sedgwick, M.A., F.R.S., Trinity Coll.; ‘Centi-
pedes, etc.,”’ by F.G. Sinclair, M.A., Trinity Coll. ;
“Insects,” by D. Sharp, M.A., F.R.S.
Vol. VI.—‘ Insects,” by D. Sharp, M.A.,
EERES:
Vol. VII.—‘' Balanoglossus, etc.,’ by S. F.
Harmer, M.A., King’s Coll.; ‘Ascidians and
Amphioxus,’”’ by W. A. Herdman, D.Sc., F.R.S.
(Prof. Nat. Hist. in University Coll., Liverpool) ;
‘‘Fishes,” by T. W. Bridge, M.A., Trinity Coll.
(Prof. Zoology, Mason Coll., Birmingham).
Vol. VIII.—‘‘ Amphibia and Reptiles,’ by H.
Gadow, M.A., F.R.S., King’s Coll.
Vol. [X.—“ Birds,” by A. H. Evans, M.A., Clare
Coll.
Vol. X.—'‘ Mammals,” by F. E. Beddard, F.R.S.
We trust that this adventure of the publishers of
‘“The Cambridge Natural History ”—Messrs. Mac-
millan & Co., of London and New York—will
receive the support it deserves. Some months ago
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 67
we took exception to the class of natural-science
books purchased by many of the newly-established
free libraries. ‘This new series is to a large extent
a solution of the difficulty. If a future beginner
gets hold of one of these volumes, his first path to
a knowledge of the subject will be made smooth
indeed, in comparison with the
tyros of twenty-five years ago.
With sufficient support, Messrs.
Macmillan may perhaps be in-
duced to enlarge the number of
the proposed ten volumes, so as
to include others on plants, which
are so much needed. We know
of no general work on plants
founded on the excellent plan of
this new series on the animals,
and. feel sure such would be
heartily welcomed.
As ‘*The Cambridge Natural
History” is fully planned out in
manner of its publication, it
matters little whether the vol-
umes appear in exact sequence.
ume iii. being the Molluscs nerve; », retina.
and Brachiopods, both recent and
fossil. The Rev. A. H. Cooke occupies 459 pages in
his section of mollusca, and has succeeded in placing
this subject in an interesting manner before his
readers. There are no less than 311 figures illus-
trating the first portion
of this volume, three of
which we reproduce as
examples. The excellent
system of side-headings
in thicker type is adopted, al
giving titles to the para- » Th
graphs dealing with each Saag
subject. These are most “SS
varied, ranging from
“‘Showers of Shells,’ or
‘* Prices given for Shells,”’
to ‘‘ Larvee of Unionide,”’
or “The Septentrional
Sub-Region”’ of the palzarctic region, in which our
fauna is included; but, whatever the subject, it
is fully explained in the simplest of language. In
Mr, Cooke’s section the opportunities for pleasant,
chatty writing are numerous, and, although he has
not failed to keep well to the front the scientific
aspect of the work, he has fully availed himself of
the lighter vein, thus making the book most read-
able. It is only natural that the reverend author
should have dug out an anathema of the Church
against molluscs, which is so quaint we cannot
resist quoting it in full. Hesays: ‘Snails have
occasionally fallen, with other noxious creatures,
under the ban of the Church, Ina prayer of the
S1GHT IN MOLLuscs.
Eye of Helix pomatia, L., retracted trating comparative drawings in
: “os within the tentacle; c, cornea; ep,
The first issued is, in fact, Vol- epithelialllaven 1) Tonsoni colic the stages of growth of some
SIGHT IN MOLLuscs.
Pecten opercularis L,, showing the ocelli on the two
edges of the mantle—From Cooke's “ Molluscs.”
holy martyr Trypho of Lampsacus (about ro
cent. A.p.) there is a form of exorcism given which
may be used as occasion requires. It runs as
follows: ‘O ye caterpillars, worms, beetles,
locusts, grasshoppers, woolly-bears, wireworms,
longlegs, ants, lice, bugs, skippers, canker-worms,
palmer-worms, sails, earwigs, and
all other creatures that cling to
and wither the fruit of the grape
and all other herbs, I charge you
by the many-eyed Cherubim, and
by the six-winged Seraphim, which
fly round the throne, and by the
holy angels and all the powers,
etc., etc,, hurt not the vines, nor
the land, nor the fruit of the trees,
nor the vegetables of ——, the
servant of the Lord, but depart
into the wild mountains, into the
unfruitful woods, in which God
hath given you your daily food.’”’
A large number of the figures
are original, especially those illus-
(After Simroth.,— shells, or the development in
From Cooke's ‘‘ Molluscs."
various species, or of characteristic
formation in the genus to which they belong.
Again, interesting series are illustrated, showing
how generic characters run from one to another, as
in the case of the marginal slit in Hemitoma,
increasing in Emarginula
and Macroschisma, until it
becomes enclosed by the
margin in Craniopsis and
Puncturella, finally _ be-
coming an apical hole in
Fissurella.
Chapter x. on ‘ The
Geographical Distribu-
tion of the Land and
Freshwater Mollusca ’’ is
most-interesting and very
exhaustive, figures of the
characteristic shells of
some of the regions being given, as well as four
coloured maps of the regions.
The remaining sections of Vol. iii. are devoted to
the Brachiopoda, and although occupying so much
less space than Mr. Cooke’s section, the authors,
Messrs. Arthur E. Shipley and F. R. Cowper Reed,
have succeeded in making their subjects entertain-
ing and most instructive.
The price of Vol. iii. of ‘‘The Cambridge
Natural History’? is 17s. net. Messrs. Macmillan
have executed their part in producing the book
admirably, and we feel sure this series will become
most popular.
J. 2..c.
68 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
STARIONS, OF PLANTS . ANDSBUOYANCY OF “SEEDS:
By H. B. Guppy, M.B.
(Concluded from page 43.)
ae groups, of which some typical examples are
given below, afford very significant indications,
and we are thus enabled to advance another stage
in our line of reasoning. Nature has, so far, taken
advantage of the floating capacities of dry inde-
hiscent fruits that she has located most of the plants
in question at the river’s side or at the pond’s edge.
Since it has been already shown that nearly all
the plants that exhibited considerable floating
powers in their fruits or seeds possessed fruits of
this character, it would seem that there are gathered
at the margins of rivers and ponds most of the
British inland plants that could be assisted in their
distribution by the agency of water.
The great sifting experiment has been a work of
the ages, and we here get a glimpse at nature in the
act of selecting a station. But the curious
character of the sorting process becomes yet more
evident when we find that the buoyancy of the fruits
of different species of the same genus and of different
genera of the same family may become a matter of
station. Of three species of Stachys which have
been experimented on, viz., S. betonica, sylvatica
and palustris, the last alone possesses buoyant
fruits. The fruits of Galium palustre float well,
whilst those of G. aparine and of other species of
the same genus display but little buoyancy. The
achenes of Potentilla comarum float indefinitely, and
in their integuments M. Kolpin Ravn has found
the ‘‘tissu aérifére’’ of buoyant fruits. On the
other hand, those of P. tormentilla have little or no
floating powers. Of the following labiate plants,
Salvia verbenaca, *Lycopus europeus, * Mentha
aquatica, Thymus sp., Calamintha officinatis, Nepeta
glechoma, N. catavia, Prunella vulgaris, * Scutellavia
galeviculata, Stachys betonica, S. sylvatica, * S,
palustris, Ballota nigva, Lamium purpureum, L. album,
Teucrium scorodonia, and Ajuga veptans, only the four
species preceded by asterisks have fruits that can
float a long time; in all the other species the fruits
sink at once or ina few days. Amongst the com-
posite plants below named, the two species of
Bidens alone exhibit any buoyancy worth speaking
of; their fruits often float for indefinite periods, and
those of B. tripartita are provided with a covering
layer of the ‘tissu aérifére.’”” The species are
Aster tripolium, Bidens cernua, B. tripartita, Chrysan-
themum leucanthemum, C. segetum, Matricavia inodora,
M. chamomilla, Achillea millefolium, Tussilago farfava
(Darwin), Senecio vulgaris, S. aquaticus, S. palustris
(Ravn), Carduus nutans (Thuret), C. lanceolatus, C.
palustris (Ravn), C. arvensis, Tragopogon pratensis,
T. porrifolius (Thuret), Helminthia echioides, Leontodon
autumnalis, Sonchus olevaceus (Thuret and Guppy),
Taraxacum dens leonis, Crepis vivens, Crepis sp., and
Lapsana communis. Amongst the Umbellifere, the
following species exhibit in their fruits considerable
floating powers, viz.: Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Cicuta
vivosa (Ravn), Sium latifolium (Ravn), S. angustifolium
(Ravn), CEnanthe crocata, Angelica sylvestris, and
Peucedanum palustre (Ravn). On the other hand,
the fruits of Ethusa cynapium, Pastinaca sativa,
Charophyllum sylvestre, C. sativum (Thuret), and
Smyrnium olusatrum display but little buoyancy.
The fruits of Apium nodiflorum and A. inundatum do
not conform to the principle illustrated by the
other twelve species and soon sink in water. (In
the instances where I have made use of the obser-
vations of others, the name of the observer is given
in brackets.)
My object here has not been to label facts but to
record indications; and it will be gathered from the
foregoing remarks that this is eminently a subject
for investigation. We desire, for instance, to know
why the yellowiris and the alder frequent the river-
side. The iris seeds and the alder fruits, are able
in most cases to float for a long time, and it is
suggested that those of their congeners away from
the river soon sink. At all events, as recorded by
M. Thuret, the seeds of Ivis chameivis and I. ungui-
cularis possess no buoyancy. We may also ask
whether, except in the case of littoral species,
buoyancy in a fruit or seed has been a factor of
much importance in the geographical distribution
of plants. May it not be that in the station at the
river’s edge of most of our plants with buoyant
fruits we have, to quote from a letter of M. Kolpin
Ravn, ‘“‘le plus grand effet de l’adaptation a la
dissémination par l’eau.”’
As a postcript to this page I may mention with
regard to the three British species of Convolvus,
that the seeds of C. avvensis, whether fresh or dried,
for months sink in fresh and sea-water. Of the
fresh seeds of C. sepium and C. soldanella quite fifty
per cent. float after six months in both waters.
Further experiment with C. sepium showed that
about half of the seeds floated after nine months in
sea-water, and thirty per cent. after eighteen
months in fresh water. For the results relating to
C. soldanella I am entirely endebted to the courtesy
of Mr. F. W. Millett, who conducted his experi-
ments at Marazion. These matters will be con-
sidered more in detail when discussing the effect of
buoyancy on the stations and distribution of the
Convolvulacez generally.
6, Fairfield West, Kingston-on-Thames ; February, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 69
GILBERT WHITE’S HOUSE.
By Epwarp A. MartTIN.
HE house in which the father of British
popular naturalists lived and died, is situated
in the village street of Selborne, in Hampshire,
about a hundred yards beyond the ‘ Plestor’’ or
playground, which White has described in one of
his early letters. As approach is made to the
village from Alton, one crosses, at the entrance to
the village, a little stream which, meandering down
“The Lithe,’’ joins the stream which crosses the
other end of the village, known as the Bourne. The
latter at its source is familiar to all lovers of
Gilbert White as the ‘‘ Well-Head,” and from this
the water-supplies of the village are stilldrawn. The
church and vicarage stand on rising ground above
the first-mentioned stream, on the left-hand side of
the road as one enters the village, the ‘‘ Plestor’”’
touching the churchyard close to the yew-tree of
ever-green memory.
‘““The Wakes,’ Gilbert White’s house, stands on
the opposite side of the road, a few paces beyond.
The wall of the narrow front garden is flush with
the village street. This low wall is not the same
as the one so recently as Professor Bell’s time.
Professor Bell, so well known as the writer of
‘ British Quadrupeds,”’ ‘‘ British Reptiles,” ‘‘ British
Crustacea,’’ etc., lived at ‘‘ The Wakes” until his
death, and exhibited the greatest care in retaining
as far as possible the antique appearance of the
house. A northern wing was, however, added to
the building, otherwise the external appearance of
the house is much as it was in White’s days. It is
fervently to be hoped that no further alterations
will be made in it. Gilbert White’s sun-dial is
still standing at the back on the lawn. The clump
of trees under which his summer-house was situated,
is still there. The summer-house has gone, but all
the way from the house is a narrow foot-path, four
bricks wide, by which he used to reach the summer-
house to make his observations in all weathers.
The path at its termination curls round in the
shape of a hook, showing distinctly where was
formerly the entrance to the summer-house. It
was carefully taken up and relaid in Bell’s time.
To those who know Selborne, it would be a cause
of infinite regret to find that the house had been,
or was intended to be, rebuilt. Selborne without
“The Wakes,” would offer no rallying-point for
pilgrims who indeed travel to it from all parts of
the world. It might indeed be irksome to a tenant
to be constantly showing the house to visitors.
Now that opportunity offers, it might become the
property of some wealthy society, as suggested
by Sctence-Gossip last month, and placed in
charge of a caretaker. A strong protest must be
raised against any spoliation of such a national
inheritance.
THE VALUE OF SPECIMENS:
HERE was an important sale of birds’ eggs
and nests at Stevens’ Auction Rooms, Covent
Garden, London, on April the 22nd and 23rd, in
which was included a skin and an egg of the great
auk, from the collection of the late Sir William
Milner, Bart. The skin had recently been re-
stuffed, and was found to be in good condition and
summer plumage. The earlier bidding was active,
but at last the auctioneer announced, after 150
guineas, ‘‘ that as the reserve has not been reached,
I now make a bid of 360 guineas on behalf of
Sir F. Milner,” therefore the specimen was with-
drawn. About eighty skins of the great auk are
known to exist, twenty-four being in Britain.
The great auk’s egg sold for the comparatively low
price of 180 guineas, and was purchased by an
enterprising proprietor of a London tavern, for the
purpose of gracing his bar and attracting customers.
Anegg of ZEpyornis maximus sold for 36 guineas. Odd
bones of the great auk went for £1 5s.; odd bones
of the dodo, 12s.; some bones of the moa, £1 5s.
The two days’ sale was, with some few exceptions,
devoted to the collection of Mr. Leopold Field,
F.R.S.E., comprising many rare nests and eggs.
The following are prices some of the lots of eggs
reached :—Four American goshawks, /1 Ios. ; four
goshawks, Ios. ; two peregrines, ros. ; one kite, 135, ;
three peregrines, {1 2s,; four ditto, £1 4s.; two
honey buzzards (New Forest), £2 15s.; two ditto
(New Forest), £3 15s.; two ditto (New Forest), £3 ;
two ditto (Yorkshire), £1 4s.; one ditto (Silesia), a
nearly white variety, £1 2s. The lots of twenty-
two Egyptian vultures from Southern Spain sold
at from 8s. to Ios. per egg. Fourteen eggs of
golden eagle (including two from Spout Rock,
Sutherland), £6; two from Argyleshire, £6; two
from Blackford, Sutherland, £6 tos. ; one Argyle-
shire, £2 1os.; one Arran, £2 15s.; three swallow-
tailed kite’s, {7 7s.; another specimen, £3.
Osprey’s sold at about ros. per egg; one Sabine’s
gull, £1 12s. 6d.; one Pomatorhine skua, £1 Ios. ;
one grey plover egg (taken with parents in Siberia,
by Mr. Harvey-Brown), {£6 6s.; eight picked
varieties of red grouse, £5; nest and two eggs,
swallow-tailed kite, £6 16s. 6d. The above prices
are among the highest; the rank and file of the
eggs and nests sold at about ordinary auction prices,
which were not high, being in many cases about 3s.
per nest and clutch of eggs, in glass-topped box.
SALE OF GILBERT WHITE'S SELBORNE MS.—
The author’s autograph manuscript of Gilbert
White's ‘Natural History and Antiquities of
Selborne”’ was sold by auction in London on
April 26th. It contains mavy passages not in the
printed editions, and has never been out of the
possession of the family. Bidding commenced at
‘210 and stopped at £294, at which price it became
the property of Mr. Pearson, the underbidder
being Mr. Snowden.
70
SCIENGEAGOSSIP.
ROOT-NODULES OF PLEGUMINOUS PLANS:
By Rupo.tr BeEeErR, F.L.S.
[FF
ings will be noticed upon them
(fig. t). These tuberosities have
an intimate connection with a
physiological process of great
importance which takes place in
the leguminous plant.
All vegetation, high or low,
requires nitrogen as an item of its
food-stuff. The form in which
this nitrogen is available to the
plant, whether in the free con-
dition or combined with other
elements, differs to some extent
with the plant we are considering.
For the present all we need know
of this is that green plants, from
the Algz upwards, cannot utilise
free nitrogen as a food material,
and that it is only when this
element is united with oxygen in
a certain proportion, to form what
is known to the chemist as a
nitrate, that it is of nutritive
value. From this it follows that
the nitrogen of the air in which
the plant grows is, so to speak,
thrown away upon at least the greater part of the
vegetation of the earth. This is a point which has
been put beyond all doubt by
the experiments of Boussingault,
Lawes and Gilbert, Pugh and
others.
The useful nitrates are evidently
obtained by the plant from the
soil, but since no great store of
these is to be found here, a
somewhat difficult problem was
presented to the physiologist.
The only reasonable explanation
seemed to be that the nitrates
should be re-formed as fast as
they were taken up by the plants.
But although this shuffled the
difficulty off the shoulders of the
biologist, it was only to place it
all the more heavily upon those
of the chemist. The formation
of nitrates, either from the
elements nitrogen and oxygen or
from oxygen and ammonia (a compound of nitrogen
and hydrogen), is, chemically speaking, a most
Much fruitless speculation
difficult undertaking.
the roots of a bean, pea, clover or almost
any other leguminous plant be examined,
a number of curious nodules or tuberous swell-
Fig. 1.—Root of red clover showing
root-nodules,
Fig 2.—Tramnsverse section from root-
nodule of scarlet-runner
mnltiflorus).
(Phaseolus
took place in explanation of this, but it was not
till 1877 that the observations of two chemists,
Schloesing and Mintz, gave quite a new aspect
to this tangled question. They
kept samples of soil under
observation ;for many weeks;
analysing each sample after the
experiment, and knowing its
constitution before, the result
was that they found a noticeable
nitrate-increase in every instance.
If, on the other hand, they treated
the soil at the commencement of
their experiments with an anti-
septic, or subjected it to great
heat, the quantity of nitrates in it
remained the same after as before
the experiment. From _ these
observations they inferred that
the power of nitrate formation
resided in the soil and was due
to living organisms in it, probably
bacteria. This hypothesis, as
unexpected as it was strange,
opened upan hitherto untraversed
path of research, which was
followed in the ensuing years by
Winogradsky and Frankland. In
1890, both these investigators
?
almost simultaneously, succeeded in isolating these
soil-bacteria which previously had only existed in
theory.
A little further observation
showed, however, that only half
the problem had been solved.
What these isolated bacteria
could effect was the partial
oxidation of ammonia, which is
abundantly present in the soil,
to the intermediate stage of a
nitrite. In order to furnish the
nitrogen compound available to
the plant it was necessary still
further to oxidise this first-formed
compound, so that instead of
containing only two atoms of
oxygen of the nitrite it contained
the three of a nitrate. It wasstated
just now that only halfthe problem
had been solved, but it was by
far the most unaccountable half
which was now cleared up.
Only the most powerful agents at the command
of the chemist (such as ozone) were known to
oxidise ammonia to a nitrite, NH;+0O,=HNO,
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 7
+H,O. But once given a nitrite it is a matter
of comparative ease to raise this to a nitrate,
HN 0O,+O0=HNO,. Yet we still have to see how
this second step takes place in nature. It was
Winogradsky who again solved the difficulty; a
short time after his former discovery he effected
the isolation of a second bacterial form which was
capable of bringing about the final process of
71
that we depend, however, more than upon any
others, for placing this matter upon a sure basis.
These investigators were able to show, by enclosing
the plant and soil in a confined and analysed
portion of air, that exactly in proportion as the
plant gained in nitrogen did the surrounding air
become poorer in this gas. It was found, moreover,
that only particular plants, viz.: those belonging
oxidation. Thus the formation of nitrates in the to the Leguminose and certain Alga, could thus
soil must assimilate
be regard- free nitro-
ed asa gen. The
double act point in
of fermen- which le-
tation, in guminous
which one plants,
bacterial capable of
form chan- nitrogen
ges the fixation,
ammonia differ from
of the others is
soil into in the
a nitrite possession
aud “then Fig. 3.—Transverse section, from root-nodule of scarlet-runner. a. a Le
a second curious
micro- nodules
organism steps in and raises this to a still higher
state of oxidation. During all the years in
which these advances were being made a certain
discontent was simmering against the theory
which gave over the vast ocean of free, atmospheric
nitrogen, as a perfectly useless source, to the plant.
The first reasonable doubts, based upon observed
facts, which were cast upon this
emanated from the famous experimental farm at
Rothamsted. In growing certain
leguminous plants under carefully
watched conditions there was found
to be a larger quantity of nitrogen
in them after the lapse of some time
than could be accounted for by the
available sources in the soil. There
was only one conclusion to be drawn
from these facts and this was that,
by some means not yet understood,
these plants had assimilated the
nitrogen of the air. In and about
the year 1886, Hellriegel and Wilfarth
in Germany, Marshall Ward and
others in this country, carried on a
series of experiments with leguminous plants which
all gave similar results. If a plant, the quantity
of nitrogen in which was known, was grown in a
pot of carefully analysed soil it was found that
there was a considerable increase in nitrogen
within this system after several weeks, which
could only be attributed to a ‘fixation’ or
abstraction of this element from the air. It is
runner,
upon the researches of Laurent and Schloesing
hypothesis _
Fig. 4.— Cells from pith
of root-nodule of scarlet-
mentioned in the commencement of this article.
The German observers, Hellriegel and Wilfarth,
were the first to notice this feature and point out
the further facts that these tuberosities
crowded with minute organisms and were charac-
terised besides, by containing the richest stores of
nitrates in the whole plant. It was concluded, in
consequence, that the Leguminosz possessed the
power of free nitrogen fixation through the presence
of the nodules, and that the ultimate
cause was to be found in the micro-
organisms which swarmed within
these. How exactly these ‘ bac-
teriads,’’ as these small bacteria-like
organisms of the tuberosities are
named, aid in this process of nitri-
fication and precisely what relation
they bear to the plant is still a matter
of discussion.
According to a paper lately
published by Professor Marshall
Ward (see ‘‘ Nature’? March 2oth,
1894) there are four possible theories
were
at present existing.
(1) The living cells of all plants may have the
power of “ fixing ’’ nitrogen, and this only
becomes more evident where root-nodules
are present.
(2) The soil-bacteria, already considered, and
the organisms of the tuberosities may have
powers of directly fixing the nitrogen of
that the nitrates thus formed are subse-
72 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
quently absorbed by the leguminous
plant.
(3) It may be that this nitrogen assimilation
is a “powerful act of machinery on the
part of the leguminous plant ** which is
stimulated to such unwonted activity by
the organisms living in its root-nodules.
(4) Lastly, it may be that the nitrates elsewhere
produced are simply gathered together by
the root-organisms which are then, so to
speak, devoured by the higher plant.
The first hypothesis depends chiefly for its
support upon Professor Frank. It seems, in truth,
to revive the old question, which, as already
mentioned, was long ago believed to be decided by
the work of Boussingault and others.
The second suggestion, which is due to Berthelot,
perhaps brings with it the greatest plausibility.
Whether it is a real factor or no, remains, of course,
still undecided. It may very probably be that
there are several causes constantly at work “fixing”
the nitrogen of the atmosphere, but a consideration
of Berthelot’s experiments and of the inferences he
draws from these, certainly gives colour to the idea
that one of these is to be found in the organisms of
the soil and roots, which, in the course of their vital
activities, oxidise the nitrogen of the air which then
finds its way into the higher plant.
Professor Hellriegel, who was the first to notice
the root-nodules and their inhabitants and to
connect them with the nitrogen supply of .the
leguminous plant, has gone further than this, and
has also attempted to explain the manner in which
the organisms of the root act. He says that these
bacteriads do not themselves bring about the
fixation of nitrogen, but that they act upon their
host plant, stimulating its cells to unusual activity.
The result of this increased vitality is shown in the
direct assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by the
living cells of the sub-aerial parts. To anyone
unacquainted with the unlooked-for responses which’
protoplasm frequently gives to stimulation, this
theory may appear extravagant. But in the light
of other facts connected with the so-called
phenomena of irritability this view is one deserving
careful attention. The last of the above-mentioned
hypotheses is also by no means an improbable one.
There can be little doubt that there are numbers
of non-living agencies which fix small and much-
scattered quantities of nitrogen, and it may be that
the bacteriads simply draw together and concentrate
this widely-spread store which then becomes avail-
able to the host plant. Still it must be admitted
that it is very doubtful whether the nitrogen,
“ fixed’’ by inanimate causes, is sufficient to meet
the large demand made unceasingly by ihe
vegetation covering the face of the earth.
A fact which should be borne in mind in all these
enquiries is that, of all parts of the plant, the
nodules seem to be richest in nitrogen compounds.
Whether these are formed here, or whether they
occur simply as reserve substances, is apparently
the undetermined point. However these nitroge-
nous substances originate in the cells of the
tuberosities, they are utilised by other portions
of the plant by the breaking down or absorption
of the cells of the nodule. This conclusion has
been particularly emphasised in the mind of the
present writer by the observation that so many of
the nodules have certain areas of the otherwise
active cells undergoing dissolution and apparently
absorption by the other tissues of the plant. Such
a “corroded” area is shown in fig. 2.
Little need be said concerning the anatomy of
the nodules, this can be gathered from the sketch
given in fig. 3. On the extreme outside of the
tuberosity there are corky cells, within this the
living cells of the cortex, then are to be noticed the
fibro-vascular bundles (three are shown in the
figure), and within the ring of these again comes the
pith which forms the main mass of the root-swelling.
A few cells of this pith have been drawn under
high powers in fig. 4. The most noticeable point
in these cells is their evident protoplasmic contents
and large shining nuclei, both of which facts are
evidences of extremely active vitality, which we
may well suppose to be in some way connecied
with the “ fixing” of the free nitrogen of the air by
the leguminous plant.
That the bacteriads of the root are of the utmost
use to the higher plant is evident from the above
considerations, but there is very good reason for
thinking that the benefit is not altogether one-
sided. lt would seem, parily by analogy with
experiments made by Kossowitsch and others on
Alge, partly on other grounds, that whilst the
bacteriads furnish or aid in furnishing ihe
leguminous plant with nitrogenous materials, the
green plant in its turn provides the micro-organism
with the equally necessary carbo-hydraie food,
such as sugar, starch, etc. The relationship, there-
fore, between the lower and higher plants is one of
symbiosis or commensalism.
Elm@ood, Bickley, Kent; March 28th, 1895.
DeatH oF Prorzessor J. D. Dana.—Professor
James Dwight Dana died of heart disease very
suddenly on April 15th, in his 83rd year. Born at
Utica, New York, he was educated in that Siaie,
graduating at Yale College. Professor Dana was
most versatile in his scientific knowledge, and the
subjects of his numerous writings range from
volcanoes to the most minute corals. His great
works, by which he holds world-wide reputation,
are“ Descriptive Mineralogy,” now in sixth edition,
of over 1,000 pages; “‘ Manual of Geology,” in its
fourth edition: and other standard works on corals
and zoophites. Dr. Dana was a great traveller, and
investigated natural phenomena in many parts of
the world.
6 “>= ow ie Oe eee > * > Yar crete oe ut - -
ss a ee
Tags?
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 73
CHAPTERS FOR YOUNG. NATURALISTS.
SomME LODGERS IN A Ponp.
BivevAy, Ea bArc:
VERYONE is familiar with the appearance of
the brilliant green carpet that covers in many
cases the entire surface of ponds. This brilliant
green carpet is mostly formed of the common
duckweed, possessing roots of remarkable length—
about thirty times the size of the visible portion of
the weed, balancing the tiny plant, and anchoring it
securely to the surface of the water. Most of us
have read ‘ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,”
and remember the strange creatures and remarkable
scenes Alice saw underground. If you can fancy
that we have removed a portion of this wondrous
carpet of emerald green, and descended under the
surface of the pond, you will see living creatures
more wonderful than ever were raised by the fabled
wand of the enchanter.
Only a weed, you will say—let us pass on. We
will stop to look at it, for though only a weed, as you
Say, it's one of the most wondrous things in the
whole vegetable kingdom. It looks like a festoon
of tiny leaves that might have been chosen by one
of the elves or fairies to fashion a garland with. So
much for its beauty, but the noteworthy fact about
it is that it is one of the very few plants in the
world that reveal to the observer the remarkable
feature of the swift circulation of the sap—the
plant’s very life-blood, which rapid circulation is
called, in scientific language, cyclosis. Cutting off
a single leaf of anacharis, and placing it on the stage
of the microscope on a slip of glass—what do we
see ? Scores upon scores of brilliant green emeralds
flashing in the light, and chasing each other in
a swift and perpetual race round the cell-walls, now
running straight up where the course favours that
mode of motion, and now curving quickly round
like an arch, until the brilliance of the display, and
the perpetual movement of the cell-contents, weary
the eye, and you seek rest—and another object.
Before parting from this remarkable plant, we may
State one or two further noteworthy facts concern-
ing it. Anacharis is a native of America, and was
first seen in Britain fifty years since. Although a
very small plant, it increased with such rapidity
as actually to interfere with the navigation of
many of our canals and rivers, especially the
Cam and the Trent. The stem of the plant is
extremely brittle, and, when broken in pieces,
each little bit speedily takes root, and becomes
independent. Water-fowl, swans especially, are very
fond of it as food, and everyone who keeps an aqua-
rium will find anacharis invaluable for the aération
of the water and the maintenance of its purity.
Instead of entering the pond in our researches,
let us dip in a small bottle, and, having nearly
filled the little vessel, we hold it up to the light to
examine our capture the better. What are those
remarkable-looking little green specks that are con-
stantly moving about? Are they animal or vege-
table? They are named Volvox globator, and the
question of their inclusion in the animal or vegetable
kingdoms has been hotly debated in the scientific
world. One eminent man has set it forth in bold
print that he will stake his reputation on it that
volvox is an animal. However, scientific people,
being only human, have been known to dogmatise
on insufficient data, and it is now proved that
voluox comes to us from the vegetable kingdom.
Let us take a little glass tube and, placing it into
our bottle of captures, examine for a minute the
wonderful object—barely the size of a pin’s head—
which actually caused the scientific world to take
sides. We place a few of the tiny green globules
on asiip of glass on the stage of the microscope,
and what do we see? During the two and a half
centuries that have elapsed since the first workable
microscope was made, the eye of man has not seen
a more beautiful or more wonderful member of the
minute world than that to which we now introduce
you. Desiring to supplement my information about
volvox, I looked up one of the authorities, but he
had not found out the secret of Huxley’s and of
Tyndall’s hold on their readers, that one may write
about scientific subjects in plain English, and may
make the subject as clear as an entry in the Direc-
tory, and yet full of interest. I refrain from in-
flicting the scientific bewilderment given by that
author upon you, and quote instead a description
of volvox which a distinguished Fellow of the Royal
Microscopical Society (Mr. John Badcock) has
given in ‘‘ Vignettes from Invisible Life,” one of the
most delightful books on microscopical science ever
written. ‘‘The Volvox globatoy is, as its name
implies, a rolling globe, each sphere having
within it a number of similar but only partially
developed smaller spheres, or globes, the whole
compound organism rolling and revolving in the
water forms a picture which once seen is never
forgotten. We call it a plant, for it is green and
has very few of the ways of animal life. Yet you
say it moves? Yes, they are motile plants, and if
examined a little more closely are seen to be
covered with fine cilia, or thread-like hairs, which
by their constantly vibrating or lashing action are
believed to be the cause of the revolving motion
observable. It is a matter of common knowledge
that all vegetable life seeks the light; now if a
number of these volvoces be placed in a glass jar
they will sink to the bottom when in darkness, but
in the light will all arise, and congregate together
at the side where there is most light, The cilia
74 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
(thread-like hairs) already named are of great
interest, and worthy of attentive study. Let us
try to understand it. Looking now at one of those
globes under slight pressure so as to keep it in one
place, and with a high magnifying power we see
that the entire surface of the little sphere is covered
with a network of cells, each cell being a hexagon
(produced by pressure) and each one is attached to
its neighbour by a very fine thread which runs
across from cell to cell. The whole membrane of
the globe is thus seen to be so many distinct cells
held together by this thread-like attachment. As
the globe grows and expands these threads are
stretched to their utmost limit, and finally a breach
is made in the outer membrane, and the now
matured inside globes make their escape, and begin
an independent existence, repeating in their life-
history that of the parent form. But no account
that was ever spoken or printed can adequately
convey to the mind the exquisite beauty and grace-
ful motion of these pure green and transparent
spheres. They are sometimes found in great
abundance in rather shallow ponds and ditches
and are always objects of keen interest to the
beholder, especially when it is considered that all
these wonderful things take place in an organism
so small that the keenest vision can barely see it as
a tiny speck, unless assisted by the microscope.”
Before leaving the subject of this wonderful little
plant, you ask what is it that gives it the power of
perpetually moving and revolving? This remark-
able power of movement is given it by countless
pairs of thread-like hairs, or cilia that are studded
all over its surface. As long as the rolling-globe
lives these hairs are in a continual state of agita-
tion, how or why the wisest Fellow of the Royal
Society is unable to tell us, but the motion of these
minute hairs give rotary movement to the organism
which revolves in the water with so much of beauty
and grace that the observer is startled as delighted
the first time he perceives it in the wonder-revealing
tube of the miscroscope.
There was in our school-days, a certain big book
with black boards and red edges, called ‘‘ Smith’s
Classical Dictionary,” and in that work is given an
old Greek story which tells that there was a famous
monster called Hydra that lived in a swamp near
Lake Lerna in Argos, that it was so fierce and
destructive that it laid desolate all the country
in its neighbourhood, and whenever one of its
numerous heads was cut off, two new ones grew
on in its place, and one of the famed twelve labours
of Hercules was to fight and to destroy the
monster. No doubt the modern Hydra to which
we are now going to introduce you, obtained its
name from this old classic myth, and when its life-
history first became known to scientific men, it
created quite as much wonderment and excitement
in the scientific world, as that of the fabled mon-
ster Hydra could have done amongst the Greeks.
There is to this very day in the museum at Naples,
a fine marble statue of Hercules. He is represented
in the act of engaging the Hydra in mortal combat,
and the nine-headed monster has leaped upon him
with all its force. This creation in the enduring
marble is suggestive of the creature now under our
consideration. The difference between the story of
the Greek poet about his Hydra, and the modern
man of science about his Hydra, is that the latter
has a history tenfold more wonderful, more
interesting, and more full of instruction, with
the added charm that every word of it is true.
Just to think of it, that there is, at this very hour,
in an Epping Forest pond, a Hydra with a real life-
history more remarkable, a creature that does
things more astounding than ever entered the heart
of a Greek poet to imagine. Having dipped our
little glass vessel, we succeed in securing a specimen
of this wonderful animal, or polyp, as it is more
accurate to term it. We hold this most remarkable
of ‘pond lodgers” up against the light, and takea
good look at him. The creature we happen to have
taken captive is the variety called the Green Hydra,
Hydra viridis is the name in the text-books. There
are nine ‘‘ business ends”’ to our captive Hydra,
just like the Hydra in the Neapolitan marble of
Hercules; each of these ‘business ends’ are
hollow tubes, and are ‘‘ furnished with poisonous
stinging-organs, which spring out with astonishing
quickness the instant of contact with its prey,
killing the smaller at once, and so benumbing the
larger that they become quite helpless, and can be
devoured at leisure.’’ The absolutely true things
observed and recorded of our Hydra, are more like
a page out of Baron Munchausen than a record of
sober fact from a science paper—but are matter of
common knowledge to every student of minute life.
“You can take our Hydra and cut off his head, and
engraft it firmly and effectively on another whom
you have beheaded, and you may exchange heads
one Hydra with another. You can cut him up into
forty or fifty pieces, and each piece will become a
completely-formed and perfect Hydra. You can
take a fine lancet, and cut him lengthwise, from
head to base, and you will have a double-headed
Hydra, and you can reverse the process, and have
him single-headed with a double body. ‘The crea-
ture may even be turned inside out, and its powers
of adaptation are so great that it will continue
to live and enjoy itself.” The most ardent anti-
vivisectionist may keep his mind easy, as the polyp
suffers little, if at all, by these operations, for when
his body has been cut in two lengthwise, as in
a well-known drawing in ‘‘ Contes Drolatiques,” by
Gustave Doré, the arms belonging to each side
seize their prey as usual, and Hydra viridis goes on
living his life as if nothing worth mentioning had
happened. (To be concluded next month.)
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
i
A iN
(BOOKS TO READ
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THERE will be a brilliant shower of meteors on
May 6th, the radiant point being a 338° 6—2°.
Mercury will be favourably placed for observa-
tion during the latter half of the month, as he sets
two hours later than the Sun on the 30th, and his
declination is considerably north.
Venus will still be a brilliant object, setting
comparatively late in the evening, and having a
high north declination.
Mars sets about midnight in May, and is now
so small on account of his great distance that he is
not worth studying.
JUPITER must be observed early in the evening,
as he sets about the same time as Mars.
Saturn will be well placed for viewing all
through the month, except that his altitude is low.
Uranus is well situated this month, except for
his south declination, but Neptune sets too early
to be of any use.
Ir is announced by ‘‘ Nature” that Mr. Edward
Crossley will present to the Lick Observatory the
three-foot reflecting telescope, with its dome, for
some time past at his Halifax observatory.
a |
~“
MOUNTAIN SICKNESS.
[Dias este Roy, M.D., I’.R.S., contributes
‘Science Progress’ an exceedingly well-
considered paper upon Mountain Sickness,
based upon Mr. W. M. Conway’s experiences in
the Karakorum Himalayas. The sensation, akin to
sea-sickness, develops after exertion at altitudes
of 16,000 feet and upwards. It varies in indi-
viduals, much as does the tendency to sea-
sickness, becoming more distressing at higher
altitudes, violent vomiting occasionally accompany-
ing the other discomforts. Mr. Conway’s party is
said to have climbed higher than any other
mountaineers on record, and those with him who
suffered most severely were Gurkhas. Natives
born and reared at 10,000 feet were as much
affected as the Europeans of the party. Mr.
Conway describes the general effect of high
altitude upon their physical condition, as first
shown in the diminished pace when they thought they
were going as fast as at lower levels. The party
stayed for four days at 16,000 feet in hope of becom-
ing habituated, but in their case that result was not
attained. Further up, when in enclosed places in the
mountains, with sun hot, they felt the altitude badly
by diminution in power, a desire to keep the arms
from hanging at the side and general disinclination
to do anything, even the observation of instruments
being irksome. The least holding of breath pro-
duced giddiness and puffing. It became impossible
to sleep upon the left side, as productive of heart
palpitations. More comfort was found by night
than in daylight, and in cloudy weather than in
sunshine. The actual symptoms of mountain sick-
ness are indicated by great difficulty in getting
enough air into the lungs, causing anxiety, distress
and fatigue. The respirations are rapid, short and
gasping. Other indications are violent palpitations
of the heart with quickened pulse, severe headache,
giddiness, singing in the ears, diminished appetite,
nausea with or without vomiting, bleeding at the
nose and coldness of the extremities and livid
features. A marked indication is an increasing
indifference to danger, general loss of interest in
anything, also tendency to sleep and spitting of
blood from bleeding of the lips, gums, air pas-
sages and lungs. In severe cases the limbs
may become paralysed, followed by loss of
consciousness and perhaps death. Animals other
than man appear to suffer equally. Mr. Con-
way took with him a Dudgeon’s sphygmograph,
with which instrument he obtained records of
pulse curves of various members of the party at
different altitudes up to his highest climb, viz.,
23,000 feet. A diagram of these readings accom-
panies Dr. Roy’s paper, but the irregularities do
not seem to be so marked as one w oulde expect when
accompanying such violent discomforts. The ex-
periences of other climbers, both in the Himalayas
and the Andes, coincide as to altitude and general
effects with the notes so carefully recorded by Mr.
Conway, therefore the symptoms are not by any
means geographically local, but the actual effect of
altitude upon the animals which venture up to
regions in which they are unaccustomed to live.
I ‘have, however, seen mules showing indications
of mountain sickness at a much lower altitude in
the Andes than the 16,000 feet claimed as the
minimum height for it to affect man. On the
descent, Mr. Conway states that the discomfort
extended down until the party were below 13,000
feet. . =
JoHN T. CARRINGTON.
78 SCLENGCE-GOSSIUP:
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ProFEssor G. Cote recently drew the attention
of the Dublin Microscopical Club to a section of
perlitic -obsidian from Sandy Brae, north of
Tardree Mountain, co. Antrim. It represented
a piece of probably the most beautiful example of
unaltered perlitic glass in the British Isles.
Mr. W. Mitner Curisty has re-discovered in
Scotland one of the rarest of the British
Geometroid moths, Nyssia lapponaria, which has
apparently only been found once previously in
these islands. It is only known to occur elsewhere
in the Upper Engadine. Mr. Christy found some
larvee last year which have produced this variety.
WE have received reprints of papers on geological
subjects from Mr. H. Bolton F.R.S.E., assistant
keeper of the Manchester Museum. They include
“The Metamorphism of Coal,” ‘Some Fossil
Trees at St. Helens,’ and a paper by Mr. W.
E. Hoyle, F.R.S.E., and Mr. Bolton, on ‘‘ Classified
Cataloguing as applied to Palzeozoic Fossils.”
THE Home Secretary, on the application of
the East Riding (Yorkshire) County Council, has
made an order prohibiting the taking or destroying
of wild birds’ eggs on the promontory of Spurn for
a period of five years. Spurn Point is one of the
anit places of deposit by sea-birds of their eggs on
the Yorkshire coast, and it is stated of late years
there has been wanton destruction of both sea-
gulls and their eggs.
Tue ‘Annals of Scottish Natural History ” for
April, contain several articles of interest. Mr. W.
Eagle Clark refers to the recent visitation of the
little auk to Scotland, illustrating his remarks by a
coloured map. MIeference is also made to the ‘‘ rew
British bird” shot at St. Kilda, in June, 1894. As
many of our readers are already aware this was a
wandering specimen of Sylvia subaipina, or sub-
alpine warbler, which is a native of the Mediter-
ranean shores.
THE ‘‘ Manitoba Free Press,” the chief daily
newspaper in North-west Canada, announces the
arrival this winter, in Winnipeg, of house-sparrows.
These must have been either designedly or
accidently introduced. Considering the large
amount of grain either growing or scattered about
the towns of Manitoba, there seems every
probability of these troublesome birds multiplying
until they are a great source of loss to the farming
population of the Province.
In a recent lecture at the Royal Institution, on
“Atmospheric Electricity,’ Prof. Schuster dis-
cussed the effect of lightning upon trees, and re-
marked that statistics showed that forty-eight oak-
trees are struck to one beech-tree, the ratio being
dependent upon the amount of oily matter con-
tained. Ina thunderstorm the Professor said that
the safest course for a human being was to get wet
through to begin with, for Franklin had recorded
that he could kill a rat when dry by a lightning
discharge, but when wet never. Prof. Schuster
expressed a hope that in the next Antarctic ex-
pedition due place would be given to researches
upon atmospheric electricity at high latitudes.
WE hear the remaining part of the late Mr. W.
Machin’s collection of macro-lepidoptera, referred
to in these pages last month (ante page 45), is, after
all, to be sold by auction in June next.
THE ‘‘ Observatory” for April contains a pleasing
portrait of the late Professor Caley, the eminent
mathematician, who for so many years edited the
publications of the Royal Astronomical Society.
A vaRIETy of stoat, found in Ireland, is claimed
by Messrs. Oldfield Thomas and G. E. H.
Hamilton, to be a distinct species, for which they
propose the name Putorius hirvbernicus.
WRITING to ‘‘ Symons’s Monthly Meteorological
Magazine,” last month, Mr. C. Leeson Prince, of
Crowborough Observatory, Sussex, noticed a fall
of snow-crystals and minute speculze of ice, froma
perfectly cloudless sky in brilliant sunshine, on
February 6th last.
WE greatly regret to hear of the serious illness
of the Right Hon. Thomas H. Huxley, F.R.S., who
has been in a critical state of health for some time
past at his residence at Eastbourne. We trust he
may recover strength with the approaching summer.
THE London Geological Field Class commenced
their Saturday afternoon excursions under the
direction of Professor H. G. Seeley, F.R.S., on
April 27th. Information on this subject may be
obtained from the secretary, Mr. R. H. Bently,
31. Adolphus Road, Brownswood Park, London.
THE interest in cave exploration in Ireland
continues. In the April number of the ‘Irish
Naturalist,” Mr. R. J. Nosher, J.P. concludes an
article on the subject, with a list of ten caves in co.
Waterford. Mr. Coleman also draws attention to
others in co. Cork and co. Kerry. The list of Irish
caves is rapidly increasing.
WE regret to see the announcement of the death
of Mr. A. G. More, F.L.S., M.R.1.A., formerly
Curator of the Natural History Museum, Dublin,
and joint author of ‘Cybele Hibernica,’”’ the
standard Irish botanical manual. This brings back
memories of a happy visit to co. Wicklow the
Editor of ScIENCE-Gossip spent with Mr. More.
SINCE the publication of the article on the
newly discovered gaseous constituent of the
atmosphere, termed by its discovers Argon, in
the March number of ScIENCE-GOSSIP, some new
facts regarding this new substance have been
brought to light. In the first place Professor
Ramsay has discovered in a mineral, cleveité, a new
gas, Helium, which, up to the present time, was
supposed to exist in the solar regions only. It is
considered possible that atmospheric Argon
contains, besides Argon, some other gas which
has not yet been separated.
In May, 1893, the ‘‘ Emily E. Johnson” set sail
from Baltimore, bound for a three-months’ scientific
cruise to the Bahamas. In a recent number of the
‘‘Natural History Bulletin,’ published by the
State University of Iowa, a well-written and well-
illustrated account is given of the expedition by
Mr. C. C. Nutting. In Egg Island the ‘‘agaves”’
or American aloe plants, or ‘* pita plants”’ as they
are called by the natives, excited much attention.
The great sword-like fleshy leaves grow from four
to seven feet in length, and are tipped with a sharp
thorn. The fibre of the leaves is used in the
manufacture of cordage, a very paying industry to
the Bahamans. In the sandy open places bristled
the prickly pear cactus with its yellow flowers and
globose fruits. Near there was found one of the
most beautiful of the Leguminosz, a trailing pea-
vine with showy lavender blosscms almost two
inches long.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 79
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AL
Tue AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY (Phila-
delphia, March, 1895) contains, among other
articles, Structure of Cimicifuga, by Mr. Edson S.
Bastin, which is illustrated. Cimicifuga racemosa,
the black-snake-root of America, is native of
Eastern Canada and United States, down to
Florida. A drug is made from the knotty rhizomes,
which is said to be an insectifuge, whence the
generic name of this genus of the Ranunculace.
Mr. P. L. Simmons, F.L.S., continues a series of
Notes on some Saps and Secretions used in Pharmacy.
A short article by Mr. Hans M. Wilder, on A Cheap
Substitute for the Selenite, will interest microscopists.
Having mislaid his selenite plates used in polarizing,
the author bethought himself of trying mica, from
a store door. To his agreeable surprise, he found it
fully equal to any ordinary selenite, and obtained
colours quite as brilliant and as handsome. He
claims two advantages for mica; the one, cheapness
—a piece of mica costing two cents, against the
same size costing one dollar or more in selenite—
and that mica can be cut with a pair of scissors
without breaking it. ‘‘ Quite a variety of beautiful
colour effects may be obtained by either using mica
plates of varying thickness, or merely using two or
more layers of thin plates superimposed. Three
plates of varying thickness will be all that is neces-
sary to keep.’’ It is best to select the clearest pieces.
He uses strips about one and a half inches wide, and
somewhat longer than the stage of the microscope.
THe PopuLaR SCIENCE Montuiy (New York,
March, 1895), contains several articles of interest.
Dr. Bela Hubbard tells us The Lesson of Forest
Fives. The author refers to the great forest fires
of August last, when large districts of Wisconsin,
and Minnesota were devastated, and many inhabi-
tants, both human and otherwise, were consumed,
and those of 1871, when in the same districts over
3,000 miles of forest was burned. He refers also
to the marked difference of the forests of America
since civilized man came among them ; this being
largely caused through fires by his agency. He
holds, although there is not entire agreement among
scientific men on the point, that since the great
forests have been so much burned in the States,
the local climate has changed, the temperature being
hotter in summer and colder in winter, caused by
the winds, which having greater sweep, dry up and
refrigerate the ground. He calls for greater pre-
servation of forests, though there are already forest
reservations for public recreation and climatic effects
to the extent of upwards of seventeen million acres
scattered over the Union. He suggests that the
forests should be put under military control and
the national army used as a department of forestry,
when not otherwise occupied. The Highest Moun-
tain Ascent and the Effects of Ravified A are des-
cribed by Mr. Edwin Swift Balch. There seems
to be some doubt as to the highest climb, and
Mr. Whymper, the well-known mountain explorer
states that he does not think anyone could reach
24,000 feet altitude, without extreme physical
suffering on account of the rarified air. So much
as 28,000 feet is claimed by one gentleman. J’rom
experiences in the Andes, Mr. Whymper suffered
severely at 21,424 feet on Chimborazo, while Dr.
Gussfeldt and party found no trouble on Aconcagua
at 21,000 feet. The agony of mountain sickness may
vary to some extent according to alterations in the
atmospheric pressure, caused by weather changes,
THE OpEN Court. Nos. 393 and 394. March
7th and 14th, 1895. (Chicago.) As stated in the sub-
title of this well-known journal, it is ‘‘ Devoted to
to the Religion of Science.”” The science of Ethics
occupies most of the pages of these two numbers,
but there is anarticle on The Kingdom of Protista, by
Professor Ernst Haeckel, being sections 35 to 38 of
of the new phylogenie.
THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIsT (London, Ontario,
April, 1895) contains a useful article on ‘‘ Mount-
ing Insects (as microscopic objects) without
Pressure.” In mounting without pressure some
kind of cell is necessary, but Mr. R. W. Bennie,
the writer, says his experience is that the cells are
liable to separate from the glass slip when of
ebonite, brass, tin, etc. The material found most
useful is beeswax, with a small quantity of resin
added. The cell is constructed while this material
is at boiling point, the turntable being set in rapid
motion. This cell answers for mounting with
Canada balsam or glycerine jelly, but not for media
containing oil, unless the inside of the cell is well
varnished. The rest of his paper is devoted to the
best media for mounting semi-transparent insects.
His process of preparing the object is very simple,
as he uses crystal carbolic acid and turpentine
prepared with alcohol.
THE Museum. (Vol.i, No. 5, March 15th, 1895.
Albion, N.Y.) This is a new monthly magazine
‘‘devoted exclusively to research in Natural
Science.’’ By some of its contributors it is no
doubt thought it will become a ‘‘live”’’ journal,
and we trust it may, with the support it deserves.
It isa thoroughly popular collector’s medium and
will, we are sure, do much in spreading a taste for
natural history studies in the States, where there
is plenty of room for that interest, as well as some
others. The exchange list extends to half-a-dozen
columns, each notice, by the way, being charged a
shilling or upwards for each insertion. The most
important article is one on the Rodents of Michigan,
by Morris Gibbs, ‘‘which practically embraces
these mammals of the Great Lake Region.”” We
notice that ‘‘the beaver still thrives in the Upper
Peninsula, and is said to be increasing in several
sections.” This appears to be on account of the
low prices paid for the pelts not making their
slaughter worth while. Mr. Gibbs, however, thinks it
only a question of time for these animals to become
extinct in his districts. Among the Rockies, by
M. J. Elrod, is a chatty article on Pike’s Peak and
other places in that fascinating region. In some
Notes on Antrostomus vociferous, Mr. J. W. Bowles
mentions the training of dogs to hunt for birds’
nests. He says, ‘this is a very certain method of
hunting nests, though some time and patience 1s
needed in training the dog, who must also be taught
to think an egg a combination of white lead,
strychnine and cayenne pepper.’’ Ansfrosiomus,
which is better known in the States as ‘‘ Whip-
poor-will,” appears to have different habits on
the eastern side of the Continent than further
west. For instance, in Michigan it nests ‘‘in
the forest”? but in Massachusetts the writer
considers it affects high, scrubby ground, building
in much-travelled clearings. There are many points
of interest in the account of these goat-suckers.
80 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
AruM MAcULATUM WITH WHITE Spots.—On
March 31st, while looking into the hedgerows for
signs of spring in the shape of opening leaves, I
found three leaves of Arum maculatum spotted
white in the place of the usual brown spots. Can
any readers of SciENcE-Gossip tell me if this is
very unusual? J think it must be, never having
seen any so marked before.—Robt. W. Chidwick,
4, Dagmar Street, Worthing : April 8th, 1895.
Ivy-SEEDS CARRIED By Birp.—A gentleman
happened to observe among the fasces of a bird
some pink-coloured bodies, which he thought to be
seeds of some kind or other. He planted them in
a pot, when they turned out to be Hedeva heliz; but
they were not Dicotyledonous, as is usual, but Tricoty-
ledonous. I should like to know if it is rare to find
Hedera (ivy) Tricotyledonous ; if not, I think that this
case may be worth recording. Hedeva belongs to
order Umbellifierz and family Araliaceze (Goebel) .—
J. H. Barbour, Queen’s College, Belfast; March, 1895.
THE SPRING SEASON.—Plants this spring are in
the south of England, exceptionally late. This
may be attributed to some extent to the compara-
tive absence of rainfall. At Eastertime, or April
15th, there was no sign of the blackthorn in bloom
in localities where it was well in flower, and even
over at the same pericd last year. The almond
trees in the London gardens were also exceptionally
late in flowering. It is not probable that the late
severe winter added much to this delay, but rather
it is to be attributed to the paucity of warm rain.
March, and the following month having been very
dry until April 24th.
IMPATIENS NOLI-ME-TANGERE.—It may interest
your readers to know that I find each autumn this
beautiful and eccentric plant, the ‘t touch-me-not,”’
to which you refer (ante page 23), in abundance at
the following places, within cycling distance of
London: (1) Along the banks of the Wey, from
Cart Bridge, Woking, towards Pirford ; (2) by the
sides of the brook on the left-hand side of the road
leading to Weybridge, from Addlestone; (3) by the
sides of the ditches bordering the road leading from
Colnbrook to Longford.—J. C. Dacie, 105, Upper
Richmond Road, Putney.
[Does not our correspondent refer to Impatiens
fulva, rather than I. noli-me-tangere ?—ED.]
PLANTS UNDER GLass.—In a recent number of
the ‘“‘ Kew Bulletin,” it was stated that the use of
green glass in the plant houses at Kew will be now
altogether abandoned. Since 1886, the use of green
glass has been discontinued in all the houses except
the fern houses and the palm house, but it having
been proved by experiment that even filmy ferns
thrive better under white than under green light,
if direct exposure to the sun is excluded, the green
glass will no longer be used. M. Villon, some
months ago, found that the light that favours
vegetation most, is the orange light of the chromic
glass, and the violet light of the manganic, and as
the radiations that these glasses allow to pass are
the red and violet, these rays seem to be the most
favourable to the development of plants.
THE Porvurarity oF Borany.—It has often been
a cause for wonder how it is that there are so few
popular botanical societies. It is true that most
field clubs include this study among their other
objects, but we know of hardly any societies where
those who take an interest in botanical rambles
may meet and exchange notes or assist each other
in identification. Can anyone tell us whether there
be one such society in the whole of the metro-
politan district of London, which has a population
greater than that of the kingdom of Belgium ?
There must be a great number of persons interested
in plants, not only in the metropolis, but also
within. easy reach of each other in various parts
of the kingdom, who would be pleased to meet for
winter conversations or summer rambles.
ABNORMAL EguisETUuM.—I send you some fruit-
ing stems of Equisetum maximum which I gathered
here yesterday. You will see that the cones are
nearly normal at the base, but at the top they are
divided each into several very small cones which
are more or less perfect in themselves. I do not
know if this is a common abnormity, but it may be
interesting to some of your readers.—Frank Sich,
jun., Niton, Isle of Wight; April 17th, 1895.
[These specimens are indeed unusual. The
extra branches shoot out from the upper end of
the fruiting stem toa length of from one quarter
inch to nearly an inch in length. They vary in
number from three to seven in different specimens.
Each branch is perfectly covered with fruit as in
an ordinary spike. Possibly the specimens were
bruised when immature, and thus sported in the
new growth.—ED. |
Me. F. F. Backman, Demonstrator of Botany in
the University of Cambridge, has been making a
series of experimental researches on vegetable
assimilation and respiration, and has published
some of the results of his new method of investiga-
ting the carbonic acid exchanges of plants in the
«* Proceedings” of the Royal Society. He finds that
under normal conditions practically the sole path-
way for Co, into or out of the leaf is by the
stomata, and since oxygen diffuses more readily
than Co, through fine openings, the same probably
holds for oxygen and the whole ofthe gas exchange.
While on the subject of the paths of gaseous ex-
change between aerial leaves and the atmosphere, it
may be interesting to state that the oxygen evolved
in six hours’ time under the action of moderately
strong sunlight has been calculated to be as much
as would be absorbed by the process of respiration
in twenty-four hours.
FRUITING OF EvonyMous Japonica.—Here, for
the first time, I have seen this plant in fruit, and
that only upon two specimens, one on a small shrub
of about four feet high, almost covered with fruit;
the other a plant of larger growth, some eight or ten
feet, with only a very few capsules on the top. In .
this neighbourhood, the Japanese spindle-tree is a
favourite shrub with those planting shrubberies or
forming screens, and many hundreds are planted.
Since seeing Mr. Eccles’ note upon this shrub in
SclENCE-GossiP (ante page 16), I have kept a sharp
look out for capsules, both in the park and in
private grounds, but have not found any but the
two mentioned. They are both growing in front of
cottages with a southern aspect. Now the question
arises, why do these plants so rarely fruit ? I think
the botanical students who read ScIENcE-GossIP
might try to explain this fact. I have been trying
to unravel the cause myself, but so far have failed.
—Robt. W. Chidwick, 4, Dagmar Street, Worthing ;
March 13th, 1895.
4
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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 81
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casted CL) lll
‘Vadis:
NEOLITHIC REMAINS IN KENT.—At a meeting of
the Bromley Naturalists’ Society, held on March
13th, Mr. A. S. Kennard read an interesting paper
on ‘' Neolithic Settlements at West Wickham” and
exhibited a large number of beautiful flint imple-
ments which he had found on the fields in that
neighbourhood. From a careful study of these
implements he said he had arrived at the conclusion
that there had been three successive settlements at
West Wickham in neolithic times, and showed that
in all probability more time had elapsed between
settlement No. r and settlement No. 3, than
between No. 3 and the present day.
Earty Man 1n Britain.—While Pithecanthropes
evectus is still the subject of animated discussion, we
hear of the discovery of a low-type human skeleton
in the Thames valley, under circumstances which
indicate that it is of considerable antiquity. A
detailed account of the find is said to be in pre-
paration for the press. It will be remembered that
portions of a human skeleton, bearing a striking
likeness to the Neanderthal man, were unearthed
during the excavation of the East and West India
Docks extensions at Tilbury, and described by Sir
Richard Owen, in 1884, so that there is nothing
improbable in the above-mentioned report. Anthro-
pologists will be fortunate, indeed, if the newly-
discovered bones can be accurately described and
safely housed before they are overtaken by that ill-
luck which so persistently attends the discovery of
human remains in this country.
SECTION OF THE CHALK AT Croypon.—I am
obliged to Mr. E. A. Martin for his remarks on
this subject, and am well acquainted with the facts
he mentions. I think, however, that if he had
taken the trouble to visit the section he would not
have suggested that the deposit in question is of
recent alluvial age. I have again examined the
section, and have not the least doubt that it shows
the junction of the chalk with the Thanet sand.
Although not abundant, I found several of the
green-coated flints typical of the base of that
deposit. The sand is identical in appearance with
that of the Thanet outcrop a mile or so to the
north, and I am not acquainted with any recent
drift which shows ten or twelve feet of clean buff
sand. Moreover, this outlier is almost wholly
above the 500-foot contour line, and therefore
occupies some of the highest ground in the
neighbourhood. As to the deposit on the sides of
the hills, a glance at the varying colours of the
upturned soil and the irregular distribution of the
vegetation suffices to show that a dressing of drift,
or the detritus of older deposits still overlies the
chalk. I have been able to trace the remains of
the Thanet sand almost continuously from the
above-mentioned outlier to the outcrop of the bed
at Crohamhurst and Ballards. It is also interesting
to note that pieces of Wealden ironstone are to be
found on these fields, and, unless they have been
accidentally transported thither by human agency,
they can only ave arrived there when the drainage
of the country was entirely different to what it is
at present.—A. Absell, Jun., South Norwood.
- ne *.&
1 Pr
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\ \ PEE AYA SASADE GES
VEGETABLE SECTIONS.—I beg to thank your
correspondents for their information about Section
Cutting (ScreNcE-GossiP, N.S., vol. ii., page 46).
I have got Strasburger’s book, and have read
Bower's. I have tried to get Dr. Marsh’s book,
but I am told it is out of print. Could anyone tell
me where I can procure a copy? My best results
have been in cutting sections from alcohol material,
staining with eosin, clearing in oil of cloves, and
mounting in balsam and benzole. My greatest
difficulty is fixing the stain —Isaac Stephenson,
Accrington ; April 16th, 1895.
CautTHocamprus Minutus.—During the last
month I have examined many individuals of this
interesting entomostracan, and have paid special
attention to the organ carried by the female, which
is described by Dr. Baird, as ‘‘a very singular
horny-looking, club-shaped organ, fastened to ‘the
body by a narrow elongated stalk.”’ I have noticed
in every individual I have examined, that this organ
passes through the ovary, just within the surface
nearest the body, and it appears to me that this
organ is a support for the ovary, carrying it in a
rigid position, and so providing against the danger
of damaging the contents of the ovary, which
would be likely to obtain if attached directly to a
segment of the abdomen. Moreover, Cauthocamptus
is in the habit of doubling the posterior portion of
the body over the anterior, and the position of this
organ would protect the ovary from the blow, on
the body returning to its normal position. Up to
now I have not observed the transit of the ovary
to its carrying position —C. W. Maw, Bradford,
Yorks. ; April, 1895.
SECTIONS OF EyE or CopFisH.—I am sure we
are all pleased with the New Series of SciENCE-
Gossip. It ought to have a large circulation,
especially as you intend augmenting the Micro-
scopical Department. This will be of value to us
amateurs, who, though possessing a great love for
nature and the microscope, yet find ourselves much
limited by time, means, and isolation. We are,
therefore, glad to avail ourselves of hints from the
experienced workers who will thus kindly help us
to the enjoyment they themselves desire. I have
been making sections from the crystalline lens of
cod-fish, with the object of rendering the beautiful
wavy lines that pass through the ball as clear as
possible. I first boiled the eye somewhat until
fairly firm, and then cut. I stained two sections
with aniline, blue and red, one with carmine, and
left one clear. I mounted dry. Itried mounting in
balsam, but found it made the sections too trans-
parent. As far as I can judge, the apex of the
waves are about ;,/j9-inch apart, and the lines
about s,/59-inch, thus requiring about 500 x dia.
to show them; under 50x or1oo x they appear just
lines. Perhaps some of your readers will kindly
say if they know of any special way of mounting
these sections, and what is the use or cause of
these lines.—Jas. Tomlinson, 280, New Hall Lane,
Preston; April, 1895.
§2 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
CoLLectinc Diprera.—I am thinking of taking
up the study of the Diptera, and should be glad if
you would be so kind as to give mea few hints as
to the best way to set about it. I know only a very
little about entomology, having hitherto iaken no
interest in insecis other than moths and butterflies.
Is there any book on the dipterous insects to be
had? Perhaps some of the entomological readers
of “‘Scrence-Gossip”’ would help me to a wrinkle
or two.—E. P. Oates, Moat Bank, Alrewas, Burton-
on-Trent ; April 16th, 1895.
PRESERVATION OF CoLourRS OF SHELLS.—I find
that the colours seem to sink when certain
species cf shells become dry. Could any
of your readers, through the pages of ScIENCE-
Gossip, tell me the best means of fixing the colours
without having to use anything in the nature of a
varnish. From some specimens I have purchased
from dealers, I conclude there is something that is
used which will stand washing, and at the same time
does not give the shell an appearance of having
been artificially ireated.—A. K. Lane, 11, Geneva
Road, Fatrpeld, Liverpool.
VALVATA PISCINALIS AS A SPINNER.—I do not
know whether Valvata piscinalis is well-known asa
thread-spinner? It is not included in the lists
which I have seen. A few days agol noticed some
immature specimens from this neighbourhood,
while in captivity, actively engaged in thread-
spinning. Their usual mode of procedure was to
crawl up the side of a glass vessel nearly to the sur-
face of the water; they then gave one cr two
twisting motions, and crawled out on the under
surface of the water, leaving a thread joining them
to their point of departure. They then either sank
slowly, remained floating, or sank about half way,
where they stopped. In either case the thread
could easily be demonstrated with a pin, and though
in most cases sufficiently strong to raise them to
the surface, I have not been able to withdraw them
entirely from the water by its means.—Arthur E.
Boycott, The Grange, Hereford ; April 8th, 1895.
Luminous CENTIPEDE.—As I was coming up our
garden last night I saw what appeared to be an
unusually bright glow-worm. It wasraining fast and
so cold that this sighi surprised me. On picking it
up it turned ont to be a slender pinkish-coloured
centipede about one and a half inches long. I
catried it indoors and placed it under a glass, but
did not notice any further luminosity. I am
curious to know if this is a special species of
centipede gifted with the glow-worm's power of
showing a tiny lamp, or whether it was accidental.
The creature is quite lively this morning, so the
light could not have been due to decomposition,
such as I have seen on dead fish orfungi. Perhaps
one of your readers could enlighten me on this
subject. I will endeavour to keep the centipede in
case anyone cares to icentify the species —Annie M.
Mann, Grange House,Ch igwell, Essex; March 21st, 1895.
THE LATE Frost.—! have read with great
attention the paper on ‘‘ The Frosts of the Century”
(ante page 3). As I live ona hill, in a house facing
east, with windows and doors none too close-fitting,
my experience of the frost was severe. I have
many reminiscences also of the frost of 1881 and
1891, such as the lid freezing to the teapot, water
freezing in bedroom over a fire-heated room, etc.
This year an unprecedented thing happened. The
ink, corked down, five feet from the fire-place
(there was a fire all day), was frozen, so also
was ink corked and shut ia adesk. Everything
liquid in the house, excepting turpentine and cil
(olive oil did freeze) was frozen. A hot-water
bottle in a bedroom—a fire was in the room
every night—although within a yard of the fire,
split all down. The water for breakfast was
placed in the fender, and was frozen in the morn-
ing. I have never known the ink to freeze before this
year.—S.A. Ladkin, Stowe, Weedon; March 8th, 1895.
Pigmy Fitnts.—l have read with interest the
Rey. Mr. Gatty’s paper in SciencEe-Gossip (ante
page 36), on the subject of “‘ Pigmy Flints.”” He
there ascribes the chipping on the edges of these
flints to human workmanship put on the flint. I
have been long acquainted with pigmy flints, and
have come io regard the flaking or chipping on
their edges not as the result of workmanship be-
stowed on the flint before being used, but as having
resulted from usage of the flint. By way of illus-
tration I have just taken a small crescent flint,
which happens to be an ancient flake, about the size
of the crescent figured on page 36. I examined it
with my lens, and found that there is no chipping
on any of the edges. I then used it, as one would
do a bit of glass, in throwing off a few shavings
from my hammer shaft, and again examined it
with my lens. I found that the edge I had worked
with was chipped along its entire length. I have
also long since come to the conclusion that what is
known in archzological language as “‘ secondary
chipping *’ is not the result of workmanship be-
stowed on the flint, but as that of work done by it
after the flake had been trimmed.—/]. Smith, Monk-
redding, Kilwinning ; April, 1895. =
Curious BEHAVIOUR OF Cappis-Worm.—Mr. H.
B. Guppy’s note on “ Caddis-Worms and Duck-
weed’ (ante page 11) reminds me of a curious and
amusing incident which took place in my aquarium
last summer. I had three specimens of these
larvz, and found great interest in watching their
movements and habits. Two of them had cases
composed entirely of sand grains and very small
fragments of other material, whilst the third was
distinguished by the addition of a small twig anda
piece of straw, both of which overlapped the ex-
tremity of his case by about a quarter of an inch.
I noticed that it was continually followed about by
one of the other caddis larvz, which was often to
be found hanging on to the end of thetwig. In
about three days it had succeeded in detaching the
portion of the twig that projected from its neigh-
bour’s habitation, and was wearing it about upon
its own back. Not even then satisfied, it shortly
aiterwards commenced a similar attack upon the
piece of straw, and on securing possession of a
fragment, perched it sideways just over its head.
I ought to mention that there was plenty of sand
and pieces of water-plants eaten off by snails in
the aquarium, so that lack of building maiterial
cannot be urged as the reason for this caddis-
worm’s behaviour.—F. G. Bing, 16, Lower Coombe
Street, Croydon; April 6th, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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sy LRAINYICTION 5
THE CorniIsH CHouGH.—The Home Secretary
has issued an order prohibiting any person from
taking or destroying the eggs of the Cornish chough.
This sub-family of the crows is represented with us
by the red-billed or Cornish chough, and the bird is
now restricted to certain localities in the south-
western counties of England, parts of Wales and
the Isle of Man. It is still by no means rare in
localities in Ireland. It also occurs in some of the
western islands of Scotland as far north as Skye.
In the mountains of Switzerland the Alpine chough
occurs, in Australia the sub-family is represented
by the white-winged chough, and there are some
curious desert choughs which inhabit central Asia.
THE SALLOWS IN YORKSHIRE.—On Good Friday,
April 12th, I accompanied my friend, Mr. W. Hewitt,
ot York, to the sallows in bloom at Strensall.
While waiting for darkness we had the pleasure of
taking Lobophora carpinata (lobulata) in considerable
numbers at rest on the trees. At thesallow bushes
we found that Twniocampa munda was fairly common
and variable, the var. immaculata being about as
numerous as the type. The commoner insects of
the same genus were out in force, and some nice
forms of T. incerta, T. stabilis, and T. gothica were
boxed, but only one TJ. fopuletii The usual
sprinkling of such things as Anticlea badiata and
Larentia multistrigavia was enlivened by the occur-
rence of four fine examples of Panolis piniperda,
while L. carpinata also came to the catkins. On the
Saturday the wind chopped round to north-east and
sallows were unproductive, still we added Xylo-
campa areola to the list. Unfortunately the cold
wind endured for the remainder of the holidays.—
W. Mansbridge, 9, The Green, Stratford, E.
Locusts IN Lonpon.—The repeated involuntary
appearance of Cdipoda tartarica in London is cer-
tainly very interesting. The three other species of
locusts in our lists, viz. Pachytilus migvatorius, P.
cinevascens, and Schistocerca peregrvina are all true
migrants. The two first-named species appear at
intervals, occasionally in some numbers, as for
instance, P. migratorius at Cheddar, in 1874, and the
last-named species having been taken in consider-
able numbers in 1869. All these instances are
clearly straggling portions of flights, no locust in
an immature state ever having been recorded in
Great Britain. There seems good reason to suppose
that this species, which is better known under the
name of Acridium egyptium, and is the largest of the
European species, may be the locust of Holy Scrip-
ture, and its body is certainly large enough to
render such an idea probable; possibly, however, the
scriptural locust included more than one species.
In addition to the three specimens recorded by Mr.
Sauzé, one of which he has most kindly given to me,
I have heard of a fourth specimen taken last month
in Covent Garden market. It is certainly strange
how so large and active an insect can allow itself to
be packed up in a crate of cauliflowers, and not be
noticed by the packers.—C. A. Briggs,
Inn Fields; April 11th, 1895.
55, Lincolns
RoyaL METEOROLOGICAL the
meeting of this Society on Wednesday evening, the
17th inst., which was held at the Surveyors’
Institution, Westminster, Messrs. F. C. Bayard
and W. Marriott communicated a paper on ‘‘ The
Frost of January and February, 1895, over the
British Isles.’’ The cold period which commenced
on December 30th and terminated on March 5th,
was broken by a week’s mild weather from January
14th to 21st, otherwise there would have been
continuous frost for 66 days. Mr. Birt Acres also
read a paper on ‘‘Some Hints on Photographing
Clouds.”
Roya INSTITUTION, ALBEMARLE STREET, Lon-
poN.—The following are the lecture arrangements
after Easter :—Professor George Forbes, three
lectures on ‘‘ Alternating and Interrupted Electric
Currents” ; Professor E. Ray Lankester, four
lectures on ‘‘ Thirty Years’ Progress in Biological
Science’’; Professor Dewar, four lectures on
“The Liquefaction of Gases’; Dr. William
Huggins, three lectures on ‘‘The Instruments and
Methods of Spectroscopic Astronomy ” (The Tyn-
dall Lectures); Mr. Arnold Dolmetsch, three
lectures on ‘‘Music and Musical Instruments
of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Centuries—(1) English, (2) French, (3) Italian—
with Illustrations upon Original Instruments” ;
Mr. Seymour Lucas, two lectures on ‘“ Picture
Making”; Professor Edward Dowden, two lec-
tures on ‘‘ Elizabethan Literature: (1) The Pastoral,
(2) The Masque.” The. Friday Evening Meetings
were resumed on April 26th, when a discourse
was given by Dr. John Hopkinson, on ‘ The
Effects of Electric Currents in Iron on its Mag-
netisation’’; succeeding discourses will probably
be given by The Earl of Rosse, Veterinary Captain
Frederick Smith, The Hon. G. N. Curzon, M.P.,
Professor Walter Raleigh, Mr. J. Viriamu Jones,
Professor Alfred Cornu, and other gentlemen.
NORFOLK AND NorwicH NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY.
—The annual meeting was held on Tuesday
evening, March 25th, 1895, at the Castle Museum,
the president (Dr. Plowright) in the chair. The
following officers and committees were appointed
for the ensuing session:—President, Mr. H. D.
Geldart; treasurer, Mr. W. H. Bidwell; the vice-
presidents, hon. secretary, auditor, Journal and
Excursion committees, were re-elected. Messrs.
F. C. Hinde, A. Mayfield, and J. Reeve were
elected to serve on the general committee, in
place of those who retire, according to the law.
Alterations in the laws were made as follows:—
‘That the meetings of the society take place on
the last Monday in the month, instead of on the
last Tuesday ; and that the composition fee for life
membership be raised from £3 to £4.” The
treasurer’s report was read and adopted. The
president (Dr. Plowright) then delivered his
address. After giving a résumé of the papers and
communications which the society had received
during the past year, as well as accounts of the
84 SCIFNGEGOSSlEP:
excursions, and referring toits satisfactory financial
condition, it was stated that the present member-
ship amounted to 275. He devoted the rest of his
address to the subject of the mildew in wheat,
which, although a well-known theme, has recently
had fresh light thrown upon it.
NortH STAFFORDSHIRE NATURALISTS’ FIELD
CLup AND ARCH&OLOGICAL Society. — The third
evening meeting of the Winter Session of this
Society was held in the Town Hall, Stone, Stafford-
shire, on the February roth last. There was a
large attendance, and the exhibits included a fine
collection of clutches of birds’ eggs, each containing
a cuckoo’s egg, shown by Mr. Wells-Bladen, and
heads of deer, belonging to Mr. Basil Fitzherbert,
and other subjects. A report of the last meeting of
the British Association, on subjects of interest to
the Club, was submitted to the meeting by Dr.
Arlidge. Two most interesting papers, by Dr.
McAldowie, on ‘‘Notes on Bird-Life during the
Severe Weather of January and February, 1895,’ and
by Mr. Robert McAldowie, on ‘‘ An Ornithological
Excursion,’ were read. A discussion was opened
by Mr. John R. B. Masefield, M.A., on the ‘‘ Wild
Birds Protection Acts,” and resolutions were passed,
inviting the Staffordshire County Council to apply
to the Secretary of State for an Order to prohibit
the taking or destroying of the eggs of barn-owl,
goldfinch, nightjar, great crested grebe, curlew,
spotted flycatcher, pied flycatcher, wagtail,
swallow, martin, sand martin, swift, and tree
creeper, in the County of Stafford, and reasons were
set forth in support of the application.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To CoRRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of
the month for insertion in the following number. No.com-
munications can be inserted or noticed without full name
and address of writer.
Nortice.—Contributors are requested to strictly observe the
following rules. All contributions must be clearly written
on one side of the paper only. Words intended to be
printed in italics should be marked under with a single line.
Generic names must be given in full, excepting where used
immediately before. Capitals may only be used for generic,
and not specific names. Scientific names and names of
places to be written in round hand.
Tue Editor is not responsible for unused MSS., neither
can he undertake to return them, unless accompanied with
stamps for return postage.
SUBSCRIPTIONS.—Subscriptions to ScrENcE-Gossip, at the
rate of 6s. 6d. for twelve months (including postage), are
now due.
Tue Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name
specimens through the Correspondence column of the maga-
zine. Specimens, in good condition, of not more than three
species to be sent at one time, carriage paid. Duplicates
only to be sent, which will not be returned. The specimens
must have identifying numbers attached, together with
locality, date and particulars of capture.
ALL communications, remittances of subscriptions, books
or instruments for review, specimens for identification, etc.,
are to be addressed to JoHN T. CARRINGTON, 1, Northumber-
and Avenue, London, W.C.
CORRESPONDENCE.
R. W. Curpwick (Worthing).—Not unusual;
species of rhododendron bloom in March and April.
J. Burns (Swansea).—Your specimen and bottle were
broken in post. We returned it to you, but it has come back
with charges, and marked “not known.” It is our rule to
only notice communications with full name and address.
C. Rea (Worcester)—The box and contents were badly
broken in post. All the moths are specimers of one species,
Diurnea fagella, which is subject to much _ variation.
Stainton’s ‘‘ Manual,’ read in conjunction with the serial
literature on the Micro-lepidoptera since it appeared, is still
the best; Morris is sometimes useful, but uncertain for
identification,
several
J. Harrinctron (London, N.).—The office of SciENcE-
Gossip was moved from St Martin’s Place many years
ago. The National Portrait Gallery stands on the site.
EXCHANGES.
Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words
or less,
MacrraA EXOLETA; Ranella pulchra and other good shells
offered in exchange.—Please send lists to Mrs. Carphin, 52,
India Street, Edinburgh.
DupLicaTEs. — Larve of Hispidaria; desiderata very
numerous, lepidopterous larve preferred.rA. M. Mont-
gomery, 32, The Grove, Ealing, W.
J. H. Stewart’s “Lord Bury” telescope, in leather case,
with straps, cost 50s.; will exchange for good binocular of
equal value.—J. E. Lord, Rawtenstall.
WANTED, diatoms, mounted or unmounted; slides of
palates of Mollusca offered in exchange.— A. Alletsee,
Clifton, Milward Crescent, Hastings.
Microscopic Siipes.—Over 100 slides of various subjects
in exchange for stove and greenhouse plants, flowers, ferns,
etc.—John T. Neeve, 4, Sydenham Road, Deal.
“BritTisH {(NAKED-EYED MeEpDus#,”’ by Forbes (Ray
Society), micro. slide scale of sole, for other slide or
material, what offers ?—C. W. Maw, Bradford, Yorks.
OFFERED, ‘‘Our Country’s Birds,’ by Gordon, nearly new,
in exchange for natural history or other books.—E. Wood,
245, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill, London, S.W.
Wuat offers for Journal of R.M.S. for 1892 (bound), 1892
and 1893 (unbound), also text books for London B.Sc.
examination ?—H. W. Parritt, 8, Whitehall Park, London, N.
SMALL collection of minerals, about 100 named specimens,
cost £2; will exchange for foreign marine shells, corals, or
polished stones—W. J. Mountford, 3, Foster Street, Dar-
lington.
HEALTHY pupe and larve of ligniperda, or great moth;
desiderata, good British or foreign butterflies or moths.—
Wm. Travis, 18, Primitive Terrace, Walcott Street, Hessle
Road, Hull.
OFFERED, Cassell’s ‘‘ European Butterflies and Moths,” 62
coloured plates, half morocco gilt; or exchange for ‘‘Ento-
mologist’s Record,” vols. 2, 3, 4, 5.—E. Lambert, 4, Wildwood
Terrace, Hampstead.
WANTED, to correspond with a lepidopterist in north of
England or Scotland for exchange of southern Lepidoptera
for northern, and vice versd.—T. B. Fletcher, 78, Thornlaw
Road, West Norwood.
RareE exotic butterflies—Ornithoptera urvilliana, ritseme,
creesus, Papilios, Dynastor napoleon,etc. Wanted, others or
rare British and foreign stamps.—W. Dannat, Ivy Dene,
Westcombe Park, S.E.
OFFERED, 1894 eggs of merlin, golden plover, dunlin,
phalarope, divers, merganser, scoter, long-tailed duck, scaup,
bean goose, whooper, ptarmigan, etc.—W. Gyngell, Mur-
chison Street, Scarborough.
WANTED, good machine (Abbot Bros.) for pyrography,
pattern touches and attachments, fret-saw; offer Tuck’s
door-panels (‘“‘Autumn Leaves”) new, shells, greenhouse
plants, ferns, cacti—Mrs. M. A. Oldroyd, Faversham.
OFFERED, marine and land shells (2,500 species), Coss-
man’s catalogue Paris Basin Fossils, new and complete.
Wanted, land shells, or extracts on same from scientific
journals.—Miss Linter, Arragon Close, Twickenham.
Dup.LicaTges.—Phascum bryoides, Sphcerangium muticum,
S. trignetrum, Pottia pusilla, P. ccespitosa, Eucalypta vul-
garis, Orthodontium gracile and many other species;
desiderata, local mosses.—W. E. Nicholson, Lewes, Sussex.
PATHOLOGICAL and anatomical material, four bottles;
SciENCE-GossIP, 1886, unbound; Oliver’s ‘‘ Botany”; Lind-
ley’s “ Botany’; fossils and minerals. Exchange for micro.
slides: -G: H. Corbett, 13, Church Road, Nechells, Birming-
am.
WANTED, Cooke’s ‘‘ Fungi,” or other botanical works or
Lepidoptera, in exchange for skins and stuffed specimens of
jay, starling, rook, magpie, meadow pipit, linnet, wrens, blue
tit and others.—A. Binns, Dean Lane, Sowerby, Sowerby
Bridge.
Foop’s ‘International Scientific Series,’ Pritchard’s
“Microscopic Illustrations,” 26 numbers of “The Student
and Intelligent Observer,’ in exchange for good micro.
objectives or apparatus.—_J. Harrington, 45, Palace Road,
Crouch End, N.
OFFERED, fine specimens Cardium rusticum, tuberculatum,
echinatum, Pecten maximus, opercularis vars., Ceratisolen
legumen, Pectunculus glycerimus, etc. Exchange British
and foreign shells and works of fiction—Mrs. Heitland, The
Priory, Shrewsbury.
“JournAL ANTHROP. INSTITUTE,” Nos. 33-41, 85-6, 88-9;
ScIENCE-GossIpP, vol. 29, with Index (less June), Nos. 307-312
(vol. 26), and vol. 1 New Series (complete); ‘“‘ Knowledge,”
Nos. 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 107 (g9 out of print). Required,
foreign shells not in collection, or minerals.—Rev. R.
Ashington Bullen, Shoreham Vicarage, Sevenoaks.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
THE MOURNE
85
MOUNTAINS.
By R. Lroyp PRAEGER, B.A.
HE fine mountain group of Mourne, anciently
Beanna Boirche (the peaks of Boirche, an
Irish chieftain), lies in the southern extremity of
co. Down, in the north-eastern portion of Ireland.
On a day of tolerable clearness, as far south as
Dublin, their lofty domes may be sighted rising out
of the blue waters of the Irish sea, far to the east-
ward of the low and indented coastline, the eastern
R. WELcH.
Photo.)
edge of the great limestone plain, that stretches its
sinucus length between. From the north, as seen
from the neighbourhood of Belfast, the Mourne
Mountains tower up nobly beyond the undulating
and fertile surface of co. Down. From the east-
ward we get glimpses of the long ridges of their
western extremity as the train hurries us northward
through the rugged hills and boggy flats that lie
around the huge mass of Slieve Gullion, in
Armagh—that mountain famed in Irish romance
as the home of dread wizards and strange monsters,
and the scene of hero-deeds by mighty champions.
JuNE, 1895.—No. 16, Vol. IT.
SLIEVE BERNAGH, MourNE MountTaAINS.
E
To the eastward the Mournes impend over the
Irish Sea, where their picturesque outline arrests
the eye of the summer visitor to the Isle of Man.
With these distant views acquaintance has, in
most cases, stopped, for few have ventured on a
thorough exploration of these brown hills and deep
silent valleys. The reason is, probably, absence
of knowledge concerning the district, unacquaint-
ance with the picturesqueness and scientific inte-
rest of this region, and with the important fact that
comfortable though unostentatious inns are to be
found in almost all the villages that lie along the
margin of the mountains.
We shall, briefly
features of this region.
sketch the natural
All the higher mountains,
then,
and the more interesting ones, lie to the eastward,
where the little town of Newcastle faces the Irish
Sea, with the mountains overhanging it on the one
side, and the broad sands stretching away north-
ward on the other. Right above Newcastle rises
86 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Slieve Donard, the loftiest of the range, 2,796 feet
in height, flanked by Slieve Commedagh (2,512 feet).
At the back of these hills rise two streams, the
Annalong River and Kilkeel River, which flow
southward through deep and romantic valleys, and
divide this portion of the range into three more or
less parallel series of peaks, of which some of the
finest are Slieve Bearnagh (2,394 feet), Slieve Muck
(2,198 feet), Slieve Bingian (2,449 feet), and the two
Slieve Meels (2,310 and 2,237 feet). Several of the
eastern faces of the hills which overlook these
valleys are very precipitous, such as those of Slieve
Beg, Cove Mountain, and Bencrom ; and while the
majority of the mountain summits are rounded
and smooth, others, notably Slieve Bearnagh and
Slieve Bingian, are crowned with enormous crags
of granite. In every direction the slopes are steep,
but here and there a moraine-blocked hollow
occurs, filled with the waters of a brown tarn. One
road alone intersects the mountains; elsewhere
loneliness reigns supreme, and the silence is only
broken by the distant murmer of the streams, and
the bleating of the sheep.
The geologist will find much to interest him in
this district. The mountains are an old core of
granite, which has intruded through the Ordovician
grits that extend over co. Down and the land
to the eastward. The latter, indurated by contact,
lap round the flanks of the granite hills, rising on
Slieve Muck to over 2,000 feet, where they have
been carried up by the intrusive rock. Along the
eastern coastline a number of dykes are exposed,
famous as being one of the few British localities
for the rare rock variolite. (See Cole: ‘On the
Variolite of Annalong, co. Down.” Sci. Proc.,
Roy. Dublin Society, N.S., vol. 7, 1891.) At the
back of Slieve Commedagh, on the steep slope
overhanging the source of the Annalong River,
may be seen some beautiful examples of the
weathering of the granite into jointed columns.
This is well shown in the accompanying photo-
graph, which, like the other illustration to
the present sketch, is the work of my friend
Mr. Robert Welch, of Belfast, whose instruc-
tive series of geological photographs are already
well-known. (Catalogue of Geological Irish
Views, with condensed descriptive notes. Pub-
lished by the Author, 49, Lonsdale Street,
Belfast. Price 3d.) In other places, notably at
the Diamond Rocks on the southern slope of
Slieve-na-glough, the granite is filled with cavities
lined with crystals of smoky quartz, orthoclase,
mica, topaz, beryl and amethyst. The Ordovician
grits which lie to the northward contain many
graptolites and some other fossils, and the Carboni-
ferous limestone which occurs where the western
end of the Mournes is opposed by the rugged mass
of Carlingford Mountain (1,935 feet), with the deep
bay of Carlingford between, yields an abundant and
characteristic fauna. Fine examples of terminal
moraines occur in several of the valleys, a particu-
larly striking one being that which dams the valley
of the Kilkeel River below Slieve Bingian. Ice-
modelling and ice-scratchings are seen to advantage
in many places. The drift deposits, which cover
the lower grounds, are fossiliferous in places, and
are well worthy of study. A fine raised beach,
containing marine shells, sweeps round from
Kilkeel westward, attaining an extensive develop-
ment on the long, low spit of Greenore. Further
to the westward and outside of the Mourne district
a series of igneous rocks of high interest extend
from Carlingford to Dundalk, and northward to
Slieve Gullion.
The botany of the Mourne Mountains has
recently been worked out by Mr. S. A. Stewart and
the writer (‘‘ Report on the Botany of the Mourne
Mountains,” Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, Third
Series, vol. ii, 1892), and while, in common with
other Irish mountain groups, alpine plants are
rare, the flora presents some points of interest.
Hawkweeds are abundant, numbering fifteen species,
among which Hievacium hibernicum is known else-
where in only one Scotch and one other Irish
locality, while the fine variety Stewartii of H.
gothicum (so named by Mr. Hanbury after my
colleague) is confined to this district ; H. avgenteum,
H. flocculosum, H. auvatum are among the other
forms that occur. On the cliffs and rocky banks of
streams we find Thalictrum montanum, Meconopsis
cambrica, Saxifraga stellaris, Sedum rvhodiola, Juniperus
nana, Hymenophyllum unilaterale, Equisetum hyemale,
and high up, Saussurea alpina (one station), Vaccinium
vilis-idea, Salix herbacea. The tarns all contain
Isoetes lacustvis and Lobelia dovtmanna. By the
river in Tollymore Park, Festuca sylvatica is plentiful.
On the Newcastle sandhills may be found Thalictvum
dunense, Viola curtis, Evodium mavritimum, Phleum
avenavium, Triticum juncewm ; on the coast line further
south, Evodium moschatum, Mertensia maritima’,
Atriplex littovalis, Polygonum vati, and in the neigh-
bourhood of Carlingford Lough, Statice bahusiensis
and Atriplex portulacoides, while Barbarea intermedia,
Linaria vepens, Lamium interymedium and other plants
inhabit the lower grounds around the mountains.
The fox and the badger still haunt the rocks and
the glens of the Mournes, and the otter skulks
along the streams. The Irish stoat, which has
recently received the unexpected honour of specific
distinction at’ the hands of Mr. Oldfield Thomas,
is common here as elsewhere. The marten has
been occasionally trapped in the district.
Among birds, the peregrine and raven hold sway on
the mountain cliffs ; the former breeds in a number
of places, and I have seen two broods of young on
the cliffs of Eagle Mountain at the one time, while
as regards the raven I have watched five splendid .
birds in company on the rocks of Slieve Comme-
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 87
dagh, soaring in majestic circles, and filling the
valley with their hoarse cries. The invertebrate
fauna of the district still needs elucidation. Mr. C.
W. Watts has recently worked at the lepidoptera
(C. W. Watts: ‘ Lepidoptera taken in the
Belfast District.’ Proc. Belfast Nat. Field Club,
1893-4, Appendix), and finds on the Newcastle
sand-hills a tolerably abundant fauna, including
large and highly-coloured varieties of Lycena icarus
and Satyrvus semele in great abundance, while in
August the flower-heads of the ragweed swarm
with Agrotidaee and Noctuz. Among the micros,
R. We tcu.
Anerastia lotella, Crambus warvingtonellus, C. geniculeus,
Dictyopteryx bergmanniana, may be mentioned. The
fir-woods of Donard Lodge, on the slopes of Slieve
Donard, form a good hunting-ground. Here are
found Bupalus piniavia, Boarmia rvepandata and its
fine banded variety conversavia, Emmelesia teniata,
and Thera firmata.
For those wishing to explore the Mourne district,
Newcastle will be found the most convenient
centre. Here there are plenty of good hotels, and
the mountains rise right over the town, while
tourist coach-routes along the base of the range
enable approach to be made from various points.
Photo.] (IN THE CASTLES OF KivyrraAR, MouRNE MOUNTAINS.
From Belfast, Newcastle is distant some forty miles,
which the express trains of the co. Down Railway
cover in less than an hour, whilst to Belfast there
are plenty of good passenger routes from English
and Scotch ports. A good inn will be found in the
beautiful little village of Bryansford, two miles
from Newcastle, and close to the woods and streams
of Tollymore Park, classic ground of local natural-
ists. At Hilltown, Kilkeel, Rostrevor and Warren-
point, also, there is plenty of accommodation. I
regret that I cannot refer the reader to any guide-
book for information concerning this interesting
Be Ifast.
and picturesque mountain-group. Guide books
there are, where all necessary information will be
found concerning trains, hotels, car-routes and the
various ‘sights’? on the lower grounds, but the
mountains, their topography, natural history and
geology still remain undescribed save in scattered
scientific papers in many instances not accessible
to the enquirer; and the present sketch, brief
and incomplete though it be, may, perchance, be
useful as a slight indication of the natural features
of a yet too little-known holiday resort.
National Library, Dublin ;
May, 1895.
to
f
88 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
EXPLOSIONS IN ELECTRIC-LIGHT MAINS.
By J. ALFRED WANKLYN AND W. J. Cooper.
N essential feature of almost every great
advance in those arts and manufactures
which accompany, and in a sense form constituent
parts of, civilisation is peculiar and unlooked-for
dangers attendant on each great advance. The
steam-engine had its own peculiar dangers, as, for
instance, the liability of the steam boilers to burst.
The fear that the gas-holder would be prone to
explode, which in the early days of gas-lighting
was very generally felt, belongs to the imaginary
order. Other dangers there have been which were
real enough but quite unlooked for. There was the
mysterious explosion in the gas-mains in France,
which was traced to a most interesting source. It
appeared on making investigation that copper
service-pipes had been put down in some localities
in France, and that that interesting hydro-carbon,
Acetylene, which is one of the constituents of coal-
gas, had somehow formed its well-known compound
with the copper. That compound bears the name
“*acetylide of copper,” and is endowed with explosive
properties ; and the mysterious French explosion
was attributed to acetylide of copper.
Just as there have been mysterious gas explosions
in the past, so now we have mysterious explosions
connected with the installation of the electric light.
Some of these recent mysterious electrical
explosions which have taken place in London,
promise even greater interest than the French
acetylene explosions in the gas industry. They
carry the mind back to that great achievement of
a now well-nigh forgotten English chemist, in the
year 1807. At that date {now in ancient chemical
history), the great English chemist, Sir Humphrey
Davy, discovered potassium, which he obtained by
electrical decomposition of caustic potash. The
alkali-metal, sodium, which is twin-sister to
potassium, was likewise, in that same year,
discovered by Davy. The conditions for the
electrical separation of the metal sodium from
its compounds, which Davy realized with great
labour, care and forethought in the year 1807,
appear to have realized themselves spontaneously
in a most wonderful manner in these latter days in
London. Among the current news of the day, a
short time ago we read that metallic sodium was
found coating the wires conveying the electric
current. Sodium decomposes water when brought
into contact with it, and decomposes it with
violence and explosion. The explosions to which
we refer have taken place in the Euston Road and
its neighbourhood within the last two years. The
cause of the explosions was at first supposed to be
the accumulation of an explosive mixture of air or
coal-gas in the vicinity of the service-mains. But,
as we have said, closer investigation brought to
light the fact that in some instances there was an
actual deposit of metallic sodium, and that deposit,
when exposed to the action of water, is quite
adequate to produce explosions, and to kindle
explosive gaseous mixtures.
The explosions in the Euston Road were fortu-
nately not attended with any fatal result, and the
damage to property was very trifling. .The circum-
stance that they happened during a political
dynamite scare attracted rather more attention
to them than in ordinary times.
Early on a Sunday morning in the beginning
of 1894, one of us, being on a visit to Endsleigh
Gardens, was startled from sleep by a loud explosion
which was at once set down to the dynamiting
fraternity. During the next few months there were
several explosions of a very similar kind, and an
official enquiry was ordered, and finally Major
Cardew, investigating on the part of the Govern-
ment, reported upon two explosions later on in the
same year. The official report makes no mention of
dynamiters but attributes the explosions to the firing
of explosive mixtures of coal-gas by the electric
spark, or by the flame arising from the contact of
metallic sodium and water. Here we would remark
that granted the presence of metallic sodium and
moisture, that state of things is quite adequate
to the production of the Euston Road explosion,
and that the existence of the mixture of air and
coal-gas need not be assumed at all. The sodium
explosions which have taken place in the manu-
facture of pure caustic soda from metallic sodium,
and which have indeed caused one manufacturer
to abandon that operation on a large scale, testify
abundantly to the adequacy of sodinm and moisture
to occasion such explosions.
It goes without saying that if you are to obtain
metallic sodium as a coating to the wires conveying
the electric current you must first permit some
compound containing sodium to come into relation
with those wires; and Major Cardew very per-
tinently warns against suffering the formation of
an incrustation of common salt, the prime source
of sodium.
One of the most satisfactory aspects of the
subject is the circumstance that such explosions as
we are considering are absolutely preventable.
That there can be such explosions under certain
conditions needs but to be pointed out in order _
that the proper steps may be taken to ensure that
the conditions shall never again be realized.
New Malden, Surrey; May 14th, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 89
ANS AQUATIC. HYMENOPTEROUS INSECT.
By Frep. Enock, F.L.S., F.E.S.
NDER the above head in the ‘‘ Transactions of
the Linnean Society ”’ (vol. xxiv., 1864, page
135, etc., plate 23) will be found an interesting
account of the capture of Polynema natans (Lubbock),
by Sir John Lubbock, who mentions that on examin-
ing a basin of pond water, he was astonished to see a
number of minute hymenopterous insects swimming
about in the water, and using theiy wings for that
purpose. Within a week of this grand chance
capture, another specimen was found by Mr.
Duchess, of Stepney; then nineteen years after
(188r), Mr. Bostock found a single specimen in a
bottle of pond water at Stone, Staffordshire,
Since 1876, I have paid particular attention
to this interesting family, the Mymaride or
Fairy-flies, and though I have searched many
ponds, year after
year, all my efforts
to obtain specimens
of P. natans have
been unsuccessful.
On Saturday,
May 4th, at the
fortnightly excur-
sion of the members
ing for eggs in which to oviposit. I now have
several fresh specimens under close observation
during day and far into night, and in course of
time hope to complete the life-history of this
marvellous creature.
It is much to be regretted that so very little
interest has been taken by entomologists in this
most extraordinary family, the Mymaride, which
have scarcely been noticed since the death of Mr.
Haliday, whose type collection has remained in
oblivion. When this collection is brought to light,
Iam inclined to think that the generic name of
Polynema with regard to natans will prove to be the
wrong one, as the male of that genus has thirteen
joints in the antenna, whereas the male P. natans
has but twelve, and the abdomen is distinctly
petiolated so that
it cannot belong (as
suggested by the
late J. O. West-
wood) to Anaphes,
whose abdomen is
subsessile.
Strange as the
habits are of many
of the Quekett Mi- parasitic Hymen-
croscopical Club, optera, they are
which was to Totte- completely eclipsed
ridge and Mill Hill, by those of the
Mr. Wm. Burton, Mymaride. The
brought home two fact has now been
small phials of fully established,
water, containing AOUSIRIBNGS SUSONNIS;, 8 AG) DOU that the females
various organisms.
The first to appear in the trough was a small fly,
which appeared quite at home climbing about the
weeds. Mr. Burton, knowing my weakness for
these small creatures, kindly brought it to me for
examination, when I immediately recognised it as
the long-sought-for P. natans, this capture making
the fourth time it has been taken by chance.
On Monday, May 6th, Mr. Burton and I, started
out to search for more specimens. We dipped our
nets and bottles in and out for over two hours
when my dip brought to land a beautiful female,
which I quickly transferred to a phial. Then in
the course of a few hours more search, I found four
males. Onreaching home, these, together with the
female, I put into an observation tank, where they
remained under water for over four days, swimming
or flying through the water in the most lively
manner, their progress being decidedly jerky. The
female was chiefly engaged examining the flocculent
matter at the bottom of the tank, no doubt search-
Drawn from life by Frep. Enocx,
lay their eggs in the
eggs of other insects. Polynema natans (according to
Ganin), ovipositing in those of dragon-flies. I have
repeatedly watched A/aptus wandering over leaves in
search of the eggs of Psocus fasciatus and on finding
them, she gently taps one with her heavily clubbed
antennz to ascertain whether the egg already
contains a parasite, if not, she leisurely mounts on
the top, pressing the tip of the tiny ovipositor
against the convex surface, the boring machinery
is set in motion, and in about two minutes a hole
is pierced and an egg transmitted by the Alaptus in
so perfect a manner that nothing is injured. The
microscopic aperture is hermetically sealed by
saliva from the tongue, and the fairy-fly steps on
to the next egg until the whole cluster has been
“struck,” and all chance of an injurious Psocus
emerging has been destroyed. I hope the time is
not far distant when we shall have figures of all the
known genera of this most interesting group.
21, Manor Gardens, Holloway, London, N.
May 13th, 1895.
go
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
THB WORK OF _.A, SCIENTIFIC (SOCIETY.
By Rev. H.
N. HutcHinson, B.A., F.G.S.
(Author of ‘‘ Extinct Monsters,” etc.)
me these days when a powerful search-light is
continually being thrown upon nearly every
institution of our country, it is impossible that the
learned societies, as they are called, should escape
much longer the public gaze. The time is soon
coming when they will, one and all, be subjected to
a severe criticism on behalf of the democracy. It
is quite clear that at present their work, their
methods, and their organization are matters of
comparative indifference to the general public.
This state of affairs, however, cannot last for ever,
and it is highly probable that before very long
we shall see some influential newspaper or magazine
devoting its columns to a searching and probably
far from friendly inquiry into the whole question.
To be forewarned is, or ought to be, to be fore-
armed, and therefore I make no apology for bring-
ing forward this very important and interesting
question.
Scientific men ought, whenever such inquiry
comes, to welcome it rather than show any resent-
ment—if it is done carefully and conscientiously.
I believe that there is a real need of inquiry and
criticism in this matter, and that the learned
societies have much to gain thereby in the end—
even should they receive severe criticism at the
time. My work as a lecturer and writer on
geology has been the means of drawing my atten-
tion to this subject; and, after reflection thereon,
I am convinced that our learned societies might
play a much more important part than they do
in further spreading scientific knowledge and feed-
ing the people intellectually. At present they are
sadly behind the age, and, moreover, they appear
to have no idea but to go on in the same hum-
drum way as they always have done, publishing
their ponderous and almost unreadable reports,
quarterly journals, etc., with a cheerful and almost
proud contentment that is really astonishing when
one considers fora moment how much more they
might do. Of course, no sensible person would
presume to find fault with or condemn the work
which is being done by any of our leading learned
societies, such as the Royal Society, the Royal
Astronomical, the Physical, the Chemical, the
Linnzan, the Zoological, the Geological. They
encourage workers to carry on researches in all
departments of science; they listen to the valuable
papers that are often read, bringing forward new
facts, new observations, and sometimes new ideas.
The discussions which take place after the reading
of such papers are frequently of much value and
interest, and then the papers and discussions are
generally published to the world. At the same
time one cannot help noticing that papers are some-
times unnecessarily multiplied, and that they often
contain too much detail. The sum and substance
of a long paper could often be compressed into a
single column of ScIlENcE-GossIP.
The question which rises so constantly to my
mind in considering the work of our Geological
Society is—why should we stop here? Have we
not yet much useful work to do? Could we not
cover a larger field of operations, and play a more
useful part in our country and empire? In other
words, have we not got too much into one groove
and that of a somewhat narrow kind? There is
something essentially conservative about a learned
society ; tradition and custom count for much, and it
seems at first sight rather presumptuous for an
individual member to dare to suggest to a number
of distinguished geologists (such as are on the
council of our society) that their ideas are not
sufficiently progressive, or that the gentle applica-
tion of a vis a tergo might be a good thing for them.
However, it is in no disrespectful tone that I wish to
offer the following practical suggestions for extend-
ing our sphere, and Iam not without hope that in
some quarters they will be welcome.
1. THE Liprary.—aA good deal might be done to
make our library more complete, and also to keep
the books in better order. In the first place one
often finds that some important book is not in the
collection, and that means going to the British
Museum instead. There is a very good collection
of pamphlets; but in some other directions there
are gaps to be filled up. Many of the books are
in a dusty condition; and they are very much
scattered about for want of more room, some being
in one part of the building, some in another. This
want of space leads to our next heading.
2. NEw Rooms WITH A GOOD LECTURE-
THEATRE._By moving to larger buildings the
books could be more conveniently arranged, and
perhaps a Lecture-Theatre could be added on.
The latter is an important part of our scheme, as
will be seen presently.
3. INCORPORATION WITH THE PALZONTOGRA-
PHICAL SociETy.—Surely the important work of
publishing well-illustrated monographs on Palzon-
tology is one which ought properly to belong to
the Geological Society. Would it not be more
economical, as well as more convenient, to have a
common home for both the Societies ?
4. A PUBLISHING DEPARTMENT.—It seems to
me there ought to be a publishing department to
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. gI
every important scientific society, and certainly to
ours. Every geologist knows that there is no great
temptation to publishers to undertake the publi-
cation of works of a geological nature. A large
number of such books are a source of loss either
to the author or the publisher, or both; and yet it
is hardly necessary to remark that many such
works are of considerable value. In fact, one
might almost say that the more valuable the book
to geologists (rather than to the public) the less is it
likely to be a financial success. It is a matter
of great regret that such a valuable publication
as ‘‘The Geological Record’’ should have been
allowed to drop for want of funds. Our friend,
Professor Blake, made a gallant attempt with his
“Annals of British Geology,” but this has also died
a natural death from the same melancholy cause.
The State will do nothing to help us, so we must
help ourselves. Again, take the case of ‘‘ The
Geological Magazine’’: that most excellent
perodical, which is read with so much pleasure and
profit by geologists in all parts of the world, can
hardly be expected to pay its expenses; if the
Geological Society could undertake to grant an
annual subsidy, the magazine might be extended,
further illustrations might be added, and perhaps
(if this is not Utopian) editors might be paid for
the labour which they now undertake voluntarily ?
One of the very first duties of a Geological Society
ought to be the annual publication of a Geological
Record ; and, moreover, every line of work done on
such a publication ought to be paid for, whatever
it cost. The important work at present done, rather
slowly and not quite completely, by the Royal
Society in publishing from time to timea Catalogue
of Scientific Papers ought to be divided up among
the different scientific societies. Our Society
would then be doing its share by including in its
annual Geological Record a list of all the important
papers that had been read. The Catalogue
published by the Royal Society comes out so long
after the appearance of most of the papers that its
value to scientific workers is very much impaired.
Other societies in France, Germany, Belgium and
elsewhere, might work in harmony with us in this
matter, and so the burden of this task would be
lightened. For instance, take the case of England
and Germany: we should send to the leading
Geological Society there our list of English papers
on Geology read anywhere in England or our
Colonies, and they would send us their list. So
with regard to books, a subject index might be
added, which is at present a great want in the
Royal Society’s Catalogue of Papers.
Photographs illustrating the geology of the
British Isles might be collected and stored up in
the library. We are aware that a Committee of
the British Association is at present collecting such
photographs; but this work seems to belong more
naturally to our Society. Some of the photographs
might be copied on a reduced scale, being re-
produced by process, and blocks lent to authors to
illustrate their works. I would even go so far as to
suggest that the Society might undertake the
publication of useful and well-illustrated little
manuals of geology. Such might be far better
illustrated than those that are at present brought
out by different publishers, frequently with wood-
cuts half a century old. When once a publishing
department has been formed no doubt many useful
schemes could be set on foot; thus, for example, a
series of good wall diagrams might be published.
At present publishers, at least in England, will not
undertake so unprofitable a task, and yet such are
certainly an educational want. Good sets of
lantern slides, carefully selected by specialists in
each department, might be supplied to schools and
colleges. Another useful work in this depart-
ment might be the publication of instructions,
in the form of a leaflet, to workmen in quarries,
stoneworks, clay and gravel pits, etc., urging upon
them the great importance of the careful extraction
and preservation of fossils and especially bones.
Sir Richard Owen mentioned in his work on
‘‘ Palzontology”’ that, but for the carelessness and
indifference of some workmen, a complete skeleton
of a British mammoth might have been preserved.
How many a good thing has been lost from the
same cause it would be impossible to say. The
leaflets might be sent to the Fellows in each
county, and each should be asked to distribute
them as opportunity offered.
5. THE ADMISSION OF LADIES AS MEMBERS AND
AS FELLows.—I am quite aware that the admission
of the gentler sex to the ranks of the Geological
Society has already been discussed by members,
and that there isa great difference of opinion on
this subject. But we are only at the beginning
of a long struggle on the part of the ladies for
admission to all our learned societies, and as they
seem to have made up their minds on the question,
it seems to me that we of the sterner sex had
better bow to the inevitable at once, for the
women are sure to win in the end. Apart from
this argument it is an acknowledged fact that
there are women of considerable scientific attain-
ments, who are fully entitled by the papers they
have written and the work they have done in
various directions, to the honour of belonging
to the learned societies. To take Geology alone,
we know that excellent work has been done
by ladies, and that some papers of great merit
have been read on their behalf at certain of our
meetings. Some people are afraid that there
would be a danger of our societies becoming too
popular if ladies were admitted, that the standards
might be lowered, and the more serious work
comparatively neglected for geological excursions
g2 SCIENCE-GOSSIP:
of the nature of picnics, popular lectures with
lantern illustrations, and general discussions at or
after meetings. Surely there is no ground for
such serious apprehensions, we need not argue
from the British Association. The same rules
that apply to the election of gentlemen as Fellows
would of course apply to the ladies who might
from time to time be proposed. But one of the
essential parts of my scheme is the admission of
a very large number of members of both sexes as
Members only. The conditions of their election
would be easier and all who were genuinely interested
in Geology might be eligible. It is only, or chiefly,
in this way that a large annual subscription, list
could be depended upon, and if the reforms here
indicated, are to be carried out, it is obvious that
the sinews of war must be provided in no small
measure. The subscription list must be raised
from something over £2,000 as it is now, to £5,000
or £6,000 at least, and I do not see how this can
be done without admitting ladies. Members should
not be admitted to the ordinary meetings except
by special written permission from a Fellow,
though perhaps a gallery or some special part
of the meeting room might be set apart for
members. Under my scheme special meetings
would be held for the benefit of members and their
friends. Members would be allowed to purchase
the Quarterly Journals of the Society at a special
rate, but their subscription alone would not entitle
them to receive it free, as the Fellows do now.
This brings us to a very important part of the
scheme.
‘6. FORTNIGHTLY MEETINGS IN THE LECTURE
THEATRE to alternate with ordinary meetings, at
which both Members and Fellows would meet to
hear good illustrated lectures on really interesting
and important subjects, and to join in the discus-
sions afterwards. The papers or lectures on these
occasions to be of a more general nature than the
elaborate original papers now usually read by
fellows, with details that only appeal to a few
specialists. I cannot help thinking that even
many of the Fellows would find these meetings
both interesting and instructive. Take, for example,
the case of a specialist, either in petrology, in
field-work, or in palzeontology ; unless he happens -
to be a lecturer or professor in some university, or
in some way engaged in teaching geology, is it
not pretty certain that his general knowledge of
geology is getting somewhat rusty ? In that case,
would it not be a good thing for him to come to
such meetings, listen to the paper or lecture, and
join in the discussion afterwards, if he be so
inclined? Many of the Members present would
be eager young students fresh from schools and
colleges, and ready to enter keenly into any of the
deeply-interesting physical, chemical, and biological
problems that present themselves to the geologist.
I can imagine that many an evening might be
profitably spent in discussing such problems as the
age of the earth; the origin of mountains; the
causes of earthquakes and volcanoes; the astro-
nomical theory of the ice-age; the permanence of
ocean-basins (or the contrary); the origin of lakes
of all kinds; the former existence of a great ant-
arctic continent, such as seems to be implied by the
curious distribution of animals at the present
day ; the conclusions to be drawn from the re-
searches on the deep-sea deposits by the ‘‘ Chal-
lenger’’ and other expeditions; former changes
in climate, as indicated by fossils; problems in
evolution, such as possible causes of extinction of
certain groups of piants and animals; problems in
ancient geography; the origin of our chalk; or, to
turn to a rather different subject, methods of
teaching might be discussed with advantage. It
goes without saying that members attending such
meetings would learn a great deal and would be
encouraged in their studies. Besides, they would”
often in this way hear of new books and new
sources of information that might be useful to
them. Everyone who studies any science at all
deeply finds that much time is spent in getting on
the track of the literature of his subject, especially
with regard to foreign publications. But let it not
be assumed that all the benefit would be on one
side. There must be a good many members of
every learned society who, though they may have
read a useful paper on some particular question, or
have described some new species of fossil or living
animals, yet have perhaps only a very limited
acquaintance with the principles of the particular
science to which their society is devoted. Thus it
does not follow that because a Fellow of the
Geological Society has described certain igneous
rocks, or done a little bit of field work somewhere,
or devoted a few years to working at some small
group of fossils, that he therefore possesses any
particular knowledge on some of the questions
which we have enumerated above. Unless he isa
teacher of geology in one way or another it is
highly probable that, by attending such meetings,
he would greatly improve his general knowledge of
geology. Admission to a learned society does not
require any very great amount of learning, and it is
possible that in future some stricter kind of test,
or even an examination, may be required.
7. AN ANNUAL CONVERSAZIONE.—Such evening
meetings of a social character have occasionally
been held, but the expense was found to be too great-
Now, it seems to me a pity that such pleasant
opportunities of mutual intercourse should be
altogether abandoned. Surely we could find a
way out of the difficulty, and a more economical
manner of setting about the matter. It can hardly
be necessary to spend some £50 or more on such
an cvening’s entertainment, as 1am told has been
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 93
done, and here the ladies could help us in economy.
On the new double basis of membership here
suggested, and with large rooms. at our dis- .
There ©
posal, there ought to be no great difficulty.
should be no lack of suitable and interesting exhibits
on such occasions, such as fossils, rock-sections
under the microscope, photographs, geological
maps and sections, models, diagrams, etc. It
should be the object of a great scientific society
like ours, not merely to add to the sum of human
knowledge, but to take Geology generally under its
wing, to spread an interest in it, and to do what
is possible to instruct the public.
these days much danger of scientific men becoming,
as it were, Brahmins, speaking a language not
understood of the people, of living a life too much
apart from them, and of ceasing to care for them
in any way.
8. To OFFER TO THE MEMBERS PRIZES AND
MEDALS FOR THE BEST ESSAYS ON GENERAL
GEOLOGICAL SuBJECTS.—This would be an ex-
cellent method of stimulating the study of geology,
and I doubt not that in this way a few students
might be tempted to become regular workers.
Again, prizes might be offered for the best ideal
landscapes of different geological periods. This is
a thing that seems to be much wanted, and if the
prizes offered were of more than a merely nominal
value some of the best geologists might be tempted
to employ really good artists to carry out their
ideas on the subject. If a prize of £100 were offered
for some six or eight such pictures, we should see
some very good attempts made. The same would
apply to the ‘ restoration,” either by means of
models or of drawings, of extinct types of animal
life. One result of such attempts, if successful,
might be the publication of wall diagrams of this kind
for use in schools and colleges. And surely that
would be a useful service to the cause of education.
Some four or five grants are made each year to
those geologists who-have made important re-
searches. As these are often the result of a
good many years of work, involving in some
cases no small expense, a money grant of some
twenty or five-and-twenty pounds seems but a
poor reward. Wouldit not be desirable to increase
these grants (Lyell Geological Fund, etc.) ?
g. THE OCCASIONAL PURCHASE OF VALUABLE
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, OR EVEN OF COLLEC-
TIONS OF FossILs, FOR PRESENTATION TO THE
NATIONAL COLLECTION IN THE NATURAL
History Mustum.—This might seem at first
sight rather an unnecessary departure; but it
almost goes without saying that the grants from
the Treasury to the National Museum are far from
adequate, and therefore when good and valuable
collections are in the market, they cannot be
bought for England, but go to America or some
other country. Funds are at present sadly wanted
There is in
for the purchase of casts of fossil reptiles, mam-
mals, etc., especially those which Professor Marsh
has.unearthed in America. If funds were forth-
coming it might be possible to fill a whole gallery
with such casts. Very few of the great dinosaurs,
for example, are at present represented in the
Natural History Museum, and yet they are of
great importance to the palzontologist.
' to. TRAVELLING STUDENTSHIPS MIGHT BE
FOUNDED BY THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, in order
to send out promising young geologists, who have
been properly trained, to new countries, to report on
their geological features, mineral wealth, etc.
The above suggestions are made in the hope
that they may lead to further discussion of this
most important subject, and that in time we may
see one at least of the leading scientific societies
acting and working in harmony with the spirit of
the age, and extending its influence in many
directions.
Westminster, S.W.; April, 1895.
THE NEW (Fes
He following list of fifteen candidates has
been selected by the Council of the Royal
Society for recommendation at the next election of
Fellows. J. Wolfe Barry, C.B., Civil Engineer
and designer of the Tower Bridge; Alfred Gibbs
Bourne, D.Sc., Professor of Biology at Madras;
George Hartley Bryan, M.A., Lecturer on Thermo-
dynamics at the University, Cambridge; John
Eliot, M.A., Meteorological Reporter to the Govern-
ment of India; Joseph Reynolds Green, M.A.,D.Sc.,
F.L.S., Professor of Botany, Pharmaceutical Society
of Great Britain; Ernest Howard Griffiths, M.A.,
Physicist and investigator of the phenomena of
heat; Charles Thomas Heycock, M.A., Lecturer
on Natural Science, King’s College, Cambridge ;
Sydney John Hickson, D.Sc., M.A., F.Z.S., Fellow
of Downing College, Cambridge, investigator of
anatomy of lower zoological forms; Henry Capel
Lofft Holden Major, Royal Artillery, inventor of
ordnance apparatus and investigator of electrical
phenomena; Frank McClean, M.A., LL.D.,
F.R.A.S., inventor of a star-spectroscope, astro-
nomical photographer and donor of a large
telescope to the Cape of Good Hope Royal
Observatory; William MacEwen, M.D., Hon.
LL.D., Professor of Surgery at Glasgow University ;
Sidney Martin, M.D., B.Sc., F.R.C.P., University
College Hospital, distinguished in chemical physi-
ology and parthology ; George M. Minchin, M.A.,
Professor of Mathematics, Royal Indian Engineer-
ing College, Cooper’s Hill; William Henry Power,
Assistant Medical Officer, H.M. Local Government
Board, London, natural historian of epidemic
diseases ; Thomas Purdie, B.Sc., Ph.D., A-R.M.S.,
Professor of Chemistry, St. Andrew's University.
BS}
94
SCLENCE-GOSSIFP.
GEOLOGY OF THE GsLE OF WIGHT.
By Tuos. LEIGHTON, F.G.S.
(Concluded from page 64.)
HE Chalk in the Isle of Wight forms the central
hills (or northern downs) and caps the hills
above the Undercliff (the southern downs). The
beds may be examined both at the coast and in
the numerous quarries which are found along the
outcrop. The usual Chalk fossils occur, probably
as plentifully as anywhere else; the fact that they
are somewhat uncommon in collections is doubtless
due to the distance from London rendering search
and preservation unprofitable to the workmen.
The Chalk Rock, and also, possibly, the Melbourn
Rock, have been recognized, whilst the follow-
ing Table exhibits the zones as worked out by
M. Barrois :—
Zone of Belemnitella
Chalk with flints [ », Wicraster cor-anguinum
1,016 feet |... Micraster cor-testudinavium
[ Holaster planus
Terebratulina gracilis
Inoceramus labiatus
Chalk without( ,,
flints, 196 feet | __,,
Grey Chalk,Chalk }
Marl, 115 feet )
These divisions do not exactly coincide with those
of the Geological Survey, whose thicknesses are
as follows :— ;
Scaphites equalis
3
Upper Chalk 1,370 feet
Chalk Rock oe a line
Middle Chalk Be 180 rn
Melbourn Rock me I4 re
Lower Chalk Af 206 ee
The Eocene Beds of the island occupy a narrow
tract at the foot of the northern slope of the
central hills. Striking east and west, although
between 1,500 and 1,600 feet thick, their outcrop
is extremely narrow by reason of their vertical
position. (See figs. 2 and 3.) On this account
they can perhaps be more fully examined in other
localities, although they are well exposed on the
east coast in Whitecliff Bay, and on the west coast
in Alum Bay. The Eocenes, however, are nowhere
lacking in interest—an interest indeed almost
poetical—best illustrated by the appropriate name
conferred upon them by Sir Charles Lyell, i.e.
Eocene—‘ the dawn of recent [times] .”
Resting onaslightly eroded surface of the Chalk,
are the plastic clays of the Woolwich and Reading
Series, estimated at 84 feet in Alum Bay and at
163 feet in Whitecliff Bay. The thicknesses of the
lower beds of the Eocene in the Isle of Wight are,
however, scarcely comparable with those in other
localities, since it is impossible to say to what
extent the beds, particularly those near the Chalk,
have been squeezed up by folding. The magnitude
of the pressure to which these beds have been
subjected can be somewhat realised at Alum Bay
by careful examination of their junction with the
Chalk. A mass of crushed flints will be found here
welded into a compact bed, perhaps slightly altered
in texture, and, from later infiltration of iron, form-
ing a curious store.
The London Clay follows above the Woolwich
and Reading Beds, 233 feet thick in Alum Bay,
and 320 feet thick in Whitecliff Bay. It contains
occasional lines of flint pebbles and is more sandy
throughout than in the London area, conditions
pointing to shoaling waters in this direction.
Ditrupa plana occurs at the base, and other fossils
may be found throughout, which, from not being
pyritized, as in the London area, can be readily
preserved.
The Lower Bagshot Sands follow next: they are
unfossiliferous except in the leaf bed of Alum
Bay, at which place they are also followed by other
unfossiliferous beds. If at Alum Bay the whole of
the celebrated coloured cliff is placed in this series
it attains a thickness of 662} feet, against 100 feet
in Whitecliff Bay, whilst in the series immediately
above, these thicknesses would benearly reversed at
the two localities. Accordingly, Mr. Clement Reid
suggests that the upper 450 feet of the coloured cliff
at Alum Bay may be the decalcified equivalents of
fossiliferous beds at Whitecliff Bay. Mr. Starkie
Gardner again separates certain of the higher
beds as equivalent to the freshwater Brackleshams
of Bournemouth, and his dividing lines do not in
other respects coincide with those of the Geological
Survey. The leaf bed of Alum Bay has been
admirably described by Mr. Gardner, who states
that the flora is the ‘“‘ most tropical of any that has
so far been studied in the northern hemisphere.”
The plant remains cannot now be readily found,
they occurred mainly in a lenticular bed of pipe-
clay which has been worked out.
The marine Bracklesham Beds lie above the
Lower Bagshot Sands. They are highly fossili-
ferous at Whitecliff Bay, where they are 653 feet
thick. The fossils can be best obtained by digging
on the foreshore at low water ; so collected, however,
the sea-salt must be abstracted before they can be
safely preserved. In Alum Bay only a few casts
of fossils occur at this horizon, the series, however,
contains four beds of lignite of some interest, since
each bed rests on a regular underclay with rootlets,
as in the coal measures, showing that the vegetation
of which the lignites were formed actually grew on
the spot.
3
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 95
The Barton Beds which follow are 255 feet thick
at the western and 162 feet thick at the eastern
outcrop. Fossils occur at both places but more
plentifully at Alum Bay, where they can be easily
collected, although even there the richest zones are
now concealed by the pier. The fauna approxi-
mates closely to that of the beds on the mainland,
although from the small extent of the exposure
fewer species have been recorded.
The Headon Hill Sands form the top of the
Eocene Formation of the Isle of Wight. They
consist of pale buff quartz sand, practically
unfossiliferous, and are 170 feet thick at Alum Bay
and 184 feet at Whitecliff Bay. At the latter
place the occurrence of casts of Tellina and
Panopea has caused them to be classed with the
Eocene rather than with the Oligocene, whilst
they constitute, in fact, a passage between the two
conformable formations.
The Oligocene Beds of the Isle of Wight spread
out over the whole of the area to the north of that
already described, on the south affected by the
great anticlinal fold, and to the north occupying
the area of the sinclinal trough.
The Headon beds are about 150 feet thick on the
west coast and 212 feet thick at Whitecliff Bay.
They are freshwater and estuarine beds, with
strongly marked marine conditions near the middle
of the series, hence their separation into upper,
middle and lower beds. The whole series is simply
crowded with fossils, which may be readily col-
lected in the most perfect condition, some few
species retaining traces of their colour markings.
The marine Middle Headons contain the most
species, but the character of this horizon varies in
an interesting way at different places. On the
south-west side of Headon Hill the marine shells,
whilst not uncommon, are confined to a few
species, whilst estuarine forms are very decidedly
in the majority. At the north-east side of
the same hill considerable change is noticed;
marine species become more abundant and
individuals more numerous, whilst at Col-
well Bay the marine type is altogether in
the ascendant. Along all this coast the Middle
Headons are only about 30 feet thick, whilst
at Whitecliff Bay they are increased to 126
feet, and have at their base a true marine bed
with corals, sometimes described as the Brocken-
hurst Bed, from its general agreement with a bed
in a similar position at that place. This multipli-
cation of names is, however, unnecessary, because
the Middle Headons, as a whole, simply and
clearly indicate that the stream, near the estuary
of which they were laid down, came from the
south-west.
The Osborne Beds are chiefly a freshwater
series, some 100 feet in thickness. They are seen
overlying the Headon Beds, on the west coast, on
Headon Hill and in Colwell Bay, on the east
coast, in Whitecliff Bay, and at various places at
the north of the island. Freshwater shells may
generally be found, but at King’s Quay, near
Osborne, there is a bed of clay, in which Mae
Colenutt, of Ryde, has discovered multitudes of
small fish (Clupea vectensis), evidently, as Mr.
BAY
1 Mile
HIGH DOWN,
Bristow.
WHITECLIFF
DOWN
CULVER
1000 F!
500
(Reprinted from Proc, Geol. Assoc., Vol. VII., page 187.)
Fig. 2,—SECTION FROM SANDOWN Bay TO WHITECLIFF Bay.—W. Topley.
HEADON HILL,
BAY
Fig. 3—Srcrion across ALUM Bay rrom HEapon Hitt To HicH Down.—After H. W.
Scale for Heights & Distances
SANDOWN
Wealden. Feds
(/) Plateau Gravel, (k) Bembridge Beds, (i) Osborne Beds, (#) Headon Beds, (g) Headon Hill Sands, (/) Barton Clay,'(e) Bracklesham
Beds (d) Lower Pagshot Beds, (c) London Clay, (b) Reading Beds, (a) Chalk.
Clement Reid points out, suddenly killed and
buried before they had time to decay. The St.
Helen’s sands and Nettlestone grits, which occur
at the north-east corner of the island, belong to the
Osborne Beds ; they are only local formations, and
not now considered worthy of separate names
gé
The Bembridge Limestone, although only some
ten feet thick, is an interesting freshwater deposit,
containing numerous land shells (such as Helix,
Bulimus, etc.), besides several freshwater species.
Both may readily beobtained at all the exposures, the
more important of which areon Headon Hill, at Cliff
End and Sconce, and at Bembridge Point. The
Bembridge Limestone is remarkable for the persist-
ence of its lithological characters throughout the
island, an unusual thing in beds of the kind.
The Bembridge Marls are chiefly of freshwater
origin, but a thin marine band occurs near the
base. They are some too feet thick and may be
seen east of Yarmouth at low tide on the foreshore,
at Bembridge Point, at St. Helen’s, and in Gurnard
Bay. At the last place a thin limestone, with many
insect remains, occurs just above the marine bed.
The freshwater and marine fossils can be collected
at all the places named when the beds respectively
are exposed.
The Hampstead Beds cover a great part of the
tertiary outcrop of the island but they can only be
conveniently studied at Hamstead Hill, east of
Yarmouth. They are about 260 feet thick, of
freshwater origin below, passing up gradually into
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
marine beds. They contain many fossils, which
may readily be collected. . Besides many species of
mollusca, vertebrate remains—such as teeth, scales,
or bone fragments of Hyopotamus, crocodile, turtle
or fish are common.
The chief interest of the Quarternary Deposits of
the island is in the Plateau Gravels which cap
many of the hills, and show, accordingly, the great
amount of denudation which has taken place since
their deposition. No organic remains have been
found in these old gravels, but in the Valley
Deposits the mammoth and rhinoceros have been
found.
In conclusion it only remains for the writer to
express his indebtedness to the authors of the
works he has consulted in the preparation of this
Paper, since detailed references have necessarily
been omitted. ‘‘The Isle of Wight Memoir of the
Geological Survey ” (1889), by Clement Reid and
Aubrey Strahan has been freely consulted, also
papers in the Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., by Keeping
and Tawney (1881), and by Gardner, Keeping and
Monckton (1888).
Lindisfarne, St. Fulian’s Farm Road,
West Norwood, S.E.; April, 1805.
WANTER IN THE- HEBRIDES:
By W. B. Jones.
a was, I suppose, to be expected that so unusual
a winter as the one now happily departed
should be attended by unusual phenomena in the
organic world. Probably a fitter opportunity for
observation of its effects could scarcely be looked
for than here in Islay, where no such winter has
been seen within the memory of the oldest inhabi-
tant. This island, with the rest of the Hebrides,
has, compared with the mainland of Scotland, or
even of England, a very exceptional climate.
Although we have not the same heat in summer,
it is questionable whether our average winter is not
as mild as that of the Channel Islands, or even of
the south of France. Snow, worthy of the name,
is very rare, and frosts, when we get them, are
usually confined to the night. Sometimes a shift
of wind to the north will bring a light sprinkling
of hail or sleet, but it either melts as it falls or
disappears soon after, giving place to a diluted
sunshine or mist and drizzle. Then, perhaps, at
night the wind will veer round to the west or south,
and it will blow for a week, with heavy rain at
intervals; but the temperature rarely falls below
40°F. Last winter, however, all this was changed,
and we received our full share of the roughest
weather that was going. We had two heavy falls of
snow—the last of which completely blocked the
roads for a week, and did not disappear for a month,
followed by a succession of hard frosts and a mean
day temperature 15° below that of ordinary winters.
This unwonted severity found the inhabitants of
the island, both human and animal, as might be
expected, entirely unprepared, and the result was
sufficiently deplorable. Many old people, who,
under ordinary circumstances, might have con-
tinued to live for some years, went to their final
rest prematurely. The death-rate amongst the
children was excessively high, and scarcely any
household was exempt from some severe and
unusual form of sickness.
The effect upon the bird life of the island was
disastrous beyond all precedent. My own observa-
tions were limited to the very narrow area within
which my business confines me, but I could not
avoid seeing phenomena of a very unusual
character. The exceeding tameness of the birds
was what struck me most. All day long, while the
severe weather lasted, the main street of the village
of Port Ellen was alive with gulls of various
species, and the air resonant with their cries and
the continual rustle of their wings. Viewed from
one end, indeed, this thoroughfare looked like a
perfect wilderness of birds, which at one moment
would be a surging white sheet on the ground-
level, and the next would rise up a fluttering and
gleaming column that reached above the house-
tops. Scourged by famine, the courage and perti-
nacity of these poor creatures was extraordinary.
re
edible matter.
‘small birds seemed driven to extremity.
SCIZNCE-GOSSIP.
They would alight close to the doors of the houses
and contend with the domestic fowls, or the house-
hold cat or mongrel dog for any stray morsel of
In some cases they even entered
the houses, and one man who lives close to the sea
told me that, in consequence, his boys had done a
good thing in gull catching. They set open the
front and back doors of the cottage and concealed
themselves within, when the birds began to fly
through the passage and at last to alight in the
living room. By simply closing the doors they
were enabled to capture a great number, whose
fate, I am afraid, was not of the happiest. Your
western Highlander, although by no means a hard-
hearted being as far as his own species is concerned,
has, as yet, no conception of a humanity that
extends itself to all living things. The old hunter
instinct is still strong within him, and he regards
wild animals as only so much raw material
furnished by nature to supply his wants, whether
it be for the nutriment of the body or for the
gratification of that delight in killing which with
the natural man is as inherent as it is with any
other beast of prey. One man, after obtaining a
number of specimens, clipped their wings and went
about selling them for domestic pets, which, I
fancy, in many cases would be simply toys for
the children.
After the heavy fall of snow on February 7th, the
Every
bare strip of sand on the sea-shore and every
sheltered nook that was clear of snow swarmed
with them. A small field, through which I had
occasion to pass daily, afforded an unusually good
place of refuge. It lies at a lower level than the
surrounding country, is bounded by a stone wall,
and, being protected by some high mounds on the
north and east, had been merely touched by the
skirts of the storm as it passed over. It was
consequently almost free from snow, and advantage
had been taken of this circumstance to make it a
temporary sheep-fold. The animals were fed daily
with turnips and the ‘draff’’ or grains from the
adjacent distillery. Here then, while the frost
lasted, some thousands of small birds found food
and comparative shelter; and here certain species,
which we are not accustomed to regard as gregarious,
might be seen in flocks. These included the hedge-
sparrows, wrens and robins, There was also a fair
proportion of wagtails, chaffinches, linnets and
ereenfinches; but the whole of these were out-
numbered, as ten to one, by the larks. The tame-
ness of these last was very remarkable. On being
approached, the other species would make a short
flight and settle again, but the larks would not rise
on the wing. They would run to right and left as
I advanced, opening a passage for me, but if I stood
still, they would gradually close in about me and go
on feeding with the utmost indifference to my
97
presence. It would have been quite easy to have
killed any number of them with a switch, after the
manner, related by Darwin, of the boy
Galapagos Islands.
Outside the limits of this sanctuary, I saw num-
bers of dead birds, the most common of which
were wagtails and lapwings; but as I remarked
before, my survey was limited. The mortality over
the whole island must, I think, have been very
great. A gamekeeper told me he had seen dead
birds of all kinds, even grouse and crows, the last
of which I take to be the hardiest of the feathered
race. During the frost, he said, a gun was almost
superfluous. Even those wary birds, the curlews,
had, to use his own words, ‘‘ come about the doors
like hens to be fed,’ and numbers of them had
been killed by boys with sticks and stones. He had
examined some of-them, and found that they were
scarcely more than skin, bones and feathers.
Among other unusual circumstances I may
mention that I saw several moor-hens (Gallinula
chloropus) looking for food in the ebb of the sea;
and my friend Dr. Gilmore had a water-rail (Ra/llus
aquaticus) brought to him, which I understand was
found in a like situation. The last is a rare bird
in this island.
With regard to the mammalia, I think they did
not suffer nearly so much as the birds, though I
have few reliable data to go upon. I saw one dead
hare in the open, and heard of others; but a
couple of rabbits shot by the distiller here, after
the frost, were in fairly good condition, although
their feeding-grounds had been covered with snow
for some weeks. While on the subject, I may add
that two otters have been taken recently at Laga-
vulin, about a mile-and-a-half from here. One, I
understand, was a dog-otter of extraordinary size,
but I had no opportunity of seeing it or of obtain-
ing measurements.
in the
Laphroaig, Islay; April 15th, 1895.
THE Horse's Foot. — Some interesting facts
relating to this subject were brought forward ina
lecture recently delivered at the Royal Institution
by Veterinary Captain Frederick Smith. The
physiology of the foot, said the lecturer, centred
round the amount of moisture contained in the
horn of the foot, which, when moist, was soft and
elastic, but when dry became hard and brittle. A
horse always put the back part of his foot to the
ground first, and so the purpose of the elastic,
rubber-like structure of the pad was to save the
leg from concussion. The front part was harder
because it had to support the wear and tear of
friction with the ground. Although the footpad
played so important a part it was usually removed
by the farrier, and then a thriving trade was done
in artificial pads. Horses in London would last
very much longer if they were allowed the use of
the pads with which the foot had been provided
by nature. Another evil in shoeing, as generally
practised, was the paring away of the horn of the
sole.
98 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
NEW HAND BINOCULAR TELESCOPES.
HESE remarkable instruments have been
greatly improved, and produced for the
English market by the Carl Zeiss Company, of
Jena. Before describing the instruments it may
be well to say something about the manufacturers,
which will be found of more than passing interest.
The Carl Zeiss Optical Works are probably the
the most important of their kind in the world and
are quite exceptional in their constitution.
The
firm was established some years ago bya skilled
workman whose name it bears. He is no longer
living, neither is any member of his family connected
with the factory. Jena is a university city in Saxe-
Weimar-Eisenach, one of the Thuringian states of
the German Empire. When Zeiss began to make
his way he found the necessity of the association
of some scientific adviser, and was fortunate enough
to obtain in that capacity the well-known Professor
Abbe. In consequence of the rule that only the
very best possible work should leave the factory,
the business grew with great rapidity.
This institution is now a public trust, with the
Duke of Saxe-Weimar as Chairman. By public
trust it must not be supposed that a public company
in the ordinary sense is meant, for the profits
annually earned, which are large, do not benefit
individuals in the sense of shareholders. The pay-
ment of wages to the ordinary staff is liberal,
the scientific staff receiving no less a sum than
£5,000 annually. In this division is still included
Professor Abbe, with whom is associated Dr.
Czapski, as advisers in the optical department,
and Dr. Pulfrich in a like capacity on instru-
ments for physical research, whilst Dr. Rudolph
advises on photographic objectives; Mr. Fischer
being general business manager. To return to the
question of the profits, they are divided between
old-age pensions for the workmen and grants for
the encouragement of scientific research. The
University of Jena receives a portion of these
latter grants and more than one Englishman has
participated, if not actually in money, in the form
of scientific instruments.
fund now exceeds £250,000.
The invested pension
Some idea of the magnitude of the Carl Zeiss
Works may be gathered from the fact that it
requires three hours to pass through the various
wings and departments, without leaving much
leisure for inspection of details. Upwards of 500
workpeople are employed, a curious feature being
that there is no difficulty in obtaining skilled
workers in metals, but the optical hands have to
be trained within the works from boyhood. In
consequence of the frequent
addition of extra rooms to the
factory difficulty in trans-
mitting the power from a
central steam engine was
from time to time increas-
ing, the loss of power being
more than forty per cent.
This difficulty has been
overcome by making the
steam-engines drive large
electric dynamos, which are
connected to separate motors under each work-
man’s bench, the loss has thus been reduced to
eighteen per cent.
We figure two of the Zeiss instruments, fig. I
being the Hand Binocular Telescope, and fig. 2
the Field Glass on the same principle. The
telescope was originally designed by an Italian
engineer, named Porro, for military purposes, but
has been much improved by Carl Zeiss. By the
aid of this instrument an officer in the trenches can
see what is going on with perfect accuracy, without
exposing his head above the edge of the trench. In
the same way a naturalist is able to watch the
habits of a bird or other animal from behind a rock,
a wall, or a bush, without being seen. This is-
accomplished in consequence of the apertures for
the lenses being in the sides of the metal terminals
Fig. 2.
and not at the ends, as is usual. Thus by spreading
out the two tubes from the vertical position to one
that is horizontal, an observer may stand behind a
tree and see round it, without being observed by
the object under examination.
This effect is obtained by an ingenious arrange-
ment of prisms, which is fully explained and
illustrated in the specification of the patent which
was completed last year, It would take up too
Fa et pee alia ai laa ein nin ee Cae oem ewe Sect
ae
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
much space if fully explained here. The remarkable
part of this invention is that there is hardly any
appreciable loss in the magnifying power of the
lenses, through the image passing the prisms. A
further feature of great value is that the picture
resulting is truly stereoscopic, the object appearing
solid and alive, instead of flat and only a picture.
The magnifying power of this instrument is very
great in proportion to its size. In a trial it was
quite easy to see the particles of soot clinging to
telephone wires at 500 yards away with a bright
sky for background.
The field-glasses are among the best we have met
with, also in consequence of the marked stereoscopic
effect produced on the image. The focussing of
the eye-pieces in both instruments is an important
99
matter ; it is so arranged that each eye may be
separately focussed, which is important, as few
persons have exactly the same range of sight in
each eye. This is accomplished by a special out-
side movement, which renders almost impossible
for dust to enter the instrument and so obscure in
a measure the faces of the prisms. As both instru-
ments have a central movement, the eye-pieces
can be exactly adjusted to the distance between the
eyes, and can be fixed by a little mechanical
check.
There are three sizes of the stereo-telescopes, the
three prices being £7 tos., {9 and £10 tos. The
field-glasses are £6, {7 and £8 per pair. The
London Agency is at 29, Margaret Street, Regent
Street, London, W. jb!
INNINGS Ee eING ORE Si:
PON the invitation of the Essex Field Club,
we joined their visit of inspection of Epping
Forest on May 18th, to view what had been done
by the verderers in thinning
the trees, about which there
has been recently some
outcry in the newspapers.
The party numbered upwards
of one hundred persons, and
was conducted by Mr. E. N.
Buxton, vice-president of the
Society, who is also a verderer
appointed by the City of
London. The visitors were
driven to various parts of the
western side of the forest,
visiting Bury Wood, also
known as Hawk Wood, in
which there are, approxi-
mately, 2,000 oak trees, as well
as hornbeam aud blackthorn.
In this wood 300 small and
scrubby oaks, which were over-
crowding others of finer growth,
have been removed, and a
further 300 have been marked
for future felling. Loughton
Valley and Monk’s Wood were
then reached, where extensive
clearances took place many
years ago, and the new growth
has now reached from ten to
twenty feet in height. This
is largely composed of birch, which looks bright
and elegant all the year round. After luncheon
the party went to Epping Thicks, where the
undergrowth was thinned some years since. The
general opinion of those present, some of whom
were experts in forestry from various parts of the
ABNORMAL PRIMULA.
(Mr. Henry Ward's Specimen.)
country, including Scotland, was that what had
been done was for the future good of the forest.
We certainly could not see much appreciable differ-
ence in Bury Wood, about
which so much has been said.
Is it possible that some of the
objectors to the policy of the
verderers are as inexperienced
in woodcraft as was a certain
Lord Mayor in times past, who
visited the forest in state to
fulfil the annual custom of
‘“‘hunting the hare”’? A cour-
tier ran up to his lord-mayor-
ship, who was seated on his
horse, waiting in one of the
rides, and exclaimed, ‘‘ My
Lord Mayor, the hare cometh.”
To which the civic magnate
replied, as he drew his sword,
“T am thankful I fear not.”’—
John T. Carrington.
ABNORMAL
PRIMULA.
DO not know if the en-
closed Primula is of any
importance, but I have not seen
one before with three heads on
one stem, so send it you.
HENRY WARD.
12, Norham Gardens, Oxford ; May 8th, 1895.
fThis specimen of white Primula has one stem
fasciated, but not broadly, supporting three dis-
_tinct flowers crowded together in a bunch. The
remaining stems are normal, carrying one flower
each.—ED. |
100 pI ICLENCE-GOSSIP.
‘
Case tERS FOR DYOUNG” NATURALISTS
SOME LODGERS IN A PonpD.
IBY Ay (ES Ana
(Concluded from page 74 )
lig every brickmaker and bricklayer in England
were to go out on strike to-morrow, the
-industry of -brickmaking, and the craft of brick-
laying would still go on in full swing in the most
remarkable of its branches. There isa humble but
most active and independent member of the building
trades to whom your attention is’ now invited.
Competition, over-production, the crowded state of
the labour market, and the vexatious and disturbing
effects of a big strike could never disturb the mind
of the little builder to whom we have the pleasure
of introducing you. Melicerta ringens is the name of
this most remarkable of artificers. This little
creature was, as you will remember, beautifully
illustrated in ScIENcE-GossiP last month by that
prince of microscopists, the Rev. Dr. Dallinger,
F.R.S. Melicerta is his own architect, his own
brickmaker, and his own mason, and he is
capable of constructing as graceful and handsome
a tower as one can well imagine. Many of us
have heard of the round towers of Ireland,
and some of us are aware that our learned friends,
the archzologists, have had battles royal as to
whether these round towers were originally
Christian belfries, or heathen buildings for the
celebration of pagan ceremonies. We know not
whether the excessive heat of the Hibernian atmo-
sphere, theological and political, has caused the
Melicertan to cast anchor in a more temperate zone,
or whether he has had access to the plans in the
‘* Archzological Transactions,’’ but the broad fact
remains that he (judging by appearances) must
have been a resident at one time in ‘‘ the distressful
country,’ and has carried with him in his mind’s
eye an exact copy and pattern of the famed Round
Towers of Ireland. That these towers must have
been his beau ideal of beauty, strength, and utility,
for his domestic architecture is invariably designed
and executed on this very plan, the chief alteration
he has made to meet his own requirements being
that whereas the Hibernian tower is broadest at its
base, the Melicertan tower is broadest at its
summit. The structural difficulty of this arrange-
ment vanishes when we are made aware of the fact
that the Melicertan fixes its tower strongly to the
stem of a water plant with a kind of mortar
that binds together the foundation courses of its
dwelling with the tenacity of Roman cement.
What is the size, you ask, of this wonderful creature
that is architect, brickmaker, master-builder and
mason’s labourer all in one. A giant specimen
would be the one twenty-fourth of an inch in
height, and an average worker about the thirtieth
of an inch, so that although an artificer of tireless
energy, absolute sobriety, and high intelligence, he
will never compete with the nineteenth century Ben
Jonson, and bring down the current rate of wages,
nor will ever a Luke Fildes or a W. P. Frith
‘paint a group of him, his wife and babes to picture
the horrors of a strike. One of the usual likings
of our little friend the Melicertan is his preference
for what the advertisements call ‘“‘a detached
residence,” his round tower or castle being usually
built quite apart. Isolated from his neighbours,
however, he has sometimes shown a disposition for
society, and an inclination to be sociable; he has
even been known to take a hint—apparently from
London suburban architecture, and has occasionally
run up “ eligible dwelling-houses ”’ in rows of four.
Like the beautiful princess of the fairy tale,
he is shut up in a tower, and not even the arrival
of the handsomest prince in Christendom could
break the enchantment and give him freedom.
True it is that, like Sister Anne in ‘‘ Blue-
Beard,’ he can look out of the tower, and
probably says to himself, ‘‘I see somebody
coming,” and that somebody seeing the Meli-
certan will, slightly misquoting Thomas Hood,
“Take him up tenderly, lift him with care,
fashioned so slenderly, young, and so rare,” for
there are dozens of ponds in this country
that you may search without finding a single
specimen. The young ones of the Melicertan
resemble in their origin the familiar chicken in
this, that they are developed from eggs, and these
eggs are laid and hatched within the round-tower-
like house. Again quoting Mr. John Badcock,
he says in ‘‘ Vignettes from Invisible Life”’:
‘‘ Owing to the fragile and peculiar character of its
inhabitant, the greatest care is needful in this
process. The egg is shot forth near the summit of
the tower and is caught within it, falling gently
alongside the animal to the base of the tower, where
it is hatched, and where the youthful Melicertan
lives until he leaves the parental abode which he
quits never to return,” and sets up business for
himself as a free and independent member of the
great building trades, in which, like a Michael
Angelo, he is capable of doing justice himself to
every branch of the profession, from architect
and sculptor downwards. We again quote Mr.
Badcock: ‘‘ A young Melicertan is a very different
creature from its parent, having two eyes, and
swimming rapidly from place to place. This is the
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
period of youth, free and easy it travels over its
little world., Soon, however, it tires of this roving
life, and selects some congenial spot on which to
build a house, and having attached itself or—
literally—put its foot down, never removes. It is
generally some filament of Algz, or other water-
plant to which this attachment is made, sometimes
to the wall of the paternal dwelling. The eyes now
‘disappear from view, being changed from the pro-
-‘minent eye-spot character hitherto seen, into ex-
quisitely fine crystalline ruby-like points.”
We will now examine perhaps not the most
remarkable but certainly the most beautiful of all
‘‘Lodgers ina Pond.” Even the most hardened
bachelor we suppose has not visited the West End
of London for the first time without looking in at
the jewellers’ windows, where the gems are with
which beauty heightens and accentuates the charms
of countenance and person. Who, that has ever
looked into a Bond’ Street or Regent Street
window and seen the jewels from ‘‘ far Cathay,”
from further India, from the mines of Golconda,
but: must have thought, if he thought at all, that
the gems he saw flashing in the light, actually
appearing to give light, could not be rivalled on
earth, or expressed in art by the most cunning
touch of the painter. Now, there are jewels—ready
cut, set, and polished—in the pond we have been
‘examining, that far out-shine in lustre and excel in
loveliness the finest gems that Bond Street ever
fashioned into a crown to adorn the shapely head
of an empress. What are these extraordinary
jewels called, and why isn’t a limited company
formed at once to place them on the market ?
They are called diatoms, and can never disturb the
operations either of the Stock Exchange or the
jewellery trade, for the simple reason that, although
they are the loveliest ‘objects not~ possessing life
that ever were fashioned by nature, they are
amongst the very smallest objects known, a
moderate-sized specimen can barely be seen when
fixed on a slip of glass and held up to the light.
Some are so exceedingly small as to require
the highest, the very highest, powers of the
microscope to reveal their presence. Some species
are so minute that a lady’s thimble would contain
more specimens than the entire population of our
globe, and yet such is the power of the little diatom,
that the paving stones of the London Royal Ex-
change is entirely composed of them ; the City of
Richmond, in Virginia. is built on a great stratum
of them, some eighteen feet in thickness, and miles
upon miles of the bed of the ocean is formed
of countless millions of these diatoms that
were sculptured with lines of undying loveli-
ness zons of ages before man came on the earth.
Just think of it, before the Alps were seen,
and pefore the giant chain of the Himalayas
emerged from the ocean, there was written one
IOI
of the ‘wondrous manuscripts of nature” with
illuminations in purple and vermillion, in blue and
crimson, in scarlet and gold, and heightened with
an iridescence that the Indian opal never displayed
and the eye of man never saw, save perhaps in the
setting sun. Portions of this wondrous “ manu-
script’ have been found everywhere—now on the
bed of the Atlantic, now at the greatest depth
plummet has ever fathomed—which is a depth of
nine miles, a little east of Japan—now on the
summits of lofty mountains, and in lakes, ponds
and rivers innumerable.
Not the least of the remarkable physical char-
acteristics of the diatom is the exquisite sculpturing
of its twin surfaces. It is matter of common
knowledge to every worker with the higher powers
of the microscope that there is not in Christendom
a west window of acathedral possessing anything
like the beauty of form or the oriental opulence of
sculpturing displayed by many varieties of the
diatom. It is a curious and interesting fact for
the mathematician, who tells us ‘‘a perfect circle
is unknown,” that the little band of pure flint
which binds together the twin valves of every
circular diatom is a true ring, so absolutely flaw-
less that a magnifying power which would extend a
postage stamp to a square mile, would fail to reveal
the most trivial deviation from a fidelity of curve
mathematically perfect.
34, Woodlands Road, Ilford, Essex; March, 1895.
BROS CilOh a Or
PEEING:
Ne a meeting of the Essex Field Club, held in
Epping Forest on May 18th, at High
Beech, Mr. E. N. Buxton explained in an address,
his successful efforts to preserve the birds of
Epping Forest, and to encourage others to settle
there. The forest, which is public property
managed by the Corporation of the City of London,
extends to about 6000 acres of woodlands. Through
the influence of Mr. Buxton, owners of lands adjoin-
ing the forest have agreed to co-operate in the
scheme, and have promised to preserve the birds
generally on their estates. Exception was taken
against the sparrow hawks, but among the birds to
be preserved are all the other species of hawks, the
owls, magpies (which were becoming very scarce,
though there are three nests there this year), the
lapwings, and kingfishers. Of herons there were
fifty-five nests in the forest heronry this year, and
sixty nests last season. Wild ducks were said to
be nesting near to the house where the meeting
was being held. Bird-catchers are to be in
future checked, and every possible means used to
induce our wild birds to settle in Epping Forest
and vicinity, which will be kept as a veritable birds’
sanctuary, covering Over 20,000 acres.
BEDS A
102
ity PANN
wh ak
The Royal Natural History. Edited by RicHARD
LypDEKKER, B.A., F.R.S. Illustrated with 72
coloured plates, and 1,600 engravings. (London and
New York: ~
Frederick Ay a
Warne and ;
Co, |jwme,
1895.) Pub-
lished in ts.
parts.
Since our
last notice of
this hand-
some and
popular nat-
ural history,
it has pro-
ceeded to
19 parts and
volume’ ‘ iv.
This last part
also contains
the index to
volume iii.,
which com-
pletes the
Mammals
and com-
mences_ the
Birds. There
is a liberal
sprinkling
of ornate
coloured
plates thro’
the volumes,
but as we
have _ previ-
ously said, we
much prefer
portraits of
all kinds of
animals with-
out colour,
unless they
are far too
ex pensively
produced for
ordinary il-
lustration;
take for in-
stance the
plate of hoo-
poes in part
19 before us.
Its brilliancy
far outshines
its accuracy.
The plain il-
lustrations
are generally
most effec-
tive, and we
reproduce
NARINA TROGON.
(From “ The Royal Natural History.)
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
two of them which have been recently drawn for
this work. As a general guide to a knowledge of
the different kinds of living animals, we strongly
commend Messrs. Warne and Co.’s Royal Natural
History.
The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. By CHARLES
G. BarreETT, F.E.S. Vol. ii. Heterocera (Sphinges
and Bombyces). 372 pp. large 8vo. (London:
L. Reeve and Co., 1895.) Price 12s.
This is, as explained in a supplemental title, a
descriptive account of the families, genera, and
species indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland,
their preparatory
states, habits, and
localities. This great
undertaking by Mr.
Barrett is one which
is looked upon with
much interest by
the entomologists of
these islands, and
we believe this
os volume contains the
<2} letterpress which ac-
companies coloured
plates in another
edition, which we
have not yet seen.
There does not ap-
pear to be any refer-
ence in the volume
before us, that such
other edition exists
with plates. This
we consider unfortu-
nate, because the
uninitiated acquiring
this volume would
think its purchase
was comparatively
money wasted, on
finding there is a
more complete book
on the same subject,
by the same author,
published at the
same time. In writing the letterpress for this
work, Mr. Barrett has largely catered for the
requirements of the collector, rather than for the
scientific student, and its pages bubble over with
the author’s great experience in studying this group
of insects, as learned in their haunts and among
them when living. A fuller description of the
habits of some of our rarest species, as known on the
Continent would have been of much help. For
instance Sesia andreniformis as an imago is fond of
frequenting the flowers of the privet, and if this is
more generally known, it may not continue to be
the rarity it is now with us. We hope Mr. Barrett
will be spared to complete this great work, which
will indeed be monumental; but we cannot help
wishing he had commenced with the Micro-
Lepidoptera, for there is no one who has a greater
knowledge of them in this country. eo Us Ge
Lens-work for Amateurs. By HENRY ORFORD.
225 pp. 8vo, with 231 illustrations. (London and
New York: Whittaker and Co., 1895). Price 3s.
‘“« Of all branches of handiwork this is perhaps the
most difficult, and most abounding in disappoint-
ment to the inexperienced, and no amount of
theoretical or mathematical knowledge will super-
sede many hours of careful, and often wasted,
SCIENCE-GOSSIP
labour.’’ So says Mr. Orford in his preface. He
has, however, set himself to lessen that loss of
time, and maybe of temper also, by setting forth
in simple manner the best means of proceeding
when one desires to make one’s own
lenses. Even for those who do not
care to expend time on such work,
this book will be useful in giving a
better understanding of the place of
lenses in optics, and will explain the
occasional great cost of such as they
may require to purchase.
Primitive Man in Ontario, By
Davip BoyLe. Being an appendix to
the Report of the Minister of Edu-
cation for Ontario. 98 pp. small 4to,
with 263 illustrations. (Toronto:
Warwick Bros. and Rutter. Printed
by order of the Legislative Assembly,
1895.) No price given.
Every one who has had the pleasure
of meeting the enthusiastic author of
this work will be glad to hear that
another of his handbooks has been
printed by the Government of Ontario.
Its intention is to place before teachers
and others in Canada, a concise and
fully-illustrated account of the Indian
people of North America, from an
ethnological point of view. In his
first chapter entitled ‘‘Whence came
the Indians,” Mr. Boyle points out
_the probability of frequent enforced
vogages to America by stress of
weather, from Asia on the one side
and Europe on the other, in those
dark ages long prehistoric to the
Columbian period. Certain it is that
the earliest remains of human civiliza-
tion found on the American continent
ot the stone age, are in many instances
almost identical with the types of
worked flints of the old world. The
numerous illustrations are for the
most part, if not entirely, new, and
are taken from the provincial collec-
tion in the Museum at the Canadian
Institute, at Toronto. (eae:
Tilustrations of the Zoology of H.M.
Indian Marine Surveying Steamer “ In-
vestigatoy."’ Part i. Twelve large 4to
plates and corresponding pages of
explanation. Published under the
authority of the Royal Indian Marine.
(Calcutta and London: Bernard
Quaritch, 1892.) Price 15s.
We have received Part i. of this
handsome work from Mr. Quaritch.
Plates i. to vii. refer to fishes, and
the other five to crustaceans. Mr.
A. C. Chowdhary’s beautiful draw-
ings have been well reproduced by a
photo-etching process. The animals
illustrated were described in the
Annals and Magazine of Natural
History.
A Primer of Evolution. By EDwArpD
CLopp. 186 pp. small S8vo., with illustrations.
(London and New York: Longmans Green and
Co., 1895.) Price ts. 6d.
It is seldom one meets with such a concise
BRAZILIAN MoOTMOT.
103
treatise, so fully explained and in such handy form,
for so little money. Mr.'‘Clodd, by condensation
from his larger work, ‘The Story of Creation,”
has extracted just the essence of the whole subject,
(From ‘The Royal Natural History.”)
without inflicting on us ‘‘ dry-as-bone”’ pages of
highly scientific verbiage. This little book is most
readable, and will be thoroughly enjoyed by persons
of all ages and all states of education. The chief
104
fault. with this primer is that it has been so cut
down that in some places the readers would have
benefited by fuller’ explanation.
A Hand-Book to the Carnivora. Part 1. By
RicHARD LYDEKKER, B.A., F.R.S. (Allen’s Natur-
alists’ Library). 320 pp. 8vo, and 32 coloured
plates. (London: W. H. Allen and Co., Limited.)
Price 6s.
This volume of the Naturalists’ Library contains
the groups of mammals including the cats, civets
and mungooses. In the editor’s preface, Dr.
R. Bowdler Sharpe again refers to the question of
scientific nomenclature, defending the duplication
of generic and specific names, for instance, that of
the Common Genet, Genetta genetta. He also has
induced the author to Latinise the generic term
Linsang into Linsanga. Like all Mr. Lydekker’s
work, the letterpress is dealt with in the most
modern manner, and his facts are well up to date.
Every species hitherto described is mentioned.
The chapter on the origin of the domestic cat is
instructive, and not altogether in accordance with
some previous writers on this subject. We observe
that the author uses the generic term Felis in a
wide sense, including such divergent animals as the
lion and the lynxes. The plates are apparently
much the same as appeared in the corresponding
volume of Jardine’s Naturalists’ Library.
The Birds’ Calendar.
350 pp., 8vo, with 24 illustrations.
John C. Nimmo, 1895.) Price 6s. net.
This is an American book treating popularly
some birds of the Eastern States. These birds are
considered in company with the months of the
year, hence the title. English readers will find
plenty of novelty and not much science. The
illustrations are nicely reproduced, but, unfortu-
nately, apparently from photographs of stuffed
specimens, with, in many cases, artificial vegetation
and backgrounds for decoration. Messrs. Nimmo
have done their part very nicely and produced an
artistic book. It will be useful in America for
spreading the taste for natural history, which so
much needs stimulating there among the public.
By H. E. Parkuurst.
(London :
Abstract of Proceedings of South London Entomological
and Natural History Society for theyear 1894. 136 pp.
8vo. (London: Published by the Society, 1895.)
Price 2s. 6d.
The Society has succeeded in publishing last
year’s ‘‘ Proceedings ’ in good time when compared
with former years. The position of the Society
appears from the balance sheet to be prosperous,
and the council’s report indicates an increased
membership notwithstanding a heavy obituary
record. Reports of most of the meetings have
already appeared in the pages of ScIENCE-GossIP,
but those interested in the burnet-moths will find
several lengthy abstracts of papers read by Mr. J.
W. Tutt, F.E.S., upon ‘‘ European species of the
Zygenide.” These papers form a critical considera-
tion of half a dozen species, and throw some light
upon local races and obscure types.
Bird Notes. By (the late) JANE Mary Haywoop.
Edited by Emma Hupparp. 198 pp., with 16
illustrations. (Londonand New York: Longmans,
Green and Co., 1895.) Price 6s.
To the unsophisticated lover of birds in their
native haunts this prettily produced little book
may appeal. Much allowance must be made for
the late author’s idealisms, which clothe her
favourite birds with a human-like individuality far
SCLENEGEGOSSEP:
from natural. There is_a good deal of chatty
pleasantry in the pages which will amuse even the
hypercritical reader.
The London Catalogue of British Plants. Ninth
Edition. Part I. Edited by FREDERICK J. HANBURY.
50 pp. 8vo. (London: Geo. Bell and Sons.) Price 6d. ;
or, interleaved in limp cloth, ts.
Part I. of the ninth edition of this standard list
ot British plants contains the Phzenogamia, Filices,
Equisetaceze, Lycopodiaceze, Selaginellaceze, Marsi-
leaceze and Characez, ‘‘ adapted for marking desi-
derata in exchanges of specimens, for an index
catalogue to British herbaria, for indicating the
species of local districts, and for a guide to col-
lectors, by showing the comparative rarity or
frequency of several species.’”’ There are a good
many changes in this edition, chiefly in the nomen-
clature. These alterations are stated by Mr.
Hanbury, in his prefatory address, to be ‘the
results of the field-work, the critical study of
British plants, and the researches on nomenclature,
made during the last nine years.’ The plan of
this edition is similar to the last, but with the
addition of the authorities to the generic names ;
though ‘ Linn.” does duty for the pre-Linnzan
nomenclators. The author says, ‘‘the changes in
nomenclature are, unfortunately, again numerous.”
We quite agree with the author in the misfortune,
for we believe that every new standard list, in
whatever department of Natural Science, which
institutes numbers of changes of names, actually
tends to check the study of the animals or plants in
that department. The chief changes in the ninth
edition of the London Catalogue are in the genera
Rubus, Hievacium and Salix. As an addendum to
the catalogue there is a supplementary list of the
willows, by the Rev. E. F. Linton, which is in
consequence of Dr. Buchanan White, in whose
hands the genus Salix had been left, unfortu-
nately dying before he had opportunity of going
through the proof-sheets. In other groups
Mr. Hanbury acknowledges the co-operation of
specialists of the highest repute. The very careful
manner in which the author has produced the
catalogue will, we hope, more than set off any
passing feeling we may possess with regard to the
vexed question of nomenclature. ae Abate,”
A Dictionary of Bathing Places and Climatic Health
Resorts. By B. BrapsHaw. 438 pp. small 8vo,
with maps and illustrations. (London: Kegan
Paul, Trench, Triibner and Co., Limited, 1895.)
Price 3s. 6d.
This useful compilation comes out in improved
form, some of the articles having been re-written,
and much additional information added to the book
generally. It will be found useful to naturalists
contemplating a holiday as well as to invalids
seeking a health resort. Almost every such resort
in Europe is mentioned, from Mablethorpe to
Nice. Some others are included, such as Madeira
and the Canaries.
Field-path Rambles: Comprising Routes Round
Guildford, etc. By WaLtxEeR Mires. Eighth
series, pp. 219 to 328, with map showing paths, and
illustrations. (London: R. E. Taylor and Son.
1895.) Price Is.
For the unsophisticated lover of nature, this
series of little guides is most useful for pointing
out new walks in pretty neighbourhoods. There
are few districts within easy reach of London more
beautiful than that covered by the guide before us.
SCTENGE-GOSSIP:
it ie
Mt ft a lh
Rises Sets. Position at Noon,
him. hm. R.A. Dec.
1895. A.M. P.M AM,
Sun aco JHE ie cos SHERE ona! EZ tho CID cages CUA,
mm ADE icon SG che Heth pee, Boutelligaa eo ey
OF 2S Voce SECM oan Selatan, Shale) coo ee w/
Souths. Sets.
P.M. A.M.
Moon ... Seyl Peemtocn s Gfnisteecos ses y
Rises. Souths,
Se ct MOB Son 2
ML) eve L2eLQ irene O23.
A.M. A.M.
my RA cog 2B) con In {o)
Souths. Sets.
P.M. P.M.
Mercury... oi HO) coe MESES) cod OLGR 8Go0 GHGS} cos BIG INI
PI) ong!) WS. c00, (OLD on GD ore BO? AP
By SX). bap CHR) ace) ASV ton GHB} ae el? ce?
Venus ... > UO 0° BHO ooo Mm GE GAO) con Be? GP ING
cr FO) ch Spit) Goo BONES ena Cl cao, he? AGP
p SKOY “Gogu) bud soge HORS IGH Ceca @tGiiono Lisi ey
MGYS eee LOM cco 255 Site wLOss Seems OMenan Ton 20/0N
i FID con Pe eee WOKE Gan CHRIS) tao BO
op SID ccd A ceo WHO) «Gas OHO) cao, aS} a”
Fupiter ... 5) EO Gao eV dog AEB hoo CHRO con BGG INI
oy SI) ) pan | CLS cos CMM egg GH Gag A> ue?
PM. A.M.
Saturn ... pp 1) o¢g HS) ono Ge) don BEG) ono. @)? BH? SS
69 SID bce F582} oo. OVS) oo aot gag OE te
WHETES cca oy BO. cca EKA ncn HGH 14.55 TOM 2S
Rises. Souths,
A.M. A.M.
ISG RTTDE cos fy SFO) con ZRH) co BORG) Gan Goll! ng I) ear INI
Moon’s PHASES.
Full ...June6 ... 11.0 a.m. ist Qy.... June 14 .., 11.28 a.m.
WED os 9 PB con CHE DION IO Oe © py 9 BS) coo ate Toa
Mercury is an evening star in this month, and is
at its greatest elongation on the 5th.
Venus is still well situated for observation after
sunset.
Saturn may be observed early in the evening,
especially at the beginning of the month.
SPECTROSCOPIC ASTRONOMY. — Dr. Huggins,
F.R.S., delivered, at the Royal Institution on May
23rd, the first of three lectures on the instruments
and methods of spectroscopic astronomy. He
explained how it was that for upwards of half a
century astronomers came very near to the dis-
covery of the importance of the dark lines in the
solar spectrum, but just missed it ; and that all the
original discovery by means of the spectroscope,
which has so vastly enlarged our knowledge of the
heavens, is compressed within the period of the
last thirty years. Bunsen, one of the founders of
spectroscopic analysis, still survives. The lecturer
demonstrated how the latest triumph of the spec-
troscope was obtained by Professor Keeler—the
confirmation of the atomic theory of Saturn’s rings.
Tue April Meteor shower was not favourably
seen in Britain, on account of the prevalence of
clouds in many places where observations were
made Still, several of about the first magnitude
were seen.
105
SaTuRN’s Rinc.—There have latterly appeared,
especially in the newspapers, some announcements
that the actual constitution of the ring of Saturn
had been discovered. This was attributed to
Professor Keeler of the Alleghany Observatory.
That gentleman writes to ‘‘ Science” of May roth,
to correct some of these statements and to autho-
ratively say what he has done in investigating
Saturn’s ring. His observations, says he, ‘‘ furnish
direct proof of the accepted hypothesis that the
ring of Saturn consists of a multitude of small
bodies revolving around Saturn in circular
orbits.’ This theory is an old one and has
been universally accepted since 1859, when
Maxwell’s prize essay appeared. © Professor
Keeler says that he has done no more than confirm
“the hypothesis by the widely different method
of direct observation with the spectroscope.’’
He continues: ‘‘The proof depends upon an
application of the well-known principle of Doppler,
by which the motion of a heavenly body in the
line of sight can be determined by measuring the
displacement of a line in its spectrum. Under
the two different hyphotheses, that the ring is a
rigid body, and that it is a swarm of satellites, the
relative motion of its parts would be essentially
different ; hence, to distinguish between these two
hypotheses, it is only necessary to find a method of
sufficient delicacy in order to bring the question
within the province of the spectroscope.” He
then describes his system of observation, which
has already been fully explained in the May
number of the ‘‘ Astrophysical Journal.”” Professor
Keeler finds the actual aspect of the lines on his
photographs of the spectra of the ball and of the
ring are exactly as theory had indicated before
practice had confirmed the hypothesis.
THE Eclipse Committee of the British Astrono-
mical Association has had under discussion the
subject of organising an Expedition to observe the
total solar eclipse of August 8th, 1896. The Com-
mittee considers the best method of procedure
would be to engage a special steamer for the service
of the observers, so as to form a home and base of
operations. The party would thus be independent
of local accommodation, which is evidently far
from satisfactory. To enable the Committee to
carry out the proposal, an invitation is issued to
those who would like to accompany the expedition
to Norway, which would extend from July 21st to
August 22nd, at an estimated cost of from £17 to
£36 per head, according to the route finally decided
upon. If facilities could at the same time be
afforded to naturalists for dredging or other means
of studying the flora and fauna of the North Cape,
no doubt it would be found easier to make up one
or more parties with separate routes and more or
less expense. Information may be obtained from
Mr. T. E. Maunder, 26, Martin’s Lane, London, E.C.
Mr. WALTER F. GaLeE records in “‘ The Journal of
the British Astronomical Association”’ the rare ob-
servation of an occultation of a star by the Moon,
taken in the daytime in sunshine. It took place on
November 24th, the star being Spica and the instru-
ment used was an eight-and-a-half-inch equatorial
reflector of six-feet focus, with power of seventy dia-
meters. The disappearance occurred at 17h. 24m.
1545s. local sideral time, the position, longitude,
toh. 4m. 54°79S. E., latitude, 33° 53’ 12°3” S.
On May oth, the Duke of Devonshire unveiled
in Westminster Abbey a memorial tablet to the
late Professor Adams, of Cambridge. On the medal-
lion is carved a portrait of the late astronomer.
106
Bee
- AY sae ¥ pee }
SS %
PROFESSOR ALFRED CORNU, of Paris will deliver
the Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institu-
tion on June 7th. The discourse will be in French,
and the subject will be ‘‘ Phénoménes Physiques
des Hautes Régions de l’Atmosphére.”’
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION meets this year at
Ipswich. The first general meeting will be held on
Wednesday, September 11th, when the Marquis of
Salisbury will resign the chair, and Sir Douglas
Galton, the well-known writer on hygiene and allied
subjects, will deliver the presidential address.
THE Bristol Geologists’ Association has issued
its programme of summer excursions, which are
fiveinnumber. Thedates fixed are all on Sundays,
which gives the members a long day, as the start is
usually made byga.m. The annual subscription
to this society is only one shilling.
In our account of the sale of birds and eggs last
month (ante page 69), through an oversight it was
stated that the auctioneer withdrew the skin of a
great auk at 150 guineas, which should have been
350 guineas. It was afterwards privately sold for
£350 to the Edinburgh Natural History Museum.
GREENLAND SHARK OFF SCOTLAND.—‘‘ The Annals
of Scottish Natural History” last published, records
the capture, in January last, of a Greenland shark
(Lemargus borealis) at about twenty-five miles north-
east of the Isle of May. It weighed one ton seven
and a half hundredweights, and was twenty-one feet
in length. Its stomach contained a seaman’s boot
with a portion of a human leg.
M. Moessarp, of Paris, has recently invented
the Cylindrograph, or panoramic camera, by means
of which magnificent panoramic views can be
taken, embracing half the horizon without distor-
tion, on films from sixteen and a half inches to fifiy-
five anda half inches long. This camera, which
can be supplied in England by Houghton and Son,
of High Holborn, possesses the advantage that if
one part of a landscape or building is in shadow,
whilst the other is well lighted, it is easy to give
the dark part two or three times the exposure of
the other
Tue Royal Society held their first Conversazione,
on May tst, in their rooms in Burlington House.
The second conversazione will be held sometime in
June ; to this ladies will be admitted. The Marine
Biological Association, at Plymouth, sent some
marine organisms preserved in formic aldehyde, in
dilute solutions, this being specially useful for the
preservation of transparent organisms as museum
specimens. Another exhibit showed the action of
light on the under-sides of flat fishes. The flat
fishes exhibited were reared in a tank with a flat,
slate bottom and glass front. Those portions of
the under side of a fish which were not in contact
with the slate, and to which light was accessible,
this point being demonstrated by the exposure of a
photographic plate upon which the fish lay, had
become pigmented, whilst the remaining portions
were without pigment.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
AN interesting feature at the conversazione of the
Royal Society, in May, was the results obtained by
Mr. W. T. Burgess from experiments proving the
extent to which flies may transmit infection of
disease from one person to another. It is needless
to add that harmless microbes were chosen for the
demonstration.
Apropos of the value of specimens, we understand
that an extensive fraud has recently been discovered
in making up common species of humming-birds to
imitate others of great rarity. By a skilful system
of dyeing the feathers, these have been successfully
passed off upon some experts as well as others, at
high prices. We hear the ‘‘ manufactory” has
been in Paris.
Dr. Lupwic Monn, who has already done so
much to promote scientific research in this country,
opened, on May 3rd, at the Owens College,
Manchester, the Schorlemmer Laboratory. Dr.
Mond said that the opening of the first laboratory
solely devoted to the study of organic chemistry,
connected with the only university in England
which could boast of a professor of that subject,
marked a distinct step forward in the development
of science in this country.
PROFESSOR Dewar, on May 16th, brought to a
close a course of lectures at the Royal Institution on
‘‘ The Liquefaction of Gases.”” The Professor went
very fully into the historical aspects of his subject,
and justified himself against the charges brought
against him by Professor Olsweski, of Cracow, in
Austria. Liquid oxygen and liquid air were
exhibited to the large audiences by the pintfuls, and
we shall probably soon have the satisfaction of
seeing s me liquid hydrogen.
THE recently constituted Union of Irish Field
Clubs will hold its first conference at Galway, from
July rzth to 17th. Excursions will form part of
the programme, including visits to the lakes and
mountains of Connemara, and to the Arran Isles.
As we understand our Irish colleagues will welcome
English and Scotch visitors who are students of
natural science, or archzologists, this will form an
excellent opportunity for visiting Western Ireland,
with especial facilities for travelling at reduced
rates and in good company.
THE circular issued by the Netherland Zoological
Society on the subject of the second International
Zoological Congress to be held at Leyden, from
September 16th to 21st next, gives particulars of
sectional meetings. Full particulars may be
obtained from Dr. P. P. C. Hock, of Helder, the
general secretary. The Director of the celebrated
Leyden Natural History Museum, Dr. Jentink, is
to be President, and the Queen Regent of the
Netherlands is Patron. The subscription is £1
for members.
AT Whitsuntide, at least two London societies
take lengthened excursions. The Geologists’
Association, under the direction of Mr. E. A.
Walford, F.G.S., visits Banbury from Saturday
until Tuesday, the headquarters being the White
Lion Hotel. Mr. C. Davies Sherborn, F.G.S., of
540, King’s Road, London, S.W., is the Hon.
Secretary of this vigorous society. The South
London Entomological and Natural History
Society has fixed a three days’ excursion to the
New Forest. The forest should be looking
almost at its best, clothed in its new garb of
spring foliage and flowers; some of the local
insects are due to emerge, especially among
coleoptera.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
A SCIENCE. ABROAD],
uy AWWA IW 1086
M&MOIRES PRESENTEES PAR DIVERS SAVANTS A
L'ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES DE L’INSTITUT DE
FRANCE. Tome xxxi, 1894.—This volume, which
has just been published at the Paris National Press,
contains the famous memoir with which Madame
Sophie Kovalevsky won the Bordin prize of the
Paris Academy in 1888. The subject proposed
was, To perfect in one important point the theory
of the movement of a solid body round an immovable
point, and in recognition of the extraordinary
merits of Madame Kovalevsky’s work, the judges
raised the amount of the prize from three
thousand to five thousand francs. But the
talented authoress did not live long to enjoy
the high position she had gained, In February,
1891, she was attacked by an illness which ended
fatally after three or four days. In the
“Fortnightly Review’’ for May, may be found a
most interesting account of this lady, one of Russia’s
most talented daughters. Sophie Kovalevsky was
born in Moscow, about 1850, and her interest in the
mathematical sciences was first aroused by the
room in which she spent much of her childhood.
This room had been papered with old disused
printing paper, amongst which were several sheets
of Ostrogrodski’s lectures on the differential and
integral calculus. The child puzzled out many of
the problems on the walls, and this was the
foundation on which the splendid superstructure of
her scientific attainments was reared.
THe New Science Review (April, 1895).—
This journal is published monthly in the States by
the Transatlantic’ Publishing Company of New
York, and may be obtained in London at Gay and
Bird’s, Chandos Street, Strand. It aims at saying
in plainer language all that the technical papers
say in their abstruse phraseology. This number
opens with an article on The Elements, by Professor
William Crookes, F.R.S., one of our greatest
chemists, and the inventor of many improvements
in the spectroscope. He refers to the gaps in
Mendeleeff's system of the elements, and to the
probabilities of these gaps being filled up. He thinks
much research will have to be gone through anda
long time spent before a really new chemistry of
elements and meta-elements can be constituted.
Miss Mary Proctor contributes some autobiogra-
phical notes written by her father, the late Richard
A. Proctor, and Professor G. F. Fitzgerald writes
on The Ether and its Functions.
BULLETIN DU MusrEuUM D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE,
ANNEE 1895, Nos. 1-3..—Every month the directors,
naturalists, assistants, etc., of the various depart-
ments of the Paris Natural History Museum, meet
together and detail their work during the past few
weeks. This journal contains accounts of these re-
unions. In the first number, M. Saint-Loup writes
on A new species of the Leporide, Lepus edwardsi. In
No. 2 M. Diguet gives an account of his expedi-
tion to Lower California, and M. Van Tieghem
describes two Loranthacez brought from Lower
California by M. Diguet, one a Viscum, the other a
Loranthus, This latter differed from all the known
107
American Loranthacez by its leaves, which were
narrow, long, and cylindrical. Several other natur-
alists describe the collections brought home by M
Diguet. M. Oustalet writes on three birds of
Paradise from New Guinea, lately presented to
the Museum. Before the Paris museum acquired
these birds, Ptevidophora alberti, Pavotia carole and
Amblyornis inornata, Schleg, the Dresden museum
was the only one that contained them. M. Bureau
writes on Dorstenia scaphigera, a plant remarkable
for its inflorescence, or the arrangement of its
flowers on the flowering stem or branch. M.
Franchet writes on Some Plants of East China,
and M. Bouvier on The Geographical Distribution
of the Crustacea of the sub-family of Lithodes. In
No. 3, M. Lapicque describes his cruise to the
East in the yacht Semiramis, chiefly for ethno-
logical and anthropological causes. M. Filhol
writes on The restoration of a skeleton of Hippo-
potamus lemerlei, which has been accomplished by
M. Grandidier, at Ambolisatra, in Madagascar,
where the animal was found. M. Brongniart
writes on The Homoptera of the genus Flatoides.
MM. Phisalix and Bertrand write on Some pecu-
liavities velating to the Venom of the Viper and the
Cobra. These Bulletins deserve to be studied by
those who wish to keep abreast of current investi-
gation and thought, and it might be hinted to the
keepers of our Natural History Museum that they
would do well to imitate the example set them by
their Parisian confréres.
REVUE SCIENTIFIQUE (May 4th, 11th, 18th).
In the issue of May 4th, M. Axel Ohlin has an
article on The Fauna of the Polay Regions, in which
he enumerates the mammals and birds observed by
the members of the Peary Expedition. In thesame
number M. Pajés writes on The Physiology of the
Minerval Matter of Milk. In the issue of May 11th,
M. Laborde has an article on The Tvue Microcephaly
and the Descent of Man. He gives photographs of
three microcephalic or small-headed brothers, and
compares the anatomy of these three idiots, who
were born in Greece, to that of a young female
chimpanzee, and shows how strongly these brothers
resemble monkeys. M. Laborde accounts for the
strange state of these idiots to an arrest in their
development and a consequent reversion to an
ancestral type. M. Sabatier writes on The Immor-
tality of Protoplasm. The article is a thoughtful
and well-written account of some of the problems
that centre round that strange substance known as
the physical basis of life. In the issue of May 18th,
M. Naville writes on Ovdey in Nature. He traces
the course of thought along the ages, and shows
that the modern scientific thought has cast aside
metaphysical questions and was endeavouring to
create order in every sphere of nature.
La Nature (May 4th, 11th, 18th). In the issue
of May 4th, is an interesting article by M. Coupin,
on The Origin of the Silk-worm, illustrated by
drawings of the various stages of Theophila
mandavina. We hope to give a short abstract of
this article in our next number. In an article on
The Sense of Colours (in the issue of May 11th),
M. A. de Rochas refers to a recently published
thesis on this subject, by M. Hugo Magnus, appear-
ing in the ‘‘ Memoirs de Physiologie,’ published
by the University of Jena. In the same number
is an article on The Parasites of the Cricket. In
the issue of May 18th, is an illustration of a
wonderful elm in the United States which is
bent in the form of an arc, and which seems to
have taken root twice over.
ZS 2 SIZIUDIBRS-
By J. BrEcHAm Mayor, L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S.
R. W.H. DALLINGER has recently written a
paper dealing with the constructive ingenuity
of spiders, from which we may conclude that
they not only inherit, but also acquire, useful
and beneficial habits, or modify those inherited.
For instance, the triangle spider (Hyftiotes cavatus),
of America, so called from constructing a web
that is only a segment of a circle, makes the web
not only a snare but also a gin, 7.e., a stratagem
or contrivance closing suddenly upon the snared
victim. When, from position or other circum-
stances, it has been found necessary to keep
the web constantly extended and drawn taut, it
is often found that the circular-web spiders will
attach a weight to the end of a line connected by
cords with the framework of the whole of the web.
An instance of this adaptation to environment has
recently come under my notice. A lead water-
supply pipe runs along the ceiling of a cellar, and
from it depended a piece of twisted string, about
eight inches in length. The end of this string was
drawn upwards by the spider with a strong silken
strand attached to the ceiling some little distance
away from the leaden pipe, so that the string
formed a perfect curve. In the space thus bounded
by the ceiling, the string and the silken strand,
joining the two latter, a perfect circular web had
been constructed by the ingenious spider, the string
acting as a weight or counterpoise to keep the web
firmly stretched, as well as forming a necessary
boundary to it for the attachment of strands.
2, St. Alban’s Villas, Heaton Chapel, Manchester
116
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
FASCINATION BY SNAKES.
By Haroxip S. FEerGuson, F.L.S.
N° error is apparently more rooted in the
human mind than that which attributes to
snakes a peculiar power called ‘‘ fascination,”
which they are believed to be capable of volun-
tarily exercising. By this power they are said to
be able so to paralyze their victims that they are
rendered utterly incapable of movement, and wait
for the attack of a snake, or even go forward to meet
it, in fear and trembling, but without any power
of retaliation. Now anyone who watches the
behaviour of small animals placed alive as food in
the cages in which snakes are kept in captivity, in
the hope of seeing this marvellous power in opera-
tion, will be grievously disappointed; chickens,
rats, guinea-pigs, rabbits, all move about with an
utter absence of fear of the snakes. It may be
said that all these are more or less domesticated
animals, and have no hereditary dread of their
natural enemy; but wild rats, placed in the cage
of their particular pursuer, the rat-snake of India
(Zamenis mucosus), exhibit an absence of fear.
How, then, is it possible to account for the
existence of the belief in the possession by snakes
of the so-called power of fascination? It may
have arisen from several causes. An observer may
come on the scene and find a number of birds
mobbing a snake just as they will mob an owl or
kite. The dashes of the birds towards the snake
and their fluttering round it may easily be put
down to the effect of the snake’s glance, while
they are, in reality, merely the attempts of the
birds to drive off the intruder. A mother bird
whose young are attacked will almost certainly
behave in this way, and may herself fall a victim,
not to the power of fascination in the snake, but
to the force of her maternal feelings. Then again
it has been noticed that a hen placed in a snake’s
cage will often go towards it and make a determined
peck at the snake’s tongue. Dr. Stradling has also
seen a frog doing the same thing. Were this seen
to occur in a wild bird it might easily be put down
to fascination. With regard to snakes that kill
their prey by the injection of poison, it is even
more easy to account for the appearance of
the power, for they bite once and once only.
The poison does not kill at once; the victim
flutters on to a branch, it may be, or runs a
short distance and stops, the snake watches
it, the poison does its deadly work, and the
bird falls. Anyone who comes up not having
seen the attack might in this way be readily
deceived into imagining that it was the glance of the
snake and not the poison that caused the victim to
fall. It may be then the approach of an insectivo-
rous bird or mammal who, taking the movements of
the snake’s tongue for those of a worm or insect
hopes to secure a meal. It may be the mobbing
of the snake by the companions of a victim that
has been seized, or of a mother whose nest has
been robbed ; it may be simply the effect of poison
already injected before the observer has come
upon the scene, or it may be simple curiosity.
These explanations should suffice to satisfy all
those whose minds are not so filled with the love
of mystery as to make them prefer to believe in the
possession of this power, simply because it is
mysterious, and therefore to refuse a common-sense
explanation. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
one or other of the above causes has been at
What then of the hundredth case, and
what about the fascination exercised On man,
cases of which have undoubtedly been recorded ?
The explanation lies in the probability that it is
a case of hypnotism; it may be said, however,
this is giving up the whole argument and admitting
that a snake can fascinate, only it is calling the
power by another name and saying that it can
hypnotise. But this is notso. Thesnake does not
hypnotise, the person is self-mesmerised ; the action
is purely subjective. Everyone knows the school-
boy trick of holding a cock with its beak pressed
against a table and drawing a chalk-line from the
tip of the beak along the table. The bird will
remain in the position it has been placed in though
perfectly free to move. Now the snake no more
exercises the power voluntarily than does the chalk-
line; position and tactile impression here produce
hypnotism, and visual impression can produce it
likewise. It is an error to suppose will power has
anything to do with the effect. The matter has
been taken up scientifically by the medical
profession, especially in France, and it has been
found that the hypnotic state of sleep, or trance, or
whatever it may be termed, can be produced by
looking fixedly at the operator, or at a coin or at
the tip of one’s own nose; it is not necessary to go
into the question of how the result is brought about,
but there is a physiological explanation. What
happens then in the hundredth case is that the man
or the animal may be self-hypnotised by gazing
fixedly at the snake, the subject, being thus thrown
into a sort of trance, making no attempt to move out
of danger, unless roused by some exterior influence.
We may conclude then that the attribution to
snakes of the power of fascination is due to faulty
observation, and the drawing of conclusions from
incorrect premises.
work.
Trevandvum, Madvas; April 29th, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 11
SUBSEIMIULES FOR
By W.
1 the mysterious processes which constitute the
life and growth of plants, there are produced
many chemical substances of great value to man-
kind. Certain sugars, for example, are elaborated
in the growth of fruits, from which they may be
obtained by comparatively simple methods. But
the dependence upon the cultivation of fruits for
our supply of sugar necessitates the expenditure of
much time and labour, which might possibly be
more profitably devoted to other kinds of industry,
and the question arises whether such substances,
hitherto only obtained from plant life, cannot be
produced by some more direct artificial means.
Even though the artificial process may be very
difficult and intricate, yet any method which will
replace the tedious growth and laborious cultiva-
tion of plant life will be deserving of attention.
The production of these so-called organic
substances. was at one time regarded as possible
only in the exercise of what was termed “living
force,” but the many efforts which have been made
to prepare or build up such bodies from materials
occurring in the inorganic world have now been
crowned with startling success. Great progress
has been made in this direction in recent years,
until now, so far from such artificial formations
being impossible, it is considered that when the
constitution of an organic substance is thoroughly
well known, the means of artificially preparing it
may reasonably be expected to be discovered.
In the case of many organic bodies, however,
the difficulty is to obtain an adequate knowledge
of their constitution. The chemical compounds
found in the mineral kingdom usually contain
comparatively simple proportions of the elementary
bodies, and their preparation is not, as a rule,
difficult ; but the organic compounds are generally
not so simple in character and, indeed, the
constitution of many familiar substances is so
alarmingly complicated as to resist all attempts
to analyse them satisfactorily. The chemical
changes by which they are naturally produced,
and also many of those changes which are con-
tinually taking place in the life of plants, are,
moreover, very imperfectly understood. In
thousands of cases, however, the artificial forma-
tion in the laboratory of the simple organic
compounds is now quite easy of accomplishment.
The chemist can prepare, for example, the well-
known tartaric acid, the acid of unripe grapes, and
occurring in the crystalline crusts of tartar,
deposited in the fermentation of grape juice; also,
citric acid, which gives the sourness to oranges
and lemons, and oil of mustard—the cause of the
“I
PEANT = PRODUCTS:
E. Orp.
pungent properties of mustard paste; besides
many other compounds not so well known in
ordinary life. Earnest investigations are being
pursued in the endeavour to analyse and prepare
the more complex organic bodies met with in
nature, with the hope of discovering an easier and
cheaper method of production.
Probably in no field has chemical research been
so fruitful as in that of the coal-tar products.
From this substance have been prepared valuable
compounds, which have entirely replaced many of
the natural dyes formerly to be obtained only from
plants. The beautiful dye known as alizarin, or
madder, is an interesting case of this kind. It is
largely used by the calico printer and turkey-red
dyer, and produces a red or violet colour accord-
ing to the substance with which the fabric is
mordanted; it also forms the insoluble coloured
compounds known as “‘lakes.’’ At one time it was
obtained exclusively from the rcot of the madder
plant, which was extensively cultivated for this
purpose in India, Persia, and the Levant, and the
trade in the natural product was, until recent
years, carried on in France, Italy, and Turkey.
The growth of the plant requires a rich soil, and
occupies several years. The chemist, however,
has discovered a very much cheaper and more
expeditious method of obtaining this valuable dye.
In 1868, it was observed that when heated with
zinc dust, it yielded the substance anthracene, cne
of the coal-tar products, and this observation led
to the discovery that alizarin itself could be pre-
pared from anthracene. Though the artificial
alizarin was for some time difficult to obtain in a
state suitable for its industrial application, further
attention to the means of preparing it overcame
this difficulty, and its manufacture for commercial
use, now carried on on a large scale, has entirely
replaced the importation of the natural product.
Many other valuable dyes and important
chemical compounds are now obtained from coal-
tar, which, at one time an almost valueless bye-
product in the manufacture of illuminating gas, has
proved a veritable ‘“‘happy hunting-ground”’’ to
the chemist. The valuable blue dye, indigo,
suitable for woollen fabrics, and known as a dye
for thousands of years, is still prepared from the
indigo plant, which is grown abundantly in Africa,
the West Iadies, and South America. Indigo has
now, however, been prepared from coal-tar,
though the process is not yet cheap enough to
admit of the artificial indigo being used instead
of the natural product in the colour industry.
Aniline also, which gives colouring matters of
118 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
incomparable richness, can be prepared from indigo,
- but is now got directly from coal tar. Of the aniline
dyes so obtained may be mentioned rosanilihe, or
aniline red, which gives the beautiful magenta,
and which was discovered owing to the deep
red colour produced by the action of nitric acid
on aniline.
The chemist has succeeded in preparing many
of the odoriferous products of plants, such as
bitter almond oil, used for scenting soaps, and a
. flavouring agent in cookery; the oil of mustard,
already mentioned, obtained from the mustard
plant, and occurring also in the root of the common
_Mmignonette; and the sweet smelling principle of
the meadow sweet. Salicylic acid, formerly
obtained from the winter-green plant, is now
_artificially produced on a large scale. It is largely
_used as an antiseptic, and is useful for the preserva-
tion of articles of food, being free from taste and
_smell._. The artificially prepared vanilla, the
familiar flavouring agent in chocolate and con-
fectionery, will probably replace the natural
substance, which is obtained from the pods of
orchids. Some of the alkaloids, the valuable com-
pounds used in medicine, have also been artificially
prepared—atropine, occurring as a constituent of
belladonna, which exercises a characteristic effect
on the pupil of the eye; and coniine, the active
principle of hemlock. The constitution of the
alkaloid nicotine, the poisonous oil of stupe-
fying odour occurring in tobacco, is also very well
understood, and the attempt to prepare it artificially -
will probably be successful.
Lastly, two varieties of the sugars, that interesting
class of bodies so useful to mankind, and to the
production of which from plant life so much land
and labour are devoted, have recently been artifici-
ally obtained. These are the glucose, or grape
sugar, contained in most sweet fruits, and forming
the solid and crystallizable part of honey; and the
sweeter levulose contained in grapes, cherries, figs,
and gooseberries. There is now used, to a certain
extent, in lieu of the natural sugar the substance
saccharine, manufactured from a derivative of
coal-tar.
It is impossible to foresee how far the art of the
chemist may be successful in the artifical formation
of the innumerable organic substances occurring in
nature, and to what extent our foods even may in
time be provided by chemical processes in the
laboratory. In view of the increasing populations
of the globe, and the struggle for existence, the
importance to mankind of such investigations
cannot be over-estimated, while apart from their
value as a means of affording easier conditions of
existence, it is interesting to find the marvellous
processes of nature so successfully imitated.
45, Comley Bank Avenue, Edinburgh ;
Fanuary 22nd, 1895.
BERLIN NATURAL HISTORY
MUSEUM.
USEUM work being a branch of natural
history that demands increasing attention,
as its importance is more fully realized, it may
interest the readers of ScteENcE-Gossip to see the
following notes on the ‘‘ Museum fir Naturkunde,”
jn Berlin. Though not nearly so large or complete
as the Natural History Department at South
Kensington—the whole collection open to the
public consisting only of ten galleries—there are
many particularly important specimens and series.
Perhaps the most remarkable of all the exhibits
is the famous Archgopteryx, that lizard-like fossil
bird which has excited and still is exciting so
much discussion among palzontologists, Beside it
is a cast of the London specimen, so that the two
may easily be compared and studied. In the same
room is a single feather of another species of
Archaeopteryx (A. lithographica). Although there is
nothing to correspond to -the large central
introductory hall at South Kensington, with its
splendid educational examples, one cannot help being
struck with the number and excellence of the educa-
tional. models distributed throughout the rooms.
For instance, there is a series of twenty-two models
illustrating the development of the frog’s ovum,
another series illustrating that of the trout’s ovum.
In all departments we find simple and artistic
models of the circulation, muscular system,
digestive apparatus and others, with all the parts
clearly named. Among other interesting models
are those of the labyrinths of ears, of mammalian
brains, a series showing the different positions
used in the flight of a seagull, a realistic oyster
bed, a coral reef, and a series showing the different
forms of Echinoderm larvez. The birds are not
arranged in the artistic manner as at South
Kensington.” There are two collections: the first,
native; the second, a systematic collection of birds;
and the same system is used for the mammals. In
both these rooms there are a great many skeletons
with the names plainly marked, so that each bone
is clearly recognizable. The insect room has a
particularly interesting and beautifully got up
series of the various plant-lice, aphides, - gall-flies,
etc., which injure plants, showing the harm they
effect. The Lepidoptera are all kept in glass cases
and not protected from the light at all, but they do
not seem to have suffered in consequence, their
colours retaining their brightness well; the same
may be said of the dragon-flies. The Echino-
dermata and Ccelenterata are very well represented.
At present there are no guides published to the
museum, which is a great loss. The botanical
collections are not kept in the same building, but
in a museum in the Botanical Gardens.
CATHERINE A. WINCKWORTH.
11, Old Stetne, Brighton May 22nd, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
AN
119
EXAMPLE OF. ASCIDIA.
By Joun T. CARRINGTON.
E have received from Mr. F. Holt, Park View
Nursery, Hollins Lane, Accrington, a
curious case of abnormal growth of a cabbage-leaf,
found on June 13th last. The midrib on the
underside, as will be seen from the drawing we
reproduce, has divided at about three-fourths its
length, and the lower portion formed itself into a
stalk of about three inches in length. At the end of
the stalk is a perfectly symmetrical funnel-shaped
cup, of material similar to the leaf-substance, but
somewhat thinner in texture. From the point of
division the ‘‘stalk”’ is pendant, the whole growth
forming an elegant deviation from the usually
inartistic shape of a cabbage-leaf. Dr. Maxwell
cabbage-leaf, which is figured on this page. These
cups are termed ascidia or pitchers, which are
formed from the cohesion of the margins of one or
more leaves. Dr. Masters refers in his work to
the investigation of the Belgian Professor, Charles
Morren, who divides these structures under two
heads, according as they are formed from one or
more leaves. The former are termed Monophyl-
lous. and the latter Polyphyllous. In the first
group, Professor Morren gives a list of twenty-
eight species of plants in which monophyllous
ascidia occur. Instances of polyphyllous formation
are evidently less common, for in this division he
mentions but three species of plants; Triphyllous,
ABNORMAL CABBAGE-LEAF.
Tylden Masters, F.R.S., in his valuable work upon
Vegetable Teratology, published by the Ray
Society, in 1869, figures a similar instance on a
lettuce-leaf. It is a case of enation or supplemen-
tary outgrowth from another growth previously
formed.
This monstrosity is not so rare as many people
may imagine, and it appears that the various
species and varieties of a cabbage family are
especially subject to enation.
Dr. Masters groups it under ‘‘ Formation of
Tubes” in a section of his book devoted to
deformities. In his figure the cup on the lettuce-
leaf is about the same shape as that on Mr. Holt’s
or formed by the union of three leaves, is only
instanced once, when it occurred on a leaf of Paris
quadrifolia.
The case we figure on this page hardly comes
under the above grouping of varieties of ascidia
formed from the union of one or more leaves, but
seems to be the result of a peculiar excrescence or
hypertrophy of the leaf. Cases of this kind, according
to Dr. Masters, occur occasionally on the leaves of
cabbages, lettuces, aristolochia, etc. The term
hypertrophy serves as a general one to comprise all
the instances of excessive growth and increased size
of organs. Here it is intended to indicate more a
variation than a deformity.
120
SCGLENGEZG OSS TP: :
GALL FORMATION.
By SopHia ARMITT.
HE birds know better how to find the life that
is inside galls than do human beings. In
November and December they are searching among
fallen oak-leaves for the cherry-galls, and opening
them for the fat grubs that lie therein. An observer
who is interested in the habits of birds, and had
been watching them in the woods in December,
1893, brought in a lot of these cherry-galls and
placed them on moss inside a Dresden china cup
in the family sitting-room, to see what would
come of them. In the course of a few days, quiet
readers were frequently disturbed by the settling of
peculiar flies upon them in a markedly unpleasant
manner, causing involuntary and spasmodic starts.
Upon investigation it was found that the gall-flies
were emerging from the galls, and the bird observer
was requested to remove those galls to a different
place. This circumstance was calculated to arouse
curiosity. Were gall-flies really maturing and
emerging in winter? If so, how would they get
along till the summer came and there were new oak-
leaves for them to put their eggs in?
Dr. Adler’s book, reviewed in your last volume,
page 88, entitled, ‘Alternating Generations: A
Study of Oak-Galls and Gall-Flies,” solved these
questions. These flies (Dvyophanta scutillavis) do
emerge, in any case, in winter from the cherry-gall.
It may be in nature they appear in January
or in February, but always after a frost, for
a thaw destroys the gall which is their home.
They are in this generation of only one sex,
and they live only a few days. These flies
search for little adventitious buds on the stem
of the oak-tree wherein they place their eggs.
In April the leaves from the buds pricked by the
flies produce new galls that are quite different
from the cherry-galls from which the flies emerged.
These galls are dark violet and velvety, and are
known as those of Spathegaster taschenbergi. In
May and June the perfect flies of this new genera-
tion leave their galls. They are half the size of
the mother or winter-fly, and of two sexes. Ina
few days the females begin searching for the
youngest and tenderest leaves, to prick the underside
of the veins, and place there their eggs. In each
pricked spot, when the egg hatches out as a grub,
will begin to grow a new cherry-gall, exactly like
the one in which the grandmother passed the
months which ended in the few days only of open-
air existence.
The life story of the spangle-gall (Newroterus
leuticularis) varies from this. Everyone knows the
pretty spangles beneath the oak-leaves in July and
onwards. They fall in autumn on the leaves, but
the life inside does not die with the leaf, it lives on
through the winter, and the fly comes out in April
or May, The gall-fly immediately begins to examine
buds carefully with its antennz; when satisfied
with a suitable one, it pushes its ovipositor deep
therein, a long and difficult business, and lays one
egg. When the bud expands, a small round sappy
gall is seen either under a leaf or on a male flower-
catkin. This is the currant-gall (Spathegaster
baccarum), smaller when on the flower than when on
the leaf. From these the flies emerge in early
June, male and female this time. The young,
tender leaves are then sought for, and inside their
under surfaces eggs are placed from which spangle-
galls will form, serving as a home for their tiny
inmates, through summer and winter, till the next
year’s new growing-time.
Much of Dr. Herman Adler’s interesting book
treats of the insects. There are minute descrip-
tions of their forms and stages of life history. I
have drawn the purely botanical parts together in
the following paragraphs.
Galls occur on buds, leaves, flowers, bark or
root ; but wherever they are, they originate always
from the same parent tissue, from the formative
cells that are called the cambium ring. A layer of
this tissue extends through every plant from the
finest root fibres to the most distant leaves. All
vegetable life springs from the cambium layer ; its
cells are the theatre of actual metabolism, and yet
they are not differentiated into a stable tissue. It
is from these cells that all gall-formation proceeds.
When a gall-fly pierces the cambium layer and
deposits an egg there, gall-formation does not
certainly follow, it only begins when the larva
emerges from the egg.
In this statement Dr. Adler differs from Sir
John Lubbock and others, and he limits it to the
action of oak gall-flies, having observed that flies
producing willow galls pour into the wound a
secretion which causes new cell-formation in the
course of a few hours. On the oak-tree, procedure
is different; it is only when the larva breaks
through the egg-case and touches the surrounding
cells with its tiny mandibles that rapid cell-growth
is set up. Once begun, however, it goes on so
quickly that while one end of the larva is still in
its egg-case, a wall-like mass of cells has risen up
in front of it. This rapid cell-growth is due to the
irritation of the biting grub upon the highly
formative cells of the cambium, which possess
every condition for growth.
One gall-fly (Trigonaspis crustalis) pricks the
leaves in May ; it drives its ovipositor into the vein
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
of the leaf, leaving alwaysa distinct mark. Months
pass before any gall-formation can be seen, it is
not till September that the egg hatches out, and
the delicate mandibles of the larva start the active
cambium cells into gall-formations. A gall is not
parasitic in the surrounding tissue, it is of the same
elements, only substituting itself for them by faster
growth and still growing proportionately to the
growth of the cellular layer around it. In a leaf-
gall the formation begins in the layer of formative
cells on the under surface. Those of the upper
surface having already become stable, they can
undergo no further change, and therefore respond
to no irritation ; they are incapable of forming new
cells. At first the cell-growth only affects a small
zone around it, but as it acquires a vascular system
of its own it begins to grow as an independent
structure. It is different when the eggs are laid in
a bud, then the biting larva touches rudimentary
leaves consisting of still unmodified cells, all equally
capable of development whether of upper or under
surfaces. Then both surfaces take part in gall
formation, and when the leaf comes to be unfolded
it is found that there is an absence of leaf tissue,
and that the resulting gall grows through the leaf
substance.
Again, it is different when eggs are laid in the
cambium layer of the bark. Here the cells which
first form round the larva, cannot be distinguished
from adjacent cambium tissue, but in later growth
there is a great contrast. The outer zone of the
cambium ring produces the cells of the bast
parenchyma, while the central zoneof the cambium
produces the wood parenchyma, and in these galls
there is, too, a soft zone of sappy parenchymatous
cells, and a hard central zone of wood parenchyma.
In all bark-galls the woody centre penetrates into
the woody tissue of the tree, while the soft fleshy
circumference proceeds from the bark. New cell-
growth is arranged in concentric layers round the
larva, accompanied by changes in cell contents.
The cells next the larva swell out, the cell contents
become cloudy, and a multitude of starch granules
appear. The rudimentary gall draws its first
nourishment from the surrounding tissue, later it is
more independent, for a new element comes in.
From the spiral vessels lying in the cambium ring,
processes are driven into the rudimentary gall:
the entrance of these vessels occurs at a definite
spot on the lower surface of the gall, whether it is
connected with the parent tissue by a broad base
or a small stalk. The gall has now become an
independent structure and is practically withdrawn
from the direct influence of the cellular area
around it, from which it sprang. Its individuality
of organisation is shown by complicated transmu-
tations of cells originally alike, especially in the
cells of the exterior, which develop peculiar
pigments and hairs of various kinds, both in great
I2I
variety of forms. It is the value of these different
structures, as protective contrivances, which has
secured their evolution by the gall. Some-
times the hairs exude a sticky sap which
keeps off parasites. Even smooth galls, like
Aphiloterix sieboldi, secrete a juice which attracts
ants, these protect the galls, like sentinels, driving
other insects off and often constructing a protective
mantle of earth around them. If the larva
perishes before the gall is mature its formation
is stunted. The influence of the larva is necessary
not only for the commencement but for the
completion of the gall. When a roundish inner
gall is found undeveloped, parasites are always
present. A gall pricked by parasites grows in an
anomalous manner. Galls contain not only the
larve that form them, they are often taken
possession of by insects that are called ‘‘inquilines’’
or lodgers of the oak-gall flies. These creatures
enhance the natural difficulties of observation of
gall-formation; they are so nearly related to the
true gall-flies that they can only be distinguished
by the minutest characteristics. It is not doubted
that they have been developed from the true gall-
flies. By the use of a gall already formed the
prosperity of their progeny is more certainly
ensured. Unfortunately, these lodger-flies are
more easily reared and collected than the true gall-
makers. The gall-fly proceeds with great care in
the choice of tender leaves, or terminal buds, or
flower buds, but in spite of its care galls often
fail to appear where eggs have been laid.
The greatest number fail in the buds where
only one egg is laid. Species emerging in
summer can only prick winter buds which
are waiting the coming of the next growing
period, and in many seasons a premature and
anomalous development of winter buds may be
absent. This is not the only reason; the egg must
be placed exactly in the cambium ring, which lies
like a fine seam in the base of the bud, and if the
egg is not laid in this fine seam, it perishes without
forming a gall. Considering the difficulty to be
overcome in placing the egg in precisely the right
spot, it is not surprising if many eggs are laid
amiss. Failures occur less frequently in leaf-galls
pricked in bud, because the fly has choice of much
wider territory—the whole of the rudimentary leaves
in the bud. Failures are not usually observed at
all where the fly pricks the surface of bark or leaf,
because the cell region to be struck is always at one
uniform depth below the surface. Gall-formation
is dependent on the growing period of the tree, and
ceases at its close. Most galls mature in the space
of a year. Those which require two years are bark-
galls; the first year the rudiment is formed and then
development ceases till the next spring, when it is
. resumed with the new period of vegetative activity.
Dr. Adler’s book is beautifully illustrated; all
Hes)
122
the galls he experimented upon are portrayed in
colour. The greater part of the volume is occupied
by a detailed account of his years of experiments
and observations on the oak-galls and their inmates.
The life cycle of each gall-fly is made up of two
generations, each one of which produces its own
sort of gall different from the other. One genera-
tion consists of two sexes, the other of one only.
The life of the gall-fly is generally very short, of
SCIENGE-GOSSIP.
days only, while the life of the insect inside the
gall may be months or years. These facts seem to
be common to ail the gall-flies investigated. Many
of the life stories are more curious than the two
I have only touched upon as being perhaps the
best-known galls. There are the artichoke-galls,
the oak-apples, and the marble-galls; but your
readers will doubtless prefer to have the best part
of an interesting book to study for themselves.
Ambleside; Fine, 1895.
AOUPNIR IIE OUR MOC IOSIC OIG, IE 18,
By JAMES BurRTON.
Ey EONS engaged to any extent in the study
of microscopical pond-life is aware how
interesting, and, indeed, almost indispensable, is
some kind of aquarium for watching the development
of, and having ready to hand, the various minuter
forms of animals and plants. In the ‘‘Notes of a
Home-Naturalist,” which have appeared in the
new series of ScIENCE-GossiP, we see how fascin-
ating is this study, and also how well observation
may be carried on even with such simple apparatus
as a glass jam-bottle. Though vessels of this or
some similar kind answer the requirements of their
living inhabitants very well, having the advantage
of cheapness and being easily procurable, yet every-
one who has used them knows that it is practically
impossible to make satisfactory observation of the
more minute forms in them, owing to the distor-
tion caused by their shape and irregular surface.
The want of clearness of the glass also helps to
prevent the use of the ordinary pocket-lens, or
other means of magnification.
On the other hand, an aquarium of the usual
type, but suitable size, with flat glass sides, must
either be bought, and that cannot always be
readily done, or made at home. Against these
drawbacks, however, must be placed the immense
advantage that a lens can be brought into action
on such a vessel, if requisite. Even, by some
special arrangements, the lower powers of the
compound microscope are available, and the con-
tained organisms may at all times be watched with
ease and pleasure. Anyone who has not tried this
form will be greatly surprised on their first ex-
perience of its clearness and general superiority,
while the endless amusement and profitable obser-
vation as well, are increased a hundred-fold.
One of the greatest disadvantages of small
aquaria made in the usual way is their liability to
leak, but this tendency is quite overcome without
extra difficulty of construction in the form I pro-
pose to describe. I have two in use, home-made,
on this plan, which answer admirably. Of course
any size that suits the purpose or taste may be
chosen, but for simplicity’s sake I will describe one
which, when finished, is six inches long by six
inches high, and about two and a half inches
through from front to back, as this seems a very
convenient measurement. A strip of sheet zinc
should be obtained eighteen inches long and three
inches wide. Six inches from each end draw a line
across, which can be done with a sharp nail, three-
sixteenths of an inch from each side draw a line
from end to end. Where this line crosses the
others a small right-angled piece is to be cut out.
Now bend the edge of the sheet up to a right angle
along the lines drawn near the sides. This is best
done with a small hand vice or broad pair of pliers.
Next bend the strip where marked across, so that
the ends stand up at a right angle with the middle
portion, this will make the frame of the aquarium.
Two holes should be made in the middle portion
through which brass screws should pass into a
piece of board about seven and a half inches long,
by four inches wide, to form the stand. It is
better, if it can be done, to soft solder over the
heads of the screws and neighbouring parts of the
zinc bottom. The bottom corners of the frame
may also be soldered with advantage, and a strip
of zinc about half an inch wide across the top at
each side from end to end is also an improvement,
but may be dispensed with. In order to get the
glass the exact size, it is a good plan first to cuta
piece of cardboard to fit in the frame where it is to
go. Two pieces of glass about six inches by six
inches will be required for the front and back.
Put these in their places and then cut a piece to fit
closely at each end of the frame, within the ends of
the front and back pieces. Of course the glass in
this position cannot be seen through, because it
fits against the zinc ends, but it makes a very
strong joint, retains the other pieces in place, and
prevents all danger of leakage. When these ends
are fitted in, a piece should be cut to fit the
bottom; this, when in position, will lie inside both
the front and back, and two ends, and will make a
sound joint there, where it is most important.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
The cement, or ‘‘stopping,” as it is called, for
fastening the glass, is made from ordinary white
lead as sold at the paint shops, and red lead which
is sold in powder. As much of this should be
worked up with the white lead as is possible
without making it too stiff, about the consistency
of putty or dough is
right. A few drops
of gold-size or
varnish added will
make it work more
easily and dry better.
Some of this should
be spread round the
turned-up edges of
the zinc frame, and
the front and back
glasses be put in,
just as a glazier puts
a square in a window,
taking care to bring
the glass as close to
the frame as possible.
Next spread some of the stopping evenly all over
one side of the end-pieces, for which purpose it
should be made rather softer, and then squeeze
them close to the zinc ends. In the same way
spread the glass for the bottom, and squeeze it
into its place. Any stopping that is pressed out
RAMBLES ON
123
should be scraped off, and the joints be neatly
smoothed. ;
I have drawn a sectional plan of one end of the
finished aquarium, which shows how the glass at
the end makes a kind of double joint with the sides
(the bottom piece does the same in its place) which
very effectually pre-
vents the water get-
ting through.
the zinc frame; bb
the back and front
glasses, forming the
sides of the vessel; ¢ ¢
the end-piece fitting
between them, and
the black line shows
the cement.
The aquarium,
when finished,should
be left about a week
a ais
SECTION OF ONE END oF AQUARIUM. .- for the stopping to
harden, and then it
should be ready for
A piece of wood eight and a half inches
long and five inches wide, fastened by two screws
under the stand, as already described, improves the
appearance, and makes it firmer. The wood and
zinc ends may be painted any desired colour, for
which purpose enamel paint is very suitable.
West Hampstead ; Fune, 1895.
use.
A HIGHLAND REAIK.
By C. H. BLAKIsTON.
AEHERE are few places where the distinctly
alpine flora of Great Britain is more easily
attainable than in the neighbourhood of Pitlochry,
in Perthshire. Ben-y-Vrackie, one of the offshoots
of the Grampian range, rises almost immediately
behind the village, toa height of 2,787 feet. The
record of what we were able to accomplish in the
course of two separate afternoon walks, may prove
of interest to others, who, like ourselves, as residents
in the South of England, have but few opportunities
of examining in their native habitat, the plants of
the higher latitudes. The following notes include
only those species which are not to be found in
more southerly districts.
The first mile out of Pitlochry, up to the little
village of Moulin, did not produce anything worthy
of remark, excepting that any lover of flowers could
not fail to be attracted by the beauty of the festoons
of the scarlet-flowered Tvopaoluwm speciosum, which
climbed in abundance up every cottage-wall. This
plant, so capricious in most places, was growing
here like a weed. After passing the last house, the
path leads through a gate into a narrow ravine,
where the evidences of the storm of November,
1893, were shown by the numerous uprooted fir-
trees. Emerging from this glen, we entered upon
some wet fields, and here we lighted on our first find,
Saxifraga aizoides, which we afterwards found most
plentifully, whenever a certain elevation
reached. Here also, ona bank, Gentianaw campestris
and Habenaria viridis were growing in profusion, the
latter mostly gone to seed, as it was late in August ;
Pinguicula vulgavis was abundant everywhere. A
little further onward the open moor was reached.
from which we could look back on Pitlochry and
the Tummel Valley, with the crests of Farragon
beyond. The track (which was as oftén as not a
watercourse) led up a long heathy slope, and
amongst the stones, we found, amongst other mosses,
Bryum filiforme and Bartramia ithyphylla. On
reaching the crest of the ridge, we saw the cone-
shaped top of Ben-y-Vrackie in front of us, on the
further side of a swampy depression. The several
boggy pools, though looking likely spots, did not
Was
give us anything beyond the ordinary bog-plants of
lower levels. The final ascent was first a steep
124
stony slope with little on it but heather, until we
reached a little rill by the side of which were
growing Savifvaga stellavis, Carex dioica and Alchemilla
alpina. As we ascended, a careful search was re-
warded by the discovery of Savifraga nivalis, Poa
alpina, and Polygonum viviparum. From the top of
the mountain there was a magnificent view of the
Grampian Range, and along the valley of the
Tummel, over Lochs Tummel and Rannoch to the
hills of Glencoe. Intending to descend to the
Kirkmichael Road, we crossed a spur of the hill, and
followed another: rill some little distance. Here
we found Thalictrum alpinum, Selaginella selaginotdes,
Saxifraga oppositifolia, Juncus trighumis, Carex rvupestris,
and a few leaves of Rubus chamemorus, but no fruit?
which, however, we found and enjoyed a few days
later on Schiehallion and Ben-y-gloe; the acid berries
being of more than botanical interest in the middle
of a hot day’s walk. Our time did not allow us
to carry out our intention of descending by this
route, and we had to make the best of our way
back by the path on which we came up.
On a second occasion, intending to explore the
summit more thoroughly, we pushed on until within
a few hundred feet of it. Then, turning off the
track, we clambered over the loose stones and
grassy slopes, where we were fortunate enough to
find Cervastium alpinum, Gnaphalium supinum and
Astragalus alpinus; a little further on we gathered
Potentilla sibbaldii, and then a mist made it advisable
for us to descend. Amongst the loose rocks on our
way down, was growing Polystichum lonchitis, of
which every frond that we found had been nibbled
by some animal. The last plant that we lit upon
was a Hievacium, which proved on examinaticn to
be H. nigresscens, var. lingulatum. Both these walks
were in the afternoon, each only taking between
four and five hours. Had we had more time at
our disposal, our list would probably have been
considerably extended.
Exwick, near Exeter ; March 12th, 1895.
EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE.
alee subject of Technical Education is one in
which all Englishmen who wish their country
to hold its own against foreign nations, should be
interested. Our County Councils are doing some
work in framing schemes of agricultural and hor-
ticultural education, and in training instructors to
give practical men the kind of information they
lack. But there is great fear that the work done
by the County Councils may fail to reach those
practical cultivators for whom it is intended. In
addition to the experimental farms established,
foreign countries are continually publishing the
latest results in the form of leaflets, which are
distributed to farmers, market gardeners and hor-
ticulturists. One cannot expect farmers and fruit
or flower growers to attend evening lectures, but it
has been found that they will come to an experiment
station and see practical results. The County
Councils might easily establish small experiment
stations and issue journals.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
BACTERIA. AND FILTRATION.
lhe was pointed out in a recent lecture by an
eminent scientific man that so far as ordinary
filters were concerned, many kinds were little
better than culture beds for various species of
disease-producing bacteria. Examination showed
that filters which permitted any particles to pass
would admit the microbes to the water which was
supposed to be pure. This has been a source of
grave difficulty with sanitary officials, who found
the bacteria were in the water after passing through
the filter. Mons. Pasteur, the eminent bacterio-
logist has, however, so perfected the invention of his
colleague, Dr. Chamberland, that it now seems to
be impossible to conceive the smallest bacilli
passing with the water. The ‘‘ Pasteur Germ
Filter” is made in the form of a long narrow,
hollow tube, constructed of porous earths blended
and baked into a strong hard substance, like
porcelain in appearance. Although highly porous,
the interstices are so fine that no solid substance,
be it ever so small, can pass the outside. To clean
this tube it is only necessary to sponge or brush
the outside to remove whatever has become
attached, when the filter is again ready for work,
so lasting practically ‘‘for always.” It seems, in
face of the modern knowledge of bacteria, almost
hopeless to expect to get rid from the water of all
these dangers to human life and happiness; but we
have in the Pasteur Filter, certain safeguard, if the
water be soon used and not allowed to stand until
an outside supply of bacteria can again infest it.
Some interesting particulars as to the action of
filters in stopping those bacteria which infest water
were published in the ‘‘ British Medical Journal ”’
of December 2oth last. The article deals with the
report of investigations, then recently concluded,
into the action of every known filter. This examina-
tion was conducted at the Research Laboratory
of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons,
in London; and other investigations on filters
are referred to which took place in the Public
Health Laboratory of the University of Edinburgh.
Those of our readers who have not had oppor-
tunity of reading that article will find much that is
highly suggestive of danger in taking water which
has been imperfectly treated, or even made unsafe
through being nominally filtered by an imperfect
medium. In some filtering media, which have not
been frequently changed, masses of bacterial jelly
have been found with sufficient disease germs to
have killed half the inhabitants of a large city.
The sizes vary with the necessities of the users
of the Pasteur Filter, as they are made to treat
different quantities of water, of from two gallons
per day to hundreds of thousands of gallons ina
like period. These filters are supplied in England
by Defries and Sons, Limited, of London, and
cannot be too widely known.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
125
ee (GOAT = veOr Er.
By Epwarpb Ransom.
Ae is well known the larva of Cossus ligniperda is
an internal feeder, and its habits are, therefore,
difficult of observation. The eggs are laid in the
crevices of the bark of poplar, willow, ash, and other
trees about the middle of June. As soon as the
larve are hatched they commence eating their way
into the interior of the tree, driving their tunnels
upwards, right up into the larger branches. As
they remain for three years in the larval state, the
damage they cause to the timber can well be
imagined, especially if they are present in any
numbers. I donot think, however, that they impair
the vitality of the trees in which they feed. I have
two poplar trees in my garden which for years
have been infested with these larvz, and also with
the larve of Avomia moschota and sometimes, too, I
believe, with the larve of Trochilium apiformis.
Nevertheless, these trees are most luxuriant in
growth. I have a piece of one of the larger
branches, which I cut from one of these trees,
showing the burrows of one of these larve, and
there is not the least appearance of decay. When
a tree is pre-disposed to decay, or if the wet can
find entrance to their tunnels, then undoubtedly
they help to hasten the end. Probably they
also weaken the tree so that its branches are
more liable to be blown down in a heavy gale.
Even when a tree is very far advanced in decay
these larve may still be found feeding on the half-
rotten wood. There is an old ash tree not far from
here the trunk of which is entirely hollow, leaving
only part of the outer portion standing, in which
these larve may still be found in all stages of growth.
This tree is somewhat of a curiosity, as some of the
upper branches, being evidently unable to obtain
sufficient nourishment in consequence of decay of
the parent stem, have themselves thrown down
roots into the débris collected below in the hollow
trunk. These roots are hanging down inside the
trunk.
The presence of the larve of goat-moths in a
tree may often be detected by the peculiar odour
emanating from their tunnels, and also by the
appearance of a sort of sawdust (if I may so call it)
collected below, on the ground, around the trunk.
This wood-dust may be found also on the upper
sides of the branches, where it falls as it is pushed
out of the tunnels by the larva as they carry on
their depredations. The larve are full fed in the
autumn, and they then either spin a cocoon com-
posed of small pieces of wood gnawed from the
tree not far from the outlet of one of their tunnels,
or, quitting the tree, burrow below the ground. I
believe that they pupate below the ground far more
often than is generally supposed. My own ex-
perience shows that their usual habit is to do so.
The reason that the pupz are so seldom found by
entomologists when pupa digging, is in consequence
of their wandering a considerable distance from the
tree in which they have been feeding before bur-
rowing. I have never found them at a less distance
than about ten feet from the trunk, and I have
occasionally seen the larve wandering fully one
hundred feet from the nearest tree, evidently in
search of some suitable spot in which to burrow.
I could not ascertain any reason why they should
be so far away, as the ground was sufficiently soft
for them to burrow to a considerable depth quite
close to the trees. I have never known them
burrow so near to the tree that the branches could
in wet weather afford them any shelter. Possibly
they require more moisture than some species; if
so, it is a probable explanation of this habit. What-
ever be the reason, most of us have, at one time
or other, noticed these larvae marching along a
country lane, or garden path, quite a distance from
any tree where they could have fed.
When Cossus burrow below the ground they
spin a very tough cocoon composed of earth and
small stones. I have one in my collection meas-
uring two inches in length, being only a trifle longer
than the pupa. Although they leave the tree
in the autumn and immediately burrow, they do
not always spin the cocoon at once. I have
known them pass the winter in the larval state and
not commence to spin a cocoon until the middle or
end of March, or perhaps later. As the imagines
emerged in the following June, for so large a moth
they remained in the pupal state a very short time.
At other times the larve are known to spin their
cocoons in the autumn.
When searching for the pupz I find the following
plan very successful. In the early autumn I dig
over the ground round some tree in which I know
the larvee have been feeding. I commence digging
about four feet from the trunk and continue digging
as far away as practicable. If I am unsuccessful I
go over the same ground again after about a fort-
night’s interval, and continue to do so at regular
intervals until the commencement of winter. By
this means I often find the larve before they
commence to spin their cocoons. The cocoon so
much resembles a small clod of earth that it is
easily overlooked, and it is quite impossible to
search so large a portion of the ground as
thoroughly as when digging for pupz in the usual
manner.
Sudbury, Suffolk ; March, 18095.
126
DHE “hRENA” FILM-HOLDER:
Wiess: R. and J. Beck, of 68, Cornhill, Lon-
don, have added to their well-known ‘‘ Frena’
Camera a Film-holder, which will be most useful to
naturalists and others whilst travelling.
It can be
Fig. 1.—FILLING THE MAGAZINE.
fitted to any tripod-camera, like an ordinary dark
slide. It carries twenty cut-sheet celluloid films,
and changes these automatically. Fig. 1 represents
the holder open, ready for filling; fig. 2, closed.
and complete for use, This holder consists of
two parts, the maga-
zine and the receiver,
each being about half
as thick again as an
ordinary dark slide.
The exposure is made
with this apparatus in
the same way as with
a dark slide; that is to
say, by inserting the
magazine in the slide-
rails of the camera,
withdrawing and re- Fig. 2.—TuHeE ‘“ Frena” Fitm-Hoiper.
placing the shutter of
the holder, as shown
in fig. 3. By this action the exposure has
been made, and the foremost film transferred
from the magazine to the receiver. The ex-
posed films stored in the receiver may be
removed and developed singly or as a pack.
The great advantage of films generally, is their
lightness when compared with dry plates of
glass.
The prices of the complete
apparatus is {2 tos. for quarter-
plate, and £3 for half - plate
sizes. Sensitised Films, for use ZAZA
in the ‘“Frena” Film-Holder
JICTENEGE-GOSSIP.
VALUE OF SPECIMENS.
OX June 311th, Mr. L. C. Stevens sold at his
Great Rooms, Covent Garden, the collection
of Lepidoptera formed by Mr. J. E. Robson of
Hartlepool. The rank and file of the collection
sold for rather low prices, but the best varieties
reached, as usual, high figures. A Colias hyale
suffused with black as far as the central spot, which
specimen has been figured in Mr, Barrett’s book
and Mr. Mosley’s ‘ Illustrations,”’ sold for £4 tos.
A specimen of Lycena icavus £5 10s. Twenty
Vanessa urtice, including one variety like Newman’s
fourth figure of this species, reached /4 8s.
Argynnis aglia, a suffused variety accompanied
by ordinary forms, reached f/9. Another fine
collection of Lepidoptera is to be sold during July,
made by F. D. Wheeler, M.A., LL.D., F.E.S., of
Norwich, being very rich in Fen species. This
collection is a good example of the necessity for
long series of some insects, to show the range of
variation. On June 25th, an egg of the great auk was
sold at Mr. Stevens’ rooms. It is that figured in
the Memoirs of the Société Zoologique de France,
in 1888, plate 6, fig. C., and further notes on its
history appeared in the ‘‘ Bulletin” of the Société
in 1891. The figure is
far too highly-coloured,
the bright green patch
on the plate being no
more than indicated on
the egg. The egg is
interesting on account
of its granular texture
and very light-coloured
markings. It was taken
_ in Iceland about 1830,
by a shipowner of St.
Malo, who bequeathed
it to the Count Raoul de
Beracé, whose collection
was purchased by that celebrated oologist, Baron
D’Hamonville, from whose collection it was now
offered, he having still two others. The egg is
slightly cracked. It was sold to Mr. Jay, of Regent
Street, London, for 165 guineas, and is, we are told,
to form a kind of advertisement at his mourning
warehouse. At the same sale a wall-creeper’s five
eggs and nest sold for 14 guineas.
Complete.
are supplied in packs, arranged
in the order in which they are
to be inserted into the magazine.
There is an ingenious arrangement
of notches, which ensure thecorrect
use, in turn, of each of the films.
Fig. 3.—FILM-CHANGING.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
A STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPE.
E illustrate a useful instrument manufactured
by Carl Zeiss, especially suited to natura-
lists on account of its portability. When packed
in its box the instrument only occupies 12 inches x
74 xX 6finches. The case contains fittings, sliding
boxes for tubes, slides, etc., also sliding blocks for
cover-glasses and objectives, with other blocks for re-
agents. The price of the stand is £6, and objective
CARL ZEISS STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPE.
Stand VIa, -
styled ‘‘ A,” costs 24s., and ‘‘D,” 42s. each. They
are equal to #-inch and 4-inch, or the ordinary
student’s objectives. These stands are very solid
and steady, so that no student need wish for a
better working instrument than the one now sub-
mitted for our examination.
THE FOREST OF FRANKFORT.
oe DEPORT has its forest as London has
Epping Forest. The one at Frankfort is a
little larger than Epping, being roughly 8,000 acres
against 6,000 acres. Like Epping it is under the
management of the City, but is close at hand being
only separated by the river Main. The trees are
naturally mainly beech and oak, but early in the
fifteenth century, conifers, chiefly Scotch pine
were introduced, and now the woodlands present a
very varied appearance of mixed species of trees. In
extent it reaches about eight miles long by three
miles broad, being divided into two circles,
Oberwald and Unterwald. In the former beech
predominates on the limestone soil. It is needless
to add that the naturalists have at their doors a
beautiful observation and collecting ground.
1277
THE EVOLUTION OF THE EYE.
APTAIN Abney has been making some rather
remarkable observations on the development of
the eye, and it may perhaps interest readers of
SCIENCE-Gossip to hear some of his opinions on
the subject. The evolution which the eye has
undergone may be expressed as follows: (1) the
appreciation of light; (2) black and white; (3)
form ; (4) colour.
Captain Abney gives examples to illustrate his
theory. The Arca, for instance, is a mollusc
which has no palpable head and yet it possesses
an organ which enables it to distinguish between
light and darkness. The limpet has an eye which
is rather more advanced in development, and the
next stage is a depression which acts as a retina.
Then we may take the eye of a snail which has
an orifice covered with a transparent membrane.
Then we come to the eyes of the higher
cephalopods which can distinguish black and white,
and form, but not colour. Lastly we have the
human eye with its appreciation of light,
chiaro-oscuro, and colour. Captain Abney thinks
there is little doubt that the first colour-receiving
apparatus which was evolved was that which
enabled the eye to appreciate blue, next came green,
and finally red. A full report of Captain Abney’s
paper will be found in the ‘‘ Journal of Camera Club”’
for February. While on the subject of the eye it
may be interesting to refer to the artificial spectrum
top, recently brought out by Newton’s, of Fleet
Street. A card containing black and white bands
are rotated and distinct colour-bands are seen. It
is of interest to note that this discovery was
anticipated by Mr. S. N. Stewart, of Manchester.
In the Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., xv., he states that
he found certain colour-phenomena were caused
by intermittent stimulation with white light.
M. Hugo Magnus, Professor of Ophthalmology
at Breslau, in Germany, in a recent paper on the
“Sense of Colour in Man,” appears to think that
man’s organ of vision will become more and more
perfect as he accustoms himself to analyze his
sensations, and that in the future the human retina
will be capable of seeing colours which, at the
present time, do not act upon it at all. Primitive
man, according to M. Magnus, at first saw no
colours: he could but distinguish light, shade and
form. Then, as he grew more civilized, he saw
red and yellow. This can be proved, says our
author, for ‘‘neither in the ancient hymns of the
Vedas nor in the Old Testament is there mention of
a blue sky, and neither Homer nor Ezekiel appear
to have been sensible of nearly all the tints of the
rainbow.”’ The truth seems to be, that the ancients
saw as many colours as we do to-day, only they
had not words to describe all they saw.
Kensington. HERBERT C. FYFE.
128
SECTIONS FROM Mountain LimEsTONE.—Of all
the sedimentary rocks forming the crust of the
earth none have been so fully investigated as the
carboniferous, owing to the importance of coal and
limestone to an industrial country like England.
Fig. 1.—L. PORTLOCKI (Horizontal Section) x 15.
One of the most striking features of the mountain
limestone is the wonderful perfection, both of
symmetry and detail, in which nature has preserved
through such a long period the organic remains of
which it is composed. In some of the corals, the
spines of Echini and Foraminifere, indeed, the
calcareous remains are as sharp and clear in
character as in recent types. Visitors to museums
must often have been struck with this fact in
examining the shells, corals and other organisms of
which it is built up. If, however, they find this to
be the case with the unassisted eye, how much
more is it so when the help of the microscope tells
the story of their composition and_ structure?
Many are familiar with the fossil corals, Lithostro-
tion basaltiformis and other species of thisgenus. As
an instance of the interest attaching to their closer
examination I submit photo-micrographs of Lithos-
trotion portlockt x 15 dia., fig. 1 being a horizontal
section cut through a mass, which reveals the star-
shaped corallium very distinctly. The coralites
vary somewhat in size, are prismatic in shape, and
united by their thin outside walls. The chalice is
divided into from twenty-two to thirty-six septa,
very unequally developed, thin, slightly flexuous, the
principal ones extending almost to the columella,
which is compressed and prominent. Fig. 2 is a
vertical section from the same piece, and shows
that in the exterior zone of the coralites the
vesicular septa form two or three longitudinal
series, and are much inclined inwardly; that the
tubule are well developed, raised centrally and
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
divided exteriorally. The width of the coralites is
about a quarter of an inch. The specimen from
which they were cut is from the Peak district of
Derbyshire. In the volume of the Palzontological
Society for 1852, will be found H. Milne Edward’s
monograph of the fossil corals of the permian and
mountain limestone, with the beautiful plates he
prepared. This species, though not so widely
distributed as L. basaltifoyme, has been found
at Castleton, Bristol, Craigbenayth, Wellington,
Corwen and Llangollen, in North Wales, and,
according to Col. Portlock, at Kildress, and at
Kesh, in Ireland.—W. W. Midgley, F. R. Met. Soc.,
Museum, Bolton.
PHOTOGRAPHY IN CoLoursS.— To succeed in
obtaining the colours of nature in a photograph,
or photogram as some would have it, is the desire of
every photographer, amateur or professional. Mr.
F. E. Ives, of Philadelphia, has succeeded by his
system of composite heliochromy in giving us
coloured pictures which can be viewed on the
screen. Now Dr. J. Joly, of Dublin, has obtained
as good effects as Mr. Ives did, without a tithe of
the trouble or expense. At the Royal Society’s
Conversazione, on June 12th, Dr. Joly showed
some of his colour photographs, which are a
realization of composite heliochromy in a single
image. The method of composite heliochromy
requires three images superimposed by projection.
In these photographs the colour analysis and
synthesis are carried out in the one image. The
colours are the natural colours as they registered
themselves upon the plate, and in no case altered
after reproducton. The specimens shown are first
attempts, produced with rough apparatus. The
grained appearance of the image is avoidable with
proper appliances. The process of taking and
reproducing these photographs differs in no way
from ordinary photography upon the dry plate,
save that the sensitive plate is in the camera
Fig. 2.—L. porTLockt (Vertical Section) x 15
exposed behind a screen lined in particular colours.
The positive is subsequently viewed through a
screen lined with three other colours; the three
‘fundamental colours,’ which upon the three-
colour theory of vision are supposed to give rise to
all our colour sensations.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
BURLE NE AAR
[BOOKS TO READ ye
ah NE Flee
The Moon: a full description and Map of its principal
Physical Features. By Tuomas Gwyn ELGER,
F.R.A.S. 181 pp. royal 8vo, illustrated by maps
of the moon. (London: George Philip and Son,
1895.) Price 5s. net.
Although this book is chiefly intended for the
use of lunar observers, it is nevertheless written in
such a manner as to be acceptable to those who
would like to know what is known of the moon by
astronomers.’ The author, who is director of
the Lunar Beatin of the British Astronomical
Association, and an ex-president of the Liverpool
Astronomical Society, has for some time past given
special attention to the investigation of the moon’s
surface. This is admirably delineated on a map
which is divided into four sections, produced in
the well-known accurate style of Messrs. Philip
and Son. An important feature of these maps is
the substitution of names for reference numbers;
so that the uninitiated may at a glance obtain a
general idea of the moon’s superficial configuration,
as the mountains, craters, seas, etc., are designated
by their names. The letterpress ‘fully describes
the maps, giving the height of the mountains, the
widths of the craters, and much general informa-
tion. The word ‘‘seas”’ thus used is of course an
ideal word, brought forward from the early
selenographers. and the spaces should be rather
called old sea-beds, for it is well known no existing
sea or lake of water has ever been found on the
moon’s surface through even the best telescopes.
Although this work is a scientific dissertation upon
our satellite, it will rank among the best popular
books in that section of astronomy. Jo ds Ce
Finger-Print Directories. By FRANCIS GALTON,
D.C.L., F.R.S. 130 pp. demy 8vo, with g plates.
(London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1895.)
Price 5s. net.
This is a remarkable book on a remarkable,
though by no meansnew subject. It deals with the
identification of persons through the marks left on
white cards by their finger-tips, after being pressed
on ink which proof is found to be unerring. The
author states that it is probable no two finger-prints
in the world are so alike that an expert would fail
to distinguish between them. The first portion of
the book is devoted largely to an examination of
the Report of a Committee appointed by the Home
Secretary to enquire into the best means for
identifying habitual criminals, which was presented
in February, 1894. The report deals with finger
prints among other means of identification. Mr.
Francis Galton points out how rapidly persons
may be identified from a directory of finger-prints,
and instances one made by himself, which refers to
2,632 different persons. The average time needed
to find one of these persons’ names is less than
three minutes. From the point of view of the scienti-
fic reader, the latter portion will be found of most
value, as it deals with the classification of finger-
prints, and is profusely illustrated with examples,
there being nearly 200 figures. This system of
identification is now fully acknowledged by the
129
police authorities of most States, including our own
department at Scotland Yard. The study of
finger - prints was initiated by Sir William J.
Herschel some forty years ago, but Mr. Francis
Galton is without doubt the present authority on
the subject. No longer in its experimental stage,
there is future importance for its study. We trust
this book will be a warning to some of our friends
who borrow our books, ‘and return them with
marks of their identity on the margins of the
pages.
A History of British Butterfites.
O. Morris. Crown 4to. Parts i, ii, and iii,
seventh edition. Publishing in six monthly parts,
with 79 plates coloured by hand. (London: John
C. Nimmo, 1895.) Price 2s. 6d. net, per part.
This book is too well known to need any
description. The seventh edition now appearing
is practically a reissue of the earlier book with
some new additions, the scientific nomenclature used
being that of half a century ago. The publisher
would add a useful appendix, when the work is
finished, by printing a page extra containing the
ordinary synomic list of British butterflies, which
has now for years past been in use in this country
among scientific entomologists, References to the
pages in the work would then enable persons who
do not know butterflies to identify the plates and
letterpress with the species with their accepted
names. 2
Methods of the Art of Taxidermy. By OLIvER
DaviEgE. 178 pp. royal 8vo, with go full-page
engravings, (Columbus, U.S.A.: Han and Adair.
London: H. T. Booth, 38a, Upcerne Road, Chelsea,
1894.)
We have received a subscription copy of this
splendid work by Oliver Davie, who is the author
of another upon the nests and eggs of North
American birds. This book on Taxidermy has
been prepared with most painstaking care, and if it
gets into our public libraries will give an impetus to
the preservation of specimens in an _ intelligent
manner. The engravings are well drawn ‘and
printed. They are chiefly by Dr. Theodore Jasper,
and include about 500 figures illustrating the modes
of procedure in bird or quadruped stuffing. With
the aid of these drawings and the accompanying
letterpress, anyone ought very soon be able to
practice taxidermy as an art. Mr. Davie com-
menced work on this book in April, 1882, so it is
not a hurried compilation for the book market, but
well written and produced in the best possible
By the Rev. F.
style, the drawings being from specimens in
process of preservation. Chapter v, ‘‘ The making
up of Birds’ Skins” is a useful one to our
readers, as it indicates the proper way of pre-
paring a collection of birds’ skins for scientific
reference, without havi ‘ing to occupy a large space
with birds ‘‘set up” in cases. It is an old
system, but one which will always be the best.
All the author’s instructions appear to be imbued
with common sense, and less unnecessary apparatus
is described than is usual is books of this class. We
are unable to give the price of this work, but full
particulars may be obtained from the English
Agent, Mr. H. T. Booth, 38a, Upcerne Road,
Chelsea, London, S. W. Vio Adee
The Story of the Plants. By GRantT ALLEN.
232 pp. foolscap 16mo. With 50 illustrations.
(London: Geo. Newnes, Limited, 1895.) Price Is.
‘This is one of a popular series of books upon
scientific subjects issued by the Newnes Company,
130 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
which ought to do much good in popularising the
branches of science on which they treat. The
first thought of many who pick up this book will
be why should a novelist have been selected to
write ‘‘ The Story of the Plants”? It must not be
forgotten, however, before his earlier work was
overshadowed by his successful fiction, Grant Allen
wrote in his Canadian home many popular
magazine and other articles upon plants and plant
life. In this little volume, as he states in his
preface, he gives ‘‘a short and succinct account of
the principal phenomena of plant life,” in language
suited to the comprehension of unscientific readers.
He, however, treats them as having ordinary
intelligence and not as children. His facts are
quite up to date and based upon the theory of
evolution. This is really his text, and a distinctly
useful one it is, for we have plenty of text-books
dealing with the technicality of botany. This is
just the work to found in the reader a lasting love
for plants and their ways, without frightening in
the earlier stages of the knowledge by dry
technicalities and unfamiliar words. The headings
of his chapters are suggestive, such as ‘‘ How
plants began to be,” ‘‘How plants came to differ
from one another,’ ‘‘ How plants eat,” ‘‘How
plants drink,” ‘‘ How plants marry,” ‘‘ How plants
club together,’ and other interesting not to say
“catchy” titles. This is a good if inexpensive
present for any intelligent person with a taste for
enquiry, whether young or old. jo Ds Go
The Structure and Life of Birds. By F. W.
HEADLEY, M.A., F.Z.S. 432 pp. demy 8vo, and
78 illustrations. (London and New York:
Macmillan and Co., 1895.) Price 7s. 6d.
The object of this book is to set forth the
evidence of the development of birds from reptilian
ancestors, traced by the modifications in their
anatomy, as they have advanced to a more active
life than their earlier ancestors. A further portion
of the book deals with the subjects of song, instinct
and reason, migration, the principles of classifica-
tion, and the best methods of studying birds. The
author, feeling that it is exceptional for ordinary
students of birds to acquire a specialist's knowledge
in every department of ornithological physiology, or
anatomy, has produced ;this book, so that they may
readily grasp the whole recent knowledge of the
history of birds and bird life. It is, however, not
the work of the professional compiler, but of one
who has studied his subject, supervised by
specialists in various departments. His language
is free from pedantry and quite suited to the
ordinary reader who wishes to increase his know-
ledge, without having to constantly refer to a
dictionary of scientific terminology. The illustra-
tions are by Mr. Prendergast Parker and are
generally well drawn. Altogether, it is a. work
which every ornithologist should possess, as it
contains much information on subjects which
have been sadly neglected hitherto by the ‘bird
collector.” It is a book which should go into all
the public libraries, rather than the out-of-date
picture books too often tobe foundinthem. J.T.C.
Rambles in Alpine Valleys. By J. W. Tutt, F.E.S.
216 pp. 8vo, with 5 plates. (London: Swan,
Sonnenschein and Co., 1895.) Price 3s. 6d.
This is a pleasant account of a passing visit to
the Italian side of the Mont Blanc range, written
by an observer of nature, who tries to interest
others in the district, and ‘‘ the scientific bearings
of some of the many facts which came under my
notice.’”’ Entomology is the leading feature of his
pages—after scenery; the five plates being from
photographic views. A good deal of the book
applies to observations which may be made in
other places than in the Alps, so that those who
have not opportunity to pay them a visit, need
not be deterred from reading the author’s chatty
science.
The Horticulturist’s Rule Book: a Compendium of
Useful Information for Fruit-Growers, Truck-Gardeners,
Florists, and Others. By L. H. Batrey. Third
Edition, revised and extended. 302 pp., 8vo. (New
York and London: Macmillan and Co., 1895.)
Price 75 cents (3s.)
This is quite an encyclopeedia of horticultural
knowledge, with instructions how to practically
apply some of it so as to save the disappointment so
frequently associated with gardening. Although
written for the American Continent, it will be found
useful to our readers in Europe who are likewise
gardeners. The author wastes few words, as will
be gathered from the following epigramatic para-
graph, with which the book opens: ‘ The results
obtained from the use of any insecticide or fungicide
depend upon the operator. Timeliness, thoroughness
and persistence are watchwords of success. It is
easier to keep an enemy away than to drive him
away. The worst foes are often the smallest
ones, and the injury is often done before they are
detected. Be ready, and begin early.”’
Wild Nature Won by Kindness. By Mrs. BRiGH-
TEWEN. 230 pp. 8vo, illustrated. (London: Fisher
Unwin, 1895). Price ts. 6d.
Mr. Fisher Unwin now issues the sixth edition of
Mrs, Brightewen’s series of stories of pet animals.
It is a charming book to read to children, and one
likely to found in them a healthy love of living
things, which cannot fail to have a good influence
on them in later years.
A Handbook of the British Macvro-Lepidoptera. By
BrerTRAM GEO. Rye, F.E.S. Vol. i., Part 2. 8 pp.
large 8vo, with two hand-coloured plates, drawn
by Maup Horman-FisHerR. (London: Ward and
Foxlow.) Price 2s. 6d.
We noticed this handsome work on the appear-
ance of the first part (SciENcE-GossiP, vol. i.,
N.S., page 275). The excellence of the drawing
and colouring of the plates is fully maintained, and
we are pleased to observe that the artist has over-
come the lithographer, for there is a much greater
softness in the figures thanin Part I. The letter-
press is alsoimproving, being more full and descrip-
tive. We trust Mr. Rye and Miss Fisher will
receive good support in this work, and so be
encouraged to make it the success it promises to
become. One plate in this part is devoted to
Pieris napi and P. daplidice, and the other to Euchloe
cavdamines, of which eight figures are given.
Birds, Beasts and Fishes of the Norfolk Broadland
By P. H. Emerson, B.A., M.B., M.R.C.S., ete.
416 pp. demy 8vo. Illustrated with 68 photographs,
by T. A. Cotton. (London: David Nutt, 1895.)
Price 15s.
The publisher and the Ballantyne Press have
produced a handsome book, but Mr. Emerson’s
style is disappointing and often misleading. The
following is a quotation from page 96: ‘‘ When the
yellow leaves have dropped like great pale dead
butterflies through the low grey skies of autumn,
and the canker-riddled cauliflowers and budding
sprouts are eaten up, and the millman’s garden
is a slippery morass of decaying vegetation, and
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
dripping branches lie naked to the sky, the hawfinch
deigns to visit the Broad district at rare intervals,
and he is generally to be found in a deserted
garden,” etc. The etc. containing twenty-six more
words to complete the sentence. Dead butterflies
dropping through the skies is a new feature in the
history of those insects. It would be unfair to
infer that the whole book is of that style, but
there is far too much of it. Was it a ‘‘little
bird ’’ which drew our attention to page 96? If so,
it surely must have been a starling, retaliating for
what the author thinks about him. He says:
“The starling is a dirty bird — dusky-skinned,
gaily-spotted like a dung-fly, fruit-thieving and
imitative. A hanger-on to the borders of civiliza-
tion, he has learnt all the petty meannesses of the
Broadsman and none of his noble qualities ; he is
a filthy pariah, a lover of warm chimney-corners
and animal droppings, and his song, now thrush-
like, now recalling some finch, is stolen; he is a
born plagiarist, a dirty, sordid little creature and
full of the citizen’s cunning.’’ The photographs
add greatly to the appearance of the book, but
have evidently been taken from birds in ‘‘ glassen
boxes,” as the author tells us ‘‘the Broadsmen
contemptuously call ‘ set up’ specimens.’” A few
of our readers who care to expend money on
‘“Jocal’’ books may find in this that they have their
money’s worth, for in it there is much Broadland
dialect and some quaint stories. Jo 185 Ge
On certain Phenomena belonging to the close of the
last Glacial Period, and on theiy bearing upon the Tradi-
tion of the Flood. By JosepH Prestwicn, D.C.L.,
BARES be Gro Cul OSs pp: demiya8vo, some
illustrations. (London and New York: Macmillan
and Co., 1895.) Price 2s. 6d.
It is not alone to geologists that this work of the
veteran professor of that science will appeal, but to
every educated person. He deals with it purely
from the present terrestrial evidence. With regard
to the theological tradition of the Flood, its
possibilities or impossibilities, he says, ‘‘that has
been fully dealt with by other writers,” and he
confines himself to the question whether geology
furnishes evidence in support of a flood of the
magnitude and disastrous consequences of the one
typified in the ancient narratives. His conclusions
are well worth studying, and may be summed up in
his own words, ‘‘ There is, however, I consider,
sufficient evidence to warrant the inferences I have
drawn from the facts described, as well as reason
to believe that the tradition could not have had its
origin otherwise than in an event of very excep-
tional and extraordinary character—far more so
than any that could have resulted from ordinary
river-floods.”” Professor Prestwich has examined
not only the Biblical tradition of the Flood, but
every other available tradition, and in an Appendix
he quotes the Rev. Professor Sayc> at length, on
the version of the deluge from the Babylonian
Tablets. This is, of course, a far older version
than the Hebrew narrative, being polytheistic, and
one upon which our Biblical history was doubtless
founded. The author's ‘opinion is, that the sub-
mergence which gave rise to the tradition occurred
within 8,000 or 10,000 years ago, and was within
the time of palzeolithic man. i: Net
Nature in Acadie. By H. R. Swann, 82 pp.
crown 8vo, with frontispiece. (London: John Bale
and Sons, 1895.) Limited to 250 copies. Price
3s. 6d.
This is a series of pleasantly-chatty impressions
131
on nature and living things on a first visit to Nova
Scotia, or ‘Acadia,’’ as the French called the
country, from the Micmae Indian word, ‘‘ akade,”’
meaning ‘‘abundance.’’ We do not see that Mr.
Swann refers to this interesting origin of the name
of his book, which derivation does not seem to
be commonly known. The chapters indicate
the author’s faculty for observation, and are very
readable. Veoh sok
Guernsey Society of Natural Science and Local
Research : Report and Transactions for 1894. 67 pp.
8vo (Guernsey : Bichard, 1895.)
The Hon. Secretary is Mr. William Sharp, 2,
Ross Place, Guernsey. We note, on the authority
of Mr. E. D. Marquand, the President, that hedge-
hogs, which were introduced into the island fifty
years ago, are now comparatively common. The
black rat occurs in Herm, Sark and Brechon.
There are several good papersin the ‘Transactions, ”
including branches of fauna of the island, they are
“‘ Aculeate-Hymenoptera,’”’ by W. A. Luff, ‘* Land
and Fresh-water Shells,’ by E. D. Marquand,
“List of the Spiders of the Channel Islands,” by
Rev. Fred. O. Picard-Cambridge, ‘‘ Alge of
Guernsey,” by Mr. Marquand, and also the annual
presidential address by the same gentleman, which
is full of local interest with regard to natural
science. jate G
The Migration of British Birds, including thety Post-
Glacial Emigration, as treated by the application of a
new Law of Dispersal. By Charles Dixon. 327 pp.
crown 8yvo, and six coloured maps. (London:
Chapman and Hall, Limited.) Price 7s. 6d.
With evident care and much labour, the author
has written a speculative book on the origin and
continuance of migration of birds, mammals and
plants. It is probable that some of the arguments
-on which his ‘‘ new law ”’ is founded, will stand the
criticism of time, but that criticism is sure to be
severe. Whatever the result, it is plain Mr. Dixon
is in earnest, and his book should be read by every
thoughtful ornithologist and naturalist interested
in geographical distribution of animals and plants.
The work is divided into two parts, the first treat-
ing on the physical and climatic changes which
have affected the birds visiting, from prehistoric
times, what is now the British Archipelago. The
second part deals with the migration of birds
within the same area, and the phenomena connected
with seasonal flights and irruptive visits. The
book is pleasantly written and forms excellent
reading. il iaGe
Object Lessons in- Botany: From the Forest, Field,
Wayside and Garden. (Book II., for Standards III,
IV.and V.). By Edward Snelgrove, B.A. 310 pp.
8vo, illustrated by 153 figures. (London: Jarrold
and Sons, 1895.) Price 3s. 6d.
This is a compilation for the teachers’ aid, being a
systematic course of one hundred elementary lessons
in botany, for boys and girls. The author has
followed the best of plans for impressing the
lessons on his scholars, by making them participate
in the work for its own pleasure. He expects the
children, if possible, to gather, in a state of nature,
the objects to illustrate each lesson. This is far
better than imperfectly drawing on a blackboard
the leaf of a dandelion, and writing beneath it
“runcinate.’’ The taste formed in many of the
scholars, whilst gathering and pressing their small
collections in connection with these lessons, will, in
many instances, be abiding, and bear good results
in after years. The whole tone of the book is in
good taste and it is nicely illustrated. J.T. C.
12
Lonpon.—Since the middle of
RAINFALL IN
November, 1894, there has not been any month,
and not more than one fortnight, in which
the rainfall of London has been equal to the
mean, It is true that on December 14th there
was a fall of eight-tenths of an inch, and during
that month there were fifteen days on which
some rain fell, but the total fall for the month was
less than two inches, and was short of the mean by
o17inches. Again, in January, we had, from the
12th to the 25th, a run of a fortnight in which rain
fell more or less on almost every day, and in which
half an inch fell on one day (19th); but the total fall
for the month was only 1°87 inches, and was short
of the mean by a quarter of aninch. The months
since then have been all dry—a few days in March
and a few more in April being the only ones in
which there was any approach to a showery spell,
In each case, however, the fall for the whole month
was much below the mean, and in the end it turns
out that, from the middle of November to the
middle of June (a period of seven months) we have
had a total rainfall of only 7:3 inches, whereas, if we
had received the mean amount, the fall would have
been 13°8 inches, or nearly double the quantity
actually recorded. This is, to say the least of it, a
most serious deficit, and, in view of the length of
the period, one which cannot be made up without
a lengthened period of very wet weather. It is of
great importance and is somewhat cheering that,
before this long dry period set in, October and the
first half of November in 1894 had furnished us
with such abundant rain as theydid. Their imme-
diate effect in the Thames and some other river
valleys was, indeed, at the time disastrous, but
many parts of our midland counties were saved
from most serious consequences, as the streams,
wells, and canals were rapidly drying up, and we
in London have now great reason to be thankful
for the abundance which then fell. There is
another point worth noticing, and of importance to
the country at large, namely, that the deficiency of
rain in London has been exceptionally large. The
drought has, indeed, been serious over England
generally, but London has been passed by in a
remarkable manner by several of the rain systems
which have passed near to it—some to the north-
ward and eastward, some to the southward.
THUNDER-STORM OF May 30TH.—The storm on
the evening of May 30th, 1895, was very remarkable.
A low, flat, dark cloud covered the south-western
horizon at Cheadle, Staffordshire, while from
behind and immediately above it was seen a semi-
circular white cloud, the edge being almost as
perfect as that of arainbow though much smaller
at first. Almost every electrical flash for fully an
hour appeared to issue from the centre of the
circle, and all of them had an upward tendency.
The flashes were incessant, and increased very
gradually in intensity until its first climax about
midnight. The white cloud also increased in size
quite as gradually as the storm.—F. Harvisson,
Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent ; June 5th, 1895.
SS CHING GOs sil.
e— - 5 YS” N p —~a
SS Ape? lth, AES
b-—FPI-LEZZ=Z->>= A) Wila SEES
>
“ALAN MEMORIAM |S
XK
a a
Ms A
after a
lengthened period of failing health, at his residence
in Dublin, on June 15th. Born July r4th, 1843, he
had thus nearly completed his fifty-second year.
His death is sadly premature, but he contrived to do
more useful work in his short lifetime than many do
Dr. VALENTINE BALL, F.R.S., died,
when completing their natural span. Dr. Ball was
reared in association with scientific thought, being
the second son of the celebrated Dublin naturalist,
Dr. Robert Ball, who died in 1857. His elder
brother is Sir Robert Ball, F.R.S., the talented
astronomer. In his boyhood, Valentine Ball met
at his father’s house, which was then the centre of
scientific culture in Dublin, most of those who were
worth knowing at that period, and either inherited
or imbibed a life-long lasting love for the investi-
gation of natural history. He was educated first
at Chester, under Dr. Brindler, and, later, at
Rathmines, by the Rev. Dr. Benson. He entered
Trinity College, Dublin, on leaving school, and at
about the same time obtained a clerkship at the
Four Courts of Justice in that city. The conse-
quence was that, having the two occupations, his
university career was uneventful, closing with an
ordinary degree. In 1864, at twenty one years of
age, Valentine Ball received an appointment in the
Geological Survey of India, then under Dr. Thomas
Oldham, one of his father’s former friends. With
that service Valentine Ball was associated for
seventeen years, when on the resignation of
the Professorship of Geology in the University
of Dublin by the Rey. Dr. Houghton, he was
appointed his successor. To Dr. Ball's long resi-
dence in the jungles of India, where he thoroughly
did his work under the most trying conditions of
climate, may be traced the enfeebled health which
carried him off so early. On taking the Chair of
Geology in Dublin, Dr. Ball soon attracted atten-
tion for his energy, and was elected a F.R.S. in
1882. In May, 1883, Dr. William Edward Steele
died whilst Director of the National Museum of
Dublin, and in the following September Dr. Ball
was appointed his successor. Having resigned
his professorship at the University, he threw his
whole energy into developing the Museum, with
the result that it now stands among the foremost
in Europe. Dr. Ball had had some experience of
museum work inthe Imperial Museum in Calcutta,
and had formed a great taste for that branch of
scientific work in which he afterwards proved so
competent. His interests did not end with the
museum in Kildare Street, for he was equally the
active spirit of the affiliated institutions, the
National Library, the Botanic Gardens, and the Arts ©
School. As secretary of the Royal Zoological
Society of Ireland, the Zoological Gardens near
Dublin received his fostering care. Dr. Ball
leaves his widow and four young children to mourn,
with every cultured person in Dublin, his early
loss. Dr. Valentine Ball’s chief literary works are:
‘Economic Geology,” ‘“‘ Manual of the Geology
of India,” ‘“‘ Diamonds, Coal and Gold of India,”
“ Jungle Life in India,” etc. Neeba es
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
_ ASTRONOMY,
Rises. Sets. Position at Noon,
him. him. R.A. Dec.
1895. A.M. P.M. Am.
Sun Seem Lyae Ceretn 3 40k G7LG0 ssn OA Teen 23cn GUN.
rl MOS os SHG to ES) ee A ee CO?
7 ZS cee CR) co 3) Sr Zire 2On20/
Souths. Sets.
P.M. P.M.
Moon ... ie HE cdo AOE) con, 2S}
Rises. Souths
P.M. A.M
me 9.38 ... 1.46
5) 10.59 ... 6.35
Souths. Sets
A.M. P.M.
6 2A con POD oo5 GEES
Rises. Souths.
A.M. A.M.
Mercury... SLO! weccil 3°20 D5) ween Os25) ese Se AG eNe
20ers 2:4 O) ee LO: A Laas) Oa Auer 2 Ome
nS OM 2 See O55 7.24 vo. 21° 39!
Souths. Sets.
P.M. P.M.
Venus ... SELON pest SeLOM= ss OSLO 10.23 10° 55’N
Se ZOMe= 53230 =. :40 10.56 6° 33
py USO), RSL PG Zon! WOT Pen: PORE Bey OY
Mars si mp EO cco BHB ceo Ci} ceo, OG cots TH AY INI.
EZ OM LCS alc 19 sO m=O 4 Quem 4G aae
a SO Gon BAA coo!) LEWAO) “Ga5 WICKING) a BEA Gest
Fupiter ... m 9 xo CSS aos BOS ae FY ono BE? AS IN|
Rises. Souths.
A.M. A.M.
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Souths. Sets.
P.M. P.M.
Saturn © coo (HIE con 1G 13.57 9, 20’ S
ese es 55 Sacce Liss 13.58 9° 20!
Uvanus oy 2D) cos OPES ONG) en EYL LOIS
Rises. Souths.
: A.M. A.M.
INCPEUNE rn) 1) 830) es 0028) 4) 8.31 <-2 525)... 250 2604 N.
Moon’s PHASES.
Full ... July 6 ... 11.29 p.m.
INETD 5 9 PBS oo © Shs Catal
tst Qy. ... July 14 ... 3.31 a.m.
Last Qy.... ,, 28... 8.36 p.m.
THERE will be a large shower of meteors on July
28th, the radiant point being a 339° 5—12°.
THE “ Scientific American,” of June 15th, prints
a drawing of a number of sun spots, observed
through a three-inch telescope at Springfield,
Mass., on May 1oth. The two larger spots are
very typical.
GarRRETT P. SERVISS is writing a series of popular
articles on the ‘‘ Pleasures of the Telescope’’ for
the ‘‘ Popular Science Monthly,” of New York. In
the June number appears his fifth, entitled, ‘‘ In
Summer Star-Lands.”’ It is illustrated by three
maps.
Lorp Rosse delivered a lecture at the Royal
Institution, on May 31st, on the radiant heat from
the moon during the progress of an eclipse.
Speaking of the heat given off, he said that in the
total eclipse of January, 1888, he had found there
was a great decrease in its amount some time
before the first contact. During the total phase
the heat radiated was a mere trifle, and it had not
regained more than eighty per cent. at full moon,
an hour and a half after the first contact.
88,
We understand that Professor E. E. Barnard
and Professor Burnham have been appointed to
posts in the new Yerkes Observatory, at Lake
Geneva, some seventy miles from Chicago.
TuHeE death is announced of Theodor Brorsen,
aged seventy-six. He discovered in all five comets,
one with a period of about five anda half years
which bears his name, was discovered by him in
1846. It duly returned for four periods up to 1870,
but has not been found since that visit.
Mercury will be at its greatest elongation, west,
on July 22nd, and Venus at its greatest eastern
elongation on the 11th. Jupiter is too near the
Sun for observation; he will be in conjunction on
the roth. Both Saturn and Uranus are getting
very low in the west by the time it is dark, and
Neptune does not rise till about midnight.
Dr. PERcIVAL LOWELL is making ready for an
astronomical campaign in December, 1896, when
the next opposition of Mars will take place. He
intends to mount a new telescope of twenty-four
inches aperture at some favourable place in Mexico
or else in Africa. It will be remembered that a
short time ago Dr. Lowell set up an eighteen-inch
telescope at Flagstaff, Arizona.
THE British Astronomical Association has now
published the long-promised Report of the Section
for the observation of Mars. In the chart accom-
panying the report have been combined together,
so far as possible, the results expressed in the entire
set of eighty drawings which the members of the
Section supplied. Mr. E. Walter Maunder was
the director of the Section.
DuRING a thunderstorm, on June roth last,
the Observatory on the summit of Ben Nevis in
Scotland, was struck by lightning which damaged
a telegraph instrument and set fire to the wood and
felt lining of the building. The flames were
fortunately subdued by the staff and visitors
sheltering at the time, before any serious. damage
occurred. A feature of the storm was that it was
accompanied by a thick fall of snow anda reduction
of temperature of the air to freezing point. ~
In the “‘ Scientific American” for June ist, Sir
Robert Ball, F.R.S., contributes a long and inter-
esting article entitled ‘‘The Moon’s Story.’’ He
treats his subject from the point of view of the
Moon’s influence on the tides. The story is told
with that facility so characteristic of Sir Robert
Ball, and which has won for him so many admirers.
He reminds his readers of the greater rapidity with
which the earth formerly turned on its axis, and
the consequently more frequent tides than now.
This leads up to their effect on the physical
appearance of the earth’s surface.
THE great forty-inch lens for the Yerkes telescope
has been completed by Mr. A. E. Clark. This mag-
nificent telescope is the largest in the world, and
eclipses al], not only in size, but in focal range and
power. The lensalone, when it came from Paris in
the rough, cost £8,000, and since then an enormous
cost has been incurred by the grinding and polishing
of the lens, which have been going on for two
years. The preliminary tests have been carried out
by Professor T. J. Lee, who states that the stars
came out through it with startling brilliance and
clearness, the division between the rings of Saturn
was plainly visible, and the satellites shone forth
like little moons in the midnight sky.
134 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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It was stated that at Aldershot, during the
second week in June, water was found frozen in the
open air one morning.
Tse American Association for the Advancement
of Science, will meet this year at Springfield, Mass.,
from August 26th to September 6th.
Our correspondent, Mr. Edward Martin, has
compiled a list of the various editions of Gilbert
White’s Natural History and Antiquities of
Selborne. He gives no less than two dozen
different forms of this work, by different editors.
Tue Vienna Botanical Exchange Society is
desirous of exchanging or purchasing rare
herbarium plants from all parts of the world.
Particulars may be obtained from Herr. J. Dérfler,
7, Burgring, Vienna. The annual catalogue of the
Society was recently issued.
Lorp KELVIN, it is understood, will resign the
presidency of the Royal Society shortly. Rumour
points to Lord Rayleigh as the new president, but
whether the choice will fall on the discoverer of
Argon remains to beseen. An interesting sketch of
Lord Kelvin appears in the ‘‘ Pall Mall Magazine ’”’
for July.
Pror. A. Cornu, of Paris, delivered a lecture
on ‘‘ The Physical Phenomena of the Atmosphere,”’
at the Royal Institution, on June 7th. He showed
some interesting experiments, giving an ingenious
reproduction of the ‘‘ Alpine glow,” sometimes seen
in the Bernese Oberland and elsewhere, and also,
with the help of M. Weyher, an exhibition of an
artificial waterspout.
Mr. R. Lroyp PRAEGER, the Hon. Sec. of the
Irish Field Club Union, sends a really nicely
prepared and illustrated synopsis of the Galway
Conference and eight days’ visit to Connemara,
including a general description of the district.
The party will be limited to 100, and the cost from
Dublin for the round trip appears to be £4 17s. 6d.
We wish the party fine weather and a successful
visit.
THE naturalists of Ireland are evidently making
themselves a power in the land, as there are
frequent indications of their activity. The Belfast
and Northern Counties Railway now issues,
apparently gratis, a small handbook, written by
Professor Grenville A. J. Cole, on the scenery and
geology of co. Antrim. The subject is entirely
treated from the geological point of view, and is
well, if popularly, written.
AmonG the unexpected static phenomena dis-
covered by ballooning and in mountain observa-
tories, M. Cornu instanced three, namely, the
facts that many clouds which had generally been
regarded as consisting of vapour were composed
of minute crystals of ice; that at different heights
the direction of the wind was different: and that
the temperature did not get steadily lower as the
earth became more distant, but that alternate
layers of hot and cold air were encountered.
In the “Irish Naturalist,” of June, Miss
R. Hensman draws attention to the recent
discovery of the disintegration of shells caused by
certain marine alge.
DeEaTH is making sad blanks in the list of our
elder scientific men. We now hear that Dr. W. C.
Williamson, F.R.S., the Emeritus Professor of
Botany at Owen’s College, Manchester, has passed
away.
WE may mention the discovery of a new
substance in the alcoholic extract of orris root.
It has been named Irone. It is a retone having
the formula C,;H».)O, and will be of great value
to perfumers and others,
Dr. T. A. Cuapman, of Hereford, has completed
in the ‘‘ Entomologists’ Record” an important
paper on ‘“‘ The Classification of Butterflies,” based
on the structure of the pupz. It is a distinct step
in the direction of scientific entomology.
A sysTEM of testing gems has been discovered
by flotation on certain dense liquids such as
methylene, iodide, which are far denser than
water. This density is reduced by benzine to the
right flotation point for each species of gem.
THE recent publications of the Division of
Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States
Department of Agriculture include a monographic
revision of the Pocket Gophers, family Geomjide,
known as the pouched rats and mice of North
America.
PRINCIPAL PETERSON, who succeeds Sir William -
Dawson at the head of the McGill University,
Montreal, graduated at Edinburgh in 1875, and
afterwards gained an open scholarship at Corpus
Christi, Oxford. He was appointed first Principal
of University College, Dundee, in 1882.
M. BERTHOUMIEU is publishing in the ‘‘ Annales
de la Société Entomologique de France” a very
complete monograph of the family Ichneumonide,
of the tribe Entomophaga or ‘‘ insect-eaters,”’ of
Europe. It has been calculated that there are not
less than 4,000 to 5,000 known species of ichneumons,
the females of which deposit their eggs in or upon
the bodies of larve of other insects, in which the
ichneumon larvz feed, avoiding the vital parts
until they have reached maturity.
Henry Moore, R.A., who died on June 22nd,
was an ardent entomologist for many years, often
collecting in company with the editor of this
journal. The conceptions of several of his greatest
pictures were formed during his collecting expedi-
tions. As a painter of landscapes and seapieces,
Henry Moore had few equals. He was born at
York, in 1831, his father being a drawing master.
There were four brothers, who were trained to art
by the father, Henry becoming a Royal Academi-
cian. We think Albert should have been elected
one also.
Tue Natural History Society of Birmingham
was founded in 1858, and the Philosophical Society
in 1876. These two societies have now been
amalgamated under the title of Birmingham
Natural History and Philosophical Society. The
“Proceedings” (vol. Ix., parti) have just been
issued and contain interesting papers on ‘‘ History
of the Method of Weighing the Earth,” by
Professor Poynting, ‘‘ Early Iron Working in
the Highlands of Scotland,” by Dr. Tilden, and
“Morphology of the Sensory Canal System in
some Fossil Fishes,’ by W. E. Collinge.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST (London,
Ontario; June, 1895). The subject of beetles
_inhabiting Canada, is treated in three articles, that
dealing with Notes on Collecting and Names New to the
Canadian List, by J. Alston Moffat, and another by
Mr. John D. Evans on Coleoptera of the Sudbury
District, are contributions to local faunze. The
tenth article is reached by Mr. H. F. Wickham on
The Coleoptera of Canada, which is illustrated ; it
includes part of the Dytiscide.
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY'S PROCEED-
INGS (Nos. 143 and 145, 1894). The first of these
parts contains an account of the ‘‘ Proceedings”’
commemorative of the 150th anniversary of the
foundation of this society. Ameng the papers
printed in this volume are Tertiary Tipulide, by
Professor S. H. Scudder; The Transformations and
Anatomy of Lagoa Crispata, a Bombycine Moth. In
No. 145, Mr. R. M. Bache writes on The Secret of
Brownian Movements, describing some of his experi-
ments on the movements of particles in aqueous
_ suspension, and Professor E. D. Cope writes on
The Lungs of the Ophidia, illustrated by several
drawings.
La Nature (Paris, May 25th, June st, 8th,
and 15th, 1894). In the issue for May 25th, is an
article by H. Déheram on Sarcopsylla penctrans,
commonly known as the jigger, an African flea,
which makes itself very obnoxious to man. M.G.
Pellissier writes on The Origin of Kites and their
Application to Military Arts. The inventor of the first
kite was probably the Chinese general Han-Sin,
who flourished B.c. 206. The ‘‘ Photautographe,”’
an invention of M. Ferrer for taking automatic
photographs is described, and in the same number
M. Ch Brongniart brings to a close his series of
articles on Fossil Insects of Primary Times. In the
issue for June rst, M. Fraissinet described the work
of the Observatory of Paris. M. Oustalet writes on
Some New Birds of Paradise recently discovered in New
Guinea. Another article deals with the scientific
balloon expedition, which will take place during
the Paris Exhibition of r900. In the issue for June
8th, a description is given of the Observatory of
the Vatican. M. Bourdariat writes on The Renewed
Activity of Vesuvius. In the issue for June 15th,
M. Villon writes on The Production of Artificial
Alcohol. Mr. Ord’s article in this number of
SCIENCE-GossIP (ante page 117) does not mention
the discovery of synthetic alcohol a little
while ago by M. Berthelot, the great French
chemist. Now that Professor Lewis has
shown us how to produce acetylene both quickly
and cheaply (see ScieNcE-Gossrp, N.S., vol. 1,
page 278), it is expected that artificial alcohol may
be produced with the aid of acetylene in our
laboratories, and that this alcohol, which will be
considerably purer than ordinary alcohol, may
supersede the latter. Aninteresting article appears
in this number on The Flying Powers of Carrier
Pigeons, with particular reference to the possibility
of their conveying information as to shipwrecks.
_of the Divisional Force.
. the attendance being twenty-five persons.
135
NAtuR# NovitATes. (Berlin: Friedliinder and
Sohn. January, February, and March.) This
useful compilation is published once a fortnight,
and includes titles and particulars of literature of
all nations on Natural History and the Exact
Sciences. The price is four shillings per annum
including postage.
REPORTS OF OBSERVATION AND EXPERIMENTS
IN THE DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. (Washington,
1894.) This is Bulletin No. 32 of the department,
and contains several articles on Economic Entomo-
logy. One on Insects Injurious to Forest Trees is
by Mr. A. S. Packard; this is encouraging as
regards the ravages in certain regions in the
State of Maine, of insects among the spruce
forests. Other reports of interest are printed from
various States.
InsecT Lire. (Washington: Government Print-
ing Office. Vol. vii., parts 2, 3 and 4. (1894-5.)
This is the well-known organ of the Division of
Entomology of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It is now edited, since the retirement of Professor
Riley, by the Government Entomologist, Mr. L. O.
Howard, with the assistance of the other members
“Insect Life’ is almost
entirely devoted to Economic Entomology and the
bearing of insects upon mankind, whether from
the point of view of usefulness or otherwise. Part 2
has 150 pages occupied entirely with a report on
.the Sixth Meeting of the Association of Economic
Entomologists, held at Brooklyn, in August: last,
Thete
are reprints of some of the papers read on that
occasion. One of the most interesting is by Mr.
L. O. Howard, on The Rise and Present Condition of
Official Economic Entomology. He describes the
first meeting of this now important association,
which was held in 1889, nominally at Toronto, but
really “‘upon a wooded knoll at a landing’ called
Scarborough Heights, overlooking the waters of
Lake Erie. Professor Cook, who presided, occupied
a dignified position astride a fallen log. Professor
Smith, who acted as secretary, had climbed with
difficulty to the top of a tall stump and took his
minutes on his knee.’’ The commencement of the
acknowledgment for services of an entomologist to
the State, in America at least, appears to have been
so recent as 1842, Dr. Thaddeus William Harris
being the recipient between that period and 1852 of
the sum of $175, from the State of Massachusetts.
Still it was the beginning of what is now a model
institution at Washington, with independent
branches in many of the States; a model which
might well be followed in this or other European
country. The new era in this work commenced,
really with the appointment, in 1878,as Government
Entomologist, of Professor C. V. Riley, who, with
an interval caused by change of administration,
until last year guided so successfully the investiga-
tions. During that period Professor Riley
published twelve annual reports, thirty-one bulle-
tins, two special reports, six volumes of ‘ Insect
Life,” and a large number of circulars of informa-
tion. Altogether Mr. Howard's paper is admirable
and one from which a starting point may be made
by those who desire to take up the important study
of Economic Entomology. In No. 3isan illustrated
article on The Maple Pseudococcus, by Mr. Howard,
which is practically its life-history. It, Pseudococcus
aceris, occurs in England, and was noticed by
Mr. J. W. Douglas, in May, 1889, in crevices on the
stems of lime trees.
136 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ROMANCE OF PLrant LiIFE.—On June 7th, Dr.
D. Morris, of Kew, delivered the first of two
lectures at the Royal Botanic Society on this
subject. Dr. Morris discussed some of the most
striking features of the vegetation of the Canary
Islands: Chief among these were the dragon trees,
which were closely related to trees distributed over
widely separated parts of Africa. Fossil remains
were found at the present day of an old African
flora in Africa, Canaries, etc., which had been
gradually driven out and replaced by more tropical
plants.
DEVELOPMENT OF PxanTs.—In an article
recently contributed to a contemporary, Mr.
Charies T. Druery remarks that there is far too
great a tendency to stigmaiise the abnormalities
met with in the field of natural science as mere
“monstrosities.” He is convinced that in the long
history of evolution the “sports’’ or “special
creations” among plants and animals may have
largely contributed to diversity of type as weil as
the slow moulding of changing environment. Mr.
Druery mentions that at Dartmoor a simple
‘sport’ of Asplenium adiantum-nigyum occurred, the
spores of which yielded a large number of indivi-
duals of the same type which gradually dispossessed
the normal and took its place, and this would prove
the possibility of new forms becoming permanent
by natural selection only. All readers of SciENcE-
Gossip should look out for ‘‘ sports ”’ or ‘‘ monsirosi-
ties,’ and should send particulars to the editor, for
it is only by mutual co-operation that we can hope
to unravel the mysteries of nature.
THE EPIDERMIS AND CUTICLE.—In most of
those plants that grow on dry and exposed situa-
tions, such as downs, heaths, sandy moors, etc.,
either the size or quantity of the stomata, or both,
are greatly augmented, asin Ofhrys, Acevas, Aven-
ayia verna and Oychis mascula. Often upon the
epidermis, especially of the latter, there is a
continuous striate hyaline pellicle called the cuticle -
or the walls of the epidermal cells may be thickened,
which, in either case, obviously assists in protecting
the subjacent tissues from the increased heat of the
sun in those situations. The effect of this cuticle
undoubtedly corresponds in these plants of
temperaie climates to the increased number of
layers of the epidermal tissue in the plants of
tropical and other hot countries, though in a
diminished degree. On the other hand, those
plants growing in damp and humid places have
fewer and smaller stomata than those living in dry
situations ; as examples of the former, Lamium
galeobdolon and Melampyrum pratense may be cited.
However, Epipactis latifolia, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, and
the Eguisete appear to be exceptions. ‘‘ The terms
‘Epidermis’ and ‘Cuticle’ would be far better if
used in the reverse sense, that is cuticle for the
epidermis, and epidermis for the thin pellicle
mentioned above, as used by Dr. Carpenter in
‘The Microscope’”’ (page 444, note).—Henry E.
Griset, Holloway, N.
FasciIATED ASPARAGUS.—I take the liberty of
sending you a photograph of some asparagus now
being exhibited in the window of Mr. A. Cockerill,
of this town, taken from his garden at Abington,
near Northampton.—Geo. Nichols, 36, The Drapery,
Northampton ; May 24th, 1895.
[The photograph represents eight fasciated stems
ofasparagus. Fasciation is by no means uncommon
in cultivated asparagus (vide last volume S.-G.,
page 159). It may be caused by the cutting-knife
injuring the growing buds under the soil (vide ante,
page 44). —Ep.]
IMPATIENS FULVA ON THE THAMES.—I can give
another locality for the plant which your corres-
pondent refers to on page 80. Specimens of
Impatiens fulua may be found in blossom, during
August and September, on the right bank of the
Thames for about three quarters of a mile above
Teddington Lock. *- The plants grow close to the
water's edge and are not readily observed from the
towing-path, as they-are for the most part hidden
by plants of much larger growth. Other interest-
ing species, for instance, Cichovium intybus, Spivea
ulmavia, Lysimachia vulgaris and Acorvus calamus, as
well as many commoner species, may be found
along the same reach.—A. O. Rowden, 33, Richmond
Road, Kingston-on-Thames; May 17th, 1895.
PELLIA EPIPHYLLA.—Quantities of this interest-
ing member of the Hepatice grow in a ditch on the
borders of Hampstead Heath and are now in full
fruit. I have never previously seen them so prolific
as they are this year. It is strange that the study
of this order is not more taken up by microscopists
than appears to be the case, as it has very many
points of interest, and examination is not difficult.
About two years ago, there was a spot quite close
to the Heath where Mavchantia polymorpha covered
the ground with its fronds, and freely produced its
peculiar receptacles, but the spot is now, alas, given
up to bricks and asphalte. Notwithstanding the
“preservation ’’ of open spaces these Feve naiure,
like their animal relations, always seem to retire
before advancing civilization.—/. Burton, 9, Aga-
memnon Road, West Hampstead ; April 16th, 1895.
SHRUBS KILLED By Frost.—The cold of last
winter seems to have been extremely fatal to gorse,
Ulex euvopeus,in many places, as mentioned in your
columns last month (ante page 108). In May, 1893,
the East Hill, Hastings, was one mass of flowers.
For quite a distance round, the blaze of gold was
conspicuous and the air heavy withthescent. This
year on a visit about the same time, instead of the
wealth of golden blossom, I found the gorse nearly
all dead and withered ; here and there were a few
straggling blossoms, and that was all. Fortunately
in many cases, young shoots were just appearing at
the base of the old woody stems. On the journey
home, along the South-Eastern Railway embank-
ments, the same thing was noticed. The gorse on
the West Heath, Hampstead, too, has suffered
greatly, much of it being killed; and on a common
a few miles beyond, near Northwood, a similar state
of things exist, although in these latter situations
the plants were sheltered considerably. In all
these instances it was noticeable that the broom
Savothamnus was scarcely if at all injured, and yet
from its more succulent and less woody growth one
would have expected it to be more tender than Ulex.
I fear it will take several years for the gorse to
recover its former size and beauty.—/as. Buvton,
June, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ForceD GERMINATION OF SEEDS.—I have heard
that by some application of an acid, the seeds of
plants may be made to germinate quickly. Can
any of your readers tell me anything about this, if
it be a fact ?—Geo. Nowers, Blackpool Street, Burton-
on-T vent.
GREEN PETUNIA FLower.—Mr. Dorothy, the
head gardener of our public gardens, has just picked
from a petunia bed a remarkable flower which I
send you. The centre is purple and the margin
which is usually white, is green of exactly the same
tint as the stem and leaves.—E. Henwood Teague,
Penzance ; June 12th, 1895.
[The chlorophyll of the leaves seems to have
invaded the flower and produced a curious effect of
colouration. On inquiry, this form seems to occur
at times in this country, but is almost established
as a race in some parts of Germany. The florists,
however, who are, like the tailors and drapers, our
masters in fashion, discourage the growth of these
green flowers.—ED. ]
Dry-rot.—I beg to enclose a piece of fungus
cut from a mass about a yard square and an inch
thick, growing under my drawing-room floor.
The room under which this was found was re-
boarded twice during the past seven years, and
it is now to be done again. The house forms one
of a row of four, all of which sufter in a similar
way. Canany of your readers help me, through
your columns, to get rid of this pest ?>—Wéilliam
Hodgson, The Sycamores, Poulton-le-Fylde; June 13th,
1895. ;
ARTIFICIAL DEVELOPMENT OF FLOWERS.—Some
interesting lectures have been delivered at the Koyal
Botanic Society during the month. On May 31st,
the Rev. Professor George Henslow lectured on ‘‘ A
Century of Progress in Floriculture.’ He exhibited
specimens of the original wild plants from which
some of our most admired garden flowers have
been developed, illustrating with numerous
diagrams the various stages in the way of cultiva-
tion and hybridization through which they passed
before reaching the perfection of to-day.
VARIETY OF BEECH FoL1acr.— When staying at
Wastdale Head, Cumberland, at Whitsuntide last,
I noticed in the very beautiful woods of Wastdale
Hall, close to the shore of the grand mountain lake
of Wastwater, a peculiar variety of the beech tree,
the leaves being divided into narrow segments,
giving the tree a beautiful appearance of fine and
thin foliage. What I wish to mention is that one
branch, and apparently one only, had, for a small
portion, gone back to the typical form of leaf, thus
having the strange effect of two totally distinct
shapes of leaf on the same branch. Nature’s effort
to revert back to original, or at least to well-
established forms, was very marked.—Horace Pearce,
F.L.S., Stourbridge ; June 18th, 1895.
Witp HyYAcInTHS NEAR Lonpon.—The wild
hyacinth still grows in profusion in all that remains
of old Fernham Wood, between here and Streatham.
It may perhaps be worth noticing that some cut
specimens which were placed in water in the
middle of May developed, in some three weeks’
time. seed capsules, somewhat similar in shape to
the seed of the nasturtium. It was also noticeable
that whereas the blossoms, as they faded, turned,
as most blue flowers do, more or less white, those
petals which surrounded the swelling ovaries still
retained the blue colour, even after they had
become withered and dry.—-Edward A. Martin,
Thornton Heath ; June, 1895.
VORTICELLIDANS ON DAPHNIA PUBEX.—Sherren,
in his recently-published book, ‘‘ Ponds and Rock-
Pools,” refers to an impression being current that
the above Entomostracon is never infested by
parasites, owing to, its secreting a slimy film
which covers the body. Last April, from a pool
on Wimbledon Common, I took a plentiful supply
of Daphnia, almost all of which were infested with
Epistylis digitalis. Although I have frequently
found Cyclops covered with parasitic Vorticellians,
this has been the only time I have taken Daphnia
so infected.—George G. Harris, 33, Lindove Road,
Clapham Junction, S.W. ; June v7th, 1895.
CRYSTALLINE LENS oF Cop FisH —If Mr.
Tomlinson boils a lens until it is quite hard and
opaque on the surface, he will find (ante page 81) that
he can, after removal of the exterior opaque layers,
tear off fine fibres flat and riband-like. These
fibres all end in the antero-posterior axis, and the
lens viewed from before or behind has the appear-
ance of a globe marked by lines of longitude.
The margins of the fibres are united by minute
interlocking serrations, which differ considerably in
different fishes, and form beautiful objects for
mounting. The serrations are larger and coarser
in the conger eel than in most other fish —
Novvis F. Davey, Havering House, Abergavenny;
May 17th, 1895.
INCINERATED LEAF oF DeEvutTz1A..—The ‘‘ Micro-
scopical Bulletin” states that at the annual
exhibition of the Department of Microscopy of the
Brooklyn Institute, Mr. Geo. M. Hopkins, of the
‘“« Scientific American,” exhibited a beautiful pre-
paration of Deutzia leaf, which seems to have the
merit of novelty. The leaf was reduced to white
ashes, leaving the star-like hairs in situ. Some of
the hairs were blackened by the carbon of the leaf,
others were white, with pearl-coloured nodules
ranged along the rays of the star, like so many real
pearls. Mr. Hopkins’ method of preparing ‘this
object is as follows : a small piece of the dried leaf
is placed upon a thin, flat copper plate, and another
flat copper plate is laid upon it to keep it straight.
Strong pressure is not required. The plates are
now heated slowly over a flame until they become
red hot; they are then allowed to cool, and the
upper plate is removed. The piece of leaf is found
to be carbonized and considerably shrunken.
Without replacing the upper copper plate the
lower plate with the carbonized leaf is again
brought to a red heat, and lastly the flame is
brought into actual contact with the leaf, thus
removing the last trace of carbon, leaving nothing
but the stars and the white ash. The object is
very tender, but it may be handled with proper
care and may be mounted dry. If it is desired
to secure the stars separate from the ash, one or
two incinerated leaves may be placed in a
small metallic box and shaken up until the
leaf is disintegrated, when the stars may be
picked out.
138 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
HELIX NEMORALIS AS ORNAMENT.—Near the
close of the fifties, or the commencement of the
sixties, necklaces composed of shells of H. nemoralis,
similar to those described by Mr. Welch (ante page
10g), were sold in iarge numbers at Southport, in
Lancashire —J. Potter Briscoe, Public Library,
Nottingham.
HELIX NEMORALIS AS ORNAMENT.—Referring to
Mr. Welch’s note (ante page 109), it was the custom’
a few years ago for the children on the island of
Iona, West Highlands, to sell strings of these and
other shells to tourists for a few pence.- I am not
sure if this is still done, as I have not visited the
island for eight or nine years—J. MacNaughi
Campbell, F.Z.S., Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow;
rith June, 1895.
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLIES.—There are
several indications that the coming autumn may
make 1895 another ‘‘clouded yellow year,” and
those anxious to take this beautiful butterfly should
be on the watch for them in the neighbourhood of
clover and lucerne fields. Several pioneer females
of Colias edusa have been taken in the south of
England this spring, and the dry hot weather has
been favourable to their progeny. There seems to
be little doubt that all the fresh specimens of this
butterfly in Britain are the descendants of the year,
from foreign immigrant females. The butterflies
from the first home-bred brood of the year should
be expected late in July.—John T. Carrington.
Cappis-WormMs.—In reply to Mr. Binns’ enquiry
(ante page Iog), the rearing of caddis-worms in
aquaria is difficult, for some species impossible,
running water, sometimes of high velocity, being
essential. The larvz should be quite isolated from
fish, and also from dragon-fly and beetle larve.
Give abundance of lower aquatic life as food-
supply, a pebbly bed to aquaria, and Anacharis and
other water-plants. Separate the species. Much
good work remains to be done in describing and
figuring. I presume Mr. Binns’ query about litera-
ture is intended to refer to British Neuroptera only.
For these the best, and, in fact, the only, papers
are Dr. H. A. Hagen’s, in the long-discontinued
“* Entomologist’s Annual” (Gurney and Jackson,
Paternoster Row, price 2s. 6d. each year), on
Dragonflies, 1857; Planipennia, 1858; Trichoptera,
1859 to 1861; Psocina, 1861; Ephemeridz, 1863.
A “ Revision of British Libellulide ’’ occursin the
“Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” vol.
xviii. (1846), and another of Psocina, in the
‘‘Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine,”’ vol. iii., and
yet another on Ephemeridz in the last-named
periodical for June and July, 1888. My own papers
on Perlidz# (SciENcE-Gossip, O.S., February and
March, 1892), are the only recent ones in English.
There is also a series of papers by me in the same
periodical, from June to October, 1894, inclusive, on
the ‘‘ British Dragon-fly Larve.” The Entomolo-
gical Society’s ‘‘ Catalogue of British Neuroptera ”’
(ts.), though rather out of date, will furnish most
useful information, too voluminous to be given
here.—W. H. Nunney, Bloomsbury ; June 6th, 1895.
NEWSPAPER NATURAL History.—The following
example of science as she is sometimes written is
too charming to be lost in the ephemeral columns
of anevening paper. It appeared in the form of a
letter headed ‘ Butterflies,’ in the ‘‘ Pall Mall’
Gazette” on May 27th last, and was signed by “A
Moderate Collector "’ (very moderate!). The italics
are ours. ‘‘ In your issue of to-night [May 23rd], is
a letter assuring lovers of butterflies that the large
tortoiseshell and large copper is not extinct, but
unwisely naming a locality where one of the two
species is abundant. That these rarities are still to
be found everyone rejoices, but their existence is
doomed if facilities are given to the omnivorous
collector to exterminate them with insatiable hand.
At one of the principal post-offices one of the
employés showed me about a dozen large
tortoiseshells the other day that he had bred from
the chrysalis, and was not ashamed to tell me that
he had dug up about eight hundred larve of the same
rare insect in the New Forest last autumn. Surely
butterflies of rare occurrence should be protected
as much as birds, and two or three specimens should be
the limit allowed to any collector at the same time. It
has always been a matter of regret to me that the
writers of the best books on butterflies and moths
should have boasted in their books of enormous
captures of particular species in some locality or
other ; no one requires more than two or three specimens,
and the example to young collectors is surely of the
very worst type.”” It is needless to point out to
our entomological readers the absurdity of this,
but others may be reminded that even a post-office
official cannot “dig up” the larve of Vanessa
polychlorus. The other butterfly, Polyommatus dispar
has not been caught anywhere since 1848, but the
large tortoiseshell butterfly is commonly found in
many parts of England, and “eight hundred
larve’’ would make no impression on its numbers
in some localities in Eastern Essex. Series of two
or three specimens of butterflies would be useless
to the scientific entomologist studying the distribu-
tion of variation. ee
GEOLOGY AT THE NEw THAMES TUNNEL.—The
tunnel now being made by the London County
Council will pass under the Thames from Blackwall
to Blackwall Point, on the Greenwich marshes.
The material excavated up to the present on the
north side has been chiefly river gravel; on the
south side the work has passed through a thick bed
of peat, full of roots, with a small quantity of black
gravel, and then enters the Londonclay. Allthe
rest of the tunnel is expected to pass through the
last-named formation. The new road forming the
southern approach has been made chiefly of the
“spoil” excavated, but last autumn I noticed lying
about, several fossiliferous blocks from the Oldhaven
beds. These can scarcely have come out of the
tunnel itself, as the Oldhaven beds must be many
feet below the lowest point reached. The most
probable explanation of their presence seems to be
that they have been dredged from the bed of the
river lower down, with sand and shingle, of which
large quantities are brought up for concrete, etc.
From these blocks the following fossils were
obtained :—Pyrotocardium semigranulatum, Sow.; Proto-
cardium (sp.); Axinea terebratularis, Link.; Axinea
(larger sp.); Panopea intermedia, Sow.; Meretrix
orbicularis, Edw.; Tyophon (sp.); Pirula nexilis (?);
Stenothyva parkinsont, Mor.; Aporrhais sowerbyt,
Mant.; Ampullina subdepressa, Mor.; also a few
sharks’ teeth and one or two shells not yet deter-
mined. Mr. G. F. Harris, F.G.S., of the British
f
SCIENCE-GOSSIP., 139
Museum, who kindly identified the above for me,
says that Pivula nexilis has not been previously
recorded as British. Can any correspondent throw
any light upon the origin of these Oldhaven
blocks ?—/. E. Cooper, 93, Southwood Lane, Highgate,
N.; May, 1895.
GrowtH oF Rats’ Teetu. -- In Buckland’s
“ Curiosities of Natural History”’ there is a
description of a rat’s tooth which had grown into
a perfect circle, and, no doubt, caused the animal’s
death. Similar deformities are occasionally met
with. I send you a photograph of each side of the
skull of a rat, showing that the right upper incisor
has grown into a spiral of one turn and a half,
whilst the left has grown into part of a circle and
has perforated the roof of the mouth, being broken
about its centre, probably by the efforts of the rat
to masticate. The nasal bones are twisted to the
right, showing that the teeth had been growing in
this position for a considerable length of time.
Rieut Upper Inctsor oF RAT.
The left lower incisor has grown to three or four
times its normal length, evidently in consequence
of the upper tooth having curved out of its way, so
that they do not antagonise. The rat was a tame
white one, and the deformity was no doubt due to
the absence of hard substances in the food by
which the natural rapid growth of the teeth would
be worn away as fast as it was produced, the
growth of the teeth in the rodents being very rapid.
In this instance the animal was starved to death
from mere inability to masticate, although it was
Lert Lower Incrsor or Rat,
well taken care of. Even in the human subject
those teeth which have lost their antagonists
gradually rise above the level of the neighbouring
teeth, partly because they are not worn away by
attrition. In man the rate of growth is so slow
that no serious results ensue, whilst in those
animals whose teeth grow rapidly the breaking of
a tooth may cause death by permitting the
opposing tooth to grow until mastication is no.
longer possible.—D. Bradley, L.R.C.P., S.E., The
Wren’s Nest, Westun-super-Mare ; June Ist, 1895.
HUNSICTIONS
RoyaLt METEOROLOGICAL SocitEty.—The last
meeting of this Society for the present session was
held on June 19th, at the Surveyors’ Institution,
Westminster, Mr. R. Inwards, F.R.A.S., President,
rl aehovsy (olnrahbr, Ire, IRS. al, (Opbhet ais, E.R. Met.Soc.,
read a paper on the ‘‘ Hourly Variation of Sunshine
at Seven Stations in the British Isles,’ which was
based upon the records for the ten years, 1881-go.
Falmouth is decidedly the most sunny station of
the seven, having a daily average amount of sun-
shine of 44 hours. This amount is half an hour
more than that recorded at Valencia, and three
quarters of an hour more than at Kew. Of the
other four stations, Aberdeen, the most northern,
but at the same time a coast station, with 3°64
hours, has more than either Stonyhurst or
Armagh, both inland stations, whilst Glasgow, with
only 3 hours, or about a quarter of its possible
amount, has the smallest record of the seven, a
result to some extent due to the nearness of the
observatory to the large manufacturing works with
which the city of Glasgow abounds. At Valencia,
Kew, Stonyhurst and Armagh, the maximum dur-
ation is reached in May, the daily mean amount
varying in the order named from 6% to 6 hours.
At Falmouth and at the Scotch stations the
increase goes on to June, when the mean duration
at Falmouth reaches 74 hours; at Aberdeen, 6}
hours; and at Glasgow 5°6 hours. January and
December are the most sunless months of the year.
The most prominent feature brought out at all the
stations is the rapid increase in the mean hourly
amount of sunshine recorded during the first few
hours following sunrise, and the even more rapid
falling off again just before sunset. Mr. H. Harries,
F.R.Met.Soc., read a paper on ‘‘ The Frequency,
Size and Distribution of Hail at Sea.’ The author
has examined a large number of ships’ logs. in the
Meteorological Office, and finds that hail has been
observed in all latitudes as far as ships go north
and south of the equator, and that seamen meet
with it over wide belts on the polar side of the 35th
parallel.
NorFoLk AND Norwich NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY.
--A meeting was held at the Castle Museum, on
May 27th, the President (Mr. H. D. Geldart) in
the chair. Mr. G. H. Harris read his ‘‘ Notes on
the Flora of the Yarmouth District.’ The
principal object of the paper was an attempt to
estimate the gains and losses to the flora of
Yarmouth and district since Sir James Paget’s time
—an interval of about fifty years. Of the gains, .
Claytonia perfoliata, an introduction from America:
Ranunculus aurvicomus (goldilocks), on the confines of
the district ; Adoxa moschatellina (the moschatel), a
woodland plant; an orchid, Spivanthes autumnalis
(ladies’ tresses), were the chief. A willow herb,
Epilobium voseum, the seeds of which were contained
in sand brought from the Thames; one of the
snowdrop tribe, Lencojum aestivum; and_ thrift,
Aymeria maritima, all of which had recently
occurred, were probably only casuals or escapes.
Amongst those plants whose increase was
140
most perceptible were an umbellifer, Smyrnium
olusatvum, common Alexanders; a composite,
Helminthia echioides, and the woodland plants,
Anemone nemovosa (wood anemone), Samicula europea
(wood sanicle), and Ovalis acetosella (wood sorrel).
The losses included the fine yellow poppy (Glaucium
luteum), the poisonous but interesting henbane
Hyoscyamus niger, whilst there was a very obvious
decrease in the numbers of plants frequenting salt
marshes, and of certain uncommon clovers found
on thé South-denes. These vicissitudes were
brought about from (1) the very probable increase
in the timber of the district, owing to the planting
of copses, which encouraged the growth of wood-
land plants; (2) improved engineering and scientific
agriculture, which drained the marshes, prevented
tidal overflows, and made new soils; (3) the
isolation of the South-denes, and the artificial
changes in its herbage induced by importation of
strangé soils and seeds. Attention was also drawn
to the peculiar divergence gradually being brought
between the flora growing respectively on the
North- and South-denes. Plants originally common
to both had, in some instances, disappeared entirely
from the latter. A plea was put in that the Viola
canina (dog violet), growing on the Denes, should
be raised to the dignity of a variety. Therestricted
area of the clary (Salvia verbenaca), which was
confined almost entirely to the churchyards of
Gorleston and Great Yarmouth, was suggested to
be due to its being an importation for medicinal
purposes by the monks. For this a parallel might
be found in the case of Aristolochia, or birthwort.
The Hon. Secretary (Mr. W. A. Nicholson) read a
short note on ‘‘The High Tide on the East Coast
on May 16th,’”’ which, by an inrush of salt water
into the rivers, had caused the destruction of
hundreds of fish in the Bure, Thurne, Yare, and
Waveney, especially pike, bream, bream-flats, and
tench. Great numbers of fresh-water mussels also
were killed. Mr. Patterson read some “ Notes
from Yarmouth, for February, March, April and
May.’ He mentioned that a fine specimen of the
thornback crab was given to him on April gth, the
first, he believes, recorded for the county. Two
twait shads were taken in a draw-net on that date,
measuring eleven inches and nine inches in length.
On April 13th, a smack, trawling in the vicinity of
the sunken steamer Elbe, took as many fish in
three hauls as the crew sometimes secured in ten
days, which Mr. Patterson described as a gruesome
fact.
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ee Ee
CORRESPONDENCE.
G. Woomatp (Acton).—Common lousewort.
R. Tortunst (Beckenham).—it is ‘‘the wasp-beetle”’;
Clytus artetis, one of the longicornes.
Mrs. Herr (Shoreham, Kent).—The plant appears to be
common sorrel (Rumex acetosella). The flies are the dipterous
Melanostoma scalave, which have, perhaps, succumbed to an
epidemic of the parasitic fungus Empusa musce. You will
find a similar group of flies of the same species found dead
on grass, figured in the last volume of SctencE-GossipP (Vol.
1, IN- Sy 195 SI)
EXCHANGES.
Nortice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including
name and address) admitted free, but additional words must
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words
or less.
GLeEocaprsa.— Will any reader kindly send living specimens
of this? Pellia, Prasiola, or similar exchange returned.—J.
Burton, 9, Agamemnon Road, West Hampstead, N.W.
WanTED, two or three specimens of Testacella mangei
and T. scutulum (living); shall be glad to give duplicate
land and freshwater shells in return.—Lionel E. Adams, 77,
St Giles’ Street, Northampton.
WanTED, living specimens of Testacella haliotidea in
exchange tor eggs of Fulman petrel and others.—J. Macnaught
Campbell, F.z.s., Kelvingrove-Museum, Glasgow.
WaNTED, any back numbers of ‘‘Natural Science”;
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WANTED, British Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and other orders
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WaNiED, to exchange with collectors of minerals.—G.
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OFFEnED, good microscopic slides and scientific books.
Wanted, good microscopic slides; also ‘‘ Lieberkihn”’ for
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wood, Nottingham.
PoLISHED geological specimens, thin sections of ditto (for
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umbe:land Place, Teignmouth.
WaNTED, a correspondent in the neighbourhood of Sand-
hurst (Berks) who would be willing to send pond-water once
or twice a month from some particularly good collecting
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Ofters.—H. W. Parritt, 8, Whitehall Park, N. :
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material or literature on the subject, desired in exchange for
large variety of named mounts of single species or type-
slides, with from 10 to 50 specimens, with catalogue.—F. S.
Morton, 158, Cumberland Street, Portland, Maine, U.S.A. _
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OFFERED, SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 1868 to 1874, bound, 1875 zo
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WANTED, eggs of cuckoo with those of foster parents;
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|
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. r4I
CHARACTERISTIC VBRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES.
By THE Rev. W. H. PurcuHas.
Soe years ago, when giving attention to the
subject of leaf-arrangement in trees and
plants, I was led to consider that since all branches
originate from leaf-buds, and that these leaf-buds
are, in the ordinary course of things, formed only
in the axils of leaves, it would follow that whatever
be the order of arrangement of leaves on the stem
of any given tree or shrub, such may be expected
to be the arrangement of the branches of that tree
or shrub. In practice, however, I found that the
order of leaf-arrangement can rarely be traced in
the position of the leading branches of trees,
and I was accordingly led to enquire why it should
be thus.
The answer to the question was soon found
in the fact that some only, not all, of the buds on
the primary stem of a young tree give rise to
branches, whilst others remain dormant, and that
thus the original order is lost. But I was led at
the same time to perceive that not one only, but a
variety of causes combine to produce the peculiar
mode of branching and the general features which
characterize our different forest-trees. I therefore
set myself to trace these out as well as I could.
In this pursuit I could find little help from
books, and I have had to reiy almost entirely
on my own observations continued through a
series of years, and, although often interrupted,
never wholly laid aside. As a result, my en-
deavour in the present paper is to trace out
the life-history of the different trees, so far as
their branching is concerned, and to show how
the peculiarities of their mode of branching
result in the general form and outline which dis-
tinguishes one from another and enables us to
recognise them even in winter. Also how depen-
dent upon the mode of branching is the massing ot
foliage, and the consequent arrangement of light
and shadow which the artist recognises and seeks
to depict. Although the study of the distinctive
forms of tree-branching is, in the first place, a
matter of botanical interest, I think it may be well
worth the while of the painter of woodland scenery
to give some attention to it. It should help to-
wards a correct and intelligent recognition of the
physiognomical differences in trees, and should
lead to the avoiding of any such mistakes as were
sometimes made by the older landscape painters,
and which have been so unsparingly exposed by
Mr. Ruskin.
First, I think it will be best to enumerate the
different causes so far as I have been able to
discover them, with just enough of illustration to
make clear my meaning; and, secondly, to show
AuGustT, 1895.—No. 18, Vol. II.
how these causes come into play in the case of
different trees.
I. ARRANGEMENT OF LEAvES.—First and fore-
most must certainly come the arrangement of
leaves on the stem, for, as all botanists are aware,
this is by no means after an irregular and
haphazard fashion, but is regulated by definite
laws. These laws are not indeed observed with
mathematical precision, for we must not expect to
find this in natural history, but laws which never-
theless are found to prevail in the greater number
of instances. Leaves, then, in our common
deciduous trees are placed either oppositely or
alternately on the stem. Opposite leaves occur in
the case of the ash, the sycamore and the maple,
and there is little variety in the arrangement.
Each pair of leaves, when regularly grown, stands
at right angles to the pairs next above and below
it, and buds, towards the close of the season, are
formed in the axils of these leaves. These buds
give rise in the following season to branches or
branchlets standing opposite to each other and at
right angles to those above and below them as the
leaves had done. This, however, is liable to be
interfered with by some of the buds remaining
dormant.
In the case of alternate-leaved trees there is much
more difference of arrangement. The simplest case
is when the third leaf stands directly over the first,
two ranks of leaves and consequently of branches
being thus formed. We find this arrangement in
the lime,theelm and the beech. In all cases where
the leaves are solitary, and not in pairs or whorls,
it is found that a line drawn round the stem so as
to pass from leaf to leaf will describe a spiral. The
number of leaves which intervene between that
from which we start and that which begins a new
circuit, by standing directly over the first, is found
to vary in different species, although tolerably
constant in the same species. Thus, whilst as
above stated, the line connecting the bases of the
leaves in the lime, beech and wych-elm passes only
once round the stem before the third leaf is
reached and the circuit completed, in the oak and
the apple the line passes twice round the stem
before the leaf which stands immediately over
the first is reached, the number of intervening
leaves being in these cases five, a fresh cycle
beginning with the sixth leaf. It would be out of
place to attempt to enter further on this matter ;
‘full details may be found in any good introductory
work on Botany, such as Henfrey’s ‘‘ Elementary
Course”’ or Balfour’s ‘‘ Class-book of Botany,’ by
those who wish to pursue the subject.
142 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
2. POSITION OF FLOWERS.—After the arrange-
ment_of leaves on the stem nothing is of so much
importance to the character of the tree as the
position of the flowers. A leafy shoot can go on
lengthening indefinitely, but all lengthening is at
an end at the point where a flower is formed. All
further growth from that point must take place in
a new direction, and hence the importance to our
subject of the position of the flowers. The flower,
or group of flowers, constituting the inflorescence,
may be either terminal or lateral: terminal, as
in the sycamore and maple, which leads to a bushy
growth ; lateral, as in the elm and ash, in which
case the branches lengthen year after year from
the terminal bud. Then the inflorescence may
spring immediately from the ripened wood of last
year, as in the elm and ash, and in many willows;
or else it may spring from the green and growing
shoot of the present season, asin the lime. In all
cases, however, there is no further leafy growth
where the bud has given rise to flowers. In the
lime-tree, however, and in the case of the fertile
flowers of the oak, there is generally formed a
fresh leaf-bud by the side of the peduncle, which
leaf-bud will give rise to a branchlet in the follow-
ing season. Thus there will be no interference
with the order of the branching as originally
determined by the position of the leaves.
3. ANGLE oF GrowtH.—The angle which each
branch makes with the stem or branch from which
it springs will be found to vary with the species.
There is, speaking generally, for each kind of tree
a certain normal angle at which the branches are
given off, producing an effect on the general
appearance and character of the tree which we
can recognise perhaps even better in winter than
insummer. This normal angle is best seen in the
younger branches and spray wood. Not only do
the larger limbs become bent downwards by the
weight of branches and foliage, but in various
cases it would seem that the earlier and leading
branches of the tree have a greater tendency to
ascend and approach the main stem, thus making
a smaller angle with it above the point of junction,
than do the smaller branchlets with the branches
from which they spring. In the case of the ash,
the branches show a tendency to come off at an
angle of about 40° with the stem above their
point of departure; the younger branches approxi-
mate more closely than this. In the wych-elm the
ultimate branchlets make, generally speaking, an
angle larger than a right-angle with their parent
branch. The main branches seem, in the first
instance, to come off at a smaller angle, but they
very frequently, at the distance of a foot or
two from the stem, bzcome bent downward and
drooping.
Extreme examples of these differences in angle
are seen in the Lombardy poplar on the one hand,
with its upright branches, and the weeping ash, or
weeping elm, of nursery gardens and shrubberies,
on the other hand.
Besides the angle at which a branch approaches
or diverges from the main stem, it is sometimes the
case that the branches are set on obliquely, not
following the direction of a straight line from the
centre of the parent stem or branch through their
point of origin, but rather the direction of a
tangent to some point in the circumference of the
stem. This is seen in the crack willow (Salix
fragilis, L.), as was pointed out by Smith in ‘‘ The
English Flora.”
I may also draw attention to the peculiar
directions assumed by the lesser branches in
different trees, or even in different individuals of
the same kind of tree. These branchlets often
choose to assume a direction of their own instead
of that taken by the branches from which they
spring. In vigorous-growing forms of the wych-
elm (Ulmus montana) for instance, the lateral
branchlets generally preserve a horizontal growth;
in the more slender-growing forms of the same tree
they are often pendulous, whilst in the small-leafed
elm (Ulmus campestris) they show a strong tendency
to turn upwards towards the sky, and this, as will
hereafter be shown, has an important bearing on
the general outline and aspect of the tree. No
cause has, so far as I know, been assigned for these*
differences, nor for the even more strongly marked
tendency to bend downwards which we see in the
weeping ash and weeping elm.
. 4. LenetH oF INTERNODE.—The comparative
length of the internode, or space between leaf and
leaf, affects also the aspect of a tree, causing, as it
does, the leaves, and consequently the branches,
to be more crowded in one case and more widely
separated in another: Thus the length of the
internode or joint in the ash is, in the vigorous,
quickly-grown branches, which are only bearing
leaves, as much as three inches; in the branchlets,
which produce flowers, it is much shorter.
In the beech, the distance from leaf to leaf
varies from one inch to two and a quarter inches,
In the wych-elm I have found it vary from five-
eighihs of an inch to oneand three-quarter inches ;
in the small-leafed elm, I believe it is commonly
less than this. In the sycamore it varies from
three-quarters of an inch in the weaker shoots to
two and three-quarter inches in the more luxuriant
ones. In the maple I have found it from half an inch
or less to one and a half inches.
5. COMPARATIVE THICKNESS OR DIAMETER OF
YEARLY SHoOoTS.—There is much variation in this
respect. In the beech, for example, the young
shoots of the year are often only one-sixteenth and
rarely more than one-eighth of an inch in diameter.
In the ash they are very commonly from one-quarter
to three-eighths of aninch. The result is the stiff
ee ee
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a
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 143
ascending growth of the ash and the more
pendulous habit of the beech. In the wych-elm
one-eighth of an inch is a common thickness of the
year’s shoot. In the small-leaved elm (U/mus
campestris) it is commonly less than this.
6. RELATIVE FORCE OF DEVELOPMENT IN Bubs.
This, especially in terminal compared with the
axillary buds, has also much to do with determining
the general form of the tree. It varies in different
individuals of the same species, as, for example, in
the younger and more free-growing states of the
wych-elm, compared with the aged or less vigorous
growing examples of the same tree. In the former
case the last bud on the shoot, although not strictly
terminal, takes the lead of the others and prolongs
the branch in the original direction. In the latter
case one or more of the lateral buds takes the lead,
and changes the direction of growth. The same
thing occurs in the oak. In the sessile-fruited oak
the terminal bud is more frequently than in the
peduncled oak the strongest, or has most force of
development. Thus we see the branches more
commonly prolonged in one line than in the other
case. Inthe beech the terminal bud almost always
takes the lead.
7. FORMATION OF SpurRs.—These give rise,
season after season, to flowers and fruit from
(Mee, WAIL UNS:
their terminal bud, and thus scarcely lengthen
at all. We see this in the beech; and as some
individual trees are much more given than others
to the formation of spurs, there is a corresponding
difference in the amount of leafy growth.
8. SUPPRESSION OF BuDS AND DEATH OF OLDER
BRANCHLETS.—It often happens, as_ already
mentioned, that the buds on the earlier part of the
last year’s shoot, continue dormant and eventually
die; the buds nearer the point of the shoot
absorbing the nutriment and continuing the
growth. Thus those earlier parts of the yearly
shoots eventually become bare and naked parts of
the branch. Moreover, many of the smaller branches
which once were active and vigorous eventually
perish, by the younger growth gradually depriving
them of nourishment. Wesee this in the sycamore,
the limbs being naked for some distance from their
origin, but bearing towards their extremity a mass
of bushy growth.
Such are the chief causes which, so far as I have
observed, contribute to give to each tree its
characteristic mode of branching. It is very
probable that there may be other causes which
have escaped me, and I am well assured that on the
whole question there is much more to be known
than I have yet been able to recognise.
Alstonfield Vicarage, Ashbourne ; Fune 26th, 1895.
OR PAs ORIN
By JoHn T. CarRINGTON.
NDER the above title our contemporary ‘‘ The
Spectator,”’ of June 30th, publishes an article,
written in its lighter vein. It is founded upon the
gift by Mr. G. F. Watts, the Royal Academician,
of {1,000 to the Home Industries and Arts
Association, a society for cultivating hobbies
among busy people, as a relaxation in their leisure
hours.
It is now generally conceded that there is much
hygienic value in a perfect change of thought and
occupation for the mind, at intervals, from our
daily routine of necessary work. Even in our own
times we can remember the school of mercenary
persons who discouraged any deviation from the
strict line of business. People who spoke con-
temptuously of young men, who, after office hours,
laboriously worked for a knowledge of higher
things than the columns of figures with which
they had been engaged all day. ‘‘ He is no good,
he spends his time in fly-catching and gathering
herbs,”’ was often, and we may say is still to be
heard, about some rising botanist or entomologist.
Public thought has, however, of late years changed
greatly in favour of the scientific hobby. Men
have found that from those who devoted their
leisure to scientific investigation, have arisen
celebrated chemists, electricians, geographical ex-
plorers and others, who have made discoveries of
immense value to the human race. When actual
monied results became visible from the labours
of these people, then the purely money-loving
business man began to look with favour upon
their hobbies.
The writer in the ‘‘Spectator” places natural
history third in the list of recommended hobbies,
giving preference to music and sketching. We
very naturally consider that writer all wrong in
his judgment, and will endeavour to show reasons
why natural science should take first place.
Especially for the young of both sexes, is the
study of any of the natural sciences of the utmost
value. Leaving aside the application of the old
motto about Satan finding mischief still for idle
hands to do, a physically and mentally healthy
occupation during the growing period of youth,
lays a sound foundation for a strong lifetime to
follow. It isa matter for serious doubt whether
the present system of educational cramming with
G 2
144 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
superficial knowledge for passing examinations, is
good for the future man or woman. Mentally,
both boys and girls are kept at high pressure with
scant physical exercise, generally in the form of
games with evanescent interest. The knowledge
which is lasting is that which is slowly absorbed,
and taken in with personal interest in the subject
for its own sake. If we take any branch of natural
history where there is a tendency in the student
for a taste in that direction, the object will take
the young person into fresh air, among rural
surroundings, with ample bodily exercise. The
entomologist, botanist, microscopist or geologist,
sees interest in every surrounding. Dulness dis-
appears from life, there is never any need to find
a subject for thought, especially if the subject is
pursued intelligently and scientifically, rather than
by a mere collector. It may be that the interest
at first is diffuse and wanting in direction, but as
the student begins to realize the impossibility of
knowing everything about every subject, he will
settle down with some one or two branches of
study, and maybe become a specialist of wide
renown. The great men of science, almost without
exception, commenced with small beginnings, but
by systematic work, and the systematising of the
work of others, soon rose to positions of authority.
There will always be vacancies in the -ranks
of the leaders, and for those who will work
steadily and intelligently the rewards are within
easy reach.
The range of subjects in the allied natural
sciences are inexhaustible. So long as man remains
on this earth will there be something to learn about
nature. Allowing the impossible, that mankind
collectively can know everything, there will always
be more to learn; for the earth and its animal and
vegetable inhabitants are continually changing
their physical conditions. If we review what is
not known at the present time many persons would
be astounded at the length of the list. Even the
commonest things around us are still enigmas:
What is life ? What is light ? What is heat ? What
is cold? What is electricity ? And soon, wemight
fill one of these pages with similar unanswered
questions. Thescope for those who take up science
as a hobby is practically limitless.
The“ Spectator,” as we havesaid, places musicand
sketching prior to natural history. In discussing
the relative values of these subjects for hobbies we
must not overlook the natural aptitude of the
individual. We know some people, though very
good amateur naturalists, who would be sorely taxed
if called upon to warble even the tune from hearing
which an old cow is said to have died, and would
find equal difficulty in depicting in a drawing the
cow herself. This applies on the other side, as
regards natural history among many successful
musicians and artists. What we claim is, that in
guiding young people in want of a hobby—which
all are the better for possessing—the study of the
life and physical conditions around us forms the
best, the healthiest, most easily attained, and most
satisfactory as arule, in later years. It is devoid
of the drudgery of music and sketching, and there
is less chance of drifting into a mediocre performer.
The advance in knowledge in natural history is
more rapid, while the collections accumulated
during its study are a never-failing source of
interest and pleasure. Take for instance the case
of the lately deceased owner of a collection of
moths and butterflies, which was recently sold by
auction, realizing no less than some {500. This
was the result of the leisure-time hobby of a man
who had to daily earn his living, with no holidays
more than fell to the lot of the ordinary London
workman. His collection was but the sordid side
of his hobby. The amount of genuine healthy
recreation, instruction, and honour gained among
his fellow-workers in natural history was the true
reward.
To return to Mr. Watts’ generous gift of a
thousand pounds. We have not the pleasure of
knowing anything about the society to which he
has given it, but the title strongly commends itself
to us. If their rules and funds will permit, we
would recommend its Executive to consider the
claims of many working naturalists in our towns
and country places. Mr. Smiles discovered Tom
Edward, of Banff, and wrote a very charming
book about him. He delineated only a well-
known type, one which exists all over the United
Kingdom. In London and other great cities it
abounds. Itrepresents one of the most respectable
sections of society, generally self-educated, modest,
earnest and intelligent. | Such men can be helped
by the Association very materially. Loans to
obtain scientific instruments, an entomological
cabinet, books, and in many other ways. These
loans might be repaid in instalments, and it would
be found a rare exception for the Association to
lose by its generosity. Again, such men might be
assisted with small grants toward an annual
holiday, which would be spent in investigating their
special subject in a state of nature, or collecting
objects for winter’s study. Some would greatly
value a week or two at one of the increasing
number of biological laboratories, where they would
learn to investigate in a scientific and methodical
manner. Unfortunately the tendency among the
wealthy is to aid the shiftless and neglect those
who practice self-denial and self-help. If our
suggestions were adopted, we feel sure that many
who are interested in science from the point of view
of its study elevating the student, would gladly aid
such a society, but who either do not know of its
existence, or have not had any interest aroused in
its work.
a
a 4
TS
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
145
AN OAK SEEDLING.
THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN OAK SEEDLING.
By SopHiA ARMITT.
ee autumn of 1893 brought an unusual number
of acorns in the woods round Harrogate,
as elsewhere in England; the ground under the
trees was covered and concealed by them. In the
lake country, further north, they were not quite so
numerous, but still much more abundant than I
had known them before. I had been reading,
about that time, some pleasant little books of Mrs.
Brightwen’s, ‘‘ Wild Nature won by Kindness,”’
and)“ More about Wild Nature,” wherein she tells
that she had acorns and beech-mast collected for
the winter feeding of the many wild birds she
enticed to her garden and windows, by supplying
them with suitable food. There was little or no
beech-mast that year, even for the squirrels that
haunted the beech-trees and raced round the house
from the trees on one side to those on the other,
sometimes taking a peep in at the windows as they
passed a) I
gathered to-
gether a pile
of acorns and
stored them
for similar
use. I don’t
know how
Mrs. Bright-
wen managed,
but no birds
ever came to
my acorns,
the rooks even
Fig. 1.—Sections of acorns in three places, at right-angles to one another.
to the acorns which the birds would not accept.
As I picked up the acorns I noticed that some
had already split their shells and that a tiny
radicle was emerging. When [ turned over the pile
later on to throw some to the birds, I found that
many of the lower ones had sprouted and sent out
radicles an inch, two inches, and some even six
inches long. This was rather surprising, as I had
thought that these large fruits lay dormant all
winter, while necessary changes took place in
their stored-up food-stuffs, but here were many
acorns with long protruded radicles, some two
months after my picking them up from under their
parent tree. I thought this a good occasion to
watch the unfolding embryo life of a great tree, and
placed some of the finest of the germinated acorns
in the little acorn glasses that are like miniature
hyacinth glasses, with the young root in water, and
placed them
in a sunny
window. So
situated, I
watched their
development
with interest
for nearly a
wear, Ile
books certain-
ly say that in
ayy State wor
nature the
acorns lie on
did not take 1, transverse ; 2, longitudinal in the plane of the cotyledons; 3, across the plane the ground
Brombyce we MU a siinile the cnbryonclitcie ety AIA Tee ean ihe oe a eaione, ane
have success- 2and 3 arethe vascular bundles. (Copied.) fallen leaves
Hilly | “eGl during winter
many small without any
birds through many winters: robins, chaf- apparent change. That they may even lie so
finches, hedge-sparrows, blackbirds, blue-titmice,
great-tits, cole-tits, and even once a marsh
titmouse. There have always been certain birds
in sight of the windows that have never been
tempted by human offerings, the tiny wrens that
search the outside crevices of the window-frames
for spiders, and sleep in the verandah nooks,
will not notice bread, or fat, or grain. Thrushes,
too, will turn over leaves under laurels within
sight of the window in search of food, without
approaching further. This has always puzzled
me, as in towns thrushes are comparatively
tame, and will often feed upon scattered crumbs
with other birds.
the bulfinches and others, but I am running on too
long about the birds, I must apologise and return
There are the long-tailed tits and —
for nearly a year, that they require a period of rest
before the oxygen of the air and the moisture of
the soil are effective in making them germinate,
that some molecular or chemical changes must
take place in the living cells before further activity,
is possible. It has been supposed that until certain
ferments have been prepared in the cells, the pro-
toplasm is unable to make use of the stored-up
food materials, and therefore to initiate the changes
necessary for growth. Then, it is usually said, as
the temperature rises in the spring, the embryo in
the seed absorbs water and oxygen and swells, the
radicle drives its tip through the ruptured invest-
ments of the seed, and turning downwards, plunges
into the soil. This must, of course, be the case
usually, but in the autumn of 1893, things went
146
a little differently; perhaps the unusually hot
summer had abbreviated the normal course. _Be
this as it may, early in November I gathered
acorns already sprouting, and in December about
half of the piled-up acorns in a shady corner
of the verandah, without any spring warmth,
without any moisture, and without any soil to
penetrate, had already long radicles, and the finest
of them, set to grow in the glasses, throve well all
through the summer
of 1894, till the end
of October, when
inexorable circum-
stances parted me
from them.
Many of the acorns 2)
of 1893 were of un-
usual size, quite an
inch long, aud pro-
portionately broad.
They fell, some with
and some without
the cup or cupule,
which is no part of 0)
the fruit itself, but
only a mass of har-
dened bracts of the
floral envelope. The
acorn is a polished
dark brown or lea-
ther-coloured, egg-
shaped fruit. Its
broad flat end that
lies in the cup is
marked by a large
round scar, the re-
mains of the attach-
ment of acorn and
yy
Cc
SCLEN CE-GOSSIP
the cup from the twig. The pipes too are
shrivelled and dead and broken across, their
use being past. The seed is not much smaller
than the fruit which it fills up loosely, of the
same shape, and covered with brown papery
membrane, its own coat or testa. It is horny and
hard, and is made up of two halves lying closely
pressed together, face to face, from the top of the
acorn to the bottom. These two halves or cotyle-
dons are not quite
separate or free from
each other, they are
united to a tiny body
lying embedded and
pressed between
them at the pointed
end of the seed, a
body that is of itself
so small that it is
easily overlooked.
The larger end of
this small embryo
is the radicle point-
ing upwards to the
apex of the acorn;
the smaller end
turned down is the
plumule, the origin
of the stem and
leaves of the oak,
as the radicle is the
origin of its root
system. Each coty-
ledon is united to
the tiny embryo by
a minute stalk.
Thus the testa of the
large seed is filled
up by two immense
cup; the scar is
roug from the cotyledons, a_ tiny
breakage of the little radicle and a tinier
pipes or vessels plumule, the tip of
which traversed the the radicle lying
ciples oa une Fig. 2.—1, section of half of embryo; 2, germinating embryo pee sare the saa
stem to the fruit. with one cotyledon removed ; 3, advanced stage of germina- brane covering the
The free end of the _—*ioM S, PEFR: sh, testa; plomule; st petiole of seed and pointing
acorn is pointed w, primaryroot. (After Lachs.) outwards.
with a little knob, Thin sections of this
the remains of the
stigma of the past and gone flower of Spring.
The polished hard coat of the acorn, marked with
fine longitudinal lines, is the covering of the fruit,
the pericarp; inside this is a papery membrane,
the inner pericarp. In the ripe fruit both are
dead structures, existing as protecting coverings
to the seed within, which is now loose and free
from them. On shaking it may be heard to rattle
about; it was at first attached by the broad end
by the same connecting pipes that ran through
seed placed under
the microscope display polygonal cells of thin walls
tightly packed with granule-like contents. The
whole embryo consists almost entirely of this
fundamental tissue. Surrounding the embryo and
following all its shape is a layer of flattened cells
fitting close round it as a glove, and this is the
outer layer of the young plant, the epidermis.
Where the sections are cut across the cotyledons,
or radicle, or plumule, there are seen certain minute
specks, the cut surfaces of fine cords of long and
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
narrow cells, which are the vascular bundles. One
set of them runs up the centre of the radicle, start-
ing from its tip; they pass into the cotyledons,
there branch and run to the remoter parts.
The cells of the fundamental tissues of the coty-
ledons are packed with starch grains of oval shape
and pearly lustre, lying embedded in proteids and
tannin, with some little fatty substance. The
starch grains are stores of food containing carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen; the proteids contain nitro-
gen and certain mineral salts. The vascular
bundles are the pipes along which this stored-up
food will travel to the radicle and plumule, as soon
as germination begins. The
young epidermis has no part in
the storing or conducting of food-
material; it is simply a covering,
and will extend with the growth
of the young plant inside it.
When the swelling seed splits its
hard investments, the little radicle
lengthens and comes out first,
turning downwards and entering
the soil slowly; it wants to get
firm hold of the ground and to
absorb water. The cotyledons
remain in the acorn, and the
developing root draws its growing
material from their richly-stored
cells. They nourish the young
plant for months, and may even
not be entirely exhausted at the
end of two years. The cotyledons
play a threefold part; they are
store-houses of food, they are pro-
tective to the rudimentary tree
pressed closely between them,
they also perform the task of
thrusting out of the seed-case the
tiny plant-germ, that its members
may elongate in the two directions.
The last two duties are much
more quickly performed than the
first. In my young oaklings
of six to eight inches high, grown
in water, the cotyledons were still
in the seed-case. I have a young oak pressed in
its second year of growth with the cotyledons
erect and separate. I suppose the enclosing case
simply rotted away during the winter, and so set
them free. They area good deal shrunk, but still
much thicker than a foliage leaf. Eventually they
get entirely emptied out, die off and disintegrate,
so that the place of their connection with the stem
can scarcely be discovered. The germination of
the beech, which I have often watched, is very
different. The cotyledons, though thick and
fleshy, are folded up tightly like a fan; they are
drawn out of their nut-like covering very early,
Fig. 3.—Germinating acorn,
showing the
emergence of the primary
shoot and the first scalps.
(After Rossmassler.)
147
and then expand and rise till they are thick but
flat and green leaves, as oak cotyledons never
seem to be.
When the radicle of the oak is some two to three
inches long, the plumule comes out from between
the stalks of the cotyledons, which elongate and
separate to permit its passage, and begins its
growth up into air and light; this plumule, too,
lives on the stored-up food-stuffs of the cotyledons,
the dissolved substances are conveyed into it by
the small pipes or vascular bundles arranged for
that purpose. As the radicle starts into growth
before the plumule, so it keeps ahead of it, being
always longer and stouter than
the young shoot in air, and beset
with side strands or rootlets. At
first the young oakling is without
leaves, bearing only a few scales ;
when it is about three inches high,
there are two scales close to the
top that are a little longer than
those that are below, and from
between the scales comes the first
leaf, a small green leaf of no very
decided shape. Then the stem
elongates and throws out other
leaves that are distinctly oak-
leaves in contour. At the end of
summer there are five or six leaves,
shortly stalked, each between its
pair of stipules. A line drawn
round this young stem joining the
points of leaf insertion, describes
a spiral, which circles twice round
the stem and arrives at the sixth
leaf immediately over the first
one.
The root of one of my little oaks
was infested with a curious and,
I suppose, a fungoid growth. In
appearance it was something like
the barnacles of the sea, bluntly
conical protuberances along the
crack-like markings on the stoutest
part of the root; filmy slime
seemed to come off from the pro-
tuberances, and thicken the water. A young oak
of the same size that I dug out from its native soil
bore the same parasite, but in much lessdegree. I
was much interested, but unable to investigate
manner of
these further. Perhaps some of your readers
may be able to tell us something about this
parasite.
As I have already indicated, the observation
of the growth of plants from their seeds will be
found not only most interesting but, in the case of
the larger seeds, such as walnut, oak, beech and
others, comparatively easy to manage.
Ambleside; Fuly, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
mE: “NOK REL SEAL TsivAW le ul S ae ave,
By JoHn T. CARRINGTON.
Qcrnnge and commerce are now so closely
allied that it seems in no way out of place for
the Marine Biological Association of the United
Kingdom to investigate the destruction by trawlers
of immature fish. A special number of the journal
of the Association was issued at the end of June,
which is occupied with ‘‘An Examination of the
present state of the Grimsby Trawl Fishery with
especial reference to the destruction of immature
fish; by Ernest W. L. Holt.”
It will be remembered by our scientific readers
that Mr. Holt was, until recently, connected with
the Marine Biological Association as one of its
professional naturalists, and has devoted much
attention to the North Sea fisheries on its behalf, the
Association having had its base for this purpose at
Grimsby. In the introduction, Mr. Holt explains
that he was appointed by the council of the Marine
Biological Association to investigate the causes,
from their scientific aspects, of the acknowledged
deterioration of the North Sea trawl fishery.
During three years, Mr. Holt haslaboured to collect
whatever information he could obtain on this ques-
tion. His headquarters were at Grimsby, where the
Association, by arrangement with a local society, se-
cured the use of a small laboratory fitted with tanks
and other conveniences. The‘ question ” requiring
investigation shortly resolved itself into a state-
ment, ‘‘ that large numbers.of immature fish were
destroyed by trawling.” This especially referred to
flat fish, as little round fish are not largely affected
by capture in the trawl, readily escaping through the
mesh. Mr. Holt early came to the conclusion that the
North Sea fisheries are in a diminishing condition.
It is not in accordance with the objects of this
magazine to deal with the commercial side of Mr.
Holt’s report, which, however, contains in addition
a good deal of valuable information for ichthy-
ologists.. Part ii. of the report is devoted largely to
immature fish; that is to say, those which have not
reached the age for reproduction. To Dr. Wemyss
Fulton belongs the credit of having been the first
to endeavour to ascertain the size at which fish of
different kinds begin to breed. His investigation
appeared in the Eighth Annual Report of the
Scotch Fishery Board, being based on material
obtained from the East Coast of Scotland. Mr.
Holt followed with further results from the records
of the Royal Dublin Society’s Fishery Survey, in
the Scientific Proceedings of that society, Part
vii., Vol.9. These investigations made it evident
that even in one sex all fish of the same species did
not become mature at exactly the same size. This
applies especially with regard to locality. Still it
is possible to arrive at a fair average standard in
any one locality. The table given by Mr. Holt of
sexual maturity in North Sea fish indicates in
inches in length: turbot, 18; brill, 15; common
sole, 12; plaice, 17; lemon sole, 12; common dab,
7; cod, 25; haddock, 13; whiting, 9 inches.
It will be observed that the standard for North
Sea plaice is 17 inches, but Mr. Holt draws
attention to a dwarf variety of this fish which
appears to have its headquarters in the Baltic.
After examining several consignments of these fish
from German fish merchants to the Grimsby
pontoon, it was found that the largest measured
only 133 inches, which, with some females no
longer than 93 inches, were all full of ripe roe or
milt. The plaice of our south-west coast are
considerably smaller than the North Sea forms.
Their lengths of maturity varying from 11 to 15
inches. As another instance of variation of size of
maturity, the common soles of the south-west of
England, which are larger than those of the North
Sea, mature only at over 13 inches in length.
Many people wanting in knowledge of the life-
history of our food fishes are too apt to recommend
artificial breeding as a means of replenishment.
Mr. Holt devotes considerable attention to this
subject. With the exception of skate, herring and
cat-fish, all our food fish propagate by means of
eggs which float singly on the surface of the
water for some considerable period of time,
during which the embryo is developing. In
most of the more valuable kinds the eggs
float until they are hatched, excepting those of
turbot, which seem to sink some days before
hatching. It will be seen that the difficulties in
the way of artificial propagation are almost
insuperable. It is necessary to have a continuous
change of water in the tanks where the eggs are
placed in captivity after being spawned. As they
float they naturally drift towards the overflow
from the tank, and to have any strainer sufficiently
fine to stop these eggs means that the eggs
immediately choke the strainer, thus not only
preventing the refreshing of the water, but causing
injury and disease among the eggs themselves from
overcrowding. This, of course, could be overcome
by having large spaces of water instead of labora-
tory tanks, but even then it is not probable that
any great percentage would ever reach the size
where reproduction commences, if it were con-
sidered desirable to keep them solong. The flat
fish generally frequent sandy beaches close inshore
until they are large enough to migrate to the shallow
banks in the main ocean. They have at this period
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 149
numbers of natural enemies, but few of these are
nearly so destructive as the shore-shrimpers with
their push-nets. These nets are pushed along
the margin at low tide, either by night or by
day, as the tide serves. Mr. Holt has examined
this source of destruction, and gives the following
statistics as a fair example of the catch of one net
for a single tide. The value of the shrimps is
estimated by the captor at 2s. 6d. ‘‘ Shrimps, four
quarts; soles, four, from 2? to 3}inches; turbot,
one, 34inches; brill, two, from 38 to 4? inches ;
plaice, 896, from 14 to 44inches; plaice, twelve,
4? to g inches; flounders, six, 24 to 42 inches ;
flounders, three, 9 inches; dabs, three, 1} to
1? iriches ; smelts, five, 34 to 32 inches; smelts, one,
64 inches ; dragonets, twenty-three, 1? to 2? inches ;
gobies, 261; sticklebacks, twenty-nine; also sand-
eels, pipe-fish, etc. It is not suggested that all
these fish, which amount to some 1,300 in number,
INTERNATIONAL
are destroyed at every tide by each man, but there
can be little doubt that the majority are more or
less injured, if not actually killed. Of course it
must not be supposed that gobies, sticklebacks,
pipe-fish, or sand-eels have any commercial value,
but it should not be forgotten that they constitute
a large proportion of the food-supply of more
valuable species.
It is very satisfactory to find that the Marine
Biological Association is devoting so much atten-
tion to what immediately affects the public, through
its food-supply. As has been pointed out in a
recent number of ScIENCE-GossIP, some of our
learned societies confine themselves so strictly to
science as to be out of touch with public sym-
pathy; but this cannot be said of the work
designed by the Council which has control of the
Plymouth Biological Station, and its outlying
branches.
METEOROLOGY:
By E. D. ANDERSON and A. E. MANsForD.
Ne ROUGE issued in 1893, by the American
Government, a valuable book has only lately
reached this country. It is entitled ‘‘ A Summary
of International Meteorological Observations.”’
Compiled by Major H. H. C. Dunwoody, Signal
Service Corps, United States Army. 61 pp., with
61 charts, 24 inches by 19 inches. (Published
by the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture,
Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C. 1893.)
Few scientific works recently issued are more
satisfactory in scope and execution than this fine
volume, which we owe to the Weather Bureau of the
United States. The charts are perhaps particularly
adapted for the use of specialists in meteorology
and climatology, but the descriptive letterpress, by
which they are prefaced, will do much to render
them of general interest. The unusual size of the
publication may by some be considered a detriment,
but when it is borne in mind that the charts cover
the whole known area of the northern hemisphere,
and that on them all the chief meteorological
stations are depicted by means of small circles,
it is evident that anything smaller would have
entailed a loss of clearness, and the advantages
for purposes of generalisation of seeing the whole
region at a glance preclude the idea of their sub-
division. Taking these points into consideration,
Major Dunwoody and his assistants are certainly
to be congratulated on the concise form in which
they have presented the result of the labour of
eighteen years, the first thirteen of which were
devoted to amassing data from nearly 600 stations,
which yielded the amazing total of five million
daily simultaneous observations. Temperature
charts are given, showing the isotherms for every
month as well as for the year, the greatest contrast
occurring on the January chart, where Barbadoes,
Ceylon and parts of West-Central India havea noon
mean temperature of 80° F., whilst Verchojansk,
in Siberia (67° 34’ N., 153° 31’ E.), has an average
of 60° F. below zero. Very low temperatures are
marked during January and February on the North
American prairies, 40° F. below zero being the
normal noon temperature for February for the
Great Slave Lake district, but as the Pacific coast
is approached, the isotherms take a most pronounced
upward trend, so that the sea-coasts of California
and British Columbia, even through the winter
months, enjoy a temperature of from 40° to 50° F.
The highest temperature shown is on the May
chart, where, in parts of British India, the mean is
above 100° F.
A second complete series of charts illustrates the
isobars, and it is noticeable that whereas in the
northern hemisphere during summer the areas of
highest pressure occur over the ocean and the
lowest over the land, during winter the positions
are reversed. The lowest mean given is 29°43 at
Lahore on the July chart, and the highest 30°67 at
Nertchinsk (Asiatic Russia) on the chart for
January. The average frequency of storm charts
open a wide field for comparison, the St. Lawrence
Valley has the doubtful privilege of heading the
list with a total of 484 storms in ten years, whilst
England in the same period experienced 135, and the
western shores of California and Mexico only three.
Fog being to the navigator perhaps even a greater
danger than storms, the tables giving its average
frequency and position are likely to be of special
value.
eS
150
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
SOME ABNORMAL PLANTS.
By JoHN T. CARRINGTON.
Vy = have to thank several correspondents for
sending abnormal examples of different
species of plants. Mr. George C. Griffiths, of 43,
Caledonia Place, Clifton, Bristol, forwarded an
abnormal inflorescence of cultivated rose, gathered
by Mr. William Mullany from his garden at
Cotham. The rest of the flowers on the tree from
which it was cut were of the usual character. It
had the appearance of a somewhat loosely grown
red rose, the bud of another flower springing from
This appears to be a case of prolifera-
tion somewhat similar to one figured by
Dr. Maxwell Masters, F.R.S., in ‘‘ Vegetable
Teratology,” the difference being that in his case
both portions of the stem showed the inflorescence
atthesametime. As in that instance, Mr. Griffiths’
specimen showed no sign of the immature hip
under the lower flower,
and the stamens were
wanting ; the axis was
prolonged for the sup-
plementary flower. The
lower inflorescence be-
ing a case of prolifera-
the centre.
tion.
On july 4th, Mr.
George Parish, 124,
Kingston Road, Oxford,
sent an abnormal straw-
berry, of which we give
an illustration. The
fruit was quite normal
excepting for a little
greenness of colour at the point. As will beseen from
the drawing, two little flowers, which are figured
natural size, were growing from the apex of the
fruit. As Mr. Parish says in his letter, it is not
uncommon to see bracts emerging in this manner,
but it is unusual to see flowers as fully developed.
When the specimen reached us all the petals were
still attached, but on arrival at the artist’s house
some had become lost and have therefore not
been drawn. We do not find that Dr. Masters
refers to a similar case, though he figures one of
median leafy proliferation, representing the thala-
mus of a strawberry prolonged beyond the fruit
into a small leaf-bearing branch. The bunch of
leaves in his figure are somewhat larger than the
fruit. The difference in appearance between Mr.
Parish’s specimen and that figured by Dr.
Masters, is that where the flowers appear in our
figure there is a rather large rosette of small
green leaves.
Mr. Charles Bond Smith, of Weston House,
ABNORMAL STRAWBERRY.
Potton, Beds., has sent a monstrous fuchsia flower,
the monstrosity consisting of an enlargement of the
calyx, growing from one side.
During a ramble in the neighbourhood of North-
wood, near Watford, at the end of June, I found a
case of cohesion of two branches and their flowers,
in a specimen of ox-eye daisy, which is figured on
page 151. It will benoticed that two branches have
become joined together, and remained united up to
the point of flowering. The inflorescence of each is
situated at the back of theother. It was necessary
in the drawing, to slightly turn the right hand
flower forward, to show its position.
Mr. Robt. W. Chidwick, 4, Dagmar Street,
Worthing, has sent an abnormal pyrethrum which
has grown in his garden upon a plant which has
bloomed freely. Upon examination we find that
the peduncle is entirely
Suppressed in three
flowers on the stem,
probably through ex-
haustion, otherwise it is
normal. There was,
therefore, not any sign
of stalks to the flowers,
which appeared to grow
directly out of the stem,
in each instance just
above the axis of a leaf.
Mr. C. A. Briggs, of
Leatherhead, Surrey,
has sent a ‘double
raspberry,” two fruits
being joined together on one stem. The remains
of the bracts are visible between the fruits, which
have joined at intervals round the edges of two-
thirds of the side of each. The effect is to form
a flattened obtuse pyramid, the apex being at the
attachment with the stalk. The raspberry trees
from which it was taken have not previously pro-
duced a specimen of this character, but it is
doubtless a form which not infrequently occurs.
We have also received reports of twin goose-
berries having occurred rather frequently this
season. This doubling of some fruit is not, we
imagine, of rare occurrence, but is an interesting
feature of vegetable teratology. As we went to
press, we received from Mr. Henwood Teague, of
Penzance, a sunflower, with two flowers on one stem,
somewhat like the ox-eye daisy above described.
We desire to take this opportunity of thanking
Miss Juliet Hensman for these and other drawings
which she has been kind enough to give to the
readers of SCIENCE-GossIP.
”
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
SGAL PE UINSE CLS:
151
By T. D. A. CockERELL, Entomologist, New Mexico Agricultural Station.
HE extensive damage done to cultivated plants
by Coccide, or scale insects, in various parts
of the world is now so well-known, even outside of
the professions of horti-
culture and entomology,
which it most intimately
concerns, as to show the
importance of adding
to our knowledge of
their distribution. How-
ever, notwithstanding
the economic import-
ance of the group, it
is comparatively little
studied, and from many
parts of the world no
species whatever are
known, although they
must certainly exist in
abundance. For ex-
ample, we know many
more species from the
single island of Jamaica,
where the present writer
collected them, than
from the whole con-
tinent of Africa. In
addition to this, the
several faunz are be-
coming every day more
mixed, to the perplexity
of the naturalist and
the distress to the hor-
ticulturist. Thus I pub-
lished from Jamaica, in
1892, a presumed new
species, found on Cap-
sicum, as Diaspis lanatus.
It has just transpired
that it is not specifically
distinct from Diaspis
amygdali, Tryon, which
was described, in 1889,
on peach in Australia.
Moreover, since that
date the same species
has been found as a
serious peach pest, in
the eastern United States
of America, and I have
seen it from California (on dwarf peach from
Japan, in Japanese nursery at San José, coll.
Ehrhorn), Japan (coll. Takahashi, com. U.S. Dep.
ABNORMAL Ox-EyE Datsy (see p. 150.)
a seriously} injurious species, totally unknown to
science until 1889, is now recognised in the Palz-
arctic, Oriental, Australian, Nearctic and Neo-
tropical regions.
Nothing was known
of the Japanese species
of Coccide until very
lately, and even now
the published records
are extremely few. But
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, recognising
the danger from un-
known Japanese species
which might be intro-
duced on fruit trees,
has made an effort to
obtain some informa-
tion. Mr. Takahashi
was employed to collect
in Japan for the De-
partment, and I have
been permitted to des-
cribe nine new species
in the collections he
made. Even now, be-
fore these descriptions
are published, Mr.
Ehrhorn sends me one
of those described,
Aspidiotus duplex, as in-
festing camellias in a
Japanese nursery at San
Francisco, California.
Last year Dr. Del
Guercio described a
new species, Aspidiotus
pivicola, from Italy. Mr.
Ehrhorn sends me a
species of plum from
San José, California,
which I cannot by any
means separate from it.
Also, last year, Mr.
Newstead described the
new Lecanium perforatum
from the Palm House
at Kew, native country
unknown. Already I
have received it from
hothouse palms in Denver, Colorado (Gillette,
coll.), and San Francisco, California (Ehrhorn).
The year before last Mr. Maskell described
Agric.), and Ceylon (coll. E. E. Green), Thus Dactylopius nipe, from Demerara. Last year I
152
received what Iam convinced is the same species
from a hothouse palm at the Agricultural College,
Michigan (coll. G. C. Davis, com. L. O. Howard).
Lecanium longulum, a decidedly troublesome
species, described, in 1887, by Mr. Douglas, from
English hothouses, is now known in the tropics of
both hemispheres, and two still unpublished
localities are Ceylon (E. E. Green) and a hothouse
at Denver, Colorado (on rubber tree, coll. Gillette).
Numerous other cases could easily be given, but
the above statements are chosen only out of the
unpublished notes which I have accumulated quite
recently. They are but a sample of the facts
which are continually developing.
Naturalists may be inclined to disregard the
records of species on cultivated, and especially
hothouse, plants as of no scientific interest. This
they must not do, as it is precisely by way of
hothouses in temperate climates that tropical
species may spread, say from India to the West
Indies. Thus it is apparent that we should do all
that is possible without delay to ascertain the
existing Coccid-faunz in various localities. It is
important both with a view to preventing the
further spread of harmful species, and in order to
obtain some knowledge of the native countries
of the species before they are so thoroughly
distributed and mixed up that we lose all trace of
the original condition of affairs.
Ordinary collectors of insects have practically
ignored Coccidze, so that we often know not a
single Coccid from regions whence butterflies and
beetles have been brought in the utmost abundance.
Yet no group of insects is easier to collect. All
one has to do is to pick or break off a portion of the
infested plant (twigs or leaves), and put it into a
small card-box, or an envelope, writing on the
outside the locality, name of collector, and name of
plant, if known. Anyone can do this, it does not
need an entomologist.
Searching for Coccidz, one has no difficulty asa
rule in recognising those found. Any scale-like
object, any small soft object with cottony or
mealy secretion, any cottony or scurfy substance,
is likely to represent Coccide. Beginners will
usually gather also some parasitic fungi, Psyllide,
etc., taking them for Coccids, until a microscope is
used to discern their characters; but collections of
Coccide are none the worse for thus containing a
few other objects. I trust the readers of ScIENCE-
Gossip in Central Africa and other little-worked
stations may send me material for examination.
One has to admit here, that while the collectors
might easily be many, the specialists who could at
present work out the material collected are lament-
ably few. Yet there are many signs of an awakening
interest, and to my knowledge several able students
have joined the ranks of the coccidologists within
tae last year. Only two days ago I received the
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
first-fruits of the labours of Mr. Karel Sulc, a
Bohemian, who has been doing excellent work on
the Central European species. Mr. Sasaki, a native
of Japan, has lately given us a paper on a new
Japanese Coccid, which, we may hope, will be
followed by many others showing equal care and
ability. In Ceylon, the Coccids of which have
been nearly unknown, Mr. E. E. Green has pre-
pared an account, still unpublished, of sixty-nine
species, of which forty-two are new. Mr. Green
has sent me many of the new species, which are
extremely interesting. In the United States,
several workers are likely to be heard from shortly.
It is often said that the opportunity for making a
reputation as a specialist in biological science is
becoming more and more limited. In coccidology,
however, this is not by any means the case, and the
subject offers great opportunities to careful students.
With regard to the material collected, I think it
would be very desirable that as much as possible
should go not to private individuals, but to public
collections. The reasons for this are obvious,
especially in respect to new species, the types of
which ought in the nature of things to be considered
public property. The best public institution for
Coccidz, without doubt, is the U.S. Department
of agriculture in conjunction with the’ U.S.
National Museum. The collection of these insects
at Washington is no doubt the best public one in
existence; and is in charge, in the persons of
Messrs. Riley and Howard, of competent Coccido-
logists, which is not the case in any other museum
I know of, except Mr. Newstead’s at Chester. For
my own part, I have decided to send all my Coccid
types to Washington.
The British Museum, which is acknowledged as
the greatest central establishment for most groups
of animals, has done extremely poorly in Coccide.
Walker described a few, but his descriptions are
practically useless, and his knowledge of the
subject may be estimated from the fact that one of
his types proved to be not a Coccid but a dried
caterpillar. Since Walker’s time two of the British
Museum entomologists have each describeda Coccid,
but in neither case does the description even permit
one to guess at the proper genus of the animal. All
this, however, is but an indication that the British
Museum entomologists have more than enough to do
in other branches, and does not prevent the museum
from being a suitable repository for types or other
material. It may be said, finally, that no one
should be deterred from collecting for fear of not
at once finding a specialist who will study the
material. It must always be remembered that
collected material will keep, whereas, for reasons
above given, it is important to do the collecting
with the least possible delay.
New Mexico (U.S.A.) Agricultural Experiment Stu:ion.
Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.A.; Fuly 6th, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
s/s)
Biksi, APPR AKANCES, OF SPRING FLOWERS.
By Epwin E. Turner.
ie has been my custom almost ever since first
starting the study of flowers to keep a diary of
first appearances of the dates of flowering, and the
habit has been of considerable benefit in the zest
which it has given to observation at all times,
whenever or whatever business called me into
places where it could be exercised. On looking
over these notes it occurred to me that a com-
parison of the dates of the several years might be
of interest to others; I therefore give the compara-
tive dates of first appearances of the flowers of
some common Spring plants during the years
1882 to 1894 inclusive. The observations were
made in this portion of the County of Essex.
In a few paragraphs the yearly dates do not fol-
low. The earliest month, irrespective of year,
having the leading position. The first recorded is:
Germander speedwell (Veronica chamedrys),
which extends over a radius of five months, viz. :
From January oth, 1882, to May goth, 1891, two en-
tries being in January, one in March, four in April.
Daisy (Bellis pevennis)—All January, 1892, to
March 31st, 1886; two in January, three in
February, and two in March.
Cock’s-foot grass (Dactylis glomervata).—January
oth, 1882, to May 25th, 1888; one in January and
eleven in May.
Dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis, male).—Janu-
ary 28th, 1882, to May 22nd, 1883 ; twoin January,
four in February, five in March, one in May.
Hazel (Corylus avellana, male and female).—
January 12th, 1884, to February 12th, 1888; five
in January and five in February.
White campion (Lychnis vespertina). — January
29th, 1882, to May 25th, 1888; onein January, one
in April, and eight in May.
Periwinkle (Vinca minor).—January 5th, 1884, to
March 27th, 1886 ; twoin January, one in February,
one in April, and three in March.
Spurge laurel (Daphne laureola).—January 29th,
1882, to March 27th, 1886; one in January, three
in February, and five in March.
Stitchwort (Stellavia media).—All January, 1882-
83, to February toth, 1894;
and four in February.
Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus).—All January,
1882, to May 8th, 1887; four in January, seven in
April, and one in May.
Purple deadnettle (Lamium purpurewm).—All
January, 1882-83, to March 16th, 1890; three in
January, four in February, and three in March.
White deadnettle (Lamiuwm album).—All January,
1882-83, to March 2oth, 1886; three in January
and two in March.
three in January
Dandelion (Tavaxacum officinale).—All January,
1882-83, to April 31st, 1887; four in January, one
in February, three in March, and two in April.
Groundsel (Senecio vulgavis).—All January, 1882-
83, to February 6th, 1887; three in January and
one in February.
Sweet violet (Viola adovata).—All January, 1882,
to March 27th, 1891; one in January, one in
February, and six in March.
Primrose (Primula vulgaris) —All January, 1882-
83, to March 31st, 1889; two in January, two in
February, and five in March.
Gorse (Ulex europeus).—All January, 1882-83, to
April rrth, 1886; three in January, one in March,
and three in April.
Annual grass (Poa annua).—All January, 1882-83 ;
three in January.
Filbert (Corylus sativa, male and female). —
January 2gth, 1892, to February 19th, 1893; one in
January and five in February.
Yew (Taxus baccata, male).— February 2nd,
1884, to March 31st, 1889; seven in February and
four in March.
Figwort (Scvophulavia aquatica)—February 14th,
1882, to June 24th, 1884; one in February, three in
May and four in June.
Shepherd’s needle (Scandix pecten-veneris).—
February 26th, 1882, to May 18th, 1889; one in-
February, one in March, two in April, andsix in
May.
Pilewort (Ranunculus ficavia),—January 28th,
1883, to March 30th, 1888; one in January, three
in February, and seven in March.
Feetid hellebore (Helleborus fetidus).— Garden.
All January, 1883, to April 13th, 1889; two in
January, one in February, two in March, and three
in April.
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfava)—February toth,
1894, to March 30th, 1888; three in February and
nine in March.
Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa).—March sth,
1882, to April 23rd, 1892; five in March and four
in April.
Black poplar (Populus nigva).—March 5th, 1882,
to April 12th, 1890 ; five in March and five in April.
Dog violet (Viola canina).—March 8th, 1884, to
April 8th, 1887; six in March and four in April.
Whitlow-grass (Erophila vulgavis)—March 8th,
1884, to April 23rd, 1892; six in March and four
in April.
Ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederefolia).—
January 18th, 1884, to April r4th, 1883; one in
January, one in February, four in March, and one
in April.
154
Elm (U/mus campestris).—January 18th, 1884, to
March 27th, 1886; two in January, four in
February, and six in March.
Spotted medick (Medicago maculata) —April 8th,
1893, to May oth, 1885; five in April and five in
May.
Greater stitchwort (Séellavia holosiza)—March
18th, 1882, to April 28th, 1887; three in March and
nine in April.
Barren strawberry (Potentilla fvagariastrum).—
March 8th, 1884, to April 3rd, 1886; eight in
March and four in April.
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) March toth, 1894,
to May 7th, 1888; four in March, six in April, and
three in May.
Ground-ivy (Nepeta glechoma).—March 8th, 1884,
to May 7th, 1888; six in March, five in April, and
one in May.
Alder (Alnus glutinosa, male and female).—Febru-
ary Ioth, 1894, to April 3rd, 1886 ; five in February,
six in March, and one in April.
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustvis)—March 12th,
1893, to April 13th, 1889; five in March and six
in April.
Spring woodrush (Luzula vernalis)—March roth,
1893, to April 30th, 1892; three in March and four
in April.
Butter-bur (Petasites vulgarts) —March 12th, 1893,
to April 3rd, 1885, 1886, 1887; five in March and
four in April.
Garlic cress (Sisymbrium alliaria)—March 3rd,
1885, to April, 18th, 1891; three in March and
eight in April.
Broom (Cytisus scoparius).—April 21st, 1894, to
May 28th, 1887; three in April and eight in May.
Cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pratense).—March 25th,
1893, to May ist, 1887; three in March, seven in
April, and one in May.
Meadow woodrush (Luzula campestris) —March
zgth, 18g0, to April 28th, 1883; one in March and
six in April.
Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina).—March 17th,
1894, to May toth, 1887; four in March, six in
April, and three in May.
Maple (Acer campestre).— April 7th, 1882, to May
24th, 1890; four in April and five in May.
Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)—March tigth, 1893, to
May goth, 1888; two in March, four in April, and
three in May.
Cowslip (Primula veris)——March 26th, 1894, to
April 25th, 1891 ; two in March and nine in April.
Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella).—April 8th, 1882,
to April 25th, 1891 and 1893; allin April.
Horsetail (Eguisetum arvense, female).— April ist,
1894, to May Ist, 1887; nine in April and one in
May.
Water ranunculus (Ranunculus aquatilis) —April
2nd, 1884, to May 12th, 1887; eight in April and
one in May.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Red campion (Lychnis diurna).—January 12th,
1884, to May 12th, 1888; one in January, one in
March, five in April, and five in May.
Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus)—April 8th,
1882, to May 26th, 1883; four in April and seven
in May.
Wood-spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides).— April
3rd, 1893, to May gth, 1891; eight in April and
two in May.
Early purple orchis (Orchis mascula).—April 3rd,
1893, to May 2oth, 1887; six in April and six in
May.
Narrow-leaved plantain (Plantago lanceolata).—
April oth, 1884, to May 8th, 1886, 1887 and 1893;
six in April and six in May.
Vetch (Vicia sepium).—April 8th, 1893, to May
11th, 1889; six in April and five in May.
Fox-tail grass (Alopecurus pratensis) —March 25th,
1884, to May goth, 1887; two in March, eight in
April, and two in May.
Cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum).—April 18th, 1882,
to May 15th, 1891; four in April and four in May.
Slender foxtail-grass (Alopecurus agrestis) —April
15th, 1882, to May 25th, 1888; three in April and
eight in May.
Oak (Quercus vobur)—April 18th, 1882, to May
13th, 1889; two in April and six in May.
Hairy bitter-cress (Cardamine hirsuta).—February
23rd, 1884, to May 7th, 1888; one in February,
three in March, seven in April, and two in May.
Beaked parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) —January
22nd, 1883, to May 7th, 1888; one in January, one
in February, three in March, six in April, and two
in May.
Bluebell (Scilla nutans).—April 5th, 1884-90, to
May 7th, 1887-88; nine in Apriland four in May.
Pansy (Viola tricolor)—March 24th, 1884, to
May 21st, 1885; two in March, two in April, and
three in May.
Celandine (Chelidonium majus)—April 21st, 1894,
to June znd, 1883; two in April, six in May, and
one in June.
Avens (Geum urbanum).—April 7th, 1884, to
June 5th, 1887; two in April, six in May, and
two in June.
Sorrel (Rumex acetosella)—April 23rd, 1882, to
May 26th, 1883; four in April and six in May.
Scorpion-grass (Myosotis collina).--March 25th,
1893, to May 18th, 1883; one in March, seven in
April, and two in May.
Chickweed (Cevastium arvense).—April 5th, 1884,
to May 18th, 1883; eight in April and two in May.
Hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale) —January
12th, 1884, to May 16th, 1885-87; one in January,
five in April, and six in May.
Toothwort (Lathrga squamaria).—April 3rd, 1893,
to April 30th, 1890; seven in April.
Summary.—It will be seen by the above
summary that there are some interesting points for
SGIENCE-GOSSIP:
notice, a few of which I should like to indicate:
Dactylis glomerata (Cock’s-foot grass) seems to be
very regular in appearing, notwithstanding the
varied conditions of climate during the extensive
period noted, having eleven out of twelve dates in
the month of May. The male plants of Mercurialis
perennis (dog’s mercury) in my observation have
always been first, but this season the rule was
reversed, as the female flowered as early as
Christmas last year. Corylus avellana and C. sativa
(the hazels) have only a variation of about a month.
Poa annua has all its records in the first month of
the year, but in this case the record is very meagre.
Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot), the four following, and
numerous others, have a variation of only two
ao)
months, and seem very constant in all weathers.
Luzula campestris and L. vernalis (wood-rush) seem
to agree as to their several dates. Petasites vulgaris
(butter-bur) bears the same date for three years in
succession. Ovwalis acetosella (wood-sorrel) has all
its entries in April, two being on the same day,
while Plantago lanceolata (narrow-leaved plantain)
has the same record in four different years.
Anthriscus sylvestris (beaked parsley) shows a varia-
tion of several months. Lathrea squamaria (tooth-
wort) has all seven entries in April; this is a rare
plant which I have been led to believe is only to be
found in this one place in Essex. The above brief
summary may be largely added to, I have no doubt,
by thoughtful readers.
Coggeshall; Fune, 1895.
PUMEENG SEED Si ©) Kars Oil Eine Ak kal GAC
AW = have received the following communication
from a correspondent in Cape Colony,
accompanied by a specimen of the tree to which he
refers :
‘‘Enclosed I send a sample specimen of a wild
cypress tree, the peculiarity being that the ovaries
on the tree are occupied by the larve of some
insect. The tree bears a cone, but on account of
the larvee the ovaries are undeveloped, only reach-
ing the size of a turnip-seed. When the larve are
full grown these immature seeds fall to the ground,
and keep up an incessant jumping. They jump
about an inch in height, and on the surface of the
ground, and move, or I should say hop, great dis-
tances. The ground round the tree where this occurs
presents a strange sight, these thousands of cases
jumping about night and day. On opening one of
these cases carefully, the maggot may beseen, and,
when viewed under a magnifying glass, resembles
the maggot of acommon fly. The body contracts
and expands, which causes the jumping, but how
the insect, shut up in its case, has the power'to
move the case such a comparatively great distance,
and so incessantly, is a marvel. I should like to
know whether you have heard of some such cases
before. I would have sent some of the larve in
their cases, but they shrink up and die on confine-
ment. I shall, however, try and get some of the
imagoes. SO) PE BETE Amer:
“ Branfort West, South Africa; March 5th, 1895.”
We have submitted the specimen and letter to
Mr. Rowland Trimen, F.L.S., F.E.S., the well-
known authority on South African Entomology,
who is at present visiting England. The following
are his remarks upon Mr. Bell’s communication,
which Mr. Trimen has been kind enough to send
in reply to our enquiry :
“Hyde Park Court, Albert Gate, London, S.W.
“June 28th, 1895.
‘7 received your note of the 18th inst., enclosing
one from Mr. J. H. Bell, of Branfort West, Cape
Colony, dated March 5th, respecting an insect whose
larva sterilizes the ovary of aconifer, and on the fall
of the aborted cone, appears to make the latter jump
freely about, by the contortions of the larva
within it.
‘The case is quite new to me, and very different
in its details from that of the ‘Jumping Eggs’
which I recently commented on in a letter to Miss
Hopley, which was printed in the ‘ Entomologist ’
(vol. xxviii, page 52). Inthe latter case the larva
(the perfect insect of which is not yet known)
inhabits a membranous-like cyst or pseudo-cocoon
in the leaves and terminal twigs of a species of
Rhus, and it is only when the cyst (or so-called
‘egg ’) is taken out of the leaf or shoot that any
jumping occurs, or can occur.
“Dr. H. Trimen thinks that the ‘ wild cypress,’
concerned in the case mentioned by Mr. Bell, is
probably a Widdringtonia, or a Callitris (?), but the
specimen submitted is too imperfect for deter-
mination. ‘“R. TRIMEN.”’
Larve causing the cases in which they are
enclosed to ‘‘jump”’ have for some time been well
known. The ‘jumping beans,’’ from Central
America, are now familiar, not only to entomologists
but also to many persons who visit curiosity shops.
We recently saw some on view in a shop window
in Main Street, Winnipeg, whose owner deemed
them a great novelty. The examples quoted by
Mr. Rowland Trimen are apparently much larger
than those noted by Mr. Bell. They are to
be found on Table Mountain, Cape Town, and,
to quote Miss Hopley, are ‘‘ perfectly oval, white,
and about the size of a small sugar-plum,” which
is rather indefinite. Miss Hopley continues ‘‘it
was the strangest sight to watch these tiny eggs
rolling and springing or standing on end. Almost
a foot they sometimes jumped, either in height or
in distance.’ Further the lady says : ‘‘ The shell
or case, though only membranous, is hard enough
to rattle when confined in some small box. Some
of the eggs given to me in Cape Town had been
procured the previous day by a young gentleman,
who assured me that they kept up such a racket
in a match-box in which he had placed them, that
156
they disturbed his rest, and he got up in the night
to remove them to a drawer at the furthest end of
his room.”
Mr. Trimen considers the larve contained in
the ‘‘jumping eggs’ to be probably coleopterous,
and although he has observed them for some years
he has never been able to rear the perfect insects.
It is likely that Mr. Bell’s jumping seeds may be
of coleopterous origin, and we trust he may rear
them to a perfect state and let us know the result.
In the following number of the ‘‘ Entomologist ”
to that containing Miss Hopley’s letter both Mr.
G. C. Bignell, of Plymouth, and Dr. Knaggs, of
London, draw attention to similar cases natural to
England. Dr. Knaggs recorded (Entomologists’
Monthly Magazine, vii, p. 282) an account of some
hawthorn buds, which fell from a branch of early
flowers, that had been brought indoors. These buds
“‘much astonished and amused me by the queer
tricks performed” after they fell upon the table.
Mr. Bignell’s case was of a parasite in a larva
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
of a common moth (Teniocampa stabalis) named
by Bridgeman (Transact. Entom. Soc., Lond., July,
1882, p. 151) Limneria kriechbaumeri. It is the
pupa-case of this insect which jumps, probably
before the larva has become transformed to a
pupa. This pupa-case could jump as much as two
feet. Mr. Bignell’s experiments with these cases
went to show that they jump ‘‘until they suppose
they have buried themselves under some fallen
leaves or crevice in the ground. When the
bounding is obstructed it will commence to roll,
and when it can roll no further, or jump, it will
cease trying.”’
The so-called jumping of these seeds is supposed
to be produced by the grub within acting after the
manner of the cheese-maggots, which, by a flip of
the head and tail, spring from one spot to another.
How they get a leverage within the seed is a
problem unsolved. This interesting subject needs
much further investigation.
Joun T. CARRINGTON.
NESTING-PLACES OF THE SEDGE-WARBLER.
By H. Meap-Briaecs.
Age some considerable time past it has been
my intention to dispute the assertion put
forward by many—that the sedge-warbler (Acro-
cephalus phragmitis) does not suspend its nest in the
reeds; but unfortunately so many things have
otherwise occupied my leisure time I have been
reluctantly compelled to abandon the idea up till
now. ‘ Unfortunately,” I say, in one sense, but
perhaps luckily in another, as I have had more
time to confirm my own knowledge on the subject,
and am thus not hasty to write ‘‘ without my book,”
It has been my habit for
several years to hunt a certain marshy locality
around Minster, in the Isle of Thanet, Kent, for
eggs of the various birds that haunt such places ;
and amongst those most frequently found are the
reed-warbler (Acrocephalus stveperus), and the sedge-
warbler. Now, according to that useful little hand-
book, ‘‘Birds’-nesting and Bird-skinning,” by
Miller Christy, the sedge-warbler does not suspend
its nest in the reeds, ‘‘as stated by Selby and
others,’ the xot, for special emphasis, I would
have you observe, being in italics. Howard
Saunders, in his Manual on British Birds, makes
a similar remark. I am sorry to say I must
dispute these authors, as both myself and Mr.
E. E. Elgar, of Wingham, a companion in
very many of my researches, have frequently
found the nest suspended, showing that our old
naturalists, Selby and others, were not so very
as the saying goes.
wrong after all. In June, 1894, my friend and I
went over our old hunting-ground and succeeded in
finding two more suspended nests, making in all
about a dozen that it has been our lot to come
across within a space of four years. I should have
liked very much to have cut and sent you up a
nest to prove that there was no mistaken identity,
but the nest contained young birds (at least three
young birds and two chipped eggs) which I could
not bring myself to destroy even for the sake of
proof. In the second case the nest was not within
reach, without both trespassing and wading, as
it was suspended in the reeds in the middle
of a dyke running by the side of the rail-
way, from the bank of which we had received
orders to quit, in no very polite language, from a
ganger but a few moments previously. Still, from
the fence which divided both rail and dyke from
the marshes, we could not only see the old bird on
the nest, but when she had flown we could also
identify the eggs quite distinctly, which we had no
hesitation in saying were those of the sedge-
warbler, but in order to avoid any doubt on the
subject I enclose you an egg similar to those in the
two nests.
37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury.
[The egg sent for identification is one of the
sedge-warbler. Knowing Mr. Briggs’ habit of
accuracy, we have no doubt of the correctness of
his observation.—Ed. S.-G.]
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 157
y) c
“ee
NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON.
The Pheasant. Natural History, by the Rev.
H. A. MacrHerson. Shooting, by A. J. STuart-
WortLey. Cookery, by ALEXANDER INNES SHAND.
273 pp. 8vo. Illustrated with eleven drawings by
A. THORBURN, and various diagrams in the text
by A. J. Stuart-WorTLEy. (London and New
York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1895.) Price 5s.
claim, in our opinion, for excellence in this kind of
work. The preface is.written by Mr. Alfred E. T.
Watson, the editor, who, by the way, makes the
very common error of using the word “ variety ”
for ‘species.’ It is surprising how often this
interchange occurs, some people evidently con-
sidering them synonymous. Mr. Macpherson
divides the natural history of the pheasant into five
chapters, under the headings of ‘‘ The Pheasant in
History,” ‘‘The Pheasant in the Woodlands,”
“Freaks and Oddities,’ ‘‘Old World Fowling”’
and ‘‘ Poaching in the Nineteenth Century Style.”
All these chapters are full of interest, being lightly
written to suit both an unscientific and a more
learned audience. Mr. Thorburn has been very
successful with his pictures, two of which we re-
produce by the courtesy of the publishers. Alto-
gether this is an excellent book, which should be,
with the others of the series, in every country house.
UNINVITED GUESTS.
(From “ The Pireasant.”—Fuyr and Feather Series.)
This book is one of Messrs. Longmans’ ‘ Fur
and Feather Series,’’ which was created to present
monographs upon the various English birds and
beasts which are generally included under the head
of game. Two have already appeared, dealing
with ‘The Partridge” and ‘‘The Grouse.” It
was a happy idea to design this series, for the
various chapters appeal to different sections of
readers. We have to notice only the natural-
history side of the subjects, not that we personally
object to either the sporting or the cookery sides,
but they will be much better dealt with elsewhere.
‘As hitherto, our section in this series is written by
the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, than whom, with
regard to the birds at least, no one has a greater
The Climates of the Geological Past, and theiy Rela-
tion to the Evolution of the Sun. By Eva. Dusots.
175 pp. crown 8vo, (London: Swan, ‘Sonnen-
schein and Co., 1895.) Price 3s. 6d.
The name of Mons. Eugene Dubois has recently
become familiar to English readers through his
supposed discovery of the remains of an animal
that was to form a connecting link —the missing
link—between man and the anthropoid apes, which
he named Pithecanthvopus erectus. The book before
us is a translation by M. Dubois, assisted by Mr.
T. Delpart, of a treatise published: in 1893 in
German, and an enlarged edition of an essay in
Dutch, Sor. The work attempts to explain, by
changes of solar heat, the great climatic changes of
158 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the geological past. Thetextisin English. There
is a large amount of interesting facts for the
general reader who is not already acquainted with
the geological features of the world outside our
own islands. Although the subject, of necessity,
is highly speculative, it will be found most fascinat-
ing to many, to whom it will come with some sense
of novelty.
The Natural History of Aquatic Insects. By Pro-
fessor L.C. Miatt, F.R.S. 395 pp. crown 8vo,
with 116 figures by A. R. Hammonp, F.L-S.
(London and New York: Macmillan and Co.)
Price 5s.
If we pick out a list of the little-worked orders
of animals or plants, we may safely consider we are
making a list also of those where there is an
absence of trustworthy modern manuals of the
subjects. Aquatic entomology, until now, was one of
the subjects so neglected, but there will remain no
excuse for its absence of study after the issue of
Professor Miall’s new
book. Since the days
of Swammerdam,
Réaumur, Lyonnet and
De Geer—whose works,
as pointed out by the
author of this manual
in his preface, are un-
justly neglected now-a-
days—we have had very
little systematic study
of aquatic insects as a
group. A few popular
and more or less inaccu-
rate compilations by
unscientific writers have
been all that young
naturalists had to de-
pend upon in the
English language. Now
they have an excellent
manual by a trained
teacher of high reputa-
tion, beautifully ilus-
trated by accurate draw-
ings. The text is well
arranged and popularly
written, though in the
most approved of modern scientific modes. A
pleasant feature of Professor Miall’s work is
the sketches of the lives of early masters of
aquatic entomology, which he has woven into
his chapters on the insects they especially
studied. We strongly recommend this book to
our readers and to the librarians of scientific
societies or public libraries. It cannot fail to
give an impetus to work among the insects of
which it treats. We shall consequently expect,
in due course, more short notes for our pages
about them than we have recently received, for
there is still much to learn.
A Handbook to the Game-Birds. By W. R.
OGILviE-GRANT, of the Zoological Department,
British Museum. Vol. i., Sand-grouse, Partridges,
Pheasants. 320 pp. crown 8vo. Illustrated by
21 coloured plates and other drawings. Allen’s
Naturalists’ Library. (London: W. H. Allen and
Co., Limited; 1895.) Price 6s.
This is one of the best volumes yet issued in the
republication of the ‘‘ Naturalists’ Library.” The
plates are in some instances good and in others
fair, but have often more or less of the brand of
(From ‘‘ The Pheasant.’— Fur and Feather Series.)
the lithographic artist, who delight to pile on their
colours. This book will appeal to a wider set of
readers than those who care only for scientific
values. Sportsmen and travellers in Africa and
other regions will be pleased to have a trustworthy
book on game-birds, for it deals with them as a
whole, so far as this volume carries us. The
author has a reputation for his knowledge in this
branch of ornithology. He gives short but good
descriptions of the adult birds, and of the nestlings
also, where possible; then follow accounts of the
range of the species, habits, nest and eggs.
An Inivoduction to Chemical Crystallography. By
ANDREAS Fock, Ph. D. (Berlin). Translated and
Edited by WiLLiaM J. Pore, with a preface by
N. Story-MasKELYNE, M.A., F.R.S. 205 pp.
crown 8vo. (Oxford: Clarendon Press. London:
Henry Frowde, 1895.) Price 5s.
It was in 1888, that Dr. Fock published the work
which has now been translated by Mr. Pope. The
translator has further
brought up to date the
many additions to the
knowledge of this im-
portant branch of crys-
tallography that have
been discovered since
Dr. Fock brought out
his “‘Einleitung in die
Chemische Krystallog-
raphie.’”’ Prof. Story-
Maskelyne’s preface is
short but important.
He points out how
singularly readable is
Dr. Fock’s work, and
how this translation
brings the book within
the reach of University
and other students. The
book is divided broadly
under three headings
which we quote from
the preface. ‘‘(1) Crystal
growth, in the discussion
of which due importance
is given to the extensive
and laborious investiga-
tions of Lehmann. (2) The laws controlling the
equilibrium between the elements of a solution at
different pressures and temperatures; these
elements, when we consider the pressure as
constant, being the solution and crystal-solid, the
former of which may be considered as consisting
of the solvent, and what for lack of a much-needed
term I may call the solute (namely—the substance or
substances dissolved). (3) Salts containing water
of crystallization, double salts and isomorphous
substances are treated each in its turn, and the
final chapters deal (4) with both physically
isometric and isogonous substances and with the
crystallographic changes attending the substitution
of one radicle or element by another.”” This isa
valuable manual on chemical crystallography, and
it will be found that it has rather gained than lost
by the translation. Professor Story-Maskelyne
remarks that: ‘‘ A freshness of interest is imparted
to each of the larger subjects by a concise but
sufficient survey of the historical growth of the
ideas involved in them; for frequently whilst
tracking the steps by which a scientific idea has
become confirmed, we best learn to appreciate the
grounds on which contemporary theories rest.”’
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
A Garden of Pleasure. By E. V. B.
8vo, with illustrations by the author.
Elliot Stock, 1895.) Price 5s.
The publisher has prettily produced this book for
the Hon. Mrs. Eleanor Vere Boyle, the authoress.
In these days of ‘‘ Progress,’ Trades-unions and over
centralization of the rural folk to grimy cities, one
feels refreshed by dipping into the sweet simplicity
of the country life depicted in these pages. There
is no attempt or straining after literary effect, but
a healthy story of one glad to live in anold country
house surrounded by its beautiful garden. These
are the lives which so beautifully illustrate the
meaning of the English word ‘‘home.’’ The pages
are full of country-lore, as will be seen from the
following, selected at
random. ‘Either to-
day or on May-day, one
ought to see the fairies,
230 pp.
(London :
according to the old
Scottish legends! No
fairies appeared this
time, but I saw a good
deal between eight and
nine, looking from the
broad walk upon our
old kitchen garden walls,
bright with the eastern
sun. How shall the
charm of these old brick
walls be described ?
Words could never
paint it. In the clear
glow of morning light
the reds are so delicately
pure and warm, and
they are mottled with
such varied greys and
many -tinted yellows.
There are stout old
buttresses, too, mossed
and ferny, and grey with
eld. Ancient rugged
pear-trees grow up
against it, and their
outstretched knotted old
tg
wrote of the days ‘when dresses were smaller and
thoughts were larger.’ Certainly our modern
doorways are mostly wider than those of older
date.”
Astronomers and theiy Observations. By Lucy
TayLor. With Preface by W. THyNNE Lynn,B.A.,
F.R.A.S. 160 pp. crown 8vo, with illustrations.
(London: Partridge and Co., 1895.) Price ts. 6d.
The object of this compilation has been to gather
up within a small compass what has _ been
accomplished from the earliest ages by astronomers.
The story is pleasantly told, and is more especially
suited to young people. The following paragraph
is an example of the author’s style. Writing of
comets she says: ‘‘ Had
they to penetrate air they
could not possibly move
at such tremendous
speed, but, meeting with
little or no resistance
in their paths, they go
tearing round the sun at
the rate of two or three
hundred miles a second,
and then retire to the
other extremity of their
orbit to progress at
about the rate of a
London cab.”
Chemists and their
Wonders: The Story of
the Application of Chem-
istry to various Arts and
Manufactures. By F.
M. Hormes. 160 pp.
crown 8vo, with illus-
trations. (London:
Partridge and Co.,
1895.) Price ts. 6d.
This, like ‘‘ Astro-
nomers and their Ob-
servations,’’ is another
of ‘‘ The World’s Won-
ders Series’’ written for
limbs are set now with
knots of flowers, and
young,tender leaves, and
the _half- transparent
shadow of every flower
and leaf lies still or
trembles on the wall.
One of these pear-trees,
quite worn out and decayed with age, had
been cleared away last winter, leaving a broad
vacant space, a space that is not bare, but
full of interest. Little incidents and details,
unobserved before, were plainly seen this morning.
There is a curious arrangement of wood bricks
built in regular order amongst the others.
Worm-eaten and decayed, they have weathered
to the same colour as the greyer of the bricks,
and are so inconspicuous as to pass, usually,
unremarked. These wood bricks must have
been devised for the more careful nailing-up of
fruit-trees. The fine new garden walls of those
days might not be disfigured with nails. Some
have fallen out, leaving recesses convenient for
wrens’ and other nests. Suddenly appeared a
curved line of bricks, set end-wise, showing where
once had been a low-browed narrow doorway,
bricked up long since. There is another as low and
narrow, faintly visible further down. Carlyle
young readers. They
make good school prizes
or gift-books. This one
is in conversational
(From “A Garden of Pleasure.’’)
style, which is not alto-
gether an advantage.
Chemistry, even as
simply told in this book,
is rather abstruse to the very young, to whom
conversation appeals; while elder young people
are apt to look upon it with some contempt.
Still this book will have a multitude of readers who
will learn much from its pages. The illustrations
are generally well selected and some amusing, for
instance the reproduced caricature of the use of
coal gas in 1807. as viewed by our present knowledge
of it as an illuminant. In the conversations the
author is ‘‘ Frank,” there is also ‘‘ Phil’ and Phil’s
sister, who is called ‘‘ Carrie.’ The author says:
‘‘Carrie is always taking my part. We are to be
married soon, and you cannot think how nice it is
to have a jolly girl like Phil’s sister—and so
intelligent too—always taking your part.’’ These
young people visit various works, such as some for
making gas, matches, aniline dyes, glass, and
dynamite. Photography as well as these and other
subjects make conversation, which is both amusing
and instructive.
160 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Microbes and Disease Demons: the Truth about the
Anti-toxin Treatment of Diphtheria. By Epwarp
BERDOE, L.R.C.P. Ed., M.R.C.S. Eng. 93 pp.
8vo. (London: Swan, Sonnenschein and Co.,
1895.) Price ts.
It was not until we had reached the twenty-sixth
page that we found this one of those well-inten-
tioned but weak attempts to put down what is
described as vivisection, which in this case is simple
inoculation. As is generally the case with books
which are written rather from the heart than in a
cold critical spirit, there is in this an absence in
many places of logical argument. For instance,
on page 26 the author says ‘‘I am not inclined to
take on trust, or on the authority of names, how-
ever eminent, the anti-toxin treatment of disease,”
but the rest of the book is largely occupied by
quotations on the authority of persons, not very
eminent, by the way, on the opposite side. The
author is, we imagine, rather bold when stating
that ‘‘if diphtheria is brought under proper treat-
ment and surroundings on the first day of the
disease, it almost invariably recovers.’’ Some ten
or a dozen pages are occupied by news-paragraph
accounts of a girl in America, who died after being
inoculated with supposed anti-toxin, which was
infected by ‘‘some powerful poison, by mistake.”
That seems just about as wide of the question as
the case of a person who recently took strychnine
in error for phenacitin, through the carelessness of
a dispenser. There are, doubtless, sympathetic
readers who will enjoy this kind of work, but
bacteriology is a subject of such profound import-
ance to mankind that no amount of opposition will
stop its investigation as its uses to us become more
and more apparent.
Lessons in Elementary Physics. By BALFour
STEWART MEAS) ID»! Broke Ss New and
enlarged edition. 496 pp. small 8vo. Illustrated
with 157 figures. (London and New York:
Macmillan and Co., 1895.) Price 4s. 6d.
This is the fourth edition and twenty-first issue,
including reprints of various previous editions, of
Professor Balfour Stewart’s standard elementary
class-book on Physics. Considerable additions with
a number of new examples and figures have been
incorporated by the present editor, Mr. W. W.
Haldane Gee, B.Sc., thus bringing the volume in
accordance with the modern position of Physics.
Mr. Haldane Gee, being Chief Lecturer in Physics
and Electrical Engineering at the Municipal
Technical School of Manchester, has added some-
what to the Electrical Section of the book, and
brought the subject well up to date
The Chess Openings. By I. GUNSBERG. _IoI pp.
8vo. (London and New York: George Bell and
Sons, 1895.) Price 1s.
Considering the large number of our readers who
are chess players, we include a notice of this very
useful book. Mr. Gunsberg’s name among
‘“chessmen’”’ is a sufficient guarantee for its
accuracy. It is brought well up to date, the latest
openings of Steinitz and others being included.
Hints on Reflecting and Refracting Telescopes, and
theiy Accessories. By W. Thornthwaite, F.R.A.S.
Sixth Edition. 92 pp. 8vo, illustrated. (London:
Horne and Thornthwaite, 1895.)
This is a high-class trade catalogue, which
contains much general information upon telescopes
and other optical instruments. The historical
portion will be useful to many persons, especially
as this edition contains new chapters on ‘‘ Transit
Instruments”’ and “ Astronomical Photography.”
Ty a eae
PPA
aS CY KOSS NM
SSNS
LS LN
AN INEXPENSIVE PARAFFIN BaTu.—In order that
specimens from which sections are to be cut may
be infiltrated with paraffin an embedding bath is
necessary. This is usually a very costly item,
and consequently is not often to be found in the
amateur’s kit ; yet, if it were, it would constantly be
of service and enable specimens of soft tissues to be
prepared for cutting, so that very perfect sections
might be produced. I have therefore thought that
particulars of an inexpensive yet thoroughly efficient
bath would be of interest to microscopists. The
basis of it is a small potato steamer, obtainable at
any ironmonger’s shop, which should be altered as
follows :—The lower portion (a), which we will call
the heating chamber, must be cut away so as to
admit a spirit lamp (7) or small paraffin lamp.
PARAFFIN Batu.
The perforated bottom of the upper vessel which
constitutes the bath (b) must be covered with a sheet
of tin, which must be soldered, to render it water-
tight. Near the top of the bath a circular plate of
tin (c) must be fitted, having holes (3) drilled in it to
admit the test tubes (2) and thermometer (1). This
plate should be supported by four small pieces of
of tin (4), soldered to the inside of the vessel.
Having completed these alterations, a layer of
cotton wool or a piece of felt (6) should be placed
on the bottom of the bath to protect the test
tubes from breakage; half fill with water (5),
add a cheap chemical thermometer (1), light the
lamp, and when the desired temperature is
attained (122° Faht.), place some paraffin wax in
the test tubes and put them into the bath; when
the paraffin has melted, add the specimens. The
temperature must be maintained for several hours,
so that the paraffin may penetrate to the middle of
the tissue. Further treatment would be similar to
that for ordinary embedding in paraffin wax. After
use, the apparatus should be thoroughly dried so
that it may not rust, and if this be attended to, it
will last for many years.—Martin J. Cole, 27,
Chancery Lane, W. C.
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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 161
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Moon’s PHASES.
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THERE will be a very important shower of
meteors this month, the Perseids appearing on the
roth. The radiant point is a 45° 6+57°.
THE sun-spot record at Greenwich during 1894,
indicates a slight falling off of the mean daily
spotted area compared with 1893. In the earlier
months of this year there was a further reduction
of both area and number of spots.
A pRoposAL has been made to erect in the park
at Greenwich, in connection with the Observatory,
a special building to be used for a magnetic
observatory, for the determination of the magnetic
elements. As this will not be a large undertaking it
is nearly certain to be carried out. It will be a
work of some importance.
THE progress of the Astrographic Chart at the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, appears from the
Report of the Astronomer Royal to be considerable
during 1894-95. The number of fields successfully
photographed during the year amount to 90 for the
chart, and 180 for the catalogue. These bring up ~
the totals since the commencement of the work to
617 for the catalogue and 422 for the chart.
Curious NESTING OF Birps.—A new railway is
in process of construction through Tuxford, the
“overland ”’ or temporary line of rails having been
laid for the use of the engines and trucks employed
on the work. Beneath one of these rails a pair of
wagtails (Motacilla lugubris) built their nest, and
have reared their brood, in no way disturbed by
the numerous trains which daily passed over the line.
The birds and their nest were under the protection
of the workmen. Another curious instance is that
of a blackbird which laid her eggs in a natural
cavity between the roots of a larch in Clumber
Park, no attempt at nest-making or lining having
been made. On June oth the cavity contained two
young birds and two eggs. The bird has fre-
quently been seen by those living near the spot.—
W.A. Gain, Tuxford, Newark ; July 8th, 1895.
NoTE oF FEMALE CucKkoo.—Whilst glancing at
the naturalist’s column of the Field, page 818, on
June goth, 1894, I observed a note by W. H. Tuck,
calling attention to the cry of the female cuckoo, it
being a sort of bubbling sound, or like a noise of
water being poured from a bottle. I have,
however, heard just as much cuckooing as
“bubbling,” and as it is supposed cuckoos do not
go in pairs, but singly, I take it that the female
bird is also capable of cuckooing, which Mr. Tuck
does not think to be the case. Personally, I have
always thought the bubbling noise a sort of
cackling, as a hen will, after she has laid an egg.—
H. Mead-Briggs, 37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury.
Cuckoo's Eacas.—Since I sent my note respecting
the cuckoo to SCIENCE-GossIP, in June, 1893, I have
collected several interesting facts about this bird,
who appears to me to select its dupes at random:
In 1894, seventeen eggs were found in this village,
chiefly in roadside hedges. The nests were of
hedge-sparrow (10), robin (1), wagtail (2), yellow-
bunting (1), linnet (1), greenfinch (1), shrike (1).
The dates were from May ioth to June 27th. This
year, at the time I write, fourteen eggs have been
found, the first May 9th. The nests were willow-
warbler (1), hedge-sparrow (4), sedge-warbler (2),
yellow-bunting(3), wagtail (2), spotted fly-catcher(r),
greenfinch (1). Several eggs, both seasons, were
evidently laid by the same bird. In the case of the
fly- catcher, I was watching a nest with four eggs
in a fruit-tree on a wall ; a boy took the nest out.
which I carefully replaced ; next morning, the
cuckoo had taken out two of the eggs and intro-
duced her own. The case of the greenfinch is still
more extraordinary, which is clearly turning the
tables and duping the bird. My brother put a
deserted greenfinch’s nest, with two eggs, in an ivy-
wall, where the cuckoo had laid in the wagtail’s
nest the last two seasons, and, next morning, an
egg was found init. I believe that this circumstance
has not before been recorded in Britain, although
Herr Baldamus, in his ‘‘ Naumannia,”’ mentions
a similar case—IV. H. Tuck, Tostock, Bury St.
Edmunds ; June 22nd, 1895.
. RaMSAY contributes to ‘‘ Nature”
PROFESSOR W
of July 4th, particulars of his discovery of both
argon and helium in meteoriciron. These elements
were obtained by heating the iron in vacuo, accom-
panying them was a comparatively large quaniity
of hydrogen.
Dr. Hart Merrinwan, Chief of the Division of
Ornithology in the United States Agricultural
Department, has raised his voice against the
slaughter of hawks, owls and crows in America.
He shows that they there feed largely on mice,
grasshoppers, etc.
Mr. Watter P. CoHeN read a paper before the
Wellington Philosophical Society, New Zealand,
on the appearance in some numbers of Venessa tica
in Wellington, in March, 1894, where this hand-
some butterfly bad not previously been observed.
Tt isa northern New Zealand species.
THE number of “* Natural Science ”’ for July is of
especial interest, as it is devoted to a resumé of the
“Challenger Expedition,” and contains contribu-
tions from some three dozen eminent naturalisis.
There are also illustrations of the ship and mode of
conducting the scientific work on board.
THE excellent Society for the Protection of Birds,
which deserves the support of our readers, has
issued Nos. tg and 20 of its publications, the
former being a pamphlet on the barn owl by
Mr. W.H. Hudson. No. fg is a leaflet on the use
in their millinery, by ladies, of feathers of birds of
paradise, which is surely leading to the extinction
of these handsome birds.
NATURALISTS studying or collecting eggs or
ornithological specimens, are frequently accused
of exterminating rare birds. This is quite a
mistake, with the exception of a very few rare and
local species. A single cold sleet shower passing
over a district at the season when young birds are
in the nests, will destroy tenfold more than all the
naturalists, and, for the matter of that, bird-catchers
and schoolboys added, in a whole year.
WE have received Bulletin No. X (May, 1895), of
Botany from the Queensland Depariment of
Agriculture at Brisbane. It consists of contribu-
tions to the Queensland Flora, and includes two new
species of the fungoid genus Mutinus, described and
figured by the colonial botanist, Mr. F. M. Bailey,
F.L.S. They are allied to our Phalas impudicsus,
one M. pentagonus is very beautiful, but like our
species, very fcetid.
We have received from Messrs. Watkins and
Doncaster samples of polyporus tablets, which
are narrow strips of pith-like material that are
coming into general use among leading entomolo-
gists for “staging” micro-lepidoptera, micro-
hymenoptera and other small insects. It is a great
improvement upon pith or cork for this purpose, as
it will not injure the finest pins. It is 2s. 6d.
per ounce, very light, and quite white in colour.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Pe
THE MOoNITEUR SCIENTIFIQUE DU DocTEUR
QUESNEVILLE (Paris, July, 1895) contains an
article on the chemical constituents of various
colouring matiers, and the progress made in this
branch during the year 1894. The article, which
is by Mons. Ed. Ehrmann, is divided into eight
chapters, of which only four are given in this
pumber. There is also an article by M. Engelhart
on the ‘‘ Manufacture of Poriland Cemenis by a
Dry Process.” He does not think the dry process
would be suitable in England, as the calcareous
materials found here contain so great a proportion
of silica that purification is absolutely necessary ;
but in other couniries he maintains the dry process
would be much better than the so-called “* wet
process.”
La Nature (Paris, July 6th, 1895) has an article
on the course of the ““Auto-mobile Carriages,”
illustrated by ten figures, showing the nine princi-
pal carriages in the race which took place in France
on June “rrth last. Dr. E. Trouessart has an
article on ‘* The Extinct Gigantic Birds of Southern
Patagonia,” illustrated by two figures, one of the
head and bill of the Phororhacos longissimus, and the
other an ideal restoration of Broniornis burmeistert,
represented as knocking down a Dinosaurien.
Remains oh these birds are found in eocene
deposits. the same magazine for July 13th,
ME. De es describes the National School of
Horticulture at Versailles, which is provided with
ample material for laboratory instruction. There
is a fine library and beautiful herbariums of native
and foreign plants. The article is illustrated
with a plan of the buildings and grounds and
elevation of the school, which appears to be doing
much good work. The number for July zoth
contains an illustrated article on ‘‘ Some Abnormal
Trees in France,” rather with regard to size than
shape. It is also illustrated.
Cosmos (Paris, July, 1895) contains a short
illustrated article on the new Meteorological Ob-
servatory in St. Helier, Jersey. This observatory
is really intended for a meteorological laboratory,
as it is proposed, besides ihe ordinary routine of
hourly or three-hourly observations, to carefully
watch and note all changes in the atmosphere and
general meteorological phenomena. The observa-
tory has been founded by and is under the imme-
te direction of Mons. Marc Dechevreus, who is
already well known as the organiser of the Ob-
servatory of Zi-Ka-Wei, in China. The writer of
this article says that Mons. Dechevreus might say
that the sun never sets upon his possessioms, as
during the summer solstice the hour of sunrise on
one observatory is the hour of sunset on the other.
In this number of “Cosmos” there is also an
article by Mons. Louis Rabourdin on the proposal
recently made by a member of the council to pull
down the Observatory of Paris. He sets forth the
work done in the past by this observatory as good
reason why it should not be destroyed, and urges
rather its development.
SCIENCE -GOSSIP.
IGE Win ASSN
ALIN MEMORIAM |S
war
THe Ricur Hon. THomas Henry Huxrey.—
Born at Ealing, in 1825, the late Professor Huxley,
as he is still best known, died at Eastbourne,
on June 29th, 1895, after an illness of upwards of a
year’s duration. Huxley’s name is, and will be in
time to come, so well known, not only to the
scientific world but to the general public, that it
would be a work of supererogation to describe the
past work of one so familiar to us. His bold
honesty of character and fearless assertion of his
opinions have done possibly as much as any other
cause to advance natural science to its present
strength of position in the public estimation.
When he was a youth he and others of his time
had to do battle with a many-headed hydra of
prejudice, to overcome the sneers and fears of an
insufficiently educated public, which insisted on its
early teachings being left undisturbed. This is not
the place, even if it were proper, for us to enter
fully into those prejudices, for we doubt if they
have all disappeared, and it is useless to cause pain
unnecessarily. The fight so gallantly fought by
the little band, which numbered in it Darwin,
Tyndall and Huxley, who had to overcome the
errors of a century of centuries, can never be
understood by many who now accept their
teachings as matters of course. The odium they
suffered, the contumely they met, and the contempt
hurled at them has had no more effect in stopping
their teachings than to steady them for atime and
prevent their being too lightly accepted. The
experiences of these great men, now passed away,
shows how certain is the truth to endure, when
disinterestedly and honestly told by able masters.
A remarkable instance is Huxley of self-edu-
cation, for although his father was a schoolmaster,
he practically directed his own education, slowly
but surely absorbing knowledge, rarely forgetting
a fact when he had assured himself of its trust-
worthiness. An independent thinker, Huxley had
the fine faculty of applying such knowledge as he
attained to its very best use; always comparing,
collating and analysing his facts until he had
evolved from them a theory which usually stood
the test, for him as severe as the assayer’s
crucible. His system of teaching was marked by
simplicity and conciseness. His sureness of hisown
knowledge gave him a certain strength as a pro-
fessor which exercised power over his pupils. His
clearness of insight ahead of his time was remark-
able, and years ago he forecast many events which
are now with us. Among Professor Huxley’s
qualifications and many honours, he was a
Pinay Copsueribloye, ILIC.1D),) I2sID., IDKCIE,, INEID).
F.R.C.S. Eng., a Past-President of the -Royal
Society, and member or honorary member of
a long list of the leading societies of the world.
It would be puerile to deny that as a leader of
modern thought in sociology, as well as natural
science, Huxley will hold his influence for years to
come. His knowledge of biological subjects was
closely approached by that of his fellow-creatures, |
and their present condition of civilization.
a contempt for all
He had
superstition, hypocrisy and
163
conventional service, of any kind; he was, in fact,
the apostle of realism and common sense. He had
but one steadfast object in life—the elucidation of
truth and its diffusion as widely as was humanly
possible. We even now know some of the results
of his life’s work and their influence on the intellect
of mankind, but how much more will they be felt
in another generation or more. he fe:
CHARLES CARDALE BABINGTON, M.A., F.R.S.,
Fellow of St. John’s College, Professor of Botany
at Cambridge, died at his residence there on
July 22nd, 1895, after a protracted illness.
He graduated in 1830, was elected to the
chair of botany in 1861. He was eighty-
six years of age at the time of his death.
He was a son of the late Rev. Joseph Babington,
and grandson of Mr. Thomas Babington, of Roth-
ley Temple, Leicestershire. Born at Ludlow, he
was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge,
was appointed Professor of Botany in the Uni-
versity, and elected to a Professorial Fellowship
at St. John’s College, in October, 1882. He
was well known as a naturalist and antiquarian.
Among his works were ‘‘Flora Bathoniensis,”’
‘““The Flora of the Channel Islands,” a ‘‘ Manual
of British Botany,” ‘‘ Flora of Cambridgeshire,”’
as well asa ‘ History of the Chapel of St. John’s
College, Cambridge,’ which he published in 1874.
ERNEST HENRI BAILLON, whose death is an-
nounced, committed suicide very sadly by bleeding
from the arm. He was one of the most distinguished
of French botanists, and perhaps quite the most
prolific author of works in that science of the last
quarter of a century. He was born at Calais,
November 30th, 1827. He prosecuted medical studies
at Paris. In 1855 he received the double degree
of doctor of medicine and of the natural sciences.
In 1864 he was appointed Professor of Medical
Natural History to the Faculty of Paris, and soon
afterwards Professor of Hygiene to the Central
School of Arts and Manufactures. He was decor-
ated with the Légion d’Honneur on August 17th,
1867, and promoted to Officer, July 13th, 1888.
His chief publication was ‘“ Histoire des Plantes,”
which has been partly translated into English, a
vast undertaking in twelve fully-illustrated volumes,
the publication of which commenced in 1866, and
concluded only three years ago. His next great
work was a ‘‘ Dictionnaire de Botanique,’’ which
he began in 1876; the first volume appeared in
1878, and the fourth in 1885. These are works of ©
great value and research. He published a number
of monographs and studies on various natural
orders and groups of plants, particularly on the
orders Aurantiacez, Euphorbiacez, and Capri-
foliacez. Most of these appeared at first in his
journal ‘‘ Adansonia,”’ which appeared periodically
for many years.
AmonG other deaths during the past month are
to be numbered those of Professor Daniel
C. Eaton, another well-known botanist and
authority upon ferns, who died at New Haven, in
the United States; Professor Tietjen, of the Berlin
Observatory, who was for some time editor of the
‘Berlin Astronomical Annals’’; Professor G. F.
W. Sporer, of the Potsdam Observatory, and the
well-known Monsieur J. Deby, an authority on the
diatomacez, whose magnificent collection of those
beautiful objects was some little time since
purchased for the Natural History Museum at
South Kensington. M. Deby was a well-known
Belgian naturalist, who was born at the royal
suburb of Lacken, near Brussels, in 1826.
THE FLora oF NEwFouNDLAND.—Last July and
August, Messrs. Robinson and Schrenk, of Harvard
University, made a botanical visit through the
Exploits Valley and some other stations in New-
foundland. They collected over 7,000 specimens
of flowering plants and vascular cryptogams. The
Exploits Valley, though 200 miles further north than
St. John’s, has a richer and more advanced flora.
FLOWERING OF EVENING PrimROosE.—On July
6th, about 7.30 p.m., I was looking at some very
fine specimens of evening primrose, in a garden
opposite the infant school at Coldharbour. The
evening was decidedly cool, after a very hot after-
noon, and most of the flowers were fully expanded ;
but I observed in one flower that was still closed a
peculiar rotatory movement, as if some one held it
by the flower-stalk and swung the flower round ;
or, as if a large humble-bee were describing circles
inside it. In fact, every moment I expected to see
such a bee issue from it; but, instead of this, the
sepals of the calyx all at once flew back witha
spring and the petals began to gradually separate
from one another. I do not pretend to explain the
phenomenon, but I fancy it may be due to a fall of
temperature, producing contraction of elastic fibres
in the flower-stalk, because the flowers will open in
the day-light when the sky is overcast and the
temperature falls. At any rate, the phenomenon is
most interesting to the student of biology, showing,
as it does, the intimate connection of physical and
mechanical laws with vital functions.—D. Hooper,
B.A. and M.B. (Lond.), Kitland’s Farm, Cold-
harbour, Surrey ; July 7th, 1895.
HARMONIOUS COLOURING OF WILD FLOWERS.—
Everyone who possesses a mixed border in his
garden must have experienced the difficulty of
effecting harmony in the colour of the flowers
composing it. Here, we may be shocked by the
sight of a red tiger-lily side by side with a rose-
coloured foxglove; there, the bright blue cornflower
flaunts itself in too close proximity to a clump of
lavender-blue campanula. Now it has often struck
me as remarkable, that flowers of our fields and
woods exhibit no such discords of colour in their
juxtaposition, but on the contrary are ever
charming us with their apparently fortuitous
harmonies. The instance of the purple heath and
yellow gorse is a familiar one. On Mickleham
Downs at the present moment may be seen sheets
of pale yellow Sedum acre interspersed with the
pale blue of some forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis),
and when the Sedum goes off, its place in the
harmony will be filled up by the rock rose
(Helianthium vulgare), which grows here almost as
abundantly as the Sedum. In a wood near
Dorking one early summer, I remember another
harmony of darker blues and yellows made up of
spikes of ground-ivy and “weasel snout,” in a
dainty bed of melic and other grasses, and the
same colours are contrasted, to the increased
setting off of each flower. Now we know that the
colour of flowers has been developed through
natural selection as an attraction to the insects
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
that fertilize them, that flowers to attract bees
tend to become blue. But is there not some good
reason for the harmonious juxtaposition of the
wayside flowers? May not, for instance, the
contrasts of colour, so gratifying to our artistic
sense, serve the purpose of attracting insects by
making each colour more conspicuous, or in other
words, may not each flower best flourish and
abound on the community of interest and natural
selection principle, side by side by that other
whose colour best serves to display its charms ?—
M. J. Teesdale, St. Margaret's, Dulwich ; July 13th, 1895.
GrowTtH oF ReEED-MACE.—While out for a
ramble with my friend, Mr. Broadbent, a few
weeks ago, we came across a pond wherein the
common bulrush (Typha latifolia) grew very plenti-
fully, and among the rest we noticed one, the
leaves of which had penetrated a piece of the dried
stem of a last year’s plant, which it had lifted out
of the water for a distance of twelve or fourteen
inches as represented in the accompanying drawing.
Similar occurrences may be noticed in woods in
early summer, when the leaves of the bluebell will
be found to have bored through and lifted up the
dried leaves which fell from the trees in the
previous autumn.—Charles Mosley, Woodside Road,
Huddersfield ; June, 1895.
FORCED GERMINATION OF SEEDS.—In answer to
Mr. Geo. Nowers’ query in SciENcE-Gossip of
July, it is well known that by the application of
chlorate of potass, oxalic acid and chlorine, the
germination of seeds that have been kept for some
time has been brought about, when probably they
would not have germinated under ordinary condi-
tions. Humboldt stated that the seeds of the
common cress (Lepidium sativum) in a solution of
chlorine, germinated in six or seven hours, whereas
in water, germination did not take place for thirty-
six or thirty-eight hours. Iam not aware of any
other experiments on the forcing power of acids,
but I would refer Mr. Nowers to an article on
“Electricity in Horticulture,” published in ScrENcE-
Gossip (Vol. I., New Series, 1894-5, page 124), in
which it is shown that, according to the experi-
ments of certain observers, electricity can
hasten the germination of seeds when currents are
passed through the soil. It is well known that the
prime factors in the germination of seeds are heat
and moisture in due proportions, and that after the
initial stages, and with the unfolding of the first
leaves, light in proportion must be afforded or no
real growth or formation of material by the action
of chlorophyll can be obtained. Some botanists
have striven to show that artificial light can hasten
the germination of seed, but it is probable that
rays of light have but little or no influence on the
actual germination of seeds. The probable explana-
tion is that the artificial light promotes greater
heat than when plants were grown under ordinary
conditions. The question, ‘‘ Which does exercise
the most beneficial influence on seed germination,
light or heat ?’’ could easily be answered, and it is
to be hoped that someone will soon throw a little
light on this important subject. There seems to
be no doubt that when the green leaves first put in
an appearance above ground much may be done
by the rays of the arc-lamp to hasten maturity,
and it may be suggested that some of our county
councils take up this subject, for anything that
will enable the English market gardener to compete
with foreign produce is of great importance. Some
day forcing by electric light may be universally
employed.—Herbert C. Fyfe, Kensington.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
FORAMINIFER& IN MounTAIn LIMESTONE.—Not
the least evidence of progress which science has
made during the present century is the way in
which geological knowledge has advanced. How
Fic. 1.—xX 30 diam.
MounTAIn LIMESTONE CONTAINING FORAMINIFERE
different is our information as to the past history
of the earth and of its inhabitants and* the
conditions under which the sedimentary rocks
were deposited, compared with that of the close of
the last century. The mountain limestone may be
taken as an example. By the intelligent and
persistent accumulation of observed facts connected
with its organic contents we know that it is built
up of the calcareous remains of marine animals,
such as shells of molluscs, echinoderms, corals, etc.
Even the fine compact parts, if prepared in thin
slides and examined with the microscope, reveal
tests of organic life still retaining the shape in
which the tiny inhabitants lived in that remote
period. These, the Foraminiferee, belong to the
lowest division of animals, the Protozoa, and,
small as they are, have played and are still playing
an important part, as rock builders, in the earth’s
history. The white chalk rocks are almost entirely
composed of their remains; and the tertiary or
numulitic limestone of Southern Europe and Asia
Minor is also the product chiefly of the same class
of animals. The photomicrograph fig. 1 is a
section of mountain limestone from near Skipton,
in Yorkshire (x thirty diameters), while (fig. 2) isa
section cut from an erratic boulder found in the
River Wyre, Lancashire (also x thirty diameters).
165
Both show an abundance of the chambered shells
cut in sections. We have many examples from the
mountain and tertiary limestones. The abundance
of such forms of life tells us that the rocks in which
they are found are of marine origin, and that at
the time of its accumulation the area in which
they occur must have been submerged and formed
in deep sea. If we examine a little of the ooze
from the bottom of the sea we find it almost
entirely composed of the descendants of these little
creatures, who can claim an ancestry reaching
back to the earliest geological records. Well
might the Rev. H. N. Hutchinson in his ‘‘ Auto-
biography of the Earth,” say: ‘Poor, frail,
invisible little foraminifer, is it given to you and
your countless progeny, so long unknown, uncared
for, to build up, on your abysmal graveyard, the
rocks on which in future ages men shall found their
cities, in which shall dwell the kingdoms and
democracies of future ages? Is it for you, when
we are turned to useless dust, thus to serve man-
kind? Oh, mighty privilege! Oh, great destiny !
And yet ours may be, and we believe will be,
greater still—_to lay as firmly and as truly those
invisible foundations on which alone communities
may rest securely, of righteousness, judgment,
peace!” —W. W. Midgley, F.R.Met.Soc., Musewn,
Bolton; July, 1895.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERS.—The Editor of
‘“‘The Photogram,” draws attention to the decline
of interest in societies of amateur photographers.
This applies equally to both sides of the Atlantic
Ocean. There seems to be little doubt that this
falling off in interest is real, though it does not
indicate an actual reduction among the workers at
photography on either continent. The manufac-
turers of cameras and photographers’ material
were never more busy than this season, and are
generally far behind with orders, although working
overtime. The fact is, we imagine the fault lies
with some of the members themselves. We refer
especially to the class among photographers and
naturalists who attend meetings solely for the
purpose of criticising, and seldom help to find part
of the evening’s entertainment.
Fic,
2.—LIMESTONE BOULDER, X 30 diam.
166 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
ZL Z2EOXV0ZERRS WV
NY aS: Sa 2eS 4
=
Z Ww
y| GEOLOGY |©
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of the great railway stations. There is
museums, and regulations for admis-
which we regret io see one of the hand-
most central omitted, namely, the
Tuseum, in ee Sireet.
views from the
the Willows”
scientific paper
Gi 1, Bb
Nature versu
Organic Evolution. y C
220 pp. royal 8vo. (Lond y t Macro-Lepidopiera. By
€ Ios Bz ES. with hand-coloured
tel
Qu
illustration Taup Horman-FisHer. Vol. i.
4 , with two coloured plates.
cose) Price 2s. 6d.
ee the parts of this work
ssued, and it will appear
s. The species dealt with
, Leucophasia sinapis, Colias
fo
Our
4 er
SCIJENCE-GOSSIP.
British Birds. By W. H. Hupson, C.M.Z.S.,
with a chapter on Structure and Classification, by
Frank E. Bepparp, F.R.S. 363 pp. large 8vo,
with 8 coloured plates from original drawings by
A. TuHorBuRN, and 8 plates and too figures in
black and white, from original drawings by G. E.
LonGE, and 3 illustrations from photographs from
nature, by R. B. Lopar. (London and New York :
Longmans, Green and Co., 1895.) Price 12s. 6d.
This is another of Messrs. Longmans’ ‘ Out-
door World Library,” and reflects the highest
credit on the publishers for a piece of book-
production. The coloured plates are above the
average, and the pictures from photographs are
nicely composed. Most of the birds illustrated
187
tion, with little that is new inits pages. Still, the
work will be of much use to those who had not
studied our birds before meeting with it; for it
summarises much of what is stated elsewhere at
greater length, and the information is fairly up to
our latest knowledge. This, as stated by Mr.
Hudson in his introduction, has been his object,
rather than giving elaborate histories of each kind
of bird. His remarks on observing birds in a state
of nature are good, when he writes, ‘‘ Let us
imagine the case of a youth or boy who has read
and re-read half-a-dozen long histories of some one
species, and, primed with all this knowledge, who
finally goes out to observe it for himself. It will
astonish him to find how much he has not been
SE TS nr LS A ANI Pv athe terre Py trp atm ere er et ea ag
Se
Evi CoLuins, TRUFFLE HuNTER.
by Mr. Lodge are recognizable, but many are too
loosely drawn, giving the appearance, in some
cases, of sickly specimens. This applies to fig. 18,
song thrush; fig. 26, nightingale; fig. 37, pied
wagtail; fig. 57, a raven; and fig. 117, little grebe.
Professor Beddard’s chapter is good, but perhaps
a little too condensed in places.
When such a book as this appears, it is cus-
tomary for some people to exclaim, ‘‘ What need
for it? There are already too many of such
works.’’ With this we do not agree, for we believe
every work of aspe2cial nature induces some people
to take an interest in the objects on which it treats.
This will doubtless be the case with this newest
book on British birds.
known to be interested in our insular ornithology,
specialists will consider his work largely a compila-
Although the author is
From ‘ Country Pastimes for Boys.”
told. The reflection will follow that there
must be a limit to all things that can be recorded,
: and in the end he will be more than con-
tent that it should be so.’’ The casual species of
bird visitors to these islands are no more than
referred to by the author, who confines himself to
those kinds which may be always found at one or
other season of the year.
The Royal Natural History. Edited by Ricwarp
LYDEKKER, B.A., F.R.S. Illustrated with 72
coloured plates and 1,600 engravings. (London and
New York: Frederick Warne and Co.) Published
in Is. parts.
We have received part 22, vol. iv., of this fine
work, which continues the birds, dealing especially
with the herons, storks, and ibises, on through the
flamingoes, ducks, to the pigeons and sand-grouse.
sas
SL SA ASS
Ale VN
Micro-PHOTOGRAPHY.—We have had submitted
for examination by Messrs. Newton and Co., of
Fleet Street, London, a combination of their
students’ microscope and photo - micrographic
apparatus, which we figure separately and in
€.
NEWTON AND Co.’s NEw PATTERN STUDENT’S MICROSCOPE.
association, for the use of our readers. The new
pattern students’ microscope was specially designed
to include the most modern improvements and
still be both portable and inexpensive, the price
being £5 15s. 6d. This instrument is especially
suitable for photography, as it bends steadily into
a horizontal position, and may be then moved on
an axis right round a circle on the foot. We have
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
seldom seen a more firmly made instrument at the
price. There is a good fine adjustment as well as
the ordinary rackwork movement. Messrs.
Newton’s photographic apparatus figured below
is very simple, and can be used in connection with
any microscope. The leather collapsing arrange-
ment gives a range of extension for focussing the
plate, and there is a fine movement as well as the
ordinary extension screw. Its price is four guineas.
With this instrument any naturalist should be able
to prepare beautiful negatives, that would produce
useful lantern slides ; these are the coming features
of scientific meetings.
A NEW CENTRING UNDERFITTING.—Possessors
of students’ microscopes whose work has, with
increasing knowledge, called for additional facilities
for accurate manipulation, have frequently wished
that some means of centring the substage condenser
could be adapted to their instrument. It is true
that one or two opticians now manufacture many
parts of their microscopes to gauged sizes, enabling
a worker, should he desire to do so subsequently,
to himself replace the plain underfitting with a
CENTRING UNDERFITTING.
substage, but it has been felt that something less
costly than this might be advantageously intro-
duced. Our attention has been called to a new
centring underfitting, which has been recently
designed by Messrs. W. Watson and Sons, of 313,
High Holborn. It enables a condenser to be exactly
centred, in the same manner as with a substage,
and it is shown in the accompanying figure. It
was designed primarily for that firm’s Edinburgh
Students’ Microscopes, but we understand that it
can be readily adapted to almost any form of
students’ microscope.
Eyre OF BEETLE FOR MULTIPLE ImAce.—‘‘ The
Microscope,” for July, 1895, says: ‘‘ Have a diffuse
side-light ; use plane mirror and small aperture of
diaphragm. Focus on the piece of cornea; then
with one hand, held about three feet from the
mirror toward the light, with fingers spread and in
motion, and with the other hand on the fine
adjustment,slowly draw the objective back from the
slide, watching the facets of the cornea until
hundreds of tiny hands are seen. After you have
learned how to do it, anything may be substituted
forthe hand. A profile-face against the sky, a house
in bright sunlight, etc. They will not be right side
up, owing to reversal in forming the images.”
NEWTON AND Co.’s PHoto-MiICROGRAPHIC APPARATUS.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
: mi, : Se
Rises. Sets. Position at Noon,
him. him. R.A, Dec.
1895. A.M. P.M. nM,
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en 5.30 Oa Sen WGN) Gog) AS ey?
et BAG) con HE cn BOE Goa OP) fie
Souths. Sets.
P.M. A.M.
Moon ... mm 000 HOWAD an Oa
Rises. Souths,
P.M. A.M.
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A.M. A.M.
5) BE op He) ono HAG
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P.M. P.M.
np 22 v0 Shs on G8
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18 1.16 6.38 13.4 Surge
my BS cog THAD coo GH 9h HS 13° 59!
Rises. Souths.
‘ A.M. P.M.
Venus ... 9 3 ooo FAA ooo Oxi 11.54 8° 15'S
A.M. A.M.
op 8S) noo BHO) dog hie) II.33 (G2 gy
op 2A 0a HloSI5} dq uO Tie Il14 a! ay!
Souths. Sets.
P.M. P.M.
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A.M. A.M.
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Souths. Sets.
P.M. P.M.
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Uranus ... 9 AS pon ABS} ao FA) ccm GE HS
Rises. Souths.
P.M. A.M.
Neptune .. 9) BS 00 REV one. AS) ng Se) 21° 28) N
Moon’s PHASES.
Full... Sept. 4 ... 3.55 am. Last Qy... Sept. 12... 4.5
INGD cy gp 3) oo ASG Se OA oA ho OH
Mercury is an evening star, and Neptune is
visible in the evening, but none of the other
planets are very well placed for observation.
CONSIDERABLE progress has been made with the
new twenty-six-inch photographic telescope, pre-
sented to the National Observatory, at Greenwich,
by Sir Henry Thompson. Sir Howard Grubb
is occupied upon both the glass discs, while
Mr. Simms is producing a new spectroscope for
photographing spectra.
THE YERKES OBSERVATORY.—Mr. E. E, Barnard,
of the Lick Observatory, has resigned, to accept a
position in connection with the Yerkes Observatory,
on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. There appears to
have been some friction among the staff of the
Lick Observatory, which may have caused
Mr. Barnard to arrange for this exchange of °
appointment.
Mr. PercivaLt LowE Lt contributes to ‘‘ Nature”
a carefully prepared paper on the ‘‘ Evidence of a
Twilight Arc upon the Planet Mars.” It is based
upon what he terms a ‘‘ by-product,” found during
- interest and knowledge will improve.
18g
a reduction of 341 micrometric measures of the
diameters of Mars taken last year by Mr. Douglass,
the well-known astronomer. This investigation, in
Mr. Lowell’s opinion, indicates unmistakably that
twilight not only exists on the planet but is visible
from the earth, having been unconsciously measured
by Mr. Douglass. That Mars possesses an atmo-
sphere few astronomers had any doubt, but if any
seriously exists the discovery of twilight on the
planet must set such doubts at rest.
PoruLar Astronomy.—The last number of the
American Journal, ‘‘ Popular Astronomy,” is well
up to the excellence that has characterised this
magazine, which has now reached its twenty-first
number and third volume. The leading article is
an illustrated translation, by T. J. J. See, of the
eulogy of Laplace, by Baron Fourier, which was
delivered on June 15th, 1829, at the Royal Academy
of Sciences of France. A useful article, entitled
‘Observations for Beginners,” is by Mr. W. W.
Payne. In it he says, whether a person has only a
field-glass, an opera-glass, or a desire to see with
the unaided eye, the questions arise what to
observe and how to observe. It is important to
know what to observe, that time may be wisely
used, and equally important for obtaining the best
results that we should know how to observe.
Experience and aptitude alone points out what one
may observe to be useful. Work too difficult
should not be undertaken at first. For illustration,
at first it is enough to study the names and places
in the sky, of the first and second magnitude stars.
It is said that even this is neglected, for not one in
twenty average astronomers of the present time
could name all these starsat sight in his own latitude.
Thus the beginner may soon place himself even, or
superior in this special knowledge, with the pro-
fessional astronomers. To begin this work of
instruction, the learner should have a planisphere
which contains the names and places of these stars,
with directions for finding them. First make a
table of the first magnitude stars, with columns for
the Arabic names, and for those indicated by the
Greek letters, and the constellations in which they
occur, reserving space for a third column, to be
used later for the observation of colour, and a
fourth for general remarks. In a similar manner
make another table for the second magnitude stars,
and in this way begin work in earnest, having
before the mind at first only the names and places
of these stars. Be sure the Arabic names are pro-
nounced as correctly as possible, and for this
consult the best dictionary within reach. Make a
record of every observation in a note-book, on the
method of observing by Miss Mary E. Byrd, viz. :
(x) Begin each night’s record on a separate page.
(2) Date each page of observations. (3) Record each
night the place of observing, and the time of be-
ginning and ending. (4) Enter the record in con-
nection with the observation. (5) Keep all records
of observations in pencil. (6) Make all corrections
of the original record, and enter copied observa-
tions in ink. The success of the work will
depend on the patience and perseverance of the
person undertaking it. At first it will go slowly,
very slowly, and the beginner will lose patience
because able to do so little, and what he
does seems to amount to so little. This is the
common experience of all. Soon that impression
will wear away and facility in doing will come, and
Messrs.
W. Wesley and Son, London, are the European
agents for *‘ Popular Astronomy,” the subscription
being 12s. 6d. per annum.
Igo
uiftt £3
We
(
22e[ SCIENCE GOSSIP 38
Ee eat
4
irene MN, stove
ProFessor N. ZoGRAF has communicated to the
Société d’acclimatation of Paris, an interesting
paper on ‘‘ Pisciculture in Russia,”’
WE hear with pleasure that a Civil List Pension
of £200 per annum has been granted to Mrs.
Huxley, widow of the Rt. Hon. T. H. Huxley,
F.R.S.
A USEFUL article upon ‘‘ The Orchids of County
Dublin,” by Mr. Nathaniel Colgan, M.R.1.A., is in
the ‘‘ Irish Naturalist ’’ for August. It appears that
sixteen of the twenty-three species occurring in
Ireland have been found in Dublin County.
THE Secretary of the Royal Botanical Society
draws attention to a passage in Herodotus, proving
that double roses were artificially cultivated 400 or
500 years B.c. Reference is made to their having
as many as sixty petals apiece, and to their
fragrance.
THE use of compressed oxygen in ballooning has
been successfully tried by Dr. Berson, of Stassfurt,
who, by breathing it after reaching an altitude of
22,000 feet, was able to rise to 31,300 feet, without
discomfort; and he believes higher regions may
be explored with its aid.
Norway has lost one of her leading marine
zoologists in Professor Svenon Louis Lovén, of the
Stockholm University, who died in his eighty-
sixth year. He has been a teacher of biology
since the year 1830, and was curator of the Royal
Museum of Natural History.
Messrs. CHAPMAN AND HALL, have been con-
stituted sole agents in this country, the Continent,
and the Colonies, for the sale of the scientific and
technological publications of Messrs. Wiley and
Sons, of New York. Messrs. Wiley stand among
the leading publishers of works on science in the
world.
In Indian Museum Notes, Vol. iii, No. 5, Mr. E.
C. Cotes reviews the work done in ten years
preceding 1894, by the Entomological Section of the
Indian Museum, during which he was connected
with it. Much valuable information and material
of an economic character was accumulated and
published.
THE Biological Laboratory at Cold Spring
Harbour, Long Island, New York, is described at
some length in the ‘Scientific American,” of
August 17th last. The laboratory is in a pretty
building seventy-two feet long, by thirty-six feet
wide ; with abundant light and air. It is under the
direction of Dr. Conn and a board of managers.
THE Smithsonian Institution of the United
States of America has, on the advice of the
Committee appointed for their consideration,
awarded the Hodgkin’s Fund prizes. The first
prize of $10,000 has been given to Lord Rayleigh
and Professor William Ramsey for the discovery of
argon. A second prize of equal amount is not
awarded, but the third prize of $1,000 goes to
Dr. Henry de Varigny, of Paris, for an essay
entitled ‘‘ L’Air et la Vie.”’
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
FELLows of the Geological Society will miss the
genial help rendered on their visits to Burlington
House, by the late Francis E. Brown. He died
with sad suddenness on August 2nd last.
In Mr. Colgan’s article on Dublin orchids, in
August ‘Irish Naturalist,’’ the word “‘ calcicole”’
is introduced. He describes Orchis pyvamidalis as a
calcicole plant, of course this refers to its associ-
ation with lime or chalk. He borrows the word
from the French of M. Coutejean, in ‘‘ Geographie
Botanique,” Paris, 1881.
To the ‘Quarterly Journal of Microscopical
Science,’’ for August, Mr. Henry Bury, M.A.,
F.L.S., contributes an important illustrated article
on the various early stages of sea-urchins, starfish
and sea-cucumbers. His investigations into the
subject extended over larval forms from each of the
five classes of Echinoderms.
Amone the present exceptionally numerous
vacancies in museum management, we note the
position of Keeper of Zoology in the British
Museum, South Kensington, through the
resignation of Dr. Albert Gunther, F.R.S., which
post he has admirably occupied for many years.
The salary is £750 per annum.
WE observe that Mr. Rowland Trimen, F.R.S.,
has resigned the directorship of the South African
Museum at Capetown. The trustees are prepared
to appoint another in his stead, the appointment
being worth about £700 per annum. ‘The applica-
tions are to be made to the Agent General for South
Africa, before September 15th, at Victoria Street.
London.
Tue Piscatorial Society of London has been
discussing whether the angler’s fish are, or are not,
learning to refuse the tempting baits used by
anglers to allure them. If not, it certainly cannot
be because they have not been systematically
shown the evils of taking the bait. Complaint is
made that both fluviatile and marine fish are more
dainty and less prone to temptation than of old.
Tue Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union will hold the
annual meeting for 1895 at York, on October 30th.
An exhibition of work and photographs done
during the year, will be held at the same time.
The 120th ordinary meeting will take place on
Saturday, September 2tst, at Filey. The marine
zoology committee of the Union will take advantage
of the equinoctial low tides, to investigate the rock
pools on Filey Brig.
WE learn from the ‘‘ Victorian Naturalist,” of
the death of the indefatigable botanist, D. Sullivan,
F.L.S., who contributed largely to a knowledge of
the Victorian flora. An orchid of the genus Caleya
bears his name. It is stated that worry, in
consequence of compulsory retirement by the
Educational Department, in which he served for
nearly thirty years as a headmaster, so affected his
spirits and health, that his life was possibly
shortened.
In the quarterly journal of the Geological
Society, appears an illustrated paper by Mr. E. T.
Newton, F.R.S., upon a human skull and other
bones found by Mr. Robert Elliott, of Camberwell,
in the paleolithic terrace-gravel at Galley Hill,
near Northfleet, Kent. The important characters
of this skull are its lengh and narrowness, parallel-
sided and depressed shape. Attention is drawn to
the similarity between this skull and those of the
extant Eskimos, whom Professor Boyd Dawkins
considérs to be descended from palzolithic
ancestors.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
Wi
L’AEROPHILE (Paris, July, 1895) contains a
portrait of Herr Andrée and a short account of the
life of this illustrious aeronaut. The preparations
which are being made at Stockholm for his attempt
to discover the North Pole by a balloon voyage
next year are fully described.
Cosmos (Paris, August 24th, 1895). Mons.
Acloque commences a series of articles upon the
Homological Organization of Insects. There is
also an article by M. Maurice Farman on ‘‘ The
Causes and Consequences of the Rain of July and
August.” He considers it is due to the influence of
an exceptional cyclone.
BULLETIN DE LA SOCIETE INDUSTRIELLE DE
MutuHouse (Mulhouse, June, 1895) has a long
report of meteorological observations for the year
1894, giving several tables of temperature taken at
the meteorological station at Mulhouse, also two
diagrams showing the temperature and barometer
pressure for the several months of the year 1894.
L’EcLAIRAGE ELECTRIQUE (Paris, August 3rd,
1895) announces the publication of a new electrical
journal to be called ‘‘l’Electrochimie,” editedby M.
Adolphe Minet. There is also an account of an
accident which occurred to a workman employed
by an electrical company at Rochester, U.S.A.,
He received a charge of between 2,000 and 3,000
volts, which is three times greater than that given
to criminals condemned to death by electricity.
The workman showed every sign of death, but by
the indefatigable exertions of his comrades to
restore respiration, after three quarters of an hour
he began to show signs of life and was finally
recovered.
La Nature (Paris, August 24th, 1895) contains
an illustrated article by M. Planchon, giving an
account of the various methods which have been
used in China for measuring time. In the reign of
the Emperor Yao, in the year 2337 B.c., the
Chinese astronomers divided the year into four
seasons, and fixed the duration of the year at 365
days, 6 hours. They divided their day into 12
parts, more or less equal, which corresponded
to two of our hours. The hours were divided into
too parts, called ‘“kés.. Each ‘“‘ké"’ had 100
minutes, and each minute 100 seconds. The
Chinese employ 12 characters which are the signs
of the Zodiac for the months of the year. This
division of time was imported to Japan from China.
In the seventeenth century, however, the Jesuit
missionaries persuaded the Chinese to adopt the
European division of the day. Mons. G. Mingaud
has an article on ‘‘ Prehistoric Remains,” giving an
account and an illustration of the reconstruction of
a prehistoric dwelling, which was done by M.
Clement, and is to be seen at the Hotel de Nimes.
There is also an article by M. E. Hospitalier on
‘« The Electrical Engines used on the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad."’ It is illustrated by four figures and
some diagrams.
IgI
JOURNAL OF THE NEW York MICROSCOPICAL
Society (New York, July, 1895) has an account of
‘‘ Some Interesting Features of well-known Plants
of New York Harbour,’”’ by Carlton E. Curtis,
Ph.D. He observes that a common member of
the summer flora of the harbour is found on the
larger alge, or in patches on the rock. It is
Calothvix, and is easily to be recognised, as it
belongs to one of the simplest groups of plants.
In morphological characters and life processes it
often closely resembles the bacteria. Multiplication
of species is only accomplished by the escape of a
few cells of the filaments, which grow into new
plants. There are no sexual processes.
TRINIDAD FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB JOURNAL
(Trinidad, B.W.1., June, 1895).—Mr. R. Mole has
an article ‘‘On the Formation and Disintegration
of Segments of Caudal Appendage in Crotalus
horvidus,” a rattlesnake. He refers to a paper in the
same journal for February, 1894, by himself and
Mr. Urich, giving their observations on a South
American rattlesnake. They have kept this snake
in captivity and under observation from before that
date to February 15th, 1895. Mr. Mole says that
as the period of sloughing the skin draws near, the
new segment, which is of a bluish-black colour, can
be seen growing out from underneath the scales,
and pushing the last-formed rattle out. As the
time approaches, when the snake becomes tem-
porarily blind, the new rattle is pushed right out,
the scales covering it presenting a withered yellow-
whitish colour, their free points being slightly
raised. These disappear, and after the skin is cast
the new segment becomes a pale yellow, subse-
quently changing into the usual colour. Mr. Mole
considers the material of the rattle to be thin horn,
something like one’s finger-nails. In a further
article, entitled ‘‘The Dimensions of Animals,”
Mr. Mole points out how very untrustworthy are
many of the statements made about the sizes of
animals, with which people are not familiar, or
have only seen when dead. He says that, as a
rule, no attempt is made to measure an animal
until it is skinned, and then it is the skin, not the
animal, which is measured. Mr. Mole refers to the
offer made by Jamrach, of London, in the Field
newspaper some months ago, to pay anyone who
will bring him a snake thirty feet long, £1,000, and
for one forty feet, £10,000, as being a very safe
one, although snakes of over thirty feet in length
have been reported by travellers. There are
two articles by Professor T. D. A. Cockerell,
Entomologist of the New Mexico (U.S.A.) Agri-
cultural Experiment Station, one on ‘‘A New
Scale Insect from Grenada, giving an account of
some coccide, collected by Mr. W. E. Broadway,
on Citrus medica, var. acida, in the Botanic Gardens
at Grenada, one of the species being an inte-
resting new Lecanium. The other article is on ‘‘A
New Mealy-Bug on Sugar-Cane.” It is named
Dactylopius sacchari, Ckl. Mr. C. A. Barber gives
an account of ‘* The effects produced by Ticks upon
their Hosts,’ showing that in Texas at least one
species out of the five known is a very active agent
in dissemination of the dreaded Texan cattle fever.
The first part of an article by Mr. E. D. Ewen,
entitled ‘‘ Notes on the Economic Uses of the
Composite,” commences in this number. Itis a
statement of the uses of the various plants belong-
ing to this order, the manner in which their
_properties can best be extracted, the form in which
they should be used, and the disorders for which
they may be beneficial.
192 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
BritisH Mosses.—Part 16 of Mr. Braithwait’s
‘* British Moss-Flora,” which finishes vol. ii, was
published a short time ago and completes the
acrocarpous mosses.
Mimutus Lurens, Linn.—On July 30th, I
found growing in a ditch near Weybridge, in
Surrey, several robust specimens of Mimulus lutens,
which, though not a native, is naturalised in some
parts of England. Impatiens fulva, Nutt, was
growing in large quantities on the banks of the
Wey, close by.—W. J. Lucas, Knight's Park,
Kingston-on-Thames ; August 3rd 1895.
SECOND FLOWERING OF SALLOW AND ELDER.—
Whilst hunting last week for the larvz of Smerinthus
ocelatus on Wimbledon Common, near here, I
observed that three bushes of the common sallow
(Salix caprea) were coming into bloom for the
second time this season, one branch having five or
six good catkins. All the bushes were male plants.
Later in the day an elder-tree was seen blossoming
for a second time this summer. The elder-tree in
question standing close to Wimbledon Green.—
Bertram G. Rye, 281, Fulham Road, London, S.E.;
August 15th, 1895.
An Oak SEEDLING.—I was much interested in
reading the article in Sci=ENcE-Gossip on ‘An
Oak Seedling” (ante page 145). I have now
growing in water, in a small bottle, an oak seed-
ling from an acorn of 1893. It germinated in
the following Spring, and grew a stem four
inches high, putting out five leaves. This Spring
(1895), it grew another two inches, putting out five
more leaves. The curious part is, that the first five
leaves of 1894 are quite green and show no signs of
withering. The two withered cotyledons are still
adhering to the base of the stem. The acorn was
from the moss-cupped oak.— Athelstan Corbet,
Adderley Rectory, Market Drayton ; August, 1895.
HARMONIOUS COLOURING OF WILD FLOWERS.—
Referring to my note in your August number (ante
page 164) under the above heading, there may be
observed, here in West Sussex, further instances of
nature’s floral harmonies. The banks of the river
are fringed with masses of tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
and purple loosestrife (Lythrum_salicaria). These
make a gorgeous contrast. On the golf links at
Littlehampton, as I suppose on most of our sandy
sea-coast commons, flourish and abound, in close
juxtaposition, the thrift (Avmeria maritima) and the
viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare), the pale pink of the
one flower according admirably with the bright
blue of the other, and both set off by a sprinkling
of the yellow mouse-ear (Hievacium fpilosella). No
artist could have composed a more tasteful and
effective harmony than that produced by the
intermingling of these three flowers. Will you, or
one of your readers, say if there is any scientific
reason, such as that suggested in my former note,
to account for this rule of colour-harmony in the
growth of the wild flowers?—M. J. Teasdale,
Fitileworth, Sussex.
CuscuTA EUROP@A In SuSssEx.—I have found
this plant growing on nettle and hop behind the
old water-mill here. Also a variety (query var.
cambrica) with divided segments, of Polypodium
vulgave.—M. J. Teasdale, Fittleworth, Sussex ; August,
1895.
AMPELOPSIS FRUITING.—I have a flourishing
Virginia creeper on the house-front, facing south-
west. Oftenin previous yearsit has produced many
flowers and even small fruits, but this season great
numbers of the berries have ripened, which has
never been the case before. The fruits are like
small dark grapes, about a quarter of an inch in
diameter, and covered with a similar bloom but
without the juicy flesh. I do not know another
instance of this plant ripening its fruit in England,
-and should be glad to hear if it is at all common.
Its near relationship to the grape-vine is very
clearly shown in both flowers and fruit, which are
interesting in several respects from a botanical
point of view.—J. Burton, 9, Agamemnon Road, West
Hampstead.
STOMATA AND SUNLIGHT.—The references (ante
page 136) with respect to variability in the size and
number of the leaf stomata are so far correct and
valuable. According to M. Dufour ‘‘in sunlight
the stomata are more numerous, especially on the
upper surface of the leaf, the different elements of
the epidermis are more developed, the cells are
higher, their lateral and outer walls are thicker
and much less sinuous, the cuticle in particular,
than in the shade.” The leaves of Circea luteteana
have been especially investigated in this connection
and it has been found that in the young leaf while
in the shade most of the stomata show only a single
rounded cell very different from the adjacent ones,
in the sun most of them are already divided and
many present a stomata opening. The formation
of the stomata is due in most cases to a local
multiplication of the epidermal cells, followed by
an arrest of development, and this process goes on
up to an advanced period in the life of the leaf. It
is hard to see, however, where the element of
protection from the increased heat of the sun in
exposed situations comes in. In point of fact,
leaves comport themselves almost as opaque
screens, the thicker they are the more heat they
absorb, while the thinner ones transmit more and
absorb less. The only sort of protection that is
required in the case is that against a too active
transpiration, and this may be effected by a thick,
cuticle, closured stomata, a covering of hairs on
the under surface, etc., all of which are naturally
produced under the influence of strong direct
sunlight, which at the same time induces a more
active and abundant transpiration. Moreover,
according to Lesage, the palisade tissue of the leaf
appears to function as a means of protection from
excessive transpiration. Now, as is well known, in
sunlight this tissue presents a greater development—
it cells are more elongated, or the layers of its cells
are doubled, as in privet, and they are richer in
chlorophyll—than in the shade. Hence we see that
an open exposure to strong direct sunlight cuts, as
it were, both ways. At the same time while
transpiration is rendered more vigorous, the means
whereby its excess may be checked are amply
provided by the vital energy of the leaf itself. The
plant, therefore, in reality struggles to adapt itself
to the environment, and not to select this or
that variation as a means of protection, etc.—
Dr. P. Q. Keegan, Patterdale, nr. Penrith; August,
1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 193
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NATURALISTS. — Hand
cameras have hitherto hardly been taken seriously
into consideration for effecting scientific work.
Still their portability and convenience for travel
Portrait or A Parrot, by T. Peacock.
has caused the science student to look longingly in
their direction. To meet the difficulty, Messrs.
Newman and Guardia, of 92, Shaftesbury Avenue,
London, W., have perfected a hand camera which
will be of great value to naturalists. Asan instance
of the work to be obtained from it, we figure a
beautiful piece of portraiture from life, taken by an
amateur, Mr. T. Peacock, of London, being of a
parrot which was allowed free flight in a garden.
It was taken during an instant of momentary rest
on a branch, the time allowed for approaching,
focussing, and obtaining the plate, being only a
few seconds. It will be observed that the object
is in perfect focus, every feather being seen in
detail. One important feature of these cameras
is the fact that a new focussing screen has been
adapted, which enables the photographer to
get three distinct views, as if taken at different
distances. This is very important to a naturalist
or geologist, who, as a rule, cannot get close to
his object. He can also see which focus will
best suit his picture, and so select its size
without moving from his position of observa-
tion. For photographing still subjects this
camera is equal to and better than many
tripod cameras. The motion of the shutter is
perfect for steadiness, there being no ‘kicking’
with its consequent blurring of the picture. This
movement has been most successfully treated,
consequently the pictures are good. The Newman
and Guardia latest ‘‘B”’ pattern is for quarter-
plate or 5 x 4. It can be fitted with the Zeiss
Jena lens and iris reduction movement, so that
three different sizes as above explained can be
obtained. This instrument is necessarily expensive
on account of the cost of the lens, the quarter-plate
size being £22 tos. while the half-plate size
camera is £26 15s. Much less costly cameras are
made by this firm with equal care, being fitted with
either Swift or Wray lenses for quarter-plate, which
do most excellent work. These may be had from
twelve guineas upwards. The cameras shown to
us are so perfect that nothing remains for the
amateur photographer but to take his pictures,
which can hardly fail to be successes, if only
ordinary care be taken in studying the composition
of the pictures, Each camera contains frames for
twelve plates. There is further a double camera
made by the same firm, by which the operator can
see the proper moment for taking views of small
moving objects, such as moths, flies, fighting
spiders and others. We hope to be able in early
numbers to illustrate some of these wonderful
pictures.
STENOPAIC PHOTOGRAPHY.—We have received a
little book, by Frederick W. Mills, F.R.M.S., and
Archibald C. Ponton (London: Dawbarn and
Ward, Limited, price 1s.) upon stenopaic or pin-
hole photography, which, as many of our readers
know, is the taking of photographs without the aid
of alens. There isa fine piece of this kind of work,
illustrating the process, in a frontispiece to the
book. The progenitor of the pin-hole camera was
Giovanni Baptista Porta, a physician of Padua,
about A.D. 1500. The word ‘‘stenopaic”’ is from the
Greek stenos, narrow or confined, in reference to
the aperture of the camera admitting the image.
This is done by employing a thin sheet of metal or
other substance perforated with a small hole and
fixed in the position usually occupied by the lens of
a camera. Messrs. Mills and Ponton’s book very
simply instructs the amateur how to proceed with
this system; a camera having a rising front anda
swing back being best suited for stenopaic work.
One method of preparing the aperture is to take
a sheet of thin brass and drive through it a sewing
needle by a series of gentle taps, the burr being
removed with a very fine file; the needle is again
passed through the hole and the brass sheet is
finally blackened. The best plates to use for
this kind of photography are rapid plates,
which must be thickly coated by emulsion, and
to prevent halation they should be backed by
a piece of black carbon transfer-paper, such as
is used in autotype printing. The Manual before
us will be found of great use to some of our
readers who have not yet studied stenopaic
photography.
NEWMAN AND GUARDIA’S CAMERA.
Open, to Show Fittings.
194 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
FORMATION OF SNAIL SHELL—In ‘* Compies
Rendus,” current volume, page 512, Mons. Moynier
de Villepoix states that when he described the
formation of the shell of Helix, in 1891, he was not
aware that already, in 1880, the pallial gland which
secretes the lime and organic matier had been
described by MM. E. Mer and Longe, under ihe
name of “ coin epithélial.”
SHOWER OF FisHES.—Mr. W. C. V. Burion,
J-P., of Carrigaholt Castile, co. Clare, Ireland,
records in ‘‘Symond’s Monthly Meteorological
Magazine,” as follows: ‘‘On June 15th, a very hot
day, some heavy heat drops fell about midday,
when a number of small fishes, mostly about one
and a half or two inches long fell in the pleasure
grounds, where some men were working. I havea
large one in spirits, and several people saw the
fish.”
SUDDEN DEATH OF PaRTRIDGE.—On August
toth, I saw a somewhat remarkable instance of
death, or rather sudden powerlessness, arising from
sheer terror. As I was watching a train coming at
arapid rate towards Arbroath I saw a flock of birds
approaching, evidently with the intention of
crossing the line. The foremost birds had already
passed over, at a height of perhaps twenty feet, and
the engine of the train was quite thirty yards away,
when suddenly one bird, in the cenire of the flock,
dropped to the rails and lay motionless. The
other birds all flew away quite unconcernedly. On
going to see the bird, I found it insensible and ina
dying condition. It was a pariridge, and otherwise
apparently in perfect health —G. B. Netlson, Bank
of Scotland House, Glasgow ; August, 1895-
Dry-rot.—tThe following extract from Riving-
ton’s ‘‘ Building Construction ” will probably help
Mr. Hodgson out of his difticuliy (anize page 137).
“« Dry-rot is generally caused by ventilation. Con-
fined air, without much moisture, encourages the
growth of the fungus, which eats into the timber,
renders it brittle and so reduces ihe cohesion of
the fibres that they are reduced to powder. It
generally commences in the sap-wood. An excess
of moisture prevents the growth of the fungus, but
moderate warmth, combined with damp and want
of air accelerates it.” Rivington further quotes
from Britton as follows :—* There is this particular
danger about the dry-rot, viz., that the germs of
the fungi producing it are carried easily, and in all
directions, in a building where it once displays
itself, without necessity for actual contact between
the affected part and the sound wood.” JI have
had similar trouble to Mr. Hodgscns, and have
generally treated it successfully by the entire
removal and destruction of the wood, and the
provision of efficient ventilation, which should be
so arranged that in no part of the building is air
left to stagnate. The danger of an attack of dry- -
rot is very considerably increased where a floor is
covered with oil-case or other air-tight covering.
—Thos. Winder, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., Ashdeli Rise,
Sheffield; August, 1895.
NatTurAL History Exuisition.—The South
London Society will hold its annual exhibition of
natural-history objects at St. Martin’s Town Hall,
Charing Cross, London, on October 17th next.
Marine Aguartum.—I think Mr. Blundell can
obtain all requisites for starting a marine aquarium
from Mr. Hornell, Biological Laboratory, Jersey.
I have had many different kinds of specimens from
that institution, and have found them entirely
satisfactory.—J. Burton, West Hampstead.
AMERICAN ZYG#ZNID#.—In January last (vol. i.
N.S. p. 258) an enquiry was made relative to cer-
tain American burnet moths. I have had the
opportunity of examining and comparing them,
and find they are (No. 1) Saurita cassandra, Linn,
and (No. 2) Charidea fasiuosa, Walk.= fulgida, H.S.,
both species belonging io the Syntominz —W. H.
Nunney, Bloomsbury.
Birp Notzes.—I have been rather inierested in
the doings of a pair of blackbirds this year, and as
their habits have been out of the ordinary course,
I venture to forward these notes.—On May 2oth,
I found a blackbird’s nest with four eggs in a
plum-iree trained against the north wall of a
garden ofa friend. Three of theeggs duly hatched
on May 28th. Nine days after, on June 6th, the
young had their eyes open, and a week later (June
13th), the brood few. Now comes the extra-
ordinary part (at least, as far as my own experience
goes). Happening to pass the nesi on the 20th of
the same month, I was surprised io find ancther
egg; the next day there was another, and on the
23rd and 24th respectively two more eggs were
laid, three of which in due course were hatched on
July 7th, the eyes of the young were open on the
rath, and the nest was again empty on the 28th.
This appears to me quick work for a pair of birds,
but it is rendered all the more remarkable by the
“use of the same nest, and the comparison of dates.
During the time the hen bird was sitting on the
second cluich, the male bird was still looking after
the welfare of the first brood. In the first case,
one notices the young birds were in the nest
sixteen days, but in the later only thirteen days.
In the first nest the young were blind nine days,
but in the second only five days, and in each case,
moreover, one egg proved infertile. In the same
garden, on the north wall of the house, in a pear-
iree, was a hedge-sparrow’s nest eleven feet from
ithe ground. Is this not unusually high, and a
sirange situation? It may be only a coincidence,
but both the blackbirds and the hedge-sparrow
seem io show a partiality for north walls, although
the sonthern aspect afforded quite as good, or if
not betier situations. So many discussions have
taken place as ito whether the cuckoo cries on the
wing, or if the female’s note is ‘‘ cuckoo,” it might
be interesting to add the following observations.
One evening, last June, whilst I was sitting under an
oak, my attention was attracted to a cuckoo on the
telegraph wires by the rail-road, making the queer
‘*‘bubbling noise.” Presently I was surprised to
see it turn round and face the oak-iree and
cry *‘cuckoo.” Jt then came and seitled for a
moment in the tree and ‘“cuckooed” loudly.
Doubiless having seen me it did not remain, but
circled round the tree twice, ‘‘ cuackooing ” while on
the wing, and then madeofi. I should take the bird
to be a female on account of the ‘‘ bubbling note.”’
I have at present alive a male example of the
peregrine falcon that was shot at and slighily
wounded in Surrey this year. There was no mark
to suggest it had previously known captivity —
H. Mead-Briggs, 37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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A NEw BritTIsH BEETLE.—Otiorvhynchus auro-
punctatus, a Pyrenean weevil, is added to the British
list, having been found in some numbers in Eastern
Ireland. It is described fully in the ‘Irish
Naturalist ’ for August.
RarRE BUTTERFLIES IN KENT.—I have the
pleasure of possessing Pieris daplidice, Argynnis
lathonia, two Afporia crataegi, and one Vanessa c.-
album, all taken within twenty miles of Canterbury
last summer (1894). With regard to Aforia crataegi,
I am aware many entomologists assert the insect is
extinct in Kent, but I have no hesitation in saying
I could produce five which have been caught in the
county within the last seven years, including the
one I captured myself at Ramsgate, in June, 1888
(vide ‘‘ Entomologist,’’ vol. xxi., p. 184). The latter
two were taken by a gardener of this town and are
of no value beyond their associations, having
received rough treatment owing to his ignorance
and inexperience of entomology. Iam also glad to
record the re-capture of Vanessa c-album in Kent.—
H. Mead-Briggs, 37, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury ;
August 18th, 1895.
DRAGONFLIES CAPTURED BY SUNDEW.—On July
31st, near Oxshott, in Surrey, I found within a yard
or two of each other, two small blue dragon-flies
(Enallagma cyathigerum), each of which was being
held by the posterior extremity of the abdomen,
by a leaf of the round-leaved sundew (Drosera
votundifolia). The tentacles had closed over and
secured the prisoners, which were still, when found,
quite alive. I had previously more than once seen
one of these azure insects in the clutches of Drosera,
but in each case it was held by the wings, more
than one leaf assisting in the operation. It is
doubtful whether under such conditions, the plant
could have made a meal off the insect. On one
occasion, also, while walking with a friend, who
was carrying in his hand a specimen of Drosera, a
little blue dragon-fly flying past, accidently came
in contact with the leaves, and was held fast by the
vegetable trap.—W. J. Lucas, Knight's Park,
Kingston-on-Thames; 3vd August, 1895.
NESTING OF THE SEDGE-WARBLER.—I should
like to confirm the observations of Mr. H. Mead-
Briggs on this subject (ante page 156). It is
strange, indeed, that so many authorities should
have overlooked the fact that the sedge-warbler
undoubtedly suspends its nest occasionally after
the manner of the reed-warbler. I find mentioned
in my note-books one such rest which I found
on a stream at Wembley, Middlesex, May 2oth,
1889. IL also found at least two more on a pond
near Epsom in 1893. All these nests, however,
were not suspended among reeds, but in the tall
sedges, the name of which I am ignorant, and were
supported by three or four stems passing through
the wall of the nest. I have always considered
that suspended nests are the exception with this
species, as the instances mentioned are the only ©
ones among many scores of sedge-warblers’ nests
which I have seen.—H. K. Swan, 10, Harrington
Street, Regent's Park, N.W.; August 16th, 1895.
THE
NaturaAL History Society.—July r1th, 1895; T.
W. Hall, Esq., F.E.S., President, in the chair.
Mr. Fremlin exhibited a long and variable-bred
series of Phorodesma smavagdaria, all of which were
set with the aid of a blow-pipe, also a bred series
of Geometra papilionaria; Mr. Oldham, a Sirex gigas,
SoutTH LoNDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND
from Wisbech, and a number of lepidoptera
taken during the Society’s field meeting at Oxshott,
June z2oth, including Eurymene dolobraria, Macaria
lituvata and Hadena pisi; Mr. Adkin, a yellow var.
of Ematurga atomarvia; Mr. T. W. Hall, a pupa of
Sesia sphegiformis and a bred series of Eupithecia
valerianata ; Mr. Edwards, a specimen of Papilio
sesostvis, var. xestos, from South America.—July 25th;
President in the chair. Mr. Hall, a long, variable-
bred series of Dianthecia carpophaga, the larve
having been found on Lychnis vespertina. One
specimen had all the usual markings nearly
obliterated, and gradations led to the opposite
extreme of a specimen with the markings much
extended and intensified. Mr. Robson, a var. of
Smerinthus tilie, without the usual dark band across
the forewing, and an exceedingly pretty suffused
form of Zonosoma pendulavria. Mr. Dennis, a bred
series of Cosmia affinis, from Horsley. Mr. Turner,
a series of Lycena zgon, from Oxshott, showing
amalgamation of spots on the under sides, blue-
splashed females, and one female undistinguishable
on the upper side from L. astrache. Mr. West, of
Greenwich, a fruit of the Macartney rose (Rosa
bracteata).—August 8th; President in the chair.
Mr. T. W. Hall, specimens of Hadena oleracea, in
which both the reniform and orbicular stigmata
were scarcely to be traced; Mr. Adkin, a series
of strongly-marked Eupithecia tenuiata, from Drog-
heda; Mr. Perks, an apple-snail (Ampullaria) from
South America; Mr. South, a number of series of
lepidoptera taken near Macclesfield during the pre-
sent season, including four forms of Xylophasia rurea
—all forms of X. monoglypha, except the very dark
Durham form, Miana strigilis, were all dark, nota
single type-form having been taken—and two
forms of Hepialus velleda, with a var. caynus taken at
different elevations. He also remarked on the
absence of Melanism in a district apparently
favourable for it, and stated that he had only
obtained one black Phigalia pedaria, a female, and
one var. doubledayavia of Aimphidasys betularia. Mr.
A. E. Hall, a specimen of Argynnis adippe, var.
cleodoxa, and a remarkable Triphena comes, with
intense black markings. Mr. Moore, a specimen
of Epinephele janiva, with a considerable increase of
the fulvous area, an Orthopteron of the genus Petasia,
from South Africa, and a sample of Spanish moss
(Tillandsia usneoides) from Florida, an epiphyte of
the family Bromeliacez. Mr. Frohawk, a fine series
of undersides of Epinephele hypevanthes, showing
all gradations from var. arete to var. lanceolata.
Mr. Step. a specimen of the pugnacious squat
lobster (Galathea squamifera) from Portscatho, and
made interesting remarks on the spider crab
(Maia squinado) and the boar-fish (Cafrosater).
Mr. Turner, a var. of Euchelia jacobee, with
196
a small additional spot, and other Lepidoptera.
August 22nd, T. W. Hall, Esq., F.E.S., President,
in the chair. Owing to the holidays and a heavy
thunder-storm, the meeting was unusually small.
Mr. South exhibited smoky varieties of Rumia
luteolata taken this year near Macclesfield, also
series or specimens of Hypermecia cruciana, Tortrix
cinnamoneana, Eupithecia venosata, and E. pulchellata
from the same locality. Mr. Hall stated that he
possessed similar varieties of R. Juteolata from
Scotland. Mr. Moore, series of the following
Arachnid, from St. Augustine’s, Florida, viz.:
Nephila clavipes, Atveus americanus, and Gastervacantha
cancviformis. Mr. West, of Greenwich, specimens
of Chrysomela gettingensis, taken this year at
Bookham and Box Hill, and remarked that he had
never taken the species before. Mr. Turner,
specimens of Scodiona belgiavia, from Oxshott and
Shirley, and a series of Hadena pisi, bred from larve
obtained at Barnes and showing considerable
variation from almost uniform reddish-brown to
forms having a deal of greyish-white marking.
Several members reported having seen or captured
Colias edusa, and one var. helice had been taken in
the Isle of Wight.—Hy. J. Turner (Hon. Report Sec.)
ACCRINGTON NATURALISTS’ SocieTy. — The
fortieth annual meeting of this society was held on
July 6th, in its rooms at Oak Hill Park. The fol-
lowing officers were elected: President, Mr. Henry
Miller. Vice-Presidents: Messrs. John Rhodes,
F.E.S., R. Wigglesworth, J. Holman, and R.
Beagham. Committee: Messrs. Edward Haworth,
J. Riley, M. P. Richardson, R. S. Lincoln, A. E.
Ball, and F. Sutcliffe. Treasurer, Mr. William
Lawson; Analysts, Messrs. Isaac Stephenson and
J- A. Pickup; Librarian, Mr. P. Whalley ;
Assistant, Mr. Riley; Secretary, Mr. Joseph
Knowles; and Assistant Secretary, Mr. Walsh.
There was afterwards exhibited by Mr. Isaac
Stephenson an example of the hepatic plant or
liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha), bearing female
reproductive branches or archegoniophores. Mr.
P. Worden exhibited a number of flowering plants.
City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL
History Society.—At the usual meeting held on
July 16th, the exhibits included: Mr. Battley, a
female specimen of Saturnia pyri, from North Italy.
Young larve bred from eggs laid by this specimen
were at first black with red warts and short
bristles, but after the second moult, they became
pale-green with yellow warts and long spatulate
hairs. Mr. J. A. Clark, showed a pair of pale-
spotted Argynnis paphia, from the New Forest.
Mr. Bacot, a series of Boarmia repandata, bred from
a dark female from South Wales; all the specimens
except one, showed a strong tendency to melanism.
Dr. Buckell, a larva of Biston hirtavia, which had
been ‘‘stung’”’ by an ichneumon while hanging by a
thread. The fly, which was also exhibited,
managed, after a certain amount of objection on
the part of the larva, to deposit two eggs on the
skin of the larva, near the head.— Tuesday, August
6th, the exhibits were by: Mr. Battley, series of
Miana strigilisand M. fasciuncula, from Clapton and
neighbourhood, showing gradations in the former,
from the ordinary black and white marbled form to
var. ethiops, and both the red and the yellow form
of the latter. Mr. S. J. Bell, two cocoons of
Saturnia paronia, in which the customary means of
exit was wanting ; they were almost spherical in
shape, and not so large as usual. Mr. Bate,
Orthosia suspecta, from Dulwich Woods.—C.
Nicholson, A. W. Battley (Hon. Secs.)
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To CoRRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS.—SCIENCE-GOSSIP
is published on the 25th of each month. All notes or other
communications should reach us not later than the 18th of
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munications can be inserted or noticed without full name
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ALL communications, remittances of subscriptions, books
or instruments for review, Specimens for identification, etc.,
are to be addressed to Joun TI. CARRINGTON, 1, Northumber-
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immediately before.
EXCHANGES.
Notice.—Exchanges extending to thirty words (including
name and address) admiited free, but additional words must
be prepaid at the rate of threepence for every seven words
or less.
WansTED, foreign land-shells in exchange for other foreign
shells or butterflies—Col. Parry, 18, Hyde Gardens, East-
bourne.
Over 300 well-mounted botanical specimens; exchange
for chess, Mendelssohn’s or Mozart’s piano works, Chopin’s
mazurka’s, nocturnes; books, or oldstamps.—E. J. Lambert,
4, Wildwood Terrace, Hampstead, N.W.
Dup.icaTeE shells and fossils offered for species not
already in my collection—Rev. John MHawell, Ingleby-
Greenhow Vicarage, Middlesbrough.
OFFERED, British marine, Jand and freshwater shells,
British and foreign Lepidoptera and British dragonflies;
desiderata, corked store-boxes.—W. Harcourt Bath, Lady-
wood, Birmingham.
OFFERED, Helix naso, tayloriana, kubarzi, rehsei, broad-
benti, Nanina cairnii, hercules and a few other rare species
from New Guinea; desiderata, rare exotic Helices,—Miss
Linter, Arragon Close, Twickenham.
OFFERED, good Cornish recks and minerals. Wanted,
fossils, micro. slides, minerals or geological specimens.—
George Penrose, 17, John Street, Truro, Cornwall.
HELIx LAPIcIDA, H. rufescens, varieties of H. hortensis,
H. nemoralis and others; desiderata, others not in collection.
—W. Domaille, 37, Argyle Road, St. Paul’s, Bristol.
I want a few hundred marble galls, and shall be glad if
collectors living where they occur will send me some;
carriage refunded.— Chas. Mosley, printer, Lockwood,
Huddersfield.
SPLENDID specimens of the celebrated semi-fossil, Helix
nemoralis, from Dog’s Bay, Connemara, offered in exchange
for good varieties of Helix nemcralis, hortensis, arbustorum
or aspersa; also foreign land shells for others not in col-
lection.—Edward Collier, 1, Heather Bank, Moss Lane East,
Manchester.
WANTED, large ammonites and various microscopic slides
in return for rare British marine shells, etc.—A. Sclater,
43, Northumberland Place, Teignmouth.
WANTED, eggs of cuckoo with those of foster parents;
good exchange in other eggs.—W. Wells Bladen, Stone,
Staffordshire.
OFFERED, South African bird-skins, in fine order and bright
plumage for British or foreign bird-skins,in same order.—
J. G. Brown, New Market, North End, Port Elizabeth, South
Africa.
OFFERED, good botanical micro. slides, for books or in-
teresting natural history objects.—J. Collins, 201, Green Lane,
Birmingham. :
Science-Gossip for 1883-88, and Kzowledge, vols. i.-vii.
What offers ?—Jno. Wood, Panmure, Carnoustie, N.B.
OFFERED, Fish remains from the Greensands of Bedford-
shire; exchange for lepidoptera.—W. Bond Smith, Potton,
Bedfordshire.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
LOUIS: PASTEUR.
OUIS PASTEUR was born at Dole, in De-
partment of Jura, in Eastern France. His
father, who had been a soldier and decorated on
the field of battle, was a working tanner. The
house where Louis was born, in the little Rue des
Tanneurs, now bears the inscription, ‘‘Ici est né
LouisPasteur,
le 27 Decem-
bre, 1822.”
To the excep-
tional intelli-
gence of his
mother much
of the success
of his early
education was
due, but his
father direct-
ed his attend-
anceat school.
It was from
the first their
intention to
make Louis
a chemist,
though he
pleaded hard
to become an
artist. Many
of his early
sketches are
in existence,
notably one of
his mother,
which hangs
in the dining
room of his
Paris resi-
dence. These
show much
talent, and
had not fate
decided in
favour of the
parents’ de-
sire, and for
the good of
mankind, he might have become a celebrated
painter.
Pasteur’s education commenced in the Communal
College of Arbois, where his parents had removed ;
then a year was spent in the College of Besac¢on,
from which, at fourteen, he entered the Ecole
Normale in Paris. Although a most successful
student, he was not considered brilliant. The story
OcToBER, 1895.—No. 20, Vol. II.
THE LAST PorTRAIT OF Louis PASTEUR, of
(From a photograph taken in Fune, 1895, by M. Mairet.)
of his youth is well told in that charming book,
‘‘ Histoire d’un Savant par un Ignorant,’’ published
in Paris a little time ago anonymously, but since
Pasteur’s death known to be by Mons, Vallery-
Radot.
In 1847, Pasteur took the Doctor of Science degree,
and became
Professor of
Chemical
Physics at
Strasburg.
In 1854, he
was Dean of
the Faculty of
Sciences at
Lille, remain-
ing there
three years,
during which
he founded
his researches
into fermen-
tations and
the bacteria
which are
associated
with them. In
1857, he was
elected Direc-
tor of Studies
in the Paris
Ecole Nor-
male, and
afterwards he
became _ suc-
cessively Pro-
fessor of Geol-
ogy, Physics,
and eventu-
ally of Chem-
istry, at the
Ecole de
Beaux Arts,
and through
the influence
Napoleon
III. he occu-
pied the chair of chemistry at the Sorbonne. Our
Royal Society first honoured him, in 1856, with
the Rumford medal for his discoveries in the
polarisation of light; again by electing him foreign
member in 1869; while he received the Copley
medal in 1874. Eight years later Oxford conferred
on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.
The blue-ribbon of French science, Membership of
I
198
the Academy was conferred in 1881. In 1887, he
was appointed perpetual secretary of the Academy
of Sciences, but failing health compelled his retire-
ment two years later.
Pasteur’s reputation will be handed down to
posterity in association with his discoveries in the
connection of bacteria with fermentation, and
animal diseases. His successful investigation and
alleviation of the silk-worm diseases saved a
national industry from extinction. Latterly his
whole energies were devoted to the practical
application of the science of bacteriology, and to the
protection of animal life from disease. His success
is demonstrated by the work of the Pasteur Institute
of Paris, and the revolution in the treatment by the
medical profession of zymotic diseases. Anthrax,
fowl-cholera, swine-erysipelas, and hydrophobia are
now curable, whilst the dreaded cholera and diptheria
have lost their terrors to the modern physician.
Science, like other branches of human knowledge,
does not proceed with even speed but by unexpected
bounds at irregular intervals. These intervals are
SCLEINCGE-GOSSIE,
occupied by the elaboration of the former dis-
coveries. Such ‘‘ bounds” are long between, but
they form the basis of definite thought and research.
Among them may be mentioned Galileo’s discovery
of the Solar System, Newton’s Theory of Gravita-
tion, Dalton’s Atomic Theory, and Darwin’s of the
Evolution of Species. To these will be added
Pasteur’s discoveries of the place of bacteria in the
economy of nature, and their connection with
fermentation and disease.
As a man, Louis Pasteur was earnest and
taciturn, seldom seen to laugh in public, and his
absent-mindedness became a proverb; but as an
original thinker in scientific research he had few
equals. He had not been strong for some time past.
Twenty-seven years ago he had a paralytic stroke,
from which he never really recovered; heart and
kidney troubles following. He died at his country
house near the Parisian suburb of St. Cloud, on
September 28th last. His public funeral was alike
an honour to the French nation and to the scientific
world at large. JJo Io (C.
SU NIDE NV, SAND eeAINGleS:
By Miss E. J. TEMPLE.
N a long bank of bright green sphagnum moss,
on the edge of a pool near Oxshott, I found
the sundew growing in profusion. The plants
imparted quite a warm reddish hue to the bank,
especially as the orbicular leaves of the marsh
pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris) were in close juxta-
position. The plants were small, most of them
having four or five leaves. Two _ varieties,
D. votundifolia and D. intermedia, were found. The
hairs were shining in the sun and under the lens
looked like sparkling rubies against the green
background of the leaf. I brought home several
plants, putting them in a saucer with plenty of
water, but I suppose the smoky air of a London
flat did not agree with them, for they drooped
rapidly and seemed to have lost their power of
feeding. Some few weeks later I came across the
plant in another part of Surrey. Foran hour or so
I watched the plant to study its modus operandi in
catching insects. There were plenty of ants about
running over the path. A crumb of meat attracted
their attention, but wherever I put it out of their
reach, moving it to different sides of the plant,
they always went round the plant and never over it.
When an ant was tipped on to the nearest leaf,
the lower part of its body, being heavier, was
pressed down upon the leaf. The hairs began to
bend over, the creature struggled and became more
involved. I took it away, and found that the
lower part of its body was covered with a coat of
slime. After a short time for recovery, it crawled
away and rejoined its comrades, carefully avoiding
another plant of sundew that stood in its path
It seems to me that insects must know
something of the nature of the plant, for I only
saw one unwary little spider fall upon the leaf;
there were plenty of small beetles and flies
near. The strength of the viscid filaments that
surrounded the object too astonished me, for it
required quite a stout piece of branch to rescue the
spider. I brought home some more plants, and
remembering my former experience put them intoa
saucer with plenty of water under a bell-jar. The
dry atmosphere of the room, with particles of dust
and dirt, are poison to the plants, but under glass in
the sun they flourish. Mine are in beautiful
condition now; I left them for about ten days
without food; then I put some tiny pieces of raw
beef into the centre of some of the leaves, about
one help of meat to each plant. The hairs
contracted and surrounded them. At the end of
the day, the meat had lost all its redness, it was
just aglutinous looking mass of dirty white tissue in
the middle of the leaves. After a short time, the
hairs stiffened and stood up erect and bedewed.
The young leaves of the sundew appear very
pretty before they are unfolded. They look
uncommonly like the hooked end of a golf club,
and are of a beautiful pale green. Some of the
sundew plants that I found were hidden among
heather roots. These had not got half the red
colour of the plants exposed to the sun, although
their tentacles were healthy and full of dew.
50, Clovelly Mansions, London ; Sept., 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
199
REAN GS. OL tHE. BE ACK .POND:
By H. B. Guppy, M.B.
E have done so much to deprive the ponds
and lakes around London of their natural
character, that a visitor to the Black Pond at
Oxshott, in Surrey, gazes with agreeable surprise
on a lakelet that still owes some of its most striking
features to nature. Brakes of the common reed
(Avundo phragmites) conceal its waters from the
view until one stands at its borders. The cotton-
sedge (Eriophorum polystachion) flourishes at its
margins, and the boggy ground is in places literally
carpeted with the sundew (Drvosera). In itsshallow
waters occur dense beds of Hypericum elodes, and
frequent patches of Potamogeton oblongus. Floating
masses of Scirpus fluitans rest on its surface, and in
the bog moss that fills its recesses and forms its
edges, there grow Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Viola palustrts
and Calla palustris. Another interesting plant,
Pilulavia globulifera, lives in the pond, though I
only came upon portions of its fronds in the
floating drift. Its existence in the immediate
neighbourhood is recorded in Salmon’s Flora of
Surrey. Those familiar with the Black Pond will
observe numerous omissions in my list, but enough
has been said here to illustrate this paper.
The plant of strangest aspect here, is certainly
Calla palustris. At home in the swamps of Europe,
Siberia and North America, this aroid of the north
thrives in the bog-moss at one corner of the pond,
and there flowers and matures its seed seemingly as
it does in Lapland. According to Watson’s
“Topographical Botany” (1883), this plant was
supposed to have been introduced here by a medical
man, whose labours in this direction were not
appreciated by that eminent botanist. However,
in the spring of 1894, I committed a similar
impropriety by throwing numbers of the seedlings
in the large pond in the Home Park that lies near
the Kingston Gate. This plant has a larger
geographical range and considerably greater
opportunities of dispersal than are possessed by
Arum maculatwm. The berries in the last case can
only float for a week or two, whilst the seeds
sink ; nor do I think that birds would often assist
in distributing the plant by swallowing the seeds.
On the other hand the seeds of Calla palustris float,
as I have found, for an indefinite period both in
fresh and sea water, and retain their powers of
germination after floating for six months in the
sea. But most probably in aquatic birds we have
its principal means of dispersal. The seeds would,
no doubt, be able to pass uninjured through the
digestive system of a bird, especially if it had
previously satisfied its hunger to repletion. The
mucilage that invests the seed freshly fallen from
I
the plant enables it, as I have ascertained by
experiment, to adhere firmly, on drying, to a bird’s
plumage. The probability of this mode of trans-
portal by adhering to feathers, has been also
pointed out by M. Kolpin Ravn. This gentleman,
in his paper on the floating capacity of the seeds
of aquatic and marsh plants (Sertryk af Botanisk
Tidsskrift, 19, Bind, 2 Hefte, Copenhagen, 1894),
supplies an explanation of the great buoyancy of
the seeds of this plant (a character which he also
observed) in the account he gives of the structure
of their integuments, in which occur very large air-
cells containing crystals of oxalate of lime.
Another plant of this locality, Viola palustris,
presents an interesting theme to the student of
geographical distribution. Of our six species of
violets, it is only this species that finds its habitual
station in a marsh that occurs in North America.
Like the other species, Viola palustris produces
seeds that have no buoyancy, and we must connect
its station with its wide distribution, and its wide
distribution with aquatic birds. It resembles Viola
canina in ejecting its seeds with considerable force,
the process being the same in both cases. Some-
times during the two or three days preceding the
dehiscence of the fruit, the peduncles display
marked movements of circumnutation, which cease
a few hours after the discharge of the seeds. Since
the plants often lie partly concealed in the bog-
moss, these movements may aid the free propulsion
of the seeds into the air. Sir John Lubbock, in his
‘‘Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves,’’ gives some interest-
ing particulars of the various methods employed by
our violets in dropping or in ejecting their seeds.
It is not easy to see what real advantage, in the
matter of distribution, certain plants acquire from
the faculty of ejecting their seeds. Not the least
important section of Kerner’s ‘‘ Pflanzenleben ”’ is
that which is devoted to this subject; and the main
point to grasp in perusing those pages is the total
dissimilarity of the processes employed, as for
instance in our species of Viola and Ovalis. I have
spent many hours in watching the operation so
prettily performed by Montid fontana. Here the
propelling power is to be found in the instantaneous
springing up of the valves of the capsule. The
three valves lie flat back, leaving the three seeds
exposed like eggs in a nest. A rapid movement
follows, which the eye cannot detect, and one sees
the fruit empty and the valves standing erect, like
three scrolls, in the centre. Under ordinary
-conditions about one-third of the ejected seeds fall
back amongst the little plants, and only ten per
cent. fall more than a foot from the edge of the tuft,
2
200
none dropping more than two feet away. The
seeds, although they will float on smooth water,
sink at a touch. Though this plant is doubtless
indebted to aquatic fowl for the transportal of its
seeds across the ocean to Kerguelen and Bermuda,
it probably owes its wide distribution in all the
continents to the refuge it has always found during
revolutionary epochs beside the perennial spring.
Hypericum elodes has a curious method of propa-
gating itself from the detached extremities of the
stems and branches that float, through the winter, in
the seed-drift of the pond. In the middle of winter
the beds of this plant are to be observed mostly
dead and entirely submerged. The terminal buds,
however, retain their vitality, and as the plant
decays, the ends of the stems and branches become
detached and float up, a process often assisted
by the ice. These detached extremities, which
are from a quarter to one inch in length, are to be
found floating in numbers during spring. They
assume the vertical position, the terminal bud
uppermost ; and when the bud expands, the young
leaves protrude a line or two above the surface of
the water. Like the water-spider that abounds in
this pond, the young leaves of the opening bud
exhibit in a remarkable fashion the properties of
the surface-film, a subject made familiar by the
illustrations of Professor Miall. They cannot be
wetted, and when pushed under reappear before
long with their surfaces perfectly dry. As the
spring advances these floating portions grow in
length, and when about two inches long they pro-
ject half an inch above the water, roots being
developed from the submerged nodes. Since the
seeds sink, this is the only means of dispersal by
water possessed by this plant.
In propagating itself in the spring from free-
floating portions of the plant, Hypericum elodes
follows much the same method which I described
in this journal in the case of Ceratophyllum demersum
(SciENcE-Gossip, vol. i., N.S., p. 195). Other
aquatic plants reproduce themselves in the spring
from buds that float through the winter. This
is notably the case with Hydvocharis morsus-vane,
its buds floating in numbers at the surface of
the Wanstead lakes. Kerner gives a beautiful
illustration of these Hydvochavis buds. He im-
plies that they pass the winter at the bottom. I
find, however, that a good proportion never sink.
Triglochin palustve in the ditches of Bushey Park,
behaves in a similar manner. The plant there
produces slender fugacious stolons terminating
in buds, which float throughout the winter and
propagate new individuals in the spring. These
buds are freed by the death of the delicate
stolons as winter approaches. Neither in Syme’s
work, nor in De Candolle’s ‘‘ Monograph. Pha-
nerog”’ (1881), do I find these buds referred to.
On account of the lack of buoyancy of their fruits
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
or seeds, the floating buds of Triglochin palustre
and Hydrocharis morsus-vane alone furnish these
plants with the means of dispersal by water. (See
Kerner, Engl. edit. ii. 810, on the Transportal of
Triglochin Carpels in Birds’ Plumage.)
Much interest also attaches itself to the seed-
drift of the Black Pond, which, as it floats on
the surface from the autumn to the spring,
affords information as to the buoyancy of the
seeds and fruits of the plants of the pond. We
do not observe here the fruits of Eviophorum
polystachion or the seeds of Viola palustris; and
experiments show that they possess little or no
floating powers. We find throughout the winter
numbers of the floating fruits of Hydrocotyle vulgaris
and of Potamogeton oblongus, together with the
grains of Avundo phragmites, all of which can float
for many months. This last-named plant is one of
the very few amongst our hundred species of
grasses that have grains with any buoyancy worth
speaking of. Nature performs a grand flotation
experiment in the seed-drift of our ponds and
rivers, the grasses being scarcely represented.
Even the grains of Poa aquatica and Leersia
oryzoides, which, from their station, we might have
expected to display floating powers, sink, accord-
ing to M. Kolpin Ravn, after a few days.
In the floating seed-drift of the Black Pond we
have that of a pond lying in a boggy district, and
mostly isolated by its elevation from surrounding
drainage areas. Ponds in low-lying regions, com-
municating directly with rivers and fed by their
tributaries, resemble rivers closely in the character
of their drift. There we find, floating in numbers
through the winter to the spring, the fruits of
Ranunculus scelevatus, Bidens sp. sp., Lycopus
euvopeus, Scutellavia galeviculata, Alnus glutinosa,
Sparganinum vamosum, Ivis pseudacorus (seeds), etc.,
etc., with duckweed, bulbs, buds, and, amongst
miscellanea, the bulbiferous leaflets of Cavdamine
hirsuta and C. pratensis. This matter is treated
with more detail in a short paper I contributed in
1892 to the ‘‘ Journal of the Linnean Society.” I
would recommend anyone interested in this
subject to collect a quantity of river-drift in
November and keep it floating in a bowl until the
spring. The young naturalist will find here a
multitude of things to exercise his observing
powers. He need not be acquainted with the
name of a single seed; but when they germinate in
his bowl in the spring, he can put them in soil and
raise the plant, and where this is not possible he
will find an object of many a ramble in his search
for the parent plants.
One curious feature in this pond is to be found in
the abundance of caddis-worms and the consequent
absence of duckweed (vide March, 1895, ante p. 11).
6, Fairfield West, Kingston-on-Thames ;
September, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
lBUANleN IES) (OND
201
HYDROMETRA STAGNARUM.
By GILBERT J. ARROW.
ROBABLY no specimen of this strange insect
has hitherto been watched during the entire
period of its development, and as I have been
fortunate enough to rear a brood of them from the
eggs to maturity, it may be interesting to record a
few observations which I have been able to make.
Even though these may not be of any very con-
spicuous scientific value, they will in all probability
have the merit of originality.
For the benefit of those who are not yet
acquainted with the species, I may begin by stating
that it is a hemipterous insect belonging to the
surface fauna of our ponds and rivers, being chiefly
remarkable for its extremely attenuated form,
although a member of a group characterised by
great slenderness. The length of a full-grown
specimen is slightly more than half an inch, whilst
its greatest breadth never exceeds one twenty-
fourth of aninch. Of this length the head occupies
one third, being exceedingly narrow in the middle,
near which the eyes are situated in very prominent
hemispherical masses, and widening towards the
HYDROMETRA STAGNARUM. (Enlarged.)
thorax and the extremity, where the antennze
originate. These, as well as the legs, are pro-
portionately long and slender, resembling fine
hairs. This attenuated structure is very beneficial
to the insect, as it renders it practically invisible
even to the keenest eyes except at very close range,
and therefore, in spite of its very remarkable
appearance, it is little known. It is a common
insect, nevertheless, and when carefully looked for
may usually be found without much difficulty close
to the margins of ponds or slowly-running streams.
When detected it is much more easily caught than
its more familiar and more active relations of the
genus Gervis. Unlike these and most other members
of the surface fauna, it is not gregarious, although
when one is found there are generally plenty more
in the vicinity.
There are apparently two generations of
Hydvometra in the course of the year, for I have
seen newly-born specimens as late as the middle of
August, although the brood to which I have above
referred was hatched on May 25th. The eggs
were deposited by the parent insect in an aquarium
about three weeks previously, and the first larva
reached maturity on June 27th, its development
thus occupying almost exactly a month. The
larvee left the egg in a highly developed condition
and underwent very little external change in their
progress to maturity. They were active little
creatures, about one twenty-fourth of an inch long,
of a transparent reddish-brown colour, with long
legs and antenne. They were very slender,
although not so strikingly so as the perfect insects,
the disproportion between length and breadth in-
creasing with their growth. Wings are absent in
all stages, so that it would be hardly possible to
mistake the identity of the larva.
For some days after their birth the young
insects lived mostly upon terra firma, only occasion-
ally venturing upon a short excursion on the water
close to the edge. By degrees, however, they took
more to the water, at last living almost entirely
upon it. Until nearly full grown they fed entirely
upon the minute springtail (Smynthurus niger),
which was abundant on the surface of the water.
Probably on account of its minute size suiting
their capabilities, they at first refused all other
food, but shortly before assuming the perfect form,
they also took other small insects, such as aphides.
Quite unlike Gerrvis, which moves very rapidly
over the water by long jerking strides, Hydvometra
progresses in a regular, deliberate manner, which
assists in rendering it inconspicuous. When in
search of food, it moves slowly over the water, its
long legs carrying the body high above the surface,
and the antennz bent downwards in front of the head,
so that their tips are all but in contact with the
water, appearing to ‘‘ feel’’ it for the motions which
indicate the presence of its prey. Although the eyes
are very largeand prominent, they seem only capable
of detecting the insects upon which the Hydrometra
feeds when at a very short distance; for, unless
this is the case, the latter never moves directly
towards its victim, but reaches it by repeated
“tacks,” each bringing it more in the desired
direction, the antenne being all the time engaged in
‘“‘feeling’’ the surface of the water. At last the
doomed insect is exactly between the forelegs
of its captor, and after a few preliminary
flourishes of the antennez, apparently to satisfy
itself that it is fit for food, the long rostrum
is slowly and deliberately brought out of its
position along the underside of the head,
‘‘presented ” for a moment at the victim, and then
with a movement of the whole body, which brings
the head down between the front legs, plunged into
it, or rather the rostrum is pressed against it, and
202 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
the exceedingly fine piercing instrument, which
occupies a groove along its upper surface, bores a
passage through which the juices can be extracted.
Before commencing its meal, however, the Hydro-
metra invariably raises its prey from the water, and,
holding it aloft on the extremity of its rostrum,
enjoys it without fear of any hindrance in making
its escape in case of surprise by a mightier insect.
The piercing instrument is not barbed as in other
insecis, but seems to be enabled io retain its hold by
the power of muscularly bending the tip. In lifting
its prey from the water the Hydrometva always
exerts the pull in an oblique direciion, thus over-
coming to a large extent the attraction of the
water: but, in spite of this, it appears to require
the exertion of all its strength to raise its burden.
When resting it has the sirange habit of lifting
one or both of its hind legs high in the air,ima
manner suggestive of the similar habit of many of
the gnats of extending their front pair of legs so
that they resemble aniennz, but which I have
never observed in any other insect. Possibly in
both cases the object may be to perceive the
approach of enemies by the sensitiveness of these
delicate limbs to atmospheric motions.
This insect undergoes very little external change
during its progress from the larval to the mature
state. There is, of course, no intermediate
quiescent stage, and as there is hardly a trace of
wings in the perfect insect, there are no rudiments
of these organs to indicate arrival at the state of
pupahood, so that this stage of existence may be
said to be entirely omitied. For the same reason,
it is a matter of some difficulty in the case of this
insect, as of some other apierous hemipiera, to
ascertain by examination of a living specimen
whether it is really mature or not. Perhaps the
best means of deciding this point is by the colour,
for at the last change of skin they generally,
although not invariably, assume a dead - black
appearance, whereas the immature imsecis are
always some shade of reddish-brown.
53, Union Grove, Clapham, S.W. ;
Sept., 1895-
CHARACTERISTIC BRANCHING OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES.
By THE Rev. W. H. Purcuas.
(Continued from page 143.)
Oe as my remarks from last month’s
issue of Sctence-Gossir, I take first those
trees which have opposite leaves, and of these I
begin with Fraxinus excelstor.
Tue Ass.
The leaves of the ash are
opposite in pairs, each pair
standing ai right angles to the
pairs immediately above and
below it. It is only in ab-
normal growths that there is
any departure from this ar-
rangement. Tt will follow,
therefore, as already stated,
that since branches originate
in buds, and that buds are
normally formed in the axils
of leaves, the branches will
stand opposite to each other
as did the leaves. The angle
at which each branch comes
off from the main stem, and
the side-branches from ihe
larger ones, is, if measured
above the point of junction,
about forty-five degrees, not
often less than this although
frequently larger. As the
AsH IN WINTER Hasit.
branches increase by the growths of successive
seasons, the augmented weight tends to bring them
into a horizontal or deflexed position, but even then
the original angle is usually preserved for a foot or
two after leaving the main
siem. In ihe younger growihs
there is a sirong tendency to
ascend, and thus the younger
shoots make a less angle than
forty-five degrees with their
parent branch.
As.the branches lengthen the
weight of foliage bends them
downwards, but the sirong
tendency to ascend reasseris
itself in each season’s growth,
and thus the ends of ihe
Dranches are generally seen io
tum upward toa degree which
is characteristic of the ash.
The elasticity of the wood of
the ash, which makes ii valuable
to the coachbuilder, allows of
this bending downwards more
than would the iexture of
oak or elm wood. The dis-
tance between ihe succes-
sive pairs of leaves is in
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 203
the ash greater than in most trees. Jn young
quick-growing shoots, and more especially in
the stem of a young sapling, it will sometimes be
as much as six inches. This length of internode is
especially seen in early growth and in the upper
part of such ash-trees as do not flower, and it helps
to show out the form of the pinnate leaves, thus
contributing to that elegance which so charac-
terises the young ash.
During the early life of the ash its shoots are
chiefly long-jointed, and, unlike the case of elm and
various other trees, few joints only are made ina
year’s growth, and most of these give rise to side-
branches. But as the tree advances towards
maturity, the side-branches, which are less vigorous
than the leader from which they spring, become
more and more
short-jointed, the
pairs of leaves
being only two,
one, or even only
half an inch
apart. The lead-
er itself also will
often take on
the same habit
of growth, the
internodes being
scarcely at all
developed. With
this tendency to
produce _ short-
jointed wood,
there sets in the
disposition to
flower, and the
more short-joint-
ed the wood, the
more exclusively
does it produce
flower - buds _in-
stead of leaf-
buds. The pani-
cles of flowers are in every case lateral, the
terminal bud being always a leaf-bud, hence the
shoot, whether leader or side-shoot, continues to
preserve the same direction or line of growth.
Very generally the end bud of the year’s shoot,
if at all vigorous, is accompanied by a. leaf-
bud at each side; these side-buds develop into
side-shoots the following year, whilst the leader
pushes forward. The flower-buds which have
been formed along the lower part of the year’s
shoot are the first to expand in the spring,
the panicles of flowers which they bear have
no leafy growth at their base, and when the
seeds are ripened they fall off, leaving a clear .
scar, from whence there never arises any further
growth ; hence the long, bare, knotted spaces which
ASH IN SUMMER Hapir.
we see in the branches of the ash in its mature
growth. These rugged, knotty branches are quite
unlike the smooth surface of the early long-jointed
wood, they are generally terminated by two or
three pairs of leaves close above each other, and in
the axils of these leaves are formed the flower-buds
for the next year, the terminal bud being, as before,
aleaf-bud. The fact that there is no further growth
from the spaces whence the flower-panicles have
fallen tends, together with the long joints of the
early-formed branches, to make the branches of the
ash much less numerous and close than in most
other trees, hence the bare aspect of the tree in
winter, more especially if it be one which has
received scanty nutriment. It will have been seen
that the lateral position of the flowers allows
each shoot to
pursue its origi-
nal direction
without interfer-
ence, just the
contrary to what
occurs where the
flowers are ter-
minal. aiphie
thickness or di-
ameter of the
young shoots of
the ash is, as
has been already
said, from three-
eighths of an
inch to one-quar-
ter of an inch,
a greater thick-
ness than is
found in the
shoots of any
other truly na-
tive tree.
(To be continued.)
THE BOTANICAL CHAIR AT CAMBRIDGE.
R. MARSHALL WARD, F.R.S., has been
elected Professor of Botany at Cambridge, in
succession to the late Professor Babington. Heisa
son of Mr. Marshall Ward, who has conducted the
Nottingham Philharmonic Choir with conspicuous
success for many years. Dr. Ward, who was a
scholar and fellow of Christ’s, was for some years as-
sistant in the botanical department of Owens College,
Manchester, and afterwards Professor of Botany in
the forestry department of Cooper's Hill College.
He is well known for his researches on plant
disease, particularly in regard to the fungoid disease
which some years ago played havoc with the coffee
crop of Ceylon, and also for his work on the bac-
teria of the Thames.
204
PRESERVATION
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
OF COLOURS OF DRAGONFLIES.
By W. H. Nunney.
ROM ihe time when first dragonflies came io
be collected there has been almost unceasing
outcry against the extremely fleeting nature of
their colours during preservation, and various have
been the devices by which it has been attempted to
provide a remedy, with, however, bui little success.
Although in certain species the brilliant colours
may be retained for perhaps a few days after the
death of the insect, the majority, so distinct in their
colouration whilst in life, eventually by its total
loss, become reduced to one dead and monotonous
level. No sadder thing occurs in natural history,
and in order ito obviaie this, I, some two or three
years ago, entered upon a series of experiments
which have extended almost to the preseni time.
Although the resulis have by no means been
entirely successful, they have been sufficiently
so to warrant the hope that in time we may be
able to retain in our cabinet-specimens the colours
in their pristine beauty.
The older methods of preservation are in general
well known, but may perhaps be reiterated here,
inasmuch as they necessarily formed the siariing
point for my own experiments. The method most
in vogue for the larger species of dragonflies is to
carefully remove the contents of the body by way
of a slit down the entire length of its underside,
and to afterwards insert a roll of cotton wool or
paper, both to act as a suppori, and to bring inio
relief what little of the insect’s colour may remain
after the operation. Some collectors remove the
pigment altogether (delightfully Vandalic idea)
replacing it by means of a coloured powder loosely
shaken into the body cavity, by a coloured paper
roll, or, what is better, by painting the required
tones directly on the epiderm itself. These methods,
however, are but of colour substitution, not preser-
vation ; I therefore pass on.
With the introduction of the method invented
by Professor Sieffanelli, described in the Bulletin
of the lialian Entomological Society, a new era
may be said to have commenced. His method is
that of desiccation of the insect under the receiver
of an air-pump, the exhausted air being replaced
by the fumes of sulphuric ether, well known for its
desiccating and preservative properties. The re-
sults are in general nearly all that ean be desired.
An air-pump is, however, not at everyone’s com-
mand, and the colour-preservation of the insects
is thus rendered unnecessarily complicated and
expensive. Sulphuric ether alone, injected into the
bodies of dragon-flies, will frequently preserve the
colours. 4
My own method is the direct antithesis of that of
Professor Steffanelli. Instead of desiccating the
insects, I endeavour to keep them in a constant
condition of moistness. For this purpose I have
tried many chemical substances, amongst others
chloride of calcium and glycerine alone, or com-
bined in varying proportions, and a preparation
known commercially as Professor Barit’s boro-
glyceride. In the use of the calcium chloride I
have been fairly successful; it has, however, a
tendency to discharge instead of preserve certain
colours. With the boro-glyceride I have been
successful almost to the elimination of failures,
some of the results being extremely fine.
After making the usual longitudinal slit in the
under side of the creature’s body, I withdraw so
far as possible the contents, and afterwards fill the
cavity with the boro-glyceride of the ordinary com-
mercial strength, without allowing the chemical
to in any way soil the outside of the body. The
result is, that whilst the colours are preserved, the
body never entirely dries, and consequently cannot
be broken off by any shock given to the cabinet,
drawer or store-box, this last being another great
advantage of the use of a slightly deliquescent
antiseptic.
In the case of the smaller Agrionidz, I inject the
boro-glyceride, slightly weakened by the addition
of water, with a very fine hypodermic syringe into
the body exiremity, and, if necessary, run in the
usual bristle for strengthening purposes.
In concluding, I may mention that the colours of
the body of an schna cyanea, treated by my method
somewhat over two years ago, are at the present
time as bright as when the creature was alive.
I have also applied this method of colour pre-
servation to the delicately coloured Ephemeride,
or day-flies, with, in some instances, better results
than with the dragonflies, this probably being
due to the usual freedom of the abdominal cavity
from elements of corruption.
The method is, of course, equally applicable to
the preservation of such soft-bodied creatures as
lepidopterous larvze and spiders, being, however,
more useful for the latter.
Upon receiving two specimens of a species, to-
gether with stamps necessary for transmission, I
shall be pleased io return one of them, treated by
my method, in the order of arrival. The dragonily
season being now past, quite fresh specimens are,
of course, out of the question. - Those sent should,
however, be as nearly fresh as possible, in order to
obtain good results.
25, Lavisiock Place, Bloomsbury, W.C. ;
September 7th, 1895.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
A GARDEN
By Mrs. K.
ees a garden than a plantation, less a planta-
tion than a jungle, yet somethirg of all three,
and entirely delightful in each of its varied aspects.
The simple folk around call it a royal garden,
and although by royalty long since forsaken, it is
still truly royal in the old oriental sense—in the
barbaric profusion of disregarded wealth, in endless
possibilities undeveloped, in brilliance without
order, richness without taste. But what a garden
for the amateur botanist, fresh to the glories of the
tropics, and not yet recovered from the paralysing
effect of the Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya or
Buitenzorg, of Singapore or Hong Kong. This
simple garden has had but little art expended upon
it, and its treasures fairly represent the common
products of the lowlands of Siam, or such of those
treasures as can be induced to grow in the sun-
burnt, clayey soil of Bangkok. Fruit-trees, garden-
flowersand wild weeds grow here together amicably.
The period of neglect has as yet been too short for
the obliteration of the marks of ancient culture, but
a few years will doubtless change the face of things
completely. Before it entirely reverts to jungle let
me note down some of the treasures to be found
therein.
Here in serried ranks, with rope-like roots clasp-
ing the shelving sides of irrigating creeks, rise in
emulating loftiness of feathery heads the stately
areca palms, bearing on high the yellowing betel-
nut, beloved of the Far East. Between them and
around, in all directions grows that most pleasing
of palms, the graceful cocoanut, with its character-
istic curving trunk, thick waving plumes and heavy
green nuts. Close to the fan-leaved palmyra palm
grows a plant which looks like one huge fan of
perfect proportions, the misnamed traveller's
palm, which is truely no palm at all, but a Ravenaila,
closely akin to the banana-bearing Musa. The
banana’s great broad leaves wave over the path-
ways in every direction, young uncurling leaves of
vivid green, older leaves torn to ribbons by
autumnal storms, faded leaves, yellow and brown,
ready to fall with the next gale. The mango-tree
is a frequent favourite here, with its long, drooping,
finger-like leaves and its cones of tiny clustered
flowers, spreading a faint acidity in the air,
precursor of the luscious sweetness of the matured
fruit. Conspicuous aloft on the mango branches
the parasitical Loranthus bicolor is often to be seen,
its scarlet and green flowers glittering like gay
insects in the sunlight. Oranges of all sizes grow
here, from the smallest mandarin to the largest
pommelo, and the air is odorous all the brilliant
summer with the fragrant white blossoms of a
Py Sav:
GRINDROD.
small ornamental Citrus shrub, whose lemon-shaped
fruits grow no larger than hazel-nuts. Here, asa
study in vivid contrasts, are to be seen.side by side
the brilliant scarlet flowers of the pomegranate, the
modest russet-brown of the sapodilla plum, and the
waxen reds and whites of the deceptively
beautiful roseapple. Under the shadow of a lofty
Melia nestles that most pleasing of small tropical
trees, the South American papaw, introduced into
Siam centuries ago by the Portuguese traders.
Towering above all its neighbours, save the areca
palm, rises the giant tamarind, a great tree indeed,
but with the smallest and most delicate of leaflets,
autumnal showers of which make an incomparably
beautiful carpet of scarlet and green. Close to the
tamarind grows the small compact jackfruit-tree,
one of the most comely of trees, whose glossy entire
leaves readily mark it off from its cousin the bread-
fruit-tree. The deeply-cut leaves of the bread fruit-
tree are rarely seen so far west of Polynesia as
Bangkok, although some fairly luxuriant specimens
of the tree flourish at the gate of the British Legation.
So too the famous teak-tree of Northern Siam is
represented in Bangkok by a single moribund
specimen, which drags on a miserable existence
among the bales and packages on a certain wharf,
while the allied chaste-tree is a frequent ornament
to the roadside and in gardens. The olive
and guava, custard-apple and jujube, carambole
and other fruits innumerable, are frequent in this
royal garden and doubtless in the days of
yore, when it was indeed a royal demesne,
the famous durian and mangosteen grew here like-
wise. Now they have withdrawn to quieter
retreats, for fruits of so rare a lusciousness ripen
not in the midst of trade’s busy marts. The
gorgeous flowers of Poinciana regia, the ‘‘ flame-of-
the-forest,’”’ and the yet more beautiful blossoms
of Lagerstremia regia help to bear out the assertion
that the most brilliant flowers of the tropics are on
high trees. The banyan and the bo-tree, here as
elsewhere, tokens of former priestly care for these
historic trees, are, in their quieter garb, even more
pleasing than their brilliant neighbours, for the
pleasure is not that of sight alone but of associa-
tion. Both trees are ‘‘sacred”’ to all races which
owe their religion and their traditions to India.
But to Buddhists the bo-tree, the Ficus religiosa,
is pre-eminently a holy tree, for under its shade
Gautama attained Buddhahood long ago, and where-
ever his disciples make their home there his tree
is planted. In many a ruinous garden in Siam
‘the long-stalked, long-pointed bo-leaves, shivering
aspen-like in every breeze, whisper of the days
206 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
when the garden was once the haunt of the brethren
of the Yellow Robe, and irrepressible young saplings
with leaves of ruby and green spring up everywhere
to perpetuate the Master's memory. But turn to
this broad creek and behold in most glorious
profusion that other holy plant of Buddhism, the
sacred lotus, the Nelumbium speciosum of the botanist.
No one who has lived where the lotus blooms
can wonder for a moment at the praise that has
been lavished upon it. It is at all times beautiful,
whether in early May when the young incurled
leaves and flower-buds of perfect symmetry rise
slowly from their mud-nursery to rest on the surface
of the still water; or in later June when the creek
is aglow with rosy blossoms in all stages of growth ;
or even in early August when the last of the great
petals bestrew the surface of the creek, and the
golden stamens fall away, and the unique fruit-case
alone is left maturing, each little anise-scented
fruit attaining perfection inits own separate cubicle,
until the surrounding tissue decays and the fruitlets
drop to the bottom of the creek and rest there
until May comes round again.
Near by, in other creeks, grow the red and
white water-lilies, the smaller Nymphea lotus, whose
leaves and flowers have a beauty of their own, but
quite distinct from the charms of the lotus, as the
untravelled may readily see in the water-lily house
at Kew, where Nelumbium and Nymph@a grow side
by side. But the lotus and the water-lilies are not
the only creek-dwellers in our Siamese garden. If
some care were not exercised in clearing the great
creeks occasionally, lotus and lily would soon
disappear in the unequal struggle against stronger
forms of aquatic life. In the many neglected
smaller creeks, the weeds have it all their own
way, and what a wealth of native plant-life is
there! Blue Monochoria, white Sagittaria, yellow
Alisma, Utricularia, and a diminutive white
Nymphea, no bigger than the Ranunculus aquatilis
of our home streams,—these and crowds of Pistia
styatiotes, with smaller floating weeds, transform
every choked-up creek into a well of fascinating
mystery. As the years of neglect roll on and the
Menam’s tidal throb is more and more feebly felt
in these far-off forgotten creeks, the abundance
and variety of water-life increases. The struggle
becomes daily fiercer, and one wonders what the
end will be, whether Alisma or Pistia will triumph
finally over all meaner rivals.
(To be continued.)
NETTLE-TAPS FREQUENTING CROCUS-FLOWERS.
COME time ago the Rev. H. M. Mapleton, of
Badgworth, Somerset, mentioned in a letter
that a little moth was in the habit of frequenting in
numbers the autumn flowering species of crocus,
growing in his garden. I asked Mr. Mapleton to
forward to me specimens, which he kindly did on
October 5th. I find these little lepidoptera are
Symathis paviana, one of the Tortrices, and the
rarer or more local of what are more popularly
known as the two “nettle-taps.”” Mr. Mapleton
first wrote to Mr. C. A. Briggs as follows: ‘I
have long intended to ask if you know and have
the Crocus speciosus, and, if so, whether you have
observed how it is frequented by a little moth that
I have never observed on any other plant. Crocus
speciosus flowers in the autumn, and each year I see
these little moths frequenting it in numbers, They
take no notice of Crocus nudiflora, which is close by,
nor yet of C. sativus (the saffron), only a few yards
off, nor yet of Colchicum autumnale. ‘We have been
much interested in watching their visits to this
particular crocus, which each year they have
regularly visited without fail since I first observed
it.” Writing to me on October 5th, Mr. Mapleton
says: ‘‘I have procured three specimens of the
little moth I had observed frequenting the blossoms
of Crocus speciosus, and forward them to you. This
year I have seen reasons to change my opinion as
to their confining their visits to that particular
species of crocus,as I have seen a few occasional
visits to Crocus nudiflorus, and now and then to
Colchicum autumnale. They show a marked prefer-
ence for C. speciosus, for while there are many about
it, a fair-sized patch of C. nudiflora has only
occasionally attracted one or two, though the
plants of both species are barely a yard apart. I
have observed a few settle on flowers of a kind of
Michaelmas-daisy (Astor), which are generally
covered with flies and bees. Until this year I had
never observed these little creatures on any other
plant but C. spectosus, though I had looked for
them. This season the flowering of the crocus
was later than usual, but no sooner was a blossom
half open than it was visited by two or three of the
moths.” Iam not aware that any similar observa-
tion of this character has been recorded. It may
form a clue for those entomologists who have these
scarce moths in their neighbourhood to more
easily obtain specimens. The usual manner of
capturing them is with a net whilst flying over
nettles, but more frequently they may be taken at
rest upon the palings of a wooden fence, in the
neighbourhood of nettles. It thus occurs in
autumn, sparingly, upon the well-known fence on
the west side of Dartford Heath.
Joun T. CARRINGTON.
i
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SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
207
BE Penh waC@OlirzeClinG, IN THE CANARY ISLANDS:
By A. H. B&cHERVAISE.
LEAVE Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, the capital of
the Canary Islands, soon after daybreak on a
hot, stifling August morning, by the public omnibus
which crosses the island daily,—a fearful and won-
derful vehicle, drawn by six gaunt and wretched-
looking horses. We almost immediately commence
the winding ascent to Laguna. Slowly and
wearily the wretched horses proceed, being con-
tinually stimulated by the heavy and cruel-looking
whips wielded by the driver. He has three—a
short one for the wheelers, a longer one for general
purposes, and a very long one for the leaders.
With the latter he is very expert, and can drop
the lash on a sore spot as accurately as a fly-
fisherman could drop a dry fly over the nose of a
wary trout. It is a cruel and revolting sight,
and I am glad when we reach Laguna, nearly
2,000 feet above the sea, and where we find
ourselves in a cool and bracing atmosphere. We
change horses here, and, after a short rest, resume
the journey. At 10a.m.I alight at the village of
Tacoronte and prepare for operations. I have with
me a net of the ‘‘ umbrella’ pattern, a most useful
and convenient instrument which has done me good
service in many parts of the world. I buy a loaf of
bread (Tacoronte is famous for its bread, and justly
$0, as it is certainly excellent, being made of whole
meal and flavoured with small seeds resembling
carraway seeds), and a small bottle of wine, also
made on the spot and excellent inquality. Leaving
the village behind me, I commence to ascend a
narrow path with high bramble bushes on either
side. Here] am amongst the butterflies. Though
not numerous in species they swarm in numbers.
The hedges are all a-dance with blues, Lycena
betica being, perhaps, the most plentiful. I net a
few spécimens of this, also L. lysimon, a very minute
butterfly much resembling the Bedford blue,
L. astvarche var. estiva, L. webbiana, a lovely little
insect peculiar to the island, and until recently
supposed to be only found near the summit of
the peak ; now, however, it is found to occur much
lower down. I have taken it at less than 1,000 feet
above the sea. Polyommatus phieas is also fairly
abundant. These five, with the addition of Lycena
icavus, which I have found in the outlying island
of Lanzarote, are the only representatives of the
Lyceenide in the Canary Islands.
Of the three representatives of Satyride, two are
extremely abundant here. Epiphenele hispulla,
somewhat resembling the common meadow brown,
though larger and brighter in the colouring, and
Pararge xiphioides. The other, H ipparchia statilinus,
I'am not likely to see to-day, as it is extremely
local in its habits, and rarely found far away from
Vilaflor, on the south slope of the peak.
The sole Canarian representative of the
Hesperide, Pamphila actgon, is not uncommon,
and I consign several to papers.
The Pierinz are fairly well represented. The
commonest of all, as in England, is the small
garden white; bath whites are fairly numerous.
Colias edusa flashes about in all directions, with
here and there the dual female helice. Here, as in
most other places where I have observed edusa in
large numbers, the males largely outnumber the
females. I remember some time ago reading in
ScIENCE-GossIP some correspondence on this
subject. My experience is that this preponder-
ance occurs with many other species of butterflies,
though perhaps not so markedly as with edusa. I
particularly notice it to-day, with Pieris rape, P.
cheivanthi (a large ‘‘ white” said to be peculiar to
the Canary Islands), and more especially with that
most beautiful Canarian butterfly, Gonepteryx
cleobule, the males of which appear to outnumber
the females by at least five to one.
The heat is now great, and I am glad to reach
the Forest of Agua Garcia. It is worth the long
journey to see this place, one of the few spots on
the island where timber is still found. For over
400 years the process of denudation has steadily
proceeded in the Canaries, as everywhere else
where Spaniards or Portuguese have settled. They
have cut down trees ruthlessly, never thinking of
replacing them by others. Consequently forests
have disappeared, rainfall has decreased, and
former fertile and smiling lands have been reduced
to aridity, or, at the best, made cultivation only
possible to be carried out by means of artificial
irrigation. Destructive insects, if they do not in-
crease, at least do far greater injury to man, for as
the area of vegetation becomes restricted they must,
perforce, subsist on cultivated plants. Contrast
this ruinous policy with that of the early Dutch
settlers at the Cape, who enforced a law that for
every tree cut down, three should be planted. This
beneficent law has greatly helped to make the
South African Colonies what they are to-day,
However, I am thankful that even this small piece
of woodland has so far been spared. Beneath
the shade of the huge trees butterflies abound.
Gonepteryx cleobule, above mentioned, floats lazily
about, and when pitched actually allows itself to be
picked off the brambles by the fingers. I secure a
number in this way. The two species of Argynnis
fonnd in the Canaries are abundant enough, but
not so easily captured. A. pandora, a grand insect,
208 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
soars gracefully high up amongst the trees, occa-
sionally resting on a branch a yard or two out of
reach, but by dint of watching, and an occasional
clamber up a steep bank, I bring two or three to
bag. The beautiful little ‘‘Queen of Spain” is
fairly abundant, and I net a goodly number. I
have now nearly filled my card, and think it is
time to take a rest. My card, by the way, is part
of a system I employ when collecting large num-
bers of insects for exchange and other purposes.
I write out on a small card the names of the insects
likely to be met with, and the number of each
species required. I also prepare ready folded
papers in three or four sizes. As each insect is
caught and killed it is placed in the paper, the
necessary data written on the flap thereof, and a
pencil tick made against its name on the card. In
this manner I have frequently secured hundreds of
insects in a few hours, being able to see at any
moment the number bagged. This also avoids
unnecessary destruction of insect life. I think
with regret of the time and insects I have formerly
lost through the old system of collecting-box and
pins.
I seat myself beneath the shade of a huge cork-
tree and produce the bread and wine which I
consume in solitude. The scene is exceedingly
pretty. Away below me lies the scattered village
of Tacoronte, and far above the horizon I can
discern the distant mountain tops of the Island of
La Palma, whilst behind the noble peak rears
its summit 10,000 feet above me. The immediate
surroundings are full of interest. The wood is
alive with insects, all fulfilling their purpose in
the economy of nature. Although these islands
are not rich in lepidtopterous insects, the other
orders are very largely represented. Of orthop-
terous insects, locusts, crickets and grasshoppers
fill the air with their music, and I have noticed
to-day three distinct species of Mantidz. Neurop-
tera supplies dragon-flies innumerable, some of
large size and startling beauty. Hymenopterous
and dipterous insects are specially plentiful, and
would doubtless yield many new species to an
assiduous observer. Fossores and ichneumons of
many species abound. Strange to say, although
I search for them I see very few beetles, although
they are by no means scarce in these islands. That
indefatigable and painstaking coleopterist, Woolas-
ton, as long ago as 1864, observed 930 species in the
Canary Islands, a large proportion being endemic.
To the botanist also there is much of interest in
this wood. Allaround me are the huge balls of the
Laurus persea, some at least twenty feet in circum-
ference. Enormous tree heaths, locally known as
‘‘ breso,”’ which are here largely burnt for making
charcoal; laurels growing to a great size, and many
other trees whose names I do not know. Ferns
are here in abundance, amongst them the “ Kil-
larney ” fern, and others prized by fern hunters. I
revel in this scene of quiet and peaceful beauty,
and listlessly watch the numerous birds around.
Above me, high up, three falcons are soaring in the
air, recalling to my memory the graceful flight of
the huge condor of the Andes. Small flocks of
wild canaries flash to and fro. These birds in a
wild state are something like the common linnet in
colour, but in captivity the plumage gradually
becomes yellow. Some acclimatization experiments
are at present being carried out in Germany. A
year ago, amongst other birds set free in the Black
Forest were some yellow canaries: these, in a few
months, lost the yellow colouring and became
brown. Would not this indicate that the yellow-
ness is produced by the food supplied in captivity ?
To return to the butterflies. Over my head soars
slowly a magnificent specimen of Danais plexippus,
but as this butterfly is not on my card, I content
myself with watching its graceful flight. It is a
curious fact that that almost ubiquitous mimicker
of the Danaidz, Diadema misippus, has not followed
them to the Canary Islands.
After a delightful rest, I prepare to retrace my
steps to Tacoronte. On the way down I see
Pyrameis atalanta, and its ally, P. callirrhoe, a splendid
insect and usually very plentiful here. I reach
Tacoronte at 4 p.m., and am most hospitably
entertained at afternoon tea by an English family
temporarily resident there. The public coach
being then nearly due to pass here, I bid my hosts
adieu and start on the road, walking slowly on and
on, but the coach appeareth not. I cover nine
miles and the night is dark before it overtakes me.
It already contains seventeen people, although only
constructed to hold ten. They, however, good-
naturedly made standing room for me, and after a
drive of two hours I reach Santa Cruz at Io p.m.,
after a rather tiring but pleasant and interesting
day. A day alone with Nature.
The following butterflies occur in the Canary
Islands, there being represented four families, four
sub-families, thirteen genera, and twenty-eight
Species :
Family Nymphalide, sub-family Danaine:
Danais fplexippus, D. chrysippus, D. alcippus, D.
alcippoides. Sub-family Satyrinze: Pavarge Xiphi-
oides, Epiphenele hispulla, Hipparchia statilinus. Sub-
family Nymphalinz: Pyrameis callirrhoe, P. atalanta,
P. cavdui, P. huntera, Argynnis pandora, A. latonia.
Family Lycenide: Lycena betica, L. lystmon,
L. alexis, L. webbiana, L. astvarche, var. estiva,
Polyommatus phieas.
Family Papilionide, sub-family Pierinz: Pieris
cheivanthi, P. woolastonti, P. rape, P. daplidice, Colias
edusa and var. helice, Gonepteryx cleobule, Euchloe
charlonia.
Family Hesperidee: Pamphila act@on.
Mrs. A. E. Holt White, in a monograph on the
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
‘‘ Butterflies and Moths of Teneriffe,’ also includes
Apovia crategi, Thecla rubi and Danais dorvippus,
var. klugii, but the occurrence of, at any rate, the
former two, is, I think, extremely problematical.
On looking at the above list, one is at once struck
by the fact that in these sub-tropical islands, lying
near the African coast, the butterflies are almost
entirely of North European type. If we except
Euchioe chavlonia, a desert species, which is reported
to have been found in the eastern islands, and
probably wind-borne from the Sahara, no typical
African species occur. Not taking into considera-
tion the endemic species, Lycena webbiana, there are
seventeen species which are found in North Europe,
and five which have their prototypes there, Pieris
cheivanthi, Epiphenzle hispulla, Pavarge xiphiotdes,
Gonepteryx cleobule, and Lycena estiva Indeed, it
might be considered by some that these are only
modifications of the species, due to climatic effect.
Follow, for instance, the type of Gonepteryx vhamnt.
In North Europe the orange spot on the forewing
of the male is quite small, increasing in size as it is
found further south, until in Madeira (in G. cleo-
patra) it covers more than half the front wing,
whilst still further south, in the Canary Islands,
the entire front wing is diffused with it. In tro-
pical Africa it is replaced by Callidryas florella.
The butterflies of the Canary Islands appear,
then, to have a direct relationship with those of
North Europe, and not those of West Africa, as
might be expected. It is a pity that more is not
known of the butterflies of Morocco, the examina-
tion of which might throw some light on this
interesting subject.
Sir James Hooker and Mr. Ball, in their excel-
lent work on Morocco, ‘‘ Morocco and the Great
Atlas,’’ appear to have left unnoticed nothing but
the insects of that country.
Santa Cruz, Teneriffe ; September, 1895.
VARTABIETEY OF ELDER
BPEOWERS:
By C. E. BRETTON.
inflorescence of the common elder is
carefully and closely examined, it will be
noticed that some of the flowers differ from the
structure of the typical elder-flower. There is a
tendency to lessen the number of members com-
posing each floral whorl, so that in place of
pentamerous flowers, we notice flowers with the
parts arranged in fours. An accepted theory,
accounting for the occurrence of the tetramerous
flowers, ascribes their origin to insufficient supplies
of nutrient matters. Two inflorescences, taken
from different trees growing close together, were
F an
carefully examined by the aid of a lens, and the -
number of flowers differing from the type, and the
Particulars in which they differed, were noted.
209
Previous to this, it, was found by counting the
number of flowers of several corymbs, that a low
average number of flowers in an inflorescence was
400. The first inflorescence, A, taken from one tree,
showed thirty-six flowers deviating from the type.
These were distributed as follows: Sixteen of the
thirty-six showed a reduction of one in the number
of members constituting the three outer whorls of
the flower, the pistil being unaffected. If we put
down the formula of the typical flower as S5 P5
St5 C3=sepals 5, petals 5, stamens 5, carpels 3, we
may contrast with this the formula of the sixteen
non-typical flowers, S4 P4 Stq C3. Five flowers
showed that a reduction by one member had
affected all the whorls. The formula of these
flowers would be S4 P4 St4 C2. Another series of
five flowers showed that the reduction had affected
the innermost whorl, the carpels only. We may
denote the structure of these flowers by S5 P5 St5
C2. So far we have accounted for 26 non-typical
flowers. Of the remaining ten, three showed a
decrease in the number of members of the floral
whorls, whilst seven showed an increase. Taking
those showing a reduction first, we have flowers
with the structure—(1) S4 P5 St4 C3, (2) S5 P4
St4 C3, (3) S5 P5 St4 C3. Two of the seven
showing an increase in number of members of the
whorls, had the structure expressed by the formula
S5 Ps5 St5 C4. Two more, instead of having the
carpels increased in number, had the other mem-
bers increased, the formula being S6 P6 St6 C3.
The following expressions denote the structure of
the remaining flowers—S5 P6 St6 C3, S6 P6
St6 C4, S7 P8 St8 C7. The last formula is rather
curious, and the abnormal flower may have been
due to two growing-points of flowers arising in the
place of one, or to the union of two originally
distinct growing-points.
In the second inflorescence, B, taken from the
other tree, more than one-fourth of the entire
number of flowers were non-typical. To be precise,
the exact number was 108. Whereas in the first
inflorescence, A, the chief form of non-typical
flower had the structure S4 P4 St4 C3, in B this
type was represented only by seven flowers, as
contrasted with seventeen in A. Again, in B the
prevailing form of non-typical, amounting to sixty-
seven of the total 108, was S5 P5 St5 C2. In A only
five flowers were constructed on this plan. Also in 4
five flowers had the formula Sq P4 St4 C2; inB
twenty-eight flowers were of this type. One of the
remaining six flowers showed a great increase in
the number of its parts, and was probably due to
the same causes that produced the similar flower
in A. This and the other flowers had the structure
set forth in the following formule: S8 P8 Stg C8,
S6 P6 St6 C3 (two flowers), S6 P6 St6 C2,
$5 P6 St6 C2, S5 P5 Stq4 C2.
189, Beresford Street, Camberwell, S.E.; Sept.. 1895.
210
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
JOHN ELLOR TAYLOR.
‘OHN ELLOR TAYLOR, Pb.D., PA.S.,
_ F.G-.S., so well known to our readers as Editor
of Science-Gossip for many years, died at
Ipswich on September 28th, 1895. He was born
at Levenshulme, near Manchester, about sixty
years ago, but he appeared to be in some doubt
ofhisactualage. His father was foreman in acotton
factory, and is long dead, but his mother still lives,
and is upwards of
ninety yearsold. In
his youth Taylor was
of an exceedingly
religious frame of
mind, being a strong
Methodist. Hischief
reading was old ser-
mons of Wesleyan |
divines. It is said
he came across Hugh
Miller’s ‘‘ Testimony
ofthe Rocks,” which
brought about the
necessity for choice
between . theology
and science. His
after life showed his
decision. Dr. Tay-
lor’s first start in life
was in theengineer’s Ny
shop of the London .
and North-Western
Railway, at Crewe.
His evenings and in-
tervals from work
were devoted to self-
education, which ap-
pears to have been
all he possessed. He
had, however, a re-
markable faculty for
using such know-
ledge as he obtained.
On: leaving Crewe, Dr. Taylor moved to Man-
chester, and there contributed articles to some
newspapers, which were subsequently repub-
lished, forming his first book. About 1862, he
became sub-editor of the ‘“ Norwich Mercury,”
under Richard Noverra Bacon, who, on establish-
ing ‘‘ The People’s Weekly Journal” of that city,
appointed Taylor editor. While at_ Norwich,
during an epidemic of small-pox, he volunteered
to visit the stricken people and describe their
condition in the newspaper; in doing so he
contracted the disease, which left its mark upon
him.
Tue Late Epitor oF Science-Gossip,
In 1872 Dr. Taylor succeeded Mr. Knights as
curator of the Ipswich Museum, to which the
Corporation added a lectureship. The Museum
lectures continued until within recent years. It
was from this beginning that he started his Science
Lectures, which he has conducted with some
success. Under his care the Ipswich Museum
grew, according to the fashion of museum manage-
ment of those days;
but for various rea-
sons Dr. Taylor did
not adapt himself
and his museum to
the highly scientific
arrangements in
similar institutions
at the present day.
Dr. Taylor was a
prolific writer, and
issued quite a num-
ber of popular books.
In 1885, Dr. Tay-
lor journeyed on a
lecturing tour of nine
months to Australia.”
For some years past
he has ~advocated
search for coal in
East Anglia, being
strongly imbued with
the idea of its exist-
ence in this region.
But although he has
found disciples in
this belief who have
furnished the means
for borings, coal has
not as yet been found
of commercial value.
Dr. Taylor’s chief
faculty was the
: popularizing of
scientific knowledge, and there is little doubt
that his lectures and publications have formed the
starting point for many persons who have devoted
themselves to the study of one of the natural
sciences. His chief interests have been in geology
and botany. On the retirement of Dr. M. C.
Cooke, as Editor of ‘‘ Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip,”’
J. E. Taylor received the appointment, which he
retained until August, 1893.
A man who quickly made friends, Dr. J. E.
Taylor was, in manner, open, frank and genial,
full of fun-and narrative, being a good teller of
anecdote. 5
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
HAIR-WORMS AND THEIR HOSTS.
By Harry Moore.
AS Betchworth, Surrey, just where the road
crosses the River Mole, I picked up a speci-
men of Ptevotichus madidus, Fab., from which,
upon being placed in the cyanide bottle, a Gordius
aquaticus, L., endeavoured to escape. About three
inches of it extrude, and, judging by its girth, an
equal or greater length remains inside, yet the
abdomen of the beetle is but nine millimeters
in length.
Nearly every observer of the slightest experience
has some acquaintance with hair-worms, even if it
is only a hazy recollection of the horse-hair legend
of his school days. Numerous notes are scattered
through the early volumes of ScIENCE-GossiP and
a further one upon the variety of the hosts Gordius
infests may not be unacceptable. The family
Nematoidz to which the Gordiacee belong, contains
many species of more than ordinary interest, first
on account of their curious cycle of development,
and then their value in the economy of nature,
for not only are they in a measure beneficial in
checking over production in certain insects, but
more or less dangerous when introduced into the
human system. Their life history may be briefly
described as follows: the eggs are laid in long
strings; upon hatching, the young larva bores
through the membrane, and for a short period lives
a free aquatic life. It then becomes parasitic upon
various fly larvee, etc.; these hosts in their turn are
devoured by other creatures, and the worms become
incepted in their intestines, where they remain
some months, finally making their way into the
intestinal cavity and escaping fer ano in due course.
It is rather singular, however, that, whereas
hair-worms are most commonly found infesting
beetles in England, they prefer the orthoptera
(grasshoppers and allied insects) in America. In
both countries spiders have been noted as hosts,
in America the human being, and an instance has
come under my own notice, where there was strong
presumptive evidence the worm had been voided
by a sparrow. Various writers cite fishes and
frogs, and several mention caterpillars, but the
parasites observed in lepidopterous larvee probably
belonged to the allied genus Mermis. In America,
Mermis acuminata, Leidy, has been observed in the
larve of the codlin-moth (Carpocapsa pomonella, L.)
and a similar parasite has been seen in larve by
several of our London workers.
In enumerating the hosts of Gordius aquaticus,
the common European hair-worm, several diffi-
culties arise, for whereas, as I have already
mentioned, carnivorous beetles are chiefly infested
this side of the Atlantic, the observers do not
always seem to have determined their species.
Several references of this sort will be found in
SCIENCE-GossiP (vol. i., page 198, vol. xii., page
71, vol. xv., page 281, etc.). If any of our present
readers can furnish something more definite, we
shall be able to get along with our list. I have
come across no mention of coleoptera being
infested in America, in any note to which I have
access ; but the following are some of the authen-
ticated instances among the orthoptera. G.
aquaticus has been found in the cricket (Gryllus
neglectus), and in Acheta abbreviatus, Serville—the
short-winged field-cricket found in woods beneath
logs and stones; Gordius robustus, Leidy, infests
Stenopelmata fasciata, Thomas, one of the stone or
camel crickets usually found beneath stones and
along the margins of woodland streams and logs,
and in damp woods (Blatchley), and Orchelimum
gvacile, a grasshopper confined to low moist
meadows; A. Gordius (species ?), eight and a half
inches long, has been taken from a pupa of Xiphidium
ensiferum, Scudder, whose perfect body measures
but half an inch in length. The life history of
this orthopteron is of exceptional interest, the ova
being deposited from several up to one hundred
and seventy ‘in the turnip-shaped galls, produced
by a small fly belonging to the Cecidomyidez on
certain species of willow (Salix cordata, etc.).”
I have now but to mention Caloptenus spretus,
Thomas, the Rocky Mountain locust, which is
infested with G. aquaticus, Linn., and G. varius,
Leidy, although repeated dissections by various
American observers (Riley, Whitman, etc.), have
shown that not more than a small percentage of the
locusts are infested, yet when we consider the loss
incurred annually in the United States from locusts
alone is estimated at £8,000,000, anything which
tends to mitigate the plague becomes of importance.
The question—-how are we to account for the
presence of these aquatic parasites inside terrestrial
insects >—upon consideration, is not of easy solution.
Of course they are introduced with their food while
in a minute immature state, but whether as ova or
larve I think there is room for discussion. It will
be noticed all the insects mentioned are associated
with damp places that are more or less subjected
to floods; but I do not think that sufficient reason
for believing they have all fed upon the various
aquatic fly larvee in which the hair-worm larve are
said to pass their first period of larval life, though
in the case of grasshoppers, Packard thinks they
swallow them as larva. I am inclined to believe
there are several points in the life history of these
parasites yet to be cleared up; perhaps some of
our microscopists can elucidate them.
12, Lower Road, Rotherhithe, S.E.; Sept., 1895.
212 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
SPAWNING OF COMMON SOLE.
R. GERARD W. BUTLER, B.A., con-
tributes to the ‘Journal of the Marine
Biological Association of the United Kingdom,”
issued in September last, some valuable notes upon
the spawning of Solea vulgaris, in the Association’s
Aquarium at Plymouth, during April and May of
this year. So far as is recorded, this is the first
occasion on which these fish have been known to
spawn in captivity. Mr. Butler obtained un-
fertilized eggs on April 3rd and 7th, and on
the 12th fertilized eggs were found for the first
time. Again on April zoth and 2ist, only un-
fertilized ova were taken. From that time forward
during the rest of his stay at the laboratory, fer-
tilized eggs appeared, sometimes on two con-
secutive days, at other times with intervals of from
one to two days, sterile eggs being the exception.
The time of day at which spawning occurred seemed
to get earlier with the increased temperature of the
weather. During the last week in April, the eggs
were in the first segmentation stage between 6 and
7 p.m., subsequent observations pointing to their
having been spawned about 4 p.m.; later on the
egg-laying began about noon. Examination of the
ovaries of one of the females, which was sacrificed
for histological study, proved that the spawning
period extends over three months or so. In this
specimen the ova were of all sizes, the largest and
most transparent are presumably those nearly
ripe, being distributed singly among those less ripe,
and they did not seem to be confined especially to
one region of the ovary.
During the act of spawning the soles lay about
the bottom of the tank apparently indiscriminately,
and there was nothing to indicate anything in the
nature of pairing. Each fish leisurely moved
from one point to another, and appeared preoccupied
only with its own share in the operation. In
spawning, the sole lay on the sand, and raising its
head brought it down again with force, the action
agitating the whole length of the fish. The eggs
appear to be shed one at a time, the vibrating
movements being apparently to waft the egg
clear of the fish. On three occasions when Mr.
Butler attempted to obtain ova from the living |”
fish failure was the result, but as these fish appear
to deposit only a small number of eggs each
day, it may have happened that he had not
selected the right moment for their extrusion.
Captured eggs spawned in a tank on April 28th,
hatched out in numbers on the seventh day, but
eggs spawned a week later and thence onwards
hatched on the fifth day, one degree of temperature
higher being recorded in the water. The period of
development of the young animal in the ovum is
evidently largely controlled by temperature, being
hastened by warmth.
A PORTABLE FIELD{GLASS:
Ay ee have received from Messrs. R. and J. Beck,
Limited, of 68, Cornhill, London, a most
ingenious pair of opera-glasses, which fold up into a
space that will occupy no more than a lady’s card
case. They are, in fact, called by Messrs. Beck
“The Card-Case Opera-Glass.”
THE GLASS WHEN OPEN FOR USE.
To naturalists they will be invaluable on account
of their portability and lightness; when folded they
are only three-tenths of an inch in thickness. The
difficulty of the ordinary field-glass is its size and
weight. The glass before us, however, weighs only
THE GLASS WHEN FOLDED.
three and a half ounces, this being due to the
absence of tubes in conjunction with the lenses.
We have tried these glasses and find they will be
equally useful for field work, the museum, and for
the theatre or picture gallery.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
NATURAL HISTORY
EXHIBITION.
HE annual exhibition of the South London
Entomological and Natural History Society
was held on October 17th, at St. Martin's Town
Hall, Charing Cross, London, and was much
appreciated by the very numerous company which
came to see the many beautiful specimens which
had been so tastefully arranged, and completely
filled that large hall. The society’s rooms are at
Hibernia Chambers, London Bridge, where a large
library and typical collections are kept for members’
reference, as well as a lantern for demonstration pur-
poses. At present, the number of members is about
200, and the annual subscription is only 7s. éd.
The secretary is Mr. Stanley Edwards, F.L.S.,
Kidbrooke Lodge, Blackheath, S.E.
In the British section of the exhibition, the
President, T. W. Hall, Esq., F.E.S., exhibited a
large and valuable collection of butterflies and
moths—including a long series of Chrysophanus
dispar, now extinct, a series of the rare Lycena arion,
a fine series of the now extinct fen moth Noctua
subyosea, a fine set of Eupitheciz, and the life
history of Sesia sphegiformis. Mr. R. South, F.E.S.,
life histories of a number of lepidoptera. Mr.
Hamm, a large number of rare varieties taken
round Reading, including a diaphanous Melitea
auvinia, a very dark Lithosia lurideola, a grand series
of Xanthia auvago, many specimens of both Psyche
opacella, and Fumea intermediella with cases at
different stages of growth. Mr. Jager, his extremely
perfect series of the lovely Callimorpha hera, with
its var. Jutescens, and the intermediate terracotta-
coloured form; and also his beautiful series of
Spilosoma lubricepeda, with vars. vadiata and fasciata
and intermediate forms. Mr. H. W. Barker,
F.E.S., a fine series of Arctias, and a drawer of
several species of Lycenide, showing many
beautiful variations. Mr. A. Mitchell, a case
containing distinct and striking varieties of four-
teen species, including an entirely fulvous Epinephele
janira, a suffused var. of Vanessa urtice, a melanic
specimen of Papilio machaon, a banded Polyommatus
phleas and a coalesced form of Zygena lonicere.
Mr. C. H. Williams, a beautiful banded form of
Cheimatobia boveata, a melanic form of Oporabia
dilutata, and a specimen of the same species with
- yellow ground colour. Mr. J. H. Carpenter, his
collection of Avgynnis, Melitega and Vanessa, includ-
ing pale-spotted forms of Argynnis paphia, and a
male of the valezina form. Mr. Hy. Tunaley,
F.E.S., a case showing the protective resemblance
of Lobophora vivetata to its resting places on holly-
stems and leaves. Mr. Hy. J. Turner, F.E.S.,
some seventy-four species of lepidoptera taken in his
garden, near Nunhead station, in the suburbs of
London. Mr. MacArthur, some fine specimens of
Rhopalocera. Mr. H. A. Auld, his bred series of
Callimorpha hera, a fine series of Nola albulalis, and
a white var. of Lomasfilis marginata. Mr. J. A.
’ Clark, F.E.S., a series of the extinct Lelia cznosa,
a Bombyx rvubi without the transverse line, a black
with white band form of Abraxas grossulariata, a
striking var. of Opovabia dilutata, having a very
dark band on a very light ground, a uniformly
black var. of Larentia cesiata, nearly white
specimens of Lomaspilis marginata, and a new
instrument invented by himself, consisting of a
lens on an adjustable arm and stand, to aid in the
setting of minute insects. Mr. C. G. Barrett,
F.E.S., his long and varied series of Zygenide,
Nolidz, Psychide, Amphydasidz, Boamiide and
213
Xanthias, among which were specially to be noted
his complete series of A. betulavia and var. double-
dayaria, with intermediate forms; series of all the
rare and curious species of Psyche, his black
Tephrosia biundulavia, and a fine series of the rare
Nola albulalis. Dr. Merrifield, a number of species
which had undergone changes brought about by
artificially increasing or decreasing the tempera-
ture during the pupal stage. Mr. R. Adkin, F.E.S.,
a fine set of specimens taken in the island of Hoy,
Orkney, during 1895, his almost complete collection
of Sesiidz, arranged to show their peculiar method
of pupation, and his series of the genus Tviphena,
including a series of T. comes, containing many fine
and unique varieties, especially from North Britain.
Mr. J. W. Tutt, F.E.S., a number of drawers of
species from his well-known collection. Mr. Chit-
tenden, some very fine varieties of the Noctue.
Mr. Percy Bright, F.E.S., a beautiful series of
Hepialus humuli from North Britain, containing
many remarkable varieties, together with other rare
species of lepidoptera and forms.
In foreign lepidoptera there were numerous and
splendid exhibits. Mr. A. H. Jones, F.E.S., showed
some very fine bred series of Rhopalocera from
South Europe, including Thais cevisyi, with a very
dark female T. polyxena, and its var. cassandra,
T. vumina and its var. medesicaste, series of Euchloe
belia and its var. ausonia, series of E. tagis and its
var. bellezina, and a very fine series of Leucophasia
duponcheli, with its summer form, var. @stiva, all in
the very finest condition. Mr. McArthur, a case
of East Indian Papilios. Mr. Henry J. Turner,
F.E.S., African Papilios and Danaine. Mr. J. H.
Leech, F.L.S., a large and fine collection of Rho-
palocera, especially the Argynnidz, from all parts
of the palzarctic region. Mr. W. A. Pearce,
about 150 species of Sphinges, Bombyces, Noctuz
and Geometers, captured by himself in Pennsyl-
vania and Colorado. Mr. W. Mansbridge, many
fine Rhopalocera, from the United States, the
seasonal forms of Colias eurytheme, Papilios and
the protective resemblance of Anela andria to a
dead leaf being especial features. Mr. A. Hall,
grand cases of palaarctic and nearctic Argynnide,
South American Catagramminze and oriental
Nymphalide. Mr. Stanley Edwards, F.L.S., his
very large and valuable collection of Ornithopteras
and Papilios from all parts of the world.
Among the Coleoptera shown, Mr. W. West
(Greenwich) sent almost complete series of
Cicendelide, Carabidz, and Dytiscide, as well as
very fine specimens of all the genera Chrysomela
and Aphodius. Mr. B. G. Rye, F.E.S., cases
containing representatives of the families and
genera of British Coleoptera. Mr. Oliver Janson,
F.E.S.,a case each of the largest species of coleop-
tera and lepidoptera from various parts of the world.
Mr. T. R. Billups, F.E.S., exhibited his inimi-
table collection of ants, bees and wasps, a fine set
of British Hemiptera, and a large number of
life histories of parasitical Diptera and Hymen-
optera, with their lepidopterous hosts. Mr. A.
Beaumont, a case of rare Diptera. Mr. John
T. Carrington, a number of Canadian plants
gathered in 1894, near Lake Manitoba, having insect
gallsuponthem. Mr. Auld showed a hornet’s nest.
Mr. Stanley Edwards lent his series of diagrams
showing the life history of typical species represent-
ing the various sections of Insecta and Crustacea.
Among the Orthoptera, Mr. C. A. Briggs, F.E.S.,
exhibited a beautiful and nearly complete collection
of the British species, and living specimens of the
recently naturalised cockroach, Periplaneta americana.
214
Mr. W. J. Lucas, specimens of dragonflies including
LE schna juncea and ZE. cyanea taken in copula at
Bournemouth. Mr. Ashdown, also local species
and varieties of Odonata, including Gomphus vulga-
tissimus and an intermediate var. Calopteryx virgo.
In general zoology, Mr. Oldham exhibited the
skin of a cliff fox from Folkestone Warren. Mr.
M. H. Winkley, a reptilian happy family, including
living specimens of tortoise, chameleon, lizard, and
ringed snake and young. Mr. T. W. Hall, F.ES.,
a series of fine antelopehorns. Mr. E. Step, living
specimens of sea-anemones. Mr. Sauzé, a collection
of beautiful foreign shells, among which were cones,
murices, Cyprea, etc. Mr. Dedman, a number of
species of British land shells, including rare
varieties of Helix hortensis. Mr. R. A. Adkin,
British land and freshwater shells. Mr. Gude,
splendid shells from the Philippines. Mr. John T.
Carrington, a collection of some thousands of
British banded Helices especially arranged as a
study in variation, in two large and admirable
show cabinets designed by himself, to be placed on
a wall, also a number of South European shells
and a small collection of freshwater shells from
Lake Manitoba, all collected by himself.
Mr. Perks, a series of living water-snails with
explanatory sketches. Mr. Manger, several cases
of British and foreign Crustacea.
In the Ornithological section, Mr. C. A. Briggs
exhibited eggs of the crested lark and the golden
eagle, and a case of the little auk. Mr. H. Mead-
Briggs, a pseudo-albino variety of the sparrow, and
a well-arranged case of stoats and squirrels from
Kent, set up by himself. Mr. McArthur, a beautiful
white variety of pheasant and a case of grouse.
Mr. Beaumont, a fine albino of the whitethroat.
Mr. C. H. Watson, a living albino ring-dove. Mr. J.
A. Cooper, a fine case of ferns and a very magnificent
collection of British birds’-eggs, those of thesea-birds
being notably varied and beautiful. Messrs. B. W.
Adkin and Henderson also showed stuffed birds.
Botanical specimens were shown by Miss M.
Adkin and Miss F. Winstone; the former some
British plants, and the latter a very large number
of admirably mounted specimens collected by
herself in Manitoba and other parts of North-
west Canada during the autumn of 1894. The
fungi exhibit was a great feature, several of the
members, under the guidance of Messrs. Briggs
and Edwards, had, the previous day, taken some
forty or fifty species at Oxshott, and Dr, M.
C. Cooke was present at the exhibition to make
remarks on the exhibit, and also gave an address
in the lecture-hall adjoining on these curious plants.
Microscopes were lent and shown by Messrs,
We Wiest; JE West, PF. E. Filer, )]. Wisiardy,
H. Cooper, A. W. Dennis, W. Turner, C. West,
W. Burton, T. W. Brown, and Mrs. Brown, and
a number of beautiful living and other objects were
exhibited and much appreciated. Mr. Henson, of
Regent Street, had a beautiful display of minerals,
including a set of models of the famous diamonds
of the world and a number of rough and carved
opals. Messrs. Cooke and Sons, entomological
apparatus and zoological specimens.
Mr. R. Adkin showed entomological books to illus-
trate therise of that form of literature, and Mr. A. E.
Pearce, a large portfolio of beautiful drawings in
water-colours, being studies of plants by himself.
Mr. Enoch twice gave, in the annexe to the large
hall, his attractive lectures, aided by the lantern,
on ‘‘ Insect Architects,” and the musical arrange-
ments were carried out by Mr. W. Latter, R.A.M.,
and a few friends.—H. J. Turner, Hon.Reporting Sec.
SCIENCE-GOSSIP.
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