Teenpecon ales Art cute ts ibe : ie ar Rraticetb pat i Retanitienh i tH ath His :} ed i it a i aietetss Sr: x EE: ot tt eaoteteters: ae ae ee exist ite to EBAY TOG VTDEY a na Times \ Ri re is i y ne i Hi, Hh ati Heine re iN Witt in Hi iH ; CaN Ht EEA GH eaty a Yi Raat} ee } .. 3 y ; 2 Hf hey, it's 4 Af itaty: a aa Praia Wadd CANES Says Paints ee Pc 5 Hh f } AIA : J ; Mitt { st : is thatthe ,F ‘ FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ‘ at ' pee NCE -GOSSIP AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY RECORD OF MolURE AND COUNTRY-LORE AND APPEIED, SELENECE EDITED BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON VOL. IV—NEW SERIES LONDON: SIMPKIN MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED THE NASSAU PRESS BERLIN: R. Frieprinper & Sonn, CARLSTRASSE II "‘IN ORDER THAT KNOWLEDGE MAY BE ACQUIRED, IT IS BEFORE ALL THINGS NECESSARY TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE UNDERSTANDING AND THE IMAGINATION.” —B. de Spinoza, in Correspondence, 1666, “ERROR CONSISTS MAINLY IN WHAT THE POET CALLS ‘THE FALSEHOOD OF EXTREMES ’—THAT IN ALLOWING ONE OPINION SO TO ABSORB US AS TO TAKE NO ACCOUNT OF ITS OPPOSITE."’ ° —Samuel Laing, in ‘‘ Modern Science and Modern Thought.” \s, 15 - G4 5o~r q Our ANnNuAL GREETING. V E have again to pen an Annual Greeting to our Readers on the conclusion of another year’s work. The thanks of the Editor and Publishers are due to the numerous Contri- butors to the pages of SciENcE-Gossip, which in this volume contain so much of value. Thanks are especially tendered to the following gentlemen for the instructive and interesting articles appearing in the present volume from their pens: A. E. Boycott, G. W. Bulman, R. Godfrey, F. J. Gray, G. K. Gude and J. Smith. A special tribute of thanks is also due to J. H. Cooke, F. C. Dennett E. A. Martin, and the Rev. E. A. Woodruffe- Peacock, who have so generously conducted for the Magazine the respective departments of Microscopy, Astronomy, Geology and Botany; also to Miss Flora Winstone, for interesting contri- butions under the head of ‘Science Abroad,” and for much general assistance afforded the Editor. In the new Volume our aim will be to make the pages of Science-Gossip still brighter and more entertaining, whilst fully maintaining the instructive and authoritative character of its articles. We therefore hope to receive not only the continued valuable support now given to the Magazine, but extended help, both as to literary contributions and increased subscriptions, so necessary for the improvement of our Journal. May, 1808. CONTENTS. VOLUME IV.—NEW SERIES. Abbott, G., 272 Barber, H. J., 71, 85 Barbour, J. H., 108, 228 Barham. G., 43, 107 Barnes, Edward, 358 Bastin, A. H., 77 Bechervaise, A. H., 95 Bell, F. W., 124 Bladen, W. Wells, 25 Bowell, E. W. W., 6 Boycott, A. E., 132, 161, 194, 226, 255, 290, 322, 343 Briggs, C. A., 272 Brine, H. C., 299 Britton, C. E., 59, 122, 129 Bromley, H., 211 Brown, G. F., 150 Bullen, Rey. R. A., 113, 150, 317 Bulman, G. W., 281, 309 Burr, M., 123, 136, 188 Carrington, J. T., 19, 20, 25, 40, 46, 53, 59, 63, 82, 85, 91, 97, 98, 114, 115, 123, 127, 142, 144, 164, 171, 173, 198, 205, 210, 211, 233, 243, 254, 265, 272, 283, 294, 296, 299, 320, 329, 330 Clarke, A., 124 Climenson, Emily J., 18, 104, 299 Cockerell, T. D. A., 25, 45, 229 Cooke, J. H., 57, 86, 113, 120, 148, 178, 181, 208, 222, 236, 295, 269, 332 Cooper, J. E., 85, 124, 223 Dennett, F. C., 23, 49, 51, 83, 119, 147, 177; 207, 239, 267, 297, 331, 339 Dickson-Bryson, R., 130, 341 Doncaster, L., 29 Duncan, F. M., 167 Edwards, A. M., 253 Edwards, T., 272, 300 Eyre, W. L. W., 151 Flower, Sir W. H., 66 Flower, S. S., 66 Acneus, Antennae of, 87 Adrianes, Antennae of, 87 Agriolimax laevis, Teeth of, 9 Amblyophis viridis, 346 Antenne of Coleoptera, Some, 87 es of Insects, Some, 86 5) of Male Phengodes, 88 Arrenurus buccinator, 187 + 5 female, 187 rs festivus, 187 of) zachariae, 187 Audubon, J. J. L., 327 Balsam, Royle’s, 319 Bartlett, A. D., r Blackbird, A Tame, 47 Bolboerus, Antennae of, 87 Bulimus decollatus, 17 Calcarina candidissin:a, Teeth of, 9 Caltha palustris, 11 CONTRIBUTORS. Garlick, C., 318 George, C. F., 187 Godfrey, R., 204, 224, 261, 286, 315, 325, 349 Gray, F. J., 199, 219, 259 Greening, L., 123 5 Gude, G. K., 10, 36, 70, 102, 138,:170, 231, 263, 284 Hamilton, W. P., 58, 203 Henley, A., 2 Hole, H. A., 151 Horsley, Rev. J. W., 254, 272 Jones, H. J. L., 123 Jones, K. H., 79 Keegan, Dr. P. Q., 236, 292, 300 Knight, Col. H. S., 258 Lett, H. W., 151 Littler, F. M., 358 Lones, T. E., 58 Marriott, W., 213 Marten, C. J., 142, 151, 152 Martin, E. A, 26, 150, 157, 172, 180, 190; QII, 212, 242, 273, 299, 300, 334, 350 McIntire, N. E., 25 Mead-Briggs, T. H., 358 Meade, R. H., 151 Meehan, T., 15, 38, 80, 105 Mercer, Guy, 142 Morris, S., 243 Mott, F. T., 61 Niven, G. W., 155, 305, 364 Nunney, W. H., 2 Oswald, F., 4, 74 Palmer, T. C., 65 Parritt, W. H., 140 Peacock, Mabel, 85 Pepworth, W. H., 163 ILLUSTRATIONS. Chava, mounting of, 88 Chaulmugra Fat Crystals, 121, 237 Chigoe, 361 ~ Part of Proboscis of, 361 oH Developing Eggs of, 361 Chivonomus, Antennae of, 86 Clausilia swinhoet, 17 Cochlostyla philippinensis, 17 Connulus fulvus, Teeth of, 9 Corymbites, Antennae of, 87 Cribraria violacea, 361 Cypraea arabica, 16 Darwin Statue at Shrewsbury, The, 127 Dendroides, Antennae of, 87 Descending a Big Cliff, 235 Diatoms, Apparatus for Testing Vege- table Nature of, 65 Dickson, Baron Oscar, 31 Dineutes, Antennae of, 87 Dover Colliery, Section of Boring for, 157; 159, 192, 193 Pereira, C. P. A. de‘L., 217 Perks, F. P., 85, 152, 211, 358 Rea, C., 168 Rollason, W. A., 172 Rowell, J., 25 Sauzé, H. A., 13, 124, 364 Schuster, E. H. J., 307,345 Sewell, S. A., 116 Sheppard, T., 29, 61, 93, 125, 185, 364 Sich, Frank, junr., 123, 299 Smith, F. W., 151 Smith, H. E., 26 Smith, J., 250, 287, 320 Soames, Rev. H. A., 150 Stokes, Dr. A. C., 68 Stuart, Major, 123 Swann, H. K., 137 Symes, Dr. J. O., 100 Taylor, A. T., 123 Teasdale, M. J., 243 Thompson, W., 327 Tremayne, L. J., 28, 29, 60,72, 91, 93, 154, 214, 244, 274, 304, 336 Turner, Creswell, 25 Turner, E. E., 59, 179, 299 Turner, G. C., 25, 152 Turner, H. E., 32 Turner, H. J., 27, 28, 60, 90, 153, 184, 214, 243, 303; 363 Vevers, C. C., 301 Walker, J. W., 152 Ward, John J., 11 Webb, J. C., 123 Welch, R., 47 Wheldon, J. A., 110 Whiteway, P. and F., 47 Wilson, Wm., 123 Winstone, Flora, 22, 52, 89, 117, 146, 182, 213, 241, 274, 277, 302, 317; 335 Woodruffe-Peacock, Rev. E. A., 59, 152, 183 Wright, C. E., 336 Dust Particles in the Air, 178 Dyes, Diagram of effect of, 301 Evythraea littoralis, Fries., 110 55 var. intermedia, 110 a a and centaurium, Apex of Sepals, 111 Euglena acus, 307 deses, 307 » — Spwogyra, 345 m9 viridis, 307 Fat Crystals, Chaulmugra, 121, 237 n e Human, 237 a m) of Monkey, 237 Fern, Swimming, 270 Flea from Owl, 149 Freezing-Box and Microscope, Taylor's, 120 Grouse, Red, 526 House-Fly, The, 271 Hyalinia alliaria, Teeth of, 7 n _ céllaria, 7 » nitidula, = 7 ” pura, ” 7 Infusoria, British, 307, 345 Lachnosterna, Antennae of, 87 Luridus, Antennae of, 87 Marine Telegraph Cable, Broken, 95 Mars, Clouds seen on, 258 Megalodon ensifer, 136 Microbes in Air of Schoolroom, 179 = Atmospheric, 178 Micrometer Measuring Apparatus, 333 Microscope, New type, 296 Mollusca, Odontophores of, 7, 9 Mokomokai, or Dried Human Head, 165 Moon, The, Map of, 339 Mounting Chara, System of, 88 Mushroom, A Double, 272 Naturalist, a Primitive, 247 Neuropteris ravinervis, 191 = Scheuchzeri, 190 Obsidian, Microscopic Crystals in, 180 ne Red, Thin Section of, 180 Orange Mite, 209 Phacus longicaudus, 307 » plewronectes, 345 ABNORMAL RaINBow, It Acetylene Gas: its Value to Scientific Aerial Torpedo cs) joes, After Darwin, 309 Ee Agriolimax laevis, 9 Amber: where it is found, 341 Amblyophis viridis, 335 American Naturalists, Two Eminent, 293 Ants and Aphides, 317 Arrenurus buccinator, 187 am = female, 187 ie Sestivus, 188 ” zachariae, 188 ASTRONOMY.—23, 51, 83, 119, 147, 177; 207, 239, 267, 297, 331, 359 imary Star, Rapid, 119 D’Arrest’s Comet, 119 Hour-Glass Sea of Mars, 83 upiter, Satellites of, 83 and Greenwich Equatoreals, 51 Mars, Diameter of, 147 Meteor, A Brilliant, 11 s A Remarkable, 297 Meteors, August, 177 " November, 23 Moon, The “ Second,” of the Earth, 297 Nebula, A Singular, 331 New Observatory for London, 23 Perrine’s Comet a 1897, 207 ”s Comet 6, 1898, 35 Photographic Telescope, 119 Pons-Winnecke’s Comet, 207, 267 Potsdam Refractor, Large, 240 Red Stars, 23, 51, 83, 119, 147, 177, 207, 299, 267, 297, 33% Saturn's Ring System, 177 Sun. Parallax of, 267 «+ Object Crossing, 33: Sunspot, Group of, March, 359 Sunspots, 63 Venus, Diameter of, 147 Yerkes Great Lens, 51, 359 Vetkes Observatory, Dedication, 119 Axtumn Tints, 292 ompson’s, Bastirett, Aswanau Dex, 1 Blood as a Microscope Object, 64 Bog Flow in Kerry, 112 CONTENTS. Phacus pyrum, 345 » trigueter, 307 Photoscope, 50 Pigeon, Passenger, 2r Plectopylis ian 103 > anda, 264 + brahma, 170 a diptychta, 284 > emortens, 37 + Seddent, 171 Jovia, 138 - leucochtlus, 231 * lissochlamys, 71 4 macromphalus, 10 oy magna, 70 a minor, II > muntpurensts, 263 ae murata, 284 > musprattt, 10 » oglet, 263 * perrierae, 232 - phivaria, 139 a polyptychia, 102 AY pseudophis, 170 » quadrast, 71 ” reserata, 37 » schistoptychta, 103 ” schlumbergert, 138 7 Secura, 231° = shanensts, 36 5 stenochila var. bastlia, 36 fr trochosptra, 285 + trochospira v. boholensts, 285 ” villedaryt, 139 ARTICLES, NOTES, ETC. Books To READ, 20, 21, 53, 54) 55; 82) 115) 116, 142, 143, 173, 174, 175) 205, 233) 265, 266, 294, 326, 327, 328, 355 ABC of the X-Rays, 115 Audubon and His Journals, 327 Bibliography of Gilbert White, 115 Botanical Laboratory, 294 British Game Birds and Wild Fowl, 20, 82, 143, 204, 356 By Roadside and River, 265 Companion for the Queensland Student of Plant Life, 115 i Concise Knowledge Natural History, 5 Critical Period in the Development of the Horse, 174 : Descriptive Catalogue of Useful Fibre Plants of the World, 175 Dictionary of Photography, 53 : Electricity and Magnetism for Begin- ners, 52 Elementary Chemistry, 356 a Physics, 294 : Entomological Society of Ontario, Annual Report of, 20 Essays of George John Romanes, 53 Essex Technical Laboratories, Journal of the, 20 Evolution of the English Alphabet, 143 Experimental Farms of Canada, 294 Farm and Garden Insects, 21 Fauna and Flora of Radley and the Neighbourhood, 115 Field Columbian Museum Report, 328 Fishes and Reptiles of Somaliland, 328 Flora of the Alps, 20, 143, 266 Geology, General, 356 ” of Indiana, 234 Glass Blowing and Working for Amateurs, 294 Guide to Zermat and the Matterhorn, 142 Handbook of the Birds of Great Britain, 55 Handbook of the Order Lepidoptera, 55 Harvey, William, Dr., 234 Humane Science Lectures, 142 Humanitarian Essays, 265 Iustrated Manual of British Birds, 205, 265 Induction Coil in Practical Work, 53 ohn Hunter, Man of Science, etc,, 175 ournal of Malacology, 266 V Poltta excavata, Teeth of, 9 Pond-sweep, A, 57 Prehistoric Man, Remains of, near Men- tone, 173 Pu Tor, Dartmoor, 55 Prionocyphon, Antennae of, 87 Pyvalis farinalis, 122 Rainbow, Abnormal, 113 River Road, The, 265 River Valley by a Mountain Stream, 54 Shells, Some Sciagraphs of, 17 Stemonitis splendens, 361 Stratford-on-Avon Church, 233 Succinea, 45 Tachea, Two Species of, 133 Telea polyphemus, Antennae of, 86 Te Pehi Kupo, 164 Trachelomonas volvocina, 346 < hispida, 346 Unknown Object in Flint, 358 Vitrina pellucida, Teeth of, 9 Water-Mites, 187 Willow Warbler, Pallas’s, 205 Wookey Hole Cave, 217, 218 Books To REap—continued. Journals of Walter White, 233 Laboratory Arts, 328 Lepidoptera of the British Islands, 234 Lessons with Plants, 329 Machinery of the Universe, 175 Medical Botany, 175 Memoir of Wm. Pengelly, 173 Memory, Cultivation of, 355 Mineralogical Geology, 82 Missouri Botanical Garden, Annual Report of, 174 Nature-Chat, 116 Natural History (Vertebrates) of the British Islands, 326 Naturalists’ Directory, 21, 137, 328 New Astronomy, 328 » Method of Studying Neuration, 323 North American Lemnaceae, 294 Orthoptera, British, 356 Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Anglo- sperms, 294 Pictorial Instruction Object Lessons, 14 Practical Acoustics, 53 Publications of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 115 pocensiand Aborigines, 328 mbles Round London, 116 Royal Natural History, 21 Shakespearean Guide to Stratford-on- Avon, 233 Short Synopsis of English History, 143 Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report of, 143 Some Phenomena of Nature, 265 Storm and Sunshine in the Dales, 294 Story of the British Coinage, 266 iy Life in the Seas, 326 Wy the Earth's Atmosphere, 20 i Germ Life, 174 Vi Photography, 356 Text Book of Botany, 355 ) of Geology, 54 Through a Pocket-Lens, 175 Tourist Guide to the Continent, 116 Transactions of the English Aboricul- tural Society, 266 Waste and Repair in Modern Life, 54 What is Life? 265 With Nature and a Camera, 234 Young Beetle-Collector's Handbook, 20 Vi Botanical Competition, 46, 198, 353 op Exhibition, Novel, 46 A Notes, 69 a Rambles Round Edinburgh, 130 BorTany.—59, 69, 116, 152, 183 Abnormal Cowslip, 59 cf Marsh Marigold, 59 Adaptability of Plants, 152 Albanism, 183 Anchusa sempervirens in Lincolnshire, 59 Anemone appenina in Essex, 59 op appenina in Ireland, 59 Bladderwort, 152 Blue Jacob’s Ladder in Somerset, 59 Botanical Exchange Club, 59 British Grasses, 59 Double Flowers, 152 Fasciated Daisy, 59 sf Rose-Stem, 317 Hepaticae, British, New List, 116 Orchidaceae in Surrey, 25, 59 Rare Plants in Lincolnshire, 59 Sandhills at Flushing, 116 Solomon's Seal in Hants, 59 Trifolium filiforme in Lincolnshire, 59 Verontca montana near Louth, 59 Xenodochus carbonaria in Wales, 152 British Freshwater Mites, 187 » Infusoria, 307, 345 », Mosses, 325 Bulimus decollatus, 17 Calcarina candidissima, 9 ‘Caltha palustris. 11 Casual and Alien Plants in North Lon- don, 223 Christmas Island, 106 Clausilia swinhoet, 17 Climate of the Yukon Basin, 335 Coal in Kent, 32, 97, 157, 190 Cochlostyla philippinensis, 17 Coloration and Variation of British Extra- Marine Mollusca, 161, 194, 226, 255, 290, 322, 343 Coloration and Varieties of Mollusca, 254 55 and Zonulation in Tachea, 132 Colour of Blood, 4 Coming of the Rains, 66 Confusion in Nomenclature, 2 Congress, Annual, of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, 42 Connulus fulvus, 9 Contributions to the Life-Histories of Plants, 15, 38, 80, 105 * CORRESPONDENCE, 62, 94, 156, 186, 215, 306 Crystallizations of Fats, 237 Crystals, Rings and Brushes of, 236 Cypraea arabica, 16 Darwin Av SHREWSBURY, 127 Denton Collection of Butterflies and Moths, 232 Dickson, Baron Oscar, 31 Disseminating Yeasts, 292 Dust, 100 Earty Man In Eeyrt, 47 Earthworms, Destruction of, in Essex, 314 Earwigs, 188 Eclipse of the Sun, January 22nd, 264 Energy, Rhythmic, in Plants, 39 Erythvaea, Variations in, 110 Euglena acus, 308 7 deses, 308 » Spirogyra, 345 ) viridis, 307, 308 Evolution of the Animal Cell, 250, 287, 320, 347 EXCHANGES, 30, 62, 94, 126, 156, 215, 246, 276, 306 Eyes of Insects, 113, 338, 366 FERMENTATION GERMS: HOW THEY ARE SPREAD, 222 Fern, Swimming, 270 Fighting an Insect, 313 Flowering of Dead-Nettle, 129 Flagellata Eustomata, 307, 345 CONTENTS. Flying Fish, 79 Foreign Varieties of British Land and Freshwater Mollusca, 45, 229 Fossil Bacillaria in New Jersey, 253 GEOLOGY, 150, 180, 181, 212, 242, 273, 300, 334, 357 Age of the Earth, 273 », Pre-Cambrian Series, 273 Ancient Glaciation, 273 British Jurassic Brachiopoda, 334 Carboniferous Flora, Yorkshire, 357 Cause of Ancient Submergence, 273 Chalk—Croydon to Oxted, 150 » Rock, 334 “ Challenger” Notes, 357 Cheadle Heath Oak, 334 Correlation of Ancient Faunas, 212 Devizes, Geology of, 242 Egyptian Geology, 181 Eolithic Implements, 356 Erosion in the Nile Valley. 334 Evidence of Glaciation, 273 Fossil Club Mosses, Foreign Boulders in Chalk, 242, 300 9p Stones in Chalk, 273 Formation of Boulder Clay, 334 Geological Dates, 273 i. Photographs, 283 * Records of South-East England, 180 Geological Titles of Formations, 242 Glacier Garden, 181 Gravels of South England, 356 Greenland Cretaceous Flora, 150 Growth of the Glaciers of the Alps, 181 Humus, 242, 300 Igneous Fragments in Bagshot Beds, 300 Indiana Petroleum, 300 Intensity of Glacial Period, 273 Interstratified Quartzite, 212 London Geological Field Class, 357 Manganese Deposits at Harpenden, 25 Mediterranean, An American, 212 Microlites and Trichites, 180 Natural Gas, 300 Opal Pseudomorph, 356 Palzontological Review, 181 Permanence of Ocean Basins, 242 Phosphatic Chalk, 334 Pleistocene Beds at Carshalton, 212 Pot Holes, 181 Prestwich Collection for Forres, 181 Problem of Diamond Making, 180 Pyritised Fossils, 242 Rate of Denudation, 273 5 Flow of the Lava Streams of Etna, 181 Shale Oil, 357 Streatham Water Supply, 357 Sussex Pleistocene Cliff-Formation, 212 Thurlow Meteorite, 181 Triassic Outlier, A Submarine, 357 Underground Fuel, 180 Village Built on a Boulder, 181 Worms, Work of, 357 Greenwich Observatory, Annual Visita- tion of, 49 HeEticoip LANDSHELLS, ARMATURE OF, I0, 36, 70, 102, 138, 170, 231, 263, 284, 332 Heliophytum, Fecundity of, 38 Helix nemoralis in Ireland, 352 m ». The Virginia Colony of, 67 Honey-glands of Flowers, 80 How Flowers Attract Insects, 281 Humus, 242, 300 Hybrids in Nature, 81 Hypericum, Pellucid Dots in, 15 Infusoria, British, 307, 345 Jackson-HARMSWORTH ARCTIC ExPEDI- TION, 137 June Ramble, 77 Kent CoaL-FIELDs, 97, 157, 190 Lamium purpureum, Flowers and Flower- ing of. 105 Latent Life in Seeds and Microbes, 295 Living Lamps, 167 Maori TaTTOOING, 164 Marine Biological Association, Journal of, 139 Marine Fauna at Folkestone, 140 Mars, Clouds seen on, 258 », Physical State of, 74, 258 Megalodon ensifer, 136 METEOROLOGY, 152 Immense Meteoric Stone, 152 Strasburg Conference, 354 Waterspout oft Cromer, 152 Weather Signs at Whitby, 152 Microbes in Air of Schoolroom, 179 x Atmospheric, 178 Micrometer Measuring Apparatus, 333 Microscopical Sections, Making, 260 Microscopy, 57, 58, 86, 87, 88, 120, 122, 148, 149, 178, 179, 208, 209, 236, 237, 238, 269, 270, 271, 295, 333, 360 f , Acetylene Gas in Photomicrography, 208 Algez, Preservation of, 149 Alkaline Glycerine, 209 Amoeba villosa, Sporular Development of, 296 Antherozoids of Zamia, 271 Assimilation of Green Plants, 238 Atmospheric Dust, 178 Bacteria of Corn, 271 » , size of, 333 Bactericide, A New, 295 Bacterium Living in Alcohol, 149 Bird Lice, Economy of, 57 Baldness Microbe, 122 : Balsam, Preparation of, for Mounting, 2i, 210, 3325 17! Balsam, Tolu, Test for, 238 Chaulmugra Fat Crystals, 120 Chigoe, The, 360 rn Clearing of Vegetable Microscopica Sections, 237 Coccidia, Life Cycle of, 208 Colour Reaction, 148 Composition of Peat, 332 Condenser, A Simple, 208 Crystallization, Processes of, tar of Fats, 237 of Oils, 120 a5 of Salts, 269 Crystals, Preparation of, 332 , Rings and Brushes of, 236 Culture Medium for Protozoa, 295 Curious Swimming Fern, 270 Diatoms, Reproduction of, 88 x Mineral Particles, Separation of, 179 Diatoms in Stomachs of Oysters, 238 Discoloration of Flowers, 148 Dissemination of Disease Germs, 208 Drinking-Water and the Microscope, ” ” etc., 20 Parth’s Development, The, 122 Eggs of Insects as Objects for the Microscope, 148 Fig Scale, The, 270 Filtering Medium, a New, 178 Flour Weevils, 122 Fly's Foot, A, 236 Foraminifera, 58, 333 § 5 Pelagic Distribution of, 122 x Recent Research in, 87 or Recent Research on, 360 Food Supply of Fish, 295 Formation of Gold Nuggets, 333 Fossil Bacteria, 121 Freshwater Mites, British. 86 Fungi, Influence of Nutrient Media on the Development of, 295 Fungi, Influence of Light on, 88 Fungus, A Mystifying, 179 Glycerine, 179 Haddontia, 269 Haematoxylin and Safranine, Double Staining with, 360 Haematoxylin Stain, The, 361 Harvest Bug, The, 333 Hen Flea, The, 149 House-Fly, The, 271 Hydra, Distribution of, 87, 120 Indian Ink in Microscopy, 360 Inter-Relations of Insects and Yeasts, 209 Invisible Friends and Foes, Our, 332 Microscopy—coniinued, Life-History of an Aphis, 14S of the Flea, 148 of Mealy Bugs, 87 » of the Water Mites, 122 Life Latent in Seeds and Microbes, » ” 295 Light, Influence of, on Fungi, 88 Lignite, Cutting Sections of, 269 Manipulative Hints, 380 Marine Diatoms, Reproduction of, 121, 149 Marine Microscopic Life, 58 Meridum circulare, 121 Microbe of Ambergris, 178 Microbes of Disease, 120 a of Paris, The, 360 5 Street, 178 Microbiology, 332 Micrometer Measuring Apparatus, 333 Micro-Objective, A New, 332 Micro-Photography, 295 Microscope, Ross’ Industrial, 269 Microscopes, British, Honours for, 238 Microscopic Fungi, 87 ~~ Worm, A New, 178 Microscopical Preparations, 269 = Research, 58 = Studies, 145, 179, 208 Microstereograms, 269 Microscopy, Practical, 209 Micro-Structure of Alloys, 270 Minute Flowering Plant, A, 269 Mosquitoes, 149 Mounting Aphides, 238 7 Chara, 88 = Foraminifera, 269 = Hairs, 179 ~ Medium, 148 = Volvox, 236 =. Wings, 86 Mushroom Spores, 120 : Mycetozoa of Antigua, The, 360 yes, British, During Sixty Years, Mycorhira of Roots, 295 Myxomycetous Parasite, A, 296 Nerves of Mouse's Ear, 179 mosis ee g Germs, Noctiluca aearin Vhatopente Func- tions of, 361 Objectives, How to Test, 121 Odontophores of Snails, 236 Oolitic Grains, Microscopic Sections of, 296 Orange Mite, The, 209 Organisms, Photogenic, 361 Oysters, Enemies of, 148 Ova, Preparation of, for Microscope, 88 Parasitic Enemies of the House-Fly, 269 Petrological Slides, 57 Phosphorescence of the Limans, 295 * of Wood, 333 Photo-Micrography, 238 Photo-Micrography of Opaque Stem Sections, 205 Pliocene Diatomaceae, 209 Pond Life, 57 » Sweep, A New, 57 » _ Gatherings, Preserving, 86 Powders Identified by Pollens, 121 Protoplasm, Mechanism of, 332 Protozoa of Salt Lakes, 208 Rabies, Parasite of, 360 Readers, To our, 360 Refractive Indices of Certain Liquids, 236 Rotiferian Specie Mongers, 87 Safranine Stain, The, 361 Sapphire, Microscopic Bubbles in a, -) 2 Seales of Lepidoptera, Taxonomic Value of, 204 Sections, Eatting the, 361 Section, Mounting the, 361 Seeds as Objects, 53 Senses of Insects, 66 Shepherd's Purse, 64 Sponge Spicules, 179 Staining Insects’ Wings, 57 Stains, Methods of making the, 361 Stereum hirsutum, 432 Stigeoclonium, 210 Tissue ee L) Varnish, Dead-black, 236 Vaucheria, Spores ot, 54 CONTENTS. Microscopy—continued. Volvos, Fruiting-time of, 122 Water Mites, Preservation of, 57 Yeasts, Action of Light on, 238 Mild Winter, The, 254, 272, 299 Millport Marine Biological Station, 351 Mineral Phosphorescence and X-Rays, 285 Mokomokai or Dried Human Head, 165 Moon, The: Has it an Atmosphere ? 339 Moths, Assembling, 342 Museums, Sir John Gorst’s Committee's Report on, 16 Mycological Society, British, Annual Foray of, in Sherwood Forest, 168 NatuRAL History ExuIBITION, 12 Natural History in New Forest, 72 5) History Societies and Technical Institutes, 272 Naturalist, A Primitive, 247 Naturalists’ Directory, The, 137 Es Young, Chapters for, 140, 167 Nature Notes from Ireland, 228 Neuration, New Method of Studying, 113 Neuropterts, 191 NOTES AND QUERIES.—25, 26, 58, 85, 123, 124, 150, 151, 172, 211, 243, 272, 299, 336, 358 Abnormal Cucumber, 123 > Oranges, 26 4 Primrose, 25 . Walnut Leaf, 85 Albino Sparrow, 172 Aquaria in Winter, 299 Badger in Sussex, 151 Bird-Song in Durham, 25 Black Pepper-and-Salt Moths, 243 Booth Museum, The, 336 Botanical Plates, 211 Cinnamon Variety of Blackbird, 123 Claytonia perfoliata Don., 358 Cleaning Lenses with Pith, 299 Colt's-Foot, 299 Derivation of Microlestes, 123 Destruction of Bird Life in Tasmania, 8 Destruction of Hornets, 243 Double Mushroom, 272 Early Flowering of Cowparsnip, 299 ” ” Elm, 299 Earthquake Shock, 172 Effect of Adder's Bite, 211 Egg, Great Auk, 358 Flounders in Fresh Water, 85 A eke Foraminifera in London Clay, 25 Foster-Parents of Cuckoo, 25 Fungoid Pigment, A, 209 Habits of Buff-tip Moth, 151 =F, Leaf-Cutting Bees, 124 Ti Owls, 299 A Sparrows, 211 Harvey, Dr. William, 272 Hedgehogs carrying Fruit, 85, 123 Heltx arbustorum Sub-Fossil, 150 Honeycomb Weathering on Stone, 27 Little Owl in Sussex, 243 Manganese Deposits, 25, 58 Marine Mollusca of North Devon, 85 Maternal Instinct of Spider, 151 Mollusca in Country Antrim, 58 Natter's Bat in Co, Down, 151 Newspaper Nat. History, 85, 272, 299 Nortolk Plover in Sussex, 336 Object in Flint, An, 358 October in Cornwall, 172 Orchidaceae in Surrey, 25 Original Research, 150 Paludestrina ulvae, Varieties, 150 Phenological Notes, 211 Phenology in Aberdeenshire, 123 Popular Collecting-Grounds, 211 Preservation of Rare British Animals, 123 Primitive Trepanning, 243 Rabbit Hunted by a Cat, 150 Ragged-Robbin in Winter, 272 Rare Fungi near Croydon, 211 Ringing Mounts, 58 2: Sclentist’s” Natural History, 85 Sirex juvencus, 123 Skua, The Great, in Sussex, 358 Slugs, 123, 151 Snallsin Roadside Hedges, 336 Spirula perontt in Devonshire, 150 vil NoTES AND QuUERIES—continued, Spring Arrivals, 358 Swiney Lectures on Geology, 151 Tellina radiata in Ireland, 150 Travelling Illustrated Lectures, 123 Varieties of British Butterflies, 25, 206 Varying Distance of Sun, 273, 299 Winter Flowering ot Plants, 299 Yucca Flowering in Winter 272 Notes of a Home Naturalist, 18, 104 » on Plant Life, 292 OBITUARY. Abercromby, Hon. R., 206 Allen, Dr. Harrison, 293 Bartlett, A. D., 1 Béchervaise, A. H., 298 Bessemer, Sir Henry, 329 Chamberlain, Humphery Barker, 51 Clark, Alvan G., 83 Cope, E. D., 19 Denton, J. M., 19 Dickson, Oscar, 31 Dodgson, Chas. L., 266 Dunning, J. W., 210 Geddes, J. Gamble, 19 Hardenham, Dr. R. P. H., 206 Hart, Ernest, 266 5 Hicks, Dr. John Braxton, 145 Horn, Dr. George H., 293 Houghton, Dr. Samuel, 206 Kammermann, Arthur, 298 Kirk, Professor, 354 Layens, G. de, 261 Leuckart, Rudolf, 354 Lindemann, Dr. E., 298 Marco, Jules, 354 Marks, Henry Stacy, 266 Marquand, Teceaele 240 Marth, Albert, 18 Matthews, Rev. Andrew, 176 Mojsvar, Prof. von, 176 Muller, Daniel, 84 Nobile, Dr. A., 118 Parker, Thos. J., 266 Ramsay-Gibson-Maitland, Sir James, 206 Rogers, Prof. W. A., 330 Schroeder, Prof. W. von, 298 Stone, Edward James, 19 Stumpe, Dr. Oscar, 298 Taschemberg, Prof. E. L., 268 Watson, Capt. E. Y., 206 Winnecke, F. A. T., 267 Obsidian, Microscopic Crystals in, 180 ' Red, Thin Section of, 180 Odontophores of Mollusca, 6 Orcadian Rambles, 204, 224, 261, 286, 315, 349 PATRON OF SCIENCE, 31 Phacus longicaudus, 309 » plewronectes, 345 » pyri, 345 » — trigueter, 309 Photography, Orthochromatic, 301 Photoscope, 4 Physical and irertanieat Disinfection, 14 Plants of Killarney, 108 Plants, Life-Histories of, 15, 38, 80, 105 Plectopylis, 284 Polita excavata, 9 Prehistoric Man, Remains of, near Men- tone, 173 Preservation of Rare British Animals, 63 Rare ANIMALS IN LONDON, 142 Rare Plants in Lincolnshire, 59 Repairing an Electric Cable, 95 Rocks of the Isle of Man, 199, 219, 259 Royal Institution Lectures, 232, 317 » Society, New Fellows of, 25 » Society's Soirée, 12, 56 Royle’s Balsam, 318 Saturn's RING SysTEM, 177 Sciznce ABROAD, 22, 52, 89, 117, 146, 182, 213, 241, 274, 302, 335, 302 Aeademvioe ' afta "Sciences, Phil, 22, 52, 89, 362 Album de Natur, 402 American Journal of Science, 146, 182 Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes, 22, 52 viil SciENCE ABROAD—continied. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, 22 Bolletino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata, 302 Bulletin de la Société Philomathique de Paris, 89 Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France, 89, 146, 302, 362 Canadian Entomologist, 52 Catalogue of a Collection of Birds of Somaliland, 117 Climate of the Yukon Basin, 335 Coastaland Plain Flora of Yucatan, 117 Cosmos, 146, 182, 241, 302 Feuilles des Jeunes Naturalistes, 22, 52, 117, 146, 241, 274, 302, 362 Intermediare, L’, des Biologistes, 241 Karpinski, Prof., 22 Moniteur Scientifique, Le, 241 Nature, La, 146, 182, 213, 302 Osprey, The, 89 Portland Society of Natural History, 117 Proceedings of the American Philo- sophical Society, 146 Revue Linnéenne, 89 Revue Scientifique, 182 Természetrajzi Fiizetek, 117, 241, 362 Transactions Acad. of Science, St. Louis, 241 Victorian Naturalist, 52, 274 ScrENCE-GossIP, 24, 56, 84, 118, 145, 176 206, 240, 268, 298, 330, 354 Alga, A New Irish, 118 Andrée, M., His Ballooning Expedition, 24, 84 Antarctic Exploration, 84, 118 Bacillus of the Indian Plague, 84 Balloon, Experimental Ascents, 354 Biograph, The, 206 Bird Protection, America, 354 British Association Meeting at Toronto, 118 British Flora, A New, 354 Burial-place of the Chuds, Discovery ot a, 176 Butterfly, Marbled White, Var. of, 206 Canada, Nickel Ore in, 24 Coccides and Arthropoda, 24 Cormorants at Ullswater, 240 Early Man in Egypt, 47 Earthquake in Bengal, 56 a of Assam, 354 Entomological Society tor Quebec, 24 Flora of Russia, 24 Flying-foxes, Edible, 24 Flying-fish, 79 Glaciology, Norfolk, 169 Helix arbustorum in Ireland, 84 Hens’ Eggs, Specific Weight of, 330 CONTENTS. ScrencE-Gossip—continued. Hepaticae, Irish, 24 Hooker, Sir Joseph, and the Flora of British India, 145 Hybrids, 24 International Journal Microscopy, dis- continued, 176 Jubilee Congratulations by Men ot Science, 84 Jubilee Honours, to Men of Science, 5' Kangaroos in Britain, 71 King Fish, Capture of, 118 Lampris luna, 118 Marsh-marigold, Abnormal, 12 Meteor, A Remarkable, 330 Mirage at Wady Halfa, 118 Moa, Skeleton of, 240 Mount St. Elias, Canada, Origin of, 145 Natural History and Wicken Fen, 113 Nomenclature, 2, 277, 353 Non-marine Molluscs of Essex, 145 Ornamentation on Prehistoric Pottery, 206 Orthoptera, North American, 145 Physical Laboratory, A National, 118 Royal Society Honours, 206 Rockall visited, 240 Russian Thistle, Spread of, in North America, 176 Salsola kali, 176 Science Examination, Intermediate, Protest against the New Regulations, 240 Scientific Degrees, Bogus, 145 Scientific Societies, Union of South Eastern, 40 Slime Fungi, 163 Stork, White, in Sussex, 142 Strata of the Quaternary Periodin Algiers, Discovery of Remains in, 24 Streblonema minimum, 118 Telegraphy without Wires, 56, 145 Underground Zoology, 240 Vertebrate Fauna of Shropshire, 321 Water Divining, 56 West Ham Museum, 240 Wettest Winter on Record, 24 Wild Horse in Kildare, Discovery of Remains of, 268 Science and the Education Grant, 46 x in Some Magazines, 90, 114, 144, 171 Scientific Literature, Serial Popular, 203 ScrenTIFIc Societies, Metropolitan, 156, 186, 216, 246, 276, 306, 338, 365 ScienTiFIc SocieTiEs, Notices of, 30, 62, 94, 126, 186, 205, 215, 245, 305, 337; 305 Shells, Nomenclature of, 353 »,. Réntgen Rays Pictures of, 16 Studies, Some Neglected, 105 Succinea, 45 Strange Insect, A, 136 TACHEA, Two SPECIES OF, 133 Tame Blackbird, 47 Te Pehi Kupo: An Example of Tatooing, 164 Thanet Sands, 43 Through the Marshes, 107 Trachelomonas euchlora, 346 cA hispida, 346 5p volvocina, 346 TRANSACTIONS, 26, 60, 90, 124, 153, 183, 213, 238, 241, 243, 274, 303, 336, 342, 336 Cambridge Entomological and Natural History Society, 29, 184, 214 City of London Entomological and Natural History Society, 28, 91, 124 184, 214, 244, 304, 363 Conchological Society, 124 Cork Naturalists’ Society, 24 Greenock Natural History Society, 155, 304, 364 “i Hertfordshire Natural History Society, 245 Hull! Naturalists at Spurn, 124 Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists’ Club, 29, 61, 84, 93, 185, 364 Lambeth Field Club, 172 North London Natural History Society, 27, 60, 91, 154, 184, 214, 274, 304, 330 Nottingbam Naturalists’ Society, 215 Preston Natural History Society, 240 Quekett Microscopical Club, 270 Royal Institution, 232, 303, 317 Royal Meteorological Society, 26, 60, 213, 244, 274, 303, 330, 364 Selborne Field Club, 26 South London Entomological and Natural History Society, 30, 60, go 153, 183, 214, 243, 303, 363 Tunbridge Wells Society, 205 Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 153 VARIEGATED LEAVES, CAUSE OF, 293 Vegetable Nature of Diatoms, 65 Virginia Colony of Helix nemoralis, 67, 118 Vitrina pellucida, 9 WatTeER-MITEs, 187 Wild Traits in Tame Animals, 247 Wookey Hole Cave, 217 ZooLoGIcAL NOMENCLATURE 277 NASSAU PRESS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C.; AND SOUTHWARK, S.E. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ABRAHAM DEE BARTLETT. R. A. D. BARTLETT, late Superintendent of the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent’s Park, was born in London on October 27th, 1812. He received a simple education in London, and at a very early age evinced a great delight in all matters connected with natural history. Mr. Bartlett commenced business as a taxidermist in a house in Little Russell Street. In those early days of his career scientific men and collectors of rare birds, and especially birds’ eggs, made his house a resort, and the reputa- tion of his extraordinary art in taxidermy became so widely spread that he was obliged to move into larger premises. There are few, if any, of those early zoologists and col- lectors left to remember that he removed his busi- ness to a large house in Great College Street, Camden Town. In that place his circle of admirers increased and his first connection with the Zoo- logical Society of London attending to endless other matters of a similar character in various places. After working labo- riously for the Crystal Palace Company up to 1859, and at the death of Mr. John Thompson, then superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, Dr. P. L. Sclater, the then newly-appointed secretary, in course of conversation with Mr. Henry Walter of The Times, remarked that they were seeking a new man for the post. Mr. Walter at once recom- mended Mr. Bartlett, and he was immediately communicated with, and accepted the post, which he has held ever since up to the time of his death. It would be difficult, and beyond the limits of this notice, to give a detailed account of the vast amount of work carried out by the Zoological Society on their menagerie during the years from 1859 to the present day. We are, however, given to understand these par- ticulars will be compiled before long in a collected commenced. His first and chronological form. communication to that Mr.Bartlett wasawarded society occurred in 1839, THE cate Mr. A. D. BartLett. the medal for taxidermy and from that time he From a photograph by F.C. Brook, Walton-on-Naze. at the 1851 Exhibition, worked not only for the the bronze and_ silver society, but for nearly all the scientific men and established museums, including Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. Prince Consort. It was in that house he prepared ali his exhibits for the 1851 Exhibition, and among them were, by permission, several of the Queen's specimens, which are believed to be now at Windsor Castle. After the close of the Exhibition of 151, the Crystal Palace Com- pany started, and not being able to find a more proficient naturalist to take charge of the collection of living animals which was established there, he received the appointment. This collection was placed in the south transept, and afterwards were added the aviaries, etc., in the north transept About this time Mr. Bartlett was occupied with Jenn, 1897-—No. 37, Vol. 1V. medals of the Zoological Society, and a very long series of the highest testimonials from different societies and exhibitions. He also received the bronze medal, conjointly with his eldest son Edward, at the 1872 Exhibition, and also testi- monials, with his sons Edward and Clarence, at the Colonial Exhibition. The latter son has for some time past assisted his father in the onerous but successful duty of caring for the welfare of the very numerous and valuable denizens of the finest zoological gardens in the world. During his life in the Zoological Gardens, Mr. A. D. Bartlett devoted his energy with great success to the study of captive animal life. All who knew him can testify to whole those 2 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. his being a man of vast resource and quick perception, and in many most difficult cases he was always ready to help those around him out of what frequently appeared to be an almost hopeless position. Naturally of a most amiable temperament, Mr. Bartlett was ever kind to all classes of society with whom he came in contact, but at the same time he was of a retiring nature. Few men were better known or respected than THE CONFUSION Mr. Bartlett, and his long association with the Zoo made him a favourite with succeeding generations of delighted visitors, to whom he would often, in spite of his many duties, find time to tell quaint facts and anecdotes about his animals, which long lived in the memories of the visitors. He died in his eighty-fifth year, on May 7th, after a long and painful illness, and rests in the family grave in Highgate cemetery. IN NOMENCLATURE. By W. H. Nunney. apne publication in the recent pages of SciENCE-Gossip of notes on this important subject, as well as of an epitome of the code of zoological nomenclature compiled by the German Zoological Society, which appeared in ‘‘ Nature” of the 5th March, 1896, and the issue, in November last, of Lord Walsingham’s and Mr. Hartley Durrant’s ‘‘Merton Rules,” will have attracted the attention of naturalists. A few additional thoughts on this subject, with a view to render- ing the confusion somewhat less, may not be ill-timed. These sets of rules necessarily differ, but in the main may be said to be based on the Stricklandian code which has done such excellent service, the German code being somewhat the more concise. It is, however, hardly requisite to publish the sets side by side. Both the ‘‘Merton’” and the German rules are restricted in their use to purely zoological nomenclature, whilst the Stricklandian deals also with botany. The latter assumes that a name should be utilised once only in any department, and that it shall not occur in both botany and zoology. With this I practically agree. Unfortunately, however, the dual use is in vogue. It may, nevertheless, be said that under the existing and probably increased future conditions of forced specialism it must be very evident that the average zoologist, for instance, has quite enough to do to gather and retain knowledge relative to his own subject, without being able, if desirous, of giving sufficient attention to botanical matters to enable him to steer clear of clashings in that connection. Under the Stricklandian code and the law of priority, much, in my opinion, needless labour is forced upon the describer of species and the creator of fresh divisions. Few zoologists are acquainted with zoological and botanical nomenclature; the botanists’ wish to retain a name familiar to them must also be considered. The advancement of science is of course retarded by the ensuing altercation as to the questions of familiar use, priority, etc. I myself fail to see why the contemporaneous use of one name in two such great divisions of nature should not be allowed ; as, for instance, Corydalis, occurring in both entomology and botany, as a matter of fact could not lead to confusion. Granted the same root- word, a varying termination would surmount the difficulty. It has indeed occurred to me that perhaps the very best thing that could happen would be the introduction of a kind of scientific Volapik, or arbitrary means of manipulating the terminations of all the words of the greater divisions of each class, so that by first of all having committed to memory the whole number of terminations, one could, upon becoming acquainted with a word new to one’s vocabulary, tell by its final consonant or vowel to what main and (if the principle were carried far enough) even perhaps to what sub- group the corresponding species belonged. Such terminations might at first be looked upon as somewhat uncouth, but would, I am inclined to think, prove a vast advance upon the present loose system of like endings in many groups of all grades, as formerly used by lepidopterists. In considering zoology alone, and in the depart- ment of entomology, I would group the generic names somewhat as follows: coleoptera, all names ending in the letter ‘‘a,” thus, Emusa /irtus, Staphylinusa cesay; in neuroptera, the vowel *‘e,” Sialise fervuginea, and so forth. This would hardly, I think, clash with rule 4 of the German code, to the effect that names differing only orthographically be considered identical, and I publish the idea for what it isworth. Under this rule, and consider- ing odonata, the use of the words schna and Eshna, for instance (see Mr. W. F. Kirby’s “Catalogue of Odonata”), must be discounte- nanced, and I think rightly, especially as the first of these names should strictly, with regard to the law of priority and the theory of types, be deleted. The law of priority, the main principle of all the codes quoted, is, as has often been remarked, by no means an unmixed blessing, though by its aid SCIENCE-GOSSIP. alone some naturalists have contended will the existing confusion be eventually counteracted and nomenclature established on unalterable principles. Until the arrival of this golden age, however, must we still hug the mortification of having frequently to unlearn what has been acquired by a no means easy process, and destroy the harmony of associa- tion of well-established names with the species to which they refer? Much time usually elapses before a name freshly utilised serves to call to mind its peculiar genus or species, and we have no guarantee that it will not be soon again upset in favour of some prior name. The most advisable course to adopt, so far as I am able to judge, where an organism has been named and the name given has by continued use caused its species to be readily called to mind, would be to waive entirely the law of priority and to follow the usage. The main requirements of a system of nomenclature having been met, all other names appertaining to the same species to be ranked assynonyms. With regard to odonata alone, there are many sufficiently definite and well-established names that under a strict application of the law of priority must need be sunk in favour of other designations far less expressive of specific traits; because they have been rescued from an obscurity to which they would be well again consigned. Such a case is presented by the use of ‘Sympetrum (Newman), instead of the equally expressive and far better known Diflax of Charpentier, the former having been alluded to in few terms in the “Entomological Magazine.” The argument for the use of Symfetrum is that a type was assigned to it, whilst Diflax was instituted without, and with insufficient characterization. It is here, however, surely better on many grounds to follow usage rather than priority. Thus in this instance, Diplax has many derivative names—Sympetrum none, and naturalists can ill afford to neglect such aids to the study of affinities as are to be found in the indications to their authors’ views of relativity as are furnished by the use of derived names. If, under the laws of priority, Sympetrum is to take the place of Diplax, these indications are at once lost sight of, and nothing had in exchange but needless obscurity. This point seems to have been entirely lost sight of in the melée of nomenclators. I argue, if Newman's ground-generic name Sympe- trum be retained, that such derived names as Theadiplax should be altered to Thecasympctrum; or, what and regular on account of the number of derivatives, the holding to Diplax as the general typical generic name. Gomphus is another instance ; in this case there are no less than twenty-eight derivatives, Mr. Kirby argued in the Introduction to his “ Catalogue," the change of this name to Zshna, its co-equal: thus is far more simple I ; 5 3 Crenigomphus should then be Crenieshna, and so forth. Fabricius’s name is, however, inadmissible, inasmuch as the spelling is erroneous and conflicts with sciina, the name of a totally different group, which should, strictly on that account, be renamed. Fabricius, however, did not indicate a special type for 2shna, whilst Leach, in leaving this latter name unrecognised, indicated the species vulgatissimus as the type of his genus Gomphus. This name should therefore stand. It occurs also in botany, (in fungology), but the prior use is in odonata. Yet another instance from the odonata. There are many derivatives of the name Agvion, this name meaning the smaller species termed by Mr. Kirby, Cenagrion. Heconsiders Latreille to have assigned the species termed by the French, ‘‘ Demoiselles,”’ as types of this genus. This Latreille, how- ever, does not especially do, and the prolonged usage of the name in connection with such species as puella should be sufficient to allow of that conception remaining intact, otherwise the de- rivatives should be altered to Megapocoenagrion, Anomalocoenagrion and such-like ineuphonious and anomalous appellatives. Numerous instances in other departments will doubtless occur to the reader. This then is in itself perhaps the weightiest argument for a con- tinued use of well-established titles. Granting that scientific nomenclature commenced with Linné, until lately systematists could not agree as to which edition, the tenth or twelfth, of his ‘Systema Nature ”’ should be accepted as a basis of priority. The whole question as it now stands is a splendid farce. Dr. Pascoe has well remarked that the law of priority, if carried out in its entirety, even with regard to insects, would make confusion worse confounded. It is certain we cannot safely carry the law further back than Linné, for who cay say what were the Cossus and Buprestis of the ancients ? Without doubt, the Cossus of Graeco-Roman times ranked with the coleoptera and not with lepidop- tera, as at present accepted. In connection with generic titles, it isa great pity that names of like derivation cannot be restricted to one group of animals. As matters now stand we have Lesfes in odonata, and Microlestes in mammalia. The first title has many derivatives in odonate genera ; I think none elsewhere, with the exception mentioned; Microlestes again means “small Lestes,"”’ and by “ the eternal fitness of things " this latter has been tacked on toa mammal many thousand times larger than the odonate. The German tend to eliminate such undesirable usage. Another point of great moment is with regard to the significance of names. Specific or generic, they should be expressive character possessed by the species, Towards this end it for future nomenclators to rules of some would be as well 2 4 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. entirely discontinue the naming of species after persons, however eminent in their own branch of study. I am afraid a person’s name is frequently given as much out of indolence in searching out a fitting title, as the desire to honour a specialist. It is evident that scientific advancement is best served by purely descriptive names, though the personal title-giving is somewhat less reprehensible for botanical purposes, bearing in mind the horti- cultural aspect ; in that connection the malpractice is very frequent. The theory of priority based on types is at first sight good ; but it is, I think, extremely questionable whether in the case of the resuscitation of a lost-sight-of type, in conjunction with the law of priority, it is not better to allow usage to prevail. Where no type has been definitely assigned by the erector of a genus containing in its primitive condition a heterogeneous collection of species, I hold a succeeding author well within his rights when creating new genera from the old material, in making not only the first species on the list the type of the old genus, but any of the contained species most agreeing with the old generic characters. The first-named method is, however, usual. Thus, in odonata, I consider Leach to have definitely fixed several important types by the creation of his genera Gomphus and Calopteryx, rather than that, for instance, the type of the latter were fixed by Latreille’s usage of Linnean material. The German code favours my view, which, of course, in the main, brings us back to the desirability for keeping to the use of established names and popular types rather than in all cases the author’s own. The wish of all naturalists must be to see the various open questions of nomenclature finally settled, for both present and future satisfaction and future advancement, and it is to be hoped that this will soon be done through the agency of an International Congress of interested men of science. Shiftiness of nomenclature is one of the greatest stumbling-blocks in the way of the study of species and the encouragement cf students. Stoke Newington; May 15th, 1897. THE COLOUR OF BLOOD. By FELIx Oswatp, B.A. Lonp. x LOOD-RED "is so familiar an adjective of colour, as to readily convey the impression that the blood of all animals is red. Such, however, is far from being the case, for although the possession of red blood is a characteristic common to all vertebrates(1); yet when we come to examine the invertebrates, which are far more numerous both in species and individuals, we find that blood of a red colour is a relatively rare occurrence. In the majority of cases it is colourless; but it may be even green, blue, or yellow. It has often been a subject for speculation why the life-fluid of higher animals should have so vivid a hue, seeing that it is normally concealed from view, and seldom or never plays any part in determining the surface-colouration, excepting in a blush. It is only a partial explanation to say that the redness is due to hemoglobin, and that it is an inherent physical characteristic of this body. The reason for the red colour is quite as difficult to explain as to account for the distinguishing colours of gold, silver, or copper. It is no ex- aggeration to say that hemoglobin is the most important substance in the complex combination called blood, for it is hamoglobin which absorbs oxygen from air or aerated water, conveying it to all tissues in need of that vital gas, receiving carbon (1) There appear to be only two exceptions to this rule, viz., the lancelet (Amphioxus), which is the lowest vertebrate, and the transparent little fish Leptocephalus, now regarded as the larval stage of the eel. dioxide in return, and finally giving up the excess of this waste-product of combustion to the sur- rounding medium. Hzmoglobin can be artificially separated from blood to form crystals, differing in shape according to the animal. Usually, as in man, they take the form of prismatic needles or rhombic plates. It can furthermore be resolved into hematin, a dark-brown amorphous powder, and an albuminous substance called globulin. Under the spectroscope it exhibits a very characte- ristic absorption-spectrum(*), by means of which Lankester and others have been able with absolute certainty to demonstrate its presence in the blood of certain invertebrates. The hemoglobin in the blood of vertebrates is contained exclusively in little circular dises(*), thered corpuscles. In the few instances in which it occurs in invertebrate animals, it is generally diffused in the plasma, e.g. in the blood of the earthworm and many other Chetopod worms, in some leeches (the Gnathobdellidz), in some Nemertine worms (e.g. Polia), in the freshwater mollusc Planorbis, in a few small crustaceans (Cheivocephalus and the water-flea Daphnia) and in the so-called bloodworm (the larva of the midge, Chivonomus). Less frequently it is (2) It is interesting to note, as Prof. Church points out, that hemoglobin possesses the same conspicuous absorption- band in the ultra-violet as chlorophyll, although, of course, the rest of the spectrum is very different. (3) Elliptical in fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds andin the camel family. In the lampreys, however, the red corpuscles are circular. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 5 found concentrated in corpuscles, eg. in the bivalve molluscs, Solen legumen and Arca noe, ina few Chztopod worms (e.g. the Polychzta Glycera and Cafitella),in some Gephyrean worms (Phoronis, Thalassema, Hemingia), in some Nemertine worms (e.g. Cerebraiulus), and in a few Echinoderms (Thyonella, a sea-cucumber, and Ofhiactis, a brittle Starfish). These examples occur sporadically among such widely-separated groups of animals that hemoglobin must evidently have been indepen- dently acquired several times in the animal kingdom. It is clear that the possession of it does not in itself indicate any relationship. Arterial blood is scarlet owing to the hemoglobin containing a rich supply of oxygen; on the other hand, the dark purple colour of venous blood is due to an excess of carbon dioxide. Both gases, however, are present in arterial as well as in venous blood ; indeed, the former actually contains more carbon dioxide than oxygen. The difference in colour, therefore, is merely a question of varying proportion, for an artificial solution of hemoglobin changes colour from purple to scarlet when a current of oxygen is passed into it. It is indeed probable that the oxygen enters into a state of unstable chemical combination with the hemo- globin, and that the red corpuscle does not merely hold it as a sponge. In this way the presence of hemoglobin is an absolute necessity for the more remote internal parts of the body to receive a due supply of the vivifying oxygen and to get rid of the waste carbon dioxide. Indeed, it is doubtful whether vertebrates could have reached their great size and dominant position in the world without the possession of hemoglobin in its valuable capacity for storing up oxygen. Hamo- globin, however, is not confined to blood, but is contained in the voluntary muscles of the higher vertebrates (hence the red colour of raw flesh) as well as in the tissue of the heart. Among fishes, however, it is entirely absent from the muscular tissue of the body, excepting in the fin muscles of the graceful little sea - horse (Hippocampus). Among invertebrates it is found in the muscles of the pharynx of a few molluscs (Chiton, Patella, Littorina, Paludina, Lymnaus and Aplysia), but, strange to say, not in the blood of these creatures. In the Chatopod worm, the sea-mouse (Aphrodite), it is even restricted to the nerve centres. In reviewing the habits of those invertebrates which possess this valuable coloured substance, we are able to infer that either (1) they show increased activity compared to their nearest relations, as in the case of the Neapolitan razor-shell (Solen legumen) ; or (2) they live under circumstances in which oxygen is not easily obtained, as in the case of the bloodworm in the mud of stagnant pools, etc. ; this is probably the main cause, and the power of being able to store up oxygen, whether in blood muscle, or nerve, must be a valuable aid in such adverse conditions ; or (3) there may be a combina- tion of these reasons, as in the leeches, which inhabit miasmic localities and yet show great activity, leaping upon any unfortunate man or animal invading their marshes. In the case of the bloodworm, Professor Miall has shown that it could live as long as five days in water that had been deprived of its oxygen by boiling. The view that hemoglobin has been primarily acquired merely as an expedient in conditions unfavourable to easy respiration, is supported by the fact that the insect Chivonomus possesses it only in its larval (bloodworm) stage, but when it reaches its final and winged state, its blood is colourless. The disappearance of hemoglobin in the blood of the perfect insect is indeed a highly remarkable fact ; yet it is not surprising when, we consider how thoroughly air is distributed to every tissue in an insect’s body through the air-tubes or tracheze. The excessively delicate ramifications of these tracheze extend into every muscle and even penetrate between the cells of the eye and of the nerve centres; hence, since every part of the body has direct access to the oxygen of the air, there is no need for this gas to be conveyed by the blood ; consequently the circulatory system in insects is very imperfectly developed, and the blood is colourless. Hemoglobin does not, however, stand alone in the animal kingdom in its function of storing up oxygen. In the blood of certain tube-forming worms (Sabellide and Serpuline) a greenish substance, chlorocruorin, occurs which has similar powers of absorbing oxygen and yielding it up to all parts of the body in need of it. It is, therefore, within the range of possibility, that if the ancestor of the vertebrates had developed chlorocruorin in its blood in preference to hamoglobin, our blood might be green, instead of red, and our admiration aroused by a verdant instead of a pink complexion. 49, Blomfield Road, Maida Hill, London, W.; April, 1897. Yerkes Great Lens.—After having taken about five years to make and grind, the great lens has been mounted and brought into use at the Yerkes Observatory, Chicago. This enormous lens has a surface diameter of forty-one and a- half inches, and weighs no less than five hundred and fifteen pounds. It was first used on the night of May 2tst, in the exploration of Jupiter. Much is expected from the astronomers who have control of this splendid instrument. PuotocrarHic MATERIAL.—We have received from Messrs. George Houghton and Son, of 89, High Holborn, London, their very comprehensive catalogue of photographic cameras, and every other imaginable article used in the practice of photography. It forms a large and bulky volume, which cannot fail to be useful to both photo- graphers and dealers in their material, 6 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. THE ODONTOPHORES OF MOLLUSCA. By E. W. WakE BowELt. ie these days, when the microscope has become part of the necessary outfit of the naturalist, it is somewhat remarkable how little attention is given to the odontophores of our native Mollusca. Most of the current manuals of British shell-lore inform us that ‘‘these beautiful objects’’ may be extracted by means of a spirit-lamp, test-tube and caustic potash. Statistics have also been published in such books explaining that certain species have sO many rows of so many teeth each, totalling up to so many thousand teeth. Learned professors have concocted Greek names for various forms of odontophore only less remarkable than the objects themselves. It seems to be generally understood that odontophores are worthy of study; and yet how seldom do we come across anybody who knows anything about them. We are told that it is a question .of ‘internal anatomy’’; but if it be so, the difficulties attending the study are not prohibitive, and it might well be taken up by naturalists, who would pause before dogmatising concerning the intestinal convolutions of a slug. It is in the hope of interesting some of the less advanced students of malacology that the following notes are written. The majority of workers at this subject, so far as I can gather, do not stain their preparations ; and they mount, notin balsam, but in glycerine jelly. I think there are good reasons for departing from their practice. An unstained preparation may be intelligible in the case of the larger species, but when we come to such forms as Conulus or the Vertigines, very little can be made out, even if the form of the “teeth” is previously known to the investigator. I find that all species are very much better for a stain. One cannot expect to get a sharp definition of the teeth (by staining) at the middle and front of the odontophore, but one can often get preparations showing with wonderful distinctness the recently-formed ones at the extreme back of the organ. It is just these teeth which are worth studying. Those which are in actual use generally get rubbed down very soon, and show a blunt apex; such have frequently been figured as the normal form of the tooth. It is practically convenient that these last-formed teeth should be the subject of our quest, since that part of the membrane is much more easily extended to advantage on the slide. My process is briefly as follows: (1) in the case of the larger species the radula sac, with its muscles, is dissected out—generally a very easy operation, The smaller snails are, if possible, separated from their shells. The portion of the animal thus obtained is boiled up with a few drops of liquor potassze in a watch-glass. Some care is needed in this operation, and it is well to do it as slowly as possible. A test-tube is hardly to be recommended, because of the great probability of violent projection of potash and contents; also it is exceedingly difficult to find a small radula in a test-tube. The softer parts will be destroyed by the caustic alkali, leaving the desired radula and the ‘‘jaws”’ or maxilla. (2) These are fished out of the watch-glass and washed in water, the vessel in which this is done being dependent on the size of the objects. Next the radula is separated from the maxilla, which may be dehydrated and cleared for a second preparation. (3) I then stain on a clean slide with Ehrlich’s hematoxylin, not dilute. The time taken in staining varies from three to ten minutes, according to the character of the radula ; but any over-staining can easily be corrected by a momentary sojourn in alcohol (or water) just faintly acidulated with hydrochloric acid. This must, however, be done after the blue colour of the hematoxylin has been brought out by washing in tap-water. One can then see whether the blue stain is too deep. (4) It may be that the points of the teeth, as well as the outlines of the basal- plates, are clearly enough indicated in the specimen as it stands; but this is not generally the case, so we add a second stain which will bring out these important details. The very best medium that I have come across is a satu- rated aqueous solution of ordinary eosin (1). I have tried a great many other coal-tar colours, but none is as good as the eosin, which, moreover, stains very quickly (five to ten minutes), and is not removed in toto by subsequent operations. I may as well add that all preparations of carmine that I have tried are absolutely useless for the purpose (*). The hematoxylin staining is not in all cases essential, but it generally very greatly improves the effect even when it does not stain the points of the teeth. It has a way of slightly staining the edges of structures which renders it very useful, especially when followed by eosin, which, so to speak, does the filling up. A Testacella radula very slightly stained with hematoxylin is a great advance on an unstained one, though there is no difficulty in this case in seeing the teeth with the naked eye. (5) The next process is dehydration with alcohol, followed by clearing with oil of ceda (1) Mine was obtained, through a chemist, trom Messrs. Hearon, Squire and Francis. The haematoxylin is best from Griibler. d (2) Mr. A. E. Boycott states that one sometimes gets interest- ing and curious results with picro-carmine. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Gj Aniline oil may be used, and in this case it is not necessary to dehydrate further than with recti- fied spirit. The eosin is not entirely removed unless one leaves the aniline on for a very long time; two minutes is generally quite enough. Aniline has the disadvantage of eventually asserting its presence by a rather unpleasant yellow colour in the resulting preparation. This will be of small consequence if the radula is thin and consequently there is little of the mounting medium used, but for the larger objects the cedar-oil process is to be recommended. Oil of cedar does not attack eosin, (6) Finally, having taken care that there are no bubbles in the pre- paration, and having arranged the end of the radula in its permanent position, dry off as much of the clearing agent as possible with cigarette paper. With care one may flatten out the radula a little with the paper. Put a small drop of Canada-balsam (preferably in xylol) on the object, and gently let down the cover-glass. There is no object in using a great deal of Canada-balsam, the less the better, in reason. Do not forget to label. This process may seem tedious, but the results make it worth doing. It occupies from first to last about twenty minutes, and several specimens may be made concurrently. I have tried with some success a single stain made from violet graph-ink, a substance whose exact composition it may not be safe (scientifically) to state with more exactitude. This is quite useless for certain OponTorHoORES OF MOLLUSCA. Fig. 1, Hyalinia cellaria (second row); fig. 2, Hyalinia alliaria (second row); fig. 3, Hyalinia pura; fig. 4, Hyalinia nitidula. species, though it gives good results in others. Its permanence may also be suspected. If one is in a great hurry, and does not want a preparation that will last, one cannot do better than with methylene blue. Methyl green is also very good, and so is safranin, occasionally. Another fairly good but uncertain stain is Nicholson's blue. I have preparations (in balsam) done with this reagent which have lasted perfectly well for eight months, and show no signs of fading; but it is a rough-and-ready method. The colour in methyl] 8 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. green preparations of the same date has dis- appeared. The ‘accompanying figures are designed to illustrate the genus Hyalinia as met with in this country, together with a few of its closer allies. I may mention that I shall be glad of living specimens of other species, especially those of this group, and any proximate Continental forms which may be figured in a subsequent paper. The genus Hyalinia has the reputation of being a difficult one. No one who has not tried it can fully appreciate how hard it is to bring out in a drawing the really important points of difference between the shells of the various species. In avoiding Scylla we fall into Charybdis, we exaggerate the differences so that the unfortunate collector finds that his shell is not eligible to be this or that or anything at all. The wise and learned gentlemen whose nomenclature we profess to use have fallen into similar difficulties before us. We find that the appropriate name Jucida has been applied to nearly all the species in turn. Nitens has been another rock of stumbling ; and when we examine plates and descriptions of foreign forms, our eventual state of mind and expression of it is liable to be unparliamentary. If we examine the radula of the confused species light begins to dawn. Variation within the limits of the species is here very rare, much rarer in fact than in most other mollusca. A T. nemorvalis with two or three teeth in each row confused is not an unusual find ; but I have never noticed such a thing in the Hyaliniz, unless we reckon Polita excavata, Bean., as belonging to the genus Hyalinia. The actual number of marginal teeth may vary a little, but very little. H. cellavia, Miull., and H. alliavia, Miller (figs. 1 and 2 respectively), have somewhat similar arrangements, but there is no chance of confusing the two (1). The central tooth is quite different; the marginals number half as many again in alliavia. These examples are interesting as showing ina marked degree what I take to be the more notable characteristics of the most typical Hyalinie : (2) The central tooth is small in comparison with the laterals and marginals ; (0) There is a very small number of laterals, three only in the case of these two species ; (c) The marginals are very long, and have only one point ; they are never bifid as in Conulus fulvus, etc. If we now look at fig. 3 (H. pura, Ald.) and fig. 4 (H. nitidula, Drap.), we find a departure from this very definite type. The central tooth is about the same size as its neighbours, a condition which () Since writing the above, Mr. W. Moss has most kindly furnished me with a photograph of the radula of H. glabra, Stud. The true g/abya appears to be rare in Britain; but I propose to treat more fully of this question in a subsequent paper. is, so far as I know, found in all other British Pulmonata, except Testacella, in which it is remarkably small, and the typical Hyaliniz already mentioned. Pura has still the orthodox three laterals only, but nitidula has four, and one transi- tional tooth which resembles the marginals, except for its being bicuspid to a small extent- When we get to the species forming the great bulk of the old genus Helix, we shall find that transi- tional teeth are so frequent that it is practically impossible to draw the line between marginals and laterals (1). In figs. 3 and 4 we note again that pura has a great many more marginals than alliaria or cellavia, and that the otherwise more aberrant nitidula has more still. They are not all shown in fig. 4; the type remains the same throughout, but the extreme ones dwindle down to a very small size. This increase in numbers is accompanied by a diminu- tion of size in the individual marginals, but as yet each tooth is only single-pointed, and of the regular form which we associate with the marginals of Hyalinia. From Hyalinia to Agriolimax (A. laevis. Mull., fig. 5) may seem a great leap, but perhaps it is not so great as we should be inclined to think. Here we see that the teeth are individually quite of the Hyalinia type, but in respect of numbers there is considerable difference. There are eleven laterals and about twenty marginals, the transition being much less abrupt, but yet not by any means difficult to make out. On account of the large number of small teeth I have only drawn a typical lateral and the first and last marginal. There are several groups which formed part of the old genus Zonites, as understood by Gwyn Jeffreys and Moquin-Tandon, which for various reasons have been or are being split off from our Hyaliniz. We have, for example, the Polita group (P. excavata, Bean., fig. 6), which pleads guilty to the possession of that very improper instrument for a Hyalinia, the spiculum amoris, or ‘‘ love-dart ’’ (?). Polita excavata is not very much unlike nitidula in respect of tongue, but it has nine laterals, instead of four, and its rather numerous marginals, though not bicuspid, are relatively small. The arrange- (1) I use these terms in the sense in which they are found in Mr. Taylor’s Monograph (p. 152), the laterals being those which are immediately at the sides of the central tooth, and the marginals the remainder from the last distinct lateral to the outside edge. This is also the usage of Pilsbry and most modern authorities. It seems likely that the laterals are homologous with the highly-developed teeth of the Pectinibranchiata, and the marginals with the uncini, which sometimes occur in that group. Some support is given to this view by the fact that where the laterals are abruptly distinguished from the marginals they are generally more elaborate and fewer innumber. The figures accompanying the present paper will show this to be true in the case of this particular group. The further inference, which I need not press any more at present, is that Hyalinia is the proto- type of a great part of the Pulmonata, Vitrina, Testacella and Limax branching off from it in one direction, and Avion, Patula, etc.,in another. (2) It is right to add that this organ is supposed not to be homologous with the spiculim of the Helicide. ment of the basal plates is strongly suggestive of Helix, and in an unstained preparation the whole thing looks utterly unlike Zonites, but the transition is as abrupt as can be wished. Conulus fulvus (fig. 7) introduces us to a new state of things. There are eight distinct laterals, and so far, except in their number, no great devia- tion from the Hyalinia type; but the marginals are now very distinctly bicuspid, and their basal plates are elongated in an opposite direction to that usual with the species we have been discussing. This kind of basal plate is what we meet with in the regular Helicidz and the Pupide. To return to the laterals. In cellaria (fig. 1) and alliaria (fig. 2) there is an endocone and a mesocone. Inthe second group, represented here by pura (fig. 3) and nitidula (fig. 4), there is a mesocone and an ecto- cone; but in Conulus we have all three points distinct. There is a slight indication of the endocone in Agriolimax (fig. 5). It is practically important not to confuse these points with the edges of the basal plates, as is easily done if the preparation is not Stained. The curious conti- nental species, Calcarina candidissima, Dr., was placed with some hesi- tation by Moquin-Tandon amongst the Zonites. Fig. 8 shows samples from its radula, and it is pretty safe to say that if allied to Hyalinia at all it must be a very distant cousin. the form of the teeth, as usual, at the newly-formed edge of the odontophore, and though they certainly suggest some amount actuaJly the case Fig Vilrina pellucida, Mill. The figure shows 9 shows the teeth of There is a good deal of general resemblance to Conulus, both in numbers and in form; but the Zonitoid in the form of their basal plates, and the transition is more abrupt SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 9 ralizations on the foregoing facts. My object is rather to demonstrate to such fellow snail-hunters as may read these pages, what an interesting field of study is here opened, and to suggest, if I may OpontorHores OF MOLLUSCA. Fig. 5, Agriolimax laevis; fig. 6, Polita excavata; fig. 7, Conulus fulvus; fig. 8, Calcarina candidissima ; fig. 9, Vitrina pellucida. most constant. classify according to Ot ALY Ze) w AN 1 OY organization, venture, that it may be patronised more largely. It may be worth while to add that of all distinctive characters which I have yet examined in a com- parative way, the odontophore seems to offer the It would be absurd, of course, to: tongues only, but we certainly ought to amass. and arrange all the in- formation we can about this interesting organ. There is much work to do, especially as too many of the old records on the subject are in- adequate because of imperfect microscopical methods. As most people are aware, we find the minute structures of animals less liable to variation than the parts which are, on account of their size more in evidence. Thus, amongst the snails, of whose radule we have spoken above, it would be quite easy to find a specimen of H. vadiatula bearing a_ sufficiently close resemblance to cellavia to deceive any naturalist who had not given the genus his special attention. Such instances might be multi- plied almost ad lib, for they seem to occur in every part of the animal kingdom, but more especially amongst inver- tebrates. The explana- tion appears to be that there has been a great r deal of convergence of typical form with respect to the exterior characters, a convergence pro- duced doubtless by similar climatic conditions ; this is not while those parts of the animal which are not concerned with protection or climatic adjust- ment retain for the most part their primitive These are matters of detail which are more till require close study, and that study should be diligently pursued by all naturalists who take an interest in the Invertebrata. It is not proposed to found any hasty gene- BY (To be continued.) 10 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS, With A NEw SPECIES OF PLECTOPYLIS. By G. K. Gupve, F.Z.S. (Continued from Vol. iti., page 332.) LECTOPYLIS muspratti (3) (figs. 45a-/). Witha number of Plectopylis kindly sent to me by Colonel Beddome for inspection, were three shells which he thought would prove to be new. Upon examination I found them to differ from all the described species, and now, therefore, publish this form as a new species under the above name, which was suggested by Colonel Beddome. Plectopylis muspratti in outward appearance some- what resembles Plectopylis nagaensis (vol. iii., p. 206, fig. 33), but the armature is quite different. The parietal armature (see figs. 45¢ and d) consists Fig. 45.—Plectopylis muspratti. of a strong, vertical lunate plate, strongly deflected posteriorly below, the convex side towards the (1) Plectopylis muspratti, n. sp. (figs. 45a-f).—Shell sinistral, discoid, widely and deeply umbilicated, pale ccrneous, streaked transversely with dull brown; finely striated and decussated with spiral lines, which are very distinct on the upper surface, but less so below. Sutvre impressed, spire a little conical. Whorls six and a half, scarcely convex, slowly increasing, the last widenin towards the aperture, slightly angular above, descending suddenly in front, and a little constricted behind the peristome. Aperture roundly lunate, peristome white, thickened and reflexed margins converging. Parietal callus with a strongly raised flexuous ridge, which is separated from both margins by a little notch. Umbilicus wide and deep. Parietal wall with a short enter- ing flexuous fold united to the ridge at the aperture, becoming attenuated inwardly, and at one-third of the circumference from the aperture, with a strong, crescent-shaped vertical plate, which is suddenly deflected posteriorly at the lower extremity; below this, on the anterior side, occurs a very short, horizontal fold. Palatal folds six, horizontal, short; the first free, with a small denticle posteriorly ; the second, third, fourth, and fifth connected with each other by a vertical tidge, which deflects below the fifth fold posteriorly and terminates in a small, oblique denticle ; the sixth again free. —Major diameter, 13 millimetres; minor diameter, 11 milli- metres; axis, 6 millimetres.—Habitat, Naga Hills, Assam. —Type in Colonel Beddome's collection, aperture; below, on the anterior side, is a very short horizontal fold; a short, entering, flexuous, horizontal fold occurs at the aperture and is joined to the flexuous raised ridge which unites the two margins of the peristome. The palatal armature consists of: first, a free, short, horizontal fold with a small denticle posteriorly; next, four short, horizontal folds connected by a slight vertical ridge about their middle; the posterior halves of the folds being thinner and slighter than the anterior halves; the vertical ridge is continued below the fifth fold, where it suddenly deflects posteriorly and terminates in a small oblique denticle; below the fifth fold, a little nearer to the aperture, is found a sixth fold, which, like the first, is quite free (see fig. 45f, which shows the inner side of part of the outer wall with its palatal folds, and fig. 45d, which gives the posterior view of the parietal and palatal armatures). Plectopylis macromphalus (figs. 46a and 6) was de- scribed and figured by Mr. W. T. Blanford in the “Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” xxxix. (1870), part 2, p. 17, t. 3, f. 14, and in Hanley and Theobald’s ‘‘ Conchologia Indica,"’ t. 83, ff. 8-10. The armature was figured by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen in the ‘‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society.’’ 1874, t. 73, f.1. The species has been recorded from the Khasia, Dafla and Naga Hills, in Assam. The shell is sinistral, widely umbilicated, light corneous, with in- cremental curved plicae, decussated by spiral lirae above, somewhat smooth and shining below It is composed of 44 to 53 flattened narrow whorls, the last being scarcely wider, subangulate above, a little descending in front. The peristome is whitish, a little thickened and reflexed, slightly Fig. 46.—Plectopylis macromphalus. flattened on the upper, outer margin; the margins converge a little, and are joined by a thin callus on the parietal wall. The parietal armature (see fig. 46a) consists of a strong vertical plate, which has a minute, slightly elongated, horizontal denticle posteriorly to its lower extremity. The palatal armature is in two series (see fig. 46b, which shows the inside of the outer wall). The anterior series SCIENCE-GOSSIP. II is composed of four short, broad, flattened, straight horizontal folds. The posterior series consists of ix narrow horizontal folds, which are shorter than those of the anterior series; the fourth and fifth are a little obliquely depressed posteriorly. The specimen is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, and measures 6 millimetres in diameter. Two speci- mens in my collection also measure 6 millimetres in diameter. Plectopylis minor (figs. 474-1), from Darjeeling, was described by Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen in the *‘Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ (5), iv. (1879), p. 164. As the species has never, to my knowledge, been figured, I have much pleasure in illustrating it. Mr. W. T. Blaniord mentioned a var. minor of Plectopylis macromphalus in the *‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,”’ xxxix. (1870), part 2, p. 18, which is probably the same form. The shell is sinistral, openly umbilicated, discoid, hirsute, finely ribbed, decussated by spiral lirae above, pale corneous with equidistant trans- verse brown striae; the spire is a little raised, the suture impressed. There are five regularly coiled a t J k + FZ 1 Fig. 47.—Plectopylis minor. whorls, the last being sub-angular at the periphery, a little wider than the preceding whorl and a little descending in front. The cuticle is produced into distant, transverse, brownish, raised plaits, which are each provided with four coarse, deciduous hairs, forming four lines which pass round the The aperture is lunate, flattened on The peristome is white, a little thickened and reflexed ; body whorl the upper outer margin, and a little oblique. the margins are connected by a slightly raised The umbilicus is moderately deep and wide, but narrower than in ectopylis macromphalus. The parietal armature ridge on the parietal callus B. consists of a strong vertical plate, a little deflexed below anteriorly, having posteriorly two minute denticles, one above and one below. A very thin, free horizontal fold occurs below the vertical plate, revolving as far as the parietal ridge at the aperture, where it becomes much attenuated (see fig. 47f.); this fold appears to be somewhat variable, for in a specimen in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, shown in fig. 47/, it is very short, and scarcely extends beyond the vertical plate; while in another specimen, also in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, shown in fig. 47d, it is absent altogether. Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen, in his description of the species, states: ‘‘ Parietal vertical, lamina simple, with no distinct horizontal plica below it.”’ The palatal armature is in two series, the anterior series consists of four thin horizontal folds, and the posterior series of six horizontal folds, the first of which is very minute, the next four a little broader and shorter than those of the anterior series, the fourth and fifth a little deflexed posteriorly, and the sixth very small and thin (see figs. 47g). The specimen shown in figs. 47a-e is in Mr. Ponsonby’s collection, and measures—major diam., 5 millimetres; minor diam., 4 millimetres ; alt. 2°5 millimetres. The one shown in figs. 47f and g is in my collection, while that shown in figs. 47h-l belongs to Mr. Ponsonby, who informs me that it was obtained from Mr. Hungerford, labelled, ‘‘P. plectostoma from Sik- kim.” At first I was inclined to refer this specimen to Plectopylis hanleyi, but upon further examination it appears to me to pertain to the species now under consideration; the measure- ments are the same as in the specimen from Darjeeling. An immature specimen in my collec- tion, with four whorls completed, has the armature near the end of the fourth whorl, and identical with that of a mature shell, except that it is smaller. A specimen in Colonel Beddome's collec- tion, from the Naga Hills, labelled with the manuscript name, Plectopylis minuta, Bedd., 1 also refer to this species; it is, however, a little smaller, measuring only 4 millimetres in diameter ; it is also a little more raised in the spire, and is more shining and darker. (To be continued.) ABNORMAL MARSH-MARIGOLD.— While observing specimens of Caltha palustvis, 1 met with a curious sport, viz., a flower bearing all its parts in perfect order, but in addition to its five coloured sepals, about one inch below the flower on the flower- stalk, bearing an additional petaloid sepal, giving the appearance of a coloured bract. This seemed to me a rather unique form,—Jolin J. Ward, 15, Foleshill Road, Coventry; tath May, 1897. 12 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ROYAL SOCIETY’S SOIREE. (eee was the usual brilliant gathering at Burlington House on the evening of May 19th, at the Soirée of the Royal Society. The exhibits were as diversified as formerly, and the votaries of nearly every branch of science found some specially interesting feature bearing on their studies. Physicists who work in investigation of electrical phenomena surrounded Mr. Wimshurst’s remarkable new machine for producing a spark of thirty-four inches between the terminals and twelve feet on the tables. This is three times the power of his former construction. Professor Roberts- Austen showed his combined camera-microscope which takes wonderful micro-photographs of metals and alloys under high magnifications. As an instance, carbon is shown in_ steel as minute diamonds. Dr. Norman Lockyer sent a series of photographs taken in Nova Zembla and at Kio Island during the visit there on the Solar Eclipse Expedition last year. These include one of importance—of the chromosphere of the sun, of which it is probable more will yet be heard. Spectrum researches were well in evidence. Zeeman’s discovery was demonstrated for broaden- ing the spectrum lines by the action of a magnetic- field on the source of light. The analysis of stellar light was illustrated by Dr. Norman Lockyer, by a series of wonderfully accurate photographs of the spectrum. The Astronomer Royal contributed splendid photographs of the moon, taken by the new Thompson 26-inch telescope at Greenwich. These are taken by an enlarging lens at secondary focus, equivalent to a focal length of 105 feet. Other views of the moon were by Loewy ,and Puiseux, published by the Paris Observatory. Further exhibits of physical interest were by Mr. J. W. Swan, of the effects of convective electrical discharges upon viscous resinous sur- faces; and he explained the mode of preservation of such surfaces for future examination. The duration of explosion, pressure generated, and other effects were exhibited by an apparatus invented by Sir Andrew Noble, of Elswick. The transmission of the Hertz wave-motion was shown by a most ingenious model arranged by Professor Sylvanus Thompson. Mr. Eric Stuart Bruce lent a remarkable series of photographs of optical projections in space. The instrument for their creation is not new, but its application in con- junction with a camera has produced some wonderful photographs which would be dear to the hearts of enthusiastic spiritualists. Mr. J. Gould conducted attractive experiments on the transmutation of sound. Sir David Salomons had a rotating mirror running at the rate of 48,000 revolutions per minute. Messrs. Barnard and Carver showed a new means of controlling an electric arc. Professor Ayrton lectured during the evening on ‘‘ Electrical and Mechanical Analogues.” Biology was represented by a considerable exhibit by the Marine Biological Association, from the biological station at Plymouth, in illustration of commensalism, or the association, whilst living, of different marine animals for their mutual benefit. These included the frequently-shown instances of hermit-crabs and sea-anemones; also that of Nereis, a worm which lives in the upper whorls of a whelk-shell, and comes down for food: Eupagurus, also a hermit-crab, and its companion anemone; a worm (Acholoe) which lives in a groove under a starfish; another worm (Malmgrenia) living in similar manner on heart-urchins. These and some other animals in like association formed an important exhibit. The effect of heat during the pupa state upon the alteration of colouration of certain lepidoptera was shown by examples sent by Mr. F. Merrifield, of Brighton, and Dr. Standfuss, of Zirich. Ethnology was represented by Mr. Warren, with bones found by Professor Flinders Petrie, in Egypt, of the ancient Naquada race, which existed some five thousand years ago. Africa also sent, through Mr. J. E. S. Moore, animals of varied forms from Lake Tanganyika. Biologists were favoured by the opportunity of hearing Professor J. B. Farmer lecture on ‘‘ Nuclear Division in Animal and Vegetable Cells.” NATURAL HISTORY EXHIBITION. qr City of London Entomological and Natural History Society held a successful exhibition on April 27th, at the London Institution, Finsbury Circus. Besides the members of the society, many leading entomologists kindly contributed exhibits. Mr. J. A. Clark sent full representation of all our known British butterflies, amongst which were a long series of male and female Chrysophanus dispar, hermaphrodite specimens of Dryas (Argynnis) paphia, Plebetus (Polyommatus) @gon, Polyommatus tcavus, and black vars. of Limenitis sibylla. Aber- rations in Mr. C. Nicholson's Vanessids included : Pyvameis atalanta, with partial bleaching of red band on right-hand wing; P. cavdui, with an additional white spot on fore-wings; and Aglais (Vanessa) urtice, approaching var. ichnusa. Mr. A. W. Dennis, a xanthic Epinephele janiva, Pavarge egevia, female, with male colouration; Pyvameis cavdui, much suffused with black: Argynnis adippe, with median black band on all wings; Cupido (Polyommatus) undersides with spots obsolete ; Spilosoma lubricipeda, with central fascia on all wings; S. menthastri, with spots much enlarged. Mr. Robt. Adkin, all known British species of ‘clear-wings,” series of Endyomis versicolor, Lusiocampa quercifolia and L. ilicifolia, minima, SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 3 ete., Camptogramma bilineata (black forms from Kerry and banded from Shetland), banded Thera juniferata from Orkney, black Amphidasys betularia from Yorkshire, vars. of Boarmia repandata and Abraxas crossulariata. Mr. J. W. Tutt’s Zygenids included Zygena hippocrepidis, a species usually confounded with Z. jilifendule; amongst his Geometers were a series of aberrations of Cidaria immanata from Lochgoilhead, and a hybrid between Amphidasys strataria and A. betularia. Mr. W. M. Christy, Zygena jilifendule and Z. trifolii, with vars. Macroglossa bombyliformis, with scales all over the wings, as found prior to their use, and Nyssia lapponaria, with N. zonaria and Continental relatives for comparison. Mr. C. G. Barrett, British and European Psychids, with their curious larva-cases; long and variable series of Agrotis cursoria and A. tritici; Leucaniide, with Leucania Javicolor. n.sp., lately determined by himself, and vars. of female, spotted, the latter belonging to Mr. G. F. Mathew; and a moth from Unst, Shetland, agreeing with Hadena maillardi (St. Cat.), placed on the table as a form of Crymodes exulis, but if of specific rank would be an addition to British fauna. Typical C. exulis and one inter- mediate form belonging to Mr. Percy M. Bright were also exhibited. Mr. F. J. Hanbury, Noctue, Noctua festiva var. conflua being largely represented, and the Xanthiz and Catocalz were much admired. Mr. L. B. Prout, bred series of Coremia ferrugata and C. unidentaria to illustrate the influence of heredity. Mr. G. Elisha, a fine exhibit of twenty drawers of micro-lepidoptera of the greatest beauty as to freshness of moths and regularity of setting. Mr. D.C. Bate, larva of Orgyia gonostigma. Mr. J. Riches, larve of Afamea ofhiogyamma on their food-plant, variegated ribbon-grass. Mr. C. Nicholson, preserved larva of Lasiocampa quercifolia, showing the “‘lappels.” Mr. S. Edwards, a valuable and immense collection of Papilioning from allregions. Exotic lepidoptera were exhibited by Messrs. J. A. Clark (Morphine, Atlas, Cecropia, Thysania agrippina, etc.), A. Bacot (South African), E. M. Dadd (American) and Dr. J. S. Sequeira (Indian). The subject of ‘‘ Mimicry,” or the assumption by persecuted species of similar or nearly similar colouration to that of species protected by scents, colours, or presumed nauseous- ness of flavour, from birds and animals, was well illustrated by Messrs. Watkins and Doncaster and Messrs. O. E. Janson and Son. Mr. H. Heasler, coleoptera, being the material for his ‘‘ London List,” which includes Molorchus Oodes helopivides, Aphodius lividus, Rhinoncus bruchoides. Messrs. O. E. Janson and Son, case of Phasmidz or stick insects, twig-like when quiescent—a further development of the “ protective mimicry" principle. Mr. W. J. Ashdown, odonata, showing the Anax imperator and Leptetrum quadrimaculata var. pranubila,; minor, =) can be captured in Surrey, Mr. J. A. Clark, nests of vesfa britannica from Forres, on fir, birch and heather, and from New Forest on ivy and yew. Dr. J. S. Sequeira, ‘‘insect products,’’ such as silk, wax, honey, cochineal, shellac, etc. Mr. R. M. Wattson’s “life in a pond"’ exhibited dragon- fly nymphs, water-beetles, water-scorpions and other inhabitants of our ponds and pools. Mr. D. C. Bate, a ‘‘ cat’s-eye”’ electric lamp for sugaring. Mr. R. A. Adkin, mollusca: Turricula terrestris (Helix elegans), from Dover; a large Limnea peregra, with body whorl abnormally humped. Mr. G. K. Gude beautiful varieties of Helices. Mr. C. Oldham, polished agates; also mosses and lichens from Merioneth. Mr. F. J. Hanbury, Italian Alpine plants and rare or extinct British plants. Comm. Thomas Hanbury, fresh fruits and curious seed- pods from La Mortola, Vintimiglia, Italy, including many varieties of Citron and Solanum; Ficus repens, the climbing-fig; Eucalyptus globulus, the blue-gum ; also the ‘“ bottle-brush,’’ from Australia; cotton, sissal hemp, and seed-pods of Canavalia ensiformis, Martynia proboscidea (the ‘‘ wait-a-bit ” thorn), and Pithecoctenium muricatum (family Bignoniacez), a double-valved husk covered with blunt spines, holding innumerable closely-packed winged seeds, with a hinged ‘‘septum’’ between the valves. Birds’ eggs were shown by Messrs. A. F. and W. M. Bayne and F. S. Cottell. Cases of birds and mammals adorned the side tables, Mr. F. J. Han- bury exhibiting terns, corncrake, shrews, pole-cats (rapidly becoming extinct in this country). Mr. J. A. Clark, rotche, smew (male and female), cinna- mon-coloured blackbirds; and Dr. J. S. Sequeira, great northern diver, laughing-jackass, sirral cat (a musteline) and porcupine ant-eater (Echidna hystrix). Microscopists displayed Melicerta conifera and Stephanoceros eichornii (tube-building rotifers), Lophopus crystallina, Plumatella vepens, Volvox globator, etc. Dr. W. A. Kibbler exhibited illuminated photo-micrographs, Gerard Smith, Esq.,M.R.C.S., etc., gave a demonstration of X-rays phenomena twice during the evening, and Mr. Fred. Enock, in his happiest style, gave a lecture on ‘ The British Trap-door Spider.”’ Lord Walsingham, an honorary member of the Society, visited the soirée early and addressed the members on the value and pleasure of a study of nature. A programme of music was delightfully rendered in the course of the evening, and light refreshments were served to all visitors. H. A. Savzt. 4, Mount Villas, Sydenham Hill Road, London, S.E. Presipenr McKinctey and Secretary Sherman have recommended that Congress shall make an appropriation of $350,000 for the representation of the United States at the Paris Exposition of 1900, I4 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL DISINFECTION. MEETING of the members of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers’ Society was held on April 22nd, in the Westminster Palace Hotel, when a paper on ‘Physical and Mechanical Disinfection’’ was read by Mr. W. Noble Twelvetrees. This subject, interesting alike to civil engineers and others concerned in municipal affairs, was dealt with in a comprehensive manner and illustrated by a number of interesting diagrams showing the various forms of apparatus used in laboratory practice and in public institutions. Favoured inhabitants of the world in the present year of grace are perhaps occasionally apt to overlook the useful work done in past generations, and those who imagine that efficient hygienic regulations originated during the present epoch are reminded by Mr. Twelvetrees that, in the earliest ages, disinfection and sanitary precautions received due attention. Amongst the earliest evidences of this fact, are mentioned the laws of Moses and of Lycurgus, and of heathen religious practices, all showing an intelligent recognition of the value of disinfection. Having called attention to the practical good sense the ancient Romans evidenced by their attention to drainage, ventilation and water-supply, and by the appointment of State physicians in their cities and towns, the writer pointed out that in the middle ages the civilized world suffered a relapse, diseases and epidemics being regarded as ‘‘dispensations of Providence, which it would be sinful to combat, save by prayer and penance.’’ The growth of a revived interest in sanitary science was next traced, also the recent development of the germ theory, which, aided by the practical science of bacteriology, has rendered the most invaluable assistance to those responsible for promoting the health and well- being of the community. Speaking of bacteria, or micro-organisms, which have been proved by eminent men of science to be at the root of all diseases, and injurious changes in organic substances, Mr. Twelvetrees remarked, “It is probably not exaggerating matters to say, that the self-respecting citizen has no better opinion of a microbe than an ordinary police magistrate has of a cyclist.” He pointed out, however, that the large majority of these omnipresent organisms performed useful work by resolving organic substances into their constituent elements. The physical forms and characteristics of micro- organisms were next dealt with as affording an indication of the means to be adopted for extir- pating or reducing the numbers of harmful species, Mr. Twelvetrees next described and illustrated the various forms of collecting, cultivating and sterilizing apparatus in laboratory use, then proceeded to discuss the question of disinfection by physical means. The drawbacks attached to the use of hot air appear to be the high temperature required and the length of time necessary for sterilization. Steam is recommended as the most efficient and convenient agent, but an important distinction is drawn between the relative values of superheated and saturated steam, the former, at a temperature of 285° F., being no more efficient than hot air, whereas the latter, even at 214° F., is extremely rapid in effecting sterilization. Satu- rated steam may be applied in modern apparatus, either under varying pressures or in the form of a continuous current, at atmospheric pressure. The leading types of English, Continental and American apparatus were fully described and illustrated, the results of experiments by leading authorities being quoted in detail. Among English forms of apparatus one including a novel and ingenious feature is that invented by Dr. Thresh, Medical Officer of Health for the County of Essex. The “Thresh’’ Disinfector, used on the ‘current steam’ system, utilises the well-known physical fact that water containing substances in solution possesses a boiling point proportional to the specific gravity of the liquid. By using a solution of calcium chloride (specific gravity, 136) a temperature of 225° F. is attained, steam being given off at about 220° F., thus ensuring absolute sterilizing efficiency. The apparatus is very simple in construction, and being open to atmospheric pressure there can be no risk of explosion. Mr. Twelvetrees next illustrated the most im- portant points to be observed in the construction of public disinfecting stations, and passed on to the consideration of incineration asa means of destroy- ing infectious matter which is not of sufficient value or is otherwise unsuitable for treatment in an ordinary apparatus. Chemical disinfection, according to authorities quoted, though not with- out its uses, is not to be regarded as a satisfactory means of sterilization. Mechanical disinfection, including natural and artifical filtration, was discussed somewhat fully, as being of the greatest public importance. Sand filtration has been found by Dr. Frankland to remove 98°4 per cent. of the organisms from Thames water. The assistance rendered to filtration by settling reservoirs, in which the water is purified by deposition, by oxidization, and by the destruction of harmful germs by inoffensive species was instanced, as also the valuable results obtained by the use on a large scale of the Porter-Clark and other systems of water-softening apparatus. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 15 After a reference to the desirability of pure and abundant water supplies, Mr. Twelvetrees pointed out in conclusion that disinfection, in the widest sense of the term, involves much more than comparatively limited processes in public disinfect- ing stations, and that nothing short of universally- created hygienic conditions will remove from our homes the evil presence of disease, and enable the weak and sickly children of our large towns to grow up into ‘healthy citizens, strong and ready to bear their part bravely in the great battle of life.” CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIFE-HISTORIES OF PLANTS. By THomas Pexitucip Dots iN HyPErRicuM. ANY species of Hypericum present small black dots on the stems, leaves or other portions of the plant. In H. corymbosum, Muhl., the stem and lower leaves have these dots profusely scattered over the surface, those on the stem being generally somewhat elongated, after the manner of suber cells as usually seen in the young bark or epi- dermis of woody plants. Examining the series of leaves in succession up the stem, we find the uppermost leaves nearly destitute of black dots, a few being found chiefly near the margin. Starting again from below upward, we find that as we advance, the pellucid dots, wholly absent in the lowermost leaves, begin to be comparatively scarce near the midrib. As they come into existence, the black dots disappear. The pellucid dots increase in numbers with each series of leaves—the black dots seem to give up the ground to the pellucid ones—till, when the much-reduced leaves beneath the flower are reached, scarcely any but the pel- lucid dots are found. They reappear again in numbers on the petals. It is singular that though there is an evident Correspondence in the increase of pellucid dots and the decrease of the black dots, no genetic relation- ship can be discovered. In no instance was there any evidence of a transmutation of a black dot toa pellucid one. The dotted structure of other species growing on my ground was therefore examined. These were Hypericum perforatum, H. buckleyi, H. kalmianum of our country, and H. androsemum, H. calycinum and H. moserianum of the old world. H. perforatum furnished the most interesting subject for com- Parison. The lower leaves, given up wholly to black dots in H. corymbosum, had only pellucid dots» and in none of these were black dots numerous. Indeed, it was only in the uppermost leaves that a few black dots were found, and these sparingly distributed near the outer edges. On the petals also the black dots are sparingly found. It is apparent from what has been stated in regard to H. corymbosum that the energy productive of the black dots is different in degree from that (@) Extracts from papers read before the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. MEEHAN. (?) productive of pellucid dots. We may further conclude that these varying degrees of growth- energy had but little to do with the differentiation of these two species. One species could readily be transformed to the other as each degree of energy was in control. In H. kalmianum and H. buckleyi pellucid dots are profuse. No trace of black dots could be found. From what has been already noted, they are not to be expected where the pellucid dots abound. In the European H. andvosemum the whole surface is minutely pellucid-punctate. The mid- rib and veins are also pellucid, At various points along the lines of these veins are, however, small swellings, more or less orbicular, as if they had been originally pellucid dots, and that lines had been thrown out to connect the dots with each other. In H. calycinwm there are similar connec- tions, and beside a few scattered pellucid dots ; but these are not round but pyriform, one end tapering into a narrow tail. If a little more prolonged, we shall have just such connections as we find in H. andvosemum. In H. mosevianum, we find the surface profusely covered with dots, not very pellucid, apparent though they are when held up to a bright light. Some of these are wholly individualized and isolated, but others have sent out a line as yet unconnected, but the great majority have had the lines connected, and have formed a mass of reticulated veinlets unequalled in any otherspecies [have seen. Turning to Hyferium prolificum 1 find many semi-pellucid dots in the petals, especially near the margin, and some of them elongated, andin a number of cases they have met others and formed an elongated pellucid vein. . I think these pellucid dots are the initial steps taken by the plant in the formation of veinlets and veins. It cannot for an instant be conceived that nature first makes a skeleton leaf and then covers it with parenchymatous tissue. These strengthen- ing ribs must be constructed out of cell-tissue only as the organism needs them. And this construc- tion can only go on under a regularly arranged system. There can be no theoretical reason against the view I have taken of the nature and office of these pellucid dots. 16 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. I think little has been written regarding the variable character of these dots. The only author I have found is Bromfield, who was, in a measure, my early patron and preceptor in botanical study. In ‘‘Flora Vectensis,” writing of H. perforatum, he takes occasion to note the difference in the character of the dots in various species, which, in some, take the form of anastomosing pellucid veins. “T do not find,’ he concludes, ‘‘any notice taken of this character by any author I have consulted.” I have seen none since his work appeared in 1856. ORIGIN OF THE FORMS OF FLOWERS. In my intercourse with intelligent and observing botanists, who frequently do not place their con- clusions on record, I find a growing tendency to discredit views, till recently widely prevalent, that external conditions have any more than a feeble influence on the evolution of the forms of flowers. Thought is in the direction that various degrees of internal energy seem rather the chief agents in effecting change. Listening to some verbal remarks before the Botanical Club of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Buffalo, New York, by Mr. David F. Day, I was struck by his point that irregular flowers were usually associated with the curving or twisting of the peduncle, while regular flowers and straight peduncles were usually closely related. I saw this subsequently well illus- trated in lilies. In the class to which belong Lilium philadelphicum and L. catesbei, the upright flowers are perfectly regular; irregularity, in some of the floral parts, characterizing the nodding ones. The nodding peduncles, after flowering, become erect, and in the seed-bearing stage the seed-vessels are erect on perfectly straight peduncles in both classes. It.is evident from this fact that in the species with drooping flowers the expansion of the perianth occurred before the uncoiling energy had been exhausted, and during a rhythmic rest. It is further evident that the growth-waves prevailing in the development of the flower varied in intensity in different parts, and that varying forms must neces- sarily follow from these varying degrees of energy. Unequal pressure by reason of the curve ought to be accountable for this inequality. It is, however, evident that outside agencies could not have had much, if any, influence in the curving which results in irregularities of these lilies. Some excellent illustrations are often seen where an erect flower occasionally occurs on a plant which generally has the pedicels more or less curved. Some gloxinias and other Gesneriaceous plants will readily recur to the intelligent observer. Gesneria elongata, a South American species, popular in garden culture, often has these erect flowers. In this case the flowers are perfectly regular, and of a different character in other respects from the normal ones. (To be continued.) SCIENCE AND ART MUSEUMS. Sik JOHN GORST’S Committee on the Museums of the Science and Art Department, in conse- quence of the evidence brought before it and the personal examination by its members, of the buildings at South Kensington, has issued an interim report urgently drawing the attention of Parliament to the peril to which the priceless collections are exposed of destruction by fire. The Committee consider that such a lamentable event might have long ago occurred but for the great care exercised by the police in charge. The buildings are at best only temporary, and largely constructed of varnished wood, lath and plaster. The Committee recommend that the exhibits should be immediately withdrawn from public inspection, and the buildings properly constructed and completed. Considering that the Kensington Science and Art collection is almost unequalled in value, we imagine the public would not begrudge the spending department at once finishing the permanent buildings for its housing. RONTGEN RAYS PICTURES OF - SHELLS. E are indebted to Mr. Wilfred Mark Webb, F.L.S., for the use of the accompanying interesting ‘‘sciagraphs"’ of shells, which appeared as Plate iii. of ‘‘The Journal of Malacology”’ for May (vol. vi No. 1). The portraits were taken by Messrs. W. Watson and Sons, of High Holborn, London, for Mr. Webb's journal. They show how useful the Réntgen rays may be for examining the inner structure of a shell, and suggest quite a new means of studying the interiors without having to break up the shells for that purpose. The follow- ing is an explanation of the figures : Figs. 1 to 7 are a series of shells of a cowry, Cypraea avabica, from the South Pacific Isles, showing the changes which take place during growth. Figs. 1 and 2.—Young specimens in which the shell is a simple spiral one with a thin unreflected lip. N.B.—The spires are somewhat worn at the tip. Fig. 3.—In this shell the lip has expanded, the edge has curled inwards, and a row of ‘‘teeth”’ is beginning to make its appearance there. Fig. 4.—Here another row of ‘‘teeth”’ is to be seen on the body of the shell approximately parallel to that on the edge of the lip. Fig. 5.—This shell is thicker, owing to the deposition of layers of ‘‘nacre” upon its outside by the mantle flaps which are protruded by the animal and which cover the shell and meet in the middle line on its dorsal surface. The ‘‘teeth” are now more evident. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 17 Fig. 6.—The thickening process is being carried on, the shell being considerably heavier and more massive. Fig. 7—The adult shell in which almost the maximum of thickening has been reached, and the which loses its top whorl as it grows ; the partition which divided the uninhabited portion of the shell from the rest is shown. Fig. 9.—A young shell of the same, still retain- ing its apex, and from its position on the plate Some SCIAGRAPHS OF SHELLS. broadening of the shell achieved: the longitudinal expansion of the lip, too, has now hidden the spire of the younger shell Figs. 8 to 11 are sciagraphs of three landshells which show the columella and the interior of the shell as well as other points noted below Fig. 8.—A shell of Bulimus decollatus from Malta, showing how much shell has been discarded by fig. 8. Fig. 10.—Clausilia swinhoet from Yormosa, showing the clausium or clausilium which guards the entrance of the shell. Fig. 11.—Cochlostyla philippinensis from the Philippine Islands. 18 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. NOTES OF A HOME NATURALIST. By Mrs. Emiry J. CLimENsoN. pees dreadful cold winds are now retarding what promised to be a very forward summer. By April 8th a nest of young robins in our garden were flown. Two swallows were seen flying out of our cowhouse, where there is an annual nest, on April 11th. A cuckoo was heard, first at Shiplake on April r4th, and a nightingale the same night. April 27th a wryneck was heard, and on the 30th a corncrake. Swifts were observed on May 7th. On April 8th I was told of an owl that the gardeners had observed for some three weeks or more sitting in the top of a cedar-tree on a terrace below the house. It was a large wood-owl, and with the exception of a day or two the ow] sat in the same tree, on the same branch, for about a month, when it disappeared. The cedar-tree is not twenty yards from the house. As there are five other splendid cedars in our garden, some further from the house, it was singular its choosing this par- ticular one. According to the wind, it sat with its face turned one way or another, motionless the whole day, though at night it was occasionally heard making a loud hooting. Barn-owls breed freely in the chalk pit hard by our garden, but I fancy a wood-owl perching so near the house is rather remarkable. In a glass jar in the drawing-room window I had a black larva that was quite different from most Ephemeride I have kept. It had a broad, black head, two sete at tail instead of three. The branchial organs were like exquisite feathers, which it continually waved. It could swim rapidly about the jar. Sometimes it lay in the little layer of mud at the bottom, sometimes clung to the Anacharis weed. On March 28th, on looking for it, I missed my larva, but instead, on the rim of the vessel, was a beautiful, clear-winged, black insect, with two small wings and two much larger ones, two long setze as before, minus the claspers which the larva had. It remained on the jar drying its gauze- like wings for two days, and then disappeared. Can anyone tell me what it was? Mr. Bateman, in his book of aquaria, mentions the genus Baétis having only two sete, but the feather-like branchie are not mentioned, which were totally different from any I have had before. Since this I have had another larva like it,except having three setz unfortunately, for some unexplained cause, it died. In a jar containing a dip from a ditch a perfect eruption of Hydra viridis took place on April 28th ; they were literally in hundreds. I have never found them before; only possessed those my correspondent, Mr. Nicholson, kindly sent to me. As I had had the dip for some days without perceiving any, they must have been suddenly born. In the same odd way a fine Hydra fusca, on April 25th, suddenly appeared on a watercress plant, which had been in a jar for a month or more. In the middle of February, Mr. F. O. Warner, our parish schoolmaster, brought me, in a small box, a piece of what he called ‘‘animated cotton.”” It turned out to be a thread-worm (Gordius), looking exactly like a piece of Coates' No. 40 white cotton, about four inches long when stretched out, but writhing and twisting itself into veritable gordian knots, lifting a snake- like head, which tapered toa point. I kept it alive for a few days, damping the earth slightly in which it lay, but it died curved into quite an ornamental twist. The colour turned from white to a pale yellow, it was perfectly hard and resembled a piece of twisted vermicelli. I could only see an opaque mass through my microscope, and not having a live-trough, or box, I had not tried to look at it alive. Mr. Warner had found some a year or so before, when digging. In a wood some three miles from here, on March 26th, I found an uncommon plant Chrysosplenium alternifolium, or alternate golden-saxifrage; of course not in flower, only in leaf. As early as the first week in March, a lime hawk-moth (Smerinthus tillig) was found emerged from a glass frame, and a second in third week of that month. I omitted in my April Notes in SciENcE-GossiP, to mention that the rooks which daily go to the school-house for food come from the rookery some quarter of a mile off ; also at the sound of the school bell at two o’clock, in order to search the playground for scraps dropped by the children from their dinner pieces; as well as attending the schoolmaster’s meals. They must understand the sound of the bell, as their nests are out of sight of the school house. Shiplake Vicarage, Oxon.; May 13th, 1897. BritisH AssociaTion.—The preparations for the meeting to be held next autumn, at Toronto, in Canada, are already progressing rapidly, and a hearty welcome is to be offered to the members who attend. Every grade of society in Canada will offer assistance. The Governor-General and Lady Aberdeen are to give a reception in the fine Legislative Buildings in Toronto, which cannot fail to be a success, when we remember the courtesy and kindness which characterize their Excellencies on such occasions. It seems probable that the English visitors may be outnumbered by our American cousins from south of the border-line. Several of the U.S. Universities will officially send delegates, and the Botanical and Geological Societies of America are to meet in Toronto just before the great assembly for the British Associa- tion, so that their members may attend the latter gathering. Public banquets are to be given to Lords Kelvin and Lister and to the President-elect, Sir John Evans. The railway companies have arranged for long and short excursions at remarkably low rates. Indeed, the 1897 meeting promises to be a brilliant success SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 19 = — = NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. Epwarp DRINKER Cope.— By the death of Professor Cope America has prematurely lost one of her greatest leaders in science. He died, aged fifty-seven, on the 12th of April last, at his house in Pine Street, Philadelphia, surrounded by his books and his fossils, which had served him to such good purpose. He may be truly said to have died in harness, for on the Tuesday preceding his death he passed for press elaborate articles upon his latest opinions on the classification of the vertebrates. In character he may be shortly described as typical of so many of those who have contributed to the splendid advance of civilization which will make this present century celebrated on the western continent. Thoughtful, con- sistent, original, and above all guided by a manly independence, Cope will rank as one of America’s greatest science teachers. Enthusiasm, as dis- played with his judgment, did more than anything else to create a lasting interest in the subjects he expounded. When only seven years old evidence was forthcoming of the natural aptitude for a love of natural history, which was carefully fostered and developed by his father. It was in the neighbourhood of his native city his work began, and he lived to become the leading professor of its University, and there end his days, as one of the world's most learned men of science. In his early days, that is in his later teens, young Cope had | many opportunities of studying nature at her wildest in the more remote parts of his native State. At that period his range of investigations included botany as well as zoology. At the age of about nineteen he went to work in the Smithsonian Institution, under Professor Spencer F. Baird, especially upon reptiles. In 1863 Cope travelled in Europe, never losing a chance of enlarging his knowledge in our chief continental museums. He began there his especial studies in ichthyology, in which he was later to become such a learned authority, in connection with his vast palzonto- logical research, which commenced about the year * 1865. This was during his_ professorship of natura! science at Haverford College. It was in 1868 that Professor Cope first published his ‘ Synopsis of Extinct Amphibia.”” Asa result he was attached to the U.S. Geological Survey, which gave him splendid opportunities for study of fossils, and so largely helped to found his vast knowledge of prehistoric vertebrate life. Born in en a on July 28th, 1840, Professor Cope descended from a much-respected line of Quaker ancestors, who ore early settled in Pennsylvania. He married, 1865, Miss Annie Pym, another name well Pree in the Society of Friends. A list of the works and lesser papers by Professor Cope would indeed be long, and will doubtless appear when a proper biography is undertaken, and such will be certain, for few men’s work has been more important. At a meeting of the Academy on April 13th the following minute was passed * The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia has received with profound sorrow the announcement of the death of Professor Edward Drinker Cope. It is fitting that this meeting should place on record a minute expressive of its sense of the loss sustained. The Academy witnessed the beginning and the end of his long labours. It was to its halls he came as a student in 1859, and it was to them he paid his last visit before his final illness. The lustre thrown upen the Society by his researches is but a reflex of the spirit of this remarkable man who exhibited, in a way rarely equalled in the history of science, the consecration of a powerful intellect to the pursuit of the knowledge of nature. To an almost unerring accuracy of observation he conjoined admirable judgment. He was unexcelled as an expert in the field of vertebrate zoology of both present and extinct forms; he discovered great numbers of genera and species; he announced startling and epoch-making schemes of classifica- tion; he framed comprehensive systems of philo- sophy based on biologic premises. EpwarpD JAMES Stone.—There died at Oxford, from acute pneumonia, on Sunday, May oth, Edward James Stone, the Director of the Radcliffe Observatory in that city. By a curious coincidence his death took place on the anniversary of the death of his predecessor, the Rev. R. Main, whom he succeeded in 1879. Mr. Stone was born in London in 1831. His moreimportant astronomical appointments were as Chief Assistant at Greenwich in 1860. He became Her Majesty’s Astronomer at Cape Town in 1870, whence he went to Oxford as above stated. Perhaps he is best known by his catalogues of stars of the southern hemisphere, one of which numbered 12,441 stars, published in 1881. Mr. Stone received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1868; Lalande Prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1881. He was one of the Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the Council of the Royal Society. His work in organizing the observation of the Transit of Venus in 1882 was most successful, as he had previously observed a like phenomenon whilst at the Cape, with a seven-inch equatorial. His high reputation was attained by his accuracy in meridian observations, which faculty was largely developed at Greenwich under Sir George Airy. .Mr. Stone was a member of Sir George Baden- Powell's expedition to Nova Zembla, in August of last year, where he, for a second time, had the opportunity of observing a total eclipse of the sun ; the first having been in Namaqualand. Joun M. Denton.—Canadian entomologists have lost two of their active workers. Mr. Denton was born in Northampton, England, on September 1gth, 1829, and died March 24th last. Brought up in England as a tailor and draper, he emigrated about 1855 and settled in London, Ontario, where he gradually built up a successful business as a merchant tailor. During his leisure Mr. Denton cultivated a knowledge of economic entomology and fruit farming, and also microscopy. He was an original member of the London Branch of the Ontario Entomological Society, and served as one of its Vice-Presidents, and then President, in 1878, and several years following ; he was also an active member of the Fruit Growers’ Association. J. Gamp_e Gepprs.—Captain Geddes was also an ardent entomologist, and wrote frequent articles in the ‘‘Canadian Entomologist.’ Born in Montreal in 1850, his early death, on April 3rd last, has caused much sympathy. He, in turn, se arved as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President and President of the Ontario Entomological Society. He was a bank manager by profession. 20 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 4 [BOOKS TO! READ Ws Cs y = NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. The Young Beetle-Collector’s Handbook. By Dr. E. Hofman, with an introduction by W. Egmont Kirby, M.D. 178 pp. 8vo, illustrated by 20 coloured plates. (London: Swan Sonnenschein. es Macmillan and Co., 1897.) Price 4s. 6d. If brightly-coloured pictures will help to induce young people to take up the study of the coleoptera, we should find a large accession to the numbers who take active interest in beetles. The collector, with the aid of this little work, will be able to make out without much difficulty at least the generic characteristics of most of the beetles he meets with, and so be led on to getting his specific identification elsewhere for the more obscure species. The work was originally published in Germany by Dr. Hofman, who is the curator of the Royal Natural History Museum at Stuttgart. It therefore contains figures of some species which are not counted as British. This is an advantage, as it will, we hope, lead the collector of our native species to broader lines of thought than used to be common among English entomologists. Those British species which are figured are clearly indicated in the text, so there need not be any confusion as to which are native or otherwise.. Dr. Kirby’s introduction is commendably short, and contains instructions for collecting and preserva- tion. We should like to have seen a little more space devoted to suggestions for breeding these insects, whose life-histories are so little understood when compared with those of our butterflies, moths and saw-flies. The coleopterists have an immense field still open for such investigations, as the cycle of metamorphosis and individual habits of but few of our three thousand species have ever been worked out. Any field- naturalist taking up that branch of study has full opportunity of becoming celebrated. The plates contain upwards of 500 figures, and those of many of the larger species are excellent; but we fear, beyond getting an idea as to the generic character, many of the smaller are not much use for identification. This is almost certain to occur with coloured figures of the more obscure, because their differentiation depends upon structure rather than colour. Asa whole we can recommend this work as being one which is likely to induce many to collect, and be to their assistance until they get past the stage of beginners’ books. Entomological Society of Ontario. Twenty-seventh Annual Report, for 1896. 127 pp. royal 8vo, illustrated by 103 figures. (Toronto: Ontario Department of Agriculture, 1897.) The entomological societies of Canada are far in advance of those in this country, in so much as they get their publications issued at Government expense. This is a most fortunate thing, as it is the means of much information being circulated which could not otherwise be placed at the disposal of the public. The report now before us contains a mass of information of all kinds relating to insects. One paper is devoted to ‘‘Some Insec- tivorous Mammals,” with illustrations. Another, also illustrated, is on ‘‘Entomology for Rural Schools,” and another on ‘‘The Importance of Entomological Studies to an Agricultural and Fruit-growing Community,” which latter takes for its text: ‘‘ The study of entomology is necessary, that the agriculturalists and fruit-growers may make the most of their insect friends.’’ In fact, we can easily trace, in the great attention which is given by the Canadian entomologists to the economic aspect of their studies, the Government financial assistance which is so envied by our societies in this country. We hardly expect to find that their influence will gain such pecuniary aid, even in a small degree, from our county councils, while the whole attention of their members is devoted to species splitting and the nomenclature of Insecta. There are few countries where the economic side of entomology is more neglected by the ordinary collector than it is in Britain. The Flora of the Alps. By ALFRED W. BENNETT, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S., with 120 coloured illustra- tions. Vol.i., part 2. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897.) Price 2s. 6d. net. We fully noticed this handsome work in our last issue, and can only add that every one interested in wild flowers, either whilst travelling in mountainous Europe, or in growing them at home in Alpine gardens, should at once subscribe for this book. Part 2 contains thirteen coloured plates. British Game Birds and Wild Fowl. By BEVERLEY R. Morris, M.D. Revised by W. B. TEGETMIER, F.Z.S. Illustrated by coloured plates. Vol. i part 2. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897.) isiies 2s. 6d. net per part. The second part of this work has reached us, and contains descriptions of black-grouse and red- grouse, with plates of the latter and ptarmigan. The re-issue of this work is a grand acquisition to the library of sportsman-naturalists. As stated last month, the work is to be completed in twelve parts. Journal of the Essex Technical Laboratories. No. 26. April and May, 1897. 28 pp. 8vo, illustrated. (Chelmsford: County Technical Laboratories.) Price 3d. The excellence of this publication is well maintained, and this number is full of useful information. We recommend many of our readers to subscribe for this serial as being of more than local interest. The Story of the Earth's Atmosphere. By DouGLas ARCHIBALD, M.A. 208 pp. 16 mo, illustrated by 42 figs. (London: George Newnes, Limited, 1897.) Price ts. It has seldom been our pleasure to find so much information compressed, in most readable form, in so small a book. Mr. Archibald has the faculty for telling such a story as this in the most enter- taining manner. The same in the hands of some men would have left the printers a mass of high and dry science, doubtless scrupulously correct, but unreadable by the multitude. We cannot too strongly recommend our readers to get this work ; to most of them it will open new lines of thought, where food for it may be daily found surrounding them. The author’s style is just what is wanted for this series—free, but not flippant, and im- pressive in his knowledge of the subject. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 21 The Royal Natural History. Edited by RicHarp LypbDEkeER, B.A., F.R.S. Illustrated by 72 coloured plates and :,600 engravings. Second edition. (London and New York: Frederick Warne and Co.. 1896-97.) In 72 weekly numbers, price 6d. each. This new edition of the Royal Natural History is indeed a wonderful instance of modern cheap publishing. Each number contains forty-eight pages of letterpress, many engravings, and a coloured plate. In this edition new coloured plates have been added in some instances, such as for tigers, leopards, etc. The letterpress has been revised and brought quite up to date by the editor as published. The work has reached its fifty-second WY; pe aitie gs, a short general introduction to entomology, and directions for identifying, prevention and eradication of the pests. There are also some life-histories and many excellent illustrations. There is a short appendix containing several animals of allied classes to insects, such as mites and centipedes. The arrangement in treating with the subject is to select the order of plants likely to be attacked, and then to describe the insects to be expected. The Naturalists’ Directory, 1897. 102 pp. 8vo. (London: L. Upcott Gill, 1897.) Price ts. This is the third edition of what in time will doubtless become a useful and important work for naturalists. The present issue is decidedly improved PASSENGER PIGEON. From Warne's * Royal Natural History.” part. It contains all that appeared in the first edition, with some extra features. When complete the book binds up into six handsome volumes Farm and Garden Insects. By WiLLiam SoMER- VILLE, D.CZ%c., D.Sc., F.R.S.E., F.L.S 125 pp. 18 mo, illustrated by 46 drawings. (London and jew York Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1897.) This little work will be found useful to many who live in the country, or are cultivators of suburban gardens For those who desire to do good by educating rural workers to a better knowledge of insect pests, it affords an opportunity for giving a useful but inexpensive aid to the attainment of suchinformation. Its pages contain in many ways, and far more complete than the last. There is, however, still much to be added to a new edition, especially in regard to finding out those very numerous silent workers who do so much but are rarely heard of. The work is now well worth its price, but we predict that it will have to be largely augmented before the directory becomes anything approaching perfection. Messrs. Ross and Co., 111, New Bond Street, London, have sent illustrated catalogues of new instruments, including the Photoscope, and a pamphlet on "The Electric Are Light" for lan- tern projection, by Mr. Cecil M. Hepworth, which contains description of the Ross-Mepworth arc lamps and the new patent eccentrical carbons. 22 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. y RU YES (SCIENCE ABROAD), : CONTRIBUTED BY FLORA WINSTONE. ANNALI DEL MusEo Civico DiI Stor1aA NATURALE DI GENOVA (Genoa, 1897).—The English articles in this number are chiefly devoted to collections that have lately been made in Somaliland. Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., writes on the ‘‘ Reptiles and Batrachians collected by the late Prince Eugenio Ruspoli in Somaliland and Gallaland in 1893." He also gives a ‘‘Report on Captain Bottego’s Second Collection of Reptiles and Batrachians from Somaliland.’’ This collection, which was given into his care by Marquis G. Doria, President of the Italian Geographical Society, consists of 247 specimens referable to fifty-six species, all of which have been previously described. The specimens were collected between Brava and the confluence of the Web and Ganana, in Southern Somaliland. Mr. Boulenger gives notes on several species which are little known, and adds some synonymic rectifications. M. D. Vinciguerra and M. F. Silvestri also contribute articles on collections made by Prince Ruspoli in Somaliland. M Ch. Kerremans, M. Carlo Emery, and Mr. Thomas Oldfield have further notes on Captain Bottego's collections from the same country, Mr. Oldfield’s being on the mammals obtained. A full account of Prince Ruspoli’s expedition and collections have already been published in the ‘‘ Bollettino della Societa Geografica Italiana,” 1895. M.E. André has a long article entitled ‘‘ Etude sur les Mutillides existant dans les Collections du Musée Civique de Génes.’’ He writes exclusively of the Mutilles of India and Australia, which are better represented in the Museum at Genoa than those of any other country ; besides is a list with ample notes of each species, including twelve that are new. M. André gives a synoptical table of the species he has mentioned or described. Healso adds an appendix descriptive of some Mutilles which lately arrived at the Genoa Museum, they were captured and presented by Lieutenant F. Derchi, from Erythrea. Mr. Martin Jacoby gives a ‘‘ List and Descriptions of the Phytophagous Coleoptera obtained by Dr. Modigliani from Mentawei Islands.” Amongst the Phytophagous Coleoptera obtained by Dr. Modig- liani from the islands south of Sumatra are some which seem to be new, and Mr. Jacoby says are probably peculiar to Mentawei. They belong chiefly to Galerucine and MHalticine. Mr. Jacoby mentions that he knows of no previously described insects from these islands. Professor J. Thorell contributes an article on the explorations of Leonardo Fea in Burma and the surrounding regions. This is the second of a series, the first having been devoted to the spiders of Burma. The present article is on the sub-order Parallelo- dontes of Araneae, collected by M. Leonardo Fea. Many new species are mentioned and described. M. Leonardo Fea himself contributes a long and well- illustrated article on the ‘‘ Zoology of Burma and Neighbourhood.”' La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES (Paris, May, 1897).—M. Etienne Rebaud contributes an article on ‘‘ Cellular Division,’’ illustrated with eleven figures showing the development of cells. M. Henri Hua writes on the underground life of Convallavia majalis, with five figures illustrating various forms. The series of articles on the French shore of the Channel by M. Adrian Dolfus are continued in this number, with a page of photo- graphs of species of Cardium, Tapes pullastva and Donax vittatus. M. G. de Rocquigny-Adanson contributes an article on the geographical distribu- tion of the large moth, Saturnia pyri. After a year of enquiry and research M. de Rocquigny- Adanson has obtained the results which he publishes, with a map showing the distribution of this moth in France. It is never found in the North of France, and the lines which limits its northern distribution are between the 48th and 5oth degrees of latitude. “PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA”’ (February and March, 1897).—Among a number of valuable papers are ‘“« New Fossorial Hymenoptera from New Mexico,” by T. D. A. Cockerell and William J. Fox; “Demonstration of the use of Oxygen by Diatoms,” by T. Chalkley Palmer, and one of importance on ‘‘Meadow-larks of Northern America,’’ by Witmer Stone. ANNAES DE SCIENCIAS NATURAES (Oporto, January, 1897).— In this number are papers by Dr. L. Vieira, on ‘‘ The Reptiles of Portugal”; Mr. W.C. Tait, on ‘“ Birds of Portugal”; Sig. Augusto Nobre, continuation of ‘‘ The Molluscs of Portugal,’’ etc. Tue French Government has awarded 4,000 fs. to Dr. P. Gréhant, Professor of Physiology in the Paris Museum of Natural History, to promote his researches on the application of physiology to hygiene. ProFEssoR KarPINSKI-—-The Committee on the Hayden Geological Memorial Award, which is managed by the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, has conferred the medal and interest on the fund © for 1897 on Professor A. Karpinski, of St. Peters- burg, Director of the Geological Survey of Russia. Professor Karpinski has long been the most promi- nent figure among Russian geologists, and, in spite of the claims upon his time and energy of the geolo- gical survey of Russia’s gigantic domain—very far the largest region in the world under the direction of a single man—he has found time to contribute valuable additions to our knowledge in many different fields. Some of these are: ‘‘ Geological Investigations and Exploration of the Coal Deposits of the Eastern Urals,” 1880; ‘t Remarks on the Sedimentary Formation of Russia-in- Europe” ; ‘‘ Origin of the Iron Ore in the Donety Basin”’; ‘‘ Geographical Observations on the Urals”’; ‘Sedimentary Beds of the Tertiary of the Eastern Urals’’; ‘‘ Reference to the Occur- rence of Permo-Carbonic Measures in Darwaz- minca,” 1884 ; ‘‘ Ammonites from the Ural,” 1884 ; ‘« Fossil Pteropods,”’ 1884; ‘t Essay on Unification, etc.,” 1884; Geological Map of the Urals, 1884; ‘‘ Materials for the Study of the Methods of Petrographic Research,” 1885; Geological Map of Russia, Sheet 139; ‘‘ Orographic Description,” 1886. Professor Karpinski has been prominent in the councils of the International Geological Congress. his ability and eminence suggesting his selection as the President of the general committee of organization of the coming Congress. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 23 CONDUCTED BY FRANK C, DENNETT. Position at Noon. Rises Sets. R.A. Am, hm. him, Sun 3-47 a.m. ... 8.10 p.m. ... 4.59 344 ew 8.17 eve S42 3-46 «.. 5-19 BP as Rises. Souths. Sets. Moon . + 9-3448.M. ... 4.51 P.M. ...1T.50 p.m. ~ T0020 p.m. --. I-12 a-m. ... 6 0.4 a.m. ... 9.0 Souths. Semi h : Diameter. Mercury... Venus Mars Jupiter .. Saturn 5 Uranus .. 9 2 Neptune... ham. ist Qr. ... Full ... June 14 ... 9.1 p.m. 3rd Qr. ... Wes sy) 30) .:-12:55 acm. In perigee, or nearest the earth, the distance being only 223,400 miles, on June 13th, 4 p.m. Ww i Githest from the earth, or in apogee, on 25th, at 10 p.m., the distance will be 252,100 miles. OccuLTATIons.—June 14th, the variable star X* Saggittarii, 4th- to 6th-magnitude, will disappear at 11.14 p.m. 105” from the vertex, the highest point of the moon’s limb above the horizon. The angle is reckoned towards the east, and continued up to 360°. The star re-appears at 0.27 a.m. on 15th, 257° from vertex. June 16th, o Saggittarii, 2-3 magnitude, disappears at oo a.m., 140° from vertex, and re-appears at 0°47 a.m., 212° from vertex. ; ; E i by my ted in error X in our May number (vol. iii., versight. - 337), CONJUNCTIONS OF PLANETS WITH THE Moon: June I planet 1 49 - 8 38 Sy RexTe SS. ° p.m, Daylight. + Below horizon in 1 Engl and. Scux.—Spots of considerable size occasionally make their appearance. No spots were noted with a small instrument from April 22nd to 28th, but on the next day a large spot had come round the limb, and some tiny pores appeared a little north of the middle of the disc Mexcuny may be observed in the early morning in the middle of the month, reaching its greatest elongation west, 22° 48’ at 6a.m., on June 16th, when it rises some 55 minutes before the sun. It was readily seen that time after sunset, even in smoky on May 3rd, by the writer without optical aid. It is unfortunate that on zgth it will be bright daylight when Mercury is in conjunction London, with Neptune, only 13’—less than half the diameter of the moon—separating the two planets. VeNus may be observed as a morning star all the month, rising rh. 25m. before the sun on June ist, and 2h. 21m. before sunrise on June 30th. It reaches the greatest brilliancy about midnight on June 3rd. Her path lies in a very barren region of the constellations Aries and Taurus. Mars sets just after midnight on 1st and about 10.34 On June 30th, but he only presents a very tiny disc. JuritTER is fast sinking towards the west, setting about half-an-hour after midnight at the beginning of the month, and just before eleven at the end. His surface, however, presents a noble sight, even with comparatively small instruments. SATURN is in good position all the month, and presents a splendid sight. On June rqth the major axis of his outer ring subtends an angle of 42°57”; whilst the minor axis is 17°08”, just greater than the diameter of Saturn. At 8 p.m. on r8th, Saturn is in conjunction with Uranus, which is situated 2° 3’ to the south. Saturn is in Libra, not far from the 4th-magnitude star 7. Uranus is in good position, but suffers even more than Saturn from its great south declination. NEPTUNE being in conjunction with the sun at 5 p-m. on roth, is quite out of the reach of the observer. Meteors should be specially looked for on June 6th and 7th, but also about 22nd, 29th and 30th. RED Stars are some of the most remarkable objects in the star depths. They vary in colour from a reddish tint to a deep blood-red. Many of them are variable in magnitude, and some in colour. They present, too, a spectrum peculiar to themselves, the dark lines being grouped in such a manner as to present the appearance of what is known as being fluted. The spectroscope fitted to a telescope so small as three inches aperture will show this. We will reserve until next month our first list of these objects. Tue November MeEtTeEoRS.—In April, 1867, the late Professor J. C. Adams’ paper, “On the Orbit of the November Meteors’’ was published, and had become scarce; but the Royal Astronomical Society have just re-issued it in their Monthly Notices for March. It should prove welcome in view of the expected return of the Leonids in about three years. Dr. Kart Boutin, of Upsala, succeeds the late Professor Gyldén as Astronomer to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, and Director of the Observatory. ROTATION PERIOD OF VENUS, was the subject which took up a great part of the time at the last meeting of the British Astronomical Society, at 2ssex Hall, Strand, W.C., which may probably prove the new quarters for the meetings of that society. The satisfactory proof of the true rota- tion period is seemingly very slow in being worked out. THe New OsservatToRY FOR LONDON. Progress seems to have been made with this institu- tion, for at the meeting above referred to it was announced that the Director of the Solar Section, Miss Grown, had given £50 towards the expenses, whilst the President, Mr. Nathaniel I. Green, had offered his eighteen-inch silver-on-glass reflecting telescope towards its equipment; and Mr. George Calver had offered optical aid 24 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. | Foe wey es GOSSIP 23 em Gee is SEES So) fe OS OND) MERE ee SOI EE Oo Tue Canadian Electrical Association will meet on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th, at Niagara Falls, Ontario. AN exhibition of Agriculture and Forestry will be held in Vienna by the Imperial and Royal Agricultural Society, from May 7th to October gth, 1898. THE Zoological Society of Germany will hold its seventh annual congress, at Kiel, from the oth to the r4th of June, under the presidency of Herr Bitschi, of Heidelberg. M. Lovis LicEr has recently contributed to “Comptes Rendus”’ some important particulars of certain Coccides living with Arthropoda, and describes several new species. Tue Botanical Section of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists propose to publish a full herbarium of the flora of European Russia, similar to the “‘ Herbarium Normale” by Fries. Iy ‘Science,’ April 30th, Mr. F. A. Bather, of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) replies to a review, by Mr. F. A. Lucas, of his paper, ‘‘ How may Museums best Retard the Advance of Science.” TuE Cork Naturalists’ Field Club seems to grow steadily, and is evidently popularising a taste for natural science in its district. The annual report shows much vitality and useful work accomplished. THE past winter seems to have been, in the south of England, one of the wettest on record. At Croydon the annual average was reached during the seven and a-half months following September tst last. It was decided by the Budget Commission of the French Government that the sum of four thousand pounds should be voted for the Pasteur Institute at Rhia-Trang to encourage Dr. Yersin’s researches on the plague serum. PRINCETON University will send its fourteenth geological expedition to the West during the coming summer. The party, under the direction of Professor Scott, will make paleontological and geological studies and collections in South Dakota. PROFESSOR LAWRENCE BRUNER, of the Nebraska University, sailed for Buenos Ayres on April 27th. He purposes to spend a year investigating the injurious locusts which have recently increased enormously in three of the eastern provinces of the Argentine Republic. : In the ‘ Proceedings’”’ of the Royal Irish Academy, 3rd series, vol. iv. No. 1, Mr. D. M’Ardle describes the Hepaticze of the Hill of Howth. His list of species includes no less than fourteen liverworts not previously noted in the County of Dublin, two being new to Ireland. M. O. Pome has found in Algiers, in strata of the quaternary period, the remains of a bear (Uysus libycus); a hyena (Hyena spelea), probably identical with the hyena of the caves of Europe; two cats, Felis spelea and F. antiqua; a jackal (Canis aureus), resembling a common jackal, and several domestic dogs. WE are pleased to welcome a new quarterly journal of which a couple of numbers have been published under the title of the ‘‘ Aeronautical Journal.” It is the official organ of the Aeronau- tical Society of Great Britain. It is brightly edited and illustrated. The two numbers contain much of interest to aeronauts and others. Dr. Tuomas P. Lucas, in a paper on the flying- foxes of Queensland, read before the Royal Society of that Colony in June last, reminds us that the flesh of these bat-like animals is ‘good gamely food.” He further suggests that the gastric juices of their stomachs might be utilized to assist human digestion, after the manner of pepsin. Mr. GeorGE H. CARPENTER, B.Sc., the Director of the Natural History Department in the Science and Art Museum in Dublin, has caused extensive re-arrangements of the collections to be made. The effect will be a great improvement, especially as it will provide for the new Irish collection formed to show the present fauna of the country. This should be of great value to students. A NEw entomological society has been formed in the City of Quebec. At present it is affiliated as a branch to the Ontario Society. With such an ardent entomologist as the Rev. T. W. Fyles, F.L.S., as president and organiser, we predict its early secession, and would congratulate the members on independence; considering the size of the province the new society will have to work. Mons. A. SucHETET, of Chateau D’Antiville Bréauté, Seine-Inférieur, has long been studying hybrids between various animals. He recently published a volume on such cases among mammals, and is now collecting material of a like character among insects, fishes and reptiles. M. Suchetet would highly value particulars of trustworthy cases. He may be addressed in either French or English. Canapa is much exercised in spirit over a source of her mineral wealth. In Ontario are vast deposits of nickel ore. A Government commission of experts from the United States some time ago was sent to examine the districts where it occurs, which are in the neighbourhood of Sudbury. The commission reported an estimate of 650,000,000 tons of nickel ore in sight. This, coupled with the fact of the comparatively new use of nickel-steel for guns and armour plates, has awakened great attention and some alarm. It seems possible that the intention was to get private control of these valuable mines in order to supply European powers with the material. BALLooninG in the Polar regions is to be again attempted this season, and by more than one expedition. The Andrée party start immediately, with an increased lifting power, many square feet of extra gas accommodation having been provided in the balloon. A French expedition has also been arranged by M. Louis Godard, under the auspices of four Parisian journals. A committee of superintendence has been formed with M. Rambaud, the Minister of Public Instruction, as president ; it also includes five members of the Académie des Sciences. The balloon is to carry seven persons. When in sailing order this machine will have to lift something like 25,000 lbs. weight, including itself. It is estimated the balloon will, when ready, be able to float from forty to sixty days. This expedition, like that of M. Andrée, will make Spitzbergen the base of operations. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 25 PORAMINIFERA IN LonpoN CLay.—Could any of the readers of Science-Gossip inform me whether foraminifera or diatoms have been found in the London clay now being taken out of the tunnel of the Central London Railway. I have found only crystals. I find they are plentiful under Piccadilly. —A_. Henley, 303, Strand, London, W.C. Brrp-Sone in Durnam.—There is a remarkable absence of bird-song this season in our part of Durham. The birds, especially song-thrushes and blackbirds, are almost absent in Twizell Dean and in Pit-Hill Plantation, where they used to be commonenough. This seems to be the result of the ruthless killing off of everything alive in our district—John Rowell, Twizell Colliery Durham. [The absence of these birds is evidently local, because we never remember more wild birds than are now to be seen in almost every part of this country. —Ep. SciencE-GossIP.] OrcHIDACE® IN SurREY.—During a ramble on the chalk hills, south of Horsley, in Surrey, on the 23rd May, a small party, including several field- botanist, found the following orchidaceous plants just coming into flower: green-winged meadow- orchis (Orchis morvio), early purple orchis (0. mascula), spotted-palmate orchis (O. maculata), great-butterfly orchis (Habenaria chlorvantha), bee orchis (Ofhrys afifera), green-man orchis (Aceras anthropophora), bird’s-nest orchis (Neottia nidus- avis), tway-blade (Listera ovata), and heleborine (Cephalanthera grandiflora). The season could not be described as at all forward, although some Spring plants were well over their flowering stage, while others, which usually appear about the same time, were still in full bloom. New Fettows oF THE Royat Society.—The following have been selected by the Council for election: Robert Bell, M.D., B.Sc., LL.D., Assistant Director of Geological Survey of Canada; Sir Wm. Hy. Broadbent, F.R.C.P., Physician to H_.R_H. the Prince of Wales; Chas. Chree, D.Sc., M_A., Superintendent of Kew Observatory; Hy. John Elwes, F.L.S., F.Z.S., President of the Entomological Society in 1893-4, and Ornithologist ; John Scott Haldane, M.D., Lecturer in Physiology, Oxford; Wm. A. Haswell, M.A., D.Sc., Vice- President of Linnean Society of New South Wales; George Bond Howes, F.L.S., Assistant Professor of Zoology in Royal College of Science, London; F. Stanley Kipping, Lecturer in Chemical Depart- ment of City and Guilds of London Institute; Geo. Ballard Mathews, Professor of Mathematics in University College of New South Wales; Geo. Robert Milne Murray, F.L.S., F.R.S.E., Depart- ment of Botany, British Museum; Francis Henry Neville, M_.A., Lecturer in Natural Science, Sydney College; H. Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., Regius Professor of Natural History, Aberdeen University; John Millar Thompson, F.K.S.E., F.L.C., Secretary of Chemical Society ; Fred. Thos. Trouton, D.Sc., M_A., Assistant Professor Natural Philosophy in Dublin University; Herbert Hall Turner, M.A., D.Sce., Secretary Royal Astronomical Society FosTER- PARENTS OF CucKkoo.—I have just received information from Dr. E. Rey, of Leipzic, that another foster-parent of the cuckoo has been discovered. He says, on May 14th, 1895, in Lebuja, Sevilla, Spain, a nest of Cyanopica cooki (the azure-winged magpie) was taken containing five eggs, with one of Cuculus canorus (cuckoo). Eggs of the great spotted cuckoo have on various occasions been found in nests of this species. This addition to my list published in the ‘‘ Trans- actions’ of the North Staffordshire Field Club, 1896, brings the number of recorded foster-parents of the cuckoo to 146.—W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staffs; April 24th, 1897. ABNORMAL PRimROSE.—I enclose a sketch of an abnormal form of Primula veris, which I have not noticed before. The plant from which the flower was taken is growing in a garden at Desborough, Northamptonshire. It was brought last year out of one of the neighbouring fields, and there was, apparently, nothing unusual in the form of the flowers, but this year they show a decided tendency to sport in the direction of the specimen shown, though some of the flowers are normal. It will be seen that the petals are surrounded by a whorl of five leaves, which reproduce the form of the normal leaves, but are much reduced in size; the calyx is wanting. In the specimen figured there were only three stamens, and the form of the stigma was flat and leaf-like. I shall be glad to know whether any of your readers have observed a similar form.—G. Creswell Turner, Parkhurst, Upper New Walk, Leicester ; April 24th, 1897. VARIETIES OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.—It ‘may be well to call attention to the varietal nomencla- ture in Mr. Tutt’s recent work, ‘‘ British Butter- flies.’ Although Mr. Tutt’s knowledge of the literature of his subject is admittedly great, he has, on this occasion, re-named several varieties (or mutations) and omitted several others. Cenonympha pamphilus ab. pallida, Tutt, seems to be the albescens of Robson and Gardner, 1885. Polygonia c-album ab, pallida, Tutt, appears to be hutchinsoni, as has been pointed out elsewhere. Polyommatus corydon ab. minor, Tutt (as new) is minor, Ckll., Entom., July, 1889. Colias edusa ab. obsoleta, Tutt, is fseudomas, Ckll., Entom., February, 1889. Colias hyale ab. pallida, Tutt, is not the form pallida, Robson and Gardner, 1885, so it will need to be re-named. It may beas well to remark that the *‘ very probable explanation’ on p. 235, respecting Pieris protodica and P. vap@ in America, is a pure product of someone's fertile imagination; the two insects are entirely different, and are placed by Scudder in different genera.—T. D. A. Cockerell, Mesilla, New Mexico, U.S.A.; April, 1897, MANGANESE DeEposits.—Last summer I came across a bed of impure manganese oxide in agravel deposit at Harpenden, exactly similar to that described by Dr. Lones at Watford (SciENCE- Gossip, vol. iii., p. 322). This is some miles to the north of the area he mentions I was rather puzzled as to its origin, and was glad to see the suggestion made in the paper. The object of this note is to ask Dr. Lones whether the stratified gravel at Harpenden, which now forms the floor of the dry valley running nearly due south through the village, and seems to merge into the more extensive spread on ‘No Man's Land’’ near St Albans, had a similar origin tohis Watford gravels? I have generally considered that the former was formed by the denudation of tertiary beds, and deposited ‘along a river which once flowed down Ht ae 26 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. this valley. Outliers of Woolwich and Reading beds are left in places on the flanks of the valley. The only erratics I have found here were pale- coloured grits or quartzites more like the grey- wethers of the south than the quartzites of the northern drift. I should also like to ask whether the deposit of boulder-clay, near Bricket Wood, contains erratics from the Nuneaton district, or whether they have not come from a north-east direction? I have seen it mentioned that beds of manganese ore occur in the Bure Valley in Norfolk. —N. E. McIntire, 6, Linden Road, Bedford. ABNORMAL ORANGES.—I see that you have some notes and an inquiry with regard to what your correspondent thinks to be an abnormal form of orange. (Vol. iii, pp. 307, 341.) This can scarcely now be termed a sport, as it is grown by the million in California, and has been a common form on all the markets of this country for years under the name of ‘‘ navel” orange, so termed from the resemblance of the end to the umbilicus. I do not know the method of its pro- duction, but it is an example of a successful effort to produce a seedless fruit. The fruit-growers of California claim that they will be able in course of time to produce seedless grapes and other things. That State is, I believe, the only place where this orange is grown, though it first made an appearance at Florida, but the frost of a few years ago un- fortunately did so much damage to this variety of orange-trees that there has been very little fruit from that State since. I think I saw a paragraph in the papers some time back saying that grafts of this orange had been introduced in Europe. The fruit is a very fine one. I have seen specimens on the market here fully eight inches in diameter, and I am somewhat surprised that it is still looked on as a curiosity in England. California oranges have much improved in the past few years; and this winter there were sent to market quite a number of cases of blood-oranges finer than those imported from the Mediterranean.—H. E. Smith, Chicago; April 29th, 1897. SELBORNE SocieTyY FieLtp Crus. — The first summer gathering of the Croydon Selborne Society took place on Saturday, May 8th, when the members met for an afternoon ramble at Sander- stead station. The route taken was by Sanderstead Church, along the Upper Warlingham Road, and across the fields to Riddlesdown and Kenley. The weather was all that could be desired. Many spring flowers were found to be still in blossom, the lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficavia) being still met with, whilst primroses (Primula vulgaris) were very plentiful. Wild hyacinths (Agvaphis nutans) were at their best, a few white specimens being found. A few early bugles (Ajuga veptans) were in blossom, but ‘the arum (Avwn maculatum) had not yet opened their spadix or hood. The creepers have not yet reached the hedges, but the discovery of the early purple orchis (Ovchis mascula) rewarded some of the party. Portuguese laurel and holly were in blossom, but the hawthorn was not yet out. Nightingales were repeatedly heard singing, as well as our spring visitors, the cuckoos. A few partridges were seen. Entomologists bottled water- fleas and the pupae of gnats, which exist in a wingless stage beneath the water. On Riddlesdown fossil sponge-remains (Ventriculites) were found in flints, and growing amongst the grass were seen early specimens of milkwort, both blue and white (Polygala vulgavis). The members of the Lambeth Field Club joined the society on this occasion.— Edward A. Martin, Hon. Sec. METEOROLOGICAL Society. — The RoyAL monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday afternoon, the 19th inst., at the rooms of the Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Mr. E. Mawley, F.R.H.S. President, in the chair. Mr. F. Gaster, of the Meteorological Office, read a paper, by himself and Mr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S., on ‘‘The Mean Monthly Tempera- tures of the British Isles.’ The authors dealt with the means of the daily minimum, average and maximum temperatures for the various months of the year in the twenty-five years of 1871-1895. They pointed out that there is a great difference between the amount of range of temperature at the coast stations and that recorded inland. The range between January and July amounts to about sixteen degrees at coast stations, but to more than twenty-three degrees at the inland stations. The contrast between the temperature of the air at inland and at coast stations at different times of the year is due to the following causes: (r) the constant tendency of the sun to heat the surface of the earth ; (2) the equally constant tendency of the earth to radiate its heat into space—both of these being modified greatly by the aqueous vapour and the clouds suspended in the atmosphere ; (3) the fact that the solid portions of the earth absorb and reflect heat much more rapidly than the water; and (4) that while the ocean to the west- ward is of enormous size and great depth, the sea to the eastward is, comparatively speaking, limited in area and shallow, and separates the eastern shores of the British Islands from those of conti- nental Europe by a small distance. A paper by Mr. C. V. Bellamy on ‘‘ The Rainfall of Dominica, West Indies,” was also read. The author gave an interesting account. of the climate of the island, and then discussed the monthly returns of rainfall from twenty-seven stations during the four years 1893-6. The rainy season extends from July to November, the other months representing the dry season. The month of November, 1896, was the wettest on record. SoutH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL History Society.—April 8th, 1897. Mr. R. Adkin, F.E.S., President, in the Chair. Mr. South exhibited the following Geometridae from Europe and Eastern Asia. Eustroma reticulata and var. eyosa, the latter larger and more golden yellow than the type; Cidaria silacegta, Chinese specimens, both larger and smaller than European; C. corylata, Eastern examples, very similar; C. picafa, some Chinese specimens, larger and more yellow; Mela- nippe procellata, some were larger than European and some with ground-colour suffused with a fuli- ginous shade. Mr. Lucas, specimens of an exotic earwig, Amisolabis annulipes, which could be distin- guished from British species by two white joints near the tip of the antennz; the distinctly ringed femora gives it its specific name; it was found in 1894, at Tavistock, but the specimens exhibited came from Surrey. Mr. Adkin, a fine series of red forms of Teniocampa gracilis from the New Forest SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Dy and Rannoch. Mr. Tutt read a most interesting paper, entitled ‘‘Some Considerations of Natural Genera and Incidental References to the Nature of Species."—April 22nd. Mr R. Adkin, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. Malcolm Burr, Bellagio, East Grinstead, Sussex, was elected a member. Mr. Waters exhibited a number of the “casts"’ of both owls and rooks. These rejecta- menta were examined, and the former contained bones, starlings’ skulls, etc., while the latter con- tained corn-husks and beetles’ wings mainly. Mr. Barrett, the only known Scottish specimen of Colias hyale, captured in Dumbartonshire by Mr. Mallock. He also exhibited a variety of Crymodes exulis, taken by Mr. Percy Bright in Unst, a form at one time considered a distinct species and termed Hadena maillardi, together with the same species from Rannock and Iceland. Mr. Auld, a varied series of Cucullia chamomille from Lewes. Mr. Robt. Adkin, a series of Hybernia marginaria (progemmaria), the progeny of a pair received from Mr. Hewett, of York; about sixty per cent. of the males were of the black form and followed the parents, while the whole of the females were dark. He also made remarks upon the scaling and pigmentation. Mr. Mera, a larva of Callimorpha hera, which had fed all the winter and was in its last stage. Mr. Perks, a specimen of morel (Morchella esculenta), which fungus came from an iron-yard in Greenwich. Mr. Step, the following specimens of spider crabs from Portscatho: Macropodia rostratus, male and female, with a ecard of dissections to show sexual differences, curved hooked hairs, upper and under sides of the chelx, etc.; IJmachus dorynchus and I. leptochirus ; Pisa tribulus, with a red sponge covering the whole of the carapace; and photographs of Maia squinado. The Secretary then read a paper on the above exhibit communicated by Mr. Step, entitled ‘Some British Spider Crabs."'"—May 13th. Mr. R. South, F.E.S., Vice-President, in the chair. Mr. Stanley Edwards exhibited a small scorpion, which he had captured at Digne, in the South of France, together with a specimen of the field cricket from the same locality. He also exhibited a pupa of Charaxes jasius, and stated that Dr. Chapman had sent him larve of this species from Cannes, earlier in the year. Mr. Tutt made remarks upon the condition of vegetation and insect life as observed by Mr. Edwards and himself during a week's holiday at Easter in the south- east of France. The weather there was superb, but yet the vegetation there was, at 1,900 feet above the sea, but little in advance of that in the south of England. With the development of insect life there was no comparison, for in one day he had seen no less than fifty-two species of lepidoptera. In the corner of one field were to be seen all our three species of the genus Melitza, flying together. Mr. Edwards exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Lamb of Maidstone, specimens of the flowers of Ophrys aranifera (spider orchis), Orchis purpurea, Smyrnium olusatrum and of the whortle- berry, all from that district. Mr. Lucas exhibited a mature and two immature specimens of an Indian species of cockroach (Leucophaa surinamensis-indica), taken in the forcing-pits at Kew Gardens. Mr. Montgomery, young larva of Apamea ophiogramma in the stems of the ribbon-grass, and contributed notes on its habit of leaving its old burrow and selecting a new stem. Mr. South, a series of Amphidasys strataria (prodromaria), and remarked on their small size, while the larva had been unusually large. Mr. Auld, a varied series of Boarmia cinctavia, taken this year in the New Forest. Mr. H. Moore, specimens of the rare insect, Pseudopontia favadoxa, with drawings showing its anomalous venation, its bifid scales and the isolated position of each scale on the wing-membrane. He con- tributed notes on the species which he said had come from Mombasa, East Africa, and about the position of which insect there was the widest divergence of opinion; some authorities placed it with the Rhopalocera, some among the Geometers and some among the Bombyces. Mr. Clark, a series of photographs of sections of the stems of various trees and plants. Mr. Turner, on behalf of Mr. Clarke, of Reading, specimens of Tephrosia crepusculayia, taken in the wood, which Mrs. Bazett had said did not produce the species. Mr. Tutt read a paper, sent by Professor Grote, A.M., entitled ‘“‘Autumnal Notes from the Butterfly Camp by the Shores of Lake Erie.”—Hy. J. Turner, Hon. Report. Sec. North Lonpon Naturart History Society.— February 11th, 1897, Mr. C. Nicholson, President, in the chair. Exhibits: Mr. Prout, bred specimens of Eupithecia castigata, from Sandown, and E£. jasoneata, from North Devon. Mr. Bacot, larve of Bombyx guerycus (received from Mr. Goymour), and of B. spartiti and B. quevcus from South France (received from Mr. Warburg), on which he read notes. Mr. Battley, thirty-eight species of Pyralides. Mr. Woodward also exhibited. Mr. Dadd remarked that all the female Ayctia plantaginis: which he had taken in Germany had red hind- wings instead of the ordinary yellow tint. Mr. L. J. Tremayne opened a discussion on ‘ Over- collecting and its Remedies.’ This question, he said, had been before the public some time, and. though over-collecting might not be responsible for so much injury to species as some supposed, there: was no doubt that it did exist and did a great deal ofharm. It was very difficult to know how to stop it, principally on account of the differences of opinion as to the proper remedy. The three main remedies seemed to be boycotting, legislation, and enclosure of the land. MHaving referred to the appointment of committees on the subject by the Entomological Society of London and our own society, Mr. Tremayne proceeded to deal with these three remedies separately. The first two he thought could only be made useful as auxiliaries, but real good might be done by a judicious enclosure of some of our collecting-grounds, and he suggested the formation of a central committee, elective if possible, with power to grant passes to respectable naturalists on the recommendation of their societies. This, he thought, with the assistance of an Act of Parliament, and the cultivation of a higher spirit in the rising generation of naturalists, and an attempt at boycotting the over-collectors, would do something towards meeting the evil. He was quite willing to see some of the collecting- grounds temporarily enclosed altogether, if neces- sary for the protection of species. It would also be necessary to define over-collecting with regard to certain species, and the Committee in our own society had been formed largely with the view of recommending limits to the collecting of certain species amongst ourselves. But if any success were to be achieved, naturalists must pull altogether and leave no stone unturned tostop theevil. It was clearly the duty of our society to do what it could in the matter, and we must each submit to be loyally bound by the will of the majority. Mr. Bacot thought that over-collecting would probably diea natural death—in fact, it was already 28 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. doing so. As knowledge of animals and plants grew gradually more complete, there would be less need for collecting; and the knowledge that would then be required would be chiefly that about living animals and plants, and the bother and trouble of private collections would lead to their inclusion in museums. The approach of collectivism would also aid in this, as the ‘‘money-value,” now one of the chief reasons for extensive collections of Lepi- doptera, at any rate, would cease to form a factor in their continuance. The money-value was, of course, only an indirect cause of over-collecting, but was, nevertheless, a very powerful one. The extermination of many species would, of course, continue, and must do so as long as men increase and multiply. But it seemed doubtful whether over-collecting ever did more than finish off slightly more rapidly the already rapidly diminishing species. These remarks applied to scientific col- lecting. As regards commercial collecting, such as killing birds for aigrettes or plumes, or butterflies for wall-decorations, that was quite another matter. Agitation would probably do much good, but he did not think at present that any legal steps could be taken, especially as the chief offenders seemed to be among the older school of entomologists, who had already filled their series; whilst any Jaws on the subject would press hardly on the younger men, who, he thought, were far less likely todo harm. He was strongly opposed to any idea of enclosure of the land. Mr. Frost followed. Mr. Battley thought the idea of reducing collecting to a system was too dreadful. He was informed that Mr. Tutt’s recent statements in the ‘‘ Record,” as to Lycena avion were inaccurate, and he saw great difficulties in the way of legislation. Many of those who were now doing the most shouting in the matter had themselves been the greatest exterminators. Mr. Wattson thought that of the remedies suggested by Mr. L. J. Tremayne boy- cotting was the most feasible, and suggested the possibility of introducing a rule into our society, limiting the number of exhibits in certain species. Miss Simmons deprecated the publicity of the matter, and urged the cultivation of a high moral tone among the rising generation. Mr. Simes pointed out that publication would advertise the best spots for insects. With regard to the difficulty arising from the ‘‘money-value”’ of certain species, he thought this might be met by careful transplanta- tion from Continentalstocks which would undermine the value of Lycena avion, for instance, in the British market. Mr. Woodward pointed out that the long series sometimes seen in collections are not necessarily the result of over-collecting, being often obtained by breeding, suggested that it might be advisable to label those thus obtained. Mr. Dadd thought that exchange had a great deal to do with the matter. Mr. Harvey wanted to know whether Mr. L. J. Tremayne suggested the lands were to be closed to everyone, or only to naturalists. If so, how was the naturalist to be distinguished? Mr. R. W. Robbins thought we should discourage as much as possible the purchase of British specimens and spread the idea that a British specimen was of no more value than a foreign one. He pointed out that the pass system was already in vogue at Chattenden Wood, where it had been of very little use in stopping over-collecting. He agreed with previous speakers in opposing enclosure of the land. Mr. Bacot proposed the following resolution: ‘‘That this Society is strongly opposed to legislation or the closing of collecting-grounds to entomologists or others.” This was seconded by Mr. Simes, and carried by twenty toone. Mr Prout said that if the dealers were left to do their very worst we should only lose about twelve species. Mr. Prout proposed the following supplemental resolution: ‘‘But that, while deprecating action on the lines indicated, the Society renews its pledge to the Entomological Society of London to assist their committee by all the means in their power.” This was seconded by Mr. Bacot, and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to Mr. L. J. Tremayne terminated the proceedings, — February 25th, 1897, Mr. C. B. Smith, Vice-President, in thechair. Exhibits: Mr. Bacot, larve of Bombyx quercus (received from Mr. Goymour), also of B. spartii and B. quercus (received from Mr. Warburg), on which he read extensive notes. Mr. Battley, a few Abraxas gvossulaviata selected from a large number bred from Stamford Hill larve. One specimen had the yellow in the transverse band almost absent, owing to the spread of the black spots. Mr. Prout, four continental examples of Thera vaviata, Hb., and four examples of T. obelisca, bred from St. George’s Hills, Weybridge, which latter Doubleday held to be a distinct species. Mr. Prout said it was highly probable he might prove to be right. ossler said that the form vaviata occurred on the Pinus abies, the var. obeliscata on Pinus sylvestvis. Mr. Prout also exhibited two continental specimens of Dianthecia luteago, and two Irish specimens of the strikingly contrasted var. barrettii. Mr. Harvey recorded three Nyssia hispidavia and several Hybernia leucophearia and others of the genus Hyberynia, from Epping Forest, taken February 14th; but on a later day he had seen only HA. marginavia, and on February 19th he had only found H. marginavia, one Cheimatobia brumata, and two Anisopteryx escularia. He had not seenany Asphalia flavicornis. Mr. Prout remarked that Asphalia flavicornis had been out at Wimbledon for about a week. Mr. C. Nicholson read a paper, entitled ‘Stars, Star Clusters and Nebulz,’’ which was very heartily received, and a vote of thanks to Mr. Nicholson terminated the proceedings.—Lawyence J. Tvemayne, Hon. Secretary. City oF LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL History Society.—Tuesday, February 16th, the President in the chair. Messrs. W. R. Dadd and Norman E. W. Merton were elected members of the society. Exhibits: Mr. Bacot, two broods of Teniocampa stabilis with their female parents ; No. 1, of nineteen specimens, contained seven males (36°8 per cent.) and twelve females (62:2 per cent.) ; No. 2contained ten specimens, thesexes being equally divided. All the specimens were much smaller than their female parents (hardly larger than T. cvuda). Mr. Bacot also exhibited twenty-two speci- mens of Demas covyli, bred, during August, 1896, from ova laid by a female taken in Epping Forest by Mr. A. F. Bayne last April. These contained twelve females (or 54°5 per cent.) and ten males (or 45°5 per cent.). Mr. Bacot also exhibited twenty- three specimens of Ennomos quercinavia, containing thirteen males and ten females, bred in 1896 from a male and female of his 1895brood. The parents of both broods were also exhibited. Mr. Bacot said that a comparison of the 1896 brood with the far larger brood of 106 specimens reared in 1895 showed that the proportion of males to females was almost exactly reversed; the figures for the 1895 brood were 56°6 per cent. females and 43-4 per cent. males, while for the 1896 brood they were 43°5 per cent. females and 56°5 per cent. males. Lastly, Mr. Bacot exhibited three male and four female specimens of Ennomos quervcinavia bred in SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 29 July, 1896, from ova given him by Dr. Buckell. One had no trace of suffusion, the remaining six all being strongly marked in this direction, and one male in particular having the whole ground colour of both wings of a smoky hue instead of the usual bright yellow. Mr. Bacot read notes on all his exhibits. Mr. Heasler exhibited a specimen of Dromius quadrinotatus, on which he read some notes.—Tuesday, March 2nd, 1897, the President in the chair. Mr. C. Fenn, F.E.S., was elected a member of the society. Exhibits: Mr. Dadd, Tephrosia crepuscularia and T. biundularia (?), var. of Hypsipetes sordidata, Lythria purpuraria, Hadena satura and H. adusta, Sphinx pinastri and other species from Dakota, U.S A. Dr. Buckell, exhibiting as a visitor, showed specimens of Cenonymphatyphon, on which he read notes. Mr. Bacot exhibited 122 speci- mens of Amphidasys strataria, bred during 1896 trom the ova ofa male and female of one of his 1895 brood. He also exhibited the 1895 brood together with its parents, which were bred from larvz beaten in the New Forest in 1893. Mr. Burrowsexhibited (a) larve of Orgyia gonostigma, hatched July, 1896, hibernated in bag out of doors on oak ; (6) same species a full generation ahead, hatched September rst, 1896, hibernated indoors; (c) a single larva believed to be Afamea ophiogramma, embeded in root-stem of striped-ribbon grass. With regard to the double broods of O. gonostigma, in 1887 the imagines emerged on June 28th, the ova hatched on July 18th, and the larve pupated on August 30th. In 1893 the imagines emerged on June 14th, the ova hatched on June 27th, the larve pupated on August 13th; and the imagines again emerged on August 25th, and the ovaagain hatched on September 15th. In 1896 the imagines emerged on June 22nd, the ova hatched on July 2nd, the larve pupated on August 3rd; the imagines again emerged on August 15th,and the ovaagain hatched on September 1st. Mr. Garland exhibited Aglaia (Vanessa) urtice, taken at rest upon a brick wall at Harrow Green, Leytonstone, about 1o o'clock in the morning of February 19th, and bred male varieties of Hybernia defoliaria, being larger than captured specimens. Mr. Newbery exhibited Bruchus lentis from Egyptian lentils. He read notes: ‘‘ This —— is erroneously stated to be without a thoracic tooth by both ‘Cox’ and ‘Fowler,’ although the contrary is stated in the original description.” Mr. Tutt read a paper entitled ‘‘ The origin of the Lepidoptera,” in which he gave a summary of the latest facts at our disposal on this subject, from which it appeared that the opinion is pretty generally held that lepidoptera and trichop- tera, originated from a common neuropterous stock, and that there is considerable probability that the Diptera originated from the same source. Dr. Buckell suggested that it might be as well to consider how broad was the base which we were trying to discover. Our present species had not necessarily evolved from a single species or a single pair. There was very likely more than one stem.— Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Sec. CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL Histoxy Society.—A meeting was held on April goth, the President in the chair. Dr. Sharp called attention to a peculiar structure which he Haticted some years ago in Chrysiridia madagascarensis, better known as Urania rhiphens. On each side of the second abdominal segment there is an ear-like opening, usually much concealed by overlapping scales, giving entrance to a chamber which extends to the middle line and forwards towards the base of the abdomen, so that a considerable space in the anterior and upper part of the abdomen is occupied by the chambers. At the anterior external part of this depression or chamber there is a second vesicle-like chamber formed by a delicate mem- brane. He considered this structure to be some kind of sense organ, and thought it must be of great importance to the creature, as it occupies a large area of the abdominal region. It is independent of sex and, apparently, occurs in all the members of the families Uraniide and Epiplemide. Mr. Oberthur had kindly supplied him liberally with dried specimens for the examination of this organ, but fresh individuals, or some well preserved in spirit, are necessary before any of the finer details of the structure can be ascertained.—L. Doncaster, Hon. Sec., King’s College, Cambridge. HuLt SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS’ Crius.—The usual fortnightly meeting of the Club was held in the Friendly Societies’ Hall, Albion Street, Hull, on Wednesday evening, the r2th May, the President, Dr. J. Hollingworth, M.R.C.S., occupied the chair. Mr. J. F. Robinson read a detailed report of the excusions made by the Club the two previous Saturdays, viz., to Little Weighton and Swine respectively. On the former date the members joined the Hull Geological Society in a ramble along the wolds. Hornbeam (Curpinus betulus) was noticed growing in a wild state in the hedgerows between Little Weighton and Blue Stone Bottoms. At Swine the party had a very profitable outing, especially the botanists. In addition to a magnificent show of orchids, bluebells, broom, etc., specimens of a rare plant for this district, the bistort (Polygonum bistorta) were secured in Coniston Coppice. Mr. J. R. Boyle, F.S.A., conducted the party over Swine Church, and also gave a description of ‘Castle Hill” on this occasion. Mr. Phillip referred to the diatoms found on these excursions, and showed some of the most beautiful with the aid of the microscope. Photographs of the country in the neighbourhood of Little Weighton were handed round by the President. Mr. C. Waterfall gave an account of a visit he had paid to Hornsea Mere the previous Saturday, and handed round several of the plants he had collected, two of which, Tevaxacum officinale var. palustre and Salix tviandva are additions to the list of East Riding plants. The exhibits included a boulder of rhomb-porphyry from the beach at Hornsea, by Mr. Waterfall ; several interesting cretaceous and other fossils by Mr. J. W. Boult; a collection of ancient British flint arrow-heads and ‘‘scrapers” found on the fields at Hunmanby, by the Secretary, on behalf of Mr. Leppington; and some botanical specimens by Mr. Knight. Mr. Wm. Nicholls was elected a member of the Club. Mr. G. H. Hill read a note on the dog’s mercury (Mercurialis ferennis), which he illustrated with some beautifully coloured diagrams. The lecture of the evening was then delivered by Mr. i F. Robinson, on ‘ Spring Flowers.’ In a delightfully interesting manner the lecturer described the plants which adorn the woods, ditches, fields and hedgerows at this season of the year. In addition he gave the results of his observations relating to the colouring of these early flowers. It appears the majority of ‘the flowers that bloom in the spring’’ are either yellow, green or brown, and Mr. Robinson stated what he thought was the reason for this. The lecture was illustrated by numerous specimens of spring flowers collected in the neighbourhood. —T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. at. -> 2a 30 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. Tue GeEoxoaists' AssocIATION OF Lonpon. Excursions and Conductors. June 5 to 8.—Whitsuntide. Cheltenham (Gloucestershire). E. Wethered. F.G.S., and S. S. Buckman, F.G.S. » 19.—Whole day. Leighton (Bedfordshire). A. C. G. Cameron. », 26.—Merstham (Surrey). Se db Hinde, Ph.D., F.R.S., and W. Whitaker, F.R.S. July 3.—Woking. F. Meeson. 10o.—Whole day. Peterborough (Northamptonshire). A. N. Leeds, F.G.S., and A. S. Woodward, F.G.S. i ST caer SHO Stortford (Herts.). Rev. Dr. Irving, -G.S. 26 to 31.—Long Excursion. Edinburgh. Prof, James Geikie, LL D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; J. G. Goodchild, F.G.S., and H. W. Monckton, F.G.S. Sept. 4.—Whitchurch, Oving, Quainton. A. M. Davies, F.G.S. Baker Street, 9.37 a.m. for Waddesdon Manor. 18.—Holmesdale Valley. W. J. Lewis Abbott, F.G.S. Victoria (L. C. and D. R.), 1.30 p.m. for Otford. For particulars of these excursions, apply to Horace W. Monckton, Esq., Secretary for Excursions, 10, King’s Bench Walk, Temple, E.C. Lonpon GEOLOGICAL FreLtp Criass,—Conductor, Professor H. G. Seeley, F.R.S. (Vide SciencE-Gossip, Vol. iii., p. 328.) June 12.—Coulsdon to Merstham. Cannon Street, 2.17 p.m. ,, 26.—Aylesford to Maidstone. Cannon Street, 2.37 p.m. July 3.—Halling to Rochester. Cannon Street, 2.42 p.m. » 10.—Hildenboro’ to Sevenoaks. Cannon Street. 2.23 p.m. » 17.—Upnor to Rochester. Cannon Street, 2.37 p.m. Hon, Sec., R. H. Bentley, 43, Gloucester Road, South Hornsey, N. THe SourH Lonpon EnTomMoLoGicaL AND NATURAL History Society. June 5-7.—Field Meeting: Ashdown Forest (Members intending to go please write to Secretary, Mr. H. J. Turner, 13, Drakefield Road, S.E.) July 3.—Reigate. Nortu Lonpon Naturat History Society.— The following are amongst the fixtures for next session: June 4-7.—Excursion to the New Forest. s, 10.—Debate: ‘Is Vivisection Justifiable?” >, 19.—Half-day Excursion to the Lea Valley. ss 24.—‘‘Clothes-Moths.” J. B. Casserley. There will also be a special-family discussion, entitled “The Liparidz,” to be opened by A. Bacot on some date not yet fixed.—Lawrence J. Treimayne, Hon. Secretary. LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND SCIENTIFIC SociETY.—We have received the following list of fixtures for the forthcoming session : June 7.—Whit-Monday.—Outing to Cheshunt. » 19.—Outing to Caterham. H. Wilson, Hon. Sec., 14, Melbourne Square, Brixton Road. Hutt Scientiric AND Fietp Naturatists’ CLus. Excursions. May 29.—Barton and South Ferriby. Boat from Corpora- tion Pier at 1.40 p.m. Return fare 1s. June 7.—Goole Moor. 12,—Aldbro. 26.—Pelham Woods, ” » Meetings. June o9.—‘‘The Extinct Animals of Holderness.’ Mr. T, Sheppard. », 23.—''Crabs.” Mr. F. W. Fierke, M.C.S. 5 For particulars, apply to Mr. T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. June 5 to9.—Excursion, — 5 23.—‘‘ Notes on Arancide (Spiders) of Leicestershire.” ” NorrrnGHamM NATURAL SCIENCE RAMBLING CLUB. Geological Section.—Leader, Mr. J. Shipman, F.G.S. May 29.—Trowell, Strelley, Kimberley, etc. Meet Midland Station, 2.30. p.m. June 26.—Drive to East Leake. Meet front University Col- lege, 2.30 p.m. Fare, including drive, 24 miles, and tea, 2s. 6d. July 10.—Trowell, Stony Cloud and Sandiacre. Meet Midland Station, 2.30 p.m. Aug. ee outed Excursion, Lincoln. Fare (special train), Is. 6d. Sept. 11.—Hucknall Torkard and Long Hills. Meet Midland Station, 1.30 p. m. Botanical Section.—Leader, Mr. W. Staftord. June 19.—Lambley Dumbles. Meet G.N.R. Station, 2.40 July 24.—Red Hilland Bestwood. Meet opposite Mechanics’ Hall, 2 30 p.m. Aug. 14.—Nottingham Arboretum. Meet Waverley Street Entrance, 2.30 p.m. Sep. 18.—Radclifte and environs, Meet G.N.R. Station, 1.45 p.m. Oct. 16.—Annual Meeting, Rambling Club, Natural Science Laboratory, University College, Nottingham, 4 p.m. Tea, soirée and exhibition of collections made during season. W. Bickerton, Hon. Sec., 187, Noel Street, Nottingham. 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 r8th of the month for insertion in the following number. No com- munications can be inserted or noticed without full name and address of writer. Notices of changes of address admitted free. Norice.—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 ttalics 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 THE Editor is not responsible for unused MSS., neither can he undertake to return them, unless accompanied with stamps for return postage. SusBscripTions.—Subscriptions to Sc1ENcE-GossIpP, at the rate of 6s. 6d. for twelve months (including postage), should be remitted to the Proprietors, 86, St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C. Tue Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name specimens through the Correspondence column of the maga- zine, Specimeus, in good condition, of not more than three species to be sent at one time, cavviage 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 editorial communications, books or instruments tor review, specimens for identification, etc., to be addressed to Joun T. Carrineton, 1, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C. EXCHANGES. Norice.—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, eggs of cuckoo, with those of foster parents.— W. Wells Bladen, Stone, Staffordshire. Micro slides or cabinet wanted in exchange for 5o-in. astronomical telescope; several good diatom slides for exchange.—R. Borrows, 18, Pensbury Street, Darlington. Eccs For ExcHance.—Black-headed gulls, crows, terns. Wanted, herons or razorbills.—John Duguid, 95, Gallowgate, Aberdeen. Wanrep, specimens of minerals and pebbles in exchange for interesting and beautifully dried plants (British or foreign) or cash.—David S. Fish, 12, Fettes Row, Edinburgh, Nata butterflies, set and named. What offers?—E. G. H. Tyrrell, 42, Raven Street, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa. OFFERED, two honey ants (Camponotiss inflatus) from Cent'al Australia, in exchange for twenty typical mineral specimens; forty ants available.—E. J. Bradley, Engineer- in-Chief's Office, Adelaide, South Australia. Core’s ‘Studies in Microscopical Science”; cash offers requested for above, complete, unbound. The accompany- ing slides are in polished pine cabinet, with glass door. Only accepted offer answered.—A. W. Dennis, 48, Mansfield Street, London, N.E. SCIENCE GOSSIP. 31 A PATRON HERE died on June 6th last, in his seventy- fourth year, at his estate, Almniis, near Hjo, Lake Wetter, Sweden, Baron Oscar Dickson, the well-known patron of scientific explorations. He was best remembered by his great services in assisting in the equipment of expeditions to the Arctic regions, one of the most successful with which he was associated being that of Professor, afterwards Baron, Nordenskidld in the ‘‘ Vega” in 1878-1880. That expedition was initiated on the representation of Professor Nordenskiéld, in 1876, when he placed his plan before the King of Sweden and Norway. The King warmly took up the proposal on account of the great experience Nordenskidld had gained in two former explorations of the Northern Palaearctic coasts ; first in a walrus hunting sloop, the ‘“ Proeven,’ and after- wards in a steamer named the “Ymer.”’ On the invitation of King Oscar, an important dinner party took place in January, 1877, to discuss the project. Among those invited by the King to meet the projector was Dr. Oscar Dickson, a wealthy Gothen- burg merchant, and the subject of this notice. There were also there Baron F. W. von Otter, the Minister of Marine, a sailor who had gained experi- ence in Arctic waters in 1868 and 1871, and others who had also been in like expeditions. After dinner Nordenskidld's pro- gramme was laid before the meeting, which became lively with discussion on the probabilities of success, by no means all the speakers being in its favour. in the end, His Majesty declared himself convinced of the practicability of the proposed voyage to discover a north-east passage to the Pacific Ocean. Further, the King volun- teered his official patronage and private financial support. Dr. Oscar Dickson also offered financial help, and became the banker of the “ Vega” expedition, the cost in the end being borne equally by the King, Dr. Dickson, and another patron of exploration of the Arctic, Mr. Sibiriakoff. This was not the first assistance given to a like cause by he who was destined to become Baron Jeuty, 1997-—No. 3%, Vol. IV. Baron Oscar Dickson. OF SCIENCE. Dickson. In 1868 he helped an expedition to Spitzbergen, also others in i870 and 1876, to the Yenisej. His energies and purse were directed to the more practical side of these scientific voyages, such as the opening of a trade route to the Siberian rivers, Lena and Yenisej, which are numbered among the greatest streams of the world. At a later period Baron Dickson found dis- appointment awaiting his efforts to form an Antarctic expedition. Though all his powerful influence was used to bring about that voyage of discovery, it failed for want of support and had to be abandoned. The frequent visits to this country of Baron Dickson caused him to be well-known here, where he always found friends. Among his recreations the subject of this notice cultivated scientific breeding of horses, the result being that he much improved the class of those animals in the neighbourhood of his own estate. He was a con- siderable buyer of high-class stud horses on his visits to England. These were sent to Sweden for the purpose of raising the standard of breed among horses in his own country. Considering the number of men in modern times who have amassed _ great riches, it is surprising that more have not become patrons of science. It is hardly necessary to remind those who can well afford to do so, how many are the ebjects connected with science which could be benefited by their generosity; nor how splendid may be the results for mankind. It would be ungracious, however, not to feel grateful to such men as Dickson, Lick, Monde, Harmsworth and others, for their munificence. To them the world of science is under deep obligations; for if we review the past and probable scientific result of their rich gifts, much which is now common know- ledge would have still been among the unknown. Could any earthly satisfaction be greater than to feel that one has been able to help in the progress of scientific knowledge and thus do a great and lasting good for one’s fellow creatures ? 32 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. COAL IN KENT. By H. E. Turner, B.A.* qT present month has seen the successful flotation of the third company that has been formed with the object of exploring the county of Kent for the mineral wealth that is supposed to be buried deep below the surface. The capital of £250,000 required by the promotors of the ‘‘ Kent Coal Exploration Company ’’ has been subscribed three times over in two or three days. Considering that this latest venture is a purely speculative one, inasmuch as no coal has actually been discovered within the area of its proposed operations, the result of the Company’s appeal for funds must be regarded as an eloquent testimony to the con- fidence now reposed in the deductions of geologists. Disparaging allusions have often been made to geology as the most speculative of all the sciences, and to a certain extent it may be open to that reproach. In its practical application to mining, however, geology has rendered services that no one who is qualified to express an opinion can fail to appreciate. Many a fortune has been made by following its guidance, and many a one lost by neglect of its teachings, while vast stores of mineral wealth have been rendered available that would otherwise have remained hidden and unknown. The question of the existence of coal under our south-eastern counties is a most momentous one. It touches us as a nation whose unparalleled advance in wealth during the present century has been due, in no small measure, to those bountiful supplies of coal and iron which have given us our manufacturing supremacy. Bountiful, it is true— but not inexhaustible. Our present coalfields have an enormous output, but they have to meet an ever-increasing demand; their boundaries may be far wider than we anticipate, but they must have a limit. Whether our coal supply is sufficient to last 275 or 1,275 years longer—to take the divergent opinions expressed in the report of the Coal Commission of 1871—the fact remains that we are living, not upon our interest, but upon our capital. It behoves us, therefore, as the stewards of posterity, to lose no opportunity of rendering available those hidden supplies of wealth that doubtless exist, and thus to provide a measure of compensation for our present lavish expenditure. However pressing the claims of posterity, they do not appeal to us with the same force as present interests, and so this coal question probably touches us still more closely as inhabitants of a * Abstract of a paper read before the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies at Tunbridge Wells, May 22nd, 1897. district which at present is further removed than any other from our great centres of supply. Our solicitude for the comfort and prosperity of generations yet unborn must necessarily be of a somewhat platonic character, whereas our peace of mind is apt to vary inversely as the demands upon our pockets. A reduction in the price of coal by one third or one fourth would doubtless be viewed with equanimity by most householders in this part of the country, if not by the railway companies north of the Thames. Except in the unlikely event of a monopoly, such a result would probably accrue from the establishment of successful collieries in our southern counties. It is not from the side of political economy or individual finance that I wish to view this question, but I feel a very special interest in the realization of a bold theory propounded by an eminent geologist forty years ago, to most minds based on very slender evidence, often ridiculed, but now triumphantly vindicated. Probably few of us have had the time, the opportunity, or the inclina- tion to study this theory, and to form our own opinions upon it. Other branches of science may have claimed our attention, and so a brief resumé of the arguments and course of events that have led to the discovery of coal in Kent, with all its contingent possibilities, may not prove unwelcome. It would be well, however, to make a few preliminary remarks respecting the geological position of coal, and its mode of occurrence in what are known as ‘‘coal basins.” It is well known that this important mineral is practically confined to the geological formation termed the “‘coal measures” which form the upper division of the Carboniferous system. The two other principal divisions in descending order are the millstone grit, a shallow water deposit varying from 500 to 1,000 feet in thickness, and the carboni- ferous limestone, formed as a rule in deeper water, and from 500 to 2,500 feet thick. The whole system is of vast antiquity, belonging as it does to the group of ancient sedimentary rocks known as the palezozoic or primary, of which, however, it is one of the most recent members. The coal measures are sometimes of enormous thickness—from 10,000 to 12,000 feet. For instance, in the South Wales coalfield, the coal is being distributed in seams more or less throughout, but these form a very insignificant proportion of the whole, being often separated by massive beds of sandstone, shale and clay. The most profitable seams occur in the upper and middle part of the coal measures. The thickest SCIENCE-GOSSIP. seam in England is the ten-yard seam of the Dudley coalfield, but this is quite exceptional, a few feet being generally the maximum. These coal seams represent successive periods during which a luxuriant and very characteristic vegetation covered an old, low-lying swampy land surface, which was subject to frequent oscillations of level and consequent incursions of the sea, each of which resulted in the deposition of sand and mud on the peaty matter that had accumulated during the previous period of vegetable growth. At last a marked upheaval brought about conditions unfavourable to further development of these in- cipient coal beds, thus bringing the Carboniferous period to a close. Subsequent disturbances eventually modified in large measure the general distribution of the coal-bearing strata. Together with the underlying formations they were thrown into a series of longitudinal and transverse folds. Nature's ceaseless agents of destruction—air, frost and water—came into play, and slowly but surely removed the crests of these folds, wearing their way down to still lower and lower strata, until the coal measures, and in many cases the underlying beds, disappeared. On the other hand, the coal measures between the folds being from their position less exposed to denudation, remained comparatively intact, but isolated from those with which they had formerly been continuous, lying in troughs or basins surrounded by older rocks. Thus one of the folds above referred to extended north and south from the Cheviots into the heart of the Midlands, forming a ridge now known as the Pennine Chain, with its strata dripping east and west. Untold ages of wear and tear have, however, stripped the summit of this ridge of its coal measures, laid bare the millstone grit below, and to a large extent the carboniferous limestone also. In this way the coalfields on the east of the Pennine Range became separated from those on the west, while a similar disturbance and denuda- tion that appears to have taken place subsequently in a transverse direction through the northern parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire have cut off the Northumberland and Durbam coalfield from that of Yorkshire, and also isolated the Cumberland from the coalfields. In a similar manner, the coal basin of the Forest of Dean has The intervening country is now largely occupied by rocks far older than the carboniferous limestone—- No better examples The coal measures occupy a dish-shaped hollow formed by the underlying millstone grit which crops up all round, and together with the carboniferous lime- Lancashire been separated from that of South Wales. all exposed by denudation could be given of coal basins than these two stone below forms at the surface the edge of the basin The South Wales coalfield is bounded on the ¢ 33 south by a tract of rocks consisting of carboniferous limestone, which in many places has been denuded down to the underlying formation known as the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone. These occupy the extreme southern portions of Pembrokeshire and Glamorganshire, but their continuity is inter- rupted by the bays of Swansea and Carmarthen, and also, just south of Cardiff, by the estuary of the Severn, but on the eastern side of the estuary they reappear in the form of the Mendip Hills of Somersetshire. Still further east they disappear under newer formations, the whole tract being one of the transverse folds formed after the close of the Carboniferous period, and as we shall see later it has an important bearing on the question of coal in our southern counties. On the northern flanks of the Mendip Hills we find the millstone grit and coal measures of the Bristol coalfield, largely hidden, however, by newer deposits of secondary age, and only appearing at the surface where these have been removed by denudation. We are now in a position to appreciate the reasoning by which Mr. Godwin-Austen, in 1855, was led to put forward the theory that an exten- sion of these western coalfields might be found at a workable depth under our south-eastern counties. At first sight the idea seemed a wild one. In proceeding eastwards from Bristol we meet in succession immense thicknesses of newer secondary rocks, all dipping eastwards in such a manner as apparently to place the palwozoic rocks at a depth of at least six or seven thousand feet below the surface in the neighbourhood of London, and consequently entirely beyond our reach. Besides, there seemed no guarantee that deposits of carboniferous age existed at all so far east; the formation might thin out, or, if not, might change its character in so great a distance—a not unlikely possibility. Mr. Godwin-Austen was able to reveal, however, certain points of similarity between the coalfields of Belgium and north-east France and those of Somersetshire and South Wales, and also between the Ardennes district and the Mendip Tlills, which respectively bounds those coalfields on the south. The Ardennes form an elevated region of paleozoic bearing on their northern slope a series of long narrow detached coal-troughs, stretching south-west along the valley of the Meuse from Aix-la-Chapelle through Liége and through Mons and Charleroi to the French frontier, and then north- west by Valenciennes and Douai to within ten miles of St. Omer or thirty from Calais. From rocks, Namur, and continued the physical structure of the district, the litho- logical character of the strata, and the organic remains which they contain, Mr. Godwin-Austen was convinced that the anticlinal or ridges of the Ardennes was a continuation of that of the Mendips, and that if we could strip south-east England of its 2 34 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. present covering of secondary rocks, we should find this paleozoic ridge pursuing a devious, though generally east and west course, approximately parallel to, but south of, the Thames and Kennet, with coal measures on its flanks, preserved in long narrow basins like those of Belgium. He considered, moreover, that the superincumbent secondary rocks would be found to thin out in an eastwardly direction, and to rest upon this palzeozoic floor at no great depth below the surface. It was not long before evidence was forthcoming of the general soundness of Mr. Godwin-Austen’s views. On the advice of Mr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Prestwich, the Hampstead Water Company had been boring at Kentish Town through the tertiary strata and underlying chalk and gault of the London Basin in order to tap the plentiful supply of pure water which it was anticipated would be reached in the Lower Greensand below. Before Mr. Godwin-Austen’s paper was printed, the result of the boring came to hand, and proved to be of a most unexpected character. His theory of the thinning out of the secondary rocks in this direction was more than realised. The whole of the secondary rocks below the gault, including the Lower Greensand, Wealden, Jurassic and Triassic were found to be absent, for at 1,100 feet from the surface, red sandstones and shales were met with, which are now generally regarded as belonging to the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone period, and therefore antecedent to the Carboniferous. That Mr. Godwin-Austen’s palzeozoic ridge had been actually struck was soon confirmed by many deep borings in the London basin, all undertaken with the purpose of finding water. One at Cross- ness, on the south bank of the Thames, reached similar rock at about 1,000 feet down, but the absence of organic remains again rendered the determination of its age somewhat uncertain. In 1877 more positive evidence was forthcoming. A boring for water to supply a brewery at the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street encountered sixty-four feet of oolitic strata after piercing the gault, and then at 1,064 feet from the surface entered upon dark-coloured shale, dipping south at an angle of 4o degrees and containing fossils of Upper Devonian age. Palzo- zoic rocks, probably Devonian, have also been reached at Streatham and Richmond, at depths of about 1,000 and 1,200 feet respectively. At Turnford, near Cheshunt, twelve miles north of London, strata and fossils resembling those of the Tottenham Court Road boring, and therefore Upper Devonian, were met with at a depth of 980 feet, while the upper beds of the next older formation—the Silurian—were found at a depth of less than 800 feet at Ware, eight miles further north. Here the beds dipped about 4o degrees also, and probably to the south. At Harwich, dark slaty rock was struck below the Gault about 1,000 feet below sea-level. A fossil of doubtful character inclined Mr. Prestwich to the opinion that this rock, was of Lower Carboniferous age, but a recent careful micro- scopical examination on the part of Mr. W. W. Watts has induced the latter to reject the supposed fossil as merely a peculiar fracture, and to refer the rock on lithological grounds to some formation older than the Carboniferous—probably Upper Silurian. Similar palzozoic rocks have been recently found at a depth of about 1,000 feet at Slutton and Weeley, a few miles to the west and south-west of Harwich, and also at Culford, near Bury St. Edmunds, at little more than half that depth. It has thus been amply demonstrated that the upper cretaceous rocks of the London Basin repose on a palzozoic floor at a depth nowhere much exceeding 1,000 feet; that north of the Thames, at least, this floor is composed of beds older than the Carboniferous, and that the general dip of these old rocks is about forty degrees to the south. The inference, therefore, is that with Silurian beds under and to the north of Ware, and Devonian under Cheshunt and London, there is a strong probability that the Lower Carboni- ferous will set in somewhat to the south of London, and the coal measures still further south, perhaps in the neighbourhood of the North Downs or on the borders of the Wealden area. This inference has been considerably streng- thened by the actual discovery of coal measures near Dover a few years ago. For a long time past the French miners have been extending their operations in a north-west direction towards Calais, following up the course of the Belgian coalfield under the chalk by which it is ultimately covered, until at the present time there are collieries in full work within thirty miles of Calais and fifty miles of Dover. A boring at Calais revealed the still further extension of these coal- fields towards our shores, and when, in 1882, the Channel Tunnel scheme was interdicted by the Government, Mr. Francis Brady, engineer to the Tunnel Company and the South-Eastern Railway, suggested to the directors that the staff of men retained to keep up the Tunnel Works might well be employed in a test boring for coal. The suggestion was adopted and crowned with success. A shaft was sunk from the surface to sea-level—a depth of 44 feet, from the bottom of which a bore- hole 18 inches in diameter was begun on the percussion system. After passing through 174 feet of Chalk, 8 feet of Upper Greensand, rar feet of Gault, 241 feet of Lower Greensand and Wealden, and 613 feet of Jurassic strata, coal measures were reached at a depth of 1,157 feet from the surface, the first seam of coal met with being SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 35 T5 inches thick. The bore-hole was then reduced to 9 inches, and eventually to 4 inches, and by the aid of the diamond-boring system the coal measures were pierced for 1,068 feet. Fourteen seams of coal were found with an aggregate thickness of 23} feet, and of these eight might be regarded as workable, being 1} feet or more thick, with a combined thickness of 193 feet. The last seam encountered was the thickest, measuring 4 feet and lying 2,222 feet from the surface. As far as can be judged by the samples brought up by the borer, the coal is of excellent quality, bright, clean and bituminous, and standing well when tested against the best productions of our present coalfields. The beds that have thus been investi- gated appear on palzontological grounds to belong to the upper part of the middle coal measures, and therefore there is every probability that profitable beds of coal will be met with still lower down. The depth is by no means excessive, for most of the important coalfields of Britain are worked toa depth of 2,000 feet to 3,000 feet, and in Belgium to as much as 3,900 feet. Another important factor contributing to the probable success of the Dover coalfield is the circumstance that the coal measures are here practically horizontal throughout, which apparently indicates that the boring has pierced the middle of the basin, and that no great fear need be entertained of the continuity of the beds being broken by great dislocations or local disturbances. With prospects such as these, the ‘‘ Kent Coal Syndicate was soon formed to work the venture, and acquired working rights under nearly 7,000 acres, adjacent to the boring. Two shafts are now being sunk, twenty feet and seventeen feet in diameter, one of which has already been carried to a depth of over 360 feet, or one-third of the way down to the first coal seam; and the other is not far behind it, so that in the opinion of those who are most sanguine, Kent coal will be in the market before the end of the year. The promoters estimate that the Dover colliery alone, with its present working rights over 7,000 acres only, will be able, at a low estimate, to produce a million tons a year for more than three-quarters of a century. jut although the result of the Dover boring has proved the existence of coal under a part of Kent, it does not give us the area of the coal-field, nor the direction in which it extends, and many borings will have to be undertaken before very precise information is forthcoming on these points. Arrangements are being made for a series of borings in likely spots by the Kent Coalfields Syndicate, the Mid-Kent Coal Syndicate, and the Kent Exploration Company, so that the vexed question will doubtless be solved before long If the Dover coalfield follows the same line as that of north-east France, #.e. a general north-west direction, we should expect to find it extending in the direction of Canterbury and Chatham, but itis quite possible that the line of coal-measures soon takes a more westerly direction, by Ashford and Maidstone, and then by Sevenoaks, Guildford, Basingstoke and Devizes to Bath. This is the view taken by most of our geological experts, but the 160 miles between Dover and Bristol have still to be explored; the coal basins, if they exist, are unlikely to be more than ten miles wide at the most, and in all probability much less ; their direc- tion is probably more or less sinuous, so that altogether there is still a considerable amount of uncertainty as to the mineral wealth of our south- eastern counties, and we must not be disappointed if many of the trial borings fail to reveal it. The labour and money expended on such will not be thrown away ; each unsuccessful one will increase our knowledge of the composition of the palaeozoic floor below us, and thus render the chances of future success more assured. In the discussion which followed the reading of this paper, Mr. W. Watts pointed out that Mr. Godwin-Austen founded his theory on the warping of the earth’s crust and the effect it had of throw- ing the strata into basins. The idea was not entertained seriously at first, but French observers had taken it up, and they had now seen the results at Dover. Professor Seeley said he had some hesitation in speaking on so hypothetical a matter as the occur- rence of coal in this part of England, and he pointed out that the bend in the strata in past ages might have been accompanied by the process of denudation, so that they could not speak with any certainty. He thought the vicinity of Ton- bridge, according to the geological formation, was too far south. He described how the beds of rock thinned off to the north of Tunbridge Wells. They would fill up the area, and be thinner towards a centre under London, which afterwards became bent into a trough, Consequently there was a possibility that the coal basin might be indicated by the thinning off of the strata in the manner shown. The trough, so to speak, might have been denuded before any of these rocks on which Tunbridge Wells is situated had been laid down upon it. The whole problem was to seek where this basin of strata had got so thin as to allow the coal basins below to be reached. That was the real problem, and examining the structure at Weald, towards Canterbury and Maidstone, they found an angular bend in the great oval form of the Weald, where the chalk rocks bend northwards. Theoretically the valley of the Medway might be indicated as lying along the line of strata which had been referred to. 36 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS, With A NEw Form oF PLECTOPYLIS. By G. K. GupbeE, F.Z.S. (Continued from page 11.) LECTOPYLIS shanensis (figs. 48a-d), from Burma, was described by Dr. F. Stoliczkain the “Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ xlii. (1873), p- 170, and figured in Hanley and Theobald’s ‘‘ Conchologia Indica"’ t. 149, ff, 8and 9 (1876). Lieut.-Colonel Godwin-Austen described a supposed new species, under the name of Plectopylis trilamellaris, in the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Fig. -—Plectopylis shanensis. Society,” 1875, p. 43, but he subsequently found it to be identical with the present species. (‘‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,”’ xlviii. (1879), p. 2.,) Mr. Nevill in his Handlist, p. 71, records speci- mens from Kuengan, Pegu. As the armature of this shell has never been figured, I am pleased to have an opportunity of now illustrating it. The shell is sinistral, discoid, with the apex a little raised ; it is irregularly ribbed above and provided with fine spiral sculpture. There are from 6} to 7 whorls, whicharea little convex above, and rounded below; the last being much widened towards the aperture and abruptly and deeply deflexed. The umbilicus is wide and deep, and the aperture widely lunate. The peristome is white, strongly reflected and thickened, and the margins are united by a strong raised flexuous ridge, notched above and below. The parietal armature consists of a strong horizontal median fold, revolving over nearly half of the outer whorl, and united to the ridge at the aperture, but it is free posteriorly. A short distance beyond it occurs a strong vertical lunate plate, which is deflected posteriorly below, where it gives off a short support ; on the anterior side of this vertical plate, also below, a strong horizontal fold is given off, extending a little over half the length of the median fold. A third horizontal thin fold, close to the lower suture, commences just below the vertical plate, and is united to the ridge at the aperture (see fig. 48d, which shows the shell with the outer wall removed, and fig. 48), which gives the posterior view of the parietal and palatal armature). All three horizontal folds are visible from the aperture as seen in fig. 48a. The palatal armature is in two series: the anterior series consists of six thin horizontal sub- equal folds, while the posterior series is composed of nine short denticles arranged in a vertical row (see fig. 48c, which shows the inside of the outer wall). The specimen figured is in the British Museum, and measures—major diam., 19} milli- metres ; minor diam., 153 millimetres ; axis, 6 milli- metres; it is from the Shan States. A specimen in the McAndrew collection in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, labelled Plectopylis vepercussa, proved on examination to pertain to the species now under consideration. It measures— major diam., 20 millimetres; minor diam., 15 millimetres ; axis, 6 millimetres. Plectopylis stenochila var. basilia (1) (figs. 49a-c), from Badung, Province of Hoo-Pé, was sent to me by Professor Oscar Boettger, of Frankfort. It has a more conical spire and the whorls are more flattened than in the type (see ante vol. iii., p. 204, f. 29); the periphery is acutely keeled, while in the type it is rounded. The parietal armature differs in having only four simple denticles anteriorly to the vertical plate, the second denticle being very Fig. 49.~Plectopylis stenochila, var. basilia. minute (see fig. 49s); the palatal armature is identical with that of the type. Plectopylis emoriens (figs. 50a-d), from the Province of Hou-Nan, China, was described by Mr. Vincenz Gredler the ‘Jahrbuch der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft,’’ viii. (1881), p. 15. Mr. Heude, in Part 1 of his ‘‘ Notes sur les Mollusques Terrestres de la Vallée du Fleuve Bleu,” published in the ‘‘Memoires con- cernant l’Histoire Naturelle de l’Empire Chinois”’ (1882), p. 34, considered this form to be a variety of Plectopylis fimbriosa. The two forms, however, in () Plectopylis stenochila, var. basilia, n. var., difters from the type in the more conical spire, the more flattened whorls and the acutely keeled’ periphery.—Diam., 6-7 millimetres. Habitat, Badung, Province Hoo-Pé, China. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 37 differ in many respects as indicated below, and I therefore follow Mr. Gredler in regarding Plecto- fylis emortens as a valid species. It appears never to have been illustrated, for the figure given erroneously under this name by Mr. Tryon, “* Manual of Conchology,” second series, iii. (1887), Fig. 50—Plectopylis emoriens, t. 34, ff. 32-35, copied from Mr. Heude's work, is undoubtedly Plectopylis fimbriosa. The differences between the two species are given in tabulated form to facilitate comparison. Plectopylis — emoriens : Plectopylis fimbriosa : apical whorl smooth; apical whorl ribbed; spiral sculpture only strong spiral sculpture perceptible in young specimens ; suture decfly impressed; whorls 43, rounded; periphery ob- on the upper surface ; suture of impressed ; whorls 6, flattened ; peri- phery acutely keeled ; tusely angled; fringe of fringe of coarse laciniae, fine hairs, deciduous; persistent ; umbilicus very umbilicus moderately deep, perspective; diam., deep; diam., 6-7 milli- 13-15 millimetres. metres. The parietal armature is similar to that of Plectopylis jimbriosa, but the palatal armature slightly differs, in the folds being much shorter, and the small tooth situated posteriorly to the sixth fold in P. fimbriosa is absent in P. emoriens, and instead of it there is a minute denticle a little above and posteriorly to the second fold (see fig. 50d). The specimen figured is in my collection and measures 7 millimetres in diameter. The palatal folds are visible through the shell wall. Plectopylis reserata (figs. 51a-e), from Tchen-K’eou, China, was described and figured by Mr. Heude in Part 2 of his “‘ Notes sur les Mollusques terrestres de la Vallée du Fleuve Bleu" (1885), p. 112, t. 30 f_ 3. The shell is disk-shaped, more or less pellucid with flattened spire, pale corneous, regularly and finely ribbed, decussated with very fine spiral lines above and below, widely and deeply umbilicated. It is composed of 64 regu- larly coiled whorls, which widen slowly; the last whorl descends a little in front and is acutely keeled at the periphery, which is provided with a fringe of laciniae. The peristome is white, a little thickened and reflexed. The aperture is roundly lunate, the margins being united by a raised flexuous ridge on the parietal callus, a little notched above and below at the junctions. The parietal armature consists of a strong vertical lunate plate, strongly deflected posteriorly down- wards; on its anterior side are found two slight, short, horizontal folds in a line with the upper and lower extremities of the vertical fold; between these are two, or sometimes three, small denticles, elongated vertically, which in some specimens have coalesced (see fig. 51d, which shows part of the parietal wall). The palatal armature consists of a small, thin, horizontal fold near the suture; next four stouter and longer horizontal folds united by a slight vertical callus, and at equal distances from each other; and finally another thin, short, horizontal fold near the lower suture (see fig. 51e, which shows the inside of the outer wall). Plectopylis vesevata is Closely allied to P. laminifera (see ante, vol. iii., p. 205, fig. 30). It differs, however, in being more pellucid and less solid, in the whorls being flatter and in the umbilicus being much more shallow. The parietal armature displays consider- able differences ; the vertical plate is much more oblique downwards, and the upper and lower anterior folds are much thinner and shorter, while Fig. 51.—Plectopylis reserata. there are two or more denticles elongated vertically between these two folds, whereas in P. laminifera there is only one denticle, elongated horizontally, and this is sometimes absent. The specimen figured is from Patong, and is in the collection of Mr. Gredler, Bozen, Austria; it measures—major diam., 13 millimetres ; minor diam., r1'5 millimetres; axis, 5'5 millimetres. (To be continued.) Tue AERONAUTICAL ANNUAL.—We have received a copy of this really interesting work for 1897 (published by W. B. Clarke and Co., of Boston, Mass., and Wesley and Son, of London. 178 pp. Price $1.) It is well illustrated and the articles throw much light on what is being done to accom- plish mechanical flight. The time was not long, ago when we gazed with surprise on the electric light; possibly some of us may live to overcome our astonishment at flying omnibuses. 38 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIFE-HISTORIES OF PLANTS. By Tuomas MEEHAN. (Continued from page 16.) FECUNDITY OF HELIOPHYTUM. ELIOPHYTUM INDICUM, the Heliotropium indicum of the older botanists, has found its way over all the tropical and subtropical portions of the earth. It is at home in Asia, Africa and America, and if it once gets a chance seed into the soil of Europe, will no doubt as easily maintain its hold as other free-seeding typical weeds have done. In some unknown way a few plants appeared in 1894 in my garden (Philadelphia), and have afforded me an interesting study. Its capacity for seed production is enormous. The cyme-branches that have flowered and have, or will have, perfect seed, represent, August 28th, a line of 1,224 inches. There are twenty seed vessels, that is to say forty seeds to the inch, making a total of 46,960 seeds. The cymes are still vigorously unfolding and flowering, and will probably double these figures, but in uncertainties it is best to be on the safe side; so, allowing but one-third more, we have a length of fruiting rachis of 1,632 inches, and a total seed production of 65,280. All this has proceeded from a plant that was itself but a seed three months before! The total length of stem and branches supporting these seed-bearing cymes is but 396 inches. The plant is true to the classical story of Clytie and Phoebus which gave the original genus Heliotropium its name. It does not open a flower until the sun has reached the summer solstice. When the sun ceases to woo it, the flower opens, only to find its beloved going away. Less than three months of flowering will, therefore, have been occupied in this enormous seed production. The facts here detailed have an important bearing on two points maintained by me in connection with the life-history of plants. I have recorded numerous observations in the “Proceedings’’ of the Philadelphia Academy, commencing with 1866, showing that the growth- energy of plants is rhythmic, dependent on the power of the plant, or the parts thereof, to convert nutrition into the growth-force, and that the various forms which plants present are the result of varying phases of life-energy, in most cases of no physiological value, and with which environment has little to do. The evidence furnished by Heliophytum, though of a negative character, is surely strong! Through the long ages the plant has been ‘established over a vast area, and consequently subjected to many varying and varied conditions of environ- ment, it has continued as a compact genus or section distinct from Heliotropium, without any material change that would warrant a modern botanist in making a new species of it. Again, it has been maintained by me that as environment can have no important influence on changes of form, the free and untrammelled pro- duction of seed would be of far more importance in a supposed ‘struggle for life” than any power of adaptation could be that depended more on an occasional cross for its increased energy. Dean Swift’s satire, in which the Lilliputians by the mere force of numbers are made to overcome the giant Brobdingnagians, cannot be supported in every case by the histories of plants; but when it comes to a question of distribution, numbers surely are the more likely to hold the field. I think I may claim the credit of advancing the further proposition that a free production of seed may always be taken as an a priovi indication of self-fertilization. In cleistogamic Mowers the certainty of seed-bearing is well known. With rare exceptions the huge natural order of Com- positae are self-fertilizers, and they have managed to embrace within themselves about one-tenth of the whole vegetable kingdom. Where the wind or an insect is the agent in fertilization, the agent does not always come along. On plants depen- dent on this outside assistance, numerous flowers fail to seed. No plant so dependent ever perfects all its seeds; in many cases utter failure follows. In this remarkable plant there is no indication that a single flower failed to mature seed. It must certainly be held remarkable that in a single plant, bearing in round numbers over 30,000 flowers, every one should bear two seeds. It has been contended that, though plants may generally self-fertilize when the agents for cross- fertilization do not attend, they are so arranged as to cross-fertilize when the agent does appear. As the Heliophytum flowers are freely visited at times on my grounds by insects, and especially butterflies, there might be some strength in the point. I can, however, testify by an almost daily observation of my plant through the season, that minute flowers are only visited by insects when others are scarce. Though I have seen them visiting the flowers for several successive days, there are many days when they do not visit them, and none were noticed on the former until the beginning of August. A careful watching of the anthers shows, however, the extreme SCIENCE-GOSSIP. difficulty of effecting cross-fertilization. The anthers form a cone over the stigma, and the pollen sacs burst almost simultaneously with the unplaiting of the corolla. When the flower is a few hours old the stigma protrudes slightly through the anther- cap, and is visible under a lens through the very small orifice of the corolla-tube. Even admitting that the flower has not fertilized at this early stage, and that the tongue of a butterfly might introduce foreign pollen to it under certain circumstances, it would rarely, in any case, occur. Itis well known that all insects soon discover the easiest method of doing their work. In this case there are five open- ings between the tube of the corolla and the bases of the filaments, offering a wholly unobstructed course to the creature’s tongue. It would have to use considerable force to insert its tongue under the anthers pressing down on the stigma. It is inconceivable that the flower can receive any aid to cross-fertilization in this way. But we may grant that a cross-fertilization will result in a plant better fitted for the struggle for life than one self- fertilized, and that a small percentage might become cross-fertilized. The question of numbers again forces itself upon us. How many of the seeds of any plant get a chance to develop to a plant again bearing seeds? How many of the 65,280 seeds of this plant will probably mature—will come to be seed-bearing plants next year? Only a small per- centage, in any case, ever do. In this case surely very few will, and of these how many would those resulting from a ‘‘ chance cross” give? Facts of this character are common, but this case presents them in such a remarkable degree as to make it a special one. Heliophytum indicum, a self-fertilizer and wonderfully productive, has maintained a remarkable homogeneity amidst rare Variation in the environmental conditions. Ruytumic Enercy 1N PLaAntTs. If we accept the thought frequently thrown out in these contributions, that form results from the various degrees of rhythmic energy in the plant itself, just as it would in the formation of the frost crystals on a window-pane, we can see that environ- ment cannot be regarded as a leading agent, but must take a minor place. During the past season I was able to add a new illustration to the list in Pentstemon barbatus. Ina large bed with several hundred flower-stems, I collected some twenty erect flowers. In the normal condition the three lower segments constitute a lip, and are so tightly recurved that they press against the tube; the upper two are erect and form anupper lip. Butin the exceptional flowers noted, this is all changed. The lobes of the corolla are equal, recurved, and pressed against the tube. But the most remarkable change occurs in the fifth or barren stamen. In the normal 3) form this is so differently constructed from the other four that thoughtful observation has to be given before deciding that it isa stamen at all. In these erect, regular flowers there is not the slightest difference between any of the stamens. The fifth is the exact counterpart of the other four. Each one of the five stamens are alternate with the five regular lobes, as they should be in any well- ordered regular flower. Assuredly if a plant always had flowers like these, and only these flowers, it would not be a Pentstemon, but be made to constitute a wholly different genus, if it were not, indeed, referred to another natural order, for a two-lipped and more or less irregular corolla is regarded as a characteristic in Scrophulariacae. We may say that nothing but a different degree of growth-energy, accelerating or retarding the spiral development, so that that which should have been left curved was advanced to (or left in) a straight condition, had anything to do with the remarkable change. Then we may ask if such remarkably distinct forms can be produced on the same plant and in an exceptional way, what is to prevent the plant from regularly exercising the same force, and thus making the irregular flower the exception? That this can be done is shown in the case of the upright and nodding lilies already cited, though we have no evidence that a regular and irregular lily ever grew on the same plant as here produced by a Pentstemon. Examples might be found if looked for. That these vagaries, once brought into existence, have hereditary powers is too well known to horticulturists to need more than a passing notice. That they are not oftener the parents of a line of new species is probably owing to the fact that of the millions of seeds produced by a single plant, an extremely small percentage ever get the opportunity to grow and again develop to a seed-bearing con- dition. There would be little chance among s0 many for these exceptional flowers of Pentstemon to perpetuate themselves. Though it would seem that in this case environ- ment, as it is generally understood, could have had little to do in developing an irregular to a regular flower, one may plead for life-energy as the chief factor in the production of form and still leave con- siderable work for environment to do. One cannot well retain as erect a position when holding an umbrella against a driving storm, as if he were simply shading himself on a calm summer day; and there must be some opposing elements or adverse circumstances capable of depressing life- energy as a mechanical force, and with this varia- tion in degree we may reasonably look for a change in form, But granting all this it must be evident that life-energy, dependent on varying phases of nutrition, is the main power in deciding form, (To be continued.) Cc 3 40 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. SOUTH-EASTERN UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. [pe Annual Congress, the first indeed, of the recently-formed Union of Scientific Societies of South-Eastern England, was successfully held at Tunbridge Wells on May 21st and 22nd. Like its inception and establishment, this success of the Union's meeting is to be chiefly attributed to the energy and tact of Mr. George Abbott, the well- known medical practitioner of Tunbridge Wells. The Congress was well attended by delegates from the various societies constituting the Union, and was presided over by the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, F.R.S., also of that town. The public proceedings commenced on Friday afternoon with a meeting of the delegates held in the Town Hall, when Mr. Stebbing delivered his presidential address. After pointing out that of all the societies which had been invited to join the Union, those which had associated were almost exclusively natural history societies, the President proceeded to compare the standing of natural history in the estimation of the general public now and one hundred and fifty years ago. He also referred to the difference of knowledge of ‘‘ science’ then and now. He gave a sketch of the progress of that type of learning through the century and a-half, including reviews of the work of the fathers of natural science, such as Buffon, Linnzeus, John Hutton, William Smith, Cuvier, Darwin, and many others. Continuing his comparison, the President reminded his audience of the other changes which have come over civilization largely during those times. He said: ‘‘Carry back your minds to the almost unthinkable time when printing was unknown, when there was no Post Office and no freedom of the press, when paper was costly, and when men had to do their travelling without railways and steamers. You will see that under those conditions naturalists were almost as helpless as monkeys and other sagacious animals which are kept at a low level of civilization, because their means of communicating and keeping on record bright and improving ideas were so extremely imperfect.’’ After speaking of the early and even later difficulties the teachers of science have had to contend against, he pointed out the work being done by the British Association for the Advance- ment of Science, and the work in a lesser degree possible for the Union, of which the Rev. Mr. Stebbing was, when speaking, the first President. The following quotations are taken from his speech : “It is commonly supposed that the advance of science has been greatly hindered by the persistent and often recurring opposition of theologians. That may be true of the middle ages, but of the last century and our own it is extremely doubtful. The new views on the age of the earth, on the antiquity of man, on the transmutation of species severally in their turn aroused, it is true, the most violent hostility. The evidence adduced crashed in among accepted beliefs like the bomb of a nihilist. Denunciation and ridicule were freely employed against the new opinions. The ‘conspiracy of silence’ was adopted wherever it could be made effective. The social discourage- ments, which we all more or less unconsciously apply to those whose opinions we dislike, were no doubt brought to bear as remorselessly as ever upon the happiness and prosperity of many outspoken geologists and evolutionists. But the very fierceness of the controversies helped to arouse attention and keep it awake. Besides, the age was an age in which freedom had found her voice, and the. country in which the controversy began was the sworn lover of freedom. Hence it came about that geology, the science which deals not in warm life and lovely colours, but in mud and stones and bones and old refuse, obtained a predominance and a publicity which it could not otherwise easily have secured. Persons of candid mind would naturally wish to hear both sides of an exciting question. Persons of pre-occupied mind would still sometimes wish to see for themselves what nonsense the geologists were writing. Of course it was foolish of them, for if a man has made up what he calls his mind, he ought never to hear the other side. Anyhow, through wisdom or through folly, by degrees the light of truth was enabled to penetrate some of the darkest corners of prejudice, and the process still continues. “For truth to win any lasting and valuable victory, it is essential that contradictory opinions should be brought face to face. Facts so opposed that they cannot be true together should be con- fronted one with another, and the antagonism of each to each made manifest and expressly declared. Now, the men of science, with rare exception, make no claim from the scientific point of view to know what goes on in Heaven or in Hades ; but, as I understand the matter, they are modestly certain that our globe has lasted for hundreds of thousands of years; that within the human period the whole of its surface has never been submerged at once; that no human being ever lived to the age of nine hundred years; that the human species began quite otherwise than with an abruptly created pair; that no woman was ever formed of a rib taken from the side of a man; that no serpent ever spoke with human voice to tempt a woman, or for any other purpose; that no warrior, however noble or sacred his cause, ever stayed for a single instant the cosmical motion of earth, or moon, or sun; that the rainbow has exhibited the colours of the solar spectrum to living eyes capable of perceiving them in absolute independence of any terrestrial inundation, past or future; and that the diversity of human languages, due to causes still in operation, has been the result of gradual divergence, not of any sudden supernatural inter- vention. But again, as I understand the matter, a large body of our pastors and masters, of men SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 4 who have a prescriptive right and a splendid vantage ground for teaching morality and religion, deny in these respects what the men of science affirm, and affirm what they deny, or else they ignore the matter, or else they are ignorant of the points in dispute and take no interest in them. But the fact is that no one can stop the revolution of the earth by simply saying that it does not move, and no teacher can influence his disciples if in his argument he presupposes as accepted and impregnable truth what they rightly or wrongly regard as incredible legends. “If opposition has promoted the knowledge of nature, much more must the innumerable societies established expressly for its promotion have been efficacious. The growing appreciation of science led to their being founded. Their foundation has led to an ever-extending growth in the appreciation of science. Much the same may be said of periodical scientific literature, although that is a subject almost too mountainous, too labyrinthine, to enter upon just now. For my immediate purpose it may spice to speak of the British Association. It was founded, as most of you know, in 1831. Itis a missionary organization, a peripatetic school of philosophers. While most societies are like ordinary vegetables, rooted in the soil, this has the superior characteristic of an animal, as being capable of free movement. It can flit from Aberdeen to Oxford, from Glasgow to Plymouth, and from Plymouth to Dublin. It can wing its way from Liverpool to Toronto, from ‘Toronto to Bristol, and then, leaving ‘‘ The Queen of the West,” pitch its camp, as we confidently expect, the year after next, in Dover. It has brought the wonders and surprises of advancing knowledge to men’s own doors, It beats the drum outside their windows, so that they cannot altogether shut their ears to the music. The reception of it entails upon the hospitable town an astonishing amount of trouble and expense. Nevertheless, the welcome it receives is not only everywhere extremely cordial, but the pleasant sight is witnessed of rival towns or cities competing for the honour of giving it entertainment. What this parent association does on an Imperial scale, our Union hopes to do, for a limited area, not by inopportune mimicry, but by judicious following of a great example. “That the British Association is broken up into sections, designated by the letters of the alphabet, from A to K, is due to the enormous extension of modern science, which makes division of labour a matter not of choice but of necessity. Each section is an association in itself. Eachis fully, and some- times more than fully, occupied with its committees and reports, and papers and discussions and recom- mendations. Our ownenergetic honorary secretary, Dr. Abbott, has printed on the back of your tickets a list of thirteen departments of scientific investiga- tion in which he invites you to take an active part for the benefit of our Union and Congress. He does not pretend that the list is exhaustive, and in fact he does not mention either bryology, or embryology, or bryozoology, he has omitted mycology, and malacologs and carcinology, he has steered clear of morphology, and physiology and seismology, of zoogeography, and phyto- geography and crystallography; he says nothing about plankton, or nekton, or benthos; and he saves his credit, as I must do mine, by alluding to all the rest as ‘allied subjects.’ This at least is patent, that of subjects there is no dearth, but no one can any longer hope to be a specialist in all of them or in many. To know everything about something, or something about everything, is be-’ coming increasingly difficult. “More I shall forbear to tell you anent the wisdom and the profit of all that we wish to do and to do not; remembering how even the eager and enquiring Queen of Sheba, on her visit to the Hebrew Linnzus, was so tired out with all that she heard and saw that there was no more spirit in her. Only to timid and hesitating beginners I may venture to say one concluding word. Believe me, that ever as you pursue your path through the fairyland of science and become more and more acquainted with the riches and splendour of the scene, you will more and more be convinced that the fame of it has not exceeded the reality, that at your outsetting the half was not told you.” The Rev. J. Scargill, B.A., of the Bromley Society, read a paper upon the ‘ Preservation of Local Fauna and Flora.” It contained a summary of the means now obtaining, which tended to their destruction, and Mr. A. Rose followed with “Suggestions for protection against the wasteful collection of specimens,’ and urged the various societies of the Union to assist in its discourage- ment. An important and useful discussion was inaugurated by Mr. Atwood, on ‘‘How can the Technical Education Grant assist Local Societies ?”’ In his paper Mr. Atwood drew attention to the advantage many local and more or less struggling scientific societies would gain if a meeting-place free of rent could be given in some of the numerous technical educational institutions which were being now founded with public money, under the auspices of County Councils. He instanced the case of his own society and “other unaided organizations, which had, in the survival of the fittest, stimulated a taste for intellec- tual enjoyment. Many of these bodies would have survived or done a greater work if they had not been so hampered by want of funds, in which the rent of premises was always the most serious item. Sometimes local men of means would foster the institution, but more often it suffered from inanition. Where these societies existed the technical fund was usually in full force, helping technical institutions which were springing up. The scientific societies cast longing eyes that it might catch some of the crumbs which fell from the public feast of knowledge. But they were told that private societies could not benefit from public funds. They might arrange for payment and so find a home in a public library, which otherwise would be beyond them. But, alas, the Kent County Council heard of the arrangement and put its foot down on it, and the poor natural history society was frustrated in finding a local habitation even when it had the sympathy of the District Council. Surely the local authority could better judge than the County Executive whether the society was worthy of support or should be hastened toward that bourne whence no society ever returned. He could find nothing in the statute to show that it was an infringement to give the local society shelter, but if the legal acumen of the County Council found in the Act what others could not, he reapectey suggested the Act should be amended, ‘The school- room or other building in which the society might C4 42 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. meet was inconvenient compared with the institute, which should be its natural home, and would ex- tend its usefulness. It would be to the reciprocal advantage of the local authority, the society and the public generally. He was sure that were the con- cession granted it would not be found misplaced.”’ In the discussion which followed, Mr. J. W. Tutt, F.E.S., of London, made a vigorous speech in favour of the proposal. He said : “The question was, how would the Technical Education Grant assist local societies? He feared that direct assistance was at present impossible, but if sufficiently strong representations were made he thought they might have some indirect help, and if they could not claim a share of the public fund, he did not see why they could not find a home under the roof of the institutes which were being built. He quoted the Acts which governed the expenditure of the funds by the local and county authorities, and pointed out that the first requisite of a money grant was to give technical instruction, and without a teaching staff no institution was eligible for aid: It might be granted that these societies were educational agencies, but it could not be shown that its instruction was methodical, and the Department would not recognise them as entitled to a grant, nor could their work be termed purely technical. The definition of the Act did not cover their societies from the industrial point of view. He could understand where a scientific society was an outcome cf a science school the Act might be strained to provide it with a museum, but as a rule the members did not come under the category of teacher and pupil. The distinct intention of the Act was that the institu- tions receiving grants should be schools. Some of them might have hoped it was possible to obtain a money grant, but although this appeared impossible, there were ways by which they might be indirectly aided, as by the use of the institute rooms for their meetings. Until recently, branches of natural history work were almost entirely carried on by isolated amateurs, who had built up their observations to an exact science, and there- fore the amateurs and their work deserved some consideration. He pointed out how ignorant agriculturalists were of entomology, and the information which was open to them. A man pursuing some original investigation did not need the class text-book, as he was following the true mode of education, and learning how to think himself instead of following the system which the Department miscalled education. Many students of the institutes made little practical use of what they were taught, and those most successful at examinations were usually failures at original observation. The original observer did not want to be treated as a youth in a grant-earning class, and it was rather absurd to refuse to help the source of knowledge when making a grant to the diluted work in the class. It was not to be expected that the average county councillor would understand the broad aspects of the educational question. Their natural history society had no boys and girls pegging away at set lessons, and therefore the county councillor said the society could have no claim on them. But there were men like Sir John Lubbock, whom their Congress might approach, and get a ruling from the Government as to the legality of the action of the County Council in shutting the societies out of the public institutions. One of the greatest troubles of their societies was to find a home, and when their members could work in co-operation more valuable work could be done. He regarded their societies as the fountain-head of knowledge, from which the class teachers learnt from books and imparted to their scholars. Whence had the facts in the text- books been obtained but from the member of the learned society whose observations were published ? Did not work like this deserve State recognition ? Small societies with a permanent abode would have more money to publish their transactions, and more valuable papers would see the light. The poorer man with scientific tastes could only belong to the local society, and their existence was sufficient to prove their necessity. The action of the Kent County Council came as a rude shock, but one could not understand the county councillor who accepted unintelligently what he was told by his constituents that they did not pay money for a lot of lazy fellows to poke about in chalk-pits, or the prejudice of an official who jumped at the conclusion that the natural history society was a private institution, when all its observations were for the benefit of the world. They had a strong claim to be housed in public buildings, but it ought not to be left to official opinion whether they were entitled to this accommodation or not. He pointed out that the Canadian Government recognised private research, and made a grant for the purpose. That was what our colonies were doing, while the authorities at home were refusing even the use of a room. They did not ask the State to publish papers as Colonial Governments were doing, but they asked that public buildings erected for science, and which were the index of the advance of the nation, should be open to their use.” Dr. Abbott moved a resolution, requesting the County Councils of the district to assist in the work of general culture through the medium of these societies. He hoped that more cordial co- operation might be brought about. The Chairman suggested that the matter should be referred to the Council meeting for discussion, and this was agreed to, and the following resolution was unanimously carried : “That it be an instruction to the Executive Council to consider the question of how far build- ings erected under or used for the purpose of the Technical Education Act may be used for the pur- poses of local scientific societies, and to take such action in the matter as they may think proper.” Among other papers read at the Congress were: “‘Local Museums,’’ by Mr.W. Cole, F.L.S.; ‘‘ Com- mittees of Field Clubs,’’ by Professor Boulger, F.L.S.; ‘‘A Geological Section near Tunbridge Wells,” by Professor Seeley, F.R.S.; and ‘‘ The Search for Coal in Kent,” by Mr. H. E. Turner. On the Friday evening the Mayor invited the members of the Congress to a conversazione at the Town Hall, which was well attended. Exhibits of scientific interest were numerous, and lantern lectures were given On Saturday afternoon excur- sions in the neighbourhood were made, including one devoted to geological rambles in the district, which were fortunately favoured with fine weather. After luncheon at Mount Ephraim Hotel, the party was conducted to Boyne Park, to inspect the sand SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 43 formation in the excavations, and thence to the rocks on the common. The party then assembled at King Charles’ Church to join Professor Seeley’s Field Class, and view the cuttings in the new athletic ground, which were the subject of one of the papers. Returning for tea at Messrs. Parker's, of The Pantiles, a drive was made to the High Rocks, returning via Rusthall Common, where the Toad Rock was inspected. The excursion was — enjoyed by a numerous party, and concluded a most enjoyable congress. Professor Boulger, F.L.S., F.G.S., was invited to become President for next year, and accepted the office. An invitation was received to hold the next annual Congress at Croydon, which was accepted. Jo. Abs (Co THANE DT (SAN DIS: By GerorGE BarHam. | FIND to-day, on looking through the index supplied with the May number of SciENcE- Gossip, that an ample apology is due from me not only to its Editor, but also to Mr. E. A. Martin, of Thornton Heath. Should any new readers fail to comprehend my meaning, I would refer them to ScrENncE-Gossip, N.S., Vol. iii., Pp. 54, in the volume just completed. There, will be found a communication by the gentleman mentioned above. To this I replied with notes, to be found on p. 129, I find that in the next month’s number, p. 149, Mr. Martin has made a courteous, but somewhat debatable answer to me. I have been very busy, and also have changed my residence, and with fear and trembling I admit that several of my copies of ScIENCE- Gossip are lying unopened and unread. Amongst these I find the number containing my friend's remarks. The main issue seems to turn, in Mr. Martin’s mind, upon Bishopstone Dell. In my idea it does not, but applies to the whole north-east Kent coast, from Faversham to Reculvers. I claim that this stretch of land is, and has been, since pleistocene times, gradually sinking. Mr. Martin suggests rising. Here I would say that it is evident the land there has risen since its original deposi- tion, but that is not the point. What has it been doing since the Bishopstone Dell “ stream” carved out its alleged mighty channel? In other words, every land, or portion of land, has been see-sawing up and down since its deposit. The question is as to the last direction of this move- ment. Speaking of this neighbourhood, I said, ‘‘It is fairly proved that the land hereabouts has been ¢aten by the sea.’ Mr. Martin asks (p. 149), “ Where is this proof?’’ I am a little surprised at a geologist asking this question in face of the cliffs which confront him on the very place in point. There are the cliffs, crumbling at every storm. Giant masses of Thanet sand lie scattered on the beach. Ont at sea are banks of sand— such as the Girdler, Spaniard, etc, and I am asked for a proof as to the land being eaten. Or take it from the point of view of antiquarian research. The Church of St. Mary—Reculver Towers, as it is generally called—stood in Roman times some three or more miles from the sea- To-day it is protected from the fury of the waves by a stone embankment, built, I believe, by the authorities of Trinity House. Bishopstone Dell is about three miles along the coast, towards Herne Bay. This watering-place presents the same features of crumbling cliffs, this time of more tenacious London clay. Hampton, further on, shows the same bold outline ; Swalecliffe has to be protected by rows of faggots, driven at the base of its cliffs. The ‘ Priest and Sons” is the name given to-day to a part of Tankerton cliffs near where once a public-house of that name stood. To-day it is at the bottom of the ocean. Tankerton cliffs, just opposite the ‘ Street,’ show the same signs, but since the ‘‘Street ’ came, the beach has filled up here, and these cliffs are now protected. Once they were eaten away as fast as those have been at Reculvers. At the end of the ‘Street ” stood a Roman pottery works. I will here admit that many claim thata Roman vessel bearing pottery as a cargo was wrecked there. I do not mind much which theory is adopted, although I consider the first more feasible. If the pottery stood then the land has gone, as Tankerton cliffs tells us. If the vessel was wrecked in a place where there is ample water to-day, then the land has sunk. For these “ pots,'’ which have been recovered by the thousand, are whole, beautifully glazed, and with even the delicate lips and handles intact. So many have been found that the sea-bottom there is still called the ‘‘ Pudding Pan.’’ Hence they have been subject to no tossing or grinding action by the sea. If a vessel was wrecked nothing but the gently running aground could have destroyed her without breaking up her fragile cargo. But the pottery idea is, as 1 have said, most feasible. The place where these are found is more than four miles out at sea, It should be admitted by anyone that the land has, from the evidence, therefore been destroyed 44 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. and eaten by the sea. Possibly Mr. Martin will admit that in face of this one fact the sinking land theory is more tenable than the rising; for a rising land would have shallowed the sea, raised up protecting banks of sand, and shown signs similar to those in places where land- rising is indisputable, as on the south-east coast of Kent. Again, between the Isle of Sheppey and Graveney lie Graveney Marshes. Mr. Martin and our editor will, I hope, excuse me for seeming prolix; but these places are bound up in the question, as will be seen by reference to any map. Once, not many years ago, figuratively speaking, this was dry land between the two points, intersected by the then tiny Swale. Proof is, that a few feet down lies firm London clay. Then as the land sunk, the sea came in further and swamped gradually the land, hence the name ‘‘ marshes.” Man’s ingenuity has drained and banked them by sea walls. The proof of all this lies there, as I shall mention later. What is it to-day between the island and the mainland? A shallow estuary, one might almost call it, in which the tide runs out for miles, where lie great sands through which ships thread a precarious passage. A curious phenomenon is this; the land sinking, and consequently the sea deepening; and the sea itself hindering its work by silting up, through its own eddies, its deepening bed. Now let Mr. Martin put on dredger’s boots, and, armed with a spade, wander out at low tide as far as he can and dig. He will first find shingle, gravel and sand, washed from down the coast, interspersed with Thanet sand blocks and septaria from the London clay. Beneath these he will find a loamy soil containing teeth and bones of horse and ox, and occasionally a portion of soaked, crumbling British pottery. Amongst this he will also come across calcined oyster and cockle shells, shells of the Unio or river mussel, and occasional wood ashes. Yet this is sea bottom to-day. Is more proof wanted? Then let him search at this low-tide level a little more, and he will find, possibly, some ghastly and gruesome relics of the ‘‘ Lost Churches of Seasalter,’ which, with foundations sapped by the encroaching sea, fell into ruin and decay, and now lie buried under the ocean wave. A fragmentary human pelvis was once in my possession, and proved this. To return, I ask Mr. Martin again to explain how the rising of the land would ‘assist in cutting out that gully at Bishopsteal? I claim, first, that there never was watershed there—in recent times, at least—enough to give a large supply of water ; secondly, to have cut out a gully which in the length of a quarter of a mile attains a depth of fifty feet coupled with a not inconsiderable width, and knowing that this same stream must at least have continued another three miles during the last thousand years or so, pre- sumably cutting out at the same rate, a stream would be necessary which would combine the minuteness of a mountain torrent with the force of a Niagara; thirdly, my memory may be here at fault, for it is nine years or more since I saw the place, but I fancy the bed of the stream curves away inland in a direction leading towards Herne Bay. I do not remember clearly, and only speak here for the sake of knowledge, and Mr. Martin may correct me. The bed of sucha stream as that mentioned above, cutting through rock of the softness of Thanet Sands, should be as straight-as an arrow. Is it? I believe not. Again, such a stream would, meeting with the Thames and Medway currents, have raised a considerable “bar,” which it has not. The only explanation of Bishopstone Dell fully coincident with the facts, general features and history of the neighbourhood, is that thereabouts occurs a fault, or fissure in the Thanet Beds, of which advantage has been taken by the drainings of a scanty rainfall. There are no river terraces, or ancient banks of the sides of the dell. In its bottom there is next to no alluvial deposit. There is no evidence that it was cut out by water. Presumption is all on the other side. Now, as regards Hampton, Mr. Martin is mistaken when he says there are no cliffs to speak of. Iam alluding to a depression almost a quarter of a mile wide existing between Hampton cliffs (average height at least fifty feet) and Swalecliff (with average height of forty-three feet). This depression is, as I have said, an ancient river bed. Init arefound mammoth and also hippopotamus and rhinoceros remains; apparently nothing else. The banks of this ‘‘bed” are exposed, they run up the London Clay and overlie it to the height (from sea level) of twelve feet ; and at the centre meanders a tiny stream. ‘Apparently plain proof’’ say those of the land-rising theory ; but they say this simply because observation is lacking, There are the remains, or beds, of two streams there. The older one, of plain river sand and its giant mammal remains, showing traces of a rising land. The second, and later, a shingle bed, cutting through the faint strata of the older one, containing no sand, but bones of domestic animals, and fragments of Roman and Romano-British pottery. A hiatus of fifty thousand years. This newer stream has constantly tried to widen its bed—conclusive proof of land sinking. Had the land risen, the tendency would have been to narrow and deepen it, In fact, so growing has been its tendency that it has been banked and filled with a miniature lock-gate. No, one is forced to admit, I think, that the SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 45 land of the north-east Kent coast is steadily sinking, as well as disappearing, through the en- croachments of the sea. In years to come, Herne Bay and Reculvers, if left to themselves, would be destroyed, and to compensate for this, the untiring sea would give us dry land between Sheppey FOREIGN and the ‘‘ Marshes," that is, unless the land sunk more quickly than was compensated for by the ballast removed from the first-mentioned places. 18, Chilwell Street, Nottingham ; June, 1897. VARIETIES OF BRITISH LAND AND FRESHWATER MOLLUSCA. By T. D. A. CocKERELL. (Continued from Vol. ttt., page 262.) Pa parts of this list will not be given in systematic order, but in such order as con- venience dictates. It is to be hoped that some of the readers will be able to offer criticisms and additions to the several parts, which no doubt the Editor will be glad to publish. SUCCINEA. There is much useful work to be done among the British members of the genus Succinea, especially in observing the variations in the soft parts and the anatomical differences. Scuccinea PuTRIs, L. Westerlund, in 1885, thus classified the forms we commonly refer to putyis. (1) S. putris, L. Form, minuscula, Baud. Scarcely 8mm.long. France. a. Longish forms with normal, or drawn-out spire. vy. olivula, Baud. France, England, Germany, etc. v. bavarica, Cl. Bavaria. v. limnoidea, Pic. France, Russia, England, etc. S. acuta, Pfr., is probably a synonym. vy. clessiniana, Haz. Red-brown or reddish- yellow. Whorls, 4. Hungary. f. gotlandica, West. 27mm.long. Gotland I. v. grandis, Haz. 25-27 by 13 mm.; whorls, 4. Hungary, France, Germany. v. angusta, Haz. Hungary, Italy. f. sequanica, Bgt. 14 by 7mm. France. It is to be remarked here that sequanica dates from 1877, and so should properly stand for the variety (to include angusta), since Hazay's variety was published in 1880. v. fitzgeraldiana, Haz. Reddish-yellow. 16 by 8mm. Whorls, 4. England, Switzerland. v. westerlundiana, Haz. 21 by1o mm, Hun- gary. v. firma, West. Above, whitish; beneath, ambercolour. 16-17by 9-10 mm.; whorls, 4. Briakowskij Island, Siberia, in 70° 39’ N. lat v. hazayana, West. Reddish-yellow. 194-22 by g-10mm.; whorls, 4-44. Tunguska, Siberia, in 61° N. lat. f. angusta, Baud. France. f£ extensa, Baud, France . Globose forms with shortened spire. v. charpenticri, D. aid M. Thin-shelled ; spire very short; 15 by 10 mm. England, France, Sweden, etc. v. subglobosa, Pascal. ‘Thin-shelled ; mouth large; 17-13 byg mm. England, France, Sweden oe f. dvouetia, Moq. Sweden. v. globuloidea, Cl. many, England. v. fontana, Haz. 20by 10mm. Hungary. v. fevrusina, Moq. Clear yellow. France, England, etc. f. vitvacea, Paul. 12by7mm. Sardinia, etc. v. milneedwardsi, Bgt. Yellowish-olive; 15 by IImm; mouthir by 6mm. France. f. xanthelea, Bgt. Small; whorls, 2 or 3. Probably a juvenile. v. tvianfracta, DaC. (1778). Broad-oval, greyish- yellow ; 15-16 by 9-10 mm; mouth rr by 6 mm.; mouth broad-oval ; whorls, 34-4, rounded. England, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary. v. temporalis, West. Long-oval; thin-shelled ; 16-17 by 8-9 mm.; mouth 11-12 mm. long. Ronneby, Sweden. v. charpyi, Baud. Spire short, conic; whorls convex; mouth long-oval. France, Eng- land, etc. v. hians, Baud. Mouth very large, 11 by 54-6 mm. France. v. parva, Haz. 18 mm. long. Rem.-Kob. Icon., f. 2051. (2) S. parvula, Pascal. 8-11 by 6-7 mm.; mouth 64-74 mm. long. France, Italy, Sweden, England, Germany. S. swecica, Cless., is a synonym. v. aberrata, Paul. MS., West. Clear yellow. France, Small; broad-oval. Ger- Hungary. Mouth long- oval; length of shell, 7-74 mm.; of mouth, 5-54. Italy. (3) S. stagnalis, Gass. France. f. jeffreysi, Baud. Mouth large, 8-10 by 4-5 mm. Cumberland, England. Westerlund considers S. putris v. vitvea, Jeff., to be the same. In the above list I include the British as well as foreign varieties; the additional foreign varieties of S. putris, not given in Westerlund's revision are v. perfecta (Haz.), Cless., Hungary (this and the next are in Westerlund’s supplement, 1890); v. vadiata, C. G. West., Sweden; v. carnea, Mog. ; v. brardia, Moq.; v. webbia, Moq.; v. studeria, Mogq.; v. pulchella, Moq.; v. opaca, Moq.’; v. curta, Colb.; v. nigvolimbata, Colb.; vy. vubens, Baud.; v. alba, Baud.; v. scalavoides, Baud.; also typus, Baudon. Mesilla, New Mexico, U.S.A.; April «1th, 1897. 46 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. NOVEL BOTANICAL COMPETITION. {pee Editor of Sc1ENcE-GossiP is of opinion that a novel and interesting botanical com- petition may be founded, which will provide not only much amusement for the competitors and for the readers of this journal, but also valuable scientific records of the growth and habits of plants not generally recognized. It is therefore decided that two prizes be offered by SciencE-Gossip under the following rules: THE FIRST PRIZE is to be one or more books on any subject, at the selection of the winner, up to the published value of {£2 tos. THE SECOND PRIZE will be of a like character, valued at £1 10s. (1) That there shall be at least ten competitors. (2) That the names and addresses of competitors shall be sent in before October rst, 1897. (3) That the competition shall apply to photo- graphs of uncommon, local, or rare plants. (4) That three pictures be taken of the plants while growing: (a) Best showing the habit of growth when flowering, fruit, or otherwise ; (b) of the growing plant and its immediate surroundings; (c) of the near landscape to show the character of the plant’s station. (5) That any sized picture up to, though not exceeding, half plate will be acceptable for competition ; quarter plate size will be pre- ferred, but will not influence the prize. (6) That the Editor have the right to reproduce any of the competing pictures in ScIENCE- Gossip or elsewhere. The negatives to be the property of the competitor. (7) The locality of the habitat or station of the plant sent for competition must be given; but not necessarily for publication, if good reason is given. (8) That one or more dried specimens from the same locality must accompany the photo- graphs of the plants for confirmation of identity. (9) That the competitor supply, if required by the Editor on reproducing in print any of the competing pictures, notes on the habits, growth, flowering, range of local distribution, and other facts which may be of interest to botanists and general readers. (10) That any kind of plants are available for the competition, and may include ferns, mosses, fungi, marine alge, etc. (tz) That all the pictures for the competition are to be delivered, in duplicate and unmounted, at the office of SciencE-Gossip not later than October 25th, 1897. The judging of the pictures will be by the Editor of SciENcCE-GossiP, whose decision will be final. He will, however, invite the co-operation of our botanist referee and two leading photographers, whose names will be duly announced. The chief points to be considered will be (a) the variety of the species photographed ; (b) the grasp of detail, such as the natural position, the flowering parts, and other surrounding, in case any appear ; (c) the excellence of the photography. The name and address of the competitor must be neatly written in lead pencil on the back of each competing picture. One competitor may send three or less subjects for competition, each being available for competition on its own merits. The awards of prizes will be announced as soon as practicable after the rst of November next, probably in the December number of SciENcE- Gossip. It is intended to reproduce the prize Pictures in SciENcE-Gossip. All the competing photographs will be circulated for examination among the competitors during the winter months. We sincerely hope that we may receive the support of all classes of botanists in this competi- tion, which is founded solely in the interests of an extended culture of field botany in this country. ips, G LOCAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES AND THE TECHNICAL EpucaTION GRANT. Vy PBSP BAD attention should be called to the agitation commenced at the meeting of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, reported on page 41 in this number. The demand is for participation in the Technical Education Grant, as administered by the County Councils, to the extent of house-room for meetings, libraries, etc., free of rent. This is now denied, as the societies do not examine pupils. It could be easily given, with hardly any tax on the finances of the Department. Local scientific societies largely consist of the very class the Grant was made to benefit. These amateurs are, as a body, doing an immense amount of educational and civilizing work, in spreading knowledge of the highest class. At present their work is heavily taxed by the annual rent-charge for meeting-places; indeed, it too frequently swamps their existence. If, how- ever, every local society of scientific amateurs would petition their Members of Parliament to get the vight, on possessing a certain numerical strength, to ask the County Council for room, we feel sure it would be granted by Parliament. We also doubt not that, if properly approached, Sir John Lubbock, M.P., F.R.S., would advise and manage the business in the House of Commons. With his powerful aid little opposition need be feared, especially when we remember that the Prime Minister is himself a scientific amateur of the greatest culture. IJo Us Es SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 47 A TAME BLACKBIRD. By R. WELcH. I SEND you a photograph of a wild female blackbird which has nested under such exceptional circumstances that her picture on the nest may interest your readers. The pair of birds were familiar with the garden at Oakleigh, Belfast, and had been in the habit of entering the little fernery in which they nested on a narrow shelf. This building is only about eight feet long by six feet wide. As shown in the photograph, the nest was placed between a flower-pot anda creeping plant. It was most difficult to make a good picture because the operations had to be conducted in such a narrow space, that is to say, EARLY MAN IN EGYPT. By P. anp F. WHITEWAY. Wey by year the soil of Egypt surrenders some of its secrets, but never before have such important discoveries been made relating to the earliest traces of man in the land of the Nile as those of Professor Petrie, whose sojourn in that country during the past few years has been pro- ductive of such splendid results. In 1894 Professor Petrie spent eleven weeks at Koptos, now represented by Kuft, about thirty miles north of Thebes. The ancient town of Koptos formed the Nile termination of the world's oldest trading-route. The road which passes through the valley of Hammamat to the shores of A Tame BLackuirp. within three feet of thenest. I had, unfortunately, only a large full-plate camera with me, and this had to be erected and focussed inside the fernery. My proceedings did not seem to trouble the bird at all, for she allowed me to take exposures of twenty seconds, all the while sitting perfectly still. The long exposures were in consequence of the late time of day, as it was o'clock in the evening. I therefore had to take advantage of her confiding nature to stop down the lens to //16 in order to get such sharpness into the picture as was possible nest close to the habitations of man, but we seldom hear of a blackbird’s nest in such an exposed position. after six It is common for some birds to 49. Lonsdale Street, Belfast ; June oth, 1897 the Red Sea is even to-day frequented by numerous caravans, trading in goods of all descriptions. Tradition had always pointed to Koptos as being one of the first settlements formed by the Egyptian emigrants when they arrived from their ancient home in the sacred land of Punt, in southern Arabia. The site of the temple of Koptos was thoroughly cleared, and no less than six successive temples were found, one built over the other, ranging from the most prehistoric age to the period of the Ptolemys Hitherto Egyptian art and civilization have presented a striking paradox. The farther back we go the better the art, the more simple and yet perfectly developed the social life. Beyond the 48 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. age of Seneferu, the last king of the third dynasty, and builder of the Pyramid of Medum, there was no trace of a beginning. Now all this is changed. In the lowest strata of the temple at Koptos, our explorer discovered remains, which for the first time reveal to us prehistoric Egypt, namely, three rude statues, fourteen feet in height, of ex- tremely rough workmanship, representing the human form. The arms, legs, whiskers and ears are merely indicated by hammered outlines, no chisel marks are visible. These figures are evidently the first statues of Khem, the God of Reproduction, erected shortly after the foundation of the first settlement. On each is sculptured the leather thong girdle, still in use among the Egyptians of the present day. Each figure also shows some curious designs. One represents the jagged protuberance with which the Red Sea sawfish is armed. A second is a picture of the shells found along the Red Sea coast; while other designs of elephants and hyenas, running down hills in pursuit of young calves, are easily dis- tinguishable. Professor Petrie’s discoveries of more recent years are quite as important as those mentioned above, for he has brought to light traces of an entirely new people. Through the district, thirty miles above Thebes, beyond the cultivated land, runs the old bed of gravel laid down by the Nile, when it filled the valley. This extends about three miles to the foot of the cliffs. Above it rise the limestone mountains which formed the old shores of the Nile, bordering the great plateau through which the Nile Valley is cut. On the top of this plateau, 1,400 feet above the river, the home of palzolithic (early stone age) man was discovered. Here were found large beautifully-worked flints, perfectly unworn, of similar types to those dis- covered in the river gravels of France and England. Besides these, other flints of a later palzolithic type were found embedded in the ancient gravels of the former high Nile. So that the Nile still rolled down as a vast torrent, fifty times its present volume, at the latter age of palzolithic man. In close proximity to these cliffs the site of a town was discovered, so extraordinary were its contents that if it had been found in Syria or in Persia no one would have supposed it to be connected with Egypt. Not only was a town discovered, but also a series of cemeteries consisting of nearly 2,000 graves belonging to this same new race. During the work of excavation every object discovered was noted in position and marked, to facilitate future research. In this great number of graves not a single Egyptian object was found— not even a scarab, hieroglyph, amulet, or piece of Egyptian pottery, Not one body was mummified or buried at full length ; all were contracted, with the knees bent up to the arms, the head invariably being to the south and the face to the west. A few years ago Professor Petrie, while excavating at Medum, found some similar burials; in fact they are not unknown even in such widely separated countries as Great Britain and the Pacific Islands. It can now be definitely said that these people existed between the seventh and ninth dynasties, or about 3,560 B.c., and probably were the race who overthrew Egyptian civilization at the close of the old empire (dynasties first to sixth) and so produced the dark age of the seventh to the tenth dynasties. The physiognomy of this new people was fine and powerful, without any trace of negro prognathism. Some were over six feet high. The great development of their legs points to their having been a hill race. Hair found on the skulls shows that it was brown and wavy, but not at all crisp like that of negro races. A very prominent nose and a long pointed beard gave a strong resemblance to the Lybian and Amorite type depicted on the monuments. A remarkable and extremely repulsive custom was the eating of portions of the bodies of deceased persons. In the graves the head is always severed from the shoulders and the hands often removed. In some tombs pottery was found placed over the decapi- tated head, in others the severance had gone further and the bones were all grouped, in one place a handful of ribs, in another a number of arm bones and elsewhere a pile of vertebrze ; and a still more decided case in which the skulls were placed between stone vases, lines of bones strewn round the pit, like the spokes of a wheel, each with the ends broken off and the marrow scooped out—all these point to ceremonial cannibalism. In many ways, however, in pottery, flint-working and bead-making, this race was equal or superior to the Egyptians. No writing was known beyond personal marks; drawing and sculpture were in a very rude condition. Metal was well-known; copper adzes show that woodwork was familiar, traces of a finely-carved bed frame, with bulls’ feet, was found. Copper needles show that sewn garments were worn. The making of stone vases was a favourite craft, many beautifully-formed specimens having been discovered, from soft alabaster to the hardest syenite, from six to eighty unearthed from each tomb. This new and unexpected discovery seems to show us that the veil which enshrouds many obscure points in the pages of Egyptian history will shortly be drawn aside, more especially from before the blank spaces of unrecorded facts which exist between the sixth and tenth, and thirteenth to seventeenth dynasties, and the land of the Nile will offer up more marvels to the world at large. 6, Porchester Terrace, Hyde Park, W.; May, 1897. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 49 GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. ATURDAY, June sth, 1897, was the day for the annual visitation of Greenwich Observatory, when a goodly company, together with the official Board of Visitors, attendéd. The Astronomer- Royal's report stated that the north wing and tentral dome of the Physical Observatory was completed in September, last. This building contains the largest telescope in the world devoted to photography, presented by Sir Henry Thompson. On the same equatorial stand, of the German pattern, but constructed by Sir H. Grubb, is at the one end of the declination axis, the 26-inch photo- graphic telescope, with the 123-inch Merz telescope, formerly mounted as the great equatoreal, mounted as the finder below it, whilst above it is the g-inch Thompson photo-heliograph. At the other end of the axis is a 30-inch Cassegrain reflecting telescope to which is attached the photographic spectroscope, whilst the 6-inch Hodgson telescope is attached as a guiding telescope. This instrument was a great centre of attraction. Amongst other visitors was Sir Henry Thompson himself. Just outside this dome, upon the terrace roof, is mounted the Dallmeyer photo-heliograph, with which photo- graphs of the sun have been taken on 222 days, 471 negatives being retained for preservation, as well as twelve with double images of the sun for determina- tion of the zero of the position-angle. These photographs, together with those taken in India and the Mauritius, give a series on 360 days out of 366. Many of these photographs, together with the apparatus for their measurement, and also some photographs of the moon, one plate of Saturn and one of Jupiter, were on view ina sort of museum below, under the charge of Mr. E. W. Maunder. The new Altazimuth was supposed to be ready in September last, but its four reading microscopes gave discordant results, varying according to the last position of the telescope. Examination showed that the axis was too weak ; this was strengthened, but the fault was not wholly done away with, even though the position of the friction rollers was altered, and a system of levers substituted for Springs. Mr. Simms has, however, discovered an unsuspected source of error in the transit circle, of similar construction, made for the Perth Observa- tory. Owing to the method of giving a helical twist to the grinder in grinding the pivots, it was found that these had a tendency to act as screws, intro- ducing a longitudinal force varying in direction according to which way the telescope was moved; the effect being to slightly move the iron standards carrying the bearings and microscopes, and varying the position of the latter with respect to the graduated circles. A few circular turns of the tool cured the Perth instrument, and as the Greenwich one suffered from the same complaint, similar treatment was adopted, and it is confidently hoped that the instrument will shortly be in working order. Last year, asin previous years, the sun, moon, planets and fundamental stars have been regularly observed at the meridian with the transit circle. The annual catalogue of stars observed in 1896 contains 3,454 stars. With the 13-inch astro- graphic equatoreal, on 117 nights, 348 plates were taken, though, for various reasons, sixty-nine of them had to be rejected. These photographic maps of the heavens, many of which were on view, were very fine. As a result of the Astrographic Congress meeting at Parisin June, 1896, it was resolved not only to measure the plates face upwards, but to reverse them and go over them again, so doubling the work, but at the same time increasing its accuracy. The entire work is expected to be com- pleted in nine years, at the present rate of progress. With the 28-inch equatoreal, 195 double stars have been measured, each on an average on two nights, and the satellite of Neptune on four nights. By reversing the crown lens of the objective, it has been proved to be an efficient photographic in- strument, excellent photographs of the moon and close double stars having been obtained. The glass ball used hitherto as a sunshine re- corder has been found to give results latterly much shorter for Greenwich than the instrument in Bunhill Row. Since January rst another glass ball has been mounted close to it, and the records of the two show differences equal to nine hours for January, and as much as 21-7 hours for March. The reason of the falling-off of the older instrument is supposed to be due to some change in the glass. The total number of chronometers and deck watches received at Greenwich for rating was 1,220, those issued, 1,124, and 519 were sent for repair. Ninety-seven chronometers were entered for the trial for twenty-nine weeks in temperatures varying from 42° to 1o7°, and the Admiralty purchased fifty-four of them for the Navy. On five days the Greenwich time-ball was not raised owing to the wind, and that at Deal on ten days for the same reason. On thirty-one days the automatic signals from the clock at Westminster failed. On one occasion the error of this clock amounted to four seconds, but on fifty-five per cent. of the days of observation it did not exceed one second. The mean declination of the magnet for the year was 16° 56°5’ west. No great magnetic disturbances were recorded during the year. The mean temperature of the year 1896 was 50°1°, being 07° above the average. The rainfall for the year ending April 30th, 1897, was 26:83 inches, 2°29 inches above the fifty years’ average. During the same period the mean daily horizontal movement of the air was 289 miles, which is eight miles above the average of the preceding twenty-nine years. F. C. DENNETT. - DHE PHOROSCOPE. AMS TEUS photographers, especially ladies, who do not care to be burthened with heavy camera and attendant tripods, have offered to them this season valuable prizes for an interesting competition. It has been organized by Messrs. Ross and Co., of rir, New Bond Street, London, for the two best series of twelve negatives taken by their new photoscope, or field-glasses and camera combined. ‘The conditions of the competition are simple, and open to all owners of the Ross instru- ment, competitors having to state from whom it was purchased. ‘The twelve negatives must be accompanied by prints made by any printing rocess and mounted. The winning series to come the property of the prize-givers. The first prize is valued at f10, being a best quality field-glass, suitable for either out-door observa- tion or theatre, fitted with photoscope attachment ; the second prize is a fine pair of binocular glasses for field work or theatre. The negatives and rints must be delivered to Messrs. Ross and Co, yefore 30th September next. The Ross Photoscope is an elaboration of the 50 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Sanders patent, which has been much improved and developed by the present manufacturers. It consists in outward appearance of an ordinary THE PHOTOSCOPE. Fig. I. first-class pair of field-glasses and may be used for all purposes required of those instruments. When the user requires to take a picture the photographic attachment (fig. 2, A) is added to the small ends of Tue Puoroscope. Fig, 2. the binocular body (8). This attachment (a) com- bines the lens, shutter and finder. The operation is simplicity itself, for it is only necessary to remove the ordinary eyeheads and slide the tubes of the attachment into the tubes of the binocular. The roll-holder (c) contains a spool of film and is screwed into the larger end of the tube, which has the lens and shutter in its opposite end, the focussing - glass (D) being fitted into the otter tube, as shown in fig. 2. The whole packs away into an _ ordinary portable sling case. When operating the picture the glasses are reversed to the eyes (fig. 1). The resultant pictures are charming little photographs, of which we reproduce some examples, they may be enlarged to any reasonable size. Messrs. Ross and Co. have thus produced an instrument which combinesa first-class field or opera-glass with a means of carrying a camera that will give us permanent records of the incidents of travel or of nature notes we may desire to record. The photoscope will do all that may be expected of the hand camera, with the advantage that positions may be worked in which no other instrument would be available. As the photoscope is held to the eyes whilst the picture is taken, a more eae natural position is the result. Each roll of films, to be used as negatives, contains sufficient for twenty-four exposures, the pictures measuring 14 inch by 1? inch square, the price being one shilling and sixpence for each roll. These are very portable, and may be developed and printed at leisure. For those persons who have not opportunity themselves, Messrs. Ross and Co. charge two shillings per spool of films for develop- ing, and from one shilling and sixpence to two shillings per dozen for printing the pictures. There are few students of nature who would not find the photo- scope useful for one or other purpose in connection with the permanent re- cords of their in- vestigations. The price of the photoscope varies from £7 Ios. to {10 tos. For those who have already valuable binocular field-glasses, arrange- ments may be made for fitting them with the attachments for photography. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 51 CONDUCTED BY FRANK C, DENNETT. Position at Noon. Rises. R.A, Joly. ham. ham. Sun SAD: ines 5 16. 26... Moon ... 6... .-.10.39 Pp. m. 16. -. 6.44 a.m. 26 . . 6.16 p.m. Position at Noon. Souths. Semi hem. Diameter. Mercury... 6 ... 11.22a.m. ... 2" 7 . 5 “5 6 Venus 3.5 I 8.52 "8 8.56 8 Mars 3-6 gle 2.50 I 2.33 "oO Jupiter ... 3-4 It) Saturn 7.50 2 Uranus ... eae ye agp LAG Neptune...16 ... 941 a.m. ... 1” 2 Moon's PHASES. hem. hm. 1st Or. ...July 7... 1.32p.m. Full ... July 14... 4.52 a.m. eee AMeee yy 20.02 3-0) | as INFO ee yy) 9 20)ee- 3-50 Dn. In perigee, distant 226,200 miles July 11th, 6 p.m. ; in apogee, July 23rd, 3 p.m., distant 251,500 miles. OCCULTATIONS AND NEAR APPROACHES: Dis- Angle Re- Angle Magni- a from appears. from July. Star. tude. ex. hm, Vertex. 1z B.AC. 6194... 4°7... 22 € Arietis . 8.38 p.m. ... 337° . Near approach. 24 17 Taurii °° ni0aMm. ... 309° 4% 23 -» 1.33 4.M. ... 245° Sea” 5s 4 . Near approach. 2437 = PY) ««« 2.15 a.M. ... 267° a6 27 ow ASD ats . Near approach, CONJUNCTIONS OF PLANETS WITH THE Moon: July «4 Mars 2 a.m. planet 3° 21’ N. 4 sae Jupiter Sef Cpe Bene | Bese Fn ASSLLUTING, 10)6~—Cti«s.-~Ss Saturn 94m, .. Irn ALBIN 25 Venus* a A ere yy, Oc da! S: 3n Mercury* lam. Tr ra eakor NG telow horizon in England. + Daylight. Aw annular eclipse of the sun occurs in the after- noon of es 2gth. It is, however, quite invisible in these islands, the line of central eclipse passing across Mexico and the West Indies. It begins in the Pacific Ocean and ends in the South Atlantic Sun.—We are evidently near the minimum of sun spots. No dark spots were recorded on May 1zth to 18th inclusive. On July 2nd, at 4 a.m., the sun is in apogee, or farthest from the earth Mexcuny is not in a favourable position for observation, being in superior conjunction with the sun at 10 p.m, on 15th. Venvs isa splendid object in the early mornings, rising about 1.25 on ist and about 1 a. m, on 318t, reaching yreatest elongation west, 45 48’, at 12 p.m on 7th. On 23rd, at 2 a.m Venus is in conjunction with Ceres, the first discov vered of the minor planets. Venus is only 6’ north, and so will be in the same telescopic field. When in conjunction with Neptune at 9 p.m. on 28th she will be un- fortunately below the horizon. Mars sets at Io. 32 p.m. on rst and 9.5 on 31st. Mars is in conjunction with, 8’ south of, Jupiter at 3 p-m. on 25th. JUPITER sets at 10.50 p.m. on 1st and at 9.1 p-m. on 31st, so, like Mars, is fast passing from the observer's ken. SATURN sets at 1.30 a.m. on Ist and at 11.26 p.m. on 31st, being near the meridian at the beginning of the month, when he first peeps through the twilight. Uranus is a little to south of Saturn, and Neptune is too near the sun for observation. MErTeEoRS may be looked for July 11th, 2oth, 2rst, and especially 25th to 30th. RED STARS IN POSITION DURING JULY. R.A. him. Dec. Magnitude. R Secum we 18.40... 5° 51’ S.... 4°7-8'5 ... Variable B 505 Saggittarii... 19.27 ...16° 38’ S 65 B.A.C. 7,001 Cygni 20.15 ...38° 38’ N.... 7:0... Variable(?), B 502 Draconis ... 19.26 ...76° 20' N.... 675 it Variable(?) MS Lyre - 18.52 ...43° 48’ N.... 4°3-4°6 ... Variable B.526 Saggittarii... ANC) ae) GS a5 7 YAS ine ruby THE Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams has the address ‘ Astronomische Centraistelle, Kiel,’’ Professor H. Kreutz having now taken the work in hand. Tue Next Great SoLar Ecripsz.—Professor Naegamvala, on May 26th, gave an interesting account, to the British Astronomical Association, of the preparations being made in India for the observation of this phenomenon. Tue Magnetic Observatory at Greenwich will shortly be removed from within the boundaries of the Royal Observatory to another part of Greenwich Park, where a site has been selected. This removal has become necessary owing to the disturbance to the instruments caused by the amount of iron in the New Physical Observatory and also the great reservoir of the Kent Water- works, south of the Observatory. Tue Yerkes Telescope is at last in working order, and it is to be hoped that, in the hands of Professor Barnard and Burnham, it will prove even more efficient than the great Lick instrument. Tue Lick AND GREENWICH EQuATOREALS.— According to the ‘‘ English Mechanic,”’ the ex- cellence of the object-glasses of these two instru- ments is such that they are found in practice to separate double stars closer than theory assigns as the limit of their dividing power. This speaks volumes for the instrument makers. We may add that the Greenwich 28-inch should by theory just divide stars 0163” apart, whilst 0'127” would be the limit of the 36-inch Lick. The similar limit of the 41°5-inch Yerkes glass should be o:110”. HouMPHERY BARKER CHAMBERLAIN, — Mr. Chamberlain was born in Manchester in 1849, and as a boy of seven went to America. At Denver, Colorado, he founded a noble observatory bearing his name, containing amongst other valuable instruments a 20-inch equatoreal. He returned to this country seven years since, and has died in consequence of a bicycle accident, It was only on May 28th last that '' Engineering” gave a fully-illustrated description of the observatory 52 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. CONTRIBUTED BY FLORA WINSTONE. ANNAES DE SCIENCIAS NATURAES. (Oporto, April, 1897.) The Editor, Signor Augusto Nobre, continues a paper upon the ‘Marine Animal Life of the Coasts of Portugal.’’ Dr. Lopes Vieira con- tributes a ‘‘ Catalogue of the Fishes of Portugal.” There was, he states, noregistered list of the modern collection of fishes of Portugal in the Museum of Zoology of the University of Coimbra, and on these he founds his paper. ‘‘ Notes on the Birds of Portugal” are continued by Mr. W. C. Tait, and include, in this number, among others, the genera Tringa, Totanus, Sterna, Lavus and Puffinus. The article on the ‘‘Molluscs and Brachiopods of Portugal,” by the Editor, is also continued, the genera Clathurella, Raphitoma, Haedropleuva and Halia being noted, as are the native members of the families Cancellaridae, Marginellidae, Volutidae, Mitridae, Fasciolariidae, and Buccinidae. La FEUILLE DES JEUNES NATURALISTES. (Paris, June, 1897.) M. Eugene Simon continues his revision of the genera of Trochilides, or humming-birds, dealing in this number with Aphantoghroa, Talaphovus, Patagona, Leugippus, Polyervata, Uvanomitva, and others. M. G. Budde- Lund writes on the oldest civilization in the world, being extracts from a lecture given before the Students’ Association at Copenhagen. He ‘says that one must look to bees, ants and termites to find the first civilization of any animals on the earth. They were living in communities with regular systems and laws when man, if in existence, was only a savage beast. ‘‘ The most subtle explanations,’ says M. G. Budde-Lund, “have been put forth to maintain the supremacy of the human reason above ‘instinct,’ but one becomes more and more convinced that the only difference is in degree.’’ The article on the French shores of the Channel is continued by M. Adrien Dolfus, the subject in this number being the molluscs found between Bénerville and Dives, including the genera Cultellus, Mactra, Tellina, Limaea, Purpura, Natica, etc. M. G. de Rocquigny Adanson has a note on the distribution of the orange-splashed brimstone butterfly (Rhodoceva cleopatra). This form belongs chiefly to the fauna of southern France, and is not seen further north than the 46th parallel. VicroriAN NaturRAList. (Melbourne, May, 1897.) Among other communications is a paper read before the Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria, in March, 1897, by Mr. A. J. Campbell, describing the nests and eggs of three rare birds, viz. : Edoliisoma tenwivostrve (Jardine’s caterpillar-eater), Ptilopus swainsoni (red-crowned fruit-pigeon), and Megaloprepia magnifica (purple-breasted fruit-pigeon). Mr. E. Anderson and Mr. F. P. Spry give an illustrated account of a new butterfly, Lycena cyvilus, This species was apparently first obtained in Victoria some years ago by Mr. J. Kershaw, who had in his collection a female specimen, taken at Moe. Messrs. Anderson and Spry were fortunate enough to obtain a series of this species, both male, and they were captured in December, 1896, near Cranbourne. Mr. Henry Tisdall writes of “A Botanical Peep into the Rocky Pools of Sorrento and Queenscliffe.’’ The paper is devoted to remarks on the algae to be found in these pools, especial attention being given to the genus Caulerpa and other low forms. ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. (Philadelphia, May, 1897; pp. 197-228.) The most important Paper in this section of the Proceedings is by Samuel N. Rhodes, being ‘‘ A Contribution to the Mammalogy of Central Pennsylvania.” It is a fortunate thing for posterity that records of the wild animals of various sections of the northern Continent of America are now from time to time catalogued, with intelligent notes upon their respective abundance or rarity. The march of civilization is so steady and so relentless that the feral mammal fauna is necessarily much altered in the course of comparatively few years. The district considered by Mr. Rhodes is of a moun- tainous character, and includes hills upwards of 2,000 feet in altitude, with numerous valleys, rivers and woodlands of the Alleghenies. Owing to deforesting and burning of much of the timber of the region, not only the animals but the flora has changed to a great extent during the last century. Most of the larger animals have consequently disappeared. The last American bison was killed in central Pennsylvania so long ago as the year 1800, by Colonel John Kelly, five miles from Louisburg. The wapiti (Cevvus canadensis) was fairly abundant in the first decade of this century. The last known wapiti or ‘‘elk”’ is stated to have been killed in Elk County by a party of Indians in 1865, though one is said to have been seen a couple of years later. Virginia deer have struggled on up to the present time, though they have been almost exterminated by pot-hunters, wandering dogs and forest fires. In this part of the state, wandering dogs, which have become practically wild, are ‘‘ ten times as destructive as the grey wolf ever was.” Other animals of interest which have disappeared include the black rat (Mus vattus) which was once the common rat, but has been replaced, as it has in the British Islands, by the Norway rat (Mus decumanus). Of course both these species were in- troduced, and are not native to America. The grey wolf still remains, but is wary and rare. The total list of species mentioned by Mr. Rhodes reaches sixty-one wild animals. The last number being appropriated to the North American Indian (Homo sapiens-amevicanus), of whom there were in 1890, on various reservations in the district, in more or less civilized condition, some 8,000 of various tribes; two-thirds of these being of Iriquois descent, the remainder being chiefly Senecas and Cherokees. THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. (London, Ont., June, 1897.) As was pointed out recently by one of our contemporaries, the Canadian fauna is being studied and described chiefly by naturalists hailing from the U.S. side of the border-line. Our Canadian friends should bestir themselves for the credit of the Dominion. In the number before us there are eight communications all written from the United States, and apparently there is not a single Canadian writer in this number. Of course the political boundary does not make any difference in the native fauna and flora of North America. Still it would be more satisfactory to see the Dominion naturalists more active. The Canadian geologists, botanists, and economic entomologists, have done well; but there are few exceptions to the lack of energy in other branches. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 53 NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. Essays of George John Romanes, M.A.,LL.D.,F.R.S. Edited by C. Ltoyp MorGan. don, New York and Bombay: and Co., 1897.) Price 6s. Thisis a new and cheaper edition of the collected essays of the late Professor Romanes. In gather- ing them from the pages of various magazines and reviews as few alterations as possible have been made. Nothing has been added or cut out; only evident misprints adjusted. In these Essays, as might be expected from the sources whence they come, Dr. Romanes appears in his best popular style. They are ten in number and treat of varied subjects, such as ‘‘ Primitive Natural History,” “Darwinian Theory of Instinct,’ ‘‘Man and Brute,” ‘‘Mental Differences between Men and Women,” ‘‘ Recreation,” ‘“‘ Hypnotism” and ‘‘ The Muzzling Orders for Dogs.”’ All are of interest, for Romanes could not be otherwise when writing for the public. There being so much variety leaves no room for disappointment, whatever be the taste of the intelligent reader. 253 pp. Svo. (Lon- Longmans, Green Practical Acoustics : Lessons in Elementary Practical Physics. By C. L. Barnes, M.A., F.C.S. Vol. iii., part 1, “ Practical Acoustics.” 214 pp. 8vo, illus- trated by 82 figures. (London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1897.) Price 4s. 6d. This book is the first part of Volume iii. of the “Elementary Practical Physics" series, begun in 1885 at Owens College, Manchester, by the late Professor Balfour Stewart and Mr. W. W. Haldane Gee. By the death of the former author, and the transference of Mr. Gee's labours elsewhere, the series fell into abeyance for some years. We have now a new work issued in the series, which still bears the names of Stewart and Gee, that is a credit to its predecessors. In it we find the study of sound directed with care and judgment, and facts of more recent discovery fully explained. Sound of nearly every kind is treated, from its simplest origin to the more obstruse and complex aspects of its phenomena. The text is plainly written for even the least initiated, who by aid of the numerous diagrams cannot fail to follow the author as he proceeds. The Induction Coil in Practical Work, By Lewis Wricut. 172 pp. Svo, illustrated by 4 plates and 972 figures. (London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1897.) Price 4s. 6d. At first sight this book may be passed as another popular account of the Rontgen X rays; but more careful perusal will show that it is a concise account of the induction coil and a prac- tical guide to its efficient and safe use. Now that an extended acquaintance with radiography is more common, authors have to write with great care upon all that appertains to the subject. In his treatise, Mr. Wright begins quite at the com- mencement, frankly confessing —as did last year he who knows more of its action than any other man, Lord Kelvin—that we know nothing of the reality of eletricity. Still, of the detaii of its work and its effects under specified circumstances we here may learn much valuable information in the easiest possible manner. We are led on by the author step by step in this little book, until a very complete fund of modern knowledge of the subject may be attained. The diagrams are of recent date, and the book is well produced. The Concise Knowledge Natural History. Edited by AtrreD H. MILEs, 787 pp. large crown 8vo, with 530 original illustrations. (London: Hutchin- son and Co., 1897.) Price 5s. This is one of those remarkable efforts of publishers which have in modern times astonished the literary world. It is a co-operative work by Messrs. R. Lydekker, F.R.S. (Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibia, Fishes), R. Bowdler Sharpe, LL.D. (Birds); W. PF. Kirby, F.L.S. (Insects); W. Garstang, M.A. (Lancelet, etc.), B. B. Woodward, F.L.S. (Mollusca), F. A. Bather, M.A. (Starfish, etc.), R. Kirkpatrick (Moss Animals), R. I. Pocock (Worms), and H. M. Bernard, M.A. (Corals and Animalcules), and the illustrations are by J. Keulemans, F. H. Micheal, Ernald W. Miles, Frank C. Aldworth, and others. A better title for the book would have been ‘‘A Concise Knowledge of Zoology,” for it only deals with that department of natural history. Of course, when so much is crammed into so small a space, the conciseness becomes very apparent. One cannot expect any- thing more than a sketchy account of the general subject. This gets more apparent as we turn to some of the later pages; but for those who use this work for its proper purpose, as a dictionary, it is useful. For instance, refer to the excellent index, and turn to ‘‘ Helix'’; then refer to page 643, at the top of which stands ‘Snails and Slugs’’; the whole of the large and important family of ‘Helicidae’ is dismissed in the following five lines: ‘‘The Helicidae comprise an enormous number of forms: high-spired shells, as in the genus Bulimus, which is confined to South America and the West Indies; or, as in the gaudily-painted shells of the Philippine genus Heliocostyla and our own Cochlicella ; shells with short spire, or no spire at all, as in the big genus Helix, of which the garden snail is an example.’”’ It is for the general naturalist, who is not a specialist, and indeed for the specialist who desires to know something of other things in nature outside his own group, The figures are seldom good, though generally sufficient; but some are so wanting in clearness of detail as to be of little use. The Dictionary of Photography: For the Amateur and Professional Photographer. By E. J. WALL, F.R.P.S. Seventh edition. Revised and edited by Tuomas Boras, F.C.S., F.1.C. 632 pp. 8vo. Illustrated by 122 figures. (London: Hazell, Watson and Viney, Limited, 1897.) Price 7s. 6d. In a comparatively recent science, like that of photography, we may expect numbers of new words incorporated in each new dictionary devoted to the subject. That it is so, is shown by the fact that this new edition of Wall's well-known dictionary has required 150 additional pages and about 300 new headings, with many additional diagrams, to bring it up to date. Some of the words are treated in encyclopmdic style, for instance, “ Portraiture ” occupies alxteen pages, “Exposure,” thirty pages, ‘‘romide Paper, eighteen pages, ' Enlarging,” no less than thirty- four pages It thus becomes a work of reference for the photographer, to whom the latest edition is a nece sity. 54 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. A Text-Book of Geology. By W. JEROME Harrison, F.G.S. 343 pp., illustrated by r40 plates and figures. (London, Glasgow and Dublin: Blackie and Sons, Limited. 1897.) Price 3s. 6d. This is a new edition, the fourth nominally, but really the book has to a very large extent been re-written, with many additional illustrations placed in the text. Even the type has been re-set on larger pages, with a larger and clearer fount. Much recent discovery in the science of geology has been incorporated, and the work is well up to date in its information and style of training necessary for special examination tests. Some specimen ex- amination papers of the Science and Art Depart- ment are reprinted for the guidance of students. This book, how- ever, will be useful Waste and Repair in Modern Life. By Rosson Roose, M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.P. Edin. 364 pp. 8vo. (London: John Murray. 1897.) 7s. 6d. Dr. Roose commences his work with a quotation from Boswell’s ‘‘Life of Johnson,” ‘‘ Why, sir, you find no man at all intellectual who is willing to leave London. No, sir; when a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” We might, as an “ off- set” suited for these times, quote another, ‘“ For the rich man, London is a fine place in which to live. For the poor man, London is a fine place to leave.’’ We refer, indeed, to the battle of life which is being constantly waged around us with increasing severity in this immense city. It is really that subject and its effect on the to many others than combatants which those who desire to be ‘‘crammed" with examination tests, to the exclusion of the sound ground- ing which helps to continue the taste for after-study. It deals with the general subject in an intelligent manner in well-arranged chapters which lead on the reader by the interest created. The first chapter is a good one, being upon the definition, object, and history of the science of geology. It contains also a_ carefully prepared descriptive list of a geologist's ‘‘equipment for the field’’; these tools are figured. Weare glad to find they are simple in character and few in number. The author further instructs the reader in their use; in fact with this little but inspires Dr. Roose’s work before us. To quote from one of his earlier pages(31), “The advocates of what is popularly known as ‘ progress’ at the present day will doubtless be surprised at learn- ing from a distin- guished American physician that the number of insane is greater in a com- munity in propor- tion to the political and religious freedom of the population ; that is, to the opportunity they enjoy of work- ing out their own purposes, whether in relation to this world or the next, in the manner most agreeable to them- selves.”’ Whatever may be the case in America, it is an undoubted fact in this country that we are rapidly closing useful book anyone prisons and in- may commence the PRODUCTION OF RIVER-VALLEY BY A MouNnTAIN STREAM: A creasing our ac- study of geology and RIVER-TERRACE iS SBE ON ONE SiS OF THE SBN Commodationieaeton paleontology with (From ‘A Text-Book of Geology,” published by Blackie and Sons.) the insane. The every prospect of success. The general sections of the book are: Part I., Descriptive Geology divided into Basis of Geology; Common Geological Terms ; Composition of the Principal Rocks; Disintegration and Solution; Snow and Ice Action. Part II. is devoted to Classification of Remains of Animal and Plant Life. Part III. is for Historical and Stratigraphical Geology, in which the various rock series are treated. The illustrations are well chosen, and in most instances they have been taken to illustrate this work. We reproduce a couple, by permission of Messrs. Blackie, to show the popular, though useful, style of the work, and its excellence of production. Anyone who desires to know something of the geology of his neigh- bourhood, with the aid of this book, should have no difficulties. book under notice treats the subject of wear and tear of modern life from the hygienic point of view. If we human animals are to live unnatural lives, sacrificing physical conditions to the mental, we must take such precautions as are possible to preserve physical health, which is the keynote of mental sanity. The seven shillings and sixpence to be expended on this book will be well spent if its readers will follow its teachings, for it will save many guineas in future doctors’ fees. Some of the author’s best chapters are on ‘‘ The Art of Pro- longing Life,’’ ‘‘ Fasting and Physiology,” ‘‘ Infec- tion and Disinfection” and ‘‘ Health Resorts and their Uses.” All his subjects are practically treated. How charming is it to read books in this type on good paper. We congratulate Mr. John Murray on its production. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 55 A Handbook of the Birds of Great Britain. By R. Bowpter SHarPe, LL.D. Vol. pp. Svo, illustrated by 35 coloured plates and plain figures in letterpres (London: Allen and Co., Limited, 1897. Allen’s Naturalists’ Library.) Price 6s. This volume concludes Dr. Bowdler Sharpe's work on the birds of Great Britain for ‘‘ Allen’s Naturalists’ Library.’’ It contains terns, gulls, skuas, auks, petrels, shearwaters, divers, grebes, rails, coots, some others, and an Appendix with Addenda to the preceding volumes. There is also iv., 332 Ss. an important preface, in which the author defends his views on nomenclature as exhibited in this work. Our readers are by this time fully aware of our views on this vexed question, viz., that it Pu Tor, DARTMOOR, SHOWING “ WEATHERING A Text-Book of Geology,” tublished by Blackie and Son.) From should be settled once for all, whatever system is adopted. Ina case like this before us the subject is plain enough, because Dr. Sharpe clearly vhat he means by giving synonyms with indicate dates. What we object to is the use of unfamiliar names without any synonym to indicate what species the writer desires us to consider, as for instance in the “ London Catalogue of British Plants.” We are pleased that Dr. Sharpe has followed the Brit Association rules, especially in avoiding Cat letters for spec names. ‘There is much the author's defence of museum officials st the taunt of being only “ cabinet’ natura lists, and we » with him as to his list of those ho have d di field work; but we could point t a long belonging to the other side, that is of “ cabinet naturalists, who would often be confused at the different results produced by them at the end of a field-day, if placed side by side of many a ‘‘working-man’’ naturalist, not only in this country but also on the Continent. This applies equally to “specimens” and to their respective knowledge in: connection with habits and other facts, beyond ‘species’? and nomen- clature. Still, all this does not alter the fact that a first-class ‘‘ cabinet '’ naturalist may produce a first-class and trustworthy book on his special subject. This is shown in the present instance. Dr. Bowdler Sharpe has given us one of our best modern popular works on British birds. The majority of his descriptions of plumage are original, taken from the birds direct. The author has been most careful on this point, which will be of great value a few centuries hence for comparison. ’ or GRANITE. A Hand-book of the Order Lepidoptera. By W.¥ Kirey, F.L.S., F.Ent.S. Vol v., Moths—Part iii., 344 pp. 8vo, illustrated by 32 coloured plates and numerous plain figures in Jletterpress. (I-ondon: Allen and Co., Ltd., 1897. Allen's Naturalists’ Library.) Price 6s With this volume Mr. Kirby has concluded his admirable review of the Lepidoptera. We can fully appreciate his difficulty in accepting the work for Messrs. Allen and Co., and do not think he could have selected a better system of treatment than the comparison of the British butterflies and moths with their foreign relatives. Tis alterations of the nomenclature, as we have said in former notices, are sweeping ; but, like that of Dr, Sharpe, in his *‘ Handbook of the Birds of Great britain," above referred to, it is intelligible on account of its excellent synonymy 56 SCIENCE GOSSIP. — ?Aa|SCIENCE GOSSIP} WS Sigal Fi pes eR Stee tou OO. bir A SRC On June 9th, a memorial bust and pedestal to Joseph Thompson, the African explorer, was unveiled at Thornhill, Dumfriesshire. A marble bust will also be placed in the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society. We have received Herr Oswald Weigel’s catalogue of books on the zoological division Arthropoda. It contains 1,480 items of literature on insects, crustacea, spiders, etc. His address is 1, Konigstrasse, Leipzig. Mr. Joun CrayTon has sent in a reprint of a lecture by himself on the ‘‘ Effects of the Weather upon Vegetation,’’ which is illustrated by a map and frontispiece. Botanists and agriculturists will find much to interest them in his remarks. THE report of Dr. Copeland, the Astronomer Royal of Scotland, was issued on June 5th, as a Parliamentary paper. It deals largely with the new reduction of the right ascensions of stars, epsenved at Carlton-Hill, and the instruments used. Mr. Epwarp STaNnForp, of Cockspur Street, London, the publisher of geographical books and maps, has sent us his useful catalogue of maps and books. This publication contains key maps both to the British and French Ordnance Survey charts. It will be found useful by our readers, who can at a moment select by number any particular sheet. Tue Annual Conversazione of the Royal Society, to which ladies were invited, took place on June 16th, and was well attended. We are not quite clear as to whether the interest of the numerous Fellows who were there was not greater in the brilliant costumes of the visitors of the ‘‘ other sex,’’ than in the many exhibits of a scientific character, as most of the latter were shown at the soirée reported in last month’s SciENcE-GossIP. Ir is satisfactory to note that common sense prevailed at the last audit of the Urban District Council of Ampthill, Bedfordshire, when a charge was found in the accounts for the services of a *‘water diviner.’’ It was conclusively shown by scientific evidence of a geological character that the spot selected by the ‘‘ diviner’’ was one most unlikely to find water. The auditor disallowed the amount, which must be privately repaid to the Urban funds by members of the Council who voted for the ‘* diviner’s ’’ employment. In the House of Lords, on May 28th, a debate of much importance to those persons possessing valuable natural history collections and other objects of a scientific character took place on the motion of Lord Stanhope. It was with the object of persuading the Government to remit death dues on such objects, and also on pictures, prints, books, manuscripts and works of art not yielding income. Lord Kelvin ably supported the motion; but nothing of a definite character resulted. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has the veto in each case which may arise, and, we understand, the power to remit the dues. It was only during the second week in June that the University of Klausenburg celebrated the hundredth birthday of its veteran Professor, Samuel Brassai; and a week later his death is announced. Messrs. Lonemans will shortly publish an important revision of Sir John Evans’ ‘“ Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain.’ The first edition was issued in 1872, so there is much new material for additional matter. A LARGE captive balloon, which formed part of the Jubilee fete at the Royal Botanical Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, escaped, and after ascend- ing into a dense mass of cumulus cloud appears to have exploded. It fell in pieces in the neighbour- hood of St. Pancras and King’s Cross Railway Stations. Tue Annual Report of the Director-General of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom for 1896 has been issued by H.M. Stationery Office (Price 6d.) It is fuller than usual, reaching about Ioo pp. It is divided into sections: (1) Geological Survey; (2) the Palzontological Department ; and (3) the Museum of Practical Geology in London. Tue terrible earthquake of June 12th, which devastated portions of Bengal, and was very severe in Assam, only too clearly shows, as has been said, that our ‘‘solid earth” is still more or less unstable, even as a mass of quivering jelly. It seems probable that the same tremor was registered by seismographic instruments at Grenable, in France, at Newport, Isle of Wight, Edinburgh, and other European stations. TELEGRAPHY without wires is apparently coming into practical form, and has the full support of Mr. W. H. Preece, chief of the Electrical Depart- ment of the General Post Office. The new apparatus, invented by Signor Marconi, a young Italian, is full of promise. Mr. Preece recently lectured on the subject at the Royal Institution. Signor Marconi’s invention will be fully tested under the auspices of the British Government. It may lead to a revolution in signalling and tele- graphy. It is with great pleasure we note among the Jubilee honours that the editor of ‘‘ Nature,” Professor Joseph Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., etc., has been promoted from C.B. to a knighthood of that honourable Order. We are sure this pleasure will be shared by all our readers who know the excellent scientific work so unassumingly accom- plished by Sir Norman Lockyer and of his life- long efforts to obtain Government recognition of all matters scientific. Among the other Jubilee honours, Sir Herbert Eustace Maxwell, Bart., M.P. for Wigtownshire and a popular writer on natural history subjects, becomes a Privy Coun- cillor. Dr. Samuel Wilkes, President of the Royal College of Physicians, and Sir William MacCormac, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, are to be baronets. Professor Crookes, F.R.S., has a knighthood, as do Mr. Wolfe Barry, President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Dr. Huggins, Dr. Thorne and Admiral Wharton, Hydrographical Department of the Navy. Dr. Edward Frankland, F.R.S., to be K.C.B., and William Henry Mahoney Christy, F.R.S. (Astro- nomer-Royal), to be a C.B. Sir Joseph Hooker to be G.C.S.I. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 57 iMICROSCOP Yk, SD SA eo ENE VNES S CONDUCTED BY J. H. COOKE, F.L.S., F.G.S. [We have pleasure in announcing that Mr. J. H. Cooke, F.L.S., F.G.S., etc., has kindly under- taken to conduct ‘ Microscopy”? for ScrENcE- Gossip, as honorary departmental editor. Mr. Cooke is so well known in scientific circles, that it is almost unnecessary to introduce him to our readers. We may, however, remind them that Mr. Cooke edited the ‘‘ Mediterranean Naturalist” for some years, and has long been a contributor to the Proceedings of the Royal Society, as also to various scientific serials. He has on three Occasions received grants from the Royal Society to further his scientific work. Mr. Cooke wasa Commissioner for Agriculture in the Maltese Islands, and he is now on the staff of the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, stationed at Lincoln. All communications for this department of Science-Gossip should be sent direct to J. H. Cooke, Esq., F.L.S., Thorndale, Lincoln.—Jo/n T. Carrington, Editor SctENcE-GossIP.] It having been decided that more space shall, in the future, be devoted to microscopy in the pages of this journal, we shall be glad to hear from all who are interested in the subject, and who may feel inclined to assist in making a success of the section of ‘ Microscopy” in SciENcE-GossIP. The monthly programme will consist of notes on current microscopical research, helpful hints and original articles, with, when possible, coloured or plain illustrations. To carry out this plan effectively, it will be necessary to have the co-operation of workers in microscopy, for it is obvious that the success of a department of this kind depends not so much on the exertions of its editor, as on the support that he receives from his readers. Copies of the Proceedings, Transactions, and Journals of English and Foreign Micros- copical Societies, as well as contributions from individuals, will be gladly welcomed.—J. H. C. PRESERVATION OF WatTER-MITES.—The very interesting series of articles, by Dr. George, that has appeared in this periodical during the last few years has given some impetus to the study of British water-mites. The following mixture, recommended by Dr. Mark, for the preservation of these minute creatures may not be without some interest to a considerable section of our readers. Glycerine and Wickersheim’s fluid, one and a-half ounces of each, and distilled water, three ounces, the whole to be shaken and thoroughly mixed, and added to thirty ounces of ninety-five per cent. alcohol. The colours of the mites are apt to fade somewhat if exposed to light, the collections should therefore be kept in closed boxes. PeTWoLocicaL Siipes.—Queries have been received from several readers requesting to know whether any petrological series of slides with descriptions have lately been, or are now being issued. Information on this point will be acceptable. Tue Economy oF Birp Licr.—From the fact that lice immediately abandon the bodies of fowls that have been affected with cholera and kindred diseases, Mr. James Weir, Jun., has been led to conclude that the office of these parasites is to prey upon the waste products of the skin as well as to freshen and beautify the feathers. They are absolutely necessary to the health and well-being of their host and are therefore to be regarded as true mutualists. Ponp-LIFE.—The long spell of cold winds during May greatly retarded the development of both animal and plant life alike. This has been specially noticeable in our ponds and streams when, as a rule, the Entomostraca, water-mites and beetles, begin, under normal conditions, to swarm about the beginning of May. Compared with last year pond-life is, in this respect, quite a month behind. Just now the waters teem with transparent Nitella and Spirogyra, the glass-larve of Corethra plumicornis, with its peculiar kidney- shaped air-vessels fore and aft, the building-rotifer, Melicerta ringens, the ever-interesting Volvox globator and a host of others of the minute creatures so dear to the heart of the pond-hunting microscopist. New Ponp-Sweep.—The following is a very ingenious contrivance for pond-sweeping, which is at once simple in construction and effective in its working. ais the handle, B the hoop of a fisher- man's landing-net. The hoop has been cut at a}, b!, and a piece of copper wire stretched across. To this framework is attached a muslin net p, having a hole at its apex. & isa test-tube of about three inches in length, and one inch diameter, in the sides of which a series of clean-cut holes have been bored. Around the perforated portion of the tube a piece of fine muslin, F, is wrapped and securely fastened with small elastic bands ; and the top of the test-tube is then inserted and firmly fastened in the hole which was made in the apex of the bag. The advantages of the contrivance are that the surface of the pond can be well swept, and a maximum of material may be collected with a minimum of water. How this is achieved is obvious. STAINING INSECTS’ Wincs.—Dr. Brodie has given much attention to the setting up and pre- servation of insects. The following mode of staining the wings of insects which he has devised, will be both useful and interesting. Place the whole insect in a strong alcoholic solution of fuchsin, and allow it to remain there for forty- eight hours. Then transfer the insect to water with a pair of fine forceps, and wash it until no more colour comes away, changing the water if necessary. While the washed insect floats in clear water, slip a microscope slide under it, raise the slide, holding the insect on it with a fine needle, separate the wings from the body with a fine scalpel, and remove the body. Float the wings 58 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. into position on a drop of clear water, remove excess of water with blotting-paper and allow to dry. Then place a drop of thick Canada-balsam near them and heat over a spirit-lamp. Tilt the slide to allow the liquefied balsam to flow over the wings, lower a cover-glass gently into position and allow to cool. On examination the veins will be found red, the depth of colouring varying with the length of time of staining, the thickness of the veins, etc. MicroscoricAL RESEARCH.—The May number of the ‘‘ Geological Magazine”’ contains two articles dealing with microscopic research. Mr. F. Chapman, F.G.S., descants ‘‘On the Microscopic Contents of a sample of Bracklesham Clay from the Solent,’’ and Professor Rupert Jones records and figures some ‘‘New Entomostraca from Brazil.” ForAMINIFERA.—Students of the Foraminifera will find much of value and interest in the current number of the ‘‘ Revista Italiana di Paleontologia,” in which Dr. C. Fornasini summarizes the contents of several recent publications on the Rhisopoda. Among the more noteworthy of these are ‘‘ Nono contributo alla conoscenra della microfauna terriaria Italiana,’ ‘Noto micropaleontologiche”’ and “ Foraminiferi pliocenici della provincia di Siena.” SEEDS AS OsjEcTs.—Those who are seeking objects for slide-making purposes might be re- minded that the seeds of our common garden flowers will furnish an abundance. Foxglove, mignonette, antirrhinum, petunia, larkspur, and bartonia are specially interesting and beautiful. To kill any fungi or insect ova that may be attached, the seeds should be subjected to a heat of about 200° Fah., after which they may be mounted in the usual way. MarRINE Microscopic Lirr.—In the course of an address on ‘‘ Marine Organisms and the Con- ditions of their Environment,”’ which was recently delivered at the Royal Institution, Dr. John Murray, F.R.S., tells us that the pelagic tropical waters of the ocean team with various forms of life of which from 70 to 80 per cent. are plants, converting, under the influences of sunlight, the inorganic constituents of sea-water into organic ‘compounds, thus forming the original source of food of marine animals, both at the surface and at the bottom of the sea. SPORES OF VAUCHERIA.—Early in May I found an alga in a cattle tank, evidently a Vaucheria. There were interspersed with it a number of spherical bodies, too-110 mm. in diameter, with either one or two filaments, 30-35 mm. in diameter, running out from them, and which I take to be spores germinating. These filaments branched into larger ones, and on one of the latter, measuring 50mm., thereoccurred the nearly matured ‘‘flowers”’ similar to those of V. sessilis, the oogonia measuring 50 by 70mm. Nowasthe maturespores (or oospores) are usually about the same size as the oogonia and threads, the inference seems to be that plants of this genus may fructify at any stage ot growth. Otherwise, how is the discrepancy between the presumably last year’s spores and the new oogonia to be accounted for? Then, further, as Cooke gives 70 mm., and not 100 mm., for the size of the spores oi V. sessilis, what species is this likely to be? Or perhaps measurements are cf little use in determination. Some of your readers may be able to offer opinions.—W. P. Hamilton, 1, Underdale Villas, Shrewsbury, June 7th, 1897. Rincinc Mounts.—The name of mediums for ringing mounts is legion, but none gives neater or more satisfactory results than liquid shellac. Dissolve the shellac in naphtha and use without further admixture of any kind. Mo ttuvsca 1N County AntTRIM.— Messrs. Standen and Hardy, of Owens College, Manchester, in company with Mr. Lionel E. Adams, Mr. R. Welch and Mr. Chester, of Southport, have recently been exploring the district about Ballycastle, in North Ireland, and dredging in Church Bay, Rathlin Island. The island was also examined for land and freshwater mollusca, with the result that thirty-four species were found in one day’s work. They also explored Whitepark Bay, Glendun and -Murlough Bay. The expedition was in continua- tion of one commenced in September last. It is not yet complete. The neighbourhood is a rich one for naturalists. MANGANESE Deposits.—In reply to Mr. MclIntire’s questions (ante p. 25), it is stated in Mr. Whitaker’s ‘‘ Geology of London, etc.,”’ vol. i. 1889, p. 300, that the gravel and its associated sand may be of marine origin. This remark appears to apply to the general mass, as there is little doubt that some portions, such as that lying near the Colne at Watford, and that in the dry valley at Harpenden, were of fluviatile origin. With regard to their composition, the gravels at Harpenden and No Man’s Land and those of the Watford District differ considerably. The upper chalk and tertiary beds, which have been largely denuded, have supplied materials for both sets of gravels, but whilst the gravels of the Watford District contain numerous erratic blocks and pebbles, those of Harpenden and No Man’s Land contain very few, so far as my own experience of them goes. Ina general way, it may be said that the gravels referred to may have been laid down by similar agents, but they differ considerably in composition. I cannot say whether erratics from the Nuneaton district have been found in the boulder-clay at Bricket Wood, but boulders of chalk, sandstones and grits (apparently carboni- ferous), septaria (probably from the Oxford clay), and Jurassic fossils have been found. These do not seem to favour the supposition that the erratics came from a north-easterly direction. I have not yet examined the boulder-clay of Bricket Wood in any detail. Iam greatly obliged to Mr. McIntire for mentioning the manganese deposit at Harpenden. The explanation given by me of the origin of the manganese deposits of the Watford and St. Alban's District I intend to put to the test as I continue the examination of the gravel deposits. During the past few weeks I have been fortunate in dis- covering an exposure which is by far the most interesting of the series, and tends greatly to show that the manganese, in this exposure at least, was derived wholly or in part from laminae of manganese ‘occurring in the Upper Reading Beds. —T. E. Lones, Rokeby Lodge, St. Alban’s Road, Watford. SCIEN CE-GOSSIP. 59 Referee - THE REV. E. ADRIAN WOODRUFFE - PEACOCK, L.TH., F.L.S., F.G.S., M.R.A. SOC., ETC. [After full consideration, I have decided, for the present at least, to retain to myself the depart- mental editing of ‘‘ Botany” in SciENcE-GossIP, and to accept the very kind offer of the Rev. E. Adrian Woodruffe-Peacock as referee in all cases where our correspondents desire identification or advice. To the present generation of botanists Mr. Woodruffe-Peacock’s name is as a household word, so well known is he, not only as one of our very best botanists, but also as an agricultural specialist on grasses and as the organising and botanical secretary of the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union. We trust that our readers who require advice or assistance in identifying plants may send their specimens, either fresh or dried, direct to the Rev. E. A. Woodruffe-Peacock, Cadney Vicarage, Brigg, when he will answer in these columns.—John T. Carrington, Editor of ScleNcE-GossIP.] ANEMONE APPENNINA IN IRELAND.—Mr. E. M. Dadd exhibited specimens of Anemone appennina from County Kildare at the meeting of the North London Natoral History Society of March 11th last. fAn alien —E. A. W.-P.] ANEMONE APPENNINA IN EssEx.—At the meet- ing of the North London Natural History Society held on April 8th last, Miss Simmons reported that Anemone apfennina grows in a private wood near Saffron Walden. [An alien.—E. A. W.-P.] ANCHUSA SEMPERVIRENS IN LINCOLNSHIRE.— Anchusa sempervirens, L., has been sent from Mareham-le-Fen, Lincolnshire, by Miss Rawnley. It has been recorded once from another parish, but this is the first specimen tohand. [An alien.— E. A. W.-P.) TRIFOLIUM FILIFORME IN LINCOLNSHIRE.—Mr. FA. Lees, the well-known Yorkshire botanist, has received Trifolium filiforme, L., from Elkington, Lincolnshire, gathered by Mr. B. Crow. This has been recorded for the county, but no botanist of repute has ever met with it before. British Grasses.—All lovers of our native grasses should obtain Professor Edward Hackel's * The True Grasses.” It is a splendid book for workers who make a special study of the order Gramineae, ably translated by Mr. F. Lawson- Scribner and Miss Effie A. Southworth. VERONICA MONTANA NEAR LovutH.—Mr. B. Crow, of Louth, Lincolnshire, sent Mr. F. A. Lees Veronica montana, L., gathered in Acthorpe Wood on May 26th, 1897. This species is so rare in the county that there is no specimen in the almost perfect county herbarium housed in Lincoln Castle. ApnonmMaL Mansu Maricorp.—If Mr. J. J. Ward will turn to p. 211, vol. xxii., of ’ Hardwicke's Science-Gossip,” he will find recorded a specimen of this plant, which, from his description, seems to be identical with that found by him (ante p. 11), The specimen is still in my possession.—Edwin E, Turner, Coggeshall, Essex; June toth, 1897. FasciaTED Datsy.—Mr. C. Greenhagh, of Middleton, Lancashire, sends us a curiously fasciated daisy. The union of peduncles in this case seems to be eight to twelve. They present a flattened riband-like form, with a single elongate- narrow fertile flowering head crowning them. It is not an uncommon anomaly. ORCHIDACEAE IN SURREY.-—In reference to the orchidaceous plants referred to last month (ScIENCE-GossIP, ante p. 25), may mention that on the same day and placea friend and I found several Ofhrys muscifera (fly orchis) just breaking into flower. A few were already expanded.— C. E. Britton, 189, Beresford Strect, Camberwell, S.E. ; June 2nd, 1897. Sotomon’s SEAL IN Hants.—This elegant plant, Polygonatum multiflorum, is abundant in a wood on the Alresford side of Alton. About a mile down a lane from the common there is a stile entering a field-path on the right, which leads to the side of the wood, in which Solomon’s seal will be found growing thick as bracken, some of the sprays being five feet in length.—John T. Carrington. Brive Jacos’s LADDER IN SOMERSET.—I picked some lovely sprays of Polemonium caeruleum, Lin., close to a bridge on the river Haddeo, near Dulverton, on the 13th of June, 1897. There was only one plant, but it was a very fine one with some lovely blooms on it. This plant is, I believe, a new find for Somersetshire.—F. B. Doveton, Eastcliffe, Babbacombe, Torquay. [An alien casual, often an escape from gardens, or introduced with foreign clover seed.—E. A. W.-P.] THE BoTaNnicAL ExcHANGE Cius.—The report of the Botanical Exchange Club of the British Islands, for 1895, is to hand. It was issued on June 5th, 1897, and it contains, as usual, a number of notes of considerabie value on the different species of plants which were circulated among the members. Of the numbers of these there was a falling off, but apparently only of a temporary character ; 3,056 specimens were received for distribution. Particulars as to membership may be obtained from Charles Bailey, Esq., Ashfield, Whalley Range, Manchester. ABNORMAL Cowsvip.—In answer to Mr. J. C. Turner (ante p. 25), relative to an abnormal form of Primula veris (which is, by the way, cowslip, not primrose), flowers of this genus are very subject to variation, and it is not at all uncommon for their flowers to have sepals of a leafy form, especially on being transplanted into gardens. Many specimens of this kind have come under my notice, and if Mr. Turner will refer to *‘ Hardwicke's Science-Gossip," p. 211, vol. xxii. and p. 70, vol. xxix., he will find one or two other sports of this genus recorded.—Edwin E. Turner, Coggeshall, Essex; June toth, 1897. Rare PLANTS IN LINCOLNSHIRE.—At the meeting of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union at Scotton Common, on June toth, amongst many other good species taken were Carex elongata, L., Lastvaca thelyptervis, Presl., Lycopodium clavatum, L., and Selaginella selaginoides, Gray, Drosera anglica, Huds., appears tobe quite extinct and D. inteymedia, Hayne, is very rare. Peucedanum paliustve, Moench,, has also vanished from its old spot and is as good as extinct we fear. The botanists never reached the locality from which Carex filiformis, L., is recorded, Mr. Sam. Hudson brought a specimen of Thalictrim collinum, Wallr., gathered in the Isle of Axholme, near Epworth, in 1896. 60 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Ce St Royat MetTeoroLocicaL SocieEty,—The las meeting of this Society for the present session was held at the rooms of the Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, on the afternoon of June 16th, Mr. E. Mawley, F.R.H.S., President, in the chair. A paper by Mr. R. C. Mossman, F.R.S.E., on ‘‘ The Non-instrumental Meteorology of London, 1713-1896,’’ was read by the secretary. The author has gone through the principal meteorological registers and weather records kept in the metropolis, and in this paper discusses for a period of 167 years the notices of thunderstorms, lightning without thunder, fog, snow, hail and gales. The average number of thunderstorms is 9'7 per annum, the maximum occurring in July and the minimum in February. The average number of fogs is 24°4 and of ‘* dense” fogs 5°8 per annum. The decadal means show that there has been a steady and uninterrupted increase of fog since 1841. The average number of days with snow is 136 per annum. The snowiest winter was that of 1887-88 with forty-three days, while in the winter of 1862-63 there is not a single instance of a snowfall. The mean date of first snowfall is November 9th and of last snowfall March 30th. Hail is essentially a spring phe- nomenon, reaching a maximum in March and April; the minimum is in July and August. The average number of days with hail is 5:9 per annum, Mr. C. Harding gave an account of the hailstorm which occurred in the south-west of London on April 27th, 1897. This accompanied a thunder- storm in which the lightning was very vivid. The hail lasted only about twenty minutes, from 6.30 to 6.50 p.m., and in that short space of time the melted hail and rain amounted to about an inch of water. The districts affected by the hail were Tooting, Balham, Streatham, Tulse Hill and Brixton. The ground was quite white with the + hailstones, which in some places remained un- melted the whole of the next day. Much damage was done to fruit-trees and shrubs. THE SoutH LonpoN ENTOMOLOGICAL AND Naturat History Society.—-June roth, 1897, Mr. R. Adkin, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. Jas. N. Smith, 28, Eastdown Park, Lewisham, was elected a member. Mr. Mansbridge exhibited a larva of Tephrosia crepusculavia beaten from yew, and a short series of imagines bred as a second brood from larva taken at the same place last year. He stated that the larva of T. biundulavia from both Yorkshire and Epping were quite distinct from the larva of T. crepusculavia in marking and colouration. Mr. Tutt remarked that the young larve of both species were similar to the young larve of the Ennomids in being black with more or less complete white rings, but said that such similarity did not necessarily always show close relationship. Mr. Malcolm Burr, a few insects from the Island of Socotra, and said that at a casual glance the fauna seemed to represent a transition from the Palearctic to the Ethiopian region. Mr. Turner, flowers of the bogbean (Menyanthidis palustyis) and of the cinquefoil (Potentilla comayum) from the neighbour- hood of Woolmer Forest. Mr. Lucas, ichneumons which had emerged this year from last year's cocoons of Zygaena trifolit, and also an! earwig (Chelisoches movio) from Java, of which species two examples have recently been taken at Kew. In the discussion several curious instances of parasitism were noted. Mr. Tutt mentioned a parasite on the lava of Melitaea aurinia, which had three separate emergences during life of its host. Mr. Hall said that a particular ichneumon was entirely confined to the young stage of Cucullia verbasct. Mr. Adkin, a series of both captured and bred specimens of Taeniocampa gothica, from Loch Laggan. The captured examples were largely the gothicina forms, while the latter were very typical, although the ova were from females of the former variety.— Hy. J. Turney, Hon. Report Sec. North Lonpon NaturaL History Society.— At the meeting of March 11th last, Mr. Battley reported that he had found mistletoe growing plentifully on whitethorn and crab-apple in Ickworth Park, near Bury St. Edmunds. The paper at this meeting was by Mr. Bacot on the Liparidae, which led to an interesting discussion. One of the facts mentioned was the increasing rarity of the brown-tail moth (Porthesia chrysorrhoea), which can hardly be attributed to over-collecting. Mr. Frost mentioned that it was common enough up to 1874.—The meeting of March 25th was well attended, and many exhibits were made. Mr. Harvey had seen a glow-worm at Chingford the previous week which was doubtless in the larval condition, that being luminous, though not so intensely so as the female imago. Mr. Woodward read a paper on the Picidae, or woodpeckers, Mr. Simes also contributed notes on the same family.—On April 8th reports of the lepidopterists were received on collecting at Sallows, near London, which seemed to have been productive of success. Mr. Dadd had taken as many as fifty Taeniocampa miniosa at Oxshott. Mr. R. W. Robbins opened a discussion on ‘‘The Ferns of Britain,’ and remarked on their style of reproduction by sori and prothallus. He then reviewed the British species. Several members followed, and made remarks of interest.— Thursday, April 22nd, 1897. Mr. C. Nicholson, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Exhibits: Mr. Battley, a fungus (locally known as the ‘ Jew’s ear’), which he believed to be edible and similar to the truffle. Miss Martin, a most interesting lot of botanical specimens, including fern prothalli; Marchantia polymorpha and Lunulavia vulgaris (nat. ord., Hepaticeae); Lathvoca squamaria, the toothwort, a root parasite with thick, fleshy scales (nat. ord. Orobanchaceae), this plant, Miss Martin said, is also partly insectivorous; an aquatic species of Aroideae ; flowers of the ash (Fyavinus excelsior), showing polygamous flowers (nat. ord. Oleaceae) ; Claytonia alsinovdes (nat. ord. Oleaceae) ; Alchemilla vulgaris, the lady’s mantle, small green flowers with no petals (nat. ord. Rosaceae) ; Deutzia (nat. ord. Saxifragaceae, sub. ord. Philadelpheae) ; Dioccious flowers of Aucuba japonica (nat. ord. Connaceae) ; Prunus lauro-cerasus, the common laurel (nat. ord. Rosaceae). Mr. Austin exhibited some eggs of the Corvidae, and similar exhibits were shown on behalf of Mr. Wm. Bayne. Messrs. Bacot, E. M. Dadd, Bishop and C. B. Smith also exhibited. Records were given of the occurrence of a swallow on April 4th at West End Common, near Esher, and of a martin, nightingale and cuckoo on April 17th. Mr. Simesalso recorded a wheatear redstart from Epping Forest on April 17th. Mr. Battley SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 61 had found the mistletoe parasitic on whitethorn and black poplar in Suffolk, and the cowslip-primrose hybrid plentiful in the same district. Mr. Austin read a paper on ‘‘The British Corvidae or Crow Family,” in which he dealt exhaustively with each species and produced either coloured drawings or specimens to illustrate same. Messrs. Harvey, Battley, Frost, L. J. Tremayne, E. M. Dadd, Simes, Bacot, R. W. Robbins, Bear, Miss Simmons and Mr. C. Nicholson took part in the discussion which followed.—Thursday, May 13th, 1897. Mr. C. Nicholson, F.E.S., President, in the chair. Mr. P. J. Hanson was elected a member of the society. Mr. J. Burman Rosevear, M.C.S., read a paper entitled ‘My trip to Highcliffe and what I found in the Barton Beds.” An interesting discussion followed.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Sesretary. Hutt ScrenTIFIC AND Fierp NATURALISTS’ Crus.—At the usual meeting on Wednesday evening, June oth, the President, Dr. J. Holling- worth, M.R.C.S., occupied the chair. Reports of excursions were given by various members. At Cottingham, Mr. Robinson had recently observed the bog pimpernel (Anagallis tenella) for the first time, though the plant had been recorded for this district by Robert Teesdale about one hundred years ago. The same gentleman also reported having collected the bracteate sedge (Carex divisa) from Marfleet Lane. This also confirms a record made by Teesdale. Several grass snakes were seen on the Marfleet Lane Excursion, one of which was captured. The usual disagreeable odour was emitted by the snake on being molested; but it is stated that this ceases when they become reconciled to captivity. Mr. G. H. Hill called attention to the fact that on a recent outing he had noticed that the beautiful clump of trees formerly surrounding “Blue Wells” near Barton had entirely disappeared, the trees having been cut down, leaving only a few stumps anda pond. It is considered a great pity that such a beautiful place as this was should have been so ruthlessly destroyed. Mr. J. W. Boult stated that he had visited New Holland, and had found some specimens of the blood-vein moth (Timandra amataria) for the first time, although he had been looking for them for about twenty years. Mr. Porter had also made a good entomological find, viz., a ** small yellow underwing "’ (Hcliaca tenebrata) near Springhead. This moth has not previously been found in this neighbourhood. The exhibits were of a varied and interesting character. Mr. Waterfall handed round a collection of plants and also a nest of small spiders, both of which had been collected on the Club's excursion to Goole Moor on Whit Monday. Mr. Boult showed a beautiful collection of moths and butterflies just reccived from Natal. The Secretary exhibited a large ancient British flint implement, and the half of a Koman quern in splendid preservation, both of which had been found by him in Lincolnshire. Mr. Alex. Hicks was elected a member of the Club. A lecture on “ The Extinct Animals of Holderness’’ was then delivered by the Secretary, Mr. T. Sheppard. The lecturer first gave an account of the geological history of Holderness, and pointed out that before this country was covered by the glaciers and ice sheets of the ice age, Holderness was not in existence, but a line of chalk cliffs stretched along from Flamborough, through Driffield, Beverley and Hessle, to the Humber Gap. The material left by the glacier on the final melting of the ice, formed the land which is now termed Holderness. For convenience of classification, the deposits contain- ing the remains of extinct animals were divided under three heads: pre-glacial, glacial apd post-glacial. Under the first head were described the series of sands and gravels which are found banked up against the old cliff line, and have been exposed at Bridlington and Hessle by artificial excavations. These beds are covered by boulder- clay, an undoubted glacial deposit, and bones and teeth of elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, bison and deer have been found in them, some of which have been gnawed, evidently by hyenas. Under the next head, the glacial series consist of sands, gravels and clays, which form the bulk of Holderness. The bones and horns of animals, usually very much waterworn, are almost invari- ably found in the gravels. The enormous collections of remains obtained when the Kelsey Hill and Brandesburton sections were worked several years ago, were referred to, and the lecturer also gave an account of his collection from the Burstwick gravel pit. The animals whose bones, etc., are found in the glacial beds, can be referred to the mammoth, deer, Bos, rhinoceros, horse, etc., the remains can be found in the museums at Leeds, York, Driffield, Hull and other places. The mammoth teeth so frequently found on the Holderness Coast were classed among the glacial series. The post-glacial beds were next referred to. These consist principally of layers of peat and old lake beds, which are found in hollows on the boulder-clay, and are therefore of later date. Excellent sections of these can be seen in the cliffs of our coast. In the peat, deer horns and bones are very common, though remains of ox and horse also occur. The old lake beds rarely contain mammalian remains, though deer-antlers have been found in them. An account of the peat beds and ‘‘submerged forests,’’ with remarks as to their probable origin, concluded the paper, which was illustrated by specimens found in Holderness. A lengthy discussion followed.—T. Sheppard, Hon. Sec., 78, Sherburn Street, Hull. LEICESTER LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL Society.—The Biological Section, ‘D,’’ of this Society made its first excursion this season on May 27th to an unfrequented part of Charnwood Forest, known as Lee Lane. This is a short bye- way leading to nowhere in particular, only about half-a-mile in length, but bounded by woods on either side, and with broad, green margins tufted with bushes and overrun with brambles and briars. There are many damp and shady nooks, and the lane is rarely visited save by a few of the rustic inhabitants or an occasional gipsy camp. It is an interesting locality for mosses and Hepaticae. Here were collected patches of the rare British Hepatic Kantia argauta, producing abundance of pseudopodia, each crowned with a tiny ball of green gemmae. Also specimens of the very small Fossombronia pusilla, with Pellia calycina, Chiloscyphus folyanthus and Conocephalus conicus, and Jungermannia ventricosa and J. sphaervocarpa. Among the mosses found in this lane are Anisothecium crispum, Clima- cium dendroides, Plagiothecium borrerianum, Hypniun filicinum and Hylocomium splendens. Several of these cryptogams are new records for the county or new localities. Among the phancrogams gathered were Valeriana divica, Lathyrus macyorhizus and its var tenuifolius, Asperula odorata, Chrysosplenium oppositi- folium, Pedicularis sylvatica, Carex fanicca, etc, The lane ascends from a picturesque brook at the bottom, crossed by stepping stones and a wooden foot-bridge, up a steep hillside, and from the 62 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. higher part a fine view is obtained of the Ulvers- croft Valley. After two hours spent in this secluded spot the party walked on to Ulverscroft Priory, to view the ruined tower. This was once the only landmark in a wide range of forest-land, whose bells were echoed every Sabbath from a dozen rocky eminences around. It is still the landmark, though silenced and dismantled. In the ruined nave are hay and straw stacks, and the prior’s residence is a roomy but antiquated farm- house.—F’. T. Mott, Crescent House, Leicester. NOTICES OF SOCIETIES. Tue Groxoaists’ AssocIATION OF Lonpon. Excursions and Conductors. July 3.—Woking. F. Meeson. », 10.—Whole day. Peterborough (Northamptonshire). A. N. Leeds, F.G.S., and A. S. Woodward, F.G S. »» 17.—Bishop's Stortford (Herts.). Rev. Dr. Irving, F.G.S. i 26 to 31.—Long Excursion. Edinburgh. Prof. James Geikie, LL D., D.C.L., F.R.S.; J. G. Goodchild, F.G.S., and H. W. Monckton, F.G.S. Sept. 4.—Whitchurch, Oving, Quainton. A. M. Davies, F.G.S. Baker Street, 9.37 a.m. for Waddesdon Manor. 18—Holmesdale Valley. W. J. Lewis Abbott, F.G.S. Victoria (L. C. and D. R.), 1.30 p.m. for Otford. For particulars of these excursions, apply to Horace W. Monckton, Esq., Secretary for Excursions, 10, King’s Bench Walk, Temple, E.C. ” Lonpon GeEoLoGicat. FreLtp Crass.—Conductor, Professor H. G. Seeley, F.R.S. (Vide ScieNcE-GossrP, Vol. iii., p. 328.) July 3.—Halling to Rochester. Cannon Street, 2.42 p.m. », 10.—Hildenboro’ to Sevenoaks. Cannon Street, 2.23 p.m. », 17.—Upnor to Rochester. Cannon Street, 2.37 p.m. Hon. Sec., R. H. Bentley, 43, Gloucester Road, South Hornsey, N. Ture SoutH Lonpon ENnToMOLoGIcAL AND NATURAL History Society. July 3.—Field Meeting at Reigate. NortH Lonpon Natura History Society. The ordinary meetings of this society will in future be held on the first and thivd Thursdays in each month at the North- east London Institute, Dalston Lane, N., adjoining Dalston Junction Railway Station. There will also be a special-family discussion, entitled “The Liparidz,” to be opened by A. Bacot on some date not yet fixed.—Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. Wootwicn Potytecunic Natura History Society. Meetings and Lecturers; Excursions and Conductors. July 1.—Woolwich Polytechnic. ‘‘ The Origin and Physical History of the Earth and Moon’” W. Turner. bs 3.—Plumstead Church, 3 pm. Manorway—mollusca and entomology. H. J. Webb. 10.—Plumstead Railway Station, 8 a.m. Chattenden Woods—entomology. S. Pine. », 15.—Woolwich Polytechnic. ‘ Queries and Replies on Astronomy,” illustrated by diagrams, etc T. W. Brown. »» 17.—Plumstead Railway Bridge, 3 p.m. Griffin Manor- way—larve and mollusca, H. J. Sargent. » 24.—Plumstead Railway Station, 2 p.m, Swanley district—mollusca. E. Dennis, » 29.—Woolwich Polytechnic. “ Setting Lepidoptera.” A. S. Poore. »» 31.—Wickham Lane (north), 3 p.m. Lane to Kings Highway—reptiles, mollusca, etc. F. C. Farr. Aug. 7.—Chariton Railway Station, 3 p.m. Charlton sand- pits—fossils and mollusca. G. Cornish. » 12.—Woolwich Polytechnic, ‘ Fish—their Structure and Habits.” E. J. Cunningham. » 14.—Plumstead Church, 3 p.m. Crossness—ento- mology. D. Millar. (For juvenile members.) », 21.—Abbey Wood Railway Station, 3 p.m. Knee Hill and lanes -mollusca and pond life. W. Turner. » 26.—Woolwich Polytechnic. ‘‘ Setting and mounting Coleoptera.” G. Cornish. ; » 28.—Plumstead Church, 3 p.m. Ditch work in Manor- way. H. J. Sargent. Sept. 4.—Abbey Wood Railway Station, 3 p.m. Knee Hill and lanes—larve and mollusca. H. J. Webb. » 9-—Woolwich Polytechnic. Exhibition by Micro- scopical Members. W. Scott. », 11.—Plumstead Railway Station, 2 p.m. Greenhithe— mollusca, etc. E. J, Cunningham. Sept. 18.—Plumstead Church, 3 p.m. Manorway—mollusca, ditch work, etc. J. E. Stacey. (For juvenile members.) »» 23.—Woolwich Polytechnic. ‘‘ The Moon,” illustrated by lantern views. T. W. Brown. », 25.—Wickham Lane (north), 3 p.m. Bostal caves—H. pulchella, Cl. volphit and C. acicula. T. W. Brown. Meetings, alternate Thursdays, at Polytechnic, William Street, Woolwich, 7.30 p.m.—H. J. Webb, Hon. Sec., Poly- technic; or 3, Gunning Street, Plumstead. NorrinGHAM NaAtTuRAL ScIENCE RAMBLING CLUB. Geological Section.—Leader, Mr. J. Shipman, F.G.S. 1o.—Trowell, Stony Cloud and Sandiacre. Meet Midland Station, 2.30 p.m. 28.—Annual Excursion. Lincoln. Fare (special train), Is. 6d. Sept. 11.—Hucknall Torkard and Long Hills. Meet Midland Station, 1.30 p. m. Botanical Section.—Leader, Mr. W. Staftord. July 24.—Red Hilland Bestwood. Meet opposite Mechanics’ Hall, 2 30 p.m. Aug. 14.—Nottingham Arboretum. Entrance, 2.30 p.m. Sep. 18.—Radcliffe and environs. July Aug. Meet Waverley Street Meet G.N.R. Station, 1.45 -m. Oct. 56: Ap sual Meeting, Rambling Club, Natural Science Laboratory, University College, Nottingham, 4 p.m. Tea, soirée and exhibition of collections made during season. W_. Bickerton, Hon. Sec., 187, Noel Street, Nottingham. 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. Notices of changes of address admitted free. Notice.—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. SusscripTions.—Subscriptions to ScrENcE-GossipP, at the rate of 6s. 6d. for twelve months (including postage), should be remitted to the Proprietors, 86, St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C. Tue Editor will be pleased to answer questions and name specimens through the Correspondence column of the maga- zine. Specimeus, in good condition, of not more than three species to be sent at one time, cavriage patd. 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 editorial communications, books or instruments for review, specimens for identification, etc., to be addressed to Joun T. CarrineTon, 1, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C. CORRESPONDENCE. T. B. (York).—The insects boring holes in furniture are the larve of beetles of the genus Anobium, one of which is the “deathwatch.” Some dealers in “antique” furniture get the same effect by shooting pellets into the furniture with a shot gun. : s A. H. S. (Redbridge).—A worm of the genus Gordius, which js aquatic, though found also in damp places. It has no special connection with laurel leaves. 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, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, zoophytes, foreign shells and any other marine objects, fresh or dried, in exchange for other specimens, books, micro slides, etc.— H. W. Parritt, 8, Whitehall Park, N. Eccs 1n Criutcues.— Richardson skua, shag, gulls, terns and other sea birds to exchange for clutches of southern jnland birds,—Dr. Prond, Maryport. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 63 PRESERVATION OF RARE BRITISH ANIMALS. By Joun T. CarrRINGTON. HAVE been favoured with a small four-page reprint of half-a-dozen letters on the destruction of rare birds, which correspondence appeared a few weeks ago in the ‘‘Saturday Review.” The writers were Mr. Joseph F. Collinson (of the Humanitarian League), Sir Charles Dilke, Bart., M.P., Mr. W. H. Hudson, C.M.Z.S., and Mr. Ernest Bell (a member of the Society for the Protection of Birds, who is alsoa member of the Humanitarian League). The following passage occurs in the first of these letters, which is by Mr. Collinson : "A ‘specimen * of the hoopoe—a lovely creature —it is recorded, has recently fallen a victim to the “murderous aim’ of the collector. It was shot by the Rev. R. T. Gardner, at Garstang, Lancashire, on September 29th, 1896. When a clergyman shoots down rare birds one can scarcely wonder that other people who do not profess to be religious do the same. More recent examples are furnished in the case of the kingfisher. Several birds of this species have within the past few weeks been shot in different parts of the country. Two have been shot in the County of Durham, one in Surrey, one in Northumberland and one in Yorkshire.” To this letter Sir Charles Dilke replied, on April 24th last, in a short but sensible communication, to the effect that the kingfisher had in late years increased so greatly on the Thames that they were tow as common in that district as they were thirty years ago, when Sir Charles first knew the river. The third letter in this correspondence is by Mr. Hudson, who, as a popular writer on British birds, doubtless knows what he is saying when he remarks that the kingfisher “was almost annihilated by the terrible frost of January and February, 1895; and no wonder, for it had been reduced by constant persecution to an insignificant remnant; and for five or six weeks the watercourses were all frozen over throughout the length and breadth of the land, the cold being so severe as to kill the hardy furze down to its roots in most districts. Probably the only kingfishers that survived were those that migrated to the sea-coasts at the beginning of the intense cold. After the big frost I spent some » months in tramping through Somerset and Devon, visiting a great many streams, always on the look- out for the kingfisher; but not one did I see, and the almost invariable answer to the enquiries I made was that the kingfisher had not been seen after the frost. There have since been two exceptionally favourable years—long bright sum- mers and mild winters —and the birds have multi- plied. During the last twelve months a good many kingfishers, in pairs and singly, have visited the ornamental waters in several of the London parks.” It is hardly necessary to refer to the remaining communications in this reprint, as they are written entirely from the humanitarian point of view, and Avoust, 18997.—No. ¥, Vol. IV. against those whom Mr. Bell describes as the “«selfish collector.’ I need only remark that the letters are characterized by admirable evidence of good-natured sentiment, rather than practical knowledge. For instance, the latter gentleman indicates the danger of disappearance, among other birds, of nightingales and kites. Need I remark how improbable is the loss of the former, or how long since the latter ceased to bea British resident ? The same gentleman refers to the kestrel as the “‘windover,” evidently not knowing that its true popular name is ‘‘ windhover,” from its habit of hovering against the wind when in search of food. In the following remarks I would have Messrs. Collinson, Bell and other humanitarians clearly understand that I have as much personal horror and disgust as themselves at the wanton and useless destruction of the rarer members of our fauna and flora. Still, we must guard against allowing sentiment to run into error, which it is very liable to do if every statement that appears in print passes unchallenged—especially in un- scientific or irresponsible papers. My object is not to deprecate the preservation as long as possible of disappearing animals, but to point out that it is the inevitable result of the forces of nature and the civilization of mankind which are the causes of these disappearances, and not acts of the ‘‘selfish collector’ nor ‘tthe cruel sportsman.” With regard to the latter, in the case of birds, he is generally wrongly accused ; the work of destruction is rarely by his hands. It is almost invariably the deed of the casual fowler. The ornithologist, in most instances nowadays, meets with his rarer specimens in the flesh, already dead and hanging in some poulterer's or other shop. He must indeed be a young collector who needs to go shooting kingfishers, when he can buy their ready-prepared skins at a cost hardly greater than that of the cartridges he expends upon their slaughter. If it were possible to take a census of the wild- bird life of the British Islands and compare it with one taken half a century ago, I believe we should be surprised to find that the gross bird population is now greater, while in regard to native breeding species, hardly any have actually disappeared during the past half century. We should further find that some species more frequently nest in this country at the present time than when our first census was supposed to have been taken. For instance, one can mention the woodcock. Looking back on the names of some of the birds which have disappeared from our islands within the memory of man, we find that they have equally 64 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. left other regions of Western Europe where they were common at the period when they inhabited Britain. The one cause above all others for the disappearance of birds from any particular region is the difficulty of obtaining regular supplies of natural food. It is not necessary that the supply of this food should have actually ceased in any district, if the animals which depend upon it are unable to adapt themselves, while feeding, to artificial disturbances which may grow up around them. In fact, if we take the list of those birds that formerly habitually bred in this country, but no longer do so, we shall find that they are all more or less afflicted with timidity or shyness of man and his works, or that their food-supply is gone. Otherwise they are birds which have had to suc- cumb to the competition of others more numerous or more assertive than their own species. As an instance of this, it appears to be only a question of time before house-sparrows will drive away one of our most lovely and interesting summer migrants —the house-martins. These pugnacious little finches have latterly contracted the habit of driving away the martins from their nests, which the sparrows themselves then occupy. Taking the other point of view, namely, the consideration of those birds which now regularly breed in these islands, we find, first, they are species that have adapted themselves to man’s civilization, or inhabit localities which have not been affected by railways, factories, cultivation of the land, or game preservation. With regard to the first type, or such as have contented themselves with the association with mankind, we need have no fear of their extermination. Their habits will in the future tend to a greater familiarity with human civilization and consequent increase in numbers. This point of view is confirmed by the fact that some of the formerly shiest of all shy birds, the wood-pigeons, have within quite recent times come to breed in our largest and most noisy cities throughout western Europe, herding with sparrows and starlings. Other birds which are so frequently quoted by the humanitarian school of nature-lovers, would never, under existing circumstances, become per- manent breeders in this country. Neither is it probable, under its wildest conditions, were they ever more than casual breeders. Among these are the often-quoted hoopoes and golden orioles. Most animals, indeed, we may say all species, live within certain well-defined geographical limits, and Great Britain cannot be within the limits of the above two kinds, nor of some other birds which so rarely fall into the hands of the ‘selfish collectors.” They may be safely looked upon as storm-blown individuals, or unwilling migrants from some other cause, who would in course of time either return to their more congenial haunts or be killed by cruel nature on the first approach of winter, or by other means. Were they birds which could readily adapt their habits to our country they would in time past have bred in such numbers that their offspring, under the influence of the hereditary passion for returning to the place of their birth to reproduce their species, would come as regularly every season as do the nightingales or the cuckoos. In every division of nature and in every region of the earth there appear to be waves in the abundance and scarcity of certain species of the feral inhabitants. Returning to those of Britain, we may consider one of the most studied and best understood of the great orders—that of the Lepidoptera, or butterflies and moths. In my own time of active observation, extending to nearly forty years, we have known some species in many parts of the country which were generally common, or at least by no means rare, to have practically disappeared. As an example I may mention the “‘brown-tail moth” (Porthesia (Liparis) chyysorrhoea), which twenty years since was a comparatively common species throughout the south of England, but is now rarely or hardly ever found. The same applies to that handsome butterfly, the ‘‘black-veined white” (A foria crataegia), which was abundant half a century ago throughout southern England and South Wales. Without mentioning others, these two instances are sufficient to prove that some other agency than that of the collector must have caused their disappearance ; because, in the first place, there have never been in this country a sufficient number of persons who re- quired specimens of these once common species to have exterminated them. Neither have some of the localities where they both abounded ever been visited by entomologist or collector. I have every sympathy with those who have founded societies for the protection of our wild birds, and brought about Acts of Parliament for their preservation. As I have said earlier in these lines, I look with abhorrence on the useless, senseless and vulgar destruction of any kind of wild life. I admire equally the efforts which certain collectors of butterflies and moths have been making for the formation of an association to protect disappearing _ species in our fauna. Doubtless their efforts may prolong for a few years the stay of these species with us; but if their diminution is due to the forces of nature or to their inadaptability to accommodate themselves to human civilization, no amount of dilettante preservation will stop their ultimate extinction. While forming these societies and advocating the abstention from collecting, humanitarians must be careful not to allow senti- mental feelings to interfere with the proper acquisition of representatives of our fauna for scientific purposes. I venture, however, to hold SCIENCE-GOSSIP. the opinion that at no time has scientific collection caused the extinction of any species; neither has the senseless shooting of odd indi- viduals of any kind of birds by casual fowlers exterminated their species. Perhaps two avoid- able agencies may have contributed to hastening 65 the end of some, namely, the acquisition of birds for purposes of ladies’ millinery, and the unmeaning rage among collectors for ‘ British” specimens of species common on the other side of the English Channel, whence they are frequently blown over to our shores. VEGETABLE NATURE OF DIATOMS. (*) By T. CHALKLEY PALMER. HE essentially vegetable nature of diatoms is at the present time acknowledged by biologists almost or quite without exception. The phenomena of their increase and reproduction, if nothing else, are of a nature to call for their grouping in the same class with such undoubted Yet plants as desmids and the Zygnemaceae. every young student, seeing for the first time the glassy cells of diatoms moving about under his mi- croscope in a manner that would seem to indicate a very ani- mal-like volition, is liable to ask for some tangible proof of their plant nature, some more elemen- tary argument than that drawn from re- success of the experiment; for in the absence of sunshine, or at least of bright daylight, it is found by experience that diatoms, and especially the motile forms that are expending energy in the way made evident by their motion, cease to exhale oxygen and begin to absorb it, or at least to give out carbon-dioxide. This phenomenon — the evidence of an ex- othermic chemical reaction— the dia- toms exhibit in com- mon not only with animal organisms, but with all plants also. It is the well- known process of re- spiration, that which Gautier has called “the animal life of plants.’’ Themethod I desire to describe is of great simplicity, lations which are to be apprehended in all their significance only after somewhat extended study. However difficult, or even impossible, it may be to draw a definite line that shall separate the animal and vegetable kingdoms, it is probable that no one will object if the term “ plant’ is applied to an organism which, when exposed to sunlight, is found to absorb carbon-dioxide and to exhale oxygen. The method and apparatus described herein are designed to show that both these phenomena, which are so characteristic of plants in general, are characteristic of diatoms. Pelletan (* Les Diatomes"') states that he has collected sufficient of the gas arising from diatoms to serve for the application of those usual chemical tests which prove it to be oxygen. But it is not easy to bring together the that permit the collection, from diatoms alone, of such a volume of gas as is required for these tests. Considerable time, also, must be for the operation This question of time is, in fact, important to the conditions needed (') Kead before the Vhiladelphia Academy of Sciences, D DANA AANA MMA AAAAASA. WA AAT ADAAV APPARATUS FOR TESTING VEGETABLE NATURE OF DIATOMs, and it yields con- clusive results within an hour, provided the light be suffici- ently strong; it does not necessitate the collection of any appreciable volume of gas, and it demonstrates both phases of the endothermic reaction. Haematoxylin, the chromogen of logwood, is peculiarly fitted to be an indicator in a case where it is desired to recognize the presence or absence of carbon-dioxide and the evolution of nascent oxygen, the solvent being ordinary water from Spring or river containing its usual traces of various mineral matters. Under the influence of carbon-dioxide, the haematoxylin dissolved in such water loses its normal rosy or slightly bluish-red tint, and turns to a yellow with a tinge of brown. In the presence of nascent oxygen, on the other hand, the light-red hue deepens momentarily, and ends by becoming a very deep blood-red. The latter change is in a manner permanent, but the former is reversible, ic. the rosy-red colour returns when the carbon - dioxide ig removed, These well-known colour reactions are 2 66 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. of great delicacy, and are used in the following way: A sufficient quantity of water is taken to fill all of the tubes shown in the figure, and the dish up to the mark D E. This is tinted with a sufficient quantity of a freshly-made solution of haematoxylin. The colour should be a very pale hue of red. The tube A is then filled, and the rubber stopper, with its penetrating quill-tube, is inserted, the last bubble of air is forced out by pressure, and the tube suspended as shown. The remainder of the solution is acidified with carbon-dioxide from the lungs, blown into it through a glass tube. The brownish-yellow tint having developed, tubes B and C are filled with the solution, and into C some clean, living diatoms are put. Both are then corked and hung as figured, the quill-tubes dipping below the surface of the liquid in the dish. These quill-tubes, which allow the pressure within the larger tubes, due to gas or to expansion from heat, to relieve itself into the dish, are drawn down to a very small opening in order to lessen diffusion of liquid up or down and to confine the diatoms. The apparatus is now exposed to bright light—if to direct sunlight so much the better, since the action is then more rapid. Gas arises from the diatoms in tube C, and simultaneously the colour of the liquid, which is at first like that in B, begins to change. Within fifteen minutes, under proper conditions, the colour has again become almost or quite as red as that in tube A. The carbon-dioxide has now in large measure disappeared from the solution. The action continues, and the colour in tube C deepens rapidly, showing oxidation; and this action continues until the colour is quite blood-red or even, in case much lime is in the water, until bluish lakes are formed in clouds. The ceasing of the action may, conceivably, be determined by exhaustion of every trace of carbon-dioxide, but data on this head are wanting as yet. At all events the evolution of gas goes on long after the colour reaction of carbon-dioxide has dis- appeared. The experiment may be varied in the following manner: All of the tubes are filled with the normal, non-acid, reddish solution of haematoxylin. Into A is put a living snail, into B live diatoms, and C is allowed to remain for comparison. The whole apparatus being exposed to sunshine, A pales rapidly under the influence of the carbon dioxide from the snail, while B as rapidly darkens and reddens compared with C, owing to the oxygen from the diatoms. This result, so significant, is obtainable in a very few minutes. The diatoms selected for the above experiments were the long, broad filamentous forms of Eunotia (E. major of Rabenhorst), which are peculiarly applicable, because it is easy to procure them in sufficient abundance, and to free them, under a dissecting microscope, from any accompanying algae that might, by their presence, tend to cast doubt upon the conclusiveness of the results. THE COMING OF THE RAINS. By STANLEY S. FLoweEr, F.Z.S. (Communicated by SiR WittiamM H. Friower, K.C.B., F.R.S.) Ae those who have been through an Indian “hot weather’? know the extraordinary difference ‘‘the coming of the rains’’ makes in the amount of visible animal life, which to those who have not experienced the change seems almost incredible. In Siam it isjust the same—for months there is no rain. During January and February the climate is delightful—warm, dry days, with cool refreshing nights; in March and April comes the hot weather, the thermometer sometimes up to 102 degrees in the shade by day and only down to 95 degrees at midnight. The broad, alluvial plains between the rivers are a parched desert, the paddy fields being hard and sun-cracked, with no vestige of green. Birds are plentiful enough. All day long one hears the monotonous “‘ pook, pook, pook”’ of the hot-weather bird (Xantholaema haematocephala) and the almost equally distracting cry of the kéil (Eudynamis honovata), and one wonders what Rudyard Kipling was thinking of when he wrote of ‘kdil, little kéil,’ and describes it as ‘the Indian nightingale,” but one agrees when he sings : “In my ears the knell of exile your ceaseless, bell-like speech is— Can you tell me aught of England, or of Spring in England now?” The animal world seems dead were it not for the birds and the flying foxes (Ptevopus medius) which every evening leave their roosting-tree by the village temple, where the Buddhist priests hold them sacred. These large bats fly off to such trees as they know to be in fruit. There are also a few monkeys and squirrels. True, many geckoes are to be seen about the houses at night, fleas swarm to an obnoxious extent in the dry dust of some of the paths, and ‘‘sand flies’ abound, those irritating little insects just large enough to see but not to catch, which have a special fenchant for biting SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 67 one’s wrist and ankles; but for frogs, beetles, myriapods, worms, etc., one may search for hours in vain. Then come a few days of most oppressive heat, in spite of the sun being nearly hidden by great banks of dark, lowering clouds; everyone seems more or less miserable and is troubled with “prickly heat.” The crows and mynah birds alone are cheerful by day and all through the Stifling night the great house-lizards (Gecko verticillatus) are heard, now chuckling sardonically to themselves, or crying aloud clearly and deliberately, ‘‘ to-kay, to-kay. One morning, more than ever, as Longfellow expresses it: ‘there was a feeling of suspense in nature, a mysterious sense of terror in the air'’—till suddenly the weather breaks, first a furious wind, blowing showers of dust and leaves from every tree, tearing the broad banana leaves to ribbons, and carrying great pieces of attap thatching from the roofs, then lightning, thunder and a deluge of rain, which pours steadily for hours, till before sunset it ceases almost as suddenly as it began. Then the air is fresh, the distant view of trees and flat fields clear, the pleasant smell of rain anda moist earth again tempts one out, when one finds apparently a new fauna. A big, brown toad (Bufo melanostictus) jumps somewhat ponderously from under one's foot; agile little frogs (Rana limnocharis and Microhyla ornata) are hopping about ; scores of small insect-eating bats are flying in all directions ; cicadas are singing in the trees; and the grass, which suddenly has become green, seems alive with creeping things. As it grows dark, crickets are heard chirping everywhere, glowworms begin to show their light, and from near the river comes the croaking of frogs, the unceasing loud “ waarr, waarr, waarr”’ of Callula pulchya, and at intervals the “opp, opp, opp” of the big bull-frog (Rana tigrina). On returning indoors, one realises at once that there is no need now to search for insects, they are coming in their thousands. If one sits down to read by the lamp, they crawl over the book, crush themselves between the pages, creep into one’s hair, down one’s neck and upone’s sleeves. If we try to write it is the same, with the added inconvenience that they crowd into the ink-pot, some to die there and clog the pen, others to spring out again, scattering ink over the desk. At dinner it is the worst ; one’s food and drink is invaded by battalions and brigades of winged creatures, some very active, but most in various stages of dying, while all the time fresh hordes are flying in, buzzing, frizzling and flaring in the lights. Most numerous are the termites, which drop their four long wings about most untidily and then crawl wherever they are not wanted. Then there are winged ants—large and small—astoneflies, crickets, cockroaches, grass- hoppers, beetles of many kinds, especially little black water-beetles, bugs of an infinite variety of shape and colour, quantities of moths and now and then a big praying mantis. Worst of all are the mosquitoes, as they are above flying at the light but follow one to the darkest corners of the house. This inroad is, however, thoroughly appreciated by the little house lizards (Gehyva mutilata, Hemidactylus frenatus and H. platyuvus), which are busily engaged on the walls and ceilings till they can eat no more. In the evening my Indian watchman reminds me that the coming of the rains is a favourite time for Chinese and Siamese ‘' loosewallahs”’ to break in and steal, so about midnight I take a lantern and have a look all round the house and outbuildings ; and here again life is apparent everywhere, mille- pedes of several kinds are crawling aimlessly about the walls, finding little satisfaction in damp white- wash. Large spiders (Heteropoda venatoria ?) are also abroad on the walls, but with more purpose, as the lantern shows many a one enjoying itself with a cockroach or other insect in its fatal grasp. Quaint scorpion-like creatures (Thelyphonus) are feeling their way cautiously about, using their long first pair of legs as antennae, but when disturbed dart away like lightning into some crevice, and once the light fell on a true scorpion (Isometyus) overcoming a cricket much larger than itself. To the naturalist the interest of all these varied living things around him far outbalances the discomforts and damp-heat of ‘‘the rains’”’; but for all that when bedtime.comes he is not sorry, however keen he may be, to put mosquito curtains between him and them, and to fall asleep wondering whether the Arthropoda are, or are not, a natural group. Bangkok; April, 1897. THE VIRGINIA CoLony oF HELIx NEMORALIS.— Professor T. D. A. Cockerell contributes to our American contemporary, ‘‘Science,’’ an interesting article upon the Lexington colony of our common-banded hedgerow snail. He has received from a correspondent a number of these shells gathered in 1896-97, and goes through the band formulae as well as colour variation. The value of these variations is to see the influence of environment not only in a new locality but also on a new continent. Thus to students of evolution the opportunity is exceptional. The colony has long been watched by Professors Cockerell, Morrison, and others, so that this contribution to our knowledge by Mr. Cockerell is in continuation of records by himself and others. He says: ' The examination of the list brings out the apparent fact that new split-band variations are comparatively rare in the colony, though still more frequent than such forms are in Europe,” He finds there were about 100 split-bands in 2,100 shells found by Professor Morrison, and about four per cent. found by his later correspondent, 68 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. BLOOD AS A MICROSCOPE OBJECT. By Dr. ALFRED C. STOKES. II HAVE recently been examining, with great satisfaction, a mount of an object so common that every human being carries it about with him from even before the day of his birth to the moment of his death, and for some time after. He is unable conveniently to do otherwise. The object can therefore be obtained at any moment, and as its preparation calls for no preliminary treatment, this adds somewhat to its interest. The only objection is that age is a necessity for one structural feature, and for only one; the older the mount the better. Still for the purposes of this paper, a recently prepared slide will answer all the requirements. The object is nothing more than a small drop of human blood mounted in its natural state and allowed to ripen, if so disrespectful an expression be allowable. The drop of blood must be left to dry under the cover and protected from the external air by the ring of cement. Prick the finger-tip, quickly touch with the drop a thin cover-glass; as quickly invert the blood over an exceedingly thin cell, or over a slip without a cell, so that capillary attraction shall spread out as thin a stratum of the liquid as may be, and, if possible, with but a single layer of red corpuscles. The cover is then to be rapidly cemented down, and the preparation left to itself for an hour or two, or for a shorter time. The entire mass of fibrin in the drop will coagulate, thus forming the object sought and which may be made so useful to the amateur microscopist, so instructive and attractive. It is best to use a drop so small or a cover so large that the capillary wave may become quiet and the material exhausted before the margin of the cell be reached. If this preparation be allowed to remain in the darkness of the cabinet for a year, the red corpuscles will be gradually bleached and the reticulated structure of their protoplasm become superbly distinct and convincingly apparent, while the microscopist will have the satisfaction of knowing that no re-agent but time has touched the discs. With a good one-fifth inch objective, or with a higher power, these minute reticulations become defined in such a way that there can be no doubt as to their existence, but whether or not the net- work becomes ‘visible by reason of the spontaneous bleaching, or of the more than probable changes that must take place as the dessication advances, I do not presume to say. But since the reticula- tions in the red corpuscles become more distinct, and apparently more numerous, as the preparation grows older, a little scepticism is not unnatural. However, the protoplasmic network can thus be seen, whether the observer accepts or rejects the teaching that it is normal structure. It is to the threads of coagulated fibrin that the microscopist is asked to look, with particular reference to the use of the object as a means for studying the adjustment of his objective. There is some reason to believe that, in this country at least, some amateur microscopists, some too that should know better, fail to study the effect of the collar-adjustment as it should be studied. Some of them either neglect it almost entirely, giving the collar a shove from time to time, and being content with that, or not giving it even so much attention, but setting it at any point which may be convenient and leaving it there. Another class is no less common, whose members use non - adjustable objectives with covers of improper thickness. What the British amateur does in this respect I have no means of knowing, but I have had some amusing experiences with the amateur in the United States of America. One man of whom I have heard, but in whose existence I refuse to believe, is said never to use covers less than one- fiftieth inch thick, because, as he can only afford cheap, non-adjustable objectives, he is unwilling that others more fortunate shall have the satis- faction of examining his preparations under better conditions than he can possess. I have searched my new dictionary in vain for a word to describe that man. Another man-like biped, whom I know existed at one time, and who claimed to be a microscopist, said, in reference to the adjustment- collar, ‘‘I don’t know what that thing is, and any- way I don’t know what it is loose for.”’ If the reader’s blood is anything like mine, the fibrin in the mounted capillary film will coagulate in fine threads connecting every red corpuscle with every other ; it will form clusters of filaments, isolated or aggregated into irregular skeins and flattened masses; it will produce minute figures like the delicate weaving of fairy spiders, or microscopic work from the looms of the elves. Disintegrated white corpuscles will be scattered about the slide in islands of colourless shreds and fragments, around which the fibrin will form its filamentous figures, and so unite the entire preparation into one reticulated entity. Within the larger meshes, and sometimes under a different focus, can be seen a fibrinous network so minute that an eighth or tenth-inch objective is needed to display it distinctly, and even then the meshes are indescribably small, they are truly microscopic. It seems that not only does all the fibrin ccagulate into a reticulation, but that the SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 69 liquor sanguinis itself, unable to evaporate and so escape from under the cover, has a tendency to produce a network and to dry into that form. The white corpuscle, and under certain conditions the common Amoeba and the Pelomyxa villosa, exhibit reticulated structure. If the true structure of protoplasm is not a reticulation, the certainty is that animal protoplasm is pretty generally free to assume that form. The network just referred to is of such extreme minuteness and delicacy in the preparations which I have examined, and it is so nearly colourless, that some appreciable time must elapse, even with a homogeneous immersion one-tenth, before the eye can recognize it distinctly enough to separate the meshes, and look down into the interspaces. When the coarser threads of fibrin are in focus with any objective from the one-fourth upward, the red corpuscles will be slightly beyond the focus, because the fibrin appears to have coagu- lated in actual contact with the cover-glass, while the corpuscles in the inverted drop have fallen to the lowermost surface, and have there become entangled within the net. If the objective, there- fore, is very delicately sensitive to the collar adjustment, the lens will not be properly adjusted for the network on the cover and the red corpusles on the lower surface of the capillary film, unless, as the reader, of course, knows, a homogeneous- immersion objective be used. The remark is correct fora first-class dry lens like, for instance, the superb one-fifth inch objectives by Spencer, having respectively 0-93 and o:99 N.A. All these nets, even the most delicate, may be used to advantage in studying the effect of the collar movement. When the adjustment is as gocd as possible, the filmy cobwebs will be visible with a beauty and a brilliancy that cannot be put into words. While the comparatively coarse threads and clusters may be observable with improper adjustment, with the correct position of the lenses those same threads will glitter like filaments and skeins and webs of polished silver. With the collar purposely thrown out of adjustment the objects may still be visible, but so dull and dead, with so ghostly and misty a vision of what they were at the objective's best, that the lesson must be of value to the eye of even the accomplished amateur. The comparatively huge masses of dis- integrated white corpuscles share in the brilliant beauty, or in the lifeless dulness, as the collar is correctly or improperly placed. Under a wide-angled one-fifth, like those of N.A. fig. 93 and fig. 9g by Spencer, the correct adjustment produces a picture whose delicate lines and minute drawn in sparks and threads of living silver. With incorrect adjust- ment, or without the best, the minute network dots are vivid is invisible, except perhaps as dull little bits of shapeless film scattered here and there among the red corpuscles. It is not possible with my ilry objectives, which have been mentioned here, to separate these delicate filaments unless the collar has been placed exactly right, when they become as brilliantly refractive as the more robust threads, and as the crushed and broken colourless corpus- cles, whose scattered fragments themselves sparkle and glitter. The same slide may be used to give the micro- scopist somewhat of a surprise unless he is already familiar with the flatness, or the absence of flatness, in the field of his best objectives. With Spencer’s one-fifth N.A. 0-99 the field is ‘‘unflat,”’ if there is such a word, except as a little round spot in the middle, yet the objective, as a result of the optician’s art, is as nearly perfect as it is possible to produce, and its definition and its resolving power can be described only by the words, magnificent, marvellous, and their colloquial synonyms. With his one-fifth N.A. 0-93 these qualities are much less brilliant, yet the field is flatter, or rather, it shows a greater surface of flatness at the same time; the effect of its smaller aperture. 527, Monmouth Street, Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A.; July 2nd, 1897. BOTANICAL NOTES. (ACRNGS a number of commoner plants which have been sent for identification during the past month we may note: the Rev. W. W. Mason has sent us the alien Sisymbvium pannonicum, Jacq., from Crosby, Lancs. Mr. T. Brewster sends Geranium lancastviense, With., from Walney Island. Mr. White sends us Polentilla hirta, Linn., from a field near Montpellier House, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. The Rev. Vere F. Willson, of Fulbeck Rectory, Grantham, sends us Ovobanche clatior, Sutton, from the Lincoln Heath. It is a native, but very rare in Lincolnshire. Evysimum perfoliatum, Crantz., is growing in a mangel-wurzel field at Cadney, Brigg. No doubt if allowed to seed it would be permanent, like E. cheivanthoides, Linn,, which is found all over the fenland now, but is quite a late introduction in Lincolnshire. It was not recorded for the county till 1872, We hear from the Rev. R. W. Goodall, that he took Trigonella purpuyascens, Lam., on Lincoln Heath, on July 2nd. This is a new record for the county. Late MipsumMerGrowtTH.—Mr. A. H. Swinton, Clovernook, Southampton, writes: ‘‘ The smaller oaks and beeches in the New Forest have now, at the commencement of July, put forth fresh green shoots as if a second spring had arrived.” 70 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. ARMATURE OF HELICOID LANDSHELLS, WitH NEw SPECIES OF PLECTOPYLIS. By Gs KS GupbE, F.Z.S. (Continued from page 37.) LECTOPYLIS magna (}) (figs. 52a-f). With a miscellaneous collection of Plectopylis, from Burma, kindly sent to me by Miss Fig. 52.—Plectopylis magna. Linter, Arragon Close, Twickenham, were two forms which appear to be undescribed, and, (1) Plectopylis magna, n. sp. (figs. 52a-f).—Shell sinistral, solid, discoid, widely and deeply umbilicated, horny brown, finely and regularly ribbed. Suture slightly impressed, spire depressed, apex scarcely raised. Whorls 74, a little rounded above, tumid below, increasing very slowly, the last widening a little towards the aperture, descending somewhat slowly in front, and a little constricted behind the peristome. Aperture elliptical, peristome white, thickened and reflexed, margins scarcely converging. Parietal callus with a raised flexuous ridge, separated from both margins of the peristome by a little notch. Umbilicus wide and deep. Parietal wall with a short, entering, flexuous, horizontal fold, which terminates at a distance of two millimetres from the parietal ridge at the aperture, and having at one-third of the circumference from the aperture two strong transverse plates; the posterior one the longest, vertical, and a little flexuous, giving off a short, obliquely raised ridge posteriorly above, anda short, strong, obliquely deflexed ridge posteriorly below; the anterior one oblique, the upper extremity converging towards the posterior plate, where it gives off posteriorly a short, strong ridge, and anteriorly a strong, longer ridge, which becomes attenuated; at the lower extremity it gives off twoshort, strong ridges, one posteriorly and one anteriorly ; below these plates occurs a thin fold, close to the lower suture, revolving as tar as the aperture, where it unites with the flexuous ridge. Palatal folds, 5: the three upper horizontal; the first straight and having an elongated denticle below it at about the middle; the second a little deflected posteriorly; the third short, crescent-shaped; the fourth vertical, flexuous; the fifth horizontal, abruptly deflexed anteriorly above and posteriorly below. Posteriorly between the first and fifth folds occur six denticles, placed vertically in a row, the first in a line with the elongated denticle below the first fold, the second a little above and the third a little below the second fold, the fourth in a line with the upper extremity, the fifth near the middle, and the sixth a little below the lower extremity of the vertical fold—Major diameter, 22'5-25 millimetres; minor diameter, 18°5-21 milli- metres; axis, 8 millimetres.—Habitat, Burma.—Type in my collection. although closely allied to each other and to Plectopylis ponsonbyi (ante vol. iii, page 178), they present sufficient differences to warrant their being regarded as distinct. Three of the specimens in question belong to the form which I now publish as a new species under the name of Plectopylis magna. A shell in the collection of Mr. E. R. Sykes, which had been labelled P. achatina, I also refer to this species. This new form differs from P. ponsonbyi in being much larger, more solid, and darker in colour, in having one whorl more, in the last whorl descending less abruptly, and in the whorls being more rounded. There are also differences in the armature, i.e. the two parietal vertical plates are convergent above, and the posterior one is considerably longer than the anterior one (see fig. 52¢), while in Plectopylis ponsonbyi they are almost equal and parallel; the anterior plate gives off anteriorly below a short, stout ridge, not a distinct fold as in P. ponsonbyt, and the thin fold near the suture is distinctly continued to the ridge at the aperture, without becoming attenuated; the two upper palatal horizontal folds are much thinner, the third is short and crescent-shaped, and the vertical fold is not bilobed, while there are several more denticles posteriorly (see fig. 52/, which shows the inside of the outer wall). The specimen figured, received from Miss Linter, as above mentioned, is in my col- lection, and measures 25 millimetres in diameter A second specimen measures 22°5 millimetres in diameter. The third specimen is not quite mature, the ridge on the parietal callus at the aperture not being formed, but the armature is quite identical with that of the mature shells. Figs 52a, b, c and e are natural size, figs. 52d and f are magnified. Plectopylis lissochlamys (*) (figs. 53a-f). The form (2) Plectopylis lissochlamys, n. sp. (figs. 53a-/).—Shell sinistral, solid, discoid, widely and deeply umbilicated, polished, corneous, finely and regularly ribbed, decussated with minute spiral sculpture above. Suture impressed, apex a little raised, spire depressed. Whorls 7, rounded, increasing slowly, the last twice as wide as the penultimate, widening towards the aperture, but not constricted behind the peristome. Aperture rounded, elliptical; peristome white, rather thin, reflexed; margins a little converging. Parietal callus with a raised flexuous ridge separated from both margins of the peristome by a little notch. Umbilicus wide and deep. Parietal wall with a short, entering, flexuous horizontal fold, which runs close up to the ridge at the aperture, and at one third of the circumference from the mouth there are two rather thin transverse parallel plates, descending obliquely backwards, the posterior one longestand with a short ridge posteriorly both at the upper and the lower extremities ; the anterior one with a longer ridge anteriorly at the upper extremity, and two short but stouter ridges at the lower extremity, one anteriorly and one posteriorly below these plates occurs a thin horizontal fold close to the lower suture, becoming attenuated but distinctly perceptible at the aperture, where it unites with the flexuous ridge. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 7X received with P. magna, as above mentioned, I propose to distinguish as Plectopylts lissochlamys. Two specimens were sent to me by Miss Linter. Dr. von M~éllendorff, the German Consul in Manila, Luzon, however, has obligingly sent me for inspection several specimens of Plectopylis, amongst which are two (labelled Plectopylis refuga) which I refer to this new species. Plectopylis lissochlamys differs from P. magna in being much smaller and shining, as well as paler in colour ; the shell in shape and texture resembling Plectopylis fulvinaris, which, however, is a dextral shell (ante vol. iii., page 180, fig. 25). It is more solid and darker in colour than P. fonsonbyt and it is more coarsely ribbed; the two last whorls increase more suddenly, and the last is not constricted behind the peristome as is the case in P. fonsonbyt. The two parietal plates (see fig. 53e) are much thinner, and the anterior ridges of the anterior plate much shorter and slighter than those of P. fonsonbyi ; they are parallel instead of convergent asin P. magna. A comparison of the figures will indicate differences in the palatal armature. The specimen figured is in my collection and measures 19 millimetres in diameter. Figs. 53a-c are natural size, while figs. 53d-f are magnified. Fig. 53d shows the parietal and palatal armature from the Fig. 53.—Plectopylis lissochlamys. posterior side; fig. 53¢ a part of the parietal wall with its plates; and fig. 53/ the inside of the outer wall with its folds and denticles. Plectopylis quadrasi (figs. 54a-¢) was described by Dr. O. F. von Millendorff, in the ‘‘ Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft,” xx¥., 1893, p- 172. It was collected near the village of Siamsiam, in the Province of Caguayan, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Only three species of Platopylis have hitherto been recorded from the Philippine Islands, viz., the species now under con- Palatal folds, 5; the three upper horizontal, thin, the first and second with a denticle poste tlorly; the third deflected posteriorly; the fourth vertical, the upper part deflexed anteriorly, the lower part deflexed posteriorly, with two denticles posteriorly, one about the middle and one near the lower extremity; the fifth short, horizontal, indented at the middle, with a slight curved denticle posterlorly.—Major diameter, 19-20 millimetres; tinor diameter, 16-17 milll- metres. axis, 67 millimetres—Habitat, Burma—Type in my collection sideration, and P. trochospiva and P. polyptychia, both of which latter will be dealt with in a future paper. As Plectopylis quadvasi has never been figured, I d Fig. 54.—Plectopylis quadrast. have much pleasure in now illustrating it. The shell is dextral, openly umbilicated, depressed conical, thin, dark horny brown, regularly ribbed above and finely striated below. The suture is impressed, and the spire a little elevated. It is composed of six rounded whorls, which increase very slowly and regularly, the last not descending in front, keeled at the periphery, and obtusely angled around the umbilicus, which is deep and moderately wide. The aperture is diagonal, irregu- larly heart-shaped, and the peristome is brown, a little thickened and well reflexed, the margins being a little convergent and united by a slightly elevated, sinuous ridge. The parietal armature consists of two parallel horizontal folds, which extend over nearly half a whorl, the upper one being the strongest and united to the ridge at the aperture, while the lower one is thinner and does not reach quite so far; at their posterior termina- tions these two folds are united by a slight vertical ridge, which projects a little beyond the upper fold (see fig. 54e, which shows the shell with the outer wall removed as far as the peristome). The palatal armature is composed of three short, parallel horizontal folds at one-third of the cir- cumference from the mouth (see fig. 54c, which shows the shell with part of the outer wall re- moved, so as to expose the anterior view of the palatal folds, and fig. 54d, which shows the entire shell with the palatal folds as they appear through the shell-wall), The two specimens figured are from Palanan, North Luzon, and are in my collection ; they measure, major diameter, 375 milli- metres; minor diameter, 3 millimetres; axis, 1°75 millimetres. All the figures are enlarged. (To be continued.) KANGAROOS IN Britain. — Will any variety of this group of animals bear the varying changes of the English climate with its range of heat and cold; I refer to the latter especially, without the application of artificial heat. Could a pair be procured at a moderate price ?—/emy J. Barber Brighouse, Yorks D3 72 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW FOREST. O*N June 4th, 1897, a number of members of the North London Natural History Society started for their annual Whitsuntide excursion to the New Forest. The majority of the party left Waterloo by the 6 p.m. train and reached Lyndhurst about ro, the journey being an unusually long one. Mr. C. B. Smith, who was in command of the excursion, and some others, joined on the following day, several having ridden down from London on their bicycles. Owing to the increased numbers of the party, it unfortunately had to split up, some, including the ladies under Mrs. Nicholson, staying at Lynwood, and others at Brockenhurst. Saturday broke dull, with signs of rain, but, with their usual heedlessness of the weather, several of the party were early astir. Larva-beating in Beechen Lane was tried with poor success. Scarcely anything worth taking seemed to be about, though the commoner sorts were plentiful enough. For once in a way Aybernia defoliavia was not the commonest larva, that honour being about evenly divided between H. marginavia and H. auvantiaria. H. defoliavia had probably mostly gone to pupae. Of imagines there were found a few. Pechypogon barbalis, Iodis lacteaevia, Acidalia vumutata and one A. stvaminata. The fences only yielded a fine specimen of Hadena genistae to Mr. Woodward, who, however, met with some success in the ornithological department, discovering, amongst others, a nest of the garden-warbler. Disgusted with larvae, the party went home to breakfast. Meanwhile the weather turned out fine by to o'clock, the day being hot. The first part of the excursion programme consisted of a visit to the Knightwood oak. Accordingly, soon after breakfast, most of those present started for the celebrated giant-oak, though, as will be seen later on, nearly all failed to get there. Mr. L. J. Tremayne opened his entomological account witha superb little specimen of Acidalia trigeminata, and Mr. C. Nicholson found a field where Euxchloe caydamines was onthe wing. As the party proceeded it became evident that Pavarge egevia, in all conditions, was also flying, Gonepteryx vhamni was ovipositing, Argynnis euphvosyne, apparently not fully out, was seldom to be seen more than one at a time, and several of the commoner Geometrae were to be had by beating. An insect which appeared to be in greater abundance than usual was Foymica vufa. The route taken being via Bank, the party soon entered Gritman Wood, where larva-beating was once more tried. Presently, larvae of Taeniocampa miniosa and full-fed Thecla quercus, together with a few Psiluva monacha, began to come down. Mr. Jennings also met with some success in the Diptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. Before reaching the Lymington River, a halt was called, as it was found impossible for the ladies to continue in the heat of the sun, whereupon they, with Mr. Nicholson, Senr., decided to abandon the walk. Messrs. Bacot, Bishop and Jennings, finding collecting improving, decided to remain more or less where they were, and Messrs. C. Nicholson and L. J. Tremayne were left to push on to the Knightwood oak, alone. They first turned into Rhinefield, where the President took a fine specimen of Macroglossa bombyliformis, but no more were seen, though another collector on the ground stated that he had been there the whole morning, and only taken three, of which one was worn. The President and Secretary subsequently succeeded in reaching the Knightwood oak. The girth was measured and found to be six yards two feet three inches. But the tree is tall in proportion to its thickness, and has rather a slender appear- ance than otherwise from a distance. It was, however, a matter of regret to find it thickly strewn round with dirty pieces of paper and other rubbish, evidently the relics of picnics, which made it very unsightly. The wanderers sub- sequently proceeded through Mark Ash and Boldrewood, and home by the Ringwood Road, via Emery Down. Messrs. Bacot and Bishop had augmented their larvae by Asphalia ridens and Nyssia hispidavia. Messrs. Harvey and Woodward, who had been at Rhinefield, succeeded in capturing both the bee-hawk{moths (MW. bombyliformis and M. fucifoymis), and had turned up Tanagva atvata and a larva of Bombyx quercus, whilst the oological records had been increased by nests of dove, chaffinch and linnet. Messrs. Jennings, Bacot and Bishop had been attacked on the Christchurch Road by a species of Tabanus which resembled T. autumnalis, but which Mr. Jennings thought must be a different species, as the specimens were worn. After a hearty tea, some of the members started for evening work. To begin with, Mr. C. Nicholson knocked down a flying specimen of Asemum stviatwn in the garden, and this was one of the very best captures made during the visit. Up to the year 1893, this beetle has never been found in the south of England, being essentially a northern species, though occurring in a certain locality in Cumberland. At Whitsuntide, 1893, a single specimen was taken in the New Forest by Mr. Bertram Rye, who again met with it in 1895, when he captured two specimens at Bookham, Surrey. It is, like all the Longicorns, a wood- borer, and is attached to pine and fir. How it had been introduced from Scotland to the south of SCIENCE-GOSSIP. : 73 England, Mr. Jennings could not imagine. After this interesting capture, Messrs. C. Nicholson, L. J. Tremayne, Bacot, Bishop and W. H. Smith, with Miss Nicholson and Miss Bacot, made for Hurst Wood. Scarcely anything flew at dusk, a few Melanippe montanata being about the only captures, though New Park was tried as being better ground. Sugar also was an utter failure, not attracting a single lepidopteron. Larva beating produced a few Aspfhalia ridens, Thecla quercus, and Psilura monacha. Messrs. Harvey and Woodward, however, were successful in taking Scodiona belgiaria on Whitemoor. A trip to Beaulien had been arranged for Sunday, but as the day was again intensely hot, the members decided not to go so far. Several Stayed at home, but a collecting party left Lynwood, after breakfast, for Beechen Lane, Denny and Matley Bogs, and Stubby Copse. Beating in Beechen Lane, Mr. Bishop brought out a specimen of Efione advenaria and Mr. Bacot one of Gnophria rubricollis. Bombyx rubi was found commonly on the heath near Denny Bog, as well as a few Saturnia carpint. Mr. Woodward also took Lithota mzsomella and Gnophria rubricollis. The larvae beaten were Tacniocampa miniosa, a few Asphalia ridens, Thecla quercus, Amphidasys strataria and Psilura monacha. The party remained out the best part of the day and returned by the Beaulieu Road, picking up some more Scodiona belgiaria on Whitemoor. The Vice-President took a fine speci- men of Eufithicea togata from a fence. Meanwhile Messrs. Jennings and W. H. Smith had spent the day at Rhinefield and taken six specimens of Macroglossa bombyliformis. They also found several species of large Syrphidae in numbers at the rhododendron blossoms. Amongst them were Sericomyia borealis, Criorrhina oxyacanthae, Volucella comylans var. pflumata and Myiatropa florea. S. borealis much resembles a wasp, both in its mark- ings and in its manner of flight, and when caught produces a loud humming noise by the vibration of the halters, which resembles, in miniature, the crying of a child. A single specimen of Conops vesicularis was seen, but, unfortunately, escaped. On the way home, Mr. W. H. Smith took one Metrocampa margaritaria, one Geometer vernaria, and one larva of Catocala sponsa, beaten from an oak close to Clay Hill. The larvae of Diloba coeruleo- etphala and Nola cucullatella were abundant on the banks of the Lymington River, and in Hurst Wood Mr. Jennings saw a female Dioctrea oclandica, one of the predatory dipterous flies with its prey in its jaws. WBeechen Lane and Whitemoore were the scenes of the evening work. Sugar was as useless as on the previous night, and netting moths at dusk only slightly improved. ; On the Monday, Mr. C. B. Smith, Mr. Nioholson, sen., and all the ladies, except Miss Saunders, elected to drive to Rufus Stone. Miss Saunders spent the day collecting ferns in Pond Head, and Jones’ Enclosures and Beechen Lane. The rest of the party started for Matley Bog, vid Whitemoor. For Lepidoptera this was the best day of the trip. The alder swamps in Matley Bog yielded Hydvelia uncula, Eupistevia heperata, Hypsifetes impluriata and one Ervastria fasciana, while Aspilates strigillaria occurred not uncommonly on the heaths, and Drepana falcatavia was found among the birch Mr. Jennings met with the only good weevil taken during the trip, a specimen of Evirrhinus bimaculatus, and also the best species of Diptera taken, viz., a male of Spibomyia speciosa, boxed from the side of the brook running through Matley Bog. This gentleman also obtained a female of Mevodon equestvis (Syrpidae), which Mr. Nicholson had taken at flowers in the Lynwood Garden. This is an introduced species, having been brought to England in bulbs, in which the larvae feed It is now well-established in this country. The party returned home early, and after a hearty tea caught the 7 o'clock train back to London. Mr. Jennings reports the following species, other than Lepidoptera, taken during the trip, in addition to those already mentioned :—Geodephaga (ground beetles) ; Calosoma inguisttor, two beaten from oaks, and one each from hazel, beech and Hawthorn; Abax stviola and Harpalus yubyipes, one each under log on a heath; one Dyomius 4-maculatus, and one species each of the genera Pievostichus, Notiophilus, Harpalus and Calathus (not yet named) ; Brachelytra (rove-beetles) ; Cveophilus maxillosus, one under a dead rabbit on Whitemoor ; Necrophaga (burying beetles) ; Silpha 4-punctata, beaten commonly from oaks; S. yvugosa, one; S. sinuata, several obtained from the before-mentioned dead rabbit; Sapvinus, two unnamed species from the same source ; Lanellicomia, Geotvupes vernalis, one on Whitemoor ; Tyvox sabalusus, one under an old rag at a spot where there had evidently been a gipsy encampment ; Melolontha vulgaris, several beaten from oaks . Phyllopertha horticola, four in various situations ; Leucanus ceyvus, several; Elateidae (click beetles) ; Campylus linearis, one out of hawthorn; Colymbetes nolosevicens, common on oaks; Malacodermata ; Dolichosoma nobile, one from aspen; Longicornia ; Anoploderva sexguttata, one on a wall; Rhagium bifasciatum, three; IR. inguisitoy, one at sugar in Jones’ enclosure ; Clytus atlitus, two on dead wood ; Toxotus mevidianus, one netted, flying near the Lymington River at Khinefields ; Strangalia nigra, three from Matley Bog; Phytophaga, Clythra quadvipunctata, one taken by Mr, Bacot at Denny; Cryptocephalus lineola, one from heather on White- moor; Adimonia capreac, several ; Phytodecta viminalis, several; Weteromeru—Lagyvia hirta, one out of an oak in Hurst Wood; Khyncophora (weevils) ; Attelabrus cuvculionoides, two out of oaks ; D4 74 : SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Rhynchites pubescens, several out of oaks ; Otiorrhychus picipes, several from hawthorn ; Stvophosomus coryli, common on anything but hazel; Hylobrius abictis, one; Evivrhinus tertvix, two from aspen; E. maculatus, several from aspen; Balaninus glandium, one beaten from oak ; Diptera—Bombylius major, one in a most dilapidated condition, having half of both wings gone and very ragged pubescence ; Hemiptera- heteroptera—Acanthosoma, three specimens of a species beaten from hawthorn. A yellow species was common on oaks, and a fine green capoid was beaten from hawthorn at Rhinefields ; Hymenop- tera; Tenthredinidae — Tenthredo maculata, one specimen, taken by Mr. Harvey near Brocken- hurst. Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Secretary. THE PHYSICAL STATE OF MARS. By Ferix Oswatp, B.A. (Lonp.) @xe of the most interesting points of connection between geology and astronomy consists in the comparison of the present physical state of our globe with that of the nearest members of the solar system. Unfortunately such a comparison is necessarily restricted, since the majority of the planets are shrouded in dense atmospheres, apart from the consideration of the vast distances which lie between us and them. Mars and our moon are the only two of our neighbours which offer their entire surface to the scrutiny of our telescopes, for it is but seldom that any part of Venus is uncovered by clouds. The terrestrial vibrations due to the neighbour- hood of large towns, as well as the density and frequent obscurity of our own atmosphere, have also proved to be serious drawbacks to the observation of minute details. It has, however, been latterly recognized that pure, steady air and a lofty, isolated situation offer greater advantages to an observer than the largest telescope placed in such a locality as the Greenwich Observatory. The remarkable work done within recent years under the most favourable atmospheric conditions, by keen observers such as Professor Barnard at the Lick Observatory, Professor Pickering at Arequipa, and more especially Mr. Lowell in Arizona,(!) has added enormously to our knowledge of Mars and our moon. In both cases we have to deal with a later stage of physical development than that existing on our globe; but while the moon is evidently a dead world, Mars is an example of vital but mature old age. In the case of the moon, the distinctness with which the physical features can be discerned is due not merely to its close proximity, but above all to the non-existence of an atmosphere; in the case of Mars (some forty million miles distant even when nearest to us) it is due to the extreme tenuity of the gaseous envelope, which is only one-seventh as dense as ours, and to the consequent absence of clouds, except to a very slight extent at sunrise and sunset. The manner in which the presence of clouds depends on the density of the atmosphere (1) “ Mars.” By Percival Lowell. Longmans, 1896. may be readily noticed on our world, where the lowest clouds are the largest and thickest, while the highest consist of the delicate, fleecy cirrus or “mackerel-sky,’’ composed of ice-crystals, and existing at a height of about five miles. Now our atmosphere even at this altitude is denser than that at the surface of Mars, so that this circum- stance alone affords a ready explanation of its cloudlessness. Although the Martian atmosphere is so much thinner and rarer than ours, owing chiefly to gravity being less, yet it is probably similar in composition, as shown by Dr. Stoney’s ingenious deductions from the molecular theory of gases. It is in accordance with this theory that any gas consists of millions and millions of similar mole- cules moving unceasingly in all directions with a high velocity varying only with the nature of the gas; thus the molecules of hydrogen, the lightest gas, have been shown to possess a maximum velocity of over seven miles a second at 0° C. Now ifa projectile be shot vertically upward from the earth it would travel away into space with a constant velocity, never to return unless the attractive force of the earth is sufficient to drag it back again. This attractive force, called gravity, depends on the mass of the earth, and therefore the earth can only control projectiles endowed with a definite limiting speed termed the ‘‘ critical velocity,” which in the case of the earth is about 6:9 miles a second. Hence if we know the mass ofa planet we can at once determine the various gases which are likely to be present in its atmosphere. In this way Mr. Lowell shows that we can satisfactorily account for the absence of free hydrogen from our atmosphere, since the maximum molecular velocity of hydrogen is greater than the critical velocity of projectiles with regard to the earth. On the other hand, since the molecules of water-vapour, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon-dioxide possess a lower velocity (23, 2, 1°8 and 16 miles a second respectively), they have never been able to escape into space. The moon has no atmosphere at all, because it can only restrain molecules with a velocity of not more than 14 miles a second, which is less than the molecular velocity of any of these gases. But the critical velocity of molecules with regard to Mars is as much as 31 miles a second, and con- sequently this planet would be able to retain exactly the the same gases that exist in our own atmosphere. The climate of Mars seems to be astonishingly mild and equable; while winds, owing to the flimsiness of the atmosphere, must be of the weakest description. Nevertheless, it seems evident that there must bea gentle upper drift of moisture-laden air proceeding from the equator towards the poles, and depositing its vapour in the form, not of rain or snow, but of successive hoar- frosts, thus giving rise to the conspicuous polar ice-caps more than 2,000 miles in diameter. Owing to the axial tilt of Mars to its orbit being very little more than ours, a similar succession of ‘seasons take place, but its far greater eccentricity of orbit causes the difference between the seasons to amount to seventy-four days, instead of merely eight, as with us. At the present period Mars is in an exactly similar condition to the earth with regard to the position of the ‘‘apse-line,” i.e. the line joining the points of nearest approach to, and farthest recession from, the sun; the result being that winter in the southern hemisphere is longer than summer, and conversely in the northern hemisphere. But the Martian year (687 days) is nearly twice as long as ours, so that the heat of ‘even a short summer is sufficient to completely melt the polar ice-cap, as it did in 1895. Since Mars is much smaller than the earth, it is clear that it must have cooled down more rapidly, and hence we may naturally expect to find that its surface, which is little more than one-fourth that of ours, has reached a more mature physical condition. Now the absence of shadows at sunrise or sunset shows that the land on Mars must be singularly low, with no trace of mountain ranges. Volcanoes seem to be equally wanting; if they existed they could not fail to be conspicuous; for since gravity at the surface is only “376 that of the earth, and since atmospheric resistance is likewise so much less, it is clear that volcanic bombs and dust would be hurled to far greater heights, would spread out further, and would form craters of colossal magnitude, probably comparable with those on the moon. But there are no shadows thrown, either by mountain ranges or volcanic peaks and craters; no indication of volcanic eruptions has ever been seen, nor has any cloud of volcanic ash appeared, such as with us sometimes causes darkness over hundreds of square miles. The absence of mountains would seem to point to the conclusion that Mars has pro- bably attained its limit of contraction of a cooling globe; foritisnow generally admitted that mountain- ranges are primarily due to the attempts of the crust SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 75 to accommodate itself to a still contracting nucleus. Tangential stresses are thus set up in the crust, causing the softer and more yielding areas to be ridged up and crumpled between harder resisting blocks. Now, if mountains were no longer formed there would cease to be any compensation for atmospheric denudation, which would accordingly proceed unchecked until the seas became largely silted up, and the land planed down to anearly flat surface, rising by gentle gradients to a height only slightly above the sea-level. This condition must have been reached long ago by Mars, which exhibits phenomenal flatness. The surface-colouration is of two tints: reddish- ochre and bluish-green. The former colour pre- ponderates and appears to represent extensive sandy deserts traversed by the wonderful so-called “«canals,’’ which have attracted so much attention since their discovery some time ago by Schiaparelli. But before discussing the nature of the ‘‘canals,’’it is necessary to say that the blue-green areas, hitherto termed ‘‘seas’’ and ‘‘gulfs,’’ have been clearly demonstrated by Mr. Lowell to contain no water, for the following reasons: no glint of sunshine is ever reflected from their surface; the light proceeding from them is not polarized as it would be from a sheet of water; their colour changes with the seasons ; and lastly, they are intersected by dark lines in direct continuation with the ‘‘canals”’ which form so geometrical a network over the wide- spread deserts. In all probability the blue-green areas are the lower regions of a monotonously level world, and occupy the sites of what were oceans in the time when Mars could still boast of mountains andrivers. The sea-beds would naturally remain the most humid parts, even when they became exposed to the air; for the amount of interstitial water locked up in ordinary sediments amounts on an average to ten per cent, It is likely that these regions now represent areas clothed with vegetation. The ‘‘canals"' are apparently of the same blue- green colour; they proceed from dark, triangular spots at the edge of the ‘‘seas,” and often radiate in fan-like groups of four or more. They run in absolutely straight lines, sometimes for more than 3,000 miles (e.g. the Eumenides-Orcus ‘' canal”’), although they naturally appear to us as large curves, since they form arcs of great-circles of the planet. The “canals” range from fifteen to thirty miles in breadth and cut up the desert-land into large triangles. Wherever the ‘‘ canals "’ intersects a dark circular spot is visible. Mr. Lowell points out that the very fact of three or more meeting at one place is, by the laws of probability, a strong presumption in favour of their having been con- structed by intelligent beings, and against the theory that they might be natural geological phenomena, such as ‘‘ rift-valleys,"” or the ‘' rills"’ of the moon. They annually undergo great changes 76 SCIEN CENGOSSIEP® in visibility and tint as the seasons pass, sometimes becoming so narrow as to exceed the limit for distinct vision, at other times widening and even becoming double. Such yearly and _ seasonal transformations render it nearly certain that they are not water-channels (at least not in their entire breadth), but broad zones of vegetation, probably stimulated to active growth and luxuriance by means of a net-work of irrigation-canals too narrow to be individually discernible by our telescopes at a distance of forty million miles or upwards. The so-called ‘lakes’ are the circular spots (likewise blue-green in colour) which always occur at the junctions of the ‘‘canals’’; they have also been misnamed, for Mr. Lowell has conclusively shown that they have a much better claim to be termed ‘‘ oases." The greater number are similar in size, about 120 to 150 miles in diameter, with one very notable exception, the ‘‘ Eye of Mars” or ‘Lake of the sun.’ This is aconspicuous elliptical area in the midst of a large desert, but connected by short ‘‘canals’’ (about 250 miles long) with the greenish region of permanent vegetation to the south, west and east. Now Mars must, on the whole, be remarkably deficient in water ; indeed, the whole supply seems to be derived from the annual melting of the polar ice-caps. As the summer proceeds, the ice- cap is seen to diminish in size and to be sur- rounded by a dark blue zone, which must clearly be water, not merely because of its colour, but from the fact that it polarizes light. More- over, it must be fresh water, since it is derived from the melting of the ice which is formed by the successive precipitation of heavy rime during winter. This belt of water, some 300 miles broad, closely follows on the shrinking ice-cap, and finally gives way in its turn to yellow land. The natural inference is that the water must be drawn off from the pole towards the equator. This inference is borne out by the fact that soon after the ice-cap begins to melt the ‘‘canals” and oases come annually into visibility, each in the place occupied in previous summers, and grow more and more conspicuous. The distinctness of detail sweeps gradually over the surface of Mars from pole to equator, during the summer; the oases appear very shortly after the ‘‘canals’’ become visible, and increase in depth of tint. This curious wave of growth is probably to be explained by the fact that the fresh water derived from the annual melting of the ice-cap is carried by irrigation- canals into the equatorial deserts ; that, owing to the water thus conveyed, vegetation is able to grow along each canal so as to form a zone fifteen to thirty miles broad, and that each oasis, being at the intersection of two or more ‘‘canals,”’ is more richly supplied with water and hence can extend further into the desert. It should be noticed, moreover, that the size of an oasis seems to be in direct proportion to the number of “canals” passing through it. The longer the surface-features of Mars are studied, the more irresistible is the conclusion that these ‘‘canals’’ and oases are the outcome of an intelligent design, contrived for the purpose of cultivation in order to meet the difficulties caused by an increasing dearth of water. We can well imagine that the date when the polar ice-cap first begins to melt is an anniversary of far more anxious importance in Mars than the rise of the Nile in Egypt or the arrival of the monsoon in India. We have of course, no reason to suppose that the inhabitants of Mars resemble us, or anything else on this world of ours. In the first place, they must be creatures capable of existing in a highly rarefied atmosphere, and the possibilities of life under physical conditions so different to ours are almost beyond the reach of imagination. There is no need, however, to predicate anything excessive in the size of the beings who have executed such stupendous irrigation-works, for, owing to gravity being less, a human being if placed on Mars would be capable of doing about three times as much work with the same effort which he would exert on our globe. The triangulation of the whole surface by irrigation-canals, traversing alike the deserts and the areas of permanent vegetation,. pre-supposes, however, not only a knowledge of mathematics, engineering and agriculture, but clearly indicates that the Martian population has reached a high ideal of communism and political unity from which we are still far removed. The very flatness of the surface may have largely brought about this happy result in rendering communication easier by the cutting of canals- for over 3,000 miles in a direct ine. Moreover, the absence of any physical barriers, such as. rivers and mountain-ranges, will have preventedi that development of distinct nations and races, differing in language, customs and aspirations. which is so characteristic of our continents. 49, Blomfield Road, Maida Hill, London, W. July, 1897. Tue Brack AvuTocopyist.—We ave hrecently seen some beautiful pictures and other work produced by this simple machine, and its ally, the photo-autocopyist. In the hands of an amateur, pictures of natural-history objects or other’ drawings or photographs may be reproduced ini numbers, for circulation among correspondents. To secretaries of scientific societies the machine is. invaluable for sending out notices and reports. maps for excursions, etc., because of the simplicity and rapidity with which they can be produced- Some of the specimens which have been submitted to us are most artistic, and equal to first-class. collotype pictures. The price and further particulars may be obtained from the Autocopyist Company, 72, London Wall, E.C. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 77 AW] UN EE RSAUM ByEsE By Atrrep H. BastTIN. \ E are up early this morning, and out into the already glaring sunshine, on our way down the dusty road towards the railway station. The mist shrouding the hills across the valley speaks eloquently, to those who care to notice, of the exceedingly hot day before us. Just at present, however, the sun's ardent rays produce none save pleasurable sensations. There is the freshness of morning in the air, the heavy dew is still undried upon the grass, and the leaves of the elms and lime-trees by the road-side shine in the light as though they had just completed their morning toilet. The sunshine penetrates to the gloom of the station, and the polished copper and brasswork of the locomotive-engine catch the beams of light and reflect them with a dazzling brilliancy. Even the grimy, stuffy carriages look less uninviting than on a dull day. Almost before we are aware of it, we have left the town, and are flashing past banks bright with a profusion of summer blossoms. The air coming in through the open window is laden with the sweet perfume of the grass and flowers. Would that we were capable of resolving this scent to its various origins—so that our minds might name each and realize the thousand and one odours which the flowers are for ever distilling into the atmosphere. The wild-roses are in full bloom, great bushes covered with the delicate pink and white blossoms, interspersed here and there by elder-bushes with flat trusses of tiny white flowers. The commonest blossoms on the banks are the moon-daises, which form quite a ‘ milky-way,” dotted with bright dabs of scarlet which we know, as we speed along, to be poppies. An endless series of country sights flash past us. Green wheat-fields, variegated with great patches of yellow charlock, meadows crimson with sorrel or white with daisies. Occasionally a shorn hay-field, with the lines of dry grass browned by the heat of the sun. Here the workers lean on their great wooden rakes to gaze at the passing train, and the touches of colour supplied by the women’s dresses lend life to the picture Thus the panorama trails behind until we reach the wayside station at which we alight. Passing out through the white gates of the level crossing, and down the little village street, with its irregular cottages and ‘‘ Red Lion “ Inn, we are soon in the lanes and on our way to the low-water meadows which are our destination; the object of this ramble being to secure a few specimens of the greasy fritillary butterfly. On our left, as we plod along, is a broad, shady ditch, containing a good supply of water. Here, magnificent examples of water-dock are growing: great plants, four feet and even five feet high, with broad, dark-green, cool-locking leaves, which rest the eyes after the stretch of white, dusty road over which we have just passed. Let us stop to rest a moment on the bridge spanning the mill-stream. Long streamers of the water-buttercup trail in the current, thelittle white blossoms studding the surface. Amongst these flowers dark-blue dragonflies dance heavily, seeming in momentary danger of a watery grave, yet always reaching a place of safety just as their wings appear to be giving out. Then to the top of the steep hill where is a common. The golden glare of the gorse, which some weeks ago made this spot such a glorious sight, is now past ; some small clumps of heath are already in flower, and the pink patches enliven the darker tints of the the flowerless gorse. The path across the common leads us to a pine wood where Scotch firs, growing close together, form a most grateful shade. The air too is sweet and health-giving with the smell of the resin. High up, where the sunlight streams through the boughs, hundreds of small moths are dancing. Occasionally one comes down close to the ground, and this enables us to ascertain that they are bordered-white moths—a common species in fir woods. Underfoot is a thick carpet of dry brown fir needles, springy to the tread. Very little vegetation grows under the firs—probably more from the fact that little sunlight penetrates to the ground than from any directly harmful influences exercised by the trees themselves, as has sometimes been suggested. One plant, however, grows here in some profusion: this is the whortleberry, great patches of which are on every side, the green of their foliage heightened in vividness because of the dark tints allaround. The path leads us out once more into the sunlight, and on down a rough, steep little lane with high hedges on either side. At the bottom of the hill is a tiny stream, spanned by a very rustic foot-bridge. Here the lane has dwindled into a mere path, and a few yards further on it ends altogether at a rough stile, over which are our water-meadows. These fields lie very low, between wooded hills, and, sheltered as they are from the winds, yet exposed to the full glare of the sun, form, as it were, a natural hot-house, highly pro- ductive of vegetable life, and where insects abound. Keeping along the edge of the fields, under the alder coppice and by the hedges, so that we may not harm the tall mowing-grass, we rig our nets 78 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. and catch the butterflies as they flit from flower to flower. Ina very short time we come upon some Melitaea aurinia, or ‘'Greasies” as they are popularly called by young entomologists, dis- tinguishable by their low, fluttering flight amongst the grass stems. After catching a few of these butterflies, however, it becomes plain from their damaged and rubbed condition that we are a week too late in our visit. We therefore leave them to reap to the full the joy which their short lives afford, and look around us for other objects wherewith to satisfy our desire for the beautiful. In truth we have not far to seek, for marvels of loveliness are on all sides. As we advance, bright, flashing, green tiger-beetles spring up from the bare, sun-cracked patches of earth and fly on in front with an activity equalling that of blue-bottle flies. They take short flights though, and soon pitch upon a resting-place a few yards ahead, only to rise again at our approach. Amongst the high grass and moon-daisies other butterflies ‘besides the fritillaries are flitting or taking momentary siestas on the black heads of the plantain flowers or some other dainty couch. Here is the little tawny heath butterfly flapping along, and there a couple of ‘ blues,” azure above, but, when settled with folded wings, showing on the underside a beautiful pattern in tiny white and orange spots on a silver-grey ground. An occasional wood-white butterfly comes along the outskirts of the coppice, flying weakly, as becomes so delicately-formed a creature, and orange-tips, most beautiful of all British butterflies, sometimes stray from their beloved lanes to brighten these meadows with their presence. They work carefully and systematically along the hedges, as though they had lost something, and were going back along the path which they have already traversed to seek their property. No doubt the real object of this search is a wife, and the orange-tip does well to look circumspectly, for his sweetheart is not decorated with his rich orange colour. Small wonder that the butterflies come to these fields, for there is sunny heat here, which to them is life, and besides there is a large choice of nectar as well. Turn where you will, flowers greet your gaze. Under the shelter of the hedge are tall foxgloves, with only the few of their lowest flowers open as yet, but with the spike of developing buds above, falling gracefully over to one side. Wild parsley and pink and white campions grow amongst the flowering grasses below. As we stroll along our feet are buried in more blooms: beds of white dutch-clover ; patches of bird’s-foot trefoil, the flowers exhibiting all shades of rich golden yellow and orange, occasionally almost crimson; spikes of blue bugle; trailing, clutching streamers of purple vetch; hawkweeds, some with orange- coloured and some with lemon-coloured blossoms. Huge patches of swampy meadow are completely covered with yellow-rattle ; and the usual bouquet of gorgeous-coloured field and marsh flowers might be gathered. Let us sit for a while in this wild garden, under shelter of an oak-tree. It is about noontide now, and the heat is nearly at its worst. Gazing dreamily on this picture, an old question arises: How is it that the trees and the sky appear to us to bein perfect, harmony, when artificial greens and blues in combination fail to satisfy our sense of the beautiful? We are unable to solve the problem, so we rise and make our way to the alder copse. The ground is moist, absolutely boggy in places, and the water soon finds its way over the tops of our shoes. This, however, is somewhat of an advantage than otherwise, for wet feet in summer- time are a luxury. The vegetation here is quite different from what we saw just now, only fifty yards away on the rising ground. Clumps of crimson ragged-robbin are conspicuous in the open patches, and great spikes of the spotted orchids stand erect in the dryer spots. The delicately- scented fragrant orchid, with its high stem of tiny rose-coloured long-spurred blossoms is here too. The unopened portion of the spike bows over, much as do the foxgloves. A yellow iris, backed by its thick sword-like leaves, guides us, flag-like, to where a large clump of this plant is growing. There are many buds, but only a few are open as yet. Jumping from tussock to tussock, we reach a dry patch where cotton-grass leaves fluff upon our lower garments as we brush through it; but we press heedlessly onward, for in the distance we have caught sight of a flower which we have not before seen growing here, the columbine. A beautiful plant it is, with its dark leaves and tall stalks, bearing rich purple flowers with yellow stamen tufts in the centre. These wild specimens are larger than many which we have see growing in gardens. Amongst the stoles of the alders the graceful fronds of the lady-fern are very conspicuous. They are of a delicate green, and are exceedingly beautiful to look upon, but as yet they are too young to pick. Carried in the hot hand in this sunshine, they would soon droop and turn black. They have a characteristic but pleasing odour, which is intensified when the leaves are bruised or broken. A cuckoo cries several times as he flies across the valley, and a chaffinch in a neighbouring oak gives out his monotonous, jerky song. The birds are becoming more active now that the heat is passing ; but we are far from home, and must leave even such congenial surroundings. Ivy House, New Road, Reading ; July, 1897. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 79 FLYING-FISH. By K. Hurrstone Jones, M.B. (08 fact that there is a fish that can fly, as well as swim, is one that is brought home, even to those least interested amongst us, at a very early age, in a forcible way, through the medium of certain illustrated periodicals provided for the delectation and intellectual improvement of the Anglo-Saxon in his early youth. In these periodi- cals there appear mendacious woodcuts representing half-a-dozen glorified herrings soaring in the air, at a height of apparently about half-a-mile from the sea below. In a recent run of ten days from Madeira to Para, I have had ample opportunity to observe the flight of these beautiful fish, and although I do not pretend to know very much about them, still such scraps of information as I have gathered may, perhaps, be of interest to some readers. The flight of the flying-fish is peculiar to itself, and although it does certainly bear a resemblance to that of some other animals, it is not quite like anyofthem. The fish, of necessity, only takes short flights—thirty or forty yards, I should Say, is about the average. I have never seen one do more than a hundred yards at a stretch, and even then only with numerous dips into the water. The flight consists for the most part of a series of rapid dashes, with outspread fins, of lightning-like dives into the air, if one may use the expression. The fish apparently makes a rapid rush out of the water, and then spreading out its great pectoral and ventral fins, uses them like sails to keep it suspended above the water. It can, however, make use of the former pair of fins as true wings, and they can be actually seen to be in rapid motion whilst the fish isin mid-air. The flight is, perhaps, more like that of a swallow, when that bird is flying low over water, than any other creature; it is full of sharp corners and turns, though asa rule the flying-fish accompanies each change in direction by a pre- liminary dip in the water. To see a shoal of flying-fish on the wing, or on the fin, to speak more correctly, is a most lovely sight, though no doubt, to one unaccustomed to it, the deep indigo colour of the ocean and the gorgeous tropical sunshine have much,.to do with the beauty of it. The brilliant glitter of the sun on the great outstretched fins and the beautiful blue of the back of the fish give them much the appearance of a flight of gigantic dragon-flies as they dash away with an occasional dip, just skimming the tops of the waves, till one by one they disappear with a sudden splash into their mative element. Generally speaking, flying-fish are seen singly, or in little parties of twos, threes, or fours, but shoals of forty, fifty, or even more are not uncommon. They must be much more numerous beneath the surface, or else the fish must be able to swim as fast as it can fly, for fresh members keep leaping from the water to replace those which drop, until the course of the vessel leaves them out of sight. In the daytime the flying-fish never rises more than a few feet above the water ; at night-time, however, when the lights are lit, they, like so many other animals, fly at them, and often land on the poop deck, a height of eighteen feet above the water, and occasionally they fall on the bridge, which is about seven feet higher. There seems no doubt that the flying-fish is capable of directing its course in the air, even to a fine point. One night a fish the size of a mackerel came straight through the port of the chief engineer’s cabin, whose room is situated in the alley-way. It flew with the rapidity of an arrow, almost striking him as he stood by his bunk, and then it struck the side of the engine-room ten feet further on, falling stunned on the deck. Now that port-hole was only twelve inches across, and is bisected by an iron bar, so that the fish, which evidently was attracted by the light, must have made an uncommonly good shot to have gone through out of the darkness, for it was a dirty night. e In sailing-ships, in which, owing to the length of their voyages, fresh provisions are apt to run short, it is a recognized plan to hang up a large net with a lamp behind it for the purpose of catching the fish and so obtaining a supply of fresh food. I have never seen this done, but Il am told the plan succeeds admirably. As an article of diet the flying-fish is decidedly a success, especially at a time when fresh fish is otherwise unobtain- able. Its flesh is firm and white, and in taste not unlike that of the trout, but drier. Most of the specimens that I have seen have averaged about seven to nine inches, and twelve inches is quite common, whilst individuals fifteen to twenty inches in length are occasionally caught. The fish itself has a back of a dark indigo-blue colour, and the under surface is of a silvery white, fading gradually into the blue above. The shoulders are exceptionally wide, as one would expect in a fish with such enormous pectoral fins, the muscles connected with which must be proportionally strong. The eyes are extremely large and very prominent. The great pectoral fins are cach about half the length of the fish, or rather more, ‘The rays near the periphery of the fin dichotomize into secondary, and again still more distally, quit 80 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. close to the margin, into tertiary rays. Between the rays is stretched the usual transparent membrane. There are also a pair of large ventral fins, medium ventral and dorsal small fins near the tail. The usual large first dorsal fin which one sees in most fish is conspicuous by its absence. The two flukes. of the tail are unequal, but, unlike most fish which have unequal flukes, the sharks for instance, the lower is the larger in the flying- fish. The flying-fish has a very tough skin, and it is quite easy to remove it and stuff with tow, but is pretty nearly impossible to prevent the scales, which are very large, from cracking off, which they do wherever the skin is grasped or bent. The sailors scrape out the flesh from an incision in the middle line of the abdomen, and then fill up with tow, and after spreading the fins out with pins allow them to dry. Another plan is to gut them, spread out the fins with small pieces of wood and put them into the “‘ harness”’ cask to get pickled with salt, then to dry them in the sun. The worst of all these plans is that the fish lose their lovely colours and become dull, ugly-looking objects, which convey no idea of their original beauty. Why these fish fly I do not know, but there seems much in support of the view taken by the sailors, that they do so to escape from their hereditary foes, the dolphins. They often get up just under the ship’s bows, or on the beam, and flit away over waves as if to escape from an unknown danger in the shape of the steamer’s hull. Para ; June oth, 1897. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIFE-HISTORIES OF PLANTS. By THomas MEEHAN. (Continued from page 39.) HoneEy-GLanps oF FLoweERs. [2 is impossible to take up any subject connected with the behaviour of plants without a thought of the wonderful labours of Darwin in the same line. We owe him warmest gratitude for the direction he has trained us to follow. But some of us believe that the great field of vision he opened up to us is broader than ever he himself suspected, and that many more behaviours of plants are to be seen and interpreted than it was given to him to behold and explain. It is, more- over, clear that the a priori line on which he started must naturally bias judgment. It is not in human nature to be free from such bias. Feeling that every act and behaviour of a plant must originate in a selfish effort for its own good, the doctrine of natural selection naturally followed. The natural condition of life being that of continual war, every effort of a plant was to secure some advantage in this great struggle. Whatever helped this view could not but be welcomed, even by one who was so unusually fair-minded at Darwin. Whatever did not accord with his premises could not be con- sidered as of much importance. Some of us have departed from the path of our great leader. To us it seems that while selfishness is an undoubted condition of existence, self-sacrifice is equally a natural law. It appears to be the higher develop- ment of the original condition—the raison d’étve why selfishness exists. Facts which Mr. Darwin would treat lightly we may be pardoned for desiring to see more clearly elaborated. The honey-glands in flowers have been, in Mr. Darwin’s view, so closely related to the encourage- ment of insect visitors, that their production where they could have little reference to the fertilization of flowers is lightly treated. He refers (!) toan observa- tion of Karr, that the bracteas of some orchids. secrete nectar, that Fritz Muller has seen a similar behaviour in the bract of Oncidium, in Brazil, and that Mr. Rodgers had seen a similar secretion from the brace of the flower-peduncles of Vanilla. That he could have seen this frequently in the species. of orchids under his own observation is probable. He names Phaius as one of the genera in which he examined the flowers for nectar(*). I am sure I have seen honey-glands similarly situated in many orchids, but they are very evident in Phaius grandi- folius, a common species under cultivation, and probably the one Mr. Darwin had under observa- tion. I have had before me for a couple of weeks past a Nepalese species not uncommon in gardens, Cymbidium aloeifolium, in which the copious supply of nectar from the base of the bract, or rather from the main stem at this point, attracts general attention. It be of interest to describe the development of the inflorescence in detail. The spike has sixteen flower-buds on it. The peduncles are at an acute angle with the main stem, and perfectly straight until the bud has reached its full size and is ready to expand. When this stage is reached the peduncle takes. a horizontal position and then makes a twist, curving upwardly, and the labellum, which up to this time had formed the upper portion of the perianth, becomes the lower. Many days before this occurrence the nectar commences to oose from. will (4) “ Fertilization of Orchids,” chap. ix. (?) Ibid., chap. v. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 81 the gland at the base of the bract. Long before the opening of the floral segments the globule has reached its full dimensions of two or three lines in diameter. It soon hardens on exposure to the atmosphere, and has a high degree of viscidity from its earliest appearance. Considerable force must be exerted in expelling it from the tissues of the plant. Mr. Darwin’s explanation is that in these cases the excretion is for the sake of getting rid of superfluous matter during the chemical changes which go on in the tissues of plants. But as starch is necessary for storage, and plants generally have no superfluity of the article, why should the plant labour to form that which, in this case, must be the wholly superfluous article of nectar? To get over this difficulty, Mr. Darwin had already suggested that nectar was in the earlier ages of plant-life always superfluous. That insect life at first had no knowledge of its existence or value, and that, on discovering it, insects and flowers became gradually more correlated. So far as we can now see, these secretions render the plant no service whatever in the great battle of its life, and this Mr. Darwin frankly owns. To him it is an act of excretion of useless matter. To us who believe that individual life is not wholly for itself, but that every act is of some use in the general economy of nature, the new field opened up is one of extreme interest. Observations in this beautiful field are too limited to warrant any general deduction as to the purpose of these stem-bearing glands. The object of this paper is to draw the attention of those who may have orchidaceous plants to a closer examination of their Structure, and to encourage a record of ‘such observations. Hyeprivs iN NATURE. Our gardens abound with hybrid plants. Although the gardener's skill originates them, there seems little reason why they should not occur in nature. The plant desired to produce seed has its flower opened by the hybridizer before it naturally expands; the anthers are removed before the pollen sacs are ruptured, insects are excluded, and the next day probably, when the stigma is recep- tive, the foreign pollen is applied. In this way hybrids are secured. From the ease with which hybrids are produced in this way arises the belief that hybridism in nature must be of frequent occurrence It is a matter of grave importance that we decide how far this belief is correct period not remote, it was a belief that what we Up toa know as a species was always a species from the earliest epoch observation that the beginning, it was regarded as a hybrid. It When a distinct form came under seemed not to have existed from would be accepted as a species, though deemed of hybrid origin. Thus Linnaean nomenclature abounds in ‘“‘hybrida”’ as a specific denomination, If it can be shown that these are not hybrids, but have been evolved from other species under some regular law of development, the importance of the question becomes apparent. We now accept the doctrine of evolution as beyond discussion. Species do follow from other species as the world advances; but the old idea is still so prevalent, that many botanists who accept the facts of evolution in a general sense are very apt to regard any unusual departure as a case of hybridism. Our modern literature abounds in such instances. Supposed hybrids are being continually described as actual hybrids on no: other ground than that they possess characters. common to others already described. If nature intended hybridity to be one of her handmaidens in the production of new forms,’ she has strikingly failed. Let us take the oak as an illustration. When the male flowers are at a certain stage, a slight jarring of a branch will cause the pollen to float away in little clouds. discernible to the watchful eye. One may readily conceive what an enormous quantity of pollen must be carried from one tree to another by every sudden breeze. In our woods there are rarely less than two or three species in company. Not infrequently there are more, and these are usually blossoming all at one time. Hypotheti- cally, one may argue that these gregarious species must receive one another's pollen, must cross fertilize, must result in a hybrid progeny in which every separate characteristic will be irretrievably lost. But the careful student of nature knows that this is not so. The seed collector goes into a wood which may contain white oak, black oak, scarlet oak, red oak, chestnut oak, swamp white oak, post oak, black-jack oak, scrub oak, as he may do along the Wissahickon, gather the acorns of each species under its particular representative, and plant them with the absolute certainty that they will be true to their several parentages. This could not be if the hypothetical proposition cited, of free inter- pollination, were an actual fact. How, then are we to account for the striking deviations from typical forms which we occasionally I have long believed that form is the result It is the see? of various degrees of rhythmic growth. mechanical result of varying degrees of energy. These results may be noted on a single tree. On the weaker branches of a white oak the leaves will be comparatively entire; on the stronger shoots, where growth-energy is rampant, the leaves will be mulberries these differences The leaves on branches full deeply lobed. In must be well known. of growth-vigour are lobed, but when this energy is somewhat spent, wholly entire leaves follow 82 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Surely these facts must have come within the range -of common observation. Varying degrees of rhythmic growth may not always result in lobed leaves in its aspects of vigorous growth, or of entire leaves in its weaker ones, because other factors interfere. We may not know just what these incidental forces are, though we may feel sure they exist. For instance, on the common red cedar we may note two distinct forms of foliage; on the weaker, half-starved branches the leaves are like needles and resemble those of the common juniper, but on the more vigorous branches there are seemingly no leaves at all. We have to say ‘‘seemingly,” for indeed there are really leaves, as really so as on the weaker ones, but the peculiar growth-energy of these more vigorous branches causes them to become connate with the stems. Ona branch a year or two old we can easily separate these connate leaves from the true bark formed beneath. That there is no necessity for bringing in hybridity to account for the occassional aberra- tions from the normal form we meet with is well known to those nurserymen whose business it is to raise trees in great quantities. There are just as many and just as striking variations among genera consisting of a single species, or ot species wholly isolated from other species of the genus, as where there are several. The European oak, ash, linden, beech, and many others, furnish illustrations. The English oak, Quercus yobuy especially, will furnish scores of variations that have been selected from the seed-beds of nurserymen, and given distinctive names. Many of these differ from each other by characters quite as striking as those which distinguish American oaks from each other; but we know they are not hybrids because there was no other species with which they could intercross, and they are not regarded as species because of their derivation from Quercus vobuy. This would not be a true test of specific rank. It still savours of the old doctrine of the special formation of species, which we know is not true. With our modern experiences we may expect occasional wander- ings from a general character as a result of an unusual expenditure of force. Usually these displays of energy are not able to maintain themselves. Seedlings fall back to the habits of their ancestors. If, however, they should be able to maintain themselves, they are entitled to rank as species. They are species and nothing else. Seeing, as we must, that all this is so, and must be, why should we refer to hybridity to account for individual changes, especially as the warmest advocates of natural hybridity rarely get beyond “‘supposition’’ in any case? (To be continued.) ae [BOOKST TO. READ|PS | NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. Electricity and Magnetism for Beginners. By FP. W. Sanderson, M.A. 245 pp. 8vo, with 116 illus- trations. (London and New York: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1897.) Price 2s. 6d. The object of this book is to introduce boys to the general subjects treated in its pages; from them they may get a working knowledge of the application of electricity to man’s requirements. Every experiment has been practically worked out by the author, and all appear to be within the reach of a beginner. We can recommend the work for schools and young people who are prepared to help themselves to such necessary knowledge. British Game Birds and Wild Fowl. By BEVERLEY R. Morris, M.D. Revised by W. B. TEGETMIER, F.Z.S. Parts iii. and iv. Super royal 8vo, with coloured plates. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897.) Price 2s. 6d. per part, net. Part iv. completes one third of this handsome work, which we have already noticed in May and June last. The parts before us contain nine plates between them. They finish the grouse, partridges and quails, and end with the two species of bustard, now so rarely observed in Britain as casual visitors. We should like to have seen some more notices of the occurrences here of these rarer birds since the publication of the first edition of the work, as it is well to have all information about them as complete as possible. Mineralogical Geology: A Synopsis for the use of Students, to accompany W. and A. K. Johnston's Geological Map of the Byritish Isles By ALEXANDER JOHNSTONE, F.G.S. 198 pp. 8vo, and 14 plates. (Edinburgh and London: W. and A. K. Johnston, 1897.) Price (with coloured map) 23s. This useful book is a supplement to the hand- some map, which measures fifty inches by forty- three inches. The map was originally compiled by Sir Archibald Geikie, LL.D., the Director- General of the Geological Survey of Great Britain; but it has been revised and extended by Mr. Alexander Johnstone, F.G.S. It forms, with its numerous sections, as complete a map for geological purposes as one could desire, and should be hung in every schoolroom in the kingdom. With its aid and that of any good text-book on geology an intelligent person could instruct schoolboys and girls sufficiently to let them under- stand the origin of their respective neighbour- hoods. The accompanying book gives a sketch of the science of mineralogy, with localities for minerals in Britain. Many persons who know little of the subject will find pleasant surprises in store for them, when they discover how many rare minerals and gems are within their reach in these islands. Being alphabetically arranged, they will soon know that we have, among many others, amber, amethysts, beryl, cat’s-eye, chrysoberyl, garnet, jasper, moonstone, moss-agates, onyx, opals, topaz, besides gold, silver, platinum, copper, etc., among the precious metals. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 83, _ ASTRONOMY, CONDUCTED BY FRANK C. DENNETT. Position at Noon. Rises. Sets. R.A. Aug. A.m. him. hem. Dec. Sun - Fae PRE 7AOPM. ... 9-3. ;:- 169 51" N. I5 «. 447 <2 Sg4n --. 130-54" 25 53 50 74 2.10.18 ... 10° 35! Rises. Souths. Sets. Moon ... 5... 1.20p.m 5.38 p-m. ... 9.46 p.m. 15... 8.x . 1.53 a.m. ... 8.14 a.m. 25... I.31a.m 9.49 . 5.49 p.m. Position at Noon. Souths. Semi R.A, hm. Diameter. hm. Dec. Mercury... 5 1.23 p.m. ... 2" 7 aoe Ne) ape 2 22! we 3 I ETE Con £ 28" = 5 5 T 43 . Venus ie 21° of N. Fis 21° 18" 5- 20° 33 Mars... 2 5 3° 16! N. Jupiter 0.15. PP 3'N. Saturn 16° 57! S. Uranus 18° 50! S. Neptune .. 21° 52)N. hm 1st Qr. Full ... Aug. 12 ... 2.23 p.m. 3rd Or... NEW yi) 1208-2 3:291a.00- In perigee, distant 229,100 miles, August 7th, Q p-m.; in apogee, distant 251,200 miles, August 2oth, 9 a.m. CoNJUNCTIONS OF PLANETS WITH THE ENG Aug. 1 2r.go 58°14' N. 4-6 Variable, orange-red Bs599 » 25-53 63° 3!N. 5:7 S n 21.37 78° 5’ N. 7'4-11'5 Variable B 587 Cygni 21.32 44°50'N. 67 Orange ruby B.A.C 7219 ,, 20.44 45° 8'N. 7:0 Variable (?) Cygni ......... 21.40 37° N.+ 7o Fine ruby Howur-GLass SEA on Mars.—M. E. A. Antoniadi contributes an interesting article to ‘‘ Knowledge” for July, in which he seems to prove conclusively that considerable change has slowly taken place on the western part of this marking during the present century. It appears asif the ‘‘sea’’ has gradually encroached upon the land. Jupiter's SaTELLITEs.—Mr. Douglas, of the Lowell Observatory, has come to the conclusion that the third moon rotates on its axis in 7d. 5h., nearly corresponding with the period of its revolu- tion, 7d. 3h. 42m. 334s. The fourth also very closely approximates the time of rotation with that of revolution. THE AMERICAN NauticaL ALMANAC has a new Superintendent, Professor W. W. Hendrickson, head of the mathematical department in the Naval Academy at Annapolis for twenty-four years, having been appointed in place of Professor Newcomb, who had retired. Dr. J. Franz has been appointed Professor of Astronomy in the University of Breslau and Director of its observatory. He has been Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Kénigsberg. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE Moon, con- sisting of enlargements, by Dr. Weinek, of photographs from the Lick, Paris and Arequipa Observatories, must be ready for commencing publication, for its prospectus has been issued. It is to be hoped that the work will be completed in spite of its considerable price of £10; none too long, however, for the work represented. SuNSPoOTS. illustrated paper on ‘“ The Umbral Protrusion of Sunspots,”’ communicated to the British Astronomical Association by Mr. F. K. McDonall, of the New South Wales Branch, and read at the meeting at Essex Hall on June 3oth, led to an interesting discussion by Captains Noble and Steele, Mr..Maunder and Miss Brown. The opinion generally expressed was that sunspots in section were very like lunar craters, only pro- portionately much more shallow. So much so is this the case that the centre of the dark umbra, or floor, is often elevated above the wall. Mr. Avan G. Crark, the famous optician, has, we are sorry to hear, passed away, at the age of sixty-five. He was born in Massachusetts, at Iall River. He worked with his father, entering the firm upon leaving school. The 26-inch objective at Washington, 30-inch at Pulkova, and 36-inch at the Lick Observatory were the great works of the firm until the great Yerkes glass took the first place. He used the glasses as well, and with one he discovered the companion to Sirius, for which the Paris Academy of Sciences awarded him their Lalande gold medal, in 1862. The Yerkes glass is notin regular use yet, owing to the mishap to the elevating floor of the observatory. 84 Zeros Pos . ee THE next Congress of the French Society for the Advancement of Science will be held at Saint Etienne, from August 5th to r2th next. A Birt to repeal the law providing for the payment of a bounty on the heads of English sparrows was defeated in the Michigan Legisla- ture on April 16th. THE Wart’s Travelling Scholars’ Fund, of Cam- bridge University, has made a grant of £300 to Dr. Haddon, for an anthropological expedition to the Torres Straits. TuHE death occurred in April of Dr. V. Lemoine, a member of the Council of the Zoological Society of France, who was well-known for his studies of the fossil fauna of Cernay. THE June number of the ‘‘ Geographical Journal ” gives a valuable physical map of the North Polar regions, by Mr. J. G. Bartholomew ; it includes Dr. Nansen’s and all other recent discoveries. A GENERAL index to the seven volumes of the defunct ‘‘ Insect Life,” 1888-95, has just been published in a limited edition by the Division of Entomology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington. In the ‘Irish Naturalist” for July, Mr. G. P. Farren records the collecting of Helix avbustorum in the neighbourhood of Multyfarnham, co. West- meath. It has not been obtained from that part of Ireland previously. Amone other subjects treated at the meeting of the French Association for the Advancement of Science, we observe the disappearance of the freshwater crayfish in France, and its causes; also their replacement by the American Cambarus. At the meeting of the Zoological Society of France, held June 22nd, the Secretary announced that the Society had received the complete collection of the publications of the ‘‘ Challenger ” expedition given by the English Government. WE have to announce the death of Mr. Daniel Muller, a distinguished entomologist and excellent collector. He was born in Alsace, but settled in Barcelona early in life. He devoted himself chiefly to the study of the Coleoptera of Catalonia, of which he leaves a very fine collection. MEssrs. JONES AND Evans, booksellers, 77, Queen Street, Cheapside, E.C., have sent us their special catalogue of ‘Choice Books,’ many of which are also very scarce. We often visit this shop on account of the pleasing editions Mr. Evans somehow has a knack of acquiring. “Science”? for June 25th has an important article on ‘‘ The Influence of Environment upon the Biological Processes of the various Members of the Colon Group of Bacilli,” by Dr. Adelaide Ward Peckham. It is an account of the results obtained from experiments and researches madeby Dr. J. S. Billings and Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, who were assisted by a grant from the Bache Fund of the Smithsonian Institution. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Tue Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists’ Club, which is affiliated with the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, has so rapidly increased its membership that the society has had to remove to larger premises, at 72, Prospect Street, Hull. The club will hold an exhibition early next winter. The Hon. Secs. are Messrs. F. W. Fierke and T. Sheppard. Tue Commission which, under the direction of Professor Koch, was appointed to investigate the origin of the plague bacillus in India, has issued its report. It states that the plague bacillus remains undeveloped in oxygen and has a very brief vitality outside the human body. Only isolated cases of the plague were observed by the Commission among people living out of doors, while among those who remained in houses, the epidemic was rife. The system of innoculation applied by Prof. Haffkine showed great protective results. WE understand that a new scientific series, entitled ‘‘ The Progressive Science Series,’’ will be published during the autumn by Messrs. Bliss, Sands and Co.; Mr. Beddard, F.R.S., will be the editor. Among the authors and volumes in preparation are: Professor Cope on ‘ Vertebrate Palaeontology’; Dr. Geikie on ‘‘ Earth Structure’’; Dr. St. George Mivart on the ‘‘ Groundwork of Science ”’; and Prof. Bonney on ‘‘ Volcanoes.”” The character and scope of these volumes will be ‘‘ progressive "’ as opposed to a series whose object was merely historical and expository. Ir will be remembered that we printed in these pages (vol. iii., p. 85) a short account of the pros- pects of the success of the Andrée Balloon Expedi- tion to the North Pole. We observe that Herr Andrée ascended with his balloon on Sunday afternoon, July 11th, at 2.300'clock. The balloon, named ‘‘The Eagle,” travelled in a north- north- easterly direction from its starting-point on Dane's Island, at a speed of about twenty-two miles per hour. The distance from Dane's Island to the North Pole is about 617 miles, and the journey from the Pole to the nearest known land beyond is quite as far. He is accompanied by Drs. Strind- berg and Fraendbel. An Antarctic Conference was held in the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society in London, on July 4th. The object was to bring the subject of Antarctic Exploration before the Austra- lasian premiers visiting London in connection with the Jubilee. Among the speakers in fayour of the proposal for further exploration in those regions were the Duke of Argyll, Sir Joseph Hooker, Professor Riicker, Lord Lothian, and several of the premiers. The President of the Royal Geographical Society said that Society was prepared to contribute £5,000 to further the work, if each Australian Colony would do the same. AmonG the many deputations bearing Jubilee congratulations which have been presented to Her Majesty the Queen, was one, on July 15th, from the Royal Society, consisting of Lord Lister, the President ; Sir John Evans, the Treasurer; Pro- fessor Michael Foster and Professor Ricker, Secretaries ; Professor Rt. Bellamy Clifton, Sir William Huggins and Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Vice-Presidents; Sir Joseph Hooker, Lord Kelvin and Sir George Stokes, Bart., Past-Presidents ; and Mr. W. F. Harrison, Assistant Secretary. The President, Treasurer and Professor R. Bellamy Clifton had the honour of kissing Her Majesty’s hand. Presa& WatTer.—I am told that the ordinary flounder is found in our rivers a long way beyond the influence of the tide, and also that it may easily b2 kept in freshwater ponds, where it will live and thrive on the snails and small FLOUNDERS IN crustaceans inhabiting the water, How far this may be correct I do no know, and I should like to hear the experience of such as have a special knowledge of the subject. I want, if I can, to cultivate the flounder in my large freshwater aquarium, situate in my fernery, and having a window looking into my dining-room. I hope some of your numerous readers may be able to give me the desired information—Henry J. Barber, Brighouse, Yorks. ; July oth, 1897. ABNORMAL WALNUT - Lear.— The elongated elliptical leaves of the walnut tree (Juglans regia) are in normal cases arranged in an opposite, or néarly opposite, manner, with a terminal solitary leaf on gracefully drooping branches. Ina speci- men I recently obtained from a garden near Maidenhead, however, this terminal leaf is replaced by two leaves united half-way down by their inner margins. One of these is very nearly half as broad as its companion at the point of conjunction. The midribs diverge from the end of the twig without any distinct petiole, the blade of the larger leaf running about half an inch further down the twig than that of the other.—F. P. Perks, 41, St. Martin's Lanz, London, W.C. Hepcexocs CarryYInG Frouit.—Have naturalists ever decided the question whether hedgehogs do in reality carry fruit impaled on their spines, or whether the assertion that they do so is a mere folk-tale? I was told only a few weeks since by an intelligent working-man that when he lived at a Situation in North-east Lincolnshire he saw one of these animals carrying apples in this manner, several times, in his employer's orchard. A pair of hedgehogs inhabited the place with their young, and not only he himself but other people used to watch the old ones transporting apples on their prickles. In Lincolnshire, when a man is ruffled in temper, it is sometimes said, “‘ he has gotten his back up like a hedgehog going crabbing”; for hedgehogs are supposed to be very fond of the frost-mellowed fruit of the crab-tree and to carry it to their nests, hunching up their backs in a peculiar manner as they do so.-Mabel Peacock, Kirton-in- Lindsey “ Scientist's’ Natcurat History.—We are indebted to our correspondent, Mr. Wheeler, for the following cutting from a leading Bristol paper in July. It appeared in a letter on the prosecution of some fishermen for taking fish in the close-time “1 was highly amused and edified this evening to se# in the “ Bristol Evening News” the prosecution of several persons for fishing during the close- season in the Froom at Eastville. Now the cel is not strictly speaking a fish, but belongs to the anguilliform, that is,a serpent or snake, and yet these poor men were convicted and fined for wasting their precious time endeavouring to hook SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 85 these serpents in such a quagmire as the Froom at Eastville. (Signed) Oscar S. Sage, Naturalist.” Surely the editor of an important newspaper could not have seen this effusion before it appeared, or he must have known better than to pass it. Another contemporary actually quotes the following string of inaccuracies as an example of the work of a true naturalist. It occurs in a review of ‘On English Lagoons,” recently published in cheap form by Mr. David Nutt: ‘‘ The weather continued so bad that I brought my cruise to a close, and as I stepped out of my ship, on the last day of August in the drizzling rain, my little sedge-warbler jumped upon a reed and began to sing joyfully, for his family was now strong on the wing. I stopped, took off my hat, saluting the plucky little bird, wished himself and family a safe voyage across the seas. As I walked up the wall, masses of thistle- down were blowing across the marshes, an unfailing sign of autumn, and the last marsh-note I heard as I rode off was the farewell song of the brave little warbler.” It is hardly necessary to remind our readers that reed-warblers, like others of their class, cease singing after the incubation of the eggs is over, or that thistle-down does not float in the air in drizzling rain or during bad weather, such as the author describes in his first line quoted. It is well to remember facts when trying to blend Art and Nature.—John T. Carrington. Marine Motrusca or NortH DEvon.—A few notes may be of use to anyone interested in shells who purposes to spend a holiday in North Devon. At Lynmouth, Purpura lapillus are small and thick, and Tyochus lineatus very massive on account of the lack of shelter and the force of the waves. As there is practically no sand between Lynmouth and Morte Point, the marine shells are few. I only found eleven species, and of these three did not occur out of one cove at Watermouth. South-west of Morte Point are several sandy bays. Of these the first, Morte Bay, is locally well known, on account of the Barricane Beach. This is an accumulation of shells, mostly broken, and is no doubt due to the set of the currents, which wash up all the shells into a space of about two hundred yards. Beyond this small area there are few or hardly any shells on the shore of this bay. My list of species for this spot was thirty-seven, but it is probably far from being complete. Natica catena seemed to be the most abundant shell. About six feet above high-water-mark of spring tides I noticed what seemed to be a ‘‘raised beach.” It contained nearly all the species to be found lower down on the shore, and also seven others, which I did not see elsewhere, Arca tetvagona being note- worthy ; besides these there were eight species of landshells mixed with the marine. A few miles south-west of Barricane is Saunton, where there is a fine stretch of sand running in front of Braunton Burrows. Quantities of shells are to be found on the shore here, but not so many species as at Barricane; I noted thirty-one in all. Cera- tisolen legumen was abundant, and Actacon tornatilis, large specimens of Philine aperta, Natica aldevyi and Mactra stultorum, var. cinevea, were also to be had. Both Saunton Sands and Warricane would be well worth visiting after stormy weather. A list of the landshells of Ilfracombe and neighbourhood was published by Mr. J. R. B. Tomlin, in " Journal of Conchology,” vol. v., page 181. The only additions I can make are Helix aspersa, var. minor, at Hele Bay, var. conoidea, also at Hele Bay, and var. exalbida at Woolacombe Bay.—]. E. Cooper, South- wood Lane, Highgate, N.; July 4rd, 1897. 86 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. Ansa ‘TeNtee CONDUCTED BY J. H. COOKE, F.L.S., F.G.S. Towhom Notes, Articles and material relating to Microscopy, and intended for Sc1teNcE-GossIP, are, in the first instance, to be sent, addressed ‘J. H, Cooke, Thorndale, Lincoln.” THE SENSES OF INsSEcTS.—‘‘ The Senses of Insects” formed the subject of one of the last addresses to the Columbian University that was delivered by the late Professor V. C. Riley. After distances. The highly-developed and delicate antennae in the male Chironomus, for instance, may be likened to an external brain, its ramifying fibres corresponding to the highly complicated processes that ramify from the nerve-cells in the internal brains of higher animals, and responding in a similar way to external impressions.” British FRESHWATER Mires.—In mounting these and other minute Acarids it will be found best to kill the insects in hot water, which causes them to expand their legs, so that when mounted these appendages can readily be studied. If mounted living the legs are almost invariably curled up under the body and cannot be seen. This method may also be used in the case of other minute insects. PRESERVING PoNnD GATHERINGS.—Those who are desirous of preserving their pond gatherings for examination during the winter months may be SomME ANTENNAE OF INSECTS. a, Telev polyphemus, male, x 3; b and c, tip of rays of same, still more enlarged; d, Chivonomus, * 6; e, section of same, still more enlarged (original).—Jnsect Life. dealing elaborately with the more obvious senses of hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch, he pro- ceeded to speculate on their possession of a sixth sense, an intuition, essentially psychical, by means of which insects make arrangements for the govern- ment and safety of their colonies and communicate one with another even when separated by con- siderable distances. This sense he considers to be a vibratory one, and it is located in the antennae. ‘‘No one,’ he says, ‘‘ can study the wonderfully diversified structure of the antennae in insects without feeling that they have been developed in obedience to, and as a result of, some such subtle and intuitive power as this of telepathy. Every minute ramification of the wonderfully delicate feelers of the male mosquito in all probability pulsates in response to the piping sounds which the female is known to produce, and doubtless through considerable interested to know that rotifers retain their vitality for many months if carefully dried. To do this they should be placed on papér and slowly heated in an oven, the temperature of which may be raised to as much as 200 degrees F. without doing them harm. When required for use they may be revived by placing them in water. Mountinc Wincs.—The following method of mounting wings for studying venation is described by Mr. Howard in ‘‘Insect Life.” The wing is removed and mounted upon a slide in Canada- balsam, which should be preferably rather thick. The slide is then held over the flame of an alcohol lamp until the balsam spreads well over the wing. Just as it is about to enter the veins, however, the slide is placed upon ice. This thickens the balsam immediately and prevents it from entering the veins, which remain permanently filled with air, and appear black by transmitted light. SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 87 Microscopic Funci.—When one remembers the number of naturalists’ or microscopical societies that exist in Britain, it is a matter for wonder that some systematic work is not done by them. In plant parasites there is a wide field for investi- gation and one which, if taken up seriously by microscopists, would be productive of results of real scientific and utilitarian value. These parasites have been divided into two groups, viz.: the EpipHytat, which includes the fungi, which establish themselves on the green parts of plants and destroy them by a kind of suffocation, and the EnpopuytTat, those which originate within the tissues of their hosts, eg. the Peronospora or potato-rot. Much valuable work has been done in showing the connection between the minute organisms, or Schizomycetes, and the plant diseases, but very much remains to be done; and just now, when “wheat rust "and Peronospora are so prevalent, an opportunity is afforded, by a Fauna," which appears in the current issue of the “Transactions of the Manchester Microscopical Society,” Professor Hickson suggests that the great variety of the patterns of the hooks, tubercles and other protuberances which the shells possess, that enclose the eggs of Hydva, the gemmules of sponges and the statoblasts of Bryozoa, is due to the many ways in which these organisms may become attached to the skin, feathers or scales of the animal chiefly concerned in their transportation from place to place. No experiments have been tried to prove this point ; the remarks are, neverthe- less, very suggestive. The same _ publication contains an interesting article by Professor F. E. Weiss on ‘‘ The Life of a Diatom.” RECENT RESEARCH IN FORAMINIFERA.—In the Rend. Acc. Sc. Bologna, 1897, Dr. C. Fornasina contributes anarticle, ‘‘ Note micropaleontologiche,”’ in which he shows that Nautilus granum, Lin., and Marginulina spinulosa, Costa, are identical, and he a 4 Some ANTENNAE OF COLEOPTERA. a, Ludios; 6, Corymbites; c, Prionocyphon; d, Acneus; ¢, Dendroides; /, Dineutes; g, Lachnosterna h, Bolbocerus; #, Adranes (after Le Conte and Horn), All greatly enlarged.—Jnsect Life. study of these well-known forms of disease, for the practice of methods and the acquiring of infor- mation that will be valuable in the working out of the life-history of those fungoid diseases that are more obscure. Lire-Histoxy or Meaty Bucs.—Greenhouses and gardens form prolific hunting-grounds for the micro-entomologist. The great prevalence this year of the mealy bug (Dactylopius destructor) would seem to suggest that there is still much to be done in the study of the life-habits of this minute pest. The female usually lays about 400 eggs, each of which is of a light straw colour and is about o25 mm. in length. The white floccose net- work of wavy threads is spun for the purpose of protecting the eggs, and if this be removed and carefully opened, ample material for study will be obtained Distaisvution or Hypea.—lIn the course of an article on “The Distribution of the Freshwater also demonstrates the affinity that exists between Reophax compressus, Goes, and 2. papillosus, Neug. He has studied the specimens in the original collection of Costa, now in the Naples Museum, and concludes that Biloculina civcumclausa, Costa, is identical with B. depressa, d’Orb, and that Nodosavia clava, Costa, is the same as Clavulina communis, d'Orb. He gives an illustration of an example of Sagrina columellavis, Brady, with a fissile aperture, which was collected by Professor Simonelli from the Neocene of Vigoleno in Piacentino. ROTIFERIAN Speciz Moncers.—The list of new rotifers which appears in the current number of the " Microscopical Journal” bears strong testi- mony to the energy which is being displayed by the manufacturers of species. It contains 109 new names, a large proportion of which has been given to specimens for points of form or structure so insignificant, that the author, Mr, C. I. Rousselet, 88 SCIENCE-GOSSIP. waxes indignant. He pertinently remarks that if all dogs that one meets were differentiated and named on the same principle, ‘‘ one would have to make a distinct species of every Canis familiavis living.” SHEPHERD'S PursSE.—The leaves of this weed (Capsella bursa-pastovis) have hairs in the form of a cross, and when mounted they are equal in effect to Deutsia as an opaque object. A TissuE Breppinc.—A good ‘‘ bedding’’ for delicate tissues may be made by mixing beeswax and olive oil in equal parts. The tissue is placed in a tube and the fluid ‘‘ bedding’ is poured in around it. The ordinary botanical section-cutter may be used. PREPARATION OF Ova FOR Microscope. — In the preparation of the ova and fry of fish for microscopical examination, the material for dissec- tion should in the first place be put in a solution of chromic acid and allowed to remain there for at least a fortnight. If high powers are to be used glycerine should be avoided, as it tends to give the material a bluish-white tinge. The chromic acid imparts a rich yellow colour to the sub- stance and renders it firm and solid, and what is of the greatest importance, it does not give rise to shrinkage. INFLUENCE OF LIGHT oN FuneGiI.—In the ““ Annales des Sciences Naturelles Botaniques’’ for 1897, M. A. Leudner records the results of a series experiments on the effect of the access and with- drawal of light on a variety of fungi grown on different media. All the Muscorini examined developed sporanges under the influence of light when grown on solid sub-strata; in liquid media the results varied with the species. In the case of the conidial forms of the Ascomycetes, conids were invariably formed under the influence of alternate day and night; under continuous light the results varied with the species. ANTENNAE OF MALE PHENGODES WITH PORTION OF Ray. Greatly enlarged (original).—Insect Life. REPRODUCTION OF Diatoms.—Mr. G. Murray records in the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,’ some observations on the propaga- tion of pelagic diatoms found off the coast of Scotland. In examining Biddulpdia mobiliensis he discovered cysts within the parent cell with only slightly silicified membrane and destitute of the characteristic spines. These cysts appear to have the power of dividing and multiplying before assuming the likeness of the parent. A like arrangement was observed in Coscinodiscus concinnus, but in that species the cells divide before the production of the cysts. -It is not infrequent to find the young colonies of Coscinodiscus in packets of eight to sixteen. The membranes of these young colonies are very slightly silicified, and are therefore capable of increasing in size. A similar formation in packets, with like numbers, was found also in several members of the genus Chactocerous. No. 1. No. 2. MountinG CuHara.—Mr. A. FLATTERS’ SYSTEM. Method of graduating delicate objects through alcohol to oil of cloves. No.2 tube allows one drop of oil to pass to the specimens every sixty seconds. a, Alcohol;_b, oil; c, cover-cap; d, oil-cup e, cork; f, alcohol; g, specimens. MountinG Cuara.—In reply to a query which was sent by one of our readers requesting to know what is the best medium for mounting the repro- ductive organs of Chava to show clearly all details as a transparent object, Mr. A. Flatters, 16, Church Road, Manchester, writes: ‘‘ The fruit of Charae is good when mounted in glycerine jelly. After cleaning place in 92 per cent. alcoho) for several hours. Transfer into equal parts of spirits and glycerine for several hours longer, after which pour off nearly all of the mixture and add pure glycerine at intervals till the glycerine becomes concentrated. Mount the object in glycerine jelly in a cavity slip just deep enough to take it without pressure.